“Only if I’m not wearing anything in place of it,” she said brightly. Like you right now. “It’s my day off,” she told him.
“Then stop talking and grab a hammer,” Gabe called out, walking over to her. Her brother waved the hammer in his hand back toward the arch. “This thing isn’t building itself and it’s turning out to be a lot more complicated than it looked in that picture you showed us,” Gabe informed her.
Cash looked at her in surprise. “So this was your idea?”
Now that he thought of it, this kind of thing was right up her alley. But she hadn’t taken any credit for it when she’d initially mentioned his joining in to help build it.
“I thought it was a nice touch,” she told Cash. Feeling something igniting in the pit of her stomach, she was doing her best to keep her distance from him. But she knew that really wasn’t going to be possible, not if she intended to lend a hand and work on the project today. Not without her making it painfully obvious, at any rate.
“Less talking, more working,” Gabe ordered.
Because it might be a good distraction as far as Cash was concerned, she decided to bait Gabe a little. “Eli said he didn’t want me helping out. He said I was too accident-prone.”
Gabe frowned at the excuse. “Well, Eli’s not here now, is he?” he asked, gesturing around.
“Besides, we’re onto you, Alma,” Rafe spoke up. Hot, he stopped working for a minute and took a can of beer out of the cooler he and Gabe had brought out and placed in what little shade they could find. He pulled the top and fizz instantly clustered about the opening, pushing its way out and then the next moment, back down again.
“Oh?” She turned to face Rafe. “And just what’s that supposed to mean?”
Rafe took a long swig of the beer, then set down the can beside the cooler. “It means that you just act like you’re accident-prone so you can get out of working on the projects you rope the rest of us into.”
“Not true,” she protested. “Besides, I’ve done my share around the ranch.”
Rather than spending any more precious time arguing with his sister, Gabe walked up to her and handed her a hammer. “You can work on the platform,” he told her.
Her eyebrows drew together in surprise. This was something new. “You’re building a platform, too? When did that happen?”
“When Eli decided that it would be a nice touch to have Harry and Miss Joan stand on it as they said their vows. He said he wants the platform to be about four inches high and—well, here’s the sketch he made.” Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a greatly creased piece of paper and unfolded part of it.
“You ask me, he’s just a frustrated architect,” Rafe commented, adding in his two cents.
Being an architect was a dream that their brother had given up in order to move back home and help out when their mother took a turn for the worse.
If he’d felt he was giving up something Eli never said a word. None of them wanted to see their father forced to sell the family ranch. Especially since it had been in the family for three generations.
When the bills were finally paid off, their father had taken them to a lawyer in the next town and officially changed the deed to the ranch to be in all their names. They’d tried to talk him out of it, but he remained firm, saying that if it hadn’t been for their combined efforts, the ranch would have been sold to pay off the debt.
Flattening the paper with her hands, Alma studied the sketch that Gabe had given her. After a moment, she could visualize the nuts and bolts of the drawing, seeing what needed to be done in order to make it a viable construction.
Folding it in half and handing it back to Gabe, she said, “We’re going to need a lot more lumber than what you’ve got here.”
“Way ahead of you,” Rafe told her. “Eli picked some up yesterday when he was in town. It’s in the back of the barn.” Rafe turned to Cash. “Why don’t you and the little foreman here—” he nodded at his sister “—haul it over here?”
“Sure,” Cash readily agreed, setting down his hammer and wiping his hands against the back of his jeans.
“By the way, where are Mike and Ray?” she asked, referring to her two other brothers who were apparently missing.
“They’re out with Eli and Dad, working on that broken stretch of the fence in the lower forty before the horses decide to make a break for it,” Gabe answered. “I know that it might have slipped your mind, what with all these fancy flowers around and whatnots, and you being gone most of the time, being the sheriff’s little helper, but this is a working ranch.”
She pinned her brother with a piercing look. “Well, someone certainly woke up on the wrong side of the pig trough,” she commented. “What happened? Erica finally come to her senses and decide she could do better?”
Gabe looked at her for a long moment, then rather than a snappy comeback, he just said, “Yes,” and turned, walking back to the half-finished arch.
She’d only meant to pull his chain, the way they did with one another. She hadn’t thought she had stumbled across the truth. Remorse instantly flooded through her.
“Oh, Gabe, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel that—”
Gabe waved a hand at her to halt her apology before she could get carried away. “Yeah, I know.”
“You can do better, you know,” she told him, coming up beside her brother. She reached up in order to be able to place a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “She really wasn’t good enough for you,” Alma said with feeling.
Glancing at his sister, the corners of his mouth curved in a slight smile that told her it was going to take some time, but he would be all right. This wasn’t the love of his life that he’d lost, just a temporary blow to his ego.
He indicated the barn. “Just go get that lumber with Cash.”
With a nod, Alma retreated. Gabe knew she wouldn’t have intentionally hurt him and she silently promised to find a way to make it up to him. Turning around, she saw that Cash was standing only a couple of feet away, watching her.
