by Elle Casey
“I’m doing a project researching my family tree, and his name came up. I’m just following leads.” I told myself it wasn’t a complete lie, hoping to assuage the guilty feelings that were making my face burn. According to the records of the State of Nevada, I am officially part of the MacKenzie tree … sitting right next to Gavin on one of its branches, in fact. If I really was doing a project, all of this would make complete sense. Kind of. Except for the marrying-someone-and-not-remembering-it part.
“Huh. Sounds interesting,” said Ian, but not like he really meant it. “Did you go to Utah first?”
“Why would I do that?” I inhaled sharply when my bum foot accidentally dropped down and caught the edge of the road, twisting it back.
Ian slowed down to accommodate my pain and mumbled cussing. “I thought that’s where all the best genealogy records were kept.”
Since I’d been talking out of my butt this entire time, I had no idea if he was right about that or not, but I figured there was no harm in shining him on. “Yeah, well, I just did it all online. But you’re right about Utah. I might go there next.”
“So you’re just flying around all over the country following family tree leads?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Don’t you have a job?” We’d reached the porch and my ankle was throbbing at this point. I turned to face him where he was standing one step below me.
“Yes, I have a job. I’m an attorney.”
He snorted. “Why does that not surprise me?”
“Do you really want an answer to that question?” I asked, ready to let him have it. I’d reached the end of my patience with this idiot.
“Who’s this?” asked a male voice behind me.
I turned around and almost had a stroke over the glowing blue eyes that bore into me from under a straw-colored cowboy hat.
“Mack,” I said in a strangled whisper, memories rushing over in a giant tsunami to drown me in raw emotion.
“Andie,” he said, his face set in angry lines.
Chapter Twenty
“WHOOP, THERE SHE GOES AGAIN,” said Ian, catching me as I tilted backwards. He lifted me up like a baby and carried me into the house, dropping me onto a couch from a couple feet up.
My head lolled around as my body bounced up off the cushions. I was so dizzy, I feared I was going to yack in their living room. When my body finally settled into a still position, I stared at the ceiling, swallowing several times to get control of my stomach and throat. Do not throw up, do not throw up!
A woman who looked to be in her fifties and wearing a well-worn denim dress appeared, standing over me. Her dyed brown hair was pulled loosely into a bun and a pair of sunglasses were pushed up to the top of her head. In her hand was a glass of fluorescent yellow liquid. “Here, sweetie, take a drink of this.” She sat on a coffee table just next to me.
“What is that? Antifreeze?” I asked, my voice muddy with fatigue and nausea.
She hooted loudly and then smiled. “Anti-freeze? Now that’s a new one. I’ve been accused of a lot of things, but never poisoning a houseguest with automobile products. Come on now, drink up your Gatorade. You’re dehydrated.”
I smiled weakly. “Oh. Gatorade. That’s good.” I put the troll doll down on the tabletop and took the glass with a shaking hand, drinking the entire serving of watery sourness in about five swallows.
“Good,” she said, patting my arm and taking the glass back before standing. “Come on, Ian. Let’s let this young lady have her peace with Mack.”
“I’m not staying,” said a deep male voice from across the room near the entrance.
“Yes you are, dear,” said the lady, leaving my side and walking over to Mack. I could just barely see him by tilting my head all the way back into the pillows at the end of the couch. He stood there in jeans and a black t-shirt, his hat and belt buckle proclaiming to the world that he’s a country boy. The beautiful cowboy I’d thought I had imagined had risen from my dreams and nightmares like a specter to stand before me, a ghost who was not only haunting my past but my present and possibly future now, too.
The older woman patted him on the upper arm as he looked down at her with an unreadable expression. “She came all the way from who knows where, and from the looks of it, walked a lot of the way. She deserves a couple minutes of your time, at least.”
“She’s already had a couple minutes of my time and it was more than enough, trust me.”
“Well, then, just give her a few more for me. Make your momma happy.” She left the room and dragged Ian with her. He said nothing, just stared at his brother and then at me for some reason. His eyes were still drilling holes into my head as he disappeared around the corner.
I tried to sit up but only got partway there before my brain was spinning again with the dehydration or whatever, so I laid back down. “Would you mind coming a little closer? I can’t really see you over there.” My stomach was in knots being in the same room with him, but I’d come this far and put up with snakes, spiders, dirt, and a man-bear-pig leaving me to die. It was time to woman-up, bite the bullet, and get ‘er done. I had no idea where my satchel was, but it had to be close; I’d made it all the way to the front gate before dropping it. Those annulment papers were all ready, and the only thing I had to do was explain so he would sign on the dotted line.
Mack took a few steps into the room, stopping about ten feet away from me in the center of the space. He said nothing.
My heart ached with how handsome he was standing there. I might not have been able to remember everything of the night I met him, but his face I could never completely forget. I knew that now. When I’d met him I’d thought him the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen; but now I knew I’d been wrong then. Now he was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen. The two years had been good to him. His face was a little lined and his tan deeper, his expression more severe. But those eyes … those glowing eyes were as brilliantly blue as ever. They drilled right into my chest and seared holes into my heart. He was angry, and he was making it very clear I’d been the one to cause his pain. He was probably furious that I’d put him in a position to have to explain to his family the ridiculous thing he’d done on a crazy weekend in Vegas.
