The drive to their village passed in near silence. Cassie chose to sit with him in the backseat. Luke wondered at each bend if Eduardo really knew where the road lay. Visions of them hurtling over the edge of a cliff plagued him at every hairpin turn.
Cassie giggled and squeezed his arm catching him off guard.
“What’s so funny?”
“I have never seen you so tense before. You are even more so now than on the two flights it took us to arrive here.”
“I feel like my life is in his hands at each turn in the road. But this is definitely a close second to my fear of flying. I had to turn over control there, too.”
She realized Luke did try to exert control over his life—mostly over himself but also in the way he made sure she was taken care of, protected. Never in a domineering way.
“Eduardo could drive this road with his eyes closed.”
Luke cast a worried glance at her brother, but his eyes were very much open and focused on the road ahead. He tried to force himself to relax. He didn’t like having so little control like this. Maybe he just didn’t know or trust Eduardo enough to put his life in the man’s hands.
The all-wheel-drive vehicle came to a sudden stop, and Luke glanced out the window beyond Cassie to see what had halted them. The early-morning light coming over the steep mountains illuminated a cement-block house. By American standards, it was simple, but was typical of others he’d seen in the rural village.
Large evergreen shrubs softened the edges, and a shrine of some sort was visible in front of a picture window.
When the engine cut, Luke knew they had arrived at her parents’ house. Cassie shivered, and he pulled her closer. They wore their winter coats, but it was freezing-ass cold here. Knowing Cassie’s love of frigid weather, though, he didn’t think she shivered from the temperature.
Luke exited and came around the vehicle to help her out before giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. He bent down to kiss her on the cheek and whispered, “I’m here. You aren’t alone.”
Even though he couldn’t see her face as he spoke the words, he felt her relax her hand in his. “Thank you, Lucas.”
Luke helped Eduardo take their large suitcase from the trunk. He realized it gave the appearance of them being more of a couple than they actually were, but the tickets were pricy and they didn’t want to turn over any more of their savings to the airline.
“I will take this inside.” Eduardo took the luggage and walked inside the house.
Luke grabbed the smaller carry-on, and Cassie smiled up at him. “Are you ready to meet my parents?”
“I’ve been looking forward to it. Do they know about us? Being married, I mean?”
She nodded. “It was for them that I entered into our arrangement.”
He must not have masked his disappointment too well because she took his hand in her trembling one. “I also found a friend for life that day.” Yeah, that was the deal. Luke, her friend for life. Not that he didn’t still hold out hope for something more. She seemed to be warming up to him at least.
When Cassie tried to turn toward the door, Luke halted her progress and framed her face in his hands. She held her body so tightly he feared she’d crumble. Why was she so afraid to face her parents? “Cassie, darlin’, you’re an amazing woman. You have an inner strength like I’ve never seen in anyone. I want you to go into that house with your head held high. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone in there probably loves you as much as I do. If not, then we can leave and stay in Lima until our return flight leaves.” Having a choice often made it easier for him to face things that seemed too daunting.
A tear wet his right thumb, and then another fell on his left.
Luke pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. “Baby girl, anyone who blames you for what those men did, well, they’re the ones who ought to be ashamed.”
“But they do not know about what happened.”
“Well, you don’t have to tell them about that night if you don’t want to. It’s your choice. And only you have a say in that decision. No one is going to force you into anything as long as I’m here.” He paused.
Cassie cleared her throat. “But?”
“But I think you’re going to be surprised at how much they will love and support you once you tell them. No parent wants to see their child hurt or unhappy. I know how much you love them and I’m sure they earned that trust and love over the years. See if you can trust them on this and lift that weight off your shoulders.”
“Thanks. I needed to hear those words, too.”
“I’ll always tell you what you need to hear. Again, if you do decide to tell them, and they can’t see the truth in front of their faces, then we head to Lima. It’s their loss if they can’t accept you and the truth about what happened back then.”
“I am grateful to have you in my life, Lucas Denton. Thank you for being here with me.”
I’ll take gratitude, Sweet Pea. And friendship.
For now.
* * *
Cassie’s heart pounded as she opened the screen door and then the wooden interior one. Would her parents be waiting for her?
“Bebé, you have come home to us!” Tears streaming down her cheeks, Mamá ran across the room and wrapped her arms around Cassie. The scent of angel trumpet flowers brought tears to her eyes. She had Abuela’s scent, probably missing her mother as much as Cassie did her grandmother.
The ice around her heart melted a little now that she was in her mother’s arms again. When Mamá did not let go, Cassie hugged her harder and responded in Spanish. “I am happy to be back to visit, Mamá.” She wondered why she made the distinction between being home versus being here for a visit, but didn’t want Mamá to come to the wrong conclusion. This was simply a quick visit to celebrate their anniversary—and to find out what Mama Quilla thought she needed to discover.
When they broke the embrace, Mamá dabbed at her eyes with her apron. Cassie glanced around the room. “Where is Papá?”
Mamá glanced down. “He is…not feeling well. Your father is not as young as you remember him.”
