Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Catherine (Book 7)

by Webb, Peggy

  When they reached the compound, Catherine worked quickly to chain her elephants. Tyler considered that another good sign. He waited outside the ropes, still impatient but satisfied that his happy ending was only minutes away.

  Catherine finished her chores and turned toward him. “I was surprised to see you in the audience today, Tyler.”

  “Can you come over to this side of the rope. I’d like to talk to you without several tons of elephants between us.”

  Cat had her hand on the rope when Angel reached out with her trunk and touched her arm. The baby elephant made a soft blowing noise.

  “Oh, you poor baby.” Catherine turned back to pet her elephant.

  She knows, Tyler thought. Larry has told her about the elephants.

  As if she had read his thoughts, Catherine said, “Angel is sad because Larry sold the elephants. He told me this morning.”

  All the sparkle went out of her. Tyler silently cursed the rope that separated them.

  “Don’t worry, my sweet. The elephants are going to be fine.”

  “I can’t bear the thought of losing them again, Tyler.”

  “You don’t have to lose them.” Tyler smiled. “I bought them.”

  Catherine looked stunned. At first he thought that she was too overcome to put her pleasure into words. Then he saw her temper rise. She released Angel and marched to the ropes, her hands on her hips.

  “You bought the elephants?” Real anger sparked her eyes, but she was careful to keep her voice level.

  “Yes. I wanted...”

  “You wanted control. First Billy Joe steals them and then you buy them.” She flung her arms into the air. “Men.”

  “Cat, it’s not like that. I bought them for you.”

  “Just like Billy Joe stole them for me.” She was getting madder by the minute. “You couldn’t wait to see whether the love I felt for you was genuine, could you? Your enormous male ego wouldn’t let you consider giving me the time to make my own choice, could it? No. You had to rush down here and make sure you had the one thing I wanted—my elephants.”

  She crossed the rope then.

  “Cat.” He reached for her, but she spun out of his reach.

  “Don’t you dare touch me. You know I can’t stand it when you touch me.”

  “I thought you loved it.”

  “That’s just what I mean!” She backed toward her trailer. “I won’t let you control me, Tyler. I won’t let any man control me.”

  “You’re upset, Cat.”

  “You’re damned right I’m upset. See! You’ve got me cussing.”

  “My sweet...”

  “Don’t call me your sweet! I’m not anybody’s sweet.”

  He reached for her again, thinking to pull her into his arms until she calmed down, but she raced into her trailer and slammed the door. He knocked, but she didn’t answer.

  “Catherine. We haven’t finished.”

  “We’ve finished all right.”

  She was still madder than hell. The crazy thing was that he loved her more than ever. Catherine wasn’t going to be easy to live with, but she was definitely going to be exciting. He pounded the door again.

  “Cat, open this door and listen to me.”

  “No. Go away.”

  Tyler stepped back to consider the closed door. One good kick would send the flimsy door flying. But that wasn’t the way Tyler was going to start his relationship. He would never force his opinions or his attentions on Catherine. She had to be free, free to come to him or to leave him.

  Backing away was the hardest thing Tyler had ever done in his life. But he knew that in order to win her, he had to let her go one more time.

  “I’m leaving, Catherine,” he called through the door. “I’ll be staying at the County Line Motel in case you want to get in touch with me.” He pulled a paper out of his pocket. “And in case you need some reading material, take a look at this after I’ve gone.” He slid the paper under her door, then knocked softly, twice. “See you, my love.”

  He made himself whistle a jaunty tune as he walked away. Then he got into his car and drove to the County Line Motel.

  Catherine sat in her trailer staring at the paper five full minutes before she picked it up. She was still so mad she didn’t know what to do. To think! When she had first seen Tyler here, she’d wanted to jump off Elmer’s back and go flying into his arms.

  She had been giddy with happiness, and then he’d dropped his little bomb. He was the one who had bought her precious elephants.

  She walked to her door and picked up the paper. It was a document, a bill of sale. Her eyes skimmed the words. Everything was legal. The paper said so in words like hereby do sell and convey.

