by Sable Hunter
Cade was about to turn nineteen years old, Abby couldn’t believe it! Her mother said they were all growing up too fast. Of course in Abby’s mind, she couldn’t age fast enough. Cade was going off to college and she was going to miss him like crazy. Oh, he’d be back. He promised he would come in often. Cade had decided to attend Texas A&M University in Bryan/College Station which wasn’t that far away from the ranch. And when he graduated, her father would make a place for him at El Camino. There was enough work running the ranch to keep all of the King boys busy and Sam counted Cade to be one of his sons, had since the day he’d come to live with them almost six years ago.
“Yea, this is going to be a special day for Cade. Mom invited everyone she could think of.” Justice remarked as he checked his mount’s feet and shoes.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Abby muttered under her breath. She hated watching older girls flirt with Cade. The ones he’d gone to high school with were bad enough, but now he’d meet college women and how could she compete with them?
Abby let her gaze wander over his way and then at each of her brothers. Their lives were changing so fast. Justice was almost out of school, working at the ranch and thinking about taking law enforcement training. Even though his father wanted him to head the company, Justice was considering the possibility of being a U. S. Marshal someday. Jase, second oldest, was about to be a sophomore in college, working on a degree in agriculture. Plans for the expansion of ranch programs was his goal. Shiloh was in his last year of high school and had already been recruited to play football for U. T. and the twins were just starting high school. Sam had laughed and said it was a good thing he had money, what with six kids to put through college – seven, counting Cade, and he always counted Cade.
“Getting him out of the house while Mom set up everything for the party was tricky.” Shiloh muttered as he came over to Abby and handed her a key. “Dad said for you to go in his office and get an envelope from off the top of his desk. It’s from the Rodeo Association.”
A niggle of uncertainty crept down Abby’s spine. “The Rodeo Association?”
No one answered her. A shout from Jase had them all crowding around to check a football playoff score.
“Why don’t you head on over, Abby.” Justice directed. “We’ll be on in a bit.” He gestured at her ever-present jeans and western shirt. “And get dressed up a little. This is a party.”
Abby looked down at her clothes. Dang it. This is exactly what she’d planned on wearing. No wonder Cade never made any type of a move on her. Oh, they had exchanged some heated glances, but again – that could have been her overactive imagination too. “Oh, all right,” she mumbled as she went to her horse. “Why don’t you have to dress up?”
Justice laughed. “The ladies like a cowboy.”
“Some cowboys, maybe.” Abby felt a little putout. Having six males always telling her what to do and how to do it was a pain. Over the years she’d learned how to mix it with them, but sometimes they still got the better of her.
“I’ve seen how you look at Cade, Abby. He’s too old for you, you know.” Justice said dryly, over his shoulder. “At least if you’re going to crush on him, you ought to try being more lady-like.”
“I do not have a crush on Cade!” She stage whispered with a vehemence. Her cheeks were flaming hot. “What if he heard you, Justice?” Abby fussed, a little too loudly, as she remounted to head to the ranch office, then to the house to change into something appropriately girly.
“What was I not supposed to hear?” Cade asked from across the way. His eyes were on Abby.
She shivered with nerves. “Nothing, Cade. Justice is just being a pain in the butt.” She’d give anything in the world if Cade just wanted to give her one kiss.
“You and that damn Native American hearing,” Justice shook his head, laughing. “The only person I remember who has bat hearing like you is Charlee Parker. She used to be able to hear a gnat fart from a mile away.”
“You know, I’ve never understood your relationship with Charlee. She used to be your shadow when we were kids.” Jase turned serious as he surveyed the rapidly changing look on Justice’s face. In a matter of seconds it went from amused to sad to stoic.
“What’s so hard to understand? It’s simple. We don’t have any kind of relationship anymore. We outgrew each other. Charlee moved away. End of story.” Justice kept his tone flat and impersonal.
