Mr. Dangerous (16 page)

But he was only ten feet away from the door. He had this. A few more steps and he would be there.  He pushed Delaney out the door and followed her, kicking the door shut behind them. He returned the gun to his pants, and looked around wildly for John.

“Where is he?” Delaney said. She was breathing hard.

“I don’t know,” Wade replied, beginning to lose his cool, his heart pounding out of control. He was sweating, but it was too soon to take off his mask. “He should be here by now.” The oversized doors of the bank started to open, but Wade leaned against them with all his force. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

“Let’s run toward where we parked,” Delaney suggested.

“Yes, go!”

And they were off, running through the rain, down the block like their lives depended on it. Then they saw John speeding down the block. He almost drove right past them, but Delaney ran out into the middle of the street and forced him to stop. Wade was right behind her. Delaney jumped into the back seat with the three bags, and Wade slid into the front seat. John was driving before the doors were all shut. He blazed through town and was on the highway within minutes.

“Woo-hoo!” John exclaimed, rolling down the window and putting his hand out, letting rain and cold air into the car. It felt good.

Sirens blared in the distance, but they were too far ahead to be caught now. The rain came down hard on the windshield, big, fat drops that the window wipers had a hard time clearing. Wade had no idea how John could see where he was going.

He closed his eyes, and melted into the seat. They did it. He couldn’t believe they really did it, that it had all gone according to plan. It was too good to be true. Again, he felt tears coming on, but he took a deep breath and wiped his eyes.

Delaney stuffed the bags under the front seats, and reached for Wade’s shoulder.

“We’re safe now,” she said quietly. Wade put a hand on top of hers.

“Almost. We’ve got to abandon this car first, and then get home. Only then will I feel safe.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just fine,” she comforted him, and didn’t let go of his shoulder.

“And I’m great!” John laughed. “I can’t believe you two pulled it off!”

He turned off the highway. They were almost at the abandoned farm. When they pulled up, Wade hopped out of the car and ran inside. Jacob was waiting with the two horses, sitting on a milk crate and drinking a beer, with a little gas lantern for light. When he saw Wade barge in, and he realized the plan had worked, Jacob smiled broadly.

“You didn’t.”

“We did.” Wade grinned right back at him.

*  *  *

John and Delaney followed close behind with the bags. Jacob whooped and hollered when he saw them.

“I can’t believe you did it,” he bellowed. “I can’t believe you guys pulled it off! I literally can’t believe it!”

Delaney opened one of the bags. It was the most money she’d ever seen in her entire life. “There’s got to be thousands and thousands of dollars here,” she gawked.

“It’s definitely more than enough,” Jacob confirmed. The silly smile on his face couldn’t have been slapped off.

They divided the money and the four of them, each holding their share, felt relieved, ecstatic, and full of adrenaline. The sound of the rain on the old, ramshackle roof and wind howling outside created an eerie atmosphere in the abandoned barn.

John was suddenly overcome with a fit of coughing. Delaney patted his back until it subsided. Wade remembered how sick the old man was, and was even more grateful for his help.
It probably isn’t good for him to be out in the rain
, Wade thought.

“Well, I don’t know what to say,” Jacob began, “I would be in terrible shape without what the three of you did today. I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

“You don’t need to,” John told him. “Cowboys take care of cowboys.”

He patted Jacob on the back, and Jacob turned the gesture into a big bear hug.

“We better be getting out of here,” Wade reminded all of them. “There’s no way to be sure if we were seen or followed.”

“That’s true. We best get going,” John chimed in.

“It will be a drag riding home in this weather, but at least the rain will cover our tracks,” Delaney said matter-of-factly.

“Way to find a bright side,” Jacob laughed.

John rode with Jacob on his horse, and Delaney rode with Wade. The rain poured down on them without mercy. The sky was dark gray and intimidating. Wade was forced to remove his Stetson due to the strong wind, and Delaney took it from him to hold while he steered them home. Jacob rode John all the way back to the ranch, and then headed off to his own home to deliver the good news to his family. They would not be losing their ranch.

Wade and Delaney took Whinny into the stables to get her unsaddled and comfortable and dry after the long ride. Once she was in her stall, Wade stopped and pulled Delaney in close to him.

“Delaney, I just want to say thank you. You didn’t have to do all of this.” He looked deeply into her blue eyes, and felt their depth. She gazed back at him, handing him back his Stetson. “I hope I didn’t scare you in there.”

“Scare me?” she asked, sounding surprised.

“Yeah. The way you were crying, I thought you were genuinely afraid.”

“I was afraid! Of not pulling it off!” She laughed and touched his cheek with her hand. “You were amazing,” she told him softly.

“So were you.”

Wade bent forward and kissed her. It was a long, deep, passionate kiss that Delaney felt all the way in her toes. She caressed his strong chest as he held her with one hand around the back of her neck and the other around her waist. Thunder cracked outside, but they kept on kissing through the storm. Nothing could come between them now.

