Winding River Reunion

by Sherryl Woods

  That was recommendation enough for Jake. “Could I?” Jake begged his grandfather.

  “Absolutely,” Cole said, not giving his father a chance to refuse or to label the boy a sissy because of his preference for a gentler horse. “Shall I come along?”

  “I’m perfectly capable of giving the boy a riding lesson,” his father grumbled, clearly understanding Cole’s unspoken message. “On Buttercup, if that’s the way you want it. The poor old mare can barely make it out of the barn, though.”

  “Which means she’s not likely to run off with him,” Cole said. He winked at Jake. “Take her an apple, and she’ll do whatever you ask of her.”

  Jake ran to grab one from the basket of fruit the hotel had sent up. “Okay, Grandpa, I’m ready.”

  Frank looked momentarily taken aback by his eagerness, but he finally gave him a gruff pat on the back. “Let’s go, then.”

  “Jake, shouldn’t you get your toothbrush, at least?” Cole asked.

  “I don’t need one. Grandpa gave me one last time. And there are some jeans and shirts and stuff in my room at the ranch.”

  Cole regarded his father evenly. “Is that so?”

  “No point in having him haul stuff back and forth. He might as well feel at home when he’s there.”

  “Just don’t get carried away,” he warned his father. He wouldn’t put it past the old man to try to convince Jake to move in.

  “I have no idea what you mean,” Frank retorted, heading for the door at a brisker pace than usual, clearly eager to avoid a drawn-out explanation.

  Cole let him leave, then sat back with a sigh and braced himself for Cassie’s return from work. He had a decision to make between now and then. He could agree to her terms or go to war. With his body already squarely on her side, in fact eager to join her in bed, the decision was all but made.

  He just had to figure out if he could live with it.

  * * *

  Cassie wiped the counter at Stella’s with slow, distracted strokes.

  “I think it’s clean now,” Karen commented.

  Cassie’s gaze shot up. “What?”

  She had almost forgotten her friend was there. Karen had come in right at closing, claiming that she’d had a sudden yearning for a piece of Stella’s apple pie. Since Karen’s pies had been winning ribbons at the local fair for years now, the explanation hadn’t rung true.

  Karen placed her hand over Cassie’s to still the idle motion. “I said that the counter is clean.” Her gaze narrowed. “What’s on your mind? Did you and Cole have a fight?”

  “We don’t exactly fight,” Cassie said. “Though yesterday we came as close as we ever have.” She sighed. “He’s so cool. Even when he’s furious with me, he refuses to let down his guard. He just makes some sarcastic comment that’s designed to put distance between us.”

  “Don’t let him get away with it,” Karen advised. “Call him on it.”

  “I do. Last night I told him he had to make a decision. We either work at a real marriage or I walk and I take Jake with me.”

  Karen’s eyes widened. “You didn’t?”

  “What choice did I have? Things are impossible the way they are now. And after yesterday…”

  “What happened?”

  “We made love,” she said, feeling the heat climb into her cheeks at the memory. “And it was the way it used to be—better, in fact.”

  “That’s wonderful. And it’s progress.” She studied Cassie intently. “So why did you issue an ultimatum after that?”

  “Because he would have gone right back to the way things used to be. He was already pulling back even while I was right there next to him.”

  “He’s scared,” Karen concluded.

  The comment was so ludicrous that Cassie laughed. “Cole Davis isn’t scared of anything.”

  “Sure he is,” Karen said. “He’s scared of the same thing all men are scared of, letting down their guard and getting hurt. Frankly, I think that’s very positive.”

  “Pardon me if I have a little trouble following your logic. Why is that a good thing?”

  “It means he loves you. You still have the power to hurt him and he knows it. It terrifies him. So what does he do? He puts those walls up to protect himself.”

