Randall Riches (17 page)

As he raced down the stairs again, he told Lavinia, “I’m going to get her.”

Instead of waiting for his father, Rich began jogging down the driveway. He couldn’t risk waiting. He needed Samantha in his life. He couldn’t let her get away.

Rich was almost to the end of the driveway when he saw his black truck. Pete pulled over and reached out to open the passenger door. Rich jumped in. “Let’s go!”

“What happened?” Pete growled as he floored the gas pedal.

Rich didn’t know how to answer. “I don’t know. Last night everything was—” He didn’t want to go down that road. “This morning Doc called to say she’s on the sidewalk waiting for the bus.”

Pete looked at his watch. “I think the bus comes in at seven. We should be able to get there about five minutes before.”

Rich nodded, his gaze fixed forward, as if he could will them to get to town faster.

“Are you wanting to marry her? I thought you said—”

“I’ve been an idiot.”

“What happened?”

“I didn’t know— I realized this morning I love her, but I haven’t told her yet.”

Pete said nothing, his jaw clenched.

“I said everything wrong. This morning, I jumped out of bed and hurried to her room to tell her the right things, and she’d gone.”

“You’d better pray, son. You’ve just about blown your chance.”

“I know.”

S
AMANTHA WATCHED AS
Doc made a U-turn and pulled up in front of the general store. She tried to hide behind a pole. She didn’t want anyone to see her.

“Mornin’, Sam!” Doc sang out, causing the others waiting for the bus to stare at her.

“Um, mornin’, Doc. What are you doing out this early?”

“Checking on one of my patients. How about you?”

Samantha had to come up with some excuse. “Um, I’m going to Casper to do some shopping.”

“Ah. Why don’t you just drive? There’s Lavinia’s car,” he pointed out.

“She—she might need it during the day.”

“Thoughtful of you,” Doc said, but he looked over his shoulder down the road toward Lavinia’s place.

Samantha looked that way, too, to see if the bus was coming.

“There it is,” a kid called out. He’d already told Samantha he was going to visit his grandmother.

Sam’s grip tightened on her duffel bag and she
stepped forward. Her heart was beating rapidly, even as it was ripping apart.

She stared at the bus, growing larger as it sped down the road. Just before it got to the city limits sign, a black pickup ripped around it. Before Sam could even move, it whipped to a stop in front of her, scattering a few pebbles out of the road.

“Sam!” Rich shouted, bounding out of the truck and onto the sidewalk. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Samantha closed her eyes, asking herself why he hadn’t been ten minutes later. “I’m leaving. Please, just let me leave.”

“You can’t leave!” he exclaimed.

“There’s no law against it,” Sam assured him. “Here are the keys to Lavinia’s car. I was going to leave them here, but you can take them.”

He caught her by the shoulders and pulled her to him.

She pushed him away. “Stop!”

“You okay, Sam?” Pete asked.

It hadn’t occurred to Samantha to wonder who was driving Rich’s pickup. “Pete? What are you doing here?”

“Rich needed his truck. And I wanted to know why you were leaving without saying goodbye.”

Sam’s eyes filled with tears. “I—I have to. Will you tell Janie—will you tell her goodbye for me?”

“You’re not leaving!” Rich shouted.

“Yes, I am!” she shouted back. “You don’t have the right to keep me here.”

Even though it was early in the morning, they were
drawing a crowd. The bus pulled to a stop just behind Rich’s truck. The sheriff, too, parked by the store.

“Morning, everyone,” the sheriff said. “Got a call there was a problem here.”

“No! No, but he won’t let me leave,” Sam said, her voice rising in panic. “Tell him, Sheriff. Tell him I have the right to leave.”

“You sure do, little lady. I’m surprised he’d try to stop you after seeing you take on that bully. Aren’t you afraid, Rich?”

“We’re pulling out in five minutes,” the driver warned. “Everybody get on board.”

Sam tried to move in that direction, but Rich was still holding on to her. “Sam, I have to talk to you.”

“No!”

“But we’ve got to talk!”

“No.” She pushed her way past him and got on the bus.

“Dad? Do you have any money on you? I forgot my wallet.”

Pete fished into his back pocket and pulled out some bills.

“Don’t let the bus leave!” Rich shouted and hurried into the store to buy his own ticket.

“What’s he doing?” Sam stuck her head out the window and shouted.

“It appears, he’s going with you,” Pete said with a grin.

“He can’t do that!”

“He has to if you won’t let him explain. I reckon
even he can clear things up by the time you get to Denver.”

Samantha stared at Pete. The thought of having Rich beside her for eight hours was disturbing. “Pete, I have to leave.”

“Honey, if you’ll give him a chance to explain, then I’ll make sure you get where you want to go, if he hasn’t changed your mind.”

“But—you promise? I won’t have to wait until the next bus?”

“Nope.”

Rich came out of the store, heading for the bus. He didn’t even say anything to his father.

Samantha met him at the door on her way off the bus. “Sam!” he exclaimed, jerking her off the bus into his arms.

She loved being in his arms again, but she couldn’t stay. “I haven’t changed my mind. But Pete said I could go anyway, if I’d just listen to you.”

Rich let her slide down his long body and stared at her. Abruptly, he said, “Okay,” took her hand and started walking.

“Wait!” she protested. “Not—not any place private!”