Wade picked her up, his hands gripping the backs of her thighs firmly, and backed her up against the wall of the barn. She made an “umph” sound as her back connected with the wood, and they both giggled. He kissed her neck as he unbuckled his belt and let his jeans fall around his ankles.

Delaney’s skirt was easily hitched up around her waist. Wade ripped off her pantyhose in one fluid motion. Her arms tightened around his neck as he sunk her down on top of his manhood. She moaned as he slid into her wetness and filled her up.

“Oh, Delaney, you’re perfect,” Wade whispered, burying his face in her breasts.

She rocked against him rhythmically, getting lost in the sensation of giving herself over to him completely. He thrust into her, holding onto her shoulders for support, never once making her feel like she would fall or slip from his grasp. He was breathing harder now, and Delaney knew he was climbing fast.

She pointed to a couple of blocks of hay. Wade carried her over to them and lay her down gently without slipping out of her, even for a moment. They made love in the old barn as the rain poured down, surrendering to each other fully.

“I love you,” Delaney murmured in Wade’s ear, and then nibbled on it gently.

Wade nearly passed out at how good it felt to be nibbled on and loved. He brushed a piece of stray hair out of her eyes, and replied, “I love you, too, Delaney.”

* * *

John was preparing a dinner of salad and macaroni and cheese when they came into the house, out of breath and drenched from the rain.

“Where have you two been?” John asked as he chopped up lettuce.

Wade was surprised to see him in the kitchen; John didn’t usually cook, but tonight was a special occasion, and he was obviously in a very good mood and feeling energized.

“We got stuck in the rain after putting Whinny in her stable,” Wade said by way of excuse, but it was a terrible one as the stables weren’t that far away. Delaney giggled, and Wade squeezed her hand trying to get her to stop, but it was too late. John saw the look on their faces, the way the stood next to each other, not letting go, as if they were magnetized to each other.

Wade was embarrassed, but John was happy for them. There was nothing better than a first love, and to see it brought John tremendous joy. He had happy news for Wade, and he was glad to be able to deliver it on such a happy night.

There was knocking at the door, and Delaney ran to open it. Jacob, and his entire family—all seven of them—stood on the doorstep.

“Come on in!” John hollered from the kitchen.

“What are all of you doing here? I thought you’d want to celebrate at home!” Wade asked, surprised to see them all. Even though they were neighbors, he hadn’t seen Jacob’s parents since he was a teenager. As they packed into the house, Wade realized how good it felt to be with people he considered family.

He led them into the living room and Jacob popped a bottle of champagne. Wade didn’t go get glasses because Jacob insisted on drinking it straight out of the bottle, and that was just fine with him.

“We wanted to come over and thank you,” Jacob’s father said to Wade. “We were all in a state of panic. The ranch has been in our family for generations. There’s nothing else we know how to do. If we lost the ranch, we’d also be losing a way of life.”

“There’s no need to thank me,” Wade said. “If Jacob hadn’t come to me in the first place, it never would have happened. And Delaney did as much as I did, if not more. It was a group effort.”

“Well, our family sure does appreciate it.”

Wade put a hand over his heart and bowed his head.

“A toast!” Jacob exclaimed. “To our families, to our ranches, and to being cowboys!”

“And to Delaney for swooping into my life and changing it for the better,” Wade added.

Delaney sat at his feet, her head in his lap. He stroked her long hair, and smiled at her, his heart breaking at her compassion, her beauty, and her generosity. Wade realized he couldn’t have been happier.

Jacob took a sip out of the big bottle of champagne, and it got passed around the room. John walked in, and his heart burst with joy. Tears filled his eyes as he said hello to his old friends. He took a sip of champagne, and nearly spit it back out when Jacob’s father said he hadn’t aged a day.

“Now I know you’re a liar,” John chuckled, “because I’m older than an oak tree, or at least that’s what it feels like!”

“Well, apparently you’re not too old to rob a bank!”

The old men laughed together, and the children played by the fire. Delaney basked in the serenity of feeling like she was a part of something bigger than herself. She looked at Wade, and they both, for the first time in their lives, felt like they were home.

* *  *

Delaney woke to the sound of roosters, like she had for the last year. The sun streamed through the bedroom window and splashed her face with warmth. She put a hand on her huge belly and smiled to herself. She wondered where Wade was; he was probably out surveying the cattle.

She usually heard him get up and out of bed, so she was surprised when she rolled over onto a mound of sheets instead of his familiar body. Slowly, she sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around for her silk bathrobe. Shrugging it on to her shoulders, she stepped over to the window, opened it, and felt the cool air that flowed into the stuffy room.

Almost a year had passed since she moved to the ranch with Wade and John. She’d become accustomed to the slower pace of life, the beautiful rolling hills, and waking up early to roosters crowing. She still had her job at Sally’s Diner, but she only worked three days a week.

The other days she helped out on the ranch. With the extra money they had stolen, they bought a small herd of goats. Delaney was their shepherd. She milked them every morning, and was learning how to make cheese and soap. More than ever, she was happy.