  Cassie considered the explanation thoughtfully. It made a lot of sense. Unfortunately she wasn’t sure how much longer she could fight to try to tear those walls back down. A lot depended on what Cole said when she got back to the hotel today. If he agreed to her terms for staying, they had a chance. If not…

  “I don’t know what to do anymore,” she admitted. “I’ve tried everything I can think of, including threatening to leave.”

  “Which would only prove to him that’s he’s been right all along not to trust you,” Karen pointed out.

  Well, hell. She was right about that, too. “I can’t talk about this anymore. My head is spinning. Let’s talk about you. How are you doing?”

  “I’m getting through one day at a time,” Karen said. “Lauren’s been a huge help. She refuses to go away. I feel as if I am totally disrupting her life, but the truth is I’m glad of the company. And she’s working as if she’s obsessed. She’s always had a magic touch with horses, but she’s turning into an all-around rancher. I dread the day she goes back to her own life.”

  Her shoulders slumped and a weary expression settled on her face. “I don’t know what I’d do without her. I thought I could do it all, but I can’t, and I can’t pay for extra help. If I lose the ranch, I’ll feel as if I failed Caleb.”

  “You’re not going to lose the ranch,” Cassie said fiercely. “We’ll all do whatever it takes to see to that.” She studied her friend’s face. “Unless, one of these days, you decide there’s something you’d rather be doing. If you decide you want to sell, it will be okay, Karen. Caleb would understand.”

  “I’m not so sure of that,” Karen said, then sighed.

  “He would,” Cassie insisted, then gave her friend’s hand a squeeze. “You have to do what’s best for you now. And you don’t have to decide what that is today or even tomorrow. You take your time. And if you need extra help, call me. I might not be experienced, but I’m willing. And Jake’s been learning to do chores at the Double D. He could just as easily do them for you. In fact, I’d prefer it.”

  Karen forced a smile. “Thanks. Now go home to your husband. Your work with me is done.” Her grin spread. “And that counter hasn’t been that spotless in years, so you’re off the hook with Stella, too.”

  They walked out of the diner together, then went their separate ways. It wasn’t lost on Cassie that both of them were heading home with unmistakable reluctance. There was a difference, though. Karen could never get her husband back, while Cassie still had a fighting chance with hers. Watching her friend climb dejectedly into the battered pickup that had been Caleb’s, Cassie resolved to make the most of the chance she had.

  * * *

  Cole looked up when he heard Cassie’s key turn in the lock. His pulse ricocheted wildly. This was it, the moment of truth. Do or die. A few more clichés rattled around in his head as he dared to face her, still trying to decide what to say.

  “You’re home,” he said. Now there was a brilliant beginning, he thought, cursing his stupidity. He tried to salvage the moment. “Rough day?”

  That was better, he concluded. It sounded like the start of a perfectly normal conversation between husband and wife. Unfortunately, there was nothing normal about any of this. It was awkward as hell.

  “It was okay, at least until Karen came in.” Her expression turned sad. “I’m worried about her. She’s not handling Caleb’s death well at all.”

  “How could she? He’s only been gone a few months. It must be a terrible adjustment to make.”

  “She ought to sell the ranch before it kills her, too,” Cassie said. “But right now she won’t hear of it. She thinks she owes it to Caleb to stay.”

  “And as long as she thinks that, then that’s what
she needs to do,” Cole said. “You can’t push her. That ranch is her connection to him. It’s little wonder she doesn’t want to lose that.”

  Cassie sighed. “I know. Some things can’t be rushed.”

  Her gaze locked with his, and they both knew that she wasn’t talking only about Karen. “I’m sorry if I pushed too hard yesterday. I just want…I want things to be okay, to be good between us.”

  Cole nodded. Here it was, the moment of truth. “I want that, too,” he said quietly. “I really do. I’m not saying it can happen overnight, but it is what I want. You need to know that. You need to believe it, even when I’m shutting you out.”

  “I’ll try.”

  “And sleeping in the same bed will be a start,” he added quietly. “If that’s something you still want.”

