Tumbleweed Weddings (40 page)

“Let me kill these lights, and I’ll walk you out to your car.”

She gathered her music together. “You don’t have to do that, Murray.” He would just slow her down, and she might not get home in time.

“I insist.” He followed her out the door.

As it was, Tonya didn’t get home until nine fifteen. She immediately ran to the computer and booted it up.

With a smile, she settled on her seat.

Pausing, she wondered if she should explain more, then decided against it and hit the R
ETURN
button. She wasn’t going to tell Poe about Murray.

Murray settled in front of the computer. Good thing he lived in town and beat Tonya home. He frowned as he read her explanation about being late. She didn’t mention anything about seeing Murray Twichell. They had stood at her car for ten minutes talking.

Murray had forgotten. A few weeks ago Derek announced the activity in Sunday school. Later Murray discovered it was Tonya’s idea, which surprised him. He didn’t realize she liked to visit old people.

With a sigh Murray sat back. Tonya was certainly persistent. He thought back to their conversation tonight at church and knew that Tonya was thawing out toward him. But was she ready to find out that Poe was Murray?

As Murray typed those words, a plan formed in his mind. On Saturday evening, he could sit beside Tonya in the church van on the way to Douglas, stay near her side at the nursing home, and then—as Murray—ask her to attend a play with him at the Cheyenne Playhouse next week.

Their date would be an experiment. He would show her the love of Christ, as well as his own love for her, and gauge her reaction. If they could get through the evening without arguing, and if she seemed romantically inclined toward him, maybe he would reveal himself as Poe.

Maybe.

O
n Friday morning, Tonya picked up Cheyenne, Laurie, and Gretchen in town, and they began their trek to the cooking show in Denver. Although it was only seven o’clock, all four were wide awake and chatting. Not only were they looking forward to the cooking seminar, but they also couldn’t wait to go shopping.

“I need some new clothes,” Gretchen said from the backseat.

“Me, too.” Tonya glanced down at her jeans. The blue was fading at the knees.

Cheyenne, on the passenger’s seat, glanced back at the other girls. “I only brought a hundred dollars in cash, so I can’t buy too much.”

“I’m using my debit card, and I just got paid.” Laurie laughed. “The sky’s the limit for me. I want to buy something special for Corey, too.”

Tonya rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re dating Mr. Hands-on-Me, Laurie.”

“Hey, he’s been a perfect gentleman. Besides, our names rhyme.”

“Corey and Laurie.” Cheyenne grinned. “Maybe you two will fall in love.” “I hope so.” Laurie giggled.

The conversation swirled around Tonya as she thought back to IMing with Poe last night. Now there was a perfect gentleman, and someone who loved her for herself. As she drove down Highway 270, his words lingered in her mind.

She gave a wistful sigh. She still hadn’t told him she loved him, but she knew she did. If only she knew who he was.
Lord, please let me meet this guy!

But what if he really was Reed Dickens? Poe said he had to work until eleven tonight, and a three-to-eleven shift was common for hospital nurses. Could Poe be Reed? If so, he was certainly different on the computer than he was in person. At church Reed barely acknowledged her, and he wasn’t the sensitive, poetic type. No, Poe couldn’t be Reed.

At least she hoped not.

But what if she ended up marrying someone else, and Poe just faded from her life? What if she never found out his identity? What would happen to all his talk about love?

Well, she wouldn’t give up! She’d keep praying and trusting God to bring them together.

In the distance, Tonya heard a siren. She glanced in the rearview mirror. A Wyoming highway patrol car, lights flashing, rushed up behind them.

“Oh no!” Tonya’s shoulders drooped as she pulled over to the side of the road.

The other three girls craned their necks toward the back window.

“Don’t worry, girlfriend.” Cheyenne touched Tonya’s shoulder. “Maybe that cop received a dispatch, and he’s going around.”

“No such luck,” Laurie said. “He’s stopping behind us.”

Tonya hit the button to roll down her window. “If that’s Murray, I’m going to kill him.”

Cheyenne laughed. “Murray wouldn’t give you a ticket.”

“Are you kidding? He’s already given me two.”

Laurie leaned forward. “Guess what? It
is
Murray.”

Tonya tried to quell her irritation, but getting a ticket would take twenty minutes of their time, not to mention another bite out of her paycheck and another spike in her car insurance.

He strode up to her open window and looked inside the car. “Hello, ladies.”

“Hi, Murray!” came the reply in three voices.

Tonya didn’t greet him. “Murray, I wasn’t speeding, was I? I was really trying to stay within the speed limit, and besides that, we’re going to a cooking show. We don’t have time for this. I don’t want to be late.”

“Whoa!” He held up his hands. “I’m not giving you a ticket, Tonya.”

