by Home Fires
“How you doing?” Casie asked.
The girl turned quickly toward them.
“Hey, you’re finally here,” she said and shifted to the edge of the mattress. “Let’s blow this joint.”
“You okay?” Sophie asked.
“Couldn’t be better.” She was brusque and businesslike, as if she were leaving a long shift at the Chill and Grill. “How ’bout you?”
“I’m fine.” Sophie seemed atypically uncertain of her footing.
“How about Ty? How’s he doing? He seemed a little down when I talked to him on the phone.”
“I don’t know,” Sophie said. “How would I know?”
Emily gave her an odd look, then shifted her gaze to Casie while shoving a box of confiscated tissues into her backpack. “I figure these are already paid for, right? I might as well take them home with me. Colt didn’t come along, huh?”
“No. He—” Casie said and shuffled her feet, struggling not to say any more than necessary. “Do you have everything you need?”
“I think so.”
“Well, you’re wrong,” someone said.
They turned toward the voice. Linette sat in a wheelchair in the doorway.
“Hey,” Emily said. “How are you?”
“You forgot this,” said the older woman, and wheeling into the room, nodded to someone behind her.
A nurse entered the room. She smiled at the pink bundle she carried in her arms, then glanced wistfully at Emily. “She’s just beautiful,” she said and handed the baby to her mother. “Congratulations.”
“No!” Emily rasped. She stepped back a pace, but the nurse followed, settling the infant into her unwelcoming arms. “The adoption agency is taking care of everything.”
“Guess they backed out,” Linette said. “Said the contract is null and void.”
“What?” Emily tore her eyes from the serious little face that gazed up from its tight swaddling.
Linette shrugged. “Something about needing the birth father’s signature.”
“That’s not true.” Emily looked pale and young and so panicked it made Casie’s heart ache. “They said that wasn’t necessary.”
“All I know is what they told me.”
Emily’s lips twisted. Her eyes were bright. Tears spilled from the corners. A muscle jerked beside her lips. “I can’t be a mom. I’m not—”
“What’s wrong with you?” Sophie blurted. “You already are a mom. Like Mother Earth or something. Holy crap! Half the people on this planet would give their souls to have a mother like you.”
“What, are you, nuts?” Emily hissed. “I can’t do this. I can’t!”
“Yes, you can,” Sophie said. Her voice was soft suddenly. The room was as quiet as a prayer. “You’re going to be great at this.”
Emily shook her head.
“You are,” Sophie said. “You know I wouldn’t say something nice if it wasn’t true.”
“I can’t—” she whispered again, but in that flicker of time the child made a noise, a small inarticulate sound that drew her gaze like a fire in the darkness. Their eyes met, brown to blue in an exchange of emotions as raw as a wound. Not a soul spoke. Not a breath was whispered. “Baby Bliss,” Emily murmured. The world stood still, waiting, and then she cried. Settling back onto the mattress, she hugged the infant to her chest, tipped her dreadlocks over her tiny face, and sobbed.
CHAPTER 30
Life settled slowly back to normal, or at least back to its previous state of abnormal. Sophie treated the scratch on Maddy’s knee, cared for Freedom, and gave riding lessons to seemingly every girl in the state of South Dakota. Ty dutifully tended Angel and pretended not to care about Sophie.
As for Emily, she returned to the orchard with Bliss nestled inside a basket beneath the dormant apple trees. And cooking … with Bliss on the kitchen table. And goat milking, with Bliss swinging gently from a bough of the ancient cottonwood. But mostly she sat and stared into her baby’s eyes and smiled until she cried.
Evening was settling in with comfortable quiet. The western horizon was a scalloped palette of violet and periwinkle that backlit Sophie and Tangles as they cleared a series of low jumps. Emily was picking apples with Baby Bliss snuggled fast and warm in a sling against her chest.
Watching them from across the yard made something deep inside Casie ache.
“There’s nothing quite like it, is there?” Linette asked. Casie swallowed the lump in her throat and turned toward the woman who hobbled carefully into the barn on underarm crutches. The doctors had recommended that she remain in a wheelchair, but it was hard to slow her down. She would be flying out in the morning, but had finally relented when Casie insisted that she call her family. They would be arriving within the hour. She drew a deep breath. “So what’s on the docket for Cassandra Carmichael?” she asked.
Casie exhaled, careful not to unload too much onto Linette’s exhausted shoulders. “Oh, I don’t know. Keep chugging along like we’re doing, I suppose. Try to put the Lazy back in the black. Make a place for Emily and Baby Bliss and—” Her words stopped as she caught sight of Ty striding down her driveway.
His frayed cap was pulled low over his face, hiding his eyes, but there was an easy rhythm to his steps, making him look almost carefree. What she wouldn’t give to make that true, Casie thought, and felt love tangle messily within her heart as he headed toward the apple orchard.
“He’s a good kid,” Linette said.
