Protected by a Hero

by Susan Stoker, Cristin Harber, Cora Seton, Lynn Raye Harris, Kaylea Cross, Katie Reus, Tessa Layne

  He’d fallen asleep on the bench near the standing stone. At daylight he’d gone back inside to find the house quiet, but the kitchen a disaster, as if the Reed women had cooked a full-course meal in the middle of the night.

  Maybe they had.

  “I didn’t mean to. I thought I was making progress. It’s these assholes the Reeds are dating.”

  “Sounds like you got rid of them,” Connor said with a grin. “Good work on that front.”

  “Yeah, there’s that,” Brian said tiredly. He’d never forget the look on Cass’s face when she’d walked in on him and Jo. That stark horror and betrayal had etched its lines on his heart at knifepoint, and the scars would always be there. He never wanted her to look at him like that again. He was afraid her regard for him had turned right then into something hard and dark—something he wouldn’t be able to melt into love again.

  He had well and truly screwed things up. Taken her passion and turned it to dust. Taken her trust and twisted it into a knot he’d never be able to undo.

  “Don’t you think you can give up now, wuss,” Jack snapped at him. “I see that poor me expression on your ugly mug. It’s a fucking disgrace. You’re a SEAL. You’re on a mission. You don’t fold at the first sign of trouble.”

  “She thinks I did her sister,” Brian protested.

  “She thinks you held Jo on your lap. Which is all that happened. So get back there and tell her that.”

  “Cass doesn’t want to see me—”

  “Cass doesn’t want to see me,” Jack parroted. “Are you kidding me? That’s your defense? Buck the fuck up, sailor. Get back into the fray and do your duty.”

  “Fix the house,” Hunter said in more measured tones. “That’s why you’re there, right? Let things calm down and do your job. Jo’s going to tell her what really happened, right?”

  “I guess so.” He figured Hunter was right; Jo would tell her sister what Sean had done—and what he’d done to get rid of the bastard. He wasn’t sure it was enough to change Cass’s mind about him, though. The intimacy they’d shared in the maze seemed so far gone he wasn’t sure they could ever recover it.

  It didn’t matter if he’d meant to let her down or not; in her mind he had.

  “Just get to work,” Hunter said again. “And don’t stop.”

  That made sense. He knew how to work, and there was a lot to get done on the ranch. “Will do.”

  “Fix this, Lake,” Logan said. “We’re counting on you.”

  The others nodded, and Brian felt the weight of their dependence on him. Just one more burden to bear, he told himself. He’d go make himself as useful as possible.

  Hopefully that would be enough.

  “That’s a lot of shingles,” Wye said as she and Cass stood in the kitchen watching Brian help the delivery crew unload them onto the back lawn. “You really going to get on that roof and fix it?”

  “That’s the plan,” Cass said. It had been well over a week since the night she and her sisters had huddled together on her bed. The day had dawned warm and it was going to be a hot one before it was all over. She still hadn’t apologized to Brian for her mistake, and he’d kept his distance from her, eating most of his meals in town. He woke the earliest of all of them and was always out of the house by the time she came down to make breakfast. He worked far into the night, too. Lena said they’d created a list of repairs and chores around the ranch, and he was working his way through it, checking them off one by one.

  He’d kicked the remainder of the hands off the ranch the day after his altercations with Scott and Sean, before she and Lena could take that on. Cass didn’t mind. It was clear none of the men were loyal to the ranch, and she’d dreaded the job. She’d meant to thank Brian for that—and apologize to him too, but somehow the moment never seemed right and with each day that passed, she wondered if her chance was slipping away.

  Jo and Sadie were helping Lena and Brian with the cattle, and they’d already begun the hiring process for a new bunch of hands. Now that the shingles were here, and Brian would fix the roof, Cass would see him far more often, though.

  She couldn’t decide how she felt about that.

  Since that awful night, she’d had a lot of time to think about everything he’d done, and she realized in every case except making love to her, he’d put the interests of her family and her ranch ahead of everything else.

