Lloyd sighed with frustration. “I’ll see what I can do. It’s pretty bad when your own sister has to tell you how to handle your wife. I can’t believe I didn’t see this.”
“You’ve been so busy, Lloyd, and I know you’ve been worried about Mother.” She walked up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Come back inside and have some pie. We shouldn’t stay out here too long, or Katie will think I’m telling you all this, which I promised her I wouldn’t.”
Evie walked back inside, and Lloyd followed. He sat down and watched his wife cut up pies for everyone. She glanced at Lloyd, and it was the first time he’d realized something was wrong, other than the too-quick kiss they’d shared when he first arrived. How could he not have seen it? He smiled at her, deciding he was going to take her out of here sooner than later. He’d damn well make sure she knew how much he loved her.
Fifteen
“Lloyd Harkner, you embarrassed me to death, leaving the house like that! We weren’t even done visiting.” Katie laughed when Lloyd picked her up and carried her into their house, kicking the door shut behind them.
“You were done nursing Donavan, and I decided I’m jealous of my own son.” He raised her up and kissed her cleavage. “These are mine!”
“Lloyd, what’s going on?” She laughed again. “Honestly, everybody back at the house will know what we’re doing over here, because you made me leave the baby behind!”
“He’ll sleep for a good three hours, and I intend to spend all three of them with you in our bedroom.”
Katie covered her face and rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her into the bedroom. “What has gotten into you?” she asked.
“You.” He set her on her feet and put his hands on either side of her face. “You’ve been a little distant, Katie Donavan Harkner. After watching what my folks have been going through, I don’t want that to happen to us.”
She looked back at him with eyes that suddenly teared. “You could tell?”
“I’ve watched my father’s heart slowly break over my mother, and I’ve been so involved in that and in rebuilding the barn and then roundup and now this thing in Boulder… I just realized I’ve been neglecting the one person who means more to me than anyone else except my children. You’ve been cooking and sewing and nursing and putting up with being alone a lot and up nights with Donavan, and we haven’t been really close in a while.” He kissed her gently. “I’m taking you back before I lose you.”
She grasped his wrists. “You will never lose me, Lloyd Harkner, but lately I…I thought maybe I was losing you.”
He pulled her close. “Why would you think that?”
“Just…all the things you just said. It just seems like all we do is pass each other in the night. You get up before sunrise for ranch work, and then I get up to feed Donavan, and then I work all morning with the kids and keep feeding the baby, and you come in for a quick lunch and you’re gone again, and then we talk at supper but don’t really talk, and then you go to bed because you’re so worn out from ranch work, and I go to bed later after feeding Donavan, and then the next morning, it starts all over again.”
“Katie, we’ve made love a few times.”
“That’s the point. A few times. And almost always in a hurry because of the kids and your work and me nursing. I just—I’m so glad you’re noticing, because I thought maybe you didn’t love me as much. And last month, at that cookout, that Holmes girl flirted with you something awful, and you were nice to her—”
“And that’s all I was doing, Katie. Being nice.”
“But she’s so pretty, and you’re so good-looking, and I’m getting fat.”
“Stop that talk right now. Don’t you ever doubt how much I love you, understand? You brought me joy and love at a time when I was so lonely I wanted to die. I thought I’d never get over Beth, and then you came along, and you put up with her memory and understood how hard it was for me to love someone else. You understood what I was going through because you’d lost a husband at too young an age, so we’ve both been through a lot.” He grasped her shoulders and guided her backward until she sat down on the edge of the bed. “And then you stood right up to those raiders back in Guthrie when they took Evie, and you used that shotgun to hold them off from taking you and Stephen. And you got pregnant and gave me that beautiful little girl and now another son, and there is no way in hell I would ever look at another woman. Not in the way you’re thinking.” He knelt in front of her. “And you get it straight that I don’t give a damn if you’re heavy or thin or anything in between. You’re beautiful. A man can hardly avoid noticing those green eyes and this gorgeous red hair.” He ran his hands into her long, thick tresses. “I’ve been staying away from you more because I’m scared to get you pregnant again. You lost your first, and I’ve always been afraid something like that could happen again, but I never considered you might think I simply didn’t want you. I will always want my Katie-girl, understand?”