He looked back at her and gave her a small
grin. "I felt a little better once I figured out why you really
left. But then that pissed me off too."
"When was that?"
"That night I was drunk and saw you at the
restaurant..." His grin turned sheepish.
She felt blood rush to her face and anger
coursed through her. "The night you and Candy and Cole had your
threesome?" she asked in a hurt tone spiked with anger. "That give
you your insight?"
He groaned, then admitted. "That didn't
happen honey...I only did all that to make you as crazy as you were
making me. Candy went to the bathroom after she ordered dinner and
didn't come back. I was pretty obnoxious."
"You were more than obnoxious, you were...an
obnoxious
asshole
."
"I apologize...I was a
jealous
obnoxious asshole, I agree."
"Okay then, if Candy was off the menu that
night, when did you have your revelation?"
"After I heard about you throwing that city
boy to the coyotes."
She shook her head and laughed. "That was an
eventful night for sure. But how did that help?"
"After Cole and I finished laughing our
asses off on the side of the road, he asked me about something
you'd said to him and it got me to thinking."
"Something I said?" she asked curiously.
"Cole told me you said I proved I didn't
love you that night you left. For a second, I thought you were just
trying to shove the blame off on me. Then he said you seemed pretty
convinced, and I ran back over that night in my head and figured
out what you must have
thought
you'd seen."
"Very astute of you, Sherlock. I was damned
and determined you weren't hearing it from my lips."
"How the fuck could you think I'd do that to
you, Cassie?" he said in a hiss. "I told you I loved
you...
proved it
. There was
nobody
for me but
you."
"I left because I couldn't confront you and
hear you tell me you'd been seeing Becca all along, and laugh in my
face. It would have killed me," her voice trembled over the
words.
Luke ran a frustrated hand over his face
then told her, "You need to communicate instead of running scared,
darlin'. It cost us ten years that we could have been
together...and here you were about to do it to me again..." His
whiskey-brown eyes were filled with emotion, then he finished with,
"I can't trust you not to run out on me again the next time you get
a wild hair or crazy notion."
She slid her hand over his and uncurled his
fist to lace her fingers with his. "Please don't give up on me,
Luke. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness...or trust...but I'll
work on talking instead of turning tail. I promise."
The woman sitting beside him with so much
sincerity in her eyes and pleading in her tone tied him up in knots
so tight he couldn't get them out with a fork. She always had. But
she was also the only woman for him...he loved her. That wasn't
going to change even if she did go back to Phoenix and leave him.
Ten years had proven that. And Even if he cut her out of his life
himself, he knew he'd never be able to cut her out of his
heart.
Luke studied her a minute or two more and
then said, "Promise me that no matter how mad you get, or hurt and
confused, you'll yell at me instead of running off. I can handle
anything but that."
"I promise, Luke. I'm done running," she
vowed and squeezed his hand.
He squeezed hers back then pulled her up
into his lap to give her a hug. "Don't make me regret this,
darlin'," he murmured against her hair.
"You won't regret it," she told him then
leaned back in his arms to look up at him. "Luke, will you come
with me to Phoenix, so I can tie up things? It shouldn't take more
than a few days."
He smiled down at her. "That's more like
it...I'd love to," he said and hugged her closer then dropped his
lips to hers.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Luke walked into the station, breezing right
past Julie Beth's desk, heading down the hall to Cole's office.
When he walked inside, Cole was leaned back in his chair on the
phone with his feet propped on the desk. Wariness entered Cole's
eyes and Luke knew the reason for it. Their last conversation when
he'd threatened to beat his ass if he didn't apologize to Cassie,
and make things right.
He sat down in the chair across from Cole's
desk and waited for him to finish his conversation. After a minute
or two, Cole dropped his feet to the floor, and put the phone down,
leaned forward and folded his arms on the desk. "What do you want
now?"
"I'm sorry...I was out of control
yesterday."
"You've been out of control a lot lately,"
Cole told him, his green eyes glittering angrily.
Luke huffed out a breath. He knew Cole was
right. "Yeah...I know."
"So, whatcha going to do about it?"
Luke knew that he meant
'what are you
going to do about Cassie
.' "I'm going to ask her to marry
me."
"Oh, that should solve things....
are you
fucking crazy
?"
"We talked and things are okay now. I'm
going to Phoenix with her," Luke told him and shoved a hand through
his hair.
"Wow, you really are being led around by
your dick.. You're throwing away your career and life to follow her
to Phoenix?" Cole launched the wheeled chair back and stood to slam
his hands on the desk and lean over it. "I thought you had more
sense than that, man!"
Luke raised a palm and said calmly, "I'm
going to help her pack up and then we're coming back. We'll only be
gone a week at the most."
"You're vacation will be up in four days,"
Cole reminded him then sat back down in the chair.
"I know that...I quit. You should've been
Sheriff anyway...I was never cut out for it."
"The people elected
you
, Luke, not
me.
You
are the Sheriff...but damned if you've been acting
like it since Cassie came back. And I feel like shit now for
encouraging you to go after her again."
"I'm glad you did. I think I'm finally
getting handle on what I want out of life."
"What? An unemployment check and all the
heartache you can handle?" Cole snorted derisively then drummed his
fingers on the desk.
Luke was the one to vault out of his chair
this time and slam his hands down on the desk putting him almost
nose to nose with his best friend. He leaned into Cole's face and
said forcefully, "Butt out, Cole. This is
my
life, and I'm
going to live it,
my
way."