“Yeah,” Casie agreed and cleared her throat. “Yeah, he’s all right.”
“Everything’s going to be okay,” she said.
Ty tilted his battered cap down and said something inaudible. Emily laughed and hit him on the shoulder. He bounced back a step and gazed down at the baby. Lifting little Bliss out of her snug carrier, Emily gazed at the infant for several prolonged moments, then settled her carefully into the boy’s arms.
The poignancy of the moment brought tears stinging to Casie’s eyes.
“Casie …”
“I’m sorry.” She zipped her attention back to her paying guest … her paying guest who could, conceivably, sue her for any number of missteps. “What did you say?”
“I said everything’s going to be okay.”
Casie cleared her throat. “As someone quite intelligent once told me, ‘Okay might be a relative term,’ ” she said.
Linette chuckled, but the sound faded as her attention was diverted to the driveway. “Who’s that?”
Casie turned. Her body stiffened. She shifted her eyes toward the arena where Sophie rode, then hurried toward the approaching pickup truck just as Pete Whitesel stepped out of his vehicle. His gaze was honed in on the girl just dismounting from the dun gelding.
Casie’s chest felt tight, her legs stiff, but she kept walking.
“Mr. Whitesel,” she said. Her voice sounded weak to her own ears “Still haven’t found your mare?”
He kept his gaze on Sophie’s approaching form for several more seconds before shifting it down to Casie. His lips curled into what might be misconstrued as a smile. “Looks like I have.”
“Really? Where was she?”
“Don’t know, but I’m betting she does,” he said, and jerked his chin toward the arena.
“What do you mean?”
“What’d you do with her?” he asked, addressing Sophie who had just arrived from behind.
“You can’t have her.” The girl’s voice was as steady as a rock, but when Casie turned toward her, her face was pale.
“She’s my property, honey buns,” he said. “It’s me or the cops.”
No one spoke.
He snorted as he jerked toward the barn, but Casie blocked his path again. “You heard her,” she said. Her heart was beating overtime, her hands sweaty, but she held her ground. “You can’t have her back,” she said. “You’ve lost your rights to her.”
“I don’t know what’s going on with your merry little band of sluts. But nobody steals from me,” he growled and steppe
d to the side again. Casie moved with him.
“It’s your word against mine. You can’t prove—” she began, but in that instant he grabbed her by the shirtfront and hauled her up against him.
“And it’s my fist against your—”
“Whitesel!” Linette’s voice cracked like a whip through the evening air.
He snapped his attention to her.
Linette hopped toward them, balancing carefully on her crutches. “Or should I call you Warren?”
Whitesel’s eyes darted to her, then off to the right where Emily and Ty approached from the orchard. Ty’s expression was grim. Emily hugged Bliss close to her chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
“Don’t you?” Linette asked. “Well, maybe the sheriff will. The way I heard it, Pat Warren is a pretty famous name in some parts.”
The world went absolutely silent, and then Whitesel shoved Casie away. She stumbled backward but Ty caught her, helped her find her balance.
“Fine. That’s just fine,” Whitesel snarled. “Keep the worthless nag. I hope she tears this whole place apart,” he said, and backing away, climbed into his truck and roared away.
Casie blinked after him. Sophie exhaled noisily. The world settled gratefully into silence.
“What just happened?” Emily asked.
Casie shook her head. “I don’t have any idea. Linette …” She turned toward the older woman. “How did you—Who’s Pat Warren?”
Linette shrugged. “Em said there was something wrong with him, and she seems to be a pretty good judge of human nature, so I just checked into his past a little. It wasn’t pretty.
“Hey, Ty, could you help me back to the house?”
“Checked into his past? What do you mean? How could you check his past if he had another name?”
Linette shrugged. “Turns out fingerprints show up pretty well on leather.”
“What—”
“Listen, I’d love to chat, but it looks like my ride’s here,” Linette said, glancing toward the dark vehicle just turning into their drive.
“Oh …” The world felt shaky beneath Casie’s feet. “I suppose your daughter’s worried sick about you.”
“Probably. Say, I’m not one for long good-byes so don’t feel like you have to wait around. I’m sure you have things to do,” Linette said, but no one moved as the black SUV came to a halt. Jack barked once as dust settled slowly on the gravel road behind it. A woman in a sensible gray suit stepped out of the car. Her hair was pulled back in a severe bun. She wore low pumps and dark-rimmed glasses.
Casie shook herself free of her trance and tried for conviviality as she stepped forward. “You must be Elizabeth.”
“Yes,” she said simply.
“I can’t tell you how much we’ve enjoyed having your mother with us.”
The woman scowled. “She’s not—”
“Well …” Linette said, voice brusque. “I don’t have much time. We’d better get going.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Casie shifted her gaze from one woman to the other, confused by the dynamics, but Linette spoke again before she could work things out. The kids stood huddled together some twenty feet behind her, trying to take it all in.
