Callahan's Gold (Southwest Desert Series Book 3) (19 page)

"Changed? How?"

"You'll see." He gave her a smug look and ushered her through the airport and into his waiting car.

She slid into the new-smelling leather interior of a blue sedan. "Very nice. Is it new?"

He nodded proudly. "Traded the Blazer for it. I knew you'd like this better."

"But what do you use for going up into the mountains?"

"Don't do that anymore. Don't need to. Too busy doing other things."

"Oh." She fastened the seat belt. "Busy doing what?"

While he drove through town, Dodge explained about his job and all that had kept him busy during the past weeks. "I'm the assistant geology professor in charge of Mineral Deposits on the Western Slopes, and that title puts me in line for tenure. Plus I've published a position paper on gold deposits in the Dragoons. That gave me instant peer recognition and influence with the administration."

She listened, wondering if this was the same Dodge Callahan she'd left in Tombstone. "Do you mean you haven't been to Lovelock or Rebel Creek or Midas?"

He breathed through his teeth. "Why would I want to go to those places?"

"Gold, of course." She gazed at him with clear blue eyes. "I'd hoped you could show me some of your favorite haunts around here. I brought my softest jeans and my mountain boots."

He pursed his lips. "I—uh—don't have any favorite places to look for gold because I don't do that anymore, Tory."

"Hmm, funny. I thought you'd never quit. Sharkey didn't."

"Well, I'm not Sharkey."

"No, but you're a lot like him."

"I don't think so."

Oh, yes, you are, Dodge Callahan, she thought with a smug smile. She leaned back on the seat and tried to relax. They drove along in relative silence, exchanging bits of information about the weather and saying life in general was "just fine." Both of them were lying, and strangely enough, both sensed it. But neither commented on it.

Dodge's house was on a hill with a curving driveway. When they halted in front, Tory gaped in awe. "A house? I thought you'd have an apartment." The place was lovely.

"How do you like it?"

"Beautiful, of course! Are you renting?"

"No, it's mine. Bought it last month. I thought you'd like it."

"This is what you did with your share of the gold? You didn't buy a new four-by-four or a cruise around the world?"

"Naw. Don't need them." His brown eyes were alight with a special glow. "Come on, I want you to see the living room."

"What's in the living room?" She grabbed her purse and small overnighter and followed him up the stairs. The multilevel house was built into the hillside and sported blue shutters on the front windows. Tory wondered if it had a neat little picket fence, too.

Dodge dropped her bags in the foyer and led her into the sunken living room. She gazed in awe at the stone fireplace that covered one end of the room and the potted fir tree in the other. "How interesting," she commented with a curious glance at him. "It's like having your own Christmas tree growing right in the house."

"I thought you'd like it." He beamed proudly. "Want to see the pool? How about a drink first? Perrier, isn't it? I went all the way to France for you."

She grinned at his teasing and followed him into the spacious kitchen. "Sounds great. Oh my God, this kitchen is gorgeous."

"Every modern convenience," he said.

"Granite countertops." She spread her hands on the cool stone while he poured her sparkling water, and popped a beer for himself. "Thanks."

"My pleasure. Want to continue the tour on the patio?"

They stepped out onto the brick patio that surrounded the blue-tiled pool. She walked around a little, admiring everything. Finally, she turned to face him. Was this the same Dodge with whom she'd fallen in love? Maybe she didn't remember him right. Maybe she never knew him at all. She took a deep breath and felt the uneasiness in the air.

"Well, you've certainly been busy, Dodge. Going after tenure, writing articles, getting them pub
lished, buying a house . . . sounds like a lot of changes. For you."

"Yep. Changes for the better, I hope." He propped a booted foot up on a brick step. "It feels good to put down roots. I'm steadier now and—"

"Boring?"

He chuckled uneasily. "Well, maybe. Certainly more secure. And that's important. Isn't it important to you, Tory?"

"I suppose . . ." She used to think that security was the most important thing. So what was wrong with her?

He slapped his knee. "Enough about me. What about you, Tory? What have you been doing since we last met?"

"Just working."

"At your shop?"

"The shop was my mother's, you know. I just inherited it."

"Like you inherited the debts? I'm assuming those are all paid off now. How's business?"

"Matter of fact, I'm in the process of selling it."

"Selling the shop? Why?"

She lifted her blue eyes imploringly. Would she be able to make Dodge understand? He, of all people, should. "Because I realized the shop wasn't for me anymore. It was never mine from the beginning. It was my mother's idea, her project, her life. Not mine."

He looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I'm not sure I understand. It's a business, and a good one. Most people would give their eye teeth for something like that."

"I know." She sighed. He did not understand her. Why did she think he would? "But I'm not a retailer. After Mama died last year, I tried to carry on, but it's been a disaster. Without Megan, my manager, I would have been bankrupt long ago."

He shook his head. "I thought you liked it?"

"I tried to like it. I wanted to. After all, that was the normal thing to do. But I've discovered that it just holds me down. A business is too confining for me. I want to be freer, I guess. Surely you, of all people, understand that, Dodge."

He ran a large hand through his unruly hair, messing it even more. When he didn't answer, she continued trying to explain. "So I've decided to sell the business to Megan. That's a safe bet, you know. She loves that shop, and actually, she'll do a better job of running it than I did."

"I see." He ambled around the pool, pausing to gulp the beer, then continuing to walk. "What are you going to do with yourself after you sell?"