Jase pressed for more from his brother. “I know, I’m not saying you do. It was just odd to always have her underfoot and then – Bam! – she moved away. I’ve often wondered if something happened between the two of you.”
Justice looked off into the distance as if he were seeing something the rest of them couldn’t bring into focus. “She went to college, now she’s in med-school. I guess she’ll come back to take over her father’s practice someday. Who knows?”
Jase smiled, hearing more in his brother’s tone than his words betrayed. There was something more to all of this than he knew and one day he’d find out the rest of the story. “If she does come back here to practice medicine maybe you should go see her about that chronic grouchiness you’ve been experiencing lately. There could be a pill you could take, Viagra might do the trick.”
While the men bantered back and forth, Abby took the opportunity to ride off. At least the topic had changed from her and Cade to Justice and Charlee. For that she was grateful. Abby could only pretend sisterly affection or disinterest around Cade for so long. Apparently, she’d have to be more careful if Justice had picked up on it. Abby closed her eyes for a brief moment and sighed. When had she began to look at Cade as someone more than a brother or a friend? Abby pulled her hat down and groaned. Almost from the beginning, if she were honest. He was her rock. Let anyone give her an iota of trouble at school and he was in their face.
From the time Cade came to live with them, he fit in. They’d rode together, of course; but they’d also camped, fished, played hide-n-seek, built treehouses and went on vacations as a family. She could remember movie nights, card games, and swimming trips. And through it all, Cade made his own place in her life that no one else could fill. He was a part of her now, a part she couldn’t imagine doing without. The only problem was – now she wanted more than mere friendship or family camaraderie. Abby loved Cade with her whole heart, but as a man – not a brother.
Everywhere she looked, there were memories. Here she was, sixteen years old and she had absolutely no desire to leave her home. Everything she wanted was right here – the ranch, her family and Cade. El Camino was in their blood. Miles and miles of rolling hills, flowing streams and stands of oak and cedar. Herds of Longhorn, Angus, quarter horses and sheep – groves of pecans and peaches, fields of cotton and acres and acres of hay meadow. Oil. Gas. Blue Rock. All of the bounty of Texas was found on El Camino. Their land had supported them and the family vowed to do the same for their home. Their relationship to the ranch wasn’t so much one of ownership but one of custodian.
When she rode closer to the front complex, Abby turned for the office. She would pick up whatever her dad needed before returning to the house and greeting their guests. If it was up to her, and she thought Cade possibly felt the same way, the party would only consist of family.
“Hey, Miss Abby.” Clifton Campbell, their foreman, greeted her with a smile. “We have a new baby calf in the barn,” he grinned at her mischievously. “I bet he would appreciate a visit from you.”
“Oh, I’ll check him out.” She assured him and she would. Abby loved the animals and named most of them. When they were ill or giving birth, she could be found at their side. Her dad always said she had a way with creatures. She wasn’t squeamish and when she was younger she’d had no qualms about kissing on them, ‘getting sugar’ Abby called it. Shiloh always called her ‘lips’ and said there were wanted posters of her all over the animal kingdom, warning them all to avoid her if they didn’t want to be smooched and hugged.
Pushing through the doub
le glass doors, Abby nodded to the receptionist and pointed toward her dad’s office. “I just have to pick up some mail for my Dad, Lori.” Sometimes she forgot what a big operation this was. There was almost a hundred employees on El Camino, twenty in the office alone. They did everything from keeping up with the registration papers for the purebreds, to buying feed for the animals, to payroll, equipment maintenance and oil royalties.
Sam King’s office suited his status – massive desk, western art, leather furniture and a bottle of fine scotch on the credenza. She stepped around the desk and scanned the papers until her eye fell on an envelope from the rodeo association. Picking it up, she couldn’t help herself. Abby looked, pulling out the letter and reading it, her heart in her throat.
Cade had qualified for the professional rodeo circuit. “Damn,” she whispered. This wasn’t easy. To qualify, a cowboy had to compete in rodeos until they won a thousand dollars in prize money. That didn’t seem like much, but when they signed up for any rodeo, another cowboy with a PR card could knock them out of the competition. So, sometimes it was a long time for the young men to get a chance to compete and even longer to win.
