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Smiling, she pulled away and looked up at him. His eyes were still the same deep brown, but there were lines beside them now. She frowned at the jagged scar on his right temple and wondered what had happened. His jaw was more square, his chin stronger, his hair a richer, darker brown.
When she was seventeen she’d thought him the handsomest man alive. Looking at him now, her opinion was still the same.
His arms around her, his hands touching her waist made her dizzy. How could he have this effect on her after all these years? He couldn’t. She was overtired, stressed from her trip. Why else would her pulse be racing and her head ringing?
“You gonna get that?”
“What?”
He nodded toward the kitchen. “The phone. It’s ringing.”
“Oh, yes.” She heard it now. “Of course.”
She pulled away and backed toward the kitchen. “Cody, Troy, take Slater into the living room and keep him company. I’ll be right back.”
Slater watched Kasey turn and disappear into the kitchen. He glanced around the entry, letting the past back into his life for a moment. Everything was the same; the dark oak table just inside the screen door where Mrs. Donovan had always kept fresh flowers, the hat rack beside it where Mr. Donovan had always hung his gray Stetson beside his blue baseball cap. And the family portrait, taken on the front porch, not long before he’d left. He took a step closer and grinned at the framed snapshot. Kasey, with her brilliant smile and wild red hair, one arm looped over her father’s broad shoulders, the other arm twined around her mother’s slender waist. He stared at the picture and his smile faded
The same, and yet, not the same.
He glanced down at Kasey’s sons. Definitely not the same.
He was still trying to sort everything, but nothing seemed to fit into place. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but he certainly hadn’t expected what he’d found. She’d grown up. Really grown up, he thought, recalling the soft swell of her breasts under the pink cotton knit shirt she wore. Her eyes were bigger than he’d remembered, the green darker. Before, she’d always worn her mass of red hair in a ponytail or pinned up. Now, long auburn curls framed her heart-shaped face and emphasized her high cheeks and wide, sensuous lips.
Sensuous? Had he really thought that about Kasey? He wanted to kick himself. Kasey’s sons were staring up at him, their expressions serious, as if they’d heard every unspoken thought. Feeling guilty, Slater looked away and shifted uncomfortably.
“You come here to see my mom?” Cody asked.
It was the older boy who’d asked the question, Slater realized. Cody. He nodded to the child. “That’s right.”
“Why?”
Slater raised his brows, then knelt in front of the boys. “We used to be friends.”
“Aren’t you anymore?
Good question, Slater thought. “I hope so.”
Cody seemed to think about that for a moment. The younger boy, Troy, moved closer and stared intently.
“That’s a neat scar,” Troy said, finding his voice. “Would you like to marry our mom?”
Slater doubted that a two-by-four across his head could have hit him harder. Were things that bad with Kasey that her own sons were interviewing potential husbands for her? Speechless, he stared at the two boys. They stood in front of him, their eyes locked on his, waiting for an answer. He didn’t want to hurt their feelings, or offend Kasey, but the fact was, he had no intention of marrying anyone. He liked his life just fine as it was.
Slater ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, I...it’s like this, boys, I, uh, think your mom’s great and all, but—”
“The nerve of some people!”
Slater nearly fell backward at Kasey’s sudden exclamation. She stood at the kitchen doorway, arms folded tightly. Slater stood abruptly, bumping into the entryway table.
“It’s nothing, personal, Kasey, I just—”
“Nothing personal?” She moved into the room, her eyes flashing. “Nothing personal? Of course, it’s personal!”
“I’m sorry, Kase, I just don’t—”
“Why should you be sorry?” She threw her arms out, then jammed them onto her slim hips. “I place an ad for a simple business deal, and all the guy cares about is my financial statement and bloodlines.”
Financial statement? Bloodlines? Slater felt his own blood begin to boil. Kasey Donovan came from the finest people that were ever born, and as far as financial statements were concerned, if some slime-jerk wanted money to marry Kasey, then he wasn’t fit to be in the same room with her. Hell, the same state even!
Is that all this was to her? A business deal? Thank God he’d gotten here before she’d done anything stupid. He had to make her see that she couldn’t go ahead with this ridiculous scheme.
