“Not exactly.” She held up a plastic grocery bag that had been dangling at her side. “Jessa put together some stuff for you. Clothes, I think. In case yours were ruined. She asked me to bring you this bag since I knew where to find you.”
“Oh.” He reached out a hand, and she tossed the bag over. Great. Leave it to his sister-in-law to dig through his underwear drawer and find the only pair of tighty whities. He let the bag dangle behind his back. Thankfully, they’d let him wear his own clothes for all the tests—minus his belt. But he’d put that back on the second he’d gotten out of the CT scan.
Cassidy looked like she was trying not to laugh. “So when can you get out of here?”
“Sounds like I’m free to go.” Which meant she had perfect timing. “Any way I could trouble you to give me a lift home?”
“Oh.” Her smile faded into that guarded expression she typically wore in his presence. “Sure. Yeah. Of course.” She turned abruptly and led the way out of the hospital room, keeping a few steps of distance between them. “Theo was pretty worried about you.” Cass glanced over her shoulder. “But I assured him you’d be fine.”
“Yeah, doc says it’s minor.” Sort of. Not that she needed to know the extent of his diagnosis. Levi followed her down another corridor. “Wish I could’ve stayed to hang out with him.” And her too.
Cassidy paused at the doors that led out to the parking lot. “Thanks for making sure he got to go, Levi.” She faced him. “Seriously. That was pretty awesome of you.”
Her steady gaze kicked up his pulse. Getting the kid a ticket wasn’t a big deal. He could do more. He could do a lot more. “It looks like I’ll have extra time on my hands this summer.” As much as he hated sitting out, every cloud had a silver lining. “So that youth rodeo clinic might be a go.” But there was no way he could pull it off alone. “Can I count on your help?”
“Oh. Um…” She deflected his stare with a shake of her head and walked through the doors, leaving him to follow behind again. “I can’t. Sorry. I have a lot going on right now.”
He fell in stride beside her. “Like what?”
At the edge of the parking lot she stopped, but this time she didn’t turn to him. She gazed out at the mountains instead. “I applied to a pediatric nurse residency program. I’m hoping to move to Denver at the end of July.”
“Denver?” Cass was leaving Topaz Falls? He stumbled off the curb and tailed her across the parking lot, a hollowness spreading through his chest. His whole life, Cass had been a fixture of this town. A fixture in his life, even when he’d been gone. She had a place in most of his memories, seeing as how he’d practically lived at the Greer house. He may have been gone for years, but when he’d thought of home during that time, he’d also thought of Cass, the bright-eyed wonder he’d never quite left behind. Now she was fixing to leave him behind.
“Aren’t there nursing jobs around here?” He gestured back to the small county hospital. “This seems like a fine establishment. I bet they’re always looking for nurses.”
They reached the Subaru, and Cass unlocked the doors. “I’ve always wanted to specialize in pediatrics.”
“Why pediatrics?”
They both climbed into the car, and he quickly shoved the bag with his tighty whities under the seat.
Cass didn’t seem to notice. “My first call as an EMT was to the scene of an accident.” Her voice quieted. “It was bad. A woman had rolled her car on Jewel Pass, and her four-year-old daughter was thrown.”
He recognized the intensity in her eyes. It was the same passion that carried him when he rode a bull.
“We saved her,” Cass said. “We found her and stabilized her, and I held her hand until the helicopter came.” A tear slipped down her cheek, but her voice didn’t waver. “I felt like I’d finally done what I couldn’t do for Cash. And I decided then that I wanted to do everything I could to make sure a parent didn’t have to lose a child.”
She didn’t have to say more. He knew. In her way, Cass was also still trying to save her mom. “You’re so brave.” She put him to shame.
“I feel like I’m always afraid.”
“But you don’t let your fears hold you back.” They seemed to motivate her, to make her stronger. She was the strongest woman he’d ever met. In six years of dating and traveling the circuit, he’d never met another woman like Cass. And now he was going to lose her.
Panic gripped him by the throat. “What if I did the clinic before you left? Then could you help?”
