MARY ALICE THUMBED through the television listings and pulled a face. Putting down the guide, she picked up a paperback novel. Yesterday had been wonderful. Luke had eaten Thanksgiving dinner with them and stayed at the house all day. Now it was Friday night, the worst night of the week, the one when she had no hope of seeing Luke. Brock needed him, he’d told her, and Mary Alice thought it grossly unfair of his boss to make an employee work every Friday night.
Her mother came out of the kitchen. “No TV?” she asked.
“There’s nothing on.”
“There must be something,” Norma insisted, crossing the room and turning on the set.
“You just like the noise,” Mary Alice complained.
“Guess I do,” Norma agreed, settling herself in her favorite chair and focusing on the screen.
Mary Alice tried to concentrate on the book, but after a few minutes she gave up and went into her bedroom.
The room still looked much as it had when she was in high school, except now it was shabbier. She had bought a new bedspread at a discount store sale last year, but she didn’t like it all that much. She hated the whole room. Green and yellow hadn’t been fashionable for years and years. She had told Luke she wanted a blue-and-mauve bedroom when they got married, and he’d told her he’d make damned sure she got one. Mary Alice thought mauve was about the classiest color there was.
She plopped on the bed, folded her arms behind her head and stared at the ceiling, smiling. He had been so sweet and loving the night before. She had finally asked him where he intended buying the ranch, and he’d told her he was looking at a place near Fort Worth. Funny, she hadn’t even once thought they would have to move so far away, but since her mother would be with them, she didn’t suppose it mattered where they lived.
Turning her head, she glanced at the bedside clock. Lord, it wasn’t even seven yet, and she was so bored and restless she wanted to jump out of her skin. Maybe moving away wouldn’t be so bad after all. There had been a time—about a hundred years ago it seemed—when the thought of leaving Crystal Creek would have devastated her, but that was when she was in high school. She’d never run with an “in” crowd or anything close to it, but she’d had some friends. Now the few who still lived in town were married and had babies, so there was no one to hang out with. It was the same with her co-workers at the bank. Only Debbie Watson was near her own age, and Mary Alice frankly thought Debbie was a snob who considered herself better than the Priests.
Just then the phone rang, and she bolted upright, reaching for it. “I’ll get it!” she yelled as she picked up the receiver. “Hello.”
“Hi, sugar.”
“Oh, Luke.” A delicious thought came to mind. Maybe he was getting the night off after all. “Where are you?”
“I’m at the bunkhouse, but I’m fixin’ to leave.”
“Leave?”
“Yeah, Brock’s got about a hundred things for me to do tonight.”
“On Friday night?”
“Kills you, right? Wonder what he did before I came along. He works me like a slave.”
“Oh,” Mary Alice said with a pout. “I was hoping you were calling to say you’d be coming by.”
“’Fraid not. I just wanted to check up on you and give you my love.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Listen, sugar…you know all that stuff I told you about that ranch that’s for sale? I’d rather you didn’t mention that to anyone. Don’t even tell your mama.”
Mary Alice frowned. “Why?”
“’Cause there’s way too much gossipin’ goin’ on at that beauty shop, for one thing, and as much as I love your mama to death, she does like to chat. And for another, I’d just as soon Brock didn’t get wind of the fact I don’t intend workin’ for him the rest of my life. He might fire me, and I’m not quite ready to quit yet.”
“I…I guess I can understand that.”
“And the place promises to be a steal. The old boy who owns it wants to go live with his daughter in California, and he’s anxious. Someone might hear about it and grab it out from under me.”
“Okay, Luke, I won’t say a word.” It occurred to her that she might already have said too much to Lori, but how could she have known? If Luke felt that way, he should have told her earlier.
“Another thing. When it comes time, I’m gonna want you to leave on a minute’s notice. Can you do that?”
“Oh, Luke…I have to give notice at the bank. I couldn’t do that to them. And Mama wouldn’t want to go off and leave the shop without a manicurist.”
Mary Alice heard a sound of impatience on the other end of the line. “Aw, you two aren’t gonna need the bank and the beauty shop once we leave here. What are they gonna do—arrest you for quitting without notice?”
