 
Waltz Back to Texas

A Lost in a Boom Town Romance

MJ Fredrick

www.mjfredrick.com

OTHER BOOKS BY MJ FREDRICK

**_Lost in a Boom Town_**

Waltz Back to Texas

That Wild Texas Swing

Two Step Temptation

The Cowboy's Promenade

**_Welcome to Bluestone_** Bluestone Homecoming

Bluestone Song

Leaving Bluestone

**_The Off-Season_**

The Love I Want to Be In

Right Back to You

Her Next Mistake

**_Single Titles_**

Something to Talk About

What (Not) To Expect When Expecting

Where There's Smoke

Hot Shot

Don't Look Back

Beneath the Surface

Guarded Hearts

Midnight Sun

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_Welcome to Evansville, Texas, a sleepy town on the verge of a boom_.

After growing up in a dying town, with only two restaurants, no movie theater, and no future, waitress Cassidy Simon wants out. For once, luck is on her side when the oil boom comes to South Texas. She's determined to use it for her advantage, starting up an RV park for the oilfield workers to add to her escape fund. She's never been out of Texas, and she's itching for adventure.

Grady McKenna couldn't get away from his family's ranch fast enough when he was a teenager, but a tour in the Air Force in the Middle East is enough to convince him there's no place like home. He's seen the world, had his adventure. Now he's ready to contribute to his family's legacy in Evansville.

Naturally, the woman who draws his attention is the one intent on slipping through his fingers. How can he convince her life with him will be all the adventure she needs?
Copyright (C) 2014 MJ Fredrick

All rights reserved.

DEDICATION

To my brother Dale, the bravest man I know

Chapter One

The lunch rush was dying down at the Coyote Moon on the square of Evansville, Texas. Even the sheriff and the mayor had abandoned their usual table and headed back to work. Cassidy Simon balanced three salads and carried them to the table of women by the front window. The scent of hair product overwhelmed the usual aroma of grilled steak and fried, well, everything.

"Cassidy, have you been to Liz's new salon?" Heather Saldana asked as she scraped some of the olives to the side of her salad.

Since Cassidy's hair was twisted into a claw clip on top of her head, Cassidy would have to say Heather knew she hadn't.

"No, is it nice?" she asked, just to make conversation. Every penny she had was either put back into the RV park she'd built on her land to house the oilfield guys, or tucked into her escape fund. No way was she spending it on herself in a salon.

"Oh, it's great. She's made it really luxurious. The chairs are just heaven, and she has these stones for your feet. And she hired a manicurist from Houston." Trinity waggled her fingers at Cassidy. "Aren't these just perfect for wildflower season?"

Her nails were decorated like tiny wildflowers, each finger a different flower. They were, admittedly, adorable. Cassidy curled her own uneven nails out of sight.

"Victor's coming home from a hitch tomorrow and I imagine my nails are all I'll be wearing." Heather nudged Victoria, who laughed.

Trinity turned to Cassidy. "You should totally go, but you need to make an appointment. She's pretty busy already. I think everyone's just so anxious to see what she's done with the place."

Liz had rented the store in the center of the block on the rundown square a few months back. Her plans for a modest salon had expanded as money started pouring into the town when the men found lucrative work in the oilfields and their wives started looking to spend the money. Places like that were few and far between in Evansville, but the boom was providing opportunities no one in their quiet little town had expected. Several residents had flocked to the fields. Including Cassidy's ex, Mason, who'd started driving trucks and left her behind.

After Cassidy made an empty promise to check out the salon, she ensured her customers had all they needed before she made her escape to the kitchen.

"Lucky you," Carla Martinez said, looking through her lashes at the three women at Cassidy's table.

"What? Why?"

"They may be gossips, but they're good tippers."

Not in Cassidy's experience, probably because they'd all gone to school together, though Heather, Trinity and Victoria had been a couple of years older. In a school the size of Evansville High, everyone knew everyone else.

"Think they'll tip me enough to go get wildflower nails?" Cassidy asked, forcing a light tone.

Carla rolled her eyes. "Manicured nails are wasted on you, seriously. You'd just gnaw them off."

"That's not fair. I don't bite my nails."

"You just chew on them." Carla hefted her purse on her shoulder, her shift over. "I'm outta here. Need me to do anything else before I go?"

Knowing Carla wanted some time alone before her kids got home from school, Cassidy made a shooing motion. "Go. Enjoy peace and quiet."

Cassidy kept an eye on her remaining table while she did her side work. Unlike Carla, she was in no hurry to get home. Her peace and quiet was here, even during the lunch rush.

The door swung open--odd this late in the day--and a man Cassidy didn't recognize walked in. He was a big guy, not uncommon in ranching country, but what was unusual was that he was alone. For a moment, she thought he'd join Heather, Trinity and Victoria, but he chose a table closer to the pool table.

He drew the attention of the three women, who quieted, nodded in his direction and whispered.

Grateful for a distraction from her other customers, Cassidy picked up a menu and crossed to the man, who sat back in the creaking wooden chair and smiled at her. Wow. He was a cutie, blond hair sticking up just slightly as it grew out of a short cut, blue eyes fringed with thick lashes, a straight nose, a strong chin. She placed the menu on the table in front of him.

"Hey."

His voice was gravelly, and sent skitters of awareness down her spine, reminding her how long it had been since she'd been out with anyone, had a man other than her regulars give her attention.

No, she needed to push that thought out of her head right now. She wasn't sticking around here. Once she made her money, Evansville was going to be in her rearview mirror.

"What can I get you to drink?"

"Sweet tea?"

"Sure. I'll be right back. Will anyone be joining you?"

"Nah, I'm on my own today."

Something about his blue eyes was familiar, but she couldn't place how she knew him. "I'll go get your tea."

After she delivered the tall glass in the textured plastic glass, she went to check on the ladies, who had shifted their chairs so they could watch the newcomer.

"Do you know who that is?" Victoria asked Cassidy, not as quietly as she probably hoped.

Cassidy shook her head as she cleared the plates from in front of the women, in a subtle effort to invite them to leave.

"That's Grady McKenna. You know, of the McKenna ranch."

One of the biggest ranches in South Texas, in the same family for over a hundred years. Two brothers and a sister. Now she remembered why she recognized those blue eyes. His sister, Sage, had tormented her all through high school. She didn't remember Grady at all, though she didn't think he was much older than her.

"Grady's the one who went into the Air Force out of high school. I didn't know he was out, and back. And damn, he looks good."

Heather nudged her friend. "Remember you're engaged to my brother!"

"I can still look. It's not like Ben doesn't look at Cassidy's ass every time he comes here."

Cassidy almost dropped the dishes as all three women turned their attention from Grady to Cassidy's ass.

"Cassidy! Phone call!" Charlie, the cook, called from the kitchen.

Her stomach clenched and she turned, carrying the dishes back to the kitchen. She set them on the counter and frowned at the expression on Charlie's face.

"Your mom," he said, confirming her fear.

She took the phone, wishing it was cordless so she could have some privacy instead of being tethered to the register. "This is Cassidy."

"Yeah, Cassidy, sorry to bother you at work." It was Dylan Hoyt, one of the oilfield workers staying at the RV park she'd built on her land, who acted as unofficial manager when she was at the cafe. "Your mom is kind of wasted and she's knocking on all the guys' trailers. They worked the late shift, and they're not so happy about it. I tried to get her back to the house, but she wouldn't go."

"All right. All right." She lifted her thumbnail to her mouth, but thought about what Carla said, and lowered it again. Damn, she needed some kind of stress relief. "It'll take me a bit to get there, I have a couple of customers right now, and Charlie's by himself. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Charlie took the phone from her. "I've got it. You go on."

Cassidy wanted to argue, to resist, because God knew she didn't want to go home. But she couldn't have her mother chasing off her tenants. Those guys paid her rent, and they were her ticket out of here. She had to deal with this.

"I'm sorry, Charlie."

"Not the first time I've heard that. Just get your guy's order before you leave, and maybe leave a pitcher on each table. I don't think those ladies are leaving as long as he's here."

He was probably right. She carried her order pad back to Grady's table, aware he was watching her every step.

"You decide what you want?"

"Sure, I'll take a chicken-fried steak. Haven't had a good one in a while."

"I heard you're just back from the military?" She didn't have time to engage him in conversation, but she couldn't deny her curiosity.

He glanced toward the women at the other table, a half-smile curving his lips, letting her know he knew where she'd gotten her information. "Not just back. I mean, yeah, just back to Texas, but I was in North Carolina for a couple of months. Good to be back in Texas, though. No place like home." He held his glass while she refilled it with tea. "You never left?"

Did he remember her? "Not yet."

He lifted his eyebrows, but she didn't elaborate. She couldn't. "I need to put your order in, then I need to run. A family emergency. Charlie will take care of you. I'll ask in advance for you to forgive him. I swear, we usually have better service."

He smiled, white teeth flashing. "I'll hold you to that."

Wow. That smile lit up his whole face, and lit something deep inside her. But she didn't linger, instead hurrying his order back to Charlie, delivering pitchers to both tables, then grabbing her purse and bolting.

The drive home over the crumbling asphalt roads took longer than usual, probably because Cassidy was dreading it so much. She turned onto the gravel road she'd just put in for easier access for the RVs, then pulled into the parking area where the guys kept their trucks. She took a deep breath and opened the car door, scanning the area for her mom.

And there she was, stumbling down the steps from a Rambler, tugging up the sagging strap of her camisole. Ah, hell, had she just gone into Chris's trailer?

"Mom!"

Her mother twisted and fell on the gravel, then rose to her knees, tugging at the blouse again. "Cassidy! You're home early."

Cassidy hurried to her side to help her to her feet. "Mom, what are you doing? You know these guys work the night shift and need their sleep. You need to leave them alone."

Angie Simon slumped against the side of the Rambler and pushed her hair back from her face. She should still be a pretty woman. She was only forty-three, but the drinking and the cigarettes had put miles on her. Apparently, though, that didn't stop the workers from taking advantage of her advances.

"You leave me alone out here in the middle of nowhere all day long. I'm lonely."

Cassidy had taken her mother's car keys on purpose, because she couldn't risk her driving into town to buy more alcohol, and then getting behind the wheel wasted. So far she hadn't hurt anyone, though she had two DWIs on her record.

"These are men with families, working men. They are not here to entertain you, or for you to entertain them. Where did you get the liquor?"

"Jordan was nice enough to buy me a bottle the last time he went to town. And Chris brought back some weed."

Jesus. _Thanks for the help, guys_. She should let her mother bang on their trailer doors all day long. Maybe they'd supplied her in the hope she'd pass out.

Cassidy tucked her hand under her mother's arm and guided her toward the house.

Her mother pulled away. "I don't want to go home. Take me into town."

"Oh, no. I have to go back to work. You need to go in the house and sleep it off. Did you take your birth control pills?" Because the last thing she needed was to raise her mother's baby.

Angie looked affronted. "I always remember. And I use a condom, too. Can't be too careful."

"Too much information," Cassidy muttered, urging her mother forward.

"You need to get a man."

"No, I really don't."

"You'd relax if you got laid."

"Mom!" But the picture that came to mind was Grady McKenna and that lazy smile. She pushed it away again. "I'd relax if you'd stop drinking and bothering our tenants. I'd relax if I could trust you to behave yourself like an adult."

"You're no fun," Angie pouted.

No. No, she wasn't. She was no fun and she had no fun. All she wanted was enough money to maybe put her mom in rehab and get the hell out of Dodge.

She got Angie into the house and into the shower, and went to the kitchen to make coffee. While it was brewing, she searched in all the usual places for the booze and the pot. At least the house wasn't very big, and her mother wasn't adept at hiding things, because Cassidy found the bottle, plus a couple others, and the bag of pot. She considered the pot a moment. What was she going to do with it? Flush it, maybe. The booze was going down the drain.

Every time she did that, she winced. Even if it wasn't her money, it was expensive. Still, she twisted off the tops, wrinkling her nose at the smell, and dumped the contents down the drain, running the water at the same time so her eyes didn't burn from the fumes.

Once the job was done, the weed flushed and the bottles in the recycle bin, Cassidy poured a cup of coffee and set it on the table. The shower wasn't running any longer. She headed down to the bathroom and opened the door to see her mother sitting naked on the toilet, rocking herself back and forth and sobbing.

"Oh, Mom." Cassidy wrapped a towel around her mother's shoulders, crouching before her at the same time. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not pretty anymore!"

"Mom, don't be silly. You're still beautiful."

"When I was a girl, all the boys wanted me. I was Bluebonnet Queen, everyone thought I was the most beautiful girl in town."

Cassidy knew the rest of the story. Angie had let the fame go to her head, had let the boys talk her into bed, had her heart broken when Cassidy's father denied the baby was his. Cassidy's grandparents had helped raise her, up until the time when she was thirteen and they had had enough of Angie's drama, left the land to Angie and Cassidy and moved to Oklahoma to be closer to Cassidy's uncle and his nice, normal family. They spent most of their retirement in an RV driving around the country, but never back to Texas.

Angie hadn't allowed the stigma of being a single mother in a small town keep her down. She lost her baby weight and started dating again. Cassidy wasn't sure if she wanted a father for her baby, or if she just wanted to prove to herself that she could still get a man.

She could get a man, but not a father for her baby. Cassidy wondered how hard she tried.

"Let's go get you something to eat," Cassidy said now in an attempt to stem the pity party. "Did you eat today?"

"I just want to feel pretty."

"I know, Mom, but you can't go to these guys. They pay us to live here, and we need that money."

"What for? We're not poor."

Thanks to her grandparents, who signed over their land to her when she became of age, they didn't have house payments, only taxes. But she'd borrowed against the land to put in the RV park, the gravel road and parking area, the hook-ups, the drainage, and the laundry hut. She owed the bank a pretty penny that she had to pay back before she could funnel serious money into her escape fund.

Her mother wasn't privy to either concern. The land was Cassidy's, and it was her decision. Her salvation.

"We're doing what others are doing--taking advantage of what we can to get some of this oil money before they leave." Or before they found more permanent housing.

She got her mother dressed and into the kitchen, made her some soup and settled her in front of an afternoon talk show before Cassidy headed back to the restaurant.

"Didn't expect to see you," Charlie said when she walked in. Debbie was lounging by the drink station, called into work early, though no tables were occupied.

Cassidy didn't tell Charlie she hadn't wanted to stay home with her mother. Instead she said, "Put me to work."

Chapter Two

Grady left a bill on the table of the restaurant and ambled out the door. He paused a moment to look around the town square. The place had changed so much in the time he was overseas. The five and dime next door was gone, as were the barber shop and pharmacy. A new beauty parlor had gone in next to the antique store in the middle of the block. The bank was still on the corner, but so many store fronts were empty. He'd expected as much, since his sister Sage had told him she'd bought some of the empty buildings and was working on remodeling them, keeping as much of the history as she could. She was working closely with the historical society to that end.

She wanted him to buy the old hospital behind the town square and turn it into a hotel, but he wasn't that ambitious.

Seeing activity in the building that had once been the movie theater, Grady crossed the street to see what his sister was up to.

Growing up, Sage had been a complete pain in his butt, the youngest, a girl, spoiled rotten. His mother had delighted in making her a princess, and Sage had always considered it her due.

So seeing her now, in jeans and a work shirt, her hair in a ponytail pulled through the back of a UT cap and a dust mask over her face as she ran a power saw, took him aback. She looked up when she sensed his presence. Her brow furrowed in a scowl he recognized, then smoothed when she recognized him. She shut off the saw and tugged down the mask as the sound died down after echoing through the empty space.

"When you said you were rebuilding the place, I didn't think you meant _you_ were rebuilding it."

"Yeah, well, right now it's hard to keep a crew because there are so many other places they can make money, with people wanting to remodel and all. And to be fair, they're probably easier to work for."

"So you're chasing off crews with your charming personality?"

"Can I help it that I'm exacting?"

"Yes, you can." He hooked an arm around her neck and kissed the top of her cap.

She folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the ornately carved bar. Grady knew the bar wasn't original to the place, but it looked old. And gorgeous. He wasn't sure what it said about his sister--or him--that he could imagine just what it was she had planned for the place--this place, and this town.

"But hey, since you're here, you can help."

He released her and stepped back, hands raised. "Oh, no. Me and power tools have an understanding--we keep far, far away from each other." He had to distract her, because her powers of persuasion were strong, and he did not want to destroy their relationship by working together. "Give me a tour and show me what you're doing here."

"Okay, well, I want it to be an upscale club."

He slanted a look at her. "Upscale. In Evansville."

"Well, okay, not like Garcia's down the road. It used to be the grocery store, and they just painted the windows black and put in some booths. This will be a nice bar. Mixed drinks, not just beer and wine. A stage over there." She pointed to an outside corner.

"You think you can get acts to come to Evansville?"

"Things are changing with the oilfields, Grady. People want to come to Evansville. We've got money burning holes in our pockets."

"And you're ready to take advantage?"

"Sure, if that's what you want to call it."

He shook his head. "I just can't fathom it, especially seeing all these empty stores."

"They won't be empty for long. I've already had people looking to rent from San Antonio and Austin. They're thinking about putting a boutique there, and a gift shop there." She pointed. "The hardware store has already started expanding their inventory to knick-knacks and garden decorations for people who can't wait to spend money. And since you don't want to fix up the old hospital, I'm thinking about putting a bid in on it."

"Don't you think you're spreading yourself a little thin?"

"Not if I can find a good crew. Like I said, people are coming down from San Antonio and Austin to work. Maybe I can get a crew and put them to work on the hotel."

"How long do you think the boom will last? Long enough for you to pay off all these investments?"

"The studies show that it'll level off in a year or so, but if we have vital businesses here, then we don't have to worry about the bust. We can be the next Fredericksburg."

"How many towns do you think have said that?"

She gave him the confident smile that had won her the title of Bluebonnet Queen twice, a feat never before accomplished in the history of Evansville. "I'm sure a lot, but I don't live in those towns."

That was probably true enough.

"What about you? What are you going to do now that you're home? Other than fight with Dad, that is?"

Fighting with his father had been a McKenna pastime since he'd turned fourteen years old and had started talking about leaving Evansville. The fighting had only intensified throughout high school, and honestly, basic training had been a relief.

He hadn't been back in town long enough to know if the fighting would begin anew.

"Dad got me a job flying into San Antonio and bringing oil execs down to the fields. Not sure how often that will be. When I'm not doing that, I'd like to help out at the ranch."

She wrinkled her nose. "Good luck. Dad and Trace run a tight ship."

"So what's new?"

"You can come work with me."

He laughed. "I'd rather take my chances with Dad."

"Is he the reason you didn't come home right away?"

He lifted his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean when you got out. You didn't come right back to Texas."

He didn't want to have this conversation, not with his sister. "I had some business to take care of with some of my buddies from over there. I needed to make a stop. But the whole time I was overseas, I wanted to come home. All I could think of was being on our ranch, in our town, with our family."

Her expression softened. "That bad."

He tried to smile but it was more of a grimace. "You don't know what you've got until you don't have it. You know that."

"Going away to college isn't the same as going to war."

He chuckled and walked to the window to look out at the town. "Restaurant doing okay?"

"Well enough at lunch, not enough to give me competition in the evenings."

He looked over his shoulder at her. "I was more thinking that you would give them competition."

She shrugged. "Different clientele."

"In a town this size, I wouldn't think there would be two kinds of clientele."

"Sure there are, now."

He shook his head. "I interrupted you. I'll let you get back to work."

"Oh, no." She pushed away from the bar and grabbed his arm. "You walked in here. I'm putting you to work."

*****

The sun had set when Grady walked out of the bar with his sister, massaging the palm of one hand with the thumb of the other. He was going to have blisters tomorrow. But they'd finished putting in the baseboards. He was going to have to find something to do or Sage would drag him back here every day and put him to work.

"Let's go get a drink." He nodded toward the restaurant, well lit and decently busy.

"We can get a drink at home." She headed toward the SUV parked in front of her building.

"Come on." He was curious about the town, and what better way to satisfy that curiosity than to observe it from the town cafe?

"I'm a mess, Grady," she pointed out, her tone exasperated. "I've been working all day. I have sawdust in places I don't want to mention."

Ah. Unacceptable for the former Bluebonnet Queen, the McKenna princess to go around looking like that. "Maybe your next project should be putting in a shower."

"Don't think I haven't thought of it." She pressed the remote on her vehicle, locking the doors again, and trudged across the street with him to the restaurant.

Heads turned when the two of them walked in, and there was some muttering. He didn't know if it was directed at her or at him.

Sage ignored the whispers and strode across the worn wooden floors to the bar, which was made from an old tree. She sat with her back to the crowd, so he sat at an angle to her, wanting to see who was in the place.

And he met the gaze of his waitress from earlier.

He wouldn't lie, he'd hoped he'd see her again, but he hadn't expected to see her after she'd run out of here. He smiled, and her lips quivered in response before she turned away to attend another customer.

Apparently she didn't serve the bar, because she kept her distance as he downed one Shiner, then another. Sage drank a margarita she apparently didn't like, and didn't say much, just let him take in the surroundings, the stone walls, the animal heads hanging on the walls, some improbable for Texas. A couple of cowboys played pool at the nearby table. Grady didn't miss the looks they sent Sage, but she ignored them. She'd always been cool, but now it looked like she'd raised the level to ice queen. He felt bad for her. What was she working for, just for herself? Just to prove she could? What was going to be her pay-off at the end of the day if she didn't love someone? He'd been thinking more and more about family, future and legacy since he got out, since he left North Carolina.

The scent of grilled beef and fried everything made his stomach growl, and he placed an order for onion rings. Sage scowled.

"You're going to get fat."

"Not if I keep working for you. Which reminds me--I'm going to start looking for a crew for you tomorrow."

"Just because you're lazy."

"Because I know I don't live up to your exacting standards." He lifted his beer in salute.

She sniffed and pushed her margarita away, only half-consumed. "It's good to know what you want, to have a clear goal in mind."

"And what about a life, Sis?"

"That can wait."

"How long?"

She curved her hands on the bar around the stem of the margarita glass. "Until I have everything I want."

She'd lived a charmed life. What more could she want?

The waitress carried over his onion ring order and set it on the bar in front of him.

"Thanks," he said, sitting back to allow her easy access. "Hey, the family emergency work out okay?"

She blushed to the roots of her hair, and glanced at Sage. "Fine, thanks." But instead of asking if she could get him anything else, she bolted to the other side of the restaurant.

"Family emergency?" Sage asked.

"Yeah, I was in here earlier and she had to leave just after she took my order. I'm surprised to see her back."

Sage narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, is that why we're here? Trust me, Grady, you don't want to get mixed up in that mess."

Curiosity spiked, and he followed the waitress's retreat. He wanted to ask, but wouldn't give in to the urge.

But just because he didn't ask didn't mean Sage didn't tell.

"Her mother is the town drunk. That was probably the family emergency. Cassidy is her only salvation."

Cassidy. That was her name. He watched her move among the tables, her shoulders tight, and she looked over her shoulder. Shit. He could see by the look on her face that she knew they were talking about her, and the resignation in her eyes told him she was used to it. He shoved an onion ring in his sister's mouth and shook his head to shut her up.

Sage rolled her eyes and held onto the onion ring as she took a vicious bite out of it. "It's not like she doesn't know."

"Yeah, but--" He shook his head. He didn't want to talk about her, not when she was in the room, not behind her back. And he would prefer finding out her secrets on his own.

Sage pointed at him with the bitten edge of her onion ring. "She's a disaster. If you want a nice girl, I can introduce you around."

"I don't need my sister to introduce me to women. Especially since you admittedly have no life."

She shrugged, finished the onion ring, then plucked another from the basket. "I've got cute friends."

Cassidy was plenty cute, in those jean shorts, those long legs.

"Thought you didn't have time for friends."

The frown was quick, but he didn't miss it, and he wondered what had her so shut down.

A flurry of activity near the door drew his attention. Three teenaged girls carrying bright poster boards and clear plastic buckets pushed their way through. Cassidy moved to intercept them.

"Can we hang these in here?" one of the girls asked.

"And put these on the bar?" another asked, holding up her bucket, which had her name and her picture.

"Running for Bluebonnet Queen?" Cassidy asked with a smile.

The three girls nodded.

"Did you bring tape?" She motioned to the window where two other posters already hung.

One of the girl's shoulders dropped. "Amber's raising money for the volunteer fire department? We don't have a chance."

"What's your charity?" Cassidy took the poster and inspected it. "The library? That's a great charity." She inspected the other two girls' posters, but didn't comment. "Why don't you put your buckets on the bar, and I'll help you hang these."

Beside Grady, Sage sighed. "Yeah, the VFD is the holy grail. Amber will win."

Grady had forgotten that in order to win the title of Bluebonnet Queen, the girls had to raise money for their favorite charity. She who raised the most, won the title. The popularity of the charity, combined with the charm of the girl, made all the difference.

"Who was your charity, back in the day?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "It wasn't _that_ long ago. And it was the VFD."

Cassidy approached. "Everything okay? Can I get you another beer?"

"I'm good." Sage signaled she was, as well.

He turned to look at the posters above the windows at the front of the restaurant, all handmade on poster board, some more artistic than others. One of the rules was the campaign poster could not be professionally made, which was meant to level the playing field. The rule benefitted some girls more than others.

"Was it always this many girls in the running?"

"Any girl who thought she had a shot, and the entry fee," Cassidy said.

"When's the festival?"

"Next month, the height of bluebonnet season. Will you be here?" As soon as she asked the question, her cheeks pinkened.

He smiled, appreciating the blush. "I'll be here."

Cassidy glanced at his sister, and her smile faded. "I'll get the check."

*****

He followed his sister down the tree-lined road to the ranch house, the dust kicking up in his headlights, obscuring for just a moment his view of the house he'd grown up in. A place he'd dreamed about in his four years away, a place where he'd had both peace and discord. He pulled into the parking area beside Sage's SUV and noticed Trace's truck was also there. Trace had his own house on the land, where he lived with his wife and daughter. Grady's stomach tightened. Had he forgotten something about a family dinner?

He exchanged a look with his sister, who also sent a glance toward Trace's truck.

"Did we forget something?" she asked, voicing his thoughts.

He lifted a shoulder. "Guess we'd better go see."

Sure enough, when they walked through the big oak doors and crossed the saltillo tiles to the dining room at the front of the house, they found Trace, his wife Mandy and their daughter Vivian at the long dining table with their parents. Also at the table were two empty place settings. All eyes turned to Sage and Grady.

"Where were you?" his mother asked, in a tone Grady remembered too well. She was usually a warm woman, but when she was pissed, she could turn a room to ice. Come to think of it, his sister had learned from the best.

"We stopped for a couple of drinks after working in Sage's bar."

Sage crossed to a chair beside Mandy. Good, then Grady didn't have to ask where he was supposed to sit. He slid into the heavy oak chair beside his mother. He looked over what used to be a hearty meal of enchiladas, his favorite meal, but the dishes were pretty picked over.

"A couple of drinks?" his father asked.

"And some onion rings," Grady admitted. "Sage is a slave driver."

"We got the baseboards done. Tomorrow he's going to come stain it."

"No, I'm not."

"You need to apologize to your mother," his father said. "She called and called."

Grady lifted his hands. He hadn't bought a phone yet, so she hadn't been calling him. Across the table, Sage dug her phone out of her shirt pocket and made a face at the screen, then held it out to him.

"Sorry, Mom," she said. "I had the sound off." She turned to her father, arms folded on the table, her eyes wide. "I just was so excited that Grady's willing to help."

His father softened, as he always did with Sage. "He's a good brother."

Great. Now he was stuck helping Sage until he could get her a crew.

On the plus side, he could have lunch at the cafe every day and see if Cassidy would look at him with something other than suspicion in her eyes.

*****

Grady lay awake with his windows open in the cool spring evening and heard the distant mournful wail of the train going through town. Damn, he'd forgotten how he loved the smell of home, how he'd loved the sounds. Even when the weather got hot, it would never match the hellish heat of the Afghanistan desert.

Sage was right--he needed to find a purpose here. Yeah, he'd be flying to San Antonio every other week or so to pick up oil execs, but that would leave him plenty of time. He wanted to get involved in the ranch, if his dad and Trace allowed it. They seemed to have everything arranged between the two of them, didn't seem to need him. And he wasn't sure how to broach his desire to be part of the operation, after having not been a part of it for so long.

He rolled over and looked out the window. His family owned land as far as the eye could see, and had for a century. After being in such an old part of the world, he wanted to be part of something, wanted a tradition to hand down to his kids.

His kids. He'd never thought about kids until he was overseas, with soldiers who had left their families behind. He'd heard how eager they were to get home, to hold their wives and babies, and something in him had opened up.

Then, spending the last few weeks with Aiden's widow Juliana and their son Nick...yeah, he was ready to settle down.

He flopped onto his back again. He wondered what Juliana would think about coming out to Texas. She didn't have anything holding her in North Carolina, wasn't close to her own family, and Aiden hadn't had a family. But if Sage was right and Evansville was getting ready to boom, it would be a good opportunity for Juliana to start over.

He'd do some research, see where she could live, and approach her about it.

*****

Cassidy cranked the window closed with a grumble. Damn trains. Couldn't they choose a better time to roll by than at one in the morning, when she had to get up early to work the breakfast shift?

She flopped onto the crumpled sheets and stared at the ceiling. She should be used to being talked about by now. God knew it had been going on in Evansville since she was born, but for some reason, her nemesis Sage talking to her brother the hottie about her situation embarrassed her to the point of wanting to hide. Why had he come back to the cafe? Wasn't his mother feeding him at home? Why was he torturing her?

No, she was torturing herself, thinking about something she couldn't have. Something she didn't want, she reminded herself.

She was going to make money with this RV park, she was going to leave Evansville and see the world. She closed her eyes and went through her regular list. She'd start small, first going to Santa Fe, just to get out of Texas. She'd always heard Santa Fe was beautiful, and she'd never seen mountains. She would go in the winter, so she could see snow, too.

Then she'd go to Sedona. And then San Francisco. And Seattle. Maybe she'd be brave and go into Vancouver. She'd been to Mexico, sure, when she was a kid, but just over the border. Surely that didn't count as going to another country. Now Canada, that would count.

Then she'd try the east coast--Boston and Philadelphia and Washington DC. Maybe Maine to see the lighthouses.

She fell asleep listening to the clack of the train on the rails and imagining waves.

*****

"Time for lunch," Grady announced.

Sage sat on her heels and looked at her watch. "This is the third time you've made that announcement and it's not noon. I thought you soldiers were tough, knowing how to go without food for days or something."

"Yeah, but we weren't usually subjected to the smell of fried chicken."

"You keep eating like this and you're going to lose that soldier's physique."

"Don't care."

"You will when you want to get it back." She pressed her hand against her waist and cricked her back.

"So I was thinking about what you said about finding a focus and I'm going to talk to Dad and Trace about what I can do on the ranch."

She made a face, but turned her head, like she didn't think he could see her expression.

"What? I know they have everything running like clockwork, and me asking might disrupt things for a bit."

"You should talk to Trace about it," she agreed. "Have you even talked to him since you've been home?"

He shook his head. He and his older brother had never been close. Trace was too much like his father.

"You should. I mean, I don't know. He might be glad you're wanting to take some of the load off of him."

"But he might like his position too much."

She shrugged. "You have to talk to him." She whipped off the rubber gloves she'd been using as she stained the baseboard. "You're right. Time to eat."

Grady stood in the doorway of the cafe a moment, watching Cassidy to see where her station might be. He wanted to talk to her again. Watching her wasn't enough. But the look of dismay on her face when he and Sage sat in her area had him rethinking the decision. She looked genuinely uncomfortable when she approached the table with wrapped silverware and plastic-coated menus. He sat back in his chair and grinned up at her.

"Back again, I see," she said in a forced-friendly voice.

"Addicted to the sweet tea."

"I'll get you an extra-big one, in a to-go cup."

Huh. Was she trying to get rid of him? "And the fried chicken has been driving me nuts for about an hour. Ask my sister."

"Hi, Cassidy."

Wow, that was some ice in his sister's voice. He looked from Sage to Cassidy and saw she heard it too.

"Hello, Sage." Cassidy matched the chill. "What can I get for you?"

"Just whatever he's having." She waved a hand in Grady's direction.

"I'm getting the large plate of fried chicken and fries."

"That's fine. I'm working it off."

"I'll get this turned in and get your drinks," Cassidy said to excuse herself.

Grady watched her walk away and Sage slapped his arm.

"Are you serious? That's why we're here?"

He turned his eyes to her. "I told you. Fried chicken." He thought about asking her why Cassidy didn't like her, but he thought that was probably pretty obvious. "Why do you have a problem with her?"

"I don't," she said, too quickly. "I just think her life's a mess and you don't need that."

He didn't want to pursue the conversation, so thought he'd redirect it to what he'd been thinking about last night.

"I told you about my friend Aiden."

"Right." She sobered, apparently surprised by the change in subject. "The one who died?"

"You asked where I was before I came home. I went to spend some time with his wife and kid in North Carolina. I helped her move into an apartment off-post, but it's not a pretty place, just what she knew she could afford. I'm thinking about bringing her here."

Sage's brows slammed together. "Why?"

"She doesn't have family, doesn't have anyone to help her with her kid. He needs a father figure in his life."

"And you're going to be that for him? How pretty is his mama?"

Very pretty, but Sage didn't need to know that. Besides, he had no designs on Juliana.  Hell, how could he go after his best friend's widow?

"They need someone, somewhere, a family."

She gave a short laugh. "And you think our family is the one?"

"They're better than you think." He angled his bundle of silverware to line up with the grain of the table. "Besides, don't you think Mom would be happy to have someone to take care of? You don't let her take care of you anymore."

Sage sat back as Cassidy delivered their iced tea. "She's going to have expectations about you and this woman. And where are they going to live? On the ranch?"

"To start."

Sage opened her straw and dropped it into her glass. "You can ask, I guess. Does she work? Does she have any skills?"

"She hasn't worked since Nick was born, but yeah, that's a consideration. Maybe she could work at the library or the school."

Sage leaned on the table. "Have you even discussed this with her? What if this isn't what she wants at all?"

"I know she doesn't want to be alone, and if she finds out she's not happy here, she can move on. It's just--she needs some help getting through."

"You better talk to her before you make plans to drag her out here."

She was right, he knew. But he was distracted by a man coming in the door, bouncing a baby on his arm. One of the waitresses made a shrill cooing sound and hurried forward, taking the baby and rising on her toes to kiss the man. She carried the baby over to the drink station, where the other waitresses gathered. Grady couldn't take his gaze off of Cassidy as she stepped forward, a brilliant smile on her face. She lifted her hand and the baby wrapped its fingers around hers and babbled at her. She laughed, gently freed her hand, and turned to look at Grady. Her smile faltered and she spun away, toward the kitchen.

Cassidy kept her eyes downcast when she returned with their food. He straightened in his chair, not looking at the plate whose scent had taunted him for the past hour, but at her.

"When I lived here before, there wasn't a lot to do on weekends," he said casually. "What's there to do these days?"

"The same," Cassidy said, casting an uneasy glance at Sage.

"No place to go dancing?"

She drew in a breath as she straightened. "Sometimes the VFW has an event, and there's a club out on the highway, but lately it's mostly oilfield workers. Not a lot of girls."

"I'm only interested in one."

Her cheeks pinkened as his meaning sank in. "Sorry. You'll have to go into San Marcos, maybe, or San Antonio."

He shook his head. "Done with that. Want to stay closer to home."

"Then prepare to be bored. Is there anything else I can get you?"

"More tea," Sage said, motioning to her glass.

Cassidy nodded and bolted.

"Oh my God, I can't believe you're trying to pick her up in front of me."

He had to admit, he was off his stride, but he wasn't sure he could blame her. "A little rusty."

She rolled her eyes. "No kidding. You're going to scare the poor girl."

He chuckled, but was pretty sure she was right. He was going to have to go about this a different way. Cassidy was too skittish. He needed a new strategy.

Chapter Three

"Hey, Juliana." Grady settled into a chair on the front porch with the house cordless phone. He still hadn't gotten a cellphone, and he needed to.

Her breath caught at the sound of his voice. "Grady. It's good to hear from you."

"How's Nick?"

"Oh, you know, trouble with adjusting to the new school. Not making new friends. And he's behind because of missing so much with Aiden's death and the move."

"I kind of wanted to talk to you about that. What would you think about moving to Texas?"

