To Wed and Protect (16 page)

But as he drove away from the house, he felt no relief, and he felt no real thrill of anticipation when he contemplated his future.

The lullaby man. He remembered the night Abby had been shot, when he and the children had been together in her bed and he'd sung every lullaby he could think of to the two worried children.

There had been a special peace inside him as he'd smelled the scent of childhood clinging to them, had watched their eyes grow heavy with sleep and had seen their smiles of pleasure as he'd sung them to slumberland.

Would he ever have a better audience? All he had ever wanted to accomplish in his life was to prove to his old man that he could be somebody important…be somebody special. And wasn't he that to Abby's children? He was their lullaby man.

He hadn't expected to hurt when he walked away from them, and yet pain radiated through his chest directly into his heart.

It was a familiar pain, the pain he'd felt as a child when he'd realized no matter what he did, his father wouldn't love him. It was the same ache he'd felt as a young man, displaced and alone despite his family. It was the gnawing agony that always in the past had made him reach for a drink.

He pulled his truck to the side of the road and shut off the engine, needing to think. Everything suddenly seemed all jumbled up in his head.

He hadn't expected to fall in love with Jason and
Jessica, and he told himself it was saying goodbye to them that had confused him, unsettled him. He hadn't realized until this moment just how deeply they had crept into his heart.

Abby loved him. He knew it as surely as he knew his own name. As he'd told her goodbye, in those moments when their gazes had locked, he'd seen her love…unabashed, unadorned and unhidden. It had flowed from those beautiful eyes of hers and momentarily filled up every dark space and every lonely place in his heart.

She loved him and she believed in him. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, thinking of that morning when he'd come home stinking of booze. She had believed his story without reservation because she knew what kind of man he was and believed the best of him.

Now all he had to figure out was what kind of a man he was and what he really wanted for himself.

 

Abby and the two children had just finished their cookies and milk when a knock fell on the front door. “I'll get it,” Jason exclaimed, flying from his chair and racing for the door with Peaches and Abby at his heels.

Jason pulled open the door, and Luke stepped in. “Hi, Jason,” he said.

Without warning, Jason drew back his leg and kicked Luke hard in the shin.

“Jason!” Abby yelled as Luke yelped and Peaches barked.

“I told him,” Jason said, his little chin raised de
fiantly. “I told him that if he ever hurt you I'd kick him really hard. He hurt you and made you cry.”

“Go to your room, young man,” Abby exclaimed, appalled by Jason's actions. As Jason stalked off down the hall, Luke hobbled to the sofa and sank down.

“Don't be too hard on him,” Luke said as he rubbed his shin.

“I'm so sorry,” Abby exclaimed, trying to figure out why he was back, trying to ignore how her heart leaped at the sight of him. “Did you forget something?” she asked.

He straightened up. “Yeah, I did. I forgot that I promised you I'd build you new kitchen cabinets. I never got them finished.”

“That's not necessary now,” she murmured. “Besides, it wasn't a real promise. It was just something you mentioned.”

“No.” He stood with a shake of his head. “I distinctly remember it was a promise, and I told you I never break my promises.”

Abby felt as if she were involved in some sort of emotional warfare. Didn't he realize she didn't want him coming here everyday, working in her kitchen, indulging in flirtatious banter, then leaving each night to go back to his own life?

She didn't want him to build cabinets. She didn't want him to wash the windows or take out the trash. All she wanted was for him to love her. She held her tongue as Jessica came into the living room from the kitchen.

“Sweetie, why don't you go get your brother and
the two of you can play outside on the swing for a little while,” she said.

Jessica nodded, and Luke and Abby said nothing until the kids had disappeared out the front door. “Luke, I don't think it's a good idea, you coming back and forth here to do any work.”

She was pleased at how unemotional she'd managed to sound, pleased that her voice didn't betray the tumultuous emotions his mere presence had stirred in her.

“You're right. I don't think that's a good idea, either.” He advanced toward her, his gaze holding hers.

“I think it's best if I just stay here until all the work around this place is completed. And I figure with the hours I have to put in at the ranch and my woodworking business, the work around here should take about thirty or forty years to complete.”

She frowned and looked at him in confusion. “What are you talking about?” she asked. This time her voice caught with emotion.

