Bachelor Available!
Bachelor Available!
Ruth Jean Dale
Name: Cody JamesAge: 30Occupation: RancherLooking for:A wife and mother for my children.The Yellow Rose Matchmakers claimed to be able to match any woman with her Mr. Right. And Emily couldn't deny that the man she'd been matched with, Cody James, sounded perfect–on paper, at least.The reality was even better–the tall, sexy cowboy took Emily Kirkwood's breath away. Too bad that Emily hadn't joined the Yellow Rose to find a man but to write a Valentine's story on…well…how to get a man. Only, Cody was available… and perhaps what this story needed was a little in-depth research!Texas Grooms Wanted!Only cowboys need apply!
Title Page (#u1cbd6ae3-f191-59c1-8ffc-83fee704bff7)Dedication (#uab588044-4abd-50bd-90c3-3f5e7fa8c992)CHAPTER ONE (#u87e30df9-2f1f-5dc6-aac6-e2b4a4cdc191)CHAPTER TWO (#u8b1b4aa3-4e1d-5148-b484-106112c31760)CHAPTER THREE (#u2e1e55a6-50d2-5484-9c2f-570a5fea41f9)CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Question: How do you find the perfect man?
Answer: Read on....
Texas Grooms Wanted! is a brand-new miniseries in Harlequin Romance
.
Meet three wonderful heroines who are all looking for very special Texas men—their future husbands!
Good men may be hard to find, but these women have experts on hand. They’ve all signed up with the Yellow Rose Matchmakers. The oldest—and the best!—matchmaking service in San Antonio, Texas, the Yellow Rose guarantees to find any woman her perfect partner...
So, for the cutest cowboys in the whole state of Texas, read:
Only cowboys need apply ..
Name: Ruth Jean Dale
Age: 39 and holding.
Occupation: Romance author
Marital status: Married, one of the few things I managed to get right the first time around
Ideal partner: The one I’ve got He may be the only man in the Western world able to put up with my eccentricities—and I happily return the favor.
Worst dating experience: So long ago I don’t even remember, although I do recall I kissed a few frogs before finding my prince Fortunately, all you need is one if he’s the right one! I guess that’s why I write romance—because I found my own happy ending was just the beginning.
Bachelor Available!
Ruth Jean Dale
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For Day Leclaire,
who roamed San Antonio and the Hill Country of Texas
with me to research this book
(and hers).
If you’ve got bulls to herd, Day’s your cowgal!
CHAPTER ONE
From: SuperScribe@BoyHowdy.com
Sent: Sunday, Nov. 1, 9:42 p.m.
To: MataHari@Upzydazy.com
Subject: Enough, already!
Okay, Emily, I’ve been patient but I know you and if you don’t hustle your buns over to the Yellow Rose ASAP, you never will. A promise is a promise (not that you owe me or anything). :-) (Smile) What’s your problem? You *could* get lucky....
THE first thing that caught Emily Kirkwood’s attention Monday when she entered Yellow Rose Matchmakers in San Antonio, Texas, was the fragrance of roses.
The second thing that caught her attention was the best-looking cowboy in the world.
One of those two things stopped her in her tracks. She preferred to think it was the perfumed air, since she wasn’t the kind of woman who let superficial things like looks get to her. She prided herself on digging deeper for such attributes as honor, integrity, honesty.
Of course, she couldn’t see those things at a glance, while she could see curly black hair and lively blue eyes, long, denim-clad legs and broad shoulders beneath a red plaid shirt. She could also see the spark of interest that leaped into those incredible eyes, quickly muted when he turned to the receptionist.
“I’m Cody James,” he said with a good old Texas drawl, giving the receptionist a sparkling smile. He turned a white cowboy hat between big, competent hands. “I have an eleven o’clock appointment with Wanda Roland but I’m a few minutes early. I’ll just take a seat and wait until—”
“Oh, no, Mr. James!” The receptionist appeared to be as impressed with his good looks as Emily was trying not to be. “Wanda’s expecting you. Please go right on in.” She pointed toward a door.
“Thank you, ma’am.” Nodding respectfully, he ambled to the door, knocked lightly and entered.
For a few seconds, both the receptionist and Emily held their collective breaths.
The receptionist, a pretty middle-aged woman whose desk plaque said simply Teresa, fanned herself. “Oh, dear,” she said. “I could go for that myself.”
Emily laughed politely. “Are all the Yellow Rose clients that good-looking?” She tried to keep the critical note in her voice under control. In her experience, men who were that good-looking were not to be trusted. They were almost as untrustworthy as the rich ones—and rich and handsome was the most dangerous combination in the world. Poor but honest, attractive but not drop-dead gorgeous: those were the only men she was ever going to trust again.
Not that it mattered in this particular instance. She hadn’t come to Yellow Rose Matchmakers to find true love but rather to ferret out information for her cousin Terry’s magazine article. Research, he’d called it, simple research.
In her more honest moments, she called it spying.
She’d already done similar “research” for him in Dallas before she’d been temporarily transferred to San Antonio by her employer, A&B Construction Company, to help open a new office. The Dallas caper had involved nothing more than filling out a form, making an excruciatingly embarrassing videotape and being matched with a computer geek for a single date. Then she’d written a “dating diary” for Terry and considered the matter closed.
Funny how that first experience had turned out, though. She’d answered every question with total honesty, to no avail—not that she’d actually been looking for a man, she reminded herself. She was simply paying back an old debt of honor to her cousin, nothing more. She certainly wasn’t looking for any kind of relationship, permanent or otherwise. At twenty-five, she wasn’t sure she’d ever want to get married after seeing all that her parents had put each other through. Being dumped practically at the altar herself hadn’t exactly raised men in her esteem, either.
Teresa tapped her pencil on the desktop, her smile friendly and welcoming. “And how may I help you, Ms....?”
“Emily Kirkwood,” she responded, belatedly realizing that there must be some kind of mistake. “I also had an eleven o’clock appointment with Ms. Roland. I don’t mind coming back at another time, though.” Actually, she’d be delighted. She edged toward the door. Terry couldn’t blame her for this mix-up... could he?
Teresa frowned. “Oh, dear. Has Wanda done it again?” She raised a hand obviously meant to arrest Emily’s flight, lifted the telephone receiver with the other and punched in three numbers. “Please wait while I—Wanda? I’m afraid there’s been another mix-up. Emily Kirkwood is here and says she has an—But Mr. James just went in, so I naturally assumed —Oh, all right. Of course.” Teresa hung up the phone. “She’ll be right out.”
Emily, feeling reprieve slipping from her grasp, stared longingly at the front door. “Really, I don’t mind coming back. This isn’t actually a very good day for me anyway. Maybe...”
The door through which the handsome cowboy had vanished moments earlier opened and a woman bustled through. Emily stopped trying to escape and stared.
Wanda Roland looked like the fairy godmother in a Walt Disney movie. Her snowy white hair might indicate advanced years, but her cheerful, unlined face made her look much younger.
Her smile made her look beautiful. She came forward with hands outstretched. “My dear, I’m so very sorry about the confusion.”
“That’s quite all right. As I was telling Teresa—”
“And she passed on your concerns, please be assured. We’re very much on the ball here at the Yellow Rose.” Eyes a paler blue than the handsome cowboy’s twinkled beneath snowy brows. “Please, won’t you come into my office?”
Emily resisted the tug on her hands. “But there’s already someone in there,” she demurred. “I don’t really think it would be a good idea—”
Wanda laughed, a silvery, tinkling sound. “All my ideas are good ones, dear. You’ll see. It’s quite a large office with plenty of room for two clients at the same time. Besides, all you’ll be doing is filling out forms.” She made a face as if she found that activity particularly distasteful.
“No, really—”
Wanda slipped an arm like a band of steel around Emily’s waist. “She’s shy,” she informed Teresa. “Come along, dear. I know what’s best.”
Emily had little choice but to “come along”, guided by the little woman’s surprisingly strong grip. Well, why not? she consoled herself. The sooner she got this over with, the sooner she could get on with her life. She certainly wouldn’t be sorry to get out from under this sense of obligation to her cousin.
They entered the office and the handsome cowboy looked up, holding a single long-stemmed yellow rose loosely in his hands. When he saw them, he replaced the posy in the bud vase next to his hat, resting brim up on the desktop. Dark brows rose in question but he said nothing.
Wanda didn’t seem to be one to let any silence remain unfilled. “Mr. James—may we call you Cody?—this is Miss Emily Kirkwood. May we call you Emily?”
“Of course,” they said in unison.
Wanda led Emily to a chair only a couple of feet from Cody’s, deposited her there and bustled over to her desk. She had to roll her chair to one side in order to see around the enormous computer that covered the entire right-hand side of the desk’s surface. “Now that we’re all here,” she said with satisfaction, “we can get to know each other a little better. Don’t y’all think that would be nice?”
“Uhh...” Cody James cast an oblique glance at the woman sitting to his left. “Is this how you handle all your new...uh, clients?”
Wanda’s frown would have looked like a smile on any other face. “Well, no, not actually. The two of you are a special case, I guess you could say.”
Emily leaned forward. “I feel very uncomfortable about this.” She turned so she could see the cowboy, who also looked ill at ease. “I don’t want to take up Mr. James’s time with my—”
“Cody,” he said quickly. “I don’t mind, Ms. Kirkwood. I’m just confused.”
She nodded. “All right, Cody. I’m Emily, and I’m at least as confused as you are.”
“See how well we’re getting on!” Wanda interjected.
Emily persevered. “Yes, but I still feel like an intruder. Why don’t I come back another day?”
Cody’s long-lashed blue eyes flew wide. “I’d hate to see you go to that trouble. Look, we had the same appointment, so why don’t I reschedule? You’ve got as much right to be here as I do.”
“Exactly,” Wanda put in quickly. “There’s no need for anyone to be inconvenienced.”
“But—” they began, in unison again.
“Tut-tut,” she said, waving aside their apprehensions. “Look at it this way—you’ll be doing me a favor. I’ll only have to go through the Yellow Rose spiel—pardon me, the orientation—once instead of twice.” She gave a delicate little cough, covered by one soft hand.
Emily looked at Cody, who looked back at her. She saw the smile start around his lips and move to those remarkable eyes, then found herself smiling in return. It was a kind of silent communication that agreed they’d both stay and see what Wanda Roland was up to.
Satisfied, Wanda nodded briskly. “All right, kid-dies, I want you to rest assured that all of us here at Yellow Rose Matchmakers have nothing but your best interests at heart. If we had our way, everyone in Texas would be happily married and sending us birth announcements.”
Emily made an exclamation of astonishment before she could stop herself. When the other two looked at her with unveiled curiosity, she rushed to explain herself. “I’m not actually looking for marriage,” she said. “I’m new in town and thought it would be nice just to meet a few people.”
“That’s how it always begins,” Wanda said cheerily. “You can’t marry ‘em until you meet ’em, right, Cody?”
Cody grinned. “Right, Wanda. I, on the other hand, won’t settle for anything less than marriage. I’m not getting any younger and I want a houseful of kids while I can still enjoy ’em.”
Emily could hardly believe her ears. A man who looked as good as this one certainly didn’t need a matchmaker to find women willing to marry him. Something strange was going on here...
Wanda nodded emphatically. “That’s the spirit, Cody. I’m sure I can find just the right girl for you. In the meantime, there are a few things my boss insists I tell you.”
Now we’re getting to the good part, Emily thought. Pay attention! You’ll have to pass all this on to Terry.
“Yellow Rose Matchmakers is the oldest personal introduction agency in the city of San Antonio—maybe all of Texas.” Wanda’s previously warm and friendly tone took on a singsong quality, and she spoke about three times as fast as she had before. Obviously, this was not the favorite part of her job. “We have a phenomenal success rate because we use the newest computers and special software developed just for us.” She reached out to give her computer a swift pat, as awkwardly as if she never touched the thing unless required to do so. “This is George,” she said. “You can trust him.”
George? She’d named her computer George? Emily was stunned.
Cody slumped back in his chair, long legs extended until his boots disappeared beneath the edge of the desk. “That’s one of the reasons I picked this agency,” he said. “I’m a big believer in computers. We use ‘em all the time at the ranch. Although...” He frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t believe we’ve named any of ’em.”
Wanda nodded approvingly before turning to Emily. “And you, dear—why did you choose the Yellow Rose?”
Because my cousin twisted my arm, she thought. Instead, she said, “I like the name. I love roses and yellow ones are my favorite.”
Wanda’s smile returned. “What a charming answer.” She squared her shoulders. “But to proceed—the Yellow Rose has been uniquely successful in matching couples because we are completely computerized. We assess each personality, profile each client and...” She seemed to be running out of steam. “Uhh...we videotape...I mean, if you like that kind of thing....”
Cody frowned. “I’m not sure I do, if you mean that deal where you sit and talk about yourself to a camera. Too much like an auction, if you ask me. Run tapes, say no to this one, maybe to that one. We’re not talking cows here.”
“Exactly!” Wanda sparkled like a Christmas tree. “It’s the human touch that makes all the difference.”