“Well, no, but…”
“It’ll be a clean break for both of you.”
“It sounds so exciting.”
“I’m hoping it will be, sugar. Yes, indeed, I’m hoping it’s gonna be very exciting. Well…guess I’d better get a move on. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
“Okay, Luke. I love you.”
“And I love you, too, sugar.”
“Good night, Luke.”
Mary Alice hung up, folded her hands in her lap and sighed heavily. It promised to be a long night, but knowing they would spend most of tomorrow together was somewhat consoling. She thought back over last year and the year before that—actually all the years since high school. They had been lonely and uneventful, but her mother had cautioned her not to expect life to be exciting. So the best Mary Alice had ever dreamed of was that something interesting would happen to her someday.
Now there was Luke, who was both interesting and exciting. He was all she could think about anymore. She even found it hard to concentrate at work, but as Luke had said, the job wasn’t as important to her as it once had been. She had so much more to think about now than growing to be an old maid behind a teller’s cage at Southwest Bank.
Mary Alice felt somehow blessed, and she wondered what on earth she had done with her time before Luke had come into her life.
THE MINUTE Luke hung up the phone he went in to take a shower. When he came out, he put on fresh jeans, a denim shirt and his work boots. After slipping on his jacket, he reached in the drawer beside his bunk and withdrew a gift-wrapped package. Frowning, he considered it a minute. He wished he could have come up with something a little more original than cologne, but the lady at the drugstore had said the fragrance was all the rage. “Whoever receives that will be impressed,” she’d promised. “Trust me.”
She ought’a be, he thought. Fifty lousy bucks. He put the package in his pocket, gave his appearance another glance in the mirror, then left the bunkhouse, climbed in the pickup and headed for Crystal Creek, just as he had every Friday night for three months.
“DID YOU HAVE a nice Thanksgiving?” Cody asked as he helped Lori on with her coat.
“Wonderful. Pounds of food. Grandma cooked for three days.” She turned to face him. “I guess it was the same at your house.”
He checked a smile. He doubted if his mother even knew where the kitchen was. “There was a lot of food.”
“There’ll be a lot tonight, too. Lettie Mae, the McKinneys’ cook, is a kitchen genius.”
“I did get some bad news while I was home, though.”
Lori’s eyes widened. “Oh, Cody, I’m so sorry!”
But he smiled. “It’s just that I’m going to have to be gone next week. A meeting of the great minds has been called,” he said, carefully avoiding any reference to the board of directors, “and a friend is having a retirement party.”
“That is dreadful news,” she teased.
“We’ll have to make the most of the weekend. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”
The McKinney household, it had always seemed to Lori, pulsated with energy, but since Cynthia’s arrival on the scene, a certain refinement had seeped into it. She had such flawless good taste and demanded the best of everything. But Cynthia was above all a smart woman who knew the kind of family she’d married into. For all the house’s beauty, there was no touch-me-not elegance to it. It was a place meant to be lived in.
Cynthia was wearing a vivid green maternity outfit that went beautifully with her blond hair. She spent most of the evening seated in a chair near the fireplace, giving the impression she was holding court because she definitely was the center of attention. The family fawned over her solicitously, taking Lori’s thoughts back to the arrival of the beautiful Bostonian at the Double C and the initial animosity J.T.’s family had shown her. What a difference a year—and the pending arrival of a new generation—could make.
Tonight almost everyone was present—Tyler and his wife Ruth, Cal and Serena, Lynn and Sam, Carolyn and Vernon. Only Beverly and Jeff Harris were missing. They had spent the day with friends at Lake Travis.
Lori was curious to see how Cody would interact with the McKinneys and how they would warm to him. He had told her he was acquainted with most of them, for they all did business with the bank, but he had never socialized with any of them. She watched in amusement as he “worked the room,” making sure he spoke individually to everyone present. He was as casually self-confident with them as if he had known them his entire life. Of course he and Cynthia had plenty to talk about since both of them had spent their lives in banking circles. He even turned out to be knowledgeable about rodeo, so he and Cal had their heads together for a long time. He was really something to watch.