She gave a short laugh. "Why would I want to move to Texas?"

"I thought, since you don't have family, you might want to come out, let me help you with Aiden."

She was quiet a minute. "Grady. You don't owe me anything."

"No, I know."

"And you don't owe Aiden, either."

"I don't feel like I do. I just want to help relieve some of the pressure on you. Just until you figure out what you want to do. We have a ranch here, lots of room for Nick to run around. He might like being around the animals. Then there's my dad, my brother, me, lots of father figures."

"And what would I do?"

"I don't know, exactly. But there are some options. And it will buy you time to figure out what you want to do next."

"I don't know." Something wistful colored her voice. "I hate depending on you."

"Not depending. Leaning, maybe."

"I...I need to discuss it with Nick. I can't--I can't put another change on him without him having a say in it."

"Yeah, I get that."

"I'll let you know in a couple of days, if that's okay."

"Yeah, of course."

"Thanks, Grady," she said softly, and disconnected.

After he replaced the phone in the cradle, he wandered down to the barn. A light was on, so he figured he'd find his dad or maybe Trace inside.

The raised voices alarmed him, but instead of going back to the house, he continued on. As he rounded the corner, he realized the voices belonged to Trace and Mandy. Grady had made the decision to turn around and head back to the house when Mandy charged around the corner. She stopped short when she saw him and narrowed her eyes.

"Hear enough?"

He lifted his hands, palms out in surrender. But she didn't give him even a chance to shake his head before she blew past him. He looked up to see his brother coming around the wall, like he was going after Mandy but not sure he wanted to catch her. He looked past Grady to the departing figure of his wife, and slowed with a sigh.

"What's going on?" Grady asked, knowing better than to expect his brother would tell him.

"Nothing new." Trace continued to look after his wife.

"Don't let me stop you if you want to go after her."

"Wouldn't do any good."

"Might."

Trace turned his gaze to Grady for the first time, eyes narrowed. "And you know this based on all the relationships you've been in?"

Grady rolled his eyes. "I know women enough to know that they like it when a guy comes after them."

Trace turned to head back into the barn. Grady followed. When Trace realized he hadn't shaken his brother, he sighed, and walked into the office he shared with their father in the corner of the barn. It had a window unit air conditioner, a new addition that surprised Grady.

"It'd only make it worse." Trace dropped into the rolling office chair and bent to open the refrigerator on the floor by the desk, all in one move. He pulled out two beers and handed one to Grady before sitting back and twisting the cap off of his.

The two men sat in silence for a minute, drinking beer. Grady couldn't remember ever doing that.

Clearly Trace wasn't going to talk about whatever was bothering him so Grady sat forward, bracing his forearms on his thighs. "So I was looking to talk to you."

"Not much up for talking," Trace said.

"About the ranch. I want to be a part of it. I know you and Dad have everything running smoothly, and me coming back might throw a wrench in it," he continued quickly before Trace could argue. "But when I was overseas, well, I realized how much I missed it."

Trace made a face and set the bottle on the desk. "You just don't want to work with Sage."

Grady snorted. "Who does? I've never met a pickier woman. It's clear where she got that." Their father was much the same, which gave Grady pause about working with him. But he was raised here, he understood expectations. He wanted his future tied with this ranch.

Trace kept his gaze on the bottle, which made Grady wonder if Trace and their father had already had this conversation.

"Why'd you come to me first? Why not Dad?"

"Because I don't want you to think I'm stepping on your toes here. I know you've worked hard while I was gone. But I love this place and I want to be a part of it, if there's room for me."

Trace didn't answer for a long time, turning his bottle on the desk. "So you're going to stick around?"

"Yeah, I want to stay in Evansville. I don't know where I'll live, yet, but I want to make my life here. I've had enough adventure."

"But you're still going to be flying the oil execs down? Going back and forth to San Antonio?"

"Sure, but it's one day every couple of weeks. I'll have plenty of time to do whatever it is you need me to do."

The corner of Trace's mouth kicked up. "Starting with mucking out the stalls?"

Grady frowned. He'd done that, sure, when he was younger. Was Trace wanting to punish him? Or teach him a lesson? "To start, fine. But I'm talking real responsibility. A real partner."

"I'll have to talk to Dad about that."

"I can talk to him."

Trace turned a steady gaze to him. "All right. You do that."

Grady drained his beer and stood. "Good talk," he said, and walked out of the barn.

*****

Cassidy carried the slow-cooker to the small laminate table and set it down. The good thing about a roast, it would last a couple of meals, and give her mom something warm and healthy to eat for lunch.

"How was your day?" she asked, sitting across from her mother and pouring a glass of iced tea for each of them. No matter what the temperature in Texas, iced tea was almost always on the table.

Her mother grumbled, as she always did. "Same as it always is out here in the middle of nowhere. Quiet. Lonely. I did get through another season of Army Wives on streaming video. Sobbed my eyes out." Then her eyes brightened and she straightened up. "You'll never believe who died."

"On the show?" Her mother started a lot of conversations this way, and Cassidy could never tell if she was speaking about a real person or a fictional one.

"No, here in town! Mrs. Flanders passed on. My friend Bridget's mother."

"That's terrible." Cassidy knew the older woman from church--well, when she used to go to church. The older woman had always been kind to her mother, even when others hadn't.

"I know, it's just awful. Bridget's torn up about it." Angie's voice was too animated for mourning. "But Bridget's coming to town for the funeral, and will be here for a few days while she squares away everything for her mother's estate. I told her she could stay with us."

Cassidy drew in a sharp breath. She hated denying her mother friends, but she remembered Bridget, too, and the trouble the two women had gotten into when they were younger.

"Why can't she stay at her mother's house?"

Angie rolled her eyes. "Her uptight sister Teresa and brother-in-law already said they'd be staying there, since it's big and they have three kids, which is a miracle since I thought Teresa would never uncross her legs. Anyway, it's going to be a hard enough time for Bridget without having to deal with that."

Cassidy hated--absolutely hated--being the parent in this relationship. "You have to swear to me you won't drink with her, you won't get yourself in trouble. Please, Mom."

Angie's eyes brightened and she leaned forward to grab Cassidy's hand. "Thank you, Cassidy. You won't be sorry."

*****

"Hey, Cassidy. I haven't seen you in a long time!" Maggie Dawson stepped from behind her desk at the bank to hug Cassidy.

The bank had been teetering before the boom, with only two tellers, one loan officer and the bank president. Now there were four loan officers, two tellers and a vice-president as well. Maggie had been delighted that she could finally put her degree from Texas A&M at Kingsville to use.

"I haven't had a lot of time lately." Cassidy took the seat Maggie offered her, across from the desk, and Maggie sat in her chair again. The impending arrival of her mother's friend had reminded Cassidy that she'd lost touch with her own closest friend the past few months. "But I figured I needed some girl time."

"Great! I've been dying to go to Liz's salon. Let's make a plan."

Cassidy made a face. "I'm not sure I want to spend that kind of money."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "You have money now, with your rent from your RV park."

"Which I'm still paying for. I just had Bryan put a laundry room in, and we're thinking about adding a rec room and a barbecue. The guys need something to do besides drink when they get off work."

"You keep reinvesting, like you want to stay."

"Not even a consideration. I want to have a broad appeal, so I can make money while these guys are here."

"You can spring some cash for a haircut." Maggie eyed Cassidy's ponytail. "At least you don't need highlights." Maggie touched her own layered brunette hair. "I'll call Liz."

Cassidy shifted in her chair and looked around the bank. The place wasn't too busy this time of day, but she knew business picked up around closing time. If she was going to tell Maggie her suspicions, she needed to do it now.

Maggie lifted her eyebrows when Cassidy didn't act like she was going to leave. "Something going on?"

"Yeah, something weird. You know Sage, right?"

Maggie rolled her eyes. Just for being Cassidy's friend, she had been at the princess's mercy. "Who doesn't?"

"Do you remember Grady?"

This time a smile spread across Maggie's face. "Who doesn't?" Her voice dropped to a sultry drawl. "Have you seen him since he's been back? Being in the military was very good for him."

"Yeah, that's kind of the thing. He's been coming into the cafe every day for lunch, with Sage. He's--I think he's interested in me."

The eyebrows went up again. "Really? What makes you think that?"

Cassidy shook her head. "See, that's what I was afraid of. Am I just being arrogant, thinking he'd be interested? But he watches me, and flirts, and I think he was trying to ask me out."

Maggie spread her fingers on the desk. "You don't think you'd know if a guy like Grady was asking you out? You were with Mason too long."

Cassidy lifted her hands. "Like I said, he's with Sage, and you know she doesn't like me. So I can't be sure."

Maggie squared her shoulders. "Okay, I'll come in tomorrow at lunch, bug my brother, and see what's going on. But just out of curiosity, would you go out with him?"

Cassidy slumped in her chair. "He's sexy as sin. But he's Sage's brother, he's way out of my league, and I don't need a man anyway."

"Sounds like you're talking yourself out of it."

Cassidy braced her hands on the arms of the chair to heave herself out of it. Yes, she was talking herself out of it. "Doesn't matter anyway. I'm probably wrong."

"I bet you're not," Maggie said as Cassidy walked out of her office.

*****

Grady wondered if he'd ever have a good night's sleep again. He'd slept pretty well at Juliana's, at least in the early part of the night, but then he'd woken early, gone for predawn runs.

Here at home, he couldn't fall asleep until around two or three in the morning, not good for a rancher.

Not good if he wanted to catch his father before he went to work.

So, bleary-eyed, he slapped at his alarm when it went off at four thirty, and he dragged himself out of bed, hoping he'd find his dad alone, that Trace would be at home, or still asleep. Grady hated that he felt he had to approach his family like this. Honestly, they were good people, loving people, or he wouldn't have come home. He just knew he'd done some damage when he'd left the way he had, and because of that, he felt like he had to move with more deliberation.

He tugged on his jeans and a t-shirt, then padded down the tiled hall to the kitchen. The floor was cold, but he didn't want to take time to put on his socks and chance missing his father.

Sure enough, his dad was carrying his cup to the sink when Grady walked into the kitchen. The older man looked up in surprise when Grady padded over to the coffee maker.

"Not used to seeing you up so early."

"I wanted to catch you before you headed out." Grady cradled the mug in his hands and inhaled the aroma. Damn, he'd missed good coffee. He leaned against the countertop and noticed the anxious line of his dad's body. Was he eager to get out to go to work, or to get away from Grady? "I wanted to talk to you about me becoming part of the ranch. I know I left and I know it caused problems, and I know you and Trace have been making it work, but I've been looking at what I want to do with my life, and this is it. I want to be here."

"What do you want to do here?"

"Whatever it is you need me to do. Whatever you and Trace want to dump on me. I want to pay my dues. But I also want to work my way to being an equal partner. I want to be part of the family business."

His father considered him a long moment, then nodded once. "I'll talk it over with Trace."

"I talked to him a bit last night. He didn't seem sold. But he and Mandy had been fighting."

His father blew out a breath. "Nothing new there, I'm afraid."

"Yeah?" He didn't want to discuss his brother's marriage with his father, but he did want to know where the pitfalls were when it came to conversation.

"She's tired of being stuck on the ranch, especially now that her friends have money and are taking cruises and vacations. I say she knew what she was getting into when she married him."

"Maybe now that I can help out, maybe he can take her away for a little while."

His father huffed a breath through his nose, as if he didn't believe that would help. "You going to help your sister today?"

"I am. Also going to look into hiring her a contractor. There are a lot of things that need to be done that are outside of our capabilities."

"She's already fired three contractors, and they don't exactly grow on trees in Evansville."

"Maybe we need to go farther afield. San Antonio, maybe, or Austin. I've got calls in to a couple of places."

His father grunted. "Good luck. I'm going to head out. You better try to get more sleep if you're going to keep up with Sage."

Grady watched his father walk out the back door, then headed back to bed, uncertain if he'd made headway or not.

*****

Cassidy's nerves were on edge when Maggie walked into the cafe at lunch time. Maggie gave an exaggerated wink and headed for the table near the front of the restaurant where her brother Killian, the mayor of Evansville, sat with Sheriff Trevino. Killian bounced out of his seat in surprise and kissed his sister's cheek before he drew out a chair between the sheriff and one of the ranchers. Cassidy gave her a few minutes to visit before she approached the table.

"So?" Maggie asked when Cassidy brought her a diet soda, looking around pointedly.

"It figures," Cassidy said, glancing at Killian to see if he was listening to them. He wasn't. "It must have all been in my mind. The past few days, he's been here right at eleven."

"Maybe they decided to brown bag it today. I, on the other hand, want a big barbecue brisket plate, with corn and slaw, please."

"You've been thinking about this," Cassidy said with a wink.

"Since last night, when I was eating my sad little frozen dinner. And white bread, too," she added when Cassidy walked off to turn in the order.

When Cassidy returned, her heart gave a little lurch. Grady and Sage had walked in and found a table by the window, recently abandoned by some of the oilfield guys, and not yet bussed. Interesting, since there were tables not in Cassidy's section that were clean and ready. She didn't look at Maggie, though she wanted to point and say, "See?"

Cassidy hurried over with a tub and a rag, clearing the dishes with practiced efficiency. Then she wiped the empty part of the table, moved the condiments and menus and wiped the rest of the table, aware that Sage was sitting back, hands raised in disdain.

"Sweet and unsweet?" she asked, though she already knew their order.

"Us or tea?" Grady asked with a grin.

Cassidy blushed. The order did seem to reflect the customer. "Tea. I know it's what y'all usually get, but didn't know if you wanted to change it."

"No, that's fine," Sage said. "You do have salad in this place, don't you?"

"We do," Cassidy said, "though most of the options are topped with meat."

Sage wrinkled her nose as she flipped the menu open, then closed. "I'll just have a grilled chicken plate with rice on the side."

"Ribs," Grady added his order without looking at the menu. "I saw a guy eating ribs in here the other day and they looked great."

"I'll get that right out," Cassidy said.

"Cassidy."

She pivoted when Grady said her name, and returned to the table with some trepidation.

"I've been talking to Bryan Longley about working on my sister's place. He said he did some work for you. You happy with him?"

"All he did for me was a laundry room and the hook-ups for the RVs. Not nearly on the scale you'll need him. Plus, he's been crazy busy. I don't know if he has the time for that kind of commitment."

"See?" Sage said to her brother.

"Yeah, I got the busy part. Did you talk to any other contractors before you decided on Bryan? Any red flags go up? We need some help and I don't know where to start. Where did you start?"

She was about to answer when another table of oilfield workers motioned to her for their check, and she noticed that Maggie's plate was up in the window. She held up a finger indicating she'd get back to Grady, and went to see to her other customers and to turn in their order.

When she came back to their table, Sage was leaning forward, not looking too happy with her brother. Of course, Sage never looked too happy with anyone.

"--pretending to be helpless," Sage was saying. "You are pathetic." She lifted her gaze to Cassidy and gave a saccharine smile, as if she'd intended for Cassidy to hear those very words.

Cassidy refilled their tea, pretending she didn't know what was going on. "Most contractors are crazy busy right now," she said casually, picking up the conversation. "I know Belinda and Matt are remodeling their place, and so are Heather and Victor. That's not to mention the new boutique going in on the square, or the yoga studio I heard about. It's a good time to be a contractor. I know I wish I was one."

"Do you have any you'd warn against?"

"I really just went with Bryan because we went to school with his brother." She motioned to include Sage. "He made room for me because of that."

"Yeah, he's pretty booked." Grady sighed and looked at his sister. "I'd really wanted to hire someone local, someone who's invested." He turned to Cassidy. "If you hear of anything, will you let me know?"

"Um. Sure." Why she was becoming his contact, she didn't know. She turned away to get their meal and widened her eyes at Maggie.

The lunch rush lived up to its name. Maggie had to leave, but left a note for Cassidy to come by the bank for a rehash when she got off. When Cassidy came out of the kitchen with another order, Sage was gone, and Grady was waiting by the table, head bent over the bill.

"Something wrong?" she asked, crossing and taking the slip of paper from his hand to inspect it.

He smelled great, sawdust and fresh air, like his clothes had been line-dried. She wanted to move closer and breathe him in. "Yeah, I'm going to get fat coming in here, and not getting an answer to my question."

She took a step back, releasing the receipt when he lifted those twinkling blue eyes to her. "Which is?" she asked, her mouth suddenly dry.

"Will you go out to dinner with me?"

"Why?" she blurted, and her face heated at her own rudeness.

He laughed softly. "Why not?"

"Grady, trust me, we are not suited. And I'm not dating, anyway."

"Sage told me what happened with Mason, and I get that, but you can't let him have that power over you."

She dropped her gaze. Sage had told him about Mason? How humiliating.

"I don't have time for dating now that I have two jobs."

"Bullshit. The RV park can't take all that much time, and you don't work here every day, do you? Dinner, Cassidy. Maybe some dancing."

God, she hadn't been dancing since Mason left. She loved dancing, and she and Mason had been good at it. Could she even dance with anyone else?

Grady shifted, the corner of his mouth kicking up. "You're thinking about it."

"I don't date."

"Okay, we'll call it something else. Dancing. I haven't been dancing since I've been back in the states. Think of it as your patriotic duty, going dancing with a soldier returning home."

She ruthlessly fought back the swell of pleasure at his teasing. She had too much on her plate to allow for a good time. "You can have any girl you want to dance with you."

"Clearly not." He leveled a look at her, as if willing her to agree.

She shook her head. "Sorry. I can't." But the regret that rose in her was unexpected as she turned away.

*****

"He's totally flirting," Maggie announced when Cassidy dragged herself into the bank.

Cassidy wished she'd never brought her friend into this. Lord knew she had experience keeping things to herself. Why hadn't she kept this?

"Yeah, he asked me to go dancing after Sage left."

Maggie made an unidentifiable sound. "And you said...?"

"I said no. You know I can't date him. God, Maggie, of anyone, you know what a mess my life is."

"All the more reason to take a little pleasure. You know that man is no hardship to look at, and I bet he can kiss like nobody's business."

Cassidy pictured that nice mouth, perfectly shaped lips, and wondered what it would be like to kiss someone with a beard.

No, she could not think like that. She couldn't want anything for herself, not yet. Another year, maybe two, and she'd get everything she wanted. All she had to do was deny herself a little longer.

"I made us an appointment with Liz at four thirty, so hang out. Then we'll go down to Garcia's and get a drink."

Cassidy wrinkled her nose. Garcia's was a dump, a former grocery store that had been empty before Matt Garcia had bought it and turned it into a watering hole for oilfield guys. But the only place to get a drink, other than the Coyote. She almost couldn't wait for Sage's place to open, except she didn't know how welcome she'd be in Sage's place.

Cassidy was always cautious when she drank. She didn't want to follow her mother's path, so she limited herself to two drinks, never more. Always she craved more, which only proved to her that she had to have self-control or end up like her mother. She nodded, in no hurry to get home.

When they walked into the salon, Liz was busy with Mrs. Bonner, removing foils and tossing them on the ground. Mrs. Bonner's daughter Allison was admiring her own new highlights in the mirror as Liz's manicurist Bev was giving Allison a pedicure.

Cassidy wondered what it would be like to have a relationship like this with her mother, an easy one, one where they could have fun together.

Maybe she could bring her mother here one day, for a manicure or something. Maybe they could start repairing some of the damage they'd done to each other.

"Let Cassidy go first," Maggie said magnanimously, picking up a bottle of nail polish and holding it against her fingertip. "You think I'd get in trouble for having blue nails?"

"I don't think Evansville is quite ready for that." The manicurist, Bev, stopped her attention on Allison and picked up a more sedate neutral shade of mauve for Maggie's consideration.

Maggie made a face and went back to the brighter colors.

Liz motioned for Cassidy to sit in the empty chair. "I'll be with you in a minute."

Cassidy watched Maggie examine the colors for a moment, then let her gaze travel around the shop as Liz finished up with Mrs. Bonner's foils, then combed out her hair and blew it dry.

She felt like she wasn't in Evansville anymore--she'd never seen a place like this in town, with enormous slate tiles on the floors and walls, interspersed with little shiny bits. The counters looked like granite, but since Cassidy had never actually seen granite, she couldn't be sure. The mirrors were huge and well-lit, and made the place look even bigger. The room extended past the mirrors, and Cassidy wondered if that was where the spa was.

She nestled into the chair, which was warm and comfortable, and was starting to doze, barely aware of the Bonners leaving, when Liz moved behind her, turning the chair so she could look in the mirror, and dragged the ponytail holder from her hair. She lifted the hair and inspected it.

"Girl, when was the last time you got a haircut?"

"Ages."

"So what do you want me to do with it?"

"I don't know, a trim, I guess."

Liz snorted. "If you just want a trim, why don't you just go to the barber shop?"

"I don't know what I want. I know I want to keep it long enough that I can still wear it in a ponytail."

Liz rolled her eyes.

"That way I don't have to wear a hair net or something," Cassidy explained quickly.

"The good thing is, your hair isn't damaged from a lot of treatment, like a lot of hair I see." Liz seemed to be talking to herself, lifting pieces of hair between her fingers, holding it out, measuring. "Do you trust me?"

"No," Cassidy said promptly.

Liz made a face at her in the mirror. "I can make you look fabulous. Maggie, tell her to trust me."

"Trust her," Maggie said automatically, inspecting the color Bev had just applied.

Cassidy gripped the arms of the chair as Liz turned her away from the mirror, put a cape over Cassidy's clothes and started snipping. Only after several snips did Cassidy begin to relax.

"So Sage has her brother working for her now," Maggie said idly, watching Bev apply another coat to her nails.

"I saw that," Liz said. "Damn, he looks good. I keep hoping he'll walk out of there with no shirt and a tool belt, you know?"

All four women had a moment of silence to drink in that mental picture.

"He comes into the cafe every day, doesn't he, Cassidy?"

So much for that relaxation. What was Maggie's goal here, bringing up the subject of Grady? But Cassidy didn't have the freedom to turn her head and give her friend a dirty look.

"He and Sage both."

"Maybe he'll invite you in to have a look at the place," Bev said. "I'm dying to see what she's doing in there."

"I wonder if she'll ever finish, since she can't seem to hold onto a crew for more than a couple weeks," Maggie said.

"Grady was asking me if I knew of a contractor he could hire," Cassidy heard herself say. God, what was she doing? She never contributed to the conversation like this because she hated to be the center of attention, which she was now. "He knew Bryan had done some work for me, which surprised me, but I'm pretty sure Bryan is booked solid. Who else has she used?"

Cassidy's shoulders relaxed when the other three women took over the conversation, listing the contractors and the reasons why they said they quit. She almost forgot that Liz was snipping great lengths of hair off.

"You keep being friendly and you'll get a sneak preview of the bar before the rest of us," Liz said, lifting strands of hair to the side to inspect for evenness.

"Unlikely. Sage hates me."

"Well, none of us are too fond of her," Bev said as Liz spun Cassidy toward the mirror.

Cassidy lifted her hand to the layered strands as she stared at her reflection. "Wow."

"I told you to trust me. Didn't I tell you to trust me? I'm an artist." Liz picked up a big brush and brushed bits of hair from Cassidy's neck.

"Wow," Cassidy said again, and Liz grinned at her in the mirror.

"Let's go get a drink to celebrate," Maggie said, removing her hand from under the nail dryer.

*****

Cassidy hated that the only places to get a drink was the restaurant where she worked, or Garcia's, the bar down the road that used to be a grocery store. Matt Garcia had painted the glass at the front black to keep the inside suitably dark, but the outline of the grocery sign that had been etched off remained.

She caught a glimpse of herself in the window as they walked in, and lifted a hand to her hair. "What if Grady thinks I got this haircut because of him?"

Maggie sniffed as she held the door. "That would be arrogant of him."

"Perhaps you've not met that family. They are arrogant."

Maggie touched the ends of Cassidy's hair. "Let him think it, then. It's not true. You just wanted to try something different."

"You mean you twisted my arm until I gave in."

Maggie smirked. "I didn't twist that hard. You were ready for a change."

Since the place used to be a grocery store, even though it had been a small one, it was huge for a bar. The bar itself was in the corner where the dairy department used to be, and tables were spread out where the shelves used to be. There was a juke box, a sad-looking stage illuminated with neon lights, and a dance floor. It was early, so the oilfield workers hadn't arrived. The only customers were a few retired men and a couple of cowboys who had kicked off early. Cassidy and Maggie were the only women in the place, and likely would be all night, though Cassidy hoped they'd be out of here before the oilfield guys came in. She didn't mind the cowboys, but some of the oilfield guys could be obnoxious.

Cassidy looked at her reflection in the dingy mirror behind the bar as Maggie ordered them both a whiskey and diet coke.

"It will be nice to have another option once Sage's place opens up," Maggie said, looking around the crappy bar.

"Ah, come on, who doesn't love a dance hall with no dancing?" Cassidy teased, taking a sip of her drink. "You'd think they'd at least go to an effort to get girls in here, you know? And not the girls who make money off the oil guys."

"What?" Cassidy asked Maggie, who sat with her arms on the bar, grinning like an idiot.

"I told you it was a good idea," Maggie reminded her.

Cassidy turned to follow Maggie's gaze and saw Grady approaching. Her heart gave her ribs a hard punch as he approached the bar. His eyes widened when he recognized Cassidy, and her hand went self-consciously to her hair.

"Looks nice," he said, before ordering a beer.

"You and Sage having a drink after a long day?" Cassidy asked, looking past him for his sister, almost wanting to see her so she and Maggie weren't the only women here. Being neighborly, she told herself. Not nosy.

"Just me. She and Mom had some committee meeting tonight for the Bluebonnet Festival. We men were told we were on our own. Dad and Trace are heading to Pearsall, so I thought I'd come in here, grab a beer before I go home. Didn't expect to see you."

"We're just having a girl's day," Maggie said.

"Grady, not sure you remember Maggie from school. She was in Sage's class, like me. She's Killian Dawson's sister, and works at the bank."

Maggie held out a hand, which Grady shook politely.

"I'd forgotten what a big deal the Bluebonnet Festival is," Grady said, sitting back on his barstool. "We had some girls come in, want to hang their posters in the windows of Sage's place."

"Did Sage let them?" Maggie asked.

Sage had been the Bluebonnet Queen for two years. One would think she'd support others who had the same dream.

"On the outside," he said. "But it took some consideration. When is the festival?"

"Next month."

He took a pull of his beer. "I haven't been to it since I was in high school. I remember a parade, a carnival and a dance at the VFW, but it seemed like just kids were at the dance."

"I haven't been in years," Cassidy said.

His eyes widened at that. "Really? That seems sad."

Not when she didn't have reason to go. "Like you said, it's mostly for kids."

"There's got to be something for adults. I mean, my mom's on the committee. I can't see her just planning for what, a hundred kids? And since the population has changed, well, it seems like there'd be more variety."

Cassidy shrugged. "I'm not on the committee, so I couldn't tell you."

"Maybe I could ask my mom or Sage about inviting you."

She held up a hand. "Just stop right there. You get that your sister doesn't like me, right? I mean, you picked up on that?"

"I did, but I don't get it. I mean, you've known each other for years."

"And she was popular and I wasn't. Yes, she works now, but it's not like she has to, where I've always had to work for what I have, for what I want."

"That's not a bad thing, Cassidy. That way you appreciate what you have. Just like me going away."

Interesting he said "going away" instead of "serving" or "overseas." She wondered just what effect his time away had had.

A cowboy walked over to the jukebox and punched a few buttons. A rowdy drinking song blasted out of the speakers, and Grady grimaced.

"You know what we can do?" Maggie asked over the volume. "Since Sage is at the committee meeting, you can take us on a tour of her place and show us what she's doing."

He leaned back, shaking his head, his attention on his bottle of beer. "Nah, you don't want to do that. It's a big mess. And really, not much to see. A big room, a big bar, not much else."

"So you haven't found a contractor yet."

He shook his head. "I think I may have Bryan on the ropes, though."

Cassidy laughed at that, and he grinned, then took a swig of beer.

The loud song ended and another, crooning song began. Grady pushed off the barstool and held out a hand to Cassidy.

She closed her hands around her glass, as if that would keep her rooted to her seat.

"Come on, I haven't danced since before I left town. Not sure I remember how."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "This is not a good idea."

"Are you going to say no to a veteran?"

"Yes."

He brushed his fingertips over the back of her hand before wrapping his fingers around her hand. "No. Come on." He tugged lightly.

She didn't have to go with him. She knew if she insisted, he'd release her and leave her alone. But it had been a long time since a man had held her, a long time since she'd danced, too. She turned her hand over in his, the only acquiescence, and he smiled in understanding.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Maggie grinning like an idiot. She resisted the urge to stick out her tongue as she followed Grady to the dance floor.

She hadn't realized how tall he was until she stepped up to him, uncertain where to put her hands, how close to stand. She should have made the choice, because he made it for her, one hand at the small of her back, bringing her close, so only a breath of air could pass between them, the other hand bringing her hand to his shoulder before clasping her hand in his.

God, he smelled good, which surprised her, considering he'd been working all day. Warm and woodsy and masculine. She wanted to lean closer just to breathe him in, but he started moving, and she had to follow quickly or make a fool of herself by stumbling.

She was surprised when they fell into an easy rhythm across the floor, not surprised that he was a good dancer, but pleased that she was enjoying herself. He was graceful and strong and easy to talk to, and clearly interested. She had no hope of a future with someone like Grady, so why not let herself have a little fun with him, no matter what his sister thought of her. Cassidy was no threat to their family--she wasn't staying around long enough.

The way his thumb rode the base of her spine, the way his fingers wrapped around her hand, the way he was looking at her--all those things she had missed. Would he want to kiss her when they left? She had a pretty good idea she would let him.

Whoa. She hadn't had enough of her drink to blame her change of heart on the alcohol. Maybe it was the new haircut.

As if reading her thoughts, Grady lifted his hand from her back to touch her hair, a tender smile playing on his lips.

A sudden brightness in the place signaled the door opening, and Cassidy automatically turned to see the newcomers.

A woman leaned into her companion, a tall cowboy whose hat shaded his face and hers, for a moment, as the door closed behind them, making the place dark again. Something about the woman was familiar, just on the edge of Cassidy's memory. But against her, Grady stiffened and stepped away. Cassidy glanced at him, then back at the woman. Was it Sage? An ex-girlfriend?

Then she realized who it was--Trace's wife Mandy. And the man with her was not Trace.

Chapter Four

Grady's hands fell away. "I'm sorry," he said, low, touching her shoulder before circling around her and approaching Mandy and her cowboy.

Clearly he was her cowboy, the way they had their arms wrapped around each other. Oh, no. What was Grady going to do? She hurried after him, hoping she could stop him from doing something stupid. He was a big guy, and she didn't know him well enough to know if he had a temper.

The cowboy looked up first, and set his jaw. Cassidy wondered if the cowboy knew who Grady was--he'd been out of town awhile and he looked different.

But then Mandy looked up, and even in the dim light of the bar, Cassidy saw her pale. She broke away from the cowboy and backed toward the door. Her companion twisted, confused, to look at her, and Grady continued to advance.

To Cassidy's relief, he passed the cowboy and followed Mandy outside. Cassidy paused, but something made her follow him out the door to the sidewalk, where she stopped and looked out, just to make sure everyone was safe.

*****

"Mandy!" Grady shouted, his voice carrying over the sound of the trucks that drove past. "Mandy, damn it!"

She kept her head down and her strides long, a trick, he imagined, in those heels. Jesus, what was going on in his family? He ran ahead, wanting to grab her arm, but unsure of what her reaction would be. So he circled her and stopped in front of her.

For a moment, he thought she'd go around him. But then she stopped, refusing to look up at him.

"What's going on?" he asked, suddenly helpless. What had he thought he was going to accomplish, chasing her out here like this? That he was going to fix her marriage? She was already shamed.

"I don't want to discuss this with you," she said.

Well, he didn't want to discuss it with her, either. "You need to talk to Trace."

Her head snapped up then. "Are you crazy?"

Maybe. "You think this is going to fix whatever is wrong between you? Even if you don't want to fix it, well, it's not fair to either of you for you to be sneaking around. Get a divorce, if that's what you want. But an affair..." He trailed off as the word stuck in his throat.

"I can't get a divorce. I have Vivian to think about."

Her daughter. "Where is she right now? Do you think she'd be proud of her mama for cheating on her daddy?"

Mandy squared her shoulders and tears filled her eyes. "You have no right coming back here and judging. You turned your back on this family. If you had stayed, Trace wouldn't have had to work so hard on the ranch and we could have been a regular family."

Grady took a step back. Had his decision to serve really had such consequences? "Well, I'm here now. I already told them I want to step in."

"Well, now it's too late." She started to walk around him, heading God knew where.

He caught her arm. "Why? Mandy, you've loved Trace since high school."

She set her jaw, her lower lip trembling. "But not anymore."

He rocked back on his heels and let her pass, watched her hurry to her SUV and drive off. He turned to see Cassidy on the sidewalk, watching them, eyes wide.

He couldn't deal with that right now, and walked toward her, passing her with a quiet, "I'm sorry," before heading to his own truck. He slammed the door harder than necessary, cranked the key and raced the engine.

Mandy hadn't asked him not to tell Trace. Why hadn't she asked him? She surely hadn't expected to see him at the bar, not based on her reaction. Did she want him to tell his brother?

Could he? He didn't think so, didn't think he could bring that kind of pain. He didn't know how involved Mandy was, how well she knew the guy, even what the guy's name was. Maybe he needed to get more information before he went to Trace.

He considered going back to the bar, tracking the cowboy down, but Cassidy would still be there, with her sympathetic eyes, and he just--he couldn't think about romance when his brother's marriage was crumbling in front of him.

A shame, since he'd felt like he'd had a victory, getting her to dance with him.

He drove back to the ranch, wishing to hell he wasn't the one who'd seen this. Why hadn't Sage been with him? Sage would have ripped Mandy's hair out by the roots.

So maybe best she hadn't been there.

He pulled into his spot at the ranch house, surprised to see his dad's truck there. He'd thought they were going to Pearsall for business and a steak dinner. But no, when he walked into the house, he smelled seared beef and heard male voices from the kitchen. He could avoid them, he supposed, because the last thing he wanted to do was face his brother, but that would only make them suspicious. So he strolled into the kitchen to see Trace manning the microwave and his dad on the flat-top grill.

"Thought y'all were heading out for dinner."

"Decided the best steaks are made at home," his dad said. "Did you eat?"

He hadn't, but couldn't bring himself to sit across from Trace, knowing this secret. He knew his brother wasn't happy, but damn, no one should be that miserable.

So he lied. "Yeah, I ate in town."

"Join us for a beer, then," Trace said, motioning toward the fridge with his own beer bottle. "We want to talk to you."

Great. "Are you making potatoes?" he asked, crossing to the fridge and peering into the microwave window. "I'll take one of those."

"Sure."

Grady retrieved a bottle, and passed one to his dad and another to Trace as Trace added another potato to the microwave.

"Anything I can do?"

"Get the potato fixings and take them out to the patio table," his dad said. "Nice night to eat outside."

Grady set the stone-topped table on the limestone-paved patio, looking out onto their land that stretched for miles and miles. His mother had strung strands of lightbulbs around the patio cover, which gave everything a soft light. She'd planted colorful flowers in big pots, making the area look like some kind of resort. He'd totally love eating out here if he wasn't nursing a damn secret.

What did they have to talk to him about anyway? And how long until his mother and Sage returned home?

A few moments later, his father walked out with a platter of three steaks--apparently he saw through Grady's lie, probably because Grady's stomach had protested loudly at the aroma of cooking meat--and Trace followed with the potatoes on a plate in one hand, and three bottles in the other.

Grady took a seat and the three men dug in, Grady momentarily forgetting what he knew about Trace's wife.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Grady asked, interrupting the sound of cutting and chewing.

"How soon do you think Sage can get a contractor?"

"I think I've got a guy from San Marcos pretty close to pinned down. How long he can work with her is another matter."

His father snorted. "We want you to start helping out with the ranch, but it's going to mean some long days, especially in the beginning."

Grady straightened and nodded. "Sounds good. What is it you need me to do?"

As his father went into a list of his new duties, some of his enthusiasm drained. Many were the same tasks he'd had as a teenager, before he left for the Air Force, but he got that he needed to work his way back into the rhythm of the place, and needed to prove himself to his father and Trace.

"I'll give Jackson a call tomorrow, see what I can set up with him."

