“Gwen Garner was telling me the other day that Brick’s is a bad place, and yet it draws all the teens who are bored and want something to do. And she knows drugs are over there and that a lot of the kids are using meth, cocaine and marijuana.”
“Yeah, it’s a gaming spot for sure,” Kam said, frowning. “And Zach is so naive. He never learned social skills. He was always in his room addicted to his video games. Now he shares an apartment with Reagan, and she doesn’t ride herd on him like Iris did when he lived out here.”
“Sounds like trouble is brewing for all of you,” Casey murmured. She knew that sooner or later, when Allison’s children found out she was in town, gossip would stain her, as well. After all, Kam was her cousin.
Shrugging, Kam uttered, “Reagan used to be an A student and won that scholarship to go to Hollywood, but she threw it all away when Allison was caught and charged with attempted murder. Now she’s spiraling down, too. They’re angry at Rudd, me and Iris. What an utter waste of their lives.”
“I am so sorry,” Casey murmured, reaching over and touching Kam’s arm. “This is painful for everyone. I wonder if Allison ever considered her actions would hurt so many?”
“Allison can only think of herself,” Kam said grimly. “And Reagan is particularly nasty. She’s her mother’s daughter, believe me. She’s intelligent, and she’s got a mouth on her and she can cut you into two million pieces in a millisecond.”
“What’s she doing in town?”
“She works for Jason’s Cameras. Certainly not working up to her potential. She had the world on a platter—her film at the Sedona Film Festival took third place. It’s sad. Reagan has thrown away a very promising career to support her mother. And, her real father, who is a director in Hollywood, won’t have anything to do with her. He’s refusing to acknowledge her as his daughter, even though the paternity test shows that she is his legitimate daughter.”
“It’s a rough time for Reagan, too,” Casey agreed. She wondered what she would feel like if her father would not acknowledge her as his daughter. Casey always tried to put herself in other people’s situations to try and understand their behavior. This time, it wasn’t a pleasant place to be. “Everyone needs a mom and dad.”
“Yes,” Kam murmured, “and Zach is in the same situation as Reagan. His father is a famous director. But in Zach’s case, he seems not to care one way or another. Maybe because he’s escaped into computer games and drugs. I found my real dad. It’s meant the world to me, Casey. I had this huge hole in my heart.” Kam touched her chest. “And finding Rudd and having him acknowledge me as his daughter healed up that wound.”
“Gwen has nothing but good things to say about Rudd and Iris.”
Smiling, Kam nodded. “Gwen is fair and honest in her appraisal of people. I really like her. She won’t pass on gossip for gossip’s sake. She demands proof before she’ll speak to others. I give her credit because if you want the down and dirty on someone, you go to Quilter’s Haven.” Laughing, Kam said, “Even the police go to Gwen. That’s how much she knows about the underbelly of our cow town.”
“Well,” Casey muttered, “maybe I need to talk to Gwen, then.”
“About someone shooting at you?” Kam wondered.
“Yes, because no one else has a clue. I’m tired of being pigeon-holed in the visitor’s center. My supervisor is so afraid that if I walk outside, I’ll get shot at. I think it’s wrong.” Moving the leather reins to her other hand, Casey said, “I just don’t have the sense someone is after me, Kam. I hate being cooped up inside.”
“Have a talk with Charley,” Kam suggested. “Or, better yet, go see Gwen Garner and ask her what to do about the situation. She was born and bred here in Jackson Hole, and her son, Cade, is a deputy sheriff. If anyone knows what to do to get you sprung out of that prison, Gwen will.”
