Cowboy Summer

by Joanne Kennedy

  With a subtle John Wayne–style tug at her belt, she lowered herself into the chair and faced Amber Lynn Lyle.

  * * *

  Leading Redline from the barn, Cade glanced around at the improvements he’d made to Walker Ranch. He hadn’t had much time, but the place looked good. As he stroked the mare’s pretty copper-penny coat, he tried to let the joy of a sun-drenched bluebird day sink into his soul.

  He almost succeeded.

  Redline, for sure, was getting a new life, a happy, civilized horse life with warm stalls, veterinary care, and a job to do. She had a lot to learn, but Cade had even more. He’d be working for a boss, something he hadn’t done in years. He’d be moving to California, where the climate was completely different. But the biggest change would happen in his heart, because he was going to learn to live without Jess Bailey.

  “We’re getting there, girl,” he muttered to the horse. “It’ll be all right.”

  Redline shuddered as he adjusted the saddle and fastened the girth, but she’d learned to stand firm, her feet planted solidly on the hard-packed ground.

  For Cade, that was more of a challenge. It seemed like the earth under his feet had been spinning and shifting for months, changing with Jess’s every mood.

  Fortunately, that all stopped when he was working. In the barn and the round ring, he knew who he was and what he needed to do. Consistency and calm were the keys to good training; it was a regimen that would do him good.

  Baker had wanted him ASAP, but Cade had needed to tie up some loose ends. He’d had two roping horses to finish for neighboring ranchers, and he’d had to find homes for Heck’s charity cases. Two of them, geldings, would go to a local woman who ran a horse rescue, turning older horses into dependable mounts for children. She’d finish their training and sell them to families who’d take good care of them.

  As for Redline, she’d be going back to Heck, broken to saddle at no charge as a thank-you to a man who’d been more father than neighbor for the past few years. Saying goodbye to Heck would be his last task and the hardest—unless Jess decided to speak to him long enough to say goodbye.

  He doubted she would. She hadn’t called, hadn’t answered any of his messages, hadn’t even texted him. He wasn’t surprised—not anymore.

  Settling a hackamore over the horse’s head, he glanced over at the house. It didn’t look nearly as disreputable as it had when his dad died. Cade had cleaned it up, painted the siding, and repaired what was broken as best he could. It was a respectable ranch house now and a fine place to live—for somebody else. For him, no amount of paint and polish could exorcise the ghosts peering out every window and lurking behind every door. Some of them looked like his mother. Others looked like his dad. But these days, most of them looked like Jess, and he was tired of being haunted.

  Setting a firm hand on the saddle, he slipped one foot into the stirrup and tested the horse’s response to his weight. She stood quietly, one ear flicking back then forward again.

  She was ready.

  Swinging his leg up and over, he settled in, speaking softly all the while, then clicked his tongue and nudged the horse into a slow walk around the ring. One circuit, two, then three. A little more speed, a little more control each time.

  She was ready to go forward, trotting into her new life.

  Hopefully he was, too.

  Chapter 48

  Jess sat across from Amber Lynn, watching her shuffle papers almost as if she knew what she was doing.

  “Okay.” The woman gave Jess a perky grin. “First, I want you to know we’re on the same side now. I mean, I work here, at Your Friendly Neighborhood Small-Town Bank!”

  The way she repeated the slogan told Jess Jasper Lyle must have drummed it into her head every morning at breakfast.

  “Here we go.” Amber Lynn fooled with her computer, thrusting out her chin and squinting at the screen before popping back up with her perfect posture intact. “We can move that money for you if you just give me your ID.”

  Jess fished out her driver’s license, stifling the urge to whip it back when Amber Lynn pinched it between her shiny, Barbie-pink nails.

  “I met that Mr. Swammett that’s going to buy your ranch.” Amber Lynn propped Jess’s license on her computer. Squinting, she punched the keys with two fingers. “He’s a big deal in Hollywood, did you know? He produces ‘Redneck Wives.’”

