Out of the Dark

by Justine Davis

  For a few minutes, finding the steer she was looking for was a distraction. The rangy brindle was one of her favorites, because he never seemed to tire of the game of training new horses, and could always be counted on to give a good lesson or two to the horse who’d never had a live one at the end of the rope before. After a day spent in a corral with that steer on the line, the rope around the animal’s belly instead of his horns, a horse learned real quick how to pivot, and to keep his legs braced and the rope taut, or he spent a lot of time flopping in the dirt.

  She found the small herd, as she’d expected, by the spring. She steeled herself against the flood of memories that assailed her, and singled out the brindle steer. Mac obligingly and efficiently cut him out of the group, instinctively dodging to left or right in the instant before the steer went that way in his efforts to get back to the group. Nothing distracted Mac, not even the buzz of a small plane flying overhead.

  Tory felt a small glow of eagerness that had been sadly missing from her life in the past two weeks, they hadn’t really begun arena work, but Mac already had the knack. He got her close enough to where she could see that the wire cut the steer had acquired was healing cleanly enough. She pulled up and let the steer scamper back to the herd.

  “Pretty soon, boy,” she told Mac, patting his dark, sleek neck. “Pretty soon we’re going to start working these guys hard. You’re going to be the best cutter to come along in a long, long time. You’ll be—”

  She broke off as the small plane she’d heard before circled back, so low that the cattle scattered in fright at the noise. She glared up at the neat, red-and-white, twin engine craft, looking for the registration number. The local airstrip was only a mile away. She’d call as soon as she got back to the house and find out who this idiot was who thought playing buzz the bovines was a fun way to pass the time.

  With this in mind, a half hour later she rode up to the house instead of the barn. She slid to the ground and loosened the cinch a little. Mac was fairly cool, since they’d walked most of the way back, so he could stand ground tied in the shade in front of the house while she made the call. Then, she thought as she rounded the corner of the house, she’d give him a bath and—

  She saw the red flag of her bandanna first. Then Rocky. He was perched in his usual spot on the porch railing, bandit-marked face turned to the sun. As if he’d known the moment she saw him, those eerie blue eyes opened. And then, incredibly, he winked. The cat actually winked, one eye distinctly closing.

  And sprawled on the steps, long legs out in front of him, battered strawhat pulled low over his eyes, was Cole.

  “I figured that flyover would bring you back here,” he drawled.

  Tory’s brows shot upward, anger overcoming her shock at his sudden appearance. “That was you? Are you crazy?”

  “In a manner of speaking. It’s a long hike from that landing strip in this heat, and in boots. Especially with a cat who’s so lazy he wants to be carried all the way.”

  “You walked?” she said, her anger dissipating at the thought. That was a long, hot hike on unforgiving asphalt.

  “Every toasty inch of the way. Not much traffic around here on a Tuesday morning or I would have hitched a ride.”

  He pulled off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. She studied him for a long moment, afraid to read anything into his unexpected return. But why on earth would he bring Rocky? And why the plane?

  That, she decided, was a safe enough question. “Why the plane?”

  “I was testing the commute.”

  “The...what?”

  He got up then, crossed the distance between them in a stride, and took her hands in his.

  “I didn’t mean to be gone so long, but I...had some things to take care of,” he began.

  “So you said. In fact, that was about all you said.”

  He winced. “I know. I didn’t mean to...hurt you. I just had to...work through some things.” He lowered his gaze. “I went to see Lisa.”

  Timmy’s mother? Tory’s breath caught. “You did?”

  “And Sherry. And Jennifer. The kids, too. I had to...put it to rest. You were right, Tory. I couldn’t even start to put this behind me when I didn’t think I deserved it. I had to face them, to talk to them...”

  “To get permission?” she asked softly.

  He let out a long breath. “Yeah. I guess.” His mouth twisted. “They didn’t blame me. They never had.” He swallowed then, as if his throat were tight. “I may never get back that edge. I may never be what I was. But it doesn’t matter, anymore. I can live with who I am, now. Thanks to you.”

  “Oh, Cole...”

  He looked at her then. Intently. “Did you mean what you said?”

  Caution rose up in her. “What I said?”

  “That you...hoped I’d find what I needed to heal.”

  “Yes,” she said quietly. “I meant it.”

  He let out a compressed breath. “I prayed every mile of the way here that you meant it. Really meant it. Because I did find it, Tory. I found it here. With you.”

  She bit back her instinctive cry of joy. She’d been a fool before over him, she wasn’t going to let go again without being certain she knew exactly what he meant.

  “For the first time since...Timmy, something mattered to me enough to...to get past the memories. That night, when I knew you were in danger...I knew I couldn’t let it stop me. That no matter how scared I was that it would happen again, that no matter how sick the memories made me, I couldn’t let them stop me. Because nothing was as important as the possibility of you being hurt. Nothing.”

