Just because he had control over his facial expressions and his emotions didn’t mean he was a manipulative, lying jerk. She had to make certain she didn’t let herself believe bad things about people without justification. That wasn’t fair of her just because of what she’d been put through.
Even if Jarrod kissed her and broke her heart, she understood he and Jack were nothing alike.
She watched Jarrod walk toward the room where the laughter was coming from. If she remembered right, that was the den, where all of Pops’s trophies from his years of cutting horse competition were. Her heart was pounding.
Why had she reached out and touched him? It sent all the wrong signals. But it had been a reaction to the pain she saw in his eyes when he talked about his grandfather. It had not been meant to send a message that she was looking for anything from him. Certainly not that temperature rising, completely unnerving look she’d just glimpsed.
“You’re looking mighty troubled,” Maggie said, drawing Cassidy from her thoughts.
Cassidy looked at her. “No, just confused.”
A smile played at the corners of Maggie’s lips. “Jarrod’s a wonderful man, you know. I’m really not certain why he’s never married. Like with all of these Monahan men, that baffled me. Though I am eternally grateful Tru didn’t marry sooner. He says his heart was waiting on me.”
“That’s wonderful for the two of you. Really. But me, I’m not—”
“Not what.” Abby had come into the room. “The men are all entertaining Levi so I thought I’d come see what you girls are getting into.” She looked from Maggie to Cassidy. “Not what?”
“Cassidy is confused about her feelings for Jarrod, I think.”
“I’m not.” What was Maggie saying?
Maggie grinned. “I can hope, can’t I? You bring out emotion in him I haven’t seen before. I saw that scorcher that passed between the two of you just now.” Maggie waved a hand as if fanning herself.
“Really,” Abby said. “And I missed it.”
“No, it wasn’t like that.”
Maggie cocked an eyebrow. “Careful, you are about to tell a fib.”
Cassidy shifted uncomfortably. Abby and Maggie chuckled together like they were sharing a joke.
“What?” She looked from one to the other.
“Nothing,” Abby said. “You should come say hi to everyone. Stop looking so tense.”
“That’s right.” Maggie gave her a gentle nudge with her elbow. “It’s okay. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, so relax and forget what I was saying. We’re going to have a fun evening.”
Cassidy wasn’t so sure about that now. But she forced a weak smile and tried to hide the sudden need to run—from herself.
The men were all sitting around watching Levi build a tower with blocks on the floor in front of Pops. Immediately she felt a little better. The toddler was adorable, and he beamed up at them as they entered.
Pops did, too, as did all the fellas.
“Hi, Cassidy,” Bo called, then shot her a grin as Abby walked over and sank onto the ottoman beside his chair, leaned back against his chest, and he hugged her. “We’re glad you’re here.”
“We sure are, Cassidy.” Tru got up to welcome her. “Great to see you. Take my seat there beside Pops. I’ll sit over here with Maggie.”
“Uh, okay. Um, it’s good to be here.” She wasn’t exactly sure about that now either, seeing as he’d abandoned his seat for her and that meant she was now about to be sitting next to Jarrod on the couch. He was watching her reaction to her dilemma, and she was quite certain he knew she didn’t want to sit beside him. But there was no other place.
Jarrod’s gaze held hers as she carefully sat down on the end of the couch, which wouldn’t have been bad if Jarrod hadn’t been sitting in the center of the couch. Instead of sitting at the far end from his brother, he’d obviously sat in the middle so he could be closer to Levi and Pops.
She tried not to think about him, or the fact that she was now sitting closer to him than she had been in the truck on the way over here.
She shifted her thoughts to Pops and the tot. They looked like two kids on the playground. Each was infatuated with the other. Kind of like she suddenly felt about Jarrod.
Drat. What was she thinking?
Levi carried a block over to Pops and grinned at him. “You have,” he said, as if even the toddler knew he was dealing with something precious that needed special attention.
“Hi, Pops. It’s good to see you again,” Cassidy said.
Pops looked up and studied her for a moment. “I met you. Before.”
She could almost see his mind working to find her in his memory. “Yes, sir. The other day at the vet clinic. I’m Roxie’s niece.”
A light went on in his eyes. “Roxie, it’s been awhile.”
“Oh, no, I’m Roxie’s niece. Cassidy,” she added gently. He frowned and confusion slackened his expression. She felt bad for having corrected him.
“Pops and Levi build empires with those blocks.” Maggie gave her an encouraging smile. Cassidy had never dealt with Alzheimer’s and wasn’t at all sure how to behave. She took her lead from everyone else.
“Abby, Cassidy spent a lot of summers here. Pops taught her to ride.” Bo grinned.
“That’s right,” Tru said. “How many times did you get to come down here for a visit when you were a kid, Cassidy? I remember your aunt Roxie would get so excited when she knew you were coming for a stay.”
“I think I got to come four times . . . or maybe it was five times.”
“Six.”
Every eye turned to Jarrod. Cassidy saw a slight darkening of his skin at the base of his neck and knew for a man like Jarrod that was about as close to a blush as he was ever going to get.
