And One Wore Gray (62 page)

And she left the porch behind, running to him.

The distance was not far. It seemed forever. Her feet moved so fleetingly over the earth.

Once upon a time she had dreamed of this. Of seeing Daniel before her, so hungry to meet her, to touch her. Once she had dreamed that she could run to him, with all her love naked in her face.

She catapulted into his arms. She felt them surround her. She caught sight of the blazing blue of his eyes. Then his lips were on hers.

His kiss was eternal. So hot, so sweet, so hungry. A touch that tore away, and fell again. Trembling. Deep. Lifting once again so that he could meet her eyes.

“Jesse! Oh, Jesse!” Callie was dimly aware that Kiernan had raced on by her. Farther down the lane, another sweet homecoming was going on.

But now Daniel was before her.

“Oh, Daniel!” she whispered softly. “I am so sorry!”

He pressed his finger to her lips. “Hush. I am not, Callie.” His finger rimmed her lips. “I’ve a son to raise, a daughter to see. Oh, Callie!”

His mouth seared down upon hers once again. Fierce, poignant, giving, seeking. His eyes rose to hers once again.

“I love you, Callie. The war is over, but”—He smiled, a crooked, rueful, tender smile—“my life is just beginning,” he told her.

And arm in arm, they walked back to the house.

And to a new life, together.

New York Times
bestselling author
Heather Graham
has written more than ninety novels, several of which have been featured by the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild. There are more than twenty million copies of her books in print and she has been published in more than fifteen languages. Heather lives with her husband and five children in Miami, Florida.