Sleepless Nights (The Donovans of the Delta) (14 page)

“Hey, Tanner, remember when I use to date Coot Sampson?”

“How can I forget it? You took the label off a tube of Ben Gay and told him it was love gel. He stayed out of school a whole week.”

“Served him right for trying to grope me in the oleander bush.” As the car shot around the last curve toward home, Hallie blasted the horn. It played
The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You.
Then she skidded the last thirty feet, sending gravel spewing up behind them.

Tanner laughed. Hallie loved entrances, and she sure knew how to make them. She was a Donovan through and through.

He took her hand and helped her from the car. “Come on, Hallie. It looks like my surprise has arrived.”

The surprise was parked near the barn, a luxurious horse van, watched over anxiously by a young man with hair the color of straw and ears as big as Arkansas.

Tanner shook his hand. “Johnson. You made good time.”

“Yep.” Johnson tipped back on his boots and tried to look straight at his employer, but his eyes kept straying toward Hallie. “You said you wanted Napoleon as soon as possible. I didn’t see any need to lollygag around. He’s already unloaded and in the barn.”

The three of them walked through the barn door. Inside was a gorgeous thoroughbred, a Tennessee walking horse with a long, finely muscled back and a coat that gleamed like black onyx in the sunlight.

Tanner patted the horse’s muzzle. “What do you think, Hallie?”

“I think I’m in love. Is this the horse that has won so many trophies?”

“The same. Amanda used to have a romantic notion about riding off into the sunset. Somehow old Josephine didn’t seem to fit the bill.”

Hallie put her face on the horse’s shiny neck. “Tanner, if Robert had been more like you, I might have stayed married to him—in spite of his money.”

If he hadn’t been so attuned to his sister’s moods, he might not have heard the breathless catch in her voice. It was the first time since her divorce that she’d shown the slightest vulnerability. A great protective urge welled up inside Tanner. “Would you like to ride him?”

“Would I?” She flung herself at her brother and squeezed him around the chest. “You’re a sweetheart.”

As Tanner saddled Napoleon, he imagined sitting in the saddle, putting the horse into a canter. He could almost feel the high, rolling motion beneath him, sense the twisting and turning of horse’s back feet. To his mind the Tennessee walking horse had always been the most sensuous breed. Their smooth, graceful gait was almost like being rocked in a cradle of love.

As Tanner gave Hallie a leg up, he thought about Amanda, about riding with her on the horse. Desire ripped through him.

He glanced down at his watch. It had been only an hour since he had seen her, and already he wanted to grab time by the neck and pull it screaming toward the night. He considered running all the way back to the shop, writing her a check for the business, locking the doors, and carrying her off into the sunset. But he supposed that wouldn’t work. He’d have to learn to wait like a sensible man.

“The devil’s pitchfork!” he muttered.

Hallie leaned down from the saddle. “Did you say something?”

“Nothing worth repeating. Have a good ride.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Amanda decided a long walk in the moonlight would help her forget everything—the planes zooming across the sky that afternoon, Tanner’s proposal, and most of all, her love for him. Dressed in jeans and a sweater, she left her house and started down the block. Although the temperature had dropped, fifty degrees was still warm for December. There was no wind, and the stars hung in the sky like tinsel on a Christmas tree. It was jeans-and-sweater weather, football weather. Amanda kicked at a twig. Why did everything have to make her think of Tanner? She missed him so much, she had to hug herself to hold in the ache.

She lengthened her stride, keeping her mind busy by checking off the houses as she walked. She passed the Crumpets’, who were sitting in front of their picture window with the blinds open, watching
Wheel of Fortune
as if their lives depended on keeping the TV set warm. The Rogers’ house was dark. They’d probably gone to Minneapolis to visit their daughter for the holidays. Music poured forth from the Grahams’,
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
, amplified loud enough so that the grandmother, who hadn’t heard anything since Pearl Harbor, could feel the vibrations and tap her feet. Amanda made a mental note to take Grandma Graham a box of those peppermint bonbons she loved. The Pickens children were in their front yard playing a last game of hide-and-seek before their parents called them in from the dark.

