by Diana Palmer
* * *
The worst thing about being in Jacobsville was that from time to time, she ran into Drew. It wasn’t a tiny little town, but there were only two banks, and she and Drew both banked at the same one. She saw him there soon after she’d quit working for him. He was polite, but he acted as if he barely knew her. The next time they met, in the grocery store, he pretended not to see her. Her heart was breaking in two. The only thing for it was to get out of town as soon as possible, no matter what sort of work she got to do.
She couldn’t find a single secretarial or receptionist job going spare in Victoria, but there was an opening at a nice-looking local café. In desperation, Kitty applied for it and was hired on the spot.
She didn’t tell Matt what sort of job she had, just that she had one. She thanked him kindly for his temporary employment and packed her bags.
* * *
It was inevitable that Matt would run into Drew one day.
“You look like hell,” Matt remarked bluntly when he saw the drawn, irritable-looking physician.
“I’ve been up all night with a patient,” Drew muttered. He studied the other man. “I know Kitty’s working for you. Are you making sure she uses her medicines? The pollen count’s going to be out of sight this week, with no rain.”
“Kitty’s not here,” Matt replied, faintly surprised. “She got a job in Victoria last week and moved there.”
“What?”
The other man’s shocked expression said a lot. “I only needed temporary help,” Matt explained. “I have to have someone permanent, and Kitty didn’t want to stay in Jacobsville.”
“Why not?” Drew asked belligerently. “She was born here.”
“Beats me. She couldn’t wait to leave,” Matt said with a shrewd idea of why Drew looked so bad. “She’s a nice girl. I asked her to marry me.”
Drew lost color again. His eyes widened, darkened. “What did she say?” he asked, well aware of Matt’s worth on the matrimonial market.
“She said no,” Matt mused. “I guess I’m not as hot a marriage prospect as I thought.”
Drew relaxed visibly. He stuck his hands into his pockets. “She doesn’t know anyone in Victoria, does she? No family there, certainly.”
“She didn’t say,” Matt said honestly. His eyes narrowed as he summed up the expression on Drew’s face. “She’s the kind of girl who’s going to be snapped up soon, by some lucky man. She’ll make a wonderful wife and a great mother. I’m sorry it won’t be me.”
Drew didn’t look at him. He was so jealous he could hardly bear it. The last weeks had been endless, a nightmare of tortured thoughts and misery. Everywhere he looked there were memories of Kitty. He couldn’t even bear to speak to her in the grocery store when he’d seen her there, for fear of choking up, of showing how much he missed her.
“For God’s sake, are you going to let her go?” Matt demanded belligerently.
“Why shouldn’t I?” came the terse reply.
“Because you love her,” Matt replied with dead certainty.
Drew didn’t seem to breathe for a minute. He searched Matt’s eyes as if he sought answers he didn’t have.
“Didn’t you know?” Matt persisted gently.
Drew didn’t speak. He turned on his heel and walked away in a daze. Loved her. He…loved her. His eyes closed as he reached his car. Good God, of course he loved her! Why else would he worry himself sick over her, making sure she used her medicines, wore warm things in winter, kept dry in the rain. He leaned against the hood of the car. He’d loved her for a long time, but he couldn’t admit it, because it was disloyal to Eve. He’d loved Eve, too. But she was dead. And it occurred to him that she’d never have wanted him to end up like this, alone and bitter, living in the past, in a world that didn’t exist anymore.
Eve had been tenderhearted, compassionate. She’d never have asked him to be faithful unto death. But he’d tried. He lifted his head and looked around him. Children were playing in the park across the street. He watched them hungrily. He remembered Kitty with his little patients on her lap, remembered her face as she looked at them. Kitty loved children.
He smoothed his hand over a spot on his hood. Kitty loved him, too. He’d seen it, felt it, knew it right inside his soul. But he didn’t want to know, so he’d pretended not to see it. Now, it mattered more than anything else ever had. Kitty loved him. He loved her.
Then what in God’s name was he doing standing here?
