Cassie's Hope (Riders Up) (17 page)

Glaring at her
father, Cassie sat up straight. “And what makes you such an expert on female-male
relationships?”

He met her
challenge with a cough and cackle. “I’m no expert about that stuff, and you
know it, but I do know my own daughter fairly well.”

“Yes, you do seem
to know which buttons to push and which strings to pull.” She rubbed the smooth
leather arm of her chair. “I don’t even know what I’m feeling. Something crazy
is going on here.”

She glanced over at
his knowing look. “You’re right, it’s not all about horses.”

“Promise me one
thing, girl,” he implored. “Don’t give up on yourself. You’ve got too much grit
in you to do that. You’ve got too much of me flowing through your veins to
allow that to happen.”

“You old
sentimental egotist,” Cassie chided with a giggle. She wasn’t completely
satisfied with staying on, but her dad had worked another of his miracles. He’d
gotten her to laugh at herself and their situation. “I’ll be okay. Don’t you
worry about that. The O’Hanlon fire hasn’t burned out yet. We’ll figure all of
this out, one way or the other.”

Sitting back in her
chair, Cassie was pleased to see the relief in his eyes; she wished she was
more certain of her own words. Who was right? Her father, or Harrington?

Could she truly
trust Travers? From the beginning she’d questioned their relationship, but she’d
never doubted Clint’s integrity. Why now? Maybe her dad was right. Maybe she
just had to trust her gut. But her gut was spinning in so many directions she
sometimes felt like a top twirling out of control.

Get a grip, girl,
there’s a lot riding on your decisions over the next two weeks before Hope’s
next race. Now is not the time to panic. Now is not the time to cave in.
Relationships
would have to take a back seat.

In the small
apartment loft over the stable, Cassie sat on the bed with her back against
pillows, sipping wine, pondering her future.

Surprisingly,
talking with her father had helped lift her spirits. There was no way she’d
allow herself to let him down. Six months she had agreed to, and six months it would
be. But not a day more.

And he was right. There
was no way Clint would betray her by sabotaging the horse. Furthermore, Hope
had probably been drugged before she’d ever even met Clint. So why had she been
so weak to even consider such a possibility? Was it a sign of how much he
scared her? Damn Harrington, anyway.

It was good to hear
her father express his confidence in her spunkiness and training skills.

But why did she
feel splintered and ready to crumble? Nothing seemed clear. Nothing fit—whether
it was evidence about the drugging problems, or her feelings about the handsome
rancher from Utah. Perhaps there were too many puzzle pieces. Or maybe some
trickster had stolen a key piece or two.

Cassie appreciated
the simple pleasure of the flow of wine easing down her throat. Closing her
eyes, she could envision that devilish look on Clint’s face when he thought he
knew something she didn’t, or when he was about to play a trick on her. It was
the same look she’d seen on Lester’s face when he asked about being at their
wedding.

Her cell phone rang,
as she knew it would. She also knew who was calling at this hour.

“Hello,” she said
weakly. Her voice must sound like something disembodied coming from a dark
cave.

Clint didn’t
hesitate. “Hello, Cassie. How are you? How was Hope today? How many lengths did
she win by?”

Amazed at how many
questions the normally quiet man could get off in one breath, Cassie answered
somberly, “She didn’t win. It happened again.”

All was quiet on
the other end of the line.

Finally, Clint
said, “Tell me about it, Cass. What went wrong?”

She told him her
story. It felt rote by now. That wasn’t a bad feeling, given how the rest of
her emotions were tumbling over themselves.

When she’d finished
retelling the events of the day, she hugged her knees, pulling the extra-large
Bears T-shirt down to her toes, waiting for his immediate analysis. To her
surprise, there was none.

“I’m sorry, Cass.” His
voice cracked. “I’ll be there next time we race. Maybe together we can figure
this thing out. You did all anyone could do.”

Cassie didn’t know
whether to laugh or cry. There was no accusation in his tone. No bravado
suggesting that if he’d been there things would have gone differently. He
seemed just as perplexed by the situation as she was.

“Dad wants to give
Hope a little break, so we won’t race her for three or four weeks. That will
still give us two weeks before the Land of Lincoln.”

“Good. She probably
needs a rest. That’ll give me time to get things in order here so I can be
away. Not that I like the idea of being away from you that long.”

 “Do you have
anything particular in mind to protect Hope?”

“Not yet,” he
allowed. “Don’t know whether we can protect the horse, but I bet we’ll find the
bastard who’s doing this.”

