Chapter Eleven
Some mornings were better spent staying in bed.
The angry shriek of metal on rock, followed by a sharp crack and a sudden, grinding halt, was a sound Kade knew all too well.
He cut the power to the post-hole digger and swore under his breath.
He and Clint had been at it since dawn, replacing a section of rotted fence posts in the rocky north pasture, and they’d just hit their third major snag of the morning.
Clint pulled the auger from the hole. The bit was mangled, a twisted piece of useless steel. “Well,” Clint said, his voice a dry, dusty rasp, “that was the last spare.”
Kade kicked at a loose rock in frustration. “Of course it was.” He pulled off his work gloves and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm. “All right, I’ll head into town.”
The walk back to the house was a long, thoughtful one.
Except for the irritation of the bit breaking, the last few days had been pleasant and downright peaceful.
He and Cassie had fallen into a comfortable routine.
Every so often, he almost forgot this marriage was legal but a pretense just the same.
Mostly he was reminded at night, after their bedtime ritual, each of them hugging their side of the bed, the need to draw her close and spoon with her had become almost irresistible.
It was probably a good thing that he’d be going on temporary duty soon.
Grabbing truck keys from the hook by the back door, Kade stepped fully into the kitchen. “Need anything from town?”
Cassie looked up from where she sat at the table with his mom sorting through seed catalogs.
“Perfect timing.” His mom clasped her hands together. “We’ve picked out some seeds. It’s been a while since we did a vegetable garden. I think Cassie here was just the motivation I needed to start up again.”
“I’ll need a list.” His gaze shifted from his mother to Cassie. “Unless…”
Before he could finish his sentence, she was on her feet. “I’ll come with you.”
It wasn’t a question, and he found he didn’t want it to be. A month ago, the idea of running errands with someone would seem unnecessary. Now, the thought of her not coming along felt wrong.
“Let me grab my boots.”
With the radio set to his mother’s favorite oldies station, the ride into town was quick, accompanied by the sound of Cassie humming to the hit tunes of yesteryear.
Her voice was low and melodious and he found himself losing track of space and time until the striped red and white awning on Main Street announced that he had arrived at their destination.
He held the door for Cassie, and pointed to the right side of the hardware store. “If things haven’t moved around since I was last in here, the seeds should be near the back over there.”
Cassie nodded and easily made her way to the seed section.
“Well, isn’t this a surprise. Kade Sweet. What brings you in?”
Kade turned to the owner who had been an old man when Kade was a little boy. The guy had to have a portrait of himself up in the attic because he didn’t look any older than he had a couple of decades ago. “Just picking up some new auger bits. In the same place?”
The old guy nodded and pointed exactly where Kade had expected to go.
A teenage boy was restocking shelves at the end of the aisle.
As Kade scanned the shelves for what he needed, something about the kid just a few feet away caught Kade’s attention.
Not because of what he was doing, but how he was doing it.
The kid moved with mechanical precision, like someone operating on autopilot, his face pale beneath a shock of dark hair.
Deep circles shadowed his eyes—not the kind from staying up late playing video games, but the bone-deep exhaustion that came from working too many hours with too little sleep.
Returning his attention to the reason for his errand, he found the auger bits he needed and grabbed a few extra to be safe.
Heading over to where Cassie was happily filling a small basket with packets of garden seeds, he took one last look at the kid and wondered what was his story.
Was it just a kid out with his friends later than he should be, or was it something else?
And when the heck did Kade become an expert on kids? “Find what you two wanted?”
Her head bobbed rapidly, reflecting the enthusiasm in her smile. “All of it, and I thought a few of these flowers might be nice too. I remember reading that marigolds and petunias help deter pests.”
“Great idea. Mom will love it.”
Pushing to her feet, her gaze stopped at the kid now adjusting items on this aisle.
She seemed to study him more thoroughly than he had.
The narrow ridge between her brows told him she didn’t like what she’d seen any more than he had.
Heaving a sigh, she turned to Kade and lifted the basket. “Ready when you are.”
The line at the counter was short so it didn’t take long for the owner to get to him. “Find everything you need?”
“Yes, sir.” Kade stood at Cassie’s side as the old guy rang each item up on the ancient push-button register with the speed of a sickly snail. His gaze returning to the kid in yet another aisle, Kade had to ask, “Who’s the kid working over there?”
“Jacob? That’s Hal and Linda’s boy. Hard worker. Wish all teens had his work ethic.”
“Know what you mean.” Kade flashed a smile and accepted the brown paper bag. “Thanks.”
On the street, Cassie walked beside him to the truck, her stride keeping pace with his. “You saw it too.”
“Saw it?”
“That kid, Jacob, looked exhausted. Too exhausted for a young boy. Think maybe he works on a ranch and he’s just tired from working at the crack of dawn, going to school, then working here afterwards?”
