Love Remains (4 OAKS)

by Gayle Eden

  Kane pulled on well-worn levis and brushed his teeth, combed his hair back and let it fall in the layers it was cut in, short on his nape and whatever uneven style Jenny at the salon did to it once every two months. Gargle, rinse, he then spat, and wiped his mouth. Though he pulled on a denim shirt, he didn’t button it. He left the bathroom to go to the kitchens and fix himself chili. Grabbing cornbread, and a cold beer, Kane went to the family room.

  Since his brothers moved in, and when Willow was there, they had added a big screen just on the side of fireplace. He turned it on but muted it, only half watching while he ate.

  When he was done, the beer consumed, he carried it back to the kitchens, brewed coffee, and took it out to the porch.

  Landscape lights were on and lanterns along the driveway glowed. Seated in a rocker, observing that the moon having risen, he drank— and made a decision. He would go into town the next day. He would see her. When he did, everything would be different. The memory would be wiped away, and he could put it rest—and get on with the routine of his life.

  It was not a cure for his restlessness. He envied Rio and Carter. Maybe holding on to everything tied to Sage was why he couldn’t find a woman and commit to something more than casual sex on occasion.

  Chapter 2

  Kane left the ranch the next day, driving to the town of Maple Grove, straight to the Rocking Horse Café. He didn’t see Sage. He felt as if he would know her if he saw her, and none of the waiters that were serving lunch, were her.

  He shrugged, ate, and then headed to the grocery store, having a few things to pick up.

  He’d more or less wrote the trip off as a waste, when he spied a woman with long black hair, half of it up in a clip, standing by a row greeting cards. She was reading one of the cards.

  He watched a waft of air stir a spiraling strand loose from temple to cheek. Kane forgot time or place for the long moments, taking in her full curves enhanced by a summer dress with tiny flowers and vines. It had two-inch straps that crisscrossed in the back. The neckline was square. She had on flat slip-on sandals. The dress hem reached above the knee, showing her nice legs.

  She plucked another card, read it, and tucked that strand of hair back behind her ear. Whatever she read caused her full lips to curve into a smile.

  He walked toward her and stopped a foot away. “Sage?”

  The card fluttered from her hand. Head turning toward him, her violet eyes widened. She whispered, “Kane.”

  He grinned, taking in her raven lashes and brows, subtle make up, sensual mouth, straight nose. “I heard you’d move into town a few months back. And we’re working in the café?”

  “Yes.” She didn’t echo his smile.

  “I’m surprised. Your father—”

  “—We don’t speak anymore,” she cut him off, and then looked around as if to assure herself of who was standing nearby.

  “You’ve—grown up. Beautifully,” he drawled softly.

  Her gaze came back to his, expression guarded and cool. “You look the same. Handsome, only with harder edges.”

  “Older.” He smiled dryly.

  She countered, “Aren’t we all.”

  Feeling the coolness of her non-smile and replies, Kane observed, “You have a different last name.” His eyes went to her hand.

  “I’m divorced,” she supplied tightly. Then added, “I’d really appreciate it if—you’d not walk down memory lane with me. Or with the township.”

  “Sure.” He cocked his brow, surprised.

  “I came here to build a new life. I’ve done that.”

  “Working in a diner?”

  ‘Is there something wrong with honest work?’

  “No.” He had not meant it the way it sounded. “Not a thing. It’s just not something the young Sage seemed destined for.”

  She stared at him. “People like you, who have choices, would hardly understand. So let me just say again, let’s pretend that young girl was never here. Nice to see you again.” She turned to walk down the aisle.

  “Was it?” He followed her.

  “No.” She stopped and turned, looking at him tense faced. “I’ve seen your brothers. I have seen you too—since I moved here. I had hoped that since you didn’t approach me—. You wouldn’t.”

  Whoa. Kane took those subtle blows, waking fully from any mesh of memory and reality. He decided to deal with the reality—and find the underlying cause of why this older and obviously more mature Sage, was treating him like a villain.