He got into the car and paused just long enough to phone his office and tell his new receptionist that he had an emergency out of town and wouldn’t be back that day. She’d have to make new appointments for everyone, it couldn’t be helped. He hung up and turned the car toward Victoria.
* * *
It took him several hours to track her down. Victoria was a good-size little city and it had a surprising number of job agencies, none of whom had Kitty on their books. He found her accidentally, when his tired feet forced him into a café for a cup of coffee.
The first thing he saw was Kitty, standing at a table with a platter of chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy in her hands.
Without missing a step, Drew went right to her, and got down on one knee right there.
He took her hand in his and looked up into her stunned face. “Kitty Carson, will you marry me?” he asked loudly.
What happened next was, sadly, predictable. Kitty dropped the platter and his spotless silk jacket was anointed with the thickest, greasiest gravy in east Texas.
“Oh, Drew,” she whispered, and got on her knees, too, in the gravy and mashed potatoes, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him until she had to stop for breath.
“You look tired. Are you using your medicines?” he asked worriedly. “Are you eating enough? You’ve gotten very thin.”
“So have you,” she whispered brokenly. “And you look so tired, Drew. Oh, darling, you look as if you haven’t slept—”
He kissed her again, hungrily. “I haven’t slept since you left. I need you. I love you. I want you for my wife. I want to have children with you…”
His mouth crushed against hers. They held each other hungrily, oblivious to the ruin in the middle of the floor, to the amused glances of the patron and the owner of the café. It was at least a break in the boring routine of the day.
At last, Drew managed to get up and draw a flushed, radiant Kitty up with him. He glanced at the proprietor with a sheepish grin.
“Sorry about the mess. I almost let her get away.”
“Shame on you,” said Kitty’s boss, and chuckled. “Get out of here, both of you, and best wishes! I hope you have ten kids.”
“Oh, so do I,” Kitty said fervently, and watched her prospective husband flush with fascinated interest.
* * *
Everybody in Jacobsville turned out for the wedding. It was the major social event of the summer. The bride was radiant in a delicate white lace dress. Drew wore a morning coat and beamed with pride as they exchanged rings and vows.
Later, as Drew carried his new bride across the threshold, she noticed that the photo of Eve that had always stood on the mantel was gone.
Drew looked down into Kitty’s soft eyes and kissed her. “I won’t ever forget the past,” he said gently. “But I promise you that I’m not going to live in it ever again. We start together, here, now. You’re my wife, and I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Kitty whispered tearfully. She grinned even through the tears. “And now that we’ve made that clear, would you like to show me how much you love me?”
He chuckled as he picked her up, gorgeous gown and all, and carried her toward the bedroom. “I hope you ate a lot of cake,” he said with a rakish grin. “Because this is going to take a very long time.”
And it did.
* * * * *
Don’t miss Diana Palmer’s enthralling new romance, UNBRIDLED.
Texas Ranger and single dad John Ruiz has had no time for love ever since his wife died. Nurs
e Sunny Marlowe makes him feel things he’d long believed gone, but when everything he holds dear comes under fire, can Ruiz put his life—and love—on the line?
Keep reading to get a glimpse of UNBRIDLED.
CHAPTER ONE
It was two weeks until Christmas. Suna Wesley, whom her coworkers called Sunny, was standing by herself at the edge of the makeshift dance floor in the board room at the San Antonio Hal Marshall Memorial Children’s Hospital, watching as her colleagues in the hospital laughed and performed to the music on the loudspeakers. A disc jockey from a local radio station, related to one of the nurses, had been persuaded to provide commentary. There was plenty of punch and refreshments. Doctors and nurses, orderlies and dieticians, mingled around the buffet table. It was a holiday-themed party, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. One of the favorite staff doctors had taken a job back east, so it was mostly a going-away party.
Christmas decorations were draped around the room, marking the start of the holiday season. Holly and mistletoe and golden bells mingled with red bows. It made the holidays come to life in the red and green decor. But the whole holiday season was sad for Sunny. It brought back haunting memories of the season with her father and mother and little brother. Those days were long gone.
