“Your parents would fire me on the spot if they knew I let you go on this.”
She whipped herself around, using up the last bit of strength she had to defend herself and her dreams. Mrs. Casey had to move down one step because she’d been following Sarah so closely. “My parents are gone. It’s bad enough that I had to live my life according to their expectations when they were alive; I’m damn well not going to do it now that they’re dead. From now on, I will be going on all cattle drives, and I will be involved with all aspects of this ranch, just as my father was.”
She wasn’t in the mood to sugarcoat things, and she was tired of having to explain and defend herself every single day. Marching—or attempting to march—into her bathroom, she shut the door behind her and let out a small gasp as she caught her reflection in the mirror. Part of her hair was matted down, and what was left of her braid hung limply from her head. Her face was dusty, her eyes rimmed with red, her lips chapped. She took a deep breath and started the shower, turning the knob until it reached a steaming hot temperature.
She stared at the beginnings of the calluses on her palms that Cade had noticed, wondering what else he’d seen. Cade was unlike any man she’d ever met before. He was unlike any person she’d ever met.
But it was more than that—it was the way he made her feel. He was undeniably, completely, and wholly masculine in a way that made her very aware of her femininity in the best possible way.
Pity invitation or not, she couldn’t wait for tomorrow night.
Chapter Seven
Sarah walked into her parents’ bedroom, a wave of familiarity and nostalgia overwhelming her. She rarely came in here. It was silly, maybe. She hadn’t gotten rid of their things, so it looked as though time stood still.
Her mother had assumed that Sarah would one day take this room, but she didn’t think she’d ever be able to. Memories clung to the air like moths to a flame, and it was hard to catch a breath. At one time, this had been a happy room. It had been the place she and Joshua would come tearing through when he was chasing her around the house, or on Saturday mornings, they’d all watch television on her parents’ big king-size bed.
But after Josh died, that energy, that happiness had vanished so quickly, she wondered if she’d actually dreamed that part of her childhood. How could happiness disappear in seconds? How could life change in seconds? The entire course of their family had changed faster than a clap of thunder.
She walked farther into the large room, the plush carpeting soft under her feet, silent. The room was spotless, the large bed meticulously made, the soft-blue-toned quilt without a wrinkle. Opening her mother’s wooden jewelry box, she took a deep breath and then shut it, looking at herself in the mirror over the dresser.
“What are you doing, Sarah?” she whispered to her reflection. She was going out with Cade, a man who made her remember that she was a woman. She had never wanted to be treated differently, and he didn’t. Cade made her feel safe and alive and young. Why had she been feeling so old? Maybe because she’d basically been in confinement for more than a decade and had lost touch with the real world.
Tonight was some kind of sad attempt at her reintegrating with normal society, she supposed. Okay, so what did normal people her age wear? It wasn’t like she didn’t have an Instagram account or anything, but what did people her age wear to a party at a diner in rural Montana? Jeans. Check. But what about her hair? Makeup? She had a few things she’d ordered online after watching a makeup tutorial. She’d also ordered a wide-barrel curling iron, so she could attempt some beachy waves. She’d done that last week when Mrs. Casey had offered to lend Sarah her hair rollers she slept with at night.
It was clear at that point that Sarah needed major life changes, fast.
It was time to enter the real world. She opened the jewelry box again and carefully picked through the simpler items, looking for the locket. There. At the bottom of the box. She didn’t open it to see the picture she knew was inside—just carefully clasped it around her neck. Another step closer to reclaiming her life on her own terms.
Thirty minutes later, she was actually smiling at herself because she’d accomplished the beachy waves without any significant mishap other than the slight burn on her thumb. Better the skin on her thumb than a hair emergency. Her navy and white, small-checked shirt was tucked into her new dark skinny jeans and the red lipstick she was wearing was bright enough without being totally look at me. Mascara done and a little blush and she was ready to go.
She spun around, ready to head downstairs, and gasped as Edna stood in the doorway, her brows drawn together tightly. “You scared me!” Sarah laughed.
“I’m sorry. I came to tell you that Cade is here.”
Sarah’s stomach jumped. “Oh, I didn’t even hear the doorbell. Thank you.”
“You told me you were going to a friend’s party in Wishing River. I didn’t realize it was with Cade.”
Sarah stood a little straighter. “We both know I don’t actually have any friends. These are Cade’s friends.”
“You don’t know what kind of people they are.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “She owns Tilly’s. Her husband is the son of the rancher Cade used to work for. I don’t think it can get any safer or smaller-town than that,” she said, walking forward but stopping when Mrs. Casey didn’t move out of the doorway.
“Sarah, child…”
“I’m an adult.”
“Yes, and before your mother died, she made me promise to look out for you, to guide you. That is all I’m doing. Cade is not a man I would consider a proper…boyfriend.”
Sarah gasped. “He’s not my boyfriend, and that’s an incredibly rude thing to say about him. He’s been the best thing to happen to us in years. I know what I want. I’ve lived in this house for too many years, abiding by rules made by people even more screwed up than I am.”
