McFarlane's Perfect Bride

by Christine Rimmer

  Connor nodded. “And I put her off, refused to tell her where to find you. I wanted to get this chance to speak with you first.”

  CJ spread his knees, braced his elbows on them and linked his hands between them. “Good. That’s good.”

  “I wanted to be certain that you really want to stay here for the summer.”

  “Are you kidding me?” CJ bounced on the couch cushions, unable to contain himself. “Of course I do.”

  “You should be sure. If you do stay, your mother has threatened to take legal action.”

  CJ made a scoffing sound. “Oh, right. Suddenly she gives a crap.”

  “CJ, I’m sure she’s doing what she thinks is best.” Actually, he wasn’t sure. But she was CJ’s mother and as such he refused to let CJ disparage her.

  “She doesn’t care what’s best for me, Dad. She cares about her new boyfriend and his big boat and all his money.”

  Connor just looked at him, levelly. “CJ. Stop.”

  CJ’s red-brown hair, still badly in need of the services of a good barber, fell over his eyes as he stared at the floor between his knees. “You mean it? You’ll tell her you want me with you, that I’m here for the summer the way that we said from the first?”

  “Yes. I mean it. I will tell her—I’ve already told her—that you’re staying, that we’re sticking with the original plan.”

  “Well, okay.” CJ glanced up, shoved the hair out of his eyes. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. She said she’ll be back Monday to get you.”

  “But she’s not getting me, right, she’s not sending me away?” He looked so worried that Connor would let him down. And why wouldn’t he be worried? Connor had been letting him down almost since the day he was born.

  “No.” Connor spoke slowly. Clearly. “You’re staying here, as we agreed. And when she comes tomorrow, you’ll have to be here, you’ll have to speak with her.”

  “Why?”

  “CJ, she can’t only hear this secondhand, from me. She needs to hear it from you. You have to tell her what you want.”

  CJ stared. And then he shook his head. His hair fell over his eyes again. But then, at last, he shoved it back and nodded. “All right. I will. Whatever.”

  “When you tell her, you’ll do it respectfully, please.”

  “Yeah. Okay. Respectfully.”

  “And there’s another thing…”

  “What else?”

  “Since your mother was concerned about your wasting the summer without making any effort to catch up on your studies, I told her that Tori was tutoring you.”

  CJ’s eyes grew wide. “You lied.”

  If his son only knew. “I did. Since then, I’ve discussed the problem with Tori. She’s agreed to help. If you stay, you’ll have to be willing to turn my lie into the truth. You’ll have to work with Tori, every day, five days a week, starting Monday. And you’ll have to do the assignments she gives you. With your job at the Hopping H and the time you’ll need to put in on your studies, the summer will be a busy one.”

  “Ms. Jones will tutor me…” He seemed to consider the idea.

  “Yes, she will. And you will have to work hard on the school stuff, no slacking. I need that agreement from you.”

  CJ looked down between his spread knees again. And when he glanced up, it was to give a firm nod. “You got it, Dad. I’ll study with Ms. Jones.”

  “This will be your opportunity to prove to your mother, and to me—and most of all, to yourself—that you don’t need to go to Switzerland to get your studies back on track.”

  “And I will prove it, Dad.”

  Connor made a low, approving sound. “I believe that you will.”

  “Thanks, Dad. I really mean that.” The look in CJ’s eyes said it all.

  They had come a long way, the two of them. Connor was more determined than ever to make this the summer when he healed the past wounds he’d inflicted on his innocent son.

  Ten minutes later, CJ was out the door, on his way to see Jerilyn. He’d been invited to her house for lunch, but he promised he’d be back home for dinner.

  After he left, Connor called Melanie to explain that CJ’s mother was coming by sometime Monday morning, so CJ would be late for work in order to have a little time with her. Melanie said it was no problem. And Russ or Butch Doolin would see that Jerilyn got a ride out to the ranch.

  Then she said, in a tone that managed to be simultaneously cautious and offhand, “I thought Jennifer was in Europe for the summer.”

  “Yeah,” Connor answered bleakly. “So did I.”

