A Country Affair(80)

“Fred Garner?” Linda echoed after a stunned second. “What’s that old coot doing now?”

“Fred Garner owns the feed store,” Kate said in a puzzled voice.

“Yes, but what’s he got to do with anything?”

“Beats me.” Still, Kate couldn’t help wondering. Fred had seen them at the restaurant, and he’d been at the reception for her father and Dorothea. Although she hadn’t seen him on the porch when a number of guests had found her in Luke’s arms, she had very little doubt that he was there.

When Kate drove home an hour later, Luke was working in the yard. She climbed out of the car, took two steps toward him and halted abruptly. The lump in her throat was so large she could hardly swallow, let alone speak.

The trembling had started the minute she left Garner Feed and Supply. She’d dropped in at the store following Sally’s remark, and from then on everything had grown progressively worse. The way she felt right now, she could slam her bag over Luke’s head, or do something equally violent, and feel completely justified.

“Kate?” he asked, looking concerned. “What’s wrong?”

She knew her emotions were written on her face. She’d never been more scandalized in her life, which was saying a great deal, considering the fiasco with Eric Wilson.

In fact, the blow her dignity had been dealt by Luke Rivers during that incident paled in comparison with this latest outrage. There was only one thing for her to do. She’d have to move away from Nightingale.

“This is all your doing, isn’t it?” she demanded in a shaking voice. She held her head high, although it was a struggle to preserve her composure. Her pride was all she had left, and that was crumbling at her feet.

Luke advanced several steps toward her. “What are you talking about?”

She ground her fist into her hip. “I just got back from the feed store. Does that tell you anything?”

“No.”

“I’ll bet.”

He frowned. “Kate, I swear to you, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She made a doubting noise that came out sounding and feeling like a sob. Yet he appeared so bewildered. She didn’t know how any man could cause her such life-shattering embarrassment and maintain that look of faithful integrity.

The tears wouldn’t be restrained any longer, and they fell from her eyes, running down her face. They felt cool against her flushed cheeks.

“Kate? What’s wrong?”

Kate turned and walked rapidly away from Luke rather than allow him to witness her loss of control. She hurried into the house and slumped in a chair, hiding her face in her hands as she battled the terrible urge to weep hysterically. The painful sensation in the pit of her stomach grew more intense every time she took a breath.

The door opened and she said, “Go away.”

“Kate?”

“Haven’t...you...done...enough?” Each word rolled from her tongue on the end of a hiccuping sob.

He knelt in front of her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, but she pushed him away, refusing the comfort he offered.

Kate’s shoulders still heaved. With an exasperated sigh, Luke got up. He stood back on his boot heels and buried his hands in his pockets. “All right, tell me about it.”

“Pastor... Wilkins...bet...twenty...dollars...on... December,” she told him between sobs. Her fingers curled into fists. “Even... Clay...put in a...wager.”

Seeing his name on that huge blackboard had hurt more than anything.

“Kate, I swear to you I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Furiously she wiped the tears from her face and tried to marshal her self-control enough to speak clearly. “The...feed store,” she managed.

“What about the feed store?”

“They’re taking bets—it’s a regular lottery,” she cried, all the more furious with him because he was making her spell out this latest humiliation.

“Bets on what?” Luke’s frown was growing darker, and Kate could tell that he was dangerously close to losing his patience.

“On us!” she wailed, as if that much, at least, should be obvious.

“For what?”

“When we’re going to be married!” she shouted. “What else? Half the town’s gambling on the date of our wedding.”

Luke moaned, closing his eyes, as if he couldn’t quite believe what she was telling him.

“You honestly didn’t know?”

“Of course not.” He was beginning to look perturbed as only Luke could. His dark eyes took on a cold glare that would intimidate the strongest of men. “How’d you find out?”

“Sally Daley said something about it after school, and then in the school car park one of the mothers told me March is a lovely time of year for a wedding. March sixteenth, she said. Then...then I made the mistake of stopping in at the feed store on my way home to...to check out what was going on.”

Luke nodded, but Kate had the impression he was only half listening to her.

“As far as I’m concerned, there’s just one thing for me to do,” she said, gaining strength from her decision. “I’ll offer my resignation to the school board tomorrow morning and leave the district this weekend.”

Luke sent her a quick, angry look. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll take care of this my own way.”