Orchard Valley Brides

Sherry nearly had to swallow her tongue to keep from reminding him that she’d done everything but throw herself in front of his truck to keep him from leaving.

  She’d almost passed the café when she remembered her promise to Donna Jo and pulled to a stop. The waitress was right; she should take something to eat, as well as several cold sodas. Already it was unmercifully hot. She grinned, remembering Donna Jo’s remark that the locals who escaped to Colorado for the summer weren’t real Texans. Apparently folks were supposed to stay in Texas and suffer.

  The café was nearly empty. Sherry took a seat at the counter and reached for the menu.

  “What’ll you have?” Donna Jo asked.

  “Let’s see… A turkey sandwich with tomato and lettuce, a bag of chips and three diet sodas, all to go.”

  Donna Jo went into the kitchen to tell the chef. When she came back out her eyes brightened. “Howdy, Cody.”

  “Howdy.” Cody slipped onto the stool next to Sherry’s and ordered coffee.

  “Hi,” he said, edging up his Stetson with his index finger as if to get a better look at her.

  “Hi.” It was silly to feel shy with him, but Sherry did. A little like she had in junior high when Wayne Pierce, the boy she’d had a crush on, sat next to her in the school lunchroom. Her mouth went dry and she felt incapable of making conversation.

  “I was wondering if I’d run into you this afternoon.”

  “Cody’s in town for the local cattlemen’s meeting,” Donna Jo explained as she placed a beige ceramic mug full of steaming coffee in front of Cody.

  “Doc’s back,” Sherry said, although she wasn’t certain he understood the significance of that. “He said the fishing was terrible, but then, it generally is about now.”

  He shrugged. “You’re having a rather late lunch, aren’t you?”

  Donna Jo set a brown paper bag on the counter along with the tab. “I was planning to eat on the road,” Sherry said, thanking Donna Jo with a smile. She slipped her purse strap over her shoulder and opened the zipper to take out her wallet.

  A frown appeared on Cody’s face. “You’re leaving?”

  “For Houston.”

  His frown deepened. “So soon?”

  “I’ll be back in a couple of weeks.” She slid off the stool and was surprised when Cody slapped a dollar bill and some coins on the counter and followed her to the register.

  “Actually I was hoping to talk to you,” he said, holding open the café door.

  “Oh?” She headed for her car.

  Cody continued to follow. “Yeah, it’s about what I said this morning.” His eyes refused to meet hers. “I was thinking about it on my way back to the ranch, and I realized I must’ve sounded pretty arrogant about the whole thing.”

  “I didn’t notice,” Sherry said. It was a lie, but only a small one. She found it charming that he wanted to correct the impression he’d made.

  “It’s just that Heather’s on this marriage kick….”

  “We both agreed it was a lapse in judgment,” she told him. “Let’s just forget it ever happened.”

  He jammed his fingers into his pockets as Sherry opened her car door. “I wish I could,” he said so low Sherry wasn’t sure she’d heard him accurately.

  “Pardon?” she said, looking up at him and making a feeble attempt at a smile.

  “Nothing,” he said gruffly. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You wish you could what?” she pressed.

  He glanced away, and his wide shoulders heaved with a labored sigh. “I wish I could forget!” he said forcefully. “There. Are you happy now?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I’m confused.”

  “So am I. I like you, Sherry. I don’t know why, but I do, and I don’t mind telling you it scares the living daylights out of me. The last time I was this attracted to a woman I was—” he rubbed the side of his jaw “—a heck of a lot younger than I am now. And you’re leaving.”

  “But I’ll be back.” The rush to get to Houston at the earliest possible moment left her. Nothing appealed to her more right now than exploring what was happening between her and Cody Bailman.

  “But you won’t be back for two weeks.” He made it sound like an eternity. His face tightened. “By the time you’re back it won’t be the same.”

  “We don’t know that.”

  “I do,” he said with certainty.

  Sherry was torn. “Are you asking me to stay?”

  His nostrils flared at the question. “No,” he said emphatically, and then more softly, “No.” He moved a step closer. “Aw, what the hell,” he muttered crossly. He reached for her, slipped his arm around her waist, pulled her toward him—and kissed her.

