Back at the house, Dani once again got down to the endless overwhelming business of unpacking.
“All those clothes are never going to fit in that tiny little closet. What you need is an armoire,” Beau said from Dani’s open bedroom door.
As much as Dani hated to admit it, he was right. Aware she was still a bit peeved at him for stealing a kiss and even angrier at herself for letting him, she turned to Beau. Wearing a plain stone-colored shirt and jeans that seemed to underscore the healthy tanned hue of his skin, he looked handsome and sexy as all get-out. Worse, since they’d returned to her house, he only seemed to have time and attention for her. Which made concentrating on her organizational problems a very good idea, Dani decided pragmatically. What she needed to do here was pretend she hadn’t a care in the world about anything except getting properly settled in her new home.
Dani forced a cheerful smile. “You’re probably right. An armoire would be just the thing in this room. Unfortunately I didn’t really consider the lack of closet space in the upstairs bedrooms when I bought the house.”
Beau ambled farther in the room. “So let’s go get one.”
Dani blinked in astonishment. “Now?”
Beau shrugged. “Why not?”
Dani glanced at her watch and saw it was almost 9 a.m. “For starters, Billy should be showing up for work any minute.”
Beau regarded her skeptically. “I wouldn’t count on that if I were you.”
Dani dropped the stack of shirts she’d been trying to fit into her closet on her bed, giving up for now. She whirled back to Beau and admonished, “Listen, cowboy, you may have thrown him out of here yesterday in a bad imitation of John Wayne, but he doesn’t work for you. He works for me.” And that was the way it was going to stay. As if on cue, the doorbell rang.
Beau scowled, knowing as well as Dani who it probably was.
“Stay out of this,” she warned as she breezed past him. “I mean it.”
She dashed downstairs, dodging moving boxes as she went to the front door. Billy was standing on the stoop. He looked as nervous and as stressed-out as it was possible to be. “I came to apologize,” he said grimly, before she could get a word in edgewise. “I…I made a complete fool of myself yesterday.”
“Yes,” Dani said, looking Billy straight in the eye. “You did.”
“But I swear it won’t happen again,” Billy persisted.
Beau appeared behind Dani. He glared at Billy, making it abundantly clear that if Billy wanted to get to Dani, he was going to have to go through him first. “How can we be sure of that?” Beau demanded, unconvinced.
“Because I give you my word,” Billy said earnestly. “No more hitting on her.” Billy turned to Dani. “No more fantasies of…well, you know.”
Yes, Beau did, Dani thought uncomfortably, and as a consequence Beau once again looked ready to take Billy to the woodshed.
“Because I know it’s not gonna happen,” Billy continued, pleading his case. He swallowed and abruptly looked close to tears. “Just like I know I’ll never be able to actually go to film school,” he added hoarsely, looking deeply disappointed. “More than likely, sorting videos for you for a summer is as close as I’m ever likely to get, even if I did just get off the waiting list at USC.”
Dani’s eyes widened at that bit of news. The University of Southern California had a very prestigious film school. “You got in?” She had been mentoring Billy ever since he had confided his ambitions to her, when he was just starting high school, corresponding via e-mail and regular mail, seeing each other on her twice-yearly visits back to Laramie. Realizing just how bright and talented Billy was, she had encouraged him to apply to all the best film schools and had been as disappointed as he was when he was put on the waiting list by USC the previous April.
Billy reached into the back pocket of his jeans and withdrew a folded piece of paper. He handed it over. It appeared to have been read and reread many times.
Dani quickly scanned the contents. Beau did the same over her shoulder. “It says here you’ve got a week to send in your deposit to keep your place in the class,” Dani said.
“And no financial aid,” Billy reported glumly.
Dani ushered Billy inside and shut the door behind him. “What do your parents say?” she asked gently as she led the way into the living room.
“That it’s Texas A&M University or nothing, ’cause they aren’t paying for anything else.”