It hadn’t been that hard for Cade. He was good.
Abby set down hard in her dad’s big brown leather chair. Running her finger over the gold studs on the arms, she considered what this would mean. Cade would leave. He would be on the road for months at a time.
She would never see him.
Tears began to run down her cheeks. In her mind and heart, she thought he would stay on the ranch and finally – FINALLY – notice that she was in love with him.
“Something wrong, Miss King?”
Abby looked up at Lori and gave her a tremulous smile. “Growing pains, Lori. Just growing pains.”
***
“Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Cade, Happy Birthday to you.”
He held up his hand to halt the singing. “Thank you, thank you.”
First, he hugged Amelia King. This was as regular as clockwork. She gave every family member a ‘surprise’ birthday party and he was lucky enough to be no exception. “Thanks, mama.” He whispered in her ear and Cade could tell from the way she hugged him that the honorary title meant a lot to her.
“Happy Birthday, my beautiful boy.” She kissed him on the cheek. “The day you came to us was a blessing.”
“I love you. I love all of you.” He hugged her hard.
Turning around, he sought Abby. Always he gravitated to Abby. She was the lodestar in his universe. He wanted her so badly he ached. He’d waited for years for her to grow up and he still had a couple more to go before he could approach her with a clear conscience. She was just sweet sixteen, still too young for him to make a move.
From across the large, elegant room Abby smiled at him. But she looked sad. The thought of someone upsetting her made Cade tense up and want to slay dragons on her behalf. Their eyes locked and it was as if all of the well-wishers in the room disappeared and it was only him and her in the universe. Holding her gaze, he began to weave his way through the crowd, shaking hands and accepting congratulations. But his attention never really wavered. Abby was his fantasy girl. Long dark hair, big blue eyes and the face of an angel.
“Excuse me,” a female voice sounded near his shoulder. “Watch where you’re going, young man!”
“I’m sorry,” Cade apologized, stopping to see if he’d injured the lady or stepped on her toes or spilled her drink. “Forgive me, please.”
“What is someone like you doing at Amelia King’s party?” Her sneer and snide comment took Cade by complete surprise. It had been years since he’d faced prejudice like this. Being accepted and protected by the King’s had isolated him from those who would look down on him because of the color of his skin or how his last name sounded on their lips.
“Actually,” he tried to give her a friendly smile, “the party is for me, ma’am.”
Abby had seen Deirdre Earnhardt accost Cade. The snide matron had been her mother’s friend years ago, but had moved out of state before Cade had come to live with them. Now, she was back and apparently unaware how the King family dynamics had changed.
“For you?” Deirdre huffed. “Hardly possible. Don’t just stand there gawking, get me a drink before I report you to your supervisor.”
Abby moved faster, insinuating herself between Cade and the prejudice woman. “Cade isn’t staff, Ms. Earnhardt. He’s one of us.”
Instead of apologizing, she tossed her head and looked down her nose at the both of them. “Surely, the King family hasn’t deteriorated to that extent.” She looked around. “Where’s your mother?”
Abby was furious. Not for one moment did she think her mother would disagree. Taking Deirdre Earnhardt by the elbow, she began to walk. “I’m so sorry you have to leave. But I understand that you have to go.”
“Go?” Ms. Earnhardt pulled away with a jerk. “Have you forgotten who I am?”
“Not for a moment, ma’am.” Abby remembered who she was very well. Her family owned one of the oil refineries in Houston. But money didn’t give her license to mistreat Cade. “I know exactly who you are.”
“Step aside, young lady.” She barked.
Cade came close to her side. She felt his heat. “Abby, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” She faced down her mother’s ex-friend. That fact, she didn’t doubt – once Amelia heard the story, she’d be on Deirdre Earnhardt like white on rice. “Cade belongs here. You don’t.”
