The Deputy's Lost and Found (15 page)

“Bastard,” Brady cursed. “I should have hit him again, just for good measure.”

She slipped a hand down his muscled arm. He was a strong man, this man that she loved and he would always be there to fight for her, protect her in every way. It was a heady thought.

“That’s exactly what I did,” she told him. “Hard. I guess he wasn’t expecting me to fight back. Especially me jabbing my fingers in his eyes. While he was howling, I ran. The sun had gone down, but there was still a bit of light left. He chased after me, but I suppose he couldn’t see very well because of what I’d done to his eyes. Once I climbed out of the ravine, I lost him and kept running up the
mountain. Until I fell. Then the next thing I remember is waking up to see your face hovering over me.”

A tender smile curved his lips. “And now you’re here. Still in my arms. I just can’t get rid of you, can I?”

“Do you want to?” she asked in a voice that was half-teasing, half-serious.

Brady’s eyes twinkled. “I’m not sure. Maybe you’d better let me think about this before I answer.”

“I probably should. Since you know very little about my past.”

“What’s there to know that I need to know?”

“Hmm. Well, let’s see, I made straight A’s in high school and I took choir all four years.”

One of his brows arched upward. “You can sing?”

“Only in the shower.”

He grinned. “Good. That means you can serenade me.”

She laughed softly. “And I graduated from TU with a degree in business. I used that knowledge to help with the business side of Porter Farms. But horses are my first love. Working with them is what I’ve always wanted to do the most. Does that bother you?”

“Only if you spend more time with them than me.”

She trailed the tip of her index finger across his chin. “I promise to never let that happen.”

“Does it bother you that I’m a lawman?”

Suddenly serious, she said, “It worries me that your job sometimes puts you in danger. But I’ve seen a jockey break his neck. Everything has its dangers. That’s why we need to live and love and enjoy each other as much as we can, whenever we can.”

“You got that right,” he murmured, then tilting his head, he kissed her softly, slowly, as he tried to convey with his lips all the love he was feeling in his heart.

Once he lifted his head, he announced, “We’re going to be married. As soon as we can make the arrangements.”

Her hands came up to cup gently frame his face. “Are you sure that’s what you want, Brady? There’s no urgency for us to become man and wife right now. And you’ve been a bachelor for a long time. Maybe you need to wait and think about this,” she suggested.

His brows pulled together. “Lass, I’m asking you to marry me! And here you are trying to talk me out of it?”

“I only want you to be happy. And before I came along you were a free man. You liked to date. Different women.”

His frown deepened. “Before you came along, I didn’t understand anything about needing, loving. I thought playing the field would be all I’d want for a long, long time. I didn’t know what it meant to have someone become a part of me. I didn’t know that just the thought of having that part of me torn away would be too much to bear.”

“You wanted me to go back to Porter Farms. Apparently you believed you could get along without me.”

He groaned. “That’s because I wanted you to be happy. And I thought it could never happen until you reacquainted yourself with your old life. I never dreamed that everything was suddenly going to come back to you. But I thank God that it did.”

He lowered his head, until his lips were poised over hers. “So what is your answer to my proposal? Am I going to have to beg to get a yes out of you?”

“No,” she said with a happy sigh. “All you have to do is love me.”

“For the rest of my life, darling.”

T
hree months later, on a cold December morning, Lass and Brady stood in the middle of the ranch yard and waved to Dallas as she pulled away in a truck with a horse van attached to the back.

As Lass watched her sister-in-law’s vehicle turn a curve and disappear from sight, she said thoughtfully, “Dallas never quits looking for the perfect horse to use at Angel Wing. When Maura mentioned to her that Jake Rollins had an extremely gentle horse for sale, she couldn’t wait to drive over to his place to see it.”

Brady’s mouth took on a rueful slant. “Well, just between you and me, I’d prefer she not do business with Jake.”

Lass looked at him with a bit of surprise. Jake was his sister Maura and brother-in-law Quint’s ranch foreman. What could Brady have against the man? she wondered.
“Why? He wouldn’t do any underhanded horsetrading with Dallas, would he?” she asked.

Brady shook his head. “Not at all. Jake’s an honest man. And he’s damned good with horses. But he’s hell with the ladies. His motto should be too many women and not enough time.”

Lass chuckled knowingly. “Seems like I once knew another man around here that was described as a ladies’ man.”

Wrapping his arm around the back of her waist, he snuggled her close to his side. “Yeah. But that was before I found the love of my life.”

She smiled dreamily up at him. “That’s probably all that Jake needs to cure his roaming ways—to find the love of his life.”

Bending his head, he pressed a kiss on her forehead. “You could be right. After all, you certainly cured me.”

Lass said, “Well, if I’d known you were so concerned about Dallas’s virtue, I could have made a trip with her to Jake’s place this morning. Just to act as chaperone.”

Brady laughed. “Oh, no! I’m not that worried about my big sister.” With his arm curved possessively around her shoulders, he urged her in the direction of the house. “We both have the day off today and I’m going to take you shopping.”

