As they would, Cassie's thoughts returned to Will. By now the company would have left, and he'd probably be hard at work, trying to make up for the lost time. Sylvia would likely be sitting on the front porch resting with the cat, and Robbie would either be with her or out with Will, helping where he could.
Her gaze traveled around the open room. She'd worked very hard to make the apartment attractive and comfortable and reflective of her personality. But she no longer had need of a brittle shell, or the pretense that she wasn't who she truly was. Much of what she saw, she wouldn't select again.
She looked down at the jeans she'd worn since morning, and the, by now, somewhat rumpled shirt. She'd never worn jeans before this trip, not until her stay at the ranch. Now they felt a part of her.
Thoughts of her father made her drag herself out of the chair to retrieve his photo from her briefcase. Tomorrow, she would scan it into her computer, use her limited photo manipulation skills, and create as many photos of him as she wanted. She could have a framed picture of him in every room.
For tonight, though, his picture would come with her just as it was and she'd prop it on her own bedside table.
~~~~
CASSIE DID HER best to fit back into her life in Houston. On Sunday she talked to a couple of friends, catching up on their lives, but careful not to let the conversation touch on her own. She did her laundry, stopped by the cleaners, shopped to put a few things back in the refrigerator, worked on the computer to print the set of photos she wanted. But she still felt incomplete, and all too often her thoughts centered on the ranch.
Monday and Tuesday she spent at work. Jimmy had yet to return from his day in the country, having extended his travels to other small towns in the area. Getting reacquainted with the Heart of Texas, as he'd termed it. Scouting for more prospective land purchases was another.
With Jimmy away, the office was quiet, and Cassie busied herself by catching up with paperwork. The most difficult hours, she found, were those after work, when time seemed to drag and the loneliness of her apartment became almost painful. Not even meeting a friend at a favorite restaurant for dinner was fulfilling.
Wednesday, Cassie looked forward to Jimmy's impending return with growing tension. She'd run out of tasks to occupy her time. But Jimmy was late, and Diane, who during the previous days had provided an avenue for conversation, secretly confided that she had partied a little too hardy the night before and all she wanted was to quietly hold her head in her hands in the hope that her monster headache would soon lessen. The only other member of staff, Louise, who'd worked with Jimmy almost since he'd started out—first as his one-woman office support, then as his accounts manager, and now, though well past retirement age, still trundled in most days to keep them all on the straight and narrow—was in a grumpy mood and didn't want to be disturbed. Leaving Cassie to invent something to do.
Updating her contacts list wasn't enough, though. Will and the ranch were exerting a pull that she was finding more and more difficult to resist. Maybe she had been in love with him for all these years and hadn't known it. Maybe that was the reason why she'd been reluctant to let her other romantic relationships progress. Maybe—
Was she in love with him?
At the ranch she'd been afraid that what she felt for him was caught up in all the other emotions swirling around her. Instinctively, she'd known that as long as she was under his and the ranch's sway, the validity of her feelings could be questioned. But she was back in Houston now…and they remained the same.
And Will…what did he feel? She knew beyond a doubt that he was attracted to her. But—
"Cassie!" Jimmy swept into her small office, making it feel even smaller. "You know I was only kiddin' when I said you had to come in. You could've taken off the whole week." He looked at her closely. "Did you go to that same party Diane did? Musta been a humdinger! Both of you look like somethin' the cat drug in!"
Cassie managed a small smile. "No, no party."
"Humph," he grunted and dropping into her only spare chair, leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head. "Gotta tell you. I sure enjoyed myself at the ranch. Those Taylors are nice people. All of 'em. And can that Sylvia cook! I ate so much I thought I was gonna pop!"
"She's good," Cassie agreed.
"And Will, he seems to be a fine young man. What'd you think of him?"
Cassie felt heat rise into her cheeks. She averted her face, but knew Jimmy had seen. "He's…what you said."
Jimmy didn't reply. Cassie waited...and waited, and finally looked at him.
He smiled impishly. "So what are you waitin' for?"
"I—I don't—"
He sat forward. "Yes, you do. I saw the way you two were eyein' each other. I also saw the way you left. The way you looked before you left, and the way he looked after."
Cassie shifted pens and papers around on her desk. "You have an overactive imagination."
"Not when it comes to love, I don't. And I'm talkin' about the emotion, not the town. You know me, Cassie. Been married to the same woman for most of my life, and I still thank my lucky stars every day that she 'd have me. Now, what's holdin' you back?"
Anyone else and she might have been able to bluff her way through. But Jimmy was immune to bluffs. Cassie took a breath and admitted miserably, "Jimmy, I don't know what to do. Everything's so jumbled up. When I went back to Love last week, I didn't go willingly. I never wanted to see that place again. Or my mother, if I could avoid it. She—" Cassie struggled for a way to say what needed to be said. "My mother is…different, and I blamed her for a lot of things I shouldn't have. I blamed the town, too. You remember how I was."
"You're not that way anymore."
"No."
"I still don't see what the problem is."
"I think—I know—I have feelings for Will. But, it's all happened so fast. So on top of everything else. I got scared."
"Are you still scared?"
