by Liz Isaacson
Karla smiled the whole time he was on stage, and as soon as their set ended, she threw cash on her table and headed for the door.
She’d forgotten to tell him that she’d like to keep their budding relationship a secret. Not necessarily a secret, but she didn’t want rumors flying around the ranch the way they already were about Dave and Sissy. She didn’t need anyone talking about her. She didn’t need to explain anything to Scarlett, or Amber, or Adelle.
In the safety of her car, she texted Cache again. You were so great. She wanted to add how handsome he was, how talented, but she wasn’t sure if they were to that level in their relationship yet.
She’d come to see him play, and that spoke for itself. So she sent the message as-is and headed back to the ranch. She wondered if he’d go out with his friends afterward. Maybe stay at the diner and eat.
She found herself wanting to see him, hold his hand, and tell him all she thought of him while the stars shone overhead. When she pulled her phone out to ask him if maybe he’d meet her somewhere on the ranch, she remembered she’d put her phone on silent during the concert.
He’d texted a few times and called once.
Thanks, he’d said. You ran out.
Want to go get ice cream with us?
You must be home already. Talk later.
Exactly what she feared would happen had almost happened. He wanted her to go out with his band—practically announcing that they were together.
But were they together?
Karla’s confusion swept through her, and she decided to call Cache. “Hey,” she said when he answered. “Sorry, I put my phone on silent.” She moved to the back porch, hoping the sky would absorb some of the seriousness of this conversation.
“It’s fine,” he said loudly, clearly still out with everyone.
“Look,” she said. “I’ll be really quick. I…well, I don’t want us to be public.”
“Be public?” Something scratched on his end of the line, and it became clear that he was moving as the noise died down and it was just his voice when he said, “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I don’t want everyone on the ranch to know we’re seeing each other,” she said. “I’d like to keep anything we have between us in the shadows.”
“Okay,” Cache said slowly. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” Karla sighed. “I just think maybe I’ve been the topic of enough gossip in my lifetime.” She hadn’t told him everything about her past. Not even close. “And I just want…I just want us to be able to be us. And once all the women around here know, I’ll have to answer all these questions, and I just don’t want to do that.”
“Us to be us,” he repeated. “Where are you right now?”
“The ranch.”
A beat of silence passed until he said, “I want to see you,” in a low voice, as if someone had just come up to him and he didn’t want them to overhear.
“Then come see me,” she said, feeling flirtatious and reckless at the same time.
He chuckled. “I might need a few minutes,” he said. “If I bolt now, everyone will know there’s a woman. Wouldn’t be keeping the secret.”
“You’re okay with us keeping things on the down-low?”
“Karla,” he said in that smooth, delicious voice he sang with. Her heart vibrated at the sound of her name in that voice. “I’m fine with whatever you want, sweetheart. I just—I just like you. I want to get to know you.” His voice cracked on the last word. “Yeah. I’m fine with just keeping things between us.”
Karla smiled into the darkness beyond her back porch. “Great,” she said. “See you soon.”
Cache’s footsteps crunched against the gravel road about forty-five minutes later. He had his phone’s flashlight on, and he swept it up her steps and right into her eyes. “Oh, hey,” he said, his voice easy and light, tinged with surprise.
“Hey, yourself.” Karla smiled, glad when he lowered the light and then lowered himself onto the step beside her. “You were great tonight.”
“Thank you,” he said, switching off the flashlight. “I’m glad you came.” His hand touched her knee, and then his fingers slipped between hers. It was dark on the ranch—so very dark—but she had a light on inside her house, and the cheery yellow light illuminated enough of his face as he turned toward her that she could see his smile.
He inched closer to her, until his shoulder touched hers, and the heat from his thigh seeped into hers.
“I was wondering something,” he said.
“Just something?” Karla thought Cache should probably have a lot of questions. She may not want to answer them, but she wouldn’t mind getting to know him better too.
He chuckled, the sound soft and loud at the same time. Karla glanced next door to Carson and Adele’s place, but all the windows in their cabin stayed dark.
“Would you like to help me with the cow cuddling?” he asked. “Flower sure seemed to like you, and maybe we could fit more people into a session if there are two of us.”
Surprise darted through Karla. “Oh, you mean help during the sessions.”
“Yeah,” he said. “And before that, obviously. I’d need to train you on how I’ve trained them, and teach you what to do if they’re being stubborn cows.”
She laughed softly. “Stubborn cows.”
“Hey, bovines can be some of the most stubborn animals on the planet.” His fingers adjusted in hers, and she liked this casual display of his feelings for her. She wanted to hold his hand forever, memorize the way his palm fit against hers, enjoy the rush of heat from his skin, all of it.
“I bet they can,” she said. “I think I have time in my schedule to help with the cow cuddling. I’ll talk to Scarlett to make sure.”
“Sounds good.” Cache fell into silence then, and Karla liked that they didn’t have to stuff the space between them with words. After a minute or so, he said, “So you have a sister named Lisa. I think you’ve mentioned another one at some point.”
“Wendy,” Karla said. “They’re both younger than me.”
