Lacy nodded. “It’s been a long day and my allergies are acting up.”
“You sure that’s all? Cade hasn’t been being a knucklehead again, has he?”
“Excuse me?”
The redhead laughed softly. “Sorry. That’s what Burk calls him sometimes.” She reached below the bar and pulled a wine cooler out of the icebox. “Here. It’s on the house. And along with that, I owe you an apology.”
“Me?”
“I came down on you pretty hard the last time you were in here. It’s just that Cade is a real good friend of mine—”
“I know.”
“Not in the way you might be thinking. We’re just friends. I prefer my men tall, blonde and frustratingly blind to what’s right in front of him. That is, when I have time for a man.” She looked around. “This place tends to keep me pretty busy.”
“I can imagine.” Lacy couldn’t resist adding, “Your type of man sounds a lot like Burk.”
Katie snorted. “He’d be the last man on earth I’d ever be interested in.”
It was definitely Burk, but it really wasn’t any of her business Lacy thought as she took a drink of her wine cooler. She wouldn’t be in Deep Creek much longer and hoped to keep things with Katie at this new comfortable level for the rest of her stay there. It was hard enough dealing with Cade’s rejection.
“I’m going to grab a table,” Lacy said. “Let me know when my order is up and I’ll come get it.” She needed to sit down. The stress she’d been under for days had left her exhausted.
“I’ll bring it out to you. Would you want a glass with that?” Katie asked, nodding toward the bottle in Lacy’s hand.
“No, thanks.”
“You sure you’re feeling okay? Maybe I should call Cade-”
“Don’t,” she blurted out. “Cade’s got his hands full at the ranch. All I need is some food and a little time alone.”
Katie arched a questioning brow, but let it drop. “Okay. But if you need anything just holler. My ear’s included in that offer by the way.”
She managed a grateful smile. “Thanks, Katie.” Turning, she made her way across the empty dance floor a corner table by the jukebox.
She finished off her wine cooler as she sat contemplating the coming holidays, sinking deeper into a rarely felt state of self-pity. For a woman who prided herself for her emotional strength and ability to cope with tough situations, she didn’t know how to deal with the loss of control in her life. She couldn’t bring her grandmother back. Couldn’t make Cade care about her. Couldn’t bear the thought of being alone.
Katie came over to the table carrying a tray. Beside the plate with her turkey sandwich was a handful of chips and another cooler.
“Perfect timing,” Lacy said, handing Katie the empty bottle, while keeping her teary gaze averted.
“Enjoy.” Katie hesitated as if wanting to say something else, then walked away, returning to her place behind the bar.
It was a good thing she was sitting with her back to the bar. She didn’t want Katie to see her tears, knowing she would either insist on talking about it or calling Cade. Neither of which Lacy wanted to happen. This was something she had to work through on her own.
The second bottle of the sugary sweet wine was going down almost as quickly as the first had. Only this time she was beginning to feel the alcohol’s effects. She was becoming emotionally numb.
Cade.
Lacy sighed softly. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t push the man from her thoughts. His words had hurt her deeply, but she understood. Really she did. While she was dreading the upcoming holidays, she couldn’t even imagine how hard they must be for Cade. Going through them remembering what he’d had and lost. Would any man ever love her as much as Cade had loved his wife? Still loved her.
She pushed away from the table and stood, a bit unsteady on her feet. She made her way to the jukebox and dug a couple of dollar bills out of her purse.
Later when dinner guests and late night drinkers arrived things would pick up, but for now she needed some sort of distraction. Music would do it. It didn’t matter to her what songs played as long as they ended the silence that filled the near empty room, so she began picking numbers at random.
The first CD dropped and began to play. Lacy closed her eyes and swayed to the music. She had never taken the time to listen to the words of a song before. She’d always been too busy between work and taking care of her aging grandparents.
Now all she had was time.
* * *
Cade had just stepped out of the shower when the phone rang. He ignored it, assuming Burk would grab it. But after several rings, he grabbed for a towel and wrapped it around his waist on his way out to the kitchen to answer it.
He snatched up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Mr. Tyler?” a male voice replied on the other end.
“This is him,” Cade replied with a frown. He was in no mood to talk to another bill collector. Especially, during the holidays.
“This is Mr. Matthis from the bank.”
Cade rolled his eyes. Yep, after his money.
“I’m sorry to be calling so late, but I just returned from a meeting and needed to speak to you regarding your loan payment.”
“I dropped off a check yesterday. I know it wasn’t the full amount, but I’ll have another check to you next week, I promise.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Damn! They were finally foreclosing.
“Look, Mr. Matthis, if you could just give me a few more days to come up with the money—”
“Your account is up to date,” the man promptly assured him. “The payment made on your account today will cover you for several months.”
“The payment made today?” Cade echoed in confusion. “There must be some sort of mistake.”
“I can assure you there’s no mistake, Mr. Tyler. The money’s already been posted. I’m calling because the young woman you sent in to make your payment forgot your payment receipt. We don’t like to send documents like that through the mail, so I’m calling to see if you’d prefer to stop by and pick it up the next time you’re in town.”
