"Welcome to Texas, honey," Cassie told her
and chuckled.
"He had the audacity to
yell
at me
for going after James," she huffed out then took the rubber band
out of her ponytail to smooth her hair, then refasten it again.
"The
nerve
of the man. James is
my
fugitive, and I
have
every
right to go after him."
"You sure do...what did he say?"
"He said I should have stayed in the truck
and called
him
," Sabrina said then got some neck action
going when she mimicked him, "I'm the Sheriff in this town and you
have no jurisdiction, not to mention he could have shot you," she
said in a low comical voice then stuck out her tongue. "He sounded
like something out of a bad western movie."
"What did you tell him?" Cassie asked
pinching her lips to stop the laughter bubbling inside of her from
escaping.
"I told Mr. Big Bad Lawman to
go fuck
himself
," Sabrina hissed through her teeth.
Cassie roared, she couldn't help it, she
leaned over the steering wheel, and howled in laughter, picturing
this petite woman telling Cole that. She probably put her finger in
his chest too. Her laughter was so intense, Cassie had to grip her
sides. She heard Sabrina chuckle beside her then guffaw, and before
long she was laughing as hard as Cassie was.
The truck door on her side was wrenched open
and then Cole was standing there, his face mottled with rage.
"Cassie you need to quit all the goofing off and get your ass home,
before Luke has a stroke. I called him and he was fit to be tied,"
he told her then slammed the door.
Cassie's humor fled and she sucked in a
shuddery breath then put her seatbelt on, and put the truck in
drive. Damn, Cole...he had to go and worry Luke. Now she could only
imagine what she'd have to deal with when they got back to the
ranch. She groaned then looked over at Sabrina, "Wanna run away
together?"
Sabrina chuckled, "I have a feeling where
Luke's concerned, you can run, but you can't hide. He'd find
you."
"Yeah you're probably right...." She was
only kidding about running away, but she had no doubt if she did
run away, Luke would track her down to the ends of the earth...she
was carrying his baby.
They drove the rest of the way to the ranch
in silence, and Cassie had barely stopped the engine when Luke flew
across the yard and jerked her door open and pulled her into his
arms. "Oh, my god, Cassie...are you alright?"
"Yes, Luke...I just thought I saw James in
town. But I'm so edgy, I was probably seeing things."
"And Sabrina,
what the fuck
, you went
after him?"
Cassie whispered by his ear, "Don't go there
darlin' or your gonna be in the same fix as Cole."
Luke pinned her an angry glare, but he let
it drop and helped her down from the truck, before slamming the
door. He took her by the arm to half-walk, half-drag her inside the
house. Sabrina followed behind them, and just barely missed having
the front door of the house slammed in her face.
"Luke stop being so rude!" Cassie yelled and
dug in her heels to stop their forward motion.
"Rude
, rude
?!" he huffed
incredulously his face mottled with rage, "Honey, you ain't seen
nothing yet!"
Luke let go of her arm and turned around to
face her and then shoved a hand through his hair. "I told you to be
careful, and what do you do? You and Sabrina go chasing after
someone who looks like James in town. All you had to do was get in
the truck, crank it and haul ass home like I told you to do, but
you didn't do that did you, Cassie?"
"Luke, you're not my daddy. I don't have to
follow your instructions to a T, and you can't tell me what I can
and can't do," Cassie told him stiffening her shoulders.
"I'm not your daddy, but I'm gonna be your
husband and you need to show a little respect...and think about my
baby you're carrying."
Anger coursed up Cassie's body from the
soles of her feet. "
Respect
? Is that what you're showing
me
? Doesn't sound like that to me,
darlin
'," She spat
then walked closer to him and put her finger in his chest, "And
don't be counting your chickens before their hatched. At the rate
you're going right now there might not be a wedding tomorrow."
