A Wedding in Willow Valley (Willow Valley Women)

by Joan Elliott Pickart

  A guy she’d kissed the socks off of by the lake today.

  No, he wasn’t going there. He’d like to believe that kiss meant something, but it really didn’t. It had caught them both off guard, just happened, and they’d responded. Man, had they responded. But Laurel had been very quick to make it clear that it was a mistake and wouldn’t happen again. So, okay, he didn’t have to get hit with a brick to get the message.

  And tomorrow they’d go to Flagstaff and he’d be forced to endure hours of Laurel treating him like…just a guy.

  The next morning brought a chilling wind that pushed puffs of ominously dark clouds across a gray sky. Multitudes of colorful leaves were whipped off the trees, then flung everywhere.

  After what had proven to be a restless night’s sleep, Laurel dressed in jeans, a cable-knit pink sweater and tennis shoes. She brushed her hair until it shone, then created her usual single braid that hung down her back. She set her purse and a navy-blue windbreaker on the sofa, then headed for the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

  “Good morning, honey,” Jane said, glancing up from the newspaper she was reading at the table. “It’s not a very nice day for your outing. A cold front must have snuck in during the night, because there wasn’t anything about this change in weather on the news.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Laurel said, sitting opposite her mother with a mug of coffee. “I don’t need sunshine to pick out a car. I’ve decided to get something that can handle icy roads. Even if I move to Phoenix or somewhere warm like that, I’ll still want to be able to visit you without having to worry about the driving conditions.”

  “That’s good thinking,” Jane said, setting the newspaper aside. “I must say, though, I can’t picture you living in Phoenix. You’ve always enjoyed the changing seasons so much here in Willow Valley.” She laughed. “I still remember the time that you, Dove and Ben were about six, I think, and spent the day with Grandfather so you could build him a huge snowman.”

  “Ah, yes,” Laurel said, smiling at the memory. “It was a huge snowman, all right, and we were so proud of that creation.”

  “Until…” Jane laughed again and shook her head.

  “Until the dumb thing fell over and buried the three of us in cold, wet snow.” Laurel sighed. “We were such happy children, without a care in the world. We were all cherished and cared for, protected and nurtured by parents who loved us beyond measure. But then we grew up and fell prey to the coyote.”

  “The coyote?” Jane said, raising her eyebrows. “You’re indulging in Navajo beliefs this morning?”

  “Yes, I guess I am. The coyote is a trickster, crafty and clever, and is not to be trusted. Nothing turned out the way the three of us planned because of the coyote.”

  “Also known as life, my sweet,” Jane said, smiling gently.

  “I know.”

  “Are you still comfortable with the idea of this outing with Ben today, Laurel?”

  “Somewhere in the middle of the night I decided it was a very good idea to spend the day with Ben,” Laurel said. “I’ve been avoiding him like a frightened child ever since I came home. It’s time for me to start acting like a mature woman, for heaven’s sake.

  “I’m still in love with Ben. He is definitely not in love with me, and I need to accept that, deal with it and move on. These hours today with Ben will emphasize that what we once shared is over, was finished years ago. This trip to Flagstaff is good therapy for me.”

  “Spoken like a true psychologist,” Jane said.

  “No, spoken like a woman who is still nursing wounds that should have healed a long time ago. I’m taking control of my life, including my emotions, as we speak.”

  “I see,” Jane said. “Well, keep one eye open for the coyote as you turn over that new leaf.”

  “I intend to.”

  The doorbell rang and Laurel jerked in her chair at the sudden noise.

  “That’s Ben,” Laurel said, her eyes widening.

  “I imagine it is,” Jane said, nodding.

  “Right on time,” Laurel said, glancing at the clock on the wall. “Ben has always been very punctual.”

  “Yes, he has.” Jane paused. “Don’t you think you should go open the front door?”

  “Oh,” Laurel said, jumping to her feet. “Yes. Of course. I’m going to do that. Right now.”

  Jane laughed softly as Laurel left the kitchen.

