by Jennie Marts
His hands stilled on the guitar.
“Don’t stop. I like it.” She kept her voice quiet, not wanting to break the spell of the moment. “I didn’t know you played.”
“I don’t play very well. But it relaxes me, eases my mind, and sometimes helps me sort out things that are troubling me.”
“Do you have a lot of things troubling you right now?”
“I’ve always got something troublin’ me, darlin’.”
With a man like Cash, she figured that was probably true. But she didn’t push it. The night had been perfect, and she didn’t want to ruin it by bringing up more of his worries.
She just hoped those worries weren’t about her.
“What were you playing when I came out? I heard the tail end of it and recognized it, but couldn’t place it.”
“Desperado.” The corner of his lip tugged upward, and he gave her a discerning look. “I play a lot of southern rock, and I love the old Eagles songs. I had that one running through my head all day today, and I guess I needed to get it out.”
Hmmm. She knew the song, knew the lyrics, and wondered how much of that song running through his head had to do with her and this thing they were starting. “I love that song. Will you play it for me?”
He picked up the glass, swirled the ice cubes, then swallowed the last of the amber liquid. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and strummed the beginning chords of the song.
His voice was deep and strong, full of soul and feeling as he sang the lyrics.
She caught her breath at the sheer perfection of the moment—the firelight, the rough timbre of his voice, sitting on the sofa naked except for a flannel sheet while listening to the sexiest man she’d ever known sing a song about walking through this world all alone.
The emotion of the song—and the man singing it—brought tears to her eyes.
He must have felt the emotion too, because his voice caught on the last line.
Caught up in the moment, she sang a few lines with him, her voice pure and rich.
He joined her on the last line, their voices harmonizing in a sweet melody as they sang the part about letting somebody love you before it’s too late.
His fingers held on the strings, then he put the guitar on the table and turned to her. Reaching for her face, he ran the back of his fingers gently down her cheek, sending a thrill of heat racing along her back.
His gaze was intense as he stared into her eyes, and she could tell the emotion of the song was still haunting him.
His hand slid around her neck and pulled her head toward him. Leaning in, he kissed her—full on the mouth—his tongue slipping between her lips. She could taste the whiskey, mixed with the fervor of his passion.
Clutching his back, she clung to him, pouring herself into the kiss, trying to convey that if he would just let her in, he wouldn’t have to be alone anymore.
He broke the kiss, pulling her tightly to him, as he buried his face in her neck. “Damn it, Emma. This scares the hell out of me. And I’m a pretty tough bastard. But you walked into my life and stole my breath and my heart in the same instant. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, I’m so damned scared that I’m gonna hurt you.”
“I’m pretty tough, too. Tougher than you think.”
He laughed against her neck then pulled back and gazed into her face. “I know you are. You’re probably tougher than me. Especially right now. I keep trying to get a grip on this thing, to hold back and keep my heart out of it. But I can’t. So help me God, I can’t.”
“You don’t have to.”
Brushing her hair from her cheek, his hands were gentle, but his eyes were full of pain. “I don’t know how to do this. I’ve kept my heart locked up for so long, I’m not sure if it even still works.”
“It does.” Her own heart sang at the vulnerability and passion in his words. She’d given up fighting her own feelings for him and just given in to the possibility that he could break her heart.
“I’ve fallen for you, darlin’. And fallen hard. Dammit if I know what to do with that, but I know I don’t want to let you go.”
“Then don’t. Don’t let me go. Hold on to me, and don’t ever let me go.”
Chapter Fifteen
The next two weeks flew by in a flurry of activity. Cash had the fall calving season to plan, Emma was working more at the diner, and Charlie and Sophie returned home from their trip to New York.
Charlie gave Cash a knowing look when he told her that Emma had been staying in the cabin with him.
His and Emma’s days may have been moving quickly, but their nights were slow and sweet, tangled together in the sheets of his bed.
They usually had dinner together with Charlie, Sophie, and Zack, and sometimes stayed in the house to visit or help Sophie with a project. But the nights belonged to just the two of them, and they created their own little world.
A world of passion and tenderness, of discovery and pleasure, as they continued to learn more about each other and their needs and desires.
Cash walked around the farm with a stupid grin on his face half the day, and his heart raced every time he got a text or a call, in anticipation that it was from her. He felt like a kid in high school, with a terrible crush, and so help him, he kind of liked the feeling.
He looked forward to seeing her, to hearing from her, to taking her to work, and to picking her up at the end of her shift. He liked the way she scooted into the truck and sat next to him, her hand on his leg, as he drove and she told him about her day.
Emma had blossomed right before his eyes. He watched her changing and growing every day, gaining confidence in herself. Thanks to Charlie’s cooking and the food at the diner, she was also gaining more weight, and he loved the new curvier shape to her hips.
She looked healthier. And happy.
“You look particularly smug today,” he said, as she walked out of the diner. He was leaning against the bumper of his truck, waiting for her to finish her shift.
It was close to three on Thursday afternoon, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the mouth. “I got a raise.”
“A raise? Already? Good for you.”
