Three Brides, No Groom (7 page)

“It’s where your heart is, Josh,” she told him, repeating the
old adage.

He dismounted and opened one saddlebag, then handed her the
tote bag. It took her a moment to realize he had no intention of going inside
with her and meeting her parents.

“Josh, what are you doing?” she asked. “You have to come
in!”

He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“But my parents are going to want to thank you for helping me.”
She touched his arm. “I insist.”

“Your parents will take one look at me and call the cops. And
I’ve had all I can handle with law enforcement for one day.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Mom will want you to spend the night. You
can have your choice of bedrooms.”

“Yeah, right, Gretchen. You don’t seriously believe your
family’s going to throw open their arms and welcome me, do you? That’ll be the
day.”

“Would you stop? You’re going to meet my parents, and that’s
all there is to it.”

Any further argument he might have offered was cut short when
the front door swung open and her father appeared on the front porch.

“Daddy!” Gretchen cried, and raced toward him.

Her mother wasn’t far behind.

“Gretchen Marie, where in the love of heaven have you been?”
Her mother all but broke into sobs of relief. Her recovery was quick, however,
when she got close enough to get a good look at Gretchen. She gasped and covered
her mouth. “Oh, my, your beautiful hair. What have you done to it?”

Gretchen had more things to concern herself with than her hair.
She broke out of her parents’ embrace and raced back out to the curb to grab
Josh’s hand. She hauled him up to the front door. “Mom and Dad, this is Josh
Morrow.”

“Josh.” Her father hesitated and then extended his hand. The
two men shook.

“Mrs. Wise,” Josh said, nodding stiffly to her mother. He
stepped back a pace, indicating his desire to leave.

“I think it might be best if we talked inside, don’t you, Mom?
Dad?” Gretchen said.

“Of course,” her father replied, eyeing Josh. “There appear to
be a number of questions that need to be answered, and I don’t think the front
steps are the place to do it.”

Josh didn’t show any enthusiasm for going inside, but he
complied.

Gretchen watched his face when he walked through the front door
and was greeted by polished woodwork created by some of the finest craftsmen at
the turn of the century. The oak walls were adorned with family portraits and
valuable artwork her mother had collected from around the globe. The stairway
curved gracefully up to the second floor.

“Perhaps we’d best talk in the kitchen,” Joan Wise said,
leading the way through the oak archway. “I’ll put on a pot of coffee and we can
discuss this like four reasonable adults.”

“Mother?” Gretchen asked, wondering what had prompted such a
strange statement.

“You’ve given your mother and me quite a scare, young lady,”
her father said sternly.

Instinctively Gretchen moved closer to Josh—not because she
feared her parents’ wrath, but because it appeared they intended to heap blame
on his shoulders. She wouldn’t allow it.

Before she could respond, Josh said, “Mr. and Mrs. Wise,
Gretchen has done nothing wrong.”

“We’d like to hear what she has to say for herself before we
make any judgments.” Her father, the attorney, was at his legal best.

“Who have you been talking to?” Gretchen demanded while her
mother fussed with the coffeepot, spilling grounds across the counter because
her hand was shaking so badly. Something was very wrong.

The four sat at the round table in an alcove off the kitchen.
Gretchen reached for Josh’s hand, making sure her parents realized she was
allied with him. She wished now that they’d stopped and freshened up before
pressing on to her family home. The day on the road had been brutal, and they
were both badly in need of a shower and rest.

“Stella Lockheart phoned….”

Ah. Roger’s mother. “I can just imagine what she had to say,”
Gretchen said indignantly.

“Only the truth, Gretchen,” her father said. “You ran off with
another man.” His gaze rested pointedly on Josh.

“Dad!”

Josh said nothing, but a shutter seemed to fall over his
eyes.

“Stella said she felt Roger had no choice but to call off the
wedding, and frankly, Gretchen, I couldn’t agree more,” her mother said, her
voice quivering. “How could you have done that to such a fine young man? From
what his mother said, he’s fit to be tied. Hasn’t eaten in days and blames
himself.”

As well he should!

“His father told us he’s going to have to send Roger to a
counselor.” This came from her father.

How eager her parents seemed to blame her! She didn’t think
she’d ever felt so disappointed.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” her father
demanded.

“You bet I do!” she cried, so angry she couldn’t sit still any
longer. “Counseling is exactly what Roger needs. I can’t believe that the
Lockhearts told you such a ridiculous story. I find it unbelievably insulting
that you’d believe them.”

Raising her voice was out of character, enough to garner her
parents’ full attention. “What you heard doesn’t even faintly resemble the
truth.”

