Heart of Grace (Return to Grace Trilogy #1) (11 page)

“Are you saying you can’t do it?”
“Hardly,” he scoffed. “Are you challenging me, Miz
Donnelly?”
“Perhaps. If that’s what it takes…”
“Okay. I’ll see what I can do. Send me the details and I’ll
have Sheryl look them over.”
“Sheryl? My assistant? Whom I fired?! Who you-”
“I rehired her,” he said unapologetically. “You left, Angela.
I needed the extra help and Sheryl knows your accounts.”
Angela had walked in on Jeffrey and Sheryl. She had
seen
them together, and after she’d let herself begin to think, to
hope.
“I’ll get the information to tonight,” Angela said icily.
“Angela.”
“What?” She closed her eyes and took in a careful breath
when she realized she had snapped out the word.
“I rehired her only because she is familiar with your
accounts.” Jeffery paused deliberately. “It was your choice to
leave.”
“No it wasn’t,” Angela muttered and then added quickly,
“I’ll be in touch. Check your email in the morning.”
“Will do, goodnight Angela.”
“Goodnight.”
She hung up the phone.
“Now, that looks like the face of a ticked off woman.”
“Confused is more like it.” Angela smiled as Sophie sat
beside her on the bench. The woman was relentless, despite
Angela’s efforts to ignore her. Sophie either hadn’t gotten the
hint, or she had decided to not let it deter her. And in a town
as small as this, it was hard to not run into her, especially since
she taught the yoga class every week.
“Does it have anything to do with boys?”
“Is there anything else more confusing?” Angela laughed
and slipped her phone back into her purse. “Actually, it has a
lot to do with a little bit of everything.”
“Who’s Jeffrey? Sorry,” she added quickly, “public
place…I couldn’t help but hear.”
“He’s my boss in New York.
Was
my boss.”
“Uh-huh.” Sophie cast a sideways glance at Angela. “I saw
you smiling into the phone. I also saw you scowling into it.
Both reactions say he’s more than just your boss.”
How long had she been listening? Irritated, Angela said, “I
wasn’t smiling. We dated, but it’s over now.”
“What about Cole?”
“What about him? We work together.”
“And you are obviously so against having personal
relationships with people you work with.” Sophie retorted.
“Dating is the last thing on my mind these days. I’m just
trying to get through the summer.”
“My sister knows this woman in Missoula who claimed to
be a witch. But her crystal ball was electric and her long pointy
nails were fake. It was all a sham. When she wasn’t at work
trying to swindle people for money she looked just like you and
me.”
Angela frowned. “What does that have to do with-”
“Illusions.” Sophie smiled. “People will believe anything if
they want to believe it badly enough. Same as forgetting. If you
want to forget it, you will. The problem is that the truth always
comes out one way or another and sooner or later you’ll be
sitting there like an idiot with your crystal ball sputtering out.”
Sophie looked down at her hands, fingers tangled together
in her lap. When she looked back up, pain peppered the
wisdom in her eyes.
“I lived with a man for five years,” Sophie continued,
answering the question that Angela would not ask. “He
cheated on me constantly and knocked me around a little, but
I was too afraid to leave him. So I stuck to my illusions. And
when I got pregnant-”
“Pregnant?” Angela asked, surprised. “You’re a mother?”
“No.” Sophie smiled sadly. “I’m not, he saw to that.”
“Sophie,” Angela felt the tears rise up, “I’m so sorry.”
“Stop it.” Sophie waved away Angela’s concern. “It was a
long time ago. The only reason I brought it up is because I
know what it’s like to lose yourself, and a lot more that you
didn’t even have to give, to someone you once trusted.”
“It wasn’t like that with Jeffery and I.”
“I’m not talking about Jeffery. I mean your dad.”
“Sophie-”
“You think you’re past it,” she interrupted hastily, “but you
can’t get past it until you face it. I don’t think you’ve done that
yet, but you will. It’ll be hard, but when you do you’ll move on
and you’ll realize that maybe the bad things happened to bring
you to something so much better.”