  He truly had helped each of her sisters—preventing them from going further down the dangerous trajectories they’d been taking. Things would have been so much worse if he’d never come to Chance Creek.

  It was hard to admit a man could do so much good. At first Cass had balked at giving him the credit, until she’d decided it wasn’t a man/woman thing. It was a distance thing. As an outsider coming into their home, he’d seen all the things their blind spots hadn’t allowed them to see. The strength of his arm had helped now and then, for sure, and she was glad it was him and not a female friend like Wye who’d gone after Scott after what he did to Lena. But mostly he’d been someone to talk to, someone to confide in. Someone to go to for advice.

  She couldn’t fault him for being a good friend to all of them. The realization left her more confused than before.

  In the end, she decided the most important thing they’d all learned was how their anger at the General had left them ripe for exploitation by other men.

  Still, she hadn’t been ready to talk about it with Brian. She’d thought her heart would never mend after that day of heartbreak, but work was smoothing the way toward healing. She’d begun a top to bottom spring cleaning of the house, even if it was mid-summer, and the strenuous exercise had pumped enough endorphins through her brain that she found more reasons to hope than to sigh.

  “Have you told Brian you’re afraid of heights?” Wye asked her.

  “No. Of course not.”

  “No, because that would be far too easy,” Wye echoed.

  “It’s not about easy. It’s about… pride.” Cass turned away from the window. “This is my home. I want to be the one to care for it.”

  “It could be Brian’s home, too. You said he wants it to be.” Wye lifted her eyebrows, and Cass was afraid she’d betrayed something with her expression. “What?” Wye challenged her. “What happened between you and Brian?”

  “I told you what happened with him and Jo,” Cass hedged. She’d told Wye everything—except what had happened in the maze.

  “But you’re holding something back. I can tell. What’s going on with you and that SEAL? Did you sleep with him?”

  Cass shushed her. “For God’s sake, keep your voice down. No one knows.”

  “You did sleep with him!” Wye raised an eyebrow. “Spill it. Everything. Right now.”

  Cass gave in. She told Wye how they’d met in the maze. How they’d made love. As she recounted the story, her heart throbbed with regret for what might have been.

  “Well, that’s a twist,” Wye said when she was done.

  “It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Cass sighed.

  “For two single people who are totally hot for each other to meet up in a rainstorm and make love? Yeah, doubt that’s ever happened before.”

  “Be serious.” Cass moved to the sink, grabbed a cloth, wet it and began to wipe down the already clean counters.

  “I am being serious.”

  “Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. All that’s over.”

  Wye took the rag from her hand and hung it up again. “Why? Why does it have to be over just because the two of you had a little misunderstanding? The way I see it the Universe just handed you a gift, so enjoy it! For once in your life don’t ask questions, don’t make plans, don’t second guess what your instincts are telling you. Just… enjoy a romance with a sexy guy.”

  “A sexy guy who wants to marry me in order to get my land!”

  “That wouldn’t be cool—if it’s true,” Wye admitted. “But do we know it’s true? No.”

  “He said it.”

  “He said he’d
do anything to live on a ranch like this,” Wye countered. “That’s a throwaway line. People say that about everything. I’d do anything to have hair like that. I’d do anything to be able to sing like a superstar. I’d do anything to lose ten pounds. But they don’t mean it. Brian wants a ranch like Two Willows. So, sue him.”

  When she put it that way, Cass had to admit maybe she’d overreacted. She’d done that a lot. “He is kind.” The more she thought about what he’d done for her sisters, the clearer that had become.

  “He sounds kind.”

  “Did I tell you about the bench he put in the maze?” She recounted how she’d found him installing it to make up for what he’d said to Alice.

  “Which is how you got in trouble,” Wye said with a wicked grin.

  “Let’s hope not.”

  Wye’s grin vanished. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  With a sigh, Cass confessed the risk she’d taken when they’d made love. Wye’s humor disappeared in an instant.

  “You know better than that, Cass Reed.”