"Might work easier since he doesn't know Sage," Trace said, all seriousness as he took a bite of potato.

"Where's Vivian?" Grady asked, just realizing his niece was missing, and he knew she wasn't with her mama.

"Mandy dropped her off at her parents so she could go to the meeting with Mom and Sage."

But she wasn't at the meeting. What had Mandy told his mother to get out of it? "I didn't know Mandy was on the committee."

"Yeah, Mom kind of strong-armed her into it. Grooming her, she said." Trace cast an uneasy glance at their father, who didn't like talk about retirement, about letting the next generation take over. "I thought Mandy would jump at the chance, seeing as she's always complaining about being stuck around here. This way she gets to hang out with the ladies of the town." He shook his head. "She just doesn't know what she wants, I guess."

Grady could see that, definitely. He hoped she figured it out soon.

*****

The blazing lights at the house when Cassidy pulled up should have given her some kind of warning, but Cassidy's mind was on the scene outside the bar. Grady had been pissed, and she wondered what kind of night he was going to have, if he was going to tell his brother about Mandy. The cowboy had slunk away during the whole fiasco. Brave guy. If he was going to screw around with another man's wife in that man's town, he should have prepared for the consequences.

She and Maggie had finished their drinks and left quietly, Cassidy promising to fill Maggie in later.

And now, as she pulled up in front of her house and saw the strange sedan in front, she remembered. Her mother's friend Bridget was in town. Oh, joy.

Not knowing what to expect, Cassidy shut off her car and headed inside. The smell of smoke hit her right away. Terrific. She'd asked her mother not to smoke in the house, which had cut down on her mother's smoking since she didn't like to sit outside in the cold, and away from the television. Cassidy walked into the kitchen and before she even looked at her mother and her friend, she scanned the table and counters for signs they'd been drinking. Either they hid it well, or they'd behaved themselves.

Angie stubbed out her cigarette and waved at the smoke in exaggerated motions. "Uh-oh, here comes the fun police."

"Nice," Cassidy said, crossing to the window over the sink to open it.

"Say hello to Bridget, at least," her mother admonished.

Cassidy turned, chastised. "Hi, Bridget. It's good to see you. I'm sorry about your mom."

Bridget stood to hug her. "Look at this baby I once held," she said, as she always did when she saw Cassidy.

She looked like ten miles of bad road. Clearly she'd been crying and all her make-up was gone, or at least gathered under her eyes. She gave Cassidy a brave smile.

"Thanks for letting me stay here. I just--it would have been too hard to stay at Mom's, and add Teresa and her brats to the mix...anyway, thank you."

Cassidy pulled out the cold cuts she'd bought for dinner and placed them on the table in the bags they'd come in. "Did y'all eat?" She crossed to the pantry, reached in the back, and pulled out chips she'd bought for this occasion.

Her mother brightened like a little kid. "You sneak! How long have those been there?"

"Not long enough for you to go looking for them." She opened the bag and set it on the table, gathered the sandwich fixings and sat down with the ladies. "Have you been by your mom's yet?"

Bridget shook her head. "I'm going to need moral support." She covered Angie's hand with hers. "Your wonderful mom agreed to go with me. She's my oldest and dearest friend. I don't know how I'd get through this week without you."

*****

"Ready to kick off for lunch?" Sage asked, ripping off the mask she wore over her nose and mouth while they were cutting the new shelving for behind the bar.

Grady looked up in surprise. Sage never called time out for lunch--he always did. Thing was, he hadn't been looking forward to going to see Cassidy as much today, after what she witnessed last night. He was worried she was going to say something in front of Sage, and then he'd have to tell his sister, and she'd kick Mandy's ass.

Okay, he'd actually come close to telling her himself for that very reason, but had restrained himself because he didn't want to bail her out of jail.

"Sure." He pulled his own mask off, and whipped the bandana off his head to fan his face. It was early March, but warm already. Outside he heard the hum of air conditioners from nearby buildings, but he and Sage hadn't even run a fan while they were cutting, not wanting to whip dust up any more than it was. "Hungry?"

"Starving." She whipped off her gloves and took a swig from her bottle of water. "Plus, I need to use their ladies' room. I cannot wait until we have plumbing in here."

Which reminded him, he needed to give Bryan a call. Probably this weekend he should go into town and get a cellphone so he would have an easier time contacting the guy.

Sage's step had an interesting bounce as they headed across the street, ahead of the trucks that rumbled along, heading to the oilfields with supplies. Sooner or later, Evansville was going to need a stoplight at this corner.

"So the meeting went well last night, I take it?" Grady asked as he held the door to the cafe open. They hadn't been able to talk with all the sawing. Even now his ears were ringing, despite the ear protection he'd worn, and he knew he was speaking louder than usual.

"Oh, so well. I'll tell you about it when I get back." She bolted for the back of the restaurant where the restrooms were located.

Grady scanned the place for Cassidy, and when she met his gaze, he gave her a shadow of his usual smile, he knew.

He took advantage of Sage's trip to the bathroom and make sure Cassidy was not going to say anything. He crossed to her when she was heading back to the kitchen.

"Hey, Cassidy."

She turned, her eyes bright, and he felt like an ass.

"I'm really sorry about what happened last night."

She shook her head. "It's okay, really."

"Listen, I didn't tell anyone what happened. With Mandy."

The brightness dimmed, which gave him a kick of regret.

She nodded. "All right. I won't say anything." She turned away. "Not that I was going to, anyway."

He rocked on his heels, hesitating a minute, unsure whether or not he'd been dismissed. When she didn't look at him again, he got the message and returned to his seat.

She was just bringing tea to the table, and he was trying to figure out how to break through the new ice wall she'd built, when Sage rejoined him. She greeted Cassidy cheerfully, which made both Grady and Cassidy look at her strangely.

Then the door swung open, Sage spun around and hopped out of her chair.

"Allison! Over here!" She waved wildly, then leaned in to give her friend a ginger hug. "Sorry I'm such a mess."

Allison, however, was dressed to the nines, including heels that reverberated off the wooden floor of the cafe, and a straight skirt that made her steps shorter and louder. She dropped into a chair at their table, swept her blonde hair back from her face and smiled at Grady.

"Grady! So good to see you. You look amazing. Your time away was good for you."

"My time away." The smile he gave her was tight. "You make it sound like I was in prison, not the Air Force."

"Oh, heavens, I didn't mean that." She waved a hand and set her purse in the empty seat. "I just didn't know whether you talked about it."

He didn't, but he couldn't resist needling her. "Why wouldn't I talk about it?"

If he thought she would be flustered, he was wrong.

"Oh, well, I just didn't want to drag up any unpleasant memories." She reached over and touched his arm. "I bet you're glad to be home."

"I am." He leaned back, breaking the contact, when Cassidy approached with menus.

"What can I get you to drink, Allison?"

"Oh, hey, Cassidy." Allison's tone changed, cooled. "I'll just have iced water."

"Okay. I'll give you a minute to look at the menu, and I'll be back."

"Oh, you know, I'll just have a salad. Y'all have salad, right?"

"Sure. What kind of dressing?"

"Do you have vinaigrette?"

"Ah, no. Ranch, thousand island and french."

Allison wrinkled her nose. "French, I guess, though there's so much sugar in that. Just on the side, maybe." She handed the menu to Cassidy and gave her attention back to Grady.

"I'll have the ribs," he said. "And potato salad."

She nodded, keeping her attention on the pad. "Sage?"

"Ahh." Sage closed her menu, frowning. "I guess a salad."

Grady snorted. "You need more fuel than that if we're going to keep going this afternoon."

"I'll be fine."

But he knew she was placing the order because of her friend. He shook his head and handed his menu to Cassidy. "I'm not picking up your slack."

Sage made a face at him.

Allison pushed aside their conversation. "So tell me what you've been doing with yourself, Grady. And what your plans are."

"Right now, I'm just happy to be back in Texas. I'm working with Sage, and as soon as I can get her to agree to a contractor, I'll go work with Trace and Dad on the ranch." His gaze followed Cassidy as she walked past the buckets on the counter, with the pictures of the Bluebonnet Queen candidates taped to them. She glanced around, then dropped a couple of dollars into the one on the end, the one that sat empty, then hurried back to the kitchen.

Well, wasn't that interesting?

"So what do you think of the changes in our little town? Amazing, isn't it?"

"It definitely has the possibility for amazing," he agreed. "I'm glad to see so many people investing in the town."

"Well, you know, some people are just taking advantage in a kind of hope to get rich quick," Allison said as Cassidy brought her water. "You know, seeking to better themselves and not the town."

"I think everyone has different goals," he said easily, aware that Cassidy tensed at the barb. "I think anyone who hires someone local to help make improvements to the town is contributing." He watched Cassidy walk away, shoulders stiff, then turned his attention to Allison. "What is it you're doing?"

Allison waved a negligent hand. "I'm the chair of the Bluebonnet committee. I've been working my tail off bringing everything together, since a lot of my committee has other commitments. I'm not married and don't have kids, so my time is my own."

"I thought you were engaged to Danny Estevez?"

"Oh, we broke that off before we graduated college. You _have_ been gone a long time."

He had been. But he hadn't come back for this. "So what do you ladies have planned for the Bluebonnet Festival?"

"Oh, you know, so much. We thought instead of having the dance at the musty old VFW hall, we'd have it right here in the town square. I tried to beg your sister to have it in her place, but she insists it's not big enough, though, you know, it looks plenty big to me. And we have a carnival company coming in with rides, and we'll have our parade, of course. I could use some help with the decorations. How artistic are you?"

He choked out a laugh. "Not at all."

"Oh, I bet you are and you're just being modest." She looked at Sage for confirmation of her suspicion.

She set her tea down. "Nope, sorry. He can't even draw a stick figure."

"Hm, well, maybe we'll find something else for him to do. I'm sure there's something."

"Hey, Grady! I've seen you in here, but I haven't had a chance to come on over."

Grady looked up into the familiar blue eyes of Killian Dawson, but that was about all that was familiar about his brother's best friend. Grady pushed to his feet to embrace the other man.

"Dude, you look amazing. I wouldn't have known you." Killian had been at least fifty pounds heavier when Grady left town. "Mom says you're the mayor now?" The job made sense, since Killian had always ended up in charge of some activity or another in high school.

Killian nodded, and looked past him to the ladies. "Good afternoon, Sage. Allison."

Sage smiled, but Allison just gave a small wave and turned her attention away.

Huh. So he hadn't come over to welcome Grady back, after all. "Want to join us?" Grady motioned to the fourth chair, grateful for the distraction.

"Nah, I need to get back to work. But I wanted to say hi. Come on by the office if you get a chance, we'll catch up." Killian embraced him again. "Good to see you home in one piece, bro."

Grady sat reluctantly as Killian walked out, waving to another table. "So what's his story?" he asked his sister.

"Oh, same old, same old," Allison said dismissively, and turned the conversation back to the Bluebonnet Festival.

She chattered on throughout the meal, about the details, and who was on the committee, and how she kept everything straight, and how she hoped the weather cooperated this year, which it had last year but not the year before, and how the Farmer's Almanac predicted a late cold snap right around the time of the festival, but how accurate could that be?

Since Grady's dad swore by the Almanac, Grady wouldn't discount the prediction.

He could tell even Sage was growing restless with the endless conversation, when a commotion by the door drew their attention.

An attractive blonde woman, vaguely familiar, came through the door with a redhead. The women laughed loudly, clinging to each other, and stumbled to a table.

"Oh, poor Cassidy," Allison murmured.

Grady looked over in time to see the color wash from Cassidy's face. He whipped around to look closer at the woman. Was that her mother? Cassidy glanced around, then crossed to the table and braced her hands on top, her skin now flushed.

*****

"Mother, what are you doing?" Cassidy demanded, doing her best to keep her voice down, though God knew, her mother and Bridget were drawing enough attention.

"We've come to have lunch. You know how long it's been since I've been out for lunch."

Because Cassidy had taken away her car keys after her second DUI. "Have you been drinking?" It was barely noon.

Her mother's eyes widened and she sat back, affronted. "No! I'm just having fun with my friend."

Whose mother just passed, Cassidy wanted to say, but didn't. "Okay, but you need to keep it down, okay? You're drawing attention." She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder to see if Grady was watching.

Her mother lifted her hands in surrender. "We'll be demure ladies who lunch, then. Can you let us see a menu?"

Cassidy tried not to sigh as she turned and gathered a couple of menus. She returned with them and a couple of glasses of iced tea rather than ask them what they wanted to drink, fearing they'd take the option of ordering from the bar.

"So what's good?" Bridget asked, her eyes bright when Cassidy returned.

Cassidy pushed aside her resentment of her mother showing up and causing a scene. They were two friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time and they deserved to enjoy their time together, especially since Bridget was in town for such a somber event.

"What have you ladies been doing today? Or are you just getting started?"

Her mother's surprise at her friendly overture only made her feel worse.

"We're going to my mother's house in a bit and help my sister. I need your mom as moral support." Bridget squeezed Angie's hand.

Angie rolled her eyes. "We may be back in here for a drink sooner rather than later. Oh, relax!" she said at the razor look Cassidy sent her. "Bring us some barbecue. It smells wonderful."

"I'll load you up," Cassidy promised.

"So who's the cutie over there?" her mother asked, gesturing toward Grady's table.

Cassidy knew without looking who her mother was talking about. "Grady McKenna."

"Well." Her mother drew out the word. "He grew up nice."

"And he is waiting for his lunch." Cassidy shook off the creepy feeling of her mother ogling the man she was--she had been--interested in.

She turned in the order and picked up Grady's, Sage's and Allison's and, with a twisted stomach and fake smile, carried it over to their table.

"Oh, Cassidy," Allison said, sympathy dripping from her voice. "Is your mom drinking again?"

"No, she's just visiting with an old friend."

"Really." Allison looked past her at the other table.

Cassidy would not give into the urge to double-check. Instead she placed their salads in front of them. She kept her gaze averted from Grady's, not wanting to see in those blue eyes what he was thinking. She just didn't want to know.

A loud screech from her mother's table had her wincing. So much for the demure ladies. Didn't they know how unseemly it was for Bridget to be laughing it up in public when her mother had just died? How close was she to her mother, anyway, if she hadn't been back in town in so long?

Questions she should have asked before she let Bridget stay in her house, clearly.

She was doing her sidework--okay, hiding--when Grady circled the corner. She gave him a brief smile and stepped closer to the counter to give him room to pass her to the bathroom, but he touched her arm.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Of course. I'm fine. Why not?"

"I think your mom's high."

She squared her shoulders. "Everyone always thinks the worst of her. She said she isn't drinking and I believe her." She had to.

Grady's lips twisted. "I've seen people who are stoned before. I don't know if it's pills or what, but I'm just saying."

"You don't know my mother. You don't know what she's like all the time."

"Is she like that? Because you reacted when she came in."

She pressed her lips together. "And you know her history, so you just assumed because she was loud and cheerful..."

He took a step back, hands raised. "I just thought you might want to know. I'm sorry. But especially if she's driving..."

"Her friend is."

"Yeah, well." He lifted a shoulder and half-turned to go back to his table. "I'm sorry."

At least they were even. She'd seen his family at the meltdown stage yesterday.

When she returned to her mother's table, though, suspicion had taken over, and she looked closely at her mother and Bridget. What was she looking for? Dilated pupils? She didn't even know. She knew all the signs of drinking, but she didn't know if her mother's behavior was just joy at hanging out with her friend. She just couldn't tell. And the way the others in the restaurant were watching, they were wondering, too.

God, she needed to get out of this town, with its preconceived notions and judgments. She needed to get out of the suspicions in her own head. But she couldn't hide now, couldn't back down. Too many were watching.

So she pretended like everything was just fine. She was good at that.

Chapter Five

"What was that?" Grady asked when they got back to Sage's place.

"What was what?" Sage blinked innocently.

"Why did Allison meet us for lunch?"

Sage waved a hand and crossed to the power tools she'd abandoned. "Oh, she and I got to talking last night and she wanted to see you, since you've been away so long, so I told her to come meet us for lunch."

"Knowing full well what her purpose was."

Sage tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. She's interested in me. She's not at all my type, Sage."

"What are you talking about? She's lovely. She's smart, she's ambitious, she loves this town. Mom loves her."

"Yeah, well, she's too much for me. Too busy, too fussy."

"So, what? You want a mess like Cassidy Simon, whose mother comes into town on a tear?"

"God knows we can't judge people based on family."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Only that we have our own skeletons we can't keep in the closet."

"Like what?"

But as much as he wanted to tell her, to even the playing field for him and Cassidy, he couldn't. He didn't know why he needed to hold onto the secret, but he did.

"Grady. Like what?"

"Never mind." He tied the bandana around his hair and pulled his mask down over his face. "But don't set me up anymore. I'm old enough to find what I want."

"Fine, then. But don't come crying to me when you're humiliated and hurt."

He snorted and fired up the bandsaw.

*****

Cassidy tugged at her skirt as she walked into the church for Mrs. Flanders's funeral. She hadn't been to a church in ages, and a funeral even longer. She hoped she remembered all the proper traditions. Since they'd been gone so long, she and her mother sat in the back, after paying their respects to the coffin and the family, up in the front.

On the way to her seat, Cassidy caught sight of Mason's parents, and her stomach clenched. She hadn't spoken to them since Mason had broken off their relationship, and that hurt. They had been her family from the time she'd been in high school. She'd spent so much time at their home, it had felt like her own. But now, even seeing them was hard. Ridiculous. She knew she'd run into them as long as she lived in Evansville, but she didn't know how to make it less awkward.

Then she passed by Grady's mom, Mandy, Vivian and Sage, but didn't see Grady or any of the men from the family. It was a Thursday morning, though, so maybe they were working.

Grady and Sage hadn't been back into the Coyote Moon since the day with Allison, and her mother and Bridget's visit. Granted, it had only been three days, but well, she guessed his interest had waned.

She tried to tell herself she was okay with that. He was more suited for the Allisons of this world, since he was heir to the biggest ranch in the area. And she didn't want a future with someone tied here anyway. She was on her way out and she had no intention of coming back.

Maggie slid into the pew beside her and squeezed her hand, then smiled across her at her mother.

"Hey, did you hear? Grady hired a contractor from San Marcos to help Sage finish up the bar. And he is fi-ine."

A contractor? That could explain why he hadn't been in. Cassidy tamped down the flare of hope at the thought.

"They haven't been into Coyote."

"You might consider telling Vonda to put tables outside so people can watch. Because...fi-ine."

Cassidy hushed her friend, looking around at the somber crowd. This was hardly the place to be talking about a hot new guy in town.

"Are you going to the wake?" she asked Maggie.

"For a little bit. I have to be back at the bank at one. Are you working?"

Cassidy shook her head. She'd asked off so she could bring her mother to support her friend. Since she never asked off, and often worked six days a week, Vonda had almost been eager to let her go.

The service started and the two of them sat back. Mrs. Flanders had been a wonderful person, and Cassidy wanted to be respectful, but her traitorous mind kept wandering to Grady, and if the reason he wasn't coming in was because he wasn't working in town, not that her embarrassing mother or her own defensiveness chased him into Allison's arms.

Admittedly, she didn't know him that well, but she didn't think Allison was his type. Too much hair spray, too old for her years. Grady needed someone more relaxed, like he was.

Which left her out.

Not that she wanted to be up for consideration. She did not have time for this.

*****

The wake was held at Mrs. Flanders's house, where Angie, Bridget and Bridget's sister and family had been cleaning for the past two days.

"The place looks great," her mother told her as they walked up the wide steps to the veranda. "But don't open any closets. I never knew a person alone could have so much junk, and Teresa didn't want to throw away any of it."

"Noted," Cassidy said. "No closet-opening."

"Makes me want to clear out our place," her mother went on. "I don't want you having to deal with that on your own."

Cassidy patted her mother's arm. "That's years and years down the road." But if she was going to be hitting the road, well, decluttering might not be a bad idea.

The ladies of the town had provided quite a spread, set by the windows on tables borrowed from the church. Teresa stood nearby, directing everyone, while Bridget hung back by the swinging door that apparently led into the kitchen, letting her sister take over and sipping from a clear plastic cup. Relief relaxed her features when she saw Cassidy and Angie, and she crossed to them, wrapping her arms around Angie first, clinging for a moment, then Cassidy.

The movement brought the familiar whiff of alcohol to Cassidy's nose and she stepped back in despair. She supposed she could understand Bridget wanting a drink at her mother's funeral, but one look at the woman told her this wasn't her first. And she knew her mother would join her friend, and Cassidy couldn't stop them.

She wanted to run away right now.

And then the McKennas walked in, with Allison Bonner and her mother.

Lord, would she ever not feel inferior to these people? Sage met her gaze across the room and offered a cool smile before passing them to move toward another group of ladies in the sitting room.

Great. Now she had to worry about her mother's behavior in front of these women who would judge them. She would stay close and hope that her mother would behave.

But all it took was a few side conversations with people she hadn't seen in awhile, and her mother and Bridget were by the front door, bending over with laughter, hanging onto each other as they pulled objects out of the closet. The women around Cassidy murmured and gestured discreetly. Knots tightened in Cassidy's stomach. She squared her shoulders, smoothed her skirts and wished Maggie hadn't gone back to work. She could use the back-up. Instead, she got an evil glare from Bridget's sister, as if it was her fault the two women were acting like idiots.

She crossed the space, wishing her heels didn't make so much noise on the wooden floor, drawing more attention. She touched her mother's arm gently.

"Hey, I thought you told me not to open the closets," she said, keeping her tone light.

"Oh, honey, you have to see what kind of crap this woman held onto!" Her mother grabbed her arm and tugged, knocking her a little off-balance in her heels.

"Mom, now's not the time. This is her wake. Bridget has all these people who have come to pay their respects."

Her mother looked past them, at the women who were watching, and burst into another fit of giggles. "Who knows what they have in their closets? You know?" She nudged Cassidy, hard.

"Mom. Come on, let's go outside. It's cleared up, it's a nice day. We'll sit on the patio." She took a deep breath, hating what she was about to offer in trade. "I'll bring y'all a couple of drinks."

Her mother snapped her head around suspiciously. "You're a terrible bartender. You put no booze in the drinks."

Okay, so her secret was out. But her mother straightened and pulled her friend with her.

"Come on, let's go have a drink."

Cassidy stayed behind a moment to straighten up the mess the two women had pulled out of the closet, then she straightened, closed the door and faced the women who were watching, not even bothering to whisper behind their hands. And the glare from Bridget's sister singed her skin. How, she wanted to know, was this her fault? She lifted her chin, walked into the kitchen to make a couple of drinks, then carried them outside, where Bridget and her mother lounged on opposite sides of the porch steps, looking like two teenagers. She handed her mother a glass first, and Angie sniffed it. Then she saluted Cassidy with it and took a sip as Cassidy handed Bridget the other cup.

Then Cassidy sat between them and the three of them looked out over the manicured lawn, just coming back to life after a colder than usual winter.

"The last time I talked to her, we argued," Bridget said, her voice dulling. "She wanted to know why I hadn't been back. I just couldn't make myself, and she couldn't understand it. I wonder now if she knew she was sick and she wanted to see me. And why did I have to be so stubborn? Why didn't I come when she asked?"

She leaned her head against the rail, and tears rolled down her face. Cassidy slid closer and put her arm around her shoulders. She hated to see anyone in pain, anyone with regrets.

And she certainly didn't want this to be her down the road. She could understand Bridget not wanting to come back, too well. She didn't see herself coming back, ever. How she'd deal with her mother once she moved away, well, she wasn't sure.

The back door opened and Bridget's sister loomed over them. "I could use some help in here."

Her sharp tone made Cassidy wince. Since the other two women with her were in no shape to help anyone, Cassidy sighed and heaved to her feet.

"I'll help. What do you need?"

Naturally, when she walked into the kitchen to help wash dishes so there was clean silverware for the desserts, Grady's mom was in the kitchen, talking to Maggie's boss's wife. She offered Cassidy a smile, not quite as distant as her daughter's. Cassidy relaxed a little as she turned to fill the sink with soapy water.

Naturally, also, she sprayed the front of her dress when the lime-clogged faucet blasted in every direction. She jumped back and stared at her splattered dress. God, was that salad dressing that had blasted off of that fork? She looked about for the dishtowel and settled instead for paper towels, which of course added white lint to the front of her blouse.

"Here, hold on." Mrs. McKenna touched her shoulder and turned her, inspecting the front of her outfit. "I have one of those stain sticks in my purse. Works wonders, really. I wish they'd been around when the kids were little, though Lord knows I make enough of a mess myself." She held up a trembling hand so Cassidy could see. "Can barely keep food on a fork these days. Come on, let's get you cleaned up. Someone needs to soak that faucet in vinegar so it doesn't do that anymore. I'm surprised Jeanie didn't do that, but I guess she didn't care much at the end."

Grady's mom continued to talk as she led Cassidy through the swinging door and toward the front of the house, where all the purses had been stashed in the front bedroom.

"Was she sick a long time?" Cassidy wondered aloud. "I hadn't seen her in a while, but there are lots of people who don't come into the cafe, and I don't go many other places."

"Not terribly long. At least, not to the point where she was disabled. Independent to the end. Isn't that the way we all want to go?" She reached for the Coach bag near the center of the bed, and pawed through it. "Sage bought me this monster, which I know cost a pretty penny, and I can never find a thing in it. Ah, here we go." She presented the stick, but before Cassidy could take it, she slipped her hand under Cassidy's top, holding it away from her body, and started dabbing the stick on the spots on the fabric. "I hope that helps." She straightened and smiled up at Cassidy, capping the stick after a couple of tries.

"I--thank you." She wanted to ask why the woman was being so nice to her, but she didn't know how.

The woman patted her hand and arranged her purse back on the bed. "It's not easy, what you do. You're a good girl."

Before Cassidy could wonder what the cryptic message meant, a couple of ladies walked in to retrieve their purses. Their expressions betrayed their surprise at seeing Cassidy with Mrs. McKenna. Mrs. McKenna murmured a greeting, then guided Cassidy past them with a hand at the small of her back.

She tried not to think that Grady had guided her onto the dance floor in much the same way.

Then, without a word, Mrs. McKenna patted her back and slipped past her to visit with some friends in the living room. Cassidy reentered the kitchen to see Teresa glaring, and Mason's mother, Mrs. Garrett, at the sink cleaning the silverware.

"I've got this, I'm sorry," Cassidy said, stepping up beside Mrs. Garrett.

"Don't worry about it. It's what women do. We take care of each other." The woman offered a warm smile, curved her arm around Cassidy and pulled her close. "I've missed you, sweetheart."

Cassidy dropped her head to Mrs. Garrett's shoulder and did her best not to burst into tears.

"I've missed you, too."

*****

The next day, the cafe was unusually busy, and everyone, mostly women, wanted seats by the window. Twice, Cassidy had to chase groups away from the table the mayor and sheriff shared every day, even though the "reserved" sign was prominently placed, and well, everyone knew those two met daily, often with others.

"What is going on?" she asked Darlene. "What are they trying to see?"

But even as she said the words, she remembered part of her conversation with Maggie yesterday, about the new contractor working with Sage.

"Have you seen him?" Darlene asked, as if Cassidy had answered her own question out loud. "I heard he's handsome enough to be in Hollywood. In fact, they're calling him Hollywood."

"Maggie was telling me about him, but really, this is crazy."

"When's the last time a handsome man showed up in Evansville?"

"Well, there's Grady."

Darlene waved a hand. "He doesn't count. He's from here. And while I admit he looks good after his time away, it's just not the same as new blood."

"Uh-huh. And what does your husband think about you getting excited about new blood?" She winked.

Darlene blushed. "I'm just hoping he doesn't show up when I'm pressed against the window, trying to see."

Cassidy laughed and walked over to deliver tea to the sheriff and mayor, who'd just sat down.

"What's going on?" Killian Dawson, the mayor, asked, looking around at all the women in the place.

"Sage hired a contractor from the city. Everyone's wanting to get a look."

Killian rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding?"

"It was busy in here when Grady came back too." She didn't know what made her say that. She waved her order pad. "You know Evansville. Anything new."

"Can't believe Sage got someone new to work for her," Sheriff Trevino said with a shake of his head.

"I think it was Grady, and the crew is from out of town."

The mayor looked up at her second mention of Grady, eyebrows lifted. She frowned and stared at her order pad. "What will you have today?"

The mayor ordered his usual--salad with grilled chicken and dressing on the side. He'd lost at least forty pounds the past year and looked great. She was actually surprised more women weren't looking his way.

The sheriff, however, ordered Killian's calories as well as his own in the chicken fried steak with two orders of mashed potatoes. She turned with a grin, just as the room went silent. She looked up to see a tall man with dark wavy hair and broad shoulders in a denim shirt and jeans walk through the door.

Hollywood, indeed. Wow.

He sat in an empty table by the bar, technically her section. Darlene made a face at her across the room. Cassidy grinned as she crossed to his table, pulling her order pad from her apron.

*****

Damn, Grady hadn't been this tired in a long time. No more laying awake at night listening to the train. No, he was in bed by nine, snoring, most of the time after falling face-first onto the bed.

But it was good. He was getting back into the groove, he was working with the animals, he was feeling a sense of ownership, a sense of belonging. But he missed seeing Cassidy every day. He hadn't seen her in over a week, since the day after they danced. He just hadn't been able to get into town. So today, he'd told his dad he would run to town to mail off the broken tractor part they were returning, and he'd drop in the Coyote to see her.

But when he walked in, she and the other two waitresses were leaning against the bar, talking to his contractor. Grumbling in his throat, he crossed the room. Cassidy looked up and her eyes widened a bit. She smiled before she realized she was doing it, then let it dim. Well. That stung. He pulled out a chair across from Jackson, who glanced over, then did a double-take, grinning, at odds with his greeting from Cassidy.

"What can I get you?" Cassidy asked him, cocking her hip, all business.

"Sweet tea and a brisket plate."

She nodded and headed toward the kitchen. Reflexively, he caught her elbow, then let his fingers slide down the inside of her wrist. She snapped her gaze to him at the blatant show of possession, and her forehead furrowed.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

She motioned with her pad to the tables of people he hadn't noticed, most with half-empty glasses and wadded napkins on the tables in front of them, so clearly they'd been there awhile. And most were women, looking in this direction. He glanced at Jackson and rolled his eyes.

"I'll wait." But he couldn't wait long. He needed to get his errands done and get back to the ranch.

He waited. She moved from table to table, where the crowd remained stationery, until Jackson finally pushed his chair back, smiled and nodded, then headed out. Cassidy bustled to clear checks, and Grady remained at the table as long as he could, before he got up and walked over to the register. He watched her run credit cards and count cash. She shot him an annoyed glance when he just stood there.

"I have to go, but there's a dance in Alice on Saturday. Come with me."

She rested her hand holding the tickets on the drawer of the register. "Not a good idea."

He folded his arms and leaned on the counter, looking up at her. "A great idea. Our last dance was interrupted, and all I've been able to think about for days is getting you back in my arms."

Some of the annoyance faded into surprise, and color bloomed on her cheeks. "Grady."

He straightened and put his hand over hers, unable to resist touching her. "I'll come get you around seven."

She drew in her bottom lip, considering. "I'll meet you there."

He frowned. "You aren't going to leave me hanging, are you?"

She scowled. "I would never do such a thing."

"All right, meet me out front of the Hang Dog Saloon."

She rolled her eyes. "Seriously?"

He lifted a shoulder. "I didn't name it." He brushed his lips over her cheek. "See you there."

*****

Cassidy tugged at her skirt as she stepped out of the car in the gravel parking lot of the huge metal building that looked more like a gym than a dance hall. Wearing a skirt two weeks in a row was some kind of record. She scanned the parking lot for sight of Grady's truck, and, well, there were a lot of trucks. While she recognized his when it was sitting in front of the building his sister owned, she couldn't pick it out from the sea of vehicles here. The place was more crowded than she expected.

"Cassidy."

He stepped out from under an overhang near the door, and she got a little dizzy as she forgot to breathe. Good Lord, he was hot in his cowboy shirt and Wranglers. His beard had filled in a little more, and for a moment, she wanted nothing more than to feel it against her skin.

Oh, bad idea going somewhere with him while feeling this weakness. But she put her hand in his anyway.

"You look amazing."

The weather was still a little cool for the summery dress, but she liked the way the fabric skimmed her curves, so she'd paired it with her denim jacket and her cowboy boots, which she'd had to polish. Still, the effect was very Texas, and from the light in Grady's eyes, appreciated.

"Hope you're up for a night of dancing." His smile canted. "Or at least an evening. Got an early day tomorrow."

"So you're working with your dad and your brother now," she said as he guided her into the hall. Heavens, it was freezing in here. The weather hadn't warmed up enough to remove the chill from the metal building, which held the cold air inside. She edged closer to Grady as they walked toward the bar.

"Yeah, takes some getting used to again. I thought it would be easier, but a lot has changed since I've been away. Still, I like it."

"Except the getting up early."

"Even that doesn't bother me, except nights like tonight. What do you want to drink?"

They both ordered bottles of beer, then walked across the concrete floor to the bandstand. The band was still setting up, but the jukebox was playing a conjunto polka, and some older couples were on the dance floor, clearly not willing to wait for the band. Grady held a hand to her.

"It'll warm you up."

She inclined her head at the truth in his words and let him pull her close, a little closer than she expected for a song as uptempo as this one. But just like before, they found their rhythm, Grady guiding her about the floor, the stiff denim of his jeans brushing against her bare legs every now and then, sending shivers through her that had nothing to do with the temperature. He kept his gaze on hers as he pulled her into a spin, drawing a laugh from her as the world around them became a blur, leaving only his face in focus.

The song faded into a two-step, and he continued without missing a beat.

"One of the things I missed most overseas was dancing," he admitted. "There was music, you know, all around, but nothing like South Texas music."

They were still on the dance floor when Maggie came in with Carla and Darlene and her husband. Cassidy waved and broke out of Grady's arms, just a little sorry she'd asked her friends to show up.

He joined the group at the table and met her gaze, letting her know he knew what she'd done here. But he went along with it, moving to a bigger table to accommodate the crowd, then crossed to the bar for a round. He pushed a bottle in front of Cassidy before sitting across from her, since her friends surrounded her.

She pushed it back toward him. "I need to pace myself."

He frowned.

"I only drink two beers. I'm driving, and it's early."

He considered for a moment, and the way he seemed to understand unnerved her. "You want a water or something?"

Before she could tell him she'd get it herself, he was heading back to the bar.

She was half-way through the bottle when the band started playing a song, and her friends surged toward the floor, drawing her with them into a line dance.

"I don't know this one!" she protested. She hadn't been dancing in so long, and while she knew the Watermelon Crawl and Copperhead Road, this one was unfamiliar.

"Follow me," Darlene said, and Cassidy took a spot behind her, following Darlene's shuffling steps, kicks and spins.

Only when she turned toward the table did she realize Grady wasn't dancing. Instead, he was watching her, a heat in his eyes that sent a matching heat through her blood. She gave a toss of her head and a sway of her hips as she gained confidence, and the next thing she knew, he was behind her, his hands on her hips, his lips close to her ear.

She broke the contact that felt too good, made her want too much, under the guise of slipping out of her jacket. He took the denim from her and tossed it over his chair, then turned back to her.

Only then did she realize her mistake. Her spring dress bared a lot more skin, and he slid his fingertips up her arm, raising goosebumps in the wake of the caress. She had no idea if he was following the steps--hell, she had no idea if _she_ was following the steps, only that he was behind her, turning when she turned, which she did only when Darlene did.

Then the song ended and the band swayed into a slow song. Grady captured Cassidy's hand and turned her into his arms before she could retreat to the safety of the table and her friends.

"Why are you afraid of me?" he asked.

"I am not."

He leaned in just a bit. "Bullshit. You got your friends to come out here as a buffer."

"I thought they'd enjoy it," she hedged. She should have known he'd notice. She hadn't cared at the time she'd come up with the plan, only wanted a barricade between herself and her feelings.

"You're afraid of me," he pressed. "I won't hurt you, Cassidy."

She jerked her head up at that. "I never thought you would."

Some of the tension left his body at her admission. "So what's the deal? Why won't you just enjoy a date with me?"

"I'm enjoying it."

"You know what I mean."

"I don't go out. I don't date. I don't see a point since I don't want to stick around Evansville any longer than I have to."

It was his turn to jerk with surprise. "You're taking off?"