A broad smile beamed across her face. “Cherry said I’ve been such a big help to her and that I’ve been doing such a good job that she offered me a raise. It’s only a quarter an hour more, but hey, it’s the first raise I’ve ever gotten.”
His heart swelled with pride for her, but what he really loved was the way she was proud of herself. Proud of her own accomplishments.
“This calls for a celebration. How about we stop and get a bottle of wine to have for supper tonight?”
She laughed. “I think Charlie said Zack was grilling burgers for supper, and she was making macaroni and cheese. Doesn’t sound like a wine kind of meal to me.”
Alcohol had been a bad idea. Not that Emma didn’t have a glass of wine with him sometimes, but he knew too much drinking still made her uncomfortable. “You’re probably right. Forget the wine. Let’s stop at the store and pick up root beer and ice cream and make root beer floats for everyone for dessert.”
He was rewarded with a grin, and that was all the prize he needed. She was so simple to please, so happy with the smallest token he offered. Which only made him want to give her more—more affection, more attention, more words of affirmation.
He’d brought Charlie’s dog, Joy, with him today, and the black-and-white border collie mix licked Emma’s face as he opened the door, and she climbed into the cab of the truck. She squealed with laughter and hugged the dog to her chest.
Cash slid into the driver’s seat and headed for the grocery store. He nodded at the dog who had laid her head in Emma’s lap. “That dog sure does love you. I swear you have a gift for working with animals.”
“It’s funny you say that, because I was just talking to Charlie and Zack about that very thing this morning at breakfast.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. I guess I mentioned some
thing about Charlie’s career and how much I admired her, and she asked me what kind of career I wanted for myself.”
“And what’d you say?” He felt like Emma had a whole world of opportunities open to her now, and he was happy to see her thinking about and making plans for her future.
“I said I didn’t know. That I hadn’t given it a ton of thought. And we started talking about different careers and what I thought I was good at. And honestly, I don’t know what I’m good at, but I said that I really liked animals and they seem to take to me.”
“I’ll say. You’re like the goat whisperer with Clyde, and I swear Rick and Daryl know your voice when you walk into the barn,” he said, referring to the new lamb siblings that Emma had helped to birth and for whom she’d finally picked out names. “They run over to the fence and get all excited to see you. Although why you named them after a couple of guys who fight zombies in The Walking Dead is beyond me.”
She laughed. “Because they get perceived as weak, so I wanted to give them tough names. And Rick and Daryl are the two toughest guys I could think of. And I get excited to see them, too. I get excited to be around all animals. Zack suggested that I look into becoming a vet tech. It would require some schooling, but I think it might be worth checking out. And Zack said that I could come in and help out at the clinic to see if it’s something I’d be interested in. What do you think?”
“I think you’re practically bouncing out of your seat with excitement just talking about it, so it seems like a great idea to me.”
“No, not that. I mean, I am excited about it. But what I mean is, do you think I could do it? Like go back to school and all?”
He hated the way she doubted herself. “Of course I do. I think you can do anything you set your mind to. And it seems like a great field for you. You’re kind and thoughtful and care about animals. You’d make both the pets and the pet owners feel at ease. Plus you’re smart as a whip. If you want to do it, I say go for it.”
A shy expression of pride crossed her face as a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. Do you think I could use your computer tonight to look into it?”
“Of course. And you don’t have to ask. You can use anything of mine that you want.” He squeezed her leg and gave her a wink filled with naughty innuendo.
A blue car passed them, reminding him of Earl’s, and his grin turned into a frown. “Speaking of smarts, you have any surprise visits from Dumb and Dumber today?”
She laughed. “Nope. I haven’t seen either of them in a couple of weeks now. Taylor’s warning to stay away from me must have helped.”
Somehow Cash didn’t think that Earl and Junior were much for heeding any of the sheriff’s warnings, and he worried that the brothers were biding their time because they had another plan in mind. They didn’t seem the type to give up easily, not when their pride, or their brother’s pride, was at stake.
Like a couple of snakes in the grass, Cash was just waiting for them to strike.
He pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store and cut the engine. “You need anything else while we’re here?”
“No, but I heard Charlie say she was almost out of milk this morning.”
Opening the door, he stepped out. “You coming in?”
She leaned back against the seat and let out a sigh. “Nah, I’ve been on my feet all day. I’m happy to sit here a few minutes and rest. I’ll keep Joy company while you go in.” She ran her hand over the dog’s furry head, and Joy rewarded her with a look of pure dog adoration.
“I’ll be back in a minute. Text me if you think of anything else. And maybe text Charlie to see if she needs anything besides milk.”
“Got it.”
He crossed the sidewalk and hurried through the store, grabbing the dairy products and the root beer. His phone buzzed with a text from Emma, and he added bread, a carton of eggs, and a Snickers bar to his stack.
Setting the items down at the register, he was glad that he hadn’t had a request for any embarrassing feminine items. Not that he wouldn’t buy them, but he was glad he didn’t have to.
