by Jill Lynn
“Have I possibly seen Gage at church?”
“Yep. He goes to the same one as us.”
“I thought I remembered him talking to Mackenzie. It made me wonder if maybe they were...”
Luc paused with a forkful of chicken hovering over his plate. “What?”
Could he seriously not infer the rest of her thoughts from her statement? Men. “If they were interested in each other.”
“Mackenzie?” Luc scoffed. “No way. Gage has been a mess since his wife took off on him. Now ex-wife. I don’t think so. Plus, the two of them wouldn’t be a fit. Gage would need someone...softer than Kenzie.”
What kind of guy could handle a woman with so much raw power oozing from her? Perhaps another superhero? “Does Mackenzie ever date anyone?”
“She did when we were younger, but he left town and she hasn’t really dated since.” Luc paused. Scrunched his nose. “At least, not that I know of. I’m not even sure she’d tell me. Though I’d probably have a clue. She can’t really hide anything from me. It just...doesn’t work that way between us.”
“Twin connection is really a thing, huh?”
“It is for us.”
“So do you think she’s not over this guy she dated when she was younger?”
Now Luc’s face wrinkled with something close to disgust. “I don’t know. I don’t really spend my days wondering about or analyzing my sister’s love life. Either of them.”
She laughed. Despite her original misgivings about saying yes to this outing, she was enjoying herself.
“Gage is a lawyer. Not many people start ranching later in life, but his uncle left him the land, and he moved there about a year and a half ago.”
“Does he still practice law?”
“When he feels like it. He’s done well with the ranch. Seems to like his new life.”
“It’s strange. I can tell he’s kind, but at the same time, something’s off. Melancholy or... I don’t know what.” She’d only met him for a minute, but Gage carried an obvious burden on his shoulders.
“That’s the Nicole-effect.” Luc finished his dish in record time—so he must not have hated it too much—swiping his mouth with his napkin. “Though come to think of it, I don’t remember him being real happy before his ex-wife left, either.”
Ruby and Luc started talking about one of the horses she’d befriended this week, and Cate half listened, her mind stuck on Luc’s statement about Gage.
What had people said about her and Luc when they were together? Had they recognized happiness? Their relationship certainly had ups and downs, but at the core, Cate had been blissfully content.
The question she didn’t have an answer to was whether Luc had felt the same.
* * *
Despite Cate’s protest, Luc paid for dinner. They left the restaurant, the perfect nighttime temperature sliding along his skin. The evenings always cooled off in Colorado—one of the reasons he loved this blessed state.
“Want to walk a bit?” Luc nodded toward the five-and-dime store. “There’s a counter full of candy—”
Ruby didn’t allow him to finish. She grabbed his hand, attempting to drag him down the sidewalk. Luc chuckled and scooped her up. “Hang on. Your parents aren’t as fast as you.”
Your parents. Was he allowed to lump himself and Cate together like that? Sure, they were Ruby’s parents, but that didn’t make them a “them.”
Cate walked beside him, the faint hint of her sweet perfume teasing his senses. Had she spritzed it on for him? Not a chance. Cate wanted nothing to do with him outside of Ruby, but the schoolboy in him had to tamp down the attraction buried for far too long.
Her hair was down in loose waves. She’d worn makeup—not that she needed it—and it brought the focus to her eyes and lips. He glanced away, uncomfortableness spreading through his body. Or more like too much interest that wasn’t allowed.
At the five-and-dime, Luc propped the door open, letting Ruby down to walk in with Cate. She beelined for the counter that held an assortment of candies and sucker sticks, moving back and forth in front of the options.
Cate plucked a pack of colorful, small, round chocolates from the display. “This is what I always picked out as a kid. It was my favorite.”
He palmed a pack of Big League Chew. “This was mine. Thought it would make me good at baseball. Didn’t work.”
She laughed. “Can’t be good at everything.”
Kind, lovable Cate had come out to play tonight, and she was majorly weakening his resolve. If she kept this up, Luc couldn’t be held accountable for his actions. Like kissing her until their painful history was a distant memory.
When Cate let her guard down, it was too easy to remember how good it had been. Too easy to forget how quickly she’d distrusted him.
“What are you thinking, Rubes?” Cate picked up a fruit-flavored package. “What about this?”
Their daughter’s head shook, and Cate’s eyes met his, amusement and exasperation playing tug-of-war. “She’ll never decide without a time limit. We could be here all night.”
Should he be concerned he was feeling fine with that option?
“One more minute, sweets. Then you need to choose.”
Ruby finally picked out a watermelon sucker stick, and Luc paid for the three items, his and Cate’s choices included. He thought she might try to argue—she was good at it when she wanted to be—but Cate just accepted the chocolate with a thank-you and a youthful grin.
He opened the watermelon stick for Ruby while Cate dug in her purse and then sprayed sanitizer on Ruby’s hands. They walked back outside, meandering down the sidewalk as Ruby smacked on her sucker. Cate opened her chocolate and Luc dug into his gum. Not quite as good as he remembered from being a kid.
They reached the park on the west side of the street, and Ruby begged to stop and play. It wasn’t much. Swings, monkey bars and a couple of slides, but at their yes—and Cate’s condition that Ruby couldn’t have her sucker while she played—she ran off.
