Cassie and Will were left to bring out the chairs in addition to an extra folding chair or two that Sylvia had unearthed earlier, while Sylvia and Robbie went to greet their guests. Cassie did her best to avoid all physical contact with Will; for his part, Will seemed totally focused on the job.
The living room was crowded when Cassie entered from the hall. Will, who had been directly behind her, must have continued upstairs, probably to change since he'd been out doing chores earlier.
June, Ray's wife, remembered Cassie from her growing years; Lisa Ann, Ray, Jr.'s wife, had only lived in Love for a few years, having married Ray, Jr. after his first wife died. The older woman matched her husband in roundness, her hair fully silver, its short length tightly curled. The younger woman, barely ten or so years older than Cassie, was pretty in a fussy way but with soft doe eyes. Both greeted Cassie warmly. Ray, Jr., at his wife's side, nodded to Cassie with a small satisfied smile.
The twins stayed on different sides of the room, but as the minutes ticked by, and with everyone seemingly ignoring them, they made their way over to each other and soon were talking.
Cassie caught Sylvia's conspiratorial wink and knew that the two men had been ignored on purpose.
Jimmy was the last to arrive. As his huge white Cadillac rolled down the drive, Cassie stepped onto the porch to greet him. Glancing at the gate, she saw that he had closed it. An East Texas farm boy knows the rules about gates.
Jimmy was dressed to the hilt in one of his tan custom-made western suits with a black bolo tie and a matching Stetson. His silver-gray hair was newly cut, his nails recently manicured, his shave, typically, barbershop fresh. Cassie had never learned his true age. He could be anywhere from forty-five to sixty, but he moved like a much younger man as he bounded up the stairs onto the porch. He was only a few inches taller than Cassie, and slim everywhere but the belly, but because of the way he filled his space he seemed a much larger man.
"Howdy, Cassie," he boomed cheerfully, removing his hat. "Looks like this fresh air's been doing you just fine! I have those contracts right here." He patted the inner pocket of his jacket. Then lifting his nose, he sniffed the scent of tangy barbecue sauce. "Mmm-mmm! That sure smells good. Smells like somebody's gonna burn some meat today. Hope it's us!"
Cassie couldn't help but smile. Jimmy was irresistible.
"Come inside and meet everyone," she invited, then added in a quick aside, "I think we should do the signing first."
"My thinkin' exactly," he murmured in return as he held the door open for her to enter.
Introductions were made all around. Everyone seemed fascinated by Jimmy, and he quickly made himself at home...talking first with Robbie and Ray, and then consulting Sylvia about what he could do to make his homemade barbecue sauce tastier.
Cassie was in position at Jimmy's side when Will entered the room. Not only had he changed clothes, he was wearing a newer pair of jeans, a colorful plaid shirt with shiny pearlized snap buttons, and his scuffed boots had been given new life with a little leather cleaner. He'd also showered and freshly shaved. All for the occasion. Cassie heart gave a wild leap. She couldn't take her eyes off him. No matter what he was dressed in, he would always be an attractive man. Wearing skins in a cave, he'd make his mate's temperature rise! But this was the first time she'd seen him take special care, and the result was devastating.
Much to her relief, Sylvia handled his introduction to Jimmy. The two men shook hands. Then Will's eyes settled on her, and Cassie forgot to breathe. Voices faded; it was just the two of them in the room.
"Cassie?" Someone said her name from afar. "Cassie?" She heard it repeated, only this time from closer by. When Jimmy touched her arm, she jumped as if an electric spark had leapt from his fingers. So much charged energy surrounded her!
"Yes?" she said, quickly dragging her eyes away from Will, though he continued to watch her.
Jimmy handed her a long envelope, before he spoke to the crowd. "Might as well get the business part over with first. If you two gentleman would like to look over the contracts—" He handed a document to each man. "Feel free to take your time."
Robbie motioned Will to his side, and Ray, Jr. moved next to his father. The room waited as each word was read.
