Phantom Waltz

by Catherine Anderson

  He rapped his knuckles on the door, swearing under his breath. Expecting Bethany’s mother to answer as she had before, he strove to school his expression. Then the door flew open, and he found himself standing nose to nose with the old man. Blue eyes like Bethany’s shot sparks at him.

  “Mr. Coulter, I’d appreciate it if you’d at least hear me out,” Ryan began.

  “You’ve got nothing to say that I’m interested in hearing. If my daughter marries you, it’ll be against my wishes. That’s my last word.”

  Ryan lost his temper. “No ‘if’ to it. I will marry your daughter. Nothing you can say or do is going to stop me. We’re both consenting adults, and it’s our decision to make. I’m here only as a courtesy, Mr. Coulter, more for her sake than yours. Your approval is very important to her.”

  “In one breath you ask for my blessing, and in the next, you inform me you don’t really give a rat’s ass if you get it. You call that a courtesy?” Harv’s face flushed an angry red. “Get off my porch.”

  “You can make me leave, sir, but what good will that do? First thing you know, I’ll be back, asking for her hand again.”

  “And I’ll be saying no, again. You’re not good enough for her.”

  “There’s not a man on earth good enough for her.”

  “Amen.”

  “That established, will you at least give me the benefit of the doubt and trust that I’ll do my damnedest to be half the man she deserves?”

  “Harrumph.”

  Ryan sighed. “Look, Mr. Coulter, I understand how you feel.”

  “No, damn it, you don’t understand how I feel. And pray God you never do. My daughter isn’t like other young women. I don’t want to see her go through any more heartache, and you’ve got heartache written all over you.”

  Ryan grabbed for patience. “I understand Bethany’s got some very special problems and that it’s going to take a special man with a lot of staying power to make her happy. I know you’re not sure if I’ve got what it takes. I’m telling you I do, and I give you my word I’ll never hurt her.”

  “I appreciate that. But I’ve got no way of knowing if your word is good. I know your father, and he’s a fine man. But that’s no indication you are.”

  “He raised me, didn’t he? It’s true I’ve never stayed in a relationship. I admit that. But it’s only because I never found the right woman until now.”

  “Look, son. It’s nothing personal. All right? Our Bethany—if she were like other women, I might be a whole lot more relaxed about this. But she isn’t. How are you going to feel a year down the road when the shine has worn off and you’re stuck with wife in a wheelchair? What’ll happen to my little girl then?”

  “So instead of taking a chance on me, you’ll break her heart now? That’s what you’re doing, you know, breaking her heart.”

  Harv blinked. “Say what?”

  “It’s true. She wants you to be glad for her, and knowing you aren’t is ruining what should be the happiest time of her life.” Ryan met the older man’s gaze. “I don’t blame you for loving her and being afraid for her. But if she’s going to have a normal life, you have to turn loose and let her live it. You can’t shield her from everything, not without being the man who hurts her the most.”

  “I’d never do anything to hurt that girl.”

  “Then, give us your blessing,” Ryan said evenly.

  Bethany’s mother appeared in the doorway beside her husband. She smiled at Ryan. “Consider it given. Tell Bethany her daddy is as happy as a clam, and that her wedding day will be the proudest day of his life.”

  “Mary,” Harv said warningly.

  “Go,” Mary urged Ryan. “Give her a hug from me.” She linked arms with her husband. “I’ll take care of the situation here.”

  “Mary!” Harv said again.

  Ryan figured Mary Coulter could handle her husband with no help from him, so he took her advice and headed for his truck. Halfway there, Harv bellowed, “Just understand one thing, Kendrick! The day I find out you’ve made my little girl cry will be the sorriest day of your life!”

  Ryan was laughing when he started the Dodge. He’d never been threatened so much in his life since the day he’d met Bethany. First Jake, now her father. What the hell. He only had four more brothers to go. He shook his head. These folks were so cantankerous, they made the Kendricks seem mild tempered.

  Standing in Bethany’s bedroom, Ryan peeked in a sack she had just stuffed full of clothing. He plucked out a flannel nightgown. Next he found a Snoopy nightshirt. As soon as possible, he had to take her shopping for lingerie, he decided. Lacy see-through stuff was more to his taste.

