She’d waited for hours.
He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her so close neither one of them could move. He held her, just like that, until his heart stopped racing. Ollie thought he’d known what fear tasted like, but he hadn’t. Not until a small blond woman and four precious kids invaded his house and his heart. He’d thought he loved her before.
He had no idea.
Ollie brought his hands up to cradle her head, kissing her over and over across her face as she began to move again. He would be patient. Love her for hours. Until the hours he’d spent waiting for the serpent to strike were washed away by her touch.
He could never, ever let her go.
One week later
Ollie stood, hands on his hips, watching Alex and Kevin unload more bags. “I really don’t like this.”
“Ollie.” She pressed her hand to his cheek. “You knew we wouldn’t be staying forever.”
Nope. That was actually what he’d been planning on.
“The kids need to be back in their own house,” she said. “They need their rooms, and their routines, and their memories… all of that. At least for a while. They need to be able to remember their dad and grieve.”
He shook his head. “If you’re here, it’s harder to protect you.”
“We don’t have any evidence—other than the threats of a dead man—that anyone is out to get us. And besides, it’s not like I’m banishing you from the house. I want you here for dinner at least three times a week.”
He fought back a smile. “I have a better kitchen.”
“Don’t remind me. I miss your refrigerator already.”
“It’s your fridge. I bought it for you.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “You gonna deliver it over here?”
“No.” He kissed her hard and fast. “I’m holding it hostage until you come home.”
Then he went to help the kids unload her old, crappy minivan and move back into their house, cursing his promise to let her take everything at her own pace. As soon as she agreed to marry him, he was buying her a new car. Something with armor plating, maybe. And then he was fixing up that truck for her so she’d have a fun car too. He knew she wanted that thing. Then he was going to buy a boat and a trailer to match the Ford. Because she liked to go to the river, and because he could.
And if she tried to argue with him, he’d just kiss her. That seemed to be the most effective strategy so far.
He caught Mark sulking on the back porch.
“Hey,” Ollie called. “What’s up?”
“Dude, I thought we were staying with you.”
Ollie sighed and sat down next to him. “I know. I was kind of hoping you were too.”
“So why are we moving back? Chris’s and my room at your house is way bigger. And you have a creek. And a dog. And Kevin said he’d help us build a fort down in the tunnels.”
“Yeah, that’s not gonna be happening anytime soon.”
Mark shrugged. “Still.”
Just then, Loralie’s delighted squeal broke through the air.
“My dinosaurs! Mama, my dinosaurs are still here!”
Ollie looked down at Mark. “You guys need to be here a while longer.”
Mark’s lip pushed out in a pout. “Fine. Is my mom still your girlfriend?”
“Hell, I hope so.”
“Don’t say hell. You’ll get in trouble.”
“Thanks, bud.” He put his arm around the boy. “You know I love you, right?”
Mark’s little body went tense. “Yeah?”
“Like you were my own, Marky.” He bent down and kissed the top of the boy’s head. “And that will never change. Whether you’re living in my house or not.”
Mark let out a long breath. “Okay.”
“You have any more questions?”
“No.”
“Good. Go help your mom.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Six months later
ALLIE PUSHED OPEN THE DOOR and stepped back as if she’d been burned.
“Hey.” Alex walked down the hall. “What’s wrong?”
She put a hand over her mouth. “That’s… um, that’s an office.”
Alex frowned. “Well, yeah.”
“Like, a real office. With a desk and a computer, and… Is that a coffee machine on the table over there?”
“Yeah,” he said. “There’s a little kitchenette in here. I thought since you’d be meeting with clients, especially for catered events, you might—”
“Oh my God!” Allie backed against the opposite wall. “Alex, I can’t do this.”
He smiled. “Of course you can. We’re not even open for another six months. You have time.”
“I don’t even have clothes pretty enough for that office.”
“So go shopping. You have the money now.” He smirked. “Ollie loves it when you go shopping.”
Allie stood up straight. “Alex McCann, what did he tell you?”
“Nothing.”
“You are such a liar.”
“Look!” He pointed at the open door. “You have your own bathroom too.”
“Stop trying to distract me with…” She gasped. “I have my own little garden?”
“Yep. Walled off for privacy. All desert plantings. The fountain goes in next week.” He spread his hands. “Think of this office as a small taste of the resort. When clients come to meet with you, they need to be able to experience the food. The atmosphere.” A speaker crackled to life somewhere, and soft Native American flute music drifted in. “The music.”
Allie started to nod and walk around. “You want them to feel at home.”
“No, I want them to be more relaxed than they are at home. I want them to feel like they’re already on vacation.”
She nodded. “I can do that.”
“I know you can.” He sat in the chair across from her desk. “You can personalize the space a bit, but not too much. Sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize. It needs to reflect the resort and the amenities. Not my tastes. And besides, it’s beautiful, Alex.”
He smiled. “Thank you.”
