by Fiona Starr
She glares at me. “Nope, not helping at all.”
“I don’t know, Cass. I am not proud of myself for how I’ve behaved. And it’s not just because riding is over or that I am trying to make amends now that I’m here. Well, it is a little of that, of course, but… the thing about not calling and talking to you? I think I let so much time pass that it always felt like I was too late to try again, you know? The longer I put off calling you, the harder it got to dial your number. I’ve been wanting to have this conversation with you and dreading it at the same time. But I swear on a stack of bibles that I never once looked at another girl that way. I promised you I’d come back and do right by you. When I gave you this ring, I meant what I said. I think somewhere in my mind I imagined rolling into town like some huge deal and sweeping you off your feet in such a big way that you’d forget all about how bad I treated you.” I shake my head. “I never forgot my promise to you.”
She wipes a tear from her cheek. “Damn you, Hank. I want to be mad at you.”
“That’s all right. You can stay mad at me. But maybe you can do it while you’re sitting by my side?”
“I’ve missed you.” Cass gets up off the bench and takes my hand and for the first time since the accident I feel like maybe things won’t be all bad.
My throat gets tight when I try to talk. I clear my throat. “Thank you for waiting for me.”
She shakes her head. “It would have served you right to come home and find me married to someone else.”
“Who would you have married?”
She stops a second as if she’s really thinking about answering the question seriously. Then she looks in my eyes. “Even when I was at my most furious, I couldn’t imagine anyone else. You’ve got my heart, Henry Blaze.”
I ease her toward me and down onto my good leg. “I promise never to let it go.” I lean in to kiss her and when our lips touch, it’s like we have no rhythm. After all this time, we need a few test runs to get back where we were. Then Cass throws her arms around me and it’s like fourteen months apart just fades away and it’s just her and me the way it used to be.
Except now I can’t move without hurting myself. “Wait. My arm.”
“Oh. Sorry.” She lets go of my bad arm and shifts her weight so she’s leaning on my knee brace.
I wince and try to pick her up and move her over. “My knee…”
She stands up. “Maybe with my help you can come out of the chair?”
“There’s some blankets in the barn. If you want to lay one out?”
I watch Cass walk into the barn and then come back out with a couple of blankets. She’s got a smile on her face and for a second she’s really like my old Cass.
“What are you smiling at?” she asks.
“You. For a moment it felt like it was the way we used to be.”
Her smile fades and she looks melancholy. “Hold on a second. That’s not what this is, Hank.” She lays the blanket out on the grass and drops another folded one off to the side. “I should make something completely clear. If this is a new start, then the operative word there is new. I wish I could just wipe away the past fourteen months and go back, but that isn’t going to happen. It can’t happen.”
I stand up and lean on her and give her another kiss, this one deeper and slower, the kind that lets me get her sweet taste. I pull away and hold her chin so I can look her right in the eyes. “I know a clean slate isn’t possible, and that’s only fair. I can’t erase what I did, but if you’ll let me, I will do my best to make it up to you, Cass.”
“Oh, Hank.”
She helps me down onto the blanket and then joins me, easing me into a comfortable position where my shoulder and my knee don’t have to move too much.
Then she inches her hand onto my chest, rubbing me and then bending her fingers so her nails scratch across my abdomen. “Welcome home, Hank.” She moves her hands under the gap in my shirt and one by one she pops open the little buttons.
I put my good arm around her waist and pull her to me. “My god, I missed you, Cass.”
“I missed you too.”
Chapter Seven
CASS
It feels so good to be in Hank’s arms. When he holds me, I can see a glimmer of a chance that we could build things back—make something good again. I get up on my knees so I can move over him without hurting him and when I bend to kiss his neck, I inhale the familiar woody scent of his cologne.
I don’t know what’s ahead for us, but I have missed touching his body and having his hands on mine. After a few fumbles we find the old familiar feel of each other. Hank sits up and pulls me down onto the blanket. He holds the back of my neck as his tongue wraps around mine and we kiss the way lovers are supposed to after a long absence.
I push him down and straddle him, letting the feel of his hardness press against me. I grind against him until he moans. He’s wearing cutoff sweat pants which makes it easy for me. I untie the lace and pull them off him, startled to find that he’s not wearing any boxers underneath.
His cock is hard for me. I wrap my hand around him and stroke him gently then run my hands between his legs and cup his balls.
“Oh, Cass,” he whispers.
I move to the side and kneel next to him and hold his cock in my hand. Then I lick his head gently before I wet my lips and take him in.
He growls as I suck him. I feel his hand trying to gather my hair but he can’t do it with just one. I move all my hair over my one shoulder so he can watch my mouth move over him. I smile as I look up at his face. Oh, yeah. He’s all mine.
Hank moves his hand under my skirt and between my thighs. He slides my panties over so he can slip his fingers inside me. His rough thumb presses against my clit and my whole body curls, begging for more. I am so wet for him; his hand becomes slick as I grind against him.
