Country Brides

  They remained as they were, not speaking, savoring these warm sensations, until Kate lost count of the number of times they’d danced.

  When the band took a ten-minute break, Luke released her with an unwillingness that made her heart soar. As though he couldn’t bear to be separated from her, he took her hand, lacing her fingers with his.

  He was leading her back to their table when they were interrupted by Beth Hammond, a pert blonde, who’d hurried toward them. “Hello, Luke,” she said, ignoring Kate.

  “Beth.” He bowed his head politely, but it was evident that he didn’t appreciate the intrusion.

  The other woman placed a proprietary hand on his arm. “You promised me a dance, remember?”

  Kate’s eyes swivelled from Beth, who was pouting prettily, to Luke, who looked testy and impatient.

  “If you’ll excuse me a minute, I’m going to get a drink,” Kate said. Her throat was parched and she didn’t want to be left standing alone when the music started and Beth walked off with Luke.

  The fruit punch was cold and refreshing, but she still felt warm. Kate decided to walk outside and let the cool night air clear her mind. Try though she might, she didn’t really understand what was happening between her and Luke. It probably had to do with the confused state of her emotions, she decided. She’d think about it later.

  The stars glittered like frost diamonds against a velvety black sky. Kate stood in the crisp evening air with her arms around her waist, gazing up at the heavens. She didn’t hear Luke until he stepped behind her and lightly rested his hands on her shoulders. “I couldn’t find you,” he said in a voice that was softly accusing.

  Kate didn’t want to discuss Beth Hammond. For as long as she could remember, the other woman had been going out of her way to attract him.

  “It’s beautiful out, isn’t it?” she asked instead. Instinctively she nestled closer to Luke, reclining against the lean strength of his body, seeking his warmth.

  “Beautiful,” he repeated, running his hands down her arms.

  How content she felt with Luke, how comfortable—the way she imagined people felt when they’d been married for twenty years. But along with this familiar sense of ease, she experienced a prickle of anticipation. Her feelings were contradicting themselves. Secure and steady, and at the same time this growing sense of giddy excitement. It must be that glass of champagne.

  The band started playing again and the music wafted outside. Gently Luke turned her to face him, slipping his hands around her as if to dance. Her arms reached for his neck, resuming their earlier position.

  “We should talk,” he whispered close to her ear.

  “No,” she murmured with a sigh. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to stand on the tips of her toes and brush her moist lips over his. Then she realized what she’d done. Her eyes widened and she abruptly stepped back, her heart hammering inside her chest.

  Neither spoke. In the light that spilled from the hall, they stared at each other. Kate didn’t know what her eyes told Luke, but his own were clouded with uncertainty. Kate half expected him to chastise her, or to tease her for behaving like such a flirt. Instead he reached for her once more, his eyes challenging her to stop him.

  She couldn’t.

  The warmth of his mouth on hers produced a small sigh of welcome as her eyes slid languidly shut; she felt transported into a dreamworld, one she’d never visited before. This couldn’t actually be happening, she told herself, and yet it felt so real. So right.

  Luke’s kiss was surprisingly tender, unlike anything she’d expected. “My darling Kate,” he breathed against her hair, “I’ve dreamed of this so often.”

  “You have?” To her own ears, her voice sounded far, far away. Her head was swimming. If this was a dream, then she didn’t want it to end. Sighing, she smiled beguilingly up at him.

  “You little tease,” he said, and laughed softly. He rained light kisses on her forehead, the corners of her eyes and her cheek, until she interrupted his meandering lips, seeking his mouth with her own.

  He seemed to want the kiss as much as she did, but apparently saw no need to rush the experience, as if he feared hurrying would spoil it. Kate’s mouth parted, inviting a deeper union. His willing compliance was so effective it buckled her knees.

  “Kate?” Still holding her, he drew back, tilting his head to study her. Boldly she met his look, her eyes dancing with mischief. If he’d been kissing her out of pity, she was past caring.

  A long moment passed before a slow, thoughtful smile played across his lips. “I think I’d better get you inside.”

