“I understand she does all right in the stock market, too. She’s got an uncle who’s a stock whiz and he’s been teaching her.”
“You’d better catch her before someone else does.” Bill fixed himself a cup of coffee, too, and sat at the table. “Which reminds me, what do you have planned for tonight?”
“Uh, nothing, Dad. There isn’t a movie house or anything here.”
“No, not for me. I’m happy to just sit and talk, but it’s Friday night. Doesn’t Tori expect you to spend time with her?”
Jon thought about Tori’s possible reaction to that question. “Uh, no, I hadn’t made any plans for tonight.”
“Well, you should. You will lose her if you don’t.”
“We watched a movie on television the other night. Why don’t we do that?”
“On that little bitty television?”
“No. Tori has a nice-size television. We could ask her to let us join her. I could go buy some steaks and cook them over there. What about that?”
“That’s a good idea, but don’t count me in. That wouldn’t be romantic!”
“Dad, we want you to share the evening with us. In fact, I’ll run to the grocery store before it closes. You go arrange everything with Tori while I buy some groceries.” He wanted to kiss his dad. He hadn’t figured out a way to see Tori this evening. Now his father would ask, and he knew Tori wouldn’t refuse.
“Well, okay, but I don’t want to be in the way.”
“You won’t be, Dad.”
“BUT MOM,” Tori began to protest.
“Where are your manners, young lady? Jon’s father has come to visit and you don’t want to invite them to dinner?”
“Mother, if you want to call Jon and ask him and Bill to dinner, that’s fine. There’s no reason for me to be involved.”
She held her breath, hoping her mother would buy that argument.
Her mother calmly said, “I’ll expect the three of you to be here at seven. I think Rich and Samantha and Lavinia will be here, also.”
Before Tori could protest, her mother said goodbye and hung up the phone.
“Oh, great. This is all Jon’s fault!”
She gave in, as she’d known she would, and lifted the phone again, calling Jon next door. It would be easier to extend the invitation on the phone. She might even get to talk to Bill instead of Jon. Bill, who didn’t embarrass her, tempt her or touch her.
Bill answered the phone.
“Hello?” His voice was very hesitant.
“Bill, it’s Tori.”
“Tori! I was just coming to see you,” he said, sounding more confident. “Jon has gone to the grocery store to get steaks. We’ll cook dinner if we can watch television at your place. You know, Jon’s television is terrible.”
“I know.” She cleared her throat. “But those plans won’t work.”
Before she could explain, he asked, “You’ve got a date with someone else?”
“No, Bill, not at all. But my mother called and invited the three of us to come for dinner at the ranch. Would you like that?”
“At a real ranch?”
“Yes, Bill, at a real ranch.”
“You know, I think I’m really going to like it here in Rawhide.”
Chapter Fourteen
After dinner that night, Tori began clearing the table, following the rule that the children cleaned the kitchen, when she noticed that her father and Bill had their heads together. Brett loved numbers and accounting, and his brothers looked upon it as a necessary evil. Now he had Tori to talk to, and Russ, but no one his own age.
“Hey, Jon, looks like your dad and Uncle Brett are hitting it off,” Casey pointed out.
“Yeah. It’s real friendly of Brett.”
Tori hadn’t realized Jon was staying in the kitchen. She whirled around. “Why don’t you join them, Jon? After all, you’re a guest.” She’d be able to breathe much better with him out of the kitchen.
He stepped to Tori’s side. “You telling me I’m too old to help out?”
Desperately afraid he’d kiss her again in front of all her cousins, she ducked away from him and headed to the sink with her stack of dishes. “No, of course not.”
“Not too old, but you’re a doctor,” Jessica pointed out. “So you don’t get to wash. We don’t want your talented hands to shrivel up,” she added with a grin. “What do you choose, loading the dishwasher or wielding a mop?”
“You organizing us, Jess?” Elizabeth asked in surprise.
“The sooner we get finished, the sooner we can go into town,” Jessica pointed out. “I’ve got a new outfit I intend to show off. Hopefully, it will impress a certain man I’ve got my eye on.”
