Nobody's Dream (67 page)

He stowed their suitcases in the closet. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she put her shoes on again.

“I’m ready, darlin’.”

As am I—as ready as I will ever be.

It is time to see
Papá
.

Lucas took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She appreciated having him here as she prepared to face the first, and at one time the only, man she had ever sought approval from. They had not seen each other in five years, not even on Skype. She preceded Lucas into the kitchen where
Papá
sat with his cup of thick, black coffee. His back was turned to her, making it impossible for her to read his expression.

She cleared her throat, which had closed off with emotion. “
Papá
.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but he turned around in his seat, and she met his piercing gaze. His green eyes bore no emotion, joyful or sad. She fought the desire to rush to his side fearing he would not hug or welcome her back.

Papá’s
gaze turned to Lucas, equally cold and distant. He refocused on her again. “Welcome home, Casandra. It has been too long.”

Even though he did not smile—
Papá
rarely smiled—he stood and opened his arms. Lucas squeezed her shoulder, and she closed the distance between them. He wrapped her in his embrace, and tears flowed down her cheeks.

“I have missed you,
Papá
.”

Do you still love me?

“I am sorry I have been away so long.”

Do you forgive me?

“You are here now with your husband. My heart is happy.”

Would he have welcomed her home if he thought she was still the party girl who had not returned home one night from a date with her fiancé? She had spent most of that night walking home, battered and broken. Yet when she arrived home, she had hidden the truth from her family.
Papá
had accused her of drinking too much after smelling beer on her clothing, but had let her disappear into her room for days. He probably thought she had been sleeping off a hangover, rather than nursing her wounds and trying to decide if she wished to live or die.

Having Lucas here made her the respectable daughter he always wanted.

She squirmed out of his arms, no longer comfortable being there if his love and acceptance were based on conditions. Cassie turned to Lucas and held out her hand to him.

“
Papá
, I would like you to meet Lucas Denton.”

Lucas extended his hand and shook
Papá’s
firmly. “Good to meet you, sir. Cassie has told me a lot about you.”

She held her breath, waiting for
Papá’s
reaction, but before the two could say anything,
Mamá
carried in a platter of stew with pork and potatoes. Already on the table was her traditional
caldo de gallina
, a hearty soup with chicken and vegetables. She had prepared an elaborate breakfast meal in the tradition of the hardworking people of her homeland. Cassie debated whether to refuse to eat the meat, but would not insult
Mamá
. She could just try to avoid as much of it as possible.

“Come, let us eat.”

“Will Eduardo be joining us,
Mamá
?”

“No, Susana called him home to watch the children while she and the baby nap. They will be over to visit later.”

She could not wait to see her extended family, especially her new nephew, Quenti. They spent the next forty-five minutes on small talk as they ate.

“Wonderful meal, Mrs. López.”

“Call me
Mamá
, my son. We are family.”

Lucas smiled at her mother and warmed Cassie’s heart.

Cassie surreptitiously moved an errant chunk of pork under her bread. “I have missed your cooking,
Mamá
.”

“I can see your influence in some of the dishes Cassie has prepared for me,
Mamá
.” Cassie smiled her gratitude to him for being so charming. “I especially love her
puca picante
.”

My! She had only made the dish for him once and would have thought his concussion would have kept him from remembering the foreign name, but he had great recall. The man also knew how to charm a woman. Goddess knows she had almost succumbed to his charms many times.

“Casandra, are you still painting?”

She turned toward the older man at the table. “Yes,
Papá
.”

When she did not really know what else to say, Lucas interjected again, “She had a fabulous turnout for a gallery opening in Denver last month. Sold a number of pieces to dealers and local collectors.”

Her neck and cheeks flushed at his praise. “I am also doing some work with quipu and with a process of using dyed alpaca fleece for some Japanese-style fiber-art pieces.” No sense naming Shibori because he would not be familiar with the technique. “I have my own alpacas—four adults and one cria who was born in May.” Cassie turned to Lucas and smiled. “Thanks to Lucas, the baby survived.”

“Where did you two meet?”
Papá
asked.

How could she explain they had met in a bar just before an avalanche had brought him into her cabin—and her bed?
Papá
would think the worst of her.

Lucas came to her rescue. “In a hospital waiting room, actually.”

Oh, yes!
How could she forget their initial meeting, even though they had not spoken to each other then?

“I was staying with Kitty, my friend from college. Adam, her husband…” No sense saying they had not been married at the time. “Adam had been injured. Lucas and Adam have mutual friends, and we were all waiting there for word about his condition.”

“I assume he survived.”

“Oh, yes,
Papá
! And they just had triplets on June the first.”

“Grandchildren are the greatest gift a child can give her parents.”
Mamá’s
gaze turned wistful before she cast a pointed glance at Cassie. “Our hope is to live long enough for the day you will bring your children here to see their
abuelos
.”

Cassie cringed inside and cast an apologetic look at Lucas, but he only smiled. “If blessed with children, I am sure Cassie would want them to know their grandparents.”

