His Marriage to Remember - By Kathie DeNosky Page 0,20
he had already indicated that he intended to go back to work as soon as possible and, as he put it, “everything would go back to normal.”
Thirty minutes later, when Sam put down his fishing pole, took off his hat, then lay back to put his head in her lap, Bria jumped. She had finally managed to become involved in the story she was reading and hadn’t realized he was giving up on trying to catch a fish.
“I didn’t hear you start swearing or vow that you’ll never go fishing again,” she said, cursing the breathless tone of her voice. Sam was gazing up at her with a smoldering light in his dark blue eyes—a look that never failed to send shivers of anticipation coursing through every part of her.
“I guess I’m getting mellow in my old age,” he said, smiling as he reached up to lightly trace her jawline with his fingertips. “I decided to leave that old catfish alone today.”
“And why is that?” she asked, returning his smile.
“I got to thinking that he might be lying in that hole in the creek bed with his lady and it would be a shame to take him away from that.” He winked. “I know how I’d feel if somebody disturbed us.”
His gentle touch and suggestive tone set off warning bells in the back of her mind. She couldn’t fall back into the same old pattern. Nothing had changed between them. When Sam was home he had always been attentive and let her know in no uncertain terms that he desired her. The only problem was, that only happened a few days out of the month.
As far as she was concerned, that wasn’t enough. Not when he had personnel who could travel with the livestock while he coordinated everything from the ranch. In the beginning, that had been his plan. But as the business became a success, it seemed to drive Sam to set new goals and strive to achieve more. And somewhere along the way he had lost sight of the hopes and dreams they’d had for their life, their marriage, their family.
“You’re looking awfully serious all of a sudden,” he said, taking the book from her hands to place it on the blanket beside her.
“Since we clearly aren’t having fish, I was wondering what I’m going to make for supper,” she said, grasping at the first thing that came to mind. “Would you like chicken or steak?”
“I’m a born-and-bred Texan, sweetheart,” he said, laughing. “What do you think?”
She hoped her smile looked less forced than it felt. “Steak it is.”
“I’ve got an idea,” he said, looking thoughtful. “Why don’t we drive over to Beaver Dam this evening and have dinner at the Broken Spoke Roadhouse.”
At first Bria wasn’t sure that was a good idea. He knew several of the ranchers over that way. What if someone in the tiny town had heard about their separation and impending divorce and made a comment in front of Sam?
But she abandoned that possibility almost immediately. Sam was a very private man and wouldn’t have mentioned it to anyone unless he had to. To her knowledge, the only people who knew about the end of their marriage were his brothers and her sister. Mariah lived all the way up in Amarillo and didn’t know a soul in Beaver Dam, and his brothers were five of the most honorable men she had ever met. They would all rather die than betray Sam’s trust.
“That sounds nice,” she finally said, warming to the idea. “Are you sure you feel up to it?”
He looked exasperated. “I told you—”
“I know.” She sighed. “Other than your memory, you’re just fine.”
“Yup.” He yawned and, reaching for his wide-brimmed hat, covered his eyes with it. “I think I’ll take a little nap before we have lunch and start back to the house to get ready for our big night out.”
While Sam slept, Bria tried to get back into the story of a pioneer woman on the wild frontier. As long as she was lost in the woman’s journey and the trials she faced, Bria didn’t have to think about the man with his head in her lap sleeping as if he didn’t have a care in the world. The man who was putting her through the biggest trial she had faced in all of her twenty-eight years and didn’t even realize it.
Four
As Sam put his hand to the small of Bria’s back to guide her to a table in the back