“It already did. It brought me to New York.” Angela said,
although as she sat on the bench in this small town with its
meandering people, laughter and cheerful Fourth of July
banners flapping overhead in the breeze, she was unable to
recall a memory of the streets of Manhattan. “I always
wondered if I would have had the courage to leave if Henry
hadn’t done what he had done.”
“And I am certain that I wouldn’t have left Chris if he
hadn’t made me lose the baby. It was a horrible sacrifice and I
suffered for it, but that’s what it took to shake me out of the
illusion and to look for something real.” Sophie flicked her
gaze toward heaven and smiled. Then she stood and took
Angela’s hand, coaxing her up. “Maybe your time in New
York, and away from Grace, was your sacrifice. And the thing
that’s supposed to make you see where you really should be.
Maybe you thought New York was where you were supposed
to be, but I think you were meant to return to Grace.”
“Only for the summer, I plan to-”
“You plan to leave once it’s over and your obligations at
the arena are done. You keep saying that, but you know,”
Sophie winked, “the wonderful thing about making plans is
they often change when we least expect it.”
“That’s the wonderful thing?”
“Of course!” Sophie beamed. “Would life be any fun if you
always knew where you were going?”
Angela nodded and hoisted up her bag of fertilizer. “I think
you’re wrong, but thank you for giving me something to think
about.”
“You’re saying that to be polite, but I know you really will
think about what I’ve said.”
“And how do you know that?” Angela asked, unable to
stop herself from smiling.
“Because I’m right.” Sophie laughed. “There’s a reason you
just happened to walk
into my yoga
class
that day.
Coincidences don’t really exist you know, everything happens
for a reason. Are we still on for lunch on Tuesday?”
“Of course.”
Sophie hugged Angela and walked down the sidewalk.
Angela frowned after her. The woman had lived through the
horror of losing a child, something Angela could not imagine.
Yet, as Sophie walked away there was a bounce in her step and
a certain lightness to her movements.
Angela walked to her car and thought of Jeffrey, Cole and
her father, the thoughts like machine gun fire: random and
unpredictable. She hefted the fertilizer and her heavy burden
into the backseat, grateful that tonight she’d be too busy to
think about any of it. She’d also have to find a way to work on
getting the proposal to Jeffery.
Ralph spotted her car and waved her down. She pulled up
to the curb.
“The hay and oats are there. Sent off the load about twenty
minutes ago.” He smiled and leaned down so they were eye to
eye, “told ya I’d come through.”
“You’re a prince, Ralph,” Angela said, “my hero.”
She pressed the button to roll up the window before he
had the chance to agree with her, but she smiled and waved as
she drove away.
****
The crowd was already starting to gather as Angela parked
at the arena. She used the back entrance, pleased when she saw
several bales of hay stacked throughout the area inside the
loading dock. A group of six hands were busy pitching it into
the corrals.
“Where’s Cole?” She asked one of the young men, halfhoping he wouldn’t know the answer.
The kid responded with a jerk of his head. Angela followed
the direction and found Cole standing in front of a bronco, the
steel fence between them. He appeared to be engaged in a
staring contest with the animal. When he pushed away and
turned, the anger in his eyes revealed a whole lot more than a
silly contest.
She walked up to him slowly, wishing he was farther away.
When she approached him she offered no greeting and said,
“You want to go out there, don’t you?”
“This is circuit, sweetheart.” Cole walked past her and took
up a pitch fork. He started on the hay. “I don’t ride circuit
anymore.”
“You know what I mean.” Angela grabbed work gloves
and a fork. Her muscles had adjusted since she had come back
and it had become second nature to perform this manual task.
Her sculptured nails were a thing of the past, but at least she
was developing killer biceps.
“We got Devil’s Ticket,” Cole said conversationally after a
few minutes. “And he’s mad. Should make for a good night. I
asked an extra team of paramedics to be on hand. Just in case.”
He stopped working and turned to her, his breathing
heavy. “I was thinking about the timing of all this. What do
you suppose the chances are that you and I end up in Grace at
the same time? I should be in Arizona right now, in the middle
of a twenty thousand seat arena. I should be far from here.”
He went back to work. “And far from you.”
Angela took a step back, the hurt like a knife to the gut.