That was good advice. Casey decided that this afternoon after the ride was over, she’d drive into town and do just that. Gwen Garner, the gossip maven of Jackson Hole, might shed some light on her predicament. Crossing her fingers, Casey prayed that the woman would have some positive counsel for her.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MATT ENJOYED THE GAIETY, laughter and happiness at the Elk Horn Ranch. At 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon, the June sun was warm, the sky a soft blue. All was perfect for Kam and Wes to be married. He sat one row back from the front where the couple stood beneath a bower of flowers that Iris Mason had gathered earlier in the day. Each bouquet of wildflowers had its own plastic container with water so they looked bright and beautiful. Kam looked beautiful in a strapless silk dress with a corset-seamed bodice adorned with Venice lace. The ivory dress had a tulip skirt that came to her knees, and she carried a wildflower bouquet made by Iris, as well as wearing a garland of wildflowers in her black hair. Wes wore a black Stetson and a conservative gray Western-style suit. The bolo tie he wore with the white shirt had the Elk Horn Ranch logo on it. It had been specially made by a jeweler friend of the family and the logo was carved out of turquoise.
Megan sat between Matt and Casey. He watched the members of the huge Trayhern family who had flown in for the occasion. Morgan Trayhern, Kam’s adopted father, and her real father, Rudd Mason, led her down the aisle together. Both were smiling. Kam hadn’t wanted bridesmaids. Instead, she simply wanted the whole family here to take part in the happiest day of her life. Everyone sat in a semicircle of chairs raised up on six different levels beneath a huge white tent as bride and groom joined hands and faced their smiling minister.
Matt was moved by the Trayhern clan. Morgan and Laura had traveled from Montana, Noah and Kat came from Florida, and Alyssa and Clay flew in from San Francisco to be here.
Kam had been adopted by Morgan and Laura after a terrible earthquake in Los Angeles, California. Kam’s journey to find her real father had led her here, to Wyoming.
Smiling over at Casey, who was crying and dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, Matt felt the powerful love of the entire family. Truth be told, Matt could barely keep his eyes off Casey, who was wearing a tasteful lavender dress with a necklace of amethysts and pink opals around her slender neck. Rarely did he see her in a dress, and this one certainly outlined her sleek, curvy features to perfection. The silk dress had a boatneck, puffed sleeves, and hung to her knees. Casey glanced over at him and smiled. Matt felt his heart swell with such need for her that he wasn’t sure he could keep up the charade of not letting her know he desired a closer relationship with her.
Megan smiled as the minister, dressed in a light pink robe, raised her hands. The crowd of onlookers quieted in anticipation. All gazes were on the smiling couple who stood holding hands and looking into one another’s eyes.
Casey felt Megan’s hand tighten around hers. Anytime they were together, Megan wanted close contact with her. The eight-year-old looked cute in pigtails, a purple dress with white lace down the front of it and a silver sash around her waist. Matt had gone to great lengths, with Casey’s help, to make sure Megan looked beautiful. It was Megan’s first wedding and Matt wanted to make it a happy experience for her.
Reverend Ariel Saunders launched into the words that Kam and Wes had written, and Casey felt thrilled for her cousin. In the audience were not only Kam’s family of origin, but the entire Trayhern clan, including most of the grown children of each family. Some couldn’t make it because they were in the military and on overseas assignment. Casey’s mother and father, Alyssa and Clay, sat to her right. Not only was this a celebratory day for Kam and Wes, but it was a wonderful get-together of the entire Trayhern clan. The only sad part was that Chase Trayhern, her grandfather, had broken his leg in a water-skiing accident, and he and his wife, Rachel, couldn’t attend. Casey loved her grandparents fiercely because they loved visits from all the grandchildren.
Casey felt teary-eyed as Reverend Saunders pronounced Kam and Wes husband and wife after the short dissertation. When Wes drew Kam into his arms and kissed her, Casey felt her own heart break. Since her traumatic incid
ent, she’d been afraid of men. Oh, she knew they weren’t all like the five thugs who’d beaten her up, but the wound had created a rift in her trust. How Casey wished that wasn’t so!
Gulping, she stole a look out of the corner of her eye at Matt. The happiness mirrored in his face shook her. What would it be like to be his wife and partner? Quickly averting her glance, Casey looked at the happy couple in front of them as they broke their kiss and smiled tenderly into one another’s eyes. Was such happiness possible for her? Casey wasn’t sure and sadness enveloped her for a moment. As Wes and Kam Sheridan turned to face the audience, thunderous applause and shouts of joy filled the air. There were cheers and clapping. Kam’s two fathers congratulated each other afterward and stood grinning proudly, tears in their eyes.
