Diana Palmer Christmas Collection: The Rancher / Christmas Cowboy / A Man of Means / True Blue / Carrera's Bride / Will of Steel / Winter Roses

She smiled gently. “See what I mean?”

“I think I’m beginning to.” He leaned back. “It was a good day.”

“I’m glad.”

“Except for that damned rooster,” he muttered. “One of these days…!”

She laughed.

He was about to call Maddie, just to talk, when his cell phone rang.

He didn’t recognize the number. He put it up to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hello, Cort,” Odalie’s voice purred in his ear. “Guess what, I’m home! Want to come over for supper tonight?”

He hesitated. Things had just gotten complicated.

Maddie half expected Cort to phone her, after their lovely day together, but he didn’t. The next morning, she heard a car pull up in the driveway and went running out. But it wasn’t Cort. It was John Everett.

She tried not to let her disappointment show. “Hi!” she said. “Would you like a cup of very nice European coffee from a fancy European coffeemaker?” she added, grinning.

He burst out laughing. “I would. Thanks. It’s been a hectic day and night.”

“Has it? Why?” she asked as they walked up the steps.

“I had to drive up to Dallas-Fort Worth airport to pick up Odalie yesterday.”

Her heart did a nosedive. She’d hoped against hope that the other woman would stay in Italy, marry her voice teacher, get a job at the opera house, anything but come home, and especially right now! She and Cort were only just beginning to get to know each other. It wasn’t fair!

“How is she?” she asked, her heart shattering.

“Good,” he said heavily. “She and the voice teacher disagreed, so she’s going to find someone in this country to take over from him.” He grimaced. “I don’t know who. Since she knows more than the voice trainers do, I don’t really see the point in it. She can’t take criticism.”

She swallowed, hard, as she went to work at the coffee machine. “Has Cort seen her?”

“Oh, yes,” he said, sitting down at the little kitchen table. “He came over for supper last night. They went driving.”

She froze at the counter. She didn’t let him see her face, but her stiff back was a good indication of how she’d received the news.

“I’m really sorry,” he said gently. “But I thought you should know before you heard gossip.”

She nodded. Tears were stinging her eyes, but she hid them. “Thanks, John.”

He drew in a long breath. “She doesn’t love him,” he said. “He’s just a habit she can’t give up. I don’t think he loves her, either, really. It’s like those crushes we get on movie stars. Odalie is an image, not someone real who wants to settle down and have kids and live on a ranch. She can’t stand cattle!”

She started the coffee machine, collected herself, smiled and turned around. “Good thing your parents don’t mind them,” she said.

“And I’ve told her so. Repeatedly.” He studied her through narrowed eyes. His thick blond hair shone like pale yellow diamonds in the overhead light. He was so good-looking, she thought. She wished she could feel for him what she felt for Cort.

“People can’t help being who they are,” she replied quietly.

“You’re wise for your years,” he teased.

She laughed. “Not so wise, or I’d get out of the cattle business.” She chuckled. “After we have coffee, want to have another go at explaining genetics to me? I’m a lost cause, but we can try.”

“You’re not a lost cause, and I’d love to try.”

Odalie was irritable and not trying to hide it. “What’s the matter with you?” she snapped at Cort. “You haven’t heard a word I’ve said.”

He glanced at her and grimaced. “Sorry. We’ve got a new bull coming. I’m distracted.”

Her pale blue eyes narrowed. “More than distracted, I think. What’s this I hear about you taking that Lane girl with you to buy the new bull?”

He gave her a long look and didn’t reply.

She cleared her throat. Cort was usually running after her, doing everything he could to make her happy, make her smile. She’d come home to find a stranger, a man she didn’t know. Her beauty hadn’t interested the voice trainer; her voice hadn’t really impressed him. She’d come home with a damaged ego and wanted Cort to fix it by catering to her. That hadn’t happened. She’d invited him over today for lunch and he’d eaten it in a fog. He actually seemed to not want to be with her, and that was new and scary.

“Well, she’s plain as toast,” Odalie said haughtily. “She has no talent and she’s not educated.”

He cocked his head. “And you think those are the most important character traits?”

She didn’t like the way he was looking at her. “None of my friends had anything to do with her in school,” she muttered.

“You had plenty to do with that, didn’t you?” Cort asked with a cold smile. “I believe attorneys were involved…?”

“Cort!” She went flaming red. She turned her head. “That was a terrible misunderstanding. And it was Millie who put me up to it. That’s the truth. I didn’t like Maddie, but I’d never have done it if I’d realized what that boy might do.” She bit her lip. She’d thought about that a lot in recent weeks, she didn’t know why. “He could have killed her. I’d have had it on my conscience forever,” she added in a strange, absent tone.

Cort was not impressed. This was the first time he’d heard Odalie say anything about the other woman that didn’t have a barb in it, and even this comment was self-centered. Though it was small, he still took her words as a sign that maybe she was changing and becoming more tolerant…

“Deep thoughts,” he told her.

She glanced at him and smiled. “Yes. I’ve become introspective. Enjoy it while it lasts.” She laughed, and she was so beautiful that he was really confused.

“I love your car,” she said, glancing out the window. “Would you let me drive it?”

He hesitated. She was the worst driver he’d ever known. “As long as I’m in it,” he said firmly.

She laughed. “I didn’t mean I wanted to go alone,” she teased.

She knew where she wanted to drive it, too. Right past Maddie Lane’s house, so that she’d see Odalie with Cort. So she’d know that he was no longer available. Odalie seemed to have lost her chance at a career in opera, but here was Cort, who’d always loved her. Maybe she’d settle down, maybe she wouldn’t, but Cort was hers. She wanted Maddie to know it.

She’d never driven a Jaguar before. This was a very fast, very powerful, very expensive two-seater. Cort handed her the key.

She clicked it to open the door. She frowned. “Where’s the key?” she asked.

“You don’t need a key. It’s a smart key. You just keep it in your pocket or lay it in the cup holder.”

“Oh.”