Brave the Wild Wind

Chapter 48

“PEDRO?” Jessie exclaimed. “Did she really name you Pedro?”

“Surprised?” Chase grinned.

“But I would have thought she’d scorn anything Spanish.”

“Actually, I think my mother enjoyed feeling sorry for herself.”

“But why did you change the name?”

“With my dark hair and a name like that, I was marked a foreigner in Chicago. Kids can be pretty tough on foreigners. I was fighting every damn day, it seemed. So I changed the name— and dared anyone to remember the name Pedro.”

“But it’s a nice name, Pedro.” She grinned.

“You start calling me Pedro, and I’ll start calling you Kenneth.”

“That’s not funny!” Jessie cried.

“I didn’t think so, either.”

They laughed together and snuggled closer on the divan. In the next room, two-month-old Charles slept. A son who looked like his father and his grandfather. Both men were bursting with pride. Jessie liked to think it wasn’t only pride that lit up Chase’s eyes when he looked at his son. Perhaps it was happiness, too. Contentment. Certainly love. He did love that boy. And in the last two months, she had felt as secure in his love as Charles did.

Love wasn’t the fairy tale she’d once thought it was. Love was real and wonderful, and she gloried in it. Love was the heart of happiness, and Jessie had found her happiness in her husband and child.

Jessie kissed Chase on the cheek, and he turned his head, capturing her lips. She sighed as his hand caressed her back. She had learned to control her impetuous passion some of the time, for there was much to be said for anticipation. But a fiery union also had its merits. She looked over at the bed and sighed. It was still early.

“Have you given any more thought to what we’re going to do when we get back to America?” Jessie asked.

“I thought maybe we’d visit your mother for a while. I think Rachel will like my father.”

“Matchmaking, are you?”

“I have no intention of messing with anyone’s life except my own.”

“You’ve done a pretty good job there.” Jessie smiled. “We can’t stay with my mother forever, though.”

“Do you have something in mind?” he asked.

“I would like to start my ranch again. If you’re willing,” she said.

“But, Jessie, we can buy a house somewhere and raise our son. You don’t have to work.”

“And I can get lazy and fat and die of boredom, too,” Jessie came back saucily. “I want a ranch, Chase.

Don’t dismiss the idea.”

“Dismiss it?” He laughed. “As if you’d let me. Oh, Lord, I never dreamed I’d end up a rancher.”

“You mean it?” she asked excitedly.

“Yes,” he sighed. “But if it’s to be ranching, then we’ll do it right this time. Never mind the nonsense about just making ends meet. And I hope you don’t have your heart set on settling in Wyoming. Wouldn’t you rather start a new ranch someplace where it’s a little warmer? Texas or Arizona?”

“No,” she said firmly. “Winter might be a little cold in Wyoming—”

“A little!”

She grinned. “There are ways to get warm, ways that can be fun.”

“Will you teach me all of them?”

“If you ask me nicely.”

“Tease.”

“Charmer.”

“I love you, sweetheart.”