steps would have to be taken. The whole town of Diablo, it seemed, was atwitter over Darla’s impending marriage. No detail was too small to be hashed over—the bridal gown she’d bought from the store she co-owned with Jackie Samuels Callahan, Pete’s wife; the diamante-covered shoes she’d purchased. She’d scheduled an appointment for her hair, which had been dutifully reported. It would be worn long, crowned with an illusion veil that had orange blossoms cascading at the hem, which would just touch her shoulders.
Judah was sick to death of details. He wouldn’t know an orange blossom if it grew out of his boot.
Strangely, the bride had not been seen since her invitations were mailed. Nor had the groom, though he was expected in town any day now. Judah knew him. Sidney Tunstall was a popular rodeo doctor and a one-time bronc buster, a man with a spine like a spring, who seemed to be kissed by good fortune. He was also wealthy. And he’d been after Darla for some time, if scuttlebutt was to be believed. Tall and lean and focused, the doctor seemed like a guy who loved what he did and did it well.
Which pretty much stank, but that was how it went. A man could lose to a better rival if he had slow-moving feet, and Judah reckoned his feet had been slower than most.
He flung himself inside the bunkhouse, anxious to sit alone in front of the fireplace to gather his thoughts.
It wasn’t to be. Jonas was like a hulking rock in the den, taking up space with Sam and Rafe. And they’d been talking about him, Judah realized, by the way they shut their yaps the instant he entered.
“What’s up?” he asked, eyeing them. “Don’t stop talking about me just because I’m here.”
“All right,” Sam said. “Are you going to the wedding?”
The wedding. As if it was the only wedding in Diablo.
Actually, he hadn’t heard of any other Diablo weddings lately, and if there’d been some, Fiona would definitely have been keeping the scoreboard updated for everyone, particularly him and his brothers. He sighed. “I might. Then again, I mightn’t.”
Jonas shrugged. “Let us know if you need anything.”
“Yeah,” Rafe said, “short of a shot of pride.”
Judah blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Sam gazed at him. “Look, bro. It’s not like we haven’t known forever that you’ve been carrying an inextinguishable torch for Darla Cameron. What we can’t figure out is why you’re letting her waltz off with another man.”
“Maybe that’s not how I see it,” Judah said, “and maybe it’s none of your business, anyway.”
Jonas leaned back. “We could be wrong. Maybe you haven’t always been in love with her.”
“Darla and I are friends. That’s it.”
Sam sniffed. “As long as you’re cool with it, we are, too. We support you, whatever you decide. I mean, if you get an itch to crawl through her bedroom window, we’ll hold the ladder for you.”
“No ladders will be necessary.” Judah tried not to think about the few moments he’d held Darla in his arms. “She’s chosen her man, and—”
“Ah-ha!” Rafe exclaimed. “You admit she didn’t choose you!”
“She didn’t choose any of you, either. It’s not a special situation,” Judah said, feeling cranky.
“So you admit you were in a position to be chosen,” Sam said, sounding like the lawyer he was. “You were a candidate, if a slightly lazy one. But there’s still time to present your case. Females change their minds like the wind. And ladies love it when a last-minute challenger shows up to yodel his heartstrings under ye olde bedroom window. I say go for it. Yodel away. You can borrow my guitar.”
“Darla’s doing just fine,” Judah said. “Everything is in the works. She’s got her shoes, her flowers and no doubt something blue.”
“The really blue thing at that wedding is going to be you,” Jonas said, “if you don’t get up off your duff and speak before the forever-hold-your-peace.”
There was no use. He was going to be harried to death by the people who should have supported his wish to be a silent sufferer. And this was light treatment, Judah realized, compared to what he’d probably be treated to in town, and especially at the wedding. Pitying looks, questioning gazes—
“What about the baby?” Sam asked. “What if it’s yours?”
Judah frowned, aware of a sudden urge to stuff a fist in Sam’s mouth. “What baby?”
Rafe studied him. “You know Darla is pregnant.”
“Is that known?” Judah asked, his heart beating hard. “Or is it gossip based on her apparently whirlwind marriage?”
“She was seen buying a pregnancy test a while ago,” Jonas said with a shrug. “This is a small town, and though she sent a friend in to purchase it, the bag made a clear exchange, which was duly noted by several people.”
“Who were spying like old-time geezers,” Judah said, not happy to hear confirmation of his own suspicions. “It doesn’t mean she’s pregnant. It could have been a negative test. She could have been giving it to Jackie, for all you know. And,” he said, finishing with a flourish, “there’s every possibility she’s getting married because she wants to, and is in love, and the lure of owning her own bridal shop finally got to her. If you owned a machine shop, wouldn’t it kill you if you could never use the tools?”
“Boy, are you caging your inner lion,” Rafe said. “Hey, we’ve got your back, bro. We know how to shine the old badge of pride. No one will ever get from us how you got left in the dust.” He shook his head, more sympathetic than Judah could stand.
“That’s it,” he said. “I’ve just seen a flash of my future, and I’m taking a rain check on it. The only way to get away from you bunch of know-it-alls is to disappear on you.” Judah waved an expansive arm. “With no forwarding address. Don’t even try to find me. Consider me gone with the wind, in order to save the dregs of my life.” He crammed his hat on his head and turned to depart, with one last thought making him swing back around to his brothers, who watched him with open curiosity.
“And you can tell everybody in Diablo that my heart was not broken, thank you very much. You can tell them that rodeo was always my only love, and is to this day.” He made a grandiose exit, proud of himself for the charade he’d perpetrated.
No one would ever know he was lying like a rug.
His brothers looked at each other after Judah left.
“Are we going to tell him that the boxes of condoms we all received at Creed’s bachelor party were gag gifts? Creed’s parting wish that we’d all get hung by our own family jewels?” Sam asked. “It’s possible Judah didn’t get the joke.”
“I think we leave it alone,” Jonas said. “Judah doesn’t seem to want to consider that the child Darla might be carrying is his.”
Rafe nodded. “If she is four months pregnant, as we hear she is, and the birth coincides with Creed
