with Nick’s work that often involved traveling and her work, they had really not spent the kind of intense time together that some couples enjoyed. They had been the best of friends for years before becoming romantically involved. They had always assumed that once they were married there would be a lifetime for them to create memories.
They had even assumed that they had plenty of time to set a date and plan their wedding. They had been in love with the romance of being in love, but Nick had also been determined to achieve certain career milestones before settling down.
Bethany was tempted to go over to the couple and warn them, urge them not to take this gift for granted. Then someone jostled her from behind, gave her an irritated frown and by the time she readjusted her luggage, the couple was lost in the crowd. Bethany flicked open her phone and hit speed dial for Grace.
“I’m being met by sonny-boy,” she said without preamble.
“Really? What’s he like?”
“To hear Aunt Erika tell it, he’s Adonis come to earth, but since he’s not here, I couldn’t really say,” she muttered.
“Well, usually when Dad is being met somewhere, the driver stations himself at baggage claim.”
Grace’s father was a United States senator and no doubt used to the protocol of drivers and such. “What if I didn’t check luggage?” Bethany thought it was a perfectly logical question and was not at all amused when Grace burst out laughing and couldn’t seem to stop.
“You?” she gasped. “Without luggage?”
“All right. It was a reasonable question—for most people.” She surprised Grace as well as herself by seeing the humor in the idea of Bethany Taft traveling with anything less than the contents of a full closet.
“Well, at least you’re still in fairly decent spirits,” Grace commented. “Now don’t take out your doubts about this whole thing on Ian’s son. What’s his name again?”
“Cody.”
“Nice.”
“If you like that sort of man-of-the-prairie thing. Okay, so here’s the escalator to baggage. Descending now into the bowels of O’Hare. Looking around, not sure what for. What do you think a Cody looks like?”
“What does his father look like?”
“Haven’t had the pleasure. Oh, my stars!” Bethany almost dropped the phone as she spotted the man holding a hand-lettered sign with a floral border and her name on it.
“Bethany? What happened? Bethany?”
“I’ll call you back,” Bethany whispered, not sure why she found that necessary since practically everyone surrounding her was jabbering away on their cell phones and oblivious to her and the incredibly gorgeous man holding the sign and grinning up at her.
Cody studied the women coming down the escalator, dismissing them one by one until he spotted the redhead attached to the cell phone and shouldering one large bag in addition to guiding a suitcase on wheels that must have just barely passed the size regulations for taking on the plane.
Erika had not oversold this one even if Cody had thought she might be more than a little partial. Bethany Taft was everything that Erika had promised and more. She had flaming red hair caught haphazardly in a topknot and set off by a pair of sunglasses at the ready should Chicago have a sudden burst of glaring sunlight at nine in the evening—as it was now. Her skin was lightly tanned rather than the alabaster white he might have expected given her coloring. Then there was the model’s body that showed off to perfection the short jacket over a gauzy blouse and full print skirt that skimmed her knees. She was taller than most of the other passengers even if he discounted the ridiculous wedges of cork she was standing on and passing off as shoes. Why, he wondered, did women, beautiful women, do that to their feet?
He moved closer to the escalator and held up the sign. He saw her see it and then him. In that instant she snapped the phone closed and hoisted the bag more securely on her shoulder as she tightened her grip on the rolling suitcase and looked at him with a smile that was anything but genuine.
For an instant Cody was puzzled. Why wouldn’t she be glad to see him—to see anyone representing the end of her journey? Well, not exactly the end. He wondered if Erika had told her about the change in plans. Maybe so. Maybe that’s why she looked so…scared, he realized. She looked ready to bolt. That made no sense at all.
“Hi,” he said as the escalator track disappeared beneath her feet and she fell forward. “I sure hope that you’re Bethany Taft.” He grinned as he steadied her with one hand while reaching for the carry-on with the other. He took a split second to enjoy the fact that she smelled as if she’d just stepped out of a shower rather than off a crowded airplane.
He made sure she was balanced on her platforms and then relieved her of the bag on wheels. He made a gesture toward the shoulder bag, but she tightened her grip and he assumed this mammoth thing was actually her purse. “I’m Cody Dillard, Ian’s son.” He offered her his hand.
She returned the handshake in a very businesslike manner. “Bethany Taft,” she replied. “Nice sign,” she added as if realizing that perhaps something more cordial was needed.
“I’d like to say I made it myself but the fact is…” Cody had started walking toward the exit expecting her to follow, then realized she was not moving.
“Ready?” he asked, waving away a porter.
“I have to get my luggage,” she said.
What else could there be? Cody wondered but retraced his steps and took up the vigil with her and a hundred other passengers staring at the silent carousel and willing it to groan to life. It seemed as good a time as any to see if she knew of the change in plans.
“Did Erika call you?” he asked.
“I got the message—something about a change in plans. That she had to go somewhere with Ian and you would be here. Which you are. Thank you.”
The carousel rumbled and started to turn.
“So, you know that we have one more leg of the journey.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “The good news is that with the time difference, we’ll be there at a decent hour. The bad news is that for you it will seem like the middle of the night.”
She blinked, but said nothing. It was as if he’d suddenly started speaking in tongues. Finally she said, “The hour difference between D.C. and Chicago isn’t really a big deal.”
The crowd pressed forward as the luggage started appearing. “Actually,” Cody said as he moved slightly to secure their position and protect Bethany from being jostled, “we’re flying on to the ranch.”
“What ranch?” she practically shouted, sounding borderline hysterical as she pointed to the biggest and most colorful suitcase Cody had ever seen.
The porter was still lingering nearby and he grinned at Cody when he saw the suitcase. Cody nodded and the porter went into action.
“There are two more,” Bethany informed him. “Same pattern.”
“Same size?” Cody asked and saw that it was exactly what the porter wanted to
