Madge opened her mouth to protest, but they both heard J.D. calling. “I’d better go,” Madge said, getting up and heading for J.D.’s bedroom.
Rachel remained where she was, knowing she had to start withdrawing emotionally if she was going to survive her remaining time on the ranch. Truthfully, she didn’t want to withdraw. It surprised her, but she’d discovered that she loved life out here. Even more importantly, she’d discovered that she loved J.D. But that wasn’t a surprise. She’d been in love with him ever since her first trip to the ranch. She hadn’t realized how much until after she’d mishandled that last encounter and gone away. Now she didn’t think J.D. would give her another chance.
Not that she blamed him.
But it was what she wanted more than anything in the world. She’d known that the moment she’d opened Vivian’s door to him back in Highland Park.
“J.D.’s hungry.” Madge’s voice broke into her thoughts. Futile thoughts, she told herself. There could be no future for her and J.D. The sooner she realized that, the better.
She forced a weak smile. “That’s a good sign. I’ll heat him up some soup.”
“I’ll go keep him company until you bring it in,” Madge said, already on her way to his room. “Maybe I can get him to drink a little more.”
“Thanks, Madge.”
Rachel was grateful for the help, really she was. Up till now she’d been the one feeding J.D. She’d treasured those few minutes by his bed, but she had to let Madge take over. She imagined J.D. would like it that way. And it would protect her heart.
WHEN MADGE ENTERED his room again, J.D. swallowed his disappointment. “Where’s Rachel?” he asked, trying to keep his voice casual.
“She’s fixing your lunch. I’m going to feed you, though. She’s worked so hard, taking care of the both of us, and I’m still not able to do much. We owe her a lot.”
“She’s not getting sick, is she?” he asked anxiously.
“Not so far. She and Bluey are the only ones who have remained upright. By the way, Bluey says we’re back to full strength except for you and me.”
“We owe Bluey a lot, too. I’ll make sure I put a good bonus in his paycheck this month. He can spend it on your honeymoon.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Madge protested. “We’re too old for such things as honeymoons.”
“You’re going to turn down my gift?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been doing some thinking, when I’m not sleeping. I want to give you and Bluey a honeymoon as your wedding present. Wherever you want to go.”
“J.D., you can’t do that! It would cost too much.”
“Think of it as a bribe, Madge. I want you and Bluey to come back. I can’t manage without either of you.”
“Mercy, child, we’re coming back. We’ll look for a place to live nearby and—”
“What’s wrong with here? Hell, we’ve got six bedrooms. That’s not enough room for you?”
“Well, of course there’s enough room. But we didn’t know if you’d want us here.”
J.D. closed his eyes, relaxing against his pillow. “Yes, I want you here, Madge. You’re my family, and I think family should stick together. Will Bluey mind?”
“I don’t think so. He’s moving back to the bunkhouse to make sure there isn’t any talk about us, you know, anticipating our wedding vows, but he liked being up here the past week or so.”
“Well, you talk with him about it. Choose whatever rooms you want. You take two rooms and make one of them your sitting room, so you two can be alone in the evenings, if you want.”
“That’s very generous of you, J.D.”
Rachel entered with his lunch tray. “What’s J.D. being generous about?” she asked.
“He’s invited me and Bluey to live here.”
“Good. I’m glad to see he’s thinking coherently.”
“When didn’t I?” he demanded, trying to sit up. He hated looking so weak in front of Rachel.
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “Maybe the night your fiancée came calling.”
J.D. almost fell out of bed. “When what?” he demanded in stern tones.
Madge decided she should explain. “It was when we were both pretty much out of it. Stacy turned up and wanted to see you. Rachel told her you were sick, but she said she was your fiancée and you would want to see her.”
