by Laura Wright
As they said their vows under a billowing white awning, Sheridan’s eyes lifted to find James. He stood directly across from her, and was looking at her too. They hadn’t said much before the wedding, but she was hoping they could have a little time later.
A smile touched his lips then, and she returned it. Even though he was conflicted about so many things, he was happy for his brother and Mac.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Reverend McCarron intoned. “You may kiss your bride, Deacon.”
Oh, hell, Deacon didn’t need permission. Grinning, he took Mac into his arms and kissed her so thoroughly and for so long that everyone starting laughing and clapping. Sheridan felt tears behind her eyes. She’d grown so fond of her friend. Of River Black. Of James. It was going to be hard to say good-bye. But it was looking like that was going to be her best choice. Her only choice.
After the ceremony, guests milled about, eating hors d’oeuvres and talking, listening to the Dixieland band Deacon had hired. It was all very festive, and Sheridan thought about joining in. She didn’t see James anywhere. Maybe he’d ducked out early. She hoped not. She wanted to say good-bye to him face-to-face.
She took a few shrimp puffs from the tray and went in search of him. There were a lot of trees on the property and it was easy to hide yourself if you wanted to. But he was nowhere to be found. She was just heading back when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck lift. Then a hand reached out and grabbed her, and she was being pulled back into the trees.
For long seconds, she did nothing. Maybe because of the trauma of the last time. But she had her back to a tree trunk and a very disturbing face in front of her before she found her courage again.
“Hello, sweetheart,” Caleb Palmer hissed, his breath vile.
“How . . . ?”
“My lawyer found a technicality.” He grinned. “The asshole owed me.”
Sheridan didn’t wait to ask him anything more. She brought her knee up, ready to do some damage to his balls. But he was ready this time. He slammed her back against the tree and pressed his body against her. So tight it was hard to breathe.
His eyes flooded her own. “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance.”
Sheridan turned her head and bit down on his hand. Hard. He released her for only a second, but it was enough to scream her head off. She stomped on his foot and was about to elbow him in the stomach when he whirled her around and put his hands around her neck.
“You’re not going to testify against me, you uppity bitch.”
One moment, she had no breath and the next, air rushed into her hungry lungs, and Palmer was being pulled off her. Her eyes fought to clear. And when they did, she saw that James had the man on the ground, his eyes murderous.
Twenty-four
“How the hell did you get out, you piece of shit?” James shouted, pressing right up against the man’s face.
Rage unlike anything he’d ever experienced before blasted through him. He squeezed harder. Leaned closer. He swore he heard Sheridan behind him. She was saying something. Or was she yelling something?
He couldn’t tell. All he wanted to hear was the breath leave this man’s body in a rush, and for good. But he kept on talking.
“If you . . . kill me,” Caleb Palmer wheezed.
James pressed his thumbs into the man’s throat. “Oh, I’m going to kill you.”
“Then . . .” He dragged in air. Or tried to. “You’ll never know the truth . . .”
“The truth I know is that you’re not getting out of jail again.”
“The truth . . . about your sister,” he rasped.
James’s hands stilled, and his heart changed rhythm inside his ribs.
“What do you know?” he demanded. But when the man said nothing, James cuffed him across the face.
Palmer gasped and blood spilled from his lower lip.
“Speak, you miserable, cocksucking—”
“The truth about . . . who took Cass,” Palmer managed to push out. “Who killed her.”
Before he could say anything more, before he could force the bastard to continue, James felt Cole’s hands on him. His younger brother pulled him up and off Palmer.
“Holy shit, man,” Cole said as several male guests from the wedding came running into the clearing, heading straight for Caleb Palmer. “Maybe you should be the one fighting in the ring.”
• • •
“Are you all right?” James asked her, his narrowed eyes running all over her as they stood near the steps, outside the bunkhouse. Checking, assessing.
“I’m fine,” she assured him for the hundredth time.
“Again,” he uttered through gritted teeth. “He went after you again.”
The demons were back. In his eyes, in his soul. “Yes,” she agreed. “And you saved me.”
For one blissful moment, she thought her words had penetrated that thick layer of self-doubt. But then he looked away. “Today,” he muttered. “Right now.”
“What does that mean?” she asked.
Around them, afternoon was coming to a close in several shades of orange and yellow. “What about tomorrow, Sheridan? Next month? Five years from now?”
She fought to understand him, but it wasn’t easy. It was like he was trying to convince himself of something.
“I can’t always be there,” he said.
“For what?” she asked.
“To protect you.”
Oh, Christ. “Of course you can’t.”
He turned back to her, took her face in his hands. His eyes implored her. “I love you.”
Oh my God. Sheridan’s heart dropped into her feet. Hell, maybe it dropped farther. Into the ground. It was the last thing she’d expected.
“Not just I ‘think,’ I do,” he continued. “I do. When I found you after the storm . . .” He smiled a little. “I was caught. You held me, captivated me. I’d never in my life felt that kind of connection to a person. And every day those feelings have gotten stronger and more intense. That night at Marabelle’s I knew I was in love with you.”
