The Bridal Veil (31 page)

Then the Duffy brothers took their
place at the edge of the floor and the dancing began. Luke held out
his hand to Emily.

“
What?”

“
Come on with me, Emily.” He
tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and pulled her toward the
dance floor. The drumming sound of feet on wood planking kept time
with the lively music.

She resisted. “Luke! I can’t do this.”
When she’d hoped that he’d ask her to dance, she hadn’t realized
how she’d feel if he actually did.

“
Do you mean to tell me that
an etiquette teacher doesn’t know how to dance?”

“
Yes, of course I do—at
least I used to. But I haven’t danced in a very long time. I’m not
sure I remember.”

He gave her a disbelieving look. “Yes,
you do. You’re just being shy again. Your shoulders are
rounded.”

She gaped at him. Had he studied her
so closely that he knew her gestures?

“
Come on,” he repeated and
twirled her out to the floor. She feared that she’d trample all
over his feet, but he led her with ease, and the steps came back to
her. How nice it was to be held in his arms, to be able to look up
at his face instead of down, as had often been the case with the
dance partners of her girlhood. Smelling of bay rum, soap, and
fresh air, he was surprisingly graceful and light on his feet, and
the music and rising stars combined to make it a magical
experience. She was aware of everything about him—the way he
looked, the texture of his wool coat under her hand, the warmth of
his touch at her waist. Onlookers watched them with approving and
admiring glances, and Emily, wearing her new dress and held in the
arms of her handsome farmer-prince, felt like Cinderella at the
ball. Haunting thoughts of Cora, Belinda, and the uncertainty of
her position fell away with each passing moment.

“
Did you get your money’s
worth at dinner?” she asked, before realizing how it
sounded.

His smoke-gray eyes gleamed with a raw
flicker in the setting sun. “I got enough food, if that’s what you
mean, Mrs. Becker,” he said next to her ear. “But I’m still
hungry.”

She met his gaze, her mouth open
slightly. There was no doubt, even in naïve Emily’s mind, what he
meant, and his words sent a delicious shiver of anticipation
through her. His eyes touched her here and there, as blatant as a
hand, yet unnoticed by others. Her heart throbbed, and though she
supposed it might be due to the exertion of dancing, she knew it
was more than that. The air seemed to grow very heavy, and the
music and chatter around her faded away into the background. There
were only Emily and Luke, waltzing under a twilight sky. If they
were truly alone, what would he do? she wondered. She had only a
vague idea, but it thrilled her just the same.

At last, the weather seemed to be
working against them and the wind had picked up. Even the Duffy
brothers gave up their spot by the dance floor. Napkins and loose
tablecloths blew across the grounds, and the stiff gusts flattened
women’s skirts against their legs. People were gathering the
belongings and children to head for home. Luke glanced at the
darkening sky. “We’re going to get a storm. We’d better pack our
things and get home. You don’t want to get caught in the rain in
your new dress.”

No, she didn’t. “Where’s
Rose?”

Luke looked around. “There she is,
talking to Billy Reed.”

Emily followed his gaze. “Billy Reed?
Really?”

“
Why, do you know
him?”

“
Um, no, I just heard his
name once or twice.” Emily had never told him about Rose’s scuffle
with the boy. She worried that they were fighting again. But when
she spotted them, they were sitting on the church steps and seemed
to be getting along just fine. Rose was even holding a pink
wildflower. Emily smiled. She guessed that Billy no longer thought
that Rose’s dress looked like it came from a carnival
sideshow.

“
Rose!” Luke called. “Let’s
get going! That sky is going to open up.”

“
Aw, Daddy! Just a few more
minutes?”

“
Nope, now!”

With a last glance over her shoulder
at Billy Reed, Rose came dragging over with great reluctance.
Within a few minutes, goodbyes had been said and they were in the
wagon, heading up the hill for home. It was hours yet before
midnight, Emily thought, but Cinderella had to leave the
ball.

This time, though, Cinderella was
leaving with her farmer-prince.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

After everyone had changed out of
their Sunday best, there was work to do. Luke unhitched the team
and went to feed the stock. Emily heated water on the stove, and
she and Rose washed the dirty dishes they’d brought home from
church. Then Emily sent Rose upstairs to get ready for
bed.

Outside along the western horizon, a
thin line glowed with a faint, eerie green-white light, and dark
clouds had made night come on two hours early. The wind still
rustled the trees and made one of the shutters on a henhouse window
bang back and forth.

Emily searched for Luke from her own
window, but she saw lamp light still pouring from the barn door.
What would happen when he came in? She glanced at her own bed and
wondered if she would sleep alone here tonight, or share it with
her husband. Nervous anticipation shimmied down her spine. Would he
be impatient and demanding? Gentle and patient?

Finally she changed into her own
nightclothes and walked down the hall to check on Rose. The girl
sat on the edge of her bed, brushing her hair. Well, ripping at it
would have been a more accurate description. She still didn’t have
all of her ladylike behaviors down pat. But what an improvement had
taken place in the last few weeks, Emily marveled. She still had
her implacable moments—a whiny response, a loud, exasperated sigh,
an occasional hint of sullenness—but since her father had begun
spending more time with her, she’d made great strides toward
becoming the well-behaved young lady that Luke so wanted her to
be.

Emily paused in her doorway and
watched as Rose tugged at a tangle, pulling out long dark strands
with her impatience. “Here, let me help you with that. You’ll go
bald if you pull that hard.”

“
No, I won’t,” Rose said,
giggling at Emily’s exaggeration. She handed Emily her brush and
turned her back. Emily pulled the bristles through the strands with
long, gentle strokes.

“
Did you have a good time at
the social?”