Lori made her way to the fireplace where Cynthia sat. “You look wonderful, Cynthia. How do you feel?”
“I feel fine, but my ankles swell if I stay on my feet very long. Thus, the chair. I’m really impressed with your date, Lori. I’ve met Cody several times, but this is the first chance I’ve had to really talk to him. What a charmer! How long have the two of you been seeing each other?”
“This is our fourth date.”
“Well, if I were you, I’d do whatever is necessary to keep him hanging around.”
“I intend to,” Lori said.
After a delicious meal, the guests all filed into the living room where Virginia Parks was serving coffee. Most of the people present gathered near the hearth with its roaring fire, but Lori and Cody, finding no available seating, sat some distance away. They had no sooner been served their coffee than Hank put in an appearance, limping straight for Lori.
“Here comes Grandpa Hank,” she told Cody in a lowered voice. “He’ll be a hundred on December twelfth. Expect anything.”
She jumped to her feet with a welcoming smile for the old man. Cody, too, stood and watched as the oldest person he had ever seen advanced on them, leaning heavily on a cane.
“Hank, it’s wonderful to see you,” Lori said brightly. “Here, please take one of these chairs. I’ll find another one.”
Hank sat down with some difficulty. He squinted up at Cody. “Don’t believe I know you, young feller.”
Cody grinned. It had been some time since anyone had referred to him as “young feller.” “I’m Cody Hendricks, sir.”
“Name’s Hank Travis. Pardon my not gettin’ up, but my hip gives me some trouble from time to time.”
Lori, who had gone to find another chair, returned with one from the dining room. “Have the two of you met?” she asked.
“We just did,” Cody said. He and Lori sat on either side of Hank, who was giving Cody a complete once-over.
“You’re not from around here, are you?”
“No, sir. I’m from Houston.”
“Houston, huh? What’d you do down there?”
“I was with the Oil and Gas Department of Southwest Bank.”
A glimmer of interest lit up Hank’s eyes. “Don’t say. What’cha doin’ here?”
“Cody’s manager of the Crystal Creek branch now, Hank,” Lori explained.
“Mmm.” Hank hooked the cane over the arm of his chair, reached into his shirt pocket, withdrew some papers and a pouch of tobacco. He expertly rolled a cigarette and lit it. Exhaling smoke, he said, “I was in the oil bi’ness longer’n you been alive.”
“Where did you work, sir?”
“All over the damned place. Oklahoma, East Texas, the Permian Basin. All over.”
“Those must have been exciting days,” Cody said.
“Yep. Man’s work. Not like the prissy-pants operations they got goin’ now. In those days, a man had to know what the hell he was doin’. Now all he’s gotta know is how to push buttons. Nowadays drillers show up for work dressed like they’s on their way to church.” He leaned toward Cody conspiratorially. “Tell me somethin’—if I was to come to you wantin’ to borrow some money to do a little prospectin’, what would you say?”
Cody tried very hard to keep a straight face. He chanced a glance at Lori, who was fighting her own smile, then back at Hank.
“Well, sir, I…”
“Stop sir-in’ me. My name’s Hank.”
“Well, Hank…first of all, I’d want to know where you intend drilling the well.”
“On a couple’a acres an ol’ drinkin’ buddy of mine owned. Family’s all gone now, and the land’s just layin’ there in Dimmit County.”
“Dimmit? That’s in the Austin Chalk.”
“Damn right.”
“So you’re talking about a horizontal well.”
Hank cackled. “Kills me, ever’body gettin’ so damned excited about horizontal drillin’, like it was just discovered last month. When I was in the oil patch it was called slant-holin’ and was illegal as hell ’cause guys used it to suck up oil from other fellers’ wells. Sure I’m talkin’ about a horizontal well.”
