Lori’s Little Secret

by Christine Rimmer

  Tucker grinned. The kid looked cute in a suit, his brown hair all slicked down, a wild little cowlick sticking up at the crown. Tucker knew about cowlicks and what a pain they could be. He had one, too, in just about the same spot as Brody’s. He had to wear his hair long or in a slight spike, as he did now, to keep it in hand.

  And Lori…

  Damn.

  Tucker openly stared, oblivious to everything but the woman in pink, thinking how he’d never seen her look so beautiful as she did that afternoon, her sleek red hair coiled high on her head, wearing that simple, elegant dress that hugged all her curves and made her delicate skin glow.

  Yeah. She did shine in pink. She had that touch of cool rose in her coloring that made it work.

  She reminded him of…

  He blinked.

  And time itself seemed to fall away. He went spinning backward, into that May night eleven years ago.

  Lena had worn pink that night. And she’d outshone every other girl at the prom. They had danced every dance. He wouldn’t let any of the other guys even get near her.

  That night had changed everything—or so he’d thought when it was happening. That night, though he didn’t tell Lena then, he decided that he wasn’t letting her break up with him, after all. That night, he didn’t care in the least that the big, wide world and all the strange, exotic, mysterious places in it, would never be his to know or explore. That night, he only wanted to stay right there, in his hometown, with Lena held close in his arms…

  Lena…

  So strange.

  He could see his younger self, looking down at her as she whirled in his arms. Lena…

  Or was it?

  Right now, as he pictured Lena, smiling softly, gazing up at him on that long-ago night, it wasn’t Lena he saw. He was sure of it. He looked down and…

  He saw Lori in his arms.

  It couldn’t be. It wasn’t. Of course not. His mind was playing weird tricks on him, that was all.

  Still, somewhere deep at the center of himself, he was certain…

  Blazing heat flooded up under the collar of his silk dress shirt. The walls pressed in on him. He couldn’t breathe.

  And then Lori looked up from the table where she sat with Brody. She saw him.

  And she smiled. Sheepishly. Hopefully.

  Damn. She was beautiful.

  And somehow, her smile did the trick. The world righted itself. Everything spun back into place.

  The past wasn’t now.

  Just as Lori wasn’t Lena.

  He almost laughed out loud at his own idiocy. It made a strange kind of sense, he supposed—that now, with the way he felt about Lori, it would seem to him that it must have been her and not her twin he held in his arms that night.

  Funny, how a man’s mind could play tricks on him when his heart got involved.

  And as much as that one night still haunted him now and then, as much as what had happened then didn’t quite add up—as much as, when he looked back on it, he was troubled by the idea that Lena hadn’t really seemed like Lena…

  It simply didn’t matter. It was years ago. Lena was over it and so was he. They had both moved on.

  What mattered was right now. What mattered was the hopeful smile on Lori Lee’s soft mouth.

  Someone jostled his elbow. “’Scuse me,” he said automatically, not sparing so much as a glance for whoever had bumped him. He started forward, eyes on the prize, moving swift and sure around the tables, until he reached Lori’s side.

  “Tucker!” Brody’s face lit up in a wide smile of greeting.

  He gave the boy an answering grin. “Hey, Brody. How you doing?”

  “Okay.” Brody stuck his finger under his collar. “’Cept for this suit.” He made choking noises.

  “Brody,” Lori warned softly. Brody heaved a sigh and took his finger out of his collar.

  Tucker winked at him. “Lookin’ good, though.”

  “You think?” Brody stretched his neck and smoothed his kid-size tie.

  “No doubt about it.” Tucker dared to turn his gaze to the woman in pink. “And you…” There were no words. He said the one that came closest. “Beautiful.”

  Her soft mouth trembled on a radiant smile. “Why, thank you…”

  He reached down and plucked the place card from the empty spot beside her. “Well, what do you know? This is my seat.”

  Her expression said she’d already looked at his place card. Still, she teased, “No way…”

  He turned the card around so she could read his name—just in case she hadn’t already. “Yep. ’Fraid so.” He pulled back the chair and slid into it, grabbing his swan-shaped napkin and shaking it out to lay it across his lap.

