Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Cara was surprised when Marlowe suggested that she, Cara, and Lila go shopping together that weekend.
Cara had enough staff to cover her in the afternoon, and she decided that she was going to take her sister-in-law up on the offer.
She had been thinking that it would be nice if she got a little bit closer to Lila, who was still a little bit intimidating, but they were about the same age.
She felt better now that the truth about Zane was out. Not that Lila knew, and she needed to figure out how to handle that, but that would come to her. Probably.
“I still haven’t been to about half of the boutiques on Main Street,” Marlowe said cheerily as they drove into town.
“I haven’t really either,” Cara said.
“I never go to boutiques,” Lila said. “I usually just get my jeans at the Farm and Garden.”
Cara and Marlowe exchanged a glance. Lila was sitting in the backseat, wearing something that Cara could absolutely believe had come from the Farm and Garden.
She liked Lila’s very particular personality.
She was sparkly, and spiky, and very much herself, and Cara didn’t see anything wrong with Farm and Garden Chic, but it was just… apparent that’s what it was.
“Then it should be a fun outing,” Marlowe said cheerfully. “I think we need to start at the coffee shop.”
It was rare that Cara made it to a coffee shop other than her own, though technically she was bakery-forward, not coffee-forward. She was very serious about making good coffee along with confections.
In fact, it was her pet peeve when a bakery saw beverages as second string, because in her opinion, the pairing of a good coffee, milk, or hot chocolate with a sweet was like a wine pairing at a meal.
Essential.
But that didn’t mean that she was opposed to getting coffee elsewhere. The little Cubby that they stopped in didn’t have much in the way of baked goods, but it did have deliciously strong espresso, and that was definitely up Cara’s alley.
She got a honey cinnamon latte, but the coffee still showed through and punched right past the sweetness, which was exactly what she liked.
Then the three of them began to meander down the streets.
It was Saturday, and town was busy. A lot of people came to Mustang River from Bend on the weekend or from further afield.
It was cute, historic, and very geared toward tourists.
The resort, of course, catered to those who wanted to stay and do outdoor activities or have a luxury stay, but town had quirky gift shops, excellent restaurants, and the boutiques proved to be excellent.
They wandered into a vintage shop that had cassette tapes, VHS tapes, and a TV set up on a stand with Duck Hunt on the screen.
They also had a rack of clothing from the 90s, and Cara came away with a pair of battered Doc Martens and some plaid pants.
Marlowe bought a bag full of jewelry, some chokers, and big hoop earrings.
Lila, for her part, seemed more interested in Duck Hunt.
“I am supposed to tell you,” Marlowe said when they got back down onto the street and started to walk toward their next destination, “that you have a fancy event tomorrow.”
Cara turned toward her. “What?”
Lila was looking on keenly.
“You heard me. You have an occasion to shop for. You need to get a fancy dress.”
“A fancy dress? Why?”
“Because. He’s planning something special for you.”
Lila’s mouth dropped open. “Who!?”
“Zane,” Marlowe said, smiling.
Cara felt exposed, and she shouldn’t; it was only ever a secret because he was afraid of Cody finding out. She didn’t need to be worried about other people knowing, and the issue had never been her.
She didn’t think.
“No way,” Lila said. “Are you… you and Zane? Zane is like the most unfriendly human being on the planet. How did you even…”
“He’s not unfriendly,” Cara said defensively. Then she had to walk that back. “Okay, he is unfriendly. To almost everybody. But… We… We’ve gotten to know each other.”
“He helped you with all that survival stuff,” Lila said.
“Yes,” Cara confirmed. “And… we just got to know each other from there.”
“Well, I love this. For him and for you.”
“It’s not anything.” Marlowe was looking at her, and Cara didn’t look toward Marlowe. “I mean, we’re just… we’re having sex. That’s all.”
“Oh,” Lila said. “Wow. I mean, I guess he is kind of brooding and stuff.”
Lila looked like she didn’t quite know what to contribute to that part of the conversation, and Cara sure as hell didn’t know what to say to keep the conversation going.
