Any Thursday (Donovans of the Delta) (18 page)

 o0o

Hannah was up far into the night thinking through her problems with Jim, and she stayed home Wednesday to carry out her plans. She’d just completed her call to San Francisco when she heard a knock at her door. Sleddog was standing on the front porch, his tufted white hair pomaded and looking like shiny Ping-Pong balls on his head. He was wearing his Sunday best shirt and his new coveralls. And he was looking as uncomfortable as a sinner in a church full of saints.

“Sleddog!” Hannah greeted him with genuine pleasure. “Come in.”

“Well, I didn’t mean to bother you.” Sleddog stood just inside the door and cast his eyes in the direction of the tub. “It’s just that . . . well, I thought . . . you see . . .” He finally gave up. Closing his mouth, he rocked back on his worn boot heels and looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but where he was.

Sleddog was usually taciturn, but he’d never been so obviously ill at ease. Hannah almost panicked. Was he bringing bad news about Jim? Surely somebody would have called her. She reached out and clutched his arm.

“Is it Jim? Has something bad happened to him?”

“Lordy, no.” In the face of her panic, Sleddog relaxed. “It’s just that . . .” He gave the tub one last look, then rushed forward like a snowball down a mountain, gaining momentum as he talked. “Well, you know, you said something about me using that newfangled tub whenever I wanted to, and well, it’s like this, I’m gittin’ a mite old for the crick. Them cold waters chill my bones. And well, I was wonderin’ . . .”

“Of course.” Hannah’s relief was so great, she practically dragged him across the floor toward the tub. “I’ll turn on the water and you can take all the time you like. I need to take the dogs on a run anyhow.” She turned the hot water on full force. “Do you want bubbles?”

Sleddog’s face colored. “Since I’m being an old fool anyhow, I might as well go all the way.”

Hannah dumped in a generous amount of lavender. Sleddog sniffed deeply.

“Ain’t that a pretty smell? Reminds me of my grandmother.”

“You just take your time, Sleddog. I’ll give a yell when I come back.”

Hannah turned off the water, reached for her sweater, and left him with his bubble bath. By the time she’d reached the front porch, Sleddog had stripped and was up to his neck in lavender bubbles. He was having the time of his life.

Hannah could hear him singing all the way out to the kennels. She smiled. Life was full of unexpected joy. Had it always been, or had she just never taken the time to notice until she fell in love with Jim?

She raced her dogs down the trail, singing.

 o0o

Thursday hadn’t been a day off after all.

Jim wasn’t sorry. Actually he’d been glad for the work. It had kept his mind off Hannah. Four days away from her had felt like an eternity.

Thank heaven his work left him no time for useless soul searching. The business with the drug ring had suddenly come to a head. Jim’s reappearance at the newspaper had drawn the dealers out of hiding. Using some of his tips and the leads they’d been building for months, the police finally had rounded up the kingpin. He’d turned out to be a low-profile businessman whose company was a front for the ring. No mob connections, nothing international, merely a local gangster with plans to expand all along the West Coast.

He stepped aboard his houseboat, peeling off his shirt as he went. It had been a hectic day, and he could use a beer. Tossing his shirt across the railing, he headed below deck. He heard the sound the minute his foot was on the ladder. It was a strange, soft, eerie noise that made the back of his neck prickle. Jim froze. An extra burst of adrenaline flowed through him, and all his muscles tensed for action. Getting into a half crouch, he leaned cautiously down and peered into his living quarters.

Hannah was perched on the side of his bed.

“Great merciful heaven!” His mouth dropped open, and he could do nothing but stare.

She was wearing a diaphanous gown that made him think of angels. Except there was nothing angelic about Dr. Hannah Donovan. In that dress she was pure bombshell, one hundred percent vamp, and all woman.

“Hello, Jim.” She rose from the bed and stood, facing him and smiling. Backlit by the afternoon sun coming through the open portholes, she was stunningly, gloriously naked under the gauzy gown. All his dreams paled in comparison to the reality of Hannah.

“What took you so long?” When she spoke in that blues-music voice of hers, he felt as if he’d been stripped and caressed with velvet.

He clung foolishly to the top of the ladder, scarcely able to believe what he was seeing and hearing. “A little cleanup job at the newspaper.”

“How is it going now that you’re back?”

“My return to the paper set things in motion. The police rounded up the drug ring.”