“Come here,” he says, his voice low. He pulls my hips toward him.
I slide my panties off for him and lift my skirt as I spread my legs over his face. He pulls me down to his mouth and I feel his tongue inside me. I sit up, riding his mouth, pressing my pussy against his lips. He sucks my clit and I move against him, my hips glide gently as I squeeze my nipples.
When I am about to come, I lift myself off him and turn around. I lower myself onto his waiting cock. He’s so hard. I close my eyes and let myself take in the sensation as he fills me. He’s warm and thick and as we join together, I feel like I have finally returned home.
Hank can’t move with his knee so I take over, riding him like he’s the bull and I’m the cowboy, bucking and pushing and holding on tight.
I can tell by his breathing that he’s close. So I bend to kiss him, taking his tongue into my mouth as I let myself disappear with him into the great big sky.
We lay under the trees. I pull the extra blanket over us and nestle back into the crook of Hank’s good arm. If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine that he never left and time hasn’t passed but a day.
“I am so grateful for you, Cass. I don’t deserve you.” His voice resonates through his chest.
“I know it,” I say, feeling a little grateful myself.
He lifts the ring up so we can both see it. “I know we can’t undo the past, but I wonder if you’ll let me try for a redo?”
I look at the ring and then I get up on my elbow and face him. “No. I don’t want a redo. I want to start over fresh. You can keep your grandmother’s ring. I was glad to wear it once, but that time has passed.”
He closes his fingers over the ring and it disappears. “I understand.”
I kiss him slowly. “I hope you do, because if we’re going to try this again, I have some expectations.”
He looks up at me and smiles. “Lay them on me. I am ready.”
First Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER
HANK
“Okay, pull,” Cody mumbles over his mouthpiece.
I give his pull rope a long tug and wait for his signal that he likes how it feels. Once it’s in
place, I help him wrap it around his hand and then watch for him to give the okay.
Cody drew Punisher as his bull in today’s event, and even though it’s been a year and the bull has thrown many riders since my last day on the job, everyone’s doing a bad job pretending like there’s nothing special going on here. Well, everyone except Cody, who has openly taken on the role of my avenger.
He glances at me and nods.
I clap him on the shoulder then call out. “All right boys! All right! Here we go!”
The gate opens and Punisher barrels out of the chute, bucking and spinning with Cody on his back. The timer counts the seconds down to the hundredth as we watch, waiting for the buzzer and praying that Cody can hang on for the eight seconds it takes for this to count as a ride.
When the buzzer finally sounds, the crowd goes wild and Cody jumps free of the bull’s back. The bullfighters do their thing and the beast is taken off the arena while Cody waves to his adoring fans. We watch as he exits the arena, only to be swarmed by the media and all the girls.
Cass rubs my back. “You miss it?”
“Sometimes,” I say. “Not the media and all that stuff. But I miss the feel of the bull under me. There’s nothing like it.”
“That makes sense.”
I put my hand around her waist and pull her to me. “But I like coaching more, I think. There’s something special about working with the guys and seeing how the things we’re doing are helping them win.”
She smiles and bumps against me. “It suits you.”
“Thanks, baby.”
The Cherry Festival is into its second day and everything is running smoothly. Of course, it’s all Cass’ doing, and the pride in her face is plain to see as we wander the grounds and she shakes people’s hands.
“You going to miss running all of this?” I ask her, sweeping my hand wide to take in the fairgrounds.
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Ask me again in November. I might still be right where I am today.”
“Oh I doubt that.”
“Do you?”
“Oh, one hundred percent.” I pull her close and kiss her. “I feel certain that I am kissing the next Mayor of Paulson, Montana.”
“Well, aren’t you lucky?”
“Oh, of course. Because it beats kissing the current mayor by a mile.”
She laughs as we head to the main stage where she’s about to make some announcements about the evening’s schedule.
The band that’s currently playing still has a few more minutes before their session is over. We lean against the gate and I watch as the setting sun lights up Cass’ face.
“I love you,” I whisper as I touch my nose against hers.
She smiles and brushes her lips against mine. “I know. And I love you too, Hank.”
“A year ago, I never would have dreamed we’d be here, together.”
“Yeah. Well, here we are.”
I get down on my good knee and take her hand, surprising her. “Cassandra Wyatt, a year ago you made me see just how deep love can go. You taught me how to love you right, and made me a better man in the process. I promised you then that I’d put us first, and figure out how to rebuild a life after riding. Now I’d like to spend forever showing you what you mean to me.” I pull a small velvet box out of my pocket and open it so the diamond catches the light of the sunset. “Will you marry me, Cass?”
She wipes the tears from her cheeks and gets down on her knees facing me.
“Henry Blaze, I thought you’d never ask.”
I slide the ring on her finger—her left hand this time—and she tilts it to get a good look at the twinkles.
I pull her to her feet. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you too.” She pushes my hat back and touches her forehead against mine.
I pick her up off the ground and kiss her.
