As they watched the game unfold, Jenny explained all about first downs and yards run in and other football stuff that Cassie had been too busy working to learn for herself. But now that she had a stake in the game, she actually enjoyed watching along. When the quarterback pitched Rhett the ball, she and Jenny jumped to their feet and cheered louder and louder as he approached the end zone. Their cheers came a little too soon, because—Whap! A huge hulking man wearing the opposite team’s colors slammed into Rhett and took him down.
Jenny winced. “That had to hurt.”
“Is it always like this? It seems kind of dangerous.”
“Nah, this is what he trains for. He’ll be okay.” Jenny shook her head, but continued to frown.
Time ticked away in a painfully slow drag, and still Rhett didn’t get up. The referee and coach ran onto the field followed by a team of medics. The announcers’ voices droned on in the background as they tried to guess what had happened, but all Cassie could see was Rhett’s motionless body lying on the field. Her mind went blank, save for one thought—she had to get to him.
Jenny wrapped her arms around her sister. “Cass…” Maybe she was going to say she was sorry. Maybe she was going to say it would be all right. Jenny would never know, because she rushed out of the house without another word. She had to get to Rhett. She had to make sure he would be okay.
And so she’d tried, and tried, and tried. Tried visiting multiple hospitals, tried calling the team’s offices, tried… and failed.
For days she watched the news reports, but they were eerily quiet when it came to his recovery. All she knew for sure was that he was still alive but out for the season. Where was he? Why hadn’t he reached out to her?
Meanwhile things on the ranch had gone from bad to worse. The animals needed her, and the land did too. As hard as it was, she needed to give up on trying to get to Rhett and start preparing the ranch for its inevitable change in ownership.
She’d made her sister a promise, and now the time had come to deliver. At least this she could control.
Resigned to it all, she placed a call to May Genet. “May, I’m not interested in buying my sister out. I want to sell the whole thing as quickly as possible please… Yes, even if it means taking less than our original asking price. I just need a fresh start. Of course. Thanks for understanding.”
Chapter 10
The day after Rhett woke up, Cole and Anna came to visit him in the hospital. He hadn’t seen his old teammate and friend since making the move to San Antonio earlier that year and was amazed at how big Anna’s pregnant belly had become—and at what a family man the former womanizer had turned out to be.
“What’s happening, Jet?” Cole slapped him on the shoulder as if nothing were the matter, and Rhett appreciated that. He felt enough like a pansy already with the way all the nurses and the sports medicine people buzzed around him as if he were some delicate freaking flower.
Speaking of which, Anna set a vase of carefully arranged flowers near the window, then bent down to give him a hug. “How you feeling today?”
Rhett sighed. “Like a failure. Like my career is over—like my life is too.”
“That all?” Cole laughed him off. “C’mon, Jet. You’ve gotten through worse scrapes than this.”
“Name one,” he challenged.
“Okay, so it’s bad. That doesn’t mean your world is ending. Man up.”
“Cole!” Anna scolded. “Be nice.”
“Nice isn’t what he needs right now. I’m sure he’s gotten enough of that from every other Tom, Dick, and Sally in this place. What he needs is a bit of tough love. He needs to walk it off.”
Rhett laughed to keep from crying. “Walk it off? Haven’t you heard, I can barely walk at all.” He motioned to the new cane lying beside his bed. “How am I supposed to run if I can’t even keep up a two mile pace on the damned treadmill?”
Cole quirked an eyebrow. “This is about that girl, isn’t it?”
“What girl?” Anna asked with a knowing smile.
“He found his Anna.”
“And lost her again,” Rhett pointed out.
“So it is about her?” Cole shook his head, then pulled Anna into his side and gave her a kiss on the top of her head.
The whole display was so sickeningly sweet, Rhett had to look away. “Well, of course it is, but believe me, I’m not happy about the whole walking thing either. My season is over. I’ll be lucky if I can get back in the game at all.”
“Don’t change the topic.” Anna pulled away from her husband and scooted a chair over so she could sit beside Rhett’s bed. “I want to hear all about this woman who’s stolen your heart.”
“Cassie,” he answered on a slow exhale. Her name still felt so sweet, so pure coming from his lips. “She’s this gorgeous rancher with as much spit and vinegar as I’ve ever seen in any football player, let alone a woman. She’s strong, sassy, sexy. And, I don’t know, just kind of perfect.”
“And she likes you too?”
He shrugged. “She did. The docs told me I was out for a few days there and that no one by the name of Cassie stopped by to see me. I woke up yesterday, found I still don’t have her damn number, and no one is willing to help me get in touch with her. The team won’t even let me have Wi-Fi in here, said they need to keep things as private as possible, but I feel like a freaking prisoner.”
Anna’s brows pinched into a tight V. “So it’s been a few days? She’ll understand.”