  It figured. Jess hated that show. The so-called rednecks were supposed to be cowboys but were actually a bunch of horse-challenged gym rats looking for their big break into show business.

  “I was pretty excited to meet him,” Amber Lynn continued. “I’d have asked about trying out for the show, but my dad needs me here at the bank.”

  “Not to mention that you’re not a wife anymore, and Cade’s not a redneck.”

  Jess hadn’t meant to get combative. Amber Lynn would be more likely to confess if she believed they were friends.

  Amber Lynn hesitantly tapped a few more keys. “Sorry,” she said. “This is a new position for me. I’m really just a trainee.”

  Of course it was new. Amber Lynn had never held a job in her life, so her previous “positions” had come straight from the Kama Sutra. Jess smiled at the thought, then scolded herself. Being catty was Amber Lynn’s job. Jess was supposed to be the nice one.

  “There.” Cade’s ex flicked a couple more keys and sat back. “Done. Now here’s what I wanted to tell you. Take a look at this office.” She swept her arm around the room as if it was a corner suite in Trump Tower rather than a dumpy, drywalled cube in a small-town bank. “I owe this all to Cade.”

  “Really.”

  “Uh-huh.” Amber nodded hard, like a child. “I never thought I was good for much more than looking pretty, you know? But Cade said I was smart and good at getting people to do what I want.”

  Jess knew. “Yeah, you manipulate folks really well.”

  “Thank you.” The woman preened. If Cade thought this woman was smart, he must think women kept their brains in their boobs.

  Argh. Be nice. Think nice thoughts.

  “So my dad had a job he wanted to offer Cade,” Amber Lynn continued. “But can you see him behind a desk, under these lights all day?” She tinkled out a lovely little laugh. “He’d lose his mind.”

  “If he hasn’t already.” Jess frowned. “I don’t want to talk about Cade, okay?”

  “Okay. I just wanted to tell you how he believed in me, you know?”

  Jess huffed out a bitter laugh. “I’m glad he believed in someone.”

  “Oh. Molly said you were having trust issues.” Amber Lynn gave Jess a sympathetic moue. “I’m sorry about all the stuff that’s happened at the ranch, and double-dog sorry he thinks it was you.”

  Jess blinked hard, forcing back tears. How could Cade have shared their intimate secrets with Little Miss Slip-of-a-Thing when she was responsible for the whole mess? It was obvious whose side he was on.

  To heck with getting Amber Lynn to confess. Jess just wanted out.

  She rose. “Sorry, I have things to do.”

  Leaping from her chair, Amber Lynn slammed the door closed and stood with her back against it, bosom heaving. She lifted a finger and pointed it at Jess’s face.

  “I’m not letting you out of here until you listen to me, Jess Bailey.”

  “Oh, stop. You can have him, okay?” Damn this woman, anyway. And double damn Cade Walker. The tears were on the verge now, and the last thing Jess wanted to do was cry in front of Amber Lynn. “Just treat him better this time, okay? He deserves a good life.”

  “I can’t give him that. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Jess, you have to forgive him.” Amber spread her arms across the door, barring the way like the heroine in a bad melodrama. “That man has loved you all his life. All his life. And that includes his wedding day, our honeymoon, and every day of our marr
iage.”

  Jess started to speak, but then Amber Lynn’s words sunk in, and all that came out was a stunned croak.

  She finally managed to push words past her aching throat. “Did he call out my name or what?”

  “Not during sex. But he muttered it in his sleep all the time.” Amber Lynn’s eyes filled with tears. “Do you know what it’s like, knowing your husband misses another woman like that? Knowing he dreams of someone else every night, while you’re right there beside him?”

  “No.” Jess was having trouble keeping up with the conversation. “I mean, I don’t know. I—I’m sorry?”

  “Are you? Because you should be. Not for me, but for him. The man is messed up, Jess. You’ve gone and wrecked him for any other woman, and now you’re making it worse, just because he thinks you did some mischief. What was it, something with a calf? A porch swing?” She huffed out a sarcastic little laugh. “Who cares? You did a lot worse to that man than poison his water. You ruined his life when you left him the first time, and now you’re doing it again.”

