Dori slid from Matt’s bear hug and caught at her bonnet. The strings had come untied, and the hat threatened to slip off her head. “Don’t squeeze me to death!” She threw her arms around Matt again. The bonnet slipped farther down her back. Dori didn’t care. She’d missed Matt terribly. Seeing him after all this time intensified her love. He was so big and brown and strong that Dori never wanted to let him go.
Two years’ worth of tears that she’d only permitted to escape in the worst circumstances threatened to gush. She shook her head to keep them from falling. The movement dislodged her bonnet; it fell to the muddy street.
Before Dori could free herself and retrieve it, a deep, rich voice spoke from behind her. “I believe this is yours.”
“Dori, this is Seth Anderson,” Matt said. “Seth, my sister, Dolores.” The pride in his voice was so undeserved it made Dori squirm. She loosened herself from Matt’s arms and turned toward the tall cowboy holding her hat in one hand and trying to remove a thick coating of dust with the other.
Dori gulped. This was Seth Anderson? The tenderfoot she’d convinced herself might be harboring a devious plan to hoodwink her brother? If those lake-blue eyes were to be believed, he was not the villain she’d pictured.
Seth bowed, doffed his Stetson, and held out her bonnet. “Sorry I couldn’t do a better job, Miss Sterling.” A ray of sunshine rested on his bare head and changed his hair to molten gold, shot through with gleams of red.
The memory of Stancel gaping like a fish intruded on Dori’s mind and left her speechless. Horrors! That must be how she looked now. Don’t stand here like a ninny, she ordered herself. It must be the sun that makes him look like the statue of a Greek god in my history book.
Dori knew better. The light in Seth’s face silently shouted it came from within. Unless looks were mighty deceiving, he was everything Matt had said and more.
An unfamiliar feeling stirred within Dori, as if her spirit rushed out to Seth’s. The thought left her shaken. She tried to toss off a bright greeting but no words came.
“Cat got your tongue?” Matt teased. “Or is Sleeping Beauty waiting for a prince to come and awaken her with a kiss?” He chuckled. “What do you think, Seth?”
If the gibe bothered Seth, he didn’t show it by the flicker of an eyelash. “I think Sarah will never forgive us if we don’t get Miss Sterling home. She can’t wait to meet her almost-new sister.” Before Matt could reply, the cowboy strode toward the pile of luggage clearly marked with Dori’s name. He stopped short and shoved his Stetson back on his head. “Looks like Evan will have to send most of this stuff out in a wagon. It won’t fit in the carriage.”
As soon as Seth was out of earshot, Dori rounded on Matt. “How could you embarrass me like that?”
Matt donned a look of innocent surprise—the same look he always wore after besting her. He raised his palms. “What did I say?” He looked at Seth, then back at Dori. “Hey, what did you do, bring everything you owned?”
Dismay replaced Dori’s exasperation. Would she have to confess then and there that she’d been expelled? “Never you mind,” she evaded. “After all, it is Christmas, with a wedding to boot. Let’s go home. We mustn’t keep Sarah—and Solita—waiting.” She took the bull by the horns and boldly marched over to Seth. “I apologize for my brother,” she said with what little dignity she could muster. “His sense of humor is—”
“Don’t fret yourself, Miss Sterling. Brothers are like that. Just ask Sarah.” An unreadable expression lurked in Seth’s eyes.
Dori felt a river of hot blood stream into her face, and she silently climbed into the waiting carriage. Seth obviously hadn’t given a second thought to the comment that had caused her so much mortification. His response had been perfectly courteous, but Dori felt like a child who had been patted on the head and told to go play.
Torn between chagrin and resentment, Dori remained silent most of the way to the Diamond S, despite Matt’s attempts to include her in the conversation. What difference does it make what Seth thinks? she asked herself. He’s just another cowhand on my brother’s ranch. Yet her innate honesty forced her to admit it did make a difference—a huge difference, and one she couldn’t explain.
It seemed to Dori’s disturbed mind as if they would never reach the ranch. By the time they pulled in, the western sky was a study in reds and purples. Dori caught her breath. No Boston sunset could compare with this. She climbed from the carriage and gazed at the sprawling, hacienda-style ranch house, its white stucco walls rosy from the kiss of the setting sun. Light streamed from every window and from the open front door, welcoming Dori home. Two women waited on the wide front porch. One hurried to the top of the steps and met Dori’s headlong rush with open arms.
“Querida. Dios be praised. You are home.” Solita folded Dori into a tight embrace.
The familiar endearment changed Dori into a small girl, safe and secure in Solita’s arms. Worn and weary from life in Boston followed by the fearsome experience of being trapped in the blizzard, she laid her head on the diminutive housekeeper’s shoulder and let her tears fall.
Solita patted her shoulder and crooned, “Don’t cry, little one. You are home and safe. Now you must meet Senorita Sarah, who has waited for your coming.”
“Welcome home, sister,” a musical voice said.
Dori freed herself from Solita’s embrace and turned. A smiling replica of Seth stood with both hands outstretched. The shy appeal in the young woman’s wistful blue eyes showed the same anxiety Dori had felt about meeting Sarah. All Dori’s preconceived notions vanished. Unless badly mistaken, she’d been as wrong about Sarah as about Seth.
Dori managed a shaky laugh and clasped Sarah’s hands. “I’m so glad to meet you.” It was true. The identical feeling she’d experienced when meeting Seth flowed through her. What is it about the Andersons that calls to something deep inside me? Dori wondered. The goodness that Matt raved about? She sighed. She was just too tired to figure it out.
