“That’s what I thought, too. But there are definite similarities.”
Wade was afraid to question too much.
“Between you and that man named Joseph.” Frank leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table.
“Joseph?” The bacon had yet to touch his lips.
“You remember him, I’m sure. The one who was engaged to a virgin named Mary. It must have been embarrassing for him, too, don’t you think? Here’s the woman he’s agreed to marry, and she unexpectedly turns up pregnant. Now he loves Mary, but he knows that kid in her belly doesn’t belong to him. He also knows that if he continues with the engagement, everyone will believe the worst of him and his bride-to-be.”
Wade set the bacon back on his plate.
“Not that I’m suggesting Amy’s any virgin, mind you,” Frank said.
Wade’s appetite had been keen five minutes earlier; now, what little breakfast he’d managed to swallow sat like a lump of day-old oatmeal in the pit of his stomach. He glared across the table at the sheriff.
“Something wrong, Pastor?” Frank asked. His face broke into a grin. A wide one.
“That was below the belt, Frank.”
“How’s that?”
“Quoting scripture to a pastor.”
“I didn’t quote scripture.”
Wade pushed his plate aside, appetite gone. “You didn’t need to.”
“You taking Amy to the dance?”
And Wade had thought that Dovie was less than tactful. He was beginning to understand that husband and wife made one hell of a team. “All right, all right,” he said ungraciously, “but I want you to know right now that this is the end of it, understand?”
“Fine. If that’s the way you want it.”
“I do.”
Frank’s eyes flew to his. “I do? Isn’t that what a groom says when he speaks his vows?” Chuckling, Frank slid from the booth and swaggered out of the café.
Wade was still glaring.
AMY WOULD HAVE BEEN KIDDING herself if she said she wasn’t excited about her date with Wade McMillen.
Date might be too strong a word. Two days earlier Wade had phoned and invited her. Amy strongly suspected it was a pity invitation, but at this point pride was no longer as important as it had been. Rather than question what had prompted the invitation, she’d simply accepted.
The instant she got off the phone, Amy had phoned Caroline Weston. While she barely knew her, she felt Caroline was someone she could speak to openly.
Within an hour Amy had received two phone calls. The first one was from Dovie, who promised to bring her the perfect dress. Almost immediately, another call came from Savannah Smith, who was delighted to hear that Wade had asked Amy to the dance. More than delighted. She said it was about time Reverend McMillen realized he was a man, as well as a minister.
The afternoon of the dance, the three women descended on Amy like a swarm of bees.
“Dovie says she’s your self-appointed fairy godmother,” Caroline remarked as she walked into the house.
“Just consider us Dovie’s assistants.” Savannah Smith followed her into the living room, carrying a sleeping baby in an infant seat.
Dovie was the last one to enter the house. She carried a lovely antique white gown in her arms. “Ellie and Jane are coming, too, but they might be a few minutes late.”
Amy wasn’t sure what to make of all this.
“The way I figure it,” Caroline said, studying her watch, “we have approximately two hours.”
“Two hours for what?”
Caroline looked at her as though the answer was obvious. “To help our dear pastor realize something he’s chosen to ignore for too long.”
“Oh…” Amy recalled Savannah’s words about Wade. But she didn’t understand what, exactly, it had to do with her.
Before Caroline could explain further, the doorbell chimed again.
“Are we too early or too late?” Ellie Patterson asked. Dr. Patterson—Jane—was with her.
“Your timing’s perfect,” Caroline assured them both.
“What’s going on?” Amy asked, still wondering what Caroline and Savannah had meant about Wade. While she appreciated all the attention, it certainly didn’t take five women to deliver a dress. Then, suddenly, Amy understood—these women were here to give her a makeover. Apparently she looked worse than she’d realized.
Sagging onto the sofa, she brushed her shoulder-length hair back from her face, using both hands. “I’m hopeless, aren’t I?” she said, staring up at the women who crowded her living room.
“Hopeless?” Dovie repeated.