“All right,” Cody said, being as businesslike as he could manage, “so assuming you could come up with a deed to the property, I’d want to see the geology of the area, the subsurface structure, Landsat imagery, that sort of thing. I’d want to know who was going to do the actual drilling and something about their track record in the business. I’d want to know how many investors you have and—”
Hank interrupted with an impatient snort. “You don’t need any o’ that BS. I’ve seen the oil.”
Cody frowned. “Seen it? You mean, you’ve seen core samples or something like that?”
“No, I’ve seen the goddamn oil! Up here.” He tapped his forehead.
Cody didn’t know what to say. He looked at Lori and was astonished to see her nod her head in all seriousness, as though what the old man had said made perfect sense to her. Turning back to Hank, he asked, “Do you have a survey of the property?”
“Yep, somewhere. Ol’ Shorty gave it to me once for safekeepin’. He was awful bad about misplacin’ stuff. Then he died…oh, ’bout twelve years ago. I tried to find some family, but I never could. Damned near forgot all ’bout the land until I had a dream.”
“A dream?” Cody repeated.
“Yep. There’s oil down there, all right. I’ve seen it. Oh, I know Beverly’s young feller is drillin’ on my land, but that’s his deal. Our deal was that I would get lease payments and an override if they hit. I’m talkin’ ’bout a last hurrah for me. Goddamn if it wouldn’t be good to be around a bunch of oilers again! All ever’body around here wants to talk about is cows…and grapes.” The last word was said with a sneer. It was common knowledge that Hank thought Tyler McKinney’s venture into wine making was the silliest thing he had ever heard of, and he predicted dismal failure to anyone who would listen.
Now Hank, before Cody’s dumbfounded eyes, pinched off the burning tip of his cigarette, put it in a nearby ashtray and pocketed the half-smoked stub.
“Yes, sirree,” the old man said, more to himself than to Cody, “if I could just sit around some all-night café, drinkin’ coffee, smokin’ and listenin’ to the chatter of half a dozen roughnecks…” A faraway look came to Hank’s eyes. “If I could just do that for about a week, I could die a happy man.”
At that moment there was some sort of commotion at the hearth. Lori looked over to see everyone on their feet, hovering over Cynthia.
“Why didn’t you say something earlier, darling?” J.T. exclaimed. The color had drained from his face.
“Because it wasn’t time to say anything, and I didn’t want to spoil the party. The contractions have been coming all evening, but they’ve been widely spaced. Now they’re coming more frequently, so I think it’s about time—”
“Somebody call Dr. Purdy!” J.T. yelled, and Ruth ran out of the room.
“Is your bag packed?” Lynn asked anxiously.
“My bag has been packed for two weeks.” Cynthia was the calmest person in the room.
Something had alerted Virginia, who bustled in. Taking stock of what was going on, she said, “I’ll get the bag.”
“Listen, everybody,” Lynn said. “I think we ought to take as few cars as possible. You know what the parking situation at the hospital is. Tyler and Ruth can ride with Carolyn and Vern, and Cal and Serena can go with Sam and me, and…”
“Serena and I are going to have to take our car,” Cal put in. “We’re going back to Austin tonight.”
“Wait a minute!” Tyler got everyone’s attention. “I don’t think we should create a mob scene at the hospital. I think Carolyn and Vern should go and Lynn go with them. The rest of us can wait here. We’ll just be in the way.”
Everyone seemed to agree with that. Amid much ado, J.T., Cynthia, Carolyn, Vernon and Lynn left. As Lynn passed her, Lori touched her arm. “Call me.”
“Will do,” Lynn promised.
At some point during all the confusion, Hank had dozed off. Lori signaled to Tyler, who crossed the room and touched the old man’s shoulder.
“Come on, Grandpa Hank. It’s bedtime.”
Hank roused and looked around. “Where’d ever’body go?”
“Daddy and Cynthia have gone to the hospital. The baby.”
“Do tell.” With some effort, he heaved himself out of his chair. Cody stood, too, and made a motion to help him, but it was brushed aside. “Be talkin’ to you, young feller. You think about what I said.”
“I’ll do that, Hank. Good night.”
A lull fell over the room. Virginia hurried in, collecting coffee cups. Ruth went to help her.
