Bluebells on the Hill (23 page)

Again and again she bowed her thanks for
their applause, motioning to the band, to Dave. Smiling, waving.
Finally, for the last time. Then she turned and walked quickly back
to the rear of the stage, stumbled down the steps, right into Mac's
arms.

'I said I was a fool,' he murmured, gathering
her in and lowering his head.

The touch of his mouth drove all conscious
thought from Amanda's head. She clasped him tightly and returned
his kisses, hungry for them. Longing and desire rising. Wishing the
moment could go on and on, only the two of them, together again at
last. His mouth warm and exciting, his hands molding her against
him.

'Was that a proposal up there?' he asked,
when he at last raised his head.

'Please, I'm an engaged lady, I don't make
proposals.' She smiled up at him, love shining from her eyes,
oblivious to all going on around them.

'It was quite a song. You have a beautiful
way with words, sweetheart.'

'Like, I love you?'

Um, just like that.' He lowered his head
again to her waiting lips.

'Excuse us, but you're blocking the way.'
Dave stood on the bottom step, Sam and Joe close behind.

'Oh, sorry. Dave, Sam, Joe, this is Mac!'
Amanda turned around, smiling in her happiness, linking her arm in
his and introducing him.

'We've sort of met,' Dave said, hesitantly
offering a hand.

‘
Yes.' Mac took it. 'But with a
misconception; I thought you were her biker lover.'

Amanda giggled. That was something else to be
cleared up. She had forgotten Mac was still in the dark about a lot
of things.

'Biker!' Dave sputtered, outrage evident in
his face. Sam kindly bumped him along before he could explode.

'Glad to meet the rancher. How did you like
her song?'

Joe also shook his hand, as did Phil and
Marc, now joining them.

'I liked the song. I expect most of the town
liked it.' he said drily. 'I wasn't expecting anything like it.
I've never had a song written to me before.' He turned and glanced
warmly at Amanda's upturned face. 'I liked it very much,' he
repeated.

'We thought it was good, too.'

Mac turned back to the band. 'I reckon I'll
be seeing a lot of you all, if I throw my lot in with this
baggage,' Mac said, drawing her close to him.

'Right on,' Dave said, still annoyed at being
thought a biker. 'But from what Mandy has lined up, not until
Thanksgiving.'

One or two other people were coming around
the stage, more behind them.

'I'll look forward to it,' Mac said hastily,
his eye on the group approaching. To Amanda he spoke, turning her
towards the truck. 'I have a few things I want cleared up, are you
finished? Can we leave?'

'Yes, let's go. See you later,' she called
over her shoulder. 'Enjoy the picnic.'

In only moments, they were pulling out of the
parking lot, leaving the crowds behind, just the two of them
heading for the ranch.

'I'm sorry you found out the way you did,'
Amanda began diffidently. 'I don't blame you a bit for being so
angry. I wanted to tell you earlier in the summer, but never found
the right time. Then the rest happened so fast, your proposal,
John-Michael's interruption, then the news about Evie.'

'How is she, by the way,' Mac
interrupted.

'Oh, she’s coming along fine. Complete
recovery expected. She's Dave's wife, you know. I'm very fond of
her.'

'No, I didn't know Dave was married. In fact,
I know very little about you other than you are headstrong and
stubborn and fill my days with joy,' Mac replied.

A lump caught in her throat at the unexpected
compliment.

'Oh, Mac, I've missed you so much.'

'I've missed you, too. God, I thought the
time would never pass. Each night seemed five years long. Then to
drive in this morning and see that bus.' He drew in a ragged
breath. 'John-Michael told me who you really were. He knew, but
hadn't said anything.'

'I should have told you before, but with one
thing and another, I just didn't. I'm sorry you found out that way
this morning.'

'We didn't communicate well when you were
gone. I thought you didn't come back because you didn't want
to.'

'I had to help with Evie. I wanted to write,
then thought I should tell you personally about things ... I missed
you so much,' she said, placing a consoling hand on his hard
thigh.

'Tell me about you,' he said, reaching out to
squeeze her hand lying on his leg.

So Amanda did, all about the incognito
summer, about Dave and Evie and baby Annie.

'And so I wrote the song. I could never seem
to just come out and tell you,' she finished.

He pulled into the driveway and stopped,
turning to her.

'But, Mandy love, I especially want you to
say whatever you like to me. For you to feel safe and secure in our
life together, to be at ease always with me. I made mistakes in my
first marriage. I don't plan to repeat them this go round. If I
live to be a hundred-and-three, I want you there with me, singing
your songs, panning for gold, whatever it is you want.'

