The Runaway Bride

by Patricia McLinn

  “When I marry,” Thomas said,

  “I’m going to find someone practical, levelheaded, who’s never impulsive or getting into scrapes.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Judi said brightly, determined not to cry.

  Practical and levelheaded—she’d made love with Thomas on the bare ground.

  Impulsive—it should have been her middle name.

  Never gets into scrapes—if he knew how she’d run away from her own wedding and how she was lying to him…. She was nothing Thomas Vance was looking for in a woman—and everything he didn’t want.

  But Judi absolutely would not cry. Still, could Thomas have been any more obvious? All he’d have to do was make his ideal mate five-foot-two, blond and blue-eyed—and he’d have her total opposite….

  Dear Reader,

  This May, we celebrate Mother’s Day and a fabulous month of uplifting romances. I’m delighted to introduce RITA® Award finalist Carol Stephenson, who debuts with her heartwarming reunion romance, Nora’s Pride. Carol writes, “Nora’s Pride is very meaningful to me, as my mother, my staunchest fan and supporter, passed away in May 2000. I’m sure she’s smiling down at me from heaven. She passionately believed this would be my first sale.” A must-read for your list!

  The Princess and the Duke, by Allison Leigh, is the second book in the CROWN AND GLORY series. Here, a princess and a duke share a kiss, but can their love withstand the truth about a royal assassination? We have another heart-thumper from the incomparable Marie Ferrarella with Lily and the Lawman, a darling city-girl-meets-small-town-boy romance.

  In A Baby for Emily, Ginna Gray delivers an emotionally charged love story in which a brooding hero lays claim to a penniless widow who, unbeknownst to her, is carrying their child…. Sharon De Vita pulls on the heartstrings with A Family To Come Home To, in which a rugged rancher searches for his family and finds true love! You also won’t want to miss Patricia McLinn’s The Runaway Bride, a humorous tale of a sexy cowboy who rescues a distressed bride.

  I hope you enjoy these exciting books from Silhouette Special Edition—the place for love, life and family. Come back for more winning reading next month!

  Sincerely,

  Karen Taylor Richman

  Senior Editor

  The Runaway Bride

  PATRICIA MCLINN

  9-11-01

  We will remember

  Books by Patricia McLinn

  Silhouette Special Edition

  Hoops #587

  A New World #641

  * Prelude to a Wedding #712

  * Wedding Party #718

  * Grady’s Wedding #813

  * Grady’s Wedding #813

  Not a Family Man #864

  Rodeo Nights #904

  A Stranger in the Family #959

  A Stranger To Love #1098

  The Rancher Meets His Match #1164

  †Lost-and-Found Groom #1344

  †At the Heart’s Command #1350

  †Hidden in a Heartbeat #1355

  **Almost a Bride #1404

  **Match Made in Wyoming #1409

  **My Heart Remembers #1439

  The Runaway Bride #1469

  Harlequin Historicals

  Widow Woman #417

  PATRICIA MCLINN

  finds great satisfaction in transferring to paper the characters crowded in her head, to be enjoyed by readers. “Writing,” she says, “is the hardest work I’d never give up.” Writing has brought her new experiences, places and friends—especially friends. After degrees from Northwestern University and newspaper jobs that have taken her from Illinois to North Carolina to Washington, D.C., Patricia now lives in Virginia, in a house that grows piles of paper, books and dog hair at an alarming rate. The paper and books are her own fault, but the dog hair comes from a charismatic collie who helps put things in perspective when neighborhood kids refer to Patricia as “the lady who lives in Riley’s house.” She would love to hear from readers at P.O. Box 7052, Arlington, VA 22207.

  * * *

  Dear Wedding Guests,

  We thank you for your patience, understanding and support after the wedding of our daughter Judi ended so abruptly Saturday. Judi will surely want to thank you herself, as well as arrange for the return of your generous gifts, as soon as she returns.

  In answer to your many kind inquiries, we cannot tell you precisely when Judi might return. In fact, if Judi contacts any of you, please ask her to call home.

  Sincerely,

  James and Nancy Monroe

  * * *

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  “Call it woman’s intuition.”

  Judi Monroe tilted her head back and looked above for the source of those quiet words. Since she was in a church and the words had echoed the niggling thoughts in her own head, it wasn’t an unreasonable suspicion. But if God was talking to her, He was doing it in a vaguely familiar woman’s voice.

  “Something just doesn’t feel right.”

  And He—or rather She—sounded frustrated.

  So, who was talking in hushed tones somewhere off to her right in these final moments before Judi was to walk down the aisle to become Mrs. Sterling Carroll? With three exceptions, everyone should be in the main part of the church—sitting as a guest, standing as a member of the wedding party, or, in the case of her matron of honor and sister-in-law Bette, walking slowly down the aisle toward the altar. The exceptions were herself, her father and the wedding planner, who was giving James Monroe final instructions.

