Chapter 10 #2
“A real cattle drive. Awesome.” So much better than counting someone else’s money all day.
She was in the wrong profession. Could she change it? What would her parents think if she came home and told them she was done at the bank?
No, they’d want her to have an alternate in place first. What else could she do? Sell her sketches at a street fair?
Shoving her worries away, she lifted her face to the sun. The temperature had risen, promising another vibrant Midwest autumn day.
They wrapped up feeding and Cash stopped the tractor.
“Your turn.”
They switched spots without her jumping down and it involved his hands on her hips and getting really close. She flushed, and it had nothing to do with the sunshine.
Last night, she’d been close to him, too.
It messed with a girl’s mind. She had never felt that flustered around a man or been that…
anticipatory. The feeling amassed the longer she was around him.
The commitment-phobe player loved his family hard, was passionate about his work, and treated her like… herself.
She didn’t want to go back home. Never mind the mess with Ellis and either finding her own place or moving back in with her parents. She didn’t want to go back and deal with any of it. She had no desire to return to her boring, plain life.
And today, she didn’t have to worry about it.
She settled into the seat warm with Cash’s body heat. She’d rather be personally enveloped in his heat. “Okay, what now?”
“Have you ever driven a stick shift?”
She scanned the dash and levers. “Absolutely. My high school car was a standard.”
“Well, it’s kind of like that, but you have a throttle.”
He ran through the explanation, and after a few jerks and lurches, she was cruising along with Cash standing on the side.
“This is so fun!” She wasn’t going very fast, but she doubted she’d have more fun driving a race car. Once they crossed the pasture, she stopped the tractor. “Gate.”
His eyes sparkling with humor, he jumped down and opened the gate. When he clambered back on, she grinned and rolled through.
“Now what?” she asked.
“I could introduce you to the world of fixing fences, but Sissy has her meeting with the recruiter and I need a shower first.” He paused for a moment. “I can take you back to town or you can hang out at the house.”
She mentally beamed at his offer, but she’d be alone at his place with nothing to do but miss him and feel like a freeloader. “I can grab a fresh pair of clothes in town, and I’d love to check on Frankie and her place.”
A glow of surprise lit his eyes. “Sure. I planned to stop by after the recruiter.”
“Pick me up from the hotel before you go? I owe you lunch this time and I never got to try that omelet.”
“It’s a date, honey.”
Abbi brushed through her hair, smiling to herself about her sort-of date with Cash. She looked forward to it more than a legit date. Going with Cash to check on Frankie and her cats meant more than any are we going to hook up or not date.
What a vacation. It was meant to be for soul-searching, getting answers about her brother’s last moments on earth, and she’d done both, in a way.
Mental peace spread through her as she reconciled how she felt with the circumstances of Perry’s death.
Maybe she’d been bothered because she hadn’t known anyone he was with, but Cash didn’t seem like the type of guy that’d let the army lie about her brother getting killed.
She was thinking too Hollywood; this was reality.
As for soul-searching, just coming here without Ellis was a huge step to finding herself.
She hadn’t been Abbi Daniels for the last three years.
After their first year together, when her world had crashed, she’d been Ellis’s girlfriend—behaving how he and her parents wanted.
Around Cash, and even Hannah, she’d been fully accepted as reckless Abbi.
Go fishing in cold water? Sure. Fish fry at midnight? Let’s do it. Gotta get up early? Who cares! One night without eight hours of sleep didn’t make her impetuous.
There was a knock on the door. She dropped her brush and raced out of the bathroom.
Cash was early. She flung open the door without checking the peephole.
His tired smile warmed her as much as his charming grin. He was wearing his navy blue Walker Five ball cap and a tan jacket that looked like it had come out of a cowboy catalog, which made sense. As a farmer and rancher, Cash was part cowboy.
“The recruiter didn’t take as long as I had hoped.”
She stepped back to let him in. From the subtle strain hidden in his expression, the meeting must not have gone well. “You wanted it to take longer?”
He stepped inside and bypassed the horribly uncomfortable desk chair to drop onto the edge of the bed.
“Much longer. Ask some questions, find out what kind of benefits she can get depending on what job she chooses. Find out length of training, what it entails, where she could get stationed…” He blew out a breath.
“Damn, just find out more. Instead, we walk in and she asks about being a nurse and learns she’d have to finish nursing school, so she says, ‘What about a medic?’ He gives her his spiel and she smiles and nods, sets up a time to go to the processing center to join.
I tried asking some basic questions and she kicked me out. ”
“She’s joining the navy, huh?”
“‘Going to see the world.’” He glared at the floor between his boots.
Worry for his sister radiated off him. He needed comfort. She sank down next to him and curled her arm through his, resting her head on his shoulder.
“I’m not against her joining, just with being so impulsive.”
Abbi bristled. Was impulsiveness only bad in sisters? Hadn’t Cash ever made sudden decisions based on little information? Perry had—and he’d always gotten away with it. “You don’t like that trait in her?”
“Not when it’s her future.” His forehead creased, but he wrapped an arm around her.
