If only, he’d let her make the decision. Instead, he seemed hell bent on forcing her on the first train out. He’d sent Dan over with a ticket for the next morning’s train, as if he couldn’t risk coming over himself. She knew why—sparks would fly as soon as they were alone, and they’d end up in bed again.
Not that that was such a bad thing, Sophie mused, with a sad smile as she sipped her tea, sitting on the piano bench. She picked up the ticket she’d placed on top of the piano. She would use it tomorrow. She had no other choice.
*****
It was after supper when apparently Riley couldn’t stay away any longer. She was on the porch swing when he rode up.
“I wondered if I’d see you before I left.” Her calm words belied the quickening of her pulse.
“Honestly, I didn’t intend to come by.” He sat down beside her. “I just finished with my last patient—a ferocious sore throat that I treated with the utmost kindness, even though I know it was brought on by Mrs. Fisher yelling all day at Mr. Fisher.”
She nodded, unable to speak for a moment, feeling a lump in her throat.
“You would have been proud of my courtesy,” he finished.
It occurred to her right then that after tonight, she might never see him again, hear his voice, or touch him, and she put her hand on his leg. She felt his muscle tighten, felt his warmth beneath her hand. Life without him would be absolutely bleak. Why wasn’t he moving heaven and earth to keep her?
“Why aren’t you . . . ?” she trailed off, her voice barely above a whisper.
He put his hand over hers and leaned closer, and she could smell the familiar scent that was Riley, tonight blended with a hint of fresh grass. “What?” he asked.
“Why aren’t you going to fight for me?” she managed, her throat thick with emotion.
His eyes widened momentarily, then he shook his head.
“Sophie, sweetheart, I am. I’m making sure you stay where you belong.”
She paused, feeling the tears prick at her eyes again. She waited till the feeling passed so she could speak again.
“Why aren’t you fighting to keep me?” She realized that hurt most of all.
He didn’t say anything at first. Then he stood up, letting her hand drop away from him. Leaning his hips against the porch rail, he faced her.
“I’m doing the best I can do for you, while keeping my promise to Doc. Don’t you think I want this to go another way?”
“So you’ll give me up for duty!” she spat out, allowing the anger to overtake the pain. It was easier to be angry than hurt. “First, for a promise to Eliza, you would throw our love away. Now, for a debt you owe Doc!”
“What kind of man would I be if, from the moment I saw you, I chucked aside everyone and everything else?”
“I guess you’d be a man in love.”
“Not fair, Sophie.”
“I don’t feel like being fair at the moment. I’ll get on that train tomorrow and I’ll return to my blessed life in San Francisco, but it will be dimmed—everything will be—knowing what we could have had.”
He swore. “That’s why I didn’t want you to know how I felt. If you hadn’t come here, you never would have.”
His words felt like a knife in her ribs. “Don’t I deserve to know how much a man loves me? Especially one whom I love back?”
“You’ll find another—”
“Please,” she stood up. “Don’t you dare say it. You’re not so easily replaced and my passions aren’t so fickle.” She crossed her arms. “Why? Are you planning on marrying the next single girl who comes your way?”
“No.”
“You will eventually,” she said, her voice lowering, talking more to herself than to him.
“Sophie, please.” He took a step toward her and reached for her hands.
“Don’t,” she warded him off. “You go back to being surly and sad. I’m going home.”
She turned on her heel and went to the screen door.
“You know, Riley, I don’t believe you do love me the way I love you. I’m willing to stay here, to teach piano or . . .” Blast! She couldn’t think of anything else she could do in this ridiculous town. “Or whatever, just to be with you because I simply cannot imagine my life without you. But tomorrow, on that train, I’m sure as hell going to try.”
She slammed the screen, but as she closed the door, she was unable to stop herself from looking once more at his face, so somber in the shadows, so dear to her.
*****
He rode home ever so slowly. He couldn’t bring himself to spur his horse to a flying gallop. He didn’t feel like enjoying the ride. He didn’t feel anything but numb. When Sophie left tomorrow, the rest of his life would be colorless without her. He probably would find a woman someday and marry her for company, because he didn’t intend on satisfying himself with Ada or one of her “girls.”
Yet, no matter how he came to care for some future wife, in his heart, Sophie would still be there, taking up all the room and being an impossible comparison for any other female. He sure hoped he was easier to replace, for Sophie’s sake. It seemed as though he’d damned them both to hell on earth.
Her face, so sweet, so wretched, right before she closed the door—it broke his heart. Fight for her? Hell, he was doing just that—fighting his weaker self that wanted to keep her with him. Fighting to make sure she didn’t look at him one day with resentment, if not downright hatred, for ruining the life she could have had.
“Hi-ya!” he yelled at last and his horse took off at a cantor.
He shouldn’t have made love to her yesterday. He should have been stronger. As soon as he saw her in the kitchen, he’d known how it would end if she didn’t leave right then. After all, she belonged to him so certainly, so absolutely, it seemed criminal not to take the gift he’d been given, one perfect union with her. And it had been that—perfection. Beyond his dreams. Beyond anything he deserved.
