CHAPTER 4
LATE MONDAY NIGHT FRANK SAT IN HIS PATROL car outside Dovie Boyd’s home, mulling over what he should do next. He was miserable, and he knew she was, too. He’d loved Dovie for a lot of years, but this was the first time he’d encountered her stubbornness. It was enough to drive a man to drink.
Louise Powell, dressed to the hilt in her Texas trash, complete with star-shaped sunglasses and a silvery hat with a rhinestone band, had approached him at the bowling alley café. She’d let it drop that Dovie had booked a singles’ Caribbean cruise. Now if that didn’t beat all. Louise had gotten the information from Gayla Perkins at the travel agency and had taken great delight in rubbing his nose in it.
It was downright embarrassing. Here was the town gossip, flapping her tongue all over the county, telling everyone who cared to hear that Dovie was seeking greener pastures.
His fingers tightened around the steering wheel as he reviewed his options. He’d tried, heaven knew he’d tried, but damn it all, he loved Dovie and he didn’t want to lose her, especially to another man.
He checked his wristwatch and knew she hadn’t gone to bed yet. He sighed deeply, remembering the times they’d cuddled up together on her big feather bed, watching television. She’d made the everyday routines of life special, adding her own little touches here and there. She sun-dried the bedsheets, then stored them with woven lavender wands so that when he crawled in beside her he felt their cool crispness and breathed in the light perfumed scent of summer.
Dinner, too, was something special. Dovie set her table with a linen cloth and napkins, using china and real crystal. She could serve home-baked macaroni and cheese with the panache of the finest restaurant.
Damn, but he missed her.
Swallowing his pride, Frank stepped out of the car and approached the house. He had to try one last time. If he couldn’t get her to listen to reason tonight, then he’d have no choice but to accept her decision.
As was his habit, he parked the car around the corner, out of sight from the street, and approached through the backyard. He missed their nights together more than he would’ve thought possible. He knew Dovie, and she was lusty and vital, a real woman with a woman’s needs. It was a source of consolation to realize she must miss their nights together, too.
He knocked lightly on the back door and waited, hat in hand.
The porch light went on and he saw her pull aside the lace curtain and peek out. It was several long seconds before she unlocked the door and opened it.
“Hello, Dovie.” He kept his gaze lowered. Coming to her like this wasn’t easy.
“Frank.”
He didn’t speak, but merely raised his eyes to hers. He loved her, as much as he was capable of loving any woman. Surely she knew that! But he wasn’t the marrying kind. He couldn’t help it; he needed his freedom in order to breathe. Marriage, even to Dovie whom he adored, would feel like a noose around his neck.
Everything had been perfect. They’d each had their own lives and a life together, too. He had his house and she had hers. Two nights a week he joined her for mutual pleasure. He was willing to do whatever it took, short of marriage, to return to that arrangement.
“It’s not true,” she said, breaking the silence, “about the singles’ cruise. I don’t know who told you that, but I’m not looking for another man.”
A weight seemed to lift from his shoulders. So she wasn’t seeking out someone else. Although he was grateful, all he could manage was a nod.
“I’ve just decided to do some traveling,” she told him.
“Why?” That was another thing he’d always loved about Dovie—she enjoyed the simple pleasures in life. She shunned luxuries, content with a walk in the moonlight when he would gladly have taken her out for an evening at a fancy restaurant.
“I’ve lived my entire life in Promise,” she explained. “If I don’t travel now, I never will. I understand the Caribbean is lovely and I’ve always dreamed of visiting the islands there. At one time I thought I’d see it with—”
“I’ll take you.” If all she wanted was a trip, a vacation away, he’d book their passage in the morning. No questions asked. Anywhere in the world she wanted to go.
“As your wife, Frank?”
The bubble of hope he’d felt burst with her words. “Oh, Dovie, you know I can’t do that.”
“Yes, I do know. That’s why I’ll be traveling without you.”
The frustration was almost intolerable. “Don’t you miss me?” he cried. He ached with the need to hold her.
She looked away but not before he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.
“I miss you so much,” she whispered.