  At the door Laurel hesitated, drew a steadying breath, then produced what she hoped was a pleasant smile. She opened the door and the smile vanished.

  Oh, mercy, she thought, look at him. Ben Skeeter in jeans, a black sweater, Stetson tugged low on his forehead and an unbuttoned fleece-lined suede jacket, was a sight to behold. He was just so incredibly…male.

  “Good morning, Laurel,” Ben said quietly, looking directly into her eyes. “Ready to go?”

  With you? Laurel thought foggily. Anywhere.

  “Laurel?”

  “Huh? Oh. Yes, I’m all set. Come in. I just have to get my jacket and purse. I was going to take a windbreaker, but from what you’re wearing, I’m guessing it’s colder out there than I thought.”

  “It’s pretty nippy,” Ben said as he entered the house.

  “I’ll get a heavier jacket,” Laurel said, closing the door as Jane came into the living room.

  “Hello, Ben,” Jane said as Laurel went to collect another coat.

  “Jane,” he said, touching the fingertips of one hand to the brim of his Stetson.

  “I was thinking of visiting Grandfather today,” Jane said. “Laurel said he hasn’t been feeling well.”

  “He’s not up to par, that’s for sure,” Ben said. “He may not want company, but it’s worth a try.”

  Jane nodded.

  “Okay, we’re off,” Laurel said, returning wearing a puffy red jacket. “Bye, Mom.”

  “Enjoy your day,” Jane said.

  As the door closed behind Laurel and Ben, Jane stared at it for a long moment.

  “Together,” she whispered, “they’re stronger than the coyote.”

  Ben’s vehicle was a black Chevy Tahoe that he’d equipped with a police radio beneath the dashboard. He also had a portable blue light that he could put on the roof if he wasn’t driving a patrol car while on duty.

  “This is a big machine,” Laurel said, glancing around as Ben drove away from the house. “I don’t want anything this enormous. I would like something that handles well in snow, though.”

  Ben nodded. “SUVs, vans and trucks with four-wheel drive come in all sizes.” He paused. “You…um…plan to live where there’s snow?” Like right here in Willow Valley?

  “I don’t know,” Laurel said, looking out the side window. “But I do want to be able to visit my mother no matter what the weather is.”

  “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.” Ben paused. “Why don’t you have a car now? Didn’t you need one in Virginia?”

  “I sold it before I came home,” Laurel said, switching her gaze to the front window, “along with my furniture and what have you. I shipped my clothes, got on a plane and here I am.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?” Laurel said, still not looking at Ben.

  “Why did you sell everything? And why did you come home?”

  “It was time for a change,” she said quietly.

  “So you quit your job without having another one lined up?”

  “Yes, Ben, I did,” she said, an edge to her voice as she finally looked at him. “End of story. I don’t intend to spend the day being interrogated.”

  “I’m chatting, not interrogating,” he said, frowning.

  “Fine. Chat about something else.”

  “Whew. You’re a tad touchy on the subject of Laurel Windsong, aren’t you?”

  “I just don’t wish to discuss my personal business, that’s all. So. Let’s talk about you. You achieved your dream, your goal, of being a police officer. Is it everything you hoped it would be? Is it difficult to be in charge of both Will
ow Valley and the rez? Did you have an A-frame house built, like you always intended to? Why haven’t you married and started a family?”

  “Whoa, there, Miss Marple,” Ben said, chuckling. “And you accuse me of interrogating you?”

  “I’m just chatting.”

  “Okay, I get it. Tit for tat. The difference between us is I don’t have any secrets and you obviously do. So, yes, being sheriff is everything I’d hoped it would be. Yes, having responsibility for both Willow Valley and the rez is a big load, but I have very good deputies on the payroll. Yes, my house is an A-frame, just like the pictures I used to draw and show you. There.”

  “You didn’t answer the last question,” Laurel said, looking at him intently. “About why you haven’t married and started a family.”

  Ben pressed harder on the gas pedal as he eased into the traffic on the interstate highway.