He pulled his horse up short.
It seemed criminal not to take the gift.
He sat on his horse in the middle of nowhere, the only sounds being the heavy breathing of his horse and the occasional owl’s call. Riley let all his thoughts rush through him—hopes, dreams, love, Sophie. Everything good in life led back to her, a gift that had ridden into Spring City on a train, not once, but twice.
Slowly, he took a deep breath and, looked around him, up at the stars. What the hell was he doing throwing away such a miracle?
Shit! It was late, but Doc was used to late nights and emergencies. He turned his horse around.
*****
It was unseasonably warm as Sophie walked to the station, very happy not to be dragging a trunk. With her, she had her carpet bag and her coat over her arm. She was clenching a handkerchief, just in case. After all, she had a lot of quiet hours to fill on two trains and hoped she wouldn’t spend most of them crying.
She passed Ely’s and Dan’s and had her foot on the first step of the station platform.
“You need help with that?”
She whirled around, nearly losing her balance. Her heart sunk. She couldn’t take another round with Riley, exposing her heart and having it handed back to her. She’d hardly slept and felt like an invalid.
“No answer?” He was smiling at her as he had the first time they met.
How could he come to say goodbye and actually smile at her? But if he could do it, then she could, too. She girded her heart and played along, “Are you going to knock me into the street?”
“Is that the only way I’ll see your purple drawers again?”
She gasped. After all, there were other people around. Besides, he was still wrong.
“Lavender,” she corrected him but with a ghost of humor in her voice.
He crossed his arms. “As a doctor, I better check that out for myself. I’m licensed, you know.”
Despite herself, she smiled. “To look at ladies’ undergarments?” What was up with him? He seemed giddy, exactly the opposite to how
she felt.
“You’ll have to stay another night?”
“So you can check my unmentionables?”
He barked out a laugh. Then shook his head. “No, but I need a day to pack my things.”
She swallowed.
“What are you saying?”
Everything happened at once. She saw Doc and Sarah coming along the sidewalk with Jessie not far behind. She realized that Riley was dropping to his knees, giving her a view of Dan leaning in the feedstore doorway, smiling at her.
“Sophie Malloy,” Riley said, looking up at her, and it seemed as though all the other sounds hushed. No more footsteps or horse’s hooves or birds singing or people talking. Only Riley.
“Riley?” But she could barely hear her own voice for the buzzing that was in her ears.
“Will you do me the extreme honor of becoming my wife?”
She was lightheaded. Surely, it was due to the lack of sleep and not eating anything the previous night or that morning. And the sun was already hot on her head. Stupidly, she’d put her bonnet in her bag.
That was the last thought she had before she started to crumple, feeling Riley’s arms catch her as she went down.
How long she was unconscious, Sophie didn’t know, but she awoke on the bed in Doc’s surgery, her head feeling achy.
“Drink a little of this as soon as you’re able,” Riley said, lifting her head slightly. He sat beside her on a stool. She saw he had a glass in his hand of what looked like water. She took a sip and let him wipe her chin.
“Yuck.” It was salty and bitter.
He chuckled. “Tastes nasty, but it’ll make you feel better.”
She coughed and then let him give her another sip.
“You ready to sit up?”
She nodded.
“Slowly, all right?” And he raised her up and put pillows behind her. Now she could see Doc and Sarah, too, at the end of the bed.
“You didn’t eat, did you?” Sarah said. “And folks are always making fun of my fussing about feeding everyone. Nothing good comes from starving yourself. You fainted, right in the middle of Main Street.”
She had a familiar box on her lap, which she tapped with her hand. “I went straight over to Fuller’s after you dropped, and got the tastiest item on the menu.”
She handed the box to Sophie, who looked down at it, then up at Riley.
“Lemon cake,” they said together.
“What’s the matter?” Sarah asked. “Don’t you like it?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had it.”
Sophie opened the box and the heavenly fragrance of lemons and vanilla cake wafted up at her. Her mouth watered and, without waiting, she picked up the slice in her hand and took a bite.
“Mm, it’s so light and delicious.” She took another bite, unable to stop herself. Soon, she’d eaten the whole thing and was licking her fingers.
Doc laughed. “That’s what I do, too. Why, you’re going to be fine. Rest here till you feel like we can take you back to Charlotte’s.”
“Oh,” Sophie exclaimed, dismayed. “I missed my train.”
Sarah and Doc looked at each other and Sarah gaped. “Don’t you remember—?"
Doc cleared his throat loudly, cutting her off. “Sarah and I are going to leave you two alone to have a chat” and he hustled his wife out the door.
Sophie looked at Riley again, who was grinning in a way that made her want to kiss him. And then she remembered him on his knees.
“Oh my God! Did you ask me to marry you?”
“I did, but you didn’t react the way I expected.”
He leaned down and kissed her, then he licked his lips. “Lemony. I’d give you another piece just to watch you lick your fingers again.”
“Riley,” she scolded; had he been thinking that while Sarah and Doc were in the room?
