"b.l.o.o.d.y stupid game!"
Oh, yes! Yes! Now that the pressure was off, even Emma could do this. She had two chances to win this thing for him and only a two-and-a-half-foot putt. His s.e.xy, determined, Emma! Now that the pressure was off, even Emma could do this. She had two chances to win this thing for him and only a two-and-a-half-foot putt. His s.e.xy, determined, Emma!
He slipped in front of her, turning his back to the rest of them so no one else could hear. Every one of his senses was fully alert as he willed her to concentrate. "Now listen to me, sweetheart. Pay attention to every word I"m saying. You"ve only got a two-and-a-half-foot putt, and you have two chances to get it in. You can do this. I want you to line up nice and straight and take that club head back smooth, not like you did last time. I don"t want to see any wobble. And hold yourself completely still. Nothing moves except your arms, you understand? Take the putter straight back, then bring it through the ball right toward the hole. Now do you have any questions? Any questions at all?"
She bit her lip and peered up at him from beneath the brim of her straw hat. "Do you love me even a little bit?"
Oh, G.o.d Not now! Not this! s.h.i.t! Wasn"t this just like a woman! He bit back a stream of expletives and tried to speak reasonably. "We"ll talk about it after we"re done, all right?" He bit back a stream of expletives and tried to speak reasonably. "We"ll talk about it after we"re done, all right?"
She shook her head. The cherries bobbed. "I need to talk about it now."
"No, Emma. It doesn"t have to be now." His own eyes stared back at him from the reflection in the lenses of her sungla.s.ses, and they looked wild.
She lifted her chin an inch. "Yes. It does."
Blood churned like acid through his veins. "Don"t do this to me. Why? Why does it have to be now?"
"I don"t know. I only know that it does." Her chin trembled, she slipped off her sungla.s.ses, and he saw that her eyes were dark with pain. His unruly stomach cramped as he watched her try to pull herself together. "Never mind. I"m being foolish. Besides, I already know the answer." She slid her sungla.s.ses into her pocket. "What a goose I"ve been about all this. I"m in way over my head with you. Of course, you"ve known that all along. Well, it has to stop." She managed a brisk little smile. "I"ll do my best to hit your putt, Kenny. And then I"m getting out of your life."
His stomach ... it wasn"t ever going to be the same. "You"re talking stupid. I don"t want to hear this."
"Nevertheless, it has to be said. And you of all people should understand. Don"t you remember, Kenny?" Once again that heartbreak of a smile, full of strong intent, but wobbly at the corners. The saddest thing he"d ever seen. "Love that has to be earned on the golf course, or anyplace else, for that matter, isn"t worth it. Love has to be a free gift or it doesn"t have any value at all."
Just like that, she pulled the world out from under his feet.
She stepped around him to line up, and as she gripped the putter, he remembered his father, and Petie, and the Diaper Derby, and the way Emma"d looked when she"d jumped on that Gray Line tour bus. He shivered. All morning he"d been sweating, but now he was chilled right down to his bones. And somehow he knew that, if he let her hit this putt, he would have lost her forever.
The knowledge came to him from someplace deep inside, a small, constricted place where he"d kept so many feelings locked away. Now that place spilled open and he saw that he loved this woman with every breath in his body.
She"d already drawn back the putter, her line was perfect, and his heart shot right up into his throat.
"Emma!"
The putter wobbled. Stalled. She looked up.
He smiled at her. Or at least he tried. His vision blurred as his life settled into place around him. "The game"s over, sweetheart," he said huskily. "We"re going home now."
"What?" Dallie shot forward, his eyes glittering. "You can"t do that! You heard what I told you. If you walk away, you know exactly what you"ll be giving up."
Kenny nodded. "I know. But this is upsetting Emma, and I"m not going to have it." He s.n.a.t.c.hed the putter from her hand and shoved it at Dallie. "I forfeit the match. It"s all yours, and you can d.a.m.n well do whatever you want with it."
Then he wrapped his arm around Emma"s shoulders and began to lead her off the green.
"But your putt ..." she said. "I told you I"d make your putt."
"Shhh ... it"s all right. You don"t have to earn my love on any d.a.m.n golf course, Lady E. It"s yours for the asking."
She stopped walking and stared up at him.
He"d just thrown his career out the window, but as he gazed down into that heart-stopper of a face, he knew this woman was worth a thousand careers. And with that knowledge, he finally understood everything that had eluded him for so long. He understood that, each time he"d played eighteen holes, he"d been trying to justify his life, and that he wasn"t going to do it anymore. He saw that he was more than a man who knew how to swing a club, that he had a brain, ambition, and some dreams for the future he hadn"t even known existed. As he stood there next to the eighteenth green, he finally understood what had been eluding him-that there were a lot of things more important in his life than golf, and the way he loved this woman was at the top of his list.