Luc and Cate sat on the park bench facing the equipment, the setting sun reaching for the pine trees that lined the hills. A plastic baggie appeared from the amazing depths of Cate’s bag, and she tucked the open end of Ruby’s sucker inside so she could eat it later.
Her shoulder nudged into his. “Thank you for tonight. I needed it but didn’t realize how much.”
“That’s what I’m here for. All-around good guy. Saving women from working too hard.”
Her laughter went down as easy as jumping into the creek on a hot summer day.
“You know what I’ve always liked about you?”
“My devastatingly handsome looks?”
“No.”
“Ouch, woman. Take a little time before you answer.”
Her lips curved. “That you were okay with who you were. Didn’t care what anyone thought. You always seemed so comfortable with yourself.”
“Might have looked that way to you, but I left the ranch because I thought I needed to be somebody else and didn’t want my life dictated to me. When I was away, I missed it and had a hard time admitting I’d been wrong. Then I met you and didn’t want to leave you.”
Luc could fill in Cate’s next thoughts for her, because his were the same.
“But then I did leave.”
She sighed. Twisted the package of chocolates closed. “I told you to.”
“Yeah. Guess we were both part of that scenario.”
“Guess we were.” Cate set the chocolates between them as if erecting a barrier. “Luc, while Ruby and I are at the ranch, I really want us to stay focused on her. The two of us as a team. Like we discussed.”
He must be inching into Cate’s space. Making her uncomfortable with their friendship. It was so her to want everything tied up with a neat little bow. You stay on your side of the line. I’ll s
tay on mine.
She liked her house and her life compartmentalized. Defined spaces. Luc understood it. He wanted the same thing when it came to Cate. Didn’t want any of the boundaries blurred between them.
For once they agreed.
Luc still didn’t understand why Cate had done things the way she had. Maybe he never would. But despite his pull toward her, nothing would ever work between them if Cate couldn’t trust him. And while she’d changed over time just like he hopefully had, he didn’t think that area of her life had undergone a major overhaul. Plus, Luc hadn’t moved past what she’d done in keeping Ruby from him. He might be praying for a forgiving spirit, but that didn’t mean it had instantly happened.
“I just think Ruby needs all of our focus on her. Having you in her life is a big change, and we need to be vigilant about helping her through all of this.”
In his opinion, Ruby had adjusted lightning fast. Almost overnight. Accepting him as if she’d been watching and waiting for his arrival. Maybe she had been.
Even so, Cate didn’t need to keep stating her case.
“I agree with you.” Luc should be thankful they both felt the same way, but his gut sank to his boots.
Surprise flashed. “Really?”
“Of course. That’s what these few weeks are all about. Getting to know Ruby. Making her comfortable with both of us in her life.”
“Right.” Cate nodded definitively and glanced away. Did he sense disappointment swirling from her direction? Doubtful. But if she did harbor at least a hint of remorse, that would make him feel better. Like he wasn’t alone in fighting off the magnetized pull between them.
“Look at us. In agreement again.” Luc stretched his arm across the back of the park bench, accidentally grazing Cate’s shoulder as he did. “Who would have thought, huh?”
Her eyes danced, lips matching his grin. “Who would have thought?”
“Mom, Dad.” Ruby paused at the top of the slide. “Watch me!” She flew down, popped up at the bottom and ran toward them. She pushed between their legs, happiness palpable.
“Daddy, can I go on the campout this week? I want to go really bad. Pretty, pretty please!”
Every Wednesday the ranch offered an overnight campout. It was a popular activity. Stars like most people had never seen before. They had tents for those who wanted them, but most chose to sleep near the fire.
Ruby had probably heard about it at Kids’ Club.
Luc might be surprised by the request, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. He wasn’t the one running it, but they could still go. It would be a good memory for the two of them to have together. Growing up, he’d done it more times than he could count with his dad.
“I suppose we could—”
“Ruby,” Cate interrupted. “Why don’t you go swing for a minute while I talk to your dad about it?”
“Okay.” Ruby skipped back to the equipment, her two twisted hair buns bouncing along with her.
“I thought we were parenting together,” Cate snapped.
Had a cold front rolled in during the last minute? “We are. I was going to tell her that you and I could talk about it.”
“Oh.” She eased back against the bench, her exhalation uneven.
“But if she wants to go, I don’t see why she can’t. I’m happy to take her. I’ll keep her safe and bring her back if anything goes wrong or she doesn’t want to stay. There’s no danger in it.”
“No danger?” Large eyes landed on him, sparking with the first hints of orange sunset. “Sleeping in the middle of nowhere with mountain lions and snakes and bears and who knows what else? She’s not even four years old!” The last sentence came out in short, angry bursts.
Luc moved his arm back to his lap, swallowing a bark of laughter at Cate’s overactive imagination. As if the animals she mentioned were prowling around the campfire while everyone slept. But then exasperation ignited, quickly burning up the remaining oxygen in his lungs. Hadn’t they already had this discussion?
