Country Brides

by Debbie Macomber

  Kate felt foolish for bringing up the subject, especially since it was obviously so painful for him. “I ’m sorry, that was thoughtless. You’re trying to let go of the past.”

  The bottle of wine arrived and when Eric had sampled and approved it the waitress filled their glasses.

  “Actually you remind me of Lonni,” he said, after taking a sip of the chardonnay. “We met when we were both in college.”

  Kate looked down at her wineglass, twirling the delicate stem between her fingers. Eric was so clearly in love with his ex-wife that she wondered what had torn them apart.

  “You were asking about the divorce?” He replenished his wine with a lavish hand.

  “If it’s too difficult, you don’t need to talk about it.”

  “I don’t think either Lonni or I ever intended to let it go this far,” he said, and Kate was sure he hadn’t even heard her. “I certainly didn’t, but before I knew what was happening, the whole thing blew up in my face. There wasn’t another man—I would’ve staked my life on that.”

  Their dinner salads were served and, picking up her fork, Kate asked, “What brought you to Nightingale?”

  Eric drank his wine as if he were gulping cool water on a summer afternoon. “Lonni, of course.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Lonni. I decided I needed to make a clean break. Get a fresh start and all that.”

  “I see.”

  “You have to understand that when Lonni first suggested we should separate, I thought it was the right thing to do. We hadn’t been getting along and, frankly, if she wanted out of the relationship, I wasn’t going to stand in her way. It’s best to discover these things before you have children, don’t you agree?”

  “Oh, yes.” Kate nibbled at her salad, wondering what she could say that would help or comfort Eric.

  An hour and another bottle of wine later, Kate realized he’d drunk the better part of both bottles and was in no condition to drive home. Now she had to tactfully make him realize that.

  “Do you dance?” she asked, as he paid the dinner bill.

  He frowned slightly. “This country-and-western stuff doesn’t usually appeal to me, but I’m willing to give it a whirl, if you are.”

  Kate assumed all the wine he’d been drinking had quelled his reservations. When the band began a lively melody, Eric led Kate onto the crowded dance floor.

  Kate was breathless by the time the song ended. To her relief, the next number was a much slower one. She recognized her mistake the minute Eric locked her in his embrace. His hands fastened at the small of her back, forcing her close. She tried to put some space between them, but Eric didn’t seem to notice her efforts. His eyes were shut as he swayed to the leisurely beat. Kate wasn’t fooled; her newfound friend was pretending he had Lonni in his arms. It was a good thing her ego wasn’t riding on this date.

  “I need a little more room,” she whispered.

  He loosened his grip for a moment, but as the song continued, his hold gradually tightened again. Kate edged her forearms up and braced them on his chest, easing herself back an inch or two.

  “Excuse me, please.” A harsh male voice that was all too familiar came from behind Eric. Kate wished she could crawl into a hole and die the instant she heard it.

  “I’m cutting in,” Luke informed the other man, who turned his head and looked at the intruder incredulously.

  Without a word of protest Eric dropped his arms and took a step in retreat. Neither man bothered to ask Kate what she wanted. She was about to complain when Luke reached for her hand and with a natural flair swept her into his arms. The immediate sense of welcome she experienced made her want to weep with frustration.

  “Why did you cut in like that?” she demanded. She felt disheartened and irritable. Everything she’d worked for this evening was about to be undone.

  “Did you mean for that city slicker to hold you so close?”

  “How Eric holds me isn’t any of your business.”

  “I’m making it my business.”

  His face was contorted with anger. His arms were so tight that Kate couldn’t have escaped him if she’d tried. Judging by the looks they were receiving from the couples around them, they were quickly becoming the main attraction.

  The instant the music ended, Kate abruptly left Luke’s arms and returned to Eric. Her date stood in the corner of the room, nursing a shot glass filled with amber liquid. Kate groaned and hid her displeasure. Eric had already had enough wine without adding hard liquor.

