“Thank you, ma’am.”
Randy walked him to the door. Once Jeff left, she locked the door and went to check on Jake.
“Did you lock the door?” Jake asked her.
“Yes.”
He spun the chamber of one of his guns and looked down the barrel again. “Hang my gun belt on the bedpost here by me, would you? I don’t like men knowing I’m not up and around. I can at least have my guns handy.”
Randy went out and returned with the belt and a box of cartridges. “Do you want me to load those guns for you?”
“Hell, no. The triggers on these things are too touchy.” He studied her lovingly. “You sure you’re okay with this book idea?”
Randy folded her arms. “I have my qualms about it, but Jeff seems very sincere.”
Jake looked her over. “You look tired, and it’s no wonder,” he told her.
“Being tired is worth knowing I still have my husband with me.”
“Well, I want you to rest once Lloyd and I ride out again,” Jake told her. “No scrubbing clothes and doing housework. You find someone else to do it.” He began loading the guns. “I mean it, Randy. And I want you to go see Peter Brown and tell him we’re coming to see him next Monday about paperwork for that book. We’ll have him start working on a contract and a trust.” He finished loading both guns while she re-pinned the sides of her hair.
“All right,” Randy answered. She turned and he held her gaze with an uncomfortable scrutiny. Randy knew he suspected she wasn’t well, but the pain was better now. She still hadn’t told him. She wanted him completely well first, and by then maybe she wouldn’t have to tell him at all.
Jake finally looked away and winced as he shifted in bed. “Come over here.”
Randy stepped closer.
“Come on. Lie down beside me.”
She looked at him warily. “Jake Harkner, you aren’t ready for anything strenuous.”
“Strenuous?” He laughed lightly. “I just want to hold you. Jesus, woman, you’ve been waiting on me like I’m a damn invalid long enough. It’s been hard on you. Don’t think I haven’t been watching. I thought I saw you bent over like you were in pain a couple of mornings ago. What was that about? You seem strangely out of sorts lately, and it’s not just this thing with me.”
Randy scrambled for an answer. “It was just indigestion, I guess.”
“Was it?” He sighed. “Randy, this is me. Come on over here.”
Randy closed the bedroom door. She walked around the other side of the bed and climbed onto it, smiling as she moved closer. “These clothes are staying on.”
He put out his arms. “I just want to hold my woman.”
She moved into his arms, lying across his chest. Jake embraced her and kissed her hair. “What’s wrong, Randy?”
“Nothing. Really. I think I’m just a little worn-out. I had a funny pain, but it went away and hasn’t come back. You know what that’s like. You have them all the time.”
“And I’ve been injured enough times to kill a horse. I have an excuse for pain. You, on the other hand, have always been healthy, other than the problems you had when Evie was born. You just make sure you go see Brian if it happens again. Don’t brush it off.”
“I promise.”
Jake kissed her forehead, her eyes. “I’ve been too sick to tell you how much I love you, but it was there inside me.”
“I know.” Randy moved her arms around his neck, kissing the side of his face. “Jake, I thought I’d lost you this time.”
He pressed her close. “Only the good men die, Randy.”
“You are a good man.”
He found her mouth, kissed her hungrily, then moved his lips to her neck. “Give me a few more days and I’ll show you how good I am. I’ll be good in a very bad way. I’ll have you wishing I was still too weak to move.”
She smiled through tears. “Is that a promise?”
“You bet it is.”
“I love you, Jake.”
“And I can’t live without you, so you tell me if something is wrong, and we’ll do something about it. I breathe only because you’re breathing. Without you, I’m nothing.”
She leaned back and traced her fingers over his eyebrows, down his cheek. “Without me you’re still a father and a grandfather. You will definitely be someone others need if anything happens to me, Jake.”
He met her lips again. “You take care of yourself.” He kissed her again. “No work while I’m gone next time. I mean it. Not for Peter, and no housework, nothing. Evie and Katie can help you out, and you take the clothes to that laundry service in town. I want to come home to find you rested and well. Understand?”