“Oh, Dovie.” He reached for her hand and kissed her palm. “Can’t we work this out like two adults? I love you and you love me. It’s all we need, all we’ve ever needed.”
Her skin was silky smooth and touching it fired all his love, all his passion. “Let me spend the night.” His eyes pleaded with her.
Her long hesitation gave him hope.
“No,” she finally whispered.
“Dovie, you don’t mean that!”
“I do mean it.” She eased her hand from his grasp.
Frank couldn’t believe this was happening. He’d come so close to convincing her—and he wasn’t about to give up without a fight.
“I’m a man with strong needs,” he said, hoping that would influence her.
“I love you, but I’m not sleeping with you again, Frank, not unless we’re married.”
“Dovie.” He groaned her name. Damn it, the time had come to play hardball, acquaint her with a few facts. “There are other women in Promise who’d welcome my attention.” He was a handsome cuss and he knew it, but there wasn’t a woman in the world he wanted more than Dovie Boyd.
“Yes, I’m sure any number of them would,” Dovie said.
Frank saw the hurt in her eyes and was furious with himself for suggesting he’d consider seeing anyone else. But he’d tried everything possible to get her to listen to reason.
“Perhaps another woman would be the best answer,” Dovie murmured. She stepped back from the threshold.
He opened his mouth to tell her he’d been only bluffing, but he wasn’t given the opportunity. Dovie’s door was closed firmly in his face. He stared at it in stunned silence.
Hell and damnation, the woman drove him crazy! It’d serve her right if he did go out with someone else. Maybe then she’d realize what she was giving up; maybe then she’d come to her senses. Yup, that was what he’d do, Frank decided. She was taking a fancy cruise and plenty of eligible men were bound to come sniffing around. Well, he was entitled to some compensations, too.
Eventually, he hoped she’d accept that, even though he loved her with all his heart, he wasn’t about to let her or any other woman maneuver him into marriage. In a few months he’d be sixty-one years old. He’d managed to avoid marriage so far. Why would he change now? Marriage was a trap, especially for a man like him—despite those sentimental beliefs of Dovie’s.
But as soon as she learned he was seeing another woman, she’d be back. What had begun as a bluff now sounded like a good strategy. Dovie needed some competition; that way she’d realize how good they’d had it. One thing about Dovie, she was a fast learner.
Frank felt another faint stirring of hope. Before long, he told himself, Dovie would be begging him to come back.
* * *
EARLY TUESDAY AFTERNOON Ellie stepped outside the feed store and inserted a few coins in the pop machine. The morning had been hectic and she was grateful for this respite, however brief. She opened the can of soda and saw Jane Dickinson walking across the street.
“Jane,” she called, raising her hand in greeting. “Come on over.”
Jane returned the wave, glanced both ways, then crossed the street.
Ellie’s father had recognized early in his career the importance of customer relations. He’d strived to make the feed store a friendly place in which to conduct business. He’d wanted to give ranchers and anyone else who dropped off an order a cozy place to sit and chat. The large shaded porch had been furnished with chairs and a pop machine for that purpose.
She and Glen had spent many an afternoon in this very spot. They’d been friends long before they’d fallen in love—a love it took them far too long to recognize or acknowledge. Even now, a month after their wedding, it astonished her that they could have been so blind to their feelings.
“Hi,” Ellie greeted Jane. “I heard about the riding lesson,” she said carefully.
Jane smiled and claimed an empty seat beside Ellie. “It went okay—I think. Cal’s teaching me with Atta Girl, and other than damn near toppling the mare, I did fine.”
Glen had told Ellie the story of the saddle slipping during Jane’s first lesson. He reported that Cal had laughed so hard in his telling of the story he was almost incomprehensible. It’d taken Glen a while to understand what had happened.
“Actually I’m amazed you’re willing to go back for a second lesson, seeing the way Cal behaved,” Ellie said, wanting to kick her brother-in-law for his lack of manners.
At the mention of his name, Jane’s face brightened. “He was great,” she said. “Patient and gentle.”