  “He was hardly ruined,” Jess said. “He married you within the year.”

  “He was drunk. And besides, he didn’t have much choice.”

  Jess cringed, remembering the mythical baby.

  “That man didn’t know which way was up.” She met Jess’s eyes with a challenge in her own. “Think about the Cade you knew. Would he have allowed any woman to do the things I did? Spend all his money, cheat on him?”

  Jess bit her lip and stared at the floor.

  “No,” Amber Lynn said. “He wouldn’t have. Not before you left. But when you went away, you broke him. He just didn’t care anymore.”

  “Amber Lynn, just stop. My life is none of your business, and I’m sure your dad wouldn’t approve of this conversation on bank time.”

  “My dad won’t care.” Amber Lynn raised her chin. “He values me now, as an employee. I’m the first person here and the last to leave, and when I’m home, I’m studying. I’ve learned so fast, Mary Lou’s training me to do mortgages already. But you know what? I’d give it all up if that would make things right between you and Cade.” Her lower lip wobbled, and it took her a moment to master it. “I care about him. You might find that hard to believe, and I guess he would, too, but it’s true. He deserves happiness, and I’m not letting you out of here until you understand Cade loves you, and you belong together. I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing it for him.”

  Jess decided Amber Lynn deserved a job with Mr. Swammett. She sure had the chops for it—because this was all an act. It had to be. The woman had never cared about anyone but herself.

  Still, she was awfully riled up, so maybe Jess could get her confession now.

  “It’s not what he did,” she said. “It’s what you did.”

  “Me?” Amber Lynn mimed shock. “I’m sure he explained I was just staying with him to escape my abusive boyfriend.”

  “Right.” Jess had had enough. “The one who gave you that magical disappearing black eye.”

  “Oh my gosh, you figured that out?” Amber Lynn collapsed against the door, her eyes wide with admiration. “I always knew you were smart.”

  “I figured out more than that,” Jess said. “I figured out you were behind the fish sticks.”

  “Fish sticks?” Amber Lynn cocked her head and bit her lip as if deep in thought.

  Geez, what an actress.

  “Oh. I remember now. Cade doesn’t like them. But I didn’t have anything else in the house.”

  Jess felt a surge of triumph. “So you admit it.”

  “Yes.” Amber Lynn’s jaw jutted rebelliously. “But I never told him I was any good at cooking. And Daddy used to make them for me all the time. I didn’t know they were kid food.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jess’s head felt like a top was spinning inside, reeling around and crashing into her skull before careening off in another direction and slamming into the other side.

  “Fish sticks,” Amber Lynn said. “It’s like the Spanish Inquisition or something. I mean, that meal was over a year ago. And he ate it all right. Even without any tartar sauce.”

  “I’m not talking about a meal, and you know it,” Jess said. “I’m talking about the ones you put in the well.”

  “The well?”

  “Yes, the well. Someone could have gotten sick.” She rubbed her nose, still dealing with the remnants of the death dirt smell. “But of course Cade refuses to believe you could possibly do such a thing, because you’re so little and helpless. So it would go a long way if you’d admit to him that you did it and get me off the hook.”

  “If I told him what? That I put fish sticks in the well?” Amber Lynn leaned toward Jess. “Is that what you want? For me to tell him I did that?”

  “Yes. And about the porch swing, too.”

  Amber Lynn looked as if the light was dawning at last. “That I made it fall down?”

  Jess nodded.

  “And then you’ll forgive him? You promise?”

  “I don’t know.” Jess flopped down into her chair. “Even if you tell him the truth, that doesn’t change the past. He still thought I did it. He still thinks I’m the kind of person who hurts people to get what I want. And that’s not me. That’s you.”

  Amber Lynn flinched. “Okay. I deserved that. But why wouldn’t he think that?” Her eyes grew hard. “That man lived with me for over two years, and I put him through hell.” Returning to her chair, she smoothed her skirt. “I was a nightmare, Jess, and he probably still hasn’t gotten over it. Why would he trust anyone? He doesn’t think you’re a bad person. He just thinks that’s how women are.”

