Diana Palmer Collected 1-6. Diana Palmer
and drew her into his arms. “Only,” he whispered, bending, “that I waited so long to tell you how I felt.”
“So long?”
“Gabby,” he said against her mouth, “I fell in love with you two years ago.”
She started to speak, but he was kissing her, and the wildness of it made her question go right out of her head.
“You never said anything,” she murmured eventually.
“I couldn’t,” he returned. “You were so young. I felt guilty for wanting you the way I did. But you dated, you seemed so sophisticated sometimes.” He touched her hair gently. “I had too many doubts about being able to settle down to make a heavy pass at you. Too, I was afraid you might quit, and I wasn’t sure I could stand that.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “It wasn’t until that day in the jungle that I knew how much I cared. I spent a miserable weekend trying to convince myself that I could go back to what I was and not miss you. I failed. After that, it was a matter of trying to convince you that I wouldn’t be brutal again. You can’t imagine how it hurt, when you cringed away from me…”
But she could. The anguish was in his face. She reached up and kissed his closed eyes gently, tenderly. “It wasn’t so much a physical fear,” she confessed, “as an emotional one. I was afraid you only wanted an affair. And that you’d walk away.” She laughed bitterly. “I knew I couldn’t survive that. I loved you too much.”
“We won’t be apart again,” he said quietly. “Not ever. Even when you have the children, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Tears misted her eyes. “I’ll like that.”
* * *
Six days later, there was a quiet ceremony in the Methodist church. Gabby, in a street-length white silk dress, walked slowly down the aisle on the arm of a wiry little man in a new gray suit, who looked even more out of place than the other people in the church. A tall black man standing beside J.D. was tugging uncomfortably at his tight collar and tie, and several other awkward-looking men were sitting in the front pew. Gabby noticed Richard Dice and two assistants who worked in her building casting strange glances at the assembly. Her mother seemed equally perplexed.
Gabby just grinned and walked on, feeling proud and happy as J.D. grinned at her from where he stood near the altar.
It was a brief but solemn ceremony, and at its end, after Gabby had enthusiastically kissed her new husband, she threw her arms around Matthew and hugged him.
“Thank you,” she told him with a beaming smile.
First Shirt looked faintly embarrassed. “I enjoyed it. Uh, Gabby, your mother’s giving us a strange look.”
“Mother’s always been strange, Matthew,” she informed him. “I’ll show you. Mother, come meet Matthew,” she called while J.D.’s partner, Richard, congratulated him and bent to kiss Gabby’s cheek.
“All the best, Gabby, J.D.,” Richard said with a grin. “What a shock, to be invited to your wedding. Especially after all that’s happened the past week.”
“The road to love is rocky,” Gabby grinned at him. “As you’ll discover someday.”
“Not me,” Richard retorted. “I run too fast!”
“That’s what I thought,” J.D. murmured with a wicked glance toward Gabby. She stuck out her tongue at him, and went to drag her mother away from the assistants.
Mrs. Darwin, resplendent in a white linen suit and a hat that looked three sizes too big, followed her daughter slowly. She looked as out of place as Matthew and Apollo and the rest.
“I hate dressing up,” she muttered, casting a curious eye at Matthew. “Give me my jeans anytime.”
“I hear you shoot and cuss and ride,” Matthew told her, pursing his lips.
Mrs. Darwin actually blushed. She lowered her eyes and grinned. “Well, a little, Mr…?”
“Matthew,” came the reply. “Matthew Carver. Archer’s…I mean, J.D.’s like a son to me.” He held out his hand, took hers, and lifted it to his lips. “What a lovely mother-in-law he’s getting,” he murmured.
Gabby left her blushing mother and went to greet Apollo, Semson, Laremos and Drago.
“Hi, guys,” she said, grinning at them.
“Hey, Gabby,” Apollo greeted her. “Good thing you know the ropes—we won’t have to run you through the training course or anything.”
“Now, just hold on,” she informed him. “I am going on a honeymoon. My adventuring days are over. I can just see me, pregnant and crawling through underbrush with a rifle…”
“Oh, we’d carry it for you, Gabby,” he said, all seriousness.
“How gentlemanly!” She laughed.
“Unspeakable ruffian,” Laremos said with a mock frown as he stepped forward to kiss Gabby’s hand. “Congratulations. And of course you will not be crawling through the jungle.” He grinned. “We will carry you.”
Semson and Drago added their comments, and Gabby clutched J.D.’s arm, all but collapsing with laughter.
A strange man stood up farther down the pew and walked closer as the other guests paused on their way out to congratulate Gabby and J.D. He was the last. Tall, blond and heavily muscled, he had a face as rugged as Jacob’s and a tan that emphasized his sun-bleached hair.
He had brown eyes, and they studied Gabby for a long moment before he spoke. He was wearing a tan suit that looked as new as those J.D.’s men friends had on, and there was something familiar about the way he shook hands with J.D.
“I thought you hated weddings,” J.D. remarked with a cool smile.
“I do. I just wanted to see who caught you.” He pursed his lips and narrowed one eye, looking Gabby over in a way that made her nervous. Finally, one corner of his mouth tugged up a little and he gave a short laugh. “Well, if she can shoot and doesn’t start screaming at gunfire, I guess she’s okay.”
“Okay?” she returned with a cold stare. “I’ll have you know I’m terrific. I can even hit what I aim at.”
The laugh mellowed a little and his dark eyes twinkled. “Can you?” He held out his hand. “I’m Dutch.”
Her eyes widened. She remembered that he’d met J.D. in Rome and was the intelligence-gathering logistics man for the team.
“Well, miracles never cease,” she murmured. “I thought you’d be bowlegged and chew tobacco.”
Dutch burst out laughing. Impulsively, he drew her into a friendly embrace and hugged her. “Oh, J.D., you lucky son of a…”
“Dutch!” First Shirt burst out, interrupting him. “Where did you come from?”
“The Middle East,” came the reply. “I need a few grunts. Interested?”
“Maybe,” Matthew said. He glanced at the others. “Let’s go talk. J.D., take care of her. And yourself.” He clasped hands with the younger man. “I’ll be in touch.”
Gabby hugged him. “Thanks for giving me away. Let me know where you’ll be at Christmas. I’ll send you a box of thick socks.”
Matthew kissed her forehead. “I’ll do that.” He leaned toward her ear. “Write down your mama’s address for me, too,” he added in a whisper. “I like a lady who can shoot and cuss.”
She laughed. “I’ll do that.”
The others filed out after brief goodbyes, and Gabby glanced at J.D.’s impassive face as they thanked Reverend Boone and started on their way to take Gabby’s mother back to the airport.
“Call me once