Orchard Valley Brides Read online

  Five

  “Valerie is just home from her honeymoon,” Norah felt obliged to remind Rowdy. “You don’t really expect me to drag her up here, do you?”

  Rowdy seemed surprised by her question. “Of course I do. Valerie and I have unfinished business.”

  Norah’s stomach tightened into hard knots. She’d been a fool, standing guard over Rowdy all afternoon, protecting him the way she had. Hurrying to his side the moment her shift ended… That had been her first mistake. She was determined not to make a second one. It wasn’t Norah he wanted doting on him, it was Valerie.

  “Valerie’s married, Rowdy. Nothing’s going to change that.”

  Pain flashed into his eyes and there was no mistaking the reason. Now, more than ever, Norah realized what a calamity it would be to risk her heart on a man in love with someone else. Especially when that someone was her own sister.

  Suddenly the mist cleared in Norah’s mind. Rowdy had had her transferred to his floor, not out of any desire to be near her but to have a source of information about Valerie. Even the kiss, the one she’d treasured, had been nothing but a ploy.

  With her heart aching, Norah walked around to the other side of his bed, being careful to avoid the office equipment positioned in every available space.

  “I never asked what you expected to accomplish when you flew into Orchard Valley. I assume you were hoping to do more than celebrate Valerie and Colby’s happiness.”

  “Oh, yes,” Rowdy admitted with an abrupt laugh, “I had to be sure Valerie knew what she was doing.”

  “You couldn’t have believed Valerie would cancel the wedding!”

  “That was something I had to find out. Everyone has their price.”

  His words stunned Norah. “You really think that, don’t you?”

  “Why shouldn’t I? It works. I didn’t want to lose Valerie, but at the same time I wasn’t willing to give her what she wanted. So I gambled. She took me at face value, unfortunately, and I lost, but I might not have—except for the plane crash.”

  Norah shook her head. “What do you mean, you weren’t willing to give Valerie what she wanted? What was that?”

  “Marriage.”

  If she’d been shocked before, Norah was completely astounded now. She needed to sit down before her legs gave out. She sank, speechless, into the bedside chair. The man was insane. He apparently believed Valerie had contrived her engagement to Colby with the intention of prompting Rowdy into a wedding proposal.

  “I’m not the marrying kind, Norah. Valerie must have known that. I can’t say we ever actually talked about it, but I figure anyone who’s worked with me knows I don’t have time for a wife or family. Don’t need ’em.”

  “I’m sure that’s true,” Norah said tightly.

  Rowdy studied her closely. “Are you upset about something?”

  “No. Yes!” She jumped to her feet. “Let me see if I understand you correctly. You want me to bring my sister to you, but as far as I can tell, your reasons for wanting to see her are entirely self-serving. You don’t care about Valerie and Colby. The only person you care about is yourself.”

  He hesitated and his brows knit together as he mulled over her words. “I’m not going to tell you about the nature of my business with your sister, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “You don’t have to,” she said coldly, ignoring the intense pain she felt. “I know everything I need to. If you want to talk to Valerie, I suggest you draft someone else to arrange it.”

  Valerie, tanned and relaxed after her honeymoon, was potting red geraniums on the sun-washed patio outside her house—the house she and Colby had bought on the outskirts of Orchard Valley. Norah was sipping iced tea under the shade of a large umbrella, watching her sister work. The pungent scent of freshly squeezed lemons drifted on the breeze. The afternoon was growing hot and humid, but neither Norah nor Valerie seemed to notice.

  “What happened between you and Rowdy Cassidy when you flew back to Texas?” Norah asked.

  Valerie paused, her hands deep in the potting soil. “We didn’t part on good terms. I’m afraid it was my fault.”

  Norah said nothing, but her expression must have revealed her skepticism.

  “I’m serious,” Valerie insisted.

  “I was sorry you had to hear about Rowdy’s accident on your wedding day,” Norah said. “Dad and Steffie and I weren’t sure what to do. We didn’t tell you because you had so much on your mind.”

