Authors: Cerian Hebert
“Everything okay?”
“Mmm.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Marisol shrugged a shoulder but didn’t
look up. For a moment, Craig thought she wouldn’t say anything. He didn’t want
to push her into a conversation. Could’ve been boy trouble at school, in which
case he didn’t think he could help her anyway. He refocused on the computer.
“Dad?”
“Yeah, honey?”
“You miss her, don’t you?” Her voice
sounded small, far away.
Craig looked up sharply. She stared at
her notebook, still drawing those spirals.
“Miss who? Mom?”
“No. Quinn. You miss her, don’t you?”
He hesitated before he spoke and
realized his first reaction was to lie. But not facing the truth, not being
open with Marisol in the very beginning got them into this mess in the first
place. “Yeah, I do. A lot.”
Marisol looked up. Her eyes were wide,
sad. He didn’t like it much, but he didn’t regret telling the truth.
“You know, I do too. She was so much fun
and taught me a lot. I never figured I’d want her to come around again, but I
kind of wish she would.”
Craig smiled at her. Progress. “I’m sure
she will. She still works over at Emerald, at least until she’s ready to move
over to her new place. And that isn’t far away either. A short ride from here.”
For a long moment Marisol didn’t speak.
She worked on a thought in her head. Her brow furrowed and she bit her bottom
lip. Whatever she had on her mind, it wasn’t coming easily.
“I’m sorry, Dad. About all those things
I said. I didn’t want to think you could love someone like you loved Mom. I
didn’t want to think Mom could be replaced.”
Craig got his feet and went to her side.
He gathered her up into his arms. She felt so fragile in his embrace. “Marisol,
no one could ever take Mom’s place. Ever. I would never expect you to replace
her with someone else. But honey, sometimes it’s okay to let someone new in.”
“And you wanted to let Quinn in?”
He nodded and stroked Marisol’s long
hair. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you ourselves. We didn’t want you to find out
that way.”
“I was so mad.”
“I know.”
“All I wanted to do was run away, but I
didn’t have anywhere I could go.”
“I don’t ever want you to feel you have
to run away from me. You are always going to be the first and most important
person in my life. Quinn understood that.”
“She won’t talk to you because of me, will
she? Because I didn’t want you to be together.”
“She wants time to think things over.
I’ve no doubt she’ll be back.”
Marisol nestled into his arms as she had
as a little girl. She was taller now, but she still fit just fine. “What will
happen when she does come over here?”
“I don’t know. I guess that depends on
her. And you.”
Marisol sighed. Craig thought that his
answer would be met with defiance, but it didn’t come. Not the words he
expected anyway.
“Do you love her still?”
He refused to lie. “I do.”
“Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing,
having her back. I mean, I like barrel racing but I need someone to teach me.
Do you think she would? If I told her I was sorry?”
Craig chuckled. “Yeah, I think she
would.”
“We just need her to come back. You
know, Dad, you could go ask her to come back. Couldn’t you?”
“I could and will. Tomorrow we’ll put
this right, okay?”
Quinn
blew on her gloved fingers to warm them, and pulled another nail out of the
plastic bucket that was quickly getting buried with snow. Three more nails to
go and she’d call this fence good. She should’ve quit an hour ago, but she was
too close. As soon as this fence was done she could officially move the horses
over.
Well,
as soon as Craig found her replacement. No matter what was—or wasn’t—going on
between them, she couldn’t leave him in the lurch.
Despite
the fact her fingers were numb, her feet like lead blocks, and she had about an
inch of snow clinging to her wool hat, Quinn kept hammering. She wasn’t about
to let a few pesky flakes of snow deter her from her goal.
Problem
was, a few flakes had turned into millions. She glanced up through the fence
railings. Millions of flakes falling from an ever darkening gray sky. At least.
Several inches perched on the top rail of the fence she was working on.
Quickly
she finished pounding the last two nails, pulled the bucket out of the snow and
headed to the barn to put the hammer and nails away. Then up to the house to
clean up the picnic lunch she brought with her. Maybe dry off a little.
The
Falstad area was due to get a punch from this October storm, but according to
the weather report, it wasn’t supposed to sweep in for another few hours.
Unfortunately they were off on their timing. Unfortunately for her. So much
snow was falling that she could barely see the house from the barn door. A gust
of wind caught her as she pulled the barn door shut, nearly knocking her off
her feet.
“Shit,”
she muttered and pulled her jacket around her chin. What the hell had she been
thinking, staying so long? Driving in this would prove to be dangerous. Against
the gusts, she jogged toward the house. She had no choice but to wait it out
and hope that Scott and Tom could handle things at Emerald on their own. They
would’ve brough the horses inside before it got too bad. Whether they’d be able
to do anything about Fire, Quinn wasn’t sure, but the stallion had a
three-sided shed in his paddock for shelter and since Austin had worked with
him, the stallion had seemed to turn a new leaf. He was much more compliant.
Quinn
was about to shut the door to the house when a pair of headlights cut through
the ever-thickening snow. She recognized Craig’s truck immediately.
“What
the. . .” Quinn stood in the doorway and stared as Craig pulled up next to her
truck and got out. He must have seen her because he didn’t hesitate to run
toward her and the house. She opened the door for him and followed him inside.
Then she looked at him, hair dusted with
snow but as handsome and desirable as the last time she’d set eyes on him.
Where was the air? Quinn gulped for a
lungful, but found it lacking. She gripped the door knob for a moment. If she
let go she might fall on her butt, her legs were that shaky. For weeks she’d
managed to avoid him completely. It had become an art. Whether luck had been
involved, she didn’t know. She didn’t care. All that mattered was that she
didn’t have to see his face—to change her mind and give in to her need for him.
