Country Bride: Country Bride / Woodrose Mountain. RaeAnne Thayne

      “Sally didn’t mean anything. She’s got a big heart.”

      “And an even bigger mouth,” Kate retorted. “We’re in trouble here, Luke Rivers, and I need to know how we’re going to get out of it.”

      “The answer to that is simple. We should get married and put an end to all the speculation.”

      Kate’s shoulders sagged in defeat. “Luke, please, I’m not in the mood for your teasing tonight. We have to get serious about...”

      Her voice dwindled away as Luke, standing behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders and nuzzled her neck. “I’m willing.”

      His touch had a curious effect on Kate’s senses, which sprang to sudden life. It took every ounce of fortitude she possessed to resist melting into his arms and accepting his comfort. But that was how they’d got into this mess in the first place.

      “The gossips are having a field day and I hate it.”

      Luke drew her away from the stove and turned her toward him. He searched her face, but his own revealed not a hint of annoyance or distress. “I don’t mind if folks talk. It’s only natural, don’t you think?”

      “How can you say that?”

      “Kate, you’re making this out to be some kind of disaster.”

      “But don’t you see? It is! There are people out there who actually believe we’re falling in love.”

      “You do love me. I told you that earlier. Remember?”

      “Oh, Luke,” she cried, so disheartened she wanted to weep. “I know what you’re trying to do and I appreciate it with all my heart, but it isn’t necessary. It really isn’t.”

      Luke looked baffled. “I don’t understand.”

      “You’ve been so sweet.” She laid her hand against his clean-shaven cheek. “Any other man would’ve laughed in my face when I made him promise to marry me, but you agreed and now, out of consideration for my pride, my feelings, you claim you’re going through with it.”

      “Kate,” he said, guiding her to the table and gently pressing her into a chair. “Sit down. I have something important to tell you—something I’ve been trying to tell you since the night of the wedding.”

      “What is it?” she asked, once she was seated.

      Luke paced the floor directly in front of her chair. “I should’ve told you much sooner, but with everything else that’s going on in your life, finding the right time has been difficult.” He paused and frowned at her as though he was having trouble choosing his words.

      “Yes?” she coaxed.

      “I’m buying the Circle L.”

      The kitchen started to sway. Kate reached out and gripped the edge of the table. She’d hoped it would be months, at least, before a buyer was found. And it had never occurred to her that Luke might be that buyer. “I see,” she said, smiling through her shock. “I... I’d have thought Dad would’ve said something himself.”

      “I asked him not to.”

      Her troubled gaze clashed with Luke’s. Despite her shock she felt curious. How could Luke afford to buy a ranch, especially one as large as this? She knew he’d been raised by an uncle, who had died years before. Had there been an inheritance? “Luke,” she ventured shyly, “I know it’s none of my business, but...”

      “How did I come by the money?” he finished for her. “You have every right to ask. I inherited it from my uncle Dan—I’ve told you about him. He owned a couple of businesses in Wyoming, where I grew up. There was also a small sum left to me by my grandfather. I invested everything, together with most of what Devin’s paid me over the years, and I’ve got enough now to buy the ranch outright—which’ll leave your dad and Dorothea in good financial shape for their retirement. I’ll be able to expand the operation, too.”

      Kate nodded absently. She hadn’t known much about Luke’s background, apart from the fact that he had very little family, that he’d lost his parents at an early age. She supposed those losses were the reason he’d been so sympathetic, such a comfort to her and Devin, at the time of Nora’s death.

      It still seemed too much to take in. Her home—it was going to belong to Luke. He’d move his things from the small foreman’s house, though she knew he hadn’t accumulated many possessions. But it meant that soon she’d be sorting through and packing up the memories of a lifetime.... She bit her lip.

      He knelt in front of her, grasping her fingers with his warm, hard hands. “I realize you’ve been through a lot of emotional upheaval lately, but this should help.”

      “Help!” she wailed. “How could it possibly—?”

      “There’s no reason for you to be uprooted now.”

      For a stunned second she didn’t react. “I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.”

      “Once we’re married, we’ll live right here.”

      “Married!” she almost shouted. “I’m beginning to hate the sound of that word.”

      “You’d better get used to it, because the way I figure, we’re going to be husband and wife before Christmas. We’ll let Devin and Dorothea take their vows first—I don’t want to steal their thunder—and then we’ll wait a couple of weeks and have the Reverend Wilkins marry us.”

      “Luke, this is all very sweet of you, but it isn’t necessary.” Kate was convinced that this sudden desire to make her his wife was founded in sympathy. He felt sorry for her because of all the unexpected jolts that had hit her recently. Including this latest one.

      “I can’t understand why you’re arguing with me.”

      Her hand caressed his jaw. How square and strong it was, and the eyes that gazed at her had never seemed darker or more magnetic. She smiled sadly. “Don’t you think it’s a little...odd to be discussing marriage when you’ve never once said you love me?”

      “I love you.”

      It should have been a solemn moment, but Kate couldn’t help laughing. “Oh, Luke, that was terrible.”

      “I’m serious. I love you and you love me.”

      “Of course we love each other, but what we feel is what friends feel. The kind of love brothers and sisters share.”

      Fire leaped into his eyes, unlike anything she’d seen in him before. With any other man, she would have been frightened—but this was Luke....

      “Instead of looking at me as if you’re tempted to turn me over your knee, you should be grateful I’m not holding you to your word.”

      “Kate,” he said loudly, “we’re getting married.” He spoke as though he was daring her to disagree with him.

      She lowered her head and brushed his lips with her own. “No, we’re not. I’ll always be grateful to have a friend as good as you, Luke Rivers. Every woman deserves someone just as kind and thoughtful, but we’d be making the biggest mistake of our lives if we went through with this marriage.”

      “I don’t think that’s true.”

      “I’m sane and rational, and I’m not going to disintegrate under the emotional stress of Clay’s wedding or my father’s remarriage, or the sale of the ranch. Life goes on—I learned that after my mother died. It sounds so clichéd, but it’s the truth. I learned to deal with losing her and I’ll do the same with everything else.”

      “Kate, you don’t get it. I want to marry you.”

      “Oh, Luke, it’s so nice of you. But you don’t love me. Not the way you should. Someday, you’ll make some lucky woman a fantastic husband.” Kate had