"As soon as my RV park pays for itself and gives me a little nest egg, yeah, I'm gone."

He lifted his hand to her hair, brushing it from her cheek. Was it her imagination, or did he seem a little sad?

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know yet. Out of Texas. I've never been out of Texas."

His eyes widened. "Never?"

She shook her head. "I want to see San Francisco and Seattle and New York and Chicago and Miami. I want to go to Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. I want to see snow, and the beach, and mountains." She looked up at him. "Have you been to any of those places?"

"Some. Never seen snow, though. We have a beach less than two hours away, you know."

She wrinkled her nose. "But I want to see waves and surfers and a real ocean, not just the Gulf."

He sighed and pulled her closer. "Seems like your RV park is going to have to make you a lot of money."

"What's the good of living in a boom town if you can't dream?"

"True enough."

Before she knew what he was doing, he'd angled her head up and brushed his lips over hers, then again before settling them on hers and drawing her into a kiss that stopped her feet, slowed her brain until she was aware of nothing but sensation, his soft lips, the gentle rasp of his beard against her skin, the way his fingers were lightly caressing her spine through the thin fabric of her dress. She leaned into him, rising on her toes to wrap her arms around his shoulders, to press her aching breasts into the breadth of his chest.

His breathing shifted as her tongue rose to meet his, to touch his bottom lip, to welcome him into her mouth.

Only the hoots from the table behind them had her drawing away. Despite her self-preservation instinct, she couldn't look away from the desire in his blue eyes, couldn't make herself be mad when the corner of his lips quirked up in a triumphant smirk.

This time, when they returned to the table, the others made room for them to sit together, and he held her hand on her lap under the table.

She didn't need a second beer to create a buzz, just the sensation of his fingertips brushing over the back of her hand resting on her thigh.

"So how are Sage and Hollywood getting along?" Maggie asked, swinging her leg as she leaned forward to sip her whiskey and Diet Coke from a straw. "Think he'll stick around?"

"There might be a riot if she fires him," Carla teased. "No woman in town will go to Sage's place if she chases him off."

"No woman?" Darlene's husband Owen asked, his tone playful as he looked at his wife.

She lifted her hands as if to say, "Don't look at me."

"Do you think they're a thing?" Maggie asked. "I mean, they're both single, both attractive, working long hours in close confines."

Grady's eyebrow twitched up. "I prefer not to speculate on my sister's love life, but it wouldn't be very professional of Jackson to be sleeping with his boss."

"I suppose not. But one wonders."

"Have you met him yet?" Cassidy asked.

"Who, Jackson? Briefly, at the bank, when Sage brought him in to add him to her account."

"That sounds like he's meeting her standards, then," Grady said. "I don't think she did that with the others."

"No, she hasn't," Maggie said. "Which is why my mind went to a more permanent relationship."

"Who knows? Maybe down the road. But not now, not as far as I know."

Maggie seemed satisfied with the answer, and drained the rest of her drink.

At a little after ten, he stood. "My chariot's about to turn into a pumpkin," he announced. "Early morning." He looked at Cassidy. "Are you staying?"

"I'll walk you out," she said, knowing she wouldn't have as much fun without someone to dance with. Scratch that. Without him to dance with.

She said good-bye to her friends and let Grady take her hand as they walked out of the dance hall.

He didn't say anything as he crossed the lot to her car, then leaned her against it, slid his hand under her hair and kissed her again. This time the entire line of his body was pressed against her, knee to breast, and his kiss was a lot hotter than it had been on the dance floor, his tongue busier, his hands sliding down her sides, one teasing her thigh beneath the hem of her skirt, shooting desire straight up through her.

Just when she was ready to open the back door and drag him onto the back seat with her, he broke the kiss. Another smirk, and he stepped back.

"Sweet dreams. I'll come see you this week."

She watched him stroll to his truck, knowing he left her body humming for him on purpose.

*****

Lunchtime was busy again. Hollywood was in the place, apparently oblivious to all the attention he was drawing.

"You know, when Grady was working with Sage, they'd eat lunch together," Cassidy teased.

Hollywood rolled his eyes. "Working hours with that woman is enough. My lunch would probably lodge in my throat if I had to listen to her during lunch, too."

Cassidy widened her eyes. "You don't like her?"

"She's my employer, so I don't have the opportunity to like or dislike, since she's paying me to do what she wants. But I've never known a woman to be so exacting."

Cassidy cocked a hip. "And you've been doing this how long?"

"I don't usually work for individuals, especially individuals who are on-site all the time. I will say, she knows what it is she wants."

"She always has."

"She's talking about buying the old hospital next."

"Is she? And doing what?"

"A hotel. She already showed me her sketches."

"Sage sketches?"

"She's good at it, too, good at putting her ideas on paper, making them concrete."

He sounded like he admired her, but at the same time he didn't want to eat with her. Very strange.

Cassidy looked up when Grady walked through the door.

"Hey." He touched her waist and brushed a kiss across her lips, freezing her in place.

The restaurant had gone quiet at his casual display of affection. She dared not look around, knowing heat already stained her cheeks. So instead, she focused on him, making sure he saw his mistake.

He apparently didn't care as he took a seat across from Hollywood. She pivoted and bolted for the kitchen, where she remained until she heard conversation start up again.

Grady looked up from the glass of tea she brought him. "Better?"

She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. What was he thinking, kissing her like that, like they were in a relationship when they'd just been on one date? But she wasn't going to discuss it with him now, not in public, not in front of Hollywood.

"How do you feel about flying?" Grady asked Cassidy when she passed him a menu. He rested it on the table, not looking at it, looking up at her instead.

She shrugged. "I've never done it."

"Okay, well, Thursday I'm going up to San Antonio to collect a group of oil execs who want to come check out the drilling sites for the day. I thought when I took them back to San Antonio, you could come with me and we could go have dinner on the Riverwalk or something."

Her pulse drummed in her ears. She'd forgotten he'd been a pilot. How had she forgotten that? And that he'd thought of taking her--why had he thought of her?

"I can't stay the night," she said.

He eased back from the table. "No, me neither. Have to be up early. I can bring you back that night after dinner."

Okay, maybe she was a little let down that he wasn't sweeping her away to sleep with her, but really, they hadn't known each other very long.

"Let me think about it."

He frowned a little, as if disappointed she hadn't jumped at the opportunity. "Okay. The only thing is you need to meet me at the airfield, since I'll have the execs with me. And you'll have to ride in the cockpit with me. Are you okay with that?"

She beat down the part of her that wanted to grab this adventure with both hands. She couldn't let him see how excited the prospect made her. Going with him on the plane, well, that would mean a hell of a lot more than him kissing her hello in the cafe. "When can I let you know?"

*****

Cassidy sat on the hood of her car, swinging her heels against the sidewall of the tire as she looked at the plane sitting on the runway. She was used to seeing small little two- or four-seaters, but this was what she supposed they classified as a jet, all sleek and long, something, well, rich and powerful.

Her pulse hammered in her throat. She couldn't believe she'd agreed to this, to flying up to San Antonio for a dinner. Her wardrobe wasn't exactly extensive, so she'd paired a different dress with her denim jacket, and this time wore sandals, which left her toes a little more cold than she would have expected for March. She could sit in the car, she supposed, where the wind didn't blow through the thin fabric of her dress, but she was afraid if she got behind the wheel, she'd be tempted to drive away, to shy away from the offer.

So she curled and uncurled her toes in the shoes, and waited.

A short time later, a big truck, newer than Grady's and shiny as sin, pulled up to the airfield. She stopped swinging her legs as Grady opened the door and slid out, his gaze on her. Behind him, three men in jeans, plaid shirts and new cowboy hats climbed out. They looked her way as well, but only tipped their hats before they headed toward the plane. The door of the plane opened and the stairs extended. The men boarded, and Grady crossed to her.

She hadn't moved from the hood of her car, and watched him approach.

"Ready to go?" he asked with that damned easy grin.

"Are you sure this is okay?" She looked past him to the third man, who stood at the base of the steps expectantly.

"Yeah, I'm just a service. This isn't their plane. And like I said, you'll be sitting up front with me. We'll be coming back to town on Dad's little four-seater, which I left in San Antonio. Is that okay?"

She slid off of the hood, a little closer to him than she wanted to be. No, scratch that. She wanted to be closer, but he made her feel so vulnerable. She wasn't used to the sensation, wasn't comfortable with it.

Whether she was comfortable with it or not, he took her hand, giving her just enough time to grab her hobo bag from beside her, and led her to the plane.

She tried not to stare at the elegant beige interior with the individual chairs that looked like recliners on either side of an aisle wider than she expected. The men were settling in. Since she didn't want to look like a hick, she turned toward the cockpit.

And stopped. Wow, that was a lot of controls, including a huge console between the two seats. She wasn't even sure how to get in the seat, until Grady reached past her, let it slide backwards. She sat, swung her legs around, and he slid her chair forward again. Heart thundering, she looked out the windows at the landscape and imagined what it would look like from the air.

Beside her, Grady hopped into his seat without sliding it back, pressed a lever that brought up the stairs--she could feel the vibration of them folding up--and closed the door. He passed her a headset and put his own on, then started the plane. She watched his movements as he checked gauges and flipped switches, showing her a different side of him. Grady the professional, not Grady the flirt. His competence was more of a turn-on than she expected.

"You buckled?" he asked, before checking with his passengers. "It's not a long flight," he told her. "Little more than half an hour. Just, you know, so you don't get too excited."

"I've never been on a plane before."

"There's a barf-bag to your right, just in case."

Wouldn't that be humiliating? To get to go on a trip like this, in a plane like this, and end up puking? "That would be romantic."

He flashed her a grin. "There are extra toothbrushes in the bathroom, just in case."

"In the bathroom?" She twisted to look down the length of the plane. But of course, she'd seen enough movies to know such a luxurious jet would have a bathroom.

Once he was satisfied with the controls, he said something into the headset, then eased the lever between them, and they began taxiing down the runway. Despite herself, she gripped the arm rests as the wheels lifted from the ground, and she battled back a squeal as her stomach dropped.

"You okay?" he asked, glancing over when they leveled off.

"Kind of like when I rode that roller coaster at Six Flags," she said, surprised her voice was a little shaky.

"Yeah, well, no more dips like that until we land. If I do it right, you won't feel anything." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his cheeks turned red.

She laughed, then covered her hand with her mouth as the sound bounced around the cabin.

"Look," he urged, and she did, leaning forward to get a view of the rolling landscape beneath them.

The trees were still a bright spring green, the grass not quite out of its winter hibernation. In another couple of weeks, the land would be covered with bluebonnets. Evansville was at the edge of the coastal plains, with gently rolling hills before the land flattened out on the way to the coast, and she imagined the sight would be stunning.

From up here, she could also see the cleared land, stripped of grass, brush and trees, populated now with drilling rigs, storage tanks and, just on the horizon, a refinery. She could see the new roads built to accommodate the trucks carrying the drilling fluids, the waste water, the gravel, and hauling away the oil.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked quietly. "Peaceful."

She supposed it was, after being overseas, after piloting in a combat area. "Were you a fighter pilot?"

"No, I was a medical transport, the guys who got burned or blown up and needed to get to Rammstein."

Pictures sprang to her mind, sanitized by the news, but for him, the pictures had been real and horrible. Lives had been forever changed. Was his? She pushed the thought away and went for the easy observation.

"So one of those big planes."

"Yeah. Too tall to be a fighter pilot."

"Would you have wanted to be a fighter pilot?" She couldn't imagine the terror of trying to outrun or outmaneuver someone who was trying to kill you.

"Yeah, when I was younger. But by the time I joined the Air Force, I knew I was too big. I still wanted to fly. I knew how, mostly, because my dad has that four-seater, and he'd take me up. But I wanted more power."

"Then you came back to Evansville, which doesn't have many opportunities to take advantage of that."

He glanced over. "It has enough."

She shook her head and looked out the windows again, unable to see everything, even though there was only empty land beneath them. What would it be like to fly over a city bright with lights, or the ocean, or a forest or a desert?

"What was it like over there?"

He set his jaw. "I don't talk about it, if I can help it."

"Not the experience, but the land." She'd like to know about the people, too, but if he didn't want to talk, he didn't want to. "Is it pretty?"

"Barren and brown. No, not pretty. Hopeless."

"So why do people live there? Why do they fight for it?"

"Because they don't know any better."

His tone let her know he was done. She shifted toward him, drawing her legs to the side, careful not to bump any of the controls that were so close.

"So where are we going to eat?"

"Up to you. Mexican? Barbecue? Steak?"

Oh, steak sounded wonderful, but she wasn't going to ask him to spend a lot of money on her, not after he was flying her to the city. "Mexican would be great."

He nodded. "I know just the place."

*****

She hadn't thought, but of course he didn't have a car in San Antonio, so after the oil execs went on their way and he returned the plane to the charter company, he called a cab.

Now he was holding her hand in the back seat as the cab sped down the brightly lit highway amid hundreds of other cars. She couldn't see everything, twisting and turning in her seat, fully aware she looked like a damned yokel on her first visit to the city.

She'd been before, but years ago, and not swept in on an airplane. Instead, she and her mother had driven a couple of hours, watched the rolling empty land give way to truck stops, gas stations, hotels, and finally the city itself. The approach from the airport had much more to see.

She was as excited when downtown came into view as she had been when the plane had left the runway. Everything was bright and imposing--the Tower, the hotels, the Alamodome. So big, so...opposite of Evansville.

The cab driver turned off the highway and into congested traffic. She sat forward to watch the people flowing past them on the sidewalk in front of the mall. All kinds of people, some in business wear, some in jeans and t-shirts, kids, adults. A few cops patrolled the area.

The driver pulled to the side and Grady leaned forward to pay before ushering her out on the sidewalk.

She couldn't help herself then. Yokel or not, she tilted her head back to look up and up at everything.

Grady chuckled and took her hand. "If you think buildings here are big, we're going to have to get you to Chicago or New York." He pulled her toward a rock wall and motioned down. "Look here."

Now she was looking down on the San Antonio River, lined with restaurants and shops and the iconic colorful umbrellas. A barge filled with tourists glided past them, and she could hear trumpets echo from a mariachi band.

"Hungry?" he asked, and gave her hand a tug so she'd follow him to the stone stairs leading down to the river.

*****

"I'm never going to eat again," she groaned as she flopped into the back of the cab he flagged to take them back to the airport.

He slid in beside her. "I don't think I've ever seen a woman eat that much."

"That's because you live with Sage, and she is a perfect lady." She straightened up, regretting that he'd seen her act like such a hick. She'd been wide-eyed since she got on the plane. No sophistication at all.

"What is the deal between you?"

"Small class, she was the rich girl, we were not."

"She was that much of a snob?"

"Why shouldn't she be? She had every opportunity. She was on top of the world."

"She should have been generous instead of a bitch."

"Yeah, well. The friend she did have didn't help. We just learned to avoid her as much as possible." Hard to do in the tiny high school.

"Sorry you had to deal with that."

She lifted a shoulder. "It made me tough. I needed to be tough." Especially where barbs about her mother were concerned, Sage's weapon of choice.

"Maybe a little too tough?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it's been hell trying to get a date with you."

"Which raises the question, why do you want one so bad?"

"Because you're cute, and kind, and you're, I don't know, you know what you want. That's appealing to someone who hasn't known what he wants for a long time."

"And now you do?"

"Now I do."

"You plan to stay in Evansville and work with your dad and brother."

"That's what I want."

Hearing him say it only made her more certain she couldn't stay. She certainly didn't want to be involved with a rancher who was married to the land. Look what happened to Mandy and Trace.

But that also made Grady safe. She wouldn't be staying. He knew that. He wouldn't expect a commitment. So could she just have fun with him for the next few months?

This time she reached for his hand and brought it to her lap, just at the hem of her skirt, so the heat of his hand permeated the fabric. He grinned when she looked at him.

"What?"

"I think that's the first time you've looked at me all evening. I've learned my lesson. If I want you to look at me, we only have dates in Evansville, where there's nothing new for you to see."

She stuck her tongue out at him and he leaned across the back seat to kiss her. She curved her hand over his jaw and stroked his beard.

"I never thought I liked beards."

"You like it? I couldn't have it in the service. Kind of a little push back, a way to enjoy my freedom."

"You make it sound like prison."

"Just a lot of rules, which I should have been used to, growing up with my dad." He put his hands over hers and helped her pet him.

She smiled and angled her head to kiss him, savoring the bite of margarita that lingered on his lips, the heat of his mouth as he opened his mouth, inviting a deeper kiss. She eased closer so they were hip to hip, his fingers sliding through her hair before he dropped his hand to her waist and angled her toward him.

She didn't see anything but him on the way to the airport.

Chapter Six

Riding in the four-seater was totally different than riding in the jet. For one, she was way closer to Grady, and way closer to the window. And when they took off, she felt like she was being tossed around in a toy.

"Barf bag on the side," he said quickly, and she found it, just in case, though she refused to let the turbulence get to her.

"I'm fine," she said, as if that would make it so. Hell, she was really good at mind-over-matter.

"We'll be leveling out soon. Hang in there."

She would nod, but didn't want to risk extra movement. She closed her eyes, but that just made everything worse, so she opened them again and focused on the moon. Only then did she start to calm down.

He folded his hand around hers for a brief moment, and she took a deep breath, everything settling in her.

The plane droned through the night sky, Grady releasing her hand to guide it. In the distance, she saw the flames from the drilling rigs burning off the excess gasses, like low-flying stars.

"Pretty," she said.

"Yeah." He reached over and stroked her face, then put both hands back on the steering wheel thing to guide the plane toward the earth.

He landed the plane next to her car, did a last check and shut it off, then crossed around to help her out of the plane. She braced her hands on his shoulders as he lifted her down.

She thought he'd kiss her, but instead he drew her backwards toward her car.

"When I pulled up and saw you sitting on the hood of your car, it was the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

Her knees quivered a little at his words.

"So all evening, I've been thinking about this."

He lifted her onto the car's hood, then hopped up beside her, stretching his legs toward the front of the vehicle, leaning back against the windshield. She mimicked his posture, though the cold metal of the hood permeated her skirt and chilled her.

But not for long, because after a few moments of looking at the stars, Grady turned toward her, pulled her close and kissed her, pillowing her head on his outstretched arm, bringing her body into the warmth of his. She pressed her knee between his thighs for warmth, and he made a sound, deep in his throat. He teased her lips with his tongue before deepening the kiss, his hand massaging her waist, down over her hip, fingertips brushing her bottom.

She edged closer on the cold hood, her hips pressing into his, nerve endings lighting up like a Christmas tree. Everything female came alive in her as she stroked his beard, ran her hand down his chest, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt. Oh, it had been so long, and he made her feel so good.

When she moved closer still, her breasts against his chest, he broke the kiss, his hand in her hair, stroking it back from her face.

"I should go, and let you get home."

Her body wanted to cry. She needed his hands on her, his weight on her, to ease the ache he'd built in her. But of course he was right. She didn't want to have sex with him on the hood of her car in the open. And since both of them lived with their parents, they'd have little opportunity for privacy. Wow, how sad did that sound?

She shifted away, not able to meet his gaze, not willing to show him how much he made her want. She sat and slid to the front of the hood, the cold metal stinging her bare legs. He slid with her, stood in front of her, took both her hands in his. She looked up and caught her breath.

The smile he gave her sent a thrill through her, and she couldn't help smiling in return. That only made his grin widen, and he leaned in for another, gentle kiss before he helped her off the hood.

"Want me to follow you home?"

"I'm good."

"I don't know when I'll get back into town. I have a lot of catching up to do at the ranch after today."

"Okay."

"I don't want you to think I kissed you then took off."

Like she'd thought last time. She blushed and dipped her head. He knew her better than she expected.

"I'll find a way to get to town. Or to your place."

That froze her up. "No, not my place."

"I'm not scared of your mom."

"More of what she'll say."

"Cassidy, I don't care."

She shook her head and turned away, toward the driver's side. She didn't want to ruin the night with a discussion about her mother.

"I'll see you when I see you." She opened the door and held it between them.

"Don't go flirting with Hollywood."

She lifted her eyebrows, unable to hide her surprise. "Seriously?"

He angled his head, a smile crooking his lips. "Don't go flirting with him."

She touched his beard, one more time, wanting the sensation of it against her skin so she could dream about him tonight.

*****

Grady was savoring the buzz of a good date when his new cellphone rang. He jolted, wondering why he'd given into the urge to buy one, and pulled over to the side of the road to open his glove box to retrieve it.

Juliana's number.

Hello, guilt.

He tapped the green portion of the screen. "Hey, what's up?"

"Sorry to have called so many times."

"Huh?"

"I've been calling all night. I guess you don't check your messages?"

"I was--out." He didn't know why he didn't want to say he was on a date. "Not used to having a phone yet. What's up?"

"We're going to come."

"What?"

"To Texas. We're going to come. How, um, how soon would you be able to, I mean, when would be the soonest we could come?"

He looked out over the road, illuminated by his headlights. "I don't know. I'd have to talk to my mom, to see when she could have the rooms ready, but I don't know, a week? A couple of weeks?"

"Oh."

"Something wrong? You need to come sooner?"

"I'm--we're having a rough time. I'm sorry. I don't mean to put it on you. But you offered and I waited and now, I don't know, I'm not as desperate as all that, but I could use a friend."

"You want me to come get you?"

"No, it's not as--we'll come there. I have my car, and I've been packing the things I'd unpacked. We just--we just need to be somewhere else."

"Do you need money to come?"

A little sob choked her. "No. No. Thank you, Grady."

"I'll call you tomorrow," he promised, disconnected and tossed the phone on the seat beside him.

Damn, he wished he knew what had happened to make her sound so desperate.

*****

Cassidy was restless. She sat under the patio area near the RV park and watched Dylan and Chris barbecuing the brisket.

She could attribute it to the kiss the other night that had left her nerves on edge and her damn heart eager to see Grady walk through the door of the cafe, or even to see him drive up to Sage's place.

More likely, she could attribute it to the phone call her mother had gotten yesterday.

Her grandparents were coming to town for the Bluebonnet Festival. The two hadn't been back to Evansville in years, and naturally, they'd be staying with her and her mother. Which meant she had to make room for them, had to gird herself for the judgments they'd make.

She took another swig of the beer she'd gotten from the cooler, and Dylan dropped onto the bench seat beside her.

"So your grandparents are coming?"

She darted a surprised look in his direction. "How did you know?"

"Your mom was pretty excited yesterday. She was telling all of us about it."

"All of us." She looked from Dylan to Chris. Last she'd checked, Chris was her mother's go-to guy. Cassidy couldn't even talk about disapproving of her mother sleeping with a married man. She was just so tired of keeping tabs on her mother, something that was impossible when she wasn't around. She hated that it felt like she was giving up, but her mother had to take responsibility for her own actions at some point.

"Yeah, she's excited. She said they haven't been back in a while?"

"No, we haven't seen them in a couple of years."

"Not even for holidays?"

She shook her head. "They're off on their adventure, something they've always wanted to do." Would she be like that, refusing to come home even on holidays because she'd found something better to do? To be fair, holidays hadn't been a big deal in her family the past couple of years.

"Are you excited about seeing them?"

To be honest, she was, a little, though it meant more work for her in the near future. "It's going to be weird. I mean, it's their house, the house where they raised their kids, and it's going to be strange for them to come back and it not really be their house, you know?"

"I guess." He set his own bottle on the table in front of him. "I feel that way when I go home sometimes, like life has gone on without me. I guess it has."

She lifted her head at the crunch of truck tires on gravel. Grady's truck rolled into the parking lot at the other end of the RV camp.

"New guy?" Dylan asked.

She shook her head, standing, wondering what had brought him out here. She watched him slide out of the truck and angle his hat on his head. She'd never seen him in a cowboy hat, and immediately she understood the appeal of the cowboy. She'd grown up around ranchers all her life, but until this moment hadn't been affected by the cowboy swagger. The sight sent another slide of heat through her. Lord, this man was going to destroy her. She started down the path between the RVs toward him, surprised when he caught her arm and kissed her lightly in greeting. She'd never been a particularly affectionate person, and he was so easy with his.

"What brings you out here?" she asked.

He looked past her at the tenants, who were watching from around the barbecue. "Can we talk?"

Wow, who knew those words from him would cool that heat so quickly?

"Um, sure." She gestured toward her house. She had no intention of taking him inside where her mother was, but they could sit on the porch. "What's wrong?"

"Did I tell you about Juliana?"

Okay, well, the words "Can we talk?" combined with another woman's name--totally cooled the thrill of seeing him pull up wearing a cowboy hat. "Who's Juliana?"

"My best friend Aiden's wife. He was--he didn't come home." He waited a minute, let the words sink in.

"Jesus. I'm sorry, Grady."

"Not your fault. But his wife--that's why I didn't come home right away, when I got out. I stayed with her awhile, helped her to get settled. Only she doesn't really have anyone, and I offered to bring her to Texas. The other night, she called and accepted."

The night they'd been on their date. "Sure. Okay."

"She's coming next week."

What was he trying to tell her? "Are you involved with her?" Why else would he have driven over here to tell her? And why did the idea hurt?

"No! No. I never could be. She's--she was Aiden's wife."

So that didn't make her feel better. Did he have feelings for this woman, but he couldn't allow himself to admit it? Fine. Best she understood now. "Okay."

"I'll be spending time with her the next few weeks to get her acclimated, until she feels comfortable, makes some friends. I know the timing is bad."

She frowned. "So why are you telling me this, Grady?"

"We're just getting to know each other, you and me."

Her frown deepened. "You don't owe me anything, Grady."

He caught her hand and turned her to him. "You don't get it. I want this to go somewhere, Cassidy. I want to spend time with you."

She pulled free and turned away. "Grady."

"When she's settled in, I'm going to come knocking." He scooped his hand under her hair and kissed her, hard, before he released her to stroll back to his truck, leaving her to watch after his swaying ass.

*****

Grady kept an eye on the road to the ranch as he worked between the barn and the corral. Juliana and Nick had spent the night in Louisiana last night and were on their way in this evening. He wanted to be at the house to welcome them, alongside his mother, who was excited at having a child in the house again, but he had chores to finish first. He figured he could get up to the ranch house pretty quickly if he saw her car.

Remembering, he checked his phone, but no calls or messages. He wished he'd told her to let him know when she'd reached San Antonio, so he could gauge her arrival better.

His legs were aching with the strain of anxiety and pacing when he finally saw the dust rise up on the road. He started toward the house, thought better and locked up the office before he hurried up to the house.

His mother was already standing in the horseshoe drive, and Juliana was shutting off her van, which shuddered to a halt, looking like it earned every mile between here and North Carolina. Juliana turned her head to look out the driver's side window at him, and she looked so damned defeated. He crossed to the van, opened the door, and she slid out and into his arms, her tight body softening against his as she leaned into him.

"You made it," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"God, I can't even believe it." She lifted her head from his chest, though she still held onto his arms.

"Where's the kid?" He strained to see past her into the dark van.

"He's been asleep for hours. And then I got lost and had to stop in town at the restaurant to ask for directions." She angled her head at him, so pretty, her curly auburn ponytail falling to one side. "You only have one restaurant?"

"Right now, but things are picking up."

"Anyway, they told me how to get out here. Damn, it was scary with no lights on the roads." She released him and looked up at the stars. "I've never been so far out in the country I've seen this many stars. Nick will get a kick out of that."

Grady edged past her. "I'll get him. Then show me what you need to take in tonight and we'll get you settled in your rooms."

"Rooms?" She looked past him to the house. "We just need one room."

"Nonsense." His mother stepped forward then. "I'm Mary." She offered her hand and put her other hand on Juliana's shoulder. "We have plenty of space. No sense you being cramped up."

Grady turned with Nick in his arms to see his mother leading Juliana into the house. He left the door of the van open, not wanted to wake the kid, who was dead weight in his arms. He followed the women into the house, adjusting his hold on Nick as he led Juliana into the room next door to his.

He'd known his mother was readying the two rooms in the hallway for them, but had no idea she was putting Juliana next to him. He'd thought he'd at least have the boy between them.

Didn't matter. Couldn't matter.

He watched Juliana look around at the neat room with the plush bed and the window looking over the fields.

"I never expected anything so wonderful."

"Let me show you Nick's room, so you can get him tucked away, then we'll get your things and help you get settled. Have you eaten?" his mother asked.

"I'm sorry. We came so late. I just--" Juliana was on the verge of tears, and he couldn't comfort her with an armful of Nick. His mother stepped in, rubbing Juliana's shoulders. "Don't worry. We have plenty. Even with my two boys around, there's always enough food." She smiled over Juliana's head at Grady, and led the way into Nick's bedroom.

"I'm not putting anyone out, am I?" Juliana asked a little while later, as Grady delivered two more suitcases to her room and set them against the wall. "I mean, your sister still lives here, doesn't she?"

"She's all the way at the other end of the hall, though I think she might be planning to move in the apartment over the bar she's renovating. I'm next door." He motioned with his thumb and watched for her reaction.

Not much of one--she just nodded and opened her suitcase. "I worry Nick will wake up and not know where he is. I should have just kept him in here with me tonight."

"We can keep his door open. And mine." Which meant he'd have to dig out some shorts to sleep in, or something.

"I can't believe your family is doing this for me." She unzipped the suitcase on the bed and opened it to pack a few things away in drawers.

"They know what Aiden meant to me, what you and Nick mean to me. You're going to be happy here." He would make sure of it.

"I'm going to find a place for myself. I'm not going to be a burden. I'll get a job in town, or you can teach me how to work here on the ranch, but I'm going to contribute."

He sat on the edge of the bed. "Give yourself some time."

"Time." She gave a coarse laugh and pushed her hair back from her face. "I've had nothing but time. It's time to stop scrambling and find a foothold." She dropped to the other side of the bed, something soft and silky clutched on her lap, and looked up at him. "Why did this take me so by surprise? Why didn't I have a plan? I always had plans in the past. God, my whole life was planned. And then Aiden died and I'm just completely at a loss. Floundering. Depending on others."

He reached across and covered her hands with one of his. "Don't think of it as depending. Think of it as getting a fresh start. We're going to help you move forward."

She shifted on the bed and leaned her head against his chest. She smelled of the road--fresh air blended with stale fast food and close confines. He wrapped his arm around her and felt her relax against him.

"I don't know what we would have done without you, Grady. I hope Aiden and I would have been able to help your family if the situation had been reversed."

He didn't say anything, though the thought of the situation being reversed had crossed his mind a thousand times or more. How he wished Aiden was here to raise his own family, how Grady would have traded places with him.

But those thoughts had fallen by the wayside in favor of more selfish thoughts. He was here, he had a future. And the shift in those thoughts tore him up with guilt as he held his best friend's wife in his arms.

Chapter Seven

Grady was surprised to see Juliana in the kitchen when he wandered in before the crack of dawn. She had just closed the refrigerator, and stood in the light from the stove dressed in girl boxers and a fitted t-shirt, something he would have thought too cold. Her wild curly hair was up in a ponytail, and she grinned at him.

"I thought you'd be sleeping in," he drawled, crossing to the coffee pot, glad he was already dressed.

"I actually slept really well, and I'm going to go into Nick's room in a bit to make sure he's not too disoriented when he wakes up. But I thought I should probably get used to rancher hours."

"Did you make the coffee?" he asked before he lifted a cup to his lips.

"Your dad. He just headed out." She cocked her head. "You look like him."

He coughed out a laugh. "Not at all."

"Other than him having dark hair and you being blond, almost exactly. You even talk the same."

"We are not the same."

She shook her head, ponytail swaying, and opened the cabinet below the stove for a pan. "If you say so, I guess. He was very nice to me."

"He will be. He just won't have much to do with you."

"Okay. Well, would you like me to make you some breakfast before you head out?"

That was a domestic scene that implied more intimacy than he could allow. "Nah, I'll just have some cereal."

"Don't be ridiculous." She turned back to the refrigerator. "We have farm fresh eggs in here, for crying out loud. And I am a good cook."

He knew she was. She'd made him three meals a day when he'd come back from overseas, as if cooking was the only thing she could do to keep herself sane. He was lucky he hadn't gained fifty pounds.

Before he could protest, she'd found a bowl and was breaking eggs.

A shuffling footstep from the hall made him jolt and jerk his gaze away from her bare legs. His brow furrowed when Trace ambled into the room.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked his brother.

Trace glanced at Juliana and shook his head, clearly not wanting to discuss why he spent the night away from his wife in front of a stranger.

"Trace, this is Juliana. She and her son Nick will be staying with us a bit. Juliana, my brother Trace."

She turned a bright smile to Trace, who only nodded and shambled to the coffee pot.

"Make some more while you're there," Grady said, frowning at the nearly-empty pot.

Trace scowled over his shoulder, but shoveled some more grounds into the filter.

"Would you like an omelet?" Juliana asked from the stove. Without waiting for an answer, she opened the refrigerator for more eggs.

Trace dropped into the chair next to Grady, and Grady could see his brother had been drinking. What the hell was going on? Had Trace found out about Mandy's affair? But even if Juliana wasn't here, he knew Trace wouldn't confide in him.

"Trace has a daughter who's almost eight," Grady said. "She's a little younger than Nick, so they won't be in the same grade, but she could probably help show him around the school."

"I guess I could do that today," she said with a sigh. "Go get him registered."

"They're on spring break," Trace spoke at last, his voice rusty. "No one's there until Monday."

"Ah. Thanks. Good to know." She lifted the pan and gave it a jerk, flipping the omelet expertly.

"It'll give Nick a chance to get used to the ranch. That's good. As soon as he wakes up, bring him down to the barn and I can show him around."

She nodded, gave the omelet another flip, then set it back on the stove and started opening cabinets. Before Grady could tell her where the plates were, she'd discovered them, plated the first omelet and slid it in front of Trace.

"I'm not completely helpless," she told Grady with a wink, and turned back to the stove to make another.

*****

"I can't believe you had this idea. It's going to be so much fun!" Angie fairly bounced in her seat beside Cassidy as they drove into town. "I'm going to get those wildflower nails you were telling me about."

Cassidy did her best not to count the cost of a haircut, highlights and a manicure. She had to remind herself this wasn't about money. It was about spending time with her mother, boosting both of their morale before her grandparents arrived.

"You should do something with your nails, get some gel ones or something."

"It would be a waste, with my job."

"Mine will be a waste, with no one around to see them."

"Everyone will see them at the festival."

Her mother looked over at her. "So we're going?"

"Sure. Grandma and Grandpa are coming just for it, aren't they?"

"It's just...we haven't been in a lot of years, and I used to go all the time. It was important to me."

Guilt stabbed Cassidy right between the ribs as she pulled into a slanted parking spot in front of the antique store. "Well, we'll have fun this year," she said lamely, popping open her door and sliding out.

"Grady's good for you," her mother observed, shifting her purse on her shoulder as they walked down the sidewalk to the salon.

Cassidy's head about swiveled off her neck as she turned to look at her mother. "What?"

"You're seeing him, right? I mean, he took you to San Antonio for dinner, so I'm thinking it's a thing. You've relaxed the past couple of weeks."

Funny, she didn't feel relaxed. But she did feel...hopeful. Something she didn't remember feeling for a long time. She opened the door and smiled as she ushered her mother inside.

Angie's reaction was much as Cassidy's had been as they checked in with the receptionist, then took their seat in the luxurious waiting area. Cassidy watched her mother's excitement and mourned for all the time they'd lost to Angie's addiction. How might Cassidy feel about staying in Evansville if she hadn't been trapped here for years? What might their relationship be like, if Cassidy didn't have years of resentment for her mother?

Would she be able to let it go, or would she always feel like she was standing on the edge of a precipice, ready for Angie to plunge downward again, and drag Cassidy with her?

*****

The anticipation of Nick and Juliana's visit to the barn put Grady behind on his chores, but he was eager to show them around, make them feel at home.

His father had gone over to a neighbor's to help with a broken-down tractor, and Trace, who hadn't been spending much time in the barn since Grady's return, was camped out in his office. Every time Grady looked in, his brother had his head in his hands. Grady wasn't sure if despair or a hangover put it there. If he'd thought his brother would confide in him, he would have pressed, but he didn't.

Finally he heard the excited footsteps of a kid, and Grady stepped outside to meet Juliana and Nick.

"Dude, if you're going to live on a ranch, you can't sleep until noon," Grady teased, clapping the boy on the back. Just a few months ago, he would have swung the kid up for a hug, but Nick was getting too old for that.

"It's not even ten," the boy protested.

