“Sometimes you feel like if you don’t hit something you’ll explode?”
Billy nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’ve felt that way sometimes myself.”
“You’re a girl,” Billy protested. “Girls don’t—”
“What makes you think girls don’t get angry?” Cherry interrupted.
“I guess I never really thought much about it. What do you do when you feel like that?”
“Cause mischief,” Cherry admitted with a grin. Her grin faded as she said, “Think, Billy. Isn’t there some woman you could ask to marry you?”
Billy shook his head. “I haven’t gone out much since Laura died. When I haven’t been working on the ranch, I’ve spent my time with Raejean and Annie. Besides, I don’t know too many women around here who’d think I was much of a catch.”
Cherry sat silently beside Billy. Her heart went out to his two daughters. She knew what was coming for them. She felt genuinely sorry for them. For the first time in a long time she regretted her past behavior, because it meant she couldn’t be a help to them.
“I wish we’d met sooner. And that I had less of a reputation for being a troublemaker,” Cherry said. “If things were different, I might volunteer to help you out. But I’m not the kind of person you’d want as a mother for your kids.”
Billy’s head jerked around, and he stared intently at her.
Cherry was a little frightened by the fierce look on his face. “Billy? What are you thinking?”
“Why not?” he muttered. “Why the hell not?”
“Why not what?”
“Why can’t you marry me?” Billy said.
Cherry clutched at her torn bodice as she surged to her feet. “You can’t be serious!”
Billy rose and grabbed her by the shoulders, which was all that kept her from running. “More serious than I’ve ever been in my life. My kids’ lives depend on me making the right choices now.”
“And you think marriage to me is the right choice?” Cherry asked incredulously. “We’re practically strangers! I barely know you. You don’t know me at all.”
“I know plenty about you. You understand what it feels like to be different. What it feels like to lose your parents. What it feels like to need a parent’s love. You’d be good for my kids. And you could really help me out.”
“Why me?”
“I’m desperate,” Billy said. “I thought you were, too.”
Cherry grimaced. Why else would a man choose her except because he was desperate? And why else would a woman accept such a proposal, unless she were desperate, too?
“Are you ready to go home and face your parents and tell them you got expelled and that you aren’t going to graduate?” Billy demanded.
“When you put it that way, I… No. But marriage? That seems like such a big step. Make that a huge step.”
“It doesn’t have to be a real marriage. It can be strictly a business arrangement. We can stay married long enough for you to finish the high school credits you need and maybe take some courses at the junior college. When you figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life, we could go our separate ways.”
“Couldn’t I just be your housekeeper?”
Billy shook his head. “You’ve said yourself why that wouldn’t work.”
“But marriage is so…permanent.”
“It would be if it were for real. Ours wouldn’t be.”
“Are you suggesting we tell people we’re married but not really go through with it?”
He considered a moment. “No, we’d have to get married, and as far as I’m concerned, the sooner the better.”
Cherry’s heart bounced around inside her like a frightened rabbit. She pressed a fistful of chiffon hard against her chest, as though she could hold her heart still, but it kept right on jumping. “You want to get married right away? This week?”
“As soon as we can. We could fly to Las Vegas tonight.”
“Fly?”
“I’ve got a pilot’s license. We can charter a small private plane for the trip. Would you mind?”
“I guess not,” Cherry said, overwhelmed by the speed at which things were moving.
“The more I think about it, the more I like the whole idea. Getting married would certainly spike Penelope’s guns.”
Cherry gnawed on her lower lip. “If you’re looking for someone who’d be an asset in court, maybe you ought to reconsider taking me as your wife. My reputation’s almost as bad as yours.”
“You’re a Whitelaw,” Billy said. “That means something around this part of Texas.”
“An adopted Whitelaw,” Cherry reminded him. “And I’m not so sure my parents wouldn’t change their minds if they had the chance.”
Billy smiled. “I think we can make this arrangement work for both of us. How about it, Cherry? Will you marry me?”
If Cherry had been anybody except who she was, she would have said no. Any rational person would have. It didn’t make sense to marry a virtual stranger, one who had reportedly made his previous wife miserable. But Cherry wasn’t thinking about Billy or even about herself. She was thinking about his two innocent little girls. If marrying Billy would give them a better chance of staying with their father, she really didn’t think she had any other choice.
“All right, Billy,” she said. “I’ll marry you.”
Billy gave a whoop of joy, swept her up into his arms, and whirled her in a dizzying circle, sending chiffon flying around her.
“Put me down, Billy,” she said, laughing.
He immediately set her on her feet. When she swayed dizzily, he reached out to steady her.
The feel of his strong, callused hands on her bare shoulders sent an unexpected quiver skittering down her spine. She knew she ought to step away, but Billy’s dark eyes held her spellbound.
“Okay now?” he asked, his voice rasping over her.
“I’m fine.” She shivered, belying her words.
“You must be getting chilly.” He slipped an arm around her shoulder that was warm and supportive…and possessive.
She shivered again as he began walking her toward his pickup. Only this time she realized it had nothing to do with the cold.
