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paper. It was my way of telling you I wanted you for keeps. When you ran, I thought it was because
you couldn’t bear the thought of marrying me. Then, when I realized what was wrong, it froze me in
my tracks.” He caressed her flushed face with lazy fingers. “If you were that afraid of me, I thought it
would be better if we forgot the whole thing.”
She looked into his eyes with her whole heart in hers. “I ran because I loved you so much,” she
admitted jerkily. “And I knew it was always going to be one-sided….”
He pressed a gentle finger across her trembling lips. “One-sided, Shelby?” he asked gently. “Let
me show you how one-sided it is with us.”
He drew her up against him and eased her mouth under his, cherishing it so tenderly that she
couldn’t stem the tears that fell like liquid pearls from her eyes.
“You see?” he whispered softly. “I love you until I ache all over with it. I want children with you. I
want everything with you, Shelby, good times and bad. But not if you’re going to spend all those years
running from my temper.”
She smiled up at him. “But now I know what to do about it, don’t I?” she whispered, drawing his
head down to hers.
“It’ll take more than this sometimes,” he murmured against her ardent mouth.
“Then you’ll have to marry me and teach me what else to do, won’t you?” she asked impishly.
“Be sure, Shelby,” he said gently, and his dark eyes were serious. “Forever is a hell of a long
time.”
She nodded. “Maybe it will be long enough,” she murmured.
He wrapped her up in his hard arms and held her close against him. She buried her face in his
warm throat and closed her eyes. Heaven could wait, she thought contentedly. This was paradise
enough for one lifetime.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4369-3
TO LOVE AND CHERISH
First published in North America as a MacFadden Romance by Kim Publishing Corporation.
Copyright © 1979 by Diana Palmer.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any
electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd
Street, New York, NY 10017 U.S.A.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the
same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure
invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States
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Table of Contents
One S helby Kane packed her suitcase with a feeling of impending doom. A week on a ranch the size
of Skylance would have delighted most girls, but she couldn’t feel any enthusiasm for another
confrontation with Kingston Brannt. The last one had caused her to leave the Texas ranch in tears
in the middle of the night.She wished she’d never agreed to go to Branntville with Danny for a
week’s vacation. It had been one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions. They were enjoying a
night at a new San Antonio disco bar when Danny grinned at her and said “Come home with me
on your vacation. Mom and Dad would be delighted. You know how they dote on you.”That much
was true. Kate and Jim Brannt had welcomed Shelby the first time she set foot on Skylance, and
the affection they had for her had grown over the years. It was King who made such infrequent
visits an ordeal. She shivered at just the memory of that hard, dark face with its jutting brow and
piercing dark eyes. He was as hard as the country
Two H e was as intimidating as ever. Tall lean whipcord muscled and as elegant as any male
model in the brown slacks and cream colored sports shirt he was wearing. He approached the car
lighting a cigarette, but his fingers froze on the lighter as he looked into the Jag and spotted Shelby
sitting next to his brother. His face went harder than stone, but his eyes even at the distance began
to catch fire. Shelby stiffened instinctively and fought down an urge to get out of the car and run.
She was more afraid of King than she’d ever been of any human being. She’d never understood
why but the fear was real and definite. Especially after her last visit here.“Hey calm down ”
Danny said gently noticing the rigid set of her slender body the wide-eyed panic in her flushed
face.King finished lighting his cigarette and pocketed the lighter with ill-concealed violence. He
watched Danny get out of the car and greeted him warmly but his eyes were still on Shelby never
wandering even when D
Three M ary Kate Culhane was as slender as a wand, had green eyes, and the personality of a
seasoned game show host. She wasn’t pretty but she was vivacious and as friendly as a puppy—
to everyone except Shelby. Her first sight of the younger, darker girl was enough to make her green
eyes glow like emeralds. She was polite, but there was ice under the smile she gave Shelby when
they were introduced.“So you’re Shelby ” Mary Kate said her eyes nipping at the younger girl
looking for faults and turning darker when she found none. “Danny says you’re a model.”“That’s
right ” Shelby said quietly.“What do you model?” Mary Kate persisted.“Clothes mostly ” the
younger girl said with a calm that seemed to make the other catch fire.“You don’t dress like one ”
Mary Kate replied with a cattiness that only another woman would catch.“Thank you,” Shelby
grinned.That brought a stunned look to the other girl’s face and an amused smile to Danny’s.“I
shouldn’t think you’d take to ranch life,” Mary Kat
Four S helby sat with Danny at lunch, eating barbecue under the Spanish moss beards of the towering
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