by Susan Fox
And maybe he could use a little moral support. Or maybe he just wanted to see Cassidy.
Back in his office, he texted Robin to call him when she got a chance.
She phoned promptly. “Hey, Dad. I’m just mucking out stalls.”
“That’s why they pay you the big bucks.” He took a breath. “It’s still good if I ride over to meet you later, and you stay here for a few days?”
“Sure.”
“I wondered if you’d like me to invite Cassidy along for the ride. And after, the three of us could maybe make pizza and watch a DVD. If she’s free.” Cassidy had never been to his and Robin’s suite, and inviting her felt like a big step. Toward what, he had no clue.
“Cool!”
Wishing his own feelings were as uncomplicated, Dave dialed Cassidy next.
Midafternoon, Dave walked to Westward Ho! with Merlin striding eagerly beside him. Sometimes Dave thought the poodle’s feet were spring-loaded, he had such a bounce, as if moving through the world was pure pleasure. Dave’s own feet dragged, not just from lack of sleep. Cassidy was meeting him at the stable. What the hell was he going to say to her?
When he saw her walking toward him, she was a sight for sleep-deprived eyes. Her trim body was clothed in her usual riding garb of jeans, boots, and straw cowboy hat, together with a well-worn Western-style shirt he hadn’t seen before. He’d learned that she got most of her wardrobe from Days of Your. No brand-new shirt could have suited her better than this trimly fitted one, its faded denim making her blue-gray eyes even brighter in her olive-skinned face. His gaze skimmed down the snap-button front. Oh yeah, Western shirts were the best. If you hooked your hands in both sides at the top and tugged gently, the buttons popped, one by one.
Should he be having that thought about Cassidy?
There would never be another Anita, but did that mean he’d never have sex again? The prospect of decades of celibacy wasn’t appealing. Maybe the women in his life were right; it was time for casual dating. With Cassidy? She didn’t want a serious relationship, didn’t plan to stay in Caribou Crossing for long, so she was safe. She wouldn’t have unrealistic expectations.
And that was all very logical, but the truth was, she was the one woman who attracted him, on so many levels.
“Hey, Dave.”
“Hey,” he said warily. With her, he never knew what to expect. He just hoped she wouldn’t poke at him. He’d had way too little sleep to cope.
She gave him a smile as sunny as the sky. “What a beautiful afternoon for a ride. I’m glad you and Robin invited me.” Bending, she gave the dog’s coat an enthusiastic scrub with both hands. “Hey there, Merlin. How’s my beautiful boy?”
Happy to see her, from the way he squirmed and tried to lick her. Dave tried not to envy his dog. If he wanted, he could have Cassidy’s hands on his body. She’d made that clear last night. Damn, he was confused. “Let’s get our horses ready,” he said gruffly.
On their first ride, Cassidy had bonded with Cherry Blossom and since then she booked the mare whenever possible. Cassidy had quickly learned how to care for her horse and put on the saddle and bridle. She related well to horses and had proved to be a natural on horseback.
Ten minutes later, he and Malibu, Cassidy and Cherry, and an ecstatic Merlin were on the road. Cassidy was unusually quiet. It occurred to him that she might be worried that she’d pissed him off enough last night that it would cost her her job. But surely she knew he wouldn’t have invited her to go riding if he planned to fire her. Or might she think he intended to tell her today, rather than have her report to work on Monday only to be fired?
Here was a prime reason he shouldn’t get involved with her. Staffing issues were complicated enough when they didn’t involve personal relationships.
“Dave?” Her voice broke into his thoughts. “That scowl may chase the sun away.”
He forced himself to relax his face. “If you’re worried I’m going to fire you, I’m not.”
She nodded. “I didn’t think so, but it’s good to know for sure.”
Curious, he tilted his head. “Why didn’t you think so?”
“You’re too smart for that.”
Her cheeky grin won a reluctant one from him. “Yeah, I guess. Anyhow, I heard you last night, what you said about Robin. Can we leave it at that?”
“Yes.”
He gave a relieved sigh. But he should have known better because she added, “For now.”