“Hey, ‘Manda,” Sue Lynn called. “Santie comin’ to see you?”

Amanda stopped on the sidewalk and spoke to the six-year-old. “I hope so, Sue Lynn. Do you and Richard have your stockings hung?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Eight-year-old Richard ran up and tugged her hand. “Wanna see?”

“Yes. That would be lovely.” The Pickens children tucked their sticky hands into hers and led her into their house. She properly admired their stockings, politely took a candy cane they offered, chatted briefly with Martha Sue and Eddie Wayne, then went back outside to continue her walk.

She was halfway down the next block before she noticed her cheeks were wet. Sniffing, she rubbed her face with the back of her hand and sat down on the curb to eat her candy cane.

That’s how Tanner found her.

“Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?”

She looked up to see him sitting on an amazing black stallion with a silver-studded saddle and bridle that would put Roy Rogers to shame. The moonlight reflected off the tears on her cheeks.

“The horse is invited.”

He slid off and sat down beside her. “You’re beautiful when you cry.” He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, put one arm around her, and dabbed her tears away. “What’s wrong, love?”

The sweet croon of his voice undid her. “It’s this candy cane.” She held the sticky treat aloft.

“What about the candy cane?” He caressed her back as he gently prompted her.

She buried her face in his shirt and clung to him, heedless of the peppermint. “Oh, Tanner.” She squeezed him tighter, squashing candy juice against his back. “Christmas is for children. When I see little stockings hung by the chimney, I mourn for the children I never had.”

“We’ll have children. Lots of them.”

She lifted her face, her eyes wet with tears. “We could have had children, Tanner. I find that very sad.”

“Don’t mourn the past, Amanda. Think of the future. We’ll have so many little Donovans, there won’t be room by the chimney to hang all the stockings.”

She smiled up at him. “You make it sound possible. But then, you were always an irrepressible optimist.”

He ruffled her hair. “Feel better?”

“Yes. I don’t know why but I do. You always had the knack for curing my blues.”

“Good. How about sharing that candy cane?”

There was some resistance as she pulled it away from his chamois shirt. Green fuzz clung to the sticky candy.

“I’m afraid I’ve ruined your shirt.”

“That’s a small sacrifice for the privilege of holding you in my arms.” He took the candy, stood up, and tossed it toward the garbage can on the corner. They heard a metallic ping as it hit the bottom of the can. Taking the handkerchief, he knelt beside her and carefully cleaned her hand.

The moment was sweeter to her than all the times he’d kissed her with fierceness and passion. She cherished everything about him—his tenderness, his compassion, his kindness. The Tanner she loved was the same fun-loving, passionate man she’d loved so long ago, but there was more to him, so much more.

With him kneeling before her in the moonlight, she gave in to her feelings. She knew they’d never share the kind of future that he envisioned for them—marriage and children and stockings by the fire—because Claude was still between them. Tanner had managed to push him to the back of his mind, but forgetting a problem wasn’t the same as facing it. What she and Tanner could have, though, was love. They could seize the time he had left in Greenville and make it their own. If he asked, and she knew he would, she’d go to him willingly and without regrets.

And after he was gone, she’d have beautiful memories.

“All done.” Tanner kissed her hand. “Now, how about a ride in the moonlight?”

Amanda stood up and patted the magnificent animal’s velvety muzzle. “Where did you get him?”

“From my stables in Dallas. After my experience with old Josephine, I called Johnson and had him bring Napoleon out in the horse van.”

“He’s beautiful. But, Tanner, what in the world are you doing riding on the city streets?”

“I drove him out to your house in the van. When you weren’t home and I saw your car in the garage, I guessed you’d gone for a walk. So Napoleon and I came to your rescue.”

“I don’t suppose it ever occurred to you to wait at my house?”

“Never.” He boosted her into the saddle and mounted behind her. “This is so much more romantic, don’t you think?”

She leaned against him. “Hmmm. Just my style. I’ve always wanted to ride into the sunset on a horse.”

“I’d supply the sun if I could. Will the moon do?”

She looked up into the sky and laughed. “You did that just for me, Tanner? You commanded the moon to shine?”