“Kasey—” Slater looked at Cody and Troy “—could I talk to you, uh, privately?”
Still frowning, Kasey stared at Slater for a moment, then snapped out of her tirade. “Oh, of course. Cody, Troy, go get your suitcases out of the car and unpack while I talk to Slater.”
They started to argue, but one look, a look only a mother can perfect, had both boys turning away, shoulders slumped.
“Come, on, Slate.” She turned and walked back to the kitchen. “Give a hand while I get dinner started. You’re staying, of course.”
Just like the old days, he thought with a smile and followed. But when she bent to search through a stack of cans in the corner pantry, Kasey’s well-rounded bottom encased in snug jeans reminded him this was definitely not the old days, and she definitely was not the same Kasey.
Clearing his throat, he looked away and studied a blue-framed needlepoint by the back door that said, Home Is Where The Heart Is.
“Here—” she tossed him a can of green beans then headed for the refrigerator “—open these while I mix the hamburgers. So you’re into oil now, huh? Where you working?”
He caught the can and turned to the electric opener on the counter beside the sink. “I’ve got a job starting on an Alaskan rig in three weeks.”
“Alaska!” Hamburger in one hand and an onion in the other, Kasey closed the refrigerator door with a bump of her hip. “You hate the cold. Remember the ski trip we took to Colorado? You were miserable the whole time.”
He didn’t exactly hate it, he just preferred the heat. And this was getting way off the subject he wanted to pursue. “Look, Kasey, about your ad in the paper—”
“You saw it?” She closed the refrigerator and stared at him in amazement. “How?”
He wasn’t quite ready to explain that he’d subscribed to the Granite Ridge Gazette for the past ten years. Ignoring her question, he clipped the can of green beans onto the opener, turned it on, and glanced over his shoulder at her. “Kase, there are always options.”
Still holding the package of hamburger in her hand, she stared blankly at him. “Options?”
“Alternatives, another way to, uh, deal with your situation.”
She frowned. “Well, I suppose there are, but I really haven’t the time or money for anything else. Besides, the good old-fashioned way is more my style. At least this way, if it doesn’t work, I can get my money back.”
Slater’s hand slipped off the electric can opener and the can clattered onto the counter.
“Get your money back?” he rasped. “You mean to tell me you’re actually going to pay someone to marry you?”
Two
Kasey blinked. A slow opening and closing of her lids, as if, in the space between dark and light. Slater’s words might actually make some sense.
Pay someone to marry her?
What, on God’s good earth, was he talking about?
All she could do was stare, despite the fact that green beans were running over the counter and into the sink, despite the fact that Slater was waiting for her to say something.
Had he slipped in a puddle of oil and fallen off a derrick? Or maybe a loose coupling had knocked him in the head. Maybe that scar on his forehead had been a more serious injury than it appeared.
She cleared her throat and met his dark, intense gaze. “Excuse me?”
He frowned. “Look, Kasey, I know it’s none of my business. You’re obviously a big girl now. But advertising for a husband in a newspaper is just not safe. God only knows what kind of maniac might show up at your door.”
A maniac did show up at her door, she thought in disbelief. Him. “Slater,” she said quietly, “could you, uh, explain to me exactly why you’re here?”
“Kasey, look—” he sighed deeply “—I realize life gets a little lonely. Sometimes when things overwhelm a person, they don’t think too clearly and they make rash decisions.”
“You mean my decision to buy a husband,” she said, wanting to make sure she understood him. Only she didn’t understand him.
“You gotta admit, Kase, it is a little crazy.”
Crazy? He was talking to her about crazy? She looked at the package of meat in her hand. Did he really think that she wanted to buy a husband, like she might a pound of hamburger? Where in the world did he get such an idea?
“This advertisement,” she asked carefully, “exactly where did you see it?”
“It doesn’t matter where I saw it,” he said firmly. “I just thought that maybe you needed someone, a friend. With your parents gone, and you being divorced and having a family...” His voice trailed off, and he shifted anxiously.
Family. Her sons. Kasey suddenly realized they’d been awfully quiet for awfully long. She glanced at the kitchen door and saw two little heads duck away, then heard the sound of footsteps heading up the stairs.
If this day got any stranger, she’d be in the twilight zone.
