Hallie's Destiny (The Donovans of the Delta) (18 page)

Josh passed her on the bridge over the Tennessee. When her purple car whizzed by, he felt as if he’d been socked in the stomach. It was the first time he’d seen her since the reception. One glance was enough. All the love, the passion, the joy, the laughter—everything that was uniquely Hallie came pouring through him. There on the bridge, he had his bright moment of epiphany. He knew that he could never let her go. He’d find a way for them. Soon. Very soon.

At the moment, though, George was waiting for him. He’d agreed to try one more clinic.

 o0o

The birds woke Josh early Saturday morning. He got up, whistling. He took time only for a cup of coffee, then he set out for the little house on Cypress Mill Road.

Hallie’s car wasn’t there. She didn’t answer the door. He speculated that maybe she’d had car trouble and it had already been picked up and taken to the garage. Or maybe somebody had borrowed her car and she was sleeping late. Knowing the futility of his action, he stood at her door for five minutes, ringing the bell.

“She’s not home.” He turned at the sound of the voice. “She’s not home,” Debbie yelled again. Wearing her bathrobe and hair curlers, she crossed over into Hallie’s yard. “I came out to get the morning paper and saw your car. Hallie’s gone.”

Josh felt panic. His mind conjured up the worst possible scenario: Hallie had left Florence for good.

“Gone?”

Debbie sat on the redwood porch steps. “Mind if I sit down? I stayed up ‘til three watching Friday night movies, and I’m plumb tuckered out.”

Josh curbed his impatience. “Did Hallie say where she was going?”

Debbie laughed. “Did she say where she was going! Land, yes. Be gone through Tuesday. I’m in charge while she’s gone. Isn’t that something? She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. Imagine, me without even a college degree, taking on a job run by somebody with a master’s. How’s Hiram?”

“Better than he’s been in a while. About Hallie . . .”

“I might just give him a call.” Debbie cocked her head to one side and assessed Josh. “Is something bothering you? You look like World War III has been declared,”

“Miss Debbie, I’d be mighty grateful if you’d please tell me where Hallie is.”

Debbie roared with laughter. “Sounds to me like somebody’s anxious to find out. Well, all right. I guess I won’t punish you anymore. She’s gone to Texas.”

“To Texas?”

“Lord ‘a mercy. From the looks of you, you’d think the A-bomb had been dropped in the middle of Florence. She won’t be gone forever. Some folks around here couldn’t do without her.”

Josh didn’t miss her emphasis on
some folks
.

“Did she go to Dallas?”

“Yes. She’s got a famous brother living there. He’s got a new baby. Some men are real family men.”

Josh lifted her off her feet and gave her the biggest bear hug she’d ever had. He shocked the smug look right off her face.

“Thank you, Miss Debbie.”

Then he set her on her feet so fast, her hair curlers rattled, and took off to his car, running.

 o0o

The Texas Roundup drew a big crowd. Especially when word got out that Hallie Donovan would be riding.

She was in the ring now, one leather-gloved hand waving in the air, the other holding the rope that wrapped around the bull’s belly. Dust billowed around them.

The roar of the crowd infuriated the bull. Snorting and bellowing, he slung Hallie around like a rag doll. A less experienced rider might have been unseated, but Hallie Donovan rode with ease. She even laughed. Her laughter goaded the bull to even greater rage. He charged the fence, hoping to swipe his hated rider off. Only the quick actions of a rodeo clown saved Hallie’s left leg. The cowboy clown jumped off the railing in front of the fence and waved a red flag, turning the charging bull back to center ring.

There was nothing like danger to excite a rodeo crowd. They stomped and whistled and applauded.

Hallie’s bull gave one last, furious twist. She rose into the air, and for a tense moment, it looked as if she’d be thrown. But she landed safely on the bull’s broad back. The jolt loosened her Stetson. It flew off her head and sailed across the fence.

“Would you look at that?” a fat man with a red face and a red bandana said to his companion.

The Stetson, lying at their feet, had three faded yellow roses attached to the hatband. As he bent to pick up the hat, a large bronzed hand appeared out of nowhere and snatched it up.

“Excuse me. I’ll return this to its owner.”

