Country Bride: Country Bride / Woodrose Mountain. RaeAnne Thayne

as if his few words were explanation enough.

      “I’m going to bed,” she said, turning abruptly away from him. “You can do as you like.”

      A moment of stunned silence followed her words before he chuckled softly, seductively. “I’m sure you don’t mean that the way it sounds.”

      * * *

      As Kate expected, the small community buzzed with the news of her fiasco with Eric Wilson. Neighbor delighted in telling neighbor how Luke Rivers had swooped her into his arms and how the entire Friday-night crowd at the Red Bull had cheered as he’d carried her off the dance floor.

      Kate needed every ounce of courage she possessed just to walk down Main Street. Her smile felt stiff and false and she was convinced she had the beginnings of an ulcer.

      To worsen matters, all the townsfolk seemed to believe it was their place to offer her free advice.

      “You stick with Luke Rivers. He’s a far better man than that city slicker,” the butcher told her Saturday afternoon.

      Blushing heatedly, she ordered a pork roast and left as soon as she’d paid.

      “I understand you and Luke Rivers caused quite a ruckus the other night at the steak house,” the church secretary said Sunday morning after the service. “I heard about the romantic way Luke carried you outside.”

      Kate hadn’t found being carried off the least bit romantic but she smiled kindly, made no comment and returned home without a word.

      “What’s this I hear about you and Luke Rivers?” The moment Kate entered her classroom Monday morning, Sally Daley appeared.

      “Whatever you heard, I’m sure it was vastly exaggerated,” Kate said hurriedly.

      “That could be,” Sally admitted with a delicate laugh. “You certainly know how to keep this town talking. First Clay’s wedding reception, and now this. By the way, Clay and Rorie are back from Hawaii, and I heard they both have marvelous tans.”

      “That often happens in Hawaii,” Kate said, sarcastically, barely holding on to her composure.

      No sooner had Sally left than Linda showed up. “Is it true?” she demanded, her eyes as round as quarters.

      Kate shrugged. “Probably.”

      “Oh, good grief, the whole thing about squelching rumors backfired, didn’t it?”

      Miserably Kate nodded. She was afraid she’d dissolve in a puddle of tears the next time someone mentioned Luke’s name. “After what happened to me Friday night, well... I just don’t think it’s possible to feel any more humiliated.”

      “I thought you said you hadn’t met Eric,” Linda said, clearly puzzled.

      “I hadn’t when you and I talked. Eric and I ran into each other at the grocery not ten minutes after you mentioned his name.”

      Linda slumped against the side of Kate’s desk. “I try for months to meet a new man and nothing happens. It doesn’t make sense. A few minutes after you decide to look, one pops up in front of you like a bird in a turkey shoot!”

      “Beginner’s luck.” Except that Friday night could in no way be classified as lucky.

      “Oh, Kate, you’ve really done it now.”

      “I know,” she whispered in a tone of defeat.

      Kate’s day ended much as it had begun, which meant that by four o’clock she had a headache to rival all headaches. After school, she stopped at the pharmacy and bought a bottle of double-strength aspirin and some antacid tablets.

      When she left the pharmacy, she headed for the library, wondering if Rorie would be back at work so soon after her honeymoon. Her friend’s smiling face greeted Kate the instant she walked through the doors.

      “Kate, it’s so good to see you.”

      “Hi, Rorie.” Kate still felt a little awkward with Clay’s bride. She suffered no regrets about bringing them together, though it had been the most painful decision of her life.

      “Sally Daley’s right,” Kate said with a light laugh as she kissed Rorie’s cheek. “You’re so tanned. You look wonderful.”

      Rorie accepted the praise with a smile that shone from her dark brown eyes. “To be honest, I never thought I’d get Clay to laze away seven whole days on the beach, but he did. Oh, Kate, we had the most wonderful time.”

      “I’m glad.” And she was. Rorie radiated happiness, and the glow of it warmed Kate’s numb heart.

      “I was just about to go on my coffee break. Have you got time to join me?” Rorie invited, glancing at her watch.

      “I’d love to.” Kate crossed her fingers. She hoped Rorie hadn’t heard any of the gossip—no doubt colorfully embroidered by now—about what had happened Friday night. At the moment, Kate needed a friend, a good friend, someone she could trust to be objective.

      While Rorie arranged to leave the library in the hands of a volunteer assistant, Kate walked over to Nellie’s Café, across the street from the pharmacy. She’d already ordered their coffee when Rorie slipped into the red upholstered booth across from her.

      “What’s this I’ve been hearing all day about you and Luke? Honestly, Kate, you know how to live dangerously, don’t you? And now Luke’s buying the Circle L and your father’s marrying Mrs. Murphy. We were only gone seven days, but I swear it felt like a year with everything Mary had to tell us once we got home.”

      Kate tried to maintain a stoic expression, although the acid in her stomach seemed to be burning a hole straight through her. There were no secrets in this town.

      “To tell you the truth, Luke and I haven’t been getting along very well lately,” she admitted, keeping her eyes lowered so as not to meet her friend’s questioning gaze.

      Rorie took a tentative sip of coffee. “Do you want to talk about it?”

      Kate nodded. She felt embarrassingly close to tears and paid careful attention to the silverware, repositioning the fork and the spoon several times.

      “Luke was so good to me after you and Clay became engaged. He couldn’t have been a better friend. Then...after the wedding I was feeling lost and alone. Luke had been dancing with me and I felt so...secure in his arms, and I’m afraid I suggested something foolish.... And now Luke keeps reminding me of it.”

      “That doesn’t sound like Luke.” Rorie frowned in puzzlement. “Nor does suggesting ‘something foolish’ sound like you.”

      “I had a glass of champagne on an empty stomach,” Kate offered as an excuse.

      “What about Luke?”

      “I don’t know, but I swear, he’s become so unreasonable about everything, and he keeps saying the most ridiculous things.”

      “Give me an example,” Rorie said.

      Kate shrugged. “He claims I love him.”

      Her remark was followed by a short silence. “What do you feel for Luke?” Rorie asked.

      “I care about him, but not in the way he assumes.” Her finger idly circled the rim of the coffee cup while she composed her thoughts. “What irritates me most is that Luke discounts everything I felt for Clay, as if my love for him was nothing more than wasted emotion.” Kate felt awkward explaining this to her ex-fiancé’s wife, but Rorie was the one person who’d understand.

      “And now that Clay’s married to me,” Rorie said, “Luke seems to think some lightbulb has snapped on inside your brain.”

      “Exactly.”

      “He thinks you should have no hesitation about throwing yourself into his loving arms?”

      “Yes!” Rorie explained