Bachelor Available!. Ruth Dale Jean
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“Looks like pumpkin, but I won’t guarantee it.”
“I’ll take a slab of apple. Could you warm that up and throw a scoop of vanilla ice cream at it?”
The waitress grinned. Cody sure knew how to warm up strangers. “Glad to do it, cowboy.” She headed for that pie case.
Emily stirred a packet of sweetener into her coffee, feeling strangely ill at ease. They hadn’t talked at all on the short ride over in the battered old red pickup truck with the big J painted on the side—with wings yet. Now the silence would have to be broken.
Cody took a gulp of hot black coffee. “Isn’t this better than sittin’ in a waiting room?” he asked rhetorically.
“Much better,” she agreed, although she wasn’t quite sure about that. “Do you have far to drive to get here?”
“Seventy-five miles or thereabouts, depending on which part of the ranch I start from.”
She was impressed. “That’s quite a drive.”
He shrugged. “I’m used to it.”
The waitress put a huge piece of steaming pie in front of him, ice cream already beginning to melt in a creamy puddle around it. He gave her a quick smile of thanks and picked up his fork.
“How about you?” he asked, the first bite hovering above the plate. “Where do you live?”
“Not far from here. I share an apartment in a converted Victorian with a friend.”
He chewed thoughtfully before answering. “Not a male friend, I take it. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
“That’s a safe bet.” She looked away from those probing blue eyes at several people perched on stools at the counter.
“Why are you here?”
Rattled, she jerked back around. “You mean here at this café or there at the Yellow Rose?”
“Let’s start with the Rose.”
She licked her lips, fumbling for an answer. “All the usual reasons,” she hedged, “exactly as I said before. I’m new in town, I don’t know many people—”
“Any woman who looks like you doesn’t need to go to a dating agency to meet people, at least not to meet men people.”
That was exactly what she thought about him and women people. “If that’s a compliment, thank you.”
“It’s a compliment.”
“What about you? Why are you here?”
“Here at the café or there at the Rose?” He gave her that crooked little grin that was so charming. “I’m here because I was curious about you and wanted to know more. I’m there because I want to get married and have a passel of kids.”
“That makes sense,” she said, “I guess.”
He finished the pie, placed the fork on the plate and slid it aside. “But you said you’re not interested in marriage.”
She lifted her chin. “That’s right.”
“Why not?”
“Because there’ll be plenty of time for that later.”
“Are you one of those career women, then?”
“Not exactly. I mean, I have a job I like but I don’t see it as a career, exactly.”
“Ahh,” he said wisely, “I see.”
His tone annoyed her. “What do you see?”
“You’ve been burned. Some guy done you wrong and you’re having a hard time getting over it.”
“Why, of all the—that’s not it at all!” But it was. She’d been burned not once but twice, and two men had indeed done her wrong: the man who’d dumped her, and the man with whom her mother had run away when Emily was twelve. Both were rich and handsome and thought they could buy anything they wanted.
Unfortunately, in the case of Beverly Kirkwood, that had proven to be true. But when her lover tried to use his enormous wealth and power to gain custody of Emily, the child had dug in her heels and fought to stay with the father who had not betrayed her. The legal battles had gone on for years and left her father broken in spirit as well as financially.
“I’m sorry,” Cody said, and he did look contrite. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It just seemed so obvious.”
“Not as obvious as you might think,” she said grimly. “I suppose eventually I’ll want what most women want—a husband, children—but for now I’m just looking for a good time.” Better than saying all she was looking for was to discharge a moral obligation to her cousin so she could settle back down to her usual quiet existence.
That lopsided grin made her stomach do flip-flops. “Damn shame,” Cody drawled, “but I kinda know where you’re coming from. You see, I had a wife who could stop traffic, she was so good-lookin’. When the marriage didn’t work out, I got soured on pretty women.” He looked down at his coffee cup, then slanted her a quick glance. “Like you, for instance.”
“Me?” She’d never thought of herself as anything special in the looks department. All right...passable, certainly...but a traffic stopper?
He laughed. “Don’t look so surprised. The truth is, we’re as different as night and day.”
She grinned back, relieved that he’d realized that. “You say pa-tay-toe, I say pa-tah-toe.”
“Exactly. I like horses and cows and you...”
“Like ballet and concerts. I like cats and you like...”
“Dogs. I like the country...”
“And I like the city.”
“Tough break.” With those words, all his good humor went right out the window.
“There’s plenty of fish in the sea,” she said lightly, not sure whether she believed that or not.
“I’m not looking for a fish.”
“Neither am I.”
Their glances locked and tension sizzled between them. After a very long moment, he said, “I hate not knowing.”
“N-not knowing what?”
“What might have been. We’ll go back to Wanda’s office and she’ll flutter around and give you some fancy guy who likes fancy stuff, and she’ll give me some country girl who likes country stuff, and we’ll both be better off. But I’ll probably always wonder what might have been.”
“But we have to go along with whatever Wanda says,” she reminded him. “I mean, she’s the expert, right?” Her stomach hurt when she said it.
“Right.” His face, in repose, looked strong and a little sad.
“I mean, she has George to help her out. We can’t fight modern science and all that.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Well, then.” Feeling jumpy and out of sync, she glanced at her watch. “Hey, it’s time to get back.”
“If you say so.” He hauled a wallet from his back pocket. He pulled out a bill and dropped it on the table. His gaze captured hers again. “I still say it’s a shame, even if it is for the best.”
“It’s definitely for the best. Whatever Wanda says will have to be the way it is.” But in her heart, she felt a sadness she couldn’t explain.
During the short ride back to the Yellow Rose, Cody thought about all they’d said. Even though they’d probably never see each other again after today, he was glad she didn’t know the truth about him: that his family was one of the most successful ranching