RaeAnne Thayne - Country Bride - Country Bride / Woodrose Mountain

“Clay and Rorie? Yes,” Kate answered her own question emphatically. “Oh, I had a few bad moments when Dad first told me, but I got over it.” The comfort she’d found in Luke’s arms had helped her more than she cared to admit. He seemed to be making a habit of helping her through difficult moments.

Linda eyed her sceptically. “There’s been so much upheaval in your life these past few weeks. You know, sometimes people go into shock for weeks after a major change in their lives.”

“Linda,” Kate cried, “everyone keeps looking at me as though they expect me to have a nervous breakdown. What is it with you people?”

“It isn’t us, Katie girl, it’s you.”

Kate pushed her hair off her forehead and kept her hand there. “What do I have to do to convince you that I’m fine? I’m happy for Clay and Rorie. I consider myself resilient and emotionally strong, but this makes me wonder why you and Sally and the others don’t.”

“I don’t think anyone’s waiting for you to fall apart,” Linda countered. “We all have your best interests at heart. In fact, with one obvious exception, everyone’s really pleased you have Luke.”

“But I don’t have him. Luke isn’t a possession, he’s a man. We’re friends. You know that.” Kate expected Linda, of all her friends and colleagues, to recognize the truth when she heard it. Instead she’d made it sound as though Kate’s dancing with Luke and then letting him take her home meant instant wedding bells.

Linda shook her head. “To be honest, Kate, you’re doing a whole lot of denying and I don’t understand why. It seems to me that the person you’re really trying to convince is yourself.”

By the time Kate arrived home that evening, she was in a fine temper. Her father had already left for a meeting at the Eagles Lodge. He’d taped a note to the refrigerator door telling her not to worry about fixing him any dinner because he planned to stop at Dorothea’s later for a bite to eat.

Kate read his scrawled note, pulled it off the fridge and crumpled it with both hands. She was angry and impatient for no reason she could identify.

Heating a bowl of soup, Kate stood by the stove stirring it briskly when Luke let himself in the back door. After her encounter with Sally and Linda, Luke was the last person she wanted to see. Nevertheless, her eyes flew anxiously to his.

“Evening, Kate.”

“Hi.”

He hung his hat on the peg next to the door, then walked to the kitchen counter and examined the empty soup can. “I hope you’re going to eat more than this.”

“Luke,” she said, slowly expelling her breath, “I had a terrible day and I’m rotten company.”

“What happened?”

Kate didn’t want to talk about it. Dredging up her lunch-hour conversation with Sally Daley would only refuel her unhappiness.

“Kate?” Luke coaxed.

She shrugged. “The other teachers heard about Dad and Dorothea and seemed to think the shock would do me in, if you know what I mean.”

“I think I do.” As he was speaking, he took two bowls out of the cupboard and set them on the table.

Kate stirred the soup energetically, not looking at him, almost afraid of his reaction. “In addition, people are talking about us.”

When she glanced in his direction, Luke nodded, his eyes twinkling. “I thought they might be.”

“I don’t like it!” she burst out. The least Luke could do was show the proper amount of concern. “Sally Daley told me how pleased she was with the way I’d rebounded from a broken heart.” She paused, waiting for his response. When he didn’t give one, she added, “Sally seems to think you and I are perfect together.”

Luke grinned. “And that upset you?”

“Yes!” she cried.

“Sally didn’t mean anything. She’s got a big heart.”

“And an even bigger mouth,” Kate retorted. “We’re in trouble here, Luke Rivers, and I need to know how we’re going to get out of it.”

“The answer to that is simple. We should get married and put an end to all the speculation.”

Kate’s shoulders sagged in defeat. “Luke, please, I’m not in the mood for your teasing tonight. We have to get serious about...”

Her voice dwindled away as Luke, standing behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders and nuzzled her neck. “I’m willing.”

His touch had a curious effect on Kate’s senses, which sprang to sudden life. It took every ounce of fortitude she possessed to resist melting into his arms and accepting his comfort. But that was how they’d got into this mess in the first place.

“The gossips are having a field day and I hate it.”

Luke drew her away from the stove and turned her toward him. He searched her face, but his own revealed not a hint of annoyance or distress. “I don’t mind if folks talk. It’s only natural, don’t you think?”

“How can you say that?”

“Kate, you’re making this out to be some kind of disaster.”

“But don’t you see? It is! There are people out there who actually believe we’re falling in love.”

“You do love me. I told you that earlier. Remember?”

“Oh, Luke,” she cried, so disheartened she wanted to weep. “I know what you’re trying to do and I appreciate it with all my heart, but it isn’t necessary. It really isn’t.”

Luke looked baffled. “I don’t understand.”

“You’ve been so sweet.” She laid her hand against his clean-shaven cheek. “Any other man would’ve laughed in my face when I made him promise to marry me, but you agreed and now, out of consideration for my pride, my feelings, you claim you’re going through with it.”

“Kate,” he said, guiding her to the table and gently pressing her into a chair. “Sit down. I have something important to tell you—something I’ve been trying to tell you since the night of the wedding.”

“What is it?” she asked, once she was seated.

Luke paced the floor directly in front of her chair. “I should’ve told you much sooner, but with everything else that’s going on in your life, finding the right time has been difficult.” He paused and frowned at her as though he was having trouble choosing his words.

“Yes?” she coaxed.

“I’m buying the Circle L.”

The kitchen started to sway. Kate reached out and gripped the edge of the table. She’d hoped it would be months, at least, before a buyer was found. And it had never occurred to her that Luke might be that buyer. “I see,” she said, smiling through her shock. “I... I’d have thought Dad would’ve said something himself.”

“I asked him not to.”

Her troubled gaze clashed with Luke’s. Despite her shock she felt curious. How could Luke afford to buy a ranch, especially one as large as this? She knew he’d been raised by an uncle, who had died years before. Had there been an inheritance? “Luke,” she ventured shyly, “I know it’s none of my business, but...”

“How did I come by the money?” he finished for her. “You have every right to ask. I inherited it from my uncle Dan—I’ve told you about him. He owned a couple of businesses in Wyoming, where I grew up. There was also a small sum left to me by my grandfather. I invested everything, together with most of what Devin’s paid me over the years, and I’ve got enough now to buy the ranch outright—which’ll leave your dad and Dorothea in good financial shape for their retirement. I’ll be able to expand the operation, too.”

Kate nodded absently. She hadn’t known much about Luke’s background, apart from the fact that he had very little family, that he’d lost his parents at an early age. She supposed those losses were the reason he’d been so sympathetic, such a comfort to her and Devin, at the time of Nora’s death.