Lily sighed, sat up and grabbed a handful of tissues from the box he’d left on the table from her first night there. “What are you thinking about?”
He put his stoic face back on, so she wouldn’t see his vulnerabilities. “Life, the universe and everything.”
“The answer is forty-two.”
Drew guffawed at that, not many people his age knew that reference and even fewer of those were female. “So, who’s the geek in your family?”
Her eyes shuttered, and she murmured, “I have no idea.”
Dammit, he was an idiot. “We can ask your mom and dad when they get here.”
Excitement filled her face and then it faded. “What if I don’t remember them?”
“What if you do?”
Lily’s eyes locked on his, she asked, “Do you think I will?”
“I think it’s entirely possible. It will have been two days then since you hit your head, so the swelling will have eased. Beau and Alyssa said the amnesia probably wouldn’t last long. And it’s your parents, so they would be your most deep-seated memory.”
Lily nodded. “Them and my bossy sister.” She gasped and looked at him, a glorious smile covering her face. “I have a sister! I can’t remember what she looks like or her name, but I know I have a sister and she bosses me around. So, she must be older.”
“There you go. Your memory is returning, just slowly and in bits and pieces. Nothing to worry about.” He hoped he wasn’t talking out of his ass.
But her smile didn’t dim, which caused a very strange effect on his heart. But he didn’t dwell on that, because he still didn’t know if she was engaged. Clearly, she had been, but wanting to throw the phone across the room at seeing her engagement picture, did not bode well for Ronald Duvall, or whatever his name was.
He didn’t want to think about that, he was just some hick cop, the way she’d been dressed and the whole beauty pageant thing indicated she came from money and sophistication. They weren’t poor by any means, their ranch had nearly always done well, but sophistication meant wearing your good boots instead of your riding boots, new jeans, along with a solid colored shirt and maybe a string tie. Nope, they were from completely different orbits.
Which meant it was better to stay away from futile imaginings. It would be entirely too easy to visualize. He cleared his throat and stood. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes. All this drama and revelation has worked up an appetite.”
“Great, maybe you should keep looking through your phone to see what else you can discover while I make you a salad with lots of protein on top.”
“And maybe a few croutons, I think I love croutons.”
“Yes, ma’am, croutons coming up.” He saluted which made her laugh. He felt like a hero getting a good strong laugh out of her. It was a deep throaty laugh that punched him in the chest and caused warmth to suffuse his body.
He double-timed it into the kitchen. It would be best to get out of that little cabin and in with some other people where there would be a buffer between them. He didn’t need to lose his head or his heart to someone in a totally different world than he was in, let alone the geography. Montana didn’t really seem to fit her though, although he supposed in Helena or Billings there would be more sophistication, but still it didn’t quite fit her, to his idea anyway.
Changing the subject in his mind to stop the craziness, he made a mental list of who he needed to call for tomorrow. Alyssa, so she could bring the truck, rather than riding out, that way Lily could ride back with her. Drake, so he could join in the brain-storming, he’d been the sheriff Drew’s whole life, so probably had some good thoughts. Hopefully his boss didn’t tear him a new one for not calling sooner. He also needed to call his parents, so they could get a room ready for Lily and her parents, and arrange for a confab around the kitchen table.
He couldn’t take Lily to the other cabin until the day after tomorrow. That was probably just fine because after all that was going to go down tomorrow, he didn’t believe there would be time to go out to the cabin anyway. Just thinking about all of it, made his head hurt, and he hoped it wouldn’t overwhelm Lily.
He put the food on the table and went to get Lily. She was consumed by her phone and didn’t even notice him. “Lily, lunch is ready.”
She finally looked up at him. “I think my sister’s name is Rose. There is a Rose Brown that comments on everything I post, and the personal messages are bossy, just like I said. Plus, I think she kind of looks like me, don’t you?”
She handed him her phone and there was a very pretty woman in the picture. Not as pretty as Lily, but there was a resemblance. “Yes, there is a likeness between you, but you’re a lot prettier.”
Shit, he didn’t mean to blurt that out, but she just smiled as she took her phone back. “Well thank you, kind sir.”
Lily savored the feel of Drew’s arms around her as he carried her to the table. Tomorrow everything would change, and they wouldn’t have their little cabin in the woods, and the closeness that brought. She could only imagine what might happen tomorrow but even if her memories didn’t return, she would have a lot more information.
She knew her parents being there would be good for her and her stability. But she liked the intimacy that being alone with Drew brought. She already knew she was going to miss that, miss him. It couldn’t be helped, she had to get back to her real life, whatever that was, but she was determined to enjoy the man while she still could.
She breathed deep to draw in his scent, of outdoors and man with just a hint of leather and horse. It was delicious. She sighed as he set her down.
“What’s wrong?”
She ducked her head not wanting to admit she liked him holding her. “Nothing, just so much happening. Tomorrow will be very different. I’m not sure I’m ready for it.”
He took the statement as she’d intended. “It will be all right. I’m sure your parents are fine people, and I know mine are. Everyone will be great, and maybe you’ll get your memory back.”
