Sara Orwig - The Bride's Choice

Caleb Duncan was no harpy. He couldn’t be—he was the wrong gender. A sexy hunk with no heart was more accu- rate. Hard-hearted bastard would fit better. And she had a dinner date with him tomorrow night. He couldn’t seri- ously be thinking about marriage. But why else would he want to discuss Elnora’s will?

On Thursday evening at one minute before seven, Cal parked in front of the Aldrich home. He knew Juliana rented the small, three-bedroom frame house in a modest area of town and lived there with her grandmother and nephews. What a change to go from this to Green Oaks. He glanced over the neat flower beds that held no weeds. Seven boys played ball in the front yard, while another little boy stood and watched.

Cal climbed the front steps and punched the doorbell, feeling nervous. When the door swung open, Juliana ap- peared and he caught his breath.

She was wearing a short, simple black dress that revealed what the suit had hidden, full breasts and a tiny waist. The dark material clung to her figure and was striking with her golden hair. Looking at her, Cal felt better about the eve- ning, and the tension that gripped him eased slightly.

“Want to come in?”

“Sure,” he answered casually. She stepped back as he entered, and the faint scent of roses made him more aware of her. He followed her from the tiny entryway into a small living area and took his gaze from her hips a moment be- fore she turned around to catch him studying her.

His feelings seesawed as he surveyed the living room’s clutter and disarray, with books and baseball mitts and model airplanes on the tables. Nondescript chairs and ta- bles lined the walls and filled the corners. His tension level rose again at the disorder, yet at the same time the clutter reassured him that this was not the room of a woman who put money above all else. The ancient shag carpet was threadbare. The stuffed chairs had worn spots on the arms and there was a crack in the glass-topped coffee table. A petite woman with white hair smiled at him from a rocker.

“Grandmother, this is Elnora’s attorney, Caleb Duncan. Mr. Duncan, this is my grandmother, Mimi Gibson.”

“Evening, Mrs. Gibson.”

“Juliana told me about Miz Siever’s will,” Mrs. Gibson said slyly, smiling at him with a gleam that made him feel like a chocolate morsel about to be consumed.

“It’s unusual,” he said uneasily.

“We won’t be late, Grandmother,” Juliana said.

“Do you like crossword puzzles?” the old woman asked, pushing her glasses higher on her nose and shifting the pa- per spread on her lap.

“Yes, I like to figure things out,” he replied, looking into Juliana’s cool blue eyes.

“Maybe you can tell me,” Mrs. Gibson said, poising her pencil over the puzzle, “airplane-wing parts that have eight letters.”

“Could be ailerons or spoilers,” he answered, mentally counting the letters.

“The aileron word fits perfectly.” She smiled at him again. “I told Juliana that Miz Siever would never pick a bum to inherit her money.”

“Thanks,” he answered, rubbing the back of his neck and feeling uncomfortable. It was obvious that Juliana Al- drich’s grandmother felt just the same as Elnora about Ju- liana’s future.

“Mimi, we better be going. The boys are still outside playing ball,” Juliana said, conscious of Cal Duncan’s scrutiny and Mimi’s blatant approval.

“Have a nice evening,” Mimi said, smiling at Cal.

“It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Gibson.”

“Oh, please, call me Mimi, like the rest of the family does.”

“Sure, Mimi,” Cal complied, feeling as if a noose were closing around his neck— the rest of the family… The woman already had them married.

As they stepped outside, one of the kids yelled. The baseball flew toward Juliana. Stretching out a long arm, Cal caught it and tossed it back to the boys.

“Way to go!” the tall boy yelled, throwing it to a friend.

“I’m terribly impressed,” she said, too aware of Caleb Duncan’s fitness, of his dark, handsome looks. The char- coal suit and white shirt gave him the same successful, ap- pealing appearance that he’d had in the lawyer’s office three days ago. And a close look still made her feel as if she was gazing at someone who was strong, determined and accus- tomed to getting his way. “Very good catch.”

“I’ve played ball, and those boys aren’t college-age or pros. That was easy enough.”

“I’ll have to admit, I don’t catch very well,” she said. “They’d just as soon I didn’t try. The tallest boy is my nephew Chris. I can call them over to introduce you.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to call Chris over. Here he comes,” Cal said.

The gangly boy loped toward them, blond curls a tangle over his forehead. “Hi,” he said, studying Cal with open curiosity. “You must be Mr. Duncan.”

“That’s right,” Cal said, offering his hand. “And you’re Chris.”

“Glad to meet you. Did you used to play ball?”

Cal nodded. “In college. Never pro. I had a baseball scholarship to Texas University.”

“Awesome!” Chris’s blue eyes sparkled and he rubbed a dusty finger along his jaw.

“It was a long time ago.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet. Gol, you’re still good for an old guy—”

“Chris!”

Cal laughed. “Thanks, Chris.”

“I gotta run—” Then the boy was gone, racing away to join the others, while Juliana looked up at Cal and shrugged.

“Sorry. He thinks anyone over eighteen is decrepit.”

“I’m sure.”

“They’re a handful. Sometimes I feel inadequate,” she said, staring across the yard. He followed her gaze and no- ticed a small boy curled in the fork of the tree.

“Which one is that?”

“Quin. And I am inadequate for him. I just can’t get through to him.”

