“I can do that.”
“Yeah, but I’m going to do it. Cute toes,” he said as his warm hand cupped one foot. Her toenails were painted pink, like her fingernails.
“Th-thank you.”
After he had that sock on, he took the boot for that foot and pulled out the packing material. He flexed the boot to loosen it up a little. Then he ordered, “Slide your foot inside.”
She had to stand up to do as he asked. After a struggle, she got her foot completely inside the boot. “I suppose you wear these tighter than normal shoes, too.”
“It just feels like it because they’re closed in. Sit back down and we’ll get the other one on.” He slid the sock on and then presented the boot. She put one hand on his shoulder as she stood and slid her foot in. “Okay,” she said, a little breathless, “I’ve got them on. What are the other packages?”
“Well, you can’t wear your mink coat on a horse, so I bought you a ski jacket. It’s blue to match your eyes.” He held it out for her. Then he opened the last package and plopped a black Stetson hat on her head.
“I need a cowboy hat? Why?”
“I started to get you a knit cap, but when the sun’s shining down on you, you need the shade. Or if it’s raining or snowing, you need it, too.”
“Why would you ride if it’s raining or snowing?”
“You might not have a choice. Weather can change quickly. You have to be prepared.” He stepped back and studied her critically. Then he smiled. “Perfect.”
“What?” she asked him, a little confused.
“You,” he said succinctly. Then he stepped forward and dropped a kiss on her lips.
“Russ!” she protested.
“We’ll have to do that at the wedding. I thought we should practice beforehand, that’s all. Besides, you look real cute as a cowgirl.” He took her hand. “Let’s go show everyone.”
Reluctantly, she followed him.
All the mothers and Mildred and Red were in the kitchen. B.J. had just come back from doing vet work and was dressed quite similarly to Isabella, which relieved Isabella’s mind about how appropriately she was dressed.
“You look wonderful, Izzy,” Janie said.
“I feel rather bizarre,” she said, slanting a look at Russ.
He simply grinned. Then he said to the others, “We’re going to the arena to give Izzy her first riding lesson.”
“Dinner is at six, boy, so don’t be late,” Red warned.
“I figure she’ll only manage an hour today, Red. I don’t want her to get too sore.” Russ took Isabella’s hand as he spoke and started pulling her toward the door. She almost tripped on the boots, since she wasn’t used to walking in them.
“Son, take things slowly, okay?”
“Sure, Mom.” He agreed cheerfully, not slowing down at all.
Isabella gave them all a fleeting wave, apprehension on her face.
“YOU’VE NEVER BEEN on a horse?” Russ asked again as they strode down a path to one of the larger buildings.
“No. I’ve seen the police riding them, that’s all.”
“Okay, we’ll start by introducing you to some horses. You want to see the babies first?”
“You have babies? Yes, I want to see the babies.”
They entered the second barn. “This is where we put the mamas when it’s time. I think Red said this one was born yesterday.”
Isabella looked over the half door and saw a mare with a tiny, fragile-looking horse only a couple of feet tall standing next to her.
“Oh,” she said, letting go of some of her fears, “he’s beautiful.”
“She. This is a filly.”
“Can I pet her?”
“Probably not. She’s her mama’s first baby. They’re both a little nervous.”
Russ tugged Isabella along to the next stall. “This lady is an old hand at having babies. Besides, the baby is almost a week old. We wouldn’t have him in here except for the early snowstorm. You can pet him.”
This foal was a little bigger and seemed much more comfortable on his wobbly legs. Isabella reached over the door to pet him, but he was too far away.
Russ undid the gate, startling her. “Don’t let them out!” she protested.
“I’m not, honey. I’m letting you in.”
She took a step back. “You want me to go in there? The mother is so big. What if she gets angry?”
“I’m going with you. I’ll protect you.” He led the way into the stall. “Hello, Marmie,” he said softly, rubbing the mare’s nose.
“Her name is Marmie?”
“No. Her name is Marmalade. Come rub her nose. It’s very soft.”
“But I wanted to pet her baby.”
“You have to make friends with her mother first. Take off your gloves.” He took them from her and stuck them in her coat pocket. “Now, reach out and rub her nose.”
She hesitantly did so. “She won’t bite me?”
“Nope, not Marmie. We have a few horses that might do that, but not her.”
Isabella rubbed her hand back and forth. “You’re right. Her nose is very soft.”
“Yeah. Now that you’ve got his mama’s scent on you, the colt might let you pet him.” He reached out slowly to the colt and put a firm hand on his back. “Try him.”
She stretched her hand out and gently rubbed the colt’s nose even as he stepped back toward his mother. The mare moved several steps, too, which scared Isabella and she jumped back, landing against Russ’s solid body.
“Easy there. You’re okay.”
“I th-think I’ve petted him enough.” She pressed even closer to Russ.
He put his arm around her and moved them both out of the stall. “You did fine for the first time. Did you like it?”
“Yes, but the mother is so big! What if she steps on me?”
Russ grinned at her. “You’ll walk with a limp for a few days.”
“Oh.”
