The Mating Season Page 7

  While Jonni was still puzzling over his cryptic response, Gabe pivoted and took long, swift strides to the parked truck. Her left hand reached out toward his departing figure, the words forming on her lips to call him back and explain it. Then she saw the engagement ring on her finger. Suddenly she didn't want to know if what she suspected he was saying was really true. That shaky feeling inside her made her afraid of his answer.

  No, don't ask him to explain, she told herself as he gunned the motor of the pickup and reversed away from the pond. The wisest thing to do would be to forget about the kiss. She was engaged to Trevor and there wouldn't be a repeat. But she wished she could quit shaking. Shoving her hands in her pockets, she decided to walk it off.

  It was an hour later when she made her way back to the house. Trevor was just coming down the stairs when she entered. The large grandfather clock in the foyer struck nine. One look told Jonni that Trevor had showered as well as shaved. Dressed more casually this morning, he wore dark blue trousers, a white turtleneck and a blue and gray tweed jacket with decorative leather patches at the elbows.

  "Good morning." She assumed a bright smile as she greeted him. "You're up early this morning." She repeated the phrase she herself had had addressed to her.

  "Good morning," he returned, and bent to kiss her.

  For some inexplicable reason, Jonni offered him her cheek. Trevor didn't force a more intimate exchange. She wondered why she'd done it. Guilt, perhaps? Did she think Trevor would be able to taste Gabe's kiss on her lips? Damn, she was supposed to forget about that. But Trevor didn't seem to observe that she was behaving out of the ordinary.

  "After years of being lulled to sleep by the blare of horns and the sounds of traffic, would you believe that the sound of a motor woke me up?" He smiled in wry amusement.

  Jonni remembered Gabe's noisy, wheel-spinning departure in the pickup and tried to join in Trevor's amusement at the irony of his statement.

  "Who was it? Do you know?" he asked with absent interest.

  "It was Gabe," she admitted. "He was on his way out to help move the cattle to another pasture."

  "He was probably loud deliberately," Trevor mused.

  "If he was, I'm glad," Jonni teased. "It's time you were getting up. I hope you had a good night's sleep, though. Was the bed comfortable?"

  He linked his hands behind her waist, drawing her hips against his. "I can think of ways it could have been more comfortable." He nuzzled her cheek.

  "But yes, I had a good night after I became used to the frogs croaking and the owls hooting. Mother Nature is very noisy," he concluded taking a tiny nibble at her earlobe.

  "You were listening to her night music." Jonni smiled. The sounds had been very soothing to her.

  "It was monotonously loud. You should file a complaint and have her turn the volume down," Trevor mocked, and Jonni laughed softly at his silly suggestion. "Don't you think she would listen?"

  "No, I don't." She lifted her gaze from its study of his rolled collar, amusement twinkling in her eyes.

  His expression became serious. "Have I told you yet this morning that I love you, Jonni Starr?"

  "No." She shook her head.

  His mouth made the pledge as he covered her lips with a possessive kiss. Jonni responded to it and fought aside a comparison with Gabe's kiss. The result was as pleasant and satisfying as always. There was a curve to her mouth when they drew apart.

  "Mmm, that was nice," she murmured.

  "It merely whetted my appetite," he assured her.

  "That's because you haven't had breakfast," Jonni teased.

  His hands moved caressingly along her waist and hips. "I know what I'd like." His gaze roamed suggestively over her and stopped at a spot near her left shoulder. "What's this?" Trevor plucked a piece of hay from the knitted weave of her sweater. "What have you been doing this morning? Rolling in the hay?"

  "No" Jonni defined with a self-conscious laugh. "I was at the barn, helping Gabe give the horses some hay."

  "So that's what I smell."

  "I was just coming in to wash," she assured him.

  "Why don't you change, too?" Trevor suggested, his gaze raking her figure. "What you're wearing doesn't do anything for you. Don't you have something more attractive to put on?"

  "Of course," Jonni admitted, and started to explain that she hadn't felt like wearing any of her more stylish pantsuits.

  "Good," Trevor interrupted. "I want you to look beautiful for me."

