COURT-APPOINTED MARRIAGE

by Dianne Castell

  He switched off the voice inside his head that screamed this was a less than brilliant thing to do and ran his fingers through her incredible hair. For a second he pulled back, watching her lush auburn curls framing her beautiful face. She looked like a goddess or a classic painting by an old master. He didn't say a word and neither did Pru, both knowing that words too often spoiled everything.

  Her breath quickened, he could feel the rapid rise and fall of her chest. His head reeled. His soul soared. He felt truly connected to someone for the first time in his life. He kissed her again, feeling his desire for her build faster than he imagined possible. A crack of lightning split the sky, and warm rain fell. Pru brought her lips to his again, and he knew in his heart that they'd belonged together like this for a very long time. But no matter how wonderful her kisses were, getting intimately involved with Pru would end in certain disaster. Just look at what happened to Romeo and Juliet. Good grief!

  Using every ounce of self-control he possessed, he took his lips from hers. "We can't do this, Pru. We'll add more problems to the ones we already have." Lightning crackled around them. "We have to get out of this storm now."

  * * *

  Pru sat on the stone hearth, thankful to be in dry clothes and out of the rain. At least, that's what she tried to tell herself, instead of wishing she was still outside kissing Brice. 'Course she could be kissing him inside, too, except that he was puttering in the kitchen.

  She watched the crackling fire and listened to the rain pound the roof and slap the windows. An occasional rumble of thunder rattled the panes, momentarily drowning out the plink-plinging of water dripping into pans, buckets and every other container she and Brice could find in the old boxes stacked along the wall.

  Deep down inside Pru wondered if this miserable house would hold together long enough to get repaired the way Sunny had suggested. Not so deep down inside, Pru wondered if her temporary insanity was curable, because she must have been insane to kiss Brice McCormack the way she did. What had she been thinking?

  She hadn't been thinking. That was the whole trouble. Now she was in deep doodoo because kissing Brice had been … really nice. Her conscience pricked. All right, all right, it was terrific, wonderful, stupendous. The angels sang, the sun dimmed. Happy? That might ease her conscience, but it sure didn't ease her hormones. Not that it really mattered, because she and Brice could never take this kissing thing any further, no matter how great he was at it.

  He might have caught her when she needed catching, but that didn't mean she could trust him on all fronts, and she wasn't about to get emotionally involved with someone she couldn't trust. He'd tricked her once since they were married, and there was no reason to believe he wouldn't do it again if it benefited his family.

  Family was his main priority in life, just as it was hers, and that wasn't likely to change for either of them, no matter how great they kissed.

  "Soup's on," Brice said as he came into the room. "At least, it will be as soon as I hang this pot over the fire. Are you getting warm?"

  Warm? After what had happened outside less than an hour ago she'd probably be warm as toast for the rest of her life. "We've got to talk, Brice."

  He heaved a huge sigh as he ran his hand around the back of his neck. "You're right. I thought we'd get into something dry and eat first, then—" he shrugged "—we can move into town."

  "What?"

  "Town. Where we won't be so … together like this. We can't get involved, Pru. You know that as well as I do. You're not willing to give up being a Randolph, and I'm always going to be a McCormack, which means a real relationship between us is out. We'll never agree on anything, and would probably sell each other down the river if it would benefit our families. Right?"

  "Blast it, Brice, now is not the time to come up with this brilliant idea of moving to town and not being together. Just this morning you said the ranch was a great place to live and we should stay here. Any of this sound familiar?"

  "That was before you and I scorched the ground outside less than an hour ago. We'll move to town, into one of those cracker boxes you like so well. It won't be neutral territory like this ranch is, so our families will drive us nuts and try to split us up. There will be lots of fights, and Willis will have to realize he made a big mistake."

  The lights suddenly came on, brightening the room. Brice's eyes widened. "We have … electricity? How'd that happen?"

  "The electric fairy. He paid us a visit while you were off doing cow stuff. His efforts just got knocked out for a while because of the storm. We also have a new hot-water heater, and kitchen appliances are coming tomorrow."

