Priceless Marriage

by Bonnie Gardner

  And he was determined that Ruby’s place would one day be his place as well. No, theirs.

  As Sam pulled up to the toolshed, he was startled to see Ruby, looking so much like a farm boy in her straw hat and overhauls as she strode purposefully across the farmyard, pitchfork in hand. One of the piglets trotted eagerly behind her like a stray puppy. He drew the car to a halt in the shade of the shed and climbed out. “Hey, who’s your shadow?” he called.

  Ruby grinned. “Oscar and I have bonded,” she said, offering the pitchfork to Sam. “I’m glad you’re here. I wasn’t looking forward to turning the compost heap. Seems that job needs more muscles than I have.”

  “Thanks a bunch,” Sam said dryly, taking the fork as Oscar sniffed around his boots, then retreated to hide behind Ruby. “Shouldn’t Oscar be in the pen?” Hell, he’d spent half a day nailing that thing together, and it wouldn’t keep the damned piglet in? Sam’s ego still smarted from Oscar’s little escapade the other day, not to mention his knee since it had given out on him in the mud.

  “The piglets are fine outside. As long as we keep the greenhouse doors shut so they don’t get in and root around in the planting trays, they won’t get in the way,” Ruby said, removing her hat to brush a bit of flyaway hair out of her eyes and to poke it back behind her ear.

  Sam understood Ruby’s need to cover up, with her fair skin that tended to burn more than freckle, but he hated her covering her flaming mass of hair. It had been one of the things that had made him notice her in the first place. The breeze sent another tendril of fire across her face, and it stuck to the corner of her mouth. Sam brushed it away and pushed it behind her ear. “There. All fixed,” he said. Of course, if she were bald he’d still love her.

  Funny, he’d never told her that. Maybe he should.

  An idea suddenly came to him. “Say, I stopped by the Heartbreaker last night to do a little nosing around after I left here.”

  Ruby raised an eyebrow as she returned the straw hat to her head. “In the sweat clothes? I’m sure you were quite the center of attention.”

  Sam chuckled as he leaned against the pitchfork. “No, I changed first. Dev seems to have fixed the place up since he got married to Amanda Bradley. There has to be something in the water with this wedding boom going on. It’s looking more like a fern bar than a honky-tonk. They’re even serving food now.” He paused, wondering exactly how to word his request.

  “Really? Amanda came into the store to buy the fabric for tablecloths, but I haven’t seen the finished product. The Heartbreaker has never exactly been one of my hangouts.”

  That was something Sam was glad to hear. Not that he would have expected Ruby to frequent the place. He couldn’t have asked for a better opening than if he’d filed a request in triplicate. “Well, let’s go check it out. Tonight. You won’t have to cook supper, and I can treat you to a steak. Hell, we could even try out the new dance floor.”

  Ruby’s face lit up with a hundred-watt smile. “I’d love that,” she said. “Now that we’ve got so much done on the farm, we can afford to quit a little early now and then. And we are millionaires, after all. We should have people waiting on us for a change. And I just got a new dress from the Spiegel catalog that I’d love to wear.”

  Now Sam just had to hold on until tonight, when he’d get to see the new dress and the beautiful woman in it. Good thing the job Ruby had just assigned him didn’t require much brain power, because all he could think about right now was tonight, Ruby’s new dress and getting her out of it.

  THE PHONE RANG as Ruby was dressing for her “date” with Sam. She started to ignore it and let the answering machine pick it up while she put the final touches on her makeup, but then she heard Nick’s voice. Ruby hurried to the phone.

  “Did you get it?” she asked eagerly, holding the phone carefully away from her headful of rollers. She listened to Nick’s explanation, then grinned widely, even if Nick couldn’t see it. “Yes! I knew you would.” This was definitely good news.

  They chatted a few minutes, then Ruby drew their conversation to a close. “Okay. I’ll see you later.” Still grinning widely, she hung up the phone.

  The day hadn’t started out badly, but it was certainly shaping up to end really well, she couldn’t help thinking. Ruby hurried back to her bedroom to finish getting ready for her date with Sam.

