But all those dreams had to end now. Staring out at the mountains, she knew she had to leave as soon as she could. She’d bury herself in work while she was here—clean up the house, put it on the market, get the place sold, settle her dad and stepmom into a new home. There was no longer a chance she and Cade could save the Diamond Jack. It was as good as gone.
Then she’d go back to the life she’d chosen and fight for that promotion. If she couldn’t score Hawaii, maybe she could transfer to Chicago. Or New York. Maybe San Francisco.
Somewhere far, far away, so she’d never see Cade Walker again. Because her love hadn’t died at the sight of Amber Lynn; it had dug deeper inside her, changing from a blessing to a wound. New and raw, it had to be cleaned, closed, and healed, or it would scar her forever.
Chapter 24
Jess normally took her coffee black, but Molly, of course, had added milk and sugar. Like the woman herself, it was a little too sweet, and Jess shuddered at the cloying taste and slimy texture before discreetly pouring it over the railing. Sweetness felt like blasphemy when she was so damn sad.
She turned to see Molly standing in the doorway, head cocked, eyes questioning.
“What happened?” She scanned Jess from her muddy boots to her flyaway hair. “Where have you been? Did something happen with Cade?”
“No.” Jess looked away. “Nothing new.”
Nothing that hasn’t happened before. Cade slept with Amber Lynn. Big deal. I should have expected it.
“Come on, now,” Molly said. “We worked this out. You can trust me, hon.”
“I can’t trust anyone.”
The moment the words left her lips, Jess knew she’d said too much.
“You can trust Cade, hon. He’s a good man. Whatever happened, surely you can talk about it.”
“I don’t care about Cade.” Jess clenched her fists at her sides and struggled to bring her emotions under control. Breathing deep, she spoke more softly as the grass and hills before her blurred like a watercolor painting. “But you’re right, Molly, something’s bothering me.” She sighed. “You and Dad are right. You need to sell this place and move somewhere safer.” Somewhere I’ll be safe from falling for that cheatin’ cowboy all over again, like some loser in a bad country song. “That’s what I came for, and I haven’t done a thing to help.”
“Jess, no.” Molly laid her hand on Jess’s arm. “That’s not what I really want. And your dad…”
“Don’t tell me no.” Jess barely resisted the urge to shake her off. “Dad’s not well. He can’t keep the place going.”
“But you came back to save it,” Molly said. “I know you did. You want to keep it in the family, and, Jess, that’s all we needed to know.” She hesitated. “And we thought Cade—”
“I thought a lot of things about Cade, too, but they were wrong. I’m sorry, Molly. I know you love him.” Jess looked up at the sky, wishing God would send her a solution or strike her dead. Either would be equally welcome. “I loved him, too.”
“You still do,” Molly said.
“I can’t. Not anymore.” Jess did her best to force out a little laugh. “I was trying to recapture my childhood, I guess. Haven’t you ever fallen for an old flame?” She swiped at her eyes, wishing she didn’t cry when she got mad. Because that’s all it was—she was mad. “People change, and you have to move on. This is about Dad now, about what he needs.”
“What he needs is you.”
Jess pointed a finger at Molly. “Don’t do that to me. You’re the one who came up with the solution, and it’s going to work. We’ll find an over-fifty community where he can have horses. It’ll be perfect.” She sighed. “But perfect costs money. We have to sell this place first.”
“But you…”
“It’s not about me.” She gave her stepmother the best smile she could. “Besides, I’m no cowgirl. Not anymore.”
She stepped back and spread her arms, as if her to show off what a city chick she was. But looking down, she remembered she was wearing an old western shirt with the pocket torn off over a pair of Wranglers smudged with dirt and worse. She realized how tan she’d become, how much muscle she’d put on in the short time she’d been home. She looked about as cowgirl as a woman could.
“Oh, never mind.” She couldn’t help laughing at herself, miserable as she was. “I’m trying to face facts. This place is dangerous for Dad, so let’s put it on the market. I’ll find an agent, and you guys can start looking at those retirement places.” She paused, struggling to control the storm of rage inside her. “It’s not like I’m going to stick around. Not after finding Amber Lynn in Cade’s bed this morning.”
Molly gasped, one hand fluttering to her throat. “No.”
“Yes.” Jess wiped her eyes. Okay, it wasn’t anger. It was sorrow, pure and permanent.
Her stepmother was regarding her with openmouthed horror.
“Don’t worry.” Jess tried to sound casual. “I’ll be fine. I have to be. I’m on my own, and I’ve got things to do, and…” Slamming her cup down on the railing, she clapped a hand over her mouth and raced upstairs.
* * *
“Honey, we’ve got trouble.”
Heck turned in his hospital bed, shocked at the tone of Molly’s voice. His wife was always cheerful. She fought cheerfully, complained cheerfully, even lectured him on his shortcomings cheerfully. But today, she was slumped into the chair beside his bed, nursing an air of defeat.
“What kind of trouble?” he asked.
“Jess is calling real estate agents right now. Something happened with Cade. She says she’s ready to help us sell the place.”
“No.”