Ellie wondered if she was having a hearing problem. It wasn’t possible that they were referring to the same person. “Cal?”
Jane eyed her. “Yes, Cal. He’s the one who’s teaching me.”
“I’ve never heard him referred to as patient and gentle, at least not since Jennifer—” Ellie stopped abruptly.
“Who’s Jennifer?” Jane asked.
Ellie sighed inwardly. She’d already mentioned Cal’s former fiancée so she might as well continue. “She and Cal were…friendly at one time.”
“Friendly?”
“An item.”
“How much of an item?”
Ellie could see there was no help for it. “They were engaged.”
Jane didn’t respond right away. “I see.”
Ellie wouldn’t have said another word if Jane hadn’t pressed. Would have preferred it that way. Apparently Cal was quite taken with the new doctor, and she didn’t want to be responsible for upsetting this hopeful turn of events.
“Do you mind telling me what happened?”
That was difficult. If this had concerned anyone other than Cal, Ellie would have suggested Jane simply ask him. But for the past two years Cal had closed himself off from most people as a result of the broken engagement. And he’d rejected the possibility of any other relationship with a woman. Ellie didn’t want to scare Jane off; if anything she wanted to encourage a romance between these two lonely people.
Glen had been shocked when he learned that Cal had offered to teach Jane to ride. Even Ellie had been surprised. And delighted. Naturally she’d hoped he’d volunteer, but she’d believed it’d take some champion finagling on her part. The last thing she’d expected was for Cal to volunteer on his own.
Ellie hesitated, wondering how much she should say. “There isn’t really that much to tell.”
“I don’t mean to pry,” Jane said.
“Well…you should probably know,” Ellie said. “Cal never did tell us exactly what went wrong. He loved Jennifer. Anyone looking at the two of them could see the way he felt about her.”
Jennifer, though, wasn’t the type Ellie would have chosen for her brother-in-law, but then, Cal hadn’t sought her opinion. Glen hadn’t been impressed by Jennifer, either, but like Ellie, had kept his views to himself. Ellie had met Jennifer, who’d worked at a local branch of a large bank, in the course of business. She’d quickly decided Jennifer Healy was selfish and manipulative, an opinion shared by a number of other people Ellie knew.
“I gather they disagreed about something, and two days before the wedding,” Ellie continued, “Jennifer called the whole thing off. She gave him back the ring and left town.”
“Moved?”
“To Houston. Glen heard sometime later that she was living with a salesman.”
“She walked out two days before the wedding,” Jane repeated slowly.
“A big family wedding,” Ellie elaborated. “Cal was stuck with phoning all the guests and telling them the wedding was off. He had to return gifts, cancel all the arrangements… Humiliating, huh? Naturally, everyone speculated about what had gone wrong. But Cal didn’t want to answer questions, so he retreated. Didn’t come into town for months.”
“It must have been a painful time for him.”
Ellie nodded. “He wasn’t the same afterward.”
Jane’s eyes asked the obvious question although she didn’t voice it.
Ellie answered it, anyway. “He likes you, Jane. You know something? In two years you’re the first woman he’s done more than speak a few gruff words to.”
“Me?” Jane flattened her palm against her chest.
“Yes. I know I’m right. He likes you.”
Jane laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“He’s teaching you to ride, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but I suspect that’s because he felt sorry for me.”
Ellie dismissed the excuse with a shake of her head. “You don’t know Cal the way I do. Since Jennifer walked out on him, his attitude toward women has been less than charitable. Trust me, he’s interested in you.”
* * *
WITH ELLIE’S WORDS ringing in her ears, Jane headed out to Lonesome Coyote Ranch for her second riding lesson. It’d been four days since her last one and she was looking forward to learning more. About horseback riding, yes, but also about Cal Patterson.
Ellie had said it’d been two years since Cal’s broken engagement. Two years since he’d participated in anything social. What her friend didn’t know was that it’d been even longer for Jane. She was twenty-eight years old and couldn’t remember her last real date. There’d been a few get-togethers with other medical students, but even these had been severely curtailed during her internship and residency. When it came to dating, high-school girls had more experience and finesse than she did.