Billy sat down in a club chair while Dani and Beau took the sofa. “What about the University of Texas at Austin?” Beau said, getting involved in the problem despite himself. “They have a film school.”
“My parents don’t want me going there, either.” Billy sighed. “They want me at A&M, studying cattle management, so I can work the ranch with my dad.” He paused, then continued hopefully, “Maybe if you could talk to them, Dani, you could make them see this isn’t just some fantasy, but a real opportunity for me. One I can’t afford to pass up.”
“I’ll be happy to speak to them on your behalf,” Dani said. She wasn’t sure Billy’s parents would listen to her. “But no matter what, you have to respect your parents’ wishes.”
“I’ll go with you,” Beau said.
Dani was happy about that. There was no doubt having someone along of Beau’s stature in the film industry would help.
AN HOUR LATER she and Beau were sitting in the kitchen of the ranch house where Billy had grown up. As Billy had predicted, his parents were totally against him going to USC.
“But they have one of the best film schools in the nation,” Dani said.
“Texas A&M has one of the best agricultural schools in the nation,” Billy’s dad countered.
Billy scowled and ran his hands through his slick-backed rusty-brown hair. “I don’t want to be a rancher, Dad. I have no interest in cattle. Zero!”
“You’re too young to know what you want,” Billy’s dad said, then took a long thirsty gulp of iced tea. He wiped the range dust from his brow.
“Maybe in four or five years, if you still want to do this,” Billy’s mom offered after a moment, smoothing the fabric on her long denim skirt.
“Four or five years is going to be too late!” Billy jumped up from the table and ran out of the room.
Silence fell among the remaining adults. “It really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him,” Dani said gently. “And I have to tell you, aside from me and maybe Beau here, I’ve never met anyone who loves film as much as Billy does.”
“Which is exactly the problem,” Billy’s dad said. He pushed his chair back with a screech and began to pace the cozy country kitchen. “It’s all those movies that have put these crazy ideas in his head.” Billy’s dad scowled. “We don’t want him going out there to California, spending all that money to go to a fancy private college and getting us into the kind of debt it’ll take years to pay off, only to find out he can’t get a job when he’s through. We’ve seen it happen.”
“And not just to kids who want to be in the movies,” Billy’s mom put in. “Only last year there were at least ten Laramie kids who graduated from college with degrees in art and music and philosophy and all sorts of other nonsense. Every single one of them applied for jobs all over the country, and not one of them found work in their field. You know what most of them are doing now? Waiting tables and working minimum-wage jobs.”
Beau didn’t try to dispute that. “There’s never any guarantee—even if you graduate with a degree in a sought-after field like engineering—that you’ll get a job in your field,” he told Billy’s folks as he reached over and took Dani’s hand.
“But this way,” Billy’s dad said firmly, “Billy will have a job in his field as soon as he graduates. Right here. On this ranch. Just like his momma and I always planned.”
“I TOLD YOU IT WOULDN’T DO any good,” Billy said as Dani and Beau met up with him outside the modest one-story ranch house.
Dani stepped beneath the shade of a towering live oak. “Don’t give up just yet. There’s still time for them to change their minds,” she soothed.
“It’ll never happen,” Billy said miserably.
Probably not, Dani thought, forcing herself to be realistic. And for that, her heart went out to him. She and her sisters had all been encouraged to follow their dreams while their parents were alive and had, as a consequence, been even more determined to do so after their deaths.
“Let us both think on it and try to come up with a solution,” Beau told Billy compassionately. He patted him on the back. “In the meantime, don’t you go burning any bridges.” Beau paused, then, sure he had Billy’s attention, continued seriously, “I think you should go back in and apologize to your parents.”
“Me!” Billy echoed, incensed.
“For running out of the house that way,” Beau said. He gave Billy a stern look. “If you want them to help you, you’ve got to start demonstrating your maturity. Stop acting so hotheaded.”