  Hope lit her eyes. “I do,” she said at once. “With all my heart.”

  “Good.”

  They stared at each other, neither of them moving, neither of them knowing what else to say, until finally Cole could bear it no longer.

  “Come here,” he said, beckoning her.

  She hesitated.

  “Cassie, you’re not changing your mind already, are you?”

  “No, but—”

  “Come here,” he commanded.

  She took one step toward him, then eventually another, until their knees were touching. He reached up and touched her cheek, surprised to find it was damp with tears he hadn’t noticed in the room’s shadows.

  “Oh, baby,” he murmured, drawing her into his lap. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “Is it?” she whispered, sounding more uncertain than he’d ever heard her.

  “It is,” he said confidently.

  Given time, given commitment, given love, it would definitely be okay. Hopefully, he had just bought them the time they needed.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  It wasn’t okay, not by a long shot. Oh, Cole was trying. They were sharing a bed, but the gap between them hadn’t been closed, not all the way.

  Cassie had had high hopes for the move into the new house. Surely then, when they were in the home they’d designed together, the last pieces of their relationship would fall into place. But it wasn’t working out that way.

  The new house was still not the home she had envisioned. It was bright and airy. Her kitchen was amazing. The fireplaces turned even the spacious rooms into cozy refuges from the increasingly bitter weather of fall. They had already had one blizzard, and another was predicted before the end of the week. The snow was deep at the higher elevations, but here in Winding River it had melted rapidly, leaving mud and gloom in its wake. It was only the beginning of November, and already she was dreading being closed up indoors with a man who retreated into moody silences more nights than not.

  But Cole, despite the fact that he was reluctantly sharing her bed, still kept a part of himself distant. They made love—sometimes sweet, tender love, sometimes wild, passionate love—but there was little joy in it.

  Still, Cassie couldn’t deny herself the one form of communication that Cole allowed. Nor could she regret what had happened because of it. They were going to have a baby. She’d planned to tell him when he got back from his business trip, though she had no idea how he would take the news.

  Once in a long while she caught a glimmer of the old Cole, the man who had shared everything with her, the man who had trusted her with his most private thoughts. Other times it was like living with a stranger. Which, she wondered, would surface when she made her announcement?

  A lot depended on that, because slowly but surely their current circumstances were draining the life out of her. She had to do something to fix it, but she was out of ideas. It wasn’t possible to force someone to forgive, much less forget. Time, the great healer, wasn’t working. And a baby couldn’t be expected to save a faltering marriage.

  Cole’s father was no help at all. He reserved most of his snide comments for the times when the two of them were alone. Cassie usually managed to let them roll off her back. Fighting with Frank Davis was a waste of energy, at least over something as inconsequential as a few pointed remarks.

  His attempts to turn Jake against her were something else entirely. She wasn’t sure when she’d first realized that was what he was doing, but lately he’d stepped up the campaign.

  Today Frank dropped Jake off at the end of the drive after a riding lesson at the Double D. Jake came into the kitchen with a sullen expression, uttered no greeting at all and started to walk straight past her. The show of belligerence, more and more frequent after he’d been with his grandfather, was the final straw.

  “Hey, what’s with the long face?” Cassie asked.

  His reply was mumbled. He kept right on walking.

  “Jake Collins, get back here.”

  He faced her with a dark look. “I’m not a Collins. I’m a Davis. Someday I’m going to own Grandpa’s ranch.”

  He said it as if he expected her to challenge the claim. “I imagine that’s true, if it turns out to be what you want. As for whether you’re a Collins or a Davis, you were born with my name. If you’d like to think about legally changing that to Davis, I’ll speak to your father.”

  Having Cole legally acknowledge Jake as his son was something they should have discussed, she realized. In fact, she was somewhat surprised that Cole hadn’t insisted on it. Obviously, his failure to do so was grating on his father’s nerves. Frank had clearly started planting the seeds in Jake’s head to get the ball rolling. Right or wrong, he was manipulating her son, just as he’d tried to do with Cole for years. She didn’t like it.

