Orchard Valley Brides

by Debbie Macomber

  “The mayor’s got a good ear if you change your mind.”

  Sherry gritted her teeth in her effort not to lose her temper. Something would have to be said, and soon; the situation was getting out of hand.

  Sherry saw several patients that morning, the majority of them children having physicals before the start of the school year, which was only a week away. Rather than risk another confrontation with Donna Jo and the lunch crowd at the Yellow Rose, she ordered a chef’s salad and had it delivered.

  At one, Mrs. Colson ushered her into Doc’s office, where a tall, regal-looking older woman in a lovely blue suit was waiting for her. The woman’s hair was white, and she wore it in an elegant French roll.

  “Hello,” Sherry said. The older woman sat, her legs crossed, her designer purse in her lap.

  “You must be Sherry. I’m Judith Bailman, Cody’s mother. I’ve come from Dallas to meet you.”

  Sherry felt an overwhelming urge to sit down, too. “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Bailman.”

  “The pleasure is mine. I understand there are several things we need to discuss.”

  Sherry couldn’t seem to make her mouth work. She turned and pointed at the door in a futile effort to explain that she was on duty. Unfortunately, no patients were waiting at the moment.

  “Mrs. Colson’s arranged for us to have several minutes of privacy, so you don’t need to worry we’ll be interrupted.”

  “I…see.” Sherry claimed Doc’s chair, on the other side of the desk, nearly falling into it. “What can I do for you, Mrs. Bailman?”

  “I understand my son’s proposed to you?” She eyed Sherry speculatively.

  Sherry didn’t mean to sound curt, but after everything that had happened that day, she was in no mood to review her private life with anyone. “I believe that’s between Cody and me.”

  “I quite agree. I don’t want to be nosy. I hope you’ll forgive me. It’s just that Cody’s been single all these years, so I couldn’t help getting excited when Heather mentioned—”

  “Heather?” Sherry interrupted. Just as she’d expected. That explained everything.

  “Why, yes. My granddaughter phoned me first thing this morning.” A smile tempted the edges of her mouth. “She’s concerned that her father’s going to ruin her best chance at having a mom and being a big sister, and knowing my son, I’m betting she’s right.”

  “Mrs. Bailman—”

  “Please, call me Judith.”

  “Judith,” Sherry said, “don’t get me wrong, I think the world of Cody and Heather. Your son did ask me to marry him—in a rather offhand way.”

  The woman’s mouth tightened. “That sounds like Cody.”

  “If you must know, I turned him down. Cody makes marriage seem about as appealing as a flu shot.”

  Judith laughed. “I can see I’m going to like you, Sherry Waterman.”

  “Thank you.” She wasn’t accustomed to having an entire town and now the man’s mother involved in one of her relationships. At least when she lived in Orchard Valley, her life was mostly her own. The minute she’d been hired to work in Pepper, her personal business was up for grabs.

  “I hope you’ll forgive me for being so blunt, but are you in love with Cody?”

  Sherry meant to explain that she was attracted to Judith’s son, then add how much she respected and liked him, but instead, she found herself nodding.

  The full impact of the truth took her by storm. She closed her eyes and waited several seconds for the torrent of emotion to pass.

  Judith smiled and sighed with apparent relief. “I guessed as much. I tried speaking to him about you, but he refused. Truth be known, I would’ve been surprised if he had listened,” she murmured. “That boy’s more stubborn than a mule.”

  The description was apt, and Sherry smiled.

  “If he knew I was here, he’d never forgive me, so I’m going to have to ask for your discretion.”

  “Of course.” Sherry glanced worriedly at the door.

  “You needn’t worry that Martha Colson will say anything. We’ve been friends for years.” She looked past Sherry and out the window. “Be patient with him, Sherry. He’s closed himself off from love, and I know he’s fighting his feelings for you with the full strength of his will. Which, I might add, is formidable.”

  That much Sherry knew.