  "You did all that? In one day?"

  "Furniture's been ordered, the plumber's scheduled to plumb, and a new roof is on the books for the end of the week. Since you weren't around, I even risked life and limb to put a tarp over the old roof, 'cause that's what the roofer said to do so that the workmen coming in the morning—"

  "Workmen?"

  "Actually, it's workpeople because three are men and three are women. The Ross family. They run Restorations by Ross, and said they could rehab this house. All day, and I do mean all day, I've lied my heart out convincing everyone in town who would listen that we—as in you and me—are in hog heaven, making a home, working together as husband and wife, showing the whole wide Serenity world that McCormacks and Randolphs can get along. Sunny Willis said fixing this place up would be a good first step in ending the feud, because her dear husband is not now or ever about to give up on his idea of us being married."

  "How'd Sunny Willis get into this?"

  "She wants to go to England this year."

  "England?"

  "It's a garden thing."

  Brice pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

  "Bottom line is we're stuck out here," she said, "and we're stuck with each other till there's some kind of peace between our dear families."

  Brice paced the floor in front to the hearth, then looked back to her. "Okay, we can do this. We'll just steer clear of each other, that's all. I work, you work—that eats up a lot of the day. You sleep upstairs, I sleep downstairs. We'll never see each other. Right?"

  "Right. How hard can it be for a Randolph and a McCormack to stay away from each other?"

  * * *

  It was really, really hard for her and Brice to stay away from each other, Prudence realized when she got home from work the next day. Not only did she miss him to the point of getting very little done on the tax forms that needed to be turned in by week's end, but also there were ten messages on the answering machine from people wanting Brice right now and obviously expecting her, the new devoted wife, to know where her husband was.

  One of the McCormack's oil rigs was down, and Brice was needed to make some oilman-type decision. But no one knew where to find Mr. Brice McCormack.

  Her first thought was to call the Half-Circle and see if Brice was there, but she felt certain the oil people had already done that. Besides, she'd run naked through town before she'd call the McCormack house. Didn't Brice have a cell phone or pager or something so people could get hold of him all the time?

  She kicked off her high heels and undid the top button of the new suit jacket that she'd worn to work. As she looked out the front window of the ranch house, she took the pins from her hair, letting it tumble to her shoulders, feeling more relaxed than she had all day.

  Late-afternoon sun skimmed over the new-green treetops and cast a silvery glow across the weed-filled yard. Where in blue blazes was that man? How was she going to explain to all these callers that she didn't have the foggiest idea where her new husband was?

  If she said he was in town and it turned out he was doing cow business, she'd feel as if she'd failed New Wife 101, and the gossips might start spreading the rumor that all wasn't as it seemed at the Randolph-McCormack house. That wouldn't help end the feud—it would be like adding a squirt of gasoline to it

  And why wasn't Brice around so she could at lea
st see him when she came home from work? Maybe talk to him? Maybe touch his hand? After that, they could stay away from each other.

  Suddenly a cow, then two cows, then more came into view down by the new barn. A low, mellow mooing filled the air. It was kind of charming in a ranchy sort of way. She almost expected to see John Wayne moseying across the yard, calling, "Howdy, pilgrim." Instead, she saw a man on horseback herding the cattle into a pen.

  At first she thought it was Brice, who was even better than John Wayne, but looking again she realized it was Derek. He would know where Brice was. She would just have to watch what she said so she didn't look too ignorant of her husband's whereabouts. Men gossiped as much as women ever did. If you wanted to get something around town fast, just tell the guys.

  After slipping her shoes back on, she left the house and tiptoed across the mushy ground, heading for the barn. The sun warmed her head and back, and a sky as clear as an expensive diamond stretched out in all directions to meet the rolling green hills. It sure wasn't town. When she looked out the window of Randolph House, she saw the Randolph garage or her uncle Roy's house next door, or Grandma Eulah's house across the street surrounded with yellow roses.

