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in my hammock on lazy summer evenings and kiss each other to a cricket and hound dog serenade.
We could share coffee and cake at two in the morning when we couldn't get to sleep. Can you do that
with a virtual pet or a legal pad?"
She hated what her heart was doing inside her chest. Her wide, worried eyes met his. "I'm scared!" she
burst out.
"I know you are, and I know why." He touched her cheek with his fingertips, tracing a pattern on its
flushed softness. "I'm uneasy, too. It's a big step from friendship to intimacy.
But we've got a lot in common, and I don't mean just cattle." His fingers fell to her soft mouth. "Don't
throw it away on a job."
She drew back as if his fingers scalded her. Her eyes were wide, her face drawn with mis-givings and
confusion. "I don't want to... belong...to anyone," she bit off. "If I stay by myself, depend on myself, I
won't ever get hurt."
"Maybe not," he agreed. "But you'll never know what it is to really share love, either.
You've got a big heart. You've given your time, your hard work, your heart to these boys in your
camp. Why is it so hard to do the same thing with a man?"
She grimaced. "Love doesn't last," she groaned.
"It does," he disagreed. "If you can compromise, it does. Nothing comes with a money-back guarantee
in this life, but people with kind hearts and things in common don't usually end up in divorce court.
Try looking around you at elderly couples, people who've been together for fifty years or more. I
believe love can last, if you give it a chance."
She sighed wearily. "I don't believe it," she said. "I'm sorry. For me, that's a fairy tale.
There aren't any happy endings."
"You cynic," he chided. "Take a chance. Dare everything. Risk it all."
"I'm not a gambler," she replied. "I'm a conventional, conservative woman with no real sense of
adventure. I don't take chances, ever."
He shook his head sadly. "Well, it's a waste," he told her. "You've got so much to give, Belinda. But
you're wrapped up in your own fears."
"I'm not afraid of anything!" she flashed.
"Except love."
She started to argue, but she couldn't find the right words.
He tapped her nose with his forefinger and smiled. "You may be a quitter. I'm not. Just keep running,
darlin'. When you've worn yourself out, I'll still be here."
"Why?" she asked, almost in anguish.
His face sobered, and his eyes began to glitter in his lean face. "You're worth fighting for, didn't you
know? And I'm a stubborn man when I want something that badly."
"It's just physical attraction!" she muttered.
"Nope."
"I'm something different, something out of the ordinary."
"You're that," he agreed. He tilted her chin and dropped a brief, hard kiss on her soft mouth. "Okay, no
hard sell. But don't make the mistake of thinking I'll go away. I'm like a rubber bal . I keep bouncing
back."
"I won't change my mind," she said through her teeth.
He only laughed, got back into his truck and drove off.
"I won't!" she yelled after him.
It wasn't until she realized the boys were al staring at her that she turned around and went back into the
cabin.
The next couple of days passed all too quickly, not only for Belinda but for Kells. He was almost in
tears when he climbed into the van for the long drive back to Houston.
The boys from the bunkhouse had come out en masse to shake hands and wish him wel .
"See you back here next summer, young feller," one of the older men said jauntily.
"Mind you keep well shy of trouble, too!"
"Yes, sir, I sure will," Kells promised with a sad smile. "Sure am gonna miss you guys."
"We'll miss you, too, son," another wrangler agreed. "Study hard, now. Cowboying is more
complicated than it used to be. You need a good education even to keep tal y books!"
"I'll remember," Kells promised.
Luke was standing beside the driver's side, where Belinda was trying to be cheerful and failing
miserably. She looked up into eyes that were as blue as a robin's egg and felt her heart contract
painful y. He was friendly and cheerful, but suddenly remote, as if he felt nothing passionate for her at
all.
His attitude confused and even wounded her, but she tried to behave nonchalantly. She held out her
hand. "Thanks for all the help,"
she said with a forced smile. "I'd never have gotten through this without you."
He glanced at the boys and smiled and waved to them as they climbed aboard. "You had a good group.
Like I said, if you come again next summer..."
"I...don't think I will," she said, having made that painful decision the night before. She didn't want to
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