Callaghan's Bride

He stared at her for a minute with narrowed eyes. “On second thought,” he muttered, moving toward her, “why wait until tomorrow? And like hell I can’t tell you what to wear!”

“Callaghan!” she shrieked, protesting.

By the time she got his name out of her shocked mouth, he had her over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift. He walked right down the hall with her, passing Leo, who was just on his way back in to see what had happened.

“Oh, my gosh, did Herman bite her?” he gasped. “Is she killed?”

“No, of course he didn’t bite her!” Cag huffed and kept walking.

“Then where are you taking her?”

“To the nearest department store.”

“To the…you are? Good man!”

“Turncoat!” Tess called back to him.

“Get her a dress!” Leo added.

“I hate dresses!”

“In that case, get her two dresses!”

“You shut up, Leo!” she groaned.

Rey was standing at the back door when Cag approached it with his burden.

“Going out?” Rey asked pleasantly, and opened the door with a flourish. “Have fun, now.”

“Rescue me!” Tess called to him.

“Say, wasn’t there a song about that?” Rey asked Leo, who joined him on the porch.

“There sure was. It went like this…‘Rescue me!’” he sang.

The two of them were still singing it, arm in arm, off-key, at the top of their lungs, when Cag drove away in the ranch truck with a furious Tess at his side.

“I don’t want new clothes!” she raged.

He glanced toward her red face and grinned. “Too late. We’re already halfway to town.”

This strangely jubilant mood of his surprised her. Cag, of all the brothers, never seemed to play. Of course, neither did Simon, but he was rarely around. Leo and Rey, she’d been told, had once been just as taciturn as the older Harts. But since Dorie came back into Corrigan’s life, they were always up to their necks in something. All Cag did was work. It was completely unlike him to take any personal interest in her welfare.

“Leo could have taken me,” she muttered, folding her arms over her chest.

“He’s too polite to carry you out the door,” he replied. “And Rey’s too much a gentleman. Most of the time, anyway.”

“These jeans just got broke in good.”