“Good Lord, what is it with you women? See, this is something I like about Sally. When we talk, it’s about Ryland Riding or the Wild Rose. Not about . . .”
“Feelings?” she teased. “Well, that proves it. Sally is just plain unnatural. Every woman talks about feelings.”
“Then talk to each other,” he grumbled, “and leave me out of it.” Yet a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. Speaking of feelings, Cassidy Esperanza sure did mess with his. She could make him mad one moment, then have him grinning the next.
For the rest of the ride, they spoke little, and it was an easy, companionable silence.
When they arrived at Riders Boot Camp, Jessie was in the stable yard doing orientation with a new batch of students. She waved hello and he and Cassidy waved back as Robin untied Concha from a hitching rail and mounted.
As the three horses and riders, along with Merlin, moved out of the yard, Robin said, “Let’s ride to Colcannon Lake.”
As they rode, the tiredness and tension eased from Dave’s bones. A good horse, beautiful country, and, most of all, his daughter well and happy. Yes, he’d lost Anita, but he still had a lot to be thankful for. With a start, he realized that he actually felt thankful, even happy. Since Anita’s death he had often reminded himself of his blessings, yet his emotions had felt disengaged as if he was seeing the good stuff in his life through a gray fog. But today the sun shone through that fog. And damn, it felt good.
When they reached Colcannon Lake, Cassidy exclaimed with pleasure. The spot was indeed scenic: deep blue water sparkling in the sun, surrounded by scattered trees and rock formations. On one side, a narrow road fed into a gravel parking lot, but Robin and Concha led the way to the side that was accessible only on horseback or by foot. On this Sunday afternoon, they had it to themselves. Across the lake, families and groups of teens splashed and picnicked, their happy sounds carrying across the still water.
While the riders dismounted, Merlin made for a strip of coarse-sand beach and plunged into the water. The dog loved to swim. Dave wished Robin had revealed her plans earlier, so they could have brought bathing suits and joined him.
Cassidy bent to remove her boots and he stared at her shapely rear. Cassidy in a bikini . . . Now that was dangerous territory. He forced his gaze away from her assets and concentrated on pulling off his own boots and socks, then rolling his pant legs. He joined Robin and Cassidy on a tumble of large rocks where they could sit and dangle their feet in the cool water.
Cassidy pulled off her hat and peeled off her shirt, revealing a yellow tank top. She braced herself on her arms and tilted back, lifting her face to the sun. “What a perfect place.”
“What’s your favorite place, of everywhere you’ve been?” Robin asked.
“I don’t play favorites. I go somewhere, enjoy what’s to be enjoyed, and then move on. But right now, if you made me pick, I’d have to say Caribou Crossing ranks high on the list.”
“It’s the best,” his daughter asserted. “I’ve been to the Big Apple, and it’s really cool, but this is better.”
Cassidy straightened and gazed at her with surprise. “You’ve been to New York City?”
“Evan lived there for ten years. He took Mom and me for a visit. We rode in Central Park, went up the Empire State Building, and saw ‘The Lion King’ on Broadway.”
“Nice,” she said.
“We had brunch with my Facebook pal Caitlin and her family at the Waldorf Astoria. And we had dinner with the Vitales, who’re board members at Boots.”
&nbs
p; “Sounds like a great trip. Did you see the Museum of Natural History? I love it.”
“Yeah, it was totally cool.”
As he listened to the two of them compare notes, Dave watched the dog romp in the water. He and Merlin were perfectly happy here. He’d thought Robin was too. But Evan had broadened her horizons. Jessie’s as well. Dave was confident that Caribou Crossing would always be home for his horse-addicted daughter and ex. Yet Evan had given the two females something that Dave hadn’t even realized they might want.
Life had been so much easier before Evan came back to Caribou Crossing. Dave sure didn’t begrudge Jessie reuniting with the boy who’d been her first love, her true love. Yet it was hard seeing Evan become a second dad to Robin. Her stepdad.
And her biological father.
Would they ever tell her? He, Jessie, and Evan had agreed that if they did it wouldn’t be until she was older. If they did, would she feel betrayed or take it with her usual equanimity?
