“That’s a bet,” Emery said reluctantly. “Merry Christmas, Doctor Maddox.”
“Same to you, Emery.”
“Have a good one,” he said, using Alan’s usual parting remark.
“You have a good one, too.”
Emery ended the call and slipped the phone back on his waistband. He’d been reluctant to participate in the breeding study because of his contracting business. It had taken more than six months of telephone calls from Alan Maddox to convince him to head the study. Once he committed, he began a plan of action to sell his father’s business. A long-time employee approached him and made him an offer he would’ve been a fool to refuse. He sold everything, including the name. What he refused to sell were his tools and the pickup truck.
He lingered in the parking lot, hoping to catch a glimpse of Rhianna, while taking furtive glances at his watch. He had to leave now, or he’d never be able to avoid the heavy holiday traffic.
He turned the key in the ignition and drove out of the parking lot. It wasn’t until he left the environs of Shepherd that he stopped glancing up at his rearview mirror with the hope he would see Rhianna’s vehicle.
CHAPTER 11
Emery, sprawled on a leather love seat with his long legs hanging over an arm, stared at the flickering flames behind the decorative fireplace screen.
His youngest sister, Deborah, sat in front of the fire with her legs folded in a yoga position. Not only did she sound different, but she also looked very different. Her roommate had braided her hair in an intricate design that resembled a delicate spider web. He, Errol, and Deborah resembled their late mother, whereas Kirk, Brielle, and Paul looked more like their father.
“You’re different, Emery.”
He smiled. “So are you, Debbie.”
Uncrossing her legs, she spun around on her bottom to face him. “You know what I mean.”
He lifted a questioning eyebrow. “No, I don’t.”
She crossed her legs again. “I know Christmas has always been difficult for you. It’s never been easy for any of us. But this is the first time I can remember you laughing and acting silly.”
“Ten years is a long time to mourn, baby girl.”
“Don’t baby girl me, Emery Sutherland. And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a baby anymore. What’s up with you?”
Emery sat up and planted his sock-covered feet firmly on the thick carpet. “Who is he?”
Deborah rolled her eyes, while sucking her teeth loudly. “Don’t change the subject, Emery.”
“I hope you’re practicing safe sex.”
“Who’s practicing safe sex?” asked a beautifully modulated female voice.
Emery pointed at Deborah, who sat with her mouth gaping. “I hope she is.”
Brielle folded her lithe body into an armchair and ran her fingers through her dreadlocked shoulder-length hair. “Debbie and I already had that conversation.”
Debbie stuck her tongue out at her brother. “And for your information I’m not ready to sleep with anyone.”
“Good for you. Just make certain he’s worth it.”
Deborah narrowed her eyes at Emery. “Now, to get back to the topic at hand. What’s going on in your life since you have the house to yourself?”
Emery wondered how much he should tell his sisters. And Deborah was right. This Christmas Eve gathering was vastly different from the others when a pall always hung over the festivities. He decided to be truthful and told Brielle and Deborah everything. Why Rhianna had come back to Shepherd and that they were seeing each other.
Brielle twisted her face. “That’s nasty, Emery. How can she mess around with brothers?”
“It’s not nasty, Ellie” Deborah said in defense of Rhianna.
“And why not?” Brielle countered.
Deborah gave her sister a long, penetrating look. “Because it was Emery Rhianna liked all along.”
Emery sat forward. “How did you know that?”
Deborah held his questioning stare. “I use to watch her with Errol. It was like she forced herself to be funny or silly because he liked to fool around so much. But whenever she was around you she was like a different person. And she used to stare at you when she thought you weren’t looking. It wasn’t until I finally got my head together that I knew she had chosen the wrong brother.”
“You saw all that?” Brielle asked her sister.
“Yeah, I did.”
“But you were so young.”
“I have eyes don’t I?” Deborah retorted.
Sighing, Emery slumped back against the love seat. “You saw what I couldn’t see—at least not until now.
