Sweet Annie (11 page)

"Annie,"
Charmaine whispered, "it's Mary Lou with her parents and that awful
brother of hers." Charmaine almost squirmed in delight. She sat up
straighter, and Luke wondered what was so exciting about the arrival of the
people she'd mentioned.

A
glance told him it was Daniel Holister with his wife and children. The girl,
Charmaine's age, stared wide-eyed at. their trio. Luke smiled politely and her
cheeks turned crimson.

Dora
brought their meals, and the attention moved to the savory roast beef and new
potatoes.

"Annie's
mother has someone to help with the cooking, but my mother only has me,"
Charmaine said. "You don't know how nice it is to eat away from
home."

"Sure
I do," Luke replied. "I get tired of food out of tins, so I eat over
here a lot."

"What's
your favorite dessert?" Charmaine asked, glancing at the chalkboard on a
wall.

"Apple
pie." It had become his favorite when Annie had baked one just for him.
And since she'd said his kisses tasted like cinnamon. He couldn't repress a
smile at the memory.

Annie
wouldn't meet his eyes. She dabbed her mouth with her napkin and folded it into
a neat square.

"Annie,
you're positively scarlet!" Charmaine said, and touched her cousin's cheek
with the back of her fingers. "Are you feeling well?"

Annie caught Charmaine's
wrist and lowered their hands to the tabletop. "I'm fine. Can we change
the subject?"

"From
apple
pie?"
Her voice held puzzlement.

A
laugh worked its way up from Luke's chest and he tried to hold it back by
taking a sip of coffee. But Annie's red face and Charmaine's quizzical look
struck him so funny that the laugh rumbled out, and he choked.

He
coughed to cover his amusement, making the situation worse, and covered his
mouth with his napkin.

Annie
leaned sideways in her chair and slapped her palm against the center of his
back a few times. "Are you all right?"

He
glanced down at the warm touch of her other hand on his forearm, able to think
of nothing but her hand on him.

She caught herself and
snatched it back.

"Yes, thanks," he
managed to reply finally.

She met his eyes then, and
leaning close this way, he could see the tiny green flecks that circled her
gray irises like sunbursts. Her brows were delicately shaped and tinged with
red like her hair, her lashes a spiky fringe.

His
focus lowered to her mouth, a lovely smooth pink bow with a full lower lip.
He'd kissed those lips.

The
corners twitched. She was fighting laughter now, too.

She
chuckled and straightened, pulling away from him. One glance at her cousin and
laughter spilled out.

Luke
joined her, and they laughed until his side hurt.

Charmaine
glanced around the room with a halfhearted smile.

Finally,
the mirth subsided and Dora came to remove their dinner plates. "Will you
be having dessert?"

"I
guess apple pie is out of the question," Charmaine said owlishly.

Luke
didn't look up. "I'll have the bread pudding, please."

His
dinner companions agreed with his decision, and Dora cleared the table. She
returned with their desserts, filled Luke's coffee cup and set a fresh pot of
tea on the table.

"This
is delicious," Charmaine said. "I wonder how you make it."

"Eggs and bread
and...cinnamon," Annie replied. "I—I saw a recipe in a
cookbook."

"Well, it's
delicious."

She glanced over and he
knew her thoughts.
Cinnamon.
Lord,
he had it bad for this woman when he thought of nothing but kissing her, even
when they were sitting in a restaurant surrounded by other people.

Too
soon, the meal was over. Luke paid the bill and escorted the ladies from the
building and brought the wagon around. Annie stood and he took her hand,
walking beside her in the twilight as she made her way to the back of the
wagon.

"Why
don't I get a horse and see you home?" he said, not wanting to end their
time together, even if they had no privacy.

Charmaine
expressed her agreement and he helped Annie into the back and Charmaine up to
the seat, then rode beside her as far as the livery.

He
entered the stable and saddled Wrangler. "We're goin' for a ride this
evenin'," he told the animal, then led him out and tied his reins to the
back of the wagon. He wanted only to climb into the back with Annie, but he did
the gentlemanly thing and took the leads from her cousin.

Charmaine
seemed a little subdued, and he appreciated a few welcome stretches of
silence. Before long the Renlow ranch came into view beneath the darkening
sky, a modest spread with good water and healthy stock. He pulled the wagon up before
the house, and Mort came out the door.

Luke
helped Charmaine down. "Luke came home with us, Daddy."

"Son."
Mort shook his hand. "Mr. Renlow."

Annie's
uncle lowered her to the ground while Luke got her chair. She thanked her uncle
and seated herself.

"The
missus just made some fresh coffee," Mort said.

"No,
thanks," Luke replied.

"She
made raisin cookies."

"Now
I could probably tuck away a cookie."

They
headed for the house. Once again, Mort picked up Annie and carried her while
Luke got her chair.

The
Renlow place was spacious and adequately furnished. They weren't well-to-do,
but they were comfortable and their house was a real home. They were genuinely
nice warm people. Vera Renlow brought a tray of cookies to the kitchen table
and they nibbled and talked.

She
offered a pitcher of cold milk and Luke accepted a glass.

