"That was business."
Business hell
. She didn't believe
that anymore than he believed Luke was just an old friend. Cassie
would find out later when she got her hands on that damned
phone.
"Sure it was," she said breezily. "Let's
just drop both subjects, okay? I don't want to fight with you."
"Fine." He stomped on the accelerator and
her car fishtailed on the soft gravel shoulder before he corrected
to right it.
"Don't drive my car like that." She crossed
her arms over her breasts and glanced at him then looked out the
window again.
"It's going to be
our
car soon,
Cassie. And I wasn't driving recklessly."
Like
hell
it would. This car was
her
baby, bought with money
she'd
earned. Just like
everything else he'd laid claim to these days. Fuck the plane
ticket, she was doing this right here, right now.
"Pull over," she demanded.
He looked at her curiously, then did as she
asked.
She reached over and grabbed the keys from
the ignition, then said forcefully, "Get out."
"What the hell, Cassie?" James barked
incredulously.
She clenched her jaw and restated slowly as
if he was a little short on gray matter. "I said,
Get out
!
Now!"
When he didn't move, she leaned across him
and opened the door then pushed on his shoulder. He finally got the
message she was serious and slid out of the seat to stand beside
the car.
Cassie yanked her dress up to her waist and
awkwardly climbed over the gearshift to settle herself in the
driver's seat. "I hope a fucking Coyote eats your sorry ass, James.
We're done. I'll be in touch about the business. And don't bother
going by the house, the locks will be changed by the time you get
home. I'll have a moving company box your shit and set it at the
curb next week."
He spread his hands and almost whined.
"Cassie, honey, don't do this. I love you."
"You love yourself and my money...and
whoever you're so interested in on your damned cell phone."
His face pinched and his lips curved
nastily. "I want my fucking ring back."
"Tough luck, Pedro. I lost the
fucking
ring when I fell off my horse and almost broke my
neck. Not that you give a shit. And besides, I paid for most of it.
You charged it on my credit card, remember? Goodbye, James," she
said then slammed the door in his face.
Hitting the lock button, she jammed the keys
into the ignition. Cassie felt liberated--and laughter bubbled up
inside of her as she fired the engine to life and shoved the car in
first before roaring down the road, leaving James staring after her
on the dark country road.
She grabbed her purse from the floorboard
and fished around inside for her cell, and then pulled a business
card from the side pocket. Turning on the phone, she saw she still
had a little reception, one bar, but it would fizzle out soon, she
knew.
Quickly, she flipped the card over and
punched in the cell number with her thumb. Cole picked up after one
ring. "Cole, it's Cassie."
"Cassie? What's up?" She heard someone
grumble in the background.
"I think you should send someone out to the
Old Farm Market Road. I just dumped James out there and he'll
probably get eaten by a coyote or wind up with cactus needles in
his ass."
"And I'd care about that why?" he asked a
little gruffly.
"I'm doing the right thing here and letting
you know. I couldn't give a shit what happens to him either. Just
thought I'd let you know. Goodbye."
Cassie disconnected the call and tossed the
phone on the floorboard where it immediately started to ring. She
turned on the radio to a country station and cranked it up then
sang along at the top of her lungs.
***
"What the hell did she want?" Luke asked
then belched loudly.
"I think she's lost her ever loving mind..."
Cole disconnected the callback he'd made to Cassie and tossed his
phone into the center slot on his console. He picked up the
microphone from the dash and keyed it, then told dispatch to send a
squad car to go pick up James and take him to a hotel.
Luke sat up straighter and grinned over at
Cole. "She dumped him?"
"Out on Farm Market Road. She was just
letting me know so we could pick him up before a coyote ate him or
he wound up in a cactus patch." Their soft chuckles in the cab of
the truck turned into gales of laughter then uproarious hoots and
thigh slaps. Cole was laughing so hard he pulled over to the
shoulder and leaned over the wheel holding his stomach.
Luke was gasping for breath when he finally
got control of himself again. "Oh god, that is too good. I didn't
need to get drunk. I just needed to let him piss her off."
"She sounded pretty damned mad. He's lucky
she didn't fill his ass with buckshot," Cole said and glanced over
at him which was a mistake, because they both started laughing
again.
When they finally composed themselves, Cole
pulled back on the road and Luke told him, "Damn, that felt
good."
"Yeah I haven't laughed like that in
forever."
A few minutes later, Luke saw Cole glancing
over at him like he wanted to ask something. "What's on your mind?
Spit it out."
"Why do you think Cassie left back then?"
His friend's voice was kind of somber.
"Who the hell knows...she sure didn't say
anything to me when she left, not even goodbye. Why?" Luke threw an
arm over his eyes and closed them. He didn't want to go there right
now, but was curious why Cole brought it up.
"When you stormed away from the ranch the
other day, I stuck around and talked to her for a few minutes. She
just said something strange that got me to thinking there might be
something you hadn't told me."
Luke opened one eye and stared at Cole's
profile, the green light from the dash casting an eerie glow over
him. "I told you everything I knew about it. What did she say?"
"I told her that you loved her...always had.
She said 'No he doesn't, he proved it to me that night.'"
Luke sat up and turned toward him. "What the
fuck?"
"Kinda what I thought, but she seemed so
convinced...or convincing."
Luke sat back again swirling her words
around in his mind, while he dissected each one for hidden meaning
by tying them back to the events of the night Cassie had left
him.
It was the night of the Bowie High School
graduation and Luke had made plans to meet up with Cassie that
night at their favorite spot to star gaze and make out. It was
damned hot out that day and he was early, so he decided to go for a
swim first.