I tried to smile, but I could feel it was coming out more like a grimace. My face didn’t seem to want to obey my commands at this particular moment. I gave up on forcing it when one side of my mouth started to twitch. “I’m sorry to come out here without any notice, but I did try to call first.”
His smile was definitely of the bitter variety. “That’s interesting.”
“How so?” I had a feeling there was more to that response, and I wasn’t disappointed when he finally explained half a second later.
“I thought maybe you didn’t know how to use a phone. That’s what I told myself, anyway.”
I frowned. “What? Of course I know how to use a phone. The problem is you apparently don’t know how to answer one. I called your house here like ten times in the last couple days.” I struggled to sit up. I’ll be damned if I’m going to be insulted lying down. Swinging my legs over the side of the couch, I was finally able to present a more serious appearance, battling nausea but determined to win. Time to get down to business. “Listen, I don’t want to waste your time or cause you any problems with your family or girlfriend or whatever, but I’m about to get married and we have a problem. In the process of applying for a license, I discovered a little issue with the records in Nevada. I just need to get them straightened out and I’ll be out of your hair forever, I promise.”
“A little problem. With the records.” He said it so coldly, it made me flinch.
I cleared my throat and continued, boldly ignoring all the body language in front of me that said I had a very angry cowboy on my hands. “Yes. A problem. The State of Nevada seems to be under the mistaken belief that you and I are actually married.” I tried to force a laugh, but it sounded more like a goose being strangled so I quit immediately. “I ju
st need you to sign off on the papers I brought so we can fix it.”
“Papers.” He was like a parrot the way he kept repeating what I said. It was highly irritating. I tried not to let my annoyance show in my voice but it was pretty much impossible.
“Yes. Annulment papers. Or divorce papers. I brought both.” Thank God I knew attorneys in Nevada through my own networking who I could contact privately. No way could I have used the firm’s connections without alerting every single employee there that I was married to some dude out in Oregon. What a mess that would have been. No … secrecy was the only way to handle this. Bradley could not find out what I was doing out here. He’d never understand. I’d tell him after we’re married for a few years, when it wouldn’t matter anymore. Not that it mattered now...
“One set of papers wasn’t enough, you needed both?”
I squirmed uncomfortably on the couch. Here came the part where I felt like Andie the super-slut. “Just in case … you know…”
“No, I don’t,” he said very calmly. “That’s why I asked.”
My face flamed red. “If we didn’t consummate the marriage, well, we can just annul it. But if we did, then, a divorce is just quicker.”
He just stared at me, his own face going red too. Only his high color probably wasn’t the result of being embarrassed, judging by the way he kept tensing his jaw while glaring at me.
“I’m not going to sign,” he finally said, before turning to leave.
“What do you mean, you’re not going to sign?” I wasn’t sure I was completely understanding or even hearing properly. Maybe all that sun exposure had given me a stroke.
“I don’t believe in divorce,” he said. He walked out of the room and the house without another word, slamming the front door so hard behind him it made the curtains shake and some glass things tink together in a china cabinet.
I stood to run after him, but quickly fell sideways onto the couch when my feet got tangled in themselves and threatened to take me down onto the coffee table. My hip hit the cushions, sending a whoosh of air up into my face. I blinked a few times getting my wits back before sitting up.
“What. The. Hell.” I said out into the room. I was at a complete loss as to what I should do now. Run after him? Nope, legs were not cooperating. Yell at him? Nope, he was already too far away to hear anything. Wait for him to come back? Not sure that I had any other choice.
I leaned back into the cushions and stared out into nothingness, my mind swirling around with the implications arising from this unexpected circumstance. Never in my wildest of imaginings had I pictured him saying no to signing the papers. The worst thing I’d come up with was another woman in the mix, and while it had been uncomfortable to think about, it wasn’t as awful as this. At least a jealous girlfriend or even a second wife would have provided some kind of motivation for him to execute the papers.
Dammit! What am I supposed to do now? I looked around the room, my mind zooming all over and not making much sense. But then my eye landed on a group of photographs and my brain zeroed in on one of the faces I saw there. I slid off the couch and crawled on hands and knees over to the table that showed off the family’s loved ones in frames, not trusting my feet to get me there without tipping over.
I reached up and took down the one I’d seen from across the room. I smiled when I saw the faces there and the postures held by the people in the photo that told me this was something I could use to my advantage. “Bam. I gotcha now, cowboy.”
I put the framed photo back and crawled back to the couch, deciding that in order to have my ducks in a row and the energy that I’d require for the upcoming fight, I’d need all my strength back. A nap was in order, and the couch was just too comfortable to pass up. I eased my aching feet up to hang just over the edge and laid down on my side. Grabbing the silly troll doll and tucking my pressed-together hands under my cheek, I told myself it would just be a cat nap. The troll’s hair tickled my chin, but I left the doll there. My only friend in a great big state full of dust, snakes, and angry cowboys. Just long enough to get the dizziness to pass and to put together my plan of attack. All of my court cases had been won with a combination of planning and skill. I could do this, no problem. I’d be out of Baker City with signed documents in less than twenty-four hours. I just had to be at the top of my game the next time I saw Mack, so I could convince him that denying me what I wanted was futile. I would get him to sign those papers if it was the last thing I did.
