Orchard Valley Grooms (11 page)

“Then why even try?”

“Because if you leave now I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life. Sure as anything, I’m going to think back to this moment for the next fifty years and wish I’d never let you go. The problem is, I’m not sure what to do now—you’ve got me so tied up in knots I can’t think straight.”

“No wonder you don’t look happy.”

“You’re right, I’m not happy. I’m furious.”

Valerie grinned. “Love
is
rather frightening, isn’t it?”

Colby grinned, too, for the first time. “But you know something? It’s living without you, without your love, that frightens me.”

“Oh, Colby…”

“Let’s say we did get married,” he said, the gravel under his feet crunching as he paced.

“All right, let’s say we did.”

“Are you going to want a job outside the home?”

“Yes, Colby, I will.”

“What about children?”

“Oh, yes, at least two.” She found it odd to be discussing something so personal while standing at the side of a road.

“How do you propose to be both a mother and an executive?”

“How do you intend to be both a father and a surgeon? Not to mention a husband? You have a career, too, Colby.”

“You can’t have it all, Valerie.”

“Neither can you! Besides, it doesn’t have to be either or. Half the women in America maintain a career
and
a family, but there have to be compromises. You’re right, I won’t be able to do everything. I couldn’t even begin to try.”

“I don’t like the idea of farming our children out to strangers.”

“Frankly, I don’t, either, but there are ways of working around that. Ways of making the situation accept
able to both of us. For one thing, I could set up an office at home. It’s pretty common these days with e-mail and teleconferencing and everything. Rowdy might be willing to start a branch of the company on the West Coast, and I think he might be persuaded to pick Oregon—especially if a hard-working executive chose to live there.”

Colby nodded and thrust his hands into his pockets.

“I know I’m not what you want in a wife, Colby. You’d rather I was the kind of woman who’d be content to stay home and do needlepoint and put up preserves. But that isn’t who I am, and I can’t change. I’d give anything to be the woman you want, but if I’m not true to myself, the marriage would be doomed before we even said our vows.”

“I don’t think we should be concerning ourselves with some unrealistic image I’ve invented. What about the man
you
want?”

She smiled and looked away. “You’re the only man I’ve ever wanted.”

He reached for her then, wrapping his arms tightly around her, dropping a gentle kiss on the side of her neck. A deep shudder went through him as he exhaled.

“I’m never going to be able to stop loving you.”

“Is that so terrible?” she asked in a whisper, her throat raw.

“No, it’s the most wonderful blessing of my life.” His eyes were warm and loving as he brought up his hands to clasp her shoulders. “I’ve been arrogant. Selfish. I
nearly destroyed both our lives because I refused to accept the gift you offered me.”

“Oh, Colby.”

“There won’t be any guarantees.”

“If I wanted guarantees, I’d buy myself a new car. Everything in life is a risk, but I’ve never been more willing to take one than with you.” She smiled. “I’m very sure of what I feel for you, even though it all developed so quickly.”

“Like it sprang to life fully formed,” he added.

“The most exciting thing is that we have a lifetime to get to know everything about each other.”

“I’d say we’re in for an adventure.”

“Yes, but it’ll be the grandest adventure of all.” Valerie’s arms went around his neck as he lowered his mouth to hers. One kiss wiped out the pain and the torment of these past few days. Colby must have felt it, too, because he kissed her again and again, their need insatiable, their joy boundless.

A car driving past honked noisily, disturbing them.

Valerie reluctantly broke off their kiss. “You might have chosen someplace a bit more private, Dr. Winston.”

“Shall we try this again later, with champagne and a diamond ring?”

Valerie nodded because speaking when her heart was so full would have been impossible.

Her father was sitting on the porch when Valerie and Colby pulled up in front of the house late that afternoon.

“Did you tell Dad you were coming after me?”

“I didn’t know it myself until I left here. Before I realized what I was doing, I was on the freeway, racing after you like a bat out of hell. I didn’t have a clue what I was going to say when I found you.”

Valerie tucked her hand in his and pressed her cheek to his shoulder. “You looked like you wanted to bite my head off.”

“I looked like a man who was calling himself every kind of fool in existence.”

“For coming after me?”

“No,” he said quietly. “For letting you go.”

Valerie rewarded him with an appreciative kiss on the corner of his mouth.

Colby groaned softly. “I’m not going to want a long engagement. The sooner we can arrange this wedding, the better.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

Colby kissed her lightly on the lips. “I have the sneaking suspicion your father hasn’t moved since you took off for the airport.”

