by KC Klein
It was Sweet Thing. And would wonders never cease, the horse was galloping toward her.
In a flash, Katie ducked under the fence and walked slowly forward, arms open and down at her sides. About ten feet away Sweet Thing pulled to a stop, her nose in the air, nostrils flared as she sensed for danger.
“It’s okay, baby,” Katie said low and calm, glad her voice didn’t betray the tremors that rippled through her body. “Hi, girl.”
Katie stepped closer, a foot more, an inch forward. Then, with shaking hands, she reached out to touch the horse’s muzzle. Sweet Thing’s ears swiveled forward, nostrils flared again, and slowly, slowly she lowered her head. With featherlight strokes, Katie cupped Sweet Thing’s head.
Katie held her breath as she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on the tip of the mare’s nose.
Sweet Thing broke the hold by tossing her head. With an insistent neigh she called to her baby and ran off deep into the pasture.
Katie stood trembling, heart pounding. Awe swept through her at the grace of one of God’s creatures, willing to forgive someone who should’ve known better, taken better care.
Something wet rolled down her cheek, and she was surprised to find herself crying. She wiped at her chin, and with joy blooming in her chest, spun around, ready to jump into Cole’s arms.
But it wasn’t Cole who stood on the opposite side of the fence, it was Thomas. It would never be Cole she’d share her everyday triumphs and failures with. Would never be Cole who’d rejoice with her or comfort her. Her children wouldn’t have Cole’s deep dimple or his sky-blue eyes.
Her hand fluttered to the base of her throat as realization upon realization flooded through her.
Thomas’s face bled color, his eyes darkened with concern. “What? What is it?”
She spoke before she could even question the words. “I can’t marry you, Thomas.”
“That’s it? You can make a decision that easily?” Thomas sounded surprised.
Surprised herself, she let her palm lower to rest against her beating heart. “Yes. That easy.”
How could she have been so blind? Cole’s love had been there the whole time. In the way he’d taken care of her, taken care of Pa. The way he boarded and fed a horse that was technically worthless, just because Katie loved her. How he’d taken Sweet Thing in when she was nothing but an abused bag of bones because at seventeen Katie was determined to save her.
She saw so clearly Cole’s resentment toward the ranch, the responsibilities he bore on his young shoulders. And still he had simply said yes to her. He’d kept Sweet Thing for her. In that gesture, she saw the legacy of his love, the years where all the little things added up.
And she knew why Cole was willing to sell the ranch.
The tears fell freely now, but she didn’t bother wiping them away. She ducked under the fence and walked up to Thomas. She took his hand in hers and squeezed. “You are a good man. And you deserve to love someone who loves you with as much passion and devotion as you do me. And not right now, but soon, you’ll thank the heavens I turned you down.”
With that she pressed her lips against his smooth cheek, then walked . . . this time not away, but toward her future.
Chapter 28
Mike had his cup of green tea with honey sitting at the corner of the desk. With his new pair of reading glasses and a good night’s sleep, he was as prepared as he’d ever be. He flipped open the screen on his new laptop and pushed the power button. After a few seconds’ wait a multicolored screen appeared with different small bright squares. He took a sip of tea, moved his mouse in a few circles, then quietly closed the screen and took out his trusty green-covered legal-sized ledger book.
A bell rang near the back. Someone must’ve let themselves in through the back door. Mike checked the clock on the wall—nine in the morning—too early for employees to start trickling in. Must be a delivery.
He looked toward the door and waited. He was surprised by the person standing in his doorway, but as in all things concerning love and money, he hid it well. He took off his glasses, placing them on the desk in front of him, and then leaned back. The worn leather chair groaned under his weight, the only sound he made. There was no way he’d be speaking first.
Nikki was fresh-faced, with all traces of her dark eye makeup gone. Her black dyed hair was smoothed back behind her ears, and she wore a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt. No combat boots in sight.