“I wish it were that easy. I’ve already made lots of mistakes with her. Not sure I can afford one more. And even if she does agree to give me the time of day, look at me. The man she fell for was a stud. Now I’m just some useless gimp on bed rest. I don’t deserve her.”
“The fact that you don’t think you deserve her shows you actually do. It shows you’re ready, Rhett.” Anna reached over and squeezed Cole’s hand, her eyes dancing with happiness.
“Ready for what?” He liked Anna, but she didn’t know the first thing about his relationship—if you could even call it that—with Cassie. However, the next thing she said, definitely proved she knew him well.
“For whatever comes next. Don’t run away from this, Rhett. You’ll always regret it.”
“First I have to get out of here and go to her, tell her what happened, provided she’ll even talk to me.”
Cole shot Anna a conspiratorial glance before dropping his voice to a whisper. “Don’t you worry about that, Jet. Anna and I have got you covered.”
“What you need to worry about,” Anna added. “Is finding the perfect grand gesture.”
Rhett laughed, but the others didn’t join in. “A grand gesture? What are we? In some kind of chick flick? Want me to propose to Cassie on the Jumbotron? Tell her I love her with skywriting? Run off and elope in Vegas? I mean, who does that in real life?”
“Watch it, Jet. Even before you got hurt, I could kick your ass. You think a cast and some bandages are gonna stop me from defending my lady’s honor?”
Anna shook her head vigorously. “Don’t do what everybody else does. You need to do something that will speak directly to Cassie’s heart. Got any ideas?”
“Actually…I know exactly what I need to do.” It came to him all at once, and he grew more and more excited as the pieces began to click into place in his mind. “Anna, think you can make a couple of quick phone calls for me? Cole, think you can find a way to get me out of here for the afternoon?”
The wheels in his head were turning so fast, he didn’t have time to second guess himself. Anna was right, he needed to make the grand gesture. If his football days were over, he had the perfect idea for what he wanted to come next. But first he’d need Cassie to agree to walk into that future with him, hand in hand. If he had her by his side, he would have it all.
Now he just needed to put his plan into action.
When Cassie woke up that morning, she went about her chores as usual, knowing deep down that this may be the last time she ever got to do t
hem. The realtor had made it perfectly clear that she could sell the land in a heartbeat but that it would involve splitting it up into smaller chunks rather than selling as a whole.
Saddleback’s legacy had come to an end.
In fact, Cassie had already made arrangements to have her vet friend Judy find buyers for the animals. All were spoken for except Maybel, Baybel Cheese, and Susie Ann. It would be the hardest to say goodbye to them, and Cassie hoped that whoever took them in would still allow her to visit sometimes. She wasn’t just losing her livelihood here, but also some of her best and most faithful friends. What more could Cassie lose? Hadn’t life already taken enough from her? Her parents, her ranch, and even the one man she’d finally allowed herself to fall for.
She was foolish to have gone against her instincts when it came to Rhett. She never should have agreed to sit with him in the bed of her truck that first night and look up at the stars. Never should have let him work beside her on the farm. Never should have allowed herself to fall so deeply in love with a man she’d only just met.
Cassie wasn’t surprised when May Genet called early that afternoon to announce a buyer. “Great news! I have a gentleman who’s interested in purchasing Jenny’s entire half, but you have to come out to sign the agreement.”
Cassie’s heart sank. While she was happy that the ranch wouldn’t be split up into teeny tiny pieces, it still wouldn’t be hers. Besides, she had no idea what the new owner would do to the land, nor who would swoop in to buy out her own half. She just hoped he wouldn’t turn it into some hideous commercial development—that would be too painful to see after all she and her family had given to the land.
She sighed, realizing that she still hadn’t given May an answer. “Can’t I just electronically sign something for you?”
“I’m sorry, he’s very insistent that he get the chance to meet with you first. Think you can swing by my office?”
“Fine. I’ll be there in twenty.” Now she was just plain angry. Who was this buyer to make such demands of her? She’d wanted to spend every moment she had left with the ranch on her own terms, but now it was as if she’d already signed it away, already lost everything.
Of course, when she pulled up to the office, the buyer was nowhere to be found.
“He’ll just be a minute,” May promised. “Go ahead and make yourself comfortable in the conference room. I’ll finish drafting up the papers and join you soon.”
And so she waited…and waited.
Half an hour passed with no sign of this demanding buyer. Occasionally, May would pop her head into the conference room to offer her reassurances that he would be there any minute, but Cassie had already waited long enough. She was done.
“Call me when he gets here. I’m sorry, but I’m not spending my whole afternoon waiting around. He’ll have to wait for me to come back.” She gathered up her things and rushed out of the tiny real estate office before May could try to convince her to stay. As soon as she pushed through the door and back into the outside world, she noticed a familiar figure leaning up against her truck in the parking lot.
Tall and muscular, though slightly less tall, less muscular, he was certainly no less handsome than when she’d last seen him. Rhett stood with the help of a metal cane, clutching a vase of flowers to his chest and staring right at her with a huge smile on his face.
