Chapter 8 #3
She hung up the phone as Ryder walked in the room carrying a bright yellow, happy face balloon. The frown on her face disappeared.
“Oh, how sweet! Who sent me the balloon? I haven’t had a balloon since I was little.”
He leaned over and kissed the top of her head, then handed it to her.
“It’s kind of pitiful compared to all these elegant flowers, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Although the kiss was as harmless as if it had come from a child, Casey felt her face flush. After last night, the word harmless did not mesh with the man who’d walked out of the apartment and into the rain.
“Is this from you?”
He stood at the end of the couch, absorbing the aftermath of yesterday’s wreck on her face. Finally, he nodded, and then he grinned and Casey thought she would forever remember the way he looked, smiling down at her with the sunlight coming through the window behind him.
“With no strings attached.” Then he laughed aloud when she dangled the one tied to the balloon. “Except the obvious, of course.”
Casey grinned and handed him the balloon. “Will you tie it on the back of that chair for me?”
He did as she asked, then gave the balloon a final thump and set it to bobbing as he moved away. The big yellow happy face smiled down at her from across the room. Casey smiled back, then noticed that Ryder was leaving.
“Can’t you sit down and talk to me?”
Ryder stopped at the doorway. When he turned, there was an odd, almost childlike hurt on his face.
“You don’t need to pretend with me, Casey.”
Suddenly, last night was out in the open. All the tension that had sent him out in the rain was back between them and there was nothing to say that would change what had happened.
Angry, she threw off the afghan and stood, unwilling to say this lying down. “The last time I played pretend, I was six years old. I pretended my mother and father weren’t dead. When it didn’t come true, I never tried again.”
Ryder absorbed her anger as well as the passion with which she spoke, letting it flow over and then around him. Just when he thought she was finished, she came at him again. It would seem she wasn’t through.
“There are things that need to be said between us. I would think that saying them in the bright light of day would be a hell of a lot smarter than waiting for dark. The world closes in when the sun goes down. Even with the absence of light, I’ve found it a difficult place in which to hide.”
Stunned by the truth in her words, he couldn’t find it in himself to walk away.
“So… is this our first fight?” he asked, and was rewarded by the red flush he saw staining her cheeks.
“Can’t you be serious?” she muttered.
“Well, yes, ma’am, I can be serious as hell. However, I don’t think you’re one bit ready for that.”
Casey paled. Just when she told herself he was a comfortable man to be around, that stranger came back.
“I thought you’d like to know that carpenters will be arriving tomorrow.
I’m adding on a room to the garage apartment.
Since we won’t be sharing a… I mean we can’t…
We aren’t going to…” She took a deep breath and started over, ignoring the heat on her face and neck.
“You won’t have to sleep on the floor much longer. ”
He thought about waking to find her wrapped in his arms. “That’s real thoughtful of you, Casey.”
“It is only fair.”
His voice softened. “And you’re always fair, aren’t you, girl?”
Before she could answer, Joshua entered the room with Lash Marlow at his heels.
“Mr. Marlow is here. Says he has an appointment.”
Willing herself not to flinch at what she perceived as accusation in Lash Marlow’s expression, Casey eased herself back to the couch.
“Lash, it’s good to see you. Ryder and I were just about to have coffee. Won’t you join us?”
Lash pivoted, surprised that he and Casey would not be alone.
“That’s all right,” Ryder said. “I’ll just leave you two alone to—”
“No!” Casey took a deep breath and made herself relax when she really wanted to scream. “There’s no need,” she said, softening her words with a smile. “It’s nothing confidential. Only some papers to sign.”
“She’s right. Please don’t leave on my account,” Lash said and then smiled, and the sight made Casey shudder. It was the least happy expression she’d ever seen on anyone’s face.
“Besides, I believe there should be no secrets between a man and his wife,” he added.
Casey couldn’t look Ryder in the face, and Ryder refused to sit down.
Even after Joshua returned with the tray of coffee and Ryder had accepted his cup, the words kept ringing in his ears.
No secrets. No secrets. Hell, there hadn’t been more than ten minutes of honesty between them since he’d said “I do.”
She thought he was a footloose drifter who’d wasted his life on the road. He didn’t have it in him to tell her the truth because he was still trying to come to terms with some truths of his own.
There was a little matter of being responsible for his father’s death and still finding the courage to live with it.
Every breath Ryder took was a reminder to him that Micah could no longer do the same.
Every sunset he saw, every morning that came, came with the knowledge that, for his father, those simple pleasures had ceased.
He carried his guilt with the ease of a man who’s lived long with the shroud.
Close to his heart. Selfish with the pain that shoved at him day after day.
Casey handed back the last of the papers. Lash took them from her, letting his fingertips accidentally brush the palm of her hand.
When she flinched, he had an urge to lean over and slap her face. How dare she have judged him and found him lacking? His family could trace their lineage back to the Mayflower.
Then he glanced at Ryder, careful to hide his thoughts.
He would bet a lot—if he had it to bet—that this one didn’t have two nickels to call his own.
At least I have my education—and several generations of a fine and noble name.
In Lash’s opinion, Ryder Justice was nothing more than a stray, an alley cat of a man who’d been in the right place at the right time.
That’s what he was. That and nothing more.
Lash slid the papers into his briefcase and stood. “I’d better be going—let you get some rest and let your husband get on with his work.”
The sarcasm was there. It wasn’t obvious, but that wasn’t Lash Marlow’s way. Casey chose to ignore the dig, and then she remembered the gift that he’d sent.
“Lash. I haven’t had time to send a card, but I want to thank you in person for the lovely wedding gift you had sent to the office. It’s stunning, truly stunning.”
Lash turned, and there was an odd, satisfied smile on his face. “It’s an heirloom, you know. It belonged to my grandfather, Aaron Marlow.”
Casey looked startled. She’d had no idea. “Why, Lash, that’s generous of you, but you really shouldn’t have.”
His gaze turned flat, almost expressionless.
“Oh, it was nothing,” he said. “After all, if things had been different, it would have been yours anyway. I thought you should have something to remember me by.” He ventured a look at Ryder who had remained silent throughout their entire conversation.
“I don’t want you to think I’m treading on your territory,” he said.
“It’s just that Casey and I have known each other for years. ”
Ryder set down his cup and then glanced at Casey before looking back at Lash. “I’m not worried. Casey is a woman of her word. Besides, I’m not a man who believes in boundaries.”
Lash was more than mildly interested in the concept of what Ryder had to say. “So by that are you hinting at the fact that you believe in open marriages?”
Ryder took one step forward, but it was enough to back Lash up two.
“Not only no, but hell, no,” Ryder said. “A man and woman stay together out of a commitment, not because there’s a fence they can’t climb.”
Feeling slightly threatened by something he didn’t quite understand, Lash started for the door. “At any rate, I hope you both get what you deserve.”
Ryder thought about what the lawyer had said long after he was gone. There was something about him that didn’t quite mesh.