  “I do know better than that. I can’t explain it. I wasn’t drunk. I’ve got no excuse, except…”

  “Except a hot, kind Navy SEAL who’s after your heart and your land came on to you and didn’t pack a condom.”

  “I should be on the Pill. Any other self-respecting twenty-six-year-old woman would be.” Cass swiped at the counter again, then dropped the cloth in the sink and pulled out a glass.

  “What would you do if you got pregnant?”

  “Have the baby,” Cass said automatically as she poured a drink for Wye and then another for herself. “I have a home, resources, a family to help me, and I want to be a mother.”

  “What are you going to do if you get an STD?”

  “Cry.”

  Wye shook her head. “Like that’ll help. Don’t ever do that again.”

  “I won’t.”

  “At least it wasn’t with Bob.”

  Cass spit out the sip of water she’d just taken. “Eww!”

  Wye cracked a smile and Cass relaxed a little, feeling like she’d been to confession and could now move forward with a clear conscience.

  “I worry about you, though,” Wye went on. “You’ve held in so much for so long. Now you’re losing control every which way, and while it’s my personal belief you’ve found a good man to lose control with, you’ve got to keep your head on your shoulders.”

  Cass mopped up the water. “It’s not like it’ll happen again. Brian’s only here to finish up the job the General gave him. He hasn’t come near me in days.”

  “And you wish he would?” Wye prompted gently.

  Cass struggled with her answer and finally nodded. “I really blew it, Wye.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “What if he… leaves… without giving me another chance?”

  “Don’t think like that.” Wye touched her arm. “There are a lot of reasons for him to stay, you know. You’re smart and pretty and a good friend. And you’ve got a ranch,” she added with a grin.

  “Thanks,” Cass said wryly.

  “Any time.”

  There had been a ladder leaning against the side of the house since Brian had arrived, as if Cass had been inspecting the roof, although he’d never seen her climb it. Brian was moving it to a better location when Cass and Wye exited the house. Cass walked her friend to her Beetle and waited for her to drive away. Brian came to intercept her.

  “Afternoon. Now that the shingles have been delivered, I’m getting set to start tearing off the old ones. The weather’s supposed to be good all week. I figure we better get a move on.”

  Cass shaded her eyes as she gazed up at the roof. “I wonder what Mom would think of the way we’re fixing up the place?”

  It was the perfect opening for a longer conversation, and Brian jumped on it. “What was she like? You’ve never told me much about her.” He wondered if Cass would find an excuse to head back inside, but instead she considered his question.

  “I think she was always a homebody, but like I said before, once the General joined the Army, she never left the ranch unless he was home on leave. Like Sadie, she spent a lot of time in the gardens. She had a green thumb. She read like anything. Could talk on any subject with anyone who came calling. She said since people had to visit Two Willows to see her, it was up to her to stay interesting.”

  “She didn’t belong to any clubs, or a church or anything?”

  “She contributed to lots of them, but she never wanted a fuss made about her and her refusal to leave the ranch, so she didn’t join anything like that. Reverend Halpern visited every week. He used to tease her and say that if all his other parishioners made him give them personal sermons, his work would never be done. I think he wanted her to try leaving. Superstition doesn’t really jibe with the church, you know? But he didn’t push her, and he never stopped coming until she died.”

  “What does he think of the stone?”

  Cass smiled impishly. “We don’t talk about it much when he’s around.”

  “I wish I’d met your mother.” Brian shaded his eyes and looked up at the roof. He was thankful its pitch wasn’t too steep because it was high enough to make the job dangerous.

  “She would have appreciated everything you’ve done for my sisters.”

  “I know my mother would have liked you. She died when I was too young for us to have talked much about women, but she used to say that I should find a wife who was better than me.” He shrugged. “Maybe that was a thinly veiled message to my father.”

  Cass ignored his reference to marriage. “What did she like to do?”

  “She was a nurse. She was a little shy, but a very hard worker. She believed in right and wrong. She also believed people could change, which I think is why she stuck with my dad even after things began to go badly.”