They stayed that way for a minute, then Luke
told him as he stood back up, "I'm headed to the mayor's office to
turn in my resignation...I just wanted to tell you first. They'll
probably name you interim for the rest of my term."
He pulled his service weapon from his belt,
made sure it was on safety, then put it on the desk, then unbuckled
his service belt and put that down too, before he reached into his
pocket and handed over his badge.
"Good luck, buddy. You'll be great, just
like your dad was," Luke told Cole then stuck his hand out, but he
didn't move to take it. It hung between them, like the bad blood
he'd stirred up with his threats yesterday.
Luke dropped it to his side and put his
hands on his hips. "We're still friends, Cole. Even though I'm not
Sheriff anymore.
Nothing
is going to change that. You still
in with me on the cattle herd?"
Cole hesitated a long time...long enough
that Luke started grasping for alternate plans to accomplish his
goal of buying the herd. "Yeah, I'm in. Just let me know when the
details are worked out."
Luke nodded and then walked out of the
office and breathed a sigh of relief. It was like a heavy weight
had been lifted from his shoulders, and his step was lighter than
it had been in a long time as he headed for the elevator to go talk
to the mayor.
***
Imelda had helped her get a shower earlier,
and Cassie was sitting at the vanity in her room putting the final
touches on her makeup when Luke walked through the door. She felt
like a million bucks this morning. Luke had stayed with her last
night, and although he'd forbidden James to share her bed under his
roof, her daddy hadn't said a word about Luke staying.
Last night, they'd eaten the supper Imelda
had fixed for them, and her daddy seemed to be in a great mood. He
was getting better and it did Cassie's heart good to see it. When
they finished supper, her daddy had gone to bed, and she and Luke
had gone back out to the swing with a bottle of wine, where they'd
talked half the night. What they'd done the other half of the night
was what had put a smile on her face this morning.
Catching his eyes in the mirror, Cassie
smiled at the handsome cowboy she loved, then turned around to face
him. An answering smile spread across his face from ear to ear.
There was a lightness to his mood she hadn't seen in a very long
time. It was almost like ten years had melted away in the last few
hours he'd been gone. "You look happy."
"I am, cupcake...very happy." He said
seriously then stopped beside her and leaned down to give her a
kiss that curled her toes.
"Mmm..." she murmured and reached up to put
her hands at the side of his face to deepen the kiss.
He grabbed her hands then stood holding
them. "We need to get on the road, sugar."
"A few hours won't matter," she said
suggestively looking up at him with desire making her eyes sparkle
like jewels.
He'd never get tired of her wanting him...or
wanting her. But they had things to do, and he had plans. "Yes it
will, darlin'. You packed?"
"I never
unpacked
," she laughed.
"That suitcase I packed for the cabin has all my stuff in it...and
I have all my other clothes in Phoenix." They were going to drive
his truck to Phoenix, so she could load her necessities to haul
back. The movers would carry the rest to Bowie. Happiness bubbled
up inside of her at the thought of actually leaving Phoenix behind
for the last time. She knew now this was what she wanted for
certain, her horse farm and Luke.
Tilting her head to the side, Cassie told
Luke something she'd meant to tell him when he first walked in.
"Cole called me a while ago and said that James had offered to drop
the charges against you if we agreed to drop the ones against him.
He also said that James was going to leave town and not come back.
I agreed...you okay with that?"
He grinned, "Hell, yeah!" he hooted then his
smile dropped. "I resigned as Sheriff. I hope you're okay with
that
."
She swallowed down the lump that formed in
her throat as momentary panic surged through her. "I'm happy, if
you're happy, Luke. Whatever you want to do with your life, I'm
with you."
"I want to be a cattle rancher. Although
Cole is pissed off at me, he's still going to be my partner."
She sucked in a breath. Dreading his answer,
she asked, "Because of me?"
"Yeah, but my decisions in life aren't
dependent on Cole liking them, darlin'. He's my friend, but my life
is my own. He doesn't realize it now, but he's going to be a
helluva lot better Sheriff than I've ever been."
"I don't believe that could be true, but
I'll take your word for it. I just hope that I don't come between
you two."
"We'll be fine...he'll get over it when he
sees how happy I am," he said and brought her hand up to his lips
and kissed it. "Now let's get this show on the road." Luke loaded
up the truck, and she kissed Imelda and her daddy goodbye, then he
carried her to the truck even though she told him she could walk
just fine in the cast.
After they'd been driving about four hours,
and they'd covered about all the conversation topics at their
disposal, Cassie's eyes got scratchy and started to drift shut. The
sudden sound of Luke's voice made them come back open. "Ut uh,
sleepyhead, we have a stop to make soon, and you need awake for
it."
She sat up straighter in the seat and gave
him a curious look. "Oh yeah, where are we stopping?"
"It's a surprise," he said with a mysterious
grin.
Cassie harrumphed and crossed her arms over
her chest. Patience was not a virtue the good Lord had seen fit to
bless her with. "Luke Matthews, you know I don't like surprises.
Tell me."
He just shook his head and pinched his lips
tighter. Cassie sat on the edge of the seat trying to gauge where
they were. Probably near Amarillo by now, but the signs weren't a
big help. They were on a long stretch of highway with no exits
nearby, only long stretches of fence, scrub brush and fields
sparsely dotted with either cattle or horses.
He drove another twenty minutes or so, and
she saw a green and white sign saying 'Amarillo 95 miles' right
past an unmarked exit. He took the exit and then turned off on a
one lane road with lots of pot holes. She sat back in the seat so
she wouldn't be bounced off, and glared over at him.