“Oh.” She nodded as the music started up. “Care to go again, or did I wear you out already?”
“It’s all that stepping on my toes that’s wearing me out,” he teased back as he led her out.
“I never stepped on your toes once,” she argued as they started dancing. “Not that I won’t now.”
Hank seemed to be guiding them over to where Cody and Echo were just coming back out to the dance floor again. Then, in a very smooth motion, Hank managed to grab Echo’s hand, pull her to him, and at the same time, practically shoved Sunny straight into his son’s arms.
“You better give that girl some real dancing lessons,” he called out to Cody. “And watch out that she don’t stomp on your toes.”
Cody looked both surprised and amused, but without missing a beat, he continued to dance with her. “I see you’re with Cowboy Wes again tonight.”
“And I see you’re with Trina.”
He scowled.
“Cindy told me you called.”
“I did.”
“Did you still want me to call you back?” she asked. “Or can you just talk to me face-to-face?”
He didn’t answer. For a few moments, they both seemed to focus on the dancing. Sunny wished that was all they had to focus on—that, and each other. But, of course, things were never that simple.
“Did Trina tell you about our conversation today?” she asked.
“No.” His eyes flickered with interest.
“Oh.”
“What did Trina say to you?”
Sunny stepped soundly on his toe just then. “Sorry.” She jumped back.
“Barely felt it,” he told her. But now they had lost the beat and stopped dancing. They were merely standing in the midst of the other dancers. It reminded Sunny of a snag in a roaring river.
“Is there a place where we can speak privately?” she asked.
He grinned. “Now there’s an idea.”
“It’s hard enough learning to dance—without trying to have a meaningful conversation as well.”
Cody glanced over her shoulder. “Are you sure Cowboy Wes won’t mind me stealing you away?”
Sunny cringed to spot Wesley standing alone on the sidelines. She’d forgotten all about him. “Oh, dear.” She frowned. “I guess I should go talk to him.” Then she noticed Trina, arms folded across her chest and fire in her eyes. Sunny felt uneasy. “I think Trina is on the warpath—and I suspect the path leads straight to my door.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her.”
“Then I’ll take care of Wesley.”
“Meet me right back here.”
“It’s a deal,” she said, and they turned away from each other.
Feeling both hopeful and apprehensive, Sunny went over to Wesley. “I’m sorry for ditching you like that,” she began. “It’s just that, well—”
“Look, Sunny, I know this wasn’t a real date. It’s not like I asked you out. And I realize that Mitchell and Aubrey set things up, and you girls drove to meet us. So it’s not like I should’ve had great expectations. But I suppose I had hoped for a little bit more than this.”
“I really am sorry,” she said again. “But Cody and I—well, it’s complicated.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I could tell there was something between you two the day I met him.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “That whole deal with the horse—and the way he looked at you, how you acted— I actually wondered if he was your ex.”
“My ex?”
“Or something with some strong emotions attached.”
She sighed. “I can tell you’re a great guy, Wesley—”
“But…”
She nodded. “But I need to figure this thing out with Cody.”
“What if it doesn’t work out?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Okay. I understand. And I apologize for being so pushy. I’m not usually the aggressive type. But you’re the kind of woman a guy could get pushy for.” He grinned.
“Thanks, Wesley.”
“Would you mind telling Mitchell that I’m calling it a night and that I’ll just walk back to the house?”
“Sure.” And just like that, Wesley was on his way. She wondered if things had gone that smoothly for Cody. Probably not. She moved through the dancers and to the other side of the street, where she found Aubrey and Mitchell. She quickly explained Wesley’s departure, and although they seemed momentarily concerned, it was obvious they were having way too much fun to give any of it much thought.
“Do you think Mitchell can give you a ride back to the house?” Sunny asked Aubrey hopefully. “In case I leave early too?”
“No problem,” Mitchell assured her.
Sunny made it back to where she and Cody had agreed to meet, but he wasn’t there. She looked over to where Trina had been glowering just minutes ago. She too was nowhere to be seen. Finally, spotting Hank and Echo, Sunny went over to find out if they knew what was up.
“Trina got really, really mad.” Echo’s eyes were worried. “She started acting totally bonkers.”
“Bonkers?” Sunny turned to Hank and he nodded grimly.
“Didn’t you hear her yelling?” Echo actually looked a little scared.
“Not really, but I was on the other side of the street, and the music was loud.”
“Trina started screaming at Dad—yelling all kinds of horrible stuff about him—and stuff about you too, Sunny.”
Hank just shook his head. “Cody, well, he sort of removed Trina from the scene.”
Sunny could only imagine what that must’ve been like. Trina might be petite, but she was ferocious. And the name Spitfire was probably more than appropriate tonight.
“It was really terrible.” Echo twisted a button on her denim jacket.
“Is this my fault?” Sunny glanced from Hank to Echo, then back to Hank again.
He pushed his cowboy hat up on his brow. “Don’t rightly see how you can blame yourself for someone else behaving badly.”
“Are you and my dad in love?” Echo said suddenly, studying Sunny with wide, curious eyes.