  She leaned close. He got a whiff of her scent, a light scent, as tempting as the sight of her in that pink dress. She asked out of the side of her mouth, “Where did you put Charlie Bowline? He was here a few minutes ago. Apparently, one of the ushers told him he was seated at this table.”

  Tucker turned his head enough to snare her gaze. And smiled. Slowly. He watched her lips soften and part a fraction. Her eyes changed, clear blue going soft and smoky.

  He said, “Mr. Charles Bowline will be sitting with Tate and Molly Bravo. If he ever manages to find his seat, I’m sure he’ll have a terrific time. Tate and Molly are a lot of fun.”

  “Charlie is the best man, you know,” she murmured chidingly.

  “Don’t say that. You’ll hurt my feelings.”

  She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing, but still the corners of that sweet mouth trembled. “Dirk’s best man, I mean.”

  “And I hope he finds his seat quickly.” A waiter filled his gold-edged flute with champagne. He lifted it toward Lori. She picked hers up and they tapped them together.

  “Hey. Me, too.” Brody had his Coke raised high.

  Tucker tapped the kid’s glass and so did Lori. “To the best man, wherever he may be.”

  The food came—skewered shrimp and then salads and a main course of filet mignon and stuffed baked potatoes. It was damn good, all of it. Surprising, considering the size of the crowd. In Tucker’s experience, the bigger the dinner, the worse the food.

  Not that the food mattered. To Tucker, the company was what counted—and since the company included Lori, all was right with the world.

  They chatted with the other guests at their table—two couples from Abilene, friends of Dirk’s family, and a sweet elderly lady: Dirk’s great-aunt. Beyond the tall windows, the sky slowly darkened to pewter-gray as the promised storm rolled in. Not a problem. They were all safe and dry and having a great time.

  Neither Tucker nor Lori mentioned the mysterious appointment she had with him Monday, or their phone conversation the previous Sunday, when she’d as good as said she’d never go out with him. By unspoken agreement, they kept things light and general.

  That was okay with Tucker.

  She was beside him and he saw no reason she wouldn’t stay there for the rest of the afternoon—even on into the evening if he got really lucky.

  There would be dancing.

  Oh, yeah. He was a happy man.

  Everything seemed workable, now. The afternoon and evening stretched out ahead of them. Sunday, he’d see her at church and at the diner. And Monday…well, she’d set that up herself. Whatever legal matter she wanted to discuss with him, she’d be right there in his office.

  He’d have another chance to convince her of how they should be spending more time together.

  Like, say, the rest of their lives.

  No. He smiled to himself. He wasn’t going to push her too fast. He would take it nice and easy and slow…

  After the main course was cleared off, Heck Billingsworth, up at the bride’s table, rose and tapped his water goblet with his fork.

  “Ahem, ahem. Ladies and gents. I’d like to say a few words about how much this special day means to Enid and me…”

  Brody sat patiently through several rounds of toasting. But a
ll that sitting was a lot to ask of a ten-year-old boy. By then, the other kids in the room were either fiddling around in the doorways or disappearing into the main foyer, just like Tucker and Tate used to do at similar events when they were kids.

  Brody leaned close to Lori and whispered, “Mom. Can I go play with the other kids now?”

  She let him go, after getting a promise that he’d stay in the main entrance area or in the ballroom, where she could find him. “No wandering off outside. I mean it.”

  “I won’t, Mom. I promise.” And Brody was out of there before Dirk’s father could rise to offer yet another toast.

  A half an hour later, after everybody and his brother had taken a turn at raising a glass, Heck stood and announced that the band would be moving to the ballroom. Outside, thunder rolled and lightning blazed down from the dark belly of the clouds.

  Heck let out his booming laugh. “This here’s Texas, ladies and gentlemen. No puny thunderstorm is going to spoil our good time.”

  Answering laughter rippled through the crowd. Everyone applauded.