  Because, Laurel, he thought, his jaw tightening, I’m still in love with you and can’t imagine sharing a life with anyone else. And unless I can move past that somehow, I’m facing a lot of lonely years, just like the last ten years have been.

  He shrugged. “I just haven’t had time to devote to thinking about a wife and kids. But I will. Someday. My job keeps me very busy. And you? Weren’t there any eligible men in Virginia?”

  “My job kept me very busy,” Laurel said, looking out the side window again.

  And none of the men I met were you, Ben, she thought.

  Neither spoke for the next fifteen minutes.

  “Red,” Laurel said finally, causing Ben to jerk slightly at the sudden sound of her voice.

  “What?” he said, glancing over at her, then back at the traffic.

  “I want a red car. Yes, definitely a red one.”

  “Oh, boy,” Ben said, smiling. “So that means if we find a really great deal on a good vehicle, you’ll pass if it isn’t red?”

  “Yep.”

  “Dandy,” he said, shaking his head. “Do you want new, or used?”

  “A new one, so that it’s covered under all the warranties.”

  “That’s smart,” he said, nodding.

  “I’m a very intelligent woman.”

  “Yeah, I know you are, Laurel,” Ben said seriously. “A person doesn’t get to be a psychologist by taking a bunch of easy courses. I respect that.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Laurel, I’d like the answer to one question that comes under the heading of your personal business. Just one. I never asked you this and…okay? One question?”

  “It depends on what it is,” she said, frowning at him.

  “My question is, why did you decide to go to college so far away from—” Me. “—from Willow Valley? You could have gone to Flagstaff, Tucson or Phoenix. Why did you go all the way to Virginia?”

  “I didn’t have any choice in the matter. I told you that at the time.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “Yes, I’m sure I did, Ben. What difference does it make? You were furious that I was leaving at all, so why bring it up now?”

  “No, I was blown away by the fact that you were putting the entire country between us. If you were so determined to get your degree and had chosen a school closer to home, we could have compromised, worked something out and— What do you mean you didn’t have any choice in the matter?”

  “You’re twisting the facts,” Laurel said, her voice rising. “You said that if I left Willow Valley we were through, finished.”

  “No, I said if you went to Virginia—which would mean you couldn’t come home every weekend—we were finished. Big difference there, Ms. Windsong.”

  “That’s not what you said, Mr. Skeeter.”

  “Yes, it was, damn it, and you chose Virginia anyway.”

  “I didn’t want to go that far away,” Laurel said, nearly shouting. “But Mr. Chapman, our high school principal, found out there was grant money in Virginia for female minorities with top grades.

  “I’m half Navajo and had straight A’s. I went to Virginia because I got a scholarship to go there and it meant I didn’t have to work as well as attend college, which would have made it impossible to get my degree in the usual amount of time.

  “Do you get it now, Ben? Do you see why I didn’t have any choice in the matter? I went after my dream, just as you did, and I wanted to accomplish that goal as quickly as possible so I could…could come home again.” To you. “But you ended our relationship because I was leaving. I told you why it had to be Virginia.”

  “I…” Ben cleared his throat while aware of the increased tempo of his now racing heart. “I didn’t hear you say those words, Laurel. I guess nothing registered beyond that fact that you were going away, not following the plan we’d made for our future together. Going as far away as you possibly could.”

  “No, Ben,” she said quietly, “it wasn’t like that. Dear heaven, all these years you thought that I— You would have been willing to compromise if I’d gone to school in Flagstaff or Phoenix? You didn’t tell me that.”

  “Why bother? You’d already said you were going to Virginia,” he said, his grip on the steering wheel tightening to the point that his knuckles turned white. “I don’t believe this. We lost everything we had together, our hopes and plans, our future, because of a misunderstanding, a lack of proper communication?”

  “I guess so,” Laurel said, her voice trembling as she felt the color drain from her face. “Dear God, Ben, what have we done?”

