The Runaway Bride

by Patricia McLinn

  “Is head over heels for you,” declared her mother with a small smile.

  “I deceived him, and there are other issues—”

  “No issue trumps love, Judi.” Her father had his arm around her mother’s shoulders and squeezed. She’d never questioned that her parents loved each other but these past few years her father had become more openly affectionate.

  “I have two words to say, Judi,” Grady announced.

  “What?” The word came from a throat tight with love, gratitude and, yes, fear. If she couldn’t persuade Thomas to give her another chance, if he didn’t see how good they were together… But if she never tried, the result would be the same.

  Grady looked from face to face, a smile growing. “Road trip!”

  “What?!” Judi’s horrified squawk didn’t get a single glance of sympathy. “But I’m not… I can’t…”

  Paul slung his arm around her shoulders. “If you’re going to run after this guy, you’re not going alone. Gotta make sure he treats my sister right.”

  “Anybody know if they do any bull-riding on this ranch?” Grady asked.

  Leslie patted her husband’s arm. “They might, dear, but you won’t.”

  Dust clogged the truck’s windshield, so it was like looking through gauze. Thomas had run out of wiper fluid somewhere right after his last fill-up. Any other station would have had a supply. But he hadn’t wanted to stop for it.

  He’d barely stopped for anything but an empty gas tank, necessary food and a few hours of sleep when his body and his compassion for the other souls sharing the highway with him demanded it. He’d wanted as many miles between him and Judi as possible. The theory was it would cut the temptation to turn around and go back.

  Theory and truth weren’t always the same.

  In theory he’d been glad to see the kids out in the yard when he’d left. He’d figured it would keep him from touching her. The truth was he couldn’t deny himself that one last contact.

  And then the touch of her soft cheek against his lips. The scent of her… He would have been perfectly happy to have those kids disappear.

  Another truth was, the farther away he got, the more he wanted to go back. Stopping was one step closer to turning around, so any stop was dangerous.

  Besides, he didn’t need to see well now. He was on the road that bordered the Diamond V on the east, so he’d only see the stretch Maureen would soon be selling.

  Maybe he could take on more horses to train to ease the pinch of the lost land. He sure as hell couldn’t afford to add anybody to the payroll, but Keith could help him. Judi would like that.

  He would have smiled at that if he hadn’t been so tired. Lord, he couldn’t remember ever being this tired.

  It was loss.

  The quarter of the Diamond V, sure. But he was too tired to lie to himself. Judi had been right—big surprise, there—the ranch was important as a way to support and keep together the people he cared about. And now she was no longer in his life.

  Just in his head and his heart.

  Yeah, he was just like his father. But she was nothing like Maureen.

  What if I’m in your life what your mom was in your dad’s…

  Going slow, he turned into the back road to the main house, taking the corner where Judi had driven her car into a tree rather than hit him and Dickens.

  What if Judi was right—again—and he was wrong? If he went back, what would she say? Would she give him a chance…?

  He spotted activity around the corral first, without recognizing who was there or what it meant. He turned off the truck engine and let it coast to a stop behind the lineup of unfamiliar vehicles.

  What the hell was going on?

  The first clench of his gut was that buyers were looking at the acreage. But they couldn’t be, not this soon. And why would they be at the corral?

  He got out of the truck slow, partly because he was stiff from the long hours, partly to give his exhausted brain more time to figure out what was going on.

  A voice came to him—clear and persuasive.

  “As you can see, Dickens has perfectly good manners. But it’s even more important that the rider knows what he’s doing than Dickens does, so I’m glad you’ve agreed to the horsemanship program, Warren.”

  Warren? Warren Upton, Dickens’s owner was here? Why—?

  It didn’t matter, because what he’d heard finally sank in—not the words, but the voice.

  Judi. No, it couldn’t be. It had to be the effects of two days of driving. But his pace picked up.

