It was evening, one of Josh’s favorite times of day. Supper was over. The ranch had settled into a quiet peace.
Taking extra care, he showered and shaved, dressed in a white western shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans, pulled on his good boots, and headed over to the trailer. Ivy would be asleep by now. It was time to have that talk with Tory he had been putting off far too long.
As he walked up on the porch, he took a deep breath. He wished he’d gone to town and bought some flowers, maybe a bottle of champagne.
Tonight wasn’t going to be an official proposal—he wanted to do that right. But he needed to clear the air, get his feelings out in the open, let Tory know his intentions.
Pray she felt the same way he did.
Even if she did, ranch life wasn’t easy. Maybe she’d want to go back to the city, return to the more sophisticated life she’d led before. His stomach churned with nerves.
He knocked, waited a moment, then turned the knob, and stepped into the living room. They’d done away with formality a long time ago. Tory was just coming out of her bedroom. She was wearing a short cotton nightgown with tiny sprigs of lilac scattered over the front, her legs and feet bare, her fiery hair a halo of curls around her shoulders.
She always looked so damned pretty, always made him want her. Tonight he wanted more from her than just her sweet little body. Tonight he wanted her heart.
Her eyes widened when she saw him. Something shifted in her features before it disappeared. “Are you . . . are you going out?”
He frowned. “Hell, no. Why would I want to go out when the prettiest girl in Howler County is standing right here?”
“You’re all dressed up. I just thought . . .”
“Clean jeans and a white shirt isn’t exactly a tuxedo.”
She smiled. “I guess not. So what’s the occasion?”
“It’s a nice night. I thought we might sit outside for a while and talk.”
Her smile faded and she glanced away. In the moonlight, her lips trembled, and the knot returned to his stomach.
She sat down on the bench beside the door and Josh sat down beside her. He could hear crickets chirping in the grass, and the barn owl was hooting again.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said, trying to figure where to start. “This trailer . . . eventually the ranch will need a couple more hands. The trailer might make a good bunkhouse.”
He was shocked when her eyes welled with tears.
“I know this must be hard for you,” she said. “You don’t have to worry, Josh. It’s okay. We can be honest with each other. I know it’s time for me to go. Now that Damon is no longer a threat, there’s no need for me to stay. I can finish out the week and—”
“Wait a minute! I don’t want you to leave! I want you and Ivy to stay. I want you to move out of the trailer into my house. This whole thing . . . having two places. It doesn’t make any sense.”
She just shook her head. “I can’t do it, Josh. I can’t handle it anymore. When I was in town yesterday, I looked at apartments. I found one I think will work. I’d like to stay in Iron Springs . . . if . . . if it isn’t a problem for you. It’s a great little town, a good place to raise Ivy, if—”
He caught her shoulders to silence her words, feeling as if someone had stabbed a hot poker into the wound in his chest. He was making a mess of this. He had to fix it—before it was too late.
“I’m getting this all wrong. I’m trying to tell you how I feel, but I’m not good at this kind of thing.”
He glanced away, took a shaky breath, and turned back. “That day you and Ivy showed up in front of my barn, I didn’t know what to think. I saw you as a burden. You know—a woman with a kid? A woman on the run from trouble? You didn’t figure into my plans. I thought you were the kind of problem I didn’t need.”
He caught her chin with the tip of his finger, forcing her to look at him. “But you were never a burden, Tory. You were a gift. I’m thankful every day to have you here.”
The tears in her eyes spilled onto her cheeks. “I can’t just be your friend, Josh. Not anymore.”
He cupped her face in his hands. “Don’t you understand, baby? You aren’t just my friend. You’re my heart, Tory.” He kissed her then, feeling desperate, trying to show her how he felt when his words didn’t seem to be enough.
He kissed her and kissed her and didn’t stop until he felt her body soften, her arms slide up around his neck, and she kissed him back the way he was kissing her.
Josh eased away. “I need to know, baby. Do you love me? That’s what it comes down to. Because I love the hell out of you.”
Her lips trembled. Her hand came up to his cheek. “Josh . . .” Fresh tears welled. “I love you so much.”
Relief made his muscles feel weak. “Enough to marry me?”
The tears in her eyes rolled down her cheeks but she was smiling. “I love you. I love everything about you. I’ll marry you anytime you say.”
Josh blew out a breath, his worry slipping away. “Okay, then. We’re getting married.”
Tory threw her arms around his neck. Even the twinge of pain that shot down his side couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
Epilogue
Four Months Later
The late October day broke clear and bright. Yesterday’s storm had cooled the grasslands. Dressed in a dark blue pencil skirt, yellow print blouse, and a pair of navy sandals, Tory was returning home from church with Josh and Ivy.
They’d taken Clara Thompson with them, then left Ivy with her for a few hours in the afternoon. Tory and Josh were going out riding, taking new photos of the ranch for the website, pictures of some of the new horses he had purchased, as well as more shots of the lush green landscape, ponds, and the river that ran along the northern border.
Tory was really looking forward to the outing.
She changed into a pair of jeans and a lightweight sweater, then went in and made a picnic lunch, adding a nice bottle of white wine.
A lot had happened in the last four months. It turned out the ballistics from Damon’s .45 caliber pistol had matched the bullet taken from Lisa’s back, which had given the police all sorts of new information.
Izzy Watkins had been arrested on charges of aiding and abetting. Izzy had admitted he had lied about Damon’s alibi, that he hadn’t been with Damon the night Lisa had been abducted.
He’d also admitted to helping Damon acquire false identification, been complicit in hiring motorcycle vandals to destroy private property, and committed identity theft. Izzy’s lawyers had managed to cut a not-so-great deal that would put him in prison for at least the next few years.
Though Lisa’s memory of the terrible days after her abduction had never returned, the cabin Damon had used to hold her prisoner had finally been found. The property was still in the name of Damon’s deceased mother’s father, who suffered from Alzheimer’s and lived in a retirement home, the reason finding the property had been so difficult.
All kinds of evidence had turned up in the basement. CSIs really knew their stuff.
With Montgomery Bridger such an important man in Phoenix, a lot had been written and broadcast about his son. According to local area shrinks, Damon Bridger was a man on the edge who had been sliding further and further toward the dark world of a serial killer.
There was nothing in his past to explain it. Apparently, sometimes it just happened. They didn’t know what had turned him into the sadistic killer he had become, but if he hadn’t been stopped, it would only have been a matter of time before he tortured and killed again.
Tory shuddered to think that if it hadn’t been for Star, she would likely have been his next victim.
Another interesting event had occurred. According to FBI agent Quinn Taggart, the billionaire terrorist from Houston, Jamal Nawabi, had been killed in prison. His Middle East connections had at last come to an end.
A lot of people felt a whole lot safer.