Page 92 of Texas Splendor
“How beautiful?”
“How much praise do you want?”
“A lot. How beautiful was it?”
She sat back in the chair, narrowing her eyes, wondering if the truth would go to his head, but how could she lie? “I thought it was the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard.”
A slow warm smile spread over his face. “I call it ‘Loree.’ It’s what I hear in my heart whenever I look at you.”
“Either you or your heart needs spectacles.”
He set the violin aside, came out of his chair, and knelt beside her, wrapping his hands around her arms. “Why can’t you believe that you’re beautiful?”
She had become angry at him for not telling her that he played the violin. How would he feel if she revealed the truth about herself now? She had just gained his love. With a few well-chosen words, she knew she could lose it … and never regain it.
He leaned forward, latching his mouth onto hers, sweeping the past and the doubts away. Her bones turned to mush, her thoughts scattered like autumn leaves before the winter winds. She dug her fingers into his shoulders.
“You are beautiful, Loree,” he rasped as he trailed his mouth along her throat. “God, I want you.”
She loved those words, whispered from his lips. “I know, but the doctor says we have to practice abstinence now.”
With a heavy sigh, he rocked back on his heels. “That’s worse than practicing ‘Mary had a Little Lamb.’ ”
“It won’t be for much longer.”
Reaching behind him, he grabbed the violin and tapped the bow against her protruding stomach. “Listen up, young fella.”
Open-mouthed, Loree stared at him as he slipped the violin between his chin and shoulder. “You said it was foolish to talk to a child before it was born.”
“It is foolish to talk to it,” he said, grinning. “But I’m going to play for him. That ain’t foolish at all.”
“What are you going to play?”
“Something fast and spirited to take my mind off the long slow kiss that I want to play against his mother’s lips.”
Sipping on his coffee, Austin sat on the porch in the predawn darkness. His coat warded off the chill in the late winter air. Spring would arrive soon. Last year it had heralded his release from prison. This year he would celebrate the coming of spring with a wife and a child.
And un uncertain future.
Fewer people stared at him than before. He no longer heard whispers behind his back. But the fact remained that in the eyes of the law he was a murderer.
That fact had reached out to touch Loree.
He feared it would touch their child.
He understood ranching, but Dallas was the only rancher he knew who would hire on a family man. He hated ranching, but it was the only skill he possessed. He wanted to give Loree the world, but he couldn’t see that ever happening.
He heard his wife’s gentle footsteps. Smiling, he twisted around. The fear on her face sent panic surging through him. He came to his feet. “Loree, what’s wrong?”
“I felt a pull in my stomach and heard a loud pop. When I slipped out of bed, water ran down the inside of my legs. There was a little blood.”
“You think maybe the baby’s coming?”
Her eyes grew wide and she gripped the doorjamb. Austin rushed to her side, holding her while she breathed heavily. Finally her breathing eased and she looked up at him. “I think the baby’s coming.”
“All right. Don’t panic.”
“I’m not,” she assured him.