“You’re doing good work here, Casie,” Linette said. Her voice was soft, her expression sincere.
Casie scowled, trying to keep up. “I don’t—”
“But you’ve won now.”
“What?”
“They’re doing well.” From the cottonwood, a mourning dove spoke to the approaching darkness.
Casie shook her head.
“The kids,” Linette explained. “They’re going to be okay … because of you.”
“No, it’s—”
“Do you need anything else before we leave?” Elizabeth asked.
“No, I’m fine,” Linette said, not turning toward the woman near the SUV.
Elizabeth nodded briskly and opened the passenger door.
“It’s because of you,” Linette repeated. “You can do it all. Work a ranch, save a life, keep your family together.”
“They’re not really my family.”
“Not all family’s blood kin, Casie,” she said. “Sometimes it’s your pastor, or your next-door neighbor, or your administrative assistant.” She smiled fondly at Elizabeth. “And sometimes kin lets you down. Or you let them down.” She glanced out over the endless hills. There was an eternity of sadness in her eyes, but she drew her attention back to Casie in a matter of moments. “You’ve proven you can make it on your own,” she said, and handing her crutches to Elizabeth, climbed gingerly into the SUV under her own power. “But you’d better make damn sure that’s really what you want before it’s too late.”
“What?”
Linette smiled a little, then sighed and looked out the windshield. “Let’s go,” She said.
“Yes, your honor,” Elizabeth agreed and, stowing the crutches in the backseat, slammed the passenger door shut.
“Your—” Casie began, but the SUV was rolling quietly away.
“Holy Hannah,” she said.
“Judge Heartless?” Emily breathed.
They silently watched the vehicle turn onto the gravel road. Quiet settled back in. The evening air felt heavy with the promise of upcoming storms. Bliss began to cry. Emily soothed her. A horse snorted. A lamb bleated. But Casie’s mind was still in turmoil. Had the Pritchards dropped the lawsuit because of Linette? And what about Whitesel? The memory of a discarded leather lead line galloped through her mind, but the thought was interrupted by the sound of a diesel engine. Casie brought her attention back to earth as Colt’s pickup truck pulled into the yard. He stepped out of the vehicle, all rugged strength and dark regrets. He glanced at her, nodded, then strode off toward the barn.
The kids, she noticed, had miraculously disappeared, leaving her alone with Linny’s words reverberating in her brain.
Something curled up tight in her stomach. Uncertainty tangled with hope, and hope was the winner.
“Dickenson,” she called.
He turned toward her, eyes shadowed by the brim of his Stetson.
She paused, her nerve skittering into a dark corner. “Nothing,” she said, and glanced away, but the black SUV was still in sight, dredging up quiet words of wisdom.
“I need help.” She said the words more to herself than to him.
Colt tilted his head a little, face barely visible against the dark clouds behind him. “What?”
She cleared her throat, desperately marshaling courage she doubted she possessed. “I’m having trouble …” She glanced to her left, thinking hard. “Hanging that new gate.”
He paused a second. The world waited in silence. “The one you built yourself?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“For the fence you put up?”
“Yes.” She scowled at him, trying not to fidget.
“Well …” His lips tilted into a slanted grin filled with promise and anticipation and endless possibilities. “Let’s get at it,” he said, and the sun slipped from behind a bank of lavender clouds.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
HOME FIRES
Lois Greiman
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The suggested questions are included
to enhance your group’s
reading of this book.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Although Emily Kane has significant problems of her own, she’s extremely upset that Colt and Casie can’t seem to work out their differences. Why do you think this concerns her so much?
2. Do you think the loss of Colt’s unborn daughter will make him more or less likely to form a lasting relationship with a woman in the future?
3. Although Tyler Roberts and Sophie Jaegar come from very different backgrounds, they both have dysfunctional families. Is that fact apt to make it easier or more difficult for them to relate to each other?
4. Linette Susan Hartman reveals very little about herse
lf during her stay at the Lazy Windmill. Why do you think she’s so secretive?
5. Ranchers deal with death on a daily basis. Do you think that makes them more sensitive or less sensitive to the frailties of human life?
6. Although Casie is obviously attracted to Colt, she’s certain she should be with someone who is more like her former fiancé, someone solid, pragmatic, and unemotional. Do you think she’s right, or would someone more lighthearted better balance her own practical nature?
7. For a short period Emily believes she should give up her baby for adoption. In reality, do you think that would be the best decision for a young woman in her circumstances?
8. Ty sees some similarities between his abusive mother and Sophie Jaegar, yet he can’t help but be attracted to Sophie. Knowing something about the girl’s volatile nature, do you think he should avoid her, or will she become the kind of woman who could make his life better?
9. With which character in Home Fires do you most closely relate?
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2013 by Lois Greiman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-0-7582-8122-7
eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-8123-4
eISBN-10: 0-7582-8123-4
First Kensington Electronic Edition: June 2013
