Heart of Texas Vol. 2 (32 page)

Jane stroked the mare's nose and whatever she said apparently met with Atta Girl's approval, because the animal nodded and snorted. Climbing onto the bottom fence rail, Jane put her arms around Atta Girl's neck and hugged her. Then she leaped down, stroked Atta Girl's nose again and walked over to her car and climbed inside.

A minute later she was gone. She'd retained her dignity—and his heart.

J
ANE HAD CALLED
C
AL
P
ATTERSON
a coward and a fool, and she'd meant it. Add to that stubborn, unreasonable, infuriating…and worse.

Dr. Big City. Big plans. Big bucks.
Each time his words came to mind she grew more furious. After all the time she'd spent with him how could he know so little about her? That really hurt.

By Thursday she was exhausted. Sleep eluded her and she'd rarely been so frustrated or out of sorts.

Ellie stopped by the clinic late Thursday afternoon when the office was technically closed. Jenny led her back to the office, where Jane sat making a desultory attempt to organize the top of her desk.

“I take it this is a personal visit,” Jane said after Jenny had left.

“Have you got a few minutes?” Ellie asked.

Jane nodded. “For you I do, but not if you're here to talk about Cal.”

“Fair enough,” Ellie said, entering the room. She sat in the chair across from Jane's desk.

“You know what infuriates me most?” Jane blurted, her anger spilling over. “It's that Cal didn't have the common decency to talk this over with me. Oh, no, he just
assumes
I'm returning to California without so much as waiting to hear my side.”

“Jane, I thought you didn't want to talk about him.”

“Forget I said that.” Jane shook her head. “And you know? That's not the worst of it,” she went on. “Not only doesn't he hear me out, he sends me away like I'm a child he can order around.”

“I'll admit—”

Jane interrupted her. “He was completely out of line in what he said. If he didn't want to see me again, fine, but to insult me—that was going too far.”

“He insulted you?” Ellie sounded appropriately outraged.

“Tell me, do I look like a big-city doctor to you?” Jane demanded without expecting a response. “I don't even wear makeup anymore. Well, maybe a little mascara and lipstick, but that's all. I haven't washed my car in months. I wear jeans practically all the time.” She took a deep breath. “And when's the last time you saw a big-city doctor asking some disgruntled rancher to teach her how to ride? A rancher who implies that this supposed big-city doctor is only interested in money, by the way.”

“He said that?” Ellie was clearly shocked.

“Sort of. And more—like it was time I left.”

“Cal suggested you leave Promise?”

“No, the ranch, which I did, but not before I put in my two cents' worth.”

“Good for you!”

“I told him he was a coward.”

Ellie's eyes widened. “You told Cal
what?
”

“That he's a coward, and I said it to his face.”

“What did
he
say?”

Jane paused and tried to remember. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing memorable, anyway.”

Ellie clapped her hands, apparently enjoying the details of Jane's final skirmish with Cal. Her outrage, however, only helped so much. “I hope you're here to tell me how utterly miserable he is.” It would boost Jane's deflated ego to learn he was pining away for her.

“Actually,” Ellie said, her gaze warm with sympathy, “I haven't seen him, so I can't. But Glen has.”

“Oh?” Jane's spirits lifted hope fully.

“Apparently Cal's been pretty close mouthed about you.”

Those same spirits sank again, even lower than before.

“But Glen did say Cal's been in a bitch of a mood.”

Jane couldn't have held back a smile to save her soul. So…the man was suffering. Good.

“I don't mean to be nosy—” Ellie's gaze shifted uncomfortably to her hands “—but what happened? Everything seemed to be going so nicely.”

“You tell me!” Jane cried. “My parents arrived as a birthday surprise, and we went to dinner and Cal joined us.”

“So he's met your parents.”

“Yes, but I rue the day. No,” she said, changing her mind, “I'm glad it happened before…” She hesitated. “Actually, it's too late for that.”

“You're falling in love with Cal?” Ellie asked bluntly.

“I've already fallen.” Might as well admit it. “I felt close to him—closer than I have to anyone. For the first time since my college days there was someone in my life who…” She let the rest fade.

