He must have made a noise, or perhaps Delaney sensed his presence, because she stirred and opened her eyes. “Conner? What are you doing? Aren’t you coming to bed?”
He felt the familiar desire in his gut, was amazed at how badly he always wanted her. “Yeah, I’m coming,” he said, and started peeling off his clothes. It was okay, he told himself. He just needed to feel her against him. He wouldn’t love her. He wouldn’t give any more of his heart.
IN THE LIGHT seeping around the door from the hall, Delaney watched Conner dress for work. He’d made love to her twice last night, passionately, his fervor almost all-consuming, even though she knew he had to be exhausted from the long hours he’d worked. But he wouldn’t open up, wouldn’t really talk to her or share himself with her, and loneliness settled over Delaney as completely as it had before he’d come to bed.
“Why don’t you sleep in once in a while?” she asked. Or tell me you’d at least like to stay with me.
He tossed her a sexy grin while stepping into his jeans, but she could tell that his mind was already on something else, something that haunted him. “Didn’t you get enough last night?” he teased.
Sex again. It was his out, his way of avoiding anything deeper. “You work too hard,” she said, not knowing how to reach him.
“Everything’s going well. Josh and I have managed to raise the money we need to fund the resort. We’ve already signed all the agreements and have had an architect draw up the plans—”
“What about me? Don’t I get to see them?”
He shrugged. “Sure, if you want to.”
“When will you be breaking ground?”
“By the end of the summer, if we can get our engineering done in time.”
“That sounds great.” She waited, hoping he’d offer more, but he didn’t.
“Have you talked to your uncles lately?” she asked, reluctant to see him walk out the door because she knew she wouldn’t have any time with him again until nightfall.
“Not lately.”
“Do they know what you’re doing?”
“Yeah.” He yanked on his boots. “They don’t think it’ll work.”
“Do you?”
“Sure,” he said.
But Delaney doubted the smile he flashed at her went much below the surface. And she couldn’t help wondering if his confidence reached any deeper.
“HOW’S THAT BABY?” Aunt Millie asked.
Delaney rested the phone between her shoulder and ear so she could finish tying her shoes. “Getting big. I’m feeling like a cow and waddling like a duck. Those are good signs, from what I hear.”
“You can’t be waddling too much. You haven’t gained enough weight.”
“My doctor said the bulk of the weight generally goes on between the fifth month and the end, so I should still be okay.”
“You are in your fifth month.”
“I know. I’m just saying there’s still time.”
“How’s Conner treating you?”
“Very well,” Delaney said, keeping up the front she’d established right from the beginning. She didn’t want to start the whole town talking about their marital problems. And, in a way, she felt that she deserved whatever she got because of what she’d done to put herself in this situation.
“How’s Uncle Ralph?”
“Good. You two coming for dinner on Sunday?”
Delaney thought about the weekends and how Conner worked through every one of them. “Conner might be busy,” she said.
“Again?”
“He’s trying to build that resort, you know.”
“So?”
“That’s not an easy thing to do.”
“Well, you’ll come, won’t you? I don’t like you staying out there by yourself all the time.”
“I’m not by myself. Dottie’s here. And I’m busy with my garden.”
“Are you missing your job at the library?”
“A little.”
“I talked to Dave Small on the city council. He didn’t seem to think it’d be a problem for you to return once they open, now that you’re married and all.”
“I’m pretty settled out here with my garden and helping around the house. I don’t think I’ll go back until the baby gets a little older.”
“I just wanted you to know it’s an option.”
“Thanks. Can I bring Rebecca to dinner with me?”
Aunt Millie paused, but she didn’t say any of the things she would’ve said only months before. Rebecca had redeemed herself—partially—by doing Millie’s hair for the wedding and giving her the kind of set she claimed no one else had ever been able to achieve. Now Rebecca was her regular hairdresser, and the fact that she went to Aunt Millie’s place once a week to get the job done had helped soften the old woman’s heart even more.
“Fine,” she said at last. “Rebecca’s not as bad as she used to be.”
Rebecca had never been “bad.” But her sweeter side was still one of the best-kept secrets in town.
“Rebecca’s great,” Delaney said, and smiled, thinking of the cradle her friend had painstakingly refinished for her, insisting that in her condition, Delaney couldn’t be exposed to the fumes. “See you later.”
WHY WASN’T CONNER HOME YET?
Delaney paced in front of the fire, feeling tension knot the muscles in her neck and shoulders. She stretched, trying to work out the kinks, and took another sip of the herbal tea she carried in one hand. But the stiffness wouldn’t ease, and neither would her worry. Roy and the others had arrived at the house hours ago. When they’d left to go to the Honky Tonk at eight, they’d assured her Conner was on his way. But he’d never appeared, and she was beginning to wonder if something had happened to him. He put in long days, but he generally spent the hours after dark in his study, not outside on the range.
She wished Dottie were around to reassure her. She liked the stalwart older lady, knew she could trust her advice and her devotion to Conner. But Dottie had headed into town about the same time as the ranch hands, to stay with her son and daughter-in-law for the weekend, as she usually did. Delaney was alone. Even Rebecca wasn’t answering her phone; Delaney had tried to reach her several times.
What now? she wondered, glancing nervously at the clock and cringing to see that it was nearly midnight. Should she call the police?