“Tell us your version, then,” her mother suggested, calmer
now.

“
My version?
What I’m going to tell
you is the truth.” Gretchen didn’t leave room for any misunderstanding. “You’re
both looking at Josh and me as if we did something terrible. I’ll have you know,
if it hadn’t been for Josh, I don’t know what I would have done. I owe him more
than I can ever possibly repay.”

“What about the money we’ve sunk into this wedding, young
lady?” her father asked.

“While I realize you’ve gone to considerable expense, I’m not
willing to throw away my life and marry the wrong man. If that concerns you so
much, Dad, I’ll repay you myself.”

“George, please,” her mother said softly, and pressed her hand
over her husband’s. “Let Gretchen finish. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation
for everything.”

“I don’t suppose Mrs. Lockheart told you that Roger was
with…that Roger slept with another woman the night before our graduation?”

Her mother gasped, and her father frowned.

“That wasn’t the first time it’d happened, either,” Gretchen
added. “It had been going on for six months.”

“Who told you this?” her father wanted to know.

“The other woman,” Gretchen said. “And when I confronted Roger,
he admitted it. Later I learned that she’s pregnant.”

“I thought there must be something more to this than what
Stella Lockheart told us,” Gretchen’s mother said, sounding mollified. She
tapped her index finger against the table, keeping time with the grandfather
clock in the formal living room.

“Why didn’t you
fly
home?” George
Wise asked. He glanced toward Josh, and while he didn’t say anything, his look
indicated his disapproval.

“Because Roger’s mother had my airline ticket.”

“She wouldn’t let you have it?”

Gretchen hesitated. “I…I didn’t ask.”

“Why in heaven’s name not?” her father barked. “Instead you
impulsively took off with a member of the Hell’s Angels, and worried your mother
and me half to death.”

“I won’t have you talk about Josh that way,” Gretchen said
angrily. She knew that her parents discounted Josh only because they didn’t like
the way he looked and the fact that he rode a motorcycle. “I don’t know what I
would have done without him.”

Josh glanced at Gretchen and smiled apologetically, then
scooted back his chair and stood. “Mr. and Mrs. Wise, it was a pleasure to meet
you, but I don’t believe my presence here is necessary, nor am I particularly
welcome.”

For one wild moment Gretchen was struck dumb. “No!” she cried
when she found her voice. “I won’t let you leave.”

His eyes met hers. In that brief moment she realized that
nothing she could say or do would change his mind. He’d seen and heard all he
needed to be convinced he didn’t belong in her world and never would.

“Mr. and Mrs. Wise,” he said, “forgive me. I don’t mean any
disrespect.” Then he reached for Gretchen, catching her around the waist and
hauling her into his arms. His kiss was almost primitive. “Goodbye, Gretchen,”
he whispered when he’d finished.

Her mother gasped, and her father’s mouth fell open in
shock.

Gretchen was left speechless, stunned when Josh hastily broke
away and headed for the front door.

“You aren’t going to let him walk out of here, are you?”
Gretchen said to her parents, pointing at Josh’s retreating back.

Looking uncomfortable, her father cleared his throat. “Frankly,
yes, I think his decision to leave is very perceptive of him.”

Gretchen stared at her father and said, “Then I’m leaving with
him.”

“Gretchen!” The panic in her mother’s voice almost stopped
her.

She placed her hand over her heart as she said the words aloud
for the first time. “I love him.”

Her mother gasped.

“Gretchen, I forbid it,” her father said.

“Oh, Daddy, I’m not a child. Please, trust my judgment. I know
what I’m doing. I’m following my heart.” She offered them both a quick
apologetic smile. “I’ll call you, I promise.” And with that she raced out the
door.

She heard her parents call after her, but she paid them no
heed. She saw Josh already astride his Harley. She dashed down the steps and
across the lawn to the curb.

Josh scowled when she reached him. “What are you doing
here?”

She refused to be put off. “I’m coming with you.”

His scowl deepened. “I don’t think so.”

“Listen here, Josh Morrow. I’m tired of playing games, of
pretending. You pay attention now, because I’m only going to say this once. You
love me.”

“I beg your pardon?” He made it sound as if it was all he could
do to keep from laughing outright.

“You heard me,” she returned sternly. “Furthermore, I love you.
If you think I’m going to let you ride off into the sunset without me, you’ve
got another think coming! We’re in this together.”

“Hold on.” He held up his hand. “Don’t you think you’re taking
a lot for granted?”

“Not in the least. You’re going to marry me. My dad paid a
fortune for that country-club membership, and we’ve already got the date
reserved. I don’t believe anyone will mind that the groom has a different last
name than the man I originally planned to marry.”