“Oh, Echo.” Sunny put a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t even know how to answer a question like that. The truth is, your dad and I just wanted to sit down and have a good long talk.” She held up her hands in a helpless gesture. “But I guess that talk will have to wait.”
“But do you love him?” Echo persisted.
Sunny thought. “How would you feel about it if I did love him?”
Echo’s serious expression melted into a smile. “That’d be cool with me.”
Sunny blinked. “Really?”
“Sure.”
Hank was grinning. “So, do you?” he asked.
She was determined not to reveal her true feelings…not yet. “Don’t you guys think that’s something I should talk to Cody about?”
“So when are you going to talk?”
“We were going to talk tonight, but that’s obviously not happening.”
“But he’ll probably come back,” Echo said eagerly.
“Or else he’ll call you,” Hank offered.
“Are you going to wait here for him?” Echo asked.
“I told him I would.”
Echo opened her cell phone, pushed a button, waited, then frowned. “He’s still not answering his phone.”
“I expect he’s got his hands full with Trina.” Hank checked the time on his watch. “And I’m pretty tuckered out myself. Think maybe we should be heading for home, Echo. Cody’s got his own truck in town, so he’ll be fine.”
Sunny was worried now. “Trina wouldn’t do anything really crazy, would she?”
“If you ask me, she was already acting crazy,” he said sadly. “Anyway, Cody’s trained in these kinds of things. He’ll handle it. Don’t you worry, Sunny. And I’m guessing he’ll be back any minute now. Let him know we went home, okay?”
Echo hug
ged Sunny. “And I’ll call you if I hear from Dad.”
Sunny watched as Hank and Echo walked away. Then she went back to the spot where Cody had asked her to wait, and there she waited.
Chapter Twenty-seven
An hour passed and Sunny was feeling both frustrated and worried. Frustrated that Trina, once again, had called the shots and controlled the situation. At the same time she was worried that Trina might be so crazed with jealousy that she could actually hurt Cody. Or, for all Sunny knew, Trina might be planning a way to take her vengeance out on Sunny. Maybe right this moment Sunny was in real danger but didn’t even know it. Yet that seemed a bit dramatic. Besides, with all these people around, what could Trina do?
Sunny was glad that Aubrey had told her to bring her buckskin jacket because the night air was getting chilly. Even so, maybe she was a fool to stay here, waiting. If she was really being stood up— for whatever reason—she should just go home. The sounds of sirens reminded her of the situation, so, once again, she prayed for Cody to be safe…and for Trina to be sane. The band had quit and the dancers, including Aubrey and Mitchell, were gone. Sunny was starting to feel like she should go too. Really, what were the chances that Cody was coming back?
Just then her phone rang. To her relief, it was Echo. “Is everything okay?” Sunny asked eagerly.
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean?”
“Dad just called. He had to take Trina to the hospital.”
“What happened?”
“Trina was threatening to kill herself.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Yeah. Grandpa went and got Jackson. He’s staying with us.”
“That’s good.”
“And Dad is staying with Trina.”
“Oh, that’s good too.”
“Yeah. I wanted you to know. You’re not still in town, are you?”
Sunny sighed. “I was just leaving.”
“I’m sorry, Sunny.”
“Why are you sorry, Echo?”
“Because our family’s kind of messed up. I guess I can see Dad’s point now.”
“Dad’s point?”
“Oh, about you not wanting to leave your life in the big city behind…you know, for us.”
Sunny laughed. “Okay, your dad is a smart guy, Echo, but does he always jump to conclusions like that?”
Echo let out a meek laugh. “Not always. I think he’s just not used to dealing with stuff like this.”
“Well, if you see him, tell him I’m fine. Hopefully we can talk tomorrow.”
“Are you going to Round-Up with Aunt Aubrey tomorrow?”
“That was the plan, but maybe—”
“Dad and Grandpa and I were supposed to go tomorrow too,” Echo told her. “Opening day is the best.”
“So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. We all sit in the same section. It’ll be fun.” But even as she said this, Echo’s voice sounded unsure.
They said good-bye, but as Sunny closed her phone, she wondered just how fun it would be for any of them tomorrow. And what about Trina? What if she’d really done something serious? Sunny was tempted to stop by the hospital to see how both Trina and Cody were doing. But images of a crazed Trina flipping out when she saw Sunny stopped her cold. No, her presence would not be helpful.
She had just started her car when her phone rang again. “This is Cody,” his voice said quietly.
“Cody,” she exclaimed. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m fine.” He sounded bone-tired.
“How about Trina?”
“Not so fine.”
“What happened?”
“Well, you probably heard about how she lost it on Main Street.”
“Echo and Hank kind of filled me in.”
“It was a mess. In fact, she was screaming and carrying on so badly that someone actually called the police, thinking that I was abusing her.”
“Oh no.”
“I didn’t tell Dad or Echo that part, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t, either.”
“No, of course not.”
“My plan was to just drive her home because I was worried that, in her state of mind, she might get in a wreck. But we were almost to my truck when she flipped out and tried to run in front of a car. I grabbed her in time, but in the driver’s attempt to miss her, there was a little wreck.”
