by Sable Hunter
“So, the McCoys are originally from Texas? Yeehaw!” Ryder tried to tease, wanting to snap her dad out of his doldrums.
“We are, and it’s time we reclaimed our heritage.” Christian wiped his eyes and smiled gently at his beautiful daughter.
From that moment, the family seemed to come alive. Montana was beautiful, but they had no roots, no connection to anything or anyone there. It wasn’t overnight, but the family made the transition, flying down and finalizing the transaction. They set up housekeeping in the old homestead until a new house could be built, a replication of Belle Chasse to honor their mother.
The family moved on.
Philip finished his degree and spent time overseas on an archaeological dig before coming home to teach at the University of Texas. He still went on adventures when requested. Jaxson jokingly called him their own Indiana Jones. But he was never gone long. The Highlands seemed to call him back.
Jaxson worked the ranch along with Heath, but he also rode the rodeo circuit, becoming a National Championship bull rider. Tennessee fulfilled a lifelong dream and formed a tracking company, spending a couple of weeks a month on the road performing rescues and assisting in wilderness searches. He also married—too quickly. But Molly wasn’t the person Tennessee thought she was. The old saying ‘marry in haste, repent at leisure’ was something he well understood.
Ryder and Pepper grew up to be beautiful women, but taking care of their father and their brothers robbed them of the freedom many girls their age enjoyed. It also didn’t help being female and the babies of the family in an all-alpha-male household. To say they were sheltered was an understatement. So Ryder and Pepper began pushing the envelope, testing their wings and giving their brothers fits. The girls looked upon it as an adventure.
All of them settled in, they made friends. Heath bought Canyon of the Eagles resort and began oil and gas exploration at Highlands. More importantly, he met a woman…
During the negotiations to buy Highlands from Al Hollings, Heath had been introduced to his daughter, Amy. At the time, she’d been young, just out of high school. But Heath had noticed her. Hollings had died and they’d lost touch, but when she graduated from college, Amy returned home. He ran into her at the country club and from the moment he saw her, Heath knew she was meant to be his.
Amy was petite, cultured, and a perfect lady. Blonde, blue-eyed and perfectly coiffed, she was quickly able to twist Heath around her little finger. Heath fell hard and fast, proposing within a month of their first date and Amy accepted. The only fly in the ointment had been a man who’d worked for her father, Jack Arness. Later, Heath would find out Jack had been his grandfather Isaac’s former partner. But at the time, that important fact eluded him. All he knew was that Arness seemed to have a hold on Amy and her mother, an influence Amy didn’t seem willing to shake. He advised Camille Hollings, Al’s widow, on investments. And for one reason or another, Arness made it clear he was against Amy seeing Heath. But Heath didn’t let one man’s interference dissuade him.
He was in love.
Cato – Learns About Heroes
Cato woke up. It was dark. She struggled to see. Inky blackness. Was she blind? For a moment, uncontrollable panic rolled over her. If she lost her sight, as well as her hearing, she would go crazy. “Mama! Mama!” As part of her punishment for not losing weight, Edith had taken away Cato’s night light. Throwing the covers back, Cato slid from the bed. “Mama!” Grabbing for the lamp, she knocked it off in her confusion.
All of a sudden a bright light flooded the room. Cato was so relieved. Even though she was twelve years old, sometimes she got scared. “Thank you,” she said. But before she could turn around to speak to her mother, her arm was roughly jerked and Cato tumbled backward into the bed. “Ow!”
Her mother grasped her shoulders and shook her. Cato began to cry. “How many times have I told you not to talk? Read lips and sign. No one wants to hear that loud, garbled crap coming out of your mouth.”
“I need to talk to you sometimes, Mama,” she whispered. Or she thought she whispered. Cato couldn’t tell.
Slap! Cato cringed. Her mother had hit her right on the mouth.
“Sign, don’t speak! You sound like a retarded freak.”