“
Oh, yes! It was so much fun
watching people dance and seeing kids from school. Daddy hasn’t
liked to go to dances and things. Maybe he will now. Especially
since he danced with you.”

“
Maybe. Did you make up with
Billy Reed?” Emily asked.

Rose glanced over her shoulder
briefly, giving Emily a view of a scarlet blush that reached her
hairline. With supreme effort, she suppressed a grin.

“
He said my dress looked
nice.”

“
And it does. It takes a big
person to admit when they’re wrong.”

“
He didn’t exactly do
that.”

“
Perhaps not in so many
words, but he made the effort. Apologizing is very hard for some
people to do, and that’s too bad. Sometimes people hold grudges,
and that’s bad, too.”

“
I told him
I
was sorry for beating
him up.”

Now Emily did smile. “I’m very proud
of you.” She continued to work the tangles out of Rose’s hair, and
the child relaxed under the soothing touch.

“
What’s it like when you’re
in love with someone?” Rose’s voice had turned low and
sleepy-sounding.

Emily was unprepared for the question.
What did she know about being in love with a man, anyway? “Why? Do
you think you’re in love with Billy?”

“
No! But if it ever happens
to me I’d like to know what to expect.”

What to expect. What could she tell
her, she, Emily, who had so little experience it was worthless?
“When you find the right person, you’ll know,” she
hedged.

“
Like the way you feel about
Daddy?”

The brush stilled in Emily’s hand and
she swallowed. “Well, I certainly like and respect him.”

“
But you
love
him, too.” Obviously Rose took
this for granted, despite knowing the circumstances that had
brought Emily here.

“
Y-yes, Rose, I do.” It was
an indisputable fact, she realized. She admitted this truth to
herself while admitting it to the girl. She loved Luke. And she had
for some time now.

“
Well, how does it feel?”
Rose pressed.

Emily put down the brush, unwilling to
share feelings that she herself was discovering now, for the first
time in her life. She wanted to examine her feelings and learn the
answer in the privacy of her own heart.

“
We’ll talk about it later.
It’s a very personal subject, and one that deserves more time than
we have tonight. Now you should be in bed. We’ve all had a busy
day.”

That seemed to satisfy Rose, and she
climbed under the covers. “Will you stay for a while, Miss Emily?”
She patted the empty space next to her.

“
Of course.” Emily smoothed
Rose’s dark bangs off her forehead. She felt such a rush of
motherly emotion for Rose, it was almost as if she were related by
blood. That must be how Luke felt, she realized. It didn’t matter
that someone else had begun her life—she was theirs now, Luke’s and
hers. And she would do whatever it took to keep Rose safe and
happy.

~~*~*~*~~

Luke came into the house after feeding
the stock and rubbing down the team, expecting to find Emily
waiting for him in the kitchen. When a search of the whole
downstairs turned up no one, he climbed the steps. Maybe she’d gone
to her room to wait for him. He felt pretty certain that with
everything that had been said and implied at the social, this would
be the night that he would consummate his marriage to Emily Cannon
Becker. He’d even washed at the pump again in anticipation of a
night spent in his wife’s slender arms. He would carry her to his
bed and begin by kissing her smooth throat, then work his way up to
her lips and temple, and back down again to her breasts. Just
envisioning his plan gave him an intolerable ache that only she
could satisfy.

At the top of the stairs, he saw the
lamp lighted in her room and her door invitingly ajar. Suddenly
uncertain and a little self-conscious, he ran his hands through his
hair. This was the damnedest spot he’d found himself in for a long
time. Luke Becker had never had trouble making love to women.
Except, it seemed, when his feelings ran deeper than his crotch, as
they had with Belinda. And now, as they did with Emily. He didn’t
want to examine them very closely—it was still too new, too strange
to think of caring for another woman besides Belinda.

He stopped short of buffing his boots
on the backs of his pants legs and started what seemed like a very
long walk toward Emily’s bedroom. Halfway down the hall, he saw a
light in Rose’s room, too. Well, hell, was she still awake? That
might put a real crimp in things.

He stopped in the open doorway and
looked in. A hush fell upon his spirit and the feelings he’d been
harboring in his heart surged forward. Rose was asleep, all right,
his small, dark-haired princess. And next to her, on top of the
blankets but sharing the pillow, slept his fair-haired princess,
Emily.

Luke’s smile was rueful as he studied
them and realized that all of his amorous intentions had just been
postponed for some other night. But he went to his own room with a
full heart and a sense of contentment.

~~*~*~*~~

Rain. The first sound he became aware
of was rain. Just a few scattered drops ticking on the roof and the
siding. But that wasn’t what woke him. Luke had been listening to
rain all of his life. In this part of the country everyone was used
to it. The sound was as much a part of the background as birdsong
and the east wind in the trees.

A sudden flash filled his bedroom with
the white-hot light of a thousand candles, followed almost
immediately by a horrendous clap of thunder that seemed to explode
directly over the house and rattled the glass in the window
frames.

“
Jesus Christ!” He jumped
out of bed and looked out his own window. Along the top of the oak
tree in the front yard, St. Elmo’s Fire danced over the uppermost
branches, outlining them in moving veins of blue light.

Another lightning stroke touched the
earth, this time hitting the oak with a noise like a dynamite
blast. A blinding flash lit the tree trunk from top to base as if
it burned from within. The intense heat of the electricity
incinerated the leaves and limbs as it split it like a melon. Half
of the burning tree crashed onto the henhouse and even from this
distance he could hear the squawking of the frightened
birds.

“
Daddy!” Rose screamed from
the hall.

“
Luke?” Emily’s voice
followed. “What’s happened?”

He ran out to the hallway and met them
there. The lamp still burning in Rose’s room provided enough light
for him to see his daughter clinging to Emily, her arms wrapped
around her waist.