As she watched a nurse flirt with one of the interns, Sunny wished it was over. She’d been persuaded to stay after her shift and join in the fun. But it was the same as always. She was alone, because she was too shy to push herself into one of the many small groups and engage in conversation. She lived alone, stayed alone, was resigned to being alone for the rest of her life.
She pushed back her long, platinum blond hair and wished she were beautiful. Her hair was her one good quality. It was straight and pretty when she left it long, and it fell to her waist in back. She had big brown eyes that reflected her loneliness when she was alone and didn’t have to hide it from others.
It was sad that she had no partner. Her mother and father had loved to dance. Her father had taught her all the exotic Latin dances that at least three couples were mutilating on the dance floor. Her feet itched to try it. But she avoided men. It was useless to become involved with anyone, considering her limitations. No, better to stand all alone with a glass of punch that she hadn’t even touched and feel sorry for herself, decked out in a floral nurses’ tunic and droopy slacks, not a smidgeon of lipstick or powder on her soft features. Her brown eyes were dull with memories that hurt. Holidays were the worst….
“Hey, Ruiz, you going to show us how to do that samba?” somebody called to a tall man in a shepherd’s coat and wide-brimmed creamy felt hat with a feather decoration. It reminded Sunny that even in San Antonio, autumn was cold.
Her eyes went to the newcomer. Her heart skipped a beat just at the sight of him. He was gorgeous! Tall, olive-complexioned, elegant, with powerful long legs and a face that would have graced a magazine cover. He had a very masculine face, with a chiseled, sensuous mouth. Black eyes danced under a rakishly tilted cream-colored Stetson, white teeth flashed at the questioner.
“Hey, do I look like I got time to give you pilgrims dance lessons?” he called back in a deep voice just faintly accented. “I’m a working stiff!”
“Lies!” the physician called back. “Get over here and have some fun. You’re too serious!”
“If I wasn’t serious, you guys would have to pay people to let you operate on them,” he scoffed.
“One dance,” the physician dared. “Come on, you spineless coward!”
“Ah, now, that’s fighting words.” He chuckled, looking around for a victim. His eyes fell on Sunny’s long, beautiful hair and narrowed on her exquisite complexion.
No, she thought. Oh, no, no…!
While she was thinking it, he took her drink, put it on the table, caught her around the waist, and riveted her to his tall, powerful body as he drew her onto the dance floor. He was very strong, and he looked taller in the shepherd’s coat he was wearing with jeans and boots. He even smelled nice.
“Hey, rubia,” he teased, using the Spanish word for a blond female. “You dance with me, okay?”
“I…can’t…” she faltered and blushed.
“Not true. Everybody can dance. Some people just do it with more natural rhythm and grace than others!” He chuckled and pulled her closer as he made quick turns. He was incredible on the dance floor. But she was afraid of the effect he had on her, and it was a very public sort of dance. Everyone was looking at them and smiling, and she was painfully shy.
The contact was electric. She tingled all over from being so close to his long-legged, powerful body, so close and warm against her flowered top and pants, warming her body, making her feel things she’d never felt. She’d never been so close to a man in her adult life, and it shocked her, how much she liked it.
But she knew that she had no hope of sustaining a relationship with a man, and she was too honest to start something she couldn’t finish. The stranger appealed to her in every single way there was. She couldn’t afford to indulge this weakness. She froze, embarrassed at the physical ache that welled up in her so suddenly. She caught her breath, biting her lower lip. “Please,” she faltered, looking up at him with tragic dark brown eyes. “I don’t…dance well…” She tugged against his arms, frightened of sensations she’d never felt in her life as she was held far too close to a man she didn’t even know. She could barely force her eyes up to his handsome face as the contact made her stammer. He was the stuff of dreams, but not for a shy, innocent woman with too many secrets.