Oddly enough, Cassie had always thought of Papá as being old, even as a young girl. “He is not ill, is he?” She remembered the cancer scare and wondered if Eduardo had kept anything else from her.
“He is fine. Let him rest. We will have time to catch up later.” It was nine-thirty in the morning. Not characteristic of her father who usually was up at dawn and hard at work by daylight. But the man was almost eighty now.
Cassie stepped back. “Mamá, you have heard a lot about him already, but I would like you to meet Lucas, my husband.” While she had told her mother about her marriage via Skype, hoping to assuage her parents’ worry over her, Lucas had left her cabin by that time.
“Lucas, our new son!” Mamá wrapped him in an embrace that he returned wholeheartedly.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am. Thank you for opening up your home to me—and for bringing my beautiful wife into the world.”
Mamá pulled away and seemed at a loss for words. Tears swam in her eyes. Cassie had made her mother happy. Despite the wrong reasons to marry someone, her decision had been the right one.
Cassie needed to reassure Mamá. “Mamá, he is everything a husband should be. He takes very good care of me. A strong and fierce protector, a good provider.” All true, even though he was more friend than husband.
Mamá welcomed him to the family in Spanish, then corrected herself and spoke English.
“I know a little Spanish from living in West Texas, but thank you. Gracias.”
“You two must be hungry. I have prepared some things for breakfast when Papá awakens, but I can give you something to tide you over.”
“No ma’am. Thanks, but I can wait.” He glanced at Cassie so as not to speak for her and she nodded her agreement. “I would like to put our things away and take a shower if I may. We’ve been traveling a very long time.”
“Certainly.” Mamá turned to L
ucas. “Cassie’s old room has been made up for you both.”
Wait! But how could she not share a bed with her own husband? Cassie remembered how small her room was. As a teenager, she had inherited Abuela’s double bed, which had nearly filled the room. There would be no extra space for one of them to sleep on the floor. She would have to share the bed with Lucas.
Again.
She reached for her carryon suitcase, but Lucas beat her to it. “Lead the way to our bedroom, darlin’.”
His playful grin made her feel warm inside, but also ramped up her anxiety. Lucas would never take advantage of the situation—or of her—but this complicated their visit in ways she had not anticipated.
Cassie led the way down the tiny hallway to her bedroom. With Lucas so close behind her, the space seemed even smaller than she remembered.
She entered the room and saw Eduardo already had placed the large suitcase on the bed. “You may put my bag on the bed. There is not much room, but I will unpack my…our things while you shower. If you would like to visit with mi mamá and Eduardo while you wait for me to shower—”
“Not on your life. I’ll wait here for you. If you tell me where to put our clothes, I can do the unpacking.”
The thought of him touching her underwear made her face turn warm. She opened the suitcase, pulled out the clothing from her side in one big bunch, and crammed them into the second drawer of the dresser before she turned back to him.
“You can put your things in the third drawer.” She kicked off her shoes, grabbed a pair of panties, a blouse, and her toiletries bag from the drawer, and nearly ran down the hallway to the bathroom. Once inside, she leaned against the door, clutching her things to her chest.
Why am I acting so virginal?
It’s not as if she was going to have sex with the man. They were merely going to sleep in the same bed.
Sleep.
Nothing more.
She showered quickly, not wanting to use too much water, and took a great deal of time brushing out her long, tangled hair. Not wanting her hair plastered to her scalp, she used her fingers to fluff up it up before dressing.
Opening the bathroom door, she was happy that the coast was clear because she needed some time to prepare for the meeting with Papá and didn’t want it to happen in the hallway. In the bedroom, she found Luke staring at her childish paintings hanging on the wall.
“I do not know why Mamá keeps those. I was only twelve or thirteen when I painted them.”
He continued to stare at one of them, one with a blond-haired, light-skinned man riding bareback on a palomino with snow-covered mountains in the background. In the foreground was a peasant girl with long black hair, watching him. The man was shirtless and smiling at the girl as if showing off some new trick.
“You were very good even that young. What inspired you to paint this one? Reminds me of Picasso.”
Was he blind? “The style is nothing like Picasso’s.” She suddenly realized he was talking about his horse, not her painting style. Oddly enough, her attention had been on the man riding the horse. If she did not know better, Lucas could have been the model. However, she did not meet him until more than a dozen years after she had painted it.
Cassie had not thought about the painting much since she had painted it. Most of her inspiration in those days had been from books—and dreams. When she had seen Luke in the waiting room after Adam’s attack by the puma, she had been struck by how familiar he was, but had been unable to place where she had seen him before. She scrutinized the painting more closely now. Yes, the horse resembled Picasso, but palominos were not rare. The man bore a strong resemblance to Lucas, but what took her breath away was that the mountains she saw in the background very much resembled her mountain pass—as seen from Lucas’s ranch.
How had she foreseen that so long ago? Perhaps she had inherited some of Mamá’s gifts, after all.
No, her mind must be playing tricks on her. She wasn’t clairvoyant. It was a mere coincidence and drawn from a young girl’s fanciful mind.
