ANOTHER SUNNY DAY (14 page)

"Encores are my specialty." She managed a shaky smile, wanting him to spend the next two nights with her, but she was too shy to come right out and ask him. It was important to her that h
e make the next overture.

"Some shows I never get tired of seeing over and over." He sensed her dilemma, but although he wanted her, he didn't want her to feel pushed
or exploited, so he hesitated.

"I could save you a
ticket," she offered timidly.

"In that case, I'll be there with bells on," he promised, a gentle smile softening his gray eyes befo
re he moved to the front door.

CHAPTER NINE

"Sunny, come here quick!" Tyler called, a frantic note in his vo
ice. "You've got to see this."

Sarah dropped the silverware into the sink with a crash and hurried to the doorway, wondering what could have Tyler so upset. Anxiously her eyes searc
hed the scene in front of her.

"Look at that," he directed, excitement lighting up his handsome face. '"Have you eve
r seen anything so beautiful?"

"I don't see anything special. Just some snow," Sarah answered, my
stified by all the hullabaloo.

"Just snow!" he almost shouted. "Do you realize that the last time we had this much snow was in 2008? You a
re witnessing a big event."

She looked dubiously at the few inches of snow that barely covered the ground. It had been a long time since she had given snow a second thought, except when it spotted her boots or soaked through her pant legs. "There was two feet of dirty, sloppy snow in Denver last week when I left. What's so speci
al about a few measly inches?"

"I don't think you are fully appreciating the magnitude of what you are seeing." He spoke patiently, as if to a slow child. "Around here we usually see a snowflake or two every year and maybe a thin layer of ice on the puddles, but it's usually too wet or warm for the flakes to stick. But when all of the conditions are just right and we get a heavy enough snowfall to actually see and touch, almost everyone takes the day off work or scho
ol and acts like a kid again."

"But there's not even enough to make a decent snowman," Sarah protested, still u
nable to share his enthusiasm.

"Of course there is. You'll be surprised by how many snowmen you'll see today. Sure, they might not be six feet tall with chunks of coal for eyes or derby hats, but the kids, young or old, that put them together have just as much fun as people up north who sculpt
twenty-foot-tall ice statues."

Sarah found it was much more interesting to watch his animated face than to look out over the pathetic excuse for snow. Tyler's eyes were sparkling with childish delight. His thick dark hair fell across his forehead, adding to the boyish effect. She had a sneaking suspicion that despite his thirty-one years he wouldn't be able to restrain himself much longer from picking up a handful of snow and packing it neatly into a snowball to launch
at some unsuspecting passerby.

"Hurry up and get dressed." He pushed her toward the bedroom. "You don't want to miss out on this, do you?" Expect
antly he awaited her reaction.

Sarah sensed that this was some sort of impromptu test to gauge her reaction to something as ordinary as a snowfall. "No, of course I don't." She returned his relieved smile. "I haven't had a chance to enjoy snow since I was a kid. But you go ahead. I'm going to take a quick shower, and then I'l
l meet you near the campfire."

"Dress warmly. I don't want you to catch a cold," he cautioned before closing the door firmly be
hind him.

He was bringing her back to life, Sarah mused while the shower spray massaged her body. She had seen the scenery around her for the first time in years, just as she had really listened to
what people were saying through newly opened ears. New or suppressed feelings were rushing through her, reminding her that she was a normal, healthy twenty-four-year-old woman, who had been merely existing in an artificial world, surrounded by people who wouldn't recognize or appreciate honesty if it hit them in the face.

Unfortunately she was so deeply involved with her sister's career, with
Sunny's single-minded drive for success, that Sarah was not certain she could ever escape in spite of her own deep longings. After all, hadn't she proved she was just like everyone else when she agreed to go along with this deception? She hadn't really considered how many people, both directly and indirectly, would be affected by what had seemed like a harmless trick but had evolved into a complicated lie.

This was not the same thing as a movie stuntman taking the place of the star for dangerous scenes. The public was never really deceived by that substitution because no attempt was ever made to conceal from the press or the public the fact that stuntmen and stand-ins were being used. Ever
yone knew it was make-believe.

But last night had been real, and the cold, bright light of morning brought to mind the fact that unprotected sex sometimes resulted in unplanned children. Sarah loved children and wanted several of her own someday soon, but not this soon. If things were complicated now, they would be ten times worse if she had become pregnant during her one night of passion. As perfectly inexperienced as she was, she had nevertheless heard that stranger things had happened than that. A clear picture pushed its way into her imagination of an adorable child with dark tousled hair, gentle gray eyes and round, rosy cheeks. Tyler would make a terrific father, she mused, then shrugged. Her common sense whispered that the sensible thing to do would be not to let things go as far as they had last night. But her new frivolous side begged her not to be so hasty. Maybe if there were a next
time, Tyler would be prepared.

Such strange ideas were unusual for Sarah. Her main concern should be the successful completion of this week. A battle between desire and duty raged within her until her thoughts became more rational. At this point in the masquerade, in order to salvage
Sunny's reputation and Sarah's self-respect, this scenario must be played to its natural conclusion. Any slipups or premature confessions would do more damage than good. When it was over, Sarah was determined to adopt Tyler's' policy of never again letting herself get into situations such as this one regardless of the circumstances. For now, if she could keep it up for just two more days, then no one would be hurt ... except herself.