Cody nodded. “Once the information has been analyzed by the computer, I’d agree.”
“But—” Emily looked from one to the other, puzzled “—in this day and age, I thought everything about the process was automated and computerized and completely impersonal and scientific.”
Wanda gasped. “My word, would you like to live in a world where machines tell you whom to love?”
“Well, no, but—”
Cody cut in. He looked as incensed as Wanda did. “And in a world where people are trotted in and out of the video arena like cows in a sale ring?”
“Well, no, but—” Emily cut herself off this time. If Terry was looking for a real up-to-date piece on computer dating, the Yellow Rose apparently wasn’t going to be it. On the other hand, his research had already supported Wanda’s claim that the Rose had the best success rate of any agency in Texas: That’s why he’d been so delighted Emily had been temporarily transferred here. “I stand corrected,” she said. “I was just surprised, that’s all.”
“Well, I guess.” Wanda looked mollified. “Now that we understand each other, folks, I think it’s time for y’all to fill out our scientific in-depth questionnaire ” She rummaged in the top left drawer of the desk as she spoke, then the drawer on the right. “The information you give will be held in the strictest confidence, to be shared only when the match is made. We’re just trying to establish compatibility characteristics between you and your perfect match. That’s what we’re after—perfection. If not the next best thing... Ah, here it is.”
She pulled a handful of papers from the drawer and spread them on the desk in an untidy pile, then began pulling out a sheet here, two sheets there, rejecting some, accepting others, putting them together in various stacks.
Emily glanced at Cody and caught him glancing at her. They both looked away quickly. Again, she asked herself why a man who looked like this one had to go to a dating agency to find a woman. All he had to do was walk down the street and they’d follow him home in droves.
“Here we go.” Wanda offered one pile of papers to each of them, followed by two yellow ballpoint pens bearing a line drawing of a rose. “Now, the two of you can make yourselves comfortable at the conference table.” She indicated the table set before three tall windows in the converted Victorian. Glass panes swathed in lace turned muted light and shadow into romantic patterns.
Emily’s discomfort returned in a rush. Did she really want to sit across from this man and tell lies, even if only on paper? But Cody was rising obediently while Wanda beamed approval. Emily didn’t feel she had any choice but to follow him across the room and sink down in the chair he held for her.
And try to conceal her pleasure that some men still followed the old amenities with such perfect assurance.
Cody stared down at the form on the table before him, trying to concentrate. The first part, at least, was easy: Cody James, 30, male, cowboy. Well, he was a cowboy, he thought, easing his conscience. Income. He was ready for this one. No way would he tell the truth. Carefully, he wrote, “Enough to get by on with enough left over for a wife and kids, if they’re not too extravagant.”
That worked.
He read the next inquiry. Build. He stifled a smile. Yeah, he built—he’d helped build the hay shed on the Flying J a couple of months ago but he didn’t figure that’s what they wanted to know.
Dumb question. He’d skip it.
His impatient glance shifted just a tad too much and he found himself looking across the table at Emily Kirkwood. She was bent over the forms with total concentration, and he saw her straight white teeth tugging at that full lower lip. Made his mouth water, just watching.
Too bad about her. He’d liked her right away but he would never get involved with another drop-dead beautiful woman as long as he lived. Unfortunately, Emily was beautiful. Gritting his teeth, he went back to the form. Marital Status: divorced. Children: “No, but I sure want some,” he wrote.
Then he came to Type of Residence and stopped again. In actual fact, he lived in the big main ranch house at the Flying J with a whole passel of other Jameses but he sure didn’t want that known at this early stage of the game. If he was going to find a woman more interested in him than how many cows and buffalo and acres his family owned, some things were better left unsaid. He wrote, “House,” and let it go at that.
Pets. That was easy enough. Dogs, a buffalo. Under Favorite Animals, though, he chose horses; Least Favorite, cats. Favorite Sport was rodeo; Favorite Nonsporting Activity was watching rodeo and Favorite Food was Tex-Mex.
He heaved a sigh of relief; so far so good. He glanced up again, well pleased with himself. His gaze locked with that of the beautiful brown-eyed blonde sitting across from him. For a moment, he forgot all about the vow made on the heels of his divorce.
No more beautiful women. You just couldn’t trust ’em.
With her gaze locked with Cody’s, Emily forgot to breathe. Surely it wasn’t just his good looks, she thought, a little panicky at the way he made her feel. He’d seemed like a very nice man while the three of them were getting acquainted a few minutes earlier.
She gave him a quick, tentative smile and looked back down at her questionnaire. In Dallas she’d filled out the personal information form with unerring accuracy and gotten a lemon. This time she saw no reason to bare her soul.
Next item, Children. She wrote, “Goodness, no!” Actually, she liked children, and if she ever married, she’d certainly want them, but that was years and years in the future. No need to go into any of that. Pets. Cats, of course; she had two back in the apartment she shared with her old friend, Laurie Billingsley. Least Favorite Animal gave her pause for thought since she really liked most animals. Finally, she wrote, “Anything big.”
Favorite Nonsporting Activity. If she was being honest, the answer to that would be reading. But who would be interested in a woman who’d give that kind of response? She wrote, “Partying,” even though it was a barefaced lie. The answer to General Interests/ Hobbies would, in actual fact, be volunteer work. She’d taught children to read back in Dallas and would do so again when she returned. But since truth was not required, she wrote, “Shopping!!” with two exclamation points and an S with curlicues.
Her Favorite Food was macaroni and cheese, but she wrote, “Vegetarian,” because it seemed more sophisticated. Under A Perfect Date Would Be, she wrote, “Dinner in a four-star restaurant and dancing,” when the truth was closer to “A romantic movie at home before a roaring fire and with a bottle of wine.”
Ideal Vacation? “A Caribbean cruise,” she wrote extravagantly, even knowing she’d be happier in a cabin in the mountains. Ideal Partner Would Be...?
This stopped her cold. She couldn’t write, “Poor but honest and loving,” which was the truth although she didn’t suppose anyone would believe it. So she wrote, “Sophisticated, wealthy, handsome man-about-town.” And tried not to lift her gaze to the man seated across from her, a man who certainly appeared to be “poor but honest and loving”—and so handsome that her pulse quickened just looking at him.
She was not here to find a husband, or even a serious relationship! She was here to pay a debt of honor. She lowered her head and forced herself to stare at the next question. What I’m seeking in a relationship.
Nothing. She wasn’t seeking a darn thing. And once she finished this questionnaire and got away from the appealing Cody James, it wouldn’t be so hard to remember that. But since she had to write something, she wrote, “Fun and games!” in great big letters.
No more computer geeks for her!
Ideal Partner Would Be...?
Cody frowned at his questionnaire, wishing he could come up with an easy answer. He wasn’t sure what his ideal partner would be but he sure knew what she wouldn’t be.
She wouldn’t be like Jessica.
The thought of his ex-wife sent a familiar shaft of irritation through him. She’d said all the right things—until she had him roped and tied. Then all of a sudden, she didn’t want children, she didn’t want a boring life on a ranch and, eventually, she didn’t want him.
She did want his money and she’d made off with a hefty chunk of it. By then, it had been worth it to Cody to be shed of her. But sometimes he still remembered the things about her that he’d loved, things like a quick laugh, a ready humor, a passionate nature...
And she sure was easy on the eyes....
Blond, brown-eyed, peaches-and-cream skin, a figure that made men drool—actually, Jessica looked a lot like Emily Kirkwood. Jessica knew her power, too, although it took him a little while to realize it Now, two years after the divorce, he realized that he’d based all his hopes and dreams on what she’d said, not on what she’d done. He’d been wearing blinders, he realized in retrospect. He’d seen her with children and she was completely disinterested; he’d seen her with his family on the Flying J and she’d been standoffish and reluctant to join in.
But all the time she’d been insisting that she loved kids and she loved ranch life and she loved big families and—the biggest lie of all—she loved him. He figured if he’d watched what she did instead of what she’d said, he’d have been spared a lot of heartache.
The opening of the door broke into his reverie. Wanda stood there smiling. “Almost finished?” she asked cheerfully.
Emily said, “Almost. May we have a few more minutes?”
Wanda said, “Of course,” and went back outside.
Emily looked at Cody and it wasn’t at all the way Jessica had looked at him. Somehow he felt as if Emily really saw him.
She smiled. “It’s hard, isn’t it.” Her voice was soft and intimate, so appealing that it took him a moment to respond.
“What’s hard?”
“Answering all these personal questions.” She wrinkled her pert little nose. “I mean, it’s hard unless you sit around all day thinking deep thoughts about your life. Do you?”
He laughed, feeling some of his tension drain away. “Not too often. Guess you don’t, either.”
She made a rueful little face before turning back to the paper before her. Cody did likewise.
Ideal Partner Would Be, “A good old down-home country girl without pretensions,” he wrote. What I’m Seeking In A Relationship: love and marriage.
Last question. Describe Yourself In Your Own Words. He scowled at the paper for a long time, finally writing a single word: tall.
Emily had finished the questionnaire well before Cody but hadn’t been satisfied with her answers. Going back over what she’d written, though, she couldn’t find anything worth changing.
What difference did it make? It was all a pack of lies anyway. Still, she’d instinctively asked for more time when Wanda appeared. She didn’t need it but had a sinking feeling that she wasn’t going to like what came next.
Wanda reappeared a few minutes later, bustling over to the table with her eyes twinkling. “There,” she said, scooping up the questionnaires, “that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”
Cody groaned, which made Emily smile. She hadn’t enjoyed it, either.
Wanda pursed her lips. “Now, now, I know we ask a lot of nosy questions, but the computer needs to know!”
“I suppose.” Cody rose, stretching his lanky frame. “Now what?”
“Why, now we take a couple of pictures.”
“Pictures?” Emily didn’t much like the sound of that. She didn’t like having her picture taken because she thought the result never looked like her.
“It’s a very simple procedure,” Wanda assured her. “The camera is all set up. I just plunk you down on the stool and say, ‘Smile!’”
“And then what happens?” Cody asked again. “When will you have news for us?”
Wanda frowned thoughtfully. “Tomorrow,” she announced, “unless George gets temperamental on me.”
“Tomorrow!” Emily was astonished. “I wouldn’t even think that would give you time to put our information in the computer, let alone get the results.”
For the first time, Wanda looked flustered. “I’m very good with computers,” she said defensively. “I know I didn’t grow up with them the way you young people did, but—”
“Oh, Wanda, I didn’t mean...” Emily hesitated, chewing on her lower lip. She wouldn’t hurt this nice lady’s feelings for the world. “I only meant that I didn’t think anybody could work that fast. If you can, then I applaud you.”
The old lady seemed to recover herself. “I guess I’m touchy about my age,” she confided. “When George was installed, it took me forever to learn to get along with him. For a while there, I thought I might actually lose my job.”
“Hey,” Cody said, “you’re not the only one with computer problems. Those blamed things can be more trouble than they’re worth sometimes.”
“You know, they really can.” Wanda gave him a grateful glance. “Let’s go get those pictures and then you can both run along. I’m sure you have many more important things to do today.”
Cody grinned. “This is the most important thing I’ve got to do, period. As far as I’m concerned, you can take all the time you need.”
He and Wanda turned expectantly to Emily. Cornered, she could only smile and agree. Even if it wasn’t true. None of this had the least bit of importance to her. Except, of course, that she didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Or get involved.
From: MataHari@Upzydazy.com
Sent: Monday, Nov. 2, 7:42 p.m.
To: SuperScribe@BoyHowdy.com
Subject: Hold your horses!
Calm down, will you, Terry? I said I’d go to the Yellow Rose and I did. Answered the usual nosy questions, had my picture taken, the whole nine yards. The lady I dealt with, Wanda Roland, is really nice. I also met a really cute guy. Almost makes me sorry this isn’t for real. :-((Not really.) I’ll let you know if and when I get matched, but in the meantime... Yellow Rose Matchmakers is located in a beautiful old Victorian house in a quiet and shady neighborhood...
CHAPTER TWO
From: SuperScribe@BoyHowdy.com
Sent: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 6:30 a.m.
To: MataHari@Upzydazy.com
Subject: Good girl!
I knew I could count on you, Emmy. Sorry if I pushed. Here’s a rose as a peace offering: @)->—>—Okay, down to business. Wanda Roland is in my notes and I want to know more about her, especially how she gets on with the computers. There seems to be some question about this “completely computerized” claim. Also, be sure to keep me posted on your adventures with the “really cute guy”....
EMILY downloaded her E-mail from her laptop computer first thing Tuesday morning and read Terry’s note at the breakfast table while Laurie looked on with ill-concealed curiosity. When she’d finished the message, Emily wadded it into a ball, which she tossed on the floor for her yellow cat, Archie, to bat around.
“I’m dying of curiosity!” Laurie announced. “What did he say?”
“He who?” Emily reached for her glass of orange juice, trying to compose herself. She wished to heaven she’d never mentioned the “really cute guy”.
“C’mon, that E-mail was from Terry, right? What did that con man want this time?”
