by Liz Isaacson
He put food on his plate without really seeing it and shook hands with the pastor without focus. He sat at the table across from Karla, and their eyes met.
He wanted to blurt out how sorry he was. That he honestly hadn’t thought before stepping up to her and doing what he’d done dozens times before. Dave sat heavily in the seat next to Cache before he could say anything. He had a gray bulldog with him, and he asked, “I’m not interrupting, am I?”
“Nope,” Karla said, her tone filled with ice. Cache wanted to take his plate and leave, but he didn’t need to cause a bigger scene than he already had.
He glanced at Dave, but Cache focused on his food like he hadn’t eaten in days.
“I’m sorry,” Dave said, getting up. “I have to go.”
“Go?” Cache said after him, because if he left, Cache would be left alone with Karla. But Dave walked away, the bulldog obediently at his side.
“He and Sissy aren’t getting along,” Karla said as if Cache cared.
He looked at her. “I know how that feels.”
“She went to San Diego to visit her family, and he didn’t want to go with her.”
Cache tilted his head and looked at Karla, trying to figure her out. “You would be so upset if someone was talking about you like this,” he said. “Why are you doing it?”
Anger flashed in her eyes, but she didn’t try to defend herself. She pushed a few mayo-slathered pieces of potato around on her plate.
“I’m sorry,” Cache said. “I really am. I didn’t think.”
“That much was obvious.”
Cache didn’t know what to say. She’d said she was getting closer to being able to admit they were together, but Cache felt like they’d taken ten giant steps backward.
“I saw Scarlett and Amber talking to you. I’m sorry,” he said again.
“Adele saved me,” Karla said, tucking her hair and finally spearing one chunk of potato and putting it in her mouth.
Cache didn’t like that she needed to be saved from talking about their relationship. In fact, it sent a popping wave of fury through him. “You know what? I’m going to go too.”
“Cache,” she said. “Don’t go.”
He paused, thinking he must like getting tortured. Because he stayed. He didn’t look away from Karla as she glanced around to see if anyone was watching them. Another couple from their church congregation sat down at the end of the table, but most people had finished eating and had laid out blankets in front of a blow-up screen where a children’s movie was playing.
Karla finally looked at him, apparently satisfied that no one was watching them. “I know you’re not happy with me.”
“No,” he said. “I’m not.” He sighed, some of his frustration leaking out with the words. “Look, Karla, why don’t I just make this easy for you? It’s okay. You don’t want to be with me. It’s fine.” He started to stand, but Karla put her hands on his.
“I don’t want to break up,” she said. “Stay.” She held up her hand and waited as she stood. Cache liked the bright glint in her eye, and he stayed.
She hurried around the table and stepped right into Cache’s arms. “I want to claim you publicly.” She tipped up onto her toes and kissed him, right there in front of everyone. Everyone looking, at least, but Cache wasn’t sure who that was.
Because he was busy kissing Karla, his not-so-secret girlfriend.
She pulled away with a giggle and placed both her hands on the sides of his face. “I’m really sorry, Cache,” she said. “But I think you’re right. I don’t see why we can’t be together.”
“Finally,” Cache said, wondering what had made her change her mind. He kissed her again, pulling away quickly. “I brought a blanket. Want to watch the fireworks with me?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” She beamed up at him, and Cache chuckled.
He laced his fingers through hers and strolled toward his truck. “What changed your mind?”
“Watching you lurk over by the tree,” she said. “I hated that you weren’t beside me, and I realized that there’s where I wanted you.”
Cache opened the passenger door and pulled a blanket off the seat. He and Karla went over to the grassy area where a lot of people had settled. A fair few people were milling around the animals and Amber looked a little frazzled as she tried to work with three people at once.
For a moment, he thought Karla would go help her, but she didn’t. They set up on a spare patch of grass, and Cache enjoyed the feel of her in his arms as they settled down.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” a woman wearing a bright blue Forever Friends vest said into a microphone. “We’ve just adopted out our last cat!”
A cheer when up, and Cache joined them, hoping that the last of the secrets between him and Karla had finally come out.
Chapter 18
“Yes,” Karla said into the phone, glancing at the clock. She was supposed to be in the cow cuddling pasture in two minutes and she still didn’t have her shoes on. “Leo, I have to go.”
“Just make sure you don’t make carrot cake,” Cache’s brother said. “He hates that stuff. And remember, he acts like he doesn’t like surprises, but he does.”
“Got it,” Karla said. She’d arranged for Leo to call this morning, but he’d had an emergency on his ranch in Shiloh Ridge, and he’d called late. Really late. And Karla hadn’t realized what time it was.
She shoved her foot into a shoe as Leo continued to say all the things Cache liked. Karla knew most of them, as she’d been getting to know Cache over the past several weeks. She burst from her cabin and dashed down her steps while Leo was still talking.
At the corner of the road, she said, “Leo, I’ll call you back,” shoved her phone in her pocket, and hurried toward the entrance gate, where Cache stood with six people.
Three couples.
Their first cow cuddlers.
