Still no closer to a decision about that or the woman who’d walked out of his life, he heard the pounding of hooves and looked up to see Garrett riding toward him, her hair tangled and her cheeks flushed from the ride.
“Your grandmother’s looking for you.”
“I figured she would be. It’s been all of an hour since I last checked in.”
She cast a reproving glance at him. “Your attitude stinks, mister. No wonder Marilou dumped you,” she said bluntly.
“Marilou didn’t dump me,” he felt compelled to say, clinging to some small shred of pride. “She had to get back to work.”
“Right.”
Her sarcastic dig, which was closer to the mark than he cared to admit, nagged at him. “You’ve passed along my grandmother’s message like a good employee. You can take off now.”
She studied him without moving, unfazed by his nasty mood. “You don’t like her much, do you?” she said, seemingly baffled.
Cal was taken aback by her assessment. “Actually, I do,” he confessed. “We’re a lot alike, maybe too much so.”
“Then why don’t you treat her with the respect she deserves? Not many men or women could have done what she’s done all these years.” Her eyes sparked, and she leaned forward as she tried to share her own obviously intense feelings about his grandmother’s accomplishments. “Talk to some of the other ranchers around these parts and you’ll see what I mean. She has an indomitable spirit, but she’s lonely. All I’ve heard her talk about since I first came here two years ago was what it would be like if she could just find you. Now that you’re here, it seems to me like you’re breaking her heart.”
“I don’t mean to,” he said candidly. “I’m just not sure I can do what she wants. Your position will certainly be strengthened if I relinquish my rights to this place. Isn’t that what you want?”
“Maybe what you or I want isn’t so important,” she said quietly, then started off. Before he could recover from her final barb, she added, “By the way, your greenhorn friend is here.”
“Joshua? I wasn’t expecting him until tomorrow.”
“Apparently your employees jump to do your bidding, just like we do around here at your grandmother’s. I think maybe you should have warned him about this place. He seemed to go into shock when one of the cows wandered over to check him out.”
Cal laughed. “Joshua could do with a few surprises in his life.”
Suddenly she was chuckling with him. “Judging from the horrified expression in his eyes, I’m not sure he’d agree.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t.”
She seemed to relax in the saddle. “Are you coming back now?”
“I’m inclined to let him get better acquainted with the cows first.”
“He may quit on you,” she warned.
“He might at that. Then again, if he’s gotten a good look at the fringe benefits, I’m sure he’ll stick around.” With a wink, he spurred his horse and took off across the fields, Garrett in hot and furious pursuit.
“I am not a fringe benefit,” she shouted, the complaint merging with his laughter as both were carried away on the wind.
* * *
Joshua was, indeed, looking a little grim. Cal found him pacing in the parlor, his expression murderous. Since he had deliberately provoked Garrett into running off, he was left to face his friend alone. Not even his grandmother was around to serve as a buffer.
“Are you out of your mind?” Joshua demanded as he came into the room. He ignored Cal’s outstretched hand.
“What’s the problem?” Cal inquired innocently.
“Just for starters, there are no nonstop flights between Orlando and this godforsaken hellhole.”
“I offered to send my plane for you.”
“Right. The one with the pilot who thinks he’s still flying Medevac helicopters in Vietnam.”
“Who better to get you to a hellhole? Any other complaints?”
“Dozens, and that doesn’t include the ones I’m anticipating. Why am I here?”
“My grandmother could use a little help with the books.”
“I’m quite sure there are adequate accountants in this part of the world.”
“None with your expertise or loyalty.”
Joshua wagged a warning finger at him. “Don’t count too heavily on the latter.”
“Oh, but I do, my friend.”
“How has your grandmother gotten along all these years without an accountant?”
“By her wits, I suspect. Certainly not by any understanding of accounting procedures as you and I know them. Will you help, Joshua? I can guarantee it will be a challenge, even for a man with your skills.”
Joshua sank down in a chair. “Do you realize there is not a drop of Scotch in this house?”
“Play your cards right and I’ll sneak some in for you. Will you help?”
He threw up his hands in a gesture of resignation. “Oh, what the hell. As long as I’m here, I might as well give it a shot. What’s your stake in this?”
“She wants to leave the place to me.”
Joshua’s eyes widened. “Good Lord, as if your Florida place weren’t enough of a headache. How do you feel about that?”
“I’m not sure yet. At first I was adamantly opposed to the idea, but Marilou managed to get in a few good zingers about my cowardice before she left…”
“She’s gone?”
He nodded glumly. “Back to Atlanta.”
“For good?”
“Based on the things she said as she flew out here, I’d say the move is permanent.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“It was her choice.”
“You sound as if you expected her to make it.”
“I saw it coming, yes.”
Silence fell as Joshua studied him consideringly. “Are you so sure you didn’t back her into a corner until it was the only choice she could make?”
“Meaning?”
“You’re not stupid, Cal, even if you do choose to live in the oddest places. I’m sure if you think about it, you can figure it out.”