  “Cody deserves your love,” Judith went on. “Sure he has his faults, but believe me, the woman my son loves will be happy. When he falls in love again, it’ll be with his whole heart and soul. It may take some time, but I promise you the wait will be worth it.”

  Sherry wasn’t sure how to respond. “I’ll…I’ll remember that,” she promised.

  “Now—” Judith gave a deep sigh and stood “—I should be on my way. Remember, not a word to either my son or my granddaughter.”

  “I promise.”

  Judith hugged her and said again, “Be patient with Cody.”

  “I’ll try,” Sherry whispered.

  Cody’s mother left by the back door. When Mrs. Colson returned, her sparkling eyes met Sherry’s and she said, “This visit will be our little secret, won’t it?”

  “What visit?” she replied.

  Friday evening, Sherry sat out on the porch in front of the clinic enjoying the coolness. She rocked peacefully on the swing and listened to the night sounds. Crickets telegraphed greetings to one another, and music from the local tavern drifted toward her.

  Evenings were her favorite time. Sherry loved to sit outside and think about her day. Her life was falling into a pattern now as she adjusted to the people of Pepper. Often she read or called family and friends or sent e-mails using her laptop computer. Norah’s birthday was coming up soon, and Sherry had spent the earlier part of the evening writing her a long, chatty message.

  Her heart seemed to skip a beat when Cody’s pickup drew to a stop by the clinic. She got up and walked over to the steps, leaning against the support beam as he climbed out of the cab and came toward her.

  “Hi, Sherry,” he said, his expression a bit sheepish.

  “Hi, Cody.”

  He looked at her for several seconds as if trying to remember the purpose of his visit. Sherry decided to make it easier for him. “Would you care to sit with me?” She motioned toward the swing.

  “Don’t mind if I do.” He’d recently shaved and the familiar scent of his aftershave floated past her as he moved to the swing.

  They sat side by side, swaying gently. Neither seemed ready to talk.

  “I was on my way over to a friend’s place to play poker,” he said at last, “when I saw you sitting here.”

  “I do most evenings. Nights are so beautiful here. I love stargazing. It’s one of the reasons I’d never be happy in a big city. Sometimes the sky’s so full I can’t stop looking.”

  “Have you had a good week?” he asked.

  “A busy one. What about you?”

  “The same.” His eyes met hers. “Any problems?”

  “Such as?”

  He shrugged and looked past her to the street. “I thought there might’ve been some talk about, you know, us.”

  “There was definitely some heavy speculation after our trip last weekend.”

  “Anyone pestering you?”

  “Not really. What about you?”

  He laughed lightly. “You mean other than Heather and Janey?”

  The bench squeaked in the quiet that followed.

  “I’ve been thinking about what you said,” he finally muttered. “About romance.”

  “Oh?”

  “To my way of thinking, it’s not necessary.”

  Sherry frowned. “So you’ve said.” Countless times, but reminding him of that would have sounded petty and argumentative. The moment was peaceful, and she didn’t want to ruin it. “Tell me what you want and I’ll do it,” he said decisively.

  “You want a list?”

  “That’d help. I’m no good at this sort of thing, and I’m go
ing to need a few instructions.”

  Sherry turned to look at him. She pressed her hand to his cheek. “That’s really very sweet, Cody. I’m touched.”

  “If that’s the only way I can convince you to marry me, then what the heck, I’ll do it. Just tell me what you want, so I don’t waste a lot of time.”

  “I…I hate to disappoint you, but giving you instructions would defeat the purpose. It has to come from your heart, Cody.” She moved her hand to his chest and held it there. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be sincere.”

  A frown quickly snapped into place. “You want me to do a few mushy things to prove I’m sincere, but you aren’t willing to tell me what they are?”

  “You make it sound silly.”

  “As far as I’m concerned, it is. Asking you to marry me is as sincere as I can get. And if that isn’t good enough—”

  Their peace was about to be destroyed, and Sherry was unwilling to let it happen. So she acted impulsively and stopped him the only way she knew would work.

  She kissed him.