They’d been gone for hours, returning the rental car to Portland, and then stopping for an elegant lunch in an equally elegant restaurant. Before leaving the city, they’d visited a well-known jewelry store where Valerie chose a beautiful solitaire diamond engagement ring. That very ring was on her finger now. It felt as if it had always been there.

“About time you two got back,” her father said as
Colby helped her out of his car. “I was beginning to worry.”

“How’d you know we were coming?” Colby asked.

“I knew before you left here that you’d be back with Valerie before the end of the day.”

“Dad, you couldn’t possibly have known.” She waited for a protest, but none came. Her father sat back in his rocker and grinned happily.

“Oh, I know more than that about what’s going to happen to you two.”

“He’s going to talk about that dream again,” Valerie murmured, slipping her arm around Colby’s waist and smiling up at him. He brought her close to his side.

“Love’s shocked you both,” David said, wagging a finger at them. “But there are a few more shocks in store for you. Just wait and see what happens when my twin grandsons are born.”

“Twins?” Colby echoed incredulously.

“You’re going to name them after their two grandfathers. The blond one will be David, and he’ll be the spitting image of me.”

“Twins,” Colby said again.

“I don’t know,” Valerie said with a laugh. “I could get used to a few surprises now and then, especially if it means I can be with you.”

Colby gazed down at her and Valerie realized her father was right. Love had caught them unawares, but it was the best surprise of their lives.

For Heidi Pollard
A woman of letters

H
ome.

Stephanie Bloomfield lugged her heavy suitcase up the porch steps of the large white-pillared house. She moved quietly, careful not to wake her two sisters, although it occurred to her that they might be at the hospital.

She herself had spent the best part—no, the
worst
part—of the past two days either on a plane or standing at the counter in a foreign airport. Or was that three days? She couldn’t tell anymore.

Norah, her younger sister, had managed to call her in Italy nearly a week ago about their father’s heart attack. The connection had been bad and she’d had difficulty hearing, but Norah’s sense of urgency had come clearly over the wire. Their father was gravely ill, and Steffie needed to hurry home—something that turned out to be much easier said than done.

Steffie had been living just outside Rome, attending
classes at the university. She’d been participating in a special program, learning Italian and studying Renaissance history, culture and art. For three years she’d traveled effortlessly from one end of the country to the other. Now, when she desperately needed to fly home, the airports were closed by a transportation strike that paralyzed Italy. It didn’t help that she’d been staying in a small, relatively isolated village hundreds of miles from Rome. She’d gone on a brief holiday, visiting a friend’s family.

It had taken her several days and what felt like three lifetimes to arrange passage home.
Days,
when it should’ve been a matter of hours. This past week had been the most stressful of her life. She’d been in touch with her sisters as often as possible, and at last report Norah had said that their father was resting comfortably. Still, she’d heard the dread in Norah’s voice. Her youngest sister had never been much good at hiding the truth. Although she’d tried to sound reassuring, Steffie was well aware that her father’s condition had worsened. That was when she’d undertaken the most daring move of her life. She’d made contact with some men of questionable scruples, sold every possession of value and, at a hugely inflated price, obtained a means out of the country, by way of Japan, with layovers in places she’d never expected to visit. It was decidedly an indirect route to Oregon, but she was home now. Heaven only knew how much longer it would have taken if she hadn’t resorted to such drastic measures.

After a whole day of waiting at the Tokyo airport,
fighting for space aboard any available flight to the States, and then the long flight itself, Steffie was frantic for news of her father. Frantic and fearful. In some ways, not knowing was almost better than knowing….

She opened the front door and stepped silently inside the sleeping house. She’d adjusted her watch to Pacific time, but her mind was caught somewhere between Italy and Tokyo. She was too exhausted to be tired. Too worried to be hungry, although she couldn’t remember the last meal she’d eaten.

Setting down her impossibly heavy suitcase, she stood in the foyer and breathed in the scent of polished wood and welcome.

She was home.

Her father’s den was to her right, and she immediately felt drawn there. Pausing in the doorway, she flipped on the light switch and stood gazing at the room that was so much her father’s. A massive stone fireplace commanded one entire wall, while two other walls were lined with floor-to-ceiling bookcases.

She looked at his wingback chair, the soft leather creased from years of use. Closing her eyes, Steffie breathed in deeply, savoring the scent of old leather and books and the sweet pungency of pipe tobacco. This was her father’s room, and she’d never missed him more than she did at that moment.

His presence seemed to fill the den. His robust laugh echoed silently against the walls. Steffie could visualize him sitting behind the cherrywood desk, the accounting
ledgers spread open and his pipe propped in the ugly ceramic ashtray—the one she’d made for him the summer she turned eleven.

