Snowbound Bride

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Nora’s pulse picked up as she became even more aware of the warm, implacable grip he held on her wrist. She drew a deep breath and spoke in clear, concise tones. “Sam Whittaker, if you take me over to that jail, I swear you are going to regret it.”

  In return, Sam gave her a taunting half smile that didn’t begin to reach his eyes. “If I don’t take you over there, I’ll regret it, too, so it looks like I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.”

  At long last, Nora’s father, who had been watching the entire exchange with an air of absolute amazement, interjected, “Listen here, Sam. Nora. If I may say a word—”

  “No!” Sam and Nora said in unison.

  His own irritation mounting swiftly, Charles Kingsley headed across Main Street at the angle Nora and Sam had already taken. “I resent that!” Charles shouted.

  “And I object to the way you just jay walked,” Sam said, taking hold of Charles’s arm. “You’re under arrest, too, sir.”

  Nora laughed bitterly even as Sam commandeered her and her father into the sheriff’s office. “Really, Sam,” she said in a low, mocking tone, hanging on to her dignity with effort. “This is going too far, even for you!”

  “I’d have to agree,” Charles repeated, quite calmly.

  “Nora and I can talk without you putting us in jail on some trumped-up traffic charge.”

  “Given Nora’s penchant for running away from her problems, and the people who’ve hurt her, without giving anyone a chance to resolve anything?” Sam drawled with a knowing look in her direction. “I wouldn’t bet on those odds, sir, and neither should you.”

  Undeterred in his mission, Sam held on to Nora’s elbow with one hand, and unlocked the jail cell with the other. “You first, sir. Nora.” He shut them both in and locked the door.

  “And I thought I despised you before,” Nora told him, shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

  Sam rubbed a hand along his jaw and regarded them both stoically for a long moment before he began to talk in a low, mesmerizing tone. “Right up until the time of my parents’ death two years ago, I never worried about a harsh word or missed opportunity, because I thought we had all the time in the world to be together.”

  Sam swallowed hard and went on in a voice roughened with pain and grief. “Not a day goes by that I don’t miss them or regret the things we were never blessed with the time to say or do. You two, on the other hand, are lucky,” he continued sternly. “You may have lost a wife, sir.” Sam gave Charles a hard look, and followed that with a daunting glance at Nora. “And Nora, you may have lost a mother. But you still have each other.

  “So yes, even if you hate me for it, Nora, I’m giving you a chance to work things out with your dad, and vice versa.” Sam paused meaning fully, allowing his words to sink in, before he shrugged. “What you two do with that chance is up to you.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  NORA GLARED at her father as Sam left the two of them alone and walked back to the outer office. Charles regarded her with a mixture of fatherly patience and contrition.

  Having to work to keep her anger both intact and in check, Nora folded her arms in front of her. “You want to give me an explanation, Daddy?” she said hotly as the family showdown began. “Well, here’s your chance, and while we’re at it, let’s start with my losing my job in New York City.”

  Charles looked at her as if to suggest she was getting hysterical over nothing. “I admit I pulled a few strings to see your position with Leland and Brooks was eliminated.”

  Fighting for patience, Nora closed her eyes and counted to ten. “Why would you do such a thing?” she asked quietly, after she opened her eyes once again.

  Charles shrugged, as if his actions had been unavoidable. “Because you didn’t seem all that happy with your life in New York City, and you refused to even discuss coming back to Pittsburgh to live.”

  Nora didn’t deny that she had stayed at L and B long after she realized the New York City advertising world was not for her, in order to prove that she had deserved to be hired by the company all along, even without her father’s incessant string-pulling.

  Nora released an exasperated sigh and, so tired of fighting she wanted to die, sank down on one of the two cell cots. “Daddy, I told you a million times I’m not cut out for the restaurant business—it just doesn’t captivate me the way it does you and Geoff.” She knew they burned to have Hamburger Heaven right up there in the leagues of McDonald’s and Burger King, but for her, the desire just wasn’t there.