  Melanie was quiet for a moment, before asking gently, “Something going on?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “I’d like to hear about it if you feel like telling me.”

  He surprised himself by doing exactly that. He told her all about Jennifer’s visit. And about the conversation he’d just had with CJ. He told her that Tori would be tutoring CJ for the summer.

  Yes, he left a gap. A big one. He failed to mention the part about how he’d told Jennifer that Tori was his fiancée. And since he didn’t mention that particular whopper of a lie, there was no need to explain how Tori was still deciding whether to pretend to be engaged to him or not.

  When he was finished, Melanie said she was proud of him. “I know it means the world to CJ, that you’re sticking by him, that now he’s found out he likes it here, you’re keeping your word about this summer.”

  “Yeah. It’s kind of funny. If you’d told me three weeks ago that CJ would be working at the Hopping H and was willing to study hard with a tutor in order to be allowed to stay in Thunder Canyon with me for the summer, I would have said you were out of your mind.”

  “He was angry at you, acting out. But deep down, what he really wanted, even then, was to be here, with you—and to know that you wanted him with you.”

  “Maybe. But now I do know, for certain, that he wants to be here. He’s said so himself.”

  “And you’re going to fight for him.”

  “Yes. I am.”

  Tori’s doorbell rang at two on the dot.

  Her pulse suddenly on hyperdrive, she went to answer. “Hello, Connor.” He looked so serious, and handsome enough to break a thousand hearts. She wanted to fling herself into his strong arms, to swear she would do anything he wanted, anything to help.

  Somehow, she managed not to throw herself at him. He didn’t reach for her, either. She ushered him in.

  She still had no idea what to say to him. Should she go with the passionate urging of her foolish heart and tell him that, yes, she’d be only too happy to be his fake fiancée for the summer? Or did she refuse to help him in this lie—and in the process, end up helping his ex to hurt him and CJ?

  They ended up sitting at either end of her couch. Once they were both settled, there was a silence. An excruciating one.

  Finally, he spoke in low, restrained tone. “I talked with CJ this morning.”

  “And?”

  “He said he wants to stay here for the summer. He wants it very much. He’s agreed to study with you, to be guided by you and to do his homework faithfully.”

  “Great.”

  “I was thinking, Monday through Friday, in the afternoon—say, two to four? And then homework for him, to amount to a couple of hours five nights a week.”

  “That sounds fine with me,” she said. “I’d be happy to do it.”

  He named an hourly rate that was higher than she would have asked and added, “Starting Monday?”

  “Yes. The rate will be fine and I can start Monday.”

  “Whatever you think, Tori. You know what you’re doing.”

  As a teacher? Yes, she did.

  As a woman and potential phony fiancée?

  Not so much.

  More silence. She had no idea where to begin. Apparently, neither did he.

  Finally, she ventured, staring straight ahead and not at him. “People could be hurt if we did it.”

 
He didn’t ask what it was. He knew as well as she did. She glanced his way and saw him looking at the far wall. She watched as he shrugged. “That’s how life is. Sometimes you get hurt.”

  “I don’t mean just you and me. CJ, too. He could get hurt. He could get his hopes up.”

  He turned to her, then. A frown creased his brow. “About?”

  “You and me, making a permanent home, here. In Thunder Canyon. Since he likes it here so much, he could decide he wants to live with us.”

  Connor was still frowning. “So we’ll just tell him we haven’t decided how we’re going to work out the details of where to live, of where our home base will be. That we’re playing it all by ear and the only thing we do know is that he will go back to his boarding school in the fall.”

  She chided, “He could still be hurt when it doesn’t work out.”

  “Not as much as he’ll be hurt if I let Jennifer send him to Switzerland.”

  She happened to agree with him on that. “If we did it, we would have to agree to tell no one else. No one. Not Melanie.”

  He was on the same page with that. “And not your friend Allaire.”

  “That’s right. No one.”

  “No one,” he echoed, in the tone of a man swearing a solemn oath.

  Her pulse had started knocking again, her heart beating so hard against the wall of her rib cage. It was time to decide. She needed to tell him—yes or no. They were both facing front again.

