CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
LUCAS FOUND LAUREN in her office finishing up articles for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Dallas Morning News.
“I want to talk to you,” he said without any other words like hello.
“Wait a minute. I just got news that one of the thugs confessed to setting the fires in the barns. He was smoking in one, while he looked for something to steal. When it caught fire, he moved to the next and set it thinking he’d blame it on the cowboys who were mad and leaving.”
Lucas leaned against the file cabinet and watched her work. He’d always thought that she was hiding out here in Crossroads, but she was happy here. She loved being part of the community and writing. Everyone he ran into in Houston from back home read her Crossroads News.
“You love writing, don’t you?”
She didn’t look up. “Almost finished.”
“I’ll wait.” He couldn’t resist moving a strand of her sunshine hair away from her face. “I’ll wait forever,” he whispered.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
Her fingers flew across her laptop, then suddenly, she shouted, “Finished! This story is going to get me into papers across the country.”
Her big eyes blinked at him. “Of course, I wish it hadn’t happened, but I did cover it completely, step by step. And I’ll keep it up, the investigations, the interviews, the trials and, of course, the wrap-up of how it all affected our town.”
Lucas just smiled.
“What?”
“I don’t want to talk about the Bar W. I want to show you something.”
“Sure.” She stood up and leaned into him as if she’d done so all her life.
He moved his hands along her body. “Last night was the best night of my life. I felt like... I felt like...”
“I know,” she said as she kissed him. “I felt the same. I didn’t know I could feel that way.”
“What way?” he teased. “Like you were exploding with pure joy. Like you’d died and gone to heaven. Like you’d never feel that good again.”
She nodded.
“Don’t worry. That’s never going to happen. I’m here. I’ll take you to heaven any night you want to go as long as I can go with you.”
She buried her face against his chest and he couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying.
“I said I loved you last night, and I’m never taking that back, Lauren. Never. Now we have to go. I want to show you something before the sun sets.”
She began gathering her things.
He took her hand. “You don’t need anything. Just walk with me.”
“All right.”
They left her office and walked along the sidewalk to Dakota’s tiny little real estate office. Her door was locked up for the night.
When they reached the third office, Lucas stopped and stared down at her, smiling.
“That office has never been rented,” Lauren said. “It’s twice as big and has a real apartment upstairs. Dakota saw it once and said it has a big window on the side that looks out over the whole town. All I’ve got is a living room/kitchen in front and a bedroom with a tiny bath in back.”
“You want to see this one?”
“The owner lives out of town. No one has the key.”
“You do.” Lucas smiled. “It’s around your neck.”
She looked at him as if he were playing some kind of trick on her. Slowly, she pulled off the chain and tried the key. It worked.
“But?”
“I rented it the last time I came home and saw where your office was. I wanted to know that if I ever moved home, you’d be close.”
“You’re moving in here?”
“No, mi cielo, we’re moving in here. I’ll have my practice downstairs and we’ll live upstairs.”
“But.”
“No but.” He laughed. “Your pop told me we were getting married. None of this living together until we know each other better. We’ve known each other all our lives.”
“I won’t be rushed.” She straightened.
“I know. I feel the same. How does tomorrow sound?”
“I’ll think about it.” She laughed as she walked into the huge space.
A few minutes later they were standing in the open living room that spread into a kitchen. Dakota was right, a huge window faced the town.
“Every evening we can stand right here and watch the sun set over our town. How would you like that?”
“I think I’d like that very much, but I’m keeping my office and my job.”
“Good, then we won’t starve.” He hugged her. “You want to go tell Pop?”
She shook her head. “I’d like to try out the bedroom first.”
“But there’s no furniture. No bed.”
She pulled him along. “Trust me, Lucas. You won’t even notice.”