Orchard Valley Brides (24 page)

“That proposal's about as romantic as the first one.”

“Well, you know what I think of romance.” He started the engine and ground the gears.

He'd just pulled away from the curb when she slammed her foot down on the pavement. “Yes, you idiot!” she screamed after him. “I'll marry you!”

“I
don't think he heard you, dear,” the lady watering the roses called out to her.

“I don't think he did, either,” the older man on the porch agreed, standing up and walking to his gate to get a better look at Sherry.

“I can't believe he drove away,” Mrs. Colson said. “That man's beside himself for want of you. Cody may be stubborn, but he isn't stupid. Mark my words, he'll come to his senses soon.”

Sherry wasn't sure she wanted him to. He was too infuriating. Imagine—suggesting she was seeing a married man behind his back!

“Do you want me to phone Cody for you, dear, and explain?” Mrs. Colson suggested as Sherry marched up the steps and in the front door.

Sherry turned and glared angrily at the receptionist.

“It was only a suggestion,” Mrs. Colson muttered.

“I can do my own talking.”

“Of course,” Mrs. Colson said pleasantly, clearly not
offended by the reprimand. “I'm positive everything will work out between you and Cody. Don't give a moment's heed to what he said earlier. Everyone knows how stubborn he can be.”

“I'm not the least bit positive about
anything
having to do with that man,” Sherry returned. Cody had been telling her for weeks that this was her last opportunity to marry him, that he wasn't going to ask her again.

A half hour later, when Sherry came out of her office reading a file Doc Lindsey had left for her to review, she heard Mrs. Colson speaking quietly into the phone.

“I swear you've never seen anyone so angry in all your life as Cody Bailman was this morning,” she said. “He just peeled out of here, and all because he's so crazy about—”

“Mrs. Colson,” Sherry said.

The receptionist placed her hand over the receiver, but didn't even glance upward. “I'll be with you in a minute.” She put the receiver to her ear again and continued, “And dear, dear Sherry. Why, she's so over-wrought she can hardly—”

Suddenly Mrs. Colson froze, swallowed once, and then looked at Sherry. “Is there anything I can do for you?” she managed, her face flushing crimson.

“Yes,” Sherry said. “You can stop gossiping about me.”

“Oh, I was afraid of that. You've got the wrong impression. I never gossip—ask anyone. I
have
been known to pass on information, but I don't consider that gossiping.” Abruptly she replaced the receiver.

Sherry scowled at the phone, wondering what the person on the other end was thinking.

“I was only trying to help,” Mrs. Colson insisted. “Donna Jo's known Cody all his life and—”

“You were speaking to Donna Jo?” Sherry wondered how anyone got any work done in this town.

“Why, yes. Donna Jo's friends with Cody's mother, same as I am. She has a vested interest in what happens between you two. So do Mayor Bowie and the sheriff, and we both know those two spend a lot of time over at the Yellow Rose.”

“What's my schedule like this morning?” Sherry asked wearily.

Mrs. Colson flipped through the pages of the appointment book. “Mrs. O'Leary's due at ten, but she's been coming to see Doc for the past three years for the same thing.”

“What's her problem?”

Mrs. Colson sighed heavily. “Mrs. O'Leary's over seventy and, well, she wants a nose job. She's convinced she lost Earl Burrows because her nose was too big, and that was more'n fifty years ago.”

“Didn't marry someone else?”

“Oh, yes. She married Larry O'Leary, but I don't think it was a happy union, although she bore him eight sons. Doc says it's the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard of, a woman getting her nose done at the age of seventy. When she comes in, he asks her to think about it for another six months. She's been coming back faithfully every six months for three years.”

“If she sees me, I'll give her a referral. If she's that set on a new nose, then she should have it.”

“I told Doris you'd feel that way—that's why I set the appointment up with you,” Mrs. Colson said. She looked pleased with herself. “If you want, I can save Doris the
trouble of coming in and give her the name of the referral.”

“All right. I'll make a few calls and get back to you in a couple of minutes. Am I scheduled to see anyone else?”

