Summer in Orchard Valley: Valerie / Stephanie / Norah

Valerie had almost run out of excuses for staying in Oregon. Her father was going to be discharged in record time and Valerie, with her two sisters, planned a celebration dinner that included Colby.

She was surprised he’d accepted the invitation. Surprised and pleased. She was hungry for the sight of him. He was in her thoughts constantly, and she wondered if it was the same for him.

All afternoon, she’d been feeling like a schoolgirl. Excited and nearly giddy at the prospect of her father’s homecoming—especially since Colby would be driving him back.

Norah had been in the kitchen most of the afternoon, with Stephanie as her assistant. Since Valerie’s culinary skills were limited to salad preparation and napkin folding, she’d been assigned both jobs, along with setting the table.

“What time is it?” Steffie called from the kitchen.

Valerie, who was carefully arranging their best china on the dining-room table, shot a glance at the grandfather clock. “Five.”

“They’re due in less than thirty minutes.”

“Do I detect a note of panic?” Valerie teased.

“Dinner isn’t even close to being done,” Steffie told her.

They’d chosen a menu that included none of their father’s favorites. David Bloomfield was a meat-and-potatoes man, but that was all about to change. Colby had been very definite about that. From now on, David would be a low-choles-terol-and-high-fiber man.

“The table’s set,” Valerie informed the others. As far as she knew, it was the first time they’d brought out the good china since their mother’s death. But their father’s welcome-home dinner warranted using the very best.

Fifteen minutes later, Valerie glanced out the living-room window to see Colby’s maroon car coming down the long driveway. “They’re here!” she shouted, hurrying to the front porch, barely able to contain her excitement.

This moment seemed like a miracle to her. She’d come to accept that she was going to lose her father, and now he’d been given a second chance at life. This was so much more than she’d dared hope.

Steffie and Norah joined her on the porch. Colby climbed out of the car first and came around to assist David. It was all Valerie could do not to rush down the steps and help him herself. Although her father had made phenomenal progress in the eight days since his surgery, he remained terribly pale and thinner than she’d ever seen him. But his eyes glowed with obvious pride and satisfaction as he looked at his three daughters.

He turned to Colby and said something Valerie couldn’t hear. Whatever it was made Colby’s eyes dart toward Valerie. She met his gaze, all too briefly, then they looked hurriedly away from each other, as though embarrassed to be caught staring.

“I’m afraid dinner’s not quite ready,” Norah said as Colby eased David into his recliner by the fireplace.

“I’ve been waiting two weeks for a decent meal,” David grumbled. “Hospital food doesn’t sit well with me. I hope you’ve outdone yourself.”

“I have,” Norah promised, smiling at Valerie. Their father wasn’t expecting poached salmon and dill sauce with salad and rice, but he’d adjust to healthier eating habits soon enough.

“Can I get you anything, Dad?” Valerie asked, assuming he’d request the paper or a cup of coffee.

“Walk down and see if the Howard boy is still in the orchard, would you, Val?”

“Of course, but I don’t think you should worry about the orchard now.”

“I’m not worried. I just want to know what’s been going on while I was laid up. I promise I’m not going to overdo it. Colby wouldn’t let me. I tried to die three times, but he was right there making sure I didn’t. You don’t think I’d want to ruin all that work, do you?”

Valerie grinned. “All right, I’ll check and see if the foreman’s still around.”

“Colby,” David said, raising his index finger imperiously, “you go with her. I don’t want her walking in the orchard alone.”

The request was a shamefully blatant excuse to throw them together, but neither complained.

Colby followed her out the front door and down the porch steps. “You don’t need to come,” she said, looking up at him. “I’ve been walking through these orchards since I was a toddler. I won’t get lost.”

“I know that.”

“Dad was just inventing a way for us to be alone.”

“I know that, too. He told me while we were driving here that he intended to do this.”

“But why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Yes, but …” Her father had hinted more than once that he anticipated a prompt wedding between her and Rowdy Cassidy. He’d apparently dropped the idea of her marrying Colby—so did he want her to clarify that in person? He seemed downright delighted at the prospect of Rowdy as a son-in-law, talking about her marriage as if it were a foregone conclusion.

“How have you been?” Colby asked. They strolled in the late-afternoon sunshine toward the west side of the orchard, where the equipment was kept. There was a small office in the storage building, as well, and if Dale Howard was still in the orchard that was the most likely place to find him.

“I’ve been fine. And you?” Valerie could tell him the truth about her feelings or she could tell him a half-truth. She chose the truth. “I’ve missed you.”

Colby clasped his hands behind his back, as she’d seen him do before. It might have been wishful thinking on her part, but Valerie thought he did so in an effort to keep from touching her.

“I understand your boss is calling you every day,” he said stiffly.

“I understand you took Sherry Waterman out to dinner this week,” she retorted.

“It didn’t help,” he muttered. “The whole time we were together I kept thinking I’d rather be with you. Is that what you were hoping to hear?”

Valerie dropped her gaze to the dirt beneath her feet. “No, but I’ll admit I’m glad.”

“This isn’t going to work.”

How rigid his words sounded, as though he was holding himself in check, but finding it more and more difficult. “What isn’t?”

“You … being here.”

“Here? You didn’t have to come with me! I’ve already explained that I’m perfectly capable of finding my way—”

“CHIPS stock went up two dollars a share last week.”

Colby was leaping from one subject to the next. “That’s great,” she said cautiously. “I’m sure Rowdy’s thrilled.”

“You should be, too.”

“As a stockholder myself I am, but what’s that got to do with anything?”

“Houston is where you belong, with Rowdy Cassidy and all his millions.”

Rowdy had been telling her the same thing. Not in quite the same words, but he wanted her in Texas. With him. Not a day passed that he didn’t let her know how much he missed her. Rowdy wasn’t romantic; fancy words weren’t his forte. He was as straightforward as Valerie herself. He missed her, he said, missed the time they spent together and the discussions they’d shared. He hadn’t realized how much until she’d left.

“When are you going back?” Colby demanded.

Valerie understood that this was the whole purpose of their being alone together. This was the reason he’d fallen in with her father’s schemes and had walked in the orchard with her. He wanted her out of Orchard Valley and out of his life.

“Soon,” she promised, and her voice cracked with pain. The intensity of it took her by surprise; embarrassed, she increased her pace to a half trot, wanting to escape.

“Valerie.” His voice came from behind her.

“No, please … You’re right. I’ll—” She wasn’t allowed to finish her thought. Colby caught her by the upper arm and turned her to face him, bringing her into his warm embrace.

He took her wrists and placed them around his neck as though she were a rag doll, then circled her waist with his arms and brought her tight against him. Before she had a chance to catch her breath, his mouth was on hers.

Valerie felt as though she’d drown in the sheer ecstasy of being in his arms again. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It wasn’t supposed to feel so right, so good. His mouth was eager and she opened to him as naturally as a flower to the sun.

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