Rich looked frustrated, but Pete suggested they go to the café. “You two can get a separate booth, and I’ll buy Doc and the sheriff breakfast for disturbing their morning.”

“W
HY DID YOU LEAVE
? We said we’d talk this morning.” Rich asked as soon as the waitress had given them cups of coffee.

Samantha kept her head down. “I know.”

“Why? I thought we would—would be together.”

She shook her head without looking up.

“Sam, what happened last night, it was going to happen sooner or later. We’re—we’re destined for each other!”

“You’re saying that because you feel responsible. It’s okay, Rich. I’m used to being alone.”

He reached across the table and stroked her cheek. “But I’m not.”

She looked up at him, surprised by his response. “That’s ridiculous. You’re not alone. You have lots and lots of family and friends.”

“Yeah, I do, but it wouldn’t matter if you leave. This happened faster than I thought, Sam, but I know I need you. I know without you, I’ll always be alone.” He stared at her, pleading with every ounce of his being.

“I don’t— You’re just saying that because it was my first time. But I asked you. You didn’t— I had to plead for you to—” She broke off, her face red.

“Will the next time be your first time?” he asked softly.

She frowned. “Of course not.”

“If I promise to ask you this time, will that take care of the problem? Honey, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to. But I thought it might be too soon for you. I wanted you, always, but I didn’t want you to regret anything. And I sure as hell don’t want you to run away.”

“You said you didn’t want to get married.”

“I lied!” he assured her with a grin.

Tears pooled in her eyes and she shook her head helplessly. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Sweetheart, all I’m asking is that you give me some time. I’m ready to marry you right now, but if you want some time, to be sure, I’ll wait. As long as you don’t leave.”

She looked away. “I’m thinking about you, Rich. I’m not right for you, for your family.” He gave her an incredulous look and she hurried on, trying to explain. “It’s not that I don’t love you, but I have to do what’s right.”

Before she even finished speaking, Rich leaped to his feet and gave a cowboy yell. Then he caught her hands and pulled her up from the booth. Before she knew what was happening, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

When he finally released his lips from hers, he whispered, “We’ll get the license tomorrow.”

Her head was spinning. “Didn’t you hear me? I’m not right for you.”

“Yes, you are,” Rich assured her. “Sweetheart, I want to go to bed with you every night, and wake up beside you every morning. I want us to have lots of children, but I’ll always want you first of all. We Randall men know how important our ladies are. You’re my number one. I realized that last night but you were crying and— Why were you crying?”

“I planned everything. Then once you kissed me, I forgot the condom and risked having a baby,” she said softly, hiding her face in his chest.

“Don’t you want to have my baby?”

“Yes, but it would be irresponsible to do so when I’m on my own. The baby would suffer.”

“But you’re not on your own anymore. Do you hear me, Samantha? We’re together, and we’ll always be together, because we love each other. Will you come back home, and give me a chance to prove it to you?”

Her only response was a gentle nod, but her gaze was full of love, and once again he kissed her. Her arms slid around his neck and she met his hunger with her own.

“Are you gonna argue with me now, Rich Randall?” a voice intruded.

He lifted his head to see Mona, a big grin on her face, standing beside him. She looked at Sam. “I told you you’d better pick out that wedding gown, and I was right.”

“Yes, you were,” Sam shyly agreed.

Pete joined them. “Did you get things settled?”

“Oh, yeah,” Rich said with deep satisfaction.

“Pete,” Sam asked anxiously, “You won’t mind if—if we marry?”

“If?” Rich protested. “If? You’ve already agreed, Sam, and I’m not about to let you out of our agreement.”

“Besides,” Mona added. “I already predicted it, and I’m never wrong.”

“She’s right,” Rich replied. “We were meant for each other.”

Samantha could only agree.

A knock on the door sent a flutter of activity through the room. “It’s time,” Tori announced, her voice breathless. “Are my flowers on straight?” She turned to the closet mirror to be sure the halo of flowers, vibrant against her pale hair, hadn’t slipped.

“You look beautiful,” Anna, her mother, assured her. “That blue looks good on all of you.”

The young Randall ladies lined up at the door. The last two, Elizabeth and Tori, the maids of honor, checked the two ladies in white. “Ready?” they both asked.

Abby and Samantha nodded, their eyes sparkling with joy. Everything was perfect.

Samantha thought of the changes she’d experienced the last few months, and the remarkable family she would be a part of for the rest of her life. Russ and Abby, in particular, had asked them to share their wedding. So the brothers who’d lost each other because of love, had rediscovered their closeness through love. If Sam had had any doubt about Rich’s feelings, they would’ve been dismissed when she overheard Rich apologizing to his twin.

“It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy for you, Russ. But I didn’t understand how overwhelming love could be. Now, I do.”

As the brothers embraced, Samantha treasured those words to her heart, to remember forever.

They stepped out into the foyer, Abby taking Jake’s arm as he led her down the aisle. And then Pete offered his arm to Samantha, leaning to kiss her cheek and whisper, “Now, you really will be my daughter.”

Samantha was thrilled that Pete’s remark was true. But most important of all was the man waiting at the end of the aisle. Rich was going to be her husband.

Standing there, tall and proud in his tuxedo, he would impress anyone. But most impressive of all was what was inside. A caring, kind, loving man. And he wasn’t ashamed to show it, a legacy from his father and uncles.

Samantha would never be alone again.