Carter (Remington Ranch Book 3)

by SJ McCoy

  She got up from the bed and went through to the bathroom. She couldn’t kid herself that just friends would be enough. She started the water running. She wanted to sit in the tub and stare out the window at the mountain while she mulled it all through.

  ~ ~ ~

  When Carter got home, he let himself in through the back door. He kicked his boots off and hung his hat in the mudroom. He picked up the coffee mug he’d left on the kitchen table this morning and rinsed it out. What a difference a day made! This morning, he’d known that Summer was coming back and he was determined to stick to his plan to avoid her. Now here he was, not twelve hours later, and he’d already picked her up from the airport, told her she’d made him feel like the happiest guy on earth, and if that wasn’t enough, he was going back to see her later and taking her to dinner with his brother and Cassidy!

  He tidied the kitchen. He loved this house. He’d built it the third year the nursery did well. The nursery covered five acres, and when the five next door had come up for sale, he’d bought the lot and built his home next to his business. It wasn’t anything grand, but it was nice. It was his. He went out back and stopped to pet a cat who came curling around his legs. “Hey, Buster,” he said as he scratched behind his ears. “How you doing? Are you keeping the mice down for me?”

  Buster purred loudly in reply and rubbed his head against Carter’s leg.

  Carter smiled. “Yeah, right. I’ll fill up you guys’ food.” He left food out for a whole bunch of cats who hung around out here. He claimed that they kept the mice down, but in reality he was just a soft ass and didn’t like to admit it. He was so soft, in fact, that he’d turned one of sheds into a home for the cats. Buster had been the first stray to show up around here a couple of years ago. Carter had invited him to come stay in the house, but he didn’t like to be cooped up. Carter had taken to leaving food and warm blankets out in the shed—the shed that had a broken board where a cat could squeeze in if they really wanted to. Buster had made the place his home, and then he started inviting his friends over. Nowadays there were at least a half dozen of them who hung out on any given night.

  Once he’d filled up their food and made sure they had fresh water, he let himself back into the house. It was time to take a shower and figure out what he was going to wear tonight. He chuckled to himself—what was he, a girl? But it was important to him. He wanted to look good. He opened his closet and stared in there. It shouldn’t be important, but it was. He’d already proved to himself that he wasn’t going to be able to stay away from Summer. He’d already been more honest than he should have with her about how he felt. And she hadn’t been horrified. He knew she liked him. He was starting to wonder whether he should just keep being honest—with himself as well as with her. He’d spent ten years of his life avoiding women, trying to save himself from more pain. Maybe Summer was the one who would help him get past that? He knew that life didn’t happen without pain, but if you were going to take the risk, the potential reward had to be worthwhile. He couldn’t think of any greater potential reward than Summer. If he wasn’t prepared to take a risk on her, then he may as well hang up his boots right now.

  He closed the closet door again. He’d figure it out after his shower. For now he headed for the bathroom and set the water running. He needed to get cleaned up and hopefully wash some of his fear and confusion away.

  He pulled up back at her house at six thirty on the dot. She must have been watching for him; the front door opened as he climbed out of his truck. He smiled. She was so damned beautiful! She was small and fragile looking, but there was a strength about her, too. A strength he admired. She was dressed casual tonight in black jeans and a long white sweater. Her long blonde hair fell loose around her shoulders. She took his breath away. She waved and he started toward her, realizing that he’d been standing there staring like an idiot.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked when he reached the door.

  She nodded. “Better.” She smiled up at him. “And you’ll be relieved to hear that I think we should get going.”

  He raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t relieved; if anything, he was a little disappointed. He’d been looking forward to a few minutes alone with her, before they went to Cassidy’s place.

  She laughed. “I’m not letting you off the hook. I still want us to talk, but I have to be realistic about how long my voice will last. I want to get to Cassidy’s, have dinner, and then get you back here.”

  He shook his head with a smile. “We won’t be able to get away from their place early, and knowing you and Cassidy, your voice will be all used up in the first half hour anyway. I think I’m safe for tonight.”

  She surprised the hell out of him when she stepped toward him, put her hands on his shoulders and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Don’t you believe it, Carter. You’ll never be safe from me!”

  He sucked in a deep breath as she stood back with a smile. It took everything he had not to close his arms around her and pull her against him. Maybe he needed to go back to his plan of avoiding her, because letting her get as close as she just had would only end up leading them to one place. The way the blood was rushing through his veins, pounding in his temples, he wanted to forget about their evening out and take her to that one place right now!

  She misread his reaction and looked concerned. “Was that too much?”

  He shook his head.

  “What then?”

  “It wasn’t enough.” Damn! He shouldn’t have said it. But he’d had no choice. It was the truth.

  Her eyes widened and two little spots of pink appeared on her cheeks. Then a smile slowly spread across her face. “I agree.”

  Oh, shit! What was he supposed to do with that? What he supposed to say even? “Come on, we’d better get going.” He turned around and headed back to the truck. It was the only safe thing to do.

