Between Hope & the Highway (54 page)

“Rawson, where are you?” He sounded out of breath. “Dad’s ticked.”

I rolled my eyes as I looked at my wife. “I told him I was taking the week off. What’s his problem? I’m a grown man and not under his curfew.”

Liz smirked. I rolled on top of her and nibbled her neck, making her giggle.

“Who’re you with? It’s the middle of the night.” He sounded upset.

“This amazing woman I’ve fallen for big time.” Lizzie’s eyes teased me, so I kissed her.

“What? Dad figured you’d fallen for some skirt with fake boobs who batted her eyelashes, but I thought you were smarter than that.”

I grimaced at his accusation. “What do you want, Ben?”

“I found an address for Liz. I’ve searched all night. It’s her mom’s place in Henderson. Want me to give it to you?”

Though touched by his efforts, I refused to spoil my surprise.

“It’s too late. Lizzie hated me anyway.” My wife huffed as I winked. “I’ll be home in four days,” I said before dropping the bomb I knew would keep my brother awake for nights. “Let me enjoy my honeymoon, kid. You’ll understand someday and not want people calling when you’re in bed with your brand new wife.”

Lizzie punched me as I grinned and caressed her tantalizing body.

Benny sputtered on the other end. “What? You went and got yourself hitched to the floozy?”

“For your information, I happen to love this floozy.”

Lizzie laughed and shook her head. She thought I was being mean. If it’d been up to her, she would’ve postponed the wedding to let my family know our plans. But what’s the point of eloping if you can’t shock anyone?

“You’ve only been seeing her for a month. You don’t know her at all!” he shouted.

“Well, I have the rest of my life to get to know her now.” I moaned as Liz started kissing the sensitive spot behind my ear.

“But what about Lizzie?”

Good old Benny; he was loyal to the end. “Well now, Liz was an amazing woman.” I sighed as she nibbled my neck. “But it’s too late. I flew to Vegas and married my floozy—and just so you know, her boobs are real. Now let me enjoy my wife before we have to fly back to Montana.”

She gave me a look of playful disgust as Benny went silent on his end.

“Don’t be mad, kid. I promise you’ll love your new sister-in-law.” When he didn’t respond, I said goodbye and hung up.

My utterly adorable wife gave me a feisty look as I threw my phone onto the nightstand. “Did you seriously tell him my boobs were real?”

I buried my face in them. “They are,” I murmured.

She giggled as I began tickling her. Could I just say how much I loved being married? I’d been hitched for less than a day, but already knew forever was not going to be long enough.

“I don’t know why you insist on torturing poor Ben,” she chided as my tickling turned into tantalizing caresses.

“Trust me, my love. The look on his face when he sees you and realizes the truth will be priceless. Let him stew on this for a few days. It’ll make the surprise so much greater.”

Chapter 93

Bentley

“Ben, you need to get over your anger. Be happy for your brother.”

I knew Alice was right, but that was easier said than done. Ever since I’d talked to Rawson on the phone, I wanted to punch something. Never had I imagined he’d go and do such an idiotic thing as a Vegas shotgun wedding.

“I’ll try, Al, but the fact that he sneaked off to get hitched to a complete stranger without even telling me bites.”

“She might be sweet. Give her a chance. You sound like you hate her already.”

I did. It killed me that I’d found Lizzie too late. Maybe if I’d searched earlier, I might have saved my brother.

When I told Dad that Rawson married a strange girl in Vegas, he swore a long line of stinkers and kicked a hole in his office wall. I overheard him tell Mom that maybe they’d get lucky and Rawson would divorce the broad before kids entered the picture.

“I don’t hate her. I just don’t like her. She stole my brother from me.”

“They’re coming back to the ranch. That doesn’t sound like she’s stolen him from you.”

“Whose side are you on anyway?”

She giggled, and I couldn’t help but smile. Alice had become my best friend. A fly tapped its face against my window. As I swatted the pest, I noticed a trail of dust zooming toward the house.

“Hey, I’ll call you later, Al. I think my bonehead brother’s here.”

“Be nice.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

After I hung up, I closed my eyes and prayed for patience. Rawson had sounded happy, and he’d definitely acted livelier this past month. Who was I to shoot him off his cloud, even if he was bound to fall back to earth eventually?

As his black truck pulled into the driveway, I noticed the rear window had
Just Married
painted on it. I let my head slump to my shoulder. It was true then. My brother hadn’t been messing with me.

Rawson jumped out with a huge grin, holding a woman in jeans and a turquoise blouse in his arms. A silly wedding veil hid her face. Maybe she was ugly. I grunted. That’d be the day. My brother had too good of taste in women to settle for a chick who needed to wear a bag over her head.

As he carried his marital baggage to the porch, I swallowed a lump in my throat. I knew I should go meet them, but didn’t think I could fake a smile. That woman had ruined everything.

I turned from the window as I heard Rawson tramping up the stairs. Dang. He was bringing her to me. Slumping into my chair, I hoped to hide my disability. I didn’t want the strange woman to pity me first thing.

When Rawson made it to the landing and saw me, he cried, “Ben, I thought you’d come out to meet us.” He looked down at his wife with so much love it shocked me.

I blinked back threatening tears.

He crossed the room and sat on my bed, cuddling his plaything on his lap. “I’d like you to meet my wife, Benny.”

When he lifted her veil, I couldn’t breathe. I sat there transfixed, unable to speak as the clock ticked on the wall and Lizzie’s beautiful face beamed at me beneath the shimmery material.

Bolting to my feet, I threw myself into both of them, making us all topple onto the mattress. “You tricked me!” I punched my brother’s arm. “Big jerk!”

They laughed as I grinned at Lizzie. It’d been a year since she left. She looked more beautiful than ever. Stupid tears rained down my face, but Liz gathered me in her arms so my brother wouldn’t see.

