Summer Day Dreams

by Verity Norton

  “Oh, nothing. I just have a little mystery I wouldn’t mind solving.”

  “Sounds intriguing. Sean’s definitely your guy. He’s really good at it. You should talk to him.”

  “Maybe I’ll do that. Thanks. Now let’s see if I can remember more. Before my test, that is. The twins, Aidan and Allie, are in England studying but decided to stay for the summer.”

  “Right.”

  “And Matt’s the one with two kids.”

  “Right. His wife ditched them and ran off to New York to pursue her Broadway dream.”

  “And that was—”

  “Cassie’s older sister Charlotte.”

  “So, back to those expectations that came with being the almost-oldest of the cousins —”

  “Alex put those expectations on himself by the way. My parents are not what you’d call high-pressure parents.”

  “I didn’t think so. Do you think he’s lived up to his expectations of himself?”

  “Exceeded them. Unfortunately.” She laughed when Sophie looked at her quizzically. “We had hoped that getting his law degree from Bolt and passing the bar exam first time out, would be enough to satisfy him and that he’d come home and open a practice in Winslow. Instead he chose life in the big city.”

  “I’m sorry. Actually, no, I’m not. If he’d come back here, I never would have met him.”

  “Good point. Now if I can say this as diplomatically and non-chauvinistically as possible, do you think you could use your woman’s wiles to get him back here? If not permanently, at least more often?”

  Sophie gave Anne a spontaneous hug. “I’ll do my best.”

  She was not what she had expected. She was a cowgirl with raven hair and deep green eyes. She wore jeans, cowgirl boots, a turquoise blue beaded blouse and a black cowgirl hat, nearly the color of her hair. Hardly the type who would attract the man she knew as Alex McCullough Jameson. Clearly the San Francisco attorney was very different from the country-raised son of horse ranchers.

  She knew the minute she started walking toward them who she was. Not because she recognized her, but because of the look in Alex’s eyes.

  “Hello, Alex.”

  “Cassie.”

  She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. So what if he could barely utter a word? It was a perfectly normal reaction. After all, they’d once been in love.

  So what if they were looking at each other as though no one else in the garden existed?

  “It’s good to see you.”

  “It’s good to see you, Cass.” So what if his voice was trembling?

  “It’s been a while.”

  “Three years? Four?” He was starting to regain his composure. But then she took his hand and held it for a moment. So much for his composure.

  “Four. You haven’t come home much.” Her eyes were still fixed on his.

  “No.”

  “I was away for a while too.”

  “I heard.”

  “But I’m back now.”

  “You always loved it here.”

  “Yes. Except—”

  “It was good you got away.”

  “I needed to. For a while.”

  “But now you’re back.”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s really good to see you, Cass.” So what if he was repeating himself?

  “It’s good to see you, Alex.” So what if she was repeating herself?

  All perfectly normal.

  “Uh, Cassie.” Matt placed his hand on Sophie’s back. “This is—”

  Cassie turned to face them. “You must be Sophie.”

  Sophie took the hand that Cassie extended. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You too,” Cassie said, with a genuinely warm smile that made it just a little harder to hate her. “Welcome to Canden Valley.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I hope you enjoy your visit,” Cassie said, and Sophie tried to convince herself that she didn’t mean it, but she wasn’t able to.

  She liked her. She had a gentle spirit about her. So what if she was Alex’s first girlfriend? So what if she had known him since the day she was old enough to sit up and look at something other than her own fingers and toes?

  Cassie had turned back to Alex, again kissing him lightly on the cheek before walking away.

  So what if her fiancé had forgotten to introduce her? So what if for the first time since she had met him, she had seen tears in his eyes?

  Chapter 6

  Alex leaned back in the porch swing, relieved the picnic was over and the majority of the guests had gone home. Why did they have to go and resurrect it this year of all years? Too many memories. He could happily do without any—bad or good.

  It had been too much for Sophie, he could tell. She was exhausted and had gone upstairs to lie down as soon as everyone had left. But she’d been a good sport about it all, especially when his parents had taken it upon themselves to announce their engagement. So it was a picnic turned engagement celebration, something else he could have done without. San Francisco and his job were looking better all the time.

  “You okay?” Matt came out onto the porch, two bottles of Sam Adams in hand.

  “I thought you’d left.” Alex relieved him of one of the beers.

  “Nope, still here. The kids are next door at their grandparents’. I wanted to give your folks a hand cleaning up, but it looks like it’s pretty much done. “So, back to my question, are you okay?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  Matt leaned against the porch railing and stared at him. “Are you shitting me? Seriously? You’re going to play dumb here?”

  “Okay, so it was awkward, but we got through it unscathed.”

  “Almost.”

  “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Aren’t you avoiding your fiancée for some reason?”

  “She’s napping.”

  “Yeah, and you could have gone upstairs with her.”

  “Your point?”

  “That you don’t want to face her wrath after forgetting to introduce her to Cassie?”

  Alex’s sigh was ragged. Yeah, he had forgotten. He flushed just thinking about that awkward moment, grateful that Matt had come to his rescue. “Sorry to disappoint you, but the word wrath is not in Sophie’s vocabulary.”

