Orchard Valley Grooms Read Online Free Page A

fading. Dr. Colby Winston! She’d never heard anything so preposterous. She had no intention of marrying anyone within the foreseeable future. There was simply no room for a man in her life. She wasn’t a romantic; even when she was younger and in college, she hadn’t dated much. Her father knew all that, and he’d never seemed particularly worried about it. This latest revelation shocked her nearly as much as Norah’s call.
    “I see no reason to be too concerned,” Colby said, his voice compassionate as though he understood that his announcement had unsettled her. She was usually more proficient at controlling her emotions.
    “This sort of delusion isn’t unheard of in heart patients,” he went on. “As I said, I certainly don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
    “You mean your patients generally try to marry you off?”
    “No.” He smoothed his tie as if he needed something to do. “Your father fully expects to die. It’s what he wants, but he’d feel better about leaving the three of you behind if at least one of you was married. Your father and I are friends, and I guess it’s only natural that he’d attempt to match me up with one of his daughters.”
    “It should’ve been Norah. She seems more your type.”
    His smile was fleeting. “Perhaps, but it’s your name he repeatedly mentions.”
    “Then apparently I’m the one,” Valerie said, not realizing what she was saying until the words had left her mouth. “I mean—” She stopped abruptly.
    “I know exactly what you mean,” Colby assured her. “But I’m sure we don’t have to take any of this seriously.”
    “Oh, I agree. That would be foolish in the extreme.”
    “Maybe your father feels you should marry first because you’re the oldest,” Colby ventured.
    “Maybe,” Valerie agreed. But something inside her suggested that wasn’t the sole reason. She tucked her arms around her waist and inhaled deeply, hoping to breathe in a bit of calm and sense.
    “I wouldn’t have said anything,” Colby said, “but I thought it was best to air this. If he mentions marriage again, my feeling is we should go along with him, at least for now.”
    “Go along with him? You’ve got to be kidding.” Valerie could hardly believe her ears.
    Colby shrugged. “You know your father better than I do,” he muttered. “He’s as stubborn as they come. Don’t lie, but if he brings up the subject of…marriage, take the route of least resistance, then try to channel the conversation in a different direction.”
    “I’m not going to give my father any false hope. Or you either.” She added the last part coyly and was rewarded when she saw him swallow tightly. An angry spark momentarily leaped into his dark eyes, but was soon quelled.
    Sitting down, Valerie rummaged through her purse for a roll of antacid tablets. Her stomach ached and she was weary to her very bones.
    Colby ignored her, although he made no move to go. The preoccupied look on his face suggested that he had something else to say; he seemed to be searching for words.
    Valerie considered what Colby had told her. If she ever decided to marry— if —she’d settle down with someone who had the same drive, the same will to succeed, as she did. A man who knew where he was going, who’d set his sights high. Not some well-meaning small-town doctor.
    She’d marry a man like Rowdy Cassidy.
    The name sprang into her mind with a suddenness that shocked her.
    Until that moment, Valerie didn’t fully grasp how much she admired her employer. Rowdy had started his computer software business out of a friend’s garagefifteen years earlier. He’d built the company into one of the most successful in the country. Although he’d earned more money than he could possibly spend in a lifetime, he continued to work ten-and twelve-hour days, demanding as much of his staff as he did of himself.
    “It might, uh, help matters if you were involved with someone,” Colby said in a casual voice.