Blake met Cat’s gaze again. “It’s good to see you.”
Cat offered him a smile. “I imagine I’ll see you at the next horse club meeting.”
“I’m sure you will.” He touched the brim of his hat, then turned and headed back to the truck where Demi was waiting.
The pounding of her heart hadn’t slowed down from the first moment she’d seen him. Not until his truck was traveling down the road, kicking up dust in its wake, did her heart rate start going back to normal. She was barely aware of sixteen-year-old Brett walking up to stand beside her. He must have just finished putting up Shelton. His truck was still parked beside her own.
She and Brett watched Blake and Demi driving away from the Folsom Ranch, until they couldn’t see the truck anymore.
Chapter 2
Monday morning, Cat rested her head on her hand, elbow on her desk, as she studied George Johnson’s tax documents on her large screen monitor. The Johnsons seemed to own half the businesses in Prescott and there were almost as many Johnsons as there were McBrides.
The thought of the McBrides once again brought Blake to mind. He’d been on her mind a lot since she’s seen him on Saturday. So many times she’d started to look for that list of 4-H’ers with Blake and Demi’s phone number on it but something had stopped her.
She wasn’t sure what that something was. Maybe it was the pain she’d been through since the last time she’d seen him.
If he was still angry with her for what she’d done all those years ago, he hadn’t shown it. Had it been pity that stayed his anger? The scar across her face and her altered features could have taken away whatever fury he might feel at the way she’d left him.
Cat grabbed her mug, got up from her seat, and walked out of her office toward the break room to pour herself another cup of coffee. The smell of coffee was strong in the room as she entered, and she breathed the scent in. She filled her mug from the carafe before setting it back on the warmer. After dumping plenty of creamer and sugar in her coffee and stirring it with a spoon, she went to the sink and rinsed off the spoon. Then she turned off the warmer and washed the coffee pot. She would be the last to leave and needed to leave everything clean for tomorrow.
Without meaning to, she glanced at the mirror over the sink and paused. After all of this time since she’d been given a new face and had borne the scar, she still couldn’t get used to seeing herself in the mirror. She knew she wasn’t ugly…she just wasn’t her anymore. The scar detracted from whatever beauty the plastic surgeon might have given her. Her nose was smaller, her lips a little fuller, her cheekbones not quite so high.
One thing she did still have, was a dimple when she smiled, and of course her golden-brown eyes were still large with dark lashes framing them. A dimple and golden eyes were all that remained of her former appearance.
The scar…that was the hardest to look at. Life had changed for her and she’d seldom dated after the accident.
A couple of years after the accident, she had married Eddie and they’d had Melanie. Things were fine at the start, but had eventually turned rocky, especially when he’d started to drink. It was a couple of beers here and there, but it had hit Cat hard since both of her parents had been alcoholics.
After Melanie died, any connection she and Eddie had shared was gone.
She’d had other relationships, but none of them had been serious. It was like she’d lost the ability to truly love anyone after Blake.
Despite what she’d been through with Eddie, she’d had Melanie. That had been what really mattered, so she couldn’t regret Eddie.
As far as relationships since her divorce were concerned, had she really given anyone else a chance? If she was honest with herself, she’d closed herself off, hiding behind the scar and pain of past failed relationships.
With a sigh, she turned away from the mirror, carrying her coffee mug back to her desk. Cat had been hired because one of the CPAs, the Hartford of Hartford and Lake, had retired. She was still working through his client list, familiarizing herself with the clients he’d been working with. She’d made it through the J’s so far.
Another accountant and a receptionist worked in the office along with the CPA, but they’d already left for the day and Cat was alone with her client records and her thoughts. She sat at her desk and scooted her chair up as she set the mug on her desk.
Since she’d arrived back in Prescott permanently to care for her grandmother, no one had recognized Cat. She was fine with that. She’d run into a couple of people she’d known and had to reintroduce herself. One of them was Karla Jennings who had convinced her to take on the horse club.
Over the past few years, Cat had only popped into town on weekends here and there to see her grandmother, then left before she could run into anyone she’d known from the past. The town was big enough that she could arrive and leave without questions.
Where once she’d been considered to have a sparkling personality and had been called a social butterfly by some folks, Cat was now a little more reserved and kept to herself. She’d probably make friends easier if she let herself go again.
Her so-called sparkling personality had been partly real and partly a façade to cover her true emotions. With a physically abusive and alcoholic father and an alcoholic mother, there hadn’t been a lot to smile about at home. Away from her parents’ house, Cat could be someone else entirely. She could be the girl she was meant to be.
When her mother had died, things had worsened with her father and he’d become more and more violent. Grandmother Hayden stepped in and took Cat in as a teenager and her life had improved. Her grandmother was a strict but loving woman. The fact that she was so ill now made Cat heartsick.
The only one who had ever known what Cat had been through with her father and mother was Blake. When she’d shared her secrets with him, he’d wanted to go straight to her house and beat the shit out of her father. She’d had to beg Blake to drop it. It had been all she could do to stop him.
A loud ringing jerked her out of her thoughts, startling her, and she realized it was the office phone. She took a deep breath as she brought herself to the present.
