Weak with relief, Maggie sank down on the piano stool. Without even the energy to weep, she buried her face in her hands.

“Oh, Maggie.” Then Cliff’s arms were around her, and she could feel the hard, fast beat of his heart. “That was the longest ten minutes of my life,” he murmured as he began to run wild kisses over her face. “The longest.”

She didn’t want explanations. He was here; that was enough. “I kept telling myself you’d come. It kept me sane.”

“I shouldn’t have left you alone.” He buried his face in her hair and drew in the scent.

She held him tighter. “I told you I could take care of myself.”

He laughed, because she was in his arms and nothing had changed. “Yes, you did. It’s over now.” He framed her face in his hands so that he could study it. Pale, he noticed. The eyes were shadowed but steady. His Maggie was a woman who could take care of herself. “Reiker was outside, long enough to get the drift of what was going on. He’s taking all three of them.”

She thought of Louella’s pale face, Stan’s anguished eyes, Joyce’s trembling voice. “They’ve been punished enough.”

“Maybe.” He ran his hands up her arms, just to assure himself she was whole and safe. “If he’d hurt you—”

“He wouldn’t have.” She shook her head and clung again. “He couldn’t have. I want the pond, Cliff,” she said fiercely. “I want you to put in the pond quickly, and I want to see the willow draping over it.”

“You’ll have it.” He drew her back again. “And me? Will you have me, Maggie?”

She took a deep breath, letting his fingers rest on her face again. Again, she thought. She would try again and see if he understood. “Why should I?”

His brows drew together, but he managed to swallow the oath that came to mind. Instead, he kissed her, hard and long. “Because I love you.”

She let out a trembling breath. She was indeed home. “That was the right answer.”

* * * * *

Copyright

Night Moves

© 1985 Nora Roberts

ISBN: 0373047274

SILHOUETTE

Ed♥n