She thought of Sophie’s comments about illusions and tossed
her pitchfork aside.
“And
I
should be wearing a Burberry suit and sitting in a
room that smells like lilacs and furniture oil. Not
here
.” She shot
him a seething glare and turned to leave.
He grabbed her wrist and yanked her back.
“Let go,” she said quietly, wary of causing a scene.
“I’m sorry.” His loosened his grip, but held on. “I’m in a
bad mood.”
“Clearly.” She tried to pull free, but there was little effort
in it and she allowed him to pull her closer.
“You look good, Ang.” He moved in, their noses an inch
apart. “Too good. Those Burberry suits got nothing on you in
a pair of jeans and those work gloves. You wanna forget that
kiss, but I can’t get it off my mind. Not the one a few weeks
ago, and not the one fifteen years ago.”
She barely had the chance to suck in a breath before he
crashed his mouth onto hers. The kiss was
urgent and
thorough. Every muscle in her body tightened in response,
even as her throat let out a surrendering sigh.
Someone whistled and called out from a distance. Another
person laughed and shouted “woohoo Cole!” She knew she’d
be teased mercilessly for this, but in that moment she couldn’t
gather the gumption to think about the repercussions. She
wrapped her arms more tightly around him and felt the rapid
beat of his heart.
“Angie.” His voice was not the least bit gentle. His lips
hovered hesitantly over hers. “This is complicated.”
“I know.”
“Tell me you don’t want this, Angie, and I’ll stop. I’ll be
your business partner if that’s all you really want with me and
the rest will end here and now. I’ll stop trying to make it right.”
“Cole, can you help us with the barrels?”
Cole muttered under his breath at the interruption. He
took a retreating step back and looked up toward the direction
of the voice: the announcers’ stand on the platform above
them. “On my way!”
He looked back at her, his gaze fluttering to her lips before
he turned and hurried away.
Unsure of what to do now, Angela turned back to the hay.
A young hand took up Cole’s pitchfork. He went straight to
work, but his grin spoke of the tease he had yet to utter.
“Shut up, Jeremy.”
He snickered as she walked away.
Eleven

The rodeo was like hundreds of others that had taken place
at The Bullpen Arena over the years. The circuit was a stage
for amateurs, but the participants took it seriously and so did
the crowd. The atmosphere was more relaxed than it would be
at a pro event, but as an event planner, Angela had no time for
relaxing. Still, as the night wound to a close and they were
down to the last few events, she found the opportunity to
escape to the arena office.

The rooms here were small and functional. She left off the
obnoxious florescent lighting, choosing the gentle light from
the lamp on her desk instead. As she booted up the computer,
the music from the rodeo vibrated the walls. One of the
announcers must have said something amusing, because the
crowd erupted into shouts and laughter. Angela smiled and
opened her email.

She couldn’t concentrate. The proposal she promised
Jeffrey was simple enough, just a compilation of the arena’s
financials and marketing plans. She had prepared hundreds
over the years, but after thirty minutes her lack of focus made
it impossible to fully delve into the task. Besides that, the barrel
riding competition was starting and Tina was on the roster.
Angela quickly finalized the proposal and sent it off to Jeffrey
without even a read-through. Staring at the “message sent”
notice across the screen, Angela bit her lip and frowned.

She turned off the lamp and hurried out of the office. The
announcer called Tina’s name and Angela took off at a run.
She hurried up the steel steps and stood behind Reed at the
announcers stand.

Tina took her starting position and then commanded the
horse into a full run. The crowd cheered for their hometown
girl and Angela joined in.

Reed’s ear over the crowd as Tina rounded the first barrel.
“Sure does!” Reed patted Angela’s hand, glancing at her
over his shoulder. “When you getting out there?”
Angela laughed and shook her head. “I can’t remember the
last time I tried the barrels.”
“I do.” Reed rose and stood beside Angela, turning his
attention back to Tina as she finished the last turn. In the end
she placed eighth, but her time was good for a first go.
Angela caught Tina’s eye as she and the horse pranced
toward the rear gates. There was no disappointment showing
on her face and Angela knew the girl was soaking up the cheers.