  “You don’t think she’ll be sending you off to the dog compound to sleep tonight?”

  “Not Sophie. You have to know her to understand.”

  “If you say so.” Matt shook his head. He couldn’t imagine their not having words over the unpleasant scene. He had to wonder if Alex was being unrealistic or if he had been so hypnotized by his first love that he hadn’t realized just how bad it had been.

  “So, what’s going on with you, cuz?” Alex asked.

  Matt laughed. “What? Change the subject and I’ll forget what we were talking about? Have you forgotten I taught you that technique?”

  “So you did. So now that that’s settled, what is going on with you, Matt? You managed to avoid the subject yesterday. Any love interests?”

  “Not right now. The kids get most of my free time.”

  Alex took a long swallow of his beer. “You need to do some things for yourself too, you know.”

  “Yeah. Soon. When they’re a little older.”

  “They’re nine and eleven for God’s sake! And Charlotte’s been gone for eight years! What the hell are you waiting for?”

  “The right woman to come along?” Matt said quietly, finishing his beer and tossing the bottle in the recycle bin on the front porch. “Like that’s ever gonna happen.”

  Still cynical after all these years, Alex thought. Maybe it was a hopeless battle. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to lambaste you like that.”

  “Don’t worry about it. If you can’t tell me like it is, who can?”

  Alex glanced up toward his bedroom window, wondering if Matt was right about his avoiding Sophie. “Ditto.”

  Sophie lay on her back, he
r eyes closed, a cold wet wash cloth soothing the dull pain. The headache was beginning to subside, but she wasn’t ready to go back downstairs quite yet. Actually, she was craving a walk, anything that would put her outside and away from people. Just for a little while.

  Her cell phone rang and she grabbed it off the nightstand. “Arielle?”

  “Hey, Soph! How’s it going?”

  She smiled at the sound of her best friend’s voice. “I was just thinking about you. I was going to call you as soon as I had a minute to myself.” She gave Arielle a brief rundown of the events of the past two days, ending with, “And I have a favor to ask.”

  “As long as it doesn’t involve my standing on a bar singing, the answer is yes.”

  Sophie laughed, then said, “Actually, that might be part of your duty as my maid of honor.” The silence was deafening. “Did you hear me?”

  “Sorry! I did, but— Are you trying to tell me you’re engaged?”

  “Yep.” She told her about the proposal and the ring and that the reason Alex had brought her to the ranch was to meet his family and announce their engagement. But as she was filling in her best friend, she was wondering why she had not called her as soon as Alex had proposed. She supposed it was because she needed the time to get used to the idea herself. That must have been it. “So will you?”

  “Of course! As long as the bar dancing is out and you don’t make me wear anything that makes me look like a lemon meringue or an apricot puff pastry.”

  Sophie giggled at the image. “Promise.” She wished she could see her friend’s face. She never liked telephones, especially when it came to important conversations. “So, are you—you know, happy for me?”

  “Of course!” Arielle said. “I’m absolutely happy for you.”

  “But—?”

  “But nothing! I just miss you, that’s all.”

  Was it her imagination or had the emphasis been on the “you” in that sentence?

  “I miss you too,” she said, again wishing she could see Arielle’s face and read her body language.

  “Well, we’ll just have to do something about that. How about coming down to Santa Barbara for a couple weeks after you’re finished with your visit there? Alex can drop you at the train when he heads back to the city. Or you could fly.”

  “Sounds great, but I think I need to get back to San Francisco for a little while after we leave here. Maybe later in the summer? I want to start planning the wedding.”

  “Well, anything you need me to do, I’m here. Hey, maybe I should take a little time off and come up there.We can browse bridal magazines and shops together.”

  “You don’t know how good that sounds. I’ve tried to get Alex’s input but he keeps dumping it back on me.”

  “He’s not worried about your decisions?”

  “Are you kidding? He thinks I’m the most sensible person on the planet!”

  “You?”

  “Hey!”

  “Did you tell him about the time you convinced me—after watching the movie—to go singing and dancing in the rain? Barefoot? And we ended up in bed with massive colds and bloody feet?”

  “Hey, I was a kid. And you went along with it.”

  “Only under duress. What about when you tried to make Thanksgiving dinner—by yourself?”

  “Still a kid.” Sophie laughed, remembering. “Well, a teenager anyway. But my intentions were good.”

  “Try telling that to the turkey you burnt to a crisp.”

  “Okay, okay. No more examples. I get the point.”

  “Sorry, but we’ve been friends for what now—twenty years? Since first grade? If I can’t tell you like it is, who can?”

  “True.” She was smiling when she hung up the phone. Her headache was completely gone now. Maybe she would take that walk.

  She changed out of her white linen dress and into a pair of Skye’s jeans of which she was becoming immensely fond. Maybe she’d drive into Winslow tomorrow and buy a couple pairs of her own before she became any more attached to Skye’s. It was either that or bite the bullet and buy a pair at the general store in the village. She was anxious to get Sean on the mysterious case of her disappearing father anyway. Maybe she’d give it a few days. Enough time for him to get over his case of rudeness.