“That’s no way to talk about my cousin,” Emily said primly, but she couldn’t help smiling. She’d called him worse herself, but blood was still thicker than water.
“Don’t forget, I know the guy,” Laurie said darkly. “Old Anything-for-a-scoop Kirkwood.”
“Give him a break. This is a new job and he’s trying to make good.” Emily uttered an exasperated sigh. “Do you realize you’ve made me defend him? I must be nuts.”
“You sure are, after he basically blackmailed you into helping him research this story. He tried to pull the same stunt with me but he didn’t have anything to hold over my head.” Laurie took a sip of coffee. She was already dressed for work although she’d come in quite late the night before. This was the first chance the roommates had had to talk since breakfast yesterday.
“He didn’t have to blackmail me,” Emily said. “You know I owed him after he saved my father’s life in that boating accident. I can never repay him for that.”
“No, Em, your father can never repay him for that. Or couldn’t—I guess now that he’s dead, it kind of gets both of you off the hook.”
“Really? Then why do I feel so beholden?”
Laurie shrugged. “Because you’re one of the good guys,” she said with a smile. “You’d probably help Terry even if he wasn’t your cousin and you didn’t think you owed him.” She grinned and added, “But it’s still blackmail!”
“You could be right.”
Laurie returned to the main point. “Was Terry happy you’ve been to the Yellow Rose?”
Emily nodded. “My...counselor or whatever you call her is a delightful old lady named Wanda Roland. I mentioned her in my E-mail to Terry yesterday and he’s apparently heard of her. He wants to know all about her and how she gets along with computers.”
“That sounds innocent enough.”
“Yes, except...there’s something funny about Wanda and computers.”
“Funny ha-ha or funny strange?”
“Definitely funny strange. She talks about using them, even boasts about how computerized the company is, but she touches her computer the way I’d touch a snake.”
“Not with love, huh.”
“Definitely not.” Emily frowned. “She calls her computer George.”
“That is peculiar. Most computers I know are named Max.” Laurie laughed. “So did anything else happen yesterday, except that you met a strange little old lady?”
“Well...” Don’t go on, Emily warned herself. Don’t mention Cody James. She’d never see him again, so why bring him up? “I...uh...” She licked her lips, surprised at the unexpected desire to talk about him. “I met a really good-looking man. I mean, really.”
“Better-looking than John?”
“Much better-looking.”
Laurie rubbed her hands together with glee. “Now we’re getting down to brass tacks!”
“But I don’t want to get down to brass tacks. After John, I’m not in the market for a man, as you well know.”
For a moment, Laurie frowned at her friend. Then she shook her head sadly. “Emily Kirkwood, I don’t understand you at all. Just because your former fiance was a louse doesn’t mean they all are. Every woman without a man is in the market for one, preferably the right one, of course.”
“That’s just it. You never know if he’s the right one until it’s too late. And he doesn’t know if you’re the right one, either.”
Laurie winked broadly. “Half the fun’s in finding out.”
“No, thank you very much. I’m only doing this to help my cousin research a magazine article so he can make good at his job. I’m definitely not looking for a relationship.”
“You’re sure about that?”
Emily lifted her chin. “Absolutely sure.”
But if she was looking for a relationship—she pulled such thoughts up short. She had to forget Cody James and go to work! With any luck, today would not be the day she heard from Wanda Roland. In fact, if Emily was really lucky, Wanda wouldn’t find a match anywhere inside that darned computer.
Cody was surprised to find his niece, ten-year-old Liana, at the lunch table when he came in from running longhorns on the north forty. “What you doin’ home from school, shrimp?” he inquired, ruffling her straight dark hair.
Her mother, Elena, scowled from her spot before the built-in cooktop. Most family meals at the Flying J were taken in the large kitchen with everyone clustered around the big round oak table. The ranch hands ate at the chuck wagon, their own “café” staffed with a cook who made her way to the ranch each day from a nearby farm. Cody and his brother, Ben, Elena’s husband, were as likely to eat the midday meal at one place as the other.
“Liana woke up this morning claiming to be sick,” Elena said. “Silly me, I believed her.”
Liana’s lower lip thrust out in a pout. “I am sick,” she whined. “I mean, I was, only now I feel better. Can I go out with Uncle Cody this afternoon, Mama? Can I?”
“No way.” Elena used a spatula to dish up grilled steak-and-cheese sandwiches to augment the tomato soup already steaming in mugs. “If you’re sick enough to stay home from school, you’re too sick to get out of bed.”
“I’m out of bed now,” Liana argued, snatching a golden triangle off the platter when her mother set it down.
“Meals don’t count. As soon as you finish...” Elena pointed toward the door leading to the stairs, which in turn led to the bedrooms.
“Uncle Cody!”
“Sorry, cupcake, your mother’s right.” He settled into his seat and warmed his hands around the mug of soup. It was chillier than usual out there today.
Elena smiled, her beautiful white teeth flashing. Ben had found a real jewel in her. “That’s what I like about you, Cody,” she said. “You never let them get the best of you.”
Cody winked at Liana. “Never?”
Elena laughed. “Not that I know of anyway. So tell me, how did it go yesterday at the Yellow Rose?”
“All right,” he said in a noncommittal tone. Although his entire family knew all about his decision to go wife-hunting, he felt uncharacteristically shy about yesterday.
Elena’s brows rose. “You mean...?”
Just then, Ben entered through the back door, yanking off his denim jacket and tossing it onto a hook beside the door. “I’m hungry enough to eat a horse,” the manager and co-owner of the Flying J declared. He paused long enough to drop a kiss on his wife’s cheek on his way to wash up.
Watching them together, smiling and happy after twelve years of marriage, Cody felt envy start to boil in his chest. He fought it down valiantly. That was why he’d taken his courage in hand and gone to Yellow Rose Matchmakers; he wanted what Ben and Elena had. That included little Liana, grinning after her tall father with adoration in her eyes, and eight-year-old Jimmy, who was at school.
Elena smiled at her husband’s broad back. “I was asking your brother how it went at the matchmaker’s yesterday.”
Ben grinned over his shoulder, busily splashing his hands beneath the stream of water. “Yeah, Cody, tell us all about it.”
“Had to fill out a lot of junk,” Cody said. He made a face.
“Like what?” Elena pressed.
“Ah, you know—what kinda guy I am, what kinda woman I’m looking for, stuff like that.”
“Aunt Jessica was pretty,” Liana piped up.
“Yeah,” Cody agreed, “but I’m not lookin’ for another one of those. Although...”
Elena and Ben both perked up. Ben dried his hands on a dish towel and joined them at the table. “Although what?”
“Well...I met a real looker while I was there.”
Husband and wife exchanged knowing glances. “You did?” Elena asked encouragingly.
“But I’ll never see that one again. It was just a screwup over the appointments.” Cody helped himself to several sandwich halves from the platter, then reached for the jar of pickles.
“How can you be so sure?” Elena leaned forward on her elbows, apparently more interested in her brother-in-law’s love life than in lunch.
“For openers, she’s too good-looking.”
“Uncle Cody doesn’t trust pretty women,” Liana announced with youthful authority.
All three adults stared at her, dumbfounded.
Flustered, she tried to regroup. “Well, I heard him say that to Daddy one time,” she wailed.
Elena shook her head. “Little pitchers have big ears,” she announced.
Ben laughed. “Little pitchers have got the straight of it this time. Okay, little brother, she’s too good-looking. What else is wrong with her?”
“She’s not interested in marriage.”
“How can you be so sure of that?” Elena demanded.
“She said so.”
The minute he made that announcement, he realized his mistake. Jessica had consistently said one thing and meant another. Maybe this woman meant one thing and said another. In which case, Cody’s interest might not be as misplaced as he’d—
The telephone on the wall near the door began to ring and Elena went to answer it. After the briefest of conversations, she turned back with a big smile on her face. “That was a lady from Yellow Rose Matchmakers, Wanda something—”
“Wanda Roland.” Cody’s stomach clenched in the kind of anticipation he hadn’t expected to feel. “What did she say?”
“That she’s made a match for you. She wants you to come to her office this afternoon at four to hear the good news.”
“Good news? How does she know it’ll be good news? It could be a disaster. It could be—”
“Look, Daddy,” Liana said, grinning. “Uncle Cody’s scared!”
He sure was. Scared to death.
Emily was having a tough day at work. As temporary office manager for a brand-new branch of A&B Construction, she had more than enough to keep her busy. When her boss, Don Phillips, poked his head in, she had a whole list of questions for him.
Don was big and bluff and hearty, not to mention a great boss. In his mid-forties, he treated everyone who worked for A&B the same, although he was a partner in the business he’d helped build from the ground up. When all her questions had been answered and decisions made, he refilled his coffee cup and lingered.
“So how are you liking San Antonio?” he asked. “Had a chance to look around?”
“Not much. It’s pretty, though. I saw that right away.”
Don nodded. “That it is. I’m sorry I’ve been such a slave driver.”
“You haven’t! Just yesterday, I took an extra long lunch.” To go to a dating agency, but he didn’t need to know that.
He chuckled. “But you worked the entire weekend. Don’t think I wasn’t aware of it. And you work late almost every night. You’ll probably only be in San Antonio for a few months, so you need to get out and see—”
The telephone on her desk started ringing. With a nod of apology, she picked it up. “A&B Construction.”
“Is that you, Emily dear?”
“Wanda?” Surely she hadn’t made a match already! Emily’s heart fluttered.
“How flattering. You remember my voice. I’ve called to tell you that George has found a match for you already. Isn’t that good news?”
“Wonderful.”
“Yes, well, I wonder if you could come to the office at four o’clock?”
“Four o’clock today?” Emily’s mind raced, coming up with all kinds of reasons why it was impossible. “I’m afraid that’s completely out of the question. I—”
Don interrupted her. “Whatever it is, go ahead. Wasn’t I just telling you not to work so hard?”
Emily felt a touch of panic. “But—”
“Hey, who’s the boss here?” He rose, placed his coffee cup on the desk and picked up his hard hat. “Just lock up when you go and put the Back Tomorrow sign on the door.”
“Oh, Don, I really don’t want to cause anyone any inconvenience.”
“Not a problem. Just do it.”
Emily sat there with one hand over the mouthpiece. There was simply no way to get out of this. Taking a deep breath, she removed her hand and said, “All right, Wanda. I’ll be there at four.”
“That’s wonderfull See you then.” Wanda’s relief came through loud and clear.
Emily hung up, wondering at her reluctance to see this charade through to a speedy end so she could be free of her obligation. And then she remembered Cody James and realized that no matter whom George had matched her with, he was bound to be a big letdown.
Cody walked into Yellow Rose Matchmakers at 4:03 and found Emily standing in front of the receptionist with a puzzled expression on her beautiful face. He couldn’t help smiling at the pretty picture she made in her pink suit with her blond hair tousled around her face by the wind.
She saw him and did a double take. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Slightly taken aback by her lack of enthusiasm, he shrugged. “Wanda called. I have a four o’clock appointment.”
“Oh, dear.” Teresa grimaced. “Don’t tell me she’s done it again.”
Emily sighed. “Looks like.” To Cody, she added, “I apologize if I sounded unfriendly a minute ago. I was Just surprised to see you again, that’s all.”
“Me, too.” But for him, the surprise had been pleasant. To Teresa, he said, “Does this happen often?”
“Often? No.” She rolled her eyes. “Occasionally... yes. But Wanda has such a great instinct for matchmaking that we tend to overlook it.” She frowned. “You two aren’t upset, are you? I suppose I could always assign one or the other of you to a different mentor—that’s what we call them, mentors—maybe Miss Willie or Moira can help?”
“No!” they exclaimed in unison, then exchanged surprised glances.
Emily added, “I wouldn’t want to cause Wanda any trouble. It could happen to anyone.”
“Yeah,” Cody agreed. “Besides, I’ll be glad to let the lady go first.”
“Thank you,” Emily said firmly, “but that’s not necessary. We could...we could draw straws or something. Just because you’re a man is no reason for you to go last.”
“It’s reason enough for me,” Cody said. “My daddy didn’t bring me up to—”
“Hold on, both of you.” When Teresa had the floor, she continued, “Wanda called just a few minutes ago to say she’s running late. She’ll be here in—” she checked her watch “—about thirty-five minutes. She hopes you can both wait.”
“Oh, dear.” Emily looked positively exasperated.
“No problem,” Cody said, hoping to set a good example for patience and understanding. “Should we just wait here?” He glanced around the reception area.
“Sure, or maybe...” Teresa looked thoughtful. “There’s a coffee shop just a couple of blocks away. Maybe you’d like to kill a few minutes there and then come back about five?”
Cody looked at Emily and Emily looked at Cody, and something seemed to click; her expression softened and he knew what her answer would be before she said it.
“If it’s all right with you, Cody...?”
“I’ll drive,” he said. “See you at five, Teresa.”
Holding the door for Emily to precede him, Cody realized he didn’t mind waiting at all...with her.
“Wanna piece of pie with that coffee? It’s homemade.”
