Chapter 20
CASSIDY
I couldn’t blame her for any of her reactions. Not only was she rather innocent in her ways of relationships and men, but I was not exactly one with an easy past to accept. Her whiplash attitude was my fault, and one I was owed, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. Her taking and wearing my hat but then giving it back didn’t bother me; what bothered me was the fact that my past actions were making things so difficult for her in regard to how she felt about me.
And now she was nothing but sad again. Briar leaned her head against the window as we slowly lugged down the road. Rodeo hadn’t even finished and I’d screwed it up.
I should’ve just taken the hat without saying anything. I bet that would’ve kept her from feeling overwhelmed again. What proof did she have that she could trust I wasn’t the man I was years ago? None. She had none.
She had at least believed me when I’d told her I hadn’t flirted back to those two girls. If only she’d come looking a little sooner, she would’ve seen the twelve different older ladies stop me instead of two women I’d been on a date with before. Older grandmas were harmless, those girls weren’t. At least not in her eyes. Which was completely fair.
I glanced over at her as another tear slid down her cheek. I wanted so desperately to reach over and comfort her, to wipe it away, but it was not my place, so I steadily drove us on through town.
“Can I finish the story?” she suddenly said, her voice quiet.
“The story?” I hesitantly asked.
Briar pushed off from the window and nodded. “About the day you helped out Rooney.”
“Oh,” I muttered and looked back out the front of the truck. What this had to do with our current situation, I had no idea, but I mean, if that helped her, then why not?
“Please,” she whispered.
“Why now?”
“Because I need you to see what I see. I need you to know why I’m so confused, at least about something that I understand and can explain right now,” she answered.
Inhaling deeply, I pulled my hat from my head and placed it on the dash. “Alright.”
Briar shifted to face me. “Rooney said you were the only one to show up that night. He had twenty horses to go round up, and you were it. Without complaint, off you went with a man you barely knew, making sure that all of the animals got back to a different pasture where the fence wasn’t broken. You two worked the entire night away, and when the morning rolled around, you showed up to the welding class an hour later, looking like nothing crazy had happened.”
I clenched my jaw, but said nothing as her silky voice filled the cabin.
“But that’s not the biggest thing that shocked him. That night, you showed back up, with the rest of the class in tow, and instructed all of them on how to fix the broken part of the fence. Rooney didn’t even realize that you guys were there until it was nearly finished. He waited until the rest of the students left before approaching you to thank you, which is when he realized you were living in your truck.” She licked her lips, her doe eyes softening.
“Then Rooney said you turned him down when he offered to have you live at his place for free, because you didn’t want to be handed something you didn’t earn. Now, I know you didn’t say those exact words, but Rooney said that he knew. Anyway, he said that he couldn’t work those twenty horses properly and teach the welding class at the same time. His last apprentice quit to move to a new state and work under a different trainer, so in exchange for room and board, he asked if you would help him exercise the horses. You agreed, and while he never asked for money, apparently you still paid him rent.” She looked back through the front windshield.
I bit down on my bottom lip. “What’s the point of telling me what I already know?” I asked.
“Because it proves my point.”
“What point?”
“That you’re a natural-born leader. You take charge in every situation, which I need you to do again, concerning what’s happening between us.”
I whipped my eyes briefly toward Briar. Was she giving me permission to fully chase her? No reservations?
Turning back to the road in front, she quickly resumed talking, breezing by what I cared about more than what she said next. “But more importantly, you’re a hard worker who should be out there making a name for himself. Why do you feel fulfilled working cattle for your brother when you have the skills and abilities to do what you love on your own?” she exclaimed.
“Because I am serving my penance for something I should have done but someone else had to do for me, Briar,” I whispered.
Her brows stitched together as I pulled up to a stop sign and pressed the brakes. “For how long, Cassidy?”
“I don’t know,” I quietly answered.
She didn’t say anything, not for a while. Checking for incoming traffic, I pushed the gas pedal, and we continued forward, driving in silence along a road full of the same anguish that twisted my stomach tightly together.
Rounding a bend, we continued onward as I heard a belt unclick. From my peripherals, I watched as Briar slid over and buckled herself back into the middle seat. Goosebumps erupted on my skin with her scooting over closer. “You’re a good man, Cassidy. You know that, right? And I’m sorry for all of the confusion at the beginning,” she whispered and placed a trembling hand on my thigh.