“Not until this afternoon.” The receptionist seemed almost gleeful at the news. “You're free to go for a long drive, if you like.” She looked both ways, then added, “No one would blame you for slipping out for a few hours….”

Sherry wasn't sure if she was slipping out or flipping out. She made a couple of calls, gave Mrs. Colson the names of three plastic surgeons to pass on to her first patient of the day, then reached for her purse.

She was halfway to the door when it burst open and Donna Jo rushed in. “I'm so glad I caught you!” she said excitedly. “You poor, poor girl, you must be near crazy with worry.”

“Worry?”

“About losing Cody. Now, you listen here, I've got some advice for you.” She paused, inhaled deeply and pressed her hand to her generous bosom. “Sherry Waterman, fight for your man. You love him—folks in town have known that for weeks—and we're willing to forgive you for leaving in that fancy jet with that handsome cowboy. By the way, who
was
that?”

“Rowdy Cassidy, and before you say another word, I didn't leave with him like you're implying.”

“We know that, dear.”

“Rowdy Cassidy?” Martha Colson whispered. “Not
the
Rowdy Cassidy?”

“That's who she said,” Donna Jo muttered irritably. “Now let her talk.”

“There's nothing more to say.” Sherry didn't want to
spend what free time she had talking about her excursion of the night before, although both women were eager for details. “I'm going to do as you suggest and take a long drive this morning.”

“Now you be sure to stop in at the café and let me know what happens once you're through talking to Cody,” Donna Jo instructed.

“Who said I was going to talk to Cody?”

“You
are
going to him, aren't you?” Donna Jo said. “You have to. That poor boy's all thumbs when it comes to love and romance. Personally, I thought you did a smart thing, asking for a little romance first, but everyone agrees that it's time for you to put Cody out of his misery.”

“He's suffered enough,” Mrs. Colson added.

“Who would've believed Cody Bailman would be like this with a woman. I will say it took a mighty special one,” Donna Jo concluded, winking at Sherry.

With half the town awaiting the outcome of her trip to Cody's ranch, Sherry hopped in her car and drove to the Lucky Horseshoe. Odds were he'd be out on the range somewhere, so she didn't know what good her visit would do. Nevertheless, she had to try.

She saw Cody almost immediately. He was working with a gelding in the corral when she arrived, leading him around the enclosed area. Several other men stood nearby, watching and talking among themselves.

Climbing out of her car, Sherry walked over to the fence and stood there for a few minutes, waiting for Cody to notice her. He seemed preoccupied with his task, putting the gelding through his paces. Sherry was sure he knew she was there, and she was willing to be ignored for only so long.

Five of the slowest minutes of her life passed before
she stepped onto the bottom rung of the fence and braced her arms on the top one.

“Cody!”

He turned to face her, his eyes blank.

This was much harder than Sherry had expected. On the drive out to his ranch, she'd envisioned Cody's eyes lighting up with pleasure at the sight of her. She'd imagined him hugging her, lifting her from the ground and swinging her around, his eyes filled with love and promises.

“Yes?” he said at last.

“When you drove away this morning, I…I didn't think you heard me,” she said weakly.

Cody led the gelding over to one of his hands, removed his hat long enough to wipe his forehead, then strolled toward her as if he had all the time in the world.

Sherry found it impossible to sense what he thought, what he felt. He revealed no emotion.

“I…guess you're not ready to talk yet,” Sherry said.

“You were the one who told me to go home.”

“I know, but I was hoping you'd have thought things out by now and realized I'd never fool around with my best friend's husband.” Or anyone else when she was so desperately in love with Cody. It seemed as if their evening with Christina Lynn and Philip had been forgotten.

“It was Rowdy Cassidy you left with, wasn't it?”

Sherry nodded.

“You certainly have friends in high places.”

“It's Norah I know, not Rowdy.”

“So you left on a moment's notice with a man who's virtually a stranger?”

Sherry closed her eyes and prayed for patience. “Would you stop being so stubborn! If you honestly
believe I'm the type of woman who'd run around with a married man, then you don't know me at all!”