Dani nodded, knowing Beau had a point. “Then you can go back over to my office and start unpacking and cataloging all the boxes of videos,” she said.
“Dani and I won’t be back till later,” Beau said, linking arms with Dani.
Dani shot Beau an astonished look.
Beau smiled. “We have an armoire to buy.”
“YOU WEREN’T VERY FIRM with Billy’s folks,” Dani said as she and Beau prowled the furniture store at the closest shopping mall, some forty-five minutes from Laramie.
“That’s because I didn’t want to get in the middle of what is essentially a family argument.” Beau tested a sofa, then a chair.
Dani followed him from one furniture display to another. “This is Billy’s future we’re talking about.”
“As well as his relationship with his parents.” Beau finished his cursory tour of the entire store, then turned and went back to the far right corner, where they had come in. Standing in front of an armoire, Beau studied the display board with the manufacturer’s specifications. “If Billy acts rashly now, he could do damage to his relationship with his folks that might never be repaired.”
More interested in the subject they were discussing than the furniture, Dani slanted a curious look at Beau. “We’re not talking just about him now, are we?”
Beau shrugged, hurt flickering briefly in his eyes. “I know what it’s like not to have the support of your parents when it comes to following your dreams,” he said quietly after a moment.
Dani touched his arm lightly as they moved on to the next armoire. “Your parents didn’t approve of your wanting to be an actor?”
Beau grimaced. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“When did you know that acting was what you wanted to do with your life?” Dani asked gently.
Beau looked down at her and took her hand. “From the time I was a little kid, I wanted to act. My mother thought I was being cute to get attention and never took my declarations seriously.”
“And your father?”
Beau’s hand tightened on Dani’s. His mouth set grimly, eyes averted, he continued, “Dad was career army and disgusted by just the thought of his son being a thespian. Every male in his family for six generations had graduated from the Citadel and been career military and he expected me—his only child—to do the same.”
Dani could only imagine how much that must have hurt. “But you refused,” she guessed.
Beau nodded. “I told him the family tradition ended with me.” His shoulders tensing beneath the cotton of his shirt, Beau said, “Dad refused to accept that, of course. He figured he knew what was best for me, even if I didn’t.” Beau moved on to the next bedroom set. “He pulled a lot of strings and essentially put his own career on the line to get me a spot at the Citadel.” Recalling, Beau shook his head. “I was furious when I found out what he’d done, told him no way in hell was I going to let my life be decided the way his had been, and that the closest I would ever get to a uniform was wearing one in a movie.” Sadness filled Beau’s eyes. “I didn’t mean half of what I said, of course,” he confided with a sigh. “Dad probably didn’t, either. But the point is, we said some pretty ugly things to each other in the course of the arguments that followed. And once we said them, there wasn’t any taking them back.” Beau’s face and tone hardened. “He didn’t speak to me for a long time after that. Didn’t acknowledge that he even had a son.”
Knowing how it felt to lose your parents’ love, for whatever reason—death, disagreement—Dani’s heart went out to him. “That must have hurt.”
Beau nodded. “Him, probably every bit as much as, if not more than, me, I’m sure.” Beau paused, a distant look in his eyes. “Anyway, eventually, at my mother’s urging, my father and I made up—at least on the surface—but things were never the same between us after that, and when he and my mom died in that train wreck in Germany a few years ago, well, let’s just say I still have a lot of regrets about all the opportunities we missed to be close.” Beau shook his head. “I wish we’d never let my choice of careers come between us like that.”
“You don’t want to see the same thing happen to Billy.”
Beau looked at Dani, his blue eyes full of sympathy and understanding. “He’s still young, Dani. He could change his mind a hundred times between now and then about what he wants to do with his life. I’m not all that sure it would hurt him to go to Texas A&M for a year, get some of the basic courses out of the way.”
Dani sighed. “You don’t know him like I do. If Billy goes to A&M, something in him is going to die.”