  At last he drew back and sighed. “There,” he said, his breath warm against her face. “Now go, before I make an even bigger fool of myself.”

  But Sherry wasn’t sure she was capable of moving, let alone driving several hundred miles. She blinked and tried to catch her breath.

  “Why’d you do that?” she demanded.

  “Darned if I know,” Cody admitted, sounding none too pleased with himself.

  Sherry understood his consternation when she glanced around her. It seemed the entire town of Pepper, Texas, had stopped in midmotion to stare at them. A couple of men loitering outside the hardware store were watching them. Several curious faces filled the window at the Yellow Rose, including Donna Jo’s. The waitress, in fact, looked downright excited and gave Sherry a thumbs-up.

  “We’ve done it now,” Cody said, scowling at her as if she were to blame. “Everyone’s going to be talking.”

  “I’d like to remind you I wasn’t the one who started this.”

  “Yeah, but you sure enjoyed it.”

  “Well, this is just fine, isn’t it,” she said, glad for an excuse to be on her way. “I’m outta here.” Tossing her lunch bag onto the passenger seat, she slipped inside the car.

  “Sherry, blast it, don’t leave yet!”

  “Why? What else have you got planned?”

  “Okay, okay, I shouldn’t have kissed you, I’ll be the first to agree.” He rubbed his hand along the back of his neck. “As I said before, I like you.”

  “You have a funny way of showing it.”

  He closed his eyes and nodded. “I’ve already made a mess of this, and I haven’t even known you for a whole day. Listen, in two weeks Pepper’s going to hold its annual picnic and dance. Will you be there?” He gave her the date and the time.

  She hesitated, then nodded.

  “If we still feel the same way, then we’ll know this has a chance,” he said. He spun on his heel and walked away.

  Four

  “What can I tell you about Texas?” Norah asked Sherry as they sat by the swimming pool in the yard behind her sprawling luxury home. Both three-year-old Jeff and baby Grace were napping, and Norah and Sherry were spending a leisurely afternoon soaking up the sun. “Texas is oil wells, cattle and cotton. It’s grassy plains and mountains.”

  “And desert,” Sherry added.

  “That, too. Texas is chicken-fried steak, black-eyed peas and hot biscuits and gravy. Actually, I’ve discovered,” Norah said with a grin, “that most Texans will eat just about anything. They’ve downed so many chili peppers over the years that they’ve burned out their taste buds.”

  “I’ve really come to love this state.” Sherry sipped from her glass of iced tea. “Everyone’s so friendly.”

  “It’s known as the Lone Star state, but a lot of folks call it the Friendship state, too.”

  That didn’t surprise Sherry.

  “The men are hilarious,” Norah continued, her eyes dancing with silent laughter. “Oh, they don’t mean to be, but I swear they’ve got some of the craziest ideas about…well, practically everything. To give you an example, they have this sort of unwritten code, which has to do with real Texans versus everyone else in the world. A real Texan would or wouldn’t do any number of things.”

  “Such as?”
/>
  “Well, a real Texan believes in law and order, except when the law insists on a fifty-five-mile-an-hour speed limit. They consider that unreasonable. And clothes… A real Texan wouldn’t dream of decorating his Stetson with feathers or anything else, with the possible exception of a snake band, but only if he’d killed the snake and tanned the skin himself. And the jeans! I swear they refuse to wash them—they wear ’em until they can stand up on their own.”

  Sherry laughed. She’d run into a few of those types herself on her journey across the vast state. But no one could compete with the characters she’d met in Pepper. Mayor Bowie, Donna Jo and Billy Bob. The way that man had manipulated her into staying in town!

  And Cody Bailman… He kept drifting into her mind, although she’d made numerous attempts to keep him out. She’d tried hard to forget their last meeting, when he’d kissed her in broad daylight in front of half the town. But nothing helped. Cody Bailman was in her head day and night. It didn’t seem possible that a man she’d known for such a short while—

  “Sherry.”

  Sherry looked up and realized Norah was waving a hand in front of her face. “You’re in another world.”

