by Kit Morgan
And Jake stood in stunned silence, a sinking feeling in his gut. What in the world was going on? Other than the obvious – that Casey had used him, used him to get her father’s goat. He looked at her as if to confirm it, noticed the calm, satisfied look on her face and wondered what was going through that pretty little head. Maybe, he realized, some things he didn’t necessarily want a part of.
Chapter 7
“Casey?” Jake said cautiously, his voice cutting through the fog in her brain. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”
Casey watched her father march away in a spitting fury. She’d done it – she’d defied him once too often, and he’d blown his stack. But isn’t that what she’d wanted? After all, now maybe he’d leave her alone …
“Casey …”
Oh no. What was Jake going to think of this? She looked into his eyes and saw a mix of confusion, concern and – oh, great – hurt. She shut hers a moment, gathering her courage, as she got a glimpse of how bad this might look, that she’d used him to enrage her father and nothing more. Which wasn’t the case at all, other than he was expressly not Johnny-Jump-Up Showater, her father’s golden boy. She liked Jake, liked him a lot, and wanted to be with him.
And now she could spend more time with him without having to worry about her father dogging her every step. Provided she hadn’t just offended Jake beyond repair –
“Casey!”
Her eyes popped open. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
His hands went to his hips. “So you moved out without telling him?”
“Yes. I did.”
“And you expected him to be okay with that? Or were you purposely trying to tick him off?”
She bit her lip. “Jake, it’s not what you’re thinking.” Not entirely, her mind amended. “My dad and I haven’t been getting along.”
“Her dad’s a control freak,” Melanie cut in. “They’re both better off with a time-out, trust me.” She gave Casey a stern look. “Even though some of us think a certain friend’s methods need work?” She gave Jake a pitying look, then turned on her heel and walked away.
Thanks a lot, Mel, Casey thought, and was about to call after her when she noticed people watching and straightened under the scrutiny. No doubt she’d be a main topic of gossip tomorrow. Thank Heaven there were no paparazzi around … but these days everyone had smartphones.
Jake was still staring her down. “Why am I here?”
She gulped. “Because I asked you.”
“So you could buck your dad.”
“No!”
He took a deep breath, let it out, took another. “Sure seemed like it.”
“Are you’re accusing me of using you?” She hated how hurt she sounded all of a sudden.
“Yeah, I suppose I am.”
The man didn’t beat around the bush. But neither did she. “That wasn’t my intention. I will grant that it’s a nice side benefit …”
His eyebrows shot to the ceiling as his mouth fell open.
“… but I invited you because I wanted to be with you. For … for moral support.”
He laughed. That was an improvement, she hoped. “Moral support?”
“My dad’s …” She almost said crazy, then decided against it. “… a control freak, like Mel said.”
“At least you have one.”
She stared at him, remembering he’d lost his father to cancer some years ago. But still … “If you want to trade, I’m game.”
He glanced up at the ceiling, frowning, then looked at her. Not once did his hands fall from his hips. “Moral support.” His voice had gone flat, and she knew she was in trouble. She’d blown it with his man, plain and simple. She should have told him what was going on, why she needed him there, how much she liked him. But she’d feared he’d think she was stupid. Which, looking back, maybe she had been.
“Casey.”
She gazed into his eyes, saw the hurt, the disappointment, and felt her heart sink. “I’m sorry, Jake. This isn’t how I wanted it to be.”
He looked at her for a long time, as regret and shame snaked through her. “I’m gonna call it a night,” he finally said. “Thank you for inviting me.”
Casey had to fight a lump in her throat. “Jake, please don’t go.”
His hands dropped to his sides. “I think we’re done here.” He turned to leave.
“Jake,” she said, doing her best to keep the pleading out of her voice. She wasn’t going to beg. No matter how much she wanted to.
He stopped at the sound of his name and glanced over his shoulder. “You know what you need?” He turned to face her. “You’re so determined to be on your own and out from under your father’s thumb? Leave New York.”
“What?” she gasped.
He sighed and shook his head. “Casey, do you even know what you want?”
She bit her lower lip. He’d hit the nail on the head. She thought she did, but it would be a lot clearer if her dad wasn’t constantly telling her what he wanted.
“Well, if you’re trying to find out, take my advice. Don’t do it here.” And he walked away.
Jake left the museum, his chest tight but not with anger. If anything, disappointment felt far worse. He hadn’t seen this coming. How could he? Casey came across as kind, fun, spontaneous, even a little shy. Not manipulative … until tonight.
He crossed the street to Central Park, figuring he might as well see it even if it was getting dark. The evening was warm and a little humid, so he took his jacket off and slung it over his shoulder. Casey had told him once that New York humidity could be stifling in the summertime. Good thing he planned to be gone by the time the hot weather started. If it was already this warm in spring, what would summer be like? He shuddered to think. He hated hot, wet weather, preferring the dry high desert of central Oregon.