“All right!” Cody shouts from the media tent. “Go Lefty!”
Second Epilogue
ANOTHER YEAR LATER
CASS
The television news camera is in my face as I lean on the corner of my desk.
The reporter smiles. “Mayor Wyatt, you have proven to the people of this town that you won’t back down to private interests and big money. That you’re not afraid of a fight. I see that you keep a scathing newspaper headline framed on your desk. Why is that?”
The reporter’s talking about the framed newspaper clipping front and center in my office.
“Oh, this.” I lift the frame and look at it for the millionth time and I can’t help but smile. I’ll never forget the day this headline appeared in the paper after the Cherry Festival and my very public engagement to Hank last year. We’re set to get married next month.
WYATT TOO WEAK FOR PAULSON?
The reporter who wrote that article—an old classmate and apparently someone for whom there is no off-limits topic—used my engagement as a political talking point. The general tone of the article was that I was unable to stand up to Hank after he treated me so badly.
The writer couldn’t get past the opinion that I went scurrying back to Hank like a puppy. That Hank came back only because his bull riding career had ended and he had nothing else going for him. That all of this, and a few other things they learned from talking to my friends and co-workers, showed a lack of the kind of backbone needed in a mayor of this great city. Who knew small town politics could get so nasty?
It stung at first, reading all about it. But in the end, it really didn’t matter. I clipped that headline and had it framed. It’s on my desk at my office and I look at it every single day. The office I was granted after eighty-two percent of the voters sent the message that they didn’t think it mattered either.
“Well, Carline, I’m glad you asked about this. This headline appeared for one day in the paper, and I could have let it fade into the recycling pile, but I chose to save it. It’s a great reminder.”
“A reminder of what, exactly?”
“I don’t generally like to discuss my personal life in the course of my work serving the people as mayor, but I think it bears saying. This headline was meant to make me look weak and afraid. But, when I saw it, it inspired me. Because I think the things that prompted the headline speak to a strength, not a weakness.”
“A strength, how so?”
“Well, I think it says that I don’t throw people away. That I am willing to take a chance on something I trust. At the end of the day, we’re all just human and we’re flawed and imperfect. But that doesn’t mean we can’t improve and that we aren’t good people. That is a belief I bring to my work as mayor every day. I don’t hold grudges. I don’t play games. And I am not a doormat. I know what my mandate is from the people of this town. I have my marching orders and I will fight for what the people want.”
I’ll admit, it does give me a tiny bit of satisfaction to be able to speak to this so publicly. But, the moment is fleeting and as the interview moves on I place the frame back on my desk and move right along with it.
When the reporters are gone and the cameras are turned off, I grab my briefcase and head for the door.
Outside my office, Hank stands waiting for me, a single red rose in his hand.
“What’s this for?” I ask, taking the rose and pressing it to my nose.
“It’s a surprise.” He’s got a wry smile on his face.
I know he’s up to something. “Do I get to guess?”
“You can ask. Don’t mean I’ll answer.” He wraps his arm around my waist and we head outside. Hank takes my briefcase and my keys. “You won’t be needing these things.” He leads me to his truck and opens the door, giving me his hand so I can climb up inside.
Hank takes me back to the house to change and then we take the horses for a slow ride along the Flathead River, to the place we’ve claimed as our own. This time, Hank is the one who packed a picnic and blankets, and we head off to watch the sunset.
We lay on our sides on the blanket. I close my eyes and soak up the moment of peace
and quiet, letting the sun warm my skin. When I open my eyes, Hank’s watching me.
“What are you doing?” I ask, feeling self conscious all of the sudden.
Hank takes my hand, his eyes serious. “I just want you to know how much I love you, Cass.”
I pull him to me to give him a kiss but he resists, and stays where he is. I arch my brows at him, waiting for him to tell me what’s on his mind.
“One of the first times we came to this spot, I made you a promise I didn’t keep.” His eyes blaze as he watches me. “I’m not proud of that, and I thank god every single day that you took me back.”
“Oh, Hank…” I don’t need him to rehash this again. We’ve talked about our past and the time we were apart so often that I don’t need reassuring.
He shakes his head. “No. Let me get this out. I… I need you to say this. I need you to hear what I have to say.”
“All right.”
“We’re getting married in four weeks, three days, and…” He looks at his watch. “…one hour or so, and I want you to know that when I take my vows, when I make my promise before god and our families and everyone we love… that it is a more than a promise. It’s a guarantee. I will prove to you every single day for the rest of my life how much you mean to me, Cass.”
He inches closer and kisses the tears off my cheek. “I have said it before and I will keep on saying it. I don’t deserve you.” His voice is soft and low, and I know it’s hard for him to bare it all like this, but I love him for it because I know it’s true.
I lift my chin and touch my nose to his. “I love you, Hank. So much.”
He moves his hand to my shoulder and runs a finger along my collarbone. “I plan to honor you.” He bends and places a single kiss on my neck.