Mrs. Casey inhaled sharply. “You should not speak of your parents that way.”
Sarah took a deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily. “I know that my parents did the best they could. But doing their best wasn’t the best, not for me or them or any of us. They were killing themselves with misery, and they were killing me. I will never live like that again. I will never be half alive again. It’s a dishonor to Josh’s life. This is my time—I’m not going to spend it cowering in a corner, knitting away the best years of my life every Saturday night.”
Sarah slid past her, but Mrs. Casey followed close on her heels. “You don’t know what kind of a man he is. Men have expectations, Sarah. They don’t just take women out to be friends.”
They weren’t going to have this conversation, and especially not with Cade waiting downstairs. “We are friends. I’m his employer. This is a platonic relationship. There are no expectations, and I think it’s pretty insulting that you would even suggest that.”
Mrs. Casey worried her hands. “Sarah. Things are moving too fast. There are too many changes…”
A pang of guilt dampened Sarah’s irritation. Mrs. Casey was a good woman who took her perceived guardian role very seriously. She reached for the woman’s hands. “All of this only seems fast because everything around here moved too slowly for too long. I’ve put everyone’s needs ahead of my own for too long. I know you mean well, but you need to let me go. Let me live.”
Mrs. Casey’s face crumpled. “You are like my own,” she whispered, a softness to her voice that wasn’t usually there.
Suddenly Sarah saw the woman as she once was—the much younger face, the one without lines of worry, without the sternness brought on by tragedy, as she spoke to Sarah after Josh died. She saw that worry in her eyes, the same as when Sarah couldn’t speak for months.
She clutched Mrs. Casey’s hands in hers. “You have always been family to me. I know we don’t talk about it, but I remember everything you did. You were my only constant. When I didn’t know wha
t to expect even from my own parents, I always knew what I could expect from you. I will always be grateful.”
She pulled the woman into a hug. Mrs. Casey stepped back a moment later, blinking away the rare display of emotion in her eyes.
“Then just…don’t come home too late. And use the head God gave you.”
Sarah smiled. “Well, it’s the only one I have, now, isn’t it?” She wanted to add that she had to leave because the hottest man she’d ever met was waiting for her downstairs, but she thought that might send Mrs. Casey to the ER with heart palpitations. Judging by the red on her cheeks, this was already too much rebellion and shared emotion for her to handle.
Mrs. Casey’s worried gaze went from her eyes to the opening of her shirt. Sarah held her breath, knowing she hadn’t done anything wrong but not wanting to be chastised for the locket. She didn’t need any of this. Not tonight.
“Josh’s locket,” Mrs. Casey whispered, her eyes misting.
Sarah touched it. “I’m not going to keep him hidden away anymore,” she said in a firm voice before walking out of the room. Beyond the door, she took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh, shaking off the weight of this house, of her family, of all the memories threatening to bury her. She could do this. With her head held high, she descended the stairs—
Only to come to a halt on the bottom one when she realized that Cade was there, watching her.
“Second thoughts?” he asked with a slow smile that made her stomach swirl and made her almost forget the conversation she’d just had with Mrs. Casey. She tried not to stare, but he looked even hotter than usual. He had cleaned up for the occasion. His jeans were dark and hugged his lean, athletic build in an altogether fantasy-inducing way, and his button-down shirt seemed to emphasize his broad shoulders and flat stomach. He had shaved, too, and his hair was neatly combed. He was…mouth-watering. And way beyond her current experience level.
“Never. I just appear to be the first twenty-six-year-old with a curfew.”
He barked out a laugh, and she smiled at the sound as she slipped on her new shoes. The heels were a good choice beside Cade’s height. While he’d still be a few inches taller, at least she wouldn’t have to crane her neck just to look him in the eye all night. He held the door open for her, and she glanced over her shoulder as they left and saw Mrs. Casey walking down the stairs, an overwhelmed expression on her face.
Sarah could relate.
She took a deep breath once they were outside, letting the gentle warmth of the evening air fortify her.
“How are you feeling?”
“You were right about the ibuprofen. I’ve been medicating every eight hours,” she said with a laugh.
He smiled warmly as they settled in his truck. “Good. Your hands better, too?”
She nodded, glancing down at them. “The cream helped. It’ll take a bit for them to get back to normal, but all in all, I’d say my first cattle drive was a success,” she said, leaning back on the headrest.
He glanced over at her, and her stomach fluttered. “You were great.”
She let that sink in, let all of what was happening sink in. This man was changing everything for her, and he had no idea.
They drove toward town, and she let the excitement fill her, without guilt or worry. Tonight, she would have fun. She was going to enjoy being out with the only man who had treated her like an equal since her brother was alive.
…
Half an hour later, Cade held the door open to the packed Tilly’s Diner, and when Sarah walked through, a group of men and women immediately flocked over to join them. She tried to shake off the unexpected anxiety that washed over her, but she was basically crashing an event that was meant for friends and family, and she was neither.
Despite what she’d said to Edna, she didn’t know if she and Cade were friends. It had been easy enough to play this off as him introducing her as his friend when it was just the two of them, but this…this was another side of him. This was his real life, his real friends, and she didn’t know how she fit into it. Had he mentioned her to them?