  Tucker pushed back his chair and offered Lori his hand. “The first dance is mine.”

  She laid her soft hand in his.

  Chapter Six

  Tell him, Lori thought, for the hundredth time that evening. Tell him, tonight…

  It was well after eight and outside, though daylight still lingered somewhere above the thick, black clouds, it seemed like it was already nighttime. The rain had started, a hard rain, pouring down. Through the row of windows that looked out on the ballroom’s long veranda and the wide, curving driveway at the front of the clubhouse, lightning flared in sudden, bright flashes. Lori whirled in Tucker’s arms. She looked up into his gleaming eyes as she swayed in her pink gown and she shivered at the seductive thought that somehow, time had spun backward. Somehow, that long-ago prom night was happening all over again.

  It was that night again…

  Only better.

  This time, there was no masquerade. This time, Tucker wasn’t calling her Lena. This time, he knew which twin he whirled across the floor. This time, the magic was real.

  And when this song ended, she promised herself, she would lead him to some quiet corner and tell him the secret she’d kept from him for so long.

  Yes, it would probably go badly.

  But she couldn’t lie to him—or herself—any longer. Tucker might be furious with her when he learned the truth, and rightfully so. But he wouldn’t take it out on Lena and Dirk. He wouldn’t ruin the party. He wasn’t that kind of man and she knew he wasn’t.

  Yes, word would be bound to get around town eventually. But by the time that happened, Lena would at least be off on her honeymoon.

  The song ended.

  Lori swayed closer to Tucker. “I wonder…”

  His arm tightened at her waist. He breathed in her ear, “What? Anything. Name it…”

  “A few minutes. Alone…”

  He chuckled. She felt the happy sound vibrate all through her. “My thoughts exactly.” He let go of her waist, but not of her hand.

  The next number started up as he turned. Pulling her along, he wove through the crush of dancing couples, guiding her from the floor.

  They tried the main foyer first. But most of the kids were in there, fooling around on the stairs, chasing each other in and out of the seating areas. She caught sight of Brody, playing with a couple of other boys near the front desk. His little tie had come undone and his jacket was nowhere to be seen. She opened her mouth to ask him where the jacket went, but Tucker tugged her along and all she had time for was a quick wave. Brody sent her a wide, happy grin and went back to his game.

  They passed through an arch into a hallway—a nice, dim one. But not empty. People strolled up and down it, going to and from the Cottonwood Room at the far end.

  Courtly old Dr. Flannigan, who’d been the Billingsworth family physician for years, came striding down the hallway toward them. He smiled his crinkly warm smile at the sight of them. “Tucker. Hello. And Lori. My, my. Aren’t you a vision? You and the lovely Lena, both.”

  “Why, thank you, Doc.” She gave him a smile.

  “Believe me, the pleasure is all mine.”

  “Hi, Doc,” Tucker said—and kept going. He muttered something—probably a swear word—under his breath and turned a corner to another hallway, the one that led to the powder room and the men’s room. But two women, bridesmaids, emerged from the powder room. They both called greetings.

  “Hey, Lori. Tucker….”

  “Great party, huh?”

  “Darlene, Louisa…” Tucker saluted the two pretty women in celery-green and turned to lead Lori back the way they had come.

  They tried the dining room. No go. The serving staff was still busy in there with the big job of cleaning up after the wedding banquet.

  One of the waiters asked, “May I help you, Mr. Bravo.”

  Tucker chuckled, a wry sound. “Not unless you can all clear out of here on the double.”

  The waiter frowned in bewilderment. “Clear out, Mr. Bravo?”

  Tucker clapped him on the arm. “Never mind. Just a joke…”

  The waiter forced a laugh. “A joke. Oh. I see…”

  Tucker took pity on the poor guy. “Go ahead. Keep at it. Sorry to interrupt.”

  The waiter nodded and went back to loading dirty dishes into plastic crates. From the ballroom, Lori could hear her father’s voice, amplified over the club’s PA system. He must have taken the microphone from the wedding singer.