  ~ ~ ~

  When they arrived at Cassidy’s, Shane flung the door open and greeted them with a grin. “Welcome back, Summer! Come on in. The little lady is in the kitchen; I’ve got her chained to the stove.”

  Summer laughed and reached up to hug him as he held his arms out to her. She liked Shane. He was the perfect guy for Cassidy. “It’s good to see you again, Shane.”

  “Come on through,” called Cassidy. “And if you can manage to lock that asshole out on the porch when you come in, that’d be great.”

  Shane grinned at Summer and Carter. “She loves me really.”

  Carter laughed. “I don’t know how she puts up with you.”

  Shane feigned a hurt look and put an arm around Summer’s shoulders as he walked her through to the kitchen. “I’m glad you’re back. You’re the only one who’s ever nice to me. These guys are mean!”

  Summer smiled at Cassidy who was, indeed, at the stove. She smiled back as she waved a wooden spoon at Shane with a grin. “She does, but if you don’t get out of this kitchen and out of my way…”

  Shane let go of Summer and held up both hands. “Consider me gone!” He looked at Carter. “Come on, bro. The kitchen’s no place for guys to be hanging out anyways. Come on out on the deck with me. We can leave the little women to it.”

  Summer laughed as the wooden spoon flew through the air, just missing Shane’s ear. “Get out while you still can!”

  “Yes, dear. Love you, dear,” called Shane as the door closed behind them.

  “I see you’re settling in to nearly-wedded bliss, then,” Summer said when the guys had gone.

  Cassidy laughed. “We are. It’s wonderful. I love that asshole to pieces!”

  “I can tell. Oh, and let me see the ring! Typical that you went and got engaged as soon as I left.”

  Cassidy wiped her hands and came around the island to show Summer her engagement ring.

  “Oh, Cass! It’s beautiful. Congratulations!”

  The smile on Cassidy’s face said it all. She was happier than Summer had ever seen her. It was obvious that she’d found her match in Shane. She gave Summer a hug. �
�Thank you! And what about you? How have you been?” She shot a look toward the door. “How’s Carter?”

  Summer couldn’t help smiling. “Carter is wonderful! You know I adore him.”

  Cassidy nodded. “So, my flat tire came at a good time?”

  Summer had wondered about the timing. “Did you really have one?”

  Cassidy shrugged. “Might have. Might not. All that matters is that you got a ride home.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I need more than that! How did it go? What’s he said? What’s going to happen with you two?”

  “If only I knew what’s going to happen. I have no idea. It was so wonderful to see him at the airport. But he told me he was planning to avoid me while I’m here. I understand why—and it might be the wisest thing to do. But, Cass, I don’t want him to. I want to spend time with him. I want him to be my friend.”

  Cassidy snorted. “You were doing well, but don’t start lying to me. You do not want him to be your friend. You want a whole lot more than that. And so does he. I can tell.”

  Summer nodded. “You’re right. As always. But what do we do about it? Neither of us do casual, and casual is all it could be. His life is here. My life is in Nashville.”

  Cassidy gave her a stern look. “And have you given any thought to your life in Nashville? To your career? Last time we talked about it, you weren’t even sure you wanted to keep singing—even if you could.”

  Summer heaved a big sigh. “Honestly. I haven’t wanted to think about it. I feel as though I’d be jinxing myself.”

  Cassidy raised an eyebrow.

  She shrugged. “I daren’t let my mind go near the thought of stopping singing, because…well, I know it sounds silly, but…it feels as though I’m being ungrateful. Singing has been the best thing that’s happened to me. If I think about giving it up, it might be taken away from me.”

  “Taken away from you?”

  “I might not get my voice back. I might not be able to sing again. Like I said, I know it’s silly. In fact it’s probably just an excuse not to make any decisions until I have to.”

  Cassidy nodded. “That sounds more like it.”

  “Yeah, well I’m not Miss Head-on Full-on like you are. I don’t want to face it until I have to.”

  “So what’s your plan? Take three months here, see what the doctors say and then decide?”

  “Yeah, that’s about it.”

  “And what happens to Autumn in the meantime? And Carter, for that matter?”

  Summer shrugged. That was the problem. She didn’t want to make any decisions about her career until she had to, but there were other decisions that she did want to make. Decisions that would depend on what happened with her career. “I don’t know, Cass! I don’t want to hurt either of them. I don’t want to screw either of them over, but how can I know anything, until I know whether I can sing again?” She could hear the croak in her voice as she finished—so much for not overdoing it!

  Cassidy put a hand on her shoulder. “You need to decide what you want, not wait to see what’s possible.”

  Summer nodded. She could only expect that from Cassidy, that’s what she herself would do—take life by the horns and wrestle with it till it submitted to her will. Summer was more used to going along with whatever life dictated and making the most of it. It wasn’t that she wasn’t strong. It was just that life had always dealt her a pretty decent hand and she made the most of the opportunities presented to her. She’d never been in this kind of situation before—where she needed to figure out what she wanted and go after it, for the sake of the people she cared about as much as her own.

  “Do you know what you want?”

