by Merry Farmer
“Did other kids at school know how their parents were?” Icy gravel crunched under Scott’s tires as he pulled his car as close as he could to Casey’s front door and put on the parking break without turning it off.
“Yep,” Casey answered. “A few of the guys, like guess who, thought that meant Melody and Calliope would be easy, but boy were they in for a surprise when they tried to get fresh with them.”
“Oh?”
Casey giggled at the memory. “Ronny’s buddy, Tony, took Calliope out to the movies once and tried to cop a feel in the dark.”
Scott chuckled. “And?”
“And Calliope gave him what he wanted…sort of.”
He laughed harder. “She did?”
“Oh yeah.” Casey grinned from ear to ear. “She reached across the seat, grabbed his crotch, and squeezed as hard as she could.” Scott burst into laughter. “We all used to joke that Tony would have been a baritone instead of a tenor, if not for that night.”
“Good for Calliope,” Scott said with a nod. “I guess no one tried anything funny after that.”
“If they did, I never found out about it,” Casey said and sighed happily at the memory. That kind of happiness didn’t seem wrong, for some reason. Those were memories from a time when everything was still innocent and whole. It seemed right to laugh and smile about those things.
“So,” Scott began, sliding closer to her, even though his car’s center console kept the two of them apart. “What would you do if I tried something like that?” Even in the dark of night, only the outdoor floodlight near the kitchen door for illumination, Casey could see the heated mischief in his eyes.
Her body throbbed to life. More recent memories—just as sweet and happy as those from her past—assailed her. She swayed toward him. “I don’t know,” she said in a low, promising voice. “You’d have to try it to find out.”
“Really?” he hummed.
He undid his seatbelt and reached for her. Casey only barely had time to unclasp her own seatbelt before their mouths met. His kiss was hot and deep in spite of the awkward positions they were forced into. Casey closed her eyes, letting herself sink into that kiss as if plunging into a warm pool.
She felt a fumbling near her stomach, and the front of her coat sagged open. A moment later, Scott’s hand brushed against her waist. It didn’t stop there, though. His fingers burrowed under her sweater, tugged at the hem of her shirt, then skimmed their way up the flesh of her side. She sucked in a breath, and Scott took advantage of her open mouth to slide his tongue against hers. At the same time, his hand sought out her breast, cupping her. He ran his thumb across her nipple as his lips teased her. In an instant, her nipple pinched tight, and her core throbbed.
She took a page out of Calliope’s book, reaching around the bulky console between them and under the hem of his coat. They both sucked in a breath as her hand closed over the bulge in his jeans. Only, instead of squeezing, like Calliope had, she caressed and stroked him as fully as she could through the thick layer of denim. Scott hummed low in his throat all the same, too distracted by the pleasure she was giving him to remember to kiss or fondle her in return.
For a moment, Casey seriously entertained the idea of unzipping his jeans and stroking him until he came, right there in the car. The sense of power that even the thought of doing that gave her left her tingling with desire. But even though the car windows were starting to fog up, it was undeniably freezing outside, and he would have to drive home more of a mess than he needed to be. So reluctantly, she withdrew her hand and inched toward the passenger door.
“Do you have to go?” Scott asked, voice deep and rough with pent-up passion.
Leaving him was the last thing Casey wanted to do, but there was still a bigger consideration in front of her than scratching her own itch, or Scott’s. Wordlessly, she nodded.
Scott took a long, shaky breath and nodded as well. “If you—” He stopped, pressing his lips together as if he was in pain.
Casey had the feeling he’d been about to say that if she changed her mind, he would be ready, day or night. Even that was a comfort and a bolster to her confidence. “Let’s get this whole law thing taken care of first,” she whispered, need as clear in her voice as it was in his.
“Okay,” he agreed grudgingly. “Maybe it can be our big reward once we defeat the Bonnevilles.”
“Absolutely,” Casey sighed.
She leaned toward him, intending to give him a goodnight kiss. But between the riot of sensation and emotion still filling her and the hungry look in Scott’s eyes, she thought twice and pulled back, opening the door. She wouldn’t make the mistake of indulging her own desires before settling her family business again.
“’Night, Scott,” she whispered instead and climbed out into the icy night air. “I—” It would have been so easy to tell him she loved him, give him with words what she wasn’t yet ready to give with her body, but even that felt like a betrayal. “Sleep tight,” she said instead.
She was reasonably certain she would barely sleep at all.
Chapter Seventeen
Scott got it. He totally understood why Casey didn’t want to get too close while they were in the middle of fighting for his house and her ranch. At least, that’s why he assumed she didn’t want to jump back into bed with him. There was still that nagging doubt at the back of his mind that something else was going on that she wasn’t sharing with him. As much as he wished she’d shed her fears and open up to him—and slide back into his bed—logic told him that she had to work at her own pace.
Although he really wished he could discover a way to let him help her quicken that pace.
But if space was what she needed, space was what she would get. They decided to split their efforts to woo city council members over to their side. So while she was off seeking out Louise Meyers—who she insisted would be an easy sell, since Mrs. Meyers had been one of her mom’s best friends, not to mention her old racing coach—Scott spent his lunch break on Friday paying a visit to Darren Ross’s law office.
