Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Callie took Jake inside the big house and into the weight room.
“You want me to try to strangle myself again?” he asked, glancing at the bench.
“Another time.” She opened the small room they used for massages.
Twice a week Macy came in from Three Rocks to give massage therapy, and in fact was there that night.
Callie had caught a glimpse of her outside partying with the guests.
She already had her massage table all set up, along with some scented candles and oils. “Hot or cold pack, do you think?”
“Callie.” Jake looked a little stunned. “You’re the one who got locked in that shed with no air. I should be taking care of you—”
She pushed him down to the table.
He sat up. “You’re still upset with me because of Cici, but I swear, I didn’t invite her here.”
She pushed him flat again. “Your life is your own. Now do you want a massage or not?”
“Are you kidding?” He blinked. “A massage would be…fantastic.”
“Great. Macy’ll be here any minute. You can go before the cheerleaders get their turn. Consider it an owner bonus.”
He stopped in the act of pulling off his shirt. “Macy?”
“Well, you didn’t think I—” She broke off because she could tell from the look on his face that it was exactly what he’d thought.
“Wow. You propose a wild spring fling with me, then sleep with another woman, and then you actually believe I’d touch you with a ten-foot pole.
How do you get through any doorways with that big fat head of yours? ”
“There are so many things wrong with that statement, I don’t know where to start,” he said softly. He got off the table and came toward her.
She backed away, holding up a hand to ward him off. “I have guests to see to.”
“This is more important.”
“Nothing’s more important than the guests, and the money they bring in.” Whipping open the door, she slipped out. She hurried through the weight room and down the hall.
Back out into the night, she took in the bonfire scene, and all the guests and her ranch hands sitting around, laughing, talking, singing, having a grand old time.
So normal. It seemed like ages since she’d set out to get the fire pokers for the s’mores.
Now someone else had clearly located them, and the s’mores were a huge success as always.
Macy stood among them, smiling and taking a bite of Stone’s dessert.
When she saw Callie, she waved and came over.
“Hey. Bunch of perky cheerleaders, huh? Only three signed up for a massage.” She shrugged.
“Maybe they’ll tip good. It’d have been nice if there’d been a few guys though. Guys can be cheerleaders, can’t they?”
“I don’t know, but I have a guy for you. He’s one hundred and ninety pounds of solid hurting muscle.”
“Ooh, goodie.”
“He’s not a cheerleader.”
“Honey, you had me at the solid, hurting muscle.”
Callie watched Macy let herself inside the big house, and forcing a smile on her face, joined the crowd at the fire.
Michael came up to her immediately, but then just looked at her.
“What?”
“I’m fighting the urge to grab you and hold on.” He let out a low laugh and spread out his hands in front of him. “I don’t want to be overbearing or pushy.”
“Well, you’re in luck.” She leaned on him. “I could use a little TLC.”
His arms came around her and he held on, resting his chin on her head. “You gave me gray hair today.”
“The shed incident?”
“Yeah, the shed incident. Holy shit. But also because you’re pulling away from me. I’m sorry I made you feel like you had to choose between me and the ranch. I’m sorry I overstepped the boundaries and kissed you like that.”
“Michael, I can’t stand it that I’m hurting you, but—”
“But this is how it is. I know. And this is all you have to give me. I know that too.” After another moment, he pulled away, offering her a small smile designed to hide his feelings.
As he headed back to the fire, a pang went through her, because she knew that after today things might never be the same.
It scared her because she didn’t have that many people in her life, and the ones she did have were all important to her, so very important.
And yet she couldn’t give what she didn’t have, she just couldn’t.
She moved around the fire, making small talk with the guests, checking to see that everyone was happy and having a good time.
Lou and Marge stopped her, with Marge clucking over her like a mother hen.
After assuring them that she was fine, Callie kept moving.
Eddie squeezed her hand. Tucker did the same, adding a long, searching look as if to make sure she was really okay.
She was on the far side of the large fire now. She wanted to be alone, wanted to check on Sierra, and then maybe hit the sack. It was early but she felt the weight of the day like a lead ball.
“Callie.” Stone appeared at her side. His usual happy smile was nowhere in sight.