“Hartford and Lake,” she answered.
It was one of James Lake’s clients and she jotted down the person’s name and phone number and disconnected from the call.
As she hung up, her cell phone rang and she checked the display to see that it was Grandma Hayden.
Cat put a smile in her voice. “Hi, Grandma.”
“Hello, sweetheart.” The elderly woman’s voice held only a hint of a waver despite the illness eating away at her.
“Need me at your house?” Cat did her best not to show the concern she felt. Her grandmother didn’t like worry or pity, a trait shared by her granddaughter.
“I just want you to pick up a few things at the grocery store, if you can,” Grandma Hayden said.
“No problem.” Cat grabbed a sticky note with the accounting firm’s name on it. “What do you need?”
Grandma named a few things that Cat scratched down on the notepaper.
“Got it.” She put down the pen she was holding. “See you when I stop by.”
For years, Cat’s cousin, Margo, had cared for Grandma, but Margo had passed away from a heart attack a couple of months ago. Their grandmother had refused to go to a retirement home and, despite what Grandma Hayden said, the elderly woman needed someone to check in on her periodically and make sure she was all right. As far as Cat was concerned, it should be family. Grandma Hayden had all but raised her and Cat wanted to be there for her.
Cat went back to working on George’s documents. She liked numbers. Liked how neat and orderly they were in comparison to her life, which had always seemed out of control.
Her thoughts flashed back to being in math class with Blake. She’d always excelled at math and would get an A to Blake’s B every semester. Grades were a form of competition between them from the time they’d started high school. He beat her in Spanish and
biology but she had him in math and English. They’d both been in FFA, studying agricultural education, and were usually in a dead tie there. They’d graduated in the top ten of their class.
Warmth flushed through her as she thought about how good Blake had looked. He’d always been muscular with a great body, but damn, he was even hotter now than he had been then. He’d filled out in a hard, sexy way that had made her heart race and her body tingle from head to toe. Through his shirt, it had almost looked like his muscles had muscles. The thought caused a giggle to rise up inside her.
She’d known she’d run into Blake sooner or later, she just hadn’t expected to have the kind of reaction that she’d had. And she certainly hadn’t expected to be obsessing about him.
In front of her, the screen blurred. She bit her lower lip and tried to turn her attention back to her work.
When her thoughts kept returning to Blake, she groaned and put her head on her arms in front of the keyboard. What would her life be like now if she’d never left Blake or Prescott?
It didn’t do any good to think that way.
She finally gave up trying to concentrate on her accounting work, shut down her computer, and took her coffee mug to the kitchen to rinse it out. She grabbed her purse, headed for the front entrance, and locked it behind her.
Humming to herself, she got into her truck and soon was on her way to her grandmother’s favorite grocery store.
She passed the local swimming pool and waves of memories washed over her. She’d had a summer job as a lifeguard and Blake would meet her there. Sometimes they’d go swimming and she remembered laughing with her friends, water fights with Blake, and stealing kisses in the deep end of the pool.
Often, after she got off work, they’d go out for pizza or play miniature golf, or go to the arcade. She couldn’t help a smile at the thought of the things they’d done together.
The whole town was filled with memories. It seemed that everywhere she turned, something evoked thoughts of the past. Every now and then she would find herself wishing things had been different and that she’d made different choices, but then chided herself. She was lucky to be alive and to be healthy and relatively whole. The scar reminded her of that every day when she looked at herself in the mirror.
It was Monday afternoon and the grocery store wasn’t too crowded. Cat pushed her basket up and down the aisles, picking out things for herself and for her grandmother. Cat had never been crazy about cooking and living on her own gave her the excuse to make fast and easy meals. She figured she wouldn’t make the best cook if she ever did get married, but she could nuke a mean ready-made dinner and she could dial the phone with the best of them to get carryout from her favorite restaurants.
She did, however, love fruit and fresh vegetables and her hamster, Sam, appreciated them too, especially apple chunks. She guided the cart to the produce section and immediately started gathering ingredients for salsa, which included plum tomatoes, garlic, jalapeños, a habanero pepper, onions, and limes.
Just as she was twisting a tie on the bag of jalapeños, she looked up and saw a familiar face. She turned from her basket and looked at the woman she’d known since elementary school. “Jackie?”
The pretty blonde glanced from the carrots to Cat. “Yes,” Jackie said. “Do I know you?”
Cat moved closer. “Cat Hayden.”
“Cat?” Jackie looked surprised and set down the bunch of carrots she’d picked up. “Is that really you?”
With a smile, Cat nodded.
Jackie reached out and hugged Cat who hugged her friend in return. Jackie stepped back. “It’s hard to believe it’s you. You don’t look anything like I remember.”
“Long story,” Cat said. “I was in an accident with a horse and had to have reconstructive surgery.” She was tired of having to explain herself every time she ran into someone she knew from the past, but there wasn’t much she could do about it without taping the explanation to her forehead.
Jackie’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry.”
Cat gave a casual shrug. “It was a long time ago. Not too long after I left Prescott.”
“With Toby Jennings,” Jackie said.
Cat sighed. “The biggest mistake of my life. Getting stomped on by a horse was a close second.”