  “No,” she said, surprised at how vehement she felt about returning to the reception hall and the newlyweds. “I don’t want to go back there.”

  “But—”

  “Stay with me here. Dance with me. Hold me.” He’d said he wanted to take care of her. Well, she was giving him the opportunity. She leaned into him and sighed, savoring his strength and support. This was Luke. Luke Rivers. Her trusted friend. Surely he understood; surely he’d help her through this most difficult night of her life. “I want you with me.” She couldn’t explain what was happening any more than she could deny it.

  “You don’t know what you’re asking me.” He stared down at her, searching her features for a long, breathless moment. Then the cool tips of his fingers brushed her face, moving along her cheekbones, stroking her skin as if he expected her to vanish.

  Kate caught his hand with her own and gazed into his dark eyes. They glittered like freshly polished onyx, full of light and a deep inner fire.

  “I want you to kiss me. You taste so good.” She moistened her lips and leaned closer to him, so close that she could feel the imprint of his buttons against her body. So close that the beat of his heart merged with her own. Excitement shivered through her in tremors so intense they frightened her. But not enough to make her pull away.

  Her words spurred Luke into action, and when he kissed her their lips met with hungry insistence. Sensation erupted between them until Kate was weak and dizzy, clinging to him for support, her fingers bunching the material of his jacket. When he lifted his head, ending the kiss, Kate felt nearly faint from the rush of blood to her pounding temples.

  There was a look of shock on Luke’s face. His eyes questioned her, but Kate’s thoughts were as scattered as autumn leaves tossed by the wind.

  “How much champagne have you had?” he asked softly.

  “One glass,” she answered with a sigh, resting her forehead against his heaving chest. Luke hadn’t said taking care of her would be this wonderful. Had she known, she wouldn’t have resented it quite so much earlier.

  Luke expelled a harsh breath. “You ’ve had more than one glass. I doubt you even know who I am.”

  “Of course I do!” she flared. “You ’re Luke. Now don’t be ridiculous. Only…”

  “Only what?”

  “Only you never kissed me before. At least not like that. Why didn’t you tell me you were so good at this?” Finding herself exceptionally witty, she began to laugh.

  “I’m taking you home,” Luke said firmly, grabbing her elbow with such force that she was half lifted from the walkway.

  “Luke,” she cried. “I don’t want to go back yet.”

  His grip relaxed immediately. “Kate Logan, you’re drunk! Except you don’t have the sense to know it.”

  “I most certainly am not!” She waved her index finger at him like a schoolmarm. “I ’ll have you know that it takes a lot more than one glass of champagne to do me in.”

  Luke obviously wasn’t willing to argue the point. His hand cradling her elbow, he led her toward the parking lot.

  “I want to stay,” she protested.

  He didn’t answer. Then it dawned on her that perhaps she’d misread Luke. Maybe he was trying to get rid of her so he could return to Beth.

  “Luke?”

  “Kate, please, don’t argue with me.”

  “Are you in love with Beth???
?

  “No.” His answer was clipped and impatient.

  “Thank heaven.” Her hand fluttered over her heart. “I don’t think I could bear it if you were.”

  Luke stopped abruptly and Kate realized they were standing in front of his truck. He opened the passenger door for her, but she had no intention of climbing in. At least not yet. She wanted to spend more time with Luke, their arms wrapped around each other the way they’d been before. The pain that had battered her heart for weeks had vanished the instant she stepped into his arms.

  “Kiss me again, okay?”

  “Kate, no.”

  “Please?”

  “Kate, you’re drunk.”

  “And I tell you I’m not.” The one glass of champagne had been just enough to make her a little…reckless. It felt so good to surrender to these new emotions—to lean on Luke. From the moment they’d arrived at the wedding, he’d been telling her how much she needed him. Maybe he was right. There’d been so much upheaval in her life, and Luke was here, warm and kind and solid.

  “I’m going to drive you home,” he insisted. From the sound of his voice, Kate could tell he was growing frustrated.