“Ah, here she is,” he said as she approached. He wore worry in his eyes, and she wished she could mentally communicate with him that everything would be fine. They’d decided to cap the sessions at ten people, and two more couples arrived within seconds of one another.
Cache had a whole program outlined before people even went into the pasture, and he launched into it after introducing himself and Karla to the group. She was supposed to answer any questions she could, help get the cows down and in position, and then say good-bye to everyone.
She glanced into the pasture as Cache went over proper etiquette with a bovine, including where not to stand, where not to touch, and to please be aware of surroundings at all times.
“These are wild animals,” he said. “I mean, they’re domesticated cows. But they’re wild animals.”
Karla couldn’t help smiling at him and his definition of wild animals. “I’m going to go in first,” she said. “You can follow me. We ask that you don’t move past the trough until we have the cows settled down and ready to cuddle.”
Not that the cows in the pasture were rioting or anything, but Karla still approached the gate first, as if she might encounter rabid lions on the other side.
She moved past the trough and waited for Cache to secure the gate behind him. “If you ever feel uncomfortable,” he said. “Come back to the trough. The cows don’t come on this side of it.”
“Ever?” one of the men asked. He looked like he’d been dragged there by the woman on his arm.
“Ever,” Cache said. “They really are trained well, but you’re new, and our first session, so anything could happen.”
Karla gave him a look, one that said, Don’t say stuff like that, with her eyes while she kept a smile cemented in place.
Cookie, ever the inquisitive cow, came closer, and Karla turned to her as Cache started detailing what Karla was going to do. Her pulse raced through her body, making her skin and fingertips tingle.
“Come on,” she whispered to herself. “Please let this work.” She approached Cookie, who usually came the closest first. Their cuddling circle was obv
ious in the way the grass had been pressed down, and Karla said, “Down,” to Cookie, making the hand motion Cache had decided on.
Cookie looked at her for an extra second and then down she went. The excitement from the group behind her was exhilarating, and she called, “Bluebell, Morning Glory, come on.”
Cache joined her, rustling up the cattle they needed for this cow cuddling session. They did get six cows situated in a circle, and then Cache brought out each couple one by one and taught them how to cuddle with the cows.
Karla marveled through the whole thing. She hadn’t really doubted that it would work, but she had been nervous. But all six cows just laid there, looking bored, while the couples laughed, talked, took selfies, and generally enjoyed themselves. She and Cache fed the cattle small bites of carrots and apples to get them to stay, answered questions, and exchanged a dozen glances.
In short, it was the best morning she’d experienced in a long, long time. Not only that, she had a secret birthday party for Cache on the horizon, and she’d claimed him in front of everyone at the Fourth of July event.
Since then, no one had come to talk to her about her relationship with the bright-eyed, witty cowboy. She wasn’t sure why she’d thought they would, or why she’d been so afraid to take their relationship out of the shadows.
She’d imagined all kinds of crazy things in her head, from having to defend her reasons for not wanting to date him then to why he was perfect for her. But Scarlett hadn’t asked again, not even over text.
Amber seemed busy with her new boyfriend too, and Adele had plenty to deal with in her high-risk pregnancy. Sissy had returned to the ranch on the night of the Fourth of July, and the next morning, she’d been wearing a diamond ring around. Karla had heard at least ten rumors about Dave and Sissy by lunchtime, and that was why she’d been worried about making her relationship with Cache public.
After all, she had plenty to keep hidden in her past. And her present. She did not need everyone and their dog—literally—talking about her.
Not only that, but Dave and Sissy were going to be married in only five weeks. Well, less than that now. Karla couldn’t even imagine such a thing, and her thoughts rotated to her sister and how much planning she’d already done for her big day that was still months away.
Everything muddied in her mind, and she pushed out all of the confusing, rotating thoughts and focused on the cute couples at their very first cow cuddling session. Cache finished up with petting and brushing, and the session ended.
When the last visitor had stepped through the gate and walked back to their car, Cache turned toward her, a look of pure joy and wonder on his face.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. He grabbed his hat and tossed it up into the air with a whoop, grabbing onto her and spinning her around as he laughed. “That was great. Right?”
“Amazing,” she said, the high of the last hour and a half still buzzing through her body. “Sissy said we just need to go over to her office, and she’ll figure out how to get us paid too.”
Cache grinned, his happiness so infectious when he wore it out in the open for everyone to see.
“Thank you, Karla,” he said, sobering.
“I didn’t do anything, cowboy,” she said. “You’re the one who made this program a success.”
He walked over and picked up his hat. “I can’t wait to do it again.”
Secretly, Karla couldn’t either.
July passed in a blur of record-breaking heat and cuddling sessions and cooking. If she wasn’t making lunch for the ranch, then she did for Cache. No one—not a single person—had said anything to her about dating him, and she wondered if some internal memo had gone around and she didn’t know about it.
Probably not. Probably just the excitement of Dave and Sissy’s wedding, which was only eight days away now.
Karla had been asked to make the cake, and she’d been going over designs with Sissy for a few days now. It was too hot to feed everyone on the ranch, and Scarlett had started buying pizza once a week for everyone as the ranch prepared for its fourth wedding.
