Denim and Lace

by Diana Palmer

  The bronc riding was the event she feared most. He’d come through the calf roping with ease and grace, but bronc riding was tricky. If he drew a really bad horse, or if something diverted his attention, he could be thrown and trampled. One competitor early on had suffered that indignity and had to be half dragged, half carried out of the arena with his hand clutching his ribs. Bess sat on the edge of her seat, praying every inch of the way.

  Cade came out of the chute with his hand high, his spurred boots raking neatly from neck to flank on the opening jump and keeping the rhythm clean and neat as the seconds ticked away. The commentator was saying something about the skill it took to drag those spurs that distance while staying in the saddle and commending the way Cade was getting the last ounce of bucking out of that bronc. Before his voice died away, the buzzer sounded and Cade was looking for a way off the furious horse. He threw one leg over and jumped, landing with precision on both boots, but the bronc wheeled and snorted, bucking right toward him. Cade timed it perfectly while Bess sat shivering with fear. He waited until the horse was almost on him, then he dashed past it and leaped onto the corral, quickly easing over the fence and out of harm’s way. There was a lot of laughter from the other competitors, and he was patted on the back while everyone waited for his time. They called it out, and the crowd went wild. He had the best score of the day. There were only two other competitors after him, both of whom were thrown before the first two seconds of their rides. Cade took top money and got a second place in calf roping. Bess sat in the stands beaming with pride, and when the awards were given out, she stood in the shelter of Cade’s arm with her whole heart in her face as she looked up at him.

  That night she lay in his arms on the sofa, curling close, and listened to him talk about the competition. He was still winding down from the physical exertion of it, even though he’d borrowed her bathroom to have a long, hot shower. He was stiff and sore, and Bess had rubbed his broad shoulders and back with alcohol, trying to ignore his sensual innuendos when her hands stopped at the waistband of his jeans.

  “We’ll live at Lariat,” he said, looking down at her quietly.

  “Yes, I know.”

  “I guess it will take a lot of adjusting for you,” he said, leaning back to smoke his cigarette. “There aren’t many frivolities, and the plumbing leaves a lot to be desired.”

  She felt chills down her spine. She didn’t know what else to say to convince him that his lack of wealth didn’t matter to her. It never had. She loved him. “Cade, I’ll be happy at Lariat,” she said. “I hope I can make you happy, too.”

  He sighed and bent to kiss her gently. “Well, we’ll see how it works out,” he said noncommittally. He glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to get back to the hotel. I’ll be over early if you’ll fix breakfast.”

  She got up, hesitating. “You...you don’t want to stay?” she asked, looking so shyly curious that he smiled involuntarily.

  He pulled her hands to his broad, bare chest, smoothing them over the thick hair on it. “Yes, I want to stay, sore muscles and all,” he replied. “But I’m not going to. We’re going to do it by the book. One lapse was enough, and I don’t want people looking at you the way your next-door neighbor did this morning because of me.” That had disturbed him, more than he wanted to admit. He didn’t want people thinking Bess was easy.

  “You mean Señora Lopez?” She smiled gently. “She’s a very nice, very religious lady who doesn’t approve of the modern world.”

  “Neither do I,” he replied. He touched her mouth. “I feel bad about the way things have gone with you and me, Bess,” he said worriedly. “I hate having so little control that I can’t wait until our wedding night. I can’t undo what happened, but I can prevent it from happening again until we’re married.”

  She linked her arms around his neck with a tiny sigh. “I feel the same way, really. But I...” She lowered her face. “I’m a little afraid. Getting married is a big step.” She looked up quickly. “I want to marry you very much. I just hope I can be what you want me to be.” As she finished, she saw the lines of stress vanish from his face.

  “You will be.” He bent and kissed her warmly. “See you at breakfast.”

  “Okay. Good night.” She let him out and watched him go with sad eyes. Thursday, she thought dreamily, she’d never have to watch him leave again.

