by Kristi Gold
He sighed. “Yeah. It’s hard to believe how long they’ve been in my life. But so have you.”
Yes, she had. A very long time full of happiness and heartache. She snatched up a stick and began tracing random circles in the soil. “How long did you know your wife?”
“For a while,” he said. “We ran into each other on the circuit on a regular basis during my rodeo years before we got hitched.”
A possibility burned into Georgie’s mind, and it wasn’t good. She shifted slightly to gauge his reaction to the impending question. “Were you dating her when your dad passed away?”
He studied her for a moment before reality dawned in his expression. “If you’re asking if we were together when I was with you, the answer is not only no, but hell no. I can’t believe you’d even think such a thing.”
“What did you expect, Austin? I found out you’d married her four months after that night.”
He lowered his gaze to the ground. “I guess that’s a reasonable assumption under normal circumstances, but it shouldn’t be with us. Not with our history.”
A lot of their history hadn’t exactly been hearts and flowers, or complete honesty. “When I didn’t hear from you after that last night we spent together, I assumed you’d moved on again. I just didn’t know you’d moved on into a marriage.”
“More like a huge mistake.”
For some reason the declaration pleased her. “Surely it wasn’t all bad.”
He ventured a quick glance in her direction. “Not all of it. Not in the beginning. But sex alone can’t sustain a relationship.”
She cringed at the thought of him with another woman, even though she’d never had any real claim on him. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe you two should have tried living together before tying the knot?”
Austin sent her a cynical grin. “The whole wedding was spontaneous, and stupid. Too much beer and too much time on our hands and a Vegas chapel at our disposal.”
At least that explained the hasty nuptials. “Never in a million years would I have believed you’d be a drunken Vegas wedding cliché, Austin.”
“Well, believe it. I tried to make it work but Abby wasn’t willing. In fact, to this day, I’m still not sure what I did.”
“Maybe it wasn’t what you did, but what you didn’t do.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
He was such a guy. “Were you attentive? Romantic? Did you tell her you loved her more than once in a blue moon?”
He almost looked ashamed. “None of the above, and I’m not sure we were in love. I mean, I cared about her, but I knew the marriage idea was wrong when I finally signed the divorce papers and I didn’t feel anything but relief.”
“Yet you hung in there for quite some time, right?”
“Three years, but it was pretty much over in the first six months.”
“Wow. I’m surprised you didn’t end it sooner.”
“I didn’t want to admit to the failure.”
Nothing new there. “You can’t shoulder that burden alone. It takes two to make or break a solid marriage.”
“Maybe you’re right, but there was one thing she wanted that I wasn’t willing to give her.”
“What was that?”
“A kid. I told her several times I didn’t want any, but she started making noise about two months into the marriage. I reminded her that wasn’t in my immediate future.”
His assertions gave Georgie pause. “Then you’re not completely ruling it out.”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure. I only know I’m not going to be ready for that responsibility for a long, long time.”
Georgie swallowed hard around the swell of disappointment mixed with panic. She had to acknowledge one serious reality—Austin might never accept their son. “I guess I always saw you as the fatherly type. You did a good job keeping your younger brothers on the straight and narrow.”
He picked up a pebble and tossed it into the creek. “But if they screwed up, it was ultimately my folks’ responsibility. And maybe I got my belly full keeping them in line while my dad was off doing whatever he was doing aside from work.”
Meaning marrying another woman and birthing two more boys without telling anyone. Essentially she had done something similar by not telling him about their child, although her reasoning had seemed honorable at the time. “Did his deception influence your attitude about having children at all?”
“Nah. That would be Dallas, although he obviously changed his mind.” He stared off into space for a moment before presenting a surprising smile. “Do you think it’s still here?”
He’d always been a master at changing the subject when it got too hot in the emotion kitchen. Admittedly she could use a break, too. “What is still here?”
“The tree.”
She’d known it was still around from the moment they’d ridden up to the creek. “To my right, about three oaks down.”
He slapped his palms on his thighs and stood. “Let’s go look at it before we head out.”
“Why?”
He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “I could use a good memory about now.”
Georgie had to admit that secret meeting site did hold more than a few fond recollections. “Oh, all right. Lead the way.”
She followed behind Austin along the bank, weaving in and out of foliage, until they reached the memorial tree sporting a pair of initials. She ran her palm over the carvings. “I wonder if anyone ever saw this.”
Austin came to her side and grinned. “If they did, I’m sure they’re still trying to figure out the identity of R and J.”
She returned his smile. “Randy and Jill?”
“Ralph and Julie.”
“Ronald and Jessie.”
“Wasn’t that a real couple from high school?” he asked.
“Possibly, but I guarantee we didn’t know any Romeos or Juliets.” And that had been the inside joke—star-crossed lovers caught between feuding fathers. She turned and leaned back against the trunk. “At least no one packed any daggers or poison.”