“James . . .”
“But I also knew I couldn’t keep putting you at risk.”
“That is crazy!” she cried. “You’re not making any sense. You’re not putting me at risk by being with me. Why the hell do you think that?”
“It’s me,” he exploded. “Okay? It’s fucking me!”
“What’s you?”
He held her tightly. “Every woman I’ve ever loved, who’s loved me, has either gotten hurt or died. Cass. My mother. Tori. I’ve failed to protect them all.”
Sheridan’s breath had stalled inside her lungs. “You can’t believe this.”
He looked utterly convinced.
“What about me? You love me. You didn’t fail me.”
He released her. “Yet.”
For several seconds, Sheridan just stared at him, this broken man. “James, life is a risk. Doesn’t matter who you’re with or what you’re doing. All of it is a risk.”
“I’m not risking you.” His nostrils flared and she swore she saw tears in his eyes. “You’re going back to Dallas tomorrow.”
Shock barreled through her. Hurt too. She bit her lip. “Why wait for tomorrow?” she uttered, turning away. “I’ll have someone get my stuff tonight.”
She left him there, in the patch of moonlight and his own misery, and headed up the hill to the main house. Yes, it was time to go home and stop fighting a losing battle. River Black and the first man she’d ever allowed herself to love had just broken her heart.
Twenty-five
“How the hell did he get out?” James demanded the second Deacon and Cole walked through the bunkhouse door. His eyes pierced Deacon. “I thought you’d had this taken care of.”
“I thought so too,” Deacon said, his expression grim. “But he
’s in for good now. Too many witnesses. He’s been denied bail.”
“I thought James was going to take him out,” Cole remarked. “Palmer said something that shocked his system. What was it, J? Something about Sheridan?”
James eyed his big brother. “You should get back to your wife.”
Deacon wasn’t having it. Not this time. “Tell me,” he commanded.
“One of us needs to get in to see Palmer.”
“Why?” Deacon asked.
“It’s not going to be you,” Cole said to James. “You’ll kill the bastard. And then we’ll be visiting you through bars.”
“I won’t kill him,” James declared. “What he said to me”—he looked at both men—“was about Cass.”
Both men looked startled.
“He claimed to know the truth about what happened.”
“Fuck, I’m going to the jail right now,” Cole announced, heading for the door. “That bastard will spill, or I’ll spill.”
“Stop,” James said. “What we need to know first is if Hunter knows Palmer. If he ever questioned him back then. If he was ever a suspect.”
Cole thought about this, then nodded. “I’ll find out.”
“Restraining order,” Deacon reminded him.
“I remember.”
James blew out a breath, faced Deacon. “Go now. You belong with Mac tonight.”
He nodded, then paused and glanced around. “Where’s Sheridan?”
Pain slashed through James, but he answered. “Heading back to Dallas.”
Cole made an exasperated sound. “What a moron.”
“I’m protecting her.”
“You already did that.”
“Not from Palmer, from myself.”
Deacon and Cole exchanged a look. And after a moment, both men dropped down on the couch, making it very obvious that they planned to stay awhile—or at least until James explained himself.
• • •
“Sheridan, you want to go to lunch today? There’s a new sushi place that just opened up.”
Sheridan glanced up from her computer, slightly disoriented. Valerie, one of the executive assistants from marketing who Sheridan knew was as ambitious as she was—and had been the one woman in the Cavanaugh Group to have asked her to go to lunch—stood over her. She glanced at her watch. Was it lunchtime already? She’d been working straight through since six a.m. She’d been doing that a lot in the past week. Anything to keep her mind off River Black and its occupants.
She gave Val an encouraging smile. “I’d love to.”
The answer seemed to surprise the woman, since Sheridan rarely left the office for lunch—and never with coworkers. She just hadn’t wanted the distraction. But things were different now. She was different. Having Mac in her life, realizing what it felt like to have true friendship—well, it had changed her. She wanted friendship. Maybe even love. Again.
Pain lashed at her insides. That bit would take a lot longer. If she could ever erase James from her mind, her soul. He was a tattoo on her heart now. And how did one erase that?
She grabbed her purse and headed out of the office to the elevators with Val.
“So, how was ranch country?” Val asked.
“Beautiful,” Sheridan replied, hitting the button for the lobby.
“Can you imagine living there? No sushi restaurants close by, no Starbucks on the corner. How did you manage?”
Her mind filled with places and faces, all ones she had come to adore. “It has other things going for it.”
“Like what?” Val’s eyes glittered with interest. “Hot cowboys?”
Sheridan laughed. Oh, God, yes.
“You know, you seem different since you got back,” Val observed. “You even look different. Maybe it’s all that fresh air and cows.”
“Horses,” Sheridan corrected without thinking.
Val looked perplexed. “Pardon?”
“Fresh air and horses.” Then she realized what she was saying and amended, “And of course there are cows too. It’s a cattle ranch, after all.”