Cade ran a hand over his face. This was crazy. He was dreaming this. He had to be.
“I’d rather get this straightened out now.”
“We’re just about to close. If you could just come by tomorrow sometime...”
“I’ll do that.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tyler. We’ll see you then.” A dial tone replaced the voice on the other end of the line.
Cade was still in a daze as he crossed the kitchen to place the phone back on its stand.
Just then Burk strode into the kitchen. “Lacy’s gone out for the evening.”
Cade turned. “What?”
“Lacy.” Burk handed him what appeared to be a note. “I found this tacked on the barn door.”
Cade looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, then back up at Burk. “What sort of errands would she have to do?”
“Beats me. Maybe she would have told you if you hadn’t been trying so hard to avoid her.”
“I wasn’t...” There was no since denying it. “Look, I just got a call from Mr. Matthis—”
“The bank prez?” Burk cut in with a worried frown.
“Yeah. Seems someone made a pretty big payment on the ranch loan.”
“Who?” he snorted. “The loan fairy?”
“I’m serious. I told Matthis I’d be in tomorrow to straighten it out. He thought I sent some woman in to... Damn it all to hell!”
“What?”
“Lacy did it. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Nothing you’re saying is making any sense to me.”
“We’ll talk when I get back. Right now, I need to find Lacy.”
Burk look down at the towel wrapped about Cade’s waist and raised a brow. “Might be a good idea to put some clothes on first, or I’ll be bailing you out of jail, too.”
“Always th
e comedian,” Cade muttered as he left the kitchen and hurried down the hall to his room. He was just pulling on his jeans when the phone rang again. Maybe it was Matthis calling back to say that he had discovered the cause of the mix up. Then his suspicions of Lacy having anything to do with the deposit would be unfounded.
His bedroom door creaked open and Burk poked his head into the room. “It’s for you,” he said, holding the cordless out. “It’s Katie.”
“Katie?”
* * *
Cade stepped into the bar and spotted Lacy right away. It was hard not to in that short, sexy skirt and those incredible legs. She was standing next to the jukebox, her back to him.
He crossed the smoky room to stand behind her. “Dalton, we need to talk.”
She spun around to face him, the drink in her hand sloshing out over the bottle’s rim as she attempted to steady herself. “Well, well, if it isn’t Cade Tyler, champion bull rider, sexiest butt in the west.”
His jaw fell open. Katie was right. Lacy was smashed. He grabbed a napkin from a nearby table and handed it to her. “Here.”
“Thanks,” she said, dabbing at the wine on her hand as she moved past him.
He followed her to the bar, watching as she took several staggering steps. “Dalton, you’re drunk!”
She turned to him with a smile. “I am not. I’ve only had two bottles of wine. Hmm, or was that three? Anyway, I’m just pheasantly relaxed.”
“You’re pheasantly relaxed?” Cade arched a brow.
Katie, who was standing behind the bar, shrugged with a frown. “I wasn’t sure what to do.”
“You did the right thing.”
“At least someone does the right thing in your opinion,” Lacy muttered as she pushed her wine cooler bottle toward Katie. “I’ll have another.”
“That one’s still half full,” Cade replied as he grabbed hold of the teetering bottle and handed it to Katie. “She’s had enough.” How could Katie have let her get to this point?
“She’s only had three with food,” Katie said with a worried glance Lacy’s direction. “This was her fourth. I didn’t think—”
“It’s fine, Katie. I appreciate your calling.” He slipped an arm around Lacy’s waist to steady her. “Come on, Dalton, you’ve had enough. I’m going to ignore that comment you made about my ass and we’ll go home where you can sleep this off.”
Her purse slipped from her shoulder and spilled across the wooden floorboards. Cade bent to retrieve its lost contents. “What’s this?” He straightened, holding up a box of allergy medication.
“It’s for my eyes.”
He held up the box. “Did you take this tonight?”
“Yepperoo, boss man. I had to. All the hay and dust that comes with being a hand makes my eyes water.”
“Geez, Dalton, you aren’t supposed to mix this stuff with alcohol.” He looked to Katie.
“I had no idea,” she said.
“She’ll just have to sleep it off. It’s not your fault, Katie.” He shoved the medicine back into Lacy’s purse and handed it to her. “All right, Dalton, let’s get you home.”
“Home?” she repeated, her speech noticeably slurred. “I don’t have one.” She started off across the room, staggering back to her table by the jukebox.
“Ah, hell.” He followed her with a frown. “You’re wrong, Dalton,” he said, lowering his voice. Enough people were staring at them already as it was. “Right now your home is at the Flying T. And as long as you work for me, that’s where you live.”
A new song began to play on the jukebox. Dropping down into the chair she’d been sitting in, she closed her eyes. “I think I’ll dedicate this one to my grandmother. Do you think she knew I wasn’t there when she died?”
“Your grandmother died?” He wasn’t sure what to say. Cade lowered himself into the chair across from hers. “When?”
Her eyes fluttered open, though it was clear she was having trouble focusing on his face. “That day you found me with Burk in the barn.”
