Country Bride: Country Bride / Woodrose Mountain. RaeAnne Thayne

this! Why have you changed?”

      “Is it really that bad?” he cajoled softly, ignoring her question.

      “I don’t know what happened to you—to us—at the wedding reception, but like you said, something must’ve been in the air. Let’s blame it on the champagne and drop it before one of us gets hurt.”

      “If you gave the idea of our getting married some serious thought, it might grow on you,” he suggested next.

      Then he got to his feet and moved purposefully toward her, his mouth twisted in a cocky grin. “Maybe this will help you decide what’s best.”

      “I—”

      He laid a finger across her mouth. “It seems to me you’ve forgotten it’s not ladylike to be quite so stubborn.” With that, he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her gently against him.

      Knowing what he intended, Kate opened her mouth to protest, but he fastened his lips over hers, sealing off the words, and to her chagrin, soon erasing them altogether. Her fingers gripped the collar of his blue button-snap shirt and against every dictate of her will her mouth parted, welcoming his touch.

      When he released her, it was a minor miracle that she didn’t collapse on the floor. He paused and a wide grin split his face.

      “Yup,” he said, looking pleased, “you love me all right.”

Three

      Kate had never felt more grateful for a Monday morning than she did the following day. At least when she was at school, she had the perfect excuse to avoid another confrontation with Luke. He seemed to believe he was somehow responsible for her and to take that responsibility quite seriously. She had absolutely no intention of holding him to his promise and couldn’t understand why he was being so stubborn. To suggest she was in love with him simply because she’d proposed marriage and responded ardently to his kisses revealed how truly irrational Luke Rivers had become.

      Kate paused and let that thought run through her mind a second time, then laughed aloud. No wonder Luke insisted on marrying her. Kate had to admit she could see why he might have the wrong impression. Still, she wished she could think of some way to set him straight.

      Luke was right about a few things, though. She did love him—but not in the way he implied. She felt for him as a sister did toward a special older brother. As a woman did toward a confidant and companion of many years’ standing. The feelings she’d experienced when he kissed her were something of a mystery, but could easily be attributed to the heightened emotions following Clay’s wedding. There’d been so many changes in Kate’s life during the past few months that she barely understood herself anymore.

      She could never love Luke the way she’d loved Clay. For as long as Kate could remember, she’d pictured herself as Clay’s wife. Joining her life with any other man’s seemed not only wrong but completely foreign.

      “Good morning, Miss Logan,” seven-year-old Taylor Morgenroth said as he walked casually into the classroom. “I saw you at Mr. Franklin’s wedding on Saturday.”

      “You did?” It shouldn’t surprise her, since nearly every family in town had been represented at the wedding. Probably more of her students had seen her there.

      “You were with Mr. Rivers, weren’t you? My mom kept asking my dad who you were dancing with. That was Mr. Rivers, wasn’t it?”

      “Yes.” Kate had to bite her tongue to keep from explaining that she hadn’t actually been “with” Luke. He wasn’t her official date, although they’d attended the wedding together. But explaining something like that to a second-grader would only confuse the child.

      “My dad made me dance with my older sister. It was yucky.”

      Kate managed some remark about how much of a gentleman Taylor had been, but she doubted that he wanted to hear it.

      Before long, the students of Nightingale Elementary were filing into the classroom and rushing toward their desks. From that point on, Kate didn’t have time to think about Luke or Saturday night or anything else except her lesson plans for the day.

      At noon she took her packed lunch to the staff room. Several of the other teachers were already seated at the circular tables.

      “Kate!” Sally Daley, the sixth-grade teacher, waved her hand to gain Kate’s attention. She smiled, patting the empty chair beside her.

      Reluctantly Kate joined the older woman, sending an apologetic look to her friend Linda Hutton, the third-grade teacher, with whom she usually had lunch. Sally had the reputation of being a busybody, but Kate couldn’t think of a way to elude her without being rude.

      “We were just talking about you,” Sally said warmly, “and we thought it would be nice if you’d sit with us today.”

      “I’ll be happy to,” Kate said, feeling a twinge of guilt at the lie. She opened her brown bag, taking out a container of peach-flavored yogurt and two rye crisps.

      “Clay’s wedding was really lovely, wasn’t it?” Sally asked without preamble. “And now I understand your father and Dorothea Murphy are going to be tying the knot?” Her questioning tone indicated she wasn’t certain of her facts.

      “That’s right,” Kate said cheerfully.

      “Kind of a surprise, wasn’t it?”

      “Kind of,” was all Kate would admit, although she realized she should’ve known her father was falling in love with Mrs. Murphy. They’d been spending more and more time together since early summer. If Kate hadn’t been so blinded by what was happening between her and Clay, she would’ve noticed how serious her father had become about Dorothea long before now.

      “It’s going to be difficult for you, isn’t it, dear?” Sally asked sympathetically. “Everyone knows how close you and your father have been since Nora died.”

      “I’m very pleased my father’s planning to remarry.” And Kate was. The initial shock had worn off; she felt genuinely and completely happy that her father had found someone to love. He’d never complained, but Kate knew he’d been lonely during the past few years.

      “Still, it must be a blow,” Sally pressed, “especially coming on the heels of Clay and Rorie getting married. It seems your whole life’s been turned upside down, doesn’t it?”

      Kate nodded, keeping her eyes focused on her sparse meal.

      “Speaking of Clay and Rorie, their wedding was lovely,” Susan Weaver, the kindergarten teacher, put in.

      “I thought so, too,” Kate said, smiling through the pain. “Rorie will be a perfect wife for him.” The words nearly stuck in her throat, although she was fully aware of their truth. Rorie was an ideal complement to Clay. From the moment she’d stepped into their lives, she’d obviously belonged with him.

      “The new Mrs. Franklin is certainly an ambitious soul. Why, the library hasn’t been the same since she took over. There are education programs going on every other week. Displays. Lectures. I tell you, nothing but good has happened since she moved to Nightingale.”

      “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

      Sally nodded. “You’ve taken this...disappointment over Clay rather well,” she murmured with cloying sympathy. “And now your father remarrying so soon afterward...” She gently patted Kate’s hand. “If there’s anything I can do for you, Kate, anything at all, during this difficult time, I want you to call me. I know I speak for each and every staff member when I say that. Your father must see what a wonderful daughter you’ve been, and I’m sorry all of this is being added to your burden just now. But if it’s ever more than you can bear, your friends at Nightingale Elementary will be honored to stand by your side. All you have to do is call.” The other women nodded.

      If Sally was expecting a lengthy