She couldn’t begin to read the expression on Cash’s face. Did what Gabe had just said remind him of something? Was the reason he seemed so sad because some woman had broken his heart?
The thought hadn’t occurred to her until now. She could be trying to help mend his bruised ego and aching heart—and wouldn’t that be a kick in the head?
You’re doing it again, she chided. You’re leaping to conclusions and getting carried away.
“What?” she asked as she came up to Cash. Maybe he’d actually tell her what was bothering him if she asked him enough times.
His answer in this case was not what she expected to hear. “You’re still trying to take care of everyone, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “It’s not something I think about. Just something that happens. A reaction, I guess. I’ve always felt that you’re supposed to take care of your own,” she told him simply. Okay, this wouldn’t go anywhere right now and as Gabe had said, the arch—and the platform—wouldn’t build themselves. “Let’s get that wood,” she coaxed, “and build this thing before your grandfather and Miss Joan celebrate their tenth anniversary.”
“You always did have a way with words,” he said with a laugh as he followed her inside the barn.
*
ALMA TURNED HER HEAD AND looked at Cash. “Think they’ll be happy?” Alma asked Cash.
It was almost twilight and, too exhausted to walk into the main house for supper, she’d opted to lie on the ground for a few minutes to regroup. She was acutely aware that she was lying on dirt rather than the grass that had once been there, but right now, she didn’t care.
Her brothers had long since left, their regular duties on the ranch requiring their attention. Only she and Cash remained, working. Eli had come by and joined them for a short interval, but now he was gone as well and it was just the two of them.
They worked until they ran out of light and then, after Alma had set up several flashlight
s and lanterns, they worked a little longer.
Until it was steam, not light, that they had run out of.
Cash dropped down on the ground next to her. He leaned back on his elbows and looked up at the sky as it continued to darken.
“Who?” he asked even as he made the logical assumption. “Are you talking about Miss Joan and my grandfather?”
“Yes. I mean, I think your grandfather will be,” she elaborated. “He’s a darling man and he seems to really love Miss Joan. But my brother did have a point the other night.”
Cash thought for a moment, trying to remember what she was referring to. “You mean when he said that he was surprised that Miss Joan said yes?”
“Uh-huh.” Eli’s comment had made her think. A lot. “Miss Joan has been a fixture here in this town for as long as I can remember, giving out advice and offering support to so many people. She had the sheriff’s sister-in-law and her baby living with her until Tina married the doctor. Miss Joan is always doing things like that, and usually not even taking any credit.
“But I think it’s kind of strange that a woman who knows everything about everyone else in town never talks about her own past. Nobody knows where she came from before she came to Forever. They don’t know if she has any family, or anything. It’s like she only came into existence the moment she walked into town.” She slanted a look at him. “Don’t you find that a little strange?”
Cash shrugged, trying to remember if he’d ever heard anything that would contradict what Alma had just said. “There’ve been rumors,” he reminded her.
That was her whole point. “But that’s just it, there’ve only been rumors. Nobody knows anything for sure and Miss Joan’s certainly not talking about herself. And another thing,” she went on. “Miss Joan has had her share of admirers, men who have been interested in her. My dad said that there were even some who asked her to marry them. But Miss Joan always found a reason to back away and turn them down. Why?”
“You tell me.”
She sighed, looking back up at the starless sky. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe she decided she didn’t love whoever asked enough—until my grandfather asked.” He turned his body toward hers. As he did, he could swear he felt a pull, a strong, insistent pull. He did his best to blame it on his imagination. “Where’s this going, Alma?”
“I’m just worried, that’s all. I wouldn’t want to see your grandfather hurt, he’s much too sweet a man.”
“He’s also a tough old guy,” Cash assured her. “He doesn’t bruise as easily as you think.”
But she didn’t agree with him on that. “Even tough old guys can hurt,” Alma insisted. “And Harry really loves Miss Joan. I can see it in his eyes every time he looks at her.”
Alma was serious, he realized. Her concern amused him. “Tell me, is there anyone in this town you don’t worry about?”
“You don’t have to get sarcastic.”
“That’s not sarcasm,” he told her. “That’s a genuine question.”
Damn but even in this limited moonlight, hot and sweaty after a full day’s work, she looked beautiful to him. Was beautiful to him.
And try as he did to ignore it, he could feel the pull between them growing stronger. He had felt it all day, not just when they’d accidentally bumped up against each other, but all day. Just being around her, seeing her, had brought it out.
And now, as Alma lay inches away from him, he could feel the temptation to hold her again, to feel her breathing against him the way he had that last summer, growing progressively more urgent, ensnaring him as it urged him on.
He hadn’t thought it was possible to want someone and still be dead inside.
“You can’t take care of everyone, Alma,” Cash told her quietly.
“No,” she agreed, her voice reduced to little more than a whisper. “But I can try.”
When had he gotten this close to her? She didn’t remember him being this close when he sat down. Now he was less than a full breath away.