  “Not approach you—why? I was a bastard, how I broke it off. But you were a kid. It was a hell of a long time ago, Sage.”

  She was shaking her head but supplied stiffly, “There was a time I needed you. I needed you more than you would believe. I thought you were the strongest, most honest and incredible person I had ever met, Kane Croft. Turned out, you were none of those things. You were a user, and a cold one at that.”

  Kane’s response came out gruff, “That’s hardly fair. I was only twenty-one. You were seventeen.”

  “You’re right. It’s not fair.” She agreed. “But it’s how I felt. And as it’s—

  “—Sage. I’m sorry if I hurt you.” Kane meant that.

  “Fine. That’s all that was left for us to say. We can get on with our separate lives.”

  Searching her face, he muttered, “Are you really that bitter?’

  “No. Kane. I am really that over you. I’m really that far past the past.” She smiled coolly. “People generally don’t look back on bad relationships with fondness. Women generally do not run into the guy they gave their virginity to, and got dumped by two days later, and want to chitchat.”

  She looked him over, boots, jeans, up his chambray shirt to his face again. “I hear you’re still true to form. One night stands are your signature, the women around here say.”

  Kane actually felt his cheekbones flush. He couldn’t deny that, but…

  She laughed without humor and met his gaze before she walked away.

  Kane stood there a long time before he shook his head to clear it, finally making his purchases and then leaving the store.

  When he got in the truck and slid his shades on, he saw her car—a mid-sized hatchback, go past him.

  Kane drove home in a muse. She was divorced. She had been buying a card for a son. So where were her ex-husband, and kid?

  Sage didn’t leave any doubt that he could go fuck himself.

  She deserved that resentment. He had been too young and too mixed up emotionally to know how to handle it right. He had fucked up. He couldn’t blame her for the impression he’d left her with.

  Yeah, the younger memory was replaced with reality, a more recent one. Seeing her, that initial look at her made his heart pound behind his ribs. The exchange shook him, no matter how calm he had carried his end of it... Her body was more mature. That face was too. The eyes once so expressive, beautiful violet eyes that got to him the first time he picked her up, were not only cool, but also guarded.

  Had he really put that there? Had something from eleven years ago—really changed the girl he had known then, so dramatically?

  It made him gut sick to think so.

  ~*~

  Sage Salla exited her car in the hotel parking lot. She was moving on trembling legs as she went to her room—her hands shaking so bad that while she dug out her key card she muttered a curse and squatted down, and dumped the contents, got the card and scooped everything back in.

  Standing, and then getting herself inside, she threw the purse on the bed and let her weak legs carry her to the end of it to sit—elbows on her knees, face in her hands.

  The dreaded event had happened.

  She’d ran into Kane.

  And though she should be doing cheers at how well she’d pulled off the initial reunion—just as she played it in her mind— all she could do was hold herself together, and not allow any regrets to creep in.

  Rubbing her hands over her face, Sage drew in breath then slowly let it out, an
d did it again; several times, it was shaky and weak. She had seen Kane from a distance many times. It had become a stupid, if tense game, to duck and run whenever it looked like they might come face to face. Every time, she would mentally kick herself for not getting it over with, doing her rehearsed speech, to make sure he would keep his distance. This time, she’d done it. Gotten it over with.

  The first time she had seen his brother Carter, she’d almost fainted. They looked a lot alike as grown men. Nevertheless, there were subtle differences. One of the servers at the diner was a talkative 40ish woman, who did a lot of gossiping during JC crofts funeral, when Carter had come back to the ranch to live and work it with Kane and their brother Rio.

  She had known there was a brother. Still, it had been eleven years. She had not known what Kane would look like in his thirties. After the initial shock wore off, she saw the different eye color, more light lime, and Carter’s weren’t deep set. Carter was built differently—broad shouldered and tall too—taller, she now knew, by an inch or two. He was athletic.