Everyone laughed, with a shout or two of “Go for it, Jess!”
Elizabeth smiled at her with a touch of pity. “That’s just a meat market, Jess. You can do better than that.”
“I don’t know,” Jessica teased. “I think Toby showed his face at the ‘meat market’ a few times.”
“So did Elizabeth, I do believe,” Toby pointed out. “She almost drove me crazy.”
Though her cheeks were red, Elizabeth moved into her husband’s arms and said, “Good.”
Jim, Elizabeth’s brother, one of Chad and Megan’s two sons, protested. “Don’t get mushy in here, you two. Go talk with the others. We’ll finish the cleanup.”
Toby cocked an eyebrow. “You’re heading into town, too, I suppose.”
“Yeah,” Jim admitted with a grin.
Elizabeth said, “I’ve got a better idea. As soon as the kitchen is mopped and the food put away, why don’t you all go ahead? Toby and I will finish here.”
Several people cheered and worked faster.
Toby protested, but everyone knew he was teasing. “Where are Rich and Russ when I need them? They already have—” He stopped abruptly and the kitchen grew deadly silent. “Sorry,” Toby mumbled. “I forgot.”
In an attempt to divert everyone’s attention, Tori said, “I’ll be glad to help, Elizabeth.”
“Thanks,” Elizabeth said, “but you should go kick up your heels, Tori. You’ve had a rough time lately.”
“They have dancing?” Jon asked. “I didn’t realize—”
“You like dancing, Doc?” Jim asked, relief on his face as the awkward moment passed.
“I’ve been known to dance a little. Of course, I don’t know how to line dance. Is that what you do here?”
“Sometimes,” Jim agreed, “but it’s easy.”
“Yeah, maybe I can get Tori to teach me.”
Tori discovered everyone in the room staring at her.
“You’ll find lots of ladies willing to teach you,” she assured Jon stiffly. “I’m going to stay here.”
JON IMMEDIATELY GOT CLOSE to Jim and quietly suggested that he convince Tori to join the group going to town, adding that she needed to have fun for a change.
He was relieved when Jim accommodated him. Because the thought of dancing with Tori almost had Jon tongue-tied. The idea of holding her close, putting his arms around her, feeling her body touching his, brought a hunger so intense he was afraid his body might betray him in front of everyone.
And he knew Tori would refuse to go if he was the one pressing her.
Fifteen minutes later, it was settled. Tori had agreed to go. Jon had been careful to keep a low profile. But he slipped into the living room to tell his father he was going to town with the other young people and would be back in a couple of hours. If he didn’t want to wait that long, Bill could go with Jon.
Brett looked at him. “Jon, if you’re going with our kids, I wouldn’t count on being back in a couple of hours.”
“Nope,” Jake added. “Our kids party hard, just like they do everything else. Why not let Bill spend the night here? You can bring him some fresh clothes early in the morning. In fact, you should both stay the weekend. We’re going to give Bill some riding lessons.”
Jon stared at his father. “Dad? What do you want to do?�
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His father was embarrassed by his question. “I don’t want to cause any trouble. I can go back now and have you drop me off at the apartment.”
Jon studied his father. When he’d come in, he’d noted how comfortable his father was with these men. Contrasting that to the picture of his father sitting in the apartment alone made Jon decide what to do. “I’ll be out early with some clean clothes, Dad. Don’t get on a horse until I get here. I need a few pointers, too.”
The light returned to his father’s eyes. “You’re sure it’s not too much of an imposition?” he asked Brett.
After being reassured, Bill told Jon he’d see him in the morning and showed no anxiety at being abandoned. Jon almost chuckled aloud at that thought. As if his father were a child.
He returned to the kitchen.
“They’re waiting for you outside,” Elizabeth told him. Toby grinned in encouragement and waved him through the kitchen to the outside. He hurried. He wasn’t going to miss his opportunity to dance with Tori.