He took her hand and squeezed it encouragingly. “Now eat this gourmet salad I made for you, and look there’s even a bowl of extra croutons, in case I didn’t give you enough.”
She looked at her salad which nearly had more croutons than salad and laughed as he’d wanted her to. “I think you gave me plenty. Is there any salad under that mound of croutons?”
“Yes. There is. But I did bring an extra plate in case you need to move some croutons aside to get to it.” He had a sparkle in his eyes that indicated he was teasing her. She loved it.
“Now what would be the fun in that? Most of the joy of croutons is testing your salad-eating skills to see if you can eat the salad without avalanching the crunchy goodness.” She turned her salad this way and that, with a slow perusal. Teasing him in return as she pretended to find the best place to start.
When she’d lulled him into the proper state, she stabbed her fork right into the middle causing a cascade of salad onto the larger plate beneath it. She took the huge bite that was speared by her fork and shoved it into her mouth. The salad dressing got on her face as she chewed in delight.
Drew nearly fell out of his chair he was laughing so hard, which is exactly what she was going for. She managed to swallow the bite before joining him in gales of laughter.
He sputtered out between guffaws. “I thought… you were going… to be all… dainty…and then you stabbed…and salad flew everywhere. I nearly peed my pants.”
She said as she wiped tears of laughter from her cheeks. “You should have seen your face when I stabbed it.”
“Everything exploded.”
“It did, I surprised the hell out of you.”
“Yes, you definitely did that. I can’t wait to tell my sister, Emma, she’ll love it.”
Lily grinned at him and she saw his expression change from laughter to… was it yearning?
“You’ve got some salad dressing…” he took his napkin and wiped her upper lip with it.
T
he atmosphere in the room changed as he touched her so intimately. And she knew, that whether he felt it or not, she definitely felt yearning.
He pulled back and blinked. Then he cleared his throat, but his words still came out rough. “I got it.”
Lily gathered her wits that had exploded all around her in a much bigger mess than her salad had made. She murmured, “Thanks” and looked back to her salad.
Which caused both of them to chuckle one more time and that cleared the air, so they could eat.
They talked about inconsequential things as they ate, and she managed to keep up her end of the conversation, but part of her mind was puzzling over that moment. If she truly was engaged, why had she felt that sizzling attraction and overwhelming yearning?
She didn’t really feel like she was someone who would cheat. Plus, she’d been so angry to see the engagement photo, she’d wanted to yell out ‘liar’. She and Ronald had been dressed to the nines and at a very fancy restaurant. The ring had been enormous and if truth be told she thought it had looked gaudy, it had overpowered the size of her hand. Lily had posted a picture of the food and she had no idea what it even was, but it had been heavy with cream sauce. She actually couldn’t imagine eating it. And there had been champagne, did she like champagne?
Drew had stopped talking so she looked up. “Sorry, just trying to remember. It didn’t help.” She shrugged.
Drew blew out a breath. “It’s got to be hard, I’m so sorry.”
Lily said, “So, changing the subject. If my feet heal quick enough and we don’t have to leave immediately, any chance I could ride one of your horses?”
“Do you ride?”
His eyebrows had gone up in surprise, which made her want to laugh. “I don’t really know for sure, but yes, I think I do.”
Drew grinned at her. “If it works out, by all means, you are welcome to have a ride. If it doesn’t work out this time, you can always come back.”
Lily’s breath caught at the idea of coming back, and that yearning filled her again. She looked down at her plate, so he couldn’t see it. “That would be fun.”
“It would be, and the invitation is open ended. You can come back in a few weeks or when you’re old and gray.”
He was teasing her, and she liked it, she liked it a lot.
Chapter 8
Ronald’s phone rang. He picked it up and looked at it in horror as he recognized the phone number. Shit, he didn’t want to talk to them. He didn’t have a choice though, they’d planned to call him every few days. If he didn’t answer they would get suspicious. He just didn’t know if he had it in him to lie. Oh, he’d lied to that gullible twit, but that was a whole different ball game.
He slapped a smile on his face, so he wouldn’t sound tense and swiped the green button. “This is Ronald.”
“Good to know. How’s your little package doing this morning?”
“Just fine.” He hoped she’d either been eaten by a bear or was lost in the wilderness.
“Has she realized that she isn’t going to be in the competition, so she doesn’t need to complain about the food?”
“No, still bitching and moaning.”
“You could always put her out of your misery. Smother her with a pillow for instance, or take her out into the forest and let a wild animal have her for a snack.”
The joy on the other end of the line when these things were said, turned Ronald’s stomach. He wasn’t a violent person. Choking back his horror, he said, “Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep it in mind.”
“You do realize when this is over, if she’s still breathing, she’s going to go straight to the police?”
Ronald had thought about that and wasn’t sure how to stay out of jail, if she’d stayed put. But now he could make his getaway. “I hope to be far away when that happens.”
“Her not breathing would be better all around, but I’ll leave that up to you. Talk to you in a few days.”
Drew dragged his ass out of bed. He’d not slept worth shit, thinking about all the changes today would bring. He’d really enjoyed spending this few days with Lily, she was brave and funny and so damn beautiful his heart hurt at the idea of her leaving. But she was most likely engaged and clearly from a different social circle than he was from. He could never fit into that life.