He braced his palm on the tree, right above her head. “But the first time I kissed you here, that really packed a punch.”
A kiss that had almost sent her to her knees. “I suppose.”
“Suppose?” He leaned forward and ran a fingertip along her jaw. “Maybe I should refresh your memory.”
As he leaned forward and rested his other hand on her waist, Georgie fought that same old magnetic pull. She decided to verbally push back. “Why do you continue to do this?”
“Do what?”
“Test my strength.”
He traced her lips with a fingertip. “Maybe I’m testing mine.”
“Friends, Austin,” she muttered without much conviction.
“Good friends, Georgie girl.”
When Austin traced the shell of her ear with his tongue, Georgie released a ragged breath and shivered. And when he centered his gaze on her eyes, she tried to prepare for what would predictably come next...a kiss that she couldn’t resist.
Then he stepped back and winked. “Guess I’m stronger than we both thought.”
Georgie gritted her teeth and spoke through them. “You’re a tease.”
To the sound of Austin’s laughter, she stormed away through the trees, half tempted to ride back in the direction of the ranch. She then realized she had no horse, and whistled at the geldings the way Austin had. They didn’t budge, at least not for her. After Austin summoned them, they came running back, looking for a handout from their master.
Georgie didn’t afford Austin a glance, didn’t say a word, as they mounted their respective horses. Frustration kept her and Junior in the same spot as Austin headed away, leaving her behind. Frustration over his actions, and h
er typical feminine response.
A few moments passed before he glanced back and pulled Bubba to a stop, then turned the gelding to face her. “Do you have a problem?”
“Yes. You.”
He released a low, grainy laugh. “Obviously you traded in your sense of humor to get that vet degree.”
“I don’t exactly find your determination to play with me very funny.”
“Sweetheart, if I’d seriously played with you, you’d be moaning, not complaining.”
Now why did that make her want to twitch in the saddle? “Look, before I agree to continue this little trip, you have to promise you won’t tease me again.”
He narrowed his eyes and studied her straight on. “Best I recall, you used to like to be teased, especially when I had my hand in your—”
“Austin,” she cautioned, despite the damp heat gathering between her thighs.
He raised both hands, as if surrendering. “Okay. I’m sorry. Old habits die hard.”
Old memories clearly never died. “Apology accepted, as long as you don’t pull anything like that again.”
“Okay. But keeping my hands off you isn’t going to be easy. Keeping my mouth off you is going to be really tough.”
A very detailed sexual image filtered into Georgie’s mind, bringing about a blanket of goose bumps. The girl she’d once been might have begged him to end her misery, but she wasn’t that girl anymore. She was a woman. A vital woman who hadn’t been with a man in six years. A woman who desperately needed his touch, his kisses, but recognized that the cost of intimacy with this man could be too high. “Where are we heading now?”
“The old cabin.”
Just one more monument to the past, she thought as she cued Junior forward. She’d been at the ramshackle cabin before, but not to fool around with Austin. She’d met him there on his late mother’s birthday at his request, an unusual appeal, but he’d been uncharacteristically sentimental. Those moments hadn’t been about teenage hormones and unbridled lust. They’d been about comfort and communication. Buried regrets and obvious pain. Emotional exposure. Friendship at its finest.
Yes, she had been at that cabin, and during that fateful encounter, Georgie had quietly, completely fallen in love with Austin Calloway. Sadly, she still was, proving some things never changed.
* * *
The place hadn’t changed a bit. Austin realized that when they arrived at the rickety structure that had somehow weathered at least a hundred years’ worth of Texas heat. The windows were still boarded up, and he found that funny considering anyone could probably knock the door open with the swing of a rope. But his dad had always been a stickler when it came to security, even if it involved a one-room house that was barely hanging on. At least the front porch still appeared to be intact, and that might be a good thing if it rained.
He looked to his left to find Georgie staring at the cabin like she’d never seen it before. “It’s exactly how I remembered it,” she finally said. “Old and probably moldy.”
Austin climbed off the saddle and guided Bubba to the pole barn adjacent to the cabin. “I imagine it’s pretty dusty inside. Maybe even a critter or two hanging out.”
Georgie dismounted and joined him. “Lovely. Nothing like stumbling upon a skunk.”
“Skunks come out in the spring. Same with snakes. In fact, most of the animals are hibernating. Come to think of it, the last time I was here, I didn’t see one living creature except maybe a spider or two.”
“Bugs don’t hibernate.”
“That’s true, but I don’t see any reason why we’d have to go inside.”
She studied the dreary sky. “A storm comes to mind.”
“We’ll worry about that if it happens.” He needed to ask a question before they settled in for dinner. “Do you want to go back to the ranch?”
She sighed. “After sitting for the better part of six hours, I’d rather just relax for a while. We’ll play the overnight plan by ear.”
