Cowboy Seeks Perfect Wife. Linda Lewis

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СКАЧАТЬ left the judge’s chambers dismayed, but far from discouraged. She’d find a way to stay on her land, in her house, and she knew just who to go to for help. She drove to the home of her best friend in Cache, Maggie Malone Parker.

      “Sidonie!” Maggie hugged her so hard she thought her ribs might snap. “When did you get here? I thought you weren’t coming for another week or two. Your medical files haven’t even gotten here yet.”

      “I broke out of the rehab center. I couldn’t take it any longer. I wanted to come home.” Sidonie swallowed the lump in her throat and hugged Maggie back.

      Holding her friend at arm’s length, she gave her a searching look. Maggie Parker was a petite…blonde. This week. She had a habit of changing her hair color every few months. Maggie claimed it was the only adventurous thing she ever did, but Sidonie knew better. They’d always been equally talented when it came to cooking up schemes.

      “Aren’t you supposed to be wearing a brace? And should you be driving? Where did you get that cute little truck?”

      Laughing, Sidonie let Maggie lead her into the cozy cottage. “Yes, probably not and Dallas. I went straight from the airport to the dealership.”

      “You bought it? Does that mean you’re home for good?”

      “No. No.” Sidonie frowned. Trust Maggie to figure out right away that it didn’t make sense for her to buy a pickup. Once she had a job and was back on the road again, she’d have to sell it. “I know I should have rented a car, but I wasn’t sure how long I’d be here. And I thought I’d stay in Texas for a while— there are lots of opportunities for dancers, at least in the summer. The State Fair musicals, Casa Mañana in Fort Worth…” She trailed off. She’d always been able to read Maggie like a book. Now she was reading disbelief. “I am going to dance again, Maggie,” Sidonie said softly.

      Another fierce hug. “Of course you are, sweetie. When did you get in? Just now?”

      “No, late last night.”

      Confusion showed on Maggie’s face. “Last night? Where did you stay? Not at that tacky motel at the edge of town.”

      She shook her head. “At home, of course.”

      Maggie’s eyes widened. “You spent the night with Rafe McMasters?”

      “Good grief! Does the whole town know he’s living in my house?”

      Nodding her head vigorously, Maggie pushed Sidonie in the direction of the kitchen. “Yes, indeed. Everyone knows Rafe is staying at the Saddler home place. You spent the night with him?”

      “You make it sound like we slept together. We weren’t even in the same room, Maggie. Only under the same roof.”

      Maggie had the grace to blush. “Well, of course you didn’t sleep with him. You just met. But you’ve got to tell me everything. Where’s he been all these years? Why did he come back, do you know?” Maggie was practically drooling.

      “I have no idea. We spent our time together exchanging insults, not life stories,” Sidonie said dryly. “First Judge Longstreet and now you. What is so intriguing about Rafe McMasters and his homecoming?”

      Maggie sighed. “I’ve heard stories about him ever since I was” knee-high to a grasshopper. The man’s a legend. But no one’s seen or heard from him for fifteen years—not since he jilted Cathy Sue and ran off with that exotic dancer.”

      Sidonie’s jaw dropped. “A stripper? He ran off with a stripper?”

      “Practically left poor Cathy Sue waiting at the altar. Although I shouldn’t call her poor. Her daddy’s the richest man in Proffit County. Or he was, until Rafe came back. Folks are saying he’s got more money than Emmet Clancy ever thought about.”

      “I don’t know who or what you’re talking about.”

      “No, that’s right, you wouldn’t. Cathy and Rafe were in high school together—eight or nine years ahead of us. It started out as a real romantic love story—Cathy Sue, the daughter of the biggest rancher in the county, and Rafe, the son of one of his cowhands. Rafe wasn’t a hand, though. He was on his way to being a championship rodeo cowboy. That’s when Cathy Sue and he got together.”

      Maggie sighed dreamily. “For a while, it looked like they would live happily ever after. Mr. Clancy eventually came around and gave his blessing to the engagement. A big church wedding was in the works—I know because one of my cousins was going to be a bridesmaid. And then, boom, it was all over. Rafe left town and never came back.”

      “With a stripper?”

      “Well, that part of the story’s a little fuzzy. Some of the men in town saw Rafe a few months later in a honky-tonk in Fort Worth. He was with a woman a few of them claimed they’d seen a whole lot of— although, when push came to shove, none of them would actually admit they’d been to a burlesque show.”

      “I don’t think it’s true. I can’t see him running off with a dancer.”

      “Why not?”

      “The way he looked at me after I told him I dance for a living—like I just crawled out from under a rock.”

      “Get out of here! I never saw a man look at you with anything but lusty admiration.”

      “Well, Rafe McMasters does not admire me, and the feeling is mutual. I still don’t see why Rafe’s a legend if all he did was break up with his girlfriend. Did Cathy Sue go into a decline and die of a broken heart?”

      “Not hardly. Getting jilted by Rafe was the only bad thing that ever happened to Cathy Sue, and she recovered from that blow pretty fast. She married her dad’s foreman—J. D. Nicholls—a few months later.”

      “Well then, how did he get his reputation?”

      “Rafe McMasters is a mystery. If he was fooling around with the exotic dancer, where did he meet her? He’d been in Cache for months, recovering from an injury. If he wasn’t cheating on Cathy Sue, why did he leave her? She never would say. Our sweet Cathy Sue’s too much of a lady to air her dirty linen in public.”

      “Do I detect a hint of sarcasm? Don’t you like Cathy Sue?”

      “Not much. She’s always been there for me and every other female in Proffit County to compare ourselves to—the ideal Texas lady, a cross between a Southern belle and a pioneer woman. Trust me, we all suffer by comparison.”

      Chuckling, Sidonie asked, “And just what makes her so special?”

      “Everyone thinks Cathy Sue is the ideal homemaker, the perfect wife and mother—with the possible exception of J.D. and Darcy, her husband and daughter. They are the ones who actually have to live up to her impossibly high standards. I swear, living in the same town with her is like living next door to Martha Stewart.”

      “Now, that is interesting. Why would Rafe dump someone like her? Based on our brief time together, I’d say a female paragon is exactly his type.” Why that should give Sidonie a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she couldn’t begin to fathom. She sniffed dismissively. “Too bad she’s married. If she were still available, they could reconcile. Then he could move in with her and leave СКАЧАТЬ