Cassie's breathing had ratcheted up and
there was a buzzing in her ears. Spots danced before her eyes as
she spun away from him and took off for the stairs. Her knees
buckled at the foot of the stairs and the dots closed in to form a
black curtain. She could hear Luke and Sabrina calling her name,
but couldn't make out anything else. She felt herself being lifted
and heard Luke let out a loud guttural moan near her ear, then her
body was jolted as he ran with her in his arms up the stairs.
"Sabrina get me a wet rag...hurry," he said
and she felt the soft quilt touch her back, although she still
couldn't see anything. Cassie felt hot all over and could actually
hear her blood pounding in her ears. She felt Luke place a cold rag
on her forehead and wanted to sigh, but couldn't. She fought
against the blackness trying open her eyes, but they wouldn't
cooperate.
He patted her cheeks and whispered near her
ear in a desperate choked voice, "Cassie wake up baby, I'm so
sorry...please wake up." A cool rag was placed on her forehead, but
she felt water dropping on her cheeks.
She heard Luke tell Sabrina to go call the
doctor's number by the phone. More water droplets landed on her
face, before another cold rag was put on her throat. She managed to
swallow and the blood rushing in her ears slowed down a little, as
her breathing settled, then she managed to open her eyes. Luke
pulled her up to him and she felt him shiver then felt more
droplets of water on her shoulder.
"Just be still, sugar. Sabrina's calling the
doctor," he sobbed into her hair and hugged her tighter. What
little breath she was able to drag in was trapped in her lungs
because he was holding her so tight.
"Luke, let me go, I can't breathe," she
whispered then managed to loosen his arms and lay back on the bed
and close her eyes for a second, trying to regulate her
breathing.
He grabbed her shoulders in a fierce grip
and wailed, "Wake up, Cassie--
dammit
!"
Cassie opened one eye and saw his handsome
face was ragged, his eyes were swollen and red, and tears tracked
down his face. She opened both eyes then put her hand to his cheek,
"I'm okay, Luke...calm down," she told him weakly then moved her
thumb to wipe at the tear tracks on his square jaw.
"I'm so damned sorry, darlin'...I didn't
mean to upset you," he told her and placed tiny kisses all over her
face then he said, "I was just frantic when Cole called me. Worried
that bastard had gotten to you, and I wasn't there."
"Sabrina had it covered, Luke...I'm not even
sure it was him. I just got this feeling at the back of neck....and
then saw his back."
"I know that feeling...I'm sure Sabrina does
too, which is why she ran after him."
"Exactly," Sabrina said as she came back in
the room. Relief moved over her friend's face when she saw that
Cassie was awake and alert. "The doctor said if you think it's
serious, you'd need to bring her to the hospital to be seen...he
doesn't make house calls."
Luke immediately slid his arm under and
shoulders and then her knees and went to lift her up. "I'm not
going to the hospital Luke. I just fainted because I was hot and
upset."
"You're going..." he said then lifted her
against his chest and stood.
"No, I'm not. There's no need...now put me
back down." Luke growled in frustration, but he laid her back on
the bed. "Thanks, darlin'," she said then reassured him, "I just
need some rest...it's been a long day."
"You're overdoing it, cupcake...you need to
slow down."
"I will, after tomorrow," she smiled up at
him then patted his cheek, "I promise."
"I'm thinking we should postpone our
honeymoon until after the baby is born..."
"No way--we're gonna have a real wedding,
honeymoon included. I'm not waiting eight months to drag the secret
out of you."
Luke chuckled and bent down to kiss her lips
tenderly, "You are so impatient, Cassie Bee."
"Yep, I imagine by the time I get to two
weeks before the baby is born, you might want to move in with Cole
for the duration."
"Ain't happening, sugar...after tomorrow
you're stuck with me," he told her, his eyes sparkling with
love.
Sabrina cleared her throat and said, "I
think I'll go get my stuff put away...which room should I
take?"