He sighed, suddenly homesick. He should call Tate tomorrow and give him a progress report. He could leave New York and go home in a couple weeks, let Tate pull Dixie duty for a time. Miss Williams managed the place well enough that all he and Tate absolutely needed to do was make quarterly visits to check on things. And Casey …
He kicked at the ground. Should he even bother speaking to Casey about tonight, or just consider it a sunk cost and drop it? He’d thought about her so much over the last week and wanted to have more time with her, get to know her better. Even given the short time frame, he felt as if he’d known her forever. Which made tonight sting that much more.
If he were a drinking man, he’d head to a bar, but he’d never had the desire for more than the occasional cold beer after working cattle all day. Instead, he sat on a park bench. He had no idea how long he’d been walking, but he needed to think.
He chuckled to himself. Think about what? There was nothing more to ponder, really. Dixie’s Riding Academy could take care of itself so long as Miss Williams was around. If they sold it after the year required by the will, they’d probably get a tidy sum.
Wait a minute … if they sold it? Why wouldn’t they?
Again, Casey flashed before him, her sequined dress perfectly hugging her curves. At the gala he’d tried not to stare, but doggone it, she was a beautiful woman! He’d started to think of her in the long term, wanting to date her and see where things went. So what if she lived on the other side of the country? They could make things work, especially if he needed to spend a lot of time here …
… only he didn’t need to, once he thought about it.
He slumped on the bench and stretched his legs out in front of him. The park was pretty. He hadn’t realized how much he missed being in nature, perhaps because Dixie’s had enough trees and pasture surrounding it to make him forget he was in the biggest city in the U.S. But being in a huge stable all day was one thing; being outdoors surrounded by trees and sitting in front of a huge pond was another.
He took a deep breath and sighed. “Casey,” he whispered. He liked the name – it suited her.
He should give her the benefit of the doubt – s
he’d said she hadn’t been using him on purpose, at least not for what he’d thought. But was she telling the truth? And who was this John Showstopper? No, that wasn’t right. Well, whatever his name was, had Casey invited him to make the man jealous? Just how many lives was she playing with besides his?
Nah, best to cut his losses and go home. Tate could handle the next round of babysitting. He just hoped his brother didn’t run into something similar with another of New York’s fancy city girls – selfish high-maintenance snobs, as Miss Williams had ranted one day after an especially irritating client had left. It was the first time Jake had seen that client – he couldn’t remember her name, but there was no mistaking when the woman had entered the place. Her shrill voice had spooked half the horses.
Is that what Casey was hiding? Is that who she really was?
Jake’s gut told him no, but his heart wasn’t so sure. Oh, what did it matter? He’d be heading home soon anyway.
Casey tossed her keys onto the nightstand next to her bed. Her new studio apartment was in an old Art Deco building on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. It had hardwood floors, a bathroom and running water. But going from a 2,000-square-foot high-rise apartment to 450 square feet of cute wasn’t easy, no matter how you sliced it.
Still, she should be able to afford it. Once her father cancelled her credit cards and cut her off completely, things would be tight for a while, but she’d make it. Though she’d have to get used to not having a wad of cash in her purse, and that wouldn’t be easy. She’d have to budget for the first time in her life.
She knew she was about to see how the other half lived. Most of her friends ran in the same social circles she did, trust-fund babies with rich parents who didn’t give a whit how much they spent, or what happened to anyone but themselves. But was she any better? Consciously or not, she’d just used a really nice man to …
“Oh geez, what have I done?” She let herself fall face down on her bed. The scent of new linens hit her, and she had a sudden image of doing her own laundry, surrounded by her friends demanding she do theirs as well. Then Jake flashed before her, his eyes full of hurt and anger … she rolled onto her back. “I suck,” she groaned at the low ceiling.
But feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to fix things – she had to take action. Only how? She’d already tried to apologize to him. And what about her father – would he ever forgive her? And could she ever forgive him? All those years of being crushed under his demands …
She didn’t want to think about it right now. So she did what any normal twenty-something woman did when upset – went to the refrigerator, opened the freezer and pulled out a pint of ice cream. She might not have much in the house in the way of food, but at least she had that. She grabbed a spoon, crossed the apartment to her one chair and sat. After tonight, it would probably stay her only chair. She doubted she could afford another anytime soon once her father shut off the money faucet.
Casey popped the lid off the ice cream and let it fall to the floor, not caring if it made a mess. She savored the first few bites, the euphoria blanking her mind. But it didn’t stay that way for long. Not even chocolate fudge ice cream could keep it from replaying the look on Jake’s face when he accused her of using him.
Problem was, she had, plain and simple. But before that wonderful moment when her father completely lost his cool, she had genuinely wanted Jake to escort her because he was Jake. She liked him. Maybe more than liked him …
The realization surprised her. Normally she wouldn’t look twice at someone of his social standing – or any social standing below her own, which was pretty much all of them. Her father wouldn’t let her. He wanted her with someone like Johnny-Jump-Up Showater, the son of a rich investment banker. The union would move Daddy up a rung or two on the society ladder, not to mention fatten his already fat bank account.
But where did that leave her, or Johnny-Jump-Up? (She’d privately nicknamed him after a baby toy because, from her experience, that’s all he was.) Maybe he didn’t want anything to do with her? Maybe he was at the mercy of his own grasping father? She didn’t know John outside of parties and galas around the city - who knew what he desired? After tonight, she wasn’t totally sure what she desired.
