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She looked him in the eye and said quietly, “Give me one good reason why I should.”
Right there in front of God and most of Crook, Montana, he drew in a deep breath and took the gamble of a lifetime, his words plain and heard by all, because no one was making even the pretense of not listening.
“Because I love you.”
Maddie blinked, and to his surprise he saw her eyes glitter with tears. Before he could start forward, however, her smile broke through like sunshine through a cloud bank. She didn’t take the time to go around the counter; she climbed on top of it and slid off on the other side. “It’s about time,” she said as she went into his arms.
The customers broke into applause, and Floris came out of the kitchen. She sniffed and looked displeased when she saw Madelyn hanging in Reese’s arms with her feet off the floor. “I suppose this means I’ve got to get another waitress,” she muttered.
Someone muttered back, “Hell, Floris, if you’ll just stay in the kitchen we’ll find you another waitress.”
“It’s a deal,” she said, and startled everyone in the café by actually smiling.
HE DIDN’T WAIT to get back to the house before he made love to her; as soon as they were on Duncan land he stopped the truck and pulled her astride him. Madelyn thought her heart would burst as she listened to his roughly muttered words of love and lust and need. She couldn’t get enough of touching him; she wanted to sink into his skin, and she tried to.
When they finally got to the house he carried her inside and up the stairs to their bedroom, where he placed her on the big bed and began stripping her. She laughed, a drugged, wanton sound, as she stretched languidly. “Again?”
“I want to see you,” he said, his voice strained. When she was naked he was silent, struck dumb and enchanted by the changes in her body. They were still slight, but obvious to him because he knew every inch of her. There was just beginning to be a faint curve to her belly, and her breasts were a little rounder, even firmer than before, her nipples darkened to a lush reddish brown. He leaned forward and circled one with his tongue, and her entire body quivered. “God, I love you,” he said, and laid his head on her belly, his arms locked around her hips.
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sp; Madelyn slid her fingers into his hair. “It took you long enough,” she said gently.
“What I lack in quickness, I make up in staying power.”
“Meaning?”
“That I’ll still be telling you that fifty years from now.” He paused and turned his head to kiss her stomach. “I have something else to tell you.”
“Is it good?”
“I think so. Things are going to be changing around here pretty soon.”
“How?” She looked suspicious. “I’m not sure I want things to change.”
“I have a new partner. I called Robert a week or so ago, and he bought in. We’ll be expanding in a big way as soon as I can get started on it. This is now the Duncan and Cannon ranch.”
Madelyn burst into laughter, startling him into lifting his head from her stomach. “Whatever you do,” she said, “don’t call it the D and C. I don’t think I could live on a ranch named after a surgical procedure!”
He grinned, feeling everything in him come alive under the magic spell of her laughter. “It’ll keep the same name,” he said.
“Good.” Slowly her laughter faded, and she gave him a somber look. “Why did you call him?”
“Because I trust you,” he said simply. “Through you, I can trust him. Because it was a good business decision. Because I wanted to show you how a really good ranch operates. Because we’re having a baby. Because, damn it, I’m too damn proud to be satisfied with a second-rate operation. Is that enough reasons?”
“The first one was good enough.” She put her hands on his face and stared at him, her heart in his eyes. It rattled him, even while it made him feel as if he could conquer the world, to see how much Maddie loved him. He started to lean down to kiss her when she said seriously, “Did you know that a ten-gallon hat will really only hold about three quarts?”
ON THE THIRD of November, Madelyn lay in a labor room in Billings, holding Reese’s hand and trying to concentrate on her breathing. She had been there over twenty-four hours and she was exhausted, but the nurses kept telling her everything was fine. Reese was unshaven and had dark circles under his eyes. Robert was somewhere outside, wearing a rut in the tile of the hall.
“Give me another one,” she said. Reese was looking desperate, but she needed something to get her mind off herself.
“India ink really comes from China.”
“You’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel, aren’t you? Let’s see.” A contraction interrupted her, and she squeezed his hand as it surged and peaked, then fell off. When she could speak again she said, “The sounds of stomach growling are called borborygmus.” She gave him a triumphant look.
He cradled her hand against his cheek. “You’ve been reading the dictionary again, and that’s cheating. I’ve got a good one. The San Diego Chargers got their name because the original owner also owned the Carte Blanche credit card company. ‘Charge’ is what he wanted the cardholders to say.”
She laughed, but the sound was abruptly cut off as another contraction seized her. This one was a little different in intensity, and in the way it made her feel. She panted her way through it, staring at the monitor with blurring eyes so she could see the mechanical confirmation of what she felt. She lay back against his arm and said weakly, “I don’t think it’s going to be much longer.”