She kissed all of her fingertips at once and threw her arms wide
open to her “fans.”
Laughing, Angela blew Tina a kiss right back.
Turning again to Reed, Angela was surprised to realize he
had been looking at her, and not at Tina.
“You used to love the barrels,” Reed said with a sad smile
as the crowd calmed down and the next rider took her place.
“You used to ride Honey Bear. Remember?”
“Oh, I loved that horse,” Angela said. “Haven’t thought of
her in years. Butterfield was a good trail horse, and she will
always be my favorite, but Honey Bear was good on the barrels.
That horse loved to run. What happened to her?”
“She’s at Thornton Stables now, out to pasture. She missed
you when you left.” Reed said, looking away. “I always
wondered why you didn’t compete. You had good time.”
“My father wouldn’t allow it.”
Angela turned away. Reed took his place back at the
microphone and announced the next competitor. She hurried
down the grated steel steps and at the bottom slammed into
Cole’s chest.
“Whoa.” He caught her arms to steady them both. His eyes
held nothing of what they had experienced just hours before.
She couldn’t say why that thought was so disturbing. Hadn’t
she wanted to forget about it?
“I have a surprise for you.” He gently squeezed her arms.
“What is it?”
He said nothing, only turned her around to face a tall blond
man with big broad shoulders.
No. No. No!
“Hey there, little sister.”
“Michael.” Angela bit out the name. “What are you doing
here?”
“I just wanted to see how you are. It’s been a while.” He
stepped forward, his movements hesitant. “How are you?”
“Fine.” She moved aside as people hurried past them.
“You?”
Michael nodded. “All right. I guess.”
Cole’s smile faded by degrees as he stood in the midst of
this uncomfortable reunion.
“Angela!” Tina hurried between them. “Did you see me? I
got eighth. Not twelfth, not last!”
“Congratulations!” Grateful for the interruption, Angela
wrapped her arms around Tina and squeezed. “You looked
great out there!”
Cole hugged Tina next and then he pushed her hat over
her eyes. “It won’t be long before you’ll be joining me at the
pro events! Wanna try the bronc next?”
“Sorry,” Tina laughed as she righted the hat. “Only insane
boys play with wild horses!”
“Touché,” Cole said, lifting his injured arm.
“Tina,” Angela said, “this is my brother, Michael. Michael,
this is Tina. She works at the arena.”
“You mean in addition to being a rodeo star?” Michael
winked and shook Tina’s hand.
“I keep the day job. You know…gotta keep it ‘real’,” Tina
beamed. “Do you live here? I haven’t seen you around.”
“No.” Michael said. “I used to, though. Now I live in
Seattle.”
“I’m sorry about your Dad.”
“Thank you.”
“Why don’t you go find your Mom, Tina,” Angela said,
wishing she could cover her hands over eyes and shout at the
top of her lungs to break the tension. “I’m sure she’s looking
for you.”
“Oh yeah, I’m supposed to meet her at the concession
stand.”
As the girl waved goodbye and left, Cole smiled at brother
and sister. “Now that the minor is gone, who’s up for a drink
at The Water Hole?”
****
“Strange to be back,” Michael said as he and Angela took
their seats at The Water Hole bar and waited for the bartender
to notice them. Cole had been waylaid by some friends the
moment they had walked in.
“Strange is one way to put it.” Angela muttered. She had
been in this room dozens of times as a child. She wondered if
Michael also remembered coming here to find their father
slumped over a table, an empty bottle of whiskey at his elbow.
The only light in the room came from covered candles in
the center of each table and neon signs on the walls. The talk
of townsfolk was broken only by the music playing over the
speakers and the occasional clatter of cue balls. Few frequented
the dance floor. It was late and most patrons were more
interested in slamming back a few more before closing time.
“I never thanked you,” Angela said as she turned in her
seat. “For handling the details with Dad’s death.”
“I stopped speaking to him years ago,” Michael said,
drawing his attention to the napkin in front of him. “I just
thought you should know that.”