Now Robin was urging Cassidy to talk about some of her other travels. The colored fairy lights of Santorini at night. The freaky toilets she’d run into in different places. The weird foods people ate. It seemed she’d taken it all in stride, embracing every new adventure.
Dave felt stodgy. But hell, there was nothing wrong with living in one place all your life if that place resonated deep in your bones. If your family lived there. If you’d built, with your own blood, sweat, and tears, a business you loved. Robin had asked Cassidy how long she stayed in one place and she’d said usually a few months.
He and Cassidy were polar opposites. Anita, now she’d been like him. She believed in history, roots, in commitment to people and places.
He caught himself, waited for the thundercloud of negative emotion to descend, but somehow Robin and Cassidy’s happy chatter kept it at bay. So he let himself muse further.
Anita had accepted him for who he was. She hadn’t teased, pushed, challenged, provoked, the way Cassidy did. There’d been no reason to. They’d fit together from the beginning as if they’d been made for each other, everything so easy and compatible. That was why, even though he was married at the time and he and Anita had both known their attraction was wrong, it had been so difficult to resist.
Cassidy’s musical burble of laughter broke smack-dab into the middle of his thoughts. He glanced at her, seeing the sparkle in her eyes, the white flash of her smile. Animated, genuine, totally engaged with his daughter. This woman, too, was hard to resist.
He would never love again, and he knew Cassidy was all about the moment, about having fun. She had brightened his life, at work and in his leisure time. His female friends urged him to date, have fun, get back in the game, and Cassidy had made it clear she was into that. With him.
Oh shit, was he actually contemplating sleeping with her?
Chapter Ten
Cassidy woke slowly. The rough grass under her back reminded her she was at Colcannon Lake. She’d found herself yawning and Dave and Robin had urged her to take a nap in the shade of a cluster of aspen trees. Without opening her eyes, she lazily inventoried sensations. The air was cooler. Much as she loved the sun, these days it tended to wipe her out. The fresh scent of lake water mingled with the dry, dusty aroma of sunshine on yellowed summer grass. Distant voices laughed, occasionally shrieked. Closer at hand, father and daughter talked in low voices about how Robin had again volunteered to babysit her little brother and her gramma Brooke’s baby daughter if their parents wanted to go line dancing tonight.
That was one good kid. Responsible way beyond her years, but she also knew how to have fun. Although Robin had an unusual family—the girl was babysitting her own aunt!—Cassidy, with her own unusual family, envied them their closeness.
She opened her eyes, gazing up to watch leaves dance a slow waltz. How long had she napped? Stretching to ease out the aches from sleeping on rough ground, she discovered that Merlin was flaked out beside her. When she sat up, the dog woke, jumped to his feet, and shook.
The two of them went to join Robin and Dave on their rocks.
“Hey, sleepyheads,” Robin said, hugging the dog.
“Hey.” Cassidy put her hat on to block the late afternoon sun. “I can’t believe I dozed off. It’s not like I’ve had a tough day. I slept in, then had breakfast with Ms. Haldenby, then—”
Father and daughter both interrupted, in equally disbelieving tones, “You had breakfast with Ms. Haldenby?”
Cassidy stifled a grin. “Why wouldn’t I?”
The pair exchanged glances. “She scares the bejeezus out of me,” Dave admitted.
“Me too,” Robin said.
“Gee, Robin, I wonder where you got that notion?” Cassidy cocked an eyebrow at Dave.
Sheepishly, he said, “Ms. Haldenby intimidates everyone. Even Sam, and he was a cop for twenty-five years.”
Cassidy shook her head. “You all should grow up. She’s a little brusque, but she’s nice.”
“She’s smarter than anyone else in this town,” Dave said, not making it sound like a compliment.
“Which is a blessing, not a curse. Good Lord, Dave, people say you’re nicer than anyone else in this town, but it doesn’t stop them from liking you.”
Robin giggled. “They don’t know him as well as I do. Dad’s not always nice. Like when he makes me text him anytime I go anywhere, to let him know I got there safely. And when he wouldn’t let me take Concha overnight camping alone. Or go down and stay with—”
Dave cut in. “I’m only trying to make sure you’re safe. But to get back to Ms. Haldenby, I’ve often wondered why she taught elementary school, and why she stayed in Caribou Crossing. She could’ve taught—oh, I don’t know, physics or English literature at some big university.”