“God, Callie, I’m so sorry. It’s just that we were rushing to clean up, and I knew I had to hurry if I wanted to get all the chores done, so I just shoved everything in the shed.
I meant to get back to it, clean it all out, I swear.
” His eyes were tortured. “If I’d known you’d get shut in there—”
“I know.”
“I should have just let the animals wait for once, I never should have just walked away from paint, especially the rags. I know better, I do. And I wasn’t drinking until later—”
“It’s okay,” she said quietly, reaching for his hand. “It was a mistake any of us could have made.”
“I wasn’t drinking,” he said again.
“I know.” She took his other hand and looked into his eyes. “But you are drinking at night. A lot. It’s never been any of my business,” she said when he would have spoken. “It’s never affected your work here.”
“It doesn’t. It won’t.”
“Stone…” She squeezed his hands. “I don’t want to worry about you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“But I do. And so does Eddie.”
He was quiet a moment, and then he grimaced. “Yeah.” He lowered his voice. “I guess, to tell you the truth, sometimes I worry, too.”
“Oh, Stone.”
He tried smiling but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I can fix this. I can stop. I will stop.”
“You could get help.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“But—”
“I’ll be fine,” he repeated, and let her hug him.
And when he’d gone back to the fire, she continued walking the grounds, checking on the animals.
She made sure Sierra was okay, petted the puppies, and then found herself, an hour after she’d left it, going back into the big house.
Macy came down the hall. “You were right. One solid aching muscle, the poor guy. I put him right to sleep. You didn’t tell me about his injuries.
I’m going to go out and sit by the fire to give him a few minutes. ”
Callie waited until she was gone, then peeked into the weight room. Like a moth to a flame, she thought. The candles were still lit, the ocean sounds spilling softly into the air.
She had no business intruding, and she faltered a moment while her mind argued with her hormones, but it all backed up in her throat at the sight of Jake’s big, beautiful body sprawled face down on the massage table, fast asleep.
Macy had pulled the sheet up to the small of his bare back. His left arm was up, cradling his head, his right arm straight along his side. She could see his scar as it curved over his shoulder. His back was sleek with the oil Macy had used, except—
Except for beneath his right shoulder blade, where a healing burn marked the span of her two hands.
She’d not seen him without his shirt from behind before, and he’d never said…
But the implications of his accident, of saving a kid, then falling three stories through burning floors, finally sank in.
Looking at him, she felt such an ache, such an inexplicable longing she couldn’t explain it, even to herself. What was she doing? They had such different lives, and such different dreams…and still she stood there watching over him, guarding his sleep, wondering and wishing.
Jake woke up the next morning to the scent of coffee. Since Tucker didn’t give a shit about improving the quality of Jake’s morning, he knew he had to be dreaming.
“Get your ass up, I’m not going to serve it to you in bed.”
Jake cracked an eye and took in the sight of his brother scowling at the foot of the cot, which meant that Jake had somehow managed to stumble back to the cabin last night on his own. Vaguely he remembered doing so, and being chased across the grass by Goose.
Tucker wore only his boxers, hair wild, but God bless him, he held two steaming mugs and was sipping from one.
Jake sat up and braced for the usual shaft of pain to go through his aching body, but surprisingly enough, it didn’t come. “Macy’s a goddess.”
“Yeah.” Tucker nodded toward his shoulder. “Getting better?”
“Is that longing I hear in your voice?” Jake stood up and took the mug of coffee.
“Well, you did say you’d go back to firefighting as soon as you were fit.”
A pang of nerves went through him. When the hell would he be fit? “Which would get me out of here, of course. And out of your hair.”
Tucker just sipped his coffee.
“The love and caring in the room is overwhelming,” Jake said dryly, and turned away. “Thanks for the coffee.”
“Yeah—holy shit.”
Jake glanced over his shoulder. Tucker’s gaze was locked on Jake’s back.
“A burn?”
“Yeah.”
Tucker let out a low whistle. “That fire really screwed you up.”
“Not too bad. Don’t worry, Tuck, I’ll be gone soon enough.
” One way or another. He moved toward the bathroom, thinking maybe a shower would help improve his sudden bad mood.
He took great pleasure in getting to the bathroom first for a change, where he planned on using all the hot water.
On principle, he slammed the door behind him.