The photograph of her mother caught her eye. David Bloomfield could leave his daughters no finer legacy than the love he’d shared with their mother. He’d changed after Grace’s death. Steffie had noticed it even before she left Orchard Valley. She’d guessed it from his letters in the years since. And she’d been especially aware of the changes when he came to visit her in Italy last spring. The spark was gone. The relentless passion for life that had always been so much a part of him was missing now. Each month his letters were more painful to read, more lifeless and subdued. Without his wife at his side, David Bloomfield was as empty as…as that chair there, his old reading chair, standing in front of the fireplace.

Steffie’s gaze slipped to the newspaper spread across the ottoman. It felt as though, any minute, her father would walk through the door, settle back into his chair and resume reading.

Only he wouldn’t.

He might never sit in this room again, Steffie realized, her heart constricting with pain. He might never reach for one of his favorite books and lovingly leaf through its pages until he found the passage he wanted. He might never sit by the fireplace, pipe in hand. He might never look up when she entered the room and smile when he saw it was Steffie—his “princess.”

The pain in her chest grew more intense and the need
to release her emotions burned inside her, but Steffie ignored it, as she had a thousand times before. She wasn’t a weeper. She’d guarded her emotions vigilantly for three long years. Ever since that night with Charles Tomaselli when he’d—

She brushed the memory aside with the efficiency of long practice. Charles was a painful figure from her past. One best forgotten, or at least ignored. She hadn’t thought of him in months and refused to do so now. Sooner or later she’d be forced to exchange pleasantries with him, but when she did, she’d pretend she had trouble remembering who he was, as though he were merely a casual acquaintance and not the man who’d broken her heart. That seemed the best way to handle the situation—to pretend she’d completely forgotten their last humiliating encounter.

If he did insist on renewing their acquaintance, which was unlikely, she’d show him how mature she was, how sophisticated and cosmopolitan she’d become. Then he’d regret the careless, cruel way he’d treated her.

There was a sound in the hallway, and Steffie moved out of the den just as Norah reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Steffie? My goodness, you’re home!” Norah exclaimed, rushing to embrace her.

And then, with a small cry of welcome, Valerie, the oldest of the three, bounded down the stairs, her long cotton gown dancing about her feet.

“Steff, I’m so glad you’re home,” Valerie cried,
wrapping her arms around both sisters. “When did you get in? Why didn’t you let us know so we could meet you at the airport?”

“I flew standby most of the way, so I wasn’t sure when I’d land. I caught the Air Porter and then a cab.” She took a deep breath. “I’m just glad I’m here.”

“I am, too,” Valerie said with an uncharacteristic display of emotion, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Normally Valerie was a model of restraint. Seeing her this shaken revealed, more plainly than anything she could’ve said, how desperately ill their father was.

By tacit agreement, they moved into the kitchen. Valerie set about preparing a pot of tea. According to the digital clock on the microwave, it was a little past three. Steffie hadn’t realized it was quite that late. She could hardly recall the last time she’d slept in a bed. Four days ago, perhaps.

“How’s Dad?” It was the question she’d been yearning to ask from the moment she’d walked in the door. The question she was afraid to ask.

“He’s doing just great,” Norah said, her soft voice rising with delight. “We came really close to losing him, Steffie. Valerie and I were in a panic because things looked bad and Dr. Winston couldn’t delay the surgery. And Dad pulled through! But…”

“But he…” Valerie began when Norah hesitated.

“He what?” Steffie prompted. Although she was thrilled with the news that her father had survived the crisis, she couldn’t help wondering why both her sisters
seemed reluctant to continue. “Tell me,” she insisted. She didn’t want to be protected from the truth.

“Apparently Dad had a near-death experience,” Norah finally said.

“Isn’t that fairly common? Especially during that kind of surgery? I’ve been reading for years about people who believe they traveled through a dark tunnel into the light.”

“I wouldn’t know how common it is to talk to someone in the spirit world, would you?” Valerie snapped.

“Dad claims he talked to Mom.” Once again it was Norah who supplied the information.

“To Mom?” Steffie felt numb, unsure of how to react.

“Which we all know is impossible.” Valerie hurried barefoot across the kitchen floor to pour boiling water into the teapot. She placed three mugs, three spoons and the sugar bowl on a tray; when the tea had steeped, she filled the cups, obviously preoccupied with her task. Carrying the tray to the table, she served her sisters, then leaped up to get a plate of Norah’s home-baked cookies. “I think Dad needs to talk to a counselor,” she said abruptly.

“Valerie.” Norah sighed as though this was a well-worn argument. “You’re overreacting.”