“Anybody want a drink?” Cal asked. He and Sam made for the bar at the far end of the room.
Lori looked at Cody. “I think we should go.”
“I think so, too. This is a very private time.”
No one protested their leaving too much, knowing the vigil might be a long one and best done in the bosom of family. Outside, as Cody held the car door open for Lori, he said, “It’s awfully early. Is there someplace you’d like to go?”
“Not that I can think of. Why don’t we go to my house? There might be something on TV…or you might not have seen some of my videos. And I have a bottle of wine in the fridge that the man at the liquor store said is just dying to be noticed.” She smiled. “Maybe we should go notice it.”
Cody grinned. “Sounds good to me.” He shifted into gear and drove off. “Tell me something, Lori…do you think Hank really did see oil on that property?”
“Absolutely.”
“I thought so. I could tell by the look on your face that you weren’t having a bit of trouble with it. You know, it could have just been a dream, the kind ordinary people have all the time. That doesn’t mean the oil’s actually there.”
“Yes, it does,” she said with a smile, “because Hank doesn’t have ordinary dreams. Oh, I know it’s hard to believe, and there are plenty of people who think he’s just a little tetched. But the McKinneys, Caro and I, Beverly—those of us who know him well—have just seen him proved right too many times to be skeptical.”
Cody gave that some thought. “If anyone else told me that, I’d have my doubts, but you’re perfectly sensible and rational, so I can’t dismiss it as nonsense.”
“I could tell you plenty of stories,” Lori said seriously. “For instance, the morning Caro and I were in the bank and discovered money missing from her account…”
Cody tensed. “Yes?”
“Only the night before, Hank had a dream that someone had stolen something from her.”
“That’s…amazing.”
“Another instance. Last spring we had a real bad storm here in the Hill Country, the worst one in years. Hank had predicted it for weeks.”
“Oh, come on, Lori. The woods are full of old-timers who are forever correctly predicting the weather. They’ve been around so long they can pretty well tell when it’s time for a big rain or whatever.”
“No, no, it wasn’t his predicting the storm that was so incredible. It was something else. There’s a woman who works the horses at the Circle T. Her name is Rosa Martinez, and she has a little girl, Teresa. Teresa had become attached to a dog named Bluebonnet, a dog Carolyn had taken in and nursed back to health after it was abandoned by the side of the road and struck by a car. Somehow Teresa got the mistaken notion that Carolyn was going to have Manny Hernandez put Bluebonnet to sleep, so she ran away with him. Then the storm hit, and the river flooded, and the little girl and the dog got caught out in it. Half of Claro County was out looking for them, but they’d about given up hope when Hank had one of his visions or dreams. He sent rescuers straight to them.”
Cody sat back and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “That’s pretty incredible.”
“It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever personally seen.”
“Tell me something else, Lori…these visions of Hank’s. Do they just come to him out of the blue, or are they prompted by things he’s been thinking about for a while?”
She frowned in thought. “I don’t know. Maybe both. Why?”
“Oh…no reason. ESP, clairvoyance, things like that fascinate me.”
Lori chuckled. “Cody, real bankers, good bankers aren’t supposed to believe such things even exist.”
“I know.” A bemused expression crossed Cody’s face as he thought of his father and the bad time he gave him over Mary’s ostrich farm. Wonder what he’d have to say if I okayed a drilling loan because a hundred-year-old man “saw” oil on the property.
He became aware that Lori was studying him. “You don’t remind me of a banker in any way,” she said.
Smiling, he shot her a sideways glance. “How many bankers have you known?”
“Just one.”
He smiled. “Well, you don’t remind me of an accountant, either, and I’ve known a bunch of those.”
The Circle T looked deserted and probably was. One lone light shone from a window in the main house, and there were none coming from the bunkhouse. Lori wondered if she and Cody were the only souls stirring on the place.
Inside Lori’s house, Cody shrugged out of his jacket, tossed it on the back of an armchair and sat down on the sofa. Lori opened the folding doors that hid the kitchenette from view and withdrew a bottle of wine from the fridge. While she uncorked it and poured it into glasses, she said, “The TV listings are on top of the set.”
