A Country Wedding

by Duncan Leigh

  “I can see that. So…” Despite his warnings to watch her step, she hobbled across the slippery rocks toward him. “How long do we actually need to stay out here for?”

  He reeled in a good section of his line. “You’ll know when you’re done.” Hopefully, not before she at least got a bite.

  “Okay. I’m done.”

  Bradley swallowed a sigh. Well, that hadn’t taken long. They’d hardly been here fifteen minutes. Reluctantly, he began reeling in so he could help Catherine back across the rocks. Before he could, she spun toward the shore. As if the rules about being careful didn’t applied to her, she sloshed through the water.

  “Wait!” he called. Even with her waders, the footing was treacherous.

  He might as well have saved his breath. Catherine didn’t stop. She didn’t slow down.

  Bradley braced for the inevitable. Sure enough, not two seconds later, Catherine lost her footing. Loosing a scream shrill enough to startle the birds from the trees, she fell face-first into the water. Before he could react, or even help her remember to simply stand up in the shallow water, the fast-moving current pulled her farther away from him.

  “Catherine!” He tried to get her attention, but it was no use. Realizing she’d never hear him over the sound of her own screams, he tossed his fishing rod aside and dove in after her. The hard work he’d put into building fences with Sarah paid off when, his arms churning, he reached his bride-to-be in a matter of seconds. While she screeched at him to “Get me out of here!” he made quick work of getting her to shore.

  “Sit down here.” He helped her onto a chair-sized boulder and took a breath. Catherine had been lucky. She could have hit her head on the rocks or gotten all scraped up, but she looked and sounded okay. A little waterlogged, perhaps, and madder than a wet hen about it, but as soon as she realized she’d walk away unscathed, she’d probably laugh about the whole episode.

  “I can’t believe you made me do that,” Catherine sputtered without showing the slightest trace of humor.

  Wait a minute. It hadn’t been his idea to go rushing around on the slippery rocks. Hadn’t he warned her to be careful?

  He clenched his teeth. “Let me get these off of you,” he said, grasping one wader by the heel.

  Catherine shuddered when water poured out of the upended boot. “Oh, disgusting!” she declared. “I am never, ever doing this again.”

  And, by the determined look in her eyes, Bradley knew she meant it. He sighed again. So much for his hope that the incident would get etched in their memories as one of those funny stories married couples told. Or that, years from now, when friends visited them at the ranch, she’d turn to him with laughter in her eyes and ask, “Remember the day when I fell in the river?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Well, the postman delivered a bumper crop of mail today. Didn’t he, Cooper?”

  Beside her, the cocker spaniel’s tail beat against the chenille spread. Sitting cross-legged on her bed, Sarah poked through the stacks of bills and advertisements. Her heart rate sped up as she eyed the yellow second notices that glowed through most of the cellophane windows. A few bright red final notices added more color to the stack, and her pulse quickened again. She groaned.

  Which one should she open first? Did it matter? She didn’t have enough money to pay the bills. Her last floral delivery hadn’t even covered her order at the feed store, but what was she supposed to do—let the horses in her care starve? That wasn’t the answer. It couldn’t be. So, she’d done the only thing she could under the circumstances: she’d maxed out her last remaining credit card to buy enough oats and beet pulp to get them through the first week in June.

  She stirred a finger through the pile. As she did, a slim, white envelope slid out from under an advertisement for horse shampoo and conditioner. She snatched the envelope from the stack. Why hadn’t she seen it before? Her head throbbed in time with her heartbeat as she read Equine Rehabilitation Fund in the return address. This was it. The answer to all her prayers.

  “Cooper.” She held the important notice in front of the aged spaniel. “We got it.”

  Her hands shaking, she slid one finger under the flap. Had the Equine Fund approved her entire request? Would there be enough to bring her mortgage up to date? To cover all her bills? Her breath stalled as she withdrew the single page and flipped it open.