His determination
and confidence were reassuring, but she had her doubts. “If we don’t catch him
this time, it’ll be too late for the Lincoln.”

“I know. I think at
the very least, we’re going to have a number of eyes on that filly. Somebody is
getting to her between the barn and the starting gate. That narrows things down
a bit. So much for the horse. How are
you
doing, Cassidy?”

Cassie smiled at
the concern caressing her ear. “I’m doing okay, now. Dad gave me an O’Hanlon
pep talk. I’ll survive. He wishes you were here, by the way.”

“I do, too,” was
the immediate response. “What about you, Cass? Do you wish I was there?”

“Yes, I do. But,”
she confessed, “I’m not sure why.”

“I’ll be there
three days before the next race. If I come much earlier, I’d need to be back
here when you’ll need me the most.

“I don’t know about
need
,” Cassie cautioned, not willing to commit as much as he wanted to
hear. “It will be good having you here race day. Another set of eyes can’t
hurt.”

“I’d thought of
bringing Lester and Sammy with me. Both of them have been arguing their case. They
want to see Chicago. And they’d like to spend more time with you.”

Had the room suddenly
become smaller? Cassie found it difficult to breathe, never mind speak. Her
muscles ached from fatigue. Those dark eyes, floating in her memory, were
watching so intently—were they filled with accusation, with sadness, with
laughter?

“Cass? Are you
still there?”

“I’m here,” she
barely managed to mumble.

“Don’t worry about
the kids,” he said cheerily. “They love you already. I won’t bring them this
time. If we’re going to catch a crook or two, I don’t want them in the middle
of it.”

This time
. The words were
imprinted on her brain. Would there be another time? Did she want another time?
How could she be so afraid of two little kids? Because they could twist her
heart just about as many ways as their father could.

“Cassidy?”

“Yes?”

“I’m not going to
let you run away like some wild mustang, but I won’t push you. I love your
spirit the way it is. Please don’t overanalyze us until there’s nothing left.”

“I’m trying hard
not to,” she said. “But you’re so sure where things are headed, and I’m so
uncertain. I don’t see how it can work out.”

“Just don’t rush to
that conclusion. That’s all I ask.”

“I won’t, I
promise…I have to go, Clint.” Her voice wavered, surely giving away her
emotional confusion. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Oh, hold on.
I almost forgot. Grandma has a message for you. She said
Tell the fire woman
to trust only her heart. Not what she sees or hears. Only her heart.
Good-bye,
Fire Woman. I miss you.”

Cassie heard the
distinct click at the other end of the line. She stared at the phone in her
hand so long that it took the repetitive whine of the dial tone to bring her
back to reality.

Listen only to her
heart. That might be good advice for people who knew
how
to listen to
their hearts. She was beginning to question her own ability to do so.

Then she smiled. How
different was Clint’s grandmother’s advice from her own father’s? She felt the
blood stirring in her veins. That was Irish blood flowing. Certainly, the Irish
could be counted on, when the chips were down, to listen to the heart. She’d
never been afraid of passion before—but then, passion had never before
threatened to unravel her entire life.

She’d be okay. She
knew that. Now if she could only calm those feelings of lust. At that moment,
she didn’t want Clint Travers to be fifteen hundred miles away.

She wanted him
right next to her, in her bed. She wanted to feel his strong arms holding her,
to feel his tongue licking her neck while he rolled a nipple between his thumb
and finger. Cassie closed her eyes, welcoming the warmth flowing from her loins
to her breasts. Even thinking of him had that effect.

But it wasn’t
enough. She needed to kiss his lips, to massage his taut muscles, to feel him
responding to her need and to his own. Cassie’s eyes popped wide open. Was this
love? She sighed. “Maybe,” she whispered, shivering, smiling weakly.

CHAPTER NINE

“It’s been ages
since we’ve been out here together,” Silver Hawk said, glancing away from the
expansive vista of high desert to eye her brother.

“Too long,” Clint
muttered, knowing his sister had much more on her mind than the beauty of the
Utah landscape.

They’d ridden four
miles from the ranch house to a place that had been special to them all their
lives: Wild Horse Mesa. It was on this mesa table top where they’d shared
dreams of places far away, of a horse ranch that would rival any, of a better
life for their people. It was here where they’d come on special occasions to
greet Great Spirit and to seek assistance when times were difficult.

“You’re wondering
if your fire woman could handle living out here, aren’t you?”