"You'll see I've added the clause you requested, Ray." Jimmy directed their attention to the proper section. "And since the property has been in your family for a number of years, you'll also see that you're retaining the mineral rights. I enjoy turning a profit, but I don't like to rob people. I prefer to sleep at night."
Jimmy had once told her that he'd cheated a man early in his career, and had felt so bad about it afterward that he'd tracked the man down over three states and five years in order to give him his money back. He truly did like to sleep at night.
"Looks all right to me," Robbie said.
"Me, too," Ray agreed.
"All right, gentlemen. Now, if you'd care to sign on the appropriate lines." He pulled two pens from his pocket.
Sylvia moved a bowl of flowers off the center of the coffee table and the twins sat down to sign.
"And now we need two witnesses," Jimmy said.
Ray handed the pen to Ray, Jr. and Robbie gave his to Will.
"Next, the best part!" Jimmy grinned, and motioned Cassie forward. "Cassie, why don't you do the honors."
Cassie opened the envelope and handed each brother his check.
Robbie stared at his for a long time, then eyes moist, he held it up for Will and Sylvia to see. He soon had to wipe his nose on a tissue.
Ray seemed surprised by Robbie's show of emotion. If nothing else to this point had driven home how important this sale was to his brother, that did. He moved uncomfortably, cleared his throat, then offered his brother his hand. Robbie was surprised by the offer. He looked hard at Ray's hand, before reaching out to clasp it.
"I think this calls for a drink," Sylvia said happily. "Lemonade anyone? I made some fresh this mornin'. And there's always sweet tea, and hot coffee."
~~~~
THE MINUTES COUNTED down. Cassie could almost feel them speeding by. She ate alongside everyone else at the table under the shade tree, but she couldn't have said how the meal tasted if her life depended on it. Jimmy raved about how good it was, but she'd expected him to do that. The others also offered their compliments to Sylvia, including Cassie.
After the meal, the men went to inspect the outbuildings, Jimmy gathering Ray and Ray, Jr. into the tour even if they might have preferred not to accompany them. Jimmy was so friendly, so enthusiastic, he could persuade even the most resistant soul.
The women cleared the table. After the dishes were washed and put away, Sylvia showed them a catalogue picture of the dishwasher she'd picked out. Then, suggesting that they enjoy their refreshments on the front porch, she led the way with a tray.
Cassie took advantage of that moment to bow out. She couldn't do it. Last night, on the porch with Will, was too freshly seared in her mind. She pleaded a headache, which wasn't far from the truth, and went to her bedroom to pack. The process was simple. All she had to do was remove her things from the closet and empty several drawers.
When she had everything in her suitcase, she looked around. The room had seemed so small when she'd first seen it. Now it was just right.
The last thing she retrieved was the photo of her father. That boyish face, that playful smile.
Jimmy's characteristic laugh, full and uninhibited, floated upstairs to her bedroom. The men had returned to the house.
She looked again at the image of her father, wondered what advice he might give her, and slipped the cherished picture into her briefcase.
Then, leaving her suitcase just inside the door, she went downstairs. Her place, for the moment, continued to be at Jimmy's side.
~~~~
THE MEN WERE seated at the kitchen table that they must have moved back inside. They'd helped themselves to coffee and more of the peach cobbler dessert left over from the meal.
When Jimmy saw her, he said, "I wondered where you'd disappeared to."
"I was packing," Cassie said.
"Here—" he pushed out an empty chair with his foot "—why don't you join us. You aren't in any hurry to leave, are you?"
"No." The answer was both truth and lie.
Jimmy and Ray occupied chairs at the table's head and foot, while Robbie, Ray, Jr. and Will sat along the sides. The chair Jimmy offered her was directly across from Will. She pretended to concentrate on settling into it rather than meet Will's gaze.
"We were just talkin' about Love," Jimmy said. "About how it's growing, and a little of its history." He paused. "I didn't know you came from Love, Cassie."
"My family moved here when I was a baby."
"So this trip was a homecoming for you." He beamed a pleased smile.
"You could say that," she murmured.
"You still have family here?" he asked.