  She turned from the dresser drawer and caught him frowning. “What’s wrong?” she asked with an impish smile. “Don’t you like my Snoopy shirt?”

  “I’m crazy about Snoopy.” He stuffed the shirt back in the sack. “I was thinking about something else.”

  “You were scowling.” A worried look came over her face. “Was there a problem with Daddy you didn’t tell me about?”

  “He got a little prickly. Nothing I couldn’t handle. We have his blessing. That’s all that matters. Right?”

  “Right.” She sighed and glanced around the room. “I have enough stuff to do me. Except for my bathroom sling. Would you mind taking it to your truck?”

  “You won’t be needing it out there.”

  “How on earth will I take a bath?”

  He grinned and waggled his eyebrows at her. “One guess.”

  Her cheeks turned a pretty pink. “It’s sweet of you to offer, but I’d feel far more comfortable with my sling.”

  “What fun would that be?” He dipped his voice low and whispery. “When I’m done lathering you up, you’ll be so clean, you’ll squeak.”

  Her gaze flitted away from his. “As fun as that might be, I like to do things for myself, and I don’t want to depend on you for my baths.”

  “I ordered you a better one.”

  Her gaze came chasing back to his. “Ryan. What all have you bought me that I don’t know about yet?”

  “Not all that much.”

  “What, exactly?”

  “You want to be here all night?”

  “I’m starting to feel really bad.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’ve spent so much money on me. I mean—on the one hand, I know we’re going to get married, and I shouldn’t feel that way. But on the other, I feel indebted.”

  “Works for me.”

  “What does?”

  He winked at her. “You feeling indebted. I can think of some fantastic ways for you to work off the debt.”

  “As your stable manager?”

  “Nope. The corporation will pay you a wage for that.” He glanced at her bed. “I’m thinking of something more interesting.”

  She giggled when he started toward her. “Forget it.”

  “Why?”

  “Someone might come. My brothers all have keys.”

  That stopped him in his tracks. He hooked his thumbs over his belt and slowly skimmed his gaze over her. “We’re not even married yet, and already I have in-lawitis. But that’s okay. This is Thursday. I have plans for you later.”

  “What’s Thursday got to do with anything?”

  A gleam warmed his eyes. “It’s your swim night. I have an indoor, heated pool off the back of the house. I’ll give you some swimming lessons.”

  “I already know how to swim. I creamed you doing laps.”

  “You’ve never seen my version of the ‘breaststroke’.”

  She giggled again.

  “You’ll also find ceiling watching a lot more entertaining in there. It’s all skylights. When I set you on the side of the pool after I teach you the breast stroke, you’ll be able to gaze at the stars while I—”

  Cleo began rubbing against his pant leg just then. Ryan broke off to glance down. When he saw who had interrupted him, he bent to scoop her up in one hand. “Damn cat. I was on a rol
l.”

  “She’s been lonesome. I’ve never left her alone this much.”

  “Let’s take the pest home with us, then,” he suggested.

  “I sort of had the impression you weren’t very fond of cats.”

  “I’m not. I hate cats. Did you know she’ll eat you if you die?”

  “No, sir! Who told you such an awful thing?”

  Cleo narrowed her green eyes at him. Ryan squinted back at her. “I know it for a fact. When I was a kid, my grandmother’s neighbor lady died, and her cats had almost polished her off before someone found her.”

  “Maybe the poor things got hungry because there was no one to feed them.”

  “She fed them.” The thought gave him the shudders. “You ever wondered what she’s thinking when she squints at you like that? I think she’s thinking about having me for lunch with a little A-1 on the side.”

  “She is not. She’s probably just afraid you’re going to hurt her. She likes gourmet cat food. No offense, but you probably wouldn’t appeal to her.”

  “You would.” He winked at her. “You definitely appeal to my taste buds.”

  Her cheeks went pink again. “Is that all you think about?”

  “Mostly. They say the normal male thinks about it every four minutes.”

  “You’re kidding. You don’t, do you?”

  “Nah. I think I’m a little undersexed. I go as long as ten minutes sometimes without ever thinking about it.” He winked at her again. “You about ready? I can carry green-eyes and one sack if you can get the other one.”

