by Jeannie Watt
“I know the difference between a snake and a kitten,” Cassie said in a deadly voice before pointing to the planks a yard or so away from her boots. “He went through that big knothole in the floor. I almost stepped on him.”
“You’re wearing rubber boots. He couldn’t have done you harm.”
“He could have gone up my pant leg.” She shook her loose-fitting overall leg.
“The chances of that...” The words trailed as she fixed him with another killer look. Fine, she didn’t want to know the odds.
It was then that she seemed to notice that he was wetter than he should have been. “What happened to you?”
“I got sprayed by a woman reacting to a reptile.”
“No.”
“I didn’t spray myself,” he said sourly.
Cassie looked down at her hose, then up at him. “Sorry?”
“Yeah.” He hooked a finger in the collar of his wet T-shirt and pulled it away from his skin. “Not a problem.”
“It won’t happen again.”
“If it does, I will suspect that there was no snake.”
“There was.” She looked again at the knothole. “We might want to cover this with something.”
“That’s probably not his only portal.”
Cassie wrinkled her nose at him. “Thanks. But now that I know he’s there, I’m okay. Snakes don’t bother me.”
“Are you sure?” Because she was looking bothered not that long ago. “You went nuts over a spider.”
“It was on me.” She spoke through gritted teeth before abruptly turning and resuming her spraying.
Travis hesitated for all of a nanosecond and then squirted the ground next to her feet. Cassie let out a squeak and jumped, then whirled toward him, hose gun at the ready. “You will regret that.”
He started to laugh and held up a hand. “I already do.”
She lowered the hose instead of spraying him, then, just as he relaxed, brought the hose up and squirted him square in the chest, splattering the underside of his jaw.
“Psych.” She laughed before giving him another blast.
There was no way he could squirt her back with the pressure washer, so despite having the gnarlier weapon, he was at a distinct disadvantage. He held up his arm to protect his face. “Truce.”
“Ha!” She gave him another blast, but this one was at his feet. “Truce that.”
“Don’t squirt me, Cassie.” There was a distinct warning note in his voice that he hoped she recognized as being serious...or at the very least, kind of serious. He had lobbed the first volley.
“Don’t squirt you? After an unprovoked attack?”
“We’ll never get done if we have a water fight.”
“There’s always tomorrow.” She gave him a blast in the chest.
“Cassie...”
She gave him a wicked look that made him want to smile. Smile and pull her against him. He started forward and she held her ground, holding the hose gun in front of her, one finger on the trigger.
“One more step and I’ll—”
A movement caught his eye and he risked annihilation by glancing out the bay door to where the old Australian shepherds were getting to their feet, their tails wagging as they stared in the direction of the house.
“Are you expecting guests?” Cassie asked.
“I am expecting no one.”
Cassie set down her hose and together they walked to the open bay door. The voices grew louder and a second later, Will and Rosalie, who weren’t due until that afternoon, came around the corner of the house.
“You really can’t hear cars from here,” Cassie said.
He gave her a look. “Did you think I was putting you on?”
“I thought my hearing was better than yours.”
“What do you think now, Super Ears?”
“The pressure washer is loud.”
He rolled his eyes, then pasted a smile on his face as his grandfather and Rosalie approached, winding their way through the mountains of equipment and junk that had to be sorted and stowed before the wedding.
“My, but this is wet work,” Rosalie said, her sharp gaze traveling over their rubber suits, then lingering on Travis’s dripping wet hair and face.
Travis shifted a little as his grandfather—who was well aware that normal pressure washing, even in a closed environment, didn’t cause one’s hair to stick to their head, or water to drip off their nose and eyebrows—gave him a dark look.
“It is,” Travis agreed.
“I accidentally squirted Travis when I saw a snake,” Cassie said.
“In the barn?” Rosalie put a hand to her chest.
“He went down a knothole,” Cassie explained.
“Well, if he shows up at the wedding,” Rosalie said, “it’ll be at his own risk.”
“Snakes don’t bother you?” Travis asked innocently.
“Not if I know they’re there,” Rosalie said.
“I thought you were coming this afternoon,” Cassie said as she shook water off her sleeves.
Rosalie shook her head. “We decided to take a drive while the plumbers work on the house. I wanted to find willow branches to paint for some floral displays and Will wants to look at the haying equipment.” She pulled out her phone. “I also wanted to get some photos so that Gloria and I can start planning.”
“Here. Let me, Grandma.” Cassie held out her hand and Rosalie gave her the phone. Cassie snapped about a dozen shots of the dripping interior from all angles, then returned the phone to her grandmother.
“Thank you.” Rosalie took a couple more shots, then slipped the phone into her jacket pocket. “Will said you have a lot of stuff to sort through before the wedding, and he was not kidding.”
“We’ll get it done. Don’t you worry,” Will muttered.
