AUTHOR'S NOTE:  As this chapter begins, only a couple of hours have passed since Lou bailed Randall out of jail and took him back to the B&B where she's staying. Will the couple pick up where they left off on the airplane to Denver?

~o~~o~~o~

It was late afternoon when Randall entered Jimmy Nichols' kitchen to find Lou and Jimmy having coffee at the kitchen table. Randall was clean shaven, sharply dressed, and wet-haired from the shower. He looked mighty good to Lou O'Malley. And, Lou O'Malley looked mighty good to Galen Randall. In fact, neither of them could see anything or anybody else.

"Dang!" said Jimmy Nichols, startling the couple. "You sure don't look like the same fella the cops hauled out of here this noon," he told Randall. "By the way, I talked to the boys, and we all apologize for the misunderstanding. We thought you were somebody else. I mean, we noticed you didn't have a weapon, and Byrd didn't think that Buddy the Blade would've saved Byrd's life the way you did, but ... well, Buddy is a murderer. We just couldn't take the chance. When we saw you looking for Lou, we had to assume the worst."

"No harm done," Randall said, looking at Lou instead of at the man he was addressing. "I found Lou, and I found out she's got friends who take good care of her. Nothing wrong with any of that." If he had been less focused on Lou O'Malley, he might have thought to ask why Lou's friends were expecting a murderer, but, alas, Randall was too besotted for logic.

Lou told Randall, "You better go. It's a long drive to Miami."

Nichols, realizing he might as well be on another planet, picked up his coffee cup and left the room.

Randall slid into the chair Jimmy had vacated. He reached across the table and took Lou's hand. "I'm not driving to Miami. I'm chartering a plane to Miami."

"But, you're afraid of airplanes!"

He shook his head, smiling. "Gay Randall is afraid of one thing only. It used to be airplanes, but now he's only afraid of losing you. You finish what you came here to do, and while you're doing it, use the time to think about ... you know us. I'm going to be waiting in the Miami airport when you get there tomorrow afternoon, and we're going on our first date. Count on it."

Lou felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. She clinched his hand tightly and pulled him closer. "What did you say?"

"I said I'll be waiting for you—"

"Before, before that. Before 'Randall.' Did you say 'Gay' Randall? You mean, Randall isn't your first name? It's your last name?"

"That's right. But, I'm thinking about adding a middle name. Someone recently called me 'Galen the Great.' Has a nice ring to it, eh?"

"But ... Galen Randall, the photographer? I idolize him. I mean, I idolize you, I guess. I'm so embarrassed! You said, 'Hi, I'm Randall,' and I never thought—"

"I never start conversations with 'Hi, I'm Gay.' Too many misunderstandings." He leaned a little closer and planted a long, deep kiss on her lips. When he backed away, she remained frozen, eyes closed, lips puckered.

"It'll be sunset soon," he said. "That means I've got a plane to catch, and you've got pictures to shoot. I recommend Fiery Furnace, in Arches, for terrific red colors at sunset, if you haven't shot there already. It's a two-mile hike from the trailhead, and it's not a difficult walk."

Through still-puckered lips, Lou managed to say, "I'll find it. Could you do that again, please?"

"Oh, yes, ma'am. With pleasure."

He stood, came around the table to lift her from her chair, and planted an even bigger kiss this time. Lou wound herself around him and hung on for every sweet second of it.

~o~~o~~o~

A/N:  Wow, things seem to be going great! Can this last?  Click your vote, dash off your comment, and hurry on to Chapter 32!  Thanks.