Distracted from his
remembering by her probing, Clint turned in his saddle to glare at his sister. The
compassion evident in her eyes immediately eased his tension. They might be
able to conceal their inner feelings from others, but seldom from one another. “I
don’t know. I don’t think I could live in a big city all the time. I don’t know
about Cassidy—whether this ranch would be enough for her, whether she’d be
satisfied here.”

The woman frowned. “Have
you asked her?”

“No. We haven’t got
that far. She’s very wary about anything permanent. I think she’s afraid she’ll
be like her mother, that she’d feel trapped and want to escape.”

“That’s a shame.” Silver
Hawk leaned over to pat her horse’s neck. “But then maybe it’s for the best. You
two seem so different in so many ways. She’s the sophisticated city person. A
social worker, no less. That’s all we need around here, another do-gooder.”

Clint scowled.

“I’m sorry,” Silver
Hawk said, leaning over and placing a hand on his arm. “You know I can be too
quick with my tongue, and too quick to judge.” She paused. “From what mom and
grandmother say, she sounds like a delightful person who may be just what you
need. And Lester and Sammy can’t stop talking about the red haired woman who
read them bedtime stories. And she does seem to know horses.”

“Yeah, better than
she thinks.” Clint noticed their mounts swishing tails at buffalo gnats and shifting
weight comfortably from foot to foot, taking advantage of their respite. “There
are moments when I believe she’s the strongest woman I’ve ever met, and then
there are times when she sells herself way too short. Like now, she seems to
think she’s totally responsible for failing to achieve her father’s dream.”

Clint relayed the
saga of Cassie’s Hope trying to run while drugged.

“That’s terrible. Who
would do such a thing to a horse—and to an old man? And why?”

“I’ve never been so
torn,” Clint said. “I want to be with her to do what I can about the filly, and
to convince her we have a future together. But I promised Lester and Sammy I
wouldn’t be away large chunks of time, especially in the summer.”

“Why not take them
with you? That’s about all they can talk about. Going to Chicago. Seeing Ms.
Cassidy in her place.”

Clint chuckled. “I
think they’ve lobbied everyone in the family. I’d take them, if it weren’t for
having to play cops and robbers. Thought about asking mom to go along with
them, but she’d be like a fish out of water, and I doubt she’d consider leaving
Grandmother at this time anyway.”

“Of course not.” His
sister scrunched her face in several directions before continuing. “You haven’t
asked me.”

“You? Why, you
never leave the high desert. You don’t even like her,” Clint said, his eyes
narrowing.

“Hah. I never said
I didn’t like her. I’m just doubtful it will work between the two of you. But I
may be wrong. Certainly the kids want to go. And it’s not like I’ve just stayed
down on the reservation. I spent two years,” she said, holding up two fingers, “if
you will remember, at Berkeley. The city isn’t a world that I want to make my
own, but I can manage in it. Well, at least for a short periods.

“If this thing is
going to work between you two,” Silver Hawk continued, “the family is going to
be a large part of it. Are you afraid I’ll scare her away?”

“No, it’s not that.
I just never thought…”

“Sometimes you do
too much thinking,” she interrupted, “and quite often, your assumptions are
totally wrong. So, what will it be? Will you take me along to Chicago? Or are
you going to mope around here and make all our lives miserable?”

Clint shrugged, taking
his time to observe a bald eagle soaring off to the east. “Okay, little sister,
we’ll see how you like the Windy City. But you are to keep a close eye on the
kids. The more I think about it, we may be able to use you to lay a trap for
whoever’s drugging Hope. And I want you to watch your tongue around Cassie.”

“Is that all, Master?”
Silver Hawk pulled on the rim of her hat, trying unsuccessfully to conceal a
smile.

- o -

While filling a
water tank for the three yearling colts, Cassie heard the approach of a car
coming down the long farm driveway. It was the Thursday morning after Hope’s
most recent loss. She wasn’t expecting anyone; she didn’t think her father was,
either.

The rising sun
blinded her, preventing her from identifying their visitors. Shading her eyes,
she saw a fairly new maroon sedan stop at the house. A man and woman were in
the front seat. The first door to open, however, was a back door, and out
tumbled two children, behaving as if they had been trapped inside for days.

Cassie’s hand flew
to her throat. The boy and girl running down the path to the barn suddenly skidded
to a stop some thirty feet away to stare at her. Each looked shyly to her for
some kind of recognition. Each had ebony hair. Each was dressed in jeans and a
blue shirt and wore western boots.

Instinctively,
Cassie went to her knees and held out her arms wide. Sammy and Lester raced to
her beaming large smiles.