She finally shoved the key into the ignition and started the car. “I don’t know. Rodeos aren’t really my thing.”
And yet she’d shown up for him earlier. “This is a junior clinic. We’re talking mutton busting, barrel racing, roping. Easy stuff. And it’d be great to have you there to help with any scratches or booboos. It’d be the perfect start to a career in pediatrics.”
She shot him a guarded smile as though she was onto his persuasive tactics. “I might not even get into the program.” Her face sobered as if the thought depressed her.
“You’ll get in.” She was the hardest worker he’d ever seen. Determined. According to Jessa, she’d aced nursing school. Yeah, she’d definitely get in. Which meant this clinic would be his last chance to convince her to stay. He’d never had much to do with kids, but he could learn. How hard could it be? “If you don’t do it for me, do it for Theo.” Hopefully, that’d be the kill shot. She seemed to love that kid.
“Fine.” She sighed. “I’ll help with the damn clinic. But—”
Her phone rang and cut her off. She dug it out of her back pocket. When she glanced at the screen, a look of concern gripped her delicate features. “Hey, Darla.” After a pause, Cassidy’s face paled. “What do you mean she’s gone?” With the phone tucked between her shoulder and ear, Cass threw the car into reverse. “I’m coming. I’ll be right there.” She let the phone drop into her lap and peeled out of the parking lot.
Levi put on his seat belt. “What’s up?”
“I sent Darla over to check on Mom.” Cass drove faster, passing an Oldsmobile on the right. “The Jeep’s gone, and she can’t find her anywhere.”
And that was a reason to go twenty miles an hour above the speed limit? He turned to her so he didn’t have to watch the car swerving in and around traffic. “Maybe she went to the store or something.”
“I’ve asked her not to drive.” Her jaw was clenched. “I even hid the keys in my dresser.” She merged the car aggressively onto the highway. “She must’ve torn my room apart looking for them.”
Levi eyed the speedometer. Hopefully Dev wasn’t hiding in his favorite spot today. “Why don’t you want her driving?” He got that Lulu had some issues, but it seemed a little harsh to take away the woman’s keys.
“She’s an alcoholic,” Cass informed him. “I don’t want her to kill herself or someone else.”
“Oh.” That explained a lot. Like the fact that Cass never seemed to want to leave her mom alone. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He should’ve. He should’ve known a long time ago.
Cass shrugged. “Hardly anyone knows. I do my best to protect her reputation.”
She meant she did her best to manage everything on her own—school and work and taking care of her mom. “How can I help?” How could he make up for all the years he should’ve been there for her?
She shot him a sideways glance. “I don’t need help.” The edge in her voice left him no room to argue.
After taking the last few turns quickly, she pulled up into the driveway of her house.
Darla ran down the front steps and peered in through Levi’s window. “I swear, I thought she was fine. I came to check on her a few hours ago, and we had a great time. Then I went to the shop, and when I came back, she was gone.”
Cass let the car run. “It’s not your fault.”
“Cass…there’s a bottle of vodka on the table.” Darla looked like she was close to tears.
That wasn’t good. Levi rubbed
his forehead, finally noticing his headache.
“Of course there’s vodka on the table,” Cass muttered. “Doesn’t matter how many times I talk to her, nothing ever changes.”
“Maybe she’s not drunk,” he suggested. “Maybe she just wanted to get out for a while.”
Cassidy and Darla both turned their heads and gave him a seriously? look. This obviously wasn’t the first unapproved adventure Lulu had gone on.
“I already drove around town,” Darla said. “Didn’t see the Jeep anywhere.”
Cass heaved a sigh, her shoulders slumping.
“Hey.” Levi touched her arm. Surprisingly she didn’t shrink away. “We’ll find her.” Hopefully before Dev did. “Where does she usually go?”
Cass raised her head wearily. “Places that remind her of Cash.”
“Then it shouldn’t be that hard to find her.” He glanced at Darla. “Why don’t you make a run by the cemetery?” He’d been a regular there himself since he’d come home. Whenever he went, it always seemed there were fresh flowers. Lulu likely spent a lot of time there.