Hannah drew a long breath. “It’s over, then?”

“Until something else comes along.”

Neither of them moved. Hannah still hung back beside the bed and Jim still hovered on the ladder. Both of them seemed reluctant to disturb the currents that were flowing between them.

Finally, when the silence had stretched so thin the air seemed to vibrate, Hannah spoke. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“Thank you.”

The shock of seeing her in his houseboat was beginning to wear off. But not the excitement. Never the excitement.

For the first time since he’d come below, Jim became aware of his surroundings. The weird sounds he’d heard were coming from his tape deck. He recognized them as Hannah’s whale songs.

Strung across his portholes were lace curtains. Actual, honest-to-goodness lace curtains. He felt lightheaded with joy. Slowly he descended the ladder, never taking his eyes off Hannah.

“You brought your own music, I see,”

“Yes. The song of the humpback whale. Recognize it?”

“Is that the same song that drove me from my sleeping bag?”

“No. This one is their mating song.”

“Mating song?” he leaned against the ladder, careful not to let his exultation show on his face. Hannah had come to him. He thought he knew why, but he had to be very sure. Marriage was a lifetime commitment. This time he couldn’t afford to let passion get in the way of understanding.

“Yes. Traditionally, when the whale seeks his mate, he courts her with his haunting love song.”

“Are you courting me, Hannah?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I’m seeking you as a mate.”

“A playmate?”

“No. A lifetime mate.”

His heart thumped so loudly, he thought she surely could hear it, but he kept his careful distance. “Marriage?”

“Yes. If you still want me.”

He had to ram his fists into his pants pockets to keep from rushing across the room and sweeping her into his arms. There were many issues between them that had to be settled. And he realized that his first mistake had been in doing all the talking. No wonder Hannah had thought he wanted her to be his dream woman. He’d never given her a chance to say what was on her mind. He’d restrain his impatience to possess her even if the effort cost him an ulcer.

“I still want you. Hannah. Now and always.”

She heaved a great sigh. Whether it was relief or contentment or merely nervousness, he didn’t know.

“I’ve come to you. I even bought lace curtains.” She gave him a rueful grin. “I never knew those things came in so many different sizes. Do they teach courses somewhere in dealing with lace curtains?”

“Are you planning to take a few, Hannah?”

“No, Jim. These curtains are merely symbolic. I don’t plan to embrace the domestic scene.” She lifted her chin in an unconscious gesture of defiance. “If you want me, you’ll have to take me just the way I am.”

“Hannah . . .” Jim started to reach for her, then stopped himself. Ramming his hands into his pockets, he continued. “The woman I thought I wanted would probably bore me to death in two weeks time. You’re brilliant and untamed and unpredictable and exciting. And I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

He came across his pipe in the depths of his pocket and drew it out. He never took his eyes off Hannah as he tamped in tobacco and lit the pipe.

“I want to marry you, Hannah, but not on my terms alone. We’ll work that out together.”

“I want it all, Jim. A career, a cottage, a cozy fire, even the lace curtains if somebody else will iron them.”

“I wield a pretty fair iron.

She started to take a step toward him, then moved back. Never taking her eyes off his, she said, “I want children.”

“Children?” Jim didn’t know this was one of the things he’d been waiting to hear her say until she said it. He hadn’t been sure she’d want a family. He’d even been prepared to give it up for her.

“Yes. I see no reason not to have children as well as a career. Other women do.”

His heart sang. But still caution held him back. He took a steadying puff on his pipe.

 “Where will your career be, Hannah? Glacier Bay?”

“Partially. You mentioned compromise.”

“I did—and I meant it.”

“I have an offer to work in San Francisco, studying whales in captivity. I could do that in the winter months and spend my summers at the institute in Glacier Bay.”

“You’re sure?”

She smiled. “So sure,” she said, “that I’m already setting up interviews with graduate students to assist Sol in Glacier Bay this winter. So certain, that I’ve already accepted the offer of the San Francisco Leviathan Foundation to work with them on a seasonal basis.” She walked slowly toward him. “I want it all, Jim. And I’ve made up my mind to have it.”

The sheer gown swirled so that she seemed to float toward him. When she was close enough to touch, she placed her palms on his bare chest. Her fragrance wafted over him. Lavender.

He sucked in his breath as her hands moved under his shirt and across his back.