Ariel, who was five foot eleven inches tall and a rabid basketball player, placed a hand on each of them. She called out, “The bride will now throw her bouquet to all of you ladies! And then it’s time for us to eat and celebrate!”
Casey saw about fifteen young single women rush over to the designated area to try and catch the bouquet that Kam would toss.
“Why don’t you go over there?” Matt asked, smiling. “You’re single.”
“Yes, but I don’t want to get married just yet,” Casey said. Seeing disappointment in his eyes, she felt bad—and a little guilty. “Well,” she amended, “I guess I can. She’s my cousin and she’d want me over there.”
“Good,” Matt murmured.
Walking over to the area between the tent where the food preparation was under way and the dance floor where a local band was getting ready to play, Casey felt out of place. The women around her were like excited children as they waited for Kam to arrive and toss her beautiful bouquet of wildflowers that Iris had picked and wrapped in a rainbow of ribbons.
Putting herself at the back of the crowd of jostling women eager to catch the bouquet, Casey felt that she really wanted nothing to do with it all. But she also didn’t want to disappoint her cousin, whom she loved like a sister. There was a good six feet between her and the knot of milling and expectant women.
Kam took her place on a small wooden dais while her new husband smiled up at her. Kam’s face glowed with happiness as she turned her back to the waiting crowd. With a heave, she threw the bouquet over her head toward the shrieking crowd of single women.
No one was more surprised than Casey when the bouquet seemed to arc as though it had wings and landed in her hands! Gasping, Casey gripped the colorful wildflower bouquet. All the women who had wanted it turned and gave cries of disappointment. Standing there, Casey felt heat rush into her cheeks. She gave the women an apologetic look. If it hadn’t been Kam’s bouquet, she’d have gladly pawned it off to any one of them. One look into her cousin’s joyful expression and Casey forced a smile, held up the bouquet and tried to be graceful about it.
“You’re next!” Kam cried, clapping her hands.
The crowd around the group broke into applause.
Casey wanted to sink into the ground. By accident, as her gaze swept across the well-meaning crowd, she caught Matt’s gaze. He had a tender look in his expression, a warmth that shook her to her soul and made her heart speed up. What would it be like to be married to him? Casey sensed he’d be a wonderful partner. Someone who would love her for who she was, not what he wanted to mold her into. She came from a family of strong women and her mother had taught all five of her girls from the time they could walk that they had rights equal to everyone, man or woman.
“Thanks, cousin,” Casey called, waving the bouquet above her head.
The crowd clapped again and everyone began to break up to go to the food tent.
Instantly, a cowboy band struck up a peppy tune. There was a wooden floor laid out so that everyone who wanted to dance could do so. The air was filled with accordion, violin, harmonica and the angelic voice of a young woman called Crystal Wyatt. Casey stood, bouquet in hand, and watched the nineteen-year-old sensation sing.
Matt and Megan approached her. Casey leaned down and gave Megan the bouquet. The little girl’s eyes grew huge as she accepted the gift.
“Everyone should get flowers,” she told Megan, smiling at her.
Megan crushed the bouquet to her chest, her eyes shining with joy.
Matt smiled at Casey as she straightened. “Thank you,” he mouthed without saying the words.
Nodding, Casey was more than happy to give Megan the bouquet. It would stop people from teasing her about being next to get married. “Let’s eat. I’m starved,” she told them. Anything to avoid the topic of marriage!
Everyone was ushered toward the white tents decorated with pink, green and white ribbons. Everything was catered from Mo’s Café, with the owner personally serving the happy affair. She had hired several other people and was moving from one table to another making sure everything was ready for the partying crowd of over two hundred guests. Casey liked energetic and tireless Matty. Her husband had died of cancer at age twenty-five, leaving her with a growing restaurant business and a small daughter, Jody. Casey saw Jody smiling and following her black-haired mother around, an ice cream scoop in hand. No one worked harder than Matty, and Casey loved going to eat at her restaurant.
