The Color of Forever: Book Two: Forever Cowboys Series (26 page)
Read The Color of Forever: Book Two: Forever Cowboys Series Online
Authors: Hope Whitley
She would miss the breathtaking production nature put on twice a day of brilliantly
colored sunrises and sunsets. She’d miss seeing the huge, craggy mountains in the distance and the meadows full of flowers and the sweet, clean air perfumed by the evergreen forests. She’d miss Mari, too, and Trey and Bandy and Consuelo.
And Ben. She’d miss Ben most of all. Her misery deepened as she realized she’d be missing Ben for the rest of her life.
Marielle sensed that something was wrong with her friend and didn’t try to make small talk or interfere with whatever was going on in Samantha’s head, so they sat in silence as the miles went by.
Samantha’s thoughts returned again and again to the things Maeve had said this morning. Were they true?
Had
she felt to blame for her sister losing her husband and baby, never to love again or have other children? Had she been unconsciously punishing herself by denying herself the things she thought she had taken from Maeve?
She looked out the Jeep’s window at the countryside flashing by, but not seeing it. Her thoughts were far away, focused on her life since Patrick had been killed … on the frenetic life she had lived, rushing from one party to another and one dead-end relationship to another … never slowing down and taking time to think or examine her life too closely.
Now, Maeve had forced her to do just that by what she had said today.
Samantha felt a stirring of something deep within, like a small creature was awakening and coming back to life that had been dormant for so long. She felt a loosening in the very core of her being, a letting go, as something long frozen began to thaw.
She turned to Marielle. “Mari, stop the car! Turn around, I have to go back!”
Her friend looked at her, surprised. “Did you forget something, Sam?”
Samantha was smiling even though tears were sliding down her face. “Yes, I forgot something.”
Marielle was puzzled. What could be so important that Samantha would have them turn around now and go back and why was she smiling and crying at the same time?
“What?” she asked. “What did you forget?”
“My heart.”
Marielle wasn’t sure what Samantha meant by this cryptic answer but she strongly suspected it had something to do with Ben. She hoped so. If ever she had seen a man head over heels in love with a woman, it was Ben. She had been more than half convinced that Samantha had returned his feelings, until she got the phone call asking for a ride to the airport.
She didn’t lose any time in turning the Jeep around and going back the way they had come. Soon they were back at Mari’s little house and Samantha was quickly unloading her bags.
“Do you want some help?” Marielle inquired.
“No, no, I’ll get it,” Samantha brushed her off, obviously in a hurry to send Marielle on her way.
“Okay, then,” her friend replied. “Ummm … call me later?”
Samantha nodded. “I will. Bye now!”
Marielle hesitated. “Sammy, if I take the jeep back home you’ll be stranded. Don’t you want me to call Trey or Bandy to pick me up?”
“No,” Samantha said again. “I won’t be stranded. Really, it’s okay. Go on.”
Marielle shrugged and left. As she drove away, Samantha threw her bags into the house hastily and headed to the barn. She was glad that she had donned casual clothing for her flight, jeans and a tee shirt, since she wouldn’t have to change clothes for what she intended to do.
After calling the horses in from the pasture, Marielle saddled Taffy and set out across the meadow, taking the shortcut to Ben’s ranch. He had mentioned during dinner last night that he still had a full day of paperwork left to do on the poaching case, so she was almost sure she’d find him at home working on it.
Shortly thereafter, she was within sight of Ben’s ranch and was happy to see his truck in the driveway. Riding Taffy up to the front door of the big log house, she hitched him to a porch column. Patting him affectionately, she said, “Stand right here, Big Guy, we’ll be going for a ride. I hope.”
Samantha didn’t have time to ring the doorbell before the front door opened and Ben stepped out, his expression registering his confusion.
“Samantha? Is everything okay? Trey told me Marielle was taking you to the airport to go back home.”
She drank in the sight of him, tall and handsome and inexpressibly dear to her. It pierced her heart to see that he looked unhappy, his handsome face strained and his beautiful eyes as dark as thunder clouds.
“Everything is okay, Ben,” she told him. “I remembered that I hadn’t seen the baby eagles and thought maybe you could find time to ride up there with me.”
He gazed at her incredulously. “You came back to see the eagles?”
“They weren’t the only reason I came back. But I also remembered that you told me eagles mated for life and I decided if they could do it, so could we. So I came back to see if you still wanted me and if you do, this is my home now.”
Ben closed the distance between them in one long stride and gathered her to him fiercely, his strong arms closing around her as if he never planned to let her go.
“If I still want you?” he asked her, his face buried in her hair. “I’ll always want you. I’ll still be wanting you when I close my eyes for the last time. I love you, Samantha. Now and for always.”
Some time later, Taffy safely stabled in Ben’s barn for the time being while they talked, Ben and Samantha sat together making plans for their life together and a wedding as soon as Maeve could arrange to be here for it.
“Did I tell you my sister’s a midwife?” Samantha asked Ben. “It will be good to have her in the family when we start ours, won’t it? I’m looking forward to seeing a little towheaded boy running around here.”
“That will be wonderful, sweetheart, “Ben replied. “But I want a little black haired, blue eyes spitfire like her mama around here, too.” Their eyes locked in shared joy, both of them looking forward to spending the rest of their lives together.
Suddenly, Samantha gasped and sat up from the comfortable leather couch. “Oh no!” she said. “I forgot to call the airlines and cancel my flight.”
Ben smiled. “When you get them on the phone, I need to talk to them, too.”
Samantha stared at him blankly, uncomprehending. “
You
need to talk to the airline, too. Why?”
Ben gathered her close and gave her one of his most charming smiles, dimples and all. “Because I have to cancel my flight, too.”
Samantha still didn’t get it. Ben had been going away? “What flight?” she asked.
“My flight to New York City,” he explained. “You didn’t think I was letting you go without putting up a fight, did you? I didn’t understand why you turned me down, but I knew it wasn’t because you didn’t love me.”
She was amused. “Why, you conceited thing,” she teased. “You were so sure I had fallen in love with you?”
He nodded. “Yep. As sure as I was that I had fallen in love with you, so in love that I had to go after you and try to change your mind about marrying me because if you wouldn’t have me, no other woman would ever do.”
As he bent to kiss her again, Samantha suddenly realized what color Ben’s eyes were.
They were the color of forever.
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