“Really.” She tentatively sat in the soft brown leather chair behind the desk she didn’t quite believe was hers. “It’s all so beautiful. It’s going to be amazing. I just know it’s going to be a success, and I will help in any way I can.”
“Think you can get your boyfriend to ease up on me a bit?”
“Don’t ask for miracles. Besides, you know he’ll come around.”
There was just one more thing she had to tackle with Alex. Just one more thing she wasn’t sure about.
“Alex, you know Loralie is going into school in the fall, so my hours are pretty easy because the kids are more independent. And of course my dad still helps. But… You’ve invested so much money and time in me taking this job. I guess I need to know that if something changes… Well, I mean if—”
“If you and Buster Bear end up having more kids, we’ll figure it out.”
She blushed. “It’s not… I mean, we haven’t even really talked about it. I just don’t want to rule anything out. We’re still young.”
“I get it. Totally. And Allie, there are so many kids popping up around here, I’m thinking of building on a day care center.” He looked out the window, but a furtive smile crept to his lips.
“Why…” Allie gasped and clapped her hands. “She is, isn’t she?”
Alex nodded deliberately and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. My wife would kill me if I spilled any secrets that you should not ask her about regarding things that may or may not be happening in around seven months’ time.”
Allie laughed. “It’s absolutely killing you not to tell everyone, isn’t it?”
He threw his head back and groaned. “She’s going to drive me crazy.”
“Good practice for when the baby comes then.”
ALLIE snuggled into Ollie’s side on the couch in his office. Now that she and Ollie weren’t living tog
ether, they had to grab the time they had. It was one of the reasons she’d continued working at the Cave even though her finances had eased considerably.
It was Wednesday night, and most of the regulars were gone. They weren’t technically closed, but she saw his eyes drooping so she dragged him to the office and let Tracey man the bar.
“Ted is pregnant,” she whispered.
His eyes flew open. “No way.”
“Yep. I’m not supposed to know about it. Alex kind of spilled the beans yesterday. So don’t say anything.”
He rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Well, you know I have so much trouble not gossiping…”
Allie laughed.
She laughed a lot now. She laughed when her kids dog-piled Ollie on the couch. She laughed when they ate dinner at night. She even managed to laugh—and maybe shriek a little—when she was teaching Kevin to drive.
Ollie had taken over by the second lesson.
Even though they weren’t living with him, the big man was so much a part of their lives, separate homes almost felt like a formality. He didn’t sleep over and neither did she, except for the rare nights that the kids were all gone.
But when the oven broke, he was the one to fix it. When the car finally gave out, Ollie was the one who drove her to buy the used SUV he grudgingly approved of, even if he wanted something newer and fancier for her.
He’d been the one to hold Loralie during the small memorial service they’d held for Joe, and he’d helped to scatter his ashes by the river with the kids.
“Hey,” she said, brushing her fingers against his lips as his eyes started to close. “I love you.”
He smiled and kissed her fingertips. “Love you too.”
Two months later
“ALLIE?”
“In the kitchen!” she yelled back, smoothing down one of the pretty dresses she’d bought for her new job and trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. She could hear Loralie and Chris giggling on the back porch, and she knew Kevin and Mark were probably having the devil’s time keeping them outside.
“Hey.” Ollie walked through the door with his toolbox, still grubby from work. He and Jim were working on revamping the pool room at the Cave. He grinned. “You look nice. Jim said it won’t turn on?”
She motioned to the garbage disposal. “I think there’s something stuck down there, but I can’t figure out what. I already unplugged it so you can look.”
He frowned and peered down into the drain. Then he opened the cupboard underneath the sink and bent down.
Allie said, “What are you doing?”
“If there’s something stuck in it, I need to get it out. Don’t worry. It’s not a big deal.”
“But can’t you just…” She bit her lip. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go! “Can’t you just, you know, stick your hand down there and see if you can feel anything?”
Ollie laughed and held up a giant paw. “Darlin’, you really think I can fit my hand down that little drain? Don’t worry. It’s not a big deal. Won’t take but a few minutes to get it off.”
“But—”
“Allie, don’t worry.” He stuck his head under the sink. “Man, you have the cleanest cupboards I have ever seen. Do you dust down here? That’s… kinda crazy, to be honest.”
“Ollie, stop!”
“What?” He bumped his head a little when he pulled his head from under the sink. “What’s wrong?”
Allie took a deep breath and plunged her hand down the garbage disposal, pulling out a small black box and holding it out to him with an embarrassed laugh.
Ollie’s face went blank. “What is that?”
“I wanted to be clever. The garbage disposal was Mark’s idea because you’re always fixing stuff. I didn’t even think about how big your hands—”
“Allie”—he came to his knees—“what is that?”
She cracked open the box to reveal the band she and the kids had picked out. Five gold strands woven together, one for her and one for each of them.
Her heart was racing. “I think, technically, I’m the one who’s supposed to be on my knees right now.”
“Baby—” His voice cracked.