  Jess stared at Amber Lynn, stunned, gears turning in her mind.

  “He doesn’t trust anyone,” Cade’s ex continued. “His dad treated him like crap, and his mom let him do it. I took advantage of him, too, and so did my dad. So he’s been cheated all his life. Give the man a break, okay? Teach him he’s wrong.”

  Jess sat back, feeling like she’d just been tumbled in a dryer and tossed into the chair, all wrinkled and hot, her innards still spinning.

  “Wow, Amber Lynn. I think you might be right.”

  “I know I am. And so do you.”

  Amber Lynn nodded. Slowly, Jess nodded back.

  “Okay. Now. Business.” The bank’s newest employee shimmied in her chair, as if settling into a new persona. “I moved $5,000 from the Diamond Jack account to your father’s savings account.” She pressed a button on her keyboard, and a spiral of paper came out of a printer on her desk. “Here’s your receipt. Now go home and tell Cade Walker you love him. You know you do.” Folding her arms over her chest, she leaned back in her chair, slipping easily into a pose eerily reminiscent of her father. “You definitely don’t have to worry about me. I’m busy with my career. I plan to be a vice president of this bank within two years.”

  Jess rose, which wasn’t easy, because her knees felt strangely weak. She’d known all her life that Cade had been misused and abused, but she’d thought it was what made him strong. She’d certainly never thought of herself as one of the abusers. But now that Amber Lynn had painted the picture, it was clear as a country day.

  “Thank you.” She squeezed the words past a lump in her throat. “I—I appreciate what you said.”

  “You’re welcome. It’s about time I did something for Cade.” The woman looked up with such a stark, pained look that Jess actually ached for her. “Save him, okay? He deserves to be happy. Even if it’s not with me.” She sighed. “He’s yours and always will be.”

  I’m yours and always will be. Jess remembered Cade saying that as he’d handed her that ruined flower outside the barn. She remembered the look in his eyes at that moment—so earnest that love had swelled in her heart like an orchestra soaring into song.

  Now, her heart felt more like a string
section tuning up, screeching and sawing at all the wrong notes. But musicians had to do that before a symphony, right? Sooner or later, they set their bows and played in perfect harmony.

  “Okay. I’ll call him or something.” She had to blink so fast to hold back tears that she could barely see as she fumbled for the doorknob and stumbled out the door.

  Pausing in the hall, she turned to face the woman who’d always been her nemesis. “And Amber Lynn? I hope you do real well here at the bank.” She offered a tremulous smile. “I hope you really succeed. And I think you will.”

  * * *

  Stepping out of the bank, Jess blinked in the afternoon sun. She felt as if she’d been in some alternate universe—one where the most insensitive, selfish person she’d ever known had turned the tables and revealed that Jess wasn’t much better.

  Amber Lynn was evolving, apparently, while Jess was stuck in place. She’d become the greedy one, the one who wanted more than Cade could offer, the one who demanded perfection in every aspect of their relationship. The one who wanted everything at once—the ranch, her job in the city, Cade, her independence—everything.

  It was time to choose. And as she climbed into her father’s truck and breathed in the stuffy, horse-scented air of the cab, with its subtle notes of dog, saddle leather, and sweat, she realized there was no contest. Sitting in the sunbaked pickup, watching the wind blow a scattering of leaves down the empty sidewalks of Wynott, she thought about Cade and the love she’d almost tossed away and wondered what on earth had made her leave.

  Maybe it had been that show on TV where four city girls made sleeping around seem sophisticated. She’d fantasized about men with culture, men with money, men with high-powered careers. She’d pictured herself married to one of them, balancing a sophisticated social life with an important job of her own.

  She’d wanted a life filled with loft apartments, sleek minimalist décor, cultured friends, and gallery openings where she’d sip wine and make intelligent observations about the latest avant-garde works by the hottest new painters. She’d gotten most of that—although she never had learned to enjoy avant-garde art—but it hadn’t made her happy.