  Looking between people he didn’t even bother to identify, he spotted her. Alone in the center of the ring, astride Dickens, with pride and pleasure beaming from her face.

  Two days of driving be damned—she was here. Back at the Diamond V. Not like Maureen had always come, looking for what she could get. But looking at what she could give.

  “Ah, Thomas!” Upton shouted, spotting him. “C’mon over here.”

  Judi’s head whipped around, and he saw an acre’s worth of other emotions cloud her pride and pleasure; so many, and each with so many possible meanings. It was the infinite variety that was Judi, but at this moment, he could have done with a shade more simplicity. Like joy at seeing him. Or love. Either one would give him something to build his life on.

  “Thomas!” Upton hollered again.

  Judi blinked at the noise, and that loosened their connection enough that he got his feet moving toward the client, though his attention remained with Judi. He passed Grady and Leslie Roberts, and Tris and Michael Dickinson. Paul and Bette Monroe, along with Becky and Keith, were on the far side of Upton. He knew all that—what the hell were they doing here?—he just didn’t have attention to spare for them.

  “I, uh, better get Dickens cooled down, and ready for the trip home.” Becky opened the corral gate.

  “I’ll help you,” Keith said.

  Thomas started to follow them through the gate, to where Judi had dismounted. But Upton blocked him.

  The man had rested his checkbook against the rail and was dashing off his signature. He tore out a check with a flourish, planting his hand and the check on Thomas’s chest.

  “Here you go—and after watching what you can do with horseflesh, I’ll be sending more business your way.”

  Thomas automatically looked at the check before folding it to put in his pocket while he watched Becky take the reins from Judi, who stood apparently frozen in the center of the corral. Midmotion, Thomas stopped, brought the check to in front of his eyes and opened it.

  “There’s been a mistake. This includes the bonus.”

  “No mistake. It’s money well spent.” Upton tracked his horse’s progress, pride of ownership stark in his face. Only when Becky, Keith and Dickens disappeared into the shadow of the open barn door, did he turn back to Thomas. “Why to see first your hand, then your little sister, then somebody who doesn’t ranch horses hardly at all working Dickens, was more than I ever expected.”

  “But the deadline’s past.”

  “We rescheduled it.”

  “We?”

  “Becky and me. That sister of yours called and asked if having the best-trained horse possible was worth waiting a few extra days.” He laughed. “Drives a hard bargain, that one. Then she called last night and said to come on over today.”

  “But…”

  Tris stepped smoothly into his speechlessness. “You know, Warren, now that the business is over, I think it’s time we go in the house and get more of that cake Becky made and a cup of coffee.”

  “You don’t have to ask me twice. You’ve got quite a gal there, Vance. Praised you to the skies.”

  “Becky?”

  He laughed “Two great gals, then. Becky and Judi. But Judi was the one doing the praising. Can’t expect that of a sister, now can you? Though they both talked me into this new horsemanship program you’re offering.”

  The Dickinsons and Robertses flanked Upton as they headed to the house.


  Paul seemed inclined to say something as he came even with Thomas, but Bette hooked his arm and murmured, “You’re not the one he needs to talk to.”

  That left Thomas on the outside of the corral, and Judi on the inside, appearing as frozen as a Popsicle at the Arctic Circle. Becky or Keith, or both, had left the corral gate open. Closing a gate was drilled into ranch folk from the time they could understand words. He’d swear neither of them had done it before in their lives.

  But there was an exception to every rule, and this time he thought he got the symbolism—the gate was open if he was willing to step through.

  His own muscles felt unfamiliar, and as stiff as if they might have a touch of frostbite. Maybe it was the driving. More likely it was what walking through that gate, closing it behind him and walking up to Judi meant. Could mean.

  “Judi.”