  Jake stared at her, clearly surprised by her offer. “You will?”

  “Of course.”

  “Grandpa said you wouldn’t. He said you were probably trying to keep me from being a Davis.”

  Cassie barely resisted the urge to tell Jake precisely what she thought of his grandfather. “That’s not true,” she said instead, keeping her tone mild. “To be honest, your father and I simply haven’t talked about it, but we will. I promise.”

  Jake studied her intently for a long moment, his expression troubled. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course.”

  “Are you and Dad gonna get a divorce?”

  Cassie was stunned by the question. “No. Why would you think that?”

  “Grandpa said you probably would and then I would live with Dad.”

  “Oh, he did, did he?” Her temper shot into the stratosphere. If Frank had been around, she might very well have clobbered him over the head with a cast-iron skillet. “Sweetie, your dad and I are working very hard to make us a family. That takes time, but it’s what I want. It’s what we both want.”

  “Promise?”

  She hugged him tightly. “I promise. Now go on upstairs and do your homework. I need to run out for a little while.”

  The minute Jake had grabbed a handful of cookies and a glass of milk, she snatched her jacket off a hook by the kitchen door and went to the barn. She saddled up a horse, because it was much faster to get to the Double D by cutting across their adjoining fields than it was to drive clear out to the highway and around.

  She had never been quite so furious. Even after learning of the role that Frank and her own mother had played all those years ago in keeping her and Cole apart, she had struggled to understand their perspective, but this was too much. This was an attempt to scare her son, to make it seem as if his family was about to fall apart and that the only person he could rely on was his grandfather.

  Her breath turned to steam as she urged the horse into a gallop that ate up the distance to the Double D ranch house. All she could think about was shaking Frank until his teeth rattled. Not that she could do it, given their difference in sizes, but she was darn well willing to give it a try. At the very least, she intended to give him a tongue-lashing that he wouldn’t soon forget.

  Oblivious to the fact that there were still lingering patches of ice on the ground, that snow had star
ted falling again, she rode harder, her temper climbing.

  When the horse lost its footing, she wasn’t prepared for the sudden skid, the frantic attempt by her mount to stay afoot. The next thing she knew she was flying through the air, trying desperately to curl her body to protect the baby as the ground rose up to meet her.

  But she misjudged. When she slammed into the rocky ground, she broke the fall with her hand and felt the bone snap. The pain was excruciating. And for the first time in her life she fainted.

  * * *

  Cole hated himself for falling in love with Cassie all over again. How could he be so weak that a woman who’d betrayed him not once, but twice, could still manage to steal his heart? He wanted so badly to accept the love she was offering, to move on, but a part of him insisted on fighting her every step of the way.

  It had to stop. They couldn’t go on like this. It wasn’t fair to either of them, nor to Jake.

  Cole came home after a two-day business trip to California prepared to let her go so they could both find some peace. He walked into the house to find the kitchen empty with no sign of dinner on the stove. He heard music from upstairs and gathered Jake was in his room doing his homework, though how the kid could think with that sound blaring in his ears was beyond Cole.

  He climbed the stairs two at a time, knocked on Jake’s door, then opened it without waiting for a response. He doubted his son could hear him over the music, anyway.

  Sure enough, Jake didn’t even look up from his books. Cole crossed the room and switched off the CD player. Jake blinked and stared at him, his expression brightening.

  “You’re home. When did you get here?”

  “A few minutes ago. Where’s your mom?”

  “Isn’t she downstairs?”

  “No.”

  The response seemed to make Jake vaguely uneasy.

  “Jake, what’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Did you two fight?”

  “Not exactly. I just asked her about some stuff Grandpa said. I think maybe it made her mad. Maybe she went to see him.”