"Feels like noon. I've been up six hours already."

Nick made a face. "Why?"

"Because the animals need me. Want to come see what it is I do?" He hooked his hand around the back of the boy's neck and guided him into the barn, then flashed a smile at Juliana.

Her eyes were shadowed, so she probably hadn't gone back to sleep when he left the house, like she'd said she was going to do. She'd changed into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt against the chill of the morning. But her shoulders were relaxed and her smile was easier than he'd seen it in a long time.

He showed them the corral with the horses they kept close for riding, the room he and Trace shared with their dad as an office to keep track of finances, breeding, all the business of running a ranch. He showed them the tack room with all the saddles and bridles.

"You want to learn how to ride a horse?" he asked Nick.

Nick's eyes brightened. "Yes!"

"I don't know," Juliana hedged. "Do you have a pony he could start on?"

"He's just as safe on one of my horses. You could learn to ride, too."

"No time for riding lessons today," Trace interrupted. "We've got work to do."

"Tomorrow?" Nick asked, as Grady scowled at his spoilsport brother.

"Tomorrow for sure," Grady promised.

When Juliana and Nick went back to the house, Grady turned to his brother. "You want everyone to be as miserable as you?"

"Do you really have time to give that kid a lesson when you have so much going on? Why did you bring them here, really? You think you're going to step into her husband's shoes? I thought you were sleeping with the waitress in town."

Temper roared through Grady's body, igniting all his nerve endings, but he couldn't place if the cause was the comment about Juliana, or about Cassidy. "I'm not sleeping with anybody. And I'm not looking to take anybody's place."

"Really? Because it sure looks to me like you want to be her hero, get her to turn those big brown eyes up to you while she says, 'Oh, Grady, what would I do without you?'" He pitched his voice higher, made it breathy. "But the one thing she needs is the one thing you can't do. You can't bring her husband back."

"I know that. I damned well know that," Grady snarled.

"So was it your fault? That he died? Is that why you're so guilty around her?"

"No! No, it was just chance. Just chance the round hit on his side and not mine." The guilt came from being alive and spending time with Aiden's family, when the man who loved them was dead.

He should go see Cassidy, remind himself about what he could have, and not what he couldn't.

"Look, I know there's a lot to do, but I'm going to take them into town for lunch, show them around a little bit. I'll work as late as I need to tonight, but I need to do this."

Needed to balance himself.

Without waiting for an answer, he strode toward the house.

*****

Seeing Grady walk in with his hand on another woman's back gave Cassidy a jolt she didn't expect. That Juliana was so pretty in a wholesome way gave her another jolt, and that Grady didn't greet Cassidy with even a casual kiss, well that downright stung. He'd said he didn't have feelings for this woman, but clearly he was lying--either to himself or to her. She crossed to the table he chose, and smiled at the little boy first.

"Welcome to Coyote Moon," she said brightly, as if Grady hadn't kissed her senseless on the hood of her car just a few nights ago. "What can I get y'all to drink?"

"Cassidy, this is Juliana," Grady said. "And her son Nick. I told you they'd be coming to stay at the ranch."

Cassidy forced a friendly smile at Juliana, who returned it before casting a curious glance at Grady.

"Welcome to Evansville. Y'all came at just the right time. The Bluebonnet Festival is right around the corner. Are you from a small town or a big city?"

"Big city," the boy replied, looking around.

"Well, it may not look like there's a lot going on around here, but there's always something to do." She glanced at Grady, who gave her that half-smile, aware she was lying.

"Grady's going to teach me how to ride a horse tomorrow."

"That's wonderful. Everyone in Texas should know how to ride a horse."

"Do you know?" the boy asked.

Busted by a kid. She kept her gaze on him, not giving into the temptation to look at Grady as she replied. "Well, no."

"Grady could teach you, too. He's going to teach my mom."

Wouldn't that be cozy? She flashed a smile at Juliana's direction. "I think that's wonderful. So, what to drink?"

She retreated to get their iced teas, hoping some distance would help her breathe. Ridiculous. She had no claim on him, wanted no claim on him. He was rooted in Evansville, and she was ready to take flight.

"What's wrong?"

His voice beside her startled her so much she dumped over a glass of tea, spilling ice and liquid all over the counter. She cast him a scowl and reached for a towel to mop it up.

"Why are you sneaking up on me?"

"Why are you talking in that high-pitched voice? You don't even sound like yourself."

She wiped the mess into a plastic trash can under the drink station and squeezed out the towel before unfolding it. "I'm not talking in any kind of a voice."

"Cassidy." He took her arm to her and turned her toward him. "I came into town so you could meet them. They just got here last night. I wanted you to meet them, I wanted to show them around the town a little. I wondered if maybe you and Juliana could be friends. She's going to be lonely in a new place."

She looked up at him, saw the sincerity there. "Grady, I--" She shook her head, not knowing the right way to point out to a man that the woman he wanted to sleep with shouldn't be friends with the woman he was in love with. "I'll be nice to her, but I really don't do a lot with my friends."

"You get them to ride to your rescue when you're uncomfortable."

Yeah, well, then where were they now?

"Look, I know you're going to be busy with Juliana and Nick, so you know, don't worry about getting into town, or coming to see me or anything."

He narrowed his eyes. "Are you pushing me away?"

Self-preservation instinct, she wanted to say. "I think our timing is just bad. You're coming home, I want to go. She's here and she needs you, and I don't."

"I don't care if you need me. Hell, I don't want you to need me. I want you to want me." He eased closer and curved his hand over her cheek, his fingers stroking her temple.

She struggled not to let her eyes drift shut in pleasure at the sensation. And then he kissed her, soft and sweet, and all she could think about was that Juliana could see, and what would she think?

"I'm not giving up on you," he murmured, looking into her eyes before he took a step back, then turned and headed to the table.

She should have given him the glasses of tea to carry, because she was shaking too much to get them to the table without spilling them.

When they left, after gorging themselves on barbecue, Juliana hugged Cassidy.

"I'm glad he found someone," she whispered into Cassidy's ear. "He's a good guy, but I was worried he was too attached to us. Be good to him."

She wanted to explain to Juliana that they weren't serious, just having fun, but before she could, the other woman moved away with a smile.

"You should come learn to ride horses with us," Nick said, and skipped out the door ahead of them.

"Yes," Grady said. "You should."

*****

So on Saturday morning, Grady found himself in the corral with three saddled horses and three rookies. Cassidy picked her way across the soft dirt of the corral while Juliana stayed close to the white wooden fence that encircled it. Nick fairly vibrated with his eagerness to get on one of the horses.

So Grady started with him. He had already taught them how to saddle and bridle their mounts. He gave Nick a leg-up into the left stirrup, and was impressed that the kid didn't grab for the saddle horn when the horse shifted beneath him. He handed the reins up and showed him how to lay the reins along side the right side of the horse's neck to turn him left, and the left side to turn him right.

"This horse's mom was my first horse," Grady told him. "I loved that girl. Raised her from a filly."

"Where is she?"

"She died." When he'd been overseas. That had been a rough phone call to take, since he'd been responsible for her since he was eleven.

"What's his name?" Nick asked.

"Thunder."

Nick's eyebrows rose in delight while his mother gasped her alarm.

"Don't get excited," he told both of them. "It's because he's afraid of thunder, not because he's fast or anything."

"Oh." Nick's disappointment was palpable. "What's the name of Mom's?"

"Goldie."

"She's black."

"Black Gold. I didn't name her. My sister did."

"Dumb name."

"Not in Texas," Juliana said. "Black Gold means oil. You know how we saw all those oil rigs on the way down here. It's part of being Texan."

"Are you Texan?" Nick asked Grady.

"I am."

"Are you?" he asked Cassidy.

She smiled. "I am."

"Okay," Grady redirected. "You need to give your horse a little nudge to get him to move forward. Just with your heels, tap them against his sides and he'll know what to do."

"Grady," Juliana protested when the horse began to walk and Nick swayed a little.

"He's fine," Grady said, but walked alongside for her peace of mind.

Nick looked down and rolled his eyes, making Grady laugh.

"You got this? I'll get your mom and Cassidy started."

Nick nodded and Grady turned back to get Juliana on Goldie. He was aware Cassidy was watching as he helped Juliana mount. Was she jealous? He winked at her over his shoulder, letting her know he got it, while he held Juliana's stirrup. He handed her the reins, which she took with a shuddering laugh, and gave her the same instructions he'd given her son, who was doing pretty well guiding the horse around.

"Your turn, smartass," he said to Cassidy when Juliana followed Nick. But when he helped her into the saddle, he put his hand on her ass, earning himself a glare.

He only grinned, a little nervous about the show of affection in front of Juliana. He stepped back. She looked a lot more comfortable on horseback than Juliana and Nick.

"You've ridden before."

"Not since I was a little kid and my grandparents lived here."

"Are you going to ride?" Nick asked from across the corral.

"Not today. Maybe next time. I want you to get used to being on the horse, feel the movement, learn how to maneuver the animal. See if you like it."

"I don't think I like it," Juliana said with a shaky voice.

"Give it a chance," Cassidy said, when Grady was about to tell her the same thing.

Of course, Grady would have let her quit if she wanted to. Cassidy's chiding tone had the effect of straightening Juliana's back and she held her reins higher. He'd had some doubts about introducing the two women, but now believed that maybe Cassidy would be good for Juliana, could help her find herself again.

*****

"Come have lunch with us," Juliana invited Cassidy after they'd unsaddled and cleaned the horses.

Nick was already halfway up the path to the house after he declared he was starving, though Grady had made sure he finished grooming the horse.

"No, I need to get home," Cassidy replied. Though most of the workers had gone home for the weekend and the place would be pretty quiet.

"It's your day off," Grady pointed out.

"Never," she said, shaking her head. "My grandparents are coming in next week, and I need to get the place ready." She headed up the path toward the front of the house.

"Hey." Grady trotted after her. "You want to go somewhere tonight?"

She looked past him to see Juliana had paused, watching them. When she met Cassidy's gaze, she turned to follow her son into the house.

"That wouldn't be very friendly, and I doubt Juliana wants to go to Garcia's."

"We could go to the Coyote Moon, play some pool."

She tucked her hair behind her ear. "Not really a night out for me." And would Juliana want to play third wheel?

"I just want to spend time with you." He hooked his fingers through her belt loops, turning her to face him head on. "I like looking up and seeing you there."

She rested her hand on his chest, just because she wanted to, because she could. "You're not going to give me the soldier guilt trip again, are you?

He drew his head back and gave her a chiding look. "Have I done that?"

"You have. I'm not falling for it again." She rose on her toes to kiss him.

"I'm going to call you later," he said as she headed around the house.

She was still tingling from the promise in his voice when she saw Sage getting out of her SUV in the driveway. Sage's shoulders squared, a signal Cassidy remembered from high school. She wanted to fight.

"What are you doing here?" Sage demanded, slamming her door with more force than necessary.

"Riding lessons."

Sage's eyebrows lifted. "So you can, what, ride the range with my brother?"

Cassidy forced out a laugh. "I doubt I'll ever do that. But Nick wanted riding lessons, and wanted his mom to have them, too, and Grady thought Juliana would be more comfortable with me taking them, too."

"I guess I just don't know what your play is here." Sage angled her head. "Do you think my brother is going to take you away from all your problems, be your Prince Charming?"

"Wow, you really don't know me if you think that I'm looking for a man to rescue me. Or, for that matter, that I need rescuing." Why had she parked so far away? If she'd parked closer, she could get to her car without further conversation. She angled her chin. "Or are you just projecting your own desires on me?"

Sage took a step forward, and Cassidy's adrenaline spiked, preparing for a fight. Damn, she hadn't been in a fight since she was a freshman and someone had said something about her mother. She'd since learned to let it roll off her back.

Clearly, Sage hadn't.

"My brother doesn't need a gold-digger in his life. I will make sure he has his eyes wide open when he's with you."

"He knows everything he needs to know about me," Cassidy assured her. "And it's none of your business."

She was feeling pretty powerful when she strode to her car, leaving Sage staring after her.

*****

"I thought maybe you'd like to go into town this evening," Grady said to Juliana over the dinner table. "Have a couple of drinks, play some pool, see who's out and about."

"Will Cassidy be out and about?" Sage asked.

Grady leveled a look at his sister. "She will."

"I don't want to leave Nick," Juliana protested.

"We'll watch him," Grady's dad spoke up.

All eyes turned to the older man, who didn't often interject himself into conversations.

"I couldn't ask you to do that," Juliana protested.

"You didn't." The older man folded his napkin and set it beside his plate. "Nick likes the animals, he can give me a hand with feeding them and getting them bedded down. Maybe take one last ride before the sun goes down."

And then his father, who didn't have a light-hearted bone in his body, winked at Nick. He thought he heard Sage's jaw hit the table in conjunction with his own.

"I don't know," Juliana hedged, clearly not understanding what a huge event she was witnessing.

His mother reached over and put a hand on Juliana's arm. "Go. Have fun. I'm sure it's been awhile since you've been out with other adults."

"I'll go, too." Sage smiled brightly at her brother. "It will be fun."

God help him.

*****

Cassidy would never admit it, but her run-in with Sage was what convinced her to meet Grady and Juliana at the Coyote Moon that evening. She waved to Darlene and Lauren, who had the slower evening shift, as she crossed to the bar. Grady and Juliana hadn't shown up yet, so Cassidy decided to stake out a spot at the bar instead of at a table.

The crowd was different in the evenings, especially on the weekends. Some families came in, a few single people sat at tables, looking for a good hot meal, and maybe some company, before they went home alone. A few cowboys came in to play pool or have a couple of beers or listen to the jukebox.

Two cowboys were at the pool table now, and the jukebox was playing a Willie Nelson song. No one was at the bar, so Jason the bartender was in the stock room. Darlene hollered for him to come out, that he had a customer.

She was waiting for Jason, tracing the designs in the wood of the bar, when the air stirred beside her, grew warm. She looked up into the blue eyes of Hollywood, Sage's contractor.

"It's not good to drink alone," he chided.

"I'm not. I'm waiting for some friends."

He hefted himself onto a barstool. "I'm the one drinking alone. Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not. How's Sage's place coming?"

"It'll be up and running by the end of April. Will be nice to have a place to go where you're not an employee, I imagine."

"It's not so terrible." She doubted she'd go into Sage's place, not the way Sage felt about her.

"Her next project is the old hospital. Wants to turn it into a B&B. I think the only thing about that place that's structurally sound are the walls. It's going to be a bigger project than she expects."

Cassidy did not want to talk about Sage. "So have you been a contractor long? You're from San Marcos, right?"

"Yeah, I branched out from my dad's construction business. He has all the work he can handle now, and I'm just getting started. But I worked in my dad's company from the time I was about twelve. I know what I'm doing."

"You don't have to sell yourself to me," she said, raising her hands. "I have no need of a contractor. The money for one, either."

"I understand you run an RV park in addition to waitressing. I like a girl with ambition."

Who had told him that? Sage or Grady?

"I don't know if I have that. I have goals. Sage is the ambitious one." So she should be right up his alley.

"She is that," he said on a long sigh, picking up his glass and draining the whiskey from it.

The door opened and Juliana walked in, followed by Sage, then Grady. Just terrific. She might need more than her usual number of drinks to relax.

Grady's step faltered when he saw her at the bar with Hollywood. She lifted her hand in a wave, and he motioned her to a table. She wouldn't be rude enough to leave Hollywood sitting on his own, though.

"Come join us." She wished she'd known he'd be here, and she would have invited Maggie, though Grady might accuse her of needing a buffer. Hell, he was the one who'd brought two women.

She slid into the booth beside Grady as Hollywood pulled up a chair. Cassidy ignored the look Sage gave her. Surely Grady had told his sister Cassidy would be here. Grady apparently caught Sage's look, too, because he pulled Cassidy's hand onto the table and covered it with his. Or maybe that was another message to Hollywood.

Jason brought them a round of drinks and Sage and Hollywood started talking about her bar.

"Let's go shoot some pool," Grady said to Juliana and Cassidy.

"I don't know how to play," Juliana said.

"I'll teach you."

Juliana sighed as they strolled over to the empty table. "I'm so tired of being helpless all the time. One of these days I'm going to show you there are some things I do know how to do."

"You can make a mean omelet," Grady said, selecting a cue from the wall and handing it to her.

Wow, that made Cassidy feel better, knowing Juliana was feeding Grady breakfast. Hard enough they shared that history, but now a house and meals...

Cassidy shook herself. She was not the jealous type. She racked the balls while Grady explained the game to Juliana. He let her break, which she didn't do very well, the tip of her cue going under the white ball so the force was lost and the balls only meandered a bit apart.

"Let's try that again." He nodded to Cassidy to rerack them, and leaned over, careful not to make contact with Juliana, to guide the cue.

This time she sent the balls spinning in all directions but none dropped. Cassidy took her turn, bending over the table, aware of Grady watching, and sank solid after solid before one ball bounced off the bumper instead of falling. Grady motioned for Juliana to take a turn, but instead of watching her, ready to give pointers, he looked across the table at Cassidy, his eyes hot.

Okay, so maybe she'd put an extra wiggle in her stance, just to make sure he was paying attention. Too bad they weren't alone.

Sage and Hollywood joined them, and they were in the middle of their third game, when the door flew open and Trace walked in.

"Hey, Trace!" Grady called good-naturedly, stepping away from the table.

Trace didn't slow, instead strode toward his brother, shoulders hunched, fists clenched.

"Grady!" Cassidy called out in warning, and he looked over at her, which gave Trace the opportunity to plow a fist into his cheek.

Juliana screamed, and Cassidy bolted forward as Trace reared back to strike again. Before she could reach the men, Trace charged, tackling Grady onto the pool table, scattering balls. Grady's cue clattered to the floor and as he gripped his brother around the back, trying to dislodge him. Trace managed to get some short punches into Grady's side before Cassidy launched herself at him, grabbing his arm. Trace twisted his head to look at her, brow furrowed in confusion, giving Hollywood enough time to come to her aid. Hollywood pulled the bigger man off, flipping him onto his back. Only Cassidy's grip on his arm kept him from falling flat on his back. Grady scrambled off the table, crouched in a fighting stance.

Trace staggered to his feet and lunged toward Grady again, but Cassidy stepped between them, her hand in the center of each man's chest. Hollywood stood at Trace's side, ready to take him down.

"What the hell, man?" Grady demanded, lifting a finger to his split cheek.

"You knew."

"What?" But Grady's face paled, and Cassidy understood exactly what this was about.

"Not here," she said quietly. "Trace. Not here. Not in front of everyone."

That he'd attacked his brother in a public place to begin with surprised her. She'd thought he'd want to keep his private business private.

"Let's go outside," Grady said quietly.

"No. To hell with you. No. You knew and you didn't say anything." Trace's voice was tight, on the verge of tears.

"I just found out, man. I didn't know how to tell you." Grady kept his voice calm, soothing, but Cassidy could still feel the tension running through Trace's body.

"You let her make a fool out of me," Trace said between his teeth.

"I didn't mean for that to happen. I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"What's going on?" Sage demanded, looking from one brother to the other.

"Mandy's cheating on me." Trace's head dropped after the words burst out of him. "She's cheating on me. It's over. She's--she wants to take Vivian and go. I can't--can't lose my little girl." He shook free of Cassidy and shoved Grady in the chest with both hands. "If you'd been here, this wouldn't have happened. But no, you had to go have your adventure and leave me with the ranch, tied to it, never even able to leave for a week to take my wife somewhere. And now she's found someone else and wants to take my little girl."

"Let's go," Sage said quietly, looping her arm through Trace's and guiding him toward the door. "Let's go. Did you drive? Give me your keys."

Trace went with her, meekly, and Cassidy turned to Grady, lifting her finger to the cut on his cheek.

"We should get some butterfly bandages on that. Maybe some ice for the swelling."

He shook his head, his gaze on the door his siblings had just exited.

"It'll scar."

"I deserve it. Sorry." He turned away from her, settled up the bar tab, then gathered Juliana and left without kissing her good-bye.

Chapter Eight

Trace moved into the main house the next day after church, while Mandy packed up her and Vivian's belongings from their place. Grady had thought they'd go stay with Mandy's mom in town, but apparently the woman was ashamed of her daughter's choices, so wasn't allowing Mandy to come home. Grady wasn't exactly sure where they'd be staying. Trace was still too pissed to clue him in. Trace vowed to visit a lawyer in San Marcos first thing Monday morning to keep Vivian with him.

"I do not want my daughter in a house where Mandy's men come and go."

Grady's mother was distraught. "Do you think she's in love with this man?" she asked.

Trace turned pained eyes to his mother. "Does it matter? Do you think if she is, that's better? She's not in love with me anymore."

"I just--I can't imagine Mandy having a parade of men. I didn't think--I thought she would be a one-man woman."

Trace gave a bitter laugh. "So did I."

He apologized to Juliana and Nick, then pushed his chair back and headed to the back patio.

Grady stood, too, fetched two bottles of beer out of the refrigerator, and followed.

Instead of sitting at the table, Trace was slumped on the steps, looking down on the house where his wife was packing up their life. The windows were lit, and the faint strains of music carried on the breeze.

"She's happy to be going," Trace said dully. "She's listening to music and singing while she decides which parts of our lives she's taking with her, and what isn't important to her anymore."

"I'm sorry. I should have told you."

Trace shook his head, blew out a long breath and straightened, reaching for his beer. "Wouldn't have mattered. Wouldn't have saved anything but my pride." Trace kept his gaze on the house as he lifted the beer to his lips. "That's my problem, she says. My pride. Too like my father, too unwilling to admit I'm wrong. Hell, she had a whole list for me. Everything I've done wrong the past ten years. Every way I've failed her."

"I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say.

"Yeah, I am, too." He took another swig. "What she doesn't know is, she kept me from being an even more miserable bastard. Her and Vivian." He rubbed his knuckle between his eyebrows. "Don't know what's going to save me now."

Grady clapped his brother on the shoulder. "I volunteer to give you regular ass-whippings."

Trace angled a look at him then. "Yeah? You didn't do so hot last night. Didn't even get one punch in, and had to be rescued by a girl."

"Figured I deserved it."

"You did."

They sat silently in the cooling evening.

"You going to be okay?" Grady asked after draining his beer and setting it on the flagstone porch next to Trace's.

Trace grimaced. "I'll live."

Grady pushed to his feet. "Tell Mom I'll be back later."

"Where you going?"

"To see my girl."

*****

Cassidy's house was dark when he pulled up and his heart sank a bit. He figured she might go to bed early, but it was only a little after eight. He was about to drive off when he saw the flicker of a television set. That was it--she was watching TV. He parked and walked across the narrow concrete patio to knock on the door, which rattled against the jamb. Damn, he hoped he hadn't scared them.

A moment passed before the door opened and the thin blonde he'd seen at the cafe wrapped in a blanket blinked up at him. Then she smiled and leaned against the door, letting the blanket droop off her shoulder.

"Hey, handsome. New here?"

"I'm, ah, here to see Cassidy."

Her thin eyebrows went up. "Are you?" She turned back to the living room. "Cassidy, you been holding out on me?"

"Jesus," he heard Cassidy mutter in the darkness. "Grady, I'm in my pajamas."

"I just wanted to talk to you for a little bit."

She appeared in the circle of light from the porch, shoulders hunched forward, face scrubbed clean. He wanted to hug her--well, that was the reason he'd come, to hold her, to touch her. He shrugged out of his denim jacket and held it out. She considered a moment before she crossed the threshold to take it, sliding her arms into it, the jacket swallowing her. She nodded toward the porch and he stepped back to let her lead the way--barefoot--to the chairs at the end. She pushed an ash tray out of the way and drew her feet beneath her in the wooden chair.

"What's going on?"

He shook his head and sat in the opposite chair. He'd really hoped for a porch swing or something, a reason to put his arms around her. With the two chairs, with wide arms, facing the same direction, no chance of that.

"Mandy's moving out, taking Vivian with her. Everyone at the house is upset. I wanted to see you."

"Why?"

"I told you." He reached for her hand beneath his jacket. "Seeing you makes me happy."

"Why?" she asked again. "I'm nothing special."

He angled his head to look at her. Did she really believe that? "You're incredible, Cassidy. You're strong and determined and I like being around you. Plus, you're pretty adorable in your Scooby Doo pajamas."

That brought an embarrassed smile to her face. "You must think it's ridiculous that I'm in my pajamas so early."

"Doesn't matter to me. I know about needing to get to bed early."

"Is Trace going to be okay? He was pretty out of it last night."

"He wasn't drunk, just pissed. He's staying in the house until Mandy moves out of their house. It's making him crazy that she's taking Viv to live with some other man."

"It would make me nuts, too." She turned her attention to the RV park.

Belatedly, he remembered that she'd lived with a series of her mother's lovers. Was Vivian going to grow up to be so untrusting?

"If Mandy can figure out how to be happy on her own, she won't need to go from man to man. My mother doesn't know how to be happy without a man, and she could never figure out what made her happy other than men. Is she moving in with this other guy?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. She's not moving in with her folks. Trace is going to try for custody of Vivian."

"That would be good. Maybe it would give Mandy some more space to figure out what she wants. And it would give Vivian some stability."

"Do you wish your dad had tried for custody of you?"

She wrapped her arms around her legs. "He was just as young and stupid as she was."

"Do you see him ever?"

"I know who he is, but no. I haven't seen him since I was about six."

He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. "His loss."

"Sure, I guess." She straightened in the chair, but didn't pull her hand away. "I'm sure Trace won't let that happen. I know your mom won't let it happen."

He gave a chuckle at that. "True." He wanted to ask about her grandparents, more about her dad, if they still lived in town, but he didn't want to press. "What were y'all watching?"

"Chick shows." She rested her head on the back of the chair and smiled at him. "We don't have much in common, my mom and me, but we do like a sappy soap."

"I'm living in one right now." He grinned and she smiled.

She slid forward in her chair and leaned over to touch his face, then stood and settled onto his lap. He slid back in the chair for stability, and curved his hands around her hips as she lowered her mouth to his. He gave a moan of appreciation that she read him so well--or that she wanted to touch him as much as he wanted to touch her. He pressed his fingers into the soft fabric of her pajamas and almost choked when he realized she wasn't wearing anything beneath. He slid his hand to her waist, encountered bare skin as her shirt rode up. Maybe the right thing to do would be to remove his touch, but the warmth of her skin, the smoothness tempted him--he couldn't resist stroking lightly. Instead of breaking free, she sighed against his mouth and angled her head to deepen the kiss, her fingers stroking his beard. Damn, he was never going to shave this thing as long as it kept her touching him.

He eased her closer on his lap, knowing she couldn't mistake his arousal, knowing they couldn't do anything about it, anyway. He was just going to go with it, lose himself in the pleasure of her body against his, her skin beneath his hand, her touch on his face, her warm, open, eager mouth.

The kiss grew hotter, teeth nipping, tongues tangling, pushing him toward the edge of reason. He eased back, looking up at her shadowed face. She lifted her fingertips to her lips. Hiding from him?

"What are we going to do about this?" he asked, his voice rough as he rubbed the ends of her hair between his fingers.

"Ah, you're going to go home to your house, and I'm going to go inside."

"I feel like a damn teenager."

"We do both live with our parents," she pointed out.

"Maybe, after the festival, we can go on a trip." He trailed the backs of his fingers down her cheek, needing to touch her. "Someplace overnight. New Orleans, maybe? Think you could handle being in my dad's plane that long?"

She straightened. "I've never been to New Orleans."

"You've said." He smiled. "We could get a nice hotel on Bourbon Street."

"I'd actually want to see some of New Orleans," she teased.

"Sure, whatever you can see through the window." He winked, and she laughed. Damn, he liked her laugh. "I'll go now." He pushed at her leg and she eased off his lap with some reluctance. When he stood, she leaned into him and kissed him again, softly, then shrugged out of his jacket.

He could not stop his gaze from dropping to her breasts, her nipples pushing against the knit of her top. He groaned and stepped away from her, pushing the chair so that it scraped loudly against the porch. He dropped one last kiss to her mouth and bolted for the truck.

*****

"There she is!"

Cassidy turned at the voice that boomed through Coyote Moon to see her grandparents hurrying toward her, followed by her mother, demure for once. Embarrassed, Cassidy let her grandfather wrap her in his arms, then push her over to her grandmother. She dropped her head to her grandmother's shoulder a minute, breathing in her familiar scent, powder and Oil of Olay, remembering all the times the woman's embrace had made the world safer, before she stepped back and smiled.

"Hi. Y'all are early."

"We get early starts these days. A side effect of getting old."

"Well, have a seat and I'll get right to you. We're a little busy, so the food may take awhile."

"We're in no hurry." Her grandfather pulled out the chair for her grandmother, then dropped an absent kiss to the top of her head.

Why hadn't her mother learned from that, how a man was supposed to treat a woman? Why had she rebelled and damaged both of their lives?

Cassidy turned to get menus and drinks. When she returned to the table, her grandmother caught her hand and leaned forward conspiratorially.

"Is the hottie you're seeing coming by for lunch today?"

"Grandma." She pulled her hand away and cast a chiding look at her mother, who did not look sorry. Probably she'd thrown Cassidy's relationship out to get attention off of herself, or to show that Cassidy was happy and thriving.

"Is that him over there? Because, oh, Lord." Her grandmother motioned to Hollywood, who was sitting with Sage at the bar, then fanned her face. Her grandfather responded with a roll of his eyes.

"No, that's the contractor for the new bar on the corner."

"That's a shame." Her grandmother sat back and picked up her menu. "Is that the McKenna girl with him?"

"It is." She started to say her "hottie" was the "McKenna boy," but she didn't want to continue that conversational thread. "So what interesting things did y'all see on this last trip?"

She let them rattle on about their drive along the Gulf Coast, their cruise to Cozumel, the places they'd waited their lives to see. The whole time, she was aware her mother was watching her.

"Cassidy is certainly related to you," Angie said. "She wants nothing more than to get out of this place and see the world."

Her grandfather shifted in his chair. "We saw what you've done to the place, with the RV park. I admit, it was a bit of a shock to lay eyes on that when we turned the corner. I understand what you're doing, and why, but what's going to happen when the boom is over? You'll have that gravel lot and nothing will grow there."

"Maybe I'll put in a house there." Or maybe sell it, but she didn't want to tell him that. He loved the land. But he had given it to her, and she'd made the decision she thought was best for her. "Right now I'm pulling in good money, and I'm investing it. I'm making good choices."

"Speaking of choices," her grandmother interrupted. "Let's get our order in. And then you can tell us when we can meet your young man."

Her young man. She'd barely wrapped her mind around the idea of having a relationship with Grady, and now her family wanted to meet him. Her stomach fluttered at what that meant. "Oh, well, he's working today, so it'll be awhile."

"What does he do?" her grandfather asked.

"He, ah, works on a ranch."

"A cowboy." Her grandfather sat back, his tone conveying his distaste. "I thought you said you were making good choices."

Okay, maybe not that one. Being with Grady was the most fun she'd had in a long time, but their relationship was a risk to her plans, and possibly to her heart. She didn't miss the fact that she wanted to do what Mason had done to her--escape and leave him behind.

She took her time coming back to the table, checking on her other customers on the way. She saw several townsfolk stop by the table and visit with her grandparents, though she noticed most of them left her mother out of the conversation. Angie drummed her pretty nails on the table and looked longingly toward the bar. Cassidy returned to her family's table with a full pitcher of tea and placed a hand on her mom's. Angie looked up at her with a distracted smile.

"Cassidy Simon!" her grandmother chided, startling Cassidy so much that she almost spilled the pitcher of tea. "You didn't tell us you were seeing Grady McKenna."

Her voice rang out and Cassidy grimaced when Sage turned. Grady's sister leveled a look at Cassidy before turning back to the bar and her meal.

"Yes, Grady. It's not at all serious." She tried to play it off by refilling glasses that didn't need refilling. "He's just having some fun now that he's home from the service."

Her grandmother narrowed her eyes. "Not too much fun, I hope."

"I told you, I'm making good choices."

"You deserve love, the whole package. Both of you do." She patted her daughter's hand. "I hate seeing either of you lonely."

"We are not lonely," Cassidy lied her grandmother. But since she'd started seeing Grady, she'd realized how lonely she'd actually been.

"Well, we want to meet him. Grady. Just because he's a McKenna doesn't mean he's good enough for you."

"We are not serious enough to introduce to each other's family."

"I've barely met him," her mother chimed in.

"Well, of course, everyone knows everyone in Evansville. But I've not seen that boy since, well, he was a boy," her grandfather said.

"Maybe at the dance," her grandmother said.

"We thought the dance was just for the high school kids," Cassidy hedged.

"Oh, not what I heard," her grandmother said. "I heard it's going to be a big deal, right out here in the square. Tons of food and tables where you can sit and eat and watch the goings on."

Cassidy grinned at her grandmother. "You've been back in town a couple of hours and you already know all this?"

"I've got connections." She nudged Angie and winked. "So we have the weekend all booked. We reserved seats for the parade Saturday morning, and we've bought tickets for the dance. And church Sunday morning. I know you haven't been going without us."

Maybe Cassidy could volunteer to work rather than be subjected to that spectacle. Maybe she could work all weekend.

But no, that was wrong. She did want to spend time with her grandparents. Who knew when they'd cross paths again?

"You didn't go to the Bluebonnet Festival when you lived here," Cassidy reminded them.

"You don't know what you're missing until it's gone," her grandmother said, folding her arms on the table. "Don't forget it."

*****

When Cassidy got off work, the square was in the process of being transformed into a party venue. The streets had been closed on three sides of the square, though the street in front of the courthouse still flowed with the loud truck traffic. A few rides were being set up in front of City Hall--a Tilt-a-Whirl and a ferris wheel and a small carousel, from what Cassidy could see. Lights were already strung and lit, and several men were unloading folding tables. Cassidy stopped to watch when she recognized Grady as one of the men. She leaned against a post and drank in the sight as his muscles flexed beneath the sleeves of his t-shirt. Oh, he was fine. And he was hers.

The thought gave her a kick in the middle of the chest, and she had to remember this was just temporary, just for fun.

Watching him sure was fun. For a moment she considered crossing the street, pressing her hand to his chest and kissing him until his toes curled in his boots. She could imagine his grin afterward, the flash in his eyes. Maybe he'd hook one of those arms around her and pull her up on her toes and kiss her again.

She lifted her fingers to her lips, knowing she could act on the fantasy, knowing she wouldn't.

As if he sensed her, he looked up, said something to the man on the other end of the table, and loped across the street to her. He looped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. He kissed her, just as she'd imagined, so that she had to rise on her toes to meet him.

"Hey, how do you like it?" he asked, sweeping his hand toward the square.

"I didn't think you'd be working."

"No? When I live with two of the women on the committee? You think I'd get away clean?" He stepped down to the sidewalk. "Where are you headed?"

"My grandparents are in town. Dinner with them at the house, I suppose."

"You don't want to come give us a hand?"

She started to laugh at his offer, but remembered what he said about looking at her, and feeling happy. "I can help for a bit."

He took her hand in his, and gave her a tug across the street.

Sage and Allison were busy ordering people about, yelling over the noise of the engines, each with her own clipboard. Sage straightened to look at Cassidy as she started setting up chairs around the tables. But then Sage went back to her clipboard and ignored Cassidy.

They worked until dark, until the street lights and the strung lights were the only illumination.

"We'll finish the rest in the morning," Allison announced, though Cassidy couldn't imagine what was left to do. "We need to get over to the courthouse steps for the announcement of Bluebonnet Queen."

Cassidy only then noticed the parking lot had filled and people were gathering on the far side of the square, at the courthouse steps. She waved at Sophia and lifted crossed fingers as the girl headed up the sidewalk with her parents.

Cassidy walked with Grady to his truck, where he shrugged into a long-sleeved shirt over his t-shirt.

"I didn't mean to keep you from your grandparents."

"They'll understand. They came for the festival after all." She leaned against the truck, the metal chilled in the cooling evening. "Do you think Allison and Sage are aware the weather is supposed to change and are just ignoring it?"

"They're hoping their will can keep the cold front from reaching us, I imagine. I guess, what else are they going to do but make the best of it? Everything's already arranged for this weekend."

"I guess. I just thought they might have conceded and put the dance back at the VFW. The parade will be bad enough."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. "Bundle up."

She smiled and rubbed her hands up and down his arms, savoring the feel of muscle beneath her palms. "Who knows? It will probably be ninety degrees in time for the dance anyway."