"Not as much."
"So when are you gonna put that young man out of his misery? And yours."
"I don't know! I know he wants—" She stopped hereself. There were some things she just wasn't going to talk about with Jimmy. "He says there's something, but—"
"Did he ask you not to leave?"
Her eyes widened. Had Jimmy had one of his talks with Will, too?
"That's what I'd've of done," Jimmy continued. "I probably would've locked Kate up in a room and kept her there!"
"I told him I needed time."
"For what?"
"To think!"
"Do you still need it?"
"Well, uh, no. Not really."
"Then get to it, girl!"
"But he— I don't—"
"Get to it. Find out how he feels. That's somethin' you need to know."
She motioned around the room. "But, my work—"
Jimmy stood up. "You've earned yourself some time off. Just give me a call on down the road and let me know what's happenin'." Then he swept out of her office as grandly as he'd swept into it.
For a moment all Cassie could do was stare after him. Then she followed his advice. She got to it.
~~~~
"YA THINK THAT boy's gonna last out the week?" Robbie asked as he and Sylvia watched Will load up the bed of the old red pickup with the supplies he needed to replace a section of pasture fence.
"Not if he keeps goin' the way he's been goin'," Sylvia replied.
Robbie shook his woolly head. "Seem's to think he's Superman or somethin'. That fence might need replacin', but it could wait. He wasn't plannin' on doin' it until after we work the calves next week. Now, it's gotta be done right this minute."
"It all comes down to Cassie."
"Tryin' not to think about her," Robbie said.
Sylvia nodded.
"What's he gonna do if she don't come back?" Robbie asked.
"What he's doin' now, most likely. Work every second of every day."
"It ain't right."
"Dad, he told me Ca
ssie asked for some time and he's tryin' to give it to her."
"Time for what?" Robbie snapped. "In my day, ya found the person you wanted and ya got married. As simple as that. There wasn't none 'a this nonsense 'bout thinkin'!"
Sylvia gave a small smile. "In your day, you smacked 'em over the head and dragged 'em back to your cave, huh?"
"Naw," Robbie retorted. "I was more sophisticated than that. I asked 'em out to supper first."
Sylvia laughed, then as she watched Will pull off his work gloves and climb into the truck, she murmured softly, "I just hope she doesn't take too long. One way or the other, she needs to tell him."
~~~~
ON HER EARLIER trips to and from Central Texas, Cassie had taken no notice of the wildflowers scattered along the sides of the highways and in fields and pastures. Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush had mostly finished their big blooms, but coming on strong were Indian Blanket and yellow Greenthread, plus many other flowers Cassie didn't have a name for. People came from far and wide to see the beautiful displays…and she had been too turned inward to appreciate them. On this return trip, though, she was awed by the abundance and the variety.
Her mother would claim it as an omen: nature was cheering her on. And in this instance, Cassie wanted to believe it. Wanted to believe that this journey back to the town, to the ranch, and to the man she loved was preordained. She wanted desperately to ignore the more accepted reality that nothing was preset: she could make this journey and have it fail. In the short time she'd been away, Will could have thought better of everything he'd said to her.
Her hands tightened on the steering wheel.
Whatever the outcome...she had to find out!
~~~~
"AT LEAST COME in and have a hot supper with us," Sylvia pleaded from the saddle, having ridden Polly out to where Will was working. "All this rushing around isn't good for you. Neither is existin' on sandwiches. You need to take a little time and relax."
Will lifted his hat to let a little air in, then positioned it back in place. "I've got a lot to do, Mom."
"This fence'll wait! I want you in for a meal."
He looked down the line of posts he'd already set in place a foot inside the existing fence, in effect temporarily doubling it, and then looked the other way at the much greater distance he'd yet to cover. "It can't wait too long," he said, hedging.
"An hour?" she challenged.
His mother was determined, and Will knew from experience that there was no stopping her, or denying her, once she got the bit between her teeth.
He rubbed a sore shoulder and caved in. "All right," he agreed. "I'll be there."
"Good," she said. "Don't be late!" With a click of encouragement, she wheeled the horse around and headed back to the house.
Will checked the time. He had a half hour. Just enough to finish the hole he'd started digging. At the rate he was going, he could get the new fence finished by the end of the week and the old fence pulled down. It was a job he'd been needing to do for a long time but had never gotten around to. But after Cassie left...
Was he a fool to have let her walk away? What sort of a man did that? Short of tying her down, though, what else could he have done? She'd asked for time. He could have refused, he could have pressured her. But that wouldn't be right. He wanted her to want to be here. To want to be with him. She shouldn't feel forced. According to her own words, she'd spent so much of her life hiding from the people of Love, hiding even from herself. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel the need to hide from him.
So he'd agreed. But he wasn't an easy waiter. He was accustomed to identifying a problem and solving it. And for her to be so far away was a definite problem.
Once he had the post securely in place, he hopped back into the truck and started for home, leaving his tools where they were for later use.
He'd give her through this next weekend, he decided. After that, he was going to Houston.