Cody looked at Emily, who smiled and shook her head. But she wasn’t surprised when he hesitated.
“What kind?”
“We got apple, cherry, lemon and...” The waitress craned her head to view the pie case behind the counter. “Looks like pumpkin, but I won’t guarantee it.”
“I’ll take a slab of apple. Could you warm that up and throw a scoop of vanilla ice cream at it?”
The waitress grinned. Cody sure knew how to warm up strangers. “Glad to do it, cowboy.” She headed for that pie case.
Emily stirred a packet of sweetener into her coffee, feeling strangely ill at ease. They hadn’t talked at all on the short ride over in the battered old red pickup truck with the big J painted on the side—with wings yet. Now the silence would have to be broken.
Cody took a gulp of hot black coffee. “Isn’t this better than sittin’ in a waiting room?” he asked rhetorically.
“Much better,” she agreed, although she wasn’t quite sure about that. “Do you have far to drive to get here?”
“Seventy-five miles or thereabouts, depending on which part of the ranch I start from.”
She was impressed. “That’s quite a drive.”
He shrugged. “I’m used to it.”
The waitress put a huge piece of steaming pie in front of him, ice cream already beginning to melt in a creamy puddle around it. He gave her a quick smile of thanks and picked up his fork.
“How about you?” he asked, the first bite hovering above the plate. “Where do you live?”
“Not far from here. I share an apartment in a converted Victorian with a friend.”
He chewed thoughtfully before answering. “Not a male friend, I take it. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
“That’s a safe bet.” She looked away from those probing blue eyes at several people perched on stools at the counter.
“Why are you here?”
Rattled, she jerked back around. “You mean here at this café or there at the Yellow Rose?”
“Let’s start with the Rose.”
She licked her lips, fumbling for an answer. “All the usual reasons,” she hedged, “exactly as I said before. I’m new in town, I don’t know many people—”
“Any woman who looks like you doesn’t need to go to a dating agency to meet people, at least not to meet men people.”
That was exactly what she thought about him and women people. “If that’s a compliment, thank you.”
“It’s a compliment.”
“What about you? Why are you here?”
“Here at the café or there at the Rose?” He gave her that crooked little grin that was so charming. “I’m here because I was curious about you and wanted to know more. I’m there because I want to get married and have a passel of kids.”
“That makes sense,” she said, “I guess.”
He finished the pie, placed the fork on the plate and slid it aside. “But you said you’re not interested in marriage.”
She lifted her chin. “That’s right.”
“Why not?”
“Because there’ll be plenty of time for that later.”
“Are you one of those career women, then?”
“Not exactly. I mean, I have a job I like but I don’t see it as a career, exactly.”
“Ahh,” he said wisely, “I see.”
His tone annoyed her. “What do you see?”
“You’ve been burned. Some guy done you wrong and you’re having a hard time getting over it.”
“Why, of all the—that’s not it at all!” But it was. She’d been burned not once but twice, and two men had indeed done her wrong: the man who’d dumped her, and the man with whom her mother had run away when Emily was twelve. Both were rich and handsome and thought they could buy anything they wanted.
Unfortunately, in the case of Beverly Kirkwood, that had proven to be true. But when her lover tried to use his enormous wealth and power to gain custody of Emily, the child had dug in her heels and fought to stay with the father who had not betrayed her. The legal battles had gone on for years and left her father broken in spirit as well as financially.
“I’m sorry,” Cody said, and he did look contrite. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It just seemed so obvious.”
“Not as obvious as you might think,” she said grimly. “I suppose eventually I’ll want what most women want—a husband, children—but for now I’m just looking for a good time.” Better than saying all she was looking for was to discharge a moral obligation to her cousin so she could settle back down to her usual quiet existence.
That lopsided grin made her stomach do flip-flops. “Damn shame,” Cody drawled, “but I kinda know where you’re coming from. You see, I had a wife who could stop traffic, she was so good-lookin’. When the marriage didn’t work out, I got soured on pretty women.” He looked down at his coffee cup, then slanted her a quick glance. “Like you, for instance.”
“Me?” She’d never thought of herself as anything special in the looks department. All right...passable, certainly...but a traffic stopper?
He laughed. “Don’t look so surprised. The truth is, we’re as different as night and day.”
She grinned back, relieved that he’d realized that. “You say pa-tay-toe, I say pa-tah-toe.”
“Exactly. I like horses and cows and you...”
“Like ballet and concerts. I like cats and you like...”
“Dogs. I like the country...”
“And I like the city.”
“Tough break.” With those words, all his good humor went right out the window.
“There’s plenty of fish in the sea,” she said lightly, not sure whether she believed that or not.
“I’m not looking for a fish.”
“Neither am I.”
Their glances locked and tension sizzled between them. After a very long moment, he said, “I hate not knowing.”
“N-not knowing what?”
“What might have been. We’ll go back to Wanda’s office and she’ll flutter around and give you some fancy guy who likes fancy stuff, and she’ll give me some country girl who likes country stuff, and we’ll both be better off. But I’ll probably always wonder what might have been.”
“But we have to go along with whatever Wanda says,” she reminded him. “I mean, she’s the expert, right?” Her stomach hurt when she said it.
“Right.” His face, in repose, looked strong and a little sad.
“I mean, she has George to help her out. We can’t fight modern science and all that.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Well, then.” Feeling jumpy and out of sync, she glanced at her watch. “Hey, it’s time to get back.”
“If you say so.” He hauled a wallet from his back pocket. He pulled out a bill and dropped it on the table. His gaze captured hers again. “I still say it’s a shame, even if it is for the best.”
“It’s definitely for the best. Whatever Wanda says will have to be the way it is.” But in her heart, she felt a sadness she couldn’t explain.
During the short ride back to the Yellow Rose, Cody thought about all they’d said. Even though they’d probably never see each other again after today, he was glad she didn’t know the truth about him: that his family was one of the most successful ranching dynasties in Texas. He wouldn’t want her if she was just after his money; been there, done that. He’d rather have her think of him, if she ever did, as a simple cowboy.
No harm done.
Back at the Rose, he followed her up the steps and into the pretty yellow Victorian. Teresa looked up with alarm on her face.
“Oh, dear, I don’t even want to face you two.”
Emily stiffened. “What now?”
“Wanda won’t be able to make it at all, I’m afraid. She wonders if you could come back Friday morning at nine.”
“What?” Emily looked distraught, a pretty strong reaction for a woman who claimed she wasn’t all that interested in a relationship anyway.
Not that Cody was all that interested in driving all the way back into San Antonio again so soon, either. “Maybe we should forget the whole thing,” he suggested.
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Emily agreed.
“Please don’t,” Teresa pleaded. “You see, Wanda was in a minor traffic accident on her way here.”
Emily gasped. “Oh, my gosh! Is she all right?”
“Yes, but she’s pretty shaken. She feels terrible about this, but—”
“No problem,” Cody said quickly. “We didn’t understand. We don’t really mind coming back, right, Emily?”
He saw the struggle on her face, but then she nodded. “You’re right. Friday at nine will be just fine.”
Should he ask her out to dinner since they were here with nothing to do? Should he suggest they meet for breakfast before their appointment? Should he—
“Thanks for the coffee, Cody.” She gave him a brief, impersonal nod. “Perhaps I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Watching her let herself out the heavy front door, he knew for sure what he should have done.
He should have acted faster.
From: MataHari@Upzydazy.com
Sent: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 7:13 p.m.
To: SuperScribe@BoyHowdy.com
Subject: Bummer day!
Today, cousin dear, was a waste of time. I didn’t even *see* Wanda Roland so there’s nothing new on that front. I have yet another appointment Friday morning and maybe I’ll have more to tell you after that. In the meantime, suffice it to say that I am *not* having a good time....
CHAPTER THREE
From: SuperScribe@BoyHowdy.com
Sent: Thursday, Nov. 5, 7:11 p.m.
To: MataHari@Upzydazy.com
Subject: Just curious.
So you won’t see Wanda Roland until tomorrow, huh. That *is* a bummer, but at least you’re trying. I do like what you’ve given me so far. You didn’t mention the “really cute guy” again. Guess that means he was a no-show, too....
KEEP believing that, Terry, Emily thought as she reread yesterday’s E-mail missive from her cousin. Sitting in the reception area at Yellow Rose Matchmakers, she assured herself that there was no reason her entire life had to be an open book.
She’d arrived a few minutes early for her appointment and now, on the stroke of nine, the front door swung open and Cody James entered. Feeling guilty for no particular reason, she stuffed Terry’s E-mail into her jacket pocket and gave Cody a deliberately impersonal smile.
Before he could even speak to Teresa, Wanda’s door popped open. “How lovely! You’re both here. Please come in, children.”
Cody looked at Emily and Emily looked at Cody. It was as if Wanda’s announcement ended even this tenuous relationship between them. Once matched with different people, they’d go their separate ways and that would be that.
“After you,” he said.
She nodded her thanks and preceded him into the office, feeling intensely his presence just behind her. She’d never met a more magnetic man. When he was in the room, it was as if her entire being was somehow connected to his every move.
Silly. He certainly wasn’t her type. Too good-looking, for openers. Too different in his dreams, for closers.
“Sit down, children, do sit down.” Wanda indicated the same seats they’d occupied before. Turning, she limped behind the desk.
Emily exchanged an alarmed glance with Cody, who looked equally concerned. “Are you all right?” Emily asked the little woman. “Teresa said your accident wasn’t serious.”
Wanda waved concern aside. “No, no, I’m fine. A little stiff is all. That’s to be expected at my age.”
Emily felt greatly relieved. “Thank heaven. Uhh...you have something to tell us?”
“That’s right.”
Wanda just sat there, smiling. Watching attentively, Emily thought she saw a bruise on the woman’s forehead. Perhaps she’d been hurt more seriously than she’d admitted.
Finally, Cody cleared his throat. “We’re both a little curious how you happened to double up on our appointments again,” he said. A glance at Emily drew a nod of agreement. “Not that we mind.”
Another nod from Emily, this one less enthusiastic. Actually, she did mind. She felt uncomfortable around Cody, mostly because she was so attracted to him and knew such feelings were a complete waste of time.
“My goodness, why should you mind?” Wanda cocked her head and furrowed her brow. “I thought you’d have guessed by now.”
“Guessed what?” they asked together. This time, Emily and Cody exchanged frowns.
“Why, guessed that the two of you are made for each other. In fact, this is a match made in heaven!”
Emily gasped and fell back in her chair. “You’ve got to be kidding!”
Wanda looked hurt. “George never kids,” she said with great dignity, “and he never lies.”
“Is George ever wrong?” Cody sounded grim.
Wanda blinked her big blue eyes. “Not to my knowledge,” she said, frowning. “I thought you’d both be thrilled. It was obvious to me from the beginning that you belong together forever.”
“But, Wanda,” Emily protested, “we’re so different!”
“Opposites attract,” Wanda said serenely.
“We came here for different reasons,” Cody argued.
“That’s what makes a horse race.”
Cody looked around, a desperate gleam in his eyes. “But Emily isn’t interested in marriage and I won’t settle for anything less.”
“It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.”
“But I don’t want to change my mind!”
“A woman can even change her mind about changing her mind,” Wanda pointed out. She pursed her soft lips. “I don’t know what’s the matter with you two,” she grumbled. “Did you come here because you want the help of a professional or not?”
“Well, yes,” Cody admitted.
“And a computer,” Emily chimed in. “I wanted the latest and most up-to-date guidance to be had.”
Wanda threw up her hands. “That’s what you’re getting, so what’s the problem?”
“Well...” Emily thought fast. “Could I see the computer printout for this match? I’d like to know just what George found about the two of us that’s so compatible.”
Wanda gasped. “No one has ever asked for such a thing.”
Even Cody looked puzzled by that. “Never?”
Wanda shook her silvery head.
“I’d really like to see that printout.” Emily felt she must stand firm. Here was a chance to get the information Terry needed, which would get him off her back once and for all.
Wanda grimaced and drummed her fingers on the desktop. With extreme reluctance, she said, “Of course, if you insist, I suppose I can try.”
“Try?” Emily echoed.
“George is so temperamental. Sometimes he gets his feelings hurt and then you don’t know what he...” As she spoke, she reached out with one hesitant forefinger to touch the keyboard. Instantly, she jerked back with a gasp.
Cody half rose from his chair. “What is it? Did George—did you get shocked or something?”
“The screen went blank!”
“The screen went...?” Cody walked around the desk until he could see the front of the computer. He frowned, leaned down and hit a couple of keys, then shook his head. “She’s right,” he said to Emily. “Nothing.”
“Is it broken?” Something fishy was going on here, Emily just couldn’t imagine what.
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Ruth Jean Dale
Name: Cody JamesAge: 30Occupation: RancherLooking for:A wife and mother for my children.The Yellow Rose Matchmakers claimed to be able to match any woman with her Mr. Right. And Emily couldn't deny that the man she'd been matched with, Cody James, sounded perfect–on paper, at least.The reality was even better–the tall, sexy cowboy took Emily Kirkwood's breath away. Too bad that Emily hadn't joined the Yellow Rose to find a man but to write a Valentine's story on…well…how to get a man. Only, Cody was available… and perhaps what this story needed was a little in-depth research!Texas Grooms Wanted!Only cowboys need apply!
