Chapter 22
As she drove back to Prescott from the ranch, Cat spoke to a young man at the front desk of the Hassayampa Inn. “I’d like Sally Taylor’s room.”
“One moment, please,” the desk agent said.
Cat waited as there was a click and then a ringing sound. A moment later a woman answered. “Hello?”
“Hi, Sally?” Cat swallowed. “This is Cat Hayden.”
There was a pause before Sally said, “Blake’s girlfriend? What do you want?”
Cat took a deep breath. “I’d like to meet you at the Starbucks on Montezuma.”
“Why?” Sally asked, sounding a little suspicious, but curious, too.
“I just want to talk,” Cat said. “I can be there in fifteen minutes if that works for you.”
Another pause. “All right. But I don’t have long.”
“Thanks.” Cat took a deep breath. “I’ll see you there.”
Her stomach churned as she drove the rest of the way into town and made her way to the Starbucks. After she parked and headed into the coffee shop, she looked around but didn’t see Sally.
Cat picked a small table with two seats and sat in the chair facing the doorway. When she saw Sally walk in, she felt a little relief that the woman had come, mixed in with an additional burst of nervousness.
Sally wore tight jeans and an emerald green button up blouse open just enough to show her cleavage. She wore heavy gold earrings with a matching bracelet and necklace.
“Hi.” Cat went for a smile as Sally sat at the table. “Thanks for coming.”
The woman didn’t smile but Cat didn’t sense animosity from her, either.
“I only came because I’m curious what you would have to say to me.” Sally leaned back in her seat and studied Cat. She became conscious of her scar and Sally’s parting shot the first and only time Cat had seen the woman before now. “Did Blake send you?”
Cat shook her head. “I didn’t tell him I was coming to talk with you.” Cat stood. “What would you like to drink? I’m buying.”
Sally shrugged one shoulder. “A grande vanilla latte. Iced.”
“Be right back.” Cat was almost afraid the woman would disappear before they had a chance to talk. She was glad no one was in line as she gave her order to the barista.
It wasn’t too long before she was sitting at the table again and she set the cold clear plastic cup in front of Sally with her iced latte. Cat had gone for a cup of coffee with half and half and sugar.
Sally took a sip of her drink, settled in her chair, and crossed her legs at the knees. She folded her arms across her chest. “What was it that you want to talk about?”
Cat shifted in her seat. “First of all, I want to tell you how much I admire you. I hope you don’t mind me being direct. I have had friends and family who have dealt with addiction. I know how hard it is to overcome and it can’t be easy, all that you’ve been through.”
Sally looked taken aback, as if she wasn’t sure how to take what Cat had just said to her.
“I’m certain it took a lot to make it.” Cat felt the heat of the coffee cup in one of her hands. “But you came out on top after what you’ve gone through.”
Sally seemed to take a moment to consider what Cat had said. “What is the point of this?” Sally finally asked.
Cat leaned forward on the table, clasping her drink in both hands. “I have known that little girl for only three months, but I have grown to love her. I know you’ve won custody of Demi and you’re planning on taking her to Tennessee with you.”
With a raised eyebrow, Sally said, “So?”
“I think you’re a mother who loves her daughter.” Cat searched Sally’s gaze, trying to connect with her in some way. “I also think you want what’s best for Demi.”
Sally narrowed her brows. “Of course I do.”
“I’d like you to consider this.” Cat studied Sally. “You’re taking a girl who’s on the verge of becoming a young woman, away from all that she’s known and loved, including her father.”
Sally’s body language became tenser. “Is this all that you wanted?”
Cat gripped the cup tighter. “To do what’s best for Demi, please consider what she wants –”
Sally’s eye’s flashed as she cut off Cat. “What’s best for my daughter is for her to stay with her mother. I won custody of her and I’m going to keep her.”
“And that might work out well—I’m not here to say it won’t,” Cat said. “My own daughter died when she was four.” Cat swallowed. “So I don’t know what it’s like to have a teenager, but I know what I see. It would be hard for me, to be in your shoes. I wish I had a daughter to love, to hug, to see, and to consider what’s best for her.”
Cat continued, “I’m not telling you to change what you’re doing. It’s just that she loves her Dad and he’s everything to her. I know there’s a part of Demi who’s positively affected by her mother, a woman who has overcome a lot and greatly desires to have her daughter to raise. Substance issues can make it look like you don’t love your child, but I believe you do.”
Sally looked like she was going to say something but didn’t and Cat went on. “I would love nothing better than for you to reconnect with Demi so that she can have her mom again. That matters. I’m just asking you this because I care for that little girl and I know you do too. While she is with you, please consider whether or not you having custody of her is working and what’s best for her. And please try not to be influenced by any anger you might hold against her dad.”
Again, Sally was quiet. “I think you’ve said enough on this subject,” she finally said.
“Think about it.” Cat held back a sigh. “Please.”
“My husband is waiting for me.” Sally uncrossed her legs, pushed her chair back, and stood. “We have some things to take care of before we leave in the morning, but my daughter belongs with me. I am her mother.”
