by Lois Greiman
There were murmurs from the nurses. Somebody cleared her throat.
“Guess your girl does, too,” Colt added. His gaze was rock steady, but Jaegar shook his head, still not taking it all in.
“What?” he asked.
“Your Sophie here,” Colt said. “You must have done a real good job with her because she wanted to help out. Wanted to save them animals even though they’re …” He chuckled a little. “Well, they’re not the prettiest broncs I’ve ever seen.”
“Well, I …” Jaegar glanced at his daughter. Even she looked surprised. “Yeah, she’s a good kid. Always has been.” He looked befuddled, as if they might have been talking about someone else, but in a moment reality seemed to settle back in. “You were responsible for her well-being,” he said, looking at Casie.
“I know,” she said. “I made a mis—”
“You can take this up with her attorney,” Bradley said. Standing very rigid, he curled a hand around her arm and tugged her back a step.
“You bet I will,” Jaegar said. “As soon as we get back home. I’ll be calling—”
“I’m not going back,” Sophie said.
The world went quiet. Every eye in the room turned toward her.
“What’d you say, honey?” Jaegar’s voice was soft.
“I said I’m not going home.”
“Listen, sweetheart, I’m sure you’re a little confused right now, but you’ll feel better once you’re in your own—”
“I’m going back to the Lazy.”
Jaegar blinked and scowled. “You don’t have to do that, Soph. I want you with me. And Amber does, too. She said so.”
Sophie stared at him for several seconds. To his credit, he only fidgeted a little.
“Maybe,” she said. “But the colt needs me.” She glanced at Casie. “I want to go back to the ranch … if you’ll take me.”
CHAPTER 29
“So she’s okay?” Emily glanced from Casie to Brad. The girl looked pale and unusually fragile. From worry? From stomach troubles? It was hard to tell with Em.
“I hope so,” Casie said.
“They’ll run some more tests,” Brad said. “If they’re smart, they’ll do another MRI and continue to monitor her intercranial pressure, but I wouldn’t want to put money on the brains of these backwoods butchers.”
Casie felt her hackles rise a little, though she didn’t know why. It wasn’t as if it was her job to defend her local medical professionals.
“Then what?” Emily asked.
“I don’t know, Em,” Casie said. “She wants to come back here, but—” She shrugged.
“But we can’t afford the liability,” Bradley said, looking at Casie. “You dodged a bullet once. Don’t expect to be so lucky again.”
“She wants to come back?” Emily raised her brows. “The girl’s got bigger …” She grinned. “… more backbone than I thought.”
“Next thing you know, she’ll be challenging you for rights to the garden,” Casie said.
“She’s not touching my tomatoes,” Emily warned.
Casie chuckled. The house was quiet and comforting, filled with the scents of cinnamon and hope. “Have you heard anything from Ty?”
Emily shook her head, dreads dancing. “Nothing. Has anyone found Puke?”
“Not that I know of.”
“What’s this?” Bradley asked.
Dammit. “Tyler,” Casie said. She was tired and it wasn’t noon yet. There were chores to be done even though Colt had fed the livestock and done dawn check. She’d meant to thank him for that but he’d disappeared before she’d gotten a chance. “He’s the one that took Sophie to the hospital.”
“The scruffy-looking kid I met last time I was here? He’s not old enough to drive.”
“Farm kids can get a license at fourteen.” The fact was, she didn’t know how old he was or if he had such a license. But she hoped Bradley wouldn’t think to ask about that.
“Is he even—” he began, but changed his course midstream. “Wait a minute. Are you saying he stole your truck?”
She stared at him. Was he serious? “I’m saying he saved Sophie’s life,” she said.
“How do you know that?”
“What?”
“You weren’t here, right? There’s something shifty about him. I could see that right away. Maybe he was the one who struck her.”
Casie glanced at Emily, strangely embarrassed by the accusation, and certain the girl would come to his defense, but she remained silent.