“Oh my.”
“Yes. So I called 9-1-1 and explained that we had both a wreck and a suicidal woman and after what seemed like hours, I finally got her checked into the hospital. Now she’s sedated and being restrained.” He let out a big sigh. “I feel like it’s my fault, Sunny.”
“I was just feeling like it was my fault.”
“No, it’s definitely not your fault, Sunny. Don’t think that. But what you said the other day, about how I needed to be honest with Trina. Well, you were right. I should’ve told her a long time ago that I would never feel that way about her. But I guess I was just fooling myself, pretending it really was just a friendship.”
“And you’re sure that’s true? You’re sure you only care for her as a friend?”
“Absolutely.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked. “I mean, short of leaving town.”
“Please, don’t leave town, Sunny.”
“I won’t.”
“I feel like I need to stick around here for a while. And it’s late. Do you think we could reschedule our talk for the morning?”
“Of course.”
“But there’s one thing I want to say before then.”
“What?”
There was a long pause. “I want to say…well, I love you.”
Sunny felt slightly dizzy and tingly as she wondered if this was really real.
“And don’t feel you have to say the same thing back to me. I know it’s been a rough ride with me so far. And for all I know, it could get even rougher. But for what it’s worth, Sunny, I really do love you. I think I loved you the instant we met on the back deck at Cindy and Doug’s. I saw you there with Echo and you had on your buckskin jacket. You held your chin high, and something inside me just seemed to click. It probably sounds crazy, but it was like I knew we’d be a perfect fit, like there was this missing part of me, and that was you. Does that make any sense?”
“I know exactly what you mean.”
“Really?”
“That’s exactly how I felt too. But I tried to suppress it. I told myself it couldn’t be for real.” Her heart was beating fast.
“We have so much to talk about, Sunny.”
“I know.” Feeling slightly lightheaded, she took in a breath.
“I have so much to tell you, so much to explain, so much you need to know.”
Sunny chuckled. “You might be surprised at how much I already do know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, there have been a lot of little birds chirping in my ear.”
“Huh?”
“Your dad, for starters. Then there’s Echo. And, of course, Cindy. Even Aubrey filled me in on some details of your life. Honestly, Cody, I think I may know you even better than you know yourself by now.”
“Hopefully there’ll still be a few things left for me to tell you.”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
“And there are a lot of things I still want to know about you.”
They talked awhile longer, but she could hear the tiredness in his voice. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she finally said. “And, though it might not mean much to her, I’m praying for Trina.” He thanked her and then she shut her phone.
As she drove back to the ranch, she wondered if she’d even be able to sleep.
Fortunately, she did sleep. She barely woke up when Aubrey stumbled in at two in the morning. Then she got up at seven, grabbed the first shower while the rest of the house was sleeping, got dressed, and went outside.
It was a gorgeous clear day. The air was fresh and clean
. The birds were singing. And the Lowenstein Ranch looked like an RV park. She tiptoed over to the garden, where she inspected the plants and picked enough ripe tomatoes and cucumbers to fill the garden basket. Suspecting everyone would be sleeping, she tiptoed up to the deck to set the basket on the table by the back door.
“You’re up early.”
Sunny looked over to see Cindy sitting in her bathrobe, a cup of steaming coffee in hand. “So are you.” She held up the basket of produce. “Thought you might like these.”
“My garden angel.” Cindy smiled and held up her cup. “Why don’t you go get yourself some coffee, then get back out here and tell me what’s going on between you and my son-in-law?”
Sunny did as she was told. Soon she was pouring out the whole story, including Trina’s suicidal attempt to run in front of a vehicle.
“Goodness gracious.” Cindy shook her head. “I always wondered about that girl. She’s cute as a bug and smart as can be, but she’s always seemed a little tightly wound to me.”
Sunny couldn’t disagree.
“So, are you and Cody going to get married?”
Sunny almost choked on her coffee. “What?”
“It seems an obvious question.”
“But we’re not really to that place yet.”
Cindy patted Sunny’s hand. “Oh, you’ll get there. And when you do, no one will be happier than me. Well, unless it’s Echo. Does she know yet?”
Sunny felt she was swimming in fast water now. “Actually, there’s not that much to know. Cody and I are going to talk this morning and—”
“Don’t mind me, Sunny. I’m just eager, that’s all.” She pointed to a blue pickup that was turning up the driveway. “Apparently I’m not the only one either.”
“Maybe I should go out and meet him,” Sunny suggested. “So his truck doesn’t wake the campers up.”
“Good idea.” Cindy grinned. “Give him my best.”
Sunny hurried over to the front of the house, heading Cody off before he had a chance to go back to where the camping circus lay. “Good morning, Sunrise,” he said as he opened the passenger door of his pickup. “Care to take a ride?”
“Thanks, I would.” She slid in and looked at him, amazed at the way her heart fluttered as he returned her look.
He gently touched his hand to the side of her cheek. “There’s something I’ve been dying to do.”
Love Finds You in Pendleton, Oregon Page 24