She did a stylish turn. “Good for a summer barbecue at the ranch?”
“Good anytime, anywhere.” He held up his hands. “I’ve been sprucing up these two, so I don’t want to put my hands on you.”
“That’s okay. I’ll put mine on you.” She reached over the fence, gripped his shirt, tugged him over to kiss. “I didn’t know you had ponies.”
“We don’t. We bring a couple in for this, take shifts leading the little guys around on them.”
“They have sweet eyes.” Cate reached out to stroke a cheek.
“They’ll be bored brainless by the end of the day, but they know their job.”
He gave the pony a pat on the flank before swinging over the fence. “You doing okay?”
“I just spent an hour in the kitchen with two women who leave my culinary and organizational skills in the dust, but otherwise, yes.”
He lowered his forehead to hers in a gesture she found as sweet as the ponies’ eyes. “I have to wash my hands because I need to get ahold of you.”
As she walked with him toward the pump, Red came around the far side of the barn. “We got your horseshoes, we got your bocce, and some chairs set up if anybody wants to take a load off watching the play.”
“Thanks, Red.”
“Woman in White,” he said to Cate. “You’re a straight-out vision.”
“Aw.”
“Now, do you want to hear it, or do you want to put it aside for the day?”
“I want to hear it, then put it aside for the day.”
“You’re a sensible girl, Cate. You always were. Okay, so I’ll round it up. Dupont’s up onstage, ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel for this high-class do to hype her Mother’s Heart deal. She’s been mingling around, like a lot of them, then she sat down by Buster at their table for a bit before going up to do her soliloquy. She’s just over five minutes into it when, according to witnesses, Buster seemed to have trouble getting air. Then he keeled right out of the chair onto the floor.
“People scrambled, like you’d expect. It took Dupont a minute, but she scrambled, too.”
“There must have been doctors there,” Cate said.
“Yeah, there were. A couple of them got to him quick, got people to move back. Tried CPR on him, called nine-one-one. He went fast, nothing they could do. Dupont’s wailing, dragging at him. Plenty of pictures of her holding him in her lap. Cops came in. It looked like a heart attack, and it wouldn’t’ve been his first.”
Red shifted, nudged at his Wayfarers. “But the cops came in, and a crime scene team. They covered the bases. Digitalis, killing dose, in his gin and tonic. Server’s cleared, so’s the bartender who mixed it. A lot of people milling around, like I said, and they’ll do a lot of interviews. But the fact is, one person benefitted most from his death, one person sat right next to him at the table, had the easiest access, and that same person’s already getting the eye from authorities on two murders, two attempteds. She’s going to get a harder look now.”
“Do you think she did it?”
“I can’t give you a yes or no on that, but if you asked me do I think she’s capable of it? You’re damn right I do.”
“So do I.” Cate released a breath, one of cleansing. “I’m sorry the man died, and I’m sorry about the way he died. I’m not sorry she’s back in the frying pan. If she’s guilty, I hope they lock her up for good this time. If she’s innocent, well, she’s about to find out what it’s like to do nothing wrong and still pay a hard price.”
“Like I said, a sensible girl. You oughta know they’re keeping an eye on Sparks, too.”
“On this? But—”
“Cops are suspicious bastards, Caitlyn.” He said it with pride. “So you have to suspect, if you’re a cop, this whole thing is one big setup. What does Sparks do? What’s his nature? He sets up marks. He’s got plenty of motive to want Charlotte Dupont to land in that frying pan.”
“If he could orchestrate all this from prison, if he could have two people murdered, why not just kill her?”
“If you kill somebody, it’s done. Put them in that pan? They burn a long time. Trust me, high-dollar lawyers aside, she’s sizzling now.”
“Hey!” Maggie, grass-green braid dangling, shouted from her bedroom window. “Haven’t you three got work to do? You expect people to eat out of serving dishes with their hands? Get those plates set up, and the flatware. Don’t forget the damn napkins.”
“Woman’s a slave driver,” Red commented when Maggie pulled her head back in. “But I just can’t quit her.” He turned back to Cate. “Put it away.”
