Call It Destiny (27 page)

„I know. If I’d been thinking straight I would have realized that what you felt for me was love. I wouldn’t have needed to hear the words. But I was running blind myself until the very last.“

The half smile quirked his lips. „A heck of a team.“

Heather lifted one shoulder in arrogant dismissal. „So there were a few minor details that we had to work out. I think things will function very well from now on.“
 

„Just keep telling me you love me,“ he insisted.

„Forever,“ she vowed.

„And I’ll keep saying the same thing to you,“ he promised earnestly. He was silent for a moment, his lashes falling softly against the hard plane of his cheek. „I love you so much, honey.“
 

„Jake, does your arm hurt very badly?“ Heather frowned in concern at the tightly drawn lines around his mouth.
 

„Not as long as you’re holding my other hand. They got Monroe okay?“

„You got Monroe. The guards just rounded him up after you’d stopped him. Since when did you start carrying a gun, Jake Cavender?“
 

„Since we got back from the canyon. I had security on full alert. Don’t know how that jeep got through.“ Jake moved his head in obvious annoyance.

„Watson, the head of security, says Monroe didn’t come through the main entrance. He came the back way, across Winthrop land.“

„There’s no road.“

„He didn’t need one with the four-wheel drive.“

„Wait until I get my hands on Watson and his crew. I gave them specific instructions to keep a close eye on your cottage until we’d heard Monroe and his friend had been picked up.“

„You suspected Rick might come back for me?“

Jake muttered something explicit. „It was a possibility. You were really the only witness he had to worry
about. You knew him and he’d talked enough to give you an idea of what he and his pal were doing.“
 

„Why on earth didn’t you tell me you were taking all those precautions?“ Heather scolded.
 

„Didn’t want you to worry. I just wanted you to concentrate on making a decision about us. I was too busy trying to corner you to bother warning you,“ he ended roughly.

„The warning wouldn’t have done any good. I’d still have been knocking on your door last night and we’d still have made love and you’d still have walked me back to my cottage.“ Heather shuddered. „I didn’t even see Rick until he ran for the jeep. That bullet you took was meant for me.“

„Any word on his pal?“ He ignored her last comment.

„One of the cops who came to the hospital earlier said they picked up a Joseph Kincaid trying to cross the border last night. He’s wanted on several counts of drug dealing, I gather. They think he’s the ‘Joe’ who was associated with Rick.“

„What are you thinking, Heather?“ Jake demanded as she fell thoughtfully silent.

„I was wondering why Rick bothered to come back. He told me up at the cabin that he was going to be retiring in Mexico on what he’d earned on drugs. Why did he take the risk of coming after me?“

„Because he either decided he wanted the freedom to go back and forth across the border in case he changed his mind or because – “ Jake stopped.

„Because what?“

„Maybe he wanted revenge for the fact that you escaped him twice. The first time you were supposed to be his meal ticket and the second time you were a witness who could do some real damage. Who knows? So Ruth is replanning the wedding, hmm?“ He looked content for a moment.

„She certainly is. She’s going to have Julian prepare
the entire reception menu again. I still feel terrible about what must have happened to all the goodies he fixed the first time!“
 

„Don’t worry, he’ll be delighted,“ Jake said dryly. „And doubly so since he found out you’ve approved all his new menus.“

Heather smiled. „I think it’s time you got some more sleep. You look a little peaked, to put it mildly.“

„I shouldn’t be feeling this drowsy,“ he complained. „What have they got me on, anyway?“

„Something to keep you off your feet for a while. Don’t worry about it, Jake. Just go back to sleep.“

„And where are you going?“

„Nowhere.“

His hand tightened on hers in thanks. „I love you, Heather.“

„You’re getting very good at saying that.“

„And I’ll get even better. It gets easier with repetition. I’ll be practicing a lot.“

He was asleep when the young nurse came into the room fifteen minutes later. „How’s our patient?“ she asked cheerfully.

„He woke up for a few minutes.“

„I assume he sounded reasonably rational?“ The nurse checked the bandages on Jake’s arm.

„Never more so.“

„Good. Maybe you should go catch a nap yourself, Miss Strand. You’ve been awake all night and it’s almost time for breakfast.“

„I told him I’d stay here.“ Heather didn’t move.

The young woman grinned. „Like that, is it?“

Heather nodded. „We’re partners, you see. A team.“

The wedding went off
with picture-perfect precision. The bride arrived at the chapel on her father’s arm in plenty of time to walk demurely down the aisle. There she was sedately handed over to a groom who was
clearly not expecting any last-minute complications this time around. The sisters of the bride smiled with delight. The mother of the bride cried and the father watched fondly as his daughter was joined in matrimony to the man he had handpicked for her.
 

Afterward nearly two hundred people swamped the terrace on which the reception was being held. Julian Richards beamed as his exquisitely prepared food was consumed in massive quantities.

The entire scene was everything a family could wish for its beloved daughter. True, the groom still had his arm in a sling, but that didn’t prevent him from maintaining a lovingly possessive eye on his charming bride. In fact, he didn’t allow her more than a foot from his side the entire time.
 

It was nearly two o’clock when Heather finally slipped away with the aid of her sisters and changed into a lightweight yellow pantsuit with a rakishly wide leather belt. Jake was waiting for her as she kissed her mother goodbye. Then he led her through the hail of rice to the Mercedes.

Safely ensconced on the seat beside him, Heather grinned unabashedly at her new husband. „How did I do?“
 

„Let’s see,“ he said thoughtfully as he guided the car out of the parking lot. „No showing up at the wedding on a black motorcycle, no major scenes, no high drama, no wrestling with the groom in front of the guests. Not too bad, actually. A little dull from the point of view of some of the guests, perhaps, but everything was perfect as far as I was concerned.“

Heather laughed delightedly. „Do you really think some of the guests were disappointed?“

„Well, they have come to expect fireworks and excitement from Heather Strand.“

„Now that she’s Heather Strand Cavender, they’ll see a new me.“

„Don’t go promising anything rash. I rather like the old Heather.“

„Probably just as well. I’m afraid she’s still very much a part of me. I heard Cecil Winthrop asking how you intended to perform your husbandly duties with that sling on your arm.“

„Cecil was a bit tipsy, I’m afraid.“

„I know. But you answered him. I saw you. What did you tell him, Jake?“

Jake tossed her a charmingly arrogant, thoroughly masculine grin that somehow managed to convey all the vast love he held for his new wife.

„I told him love would find a way.“