“Why didn’t you say so?” His expression softened. Now, he understood. Dammit, why hadn’t Burk told him about her grandmother? Probably because he hadn’t given his friend the chance to before knocking him on his ass in a fit of jealousy.
She waved a hand in the air. “You’ve got enough on your plate already. Speaking of which, are you hungry? Katie makes a really good turkey sandwich.”
“No, I’m not hungry. Hell, Dalton, I’m not so mean that I wouldn’t have let you go home for your grandmother’s funeral.”
“No,” she said with a soft sigh. “You’re not mean, Cade. Just lonely. Besides, there wasn’t a funeral.”
How was it that Lacy Dalton seemed to know him better than he knew himself? He had an overwhelming urge to take her into his arms and hold her, but resisted. He wasn’t about to take advantage of her grief. Because that’s what it would be. “I’m real sorry about your grandmother. I know how hard it is to lose someone you love.”
She met his gaze. “I know you do.” She reached out to run her hand along his cheek. Another song began to play on the jukebox. Her hand fell away and she stood. “Dance with me, Cade.” She reached for his hand. “I’ll bet you never dance.”
Without waiting for him to reply, she dragged him out onto the dance floor and slipped her arms about his neck, teetering slightly on her heels.
“I don’t dance,” he said as he reached out to steady her.
“You’re dancing right now.”
“I mean I haven’t danced since...well, I wasn’t very good at it even back then.” He rambled on nervously, trying not to think about what happened or almost happened the last time he had held her so close.
“You’re doing fine.” Lacy laid her head on his shoulder and swayed to the music.
He gave in a bit, resting his cheek lightly on her hair. “Why did you do it?”
“Do what?” she murmured.
“Put money down on my loan.”
She lifted her head to look up at him with those big, beautiful, glassy eyes. “Money? What money?” She almost smiled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’re a piss poor liar, Dalton,” he replied with a grin. “I can’t accept it. That money is going back into your savings.”
“It didn’t come from my savings.”
He was afraid of that. “Then where did it come from?”
“I sold my car.”
“You did what! Hell, Dalton, what were you thinking?”
She smiled up at him. “That I wanted to help you.”
He cupped a hand beneath her chin and tipped her face to his. “I should give you real good chewing out for doing something so stupid. Especially, because I don’t accept charity. But since you probably won’t remember a word of what is said here tonight, I won’t waste a good sermon.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Thank you. And though I appreciate what you tried to do for me today, Dalton, tomorrow we’re going to go to the bank to get your money back. Then we’re going to go get your car.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want my money back. I like the truck Al sold me.”
“It’s not debatable.”
She released her hold on him and stumbled back to the table. “Aren’t you up kind of late for a cowboy?”
It was late, but she needed him. Not that Lacy would ever admit that. And it felt damned good to be needed again.
“I think I can handle a late night out every once in a while. Now getting back to the money—”
“You’re wasting your breath, cowboy. The only reason I kept that car was for my grandmother’s sake. It holds too many memories for me to want to hang onto.” She leaned unsteadily toward him. “So as far as I’m concerned it’s a done deal.”
Laughing softly, she went to play another song on the jukebox, tugging at her skirt as she went.
Cade followed with a sigh. “That’s what you think, Dalton.”
She turned to look at him. “If it’ll make you happy, c
onsider it a loan until you get back on your feet. I don’t care.”
“You will tomorrow when you wake up and realize what you’ve done. And you can damn well bet I’m going to pay you back.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cade stepped up behind her and clasped his hands around her waist to steady her while she chose another song. “Careful there, Dalton. You’re an accident waiting to happen.”
She turned with a smile and slipped her arms up around his neck. “Then it’s a good thing I have you here to take care of me.”
He laughed at that and shook his head. There was no reasoning with her in this condition. “Lucky you.”
“You know,” she said, reaching up to run her fingers over his mouth, “you really should smile more often.”
He closed his eyes, fighting the desire her touch awakened in him. “Dalton,” he muttered, opening his eyes to look down at her. But her finger moved over his lips, silencing him.
“You’re so sexy when you smile.” She hiccupped. “Of course, I’m usually paying more attention to the backside of your jeans.”
His eyes rounded at the unexpected admission.
She rose up to whisper against his ear, “Which you fill out quite nicely if I might say so myself.”
Her finger moved from his lips to her own as she signaled for Cade to keep what she’d just told him a secret. The next thing he knew, her other hand move to the back of his jeans, giving his butt a playful squeeze.
He released her and shot backwards, bumping into a chair so hard that it teetered on two legs before finally coming to rest again on all four.
She’s drunk. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.
Looking around, he saw that every head in the place was turned their direction. Katie’s included. And damn if she wasn’t grinning.
This was not a laughing matter. Lacy Dalton had just copped a feel of his backside right in front of half the town. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t half the town, but by morning everyone in Deep Creek would know he’d gotten felt up by his houseguest. News traveled real fast in a small town.
He ran a hand down his face with a heavy sigh before moving toward her. “All right, Dalton, it’s time to go home where you can sleep this off.”
“Not yet,” she pleaded, slipping her arms around his neck. “The song’s not over.”
Capturing the Cowboy's Heart Page 15