“I’m not much for TV…unless there’s a big game of some sort on.”
“My videos are in that cabinet over there.”
“Why don’t we just talk? We have a long way to go toward getting really well acquainted.”
“Suits me.” She carried the glasses across the room, handed him one and sat down beside him. “I hope this lives up to its reputation. Are you a wine fancier?”
“Good Lord, no. I’m not even very particular about the brand of beer I drink.”
Lori clinked her glass against his and took a sip. “Pretty good” was her verdict. “I’m not an expert, either. The man told me it had a full, fruity finish.” She shrugged. “I’ll take his word for it.”
Cody lifted his glass to his lips and studied her over its rim. Lowering the glass, he said, “You’re a very beautiful woman, Lori. Has anyone ever told you what incredible eyes you have?”
The statement took Lori’s breath away. “Well…I don’t know. Seems like I would remember if anyone had.” Cocking her head, she gave him an amused look. “If that’s not a line, it’s just about the nicest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I don’t use lines. I wouldn’t know how.”
“Then you don’t deserve your reputation.”
Cody looked at her, puzzled. “My reputation?”
“That you’re a ladies’ man.”
“You’re kidding!”
“Not a bit.”
He gave that some thought. He was single and had been for some years, so he dated. He was positive deep in his heart that he had never done anything to make a woman think there was more to their relationship than actually existed. The term “ladies’ man” bothered him enormously. It smacked of a man who used women for pleasure and little else. He hated it that Lori had heard something like that. “I like the company of women,” he said simply. “I always have. I like the female viewpoint on life. It gives me a new perspective. Women tend to ponder and dissect things, seeing them from all angles. I hate to generalize, but most men see things in black and white, usually in connection with themselves. Do you know what men talk about when no women are present?”
“Women?”
“Ah, I figured that’s what women think, but I’m going to destroy a myth right here and now. The conversation between a bunch of guys is pure vapid drivel—earned run averages, new car models, what a jackass an office superior is, the condition of the twelfth green. It’s women who like to discuss interpersonal relationships. Men lean heavily toward Rambo-type conversations.”
“I’d never thought about it,” Lori mused. “Of course, I haven’t known all that many men really well. Family members, especially the DeMarcos. Now there’s a macho bunch. I’ll bet no man in that family has ever so much as rinsed out a cup, let alone conducted a ‘meaningful’ conversation with…well, with anybody. But other than my dad’s family, there were a few boyfriends, then Michael.”
“Was he your first love?”
“Yes.”
There was a bite to Lori’s voice that wasn’t typical of her. “For some reason, I have the impression that the breakup wasn’t amicable.”
“Hardly.”
“How long were you together?”
“Ten years.”
“That’s a long time,” Cody remarked.
“Yes, but actually we were only married four years before disaster struck.”
“Disaster?”
“Yes. She was blond.”
“Yet you stayed with him six more years.”
“It takes me a long time to own up to failure, I guess. I was married ten years, and Michael was married four. The blonde was just the first of several women.”
Cody wondered whether being involved with a philanderer had colored her perception of men in general. “What about the coach?”
“Lou?” She was startled that Cody knew anything about Lou.
“Yes. You were dating him when I first arrived in Crystal Creek, as I recall.”
He’d noticed? “Lou and I were little more than friends. I don’t think either of us ever thought the relationship would be permanent. I know I didn’t.”
“Isn’t it odd that we both have reached, roughly, midlife having had only one serious relationship? There aren’t many like us around.”
“By today’s standards, I’m practically a virgin.” Lori twisted toward him and propped an elbow on the back of the sofa. “You’ve been alone a long time.”
“Yes, I have. You know…you remind me of Joanne in a lot of ways.”
“Your wife?”
“Yes.”
Good Lord, she thought. Is that why he asks me out? How discouraging!
“She was dark-haired, very sweet and pretty,” Cody added.
Well, that helps some. “You’ll be happy to know you don’t remind me of Michael at all.”