  He was at the apartment early the next morning, just as she’d dressed and was starting breakfast. It was as if they’d never been apart, she thought, watching him finish the last of his bacon. But there was an exquisite newness about their relationship that made her glow. Just to look at him fed her heart. What they were sharing now was precious. Holding hands, looking at each other openly, caring. She felt as if she’d found the end of the rainbow, and it was Cade. All the long, lonely years were gone and forgotten as if they’d never been. She hated sleeping because it took her away from Cade. He was her whole life so suddenly, and apparently was enjoying it as much as she was. That was what was so beautiful, so incredible, that he expressed his feelings every time he looked at her or kissed her. If it was only desire, it was a tender kind of desire that put her first. She wondered if Cade realized how possessive he’d become.

  He glanced up and saw that thoughtful stare. “What are you thinking?” he asked with a smile.

  It was amazing how comfortable she was with him now, she mused, remembering a time when she was strung up and shivering every time he came near. Now he was like a part of her. “I was thinking how sweet it is to have breakfast with you,” she confessed.

  “I was thinking the same thing.” He searched her eyes. “I feel married to you. I have for a long time. The wedding ring, the ceremony, they’re necessary and I want them. But for three years there’s been no time when I wanted anyone else.”

  She smiled. “I’m glad, because I felt the same way.” She touched the back of his hand lightly. “Are you better today?”

  “Still stiff,” he murmured ruefully, “but with plenty to show for it, thank God.”

  “I wish you’d give it up,” she said.

  “I will, when the time comes. Don’t nag.”

  She glowered at him. “I love you.”

  He grinned. “Yes, I know that. But I’m not going to throw myself under a horse’s hooves to let you prove it. How about that company picnic? Still want to go?”

  “Yes. I’ve got to fix some potato salad and ham. I’ll get started. Do you want to get the Sunday paper? It’ll be just outside the door.”

  He got up with a sigh. “I guess your reputation’s ruined by now,” he said quietly. “I should have realized what your neighbors would think when they saw us coming out of your apartment together at daylight.”

  His concern for her reputation touched her. That was like him, that Old World courtesy and concern about honor. She turned, her eyes brimming with love. “I’ll put a note on the door and invite the whole floor to the wedding,” she said. “It’s all right. Maybe Señora Lopez is still asleep,” she added hopefully, knowing all the while that the señora, who had become a good friend, got up early every Sunday morning and went to Mass.

  Cade hesitated at her expression. “Are you sure you want to risk having her see me again at this hour of the morning?” he asked quietly.

  She smiled. “Yes, I’m sure.”

  He paused, then he nodded and went outside to get the paper, where he ran headlong into the small Mexican-American woman, Señora Lopez, who lived next door. He grinned at her hugely.

  “Good morning. Buenos días,” he tried again.

  She glowered at him, looking indignant.

  “I only just got here,” he persisted. “I came for breakfast yesterday and again this morning.” He glowered. “Nothing’s going on.”

  The elderly lady stared without saying a word.

  Cade felt needles sticking in him at t
hat wordless disapproval. “Oh, God,” he groaned. “Bess! Help!” he called.

  The neighbor looked perplexed when she saw his expression and heard Bess’s helpless laughter. Bess came running. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Oh, good morning, señora,” she flustered, turning scarlet.

  “So much for your blasé attitude.” Cade told Bess with a curt nod. “Serves you right. Come here.” He pulled her close and held up her left hand to show it to the señora. “We’re engaged. I don’t have a loose moral attitude, no matter how it may look. Bess isn’t a modern woman any more than I’m a modern man. I even go to church most Sundays.”

  “Ah.” Señora Lopez relaxed, glad to have her dark suspicions disproved. “You are to be married, sí?”

  “Sí,” Cade returned with a smile. “This Thursday. On the Paseo del Rio. You’re invited. And nothing’s going on,” he repeated firmly.