“But you liked the horses, huh?” Val smiled knowingly as they exited the elevator and headed for the double doors.
Yes, she had liked the horses. But she’d loved the man who worked with them. Someday she’d be strong enough to go back there and visit. Who knew if James would still be around, but it would be worth—
Her thoughts, her breath, everything, it seemed, came to an abrupt halt the moment she stepped out onto the sidewalk. It wasn’t possible. He wasn’t there. It was her mind, her imagination running wild. She’d thought she’d seen him a hundred different times in a hundred different places around Dallas. And of course it was never him.
Sheridan’s heart kicked inside her chest as she stared. Waiting on the street outside the Cavanaugh Group building were a horse and carriage. And who was sitting on top, reins in hand?
James Cavanaugh.
“Do you see him?” Sheridan asked Val.
The woman laughed. “I’d have to be blind not to. He’s probably one of the hottest guys I’ve ever seen.” She leaned in. “Next time you go back to that River Black, can I come along?”
Sheridan turned to look at her. “You knew about this?”
Val winked. “Have fun.”
“How . . . ?”
“Our boss wants his brother happy. Even from his honeymoon in Madrid. I’m so glad you didn’t say no this time.” She smiled. “Lunch tomorrow?”
Sheridan nodded. “Yes, I’d like that.”
James jumped down from the buggy and had his hand outstretched. “Can I take you for a ride, Miss O’Neil?”
Nerves working through her, Sheridan went to him and allowed him to help her into the buggy and up onto the platform with him.
As they moved down the street, James glanced her way every couple of seconds. “When Cass was taken, we were at a movie theater. She asked each of us to go with her to the bathroom, but we were way too interested in the movie.” His jaw tightened. “My mama understandably fell apart. She was angry and sick and she blamed us boys for what happened to her baby girl.”
Sheridan held her breath as she listened. She didn’t want anything to interrupt him.
“She told me that I was worthless, that I should’ve died instead of Cass. That what happened to her was my fault. I didn’t know she was saying the same things to all of us. Hell, not until much later. I remember telling my young self it wasn’t true. But obviously it got in there and did some damage. In college my fiancée, Tori, she was attacked. I wasn’t there to protect her. I felt that pain and shame all over again. I felt I wasn’t safe to be around.”
Understanding moved over and through her. “I’m so sorry, James,” she said.
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry.” He took her hand. “I love you so much, Sheridan. I was afraid of that. Of what it would do to me if I lost you. But then I realized the reality was a thousand times worse than the fear.”
“Love is a risk,” Sheridan said, her heart so full it was near bursting. “For all of us.”
“Best risk ever.”
She smiled, her eyes filling with tears.
“We could do what Mac and Deac are planning,” he said. “Some time in River Black, some time here. I’m thinking more and more about that offer to shoot a series. Horse Whisperer.”
“I think that sounds amazing. I’d love to see you in action.”
“Maybe it could happen at the Triple C,” he said.
She leaned in and kissed him. “I think at this point, anything can happen at the Triple C. Even a few small miracles.”
“Don’t want to marry you there, though,” he said with a wide grin. “That’s been done.”
Fireworks were going off inside Sheridan, but she held back her squeal. “Where, then?”
�
��I don’t know. First you have to tell me you will, then we can get to planning.”
“Oh, I will, Mr. Cavanaugh,” she said. “I most definitely will.”
As James clucked the horse forward, he put his arm around Sheridan and pulled her close. Was it truly possible that in the city where she’d felt her most lonely, she now felt her most loved?
Twenty-six
Tossing the poop bag into a trash can, Grace Hunter headed back to her office. The night was a gorgeous one. A full moon, lots of stars, and a light breeze. Belle liked it too. The dog was prancing as she walked across the parking lot. And that was a very hard thing for a basset hound to accomplish. But just as they passed a clump of bushes, she stopped.
Grace’s heart leapt in fear, then promptly flared in anger as she spied Cole Cavanaugh stepping out of the shadows.
“I can have you arrested, you know.” she said.
He gave her a charming smile. “You’d do that to Belle’s future papa?”
“You’re never getting your hands on this dog.”
He shrugged as he walked toward her. “I don’t know. She’s already smitten. It’s what I do with the ladies.”
She made a face. “You’re gross and arrogant, and just a . . .”
“What, Doc?” he asked. “What am I?”
“Well, you’re a criminal now.”
He took a deep breath. “Does any part of you understand why this is so important to me? She was my twin, Grace.”
Two heat spots erupted on her cheeks. “It doesn’t give you the right to do what you did.”
Her words hit their mark, and he nodded. “You’re right. But I was desperate.”
“And what did your desperation do for you? You went there, you saw him, you learned nothing. I told you he was losing his grip on reality, but you—”
“Not nothing,” he interrupted.
Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“‘That boy should’ve never come to River Black.’” Cole’s brow lifted. “Does that mean anything to you? Do you know who that boy was that he was talking about?”