When he got outside, he thought the others had left without him. He stood there, trying to think what to do, when Casey, the twins’ younger brother, called to him. “Come on, Doc. I’m your guide.”
He hadn’t seen the boy in the shadows, but Casey was waiting by Jon’s SUV. With a grin, he ran for the driver’s seat and they were on their way.
“Not that you really need a guide, ’cause there’s only one place to go. Nothing else is open, except for the café until nine. Then it’s closed, too.”
“Did Tori go with the others?” Jon asked, wanting to be sure she’d be there.”
“Yeah. But I told her I’d wait for you.”
Jon didn’t tell Casey he’d have preferred Tori’s company. But it was best that she went with someone else. It gave him time to get his body under control.
The bar and restaurant, a steak house, wasn’t too far from his apartment. “Are the steaks good here?” he asked Casey, thinking he needed to bring his dad here for dinner one night.
“Yeah, but that’s not what we came for,” Casey reminded him, waggling his eyebrows.
“You’ve got a special lady?” Jon asked.
Casey’s grin widened. “Several.”
Jon couldn’t help himself. “You are responsible, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, Dad, I’m responsible.”
“Sorry, I know it’s none of my business.” Not only was it none of his business, but he hadn’t taken his own advice, which made him ashamed.
“It probably is, since the consequences might involve you, but our parents have drilled that into our heads. But I’m not—I mean, I haven’t—I like dancing with girls.”
Jon grinned. “Good. So do I.”
“You’ll get your chance tonight.”
TORI HAD JUST FINISHED assuring a handsome cowboy that there was nothing between her and the new doctor, when Jon walked in. She knew at once he was there.
She quickly looked away and asked the cowboy about a local rodeo coming up soon.
He expounded on his entries and his chances for several minutes, but Tori didn’t hear much. Fortunately, an occasional word kept him going for a while, until the music ended.
They turned to leave the dance floor and she came face-to-face with Jon. “Oh, hi, Jon. Have you met Yancy Brown?”
Jon extended his hand and nodded to the cowboy.
“Good to meet you, Doc. Might come in handy since I’m going to bull-ride in the Buffalo Wild West Rodeo next week.”
“Ah, sounds exciting.”
“It can be,” the cowboy said with a grin.
Jon decided he liked the man in spite of the fact that his arm was still around Tori’s small waist. When the music started again, he quickly said, “Hope you don’t mind if I borrow your partner.” He didn’t wait for the man’s agreement as he pulled Tori into his arms.
“As long as you bring her back,” Yancy called after him.
Tori had said nothing, because she hadn’t realized Jon’s intention. Now she protested, “I don’t believe you asked me.”
“Madam Honey, will you dance with me?”
“Gee, a girl loves to dance with someone who doesn’t know her name,” Tori teased, smiling at his ridiculous form of address.
“Oops. I made a mistake. It must be Madam Sweetheart. Or sugar-pie. I heard your mother call you that tonight. I like that name.”
“Only mothers get to use those absurd words.”
“When you’re a mother, will you use it?”
Those words reminded her again of their past. She immediately tried to put some distance between them. Distance she could admit to herself she didn’t want. But she couldn’t tell Jon that.
“Whoa! Where are you going?”
“I—I didn’t want to crowd you,” she mumbled.
“Crowd away, sweetheart. You can’t get too close for me.”
“Jon—”
“I’ll behave, Tori, I promise,” he quickly said as she started to leave him. “You were dancing closer with that cowboy than you are with me.”
“He’s an old friend.”
“I thought maybe we’d become friends this week. I’ve tried to get closer to you. That’s what your cousins reminded me of. That we put the cart before the horse,” he said, suddenly serious.
So that had been what her cousins said. She’d wondered. Her respect for them grew, because they were right. There had been so little between Jon and her—no memories, nothing in common. Well, a little, but not enough to bring them to such intimacy.
So why did she long for him to make love to her again? A few lunches, watching a movie with a chaperon, meeting his father. Even now, they were only at the beginning of a friendship, much less—
“Yes, we’re friends, but not lovers,” she said firmly, trying to belie the feelings she could admit only to herself.