“You must love all three to give your life over to them. That’ll get through to him sometime.”

Juliana heard a strange note in Cal’s voice and wondered about his childhood, but she walked beside him without asking questions.

When they reached the car, Cal held the door. Looking at the flash of her long, shapely legs, he felt his smoldering anger at Elnora dissipate, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was about to give himself a prison sentence.

As if trying to postpone an ordeal, Cal drove far more slowly than usual, his thoughts still churning. He turned on Main to take the highway to the outskirts of Garland on the east side of Dallas. He intended to get away from people they knew in Colby, to avoid constant interruptions through dinner. Details of the will would be in the public domain all too soon and they would have to live with everyone’s gos- sip about Elnora’s stipulations.

A short while later, he parked in a graveled lot filled with cars, and in minutes, they were seated in the secluded cor- ner of a rustic room. After ordering glasses of wine, Cal leaned back in his chair to study her. “Tell me about your nephews.”

“Chris is eleven, Quin is eight and Josh is five.”

“I understand you took them in two years ago when your sister died after a long illness and their father was killed in a plane crash. Tough luck.”

“I have a feeling you know everything about us,” Ju- liana said, wondering exactly how much he did know. “It was tough for the boys. Quin goes for counseling. Chris and Josh seem to have adjusted to the changes in their lives.”

“It was good of you to take them. I would have thought your mother would raise them.”

Juliana shook her head, thinking of her tall, thin mother. “Mom’s frail, and the boys make her nervous. It never would have worked. My dad would have been good with them, but he died years ago, when I was seventeen. Now Mom’s remarried and living in California, busy with her husband, Jerry, and her own life. I know Trish, my sister, would want them with me.”

“That’s generous.” Cal paused as the waitress returned for their order. After ordering two steaks, they were alone again. Juliana watched him sip dark red wine. His lashes were lowered as he looked down and she realized his thick, black lashes added to his sexy appeal. He glanced at her and she looked away quickly, embarrassed to be caught study- ing him.

“The conditions of Elnora’s will are going to come out in the Colby paper sometime soon,” he began. “In a town as small as Colby, there will be no secrets about Elnora’s will— or the marriage provision.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” she said with a slight frown. “I suppose you’re right. Will the public know about the size of the estate?”

“I’m sure they will. It has to be filed at the courthouse and reporters will print it. Do you know Wynn Barkley?”

“Only by name,” she answered. “I know he’s a Colby Sun reporter.” She had also heard Barkley loved gossip as much as he liked ferreting out stories. “I suppose I should tell the boys about the marriage stipulation.”

“You’ll have to answer their questions.”

“They may have a difficult time understanding,” she said, more to herself than to him, momentarily forgetting his presence as she worried about the boys’ reaction to learn- ing that she could have inherited a fortune. A shared for- tune. Would they understand why she couldn’t possibly marry a stranger?

She looked at him. “I can tell them you didn’t want to marry me,” she said lightly.

“They might try to talk me into it.”

She smiled, and Cal felt his pulse jump. It was a faint smile, friendly and warm, destroying the cool, aloof aura that seemed to surround her most of the time.

“I suppose it’s a good thing we got together tonight,” she remarked, “before the will is public knowledge. If we’re together afterward, rumors will fly. Do you date some- one?” Instantly, she shook her head. “Sorry, that’s none of my business—”

“I think it is your business. I date occasionally, but there’s no one special in my life. And there’s no one in yours.” He arched an eyebrow. “Why did you and Barry Fowler break up?”

Juliana felt a prickle of annoyance that Cal Duncan had checked so thoroughly into her life. She was tempted to tell him it was none of his business why she’d stopped dating Barry, but she realized it was reasonable for him to ask.

“We were about to be engaged. The trouble started when it looked like I would take my sister’s boys. Barry didn’t like that, and it became an obstacle between us. Barry got a promotion and a transfer to Cleveland. He wanted me to leave the boys with my mother or grandmother and go with him. And then I found out he was dating someone else and hadn’t told me. If you have a serious relationship with someone, you should be open and honest with the person and be able to trust him.”

“I’d say that was incredibly poor judgment on his part.”

Surprised, she stared at him. “Look, Mr. Duncan, why did you want to talk to me about Elnora’s will?”

Cal felt his palms grow damp. “You’re forthright,” he remarked, still mulling over her statement about honesty and trust and feeling twinges of guilt. He had no intention of telling her why he needed the money and killing all his chances of getting it. But his conscience nagged him for an- other reason. He had silently accused Juliana of being a gold digger, yet he was the mercenary one after money and she had three boys to support.

“I’m also curious,” she replied.

He sipped his wine and wished he had ordered a stronger drink. The idea of tying his life to three children made him break out in a sweat. He thought of his orderly life, his hours of riding and fishing and reading law books at night in his quiet house. His blessed solitude. And he thought of all the money involved. Elnora’s will had stipulated the marriage had to last a year and after that the money was theirs. One year was not forever. How disturbing could three boys be? He studied Juliana Aldrich. No difficulty there- she was good-looking, intelligent, and evidently he had misjudged her. Yet, she had fought off that bank robber, so money was important to some extent. But who was he to judge? He wouldn’t be considering Elnora’s will except for his own desperate need for the money.