As Billy held open the pickup door she said as casually as she could, “This will be a marriage in name only, right?”
He closed the door behind her, slid over the hood, got into the cab, and started the pickup before he answered, “That’s right.”
She gave a gusty sigh of relief as the engine roared to life. “Good.”
“We don’t even have to sleep in the same bed,” Billy said as he headed back toward the main road. “You can have the room my housekeeper will be vacating. If I feel the urge for some feminine comfort, I can get what I need from a woman in town.”
“Wait a minute,” Cherry said. “I don’t think I’m going to want my husband satisfying his lustful urges in town.”
“I won’t really be your husband,” Billy reminded her.
“As far as my parents and neighbors and friends are concerned, you will be.”
Billy eyed her cautiously. “What do you suggest?”
“Couldn’t you just…not do it.”
“I’m a man, not a monk,” Billy said.
Cherry pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Then I suppose I’d rather you come to me than go to some other woman.”
“This is starting to sound like a real marriage,” Billy said suspiciously. “I was looking for a temporary solution to both our problems.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about me falling in love with you or anything,” Cherry reassured him. “I don’t believe in happily-ever-after.”
“You don’t?”
Cherry shook her head. “Except for the Whitelaws, I’ve never met any married couples who really loved each other. But I can see where it would be unfair to expect you to give up sex for who knows how long. Only, if you don’t mind, I’d rather we had a chance to get to know each other a little better before�
�you know…”
“Maybe this marriage thing isn’t such a good idea, after all,” Billy said. “You’re just a kid, and—”
“I may be only eighteen,” Cherry interrupted, “but I’ve lived a lifetime since my father died. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve been in and out of a dozen foster homes. I’ve spent time in juvenile detention. I’ve survived the past four years in a house with seven other adopted brothers and sisters. I’ve come through it all with a pretty good idea of what I want from life. I’m plenty old enough to know exactly what I’m doing.”
“I doubt that,” Billy said. Maybe if he hadn’t been so panicked at the thought of losing Annie and Raejean, he would have taken more time to think the matter over. But marriage to Cherry Whitelaw would solve so many problems all at once, he accepted her statement at face value.
“All right, Cherry. We’ll do this your way. I won’t go looking for comfort in town, and you’ll provide for my needs at home.”
“After we get to know one another,” Cherry qualified.
“After we get to know one another,” Billy agreed.
He turned onto the main highway and headed for the airport. “Will your parents worry if you don’t show up at home tonight?”
“It’s prom night. I was supposed to be staying out all night with some friends of mine and have breakfast with them tomorrow. In fact, if you’ll stop by my friend’s house, I’ve got an overnight bag there with a change of clothes.”
“Good. That’ll leave us about twelve hours to get to Las Vegas and tie the knot before we have to face your parents.”
Cherry pictured that meeting in her mind. Good grief, she thought. The fur is going to fly.
CHAPTER THREE
THE WEDDING CHAPEL in Las Vegas was brightly lit, even at 3:00 a.m. To Cherry’s amazement, they weren’t the only couple getting married at such an ungodly hour. She and Billy had to wait ten minutes for an elderly couple to complete their vows before it was their turn. The longer they waited, the more second thoughts she had. What had she been thinking? Zach was going to be furious. Rebecca was going to cry.
The image she conjured of two identical cherubic six-year-old faces was all that kept her from running for a phone to call Zach and Rebecca to come get her. She tried to recall what Billy’s twins looked like from the last time she had seen them at church. All she could remember were large dark eyes—like Billy’s, she realized now—in small, round faces.
What qualities had they gotten from their mother? Cherry tried to remember how Laura Trask had looked the few times she had seen her. Did the twins have delicate noses like hers? Determined chins? Bowed lips? Had they remained petite like their mother, or become tall and raw-boned like their father?
“If you keep chewing on your lip like that, you’re going to gnaw it right off.”
Startled, Cherry let go of her lower lip and turned to find Billy behind her.
“Here,” he said, handing her a bouquet of gardenias. “I got them from a vendor out in front of the chapel. I thought you might like to carry some flowers.”
“Thank you, Billy.” Cherry took the bouquet with a hand that shook. “I guess I’m a little nervous.”
“Me, too,” he admitted.
Cherry wished he would smile. He didn’t.
“The bouquet was a lovely thought.” She raised it to her nose and sniffed. And sneezed. And sneezed again. “I must be—achoo!”
“Allergic,” Billy finished, the smile appearing as he retrieved the bouquet from her and set it on an empty folding chair. “Forget the flowers. There are blooms enough in your cheeks for me.”
“You mean the freckles,” Cherry said, covering her cheeks with her hands. “I know they’re awful, but—”
Billy took her hands in his and kissed her gently on each cheek. “They’re tasty bits of brown sugar. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that?”
Cherry froze as a memory of long ago came to mind. She was sitting on Big Mike’s lap at the supper table. He was alternately taking bites of vanilla ice cream and giving her ice-cold kisses across her nose and cheeks, making yummy sounds in his throat and saying, “Your freckles sure taste sweet, baby.”
Her throat tightened with emotion, and she looked up, half expecting to see Big Mike standing in front of her.