“The only person I’ve ever known who didn’t like that cake was Eliza.”
Sophie snorted. “What are you talking about? I was there when you bought her a piece.”
“No,” he corrected, stopping to kiss her again, “it’s the other way around: I stopped to buy her a piece of cake because you were there.” His expression became more serious. “You know and I know that the reason I’ve been such an ass is because when I’m not with you, I have no heart. I came back here and realized I’d left my heart in San Francisco.”
She gazed at him thoughtfully. “Something about that would make an excellent song.”
“Sophie, please focus. Are you going to give me an answer?”
She wanted to be serious, but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
“And you’ll live with me in San Francisco?”
“Yes, I’ll live with you in—wait, what do you mean?” She started to get an excited feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“I can’t give you up, but I can’t let you give up your dream, either. We’re going back to San Francisco and you’re going to marry me.”
“What about Doc?” she asked, tossing the box off her lap as she reached up to hug him.
“He’s already married and I don’t fancy him.”
She laughed hard. “Stop teasing, Riley. No, don’t ever stop. But what will happen? What about Sarah’s trip?”
“Doc will interview those new doctors Webster invited and he’ll pick one. End of story. I had it in my head; it was me or no one, and that I’d be letting down the whole town of Spring, as well as Doc. But that’s ridiculous.” He paused while he stroked her cheek. “I realized that the only person I shouldn’t let down is you. If I did, I would deserve the hell I’ve been living in.”
He brushed his thumb over her lower lip and she trembled slightly. “I went to him last night and told him I felt terrible leaving him in the lurch, but that I had to leave. He said if it were him, he’d choose you and San Francisco, too. Actually, what he said was, if Sarah wasn’t in Spring, he wouldn’t be either.”
She smiled at Riley, feeling absolutely blessed. “Smart man, that Doc Cuthins.”
His arms circled her and he kissed her. “Lucky man, this Riley Dalcourt.”
Epilogue
Riley didn’t sit in the front row anymore. Seats were in too high of a demand. He had a seat offstage on the evenings when he could attend one of his wife’s performances. Tonight was special, indeed, for when she finished, he was going to whisk her away to Egbert and Carling’s lovely inn so they could meet Carling’s new baby. He hoped to spur a little baby envy in Sophie, or at least have fun trying.
It was nice to be alone, just the two of them, after the hullabaloo of the past year. Their courtship had been a whirlwind at best, for neither could wait to share a bed every night. And they hadn’t waited. Damn propriety. They’d been through too much separation to let a little thing like a marriage license keep them apart.
Still, for their marriage, they’d dutifully allowed Sophie’s extended family to take over the Trinity Church on Post and Powell’s streets. Not only were Reed and Charlotte and Sophie’s mother and sisters in attendance, but also most of the symphony and, thanks to Henry Hadley’s connections, most of the notables of San Francisco, as well. It was an uncommonly clear day with no fog. With Dan as best man and Carling as maid of honor, Sophie’s sole disappointment was not being able to play her own wedding march, but Henry Hadley did that for her.
Sophie’s mother insisted on remaining in San Francisco with the happy couple to help her middle daughter set up a home—seeing how “utterly unprepared for such a thing” Evelyn declared Sophie to be. Sophie was made to learn to cook a few dishes, and beat a rug, but she drew the line at darning socks.
“I’ll buy new socks,” Riley whispered in Sophie’s ear, before nibbling her ear lobe, as his new mother-in-law huffed over her uncooperative daughter.
Then Riley’s parents, who’d missed the wedding because they couldn’t be found in time, showed up in San Francisco for a post-wedding celebration that seemed to last a month.
> “Such a sweet boy,” Mrs. Dalcourt had proclaimed, pinching her son’s cheek. Sophie reached behind and pinched his nether cheek, making him jump.
“That’s Doctor Sweet Boy,” said his father who’d seen Sophie do it.
Sophie decided her in-laws were odd and delightful, but she wished them gone after a couple weeks. Eventually, they left.
“Don’t forget,” Mrs. Dalcourt said, as she adjusted her hat, “I love babies.”
“So much,” Mr. Dalcourt added, “that she only had the one.”
“I love other people’s babies,” she amended, and they were still discussing it as they went out the front door of Sophie and Riley’s new home on Alamo Square.
*****
That night, Riley thought Sophie played better than ever, but then, he thought that every time he heard her play. When the final notes died away in the depths of the packed concert hall and the applause had reached a crescendo and then faded, and after the musicians had bowed, smiled, and clapped for their conductor, Sophie came directly into his arms.
He kissed her, fully, in front of all the musicians who, so used to seeing the adoring couple, continued around and past them without a second glance.
“Mm, that’s my favorite part of the evening,” she said, when he let her breathe.
“I think I can do even better,” he whispered against her ear. She bit her lip and let the anticipation of his words course through her as her passion for Riley always did, always would, leaving her tingly and excited. Like hearing an irresistible melody.
“God, I love you, Mr. Dalcourt.”
An Irresistible Temptation Page 26
