Priceless Marriage

by Bonnie Gardner

  “Is he still going on about you two going into the mercenary business?” Ruby speared a cherry tomato, popped it into her mouth and chewed. She swallowed and made a face. “Hmm, not much flavor. Maybe next year I’ll start some tomatoes in the greenhouse.”

  “Yeah, everybody loves good vine-ripe tomatoes. Why didn’t you start any this year?”

  “The greenhouses weren’t ready. We had a late snowstorm that put us behind schedule.”

  Realizing that the “us” in Ruby’s statement referred to Nick, Sam frowned. He still didn’t know what was going on between Nick and Ruby, but he didn’t want to ask. For the time being, the man was out of sight. Might as well try to put him out of mind. Sam was damned sure tired of tiptoeing around his wife. He just wanted to get on with the program. Even if his game plan hadn’t seemed to be working out the way he’d wanted so far.

  “Cap wants to start a real business this time,” he said, trying to steer the conversation away from Nick. “He hadn’t worked out the details yet, but he wanted to know if I was in.”

  Ruby’s eyes grew wide with apparent alarm. “You told him no, didn’t you?”

  Sherry returned with their steaks, sizzling on metal plates, and set them down on the table, interrupting their conversation. “I have steak sauce and ketchup, if you want it. Be back in a jiff with your fries.” She turned and scurried toward the kitchen.

  “No, I figured I’d wait and see what he’s got cooked up. I ain’t going into anything that isn’t a sound business proposition.”

  Sam didn’t know what Ruby had to worry about, but she looked relieved. She poked at her steak. “If this is a small one, I’d hate to see a big one.”

  Sam looked down at his own huge steak. “I think this is a big one.” Of course, Montana was cattle country, so maybe everybody ate steaks this big.

  “No, we have bigger,” Sherry said, setting a mountainous pile of fries down in front of Sam. “Do you want some ketchup?”

  “Yeah, for the fries. How big? And who would eat it?”

  Sherry grinned. “You’d be surprised at how many of our good citizens like the big ones. Why, Mayor Larson orders a big one when he comes in.”

  Sam didn’t know the mayor, and he wondered if the mayor would be coming in. Something about the mayor’s hotel plan nagged at him. Did Bobby Larson have anything to with the two incidents at the demolished pavilion?

  “Eat up,” Sherry urged. “I’ll be right back with your ketchup.”

  “We will definitely have to try out the dance floor,” Ruby said, causing Sam to utter a silent “hoo-ah!” “Especially if I eat all this steak.”

  “You don’t have to eat it all, but I’ll hold you to that dance.” Sam cut off a portion of his own steak and lifted it to his mouth. “Damn, it smells good.”

  “Tastes good, too,” Ruby said, her mouth full. “Eat, so we can dance.”

  “Thought you’d never ask,” Sam said, then put the piece of meat into his mouth and chewed. Ruby might want him to hurry up and eat so they could dance, but this steak was just too good to rush through. He took a swig of beer.

  What more could a guy ask for than a beautiful woman sitting across from him, a good steak and a jukebox to dance to so he could have an excuse to put his arms around her and pull her close?

  Someone came in, and Sam glanced up at the bar and almost choked on his steak. Whatever good feelings he might have had crashed and burned as he watched Nick Folger take a seat on one of the high stools and set his hat on the bar. Damn, what the hell was he doing here? Sam glared at his nemesis, and if looks could kill, Nick would be dead on the barroom floor.

  Roy set a long-neck beer bottle in front of Nick, and Nick picked it up. He crooked a finger around the neck, lifted it to his mouth and took a long pull on the bottle. Then apparently seeing Sam’s glare in the mirror, he lowered the bottle, raised it in a silent toast and took another drink.

  Sam didn’t know what to make of the gesture, but since Nick seemed content to sit at the bar, and he hadn’t approached Ruby, he would leave well enough alone.

  He was here with Ruby, and they were going to have a good time. The hell with hippie-cowboy handyman.

  RUBY PUT HER FORK DOWN, blotted her lips and uttered a contented sigh. “I did not think that I’d be able to eat all this, but it was so good,” she murmured. “I am definitely going to need that dance you promised me to burn it off, though.”