“Did anyone get around to telling you she’s not my fiancée?” J.D. demanded, staring at Rachel. He was careful not to let too much emotion show, or they’d suspect his feelings for Rachel. If he had the strength he’d go tell that Stacy what he thought of her antics. Couldn’t she take a hint? He’d told her bluntly that their relationship was over—not that they’d ever had one, really. He hoped Bluey had explained that to Rachel.
“Yes, don’t worry about it,” Rachel assured him, but she avoided his gaze, and he knew there was something she wasn’t telling him. But he wasn’t going to grill her in front of Madge. Besides, he didn’t have enough energy yet to do so. Maybe after he had lunch and a nap.
“Let me know if you need anything else, Madge,” Rachel said, and turned to leave. Then she looked back at J.D. “Enjoy your lunch, J.D.”
“Thanks,” he muttered, his gaze glued to the door where she disappeared.
“Lunch, J.D.,” Madge called out to him. “Come on, pay attention.”
It wasn’t easy when his mind was on one feisty brunette who seemed hell-bent on avoiding him.
BLUEY TOLD MADGE that now that he was sleeping in the bunkhouse again, he should eat dinner there, too.
She protested at once. “I don’t see why. You eat breakfast with them. I think I deserve your company during dinner. I don’t get to see much of you anymore.”
“I’ll take it as a personal insult,” Rachel added. “I don’t think my cooking is that bad.”
Bluey got completely flustered. “Madge, I can’t—Rachel, of course you can— I mean— You’re being unfair!” he finally said.
Rachel took pity on him. “I was just teasing, Bluey.”
“Well, I wasn’t,” Madge said. “We’ve got plans to make. It much easier to discuss things while we’re eating. Rachel always has good ideas, and J.D. has to be consulted on some things.”
“She has a point,” Rachel said, trying to be supportive.
“I guess so,” Bluey agreed. “I can tell the boys that. They’ll understand, then.”
“You have to explain to them?” Madge questioned, showing her irritation.
“Madge, he’s under peer pressure. It’s tough,” Rachel said, this time supporting Bluey, now that Madge had gained her point.
“That’s right. They rib me enough as it is,” Bluey added.
He immediately had Madge’s sympathy. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
Rachel knew Madge would’ve flown into his arms if she hadn’t been there. Which made her feel like a fifth wheel. “I’ll, uh, I’ll go check on J.D. He might want to get up for dinner.” She hurried out of the kitchen. When she returned, she’d be sure to cough or make noise so she didn’t embarrass them again.
She looked in on J.D., as she’d said, but he was sleeping. With nothing else to do, she went to her bedroom. She had about fifteen minutes before she needed to return to the kitchen. As she sat there, she noted the various things in her room that told a story. The boots she’d bought so she could be a “cowgirl.” The hat Madge had loaned her while she rode for J.D. The jeans she’d bought because that was the most practical gear on a ranch.
Actions spoke louder than words, she realized. She’d been preparing for life on a ranch. It didn’t make sense. She knew she’d be going back to the city, back to the job she considered useless except for a way to earn some money.
She knew it, but she didn’t want to accept it.
“Good thing J.D. can’t see what I’m seeing,” she muttered.
She got up and put her boots in the back of the closet, stowed away
her jeans and vowed to return the cowboy hat to Madge. That would keep her mind off what she wanted.
And what J.D. didn’t want.
After all, she thought sarcastically, if she stayed, the cowboys might get distracted! Heaven forbid they should learn some self-discipline.
With a sigh, she stood to go back to the kitchen.
“Rachel?” J.D. called.
She hurried to his room. His eyes were barely open.
“Yes, J.D.?”
“Is it suppertime?”
“Almost. Are you hungry?”
“Yes. I want out of this damn bed. Maybe you’d better send Bluey in here. That way I can spare your blushes.”
“I don’t remember blushing,” she told him, but she did as he asked. It was a good way to announce her return to the kitchen, too. “Bluey? J.D. needs your help.”
As he came out of the kitchen, she said, “That’s another reason you should be here in the evenings. J.D. still needs you.”