I pulled my lips into a thin line. No, I wasn’t. I was very good at putting a charade on for everyone else, but even as a kid, I was nothing more than a coward who should’ve been the one to run into the burning fire. It was my fault that Weston’s life had nearly been ruined. It was my fault he’d nearly been killed. And as a result, he became rather reclusive. If Tenley hadn’t shown up, he would’ve probably been alone forever, and that was my fault. I couldn’t leave my own brother to a fate that was caused by my hands.
“My answer is yes, by the way,” Briar said, her voice slipping through my thoughts.
I furrowed my brows, pushing down the feelings that I’d nearly spilled to someone other than Rooney. “Answer to what?” I asked, glancing at her as we approached the only intersection in the neighboring town with a stoplight. I quickly double checked it was green and continued forward.
“CASSIDY!” Briar suddenly screamed.
I followed her line of sight as a pair of headlights flashed through my window.
And my hands flew from the steering wheel upon impact.
Metal crunched around me, an alarm blasting as the windshield cracked and shattered surrounding us. The airbags I’d added while restoring my truck broke open, pummeling me in my face.
Briar’s shriek filled the cab. Encircling my arms around her, cradling her into my body, the side of the truck slammed against the pavement and slid sideways.
Grating metal tore at the passenger side and then we were rolling. A ringing filled my ears as each tumbling crash brought a symphony of crunching and thunderous snapping. Resonating like a twisted percussion, the truck suddenly slammed to a halt.
The last thing I saw was wild fear on Briar’s face as my head snapped against the back window.
And the world turned black.
∞∞∞
Groaning, prying my heavy eyelids open, my blurry surroundings slowly focused as heavy ringing in my ears muted all the other sounds.
“Goldie?” I muttered, almost incoherently, as light flashed in front of me.
Shaking my head, I raised a distant hand and patted to the side of me. “Briar?” I mumbled again through the whine.
“What’s your name?” a muffled voice asked. Male sounding.
“Where is she?” I replied. It didn’t matter my name right now. I needed to know if she was okay.
“Sir, I need you to answer my question,” the same person said, the ringing becoming distant.
The hiss of a leaking engine reached my ears. Sirens wailing and the usual accompanied blue and red flashing lights blasted around me. Black, leather upholstery dangled, ripped and torn, shredded from the seat and ceiling, cocooning me in.
“Is she okay?” I asked, pushing at the hand that was trying to strap something around my neck. “Is she okay?”
“Sir, hold still, you may have—”
“I’m fine.” I swatted the hand away again.
“Hold still, sir, and let me do my job,” he demanded.
“Goldie!” I shouted, shoving off from the seat I was leaning against. Rolling to the side, I crashed out of my truck, which was somehow back upright.
“GOLDIE!” I called again, stumbling to my feet as a set of hands grabbed me, stabilizing me. And time stopped, petrifying my entire being in place.
There was glass and shards of metal everywhere. Debris from parts of my truck littered the intersection barricaded by all of the first responders needed for an accident. Grass that had once evenly filled the ravine now showed a clear, dirt path where we had tumbled, ending at my truck that looked like nothing but a ball of useless chromium.
“Briar,” I muttered, terrified. Hands tried to gently guide me to the ground, but I ripped out of them and spun around.
“WHERE IS SHE?” I snarled at the paramedic trying to help me. I shouldn’t have yelled at him, I knew that, but I didn’t care right now. I needed to know she was okay.
“Cassidy?” a shaky voice I recognized answered me. I briefly closed my eyes and glanced to my right.
Relief filled my entire frame at the sight of the beautiful blonde, sitting on the grass with a paramedic crouched in front of her. She had a couple of scrapes along her forehead, and there was a small bruise forming on the side of her jaw, but otherwise she looked fine.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” I muttered.
She gave me a smile, wincing as the lady helping her dabbed at one of the scrapes. “Sit down, dummy, and let the man do his job,” Briar chastised.
I plopped myself to the ground and closed my eyes. Everything swayed around me, but she was fine, so I didn’t care that my head pounded, pressure swelling against my skull. I let the first responder help me all while in a daze.
We’d been hit. Someone had run a red light and T-boned my truck. Briar could have been seriously hurt or even killed by someone who wasn’t following the rules of the road.
“My light was green. My light was green. I know it was green,” I mumbled. I’d glanced at it right before we passed into the intersection during the conversation with Briar. Right before she was going to tell me something… An answer. What was she going to say?