  “Sorry, I was just thinking about, uh, the folks back in Pepper.”

  “More than likely it’s that cattleman you were telling me about.”

  Sherry lowered her gaze again, not surprised Norah had read her so easily. “I can’t stop thinking about him. I thought that once I was with you, I’d be able to get some perspective on what happened between us. Not that anything really did—happen, I mean. Good heavens, I was only in town for about twenty-four hours.”

  “You like him, don’t you?”

  “That’s just it,” Sherry said, reaching for her drink and gripping it tightly. “I’m not sure how I feel about him. It’s all messed up. I don’t know Cody well enough to have an opinion, and yet…”

  “And yet, you find yourself thinking about him, wishing you could be with him and missing him. All of this seems impossible because until a few days ago he wasn’t even in your life.”

  “Yes,” Sherry returned, astonished at the way Norah could clarify her thoughts. “That’s exactly what I’m feeling.”

  “I thought so.” Norah relaxed against the cushion on the patio chair and sighed, lifting her face to the sun. “That’s how it was with me after Rowdy was released from the hospital and went home to Texas. My life felt so empty without him. He’d only been in the hospital a couple of weeks, but it seemed as if my whole world revolved around him.”

  “Rowdy, fortunately, felt the same way about you,” Sherry said, knowing Cody was as perplexed as she was by the attraction they shared.

  “Not at first,” Norah countered. “I amused him, and being stuck in traction with that broken leg, the poor guy was desperate for some comic relief. I happened to be handy. Being Valerie’s sister added to my appeal. You know, he actually came to Orchard Valley to break up her engagement to Colby! I don’t think it was until much later that he fell in love with me—later than he’s willing to admit now, at any rate.”

  “Don’t be so sure.” Sherry still remembered the chaos Rowdy Cassidy had brought into the tidy world of Orchard Valley General. His plane had crashed in a nearby field and he’d been taken, seriously injured, to Emergency. He’d been a terrible patient—demanding and cantankerous. Only one nurse could handle him…. Sherry had known he was in love with Norah long before he’d ever left the hospital, even if he wasn’t aware of it himself. Norah’s feelings had been equally clear to her. It seemed she could judge another’s emotions better than her own.

  “I’m sorry, in a way, that you took this position in Pepper,” Norah said. “I know it’s pure selfishness on my part, but I was hoping if you moved to Texas you’d settle closer to Houston.”

  “I don’t think I realized how large this state is. Central Texas didn’t look that far from Houston on the map. I found out differently when I had to drive it.”

  “I wish you’d taken the time to stop in San Antonio. Rowdy took me there for our first anniversary, and we fell in love all over again. Of course, it might’ve had something to do with the flagstone walks, the marvelous boutiques and the outdoor cafés.” Norah sighed longingly at the memory.

  “It sounds wonderful.”

  “It was,” Norah said wistfully. “We rode in a river taxi down the San Antonio River and…oh, I swear it was the most romantic weekend we’ve ever spent.”

  “I’ll make a point of visiting San Antonio soon,” Sherry said.

  “Don’t go alone,” Norah insisted. “It’s a place for lovers.”

  “Okay. I’ll make sure I’m crazy in love before I make any traveling plans.”

  “Good.” Norah gave a satisfied nod.

  Rowdy returned home from the office earlier than usual with wonderful news. He and Norah were hoping to adopt two small children who’d been orphaned the year before. Because of some legal difficulties, the adoption had been held up in the courts.

  “Looks like we’re going to be expanding our family shortly,” Rowdy said, kissing Norah before taking the chair next to her and reaching for her hand.

  Sherry found it almost painful to see these two people so deeply in love. It reminded her how alone she was, how isolated her life had become as more and more of her friends got married and started families. Sherry felt like someone on the outside looking in.

  “Grace’s new tooth broke through this afternoon,” Norah told Rowdy after she’d poured him a glass of iced tea.

  “This I’ve got to see,” he said, getting up and heading toward the house.

  “Rowdy,” Norah called after him. “Let her sleep. She was fussy most of the afternoon.”

  “I thought I’d take her and Jeff swimming.”