  “Shattered dreams,” he said, his voice hoarse as a pulse ticked wildly in his temple. “Dreams that can never be put back together again.”

  Because you no longer love me. But I still love you, Laurel thought, turning her head to hide the tears shimmering in her eyes. Oh, Ben.

  Dreams that can never be put back together again because, Ben thought, an achy sensation seizing his throat, while I didn’t stop loving you, you’re no longer in love with me. And that, as the saying goes, is that. Aw, damn it, Laurel.

  Chapter Five

  The drive from Willow Valley to Flagstaff took approximately ninety minutes if the traffic was light and the weather didn’t require a slower, safer speed.

  The remaining half hour left in the journey after Ben and Laurel’s incredible revelations about what had happened ten years before was made in total and oppressive silence. They were each lost in their own thoughts, replaying what they had just learned and attempting to deal with it.

  She would not, Laurel decided as the skyline of Flagstaff came into view, dwell on this any longer. She would not indulge in useless if-only scenarios.

  The outcome was still the same, the damage had been done and couldn’t be repaired. They had, just as Ben said, shattered their dreams, and they couldn’t be put back together again.

  Ben merged into the busy traffic in the city and went several blocks before parking on a side street next to a car dealership. He turned off the ignition and folded his arms on top of the steering wheel.

  “I’ve been trying to accept what we’ve discovered today,” he said, looking over at Laurel, “the way I believe Grandfather would, because I respect him so much. I think he would say that what happened was what was meant to be. I can’t be positive, of course, that that would be his conclusion, but I’m going with it.”

  “I see,” Laurel said quietly. “Well, that’s good. I hope we can…we can at least…be friends, Ben, instead of spending so much time and energy trying to keep out of each other’s way.”

  “Friends,” Ben said, gazing up at the gray sky for a long moment. “Right.”

  “Right,” Laurel said miserably.

  “Maybe,” he said, opening the door. “Let’s go see if we can find you a spiffy red vehicle.”

  No, Laurel thought, getting out and closing the door, let’s go home so she could crawl into bed and not emerge for five years or so. Friends. How was she supposed to behave like a buddy around the man who possessed her heart? How was she supposed to do that? Oh, this was going to be a horrendous da
y. She could only hope that a red car was sitting on this lot about to call her name.

  But it was three dealerships and three hours later before Laurel finally found the car she wanted. It was a bright red Dodge Caravan minivan, which was the smaller model of the vans offered. She and Ben took it for a test drive, with both of them taking a turn behind the wheel.

  “Handles well,” Ben said, nodding as he pulled back onto the lot. “It doesn’t have as much storage room and bells and whistles as the bigger model, but I think it will serve your purposes and should be okay on winter roads. What do you think?”

  “It smells good,” Laurel said. “Don’t you love the smell of new vehicles?”

  Ben chuckled. “Well, that settles it, then. It passed the smell-good test and it’s red. Hey, what more could you want?”

  “I’m going to buy it,” she said, nodding decisively. “Yes. It feels good to be making a major decision, too. I’ve just been floating along in a limbo state ever since I came back to Willow Valley. My mother knew what she was doing when she insisted that it was time I bought my own transportation.”

  Ben nodded, then turned off the ignition, which was the signal for the salesman to hustle over to where they had parked on the lot.

  “Well, folks?” the man said, smiling as Ben and Laurel got out of the van. “What’s the verdict?”

  “I’ll take it,” Laurel said. “I’ll make a down payment and finance the rest.”

  “You’ve made a wise choice,” the salesman said. “I think you’ll be very happy with this vehicle. Let’s go into my office and get the paperwork tended to, shall we?”

  The documents were signed, then the salesman said he wanted to have the van washed before Laurel drove it off the lot.

  “No problem,” Ben said. “We’re ready for lunch. We’ll be back in an hour.”

  “That’ll do it,” the salesman said, shaking Laurel’s hand. “We’ll get your new baby all shined up, Ms. Windsong. It got a bit dusty on the lot, then it rained and, well, it will be sparkling by the time you return.”