But it was Billy, his brow furrowed as his dark eyes took in the pallor beneath her freckles. “Are you all right? You look like you’re about to faint.”
Cherry stiffened knees that were threatening to buckle. “I’ve never fainted in my life. I don’t expect to start now.”
“Are you folks ready?” the minister asked.
“Last chance to back out,” Billy whispered to Cherry.
The sound tickled her ear, but she managed to stifle the inappropriate giggle that sought voice. This ridiculous wedding ceremony was serious business. “I’m not backing out. But if you’ve changed your mind—”
“I haven’t,” Billy interrupted her.
He tightened his grip on one of her hands and released the other, leading her down the aisle to the makeshift pulpit at the front of the room.
Throughout the ceremony, Cherry kept repeating two things over and over.
Those little girls need me. And, This is the last time I’ll be disappointing Zach and Rebecca. Once I’m married, I won’t be their responsibility anymore.
She was concentrating so hard on convincing herself she was doing the right thing that she had to be prompted to respond when the time came. “Cherry?”
She turned and found Billy’s eyes on her. Worried again. And I won’t be a burden to Billy Stonecreek, either, she added for good measure. “What is it, Billy?”
“Your turn to say I do.”
Cherry gave Billy a tremulous smile and said, “I do.” It was more of a croak, actually, but when Billy smiled back, she knew it was all right.
“Rings?” the minister asked.
“We don’t have any,” Billy replied.
The minister pulled open a drawer in a credenza behind him, and she heard a tinny clatter. To Cherry’s amazement, the drawer was full of fake gold rings.
“Help yourself,” the minister said.
Cherry watched Billy select a plain yellow band and try it on her finger. Too small. The next was too big. The third was also a little loose, but because she wanted the awkward moment over with she said, “This one’s fine, Billy.”
“That’ll be ten dollars extra,” the minister said.
She saw the annoyed look that crossed Billy’s face and pulled the ring off. “I don’t need a ring.”
Billy caught it before it could drop into the drawer and put it back on her finger. He caught her chin and lifted it so she was forced to look at him. “I’m sorry, Cherry. I should have thought of getting you a ring. This is so…”
Cheap? Tawdry? Vulgar? Cherry knew what he was thinking, but couldn’t bring herself to say it, either. “Don’t worry about it, Billy. It doesn’t matter.”
“You deserve better.”
“It’s not a real marriage. I don’t need a real ring,” Cherry said quietly so the minister wouldn’t overhear.
Billy let go of her chin. He opened his mouth as though to speak and closed it again. Finally he said, “I guess you’re right. This one will have to do. Shall we get this over with?”
They turned back to the minister, and he finished the ceremony. “You may kiss the bride,” the minister said at last.
It wasn’t a real wedding, so Cherry wasn’t expecting a real kiss. To her surprise, Billy put his hands on either side of her face and murmured, “The ring is phony, but at least this can be real.”
Cherry had done her share of kissing. Experimenting with sex was an age-old method of teenage rebellion. She thought she knew everything there was to know about kissing and sex. It was no big deal. Boys seemed to like it a lot, but she didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.
Something odd happened when Billy Stonecreek’s lips feathered across hers. An unexpec
ted curl of desire flitted across her belly and shot up to her breasts. Her hands clutched fistfuls of his Western shirt as his mouth settled firmly over hers. His tongue traced the seam of her closed lips, causing them to tingle. She opened her mouth, and his tongue slipped inside for a quick taste of her.
She made a sound in her throat somewhere between confusion and protest.
His hand slid around to capture her nape and keep her from escaping.
Cherry wasn’t going anywhere. She was enthralled by what Billy was doing with his lips and teeth and tongue. She had never felt anything remotely like it. Before she was ready, the kiss ended.
She stared, bemused, into Billy’s hooded eyes. His lips were still damp from hers, and she didn’t resist the impulse to reach out and touch.
His hand clamped around her wrist like a vise as her fingertips caressed his lips. “Don’t.” His voice was harsh, and his lips pressed flat in irritation.
Cherry realized her reaction, her naive curiosity, must have embarrassed him. The kiss had merely been a token of thanks from Billy. He didn’t want anything from her in return.
She had told him she didn’t want to be touched until they knew each other better. But she had touched him. She had set the ground rules, and then she hadn’t followed them.
It wasn’t a real marriage. She had to remember that.
There were papers to sign and collect before they could leave. The minister was in a hurry, because two more couples had arrived and were awaiting their turns. Minutes after the ceremony ended, she and Billy were back in the rental car they had picked up at the airport.
Billy finally broke the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a few hours of sleep before we fly back. We have the time. Your parents won’t start missing you until noon.”
“I must admit I feel exhausted,” Cherry said. But she wasn’t sure whether it was fatigue or a delayed reaction to their strange wedding. She had never wanted to get married, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t fantasized about having a grand wedding. She had imagined wearing a white satin gown with a train twenty feet long, having at least three bridesmaids, and hearing the wedding processional played on an immense pipe organ. This ceremony had fallen far short of the fantasy.
Hawk's Way: Rebels Page 3