  Jonni hesitated for only an instant before nodding an agreement. He wasn't asking that much. It seemed churlish to refuse. "Mom and dad might still be in the kitchen. If not, the coffee is on the stove. Help yourself and I'll be down in a few minutes," she promised as she slipped out of his arms to climb the stairs.

  In her bedroom she paused in front of the mirror. The jeans and sweater didn't look that unattractive on her. In fact, Jonni thought the denims showed her slim, leggy look, and the sweater rounded out nicely over her breasts to nip in at her waistline. But the clothes were a bit shabby and worn, which was probably Trevor's objection.

  Stripping out of them, she chose a pair of camel tan slacks and a matching vest to go with her white blouse. The tan color accented her hair, the faded dark gold of an antique painting. After applying a touch of makeup, Jonni turned downstairs to join Trevor and her parents.

  THE DISHES FROM THE EVENING MEAL had been washed and put away. Jonni sat in the living room feeling restless and on edge, as if the walls were closing on her. Caroline had just taken the coffee service back to the kitchen. Gabe had disappeared immediately after dinner with the excuse that there was paperwork to be done. A silence was gaping between her father and Trevor. Jonni slipped her hand into the grasp of Trevor's.

  "Let's go out on the porch for a while," she suggested.

  "Some fresh air sounds good," Trevor agreed, but glanced to her father.

  "You two go ahead." John waved a hand. "You don't need my permission."

  Rising together, they walked to the front door. As Trevor opened it, Jonni heard her mother return to the living room.

  "Where did Jonni and Trevor go?" she asked John.

  "Outside."

  "Oh, but I wanted to show Jonni …" her mother began in disgruntled protest.

  "They want to be alone for a little while, Caroline," her father interrupted. "Or have you forgotten what it was like in be in love and engaged?"

  Jonni didn't hear her mother's answer as Trevor ushered her outside and closed the door. His arm curved around her waist and they strolled to the far end of the porch. The sun had gone down more than an hour earlier and the night was dark.

  "I didn't realize the night could be so black," Trevor commented.

  "That's because you're used to streetlights and neon signs," Jonni told him.

  Except for a quarter moon hanging in the sky, a light shining from the window of Gabe's quarters and the lights from the house, there wasn't any illumination. Not even the stars had lighted their twinkling fires.

  An owl hooted in the trees. A chorus of frogs sang at the pond, a sound muted by the evening breeze whispering through the grass. From far off in the night, Jonni heard the bellowing of a bull.

  "It's the mating season," she recalled, and a shiver danced over her skin.

  Trevor leaned his back against a supporting column of the porch roof. His arms circled around her to draw her shoulders against his chest. It was warm in his arms and she nestled closer, letting her head rest against his cheekbone. He crossed his arms in front of her stomach.

  "That's a fine thing to say," he murmured near her ear, "when you know your parents are just inside the house." His hand slid inside her vest to cover her breast.

  Turning her face toward his mouth, Jonni smiled as he found the corner of her lips. She hadn't meant to sound provocative, but now his embrace was conjuring up memories that were more disturbing.

  "Why are you smiling?" Trevor asked, amused and curious.

  "I was remem
bering other times when I was on this porch," she explained.

  "In somebody else's arms?" he quizzed.

  "Yes, until daddy turned the porch light on." Her smile widened. "It was a very unsubtle him that I'd been out here an improper length of time and I should come in."

  "At least with you, he knows your intentions are honorable." She turned in his arms, sliding her hands around his neck.

  He kissed her once, twice, then drew back. "As much as I'm tempted to indulge in a front-porch necking scene, I don't feel like taking a cold shower later on," he said firmly.

  With a sigh that bordered on disappointment at his control, Jonni half turned in his arms to rest a shoulder against his chest and cuddle into his tweed jacket for warmth. A frown knitted her forehead and she forced it away. She had been feigning passion and now she was irritated with Trevor for not responding. What was the matter with her?

  She tried changing the subject. "Mother asked me if we would like to go to church with them in the morning."

  "I suppose it's expected?" His inflection made it a question.

  "Yes."

  "Then I'd be delighted to go," he mocked.