“How come?”
“For one thing, you seem to be a man of ambition. Michael wasn’t, not even a little bit. He was a salesman for an electronics firm, and he had the gift of gab to make a good one. But he was more interested in making sure he could play golf every weekend. I sat by and watched other men in the company get ahead while he stagnated. If I had been in his shoes, that would have bothered me tremendously, but I don’t think he cared in the least, just as long as he didn’t miss any vacation time.”
“And for another?”
She studied him seriously. “I realize we don’t know each other well, Cody, but instinct tells me you’d never allow your wife to be humiliated and made to feel undesirable.”
A smile touched the corners of his lips. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. And I can’t imagine what kind of creep would let you think for a minute you’re undesirable. You well may be the most desirable woman I’ve ever met.”
Lori felt her insides melt. It had been so long since she’d heard talk like that she’d forgotten how a woman was supposed to respond to it. Not, she was sure, with the wide-eyed, gaping, schoolgirl expression she felt on her face at that moment. “I…ah, that’s a nice thing to say.”
“Only the truth.”
The arm resting on the sofa dropped as she saw him inch closer to her. He gave her a torturously slow, methodical kiss that sent waves of heat coursing through her. He kissed her mouth, her eyes, the tip of her nose, then her mouth again. “Lori,” he murmured huskily. “You have the strangest effect on me. It’s the damnedest thing I’ve ever felt.”
Lori noticed the amber liquid in her glass undulating slightly. She placed the glass on the coffee table and clasped her hands together. “In…what way?”
“Well, it’s not easy to explain. It—”
There was a knock at the door. Lori frowned, mumbled “Who on earth?” and got to her feet to answer it. To her surprise, Beverly and Jeff Harris stood on the stoop. “What are you doing here? We thought you were with your friends at the lake. Come in.”
Beverly preceded Jeff into the room and did a little double take when she saw Cody, who was getting to his feet. “Hi, Cody.”
“Hello, Beverly.”
“Have you met Jeff Harris?”
“I believe we did meet once last summer.” Cody stepped forward and offered his hand. “Nice to see you again.”
Jeff looked a trifle uncertain about their having met before, but he shook Cody’s hand, smiled and said, “Nice to see you, too.”
Beverly turned to Lori. “Where are Mama and Vern? We drove by the Double C, but their car isn’t there. Neither is J.T.’s Cadillac. And just as we passed the place, we saw Cal and Serena driving off. Did the party break up early?”
“Yes, because the hostess went into labor. Caro, Vern and Lynn are at the hospital.”
Beverly clapped her hands together. “How exciting! A new cousin. Come on, Jeff, let’s go to the hospital.”
“Why?” he asked. “So we can sit around waiting for a baby to be born?”
“Tyler suggested we not create a mob scene at the hospital,” Lori said.
“Then what are we going to do?” Beverly asked Jeff.
“Do we have to do something?”
Lori was surprised by that remark. Surely by now Jeff knew that, yes, Beverly had to “do” something every waking minute. Resigned to company whether she wanted it or not, she shot Cody a vaguely apologetic look and said the last thing she wanted to say. “Cody and I were having a glass of wine. Would you like to join us?”
“Do you have beer instead?” Jeff asked.
“Yes.”
“I’d rather have that.”
“You, Bev?”
“Beer for me, too, thanks.”
Lori was getting the beer out of the fridge when her astonished ears picked up the sound of another knock on the door. What is this? she wondered. She stayed out here night after night for months and no one came by. Why tonight? “Get that, will you, Bev?”
“Sure.”
The new visitors were Brock and Amanda. Beverly asked them inside. “Where are your mom and Vern?” Amanda asked. “We were on our way back from town and thought we’d stop for a minute.”
“Cynthia’s having her baby. They’re at the hospital,” Beverly explained. “Come on in. We’re all just waiting for some news.”
Amanda and Brock stepped into the room. “Hello, Cody,” Brock said in greeting. “How’re things going?”
“Pretty good, thanks.”
“Do you know Amanda Walker?”
“I don’t believe I do. Hello, Amanda.”