  Catherine read the next line and froze. She looked again just to be sure she hadn’t made a mistake. Her name was listed as owner of the elephants. That’s what Tyler had been trying to tell her. He had bought the elephants, all right, but he had bought them for her.

  She ran from her trailer and crossed the ropes to her elephants.

  “Oh, you beauties! You’re mine.” She cuddled each of them, telling them the good news. “You don’t ever have to worry anymore. I’ll find a place where you can roam free. You’ll never have to wear spangled blankets again or learn tricks or earn your keep by performing. You can just be animals the way nature intended.”

  Her elephants understood, as she knew they would. They purred their contentment and kissed her with their trunks. Catherine had never been as happy—except once, when she’d been living at Tyler’s farm.

  She hurried back to her trailer, showered and changed out of her costume. She rushed so, getting dressed, that she put on one pink sock and one blue.

  Her heart beating overtime, she sat on the edge of her bed to regain control. That was when the truth hit her. She couldn’t rush back to Tyler. Not this way. Not now. She had accused him of trying to control her with the elephants. If she rushed into his arms now, he’d think he had bought her affections with the elephants. What was even worse, he would never know if she really loved him.

  She went outside and sat on her front steps. The air was balmy and sweet, typical of a late lazy afternoon in the South.

  The most important truth in her life was that she loved Tyler. Ultimately, nothing else mattered. She knew what she had to do.

  She stood up and pressed her hands over her heart. Everything had to work out this time. She wouldn’t let it be any other way.

  o0o

  Tyler paced the floor of his motel room. It was a cheap motel with plastic furniture that was functional rather than beautiful. He didn’t know why he kept picking cheap when he could afford swank. He guessed he was still a maverick—always determined to do the unexpected.

  He grinned. Only a maverick, or a damned fool in love, would buy several thousand tons of elephant.

  He looked at his watch. Two hours. He’d been gone from the circus for two hours. Cat wasn’t coming. If she were coming she would already have been here.

  He checked his watch again, then pulled the thing off and threw it into his suitcase. No use getting paranoid over time. Of course, Catherine was coming. Love always won out in the end, didn’t it?

  Sitting on the edge of his bed, he repented for all the times he had failed to put a happy ending to his books. Reality, he had called it. Hell, reality stunk.

  There was a knock at his door. Not soft and ladylike, but a full-bodied, I-mean-business knock. Probably the management coming to tell him he’d used an expired credit card when he’d registered. He never could keep the aggravating things straight.

  “Tyler. Let me in.”

  He rushed to the door and jerked it open. And there she stood, smiling, her face an open invitation to touch. Still, he had to know.

  “Catherine.” He opened the door wider, and she walked inside. “Won’t you sit down?”

  She didn’t sit, but remained standing in the middle of his room.

  “You aren’t going to make this easy, are y
ou?”

  “Matters of the heart are never easy.” He was careful to keep the hope out of his voice. “Is this a matter of the heart, Catherine?”

  “Yes, Tyler, this is a matter of the heart.” He waited. “After you left I discovered two things—that I own the elephants and that I love you.” He started toward her then, but she held up her hand. “Please hear me out.”

  “All right, but make it quick, my sweet. A man in love can wait only so long.”

  “My love has nothing to do with the elephants. What you did was kind and generous and I will forever be grateful, but I would have come to the same conclusion without the gift. It’s very important to me that you understand that.” She took a step toward him. “I love you, Tyler. I think I’ve loved you all along. It just took me a while to find it out.”

  Tyler couldn’t bear the waiting any longer. He scooped her into his arms and thoroughly kissed her.

  “Tyler,” she said, laughing. “I haven’t finished yet.”

  “Neither have I.” He kissed her again for such a long time she could hardly get her breath. “What comes next, Cat? The part where you get down on your knees and propose to me?”

  “I don’t want to steal all the scenes. I thought I’d leave that part up to you.”

  He dropped to his knees and took her hand.

  “Cat, pretend we’re on my farm in the moonlight and a string quartet is nearby playing love ballads.”