“Good idea.” Darla dug keys out of her purse.
“And we’ll head to your old house,” he said to Cass. “You want me to drive?”
“No. I’m fine.”
She wasn’t fine. Her shoulders drooped, and her eyes looked empty.
“I don’t mind—” Before he could finish, she backed the car down the driveway.
Cass said nothing as they proceeded through town, headed to the outskirts where her parents had once owned ten acres. Levi didn’t know what to say either. Actually, he hadn’t earned the right to say anything. So even though it killed him, he let the silence stretch between them, doing his damnedest to give her the space she seemed to need.
He kept his eyes on the world outside, and when she drove in front of the Greer’s old house, the sight of it hit him hard. Growing up, he’d spent most of his time at the log palace Mr. Greer had built on the edge of town. At least, it’d seemed like a palace to him. Cassidy’s father was a contractor and had spared no expense in designing and building the refuge for his own family. Rustic hand-carved beams held up the high, arched ceilings, and the entire four thousand square feet were decked out with expensive accents. It was a grand house, but it hadn’t been enough to keep things from falling apart.
“She’s not here.” Cass slowed the car.
The streets around the house were empty. No Jeep.
She pulled over on the side of the road and stared at the house with the same lost look on her face Levi must’ve had. “A new family lives here now,” she murmured. “They bought it last year. They have a little boy and a little girl.” There was a longing in her words, like she wished she could go back to being the little girl in that house.
God, he wanted to touch her. Take her hand or ease his arm around her shoulders and pull her close so he could take on some of her burden. Instead, he said, “It was the perfect place for us to grow up.”
She smiled a little.
“I don’t know what would’ve happened to me if I didn’t have your family around.” He’d gone to a dark place after his mom walked out on them. His dad was hardly home, and Lance did his best, but he was only a kid himself. Back then, Lulu had been the strength he’d needed. She’d been the one who showed him that not all moms left.
He turned to Cass. “When did she start drinking?” As a kid, he’d only ever seen Lulu drink half a glass of wine. She always said it made her tired.
“After Dad left. At first it was only at night. So she could sleep.” For once, Cass’s expression didn’t seem so guarded. “But then she started hiding it from me. I’d get phone calls from people in town, telling me she was passed out in the park.”
“Has she been to AA?” He didn’t know what else to ask. What other options were there for this kind of situation?
“She’s made it through a few meetings, but she always quits.” She spoke the words with a resigned hopelessness.
“She’s lucky to have you.” A lot of people wouldn’t have cared how much their parent needed them. A lot of people would’ve walked away regardless.
She shrugged, her face stony again, those eyes steeled. “Sometimes I hate her. But mostly I love her. That’s the problem. Love doesn’t let you walk away. No matter how bad things get.”
And yet he had. He’d walked away from this family he’d loved. Which only proved one thing. Lance was right. He was too self-absorbed to love anyone. “Damn it, Cass. I’m sorry. I didn’t know things were so bad.”
“It’s not your fault.” Her tone pushed him away and dismissed the entire conversation. She didn’t seem to want his sorry-ass apology. “I don’t know where else to look for her. If Darla hasn’t found her, I don’t know where she’d be.”
“Where did Cash hang out?” Besides right there in that meadow where the corral used to be? Levi squinted, studying the house again, looking out past the back garden to the rutted dirt road where they used to ride the ATVs. “The treehouse.”
“What?” Cass looked out the window as though searching for what he was looking at. But you couldn’t see it from the road. “That has to be a mile back in,” Cass murmured. “And it’s private property.”
Which would explain why no one could find Lulu. “I don’t see any cars in the driveway.” Obviously the family wasn’t home. “And I’m sure they won’t mind us trespassing once we explain the situation.”
Fear flickered across her face, but Cass put the car into drive and turned into the driveway. Bypassing the house, she drove across the meadow to the ruts in the grass. They disappeared into the trees and bumped along the uneven path, taking it slow.