"My mother."
Jimmy had never asked her about her past. He tended to take people as they were. But he was astute enough to know that she had faced difficulties in her earlier life. Difficulties that had encased her in an emotional shell.
Picking up on her hesitancy, he halted that line of pursuit to instead tease, "So I'm thinkin' that maybe I shouldn't have to pay you for this!"
"You better," Ray warned, smiling. "If you don't, Junior and I will hire her away from you."
"You folks allow poachin' in this part of Texas?" Jimmy demanded archly of his host.
The question elicited laughter as intended. Jimmy then switched the conversation to the various business interests in town, asking Ray and Ray, Jr. to tell him about them.
He heard them out, then said, "You realize, as your town grows—as your county grows—you're not goin' to be able to hold off a big discount store forever. There'll be one built somewhere, whether it's in your town or in a town down the road. People will drive to wherever it is and shop there. Everybody wants a bargain. May not happen for some years. For sure won't happen on that strip I just bought off you. But it's comin'. My advice is for you to start makin' plans. Do you have any?"
Ray stiffened in his seat, but Ray, Jr. sat forward. "I was thinking what we need is to specialize more. No one knows our customers like we do. We can offer them items that they can't get in one of those big places. And we can start doing more to get tourists to stop in Love instead of passin' on through. Start sellin' local arts and crafts—like those quilts and those rag dolls your mother and the church ladies make, Will. And those funny mailboxes Jenny Martinez makes. We can even come up with some kind of festival. Call it something with a clever take on the town name, like The Love Bug Festival. Have beetle races and cookin' contests….that kind of thing." He sat back on the last words, as if realizing that he might have let his tongue get away from him. "Well," he said, slightly embarrassed. "Not that name necessarily, but something like it." He glanced at his father, who continued to sit stiffly.
"That's exactly the kind of thinking I'm talkin' about!" Jimmy approved enthusiastically. "Other towns have done it, you can too!"
"I don't mean right away," Ray, Jr. said to his father. "Just maybe…start planning."
Ray shifted in his chair, rubbed his neck, rubbed his cheek, and said, "Sounds like a good idea. Why don't you bring it up at the next Chamber meeting?"
Ray, Jr. smiled and nodded agreement.
"Looks like Junior's a chip off the ol' block, after all, Ray," Robbie said, grinning.
As the others continued to talk, Cassie felt Will's eyes burning into her. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, she turned to Jimmy. "If you don't need me anymore, I'd like to leave early so I can stop off and see my mother."
Jimmy frowned slightly. He must have picked up on her heightened tension. "No, I don't need you. Go ahead."
Cassie did her best to leave the room without seeming to hurry. But as she passed through the kitchen doorway into the hall, a second chair scraped back, and she knew Will was intent on following her.
She quickened her pace, but Will's long legs allowed him to catch up and block her way onto the stairs.
"We need to deal with this, Cassie," he said with quiet intenseness, mindful of being overheard. "You know there's somethin'. I know there's somethin'. If you go back to Houston—"
"I don't want to stay," she told the floor, her reply taut.
"Tell me that when you're lookin' at me, and maybe then I'll believe you."
Cassie lifted her gaze, ready to brazen it out. But she got no higher than the muscle twitching at the side of his jaw, and she knew she couldn't do it! "All right," she admitted. "There is something. But it's not been a full week!"
"We've known each other most of our lives."
She shook her head. "No. We haven't. I knew who you were. You knew who I was. Me…Bonnie Edwards' daughter. I know now that my mother can't help being who she is. And that the town, and the people...aren't as bad as I remembered. But I can't— I don't— Everything's so—" Distressed, she pushed the feathery hairs curving onto her cheeks back behind her ears.
"It's only as complicated as we make it, Cassie."
"I need time, Will."
Conflicting emotions passed over his face as he struggled with her assertion. Finally, he said huskily, "Then take it." And after a pause, "Can I come see you?"
She was already shaking her head in the negative before he finished.
He stared out the screen door over her head. A moment later he stepped out of her way. "Tell me when you're ready, and I'll come get your suitcase."