  She slid him another glance. “It would have to look real. Which means you would have to propose, so I would have a proposal story to tell.”

  “A proposal story?”

  “Yes.” Men, she thought. “A woman will always tell her proposal story—where they were when he proposed, what he said, if he went down on his knees. If we want to be believed, I’ve got to have my proposal story.”

  He cleared his throat. “Fair enough. I’ll make sure you have one.”

  “And a ring. There would have to be a ring. I would help you pick it out. And, of course, I would return it when things…don’t work out.”

  “A ring,” he repeated. “Absolutely.” They were looking at each other again. In a voice barely above a whisper, he asked, “Well, then?”

  She swallowed, hard. And nodded. “Then yes, all right. I will be your fake fiancée for the summer.”

  He blinked. “You just said yes. Tell me you just said yes.”

  “Yes.”

  He stared, unmoving, for several heartbeats.

  And then, without further prompting, he got up, picked up the coffee table and moved it out of the way—and he got down on his knees.

  She giggled, a silly, girlish sound. At the same time, tears blurred her vision. “Oh, Connor.”

  He took her hand, kissed the back of it, gazed up at her through dark eyes suddenly filled with light. It could have been real. And she couldn’t help herself. She wished that it was.

  “Tori, you are the most amazing woman I have ever met. I love everything about you—the sound of your laughter, the beauty of your smile. Your strawberry hair and the cute freckles on your nose.”

  She groaned. “You just had to mention the freckles.”

  He put a hand to his heart. “Yes. I love those freckles. Because they’re yours. I love all of you, every inch. I love the way your lips feel when they’re pressed to mine. I love the way you sigh when I touch you, the way you moan when I—”

  She put up a hand.

  “What?” He pretended to scowl.

  She gazed down at him adoringly. “You can be so romantic.”

  “Thanks. I’m trying.”

  And then she shook a finger at him. “But don’t get overly graphic, okay? A proposal story should be G-rated, PG if you must, but that is really pushing it.”

  “Yes. All right. G-rated. I understand.” And then he kissed her hand again and pressed it to his heart. “Marry me, Tori. Please. I love you. Say you’ll be mine.”

  She beamed. “Excellent.”

  He prompted, “Well?”

  And she gave him her answer. “Oh, Connor. I love you so much. With all my heart. Yes, of course, I’ll marry you.”

  He swept to his feet, dragging her up with him and he wrapped her tightly in his arms. “Right answer,” he whispered against her lips.

  “So glad you liked it. As far as the lead-in—”

  “The lead-in?” He lifted his head and scowled at her.

  “Yeah. We need a lead-in. Meaning, what made you decide to propose today?”

  “Ah. Well, I…was away for three days. I missed you unbearably. I knew the minute I saw you again, I’d be on my knees. And I was.”

  “Wow. That’s good.”

  He was the soul of modesty. “I kind of thought so.”

  “Except that it doesn’t add up. I mean, you saw me yesterday, after your trip.”

  “Okay, then. How’s this? I waited a day, though it was hell for me, just to make certain I couldn’t live without you.”

  She laughed. “Connor. Get outta here. You’re really good at this.”

  “I do my best.” He brought his lips down so close to hers again.

  She could drown in those dark eyes of his. She whispered, prayerfully, “You should kiss me now.”

  “My thoughts, exactly.” He claimed her lips in a kiss that stole the breath from her body and made stars dance behind her eyes.

  And then, their mouths still fused, he scooped her high against his chest and turned for her bedroom.

  That was when the doorbell rang.

  They groaned in mutual disappointment and he whispered, “Get rid of whoever it is. Do it fast.”

  She chuckled. “You’re so eager. I like that in a fiancé, even a fake one.”

  “Just answer the door,” he growled as he let her slide to the floor. She straightened her shirt, smoothed her hair and went to see who it was.

  “Hey, Ms. Jones,” Jerilyn and CJ chimed in unison when she opened the door. Both were grinning, wind-blown and pink-cheeked.

