That surprised him. What Gillian proposed sounded more like a date than a “talk,” but he had nothing against the idea. “Sounds good.”
“Your usual?”
“Yes, please.”
She posted a thumbs-up emoticon. “See you tomorrow. Twelve thirty-ish.”
He went to bed that evening feeling lonely and depressed, and his mood didn’t improve when he awoke the following day. He spent the morning doing research and making calls and arrangements, carrying around a dust cloud of blue mood à la Pigpen in the comic strip Peanuts. The process depressed him. The plan dejected him.
At twenty after twelve, the perk of River’s ears signaled Gillian’s approach. He opened the trailer door and stepped outside to meet her, his cousin’s dog at his heels. Moments later, Gillian climbed out of the car carrying Peaches and a white paper sack.
Tucker welcomed her with a genuine smile. “That smells great.”
She handed him the bag. “I got you pulled pork tacos, regular charro beans, and corn in a cup as requested. I also ordered you your own side of guac since you’re always trying to filch some of mine.”
“Good thinking. Want to eat here or take it with us?”
“Here, please. It was all I could do not to break into the bag on the drive out here.”
He got them each a bottle of Topo Chico mineral water, and they made small talk while they ate. She asked if there’d been any word from the honeymooners, and he told her Jackson had called him last night to see how River had managed the flight home. He asked her how Peaches had made out at the dog sitter’s while she’d been gone.
“She wasn’t very pleased with me,” Gillian said, dipping a chip into her guacamole. “Hopefully this hike will win me back into her good graces.”
“I know the feeling,” Tucker murmured. He was tempted to go ahead and put his plan on the table alongside the chips and salsa. Get it over with. Without thinking it through, he asked, “Do you want to have our relationship talk now or later?”
She sat back in her chair and considered the question. “Let’s walk off our lunch first. Might end up with indigestion otherwise.”
He nodded. She had a point.
After loading up the dogs and backpacks in the MULE, he drove to the trailhead, where Gillian muted her phone and stowed it inside her pack while explaining, “I learn from my mistakes.”
They did little talking on the way to the cave, though he did point out where she’d gone off-trail on her solo trip.
“Oh, wow,” she said. “I must have totally zoned out on the R. I didn’t remember where I was, because now I remember you telling me that trail led down to a spring.” She paused, gave him a look he couldn’t read, and added, “That won’t happen again. I’ve been working on my acronyms.”
“Good.” He guessed it was good, anyway. He didn’t know what the heck she was talking about. Gillian was in a strange mood today, but he imagined she might be thinking the same thing about him.
They set a good pace and arrived at the cave entrance sooner than Tucker had expected. For the first time on the hike, Peaches balked. She wasn’t interested in going inside the cave. Her dog’s reaction gave Gillian second thoughts. “Maybe she senses something or smells something inside. You’d better check.”
Tucker smirked. “What would you have done if you two had made it here by yourselves that day, and she reacted this way then?”
She folded her arms. “I guess we’ll never know, will we?”
Grinning, he shrugged off his backpack and reached for the small flashlight he carried on his belt. He’d started to duck into the cave when Gillian grabbed hold of his sleeve and stopped him. “Wait!”
He arched a curious brow. She slipped off her backpack and fished the flashlight from inside. Grimly, she announced, “I’ll do it.”
“Gillian, wait a minute,” Tucker began.
“No. No, I’m going to do it. It’s part of my new strategy.”
Strategy? What strategy? He was the one who had a strategy. “Strategy for what?”
“Here. Hold my dog.” She handed him Peaches’ leash, switched on the light, drew a deep breath, and ducked into the cave. Peaches whimpered. River followed on her heels. Moments later, Gillian called happily, “All clear.”
Bemused, Tucker ducked into the shadowed cave.
Damned if she didn’t meet him with a kiss.
It was the first kiss they’d shared since their canyon fight, and after the initial moment of shock, he went all in. He kissed her back hard, pouring all the pent-up sadness and frustration that he’d been feeling for more than a week into the effort, groaning against her mouth as she responded in kind. He’d missed her. Missed this. Hell, he’d been missing this all his life.
He didn’t want to lose it. He didn’t want to lose her.
She delved her fingers into his hair. He released her mouth and feathered kisses across her face to that spot on her neck just below her ear that always made her shudder. Hearing her moan his name sent a shot of heat racing through him like fine Kentucky bourbon. Biting, licking, and tasting, he let her scent wash over him and wanted to drown.
Then Peaches decided she wanted some attention and threaded herself between their legs. At the same time, River spotted a lizard and went on the hunt, sideswiping Tucker in the process. “Dammit,” he muttered as he lost his balance and came close to taking them both down. Gillian stepped back and steadied him. Her eyes were laughing as she said, “Those darned kids.”
“We’ll have to send them to bed without their suppers,” Tucker replied, then wished he hadn’t said the B word. He cleared his throat. “I’ll light the lanterns, though I’m sort of surprised they didn’t burst into flame all on their own from all the heat we just generated.”
“No kidding.”
While he set about doing that, she knelt beside the trunk and lifted the lid. Her fingers trailed across the fabric of the wedding gown. “This is so beautiful.”
“So are you. Beautiful inside and out, Glory.”
She lifted the dress from the trunk, held it by its shoulders, and studied it. “I still wonder what its story is. I wish we had some way to discover it. Was this gown worn to her wedding to the love of her life, the father of her fourteen children?”
“Fourteen?”
“Life before birth control. Or did a villain steal this dress before she had the chance to wear it? Did a stagecoach robber steal her dream? I really wish we knew.”
A stagecoach robber stealing dreams.
“I’ve been wearing the black hat,” Tucker murmured.
“I’m sorry?”
Tucker simply shook his head and smiled.
Gillian removed a folded dress bag sporting the Bliss Bridal logo from her backpack. Carefully, tenderly, and respectfully, she packed the antique wedding gown inside. When the bag’s zipper stuck, she picked away loose threads, and Tucker helped by giving it a good yank.
Then she lifted it, folded it over her arms, and faced him. “You ready for that talk now?”
No. Never. “Sure. There’s a good spot just up the trail a little ways. Let me…”
A notion had occurred to him as he’d watched her take that gown from the trunk. It was a little weird, bordering on woo-woo, but if either Celeste or Angelica stood beside him, he knew in his gut that they’d tell him to go with it.