The five women burst out laughing.
“Oh, Amy,” Dovie said gently, “it’s just the opposite.” She sat down next to her and reached for Amy’s hand, holding it between both of her own. “We’re not here to make you beautiful. You already are.”
“Then why…?”
Caroline and Savannah exchanged glances as if to decide who would say it.
“We’re here to bring Wade McMillen to his knees,” Caroline said.
“But he’s been wonderful to me!”
“He’ll be more than wonderful once we get finished with you,” Ellie insisted.
The other women appeared to be in full agreement.
“What do you think of this hairstyle?” Savannah flipped open a magazine for Amy to inspect. The picture revealed an advertisement for cosmetics with a pencil-thin model wearing a black evening gown. There was a slit in the dress that stretched all the way up her thigh and her hair was a mussed flock of red curls. She clutched a strand of diamonds to her nonexistent breasts and threw back her head in laughter.
Not in two lifetimes would Amy resemble this model.
“Do you like the hair?” Savannah pressed.
“The flat stomach appeals to me a whole lot more.”
“In time,” Savannah promised.
If Laura’s mother was an example, then Amy had hope. The infant, asleep in the portable carrier, wasn’t more than three or four months old, and Savannah was as trim as a teenager. Amy had begun to wonder if she’d ever get her shape back.
Every day she discovered that more clothes no longer fit. She wore her jeans with the zipper open and a large sweatshirt pulled over them. Even the elastic bands around her two skirts had been stretched beyond recognition.
“I brought a few maternity clothes I thought you might need,” Savannah whispered. “I figured we’re about the same size. Unfortunately Caroline’s too tall to wear anything of mine. Use them if you want and pass them on when you’re through.”
Then the transformation began. While Savannah brushed her hair, Ellie did Amy’s nails and Caroline applied her makeup. When she’d finished, she started on her own.
Amy felt her eyes smart with tears and quickly blinked them away. “Why would you all do something so kind for a stranger?” she asked.
“A stranger?” Ellie squeezed Amy’s hand. “You aren’t a stranger.”
“But I could rob everyone blind,” she said, tossing out her arms. “I could run away in that dress.”
“But you won’t,” Dovie said confidently.
“What makes you so sure?”
Dovie paused and gave a casual shrug. “After all these years, I think I’ve become a good judge of people. You, Amy, are one of the special ones.”
“Don’t you even think about crying,” Caroline said, waving a mascara wand in her right hand. “You’ll ruin your eye makeup.”
Amy blinked furiously and the six of them broke into peals of laughter.
“Actually,” Jane said, flopping down on the sofa, “let’s be honest here and admit the truth. We like you, Amy. You haven’t lived here a month, and already you’re one of us.”
Amy smiled because that was the way she felt, too.
“Now let’s be even more honest,” Jane said. “We’re here on account of Wade.”
The others were quick to agree.
“Wade?” Amy repeated.
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“Wade,” they said in unison.
“I’m afraid,” Dovie said kindly, “that our dear pastor needs to be brought down a peg or two, and we’ve decided you’re the one to do it.”
“What has he done?”
“He’s gotten…” Jane searched for the right word.
“Smug,” Ellie supplied. “Set in his ways and too damned sure he’s got everything in his life all figured out. He needs a bit of shaking up.”
The others nodded. “He’s a little too arrogant,” Savannah said.
“About the church?” That didn’t sound anything like the Wade Amy had come to know.
“No, not with the church,” Savannah replied, looking thoughtful.
“We’re talking about…”
None of her friends seemed to want to say the word. They glanced at one another.
“Romance?” Amy finally suggested.
“Exactly,” Dovie said, rubbing her palms together. “He’s gotten rather…stodgy when it comes to matters of the heart. He’s a little too sure he doesn’t need love and marriage—that they don’t fit with being a pastor.”
“And we felt it was time someone opened his eyes.”
“You think I’m the one to do that?” Amy found the suggestion highly amusing.