Maybe she was in the twilight zone. She remembered the looks she’d gotten in town, the snickers, the way Mildred had treated her when Steven had wanted to say hello.
The way her sons had acted with Slater.
Could it be...was it possible?
“Excuse me for a minute, will you?” She shoved the hamburger at Slater. “I’ll be right back.”
“But—”
She ignored him and headed straight for her sons’ bedroom. She had the strangest—and most horrible—feeling that they knew something she didn’t.
She found them putting their clothes away, exactly as she’d told them to do. That cinched it. If they were actually doing as she’d asked, without being told three times, there was no doubt they were up to something.
They glanced at her when she entered the room, but continued unpacking with the same attention they might give a video game.
“Hey, Mom.” Cody pulled a stack of baseball cards out of his suitcase and shuffled them nervously. “Is Mr. Slater still here?”
“As a matter of fact, he is.” She closed the door quietly behind her, then leaned back against it They’d break, she knew, and based on the tension in the room, it wouldn’t be long.
“Is he gonna stay?” Troy asked, then bit his bottom lip when Cody shot him a vicious look.
“Stay?” Kasey repeated. “Would there be a reason why he might stay?”
“He’s your friend, isn’t he?” Cody dropped the baseball cards into a big box along with all the other cards in his collection, then glanced at his mother, his look hopeful.
“A friend I haven’t seen in ten years,” Kasey said. “And now, suddenly, here he is, telling me the most amazing story about an ad in a newspaper. Something about a husband.”
The boys looked at each other, then Cody hurriedly turned his attention back to unpacking his suitcase. Troy carefully studied one of the rocks he’d collected on the trip.
“The funny thing is,” Kasey went on, “I don’t seem to remember placing an ad in any newspaper for a husband. I mean, I could have forgotten, being so busy with the trip and all, but I don’t think so.” She moved closer to her sons and stood over them, arms folded. “What do you boys think?”
Cody grabbed a handful of dirty socks and started for the dresser. Kasey stepped around him, then pointed to his bed. “Sit.” She looked at Troy. “You, too.”
Eyes downcast, both boys sat.
Arms folded, she stood over her sons. “You want to tell me something?”
Cody sighed. “We were gonna tell ya, really, but we sorta forgot.”
“You forgot?”
“Yeah,” Troy agreed. “We forgot.”
She raised one brow. “Tell me exactly what you forgot”
Cody looked at Troy, then slumped his shoulders in defeat. “Well, you know when we were on vacation, after you bought Miss Lucy from Mr. Murdock, and Troy and me were playing checkers?”
“Cody was cheating,” Troy piped in.
“Was not.” Cody scowled at his brother. “You just don’t know how to play.”
“Do, too.” Troy screwed up his face. “Mom taught me.”
“That’s enough.” She remembered now. They’d been arguing over the game then, as well. “Go on, Cody.”
Cody threw Troy one last look, then turned back to his mother. “Well, when we asked you to play, too, you said you would, as soon as you finished what you were doing and we asked you what you were doing and you said you were writing an ad and we asked you what for and you said you were looking for a horse husband for Miss Lucy.”
It took a moment for Cody’s rush of words to pull together. The hotel room in Dallas. Cody and Troy had been asking her questions about the ad and Miss Lucy. She hadn’t quite been ready to explain the process of hiring a studhorse, and somehow the term “horse husband” just sort of popped out. In any case, she still wasn’t quite connecting the dots here. “And?”
“Well, Troy and me, well, me really, ’cause Troy don’t read so good yet—”
“So well,” Kasey corrected out of habit.
“Yeah, so we were looking at one of the newspapers you brought along on the trip, you know, the Granite Ridge Gazette, and there was a place you can buy and sell things, so that’s what we did.”
“What did you do?” she asked, breath held.
“You know, we wrote an ad for you.”
Oh, dear Lord, they didn’t...
Cody’s grin was as wide as it was proud. “Filled it out and mailed it, all by ourselves. We were going to surprise you.”
She stared at her sons, unable to speak. Surprise her? That was the understatement of the century.