  The señora beamed. She hadn’t really thought her sweet young neighbor was modern enough to have men staying with her in any casual way. And the señor, very proper and dignified when he defended Bess’s reputation. She liked him. With the wedding so soon, it was understandable that the young couple would have much to discuss and would want to be together as early and as late as possible. Yes, there was love in Bess’s eyes. And something dark and soft in the señor’s. She nodded. “¡Ay de mí, it will be a privilege to attend such a wedding!” She clasped her hands. “Señorita, you have a wedding dress?”

  Bess caught her breath. “No! I’ll have to buy one.”

  “You will not! I have just the thing. Come.”

  The señora led them into her apartment. She gestured for them to wait while she went into her bedroom and came back after a minute with the most exquisite lace-trimmed white dress Bess had ever seen in her life, complete with glorious trailing mantilla.

  “It was to have been my daughter’s wedding gown. You remember, señorita, I told you about her,” she prompted Bess, who remembered the poor tormented woman crying over her daughter’s death. Bess and the long-widowed señora would sit outside in the evenings and had come to be friends. They talked, and Señora Lopez seemed to find Bess’s company comforting. Although she never imposed, she was always bringing Bess cuttings of her profuse stock of flowers or cooking sweets for her to “fatten her up.”

  “But, I can’t...!” Bess protested, even as her hands trailed lovingly over the gown that was obviously just her size.

  “It will honor me if you will take it,” Señora Lopez said gently. “Estrella would have liked you. I am sure that she would not mind that I give it to you. It should be worn, Bessita,” she said, using the fond nickname she called Bess. “Please? ¿Por favor?”

  “All right. And thank you,” Bess said fervently. “But only if you come to the wedding.”

  “Of course I will come. I must make sure that your oh-so-handsome caballero does not desert you at the altar,” she said with a smile in Cade’s direction.

  “It would take an army to keep me away from the altar.” Cade grinned, his eyes falling gently to meet Bess’s.

  Señora Lopez assessed their exchanged look and smiled, nodding to herself. Yes, this was going to be a good match. Bonita.

  Bess carefully put the dress away, loving the way Cade had looked at her when she held it up for Señora Lopez to see.

  She packed up the potato salad and ham she was going to take to the company picnic, and she and Cade set off in jeans and matching chambray shirts with red bandannas at their necks, a perfect match except that Cade was wearing a Stetson and she wasn’t.

  The first sight they got was of the nervous Nell, sitting on a rock by herself while people all around her were talking and having a good time. Bess put her dishes on the table and uncovered them, settling back against Cade as Jordan Ryker stood up at the head of the table and called for silence.

  Cade watched him, narrow-eyed, as the older man welcomed the employees, welcomed Bess back after her accident and invited the company workers to dig in and have a good time.

  Afterward he came up to Bess and grinned as he shook her hand. “You look refreshed and very pretty.” He glanced at Cade and chuckled. “I hear I’m persona non grata in your book, Hollister,” he added bluntly. “Let me assure you that the only designs I have on Bess are work related. She’s been a welcome addition to our ad agency staff. Julie thinks she’s tops.”

  “So do I,” Cade said quietly, pulling her close to his side. “The wedding’s Thursday,” he added.

  “Congratulations!” Ryker shook Cade’s hand and then Bess’s. “Nice to see that someone got lucky.” He sighed, trying to understand Cade’s dark stare.

  “Speaking of someone,” Bess said. “If you won’t think I’m meddling, there’s a very nice girl here who worships the ground you walk on. If she wasn’t too shy to drop a handkerchief at your feet, you might find that she isn’t what she appears at all.”

  He frowned, and his dark eyes scanned the gathering. “Not Julie, surely?” His eyebrows arched and he smiled amusedly.

  “Julie is happily married,” she pointed out. “I’m talking about Nell.”

  * * *

  RYKER STUCK HIS hands deep inside his pockets, and his dark eyes settled firmly on Nell. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he said absently. “And here I thought...all this time.”