"You're my date for that, right?"

She widened her eyes in mock surprise. "Oh, you decided to ask me after all."

"May be too late. I know Hollywood's been sniffing around."

She leaned into him. "Oh, I sent him packing."

He slid a hand down her back. "Good." He turned her into the open door of his truck, out of the wind that was picking up, and kissed her, long and slow. She threaded her fingers through his hair, holding him to her, until someone whistled.

He lifted his head. "You said something about dinner with the grandparents."

"They want to meet you." The minute the words were out of her mouth, she froze. She didn't bring people home. Even Maggie hadn't been to her house in years.

But it was too late to call the words back. He'd straightened, sliding his hands down to her hips. "All right. Let's go."

"I--not tonight."

"Why not? They're not here long, right? Better tonight than tomorrow with all the people. Come on. I'll follow you over." He looked past her to where Sage, his mother and Allison were directing contestants and parents onto the courthouse steps. "Unless you want to see who won Bluebonnet Queen."

She did want to know if Sophia had a shot at even being in the court, but no, she needed to get home. And she'd opened her big mouth, so Grady was coming with her.

*****

"Forget your key?" Grady teased when she stood at the front door, taking a deep breath.

"It's been a long time since I brought anyone home. Even Mason barely came, and we were together for seven years."

"Is that right," he said, his tone soft. "I promise not to embarrass you."

She scowled over her shoulder at him. "You know that's not the issue."

"Then I promise not to let you get embarrassed."

"If only it was that easy."

He caught her hand when she reached for the doorknob. When she looked up at him, he simply said, "It is."

She opened the door, then let him take her hand. At least she and her mother had cleaned up the place for her grandparents, so it was neater than usual, but still shabby, compared to his ranch house. She tried not to see it through his eyes as she led him past the living room and into the kitchen.

Her grandmother was the first to notice as she looked up from the bowl she was mixing. A triumphant smile spread over her face when she saw Grady.

"Cassidy! I'm so glad you brought company!"

Almost comically, her mother and grandfather turned in unison--her mother from chopping celery at the sink and her grandfather from checking something in the oven. Only then did Cassidy allow the scents to register--broiling meat, boiling potatoes, and something sweet. Was that cake?

"Everybody, this is Grady."

Her grandfather was already moving forward to shake Grady's hand, followed by her mother, then her grandmother, who had to wash her hands first. Grady kept his hand on Cassidy's hip--to steady himself or her, she wasn't sure.

"Come on, sit down," her grandmother invited.

"Is there anything I can do?" Cassidy asked.

"In fact."

Her grandmother set the bowl she'd been mixing in front of Cassidy, and that sweet scent hit her full on. Chocolate frosting. Her stomach growled, drawing a grin from Grady. Her grandmother carried over two round cake pans, and a plate.

"You can frost this."

"For us?" Cassidy hadn't baked since her grandmother had moved away, the last time she'd iced a cake.

"For the bake sale tomorrow. So make it pretty."

She cast a panicked look at Grady. "Be prepared to see my undomestic side."

"How hard can it be?" He took the first pan, dumped the cake round onto the plate, and it promptly cracked down the middle.

Cassidy arched an eyebrow at him.

"You know what this town needs?" he asked, taking the spatula from her and filling the crack with frosting. "A bakery."

"Where you will not find me working."

He chuckled, smoothing the frosting over the top of the cake. "I'll mention it to Sage. She'll probably have a spot picked out by Monday."

"How are you good at that?" Cassidy asked, folding her arms on the table.

"Not my first bake sale."

"Since you're not doing anything," her grandmother told Cassidy. "Why don't you make the tea?"

Grady flashed a grin at Cassidy when she stole a finger full of frosting and shoved it in her mouth before she stood to make the drinks. Her grandmother took her chair across from Grady.

"So, you've come back to work on the family ranch."

"I have," Grady said easily.

"Grandma," Cassidy warned. "No third degree."

"First degree only," she promised. "You're a pilot, I hear."

"That's what I did in the service, yes, ma'am."

"And you took Cassidy on a plane?"

"Yes, ma'am. We had dinner in San Antonio."

How did her grandmother find out about that?

Her grandfather crossed to the table, the fork for turning the steaks in his hand. "So what are your intentions? I mean, that seems pretty extravagant, just for a dinner."

"Grandpa!" Cassidy choked, hurrying to Grady's side.

Grady didn't blink. "I intend to spend as much time as I can with her. We're going to New Orleans next weekend. She says she's never been out of Texas."

"New Orleans!" Her mother turned to them, then, with a wistful sigh. "I haven't been there in years."

Cassidy realized that they had surrounded Grady, but she sensed no tension in him. She ran her hand over his shoulder and turned back to the tea kettle.

"You make sure you practice safe sex," her grandmother said. "We don't want a great-grandchild just yet."

Cassidy wanted to slide through the cracks in the floor, but when she looked at Grady, he was grinning in her direction.

"Yes, ma'am. No grandbabies yet."

*****

The rest of dinner went relatively smoothly, except that her grandfather passed beer to all of them, even her mother, who wouldn't look at Cassidy when she took a swig. Grady had salvaged the cake and her grandmother placed it in a carrier for its safe delivery to the festival. After dinner, Grady stood.

"Sorry to leave good company, but I have an early morning."

Cassidy popped up, too. She would be able to relax once she didn't have to worry about what questions her grandparents or her mother would fire at him next, or how many more drinks her mother would have before she got embarrassing. "I'll walk you out."

The wind was picking up when she stepped out on the front porch with him, but before she could feel its bite, he wrapped her in his arms and pushed her against the door, bringing his mouth down to hers.

She arched into him, wrapping herself around him, the part of her brain that could function wondering how they'd gotten so good at this so quickly. His hands coasted up her waist and his thumbs brushed the undersides of her breasts, back and forth, until she could think of nothing but him touching her. What would his beard feel like on her naked skin? In just a week, she'd know. Suddenly, she didn't care if she got to see any of New Orleans, as long as Grady could make her feel like this.

His breathing grew heavy as she pressed her hips into his, curious about his response. Oh, that was a great response. She might be tempted to explore further, if her entire family wasn't on the other side of the door.

The same realization must have come to him, because he broke the kiss and let his hands fall away.

"Sure we can't go to New Orleans this weekend?" she managed, her voice raspy.

"I'd fuel up the plane tonight if I didn't think Sage would hunt us down and drag us back to help with the festival." He stroked his fingertips over the curve of her cheek. "I'd better go. Got to do my chores early so I can get back to the festival and see what Mom and Sage need help with."

"The Coyote is closed for the parade, so I can come help, too."

He arched his brows. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. What time?"

"Sunrise, I guess. Around seven. And dress warm."

He gave her another, sweeter kiss, and headed for his truck.

Chapter Nine

The wind chill was in the thirties, unheard of for late March in South Texas. One benefit of the weather was that everyone hustled to get things done. All the chairs and some of the tables had blown around with the front, so Juliana, Nick, Cassidy and Grady helped set those to rights before helping with the floats. Cassidy was wearing two shirts, a hoodie, gloves and her warmest canvas coat, but the wind still blew through her. She watched it whip at the ends of Grady's hair sticking out from his beanie. He was wearing fewer layers, but the temperature didn't seem to bother him at all.

The Bluebonnet Court began to arrive. Cassidy hadn't realized until that moment how she'd wanted to know who won. She'd seen most of these girls come into the Coyote Moon every day to check their jars, and she felt more invested than she'd expected.

Amber, naturally, had won. The girl was popular and had chosen a popular charity, the Volunteer Fire Department. Her best friend Naomi was one of the princesses, and Emily, who Cassidy had only seen come check her jar a couple of times, was the other princess. Clearly she'd done most of her fundraising someplace other than the Coyote. The same with the other girl, Marissa, who was a duchess.

But her heart soared to see Sophia, whose charity was the library and whose jar had often been empty, was the other duchess. She wanted to hug the girl to congratulate her, but, well, she wasn't a hugger.

Cassidy's sympathy kicked in. The poor girls had bought these beautiful spring gowns and were shivering beneath heavy coats as they waited to board the floats. Not to mention the wind was playing havoc with their up-dos, while Liz ran around frantically trying to repair what she could in the wind. Juliana pitched in as well. Cassidy wished she could help, but she knew nothing about fixing even her own hair.

She was surprised when her grandparents approached with her mother, and Angie started helping Liz with the girls. Her grandfather handed out packages to the young women.

"What's that?" Cassidy asked.

"We went up to the sporting goods store on the highway and bought all the long johns they had left--not many, but fortunately most of the ones they had were small, and these girls are thin. They can wear them under their dresses."

Delighted with the idea, Cassidy hugged her grandfather impulsively, then went back to helping direct the spectators, who'd begun to arrive, to the best viewing areas.

The weather didn't keep the crowd away, thankfully, and Vonda of the Coyote had set up a table in front of the restaurant to sell coffee and cocoa. Grady took a cup to each of the Bluebonnet Court while Cassidy delivered to the volunteers.

Then it was time to watch the parade. Grady pulled Cassidy back against his chest, warming her, as the first car with Killian, Allison and Sheriff Trevino led the way, followed by a group of classic cars containing the rest of the festival committee, each in a separate vehicle. Grady groaned in appreciation as a classic Thunderbird rolled by.

"You usually make that sound when you're kissing me," she teased.

He tightened his arms around her and leaned against the building. "Same level of admiration."

She elbowed him in the stomach and he gave an exaggerated grunt as the classic cars moved on and the tractors arrived, pulling flatbeds with kids from 4-H, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts. The football team had its own float, as did the VFW. The marching band, consisting of about thirty kids, was next. Cassidy was glad to hear they could play an actual tune, since they hadn't sounded capable of it as they were warming up.

"Now where in all those cities you want to visit will you ever see anything like this?" Grady said against her ear.

She tensed, some of her enjoyment fading at his words. She wasn't going to give up her dreams. Hell, maybe some day she would see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, front and center, right there on the streets of New York. Sure, Evansville had homemade floats, but she couldn't imagine the spectacle of a parade like that.

"I'll go get us some coffee." She broke out of his embrace and didn't look back as she joined the long line.

By the time she returned, the highlight of the parade, the Bluebonnet Court float approached. The girls had ditched their coats to reveal their dresses, but Cassidy could see their teeth chattering as they rolled by.

Then, from their end, anyway, the parade was over and people began packing up their chairs. Some headed to their cars, parked on the next street, while some headed for the festival on the other side of the courthouse.

"Want to go ride a ride?" Grady asked, pushing away from the wall.

"I need to get in to work. We're opening at ten, as soon as the parade is done. Vonda doesn't want to miss out on the crowd."

He nodded. "So I'll see you tonight."

"I'll meet you here. I hope Grandpa saved a pair of those long johns for me!" She kissed him lightly and headed into the Coyote.

*****

Even her jean jacket and boots wouldn't warm up her spring dresses tonight. Cassidy sighed and settled for her best jeans and her favorite long-sleeved shirt, which she wore with another long-sleeved shirt under it.

As she recalled, the Bluebonnet Dance was usually more formal, but she'd be damned if she froze her ass off--or worse, got sick before her weekend in New Orleans. She didn't wear her hoodie or canvas coat, instead opting for her more stylish but less cozy jean jacket. Her disappointment at not being able to dress up for Grady surprised her. She hadn't thought about pleasing a man in years, not even when she was with Mason. That she wanted to please Grady pissed her off a little bit. She didn't want any man to have that kind of control over her.

She shook it off. She was going to have fun tonight, maybe make him a little crazy, if she could. She was going to dance in the street, maybe ride a ride or two. She wasn't going to care what anyone thought, not his sister, not the people in town. Tonight was for her and Grady.

Her grandfather drove all of them into town. She was surprised at how far from the square they had to park. Again, the cold didn't keep anyone away. Evansville had one festival a year, and people had no intention of missing it.

Grady had already claimed seats at a table, which were apparently at a premium, because he had his leg stretched out on one, his arm across the back of another. He rose when he saw them coming, and kissed her softly before handing her into a chair.

"Glad y'all got here when you did. I thought I was going to have to start beating people off."

"How long have you been waiting?" Angie asked, scooting her chair in.

"I had to help Sage and Hollywood set up these heaters," he pointed. "But I grabbed this end as people were starting to arrive. Y'all can hold down the fort. Cassidy and I will go get the plates."

"Thanks for that," Cassidy said as they approached the table lined with volunteers serving barbecue plates.

"No problem." He cupped his hand over her ass briefly and kissed her again.

"Where's Juliana?"

"She and Nick are sitting with my dad and Trace."

"Don't you think she'd rather sit with us?"

"I asked her, but she didn't want to be a third wheel. Dad and Trace will take good care of her."

As they waited to be served, Cassidy saw that the cold weather hadn't discouraged others from dressing up. Her stomach sank as she realized she was one of a handful of women wearing jeans. Everyone else, including Sage, Allison and Maggie, were dressed to the nines.

"What does that even mean, dressed to the nines?" Grady asked, balancing two plates in one hand and holding a third.

"Did I say that aloud?" She blinked up at him.

"Talking to yourself--never a good sign."

"I'm not sure what it means exactly, but I know it means I'm underdressed."

"You look great. You always look great."

She didn't know what to say to that as they carried the plates back to the table.

Her grandfather stood upon their return and went to get the drinks. Cassidy was trying to keep her chair from rocking on the uneven ground as she cut into her brisket when he returned with five bottles of beer.

"Grandpa." She couldn't help chiding him, sending a glance in her mother's direction.

"Oh, for God's sake, she can enjoy a beer. She's an adult."

Cassidy didn't want to remind him in front of Grady that her grandparents had left Evansville partly because they were tired of being embarrassed by Angie's drunken behavior. And yet they did nothing to stop it.

"Just one," Angie said, lifting the bottle to her lips.

Cassidy returned her attention to her plate, knowing it was never just one, but tired of fighting the battle.

Maggie came by the table to say hello, and Grady found a chair so she could join them.

"Did you come by yourself?" Cassidy asked.

"I'm actually here as a volunteer, but I kind of hoped you-know-who would want to dance or something."

"I haven't seen him," Cassidy said.

"Oh, he's here. I saw him talking to Sage."

"Who?" Grady asked.

Cassidy opened her mouth to fill him in, but a look from Maggie stopped her. She shook her head.

"You'll never believe who is here, though."

Cassidy lifted her eyebrows in question, since her mouth was full.

"Mason."

Wow, Maggie should probably have waited for that reveal until Cassidy had swallowed. She reached for her beer to wash down the potato salad.

"Really?"

"Your ex?" Grady asked.

Damn, why did he have to be listening, have to see her shock at hearing Mason was in town.

"Are you sure?"

"I saw him with his parents. And some girl." Maggie added the last bit reluctantly.

"Uh-huh. You didn't know the girl?"

Maggie shook her head. "I'm sorry. I just thought I should tell you before you see him yourself." She patted Cassidy's hand. "I'd better get back to work and see if I can catch you-know-who's eye."

"You okay?" Grady asked when she left. "About your ex being here?"

"I can go kick his ass if you want," her grandfather added.

"I'm fine. It doesn't matter to me. He doesn't matter to me."

"Honey, you dated for five years," Angie said.

Seven, Cassidy would have corrected, if that hadn't sounded just too pathetic.

"I'm fine. I've moved on. I have a plan. I'm happy." The last was a surprise to her. Part of her wanted to say it was a lie, that she wasn't happy, that she wouldn't be happy until she was out of Evansville and on her own. But another part of her acknowledged that it might be true. She flashed a smile at Grady and attempted another bite of potato salad.

As soon as they finished eating, Grady excused them from the table and led Cassidy to stand in the lines at the rides. The ferris wheel was definitely too small, one of those with the cages for little kids to sit inside. The carousel was also pretty small, which left the fun house, the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Scrambler, and the Whip.

"Not crazy about spinning after I eat," Grady muttered, examining the options. "Where's the ride where we can just sit and make out?"

"I think that's called your truck," a voice said behind them, and they turned to see Hollywood with Sage, who was making a face.

"We had limited options," Sage said. "Besides, we don't want a post-Bluebonnet Festival baby boom."

Both men cracked up at that, and Sage just stared.

"What's so funny?" she demanded.

Grady pulled his sister into a one-armed hug. "The fact that you don't see the humor makes it even funnier, Sis. Are you actually going to ride one of these things?"

She set her jaw. "I like rides."

"Okay, you pick one, we'll go on that one."

They ended up going on every ride but the kid ones, and while Grady was a little woozy after the Tilt-a-Whirl, none of them suffered any bad effects. Grady stopped at the beer booth and bought them all a bottle, handing them out just as the band swung into a waltz.

"My song," he said, linking his fingers through Cassidy's. "Excuse us."

"What song is it?" Cassidy asked as they stepped into the part of the parking lot cleared for the dance floor, the first couple to do so.

"The one that means I can get my hands on you," he replied, turning her toward him and carrying her into the dance.

They were joined by several couples, including her grandparents and his parents, which surprised her. She snuck a peek to see that Grady and his father had similar dance moves, the hand mid-back holding the beer, the same shuffling step, the same concentration.

"I thought you looked like your mom, but I think you look like your dad."

"Really?" Grady twisted to look at his parents. "I smile more."

"Everyone smiles more than your dad."

"Ooh, ouch," he laughed. "Even you notice that?"

She stiffened a bit, and he followed her gaze. "Mason?"

She nodded, looking at her tall, broad-shouldered ex guiding an unfamiliar petite brunette out on the dance floor. Mason had put the red in redneck back in the day, a country boy through and through, and was not the least graceful. He looked like he might snap his tiny partner in two, though he also seemed to be taking the utmost care not to.

"I can kick his ass, if you don't want your grandpa to," Grady said against her ear.

He'd pulled her just a little closer, his hand flat on the small of her back now that he'd finished his beer, and the way he looked at her...

She dipped her head to avoid the intensity in his eyes. "No. I wasn't joking. It doesn't bother me, other than curiosity. I've moved on."

But then Mason looked up, right at her, and she jerked her gaze away, pissed at herself for being caught watching, for letting him think she still had a weakness where he was concerned.

The next song was faster, and Grady swung into it without missing a beat, spinning her around the floor, under his arm, behind his back, until she had no thoughts but the pleasure he gave her, the fun she had when she was with him. She threw back her head and laughed when he caught her against him and turned her in tight circles.

"I thought you weren't crazy about spinning so soon after eating," she teased, clinging to his shoulders, a little dizzy.

"As long as I have a focal point, I'm okay," he replied, looking into her eyes.

She lifted her mouth for his kiss when a man behind them cleared his throat.

"Mind if I cut in?" Mason asked.

Grady's hand tensed on her back, and he pulled her toward him, just a little. She placed her hand on his chest and looked up at him. His gaze was riveted to Mason, his jaw tight.

"It's okay."

"The hell," he said low in his throat.

Cassidy had never heard that tone from him, and she was wrong wrong wrong to be excited by it.

"I want to hear what he has to say."

"He can say whatever it is without touching you."

"Calm down, Captain Caveman. I've got this." She rose on her toes, brushed a soft kiss over his lips that he deepened, just for a moment, before letting her go.

She wasn't sure to be offended by his show of possession or turned on. She stepped back and faced Mason.

Whatever Grady's intended message, Mason got it, because he held her at a respectable distance as he guided her around the dance floor. Cassidy was certain all eyes were on them, so she wanted this over as quickly as possible.

"I guess you're doing okay?" Mason asked.

"Fine. I guess the same?"

"Ah. Yeah."

"So what are we doing here, getting everyone's attention?"

He met her gaze. "You never did have much patience."

"What are you talking about? We were together seven years. I figure I was plenty patient."

"I shouldn't have left you like that."

"No, you shouldn't have."

"It was selfish of me."

"Again, not going to argue." She angled her head. "Are you coming back to Evansville?"

"Not...no. I'm getting married."

Her feet stopped. No matter how she wanted them to keep moving, no matter how she wanted to pretend she was okay with that, well, she couldn't. "Really." He'd been gone less than a year, and he was getting married?

"I didn't tell you this to hurt you, Cassidy. I just thought you should hear it from me." He watched her face, finally stopped trying to get her to move from the center of the dance floor.

"Right. You're right. I'm glad I heard it from you." She broke out of his hold, her fingers folding into a fist. She would not give in to the urge to hit him, to pour her frustration out on him. No, he wasn't worth it. She didn't love him, not anymore. His betrayal had seen to that.

"I want you to be happy, too," he said, his tone a little whiny.

Had she never noticed that before? She wanted to tell him that of course she wasn't happy--he'd stranded her in this godforsaken town when he'd known how badly she wanted out. He'd known the struggles she had with her mother, and he'd walked away. She couldn't trust--

But she could. She trusted Grady. Maybe it was because she didn't have as much invested in their relationship. Maybe because she'd already been burned and she didn't lean on him to the same extent.

Maybe he was just trustworthy.

A more evolved woman would have wished Mason happiness, but she just wasn't that good. She ended the dance and crossed to Grady, who stood waiting, arms folded. She thought about kissing him hard on the mouth, showing Mason he hadn't hurt her. She thought about forgetting about waiting for New Orleans and a hotel room, taking Grady to his truck and making love to him there, anything to quiet the emotions raging through her.

But when Grady simply took her hand and led her away from the crowd, she felt the pain and the sorrow and the anger leech out of her. He merely brought her fingers to his lips as they walked away.

"Want another beer?" he asked.

She did. Oh, how she did. She understood now why her mother depended on it so much, to dull the noise. But she shook her head. "I've had my limit."

He nodded and led her up the courthouse steps, into the shadows, out of sight. He sat, pulled her down next to him, against his side.

"Okay?" he asked.

She rested her head against his shoulder. "Okay."

They sat side by side for a long time, one of his hands rubbing her back, the other folded around hers, until the noise eased, the anger, the tension. He'd brought her here so no one could see her work through it. That he understood her so well brought another swell of affection for him.

"I'm good," she said finally.

"Yeah?" His voice was bright. "Because I really like this song."

When they emerged from the shadows, they got a few looks, but she figured people thought they'd been making out, not that she'd been battling emotions.

Grady pulled her closer this time on the dance floor, his fingers curving around the back of her neck, keeping her face tilted up, her gaze on his, as they moved to the music. As she looked into his eyes, she forgot about what everyone else might be thinking and just gave into the sensation of being in his arms, being the center of his attention.

He didn't release her, even when the next song was a line dance. He just edged her to the outer part of the floor, still moving to the music, making her smile.

"Cassidy, your mother is sick."

Her grandfather's voice invaded the bubble Grady had put around them, and she looked up. She knew her mother shouldn't have been drinking, but she wasn't going to say so.

"We'll take her on home. You stay and have fun." But the look on his face told her he wanted her to take over, take charge. Just like when he'd moved away and left her to look after her drunk mother.

Reluctantly, she drew her arms from around Grady's neck. "I'd better go."

"You don't have to," her grandfather said, though relief was apparent in his face.

"She'll need to be cleaned up, I'm sure." She reached up and kissed Grady softly. "Thank you."

"See you tomorrow for your riding lesson?" he asked before he released her.

She shook her head sadly. "Not this week." And she followed her grandfather back to their table, where Angie was hanging her head.

The smell of sick hit her, but the scent of alcohol wasn't mingled with it, which surprised Cassidy. At the very least, she should have smelled the beer. Her mother looked up at her, eyes miserable.

"Food poisoning?" her grandmother asked hopefully.

Could be. Cassidy felt bad for expecting the worst. "Let's get you home."

Chapter Ten

Her mother was still sick when her grandparents drove out on Monday. Cassidy had thought maybe she was still playing it up on Sunday because she didn't want to go to church, but no, her illness seemed genuine. But food poisoning didn't usually last so long.

Neither did hangovers.

"Let me take you to the doctor," Cassidy urged her mother on Tuesday, when she came home to see her mother curled up on the couch with ginger ale and crackers.

Angie shook her head. "It's bound to be over soon. Nothing left to throw up."

"It could be a parasite or something."

Angie choked out a laugh. "I'll be fine."

"I don't want to leave this weekend if you're feeling like this."

Her mother patted her hand weakly. "I'll be fine. Just stock up on crackers, chicken noodle soup and ginger ale and I'll be fine."

"The guys will mostly be gone." Cassidy thought aloud. "Can one of your girlfriends come stay with you?"

Angie shifted on the couch, leaning against the back, some of the color returning to her face. "Sure. I'll get Veronica to come over. But I'm sure I'll be better by then.

But even as Cassidy packed for her weekend trip, she felt guilty for leaving her mother alone, though Angie did seem slightly better.

Cassidy hoped she wasn't imagining it for her own selfish reasons.

But no, Friday morning, Angie was on her feet in the kitchen making toast, and she kissed Cassidy good-bye, since Cassidy would go to the airfield right after her shift at the Coyote.

"Call me if you need anything," Cassidy said with a wave of her phone as she hurried out to her car. Relief raced through her. She would have been miserable all weekend if she'd known her mother was still ill.

"Don't think about me. Have fun. Be safe." Angie infused a world of meaning into those last two words, and Cassidy rolled her eyes before she climbed into her car and took off.

The day never passed so slowly. Business dragged before eleven, but then they had a huge lunch rush that lingered until after two. Cassidy busted her butt to get the sidework done so she could go. Darlene took pity on her and finished up her last customers, shooing her out the door.

"Go. See New Orleans. Get laid. Be sure to tell me all about it on Monday."

Cassidy didn't even take the opportunity to be embarrassed. She bolted.

Cassidy's heart was in her throat as she bounced down the torn-up road to the airfield, and saw Grady waiting for her, legs dangling out the side of the plane. He hopped down and crossed to her car, which she parked beside his truck. He took her suitcase from her and started toward the plane, then pivoted, brought her against the length of his body and kissed her, hard.

"Hi," he said. "Ready?"

Was she? Suddenly her stomach was a fluttering mess. Oh, God, don't let her get whatever bug her mother had! How romantic would that be?

"I'm ready."

He secured her bag in the back of the plane, handed her into the passenger seat and helped her buckle in. Her door didn't sound very secure when he closed it, but she dismissed the concern as nerves. She pushed against it and it was sealed. It just didn't seem like a lot of protection between her and the atmosphere once they took off.

"Are you sure it's okay with your dad and Trace for you to be gone from the ranch all weekend?"

"They're sure. Are you trying to back out on me?" He ran through the checks of the controls.

"No, of course not." She relaxed her grip on the seat. "I just don't want anything spoiling the weekend. Like, you know, guilt."

"I don't feel guilty often," he teased. "So you're ready?"

She bounced in her seat a little, needing to disperse the energy running through her. "I'm ready."

*****

Cassidy didn't blink from the moment the plane landed and they'd driven through the city. The weather was gray and damp, not quite raining, but the roads were wet and she felt the water on her skin. A different kind of humidity than Texas.

"Have you been here before?" she asked when he exited the highway without consulting a map.

"A few times. I love it here. You will, too."

Guilt reemerged when Grady instructed the cab driver to pull up in front of a beautiful old Spanish-style hotel in the French Quarter. Bright pink bougainvillea dripped over iron rail balconies, framed white French doors. Good Lord, what had something like this cost? And they were staying two nights? She could never repay him for this.

"Our room should be right up there." He pointed to the fourth floor as he hefted her bag over his shoulder and carried his own.

Mentally she went over her finances and decided she'd treat him to dinner a few times to pay him back.

He checked them in with a flourish that made him seem a little more worldly than she'd expected. He'd grown up in Evansville, and then had gone into the service. When had he learned the confidence of traveling? Or maybe he was just always that confident. He led the way to the elevator and stepped inside first.

They were alone, and he winked at her, then let out a long breath. "We're here. What do you want to do first?"

She placed her bag on the floor by the door and stared at the giant bed with its lush cream-colored coverlet and multitude of pillows. Then she looked at Grady, sexy as hell standing there in his plaid cowboy shirt, his hair a little damp from the weather. When she stepped toward him, he stepped back, holding a hand up.

"Oh, no. I'm not going to be the reason you don't see New Orleans. You're not going back to Evansville saying, 'Grady wouldn't let me out of bed so all I saw was the hotel.' Nope, not going to happen. So let's get out there, get some dinner, walk around, and then we'll come back here." He stepped close then, dropping his hand to the small of her back. "And then, well, whether we see anything outside this room tomorrow is iffy."

She laughed and pulled away. "I'm going to change real quick. I don't want to walk around New Orleans in my work clothes."

Fifteen minutes later they were on the sidewalk, and her first impulse was to see the Mississippi River on the other side of the street from their hotel. Grady ambled after her, hands in his pockets, as she looked over the muddy expanse of water.

"This certainly isn't a Texas river," she laughed, gripping his hand in her excitement. She all but tossed her phone at him. "Take my picture with the bridge in the background. Oh, no, wait, there's a paddleboat. Wait for that and take my picture."

"We can go on a paddleboat tomorrow, if you want."

"Can we?" She took a deep breath, and pushed her hair back from her face. "Oh, I promised myself I would not be ridiculous on this trip. I'm sorry."

"It's cute." He hooked her hair behind her ear. "Sure, we can. Go to Cafe du Monde, maybe go to a cemetery. How about a ghost tour?"

"Oh! Yes! Sounds perfect."

He grinned and took her hand as the rain started in earnest, and guided her back across the street to the shelter of a balcony. "Let's go get something to eat. I worked through lunch so I could leave early. You like jambalaya?"

"Never had it."

"Let me show you."

Apparently, there were no quiet restaurants in New Orleans on a Friday night. None without a crowd, either. They finally got a table by the bar. Cassidy had never seen so many people in her life.

"You want a drink?" Grady had to lean across the table so she could hear.

She nodded.

"Want to try a hurricane?"

She'd heard of hurricanes, so she nodded. But when the waitress brought the giant glasses, one for each of them, she sat back.

"Grady, I want to remember this weekend."

"Just drink what you want, just so you can say you had one."

She did, hesitantly, and was surprised by the flavors that exploded on her tongue. She was grateful when the waitress brought a loaf of French bread so she wasn't drinking on an empty stomach. Wouldn't it be awful if she came all the way to New Orleans to be with Grady and fell asleep on their first night together?

Admittedly, she liked the hurricane more than the jambalaya. Turned out she wasn't a particular fan of sausage. She hated leaving anything on her plate, or in her glass, but she didn't want to make herself sick, not tonight.

"Are you nervous?" he asked, taking her hand in his on the table.

"A little."

"You don't have to be with me." Then he grinned and sat back. "I am, too. I haven't been with anyone since before I went over."

"No?" That knowledge gave her a thrill. "I haven't been with anyone since Mason."

He scowled.

"What, you thought I'd be a virgin?"

"No, he's just not good enough for you. Comes back to tell you in front of the whole town that he's engaged? What a jackass."

She grinned to hide the fact that his words sliced a bit.

"Ready to go?" he asked after slipping some bills into the folder the waitress presented to him.

"Oh, I was going to pay!" Cassidy protested. "I forgot."

"Don't worry about it."

She wasn't going to argue with him in public, but she fully intended to pay her share of this trip. She wouldn't be beholden to him, wouldn't be the poor girl treated to a vacation by the rich boy. She did not want that dynamic between them.

Despite the rain, falling steadily now, the streets were more crowded when they left than when they arrived, and they had to walk through a cluster of people waiting to get into the restaurant.

"I should have warned you," he said, taking her hand once they reached the relatively open space of the sidewalk. "It's not quiet in the Quarter. Ever. Maybe around dawn. Do you have trouble sleeping?"

"I don't usually." But she had never spent an entire night with a man. She didn't know if she'd be able to relax enough. Great. Something else to be nervous about.

"Cassidy." He tugged her out of the way of the foot traffic and pulled her into his arms. He cupped her face in his hands and smoothed her hair back, then bent his head to kiss her.

Just that, just that touch of familiarity was what she needed. She rose to meet his kiss, leaning into him, letting the hunger that had been fueling her all week take over her fears.

He must have sensed it, because he broke the kiss, took her hand and led her down the sidewalk.

Jackson Square was brightly lit, and lined with vendors and musicians. The church itself was illuminated, bright and welcoming.

"We'll eat breakfast there tomorrow," he said, pointing to Cafe du Monde. "Ever had a beignet?"

"I tried to make them once. Not sure whether I was successful."

"I don't think anyone's been able to replicate these." He turned a corner and they were in front of the hotel.

Her nerves jumped back to the forefront.

"How did you get us here so easily?"

He shrugged. "Good memory."

"You've been here before."

"Not with a girl. With my folks awhile back, when Sage graduated college. This trip was her graduation present."

She didn't know why that soothed her, knowing he hadn't been here with another woman. She hadn't really known him before he went into the service. But that this was theirs to share together, that mattered.

They shared the elevator up with a family--parents, a sullen teenager with earbuds and his head down, and a young girl who smiled brightly at Grady, who smiled back, making Cassidy's heart do a slow flip.

"Charming them that young?" she asked when they exited the elevator and walked down the hall to their room, while the family headed into the room next door.

"What can I say?" He unlocked the door and swung it open, inviting her to precede him.

"I hope we don't scar her tonight." Cassidy's pulse raced as she looked at the big bed that suddenly seemed to fill the room.

Grady stepped up behind her and brushed her hair away from her neck, then lowered his mouth to the tender skin. She gasped at the rasp of his beard against her, arousal instantly overwhelming anxiety. His hands on her hips held her in place as he kissed his way up her neck to linger behind her ear, then his lips traveled back down to her shoulder. She leaned into him, wanting to feel him against her back, all of him. He released her hips to slide one hand up her body, between her breasts, and back down, resting over her stomach.

She twisted in his arms, pressing against him, her arms around his neck, and lifted her mouth to his. He made a sound low in his throat, his hand coursing up her back to cup her head, angling her mouth beneath his. Her knees wobbled when his tongue slid along hers in a seductive dance, the kiss deepening.

His hands at the hem of her shirt brought her back to reality for a minute, and she unwound her fingers from his hair to snatch his wrists.

"Wait."

He lifted his head, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"There's kind of--a reveal."

"A..." His eyebrows went up. "What kind of reveal?"

She turned and pushed him to a sitting position on the bed, then pulled her shirt over her head to display her new bra, cream colored but trimmed with black lace. His eyes darkened as he looked at the way her breasts swelled over the top of the garment, and he reached for her. She held out a hand and stepped back, heart pounding as she unbuttoned her jeans, then shimmied out of them, not nearly as gracefully as she'd hoped, stumbling a bit when she pulled one foot free, turning the leg of the jeans inside out.

But when she straightened and dared to look at Grady, his nostrils were flared, his gaze riveted to her body, showing definite appreciation for the matching bra and panty set she and Maggie had driven to the outlet mall in San Marcos to buy.

"Like it?" she managed, a bit breathy.

"Like it," he replied, his voice rough.

This time, she let him scoop her close, his hands rough on her soft skin above the high waistband of her panties, his face level with her breasts. He brushed a soft kiss between them before pulling her forward, onto the bed with him so that she straddled him. A thrill ran through her when he opened his mouth over the upper swell of her breast, and she made a strangled sound, arching her back to maintain the contact.

She let her head fall back, her hair tumbling down her back adding to the sensual storm roaring through her body, his mouth above her bra, his beard tickling her skin, his hands sliding up her waist, his thumbs rubbing over her nipples through her bra, his jeans rasping her inner thighs. He coasted his hands up her back and unhooked her bra clasp, dragging the straps down her arms. She had a momentary intrusion of regret that she'd spent so much on a garment that was so soon discarded, but then he closed his lips around her nipple, looking up at her as he licked and pulled on the sensitive tip. She tightened her thighs on his legs as lust pounded through her. God, she could--

She dragged her fingers through his hair, holding him to her, and he suckled harder. Her body took over, her hips rolling against his, his name bubbling from her lips. He gripped her hips and pushed against her.

The orgasm slammed through her, her back arching, her fingers tightening, her thighs clenching, holding him to her.

He grinned as she finally relaxed against him. "This is going to be fun."

He stood, holding her with one arm as he yanked the covers down with the other, then shoved the plethora of pillows onto the floor on the far side of the bed. Still holding her, he turned and dropped her to the mattress, covering her with his body.

She gripped the opening of his shirt and tugged, making the snaps sing as they sprang apart. She dragged her palms over the planes of his chest, covered with a scattering of chest hair, and she dipped her head to kiss the strong line of his throat, the hollow between his collar bones. She liked the taste of him, salty and male, just a hint of the spicy jambalaya. She wanted more.