  The house would be dark and cold. How Kate feared being alone, and with Clay out of her life, there was only her father. And Luke. If Devin did decide to marry Mrs. Murphy, he might sell the ranch and then Luke would be gone, too. Alarmed at the thought, she placed her hands on his shoulders, her gaze holding his.

  “Kate?” Luke coaxed.

  “All right, I’ll go back to the house, but on one condition.”

  “Kate, come on, be reasonable.”

  “I want you to do something for me. You keep telling me you’re my friend and how much you want to help….”

  “Just get inside the truck, would you, before someone comes along and finds us arguing?”

  “I need your promise first.”

  Luke ignored her. “You ’ve got a reputation to uphold. You can’t let people in Nightingale see you tipsy. The school board will hear about this and that’ll be the end of your career.”

  Kate smiled, shaking her head, then impulsively leaned forward and kissed him again. Being with Luke took the hurt away, and she refused to suffer that kind of pain ever again. “Will you please do what I want?”

  “All right,” he muttered, clearly exasperated. “What is it?”

  “Oh, thank you,” she murmured, and sighed expressively. This was going to shock him, but no more than it had already shocked her. She didn’t know where the idea had come from, but it seemed suddenly, inarguably right.

  Kate smiled at him, her heart shining through her eyes. “It ’s simple really. All I want you to do is marry me.”

  Two

  Early the following day, Devin Logan walked hesitantly into the kitchen where Kate sat drinking her first cup of coffee. She smiled a greeting. “Morning, Dad.”

  “Morning, Princess.” He circled the table twice before he sat down.

  Kate watched him curiously, then rose to pour him a cup of coffee and bring it to the table. It was a habit she’d begun after her mother’s death several years earlier.

  “Did you and Mrs. Murphy have a good time last night?” Kate asked, before her father could comment on the rumors that were sure to be circulating about her and Luke Rivers. She hadn’t seen Luke yet, but she would soon enough, and she was mentally bracing herself for the confrontation. What a fool she’d made of herself. She cringed at the thought of her marriage proposal and didn’t doubt for a second that Luke was going to take a great deal of delight in tormenting her about it. She suspected it would be a long while before he let her live this one down.

  “Looks like rain,” Devin mumbled.

  Kate grinned good-naturedly, wondering at her father’s strange mood. “I asked you about last night, not about the weather.”

  Devin’s eyes flared briefly with some unnamed emotion, which he quickly disguised. His gaze fell to the steaming mug cupped in his hands.

  “Dad? Did you and Mrs. Murphy enjoy yourselves?”

  “Why, sure, we had a grand time,” he said with forced enthusiasm.

  Kate waited for him to elaborate. Instead he reached for the sugar bowl and resolutely added three heaping teaspoons to his mug. He stirred it so briskly the coffee threatened to slosh over the edge. All the while, he stared blankly into space.

  Kate didn’t know what to make of Devin’s unusual behavior. “Dad,” she said, trying again, “is there something on your mind?”

  His eyes darted about the room, reluctantly settling on Kate. “What makes you ask that?”

  “You just added sugar to your coffee. You’ve been drinking it sugarless for forty years.”

  He glared down at the mug, surprise written on his tanned face. “I did?”

  “I saw you myself.”

  “I did,” he repeated firmly, as if that was what he’d intended all along. “I, ah, seem to have developed a sweet tooth lately.”

  It was becoming apparent to Kate that her father’s experience at Clay’s and Rorie’s wedding reception must have rivaled her own. “Instead of beating around the bush all morning, why don’t you just tell me what’s on your mind?”

  Once more, her father lowered his eyes, then nodded and swallowed tightly. “Dorothea and I had…a long talk last night,” he began haltingly. “It all started innocently enough. Then again, I’m sure the wedding and all the good feelings floating around Clay and Rorie probably had a lot to do with it.” He paused to take a sip of his coffee, grimacing at its sweetness. “The best I can figure, we started talking seriously after Nellie Jackson came by and told Dorothea and me that we made a handsome couple. At least that’s what I remember.”