Matt smiled over at her. “You’ve got quite a family. I didn’t realize how large it was.”
Casey grinned. “Yes, we’re a clan. My mom and dad like you.”
Nodding, he said, “I like them. They’re heroic—your mother broke through the men-only glass ceiling to fly that sub-hunting airplane. And your father supported her.”
“Well, after a fashion.” Casey laughed. She got in line and handed Megan a plate. “My father wasn’t exactly happy about having her in the cockpit at first.”
“Yes, but your mother has red hair,” Matt pointed out. “Red-haired women are valkyries. Cat Edwin has red hair. She’s breaking down the barriers in that all-male fire department,” he said, picking up his plate.
“Yes, and, like my mother, Cat’s paying a price for hanging in there and showing the men she’s just as good—if not better—than they are at firefighting.”
Frowning, Matt had to agree. “There’s a couple of guys in there that are still clinging to the men-only mentality. The rest of them, though, completely support Cat.”
As they approached the trays filled with tantalizing choices of food, Casey picked up her flatware and got ready to choose from the many delicious items that Matty had created. “It’s hard on her, though, Matt. Isn’t it enough that she can do a credible job? Why can’t those guys get over their prejudice?”
“I hear you,” Matt murmured. He picked Megan up so that she could see the food in each tray. “And I agree.”
“Nothing in life is fair,” Casey said. She saw Megan point to a tray of chicken enchiladas and scooped one up and put it on the plate Matt held.
Matt had to agree with Casey. After they went through the line, they were asked to sit beneath another huge, airy tent where tables and chairs were awaiting them. They found a table near the wedding party, who sat at a long, long table in front of everyone. Matt remembered his own wedding to Bev, how stressful and yet how much fun it had been. This brought back a lot of bittersweet memories. As he got Megan in her chair and put the plate of food before her, Matt couldn’t shake the past as much as he wanted to.
After the meal, the toasts and speeches were given. Then, all the children moved to another tent that was filled with all kinds of fun things for them to do. Matt walked at Casey’s side as they headed toward the dance floor. “Want to dance?” he asked her.
“I’m not the greatest,” Casey protested. What would it be like to have Matt hold her? She’d ached in her dreams to have his strong arms around her. And Casey wasn’t about to tell him of her dreams of him kissing her until they melted into one another.
Matt smiled and led her onto the crowded dance floor. Crystal was singing a slow song, her voice strong and clear over the huge crowd. He slid his hand around Casey’s
back, palm resting lightly against it. Watching her expression, he saw she really wanted him near her. That made his wary heart take off in a heavy beat. As their hands met and entwined, Matt made sure he gave her ample opportunity to either draw away or draw near to him.
Her skin tingled as Matt’s hand hovered over the small of her back. Casey looked up and drowned in the warmth of his forest green eyes. For a moment, all the noise, the music, the laughter, dissolved as she drowned in his huge black pupils surrounded by that dark green color. Shaken, Casey pulled back inwardly, her pulse racing maddeningly whether she wanted it to or not. How long had she dreamed of this moment, unsure it would ever happen? Mouth dry, she pulled her gaze from Matt’s relaxed and darkly tanned face. Wanting to move those scant inches and lay her head on his chest, Casey didn’t dare. This was enough for now. Since her trauma she’d avoided personal interaction with men, frightened by the emotional wounds that the beating had created. Casey felt safer with Matt than she had with anyone since then. It was a positive step for her, although Casey couldn’t share that with him. What would he think of her? Would he tell her she was imagining things? That he would never lift a hand to hurt her? That he was to be trusted?
Matt saw a lot of unspoken emotions in Casey’s shadowed eyes. She was stiff and tense in his arms. Was it him? Or her? Was she doing this only because she had to in front of her family? Was it all just a show for their benefit? Or did she really want to dance with him? They glided around the floor without stepping on one another’s feet. Matt felt her beginning to relax a little as he guided her expertly between the many other laughing, chatting couples.
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