  “I didn’t ask them all to come.” She spoke to his left shoulder. “It wasn’t my idea. Actually, I couldn’t have stopped them. But I’m glad they’ve been here. And don’t think Gran was neglected while we were out here. Mom and Dad stayed inside with her along with the little kids. Oh, the older kids are out with Gandy in the truck changing irrigation pipe and—”

  “Judi.” He wanted to laugh—he could have predicted that it would be her mouth that thawed first. Otherwise she was still standing stiff and wide-eyed. He didn’t dare laugh. Not yet. If he was wrong… Maybe if he worked up to what he really wanted to know, he’d have a better gauge. “How’d you get here?”

  “Grady flew us all in his company’s jet. I called before we came—we didn’t just show up—and Gran said of course everyone should stay here. We juggled rooms around, with the older kids and Becky in the bunkhouse, and—”

  “I don’t care about the sleeping arrangements.” At least not yet. He hoped he would soon, but there was always the pickup.

  “No. Oh, of course, you’re wondering about Dickens. Well, that was mostly Becky. Like Warren said, she’d called him and arranged for the deadline to be extended. She was going to wait until you came back, but we didn’t know when you’d get here and with Maureen not budging—Becky called her, too, which I think was very grown-up of her. I wish I could say the same for her mother.”

  He wanted so badly to kiss that indignant face. But she was already going on.

  “Becky, Keith and I put our heads together and figured we could show Upton what Dickens could do. Uh, maybe you’re wondering about that horsemanship program he mentioned. That was your idea.”

  “My idea?”

  She nodded emphatically. “Remember telling me how it didn’t matter how well you trained a horse, if he went back to a rider who didn’t know how to handle him the bad habits would be right back? I was telling them about that last night, and how even though we’d get the money, it was sad Dickens was going to someone who didn’t know horsemanship. Leslie said that sounded like a business opportunity to her, and Tris—no, maybe it was Mom—anyway, someone said we should draw up a program. And you won’t have to be involved much if you don’t want to—Becky and Keith can handle most of it. Especially since you’ll be hiring more people again after you pay Maureen. Bette and Grady helped us draft a business plan. And then Michael pointed out we had a customer already waiting, so we tried it out on Upton to see if he liked it and…” She had clearly run out of steam, and words. “He did.”

  “Judi,” he said again, liking the saying of it. She flicked a look from his shoulder to his face, and he concentrated on holding it. “You came back.”

  It was a statement riddled with questions, and he knew she’d heard every one of them.

  She swallowed once then straightened her spine, her eyes never leaving his.

  “I told you I’d come back the day I left. But you didn’t believe me. I don’t lie, Thomas—well, except about being Helga and amnesia, but not usually. That was an exception, and you’ll figure that out after a while. Because I’m back to stay. Remember what you said about ranching and—”

  “You’re going to throw my own words up at me again?”

  She barely slowed down for the “Yes,” then kept on going. “And how you have to be good at everything and not zero in on one specialty? Well, that’s me—that’s always been me. I’ve been miserable in my other jobs because they kept trying to make me do just one thing. So I realized ranching’s perfect for me. I was so happy here. But I let you leave me in Lake Forest without a fight, and I shouldn’t have. So, I’m also here to show you I won’t be left so easily. I’ll pull my weight and help you around the ranch. Now that you can buy that share from Maureen, you can start thinking about the Diamond V’s future, instead of worrying so much. And I’ll be here to help you any way I can, to remind you to lighten up, and to prove you can trust me and trust what I feel for you—I’m going to stick around, whether you like it or not. I’m not Maureen and—”

  “I know that.”

  She drew in a sharp breath. “You do?”

  He took another step closer to her. “Yeah. I had this idea—had a lot of time to think on the drive back, you know—and maybe you had it wrong all along. Maybe you’re not the Maureen in my life. Maybe you’re like my mom was for my dad.”

  “I had it wrong! You—”

  “Yeah, I’m not blaming you—easy mistake to make, what with you being a stranger and the way you arrived and everything.” He stood close enough that she had to tilt her head back to keep eye contact. “But now I see things clearer.”

