Country Brides - Debbie Macomber [35]
Rorie looked over at her. “Do you suppose I should answer that?”
“You’d better. Clay usually relies on Mary to catch the phone for him.”
Rorie lifted the receiver before the next peal. “Elk Run.”
“That Miss Campbell?”
Rorie immediately recognized the voice of the mechanic from Riversdale. “Yes, this is Rorie Campbell.”
“Remember I promised I’d call you when the part arrived? Well, it’s here, all safe and sound, so you can stop fretting. Just came in a few minutes ago—haven’t even had a chance to take it out of the box. Thought you’d want to know.”
“It’s the right one this time?”
“Here, I’ll check it now…Yup, this is it.”
Rorie wasn’t sure what she felt. Relief, yes, but regret, too. “Thank you. Thank you very much.”
“It’s a little late for me to be starting the job this afternoon. My son’s playing a Little League game and I promised him I’d be there. I’ll get to this first thing in the morning and should be finished before noon. Give me a call before you head over here and I’ll make sure everything’s running the way it should.”
“Yes, I’ll do that. Thanks again.” Slowly Rorie replaced the receiver. She leaned against the wall sighing deeply. At Kate’s questioning gaze, she smiled weakly and explained, “That was the mechanic. The water pump for my car arrived and he’s going to be working on it first thing in the morning.”
“Rorie, that’s great.”
“I think so, too.” She did—and she didn’t. Part of her longed to flee Elk Run, and another part of her realized that no matter how far she traveled, no matter how many years passed, she’d never forget these days with Clay Franklin.
“Then tonight’s going to be your last evening here,” Kate murmured. “Selfish as it sounds, I really hate the thought of you leaving.”
“We can keep in touch.”
“Oh, yes, I’d like that. I’ll send you a wedding invitation.”
That reminder was the last thing Rorie needed. But once she was on the road again, she could start forgetting, she told herself grimly.
“Since this is going to be your last night, we should make it special,” Kate announced brightly. “We ’re going to use the best china and set out the crystal wineglasses.”
Rorie laughed, imagining Mary’s face when she heard about it.
Even as she spoke, Kate was walking toward the dining-room china cabinet. In a few minutes, she’d set the table, cooked the sauce for the pie and poured it into the cooling pie shell that sat on the counter. The woman was a marvel!
Rorie was busy adding the final touches to the fettuccine when Clay and Skip came in through the back door.
“When’s dinner?” Skip wanted to know. “I’m starved.”
“Soon.” Rorie tested the boiling noodles to be sure they’d cooked all the way through but weren’t overdone.
“Upstairs with the both of you,” Kate said, shooing them out of the kitchen. “I want you to change into something nice.”
“We’re supposed to dress up for dinner?” Skip complained. He’d obviously recovered from any need to impress her with his sartorial elegance, Rorie noted, remembering that he’d worn his Sunday best that first night. “We already washed—what more do you want?”
“For you to change your clothes. We’re having a celebration tonight.”
“We are?” The boy looked from Kate to Rorie and then back again.
“That’s right,” Kate continued, undaunted by his lack of enthusiasm. “And when we’re through with dinner, there’s going to be a farewell party for Rorie. We’re going to send her off country-style.”
“Rorie’s leaving?” Skip sounded shocked. “But she just got here.”
“The repair shop from Riversdale called. Her car will be finished tomorrow and she’ll be on her way.”
Clay’s eyes burned into Rorie’s. She tried to avoid looking at him, but when she did chance to meet his gaze, she could feel his distress. His jaw went rigid, and his mouth tightened as though he was bracing himself against Kate’s words.
“Now hurry up, you two. Dinner’s nearly ready,” Kate said with a laugh. “Rorie ’s been cooking her heart out all afternoon.”
Both men disappeared and Rorie set out the fresh green salad she’d made earlier, along with the seven-grain dinner rolls she’d