“I don’t want her to have a ton of regrets, thinking she should’ve stayed in school, then joined as an officer and made more money.
Or realizing she hates anything medical and wishing she’d joined as a… a… I don’t fucking know.”
“Or she might find out it was the perfect decision and be really happy.”
“I hope so.” He didn’t sound convinced.
Abbi tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. “You aren’t responsible for her happiness. She’s an adult and she’s in charge. Sometimes the best thing a brother can do is accept his sister just the way she is.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled with his smile. “You sound like you speak from experience.”
She straightened but managed to stay in his embrace.
“Honestly, if I had been allowed to make hasty decisions about my future, I think I would’ve been happier.
Instead, I majored in what would make everyone else happy.
I got a job that was expected of me. I’ve done nothing with my life that my younger self would’ve wanted and I’m miserable.
Perry was the only one I could talk to about any of it. He accepted me the way I was.”
Cash gazed at her for a few heartbeats, his expression solemn. “He worried about you.”
Her heart twisted. She should’ve pretended everything was peachy the few times he was able to call.
“Hey,” Cash said softly. “What’s wrong?”
“I shouldn’t have stressed him.”
His face hovered inches from hers. “He would’ve anyway. It’s what we do.”
She wasn’t letting Cash get away this time. Stretching up, she kissed him. He didn’t tense or pull away but hugged her closer, like it was what he needed, too.
Pulling his hat off, she dropped it behind him and snuggled closer. Combined with his efforts, she ended up straddling his lap.
Her lips parted. Their tongues danced and licked at each other, but their hands stayed firmly in place.
Odd. She’d been ready to strip down the second he walked in, but this closeness filled an empty hole inside of her.
One she’d had no idea existed. He confided in her, didn’t hold back when he would have with others.
It was the emotional equality she’d been craving in a relationship.
He splayed his hands on her back and squeezed her to him as they devoured each other. The hard length of him pressed into her, a decadent tease that heightened the pleasure of being in his arms.
Grinding into him, she managed some restraint and reached for the promise that they’d be like this soon, only with no clothes. And when the time was right.
Because he wasn’t reaching up her striped blouse, or trying to undo her skinny jeans, he must need this connection, too. They kissed and hugged, kind of like getting to know each other without words.
Until his jacket started to vibrate.
He paused and they broke apart.
“Is that a phone in your pocket or are you happy to see me?” She didn’t move from his lap, had no wish to.
Heat simmered in his gaze, his expression intent. “Oh, I’m happy to see you.”
Capturing her mouth again, they continued where they’d left off and his phone went silent. Finally, his hands drifted down to the hem of her shirt. Warm fingers hit her back and she sighed into him. This was going to be good.
His phone started vibrating again.
With a frustrated chuckle, she rolled off his lap onto the bed. “You’d better answer.”
He snatched his phone from his coat and glowered at the screen. “What now?”
Abbi saw “Dad” on the screen before Cash put the phone to his ear.
“Yeah?” Cash’s gaze swept her body, but he glanced away as she heard a man’s voice, though she couldn’t make out the words.
“No.” Pause. “Went back home yesterday. I doubt she’s answering your calls.
Can you blame her?” Cash rested his elbows on his thighs and dropped his head into his free hand.
“No, Mom seemed all right. Except…” A heavy sigh.
“I told her that Frankie was in the hospital and I was helping her out.” Pause.
“Yes, Holly’s mom—my grandma.” There was an edge to his voice.
“Look, I’ll try calling and, yes, Sissy is here and she’s fine, too. ”
Abbi raised a brow, but Cash didn’t spill to his dad what his sister was up to.
He disconnected and passed her an apologetic look. “Dad can’t get ahold of Mom.”
He punched in a number and put the phone back to his ear.
“Mom? What’s going on? Dad said he can’t reach you.”
Patty’s angry voice floated through the phone, but again Abbi couldn’t make out the words.
She hated eavesdropping, but there was nowhere else to go and he could’ve gone into the hallway.
He hadn’t. Did that mean he didn’t mind her hearing?
She stretched out on the bed, honored he wasn’t going into hiding.
He must trust her, or at least trust that she could handle it.
He hadn’t seemed like the type to share the intricacies of his life or anyone else’s.
Had Perry entrusted Cash with any secrets?
Would he share with her, or think he was protecting her?
She might have to talk with him about that.
Not only was that why she was here, but after what they’d gone through together, his openness with her would make secrecy on this subject feel like a betrayal.
“You’re staying where ?” His sudden heat yanked her attention back. “Who? Is he a—” his shoulders slumped, “—boyfriend?”
She sat up. Astonishment flooded his face, followed by dismay.
“Not at all. You deserve to be happy. Of course, I understand. It just seems so sudden.”
“I’ve been unhappy for almost thirty years,” Patty’s voice cast through the phone clearly. “When I met someone who actually respected me, I decided to get to know him.”
His shoulders drooped farther. “I know. I’ll just text Dad and tell him you’re okay.”
She clasped her hands on her lap. How often had he played mediator between his mom and dad? That was no role for a child, no matter what age.
How often had he shouldered the blame for the circumstances behind his birth?