When they were gone, Aggie stood beside Hank’s chair and waited for him to say the first word. If he hadn’t married her he would have been working today, not losing money while laid up with a broken leg. She wasn’t even good company since she’d spent the day upstairs. He couldn’t have even climbed up to see her.
Finally, he reached for her hand. “I should have guessed Potter was a hothead. He must have sent that drunk at the train station to stop me, and when that didn’t work he planned to at least see that we couldn’t be happy.”
She moved closer and leaned her shoulder against him. “I am happy, dear. I hate that he broke your leg and somehow I’m probably to blame, but you must know that I’m happy-here on the ranch-with you.”
He looked up at her then as if he wanted to believe her, but something deep inside stopped him. She thought he was about to argue, but he only said, “I want you to promise to wear my Colts today. Don’t take them off.”
She nodded.
“I can’t just sit here and wait for trouble to come, but I can work in the barn. I’ll have Blue move my workbench so that I can keep an eye on the house and my rifle will always be within reach.”
“I’ll bring my tools out. It’s warm enough for me to work in the barn.”
He pulled her into his lap and held her gently. She thought of a hundred things that needed doing, but it felt so good to have him holding her. She’d almost woken him last night to ask if he would. She knew he liked her here but didn’t completely believe her when she’d told him she was happy. Maybe it was the way they married with no promises of love. Or maybe it was more deeply rooted in his past, when mother left him and never returned.
Aggie kissed his throat and Hank stilled as if returning to reality.
“We’d better get to work,” he said.
She nodded and stood, wishing he’d kissed her back just once.
An hour later Blue returned with another load of broken revolvers and a few rifles from Jeb, and a box of new tools shipped in from Wichita Falls. Aggie was so excited she went right to work, hardly noticing Blue moving Hank’s bench to the other side of the barn doors.
They worked all morning, their backs to one another. Hank sat on a stool with his leg propped on the crossbar of his workbench. She preferred to stand when she worked with rifles. He asked her to pick up a hammer he dropped, and once she asked if he’d help her pry a jammed cartridge shell out. Neither talked of anything else.
At noon Aggie went to the house and brought back leftover meat and cheese for lunch. She insisted he rest his leg while he ate. She talked about a few of the problems with the rifles, but he said little. His eyes were always looking beyond the barn.
When Blue returned that evening, Hank asked if the hired hand would lend him a shoulder to brace against so he could make it to the house.
Aggie almost cried. He’d worked too hard. He should have turned in hours ago and gotten all the weight off his leg. She grabbed her tools and ran for the house. “I’ll work upstairs for a while,” she said as she passed the two men. “You rest, dear.”
“I’ll want no supper,” Hank answered. “I think I’ll call it a night.”
She wanted to argue that he needed to eat, but she didn’t want to nag in front of Blue. Instead, she went to her little space above the kitchen and worked, telling herself tomorrow would be better.
She worked until the box of guns was repaired. When she finally crawled into bed, she wished there was something that could make Hank happy, or at least make him believe that she was happy. At some point, when he’d been little, he’d stopped believing he could be loved. That’s why he could offer the partnership-it had been safe, there wouldn’t be a disappointment, for love wasn’t part of the deal.
Shoving a tear away, she silently scolded herself for crying, then she realized why she couldn’t stop. Hank didn’t believe in love and she loved him. She might never be able to say the words or make him believe, but she loved him.
An idea struck her. Slipping from the bed, she ran back upstairs. Within minutes another quilt was hung, this one on the blank wall of their bedroom. Tomorrow, no matter what the weather, Hank would wake to a sunny day filled with sunflowers and morning glories.
Laughing to herself, Aggie slipped out of her nightgown and into his flannel shirt. Then she crawled in beside her husband. As she moved close to his warmth, he circled her and pulled her against him. His slow steady breathing told her that his action was more instinct than thought. She molded against him and whispered, “Good night, dear,” a moment before she fell asleep.
Chapter 14
In the darkness Hank came awake one pleasure at a time. Aggie’s hair tickled his nose, her cheek lay against his heart, and her breast pressed into his side. For several minutes all he could manage was breathing. He’d been in a bad mood all day yesterday, battling pain and the fear that someone might try to hurt Aggie. After an hour of berating himself, he’d decided she probably didn’t want to come to bed with him.
But she had. She’d not only shared the bed, she’d curled up against him. He’d managed to live another day without her running out on him.
Finally, he slipped his hand along her back and cupped her round little bottom. She wiggled with his movement, then settled against him. Hank smiled, thinking he’d try harder. “Aggie,” he whispered.
She raised her head, her hair wild around her. “Is it morning already?”
“No.” He shoved her curls away from her face. “But close. The horizon is already beginning to glow.”
“Are you all right?” She rose to her elbow.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry I woke you. I hadn’t meant to say your name out loud.”
Aggie fell back against the pillow and pretended to snore.
Hank laughed. “Don’t you want to stay awake and watch the sun come up?”
“I’ll catch it tonight, then turn it over in my mind.”
He scooted up and propped the pillow behind his back. “Come on. Wake up and watch. Sunrise is the best part of the day.”
Like a grumpy groundhog, she crawled out of her warm hole and sat beside him.
After a few minutes, he asked, “Are your eyes open?”
“Is it here yet?”
“Almost.”
“Just let me know and I’ll open them then.”
Hank couldn’t resist-he tugged her to him. He wanted to pull her shirt off and repeat all they’d done before, but for now, he had to let her set the pace. Just because he couldn’t advance physically with making her his, didn’t mean he couldn’t move forward.
“Listen, sunshine, I’ve been thinking.”
She was busy settling atop his chest.
“Are you listening?”
She made a slight sound, half yes, half yawn.
“I don’t think I’m going to build another bed. If you’ve no objection, I think we should just share.”
He felt her nod.
“I mean from now on, not just while I’m laid up with this leg.”
She nodded again. “I understand. Except for the few months I had after all my sisters left, I’ve always shared a bed. It has advantages. Someone to cuddle with on cold nights. Someone to talk to when you can’t sleep.”
“Aggie, sharing a bed with a man is different.”
She stilled. “I know.”
He waited for her to say more. The easiness between them was gone. She lay stiff at his side. “You know,” he whispered, “I would never hurt you.”
“I know,” she said again. “This isn’t what I thought it would be like between us.”
He understood. When he’d handed her his gun, he’d thought he was making a partnership that at best would keep her safe and offer him company. But now, it was already more, far more.
Without a word, he leaned down and brushed his lips over hers, loving the sweet dawn taste of them. She