“Scott Martin,” Darren greeted him, getting up from his desk and walking around to shake hands when Darren’s secretary showed Scott into his office. Scott was impressed by the man’s firm handshake. “You’re becoming something of a celebrity around here.”
Scott arched a wary eyebrow and pushed his glasses up his nose. “I hope that’s a good thing.”
Darren laughed and gestured for him to take a seat in one of the large, comfy chairs in front of his desk. “It is, it is. I keep running into conversations about your house plans wherever my partner, Adam, and I go. We’re big on alternative housing ideas.” He sat in his chair across from Scott, posture relaxed.
Scott’s hopes soared. “Really?” Maybe this meeting wouldn’t be as much of a challenge as he’d assumed it would be when he heard how much of a no-nonsense, plain-dealer Darren was.
“You haven’t heard about the water tower yet?” Darren grinned like a kid in a candy store.
“No.” Scott smiled.
“A couple years back, the city council voted to tear the old water tower on the west side of town down. It hadn’t been used since the railroad tracks were moved farther south back in the sixties. Adam and I offered to buy it, and by some miracle, the city council agreed.”
“What would you want with an old water tower?” Scott’s curiosity was piqued.
Darren grinned, steepling his fingers and wiggling his eyebrows. “We converted it into a living space.”
Scott blinked and shook his head. “You converted an old water tower into a living space?”
“Yep.” Darren leaned back, all victorious smiles. “We installed a small elevator to reach the tank, reinforced the tank and put in a floor and windows. The windows are actually navy surplus ship’s portholes.”
“You’re kidding.” Scott’s heart beat harder. Surely a guy who had taken such a risk to build something so outlandish would vote against a law that would prevent him from constructin
g something that was downright tame by comparison.
Darren shrugged and went on. “It’s a small space, and it doesn’t replace our house, but the tower has a full kitchen, a wet room, and sleeping and entertainment space. In fact, my daughter and her husband used it on New Year’s for a romantic rendezvous.”
Scott couldn’t help but smile at the thought…and miss the feel of Casey in his arms even more. “So you understand what I’m going for when I talk about my dreams for a completely green house,” he said.
“I think I do.” Darren turned more serious, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs. “Is there any other location in Haskell where you’d be willing to build your house?”
Instantly, Scott’s hopes plummeted. Darren might not be an easy sell after all. He took a breath and rubbed the lower half of his face to help change gears. “There are probably a dozen other spots where I could build,” he admitted. “But I’ve already purchased the spot I want.”
Darren gave him a knowing smile. “This wouldn’t, by any chance, have anything to do with a certain Miss Casey Flint, would it?”
Scott smiled, working hard to get a sense of where Darren was going with his question. “It might.” He played it cool.
“I hear the two of you are a pretty hot item these days,” Darren went on.
“We’re dating,” Scott confirmed. “Things are going pretty well.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Darren’s expression grew distant and thoughtful for a moment. “I’ve been worried about Casey this past year. Everyone has.”
“Her mother?” Scott suggested.
Darren nodded. “Hester was a good friend of mine. Haskell prides itself on accepting all sorts, but Adam and I still encountered a lot of resistance when we moved to town. It made a real difference when she took a stand and included us in her circle.”
There didn’t seem to be an appropriately respectful way to answer that, so Scott just nodded.
“It was a huge blow to everyone when Hester died, especially considering how brave she’d been while fighting cancer. We all mourned, but no one as hard as Casey.” He took a breath, shifting in his seat, melancholy descending on him. “I have two daughters around Casey’s age, and I can’t imagine how they’d do if their mom passed away after suffering through all that.” He paused, then shook his head, taking in a breath. “I’m happy to see that Casey is embracing life again. A few people I’ve talked to about things seem to think you’re good for her.”
“I hope so,” Scott said, meaning it like he’d never meant anything before. “She’s special. She’s constantly surprising me.” A smile spread across his face as he remembered her sudden bursts of energy whenever she felt she had a cause to take up…not to mention how bold she’d been in the car the other night. If only she hadn’t stopped.
A sudden thought grabbed hold of him. He met Darren’s eyes. “You don’t happen to have any idea why she’s fighting so hard against this law, do you?”
Darren let out a wistful laugh. “I’d think that one would be obvious.” Scott didn’t interrupt, so Darren leaned forward, resting his forearms on his desk. “Clearly, she doesn’t want her ranch to run into any risk of having to be sold, especially not to the Bonnevilles.”
“Clearly.” Scott nodded, encouraging him to go on.
“But if you ask me, it has far more to do with not wanting to lose her mom than it does with the land itself.”
Scott’s brow knit in confusion. “Forgive me, but I thought she already lost her mom.”
A sad smile spread across Darren’s face. “There’s a difference between death and losing someone. It took me years to admit to myself who I really was because I lived in terror of losing my wife and daughters, my family. But the truth catches up with us all eventually. And I’m so much happier being true to myself now.”