Heck plucked at the sheet that covered his chest, wishing he could tear it apart, wishing he could leap from his bed like some heart-attack Superman. He hated being helpless. He hated being sick. He really hated being stuck in the hospital, where he couldn’t control what was going on at home.
He’d thought about breaking out but wasn’t sure he could walk down the hall, let alone make it home. He was so miserable, he was actually looking forward to his surgery.
He couldn’t understand it. All his life, he’d thought nothing of vaulting into the saddle of his favorite horse and riding for miles. Hell, he’d won the bulldogging at Cheyenne Frontier Days back in 1989. That had required not only vaulting onto a horse but diving onto the horns of a racing steer, braking with the heels of his boots, and wrestling the animal to the ground—all in ten seconds or less.
So how was it possible that he could barely stand? The way he felt this morning, he had no business ranching at all. Deep down, he was worried he’d taken his last ride.
He ran a hand over his face as if he could wipe away the wrinkles of old age. “I really thought gettin’ her home would work. Thought Cade would set things right between ’em, and they’d be hitched by June.”
“I thought so, too.”
“What the ding-dang muck bucket happened?” His voice rose to a querulous old-man whine; he hated the sound of it, but he couldn’t help it. “Last I heard, those two were all lovey-dovey in the barn.”
She stared down at the floor, shaking her head. “I told you, Amber Lynn’s car was over there.”
“There’s no way that boy would be fool enough to take that little bitch back. Damn near ruined his life, and he knows it.”
“So you’d think. But I saw the car, and well…”
Her voice trailed off, and he knew she was hiding something from him. Could Cade really have been fool enough to fall for Amber Lynn again? If he had, no wonder Molly was hiding it. He’d be obligated to go over there and punch the boy’s lights out, and he didn’t feel up to that right now.
He sighed. He’d been sure his daughter would lasso Cade, drag him to the altar, and set up housekeeping for the two of them, either at the Diamond Jack or at Cade’s place. They’d
run the ranch, and Heck could give ’em advice. He had lots of advice.
That was about all he had.
“Maybe it’s inevitable,” Molly said. “Ranching—I don’t know. I always feel like we live in the past. I’m not sure it’s a viable way of life anymore.”
“Why the hell not? It’s my way of life and always has been.”
Molly started to speak, probably to apologize, but he bulldozed right over her.
“My way of life, and Jess’s, too. She’s my daughter. It’s up to me to make her happy. And instead, we came up with this crazy plot, messed with her life, and broke her heart all over again.” He jabbed a finger at Molly’s face, making her flinch. “I never had secrets from her until you came along.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She stood and shot the glare right back. “Now I’m the problem?”
Nervously, he clutched the sheet, wondering if he’d gone too far.
“I was doing my best to help,” Molly said. “But since you think I’m the problem, I guess I’d better get going and fix this, too.”
Turning, she stalked out of the room.
“It was all your idea,” he called after her. “I never should’ve agreed to it.”
He thought maybe she’d come back, if only to defend herself, but he’d apparently pissed her off good this time.
“That’s just fine,” he muttered. “Don’t go messing with my life again. It’s mine. My mess.”
He loved Molly, but she’d screwed up his life with this crazy scheme when he’d planned to simply tell Jess to come home, tell her to give Cade and the ranch another chance. The boy would make her happy, and she belonged on the Bailey land.
He remembered how Molly had laughed when he’d told her that.
“You can’t tell a woman who to love,” she’d said. “Or tell that daughter of yours what to do.”
She’d been right about the last part, he supposed, but her idea hadn’t worked any better. Now they’d have to sell the ranch, the only home he’d ever had, and Jess would walk away mad. Especially if she found out how he and Molly had manipulated her.
A thundercloud of misery, full to bursting, floated over his mind and cast his whole life into shadow. Catching a sob in his throat, he glanced over at the chair out of habit to make sure Molly hadn’t heard.
But she wasn’t there. She’d stormed off mad, and he wasn’t sure when she’d come back. Or if.
She’d been gone more and more lately. Sure, he slept a lot, but he felt bereft whenever he woke up to that empty chair.
Maybe he was losing Molly, too.
Chapter 25
Molly spun the Camry into Cade’s driveway like Dale Earnhardt zipping across the finish line. Gravel spattered against the shed’s worn siding as she slid to a stop.
It felt good to make a racket, to express herself, to take control. Anger was a rare emotion for her, but Heck had fired it up, and she was ready to give Cade a piece of her mind.
And if Amber Lynn was around, she’d kill her.
Emerging from the car, she glared at the familiar black Cadillac. It was right in front of the house, gleaming shamelessly in the morning light like some predatory sea creature—a glossy manta ray, or a man-eating shark. There was a figure slumped in the driver’s seat, and the flame of Molly’s anger rose.
Little bitch. Spoiled brat.
Molly would never let herself say such things aloud, but a million curse words hammered at her brain. She wanted to spit them out like the car spat gravel, flinging them against the Cadillac’s shiny paint job, against Amber Lynn’s smug little face.
Squinting through the Caddy’s tinted windows, she noticed Amber Lynn’s hair looked lank and dirty. Her shoulders were shaking. Was she crying?
