This time his kiss was slow and gentle, as tender as the earlier kiss had been hungry and demanding. She felt herself melting in his arms, surrendering the last of her resistance.

“I want to talk about what happened,” he whispered.

She knew what he meant, and she wanted none of it. That scene in the stable—the fall she’d faked—was much too embarrassing to examine even now. “That was in the past.”

“It has to be settled between us.”

“No,” she said, trying to change his mind with a deep, hungry kiss.

His voice was rough when she finished. “Steff, we have to clear the past before we can talk about the future.”

“We only just met, remember?” He was the one who’d suggested they start over. He couldn’t bury the past and then ask that they exhume it.

“Just listen to me…”

“Not yet,” she pleaded. Maybe never, her heart whispered, balking at the idea of reliving a time that had been so painful for her.

“Soon.” He tangled his fingers in her hair and spread kisses across her face.

“Maybe,” she agreed reluctantly.

The sound of laughter broke into the haze of her pleasure. At least Steffie assumed it was laughter. It took her a wild moment to realize the sound was coming from the porch, and that it must be her father. Not knowing what to think, she slowly broke away from Charles.

“Is that David laughing?” he asked.

Steffie shrugged. “I’d better find out if something’s wrong.”

He nodded, and they walked hand in hand to the porch.

“Dad?” she asked softly when she saw her father, rocking contentedly. His smile broadened when he noticed her and Charles. His gaze fell to their hands, which were still clasped tightly together, and his eyes fairly twinkled. “Check the freezer, will you? By heaven, I wish I’d thought of this sooner.”

“The freezer?” she repeated, glancing at Charles, wondering if her father had lost his wits. “Why do you want me to check it?”

“We need something special to fix for dinner tonight. We’re going to have a celebration!”

Steffie frowned in puzzlement. “What kind of celebration?”

“There’s going to be a wedding in the family.”

Steffie groaned inwardly. “Dad…”

“Don’t argue with me, Princess, there isn’t time.”

“But, Dad…”

“See there?” he said, pointing toward the long stretch of driveway. “What did I tell you?”

Steffie looked, but she couldn’t see anything except a small puff of dust, barely discernible against the skyline.

“I was about to give up on those two,” he said with a wry chuckle. “They’re both too stubborn for their own good. I have to admit they gave me pause, but your mother was right. Guess I shouldn’t have doubted her.”

“Dad, what are you talking about?”

“Your sister and Colby. They’re on their way back to the house now.”

Steffie glanced up again, and this time the make and color of the car was unmistakable. Colby was returning to the house. And although she couldn’t clearly tell who the passenger was, she knew it had to be her sister.

Seven

“Even now I can’t believe it,” Valerie said wistfully, sitting cross-legged on her bed. Steffie and Norah lounged on the opposite end, listening.

“Colby actually chased you down on the freeway?” Norah wanted to know.

Valerie’s smile lit up her whole face as she nodded. “It really was romantic to have him race after me. He told me he didn’t realize he was planning to do it until he was on the interstate.”

“You’ve got everything worked out?” Steffie asked. From what Norah had told her, and from remarks Valerie herself had made, she knew there were a lot of obstacles standing in the way of this marriage.

“We’ve talked things out the best we can. It’s been a struggle to come up with the right compromises. I’ve got a call in to Rowdy Cassidy at CHIPS. I think I can talk him into letting me open a branch of the company in Oregon. He’s already done a feasibility study for the Pacific Northwest. He was just waiting until he could find the right person to head it up. He didn’t originally have me in mind, but I don’t think he’ll have a problem giving it to me. Then again—” she paused thoughtfully “—it may be better to discuss this in person.”

“Colby doesn’t mind if you continue working?” Norah’s voice was tinged with disbelief.

“No. Because it’s what I need. Naturally he’d rather I was there to pamper him when he gets home from the hospital every night, but this way we’ll learn to pamper each other.”

“I’m so happy for you.” Steffie leaned forward to hug her sister. Valerie’s eyes reflected an inner joy that Steffie had never seen in her before. This was what love—real love—did for a person. When two people cared this deeply for each other, it couldn’t help but show.

“Now that we’ve decided to go ahead with the wedding, Colby wants to do it as soon as possible,” Valerie went on to say. “I hope everyone’s willing to work fast and hard because we’ve got a wedding to plan for next month.”

“Next month!” Norah’s blue eyes widened incredulously.

“I was lucky to get him to wait that long. Colby would rather we flew to Vegas tonight and—”

“No way!” was Norah and Steffie’s automatic response.

“I never thought I’d be the sentimental sort,” Valerie admitted sheepishly, “but I actually want a large fancy wedding. Colby loves me enough to agree, as long as I organize it quickly. Once that man makes a decision, there’s no holding him back.”