Tightening her legs about him, she flipped him onto his back and stroked her hand down his chest to the waistband of his jeans.

"You surprise me," he said, his voice rough as she kissed her way down his chest.

"Good." She unfastened his jeans, and he lifted his hips to help her pull them down. She hesitated once he lay beneath her in only his boxers, his erection impressive. She wanted to touch him, but...would he think her too slutty?

Then again, she _had_ just come in his arms.

She glided her hands up his thighs, savoring the tickle of hair against her fingers, slid beneath the legs of his boxers. Both of them gasped when she closed her hand around him. He touched the back of her hand, showing her how to stroke him. His lips parted on a gasp as she pleased him, and he kept his gaze focused on her. Finally he pushed her hand away and rolled her beneath him, peeling her panties away in the same move. She didn't even think he noticed they matched her bra, that he even looked at them, before he parted her. The sound of cellophane tearing--she hadn't even seen him grab a condom--was the only sound other than their breathing. He reached between them, fumbling a bit, before guiding himself to her. She lifted her hips and he slid into her, pinching just a bit as her body stretched around him. Even their breathing stopped as he seated himself fully inside her. He braced himself over her, stroking her hair back, then began to move.

The rhythm was not as easy to find as their rhythm on the dance floor.

"Wait...let me..." She lifted her hips from the mattress, adjusted herself. "Okay."

He pushed forward, testing, and she stopped him again, this time bringing her legs higher around his waist, then lower, wriggling beneath him, and then... "Oh. Yes. That!"

He chuckled as he thrust into her, as she rose to meet him, hungry for the pleasure he offered. She trailed her fingers down his back, feeling the play of muscles as he flexed into her, filling her. She met him stroke for stroke, feeding her hunger, building his. Her hands were everywhere, savoring everything. The scent of him, of their desire, surrounded her and she couldn't believe she'd ever been hesitant. She wanted this, wanted it all.

His thrusts grew harder, his breathing more ragged, and he slid his hand between their bodies to find her, his thumb circling until she stilled, quivering, beneath him, then slammed her head back against the mattress, her body tight as the orgasm swept through her like a wave, taking him under with her.

She clung to him for a long moment afterwards, until he had to pull out, and he dropped to the mattress beside her, his arm crooked over his forehead.

"Damn, Cassidy." Then he turned his head, grinned at her, then popped off the bed to deal with the condom.

He returned from the bathroom with two bottles of water and flopped onto the bed, his back against the headboard. He twisted the cap off and drained half the bottle without taking a breath.

She shifted to sit beside him, opening her bottle only after she drew the sheets up to her stomach.

He looked sideways at her. "You know that by the time this weekend is over, I'm going to know every inch of you, right?"

She blushed, even as his words sent a thrill through her, igniting nerves she thought he'd obliterated with her second orgasm. When she didn't know how to respond, he set his bottle on the table by the bed and hooked an arm around her hip, dragging her against him, pushing the sheet aside.

They were skin to skin, the friction delicious, and he kissed her. His arousal stirred against her, surprising her at the quickness of his recovery. He turned her onto her back and slid down her body, dragging his chin over her stomach, grinning when she groaned. He nudged her legs apart, pressing his lips to her lower stomach as he lay between them. Her nerves hitched when she realized his intention.

"Grady, no." But the words came out more like a plea. She and Mason hadn't been so adventurous, and she never thought the idea had much appeal. But now, with Grady's breath against her, she was tempted.

"Seriously?" he asked, stroking his fingertips up the insides of her thighs.

"I...can't." She tried to squeeze her thighs together.

"You...don't have to do anything."

He parted her, and then she was lost in sensation, his lips and tongue, his fingers. She never, never, never thought--And then she was flying, gripping his shoulders, hooking her feet around his back.

And then he was over her again, in her, and she was flying higher, and this time, he was flying with her.

The following morning, they didn't meander into Cafe du Monde until after one.

Chapter Eleven

Cassidy's nerves skittered as she tied her shoes for the walking haunted New Orleans tour. She didn't really believe in ghosts--at least, she'd never really given it much thought--but the idea of going on a tour of haunted places in America's most haunted city gave her chills.

They'd had such an amazing day--a very late breakfast at Cafe du Monde with the most delicious pastries she'd ever eaten, a trip on the Mississippi on a paddle boat, where she stood at the rail the whole time, despite the drizzle, dinner at a Cajun restaurant where she ordered catfish, blackened, which was delicious, and now they were heading out for a late-night tour of the city and cemeteries.

She looked up as Grady stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Holy hell, she could love this man. He was always happy about something. Mostly, this weekend, though, he seemed to be happy about getting laid.

She pushed to her feet and smoothed the comforter where she'd been sitting, and his eyebrows went up.

"No, not an invitation. Not until later, anyway." They'd already made a serious dent in the large box of condoms he'd brought. "Let's go get scared."

She reached for his hand just as her phone on the nightstand rang. Well, hell. A few more minutes and she'd have left it behind, since she had already loaded it with pictures of their trip. She hadn't intended to take it tonight because didn't want to be responsible to anyone this weekend, didn't want her bubble of adventure infringed upon. She looked at the phone a long moment, not recognizing the number on the display.

"Going to answer it?" Grady asked, like he thought she should.

She relented and picked it up, only to find the call had gone to voicemail. She picked up the charger to plug the phone back in, but Grady watched her expectantly, as if wondering at her lack of curiosity. So she waited for the phone to inform her she had a voicemail, and listened.

"Miss Simon, this is Jolie at Live Oak Hospital. Your mother has been in a car accident."

Cassidy dropped to the edge of the bed, unable to listen to the rest of the message. Instead she chose the "call back" option, hardly able to catch her breath. "This is Cassidy Simon. Jolie just called to tell me my mother was in a car accident. That can't be right. She doesn't drive. She doesn't have a license."

"This is Jolie," the voice on the other end said. "She wasn't driving. She was a passenger."

"Is it bad?"

"She's banged up pretty good--broken wrist, broken ribs, broken collarbone. She can't go home on her own."

Cassidy blew out a sigh of relief. "No internal injuries?"

"No, and she hasn't lost consciousness. But she can't be alone. She won't be able to do much for herself."

"I'm in New Orleans." She looked up at Grady, who was watching closely. She hated asking him to fly her home early. "I can be there in the morning."

"Does she have someone in town I can call to get her home, and stay with her tonight?"

Cassidy wished to hell she could trust one of her mother's friends. She supposed she'd have to, for a few hours anyway.

"Can you call Veronica Longoria?" She gave the number, then had a thought. Veronica was supposed to stay with her mother this weekend if Angie was feeling sick. "Veronica wasn't driving, was she?"

"No."

"Who was?"

"I can't give out that information, I'm sorry."

"Is the driver going to be okay?"

"Yes, but he was drunk."

God. Cassidy pressed a hand to her stomach. Who was it? Chris? "Was anyone else hurt?"

"No, it was a single-car accident, thank God. I'll give Veronica a call and let you know."

Cassidy disconnected and looked up at Grady. "My mom was in a car accident with a guy who was driving drunk. She's got some broken bones, but she's going to be okay."

"Okay, well, let's check out and I'll get you home."

Obstinance rose in her. "No. We have plans. She made a mistake. She can deal with it until tomorrow."

"Are you really going to be able to enjoy yourself tonight, knowing she's home and in pain?"

No, she wasn't. But she also wasn't going to let Grady drop all of his plans--and the money he'd spent--to haul her home when they'd be leaving in about twelve hours anyway.

"Come on, let's go. The tour will be starting soon."

He looked at the phone on the night stand. "Shouldn't you wait to see if her friend is able to pick her up?"

"It would take us a couple of hours to get there anyway, Grady. It doesn't matter."

He set his feet apart and folded his arms over his chest. "Pack your things."

Tears filled her eyes despite her using every ounce of will to battle them back. "You don't understand. I'm tired of being responsible for her. I can't even have a weekend away and she goes and screws things up. Don't you see?"

"I do see." He stepped forward and rubbed her arms. "But she's your mother. The only one you have. It's a few hours earlier than we planned. We still had fun. And you need to get home now."

She would not burst into tears. She'd already shown him how selfish she was, she wasn't going to be an emotional basket case as well. Pushing down her disappointment--no, disappointment was too mild a word--she turned away to gather her belongings and shove them back into her suitcase.

"We'll come back," he promised as he did one last check of the room before leading the way down the hall and to the front desk.

*****

Cassidy wouldn't let Grady follow her to the hospital. He'd already done enough for her. God, though, she'd hated the tension she'd felt as he'd checked them out of the hotel, on the ride to the airport, on the plane ride home. They'd barely managed the most casual of conversation, which made her sad because they'd had such easy conversation all day Saturday. That she'd felt so comfortable with him after the intimacy they'd shared surprised and delighted her.

One phone call had destroyed that, at least for her. Had reminded her who she was and how she needed to get away from Evansville, from her mother.

He'd been kind, so kind, and tender when he'd kissed her goodbye at the airfield after she'd firmly refused to let him take her to the hospital. She was going to face her mother on her own.

When she got to the hospital, she asked for Jolie. A petite brunette in bright blue scrubs appeared at the desk.

"Hey, you made good time. Which is good, because I couldn't get hold of Veronica." She angled her head. "How did you get back here so fast?"

"I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said private plane."

Jolie laughed. "Come this way. She'll be glad to get out of here. There was some...drama when her driver's wife showed up."

Cassidy rolled her eyes. Another reason to be glad Grady hadn't accompanied her. "Was it Chris?"

Jolie sighed but said nothing. Cassidy took that as answer enough. What had Chris been doing in town over the weekend? Or had he stayed because he'd known Cassidy was going to be out of town?

"She's in quite a bit of pain," Jolie said, leading her into the emergency room.

"Why? She's been here hours. Hasn't the medicine kicked in?"

"She won't take any." Jolie pushed aside the curtain to reveal Angie leaning back on the exam bed, her eyes half-lidded.

She certainly looked like she was doped up. "My mother?" Angie lived to get stoned. "What did you offer her?"

"I'll let her explain. I have some paperwork for you to sign before you take her."

Explain? What was there to explain? Jolie turned away, presumably to go get the paperwork, and Cassidy approached her mother's bed. She took her mother's hand, which was fisted on top of the cover.

"Mom? Why aren't get letting them give you medicine?"

"Can't."

"Why not?" Had her mother joined AA and hadn't told her?

"Can we just go home? I just want to go home." The misery in Angie's eyes was more than pain.

"Why was Chris in town this weekend?"

"We thought, since you'd be gone, we could have a romantic weekend of our own."

"With a married man."

Angie sighed. "We are not having that argument again."

"Yes, well, how did your romantic weekend turn into a car accident?"

"We went to Garcia's for a few drinks and some dancing. He didn't handle the news too well."

"What news? Why did you get in the car with him if he was so drunk?"

"How else was I going to get home?"

"Jesus, Mom. You could have been killed."

"Then you wouldn't have had to worry about me anymore."

"Mom. God."

Jolie returned with the paperwork and Cassidy signed her out. Together they helped Angie off the bed and into a wheelchair. Jolie pushed the wheelchair out to the car, and they helped Angie in.

"Are you sure she doesn't need prescriptions or anything?"

"I've included some in her paperwork, but I really don't think she's going to want to take them."

Puzzled, Cassidy took the paperwork and walked around the car to drive home.

Her phone on the seat beside her lit up as her mother rested her head against the passenger side window, moaning a little when they hit a speed bump. Cassidy glanced down to see Grady's number on the screen. She wasn't ready to fill him in yet. Maybe once she got her mother settled.

And figured out why she didn't want to take her meds when she was clearly willing to go to a bar with her boyfriend. Getting her mother into the house was more difficult on her own. Her mother moved very gingerly. Cassidy wished her grandparents were still here.

She got her mother to bed and brought her the pills that Jolie had handed her. "She said you can take these. Mom, what's going on? Why didn't you let them give you pain medication? Jolie said there's not much they can do for the ribs and the collarbone, other than immobilizing them."

Angie burst into tears, burying her face in her good hand.

"Mom. What is it?" Cassidy dropped to the mattress beside her mother and put her hand on her leg.

Angie struggled to catch her breath, then let her hand fall away and looked at Cassidy.

"I'm pregnant."

Cassidy's world dropped away. "You're what?" Her mind whirled. Her mother was forty-three, so it wasn't completely out of the question, but she'd been on the pill for years to avoid this very thing. "Don't you know better?"

"Of course I know better. But you know how things can get in the heat of passion."

Cassidy tried not to think about last night with Grady, and how easy it would have been to forego the condom. "I thought you were on the pill."

"I am. I mean, I was. I stopped when I realized I was pregnant."

"Were you taking it regularly? How did this happen?"

Angie's eyes filled with tears. "I guess I wasn't as good about it as I should have been. I'd miss a day, but then I'd take two the next day."

Cassidy closed her eyes with a sigh. Should she have kept better track of her mother's habits? Why did her mother's lack of responsibility mean that Cassidy was about to have more?

"When did you find out?"

"I've known for about a week, but I thought I'd tell Chris this weekend."

"Are you sure he's the father?"

Her mother stared. "Of course I'm sure."

"Chris is married." And had three kids, if she remembered correctly.

"Yes." Angie made a strangled sound. "His wife came to get him from the emergency room, and when I told her--"

"Oh, Mom, you didn't."

"I had to make her understand."

"Understand what? You think he's going to leave her and his other kids for you?" She pressed her hands to her face and leaned forward, her elbows on her thighs. No way would her mother be able to take care of this baby on her own. Hell, even though Angie was refusing drugs for her pain now, how long would her sobriety last? What would her drinking do to a baby?

Her dream of freedom dissolved right in front of her, like the illusion it had always been. Despair was swallowed by anger, and she pushed to her feet. She needed to get away from her mother, the soul-sucking, dream-sucking woman. She strode out of the room, resisting the urge to slam the door. She was in the middle of the RV courtyard before she stopped, arms wrapped around herself. The oilfield workers were gone for the weekend, so the place was dark and quiet, not even the sound of a television or an air conditioner.

Probably for the best that Chris was gone, because Cassidy might have stormed into the trailer and dragged him out here, pummeled him into the ground for taking advantage of a lonely alcoholic.

Maybe his wife was ripping him apart. Whatever Cassidy's pain, she couldn't imagine his wife's betrayal. And what about his kids?

Maybe his wife would make him leave the oilfield, and on top of being stuck taking care of a baby, Cassidy would be short a tenant.

She knew she was being selfish, but damn it, she couldn't help it. She'd wanted out of this place since her grandparents left, wanted distance from her mother, and in half her life, she hadn't managed any of that.

She was doomed to die in this town.

*****

She wasn't scheduled to work the next morning because she was still supposed to be in New Orleans, but she went in anyway. She hadn't slept much, but she needed space from her mother.

Around lunchtime, Grady walked in. Cassidy's heart kicked against her ribs in joy, then dismay, when he crossed to her.

"How's your mom?"

Every ounce of self-control went into not bursting into tears at the question. "Hurting, but she'll heal."

"Did they arrest the guy she was with for drunk driving?"

"I don't think so. His wife came to get him from the hospital."

Grady rolled his eyes, then touched her arm, rubbing gently. She drew a deep breath, wanting to back away from the temptation to bury herself in his arms and forget, for a moment, how bad things were.

How could she tell him her mother was pregnant? What would the people of the town think? Trashy alcoholic seducing a married man, got what she deserved. Cassidy could hear the whispers now.

She was going to have to tell Grady sooner or later, especially when she had told him her plan to get out of town was no longer an option. He'd entered into the relationship thinking it was temporary, thinking they had no possibility of a future.

"Want to come by for another riding lesson?" he asked, easing closer, his hand shifting to stroke her back.

She eased away. "I need to go take care of my mom."

His brow furrowed. "Then why did you come to work?"

"I needed the cash to pay for the medical bills."

"Won't the driver's insurance cover that?"

She shrugged. "I didn't event think about that." But she hadn't wanted to tell him she needed to get away from her mother, didn't want him to ask why. "I guess I need to call...him." She winced, thinking about what would happen if his wife answered the phone.

"Cassidy." He touched her cheek. "I'm sorry our weekend was cut short. I want to find time to spend with you, but you've got to work with me."

She couldn't meet his gaze, though everything in her protested. He was so good to her. He deserved someone who would treat him well, who wouldn't put up so many walls. Someone who was staying in Evansville because she wanted to, not because she had no choice.

She needed to end this, though the part of her that had so much fun in New Orleans protested. He'd done all of that for her. Why couldn't she open her heart to him?

Or why couldn't she find the courage to break it off?

"Later," she promised, though to him, or herself, she couldn't say, as she went back to work.

*****

Frustration made Grady restless. His absence from the ranch over the weekend meant his work had piled up, but even knowing he had all that to do, he couldn't settle down to do it.

"I thought you got laid," Trace drawled when Grady shoved away from the desk in the barn and strode toward the door.

Grady scowled at his brother, not wanting to discuss his weekend. But he needed to talk to someone.

"She's been acting weird since we got back."

"Her mom was in a car accident and got pretty banged up. I imagine that's taking a lot of her time."

"It is, I know, but it's something else. Something in her eyes. Like she's gone off somewhere."

Realization hit him. Maybe she _had_ gone off somewhere. She wanted to leave Evansville. What if that trip to New Orleans gave her a taste of her dream and, instead of satisfying her hunger, made her ravenous? What if he'd just accelerated her desire to leave? Shit.

He shouldn't have let himself get involved with her, knowing she was going to leave. At the very least, he should have kept his emotions reined in, not let them get tangled up in her, so that his happiness and hers were tied together. Because clearly she wasn't happy, and he was damned miserable.

He dragged his hands down his face. "She doesn't want to stay here."

Trace snorted a breath. "Cut her loose then, man. Not worth the trouble. Trust me."

Right. If anyone knew about trying to hold onto a woman who didn't want to be here, it was Trace.

Okay, fine. He'd give her space, see if she'd come to him. Only he knew she never would. She didn't ask anyone for anything. He had to figure out how to approach her without making her skittish. Damn, and he'd gained so much ground with her the past few weeks, got her to feel open with him. He wished he knew how to keep that doorway open.

So he waited for her after work on Thursday, the first day he could get away from the ranch and into town.

For a moment, when she walked out of the Coyote and saw him sitting on the open tailgate of his truck, joy flashed across her face before she shut it down.

What had he done wrong? He hopped down and waited for her to approach. That, he was pretty confident she would do. He touched her arm and leaned in for a soft kiss, which she also allowed, giving into it for a second before stepping back.

"Missed you," he said. "Sorry I couldn't get in before now. How's your mom?"

She dragged a hand through her hair. "Don't ask."

"Cassidy." He captured her hand and waited for him to look at him. "I'm asking."

She looked around, as if to see if anyone else was around. "Chris left. He didn't come back with the other guys on Sunday night, but he came early Tuesday, loaded up his RV and took off. Didn't even say anything to my mother or me, just left a note that he was leaving, paid next month's rent because it's the end of the month and he didn't want me to have to rush to try to get someone else into his spot. But nothing about my mother, nothing about insurance, nothing about--"

He literally saw her put on the brakes. "Nothing about?"

She turned and leaned against the tailgate. This time when she pushed her hair back,  he saw the strain in the lines of her face. "I guess you'll know sooner or later. She's pregnant."

He couldn't process that. "She's--your mom? Is pregnant?"

She pulled her legs up in front of her and wrapped her arms around them. "Yup. I knew, you know, that it was possible, but I guess--I should never have expected her to be responsible. I actually should be amazed it didn't happen before."

"Wow." He dropped back to the tailgate of the truck, hands between his thighs. "I can't--I don't even--" He shook his head. "What is she going to do?"

Cassidy drew in a breath. He wasn't sure if she was surprised by his question, or surprised she hadn't thought she had options.

"She--we haven't talked about it. I--she's--between the pain from the accident, the nausea and Chris's departure, she spends most of the time sleeping. I just...presumed she'd keep the baby, but maybe..."

She lifted her head and looked at him. Her eyes were bright with tears.

"No. No, we're going to keep the baby, even if it means I'm trapped here for eighteen more years."

"Trapped," he repeated. Trace's advice to cut her loose echoed in his head. He didn't want to repeat his brother's mistake, holding onto someone who didn't want to be held.

"I can't let her raise that baby on her own. I can't. She won't be able to."

"Cassidy, she's a grown woman. Of course she can."

She shook her head. "She can barely take care of herself. She's not drinking right now, but how long will that last? I can't chance that she'll drink while she's pregnant, or that she'll drink when the baby's little and will forget to take care of him. So I'm stuck here."

"You know, this isn't the worst place in the world." He looked around the square. "It's peaceful. It's growing. There's more to offer every week."

She followed his gaze, her brow furrowed, as if she couldn't see what he saw. "Says the person who's already gone out and seen the world. Says the person who wasn't abandoned here."

Tension tightened his shoulders and he hopped off the back of the truck. "I know this was a curve ball for you. I get that. But I don't think it's as bad as you're making it out to be. I don't know. Maybe it's a sign you should stick around. That there's more for you here."

"Like what?" She jabbed a hand toward the Coyote. "A lifetime worth of waitressing?"

Ouch. She didn't even look at him, didn't even take him into consideration. He'd known, intellectually, that she had planned all along to leave. So why did the fact that she didn't think twice about their relationship hurt?

"Like, we can see where this is going."

She pivoted on him, her eyes wide, then her shoulders slumped. "Grady."

"What?" He touched her face. "We're just getting started here."

"I--can't." She pushed his hand away. "You don't want to be involved in my mess of a life. You--I mean, this worked when I was going to be leaving. I wasn't in this for a happy ending."

"Okay, but does that mean a happy ending is off the table? I thought we were getting along pretty well. I thought last weekend was pretty special. Didn't you?"

She lifted a hand, not looking at him. "I did. I've never known anything like it. But was that because of the trip, or because of us?"

She did know how to take the ego out of the equation. "Give us a chance to find out."

"I can't."

"Can't, or won't?"

Finally, she turned her gaze to him, but didn't say anything.

He'd thought as much, but figured he'd have time to, well, at least go through the steps of the relationship. Enjoy this high a little longer, maybe convince her that staying in Evansville wasn't the end of the world.

Now that choice had been taken from him, that high deflated. He didn't know what to say as she pushed him away.

"Look, you're a McKenna. You deserve better than white trash, and believe me, nothing white-trashier than me." She drew in a breath through her nose. "I'm sorry, Grady."

He let her walk away. He'd give her time to get used to this new twist in her life before he'd try to make her see they were good for each other.

*****

"I have no idea how to get him to see me, especially when she's around," Maggie sighed, leaning on the table, her gaze on Sage and Hollywood at the bar. "Feels like high school all over again."

Cassidy turned the pitcher sideways to pour tea into Maggie's glass. "Why do you want him anyway?"

Maggie turned wide eyes to Cassidy. "Have you seen the man?"

"Looks aren't everything."

Maggie sat back in her chair, looking at her friend for the first time. "Thank God for that. What the hell happened to you?"

Cassidy sighed. She knew she should tell Maggie about her mother before she heard it from someone else, but she didn't want to tell her in the middle of the Coyote, and didn't have the energy to drag herself to Garcia's or someplace where they could talk. Instead she just shook her head to show her friend she was fine.

Except she wasn't. She'd walked away from Grady without looking back, never expecting to feel this hollowness afterwards, this empty spot where he wasn't in her life any longer. All she could think of was that she was glad she hadn't let it go on longer. She almost wished she hadn't gone to New Orleans with him, because the memory of their time there, carefree and romantic, was so painful she couldn't bear to touch on it. But she wouldn't wish that time away, not for any reason.

Maggie forgot all about Hollywood, her intuition honing in on her friend. "Come to the bank after your shift. We'll talk."

"I don't need to talk."

"I can see you're upset about something, that you're not sleeping, that you're closing yourself off. Come. If you don't, I'll park myself in here all day tomorrow and keep asking until you tell me something."

Cassidy knew she would, too. She nodded briefly, and turned to take care of her other customers.

Maggie was in a meeting when Cassidy walked into the bank later, but the receptionist let her into Maggie's office, where Cassidy dropped into one of the cushy leather chairs to wait. She wished she had some apps on her phone that she could play with to while away the time, but instead she looked out the window onto the square. The new owner was taking over the antique shop on the other side of the courthouse, and a crane was in front of the old pharmacy, two men doing something to the brickwork above the awning which was...new, wasn't it? If she listened, she could hear the work in Sage's place at the corner across from the bank. It had to be close to done--Sage and Hollywood were always there with his crew, and she'd seen them walking down the street to the block behind, where the old hospital was, carrying a notepad. Grady had said she was interested in renovating. Maybe this place was going to turn into something special.

Well, at least she'd be around to see it.

The door opened and Maggie walked in. "Sorry. Loan meeting. Approved, in case you're wondering." Maggie dropped to the chair behind her desk and kicked off her shoes hard enough for them to slam into the bottom of the desk. "Dish."

"My mother is pregnant." How many times would she have to say it before she believed it was true?

How many different variations of that stunned look now on Maggie's face was she going to see before the baby was born?

"You're shitting me."

"Not even a little."

"Baby daddy?"

"One of my tenants, believe it or not. Or, one of my former tenants, until his wife found out and made him move. Thanks, Mom."

Maggie leaned across the desk. "What are you going to do?"

Cassidy slumped. "Stay."

"Oh, Cassidy, I'm so sorry."

At least Maggie understood. Tears burned the backs of Cassidy's eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall, not when she had to walk out of here in front of everyone. She really wished she'd waited to tell Maggie until they had more privacy. She covered her eyes.

"I'm going to have a baby brother or sister. How crazy is that? I'm going to be twenty-seven years old with a baby brother or sister." She rubbed her hand up and down the arm of the chair. "There was a time when I would have loved to have a younger sibling, someone to play with, someone to share with." But once her grandparents left and the burden of caring for her mother fell on her, she was glad not to have anyone else to look out for.

Maggie sat back. "So maybe it won't be bad. You'll be involved in this baby's life. And you know, things are changing here. It's not the same. And as long as you're with Grady, he can take you on weekend getaways like he did to New Orleans. You can still have your dream."

Cassidy dragged her hands down her face and looked into Maggie's eyes. "I ended it with him."

"What? Why?" Maggie's screech filled the office.

"Because...it was never meant to be long-term. It was just for fun, just to pass the time. Now that I'm staying--I don't want to want more from him. I don't want to expect more from him. We don't--fit. I'm white trash, and he's the heir to the McKenna ranch. I don't want to be the woman that traps him, that everyone thinks hooked him to get out of my crappy life."

Maggie pressed her palms to the edge of the desk, smoothing them back and forth over the wood. "You know, Cassidy, your life doesn't suck as bad as you think."

Cassidy snapped her gaze to her friend. "Have you not been paying attention?"

"Sure, your mother is a mess, but that's her life. You know, once you have your money, you're free to go. You're not responsible for her. You never have been."

"So what am I going to do? Leave her to screw up another kid's life?"

"Do you think that kid won't notice your resentment at having to stay? Do you think you can have a real relationship with either the child or your mother when they know you don't want to be here?"

"Another reason I ended things with Grady. I just don't know if I can give a hundred percent of myself."

Maggie waved her hands in front of her as if she was swatting at the cobwebs keeping her from understanding. "It's a choice, right? You can choose to be happy with Evansville, with Grady. Look at Darlene. That girl's life is one bad turn after another--a husband who lost his job, an unplanned baby. But you never see her moping around."

Cassidy offered a half-smile to her friend. "Are you saying I'm moping?"

Maggie didn't back down. "I'm saying you don't have to stop living because of this. You can still have a life. You've been waiting to start living until you got out of here, you know? But now...you don't have to do that anymore."

Cassidy's brain squeezed. "I can't do that to Grady."

"Grady's a grown man, too. His eyes are open." Maggie leaned forward again. "Or was New Orleans terrible? You never told me. Maybe it completely sucked and that's why?"

"No, it was incredible. He's sexy and romantic, and knows how to have fun."

"And good in bed?"

Cassidy rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop a grin. "Passable."

"Right." Maggie drew the word out. "So why would you want to turn your back on that?"

Chapter Twelve

Cassidy rolled over in bed and squeezed her eyes closed, as if that could drown out the sound of her mother puking. At least this time she was sure it wasn't because her mother was drinking.

To be fair, Angie was doing pretty well, not drinking. She'd cleaned the house so that it damn near sparkled. She was making dinner every night. Cassidy considered giving her mother back her car keys, let her start going grocery shopping, do some errands, go to her doctor appointments on her own.

Her mother had started to show, which concerned Cassidy. Was she farther along than she expected, or was it just because her mother was so thin, that the baby bump was just more obvious.

She rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom, pushing open the door. Her mother pushed her hair back from her face and angled her head up at Cassidy.

"Can I get you anything?"

Angie coughed out a laugh. "A hormone transplant?"

"Can't help you."

Angie flushed and sat back on her heels. "I never got sick with you."

"Really?" Cassidy retrieved a washcloth from the cabinet and put it under the faucet, then knelt beside her mother and pressed it to her forehead a moment before wiping the sweat from her face. Angie sighed, then took the cloth and wiped her mouth before tossing the wet fabric over the shower curtain rod and into the tub. "You never told me about when you were expecting me."

"No?"

Angie swung herself up to sit on the side of the tub. Cassidy caught a glimpse of smooth round flesh beneath the hem of her mother's shirt. Her brother or sister. She wanted to touch it, but she and her mother didn't have that close of a relationship, and she wouldn't ask.

"I suppose I was caught up in the scandal of it. And I have to admit, I kind of liked causing so much commotion."

"What? Why?" She poured a glass of water and handed it to Angie.

"Well, you know. Everyone was talking about me, and that was exciting. And honestly, the idea of having a baby, of being a grown-up, oh, that thrilled me."

Only she hadn't grown up, not really.

"Then my body started changing, and I thought I was beautiful, the way my skin was round and tight over you. And then you started moving." Angie leaned forward and took her hand. "There's no feeling like it, that life inside you." She patted Cassidy's hand and sat against the wall. "I thought I'd be pregnant forever. I didn't let myself think about what would happen during the birth, I didn't let myself think about what would happen afterward. I had no idea what to expect with a baby. I was an only child, so I had no experience with infants." She folded her arms around her knees. "Did I ever tell you about the night you were born?"

"Mom, do you really want to sit in the bathroom telling stories?" Cassidy asked with a sigh.

Angie gave a cautious glance at the toilet, then pushed herself to her feet, using the wall and the side of the tub. "No, I guess we can go sit on my bed. Do you want to hear the story?"

She'd heard it, from her grandparents. But never from her mother. "Yes. I'd like to hear it."

"Well, you know, one of my cravings was ice cream bars," Angie said as she led the way into her bedroom. She stripped off her t-shirt and tossed it in the corner before opening the top drawer of her dresser and pulling out another one. Again, Cassidy was fascinated by the glimpse of smooth round stomach before her mother covered it with the baggy shirt. "You know, the kind with the vanilla in the middle and the crispy chocolate? Where the chocolate always breaks apart when you bite into it?" She sat against the headboard and tucked her feet under her. "But I couldn't let myself have more than one a week because I didn't want to gain too much weight."

So she'd had self-control once upon a time. Cassidy sat at the foot of the bed, mirroring her mother's pose to listen.

"Your grandpa brought some home that night, and I'd been looking forward to it all day. I took one bite, one big piece of chocolate dropped, and when I bent to catch it, my water broke. I was dumbfounded. I had no idea it would be like that, would feel like I was wetting my pants. So your grandmother, being your grandmother, freaked out and we charged out the door to the hospital. I insisted on calling Bridget first, though, because I wanted my best friend there, you know? So we drove into Alice, and they put me in the room and your grandmother--she just made me so nervous. I was already scared shitless, and she just kept making things worse, so when Bridget got there, I asked your grandmother to leave and Bridget stayed with me during labor."

That wasn't what Cassidy heard. Her grandmother had said her mother had lost her temper and ordered her out of the labor room, screaming and making a scene. Cassidy had always believed it, had no reason not to. But now, well, she could see her mother's side.

"Weren't you scared? Bridget couldn't know any more than you."

"Sure, I was scared, but you know me, when I get nervous, I get silly. And with Bridget added to the mix..."

Cassidy rolled her eyes. "I bet the doctor was ready to kick her out."

"He did threaten it. But she stayed, and we got through it side by side." Angie let out a sigh and rubbed her tummy. "I miss her."

"If you had anything to do over again, what would you do differently?" Cassidy stretched out on the foot of her mother's bed, which was something she hadn't done in years.

"There are a lot of things." Angie cracked her back. "I'd be a better mother, for one. I know I let you down, again and again. I...was scared of screwing up, so I retreated, and because of that, well, I screwed up, royally." She stroked Cassidy's hair back from her face. "I should have given you a family. I spent so much time looking out for myself, and not for us. I should have found a good man, someone who could have been a father to you, someone who could have made us a family. You deserved a family."

Cassidy closed her eyes under her mother's caress, drifting.

"I worry that you don't trust because you never had a good male role model. I worry that's why you won't let anyone in."

Cassidy's eyes snapped open. "Mom." She pushed her hand away and sat up.

"Love is important. I--miss it."

"You didn't love Chris?"

"Oh, no. No, I didn't love him." She rested her hand on her stomach and rubbed a little. "I was lonely, he was lonely, and sexy, and really good in bed."

"But I thought--you cried so much when he left."

"Oh. Well." Angie pushed her hair back from her face. "No one wants to be abandoned. No one wants to be rejected." She took Cassidy's hand. "You pushed him away."

A moment passed before Cassidy realized that her mother was not talking about Chris. She was talking about Grady. "I don't want to talk about him."

"He's good to you. He's a good man."

"I know."

"So why? I thought you really liked him."

Cassidy flopped onto her back. "Because it was never going to be a forever thing. I was going to be able to walk away, there would be no run-ins, no jealousy when he moved on to someone in his own circle. If I'd let it go on, then if he moves on to Allison or someone else, and I'm here, then it would hurt."

"And it won't now?"

"I won't let it."

Angie made a sound that made it clear that she didn't believe that. "I just don't want to see you bitter and alone. When you were with Grady, that was the happiest I've seen you in a long time."

"I don't want a man to make me happy."

Angie stroked her hair. "I don't think it was that. I think he just--got you outside yourself, if you know what I mean. Made you think about the here and now, not happiness down the road. Does that make sense?"

It did, more than Cassidy wanted to admit. She rolled off the end of the bed and gathered the covers to pull over her mother.

"You need to get some sleep."

Angie leaned back onto the pile of pillows and let herself be tucked in. "And you need to find a way to let Grady back in."

*****

Grady did not want to eat at home tonight. Trace was glum, Sage was exhausted, and his father was anxious. He also didn't want to go to the cafe and chance running into Cassidy. His heart was still a little too sore for something like that. Every time he got in his dad's plane, he thought about how Cassidy had white-knuckled her way through the flight. When he took up the executive jet, he remembered her awe and pleasure.

So he'd invited Juliana and Nick to go on a picnic in the area overlooking the reservoir. He stopped at the grocery store a little ways out of town, between Evansville and the next town of Alice. Evansville hadn't been big enough for their own grocery store, but clearly they were ready for one now, if the crowd here was anything to go by.

A glimpse of blonde hair over the top of one of the aisles made thoughts of peace scatter. He knew that head. Cassidy. What was she doing here? He wasn't sure what to do--escape and pretend he hadn't seen her, or come face to face with her and let her be the flustered one.

Then she rounded the corner and it wasn't Cassidy, but her mother. The woman took a step back, eyes wide, drawing the cart against her, until the handle rested against her rounded belly. Wow, had it been that long since he and Cassidy had split?

"Hey, Angie," he said, feeling like a damn awkward teenager.

"Grady, it's good to see you."

"You look--" Tired, too thin, anxious. "You look good."

She touched a self-conscious hand to her stomach. "You're a terrible liar, but thank you."

"Everything--okay? With the baby?"

"Everything's going fine. I had a sonogram and everything is proceeding well."

He knew that had been Cassidy's concern, considering how much Angie drank. She'd worried about developmental delays. "Do you know--you don't know if it's a boy or girl yet?"

Her face softened into a smile. "Too soon. I'd like another little girl, though. I could do it right this time."

"You did it right last time."

The smile faded. "Cassidy raised herself. She has some serious trust issues. Me first, then men."

"No kidding."

"She's hurting, too."

He lifted a shoulder. "Can't do anything about that if she doesn't let me."

