Hearth and Home

by Layne

Wade brought up Liana's suitcase and left her a towel on the bar next to the shower. Watching her silhouette through the opaque shower wall, he briefly considered joining her, then decided against it. Plenty of time to start their wedding night. It was only mid-afternoon here.

Returning to the Land Cruiser in the driveway, he looked through what was there to find a bag of his own. Dug down in one side of it to make sure the .45 caliber pistol he carried was where it should be. He'd told Liana that he had retired, and he meant it. But he wasn't sure he'd ever stop carrying a gun. It was a lifelong habit. Had saved his life on more than one occasion. Wade thought of it as being a good Boy Scout. Always be prepared.

Leaving the bag where it was for the moment, he stepped away from the car to take a long look around. Enjoyed what he saw. He had land, horses, a home, a wife. Damn, looks like a normal life, he thought to himself. Or, at least, what passes for normal in this crazy world these days. He'd worked damned hard for all of it. And no one would take it away from him.

A look at his watch told him he'd been out here for thirty minutes. Grabbing his bag, he locked up the car and went back up to the bedroom. Liana lay across the bed sound asleep. She'd put on shorts and a white t-shirt after her shower. Ben stood there for a few moments, gazing down at her.

He'd thought before about having a life like this. Never really believed it would happen. And now, here it was, all laid out before him. Looking at the pretty, curving line of her bare legs beneath the shorts, he almost reached out to stroke a finger down one of them. Thought better of it.

Let her sleep for awhile, he said to himself. She's exhausted. And I'm pretty damned tired myself.

Grabbing a towel for himself, he took his own hot shower. He returned to the bed, his towel wrapped around his waist. Slowly and carefully, so as not to wake her, Ben lay down on the bed next to Liana. Wrapping one arm around her, he drifted off to sleep himself.