  “You’re not going to sing, are you?”

  “Only after we’re married and I’m in the shower. You’ll be there, too, of course.”

  “Naturally.”

  “Now you have to imagine that I’m wearing a tuxedo and you’re dressed in silver.”

  “Will these do?” She held out her foot so the silver rhinestone buckle on her outrageous high heels caught the light.

  He kissed her ankle then propped her foot on his bended knee.

  “Miss DeChello, I do believe you dressed for this proposal.”

  “I pride myself on being ready for anything.”

  “Even living on a secluded farm with lots room for a clinic of veterinary medicine and seven tons of elephants and all the children we’ll have?”

  “Wait a minute, Tyler. Where’s that part about you loving me and me loving you right back? Extravagantly, as a matter of fact. And then the part about me saying yes and you kissing me to seal the bargain?”

  “You forgot about the ring. Close your eyes.”

  “Okay. What do you want me to imagine?”

  “A diamond as big as Texas surrounded by enough emeralds and sapphires to set a crown for a queen.”

  “Oh, I love the sound of that. It’s extravagant and decadent, something that The Great Gatsby would give Daisy.”

  “How about something Tyler West would give to Catherine the Great?”

  She felt cool metal as he slipped a ring on her finger. Her eyes flew open, and there on her left hand was the most outrageously gorgeous ring she could ever have imagined – totally inappropriate for a woman planning to get her hands dirty on a daily basis in the clinic they would build. And yet the ring was totally perfect to seal the engagement of two people who never played by the rules.

  “Tyler, it’s gorgeous. Hurry up and say, Will you marry me, so I can say, Yes.”

  “Do I have to say it just like that? Will you marry me?”

  “No. You can improvise. But make it short. I’m dying to kiss you.”

  “Cat, loving you is better than making the New York Times bestseller list and winning the Pulitzer. It’s better than buttered popcorn and lobster and key lime pie. If I could give you every star in the sky, I’d pile them at your feet. But you’d still outshine them. You’re the most glorious woman I’ve ever known, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you do me the great honor of becoming Mrs. Tyler West?”

  “Yes! Oh yes!” She squatted beside him, and buried her face in his neck. “You’ve made me the happiest woman alive.”

  “Do you always cry on occasions like this?”

  “Only when I’m happy. Tyler, you’ve given me Camelot.”

  “And you’ve given me heaven.”

  Tyler still believed in having the last word.

  He started kissing her then, and they didn’t come up for air for a very long time.

  o0o

  From: Catherine

  To: Belinda, Clemmie, Molly, Joanna, Janet, Bea

  Re: The Wedding

  I was so giddy when I called that I forgot to say Tyler and I have decided to have the wedding in Tupelo in Belinda’s garden. (Thanks, Belinda! I couldn’t bear not to have you at the wedding!)

  Molly, go ahead and have Robin send those pink bridesmaid dresses from Paris. Tell him to pick out a wedding gown for me, too, size 6, and send the bill to us at the attached address. Did I tell you, Tyler has renamed his farm Camelot? He’s such a romantic! And a fabulous kisser, too! I can’t wait to find out the rest. You’ll be happy to know I didn’t break Rule Four, though it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done!

  Cat

  o0o

  Cat and the rest of the Dixie Virgin were upstairs in Belinda’s bedroom suite, putting the finishing touches on their hair and makeup.

  “I feel like a pink barge.” Belinda wrapped her arms around her huge abdomen, then leaned down to address her unborn child. “As much as I wish you were here, you can’t come out till this wedding is over.”

  “I can’t wait to be that big.” Clemmie turned sideways to show off her baby bump.

  “I have news!” Joanna said, and everybody said at the same time, “You’re pregnant!”

  “Not yet. But Kirk has promised next year! I’ve decided to have a girl, and I’m already looking at summer camps so all our girls become best friends.”

  “A second generation of Dixie Virgins,” Bea said, laughing and Cat and the other bridesmaids hurled pink hair ribbons at her.

  “Please,” Molly said. “Don’t even think of imposing Rule Four on our girls.”