He felt as though he'd
broken through a wall that had been standing in front of him most of his life.
A wall separating him and Annie. These people treated him as though he were any
other person. They accepted him.

But
then they weren't Annie's parents.

Charmaine
behaved less silly in her home and in the company of her parents, and he
actually saw a side of her he liked. She offered Mort more coffee and Luke more
milk. She filled her father's cup with her hand on his shoulder. Mort gave his
daughter an affectionate smile.

Annie
seemed comfortable and at ease with the Renlows, too, exchanging banter and
waving her hand at her uncle when he told a story about her thinking a baby
rabbit was a baby pig when she was twelve years old.

"Well,
they look the same," she said, laughing. "Those baby bunnies didn't
have one lick of fur and their ears were short. Now, what would you think if
you'd never seen one before?"

The
question was directed at Luke, and he shook his head and grinned, saying, "I
think pigs are a little bigger, but then it's probably an easy mistake."

“Well,
Charmaine came carrying it to show me, and I didn't see its mother. It looked
like a pig to me!"

Mort
laughed again, and Annie cast him a mock scowl. "You wouldn't want anyone
to mention the time you climbed down the ladder and stepped into the paint
bucket, would you?"

Vera
got a laugh over that one and joined Annie in regaling Luke with the tale.

Their
family and their easy camaraderie charmed Luke. As a boy, there'd been only him
and his father, and as a youth it had been him and Gil, with no women in their
lives. Women sure brightened a house...and a heart.

"How
are you related to the Sweetwaters?" Luke asked conversationally. He
couldn't imagine the Sweetwater family being this unpretentious.

"Mort
and Annie's mother are brother and sister," Vera said.

"Oh. They don't—
look
alike."

Mort
and the girls said nothing. Luke glanced at them, hoping his question hadn't
put a damper on the enjoyable evening.

Annie offered him her sweet
smile.

"Both
nice looking, though," Luke said, and the others chuckled.

Mort
smiled at Vera. "My wife was the prettiest girl in Fairfax County. Now she
has a little competition, what with Charmaine and Annie here, don't you
think?"

"It would be a
three-way tie if I had to vote."

Annie's
uncle finished his coffee. "You're a smart man, Mr. Carpenter."

"I just know when not
to hang myself."

Mort
chortled and pushed his chair back to stand. "I'm turnin' in." He
offered his hand. "Come back any time."

"Thank you, sir."

The
older man started for the doorway, then turned back with his forehead creased
in curiosity. "Say, which of these young ladies is it you're callin' on,
anyway?"

Chapter Six

He
'
d
been
too quick to say he knew how not to hang himself. Mort Renlow's words had
created the first tension he'd felt in this house since he'd arrived. What
should he say? Did the man think that he might be coming around to see his
daughter? The truth of how it must look hit Luke square between the eyes.

Of
course he could think that. Luke had invited both girls for ice cream
and
then for dinner. While he'd been thinking that Charmaine's
presence kept his and Annie's relationship respectable in public, others might have
been thinking he was using Annie as a chaperon. The thought angered him
momentarily. But Mort wasn't thinking any less of Annie; he just truly wasn't
sure of Luke's intent and his question was honest.

For
the first time, Luke considered Charmaine's feelings and felt like a heel. If
Annie hadn't confided in her, then she might be thinking he was interested in
her. All along, he'd assumed she'd known his attraction was for Annie.

Mort
stood in the doorway, one hand on the frame, waiting.

Luke
met Annie's eyes and read the panic behind them. He glanced at Charmaine,
seeing a touch of color in her cheeks and an expectant lift to her eyebrows.
No. Annie hadn't shared what had gone on between them. Why not?

He didn't know any other
way than honesty, so he said, "Charmaine is pretty and charming, and I'm
sure the fellows will be flockin' around soon, but your daughter is a trifle
too young for me, Mr. Renlow."

Mort
nodded as though that simple declaration was all that need be said. "It's
Annie, then."

Luke nodded affirmatively.
It most certainly was Annie.

Annie saw his nod and felt
the rush of pleasure and relief sluice through her insides. She had waited with
dread, not knowing if she wanted Luke to make a declaration or not. His
admission brought a lump to her throat. She wanted to jump up and hug him, but
she turned instead to her cousin.

Charmaine had cast her gaze
to the tabletop and it was a full minute before her lashes swept up and she
looked Annie in the eye. Annie wanted to spare her embarrassment, but she
didn't know what to say. She'd never known what to say, and that's why this
moment had come. She hadn't possessed the courage or the confidence to really
believe that Luke was interested in her.

Now she knew. And so did Charmaine.

"You're gonna have a
tough time with Annie's folks," Mort said. "I hope you know what
you're doin'."

"I
think I do," Luke replied. "I know I don't have a good history with
the Sweetwaters. But Annie's grown-up now. She should be able to make decisions
for herself."

Vera
stood behind Charmaine's chair. "Nothing I've ever said to my
brother-in-law has made a difference, but you have our support. Annie deserves
to be happy, and whatever makes her happy will be what we want, too."