“Are they married? Nieces and nephews?”
“Wendy’s married, and she just had a baby boy,” Karla said. “Lisa just got engaged.” She gazed out into the night, trying not to feel like a failure. “They both live in the same town where we grew up. I’ll probably go visit them this fall, see the baby, help with the wedding preparations. All of that.”
“You get along with them?”
“Yeah, sure,” she said, looking over to him. “You’re wondering why I stayed here after a divorce I still cry over when my family is all back east.”
He lifted one sexy shoulder into a shrug. “I mean, maybe.”
Karla had wondered the same thing. She had a marketing degree, and she could use it anywhere. Companies in Virginia would hire her, pay her, and she could be closer to her family.
“I just…feel like maybe I don’t belong there,” she said. “Every time I think about going back to Norfolk, it doesn’t feel right.”
“Hmm,” he said. “I understand that.”
Karla had stopped going to church five years ago, but she felt like she still listened to her feelings. To the Lord’s promptings. Her faith wasn’t what it once had been, she knew that.
“Other siblings besides Leo?” she asked. “I haven’t heard you mention anyone.”
“Just him,” Cache said. “He and my dad went to Colorado when we lost the dairy farm.”
“Why didn’t you go with them?”
“That’s a great question,” he said, his head moving down slightly as he looked at the ground. “Probably because it didn’t feel right. I saw this job come up here, and Scarlett said I could bring the cows. If I hadn’t bought them here, we’d have had to get rid of them. Shiloh Ridge only let my dad take a certain number.”
“Do you miss them?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “My mother died years ago, and Leo, Dad, and I were close. We’re still close, I suppose.”
Karla
nodded into the night, wishing it could go on forever. “So you’re great on the guitar, great with animals, and you love your family. You’re darn near perfect.” She nudged him playfully with her shoulder.
“I’m not perfect,” he said, not even a hint of a chuckle or a tease in his voice.
“I know,” Karla said, feeling stupid.
“Good,” he said. “Because relationships fall apart when one thinks the other is perfect.”
“I thought you said you hadn’t had any serious relationships.”
“I haven’t,” he said. “But I’m thirty-nine-years-old, and I have eyes. And friends.” He looked at her, and even through the darkness, she saw the earnestness in his eyes. The way he looked at her like he wanted to kiss her. “And I’ve seen things I don’t want to happen to me.”
Karla couldn’t hold his gaze. She’d seen things too. Actually had things happen to her she didn’t want to have happen again. She’d put a wall around her heart and built it up for five years.
And in a few days and a simple invitation to dinner, Cache had started to tear it down.
“I should get home,” he said next. “I sure did like this.” He leaned over, the brim of his cowboy hat bumping against her forehead. He swept it off with his free hand and pressed his lips to her cheek.
Fire started in her blood, and Karla drew in a deep breath of this man and closed her eyes.
“Cow cuddling in the morning?” he asked. “Say, ten?”
“Ten,” she repeated, feeling like she was floating away on a cloud. He stood, and she opened her eyes to watch him walk away, the sound of his boots against the gravel fading until she couldn’t hear it anymore.
“Oh, boy,” she whispered into the night. It seemed like that wall had been blown up, and access to her heart was wide open. “What have I gotten myself into?”
But no fear came. No anxiety. Karla looked up to the stars, knowing God was there for her even if she’d stopped going to Him for every answer.
“This is okay?” she asked, and a feeling of rightness came over her.
She got up and went inside her cabin, feeling good about Cache—but not about telling him about everything in her past. After all, how did one explain about losing a baby and not feeling bad about it?
Chapter 7
Cache rushed through his morning chores in the Canine Club, getting all the volunteer lists over to Amber by eight so walks could happen. Baths. Visits. The vet techs would be through buildings five and six that day to take care of any needs there, and Cache had everyone fed and watered by ten.
He’d have to go back after the cow cuddling session with Karla, which was fine. He liked his work with the dogs, and today, he decided to take several of his off-leash pups with him to the pasture.
“Come on, guys,” he said, the six dogs that could handle leaving the Club trotting along with him. Every once in a while, a dog would get too far out of line, and Cache would whistle him back.
They all arrived at the pasture with their tongues hanging out—except Cache—and he opened the gate to let them in. After securing it, he pumped the handle on the water spigot and got it going to fill the trough.
The dogs came over and got a drink, and he said, “All right, guys. Chill.” He faced the larger area of the pasture to find his bovines out about halfway. A few of them looked toward him, but several just went on eating. None of them were lying down.
Good.
“Hey,” Karla said, coming toward him on the other side of the fence. She boosted herself up onto the bottom rung, and then paused. “Yeah, I can’t climb over this.” She laughed at herself as she got back down and continued toward the gate.
Cache opened it for her with a smile. “Morning. You look great.”
She pressed into his personal space, one hand on his chest, and grinned up at him. She certainly didn’t act like a woman who’d vowed to never have another man in her life. Cache had lain awake last night, trying to figure her out. Trying to determine if she was really ready to have a real relationship with him.