  Derek noticed her coming toward him, and he headed her way. The pounding of hoofs made the ground under her feet vibrate, and the smells of horse, good leather, and a hardworking man filled her head as he pulled up his horse next to her. Till now, she hadn't realized just how intoxicating those smells could be. "Hi, new sister-in-law."

  Smiling, Derek tipped his hat to her the way cowboys have been doing forever. He nodded toward the house. "Hear you and Brice are fixing the Dillard place up right special. It's the talk of the town. No one can believe a McCormack and a Randolph are actually working together." Derek pushed his dusty gray hat farther back on his head. "So, when are you having me over for dinner?"

  Prudence stared up at Derek. She hadn't expected his friendliness, and never would she have expected him to want to be a dinner guest. He was a McCormack, after all. "You'd come?"

  "With bells on. I couldn't pass up an offer for free food, and I'd like to get to know the gal who put a burr under my brother's saddle and got him hitched. Never seen anyone get to him the way you do. 'Course, I'm still wondering what got you and Brice together in the first place. Beats the heck out of me and everybody else in this town."

  "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Before Derek had a chance to ask what she was talking about, she added, "Brice is with you, isn't he." She made it sound as if it could be a statement or a question, so she wouldn't seem too clueless.

  "We brought the cattle over together." Derek pointed beyond the barn. "But we had to take a longer route because of the hard rain last night. Brice is helping out a cow and calf that got themselves into a pickle. He'll be here in a bit. Miss him?"

  "Oh, yeah. Sure. A lot. Yessirree Bob."

  Derek gave her a questioning look, as if she'd lost her mind. She guessed she was overdoing the caring wife routine. "There's a problem at one of the oil rigs. They need your brother's input ASAP."

  "Well, doggies! I've been telling him to get one of those satellite phones for when he's on the range. But does he listen to me? Heck, no. When he's with his cattle he figures everything else will just have to sit and wait its turn. I'd go fetch him, but I've got to mind the herd, get them settled down for the night with feed and water. You can go get him, though. Just take the truck over the next two ridges and follow the path."

  Terrific. What was she going to say now? No, I don't really care an ant's ear about oil wells? That didn't sound very wifey. "Great idea."

  "Keep the truck on top of the hills and avoid the gullies where there's still water. You'll be fine. Follow the way the herd came, you'll see the trampled grass. It'll take you right to Brice." Derek eyed her clothes. "Nice duds. Don't be getting out of the truck. It's real muddy out there, after the rain last night."

  "Believe me, I wouldn't think of it." Prudence picked her way over clumps of mud and made it to Brice's truck. For a second she looked back at the house, realizing the workmen—workpeople—had covered the roof. They had erected scaffolding, too. It looked a lot stronger than the house, but at least the place had the appearance of a Randolph-McCormack home-in-progress. That was the whole point.

  Before she got in the truck, she straightened the blanket she'd thrown over the seat to protect her suit that morning when she took the truck in to work. A cowboy's truck wasn't the most fitting place for designer clothes, but her Lincoln would never make it here. She climbed in the truck, smoothed out her linen skirt so it wouldn't wrinkle, started the engine. She headed for the path beyond the barn.

  For ten minutes she followed the cow trail. The truck lumbered over the rolling fields, and she avoided the low areas, as Derek had advised. As country went, this was pretty enough. The warming spring earth had a special rich smell that she'd never known about. The air out here felt cleaner, and the sun seemed to shine a bit brighter. The sky was brilliant.

  Finally, up ahead, Prudence saw a swollen pond and a black horse hitched to a tree limb. As she got closer, Brice came into view. He was pulling on a rope tied around a cow who was obviously stuck stomach-deep in mud. The cow mooed sorrowfully. Being careful not to end up in the same predicament as the cow, Prudence gave the pond filled to overflowing with spring rain a wide berth, and stopped not too far from Brice. She leaned out the window and called his name.

  He did a quick look, then a double take. "Pru?"