“That bad, huh?” Jackie glanced at Cat’s shopping basket. “Are you here to stay?”
Cat set her bag of jalapeños in the cart. “I just moved back three months ago and I don’t plan on leaving.”
“Three months?” Jackie put her hands on her hips. “And you haven’t called me yet?”
Blake had said the same thing.
With a sheepish smile, Cat said, “I planned to.”
Jackie waved it off with a grin. “We need to go out for coffee. Or better yet, a drink after work sometime.” Jackie pulled her cell phone out of her purse. “Give me your number and I’ll call you.”
Cat gave her number to Jackie who put it into her contacts. When she finished, Jackie asked, hesitantly, “Have you talked with Blake?”
The sound of Blake’s name sent a burst of warmth through Cat, followed by a wistfulness she’d never expected. With a not-so-casual shrug, she tried to sound indifferent as she said, “I saw him Saturday.”
Jackie’s tone was hopeful. “Did you go out with him?”
Cat found herself wishing they had as she shook her head. “His daughter is in the 4-H horse club that I’m working with now. I saw him when he picked her up.”
“Oh.” Jackie sounded disappointed. “What did he have to say?”
“Not much.” Cat put a smile on her face. “I told him what a great rider his daughter is. She’s a better barrel racer than I was at her age.”
Jackie raised her brows. “Considering all of the trophies you racked up over the years, that’s pretty damned good.”
Cat nodded. “I think she’s a little star.”
“I’d better get going.” Jackie gave Cat another hug. “I’ll call you. We have lots to catch up on.”
“Yes, we do,” Cat said when they parted. “Lots.”
Cat finished her shopping and tried not to think about the way Jackie had studied her, obviously unable to keep from looking at the scar. It was always that way whether she was first meeting a person or had run into someone she’d known before the accident.
After she paid for the groceries, she pushed her cart out to the parking lot and loaded her groceries into the passenger seat of her truck and headed to her grandma’s. Considering each of them lived alone, there weren’t a lot of groceries to load.
Despite her illness, Grandma Hayden had insisted on Cat having her own place rather than moving in with her grandmother like she’d offered to. Grandma had said that Cat needed her freedom. Cat had relented and found a house around the corner from her grandma’s so she could be there in no time if the elderly woman needed her.
When she arrived at Grandma Hayden’s, Cat carried in the groceries after unlocking the door using the key she’d been given.
She tucked her keys into her pocket. “Hi, Grandma,” she called out as she took everything to the small kitchen.
Her grandma was in the pantry. Her petite figure was wasting away to nothing, making Cat heartsick. Grandma had always been stout and larger than life, and it was hard to see her this way.
Grandma Hayden turned around. For a moment Cat thought she saw pain flash across her grandmother’s face, but that was replaced with a smile.
“Thank you, Catharine,” she said as she looked at the bags Cat had just set on the table with noisy thumps.
“It was no problem.” Cat went to her grandma and hugged her. She smelled of lavender sachet and felt small and frail in Cat’s arms. When she drew away, she said, “I can’t stay long. I have groceries in the car that I need to take home and get into the fridge.”
“Supper on Sunday?” Her grandmother asked as she took a carton of eggs out of one of the bags.
“You know I wouldn’t miss it.” Cat put
a container of rainbow sherbet, her grandmother’s favorite, into the freezer.
“Good.” Grandma Hayden returned to the bags and took out a quart of milk. “I’m making fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Apple crumble is for dessert.”
“Yum.” Cat put her hand to her belly. “You know I love your fried chicken, no matter how bad it is for me.”
Grandma Hayden laughed. “Sweetie, I’ve been eating fried foods all my life, going on eighty-five years now, and I’ve done just fine.”
“Yes, you have.” Cat folded up the now empty plastic grocery bags and tucked them into the pantry. “Don’t worry, Grandma. Nothing will stop me from eating your fried chicken.” She smiled. “Just talking about it is making me hungry for it right now.” She turned back from the pantry. “I ran into Jackie Dunham at the grocery store.”
“How’s that girl doing?” Grandma Hayden asked. “What’s she been up to?”
“She looks great.” Cat thought about the pretty blonde. “Of course, she didn’t recognize me.” She stuffed her hand into her pocket and grasped her keys, which jingled when she pulled them out. “But we’re going out for coffee or a drink to catch up. She’s going to call me.”
“Good.” Grandma Hayden smiled. “You need to get out of that house more.”
Cat nodded. “I think you’re right.” She gave her grandmother a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’d better get those groceries home. I’ll see you on Sunday.”
“See you then, Catharine,” the elderly woman said.
As Cat started out of the room she looked over her shoulder. “Call me if you need anything before then.”
“Don’t you worry about me,” Grandma Hayden said. “I’ll be just fine.”
Cat gave her grandmother a little wave before she headed out the front door, locking it behind herself. As she jogged down the porch steps toward her car, memories came back to her of the times Blake had been waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, a sexy smile on his rough features. He’d always had a rough look about him, even when he was young. She’d loved the way he looked as well as the way he held himself, his easy stride, and his natural confidence.
Roping Your Heart Page 2