  She took the staircase in the back of the house, managing to sneak out the back door without anyone spotting her. It wasn’t that she wasn’t enjoying Alex’s family. She just needed a conversation break.

  It was still warm, but the intense heat of midday had subsided considerably. Not wanting to get lost, she followed the fence that framed one of the horse pastures, ending at the stables that seemed to go on forever. A quiet breeze blew the scent of jasmine her way and she stopped to inhale it. It was even more beautiful here than she had imagined. She walked for twenty minutes, joined by two hound dogs and a retriever. Good company, she decided. They did talk, especially the hounds, but they didn’t expect her to answer back.

  “Looks like you’ve made some friends,” a voice came at her from behind the barn.

  Sophie smiled at Evan McCullough, the grey-haired patriarch of the family. “They’re good company. Are they yours?”

  “The hounds are. The retriever and most of the other mutts you’ll see around here are part of my daughter’s pity collection. The border collies and some of the mutts are from Nigel and Ivy’s farm next door. They like to come visiting.”

  “Nan collects dogs? I thought it was horses.”

  “Both. Actually any animal that finds its way to her doorstep . or within ten miles of it. Gets that from her mom. Eleanor used to take in every fish and turtle and cat and dog, to say nothing of wild animals, when the kids were young.”

  “Wild animals?”

  “Yep. Raised a skunk once, a couple raccoons, some deer—all abandoned by their mothers.” His voice softened. “For one reason or another.”

  Sophie tried not to think what that meant.

  “Didn’t mean to upset you, honey,” Evan said, putting an arm around her shoulder.

  “It’s okay. I just—it’s sad is all.”

  “Life on a ranch. You get used to it.”

  “I suppose.”

  “Come on, I’ll show you something.” He guided her toward the barn. “Makes it all worthwhile.” He stopped once they were inside and pointed at a golden retriever and her six pups.

  “Oh my gosh! They’re beautiful!” Sophie walked slowly toward them. “Do you think I can—? Will she let me—?”

  “Of course. Go ahead. It’s okay, Abby.” He calmed the protective mother easily.Then he stepped back and watched. She was just like them, he thought. Just as enamored with life and just as innocent. Alex had done well. He was happy for him. He needed a gentle, kind soul in his life. Maybe she could help him find his way home. Now, if only his wayfaring grandson was wise enough to cherish her the way she deserved to be cherished.

  Sophie gazed up at Evan, grateful he had brought her here. He was as wonderful as she imagined a grandfather would be. He was cute and cuddly and kind and gentle. And extremely perceptive. “Thank you,” she whispered, not wanting to startle the puppies.

  “You’re welcome, lassie. You can come see them anytime you’d like, you know.”

  “Really?”

  “Absolutely. It’s nice for them to have company. Just like a couple of old McCulloughs.”

  Sophie pulled herself away from the beautiful babies and went to hug Evan McCullough. “Thank you. I’ll definitely take you up on that.”

  “Just so you know, Eleanor and I are delighted that you’re going to be part of this family. We’re lucky to have you.”

  Sophie kept hugging Alex’s grandfather, fully aware that she was the lucky one. She finally believed that she really was going to be part of a family. Not just any family but the incredible McCullough family.

  When Sophie awakened, Alex was typing away on his laptop. She groaned silently and climbed out of bed, wondering if he would take her on a tour of th
e ranch as promised or if it would have to be someone else.

  He looked up at her. “Morning, sleepyhead. It’s after nine. You never sleep this late.”

  “I didn’t. I was up from five to seven, helping your parents with the animals.”

  He closed his computer and came over to hug her. “No kidding? What did you do?”

  She gave him a detailed accounting of her morning, starting with bacon and eggs with his father and ending with feeding the horses with his mother. “Impressed?”

  “Definitely. Sounds like you won’t need that tour after all.”

  “There’s a lot more of the ranch.” Although she couldn’t imagine anything more wonderful than the animals.

  Her enthusiasm was dampened only slightly by Alex’s obvious reluctance to fulfill his promise to take her on a tour. Rather than cover his Jag with dust, they borrowed one of the family pickup trucks. Two of the many dogs spotted them at one point and leaped into the back of the truck. One was the retriever she had met the evening before when she had run into Alex’s grandfather. She was pretty sure that so far, other than the mom and her puppies, he was her favorite, although the hounds had their charm, especially with their howling which had brought a smile to her face even in the middle of the night.

  “Do you think we could get a dog?” she asked Alex.

  “In the condo?” He was looking at her as if she were crazy.

  “We have a patio.”

  His look confirmed that he thought she had completely lost it. Not so sensible after all, she thought.

  “Well, eventually we’ll move into a house.”

  “Eventually.”

  His gruff mood told her it wasn’t the right time to mention that she hoped that house would be in Canden Valley.

  When Alex drove past the horse stalls and barn with no intention of stopping, she said, “Aren’t we going to see the puppies?”

  “Didn’t you see them this morning?”

  And last night, she thought. “Yes, but I wouldn’t mind seeing them again.”

  She was too irresistible to refuse. Alex pulled the truck alongside the barn and climbed out. “You’re not going to walk through the entire horse facility and say hello to every horse, are you? There are over thirty.”