  “Yes, but wait until they wake up from their naps.” Norah smiled at Sherry. “Sometimes I think Rowdy’s nothing more than a big kid himself. He’s looking for someone to play with.”

  “He’s wonderful. I could almost be jealous.”

  “There’s no need,” Norah said, squeezing Sherry’s arm. “Your turn’s coming, and I think it’s going to be sooner than you expect.”

  “I hope so,” Sherry said, but she didn’t have any faith in her friend’s prediction.

  “Sherry,” Rowdy said, turning back from the house. “I did a bit of checking on that cattleman you mentioned the other night.” He removed a slip of paper from his inside pocket. “Cody James Bailman,” he read, “born thirty-five years ago, married at twenty-one, widowed, one daughter named Heather. Owns a ten-thousand-acre spread outside Pepper. He was elected president of the local Cattlemen’s Association three years running.”

  “That’s it?” Norah asked.

  “He raises quarter horses, as well as cattle.”

  That didn’t tell Sherry much more than she already knew.

  “He seems like a decent guy. I spoke to a man who’s known Bailman for several years and he thinks highly of him. If you want my advice, I say marry the fellow and see what happens.”

  “Rowdy!” Norah chastised.

  “That’s what we did, and everything worked out, didn’t it?”

  “Circumstances are just a tad different, dear,” Norah said, glancing apologetically toward Sherry.

  “Marriage would do them both good,” Rowdy continued. He turned to Sherry and nodded as if the decision had already been made. “Marry the man.”

  “Marry the man.” As Sherry drove toward Pepper several days later, Rowdy’s words clung to her mind. Cody’s parting words returned to haunt her, as well. If we still feel the same way, then we’ll know this has a chance. But what could have changed in their two weeks apart? What could they possibly have learned?

  Because of a flat tire fifty miles on the other side of nowhere, followed by a long delay at a service station, Sherry was much later than she’d hoped. In fact, she was going to miss part of the scheduled festivities, including the parade. But with any luck she’d be in town befo
re the dance started.

  She’d tried phoning Cody’s ranch several times on her cell, but there hadn’t been any answer. No doubt everyone was enjoying the community celebration. With nothing left to do, she drove on, not stopping for lunch, until she arrived in Pepper.

  The town had put on its best dress for this community event. A banner reading “Pepper Days” was stretched across Main Street. The lampposts were decorated with a profusion of bluebonnets, and red, white and blue crepe paper was strung from post to post.

  Several brightly painted cardboard signs directed her to the city park and the barbecue. As soon as she turned off Main and onto Spruce, Sherry smelled the enticing aroma of mesquite and roasting beef. Various signs sent participants and onlookers to the far end of the park, where a chili cook-off was in progress. Sherry was fortunate to find a parking space on a side street. Country music blared from loudspeakers, and colorful Chinese lanterns dotted the cottonwood trees.

  People were milling around the park, and Sherry didn’t recognize anyone. She would’ve liked to freshen up before meeting Cody, but she was already late and didn’t want to take the time. Besides, her calf-length denim skirt, cowboy boots and Western shirt with a white fringe were perfect for the festivities. The skirt and shirt had been a welcome-to-Texas gift from Norah.

  “Sherry!”

  She whirled around to see Cody’s daughter waving and racing toward her. Not quite prepared for the impact as Heather flung herself at her, Sherry nearly toppled backward.

  “I knew you’d come! I never doubted, not even for a second. Have you seen my dad yet?”

  “No, I just got here.”

  “He didn’t think you were going to come. Men are like that, you know. It’s all a way to keep from being disappointed, don’t you think?”

  But Cody’s attitude disappointed Sherry. “I said I’d be here.”

  “I know, but Dad didn’t have a lot of faith that you’d show up. I did, though. Do you like my hair?” Heather looked extremely pretty with her thick dark hair loose and curling down her back. She whipped back the curls and tossed her head as if she were doing a shampoo commercial. She gazed up at Sherry, her eyes wide and guileless; she’d probably practiced the look in front of the bathroom mirror—something Sherry had done herself as a teenager. “Come on, let’s go find my father,” Heather said urgently.