  “Don’t worry. Dad already talked to me about it. You did the right thing.”

  Norah’s hands closed around the tea glass. She gazed into the distance for a moment, then said in a small voice, “He’s in love with you.”

  Valerie tipped her large straw hat farther back on her head and laughed. “Rowdy might think he is, but believe me, Norah, he isn’t. However, offering him my letter of resignation didn’t help the situation.”

  She pressed the moist potting soil carefully around a geranium. “I underestimated Rowdy’s ego,” she explained. “He’s a man who doesn’t like to lose. He hasn’t had much practice at it, and that’s the problem. He’s so wealthy he can buy anything he wants, and to complicate matters, he can charm the worm right out of an apple when he puts his mind to it.”

  “I—I know it isn’t any of my business,” Norah said, feeling as though she was invading her sister’s privacy, “but what happened when you told him about Colby?”

  Valerie straightened, shaking the earth from her hands. “I didn’t immediately mention I was engaged, which was a mistake. The first thing I brought up was my feasibility study on expanding CHIPS into the Pacific Northwest. I was eager to show Rowdy all my research. I presented the project in a favorable light, and I convinced him now was the time to do it.

  “Before Rowdy knew I was engaged to Colby,” Valerie continued, “he committed himself to the project. That thrilled me, of course, because I wanted to be the one to head it up.”

  “He’s very savvy when it comes to business, isn’t he? I mean, he’s even working from his hospital bed.”

  “Rowdy’s very talented,” Valerie agreed. “But he’s stubborn and he likes to have his own way.”

  “I’ve noticed,” Norah said, grinning.

  Valerie laughed. “I’ll bet you have.”

  “Anyway, get back to your story.”

  “Well, I pushed the project, and he gave it the go-ahead—until I told him I wanted to run it myself. Rowdy said he’d rather I stayed in Texas and worked with him. He reached for my hands then and I had the feeling he was about to say something…romantic. I’m only grateful he saw my engagement ring. And that’s when I told him about Colby.”

  Norah’s heart went out to Rowdy. “He must have been shocked.”

  “He was, and angry, too.” Valerie’s face tightened at the memory. “He told me he thought I was too smart to let myself fall for that love-and-marriage stuff. He said that marrying Colby would be a disaster for my career.” Valerie’s gaze skidded self-consciously away from Norah. “I—I don’t know if I ever said anything to you about Rowdy, but I was…attracted to him before I met Colby. When I first got home, just before Dad’s surgery, I’d started to believe he might feel the same way about me.”

  “He does.”

  Valerie laughed and shook her head. “I hope I’m around to watch what happens when Rowdy actually does fall in love. It’s going to knock that poor cowboy for one heck of a wallop.”

  “Go on,” Norah encouraged.

  “Where was I…oh, yes. When Rowdy discovered I was definitely engaged to Colby, he tried to talk me out of it. He even claimed it was his duty as my friend and employer to do whatever he could to keep me from making such a terrible mistake.”

  “He doesn’t lack confidence, does he?”

  “Not in the least,” Valerie said with a grin. “He felt that in view of my recent poor judgment, Oregon was the worst place for me to be, so he offered the expansion project to Earl Robbins. In that case, I told him,
I didn’t have any choice. So I typed up my resignation and handed it to him. He seemed to think I was bluffing. He accepted the resignation, but blithely informed me that I’d recognize the error of my ways and come back to CHIPS. I won’t, though, not if it means leaving Oregon.”

  “Did it frighten you to quit like that? You never said. All I can remember is a comment you made about taking an extended vacation until after the honeymoon.”

  Valerie nodded thoughtfully. “For the first while, I had the wedding plans to keep me occupied, but I soon got those under control. Colby’s been wonderfully encouraging, and we’ve discussed a number of possibilities. I’ve got my application in with a couple of firms in Portland, but I don’t feel a burning need to find a job right away. To be honest, I’m enjoying this time off. It feels good to plant flowers and sit in the sunshine.”

  “What do you think you’d like to do?” Norah asked.