“Done.”
As predicted, there was good food, good people, and plenty of music. Cate found it easy to embrace the moment. She sat with Leo and Hailey, cuddled Grace the amazing, watched wide-eyed kids circle the paddock on patient, plodding ponies.
It made her wish for Darlie and Luke even as she pictured them settling into their home in Antrim, with a puppy named Dog.
Watching her grandparents sing a duet, she tipped her head to her father’s shoulder. “They’ve still got it.”
“And know how to use it. They’re never going to retire. Not all the way.”
Even as he said it, Hugh walked over, took Cate’s hand. “Remember that routine in the pub from Donovan’s Dream?”
“Probably. Sure. Now?” Amused, more than reluctant, she tugged back when he tugged her hand. “Here? Grandpa, I was barely six.”
“Muscle memory. Come on now, there’s a fiddle player here who claims he knows the tune. You wouldn’t let your old grandfather down, would you?”
“Oh, that’s cheating. I was six,” she said again, as Aidan helped by pushing her to her feet. “Oh God, I’m going to have to move to Fiji with Julia after this.”
It was a quick, bright tune, and the fiddler played it well enough, and with plenty of enthusiasm. Cate tried to cast herself back, to remember the steps, the moves, the words.
Just a kind of strut to start while she held Hugh’s hand. And into a five-beat riff walk.
He winked at her, just as he had then. And she was back.
Around them, people kept the time, let out whistles, even sang along. Through all of them, Aidan studied Dillon.
He knew it, of course, had seen it, heard it, felt it, every time he saw the two of them together. He knew the boy spent his nights in his daughter’s bed, and felt, as the father of a grown woman, he’d adjusted well to that.
But here and now, under a bright summer sky, remembering when his girl had been a girl, just six, it both cracked and lifted his father’s heart.
They ended as they’d begun, hand in hand, smiling at each other.
“That was one of the happiest times of my life,” she murmured as she embraced Hugh.
“Mine, too. I’m not as young as I was.”
“Me either!” Laughing, she led him back to the table. “Take ten, Sullivan.”
“I’d take it better with a beer. It’s a picnic.”
When she got the nod from Lily, Cate kissed his cheek. “Then I’ll get you one.”
“Well done, Dad. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Aidan walked straight to Dillon, who still had his eyes on Cate and was obviously trying to extricate himself from a gaggle of people to get to her.
“Sorry.” All charm, Aidan smiled, slapped a couple of backs. “I need to steal Dillon a minute.”
“Thanks,” Dillon began as they moved away. “I wanted to—”
“I know what you wanted. We need to talk first.”
He walked toward the front of the house—fewer people. Still, some hung out on the porch, so he kept walking, heading toward the field where the cattle grazed. Where the woods lay behind them.
The woods where his little girl had run, lost and terrified.
“She’s my only child,” Aidan began. “I’ve had to fight the instinct to keep her wrapped up tight and safe, to keep her with me every second. It was my grandmother who pushed me to give her room, when
we were in Ireland. She was right, my grandmother. But I knew when I wasn’t there, right there, Nan was.”
“I never met her,” Dillon said carefully, “but I feel like I know her from the way Cate talks about her.”
“She was a presence. When we came back to California, I knew my father and Lily were there when I wasn’t. Even when Cate demanded, and Christ, did she, to go to New York, I knew Lily would be there. After that, Cate didn’t give me much choice in it. She would live her life, and I want that for her. Love is letting go as much as it’s holding on.”
“I love her. I’ve loved her a long time, so I know that’s true.”
Aidan turned from the woods, looked into the eyes of the man he knew already held his daughter’s heart. “You’re both of age, but I’m going to ask what you intend to do about it.”
“I’m going to take care of her, even when she doesn’t especially want me to. She’s a hell of a lot tougher than she looks, but she still needs someone to take care. We all do. I’m going to do my damnedest to make her happy, to work with her toward building the kind of life we can both be proud of. When she settles into all that, I’m going to marry her. We’re both of age, but I’m hoping you’ll give your blessing on that.”