Knees weak, Kasey sank slowly onto the bed opposite her sons and closed her eyes. It would certainly explain the bizarre way everyone had treated her in town, Slater showing up, all the mail and phone messages—
Oh, no...that must be why she had so many calls. They were for stud services and potential husbands. She nearly choked at the juxtaposition of the two.
Her eyes flew open. “Cody,” she asked slowly, “exactly what did this ad say?”
“Not much.” He reached behind him into his suitcase, then pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. “It don’t cost as much if you don’t use a lotta words. Troy and me saved some money you gave us from the video arcade.”
The supreme sacrifice, Kasey realized, not even bothering to correct her son’s grammar this time. She took the slip of paper as if it were a snake, then drew in a deep breath and read, “Wanted: One Husband. Not too old. Must like kids. List good qualities. Call Kasey at the Double D Ranch—555-4832 or send picture to 684 Marva Lane, Granite Ridge, TX.”
Her heart stopped, then raced. No. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. The words blurred as she stared at the paper.
Cody looked down at the floor and kicked at the edge of the blue braided rug between the twin beds. “We know Daddy made you cry when he went to Mexico with Gloria, so we thought maybe...well, you know, that you might feel better if you weren’t alone anymore.”
Kasey felt her breath catch in the back of her throat. She’d been so careful to hide her emotions from her sons when Paul had walked out on them. How could she have explained to a then four- and six-year-old that the tears she’d shed had been anger and frustration at herself? Certainly not because she was alone, or because she missed their father.
She’d made it on her own for the past two years and she was proud of that. She wanted to be single now. She enjoyed the independence. All she needed was her sons and this ranch. Nothing else in the world mattered to her.
She looked at them now. They were watching her, waiting for her approval. How could she be upset with them? They wanted her to be happy and they thought a husband—any husband—would make her happy. She shook her head. They had so much to learn.
“Cody. Troy.” She knelt on the floor and leaned in close to her sons. “I’m not alone, sweethearts. I have you both. Don’t you know how much I love you, and how happy it makes me to be here with you, living in Grandma and Grandpa’s house? We won’t have to move anymore, and you won’t have to change schools or make new friends all the time.”
“Brian says Miss Foster, the first-grade teacher is nice.” Troy rolled the rock he held back and forth between his hands. “He said he was in her class two years ago and on Fridays she lets kids bring in stuff to share. I’m going to bring my rock collection.”
Kasey smiled. Troy’s rock collection was his pride and joy. He’d been gathering up pebbles and stones in a shoe box for the past two years. Since Paul had left.
“Won’t you and Brian be in the same class?” Kasey turned to her older son.
“We’re gonna sit next to each other.” Cody pulled at the frayed edges of the growing hole on the knee of his jeans. “He says his dad is taking him on a camping trip next weekend and me and Troy could come along.”
In that instant, Kasey understood so much more than what her sons were saying. Maybe even more than they understood. They weren’t just looking for a husband for her. They were looking for a father for themselves.
The realization was like a fist around her heart. There was nothing she could do, nothing she could say, to make that situation any different. She’d stayed in one marriage, thinking it best for her children, but they’d been hurt anyway. She had no intention of making a mistake like that ever again.
“Of course you can go on the camping trip,” she said, wrapping her arms around her sons and pulling them close to her. They squirmed against her, then broke into giggles when she started to tickle them.
“So it’s okay, then?” Breathless, still laughing, Cody rolled away. “About the ad?”
Oh, yes. The ad. Still kneeling beside the bed, she groaned and fell face forward on Cody’s bed.
What was she going to do now? Call the paper, of course, except it was too late now. She’d have to call first thing in the morning. But all those issues already out there, and all those calls on her machine...
“Tell you what,” she said with a sigh, “next time you boys want to surprise me, let me know first, okay?”
Cody screwed up his face. “That’s silly, Mom. It wouldn’t be a surprise then, would it?”
Exactly what she didn’t need any more of. She thought of Slater downstairs. Perhaps that was the one good thing that had come out of this. It felt good to know that he cared enough to come check up on her because he thought she was in trouble. She’d simply go downstairs and explain everything.
And then he would leave.
She felt a dull ache deep inside her, but dismissed it. So he’d leave. What did she expect? Of course he’d leave. He had a life, she had a life. Tonight they’d catch up on old news, then he’d be on his way. She’d go on with her life, and so would he.