  She remembered Kane’s long, work honed build.

  God. What a difference eleven years made.

  She had thought him handsome and tough at twenty-one. A genuine cowboy. The thirty four year old rancher was knee buckling. Taller, sun browned, tighter honed. The angles of his handsome face were rugged. Even the scruff on his jaw added to the earthiness—and enhanced his sensual mouth.

  He had not been wearing a cowboy hat and his hair had lighter streaks. Those deep-set leaf green eyes were even more potent. He had a confidence, she had observed, even from a distance—the way he carried himself. An easy way of walking. His voice, a deep drawl, a little husky, had hell of a lot of experience in it.

  Dropping her hands, Sage got to her feet and went to the bathroom. She regarded her image, seeing those eleven years the way women did, critically—and, with memories of events that forever altered her life. She could scarcely recall that innocent girl who took a risky ride in an old pick up with a twenty one year old cowboy.

  She didn’t particularly want to remember.

  Kane Croft had broken her heart. But that was least of it.

  Wetting and soaping a cloth, she washed her face, rinsed, and then applied moisturizer. Walking back to the bed, she groaned, realizing she hadn’t bought her son a birthday card. She’d have to go back out before her evening shift at the diner, and get one—and get it in the mail in the morning.

  Going to the dresser, she opened a drawer, pulled out jeans, and tossed them on the bed. She kicked her feet free of the sandals and took off the dress. Sliding on the jeans, walking over to get the required red work shirt out of the small closet, she reflected on the years she had longed to fit into something single digit—instead of the plus size her generous figure required. She decided there would never be a time when small was not the desired size for a woman. She didn’t have that as an option. She was built like the women on both sides of her family—and they left single digits behind at puberty.

  Pulling the blouse over her head, she found a brush and took the combs out, to brush and braid her hair in a single French braid. She would apply only minimal make up for work. Evening shift was the shortest. She was glad to be on it for the next two weeks. The diner was popular. It was a great job to have, but when she had been the new hire, she’d been stuck with the worst hours for the first few months.

  Hair done, mascara on, she grabbed a pair of socks and sat down to pull them on with cowboy boots. They were finally getting supple and broken in good. She tried not to let it remind her of a certain green-eyed rancher.

  Before she left for work, Sage took out her cell and called her son.

  “Yeah, Michael here.”

  “Hi, sweetie.”

  “Mom,” he replied.

  She could almost see him rolling his eyes at her calling him sweetie.

  “I’m just getting ready to go to work. I wanted to call you, ask about your day.”

  “Same as always. School and doing homework at the bakery, listening to Uncle David yell at Cousin Frankie.”

  She laughed.

  He asked, “When do I get to come live with you?”

  “Soon. I’ve almost got enough for a house. The realtor found a fixer upper at the edge of town, and I’m negotiating with the owners—for obvious reasons. It needs a lot of repairs.”

  “What’s soon?”

  Sage suppressed her guilt and murmured, “It would be better if we waited until school was out. I mean, you don’t want to start somewhere new with just a few months to go.”

  “Great.” He said. “I knew it. I knew you would—”

  “—Michael. You know I’ll come and see you, just like always. This is only for a little while. Please understand…”

  He sighed. “It’s been two years.”

  “I know, honey.”

  “Whatever. I’ve got to go.”

  “I love you.”

  “You too.”

  When he clicked off, she put the cell phone in her purse, got her card, and left. She was a little early and needed a few out in the daylight before work.

  Sitting on one of the benches, in front of the hotel, she dug out a cigarette and lit it. Guilt over leaving Michael with her Aunt, gnawing at her, although it was for the best right now.

  The hotel sat back from the main streets. She watched people coming and going at a little gas station and convenience store across the way. It was a struggle, scrapping together enough to buy a house, even the small two bedrooms, one bath, that she was trying to get. She had sold everything she could and banked it, before moving to Maple Grove. Not that she didn’t question her choice to move anywhere near Kane Croft to start with. But the township was perfect for her new life as just another single mother, working a regular job, fitting in with ordinary people.