Slipping his hands in his pockets, Aidan shifted to look out at the ocean, to gather himself. “I’ve been grateful to you for nearly twenty years.”
“It’s not about—”
Aidan held up a hand to cut Dillon off. “I haven’t spent as much time here as my father, as Lily, as Catey now, but I’ve spent enough to know your family is one I’d be proud to blend mine with. I’ve spent some time this summer keeping an eye on you.”
“Yeah.” Dillon shifted his hat back a fraction. “I felt that.”
Pleased, Aidan shifted back. “So, if you want my blessing, you have it. And if you screw this up, if you hurt my baby, I’ll kick your ass. If I can’t do it myself, I’ll hire somebody who can.”
Dillon glanced at the hand Aidan held out, took it. “That’s fair.”
With a laugh, Aidan slapped his back. “Let’s go get a beer.”
Hours later, happily exhausted, Cate walked with Dillon toward his house.
“I don’t know how any of you can get up before dawn in the morning after a day like this.”
“Rancher’s stamina. Let’s sit out a minute. It’s as pretty a night as they come.”
They’d done most of the cleanup and hauling away, but some chairs still sat out, so she took one, sighed out at the sea, the stars, the fat ball of moon.
“Best moment of the day,” she challenged. “Pick one. Don’t think.”
“I’ve got a couple of them, but we’ll go with watching you dance with Hugh.”
“One of mine, too.”
From the hills, echoing, came the call of a coyote.
“You really don’t want that?”
“Want what?”
“Performing that way. On the stage, or on the screen that way.”
“No, I really don’t.” She tipped her face skyward, realized she was as thoroughly happy as she’d ever been. And understood exactly why. “It was fun, but I don’t want it for my work. My father said today my grandparents will never really retire, and he’s right. We Sullivans tend to pour it all in—like another family I know. I don’t want to pour it all into that, and not because of childhood trauma, not anymore. Because I’ve found other things to pour it all into.”
Brushing her hair back, she turned her face to his. “Would you like to know my best moment of the day?”
“Sure.”
“I was bringing another load of buns out of the house. I saw you and my father, my grandfather, standing together at one of the grills. Smoke’s rising up, you’ve got the turner in one hand, a beer in the other. Grandpa’s hands are moving the way they do when he’s telling a story, and you’re flipping burgers and grinning at him while Dad’s shaking his head. I don’t have to hear him to know he’s telling you to stop encouraging him.”
She took his hand, brought it to her cheek to press it there. “And standing there with a tray of hamburger buns I thought, Oh, isn’t that wonderful? Isn’t that the best? Look at the three of them, through the smoke and the music, with all the people around, with kids riding ponies, and Leo dancing with Hailey while Tricia holds the baby. There are the three men I love. There they are.”
His hand turned to grip hers, hard. His eyes never left her face. “If you say like a brother, it’s going to kill me dead, right here, right now.”
“Not remotely like a brother.” She cupped the back of his neck with her other hand, locked her lips on his. “It’s done now, Dillon. The switch flipped and there’s no turning it off again. I love you. It’s forever.”
He rose, lifted her off the chair, off her feet. Took her lips again when she linked her arms around his neck. “This is officially the best moment.”
“Mine, too.”
Then he swept her up to carry her into the house.
“Spoke too soon,” she decided. “Best may still be to come.”
“I think we’ve got a lot of bests coming. Like the day you marry me.”
“Marry? That’s—that’s fast. Like, boom!”
“Forever’s forever.”
“But—marriage is—” She felt the anxiety attack sliding in, reached to rub the bracelet she wasn’t wearing.
“It’s not boom. Breathe through it,” he told her, calm as ever. “We’re family people, Cate.”
He was right about that, she couldn’t dispute that. And yet. “Gram and Red, they love each other, but they’re not married.”
He shifted her to open the door. “Red is family, and Gram had raised hers by the time they got together. We have to make ours yet.”