“I remember,” he said, looking at her with stormy eyes. “The first time you were ten and you crawled through the fence looking like a redheaded, wild child with that curly mop of yours. You nearly scared us to death when you came bursting out of nowhere.”
Everyone laughed and he even smiled slightly at the memory. She cringed at what they must have thought of her. She’d been a disaster as a child. She couldn’t look away from him, even as embarrassed as she was.
“Then two summers later you showed up again and drove us crazy trailing around behind us when we were trying to work. You wouldn’t go away and you followed us until we had to take you on a roundup. You spooked the cattle and caused a stampede.”
It was her turn to blush. “I remember. I was twelve by then and a complete disaster. I had forgotten a little of that trail ride. On purpose, I think.” She laughed and so did everyone else.
“I remember that,” Bo said, jumping in. “Abby and Maggie, y’all should have seen her. She was trying so hard, but she couldn’t ride very well. She got points for guts and perseverance, though.”
“Yes, she did,” Tru interjected. “But her horse got spooked and made a run for the woods. It scared the cattle, which broke into a stampede, and Jarrod had to go chase her down and pull her horse to a stop before poor Cassidy broke her neck.”
Cassidy’s huge crush on the good-looking eldest Monahan brother had been rock solid after that. Six years difference in age as adults wasn’t that much, but for a teen like Jarrod it was a lifetime. Needless to say, he hadn’t thought of her as anything but the little girl he felt sorry for and was kind to. Her stomach tipped remembering how that had felt for her . . . young love. It had been excruciating.
“You’re welcome to come over and ride anytime,” Tru said, bringing her back into the conversation that she’d let lapse.
“Thank you. That sounds fun. I just have a lot to get done right now.”
“Riding’s good.” Pops broke in with a teasing glint in his eyes. He reminded her so much of Jarrod, though Jarrod was even more serious than she’d remembered him. And from what she could tell he didn’t smile enough. She wondered about that. Was it her? Or maybe the pressures he was under.
&
nbsp; The evening passed quickly and it was fun. They shared lots of teasing and memories. Jarrod was noticeably quiet, but no one acted as if that was abnormal.
Conversation wasn’t all about her, thankfully. Maggie and Tru talked about the new baby and how the teen mother would get to come and be a part of the baby’s life if she wanted to. “That’s very important to me,” Maggie said. “It’s not for everyone. But Jenna, one of the girls I’m very close with, is in college right now, and she goes periodically to see her baby. It’s working out wonderfully. But others don’t want to know the parents of their babies. They don’t feel like it’s fair to the baby. It’s a tough call.”
“But this is how we wanted to do it,” Tru said, lifting Maggie’s hand to his lips and kissing it.
Oddly, the sweet, loving gesture made Cassidy’s heart ache.
They were gathered around the dinner table, enjoying the enchiladas and rice and beans Maggie had prepared, talking about the Fourth of July celebration.
Jarrod’s gaze had met hers then, causing her heart to gallop. He’d looked away quickly and had been careful not to look at her again after that.
When the evening was over she thanked everyone and then Jarrod grabbed his hat and led the way to his truck.
He held the door for her, not saying anything as she got in, but her mouth went dry as she brushed past him. As he strode around the truck, she feared when he got into the cab he would be able to hear her heart thundering.
17
Jarrod cranked the engine and drove. He concentrated on the road ahead of him and not the woman beside him.
“It was a wonderful night,” Cassidy said, breaking the strained silence between them. Her voice was soft in the dark truck. Jarrod thought he heard a slight tremble in the tone.
“Yes. It was.” He managed to speak, but his voice cracked on the word yes. Dinner had been torture.
And now they had a ten-mile drive back to their places.
“Oh, um, just so you know, Jasper is going to be spraying over near your place this week. Like I said, he found some organic solution we’re going to try.”
“Thank you again.”
“You’re welcome.”
Silence again.
They were nearing his house when he noticed a glimmer of light in the distance. He slowed and studied the light. It disappeared somewhere out in the dark trees.
“Is that a light out there in the pasture?”
“You saw that too?” he asked.
“It was faint but I saw something. Do you think it’s the rustlers?”
On impulse he whipped into his driveway and drove up the lane, then clicked his lights off. He quickly turned the truck around in the dark and headed back down the lane. He was glad this truck ran on gasoline and that he hadn’t been driving one of his Dodge Ram diesel trucks he hauled cattle trailers with. They were loud.
“What are you doing, Jarrod?”
“I’m dropping you off and then I’m going to do some tracking.” His gun was still behind the seat, unloaded but ready. He’d decided the other day to keep one with him at all times. It was a necessity on the ranch in the summer anyway, in case of snakes or coyotes endangering his livestock. Or rustlers.
“No.”
“I’m going after them, Cassidy.”
“I know that. I meant no, don’t drop me off. I’m going with you.”
“No.”
Except for her porch light and his headlights, it was pitch-black out as it was a cloudy night. A full moon was a long way off and tonight he was glad. He figured rustlers might not cotton to full moons so much. Of course, if they did his cameras would really like it.
He stopped beside her back door sidewalk. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said. She crossed her arms and didn’t move. “Come on, Cassidy, hop out. I’ll let you know what I find.”