After several more uncomfortable days of self-examination, he eventually realized what Joshua meant. He’d been so terrified of losing Marilou that he’d been the one to force her to break it off. That idiotic speech he’d made about living together without commitment had been guaranteed to drive her away. Her departure had only confirmed his general opinion that women always ran when things got tough.
Now that she was gone, he was already restless and bored with trying to make sense of his grandmother’s cattle operation. Even with the haphazard bookkeeping and his lack of expertise in the beef market, it wasn’t much of a challenge. He hadn’t given a thought to Silver River Stables in days, despite repeated calls from Chaney. He’d been reading the Wall Street Journal with an eye toward finding something new.
But Joshua’s pointed remark had underscored what he’d been thinking earlier that very day: he would always be quick to run unless he finally took the biggest risk of all and admitted to Marilou that he was in love with her.
She had brought excitement to every minute he’d spent with her. Her innocence and enthusiasm had made every day unique, jammed every hour with special moments. He didn’t need another new business. He needed the one woman who could make him look at life in a new way, who could teach him the real meaning of family and love and commitment.
And he’d waited far too long to tell her that.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” he told his grandmother and Joshua at dinner that night.
“Leaving?” Joshua repeated, his expression horrified. “Without me?”
“You’ll survive.”
“Where are you going?” his grandmother asked, her demeanor instantly stiff.
“Atlanta.”
At that her disapproval vanished. “It’s about time. For a while there I was worried you weren’t going to see what’s plain as day.”
He shook his head and sighed. �
�I’m surprised you didn’t point it out.”
She patted his hand. “Some things a man has to figure out for himself.”
* * *
Marilou was flat-out miserable. In the month she’d been away from Atlanta the rain had finally quit and the skies were a clear blue, but she felt every bit as depressed as she had before she’d gone away. She couldn’t get Cal out of her mind. She’d even planted a damned vegetable garden on the balcony of her apartment. The tomatoes were taking over. At least, she thought they were tomatoes. Maybe it was the zucchini that was going nuts.
She’d taken to scouring the sports pages for stories on racing. She’d even picked up The Daily Racing Form, which had aroused all sorts of curious stares at work, since the nearest track was in Alabama. She hadn’t found one single word about Silver River Stables or Devil’s Magic or any of the other horses. There were rumors that a well-respected trainer was in negotiations with an Ocala Thoroughbred breeder, but the reports were so vague that she couldn’t be sure Cal was involved.
Half a dozen times she’d picked up the phone to call Florida or Wyoming. Each time, she’d cradled the receiver without dialing. Each time she’d told herself she had to wait for Cal to make the first move.
Telling him goodbye that night had very nearly killed her and, judging from the pallor of his complexion and the set of his lips as he’d heard her out, it had been no easier on him. Still, he had let her go. As his grandmother had warned her, he’d probably told himself a hundred times since then that he was better off without a woman who found it so easy to cut the ties between them.
With her mind only half on her job, she was sorting through the endless stacks of mail in search of something that would engage her interest, when Helen came over, a bemused expression on her face.
“Where’d you go on your vacation? Weren’t you in Wyoming?”
“Part of the time.”
“I think this letter’s for you, then. What kind of crazy guy would take a chance on getting it to you this way? Must be a real romantic.”
Puzzled, Marilou held out her hand. As soon as she saw the pale blue vellum envelope, her heart began to thud. The stationery wasn’t all that uncommon, but coupled with Helen’s remarks, there was little doubt about who had sent it. The last time she’d seen this paper, postmarked from Cheyenne, her whole life had taken an incredible new turn. She turned it over and over, almost afraid to open it.
On the front of the envelope, written not in the shaky hand of Mrs. McDonald but in Cal’s bold strokes, were simply her name and Atlanta, Georgia. It was an address so incomplete that it virtually guaranteed it would wind up here in the dead letter office.
The message inside would have provided few clues about the sender to any clerk other than Marilou: I love you. Marry me. Cal.
She felt her pulse soar. Beaming at Helen, she rushed to her supervisor and pleaded for a break. “I have to make a call. It’s important.”
“Ten minutes,” he growled. “And don’t expect another one in an hour.”
“I promise.”
She practically ran to the pay phone down the hall and punched in Cal’s Wyoming number. “Elena, it’s Marilou. Could I speak to Cal, please?”
“No está aqui, señorita. He go away.”
Her spirits plummeted. “Away?”
“Si. You wish to speak to la señora?”
“No. Just give her my love.” The minute she’d hung up, she redialed, this time to the farm in Ocala. “Chaney, it’s Marilou.”
“Hey, gal, we miss you down here. You still in Wyoming with Cal?”
Her spirits nose-dived. Cal must not be there, either. “No, I’m back in Atlanta. Cal’s apparently left Wyoming, too. Isn’t he there?”
“Nope, we ain’t seen hide nor hair of him since the two of you took off. Don’t know how he expects me to run this place when he don’t even call in or take the calls I make.”
“I’m sure he trusts your decisions, Chaney. Do whatever you think is right. How’s Dawn’s Magic?”