Karla couldn’t help wondering if she and Cache would make number five.
She’d made dozens of cakes in the past, and a couple of weeks after the wedding, she’d be making one for Cache’s birthday. Which reminded her….
She picked up her phone despite the flour on her fingers. Can I use the barn for Cache’s birthday? she typed out in a text to Scarlett.
Sure, Scarlett answered. But I want a lunch date where you tell me everything that’s happened between the two of you as payment.
Karla thought that was a pretty steep price, and she hesitated to agree. In the end, she did, along with, It’s a surprise. We need a way to let everyone know about it except for him.
I’ll come to lunch with some ideas tomorrow, Scarlett messaged back, and there was no getting around the meal then.
She felt jittery and sick the next morning—about how she’d felt before going to church with Cache for the first time months ago. She set the rolls on the table at the same time Scarlett knocked and then entered—and she wasn’t alone.
Adele was with her, as was Sissy herself.
Karla felt absolutely ambushed, especially when she hadn’t even said hello yet when another knock sounded. Sissy opened the door and Amber walked in with Jeri and the baby. Brayden stole the spotlight for a few minutes, which was just fine with Karla, who had no idea what to say to her friends.
And she didn’t have enough food. She busied herself pulling another container of turkey chili out of the freezer and sticking it in the microwave. Adele migrated closer to her, and Karla had always liked her next-door neighbor.
“Feeling okay?” she asked.
“Not really,” Karla said, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. “I’m not good with groups.”
Laughter rang out behind her, and she turned to face the rest of her house. She had to do this. She couldn’t hide from everything anymore, and she couldn’t take back the evidence of her relationship with Cache.
“Still planning a trip to help your sister out?” Scarlett asked. “Remind me of those dates again.”
“August twenty-fifth through the thirty-first,” she said. “Right after Cache’s birthday.”
“Right.” Scarlett swiped on her phone and tapped in the info. “Got it in my calendar now.”
“How’s the cow cuddling going?” Amber asked, her waves and waves of hair falling over her shoulders in perfect curls. It almost seemed like everyone had agreed on topics before they’d shown up.
Adele with how she was feeling. Scarlett about a trip that had been on the calendar for a couple of months now. And now Amber with the cow cuddling.
The microwave beeped and she pulled out the chili to stir it. “Great,” she said. The chili was still frozen and she practically shoved it back into the microwave.
She slammed it closed at the same time her back door crashed open. “You’ve been talking to my brother behind my back?”
Cache stood there, and it was clear he’d lost his mind again. Did he not see all the women in her cabin?
He glanced around, seeming to suddenly come to his senses. He said, “I can’t believe you,” and turned and stormed out as quickly as he’d come in.
Karla stood there, the spoon she’d just used to stir the turkey chili still clutched in her hand.
“You better go after him,” Adele said, taking the spoon.
“Now,” Scarlett said as the roar of a truck engine filled the air.
Chapter 19
Cache could barely see he was so angry. His tires spit gravel behind him as he pulled away from Karla’s cabin. The sight of her in there, laughing with all of those women…it burned. Burned right through him, leaving nothing but smoke and ashes in its wake.
Laughing with them.
“Probably laughing at you,” he muttered, slowing to take the corner so he didn’t roll his truck. In his back pocket, his phone buzzed. He ignored it.
He didn’t want to talk to Karla right now, and the likely other person who’d be calling if not for her was Leo.
Leo.
He could not believe she’d been talking to him behind Cache’s back. In secret.
But Karla did almost everything in secret—he knew that. He wasn’t sure why he’d expected her to act differently with him.
At his cabin, he left the truck idling and ran inside to pack a bag. He didn’t need much. A couple changes of clothes. A few toiletries. His chargers and his laptop. Wallet. Driver’s license. Money.
He opened the cupboard above the microwave and pulled down a jar. He’d been cashing all of his cow cuddling checks and keeping the money there. The Lord had blessed him so much this summer, and as Cache stared at the bills, a measure of desperation pulled through him.
Why? ran through his mind, and he hated that question. He’d asked it when so many women had chosen Leo over him. When his mother had died. When they’d lost the dairy farm. When Karla wanted to keep everything about their relationship a secret.
He grabbed a handful of bills and folded them into his pocket. Another handful went in his wallet. He turned to leave, hoping he’d been fast enough to get away from the ranch without having to face Karla directly.
A knock sounded on the door before he could put the jar with the remaining money back. He hurried to do so and strode toward the more urgent sound as it happened again. He knew who would be there, and he didn’t want to talk.
Had had enough talking.
Enough lies.
Enough secrets.
He grabbed his suitcase and opened the door. Karla stood there, wringing her hands. She took him in from the top of his cowboy hat to the suitcase in his hands. “You’re leaving?”
“They need my help in Shiloh Ridge,” he said, brushing past her and heading for the idling truck. She’d parked behind him, though, and unless he wanted to bash in her car, he wasn’t leaving until she did.