  We regret to inform you…

  “Oh, no,” she whispered. The world spun. Pain rippled through her chest. Beside her, Cooper whimpered. Tears welled in her eyes as she lifted the older dog into her arms.

  There was no hope, no putting off the inevitable. Later this week, she’d be forced to walk into James Fargo’s office and hand over the deed to the ranch. What would happen to her horses then? Where would she and her dogs go? What was to become of them?

  In her arms, Cooper whined. Sarah pressed the dog closer, but the soothing reassurances she wanted to give him wouldn’t come.

  It wasn’t fair. But then, so little had been lately. Was it fair that she and Bradley had reconnected after so many years apart, only to have their friendship—and any hope of something more, something deeper—crash and burn? Was it right for him to marry a woman he barely knew? Or for her to be left with this aching hole in her center?

  Years had passed since her last serious relationship. After all that time, she’d nearly given up on finding the forever kind of love her parents had shared. Instead, she’d poured her heart and soul into providing a safe and secure environment for abused animals. But then, Bradley had come back to Mill Town, and for one brief moment, she’d dared to dream of forever. When that hope had died, it had driven a knife straight into her heart. The letter rejecting her grant request from the Equine Rehabilitation Fund had finished the job of shattering her. She’d lost…everything.

  She sprawled on the bed, clutched the dog close, and sobbed.

  Catherine slipped the items she needed into the oversized Hermes purse and peered out the window toward the neighboring ranch. Spotting Sarah near the barn, she smiled tightly. Bradley had been quite secretive about the errand he needed to run this morning, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he’d driven into town to pick up a wedding gift for her. He’d probably chosen something sweet and sentimental. A trinket she would tuck away in a special spot along with pictures of their quaint wedding in a barn. But for now, she was glad he had something to occupy his time. His absence gave her just the opportunity she’d been hoping for, and she set out, determined to have a heart-to-heart with the girl next door.

  “We’re gonna get you better in no time.” The short brunette ran one hand over the mane of a quarter horse that, even to Catherine’s inexperienced eyes, had seen better days.

  So, this was the infamous Sarah, was it? The one whose name popped up in every conversation she’d had with Bradley in the two, long, miserable days she’d spent in Mill Town? Catherine eyed the woman closely. What did her fiancé see in her?

  Sarah had a sort of earthy charm, she supposed, watching as the woman doused the horse’s side with medicine and tended to a nasty-looking wound. But, from where she stood, it didn’t appear that Bradley’s neighbor put much effort into her appearance, not if the broken-down boots, the well-worn jeans, and unfashionable chambray shirt were her normal attire. She didn’t spend much time in front of the mirror, either, judging from the lack of makeup on her pale cheeks. Not so much as a single stroke of eye shadow glistened from beneath her brows. She eyed Sarah’s puffy eyes and the flyaway ends that escaped a haphazard ponytail. A couple of cold cucumber slices and fifteen minutes on the chaise lounge would work wonders, as would an appointment with a good stylist.

  Not that she’d suggest either. After all, why give the competition any pointers? Whether she knew it or not, Sarah had already wormed her way into Bradley’s heart. But she wouldn’t stay there long, not if Catherine had anything to say about
it.

  She skimmed one hand over tailored white jeans that fit like a second skin. Smoothing the hem of a sleeveless blouse that went perfectly with her three-inch heels and designer bag, she halted well short of the mud and muck that surrounded Sarah. “Good morning,” she called, raising her voice above the sounds of chickens squawking and goats bleating.

  “Catherine! Hi! So nice to meet you.” Sarah’s eyes widened. Her face turned a lovely shade of star-struck pink. The tools and supplies she’d been using fell to the ground. Her color deepened as she closed the distance between them while she tugged at a pair of rubber gloves. “I’m a huge fan.” She extended a hand.

  Catherine arched one eyebrow.

  “Oh!” Sarah jerked her still-gloved fingers out of reach. “Sorry!”