Images of a brown-skinned boy with Lucas’s smile and Cassie’s dark eyes flashed across her mind. Where had that come from? Cassie blinked it away.

Time to change the subject.

Cassie stood. “Let me help clear away these dishes, and then maybe we can move to the living room where we will be more comfortable?”

Not that she would be comfortable again until she returned to her cabin.

No, wait. She had no cabin. When would the loss become real to her? Lucas’s ranch, while comfortable, was not home. She preferred to be isolated from people. He did give her space when she needed it, though.

Unlike her parents’ house. They would be on top of each other the entire time she was here. Not only she and her parents, but she and Lucas as well.

Please, Goddess, let me survive this visit.

Chapter Twenty-Five

L
uke had to chuckle at the expression on Cassie’s face when her mother brought up the idea of their having children, but he quickly sobered. Hell, it wasn’t all that funny now that he thought about it. He’d like nothing more than for Cassie to be the mother of his children, but clearly, she had no such dreams. To her, the thought of making those babies would be a nightmare.

Still, seeing her with Karla’s babies showed him what a great mother she would be. He supposed she’d settle for being a terrific aunt instead, but he wondered if she had ever thought about having kids of her own before the rape.

Luke started to follow the ladies into the living room, but Cassie’s father halted him with a hand on his forearm.

“Let us talk.”
Oh, man
. This sounded serious. To the ladies, the older man said, “We will join you in a while.”

Cassie cast Luke a worried glance, but he tried to put up a brave front and gave her a wink. “Try not to miss me too much, Sweet Pea.”

She blinked and then smiled, which surprised the hell out of him. “Hurry back.” Her breathy whisper hit him below the belt. At least that’s where he felt its effect. Not cool exhibiting his arousal for the man’s daughter in front of him, wife or not.

She sounded as though she’d genuinely miss him.
First down
. She turned and followed her mother in the opposite direction.

“This way, Lucas.”

“You can call me Luke, sir.”

“Why does Casandra call you Lucas?”

To keep her emotional distance from me.

“Lucas is just her special name for me. In return, I call her Cassie, Sweet Pea, and other endearments.”

He seemed puzzled at first and then nodded. “I see.” The older man led him down a different darkened hallway from the one leading to the bedroom he and Cassie shared.
Their
bedroom.

Bedtime couldn’t come fast enough.

Mr. López—he hadn’t been invited to call the man
Papá
yet—opened a door on the left and flipped on a light before waving Luke ahead of him.

“Have a seat.”

The room was small and dark, and the stench of tobacco overpowered him at first. The man offered him a cigar, but he declined and waited to see where the older man would sit before taking a seat nearby.

Memories of meeting Maggie’s dad to ask for her hand flashed across his mind. He’d been a lot younger then, but this father-in-law was no less intimidating.

Waiting as the man lit his cigar, Luke glanced around. Books filled the shelves behind a desk. Some were lying horizontally on top of others. Many were leather bound with the spines he could see in Spanish. He must like to read. One thing they had in common, besides Cassie. On the desk sat an open ledger. He remembered the man had been a silver mine owner, but thought Cassie said he’d retired. Luke didn’t know a lot about Peru, but images of the Bolivian silver mine in
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
came to mind. He’d have to do some reading to learn more about his wife’s country of origin.

“What do you do for a living?”

His attention returned to the man seated across from him, smoke wafting around his head. Apparently he wanted assurance his new son-in-law could provide for his daughter.

“I’m an artist, too.”

To say his father-in-law was unimpressed would be an understatement. “How are you able to provide for Casandra’s needs on an artist’s income?”

Luke grinned, mainly to hide his concern. He wanted Cassie’s father to know he would take care of his little girl. “Well, my talent is working with wood, sir. I make…specialized furniture. But I also can fall back on my carpentry skills if there’s ever a cash flow problem. There’s never a shortage of clients wanting to renovate or new-home builders in Colorado. Vacation homes are popular now.”

The man remained silent for a bit. Had he given him the answer he needed? “Do you live in Cassie’s cabin?”

“No, I…
we
have a small ranch not far from there.”

Cassie’s father raised his eyebrows. “I did not think she would ever leave her mountain home.”

Well, she sure didn’t do so willingly.

He had better stay on his toes in this conversation so he didn’t trip himself up. Cassie hadn’t told them about the fire. He wondered why not. Probably didn’t want to worry them. She seemed to think them fragile, although they seemed pretty strong to him.

What else did he need to be careful not to reveal?

“I also volunteer in search-and-rescue and have been taking in and training some abused mustangs for my SAR work.”

One of them helped me save your daughter’s life.

The man’s eyes lit up. “How many head?”

“Only four right now. I don’t like living beyond my means, and horses require a lot of time and expense. Eventually, I hope to have an elite equestrian SAR team, but these are a good start.”

The old man smiled, probably for the first time since the two had met. “I’ve always loved horses. My son, Eduardo, is with a search-and-rescue team here in the mountains.”