  “Sounds like a lovely person.”

  “You know what I miss most? Holidays.” Brian couldn’t believe he was telling Cass this. He’d never talked about it with anyone. Most conversations about his mom stopped when he mentioned she’d gotten shot. “She was so big on holidays. Christmas, Easter, Halloween. She made the best costumes.”

  Cass was nodding. “I know exactly what you mean. Holidays for us have never been the same since my mother died. I try—but there are only the five of us to celebrate now—plus a few ne’er-do-wells.”

  “Did you just use ne’er-do-wells in a sentence?”

  “I did. Ten points for Gryffindor.”

  Brian grinned. He was searching for a new topic when Cass suddenly said, “Could you help me with something?”

  “Sure.” Brian perked up. Given how seldom Cass asked for help, this had to be a good sign. “What do you need?”

  “Come to my shed. I want to show you something.” She led the way to the small structure at the far side of Sadie’s gardens. When she took out a key to unlock the door, Brian understood he was being allowed into her inner sanctum.

  Inside, she flicked on a light, which illuminated a small, rectangular room. Brian spotted the kiln at the far end. “You do pottery?”

  “I used to. Mom and I did; it’s been a while since I made anything. That isn’t what I wanted to show you, though.” She gestured him over near a set of shelves where a few mismatched pieces of pottery sat as if they’d never been moved after they’d been fired. “This is my stash.”

  For one second, he thought she was referring to drugs, and he tensed all over, but quickly realized she meant her fireworks. She sure had a lot of them. When Brian took in the assortment on the floor-to-ceiling shelves, he whistled. “I’m glad you keep that door locked.”

  “I let things get out of control,” she agreed, and smiled wryly. “Which is ironic, since I’ve always used them to feel like I was keeping things under control.”

  “How’d that work for you?” Brian figured he’d ask for more details someday, but not today. He scanned the shelves and relaxed a little when he confirmed she only had
fireworks—not explosives. He’d been beginning to wonder how deep this habit went.

  “Not too well. I want to save a few of these for the Fourth of July, but I think I’m ready to get rid of the rest. I’m just not sure how. Do you think I should call Cab?”

  “I think that’s a start. I’ll help you figure it out.” He wanted to reach out and touch Cass, but this fragile truce between them was good enough for today. “You didn’t buy all these at a fireworks stand. I’m pretty sure some of this stuff has been outlawed for years.”

  “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” Cass said simply. “I don’t have the will anymore, though.”

  “Glad to hear it. I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me about it, too.”

  Cass reached out to adjust a bottle rocket so it lined up with the others. “I see the good in you, Brian.”

  “I’d like to start over. Try dating.” He shifted closer to her, wanting her to remember how good they’d been together.

  “The thing is,” she said sadly, “I’m still not confident you’d want me if I didn’t come with a ranch. Until I am, I can’t be with you.” She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “But I’m going to talk to the General and tell him how much you’ve helped us. I’m going to tell him he should offer you a permanent job. I’ll tell him to build you a house on the property somewhere, rather than putting you in one of those damn trailers in the Park. That way when you find the right woman you’ll have a home to offer her.”

  When he found the right woman? Brian shook his head. Her words had the kick of a bullet to the heart. Didn’t she understand how he felt about her?

  He guessed not. He’d lost her trust.

  He’d lost her.

  “The thing is, Cass, the only woman for me is you.”

  Cass was still replaying that sentence in her head the following afternoon as she did up the lunch dishes when her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was Lena.

  “Cass? We’ve got a problem. A big one.”

  “What is it?”

  “Come down to the stables—and be ready to ride. You’ve got to see this.”

  Cass slipped the phone back into her pocket, found her boots and shoved her feet in them, then hurried out the door and jogged down the track, wondering if the hands had come back and were making trouble. Lena hadn’t sounded like she was in imminent danger, but Cass couldn’t help wishing that Brian was around for backup. He’d gone into town to get more supplies for the roofing job. Pretty soon she was going to have to face her worst fear and help him up there.