The Cowboy's Bride

“You have enough girls to keep you busy, anyhow,” Lorna continued.

“What do you mean?” Joe turned to her, meeting clear green eyes that surveyed him knowingly.

“Kristine James has been spreading it around the café that she has her eyes on you.”

“Kristine has her eyes on any single guy who is still breathing,” he said with a grin.

“And what about Stephanie and Erika?”

Joe rolled his eyes. “Just where do you hang out when Allister is out on call?”

At that, the tall lanky man sitting beside Lorna McLure leaned over. “And what are you two chattering about?” he whispered with a light frown.

“Jenna’s sister,” Lorna said with a playful wink at Joe.

Allister shook his head, dismissing the conversation. “Catch me after church, Joe,” he said quietly, still leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped. “Got a line on someone who is looking for a horse trainer.”

As one of the veterinarians in the community, Allister got around and made connections. Joe wondered who he was talking about but knew his good friend would tell him nothing more until after church.

Lorna leaned closer. “And I got a line on Miss Stevenson,” she said with a smile. “I hear she’s moved here for awhile. I can keep track of her if you want.”

“You do that, Lorna,” he murmured as he caught another glimpse of Rebecca’s eyes. Joe knew he should stop staring, hoping she wouldn’t catch him at it. He couldn’t help himself. She had a serenity and poise that spoke to a loneliness in his own soul. A loneliness that grew as school friends got married and had children.

He smiled ruefully as the congregation rose for the final song. He opened the hymnal, letting the music and words pull his thoughts to where they should be.

“Love divine, all loves excelling,” he sang. As the words of the song drew him on, he couldn’t help but look toward that angelic face once more, a feeling of melancholy pressing down on him.

Someday, he prayed. Someday he would find a love divine on earth.

Rebecca ran her finger over the page of the hymnal as if to absorb the words of the song she was singing, as if to make them alive. She could have sung all three verses of the song without the hymnal, it was so well-known to her.

But knowing the song and experiencing it were two different things. She certainly didn’t feel lost in wonder, love and praise as the song promised. Friday she had received a reply on a position she had applied for as a physical education instructor, forwarded to her from Red Deer to Wakely. The message was, “Thanks but no thanks.” Her mother had tried to discourage her from applying. “You’ll just get disappointed,” she had warned.

And Rebecca had been. It seemed no school in Alberta was willing to give a Bachelor of Education graduate who limped a job as a phys ed instructor.

As the congregation closed the books and the minister pronounced the blessing, Rebecca looked at the ceiling of the church. The words of the benediction were as familiar as the song, but they didn’t lift her heart the way they once had. As she shifted her weight to her good leg, it was as if she was reminded of her unanswered prayers and struggles of the past months. A year ago she had been offered a position at a high school in Calgary as a physical education teacher. A year ago she had a boyfriend she thought would propose.

The accident changed everything. No one seemed to want her after that.

The organist played the first bars of the postlude, and Rebecca stepped carefully into the aisle, making sure she stayed close to the side in case she held up progress.

“Can you manage?” Jenna came up alongside her, carrying Shannon, her three-year-old daughter.

“I’m fine, Jenna,” Rebecca said evenly.

“We can wait until everyone is gone. It will be easier for you to walk out then.”

“I’m not that crippled,” Rebecca replied, struggling to keep the annoyance out of her voice. She knew Jenna meant well with her overprotective concern. But Rebecca had come to Wakely to get away from smothering love and pitying glances.

“Hello, Jenna.” A male voice spoke behind them.

Rebecca could see Jenna’s pleased smile and wondered what she was in for now. Jenna made no secret of the fact that she wanted to see her sister replace Kyle.

“Hello, Dale,” Jenna said, looking back and stepping aside to make room for him. “Have you met my sister, Rebecca?”

Rebecca politely smiled, turning to face a tall young man. She shook his hand as Jenna introduced them.

“Rebecca, I’d like you to meet Dale Aiken. You’ll be working with him at the bank.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Rebecca said dutifully, looking Dale Aiken over. He was good-looking in a preppy sort of way. Blond hair neatly cut, green eyes and a wide smile that contrasted with his tanned skin. But somehow his good looks and pleasant smile didn’t affect her.

“And I you,” he said, shaking her hand in a firm grip.

“Dale’s father is also one of the bank’s chief customers,” Jenna said, smiling at Rebecca over Dale’s shoulder. “He owns a franchise of hardware stores.”

Rebecca didn’t know why Jenna thought she needed to know this, but she received the information with a nod.

Dale paused, his eyes on Rebecca. “Are you visiting for awhile?”

“Actually Rebecca is coming to work for Troy,” Jenna said. “She’s going to stay with us.”

“How nice for you to have a sister around.”

Jenna agreed and with an approving wink at her sister, walked away, leaving Dale to turn his attention to Rebecca. Rebecca shook her head at her sister’s machinations. Obviously Dale passed muster, or Jenna would have hovered until Dale left.

As they walked down the aisle, they exchanged a few pleasantries. By the time they stepped out of church into the bright sunlight, Dale had asked the questions that signal an interest in continuing the acquaintance—where she lived before, what she thought of Wakely, her upcoming job at the bank. Rebecca answered the questions, surprised to find that she didn’t mind.

They were chatting at the top of the church stairs when a young woman brushed past Dale.

“Hi, Erika, what’s your hurry?” Dale asked.

“Got to catch Joe,” Erika replied with a grin. She skipped to the side of another man who began to descend the stairs beside Rebecca and Dale. “Hey, Joe, wait up.”

The tall man stopped and looked over his shoulder at the young woman who reached out and clung to his arm. He smiled briefly at her, then his glance moved past her and stopped when he caught Rebecca’s eye.

Rebecca didn’t know why she held this stranger’s gaze. The dimple in his cheek and the sparkle in his brown eyes combined to give him a flirtatious look that should be a warning to any single woman to guard her heart. But her bruised ego needed a lift after the past few months, she reasoned. She’d been mooning over Kyle too long. Having two men show interest in her in one day was reassuring. Emboldened by the attention, she met his gaze with a careful smile.

His expression became serious as he turned toward her. He reached up to finger comb his unruly hair from his handsome face as if in preparation to meet her. Rebecca stopped smiling, suddenly breathless as he took a step nearer.

“How’s it going, Joe?” Dale greeted the man with a casual wave, and the mood was broken. Disconcerted at her reaction to the man named Joe, Rebecca looked at her hands, suddenly absorbed in her fingernails.

“Fine, Dale,” she heard Joe say. “And with you?”

“Good,” Dale replied. “I’ll have some news for you in the next few days. I’ll call.”

“I’ll be waiting, that’s for sure,” Joe replied, his deep voice quiet.

“Joe, don’t talk business,” Erika said peeved. “Come with me. I want to show you some pictures.”