  Wedding planner? Wedding dictator was more like it. From the moment Judi had said yes to Sterling’s stunning proposal after a whirlwind courtship, she had felt as if she’d walked into a tornado, and Marjorie Ward—the best money could buy, as Sterling kept reminding her—was running the wind machine.

  In fact, Judi strongly suspected that if she thought back she would find that this was the first time she’d been both awake and alone since that momentous “yes.”

  The hushed voice came again. “If the bride isn’t involved, she could help us, and not warning her is letting her walk into one helluva post-honeymoon mess.”

  Judi could no more have ignored those comments than she could have flown.

  She eased over to the side of the vestibule where she’d spotted the barely open door to the crying room, an area set aside for vociferous children and their parents to retreat to during services.

  “I know, I know,” said the voice. No one was in sight through the narrow opening, and Judi had to lean close to hear over the swelling music. If those trumpets would pipe down she could have heard a lot better. “That’s right. He’s got the shipment scheduled to arrive three weeks and two days after they return from their honeymoon. Which will be a little late for her if she doesn’t know what’s going on, since he’s got it all lined up to be in her name.”

  There was a pause, then the voice sighed. When it spoke again it was resigned. “You’re right. We can’t risk it. Too much is at stake. Okay… Yes… Yeah, right.” Sarcasm kicked in with those last two words. “I’m going to have a great time at this wedding. I just wish I knew if I’m about to watch Bonnie and Clyde getting hitched, or Mary Poppins being tied to Al Capone.”

  Judi heard the beep of a cell phone call being ended, and started to step back from the door. Her foot caught on the side hem of her dress, and she stumbl
ed—pushing the door wide open.

  Judi couldn’t remember the name of the woman who was rising from the chair, set out of the view of the crying room’s soundproof window to the main church, but she recognized her. She was the brand-new girlfriend of Sterling’s best man, Geoff.

  They stared at each other, frozen in mutual horror.

  Then Judi saw the other woman’s expression change. A flash of sympathy passed across her eyes, followed by determination. She strode forward in a tight skirt, a style that Geoff’s former girlfriend had also favored, and wrapped a hand around Judi’s upper arm.

  “You can’t—you can’t say a word, do you understand? It’s vital. There’s a lot riding on this—more than you can imagine. A lot riding on it for you, too. If the deal gets blown now, nobody would ever believe you didn’t tell him. You’d be implicated up to your neck.”

  “Implicated in what? I don’t—”

  “Judith! What on earth!” The stage-whispered shout of Marjorie Ward was the only warning Judi had before her other arm was grabbed in an even stronger grip and she was propelled across the vestibule to where her father stood, a worried frown blooming across his face.

  “Judi, is something wrong? Are you—?”

  “No time! No time! Your music’s started!” Marjorie hissed.

  She forcibly wrapped Judi’s numb right hand around her father’s arm, positioned her left arm at her waist, then curled the fingers of that hand around the base of the bouquet.

  Vaguely aware her father was regarding her with growing alarm, Judi’s mind raced as she stood immobile through another two bars of music. Then two hands shoved her from behind, and her choices were to start walking fast or fall flat on her face. With her father hurrying to keep pace, the bride started down the aisle.

  Sights, words, questions and doubts pinwheeled through Judi’s brain.

  Sterling’s expression when they’d run into each other for the first time since high school just over two months ago. Calculating had been her first thought, and she’d been on her guard against him trying to get her into bed right away. But he hadn’t. Instead, he’d swept her off her feet with a full-blown hearts-and-flowers courtship, including lavish dates and expensive gestures, never once pressuring her for physical intimacy.

  The only blemishes in that unreal time had been her uneasy feeling around his friends and associates, and his dismissing her questions about his importing business by saying how he didn’t want to waste time on talking business when they were together.

  Well, maybe there was one other blemish, but she’d told herself over and over that she was imagining her family’s lack of enthusiasm. After all, they’d known the Carroll family forever, as neighbors in Lake Forest, Illinois. And all anybody ever said was that as long as she was happy, that was all that mattered.

  How could she help but be happy? She finally had someone head over heels in love with her. It was what her parents had. It was what she’d watched her older brother Paul find with Bette, their cousin Tris discover with Michael, and even long-time ladies’ man Grady achieve with Leslie.

  Surely that was what had been behind the undercurrent of urgency when Sterling had proposed to her, wasn’t it? A man didn’t risk public humiliation by proposing via the scoreboard of a Chicago Bulls game, with the TV cameras zooming in for the answer, unless he was gung-ho, right? And that head over heels love had to be the reason for his rush to get married. What else could it be?

  I just wish I knew if I’m about to watch Bonnie and Clyde getting hitched, or Mary Poppins being tied to Al Capone.

  She wasn’t Bonnie, so that made her Mary Poppins, which made the man awaiting her at the altar Al Capone. She didn’t like the sound of that.

  You can’t say a word.

  She, Judith Marie Monroe, who’d never kept a secret in her life, was supposed to not tell what she’d heard to the man she was about to pledge as-long-as-we-both-shall-live to?

  If the bride isn’t involved, she could help us, and not warning her is letting her walk into one helluva post-honeymoon mess.