“I’m sorry.” Cato rolled over, escaping another blow. She began signing “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Mama,” over and over again. How could she make her mother understand how hard it was to stay completely silent? She didn’t understand how her speech could be so bad. It hadn’t been that long ago she spoke just like anyone else.
Pulling her by the hair of the head, Edith Vincent snatched Cato’s head around. “Why did you wake me up, you fat little pig?”
“It was dark. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t hear. I panicked.” Cato signed, biting her lips to keep the words in. Cato wasn’t free to speak out loud unless she was alone or with Tessa. Sometimes she felt like she’d been bound and gagged, living in a strait jacket. And to make matters worse, the unhappier she became, the more she ate. Frustration and depression just made matters worse. Food was her friend.
“You’re deaf. You’ll never be able to hear again.” Her mother put a hand to her own forehead as if in despair. “You will never sing and your voice was your only redeeming quality.”
“Could you leave on a light?”
“No, don’t be stupid. There’s nothing to be afraid of in the dark. No one’s going to break in and harm you.” Cato could tell her mother was laughing. “Who would want to attack you? Look at you! No one wants you. No one will ever want you!”
Cato’s heart sank. She didn’t really understand. The only person she wanted to want her was her mother, but Edith acted more like she hated her now than anything. She was young, but Cato wasn’t dumb. She understood Edith had been using her to fulfill a dream she hadn’t been able to fulfill herself. And Cato had failed.
“Okay.” She didn’t know what else to say. Anything she said to her mother didn’t seem to matter much.
“I’m going back to bed. You shut up and go to sleep!”
Cato pulled up the covers as her mother turned out the light.
It was dark and silent once more.
* * *
“You’re new in town, aren’t you?” the librarian asked as she checked the young man’s books out to him.
“Just visiting my aunt for a few days.” He smiled.
All of a sudden a hoarse, desperate cry rang out in the library.
“What was that?” She gasped.
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” He grabbed his books and ran toward the noise.
In the back, down the long hall that led to the bathrooms, Cato was fighting someone she couldn’t see. He held her down. She couldn’t move and if he was saying anything to her, she couldn’t hear. Cato knew she needed to scream for help, but years of being forbidden to speak had taken their toll.
Her mother had been wrong, Cato was being attacked—why, she didn’t know. All she’d done was go to the bathroom, leaving her things sitting at one of the cubicles by the window. Keeping her head down, she’d made her way through the tables and by the check-out desk, making eye-contact with no one. She wasn’t aware anyone had noticed her at all. So when a cruel hand jerked her backward and someone began choking her, forcing her to the ground, Cato was shocked and scared to death.
What was happening? She struggled, she tried to crawl away. But her captor had his knee pressed into her back, holding her down. A hard jerk tore Cato’s dress from top to bottom. “Oh, God,” Cato prayed silently. She was about to be raped. A renewed determination to escape drove her to arch her back, attempting to dislodge her assailant. But a hard blow to the side of her head made Cato see sparks.
Suddenly the weight on her back was gone. Cato scrambled forward, desperate to find a way to escape her attacker. When she reached the wall a few feet away, Cato turned around, making herself as small as possible.
Someone had come to her rescue! Two men struggled. A younger, angry loo
king man held another man aloft. The man being held in the air was thin and sallow looking with a few teeth missing in the front. The only problem was, she didn’t know which one had attacked her and who her savior was. Trying to calm down, she considered running, but her dress was falling off and she couldn’t bear to be seen half-naked.
As she huddled against the wall, focusing on the unbelievable scenario in front of her, Cato could see the younger man was speaking. Watching his lips, she realized this handsome, strong man was her champion.
“Why are you disrespecting women? Only weak pathetic men attack those weaker than themselves. Is this the only way you can get a woman, attack one?”
If the other man responded, Cato couldn’t hear it.
Everything was happening so fast, she felt like she was watching it all from a distance. Her hero wore a cowboy hat and boots. The hat was lying to one side next to a stack of books. The top book had slid off and lay near to her. She saw it was Heart of Texas by Laurence Culhane. As if in a daze, Cato resolved to one day read the book.