  “Colby and I have discussed the idea of starting a consulting business out of the house. That way I could set my own hours and work when I wanted, which appeals to me. But I’m going to do some research before I make any firm decisions. For now I’m content.”

  “Rowdy wants to see you,” Norah said, her voice unintentionally sharp. “He’s been pestering me ever since he heard you and Colby were back.”

  Valerie’s hands stilled. “I suppose I should go visit him. I guess I owe him that.”

  Norah wasn’t so sure.

  “Did you hear?” Rowdy asked the next time Norah saw him.

  “About what?”

  “My stock’s up two full points, and the price has remained steady all week.”

  To Norah’s way of thinking, it must be agony to live a life controlled by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but she didn’t comment. “Congratulations.”

  Rowdy watched her closely. “Are you upset about our last talk?” He glanced at his two employees and kept his voice low.

  “Of course not,” Norah lied. “Why should I be? You want to talk to my sister, and that’s perfectly understandable. As you reminded me, it isn’t any of my business.”

  She walked around the end of his bed, removed his chart and made the necessary notations.

  “I shouldn’t have been so brusque.”

  That was only one in a long list of offenses, but Norah didn’t bother to say so.

  “You haven’t been in to see me as often,” he said.

  “I’ve been too busy.”

  “Even for me?” He used a hurt little-boy tone and Norah couldn’t resist smiling.

  “You’ll be happy to know I saw Valerie yesterday afternoon,” she went on, not daring to look up, afraid of what she might read in his eyes. “I explained that you wanted to see her and she said she’d be in sometime in the next few days.”

  “I hope it’s soon because Dr. Silverman’s given the go-ahead to get me out of this rigging. I’m scheduled to be released on Friday.”

  Norah waited a moment, finding it difficult to identify her reactions. She was beginning to know this man, faults and all—and despite everything, she was crazy about him.

  Their views often clashed, but that didn’t change her feelings. And his employees, at least the ones she’d met, were deeply committed to him. It took a lot more than money to inspire such loyalty.

  At the same time, Norah recognized how dangerous it was for her to be around Rowdy. He’d evoked a wide range of emotions: anger, outrage, laughter, pride and others that weren’t as simple to define. It would be so easy to fall in love with him…. The mere thought terrified her.

  “Aren’t you going to say something?” Rowdy asked.

  “We’ll miss you around here.” She put on a false smile. “Good grief, what’ll we do for excitement now?”

  “You’ll think of something,” he said.

  “No doubt, but Orchard Valley will never be the same.”

  “Take a note, Ms. Emerich.” Rowdy kept his gaze focused on Norah. “Small Oregon towns are no longer on my agenda. They’re a risk to my health.”

  “I hope you understand that once you’re discharged, you can’t just go back to your regular work schedule,” Norah pointed out.

  “So I heard,” Rowdy said, frowning. “I’m going to be stuck with months of physical therapy.”

  “Don’t shortchange yourself on that, Rowdy. You need it.”

  He wasn’t too pleased about this additional treatment, she knew. Then she sighed; he hadn’t even left the hospital and already she was worrying about him. Oh, yes, she was going to miss him.

  He must have seen the regret in her eyes because his own grew dark and serious. “Can you come back later?” he asked in a low voice. “Tonight. There’s something I need to ask you.”

  Norah hesitated. “All right,” she finally whispered.

  “Around seven,” he said briskly, “and don’t eat dinner.”

  Norah wasn’t sure what to expect that evening. She wore a sleeveless pale pink dress, the shade similar to her bridesmaid’s dress. On impulse she’d worn the dangling gold earrings that had belonged to her mother. She wore them only on special occasions….

  Her father didn’t ask where she was going, but his complacent expression told Norah he knew. “You look absolutely beautiful,” he said as she came down the stairs. “You have a wonderful evening, now.”

  “I’m sure I will.” She half expected him to interrogate her, but he didn’t ask even one question.

  “I won’t wait up for you.”

  “Have a good evening then, Dad.”

  “I will, sweetheart, I will,” he said and then he did the oddest thing. He raised his head, eyes closed, and mumbled something she couldn’t hear.