"I don't know. Haven't decided yet. I thought" —she chuckled self-consciously and followed him —"I thought that it might be interesting to invest some of my money into a capitalistic venture. Like maybe . . . gold mining."

He looked up quickly, then away. "Yeah, well, I don't know how profitable those are."

"If you trust the company, it isn't so risky."

"I don't know of any around that can be trusted."

"Perhaps you're interested in forming another Sun Seekers Mining Company, Dodge."

"Naw. Too busy."

"Too busy writing articles and—"

"Too busy putting down roots."

"Oh." She sighed deeply. "Well, I know this all sounds sort of bizarre and unconventional."

"For you, Tory, it does. It doesn't sound like you at all."

She confronted him. "Does it sound like something Sharkey Carsen's daughter might do?"

He glared at her, his mouth working silently beneath that wonderful shaggy mustache. "Yes, maybe it does."

"Then what's wrong with it?"

"Nothing . . ." There was another moment of tense silence.

Then she spoke in a strained voice. "This whole thing is really crazy, Dodge. Seems like you've been busy buying property and putting down roots. And I've been busy selling everything I own and pulling up roots."

"Looks like we've both been busy changing."

"Yes, I think so." She turned and walked slowly back inside, placing her glass on a kitchen counter.

He followed her, saying nothing.

She halted before her bag in the foyer. Inside her chest was a knot that threatened to choke her. Things were not right here, not the same, not what she expected. And obviously, not what Dodge expected. All Tory could think of was that she did not belong in this house.

Dodge stopped in the doorway, almost filling the space with his large frame. "I'm still the same, Tory. Just in different surroundings."

"No, Dodge, you're different. I don't know what happened to us. Maybe we're both different. But I don't think this is right. I don't belong here."

"Don't you see, Tory? I did all this for you."

She clutched her bosom. "For me? Why—"

"Because you wanted a place of your own. And roots. And because ... I love you. I want you here. With me. I want you to love it here, too."

She gasped and for a moment she couldn't move. Slowly, she turned around.

His expression was filled with love. "I could never say it before. I was scared of what it would mean, how it would change everything for both of us. But I found that my love for you would not go away. So I tried to become what I thought you wanted in a man."

"But, Dodge, I never wanted anyone but you. Just the way you were. I fell in love with Dodge Callahan, the rough and ready cowboy, the sun seeker."

"I thought you wanted someone steady, someone who could offer security and roots because that's what you never had."

"So that's why you bought this house instead of a cruise around the world? And traded the Blazer for a sedan?"

He shrugged and laughed. "I never really considered a cruise. I'm not a sailor. I'm a . . . gold digger."

She turned away. "I suppose unconsciously I tried to become what I thought you wanted in a woman. Someone who could ride into the mountains with the best of them."

He took one hand, turned her around. "I fell in love with a classy woman with the longest legs in the world and the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. Especially when I made love to her. And I don't give a damn about how well you ride a mule into the mountains. Now, after seeing you again, I love you even more."

"Dodge . . ."

There was no more hesitation. She flew into his arms, and he lifted her off her feet. She squeezed him tightly, as if to make sure they never let go. And he held her securely, pressing their bodies and hearts together. For a wildly happy moment, Tory thought she might cry and buried her face against his neck. "Dodge, oh, Dodge, what have we done?"

His lips caressed her bare neck. "We almost lost something very, very wonderful between us."

She leaned her head back and allowed his kisses to trail around her neck, to the sensitive areas of her skin. "I missed you, missed what you do to me." He loosened his hold on her, and she slid sensuously down his unyielding body, down just far enough for their lips to meet. Then, lips still locking, he slowly lowered her further until her feet touched the floor.

His kiss practically took her breath away, a reminder of what they'd missed, a preview of things to come. It was wonderful and wild, and she could hardly believe they'd held back all this time. All the love they had stored away and held dormant in their hearts flowed to the surface. And bubbled over.

When they finally came up for air, he looked slightly dazed. "God, I thought I'd never get to see you again, or kiss you like that."

She took a deep breath. "Wow, what we've missed."

"And we nearly ruined everything by changing."

"Don't ever change, Dodge. I love you, Dodge —just the way you are."

His kiss smothered her lips as he lifted her up in his strong arms. "Tory, my darlin' lil' fancy pants, I love everything about you. Every inch, even your fancy pants."

"Show me."

He chuckled throatily as he whisked her into his bedroom. "Thank God you haven't lost your loving spirit, Tory Talbot!"

"Thank God you haven't lost your desire for me, Dodge Callahan."

"Never, my love." He dropped her on the bed and began stripping off his shirt and jeans. His feverish hands couldn't work fast enough.

She wriggled out of her jeans and silk blouse and waited impatiently for him.

They came together, nude and ready for love, holding each other close for a long time.

"I thought I'd never get to hold you again, Tory. Never get to touch you . . ." He bent to kiss her again.

Tory's joyous laughter danced through the rambling house, beneath the evergreen tree and up the spacious fireplace in the living room, out onto the brick patio and around the tiled pool.

Then the house was quiet, save for low murmurs of love. Brief, sexy words punctuated the hush. They came together and merged with a clashing of cymbals, a ringing of bells, a pounding of drums. The world celebrated while they made love.

Tears of joy fell from her beautiful blue eyes. "You're crying?"

"It's all right. I just love you so much. Hold me, and never let go."

"You will always be here, near my heart." And he held her close, just the way she wanted.

Later, much later. . .

"Tory, I want you to be my wife."