“Good. That means we can dance a little closer.” He pulled her against him and she gave up protesting. She was enjoying being close to him too much.
JON WASN’T SURPRISED when Tori refused the next dance with him. She wanted to keep people from talking. He knew he’d have to pace himself with her, but he didn’t want to. He didn’t want her in another man’s arms. She was his!
He sighed. Damn weird time to realize that. But he knew the feeling had been growing in him all week. If he hadn’t made love to her in the cabin, he’d be hot on her trail now, hoping to. But he figured it would be a long time before she’d trust him that much. Maybe not until their wedding night.
He returned to the big table the Randalls were occupying. Casey and Josh, Jake and B.J.’s youngest, though he was older than Casey, were sitting there along with a lady. Jon recognized Sarah, Jennifer’s sister, and greeted her.
She responded, but with a lot of reserve.
“How about a dance, Sarah? I don’t know many people here, especially pretty ladies,” Jon said with a smile.
There was a silence that told him she wasn’t anxious to accommodate him, but she finally agreed.
Once they started dancing, he said, “Unhappy with me?”
Her head jerked up and she stared at him. “I don’t appreciate your hurting Jennifer.”
He frowned. “I had no intention of hurting her. How did I do that?”
“She made it obvious she was interested in dating you and you rejected her.”
Jon figured that was Jennifer’s interpretation. “I’m sorry, but I had already—I’m interested in someone else. Jennifer is a beautiful young lady, as you are, but when you fall for someone else, what can you do?”
“Tori?”
Jon nodded. He knew Tori would be upset if she heard him, but he didn’t care. He wanted everyone to know he wanted her. Particularly every cowboy in the state.
“Oh.”
They danced in silence. Then Sarah said, “Tori is a good friend. I’ll tell Jennifer. She’ll forgive you then.”
Jon said, “I don’t believe I need to have forgiveness for following my
heart.”
“You don’t understand. Tori was matchmaking when she brought us into the picture. Jen thought she was doing Tori a favor.”
“I understand that, but I think your sister got her nose out of joint because I didn’t fall at her feet.”
“Of course she did. Men do that all the time.” Sarah paused, then added, “I know she’s a little spoiled, but she’s very beautiful.”
“Doesn’t it happen to you, too?”
“No, of course not,” Sarah said, dismissing such an idea.
“Sarah, I think you sadly underestimate yourself.”
She smiled. “No, Jon, I learned to face facts a long time ago. Jen has always been the pretty one. I’ve been her protector, like her mother, since our mom died when I was eight. Dad’s gone now, too, so I’m the only one left to take care of her.”
Jon was astounded. Sarah talked as if she were a parent. “How much older are you than Jennifer?”
“Three years. I’m twenty-eight.”
“And who takes care of you?”
She appeared startled. “Why, me, of course. I’m fortunate that I have a good head for business.”
The music ended, and Jon asked, “Friends?”
“Friends,” she agreed, a charming smile on her face. Jon decided she was worth a lot more than her sister. He admitted Jennifer wasn’t a bad sort, but, as he’d suspected earlier, she was spoiled. When push came to shove, maybe she’d be as worthy as Sarah.
But he wanted Tori. He took Sarah back to the table, where Jennifer, surrounded by several cowboys, was standing. She gave him a cool nod and then smiled at one of her companions. Jon smiled at Sarah. “I’m glad we got to visit.”
Tori approached the table with her partner. She wanted to talk to Sarah, but Jon didn’t think that was a good idea. Besides, he wanted her back in his arms.
“I think this is a line dance, Tori. You said you’d teach me,” he reminded her.
“I don’t think—” she began, but he pulled her after him, not having really seen denial in her eyes.
“Jon, we can’t dance every dance together,” she whispered.
“I know. Just every other one.”
She choked, but he loved the sparkle in her blue eyes. Then he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close.
Randall Honor Page 15