Good.
Molly hoped she was crying about Cade. Hoped he’d finally stood up to her.
She headed for the house. Amber Lynn rolled down her window as she passed, but Molly walked right past her, up the stairs to the front door, and hammered on it with her fist.
This being mad thing was kind of fun. She’d always thought she was a forgiving person with no anger in her heart, but it turned out she’d just been saving it up.
“Cade? I need to talk to you. Now.” Flinging the door open, she almost hit him in the face. “What the hell’s going on?”
He looked shocked. He’d probably never heard her swear before.
“Why is Amber Lynn here?” she continued. “And why is my daughter crying her eyes out at home when she should be the one who’s with you?”
“She—I…” He lifted his hat and scratched the back of his head, then looked out at Amber Lynn’s car and frowned. “It’s really not a good time to talk. I promised Jess I’d help her with those calves today. I need to load up my horse and—”
“Cade, Jess is crying in her bed. I don’t think she’s thinking about calves.”
He tugged his hat back down. “Then I’ll do it myself. Need to get going before it starts getting hot.”
Molly shoved her foot in the door. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”
He stared at her a moment. The boy looked exhausted, and she felt a little bad for him. But she wasn’t done being mad, so she just gave him a look. The kind of look teachers reserved for problem students.
Sighing, he held the door open. “Come in, then.”
Molly glanced back at Amber Lynn, then gave Cade a Dirty Harry squint. “She’s not coming in, is she?”
“Nope. She’s leaving.”
“Good.”
Molly stepped into Cade’s little house, and her heart broke all over again. She could picture Jess prettying it up, cooking with Cade. They wouldn’t be the kind of couple where the wife did all the housework while the husband worked outside. Jess’s life here would center on all the things she loved. Wyoming. Horses. Cade Walker. And someday, babies.
She doesn’t know it, but that’s her world.
“What’s going on?” She sat down at the table and looked into Cade’s honest gray eyes. He met her gaze without flinching, which meant he probably wasn’t actually sleeping with Amber Lynn. “Why is your ex-wife here?”
“She was here when I got home one day, and she wouldn’t leave.”
Outside, Amber Lynn was gunning the Cadillac’s engine. She was probably upset nobody was paying attention to her.
“Some guy hit her, Molly.” Cade grimaced. “I couldn’t send her back to him.”
“Why couldn’t she go to her dad?”
“She figured that was the first place the guy would look.”
“Why wouldn’t he find her here?”
“He might. But I was here if that happened.” He looked down at his feet, as if fascinated by the stitching on his boots. “She’d been abused. Hit, Molly. I couldn’t turn her away.”
Molly sighed. “I can understand that. But Jess won’t.”
“I know.” He dropped into a chair and held his head in his hands. “She came over here and tapped on my bedroom window this morning. It’s something we used to do, back when—you know. But I let Amber Lynn use the bedroom. She opened the window instead of me.”
“Oh, Cade,” Molly whispered. “No.”
“I tried to help an abused woman, that’s all. I need to make Jess understand that.” Reaching across the table, he palmed a pig-shaped pepper shaker with a smiling face that mocked the hopelessness in his eyes. “I know I should have kicked her out, but there was that black eye, and her hair—she hadn’t been taking care of herself, and that’s so unlike her.” He stroked one finger along the pig’s snout. “It didn’t matter who she was. I couldn’t turn a battered woman away.” He looked up and met Molly’s eyes. “You know my dad hit my mom.”
Molly nodded. She hadn’t known for sure, but she’d suspected.
“Mom stayed because s
he didn’t have anywhere to go.” Setting down the pepper shaker, he sighed. “I couldn’t turn any woman away. Not even Amber Lynn.”
Molly, her anger fading, patted his shoulder. “Jess is mad, but she knows you. She’ll come around.”
“Would you?”
“Would I what?”
“Come around, if you came home and found Dot in Heck’s bed.”
“No, I guess I might not. But you have to try.”
“I will. I told Amber Lynn to go to the bank, ask her dad for a job. Then she’d be able to take care of herself, without depending on a man.”
Molly sighed. “Those poor tellers.”
“I know, but she needs something to do besides chase after men. And I think she’d be good at it.”
There was a soft tap at the door, and Amber Lynn poked her head inside. Her eyes were swollen from crying, her hair a nest of tangles.
“Cade? Can I just clean up here? I can’t go see Daddy looking like this.”
Cade threw Molly a hopeless glance.
“No.” Molly scowled. “You can’t.”
The waterworks were on full force now, and Molly saw how the girl had gotten to Cade. She didn’t sob or gulp, and her face didn’t turn red. She just stood there in the doorway with tears streaming artfully down her face, looking like a sad and very beautiful Madonna.
“I d-don’t have anywhere to g-go. My dad married a woman who hates me, so I can’t go home, so if I can’t stay here, I’m h-h-homeless.”
“I can fix that.” Molly rose from the table and took Amber Lynn’s arm. “I have the perfect place for you. Cade, you go take care of those calves. Amber Lynn and I will go find her a place to live.”
Cowboy Summer Page 16