  The instant her mouth covered his, she felt his anger melt away. His kiss was both tender and fierce. His breath was warm, his lips hot and eager, and the kiss left her trembling.

  Then he began kissing her neck, from her chin to her shoulder. As always happened when he touched her, Sherry felt like Dorothy caught up in the tornado, spinning out of control before landing in a magical land. When he raised his head from hers, she immediately missed him. Missed his warmth, his passion, his closeness.

  Cody started to say something, then changed his mind. He raised his finger to her face and brushed it down her cheek. “I have to go.”

  She wanted him to stay, but wouldn’t ask it of him.

  “The guys are waiting for me. They’re counting on me.”

  “It’s all right, Cody.”

  He stood and thrust his hands in his jeans pockets, as if to stop himself from reaching for her again. That thought helped lighten the melancholy she experienced at his leaving.

  “It was good to see you again,” he said stiffly.

  “Good to see you, too,” she returned just as stiffly.

  He hesitated on the top step and turned back to face her. “Uh, you’re sure you don’t want to give me a few tips on, uh, romance?”

  “I’m confident you aren’t going to need them. Follow your heart, Cody, and I promise you it’ll lead directly to mine.”

  He smiled, and Sherry swore she’d never seen anything sexier.

  She didn’t hear from Cody all day Saturday, which was disappointing. She’d hoped he’d taken her words to heart and understood what she’d been trying to say.

  Yes, she wanted to be courted the way women had been courted for centuries. But she also wanted to be loved. Cody was more afraid of love than he was of marriage.

  Late that night when she was in bed reading, she heard something or someone outside her bedroom window. At first she didn’t know what to make of it. The noise was awful, loud and discordant. Several minutes passed before she realized it was someone playing a guitar, or rather, attempting to play a guitar.

  She pulled open the blinds and looked out to see Cody standing on the lawn, crooning for all he was worth. Whatever he was singing—or thought he was singing—was completely unrecognizable to her.

  “Cody!” she shouted, jerking up the window and poking her head out. “What on earth are you doing?”

  He started to sing louder. Sherry winced. His singing was worse than his guitar-playing. Holding up the window with one hand, she covered her ear with the other.

  “Cody!” she shouted again.

  “You wanted romance,” he called back and then repeatedly strummed the guitar in a burst of energy. “This comes straight from the heart, just like you wanted.”

  “Have you been drinking?”

  He laughed and threw back his head, running his fingers over the guitar strings with hurried, unpracticed movements. “You don’t honestly think I’d try this sober, do you?”

  “Cody!”

  The sound of a police siren in the background startled Sherry. It was the first time she’d heard one in Pepper. Apparently there was some kind of trouble, but Sherry didn’t have time to think about that now, not with Cody serenading her, sounding like a sick bull.

  “Cody!”

  “What’s the matter?” he shouted. “You said you wanted romance. Well, this is it. The best I can do.”

  “Give me a minute to get dressed and I’ll be right out.” She started to lower the window, then poked her head out again. “Don’t go away, and quit playing that guitar!”

  “Anything you want,” he said, strumming even more wildly and discordantly than before.

  Lowering the window didn’t help. Cody knew as much about guitar-playing as she did about mustering cattle. Pulling on jeans and a light sweater, she slipped her feet into tennis shoes and hurried out the door. Fortunately the siren, too, had stopped.

  As she came out onto the porch, she was gratified to realize he’d stopped playing. It wasn’t until she’d reached the bottom step that she noticed the police car parked in front of the clinic.

  Hurrying around to the side of the building, she encountered Cody and a sheriff’s deputy, whose flashlight was zeroed in on her romantic idiot.

  “Is there a problem here?” Sherry asked. She hadn’t met this particular deputy, but the name tag above his shirt pocket read Steven Bean.

  “No problem, isn’t that right, Mr. Bailman?”

  “None whatsoever,” Cody said, looking almost sober. If it wasn’t for the cocky smile he wore, it would’ve been impossible to tell he’d been drinking. “I only had a couple shots of whiskey,” he explained. “I had to, or I’d never have had the guts to pull this off.”