Now he was here. There was no place to
hide.
“Christ,
Craig, what are you doing here?” She didn’t bother to cover the annoyance in
her voice. Was he that pissed that she was here instead of over at Emerald?
Maybe if he’d found her replacement he wouldn’t have to be.
He was definitely dragging his heels.
Craig took a firm grip on her arms,
staring at her intensely. “I’m putting an end to this,”
“Wait.” Now she moved, pulling herself
from his grip. “End to what? My employment? I’ve been wanting that for over a
month.”
He shook his head. “No, Quinn. Not that.
I’m putting an end to this distance between us. I’ve played along with it and I
can’t do it anymore.” He stepped toward her.
Quinn stepped back and scowled. “What
makes you so sure I want that?” Of course, she did, but his declaration made
her a little angry. What did he want from her? More of the same pain she got
away from?
“I’m acting on faith.” His voice was low
and husky. Humble.
Quinn swayed toward it, but pulled
herself up short. “What kind of reason is that?”
He reached out to her again, lifted her
chin so she’d have to look at him. God his eyes were so blue, the same color as
the South Dakota sky, and soaked with emotion. With love, if she dared believe.
“The only reason I have to be here. That
and the fact I haven’t changed my mind one bit about you. About us. Not seeing
you for six damned weeks only made these feelings stronger.”
“But what about Marisol? She didn’t want
me. I respect that, no matter how much it hurt. How is she going to react?”
She struggled to keep her thoughts
together, playing the Devil’s advocate because she had to be sure. All the
while, she wanted to show him what his words meant to her, how scared and
excited they made her. But she didn’t want to be hurt.
Craig smoothed a palm over her cheek
softly caressing her. “I’m here with her blessing. In fact, it was mainly her
idea. She wants you, Quinn. I imagine she’s got some apologizing to do and
she’s waiting to do it. Please, Quinn, let us make this right. I know you’re
ready to open for business here, and if that’s what you want then we’ll do it.
I can find someone else to run Emerald. Hell, I’ll sell it. Whatever you want.”
Quinn gave him a small smile. “Come
here,” she said softly.
He complied and stood close enough that
she had to look up to meet his gaze. Close enough to slide her hands up his
chest, if she wanted to. Lord knew she wanted.
“Could you and Marisol live here?” She
chuckled. “Three spreads? That’s kind of overdoing it.” Then she sobered. “I’ve
put a lot of work into this place. I don’t want to leave it.” She drew in a
breath and closed her eyes. All she wanted to do was to lean against him. Soak
him up, but not yet.
“We’ll figure it out, Quinn. If you’ll
have us back.” A half smile produced a dimple in one of his cheeks. She longed
to trace it with her finger.
She swayed toward him, barely touching
him, but with enough contact to set her head spinning. “We’re going to have to
start from scratch. Casual dating until everyone is used to us.”
“Cart before the horse, darlin’. I think
my brother outed us sufficiently enough that we can skip the casual part and
get right on with the serious courting.”
She dreamed of hearing those words for
two months. “Serious courting, good. But no more than that. No more of the cart
before the horse thing.”
He groaned, but she could still see the
smile on his face. “For now.”
“For now. How is your brother, anyway? I
haven’t heard a thing about him. He’s steered clear of me pretty thoroughly.”
Craig chuckled. “Suitably paying his
penance. He’s waiting tables while hoping Jacob will show mercy and hire him
back in the spring. Don’t worry about him. He’s sorry for the trouble he
started and I believe him. For some reason that other wrangler over at Long
Knife Creek, Becky, I think, is trying to make an honest man out of him.”
Quinn laughed. Becky was one brave young
woman. She’d keep him in line.
Then she sobered. “You sure Marisol is
okay with us?”
Craig gave in first. He wrapped his arms
around her and pulled her close so she could hear the steady, strong beat of
his heart.
Home.
“Marisol is fine. Really. She wanted to
come along but I convinced her to stay put. She made me promise not to come
home without you.”
“I’m glad she came around. Things
haven’t been the same without her friendship. I mean that.”
“I know. She knows.” Craig kissed the
top of her head and rubbed her back. Each touch was perfection and made her
realize how much she’d been missing. No one could’ve sent these shivers of
desire through her body by such a tender caress or the press of his lips
against her hair. What a sad life it would’ve been without them.
“God, I’ve missed this. Thought I’d
never get to feel your arms around me again.” She snuggled into his hold as
deep as she could get.
“You won’t have to worry about that,” he
assured her. “You can have my arms, my whole body. We’ve had to wait too long.
I love you. If you want to slow it down, restart with casual dating or proper
courting, say the word.”
She could barely speak, never mind stop
him. She didn’t want to stop him because for the first time in nearly two
months she felt completely alive. “Can I sneak you back to Emerald for a few
hours? Then we can do the proper courting thing.”
Craig chuckled. “Starting tomorrow best
behavior,” he promised.
“Basic dating.”
“Chaste kisses goodnight,” he said
softly.
“No more sex on the prairie.” Quinn’s
voice was little more than a regretful sigh.
“No more sex on the prairie. For now.
Because I hate to tell you this, darlin’ but I don’t think we’re going anywhere.”
“Hmm?”
Craig turned her around to face the
window. In the short time since he’d arrived, the storm had intensified.
Between the heavy snowfall and the diminishing light, she couldn’t even see
their vehicles. The air was thick and gray.
“Oh, Lord,” she muttered, but Craig
pulled her against his chest.
“We’re here for the night,” he murmured
into her ear.