by Shirley Jump
He shrugged fractionally. “I guess I’ll find out. Good night, Cassie.”
She watched as he took a slow step, then another. He was in tremendous pain and trying not to show it. “Tanner?” His name fell from her lips.
“Yes?”
What am I doing?
“You...you could stay here tonight,” she said quietly and couldn’t quite believe the words were coming out. But she didn’t want him driving and potentially crashing. He was Doug’s brother. Oliver’s uncle. Old-fashioned consideration surged through her. “You’re not exactly in any condition to drive. And you said you’ll be coming back to see Oliver tomorrow anyway. And since you haven’t booked into a hotel. I think... I think...”
What? Having him spend the night is a good idea? In what stratosphere?
“You think what?”
She shrugged lightly. Okay, maybe it wasn’t a good idea. But he was Oliver’s uncle. And family, in a way. Plus, technically the house was his. He had every right to stay.
“It was just an idea. You look tired and in pain, that’s all. And there are two spare rooms. But if you’d rather go to a—”
“If you’re sure,” he said, cutting her off.
She wasn’t sure about anything. Especially when it came to Tanner McCord. “Of course.”
He watched her, rattling her nerves in that way he always seemed to do. “Then I’ll stay. And you’re right, Cassie, I’m beat. I’d really like a shower and some sleep. Thank you.”
So it was settled. He was staying.
“I’ll show you to your room,” she said quietly and forced some air into her lungs.
“I’ll get my bag. Be back in a minute.”
She told Mouse to stay put, walked from the room and up the hall and waited while Tanner headed back outside. He returned in a few minutes with a battered duffel draped over one strong shoulder. He wore dark jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt with piping around the pocket and cuffs and, despite the now pronounced effort as he walked, Cassie felt a sharp niggle of awareness way down low. That he could do that to her, despite how much she had loved Doug, always made her resent him just that little bit more than she would have liked.
“This way,” she said and walked down the hall. He followed and stood in the doorway once she entered the bedroom. “The sheets are fresh and there are spare towels hanging in the bathroom.”
“Thank you,” he said as he walked into the room and dropped his bag at the foot of the bed.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it. I need to check on Oliver.”
Cassie left the room as swiftly as she could and headed for the nursery, and tried not to think about how she suddenly had a man staying in her spare room.
His spare room. His house.
With a heavy heart it occurred to her she was now a visitor in her own home.
Once she’d checked on the baby Cassie made it to the kitchen and turned on the kettle. She heard the shower running and tried to concentrate on making tea. The wall clock read just past eight-thirty and she hoped once Tanner had showered he’d give in to the jet lag and crash out for the night.
But not so.
Fifteen minutes later he appeared in the doorway. He wore low-rise, loose-fitting jeans and a white Henley shirt that did little to disguise the washboard belly and broad shoulders. His hair was damp and flopped over his forehead.
So, he’s as sexy as sin.
It wasn’t exactly a news flash. The first time she’d met Tanner she’d been aware of his many physical attributes. Doug had joked how his brother had gotten all the looks in the family. Not that he’d been unattractive, but he certainly hadn’t possessed the classic handsomeness of the man now hovering in the doorway.
“Tea?” she asked and tried not to think about how the air seemed suddenly thicker.
He shrugged. “Coffee?”
Cassie nodded and grabbed a couple of mugs. “Is instant okay?” she asked. “Or I can put the percolator on for—”
“Instant is fine,” he said easily.
She relaxed a little and began making the coffee. “Now that you’ve showered and changed do you feel human again?”
“Yeah. I don’t mind flying, but I always seem to get a chronic case of jet lag.”
“Doug loved flying,” she said as she poured his coffee and then sugared her tea. She remembered that Tanner liked his coffee with only a little milk. Funny how some memories stuck.
“My brother always was the adventurous one.”
Cassie didn’t quite believe that. While Doug had joined the army and made a career as a soldier, she knew Tanner had traveled the world before settling in South Dakota to work his special kind of magic with horses. He had the swagger and confidence of a man who knew who he was. Now she wondered how much the accident had changed his life and the work he loved.
“Can you still ride?” she asked, figuring there were things that had to be said and she needed time to work up to the hard questions.
“Not yet,” he replied and came farther into the room.
Cassie glanced up. “When you called to say you couldn’t come to the funeral because you were in hospital I kind of zoned out and didn’t ask many questions about what had happened to you. I think I was still in shock at the time.”
“Understandable,” he said and walked around the table. He pulled out a chair and sat down. “I was in a bit of shock myself. I guess I always thought Doug was invincible.” He tapped his leg in a kind of ironic gesture “Turns out, no one is.”
Cassie brought the mugs to the table and sat down. “So, what happened?”
“You mean the accident? I got in the way of a frightened horse and was trampled.”
It sounded oversimplified and she raised her brows. “And?”
“A busted leg, broken wrist, four fractured ribs and concussion. Cuts and abrasions. And I lost my spleen.”
“A horse did that?” she asked, horrified by the seriousness of his injuries.
He sipped his coffee. “I was at a friend’s ranch. His young daughter got between the colt and the fence and I pulled her out of the way. But I wasn’t quick enough to make it back through the corral gate. The horse struck me in the chest and once I was down that was it. There was nothing anyone could have done.”
Cassie’s throat tightened. “You could have been killed.”
He shrugged lightly. “I spent a month in hospital and the next six working to get back on my feet.”
“It happened only a few days or so before Doug died,” she said quietly, thinking of the irony. “It must have been hard for you, being in hospital and getting the news your brother was gone.”
He shrugged again, but Cassie wasn’t fooled. There was something in his expression that told her losing his brother had been shattering. She’d always thought Tanner to be aloof and insensitive. Doug had called him a free spirit, the kind of man who would never settle down, never lay down roots. But she wasn’t so sure. She decided to ask him. There was no point in being coy. There was too much at stake. “What are you really doing here, Tanner?”
He sat back slowly in his seat and watched her. “I told you.”
“To see your nephew?” It seemed too easy. Too simple.
“That’s right.”
“How long are you staying?”
He pushed the mug aside. “I’m not sure.”
Cassie’s back stiffened. “Then I have to ask you,” she said and pushed her shoulders back. “Are you kicking us out of this house?”
Copyright © 2015 by Helen Lacey
ISBN-13: 9781460343036
The Homecoming Queen Gets Her Man
Copyright © 2015 by Shirley Kawa-Jump, LLC
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