“You should ask her,” Cassidy said.
Ms. H taught children because she loved them, and it was the closest she could get to having kids of her own, Cassidy figured. The woman had been demanding of them because that was her way of caring, of helping them succeed in the world. And she’d been brusque because she couldn’t let herself care too much, because they’d never be her own children. It didn’t take a genius to figure all of that out, not if you spent a little time actually getting to know her.
But then that wasn’t just the fault of townspeople like Dave. As with Sally Ryland, Ms. Haldenby didn’t go out of her way to be all warm and friendly. Cassidy had to wonder what she’d have been like if she’d grown up in a time when being a lesbian was accepted. When she could have lived a full, genuine life with the person she loved, rather than hiding a big part of herself. Hmm. Was that why Sally was so reserved? Might she, too, be hiding a secret?
Dave rose. “Time to head home and get dinner on the go.” He paused, then said, “What would you say to chicken fajitas?” For some reason, his voice sounded strained.
“Chicken fajitas?” Robin stopped in the act of drying one foot against the opposite leg of her jeans. She cocked her head toward Dave and said tentatively, “Those were Anita’s favorite.”
Cassidy stared at Dave as he said, “I know.”
“Because they rhymed with her name.”
“Yeah.” He glanced at Cassidy. “You like fajitas?”
Oh yes, he had heard what she’d said last night. And he’d taken a step forward. She beamed at him. “Love them.”
“Um,” Robin started, “Anita always marinated the chicken first.”
“I put some in marinade before I left.”
They rode to town mostly in silence, and when they talked the subject of Anita wasn’t raised again. But later, when they were in the grocery store shopping for dinner ingredients, Dave asked Robin, “Do you remember which kind of tortillas Anita liked to use?”
Cassidy guessed he hadn’t forgotten, but was making an opportunity to slip Anita’s name into conversation, to test how he felt about it and to let Robin know it was okay to mention her.
“The corn ones,” she said. “Flour ones for wraps, corn for fajitas.”
“Right. Now I remember.” His gaze lingered on his daughter, so tender it made Cassidy’s heart give a big, mushy throb.
They purchased everything they needed, then carried on to the Wild Rose.
Inside the top-floor suite, boots and socks went by the door. This was Cassidy’s first visit and she glanced around curiously. Most of the furniture was the same as in the inn’s guest rooms, but this was obviously a home. The horse drawings on the wall—quite skilled ones—were clearly Robin’s, like the couple in Dave’s office downstairs. A copy of Hotelier magazine, a crocheted afghan tossed across a chair, a light clutter of books and DVDs all hinted at the father and daughter’s life here.
She followed them into the kitchen. Robin fed Merlin and Dave went to light the barbecue on the rooftop patio. Cassidy took the groceries out of the bags.
When Dave came back, she asked tentatively, “Can I help with dinner?” She hoped he wouldn’t think she was trying to take Anita’s place.
The pain in his eyes made her touch his arm in a gesture of support.
“Do you know how to make guacamole?” he asked slowly.
Excuse me? She was half Mexican. Still, she said, “In a general way, but if you or Robin tell me how Anita did it, then it’ll be perfect.”
Robin giggled. “Remember the time you got store-bought and Anita—” She quickly clamped her mouth shut.
Dave touched her shoulder. “Yeah, she believed in making it from scratch.”
“Because we deserve the best,” Robin said, obviously parroting Anita. “Even if we have to do the hard work to make it happen.”
Dave gave Cassidy a chopping board, knife, and bowl. “Right. And speaking of hard work, did you have a busy morning at Boots, Rob?”
Cassidy figured that was a deliberate change of subject, but she gave him major points for the little exchange about Anita.
Dave set avocados, a lime, a garlic clove, and a chili pepper in front of her. That was it? That was all Anita put in guacamole? Oh well. She started peeling avocados.
Robin, busily grating cheddar, said, “It was turnover day, so I gave the horses an extra-special grooming, cleaned the tack, and spic-and-spanned the barn.”