  It was somewhere her father would never look for her. Not that she thought he was anymore. He was the kind of father who counted those who did not live by his rules as dead.

  That was fine with Sage.

  Finished the smoke, she headed for her car, got in, and drove to the diner. The lot was full already. She would rather have a busy night. It kept her from thinking so much. The diner wasn’t large. It was cinderblock and adobe with a huge red and white rocking horse, on the top. It was intimate; the regulars were usually from the nearby farms, ranches, and businesses. She would make more money working in Memphis, but Sage knew more than most people, money meant little, compared to happiness.

  She went through the door, the scent of food greeting her—the familiar Friday night special of beef tips and mushrooms, red potatoes, and local grown vegetables.

  “Hey, Sage.” Rena, a twenty-year-old blond grinned and greeted her while taking off her apron, as they would trade shifts.

  “Hey. How’s it going?” Sage was in the back room, putting her purse in a small locker and getting her own green apron.

  “Hectic. Once I finish these night classes though, no more waiting tables.” The girl grabbed her purse and cell and closed the locker. “See you later.”

  She left. Sage sighed, wishing she’d had those kinds of choices at a young age. Rena was taking classes at the local college. Another of the women, fifty years old, was going to nursing school, working part time.

  Emerging, smiling at forty-year-old Betty Jones—the talker, who would be sharing her shift, Sage got to work. She was off the next two days. Time enough to reflect, brood, regret. She didn’t think a man who looked like Kane would come back for seconds. But, if he did, she could do her— we don’t have anything to say to each other routine—as many times as it took. She had too much at stake to ever let him devastate her emotions and life again.

  Chapter 3

  “Need any help?”

  Kane looked over his shoulder in the process of frying eggs and grinned at his sister in law. Skye looked half-asleep still, and was wearing drawstring lounge pants, a T-shirt, and heading straight for the coffee pot.

 
“No. I’ve got it.” He turned back to the eggs, sliding them out of the skillet and onto a platter. He usually cooked breakfast because he was up before anyone else. When Willow lived with them, she would sometimes get up early for school and they would talk while he cooked. He missed the pain in the ass young woman. He hadn’t known how he would adjust to having Skye there. He’d had to adjust to being a (family) once Carter and Rio moved in, so it wasn’t all that difficult. Truth be known, he really liked Skye. Carter was a lucky sonofabitch to have married her. She was a mixture of tough and sweet. When she wasn’t working, and cooked, she was a great cook.

  “How’s the wedding planning?” he asked, carrying eggs, bacon and toast to the table.

  She sat down with him, her hands on the mug. Not filling her plate, as he was, yet.

  “Good. Though thank God for Carter’s job as a sporting equipment demonstrator, because who knows where I’d have found anything to go with a ski lodge themed wedding, if he hadn’t kept all those freebies.”

  Kane grinned and buttered his toast. His brother still had a contract or two. He would take trips, to do demos for Bass pro shops, but nothing like he’d done before moving to the ranch, and getting married. “You still thinking of having receptions there too?”

  “Yes. Jess wants to run that part, and I’m more than happy to let her.” She got herself bacon, toast, and made a sandwich. “Juda still has some work to do before it will ready, but I can see the benefit in it.”

  Kane nodded.

  They ate with birdsong filtering in the open kitchen window, and the sounds of Carter’s boot heels above their heads as he moved around upstairs.

  Sipping coffee, Skye was regarding him as Kane finished his meal and drank his own. He met those indigo eyes, seeing a thoughtful expression in them.

  “Something wrong?”

  “No.” She shrugged, her gaze going over his face. “I’m just in one of those romantic moods.”

  He laughed. “Um well, I think Carter might object to my whispering sweet nothings to you over breakfast.”