  Funny how she was getting used to that name, at least from Brice. If he called her anything else, she probably wouldn't know he was talking to her. 'Course, if anyone else dared to call her Pru … well, they'd better run for the hills.

  He kept a firm hold on the rope. "What are you doing here?"

  "One of your big oil rigs is down, and they need your advice."

  "I've got a cow that needs me right now. The rig's going to have to wait."

  "But—"

  "The cow's first." He put the rope down and walked toward the truck. He looked every inch a cowboy—tough, rugged, dependable, a man in his element. Mud covered him from black cowboy hat to scuffed boots, and it all looked as if it belonged exactly where it was.

  Suddenly her hormones didn't seem to understand that just last night she and Brice had agreed to stay away from each other. And when his smile cut a white crescent through the mud on his face, she wanted nothing more than to kiss that face. He stuck his head in through the window, and she forbid herself to do what she wanted.

  He said, "I need your help here, Pru."

  She concentrated on his words and not him. "Me help you? Here? Now? Like this?" She glanced down at her suit.

  "That's what I had in mind."

  "Brice, I'm no cowboy or cowgirl or anything cow. I'm just a messenger. Besides, I'm not exactly dressed for the occasion. I just got home from work, when I got this call for you, and I had to play the loving, caring wife role so everyone would know we're madly in love. After this, I should do Broadway."

  He opened the door to his truck. "All you have to do is hold on to the rope around the cow's neck, and when I push her from behind, you guide from in front so she'll know where to go. That way, she'll help herself more and lessen the chances of breaking a leg."

  "Sounds muddy."

  "I wouldn't ask if it was muddy."

  "Yes, you would."

  "Well, maybe."

  A pitiful little moo suddenly filled the air. Looking some feet away Prudence saw the cutest little brown-and-white calf. "Her baby?"

  "I got the calf out and tied her so she won't go back in the soup after the mother. Now I have to get the mother out. I tried to use Slim—" Brice nodded toward his horse "—but being pulled by a horse spooked the cow. Then you came along." Brice arched his brow. "I wouldn't ask but…"

  And she knew he wouldn't unless he was desperate. Brice McCormack wasn't a man who asked a lot of favors, except when it came to his cows. Like it or not, she owed him
more than delivering a message. He'd not only caught her when the roof gave way, he'd given her a vote of confidence when he handed her those matches. And in return, she had commandeered his truck. Well, darn.

  "All you need for me to do is guide from the front, right?"

  His grin reached his eyes. "That's it. It's dry where you'll have to stand. You won't even get your shoes dirty."

  "Good. I can afford to lose only so many shoes in one week." Brice held out his muddy hand to help her out of the truck, but she shooed him back with a little wave. "It's the first time I've worn this suit. It's eggplant, a new power-suit color."

  He grinned hugely. "You look very powerful, Pru."

  "Do you want my help or not, McCormack?"

  Brice took a few steps back, took his hat off his head and bowed low, as she stepped from the truck. "You have my undying gratitude. But watch where you step. This is cow country, if you know what I mean." Another little moo sounded, followed by a louder, forlorn one. She'd been suckered in by two cows and a handsome cowboy. Some city girl she was.

  Brice picked up the rope attached to the cow. He handed it to Prudence. It was covered in mud. "Here—" he said, pulling off his work gloves. "These will protect your hands."

  Using the two-finger method, Prudence kept her hands away from her suit and slipped on the gloves. They weren't any cleaner than the rope, but she could take off the gloves when she was finished.

  "See—" Brice called as he headed back toward the cow. "You and your new power suit will leave here unscathed. Now, when I start to push the cow, she'll try to walk out of the mud. You tug the rope a bit, showing her the way to go. As soon as she's free, just drop the rope. That's all there is to it."

  "Got it." Pru's hands felt lost in Brice's heavy leather gloves, but she clamped her fingers tight around the rope, then looped it around a few times so it wouldn't slip out. She carefully pulled in the slack so as not to splash or dislodge anything dirty. Brice waded into the quagmire and trudged his way to the back of the cow. The cow mooed and the calf answered.