Cal was already in the yard when she arrived. “Howdy,” he greeted her.
“Hi.” She walked away from her parked car. As she’d jokingly said on Friday, her jeans were less stiff this time. The boots, however, still felt awkward, but eventually she’d get used to wearing them, or so Max Jordan had assured her.
Cal’s smile was warm. “I wasn’t sure you’d show.”
“Why not?”
He chuckled. “Ellie tells me it was exceptionally rude to laugh at your, uh, accident. She says I should apologize.”
Jane shrugged off his apology, such as it was. “I’m willing to put the incident behind us if you are.”
“I am.” He led the way toward the barn. “Atta Girl’s been waiting for you. She’d like a second chance, too.”
The first part of the lesson went well, as they reviewed what she’d learned the last time. She saddled Atta Girl herself, making sure to check the cinch, then mounted the mare with a boost from Cal and a minimum of fuss.
“How does it feel?” he asked, taking the reins and leading Atta Girl into the corral.
“I didn’t realize I’d be this high off the ground.” She gripped the saddle horn with both hands. Once they arrived at the fenced area, Cal gave her the reins, and Jane held on for dear life.
Cal had her ease Atta Girl forward in a slow walk. Not bad, she decided. In fact, it was kind of exciting.
“This is great!” she called out. Some of her excitement must have communicated itself to Atta Girl, because the mare increased her speed.
“Ride the horse, not the saddle,” he reminded her.
“I know,” she shouted back. His advice, however, did little good. Try as she might, Jane felt her rear bouncing hard on the unyielding saddle. She’d bounce up and slam down against the leather with a force powerful enough to jar her molars. Fearing she was about to lose her hat, she held on to it with one hand.
“Are you sure I’m doing this right?” she shouted to Cal, certain she wouldn’t be able to maintain her balance another minute. The ground looked a long way down.
Cal mounted his own horse and rode next to her, circling the corral. She envied the grace with which he rode; it was as if man and beast moved as one, just the way those cowboy books said. Jane attempted to work her body in unison with Atta Girl’s movements, but couldn’t find the appropriate rhythm, despite her efforts.
“How…am…I…doing?” Each word vibrated as she rebounded against the saddle.
“You’re a natural,” Cal assured her. He slowed the gelding’s pace and Atta Girl followed suit. Jane’s rear end was grateful, not to mention the rest of her. She would never have guessed that her teeth would hurt after a riding lesson.
“Will I ever feel as comfortable in a saddle as you?” she asked, envying his skill and grace. She marveled that he hadn’t so much as worked up a sweat.
“Give it time,” he said.
Together, side by side, they circled the corral, keeping to a walk. By the time Cal guided her to the gate and helped her dismount, she’d begun to feel like a real rider.
Except for the fact that her legs almost went out from under her when her boots touched the ground. She waited for the numbness to fade, adjusted her jeans and took her first steps. Once she was assured that her teeth were intact and her head wasn’t in danger of falling off, she was able to talk.
“I hurt less after a forty-mile bicycle ride,” she said, rubbing her derriere with both hands.
“You’re still a tenderfoot.”
“It isn’t my feet that are tender,” she countered.
Cal threw back his head and laughed, although she didn’t think she’d been that funny. “I don’t know anyone who makes me laugh the way you do,” he said.
“I just speak the truth,” she muttered, and he laughed again.
He helped her remove the saddle and rub down Atta Girl, then invited her to the house.
For a bachelor’s place, the house was meticulous. The kitchen countertops were spotless. Either he didn’t cook or he cleaned up after himself. Judging by the guys she’d known in medical school, he was a rare man if it was the latter.
“Thirsty?” he asked, opening the refrigerator. “Want a drink?”
“Please.”
He took out a couple of cans of soda and handed her one. They sat at the kitchen table, Jane wincing as her rear end made contact with the hard wooden seat.
“You doing anything Friday night?” Cal asked casually, then took a deep swallow of soda.
“Nothing important,” she said, thinking he was asking about her next riding lesson. “What time would you like me to be here?”
