Summer in Orchard Valley: Valerie / Stephanie / Norah. Debbie Macomber
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you?” she asked curiously.
Colby’s gaze touched hers, then withdrew. “That you’d fallen head over heels in love with me. And that’s a quote.”
“What?” Valerie said incredulously. “No wonder you were so upset!”
“Upset’s not the word for it. I’m worried about how this is going to affect David’s recovery, especially since he seems to have all kinds of expectations now—expectations that are going to be disappointed. Eventually he’ll just have to realize you’re not the kind of woman I intend to marry.”
“Believe me, Dr. Winston, you have nothing to worry about,” she murmured, annoyed now. “If I was going to fall in love, it would be with a man who was a little more sensitive to my pride.”
“I apologize,” he said, shrugging indifferently. “Your father unfortunately read too much into your … remarks. I’m afraid you’ll have to say something to him.”
“Me?”
“You’re the one who started this.”
“Why can’t we just let the whole thing drop? By tomorrow he’ll have forgotten I said anything.”
“That’s not likely,” Colby said in a grim voice. “He asked me to bring a preacher so we could be married at his bedside.”
Valerie couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing. It was as though all the tension, all the waiting and frustration, had broken free inside her. She laughed until the tears streamed down her face and her sides ached, and even then she couldn’t stop. Clutching her stomach, she wiped the moisture from her cheeks.
“Colby, darling,” she said between giggles. “What shall I wear to the ceremony?”
Colby apparently didn’t find her antics humorous.
“I’ll want children, of course,” she told him when she’d managed to stop giggling. “Nine or ten, and I’ll name the little darlings after you. There’ll be little cheeses running around our happy home—Cheddar and Parmesan and—”
“I have absolutely no intention of marrying you.”
“Of course you don’t right now, but that’ll all change.” She enjoyed teasing him, and the laughter was a welcome release after the tension of the past few days.
“You’re not serious, are you?”
Valerie sighed deeply. “If you want me to say something to Dad, I will.”
“I think that would be best.”
“I’m really not so bad, you know,” she felt obliged to tell him. She was disappointed in his reaction, although she’d never admit it. If she was going to make a fool of herself over a man, she didn’t need to travel halfway across the country to do so!
“We don’t have a thing in common and shouldn’t pretend we do.”
“Well, but—”
“Let’s leave it at that, Valerie.”
His attitude hurt. “Fine. I’m not interested in you, either,” she muttered. Without another word, she turned around and marched back into the hospital.
The man had his nerve. He made a relationship with her sound about as attractive as one with a … a porcupine! Colby acted as though she’d purposely set a trap for him, and she resented that.
Norah was awake when she got back to the waiting room. Her younger sister looked up, smiling, as Valerie hurried in and began to pace.
“What’s wrong?” Norah asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee. She gestured toward the pot, but Valerie shook her head.
“Have you ever noticed how opinionated and high-handed Colby Winston can be?” she asked, still pacing furiously.
“Dr. Winston?” Norah repeated. “Not in the least. I’ve never known him to be rude, not even when someone deserved it.”
Valerie impatiently pushed the sleeves of her sweater past her elbows. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a man who irritated me more.”
“I thought you liked him.”
“I thought I did, too,” she answered darkly.
“Steffie phoned,” Norah said, cutting off Valerie’s irritation as effectively as if she’d flipped a light switch. “She got through to the nurses’ station here when she couldn’t reach either of us at the house or on our cells.”
“Where is she?” Valerie asked. “Is the transportation strike over?”
“No,” Norah replied. “She’s still trapped in whatever that town is. If she was in one of the big cities she wouldn’t be having nearly as much trouble. She asked about Dad, and I told her everything’s about the same. She sounded like she was close to tears.”
“Poor Steffie.”
“She said she’d give everything she owns to find a way home.” Norah sighed. “If something doesn’t break soon, I think Steff’s going to hike over the Alps.”
She’d do it, too; Valerie didn’t doubt that for a moment.
“I was with Dad earlier,” Norah said, changing the subject again. “He was more alert than before.”
Valerie frowned, well aware of the reason. Her dear, manipulative father seemed to think he was about to get his wish. Little did he realize she had no intention of marrying Dr. Colby Winston. Or that Colby was no more interested in her than she was in him.
Four
David Bloomfield’s condition didn’t change throughout the day that followed. Valerie saw Colby intermittently. He was in surgery most of the afternoon and came by, still wearing his surgical gown, to check on her father early that evening. Valerie happened to be there at the time, and she recognized the weariness in Colby’s face. Without saying anything to her father, she trailed Colby out of the room.
“What about a cup of coffee?” she suggested, and when he hesitated, she added lightly, “I thought you might like to know how I warded off the preacher.”
He grinned, then rubbed a hand across his eyes. “All right,” he said, glancing at his watch. “Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll meet you in the cafeteria.”
Valerie headed downstairs with her briefcase and her laptop. That afternoon she’d had her assistant e-mail the contents of several files to her. Even if she had to be out of the office while her father was ill, there were still matters that required her attention. She’d spent much of the afternoon answering e-mails. Working out of the hospital waiting room wasn’t ideal, but she’d managed.
She was at a table in the cafeteria, reading over some notes on her laptop, when Colby arrived. As he pulled out a chair, she straightened, shut down the computer and closed it.
After a somewhat perfunctory greeting, Colby reached for the sugar canister in the middle of the table and methodically poured out a teaspoon, briskly stirring it into his coffee. “I wanted to apologize,” he began.
His words took her by surprise. “For what?”
“I was out of line, coming down on you the way I did about the marriage business. I should’ve realized your father was stretching whatever you said out of proportion. I took my irritation out on you.”
She dismissed his apology with a shake of her head. “It was understandable. As far as I’m concerned, it’s forgotten.”
His eyes met hers as though he couldn’t quite believe her. “You spoke to him?” he asked abruptly.
Valerie nodded, trying to conceal her amusement. “My poor father was distraught, or at least he tried to persuade me he was. But—” she sighed expressively “—he’ll get