An Irresistible Temptation (34 page)

*****

It was after supper when apparently Riley
couldn’t stay away any longer. She was on the porch swing when he
rode up.

“I wondered if I’d see you before I left.”
Her calm words belied the quickening of her pulse.

“Honestly, I didn’t intend to come by.” He
sat down beside her. “I just finished with my last patient—a
ferocious sore throat that I treated with the utmost kindness, even
though I know it was brought on by Mrs. Fisher yelling all day at
Mr. Fisher.”

She nodded, unable to speak for a moment,
feeling a lump in her throat.

“You would have been proud of my courtesy,”
he finished.

It occurred to her right then that after
tonight, she might never see him again, hear his voice, or touch
him, and she put her hand on his leg. She felt his muscle tighten,
felt his warmth beneath her hand. Life without him would be
absolutely bleak. Why wasn’t he moving heaven and earth to keep
her?

“Why aren’t you . . . ?” she trailed off, her
voice barely above a whisper.

He put his hand over hers and leaned closer,
and she could smell the familiar scent that was Riley, tonight
blended with a hint of fresh grass. “What?” he asked.

“Why aren’t you going to fight for me?” she
managed, her throat thick with emotion.

His eyes widened momentarily, then he shook
his head.

“Sophie, sweetheart, I am. I’m making sure
you stay where you belong.”

She paused, feeling the tears prick at her
eyes again. She waited till the feeling passed so she could speak
again.

“Why aren’t you fighting to keep me?” She
realized that hurt most of all.

He didn’t say anything at first. Then he
stood up, letting her hand drop away from him. Leaning his hips
against the porch rail, he faced her.

“I’m doing the best I can do for you, while
keeping my promise to Doc. Don’t you think I want this to go
another way?”

“So you’ll give me up for duty!” she spat
out, allowing the anger to overtake the pain. It was easier to be
angry than hurt. “First, for a promise to Eliza, you would throw
our love away. Now, for a debt you owe Doc!”

“What kind of man would I be if, from the
moment I saw you, I chucked aside everyone and everything
else?”

“I guess you’d be a man in love.”

“Not fair, Sophie.”

“I don’t feel like being fair at the moment.
I’ll get on that train tomorrow and I’ll return to my blessed life
in San Francisco, but it will be dimmed—everything will be—knowing
what we could have had.”

He swore. “That’s why I didn’t want you to
know how I felt. If you hadn’t come here, you never would
have.”

His words felt like a knife in her ribs.
“Don’t I deserve to know how much a man loves me? Especially one
whom I love back?”

“You’ll find another—”

“Please,” she stood up. “Don’t you dare say
it. You’re not so easily replaced and my passions aren’t so
fickle.” She crossed her arms. “Why? Are you planning on marrying
the next single girl who comes your way?”

“No.”

“You will eventually,” she said, her voice
lowering, talking more to herself than to him.

“Sophie, please.” He took a step toward her
and reached for her hands.

“Don’t,” she warded him off. “You go back to
being surly and sad. I’m going home.”

She turned on her heel and went to the screen
door.

“You know, Riley, I don’t believe you do love
me the way I love you. I’m willing to stay here, to teach piano or
. . .” Blast! She couldn’t think of anything else she could do in
this ridiculous town. “Or whatever, just to be with you because I
simply cannot imagine my life without you. But tomorrow, on that
train, I’m sure as hell going to try.”

She slammed the screen, but as she closed the
door, she was unable to stop herself from looking once more at his
face, so somber in the shadows, so dear to her.

*****

He rode home ever so slowly. He couldn’t
bring himself to spur his horse to a flying gallop. He didn’t feel
like enjoying the ride. He didn’t feel anything but numb. When
Sophie left tomorrow, the rest of his life would be colorless
without her. He probably would find a woman someday and marry her
for company, because he didn’t intend on satisfying himself with
Ada or one of her “girls.”

Yet, no matter how he came to care for some
future wife, in his heart, Sophie would still be there, taking up
all the room and being an impossible comparison for any other
female. He sure hoped he was easier to replace, for Sophie’s sake.
It seemed as though he’d damned them both to hell on earth.