  “And now for the big moment. Time to cut the cake…”

  Tucker headed back to the ballroom, pulling Lori with him. With so many guests everywhere, private corners were in short supply.

  So all right, she thought. Now’s not the right moment….

  But she wasn’t giving up. She would tell him that night—later that night. She’d send Brody home with her parents and she’d go with Tucker, out to the Double T, or wherever. It didn’t matter. Just as long as they went someplace where they wouldn’t be disturbed.

  Yes. That would be better than trying to explain everything right now, in the middle of the wedding party, anyway. Much better with just the two of them, truly alone together, somewhere there’d be no possibility of an interruption. That was how it should be, she saw that now: the two of them, alone.

  Plus, she couldn’t help thinking, if she waited until the party was over, she’d have another few hours of this magic with him, another few hours until the awful moment of truth….

  And okay, she was only proving to herself, once again, that she was a coward in every last, sniveling sense of the word. But what could she do if there was no place for them to talk?

  Nothing. Until later.

  When she would do it. Absolutely. No backing out.

  Just as she was getting used to the idea that she was off the hook for a little bit longer, they reached the ballroom.

  And Tucker kept going.

  He pulled her along near the back wall as the guests gathered around the stage where a green-skirted table now stood crowned with Lena’s enormous five-tiered, buttercream rose-bedecked cake. Lena and Dirk and Heck were all up there and Heck was shouting about love and forever and what a lucky man Dirk was as the wedding photographer snapped away.

  Tucker kept going, toward the double doors on the side wall that led out to the veranda. Which was crazy. They couldn’t go out there. Beyond the windows, lightning flashed and thunder boomed and rolled away in a crashing rumble.

  Lori dug in her heels. “Tucker, it’s wild out there.”

  He hardly glanced back at her. “It’s under cover. The worst that can happen is the wind will mess up your hair….”

  “Oh, Tucker…” Her heart raced and her cheeks burned and she let him continue to pull her along. Excitement and fear and anticipation swirled around inside her, a storm within to match the one outside beyond the veranda.

  All at once, everything seemed to have gone crazy and
wild—wild as the wind she could hear crying beyond the clubhouse walls. One of the wait staff had gone up on the stage to whisper in her father’s ear. She heard Heck say, “Folks. Folks. I need everyone’s attention. We have a little situa—”

  She didn’t hear the rest. Tucker had pushed on the bar that opened the door and they were slipping through it. The door shut itself instantly, almost catching her long skirt, which she managed to tug to safety at the last possible second.

  A hard gust of wind blew down the long, deep porch, lifting her skirt and then plastering it hard against her legs. Her formerly sleek hairdo pulled loose of its pins and blew in her eyes and across her mouth.

  Out past the porch roof, the rain pounded, huge drops mixed with hail. The sky in the distance lay in heavy layers of gunmetal gray. Lightning slithered down out of the clouds, slicing the grayness with its hot-white gleam. Thunder roared.

  Staff members had already been out there to take in the chair and sofa cushions. The bare wicker furniture skittered around in a jerky dance, dragging against the porch boards.

  Lori swiped a few strands of hair from her mouth. “Tucker, I don’t know if we—”

  “This way.” He led her over, out of sight of the windows, into the corner where the wall of the foyer jutted out toward the wide entrance steps. He pulled her around and backed her up against the wall so she was sheltered from the wind. Then he braced a hand on the wall to either side of her, boxing her in. “Better?”

  “I…” Words deserted her. She looked up at him and she knew he was going to kiss her and she also knew that she wasn’t going to stop him. Still, she made a piddling little effort at it. “I think we should—”

  “Shh,” he whispered, as beyond the shield of his big, warm body, lightning flared in a chain of bright explosions, followed by bursts of thunder, booming, then rolling away, then booming some more. Hail drummed on the roof over their heads.

  Tucker ignored the fury of the storm. He nuzzled her temple, whispered, “Lori. I swear. I was going to go slow, you know? But I don’t want to go slow. I want to kiss you. Please. Say it’s all right.”

  All right?