Ellie was silent for a minute. “You weren't far off, you know.”

“About what?”

“Cal being a coward. He
is
afraid.”

“Of what? Me moving back to California? Give me a break, Ellie. I've been here less than a year and my contract's for three. Do I need to decide right this minute if I'm going to live in Promise for the rest of my life?”

“No.”

Jane ignored the response, too keyed up to stop now. “He's being more than a little unreasonable, if you ask me.”

“I agree with you.”

“I'm not another Jennifer Healy.”

“I know that. Glen knows that. You know that,” Ellie said.

“But not Cal.”

“Not Cal.”

Jane brushed a stray hair from her face. “I told him I loved him,” she said, revealing the most intimate and embarrassing part of their argument. She'd exposed her heart to him, and he'd not only dismissed
her
feelings, he'd denied his own.

“Oh, Jane, just be patient. He'll figure it out. Eventually.”

“He might have offered me a reason to stay,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper.

Ellie sighed expressively. “I don't know what it is about men in Texas. They're stubborn as the day is long.”

“Proud, too,” Jane added. “Way too proud.”

“Impatient.”

“Uncommunicative.”

Ellie nodded, then sighed again. “Wonderful. Loving. Protective and gentle and passionate.”

Jane closed her eyes, not wanting to confuse the issue with anything positive.

“Are you going to Caroline and Grady's wedding on Saturday?” Ellie asked her, abruptly changing the subject.

“Caroline asked me to cut the cake.”

“Cal will be there,” Ellie warned.

“Cal is Grady's best man.” For half a heart beat Jane toyed with the idea of finding an excuse to skip the wedding, but she refused to let Cal Patterson influence where she went or what she did. “I'd better get used to seeing him around town,” Jane said, more for her own sake than Ellie's. “We won't be able to avoid running into each other now and then.”

A saucy grin appeared on Ellie's face. “That's exactly what I was thinking. Cal's going to see you at the wedding. He'll see you at the grocery store and the Chili Pepper and bingo. And every time he goes to the post office he'll drive by the clinic.”

“Heaven help him if he gets sick,” Jane said.

“That would be horrible, wouldn't it?” Ellie said, sounding almost gleeful at the prospect.

“Absolutely horrible,” Jane agreed.

Ellie shivered delightedly. “I can hardly wait.”

Jane laughed for the first time in days. “I can't wait to give this stubborn Texas rancher a booster shot in places men don't like to talk about.”

 

T
HE LAST NIGHT
of the three-day midweek cruise, Dovie decided to join Mary and Phil Patterson in the lounge for drinks and dancing. Mary had been after her the entire trip to make herself more accessible to the single men on board, but Dovie couldn't see the point.

The music was from the forties and fifties, and judging by the crowd on the dance floor, the audience appreciated it. “I'm so glad you decided to join us,” Mary said, greeting
Dovie at the door and leading her to a small table at the back of the room.

“I couldn't see spending our last night aboard doing something silly like sleeping,” Dovie teased.

Mary patted her hand. “I wish you'd enjoyed the cruise more.”

“But I did,” Dovie assured her friend. It had been the perfect escape. Being away from Frank had given her some perspective on the relationship and on the difficulties she and Frank had encountered.

A waiter came for her drink order, and Dovie asked for a glass of white wine. Maybe what she needed was a little something to loosen her inhibitions. Actually she felt better than she had in weeks—although she still missed Frank.

“I couldn't believe the way you took to the water! I wouldn't have guessed you were that much of a swimmer.”

It'd been years since she'd gone swimming, but Dovie'd had no intention of wasting an opportunity like this. For her, the highlight of the cruise had been snorkeling off the Yucatán Peninsula. Viewing the different species of colorful and exotic sea life was an experience she would long remember. She said as much to Mary.

“But your thoughts were on Frank,” Mary replied.

Dovie couldn't deny it. Three days away, and she was dreadfully homesick, feeling more than a little lost and confused. Mostly she was angry with herself for having done something as foolish as putting her home up for sale. Promise was where she belonged, and she wasn't about to let Frank Hennessey chase her away. Dovie didn't blame Frank, but herself; she'd simply over reacted to his dating Tammy Lee.