“He didn’t,” Casie said, but he ignored her.
“Maybe he hit her, knew he was going to be in a pile of trouble, and took off.”
“He would never do that.”
“He’s not really a felon,” Emily said.
Casie’s stomach twisted. Brad turned silently toward Em.
“I mean, yeah, he had to go to court for punching that kid, but Sophie shouldn’t have called him a felon.”
Casie opened her mouth to voice an objection, but Bradley spoke first. “He’s had violent episodes in the past?”
“It was no big deal,” Emily said. “The other kid—”
“I don’t care what the other kid did,” Brad said, turning abruptly toward Casie. “What are you thinking, allowing him on our property?”
“Our property?” Casie said.
Bradley looked down his nose at her. “I thought we were in this together,” he said.
“Yeah, me too,” she said, and grabbing his keys from the counter, strode out the door.
It only took a few minutes to reach the Robertses’ farm. But one glance around the yard assured her that Puke was not there.
The slam of Bradley’s car door seemed unearthly loud as she stepped alone into the world. The gravel crunched under her feet as she made her way toward the Robertses’ front door.
“What do you want?” The deep timbre of the voice startled her.
She jerked to the right. Gilbert Roberts had gained several pounds and a few gray hairs since they’d last met, but she recognized him.
She steadied herself. “I’m Casie Carmichael,” she said and turned fully toward him.
“I know who you are.”
She cleared her throat. “I came by to see Ty.”
“You’re the reason he don’t get his chores done around here no more.”
She didn’t know where to begin. Didn’t know how much Ty’s father knew. “I haven’t seen him around for a while. I just wanted to make sure he was okay.”
He made a derisive sound through his nose. “Kinda hard getting the work done without that child labor, ain’t it?”
She smiled, hoping to hell it was a joke. But if it was, he was dynamite at keeping a straight face. She refrained from wiping her palms on her jeans. “I hope you don’t mind that he’s been helping me out some.”
He let his gaze slip down her body for a moment. “I guess I can see why he’d rather do your chores than mine.”
The hair lifted eerily at the nape of her neck, but she refused to back away. “I, umm … Do you know where he is?”
The front door opened. A woman stepped out. She was tall and slim with worried eyes and a perfect peaches-and-cream complexion. “Ms. Carmichael …” She hurried forward to shake Casie’s hand. Her fingers trembled when they met. “I’m Jessica Roberts. Are you here about our Tyler?”
“Yes.” Relief flooded her. She’d rarely been comfortable alone with men. But no one in her right mind would be comfortable with the grunter there. “Do you know where he is?”
“No. No, I don’t. We haven’t seen him since yesterday afternoon.” She shifted a worried glance toward her husband. “Boys, what can you do?” She smiled but the expression was strained. “I was hoping he’d just stayed at your place. Thought maybe you needed some help overnight or something.”
Casie clenched her fists, tried to figure out what to say next. “There’s been …We had a little trouble at … Ty’s fine.” She hurried to correct herself. “I mean,
he was fine when I saw him yesterday. It’s Sophie who’s in trouble.”
“Who?”
“Sophie.” Her face twitched with the strain of trying to act reasonable, as if everything was okay, as if the sky wasn’t falling. “She’s kind of a guest of mine.”
“And you think the boy got her in trouble?” Gil’s voice was little more than a growl.
“No! No.” Holy Hannah. Maybe she shouldn’t have come alone. Maybe she shouldn’t have come at all. “In fact, he saved her life.”
“What?” Jessica’s tone was breathy.
“When she was knocked unconscious.”
Something flickered in Jessica’s eyes. Was it fear? Gil’s gaze got darker.
“We think she was kicked by a horse.” Casie flickered her gaze from one to the other, trying to figure them out. “Ty drove her to the hospital.”
“Tyler did?” Jessica put a hand to her chest.
“Drove her in what?” Gil asked.
“My truck.”