“We’ll have it all.” He tamped out his pipe and put it on a nearby table. “And I think now would be a good time to start. Don’t you, Dr. Donovan?”

“If you hadn’t said that, I was going to get my gun.”

He caught her hands and pressed them over his heart. “You’re packing iron?”

“You never can tell. I was prepared for a shotgun wedding.” She leaned down to put her lips on the pulse spot at the base of his throat.

“Will you settle for the old-fashioned kind with a preacher and our families present?” His hands bracketed her shoulders, and ever so slowly he slipped the gauzy gown downward.

“Could we talk about the wedding later?” She tangled her hands into his hair and drew him to her.

“Much later,” he said.

 o0o

They decided to have the wedding in Greenville.

At the end of the summer the entire Donovan clan gathered once more to see one of their own properly married. Mary Roman, John Searles, and Colter Gray Wolf made up the San Francisco contingent, and Sleddog came from Glacier Bay. It was the first time he’d ever been out of Alaska.

For Mary Roman and Anna Donovan, it was more than a wedding between their children; it was a reunion.

As they stood in the dressing room, waiting their turn to be called out and escorted down the aisle, they talked.

“I never dreamed my Jim would marry one of your children.” Mary caught Anna’s hands. “It’s too good to be true.”

“That Hannah is marrying at all is a miracle to me.” Anna Donovan, looking almost as young and pretty as one of her daughters, smiled at her old friend. “I guess it took a man like your Jim to sweep her off her feet.”

“Oh, my.” Mary put her hand over her fluttering heart. “Just to think—you and I will be sharing grandchildren. That is—” She hesitated, remembering that her future daughter-in-law was a career woman,
Dr
. Hannah Donovan. “Do you think they’ll have children?”

Anna laughed. “I’ll tell you a secret, Mary. The Donovans are a fertile and prolific clan. We’ll take turns babysitting.” She reached up and adjusted her frothy lace hat. “I think they’re calling for us.”

 o0o

While Mary and Anna were walking out together Hallie and Hannah were sharing a last heart-to-heart talk in the bride’s dressing room.

“I’m so happy for you, Hannah.” Hallie reached up and adjusted her sister’s veil, the same veil she’d worn only a few months earlier.

“I’m a little bit scared.” Hannah reached for her sister’s hand. “Isn’t that foolish? You’d think anybody who could face down a bull moose the way I did in that last Yukon Quest wouldn’t be afraid of the devil.”

“A husband hardly can be compared to a bull moose.” Hallie grinned. “But then again . . .”

“Oh, stop your teasing.” Hannah sucked in her breath and smoothed the Victorian wedding gown over her stomach. “It’s snug. Do I look all right?”

“Gorgeous.”

“Is that the Wedding March?”

“Not yet. It’s not time.” Hallie picked up the bouquet that lay on a nearby table and handed it to her sister. “I know this is bad timing, but I just have to share my news with you. I’ve been bursting to tell someone.”

Hannah took the bouquet. “What?”

“I’m pregnant.” Seeing Hannah’s shocked look, she grinned. “We’re ecstatic. Of course, I know how you always caution me to plan everything, but sometimes wonderful things just happen.”

Hannah clutched her bouquet so hard, she was sure she’d break the stems off. Hallie, pregnant. They’d had mumps, measles, chicken pox, and flu together. In a short while they’d have been married in the same dress, in the same church. How long had it been? She thought back over the summer, the long, loving sessions with Jim that just had seemed to happen. She’d been so busy and happy, she hadn’t planned, hadn’t bothered to keep track. Good Lord, could it be? Could she be?

“Aren’t you going to congratulate me?”

“Congratulations.” Twins, Hannah thought. Why did everything always happen to them at the same time?

Hallie grabbed her hand. “Come on, Hannah. They’re playing the Wedding March.”

Hannah stood fall and proud. First things first, she decided. Right now she was getting married. Jim was waiting for her, and that’s all she would think about.

 o0o

Down at the altar rail, Jim looked up. Hannah filled his vision. Her hair tumbled over the white wedding gown like a bolt of black silk; her face was vivid and smiling, and her eyes were bright with promise. His dream woman. The woman he’d set out to capture, and he had ended up being her captive. His wildcat, his Hannah, his love. She floated toward him like a dream, but he knew she was real. He would never mistake Dr. Hannah Donovan—soon to be Roman—for anything except a flesh-and-blood woman.