“Growing like a danged weed. You coming back to see her?”
“Maybe,” she said wistfully, clinging more tightly to the letter.
“You want me to give the boss a message if he does finally take it into his head to call?” he asked grumpily.
“No,” she said. “No message.”
Thoroughly dispirited, she replaced the receiver and turned to go back to work.
“You looking for me by any chance?”
She whirled around at the sound of Cal’s voice and found him lounging against the wall, dressed like she’d never seen him before. His suit was boardroom gray, his shirt a pristine white, his tie a vibrant and daring red. The man looked like business, but the gleam in his eyes was something else entirely. Something dangerous. Something wicked.
Something vaguely vulnerable.
“You’re here,” she said, breathless with amazement and excitement. Her heart skittered crazily, and she jammed her hands in her pockets to keep from grabbing the man right here in the hall.
He straightened up and took a step toward her. “Seemed to me that a man ought to be in the vicinity when he proposes, just in case the woman decides to say yes.”
She ran her tongue over lips gone suddenly dry. Cal’s eyes were locked on the tantalizing gesture. He swallowed hard and took one more step. Marilou felt the wall against her back and Cal’s heat less than a heartbeat away.
“I do like a man who anticipates all the possibilities,” she said, breathless.
“Enough to marry me?” he said, and that whisper of vulnerability came back.
“Certainly enough to give it some thought,” she said, her expression all tease and challenge.
The expression on Cal’s face then told her he was past playing games. “It took me a long time to get to this point, Marilou.”
“Some might say too long,” she agreed.
“Don’t go playing coy with me. My heart can’t take it.”
“Neither can mine,” she admitted, moving away from cool tile and into the warm circle of his embrace.
“Is that a yes?”
Her arms went around his neck. “Yes, yes, yes.”
She was lost in Cal’s kisses when she heard the shocked voice of her supervisor. “Miss Stockton, is this any way to conduct yourself on government time?”
She promptly and dutifully tried to wriggle free, but Cal’s arms held tight. “Miss Stockton is no longer on government time,” he said. “From now on she’s on mine.” Apparently he heard her quick intake of breath, because he met her eyes. “That okay with you, Miss Stockton?”
After barely an instant’s hesitation, she threw the last trace of caution to the winds. “That is very much okay with me.”
Before her boss could react, Cal had scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the building. “I know that carrying the bride across the threshold is supposed to come after the wedding, but I’m anticipating. You don’t suppose we could get married yet today, do you?”
“Are you afraid if we wait you’ll change your mind?”
“I’m more worried that you’ll come to your senses.”
“Not a chance. I love you, Cal Rivers. I always will.”
“Don’t promise always,” he pleaded. “Just today.”
She touched a silencing finger to his lips. “No, my dearest Cal, always.” She sealed the promise with yet another bone-melting, breath-stealing kiss. “By the way, in case it’s of any interest, that man you just insulted back there was a notary.”
Cal looked dismayed. “Think he’d forgive me long enough to perform a wedding ceremony?”
“He might be more inclined to forgive you if you let me finish working today.”
“I’m afraid his price is way too high. We’ll just have to wait. Besides, I think it might be nice to have a real family wedding in Wyoming. How would you feel about that?”
“I can’t imagine any place I’d rather have a wedding. What about you?”
“I think I’d feel as if I’d finally come home.”
“Do you mean that?”
“I’ve learned one thing over the past couple of weeks. Wherever you are will always be home to me. Besides, I think my grandmother ordered the cake the day I flew off to get you. She’ll be horribly disappointed if we don’t show up so she can make a fuss over you.”
“How long do you suppose this fuss will take?”
Cal grinned at her. “No more than twenty-four hours, if I have anything to say about it.”
“That sounds just about right to me, too,” she agreed. “What shall we do in the meantime?”
“I have a few ideas,” he said, and whispered several in her ear.
“I do like your ideas.”
“I thought you might,” he said, as he tucked her into the back of a limousine. He assured her he’d chosen the vehicle specifically for its very dark tinted windows. “I wasn’t sure I could wait to get you home.”
She smiled slowly and reached for his tie. “Tell the driver just to keep going until he hears from you again.”
“That could be days,” Cal said.
“Then tell him he might as well aim this thing toward Wyoming.”
Epilogue
First Saturday in May, Three Years Later
It was not yet dawn when Cal pulled into the stable area at Churchill Downs. Mist still hovered in the air, creating an eerie ambiance. There was something almost mystical about this time of day at any backstretch in the country, but on the day of the Kentucky Derby an indefinable stir of excitement was added. Even the horses seemed aware of it, their ears pricked, their prancing steps livelier. The stable boys and grooms moved just a little faster to complete their chores. The hot walkers and exercise riders talked odds. The trainers definitely paced more nervously. Only the owners, most of them far more jaded than Cal, were still sound asleep in their fancy Louisville hotel suites, recovering from the previous night’s Derby festivities.
My Dearest Cal Page 17