Something flashed in his black eyes, but the smile only faded a little. He let her go abruptly. “Forgive me,” he said softly, giving her a mock bow. “Obviously you prefer a paler dance partner, yes?”
He turned and walked off, throwing up a hand at the doctor. “Okay, I danced, now I’m going to work, you slacker!”
There was a gale of laughter, following him out the door.
Sunny went back to her place on the sidelines, embarrassed at being made conspicuous. She was even more embarrassed at the opinion he seemed to have formed, that she didn’t want to dance with him because he was Latin. She could have told him that was a misconception. He was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen in her life, and when he’d put his arms around her, something inside her woke up and wept at the sense of loss she felt. Because she could never encourage a man, be intimate with a man. Not ever.
She drew in a long breath, ignored the glass of punch that he’d taken away from her and left it sitting on the table. She went toward the elevator, in a fog.
“You aren’t leaving already?” Merrie York exclaimed. “Sunny, the party is just starting!”
They worked together on the pediatric ward, on the night shift. Merrie was a wonderful nurse, patient and kind. She and her brother lived south of San Antonio on a huge ranch. They were absolutely loaded, but Stuart and Merrie both still worked.
“I have to go,” Sunny said, forcing a smile. “You know I’m no party animal, I’ll just put a damper on things.”
“You were dancing with Ruiz,” Merrie said with a wicked grin. “Isn’t he beautiful? You should have cut loose, girl. You can out-dance anybody else here.”
“He’s so gorgeous,” she confessed. “It shocked me, a man like that wanting to dance with somebody as plain as me.”
Merrie grinned. “He is handsome, isn’t he? You wouldn’t believe the women who chase him. He just walks right by them. You should have kept dancing, Sunny,” she added.
“I don’t like dancing in front of people,” she faltered.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw Ruiz look twice at a woman, much less ask her to dance,” she began.
“I feel terrible,” Sunny said huskily. “He thought I didn’t want to dance with him, because he was Hispanic. That wasn’t it at all. I didn’t believe someone like him, who could have had any woman in the room, would even want to dance with me. It…shocked me.”
“You undervalue yourself,” Merrie said soft
ly. “You aren’t plain, Sunny. You’re unique, in so many ways.”
She smiled at the compliment. “Thanks.” She hesitated. “Merrie, that man I danced with…who is he?” Sunny asked helplessly, hungry for more information about the man who’d chosen her from a roomful of beautiful nurses to dance with.
“He’s…oh, darn, I have to go, Motts is waving frantically. I promised him a dance, and he’s being stalked by Sylvia,” she said with mock horror. “She’s so nice. He’s afraid of her, so I’m his security blanket.”
“He’s afraid of her?” she asked, diverted.
“Sylvia wants to get married and have kids, and Motts wants to sample at least one woman of every name in the baby book,” Merrie said with a chuckle. “And no, he hasn’t sampled me. My brother would have him for lunch, and my sister-in-law would help put catsup on him.”
“You and your family,” Sunny laughed. “Your brother is really good-looking,” she added, because she’d seen Stuart York on rare occasions when he came to hospital functions with his wife, Ivy. Merrie and Stuart were rich beyond imagining, owning thousands of acres of ranch land in three states. They ran purebred cattle. Neither of them had to work for a living, but Merrie loved nursing and couldn’t contend with a life of leisure, any more than Stuart could sit at a desk.
Merrie looked very much like her only sibling; she had long, jet black hair and pale, steely blue eyes. She didn’t really date anyone seriously, although she’d had a crush on a divorced doctor who’d just gone back to his wife. Like Sunny, Merrie didn’t really move with the times. She wasn’t into multiple relationships.
“My sister-in-law would totally agree, that my brother is gorgeous,” came the amused reply.
“Are they ever going to have kids?” Sunny wondered.
“I keep hoping. So far, they’re making the rounds of all the historic places on earth. I think they’re down to the last thousand now.” She grimaced as she glanced toward the refreshment table. “Got to run. Motts is turning purple. Don’t go,” she pleaded. “You stay too much by yourself.”