Levi remembered these woods. They’d build forts and teepees and log cabins out of sticks, all under the shelter of an eclectic mix of pine and cottonwood trees. The deeper they drove in, the more the memories flooded him. Memories he’d held at bay to keep the pain of loss contained. “I’d forgotten how much we loved it back here.” By shutting out the bad memories, he’d let time rob him of the good ones too.
“It was like a haven,” Cass said quietly. “It still is.”
They peered out the windshield in silence. The sun had started to set, filtering through the trees, filling the forest with a peaceful glow.
Up ahead, the sunlight glinted off something metal. Levi sat straighter. “The Jeep.”
It was pulled off the road, down in a ditch.
“Oh no.” Cass parked behind it, and they both scrambled out. There was no sign of Lulu.
“Mom!” Cass took off into the trees with Levi following behind.
The treehouse had been built about fifteen feet off the ground in the biggest cottonwood Mr. Greer could find. Back then they’d had a nice wooden staircase to climb, but that had long since fallen apart. The whole top section was missing.
Levi reached the tree first. He gazed at the rotted wooden platform.
“There’s no way she’s up there.” Cass was out of breath. “Maybe she—”
There was a shuffling sound above and then creaking boards. “Cass?” Lulu peered over the edge.
Levi’s heart took a dive. The thing had gone to ruin. The boards were cracked and splintered, the walls collapsed in. How the hell had she gotten up there?
“Mom! What’re you doing? You’re going to kill yourself!” Cassidy went right for the old rope ladder, but Levi held her back.
“That thing is about to snap.” He pointed up higher where the ropes were frayed and the wooden rungs had cracked.
Cassidy’s mom peered over the side of a fallen wall. “Levi? Levi Cortez? Is that you?”
“Hey, Lulu.” He gazed up at her, shocked by how much she’d changed. When he was a kid, the woman had been one of those refined, graceful moms. Blond hair like Cassidy’s, always styled perfectly. She’d worn elegant clothes, and he’d never seen her without makeup. But now…Lulu Greer was a shell. So skinny her clothes sagged on her frail frame. Pale, sunken cheeks made her l
ook sick. No wonder she’d been able to make it up the ladder. She hardly weighed anything.
“God almighty, Levi. It’s been so long. You’ve grown into quite the handsome devil, haven’t you?” The woman’s feet shuffled closer to the edge of the platform.
“Get back,” Cassidy shouted. “You’re drunk! You’ll fall!”
“I’m not drunk,” Lulu insisted. As if intent on proving it, she walked a line along the edge of the platform. It would’ve been more convincing if she hadn’t stumbled. “I’m fine, honey. I’ll climb down there—”
“No! Get back!” Cass yelled again. “That ladder might not hold you.” She turned and paced away a few steps. “I can’t believe this. I have to call the fire department to get my mother out of a tree.”
“Hold on.” Levi assessed the height. This didn’t have to be a whole scene. He knew from personal experience how humiliating it was to have your dirty laundry exposed in this town. If the fire department came, everyone would know about it by tomorrow morning.
“We have to get her down somehow.” Cass pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Unless you have a better idea.”
Actually, he did. Levi held out his hand. “Can I have your phone?”
She gave it to him.
“Lulu,” he called up. “You remember that time Cash and I made you dinner in the treehouse?”
“Of course I do. You two were such good boys.” Her voice turned weepy. “You were always doing sweet things like that. Oh, I miss him so much.” She walked out of his view. Boards groaned and creaked. Wouldn’t be long before one of them broke.
“I miss him too.” He walked around the base of the tree until he could see her again. “You know what I do when I miss him? I think about all the good times we had.” At least, that’s what he’d started to do. “Lulu?” He waited until he had her attention. “Why don’t you tell Cass all about that dinner we made you?”
“It was in the fall,” Lulu said sadly. “A few weeks before Halloween.”
“That’s right.” He kept his eyes trained on her. “Sit down. Okay? Sit down nice and easy. Right there.”
Renegade Cowboy Page 5