“Here?” He frowned. “I was inviting you to dinner.”
At first Jane was too stunned to answer. Cal Patterson was asking her out on a date. A real date. It’d been so long since she’d been asked that she didn’t even recognize it when she was. “I’d be—” she flashed him a smile “—delighted. I’ll look forward to seeing you Friday night.”
When he walked her to her car a few minutes later, he told her that her riding was progressing nicely.
She grinned. “That’s because I’ve got a great teacher.”
Cal opened her car door. “I’ll pick you up at seven,” he said. “That okay?”
“Seven,” she agreed and hoped he didn’t hear the nervousness in her voice. She had a date, a real date. With Cal Patterson.
Maybe Texas wasn’t so bad, after all.
* * *
FRIDAY NIGHT Cal shifted the hangers from one side of his closet to the other, looking for a decent shirt. He didn’t know what in hell had prompted him to invite Jane to dinner.
Then again, he did know. He liked her. Fool that he was, he’d allowed her to get under his skin. He blamed Ellie for this. Blamed and thanked, depending on how he felt at any given moment.
He could add Grady Weston’s name to the list of troublemakers. First, his brother decides to marry Ellie. Then not a month passes before Cal’s best friend from childhood announces he’s engaged, too. Grady was going to marry Caroline Daniels, the postmistress. Cal shook his head. The men in Promise were deserting bachelorhood in droves.
Cal had no intention of joining their ranks. Asking Jane to dinner might be misconstrued as romantic interest in the town’s new doctor, but that wasn’t the case. He liked her, enjoyed her company, but considered her safe. She was a California girl, born and raised. A city girl. In three years’ time, she’d be heading back where she belonged, where she fit in. What appealed to him was the way she could make him laugh. And hell, stuck as she was in small-town Texas, he felt sorry for her.
That was it, Cal decided as he jerked a clean shirt off the hanger and put it on. He knew she was all alone down here; he was just being nice to an out-of-state girl, inviting her to share a meal and a few laughs. After that he wouldn’t see her again, he vowed. Except for their riding lessons, of course.
He hadn’t actually expected her to show up for the second lesson, not after the way he’d reacted to her fall off the saddle. A smile touched the corners of his mouth as he remembered her Butch Cassidy roll beneath Atta Girl’s belly. My, oh my, could that woman move. Which led to thoughts he immediately censored….
He fastened the shirt snaps and eased into a clean pair of Wranglers. He wasn’t going to a lot of trouble for this dinner, no sir. Nor had he mentioned it to his brother. Glen would make more of it than was there, and he’d for sure tell his wife. Cal did not want Ellie to know about this.
A Johnny Cash tune drifted into his mind and he whistled along—until he realized what he was doing and abruptly stopped. He hadn’t whistled in years. What the hell was happening here?
The forty-minute drive into town was accomplished in no time at all, or so it seemed. He’d take Jane to dinner as promised, then the minute they were finished he’d escort her home, head to Billy D’s and meet up with his friends. On Friday night Billy’s was always packed.
Another thing he’d do, Cal determined as he walked the short distance from the curb to Jane’s front door, was have a little heart-to-heart with the doc. He had to explain that while this evening was a pleasant diversion, this was not a relationship with a future. It wasn’t a relationship, period.
As gently as he could he’d tell her that he wasn’t interested in her romantically. There wasn’t any point in it, seeing that she’d be returning to California and he was staying here. Being the kind of guy he was, honest and straightforward, he didn’t want to mislead her into believing something could develop out of this. It was just a dinner. One dinner.
He rang her doorbell and waited. He might even say something right away. Get it over with quickly.
The door opened and Cal’s jaw dropped. Wow. Jane was beautiful. She wore a two-tone blue denim ankle-length skirt with a matching blouse. The buttons were big silver-dollar coins. With her sparkling blue eyes and short blond hair, she looked sophisticated. Western and sophisticated. Sort of L.A. meets San Antonio. It was all he could do not to slobber.
“I’ll be ready in a moment,” she said, holding open the screen door.