He ducked beneath the brim of her hat and brushed her lips with a kiss.
Dallie"s soft chuckle drifted his way across the green. "Congratulations, champ. I knew you"d get the idea sooner or later. And welcome back to the pro tour."
Kenny barely heard. He was too worried about the fact that Emma wasn"t kissing him back.
Chapter 24
As Kenny saw the stricken expression on her face, he realized he was going to have to do some fast taking, but he couldn"t do it here, not with the Beaudine family right on his heels. They were too unpredictable, and he had no idea who they"d side with. Besides, the self-satisfied expression on Francesca"s face was distracting him. It made him wonder if she was quite as bad with that putter as she"d seemed to be. realized he was going to have to do some fast taking, but he couldn"t do it here, not with the Beaudine family right on his heels. They were too unpredictable, and he had no idea who they"d side with. Besides, the self-satisfied expression on Francesca"s face was distracting him. It made him wonder if she was quite as bad with that putter as she"d seemed to be.
"We"re getting out of here." He began half pulling, half dragging Emma toward the clubhouse, gripped by a sense of urgency he didn"t even try to understand. Normally, he would have gone to the locker room to shower and change. But not today. Today she was going to have to take him sweat and all because he wasn"t letting her out of his sight, not until she understood that he loved her, and that they were married for now and forever. Not until she figured out they had a life together that included filling up their ranch house with a whole pa.s.sel of kids.
The thought of Emma pregnant with his babies was so sweet his d.a.m.n eyes started filling up with tears. He had to get her out of here right now before he embarra.s.sed himself in front of everybody. Except ... he"d left his car keys in his locker.
"Listen here, Emma. You stand right there-right by those golf carts, while I get my keys. Don"t you move! You understand me?"
She regarded him stonily. "I haven"t understood you since the day we met."
It wasn"t the most encouraging response, but he risked brushing another kiss over those stiff lips. "Yes, you have, sweetheart. You understand me better than anybody I"ve ever known." He began backing toward the door. "Please, just stay right there."
He whipped around, rushed into the pro shop without bothering to knock the dirt off his shoes, and raced for the locker room, moving faster than anybody at Windmill Creek, or the entire town of Wynette for that matter, had ever seen him move.
His hands were shaking, and he had trouble with the lock on his locker, but even so he didn"t leave her alone more than two minutes. By the time he got back, however, she"d disappeared.
There was only one explanation. The Beaudines had her. Those rotten, perverse Beaudines! The same Beaudines who were coming toward the clubhouse right now from the eighteenth green, with Ted driving the cart, and Dallie and Francesca strolling behind, their arms around each other.
"What did you do with her!" he shouted, even as he realized that she wasn"t with them, so they couldn"t have done anything with her.
Dallie looked amused, Francesca distressed. "Oh, Kenny, you can"t have lost her already."
He spun around and ran toward the parking lot. Emma didn"t have a car, and she was in a snit, so she"d decided to walk, that was all. She"d be right out there on the highway, marching along the white line like a drill sergeant, probably picking up litter on the way and G.o.d help anybody who spit out the window of his pickup.
He raced down a row of cars toward the entrance, his worry mounting because she was too mad at him to pay one bit of attention where she was going. And he didn"t even know why she was mad. Except he did know. He"d been so slippery with her right from the beginning that she didn"t trust his feelings for her.
He stopped running when he reached the entrance to the parking lot and looked up and down the highway, but he didn"t see anything except an old blue Dodge heading in one direction and a Park Avenue heading the other. Maybe he was wrong, maybe she hadn"t come this direction at all. Maybe she"d gone inside the clubhouse and headed for the Wagon Wheel Room to get something cold to drink.
He spun on his heel and ran back across the parking lot, past the Beaudines, and into the club house. But she wasn"t in the Wagon Wheel Room. She wasn"t anywhere.
Emma leaned against the fence and stared at Torie"s emus pecking away at the ground. She was no longer furious; she was simply numb. Once again, Kenny had used her emotions against her. But this would be the last time.
She had no idea what had motivated his display on the eighteenth green; she only knew that she had once again been manipulated. Somehow Kenny had decided to use her as a p.a.w.n in his get-even scheme against Dallie Beaudine. Well, she"d finally had enough. She couldn"t bear having her emotions spun about in the whirlwind that made up Kenny Traveler"s life any longer.