Because he wanted one with her. A real one. A long one. A serious one. And if she didn’t want that with him, he wasn’t sure what the point was of holding her hand and telling her things.
She was still withholding something from him—as evidenced by her request to keep their relationship a secret—and Cache wasn’t sure how much that bothered him.
“Earth to Cache.”
He blinked and came out of his thoughts. “Sorry,” he said, falling back a step. He would be wise to get some answers before he went and fell for her.
“I asked if I’d worn the right thing.” She gestured down her body, and Cache’s eyes followed. His blood ran hotter at the sight of her curves in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt with the word SPY across the chest.
“Yeah, fine,” he said, pulling his gaze back to hers. “What’s with the spy shirt?”
She smiled and reached back to pull her hair into a ponytail. “I just thought it was funny. I used to have to dress up for work, so.”
“You still dress up for work,” he said. “Why is that? I mean, you work out of your cabin, right?”
“Yeah,” she said, moving with him when he started to walk out toward the cows. “Oh, there are dogs here.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Sorry, you’re okay with dogs, right?”
“Yeah, sure,” she said. “I just didn’t see them.”
“They’re my off-leash canines,” he said. “They like to get out every once in a while, and I didn’t have a volunteer for them today.” On the next step, he slipped his hand into Karla’s. “So why do you dress up when you don’t have to?”
“Habit?” she said, and it sounded like a guess. “I have the clothes. I guess I just figure I might as well wear them.”
“Well, they’re nice,” he said, wishing this conversation could end. Why had he picked something so stupid to talk about?
“You like my clothes?”
“I mean….” He cut a glance at her out of the corner of his eyes. “I like that yellow blouse with the ice cream cones on it.”
Karla blinked, clearly surprised. “I didn’t know you paid such close attention.”
Cache had given away too much. “Maybe I do.”
A smile touched her mouth as she focused on the ground again, choosing carefully where to step.
“Maybe I’ve wanted to ask you out for a while,” he said next.
“Oh.”
He squeezed her hand and grinned. “Don’t worry about it, Karla,” he said. “You can’t be good at everything.” He chuckled, glad when she joined in. “So I have eleven cows I’ve been working with for the cuddling. I give them simple commands, and they get a small treat if they complete the task.”
“You treat them?”
“Like dogs,” he said, turning back. “I forgot the bag. Just a sec.” He retraced his steps at double the speed to grab the bag of apples and carrots he’d hung on a fencepost that morning. After returning to Karla, he said, “Okay, got them.”
The cows had started to move toward him too. “They know what’s in the bag,” he said. “They’re big, but they’re not as dumb as people think they are.”
He reached into the bag and pulled out half an apple. “I cut them in half so I can get more mileage out of them.”
“You buy these?”
“There are three apple trees over in the corner of the Community,” he said. “I usually don’t have to buy them, but sometimes I do.” He turned toward the cows. “Cows kick if they feel threatened. Don’t stand behind a cow and expect it to obey you. Right in front.” He squared his shoulders, thinking he should probably put together a list of rules for how to deal with cows. For Karla, sure, but especially for any guests that might come for cow cuddling.
He couldn’t believe he was going to let the general public into the pasture with his cows. But maybe for three hundred dollars a couple…. He needed to talk to Karla about the money split, because he could really use the cash.
“So right in front,” he repeated. “And I say ‘down’ when I want them to lay down. If they do it, praise and treat. Ready?” He didn’t take a treat out of the bag. He’d been trying to get his animals to obey him whether they got a reward or not.
“Ready,” Karla said.
Cache moved forward to the nearest cow, a huge heifer named Morning Glory. “Down,” Cache commanded, and she started to lie down. It took her a few seconds to settle, and he reached into the bag and pulled out half an apple. “Good girl, Glory.”
“Do all the cows have names?” Karla asked as Cache thumped the cow on her ribcage like he would pat a dog.
“The trained ones do,” he said. “You’ll learn them.”
“You think so? They all look exactly the same to me.”
“Do they?” Cache gazed around at his cows. Each one looked completely different to him, but he didn’t want to admit it. “Okay, you try. Stay,” he said to Glory as she shifted. “I say ‘stay’ to get them to stay on the ground.” He looked at her, foolishness running through him. “It’s not rocket science.”
She beamed at him, her blue eyes beckoning him toward her. “It’s great,” she said, turning to another cow. “What’s this one’s name?”
“They’re all girls,” he said. “They’re cows, not bulls. And that’s Cookie.”
“Cookie, down,” Karla said, holding the apple straight out in front of her. Cookie went right down and looked up at Karla.
“Okay, wow.” She turned to Cache. “That was incredible.” She tossed the apple toward Cookie, but it just bounced off her head.
Cache burst out laughing and went to get the apple for his cow. “Okay, so they’re not as smart as dogs,” he said. “You have to feed them the treat.”
Nervousness ran through Karla’s eyes. “I don’t want to get bit.”
“You keep a flat palm,” he said. “Shove it right in their mouth. They’ll take it.” Working with cattle was natural for him, but he realized it was not for Karla—and she’d already cuddled into a bovine.
