Authors: Vanessa Devereaux
She
’d
grab
bed his arm and marched him in there where she’d
shut the door
a tad
but
left it open enough so there was enough light for him to see what she was about to reveal.
“Okay, you ready?”
“I’m so ready
,”
Wade had said.
He’d been prepared
to laugh
at what he assumed would two objects not
much bigger than bad mosquito b
ites. However,
when she
’d pulled up her shirt his lower lip had dropped. She was right
;
she had breasts.
Not big ones, bu
t she was no longer flat-chested
. Other than the photo of the nude woman that hung in one of the offices at the police station where his dad worked, he
’d
never seen r
eal breasts before. He stood sta
ring, swallowing a few times
in awe of how quickly her body was changing. And then he’d done the unforgiveable
.
He’d
reached out and touched the left
one
.
“Hey, you’re
not supposed to do that to me
.”
He’d pulled his hand b
ack like her body were hot coals,
and then he’d pulled her to him and hugged her.
Wade had kissed the top of her
head. “I’m sorry
,
but I couldn’t help it. Your breasts are very pretty. Don’t tell my dad or y
our Grans
,
okay, that I felt your breast
because I’ll be in lots of trouble.”
“I won’t
,
and don’t tell them I lifted up my shirt to show you.”
“I won’t
,
but
I’m glad you did.
”
Sophie turned around and looked at him.
“What are you grinning about?” she asked him.
“Nothing, just taking a trip down memory lane. It must b
e the smell of Emily’s cooking that brought it about.”
Yeah, what a liar you are
,
Linley.
They entered the kitchen
,
and he and Sophie set the table while Emily put the f
inishing touches to the meal.
Among
the three of them, they took all the dishes and bowls containing the food to the table and sat down.
Sophie laughed when Wade tucked the napkin in
side
the top of his shirt.
“Laugh if you like
,
but when a cowboy sits down to a wonderful meal sometimes things get messy.”
Emi
ly patted him on the arm
before handing him
a bowl of
mashed potatoes. “I do
so
love a man with a hearty appetite.”
Wade picked up the bowl
and spoon
ed
a more
than generous helping
onto his plate next to the chicken fried steak.
“I think I might just propose to this meal,” he said before
diving
in
to the food
.
“Now does that mean you’re thinking of proposing to Cathy soon?” asked Emily. She put a spoonful of green beans onto her plate.
Wade looked over at Sophie who was staring straight at him.
“No, not at this point,” he said.
“Wade, I think you’re in
serious
danger of
be
coming
one of
Greenville
’s old bachelors,” said Emily.
He shook his head.
“I’ll get married one of these days.”
He looked at Sophie again
,
but this time instead of meeting his eyes,
she sudden
ly looked down at her plate before moving
some green b
eans around
its perimeter
.
“Wade, we have to fatten this girl up before she heads back to
Seattle
. Don’t you think she’s too thin?” asked Emily squeezing Sophie’s upper arm.
“I can feel bone here.”
“Oh, I think she’s just about right,” said Wade.
Of cour
se, I haven’t seen her naked
.
“Come on
,
Sophie, clear that plate
,
or you won’t get any huck
leberry pie with whipped cream,” said Emily.
Sophie laughed.
“If she doesn’t then I’ll have her serving,” said Wade. “In fact, I’ll proba
b
ly have a second serving anyway. And
you ladies will have to forgive me if I have to loosen the belt on my jeans.”
Emily laughed and slapped his arm
again. “There’s only one thing better than a man with a hearty appetite and that’s a cowboy with one.”
“Is there any other kind?” said Wade.
“You know we need to do this again and next time invite your dad over
to join us
. Sometimes we get so busy the two of us don’t see one a
nother despite being neighbors,” said Emily.
“Oh, he’d love this meal,” said Wade leaning back and patting his stomach.
Someone knocked on the kitchen door
,
and in walked Julie.
“Emily, someone just said they heard one of the horses making a lot of noise out in the paddock.”
“I’m betting it’s your pregnant mare,” said Wade.
“Y
ou think I should call the vet?” asked Emily.
“Nope, me and Sophie can take care of it,” said Wade standing.
“Me?”
asked Sophie.
“Yes, you can be my assistant.”
“Okay, but I’m sending you out there with some pie and whipped cream so you’ll have somet
hing to eat while you play vet,” said Emily.