  When Norah arrived at the hospital, she discovered that Rowdy had transformed his room into a romantic bower. The window shades were closed, allowing only glimmers of the evening light inside. Candles flickered from a linen-covered table, and half a dozen vases of fresh flowers were strategically placed throughout the room. The office furniture he’d had delivered was pushed as far against the wall as possible. A bottle of white wine was chilling in a silver bucket. Soft, lilting music played in the background. For an instant she wondered if she’d stepped into a dream, a fantasy.

  “My goodness.” The words escaped on a whisper of awe.

  Rowdy wasn’t wearing a hospital gown, but had dressed in a black Western shirt with string tie and a pair of jeans slit along one side to accommodate his cast. The effort he’d made touched her deeply.

  “I hope you’re hungry,” he said, with a boyishly pleased grin.

  “I’m starved,” she told him, walking over to the bed. The room seemed so private, so cozy. “What’s on the menu?”

  “You can examine our meal for yourself. It only got here a minute ago.”

  Norah lifted the domed lid over the two plates and found crab-and-shrimp-stuffed sole, a wild rice pilaf and fresh broccoli with thin slivers of carrot. Two huge slices of strawberry-covered cheesecake rested next to the wineglasses.

  “I had the chef check out the cholesterol, if you’re interested. Plus the carb, sodium and calorie counts.”

  “Oh, Rowdy.”

  “Somehow I knew you’d swoon for cheesecake.”

  Norah laughed, because it was true, and because she was almost giddy with excitement—and happiness.

  “Now pick up the gift that’s on the edge of the table and open it.”

  Norah saw the small, brightly wrapped box and carried it to his bedside. She raised questioning eyes to his. “What’s this?”

  “You’ll have to open it and see.”

  Norah frowned. “I didn’t do anything to deserve this.” She was only one of the medical professionals who’d assisted Rowdy in his recovery.

  “Quit arguing with me and open it,” Rowdy said. She finally nodded and carefully tore away the paper, uncovering a velvet box with the name of an expensive Portland jeweler etched in a gold flourish across the top.

  She glanced at him again, still puzzle
d.

  “Open it,” he said again. “I picked it out myself.”

  Hardly daring to breathe, Norah lifted the lid and discovered a sapphire-and-diamond necklace, exquisite in its simplicity. She released her breath on a soft sigh of appreciation. “Oh, Rowdy…I’ve never seen anything so lovely.”

  “Then you like it?”

  “Yes, but I could never accept it….”

  “Nonsense. Turn around—I want to see it on you.” Before she could protest further, he removed the necklace from its plush bed and opened the clasp. He held it with both hands, prepared to place it around her neck.

  Norah pivoted slowly and pressed her hand to the necklace when he positioned it against her throat. She’d never been given anything so valuable or so beautiful.

  “This is my way of thanking you for everything you did for me, Norah.”

  “But I—”

  “You were my saving grace,” he cut in, obviously impatient with her objections. “Arguing with you was the one thing that got me through those early days. You were generous and unselfish, even though I behaved like a spoiled brat. I’m grateful, and I want to express my gratitude.”

  “Well, then, I accept. And…and I thank you very much.” Norah felt tears gather in the corners of her eyes. “Shall we open the wine?” she asked briskly, not wanting Rowdy to know how deeply his generosity had affected her. She lifted the wine bottle from its icy bucket and hesitated. “Are you sure you can combine alcohol with your medication?”

  “I have Dr. Silverman’s permission. If you don’t believe me, you can call him yourself. He left his number with me in case you had any concerns.”

  Rowdy had thought of everything. Grinning, Norah handed him the bottle and corkscrew and watched as he deftly opened the Chablis. Norah brought over their glasses; he sampled the wine, then filled both goblets.

  “We’d better eat before the fish gets cold,” he said. Norah returned to the dinner table for his plate. His own place setting was neatly arranged on top of the nightstand.

  “Next time we have dinner together, I’ll be sitting across the table from you,” he promised.