“You’re not taking us seriously, are you?” Caroline asked.
“How can I?” Amy giggled. “Have any of you happened to notice I’m pregnant?”
“All the better,” Ellie muttered. “Wade McMillen is about to get a crash course.”
“You ready, girls?” Savannah asked and pulled a hair dryer from deep inside the diaper bag.
“Ready,” came a chorus of replies.
For the next while Savannah worked endlessly getting Amy’s thick hair to curl like the redheaded model’s in the magazine. Amy wasn’t allowed to look in a mirror. While Savannah worked on her, Caroline painted her own nails and Ellie stood in front of the living-room mirror and tested a new brand of eyeliner.
“I don’t think Frank ever dreamed his house would turn into a women’s dressing room,” Dovie teased.
They laughed again. When Laura awoke and wailed for her mother, Amy was sure the infant hadn’t been asleep more than a few minutes. She was astonished to realize it had been two hours.
“My goodness, where did the afternoon go?”
“Are you ready to take a look in the mirror?” Jane asked.
Amy considered the question and nodded. The others instructed her to close her eyes, then the six of them trooped into the bedroom. Jane guided Amy to a spot in front of the full-length mirror.
“Okay, open your eyes.”
The first thing Amy saw was the five women gathered around her, all smiling gleefully. Her own reflection stunned her. The transformation was complete. She’d never looked more glamorous, more lovely. Amy felt like Cinderella.
“What do you think?” Caroline asked.
“I…don’t know what to say.”
“You’re gonna knock him for a loop,” Jane said confidently.
“And the best part is,” Ellie said, standing next to her sister-in-law, “we’re all going to be there to see it happen.”
WADE MCMILLEN MUTTERED UNDER his breath as he slipped the string tie with the turquoise clasp over his head. He adjusted it and headed for the front door.
He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten roped into this date. This would be the first time he’d taken anyone to the big dance. He wasn’t sure it was a precedent he wanted to set. Not only that, he’d been finagled into the date and it didn’t sit well with him.
Amy was a sweet kid. But that’s exactly what she is, he reminded himself. A kid. Twenty-five was far too young for a man of thirty-three. If he was going to become romantically involved, then it would be with…Unfortunately no one came to mind.
He blamed Frank for this whole thing, right along with Dovie. The two people he’d helped out when they’d reached an impasse several months back. And this was the thanks he got.
Wade closed his eyes and groaned. Amy was young and pretty. Young enough and pretty enough to set Louise Powell’s tongue wagging, that was for sure. Well, let the troublemaker talk all she wanted. She would, anyway, and anything he said in his own defense was sure to be misconstrued.
So he’d take Amy to the Grange Hall tonight, and he’d dance with her, too, if that was what she wanted. But he fully intended to introduce her around. Charlie Engler might be interested. Steve Ellis, too. Both owned smaller spreads seventy or eighty miles outside Promise. They usually drove into town on Friday afternoons and split their time between the feed store and drinking beer at Billy D’s. Lyle Whitehouse was often with them, but Wade wanted to steer Amy away from him. Lyle had a temper and tended to enjoy his liquor a little too much.
What Charlie and Steve needed, Wade figured, was a stabilizing influence. A wife and ready-made family would go a long way toward setting either man on the right path.
That decided, Wade reached for his Stetson, then locked the front door. He whistled as he drove toward Frank’s old house. He hadn’t thought to get Amy a corsage and stopped at the local Winn-Dixie on his way. Nothing fancy. He couldn’t see investing a lot of money in a bunch of dyed blue carnations that were sure to get squashed when she danced. Besides he wouldn’t be the one to smell their fragrance. Charlie would. Maybe Steve.
He parked his Blazer at the curb and hopped out. His smile was already in place when he rang the doorbell. Knowing Dovie had helped Amy find a decent dress, he wanted to be sure he complimented her on how pretty she looked.
He pressed the doorbell with one hand and held the flower in the other.