“What are you going to do about it, big brother,” Brielle teased with a sly smile.
He lifted an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“When are you going to give me a sister-in-law I can get along with? You know I can’t stand Kirk and Paul’s wives. Both of them are nothing but heifers. I’m certain if Jack had a sister I probably wouldn’t get along with her either.”
“That’s because you think you’re a diva,” Emery said, deadpan.
Brielle tilted her chin and waved a hand, the pompous gesture eliciting laughs from Deborah and Emery.
“Think? Now both of you know I’m the bomb diggity.”
“I’ll admit that you’ve got some talent,” Emery conceded.
Brielle rolled her head on her neck and snapped her fingers. “I’m talent personified. Now, to get back to the topic at hand,” she said, repeating what Deborah said minutes before. It had been their mother’s favorite saying whenever their father attempted to evade her queries. “Are you going to ask her to marry you, or wait another ten years? By that time you’ll be too old to think about making babies.”
“How old is Jack? Forty or forty-one?” His sister had married a man seventeen years her senior.
“Ease up off my husband,” Brielle warned. “He gave me a beautiful daughter.”
“That he did,” Emery said, pushing to his feet. “Good night, ladies.”
“You better ask her to marry you,” Deborah said to his broad back.
“Good night, Debbie,” he drawled as he made his way out of the family room and up the winding staircase to the second floor bedroom where he always slept whenever he visited Brielle and her family.
She’d met her husband when she was commissioned to decorate the tax attorney’s office, and after a three-month whirlwind courtship she married the confirmed bachelor in a private ceremony with only family members in attendance. A year later she and Jack became the parents of a little girl, whom they named Maxine in memory of her maternal grandmother.
The large house was quiet. The children were permitted to open one gift—they would open the rest after breakfast on Christmas Day. Emery had done all of his shopping early and had everything shipped directly to Brielle’s house.
He knew he had to make a decision before he returned to Shepherd the next day. He had to know whether Rhianna would become a part of his future. If not, then he would have to exorcise her from his mind and his heart.
* * *
Rhianna stared numbly at the earrings nestled on a bed of white velvet. Her mother had given her the magnificent diamond and Tahitian pearl earrings she’d worn to the Chamber of Commerce’s fundraiser.
Her gaze lifted. “Why are you giving me these?” Her father had given them to Anna for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The twelve-millimeter pearls and flawless diamonds had cost Reid a small fortune.
“You’ve always admired them,” Anna said softly.
“But they were a gift from Daddy.”
“I’ve only worn them twice. They’re too heavy for my lobes.” Moving off her bed, Anna reached into the drawer of a bedside table and withdrew a small velvet box. “He just gave me these for Christmas.”
Rhianna sat down next to her mother and took the box from her hand. “My word!” she gasped. Reid had given Anna a pair of pear-shaped blond diamond studs. The yellow stones w
ere the perfect compliment for the yellow-orange undertones in her smooth face.
“They’re beautiful, Mom. Wear them in good health.”
“I don’t know why your father buys me these baubles.”
“They’re called bling nowadays,” Rhianna said with a wide grin.
Anna waved a hand. “Bling, baubles, or whatever,” she drawled. “When do I get a chance to dress up?”
“You will, Mom.”
“When?”
Reaching into a back pocket of her jeans, Rhianna handed her mother a small envelope. She’d given her parents gifts cards, a Waterford vase, and bottles of their favorite fragrances. She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath until tightness in her chest made breathing difficult. She bit down on her lower lip when Anna read the handwritten note. Anna dropped the note card, extended her arms, and Rhianna went into her embrace.
“I…don’t…don’t believe it,” Anna said, her voice breaking with raw emotion.
Rhianna had spent a restless night reexamining her conscience, and when Christmas Eve slipped into Christmas Day she reached a decision she knew would change her life—forever.