“
I'm
stubborn!” he exploded. “Do you realize what I've gone through because of you? I've been the butt of everyone's jokes for weeks. My reputation with the other ranchers is in shambles—and I'm still scratching.” He removed his glove, rolled up a sleeve and scraped his fingernails across his forearm. “I've done everything I can to earn your love, and I'm done.”

“That's the problem. You want my love, but you aren't willing to give me yours. It wasn't really romance I was looking for, Cody, it was
love.
I wanted you to care about me, enough that you'd be willing to do whatever it took to win my heart.” She said the words seriously, earnestly. “You never understood that. From the very first, you've been looking for a shortcut, because you didn't want to be bothered. Well, guess what? No woman wants to be considered an annoyance.”

“So that's what you think.”

“What am I supposed to think with the things you've been saying?”

“That's just fine.”

He turned away as if this was the end of their conversation, as if everything that needed to be said had been said. Sherry knew a brush-off when she saw one. Anything else she might say would fall on deaf ears.

She walked over to her car, climbed in and started the engine. She'd shifted into gear and begun to drive away when she changed her mind. Easing the car into Reverse, she pulled alongside the corral fence and stuck her head out the open window, intending to shout at him—but no words came.

She drove out of the yard, tires screeching. It'd been a mistake to try to reason with Cody. Her better judgment insisted she wait several days and let him cool down before she attempted to reopen communications. She should've listened to her own heart instead of Mrs. Colson's and Donna Jo's eagerly offered advice.

Sherry wasn't sure what made her look in her rearview mirror, but when she did, her breath jammed in her throat. Cody was riding bareback, chasing after her on the gelding he'd been working with minutes earlier. The horse was in full gallop, and Sherry was astonished that he managed to stay on.

She came to a stop, and so did the gelding. Cody slid off his back and jerked open her car door.

“Are you going to marry me or not?” he demanded. He was panting hard.

Sherry eyed him calmly. “Do you love me?”

“After everything I've been through, how can you ask me a question like that!” he snapped. “Yes, I love you. What does it take to convince you I mean it? Blood?”

“No,” she whispered, biting her lower lip.

“I love you, Sherry Waterman,” he said. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

She nodded through her tears.

“Hot damn!” he shouted, then hauled Sherry into his arms so fast her breath fled her lungs. A second later, his mouth was on hers.

His kiss left her trembling. “Cody…” she said, breaking away from him. “You maniac! You chased after my car on a horse just the way Luke came after Ellie, and you always said that was such a stupid thing to do.”

He opened his mouth as though to deny it, but didn't
say a word. He blinked, then smiled sheepishly. “So I did. Guess this is what love does to a man.”

“Do you really love me?”

“Love you?” he cried. “Yes, Sherry, I love you.”

“But you—”

“Don't even say it.” He kissed her again, this kiss far less urgent, more…loving. After a few minutes he released her and said, “Let's go.”

“Where?” she asked.

“Where else? A preacher. I'm not giving you the opportunity to change your mind.”

She threw her arms around his neck again. “I'm not going to, not ever.” It was Sherry who initiated the kissing this time, and when they finished, Cody was leaning against the side of her car. His eyes were closed and his breathing was labored. Then he reached for her again and swung her off the ground.

“Put me down,” Sherry said. “I'm too heavy.”

“No, you're not,” Cody declared. “I'm calling the preacher right now and we'll get the license this afternoon.”

“Cody,” she said, “put me down!”

He finally did, then looked at her firmly. “I've waited ten long years for you, and I'm not putting this wedding off another day. If you want one of those big fancy shindigs, then…” He paused.

“A small ceremony is fine.” She grinned.

“With a reception big enough to fill the state of Texas, if that's what you want.”

“I want my family here.”

“I'll have airplane tickets for them by noon.”

“Cody, are we crazy?”

“Yes, for each other, and that's just how it's supposed
to be. Luke told me that, and I didn't understand it until I met you.” He grimaced comically. “Sherry Waterman, what took you so long?”