When the pint was empty, she pulled herself out of the chair, threw the carton in the garbage pail under the sink and plopped down on the bed again. “I’m going to feel terrible in the morning.” She’d have an ice cream hangover, for one - too much dairy always did her in. She wondered if Jake was faring any better, or if he’d simply shrug the whole thing off, brush his teeth and go to bed. If only she could do the same.
Casey swallowed hard, threw an arm over her face and groaned. “Leave it to you to fall in love with a stupid cowboy, girl.”
Chapter 8
“Don’t you have a lesson today?” Melanie asked.
“Yes,” Casey grumbled. Her voice had about as much spark as mud.
“Cheer up – it’s not the end of the world. Just apologize.”
Casey’s face twisted up in consternation. “I did. You were there, remember?”
“All I heard was one weak, ‘I’m sorry’ before I left to get a plate. I was starving.”
Casey sat on the bed and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. “Some friend you are. You should’ve stuck around to see my second pathetic apology.”
Melanie made a face. “Was it really that bad?”
“It’s been almost two weeks and I haven’t heard a peep out of him. So yeah, it was that bad.”
“Does he have your phone number?”
Casey looked blank. “Well … he has access to it at Dixie’s,” she replied lamely.
“Are you kidding?” Melanie groaned. “You two need to pull yourselves together.”
“What do you mean?”
“The few times I’ve seen Jake since the gala, he was not himself. I’d say he looks depressed.”
Casey let herself fall back onto the mattress. “Great. I gave him a medical condition.”
Melanie picked at her fingernails. “Okay, forget about Jake for a minute. What are you going to do? You paid for a second set of lessons and you’ve already missed one. You need to finish them.”
Casey sat up. “I don’t need to do anything I don’t want to.”
“True, but it’d be a waste of money. And let’s face it, you don’t have a lot to waste right now.”
“I have some saved – I’m not a complete idiot. The question is, what do I do with it?” Casey sighed. “After you left, Jake told me I should leave New York.”
“What? Is he nuts?”
“He has no idea.”
“Well, it’s not like he’s from around here – how would he know?”
Casey met her friend’s gaze. “I’m thinking about it, though.”
“What?! But what would you do?”
“Same thing I do now. I know all of my contacts are here and you, but I don’t have to be here for every little thing. The designers you shoot for out of Europe, they’re not here when you work on a look book or a layout for them. You’re the one that hires the models, the stylists and gets the props. As long as I have internet, I could design from anywhere.”
Melanie lowered her head in thought. “Yes, that’s true. But where would you go?”
Casey scooted to the edge of the bed. “That I don’t know.”
Melanie nodded. “There’s one thing I know you need to take care of before you go anywhere.”
Casey stood. “I need some ice cream.”
“Like a hole in the head. Don’t be such a chicken – you screwed up, admit it.”
“I did. It didn’t help.”
“That’s because you haven’t admitted it to Jake.”
Casey reached the small fridge. “Mel …”
Melanie shook her head. “Chicken …”
Casey took out the new quart of ice cream and grabbed two spoons from a drawer. “Banana split?”
“Put it away – I don’t need you maki
ng yourself sick. And fat. You need to talk to him – you owe him that.”
“He’s not making an effort to talk to me.”
“This isn’t high school, Casey.”
Reluctantly, she put the ice cream back. “I know. I’m just feeling overwhelmed.” She glanced at her surroundings, what little there were in a rundown studio apartment.
Melanie caught the look on her face as she returned to the bed. “I still don’t understand why you didn’t move in with me.”
“Because I didn’t want my dad pulling you and your dad into our fight. Besides, your dad would’ve sided with mine.”
Melanie cringed. “Yes, I suppose so.”
“Maybe it’s good for me to be alone.”
“You were alone before.”
“No, I wasn’t – my dad had keys to that place. Sometimes I’d come home and there he’d be, sitting on the couch and reading the newspaper like he owned it. Which he did, okay, but you know what I mean.”
Melanie nodded. “My advice is, go have your riding lesson, talk to Jake and move on from there.”
“I really liked him.”
“You did? But I thought he wasn’t your type.”
“He was starting to be.”
“What changed your mind?”
Casey thought a moment. “He was … real. Down to earth.”
Melanie knew what she meant. “That’s hard to find.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh, and had to resist going back to get the ice cream again.
Jake peered out the plane’s window as it came in for a landing. The flight had been over five hours long, and he wanted to stretch his tired limbs and walk out the kinks. Thankfully it was a good hike from the gate to baggage claim, which would give him time.
Once again he wondered if he should tell his brother about Casey. He’d thought long and hard about it during his flight, but knew what Tate would say. “Well, if she’s stuck in your head like that, do something about it!” Possibly followed by, “Idiot.” Jenny would be no better. And he didn’t dare tell his mother, who wanted her boys happily married and didn’t care which one took the plunge first, so long as they both hurried up. He didn’t want to hear about his stubbornness, nor his mouth botching up his chances at romance.