him that she was extremely tired, but she wasn’t entirely certain she wouldn’t have asked him to make love to her. It had been so long since she had shared that intimacy with Sam and no matter that none of the issues between them had been resolved, she missed sharing that with him.
Relaxed from his soothing touch and secure in his arms, Bria felt the peacefulness of sleep begin to overtake her. There would be plenty of time tomorrow to think about the disparity between what her heart wanted and what her mind was telling her to do. At the moment, she felt she was where she belonged and that was all that mattered.
* * *
The next afternoon as he walked back to the house, Sam smiled as he thought about his date night with Bria. He could tell she was waging a battle within herself, and the part of her that still wanted him seemed to be winning. That was all the encouragement he needed to proceed with his plan.
He was going to pull out all the stops to get her to stay at Sugar Creek Ranch. After giving it serious thought, he had come up with a project that he was certain would make her happy. That’s why he had snuck out to spend the entire morning down by the creek and couldn’t wait to show her the surprise he had for her.
“Bria, sweetheart, could you come here a minute?” he called as he entered the back door.
“Sam? Are you all right?”
He heard her hurrying down the hall toward the kitchen and knew she had to have been worried about him. He had told her he was going to the barn to talk to the ranch foreman about some new bucking horses and she had probably called to check on him.
“I couldn’t be better,” he assured her.
“Where have you been?” she asked when she rushed up to him. “I called the barn a few minutes ago and Roy Lee said he hadn’t seen you.”
Sam could see the worry in her eyes and automatically put his arms around her to hold her close. He knew he shouldn’t be elated by her obvious concern for him, but it was further proof that he wasn’t fighting a lost cause.
“I’m fine, Bria. I didn’t mean to upset you.” His spirits soared when she put her arms around his waist and hugged him back. “I’ve been down by the creek.”
She leaned back to give him a disapproving look. “What were you doing down there? You know someone is supposed to be with you when you go that far.”
“Bria, I haven’t had a dizzy spell in the past few days and I don’t need a babysitter. But I don’t want to talk about that now.” Smiling, he took her hand in his and started for the door. “I have something I want to show you.”
“At the creek?” she asked as she followed him. “What is it?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise,” he said, grinning as they walked down the path toward Sugar Creek.
When they reached the cottonwood tree, she frowned as she looked around. “I don’t see anything different.”
“Look closer,” he said, pointing toward some stakes with heavy cord strung between them. “Isn’t that where you said you thought would be a nice place for a gazebo with a swing?”
Her confused expression turned to surprise, then one of delight. “Are you really planning to have one built?”
Stepping up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. “It’s what you mentioned you thought would be nice, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but that was right after we got married that I talked about it.” She shook her head. “I thought you had forgotten.”
“Oh, I didn’t exactly forget,” he said, nibbling kisses along the delicate shell of her ear. “I just never seemed to have the time while I was home to call a contractor and get the work started.”
He knew the moment the words left his mouth that he must have touched a nerve by the way her body stiffened. “It wasn’t that you didn’t have the time, Sam. It was more like you wouldn’t take the time.” She pulled from his arms. “There’s a big difference.”
“I’m taking the time now,” he pointed out, wondering how things could have gone downhill so damn fast. She had seemed genuinely happy about him building the gazebo for her and now she looked as if she was angry with him.