  She blotted her lipstick, then caught a glimpse of the dress laid across the bed behind her. Maybe it was a little much for Jester, Montana, but Ruby had seen it in the catalog and she’d just had to have it, even when she’d had no idea when or where she’d get a chance to wear it. Then, almost as if it had been preordained, Sam had shown up at her door. It was almost as if it were in someone’s plan.

  Ruby couldn’t remember the last time she’d dressed up and done her hair and worn nail polish, and maybe it was silly, but she was really looking forward to doing so. Looking forward to feeling pretty, feeling like a woman, feeling wanted.

  Sitting at the mirrored vanity table, Ruby concentrated on making her hands look like those of a pampered and wealthy woman. She had to chuckle. She might be wealthy by Jester’s standards, but considering the last few months, she’d been anything but pampered, and it took longer than she expected.

  Ruby had just put on the final coat of polish when she heard the sound of a car on the drive through the open window. She glanced at the clock. How had it gotten so late?

  Still wearing the turquoise silk kimono that Sam had brought back from one of his secret trips abroad, Ruby hurried to greet him.

  WITH THE EXCEPTION of the first day he’d come to the farm, Sam always used the kitchen door. But today was different. He had a hot date tonight with his wife, and he was going to do everything he could to make it special. He parked the car on the circular drive in front of the house and, donning his new Stetson hat, hurried to the front door.

  He felt a little self-conscious in his new outfit, but something told him that the casual civilian clothes he’d been accustomed to wearing during his off-duty hours would not do here. So he’d bitten the bullet, stopped by the Mercantile on the way home and let Honor Lassiter fix him up. He’d sworn her to secrecy so that Ruby would be surprised.

  Now he just hoped she wouldn’t laugh.

  He stepped up on the porch and rapped on the doorjamb. The front door was open with the screen door in place, so Sam could see Ruby coming, and he liked what he saw.

  She was wearing the short silk kimono he’d given her years ago, and she held her hands up in the air like a surgeon waiting to put on gloves. The slippery fabric slipped off one shoulder, and Sam had a clear view of her creamy white skin. When she saw him, she stopped.

  “Oh, come on, Ruby honey. It ain’t that bad,” he finally said when she came no closer.

  Ruby shook her head slowly. “No, it isn’t bad at all.” She gestured for him to come in, and Sam, removing his hat, stepped inside. “When did you get this? Turn around, let me see.” She gestured in a twirling motion.

  Feeling like two kinds of a fool, Sam did as he was told. Hell, even during a stiff military inspection a guy didn’t have to pirouette. But dammit, he would do anything if it meant getting Ruby back.

  “You look fantastic,” she finally said, still holding her hands ups.

  Sam let out a sigh or relief. “You like?”

  “Oh, yes,” Ruby enthused. “I love it. Haven’t I been telling you for years that you’d look great in Western wear?”

  “Yeah, you have. I got Honor to help me pick it out.” He looked down at the Western-style shirt and silver belt buckle. “I feel like I’m in a Halloween costume,” he said, smiling sheepishly. “I’d be a whole lot more comfortable in my uniform.”

  Ruby smiled. “Think about it as a cowboy uniform.”

  “Yeah. Right.” Sam nodded toward her odd position. “What’s with the hands? Somebody holding a gun on you?”

  “What?” Ruby slowly lowered her hands to her sides, keeping them away from her body. “Oh, t
his. I did my nails, and they weren’t quite dry when you got here.” She held them out in front of her, then waved them around a little bit. “I guess they’re dry by now. I have to finish getting dressed.” She turned and hurried back toward her bedroom, giving Sam a great view of her long, slender legs as she retreated.

  He’d always liked her in that kimono, but then he’d always loved her out of it, too.

  Sam stood in the center of the living room and wondered what to do. He fingered the brim of his new hat for a few moments, then took a seat on the couch.

  If prior experience had taught him anything, it could be a long wait. And if history were to repeat itself, he knew darn well that the results would be well worth it.

  “One more minute and I’ll be ready,” Ruby called from behind her closed door.

  Sam wondered if he should time her, but before he had a chance to check his watch, the door opened. Was she as eager to start their date as he was?

