“You know this country. I thought eventually we’d find his body. I also thought he might have just taken off, put this life behind him. Your grandfather, well, he’d had other lives before I met him. I never knew where he got his money or how. But I did know that he liked the idea of reinventing himself. But to see him behind that wall...” Her voice broke. “Will the coroner be able to tell how he died?”
The question made the hair stand up on the back of her neck. “Probably not,” McCall said slowly.
“I know what you’re thinking, but I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t wall him up like that. Call was afraid of small spaces.” She shuddered and wiped her eyes.
As McCall shut off the tape recorder, she didn’t know if she believed her grandmother or not, but she wanted to.
JACK SANK DOWN into the bubbles, the water as warm and soothing as the feel of Josey’s body tucked in front of him in the big clawfoot tub.
He pressed his face against hers, breathing in her scent, thanking God that she was all right.
They hadn’t said much since McCall had allowed them to come upstairs and clean up. Their clothing would be taken as evidence, but since the acting sheriff had witnessed what had happened and had heard RJ confess to his father’s murder, they had both been cleared.
“I thought I’d lost you,” Jack said.
Josey cupped his face in her hands, her gaze taking him in as if memorizing every feature. “You aren’t the only one. I was so worried that if the blow to the head didn’t kill you then the one shot RJ got off did.” There were tears in her eyes.
“You realize I’m not going to let you go.”
She smiled almost ruefully. “Jack, we’re virtually strangers.”
“After what we’ve been through?” he scoffed, as he pulled her to him. “And we could have years to get to know each other better if you would say you’ll really be my wife. I know this isn’t much of a proposal—”
She touched her fingers to his lips. “This is the second best proposal I’ve ever had. The first was a few days ago on the highway.”
He kissed her fingers, then removed them from his lips. “Well? Willing to take a chance with me?”
“One question. What is the Galaxy Corporation?” She looked chagrined. “I checked the registration in your car after you kept sneaking off in the middle of the night.”
“It’s a business I started that puts kids together with ranches. Oftentimes the kids are from the inner city or have been in trouble. I twist the arms of rich landowners, people who own large amounts of land but spend only a week or two actually at the ranch, to let the kids come work the place. Most ranch managers are fine with it as long as the kids are supervised. You can’t believe what hard work and fresh air does for these kids.”
She heard the love in his words for both ranching and kids. She should have known the Galaxy Corporation was something like that. “Did I mention how much I love you?”
“No.” But his grin said he liked it. “I should tell you, though, I don’t make any money doing this. Fortunately, it turns out that my mother’s family had money. That helped get the corporation going so that now it is self-supporting.”
Josey laughed. “I have a ton of money, more than I will ever spend. What?” she said, when she saw his expression.
“I don’t like the idea of marrying someone who—”
“Can expand your kids-on-ranches program?” she asked.
He smiled at her. “Still—”
“The answer is yes. If you still want to marry me.”
He looked into her beautiful green eyes and felt his heart soar like a hawk. “I don’t want to spend another day away from you.”
“You won’t have to. My mother is safe. McCall checked for me. I will want to move her closer to wherever I’m going to be, that’s all I need. Well, maybe not all I need.” Desire sparked in her gaze. “I need you, Jack Winchester.”
They made love in the tub, slowly, lovingly, a celebration of life. It wasn’t until they were drying off that Jack broached the subject.
“My grandmother has asked me if I’d like to come back to the ranch at some point. I told her I would have to talk to you. I think everything that has happened has changed her. Well, at least a little. I know you probably have nothing but bad memories here and there is more than a good chance that my grandmother had something to do with my grandfather being put behind that stone wall, you know.”
“Jack, you love this place and I love you.”
“But after everything that’s happened, not to mention the secrets that these walls have seen...”
She stepped to him, wondering at how fate and maybe a whole lot of luck had brought Jack Winchester into her life. She wanted to pinch herself. “I will be happy wherever you are.”
He grinned as he reached for her, drawing her back into his arms. “I was thinking we should elope and go on a long honeymoon, then if you still mean it, maybe we’ll come back here for McCall’s wedding at Christmas and see how things go.”
Josey kissed him, remembering that day on the highway when he’d come roaring up the hill in his old Cadillac convertible and had stopped for her. She remembered his handsome face beneath the brim of his Western hat. But what she remembered most was that boyish grin of his.
“Pepper said she would give me a section of land so we could build a house of our own,” Jack said between kisses, as he carried her over to the bed. “We’ll need lots of room for all those kids we’re going to have together. I’m thinking a half dozen.”
Josey laughed as he lowered her to the bed. She pulled him down.