  Charles nodded knowingly. Hitching up his trousers, he sat on the cot on the other side of the cell. “Which is exactly why I gave Geoff shares in the company as a wedding present,” Charles explained, as if it were the most rational thing in the world.

  “Without telling me?” Nora reminded him, still aghast over that little secret.

  Charles shrugged. He leaned forward, clasped hands between his knees. “I figured you’d think I was trying to buy Geoff and you’d object if I told you my plans. And I was right. You’re furious.” He paused. “How did you find out, anyway?”

  “I saw you and Geoff signing the prenup, which brings me to the next point, Daddy. A prenuptial agreement, when there is one, is supposed to be between a bride and groom, not the groom and his father-in-law.”

  Charles fixed her with an inquiring look. “Would you have signed one with Geoff if I asked you to do so?”

  “No,” Nora shot back stubbornly. “Nor would I have given him shares in the company equal to mine. I expected Geoff to marry me because he loved me and wanted to build a life with me. I expected us to live on our salaries, not my inheritance.”

  Charles sighed. “I was just trying to ensure your marriage got off to a good start. And whether you believe it or not, Geoff cares about you as much as I do.”

  Without warning, Geoff walked in, carrying all three of their winter coats. Sam had not come in with him.

  Nora frowned as Geoff, picking up on the last of her conversation with Charles, added, “I just wanted you to be happy, Nora. Your dad convinced me this was the way.”

  Nora looked at Geoff, standing on the other side of the bars. She did believe he cared about her, but as a friend, not a potential lover, wife and lifelong partner.

  Furthermore, for someone who had been her friend since elementary school, he had shown a disturbing lack of understanding about what it took to make her happy in a marriage. Which was, she supposed, yet another sign that they were not, and had never been, meant to be together.

  “Well, it’s not the way to make me happy, Geoff.” Nora turned back to Charles. Even if Geoff hadn’t known better, surely Charles had. She had the distinct feeling that there had been an ulterior motive to this. “What were you thinking?” she demanded of her father hotly.

  Charles shrugged. “That Geoff owning part of the business would bring us closer together, as a family, in a way we haven’t really been since your mother died.” Charles paused. “You know how active your mother was in helping me build this business. Her input was invaluable. Working together was a very satisfying experience for us. I hoped the same would happen for you and Geoff, and that you might become more interested in your inheritance if your husband was involved and it was more of a family affair for all of us. Besides, you know Geoff’s always been like a son to me. He’s been working with me ever since the two of you graduated from college. With you two tying the knot, it seemed natural to involve him in the company in a more fundamental way.”

  Nora shook her head in exasperation, her anger fading as she realized her father’s heart had been in the right place, even if his actions had been totally misguided. “Daddy, we can be close without working together, just by being honest with each other. As for the business, if you want to take Geoff in as a partner, then do so, and do it with my blessing. But don’t ask him to marry me so that you can officially bring him into the family, because it’s not fair to any of us.”

  Still looking a little sheepish, Geoff set t
he coats down on a chair located next to the door and stuck his hands in the pockets of his trousers. “Does this mean our wedding is off?” he asked Nora, looking as if he already knew—and had accepted—the answer to that.

  “It has to be,” Nora said gently, her anger fading as she recalled the years they’d been friends. “We’re not in love with each other, Geoff. Not the way we should be, because if we were, you never would’ve been able to keep such a secret from me.”

  Nora saw the regret etched on Geoff’s face and knew he had never meant to hurt her. He had been maneuvered into behaving this way by her well-meaning but totally out-of-line father, the same way she had been. Hence, she knew it wasn’t fair to lay all the blame on Geoff or her dad. Not when they’d all been searching for happiness and trying to do what was best for each other and the “family” as a whole. And her dad had been right—she had been unhappy in New York City, for reasons that were only partly related to her dissatisfaction with big-city life and her high-pressure job at L and B. And even more to the increasing emptiness in her personal life.