“Good thinking, Rachel. I guess I have enough reasons to stay. Thanks.”
Rachel went back into the kitchen with a smile on her face. She repeated her words to Madge and received praise in return.
“You can thank J.D.,” Rachel said. “He asked for Bluey. He said to spare my blushes, but I think it was to spare his.”
“I’m sure you’re right. He doesn’t remember the first few days of his illness, and that’s a good thing.”
“Yes, it is.”
Rachel got busy with dinner, trying to forget about J.D., but she immediately began thinking of ways to make the food look more attractive to him.
J.D. managed to eat more than he had in days. Rachel even offered him dessert. “Do you think you could eat any peach cobbler?”
“Maybe just a little bit,” he said. “It’s one of my favorites.”
She set a bowl of warm cobbler down in front of him and couldn’t resist patting his shoulder. When their gazes met, however, she hurried back to the stove.
Madge broke the awkward silence. “You know, Rachel, I believe you make cobbler better than me. You have such a light hand with the pastry.”
Rachel laughed. “Madge, I’ll believe most of your praise, because I want to, but even I can’t believe that remark.”
“True,” Bluey said. “Madge is the queen of light pastry.”
Madge blushed. “But Rachel’s is very good,” she protested.
J.D. nodded. “No one’s arguing that, Madge. I don’t know what we would’ve done without her this past week or two.”
“I’ve enjoyed it,” Rachel said.
When the other three laughed, she said, “It’s true. I’ve learned so much here, but this week I’ve proved to myself I could really do it without Madge helping me. It’s like scoring an A on a final exam, when you weren’t sure you could do it.”
“I think you scored an A-plus, Rachel, and we’re grateful,” J.D. said quietly.
His sincerity pleased her more than his words. “Thank you.”
Their conversation turned to Madge and Bluey’s honeymoon plans.
“Have you decided where you want to go?” J.D. asked.
The two exchanged a look before Madge answered. “Well, if it’s not too much to ask, we’d like to spend the week in San Antonio in a hotel on the River Walk. That looks so romantic to me, and Bluey said he’d like it, too.”
J.D. laughed. “Madge, from the way you began your request, I thought you were going to ask for a grand tour of Europe. Of course you can go to San Antonio.”
“Europe? I’d never ask for that!”
“I thought you might have a hankering to see the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben,” J.D. teased. “Are you sure that’s what you want? You could go to the Bahamas, New York City, wherever you want.”
“We want San Antonio,” she said firmly. “We’ll feel comfortable there and can relax and enjoy ourselves.”
“Good enough. I’ll start making arrangements as soon as you set a date.”
“Well,” Bluey said in an apologetic tone, “we’d like it to be soon. We don’t have as much time left as a young couple would, and we want to spend it together.”
“And,” Madge added, “we want to have Rachel at our wedding.”
“I’ll be there whenever it is, Madge, I promise.” Rachel couldn’t imagine not being at their wedding.
Madge extended her hand across the table. “You’re more like my daughter than a stranger, Rachel. I’m so glad you’ll come.”
“But it would be easier to have the wedding before she leaves,” Bluey said. “We don’t want nothing fancy.”
“I want to do you both proud,” J.D. protested.
“Maybe we could do both, J.D.,” Rachel said slowly. “As pretty as the weather is now, we could set up a trellis outdoors and decorate it with fresh flowers. The pastor could stand there and perform the marriage ceremony, with everyone sitting in folding chairs.
“Then, afterward, we could have a wedding cake and hors d’oeuvres and champagne if you want. And a bowl of punch. I think it would be lovely. Everyone could mix and mingle and enjoy themselves.”
“Oh, that sounds like exactly what I’d want,” Madge said, a big smile on her face.
“Me, too,” Bluey agreed.
“It would be a lot of work,” J.D. warned Rachel.
“I’d love doing it,” she assured him.
“Okay,” he stated. “You two decide on a date and we’ll put everything in motion.”