Cade thought the older woman was going to have a stroke. They had attracted quite a bit of attention, including Abby’s Dad.
“Problem?” He asked, sidling up next to them.
“No, sir,” Abby said calmly. “Ms. Earnhardt is just leaving.” Sam smiled and let Abby continue to show the woman the door. Cade was following, in case Abby needed something.
“Hold up, son,” Sam King caught his arm. “I need you to come with me.”
“But…Abby…”
“Can handle her,” the older man drawled, “I have something to say and I want everybody to hear it.”
Sam found a spot by the fireplace and faced the crowd. “This is a special day, my friends. Thank you all for coming to our party. I know many of you have presents for Cade, I have one myself.” He looked at Cade. “You’ll find the family present for you in the barn. Abby will take you there as soon as I give you this.” He held out his hand and Cade went to him. “This is a present you gave yourself, Cade. But I have the privilege of putting it in your hand. What’s in this envelope will probably mean more to me than it will others, because I walked this same path. And this is also where I found you, my son.” He smiled, proudly.
Cade took the piece of paper from Sam King’s hand. Maybe it was the excitement or all the people who surrounded him, but he wasn’t connecting the dots. Taking the card from the envelope, it finally registered. “I’m a professional rodeo rider.”
“Yes, you are!” Sam clapped him on the shoulder. A chorus of shouts and applause went up.
Cade and Abby’s eyes locked again.
He looked at her and swore in his heart that their time would come.
She looked at Cade and promised to wait for him forever – she just hoped it didn’t take that long.
Chapter One
Ten Years Later and Everything’s Changed
“If you think Cade Tallbull can sleep in my house, in the room next to me, until the wedding—you’re crazy!” Abby flung a stalk of celery at her favorite brother.
Jase caught the celery and took a big bite. Chomp. “I agree. He should be staying in your room. You two have danced around each other for years.”
Abby blushed. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. You know we can’t stand one another.” Dang, her nose itched. She was elbow deep in a pan of dressing, crumbling the cornbread and mixing the chicken broth with the vegetables. Just because they were celebrating her brother’s wedding to the Land Shark on Chr
istmas Day didn’t mean they couldn’t have their traditional dinner before the hanging, uh, ceremony. Abby was a stickler for tradition.
“I think thou both doth protesteth too much.” Chomp.
Abby rolled her eyes. “No, Shakespeare, the dislike is real and very mutual, I assure you.” Actually, Abby wouldn’t have admitted to Jase the truth of how she felt about Cade if he held her upside down over a bed of fire ants.
Jase studied his sister’s face. “I know this is ancient history, but there was a time when you two actually liked one another.” He shook a half-eaten stalk of celery at Abby. “What happened?”
“We grew up.” She waved her hands in the air. “We grew apart. He grew obnoxious.”
“Well, you’d better get over it. He’ll be here any second. We’re all double-bunking and we gave Cade’s room to Pam’s sister and her husband. With Mom and Dad coming in and all of Pam’s relatives staying here, there’s not an empty room at the main house or a motel vacancy for thirty square miles. Because of the storm, lots of places don’t even have electricity. We’re lucky to have the generators. Do you realize this is the coldest winter in decades? Hell, we’ve got ice on the ponds almost thick enough to skate. This reminds me of what Granddad used to tell about our ancestor, Jane Long, and the bear. Do you remember? She wrote in her diary about when Galveston Bay froze over and they watched a bear walk from the mainland to the island.”
Abby rolled her eyes. “You and your fascination with family history. I’m not worried about the cold or a bear.” Cade was a different story. “You do realize we’ll kill each other if we’re left alone for more than five minutes, don’t you?”
Jase held up his hands in the same defensive posture he’d utilized for their entire history as siblings. Abby was small, but feisty. Living in the house with five brothers and Cade, she’d learned early on to talk loudly and carry a big stick. “He understands the situation and he knows you well. I’m sure he’ll arrive in a helmet and appropriate body armor.”