Movement from her left drew her attention. Several people ran in, the librarian, a policeman and her mother. Cato’s time must have been up and Edith had come looking for her. “What have you done?” she screamed. Cato explained the best she could. Her mother tried to pull her up, but Cato resisted, not wanting anyone else to see her in this condition.
In the confusion, Cato lost sight of the boy who’d been brave enough to stand up for her. Someone finally brought her a coat and she allowed herself to be helped from the floor. They led her to a room where she was questioned, or rather her mother was questioned. She wasn’t allowed to speak and most of what she told her mother wasn’t what was relayed to the police. Cato tried to find out about the man who saved her, but her mother dismissed her questions and by the time she could get up and look for herself, he was gone.
Cato never learned who he was, but she never forgot him.
It was funny, but the incident didn’t affect her like everyone thought it would. Cato still asked to go to the library when she had papers to do. After all, it was an unusual occurrence. Since her bout with meningitis and the loss of her hearing, Edith had insisted Cato be homeschooled, which just made matters worse. It was so obvious her mother hated spending time with her. This made everything harder and made both of them miserable. So, Cato was hungry for any type of social interaction. Yes, the man who attacked her might be pathetic and sick, but the one who saved her gave Cato hope that there were more people like him in the world.
And one day, she was going to meet them.
Heath – Wedding Bell Blues
“This collar is choking me,” Heath managed to whisper to Philip, who stood to his right.
“If you think that’s uncomfortable, wait till the noose of matrimony tightens around your neck.”
Heath rolled his eyes at his brother. “Just wait till you fall in love, you have no idea.” The preacher gave them the evil eye and they sobered up, hands folded below their waist.
“Where’s your bride, Heath?” Jaxson checked his watch. “She’s late.”
Heath shook his head, trying to make his brothers be quiet. He kept his eyes trained on those stained glass doors at the back. Any moment, the love of his life was going to walk through them and give him her sweetest smile. Heath sighed, he couldn’t wait. The most beautiful woman in the world had consented to be his bride and he was the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.
“Would you be in a hurry to marry this big ox?” Tennessee chuckled.
Raising one eyebrow, he quelled his brother’s tomfoolery. This just wasn’t the time. A church wedding was supposed to be a sacred occurrence. Looking out into the audience, Heath noticed his father looked tired. The nurse who took care of him seemed a bit concerned. She was watching him like a hawk. His sisters sat beside him, dressed in wedding finery. They would be hostesses at the reception. Their eyes were on their father also.
A few random coughs drew his attention and Heath finally realized how much time had passed. The organist was looking worried. Even he could tell she was repeating the songs. Glancing over at Amy’s mother, he could see her whispering to a woman who sat next to her. Their expressions worried him the most.
The preacher cleared his throat loudly and Heath looked over his shoulder to see if he was choking or trying to get his attention. It was the latter. “Any clue to what’s going on?”
Heath didn’t, but if the sinking feeling in his stomach was any indication, it wasn’t good. “Cold feet?”
A murmur stole Heath’s attention and when he looked up, Amy’s mother was headed down the aisle. He watched her exit through those doors he’d been staring at, waiting and hoping.
“You all right?” This came from Philip.
“No, would you be?” By this time, everyone was talking, looking at him and whispering.
Finally, the doors opened and for a moment, Heath thought everything was going to be okay. After all, Amy was perfect for him. They were happy. They had so much in common. Their marriage was meant to be.
He held on to that notion until Jack Arness, who’d been appointed to walk Amy down the aisle appeared and shook his head. “She’s not coming. Amy changed her mind.”
A barrage of murmurs and titters rose through the congregation. A spear of pain shot through Heath’s heart. He thought he was about to be sick. He lurched off the step he was standing on and Philip made a grab for him, but he managed to stay on his feet. “I’m okay.”