  “Sure,” Sam grunted, his mouth full. He still had a huge amount of steak remaining, and he hadn’t even made a dent in his fries.

  Ruby reached across the table and picked up a French fry, dipped it in a puddle of ketchup and popped it into her mouth. “Hurry up. You have to save me from these fries,” she said, her mouth full. She reached for another, then caught a familiar silhouette from the corner of her eye. “Look, Nick’s here. When did he come in?”

  “About the time Sherry served our steaks,” Sam replied, with a definite note of pique in his voice.

  “And you didn’t say anything?”

  “I figured if he wanted to talk to us, he would,” Sam said, cutting off another piece of meat.

  Ruby shrugged. “I guess so. I already talked to him on the phone earlier today. His trip to Rapid City was a success.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Sam said, not sounding the least bit like he meant it. “I’m done. Let’s dance.” He put his napkin on the table and pushed back his chair.

  Though surprised by Sam’s abruptness, Ruby accepted his invitation. She had enjoyed this evening out, and she looked forward to dancing with her husband, though his comment about Capshaw Horton’s proposition had given her a moment’s pause. Then she’d remembered about how Cap was always coming up with grand ideas that he never followed through with. This was probably just another one of those.

  In the meantime, Ruby would accept any excuse to feel her husband’s arms around her.

  SAM SELECTED “Lady in Red” again and fed the jukebox more coins, then drew Ruby into his arms. “This one’s for you,” he said as the music began.

  Ruby’s mouth widened into a brilliant smile as she recognized the song. “Why, Sam Cade, you romantic devil, you.” She pressed herself closer to him and rested her head against his shoulder as they swayed to the music. “I love it,” she murmured softly.

  It would have been the most perfect moment, but just as Sam was ready to whisper something romantic into Ruby’s ear, he caught another glimpse of Nick at the bar. The man lifted his beer in another enigmatic salute, and Sam tried to push away an irrational surge of jealousy.

  Why was Nick pestering him? Why in the hell couldn’t he have just stayed where he’d come from and left Sam and Ruby alone?

  Still, he had Ruby in his arms, and Nick didn’t, and Sam supposed he’d won. For now.

  But, dammit, if Nick even thought about asking Ruby to dance, they were gonna have it out.

  Chapter Ten

  Ruby leaned back against the seat as Sam drove them through the dark countryside toward home. For the most part, the evening had gone well, she thought. She was a little confused about why Sam had seemed to get so tense after Nick came in, and there was that vague worry about Cap’s business proposal. But Sam hadn’t acted as if it was a big deal, so maybe it would blow over.

  And even if he had hustled them out earlier than she would have liked, their dinner date had been a success. She sighed. “Almost perfect,” Ruby murmured dreamily as they reached the turnoff to the farm.

  “What’s that?” Sam said as he steered the car down the bumpy lane.

  “Oh, nothing.” Ruby felt herself grow warm. “I didn’t realize I had said it out loud. I was just thinking about what a nice evening it was.”

  “Yeah, it was,” Sam said. “I’ve missed having you in my arms.”

  Not as much as I have, Ruby thought, but she didn’t say it out loud. She still had doubts about Sam, but as the days went by, those doubts had begun to dwindle.

  Sam pulled up in front of the ho
use and parked. As Ruby waited for him to come around and help her out, she wondered what the next step should be. As much as she wanted Sam back in her life, was she ready for more? Did she want him in her bed?

  Yes, but on what terms? Until she was sure about that, she would not let him in. No matter how much it hurt her to wait.

  Sam opened the door and offered his hand, and Ruby accepted. As their fingers met, another surge of electricity rushed from his hand to hers, and her skin tingled with anticipation. She couldn’t help thinking that the thrill was much the same as when they’d first gotten to know each other when they were dating. But, she reminded herself, dating Sam had been easy. Being married to him had been difficult.

  They paused under the porch light, and Ruby waited for the expected kiss. How strange it seemed to be standing outside her door waiting for her husband to kiss her, as if they were strangers after a first date and just getting to know one another. But they were like strangers after so much time, she supposed, which was why she hadn’t welcomed Sam with open arms when he’d come back after those long months of silence. One of these days she would have to ask him about that, but right now she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

  Not if it meant learning that there might have been another woman.

