GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) (29 page)

Beth’s head was spinning
.
“You’re serious!”

“Yes, I am
.
I want you to be my wife
;
I want you to have my babies and share the rest of my life with me
.
Say yes, Anne.”

“Sam
…
”

He brushed her lips with a soft kiss
.
“Do you love me?”

“You know I do.”

“Then say yes, Anne
.
Say you’ll marry me.”

Beth
didn’t answer right away.
She
knew he loved her; it was there in his eyes, in the soft curve of his lips, the gentleness of his touch. She
envisioned
sharing
her
life with Sam, raising his children
, growing old together, the enormous happiness that could be hers if she would only reach out and take it.
Perhaps, in time, she would
wear him down and
persuade
him to make
a place in his life for his first child
.
For now, she
would
let it go and do what she knew in her heart was right
.

“Yes,” she
smiled up at him.
“I’ll marry you
,
Sam.”

                                                                
*
**

Beth sat at her desk, a soft smile playing on her lips
.
Sam
was
reluctant to let her leave, but she finally convinced him they both had work to do
.
She’d stopped at the pharmacy on the way back to the office and picked up a refill o
f
birth control pills as well as an early pregnancy test
.
If her cycle didn’t start in a few days, she
would
take the test and find out for sure
.
Sam’s r
esponse to the news she might be pregnant had surprised her, but she’d been utterly floored
when he asked her to marry him
.
She hadn’t even dared to dream he would propose, and now…

“Beth
…
no, Anne Travis,” she said out loud
and
then giggled
like a love-sick school girl.
 

She closed her eyes for a few minutes, wallowing in the happiness was doing its best to erase the horrors of the past few days.
It made her positively giddy to think
falling asleep in Sam’s arms every night and
waking e
ach
morning to
his bone melting kisses
.
With a
wistful
sigh,
Beth
sat up and
forced herself to read the messages that had been
steadily piling up on her
.
There was one from a Detective Holt regarding the explosion that morning and also one from the
f
ire
m
arshal
.
She dialed the
fire marshal
first
,
who confirmed the fire was caused by arson
.

She explained about Stockton and why they suspected him
.
She
also
informed him about
Vic’s car
.
Any suspicions he might have had about her setting the fire were quickly dismissed when he heard about the car
.
Beth was assured he would
send a copy of the report so she could forward it to her insurance company.

Next
,
she
called Detective Holt
and recounted
what little she knew and what she’d witnessed that morning
.
She
gave him Vic’s name and the hospital he was staying at
,
as well as Sam’s name and number
.
After
promis
ing that she and Sam would
come down to the station before the end of the day
to
fill out a statement
, Beth ended the call
.

Apparently, his investigators had already been out to examine the remains of Vic’s car while she and Sam were at the hospital
. Holt
assured her he
would
let
them
know what the investigation turned up
.
To
Beth,
it was obvious
that the bomb was triggered by Vic’s remote
,
which made her wonder
whether
Stockton had hired someone to plant the bomb
or if he’d done it himself
.
 

S
am was in a meeting so she left a message to let him know they needed to make a trip to the police station as soon as he was free.
He called less than an hour later and promised to pick her up by four o’clock
.
Beth spent the rest of the afternoon trying to concentrate on work
.
She’d divided Vic’s work among
some of her
employees
,
with the exception of anything requiring
her personal attention
.
After what Vic had gone through,
she was
n’t
about to have him
return
to a mountain of work.

By three
thirty, she’d done all she cared to do that day
.
She stood by the window watching the traffic go by,
thinking about the child Sam had fathered with the woman in the tabloids. It broke her heart to think that one day soon he…or she…would ask about their father and wonder
why
he
never made any attempt to see
visit
.

Sam was a wonderful man and she loved him with all her heart, but what he’d done was wrong and she needed to help him see that
.
She also felt a deep compassion for the woman who had to raise Sam’s child on her own
.
Did he pay support
?
Did he send gifts on the child’s birthday or at Christmas time
?