  He looked up quickly and stumbled to his feet. “Wow. You sure don’t look like a farm girl now,” he said as he absorbed the full impact of the stunning, flame-red, sleeveless dress. The brilliant fabric, covering her with all modesty from neck to knee, hugged Ruby’s form like a glove, and it was plain to see that working so hard on the farm had done nothing to hurt her slender figure.

  She walked toward him on matching high heels that made her long legs seem endless. Sam forced himself to breathe. “You take my breath away, lady in red,” he told her, and the words of a song came into his mind. “You’re amazing.”

  “Thank you,” Ruby murmured, blushing.

  It pleased Sam to know that he could still have that effect on her. Still, if they didn’t get going they’d never make it to the Heartbreaker.

  Not that it would be a problem for him, but he was going to do it right. For Ruby.

  He crooked his arm. “Shall we go?” he said, trying to keep from grinning like an idiot.

  Smiling, Ruby looped her arm through his. “Yes, let’s. I can’t wait to show off my handsome date in town.”

  Sam felt a tightening in his groin, but he willed himself to behave. They’d have all evening, and maybe if the sun and the moon and the planets all lined up just right, tonight would be the night. “No one will be looking at me,” he said huskily. Then he escorted her out the door.

  Only when he moved his hand to the small of her back as he reached to open the car door for her did he realize that there was no back to the dress. A shiver of excitement surged through him.

  Hoo-ah!

  Oh man, it was gonna be a long night, he told himself. But he was going to do it right. For Ruby.

  It might almost kill him, but he was going to follow her lead.

  Thank God Nick was nowhere in sight.

  WITH THE EXCEPTION of fresh paint and a new sign, from the outside, the Heartbreaker Saloon looked as it always had. Ruby drew in a deep breath as Sam parked the Corvette in front. The place, if you’d believed Amanda Bradley’s complaints before she and Dev Devlin, the owner, had come together, could be loud and rowdy, but for now it looked like any Western-style bar and grill in any city in the country. Would the inside be as comfortable as the exterior seemed to be?

  Sam opened the car door and offered his hand to help Ruby out. She accepted. With this low car and these high heels, there was no other way she would have been able to exit the vehicle gracefully. “Thank you,” she murmured, still feeling odd about dating her estranged husband.

  Estranged, she thought. Such an odd turn of phrase. There were moments when they did, indeed, feel estranged, but most of the time recently they felt as right together as they always had. It was the other times that made Ruby cautious.

  Even if just the scent of his aftershave had her warm and hungry with a hunger that had nothing to do with food.

  The sun was still high and the sky bright outside when Sam escorted her through the bat-wing doors into the dark saloon. Ruby, almost blind from the drastic change in lighting, paused just inside. After a moment, her eyes adjusted. The bar’s interior looked much the same, too.

  No, it didn’t, she decided on second thought. Though the same old wooden bar with stools commanded one side, the risqué paintings that had hung above it forever had been draped with sheer fabric. The nude figures were still visible, but only if you made a point of looking. And the mirror above the bar had been polished till it sparkled, a far cry from its dingy, smoke-stained former appearance.

  The chairs that flanked the round tables were new, a great improvement over the mismatched ones that had been there before. The most noticeable difference was the addition of rust-and-beige-checkered tablecloths covered with glass, which now gave the bar a more homey feel.

  Dev greeted them from behind the bar. “Welcome,” he said, as he put down the cloth he’d been using to polish the countertop. “Ruby Cade, you are just the ticket to brighten up the place.” He turned to Sam. “You are one lucky man.”

  “Yes, I am,” Sam agreed.

  Ruby blushed, but smiled at the compliment as Dev and Sam shook hands. “Thank you, Dev, but you don’t need me. The place looks wonderful.”

  Roy Gibson, the bartender, who was a dead ringer for Willie Nelson, came out of the rear, his smile almost broad enough to make a grin. “Dang interfering woman,” he grumbled in his Texas accent, still recognizable though he’d been so long in Montana. “A woman’s touch.” He almost seemed to shudder, but Ruby could see that he was kidding. “Next thing you know we’re gonna have doilies all over the place.”