  Why she suddenly thought that, Ruby didn’t know, but that notion cemented her resolve to continue to keep Sam at arm’s length. Sam had never given her reason to suspect he had a wandering eye, and his long silence probably had more to do with his injury than anything else. Still, she’d take it as slow as she could until she knew for sure.

  He pulled her into his arms and tipped her face up to his. Ruby leaned into his embrace and drew in the fragrance of his aftershave mixed with the scent of beer and apple pie and that essence that was uniquely Sam. Instantly her body became pliant and soft and warm and wanting, but she knew it was still too soon.

  Too bad her mind wasn’t as good at forgiving as her body was.

  Their lips met, and Ruby pressed closer, hungry for the weight of Sam’s form against hers. She loved the feel of his lips on hers, the taste of him, the smell of him. She loved him. She wrapped her arms around him and played with the hair, grown longer since he’d been working with her, at the back of his neck.

  How easy it would be to lead him into her room and to let him make her his again.

  “Ruby, honey,” Sam rasped, his south Georgia drawl thicker than usual with emotion. “Let me come in tonight. Let me stay.”

  Panic rushed through her. She wasn’t ready for this yet. Ruby had hoped that Sam wouldn’t ask. Wouldn’t push. Not this soon, anyway. Frustrated, and panting with want and need, she forced herself to push away, out of his embrace. “I-I-I’m sorry, Sam. I can’t. I’m just not ready!”

  Sam let her go so abruptly that Ruby almost staggered.

  “What the hell is the matter with you, Ruby? Have you found someone else? Is it that damned Nick Folger?” Sam backed up until he could go no farther, halted by one of the porch supports. “What the hell is that man to you, anyway? I’m still your husband until the papers are signed. I think I have the right to know!”

  Ruby stared at him, too shocked for a moment to speak. Then a smile twitched her lips. She tried to hold it back, but she couldn’t. It was just too, too funny. A giggle slipped out, then a deep, throaty chuckle, then an all-out laugh. The complete absurdity of the situation overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t help herself. She almost doubled over laughing.

  Sam had imagined any number of responses to this question over the past couple of weeks, but Ruby dissolving into fits of laughter had not been one of them. He swallowed his anger and looked at her, more perplexed than angry.

  Obviously, he was a mile off on his suspicions, but he still didn’t know what the truth was. “Who the hell is Nick Folger? What is he to you?”

  Ruby swallowed a giggle and opened her mouth as if she were going to answer, but all she ended up doing was laughing again—so hard that tears filled her eyes. Finally, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she fell into Sam’s arms.

  “Ni-Nick,” Ruby said, swallowing another giggle. “Nick is my cousin. Maybe if we’d had a big family wedding instead of eloping, or you hadn’t been running off on all those top-secret missions and playing hero all the time, maybe if you’d been around here more, you might have had an opportunity to meet him before now.” She taunted him with a teasing smile.

  “Then why doesn’t anybody else in Jester know who he is? Why is everybody in town talking about him as if he’s some sort of gigolo fortune hunter?”

  “Gigolo? Oh, that is too perfect,” Ruby said, trying to speak over her giggles. She wiped at her eyes with a knuckle and shook her head.

  “Nick isn’t from Jester. He grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota,” Ruby explained. “Nick was between jobs, and I needed some help here, so it was a perfect deal for both of us.”

  “You mean you’re paying him?”

  “I’m getting the family discount, of course. Nick has an opportunity to buy out the owner of the construction company he’d been working for. The owner was retiring, and his daughter wasn’t interested in the company, so he wanted Nick, his foreman for the last few years, to take it over. While Nick was waiting for the deal to be negotiated and the bank to decide whether he was worth the money, he came here to help me get repairs done on the house and the greenhouses built.

  “I wanted to lend him the money for the down payment, but he wouldn’t hear of it.” Ruby gazed directly at Sam, and there was no way he could look into those clear green eyes and not believe her. “He called me earlier to tell me that the loan had finally been approved.”