The fat man’s mouth fell open and stayed that way as he watched a tall man disappear into the crowd, bearing away the souvenir hat.

“Well, the very nerve!”

The loudspeaker drowned out further comment. “Let’s hear it for Hallie Donovan, folks. Eight seconds! And what a ride it was. And now, hang onto your hats. Our next rider is challenger Marilyn Timmons, that tornado from Grenada . . . Mississippi, that is.”

The excitement of the ride was still with Hallie as she left the arena. She joined Tanner on the bleachers.

“That was a dangerous ride. I was worried about you.”

She smiled. “We Donovans are indestructible. All I lost was my hat.”

Together they watched the rest of the rodeo.

At the end, the loudspeaker squawked back on, and Jim Buck Pearson announced the winners in his nasal twang. There weren’t many surprises. Hallie listened as the familiar names in each event were called.

Suddenly there was a long silence. Then a new voice came over the loudspeaker. “The bull riding champ is Hallie Donovan.”

Hallie gasped. It was no surprise that she’d won the event; she’d expected that. But the voice, she thought. That voice sent shivers down her spine.

“Hallie Donovan is a multitalented woman. She’s a rodeo champ. She teaches special children . . .”

Hallie was on her feet. She gripped Tanner’s arm.

“Tanner?”

He merely smiled. “Be quiet and listen, Hallie.”

“. . . she’s going to be my wife . . . if she’ll have me. Hallie, this is Josh. Will you marry me?”

Her Texas whoop could be heard all the way to Florence, Alabama. The crowd took up the roar.

She fairly flew over the bleachers.

“Yes . . . yes . . . yes.”

People parted to make way for her. Two enthusiastic and romantic cowboys lifted her onto their shoulders and delivered her to the announcer’s stand. Josh smiled down at her. She was speechless with joy.

“Well, my wicked gypsy angel. Are you going to sit there all day or are you going to kiss me?”

With a laugh, she jumped into his arms. “It looks as though I’m marrying a bossy man.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Are you going to kiss me or spend all day chattering?”

His answer was a demonstration of his intentions. Their kiss brought a prolonged cheer from the crowd.

After a long, long time, Josh lifted his head. “Hallie, do you think we might find some place more private?”

“Just what are your intentions?”

“They’re not honorable, I can assure you. But I intend to make them legal.”

“In that case, my car is right outside.”

Josh scooped up Hallie and her hat and carried them both to the car. He couldn’t bear to let her go. He set her on the front seat and slid in beside her.

Leaning over, he set her hat on her head at a rakish angle, just the way he knew she liked it.

She smiled. “You rescued my roses.”

“Could I do otherwise? Those three yellow roses have a special significance for me.”

“And for me.” Hallie gave him a wicked look. “Do you want to see what I can do with three oak leaves?”

“The possibilities boggle my mind.”

“How does Tanner’s ranch sound to you?”

“Great.”

She revved the engine to life and raced out of the parking lot. “I wish this car had wings.”

“With you driving, it doesn’t need wings.”

Dust boiled up behind them. Hallie drove her car the same way she rode a bull, with expertness and a keen appreciation for the outer limits of danger.

“Tell me everything, Josh.”

He understood what she meant. “I saw you the day you left for Texas. I was on the bridge, going home. It was at that moment that I knew we could make it work.”

“We
can
. I’ve always known.”

“I was slow to catch on. Hallie, you taught me what real love is. Until you came, I thought love disappeared at the first sign of trouble.”

“I understand why, Josh. I’ve always understood.”

“I realized I was throwing away the best thing that had ever happened to me. When I found out you’d left Florence, I called your brother. He’s a prince of a guy.”

“Then he knew all along.”

“Yes. He has a great appreciation for romantic endeavors. He even helped me set everything up. So I flew out, then I took a cab to the rodeo.”

“A cab! It must have cost a fortune. Why didn’t you rent a car?”

“What’s a two hundred dollar cab ride when you consider the alternative—riding in separate cars? Hallie, I don’t ever intend to be separated from you again.”

Grinning, she wheeled into the driveway of the ranch house.

“Just how close do you want to be?”

For an answer he picked her up and carried her inside. The house was quiet.

Josh arched his eyebrows. “Maria?”

“It’s her day off.”