The music started again and Phil stood, ready to escort his wife onto the dance floor.

Mary hesitated.

“Go on, you two,” Dovie urged, her own foot tapping to the music.

To her surprise, no more than thirty seconds had passed before a distinguished-looking man approached her table. “Would you care to dance?”

Dovie stared at him as if this was the most complex question she'd ever been asked. “Yes,” she said, deciding suddenly. She stood up and placed her hand in his.

“I'm Gordon Pawling,” he said as he slid his arm around her waist and guided her onto the dance floor.

“Dovie Boyd,” she said.

“I know.”

She looked at him in surprise. “How?”

“I asked your friends the first night of the cruise.”

Dovie remembered Mary mentioning a tall handsome man who'd questioned her about Dovie. While it had salved her ego to know that someone had asked to meet her, Dovie wasn't interested in a holiday romance. The only man she'd ever loved other than her husband was Frank Hennessey. She still did love Frank. She wasn't a woman who loved lightly or gave her heart easily.

The crowded floor forced Dovie and her partner to dance more closely than she would have liked. Gordon, too, seemed uncomfortable with the way they were shoved together, but as the dance went on, they both relaxed.

She liked him. He didn't talk her ear off with tales of how successful or well-known he was. He simply held her close. It surprised her how good it felt to be in a man's arms again, even if the man was little more than a stranger.

When the number was finished, Gordon escorted her back to the table. “Thank you, Dovie.”

“Thank
you.
”

Mary and Phil approached.

“He's a lucky man, whoever he is,” Gordon said.

Dovie frowned, wondering how he knew she was in love with someone else. Mary must have said something.

“I see you've met your admirer,” Mary said, dabbing her handkerchief on her damp brow. “Won't you join us—Gordon, isn't it?”

Gordon looked to Dovie to second the invitation.

She could see no harm in it. “Please,” she said and gestured toward the empty chair next to her own.

“Thank you.”

Gordon bought a round of drinks.

“Phil Patterson,” Phil said, stretching his hand across the table for Gordon to shake.

“Gordon Pawling.”

“Where are you from, Gordon?” Mary asked.

“Toronto, Canada.”

Phil nodded. “I understand that's a beautiful city.”

“It is,” Gordon agreed.

“We're from Texas,” Mary said, and Dovie nearly laughed out loud. No one listening to their accent would have guessed anywhere else.

“A little town in the hill country called Promise,” Phil put in.

“Promise,” Gordon repeated.

“Dovie owns an antique store there.” Mary's voice held a note of pride.

“And we have the bed-and-break fast,” Phil added.

“I'm a retired judge,” Gordon said.

“A judge.” Mary's eyebrows rose slightly as she glanced at Dovie. She seemed to be saying that Gordon was a catch she shouldn't let slip through her fingers.

“Retired,” Gordon was quick to remind them. “I haven't served on the bench for three years now.”

“Do you travel much?” Mary asked. “Is that how you're spending your retirement?”

“Let's dance, Mary,” her husband said pointedly. He got up and didn't give his wife much of an option.

Mary's reluctance showed as she rose to her feet.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Dovie felt she should apologize for Mary's questions. “You'll have to forgive my friend,” Dovie said. “It's just that Mary's encouraging me to see other men.” Once the words left her lips, she realized more explanation was required. “I've been seeing someone…in Promise…for quite a few years. We had a difference of opinion and now he's dating another woman.” It hurt to say the words even to someone she wasn't likely to see after tonight.

Gordon reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I need to revise my opinion of your male friend. He didn't know a treasure when he found it.”

Dovie smiled. “Have you been talking to Mary?”

Gordon's smile was gentle. “No.”

Dovie looked toward the dance floor and smiled, too. “Shall we?” she asked, prefer ring that they dance rather than discuss her relationship with Frank.

“It'd be my pleasure.” Gordon stood and offered Dovie his hand.

They danced every dance for the rest of the night. At midnight they attended the buffet. Dovie's appetite had been lacking; even the lavish display of pastries and other goodies hadn't tempted her. Not once during the three days had she stayed awake long enough to partake of the midnight buffet.