She reached up to touch her cheeks and realized she was smiling too. “What are you doing here?” she asked striding over to him. “I thought…”
“That I had run? No.” He took a couple slow, pained steps forward, so they were standing chest to chest. One hand remained on the cane for support, and the other continued to hold up the flowers. “I wanted to see you, Cassie, but they wouldn’t let anyone through. I was asleep for days and the moment I woke up, I could only think about getting back to you. I’m sorry it took so long. These are for you by the way.”
He handed her a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers similar to those that bloomed on her property, then put his newly freed arm around her waist and tugged her into him.
“They’re beautiful, thank you. But, Rhett, what happened? Are you okay? I was so worried, I tried to get to you and I tried to wait, but—”
“I know, I know. I tried too, but security was just as insistent as keeping me in as they were in keeping you out. Anyway, none of that matters now. It’s over.” His eyes sparkled with untold mischief, and she realized that this was one of the things she liked best about him—how every situation had the potential to be so much more than what it seemed on the surface. How even the hardest day’s work could be a perfect moment in paradise.
“Read the card.”
She flipped open the tiny card and laughed when she saw the ten digits scrawled onto its stark white background. “Is this your phone number?”
“About time you had that. Could have saved us a world of trouble this past week.” He laughed. “I also want you to have this.” He reached into the messenger bag that hung from his side and pulled out a thick file folder which he then handed to her.
“What’s this?”
“Take a look.” He pulled back a step to give her the space she needed to flip the file open, and…
Oh my God!
“Did you…?” She couldn’t finish the sentence. This was too extraordinary, too perfect to have happened in her life.
Rhett smiled bigger than she’d ever seen him smile before and wrapped his arms around her again. “You see, according to my trainers, I’m going to need a lot of physical therapy if I ever want to play ball again. And I thought to myself, where do I know with big, open spaces to run?”
“You didn’t.”
“I did, but I want you to have it, Cassie. That’s why I had May call you here today. Just sign the papers, and Saddleback is all yours. You never have to worry about losing it again. All I ask is that you let me help in whatever way I can.” Here, he kissed her, and it was as if no time had passed at all, as if they were back to that perfect morning lying together in her bed.
When at last they parted, she tried again to wrap her head around what the papers he’d just handed her truly meant. “But what about you? This is a lot of money to just give away, Rhett.”
“My investment isn’t in the ranch, Cassie. It’s in you. I want you to have the best possible life, and I know you need Saddleback to do that. And I’m hoping you need me too, because…” He paused a moment, drew her even closer, made sure she was looking directly into his eyes as he said, “I am so in love with you.”
“I’m so in love with you too.” For a few moments Cass said nothing else. They just stood with their arms around each other, basking in the moment with the man she loved and who loved her right on back. Then she knew exactly what else needed to be said…
“You know I really could use some help around the ranch. Maybe you’d like to take a live-in staff position? It comes with an honest salary and lots of benefits like health insurance, a retirement plan, my heart…”
Rhett didn’t miss a beat. “Sounds perfect. I’ll take it. Does that mean you’ll be my boss?”
“Yup.”
“Even better.”
“Well, it’s official. You’re a cowboy now, and as long as you want to stay, you’ve got a home at Saddleback.”
He responded to that news by giving her a deep kiss that left them both weak in the knees. “As long as I want, huh? How about forever?”
Also by Melissa Storm
The Cupid’s Bow Series
When I Fall in Love
My Heart Belongs Only to You
I’ll Never Stop Loving You
You Make Me Feel So Young
Total Eclipse of the Heart
Tainted Love
I Want to Dance with Somebody
You Belong with Me
She Will Be Loved
Somebody Like You
All I Want for Christmas is You
The Book Cellar Mysteries
Walker Texas Wife
Tex
as & Tiaras
Remember the Stilettos
Ladies, We Have a Problem
The Pearl Makers
Angels in Our Lives
Diving for Pearls
Love Forever, Theo
Shackle My Soul
Angel of Mine
Stand-Alone Novels & Novellas
A Texas Kind of Love
A Cowboy Kind of Love
A Wedding Miracle
Finding Mr. Happily Ever After
A Colorful Life
My Love Will Find You
Melissa also writes Children’s Books and Nonfiction as Emlyn Chand. Learn more about those works at www.EmlynChand.com.
More from the Game for Love World
The game always changes for super-sexy, alpha athlete heroes who meet their perfect heroines in these sexy, fun and emotional romances that revolve around the world of professional sports (including but not limited to football, baseball, soccer, basketball, beach volleyball, race cars, polo, etc.). When professional linebacker Cole Taylor sets out to fulfill his grandmother's dying wish, he finds his perfect and innocent match, Anna Davis, in the most unlikely of places, and the love that develops between Cole and Anna leaves them irrevocably altered. Whose game will change next?
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A Cowboy Kind of Love Page 8