Angie waved her hand in front of her face. "I don't mean to interfere. God knows no one should listen to me about romance." She curved her hand over her stomach, flattening the fabric of her shirt against it. "Two babies, no daddy. But I know she's spent years thinking she'd be happy 'someday.' When she was with you, well, she'd found that 'someday.' She's just too blind to see it."

"If I knew how to open her eyes, I would," he said.

"She inherited that stubbornness from her father," Angie said with a sigh. "She thinks it makes her strong. It just makes her lonely." She eased her cart back to circle around him. "It was good to see you, Grady. You take care."

He nodded. "You, too, Angie." He leaned down to give her a gentle hug, and she walked away.

He didn't look after her, didn't want to wonder what it would be like to be anticipating the arrival of the baby, planning with Cassidy, being a part of their lives.

If only he knew how to reach Cassidy.

*****

Cassidy's heart thumped hard against her ribs when Sage and Juliana walked into the Coyote, heads together. She tightened her fingers on the handle of the pitcher when Juliana laughed at something Sage said. Great. Insult to injury. Not only did she push Grady away, but the woman poised to take her place in his life was BFFs with his sister.

She glanced at Debbie, who was watching with her mouth open when Sage motioned to a table in Cassidy's section.

Why the hell did they have to be the only damn restaurant in town?

She scooped up two place settings and two menus and headed over, pasting a smile on her face.

"Good afternoon, ladies."

Two cool sets of eyes turned to her. No greeting. Okay, then. Did they not expect her to be here?

"Iced tea?"

The women nodded wordlessly. Huh. She drew in a breath and turned around to go get their drinks. But when she returned, both women had their hands on the table and were watching her.

"We're wondering what the hell is wrong with you," Juliana said.

"I beg your pardon."

"To toss a man like Grady aside. Do you think you can do better?" Sage demanded.

Cassidy struggled to find her mental footing. She was off balance enough because they'd sat in her station, but she hadn't expected them to confront her straight on.

"That's really none of your business. And you didn't like me seeing him, anyway." God, she didn't want to have this conversation here, while she was working.

"I didn't. I don't. But he deserves better than to be tossed aside after what he did for you."

Juliana shifted forward in her seat. "Do you even know how lucky you were? What a great guy Grady is? There are complete assholes out there, and you get the one good guy left in the world and you walk away."

Cassidy's temper rose, with the latent jealousy she'd buried during their relationship. "Well, I suppose he's free for you, then."

Juliana snapped back, paling. "I'm mourning my husband. Grady has been a good friend to me, and I don't want to see him taken advantage of."

Cassidy squared her shoulders. "I didn't."

"Sure you did." Sage's tone was vicious. "Got him to take you to New Orleans for a weekend that I doubt you paid one penny towards, and once you got what you wanted, you ditched him."

Cassidy frowned. "Is that what he said?" Immediately she regretted the question. Whatever he said about her behind her back was...she didn't want to hear it from them.

But of course he hadn't said that. She might not have known Grady long, but she knew him. He wasn't cruel. He wouldn't talk about their relationship to them, wouldn't complain about her.

Would he? Doubt had her swaying on her feet, tears threatening. The next thing she knew, Carla was taking the pitcher from her hand and steering her away from the table.

"I got this," Carla said quietly, nudging Cassidy toward the kitchen.

She went, hating that she was retreating, that she'd let Sage and Juliana win, but her mind was fuzzy with pain and betrayal. Footsteps sounded on the floor behind her--she could feel the vibrations as they hurried after her. She waited until she ducked behind the drink station to turn, expecting Debbie or Darlene.

Juliana faced her, pretty eyes flashing. "You hurt him. I don't understand how you could hurt him when he was so good to you."

Cassidy pushed back loose strands of hair escaping from her ponytail. "I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't mean to. We were just...never meant to be longterm."

"Maybe you didn't mean for it to be, but Grady gets attached. People are important to him. Look what he's done for Nick and me, and we're nothing to him."

"I'm nothing to him either." The words made her stomach spin. If that was really true, then why was she having this conversation? "He knew I planned to leave. It was his choice to pursue the relationship. I tried to push him away."

"But you didn't succeed until you found out you were staying," Juliana pointed out.

"Which just tells me he understands we have no future."

Juliana propped her hip against the counter. "When I was in high school, I was a cheerleader."

Cassidy blinked at the non sequitur. "I guess I'm not surprised." Maybe that's why Sage liked her.

"This guy had a crush on me, this long-haired rocker who hung out with stoners, the kind most people avoid, you know?"

Cassidy nodded, still confused.

"But he'd always stop me to say hello, was always polite to me, and I blew him off. He asked me to go to Homecoming with him, and I turned him down. He asked me to the Christmas ball, and out for New Year's Eve. I turned him down. When school started up after the Christmas holidays, he'd cut his hair, stopped wearing those death metal t-shirts, and he asked me out for Valentine's Day. I still said no." Juliana gave a small smile, her eyes growing distant with the memory. "All this time, he was so polite, never got mad, never acted like his feelings were hurt. And he never gave up."

"He changed for you," Cassidy observed.

"That's what I thought, too, and I saw it as a sign of weakness. Then he asked me out, just for dinner, nothing so big and momentous, you know. I'd been having a rough day and I said yes. Once I did, I immediately regretted it. I picked up the phone a half dozen times to cancel the date, but my mother had taught me to honor my decisions."

Her face took on a soft glow, and Cassidy's mind raced ahead to the end of the story before Juliana spoke. Her own heart squeezed in anticipation, in sorrow for what the woman before her had lost.

"It was the best date I ever had. He made me feel special, made me laugh, made me think. Any of that sound familiar?"

Cassidy nodded, tears lodging in her throat. "That was how you met Aiden?"

Juliana's eyes were swimming and she nodded. "Not a day goes by that I don't kick myself for all the time we lost because of my stubbornness."

"But it might not have worked so well without the choices you both made."

Juliana gave a conciliatory nod. "I tell myself that, too. Still I wish I'd been able to bottle that time, so I'd have it back now."

Impulsively, Cassidy hugged the smaller woman. Juliana returned her embrace tightly, then drew back and held onto Cassidy's arms.

"He's in love with you, Cassidy. Don't throw it away."

She shook her head, stepping back. "We never said those words. It never got that serious."

"You don't have to say them to feel them. Think about what I said." Juliana turned and walked away.

*****

Grady heard his brother's voice in the barn and pushed away from the desk. He'd been in the office since, hell, he didn't know. He didn't much look at the clock anymore since he didn't have any place to be. He refilled his coffee cup--his only source of nutrition--and headed out to see Trace standing with Nick outside Thunder's stall.

"Is it Saturday?" The roughness of his own voice startled him as much as his brother and the boy.

"You sleeping in here now?" Trace asked, trying to hide the fact that he'd jumped a foot.

Not sleeping. Not really. He grunted in response and swung the door to the tack room open. Nick stepped past him, and Grady blinked down at him.

"You told me I should be responsible for my own tack," Nick reminded him.

Grady stepped back, hands raised in surrender as the kid hefted Thunder's saddle off the hook, damn near bending over backwards to balance the weight of it. But he didn't want help from either of the men. Trace did move the step closer so Nick could get the saddle over Thunder's back. Both men watched as Nick fastened the straps, his movements sure.

"He's blowing out," Trace said quietly.

"I know," Nick said, not even glancing at the men. "I'll tighten the cinch after I put on his bridle."

Trace nodded. As Nick moved to slip the bit into Thunder's mouth, Grady and Trace walked out of the stall.

"Seriously, you sleeping down here when you have a perfectly good bed up at the house?"

"Can't sleep."

"Thought that was done."

Grady looked over in surprise. He didn't know Trace had known he'd had trouble sleeping when he'd come home. "I never got real good at it."

"Seemed like you'd settled down a bit when you were seeing Cassidy."

Grady didn't want to talk to his brother about her. Didn't want to talk to anyone about her. But at the same time he was aware brooding about her wasn't doing him any good.

"You've been a damn miserable bastard the past couple of weeks."

Had it been a couple of weeks? He grunted again, not wanting to point out what an SOB Trace had been when he and Mandy were fighting.

"She worth all this?" Trace leaned against the wall and folded his arms.

Grady leveled a look at his brother. "What do you think?"

"I think that my ten-year marriage didn't make me such an asshole when it ended."

"You were already an asshole," Grady said without missing a beat. "And you have selective memory. You're just now back to being human."

Trace flipped him off. "I'm saying you were seeing her, what, a month? I was married for a decade, dated her longer than that, have a kid with her, and I'm not still pouting about it."

"I'm not pouting. And geez, we were just getting started, had just ended one hell of a weekend, and she called it off for the stupidest of reasons."

"Maybe she didn't have as good a time as you."

Grady had considered that. But then he'd played through the whole weekend, like a video, and remembered how bright her eyes had been, how her laughter had rung out. Her sighs and her kisses.

Damn it, why wouldn't she give him a chance?

"Have you talked to her? Seems to me, the advice you gave me when Mandy and I were fighting was how much women like it when you go after them."

"Look how well that worked for you."

"I didn't follow your advice," Trace reminded him.

Grady shook his head. "She wouldn't like it. One thing about Cassidy, she's crazy private."

But he'd shaken her up once. Maybe he could do it again.

Nick looked over his shoulder at the men before placing his foot in the stirrup. Trace pushed away from the wall to spot him.

"I still say you dodged a bullet." Trace slid a finger beneath the girth to make sure the saddle was secure before Nick launched himself into it. Satisfied, he patted the kid's butt and Nick swung into the saddle like he was born to it. "You don't want a woman who doesn't want you."

*****

Cassidy's hand tightened in her mother's as they stepped into the VFW hall for the spaghetti dinner to raise money for the high school band, who were planning a trip to Disney World for competition. She hadn't wanted to come, but Maggie had insisted she should be here to support the kids. Cassidy had become less sociable, if possible, since she broke off with Grady. She didn't want to accidentally bump into him in public, and have to make nice while her heart was breaking,

Adding to the stress was taking her mother out now that her pregnancy was clearly showing. But Angie had become more and more restless the past few weeks since she'd been sober, and Cassidy wanted to take her mind off her fight for sobriety.

But as they entered the hall, gazes turned and heads bent, hands raised to hide the gossip being passed. Conversation quieted as they passed tables on their way to meet Maggie, who sat near the front of the room. Every instinct Cassidy had urged her to bolt from those people judging her and her mother.

She was so wrapped up in getting to Maggie that she didn't see Grady approach. The pain when she looked at him was sharp and unexpected. For God's sake, how could she hurt when this had been her decision?

He welcomed her mother first, taking Angie's free hand and dipping his head to brush his lips across her cheek. Cassidy was too stunned by his greeting to retreat inside herself before he turned that handsome smile to her.

Those blue eyes held no anger, no resentment, which took her aback. Did that mean he'd gotten over her? Had he ever really cared? They hadn't been together long, but he'd been pretty single-minded in his pursuit. She'd thought he would be angry still, or maybe hurt.

Or maybe as lonely as she was.

"Cassidy. You look great."

Of course she did. On the chance she'd run into him, she'd spent time on her hair and make-up and changed a half-dozen times before settling on the dress she'd worn on their first date, this time paired with sandals in concession to the late April heat.

"Thanks. You too." Because damn, he did, his hair a little longer now, not so military-short. He'd been wearing a hat at some point because his hair flipped up above his ears. He still had the beard that she could feel on every inch of her body, and clearly he'd stopped eating at the cafe, because he was long and lean as ever.

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he stepped to Angie's other side and accompanied them to the table where Maggie waited, an odd expression on her face.

Cassidy stopped wondering what was going on with Maggie when it hit her that Grady was offering them support, that he was showing the town his acceptance of Angie and her pregnancy. He held Angie's chair, then bent to say something to her as Cassidy rounded the table to sit beside Maggie. Angie smiled up at him and shook her head, and Cassidy battled a surge of jealousy at the look that passed between them, that tender interaction. Wow, where had that come from?

Then Grady lifted his gaze to hers, the smile dimming.

"Ladies." He lifted his hand, as if he was tipping his hat, then ambled off.

Cassidy resisted the urge to press her hand over her pounding heart. "That was easier than I expected."

"Was it," Maggie murmured.

Cassidy forced herself not to scan the crowd for him, hadn't realized how hungry she was for the sight of him. She hadn't seen him in almost a month.

The tables filled up quickly and the band students began delivering the paper plates heaped with pasta, drowned in sauce. Cassidy didn't even like spaghetti, but like Maggie had reminded her, these kids had dreams of seeing the country, too, and they needed the town's help to do it. But her stomach was so tense that she didn't even want to think about food.

Her mother and Maggie did not have the same problem, and dug in. Cassidy sipped her badly-brewed tea and tried to think of a conversational subject that didn't touch back on Grady. Sadly, he was the only thing she could think of.

And then Maggie's meatball flew off her plate and hit Cassidy's thigh, leaving a huge red smear on her favorite dress.

"Oh, no!" Maggie turned, eyes wide, to look at the damage, then reached for the pitcher of ice water and her napkin.

"Never mind," Cassidy said, holding her hands up, surprised by the tears clogging her chest. Ridiculous because she didn't usually care about clothes. But this was the first dress she'd worn for Grady, and damn it, when had she gotten sentimental. "I'll go rinse it in the bathroom."

She slipped into the restroom, which was tiny and held two stalls. Both were empty, as was the sink. She picked up the hem of her skirt and pulled it beneath the faucet to rinse it.

When the door behind her opened, she didn't look up, just edged closer to the wall, focusing on the stain, relieved that the sauce seemed to be rinsing out, for the most part. She'd be stuck with wet fabric against her thigh the rest of the evening, but that was hardly the most uncomfortable thing she'd endure tonight.

The heat of a body and a familiar scent made her snap her head up, and she met Grady's eyes in the mirror. She whirled, splashing him with water from the running faucet, and pressed her hand against his chest.

"Are you crazy? You can't be in here."

"I've missed you, Cassidy." He rested his hands on her hips and dipped his head to look into her eyes. "Can you at least tell me you've missed me, too?"

"I--" She opened her mouth, trying to figure out how to lie, but couldn't. The intensity of his gaze scrambled her emotions. She wanted more than anything to lean into him and let him wrap his arms around her. But no, she had to be strong, no matter how good it felt for him to pursue her. "I've missed you, too."

"So what are we doing here?" He tightened his fingers on her hips before letting her go and stepping back. "Why are we letting ourselves be miserable here?"

She pushed her hair from her face and wished the room was bigger, so she could put space between them, instead of breathing him in. He couldn't have found a better time or place for this conversation? "Because we weren't supposed to be a happily-ever-after thing. It was just temporary."

"And then I fell in love with you."

All her muscles went lax and she sagged against the sink. "What? What?"

The door swung open then, and Mrs. Bonner and another woman Cassidy didn't immediately recognize walked in.

"Grady McKenna!" Mrs. Bonner gasped. "And Cassidy! This is a family event. You can't be meeting up in here!"

"We're not 'meeting up,'" Cassidy said calmly, surprised she could manage any words after Grady's bombshell. Her head felt like it was about to float off her shoulders, and she couldn't even put her finger on what emotion was causing it. "We're just talking."

"There's a whole room out there where you can do that." Mrs. Bonner waved her hand. "Good Lord." She and her friend edged back to make space for their exit.

Grady stepped back and motioned for Cassidy to precede him. The slap of her wet skirt against her thigh reminded her why she came in here, but she'd rather sacrifice the dress than send him on his way and stay in here alone with those two nosy women. She dipped her head as she walked past Grady out of the bathroom.

Several people seated near the bathrooms looked up in surprise as they came out together. Grady took her hand and led her past everyone and out the front door.

"Grady. Where are we going? My mother--"

"Is in good hands with Maggie. Hell, she's a grown woman. She doesn't need you to be responsible for her anymore."

"It's not her I'm worried about. It's the baby."

"Which she's capable of taking care of, too. She raised you, didn't she?"

"She had my grandparents to help her. She hasn't had to do it on her own. And the people talking about her--I'm afraid it's going to push her back to drinking."

God, she'd missed talking to him, missed the way he listened, really listened to her. She pushed aside the pleasure at the connection as they stopped next to his truck in the gravel parking lot.

He turned and took both her hands in his. "Cassidy. She's going to be okay."

Didn't he understand? If her mother was okay and could raise this baby on her own, that meant Cassidy was free. She could leave Evansville, see the world. And where did that leave Grady? Why had he told her he loved her, then steered the conversation in this direction? To keep her here?

He was right, her mother was showing more independence, more responsibility since she found out she was pregnant, since Chris left. So why was Cassidy still here?

Because she was waiting for disaster to strike. It always did where Angie was concerned.

"I wish I could believe that."

He blew out a sigh and leaned against the fender of his truck, folding his arms over his chest. "I guess I don't understand why you don't have more faith."

"Because she's let me down again and again. And this time, it's not just me she can hurt. I'm sorry, Grady. I have too much baggage, and you don't deserve that." She turned to go.

He caught her hand and turned her back to him. "I don't care. I want it. I want you." He curved his hand over her cheek.

"Why?" she choked out.

"I think I've already told you why. I've tried to give you space, time to work all this out, to figure out what you're going to do. I guess I was hoping you'd figure out you loved me too. You've been waiting for years for your life to start, and that's not fair to you. Not fair to either of us."

She shook her head. "I never planned on taking someone else into consideration. My plan was for me alone."

"Screw the plan," he said through his teeth. "Plans change."

She gave a rough laugh. "Tell me about it."

He shifted to stand over her, so the truck was at her back, and he filled her vision. "No, look, you don't think plans can change for the better? Look, how were you planning to leave before the boom? You were just going to scrimp on your tips until you could get away? And then the boom came and you took charge. You found a way to make money, you found a way to get what you want. I guess what I'm saying is, I hoped that you would want me as much as you want to leave Evansville."

The way he looked at her, the pleading in his eyes, made her heart swell. But she was too afraid, too afraid of losing what she never thought she'd have.

She didn't know how to answer without giving him hope. "I don't want to tie you down the way she's tied me down." With the last of her willpower, she stepped back and moved away.

*****

"Cassidy, we need to talk about what happened last night." Angie sat at the kitchen table, her eyes somber, her hands on a folder in front of her.

Cassidy was dog-tired. The cafe had been crazy busy, a bunch of guys getting off a hitch and wanting to spend money, buying drinks in the middle of the damned day and running her off her feet. On top of that, Darlene had called in because her husband had a job interview and she didn't have anyone to watch the baby. So Cassidy didn't want to talk, really. She crossed to the refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of water, and dropped into the seat beside her mother, ignoring the creak of the wooden chair at her rough treatment.

"I have been going over your books, and the park is doing well. I think we can afford to put in a rec room now, buy a pool table, maybe a jukebox or something that can give the guys a variety of music. I'm not up on the latest technology."

Cassidy leaned forward, stuck on the first part. "You've been going over the books?"

Angie straightened her shoulders. "I was always really good at math, unless it was counting days since my period," she added with a sheepish smile that surprised a laugh out of Cassidy. "I get bored, Cassidy. It's hard living out here in the middle of nowhere, and I'm trying to be good, but watching TV makes me want to drink, because that was my habit. Reading, well, I don't do too well sitting still that long. Math at least makes me feel like I'm doing something. So here's what I did." She pushed the folder toward Cassidy. "And there's money there for you, for what you want to do. Plenty of money."

Cassidy looked from her mother to the folder, flipped it open, and perused the numbers. She was surprised at her mother's neat handwriting, at her accuracy, at her awareness of the costs and profits of the park. She hadn't thought Angie cared, beyond the men who stayed there.

"It's going to be awhile before we can get a contractor out here to build the rec room," Cassidy said, closing the folder. "Bryan is booked solid."

"I've been making some calls and have a couple of guys willing to come out from San Marcos to give estimates, if that's okay. I figured it couldn't hurt." Angie held her breath, like she was afraid Cassidy was going to get upset.

And truthfully, Cassidy's pride was pricked. This had been her endeavor, she wanted to see its success through on her own. Her mother had never taken initiative before, so why now?

"I've also been hired to do Liz's books."

Cassidy's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Ever since you took me to the salon, I've been talking to Bev, the manicurist. I think probably Liz didn't understand what she was taking on, and she's overwhelmed. I showed her what I can do, as far as accounting. I mean, it's simple, and it's stuff I learned from the Internet, but she is happy not to have to do it, and I'll be making a little extra money."

"Why are you doing this?"

Angie sat back. "Because I don't want to lean on you anymore. I want to let you fly, find your happiness. Clearly it's not going to be here, if you can't even find happiness with a guy like Grady McKenna. So I want you to start taking your trips, living your life. You deserve it."

Cassidy's stomach clenched around the cold water she'd swallowed. This was it, the moment she'd been waiting almost fifteen years for. She was free. She could leave Evansville. She should be jumping up, calling Vonda to quit, checking flights to Santa Fe, booking a hotel room.

Instead, she crumpled the plastic bottle, some of the water sloshing over the side and onto her hand as terror seized her. This had always been a dream, something she'd been working toward, but she never thought the time would actually come, that she'd be able to do these things. She'd spent hours making her escape plan, had a folder on her computer full of itineraries, but for some reason, she wasn't as excited as she expected.

What had changed?

She stood on shaking legs. "Did you eat? Do you want me to make supper?"

"Did you hear what I'm saying? I can take care of myself now, take care of this baby. You're not tied here anymore."

"I heard you."

Angie stood, too. "So, what? You don't believe me? Don't believe I can do this?"

The thought had crossed her mind, but wasn't what filled it. Of course Angie would expect Cassidy to have no faith in her--Cassidy had never had faith in her mother. Why would she be willing to start now?

But she was. She was tired of being responsible for the woman. Let Angie try. If she made a mistake, Cassidy could pick her up. She was accustomed to doing that, anyway.

"I believe you want to try. And maybe you'll like it. Will you be able to work when the baby comes?"

Angie relaxed a little. "I already talked to Liz about this. I'm going to be working from home most of the time anyway, but if I can't handle it, I'll just go part-time or something. If I _can_ handle it, I might take on a few more businesses. She said she'd give me references." Angie hugged Cassidy's shoulders. "Isn't this exciting? A new start for both of us."

*****

Later, as Cassidy sat at her computer pricing flights to Santa Fe, looking at pictures of the town, the reason for her reticence hit her.

She'd be going alone.

Yes, New Orleans had been a fun city, but would she have had such a good time alone? Sex aside, Grady had doubled her pleasure of the adventure, because he'd been there, he'd held her hand and laughed with her and told her stories and suggested things she might not have tried on her own.

All her life she had wanted to be on her own, and now the idea of traveling alone had lost all its appeal.

Being in another state had no appeal if Grady wasn't beside her. Because as hard as she'd worked to avoid him the past few weeks, she'd always hoped to encounter him, to see his smile, hear his voice. Even though they weren't together, the idea gave her pleasure.

Because she loved him.

She dropped her head onto her folded arms on the desk. Why had it taken so long to figure out? She'd pushed him away time and again, and now it might be too late. How was she going to make it up to him?

Chapter Thirteen

Cassidy pushed open the door to Sage's place, not knowing what to expect, either from the place or the owner. She couldn't stop the gasp of pleasure at the sight of the place, all gleaming and golden, from the polished pine floors to the massive wooden bar to the old-timey brass fixtures and the mirrors behind the bar shelves, some shelves already lined with bottles. Four chandeliers hung overhead, surprisingly not too fussy. Another place, like Liz's salon, that she never thought she'd see in Evansville.

Three men were working putting counter along one wall, and the scream of their drills made Cassidy flinch. One of them caught sight of her and signaled the others to stop working. She recognized Hollywood as he removed his safety goggles. His curly hair flipped up under his cap, which he took off as he approached her. Even sweaty and dirty, he really was breathtakingly handsome.

"Hey, Cassidy. How can I help you?"

"Hey, Hollywood. I'm looking for Sage."

A grin canted his lips. "You know that's not really my name."

She blinked. "I'm sorry. It's a habit. I've forgotten your real name." Had she ever known it?

"It's Jackson."

"Oh." She hadn't realized he'd been annoyed by the nickname. "That's a nice name," she added lamely.

He arched a perfect brow. "Sage is upstairs." He pointed to an open doorway leading to a stairway.

"Upstairs?" Cassidy looked at the ceiling. "There's an upstairs?"

"We're remodeling it into an apartment for her. Not quite what she's used to, but it's going to be nice. Want me to call her down for you?"

Cassidy considered, but didn't want to have this conversation in front of the men. And the two other men seemed to be growing impatient as they held up the counter.

"No, I'll go find her. Thanks, Jackson."

He winked, then turned to get back to work.

Cassidy took a deep breath as she headed up the stairs, invading Sage's space, she knew. And she hadn't quite worked out what she was going to say to Grady's sister.

Sage had her back to the doorway and was scrubbing the hell out of a giant window looking out onto Lamar Street. She shrieked with alarm when Cassidy said her name, whirling and sending soapy water spraying everywhere.

"What the _hell_? Cassidy, what are you even doing here?"

Cassidy held her hands up in surrender. "I needed to talk to you, and I didn't want to come out to the ranch, and didn't want to talk in the cafe."

"So you decide to invade my privacy and give me a heart attack." She dropped the sponge into a bucket of soapy water, sending a wave over the edge and onto the plastic liner beneath.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, but we need to talk."

Sage raised her chin. "Why?"

Cassidy should have known Sage wouldn't make it easy. Fine. She wasn't used to easy, anyway. "I want to make peace with you. For whatever's been between us the past ten years, I think we need to get over it and move forward."

"Why? I thought you were heading out of Evansville."

"I--" Cassidy rested her hand on a dusty shelf, then wiped her hand on her jeans. "That had been the plan, but plans change."

Sage narrowed her eyes. "Because you have your sights set on my brother."

"He told me he loves me, Sage. And I--" It wasn't right that Sage should hear it before Grady, but Cassidy needed to make some headway here. "I realized I love him. I want a future with him."

"You want a future with his ranch and his name. I have one brother with a broken heart. I won't let that happen to Grady."

"I know you may not believe it, but his name and his ranch aren't important to me."

"His money, then."

Cassidy angled her head. "Do you even know your brother? Know what a good man he is? I mean, clearly you've seen how he treats Juliana and Nick. You haven't seen how he treats my mother, or me, but you have to know he's a good man."

"Too good," Sage countered. "Which is why I don't want to see him hurt, and you've already hurt him once. He gives so much to others, he needs someone willing to see to his needs."

"Like Allison?"

"Or anyone who doesn't need him to support her or her family."

"Sage, I don't need money from him. My RV park is doing really well. I've paid back over half the loan and have the cash to put in a rec room without taking more money out." Now that she wasn't going to be spending money traveling the country, that was.

Sage took a step forward. "I thought your lifelong dream was to get the hell out of here and see the world. You're telling me you'll give that up because of a man?"

Put like that...Cassidy struggled not to flinch. "I don't want to give it up, not really. I mean, yes, I want to see the world. But I want to have a home base, too. I don't--seeing the world doesn't mean as much if I don't have someone to share it with."

"Back to the money again."

Cassidy waved an impatient hand, as if that would bat the idea from Sage's brain. "I know it's hard for you to imagine that a waitress can make decent money, but I'm making decent money. I have enough. I can show you my financials if you want. What I want is to make peace with you so that if Grady will have me, I don't have a battle with you."

Sage folded her arms. "I really have no intention of making your romance with my brother easier."

Cassidy shouldn't be surprised. "Okay, make it as hard as you want on me. I deserve it. Maybe I need it, to prove to you how important he is to me. But I don't want you to make him suffer for it."

"You don't want me to make him come to his senses, in other words."

Cassidy sighed. "I don't want him to be torn. You've never given me a break before, but you know Grady was happy with me. And look, if I screw up and break his heart again, you'll have the pleasure of saying I told you so. But let it be my mistake. Do you see what I'm saying? I'm not asking for us to be best buddies. I just want a truce so Grady and I can see what we have. I think it might be something special, and I really want the chance to find out."

Sage pressed her lips together, considering. "All I have to do is take a step back."

Cassidy rolled her shoulders. "I want nothing more from you. I love him, Sage. I swear to you, it's true." She held her breath while she waited for Sage's response.

The other woman simply nodded, retrieved her sponge, and turned back to the window.

That was all Cassidy was going to get, but she'd take it.

*****

Grady coasted the plane down the runway, pulling back on the control as he taxied to a stop. He swerved a bit on the runway when he saw the flutter of fabric on his truck, and the stream of blonde hair. His heart stuttered along with the little plane as he glided to a halt.

Cassidy Simon sat on the hood of his truck, as pretty as all of Texas. She didn't move from her perch, legs crossed beneath her dress, arms braced behind her, but he could see the tension in her shoulders.

He shut off the engine popped open the door and stood on the frame, then jumped down and crossed the asphalt to her in the sudden silence.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

She straightened then, and slid off the hood, using the tire to hop off. She stumbled a bit, and he caught her arm, expecting her to go stiff. She didn't, just looked up at him, holding onto his arms, even leaning into him a bit.

"Mom's working now. She's stopped drinking, thanks to the pregnancy."

His heart dropped. She'd come to say good-bye, then? Of course. She wouldn't come to his house, not with the way things were between her and Sage. How she'd known he'd been flying today, he didn't know, but at least she had him alone.

He wanted to be happy for her, he did. She'd wanted this for a long time. She'd waited, she'd worked, she deserved the freedom.

"Where's the first stop?" he asked with forced cheerfulness, releasing her and stepping back. He didn't want any more temptation.

"Well." She slid her hands down over her hips, holding her skirt down against the sudden breeze. "I looked at Santa Fe, you know, because I've never seen mountains. And I thought about Malibu because I've never seen the Pacific Ocean. Then there was New York, you know, and Chicago."

"So you can't decide." His voice sounded hollow to his own ears.

"I've decided." She took a deep breath and met his gaze head on. "I've decided that none of those places is worth leaving behind something--someone--who has given me more of an adventure in my home town. I've decided the only adventure I want is you."

He looked over his shoulder at the plane. "You mean, me taking you."

She let out a frustrated huff. "No. I mean, yes. I still want to see all those places, but with you. But that isn't why I want you. I want to share them with you, experience them with you, remember them with you. If you still will have me, I want to make Evansville our home, yours and mine." Her face reddened and she dropped her gaze. "I'm not--everything I planned to say is going wrong." She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. "You and me, Grady. There's nothing out there that I want to see more than you beside me every day. Nothing. I love you, Grady McKenna."

His heart loosened and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against him, needing to feel her against him. "I promise you, Cassidy Simon, that I'll give you all the adventure you need." He kissed her, long and hard, then looked into her eyes. "Where to first?"

Cassidy stood at the window of their room at the Santa Fe resort and looked up at the mountains. She'd never seen anything so majestic and beautiful, and had paid extra to wake up to this view. Yesterday they'd spent the day in town, visiting shops and art galleries. She'd bought some jewelry for herself and her mother, and an adorable little cowgirl outfit for her baby sister. Cassidy pushed away the memory of her mother's tears during the sonogram.

"Another chance," Angie had whispered when Cassidy had hugged her.

Behind her, Grady stirred in the big bed, and turned his head to find her.

"Did you sleep there?" he teased.

She crossed the wooden floor to the bed. "You know I didn't."

He caught her wrist and tugged, bringing her tumbling onto the plush bedding, which registered only a minute before he rose over her. She slid her fingers through his hair as he kissed her good morning, another part of his anatomy also wanting to greet her.

"Is it everything you dreamed?" he asked, sweeping her hair back from her face.

"Yes," she whispered. "You are."

THE END

<http://www.mjfredrick.com/boom-town-series.html>

Excerpt from That Wild Texas Swing, Book 2 in the Boom Town series:

The cowboy was a good dancer but a sloppy kisser. Liz Salazar inclined her head,feigning a laugh, to avoid his mouth as they danced across the shiny concrete floor. He tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her closer, but she used the beat of the music to spin away.

Garcia's Bar was hopping tonight, filled with cowboys and oilfield workers with their paychecks. The cowboy she'd chose tonight was handsome, but she'd already decided she wouldn't be going home with him.

"Let me buy you a drink," he said when the song ended.

She broke free with the ease of practice and tossed her blue-streaked hair. "I'm buying my own drinks these days, thanks."

He called after her, the words drowned out by conversation and the opening of the next song, and she made her escape. Bev, the manicurist at the salon Liz owned, leaned on the bar, sipping her margarita.

"I told you the blue streaks weren't a bad idea."

One of the bonuses of owning one's own salon was the ability to experiment with styles. Some styles--like blue hair--might be a little extreme for the small town of Evansville, Texas, even for Liz. But the bold statement hadn't deterred the cowboys from asking her to dance. The fact that she and Bev were two of fewer than a dozen women in the place might have had _something_ to do with that.

Liz pulled her own drink closer and made a face. "Not that one."

Bev laughed. "You're getting picky in your old age."

"Hey! I've always had standards."

"Low standards."

Liz lifted her glass and Bev tapped hers to it.

Then Bev straightened, her eyes on the door. "Who. Is. That?"

Liz had to remind herself that Bev was fairly new to the town where Liz had lived her whole life. "That is Trace McKenna, the oldest son of the biggest ranch in three counties. The ink is barely dry on his divorce papers." Now she straightened. "And that is Killian Dawson, the mayor."

Bev set her glass down hard, almost knocking it over. "That's the mayor? The young guy?"

The young guy she'd known since she was in elementary school, the older brother of her former best friend. He'd been an overweight bespectacled nerd, in the brass section of the marching band, sweet and funny, but girls wouldn't give him the time of day.

Still, the town loved him, and elected him mayor once his father retired from the job. And in the two years since his father died, Killian had started to drop the weight he'd carried all his life.

Now...now he was looking fine.

"Come on." The music pulsing through her, she curled her fingers around Bev's arm. "I'll introduce you." Without waiting for a response, she pulled Bev off her barstool and sauntered over to Killian.

"Hey, Killian. Looking good." She leaned in close and rested her hand on his flat stomach, her fingers flexing just a little against his tight abs. Killian had abs. The thought sent a thrill through her.

"You too, Liz." He lifted the ends of her hair so the blue tips spread across his palm. "This is different."

She laughed. "Just playing around. This is my friend Bev. She's the manicurist at my salon. Bev, Killian and Trace."

Killian offered a warm handshake, while Trace gave a brief nod and turned his attention toward the bar.

Bev turned Killian's hand over in hers. "You know, men get manicures too."

He laughed. "Not in Evansville."

"You could be a trendsetter, like Liz."

He turned his gaze to Liz, and she could swear she saw a glint in his eyes. "No, I don't think I could."

"I didn't think you'd come to a place like Garcia's," Liz said. The place was an abandoned grocery store that had been turned into a bar when the oil boom started and the workers needed a place to blow off steam. Matt Garcia, the owner, had painted the windows black, set up the bar in front of the old coolers, put in a jukebox and some tables and opened for business. Very simple, but very profitable. Liz almost wished she'd had the money to do that instead of opening the salon for the wives of the men in the oilfields, bored women looking to spend money.

"Well, until Sage's place is ready to go, there aren't a lot of options. Too many people at the Coyote Moon think that's my other office. We just want to get a drink." Killian looked past her to the bar.

She stepped aside and swept her hand toward it in invitation, like it was hers to offer. "Save me a dance?"

"Ah." He opened his mouth, then closed it again, smiled, and headed to the bar behind Trace.

"He's delicious," Bev said, watching the two men walk away.

Liz felt a little odd using that word to describe her childhood friend. He'd always just been Maggie's dorky brother, who hadn't even teased them like older brothers were supposed to. He was just a gentle soul, and she had dismissed him throughout the years.

Now she found it hard to dismiss him, those pretty blue eyes fringed with dark lashes, the sophisticated haircut, the suit that he wore all the time, even to Garcia's, though at least he'd loosened the tie.

She'd never thought suits and ties were sexy until this minute. She'd always been a jeans and snap-shirts kind of girl.

Not tonight.

She'd give him space to have his drink with Trace, but she'd make him aware that she was there, that she was available, and that she was interested. She was really good at that combination.
She's a four-time Golden Heart Award finalist, and she won the 2009 Eppie Award with Hot Shot and the 2010 Eppie with Breaking Daylight. She was a 2012 Epic Award finalist with Don't Look Back.

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Coming this summer:

That Wild Texas Swing

Meet Killian Dawson, mayor of Evansville, resident good boy. Will salon owner Liz Salazar shake up his reputation?