Beth turned from the window
.
She was driving herself crazy with questions that might never be answered
.
She w
andered back to
her desk but before she could sit
down
, the receptionist
buzzed to
let her know Sam had arrived
.
Drawing in a deep breath, Beth
tried to prepare herself for the barrage of questions the detective
was bound to
have for her.

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                       *
**

They filled out statements, answered what seemed like a million questions, and gave the detective what information they had on Roger Stockton
.
When they finished, Beth insisted Sam take her back to the office so she could make a call to John Stockton
.
Sam waited patiently while Beth placed the call
. Disappointed when John didn’t answer,
she
left
a
brief
message
requesting that he return her call
.

“Do you want to leave your car here
?
I’
ll
drive
you to work in the morning
,
”
he added in a tone that broached no argument.

Beth stopped in front of Sam’s truck and stared at her car
.
“Sam
?
What if he
…
well, my car
has
been here for a few days
.
Do you think Stockton did to my car what he did to Vic’s?”

Sam followed her gaze
,
sub
consciously plac
ing
himself between Beth and the car
.
“It’s possible, sweetheart
.
I think we need to place a call to Detective Holt and have him check it out
.
In the meantime, don’t g
o
anywhere near it.”

“We’d better do it right away
.
I don’t want it blowing up when one of my employees is standing close to it.”

Sam nodded
and
urged her into the truck
.
As soon as they were
clear
of the parking lot
,
he called the detective and was promised a bomb squad
would be dispatched
right away.
 

“What about the keys
?”
Sam asked the detective.

“I can have the squad out there in thirty minutes
;
can you meet them there?”

They hadn’t waited long when
Detective
Holt pulled in
,
followed by a van and the bomb squad
.
He had Sam pull his truck to the far side of the parking lot
and
then waited with them while a couple of men checked Beth’s car
.
An hour later
,
they
were given the all clear. Enormously relieved,
Beth thanked the detective when he returned her keys and waited until they’d gone to
move towards her car.

“Not so fast,” Sam gripped her arm. “I’m sure the guys from the bomb squad know what they’re doing, but there’s still a slight chance they missed something.  I think it would be better if I took your car and had you follow me in the truck.”

Beth looked at him in horror
.
“First of all, the car is fine
. A
nd if it’s not, I’ll be damned if I’m going watch you get blown to pieces right in front of me.”

Sam’s face hardened
.
“Well
,
I sure as hell don’t want to see that happen to you either.”

Beth stood on her toes and gave him a kiss
.
“I do love you, Sam Travis, but you’re not driving my car
.
Besides, I seriously doubt you
w
ould fit behind the wheel.”
 

He gave in reluctantly but insisted that they stand back and depress the lock button several times before allowing her to drive it
.
Satisfied the car wasn’t
going to
explode;
he let Beth get behind the wheel
and
then leaned down
to give
her a kiss
.
She watched him walk to his truck
, the tension in his shoulders evident
despite his efforts to appear unconcerned.
She knew he wouldn’t breathe easy until they reached his house so she
whipped around the truck,
push
ing
the speed limit
most of the way,
and
then had to listen to his scolding for doing so.

Beth stood in the garage and waited until he finished
the lecture
before
wrap
ping
her arms around his neck
.
“Quit picking at me or I won’t make you dinner,” she threatened.

“You won’t be making dinner anyway
.
Maggie would be t
erribly
insulted if you didn’t let her do her job
.
Besides, you’ve had a very exhausting day and could use the down time.”

“Do you think we can go to the hospital and see Vic after dinner?”

“I’d planned on it,” he told her
.
“
Now l
et’s g
o
inside so you can meet Maggie.”

Beth looked at him worriedly
.
“Do you think she’ll like me, Sam?”

“She’ll love you almost as much as I do.”

Maggie was basting a heavenly
-
smelling roast
when they entered the kitchen
.
“Finally figured out why I make enough food for two, did you?” she
teased Sam as she placed the roast back in the oven.
“Now, who is your lovely young guest?” Maggie said, crossing the room.