He stood mere inches from her, the familiar masculine scent of him surrounding her. “I'm talking about forever, Abby. I'm talking about making love to you every night and waking up with you in my arms every morning.” He placed his hands on either side of her face. “I'm talking about watching Jason at his first Little League game and taking Jessica to her first dance recital.”

Abby's heart had begun the rhythm of hope, of love, but she knew of Luke's dreams and would not, could not be the reason he didn't pursue them. “But…what about Nashville?”

Luke dropped his hands from her face and stepped back from her. He grabbed her hand and led her to the sofa where they both sat down.

“Nashville was the dream of a boy,” he said. “A boy whose father had told him thousands of times how worthless he was. So that boy dreamed of being a star, of being rich and famous…somebody important to show his old man.”

He smiled and tightened his fingers around her hand. “And then an amazing thing happened. He looked into the eyes of a beautiful woman and saw that he
was
somebody important. I love you, Abby. And when you look at me, I feel like I'm king of the world. And if I turn my back on our love, then I truly am the fool my father always told me I was.”

“Oh, Luke.” Tears sprang to Abby's eyes, and she started to reach for him but paused as he held up a hand to stop her.

“I want you to understand something, Abby. I'm an alcoholic, and I'll always have to fight that battle one day at a time.”

“When I had Justin hanging over my head, that's how I learned to survive,” she said softly. “One day at a time. I couldn't anticipate the future, nor could I dwell upon the past.”

His eyes, those beautiful, long-lashed eyes gazed at her intently. “I realize now I drank to forget instead of working to heal the wounds left by my father. But you loving me…the kids trusting me, that's done more to heal me than I ever thought possible. I love you, Abigail Delaney.”

Abby threw herself into his arms, unable to stand not being there for another minute. “I love you, Luke. I have never loved anyone as much as I love you. But I want you to be sure. You're giving up your dreams.”

“Darlin', I've never been more certain of anything in my entire life.” His smoky eyes gazed into hers with an intensity that threatened to steal her breath away. “And all I'm doing is trading dreams. I'm trading in the dreams of a child for the dreams of a man. You and the children, you're my real dream.”

She leaned into him and touched her lips to his, needing to kiss him, wanting to show him just how very much he meant to her.

Their kiss was hungry, fevered with emotion, salted by Abby's tears of happiness. He was the man she'd dreamed of in the darkest, most lonely hours of the night. He was not a knight and not a knave, but simply the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life loving.

She'd hoped…she'd prayed that eventually she'd find a man strong enough to lean on, yet gentle enough to parent the two children who would require plenty of patience and understanding. And fate had delivered Luke to her doorstep…the answer to her prayers.

“I think I fell in love with you that very first day I met you,” he said when their kiss finally ended.

“That was lust, not love,” she said teasingly.

He grinned. “Trust me, I lust for you and probably will continue to lust for you until we're both old and gray. But I know the difference between lust and love. And I love you, Abby. I don't want a divorce. All I want is to be a good husband to you and a good father
to Jason and Jessica.” And with these words he claimed her lips again in a kiss of infinite love.

Tears of joy coursed down Abby's cheeks. He ended the kiss and smiled at her. “Please…please wipe those tears away. If Jason sees them, he's liable to cripple me for life.”

Abby laughed through her tears, and with his fingertips he gently wiped the tears away. “Promise me…” she began, her love for him so intense it shimmered inside her like a million brilliant lights. “Promise me we'll weather the storms of life together. Promise me that you'll love me forever.”

He grinned, that lazy, sexy grin that always lit a fire in the depth of her soul. “That's the easiest promise I've ever made.” Again he placed his palms on the sides of her face. “I promise that I'm going to love you until the day I die, and even in death, we'll find each other and share eternity loving each other.”

“And I promise the same thing,” she replied, wondering if it were possible for her to be any happier than she was at this very moment.

“I'm not singing down at the Honky Tonk anymore,” he said. “The only singing I want to do now is for Jessica and Jason. They are the best audience I could ever have.”

“We need to go tell them that you're going to stay, that you're going to be their daddy from now until forever.”

“Yeah, we need to tell them. But first…” He stood and pulled her into his arms for another kiss, this one filled with passion, with commitment, with love.

Abby's heart sang with the knowledge that this was only the beginning for them…the beginning of a life together and of dreams realized. They were now, truly and forever, a family.