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completion.
A horn tooted behind the buggy and Simon pulled on the reins to angle the
gelding onto the hard shoulder and let the automobile pass. Webb was behind
the wheel. He lifted a hand as they went by.
They hadn't stayed in town to do any shopping as Lilli had intended. She'd
lost her desire for the outing. When she recognized Simon's buggy and guessed
at its destination of the Kreuger place, all her uncertainties came flooding
back.
"I'd feel much better if I knew Kreuger was in jail." She had to speak loudly
to make herself heard above the noise of the motor.
"He'll stand trial. You can be sure of it," Webb replied.
But she wasn't.
CHAPTER 28
Lightning flashed along the horizon, but Lilli wasn't fooled by it. It was
heat lightning, not the forerunner of rain. The night wind lifting the
curtains at the window was warm and dry, but it lessened the stifling
temperature of the upstairs bedroom, even if everything would be covered with
dust in the morning.
She tunneled a hand under the mass of auburn hair and lifted its weight from
her neck as she turned to glance toward the crib where Chase was sleeping. His
little nightshirt clung to him, damp with the perspiration on his chubby neck,
but he slept soundly, indifferent to the heat.
The warm wind curled around the exposed skin of her neck, cooling it a degree.
Lilli had blamed the summer heat for the restlessness that had pushed her out
of bed, but the endless heat wasn't responsible for the thoughts that kept
turning around in her head.
Tomorrow was the day of Franz Kreuger's trial. Three weeks had passed since
the shooting, yet she was still apprehensive. No one had mourned Hobie Evans's
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passing. Lilli hadn't liked him any more than the next person, but Kreuger had
murdered him--shot him in the back. If he got away with that, there would be
no stopping him. He would consider himself above the law, justified to avenge
any real or imagined wrong. Sooner or later his target for vengeance would be
Webb. He had despised him for too long and the hatred ran too deep.
She had attempted to confide her fears to Webb, but he didn't truly
understand. Kreuger would stand trial and be punished for his crime, Webb had
insisted, but despite his assurances she didn't have much faith in the law,
and told him so. It had been one of their typical spirited disagreements. They
had argued angrily over it, which now troubled Lilli as much as anything.
With the thought of him uppermost in her mind, her gaze swung to the bed,
intermittently illuminated by the flashes of heat lightning through the window
where she stood. Even in sleep, his rugged features held their strength, his
solid lips lying together in a firm line. Most of the covers were kicked off
him. She studied his asymmetrical and thoroughly masculine body, relaxed now.
Emotion swelled in her, a deep, abiding love that knew no end.
Silently, she slipped off the cotton nightgown and glided into bed. At the
touch of her, Webb automatically gathered her into the crook of his arm, but
she leaned onto his chest, her hair falling over her shoulder to brush his
cheek. When her lips probed at the stillness of his mouth, he stirred,
wakening slowly. As the hunger in her kiss made itself known, he combed his
fingers into her hair to press her head down and deepen the kiss.
When he rolled her over onto the mattress, there was a moment when the contact
between their lips was broken. "Make love to me, Webb," Lilli murmured in that
space.
Slowly and passionately, they made the union last a long time. Neither seemed
able to get enough of the other. Even when it was over and they drifted to
sleep in each other's arms, there was a sense that it hadn't been enough-that
there would never be enough loving.
Dawn came with its fiery range of reds and oranges to herald the rise of a
blazing yellow sun. Webb stopped the Model T in front of the Stanton house and
let the engine idle. His glance shunted to his wife and son in the passenger
seat. He reached out a hand to affectionately rumple the unruly mass of dark
hair on his son's head, but it was Lilli who claimed his attention.
"Are you sure you want to go to the trial?" he asked.
"Yes." It was a determined answer that warned him she wouldn't be budged no
matter how strongly he felt she shouldn't attend.
With Chase in her arms, she stepped out of the car and climbed the porch steps
to the door. Ruth had heard them drive up and opened the door before Lilli
knocked. Chase recognized her and became excited, reaching out his hands to be
held by her and laughing. Ruth was a second mother to him, so he never raised
much of a fuss when Lilli left him with her.
"He's already had his breakfast," Lilli said as she let Ruth take him from
her. Little Buck came crawling to the door, and Chase immediately began
wiggling in Ruth's arms to be put down so he could play with her son. "I'm not
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