“Not that it would stop me, but I’d prefer not to have an audience.”

She pressed her face into his neck. “Hmmm. Sounds delicious.” Her tongue flicked out. “It is delicious.”

His hands were on her buttons. Their clothes made a trail from the front door to the white rug in front of the fireplace.

The soft pile of the carpet caressed Hallie’s back. An amber light gleamed in the center of Josh’s golden eyes as he gazed down at her. He didn’t speak for a long while, as he simply drank in the sight of her. He wanted to always remember the way she looked at that moment, her eyes like smoke, her face radiant with love, her body. . . His mind lost its ability to come up with adjectives. There weren’t enough superlatives to describe her.

“I can’t believe I came so close to letting you go,” he whispered.

She lifted her arms. “I’m here. I’ll always be here for you.”

He knew it was true. “I love you.” He spoke the words he thought he’d never say to any woman.

Hallie smiled up at him, a glorious smile that was part wicked gypsy and part guardian angel. A great peace came over Josh.

“I love you, Hallie.” He tested the words again. They were right and good and true. At last he knew what Hallie meant by jubilee. It filled him to the point of overflowing. “I love you,” he said again, but finally words weren’t enough; the joining of their hearts had to be reaffirmed by the joining of their flesh.

She received him.

Their lovemaking was an act of faith in each other. The sense of urgency was gone. No longer was there any need to hold back time. Gone was the need to escape to their Never Never Land. They had each other, now and forever, and that was enough. Their love would see them through.

At last Josh raised himself on his elbows and pushed her damp hair off her forehead.

“You will marry me?”

“Wild bulls couldn’t keep me from becoming Mrs. Josh Butler.”

“Now that you mention it, I think we should discuss your riding the bulls. The danger. . .”

Her hips moved provocatively under his. “Do you think we could talk about this later?”

“Much later, my wicked gypsy angel.”

 o0o

ANY THURSDAY, Excerpt

(The Donovans of the Delta, Book Four)

Peggy Webb

CHAPTER ONE

He missed the noise. He missed the hustle and bustle. He even missed the smog. Jim Roman had landed in Greenville, Mississippi, exactly forty-five minutes earlier, and already he felt the need to be back in San Francisco. He was like an addict, he thought. The big city gave him his fix.

It was only May, but it was hot as hell. He flipped a switch on the dashboard of the car, the one that said air-conditioning, but wasn’t surprised that nothing happened. When he rolled the window down, he could hear the ominous clinking and clanging that indicated his rented car probably wouldn’t make it over the next hill, let alone to the Donovan spread.

Swearing and sweating, he nursed the car along. Three miles down the road, it shuddered and drew its last breath. He got out and lifted the hood, although he didn’t have high hopes of repairing anything. He’d never been good at mechanics.

He jiggled a few wires that looked loose and gave the battery cable a smart tap with a rock he’d picked up from the road. Nothing happened except that he got grease on his hands. He surveyed his surroundings. There was nothing but green pasture as far as the eye could see. It was great country if you were a cow, but he had his heart set on finding a telephone. At that moment he’d be willing to bet that nobody for miles had ever heard of Alexander Graham Bell. He’d often read of the backside of nowhere, and now he was there.

He mopped his face with his handkerchief, then pulled a hand-drawn map from his hip pocket and calculated how far he was from his destination. Five or six miles, he thought. Maybe he could walk it if his loafers would hold out.

“I’ll get you for this, John Searles.” With a muttered oath he set off down the road.

 o0o

Hannah Donovan raised her .300 Magnum to her shoulder and sighted along the barrel. The shot cracked in the still air as she picked off a soup can. She pulled the bolt back, shucked the spent shell, and fired again. Another can bit the dust. Handling her bolt-action rifle with expert ease, she got off another three shots in rapid succession.

Suddenly she felt movement beside her legs. The husky that had been sitting at her feet whirled around and raced across the pasture. He was a blur of gray as he leapt into the air and brought down his quarry, a man about the size of a half-grown grizzly.

“Hold him, Pete.” She raced behind her dog, arriving only seconds after the big man had hit the ground. She planted her right foot on his chest and pointed her gun at his crotch. “You’re trespassing.”

The man on the ground chuckled. “You shoot trespassers around here?”