Working in Campy’s kitchen wasn’t work, but fun. She enjoyed interacting with people with whom she’d grown up and gone to school. She’d come to know the regulars who preferred hanging out at Campy’s to the senior center.
She’d come to appreciate how hard her parents worked to make their business a success.
She’d also come to value her mother’s sage advice and her father’s understanding.
She’d fled Shepherd because she couldn’t face one man, and ten years later her love for that man was critical after she decided she wanted to spend the rest of her life in Shepherd.
“Believe it, because I’m staying. Of course I have to go back to L.A. to hand in my resignation and clean out my apartment, but I’ll be back.”
“You’re going to resign?”
Rhianna nodded. “Yes.”
“Why, Rhianna?”
“Now, why are you asking the child why, Anna?” Reid asked from the doorway.
Anna stared at her husband. “Because…” Her words trailed off when she saw his expression.
Rhianna kissed her mother’s scented cheek. “I’m going out to drop off a few gifts.” She slipped off the bed and winked at Reid. “I’ll see you later,” she said as she left the room.
Waiting until he heard fading footsteps, Reid walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He stood at the foot of the antique brass bed, shaking his head from side to side.
“Baby,” he drawled softly. “You just had to ask.”
Anna sat up straighter. “What are you talking about?”
“She said she’s staying. Shouldn’t that be enough?”
Going to her knees, Anna crawled the length of the bed, her gaze narrowing. “What are you hiding from me, Reid Campbell?”
Reid smiled at the woman whom he loved more with every sunrise. “Can you keep a secret?”
Eyes wide, Anna stared at him in disbelief. “I’ve never been one to spread gossip.”
Leaning over, Reid whispered in his wife’s ear. She covered her mouth with a hand, fell back to the mattress, kicking her legs like a child. Her husband joined her on the bed and they laughed until tears streaked their faces.
Raising his injured arm above his head, Reid turned on his side and smiled at Anna. His gaze moved slowly over her face. “When was the last time I told you that I loved you?”
Anna traced the outline of his mouth with a forefinger. “I think it was last night. No…it had to be this morning.” She pressed her mouth to his. “I love you, Reid Campbell.”
“I love you more, Anna Campbell.”
“Love you even more,” she countered.
They continued the game that had sustained their marriage when Reid was drafted and sent to Vietnam, during the lean years after he’d opened Campy’s, and through the tragedies of two miscarriages before they celebrated the birth of the baby girl who would become their only child.
* * *
Rhianna maneuvered into the driveway leading to Emery’s house and parked behind his pickup. She’d expected him to attend the open house, but when he hadn’t she managed to hide her disappointment, laughing when she felt like crying.
Sheer exhaustion became her best friend. She’d crawled into bed before midnight Christmas Eve and did not wake up again until two the following afternoon. She knew Christmas would always be a difficult season for the Sutherlands because it was a reminder of the loss of their loved ones. She’d lost Errol, but miraculously had rediscovered love with his brother.
She cut off the engine and reached for the decorative shopping bag on the passenger seat. As soon as she stepped out of the vehicle she saw the large dog.
Rhianna scratched her behind her ears. “Hey, Lady.”
The dog barked loudly, but did not follow her as she climbed the steps leading to the porch, illuminated by lamps and light filtering through the sheers covering the windows on the first floor.
She rang the bell and waited, then rang it again as Lady continued to bark frantically. When Emery did not answer the door, she left the shopping bag on a cushioned rocker and walked off the porch. Lady raced back and forth barking and whining.
She stared at the agitated canine. “What’s the matter, girl?”
Lady ran a few yards, stopped and then came back to her. It was obvious the dog wanted Rhianna to follow her. Her heart lurched before pounding a runaway rhythm. A feeling of dread swept over her. Had something happened to Emery?
“Take me to Emery, Lady,” she shouted, following the dog as she loped away from the house. Daylight had faded and nighttime temperatures had dropped dramatically. A full moon in star-littered sky silvered the countryside and provided enough light for Rhianna to see where she was going. Lady was heading for the pastures where the sheep grazed.