Josh didn’t laugh at her joke. “Gretchen, there isn’t going to
be a wedding. At least not between you and me.”

She blinked, uncomfortable with the alternative. “You want to
live in sin?”

Pain flickered in his eyes. “I’d never do that to you.”

Her relief was substantial. “Oh, good. I didn’t think you
would.”

“I’m going to do you a bigger favor. I’m going to get out of
your life before I screw it up along with my own.”

“Oh, no, you don’t,” she said. “I’ve already cast my lot with
you.”

“Goodbye, Gretchen.” He revved the engine.

Where she found the nerve to leap in front of the Harley, she
didn’t know.

He looked stunned.

“I have one more thing to say, and you’d better listen.” She’d
never been more serious in her life.

He turned off the ignition. Now he looked uncomfortable. “All
right, say it, but I haven’t got all night.”

“You’ve got the rest of your life.
Our
lives. It’s plain as day that you and I should be together.”

“No, baby, we shouldn’t.”

“Be quiet,” she said, her voice trembling. “I love you, and
there’s never going to be anyone I’ll love more. If you leave without me, you’re
going to regret it the rest of your life. You’ll look back to this time, this
place, and wonder what would have happened if you’d let me come with you.”

“You win some, you lose some,” he returned flippantly.

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that. Don’t you dare treat my
love as if it’s something you can toss away without a care. You aren’t fooling
me. I know you. Do you think I could spend all this time with you and not know
your heart?”

“Are you finished?” he asked grimly.

“No.”

“Just how much longer is this going to take?”

“Not long.” She swallowed tightly and began again. “You told me
earlier today that you wouldn’t chase after me. Well,
I
won’t chase after
you,
either.”

“Good. That relieves my mind.”

She could see there was no cracking his stubborn pride. She
stepped aside and watched helplessly as he restarted the engine.

Her hand covered her mouth to hold back the words to beg him
not to leave her. With tears streaming down her face, she watched Josh ride off
into the night.

Chapter 6

“T
hat’s not the end of the story, is it?”
Carol Furness leaned back, bracing her palms against the concrete rim of the
fountain, her eyes wide with dismay. A soft breeze rustled the leaves of the
trees, and sunlight cut a pathway through the shade, splashing across the lush
green lawn.

“He left you and rode off just like that?” This time the
question came from Maddie Coolidge.

“Yes, just like that,” Gretchen whispered in a futile attempt
to keep the pain out of her voice. Even after fifteen years, she continued to
feel that same crushing sense of defeat. On a starlit night one June fifteen
years ago, Josh Morrow had left her standing alone at the curb, the sound of his
retreating Harley drowning out her sobs.

Eventually her mother had come out of the house and joined her,
gently placing her arms around her shoulders.

“He didn’t come back?” Carol asked, breaking into the flood of
disturbing memories.

“No,” Gretchen replied, staring unseeingly across the deserted
campus. “He didn’t come back.”

“But that’s terrible,” Maddie said.

Gretchen was aware that she was sitting in the very spot where
her heartbreaking adventure had begun. Now Maddie’s words brought her forward in
time, and she turned to her two friends. “I loved Josh Morrow more after
traveling with him for three days than I ever loved Roger Lockheart.”

“Perhaps it was for the best,” Carol suggested, squeezing
Gretchen’s hand. “Josh always did have a chip on his shoulder.”

“One about the size of Alaska,” Gretchen said wryly.

“What happened next?” Maddie asked.

“Next?” Gretchen murmured, pulling herself away from her
memories. “Well,” she said, unsure where to start, “when it became clear I
wasn’t going to get over Josh as easily as my parents had hoped, my mother took
me to Europe.”

“Do you ever wonder what happened to Josh?” Maddie wanted to
know.

“Of course,” Gretchen answered.

“And what about Roger?” Carol asked.

Gretchen leaned back on her hands. “I imagine the reunion will
answer that question. I saw his name on the list of attendees.”

“Did you see Eddie Shapiro’s name on that list?” Carol asked
tightly.

“As a matter of fact, I did.”

“That’s right,” Maddie said, straightening enough to meet
Carol’s look. “You were engaged to Eddie.”

Anger flashed in Carol’s eyes. “I was. He got rid of me soon
enough.”

“I’ve told you what happened to me with Roger,” Gretchen
reminded her former sorority sister. “Now it’s your turn.”

Carol laughed ruefully. “If you think Roger was a jerk, just
wait until you hear what Eddie did to me.”

“I’m all ears,” Gretchen said.

“I’ve got the afternoon to kill,” Maddie seconded.