  “Are you arresting Mr. Bailman?” Sherry asked.

  “We’ve had three calls in the last five minutes,” Deputy Bean said. “The first call said there was a wounded animal in town. The second caller thought there was a fight of some kind going on. And the third one came from Mayor Bowie. He said we had the authority to do whatever was necessary to put an end to that infernal racket. Those were his precise words.”

  “I may not be another Willie Nelson, but my singing isn’t that bad,” Cody protested.

  “Trust me, Bailman, it’s bad.”

  Cody turned to Sherry for vindication. Even though he was serenading her in the name of romance, even though he was suffering this embarrassment on her behalf, she couldn’t bring herself to lie.

  “I think it’d be better if you didn’t sing again for a while,” she suggested tactfully.

  He sent her an injured look, then turned to the deputy. “Are you gonna take me to jail?” he demanded.

  “I could, you know,” Deputy Bean told him.

  “On what grounds?” Sherry challenged.

  “Disturbing the peace, for starters.”

  “I didn’t know it was unlawful to play the guitar,” Cody said, sounding aggrieved.

  “It is the way you do it,” Deputy Bean muttered.

  “He won’t be doing it again,” Sherry promised, looking at Cody. “Right?”

  “Right.” Cody held up his hand.

  The deputy sighed and lowered his flashlight. “In that case, why don’t we just drop this? I’ll let you off with a warning.”

  “Thank you,” Sherry said.

  The deputy began to leave, but Cody stopped him. “Will there be a report of this in the paper on Wednesday?”

  The officer shrugged. “I suppose. The Weekly reports all police calls.”

  “I’d appreciate it if you could see that this one doesn’t make the paper.”

  “I can’t do that, Mr. Bailman.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not the one who turns the calls over to Mr. Douglas. He comes in every morning and collects them himself.”

  “Then make sure he doesn’t have anything to collect,” Cody said.

  The deputy shrugged again. “I’ll do
my best, but I’m not making any promises. We got three calls, you know.”

  Cody waited until the patrol car had disappeared into the night before he removed his Stetson and slammed it against his leg. He frowned at his mangled hat and tried to bend it back into shape.

  “I’ve ruined the best hat I’ve ever had because of you,” he grumbled.

  “Me?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Are you blaming me for this…this fiasco?”

  “No!” he shouted back. “I’m blaming Luke. He was the one who said I should serenade you. He claimed it didn’t matter that I couldn’t play the guitar or sing. He said women go crazy for this kind of stuff. I should’ve known.” He indignantly brushed off the Stetson before setting it back on his head, adjusting the angle.

  “It was very sweet, Cody, and I do appreciate it.”

  “Sure you do. Women get a real kick out of seeing a grown man make a jackass out of himself in front of the whole town.”

  “That’s not fair!”

  “You know what?” Cody barked, waving his arms, “I was liked and respected in this town before you came along making unreasonable demands. All I want is a wife.”

  “You’re being unreasonable.”

  Cody shook his head. “The way I see it, you’re waiting for some prince to come along and sweep you away on his big white horse. Well, sweetheart, it isn’t going to be me.”

  For a moment, Sherry was too shocked to respond. “I didn’t ask you to serenade me. Or to sweep me away on your horse.”

  “Oh, no,” he said, walking toward the gate. “That would’ve been too easy. On top of everything else, I’m supposed to be psychic or something. You won’t tell me what you want. It’s up to me to read your mind.”

  “That’s not fair,” she repeated.

  “You said it, not me.”

  “Cody—” She stopped herself, not wanting to argue with him. “You’re right. I’m out of line expecting a man who wants to marry me to love me too.”

  Cody apparently didn’t hear her, or if he did, he chose to ignore her and her sarcasm. “Luke. That’s where I made my mistake,” he said. “I assumed my best friend would know all the answers, because for all his bumbling ways, he managed to marry Ellie.”