Rosalie gave him a look. “With the hay almost ready to cut?” She patted his arm. “I think Katie and I will clear the calendar for a day or two and help get this done.” She shifted her attention back to Travis and Cassie, then glanced at Will, who put a light hand at her elbow. “We’ll leave you to it,” she said.
“Yeah. Don’t drown each other,” Will added. He bounced a look between Travis and Cassie, shook his head, then escorted his bride-to-be through the junk and across the wide gravel driveway.
Travis turned back to Cassie. “A truce. For real. Let’s get this done.”
“Yes.” Cassie bent and picked up her hose. “I don’t think your grandfather bought the snake story.”
Travis risked the spray and reached out to wipe a droplet off the side of Cassie’s face, then moved the hood aside to smooth a tendril of damp hair behind her ear. Her eyes widened at the gentle touch, but she didn’t move away.
“It doesn’t matter. As long as we’re not killing one another in front of Rosalie, he’ll be happy.”
“I don’t feel like killing you,” she murmured.
“Why is that?”
Her lips parted in that tell of hers, then she gave her a head a slow shake. “I don’t know.”
Travis looked over his shoulder at the house, then back at Cassie. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to lean in and touch his lips to hers in a light kiss. Her hand came up to splay over his wet chest as she briefly met his kiss, then eased back.
“Truce accepted?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said in a husky voice. “Truce accepted.”
* * *
“DO YOU SEE what I mean?” Will said as he opened the kitchen door and then stepped back so that Rosalie could precede him inside.
Rosalie had to admit to sensing a vibe between their respective grandchildren. One that they were doing their best to hide by acting overly nonchalant.
“Okay. There might be something there.”
Will leveled a serious
look her way. “And we need to do something about it.”
“Will...”
“If we don’t, then trust me, they’ll ride this out without doing anything about it. Cassie will go to school and then back to her job. Travis will bury himself in ranch chores and his horse-breeding program, and then what?” He leaned closer. “We may never have an opportunity like this again.”
“There are the family holidays and events,” Rosalie pointed out.
“If Cassie comes home for them.”
“You have a point,” she said in a sigh. Cassie had changed since arriving home; she was more relaxed, more centered, which gave Rosalie hope that maybe her perspective had shifted to the point that she wouldn’t make her job the be-all of her existence after returning to Wisconsin.
But she also knew how once one was back in their old environment, old habits began to creep in and take over. She was certain that they’d see more of her oldest grandchild, but probably not for more than a few days at a time.
Will pulled open a drawer and started rummaging around, then came up with a serious pair of wire nippers. “These should cut willow branches.”
“I think you could cut bolts with them,” Rosalie stated as she took the heavy pliers from him and turned them in her hand.
“I might have.” He pushed the drawer shut. “What about it, Rosalie? Shouldn’t we do something to help them along?”
She blew out a breath as she lowered the heavy nippers. “Interfering often backfires,” she pointed out gently.
“I don’t want to interfere. I want to haze them in the right direction.”
She let out a low laugh at the cattle-herding term, and then raised her hand to touch his cheek as she looked into his very blue eyes. “Can we haze without being too obvious?”
Will’s face lit up. “Sure we can.”
“And not be pushy? These are their lives we’re dealing with.”
“I don’t want to push. I want to give them opportunities to see what’s right under their noses.”
“I think they’re seeing it, Will.”
He pushed his chin out. “Fine. I want them to act on it. And they can’t do that if they don’t spend more time together.”
* * *
CASSIE UNSNAPPED THE FRONT of the rubber coat she wore as Travis rolled shut the back door of the barn, effectively hiding the river of mud and debris they’d washed out of the interior. She slipped off the jacket, then let out a gusty sigh as cool air hit her damp cotton shirt.
“Nothing quite like being encased in rubber on a warmish day,” Travis said as he undid his own jacket.
Cassie pulled the suspenders off her shoulders, allowing the rubber overalls to drop to the ground. “Double ah,” she said as she stepped free of the last remnants of the sweat tent she’d worn. Honestly, she might have been better off just letting her clothing get soaked.
The barn was practically steaming as the afternoon sun warmed the roof and the water began to condense, but it was also clean. Remarkably clean.
Ready for a wedding.
“Would you like a beer or something?” Travis stepped out of his overalls and then gave them a shake, sending droplets flying.
Cassie gave him a questioning look. He’d never offered refreshment before, but they’d never put in such a long day. And their relationship was so much different than it had been that day Will had found them arguing in her barn. They’d worked through some thorny matters. Kissed twice—three times if she counted the first mock kiss that had triggered the second hot kiss. She now knew things about Travis that she hadn’t known before, and he knew things about her.
“No is a perfectly acceptable response,” Travis said, misreading her silence.
“I’d like a beer.” There. No misinterpreting that statement. She also wanted to spend just a little more time in his company. When she was with him, it was easier to let job concerns drift to the back of her mind, and to accept that there wasn’t a thing she could do while on leave.