For a moment, Mike let himself remember how young Nikki was. Twenty-three was still a kid in his mind. How long had it taken him to get his act together?
Nikki dug in her pocket and pulled out a wad of dollar bills. “Here,” she said, placing the money on his desk. “Suzy told me you didn’t take Jett’s money. This should cover most of the damage to the bar.”
He picked up the cash, counted it, and then looked back up at her—a thousand dollars. The damages had been paid when he’d sold the pool table, but he didn’t have to tell her that. In fact, he didn’t have to tell her anything. He’d let her squirm for a little bit.
To her credit, she didn’t squirm much. Instead, she looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry about the bar. Really, I’m sorry about a lot of things, but the bar fight seems to be a good place to start.”
Mike nodded. “How did you get the money?”
“Pool. But it was my last game. Well, for money anyway.” She shifted on her feet, then notched her chin and took a deep breath. “I also wanted to ask you for a favor.”
Mike raised his eyebrows.
Nikki exhaled. “A job.”
Mike had spent some time in Vietnam. Even took a bullet in the shoulder. He remembered the pain. A man tended not to forget the things that brought him to his knees. His comrades had told him to shut up, afraid he’d give away their position. But he hadn’t been able to stop screaming—even after they’d gagged him. The pain was that bad.
Putting Nikki up on that stripper pole would be ten times worse.
“Why?” He had to know her reasoning.
“I need to make something of myself.”
Mike choked. “By working here?”
“By making some fast money. I need to leave this town, Mike. The sooner I have some cash, the sooner I can get out of here. I need a couple of weeks, maybe a month. I won’t be your problem for much longer than that. I have some friends in California I can live with. There might even be a job opening up as a bartender at the place they work.”
Mike crossed his arms over his belly, a belly that had once been flat as a board. When had his body started to fail him? He had no idea, but his mind was as sharp as ever. This plan Nikki had wasn’t a plan at all, but more like a road map leading to disaster. “Why now, Nikki? What happened?”
She shook her head, her eyes growing moist. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me. You wouldn’t believe what I can understand.”
“Jett said that he loved me.”
“Not really a shocker from where I’m sitting.”
“Yes, but the shocking thing is . . . I love him more. I love him too much to allow him to go down this road. Possibly even to marry me, and then watch what loving a Logan does to a person. I saw it every day of my life when my parents were alive. The look in my mother’s eyes, the hate, the resentment, then finally the slow death of loving a man as stubborn as my father.”
He’d known that Mary Beth had been unhappy, but hearing Nikki verbalize it broke his heart. After Dakota had died, Mike had thought maybe he had a chance, but Mary Beth was too far gone. She’d been a broken woman, an easy victim for cancer. “You’re not only a Logan. You have a lot of your mother in you. It’s true, your parents were hell on each other. They never did realize they were better together than apart. But you, you have the best of both of them. You could make this work.”
Nikki’s smile was a sad ghost of her usual confident one, and for a moment Mike saw Mary Beth, but Mary Beth after all her fight had left. “I’m a Logan, Mike. Didn’t your momma
tell you there’s no happy endings for Logans?”
“My momma told me a lot of things and half of them were bull crap.” One of which was not to be chasing after Mary Beth. “I’m not gonna give you a job. But I do want to give you something.”
He stood up and walked over to the large floor safe. He dialed in the combination and opened the door. He grabbed three stacks of bills, and then placed them on his desk. “Each stack is ten, so I’m giving you thirty grand. That should be enough to get a good education at a state college.”
“This is not what I wanted. . . .”