Title Page (#u1cbd6ae3-f191-59c1-8ffc-83fee704bff7)Dedication (#uab588044-4abd-50bd-90c3-3f5e7fa8c992)CHAPTER ONE (#u87e30df9-2f1f-5dc6-aac6-e2b4a4cdc191)CHAPTER TWO (#u8b1b4aa3-4e1d-5148-b484-106112c31760)CHAPTER THREE (#u2e1e55a6-50d2-5484-9c2f-570a5fea41f9)CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Question: How do you find the perfect man?
Answer: Read on....
Texas Grooms Wanted! is a brand-new miniseries in Harlequin Romance
.
Meet three wonderful heroines who are all looking for very special Texas men—their future husbands!
Good men may be hard to find, but these women have experts on hand. They’ve all signed up with the Yellow Rose Matchmakers. The oldest—and the best!—matchmaking service in San Antonio, Texas, the Yellow Rose guarantees to find any woman her perfect partner...
So, for the cutest cowboys in the whole state of Texas, read:
Only cowboys need apply ..
Name: Ruth Jean Dale
Age: 39 and holding.
Occupation: Romance author
Marital status: Married, one of the few things I managed to get right the first time around
Ideal partner: The one I’ve got He may be the only man in the Western world able to put up with my eccentricities—and I happily return the favor.
Worst dating experience: So long ago I don’t even remember, although I do recall I kissed a few frogs before finding my prince Fortunately, all you need is one if he’s the right one! I guess that’s why I write romance—because I found my own happy ending was just the beginning.
Bachelor Available!
Ruth Jean Dale
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For Day Leclaire,
who roamed San Antonio and the Hill Country of Texas
with me to research this book
(and hers).
If you’ve got bulls to herd, Day’s your cowgal!
CHAPTER ONE
From: SuperScribe@BoyHowdy.com
Sent: Sunday, Nov. 1, 9:42 p.m.
To: MataHari@Upzydazy.com
Subject: Enough, already!
Okay, Emily, I’ve been patient but I know you and if you don’t hustle your buns over to the Yellow Rose ASAP, you never will. A promise is a promise (not that you owe me or anything). :-) (Smile) What’s your problem? You *could* get lucky....
THE first thing that caught Emily Kirkwood’s attention Monday when she entered Yellow Rose Matchmakers in San Antonio, Texas, was the fragrance of roses.
The second thing that caught her attention was the best-looking cowboy in the world.
One of those two things stopped her in her tracks. She preferred to think it was the perfumed air, since she wasn’t the kind of woman who let superficial things like looks get to her. She prided herself on digging deeper for such attributes as honor, integrity, honesty.
Of course, she couldn’t see those things at a glance, while she could see curly black hair and lively blue eyes, long, denim-clad legs and broad shoulders beneath a red plaid shirt. She could also see the spark of interest that leaped into those incredible eyes, quickly muted when he turned to the receptionist.
“I’m Cody James,” he said with a good old Texas drawl, giving the receptionist a sparkling smile. He turned a white cowboy hat between big, competent hands. “I have an eleven o’clock appointment with Wanda Roland but I’m a few minutes early. I’ll just take a seat and wait until—”
“Oh, no, Mr. James!” The receptionist appeared to be as impressed with his good looks as Emily was trying not to be. “Wanda’s expecting you. Please go right on in.” She pointed toward a door.
“Thank you, ma’am.” Nodding respectfully, he ambled to the door, knocked lightly and entered.
For a few seconds, both the receptionist and Emily held their collective breaths.
The receptionist, a pretty middle-aged woman whose desk plaque said simply Teresa, fanned herself. “Oh, dear,” she said. “I could go for that myself.”
Emily laughed politely. “Are all the Yellow Rose clients that good-looking?” She tried to keep the critical note in her voice under control. In her experience, men who were that good-looking were not to be trusted. They were almost as untrustworthy as the rich ones—and rich and handsome was the most dangerous combination in the world. Poor but honest, attractive but not drop-dead gorgeous: those were the only men she was ever going to trust again.
Not that it mattered in this particular instance. She hadn’t come to Yellow Rose Matchmakers to find true love but rather to ferret out information for her cousin Terry’s magazine article. Research, he’d called it, simple research.
In her more honest moments, she called it spying.
She’d already done similar “research” for him in Dallas before she’d been temporarily transferred to San Antonio by her employer, A&B Construction Company, to help open a new office. The Dallas caper had involved nothing more than filling out a form, making an excruciatingly embarrassing videotape and being matched with a computer geek for a single date. Then she’d written a “dating diary” for Terry and considered the matter closed.
Funny how that first experience had turned out, though. She’d answered every question with total honesty, to no avail—not that she’d actually been looking for a man, she reminded herself. She was simply paying back an old debt of honor to her cousin, nothing more. She certainly wasn’t looking for any kind of relationship, permanent or otherwise. At twenty-five, she wasn’t sure she’d ever want to get married after seeing all that her parents had put each other through. Being dumped practically at the altar herself hadn’t exactly raised men in her esteem, either.
Teresa tapped her pencil on the desktop, her smile friendly and welcoming. “And how may I help you, Ms....?”
“Emily Kirkwood,” she responded, belatedly realizing that there must be some kind of mistake. “I also had an eleven o’clock appointment with Ms. Roland. I don’t mind coming back at another time, though.” Actually, she’d be delighted. She edged toward the door. Terry couldn’t blame her for this mix-up... could he?
Teresa frowned. “Oh, dear. Has Wanda done it again?” She raised a hand obviously meant to arrest Emily’s flight, lifted the telephone receiver with the other and punched in three numbers. “Please wait while I—Wanda? I’m afraid there’s been another mix-up. Emily Kirkwood is here and says she has an—But Mr. James just went in, so I naturally assumed —Oh, all right. Of course.” Teresa hung up the phone. “She’ll be right out.”
Emily, feeling reprieve slipping from her grasp, stared longingly at the front door. “Really, I don’t mind coming back. This isn’t actually a very good day for me anyway. Maybe...”
The door through which the handsome cowboy had vanished moments earlier opened and a woman bustled through. Emily stopped trying to escape and stared.
Wanda Roland looked like the fairy godmother in a Walt Disney movie. Her snowy white hair might indicate advanced years, but her cheerful, unlined face made her look much younger.
Her smile made her look beautiful. She came forward with hands outstretched. “My dear, I’m so very sorry about the confusion.”
“That’s quite all right. As I was telling Teresa—”
“And she passed on your concerns, please be assured. We’re very much on the ball here at the Yellow Rose.” Eyes a paler blue than the handsome cowboy’s twinkled beneath snowy brows. “Please, won’t you come into my office?”
Emily resisted the tug on her hands. “But there’s already someone in there,” she demurred. “I don’t really think it would be a good idea—”
Wanda laughed, a silvery, tinkling sound. “All my ideas are good ones, dear. You’ll see. It’s quite a large office with plenty of room for two clients at the same time. Besides, all you’ll be doing is filling out forms.” She made a face as if she found that activity particularly distasteful.
“No, really—”
Wanda slipped an arm like a band of steel around Emily’s waist. “She’s shy,” she informed Teresa. “Come along, dear. I know what’s best.”
Emily had little choice but to “come along”, guided by the little woman’s surprisingly strong grip. Well, why not? she consoled herself. The sooner she got this over with, the sooner she could get on with her life. She certainly wouldn’t be sorry to get out from under this sense of obligation to her cousin.
They entered the office and the handsome cowboy looked up, holding a single long-stemmed yellow rose loosely in his hands. When he saw them, he replaced the posy in the bud vase next to his hat, resting brim up on the desktop. Dark brows rose in question but he said nothing.
Wanda didn’t seem to be one to let any silence remain unfilled. “Mr. James—may we call you Cody?—this is Miss Emily Kirkwood. May we call you Emily?”
“Of course,” they said in unison.
Wanda led Emily to a chair only a couple of feet from Cody’s, deposited her there and bustled over to her desk. She had to roll her chair to one side in order to see around the enormous computer that covered the entire right-hand side of the desk’s surface. “Now that we’re all here,” she said with satisfaction, “we can get to know each other a little better. Don’t y’all think that would be nice?”
“Uhh...” Cody James cast an oblique glance at the woman sitting to his left. “Is this how you handle all your new...uh, clients?”
Wanda’s frown would have looked like a smile on any other face. “Well, no, not actually. The two of you are a special case, I guess you could say.”
Emily leaned forward. “I feel very uncomfortable about this.” She turned so she could see the cowboy, who also looked ill at ease. “I don’t want to take up Mr. James’s time with my—”
“Cody,” he said quickly. “I don’t mind, Ms. Kirkwood. I’m just confused.”
She nodded. “All right, Cody. I’m Emily, and I’m at least as confused as you are.”
“See how well we’re getting on!” Wanda interjected.
Emily persevered. “Yes, but I still feel like an intruder. Why don’t I come back another day?”
Cody’s long-lashed blue eyes flew wide. “I’d hate to see you go to that trouble. Look, we had the same appointment, so why don’t I reschedule? You’ve got as much right to be here as I do.”
“Exactly,” Wanda put in quickly. “There’s no need for anyone to be inconvenienced.”
“But—” they began, in unison again.
“Tut-tut,” she said, waving aside their apprehensions. “Look at it this way—you’ll be doing me a favor. I’ll only have to go through the Yellow Rose spiel—pardon me, the orientation—once instead of twice.” She gave a delicate little cough, covered by one soft hand.
Emily looked at Cody, who looked back at her. She saw the smile start around his lips and move to those remarkable eyes, then found herself smiling in return. It was a kind of silent communication that agreed they’d both stay and see what Wanda Roland was up to.
Satisfied, Wanda nodded briskly. “All right, kid-dies, I want you to rest assured that all of us here at Yellow Rose Matchmakers have nothing but your best interests at heart. If we had our way, everyone in Texas would be happily married and sending us birth announcements.”
Emily made an exclamation of astonishment before she could stop herself. When the other two looked at her with unveiled curiosity, she rushed to explain herself. “I’m not actually looking for marriage,” she said. “I’m new in town and thought it would be nice just to meet a few people.”
“That’s how it always begins,” Wanda said cheerily. “You can’t marry ‘em until you meet ’em, right, Cody?”
Cody grinned. “Right, Wanda. I, on the other hand, won’t settle for anything less than marriage. I’m not getting any younger and I want a houseful of kids while I can still enjoy ’em.”
Emily could hardly believe her ears. A man who looked as good as this one certainly didn’t need a matchmaker to find women willing to marry him. Something strange was going on here...
Wanda nodded emphatically. “That’s the spirit, Cody. I’m sure I can find just the right girl for you. In the meantime, there are a few things my boss insists I tell you.”
Now we’re getting to the good part, Emily thought. Pay attention! You’ll have to pass all this on to Terry.
“Yellow Rose Matchmakers is the oldest personal introduction agency in the city of San Antonio—maybe all of Texas.” Wanda’s previously warm and friendly tone took on a singsong quality, and she spoke about three times as fast as she had before. Obviously, this was not the favorite part of her job. “We have a phenomenal success rate because we use the newest computers and special software developed just for us.” She reached out to give her computer a swift pat, as awkwardly as if she never touched the thing unless required to do so. “This is George,” she said. “You can trust him.”
George? She’d named her computer George? Emily was stunned.
Cody slumped back in his chair, long legs extended until his boots disappeared beneath the edge of the desk. “That’s one of the reasons I picked this agency,” he said. “I’m a big believer in computers. We use ‘em all the time at the ranch. Although...” He frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t believe we’ve named any of ’em.”
Wanda nodded approvingly before turning to Emily. “And you, dear—why did you choose the Yellow Rose?”
Because my cousin twisted my arm, she thought. Instead, she said, “I like the name. I love roses and yellow ones are my favorite.”
Wanda’s smile returned. “What a charming answer.” She squared her shoulders. “But to proceed—the Yellow Rose has been uniquely successful in matching couples because we are completely computerized. We assess each personality, profile each client and...” She seemed to be running out of steam. “Uhh...we videotape...I mean, if you like that kind of thing....”
Cody frowned. “I’m not sure I do, if you mean that deal where you sit and talk about yourself to a camera. Too much like an auction, if you ask me. Run tapes, say no to this one, maybe to that one. We’re not talking cows here.”
“Exactly!” Wanda sparkled like a Christmas tree. “It’s the human touch that makes all the difference.”
Cody nodded. “Once the information has been analyzed by the computer, I’d agree.”
“But—” Emily looked from one to the other, puzzled “—in this day and age, I thought everything about the process was automated and computerized and completely impersonal and scientific.”
Wanda gasped. “My word, would you like to live in a world where machines tell you whom to love?”
“Well, no, but—”
Cody cut in. He looked as incensed as Wanda did. “And in a world where people are trotted in and out of the video arena like cows in a sale ring?”
