Summer in Orchard Valley: Valerie / Stephanie / Norah

“Where are we going?” she demanded. His pace was too swift for her to keep stride with him.

“Outside.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, we already are.”

“I don’t want anyone to hear this.”

“Hear what?” she practically shrieked, losing her patience.

Colby whirled around to confront her. “I want to know exactly what you said to your father.”

Valerie was confused. “About what?”

“Us.” The simple little word resonated with anger, contempt, disgust.

Well, so much for her assumption that Colby Winston felt any attraction for her.

“Us?” she repeated. “Don’t be ridiculous. There isn’t any us.”

“That’s precisely my point,” he snapped. “Perhaps you can tell me why your father suddenly announced that you were falling in love with me—and that he expected me to do something about it.”

“He what?” she exploded.

“You heard me. What in the name of heaven did you say?”

“Nothing.” Except for the time she’d seen him yesterday evening, her father had been asleep. At least, his eyes had been closed and his breathing was shallow but regular.

“He knew we’d talked in the cafeteria,” Colby informed her coolly.

“He did?”

“He mentioned it himself.”

“Maybe Norah—”

“Norah, nothing. It came straight from the horse’s mouth. That and a whole lot more.”

Valerie frowned, staring down at the ground in an effort to think.

“Valerie!”

“I … thought he was asleep.”

“What did you say?” he demanded a second time.

She was flustered now, which happened so rarely that it unnerved her even more. “Uh … just that we’d spoken the other night and I … ”

“Go on,” he insisted, his jaw muscles tightening.

“I, uh, have this tendency to talk when I’m upset. I don’t mind telling you Dad’s condition has really scared me. So if he’s asleep, like he’s been most of today, I sit by his side and tell him the things I’ve been thinking about.”

“Which included me?”

Reluctantly, she nodded. Rarely could she recall being more embarrassed. Color burned in her cheeks.

“Valerie, what did you say to him?” Colby asked for the third time. His voice was quiet but his face had sharpened with tension.

She closed her eyes. She didn’t remember everything she’d mumbled, but what she did recall made her cringe. She’d rambled on during those five-minute stretches, saying whatever came into her mind, and most of her thoughts seemed to concern Colby. Not for a second had she believed her father was awake enough to understand a word of it.

“I told him how impressed I was with you,” she began hesitantly. “Although I don’t know you well, I sense a strength in you. I told him how grateful I was to you because I’ve felt so helpless the last couple of days.”

She chanced a look in his direction but his expression was impassive. Not knowing what else to do, she continued. “In any family crisis there’s always one person who has to be strong, and everyone else leans on that person for support. I’m the oldest and I feel responsible for the others. But when I saw my father that first time, I just … couldn’t cope. It’s even harder for Norah. I realized that the strong one in this situation is you. I told Dad that … and some other things.”

“What other things?”

It wasn’t getting any better. “That I … found myself attracted to you. Not physically,” she rushed to explain, conscious that she was lying. “I’m attracted to the emotional stability I sense in you. Only I didn’t say all that to Dad because I didn’t think he could hear me anyway.

“Was that so terrible?” she asked, when Colby remained silent.

“No,” he finally admitted in a hoarse voice.

“What did Dad say to you?” she asked curiously.

Colby’s gaze touched hers, then withdrew. “That you’d fallen head over heels in love with me. And that’s a quote.”

“What?” Valerie said incredulously. “No wonder you were so upset!”

“Upset’s not the word for it. I’m worried about how this is going to affect David’s recovery, especially since he seems to have all kinds of expectations now—expectations that are going to be disappointed. Eventually he’ll just have to realize you’re not the kind of woman I intend to marry.”

“Believe me, Dr. Winston, you have nothing to worry about,” she murmured, annoyed now. “If I was going to fall in love, it would be with a man who was a little more sensitive to my pride.”

“I apologize,” he said, shrugging indifferently. “Your father unfortunately read too much into your … remarks. I’m afraid you’ll have to say something to him.”

“Me?”

“You’re the one who started this.”

“Why can’t we just let the whole thing drop? By tomorrow he’ll have forgotten I said anything.”

“That’s not likely,” Colby said in a grim voice. “He asked me to bring a preacher so we could be married at his bedside.”

Valerie couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing. It was as though all the tension, all the waiting and frustration, had broken free inside her. She laughed until the tears streamed down her face and her sides ached, and even then she couldn’t stop. Clutching her stomach, she wiped the moisture from her cheeks.

“Colby, darling,” she said between giggles. “What shall I wear to the ceremony?”

Colby apparently didn’t find her antics humorous.

“I’ll want children, of course,” she told him when she’d managed to stop giggling. “Nine or ten, and I’ll name the little darlings after you. There’ll be little cheeses running around our happy home—Cheddar and Parmesan and—”