It was easy to say, but Heath had never told a bigger fib in his life.
“Heath, man, let’s get you out of here.”
“No, I want to see her. There has to be some mistake.” He started down the white satin carpet, knocking over a basket of gladiolas as he went. An unyielding hand stopped his progress.
“Wait…” It was Tennessee.
But Heath wouldn’t be stopped. He had to know what had happened. What had he done wrong? If she’d just tell him what to fix, he would fix it. Gladly.
Was there someone else?
The thought stole his breath. He blindly walked to the room where Amy and the bridesmaids had dressed. Throwing open the door, he expected to come face to face with his fiancée and her mother. Instead, he found only the maid of honor standing by the dressing table, holding the bouquet he’d helped Amy pick out. “Where is she?” he asked lowly.
Regina jumped. “Heath!” She dropped the bouquet and it landed with a thud on the floor. Heath was surprised it weighed so much. She held a hand to her chest.
“Where is she?” He repeated slowly as if they didn’t speak the same language.
“Gone.”
“Gone where?”
She avoided his eyes. “I don’t know. She didn’t tell me.”
Heath stared at the lavender dress Regina wore. Purple wasn’t her color. “Did she leave with someone else?”
Regina’s eyes widened. “No, just her mom.”
“You’re lying. It’s as plain as the nose on your face.” When Regina blanched, Heath lowered his voice. “At least tell me what she said.” He was desperate to understand. Heath took another step forward and she took one step back. “I’m not going to fuckin’ hurt you,” he barked.
“She…she just said she couldn’t go through with it.” Regina held up her hands as if to stave him off. “Look, she’s with that Arness man. He’s been after Amy for a long time.”
“James?”
“No, his son. He hates you. He said your grandfather stole Highlands from him and his family. Caesar has a way about him. That’s all I know.”
He didn’t care about ancient family history. All he cared about was that she was gone. “She left me for Arness’ son?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t think she wanted to marry you even if Caesar wasn’t around.”
Heath’s heart sank. Amy had left him standing at the altar. She didn’t want him. She had rejected him in the most open and final way possible—for another man.
<
br /> Walking back toward the chapel, he found an engagement portrait of them sitting next to the guest registration book. Dammit, they looked so happy. What a joke. “Well, fuck you, Amy.” He wiped a tear from his eye, wondering how he was going to get over this.
There was one thing for certain.
He would never, ever make the mistake of falling in love again.
Cato – Never Say Goodbye
Cato stood in front of the mirror, putting her hair up in a ponytail. She sang I’ve Got To Be Me at the top of her lungs. “Daring to try. Do it or die.” The gist of the song was her mantra. She had to be true to herself or quit now.
Smiling, she celebrated the few hours of freedom she had. Her mother had gone to a high school class reunion and she was headed to Tessa’s. This afternoon they were going to a matinee with a group of other kids and tomorrow Tessa’s dad was taking them out on his boat. Cato was going to have a regular teenage weekend. Yay!
Tessa was her first cousin, a year older, and the coolest person in the entire world. In fact, all of Tessa’s family was cool. Their mothers might be sisters and have the same hint of an overbite, but that’s where the similarities ended. Cato’s Aunt Flo was nice and she let Cato talk all she wanted to. Anytime she was with this part of her family, Cato chattered like a magpie. They didn’t complain, castigate or judge. From the moment she stepped over their threshold, Cato was free. The Brody family treated her with respect, like she was normal. They listened to her speak and didn’t try to starve her to death. Cato had to eat like a bird around Edith, yet it didn’t really seem to do a lot of good. Her mother insisted Cato was overweight and, of course, she was still deaf.
Cato frowned at her reflection. “Smile, sexy. You’re going to have a good time.” In answer, she grinned at herself, the excitement almost making her giddy.
Everyone had things in life they couldn’t control. How they dealt with them made the difference. Cato was determined to be happy. She wanted to fit in. And most of all, she wanted to be normal.