The evening passed in a blur. Dori’s mental turnaround concerning Seth and Sarah had left her feeling bewildered. Yet certainty that her brother was in no danger from either of them filled Dori with relief. She sank into her soft bed and murmured, “Thank You, God, for bringing me safely home.” She burrowed farther down under the covers. “Please don’t let anyone find out until after the honeymoon that I won’t be going back to Boston.” A few moments later, she fell into the soundest sleep she’d known since she left the Diamond S. Except for the Andersons’ presence, it seemed like nothing had changed, after all.
The few days before Christmas fled like shadows before the rising sun. On Christmas morning Dori awoke to the shrill whinny of a horse. She ran to her window and looked outside. Curly, Bud, and Slim were standing by the prettiest pinto mare Dori had ever seen. Seth was in the saddle, patting the horse’s neck. Curly’s voice floated up to Dori.
“You are one lucky cuss, Seth. Miss Dori’s gonna hug your neck when she sees Splotches.”
Bud and Slim guffawed.
Dori felt herself turn scarlet. What did Curly mean? Had Seth Anderson bought her a horse? She thrilled to the idea even while knowing it was impossible and watched Seth slide to the ground. How would he answer Curly?
Seth just laughed. “Naw. It’s her brother who’s gonna get hugged. I just broke the mare.” Splotches nosed him. “Hope she likes you, girl. If she doesn’t, she’s a mighty poor judge of horseflesh.”
Like the pinto? Dori already loved her. She scrambled into her old riding clothes and pelted down the stairs and out to the corral, where Matt had joined the others. “Is she for me?” she burst out.
Matt raised one eyebrow. “What makes you think that? Do you deserve her?”
Dori’s joy fled. She shifted uneasily but didn’t flinch from Matt’s probing gaze. Honesty forced her to admit, “No, but I love Splotches.”
The cowboys went into spasms of laughter.
Matt took the reins from Seth and held them out to Dori. “Good enough. Merry Christmas, sister.”
Excitement filled Dori. “A brand-new horse!” She threw her arms around Matt, then around the mare’s neck. Splotches whickered and stamped one foot. Dori took the reins and swung into the saddle. “Thank you. She’s gorgeous.”
“She’s also gentle. Seth broke her for you,” Bud put in.
“Thank you, Seth.”
Slim added before Seth could reply. “Aw, ’twasn’t nothin’. Seth said Splotches was the easiest horse he ever broke. Say, ain’t you gonna try her out?”
“You bet I am.” Dori touched the pinto’s sides with her boot heels and called over her shoulder, “I hope I can still ride western.”
Splotches took off like a startled jackrabbit, followed by Curly’s bellow, “Can she still ride? I’ll tell the world she can.” A chorus of approving cowboy yells warmed Dori through and through.
She didn’t head for home until the sun was high in the sky and her growling stomach clamored for the breakfast she had skipped. “Fine thing, running off on Christmas morning,” she told her new horse. “But it was worth it.” She reached the ranch and burst into the kitchen. “I’m starving.”
Solita stopped tossing tortillas and smiled at Sarah, who was seated at the table with a cup of delicious-smelling Mexican cocoa that made Dori’s mouth water. “You haven’t changed.”
Sarah laughed. “I don’t wonder that you’re hungry. You’ve been gone for hours.”
“I lost track of time.”
“I don’t blame you. When I’m on a horse, I forget everything else. Riding gives me a sense of freedom.” She stood. “Speaking of freedom, I’ll still be a free woman tomorrow if I don’t hustle. If you’ll excuse me, I have to do some packing. After all, I’m marrying the most wonderful man in the world just a few hours from now.”
If Dori hadn’t already been won over by Sarah’s integrity, the bride-tobe’s expression would have settled all doubts. “Is there anything I can do to help you?”
“Feed that mountain lion raging inside you,” Sarah advised. Her eyes twinkled. “One other thing. I like your riding outfit, but you might want to change for the wedding.” A trill of laughter floated back as she ran out of the kitchen.
Dori had barely finished eating when Matt burst in. “Where’s my girl—I mean, my other girl?” he wanted to know.
“Getting ready to become your wife,” Dori told him.
“Yes.” A poignant light came into his blue eyes. “Little sister, this is the happiest day of my life. I just pray that one day you will feel the way I do right now. Sarah completes my life.”
As I once did.
Dori felt a twinge of regret for days that were gone forever, but it soon passed. No one in her right mind could be jealous of Sarah. Even in the few days Dori had been home she’d observed the way Matt and Sarah fit together like two blades on a fine pair of scissors. They would have a good life.
Dori swallowed hard. Would Matt’s prayer for her be answered? Would she one day be readying herself to marry someone who would make her life complete? Someone as fine as her brother—someone she considered the most wonderful man in the world?
Dori wasn’t the only one thinking about a life companion. While Seth waited to walk Sarah down the aisle of the Madera church, a pang of envy knocked at his heart’s door. God, do You have a girl like Sarah picked out for me? He put aside the thought. Christmas and the wedding were making him soft. If God had someone in mind, He wasn’t telling…and wouldn’t until the time was right.
Seth grinned to himself and told Sarah, “You don’t want to keep Matt waiting.”
She nudged him and sent a pointed glance toward Dori, seated in the front row with Solita. “Just remember: Your turn’s coming.”
Seth felt his pulse quicken. He took revenge by whispering, “Naw. She’s too Bostonish for a poor, lonesome cowpoke,” and tried to ignore his poor, lonesome cowpoke’s heartbeat that had changed from a slow walk to a full gallop.