She also had no idea what fancy thing Zane could possibly be planning.
He didn’t like people. He didn’t like doing things. What the hell was he planning?
Marlowe swept them both into a beautiful boutique that was all pastels and whimsical creatures.
Strawberries and woodland animals, and delicate plaid.
There was also a rack with special occasion dresses.
It was exactly the kind of store that was made for Cara, and if she weren’t so preoccupied with what she was supposed to be getting a dress for, she probably would have spent more time looking at everything else, because she probably would’ve ended up buying out half of the place.
She meandered toward the back, gravitating toward a pink dress made of a flowing fabric.
It had a corseted waist and one of those milkmaid tops that looked both sweet and sexy. It was exactly the kind of thing that she would choose for a special occasion, and she had never had a special occasion to choose anything for.
In fact, the last nice thing she’d gone to had been Marlowe and Aiden’s wedding.
The realization stopped her in her tracks.
“That’s gorgeous,” Marlowe said.
“It is.”
“So when you say you’re just sleeping with him,” Lila said, like she was trying to figure this whole thing out. “What you mean is that he’s… he’s good in bed?”
Cara wrinkled her nose. “I mean, that’s not what I meant by that, but I suppose the fact that I am sleeping with him continuously suggests that.”
“Zane,” she said. “Zane is good in bed?”
“Why is that a surprise?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say it’s a surprise, I just am having trouble believing… He’s so… Serious. It just feels like he would never really pause to have a good time.”
“If I’ve learned anything, it’s that serious can be quite a good time in bed,” Cara said.
Marlowe put her hand over her mouth.
“Okay,” Lila said.
“Your brother is pretty intense, too,” Marlowe added.
Cara turned toward her, and Lila did too, but Lila looked like she was sparkling with fury.
“Oh, that’s gross.”
“It isn’t gross. Trust me.”
“This is the problem with this place. I’ve been here forever. I’m either related to these guys or I’ve known them for way too long. And that’s just… no.”
“Have you ever thought about going anywhere else for a while?” Marlowe asked.
“Well, no. Because what would Cody do without me? Anyway, we just got the ranch, I didn’t suffer through an impoverished Mustang River childhood not to stay and flaunt our newfound wealth.”
Cara laughed. “All right, you have a point.”
At Lila and Marlowe’s urging, she tried on the magenta dress, and it was so glorious, and made her feel so much like a princess, she nearly cried.
So, trusting what Marlowe had said to her, she bought it and had it wrapped in delicate tissue paper with strawberries all on the outside of it.
Then they walked outside and turned down the block.
“Was this whole thing a ruse to get me to come and buy a dress?”
Marlowe shrugged. “Not a ruse, really. I’ve been wanting to go shopping. But I definitely had an ulterior motive in making it today.”
They went into the candy store next, and Lila bought bags of homemade fudge in a variety of flavors, while Cara bought some strawberry marshmallows that were apparently handmade in-house. She knew she’d discovered a new product she needed to do some experimentation with in her baking.
Marlowe went and got another coffee instead of indulging in sweets, and then they continued on their sojourn.
A tall man in a cowboy hat crossed the street, and a woman caught his arm, looking up at him with adoration.
It took a moment to recognize that it was Nolan, who she didn’t really think left the ranch all that often. He wasn’t Zane’s level of antisocial, but he wasn’t the friendliest man she’d ever met. He and Lila fought like cats and dogs.
She turned to look at Lila, who looked violent. Her expression was still, but there was something glimmering in her eyes that appeared dangerous.
Oh no.
Apparently, familiarity bred contempt, but it also bred other things.
She supposed it shouldn’t be that surprising.
But… It certainly wasn’t something that she had expected.
“That motherfucker,” she muttered.
“Oh no,” Marlowe said, her lip curling. “Let’s just… let’s not have you and Nolan come to fisticuffs on the street. Over nothing. It looks like he’s on a date anyway.”
“Please,” Lila said. “He doesn’t date. All he does is fuck around. And it’s the poor women who have to find out.”