Cassie pushed up to her elbows and was about
to get up and show Sabrina her room, but Luke pushed her back down,
"You rest, I'll get Sabrina settled." She huffed out a sigh and
laid back against the pillow.
"Can you get my stuff out the truck Sabrina?
I don't want Luke nosing around."
"Sure..." she said then walked out of the
bedroom.
"What happened with her and Cole?" Luke
asked sitting back beside her on the bed.
"I'll tell you about it later..." Cassie
wasn't sure she wanted to tell Luke about it at all, because he
might tell Cole. Especially the part about them just being friends.
She wanted Sabrina to have the opportunity to tell him herself. If
she gave him that opportunity after the way he'd acted today.
Hopefully Luke would just forget about it, and not ask again. "Go
help her bring her suitcase up the stairs."
"She carries a gun, and chases bad guys, I
think she can handle her suitcase," he told her and then flinched
when Cassie punched him in the arm playfully.
"Okay, okay...I'll go help," he said then
got up and left her alone.
Cassie didn't tell Luke because she didn't
want to scare him, but she was almost positive the man she'd seen
had been James. The distinctive striped polo he'd had on was one
she'd bought for him last year for his birthday. She'd tell Cole in
the morning, and swear him to secrecy. She wasn't letting anything,
a fainting spell,
or
James Barton, ruin her wedding.
Sabrina came back in the room a few minutes
later, her arms full of tulle with two boxes propped on top. Cassie
smiled then got up to take them from her. She hung them in the
closet and smoothed her hand over the dress. "Thanks a lot for
bringing this in."
"You're welcome..." Sabrina said
thoughtfully distracted before she asked, "Cassie, what made you so
sure that man was James today? Other than his flat butt that is,"
she chuckled.
Cassie poked her head out of the closet and
looked around to make sure Luke wasn't there. "Close the door," she
said then walked out of the closet to make her way to the bed where
she sat down. "The shirt the man had on was the same one I gave
James last year for his birthday."
"Well, that could be a coincidence. There
are lots of shirts out there like that one, I'd imagine."
Cassie shook her head, then told her, "Not
that one. It was pretty distinctive," Cassie ducked her head then
admitted, "James always acted like a peacock about his clothes. He
thought he was stylish, so when I saw the bright gaudy colors in
the stripes, I had to get it for him as an inside joke. Funny thing
is he
loved
it. I laughed every time he wore it."
"We have Diana's place staked out...assumed
that's where he'd go, but so far he hasn't been there. I wonder how
he got his hands on his clothes?"
"Is she out of jail?" Cassie asked
curiously.
"She was never charged, she turned on
him...spilled her guts and agreed to testify."
"She's a sneaky one, Bri...had me totally
fooled. I'll bet he was staying with her after I kicked him
out...and I bet his clothes were at her apartment."
"Well, he hasn't been there."
"She probably met him somewhere, or left
them for him somewhere."
"That's possible, I guess...think we need to
tell Luke?"
"No!" Cassie shouted, "We can't tell him!
He'll be nervous as a frog in a fruit jar tomorrow anyway and he'll
make me that way too. I'm going to talk to Cole in the morning and
tell him, so he can let the security guys know."
Sabrina groaned, then came to sit on the bed
beside her. "Okay...I just wish it was someone else in charge of
protecting you. He just really got under my skin today."
"I'm sure he's feeling like crap about it
now..." Cassie ventured then added, "He'll probably apologize
tomorrow."
"Doesn't matter...he let me know exactly
what he thinks of me--of
women
--by how he acted today. I
can't be friends with him if he feels that way about women.
Apologies can't undo some things."
"You're right about the apologies," Cassie
agreed, but she wanted to help Cole smooth her feathers too. "But
sometimes they do...just see what he says. If his apology doesn't
make you feel better, kick his ass to the curb."
"I like your plain talking, Cassie. It's
refreshing," she laughed and then leaned over to hug her. "I'm glad
we're friends."