“Guys, this is Sarah Turner, a…friend, and also the owner of Joshua Ranch,” he said.
Ignoring the pang of insecurity, she held her smile as he ran through the names of his friends. While their faces were familiar, she didn’t know any of them, but they all greeted her with a friendliness that seemed genuine.
She had probably been to Tilly’s once or twice when she was younger, so her memories of the place were vague. It had a vintage charm to it with old-school vinyl-backed chairs and a large bar with vinyl stools. She did notice a wonderful assortment of bright watercolor paintings of some local landmarks. That definitely seemed out of place for a rural diner but very charming.
The place was already packed with people, and there was an excited buzz to the air. A giant banner that read Welcome Home, Lainey hung in the opening of the window that separated the front counter from the kitchen.
“Lainey, welcome back,” Cade said, reaching forward to give the pretty young woman a hug.
She pulled back after a moment. “I’m happy to be home,” she said, smiling. Tyler, the handsome man beside her, put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple.
“The longest year of my life,” Tyler said with a laugh and pulled her closer. They were a very cute couple.
“I hear you’ve left the ranch?” Lainey asked Cade.
Cade nodded and looked over at Sarah. “Yep. I’m working at Sarah’s ranch now.”
Sarah watched Cade’s expression closely, but his handsome profile didn’t reveal an ounce of irritation at the mention of her being his boss.
“How was Italy? School?” Cade asked Lainey.
The woman’s face glowed. “It was amazing. I learned so much, I met so many great people, and you’ll be pleased to know I have a lot more Italian dishes coming to the diner menu.”
Cade broke into a wide grin, and Sarah made a mental note that Italian food was his favorite. Maybe she could request Mrs. Casey make some for him. “You know I’ll be here,” he said.
“Speaking of, you guys help yourselves to the food. It’s all set up buffet-style, so feel free to dig in whenever,” Tyler said.
“Well, I’m starving,” Cade said. “Do you want to go grab some food?” he asked, turning to Sarah.
She nodded, relieved that he wasn’t going to leave her here with his friends. She knew she should push herself to mingle, but the awkwardness was holding her back. “Definitely. Thanks,” she said, shooting his friends a smile before walking with Cade to the buffet.
A large spread of different green salads, ribs, baked beans, roast beef, mac ’n’ cheese, garlic bread, and lasagna was set up along the diner bar. Cade handed her a plate and then took one for himself. “There are some must-haves in this buffet,” he said, stopping at the lasagna and picking up the spatula. “Starting with this.”
He proceeded to slide the spatula through to two precut slabs of lasagna, perfectly place them on his plate, and smile triumphantly. There was a boyishness to his smile that she hadn’t seen before and that she found adorable—and that was a word she’d never use to describe someone like him. She eyed the food, and while she normally adhered to a gluten-, sugar-, and dairy-free diet in an attempt to keep her migraines at bay, she didn’t want to do that tonight. She wanted to be like everyone else. She wanted to be like the other women in this room, like Cade’s friends.
“That’s impressive,” she said at the heaping plate. “I take it you’re not a fan of low-carb eating?”
He grinned sheepishly. “I’d rather go on back-to-back cattle drives, in the pouring rain, without coffee, than give up carbs.”
She laughed as she scooped up one of the salads with arugula and tomatoes and then a piece of the lasagna. “I like your logic.”
They made their way back to Cade’s frien
ds, who were seated at a table by the window, next to some very loud, very excited older women.
“So, Sarah, Cade tells me you’ve taken over the ranch,” Tyler said with a friendly smile.
“Well, trying to. It’s a process.” She shifted in her seat and took a sip of the Italian wine Tyler had poured for all of them. It was one thing for Cade to know that she had no idea how to run a ranch, but it felt pathetic to let others know.
“She’s doing great. A natural. In no time, she’ll be running circles around us,” Cade said before shoveling a piece of lasagna into his mouth. She had no idea how he still managed to look attractive inhaling forkfuls of food that large.
“Did you go to high school here?” Lainey asked.
Sarah shook her head, holding her glass of wine tightly. “I was homeschooled.”
“Oh, wow. Well, I guess you were spared from all the teen drama that comes with high school,” Hope said with a warm laugh.
Sarah nodded, smiling. “That’s one way of looking at it.” The truth was that she always wished she went to high school. If her parents had allowed her to mingle with people her age, she might not have been so lonely. She might have met girls like Lainey and Hope. She might not have felt so awkward here tonight.
“So how do you like working with Cade?” Tyler said, raising his eyebrows.
Sarah looked up at Cade, who was almost glaring at Tyler.
“Great. He’s been great. I don’t know how we would have gotten along without him.”
“My father still cries over him leaving,” Tyler said with a laugh.
Hope put down her phone and was scrambling to get out of the booth. “I’m so sorry, Lainey. Worst best friend ever,” she said, standing up and holding her arms out to hug Lainey.
“As if. What’s wrong? Is Sadie sick again?”
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