  "I'll tell her," she promised. After another few seconds had passed she said, "I thought I might go riding for a while tomorrow afternoon. Would you like to come along?"

  "My love, you know I don't like horses," Trevor reminded her. "Since I can't persuade you to stay away from them, don't try to persuade me to get on one."

  "All right," she sighed.

  "How on earth are you going to keep from being bored to death during these next two weeks?" he asked suddenly, sounding genuinely perplexed. "There's nothing to do around here, and you're miles from civilization."

  "Miles from civilization?" Jonni laughed at his words. "I'll have you know, Trevor Alexander Martin the Third, that this ranch has indoor plumbing, the very latest kitchen equipment, an entire range of entertainment from stereo to television and radio, a pool table and billiard table, an extensive library, a garden to putter in, horses to ride and an endless array of breathtaking landscapes to view. Every type of amusement is right at hand. We don't have to go anywhere."

  "I'll take Broadway and Carnegie Hall any day," Trevor responded, unimpressed by her list.

  "I would have added a swimming hole except the pond is too low." Jonni searched the cloudless night sky. "I hope it rains soon."

  "My God!" He released a derisive, laughing breath. "Now you're beginning to sound like your father and Gabe at dinner tonight!"

  "The lack of water is serious," Jonni insisted with a thread of impatience at his lack of understanding for the critical situation the range was in.

  "I'm sure it is," he agreed in a placating tone. "But it hardly concerns us, does it?"

  Jonni swallowed the sharp retort that trembled on her tongue. "No, I guess not," she agreed to avoid an argument, and sighed again.

  "It's past your bedtime, isn't it?" Trevor straightened from the post and shifted her out of his arms. "You'd better go in so you can get your beauty sleep."

  She didn't feel tired, but she didn't feel like continuing this conversation, either. "It's been a long day," she offered by way of agreement. She took a step toward the door, then looked back over her shoulder at him. "Are you coming in?"

  "Not right away."

  "Good night," she wished him.

  "Good night," he returned.

  THE NEXT MORNING Jonni was standing in church between Trevor and Gabe, singing from the, hymnal and listening to Trevor's resonant baritone voice. It carried above the voices of the rest of the congregation. Only one voice competed with his natural volume, and it belonged to the stoop-shouldered woman in the row ahead of them. Unfortunately her wavering voice was way off-key. When she hit a sharply discordant note, Jonni saw Trevor wince. Jonni tried hard not to smile.

  When the last note of the organ had echoed thorough the rafters the congregation sat and turned to the pages of the responsive reading. Trevor leaned sideways toward her.

  "Someone should tell that poor woman she can't sing," he whispered in a censorious tone.

  "That woman happens to be my great-aunt Maude and she's practically stone deaf," Jonni whispered back. "She can hardly hear herself, let alone the organ."

  Gabe's attention didn't waver from the book he held as he added his low comment to their conversation. "The Bible says to make joyful noise unto the Lord.' It doesn't say the noise has to be in tune."

  Jonni thought his dryly forgiving remark was amusing, but Trevor didn't. He glared across her at Gabe's partially bowed head as he studied the pages of the book. Jonni struggled to keep a straight face and finally succeeded. As the minister began the responsive reading she stole a glance at Gabe. A complacent gleam lighted his dark eyes but he continued to look to the front of the church at the pulpit.

  Hatless in God's house, his dark hair sprang thickly in a careless, vital style. He wore a Western-cut suit of brown with a plain bronze tie. He looked comfortable and at ease. Jonni had difficulty assimilating the fact that he was the same man who had disturbed her with his kiss less than twenty-four hours ago. He certainly had been ignoring her since then. Not ignoring her, she corrected, but just treating her very casually.

  His attention shifted and Gabe caught her staring at him. He lifted a dark eyebrow in a silent question, as if he had no idea what she might be thinking about. Jonni looked swiftly away, dragging her concentration back to the church service.

  When it was over and the benediction said, the exodus from church began. Jonni knew practically everyone who had attended. Since she was a hometown girl who had become something of a celebrity, everyone wanted to speak to her. Her mother had already begun spreading the word that she had become engaged, so naturally everyone wanted to meet Trevor, as well. They all seemed to cluster on the church lawn, and few cars left the lot. At some point Jonni became separated from Trevor, and as she turned to see where he was, her mother came over to her.

