Chapter 28
Leah
Kade wasn’t awake yet, but then again, I’d even beaten the roosters up this morning. I walked into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. I might not have wanted to be at the main ranch, but there was no getting past the joy of having plumbing without putting on my boots.
I poured myself a cup before it was finished brewing and grabbed a throw blanket off the couch, then settled onto the swing on the front porch.
The sun hadn’t made its way over the horizon but the sky was beginning to lighten, showing off the mountains in the distance. If nothing else, this was a beautiful place to get stuck.
I sipped my coffee, swinging back and forth with a single toe on the ground.
A few minutes later, the front door opened and Kade stepped out onto to the porch.
“Good coffee,” he said, and then sipped from his mug. He looked at the swing. “Are you going to scream bloody murder if I sit there, or are we still firmly in truce mode?” he asked, his voice light and playful.
“I guess I can share.”
“Technically, I’m the one who’s sharing, since this is my usual morning spot.” He sat down beside me and took over the rocking of the swing. I tucked my chilly toes under the blanket.
I didn’t mean to stare, but as he sat there, sipping coffee in his worn-out jeans, there was something about the dark lock of hair falling forward and his deep-set eyes that made it hard not to stare at him.
“The view never gets old,” he said, as the sun began to creep its way over the horizon.
I forced myself to focus on the mountains instead of him. “It’s beautiful. Reminds me of one of those made-for-TV movies where everything wraps up in a perfect bow and ends with a grand gesture.”
He gave me the side-eye and then scoffed.
“What? You’re not into grand gestures? Who would’ve thought it?” I laughed softly.
“If a man did something lousy enough to need a grand gesture, it’s time to cut bait and run,” he said with confidence.
“Why do you say men?” I’d known plenty of women that could stand to use a few grand gestures.
“Because that’s how ninety-nine percent of those movies end up. It’s always the guy who screwed up and is begging for forgiveness.”
I thought of the last ten I’d seen, and he did have a point, not that I’d give it to him. He was already too cynical.
“You don’t have a romantic bone in your body. I can’t imagine why Melissa stayed with you,” I said.
He shook his head. “I think you’re overselling what our situation was, which makes sense, considering you obviously like those mushy movies that are all sappy.” He smirked as he drank his coffee, teasing me the way he used to.
“Well, I guess now I know why it was so easy to kick her out of your house for the foreseeable future. Did Melissa know that you weren’t really together?”
“Of course. I’m not a liar.”
Unlike me, at least according to everyone that read the news, and probably according to Kade as well.
I sipped my coffee, losing my interest in our conversation and trying to pay attention to anything but him, which was difficult when I could feel him staring at me.
“Don’t do that,” he said, his voice almost as soft as the early morning sky.
“I’m not doing anything,” I said, trying to keep my tone as normal as possible.
“I wasn’t implying that you were a liar,” he said, his voice not only soft but husky in a way that made my toes curl.
“I didn’t say you did. We’re in truce mode, right?”
“Yes, truce mode, and there will be consequences for whoever breaks it first.”
“I don’t remember agreeing to that,” I said.
“It was implied.” The mischievous smirk on his face told me to avoid this conversation at all costs.
Nope, not going there. I needed to focus on how he obviously used and discarded women without a thought.
“She seemed nice enough,” I said, grasping on anything I could find to kill the mood forming between us. And it was a major grasp. Nothing about that woman had seemed nice.
“Now you’re really laying it on thick. No one thinks Melissa is nice, not even her mother.”
At least he hadn’t been blinded by the sex. That was something. “Why did you date her, then?”
He laughed. “Dating is a very nice term for what we did.”
Yep, it was all about the sex.
“So I guess there’ll be no grand gestures in that future?”
“No grand gestures.” He stared ahead, as if pondering this question deeply. “If I believe in anything at all, it’s the little things that happen day to day that mean everything. You do the right things, you don’t need a grand gesture.”
I watched the sunrise as his opinion settled in. He had a point.
The sound of crunching gravel drew our attention to a truck coming down the drive.
“You expecting something?” I asked.
“Not that I know of,” he said.
The driver jumped down from the cabin and called out. “Hawk Ranch, right?”
“Yeah,” Kade called back.
The guy went to the back of the truck and opened up a trailer packed to the gills.