“I’m not getting out. You’re losing their trail.”
He could make her silhouette out from the back porch light. “Don’t be stubborn—”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Jarrod Monahan. I am not letting you ride off out there alone. I am going and that is final.”
The clock was ticking. “Cassidy, I’m going to come over there and pull you out of the truck if you don’t get out this minute. This could be dangerous.”
“You just try to pull me out. I will kick you so hard you will not be able to follow those rustlers ’cause you will be seeing stars.”
He started laughing. “Are you serious? Come on, Cassidy.”
“I am as serious as it gets. I am not getting out of this truck.”
And he wasn’t going to manhandle her either. “Fine. Stubborn woman,” he grumbled. He shut off his headlights and retraced their path back down the lane. He drove down the dark, deserted road, ready to pull off onto the grass the minute he saw headlights coming. When he reached the first cattle guard, he drove over it slowly and then down the gravel path.
His jaw hurt. He’d clamped down on it so hard keeping his mouth shut. Jarrod drove off the road after a little bit, not wanting to run into whoever might be out here. He pulled away from the gravel road, hitting a rut or two in the dark.
When he hit one a little harder than expected, they were both jostled in their seats. He heard a thump.
“Ow! That was my head, cowboy.”
He didn’t bother to apologize. She should have stayed home.
He kept driving toward the trees. Once there he drove along the edge, searching for any sign of light. “Since you’re here you might as well help me look for their light.”
“I had planned on it. I’m certainly not sitting over here eating bonbons and getting a manicure.”
“Fine by me,” he snapped.
There was nothing out there. They had driven about as far as they could get without following a trail through the woods to the other side of the trees, and he wasn’t real sure he wanted to do that. He wished he had his horse.
“I bet you wish you were on your horse,” she said in the darkness, as if reading his mind.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Maybe we should go mount up. This isn’t that far from your house.”
“That won’t work. They’d be gone by then.” He halted the truck and stared through the trees. He’d almost given up when he caught a glimmer of light.
“There.” Cassidy spoke the instant he saw it.
“Yeah, I see it.” It was pretty far off. And that was what he needed to know. Slowly he directed the truck into the trees along the rutted path they seldom used. He wished he could chance a light to see if it looked like he was running over their tracks. They could have used one of the other trails through the trees.
“Can we get to them without them knowing we’re there?”
“Maybe. But if they see us, I’ve got protection, so don’t worry.”
“You mean your gun.” He heard dread in her tone.
“Yup. These aren’t people to mess around with, Cassidy. That was why I tried to leave you behind. This is a group of criminals who, we think, are doing this across several counties. Either that or we have a sudden rash of rustlers all over the place. More than likely it’s a single group. But what they are doing is illegal. They know what they are looking at if they get caught. And it’s not community service. That makes them dangerous.”
“Oh.”
“You should have done what I asked and gone home.”
“I’m here, so that’s wasted breath. Besides, you might need me.”
Oh, he needed her all right, but not as a reckless tagalong. He’d recognized clearly there in Pops’s den that he wanted her in his life for good. And he knew his brothers knew it too.
He would never hear the end of it after tonight. And now, here he was off in the pasture trying to round up rustlers instead of standing on her porch trying to figure out a way to get a kiss from her.
It was past time to try that kiss over again. And this time he meant business and he wasn’t backing down.
They made it
through the trees and crept across the pasture. He prayed the sliver of moon would remain behind the clouds. He made it to another string of trees and could see the lights up ahead. He put the truck in park and turned off the engine.
“Now what?” Cassidy asked.
He reached into the backseat and pulled his shotgun onto his lap.
“Open the glove compartment and hand me those shells, please.”
She didn’t move.
“Cassidy, come on.”
“You could get hurt.”
“They’re stealing my cattle. They’re the ones who need to be worrying.”
He reached across her, opened the glove compartment himself, and snagged a box of shells. “You stay here.” He pulled several from the box and stuffed them into his pockets.
“No, I’m coming with you.”
He lost his patience. “No, you will stay here, in the safety of this truck. And don’t come out until I get back here. You could accidently get shot. I’m serious.”
He exited the truck, and as he lightly closed his door, making as little noise as possible, he heard the passenger door opening.
“Stop,” he hissed. “Stay.”
She stormed to stand beside him in the darkness. “Let’s go.”
He stared down at her. Now that his eyes were adjusting to the darkness he could tell hers were flashing. “This is ridiculous. You are so messing up.”
“Payback then, buddy. Now stop yakking and let’s go.”
Cassidy couldn’t believe how stubborn she was being. But she wasn’t about to miss out on this adventure. Or was she missing out on making certain there was payback in this too? He’d not liked her bucking his authority, but she had news for him. She was not a schoolgirl anymore, wearing her heart on her sleeve.
And she didn’t want him out here all by himself. His brothers wouldn’t know where he was in the morning if something was to happen to him, and she just felt like two was better than one. Not that she was going to be a great help.
They were creeping through some underbrush and her insides were trembling with each step. Creepy crawlers might be out tonight. She tried to follow his exact boot steps because her sandals were not the best choice of footwear for this job.
Kissed by a Cowboy Page 14