Treena stood up and patted his shoulder. “You do what you need to do, and I’ll go see my family. I think I’ll leave in about three weeks and probably stay a couple of months. Can you live that long without me?”
“I won’t like it, but I’ll be busy, so hopefully it will go by fast.”
Treena leaned down and kissed him yet again. “I’ll miss you terribly.”
Peter squeezed her hand. “And I’ll miss you. I’ll leave a little later than you. I have a big tax case coming up I need to take care of before I can go anywhere, so we may get home at around the same time. I don’t want to rattle around in this big, twenty-room castle of a house by myself.”
Treena got up and walked around the desk and back to the door. “Well, today you have to rattle around upstairs and pick out something to wear to the lawyers’ banquet. I’ll be upstairs myself letting Mattie fix my hair.” She gave Peter a smile and walked out.
Peter picked up the paper again, rereading the article. What’s going on with you, Randy? How did you make it through this one? Randy had always been so strong in times of crisis, but last summer had been the kicker, seeing her son get shot, thinking Jake could go to prison…
But she still had her Jake. That’s how she always put it. As long as I have Jake, I’m fine. He thinks I’m the strong one, and that he needs me to stay sane and be strong, she once told him. But I’m the one who needs him. I’m the one who couldn’t survive without his strength and without his arms around me.
Could anything break the woman? Jeff’s comments worried him. It was none of his damn business, and God knew no man would dare try to move in on Jake Harkner’s woman, but he had to know she was okay. He thanked the Good Lord for Treena’s understanding. They were the best of friends, and their lovemaking was sweet, but he suspected Treena knew that every time he made love to her, he saw someone else in his bed.
Eight
Jake smelled the scent of roses before he even opened his eyes. He knew the hair that had fallen across his chin was Randy’s. He realized she was lying by his side, an arm across his middle and her head on his upper chest, as though she wanted to make sure his heart was still beating.
He moved one hand to pet her hair. “Randy?”
She jerked awake, raising her head and looking confused at first. Then she smiled.
“Jake! You finally woke up!” She straightened, her hair a mess, her eyes puffy from crying.
“Randy, what—” He started to rise, only to be met with stinging pain deep in his left side. He groaned and put his head back down.
“Jake, you shouldn’t move yet. You were shot.” Randy leaned over him and kissed his cheek. “You’ve been out since Doctor Snow took the bullet out of your side yesterday. It’s—” She glanced at a clock on the wall, its pendulum swinging to a soft, ticking sound. “It’s nearly three in the afternoon now.” She rubbed at her eyes. “You also have a head wound.”
Jake lay there, trying to gather his senses. Out since yesterday? Had Randy been here by his side the entire time? He put a hand to his head, realizing then that he had bandages wrapped around it.
“Jake, how do you feel?” Randy took his hand. “Are you fully awake? The doctor was a little worried about concussion.”
Still gathering his thoughts, Jake looked her over and realized she was wearing the same dress as yesterday. There was blood on the skirt. He bent one leg and tried to sit up more, but he grunted with pain again. “I’ll tell you…how I feel. Like someone stuck a pine cone inside of me and then sewed me up.” He put a hand to his head. “I hardly remember anything.”
Randy pushed some of her hair behind one ear and sat up straighter. “Jake, you’re the hero of Boulder. You foiled that bank robbery and killed all but four of the robbers. George Callahan was one of those who was killed.” Her eyes teared. “I thought I’d lost you when I saw you down in the street.” Her lips quivered, and she covered her mouth with her hand. “Jake, I was so scared.”
He looked around the room, memories of the shoot-out flooding back to him. “Tricia!”
“She’s fine.” Randy jerked with a sob. “She’s…at the hotel with…Teresa.” She turned away and started to rise. “I’ll get Doctor Snow.”
Jake caught her arm. “Wait!” His faculties returning and his mind clearer, he took a good look at her. “Jesus, Randy, look at you! There’s blood on your dress! You haven’t washed or changed. Have you eaten?”