“Just girlhood fantasies.”
“Ah, so the girl had fantasies of my horse.”
She tapped him playfully on the arm. “All girls dream of having a horse.” At least he did not mention the resemblance he bore to the male subject in the scene. She was rather surprised herself, though.
“But you have alpacas instead.”
“More affordable and they can earn their keep.”
“True enough, although there are many ways in which horses can earn their—” He waved his hand in the air. “Never mind. Why don’t we head back out there and visit with your family a while?”
He stowed their suitcases in the closet. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she put her shoes on again.
“I’m ready, darlin’.”
As am I—as ready as I will ever be.
It is time to see Papá.
Lucas took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She appreciated having him here as she prepared to face the first, and at one time the only, man she had ever sought approval from. They had not seen each other in five years, not even on Skype. She preceded Lucas into the kitchen where Papá sat with his cup of thick, black coffee. His back was turned to her, making it impossible for her to read his expression.
She cleared her throat, which had closed off with emotion. “Papá.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but he turned around in his seat, and she met his piercing gaze. His green eyes bore no emotion, joyful or sad. She fought the desire to rush to his side fearing he would not hug or welcome her back.
Papá’s gaze turned to Lucas, equally cold and distant. He refocused on her again. “Welcome home, Casandra. It has been too long.”
Even though he did not smile—Papá rarely smiled—he stood and opened his arms. Lucas squeezed her shoulder, and she closed the distance between them. He wrapped her in his embrace, and tears flowed down her cheeks.
“I have missed you, Papá.”
Do you still love me?
“I am sorry I have been away so long.”
Do you forgive me?
“You are here now with your husband. My heart is happy.”
Would he have welcomed her home if he thought she was still the party girl who had not returned home one night from a date with her fiancé? She had spent most of that night walking home, battered and broken. Yet when she arrived home, she had hidden the truth from her family. Papá had accused her of drinking too much after smelling beer on her clothing, but had let her disappear into her room for days. He probably thought she had been sleeping off a hangover, rather than nursing her wounds and trying to decide if she wished to live or die.
Having Lucas here made her the respectable daughter he always wanted.
She squirmed out of his arms, no longer comfortable being there if his love and acceptance were based on conditions. Cassie turned to Lucas and held out her hand to him.
“Papá, I would like you to meet Lucas Denton.”
Lucas extended his hand and shook Papá’s firmly. “Good to meet you, sir. Cassie has told me a lot about you.”
She held her breath, waiting for Papá’s reaction, but before the two could say anything, Mamá carried in a platter of stew with pork and potatoes. Already on the table was her traditional caldo de gallina, a hearty soup with chicken and vegetables. She had prepared an elaborate breakfast meal in the tradition of the hardworking people of her homeland. Cassie debated whether to refuse to eat the meat, but would not insult Mamá. She could just try to avoid as much of it as possible.
“Come, let us eat.”
“Will Eduardo be joining us, Mamá?”
“No, Susana called him home to watch the children while she and the baby nap. They will be over to visit later.”
She could not wait to see her extended family, especially her new nephew, Quenti. They spent the next forty-five minutes on small talk as they ate.
“Wonderful meal, Mrs. López.”
“Call me Mamá, my son. We ar
e family.”
Lucas smiled at her mother and warmed Cassie’s heart.
Cassie surreptitiously moved an errant chunk of pork under her bread. “I have missed your cooking, Mamá.”
“I can see your influence in some of the dishes Cassie has prepared for me, Mamá.” Cassie smiled her gratitude to him for being so charming. “I especially love her puca picante.”
My! She had only made the dish for him once and would have thought his concussion would have kept him from remembering the foreign name, but he had great recall. The man also knew how to charm a woman. Goddess knows she had almost succumbed to his charms many times.
“Casandra, are you still painting?”
She turned toward the older man at the table. “Yes, Papá.”
When she did not really know what else to say, Lucas interjected again, “She had a fabulous turnout for a gallery opening in Denver last month. Sold a number of pieces to dealers and local collectors.”
Her neck and cheeks flushed at his praise. “I am also doing some work with quipu and with a process of using dyed alpaca fleece for some Japanese-style fiber-art pieces.” No sense naming Shibori because he would not be familiar with the technique. “I have my own alpacas—four adults and one cria who was born in May.” Cassie turned to Lucas and smiled. “Thanks to Lucas, the baby survived.”
“Where did you two meet?” Papá asked.
How could she explain they had met in a bar just before an avalanche had brought him into her cabin—and her bed? Papá would think the worst of her.
Lucas came to her rescue. “In a hospital waiting room, actually.”
Oh, yes! How could she forget their initial meeting, even though they had not spoken to each other then?
“I was staying with Kitty, my friend from college. Adam, her husband…” No sense saying they had not been married at the time. “Adam had been injured. Lucas and Adam have mutual friends, and we were all waiting there for word about his condition.”
“I assume he survived.”
“Oh, yes, Papá! And they just had triplets on June the first.”
Nobody's Dream (Rescue Me Saga #6) Page 49