“Or get stronger.” Beau looked at Dani equably. “In the meantime he won’t have totally alienated his parents or done damage to his relationship with them. Now, enough about Billy,” Beau said. Keeping his hand linked with hers, he guided her over to the mattresses. “Come and help me pick out a mattress and box spring.”
Deciding this was not a discussion she wanted to have, even if they were the only two currently in that part of the showroom, Dani dug in her heels and wrested her hand from his. “Why? I already have a bed.”
“I don’t.” Beau shot her a sexy sidelong grin as he tested first one mattress, then the next, with his palm. “And I’m not sleeping on the sofa again.”
Dani huffed out a breath. “There is a remedy for that, you know.”
“I tried that.” Beau grinned and, finally finding a mattress and box spring he liked, stretched out on the king-size display bed. “Unfortunately,” Beau lamented, too loudly for Dani’s taste, “the lady of the house said no way was I sharing her bed.” Beau tipped his hat over his eyes as if he was preparing to go to sleep. “In fact, the only time I’m allowed to be in her bed is when—”
Deciding he’d said quite enough, Dani sat down beside him and silenced him with a finger to his lips. “Hush,” she admonished in a stern whisper. “Do you want someone to hear?”
Beau caught her by the wrist and pressed his lips to her skin. “You’re my wife.”
Tingling all over, and he’d barely touched her! “You know that.”
Casting a look behind her to make sure they were still alone and finding to her relief they were, for the moment, anyway, Dani extricated herself from his grip. “I know that. But no one else here does.”
Beau merely smiled and patted the mattress. “Come on. Try it out. Tell me what you think.”
Dani had only to look at his face to know he wasn’t giving up. Shaking her head, she lifted her feet off the floor and lay back, being careful to keep a good foot of space between them. The ceiling in the bed section was covered with blue velvet fabric, a curving yellow moon and a sprinkling of silver stars.
Beau looked up, too. “Romantic, hm?” He nudged her lightly.
Glad to be talking about something—anything—other than their sleeping arrangements, past or present, Dani nodded. “It reminds me—” She broke off as a fleeting picture of a pristine beach flashed in her mind. Without warning, she heard the sound of the ocean lapping gently against the shore. A man’s voice, Beau’s voice, whispering softly in her ear.
“What is it?” Beau asked, noticing the dwindling color in her face.
“I remember something,” Dani said desperately, flashing once again to the private beach outside his villa in Mexico, the velvety blanket of stars overhead. She and Beau…tugging at each other’s clothes…kissing wildly…
“Oh, my heavens!” Dani gasped, her hand flying to her chest.
“What?” He rolled onto his side, immediately concerned.
“Beau!” Dani trembled as even more potent images came flashing back.
“What!” he demanded just as urgently, leaning ever closer.
“The beach.” In her excitement Dani grabbed the front of his shirt in both her hands and hauled him closer and didn’t stop until they were nose to nose. “We didn’t just make love in the hotel. We made love on the beach. Before we were married!”
Beau blinked at her once. And then again. A flash of recognition lit his face. She knew, even before he spoke, that he was starting to remember things, too. “You were wearing that—”
“Gauzy dress,” Dani supplied.
“And we were arguing about something,” Beau continued, looking stunned. “Just before I grabbed you and kissed you.”
“And I kissed you back,” Dani added. More thoroughly and wantonly than I have ever kissed anyone in my life. She sighed, recalling the passion, the wonder, of the moment. Even as she reeled from the knowledge that they had not just been together once, as they had first assumed, after their marriage, but before.
“And from the beach we moved to the villa—to the bed inside,” Beau said, his memories of that afternoon suddenly coming as fast and furiously as hers. “Which means it wasn’t just a one-night lapse in judgment,” he concluded heavily, stunned.
For a long moment, they were both silent, thinking. Their eyes met, held.
“Just how serious were we about each other down in Mexico?” he wondered out loud.