“Casey would be much happier embracing the life she has in front of her instead of…” Scott stopped speaking his thought aloud in the middle of it. It didn’t feel right to say she would be happier if she started thinking of him instead of her mom. He wasn’t asking her to do that either. But the gnawing speck of uncertainty that had lived inside of him for weeks was suddenly growing to be a much bigger idea about what was going on with her.
He took a deep breath to clear his thoughts and focused on the mission in front of him. “So, Casey aside, do we have your support against the Bonnevilles’ proposed law?”
Darren’s expression remained neutral, and he rubbed his chin with lawyerly calm. “I’ll think about it.”
Once again, Scott’s heart sank.
“It’s not that I don’t support your building project,” Darren went on, holding up his hands, “but I do think that there could be a potential problem with the historic ranches being broken up and sold to developers, now that Paradise Space Flight is here. I do think there needs to be some sort of law in place to prevent land speculators from buying those ranches wholesale from desperate ranchers and breaking them up to be sold for condos.”
“I see.” It was a challenge not to feel bitter about the answer.
“But maybe there’s a better way of going about that,” Darren finished. “I’ll do some research and talk to Adam about it before next week’s vote.” He stood and came around his desk to shake Scott’s hand again.
Scott did his best to remain positive. “Thanks,” he said. “And thanks for the advice about Casey too.”
“No problem. She’s a good kid, and I’m pretty sure you are too.”
It was a kind endorsement, one that Scott instinctively felt meant more than simply voting against a law. But Scott still walked out of the office with more worry than he’d gone in with.
Casey’s heart thumped wildly and a lump the size of Montana formed in her throat as she drove her truck up the long, gravel and ice driveway to Louise Meyer’s house. She hadn’t been out to see Louise in more than a year, but she could have taken the turn off to the stable and driven into one of the snow-packed parking spots in her sleep. A deep, horrible ache started in her gut as she cut the engine and slipped out of the truck. It was like coming home again…after the house had been sold and demolished by the new owners.
She’d known approaching Louise would be hard, but she insisted that she be the one to do it. She’d told Scott it was because Louise had been one of her mom’s best friends and because she herself had known Louise well. She hadn’t let on just how well, though. And if she was being honest with herself, choosing to make this painful visit on her own was just the kind of punishment she needed after the way she’d come so close to losing sight of what was important the other night.
Familiar scents of hay and horse cut through the icy snap in the air as she rounded the corner of the stable and crossed through the half-open door. Louise’s stable was state-of-the-art, complete with high tech temperature controls, multifunctional stalls and equipment, and equine veterinary supplies that would make the finest vets green with envy. All of it explained why Louise was the best rodeo coach in Sweetwater County and why her team routinely took all the top prizes.
Casey had to clap a hand to her chest to stop the ache in her heart. “Louise?” she called out, her voice tense and high.
Shuffling came from one of the open office doors at the far end of the stable. A moment later, Louise popped her head out with a look of confusion. “Oh my gosh, that is you, Casey.”
She came striding forward, almost at a run, and clasped Casey in a bear-hug. Tears instantly stung at the back of Casey’s eyes.
She did her best to hide them as she pulled away and held Louise at arm’s length. “Hi, Louise.” Somehow, she managed to smile like nothing was wrong.
“Goodness, it’s been so long since I saw you.” Louise beamed, still holding Casey’s arms and studying her as though she were a work of art.
“It’s only been a few days.” Casey laughed and tried to play it casual. “I was at the city council meeting, remember?”
“That hardly counts.” Loui
se brushed her explanation off with a laugh, cheeks glowing with joy. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you here, where you belong.”
Casey’s gut twisted. The warm welcome was wonderful. Everything around her felt good and right and natural, from the scent of the hay to the whirr of the fans above them. And with every one of those good feelings came a twice as powerful hollowness. It was only right if her mom was there. She had to force herself not to look around, searching the stalls to see which horse her mom was brushing down or how many bales of hay she was toting around to make sure everyone was fed.
As if sensing her thoughts, Louise lay a hand on Casey’s cheek and said, “Your mom would be so proud to see you walk back in here.”
Casey was barely able to swallow the lump in her throat. “Actually,” she began slowly, “I’m not here to ride or work with the horses.”
“No?” The first hints of worry pinched around Louise’s eyes. “Well, if you just want to talk, I’m all ears.” Her smile came back. “I’ve been hoping you’d come talk to me for months now.”
Every nerve in Casey’s body screamed. This wasn’t supposed to be so hard. It wasn’t about picking up her old life where she’d left off. That was all gone now, and she didn’t deserve the happiness it had brought.
“I came to talk to you about the city council vote,” she pushed out before she lost her nerve and fled from Louise entirely.
Louise blinked. “The council vote?”
“Yeah.” If she was going to do this, she’d have to get it all out fast so that she could leave. It was getting hard to breathe with so many memories and so much temptation around her. “You and I both know that the law Ronny and his dad are proposing isn’t about preserving historical ranches at all, but more about cheating us out of our land so they can buy it.”
She’d spoken too fast, but Louise had caught every word. Her expression flattened to a frown. “I’m not going to pretend that those Bonnevilles aren’t a sneaky lot or that they aren’t trying to pull something over on us all,” she began. “But I do think we need to be careful about what happens to historic properties around here.”