Steffie smiled to herself. Dr. Colby Winston was in for a real surprise. Valerie was talented enough in the organizational department to manage the United Nations. If he gave her a month to arrange their wedding, she’d do a beautiful job of it with time to spare.

A wedding so soon meant the family was about to be caught up in a whirlwind of activity, but that suited Steffie. It was time for them to celebrate. The grieving, the anxiety, were over.

“You’ve been seeing a lot of Charles lately, haven’t you?” Norah asked, looking expectantly at Steffie. “Do you think we could make this a double wedding?”

Valerie smiled broadly at Steffie, as though she’d be in favor of the idea, too.

“I haven’t been seeing that much of Charles,” Steffie answered, thrusting out her chin. She realized she sounded defensive. “Well, I—I suppose we have been together quite a bit lately, but there’s certainly never been any talk of marriage.”

“I’ve always liked Charles,” Norah said, studying Steffie closely. “I mean, I could go for this guy, given the least bit of encouragement. First Valerie falls in love and now you. You know, it’s a little unfair. I’m the one who lives at home and you two fly in and within a few weeks nab the two most eligible men in town.”

“Me?” Steffie argued. “You make it sound like a done deal. Trust me, it isn’t.”

“You’re in love with him,” Valerie said quietly. “Aren’t you?”

Steffie didn’t reply. She was unwilling to openly admit her feelings for Charles. It would be so easy to fool herself into believing he held the same tenderness for her. But he’d never said so, and other than a few shared kisses he hadn’t given her any indication he cared.

But he had, something inside her said.

Steffie refused to listen. She couldn’t, wouldn’t, forget that she’d made a fool of herself over him, not once but three times. Because she’d cared, and he hadn’t.

“I don’t know how Charles feels about me,” Steffie said in a soft steady voice.

“You’re joking!” Norah exclaimed.

And Valerie added, “Steffie, it’s obvious how he feels.”

Steffie discounted their assurances with a shrug. “For all I know, he could be hanging around me in order to get close to Norah.”

“Charles? No way.” Both Valerie and Norah burst into loud peals of laughter.

“Are you saying you wouldn’t mind me dating him?” Norah teased, winking at Valerie.

“Feel free.” In fact, Steffie would throttle Norah if she went within ten feet of Charles, though she could hardly say so.

“I hope you’re joking,” Norah said, shaking her head. “I should’ve seen what was going on a long time ago. I don’t know how I could’ve been so dense. Charles and Dad became friends shortly after you left—good friends.”

“That doesn’t mean a thing,” Steffie insisted. She didn’t need anyone else building up her hopes, and although her sisters meant well, their encouragement would only make her disappointment harder to bear.

“It wouldn’t mean much if Charles hadn’t made a point of asking about you every time he stopped by,” Norah was saying. “I have to hand it to the guy, though—he was always subtle about his questions.”

“Now that you mention it, whenever I talked to Charles, Steffie’s name cropped up in the conversation,” Valerie reported thoughtfully. “I should have guessed myself.”

“You were too involved with Colby to see anything else,” Norah teased and then sighed. She crossed her arms and rested them atop her bent knees. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for you two, but I wish I’d fall in love. Don’t you think it’s my turn?”

“Aren’t you leaping to conclusions here?” Steffie asked. She wasn’t exactly sporting an engagement ring the way Valerie was. She and Charles hadn’t arrived at that stage of commitment—and probably never would. Besides, her past mistakes with him had been the result of leaping to certain incorrect conclusions about his feelings, and she wasn’t ready for a repeat performance.

Steffie didn’t see Charles again until Tuesday afternoon. She wasn’t surprised not to hear from him, knowing how involved he was with the production of the paper during the first part of every week.

Valerie and Steffie had driven into town to visit The Petal Pusher, the local flower shop. Valerie had decided on a spring color theme for her wedding and had already chosen material for Steffie’s and Norah’s gowns in a pale shade of green and a delicate rose.

Valerie angled the car into the slot closest to the flower shop. Since the newspaper office was almost directly across the street, it was natural for her to glance curiously in that direction.

“You haven’t talked to Charles in a couple of days, have you?”

“He’s busy with the paper.”

“There’s time to stop in now and say hello if you want. I’ll be talking to the florist, so you might as well.”

Steffie was tempted, but felt uncomfortable about interrupting Charles at work. “Some other time,” she said with a feigned lack of interest, though in actuality she was starving for the sight of him. Helping Valerie plan her wedding had forced some long-buried emotions to the surface. Steffie hadn’t admitted until these past few weeks how deeply she longed for marriage herself. A family of her own. A husband to love and live with her whole life.