  CJ added, “We were just riding by…” He tipped his head toward the front walk, where his skateboard and Jerilyn’s bike lay as they’d dropped them. “We saw my dad’s SUV…”

  “Come on in.” She stepped back and called to Connor. “It’s the kids.” They trooped in. “Thirsty?”

  Jerilyn laughed. “We were hoping you would ask.”

  “There’s juice in the fridge.”

  “Thanks, Ms. Jones.”

  “Hey, Dad,” CJ greeted his father as he went by.

  Tori went to stand beside Connor as the kids disappeared into the kitchen. They heard cupboards opening, the clunk of the icemaker, followed by cheerful clattering sounds as ice cubes dropped into glasses.

  Connor wrapped an arm around her, nuzzled her hair. “I guess it wouldn’t be nice to tell them to get lost.”

  She laughed. “They won’t stay long.”

  CJ appeared carrying a glass of juice. “You guys look…happy.”

  Connor squeezed her shoulder and captured her gaze. “Good a time as any, don’t you think?”

  She felt like a diver, poised, suspended in that last split second before she sailed off a cliff into dangerous deep waters far below. But the decision was made. She took the plunge. “Yes. I think so.”

  By that time, Jerilyn, with her own full glass, had come to stand with CJ. “A good time for what?”

  Connor squeezed her shoulder again. “We want you two to be the first to know.”

  The teenagers shared a bewildered glance. And CJ asked, “Know what?”

  Connor announced with pride, “That Tori has just agreed to be my wife.”

  Chapter Nine

  For a moment, Connor worried that CJ was angry, that he hated the idea of his dad planning to marry again. The two kids just stood there, gaping.

  And then Jerilyn gave a gleeful laugh. “How great.”

  And CJ let out a whoop. “Score!”

  Connor blinked, unsure. “Uh. That’s good, right?�
��

  “Totally, Dad. Sweet,” CJ confirmed.

  Jerilyn came rushing over. She set her drink on the coffee table and grabbed Tori. “Oh, I’m so happy.” She pulled her favorite teacher close, hugging hard. “You’re perfect for him, Ms. Jones. I knew it right from the first.”

  Tori hugged her back. “Um, you did?”

  Jerilyn took her by the shoulders and held her away, beaming at Tori with complete satisfaction. You would have thought CJ’s girlfriend had engineered the engagement herself. “Well, maybe not that first day.” She sent a glance at Connor. “That first day, you were kind of scary, Mr. McFarlane.”

  Connor felt a little abashed. “Yeah. I suppose I was. Sorry.”

  “But up at the summer kickoff barbecue. That was when I got the feeling you guys might get together.”

  Now Tori laughed. “No.”

  “Oh, yeah.” She grabbed Tori’s left hand. What was it about women? Even the really young ones went right for the ring finger. “Wait. Where’s the ring?”

  Tori blinked. “Well, um, we…”

  On the fly, Connor came up with an answer. “I couldn’t wait to ask her. And we’ve just agreed to drive over to Bozeman today and choose one.”

  “Wow, Dad,” said CJ. He actually looked a little misty-eyed. “This is pretty cool.”

  Looking at him, Connor could almost feel guilty for deceiving him like this—but not that guilty. After all, he was doing what he had to do, to keep CJ with him.

  “So when’s the wedding?” Jerilyn demanded.

  Tori shook her head. “Slow down, we just got engaged. Let us enjoy the glow for a while before we start in about the wedding.”

  CJ said, “Hey. So are we moving here, for good, then, Dad? That would be so sweet. If we lived here, I could go to Thunder Canyon High.”

  Connor felt a shiver down his backbone. Already his son was dreaming of a future in Thunder Canyon—a future that was never going to happen. “We’ve made no plans yet. None. Enjoy the summer, CJ. Leave it at that.”

  “I will, Dad. But if you’re—”

  Connor didn’t let him finish. “CJ.”

  CJ hesitated. But he didn’t exactly give up. “Well, we can talk about it later, huh?”

  Connor knew he had to draw the line on this or he’d never hear the end of it. “You will go back to boarding school, as always.” He spoke flatly. “I can get you your summer, CJ, even though your mother wants it otherwise. But you can’t push me beyond that.”