“Shopping!” She shot him a wry look. “You don’t care anything about shopping!”

“I do when I go with a purpose. And Christmas is coming. We have all sorts of gifts to buy.”

As they continued on toward the house, a dreamy expression drifted over her face. It would be her first Christmas as Brady’s wife and this morning she’d learned she was going to be giving him a special gift. Now she was waiting for the right moment to tell him.

“Oh, well, I’d better get my thinking cap on,” she told him. “Because I don’t have a clue as what to buy you.”

He chuckled. “Forget about getting me a gift. I’m a man who has everything.”

Lass only smiled.

At the house, they warmed themselves with short cups of coffee, then climbed the stairs to the bedroom they shared. While Brady showered, Lass changed into a long black peasant skirt and topped it with a bright red sweater.

After she’d brushed her hair loose on her shoulders and attached sparkling earrings to her ears, she walked over to the plate glass door leading out to the balcony. This morning the sky was overcast with high gray clouds. Every now and then tiny bits of snow flew through the air.

Already the mountains surrounding the ranch were capped with white and Ruidoso was full of skiers come to enjoy the fresh powder on Sierra Blanca. For Lass, becoming accustomed to the high mountain climate had taken some getting used to. Already the area had been doused with several inches of snow, but she’d learned to dress for the cold and enjoy the winter season. Just as she was learning to be a Donovan and take pleasure in being part of a big family.

Thankfully, even distant Conall had accepted and welcomed her in his own stern way. She felt truly at home now, yet there were moments like this morning, when she’d used the pregnancy test, that she ached to have her mother back with her. There were so many things she wished she could tell her. Like how happy Brady had made her, how much she loved him and how much he loved her. She longed to tell her about her work at the stables, about all the horses she’d grown so attached to, the lovely children who looked to her for help and guidance. And she also
wanted Judith to know that her marriage to Ward had not been a complete failure.

These past few months, Lass had tried to open her heart and her mind to her father. They’d had several lengthy talks over the phone and she was beginning to realize that, in spite of his mistakes, Ward had loved his family. After David had pled guilty to his crimes and was sentenced with jail time, her father had taken a new turn with his life. He’d seemed to suddenly realize that he needed to change, to take time for the things that are most important. He’d completely cut ties with Jane and hired a new assistant to fill David’s vacancy. He was even coming out to the Diamond D for a visit during the Christmas holiday and this time Lass was actually looking forward to seeing him.

Forgiveness was not an easy thing, she thought, but it was the right thing. She could see that now. And how could she not forgive, when she’d been blessed with so much happiness?

Behind her, she heard the door to the walk-in closet open, then close. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Brady shrugging into a dark green shirt that made his tawny hair look even more like a wild lion’s mane.

Her eyes full of pleasure, she watched him button the shirt as he walked toward her.

“My, my, you’re looking too pretty this morning to be going out with a guy like me. Maybe I’d better go back to the closet and pick out something a little fancier than this ol’ shirt.”

Turning, she reached to fasten the button in the middle of his chest. “I don’t want you to change anything. You happen to look very handsome in this shirt.”

Smiling, he bent his head and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Spoken like a true, loving wife.”

“I am a true, loving wife.”

“You don’t have to convince me of that. But you do need to tell me what you’d like for Christmas. I want to give you something really special. Something you’ll love for a long time.”

Love swelled in her chest. It didn’t matter what sort of gifts Brady gave her. The love he put behind them was the thing that made them precious to her.

“Now what are you planning to give me? You don’t have to tell me outright. Give me a little hint and let me guess first.”

Dimples carved her cheeks as she gazed up at him. “Well, it’s already ordered. But I can’t tell you precisely what the gift will be until it gets here.”

“Hmm. That sounds intriguing.”

“More like shocking,” she replied as she struggled to keep an ecstatic smile from breaking across her face.

He arched a skeptical brow at her. “Okay, now you’ve done it. Why can’t you tell me—precisely? Because you want it to be a surprise?”

Chuckles bubbled in her throat. “No. Because I wasn’t able to make an exact order. I had to leave it up to God to make the final decision. And that’s a fifty-fifty tossup. I can only tell you that it will either be a little deputy or a little cowgirl.”

Confusion puckered his features and then suddenly it all fell in place. Stunned elation swept over his face as he grabbed her by the shoulders.

“A baby?” he asked incredulously. “You’re telling me that we have a baby coming?”

Once Lass nodded, he threw back his head and howled with glee.

“Oh, darling! You’ve made me the happiest man alive!” Bending his head, he kissed her, then kissed her again. “How will I ever be able to top this Christmas gift you’ve given me?”

Her eyes misty, she smiled at him. “Oh, I don’t know, try for another one next Christmas, I suppose.”

Laughing, he ran out of the room and onto the landing. “Hey everybody, come here and listen to this!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “We’re going to have a baby!”

Her heart overflowing with love, Lass left the room to help her husband spread the news.