“I understand.” Cat got to her feet, too. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
Sally looked at Cat for a long moment. “I’m sorry about the rude name I called you at Blake’s,” the woman said before she turned and left the café.
Surprised at Sally’s apology, and disappointed that their conversation hadn’t achieved what she’d hoped, Cat watched Sally leave before heading to the doorway herself.
Cat wasn’t sure if she’d done the right thing, but she’d felt the need to at least try. Maybe something she’d said to Sally would someday make some kind of sense to the woman. Maybe.
Chapter 23
Blake removed his Stetson as he walked into Cat’s home and pushed his hand through the short strands of his hair. He set his hat aside on the back of the couch and took Cat into his arms and kissed her.
He held on to her tightly as if making sure nothing would take her away from him, like his daughter had been.
When he stepped back, she looked up at him, wishing there was something she could do about the pain she knew he’d felt ever since Demi had been taken from him more than two months ago. He wasn’t one to talk a whole lot about his feelings, but he’d shared a lot with her and it was clear how much he missed his daughter.
Blake’s gaze traveled over Cat’s face and he stroked her cheek. “I need to talk with you,” he said, his eyes serious. “I don’t know when or where is the best time.”
Her skin prickled and a sense of foreboding came over her. She searched his gaze. “How about here, right now?”
He dragged his hand down his face and nodded. “Might as well.”
She went to the couch and sat on the edge of it, her heart thudding. Something wasn’t right. He looked so serious. What did he have to tell her? He couldn’t be breaking up with her, could he?
He lowered himself to the couch, facing her. He took her hands in his and studied her as if trying to find the words he wanted to say.
“What is it?” She tried to keep her tone light even though she was suddenly crazy with worry.
“I can
’t be this far from my daughter.” He held Cat’s hands. “I can’t take not being with her.”
The prickles on her skin became more intense. “What are you saying?”
He was quiet for a long moment as he searched her gaze. “I’m selling the ranch and livestock, and I’m moving to Tennessee.”
Shock made Cat almost dizzy for a moment. “You’re leaving?”
“I want you to come with me.” He released her hands and cupped her face in his palms. “I don’t want to live without you again.”
Her mind seemed to spin and her eyes started to burn. She grasped his wrists and brought his hands away from her face. “I can’t leave, Blake.” She fought back tears. “I came back to be with Grandma Hayden. She’s sick and getting worse. I can’t let her go through her illness alone. She has no one else.”
He let his hands fall to his lap and he looked down at them. When he met her gaze again, he saw her tear-filled eyes and brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
“We can bring your granny with us, Cat.” Blake looked at her with an earnest expression. “We’ll get a house big enough that she can have a portion of the house to herself.”
Cat had to let things process for a moment before she responded. Her mind just kept whirling at the thought of Blake selling the ranch, picking up everything, and moving to another state.
“Thank you for that.” Cat swallowed. She continued, her throat feeling nearly closed off, “But I don’t think she’ll leave. She loves her home and she has memories from before Granddaddy died.” Cat pushed her fingers through her hair. “She’s always said she wants to live her final days in that house and doesn’t want to go to a rest home or retirement community, or anywhere else.” Cat had a hard time speaking as she tried to work everything through in her mind. “I think she’s too ill to travel, too. It wouldn’t be good for her. But I’ll talk to her.”
Blake rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger and she wondered if he was going to cry, too. When he moved his hand away there seemed to be a slight redness to his eyes. “I don’t want to leave you,” he said. “And I can’t live without Demi, either. You two mean everything to me.”
Tears rolled down her face in earnest. “A little ironic, isn’t it? When I wanted to leave when we were teenagers, you were married to the land. Now that you’re planning to go, I’m tied here.”
He drew her into his arms and held her, rocking her as he tucked her head under his chin, drawing her in close.
“I’m so selfish, Blake.” She sobbed hard against his chest. “I don’t want you to go. I don’t want to live without you.”
“I can’t do it.” His voice sounded strangled. “I just can’t be this far from her.”
Her shoulders shook as she cried. She wanted to beg him to stay, but she knew it wasn’t right. She couldn’t ask him to choose her over his daughter. But she wanted to…she just couldn’t help it.
“What are we going to do?” She wiped tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. “Do we say goodbye now?”
“I don’t know what to do.” He studied her. “I’d hoped you would come with me. Now, I just don’t know what in the hell to do about us.”
“There’s nothing to do about us.” Cat got to her feet and turned away from him, trying to control her tears. “You have to do what you have to do. You need to go to Demi.”
His boots thumped on the floor as he got up from the couch and then he was taking her by her upper arms and turning her around to face him. “Cat. Look at me.”
She straightened and tried to control her breathing and her emotions as she met his gaze. “I’m not mad at you…I understand. You have to take care of your daughter and I have to take care of my grandmother. But I think I need some time alone now.”
He looked at her a long moment, his voice soft as he spoke. “I love you.”
She almost lost it then. “I’ll see you later.”
He studied her for a long moment, then gave a nod and turned away. He picked up his hat. When he opened the door, he looked at her one last time before closing the door behind him.