  "Your Aunt Maude is standing over by the steps. You'd better go over and say hello to her," she suggested.

  "All right, mother," Jonni agreed, and asked, "have you seen Trevor?"

  "He's over there with your father and Jack Sloane."

  Jonni looked in the direction her mother pointed. Trevor looked up, saw her and shrugged in a helpless gesture, indicating he was trapped for a few polite minutes. She smiled and made her way through the crowd to the church steps where the aging woman stood, leaning on her cane to catch her breath.

  "Hello, Aunt Maude." Jonni greeted the woman in a loud voice as she stopped in front of her. The woman was in her eighties, yellow gray hair thinning away from her wrinkled face. "Do you remember me?"

  "What did you say?" Frowning, Maude Starr turned her head for Jonni to repeat what she asked in her good ear. "Speak up."

  "I said — Jonni leaned closer and spoke louder " — it's me Jonni."

  "Of course it's you," the woman snapped. "Do you think I'm blind?"

  After six years, her great-aunt was still an irascible old grouch, Jonni discovered. She tried not to smile. "How are you?"

  "What did you say?" Again her forehead acquired extra creases. "You'll have to speak up, girl. My hearing isn't very good."

  "I said, how are you?" Jonni repeated.

  "You don't have to shout! I'm fine, fine." A palsied hand shifted the cane to a more supportive position. "Sybil Crane told me you're getting married. Is that true?"

  "Yes," Jonni admitted with an exaggerated bobbing of her head so the positive answer would be understood.

  "Well, where is this young man of yours? Aren't you going to introduce me to him?" her aunt demanded in a querulous voice.

  "He's standing over there." Jonni made the mistake of turning her head to point out Trevor.

  "What? How many times do I have to tell you to speak up?" A pair of sharp blue eyes sparkled with impatience.

  Jonni breathed in to contain her exasperation over the conversation and maintained a
pleasant expression. This time she didn't make the mistake of turning as she spoke. "He's right over there."

  The woman's gaze followed her pointing arm, then snapped back to Jonni. "Why didn't you say you were marrying him?" she sniffed. "Did you think because my hearing is fading that my memory is, too? Gabe Stockman has been working at your father's ranch for a good many years now. Didn't you think I'd remember that?"

  Gabe Stockman? Jonni's head swiveled to see Gabe walking toward them, directly in line with her pointing finger and blocking out Trevor from view. "No, you don't understand, Aunt Maude." She hurried to correct the mistake. "I'm not engaged to him."

  "Of course you've got engaged to him. Do you think I don't know what we're talking about? My mind hasn't wandered anywhere, although I'm beginning to worry about yours."

  Aunt Maude jabbed a gnarled, arthritic finger toward Jonni in accusation. A flowered handkerchief, tucked under the expansion band of her wristwatch, fluttered below the finger.

  "No, Aunt Maude, there's been a mistake," Jonni insisted, trying not to lose her patience.

  "Nobody wants to make a mistake when they choose a man to marry," her aunt declared, catching only part of what was said, and Jonni wanted to scream in frustration. How on earth was she going to make the woman understand? To make the situation worse, Gabe arrived to stand beside her. The older woman cast an approving glance at him before addressing Jonni. "You couldn't have picked a better man. Gabe here will make you a good husband."

  Jonni didn't quite meet the questioning and amused look he sent her. "I've been talking myself hoarse trying to convince Aunt Maude that I was pointing Trevor as the man I was going to marry, not you," she explained, her voice pitched to a quiet level.

  Maude Starr saw her lips moving and cupped a hand to her good ear. "What did you say? I can't hear you if you don't speak up." Her brow furrowed in a deep frown.

  "I was …" Jonni begin at a louder volume.

  Gabe bent forward to shout in the woman's good ear. "She was talking to me, Maude. How are you today?"

  "Fine, fine." A palsied hand waved aside the question. "That engagement ring you gave Jonni is too gaudy," she criticized. "It's in bad taste. You should take it back for something smaller."