By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, she still hadn’t a clue what to say. She drew in a long breath, then headed for the kitchen. She’d just tell him. They’d have a good laugh, he’d stay for dinner, he’d leave and that would be the end of it.
He was pacing from the back door to the kitchen sink when she walked into the kitchen, his frown dark and imgatient.
“Slater—”
He stalked over to her. “Kasey, sit down.”
“Slater, I know how this—”
“Sit.” He pointed to the kitchen chair.
Kasey frowned. Hadn’t she just gone through this with her kids, only in reverse? She most certainly wasn’t a child anymore, even if he thought she was.
But children had taught her patience, she reasoned. And Slater seemed so determined to have his say, and ignore hers, why not let him go on for a while? Folding her arms, she sat in the chair and looked up at him.
He dragged both hands through his thick hair. “Kase, you’re obviously in some kind of trouble. It’s understandable how hard life must be for you. Raising two kids by yourself, no husband and all.”
Exactly the way she wanted it.
“But placing an ad like that, Kase, it’s dangerous, and I just have to say, downright foolish. God only knows who might try to take advantage of your vulnerability.”
Foolish? Vulnerable? She pressed her lips tightly together, hoping that Mr. Hugh Slater was hungry, because she was about to serve him a big helping of crow.
“Slater, I know how this looks, but that ad was placed with the best of intentions and—”
“The best of intentions!” Hands on his hips, he stood over her. “It’s just plain stupid.”
She felt suddenly defensive of her sons. What they’d done, they’d done out of love. They wanted her to be happy. There was nothing stupid about that. She rose slowly and leveled her gaze with his. “Stupid?”
His voice gentled as he took hold of her shoulders. “Look, I’m sorry. In my entire life, I’ve never stuck my nose in anyone’s business. But this is different. This is you, Kasey. We go way back, no matter how many years in between. When I saw that ad, my gut told me I had to stop you. You have every right to be mad at me, for leaving like I did ten years ago. All I’m asking now is that you don’t do anything rash. That you’ll think about this.”
His words, his hands on her shoulders, made it difficult to think at all. Suddenly ten years, and all that had happened in between, melted away...
She sat in the church pew. Her mother wept quietly beside her, while her father dabbed at his own moisture-filled eyes. On her left, Slater sat rigid, his face pale. And to Slater’s left, Jack Slater stared ahead, unblinking, emotionless, as the service began.
“Death is never easy.” Reverend Green looked out at the crowded pews, his face grim, his voice solemn. “But the death of one so young, with such promise, is beyond words.”
Kasey had told herself she’d be strong. That Jeanie would have wanted her to be. But the blackness inside her, the emptiness, kept pulling at her, threatening to overtake her. She kept her eyes to the front of the church, at the flowers covering the casket.
It wasn’t Jeanie. It wasn’t.
An arm came around her shoulders. Slater. When had she started to cry? He pulled her close, held her. She would have crawled inside him if she could. It would be safe there.
She knew he was leaving. He hadn’t told her, but she’d seen his bags in the back of his truck.
“Slater,” she whispered. “Take me with you.”
He stilled, but said nothing.
“Please don’t leave me, too,” she murmured. “I love you.”
She felt, more than heard, his sigh. He cradled her against him, ran his hand over her hair. She breathed in the scent of his aftershave, felt the strong, steady beat of his heart under her fingertips, and she knew she’d never love again...
“Kasey, are you listening to me? I want you to think about this, that’s all I’m asking.”
Blinking slowly, she stared at Slater, forcing herself to focus on his words. How young and foolish she’d been. Of course she’d loved again. She’d met Paul one year later, hadn’t she?
She stepped away from Slater’s touch, from the heat that had begun to swirl up her spine. “I appreciate your concern, but there’s nothing to think about.”
“Kasey—” He turned and threw his hands out with exasperation. “You can’t just marry some strange guy. Let’s talk about this. Whatever problems you might—”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not marrying a strange guy. I’m not marrying anyone.”
He hesitated, then slowly turned back toward her. “You aren’t?”
“No. I never was.”
“You weren’t?”
She shook her head.