  “I thought you said there was nothing between you and Luke Rivers,” he muttered, when she joined him.

  “There isn’t. We’re just good friends.”

  “That’s not the impression I’m getting.”

  Kate didn’t know how to respond. “I apologize for the interruption. Do you want to dance?”

  “Not if it’s going to cost me my neck.”

  “It isn’t,” she promised.

  Another lively song erupted from the band. Eric took her hand and she smiled encouragingly up at him. As they headed for the dance floor, Kate tried to ignore Luke’s chilly glare.

  Midway through the song, Eric stopped dancing. “I ’m not very good at this fancy footwork,” he declared. With that, he pulled her into his arms, tucking her securely against him.

  “This is much better,” he whispered, his mouth close to her ear. Once more his hold tightened.

  “Eric, please. I’m having trouble breathing,” Kate told him in a strangled voice.

  “Oh, sorry.” He relaxed his grip. “Lonni and I used to dance like this all the time.”

  Kate had guessed as much. It was on the tip of her tongue to remind him that she wasn’t his ex-wife, but she doubted it would make any difference. Eric had spent much of the evening pretending she was.

  At the moment, however, her date and his ex-wife were the least of Kate’s problems. Tiny pinpricks moved up and down her spine, telling her that Luke was still glaring at her from the other side of the room. She did her best to act as though he wasn’t there.

  She smiled up at Eric, she laughed, she talked, but with each breath she drew she could feel Luke’s eyes on her, scrutinizing every move she made.

  When the music stopped, Eric returned to their table and his drink, swallowing the remainder of it in one gulp. The music started again and he pulled Kate toward him.

  “I think I’ll sit this one out.” She hoped that would appease Luke, who looked as if he were about to rip Eric in two.

  Her gaze fell to her lap and she folded her hands, concentrating on not letting him know how much a single glance from him affected her.

  “How much have you had to drink, Wilson?”

  While her eyes were lowered, Luke had come over to their table. His voice was controlled but unmistakably furious.

  “I can’t say that’s any of your concern, Rivers.” For his part, Eric seemed nervous. He leaned back in his chair, balancing on two legs, and raised his empty shot glass.

  “I don’t agree,” Luke countered, moving closer. “From what I can see, you’ve had plenty. I’m taking Kate home with me.”

  “Luke,” she protested, “please don’t do this.”

  “Your date’s in no condition to drive.”

  It was all Kate could do not to stand up and defend Eric. Unfortunately Luke was right. She’d known it even before they’d finished dinner, but she wanted to handle things her own way.

  “I can hold my liquor as well as the next man,” Eric said, daring to wave his glass under Luke’s nose. It was apparent to everyone that his courage had been fortified by whiskey. Few men would have taunted Luke in his present mood.

  Luke turned to Kate. “You’ve got better sense than this, Kate.”

  Kate did. But she had no intention of telling him so. “I think Eric knows his own limit,” she returned.

  “Then you plan to ride home with him?”

  “I’m not sure yet.” She wouldn’t, but she wasn’t about t
o give Luke an armful of ammunition to use against her.

  Luke scowled at her with such fury it was difficult for Kate to swallow normally.

  Slowly he turned to Eric. “If you value your teeth, I suggest you stay exactly where you are. Bob,” Luke called to the sheriff’s deputy across the room, “would you see that this newcomer gets home without a problem?”

  “Sure thing, Luke.”

  “Kate,” he said, addressing her next, “you’re coming with me.”

  “I most certainly am not.”

  Luke didn’t leave her any option. He leaned forward and pulled her upright, as if she weighed no more than a bag of popcorn.

  She struggled briefly but knew it was useless. “Luke, don’t do this. Please, don’t do this,” she pleaded through clenched teeth, humiliated to the very roots of her hair.

  “Either you come with me willingly or I carry you out of here.” Luke’s composure didn’t falter. When she resisted, he swept his arms behind her legs and lifted her from the floor.

  “Luke,” Kate cried, “put me down this instant. I demand that you put me down.”