“You would, too, if Dad was saying to you the things he says to me.” Valerie stirred her tea without looking up.

Norah sighed again. “Dad honestly believes he spoke to Mom and if it makes him feel better, then I don’t think we should try to discount his experience.”

“What was Mom supposed to have said to him?”
Steffie asked, intrigued by the interplay between her two sisters. She helped herself to a couple of oatmeal cookies as she spoke.

“That’s what worries me the most.” Valerie raised her voice, clearly unsettled. “He’s got some ridiculous notion that we’re all going to marry.”

“Now, that’s profound.” Steffie couldn’t hide her amusement. The three of them were of marriageable age; it made sense that they’d eventually find husbands.

“But he claims to know
who
we’re going to marry,” Norah said, grinning sheepishly, as though she found the whole thing amusing.

“He’s been wearing this silly smile for two days.” Valerie groaned, dropping her forehead onto her arms. “He’s been talking about a houseful of grandchildren, too. The ones
we’re
supposed to present him with—and all in the next few years. If it wasn’t so ludicrous, I’d cry.”

“Has he said who I’m supposed to marry?” Steffie asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

Valerie lifted her head to glare at Stephanie, and Norah chuckled. “That’s something else that irritates Valerie,” she explained. “Dad hasn’t told any of us, at least not directly. Not yet.”

“He’s acting like he knows this wonderful secret and he’s keeping it all to himself, dropping hints every now and then. I swear it’s driving me crazy.”

“I don’t mind it,” Norah said. To someone else, she might have sounded self-righteous, but Steffie recog
nized her younger sister’s compassion and knew that it edged out any hint of righteousness. “Dad’s smiling again. He’s excited about the future and even if he’s becoming a bit…presumptuous about the three of us, I honestly can’t say I mind. I’m just so glad to have him alive.”

Valerie nodded, her argument apparently gone. “I guess I can put up with a few remarks, too.”

“This is the first time one of us hasn’t stayed all night at the hospital,” Norah said, her mouth curving into a gentle smile. “Dr. Winston insisted there wasn’t any need. Not anymore.”

“Don’t be fooled by that guy,” Valerie muttered under her breath. “He may look like your average, laid-back country doctor, but he’s got a backbone of steel.”

He must have, if Valerie was reacting like this, Stephanie thought with sudden interest. It seemed that her sister had finally encountered a will as strong as her own. So, either Valerie had changed her ways or she had—could it be?—a soft spot for this Dr. Winston.

“In other words,” Steffie said quickly, “I missed the worst of it. Dad’s out of danger now and will eventually recover?”

“Yes,” Norah said cheerfully. “Everything’ll be back to normal.”

“Not exactly.” Valerie shook her head. “In a few weeks Dad will be the picture of health, but the three of us will be pulling out our hair after listening to all his talk about marriage, husbands and grandchildren!”

Bright sunlight poured through the open window of Steffie’s bedroom when she woke. The house was quiet, but the sounds of the day drifted in from outside. Birds chirped merrily in the distance and a spring breeze set the chimes on the back porch tinkling and rustled the curtains lightly. She could hear work crews in the orchard—spraying the apple trees, Steffie guessed.

After those long days of struggling to get home, she exulted in the sensation of familiarity, wrapping the feel of it around her like a warm quilt. The crisis had passed. Her father would survive, and all the world seemed brighter, sweeter, happier.

Reluctantly she slid out of bed and dressed, pulling a pair of slacks and a light sweater from her suitcase.

She found a note on the kitchen table explaining that both Valerie and Norah were at the hospital. They were going to leave her arrival a surprise, so she could come anytime she was ready. No need to rush. Not anymore.

Selecting a banana from the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter, she ate that while reheating a cup of coffee in the microwave. As the timer was counting down the seconds, she walked into her father’s den and reached for the newspaper, intending to take it with her to the hospital.

She would read it, Steffie decided, to catch up on the local news. But even as she formed this thought, she knew she was lying to herself.

There was only one reason she was taking the local newspaper with her. Only one reason she’d even picked
it up.
Charles Tomaselli.
She turned to the front page. The
Orchard Valley Clarion.
She allowed her eyes to skim the headlines for a moment.

Emotion came at her in waves. First apprehension. She’d give anything to avoid seeing Charles again. Then anger. He’d humiliated her. Laughed at her. She’d never forgive him for that. Never. The agony of his humiliation smoldered even now, years later. Yet, much as she wanted to hate Charles, she couldn’t. She didn’t love him anymore. That was over, finished. He’d cured her of love in the most effective way possible. No, she reassured herself, she didn’t love him—but she couldn’t make herself hate him, either.