“I thought you were actually letting me have a say in Ruby’s life. Or was that just because you had a deadline and needed help? Was that all that was going on this week? I should have known better.”
“That’s not true.” She crossed her arms, one hand pressing so tightly into the flesh of her biceps it caused the skin to turn white beneath her fingertips.
How long could they keep dancing to this song that never ended? “Cate, I promise, it’s completely safe. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be able to do it with our guests every week. Our liability insurance would shoot through the roof if anything ever went wrong. But it doesn’t. I’m not saying I can promise nothing will ever happen to her. Neither of us can do that, but I will take care of her.”
“Watch me!” Ruby called from the swings. She pumped her legs, sending her sandals reaching for the sky.
They cheered her on, Luc welcoming the momentary interruption. “That’s pretty amazing she can pump already. Did you teach her?”
“No. She figured it out at day care this summer. Luc, I just can’t imagine why she needs to sleep outside or how that’s a good idea in her condition.”
And they were back at it. Cate was stuck in the rut of thinking of Ruby with a hole in her heart. But she wasn’t that little girl anymore. “She doesn’t have a heart condition now. It’s fixed.”
Memories of Luc’s childhood flared to life like old VHS tapes. He’d had open-heart surgery at an older age, so he remembered quite a bit about that time. People tiptoeing around him. Rules and regulations. He’d always wanted to be doing what all the other kids were doing. And after recovering from surgery, that was exactly what he’d done. One night he’d heard his mom and dad discussing it, and he knew it had been hard on her. But she’d also learned to let go. Which, in his opinion, Cate definitely needed to do. Not that he could tell her that straight-out. He did not see that going well.
“She doesn’t have to do the campout. But she wants to. I don’t think it’s a big deal, but you do. So what are we going to do about that?” Let me guess. You’re going to win. Luc had never been more thankful for words to stay in his head and not leap out of his mouth.
“I don’t know.” Agitation radiated in the tense lines of Cate’s body. “I’ve never had to do this before.” She motioned between them. And he finally understood at least one of her reasons for keeping Ruby from him. So she could control everything. And now he was pushing all of those buttons, making her share parenting with him. She must hate every moment. Every time he had an opinion meant she didn’t get her way.
“Since we can’t agree, maybe we let the doctor decide?”
An impartial mediator. He resisted rolling his eyes. Did they really have to go that route? Overkill, in his opinion. But what other choice did they have? The two of them weren’t going to agree on a decision. “Fine.”
A chill followed the conversation, the warmth resonating between them only minutes before dropping by the tens, and not just because the sun had slipped behind the hills. Would have been smart of Luc not to expect massive changes in one week’s time.
And in case any romantic thoughts of Cate fought for air, Luc would snuff them out with the heel of his boot.
Because she definitely didn’t trust him yet.
Chapter Ten
“Don’t forget your toothbrush,” Cate called to Ruby on Wednesday evening.
Ruby popped into the cabin bathroom, her excitement over the campout causing her to skip and gladly comply with everything Cate asked of her.
Where exactly would her three-year-old be brushing her teeth in the middle of the woods? Three! If Ruby could hear her thoughts, she would quickly call out, Almost four! Either way, she was far too young for this. Cate’s head shook, though no one was present to witness her strife.
She’d never camped growing up. That hadn’t been high on her family
’s priority list. She wasn’t sure what to send with Ruby, so she’d asked Luc for a list. It was surprisingly short.
On Monday Cate had called the doctor’s office. She’d expected them to voice concern. To ask questions. But the nurse she’d spoken to had seemed surprised Cate had called at all. She’d gotten the all clear for Ruby to go on the campout that not one part of her had been wanting.
If only they’d said no. Then Cate wouldn’t have had to tell Luc he was right. And her daughter wouldn’t be about to spend the night outside in the mountains.
Cate hated being the not-cool parent. The overprotective mama bear. This whole coparenting thing had her scrambling to figure out how to fit together the puzzle pieces of their new life. And to make matters worse, when she’d told Luc, instead of rubbing it in that she’d been wrong to worry and call the doctor, he’d just thanked her for making sure it was okay for Ruby.
The old Luc had been a fighter. Not one to back down easily. But God had changed him. Made it hard for Cate to keep her eyes on the prize—Ruby—and not on the man who kept stealing her attention despite her best efforts not to let that happen.
Ruby bounded over to Cate, handing off the toothbrush. Cate added it to her pink backpack just as a knock sounded at their cabin door.
“Come in,” she called out, and Luc let himself in. A snarl came from the kitchen sink—a place Prim would never occupy back in their apartment. Cate was starting to think the cat could sense when Luc might be arriving, because that was the only time she’d crouch in that particular hiding place. It was almost as if she wanted to torment Luc. Cate was trying desperately not to find it funny when Prim surprised him. So far she’d failed miserably at that attempt.
“Good to see you, too, Prim.” Luc’s dry tone earned a giggle and an enthusiastic hug from Ruby.
Currently, Cate sided with Prim. She was as excited to see Luc as she would be to run smack-dab into a hornet’s nest. Because while he was starring as the picture of maturity, she’d taken the lead role as big ol’ baby. And had learned over the past few days, unfortunately, that she excelled at the part.