That had been the hardest thing to accept. If Rhonda decided to stay and the board decided to let Cassie go, it was a done deal.
“It’ll make Grandpa happy to see us being sociable,” Travis said as they started across the driveway.
Rosalie had left for town about an hour ago, leaving Will at the ranch, the backseat of her car loaded with willow branches gathered from the banks of the creek that flowed through the pasture. He’d stopped by the barn to check on their progress and, seemingly satisfied that they were minding their manners, went to work on the swather and make certain all systems were go for haying.
“Will he even know?” Every now and then a metallic clang sounded from the direction of the haying equipment parked behind the grain sheds.
“The guy has eyes in the back of his head,” Travis said darkly.
Cassie laughed and then bundled up the rubber gear.
“I’ll take that stuff,” he said when they got to the house. Cassie handed over the rubberwear, and he gestured to the chairs on the porch. “Have a seat. I’ll bring the beer back with me.”
Cassie had a seat, scooting her chair out into the sun and closing her eyes. She felt different than she had only a day ago. Closer to a point of acceptance and peace.
Perhaps this was the way one was supposed to feel while on a vacation. She didn’t know, because she’d never taken a real vacation.
That might have been a mistake.
She could see now that stepping back cleared one’s head, something she’d suspected was a myth put forward by people who weren’t serious enough about their jobs.
Yet another shift in perspective.
The storm door opened behind her and her biggest shift in perspective stepped through. She opened her eyes and reached for the beer he held out, before he sat next to her.
“To a job well done,” he said.
“Let’s hope the junk sorting goes as well.” Before leaving, her grandmother had suggested that perhaps she and Cassie and Katie could help sort through the stuff to hurry the process. Cassie offered her bottle and Travis gently tapped it with his own.
“I appreciate the help.”
“It isn’t like I have a lot of other stuff to do until the wedding decorating kicks off.” Besides, it kind of felt right to continue working with Travis.
What would your younger self have said?
“Empty afternoons?” he guessed.
“I have to go through my belongings in the storage shed.” She made a face at him. “I don’t want to.”
“Confronting the past... Yeah. I get it.”
“I still own a bubble gum–pink fuzzy jacket.”
He surprised her by laughing and saying, “I remember that jacket.”
“Very fashionable, wouldn’t you say?” she asked.
“Just as much as my acid-washed rodeo jeans.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “I remember those jeans.” She did. He’d looked hot in them and she’d hated it because her nemesis wasn’t supposed to look hot.
He grinned at her, then fixed his gaze back on the barn. “Have you ever thought of getting a job closer to home?”
The simple question sent a frisson of alarm through her, but it shouldn’t have. It was...a question. Not a hint that she should move closer to home, give up all she’d worked for. Be closer to him.
Did he want her closer to him?
It was a conclusion that one could reach after considering the facts, but she wasn’t ready to go there. Instead she gave him a casual look and said, “When I first entered the job market, the school districts in this area weren’t very financially stable. You could have a job one year and the next be out on the street. So I went to a place where they held on to teachers and administrators with the idea that I could work my way to the top. I’m almost there.”
Travis nodded at the barn. “
Understood.”
She almost said sorry, but she wasn’t going to apologize for doing what she had to do. But when he set his hand on hers where it rested on the arm of her chair, she didn’t slide her fingers from beneath his or try to tamp down the warmth that flowed through her at his touch.
But she did have to take care not to lose her grip on the reality of her situation.
“We’re okay, right?” Cassie swallowed after she spoke.
“What do you mean by okay?”
“Not getting ahead of ourselves because of a few kisses.”
His grip tightened. “We will not get ahead of ourselves.”
Cassie nodded, relieved that they were on the same page, while telling herself that she’d only imagined the note of disappointment in his voice.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
AFTER FINISHING HIS morning chores, Travis found his grandfather in the barn, inspecting the interior. The place needed work, but it was so much closer to being weddingworthy that he felt a swell of satisfaction as he approached. Not only was the barn in great shape—he and Cassie had worked through some thorny issues during their days of junk hauling.
He was hopeful that they would continue to move forward, without the excuse of the barn to bring them together, although in some regards, she was almost as skittish as her mare.
She didn’t want them to get ahead of themselves.
He wasn’t entirely certain what she’d meant by that, but he totally intended to get clarification.
“I think this will work,” Will said under his breath.
“It had better,” Travis said through the open bay door. “It’s the only barn we have.”
Will didn’t appear to hear him, so Travis whistled. His grandfather jumped and turned toward him. “You shouldn’t be sneaking up on a guy.”
“I didn’t sneak. You were miles away. Since you’re swathing today, I thought I’d better ask if there is anything in these piles you’re married to?”
Will shook his head. “Use common sense.” He glanced at his watch, then craned his neck to look out the open bay. “Did you say Cassie is coming today to help you sort?”