“I can confirm that fucking around is actually quite fun,” Cara said, and she felt smug that she was able to contribute to the discourse in this way.
“Happy for you,” Lila said, sounding anything but.
“Who is she?”
“I have no idea,” Lila said. “I don’t think she’s local.
He must’ve met her somewhere out of town and then baited her down here with the promise of…
ew. That sounds like him. He’s always been…
Well, not as bad as Walker, but just… Yeah, I caught him once.
In his truck with some girl. I was about fourteen.
It was horrendous. Didn’t need to see that. Don’t need to see it now.”
“Right,” Marlowe said. “Well, let’s cross the street…”
“Hey.”
They all turned because Nolan was basically flagging them down.
“Fuck you, you fucker,” Lila said, flashing her middle finger up at him. “Get wrecked.”
“Hi, Nolan,” Marlowe said.
“Hi,” Cara added, feeling slightly embarrassed at the scene that Lila was making.
Lila rolled her eyes, but smiled just slightly as they turned away from Nolan.
“What?”
“That was a little bit over the top,” Marlowe said.
“It’s our love language,” she said.
“Or something,” Cara said.
As much as she didn’t understand the situation she was in right now completely, at least it wasn’t that.
“That poor woman probably thinks that you’re his jilted girlfriend,” Marlowe said.
Lila shrugged. “That’s his best cleanup.”
By the time they were done shopping and had stuffed all of their bags into the car, it was late enough that they decided to go to Violet and Lace, a small restaurant that served local fare on the main street.
It was upstairs above one of the boutiques, and had a dim, quiet dining room with a deck with flowers and old-fashioned curtains.
“I’ve never been anywhere this nice,” Lila said, looking around sheepishly, and Cara had to wonder what life had been like here for Lila.
She knew from Marlowe, and a little bit from Cody, that they had spent their lives being ostracized because they were poor and because of who their mother was.
Then, Cody and Walker had made a lot of money riding on the rodeo circuit, and that had changed their status, and then, their paternity had been revealed when their father had died.
Their father, who had owned one of the largest ranches in the whole county, and had left it to them.
But she imagined that it had been lonely. She imagined that people hadn’t talked to her much either. She wondered if she and Lila had a lot more in common than she had actually assumed.
If she and Lila had lived a pretty similar life, when you dug deeply. She was harder and more feral, or at least feral in a different way than Cara had ever been, but she had probably missed all kinds of normal things that other people took for granted.
“Well, you have been to the Painted Ridge dining room,” Marlowe pointed out as the waitress put a basket of fresh-baked French bread on the table.
“That is true,” Lila said. “That’s ours, though.” She smiled. “Ours.”
Lila managed a lot of the logistics around the ranch. She was efficient, but she wasn’t front-of-house material. She was perfect for negotiating prices, placing large orders, and researching how to get different things done, but she wasn’t the kind of person that you wanted dealing with customers.
She was just too… honest. Actually, that’s what it was. Cara covered up a lot of her tougher feelings with her cheery demeanor, and Marlowe had that smooth professionalism that covered up any amount of angry or flustered that she might be.
Lila just didn’t bother.
It was refreshing, really. She was sort of like Zane in that way. Although… Maybe that wasn’t true. Zane covered up that soft part of himself with his taciturn demeanor. Maybe Lila was covering up some softness that Cara hadn’t seen yet.
“I don’t know what to get,” Lila said.
“Get everything,” Marlowe responded.
Because they could. They could.
Lila had money now when she hadn’t before. Cara had a kind of freedom that she never had before. To stay out all day? To please herself, spend her own money, know that she could go back to her own house, or back to bed with Zane.
Well, it was good to know that she had options. That she had everything, really. After so many years of having no choices. After so many years of giving and giving and giving until she felt like her skin was nearly worn off her bones, now there were so many opportunities for her to just be.
She really felt like this was it. She had made her new life here, and maybe she didn’t know what the future was going to look like, but she had so much.
She really did have so much.
And in the uncertainty, she could be grateful for that.
She was very grateful for that.