Despite the nerves and pretenses that existed between
them, or perhaps because of them, Angela wished she were ten
years old again. She wanted to sit beside her big brother, back
when she had looked up to and admired him. He had been the
one to shoulder their father’s weight when they’d had to fetch
him from the bar, hauling him back home to sleep off his
drunken stupor. But reality was very different now and the
torture in Michael’s eyes was that of an adult man with far too
many regrets. She had hated him for running away to Seattle
and leaving her alone with their father. While the hatred had
dulled over the years, the rift between them had not closed.
“I didn’t stop it,” Michael said quietly, turning to her. His
eyes were so like her own: the color of swamp grass.
She wasn’t prepared. First Cole, and now this. It had been
a long day. She shook her head and didn’t even try to hide the
briskness from her voice. “No, you didn’t stop it and you
couldn’t have. I won’t discuss it with you anymore. Drop it.
Please.”
Michael lifted his brow. “Fine. It’s dropped.”
“It really is good to see you, Mike,” Angela sighed and
smiled.
“You too, kiddo.” His smile was forced, as hers had been,
but at least he had reciprocated her effort. “Now, you wanna
tell me what’s up with you and Cole?”
Angela looked at Cole. He laughed with some people she
recognized from around town. “He’s was Dad’s partner,” she
said as she turned back to Michael. “Now he’s mine.”
“Michael Donnelly!” Having finished filling other orders,
Derek the bartender leaned over the bar to give Michael a
friendly punch on the shoulder. “What are you doing back
here? Decide to move back for good?”
“Nah, just come to see what trouble my sister’s been
getting into.”
“Ah, now. Angie don’t get into no trouble,” Derek smiled.
“She’s as straight as they come. We been trying to get her to
come out with us to the quarry, but she don’t want no part of
that.”
“Really, Derek?” Angela teased. “You haven’t asked me
since high school. And I didn’t go with you because I knew
you had your mind set on more than going for a swim.”
“Of course he did.” This came from Ralph as he claimed
the stool on the other side of Angela. “Derek’s had a crush on
you since middle school.”
Angela let out a disbelieving snort. “I doubt that. I was
thinking more along the lines of him putting leeches in my
swim suit or calling the cops on me.” She aimed a sideways
glance at Derek and smiled. “You and Cole were a formidable
team.”
Derek set three fresh napkins on the bar. “Oh no, it’s true.
I had a horrible crush on you, but of course I couldn’t admit
to it. Heck, if I wasn’t married I’d probably still have that crush.
Anyway, all the good it did me. No one could get near you,
Ang. Between your big brother here and the fact that you only
had eyes for that one.” Derek jerked his chin toward Cole.
Angela felt her face grow hot. “Well, luckily for me and for
Cole, childhood crushes don’t last.”
But adult crushes are much
more dangerous.
“A chardonnay, please.”
“Make it two. Hey guys!” Sophie set her arm around
Angela’s shoulders and leaned over the bar. “I like a girl who
knows how to have a little bit of class in a place like this. I
could learn a lot from you, in spite of the fact that you keep
awful company.” Sophie’s eyes shot daggers at Ralph.
Ralph laughed and shook his head, standing. “You may
hate me, but at least you’re thinking of me.”
Sophie rolled her eyes. Ralph walked away and she took
the seat he vacated. “He’s such a toad. We dated a few times.
Three years ago.” She sipped her drink when it was given to
her. “Huge mistake, but it’s a small town. Slim pickins’.”
Angela took her drink and glanced at her brother over the
rim. Michael
quietly surveyed Sophie. He seemed a
bit
frightened and it was all Angela could do to keep from
laughing.
“Sophie, you remember my brother, Michael.”
Sophie squinted her eyes and pursed her lips. “Michael?”
Then, as if propelled by a loose spring in her stool, she
bounced up and came around to offer her hand as if she were
a princess greeting a suitor. “Wow, you look amazing! All
grown up and handsome, aren’t you?”
Michael practically squirmed beneath her intent star, but he
took her hand and held it for a few seconds, not quite sure
what he was supposed to do with it. “Nice to see you, Sophie.
How have you been?”
“Drowning in this backwater town, as usual. What brings
you back?” Before he could answer she hooked her arm
around his and dragged him off his stool and onto the dance
floor.