She looked up into his blue eyes. “You’re not?”

He smiled. “You were going four miles over the speed limit, so I stopped you—but just as a warning. The WHP is out in full force on I-25.”

“What’s the WHP?” Gretchen asked.

Murray glanced at her. “Wyoming highway patrol.” He looked back at Tonya. “They’re watching for speeders today on the interstate, so I thought I should warn you. Be careful, and keep your eye on the speedometer.” He took a step back and winked at her. “I don’t want you to get a ticket.”

Her heart fluttered at his wink. “Thanks, Murray.”

“Sure. Have a good time, ladies.” He strode back to his patrol car.

“That was nice of him.” Cheyenne settled back in her seat. “But how did he know you’d be driving on I-25?”

The cooking show was more awesome than Tonya could have imagined. When the girls arrived, they were each given a tote bag full of recipe cards, coupons, and the free measuring cups. The four of them took seats in a large auditorium among several hundred participants, mostly women. A fully functional kitchen was set up on the stage, and one of the cooking masters named Jessie demonstrated a recipe step-by-step. Tonya and the other girls followed along on a recipe card, watching Jessie’s hands in a huge mirror hanging above her head and tilted toward the audience. An hour later, they stood in line to fill up on free food samples set on long tables.

With a half hour of the show left, Tonya took her seat in the auditorium. “I guess we won’t have to eat lunch.”

“I’m stuffed.” Cheyenne sat down beside her. “This is so much fun, Tonya. I’m glad we came.” She pulled the schedule from her tote bag. “The prize giveaways are the last thing before we leave.”

Tonya grinned. “I’m sure we won’t win anything, although Poe and I are both hoping for the trip to Hawaii. You know, that would make a great honeymoon package.”

Cheyenne raised her eyebrows. “Poe asked you to marry him?”

“No, but I’m trusting the Lord. Someday I’m going to marry that man.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t be too quick about that decision. You’d better find out who he is first.”

“But he’s a Christian, and he’s so sweet.” Tonya sighed. “Do you know why he’s holding off on meeting me?”

“No, why?”

“He says I’ll be disappointed. He’s ‘seven shades of ugly,’ or so he says.”

“Maybe he’s the hunchback of Notre Dame.”

Tonya laughed. “I don’t think so.”

But her smile faded as she thought on Cheyenne’s words. Could there be something physically wrong with Poe? Some type of deformity? Maybe that was why he didn’t want to meet her.

Tears edged her eyes. Someone as wonderful as Poe should not have to suffer like that.
Lord, no matter what Poe’s problem is, I will continue to love him
. She would accept him as he was, deformed or not.

The auditorium began filling up again. Laurie and Gretchen came back and took their seats next to Cheyenne. Tonya stowed her purse and tote bag between her feet, ready to go when they were dismissed. She looked forward to spending the rest of the day shopping at the Park Meadows Mall in southern Denver.

When the audience settled, one of the cooks came to the mic. “Hi, my name is Marcie, and it’s time to give away our prizes!”

The audience went wild, clapping and screaming. Tonya screamed with the best of them. She would forget about Poe and enjoy herself.

Marcie waited for the noise to die down. “First, we have a surprise giveaway.” She held up a book. “We have twenty cookbooks to award before we choose winners for our three main prizes.”

Tonya glanced at Cheyenne. “I’d love to win a cookbook.”

Marcie continued, “Open the tote bag you received when you first came in. Everyone has a number posted under the inside flap.”

Along with the rest of the attendees, Tonya picked up her bag and looked inside. Sure enough, a small square of paper was wedged under the flap. She pulled it out.

Cheyenne leaned toward her. “My number is 136. What’s yours?”

Tonya glanced at the paper. “It’s 224.”

“My number is 118.” Laurie looked at both of them from the other side of Cheyenne. “And Gretchen’s is 104.”

Tonya smiled. “Let’s hope one of us wins something.”

On the stage, Marcie turned the handle on a big see-through barrel that was filled with small slips of paper. The other cook, Jessie, joined her as Marcie spoke into the mic. “Jessie is going to pick out twenty numbers for the cookbooks. If I call your number, please come to the front.”

The hushed audience waited as Jessie plucked out a paper from the barrel and handed it to Marcie. “Seventy-two.”

With a little scream, a woman in the middle jumped up and made her way to the front.

Marcie and Jessie kept the numbers coming, with a steady stream of participants moving forward. Finally Marcie said, “Here’s our last one—number 104.”

Gretchen gasped. “That’s me!” Her wide eyes glanced at the other three girls.

“Go, Gretchen!” Cheyenne gave her a thumbs-up before Gretchen stood and walked down the aisle. “At least we won something!”

“I’m glad.” Tonya grinned. “I wanted to see what kind of recipes they put in their cookbook.”