“I have connections in high places.” He turned Napoleon toward Amanda’s house, guiding him carefully on the dark city street. “Are you warm enough?”

“Yes. You create lots of body heat.”

“I can think of a number of ways to create more.”

“Would I enjoy them?”

“You used to.”

“That was so long ago, I barely remember.”

“Perhaps I should give you a refresher course.”

“On the horse?”

“Why, Miss Lassiter, what a bawdy suggestion.”

“I aim to shock.”

“You delight.”

Tanner reined Napoleon in next to the van. “I’ve planned a moonlight ride beside the river, Amanda. Do you need a warmer sweater?”

“As the old saying goes, ‘I’ve got my love to keep me warm.’”

“Yes, you do. And always will. Remember that.”

Tanner dismounted, swung Amanda from the saddle, and guided Napoleon into the plush horse van. It was an easy task, since both horse and rider had done it many times before.

They drove south of town until they came to one of their favorite old haunts, a secluded place beside a bend in the river. The moon painted a luminous path across the water, and the hardwood trees lifted their bare branches to touch the face of the sky. All the night creatures were tucked deep into their warm burrows and hollows. Even the fish sought refuge deep below the iridescent water. The winter silence was eloquent and beautiful.

Tanner and Amanda kept the silence as he unloaded Napoleon. Mounted on the horse’s back, they gazed across the river. Peace soaked into their souls.

“I love this place,” Tanner said quietly.

“So do I.”

“It’s the perfect spot to tell you all that’s in my heart.”

“Didn’t you do that this afternoon?”

“That sideshow with the planes and banners?”

“Yes.”

“That was merely to get your attention.”

“You did.”

“A real proposal should be more romantic. And private.”

“Tanner, please. You know how I feel.”

“Hear me out, Amanda.”

His voice was quiet and rich with feeling, but it held the steel edge of command that she couldn’t ignore. She half turned in the saddle so she could see his face. All the love he felt for her was there.

“Loving you again has given me new purpose, Amanda. The public sees me as a man who has everything—good health, fame, wealth. They don’t see the emptiness, the lonesome times when I rattle around in my big old house with nobody but the staff to know or care whether I’m dead or alive.”

She started to protest, but he shushed her with a finger on her lips.

“I know I have a family who loves me—wonderful parents, brothers and sisters and sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews. But they have private lives that don’t include me. What I’m missing is a special someone to call my own, a woman who will share my life, bear my children.”

He cupped her face and gazed at her in silence that echoed all the things he’d said. “You are that woman, Amanda. You’ve always been that woman.”

“Thank you, Tanner. That was beautiful.” She pressed his hands, holding them close against her face so that she could feel the strength and power of him. “I love you. That’s all I can give you right now. You are a special man, a man who deserves the truth. And the truth is, I’m more cautious than you, and more practical. I don’t think life is as simple as getting married and living happily ever after.”

“We could, you know.”

“When you say, it like that, I want to believe you.”

“Believe me.”

She reached out and traced his face with her fingertips. The mesmerizing gleam in his eyes spoke to her, beckoned to her, seduced her. She leaned into him and lightly outlined his lips with her tongue.

“You tempt me so,” she whispered. “But I cannot marry you.”

“Our time will come, Mandy. I promise you that.”

With a quick flick of the reins Tanner sent Napoleon thundering along the river. Sand spewed up behind them, silver plumes of fairy dust in the moonlight.

The power of horse and man flowed through Amanda. On the wild gallop down the river they merged in her mind until Tanner and his stallion became one and the same, a magnificent creation pulsing with the electrifying force of nature. Raw passion burned in the winter night. Amanda felt its heat. Every fiber in her body responded to Tanner, cried out “Yes” to him.

Tanner reined the stallion to a halt. He dismounted and reached up for Amanda, setting her down and pulling her swiftly into his arms. “Mandy?”

“Yes, Tanner. Oh, Lord, yes.”

His lips were on hers, frenzied, wild, greedy. With their hungry mouths on each other she ripped his shirt aside, sending buttons flying across the sand. She circled her arms around him under the shirt, pulling him so close that she thought the pounding of his heartbeat was her own.