Left alone, Angela went back to her drink, turning the stem
between her fingers. Cole still worked the crowd.
An older man in a blue baseball cap took the seat beside
her and ordered some water. Angela offered him a polite nod.
He smiled, his blue eyes nearly the same color as his cap.
“He’d rather be over here talking with you,” the man said
offhandedly.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Cole.” The man gestured to the other side of the room
with his glass. “I can see it by the way he keeps glancing over
here.”
“I’m sorry,” Angela felt the irritation creep up, and she let
it come, “who are you?”
“Ah, sorry. Name’s Jack Atkinson.” He winked. “You
don’t remember me?”
“Jack.” Angela said, recalling his identity as she took a sip
of her wine. “You’re the vet. You used to take care of Doug
Jordan’s horses.”
“Still do, only they’re Cole’s now,” Jack said reflectively.
“Came to your rescue a time or two.”
A strange sensation settled over Angela. It might have been
due to exhaustion or the wine. She was tired, but acutely aware
of her surroundings. The music crooned on about a sexy
tractor. The other sounds of the bar were both muted and
intensified, a strange foggy humming surrounding it all. She
pushed her glass away, deciding she didn’t need any more wine.
“Do you remember that prank Cole played on you at the
pond?” Jack asked.
Her thoughts instantly went to the kiss, but there were
other memories there. The pond sat on the border between
Starhorn Ranch and her father’s land. She and Cole had met
there by chance more than a few times.
Angela leaned onto the bar, smiling into Jack’s laughing
eyes. “Cole caught me skinny dipping and he tossed my clothes
into the tree branches. You came along later and got them
down for me. Thank goodness for muddy water.”
“I pulled his ear for that one. He didn’t hate you as much
as he wanted everyone – including himself – to think he did.”
Jack turned in his seat and looked across the room, peering at
Cole, the man who had grown from that nasty little boy. “His
daddy was a fine man, but Cole could have used a mother.
Shame she died so young.”
“I remember Celia.”
“The cancer took her quickly. Cole never really got over
the shock,” Jack said. “Neither did Doug.”
Angela had never before considered that Celia’s death was
the catalyst to Cole’s childhood behavior. It drove an
uncomfortable knot deep into her belly. “Well, in any event,
no harm done. He’s no longer stealing my clothes or sticking
carpenter ants down my shirt.”
“True, true,” Jack nodded in agreement. “But it’s hard to
forget, isn’t it? Maybe it makes you remember other things
you’ve tried to forget.”
His bright eyes peered into her.
“Excuse me.” She stood and pushed the stool back, the
legs scraping loudly on the hardwood floor. “I need to rescue
my brother.”
She pushed away and walked onto the dance floor, letting
the stool teeter in the wake.
Sophie and Michael danced to a song about a girl who
smashed her boyfriend’s truck after discovering he had cheated
on her. Michael seemed to be enjoying himself, taking up the
chorus with Sophie and a few others on the dance floor.
Angela eased between him and Sophie and took her
brother by the shoulders, noticing he was more than a little
drunk. “How much did you have?”
“Just two beers.”
“Geesh. How could a man as big as you be such a
lightweight?”
Angela said goodbye to Sophie and guided her brother off
the dance floor. She looked back at the bar where she had been
sitting. Jack wasn’t in sight. Cole watched her from across the
room, regarding her with a quiet questioning.
He excused himself and walk to her.
Stubble covered his jaw line, the blue of his eyes nearly
glowing in the muted light. Shadows deepened the valley
beneath his cheekbones.
“Cole.” She said his name as if for the first time, seeing all
facets of him at once. She might have said something that
could have made them both uncomfortable, but thankfully her
brother erupted into another terrible
version
of Carrie
Underwood’s “Right Now.” It was no longer the song playing
in the bar, but that didn’t seem to matter to him.
“He’s a bit drunk,” she explained to Cole.
“Seriously?” When he saw for himself that Angela was
indeed serious he lifted Michael’s arm over his own shoulders.
“All right, then, let’s get outta here. I’ll put him up in my spare