He couldn’t deny his disappointment if she didn’t spend the night with him, not that he expected anything to come of it aside from companionship. But that was okay. It was high time he relearned how to be her friend, although he figured he’d be fumbling his way through it. He also envisioned sitting on his hands and keeping his mouth shut when he wasn’t talking. “All right then,” he said. “Let’s get these guys unsaddled. I’ll turn them out with some hay, then I’ll build a fire for dinner.”
After they’d accomplished that goal, Austin retrieved the supplies, tossed them onto the porch and searched the yard for a few rocks to fashion a makeshift fire ring. He placed them in a circle in front of the house then went about gathering kindling from fallen limbs on the side of the house. He returned to find Georgie sitting on the top porch step, elbows resting on her knees, palms supporting her jaw, a smile on her pretty face.
He dropped the wood into the middle of the circle and faced her. “You look amused.”
“You look cute, all dressed in your red flannel shirt, getting ready to cook dinner. A cross between Paul Bunyan and Betty Crocker.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about that description.”
She straightened and pushed her hair back from her shoulders. “I didn’t mean to insult your manhood. Actually, I’m impressed you’re going to be playing chef tonight.”
“Don’t be too impressed.” He leaned over and pulled two of the straightest limbs from the pile. “Here’s our utensils.”
She laughed. “We’re having hot dogs?”
“Yep.”
“Darn. I was hoping for filet mignon.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
“I’m not disappointed at all, Austin. I’m looking forward to it because I’m starving. So come on, baby, light that fire.”
He’d like to have his fire lit by her. Ignoring the dirty thoughts, Austin pulled an old book of matches from his back pocket. “Keep your fingers crossed this doesn’t take more than a few tries. I don’t have too many of these things.”
Georgie came to her feet and brushed off her bottom. “We can always rub two sticks together.”
Why the hell did hearing the word rub suddenly threaten his dignity? “Yeah, sure. You get going on that.”
Turning his attention back to the fire pit, Austin struck the first match and watched it fizzle out. The second try didn’t turn out any better. Now down to his last two, he wondered if they might have to return to the ranch for a decent meal. If that happened, he’d be sorely disappointed.
“Look what I found, Calloway.”
Austin turned toward the porch where Georgie stood, holding a red-and-black barbecue lighter. “Where did you find that?”
She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “In the sack back there. I also found marshmallows and a lot of little packets of condiments.”
That reminded him of the previous condiment and condom conversation with the brothers. Funny thing was, he always carried a condom with him. Not that he had a snowball’s chance in the desert to use it this trip. “That’s Jenny for you. She hoards those things.”
“They do come in handy.”
After Georgie sprinted down the steps and gave him the lighter, Austin had little trouble getting the fire going, in spite of the steady breeze. Seated on the ground, they ate their hot dogs, roasted marshmallows, reminisced and laughed a lot. The whole time Austin kept his attention on Georgie’s mouth, imagining another kiss. Imagining was all he could do, unless she gave him some sign she wanted it, too. Not a whole lot of chance that would happen.
By the time they were done with dinner, the only light that illuminated the area came from the dwindling fire. Austin found more wood to stoke the blaze, then returned to the porch to retrieve the one thing that would give him an excuse to have her in his arms. He set the radio on the wooden
slats and tuned in to a country music station.
“Oh, my gosh,” Georgie said from behind him. “You still have that relic?”
He turned to find she was real close. “Yeah, and it still works.”
“If I’d known you wanted music, I would’ve brought my MP3 player and speakers.”
He reached over and tucked one side of her hair behind her ear, revealing a pair of diamond heart studs. They looked a lot like the same earrings he’d given her for her sixteenth birthday. He’d worked overtime at the feed store to earn enough money to buy them for her, and it had been worth it when she’d been so damned pleased. “I enjoy having the past around now and then.”
She smiled. “So do I.”
On cue, the radio went from a commercial break to a country ballad. “Care to dance with me again?”
“Twice in one week? That’s so daring.”
And kind of dangerous if he didn’t control his hands and mouth. “You’ve never shied away from risky behavior.”
“That was before...” Both her gaze and words trailed off.
“Before what?”
“Before I became an adult with adult responsibilities. However, I wouldn’t refuse a dance with the consummate cowboy.”
“Good to know.”
After taking Georgie’s hand, he led her down the steps and close to the fire where he put his arms around her. She laid her head on his shoulder and he placed his palm lightly against her back. As the song continued, he found his hand drifting lower, like he didn’t have control of his appendages. He managed to stop the progress before he lost the wager that he could ignore his libido. But if she made one encouraging move, all bets were off.
They remained that way for a time as the wind picked up steam, and then came the deluge. Georgie pulled back and did something Austin would have never predicted. She laughed. Just the sound of it caused him to laugh, too. They continued to stand there, drenched to the bone and behaving like preschoolers who didn’t have the good sense to come out of the rain.
When he noticed she was shivering, he led her to the porch, drew her against him and held her close. Then she did something else he didn’t expect—brushed her lips across his neck.