She could feel her body, so exhausted only minutes ago, heating in response to his proximity. What was wrong with her? Was she crazy? How could she want something she already knew would end badly? Since when had she become a glutton for punishment?
And yet, how else could she explain it? Because suddenly, all she wanted was one moment back from the past.
Just one moment.
She wanted to feel Cash’s lips on hers. Wanted to feel the wild, dizzying surge race throughout her body when he kissed her.
You’re asking for trouble, you know that.
If she was, she didn’t care.
Just then, a very loud crack of thunder resounded, so close that it felt as if it was rumbling directly beneath them through the ground. Startled, Alma jerked in surprise.
And when she did, she removed the last existing space between them.
Cash’s arms closed around her.
The rest of the world receded.
Chapter Nine
The night was warm, but Alma was warmer. She felt like liquid fire in his arms.
At that moment, it occurred to Cash that he could very well have been going against all the forces of nature if he’d attempted to stop what he knew would happen next.
His lips touched hers and it was as if the nomadic journey his soul had been on these past five months had abruptly ended. Without knowing how, or having the benefit of a compass, he’d managed to sail into home port. All the feelings generated by truly coming home rained down on him, filling him.
The light touch of lips suddenly became far more than that.
The kiss deepened, feeding him, making him, however briefly, feel alive again after being so dead inside he’d occasionally take his own pulse just to convince himself that he was still among the living.
As he continued kissing her, Cash gathered her closer still. She lay beneath him on the ground and he tried to absorb whatever healing magic she had in her possession to give. He could feel her heart beating against his, or was that just his, slamming against hers?
Alma’s head was spinning even as every fiber in her body rejoiced. She forgot her vow never to allow herself to get close again, to open herself up to the pain destined to follow.
The exhaustion that had consumed her had mysteriously vanished. Every fiber of her body was alert, alive with a strong current of electricity surging through it.
Time and again, his mouth slanted over hers and she threaded her arms around Cash’s neck, holding him as close to her as she could, wanting to draw him into her.
To remember when he was gone.
Another crack of thunder all but exploded almost next to them, followed closely by a bolt of lightning that illuminated the sky directly above them. The jarring sound and light show was enough to marginally pull them apart.
“I think maybe we should find some shelter,” Cash whispered against her lips.
I already have, Alma thought. Out loud she said, “The barn’s close.”
So was the house, but someone might come in and find them there, she reasoned, and she wasn’t ready to go back to the boundaries that had been there just a few minutes ago. Not yet. Not until they were first completely breached.
“The barn,” he echoed in agreement.
Gaining his feet, Cash extended his hand to her to help her up. Another bolt of lightning streaked across the brow of the sky, turning night into day for less than half a heartbeat.
“Hey!” Gabe called, running toward them from the back porch of the ranch house. “Don’t either one of you have enough sense to get out of the rain?”
“It’s not raining,” Alma pointed out.
“Yet,” her brother underscored. “Right now, it’s sounding as if it’s going to pour at any minute.” There was hope in Gabe’s voice. The parched land could certainly do with a good soaking. “Besides, that last bolt of lightning looked as if it was only a few yards away from you. I really don’t want to have to explain to Dad why his baby girl got electrocute
d, so come in, damn it.”
“Gabe’s right,” Cash agreed. “The lightning’s too close. We’re only inviting trouble, staying out here. We need to get inside, out of harm’s way.”
Was that how he saw it? she couldn’t help wondering, walking in front of him into the house. That kissing her was putting him in harm’s way?
She supposed he was right. Had they gone into the barn, things would have escalated and right now, most likely, they’d be making love.
Heaven knew that she certainly had wanted to and if she was any judge at all, so had Cash.
The very thought heated her blood.
Alma blew out a breath. She supposed that she should be grateful to Gabe for unwittingly stopping her from making an awful mistake.
But somehow, she just couldn’t muster up even a thimbleful of gratitude.
*
THE PROMISED STORM NEVER materialized.
Oh, there was a great deal of noise and a few more blinding bolts of lightning, but it was all just a collection of sound and fury, generating nothing.
The rain had moved on to another part of the country. Forever and the surrounding area remained parched and dry.
The county had been the victim of a practical joke played by Mother Nature, Alma thought darkly the next day as she, and the other women who were fortunate to count Miss Joan among their friends, put the finishing touches on almost a dozen different appetizers.
The finished products were arranged along three card tables butted up against one another and covered with one very long tablecloth so as to look like one long table.
A pile of gifts, both store-bought and homemade, graced another table. There were colorful balloons and a two-tiered, intricately decorated cake on yet another table.
All that appeared to be missing was the beloved bride-to-be herself.
Tina, in whom Miss Joan had clearly taken a motherly interest even more so than usual, had been given the job of distracting the not-quite-so-blushing almost-bride and then, at the appropriate time, bringing her back to the house on the pretext that she wanted to show the older woman something.
“Almost time,” Olivia announced in what amounted to a stage whisper, signaling that any last-minute preparations had to cease. Miss Joan was liable to appear at any moment and she was the one who had to be taken by surprise, not the other way around.
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