She looked so worried, even though they’d left the stall, he couldn’t resist kissing her. His lips touched hers, and this kiss was a little longer, a little more intimate and definitely hotter than the last kiss.
He turned her around and pulled her against him, and he kissed her again. When he raised his head, he said, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”
“It’s very nice, but…but it worries me.”
“Why does it worry you?”
“We’re not supposed to…to…you know.”
“We didn’t say we couldn’t. Just that we weren’t planning on it. But we’re going to be married a long time. Are we going to do without for the rest of our lives?”
“I hadn’t thought about it.”
“Well, I think you’d better think about it. Because if you don’t like me kissing you, you probably won’t like anything else.”
Isabella gave him a quick look. Then she stepped away. “I didn’t say I didn’t like it. But I’ve had a lot of changes. I just hadn’t thought… Do we have to right away?”
“No, I guess not. Come on, let’s go put you on a horse.”
“Why?”
“How else will you learn to ride?”
“Why do I have to learn to ride?”
“Well, when Angel grows some and we’re going on a camping trip, are you going to want to stay at home every time?”
“Can’t we go camping in a truck?”
He took her hand and pulled her to the door of the barn. Then he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward the ridge of mountains that ran along the western horizon. “See those mountains? That’s where we like to go camping. A truck can’t get up them. There are no roads.”
“Oh. But can’t we take things more slowly? I have so much to worry about that I can’t think about horses now.”
He ran his hands through his hair. “I didn’t realize it required so much thought.”
“It’s hard to learn new things when you’re an adult.” She shivered in the cold air.
“Okay, I guess we can wait until after we�
��re married. After all, Angel isn’t likely to ask to go camping in the next two years.”
“But when she’s three, she will? I don’t think that will happen. And even if it does, I won’t let her go when she’s that young.”
“You’re not going to mollycoddle her, are you?”
“What does that mean, mollycoddle?”
“It means treat her like a baby.”
Isabella frowned at him, her hands on her hips. “She is a baby. Of course I’m going to treat her like one!”
“I don’t want her to be afraid of her own shadow.”
“And I don’t want her to get hurt!”
“I’m not going to hurt her. What’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing’s wrong with me! You’re the crazy one, the one not keeping his promises! I’m beginning to think I’ve made a huge mistake!”
By now they were both shouting.
“If you think you’ve made a mistake, just take your baby and go. I’m certainly not going to hold you to anything!”
“Fine! I will!” She pushed her way out of the barn and stomped down the path in her new boots.
“Fine!” Russ hollered after her. “See if I care!” He was determined this woman was not going to hurt him.
Halfway to the house, he was joined by his twin brother and his wife, Samantha. “Hey, Russ. Congratulations. Mom told us the good news.”
“Don’t congratulate me! The wedding is off!”
Rich and Samantha came to a halt, staring at Russ, who continued to the house.
ISABELLA WAS DEVASTATED. She dashed into the kitchen, tears running down her cheeks, forgetting about all the people in the house.
She was halfway through the kitchen when reality hit her. “Oh!” That made the tears fall harder and she ran for the bedroom she’d used the night before. Though, if she was breaking off the marriage with Russ, they probably wouldn’t want her there any longer.
She had no place to go. No one to help her. It would just be her and Angel against the world. She cried even more.
She fell across the bed, trying to keep her sobs quiet so she wouldn’t wake the baby.
“Izzy? Come in to our room so you won’t wake the baby,” Janie said softly, taking her arm to guide her.
She’d obviously followed Isabella up the stairs.
Isabella was scarcely conscious of movement. She didn’t know what to do or where to go, but someone did. That was a comforting thought.
“What’s wrong?” Janie asked as she and Isabella entered her room. The other three Randall women were there, waiting for them.
“Russ refuses to marry me because I can’t ride a horse.”
Isabella fell into a chair, covering her face.
“But I thought he was going to teach you,” Megan said.
“I didn’t want to learn now. I’m…I’m scared of horses.”
She sobbed several times. “He said he and Angel would go camping without me. I said I wouldn’t let Angel go and he yelled at me!”
“The beast!” Janie said, biting her bottom lip.
Surprised by Janie’s sympathy, Isabella looked up to see laughter in Janie’s gaze. “I guess it wasn’t a good idea. I don’t think I can…he changed his mind. And I said not now. And…and he…”
More tears.
“He changed his mind about marrying you?” B.J. asked in surprise.
“No. He changed his mind about…kissing and s-stuff.”
“And you said you weren’t ready to change the rules, and he got upset,” Megan added. “That’s what happened, wasn’t it?”
“How d-did you know?” Isabella asked in surprise. “And I have to leave now. I can’t stay here if there’s not going to be a wedding. That wouldn’t be right. But I don’t know where to go or what to do.”
“Of course you don’t,” Janie said with a sigh, pulling Isabella into her arms. “But you’re wrong about leaving. You can stay here as a guest. As my friend.”
Isabella turned tragic eyes on Janie. “No, I couldn’t. That wouldn’t be fair to Russ.”
Janie kissed her cheek. “Yes, it would. Go back to your room and lie down. We’ll go talk to Russ. You know, in spite of having been married, he doesn’t understand women all that well. Abby just agreed with everything he said.”