He raised a hand and his voice. “I don’t give a damn what you want, Nikki. This is something I shoulda done years ago, but it was my own stupid pride getting in the way. I never wanted anyone to know how much I loved your momma. I didn’t want people to know that she chose a poor nobody with great hair over me.” He smoothed his long-ago receded hairline. “But she did, and that was her choice. But this is mine. After graduation, come back here and work for me. Run my business. Take this dump and really turn it around. I don’t have any kids, never married, but I shoulda. I shoulda married your mom all those years ago. Shoulda really fought for her, but I didn’t. But if I had, I’d like to think that our daughter would’ve come out like you. You’re as smart as they come, Nikki. You just need someone to give you a chance. To believe in you.”
She crossed her arms and glared at him. “For a girl who couldn’t even afford shoes to get on the track team, I’ve had a heck of a lotta people try to give me money today.”
He crossed his own arms and did a little glaring of his own—a look that had been known to cause grown men to run. “Well, that’s where I differ from the others, because I’m not giving you squat. It’s a loan and it comes with those terms.”
“I don’t think I can do that, Mike.”
“I’m offering you a chance, Nikki, to go out and make something of yourself. So that one day you can come back here and bring something to the table besides skill with a pool stick and a great pair of legs. Because I understand. You have to have a sense of self-worth. I didn’t get that when I was younger. I didn’t get that your momma didn’t feel worthy all those years ago. I didn’t get that it was easier for her to marry below herself, instead of having to fall short for the rest of her life.”
Nikki lowered her head. “All I’ve ever dreamed about is leaving this place.”
There was a lump in his throat. He’d miss her. “I know.”
“I’ll pay you back.”
The tension in his shoulders eased. He’d be able to face Mary Beth. “I know.”
“Jett’s family would never accept me.”
“It’s not Jett’s family you have a problem with.”
Nikki looked up, confusion in her eyes.
“It’s you. Get yourself right, Nikki. Come back strong.”
Nikki nodded. She walked over and took the money off the desk. “Thank you. You have no idea.”
Mike smiled. “I know. Trust me, I know.”
After Nikki left, Mike sat there and wondered if he’d done the right thing. He had no reservations about Nikki. She would get her degree. She’d pay him back, follow through with running the Pitt. But what he hadn’t told her was life was all a gamble. And love even more so. She was taking a huge gamble that Jett wouldn’t end up hating her, much less be waiting for her when she got back.
Cole watched Katie, sure and purposeful, walk up his drive. Well, not his drive for much longer, hers and Thomas’s. The thought twisted his gut, but he stood proud and took a deep breath.
She stopped at the front steps. He studied her face and out of habit read it like a book. Her brown eyes were wide and bright, a secret smile hovering around her full mouth, and he swallowed. “You look happy.”
The warm smile spread, brightening her face. “I am.”
Pain burned straight to his gut, making his empty stomach clench in protest. To see her happy was too much, so he focused his gaze on the long side of the barn instead, anywhere but on her. “Well, things worked out for both of us. You get the ranch and the guy, and I get Thomas’s money to fix my truck.”
He felt brave enough to send her a smile, but realized the mistake when he got caught by the warmth of her whiskey eyes.
He cleared his throat and absently toed the duffel bag at his feet. “So I’m thinking of doing a bit of traveling. Haven’t been out of the state much, couldn’t leave the horses for that long. Thought this was a good time to start.”
He watched her red boots walk up the front steps and couldn’t help himself. He walked over to the far rail, needing the distance. Yesterday’s anger had faded as soon as he’d accepted Thomas’s offer on the ranch. Cole wasn’t happy when he found out what lay underneath his rage—a grief so profound that he questioned whether he was man enough to face it.
Cole braced his hands on the rail and for a brief moment thought about hopping it and running for safety. To a place where she wouldn’t see just how devastated he was. How much this was killing him.
But last night, when he couldn’t fall asleep because of Katie’s scent on his sheets, he found something else buried alongside the grief—dignity. He remembered his father’s words.
Sometimes the right thing isn’t always the easiest.
And this was the right thing. Sometimes life didn’t always agree with him, but it didn’t mean he had to compromise. So whatever he did, he wasn’t going to make this harder for her. He would stand here and let her go like a man.