At some point I sensed someone coming in and putting something heavy on me that I snuggled under happily. And then I was finally awakened by the sounds of dishes and glasses hitting one another and silverware scraping on plates. Distant voices told me that a large number of people were very close by. I set the troll doll down on the coffee table and went to investigate.
Chapter Twenty-One
I GOT UP SLOWLY, MAKING sure not to put too much weight on my bum foot, and snuck out into the hallway where I found a bathroom. Stepping inside, I emptied my bladder and did the best I could to fix my hair. It was pretty much a hopeless case. I had no brush to smooth out the lumps and bumps, and when I took my elastic out to try and tighten the ponytail I’d put in earlier, it broke.
“Dammit.” I stared at it, wondering if I could knot it back together and try again.
“Hello?” came a voice from the other side of the door. It was the woman who’d given me the Gatorade. “Andie? Can I get you anything?”
“Uh, no, thank you. I’ll be right out.” I rubbed a wet finger over my teeth, trying to get rid of the sour sleep taste in my mouth, and washed my hands. Before walking out the door, I took one last look at myself; I was a sunburned, tangle-haired mess. Why Mack wasn’t rushing to sign the papers was some kind of weird mystery. If I were him, I’d be doing everything I could to get my sorry-looking butt out of here.
I walked out of the bathroom to find the older woman waiting patiently in the hallway.
“There you are. Did you sleep okay?” she asked.
“Um, yes. Sorry about that.” My face went redder with embarrassment. “I only meant to take a little catnap to get rid of that dizzy feeling, but I must have really dozed off.”
She put her hand on my shoulder and gently but firmly guided me down the hallway in the opposite direction of the living room. “You were all tuckered out. It’s perfectly fine for you to take a nap here, it’s not a problem at all. We were just sitting down to an early dinner and thought you’d like to join us. My name’s Maeve by the way.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “Dinner? With your family?”
“Well, yes, sweetie. We eat as a family here, every night.” She smiled warmly. “It’s kind of a tradition. Our boys have always been the type to run out the door with friends and work and everything else, but one thing we always insisted on was dinner at home, all of us at the table with no television, no phones, and no radio. Just eating and talking and hopefully laughing but sometimes a little bit of yelling happens too.” She gave me wry grin. “Comes with the territory of having all men in the house.”
I smiled, despite my panic. “That’s nice. The eating together part, anyway.”
“We like it.” She pushed on me to make me move, but I stayed put.
“I’m sorry, is it your ankle or your foot?” She looked down at it in concern.
“No, it’s mostly fine now. But I don’t think I should eat dinner here, though. I appreciate you inviting me, but I think I’d prefer to just get a bite in town.”
“Oh, no, I insist,” she said, pushing me more firmly.
I moved because to do otherwise would have been rude. Besides, it was very possible that I’d need this woman to intervene on my behalf, so getting on her bad side would be seriously counterproductive. “I guess if it isn’t any trouble...”
“No trouble at all. I’ve never learned to cook for less than ten people.”
“Ten?” I squeaked out. The closer we got to the next room, the louder the voices became. Are there ten
people in there?
“Sometimes we have that many. Tonight it’s just the four of us, Boog, and you. But since I cooked for ten again, we’ll have leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. I hope you like ribs.”
My stomach chose that exact moment to growl like a bear. Ribs were one of the guilty pleasures I allowed myself about once a month from a local eatery that specialized in authentic pit barbecue.
She laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes. Come on. I’ve put you across from Gavin.”
We turned the corner together and my feet slowed as I took in the scene before me. Maeve and I were the only females in the room. The rest of the space was taken up by giant men. Not one of them could have weighed less than two hundred pounds, and Boog himself was almost twice that, with hair enough for a couple wookies.
It was easy to see where Ian and Mack got their good looks. They were a perfect combination of their parents, getting their large frames and square jaws from their father and their hair color and smiles from their mother.
As soon as they realized I was in the room, the smiles disappeared. The talking stopped and all eyes were on me.
Boog turned around to see what the silence was all about. He was the first to speak. “Well, there she is. Sleeping beauty rises from the dead.” He chuckled and went back to gnawing on the bone he held in his hand.
I walked over to the empty seat next to him and stood behind it. “No thanks to you. Appreciate you leaving me out there to die with the rattlesnakes.” I tried to sound mad, but the food looked and smelled so good I couldn’t concentrate on my anger enough to make it believable.
“You recall that I tried to offer you a lift…” He turned to face me and I worked at not feeling sick over the pieces of rib schmeg stuck in his beard. He looked like a complete and utter savage, making me wonder what Mack’s family could possibly be thinking by wanting him here at their table.