  “Thanks.” Catherine folded her own hands at her waist. A good part of her plan relied on catching their neighbor off-guard. So far, so good. She mustered her friendliest smile for her fiancé’s childhood friend. “Bradley told me what you’re doing here. Rescuing horses. I’m—” she did her best not to wrinkle her nose, “—very impressed.”

  Sarah balled the glove and stuck it in a back pocket. “I love the work.”

  “It’s beautiful here. I can see why Bradley likes it so much.” He actually enjoyed hiking and fishing and all those outdoorsy things, activities that held no appeal for her whatsoever. As if she wanted to confide a secret, Catherine tilted her head. “He romanticizes what it would be like to settle down and raise a family here, but…” she paused to let her voice firm. “That’ll never happen.”

  She’d barely hidden her shock when Bradley had announced he wanted children. True, they’d never discussed starting a family, but they had their whole future in front of them. If and when they decided to have a baby, that decision was years down the road. She couldn’t afford to take that much time off right now. Not when she was at the top of her game. Not when producers and screenwriters begged her to read their scripts and star in their films.

  “No?” Sarah’s hand found her waist.

  “Well, once he’s back on tour, jet-setting around the world, he’ll forget about this place like he did before and…” she shrugged, “never look back.”

  Not that there was much to forget. She wouldn’t last a week crammed into Bradley’s childhood home. Why, it wasn’t even half the size of her house in California. With only two bedrooms, where would her staff, her assistants, her agent sleep? And those closets—miniscule didn’t even begin to describe them. So, no. She and Bradley definitely weren’t moving here.

  She glanced down. Alerted by a slight frown that creased Sarah’s brow, she hurried to explain the facts of the life she’d been raised to expect. “He has a gift. Something he needs to share with the world. You understand that, right?”

  “I do.”

  “He is extraordinary,” she whispered. Bradley was one of the most talented people she’d ever met. Fame and fortune filled his future. For both their sakes, she wouldn’t let him throw it all away to live in some tiny backwater town that didn’t even have a decent restaurant. A move, she was dead certain, Sarah had planted in his brain. Which brought her to the point of this little meeting. She cleared her throat. “He’s very concerned about you.”

  Catherine plucked a slip of paper from the bag she wore over one arm. The time had come to put all those acting classes to use. This was the role of a lifetime. She wouldn’t botch it. In her best sympathy-coated tone, she commiserated with Bradley’s childhood sweetheart. “He told me about your financial troubles, and I have a friend in the business. Wonderful man. There’s his name and address.” She pressed the scribbled note into Sarah’s hands. “He takes in horses and other animals that have retired from TV and films. I called him thinking maybe he could help. And he can.” Her voice dropped. “He has room to take your horses if you need a place to put them.”

  She paused to gauge Sarah’s reaction. The relieved smile that spread across the other woman’s face told her all she needed to know, even without the tears that welled in Sarah’s eyes. She’d hit her mark. Putting the rest of her plan into play, Catherine spoke quickly. “In fact, he’d like to talk to you about working on his ranch in California, if you might be interested.”

  “That’s amazing.” Sarah gave her head a shake as if she was having a hard time accepting that all this unexpected good luck had fallen into her lap.

  “It’s serendipitous,” Catherine declared. Especially since an entire continent stretched between California and Bradley’s Nashville home. “I think you should grab the opportunity and talk to him…right away.”

  “Well, uh…”

  She’d expected Sarah to hesitate. What woman wouldn’t stop to reconsider moving away from her friends, her home? But, according to what she’d heard, Sarah had as good as lost her ranch already. As for her friends, she’d make new ones. Catherine dipped her fingers again into the bag crafted of fine, Himalayan leather. What had the salesman called it? Alligator? Crocodile? Something as equally rare and precious as the relationship she shared with Bradley. The one she refused to let him discard. Instead of a slip of paper, this time she retrieved a small package. “I hope you’ll accept this, as a gift from Bradley and me. We want to thank you for working so hard to put our wedding together.”

