Wild and Wonderful (19 page)

Two ambulance attendants waited close to the mine entrance with a stretcher for the one injured miner with the broken leg. It was one of them with a closer view who raised the shout, "They're coming!"

As expected the injured man was first, carried in the saddle of two men's arms. Glenna stretched on tiptoe for a glimpse of Bruce, wanting to see for herself that he was safe and unharmed. He was one of the last to come out.

With all the other families hurrying forward to greet their menfolk, it seemed the natural thing for Glenna to do the same. A wide but tired smile spread across Bruce's face when he saw her approach. He dragged off the hard miner's hat and narrowed his eyes against the bright sunlight.

Laughing and crying at the same time, Glenna ignored his coal-blackened clothes to hug him, not caring that the dust on his cheeks rubbed off onto hers. There were so many voices, she couldn't hear hers or his above the others. When Bruce kissed her, she kissed him back. But when his mouth hardened to demand passion, she stiffened in resistance and drew away. A troubled light entered her eyes, making them more gray than green. Bruce probed her expression, his smile fading.

"I'm glad you're safe, Bruce. I—"

"You don't have to say anything." He shook his head to check her explanation and loosened the arms that held her. "It's all right." His gaze drifted beyond her to scan the crowd, stopping once on a target. Then he took her hand, turning her around. "Come on."

He laced his fingers with hers so she was walking beside him. It was several steps before she realized he had a specific destination, and that destination was Jett. She felt the piercing stab of Jett's gaze knife into her, but he turned away before they reached him.

"Coulson!" Bruce called out to stop him.

Glenna was stunned by the harsh and savage light that glittered in Jett's sidelong glance. "I got him out for you, Glenna." His voice was a low angry sound. "Don't ask for more than that."

She was shaken by the suppressed violence that rumbled through his voice. His features were set in rock-hard lines, but there was no mask to conceal the bitter rage under their expressionless surface.

Jett's reaction only made Bruce smile with a wry twist of his mouth. He took Glenna's hand and extended it to Jett. "I believe she belongs to you," Bruce said as calmly as if he was returning lost property.

There was a puzzled flash in Jett's expression. After a second's hesitation, he reached out to claim her hand. His frowning gaze sharply locked with hers to probe deeply into the recesses of her soul. Neither seemed to notice when Bruce moved away.

"Is it true what he said?" There was an uncertain quality in his voice that Glenna had never heard before. "Do you belong to me?"

The smile that broke on her face was one of vague disbelief. "I've always belonged to you…since that night I came to your room…probably even before that," she admitted.

His fingers tightened on her hand, nearly crushing the delicate bones. "Last night I heard you admit to those women that Hawkins was your man."

"I agreed because it made Mrs. Cummins feel less alone in her fears," Glenna explained earnestly. "And I did care about Bruce, but as a good friend. I already told you that. Surely you didn't believe I had changed my mind."

"It happens," Jett said, towering closer. "When a woman has taken a man for granted a long time, she can suddenly realize how much he means to her when he's in danger."

"It didn't happen," she assured him.

"It could have. Hawkins was there when you needed him. I wasn't. He helped you through the rough times when I couldn't." His fingertips stroked her cheek in a caress that bordered on reverence. "When I saw how worried you were about him, I was determined to get him out of that mine. I couldn't let you down again, even if it meant you wanted him instead of me."

"It's you I love, Jett." Glenna swayed toward him.

Violent tremors ran through him as he gathered her into the crush of his arms and began smothering her face with rough kisses. In that moment she was convinced of the depth of his feelings for her and a wild joy raced through her blood.

"Marry me, Glenna. I don't want to lose you." The words came in a raw whisper from his throat. "Never let me lose you again."

"Never," she breathed into his descending mouth.