~~~~
CASSIE DROVE ALONG Main Street and past the Four Corners, this time experiencing none of her previous anxiety. The only thing that quickened her heart was the growing excitement she felt as she took the turnoff to the ranch and bumped over the railroad tracks. By the time she opened and closed the ranch's front gate, she wasn't sure her body could contain it.
When she'd first come here she'd wondered how the Taylors would react to Jimmy's offer to buy the strip of land. Now she wondered how they'd react to her return. Robbie seemed to like her, Sylvia did for sure...and Will?
She swallowed. It was Will's feelings she needed to nail down.
Cassie could hear the family in the kitchen when she stepped onto the porch. Her watch showed it to be a little past six…supper time. In her haste to get here, she hadn't realized that she might be interrupting their meal.
The Duchess looked up sleepily from her spot on the rocking chair, and Cassie bent to scratch her ears. Then, unable to wait any longer, she knocked on the frame of the screen door. The voices instantly stopped.
Cassie nervously brushed a hand down the front of her black jeans and smoothed the collar on her cream-colored blouse. Footsteps sounded in the hall, and soon Sylvia appeared.
There was only the briefest pause before Sylvia said, "Cassie! You're back!" The older woman drew Cassie inside and into a hug. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you!"
From the warmth of her greeting, it might have been a year, not days, since Cassie left. But it had felt like a year to Cassie, as well, and she clung to Sylvia as tightly as Sylvia did to her.
"Are you hungry?" Sylvia asked, drawing back. "We're just finishin' supper, but there's still plenty left."
"I— Well—"
"C'mon," Sylvia said and pulled her down the hall.
Will was already on his feet as Sylvia and Cassie entered the room. He seemed thunderstruck by her presence. Cassie's eyes moved over him and quickly away.
She wanted to run straight to him, only she wasn't sure enough of her standing.
"Hello, Robbie," she murmured as the older man beamed.
"Why look who's back...our little gal! Look, Will," he directed his grandson, who didn't need any directing.
Cassie slipped into her usual chair. It felt so right to be at this table, in this room, in this house, on this ranch…with these people.
Sylvia set Cassie's place and started passing her food. Cassie took a little of this and a little of that, but she doubted she'd eat even a small portion. She could feel Will's eyes burning into her and after a moment, forced herself to meet his gaze.
Robbie said something. Cassie had no idea what. There was movement of some kind. Only later—she had no idea how long—did she realize that Sylvia and Robbie had left the room, and she and Will were alone.
"You don't have to eat any of that if you don't want it," Will said, flicking a finger toward her plate.
She glanced at his plate. He had yet to finish his meal, but he no longer seemed interested.
She wished she could think of something frivolous to say. Something that would ease their way into conversation. But she couldn't. For a second, a whisper of panic made her wonder what she was doing here, but the uncertainty quickly vanished.
"Wanna take a walk?" Will asked.
"Yes," she said.
Outside, they fell into step together as they walked slowly toward the outbuildings.
"How about goin' to the creek?" he said.
Cassie nodded.
She was very aware of him. Aware of the easy way he moved. Aware that he'd matched his longer stride to hers. Aware of the golden hair that his hat didn't cover. Aware that as tension-filled as the situation was between them, they could walk together in amiable silence. In the distance, a calf bawled.
"Am I taking you away from your work?" she asked, able at last to venture a question.
"There's always work."
At last they reached a cluster of trees and the creek that ran through their midst. Love Creek. But it looked very different here from where Cass
ie had played as a child. This part of the creek flowed from a higher level, down along cracks worn deep into limestone boulders. Each crack created a little waterfall that collected into a good sized pool before the stream narrowed again to meander through the ranchland and on past the town.
"It's beautiful here," Cassie murmured. "I can see why the Warrens came so often."
"It's spring-fed," Will said. "But you probably already know that. The source is a mile or so northwest of here."
"Did you swim here when you were a boy?" she asked.
"Still do sometimes," he said.
"I used to wade in it in town."
She stopped at the pool's edge and bent to wiggle her fingers in the cold water.
"You could've come to swim here, too," Will said. "A lot of my friends did."
"I wasn't your friend then," she replied, straightening. She moved to the nearest miniature waterfall and let the water run playfully over her fingertips.
"Are you my friend now?" Will challenged.
Cassie's body stilled. "Do you want me to be?"
"Why did you come back this time, Cassie?" He cut directly to the chase.
She wiped her fingers on her other hand as she turned to face him. "Because I need to find out what that something between us is."
"You were so different when you came back before. I couldn't stop thinkin' about you. I tried, but I couldn't. And now I don't want to. You're the one, Cassie."
"The one…what?" Cassie breathed.
"The woman I want to make my life with."
"Why?" she breathed again. She was waiting for that one word.
He closed the small distance between them and tipped up her chin. "Because I love you."
He'd said it! And if he said it, he meant it. That was the way it was with Taylor men. Cassie wanted to kiss him so badly. She shut her eyes and waited with building excitement for his lips to touch hers…but they didn't.
Instead, he repeated his earlier question. "Why did you come back this time, Cassie? I need to know."
Cassie's eyes fluttered open, surprised that he had to ask. Her gaze searched his strong, clean-cut features and found only sincerity. He, too, needed to hear the words.
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