More than anything in that moment Cassie wanted to throw herself into his arms, uncaring how long it might last. But, as hard as it was, she knew she had to do the right thing. At the ranch, her emotions were in too much of a jumble. She couldn't sort them out. Especially with Will so close by.
"I'm ready right now," she said. "And I'll bring my suitcase down." The truth was, she didn't trust herself to be alone with him in such a private place as her room.
"I'll be here," he said, and said it in such a way that she knew he meant not only when she came downstairs, but whenever she wanted to contact him again.
~~~~
THE GOODBYES TO both sets of Taylors were going to be harrowing. Brief moments later, just as Cassie handed off her suitcase to Will, Sylvia came inside. She'd been smiling at something the women on the porch were talking about, but her smile vanished the instant she saw what was taking place.
"You're leaving so soon?" she asked.
Cassie nodded. "I'm going to stop by Bonnie's on my way out of town."
"But—" Sylvia's eyes moved to Will, and searched his tightly drawn features before they switched back.
Cassie set her briefcase on the floor in order to take the woman's hands in both of hers. "I'm so glad everything worked out for your family, Sylvia. Thank you. Thank you for everything."
Sylvia caught her bottom lip. "You remember what I told you before?"
"I do" Cassie said.
Robbie hobbled in from the kitchen, followed by the other men. Cassie went to shake his hand, but he quickly turned it into a hug. "You don't be a stranger, little gal," he said gruffly.
Ray, leaning past his brother, held out his hand. "Good doing business with you, Cassie."
Ray, Jr. shook her hand as well, but said nothing. His smile and nod were enough.
"See ya back in Houston bright and early Monday mornin'!" Jimmy called, having slipped into a more pronounced accent after being at the ranch for a couple of hours.
"You're not going to give her a little time off?" Ray demanded.
"She can come in a half hour late, if she wants," Jimmy teased.
Cassie knew that after a negotiation she could have as much time off as she wanted, but she had a feeling that she was going to need the activity of work to keep herself from thinking about Will and the ranch.
"I'll be there," she assured him.
"I'll take this on out," Will said quietly, motioning with the su
itcase.
It was like tearing out a part of her heart when she stepped onto the porch for what could be the last time. She quickly said goodbye to the other Taylor women, then after giving another hug to Sylvia and another to Robbie, she turned to walk away.
Before she got halfway to the car, though, she paused to wave, a haze of tears in her eyes. Everyone, except Will, had clustered onto the porch to see her off. Even the Duchess was there, gray tail flicking with annoyance on the lower step because her favorite rocking chair had a stranger in it.
Will, his expression a study in fortitude, held the car door open and Cassie slid inside.
Her throat was so tight it was painful.
"Don't be long," he said gruffly, then shut the door securely and stepped back.
Tears overflowed Cassie's dark eyes as she started the engine. She wasn't aware that Will had once again jogged out to the gate until she saw him swing it open.
Her leave-taking was so very different from her arrival.
But then, she was different.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CASSIE LET HERSELF into her apartment, exhausted in every way it was possible to be exhausted. The drive from Love to Houston had seemed endless. She was glad it was over. But the emptiness of the place she called home was so pronounced after the conviviality of the past week that she felt no welcome. Even the central air-conditioned air had a staleness to it that she had never noticed before.
She left her suitcase and briefcase by the door to turn on a couple of lamps, hoping to chase away some of the gloom. Then she slumped into the nearest chair. How many times on the way home had she wondered if she was doing the right thing? Or if she only thought it was the right thing? Will wanted her to stay. He'd asked her more than once. He'd said there was something between them, which meant he felt something, too.
Something. The ambiguity of the word made Cassie sigh.
Bonnie had been impossible to find. She hadn't been at home, she hadn't been out by the creek. Cassie had searched for about a half hour and had ended up leaving a note. In it, she promised that she would be back to visit and that her mother should call whenever she had the opportunity. Bonnie didn't have a telephone, but she didn't object to using one.
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