She took off her shower cap and combed the silken length of her hair before pulling it into a ponytail on top of her head and pinning it into neat coil. She realized she should have brought along more than one wig. Although all of
Sunny's wigs were made of an easy-care, natural-looking synthetic. Sarah just wasn't in the mood to waste the time it would take to restyle the forlorn creature that still hung on the towel bar in the bathroom. Instead she tied a scarf around her head to hide her own hair and put a cowboy hat firmly on top before leaving the trailer.

Thoughts of last night and the future were foremost in Tyler's mind as he went in search of Jed after feeding and watering the horses and changing into clean clothes. As usual Jed was at the campfire, distributing strong, hot coffee and doughnuts. When he saw Tyler, he headed for the
chuckwagon to get out the breakfast supplies.

"Don't cook me any breakfast today, Jed," Tyler said as his long strides quickly caught up to the shor
ter man. "I've already eaten."

"How about Miss Day?" Jed asked with a knowing glance. "Will she
be wanting anything this morning?"

"No, she cooked up some of the things you left in the camper." He was careful that no one else was within he
aring distance as he answered.

"That was some storm we had last night, wasn't it?" Jed remarked.

"Yes, it was." Tyler nodded in agreement. "I just about froze to death until I got out of my wet clothes.

"Yeah, that wind was sure blowing hard," Jed persisted. "
Sunny's trailer was really rocking when I stopped by, looking for you."

Tyler gave him a quick sharp look. "Oh? What time was that?" he asked casually while furtively reassuring himself that no one else
could hear this conversation.

"Oh, it was pretty late. I was a little worried about you when you didn't show up last night," Jed said with fatherly concern. "So I checked out a few of the places I thought you might be. Miss Day's trailer was the last place I looked, but no one answered my knock, so I gave up and went on back to the truck. I s
uppose you were okay, though."

"You shouldn't have worried. I was fine. I would have let you know where I was, but it was sort of a last-minute decision. I was drenched and cold, so she let me use her shower and then insisted I sleep on the sofa," he explained, not really lying, but not te
lling the whole truth, either.

"All I've got to say about that is you'd better remember that these Texas storms blow in fast and furious, wild and fierce while they last. But they don't last long, and in a few days the storm is gone and been forgotten by everyone except those
whose pipes froze and burst."

"What are you trying to get at, Jed?" Tyler's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He had known this man all his life and respected and trusted his opinions. Often his insight was eerie in its accuracy, and he didn't always
say what Tyler wanted to hear.

"I've known men to have parts of their bodies froze plum off by a particularly ruthless storm," he teased, then added more seriously, "I just want you to be careful and not get hurt. You've got to remember that this is just temporary. When the cows start calving and the grass turns green, everything will be back like it was before you met her. You'd never be happy living in the eye of a hurricane, wai
ting for the winds to change."

"I know," Tyler said, a wistful note creeping into his voice. "Like I said before, none of this was planned, and I know I'll have to let go when she leaves.
we have no middle ground for a future together. But thanks." He slapped the old man on the back affectionately.

"I'm just telling you what your father would say if he were still here," Jed muttered, trying to hide his emotions by r
ummaging through the grub box.

Tyler wandered back toward the campfire, trying to sort through his increasingly muddled thoughts. His own instincts had repeatedly echoed Jed's advice, and yet he couldn't stay away from Sunny Day. He was intelligent enough to weigh the pros against the cons and come up with a danger signal flashing its warning. Just two more days and the only time he would ever see her again would be at the rodeo or on TV. But it had to be enough because there could be no further
commitment for either of them.

Unaware that Sarah's thoughts were paralleling his own, he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by the realization of what the consequences of last night's rashness might be. Since Sunny had been a virgin and could not possibly have anticipated how the evening would end it was unlikely that she had used any form of birth control. He had felt the loss of a child once before, even though it had turned out that it had not been his. Since then he had been scrupulously careful that such a situation would not recur—until last night. It was another example of how much she affected him. He had to remain in control of himself
or he could live to regret it.

The bright turquoise scarf tails that closely matched the heavily brocaded western-style blouse Sarah was wearing lay against her cheek like the petals of an exotic flower, bringing out the greenish tint of her eyes. It was fortunate her coat had been intended for use up north, where it was so often very cold and wet, because she would ne
ed its extra protection today.

There was quite a lot of activity around the campsite as people made their preparations for the day's ride or, as Tyler had predicted, frolicked like children in the snow. Already bare patches of
ground showed through the white covering as the traffic and scuffling redistributed the thin layer of snow. The sun pierced weakly through the patchy clouds, adding a fresh sparkle to the scene. There was a beauty and innocence to the snow-covered setting that Sarah observed with euphoric eyes. Common things that she hadn't even noticed yesterday had been transformed into shimmering ornaments. Skeletal branches were dotted with diamond teardrops, tall dried grass had frozen into shrouded spikes, and windswept pine needles were stiffened, as if the icy blast were, still blowing, against them. Long dramatic icicles hung from everything like fairy stalactites in a crystal cave. Touched by winter's icy hand, the Texas landscape had been changed into a glistering work of art.

The whole world was more beautiful today than it had been yesterday or last week or last year. She was no longer the same person she had been then, and it was not just because she was pretending to be Sunny. It was because she was happily, at least for the next forty-eight hours, enjoying the discovery of herself as a woman. Surely no other female felt as special and satisfied as she did today. There was a new awareness of her own individuality, even though at the moment she was a person with too m
any names and too few answers.