*
*
**
It started to rain
by the time she
and Wade arrived at the paddock
. Sure enough the horse in
question was making a big fuss and scratching up what little grass there was
with
one of her front hoofs.
Wade stroked her belly as Sophie watch
ed his hands glide over her shiny brown coat
. It was stupid
,
but now she was even jealous that the horse w
as getting his attention and
gentle caresses.
“Oh, yeah, she’s in labor. How about we take her into the barn so she can get out of this rain?”
Sophie went ahead and opened up the gate as the horse let W
ade le
a
d her out toward the barn
. Once inside Wade checked her over again.
“Is she doing okay?” asked Sophie.
“She’s got a ways to go
,
but she’s going to be just fine.”
“You want to eat our pies while we wait?”
“Sure, I c
an’t wait to tast
e one of your grandmother’s creations
again,” said Wade.
Sophie took the cling
film wrap off the plates and handed one to Wade. T
hey sat on a bale of straw, shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh.
Wade took a fork
from Sophie
and dived into the pie.
“Oh, wow, this is even
better than I remembered. Soph
, I never understood why your grandmother never remarried after your grandpa died. A man would
kill for meals like these.”
“I think she had a couple of suitors
,
but
she was too busy raising me by that time. That’s why I can’t let her go to jail for something she didn’t do. I owe everything to her.”
Wade squeeze
d her knee
. “I promise you I’ll find out who really murdered Ambrose.”
The horse
kicked a few times and started
fussing again.
“Hold my plate for me
while I check on her. And
no
eating my pie
when my back’s turned.”
He handed
the plate
to Sophie
,
a
nd she balanced it on her knee
. She leaned back against one of the oak beams and smiled as Wade walked over to the horse and gentl
y
whispered in her ear. He rubbed her nose
,
and the horse nudged his neck with her nose.
G
rans had always told her you could
gauge how good a person was by how animals
reacted to them. Animals weren’t
dumb enough to
be nice to someone they kne
w had
an evil nature
.
Judging by this
horse
,
and all the other animals she’d see
n
Wade interact with while they’d been growing up
,
she’d say he had the purest heart of any man.
All
the more reason to
think herself an idiot
for doing what she
had
. Not that Travis was a bad person
;
he wasn’t
. However,
thinking about it now, Sophie never had
, and probably never would,
ever meet another human being quite like Wade.
He was kind, considerate, generous, and yes, now
drop-
dead gorgeous
,
too. She watched
as he spoke to the horse some more
, stroking her nose
,
and then checking her belly.
“How’s she doing?” asked Sophie.
“She’s almost ready to become a mother. Hey, you’re not touching my pie over there are you?”
Add great sense of humor
to his list of positive attributes.
“Maybe
.”
“You better not be.”
“You know you’d never catch me if I took
off running.”
“Don’t
be so sure about it. I’ve had experience in the polic
e force catching criminals. And you’ve been stuck at a job where you sit most of the time.”
Sophie stood and walked over to him.
“Catch anyone interesting in
Cheyenne
?”
“One or two bad guys. Do you want to stroke her nose while I check her out
to
see
if
a foal
’s
starting to emerge?”
Sophie rubbed the horse
’s
mane and then
ran her hand
down her nose. She jerked up when Wade touched her rear end.
“Okay, don’t get feisty
. Usually
ladies
like me touching their rear
.”
Sophie bet they did. She secretly wanted to be one of them.
“Hey, Soph, this is so beautiful. Come and look.”
Sophie walked to where Wade stood and
saw the foal emerging from its
mother’s body.
Wade did
n’t
say anything but put his arm aro
und her and pulled her in close as they watched the scene together.
“Nothing quite like the miracle of birth,” he said.
She had to agree. Since she’d been a little girl she’d fantasized about having Wade’s babies. Sophie looked over at the corner of
the stable. Wade looked there
,
too.
“Are you going down memory lane again?” he asked.
She nodded.
Over there
at that very spot
he’d insisted on seeing her boobs
,
which she’d known was a bad thing to do. And over in that corner they’
d had a pretend wedding when she was eight and he was ten.
The
y’d married themselves. They’d both slipped on wedding bands which were really curtain rings
Sophie had foun
d in Gra
ns
’
s
sewing box.
Sophie had worn an old lace drape she’d found in the attic
,
and Wade one of his dad’s older jackets.
They’d looked quite the pair that day.
“We now pronounce ourselves husband and wife,” they’d said in unison.