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Chapter 10
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LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 10.1
“I went to the track and ran.”“Oh, well, it was none of my business, anyway. I shouldn’t have just dropped in on you this way. Shouldn’t have presumed—”“Dixie.” His voice was softer than the air around her. His fingers touching her cheek sent a shiver of heat racing down her spine. “You can presume anything you want about me. Or you can just ask. Or drop by and sit on my stoop whenever you want.”She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. She stepped back far enough that his hand dropped away from her face. All she could think to say was, “Okay.”“Come on in.” He pushed the door open and motioned her inside. “It’s not much, but it’s home.”She knew she should turn around and go home, but she found herself stepping through the door and into his apartment. “Not much” was an understatement. From what she could see, there were only two rooms, and they were small. There was a water stain on the ceiling. The furniture must have come with the place; she couldn’t imagine Wade purchasing the worn
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 10.2
And she was, he thought. She was trim and tight, her muscles toned from keeping up with two boys, an old man, a business and hundreds of customers. His hand wasn’t quite steady when he reached for the snap on her jeans.She pushed his hands away. “My turn.” She unbuttoned his shirt. Her fingers fumbled the job a couple of times, and it warmed him all the way through.They stood there in the lamplight beside the bed, two people, both nervous, both eager, cherishing each other and the new love they’d found. When she opened his shirt and saw the long, thick scar down his chest, she nearly wept.“I’m so sorry they had to do this to you. But I’m so grateful, too.” She placed her hand over his heart and felt the strong, steady beat. “It’s a good heart, for a good man.”Wade felt her words seep clear into his bones.They finished undressing each other, and he took her down onto the bed, where he braced himself above her on his forearms. “Are you sure you want to do this?”She met his gaze sq
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 10.3
“I’m going to make him an offer.” “You? A small-town newspaper?”“Don’t scoff at small-town newspapers. The entire Harrison Corporation and our personal family fortune began when my great-great- grandfather started a small-town weekly in Montana. I want to take the Tribute Banner and see what I can do with it. I want to edit it myself, manage it myself, the whole works. My father and sisters are going to be pea green with envy. My mother is going think I’m out of my mind, and then she’s going to quietly have a stroke.”“Maybe you should talk it over with your family before you commit yourself to it.”“And maybe I shouldn’t. This is something I want to do. I want to prove to myself that I can. I want to contribute something to this town. I want to live here, with you and our children—Ben and Tate and any others we might have—and Pops.”“Have you talked to Bill Gray yet?” she asked.“No. Tomorrow morning. I can transfer some funds to the bank here.” “I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 11
Winter 2003New York, New YorkThe dream came again, as it did most nights. Never let it be said that Nick Carlucci made it through a week without the horror of it. The blinding,choking dust and ash. The flames. Rubble so hot that it melts the soles of your boots.The frantic search for survivors. Any survivors, but especially his father and brother, please God.Then the moan, the hand that moves. Frantic digging. Hold on! I’ve got you, man. Spirits soar. Breath rasps. Dig faster!Then he has him. The man speaks. Elation!A minute later, the stranger dies in Nick’s arms.He tries to hang on to the man’s lifeless body, but others take it from him.Failure. He’d failed to save that man.Search more. Dig more. Shout. Maybe someone can hear.Then the beam, still smoking from the inferno, twisted now into a grotesque shape. It sways.Look out!They don’t hear him, the men standing in the path of the deadly steel.With arms outstretched, he leaps, knocking the men out of harm’s way.Pain!
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 11.2
“Kidding.”“No.” She shook her head.He swore. “You followed me across half a damn country?”It was difficult, considering lust still fogged her brain, but she managed a shrug. “You wouldn’t return my calls.”“So you followed me?” She shrugged again.“Did it ever occur to you that I didn’t return your calls because I didn’t want to talk to you?”She couldn’t do this, Shannon thought. She couldn’t push or cajole him into an interview when she was still so off balance from this unreasonably fierce attraction that still gripped her.“Look,” she said, struggling to keep her voice even. “I know this is a bad time. I’ve caught you by surprise at your job.” She took a step backward. “I’ll be in touch later to set up a time that’s more convenient for you.”And she fled. For the first time in her life, she fled from a man, from an interview subject. From herself.Nick stood in the hall and watched her go. He could have stopped her. Part of him wanted to. But the smart part ruled. He turned awa
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 11.3
“All right, yes. Did you find that man you needed to interview?” “I did, for all the good it did me,” she confessed.“He wouldn’t talk?” her mother asked.“No, but I haven’t finished with him.” In more ways than one, Shannon thought.“I would hope not. It wouldn’t be like you to go after a story and not get one.”“Oh, I’ll get a story out of him. Nick Carlucci,” she vowed, “has met his match.”The man in question spent his day as he did every weekday, maintaining the Tribute High School buildings and grounds. He changed the flickering light-bulb he’d found first thing that morning before that Malloy woman had found him.Just how the heck had she done that, anyway? Who could have ratted him out?Wade Harrison. If that son of a—No, Wade wouldn’t have told anyone how to find Nick. Would he?Nick shook his head at the idea. If a story on the whereabouts of Nick Carlucci was such a hot idea, Wade would have done one himself and gotten the scoop on all the big-city papers and tabloids with
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 12
On Tuesday, Shannon regrouped and readied herself to take another run at Nick Carlucci. This time she would wait until he got off work. Assuming he got off about the time school let out, she slept in—clear till nine—and felt like a woman of leisure. Or the lazy bum she’d never had a chance to be.After a lengthy shower, she set out on foot to explore the thriving metropolis of Tribute, Texas, population 2,793. Her first stop, about four blocks down Main from her motel, was a place called Dixie’s Diner. The smell of bacon drew her inside.As she entered and took a booth along the far wall, she wondered if the place took its name from a person, or from the fact that it was located in the South. Her answer came a moment later when her waitress brought her a tall tumbler of ice water and a menu. The waitress’s name, according to the red-and-white plastic tag pinned above her right breast, was Dixie. Mystery solved.After a breakfast guaranteed to test the strength of the button on her sla
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 12.1
Nick shuddered to think what the boys would do if they didn’t like him.At times, working at school was a great deal like attending school.“I’ll ask anyway.” Shannon said, drawing his attention back to her.“What’s with the overalls?” She nodded toward his chest, covered by the denim bib of the overalls in question.He slipped his hands behind the bib and tapped his fingers against his chest. “What’s wrong with overalls?” he demanded.“Nothing,” she said quickly. Boy, the man was touchy. “I just wondered why so many people, including you, are wearing them.”“It’s Farmers Day,” he told her.“Oh.” Shannon frowned. “Why?” “What do you mean, why?”Shannon glanced around at the dozens of people, in addition to Carlucci, who were wearing overalls. “I get the connection between farmers and overalls, but why do you have a Farmers Day? What’s the purpose?Local custom? Is the football team called the Tribute Farmers? What?”He almost smiled. “The Tribute Farmers? You’ve got a great imaginatio
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