“Cole?” Her voice was soft, filled with husky longing.
But that was the problem, he was just a man. And Katie drew his gaze like the beauty of an eclipse—a choice he’d pay for later.
It didn’t help that she was so damn pretty. Her hair was pulled back in a loose braid, strands floating around her face. A tight, low-cut tee was tucked into jeans that molded her legs like a lover. He’d known this would be hard, but she looked good, happy even, and that’s what hurt the worst—knowing he was the fool that loved the most.
He stared straight ahead. “Katie.” He closed his eyes at how choked up he sounded. “Katie, I need you to leave.”
Now, please just walk away.
How many times had he begged her to leave?
“No,” she said.
And how many times had she refused?
Cole laughed, but quickly stopped when her hand covered his. He watched as her delicate fingers laced with his larger, scarred ones.
He closed his eyes again. He couldn’t afford hope. It was too costly in soul money.
She lifted his arm, and he felt her body slide between his and the rail. Her stomach quivered as her chest brushed against his. And air whooshed from his lungs.
But he wouldn’t hope, not yet. Katie couldn’t have chosen him. Hell, he wouldn’t have chosen him.
He felt her fingers brush his hair out of his face. She was close. Her scent inflamed his senses. He moved his head back and gave up the fight to calm his breathing.
“You need a haircut.”
Her breath fanned his neck, and it took everything he had not to grab her, shake her . . . claim her. Instead, he gripped the rail and let the wood abrade his skin.
“Cole, why would you sell your ranch?”
He’d known she would ask that question and he’d planned for it. He’d been ready with that flippant remark about needing to fix his truck, but at the moment, he couldn’t speak because her lips brushed the skin along his collarbone.
“Why would you work at something so hard, and then just give it away?”
He was losing his mind. He grabbed her arms, meaning to push her away like he’d tried to a hundred times before. But instead, like all the times before, he caved and lifted her to him. She sat on the railing, and wrapped her legs around him. He quickly pinned her arms to her sides in a desperate attempt to keep some control.
If he let himself, if he got lost in her body, he’d never let her go. Right or wrong, willing or not, he was ready t
o go back to the days of the caveman and drag her back to his lair.
He opened his eyes and there she was, so close. Eyes confirming everything her body was telling him. “It was for you,” he said. “I knew one day you’d come back to the ranch. Your heart is here in this land. This was my one bargaining chip. But I don’t want this place if you’re not here.”
“This place is nothing without you.” Her hands came up and cupped his face, and she kissed him. Her mouth warm and open against his. And he breathed in her scent and kissed her back.
It took everything he had to pull his mouth away from hers. “You better be sure, Katie. This is your last chance. Because if you say yes, then it’s forever—you hear me. There’s no going back.”
Katie nodded, tears in her eyes. “I love you. I always have.”
She went to kiss him again. But he’d lost too much not to be cautious. Not to cross every T, dot every i. “No.”
“What?”
He took her hand and dragged her inside to his kitchen, the screen door banging open behind them.
“Cole, what are you doing?”
“Something I should’ve done on our wedding night. Hell, something I should’ve done the day you turned eighteen.” He put a pen in her hand and pointed at a piece of paper on his table. “Sign.”
“What is it?”
“Our marriage certificate.”
“Cole.” Katie laughed and it felt like a bath of liquid sunshine. “There’s no need. I—”
“Sign.”
She laughed again and scrawled her name on the black line.
He was careful to watch as the last letter was finished, and then picked her up and carried her to his room. He threw her on the bed and watched as she bounced, her eyes sparkling. Then the tightness around his chest eased.
He stood and unbuttoned his shirt, never taking his eyes from her face. He pulled the garment off, then ripped at the cuff when it caught.
“There’s no going back now.” He grinned to lighten his words, but he spoke from somewhere deep inside where there were no lies. “I’m never gonna let you go. You know that, right? This means forever.”