“You said we could go at my pace,” she said. “Well, this is my pace. You’re already part of this family, Oliver Campbell. We all love you so much. I love you so much. I can’t imagine…” She started to cry. “I can’t imagine life without you. You promised to make my life sweet again, and you have. So much, Ollie. So much sweetness, I don’t know what to do with it all except give you some back. As much as I can. So will you do me the honor of being my husband?”
He rose and took her face in his hands, kissing her with wild, joyful abandon. He wrapped her in his arms and swung her around, laughing against her mouth when he finally set her down.
He smiled and blinked hard when he looked down at the ring she still held in her hand. “But I already have yours picked out. Kevin helped me.”
“Double-crossing kids.” Allie laughed and wiped the tears off her cheeks. “Does that mean it’s a yes?”
“Yes.” He picked her up again and kissed her slower, savoring her. “Yes, yes, yes.” He shouted over his shoulder. “Did you hear that? Yes. Now stop listening at the door and go play so I can kiss your mom.”
Loralie’s giggles burst through the air.
Chris shouted at the top of his lungs. “He said yes, guys!”
“I’m shocked. So shocked.”
“Are they kissing again?”
“Oh yeah. Lots.”
Allie ignored them and kissed her man. The finest man she had ever known. The man who loved her. Who made her heart race and her body sing. The man who lived in her heart. The brave, brave man who’d had the guts to say “Yep” to all her crazy.
The man she trusted to be hers for the rest of her life.
And that life had never looked sweeter.
Epilogue
SEAN QUINN WALKED INTO THE QUIET, velvet-walled club in Las Vegas. The soothing sounds of a quiet piano played in the corner of the room, and vintage French advertisements lined the walls. It was the kind of place that reminded visitors that once, Las Vegas had meant glamour with an edge of danger instead of giant mega malls, exploding volcanoes, and fading pop stars.
He slipped a hundred-dollar bill to the manager and hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his faded black jeans as he strolled past the booths.
Sunday afternoon was a quiet time, but there were still a few regulars. A couple of Vegas institutions, chatting over vodka tonics, and one of the headliners at a smaller casino.
And him. The man Sean had paid good money to find.
He was a man of no particular fame, of medium height and build. His face was nondescript. So were his clothes, which were fine, but not too fine. Well cut, but not particularly stylish. He was reading a newspaper and drinking a clear cocktail with three limes.
Sean slid into the booth opposite him, and the man put his newspaper down.
His eyes were notable.
Cool blue in a brown face. Notable.
“Can I help you?” His English had no accent.
“I believe we have a mutual acquaintance.”
“Oh?”
“He took a wrong turn in the desert. Didn’t find his way out.”
The polite mask fell away from Efrén Abano’s face, and the cool blue eyes turned frigid. “I see.”
“He had a young man with him.”
“He did,” the man they called Lobo said. “He was quite forthcoming when he returned. He told an interesting story. Unfortunately, he also took a wrong turn in the desert not long after that.”
An unexpected flare of anger rose in Sean. “That’s too bad.”
“Well,” Efrén said, “the desert is a vast and dangerous place. One wrong step can lead to death.”
Sean leaned his elbows on the table. “It’s good that you remember that, Lobo.”
Irritated eyes flickered around the room. “I wasn’t talking about m
e.”
“No? You should have been.”
“What is your name? Since you know mine, it only seems polite.”
“My name is Sean Quinn.”
Efrén chuckled. “Ah. A Quinn. If they had sent the wolf, I might have taken more notice.”
“I’m glad you feel that way. We prefer to be overlooked. Makes it so much easier to get what we want.”
The smile fled Efrén’s face. “What do you want?”
“Your man said you wanted revenge. On us. Why? As far as I’ve been able to find out, no one in our town has even heard your name.”
Efrén pursed his lips together. He almost looked amused. “That’s quite possible. But of course, you only have the word of a traitor that I want revenge, and you only have the word of old men that they’ve never heard of me. It’s a conundrum.”
Sean ignored the slight against the council. For now. “So you don’t want revenge?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Sean was silent.
“Am I irritating you yet?” Efrén asked.
“I’m the leader of the snake clan. It takes a lot to irritate me.”
“The leader?” Efrén’s eyes sharpened. “So the old man has finally curled up and died, has he?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Ah.” Efrén smiled. “So you are his chosen successor. Interesting.”
“Not really.”
“What do you want, Sean Quinn? It seems only fair to return the question.”
Sean leaned back. “I don’t know about your organization. I don’t really want to know. I just want you to leave the Springs alone.”
“Is that so?” Efrén’s face was a picture of innocence. “I’m sorry. There must have been a misunderstanding of some sort with our… acquaintance.”
“Oh?” A faint hope rose in Sean’s chest. Maybe Ashford had been exaggerating. Maybe he was just a liar. Maybe Efrén didn’t care two shakes about Cambio Springs after all.
“Yes,” Efrén said. “I’m afraid leaving the Springs alone is quite impossible.”