  “Damn,” Sam muttered. “I am such an idiot. I was so damned jealous of the man.” He chuckled himself, finally realizing the wry humor of the situation. “And he’s your cousin?”

  “Yup. My mom’s older sister’s boy. She married Horse Folger right out of high school and they moved to Rapid City. Been there ever since. Since Daddy died and Mom remarried and moved to Denver, I don’t see Aunt Garnet and Nick that much, so this was a great opportunity to catch up.”

  “And you didn’t think it was important enough to tell me about,” Sam said.

  “We weren’t exactly speaking at the time, Sam,” Ruby pointed out. “For all those months I had no idea what was going on with you or where you were, and then all of a sudden you appeared, pale and thin, on my doorstep. What did you expect me to do?”

  Sam shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know. I had a lot of my own baggage to work through. And I damned sure did not want to come crawling back here to beg you to let me back into your life. I didn’t want your pity. All I want is your love. I had to come back to you on my own two feet.”

  “Pity?” Ruby looked as though he had slapped her. “What do you mean, on your own two feet?”

  “The docs weren’t sure I was going to keep my leg, much less whether I’d be able to get much use out of it again. It was touch and go for a while, but they finally managed to save it. Then it was a long, hard haul in therapy before I could walk on it.”

  Sam wasn’t sure if having Ruby there to go through it with him would have made a difference in his recovery, but he knew that having her to work for had been one hell of a goal. “I didn’t want to come back to you a broken man.”

  “Oh, Sam. You are not broken. And it wouldn’t have mattered to me if you were walking or not. I just wanted a husband I could depend on. One I could count on to be there when I needed you.”

  “Instead of your cousin Nick?” Sam turned away and looked off into the darkness, suddenly realizing how much he had almost lost in taking that mission the night Ruby had called to tell him that they’d won the Big Draw. “I guess I really screwed up, didn’t I?”

  Ruby touched him on the shoulder, her hand soft and gentle. “I guess we both messed up, Sam, but it’s not too late to try again.”

  He turned around, careful not to read anything into Ruby’s statement that she didn’t really mea
n. “What are you telling me?”

  “I think we should give it another try.” Ruby drew in a deep breath. “Why don’t you go home and get a good night’s sleep so that in the morning you can bring all your stuff over.”

  Sam’s breath caught.

  “Separate bedrooms for the time being,” Ruby said carefully, still surprised by her impromptu invitation. She hadn’t planned on asking Sam to move in, but maybe it was a good idea to let him see what life on the farm was all about before they made a permanent decision. And she wanted to make sure Sam didn’t have his heart set on any wild schemes with his old buddy Cap Horton.

  “Hoo-ah!” Sam said, sweeping Ruby into his arms. “I promise you, Ruby, you will not regret it.” He kissed her soundly, then let her go. “I’ll let you call all the shots. I was the one who screwed up. But I’ll do my damnedest not to repeat my mistakes.”

  Ruby smiled. “That’s all I can ask.”

  Reluctant to leave, but eager to get home so that tomorrow would come all the sooner, Sam stepped off the porch. “You won’t regret this, Ruby,” he repeated.

  “I know, Sam. I know.”

  He hurried down the walk to his car.

  “And Sam?”

  He looked up at her over the top of the Corvette as he pulled open the door. “Yeah?”

  “I never stopped loving you. I mean it, Sam. Even if I did try.”

  “Maybe I didn’t do everything the way you thought I should, but I did it all for us,” Sam said. Then he climbed into the car and turned the key.

  All he had to do was make it through one more endless, lonely night.

  SURPRISINGLY, Ruby woke up early, refreshed and rested. She’d expected to toss and turn all night after her hasty decision to let Sam move in, but instead, had fallen into a deep, blissful sleep. She didn’t think she’d slept so well since she’d moved out to the farm.

  Now she sat in the porch swing, her legs curled up underneath her, enjoying her first cup of coffee of the day as she watched the morning come to life. Meadowlarks called in the distance, and at the sound of an approaching car, a family of deer, a doe and two spotted fawns, scurried across the road toward the trees near the creek.