Dakota Born (38 page)

“No, I don't,” he admitted. If his brother had given him the opportunity, he would have told her so himself.

“Okay,” Kevin said, “this is the deal.”

The deal?
Gage arched his brows. His brother had never sounded this firm or confident before.

“Gage, you're marrying Miss Snyder, and Miss Snyder, you're staying right here in Buffalo Valley. It's where you belong. Some of the adults might be old fuddy-duddies, but there isn't a one of us high-schoolers who want you to go. You're the best thing that ever happened to our school. And my brother's been crazy about you for months.”

Gage took a step forward. This had gone on long enough. “If you don't mind, I prefer to do my own talking.”

“Son,” Leta said, holding out her arm and stopping him. “Let Kevin finish.”

“Thanks, Mom.” The teenager's grin was enormous. “Okay—I'm going to art school.”

“But you refused the scholarship,” Lindsay said, and Gage heard the utter defeat in her voice.

“Here's the best part,” Kevin said, his eyes bright. He pulled an envelope from his shirt pocket. “I was offered
another
full ride—from the school in Chicago. Two scholarships.”

“But that's the top school in the country!” Lindsay pressed her fingertips to her lips.

“Gage, you're planning to buy your own land, which is crazy. You have it already. I hereby bequeath this farm to you.” He made a sweeping gesture with his arms. “It's yours, it's always been yours. Mom,” he said, nodding in her direction, “you're moving to town.”

“I am?” Leta's eyes rounded with shock.

“You can stay in Lindsay's house. It's about to be vacated.”

Lindsay's mouth fell open.

“Mom, Gage and Lindsay love you, but they're going to be newlyweds. Three's a crowd. Besides, Hassie's going to need help at the pharmacy now.”

“You seem to have everything worked out,” Gage said, feeling both amused and oddly respectful. “But about the farm, you don't just hand over land this valuable…”

“Don't fight me on this, Gage. I know, I know, you refuse it as a gift. Well, big brother, this is one argument you aren't going to win. You want to pay me for the farm, then fine, you can pick up my college living expenses.”

“Oh, Kevin,” Leta said with a sigh.

“Two scholarship offers. It was meant to be,” Kevin announced. “Now, I suspect Lindsay and Gage need a few minutes in private, so, Mom, why don't you and I just disappear into the house?”

Gage stood before Lindsay, his heart full of feeling. Full of love. Her beautiful blue eyes were brimming with tears.

“Don't cry, darling.”

Sniffling, she rubbed the back of her hand across the high arch of her cheek. “You were willing to break my heart, but you can't stand to see me cry?”

Gage had to hold her. He closed the space between them and gently took her in his arms. She threw her own arms around his neck and clung to him.

Gage relished the feel of her, breathed in her unique, delightful scent. He placed his hands on either side of her tear-streaked face and kissed her just like he had that first time. Kissed her as if this was the last kiss granted him on earth; kissed her with all the hunger and love stored in his heart. He didn't have the words to say what he was feeling. All he had was his heart, open-wide, exposed, vulnerable. And hers.

Lindsay responded to his kiss in a way that told him she was his, would always be his. Her body moved against him and he groaned.

“I was coming to ask you to stay in Buffalo Valley. I was coming to tell you I love you,” he told her, their arms around each other, holding on tight.

“I'm an outsider.”

“Yes.” He wasn't going to argue with her. “Foolish and stubborn, too, but along with that, you're honest and honorable. It wasn't just Kevin and those schoolkids you taught to dream. It was me, too.”

“You?”

He lifted his head enough so she could see the truth in his eyes. “I'd given up the hope of marrying, of having a family. I don't have a lot to offer you, Lindsay.”

“You have a double portion of everything that's important to me, but it's enough to know I have your heart.”

Gage's chest expanded with a sharp intake of breath. It seemed inconceivable that she loved him, and yet the look on her face told him she did. He kissed her again because it was impossible not to.

“Will you marry me, Lindsay?”

She nodded. The tears were back, shining in her eyes. “Oh, Gage,” she whispered, smiling up at him, and then it seemed she was crying too hard to speak and she merely nodded.

Rising on her tiptoes, she kissed him. Wrapping his arms about her waist, their mouths joined, Gage swung her around, his joy overflowing, unrestrained.

The wind came up then, whirling around them, singing in his ears. He understood his grandfather's love and the sacrifices Jerome had made for Lindsay's grandmother. Life had come full circle and had brought him a priceless gift in Lindsay. He was going to accept this gift and love her the rest of his life.

And beyond.