He threw in a pack of gum for Emma, the green one that she liked, and couldn’t help whistling as he walked out of the store. He was happy, plain and simple.
The whistle died on his lips as he saw Earl Purvis leaning against the side of his truck, talking to Emma through the open window.
What the hell?
“What do you want, Earl?” he asked as he approached the truck, looking in at Emma to gauge if she was okay.
She sat up stiffly in the seat, her expression grim as she gripped the dog’s collar. The fur on Joy’s back was up, and she stood in front of Emma, her lips pulling slightly back to bare her teeth in warning, as if protecting her. Good dog.
“I’m just having a little chat with my sister-in-law.” A soggy toothpick clung to Earl’s bottom lip, his mechanic’s uniform dirty and sweaty.
“I thought Sheriff Johnson told you to keep your distance from Emma.”
“We’re just talking. Last I checked, there ain’t no law against that.”
“No, but there is a law against tampering with someone’s vehicle and disabling their brakes.”
“I wouldn’t know nothing about that.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you wouldn’t.” They hadn’t been able to prove that the brakes had been intentionally cut, but a trained mechanic would have the knowledge to know how to make that look like an accident.
“I heard little Miss Emma had herself a new boyfriend. I was just asking her if the rumors were true.”
“We don’t bother paying much attention to rumors.”
Earl’s mouth turned into an ugly sneer as he looked Cash up and down. “Nope, me either. And I couldn’t believe that Emma would go whorin’ around while my poor brother Leroy is stuck in a jail cell.”
Poor brother Leroy, my ass.
“But now I see her sitting all cozy in your truck, I’m starting to wonder,” Earl continued.
“I already told you,” Emma spoke up. “Leroy is my ex-husband. And it’s none of his business, or yours for that matter, who I see or don’t see.” Her voice was a little shaky, but she came off sounding stronger and more confident than the last time she had stood up to Earl.
And from the look on his face, it seemed Earl noticed, too.
Good for her.
“You heard the lady.” Cash moved past him and opened the truck door then passed Emma the bag of groceries. “You all right?”
She nodded, and he slid into the truck next to her and slammed the door. “Looks like your chat time is over. There isn’t anything more you’ve got to say to Emma.” Turning the engine over, he put the truck in gear, anger bubbling up inside of him. He pressed his lips tightly together to prevent him from saying anything he might regret.
“See you around, sis.” Earl spat on the ground.
Not if I have anything to do with it.
He put his hand over Emma’s and noted the slight tremble in her fingers. “You sure you’re all right?”
She took a deep breath. “Yes. He just caught me off-guard. I didn’t even see him come up to the truck. Joy started to growl, and I looked up and there he was, leaning into the window.”
“I shouldn’t have left you alone.”
“I wasn’t alone.”
“You did good, you mangy mutt.” The dog had settled back into Emma’s lap, and Cash ruffled her ear. “She must have sensed danger.”
“Either that, or her asshole alert came on.”
He busted out laughing. Emma didn’t often swear or speak poorly of other people. Unless it was someone in the Purvis clan, apparently. And in this case, it seemed wholly appropriate.
“It could have been that, too. Either way, I’m glad you’re okay.” He squeezed her hand. “And you did a good job standing up to him. You sounded more confident, more in control. And he noticed.”
She shook her head, her lighthearted expression turning to ang
er. “He would have noticed more if I’d gotten out of the truck and kneed him in the walnuts.”
Another chuckle escaped him. “You are killing me, woman. I like this side of you. It’s like part Sunday school teacher/part biker chick. It’s kind of tough.”
She laughed—just the reaction he’d hoped for. He had enough anger brewing in him for the both of them.
“I didn’t feel tough. I still felt scared. On the inside.”
“Well, you didn’t show it.”
“I just thought with the self-defense stuff I wouldn’t still feel like such a wuss. I mean, I looked up to see him there, and my heart jumped to my throat. I don’t want to feel terrified like that anymore.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. Everybody gets afraid sometimes, and Earl is a scary dude. I think you did great. What did he talk to you about anyway?”
“He wanted to tell me that Leroy’s being moved this weekend to the State Prison and wondered if I wanted to go visit him at the county lockup before he left.”
“Do you? Want to go visit him, I mean.”
“Hell, no. I never want to see his face again. I haven’t gone down to the jail to visit him yet, I’m sure as heck not gonna start now.”
“Good.” Her answer soothed him a little, but his anger still bubbled under the surface, like the slow rolling boil of a pot of water. He tried to think of something to change the subject. “You heard from your dad lately?”
“Yeah, he called me this morning. It sounds like my uncle is still having a rough time getting around, even with the crutches. I think having my dad there has really helped, both with taking care of my uncle and keeping his spirits up. They get along really well, and I think this time together is probably good for both of them. You know, besides me, he’s the only family that my dad has left, and I could tell that he wanted to stay. I told him not to worry, and that we’d been checking in on the farm every few days, and everything was fine.”
Her dad didn’t have much in the way of crops and had a hand that took care of feeding the few animals they still kept. They stopped in every few days on their way home from town, and everything always seemed to be in order.