  What kind of a mess? Something was going to happen three weeks and two days after their scheduled return from a two-week Caribbean honeymoon—but what?

  If the deal gets blown now, nobody would ever believe you didn’t tell him. You’d be implicated up to your neck.

  What on earth had Sterling gotten himself into?

  What was she about to get herself into by marrying him?

  An oasis of warmth seeped into her numbness as her father placed his hand over hers where it rested on his arm.

  “Are you sure, baby?”

  The familiar, loved voice and the simple words stopped the pinwheel in her head, bringing all the sights and sounds, all the questions and doubts into one, solid picture.

  She stopped dead halfway down the aisle.

  “No.” She faced her father. “No, I’m not sure, Daddy. Thank you. I love you.”

  She kissed his cheek, gave the church a sweeping glance that imprinted the vision of Sterling’s members of the wedding party gaping at her and her members of the wedding party—her brother, sister-in-law and cousin—beginning to grin. She dropped the bouquet, turned around, gathered fistfuls of her full skirt and sprinted out.

  Chapter One

  Judi Monroe felt remarkably cheerful for someone who’d left her groom at the altar four days ago, who was running low on cash and who’d just missed being caught this morning by a man asking about her at the motel she’d stayed in last night in Torrington, Wyoming.

  But for the past five hours, she hadn’t seen any sign of the man from the motel or the car he drove with the Illinois license plates.

  Maybe he was a private detective, in which case he might have been hired by Sterling, or possibly by her family, although she had left them a message assuring them she was okay. Or maybe he was part of whatever organization Geoff’s “girlfriend” belonged to.

  It was all still jumbled in Judi’s mind. But she had decided three things. Sterling was doing something wrong. She wasn’t going to marry him. And if whatever “Girlfriend” was talking about was half as important as she’d made it sound, and it depended on Judi not letting on, then she had to get far away from everybody who knew her.

  One look at her face and anyone who knew her would know she was hiding something, and Sterling had known her since she was two years old. Of course, she’d known him from the same age, and he’d fooled her without much trouble. She sighed. Just once it might be nice to keep a secret successfully.

  She checked the rearview mirror again. No sign of her friend from the motel.

  After eluding him there, she’d continued west on the highway, still undecided on her final destination other than someplace far from Lake Forest, Illinois. But after a half hour of checking the rearview mirror so often she felt as if she was developing a tic, she’d impulsively turned off.

  She chose roads at whim, heading north, then west, then north again, heading vaguely in the direction of Montana. It was a big target, so surely she’d hit it. She had five weeks to kill, and she’d always wanted to spend time in Montana. She could find a waitressing job, and earn at least enough to get her a little farther down the road.

  That thought reminded her that the road she was on wasn’t marked with any of the route numbers that showed on her map. In fact, it was gravel. But from the minimal traffic she’d seen, maybe they’d figured they didn’t need anything more than gravel. It didn’t matter. As long as she went northwest long enough, she’d have to encounter Interstate 25. And it shouldn’t be much longer, judging by how close the mountains to the west looked. According to her map, those were the Big Horns, so she’d be on the Interstate any moment now, which was just as well, because the aging car she’d picked up cheap was running a little low on gas. Still she’d be okay, because carmakers built a fudge factor into that “E” the needle was flirting with.

  She checked the rearview mirror again. Nothing.

  But this time, nothing di
d not make her feel quite as reassured, because this time she realized that nothing meant it had been a long, long time since she’d seen anything. As in another car, a house, telephone poles—much less a gas station or restaurant.

  She must be nearly to the Interstate, though. Once there, even if she ran out of gas, someone would surely help her. Everything would be okay.

  A stand of trees off to the right caught her eye. Was that solid color among them a roof? No, several roofs. It had to be. And where there were roofs, there should be people. Maybe gasoline. Certainly directions. A sandwich would be nice. Turkey, with lots of lettuce and tomato…

  A hillside blocked her view and cut off her culinary musings. Seeing the roofs was one thing, finding a way to them might be another.

  Or…wait…up ahead, was that a road leading off to the right, toward the roofs? Yes! In anticipation of turkey with lots of lettuce and tomato, she dropped her foot lower on the gas pedal as she took the turn.

  Everything seemed to happen at once. But the only thought that flashed into her head in a tiny fraction of a second was: The Lone Ranger.

  It must have been all those reruns she’d watched with her older brother, Paul, and his buddies. Although this man wasn’t masked. He wasn’t even wearing a white hat. And she couldn’t remember the Lone Ranger ever being astride Silver in front of a car that was bearing down on man and horse too fast for them to avoid it.

  The rider’s face came into focus for another of those infinitesimal slices of time that stretched into seeming never-ending. A strong face, with a bone structure meant to stand the test of time. A jaw that didn’t know the meaning of wishy-washy. A mouth wide and firm. Eyes steady and narrowed as they concentrated on the moment. A man determined to do everything he could to avoid disaster—and knowing he couldn’t do enough.