B
uffalo Bob's face brightened when this morning's first customer walked into the restaurant. A tourist, he guessed, his first since Gage Sinclair had married the schoolteacher, Miss Snyder, in mid-July, when the hotel had been full of guests for the wedding.

“Good morning!” He greeted the woman, who was attractive, well-dressed, probably in her fifties. He handed her a menu when she pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table. “We've got a great breakfast special this morning. Eggs, bacon and hash browns for a buck fifty.”

“Actually, all I want is coffee.”

“Coming right up,” he returned cheerfully.

The good mood was a facade to hide his disappointment over Merrily. She'd left again, vanishing in the middle of the night. On the bright side, she'd stayed longer than any previous time. She'd be back, Bob knew, when she was ready, and as always he'd be waiting for her. He didn't know why she felt the need to disappear like this. He'd gotten comfortable having her around and had thought she seemed less on edge than she used to be. Maybe next time she'd stay.

“This is a nice town, isn't it?” the woman asked, looking down Main Street.

“Real nice.” He poured her coffee, and seeing that she wanted to chat, set the glass pot on the table. “A year ago, it looked different than it does now.”

“How's that?”

“Well, there used to be a lot of closed businesses. There still are some, but not near as many. The new high-school teacher got the movie house all cleaned up for a school play and afterward, the owner—a farmer over in Devils Lake—decided to reopen it. That's been a real plus, to have a movie house in town again.”

“I'll bet it is. Not many towns this far from any major city have a theater.”

“You're right. Last week, Jacob and Marta Hansen announced that they'd sold the grocery store. A friend of the high-school teacher's bought it. Funny name, too, something like Mason or Madison. No…Madeline. She wants us to call her Maddy. She flew out for the wedding, and I saw her talking to Jacob and Marta and then, next thing I heard, she'd bought the grocery. Apparently she's got some great ideas. Lindsay's thrilled.”

“Lindsay? You don't happen to mean Lindsay Snyder, do you?” The tourist perked up.

“It's Lindsay Sinclair now. You know her?”

The woman hesitated. “We met once, briefly.”

“Terrific teacher. She's been a real bonus to this community. It looked for a while like we might lose her, but Gage Sinclair put an end to that idea when he proposed. They were married last month. The whole town showed up, even Hassie Knight, who owns the pharmacy. She suffered a heart attack not long ago, but it looks like she's going to be fine now that she's had bypass surgery.”

“I'm glad to hear Lindsay's happy.”

“You should've been here when her old boyfriend from Savannah—some guy named Monte, if you can believe it—showed up with her dad and found out Lindsay decided to marry a local farmer. I thought he was gonna have a conniption. Lindsay's dad was so disgusted with the guy, he walked off and left him. Folks around here are still laughing at the temper tantrum ol' Monte threw right in the middle of Main Street.”

The woman smiled. “Buffalo Valley seems to be growing.”

“We got a full-time pizza restaurant now. Rachel Fischer took over her parents' old place. I had to give up selling the frozen variety, seeing that no one wanted mine when Rachel's selling the real thing.”

“I can imagine.”

“Sarah Stern rented one of the storefronts for her quilting shop. Do you know Sarah?”

“I can't say I've had the pleasure.”

“She sews really fabulous quilts. They seem to be catching on, too. And from what I understand, she recently hired Joanie Wyatt.” He paused and scratched his head in puzzlement over the living arrangements the Wyatts had set up. “Joanie and the three kids moved into town. It's the funniest thing I've ever heard of. The wife living in town and the husband out on the ranch. Brandon visits once or twice a week, but he doesn't spend the night. Whatever works, I guess.”

Her smile was friendly as she reached for her purse.

“I didn't mean to talk your ear off.”

“You didn't. I enjoyed it.”

Buffalo Bob was relieved. Some folks liked it when he talked about the community, but there were others who preferred to be left alone. Jeb McKenna, for example.

“I don't suppose you could tell me where the cemetery is.”

“Oh, sure. It's outside town. You take Main Street to Division Street, just past the grain elevator and go left.”

“Thanks.”

Not wanting to make a pest of himself, Buffalo Bob returned the glass pot to the burner.

The woman took one last sip of her coffee, then stood and placed a dollar bill on the table.

“Do you want change?” He only charged fifty cents for a cup of coffee.

“That won't be necessary.”

“Thanks. And come again.”

“I'm sure I will,” she said.

“Listen, seeing that you know Lindsay, would you like me to tell her you stopped by?”

She hesitated. “All right.”

“Who should I say?”

“Tell Lindsay her aunt was briefly in town and will be getting in touch with her later.”

“Sure thing.”

“Her aunt Angela Kirkpatrick.”