  Sherry Bishop approached them. She’d obviously been hired on to wait tables, and with Sherry having a son bound for college, Ruby was happy she’d been able to find work. Jester had been barely holding its head above water for so long it was wonderful to see the new miniboom in the town’s economics.

  “Let me show you to a table,” Sherry said, gesturing toward the dining area. “Our menu’s still a little limited, but we’re working on it.”

  “I’m sure it will be wonderful, Sherry. I love anything that I don’t have to cook.” With Sam’s hand positioned proprietarily at her waist, Ruby followed her to a table.

  Sam pulled out a chair and Ruby sat, feeling almost bereft at the loss of his warm hand on her back. Then he seated himself across from her. “Menus?” he asked the waitress.

  “As I said, it’s still a work in progress.” Sherry clasped her hands in front of her. “Right now, I can offer burgers and steaks, fries or baked potatoes, and salad with your choice of dressing. And Gwen has baked us some really nice pies. Roy can fix you up anything you want from the bar.” She smiled. “So, what can I get you?”

  “Steak, rare, and fries for me,” Sam said. “Ruby?”

  “Salad and a small steak, medium, if you have one,” Ruby said, looking around. “I am amazed at what a difference Amanda’s few changes have made.”

  “She’s trying,” Sherry said.

  Sam ordered a beer, and Ruby asked for a margarita. When Sam arched an eyebrow, she laughed. “I’m not driving. I might have two.”

  “Works for me,” Sam said. He knew what happened to Ruby when she’d had more than one drink. And he’d always enjoyed the results. He wondered if Ruby was trying to tell him something.

  Dev delivered their drinks to the table. “We’ll have a band here tomorrow night, but the jukebox works now,” he said, nodding toward the small stage and an even smaller dance floor. “Amanda’s put some new selections on it. Some nice dance tunes. Feel free.”

  Sam took a sip of his beer. “How ’bout it, Ruby? Want some music?”

  “That would be nice. You pick. You know what I like.” She lifted the large bowl-shaped glass to her lips and tasted the salt on the rim.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said, scooting out of his chair.

  If Sam remembered correctly, the old selections on the jukebox had run heavily into Hank Williams, Jr. tunes, and the usual country-western stuff. Now he recognized some popular titles, including “Lady in Re
d.” He couldn’t resist. He inserted several coins and then made his selections. Maybe Ruby wouldn’t get the symbolism, but a guy could hope.

  The strains of his first choice began to fill the air as he sauntered back to her.

  Sherry had already served Ruby’s salad, and the two of them were discussing the possibility of Ruby providing some of her greens for the restaurant.

  “We don’t have much ready to sell yet. It’s taken me longer to get started than I thought, but I hope to have a crop of leaf lettuce ready in a few weeks. I’ll bring in a sample when it’s ready to pick,” Ruby said.

  Sam liked the way Ruby said “we.” Did that mean she really was thinking about them as a couple again? He took his seat, reached across the table and squeezed her hand in his.

  Ruby looked up and smiled. “What was that for?”

  “Why not?” he said, watching Sherry walk away. “I like touching you. Does it bother you?”

  “No, it just surprised me. You never used to be very good at public shows of affection.” She didn’t say she liked it, but she didn’t remove her hand, either.

  “Do you think Dev and Amanda will use some of our produce?”

  “Don’t know,” Ruby said. “People around here sure are attached to iceberg lettuce.”

  “Maybe it’s just because they’ve never had the opportunity to try anything else,” Sam said, and was rewarded with a nice smile from Ruby. “If you’re gonna make a go of your venture, it couldn’t hurt to ask around.

  “Speaking of business propositions…” he added. “Guess who tracked me down the other day?”

  Ruby looked up from her salad. “I have no idea. Who?”

  “Cap Horton.” Major Capshaw Horton was probably Sam’s best friend. He hadn’t seen him since Cap had retired several years before, and it was great that he’d looked him up. Cap had always talked about putting his military skills into action when he’d retired. Sam had always gone along with him, but he’d never really believed Cap would carry anything out. Cap had always been more of a schemer and dreamer. Sam had never really expected him to bring his dreams to fruition.