“Well, no, but—” Emily cut herself off this time. If Terry was looking for a real up-to-date piece on computer dating, the Yellow Rose apparently wasn’t going to be it. On the other hand, his research had already supported Wanda’s claim that the Rose had the best success rate of any agency in Texas: That’s why he’d been so delighted Emily had been temporarily transferred here. “I stand corrected,” she said. “I was just surprised, that’s all.”
“Well, I guess.” Wanda looked mollified. “Now that we understand each other, folks, I think it’s time for y’all to fill out our scientific in-depth questionnaire ” She rummaged in the top left drawer of the desk as she spoke, then the drawer on the right. “The information you give will be held in the strictest confidence, to be shared only when the match is made. We’re just trying to establish compatibility characteristics between you and your perfect match. That’s what we’re after—perfection. If not the next best thing... Ah, here it is.”
She pulled a handful of papers from the drawer and spread them on the desk in an untidy pile, then began pulling out a sheet here, two sheets there, rejecting some, accepting others, putting them together in various stacks.
Emily glanced at Cody and caught him glancing at her. They both looked away quickly. Again, she asked herself why a man who looked like this one had to go to a dating agency to find a woman. All he had to do was walk down the street and they’d follow him home in droves.
“Here we go.” Wanda offered one pile of papers to each of them, followed by two yellow ballpoint pens bearing a line drawing of a rose. “Now, the two of you can make yourselves comfortable at the conference table.” She indicated the table set before three tall windows in the converted Victorian. Glass panes swathed in lace turned muted light and shadow into romantic patterns.
Emily’s discomfort returned in a rush. Did she really want to sit across from this man and tell lies, even if only on paper? But Cody was rising obediently while Wanda beamed approval. Emily didn’t feel she had any choice but to follow him across the room and sink down in the chair he held for her.
And try to conceal her pleasure that some men still followed the old amenities with such perfect assurance.
Cody stared down at the form on the table before him, trying to concentrate. The first part, at least, was easy: Cody James, 30, male, cowboy. Well, he was a cowboy, he thought, easing his conscience. Income. He was ready for this one. No way would he tell the truth. Carefully, he wrote, “Enough to get by on with enough left over for a wife and kids, if they’re not too extravagant.”
That worked.
He read the next inquiry. Build. He stifled a smile. Yeah, he built—he’d helped build the hay shed on the Flying J a couple of months ago but he didn’t figure that’s what they wanted to know.
Dumb question. He’d skip it.
His impatient glance shifted just a tad too much and he found himself looking across the table at Emily Kirkwood. She was bent over the forms with total concentration, and he saw her straight white teeth tugging at that full lower lip. Made his mouth water, just watching.
Too bad about her. He’d liked her right away but he would never get involved with another drop-dead beautiful woman as long as he lived. Unfortunately, Emily was beautiful. Gritting his teeth, he went back to the form. Marital Status: divorced. Children: “No, but I sure want some,” he wrote.
Then he came to Type of Residence and stopped again. In actual fact, he lived in the big main ranch house at the Flying J with a whole passel of other Jameses but he sure didn’t want that known at this early stage of the game. If he was going to find a woman more interested in him than how many cows and buffalo and acres his family owned, some things were better left unsaid. He wrote, “House,” and let it go at that.
Pets. That was easy enough. Dogs, a buffalo. Under Favorite Animals, though, he chose horses; Least Favorite, cats. Favorite Sport was rodeo; Favorite Nonsporting Activity was watching rodeo and Favorite Food was Tex-Mex.
He heaved a sigh of relief; so far so good. He glanced up again, well pleased with himself. His gaze locked with that of the beautiful brown-eyed blonde sitting across from him. For a moment, he forgot all about the vow made on the heels of his divorce.
No more beautiful women. You just couldn’t trust ’em.
With her gaze locked with Cody’s, Emily forgot to breathe. Surely it wasn’t just his good looks, she thought, a little panicky at the way he made her feel. He’d seemed like a very nice man while the three of them were getting acquainted a few minutes earlier.
She gave him a quick, tentative smile and looked back down at her questionnaire. In Dallas she’d filled out the personal information form with unerring accuracy and gotten a lemon. This time she saw no reason to bare her soul.
Next item, Children. She wrote, “Goodness, no!” Actually, she liked children, and if she ever married, she’d certainly want them, but that was years and years in the future. No need to go into any of that. Pets. Cats, of course; she had two back in the apartment she shared with her old friend, Laurie Billingsley. Least Favorite Animal gave her pause for thought since she really liked most animals. Finally, she wrote, “Anything big.”
Favorite Nonsporting Activity. If she was being honest, the answer to that would be reading. But who would be interested in a woman who’d give that kind of response? She wrote, “Partying,” even though it was a barefaced lie. The answer to General Interests/ Hobbies would, in actual fact, be volunteer work. She’d taught children to read back in Dallas and would do so again when she returned. But since truth was not required, she wrote, “Shopping!!” with two exclamation points and an S with curlicues.
Her Favorite Food was macaroni and cheese, but she wrote, “Vegetarian,” because it seemed more sophisticated. Under A Perfect Date Would Be, she wrote, “Dinner in a four-star restaurant and dancing,” when the truth was closer to “A romantic movie at home before a roaring fire and with a bottle of wine.”
Ideal Vacation? “A Caribbean cruise,” she wrote extravagantly, even knowing she’d be happier in a cabin in the mountains. Ideal Partner Would Be...?
This stopped her cold. She couldn’t write, “Poor but honest and loving,” which was the truth although she didn’t suppose anyone would believe it. So she wrote, “Sophisticated, wealthy, handsome man-about-town.” And tried not to lift her gaze to the man seated across from her, a man who certainly appeared to be “poor but honest and loving”—and so handsome that her pulse quickened just looking at him.
She was not here to find a husband, or even a serious relationship! She was here to pay a debt of honor. She lowered her head and forced herself to stare at the next question. What I’m seeking in a relationship.
Nothing. She wasn’t seeking a darn thing. And once she finished this questionnaire and got away from the appealing Cody James, it wouldn’t be so hard to remember that. But since she had to write something, she wrote, “Fun and games!” in great big letters.
No more computer geeks for her!
Ideal Partner Would Be...?
Cody frowned at his questionnaire, wishing he could come up with an easy answer. He wasn’t sure what his ideal partner would be but he sure knew what she wouldn’t be.
She wouldn’t be like Jessica.
The thought of his ex-wife sent a familiar shaft of irritation through him. She’d said all the right things—until she had him roped and tied. Then all of a sudden, she didn’t want children, she didn’t want a boring life on a ranch and, eventually, she didn’t want him.
She did want his money and she’d made off with a hefty chunk of it. By then, it had been worth it to Cody to be shed of her. But sometimes he still remembered the things about her that he’d loved, things like a quick laugh, a ready humor, a passionate nature...
And she sure was easy on the eyes....
Blond, brown-eyed, peaches-and-cream skin, a figure that made men drool—actually, Jessica looked a lot like Emily Kirkwood. Jessica knew her power, too, although it took him a little while to realize it Now, two years after the divorce, he realized that he’d based all his hopes and dreams on what she’d said, not on what she’d done. He’d been wearing blinders, he realized in retrospect. He’d seen her with children and she was completely disinterested; he’d seen her with his family on the Flying J and she’d been standoffish and reluctant to join in.
But all the time she’d been insisting that she loved kids and she loved ranch life and she loved big families and—the biggest lie of all—she loved him. He figured if he’d watched what she did instead of what she’d said, he’d have been spared a lot of heartache.
The opening of the door broke into his reverie. Wanda stood there smiling. “Almost finished?” she asked cheerfully.
Emily said, “Almost. May we have a few more minutes?”
Wanda said, “Of course,” and went back outside.
Emily looked at Cody and it wasn’t at all the way Jessica had looked at him. Somehow he felt as if Emily really saw him.
She smiled. “It’s hard, isn’t it.” Her voice was soft and intimate, so appealing that it took him a moment to respond.
“What’s hard?”
“Answering all these personal questions.” She wrinkled her pert little nose. “I mean, it’s hard unless you sit around all day thinking deep thoughts about your life. Do you?”
He laughed, feeling some of his tension drain away. “Not too often. Guess you don’t, either.”
She made a rueful little face before turning back to the paper before her. Cody did likewise.
Ideal Partner Would Be, “A good old down-home country girl without pretensions,” he wrote. What I’m Seeking In A Relationship: love and marriage.
Last question. Describe Yourself In Your Own Words. He scowled at the paper for a long time, finally writing a single word: tall.
Emily had finished the questionnaire well before Cody but hadn’t been satisfied with her answers. Going back over what she’d written, though, she couldn’t find anything worth changing.
What difference did it make? It was all a pack of lies anyway. Still, she’d instinctively asked for more time when Wanda appeared. She didn’t need it but had a sinking feeling that she wasn’t going to like what came next.
Wanda reappeared a few minutes later, bustling over to the table with her eyes twinkling. “There,” she said, scooping up the questionnaires, “that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”
Cody groaned, which made Emily smile. She hadn’t enjoyed it, either.
Wanda pursed her lips. “Now, now, I know we ask a lot of nosy questions, but the computer needs to know!”
“I suppose.” Cody rose, stretching his lanky frame. “Now what?”
“Why, now we take a couple of pictures.”
“Pictures?” Emily didn’t much like the sound of that. She didn’t like having her picture taken because she thought the result never looked like her.
“It’s a very simple procedure,” Wanda assured her. “The camera is all set up. I just plunk you down on the stool and say, ‘Smile!’”
“And then what happens?” Cody asked again. “When will you have news for us?”
Wanda frowned thoughtfully. “Tomorrow,” she announced, “unless George gets temperamental on me.”
“Tomorrow!” Emily was astonished. “I wouldn’t even think that would give you time to put our information in the computer, let alone get the results.”
For the first time, Wanda looked flustered. “I’m very good with computers,” she said defensively. “I know I didn’t grow up with them the way you young people did, but—”
“Oh, Wanda, I didn’t mean...” Emily hesitated, chewing on her lower lip. She wouldn’t hurt this nice lady’s feelings for the world. “I only meant that I didn’t think anybody could work that fast. If you can, then I applaud you.”
The old lady seemed to recover herself. “I guess I’m touchy about my age,” she confided. “When George was installed, it took me forever to learn to get along with him. For a while there, I thought I might actually lose my job.”
“Hey,” Cody said, “you’re not the only one with computer problems. Those blamed things can be more trouble than they’re worth sometimes.”
“You know, they really can.” Wanda gave him a grateful glance. “Let’s go get those pictures and then you can both run along. I’m sure you have many more important things to do today.”
Cody grinned. “This is the most important thing I’ve got to do, period. As far as I’m concerned, you can take all the time you need.”
He and Wanda turned expectantly to Emily. Cornered, she could only smile and agree. Even if it wasn’t true. None of this had the least bit of importance to her. Except, of course, that she didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Or get involved.
From: MataHari@Upzydazy.com
Sent: Monday, Nov. 2, 7:42 p.m.
To: SuperScribe@BoyHowdy.com
Subject: Hold your horses!
Calm down, will you, Terry? I said I’d go to the Yellow Rose and I did. Answered the usual nosy questions, had my picture taken, the whole nine yards. The lady I dealt with, Wanda Roland, is really nice. I also met a really cute guy. Almost makes me sorry this isn’t for real. :-((Not really.) I’ll let you know if and when I get matched, but in the meantime... Yellow Rose Matchmakers is located in a beautiful old Victorian house in a quiet and shady neighborhood...
CHAPTER TWO
From: SuperScribe@BoyHowdy.com
Sent: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 6:30 a.m.
To: MataHari@Upzydazy.com
Subject: Good girl!
I knew I could count on you, Emmy. Sorry if I pushed. Here’s a rose as a peace offering: @)->—>—Okay, down to business. Wanda Roland is in my notes and I want to know more about her, especially how she gets on with the computers. There seems to be some question about this “completely computerized” claim. Also, be sure to keep me posted on your adventures with the “really cute guy”....
EMILY downloaded her E-mail from her laptop computer first thing Tuesday morning and read Terry’s note at the breakfast table while Laurie looked on with ill-concealed curiosity. When she’d finished the message, Emily wadded it into a ball, which she tossed on the floor for her yellow cat, Archie, to bat around.
“I’m dying of curiosity!” Laurie announced. “What did he say?”
“He who?” Emily reached for her glass of orange juice, trying to compose herself. She wished to heaven she’d never mentioned the “really cute guy”.
“C’mon, that E-mail was from Terry, right? What did that con man want this time?”
“That’s no way to talk about my cousin,” Emily said primly, but she couldn’t help smiling. She’d called him worse herself, but blood was still thicker than water.
“Don’t forget, I know the guy,” Laurie said darkly. “Old Anything-for-a-scoop Kirkwood.”
“Give him a break. This is a new job and he’s trying to make good.” Emily uttered an exasperated sigh. “Do you realize you’ve made me defend him? I must be nuts.”