  He completely ignored her threat as he strode toward the door, his gaze focused impassively ahead of them. The waitress who’d served her dinner came running up to hand Kate her coat and bag. Her eyes were flashing with humor.

  “Stick by your man, honey,” she advised. “That city slicker can’t hold a candle to Luke Rivers.”

  “Luke’s the man for you,” someone else shouted.

  “When you gonna tie the knot?”

  Two men were holding open the lounge door for them. The last thing Kate heard as Luke carried her into the cold night air was a robust round of applause from inside the lounge.

  Five

  “I have never been so embarrassed in my life,” Kate stormed as Luke parked his pickup outside the house. “How could you do that to me? How could you?”

  During the entire ride home, Luke hadn’t spoken a word, nor had he even glanced at her. He’d held himself stiff, staring straight ahead. For all his concern about her riding with Eric, he drove as if the very devil were on their tail. Only when they entered the long, winding drive that led to the house had he reduced his speed.

  “I’ll never forgive you for this,” she told him, grabbing the door handle and vaulting out of the truck. She couldn’t get away from him fast enough. By morning every tongue in Nightingale would be wagging, telling how Luke Rivers had hauled Kate Logan out of the Red Bull.

  To her dismay Luke followed her into the house.

  “I couldn’t care less if you forgive me or not,” he said darkly.

  “The women were laughing and the men snickering…. I won’t be able to show my face in this town again.”

  “As far as I’m concerned, the problem is one of your own making.”

  “That’s not true!” She’d had no way of knowing that Eric was going to start downing wine like soda pop. And she did not need a lecture from Luke Rivers. All she wanted him to do was leave, so she could lick her wounds in private and figure out how long it would be before she dared go out in public again.

  Luke started pacing the kitchen floor. Each step was measured and precise. Clipped, like his voice.

  “Please go,” she beseeched wearily.

  “I’m not leaving until I get some answers from you.”

  Gathering what remained of her dignity, which at this point wasn’t much, Kate sank onto a chair. She wouldn’t argue with Luke. Every time she tried, she came out the loser. Better to get this over with now rather than wait for morning. She sighed deeply.

  “Who the hell is Eric Wilson and why were you having dinner with him?” Luke’s heavy boots clicked against the kitchen floor as he paced.

  Instead of answering, Kate asked, “What’s happened to us?” She gazed sorrowfully up at Luke. “Do you remember how much fun we used to have together? Tonight wasn’t fun, Luke. Just a few weeks ago I could laugh with you and cry with you. You were my friend and I was yours. Suddenly nothing’s the same, and I don’t understand why.” Her voice quavered slightly. She fought an overwhelming desire to hide her face in her hands and weep.

  She didn’t win. Tears of pride and anguish spilled on to her cheeks. She brought her hands up, trying to hide her distress.

  Luke knelt in front of her and pried her hands away. His fingers tenderly caressed her face. “Everything has changed, hasn’t it, Princess?”

  She sucked in a shaky breath and nodded.

  “You’re confused, aren’t you?” His hands cradled her face and he eased forward to press his warm mouth over hers. Even as she kissed him back, her confusion grew. He’d been so angry with her, more furious than she’d ever seen him. Yet, when he kissed her, he was achingly gentle.

  Luke seemed to believe that her ready response to his kiss would answer the questions that haunted her. Instead it raised more questions, more qualms.

  “Do you understand now?” he asked, his voice a husky murmur, his eyes closed.

  How Kate wished she did. She shook her head, bewildered and still uncertain.

  Luke stroked her lips with his index finger. His most innocent touches brought her nerves to life with a prickling, wary excitement. Refusing to think about her own impulse, she held his hand to her mouth and brushed her lips across his callused fingertips.

  “Oh, love,” he moaned, and bent forward, caressing her mouth with his once more. “We ’ve got to put an end to this madness before I go insane.”

  “How?” she gasped, as she braced her hands against his broad chest. He felt so good, hard muscle and warm flesh, and so strong, as if nothing could stand in his way once he determined a course. Not heaven. Not hell. And not anything in between.