“Maybe we’d better have our discussion in private,” Madge said. “We’ll go into the den, so you two can enjoy your coffee, though, J.D., you shouldn’t drink too much of it.”
“Hey, I’m still working on my dessert.”
J.D. watched them as they left the room hand in hand. “It’s kind of sweet, isn’t it?”
“Yes. And I think your offer of a honeymoon trip is wonderful, J.D.”
“I was prepared to spend a lot more than a trip to San Antonio will cost me.” He grinned. “Maybe I can throw in a few extras.”
“That would be nice,” she agreed. As she started to stand, J.D. caught her wrist.
“Wait a minute. I wanted to ask you something.”
“What?” she asked, her tone cautious.
“When you were telling me about Stacy coming here, it seemed to me that you didn’t tell me everything. Is there something else, something she said?”
Rachel pulled her wrist from his hold and stood, stacking dishes. “Well, there is something… Not something she said, though.”
She put the dishes in the sink and turned to face J.D. as he sipped on his coffee.
“I’m afraid I lost my temper.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t mean to cause problems, but she was being so—so difficult that when she demanded to know who I was, I—I told her I was your other fiancée.”
J.D. choked and spewed his coffee all over the table.
Chapter Fifteen
Madge and Bluey settled on a date two weeks away.
Rachel felt she must’ve influenced them, since she was pleased to have that much longer on the ranch. However, life suddenly became much busier as Madge returned to her duties a little at a time, and the two of them started planning the reception.
J.D. finally went back to work, which gave them more time, but Rachel had to admit she missed his presence.
She and Madge were working at the kitchen table when the phone rang a couple of afternoons later. Madge answered the phone but, focused as she was on wedding details, Rachel didn’t realize anything was wrong until something in Madge’s voice caught her attention.
“Yes. Yes, of course. I’ll find a way. No, don’t worry. Everything will be fine. I’ll let you know when I’ll get there.”
Madge hung up the phone and covered her face with her hands.
Rachel sprang up from her chair and put her arms around her. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“My sister fell and broke her hip. She was crying on the phone. They’re doing hip
replacement surgery tomorrow. She’ll be in the hospital for two or three days afterward. Then she can go home if she has someone to take care of her. I’ve got to go to Dallas.”
“Oh.” Rachel realized immediately what was wrong in addition to her sister’s accident. “The wedding!”
“Yes. I hope J.D. hasn’t made any travel arrangements yet. And, Rachel, can you stay and fill in for me?”
She’d thought she had less than a week left at the ranch. But now she’d be here much longer. Happiness and regret warred within her. “Of course I can, Madge. I know you have to go to your sister. It’s a shame about the wedding, though.”
“Yes, it certainly is. I hope Bluey will understand. Oh, dear, what if he doesn’t? What if he breaks our engagement because he doesn’t want to wait? What am I going to do?”
“Madge, you know Bluey better than that. Go start packing. Everything will work out.”
As soon as Madge left the room, Rachel grabbed the walkie-talkie. She hadn’t used it before, but she was going to give it a shot. “J.D., this is base, come in.”
“Rachel? Is something wrong?”
“Yes. Madge’s sister is in the hospital. She really needs to talk to Bluey if you can spare him. It would help her a lot.”
“We’ll be right there.”
Rachel was surprised that J.D. was coming, too, but maybe they were working close to the barn. She cleared away the papers from the table and put on a fresh pot of coffee.
She hoped she’d done the right thing, but she didn’t want Madge to suffer more than she had to. It was bad enough that she had to leave Bluey and postpone her marriage without thinking he would understand. Rachel felt sure Madge was shedding a few tears as she packed.
The two men came hurrying into the house. Rachel sent Bluey to Madge’s bedroom and told J.D. to sit down. She put a cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate cake in from of him as she filled him in. “I was afraid you’d think I was being melodramatic, but Madge sounded so miserable.”
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