  “Actually, Ryan, I was thinking I might give Cleo to my mom. Cat’s are sensitive. She needs a home where she’ll be loved and understood.”

  Ryan stared into the cat’s slightly crossed eyes, thinking the poor thing looked a little retarded. “We understand each other, honey.” Cleo understood he didn’t like her, and he understood she didn’t like him. The only reason she rubbed against his leg was to shed on his pants. “And I’ll learn to love her, I promise.” With his luck, the damn critter would live until she was twenty. “I pretty much like all animals.” Except cats.

  “I don’t know. She’s never been around a dog. I’m afraid she won’t like Tripper.”

  Ryan tucked the damned cat under his arm. “She and Tripper will get along fine. He’s good with the barn cats over at Rafe’s place.”

  A half hour later, after a harrowing ride from town with Cleo hanging upside down from the truck ceiling for much of the trip, Ryan finally got the squirming, scratching cat into his house. When he turned her loose in the great room, Tripper came waddling over to make friends. Accustomed to barn cats, who weren’t afraid of dogs, the lab never saw the calico’s claws coming. He took a swat squarely on the end of his nose, yipped and howled, then ran for the bedroom. Cleo fled in the other direction, leaped at the vertical blinds, and scaled them to gain a perch atop the wood valance, where she arched her back, raised all her bristles, and hissed, looking for all the world like a Halloween decoration.

  “Well,” Ryan said, “we’re off to a great start.”

  Bethany whirred down the hall toward the master bedroom. “Tripper? Come here, sweetie. Let me look at your nose.” From the bedroom, she yelled, “Ryan, he’s not in here.”

  Unless the dog had broken out a window, he had to be somewhere in there. Ryan joined Bethany and executed a search. He finally found the lab hiding in the bathtub.

  “If you aren’t the sorriest excuse for a dog I ever saw,” Ryan said.” I can’t believe you, Tripper. You outweigh that kitty by a hundred pounds.”

  “Oh, Ryan, his nose is bleeding.” Bethany parked side-ways to the tub and leaned over to examine the dog’s nose. “Poor baby. She really got you good.”

  Ryan checked the injury. “He’ll live. It just smarts a little.”

  Bethany fixed him with a worried look. “I hope this is no indication of how our life is going to go.”

  “Don’t even think that way. Our life is going to be absolutely perfect, sweetheart. Cleo will settle in, and before we know it, she and Tripper will be snuggling together on the sofa.”

  “Oh, do you think so? She’s so easily excited. I worry she’ll never like it here. Before I lived in an apartment, and she never went outside. In town, I kept her indoors, too. Now here she is on a horse and cattle ranch.”

  “She’ll be fine. Cats are very adaptable.”

  A few minutes later, when Ryan tried to pluck Cleo off the valance, the cat yowled, leaped, and dug all four sets of claws into the front of his shirt. “Son of a”—Ryan caught himself just in time, and finished with—“biscuit maker!”

  The cat catapulted off of him, hit the floor at a run, and sent stuff flying as she scaled the front of the entertainment center. Once on top of it, she glared at Ryan with gleaming green eyes and hissed.

  “I don’t think she’s adapting very well,” Bethany observed.

  Ryan smiled. “Sweetheart, she’ll be fine. She may sense that you’re upset. Ever think of that? If you relax and ignore her, maybe she’ll relax, too.”

  He removed his hat and sent it sailing toward the coat tree. The Stetson missed the hook and fell crown first on the floor. That was not a good omen.

  “Oh, no!” Bethany cried.

  Ryan spun around. “What?”

  He followed her horrified gaze to the top of the entertainment center, where Cleo was scratching at the oak as if to cover something up. The hair on his nape prickled. “What the hell is she doing?”

  “I think she already did it.”

  Ryan forgot all about having to donate ten dollars to the college fund and said, “Son of a-aaa-a bitch!”

  Chapter Twenty

  The wedding date was set for Saturday, weekend after next, and the intervening eight days were the most glorious of Bethany’s life. Ryan. He insisted that she remain with him on the Rocking K, and from the moment she opened her eyes in the morning until he kissed them closed for the last time each night, she had fun. The most wondrous aspect of that, in her opinion, was that even the silly, unimportant things turned out to be unexpectedly wonderful.