Greetings were exchanged all the way around, and drinks were passed. Normally Lori would have considered the impromptu get-together a pleasant diversion, but tonight she would have given anything simply to be alone with Cody. They exchanged glances from time to time, the message in his eyes clearly telling her that was what he wanted, too, but apparently it wasn’t to be…not for some time at least.
But everyone was feeling talkative, and the conversation flowed amicably. Lori, Cody and Amanda polished off the bottle of wine, and more beer came out of the fridge for the others. Some time later, when the phone in Lori’s bedroom rang, all eyes flew toward the sound. Lori jumped to her feet and ran to answer it, but when she returned, she shook her head. “That was Mary Gibson. A friend who works at the hospital called to tell her Cynthia had been admitted to Maternity. She just wanted to know if we’d heard anything.”
Finally, it was Brock who made the first move to break up the gathering. Looking at his watch, he stood and held out his hand to Amanda. “I’m enjoying the heck out of this, but Amanda and I rise with the roosters these days. Guess we’ll say good-night.”
The group dispersed quickly. After saying good-night, Lori closed the door and turned to find Cody slipping on his jacket. “Must you go?”
“I think so. I have a feeling that’s not the last time that phone’s going to ring tonight.” Smiling, he walked to her and rested his hands lightly on either side of her waist. “What will you do tomorrow?”
“Saturday’s just another working day for me. But if the baby comes tonight, I’ll probably go into town to pay a call on the new mother.”
“Nothing but the drive-in windows are open tomorrow, but I usually work in my office until two or so. If you do come into town, why don’t you stop by the bank when you’re finished with your business? We’ll see what kind of trouble we can get into.”
Lori knew with certainty she was going to go into town tomorrow under some pretext or another. “Fine. How will I get in?”
“There’s an entrance in the rear with a bell. Just push the button and I’ll be down.”
“Okay. I’m not sure what time it will be.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
One of his hands moved to the side of her neck, and he looked at her with a kind of quiet intensity that took Lori’s breath away. The searching silence seemed to go on forever. Then he bent his head; his mouth found hers and moved against her lips in a hot kiss. Everything inside Lori softened; her bones seemed to have melted. She leaned into the kiss, encouraging him to deepen it. She loved the way his mouth felt, the texture of his skin against her cheek, the brush of his hair at her temples.
At last he broke the kiss. She opened her eyes, and her breath escaped in a sound that was less than a moan, more than a sigh.
“Tomorrow,” he said huskily. “Don’t make any plans. We’ll play it by ear.”
“Y-yes.”
The phone in her bedroom rang. Lori was hardly aware of it. She was still staring transfixed at his handsome face. Cody glanced pointedly toward the sound. “Maybe that’s the news you’ve been waiting for. I’ll let myself out. Good night, Lori.”
“Good night.” She stumbled into the bedroom and grabbed for the phone. “Yes?” she said, sounding as though she had been running.
“Lori, Lynn. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“Oh…no, Lynn. No.”
“You don’t sound like yourself. Cynthia just had a little girl, seven pounds, two ounces. Jennifer Travis. Little J.T. Is that cute or what?”
Lori was beginning to bring herself under control. “Oh, Lynn, how wonderful! Mother and baby are fine, I trust.”
“Perfect. And Daddy’s cooking on all four burners.”
“Give them my love, and tell Cynthia I’ll be in to see her tomorrow.”
“Will do. Well, I have to go. I have about two dozen phone calls to make. Good night.”
“Good night, Lynn. Thanks for calling.”
Lori hung up, went to the bed and sank to its edge. She laughed a little shakily and placed her hand over her heart, as though that would calm its erratic beating. She didn’t think the pulsating excitement inside her had a thing to do with Jennifer Travis McKinney’s debut into the world. Lori was forty years old, and she felt exactly the way she had in high school the night Ted Moseley kissed her after the Halloween dance—as though she had just discovered something rare and wonderful that the rest of the world knew nothing about.
If she wasn’t careful, she would fall in love. And she still knew almost nothing about Cody.