“Yes, your light was green,” the paramedic said as he pushed gauze against my forehead. I narrowed my gaze at the man who seemed vaguely familiar and finally studied his face. Slender with very sharp features and a prominent nose stared back at me. I knew this man. “Now, can you tell me your name?”
“Cassidy Duke,” I answered.
“Good. How old are you?”
“Uh, thirty-two.”
“And what day of the week is it?”
“Friday.”
“Alright. We’re going to need you and Miss Kensington to head to the hospital to make sure—”
“Who?” I asked, furrowing my brows.
“Miss Kensington. Your companion?” He nodded at Briar, confusion coating his face.
“Briar Kensington,” I stated under my breath. I liked the way it rolled off of my tongue. I liked… Hold on, I knew that last name. I once knew a man with that last name. Pushing against the ground, I pulled my feet under me to stand up, and pressure against my shoulders shoved me back to the grass.
“Wherever you’re going, you can go later. You’ve got a concussion, and I need you to go to the hospital to make sure there are no further injuries,” the first responder harshly commanded.
“I need to ask her if—”
“You can ask Miss Kensington all the questions you need after you get to the hospital. Understand?”
“Fine,” I grumbled. I wasn’t happy about it, but whatever. Every cell in my bones ached to know if my suspicions were right. But clouding that desire was the one craving to hold her. All my body wanted to do was make sure she was okay. It was my responsibility to keep her safe, and I’d failed.
“Cassidy?!” A shrill voice pierced through the dull sounds of engines humming around me. A dull thumping pounded at the back of my head.
“You called my mom?” I glanced at the paramedic, recognizing the sound of the woman who called my name. He shrugged his shoulders. “Seriously, Jim. We’re the same age, why would you call her?”
“It’s a small town, Cassidy. I didn’t have to call her for her to find out.”
Groaning, I leaned back as he dabbed at a cut on my cheek. “Please tell me my dad at least came with?”
“Yes, he’s on his way down here, too,” Jim answered.
“You should be as relieved as I am; she’s not going to meddle as much with him around.” I grinned and chuckled softly. At least when my dad was around, my mom seemed to rein in a bit of her desire to be right in the thick of things. Though, I guess I couldn’t be too upset that she was about to go all Nancy Duke on everyone. If I’d found out my son was in an accident, I may turn into a bit of a bear myself. “By the way, how’s the other driver?”
Jim stopped moving and blinked at me, shock widening the features on his face. “You care about the guy who could’ve killed you? The guy that totaled your masterpiece of a truck?”
“It’s a piece of metal, Jim. I can try and fix her up; if not, I’ll start over on a new one,” I answered.
“He was drunk, Cassidy. Blew way above the legal limit. Didn’t even realize that his light was red, and is completely fine because of it,” Jim angrily huffed as two figures neared. My parents marched down the hillside as quickly as possible, their sights trained on me.
“My parents can drive Briar and I to the hospital since they’re here.” I sighed, not wanting an ambulance ride with how heavy my own frustration bubbled within me. “Glad he’s fine,” I added, gritting my teeth. My response would’ve been different if Briar had been seriously injured or worse, I knew that, but I was trying to be a better man.
For her.
“You can be pissed at him, Cassidy. He could’ve killed you both.” Jim gathered his things up and helped me stand from the ground as my parents both stopped in front of us. He wasn’t wrong, though. I was pissed at the driver, but he was a human life regardless. Accidents weren’t uncommon, and Briar was okay. That was what mattered the most.
“Yeah, I know.” I glanced at Briar. She carefully rose from her seated position on the grass and turned to look at me. “Mom, Dad,” I said, watching as Briar made her way over here but speaking to my parents standing beside me. “Mind driving us to the hospital?
“Sure thing, honey,” my mom answered as Briar walked over toward our little group. Her eyes kept with mine as she approached, as if she was latching onto me for reassurance that she was okay. That we were both really fine.
“I’ve got you, Goldie,” I whispered as soon as she stood in front of me. Her bottom lip immediately trembled, her eyes welling up with tears. And she collapsed into my body. I didn’t care that my parents were right there. I didn’t care that I was barely managing to stay on my own two feet. She was terrified and wanted me for comfort.
Wrapping my arms tightly around her, I buried my face in her hair. “I’ve got you, Goldie,” I whispered one more time. My question about her last name could wait. Everything else could wait. Later, she’d be mad at me again, upset that I worked for Weston. She’d push me away again once all of this wore off.
But until then, I’d hold her.