When Mom came up to see what all the ruckus was about, she began crying too. She hugged Lizzie for dear life and called Dad on his phone, telling him to come to the house to meet Rawson’s wife. She didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

When Dad marched in with a surly look on his face, he stopped abruptly when he saw Liz standing beside my brother. When he noticed them holding hands, a huge grin lit his face. He crossed the room to kiss Liz on her forehead, then pulled Rawson into a bear hug.

“Well done, son.”

This day will go on record as the happiest ever…well, at least until I get married someday and blow the record off the charts.

Chapter 94

Liz

Happiness…joy! The past six months has dumped a mother lode of both in my life, but this moment topped them all as I held my husband’s hand and studied the ultrasound screen.

“Can you tell if it’s a boy or a girl?” Rawson asked the technician.

“Yep.”

He still didn’t know the doctor’s suspicion that I carried twins. When the technician kept moving her gadget around on my stomach and didn’t expound, my impatient husband prodded her. “So?”

“There’s one of each.” The Asian nurse looked up and grinned. “You have a healthy set of fraternal twins.”

As Rawson whooped and danced around the examination room, I couldn’t help but laugh. He would make the best daddy ever. After I cleaned up and stopped at the front desk, he swaggered into the waiting area with a silly grin.

He pointed to me at the counter. “My wife’s having twins,” he announced to the room. “A boy…and a girl.”

“That’s one proud papa.” The receptionist giggled as she took my Visa.

She had no idea. Ever since I had surprised him a couple months ago with the news that I was expecting, he’d floated on a cloud. Even though I barely showed, he couldn’t stop touching my belly.

As he climbed into the truck, he pulled me onto his lap and pressed his hands against my stomach.

“I can’t wait to announce the news to everyone,” he said between kisses.

I tangled my hands in his hair and lost my breath as we steamed up the windows. Eventually, we behaved like grown-ups and left the parking lot. Rawson drove straight to Roy’s welding shop and hollered to his friend in the back. Damon had been released on parole last month. Rawson had instantly taken his friend under his wing and worked out an apprenticeship with Roy Montagne at his welding shop.

Damon took his safety goggles off and stormed out from the back. “Hold your horses, you !@#$%&*.” When he noticed me, he said, “Sorry, Liz. I didn’t see you there.”

Rawson grinned and pointed to my stomach. “Twins,” he announced, like I’d won a prize.

Damon’s eyebrows shot up and his lips twisted into a grin beneath his mustache. “You don’t say.” He slapped Rawson’s shoulder. “That calls for a celebration.” He ran into Roy’s office and passed on our news to his boss, who offered up his congratulations. Damon opened the mini fridge and pulled out a Coke and threw it to Rawson. “You want one, Liz?”

“No, thanks.”

Rawson sat in a chair and pulled me onto his lap. “Why don’t you keep a few Pepsi’s around? You know I hate this shi—”

I elbowed him.

He kissed me behind my ear. “Sorry, babe. I mean crap.”

“Buy your own Pepsi’s if you want ’em, Roz. I like Coke.”

Rawson took a long sip and smacked his lips. “You know they clean toilets and car engines with this
crap,
right?”

I kissed him for remembering not to swear.

“That’s why I get ’em. Cleans me out too.” Damon opened his soda and guzzled. “Congratulations, Liz. That’s awesome news.”

After we left Roy’s, we headed down the main drag and stopped at Freda’s so Rawson could grab some of the greasy chicken he loved.

“Yo!” he shouted after he ordered. Diners turned to gawk at us. “We just found out we’re having twins. A boy and a girl. Everyone’s meals are on us.” He left several hundred dollar bills with Freda’s teenage daughter and took me around the room to shake hands and be congratulated.

When we finally made it out of town and onto the lonely backstretch of road heading to the ranch, a light dusting of snow began to fall. Rawson veered off the road and threw the gearshift into park before wrapping his arms around me and kissing me like a man possessed. I thoroughly loved being possessed by him. Seatbelts were cast off as he pushed me into a prone position. I loved bench seats too.

“I’m so happy, Lizzie.” He kissed the V of my T-shirt before pausing to gaze at me. “Do I make you happy, love? I know I still slip and swear and I leave the toilet seat up and pull the covers off you sometimes when I’m sleeping rough.”

I framed his cheeks between my hands. “Don’t forget how arrogant and opinionated you are and how you annoy me to Canada and back when you yank my ponytail out.”

“You love when I do that.” He gave me a roguish grin, his atom bomb when it came to my defenses. All he had to do was drop that grin and Boom! I was a goner.

“In your dreams.”

He took that as his cue to render me breathless again. The man had a definite gift when it came to kissing. We didn’t talk anymore, at least with words. My husband talked plenty with his hands and lips as we once again steamed up the truck windows.

A hand rapping on the glass made me open my eyes from my dream. “Someone’s outside.”

Rawson pulled me up as he rolled down his window and let freezing air envelop us.

“Evening, Sheriff.”

“Rawson Law,” he said with a deadpan expression as he pulled out his citation pad. “Don’t you know it’s against the law to pull off the side of the road and assault innocent young women?”

“Disturbing the peace is also a misdemeanor, last I heard…and it was pretty peaceful in here until you whacked on my window. Besides, Sheriff, this woman is anything but innocent.”

I smacked his shoulder.

“She’s not! She’s carrying not one, but
two
babies in her belly.” Rawson patted my slightly protruding stomach proudly.

“Is that right?” The Sheriff chuckled. “You’re probably the SOB who put them there.”

“Yes, sir, I am.” He draped an arm around me.

Sheriff leaned in to smile at me. “Would you like me to take this hooligan in, Mrs. Law?”

I grinned. “I’m willing to grant him leniency.”