“Oh Jesus, oh Jesus. I’m not a rancher, Dillon. You can’t think—”
He set her on her feet so abruptly her breath whooshed back in, and out again. “Is that what you think I want? What I expect? You’ll marry me and start, what, milking the cows, mucking the stalls? For a smart woman, you sure can be an idiot. You’ve got your work, I’ve got mine. Why in the hell would I want you to give up your work, something that makes you happy, something you’re so damn good at?”
“Okay, but—”
“ ‘But,’ my ass.” He tossed his hat on the couch, dragged his fingers through his hair. “You’ve got that fancy studio, and you’re going to want to use it, see your grandparents. I figure you’ll need something here, for when you don’t want to drive over there. So we add on here. We’ve got room. You know what you need for it. Hell, I can move into the cottage if that’s a sticking point. What the hell does it matter? It’s you I want, and I’m goddamned if you’re going to tell me you love me, and it’s forever, then make half-assed excuses about marrying me and building a life together.”
When her eyes welled, he dragged all ten fingers through his hair. “Don’t do that. I can’t fight that.”
“I’m not trying to fight. I don’t want to fight. You’d build me a studio here?”
“We, Cate. We’d build it. Don’t you understand the concept of we?”
“I haven’t had much experience with this particular area of we, so give me a break on it. Besides.” She drilled a finger into his chest. “You’ve obviously thought all this through.”
“I’ve had years of thinking.”
“And I’ve had about a minute.”
Point made, and he couldn’t deny it. “Okay. All right. I can wait.”
“Dannazione!” She threw her hands in the air. Followed that Italian curse with a few others. “Screw that. I need to ask you one question. What do you see?” She tapped her hands on her heart. “What do you see when you look at me?”
“I see a hell of a lot, but I’ll cut that down for now. I see the woman I love. I see you, damn it. I see Cate.”
She stepped to him, pressed her face to his shoulder. “I’ve had about a minute. And I’ve waited my whole life for you.”
�
�I’ve been here all along.”
“I couldn’t before. I couldn’t until I realized, as I’ve started to over the last few months, that I’ve stopped letting what happened to me hurt the way it used to because it brought me to you.”
“Is that a yes, or are we still going to dance around it?”
She drew back, framed his face. “What if I said I would turn that second bedroom into a nice, pretty guest room?”
“I’d say that’s not even in the area of negotiable.”
She smiled at him. “Good. Because I’d hate to marry a pushover.”
“Wait.”
She stared after him when he walked out of the room. Shook her head when he came back again. “I thought that was a moment.”
“Here’s another.” He opened his hand, showed her the ring. The little diamond sat in a simple white gold setting. “It was my mother’s, the one my father asked her with. She gave it to me when she knew how I felt, what I wanted. She said it was fine, she wouldn’t be hurt, if you wanted something that suited you better, but you should have this so it got passed on.”
She pressed a hand to her heart first, then held it out. “How could anything suit me better?”
CHAPTER THIRTY
In the morning, Cate found Julia in the henhouse gathering eggs.
“You’re up early. And I’m a little on the late side.” Julia added another egg to her bucket. “I missed Dillon before he headed out to the fields.”
“I have to get back, but I wanted to . . .” She held out her hand with its small, winking diamond.
Even as her eyes filled, Julia’s face went bright. She set down the bucket, managed an “Oh, oh!” before she pulled Cate to her.
“It means just everything that you’d want me to have your ring, that you’d want me to wear it.”
Julia drew Cate back, then pulled her in again. “I need another minute. He loves you so much. I’m so happy for him, for you, for all of us.”
Drawing back again, Julia took Cate’s ring hand. “I’d hoped he’d ask you with the ring his father gave me. Now that he has, if you want something else, something new—”
Quickly, Cate interwove her fingers with Julia’s. “My family values legacies, cherishes them. That’s what this is to me. There’s so much ugliness going on, and I don’t know if it’ll ever stop. But I have this, and I can look at it and know what really matters. I bring complications with me, and that’s why I tried to say no—or at least slow it all down. Next steps are scary. But I love him, and if I didn’t take the next step with him, I’d still be locked in a room, alone.”
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