Her face, so sweet, so wretched, right before
she closed the door—it broke his heart.
Fight for her?
Hell,
he was doing just that—fighting his weaker self that wanted to keep
her with him. Fighting to make sure she didn’t look at him one day
with resentment, if not downright hatred, for ruining the life she
could have had.

“Hi-ya!” he yelled at last and his horse took
off at a cantor.

He shouldn’t have made love to her yesterday.
He should have been stronger. As soon as he saw her in the kitchen,
he’d known how it would end if she didn’t leave right then. After
all, she belonged to him so certainly, so absolutely, it seemed
criminal not to take the gift he’d been given, one perfect union
with her. And it had been that—perfection. Beyond his dreams.
Beyond anything he deserved.

He pulled his horse up short.

It seemed criminal not to take the gift.

He sat on his horse in the middle of nowhere,
the only sounds being the heavy breathing of his horse and the
occasional owl’s call. Riley let all his thoughts rush through
him—hopes, dreams, love, Sophie. Everything good in life led back
to her, a gift that had ridden into Spring City on a train, not
once, but twice.

Slowly, he took a deep breath and, looked
around him, up at the stars.
What the hell was he doing throwing
away such a miracle?

Shit! It was late, but Doc was used to late
nights and emergencies. He turned his horse around.

*****

It was unseasonably warm as Sophie walked to
the station, very happy not to be dragging a trunk. With her, she
had her carpet bag and her coat over her arm. She was clenching a
handkerchief, just in case. After all, she had a lot of quiet hours
to fill on two trains and hoped she wouldn’t spend most of them
crying.

She passed Ely’s and Dan’s and had her foot
on the first step of the station platform.

“You need help with that?”

She whirled around, nearly losing her
balance. Her heart sunk. She couldn’t take another round with
Riley, exposing her heart and having it handed back to her. She’d
hardly slept and felt like an invalid.

“No answer?” He was smiling at her as he had
the first time they met.

How could he come to say goodbye and actually
smile at her? But if he could do it, then she could, too. She
girded her heart and played along, “Are you going to knock me into
the street?”

“Is that the only way I’ll see your purple
drawers again?”

She gasped. After all, there were other
people around. Besides, he was still wrong.

“Lavender,” she corrected him but with a
ghost of humor in her voice.

He crossed his arms. “As a doctor, I better
check that out for myself. I’m licensed, you know.”

Despite herself, she smiled. “To look at
ladies’ undergarments?” What was up with him? He seemed giddy,
exactly the opposite to how she felt.

“You’ll have to stay another night?”

“So you can check my unmentionables?”

He barked out a laugh. Then shook his head.
“No, but I need a day to pack my things.”

She swallowed.

“What are you saying?”

Everything happened at once. She saw Doc and
Sarah coming along the sidewalk with Jessie not far behind. She
realized that Riley was dropping to his knees, giving her a view of
Dan leaning in the feedstore doorway, smiling at her.

“Sophie Malloy,” Riley said, looking up at
her, and it seemed as though all the other sounds hushed. No more
footsteps or horse’s hooves or birds singing or people talking.
Only Riley.

“Riley?” But she could barely hear her own
voice for the buzzing that was in her ears.

“Will you do me the extreme honor of becoming
my wife?”

She was lightheaded. Surely, it was due to
the lack of sleep and not eating anything the previous night or
that morning. And the sun was already hot on her head. Stupidly,
she’d put her bonnet in her bag.

That was the last thought she had before she
started to crumple, feeling Riley’s arms catch her as she went
down.

How long she was unconscious, Sophie didn’t
know, but she awoke on the bed in Doc’s surgery, her head feeling
achy.

“Drink a little of this as soon as you’re
able,” Riley said, lifting her head slightly. He sat beside her on
a stool. She saw he had a glass in his hand of what looked like
water. She took a sip and let him wipe her chin.

“Yuck.” It was salty and bitter.

He chuckled. “Tastes nasty, but it’ll make
you feel better.”

She coughed and then let him give her another
sip.

“You ready to sit up?”

She nodded.

“Slowly, all right?” And he raised her up and
put pillows behind her. Now she could see Doc and Sarah, too, at
the end of the bed.