Everything crashed down on her and she started crying so hard she felt like she was going to fall to pieces. This was far worse than the last time they’d been separated.
She went to her room and curled up on her bed, her sobs wracking her body. The pain inside her was so great she knew nothing would ever heal it.
It wasn’t his fault, she understood that. But it didn’t make it hurt any less.
The one true love in her life had returned only for her to lose it all over again. She’d never love anyone else the way she loved Blake.
* * * * *
“Hi, honey,” Blake said over the phone to Demi. “How are you doing?”
“I hate it here.” She sounded close to tears as she said the same words she almost always said when he asked her how she was doing. “I want to go home.”
It had only been two months, so he couldn’t expect her to like it in her new home yet. He hadn’t told her he was planning to move to Tennessee. He wanted to sell the ranch and take care of anything else that needed to be handled beforehand so that she wouldn’t be disappointed if it took a while for him to get there.
“Just give it some time.” He tried to speak in a soothing tone. “How’s that horse your mom bought you?”
Demi had a shrug in her voice as she said, “Caprice is all right. She’s not Dandy, though. She’s supposed to be a good barrel racer, but she’s just not as good and it just doesn’t feel right.”
“Are you able to get any practice in?” he asked.
“Mom and Irwin are busy a lot of the time and aren’t around to take me to the stables.” Demi sounded more than disappointed. “Mom isn’t home a whole lot.”
Blake’s jaw tensed. Sally had insisted on custody of Demi yet was hardly spending any time with their daughter. Every time he talked with Demi it was the same thing—she was usually home alone.
“Your mother must be busy.” He tried to keep his tone even. He wasn’t about to pitch his daughter against her mother.
“Yeah, busy with her husband.” Demi paused. “I heard them talking about a trip to Europe this December. I don’t know if they’re planning on taking me or leaving me with Mrs. Buford.”
Mrs. Buford was apparently in her sixties and was the housekeeper and cook. She watched over Demi when Sally and her husband weren’t around. Which seemed to be a hell of a lot of the time.
Heat burned under Blake’s collar. Demi shouldn’t be left with a caregiver who wasn’t one of her parents. He’d find a place fairly close to Sally’s home so that Demi could spend time with him when her mother wasn’t around.
He’d decided that since he was going to make a new start of it, he’d like to run his own stables and raise horses. He planned to take Dandy and Tango with him and that should make Demi happy.
“Do you like Mrs. Buford?” Blake asked.
“She’s okay,” Demi said. “She does make good cookies. My favorites are the snicker doodles.”
“You’re pretty good at baking cookies yourself. You’ll have to get the recipe and make some for me next time you come home,” he said.
“Home and cookies sound good to me,” Demi said wistfully.
“Have you been making some friends?” he asked.
“A couple of girls from school have been nice and I met some kids at my first 4-H meeting here.” He pictured her hugging her stuffed horse as she spoke. “How’s Cat?” Demi asked.
“She’s good.” Just hearing her name made Blake heartsick. It had only been that morning that he’d broken the news to Cat that he planned to move to Nashville and she’d sent him away. She needed time to process it. He needed her by his side. “She misses you,” he added.
“I miss her, too,” Demi said. “Tell her I said so.”
“I will, honey.”
They talked a bit longer and she asked him about the horses and the ranch, her uncles, and Grandma and Grandpa McBride.
The homesickness in her voice made his chest hurt.
“You call me any time you need to talk,” he said. “I don’t care when or where, you call me.”
“I will, Dad.” A hint of a smile was finally in her voice. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, honey.”
When they said goodbye, Blake disconnected the call and stared out his front window for a long time.
Chapter 24
The wind stirred restlessly as Blake rested one boot on the lower rail of the wood fence of the training ring and pictured Demi practicing for the next rodeo on Dandy. She’d missed most of the rodeos she’d worked so hard to compete in. She’d only been in a few between the time she had her cast taken off and her move. He hated that something she loved so much had been taken from her. She might get established in Tennessee, and he hoped so, but it wasn’t going to be easy for her.
Damn, he missed his little girl. This place just wasn’t the same. Nine weeks had passed since she’d moved and it was closing in on Thanksgiving.
It wouldn’t be long now before he moved. He’d had a feeling someone in the family would buy the ranch, and his brother, Gage, had stepped up to the plate. He was also going to buy the livestock, excluding the horses. Blake was taking all of them with him.
One of the good things about selling the property to his brother was that Gage was in no rush to take over the place. That gave Blake time to take care of all that needed to be done, including what was necessary to make the move, like buying a new home and property to set up his new stables.
He still hadn’t told Demi. He planned to fly out to Tennessee during Thanksgiving week to look for a new home and he’d tell his daughter in person. He’d already talked with Sally about splitting time with Demi over that weekend. She’d sounded strange on the phone, like she’d had something heavy on her mind, but she had agreed.
His thoughts turned to Cat and his chest hurt like it always did. He understood why she couldn’t go with him, but that didn’t make it any easier. More than a week had gone by since he’d told her he was moving. She’d stayed away from him and he couldn’t blame her although he missed her fiercely.
Roping Your Heart Page 15