“This a good place to unload?” the driver asked.
“Sure,” Kade said. “How much of that is ours?”
“All of it,” the driver yelled back.
“What the hell is this?” Kade mumbled, looking stumped.
“ This is Cassie.”
“Really?” he asked.
“You offered,” I said, trying not to laugh.
It hadn’t even been a full day since Kade had offered Cassie the ranch and everything was already in a complete upheaval. She’d had so many boxes delivered with wedding items that there wasn’t even enough room to store them. Last I’d seen Kade, he was cursing as he tried to get them all moved into the tents he’d gotten brought over.
Along with wedding supplies were boxes filled with dresses from my mother, as if she imagined I’d wear a potato sack to the wedding if she didn’t help me. Or help her was more accurate, as she was probably much more concerned about how she’d appear if I were a mess.
“You were looking for me?” Missy asked, poking her head in the open bedroom door.
“Yes. Come in and look at some of these dresses. My mother sent me a pile of them along with Cassie’s wedding stuff. See if there’s anything you want.”
She froze where she was, eyeballing the pile like it was a snake pit. “I’m not sure I need a new dress.”
“You don’t want one for the wedding?”
She shook her head as she took a step back. “I’m not sure I’m going.”
“To the wedding? I thought Kade told everyone they were invited? He said he was going to make sure you all knew this morning. Everyone who works on the ranch can come. Plus I’m the maid of honor, which means I’ve got some pull, and I want you to come. You’ve become one of my best friends.”
“But your New York friends are really fancy, right?” She was chewing on her lower lip like she hadn’t eaten lunch.
“Most of them are a bunch of assholes. Don’t worry about them.” I started pulling some of the dresses from the pile, separating them out.
“I don’t know, Leah. I’d be so out of place.”
“You, out of place? I don’t fit in. I’m a convicted felon. Everyone will love you. Plus I need you there with me.” I studied her figure, thinking which dress might suit her the best. “Look, I’ve got these amazing dresses and they’re all going to go to waste. Cassie said she was sending me something special, so I won’t be wearing a single one, and I won’t be going to any other affairs anytime soon.”
She came a little closer, and then leaned in to look at a price tag. “Oh, I can’t take one of these dresses from you. They cost a fortune!”
“You have to. It’s crazy to let them all go to waste. I think this one would look amazing on you.” I grabbed a deep green, holding it up to her. It made her hair glow.
“Leah, I just don’t think…”
“Please, just try one or two on for me? It’ll be fun.” I shoved the green one into her hands and then piled a few more onto her arm, then pushed her toward the bathroom while she was still trying to figure out how to stop me.
I closed the bathroom door before she got her words back.
“Leah, I don’t know if?—”
“Just try them on! And I want to see each one after you do.” I took a seat on the bed, waiting for her to walk out and give me a fashion show. After too much time had passed I called, “Missy?”
“I feel stupid.”
“You’ve seen me covered in horse manure. You can’t pull that card.”
“ Fine .”
She walked out in the green, and I was literally speechless. I’d known she had a good figure, but what she did for this dress? She looked so beautiful that I got goosebumps.
“I’m not going to make you try on any other dresses,” I said.
She sagged in relief. “Thank you, because this is so not my thing. I’m so awkward in this it’s painful.” She patted the dress with her hands. “I’m afraid I’m ruining it just standing here in it.”
I got to my feet. “Oh no. I’m not making you try on any of the others because you’re wearing that one. You look insane . We just need to pick out shoes. I’ve got a box of those too.” I began moving boxes, trying to find where those had gotten buried.
“Leah, come on! I feel like an idiot. I’m going to break out in hives!” She was following me around the room.
“But you look like a bombshell, and that’s what counts. As far as the hives, we’ll get you an antihistamine.” I moved another box, finding the shoes.
“I just don’t know.”
I straightened and looked at her big eyes. Hopefully the universe would forgive me for what I said next. “You know, Alec will be coming.”
Or he would be after I called him tonight.
“He will?”
“Yep.”
“Well, what shoes do you think would look right?”
“I saw something just perfect.” I tried not to smile like a crazy cartoon character. Even if her crush worried me, I couldn’t help wanting him to see her like this. I wanted the world to see her because she deserved to be seen.