'I want to be with you,' she said softy. 'I
love you, Mac.'

'I love you, sweetheart.' He took her in his
arms, kissing her deeply as a man long deprived, his mouth warm and
exciting, evoking the responses Amanda remembered all so well.
Eagerly she returned his kiss, her mouth a soft inviting sweetness
to him, her hands relearning him. Slowly she trailed fingers down
the strong column of his neck, slipping beneath the collar of his
shirt. His skin was warm and taut.

He left her mouth to trail kisses along her
neck, to her cheeks.

'What about Sally Sutherland?' she asked
abruptly.

Mac drew back just a little. 'Sally? What
about Sally?'

He was totally at a loss.

'Well, she was very possessive at your aunt's
dinner party, and then sat near you today and all...' Amanda
vaguely trailed off. 'I thought perhaps you had something...'

'I fell in love with a hot-tempered brat the
day I kissed her and she doused me with icy water. I have never
loved Sally, nor given her two thoughts since falling in love with
you.'

'That's when?' She laughed. 'But I had no
idea!'

'Well, no,' he replied rather sheepishly. 'I,
er, had to break down my own reservations first. But that's why I
arranged for the option. I thought I could tie up the land for the
future and be able to stop trying to get you to leave. That was the
last thing I wanted by that time.'

'Oh, darling, and I never knew. I thought to
give you the land for a wedding present.'

'You did? Thanks, but I don't seem to have
the same urgency for it now. I'd rather have you.'

'Oh, well, it will just be in the family. You
were a long time in overcoming your own reservations.'

He pulled her against him again. 'Yes, but
once gone, there was only you. Here I thought I was going to have
to reform a hippie wife and find instead a leading star in my
life.'

'You don't mind too much, do you? she asked
anxiously. 'I am planning to settle down. My engagements won't be
too extensive.'

'As long as you always come back to me, I can
spare you to the rest of the world a few times a year, I
guess.'

'I love you John Mackenzie.'

'And I love you, Mandy Smith.'

His mouth was warm and exciting and she
arched against him, wondering if they'd ever be close enough to
satisfy her, to feel the hard length of him against her again, to
find fulfillment of the promise of his touch.

Releasing her at long last, he sat back,
started the truck, reversing out to the highway.

'Are we going back to the picnic?' Amanda
asked in surprise.

"No, Nevada. We can get there in only a
couple of hours.'

‘
Nevada, whatever for?' She had thought
they would go to her cabin or his home. Be alone for a while, catch
up on things.

'Two reasons, one, they have twenty-four-hour
marriage chapels with no waiting, and two, a motel where the phone
won't ring, nor kids interrupt, nor aunts drop by. Dave said you're
committed until Thanksgiving. Doesn't give us much time to get
started on a honeymoon.'

Amanda gave a gurgle of laughter. ‘Oh, Mac,
I’d love to. But what about the band? Your aunt? John-Michael?’

‘
We’ll tell them when we get back,’ he
said.

She smiled and reached out to touch him.
‘I’ll always remember this. And don’t get me wrong, I want to marry
you as fast as we can. But my mama would skin me alive if she
wasn’t at my wedding. My cousins would never get over it. And you
need your son there. Really.’

The truck slowed, and he eased to the side of
the road. Traffic was non-existent. He looked at her. ‘I want you
so much.’

She undid her seat belt and moved across the
seat to be as close to him as she could get. ‘I want you, too.
Today, tomorrow, forever. We have family who will rejoice in our
happiness. We can’t deprive them of sharing in our joy.’

He kissed her and then brushed his fingers
against her cheek. ‘When you’re right, you’re right. So how soon
can we get everyone together?’

Amanda laughed. ‘Just as soon as we can.
Let’s go tell them all.’

Mac turned the truck around.

She sat back to enjoy the ride, to enjoy
whatever life brought from this day forward.

‘
... Glory be, glory be, the rancher
loves me.'

About the Author

Barbara McMahon is an award-winning, best
selling author of more than eighty novels. Known for warm family
type stories, she enjoys capturing the first stage of a
relationship and showing how despite obstacles thrown in their way,
a man and a woman can find true love and lasting happiness.

Her books have been translated into 23
different languages and sold in more than 50 foreign countries.

For more than twenty-five years she's made
her home in Northern California, the last seventeen in the rural
county of Amador—in the heart of the Mother Lode, California's gold
rush country.

Watch for
Crazy About You
, coming
in September, 2011.

Visit Barbara at :
www.barbaramcmahon.com

or on Facebook at
AuthorBarbaraMcMahon