“You sure are, after he basically blackmailed you into helping him research this story. He tried to pull the same stunt with me but he didn’t have anything to hold over my head.” Laurie took a sip of coffee. She was already dressed for work although she’d come in quite late the night before. This was the first chance the roommates had had to talk since breakfast yesterday.
“He didn’t have to blackmail me,” Emily said. “You know I owed him after he saved my father’s life in that boating accident. I can never repay him for that.”
“No, Em, your father can never repay him for that. Or couldn’t—I guess now that he’s dead, it kind of gets both of you off the hook.”
“Really? Then why do I feel so beholden?”
Laurie shrugged. “Because you’re one of the good guys,” she said with a smile. “You’d probably help Terry even if he wasn’t your cousin and you didn’t think you owed him.” She grinned and added, “But it’s still blackmail!”
“You could be right.”
Laurie returned to the main point. “Was Terry happy you’ve been to the Yellow Rose?”
Emily nodded. “My...counselor or whatever you call her is a delightful old lady named Wanda Roland. I mentioned her in my E-mail to Terry yesterday and he’s apparently heard of her. He wants to know all about her and how she gets along with computers.”
“That sounds innocent enough.”
“Yes, except...there’s something funny about Wanda and computers.”
“Funny ha-ha or funny strange?”
“Definitely funny strange. She talks about using them, even boasts about how computerized the company is, but she touches her computer the way I’d touch a snake.”
“Not with love, huh.”
“Definitely not.” Emily frowned. “She calls her computer George.”
“That is peculiar. Most computers I know are named Max.” Laurie laughed. “So did anything else happen yesterday, except that you met a strange little old lady?”
“Well...” Don’t go on, Emily warned herself. Don’t mention Cody James. She’d never see him again, so why bring him up? “I...uh...” She licked her lips, surprised at the unexpected desire to talk about him. “I met a really good-looking man. I mean, really.”
“Better-looking than John?”
“Much better-looking.”
Laurie rubbed her hands together with glee. “Now we’re getting down to brass tacks!”
“But I don’t want to get down to brass tacks. After John, I’m not in the market for a man, as you well know.”
For a moment, Laurie frowned at her friend. Then she shook her head sadly. “Emily Kirkwood, I don’t understand you at all. Just because your former fiance was a louse doesn’t mean they all are. Every woman without a man is in the market for one, preferably the right one, of course.”
“That’s just it. You never know if he’s the right one until it’s too late. And he doesn’t know if you’re the right one, either.”
Laurie winked broadly. “Half the fun’s in finding out.”
“No, thank you very much. I’m only doing this to help my cousin research a magazine article so he can make good at his job. I’m definitely not looking for a relationship.”
“You’re sure about that?”
Emily lifted her chin. “Absolutely sure.”
But if she was looking for a relationship—she pulled such thoughts up short. She had to forget Cody James and go to work! With any luck, today would not be the day she heard from Wanda Roland. In fact, if Emily was really lucky, Wanda wouldn’t find a match anywhere inside that darned computer.
Cody was surprised to find his niece, ten-year-old Liana, at the lunch table when he came in from running longhorns on the north forty. “What you doin’ home from school, shrimp?” he inquired, ruffling her straight dark hair.
Her mother, Elena, scowled from her spot before the built-in cooktop. Most family meals at the Flying J were taken in the large kitchen with everyone clustered around the big round oak table. The ranch hands ate at the chuck wagon, their own “café” staffed with a cook who made her way to the ranch each day from a nearby farm. Cody and his brother, Ben, Elena’s husband, were as likely to eat the midday meal at one place as the other.
“Liana woke up this morning claiming to be sick,” Elena said. “Silly me, I believed her.”
Liana’s lower lip thrust out in a pout. “I am sick,” she whined. “I mean, I was, only now I feel better. Can I go out with Uncle Cody this afternoon, Mama? Can I?”
“No way.” Elena used a spatula to dish up grilled steak-and-cheese sandwiches to augment the tomato soup already steaming in mugs. “If you’re sick enough to stay home from school, you’re too sick to get out of bed.”
“I’m out of bed now,” Liana argued, snatching a golden triangle off the platter when her mother set it down.
“Meals don’t count. As soon as you finish...” Elena pointed toward the door leading to the stairs, which in turn led to the bedrooms.
“Uncle Cody!”
“Sorry, cupcake, your mother’s right.” He settled into his seat and warmed his hands around the mug of soup. It was chillier than usual out there today.
Elena smiled, her beautiful white teeth flashing. Ben had found a real jewel in her. “That’s what I like about you, Cody,” she said. “You never let them get the best of you.”
Cody winked at Liana. “Never?”
Elena laughed. “Not that I know of anyway. So tell me, how did it go yesterday at the Yellow Rose?”
“All right,” he said in a noncommittal tone. Although his entire family knew all about his decision to go wife-hunting, he felt uncharacteristically shy about yesterday.
Elena’s brows rose. “You mean...?”
Just then, Ben entered through the back door, yanking off his denim jacket and tossing it onto a hook beside the door. “I’m hungry enough to eat a horse,” the manager and co-owner of the Flying J declared. He paused long enough to drop a kiss on his wife’s cheek on his way to wash up.
Watching them together, smiling and happy after twelve years of marriage, Cody felt envy start to boil in his chest. He fought it down valiantly. That was why he’d taken his courage in hand and gone to Yellow Rose Matchmakers; he wanted what Ben and Elena had. That included little Liana, grinning after her tall father with adoration in her eyes, and eight-year-old Jimmy, who was at school.
Elena smiled at her husband’s broad back. “I was asking your brother how it went at the matchmaker’s yesterday.”
Ben grinned over his shoulder, busily splashing his hands beneath the stream of water. “Yeah, Cody, tell us all about it.”
“Had to fill out a lot of junk,” Cody said. He made a face.
“Like what?” Elena pressed.
“Ah, you know—what kinda guy I am, what kinda woman I’m looking for, stuff like that.”
“Aunt Jessica was pretty,” Liana piped up.
“Yeah,” Cody agreed, “but I’m not lookin’ for another one of those. Although...”
Elena and Ben both perked up. Ben dried his hands on a dish towel and joined them at the table. “Although what?”
“Well...I met a real looker while I was there.”
Husband and wife exchanged knowing glances. “You did?” Elena asked encouragingly.
“But I’ll never see that one again. It was just a screwup over the appointments.” Cody helped himself to several sandwich halves from the platter, then reached for the jar of pickles.
“How can you be so sure?” Elena leaned forward on her elbows, apparently more interested in her brother-in-law’s love life than in lunch.
“For openers, she’s too good-looking.”
“Uncle Cody doesn’t trust pretty women,” Liana announced with youthful authority.
All three adults stared at her, dumbfounded.
Flustered, she tried to regroup. “Well, I heard him say that to Daddy one time,” she wailed.
Elena shook her head. “Little pitchers have big ears,” she announced.
Ben laughed. “Little pitchers have got the straight of it this time. Okay, little brother, she’s too good-looking. What else is wrong with her?”
“She’s not interested in marriage.”
“How can you be so sure of that?” Elena demanded.
“She said so.”
The minute he made that announcement, he realized his mistake. Jessica had consistently said one thing and meant another. Maybe this woman meant one thing and said another. In which case, Cody’s interest might not be as misplaced as he’d—
The telephone on the wall near the door began to ring and Elena went to answer it. After the briefest of conversations, she turned back with a big smile on her face. “That was a lady from Yellow Rose Matchmakers, Wanda something—”
“Wanda Roland.” Cody’s stomach clenched in the kind of anticipation he hadn’t expected to feel. “What did she say?”
“That she’s made a match for you. She wants you to come to her office this afternoon at four to hear the good news.”
“Good news? How does she know it’ll be good news? It could be a disaster. It could be—”
“Look, Daddy,” Liana said, grinning. “Uncle Cody’s scared!”
He sure was. Scared to death.
Emily was having a tough day at work. As temporary office manager for a brand-new branch of A&B Construction, she had more than enough to keep her busy. When her boss, Don Phillips, poked his head in, she had a whole list of questions for him.
Don was big and bluff and hearty, not to mention a great boss. In his mid-forties, he treated everyone who worked for A&B the same, although he was a partner in the business he’d helped build from the ground up. When all her questions had been answered and decisions made, he refilled his coffee cup and lingered.
“So how are you liking San Antonio?” he asked. “Had a chance to look around?”
“Not much. It’s pretty, though. I saw that right away.”
Don nodded. “That it is. I’m sorry I’ve been such a slave driver.”
“You haven’t! Just yesterday, I took an extra long lunch.” To go to a dating agency, but he didn’t need to know that.
He chuckled. “But you worked the entire weekend. Don’t think I wasn’t aware of it. And you work late almost every night. You’ll probably only be in San Antonio for a few months, so you need to get out and see—”
The telephone on her desk started ringing. With a nod of apology, she picked it up. “A&B Construction.”
“Is that you, Emily dear?”
“Wanda?” Surely she hadn’t made a match already! Emily’s heart fluttered.
“How flattering. You remember my voice. I’ve called to tell you that George has found a match for you already. Isn’t that good news?”
“Wonderful.”
“Yes, well, I wonder if you could come to the office at four o’clock?”
“Four o’clock today?” Emily’s mind raced, coming up with all kinds of reasons why it was impossible. “I’m afraid that’s completely out of the question. I—”
Don interrupted her. “Whatever it is, go ahead. Wasn’t I just telling you not to work so hard?”
Emily felt a touch of panic. “But—”
“Hey, who’s the boss here?” He rose, placed his coffee cup on the desk and picked up his hard hat. “Just lock up when you go and put the Back Tomorrow sign on the door.”
“Oh, Don, I really don’t want to cause anyone any inconvenience.”
“Not a problem. Just do it.”
Emily sat there with one hand over the mouthpiece. There was simply no way to get out of this. Taking a deep breath, she removed her hand and said, “All right, Wanda. I’ll be there at four.”
“That’s wonderfull See you then.” Wanda’s relief came through loud and clear.
Emily hung up, wondering at her reluctance to see this charade through to a speedy end so she could be free of her obligation. And then she remembered Cody James and realized that no matter whom George had matched her with, he was bound to be a big letdown.
Cody walked into Yellow Rose Matchmakers at 4:03 and found Emily standing in front of the receptionist with a puzzled expression on her beautiful face. He couldn’t help smiling at the pretty picture she made in her pink suit with her blond hair tousled around her face by the wind.
She saw him and did a double take. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Slightly taken aback by her lack of enthusiasm, he shrugged. “Wanda called. I have a four o’clock appointment.”
“Oh, dear.” Teresa grimaced. “Don’t tell me she’s done it again.”
Emily sighed. “Looks like.” To Cody, she added, “I apologize if I sounded unfriendly a minute ago. I was Just surprised to see you again, that’s all.”
“Me, too.” But for him, the surprise had been pleasant. To Teresa, he said, “Does this happen often?”
“Often? No.” She rolled her eyes. “Occasionally... yes. But Wanda has such a great instinct for matchmaking that we tend to overlook it.” She frowned. “You two aren’t upset, are you? I suppose I could always assign one or the other of you to a different mentor—that’s what we call them, mentors—maybe Miss Willie or Moira can help?”
“No!” they exclaimed in unison, then exchanged surprised glances.
Emily added, “I wouldn’t want to cause Wanda any trouble. It could happen to anyone.”
“Yeah,” Cody agreed. “Besides, I’ll be glad to let the lady go first.”
“Thank you,” Emily said firmly, “but that’s not necessary. We could...we could draw straws or something. Just because you’re a man is no reason for you to go last.”
“It’s reason enough for me,” Cody said. “My daddy didn’t bring me up to—”
“Hold on, both of you.” When Teresa had the floor, she continued, “Wanda called just a few minutes ago to say she’s running late. She’ll be here in—” she checked her watch “—about thirty-five minutes. She hopes you can both wait.”
“Oh, dear.” Emily looked positively exasperated.
“No problem,” Cody said, hoping to set a good example for patience and understanding. “Should we just wait here?” He glanced around the reception area.
“Sure, or maybe...” Teresa looked thoughtful. “There’s a coffee shop just a couple of blocks away. Maybe you’d like to kill a few minutes there and then come back about five?”
Cody looked at Emily and Emily looked at Cody, and something seemed to click; her expression softened and he knew what her answer would be before she said it.
“If it’s all right with you, Cody...?”
“I’ll drive,” he said. “See you at five, Teresa.”
Holding the door for Emily to precede him, Cody realized he didn’t mind waiting at all...with her.
“Wanna piece of pie with that coffee? It’s homemade.”
Cody looked at Emily, who smiled and shook her head. But she wasn’t surprised when he hesitated.
“What kind?”
“We got apple, cherry, lemon and...” The waitress craned her head to view the pie case behind the counter. “Looks like pumpkin, but I won’t guarantee it.”
“I’ll take a slab of apple. Could you warm that up and throw a scoop of vanilla ice cream at it?”