  She shrugged. She thought she did, but everything she wanted conflicted with something else she wanted! Deep down, she already knew she wanted to quit her career. But she didn’t want to leave Autumn in the lurch—her sister’s career was dependent upon her own. She didn’t want to let Clay down either. He’d been so good to her and he had such faith in her. Much as she didn’t want to let them down, she did want to see what might happen between her and Carter. And the only way to do that would be to decide that she was going to stay right here. How could she get involved with him if she knew she might have to break things off and go back to Nashville? He’d loved and lost before and it had broken his heart. She had no intention of being the woman who put him through that a second time.

  Cassidy patted her shoulder. “Take a little time. You’ll work it out. I’ll help if you want me. Just…” She looked toward the door at the sound of the guys laughing out on the deck. “Don’t take too long. I’d hate to see Carter get hurt.”

  Summer nodded sadly. So would she.

  “I’d hate to see you get hurt, too. And I think the longer you put off making your decision, the more likely that is. Be brave. Be honest with Carter; be honest with Autumn. You’ll work it out. But for now, put a smile back on your face and give me a hand.”

  “Okay.” Summer was happy to make herself useful rather than carry on with this conversation which was making her so uncomfortable. Cassidy had made her realize that she had to make some decisions sooner rather than later. She was going to have to direct the flow of her life instead of just waiting around to go with it.

  Chapter Four

  Carter watched Summer as she chatted with Cassidy. Dinner had been wonderful. Cassidy was a great cook, although she had claimed Summer was much better. Now they were all sitting out on the deck over the river enjoying a glass of wine. He didn’t normally like to drink at all when he was driving, but he figured one glass was fine. Cassidy was asking Summer about her sister and Carter felt like he was prying, just listening to them. He knew Summer thought the world of her sister. He also knew that Autumn was a much tougher nut than Summer. Well, he didn’t actually know that. He just assumed it. She was Summer’s business manager, and he had read a couple of articles that mentioned her as a shrewd businesswoman.

  Right now Summer was telling Cassidy about all the juggling Autumn had done to clear the schedule while she rested her voice, and to make sure none of her plans were canceled, they were simply postponed. It brought it home to him again that her life and her career were awaiting her return. The roller coaster he’d been riding since he learned she was coming back plummeted down again. What had he been thinking earlier, about risk and potential reward? There was no potential for reward if he got involved with Summer. He’d be setting a sure course toward heartbreak. She’d leave once she had her voice back and he’d be left behind.

  “Have you heard anything from Beau lately?” Shane’s question interrupted his train of thought.

  He nodded. “I talked to him a couple of days ago. Just about business, though.”

  “Has he said anything about Dad’s plans with the ranch?”

  Carter shook his head. All the brothers were waiting for their father’s announcement about how he wanted to divide up the ranch between them. Carter was fine with whatever happened. So were Shane and Mason, but Beau wasn’t happy about it at all. They knew that their dad wanted to divide the ranch five ways; between the four of them and Chance. Beau was dead set against Chance being included, even though he’d been like a fifth brother for many years now. “Like I said, we only talked about the rental houses and he wants me to work on one of the properties he’s putting up for sale. He knows I play dumb when he starts talking about Chance. Why do you ask?”

  Shane sighed. “I ran into him in town the other day. He was ranting about it as usual. It seems he’s not happy about much of anything at the moment. He’s pissed that Mom and Dad are giving the big house to Mason and Gina. He’s pissed that they’ve already told Chance that the cabin is his.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess, since you explained to me why he is the way he is, I worry about him.”

  Carter had to smile at that. “How about that? The littlest brother is finally discovering that thing they call empathy.”

  Cassidy laughed. “I think that might be pushing
it a bit, Carter. Let’s just say he’s realizing that people have their own pain and motivations. I think he’s fascinated by them, purely because they don’t revolve around him, and he always thought the whole world did.”

  Shane gave her a hurt look. “Here I am, trying to become a better man, to be worthy of the love of a good woman, and all you can do is make fun of me.” He looked at Summer. “Told you these guys were mean.”

  Cassidy laughed. “I wasn’t making fun of you. That was high praise. I’m very proud of the way you’re coming to realize that you aren’t the center of the universe after all!”

  Shane rolled his eyes. “Back to the point. I’ve been thinking that he might just need to find himself a good woman and settle down. That might be just what he needs to make him get his head out of his ass. I mean it’s worked for the rest of us, hasn’t it?”

  Carter stared at him. What did he mean by the rest of us? It had worked for Shane and for Mason. Carter just hoped Shane wasn’t including him. He had found a good woman. Summer was amazing, but he didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of settling down with her—and everyone at the table knew it.

  Cassidy seemed to understand what he was thinking, as she so often did. She shot him a sympathetic look before turning to Shane. “Never you mind trying to straighten Beau out. You’ve found the best woman there is and you still haven’t got your head all the way out of your ass. Work on yourself before you go meddling in anyone else’s business.”

  Shane really was getting better about picking up on what other people were feeling. He gave Carter an apologetic look before making a face at Cassidy, then rolling his eyes at Summer again. “Just plain mean. Didn’t I tell you?”