  “‘You never lost your nerve, only your way,’” she quoted softly.

  Cole’s gaze moved to her face as she repeated Hobie’s words. “You showed me the way back. And you made me want to come back.” He took a deep, quick breath. “I love you, Tory.”

  Her chest and throat tightened unbearably at the sound of words she’d never, ever thought to hear. “Oh, Cole...” She swallowed and tried again. “I... I love you, too.”

  “I know,” he said softly.

  Her eyes widened. She’d never said it, she knew she hadn’t, she’d been far too aware that he wouldn’t have welcomed it, then.

  “I knew it that last night. I should have known long before.” He smiled ruefully. “But I was too busy trying to convince myself I didn’t love you.”

  She hugged him then, fiercely, full of joy at the knowledge that this man who had so much strength on the outside had at last rediscovered it on the inside. He held her close, so tight it was hard to breathe, but she didn’t care. She only cared that it was Cole, that he’d come back, and he was beginning to heal. And he would regain the trust in himself Hobie had spoken of, too. She would see to that.

  It wasn’t until he tilted her head back with a finger under her chin that she realized tears were spilling down her cheeks. He brushed them away with his hands, those big, strong hands that could be so gentle it took her breath away.

  And when she looked up at him, she thought she saw the sheen of moisture in his own eyes.

  “So,” he said, in a tight voice that told her she’d been right, “do you think you can stand to take us on?” He nodded toward Rocky, who was sunning himself unconcernedly on the porch railing. “I’m afraid it’s a package deal. I can’t seem to get rid of him.”

  “Don’t even try.” Tory laughed through her tears of joy. “He’s a wizard, haven’t you noticed?”

  “A wizard in a cat suit?” Cole shook his head. “No, he’s just a pest. He’s been moping around for two weeks now. Refusing to eat. Dragging that old bandanna of yours everywhere. Giving me dirty looks. Tearing up the house. Clawing up my boots again. With me in them.”

  She smiled up at him. “Maybe he was trying to tell you something.”

  This time Cole smiled back. It was a soft, loving smile she’d never thought to see from him. “Maybe he was. Maybe he has been all along, and I was just too stupid to see it.”

  �
��No.” She reached up to touch his face. “You’re many things, Cole Bannister, but stupid isn’t one of them.”

  “Does that mean...yes?”

  Tory tilted her head to give him a sideways look as she realized she wasn’t really sure what he was asking for an answer to. What had he meant by “take us on?” She’d been so elated that he’d come back at all, she hadn’t cared until this moment. But now she found she did care.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “What exactly was the question?”

  He looked suddenly sheepish, as if he realized he’d been a little vague. Then, urgently, he said, “Marry me, Tory. Soon. Please.” He stopped, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry. That wasn’t very romantic, was it?” He let out a little breath. “I’ve...never done this before.”

  “It was fine,” Tory said, hugging him. “Believe me, it was fine.”

  He went very still. “Then...that is a yes?”

  She leaned back again to look up at him. “Only if Rocky comes with you,” she said solemnly.

  He looked at her as if he wasn’t sure she was teasing. Then he chuckled, as if he’d decided it didn’t matter. “If that’s what it takes. I’ll even feed the pest.”

  No more damn cat, Tory noticed, but wisely didn’t comment. “Good” was all she said. “It will be good practice.”

  Cole blinked. “Practice?”

  She nodded. “Hobie wants grandnieces and nephews, you know.”

  Cole looked stunned. Then, slowly, like the dawn rising over the eastern hills, he smiled. Then grinned, a silly, sappy kind of grin she would have thought impossible for him when she’d first laid eyes on him.

  “Yeah. This place needs some kids,” he said, with a note of wonder in his voice that touched someplace very deep inside Tory. And it made her suddenly think very seriously about what had begun as teasing. And the thought of Cole’s baby made her feel very odd indeed. Warm and shivery at the same time.

  “Maybe,” she said, feeling suddenly shy, “maybe we should practice that, too.”

  And as quickly as that, the heat was there in his eyes.

  “Yes,” he said, sweeping her up in his arms. “Maybe we should. A lot.” He lowered his head to kiss her, with a gentleness that belied the fierce need that showed in his face. “And maybe, after about fifty years or so of practice, we’ll have it right.”

  Tory smiled up at him, every bit of her love glowing in her face. Cole kissed her again.

  Rocky watched them go inside, gave a little nod of his head that looked oddly like it was in satisfaction. Then he turned his face back to the sun.

  * * * * *

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-8720-4

  Out of the Dark

  Copyright © 1995 by Janice Davis Smith

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