After the Music by Diana Palmer Page B

exclaimed.
    "Yes! Oh, God, I'm so happy," he burst out, and danced her around the clearing in a mad little waltz.
    Sabina laughed and danced, and tried not to think of how soon her bubble was going to burst. When Al broke the news to Thorn, it would all be over, and she'd never see the oil baron again.
    "How about the ring?" she exclaimed.
    "You can give it back when we drive to New Orleans Monday morning," he explained. "We want you to come along and stand up with us at the service. Okay?"
    "I'd love to! Jessica and you. It's been my fondest dream."
    "Mine, too, but it wouldn't have been possible without your help," Al said solemnly. "Thorn would have stopped us. This is the only way it could have worked. Has he been at you again?"
    "Not really. We just talked," she lied, crossing her fingers behind her back.
    "Good." Al let her go and mounted his horse, watching her mount beside him.
    "But I've made him mad again, I'm afraid"
    "How?"
    "I told him your mother must miss your father terribly and be looking for someone who measures up to him," she murmured.
    "That's what I've always thought," he replied. "Dad was one of a kind."
    "Like Thorn," she said involuntarily.
    He studied her, frowning. "Sabina, don't lose your heart to him. He hasn't got one of his own."
    "I know that already," she said. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Besides, a few days from now, it will all be a memory." That was a sobering thought. "Hey, I'll race you back!"
    "You're on!"
    And they galloped back to the house.
    Thorn went out that evening, resplendent in his evening wear, and Sabina felt a surge of mad jealousy as she imagined him with some slinky blonde like the one he'd brought to Al's party.
    "He does draw women," Al muttered later as they watched television. "He always has. But not one of them touches him emotionally. He says he'll never let any woman have a hold on him."
    "I imagine he must have reason, don't you?" she said. "Can I play the piano?"
    "What? Sure!" He turned off the television. "If you don't mind, I'm going to take advantage of Thorn's absence and go call Jessica."
    "Mind? Get out of here and do it! I'm delighted to have some time to myself. Not that you aren't good company," she added.
    He chuckled. "Don't wear out the keys."
    "Not me."
    He left and she played late into the night, her fingers touching the keys that Thorn's fingers had touched. It was a wildly exhilarating thought, and made her hungrier than ever just for the sight of him. But when she finished and went to bed, he still hadn't come home.
    He wasn't at breakfast, either, but Al looked disgruntled as they dug into the hearty egg and bacon platter that Juan had prepared.
    "Thorn's having a party Saturday night," he muttered. "And he's invited Jessica."
    "Uh, oh. Think he's suspicious?" she asked quickly.
    "I don't know. He says the party is being held to announce our engagement. But it's all a rushed-up job, with telephoned invitations. And it's not like Thorn to give in so easily. I think we've been discreet enough, but he's made some long-distance calls, and I overheard something that worries me." Al lifted his head, and his eyes were narrow with concern. "Listen, what could he find out about you if he dug really deep?"
    She stared at him blankly. Her mind whirled, grasping. No, she thought wildly, no he couldn't find out anything after all these years. "Well...not much," she faltered. "Why?"
    "Because he's in a good mood this morning. And that makes me suspicious."
    She glowered at her toast. "Maybe it was just good humor left over from his night out," she said.
    Al looked at her long and hard, but he didn't say a word.
    A visiting cattleman stopped by after lunch, and Al went to show him around the ranch while Thorn took care of business in his study. Sabina sneaked out the door and went around the back of the house into the woods, beyond the little gazebo that
    so beautifully matched the house and faced the distant pastures. It was an unseasonably warm day.