  “Molly, are you trying to tell us something?” Bea said.

  “No. I told you; Sam and I are planning to wait. But when I do get pregnant, I’ve decided to have them all at one time, triplets, two girls and boy.”

  “Good luck with that, Molly,” Janet said. “If you can figure out how to make it happen, let me know. I’ll make history in the medical journals.”

  There was a tap on the door. “Ya’ll are having too much fun in here.” Quincy marched in, grinning. “There’s a mighty anxious bridegroom downstairs, and I ‘spect if we don’t start this weddin’ soon, that baby’s gonna be born right in the middle of it.”

  Pink taffeta rustled as the Dixie Virgins swooped toward Cat to arrange her wedding veil and make sure she didn’t forget her bridal bouquet.

  Tyler was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs, smiling as if he’d just seen heaven. As Cat marched down the stairs with the Dixie Virgins coming down two by two behind her, she knew it was day she’d never forget.

  The wedding party went into the garden, which had been turned into a fairyland of candles and streamers and glittering stars suspended from the trees. Tyler and Cat had written their own vows, and more than one Dixie Virgin had tears in her eyes as he pledged his love that gave her wings to fly and the freedom in which to do so, and she pledged her love that would last forever.

  When the minister said, “You may kiss your bride,” Reeve gave the signal and wings beat upward as white doves climbed toward the sky.

  Everybody cheered, and amidst it all, Belinda went into labor.

  Reeve raced his wife to the hospital, and the wedding party all climbed into their cars and followed.

  Tyler couldn’t have been more pleased. He loved the unexpected, and when he scooped up his bride and carried her over the threshold of the Emergency Room door, an orderly winked at him and said, “Man, you work fast, don’t you?”

  “Sure do.” Tyler winked back then leaned down to kiss his bride, muc
h to the delight of the ER staff.

  “Looks like we made it in time for the afternoon matinee,” Cat said, grinning.

  “Yeah, but we’re not the main attraction.” He nodded toward the gurney where Belinda, still in her bridesmaid dress, was surrounded by a bevy of Dixie Virgins in pink.

  “Maybe next time, we’ll be in the center ring,” Cat said.

  “You reckon we can find a broom closet so we can get started on that little project?”

  “I’ve waited all my life. I think I can wait until we have a soft bed and music and candlelight.”

  “Any other requests, Mrs. West?”

  “Just one.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You have to be present at the beginning, the middle and the end of all our projects.”

  “We’ll name the first one Pulitzer.”

  Cat laughed so much, heads turned. “Only if I get to name the second one Elvira.”

  “Catherine DeChello West, you drive a hard bargain.”

  “How hard?”

  “Very,” Tyler said, winking. He loved having the last word.

  o0o

  From: Catherine

  To: Belinda, Joanna, Molly, Janet, Bea, Clemmie

  From: The clinic

  Things are glorious here at Camelot! I’m busy every day at the animal clinic, and Tyler’s last book, Angel at Large, just got a nomination for the Pulitzer. The elephants are thriving. We made sure they have a habitat that reminds them of being in the wild. In fact, Tyler and I are going to start an animal wildlife preserve. Not on Camelot. This is our private paradise. But we’re looking at land in Tennessee in the Cumberland Valley. If you know anybody who’d make a good manager, let us know.

  Tyler’s happy, I’m happy and Virginia is over the moon!!!

  Cat

  P.S. Belinda, how’s my little namesake?

  From: Belinda

  To: Catherine, Joanna, Molly, Bea, Janet, Clemmie

  Re: Belinda Catherine

  She’s gorgeous and totally wonderful and absolutely spoiled and everybody in the family dotes on her. Betsy and Mark can’t get enough of hearing the story of how their baby sister decided to come into the world so she could be part of the wedding! Of course, I plan to have five more just like her! After all, I have to five more Dixie Virgin friends who need a namesake! Since Lindy Cat – did I tell you, that’s what the kids are calling her – was born during your wedding, it was only natural that you be the first godmother, Cat.