Queen (33 page)

"It's a ring."

Cody grinned. "Actually, it's a rather large white diamond. Do you think your choice of perfume was a unconscious portent of things to come?"

She shook her head, unable to speak.

"So… you can't really read minds?"

She shook her head again and bit her lip, trying desperately not to cry.

"Then that means I have to come right out and ask, doesn't it?" His voice was rich with laughter, his heart light from the joy he saw in her eyes.

At that point, if she'd asked for the moon, he couldn't have told her no to save his soul. He grasped her left hand, solemnly separated her fingers, and held the ring suspended over the end of the ring finger.

"Queen Houston, it will be forever my honor and joy if you would consent to
marry me. I will promise to love you… to care for—"

"Yes!"

He grinned. "Hunh-uh, honey. You made me do this the hard way, and I'm not through yet. Now you'll just have to wait. Let's see… where was I… oh, yes, caring for you. And I will. I also promise to protect…"

She started to cry.

"Oh, now, honey! Let's not do that!" Suddenly at a loss for words, Cody quickly slid the ring on her finger. "Look, don't cry. It fits!"

She sobbed even harder and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He sighed and held her. Women! Make them mad… they cry. Make them happy… they still cry. He was never going to learn how to do things right.

"Yes, yes, yes," Queen said between sobs. "I'll marry you, every darn one of you."

Cody grinned with relief. This was the Queen he knew and loved.

"Thank you," he said calmly as he dipped his lips toward hers. "You have made every darn one of us very happy."

Queen inhaled Cody and tears, all at the same time. Wrapped in a swirl of love and White Diamonds, they sealed the bargain with a kiss.

Cody hustled her into the Blazer, and they headed for town. Queen leaned against him in satisfied silence and was all but mute until they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant.

"Do they know?" she asked.

Queen's hesitant question came just as he braked and parked. Cody grinned. Just like a woman. Wait until the last minute to start an important conversation.

"They knew I was going to ask you. They don't know that you said yes."

Even in the shadows within the vehicle, he saw her blush.

Cody grinned and grabbed her chin, planted a quick, hard kiss on her half-opened mouth, and then felt his gut kick and his manhood get hard as her eyes slid shut and she leaned into his embrace.

"Hold that thought," he whispered. "We've got a party to attend."

Queen sighed, tasting what was left of Cody's kiss as she traded the warmth of the Blazer for the sharp bite of night air.

The restaurant parking lot was more than half full with skiers lingering in hopes of another heavy snow or some action in one of the other tourist attractions Snow Gap offered.

She shivered as the wind plastered her dress against her legs and suddenly wished for her old blue jeans and boots instead of the fragile stockings and slender-heeled shoes. Being sexy and being comfortable were not always synonymous.

"Oh, God, Cody. Suddenly I'm scared to death to face your sons."

"You can't be half as scared as I was, fearing that you'd tell me no."

"I haven't told you no since we met. What made you think I'd start now?"

She walked into the restaurant slightly ahead of him, leaving him with nothing but a smile on his face and an enticing view of her backside.

"Coming?" she asked as she turned at the door.

"God, I hope not," Cody said, and then laughed aloud at the shocked expression on her face. "At least not yet."

Dennis Macon looked up at the sound of her laughter and felt his gut kick twice in rapid succession. He could tell that she'd been asked. And then he took another look at the smile on Cody's face and knew that she'd said yes.

It was the final proof he needed to assure him that he'd never been in the running except in his own mind.

"Hey, boys," Dennis said. "I think we've got a winner!"

Three pairs of equally blue eyes stared. Three dark heads nodded solemnly in perfect unison. They'd known it all along. They didn't know why grown-ups made such a big deal out of the obvious. Queenie loved them. It stood to reason she would marry them.

Dennis stood up as Queen came to the table. "Let's see the ring," he said quietly.

It was what she'd been waiting for. She held out her hand, and Dennis took it, looking deeply into the sparkling facets of the stone and then into her eyes.

Queen caught a look on his face that she hadn't expected. For a moment thought seemed to become word, and for the first time since she'd known him, she realized that at one point he'd harbored a hope of his own. He leaned forward.

"Congratulations, angel. I hope you'll be very, very happy."

The kiss he left behind was swift and sweet, and Queen smiled through tears at Cody's best friend. "Thank you, Dennis. I already am."

Then it became a fight between Will and J.J. to see who would sit on the other side of Queen. Only her calm, firm control of the situation would ensure that none of her men was left out of this special night.

"One can sit on one side, one on the other," she said, begging Cody with a quick look, hoping that he'd forgive her for abandoning him so quickly. "I don't think your daddy will mind too much. He's got me for the rest of his life. Tonight he'll just have to share, right, guys?"

 "Right!"

Cody's heart was too full to answer. All he knew was that his lady had not only taken him to love, she'd enveloped his sons as if they were her own. Then he realized that in her heart, they already were.

"Okay, guys," Cody said, "but later… when it's time to… you know… I get the ringside seat."

They all nodded and then giggled with delight at the surprise still in store for their Queenie.

Wally Morrow stood on the street outside, slid a sharp, bony finger beneath the edge of his long blond wig, and scratched. Damn, but these things itch, he thought.

He stared at the family assembled at the table inside the restaurant, saw Queen Houston proudly displaying a gleaming diamond ring for all to see, and then watched her accepting congratulations. He grinned. He'd seen what he'd come to see.