He lowered his brows. The anger burned a little deeper in his stony brown eyes.
“He just did it to save her,” Casie said, trying to assess the situation, trying to forestall any problems. “And I said he could use it anytime.” She hurried that lie in as quickly as she could, but Gil only snorted.
“And I suppose you think you got the right to let my boy drive illegal?”
“I thought …” God help her. “Doesn’t he have a farm permit?”
“Did he tell you he did?” There was distrust in his voice, contempt in his eyes, ready at a moment’s notice to find fault.
Casie felt the slow flame of anger flicker to life in her chest. “He didn’t do anything wrong,” she said quietly.
“Then why are you here?”
“I just wanted to make sure he was all right.”
“That your car?” Gil asked.
She shifted her gaze toward Brad’s Pontiac. “What?”
“It’s got Minnesota plates.”
“It’s my …” Her mind was tumbling with a dozen uncertainties. Where were they going with this conversation? And who was Bradley to her? “It’s my fiancé’s.”
“Something wrong with your old man’s truck?”
Tension cranked up a little tighter. She straightened her back, wishing she’d never come here, wishing she could put it all behind her. “Ty didn’t steal the truck, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“It ain’t what I’m thinking that matters,” he said. “It’s what you’re thinking that counts,” he said and took a step toward her.
It took all the strength she had to stand her ground. Even more to make a joke. “Half the time I wish someone would steal it.”
“And you think you finally got lucky, huh? Got it insured. Is that it?”
“No,” she said and gave up on any hope of salvaging the conversation. “That’s not it.” A tremble shivered through her, but she raised her chin and narrowed her eyes. “I just wanted to make sure he’s okay.”
The yard went quiet. She held his gaze. “Just call me, will you? When he comes home?”
“Of course we will,” Jessica said. Casie shifted her gaze to the other woman. “Of course.” There were tears in her eyes. “And you call us if you see him first.”
Casie got into the car, turned the key, and drove carefully out of the yard, ignoring the fact that her hands were shaking on the wheel. Perhaps she should go straight home. Maybe Ty had already shown up there. But she wasn’t ready to see Bradley yet, and maybe if she visited some of her own adolescent haunts, she would catch a glimpse of Puke.
But the springs where she had sometimes swum as a girl were vacant. Puke was conspicuously absent at the Pony Espresso, and driving through St. Luke’s extensive parking lot yielded nothing.
Two hours later, Casie’s head felt a little clearer despite the fact that her search had yielded nothing. The Lazy felt different with Bradley on the property, as if it wasn’t quite her place anymore. But she shook off the feeling. Stepping into the tiny foyer, she toed off her boots and padded barefoot inside. No one was in the kitchen, but in a moment Emily emerged from the stairwell.
“Did you find him?” Her cheeks looked flushed; her eyes were swollen.
“No, but I’m sure he’s okay.” Casie glanced upstairs, wondering about Brad.
“Has anyone else seen him?” Em said. “Did you ask around?”
“Some, but I don’t really know where he hangs out.”
She scowled, looking agitated and unhappy. “He usually stays pretty close to home. But sometimes he plays a little football by the school.”
“Maybe you should have come with me,” Casie said.
“Yeah,” Em agreed and half glanced up the stairs. “Yeah, maybe I should have.”
Casie looked up, too. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah. Sure. I’m just … worried about Ty, that’s all.”
“I’m sure he’ll show up soon,” Casie said, but the truth was, she wasn’t sure of anything.
Evening chores came and went without Ty making an appearance.
Supper was a painful affair. Bradley barely touched the soup they had concocted out of last year’s root vegetables. Conversation was stilted and stiff.
“I’ll take the cattle checks tonight,” Casie said as Emily began to clear the table.
Emily made a halfhearted attempt to argue, but she was easy to dissuade.
“And don’t worry about the dishes,” Casie added.
“Maybe I’ll just do them later. After I lie down for a while.” Em turned to head up the stairs.