Torturous thoughts gripped her, and she refused to think of anything happening to Emery.
“No,” she whispered, breathing heavily. “Please. Not again,” she gasped, trying to catch her breath as she quickened her pace.
She said every prayer she’d been taught as a child as she scrambled up a rise and came to a complete stop. Standing in the valley was a lone sheep; its plaintive bleating echoed in the silent night.
Moving slowly, Rhianna approached the ewe, debating how she was going to get her back to the barn. There was no way she could possibly lift the animal as she’d seen Emery execute in one smooth motion.
Going to her knees, she wrapped her arm around Lady’s neck. “Get her back to the barn, girl.” The dog whined deep in its throat, but did not move. It was apparent it only followed Emery’s commands.
The mournful bleating sent shivers up and down Rhianna’s back as she moved closer. She knew nothing about sheep except that they frightened easily and were easy prey for coyotes. Reaching out tentatively, her hand touched the untagged ear. The ewe backed up, bleating louder.
“You’re going to have to help me, sweetie,” she crooned, hoping not to startle the animal. A sharp whistle rent the air and Lady sprang into action and chased the ewe across the pasture.
Rhianna turned slowly, her eyes widening in shock as she saw Emery standing several feet away, arms crossed over his chest. His straight white teeth gleamed brightly in the moonlight.
“You have to learn to whistle if you’re going to hang out with my sheep.”
Her lower lip trembled as she smiled through a shimmer of tears. The man she loved more than she’d ever expected to love stood before her, tall, powerful, and safe.
“How did you know where to find me?”
“When I saw your truck in the driveway I knew you couldn’t have gone too far on foot.”
She nodded. “I followed Lady.”
Emery stared at Rhianna, his eyes making love to her face. Two days—that’s all it took for him to acknowledge that he would love this woman until he drew his last breat
h.
Lowering his arms, he closed the distance between them, taking her hands and pulling her close to his body. “Merry Christmas, darling.”
A tender smile softened her mouth as Rhianna said, “Thank you. Merry Christmas to you, too.”
Emery dropped her hands and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I don’t want you to leave Shepherd. I want you here with me.” He knew his request was selfish, but he was beyond being polite or correct.
Rhianna buried her face against his warm throat. “What are you prepared to do to make me change my mind?” He didn’t know she’d planned to stay.
Easing back, he stared at her staring back at him. “All I can offer you is a lifetime of love. Will that be enough?”
A dazzling smile parted her lips. “It’s not bad for a start.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “You want more?”
“Yes. I want to dissolve our agreement of no strings.”
A slight frown appeared between his eyes. “Are you talking about a commitment?”
Rhianna nodded. “Yes.”
“To me a commitment is forever. Are you ready for that?”
“What comes under the heading of forever?”
“Marriage, children, PTA meetings, summer camp, anniversaries, graduations, and, on occasion, mind-blowing sex. Are you ready for all of that?”
Curving her arms under his shoulders, Rhianna rested her head on his chest. The scent of his cologne clung to the fibers of his sweater. “How many children are you talking about?”
“Enough to fill up every bedroom in the house with noise and mayhem.”
She smiled. There were six bedrooms in Emery’s house, excluding his attic retreat. “That’s a lot of babies.”
“No, darling. That’s a lot of mind-blowing baby-making sex.” Emery went down on one knee, staring up at her. “Rhianna Campbell, will you marry me?”
Rhianna stared at Emery as if he’d lost his mind. She hadn’t expected him to be that traditional. She never would’ve imagined in her wildest dreams that he would propose marriage in an open field under a Shepherd moon. Emery had just offered her what she’d wanted from the first time she realized her heart beat a little too quickly when their gazes met. He’d said the four magic words every woman hoped to hear from the man she loved. He was offering her a chance to let go of her past and plan for a future filled with love and passion.
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