He'd just gotten his shirt and shoes off
when he heard a girl screaming and looked out into the lake to see
what was going on. He saw hands flailing and a head go down under
the water, so he ran down the dock and dove in.
Luke had been a lifeguard at the Henrietta
Rec Center pool during the summer when he was in high school, so he
knew what to do. He swam out to where he'd last seen the girl and
dove under the water swimming in a grid to try and find her.
His hand finally rubbed against her skin and
he found a piece of clothing to grab on to. Unfortunately, it was
her bikini top and it had come off in his hand, so he tossed it
aside and managed to wrap his hand in her hair and swim with her to
the surface. When he got her back to shore, he lifted her in his
arms and carried her, while doing rescue breathing on her at the
same time. He didn't even notice it was Becca Harvey, the girl that
had been after him all summer just to piss off Cassie, until he
laid her down on the dock. He kept up breathing for her until she
coughed and turned to the side to spit up half the lake.
By the time she came around and help
arrived, he knew he was way past late meeting Cassie. He picked up
his clothes and looked around for the ring he'd bought to ask her
to marry him, but couldn't find it. He hadn't had time to take it
out of his pocket before he dove in the water, and figured the
pretty little ring he'd scrimped and saved to buy for her was at
the bottom of the lake. He didn't stick around to look more,
because he knew he had to find Cassie and explain what happened.
Why he'd missed their date. After he went and checked their spot on
the rocks, and she wasn't there, he rode his motorcycle
hell-bent-for-leather to the Double B, where her Daddy told him
she'd taken off.
Cole was about to turn into Luke's driveway
when Luke vaulted up and shouted, "Holy Shit!" and slapped the
dash. Cole slammed on the brakes and Luke slid forward, but caught
himself by bracing against the dashboard.
"What the hell is wrong with you man?" Cole
screeched.
Excitement, relief and then finally anger
flooded Luke's chest and he rubbed a spot between his pecs. "I
think I might know what happened."
"What happened when?" Cole asked in
confusion staring at him like he was nuts.
"The night Cassie left." If he was right,
Luke would be sick that ten years had passed with her thinking what
she did about him. It all made sense now. Ten years too late.
***
Cassie got back to the Double B and waltzed
up the steps and through the front door. "Daddy, I'm home!" She
yelled running through the house and down the hall to his
bedroom.
When she burst through his door and flipped
on the light, he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. "Baby girl, are
you drunk?"
"Drunk on life, Daddy!" she told him and
giggled. Since she'd only had one glass of wine with dinner, she
was nowhere near intoxicated.
"What's got you so fired up then?"
"I dumped James' sorry ass out on Old Farm
Market Road tonight. I'm hoping maybe a coyote will eat him."
Her daddy's eyes widened and his jaw dropped
open. "Well slap my ass and call me Sally," he hooted. "Come here
and give me a hug."
Cassie laughed then walked over and sat down
beside him, pulling him into a big hug. "I love you daddy," she
said close to his ear and then kissed his cheek with tears burning
behind her eyes.
"I love you too, baby girl." He laid back on
the bed and gave her a grizzly smile. "So, what made you feed him
to the coyotes?"
"I just finally realized what an ass he is,
and that he was using me." And probably cheating too, based on his
sudden obsession with his text messages. "I guess it took being
away from him for me to finally see it." Cassie knew now it had
been there all along, his selfishness and snobbery, she had just
been blind and stupid.
"Don't guess Luke had anything to do with
your decision?" Carl Bellamy's eyes sparkled with hope.
Cassie shook her head. "Nope...nothing at
all. He pretty much ripped his britches with me tonight. I'm
through with men for a good long while, Daddy. I'm going to stay
here with you and raise horses."
"Do what?" Carl sat up straighter and
grabbed her shoulders.
"I think we should scale back the cattle to
something you can manage, and I'm going to raise and train quarter
horses."
Tears filled his eyes and Cassie swallowed.
"That would be just fine, Cassie Bee."
"Tomorrow I'm getting a full-time nurse out
here to get your physical therapy program going. You've sat around
here moping long enough. I need your help."
***
Up bright and early the next morning with a
new sense of purpose, Cassie raised her face to the sun when she
stepped off the porch and strode to the barn with a spring in her
step. Bud and his hands were standing by the bunkhouse hashing out
their chores for the day, and she walked right up and shouldered
her way into the circle of men.
All eyes moved to her and Bud gave her a
warm smile. "Mornin, Cassie Bee."
"Mornin, Bud," she said and then looked at
each man in the circle and gave them a head nod. "Morning,
guys."
Bud took a step to the center of their group
and took off his hat. "Fellas, you haven't had a chance to meet
Carls' daughter, Cassie. She's gonna be working with us to get
through the calving, while Carl's laid up." They all appeared to be
dumbstruck, and none too happy about her helping them.
But they maintained respect as each
introduced themselves to her with a tip of their dusty hats. They
probably thought she wouldn't be much help, and they'd wind up
babysitting the boss's daughter, instead. When they broke up, each
heading off to saddle up, Cassie pulled Bud aside to talk to him
privately.
"Bud, I'm staying in Bowie...coming home for
good."
His face split with a big grin, he told her,
"It's about damned time, Cassie Bee. Your daddy's missed you."
Although he didn't come out and say it,
Cassie knew he'd missed her too, because he sniffled a minute then
pulled his red bandana from his pocket to wipe his eyes and then
stuff it back in his pocket.