  “It’s true,” Kate said kindly. Personally she would have preferred her father to see someone who resembled her mother a bit more, but Mrs. Murphy was a pleasant, gentle woman and Kate was fond of her.

  Her father smiled fleetingly. “Then the champagne was passed around and Dorothea and I helped ourselves.” He paused, glancing at Kate as if that explained everything.

  “Yes,” Kate said, hiding a smile, “go on.”

  Slowly Devin straightened, and his eyes, forthright and unwavering, held hers. “You know I loved your mother. When Nora died, there was a time I wondered if I could go on living without her, but I have, and so have you.”

  “Of course you have, Dad.” Suddenly it dawned on Kate exactly where this conversation was leading. It shouldn’t have surprised her, and yet…Kate’s heart was beginning to hammer uncomfortably. Her father didn’t need to say another word; she knew what was coming as surely as if he’d already spoken the words aloud. He was going to marry Dorothea Murphy.

  “Your mother’s been gone nearly five years now and, well, a man gets lonely,” her father continued. “I ’ve been thinking about doing some traveling and, frankly, I don’t want to do it alone.”

  “You should’ve said something earlier, Dad,” Kate interjected. “I’d have loved traveling with you. Still would. That’s one of the nice things about being a teacher,” she rambled on. “My summers are free. And with Luke watching the ranch, you wouldn’t have any worries about what’s happening at home and—”

  “Princess.” His spoon made an irritating clicking sound against the sides of the ceramic mug, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I asked Dorothea to marry me last night and she’s graciously consented.”

  After only a moment’s hesitation, Kate found the strength to smile and murmur, “Why, Dad, that’s fantastic.”

  “I realize it’s going to be hard on you, Princess—so soon after Clay’s wedding and all. I want you to know I have no intention of abandoning you—you’ll always be my little girl.”

  “Of course you aren’t abandoning me.” Tears edged their way into the corners of Kate’s eyes and a cold numbness moved out from her heart and spread through her body. “I ’m happy for you. Really happy.” She meant it, too, but she couldn’t help feeling a sense of impending
loss. All the emotional certainties seemed to be disappearing from her life.

  Her father gently squeezed her hand. “There are going to be some other changes, as well, I’m afraid. I’m selling the ranch.”

  Kate gasped before she could stop herself. He’d just confirmed all her fears. She’d lost Clay to another woman; now she was about to lose her father, and her home, too. Then another thought crystallized in her mind, a thought that had been half formed the night before. If the ranch was sold, Luke would be gone, too.

  Clay. Her father. The Circle L. Luke. Everyone and everything she loved, gone in a matter of hours. It was almost more than she could absorb. Pressing her hand over her mouth, she blinked back the tears.

  “Now I don’t want you to concern yourself,” her father hurried to add. “You ’ll always have a home with me. Dorothea and I talked it over and we both want you to feel free to live with us in town as long as you like. You’ll always be my Princess, and Dorothea understands that.”

  “Dad,” Kate muttered, laughing and crying at the same time. “That ’s ridiculous. I’m twenty-four years old and perfectly capable of living on my own.”

  “Of course you are, but—”

  She stopped him by raising her hand. “There’s no need to discuss it further. You and Dorothea Murphy are going to be married, and…I couldn’t be happier for you. Don’t you worry about me. I’ll find a place of my own in town and make arrangements to move as soon as I can.”

  Her father sighed, clearly relieved by her easy acceptance of his plans. “Well, Princess,” he said with a grin, “I can’t tell you how pleased I am. Frankly, I was worried you’d be upset.”

  “Oh, Dad…”

  Still grinning broadly, Devin stroked the side of his jaw. “Dorothea isn’t a bit like your mother—I don’t know if you’re aware of that or not. Fact is, the only reason I asked her out that first time was so she’d invite me over for some of her peach cobbler. Then before I knew it, I was making excuses to get into town and it wasn’t because of her cobbler, either.”

  Kate made an appropriate reply, although a minute later she wasn’t sure what she’d said. Soon afterward, her father kissed her cheek and then left the house, telling her he’d be back later that afternoon.