Out on bail, and in serious disguise, he pulled at the groin of his tight ski pants and wondered how in the hell men breathed in stuff like this. He felt as though he'd been canned in nylon and latex, and he feared for the future of his heirs, should he decide to have some.

"Okay, Mrs. Whittier, I've got your proof. And believe you me, it's going to cost you big time."

He scooted across the street, trying to affect a macho swagger that men who wore clothes such as these were prone to do. In no time he'd packed, paid his bill, and was in his rental car, heading out of town. He'd seen all he cared to of Snow Gap, Colorado, and the Bonner family. He still had nightmares about that crazy redhead and that wild man who'd dumped him on his ass.

But he'd done what he set out to do and drove away with a small smile of satisfaction. He'd never walked out on a case yet, and this one was going to come to a neat close. It was going to cost Lenore Whittier a bundle to find out that her grandsons were about to obtain a new mother.

"Who's ready for dessert?"

Cody's question was met with shrieks and giggles that made Queen frown. What on earth had gotten into them? And what was so funny about dessert?

Cody waved toward their waiter and then turned to Queen with a smile.

She looked at Dennis, then at the boys, and then back at Cody. Something was definitely up, she could tell by the innocent expressions on their faces.

And then the waiter came out from the kitchen, carrying a cake three stories high and blazing with candles.

"Happy birthday!" they all shouted, and then their faces fell.

She was crying, all-out sobs through a smile that barely made it.

"Oh, my!" she said, and then repeated it over and over. "I didn't think anyone knew. I've never been so happy in my entire life. Thank you, boys, for everything." She slipped an arm around each of her seat mates and winked at Donny, who was trying not to look as pleased as he felt.

"Daddy… if she's happy, why is she crying?" J.J. asked as he leaned toward his father and slid out of Queen's hug.

Cody grinned and ruffled J.J.'s hair as he calmly handed Queen his handkerchief. "Lesson number one, son. Women always cry when they're happy."

"Then what do they do when they're sad?"

"Cry."

"That doesn't make sense," Will said, looking at his father as if he didn't believe him.

"That's what makes them so special. You never get bored because you never understand them. Get it?"

Will sighed. "Maybe I will when I get bigger."

Donny laughed. "I don't know, Will. No one is bigger than Dad, and he still hasn't got a clue."

And then the cake became the center of attention.

"You have to make a wish!" Donny said.

Queen looked around the table at the people with whom she was sharing it. "It would be hard to wish for more than what I already have," she said.

And then she thought of something, and her face grew solemn. She felt suddenly overwhelmed by the enormity of the occasion.

She took a deep breath, leaned forward, and blew. The candles went out, and all that remained were tiny wisps of gray smoke filtering up from their burned tips as their life was extinguished.

"What did you wish for?" J.J. asked. "You looked sad. You're supposed to wish for something that will make you happy."

"She can't tell you, or it won't come true, stupid," Will said. "And it's okay if she's sad. Women are supposed to do stuff like that… right, Dad? Besides, she's not really sad because she's with her family."

Cody nodded. But he, too, had seen the shadow slide across her face and wondered what had happened to put out the light in her eyes. And then something Will had just said clicked, and he knew what she'd been thinking of.

He looked at her eyes, brimming with tears, and saw the smile on her lips as she struggled with memories too painful to share. Somewhere out there were her sisters, the two other daughters of Johnny Houston, and he could tell how deeply she was missing them.

"This isn't all," he said, breaking the solemnity of the moment. "I think you've got some presents coming, honey. Dennis and the boys have been on a marathon shopping expedition this afternoon, right, guys?"

Some wrapped boxes appeared from behind Dennis's chair, which was sheltered by a rubber tree at his back.

"Open mine first!" J.J. cried.

"I'll open them all," Queen said calmly. "Your dad will cut cake and I will open presents, and then we'll all go home."

The smiles and nods of acceptance went all around the table as Dennis Macon watched with a bittersweet smile. Just at this moment he envied his friend more than he'd ever thought possible. And it wasn't only the knowledge that Queen Houston loved Cody, it was the fact that he had no one who loved him in the same way, and it was all his own doing.

Unfortunately for Dennis, he was going to retire to a motel room for the night and, in the morning, head back to Denver to Lowry AFB and the life that he'd chosen over marriage and family. But he had one small piece of himself that he was leaving with her. And because it was her birthday, no one could deny him the right.

He watched, holding his breath as she slowly unwrapped the tiny box bearing the gift from him.

"This is from you, isn't it, Dennis?" Queen asked, and grinned with anticipation as she tore through the shiny paper and the strip of ribbon.

And then her smile froze, and her eyes grew wide and solemn. She dug through the bit of tissue to the gilt she saw beneath and lifted out a pin, a perfect pair of wings—air force wings, which a pilot covets from the day he enters the academy to the day they are pinned on his chest.

"Dennis! You can't give me your wings!"

He shrugged and gave a crooked smile. "I had to, darlin'," he said softly. "What good's an angel without them?"

Cody looked sharply at his friend, and in that moment Dennis looked up.

"You're a lucky man," Dennis said, and reached out and shook Cody's hand. "You always were the smart one, Coda-man. All the best in the world, and I really mean that."

Cody didn't answer. There was nothing he could say. He looked at Queen, sitting behind the table, holding court with her cake and gifts and the devoted attention of her subjects, and knew that his life was full.