He’d pulled up her Facebook profile after she’d gone to bed. It was clearly her pageant profile, so open to the public, and it showed her in fancy restaurants with Ronald the Suit. Which is what he’d dubbed her fiancé, the guy wasn’t in one picture without a three-piece suit. Not only that but it was always perfectly set, no jacket off, no loosened tie, no rolled up sleeves.
Drew knew he would suffocate dressed like that day in and day out. Did the guy never chill? There had even been pictures of a barbeque they had attended, and he was still perfectly turned out, Lily had been in a pretty sun dress with fancy sandals, but Ronald the Suit was in his suit and tie.
He couldn’t see what Lily saw in him, but then again maybe it was the class thing. He was just a cowboy cop, what did he know about big city life? Although, there had been other guys at the barbeque, and they’d looked normal.
Enough, his mind had gone over and over this last night. He needed to get moving. Alyssa was going to be there in two hours and then they would all head up to his parents’ house. His mom had quickly assured him that three more people would be no problem at all and not to worry.
He hadn’t exactly been worried, just wanted to give them time to prepare. Lily hadn’t turned her nose up at the cabin and his parents’ house was warm and inviting, but it was definitely lived in. He and his five siblings probably hadn’t been easy on the house or it’s furnishings. Funny how he’d never even thought about that until Lily had come along.
He shook his head at his foolishness and went to take care of his horse. He needed to pack up the fresh food and change the sheets and prepare the cabin for the next time it was needed. When his horse was settled in with his breakfast he hopped into the shower.
After his shower he looked in on Lily and found her awake and dressed. Still in the sweats she’d borrowed, rather than her own fancy clothes. He didn’t know what that meant. “You’re up. You could have slept a while longer.”
“I’m too nervous. I’m going to meet all your family and the sheriff and even my own parents. I feel like throwing up.”
“No throwing up. My family are just normal folks, you’ve already met some of them, the rest are no different. The sheriff is my dad’s best friend, so nothing to worry about there either. And your parents love you, it wouldn’t surprise me if they beat us to the house.”
She gasped. “They said they would spend the night in Casper.”
Drew nodded. “Yep, so we’re talking a six-hour drive. I imagine they are worried about you and didn’t sleep easily. I can see them on the road by five or six which means they could drive in by eleven or noon easily. If not earlier.”
“You told them to call when they get to town.”
“I did, but I also told them the name of the ranch, so it wouldn’t be hard to get directions, either by GPS or asking in town.”
“I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Well let’s get busy, as my Grandpa K would say, we’re burning daylight.”
She laughed and let him carry her to the bathroom where she could freshen up. While she did that he stripped the beds and put clean sheets on them. Putting the dirty ones in the washer. He noticed her sheets had her scent on them and was almost sorry to wash them. He shook his head at his own foolishness and went to get her from the bathroom.
It might be one of the last times he got to carry her around. When Alyssa came she might declare Lily’s feet healed enough to walk on, at least short distances, like to the bathroom. He set her down at the kitchen table. “What do you feel like for breakfast?”
“Not a lot, my stomach has butterflies flying like crazy. I was almost serious about throwing up.”
“Hmm, in that ca
se tea and toast, with maybe a slice of cheese to go with it?”
“We can give it a shot.”
As he made the food for her, and then an enormous bowl of cereal for himself, he tried to think about how to distract her, so she could at least eat a little bit. He couldn’t think of a darn thing, that wouldn’t remind her of everything. Darn it, there had to be something.
He let out a sigh when Lily herself came up with a topic to talk about. “So, do you rodeo or did you in the past?”
“I don’t too much anymore, I did in high school. I have a friend that’s a professional. He’s going for all-around cowboy this year. One of my brothers is a mighty fine roper, but the rest of us just played with it. My sister was good at barrels and she was right up there in roping, too. She and Cade made a great team for team roping.”
“What event did you do?”
“Saddle bronc riding mostly, some bareback, did some bullfighting for a while for the riders. Mostly to keep my best friend from getting stomped.” He shrugged like it had been no big deal.
“The fighting is just as dangerous as the riding.”
“Can be, if you aren’t quick on your feet.” He’d had a time or two where he’d needed some healing after a rodeo, but he wasn’t going to go into it.
“Well I’m glad you don’t do it anymore, at least the bullfighting.”
He wasn’t a bit sad to have left the rodeo in his past. He still helped out on the ranch, so he didn’t have to turn in his cowboy card. “Yeah, I’m good, no need to prove anything.”
“What did you have to prove?”
He chuckled at the typical female comment. “I’m the youngest of five boys. I had to prove everything. Or at least that’s what I thought.”
“Not anymore?”
“No, I finally realized all five of us, plus Emma, are each our own person. Our parents never did play any one of us against the other. Each of us have our own strengths and weaknesses. So, I can be myself and the rest of them can be who they are. One thing our parents did stress was that we could be and do whatever we set our minds to and worked hard at.”
Trusting Drew: Burlap and Barbed Wire Page 6