Kade shrugged. “Could be, or he could just be doing whatever it is today’s kids like doing when their parents think they’re tucked nice and safely in bed.”
“Oh,” she smiled, “I smell a story. What did young Kade do when his parents thought he was sleeping soundly in bed?”
His grin widened to match hers. “That, my dear lady, is for me to know and you to never find out.”
She roared with laughter as she climbed into the truck. He really did love that laugh.
Dinner had been another loud, chaotic, and wonderful affair.
Cassidy found herself not just observing the family dynamic anymore, but participating in it.
She’d laughed at Garret’s story about a disastrous high school science fair project and found herself defending Kade when Jillian teased him about his questionable taste in music as a teenager.
By the time Alice declared it was time for dessert on the back porch, Cassidy felt a sense of belonging so profound it was almost frightening.
Now, she sat in one of the old wooden rockers, a slice of apple pie on her lap, listening to the easy rhythm of the family’s conversation.
The sun had long since set, leaving the sky a deep, velvety black, scattered with a brilliant spray of stars.
The air was cool and clean, carrying the sound of distant, gentle lowing of cattle.
One by one, the other couples began to drift away. Once again the mantra early to bed early to rise was more than lip service on a ranch. Now, it was just her and Kade left on the sprawling porch, the comfortable silence settling around them like a warm blanket.
Leaning against the porch railing, his back was to her, his gaze fixed on the star-dusted horizon. The easy camaraderie of the dinner table had faded, replaced by a quiet, thoughtful stillness that she was beginning to recognize.
“You’re thinking again.” She set her empty plate aside.
He didn’t turn, but she saw his shoulders relax slightly. “Just enjoying the quiet.”
She pushed out of her rocker and moved to stand beside him at the railing. The sheer, overwhelming number of stars was breathtaking. In Las Vegas, the city’s relentless glow washed out all but the brightest planets. Here, the sky was a living, glittering tapestry. “It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah.” His voice was a low rumble beside her. “Some things you forget when you’re away too long. The quiet. The stars.” Silent for a moment, he turned his head, his profile silhouetted against the night. “You did good today.”
“How hard is it to buy seeds? I’m sure your mom would know about the flower seeds too.”
“No, I mean more than starting a new vegetable garden. You fit in like you’ve always been part of this family.”
Though he had no idea that was probably one of the nicest complements she’d ever gotten. “I’m trying my best.”
“And nailing it.” He smiled at her.
“Your family has been so kind to me. And your mom, in the short time I’ve been here, treats me as if I were one of her daughters. It’s an odd feeling for me.”
“I’m sorry.” His gaze darkened, he inched closer, taking her hand in his.
“If keeping up this pretense for an entire year is going to be too hard for you, we can call it off now. I’ll be going on temporary duty soon, you can go back to Vegas, or wherever you want to go, and I’ll find a way to tell Mom it just didn’t work. ”
All she could do was blink. Had she totally misread him all this time? Was he wanting to end their deal? Finally, she managed to mutter, “You want me to leave?”
“No.” He spoke with a force she’d not heard before.
“Not at all. I just know that you were passed from house to house—I won’t call any of them a home—and each time it had to hurt.
I don’t want us to hurt you. I…” He raked his fingers through his hair and paced away from her.
“I didn’t think what this arrangement might do to you. ”
It took her a minute to process all his words.
She was still sorting through everything when he turned to pace back in her direction. “I don’t ever want to hurt you. Not even a little bit.”
Now she got it. “Are you saying you would rather break the deal, lose the money, if staying here was going to make me feel like I was back in the system and about to lose another family?”
Very slowly, he nodded. “Cassie, you matter more to me than money ever could. The ranch will survive. We’ve come a long way.”
She let those words rattle around in her head.
“Cassie? Say something.” His voice almost cracked. Had she ever seen him so… vulnerable?
“I like the way you say my name.”
Now he was the one staring like a deer in the proverbial headlights. “Cassie?”
“I’ve always been Cassidy. I like hearing you—and your family—call me Cassie. It makes me feel like… a new person. Like the old Cassidy fell off the face of the earth and Cassie is in her place.” She looked off at the stars again. “You know what’s strange?”
“What?”
“A month ago, I’d never been on a horse, never shot a gun, never seen a real cow up close. And now…” She gestured to the vast darkness beyond the porch. “Now this feels more like home than anywhere I’ve ever lived.”
Quiet for a long moment, he reached for her hand. “It suits you. All of it.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.” His smile turned impish. “You’re a natural rancher. You’ve learned everything any of us have shown you. I bet if you wanted to stay on after the year and keep working—for a paycheck, of course—Mom wouldn’t object. No one would.”
Stay on. Now that was food for thought. Maybe, just maybe, when this year was over she could find someplace in town, stick around. Maybe work here, maybe work somewhere else. Start her life over in Honeysuckle. Wouldn’t that be something?