What an idiot she"d been! Like every other woman in history who"d fallen in love with the wrong man, she"d imagined that she could change him, but that wasn"t going to happen. And today, with his false declaration of love, he"d finally and forever broken her heart.
One of the larger emus lifted his head to study her. Nothing had ever been more welcome to her than the sight of Shelby and Torie rounding the corner of the clubhouse just as Kenny had disappeared inside. They"d taken one look at her face, thrust her into Torie"s BMW, and brought her here.
On the way, they"d picked and prodded at her in their typically American way, demanding that she give up her secrets and tell them everything. She"d evaded them, but when they"d gotten to the Traveler house, they"d started questioning her all over again.
She knew their probing was well-intentioned. In their minds, they couldn"t help her if they didn"t know what was wrong, but she couldn"t tell them. The truth made her seem too pitiful-the dotty, dear thing who"d unwisely fallen in love with a gorgeous, violet-eyed rogue who couldn"t commit.
Besides, she understood something about them that Kenny couldn"t seem to comprehend. Despite all their protests that they"d never speak to him again because he"d upset her, he was theirs, and they"d do anything for him.
It was Torie who finally seemed to realize how much she needed to be alone, and she"d suggested Emma wander down to the emu pen to see her "critters." Now, as Emma propped her hands on the wooden fence post and gazed at the ungainly birds, she knew it was time to do what she should have done on Sunday. It was time to get on a plane and go home.
Kenny charged through the front door and nearly ran into his father, who was coming down the stairs into the foyer. "Where is she?"
"Where"s who?"
"Don"t you dare try to hide her! Torie already called and told me she"s here."
"I just walked in the door," Warren replied. "I don"t know what you"re talking about."
"I do." Shelby came into the foyer from the back of the house. As she spotted Warren, she smiled at him like a high school cheerleader looking at the hero of the football team. "I didn"t hear you come in."
Even through his distress, Kenny noticed the way the old man"s eyes lit up as he gave Shelby a light kiss. "I was just coming out to find you. Where"s Petie?"
"On the patio."
Kenny interrupted the love fest. "Somebody"d better tell me where Emma is."
"Let"s talk about it on the patio," Shelby said.
"I don"t want to go out to the patio. I want-"
"We"re your family, Kenny. The only family you have."
The quiet intensity behind her words stopped him in his tracks. He looked back and forth between them and felt rattled. He"d seen those stubborn, worried expressions on their faces before, but he hadn"t taken them in, not like he did now. He saw concern there, and caring ... even from Shelby, his father"s too-young bride, who, despite everything, was starting to seem like another sister. And maybe having another sister wasn"t the worst thing that could happen to him. He loved Torie and, in his own way, he guessed he was starting to feel the same about Shelby. She sure was a good mother. And she"d made his dad happy.
His father slipped his arm around Shelby"s waist, and Kenny felt as if he were staring into a mirror. All his life he"d heard how much he and his old man looked alike, but now he could see it for himself. And as he gazed into that older, but still familiar face, he finally understood exactly how a man could screw things up for somebody he loved, not meaning to, just being stupid.
He drew a deep, shaky breath. He couldn"t explain any of this to his father right now, although he"d have to find a way to do it later, so he just nodded and headed for the patio. But when he got there, he discovered he was in for one more shock in a day full of surprises.
"Boys they wanna have fun. Oh, yeah! Boys, they wanna have fun." Torie stood in the middle of the patio swinging Petie around in her arms and singing to him with this smile spread all over her face. Petie was laughing to beat the band while Dex sat on one of the banquettes with a beer in his hand and a grin that stretched from one ear to the other. As Kenny absorbed the change in his sister-the same sister who"d barely been able to look at that little baby boy-he had this crazy urge to kiss Dex smack on the lips, just as Emma"d kissed Torie. Torie stood in the middle of the patio swinging Petie around in her arms and singing to him with this smile spread all over her face. Petie was laughing to beat the band while Dex sat on one of the banquettes with a beer in his hand and a grin that stretched from one ear to the other. As Kenny absorbed the change in his sister-the same sister who"d barely been able to look at that little baby boy-he had this crazy urge to kiss Dex smack on the lips, just as Emma"d kissed Torie.
His sister saw him in the doorway and stopped swinging Petie. Petie let out a deep baby-chuckle as he spotted him. Warren and Shelby came out to the patio. His father walked over to the tray of drinks that had been set up, while Shelby sat on the banquette, pulled her knees up to her chest, and watched Kenny with anxious eyes. They were all gathering around to help him straighten out his life. Just yesterday the idea would have driven him insane, but now it was almost comforting.