An inordinate amount of time passed—at least two minutes—and Wade pressed the bell again. The door opened just then and a fashion model stood before him. His mouth must have dropped open; all he could do was stare. This had to be a joke and if so he wasn’t amused.
“I’m here for Amy,” he said, wondering who was behind this scheme.
“Wade, it’s me,” she said and laughed softly.
CHAPTER 4
NELL BISHOP FELT LIKE an entertainment director aboard a cruise ship. Her dude ranch was in full operation now, and the second group of cowboy wannabes had thought it would be great fun to end their adventure by attending the dance put on by the local Cattlemen’s Association.
There were four men and two women, all gussied up in their finest Western gear. She’d driven them to the festivities in the used minivan she’d bought at the first of the month. So far, her plan to turn Twin Canyons into a dude ranch, complete with a trail drive and sleeping under the stars, had been an unqualified success.
Of course Nell had gotten plenty of help along the way. Her mother-in-law, Ruth, and her children, Jeremy and Emma, had been indispensable; so were the two hands she’d hired.
The crazy part was that after spending a year and a half planning and developing her idea, she was ready to abandon everything—for love. Travis Grant was to blame for this sudden change of heart.
Nell remained on the edge of the dance floor, watching old Pete Hadley, who stood on the stage, a fiddle tucked under his chin, accompanying a country-and-western band. Couples formed uniform rows and performed the latest in line dances.
Men and women alike slid across the polished wood floor, looking like a scene out of a 1930s Hollywood musical, and all Nell could think about was how much she missed Travis. The engagement ring on her finger was testimony of his love. Although they spoke daily by phone, it wasn’t enough. They were eager to marry, eager to start their lives together.
Unfortunately planning a time for their wedding wasn’t a simple matter. Nell had obligations, and so did he. Because of the dude ranch, she was forced to stay in Texas. A summer in New York would have been a fabulous cultural experience for Jeremy and Emma, but it wasn’t possible. Not this year.
Nor could Travis just pack his bags and move to Texas. Not yet. Like her, he had commitments. Speaking engagements, an author tour,
followed by a research trip that had been booked for more than a year. Being apart like this wasn’t what he wanted, either, but it couldn’t be helped.
Three months, he’d told her, and then they’d be together for the rest of their lives. It hadn’t sounded so bad when he first outlined his schedule. The weeks would fly by, he’d said, and they had. It was almost July now, and soon August would arrive and before she knew it, September. On the first Saturday of September Travis and Nell would become husband and wife.
“Nell.” Caroline Weston stopped in front of the punch bowl beside Nell. “My goodness, I can’t remember the last time I saw you. You look fantastic. How are you?”
“Wonderful,” Nell told her friend, which was the truth. But if anyone looked fantastic, it was Caroline. Her pregnancy was obvious now and she literally glowed with an inner contentment. “You must be so happy.” Nell was pleased that Caroline had found her cowboy at last. Grady Weston might be stubborn and quick-tempered, but he was a man who would love and honor his wife.
Caroline’s face flushed with pleasure as she rested her hands on her stomach. “I’ve never felt better.”
Grady joined his wife. He stood behind Caroline and caressed her shoulders. “Good to see you, Nell. How’s the dude ranch going?”
“It’s keeping me busy,” she said. Her gaze wandered to the dance floor, and she was gratified to see that her guests were enjoying themselves. Two couples and two male business executives made up her current group. They were a good mix; everyone had gotten along well. Nell didn’t expect that to be the case with every two-week session and considered herself fortunate.
“My feet need a rest,” Caroline announced, and Grady led his wife to a row of chairs that lined one wall. A number of spectators sat there, visiting with one another.
Nell watched as Grady and Caroline joined them. Once she was comfortable, Grady brought his wife something cool to drink. Nell smiled absently and tapped her foot to the music. A year earlier, Grady had unexpectedly phoned and invited her to this very dance. She’d gotten two invitations, in fact—one from Glen Patterson, as well—and now, a brief twelve months later, both Grady and Glen were married.