“You didn’t eat, did you?” Sarah said. “And
folks are always making fun of my fussing about feeding everyone.
Nothing good comes from starving yourself. You fainted, right in
the middle of Main Street.”

She had a familiar box on her lap, which she
tapped with her hand. “I went straight over to Fuller’s after you
dropped, and got the tastiest item on the menu.”

She handed the box to Sophie, who looked down
at it, then up at Riley.

“Lemon cake,” they said together.

“What’s the matter?” Sarah asked. “Don’t you
like it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never had it.”

Sophie opened the box and the heavenly
fragrance of lemons and vanilla cake wafted up at her. Her mouth
watered and, without waiting, she picked up the slice in her hand
and took a bite.

“Mm, it’s so light and delicious.” She took
another bite, unable to stop herself. Soon, she’d eaten the whole
thing and was licking her fingers.

Doc laughed. “That’s what I do, too. Why,
you’re going to be fine. Rest here till you feel like we can take
you back to Charlotte’s.”

“Oh,” Sophie exclaimed, dismayed. “I missed
my train.”

Sarah and Doc looked at each other and Sarah
gaped. “Don’t you remember—?"

Doc cleared his throat loudly, cutting her
off. “Sarah and I are going to leave you two alone to have a chat”
and he hustled his wife out the door.

Sophie looked at Riley again, who was
grinning in a way that made her want to kiss him. And then she
remembered him on his knees.

“Oh my God! Did you ask me to marry you?”

“I did, but you didn’t react the way I
expected.”

He leaned down and kissed her, then he licked
his lips. “Lemony. I’d give you another piece just to watch you
lick your fingers again.”

“Riley,” she scolded; had he been thinking
that while Sarah and Doc were in the room?

“The only person I’ve ever known who didn’t
like that cake was Eliza.”

Sophie snorted. “What are you talking about?
I was there when you bought her a piece.”

“No,” he corrected, stopping to kiss her
again, “it’s the other way around: I stopped to buy her a piece of
cake because you were there.” His expression became more serious.
“You know and I know that the reason I’ve been such an ass is
because when I’m not with you, I have no heart. I came back here
and realized I’d left my heart in San Francisco.”

She gazed at him thoughtfully. “Something
about that would make an excellent song.”

“Sophie, please focus. Are you going to give
me an answer?”

She wanted to be serious, but she couldn’t
stop herself from smiling. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

“And you’ll live with me in San
Francisco?”

“Yes, I’ll live with you in—wait, what do you
mean?” She started to get an excited feeling in the pit of her
stomach.

“I can’t give you up, but I can’t let you
give up your dream, either. We’re going back to San Francisco and
you’re going to marry me.”

“What about Doc?” she asked, tossing the box
off her lap as she reached up to hug him.

“He’s already married and I don’t fancy
him.”

She laughed hard. “Stop teasing, Riley. No,
don’t ever stop. But what will happen? What about Sarah’s
trip?”

“Doc will interview those new doctors Webster
invited and he’ll pick one. End of story. I had it in my head; it
was me or no one, and that I’d be letting down the whole town of
Spring, as well as Doc. But that’s ridiculous.” He paused while he
stroked her cheek. “I realized that the only person I shouldn’t let
down is you. If I did, I would deserve the hell I’ve been living
in.”

He brushed his thumb over her lower lip and
she trembled slightly. “I went to him last night and told him I
felt terrible leaving him in the lurch, but that I had to leave. He
said if it were him, he’d choose you and San Francisco, too.
Actually, what he said was, if Sarah wasn’t in Spring, he wouldn’t
be either.”

She smiled at Riley, feeling absolutely
blessed. “Smart man, that Doc Cuthins.”

His arms circled her and he kissed her.
“Lucky man, this Riley Dalcourt.”

Riley didn’t sit in the front row anymore.
Seats were in too high of a demand. He had a seat offstage on the
evenings when he could attend one of his wife’s performances.
Tonight was special, indeed, for when she finished, he was going to
whisk her away to Egbert and Carling’s lovely inn so they could
meet Carling’s new baby. He hoped to spur a little baby envy in
Sophie, or at least have fun trying.