Dani didn’t know the answer to that, either. But she figured, as the furniture salesperson approached them to see if they needed any help, that it wouldn’t be long before they remembered even more and found out.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE you managed to get everything delivered in an hour,” Dani said as they reached the outskirts of Laramie once again.
“It’s all in how you ask,” Beau remarked as he drove his pickup down Main Street, waving as he spotted people he knew.
“Or who you are,” Dani said, rolling her eyes at his cavalier attitude.
Beau pretended to be surprised. “You think that saleslady recognized me?” He gave Dani an innocent look.
“Oh, puh-leeze. She wasn’t just salivating over the sale of the armoire, the fainting sofa, the dressers, china cabinet and dining-room table and chairs, pricey as they all were.” To Dani’s annoyance, the young woman had done everything but offer to take Beau on a date. And she’d been so ridiculously smitten with Beau she probably would have done so even if she’d known Dani and Beau were married. Which of course, she couldn’t, since neither Dani nor Beau were wearing wedding rings. Dani sighed. She didn’t like feeling jealous. It was a completely foreign emotion to her.
Beau stroked the chiseled contours of his chin with the flat of his hand. As they paused at the traffic light at the corner of Spring Street and Main, he slanted her a glance. He seemed to know she was annoyed with him. He didn’t seem at all sure why, Dani noted. “You think I overdid it with the shopping back there?”
Which was another thing, Dani thought, feeling her annoyance increase. Couldn’t the man do anything in half measures? But no. From his kisses to his acting to his lovemaking to his furniture shopping, Beau followed the all-or-nothing rule. Knowing that made her very nervous about their marriage. She was beginning to see he wasn’t going to give up on that, either. Not now. And not eight or so months from now when their baby was born.
Aware he was still waiting on her verdict on the shopping and whether or not he had gone overboard, Dani said, “I think I got tired of arguing with you, of asking you not to do it.” She shook her head, wishing he wouldn’t look at her that way, as if it was all he could do not to haul her into his arms and kiss her.
“It’s eventually going to have to go back, probably at considerable cost to you.” Bottom line, she couldn’t accept such a lavish gift from him. It might give him the wrong impression. Might make him think she had accepted him as a permanent fixture in her life, and as of yet, she had done no such thing. They were having a baby together. They’d made love a few times. But he hadn’t said he loved her. He hadn’t even come close. And she couldn’t build a life with a man unless he loved her the way she was beginning—against her better judgment—to love him. She knew it, and she was pretty sure so did he.
But Beau merely smiled. The traffic light changed. He turned left and drove on.
As they neared her block, Dani said seriously, “I meant what I told you in the store, Beau. I am not going to accept all that from you.”
Beau reached over and squeezed her knee. “Then accept it for the baby. Our baby,” he said softly. “It doesn’t have to be just you taking charge here. I want to do things for us, too, you know. All of us.”
Yearning swept through her, so strong and sweet it brought moisture to her eyes. Dani swallowed around the growing lump in her throat and turned her glance to the house. It was the pregnancy. It was making her all emotional. Creating fantasies of the three of them—her, Beau and their baby—living happily ever after. Even when she knew the likelihood of such a fairy-tale ending was practically nil.
Dani blinked as they approached her house. “What are all these cars and that…other moving van doing here?” she demanded as Beau parked his truck at the curb several houses away. The only vehicle she recognized was Billy’s beat-up blue Honda.
To Dani’s mounting irritation and suspicion, Beau seemed not at all surprised by the vehicles surrounding her house. With an economy of motion, he got out of the pickup and sent her a deliberately mysterious look. “Let’s go see what’s going on, shall we?” He came around to help her out.
Dani focused more on what he hadn’t said than what he had. “You know what’s going on here, don’t you?”
He didn’t answer as he opened the front door of the house.
Dani blinked, and blinked again. Once more Beau was a steamroller, taking over her life.
A woman with a clipboard in hand rushed up to them. “We’re almost done.” The woman smiled at Dani cheerfully. “So! What do you think?”