  “She has a picture of you in her desk,” Bess said, shocking him into staring at her. “And the first thing she did when I walked into the office was tell me you were definitely off-limits, because someday she was going to get you if it killed her.”

  He smiled. He chuckled. He burst out laughing. “God, men are blind,” he said under his breath. “Bess, you can have anything you want short of the agency for a wedding present. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear my name being cursed silently.”

  He strode off toward Nell, while Bess clung to Cade’s hand and grinned with pure delight.

  Nell looked up, and even at a distance Bess could see her face coloring. Ryker sat down slowly beside her, obviously having a hard time trying to make conversation. Nell looked equally flustered. But somehow Bess knew that it was going to work out.

  “Cupid Samson,” Cade whispered in her ear. “Nice going.”

  “I had no idea he was dying for the love of Nell,” she whispered back. “Isn’t it romantic?!”

  He pulled her close and searched her eyes. “I know something more romantic. Being married to you on Thursday.”

  She sighed and nuzzled against him. He bent his head over hers and sighed. How amazing, she thought. For years he’d pushed her away at every opportunity, and now he couldn’t seem to stay close enough. He was always holding her hand or keeping his arm around her, holding her as if he couldn’t bear to lose contact. She felt that way, too, but it was new to find Cade staring at her with his desire plain in his eyes. He’d given her the impression that he hadn’t liked her for years. But it was understandable, since she understood now how desperately he had wanted her. That pretended dislike had been his only defense. But he didn’t need it anymore, and the sudden transition from enemy to lover sometimes made Bess’s mind whirl. The closeness they were sharing was like nothing she’d dreamed of. Being away from Cade even overnight was excruciating now. She was counting the hours until they could be together all the time.

  If only it would last, she thought as they moved to the long banquet table to fill their plates. It had to last!

  Cade was hoping the same thing. At least now maybe he could stop worrying about Ryker. Nice to know that the other man was carrying a torch for someone besides Bess. He’d worried, because Ryker was successful and rich, and Gussie had built the man into a real threat. Sometimes he still felt keenly the differences between his way of life and Bess’s, and in the back of his mind it bothered him that he might not be able to give her everything she wanted.

  A tug on
his jeans drew his attention, and looking down he came eye to eye with a small, dark, laughing boy holding out a cookie.

  “For me?” Cade asked, smiling. He knelt by the child, his eyes warm and soft. He was always that way with children, Bess recalled, watching him with a kind of pain that ate at her. He had an instant rapport with the child, who put his arms around Cade’s neck and allowed himself to be carried back to his searching parents without a hint of reluctance. Children gravitated toward Cade wherever he went. It used to fascinate Bess that even when he was his taciturn self, the children of his ranch workers hung around near him. They seemed to know that underneath that facade was a sensitive, loving man. Bess was only now finding out what kind of warmth his mask hid. But it hurt her terribly to see how much he loved children. She turned away and went back to the table to get some more food, which she didn’t even taste, just to put the situation to the back of her mind.

  She didn’t see Nell and Mr. Ryker when she and Cade left to go back to the apartment. She hoped things would go as well for them as they had for Cade and herself.

  “Tomorrow morning we get the ball rolling,” he mused as they were watching television after supper. “Three more days, and you’re mine forever.”

  “I’m yours forever right now, Mr. Hollister,” she said, lifting her soft lips to his.

  “Come here.” He pulled her across his lap and held her, kissing her lightly from time to time, but nothing more intimate.

  “He was cute, wasn’t he? That little boy,” he sighed. His fingers touched her breasts lightly over the fabric, and his eyes narrowed. “Are you going to nurse our children?” he asked suddenly.

  She felt sick. “If we have children,” she agreed.

  He frowned. “I thought you weren’t sure, about being pregnant.”

  She swallowed and prayed silently for forgiveness. “I’m not,” she said, burying her face in his warm throat. “Not sure, I mean.”