Petie extended his chubby arms toward his brother and let out a demanding squeal. Torie came forward, her expression as worried as Shelby"s. Kenny took the baby, but his eyes remained riveted on his sister. "Where is she?"
"You screwed up bad this time, Kenny. She"s really leaving."
"No, she"s not," he said stonily.
"She"s made her plane reservations. Shelby and I tried to talk her out of it, but you know how she is. What took you so d.a.m.n long to get here?"
"I was looking all over the place for her, and I didn"t get your message until a few minutes ago." He dodged the wet fist the baby was trying to shove in his mouth. "Tell me where she is."
"Inside calling Patrick and asking him to pack up her things," Shelby said from the banquette. "We told her she needed to go back to the ranch first and discuss this with you, but she said there wasn"t any need, that even if she tried to talk to you, you"d refuse to talk back."
That stung because he understood exactly what Emma meant. He spun toward the door to go and find her, only to come to a dead halt as he saw that she was already here.
She stared at him without saying a word, and the chill in her eyes went straight to his bloodstream. She was giving him her schoolteacher"s stare, a stare that told him, plain as anything, he might not be suspended from the tour any longer, but he"d been suspended from her life.
He realized he"d started to sweat through his golf shirt again. This was one hard-eyed woman. A woman who"d been done wrong by her man a time too many. And all because it had taken him too long to say the words he"d refused to let out of his heart.
"Sweetheart?" His tentative tone made him sound like a wimp, but he was no fool, and he knew she needed to be approached cautiously.
She blinked her eyes, drew back her shoulders, and shot up her chin. "Ah, Kenny." Then she barreled forward, all full of dangerous business, and even though she wasn"t carrying her umbrella, he could feel the tip plunging straight into his groin. "I"m delighted you showed up. It saves me having to write a note."
A note? She"d planned to leave him a note note? He started to fume all over again.
"Patrick"s bringing over my things, and I"ve spoken with Ted. He agreed to drive me to San Antonio."
That little p.r.i.c.k.
"Of course, since you seem to own this town and everybody in it, neither of them will do what I asked, so I"ve also called a car service. Once I get packed and arrive in San Antonio, I"m catching a short flight to Dallas, and I"ll be out of your hair in no time." She brushed her hands together ... brushing him right out of her life. "That should do it. Sorry things didn"t work out. As soon as I get settled, I"ll send you my address so we can straighten out any annoying legal business."
And then she stuck out her hand, actually stuck out her hand stuck out her hand for him to shake. for him to shake.
"Uh-oh."
Emma heard Torie"s muttered warning, saw fireworks go off in Kenny"s eyes, and realized she"d pushed him too far with the handshake. But she"d been determined to go out with her dignity waving like a Union Jack in the wind.
He thrust Peter into Torie"s arms, then his fingers manacled her wrist. "If y"all don"t mind excusing us, my wife and I have some business to conduct in private."
He spoke in a menacing drawl, with an extra bite on the word wife wife. She started to dig in her heels, but he was already dragging her toward a gate in the middle of the back wall. Her former friend, the traitorous Dexter O"Conner, rushed ahead of him to open it.
Kenny pulled her into a small, shady garden with a wedge of lawn to one side and a swimming pool just beyond. Then he backed her right against a tree.
"You"re not doing this, Emma. I swear to G.o.d, I"m not letting you throw away a good solid marriage just because you"ve got yourself in a snit over the way I"ve screwed up."
A good, solid marriage? His audacity nearly took her breath away. His audacity nearly took her breath away.
"You should know me well enough by now to know I always screw up when it comes to you. And exactly what kind of marriage are we going to have if you decide to run home to England every time that happens? You"d be gone most of the month."
The whirlpool that made up Kenny Traveler was once again trying to suck her into its hazardous depths. But this time she wouldn"t go, and instead of attempting to reason with him, she gazed at him stonily. "This discussion is over. We have nothing more to say to each other."
"I know I didn"t pick a good time to tell you I loved you," he went on, just as if she hadn"t spoken, "but it didn"t hit me until today."
That hurt so much she couldn"t let it pa.s.s. "How b.l.o.o.d.y convenient! Especially since this sudden revelation managed to get you back on the tour again, didn"t it?"
His eyes narrowed, as if he were the wronged party. "Is that what you think? You think I somehow figured out that, if I told you I loved you in front of Dallie, it was going to magically get me back on the tour?"