Love on the Line - Deeanne Gist [142]
“What would you do?”
“I don’t know. Does it matter?” He looked at her then, his vulnerability apparent.
Smiling, she reached out a hand. “No, it doesn’t matter, and yes, I’ll marry you.”
He grasped her hand and released a pent-up breath. “You mean it?”
“I mean it.”
He glanced at the men in the back, then her.
“Go ahead,” Duane said, covering his eyes with his hand, then spreading two fingers so he could peek through.
Smiling, Luke raised her palm to his lips and kissed it, then mouthed, Later.
She nodded, faced forward, then gasped. A pair of eagles screeched as they flapped over the prairie, their heads and tails white, their wingspans as wide as Luke was tall.
The men shaded their eyes. Bettina stirred. Luke threaded his hand with Georgie’s.
The male and female birds ascended high into the sky, then in a heart-stopping ritual, clasped talons and spun head over tail like a whirligig. Over and over they went, dropping altitude while picking up speed.
The farther they plummeted, the harder Georgie squeezed Luke’s hand. At the last moment, the eagles released their hold and spun back up into flight.
Long after they’d flown out of sight, the group sat silent and awed. So beautiful the courtship dance. So close it had come to disaster.
She looked at Luke. “I’m glad I’m a woman and you’re a man. And there are some things I do well, and some things you do well. And together, we know when to hold tight and when to let go.”
Lifting a corner of his mouth, he gave her hand a squeeze. “I love you, Georgie Gail.”
She smiled. “And I love you, Lucious Landrum. Name and all.”
Twisting around, he looked at Ragston. “Hop on up, Clem. I’m anxious to get my gal home.”
The men closest to him helped him up onto the flat of the bed.
Once he’d settled and his legs were dangling off the end, Georgie flicked the reins, just as anxious as Luke to return to the home that would one day soon be not only hers, but also his.
Epilogue
“Everybody off the train.”
Georgie and Lucious exchanged a glance, then corralled the children and shuffled past the man brandishing a gun. At the door, a man with a neckerchief about his face waved them off.
Jumping to the ground, Lucious turned and assisted her and their five daughters. He gave her waist a squeeze of reassurance, but it did little to comfort her. Would he try to disarm the man?
His job as general manager for SWT&T kept him serving the company in many capacities and occasionally filling in for their lineman and new operator. But it didn’t provide much opportunity for disarming outlaws.
Still, he’d kept up his membership in the Gun Club. Had taken the girls hunting every chance he could. And still went everywhere with Odysseus—having retired Penelope the day they were married, for Georgie was now closest to his heart.
He’d just taken little Julia into his arms when the bandit stationed at the car door stopped him. “Hand over yer gun, mister.”
Georgie tensed. Lucious would never willingly give up Odysseus.
He handed Julia to her. “You and the girls go on. I’ll be right there.”
Swallowing, she took the child. “Here we go, girls. You heard your father.”
When they were out of harm’s way, he turned back to the man. “You can have my bullets. The gun, however, is mine.”
“The only thing what’s yers is whatever I say is yers. Now, hand over the gun, real slow-like.”
Jaw ticking, Lucious lifted the Colt with two fingers.
The man glanced at it, then took a quick step back and placed both hands on the grip of his pistol. “Where’d ya get that?”
The gun still dangled in Lucious’s fingers. “It’s mine.”
“That there gun belongs to Lucious Landrum. Is part of a pair.”
“Yes.”
“Well, what’re you doin’ with it?”
He gave the man a look full of promises. “I own it. Have owned it for nigh on fifteen years. And I don’t plan on parting with it anytime soon. The question is, how do you want the bullets? Poured out into your hand, or shot clean through your heart?”
The bandit’s pistol began to shake. “Boss!” he shouted.
A man taking goods from the lined-up passengers looked over