Wyoming True - Diana Palmer Page 0,83
chuckled. “Yeah. I was worried about her, too. Thanks.”
The other man shrugged, waved and went toward the parking lot.
“Fred, you’ll have to drive the car back to Catelow,” Jake said. “I’m taking Ida on the jet.”
“No problem, Mr. McGuire.” He pursed his lips. “Want to bet on who gets there first?”
Jake gave him a cold stare.
Fred held up both hands. “Just kidding. Honest.”
Jake burst out laughing.
* * *
JAKE HAD IDA in his lap all the way back, kissing her softly from time to time as they discussed a lot of things, mostly her almost-kidnapping and Fred’s surprising turnaround.
“Were you scared?” he asked.
“Only at first. Poor Fred. He loves his mother. He loves animals, too. He was furious about what Bailey had done to my horses and Butler, but he was afraid for his mother’s life. I still don’t know how Mr. Garrison managed to find her and rescue her.”
“I believe he had a little help.”
Ida’s arms contracted around his neck. “What sort of help?”
“Mina called her guys,” he said, and his eyes were soft on her face.
“Oh.” Mina again. She sighed without realizing it.
He tilted her face back up to his. “I was infatuated with Mina. You know that.” His silver eyes narrowed. “But I love you.”
Her whole face went red. She couldn’t manage a single word. It was like having every sweet dream of her life come true, all at once.
“Not bad news, I expect?” he teased gently.
She buried her face in his throat. “I love you, too,” she whispered brokenly. “But I thought you just wanted us to be friends.”
He laughed softly and kissed her hair. “I want us to be everything to each other, all the time. My God, I didn’t even realize how I felt, until I knew what danger you were in.” His arms tightened. “I went crazy.”
She smiled at his throat. “I’m sorry you worried. But I’m glad that it’s not Mina anymore, if you see what I mean.”
He bent and kissed her tenderly. “It was you from the day you had the flat tire,” he said simply. “It just took me a while to realize it.”
“Me, too.” She nuzzled her face against his broad chest. “It was when we were getting married. I looked up at you in the church and I knew, right then. It was like...like...”
“Like a bolt of electricity,” he finished for her. “Yes.”
She leaned back in his arms and studied his lean, handsome face. “I hope we have a son who looks like you.”
“I hope we have a daughter who looks like you.”
They smiled at each other. She didn’t tell him about the queasiness. She didn’t quite connect it. Until a week after they were back home.
* * *
SHE WENT TO the doctor two weeks after that, when she was more certain of her symptoms, and was told what she’d wanted so badly to hear.
Fred broke speed limits getting her back home, because he’d already guessed what was going on.
She ran into the house, into the den where Jake was on the phone. Her expression caused him to end the phone call at once and go to her.
“What is it?” he asked worriedly. “Are you all right?”
“I’m pregnant!” she blurted out.
His face went white. Then red. Then he burst out laughing and whirled her around and around. “Pregnant,” he said, his voice breathlessly tender. “Well, there goes that business meeting I planned for tomorrow. We have to talk about colleges!”
“Jake, that’s years away!” she protested, laughing.
“The years will fly by. You’ll see. But not too quickly, I hope,” he added, kissing her tenderly. “I want to savor every minute of every hour of every day. Especially now.”
She sighed and kissed him back. “So do I. Especially now.”
Fred and Maude were standing in the kitchen, both having guessed what was going on. They grinned at each other.
“Job security,” Fred whispered.
Maude nodded fiercely.
* * *
BY THE TIME their newborn daughter was six months old, and their son was two, the court case had ended, and Bailey Trent was back in prison on charges of attempted kidnapping and conspiracy to commit extortion. Sadly for him, he ran afoul of a gang leader in prison and ended up in the morgue. Ida felt sorry for him, in a way, but his demise left her with fewer worries about the future now that she and Jake were parents.
“You know,” Jake mused as they watched their little boy putting together a colorful giant puzzle on the floor, “of all the things I’ve ever done in