Casie watched her go, then picked up her dishes and carried them to the sink. Bradley rose, too. She sent him a glance.
“Is she all right, do you think?”
“What?” He seemed preoccupied.
“Emily. I worry about her. She’s been having stomach troubles for weeks. Still, she’s usually full of energy. Now she seems so … distracted.”
“Didn’t you say she and the boy were friends?”
“Yeah. They are friends,” she said and felt anger rise in her again. “What were you thinking, raising suspicions about him?”
“It seems like you’re the only one who doesn’t realize he’s guilty. Even she knows he can’t be trusted.”
“What are you talking about?” She faced him over a pair of milky glasses. “What did you say to her?”
“What are you talking about?”
“She’s obviously upset. What happened?”
He snorted, head jerking back a little. “You’re blaming me? The boy does God knows what to your only paying client and you’re blaming me?”
“Ty didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Sure, so he’s blameless and I’m the guilty party.”
“I didn’t …” She shook her head. “Guilty of what? I didn’t say you were guilty.”
“Well, you’re sure acting like it.”
“I’m not. I just—” she began, but in that second he took the glasses from her. Setting them aside, he took her hands in his.
“Cass, honey …” His eyes bored into hers. “Let’s not fight.”
“I’m not fighting. I just—”
“You don’t even recognize it, do you?”
“Recognize what?”
“It’s this place,” he said and glanced around the kitchen with its aging counters and scarred floors.
“What about this place?”
“Remember how you told me that your parents always fought? How they were always at each other’s throats?”
“Well, they …” Growing up it had seemed that way, but now she wondered if that was better than simply accepting. Better than simply giving in, giving up. “They were both strong personalities. And they both cared about—”
“They fought,” he said, “because living here is so stressful.”
“No. It’s—”
He laughed. “Baby,” he said, tightening his hands on hers. “You’re the poster child
for hypertension.”
She blew out a breath. “I’m just worried about Ty.”
“Let’s go to bed,” he said.
“I can’t sleep with you. Not with Emily in the house.”
“You’re right.” He threw up his hands, immediately irritated. “What was I thinking? God forbid you should ever give me what I need.”
“I—” she began, but he gritted his teeth and shook his head.
“I didn’t mean it like that. We don’t have to have sex.” He stepped toward her, capturing her hands again and exhaling heavily. “Come upstairs, honey. I’ll give you a backrub.” He massaged her knuckles. “Relieve you of some of that tension.”
She was shaking her head before he had finished speaking. “I still have to check the—”
But he stopped her in her tracks, expression cold. “Is this about that guy? Is that it?”
“What?”
“Jesus Christ, Cass,” he chuckled, lips twisted. “He’s a cowboy! ”
“What are you talking about?”
“A cowboy! One step down the social ladder and he’d be a cartoon character.”
“Are you talking about Colt?”
“Colt.” He laughed. “Of course that’s his name,” he said and, dropping her hands, stormed up the stairs.
CHAPTER 30
Casie slept on the couch that night. Maybe because she was trying to set a good example for Emily or maybe because she was too upset to sleep anyway. But she rather suspected it was just because she was madder than hell. At one point she considered marching up the stairs to kick Bradley out of her bed. What right did he have to come here and dispossess her? The Lazy wasn’t his. It wasn’t a part of his soul, of his very being. Not that she was in love with the ranch, either. She’d have to be crazy to have any illusions about it after all these years; the work was exhausting, the winters endless, but the mornings …
She gazed through the kitchen window Emily had cleaned only a few days earlier. Dawn was just breaking in the east, spilling rippling waves of mauves and lavenders over the quiet, rolling hills.
A white-faced cow stretched out her neck and bellowed. A calf rose from a cluster of its identical companions and ran pell-mell across the pasture. They met nose to nose before the mother swiped a sandpaper tongue over her baby’s glistening hide, then turned to meander away, calf trotting by her side, white-tipped tail swinging.