  The truth was, Bradley had no idea about the arrangement, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was doing this as much for him as she was for herself. “I had my assistant book you on a flight for tomorrow morning,” she announced. The slim red box tied with a white ribbon dangled from her fingers like a carrot.

  A rewarding mix of surprise and gratitude filled Sarah’s eyes. “This is very sweet of you.”

  “You’ll have to miss the wedding.” Wearing the same sad frown that had tugged on the heartstrings of her fans in countless movies, she delivered the one argument guaranteed to sway a woman who took in stray animals. “But that’s not as important as saving your horses. Is it?” She relinquished the gift into Sarah’s waiting hands.

  “No. No, of course not.” Sarah gazed in wonder at the red box. “Thank you very much for doing this.”

  “A friend of Bradley’s is a friend of mine.”

  She’d done it! With Sarah out of the way, she and Bradley could proceed with the wedding, fly to Italy for their big celebration, and resume the lives they were meant to lead. She faked a smile filled with reassurance for her new best friend while, inside, her heart turned cartwheels. The goal achieved, she headed back the way she’d come.

  “Catherine!”

  She turned slowly. Had Sarah seen through her generous gesture to the motivation behind it? But no, the rancher only gazed at her with open admiration.

  “What’s your favorite flower?” Sarah asked.

  Catherine threaded her fingers together. “Yellow roses. Why?”

  “No reason.” Sarah shrugged. Without saying another word, she returned to the horse she’d been tending to and rested her forehead against its broad neck.

  Catherine gave the woman a pitying glance. All in all, she’d have to say that Sarah had nailed the farm hand look. A look she’d try to mimic if she ever accepted a movie role featuring a down-on-her-luck rancher. Her steps quickening, she headed back to the house. She had no idea how long Bradley’s errand would take, but the last thing she wanted was for him to see her talking with the woman who’d soon be out of his life completely. Thanks to her.

  A line of ants marched single-file across the floorboards of the old fort, while birds flitted among the tree branches overhead. Beyond the tall trunks, puffy white clouds floated in a blue sky. A rustling noise in the bushes alerted Bradley to his friend’s arrival. His feet dangling beyond the walls of the tree house that had seemed so large when they were kids, Bradley braced himself against a moss-covered 2x4.

  “Thanks for meeting me here,” he said when Adam’s shoes struck the stair
s.

  “Glad you called.” Though he didn’t fit into it as well as he once had, Adam claimed his old spot in the corner. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” At least, he thought so. The truth was, he’d never felt more content with his life than he had since his return to Mill Town. Reconnecting with old friends, rediscovering his roots had grounded him somehow, made him more aware of what he valued most in life. He’d been stunned to find that he was more comfortable surrounded by childhood memories In his parents’ small home than he’d ever been wandering around the professionally decorated rooms of his big house on the outskirts of Nashville. Discovering that fame and fortune didn’t matter as much as he’d thought they did had freed him to write the kind of music he loved without worrying about whether or not his latest songs would climb the charts.

  But Catherine wasn’t nearly as impressed with all the changes he’d made in his life. In fact, she’d mentioned several times that she couldn’t wait till they jetted off to Italy and resumed their “real” lives. Except, he didn’t want to go back to the way things were before, and she didn’t seem to understand or accept that about him. All of which had led him to seek advice about their relationship, their future, from Adam.

  Knowing that his friend’s time was valuable, he skipped the usual chit-chat. “How do people look when they’re in love? And how do they know they’ve chosen the right person? The one they’re supposed to be with forever.”

  Adam’s chest expanded with the weight of the question. He unfolded the hands he’d propped on one knee. “Well, the bride gets this look in her eyes when she knows she’s doing the right thing. She walks into the church. She looks across the room at the groom, and she’s got these tears in her eyes. Like she can’t see anybody else. She’s lost in the moment.” A tender smile played across his lips.

  “And that’s it.” Just a look? There had to be more to it than that. Wasn’t there a test a couple could take? Or a questionnaire they could fill out that would prove they’d chosen the right mate? He wanted, needed something definitive, something concrete.