Cal removed his hat when he walked into the small house. He remained standing while she reached for her purse and clipped the beeper onto her black leather belt.
“I’m on call,” she said, explaining the beeper.
“You clean up real good,” he said once he found his voice.
She smiled. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
“Any place special you’d like to eat?” he asked.
“You choose.”
Not that there was much choice. The Chili Pepper was the best restaurant in town, but they’d eaten there the week before. The café in the bowling alley served damn good chow, but it wasn’t the type of place to take Dr. Texas, especially with her dressed to the nines. That left the Mexican Lindo, which he suggested.
“I’m game,” she said.
The restaurant was less than five blocks away and the weather was accommodating, so they walked. They were led to a corner booth and Cal felt grateful for that, since it afforded them a measure of privacy. They’d barely sat down when the waiter delivered a bowl of corn chips and fresh salsa. Jane glanced at the menu and quickly made her decision.
“Cheese enchiladas,” she told him before he could ask.
Cal selected chili verde, one of his favorites.
He asked for a beer, and because she was on call, Jane ordered an iced tea. They were just beginning to relax when Jane’s beeper went off.
She removed it from her belt and read the code. “There’s an emergency,” she said. “If you’ll wait a couple of minutes, I’ll phone the service.”
“Sure.” This was what he wanted, Cal tried to tell himself. She was offering him a perfect out, and he should be thankful. He hadn’t stopped to think about the questions their being together were sure to raise. Lots of questions, especially from his family and friends.
Jane was gone only a couple of moments. “It’s Jeremy Bishop,” she said, hurrying back. “Nell thinks he’s broken his arm. She’s driving him to the clinic now.”
“Is it bad?”
“I won’t know until I see him. I’m sorry, Cal, but I have to go.”
“I understand,” he assured her.
Her eyes showed her regret before she turned and walked quickly out the door. As soon as she was gone, he realized she’d be alone at the clinic. Nell was an emotionally strong woman, but Jeremy was her son and she might need someone to talk to while Jane dealt with the boy’s injury.
Cal signaled the waiter. “Can you bring me the bill?”
The young man was clearly flustered. “But you haven’t eaten yet. If there’s a problem…”
“There’s no problem,” Cal said. “Dr. Dickinson had an emergency and I’ve decided to leave myself.”
The waiter nodded gravely. “Your order just came up. Would you like a takeout box?”
“Sure,” Cal said. He hadn’t thought of that.
When the waiter finished transferring the dinners to cardboard containers, Cal paid for them and made his way to the clinic.
He arrived at the same time as Nell, Jeremy and Nell’s other child, Emma. Nell looked pale and distraught. She’d wrapped Jeremy’s arm in a pillow; he was obviously in pain and his face was streaked with tears.
“Hello, Jeremy,” Jane said, taking charge immediately.
Cal wasn’t sure she realized he was there until she turned. “Oh! Hi, Cal.”
“I thought I’d keep Nell company in the waiting room,” he said.
“Good idea.” She thanked him with a smile. Cal put their dinners on the reception desk and guided Nell to a chair, while Jane slid an arm around Jeremy’s shoulders and steered him toward the examination room.
“I want to be with my son,” Nell insisted.
“I’ll come for you in a few minutes,” Jane promised, “but first I need an X-ray to see what we’re dealing with here.”
Nell accepted the decision and sank into her chair. She stared straight ahead, her features sharp with fear. “I found him by the tractor,” she whispered.
Cal wasn’t sure she was talking to him, but he understood the significance of what she was saying. Nell had been the one to find her husband trapped beneath a tractor. The vehicle had turned over on him and crushed him, and she’d been powerless to do anything but hold his hand while he died.
“Jeremy climbed up on it even though I’ve warned him repeatedly to stay away.”
“Seems to me he’s learned his lesson,” Cal said. “I don’t think you’ll have any problem keeping him away from now on.”
Nell smiled, and Cal wondered if he should stick around or head over to Billy D’s. To his surprise he discovered he had no real desire to join his friends. He’d much rather stay right where he was and help Nell—and Dr. Texas.