The waitress grinned. Cody sure knew how to warm up strangers. “Glad to do it, cowboy.” She headed for that pie case.
Emily stirred a packet of sweetener into her coffee, feeling strangely ill at ease. They hadn’t talked at all on the short ride over in the battered old red pickup truck with the big J painted on the side—with wings yet. Now the silence would have to be broken.
Cody took a gulp of hot black coffee. “Isn’t this better than sittin’ in a waiting room?” he asked rhetorically.
“Much better,” she agreed, although she wasn’t quite sure about that. “Do you have far to drive to get here?”
“Seventy-five miles or thereabouts, depending on which part of the ranch I start from.”
She was impressed. “That’s quite a drive.”
He shrugged. “I’m used to it.”
The waitress put a huge piece of steaming pie in front of him, ice cream already beginning to melt in a creamy puddle around it. He gave her a quick smile of thanks and picked up his fork.
“How about you?” he asked, the first bite hovering above the plate. “Where do you live?”
“Not far from here. I share an apartment in a converted Victorian with a friend.”
He chewed thoughtfully before answering. “Not a male friend, I take it. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
“That’s a safe bet.” She looked away from those probing blue eyes at several people perched on stools at the counter.
“Why are you here?”
Rattled, she jerked back around. “You mean here at this café or there at the Yellow Rose?”
“Let’s start with the Rose.”
She licked her lips, fumbling for an answer. “All the usual reasons,” she hedged, “exactly as I said before. I’m new in town, I don’t know many people—”
“Any woman who looks like you doesn’t need to go to a dating agency to meet people, at least not to meet men people.”
That was exactly what she thought about him and women people. “If that’s a compliment, thank you.”
“It’s a compliment.”
“What about you? Why are you here?”
“Here at the café or there at the Rose?” He gave her that crooked little grin that was so charming. “I’m here because I was curious about you and wanted to know more. I’m there because I want to get married and have a passel of kids.”
“That makes sense,” she said, “I guess.”
He finished the pie, placed the fork on the plate and slid it aside. “But you said you’re not interested in marriage.”
She lifted her chin. “That’s right.”
“Why not?”
“Because there’ll be plenty of time for that later.”
“Are you one of those career women, then?”
“Not exactly. I mean, I have a job I like but I don’t see it as a career, exactly.”
“Ahh,” he said wisely, “I see.”
His tone annoyed her. “What do you see?”
“You’ve been burned. Some guy done you wrong and you’re having a hard time getting over it.”
“Why, of all the—that’s not it at all!” But it was. She’d been burned not once but twice, and two men had indeed done her wrong: the man who’d dumped her, and the man with whom her mother had run away when Emily was twelve. Both were rich and handsome and thought they could buy anything they wanted.
Unfortunately, in the case of Beverly Kirkwood, that had proven to be true. But when her lover tried to use his enormous wealth and power to gain custody of Emily, the child had dug in her heels and fought to stay with the father who had not betrayed her. The legal battles had gone on for years and left her father broken in spirit as well as financially.
“I’m sorry,” Cody said, and he did look contrite. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It just seemed so obvious.”
“Not as obvious as you might think,” she said grimly. “I suppose eventually I’ll want what most women want—a husband, children—but for now I’m just looking for a good time.” Better than saying all she was looking for was to discharge a moral obligation to her cousin so she could settle back down to her usual quiet existence.
That lopsided grin made her stomach do flip-flops. “Damn shame,” Cody drawled, “but I kinda know where you’re coming from. You see, I had a wife who could stop traffic, she was so good-lookin’. When the marriage didn’t work out, I got soured on pretty women.” He looked down at his coffee cup, then slanted her a quick glance. “Like you, for instance.”
“Me?” She’d never thought of herself as anything special in the looks department. All right...passable, certainly...but a traffic stopper?
He laughed. “Don’t look so surprised. The truth is, we’re as different as night and day.”
She grinned back, relieved that he’d realized that. “You say pa-tay-toe, I say pa-tah-toe.”
“Exactly. I like horses and cows and you...”
“Like ballet and concerts. I like cats and you like...”
“Dogs. I like the country...”
“And I like the city.”
“Tough break.” With those words, all his good humor went right out the window.
“There’s plenty of fish in the sea,” she said lightly, not sure whether she believed that or not.
“I’m not looking for a fish.”
“Neither am I.”
Their glances locked and tension sizzled between them. After a very long moment, he said, “I hate not knowing.”
“N-not knowing what?”
“What might have been. We’ll go back to Wanda’s office and she’ll flutter around and give you some fancy guy who likes fancy stuff, and she’ll give me some country girl who likes country stuff, and we’ll both be better off. But I’ll probably always wonder what might have been.”
“But we have to go along with whatever Wanda says,” she reminded him. “I mean, she’s the expert, right?” Her stomach hurt when she said it.
“Right.” His face, in repose, looked strong and a little sad.
“I mean, she has George to help her out. We can’t fight modern science and all that.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Well, then.” Feeling jumpy and out of sync, she glanced at her watch. “Hey, it’s time to get back.”
“If you say so.” He hauled a wallet from his back pocket. He pulled out a bill and dropped it on the table. His gaze captured hers again. “I still say it’s a shame, even if it is for the best.”
“It’s definitely for the best. Whatever Wanda says will have to be the way it is.” But in her heart, she felt a sadness she couldn’t explain.
During the short ride back to the Yellow Rose, Cody thought about all they’d said. Even though they’d probably never see each other again after today, he was glad she didn’t know the truth about him: that his family was one of the most successful ranching dynasties in Texas. He wouldn’t want her if she was just after his money; been there, done that. He’d rather have her think of him, if she ever did, as a simple cowboy.
No harm done.
Back at the Rose, he followed her up the steps and into the pretty yellow Victorian. Teresa looked up with alarm on her face.
“Oh, dear, I don’t even want to face you two.”
Emily stiffened. “What now?”
“Wanda won’t be able to make it at all, I’m afraid. She wonders if you could come back Friday morning at nine.”
“What?” Emily looked distraught, a pretty strong reaction for a woman who claimed she wasn’t all that interested in a relationship anyway.
Not that Cody was all that interested in driving all the way back into San Antonio again so soon, either. “Maybe we should forget the whole thing,” he suggested.
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Emily agreed.
“Please don’t,” Teresa pleaded. “You see, Wanda was in a minor traffic accident on her way here.”
Emily gasped. “Oh, my gosh! Is she all right?”
“Yes, but she’s pretty shaken. She feels terrible about this, but—”
“No problem,” Cody said quickly. “We didn’t understand. We don’t really mind coming back, right, Emily?”
He saw the struggle on her face, but then she nodded. “You’re right. Friday at nine will be just fine.”
Should he ask her out to dinner since they were here with nothing to do? Should he suggest they meet for breakfast before their appointment? Should he—
“Thanks for the coffee, Cody.” She gave him a brief, impersonal nod. “Perhaps I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Watching her let herself out the heavy front door, he knew for sure what he should have done.
He should have acted faster.
From: MataHari@Upzydazy.com
Sent: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 7:13 p.m.
To: SuperScribe@BoyHowdy.com
Subject: Bummer day!
Today, cousin dear, was a waste of time. I didn’t even *see* Wanda Roland so there’s nothing new on that front. I have yet another appointment Friday morning and maybe I’ll have more to tell you after that. In the meantime, suffice it to say that I am *not* having a good time....
CHAPTER THREE
From: SuperScribe@BoyHowdy.com
Sent: Thursday, Nov. 5, 7:11 p.m.
To: MataHari@Upzydazy.com
Subject: Just curious.
So you won’t see Wanda Roland until tomorrow, huh. That *is* a bummer, but at least you’re trying. I do like what you’ve given me so far. You didn’t mention the “really cute guy” again. Guess that means he was a no-show, too....
KEEP believing that, Terry, Emily thought as she reread yesterday’s E-mail missive from her cousin. Sitting in the reception area at Yellow Rose Matchmakers, she assured herself that there was no reason her entire life had to be an open book.
She’d arrived a few minutes early for her appointment and now, on the stroke of nine, the front door swung open and Cody James entered. Feeling guilty for no particular reason, she stuffed Terry’s E-mail into her jacket pocket and gave Cody a deliberately impersonal smile.
Before he could even speak to Teresa, Wanda’s door popped open. “How lovely! You’re both here. Please come in, children.”
Cody looked at Emily and Emily looked at Cody. It was as if Wanda’s announcement ended even this tenuous relationship between them. Once matched with different people, they’d go their separate ways and that would be that.
“After you,” he said.
She nodded her thanks and preceded him into the office, feeling intensely his presence just behind her. She’d never met a more magnetic man. When he was in the room, it was as if her entire being was somehow connected to his every move.
Silly. He certainly wasn’t her type. Too good-looking, for openers. Too different in his dreams, for closers.
“Sit down, children, do sit down.” Wanda indicated the same seats they’d occupied before. Turning, she limped behind the desk.
Emily exchanged an alarmed glance with Cody, who looked equally concerned. “Are you all right?” Emily asked the little woman. “Teresa said your accident wasn’t serious.”
Wanda waved concern aside. “No, no, I’m fine. A little stiff is all. That’s to be expected at my age.”
Emily felt greatly relieved. “Thank heaven. Uhh...you have something to tell us?”
“That’s right.”
Wanda just sat there, smiling. Watching attentively, Emily thought she saw a bruise on the woman’s forehead. Perhaps she’d been hurt more seriously than she’d admitted.
Finally, Cody cleared his throat. “We’re both a little curious how you happened to double up on our appointments again,” he said. A glance at Emily drew a nod of agreement. “Not that we mind.”
Another nod from Emily, this one less enthusiastic. Actually, she did mind. She felt uncomfortable around Cody, mostly because she was so attracted to him and knew such feelings were a complete waste of time.
“My goodness, why should you mind?” Wanda cocked her head and furrowed her brow. “I thought you’d have guessed by now.”
“Guessed what?” they asked together. This time, Emily and Cody exchanged frowns.
“Why, guessed that the two of you are made for each other. In fact, this is a match made in heaven!”
Emily gasped and fell back in her chair. “You’ve got to be kidding!”
Wanda looked hurt. “George never kids,” she said with great dignity, “and he never lies.”
“Is George ever wrong?” Cody sounded grim.
Wanda blinked her big blue eyes. “Not to my knowledge,” she said, frowning. “I thought you’d both be thrilled. It was obvious to me from the beginning that you belong together forever.”
“But, Wanda,” Emily protested, “we’re so different!”
“Opposites attract,” Wanda said serenely.
“We came here for different reasons,” Cody argued.
“That’s what makes a horse race.”
Cody looked around, a desperate gleam in his eyes. “But Emily isn’t interested in marriage and I won’t settle for anything less.”
“It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.”
“But I don’t want to change my mind!”
“A woman can even change her mind about changing her mind,” Wanda pointed out. She pursed her soft lips. “I don’t know what’s the matter with you two,” she grumbled. “Did you come here because you want the help of a professional or not?”
“Well, yes,” Cody admitted.
“And a computer,” Emily chimed in. “I wanted the latest and most up-to-date guidance to be had.”
Wanda threw up her hands. “That’s what you’re getting, so what’s the problem?”
“Well...” Emily thought fast. “Could I see the computer printout for this match? I’d like to know just what George found about the two of us that’s so compatible.”
Wanda gasped. “No one has ever asked for such a thing.”
Even Cody looked puzzled by that. “Never?”
Wanda shook her silvery head.
“I’d really like to see that printout.” Emily felt she must stand firm. Here was a chance to get the information Terry needed, which would get him off her back once and for all.
Wanda grimaced and drummed her fingers on the desktop. With extreme reluctance, she said, “Of course, if you insist, I suppose I can try.”
“Try?” Emily echoed.
“George is so temperamental. Sometimes he gets his feelings hurt and then you don’t know what he...” As she spoke, she reached out with one hesitant forefinger to touch the keyboard. Instantly, she jerked back with a gasp.
Cody half rose from his chair. “What is it? Did George—did you get shocked or something?”
“The screen went blank!”
“The screen went...?” Cody walked around the desk until he could see the front of the computer. He frowned, leaned down and hit a couple of keys, then shook his head. “She’s right,” he said to Emily. “Nothing.”
“Is it broken?” Something fishy was going on here, Emily just couldn’t imagine what.
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Ruth Dale
Тип: электронная книга
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
Язык: на английском языке
Издательство: HarperCollins
Дата публикации: 16.04.2024
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О книге: Name: Cody JamesAge: 30Occupation: RancherLooking for:A wife and mother for my children.The Yellow Rose Matchmakers claimed to be able to match any woman with her Mr. Right. And Emily couldn′t deny that the man she′d been matched with, Cody James, sounded perfect–on paper, at least.The reality was even better–the tall, sexy cowboy took Emily Kirkwood′s breath away. Too bad that Emily hadn′t joined the Yellow Rose to find a man but to write a Valentine′s story on…well…how to get a man. Only, Cody was available… and perhaps what this story needed was a little in-depth research!Texas Grooms Wanted!Only cowboys need apply!