  She let out a sort of shuddering breath, and the faintest smile lifted her lips.

  He wrapped his arms around her and brought her to him, and she wasn’t the least bit like a Popsicle at the Arctic Circle. She was Judi, warm and soft and welcoming. He took her mouth, and knew he’d truly come home.

  “Judi…I have one question.”

  “Just one?” She sounded breathless, and he liked that. “Seems like you’ve been interrogating me from the minute I regained consciousness.”

  “One question to start, anyway. What you said about showing me how you feel about me, how about telling me first?”

  She leaned back in his arms, trying to plant her hands on her hips like she was angry, which wasn’t the least bit convincing because her lips were pink and swollen from his kiss. Not to mention the look in her eyes.

  “You’re going to make me say this first, aren’t you?”

  “Yup.”

  “Chicken.” The teasing scold evaporated from her tone when she continued. “I love you, Thomas.”

  He kissed her again, making this one hard and fast.

  “I love you, Judi. And as for your sticking around whether I like it or not, I like it fine. More than fine.” His voice dropped. “I’ve got another important question for you.”

  “Yes?” Her eyes held a new sheen.

  “Can we name our first daughter Helga?”

  “What!” But he’d dropped a kiss on her mouth, so her combined outrage and laughter both fueled and were consumed by the desire that flamed between them.

  Only lack of oxygen and a vague memory of being within sight of the house stopped the kiss from becoming more.

  He rested his forehead against hers. “Will you meet me down the road tonight, Judi? I’ll fix up the truck, and we can watch the stars—”

  “Yes. Oh, yes, Thomas.”

  “And will you marry me? Will you walk all the way down the aisle to me?”

  She wound her arms around his neck, sliding her fingers into his hair.

  “With you waiting at the end of that aisle? You bet.”

  Epilogue

  Everything was ready. Becky and Bette had gone down the short aisle between folded chairs in the living room ahead of her. Paul and Gandy were beside Thomas, who stood in front of the minister by the fireplace.

  In the kitchen the wedding dinner was in the oven—roast turkey, with all the trimmings.

  It had been another whirlwind of preparations for a wedding. But this was entirely different. No wedding planner,
no Caribbean honeymoon.

  Thomas had said he’d be happy to be married in Wyoming or Illinois or anywhere in between…then he’d pointed out that there was no waiting period for getting married at the Diamond V.

  That had decided that.

  With everyone they cared about here, they were getting married.

  Bette’s friend and business partner, Darla, had gone to Judi’s apartment in Chicago, found the ivory silk sheath dress and shipped it overnight, along with a few other items. The pearls Bette had worn at her wedding. The garter Tris had worn at hers—which Grady had caught, leading to his first dance with Leslie, who’d caught the bouquet. The antique earrings Leslie had worn at her wedding.

  This morning another package had arrived—perfect blue puff-ball blossoms from the hydrangea bush that Nancy Monroe had planted in their backyard the summer they’d moved in. Leslie and Tris had bound the stalks together with ribbon and lace to make her bouquet.

  “Ready, baby?” James Monroe extended his arm.

  Judi smiled at him. “I’m ready.”

  His eyes glistened with tears as he smiled back. “I believe you are.”

  “Of course, she is,” said her mother from her other side.

  Walking between her parents, she turned the corner to the living room and saw only Thomas. She knew the chairs were there because she had helped set them up. She knew the guests were there because most of them hadn’t left in the four days since Thomas had returned home. A few others had arrived within the past hour, and from her bedroom, she’d heard them calling out.

  But none of that mattered as she walked toward Thomas.

  Judi’s parents released her, clasping hands and moving aside.

  For a moment she and Thomas just looked at each other.

  Then he extended his hand, and she put hers in it.

  “Are you sure?” he asked in a low voice.

  “As sure as you are.”

  He smiled as he drew her the final step to his side. “Then you’re about to become a bride.”