  “How?” He repeated her question, then chuckled, the sound rumbling from deep within his chest. “We ’ll have to do what you suggested.”

  “What I suggested?”

  His mouth continued to tease hers with a series of small, nibbling kisses that seemed to pluck at her soul. “There’s only one way to cure what’s between us, Kate.”

  “One way,” she echoed weakly.

  “You’ll have to marry me. There’s no help for it and, considering how I feel right now, the sooner the better.”

  Kate felt as if he’d dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. “Marry you,” she shrieked, pushing him away so quickly that he nearly toppled backward. “Your answer to all this confusion is for us to get married?”

  “Kate, don’t be unreasonable. We’re perfect for each other. You need me now more than at any time in your life and I’m here for you.”

  “Luke, please—”

  “No.” He stopped her with a look. “You ’re about to lose everything in life that you thought was secure—your father and your home. I don’t have any intention of taking over Devin’s role, but the way I figure it, I’d make you a decent husband.”

  “What about love?” Kate cried.

  Luke sighed in frustration. “We ’ve gone over that ten times. You already love me—”

  “Like a brother.”

  “Princess, sisters don’t kiss their brothers the way you just kissed me.”

  He apparently believed that was argument enough. Not knowing how else to respond, she shook her head. “I love Clay! You keep ignoring that or insisting I don’t—but I do. I have for as long as I can remember. I can’t marry you. I won’t!”

  “For heaven’s sake, forget Clay.”

  “It’s not so easy!” she shouted.

  “It would be if you’d try a little harder,” Luke muttered, obviously losing patience. “I’m asking you to marry me, Kate Logan, and a smart woman like you should know a good offer when she hears one.”

  So much for love. So much for romance. Luke wasn’t even listening to her, and Kate doubted he’d understood a single thing she’d said. “This conversation isn’t getting us anywhere.”

  “Kate—”

  “I think you should leave.”

  “Kate
,” he said, firmly gripping her shoulders, “how long is it going to take you to realize that I love you and you love me?”

  “Love you? How can you say that? Until a few weeks ago I was engaged to marry Clay Franklin!” Angrily she pushed away his hands and sprang to her feet.

  “Yes. And all that time you were going to marry the wrong man.”

  Luke didn’t seem to find that statement the least bit odd, as if women regularly chose to marry one man when they were really in love with another. Kate shook her head, releasing a harsh breath.

  “It’s the truth,” he said calmly.

  She glared at him. Reasoning with Luke was a waste of time. He repeated the same nonsensical statements over and over, as if his few words were explanation enough.

  “I’m going to bed,” she said, turning abruptly away from him. “You can do as you like.”

  A moment of stunned silence followed her words before he chuckled softly, seductively. “I ’m sure you don’t mean that the way it sounds.”

  As Kate expected, the small community buzzed with the news of her fiasco with Eric Wilson. Neighbor delighted in telling neighbor how Luke Rivers had swooped her into his arms and how the entire Friday-night crowd at the Red Bull had cheered as he’d carried her off the dance floor.

  Kate needed every ounce of courage she possessed just to walk down Main Street. Her smile felt stiff and false and she was convinced she had the beginnings of an ulcer.

  To worsen matters, all the townsfolk seemed to believe it was their place to offer her free advice.

  “You stick with Luke Rivers. He’s a far better man than that city slicker,” the butcher told her Saturday afternoon.

  Blushing heatedly, she ordered a pork roast and left as soon as she’d paid.

  “I understand you and Luke Rivers caused quite a ruckus the other night at the steak house,” the church secretary said Sunday morning after the service. “I heard about the romantic way Luke carried you outside.”

  Kate hadn’t found being carried off the least bit romantic but she smiled kindly, made no comment and returned home without a word.

  “What’s this I hear about you and Luke Rivers?” The moment Kate entered her classroom Monday morning, Sally Daley appeared.