“No wonder he doesn’t like me,” Isabella muttered under her breath as she headed back to her own room.
The women all looked at each other. “The problem,” Janie said, “is that he likes her too much. He’s thawing out fast and doesn’t understand why she isn’t.”
“The poor girl is under so much pressure. Can we explain it to him?” Megan asked.
“Pete will.”
They headed downstairs for some masculine input.
DOWNSTAIRS, THINGS WERE just erupting. Russ said nothing about the argument when he came inside. His father headed across the room to ask him what he’d done to Isabella when Rich and Samantha entered the room and asked what had happened. That distracted Pete. By the time they had explained what they were asking, everyone turned to stare at Russ.
“What’s wrong with you, boy?” Red asked. “That doesn’t sound like you. And Isabella is so sweet.”
“I don’t want to discuss it,” Russ said.
“But you’re going to have to. Is the wedding off?” his father asked.
“Yes! She refuses to marry me. It’s not my fault.”
“Well, I think it is,” Janie announced as she entered the room, followed by her sisters-in-law.
“Damn it! It’s my life. Leave me alone!”
“We left you alone last time, and you lost eighteen months of living. Now, when you’ve finally come to your senses, you want us to give you up again?” Janie stared at her son. “Well, I won’t do it. And I won’t let you hurt Isabella.”
“I’m not hurting her. She’s hurting me!”
Pete stepped forward before his wife and son came to blows. “Russ, go to Jake’s office. I’ll be there in a minute to talk to you.” When Pete used that tone of voice, his sons didn’t argue with him.
Russ silently left the room.
Then Pete turned to his wife. “Come on, Janie. We need to have a little chat before I talk to Russ.”
“Need any help?” Jake asked.
Pete smiled at his older brother. “I guess I’d better handle this one on my own.”
“Russ might want me there,” Rich said.
“You’ve been married almost two years. You think that makes you an expert?” Pete asked, grinning faintly.
“Nope. But Russ is my twin. If he’s hurting, I want to help.”
“Okay, son. Go on into Jake’s office and keep him company. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Chapter Ten
When Pete walked into Jake’s office, he found his twin sons chatting quietly.
“I’m glad you’ve calmed down, Russ. That was quite a scene you were creating out there.”
“I’m sorry, Dad, but Isabella…she backed out of the marriage.”
“Did she?”
“Yeah. She doesn’t even like it when I kiss her!” His voice was rising again.
“Keep your voice down. I thought you promised that you would be friends, nothing else. Did you change your mind?”
“Hell, Dad, I promised to stay married to her forever, too. Was I supposed to do without any sex forever? That doesn’t seem fair. Especially when she’s so beautiful.”
“I wondered about that.”
“So what was I supposed to do?”
“He’s got a point, Dad. His life would be miserable. He’d have to cheat on his marriage vows, or Isabella would have to—and she said she didn’t want to,” Rich protested, staunchly on his brother’s side.
“Everyone draw a deep breath.” Then Pete began his conversation where his wife said the difficulty had begun. “Why did you decide to teach Isabella to ride today?”
“She doesn’t know how.”
“She needs to know how to ride today?”<
br />
“Well, no, of course not, but eventually she will.”
“I agree, Dad,” Rich added.
“Learning something new as an adult can be difficult. It requires a lot of energy and concentration,” Pete pointed out. “If a person, say, Isabella, had a lot of other problems to deal with, problems like her father trying to hurt her, taking care of a newborn baby, dealing with a husband who betrayed her and then died, moving away from home to a place where she didn’t know anyone, mourning an aunt she’d never met who died before she could get here, being ill, you know, a few problems like that, do you think it would affect her willingness to take on something else? Other than marrying a stranger, I mean.”
“I forgot about all the problems she was facing.” Russ ducked his head, embarrassed at his behavior.
“Not only that, son, but if she’s not going to marry you, who’s going to protect her from her father? Who will protect Angel? Do you think she’ll let you? Do you think she’ll stay here?”
Russ began to realize the enormity of what their argument had done. “Damn! I didn’t think. I just didn’t think.”
“But, Dad,” Rich said, “he can’t make that kind of promise! It just won’t work.”
“I know that. But he could promise a year. He’s gone eighteen months without any intimacy. I think he could wait a year, give Isabella a chance to settle in, resolve her issues with her father, let her feel at home here. She might look at everything differently then. Don’t you agree, Russ?”
“Yeah. I… Things have been changing so quickly, I let myself get out of control. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t think you need to apologize to me. But Isabella shed a few tears, you know.”
Taking a deep breath, Russ said, “I’ll go talk to her.”
“I knew you’d do the right thing, Russ. After you convince her, bring her down for dinner.”
“Yes, sir,” Russ agreed before he left the room.
“Man, that was masterful,” Rich muttered, thinking of his own role as father to his year-old son. “I’m going to need to take lessons before Andy gets much older.”
“No hurry. Girls complicate life, yes, but Andy won’t be interested in them for a while yet. You’ve got time. Let’s go get us some dinner.”
Randall Wedding Page 9
