Substitute Bride Read Free Page A

didn't imagine she was going to miss having Blanche around? Yet what else could it be? Bewildered, she raised confused eyes to meet Rick Conway's and, once more, found herself caught in a moment of peculiar tension.
    Again she had a feeling that something momentous had been avoided when Daisy gave another roar of indignant pain, as the calf within her stirred. Quickly Emma went down on her knees in the straw, speaking to her softly while she gently soothed the animal's hot neck with her small hand.
    'Rick…' she began.
    'Emma,' swiftly he drew her to her feet, after glancing at Daisy with quick comprehension, 'I'm hungry. It must be hours since I've eaten. Why not go and make us both something while I keep watch here?'
    'But she looks…' Anxiously, Emma stared down over her shoulder as Rick held her, trying to decide exactly how Daisy looked. 'I don't want anything to go wrong,' she frowned, moving uneasily away from him. 'If anything was to happen while…'
    'Nothing's going to happen while you're gone,' he let her go mockingly, 'I'll be here. My interests lie mainly in sugar, but I've managed horses and stock all my life.'
    'Wel, if you're sure?' Daisy seemed to be reproaching her with huge, soft brown eyes, but Rick was so adamant he was leaving Emma with little choice. Wearily, the fight momentarily going out of her, she bent her fair head. 'I admit I would love a cup of tea, but you must promise you'll come for me if anything happens.'
    'I'll let you know if anything goes wrong,' he promised, with a deviousness she didn't think about until afterwards.
    In the house, in the small kitchen, as she swiftly cooked a light meal, Emma thought wistfuly how nice it was to have a pair of broad shoulders to lean on, if only figuratively.
    Blanche was a fool to run the risks she did, and the sooner she realised it the better. By continuing to go out with Rex Oliver she was playing with fire, and while Emma felt she hated Rick Conway after the disparaging remarks he had made about her looks, she sensed he was twice the man Rex would ever be.
    Some might say Blanche deserved to lose her fiancé, but Emma found it hard to be vindictive. She had tried to warn Blanche, as soon as she had come into the house, but had been unable to get hold of her. She had even tried to ring Rex at two of his clubs. She had gone to a lot of trouble finding the numbers, but had been no more successful with him, either. Now she could only hope that Blanche would see Rick's hired car and send Rex away before it was too late.
    Sometimes Blanche appeared to have the intuition of an aley cat, and Emma prayed that, on this occasion, it wouldn't let cat, and Emma prayed that, on this occasion, it wouldn't let her down.
    Leaving a pan of soup simmering on the hotplate, she went to tell Rick that dinner was ready and was surprised to find Jim Brown in the barn with him.
    'We were both present at the birth,' Rick said solemnly, as Emma's eyes widened with dismay, 'so there's no need to worry.'
    Daisy, a proud mother, was giving all her attention to her newly born calf. Emma, her small face lighting with a gentle tenderness, watched them until Rick, his eyes fixed curiously on her, reminded her dryly that he was still hungry.
    'Oh, I'm sorry,' she flushed, 'that's what I came to tell you about. I have something waiting.' Jumping up from her crouched position beside Daisy, she smiled warmly at Jim, who said he could manage now, and there was no need for her to come back.
    'I hope you didn't ruin your suit.' Suddenly remembering he wasn't exactly dressed for the kind of work he had been doing, she glanced at Rick anxiously as they entered the kitchen.
    'I found some old waterproofs hanging behind a door,' he assured her. 'Not that it mattered. I have another suit in the car and could always have got something in London tomorrow.'
    'How nice to have plenty of money!' she retorted sharply, before quite realising what she was saying.
    'Waspish tongues often go with plain