  Nora sighed and stood. “To be honest, Geoff, I was having doubts about marrying you before the ceremony, anyway. I was in a panic, because I knew in my heart it wasn’t right. We didn’t love each other enough, or even in the way that we should, to get married. So you going over those papers with my father before the ceremony actually worked in our favor, because it gave me the push I needed to call the whole thing off at the last second. Otherwise, with a church full of people and the potential for humiliation, I doubt I’d have had the nerve.”

  Geoff looked at her through the bars. “Can we be friends again? I’d hate to lose that, too.”

  Nora stepped forward and linked hands with him. “I don’t want to lose our friendship, either, Geoff.”

  “Good.” Geoff breathed a sigh of relief. “And, Nora? I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  “Me too,” Nora said softly, giving Geoff’s hand a final squeeze before releasing it.

  She turned to Charles. “As for you,” she said sternly, “you’ve got to stop meddling in my life, because I’m telling you right now, I’ve absolutely had it with your overbearing manner.”

  Charles stood. “I understand,” he said contritely. “And you’re completely right.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Therefore, if you want me to make a few calls so you can get your job at L and B back…” Charles offered optimistically as he closed the distance between them.

  Nora rolled her eyes; there he went again. “First, if L and B could fire me on your whim, they’re not the company for me, anyway. Second, you’ve got to stop interfering, even when you think it’s in my best interest, and start listening to me. Really listening, Daddy.”

  Charles nodded and engulfed Nora in an awkward but nevertheless very soothing and emotional hug. “I promise I will,” he said thickly. He drew back. “And you promise me something, too, sweetheart.”

  “What?” Nora said, aware that her eyes were misting with unexpected tears.

  “That you won’t run away ever again,” Charles said, his voice breaking. “Because Sam Whittaker was right—I really was half out of my mind with worry.” Charles paused as tears glistened in his eyes. “I couldn’t bear it if anything ever happened to you,” he said softly. “So promise me—”

  “I promise,” Nora said, crying now openly, too.

  “I think this is my cue to leave,” Geoff said on a delicate cough as he wiped his eyes. “I think I’ll go out and talk to the sheriff again, and see if I can’t get you two released.”

  Charles waved off the offer. “Don’t hurry it along too much,” he told Geoff happily. “This is the most intimate discussion Nora and I’ve had in years.”

  Nora shook her head at her dad and laughed softly. “You’re incorrigible,” she scolded affectionately. “Geoff, find that oh-so-controlling Sheriff Whittaker and get us out of here.”

  “Will do.” Geoff picked up his winter coat and headed, whistling, back down the corridor toward the front of the building.

  “Now, about jobs,” Charles asked. “If not something at L and B or Hamburger Haven, what would you like to do?”

  Nora smiled. She patted the cot. “Sit down, Daddy and I’ll tell you about it.”

  “SO HOW’S IT GOING in there?” Sam asked Geoff when he came back out.

  “Nora forgave me. Our marriage is still off. She’s relieved. And now that I think about it,” Geoff said, heaving an enormous sigh, “I am, too.”

  “What about her dad?” Sam asked, knowing that the hurt of that betrayal had gone much deeper.

  Geoff smiled. “She’s forgiven Charles, too.”

  “Good.” Sam wanted Nora to be happy more than anything in the world. Geoff could not make her happy. Sam knew that, given half a chance, he could. The trick would be convincing Nora. Given her resistance to being tricked or bullied into anything, she had to be mighty ticked off at him for arresting her on trumped-up charges and locking her in that jail cell with her father.

  “I’d give them a few more minutes, then go in and see about letting her dad go,” Geoff advised.

  “Not Nora, too?”

  Geoff paused. “I’ve known Nora a long time, since we were kids. I’ve never seen her look at anyone the way she was looking at you. If I were you, I wouldn’t let that go lightly.”

  Sam smiled. “I don’t intend to.”

  “Good.” Geoff shook Sam’s hand. “I have a feeling the two of us are going to see each other around.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Sam said as he walked Geoff out.