  The crazy mix of Ryan’s household pets, for example. Who would have thought that a very spoiled seventeen-pound feline and an equally spoiled, eight hundred—pound bull would become bosom buddies? Certainly not Bethany. But the following morning was the beginning of what promised to be a lifelong friendship between the two animals.

  After having coffee with Bethany, Ryan grabbed his Stetson to head over to the stable to feed the stock. When he opened the door to step out, he paused to flash her a teasing grin. “On the Rocking K, even my wife has to earn her keep, you know. If you want to eat regular, no lady of leisure stuff for you. You’d best show up over there in a couple of minutes, ready to make yourself useful.”

  Bethany was about to reply when Cleo darted between Ryan’s feet to escape outdoors. “Oh, no!” she cried.

  Ryan dashed out after the cat, Tripper barking excitedly at his boot heels. Bethany hurried out onto the porch. Cleo. The poor kitty had seldom been outdoors, and then it had always been in town. She would be terrified out here. Bethany envisioned her small pet dashing off into the woods and getting lost. Cleo was just the right size to become some large, hungry carnivore’s lunch.

  “Here, cat!” Ryan called in a big, male voice.

  Bethany anxiously scanned the yard, looking for a splotch of mottled fur. She didn’t see poor Cleo anywhere. “Don’t call her like that. You’ll frighten her.”

  Ryan shot her a disgruntled look. “How should I call her then?”

  In a shrill voice, Bethany called, “Here, Cleo! Here, kitty-kitty!”

  Ryan swore under his breath, stomped onto the cement pad, and began calling Cleo in an off-key alto. As much as Bethany appreciated his attempt to achieve the right tone, she thought he sounded like a 220-pound cat killer on the prowl. T-bone came to the summons, bawling stupidly with every step. Bethany felt fairly sure that Cleo would never show hersel
f now.

  She wasn’t counting on Tripper to join in the search. The plump golden lab clearly had a score to settle, and now Cleo was on his turf. He put his nose to the ground, zigzagged across the yard to a stack of firewood, and began wagging his tail excitedly.

  “Ah-hah! She’s in the woodpile!” Ryan stomped over. “Here, kitty!” he rumbled as he began moving pieces of wood. With every other breath, he muttered, “Damn cat.”

  Bethany zoomed down the ramp and hurried over to rescue her poor kitty before Ryan unearthed her. Unfortunately she didn’t get there in time. Ryan moved a piece of wood, and there huddled poor Cleo. The frightened feline hissed and yowled, then eluded Ryan’s reaching hands by diving between his legs. Bad mistake. She ran straight into Tripper, who was barking excitedly.

  When threatened, most cats head for the highest perch available, and Cleo was no exception. It just so happened That, except for Ryan, T-bone was the tallest thing in the immediate vicinity. The cat leaped on the bull’s back. Startled to have an uninvited and very prickly creature clinging to his shoulders, T-bone did what any not-very-bright bull would do.

  He ran.

  Determined to save Bethany’s stupid cat, Ryan pursued the unlikely duo, but every time he got close enough to grab Cleo, the cat became frightened and dug in with her claws, which made T-bone run again.

  After thirty minutes of fruitless chase, Ryan returned to Bethany, slapping his Stetson against his leg with every step. “I can’t get her, honey.”

  Bethany gazed down toward the lake, where T-bone stood forlornly on the shore with Cleo clinging to his back. The pair looked so silly that Bethany burst out laughing. “I think she’s going to stay there. T-bone is the perfect kitty scooter!”

  Ryan began chuckling as well. “He’s all terrain, too, and goes at a fast clip in high gear.” He had worked up a sweat, chasing the bull. He touched a shirtsleeve to his brow. “I’m sorry I couldn’t catch her, honey. Now you’ll worry all day.”

  Bethany sighed. “Well, she’s safe enough on T-bone’s back. Not that she’ll stay up there for long.”

  Famous last words. Come noon, the cat was still riding the bull’s broad back while he grazed. Bethany studied the pair, smiling and shaking her head. She wasn’t close enough to tell for sure, but it looked as if Cleo was having a nap. Since T-bone had apparently accepted the cat’s presence, there was nothing to do but wait for Cleo to get down and come back on her own.