  Unfortunately, he wasn’t as sure about that as he would’ve liked. The truth was, because he figured he had only until the snowstorm ended to make Nora his, he had allowed his relationship with Nora to take on the momentum of a runaway train going down a mountain-side. And he’d done that knowing she was angry and emotional and running away. He had done it knowing she was vulnerable and uncertain, after the abrupt cancellation of her wedding, the loss of her job and all she had believed in and counted on in the past. Yet he had wanted her so desperately, he had been so sure they were right for each other, that he had staked his claim on her anyway.

  At the time, she’d been too caught up in the passion of the moment, the heady freedom of running away and the time-stands-still feeling of the blizzard to think much beyond the moment or what the two of them had been feeling for each other.

  Now, the snowstorm of the century was over. The outside world was already closing in on them. And she’d apparently made up with her father, and made peace with her ex-fiancé. Would she want to go home to Pittsburgh again? Would she chalk their brief affair up as a mistake? And if so, what would he do? Let her know she was breaking his heart and crushing his hopes? Continue to put the full-court press on her? Or be gallant and understanding and let her go?

  “I’M DYING to know what’s happening in here,” Kimberlee said moments later, as she and Gus swept into the sheriff’s office.

  “So am I, but that’s not why we came over here, remember, little sis?” Gus said, poking Kimberlee in the ribs. “You had something to tell Sam, remember?”

  Kimberlee flushed self-consciously. “Oh, yeah. I got out my college profile books this morning, before you got back to town, and I looked up all the nursing programs in the Chicago vicinity. I’ve still got time to apply to three of them, so I’m doing that right away. Second, if I don’t get in, I’ll go to college here in West Virginia for a year, and consider transferring after that. And in the meantime, Gus will spot me money for airline tickets, as long as I keep my grades up, so I can come and visit all of you once a month if I’m going to school in Chicago, or go see Kenny once a month in Chicago, if I end up going to school here. However, it has to work out so I can see Kenny more than I’m seeing him now, and be with the family here on a regular basis, and still pursue my own career goals, too.”

  “Granddad and Gran both think love is too precious to be squandered, and I’ve got to
say, now my heart’s been taken, I agree,” Gus said. “But you’re the guardian, so you have to agree.”

  “I agree,” Sam said softly, impressed with the change in his little sister’s attitude. “What changed your mind?”

  “It was just everything you and Nora and everyone has been saying. Plus the fact you were right about the sledding incident—someone could have been really hurt, and for what, so my friends and I could all act like rebels without a clue? There are better ways to seek a little freedom and independence.”

  Sam grinned. “I’ll second that.”

  “Anyway,” Kimberlee continued earnestly, suddenly looking much older than her seventeen years, “I knew all along that I needed to have my own life, as well as my own love life, but it took me a while to admit I was never going to pout my way to maturity.” Kimberlee hugged Sam, hard. “I’m sorry I’ve been giving you such a hard time,” she said in a low, choked voice.

  “I’m sorry we’ve been fighting, too,” Sam said thickly, hugging her back with all his might. “I know I don’t handle things anywhere near as well as Mom and Dad did, but you have to know that the bottom line is, I only want what’s best for you.”

  Kimberlee nodded. Clearly, she was as choked up—and happy to be done with their fighting—as he was. “And I want that for you, too. Speaking of which—” Kimberlee paused dramatically as she reached for a tissue to wipe the tears from her face “—where’s Nora?”

  Gus looked at Sam. “There are rumors floating around the reception that you arrested her.”

  Sam shrugged, and Gus rolled his eyes and swore when he realized it was so. “You’re in trouble now, little bro,” he conceded, with a playful punch at Sam’s shoulder. “That is not how you romance women in this day and age.”

  “Tell me about it,” Sam drawled. But what choice did he have, with Nora running away yet again? Whether she liked it or not, he had known she had to face her father and Geoff and at least try to work things out. And now that that was apparently happening, it changed everything. It took away Nora’s need to be there in Clover Creek, instead of Pittsburgh. It took away her need to get involved with a man not selected for her by her father. Like it or not, the blizzard that had brought them together was ending, and that left him feeling very uncertain about what was going to happen next.