Hugging the
children to her, Cassie tried to forestall the tears forming in her eyes. “My
goodness,” she said, “what a surprise! I didn’t know you were coming.”

“We just got here,”
Samantha explained, brushing a small hand across Cassie’s cheek. “We flew on a
big plane. We slept in a fancy hotel last night. I wanted to call you, but
Daddy wouldn’t let me.”

“You wanted to
spoil the surprise,” Lester hissed, poking his sister. “We wanted to surprise
you.” The boy laced his fingers in Cassie’s hair.

“Well, you
certainly did that,” Cassie agreed nodding. “My, I think you have both grown
since I last saw you.

“Me, most,” Sammy
squealed.

“Now, I don’t know
about that,” interjected a deep male voice. “Why don’t you both stand up and
let Ms. O’Hanlon breathe?”

Cassie closed her
eyes briefly and took a deep breath before peering up into Clint Travers’ dark
face. His eyes were hooded, indecipherable.

“It’s good to see
you, Cassidy,” he said, breaking the stiff silence.

Standing, she
swallowed a laugh, recognizing his discomfort at being with her around his
kids. He didn’t know what to do with her. Well, why had he brought them, then?

Movement on the
path caught Cassie’s attention. She’d forgotten there was a woman in the car. At
first she didn’t recognize the stunning young female approaching them. Then
Cassie felt a chill creep through her body as she recognized Silver Hawk, Clint’s
sister.

The tall,
dark-haired woman dressed in a long denim skirt, white blouse with a turquoise
necklace and belt reflected an understated beauty that made Cassie immediately jealous.
The woman could have stepped right out of an ad for the southwest. Absently,
Cassie brushed at the dirt on her jeans and faded blue work shirt. She remained
wary as the other woman approached.

Reaching them,
Silver Hawk offered a hand in friendly fashion. “Hi, Cassie. We were never
formally introduced. I wasn’t having a very good day when you were at the
ranch. I hope there will be no hard feelings between us.”

Surprised by the
woman’s directness, Cassie responded quickly, although coolly, “Of course not. I’m
just surprised to see you here.” Looking around at all the faces, she said, “All
of you, for that matter.”

 Silver Hawk
stifled a grin. Turning to her brother she said, “Why don’t I take the kids on
a tour of the barn? Appears to me, big brother, you have some tall explaining
to do. I believe this Irish lass is about to go on the warpath. And while I
would love to stay and watch, it’s probably best for little ears to be
somewhere else.”

“Funny. Funny. Yeah,
take them through the barn. They’ll probably find some cats to make friends
with. Run along now,” Clint ordered.

“But we just got to
see her,” Sammy complained.

Lester muttered, “Aw
shucks,” then grabbed his sister’s hand and dashed toward the hidden treasures
of an unexplored barn, with Silver Hawk trotting along behind them.

Once she saw the
children were out of earshot, Cassie wheeled on the Utah rancher. “Now what are
you up to? You said you wouldn’t bring Lester and Sammy because of the
situation with Hope. You didn’t give me any warning, Clint Travers. You agreed
to no pressure. Can’t you let things take a natural course?”

He moved to her and
pulled her to his chest. Cassie pounded his shoulders with open palms and then
shuddered. It felt so good to be in his arms again. She loved his touch, his
smell. Her head cleared. She sighed. She did enjoy the strength and the comfort
this man brought to her life, but damn if she would be smothered or led down
some devious pathway to bliss. Not that there was anything wrong with bliss—she
just didn’t want to be tricked into it.

“I didn’t mean to
startle you or burden you,” Clint whispered. “No tricks. No pressure. This is
the only way I could be with you. And I couldn’t wait any longer.”

Cassie moved back
from their embrace, holding each of his hands in hers. She saw only honesty in his
face. His ways might not be entirely her ways, but there was no trickery taking
place.

Clint tried to
explain. “Lester and Sammy wanted to see you again, like I said on the phone. I
thought maybe my mom might be able to come.”

Cassie shook her
head. That would not have been a good idea.

“Then my sister
volunteered.”

“But she doesn’t
like me.”

“That’s not true,”
Clint corrected. “She doesn’t know you, and she’s is very protective of her
family. I hope you’ll try to accept her. Silver Hawk only wants what’s best for
her loved ones.”

“We’ll see,” Cassie
replied, realizing she didn’t sound very convincing. “Why do I have this
gnawing feeling in my gut that you’re crowding me?” She glanced away, then
turned back toward him. “I feel things for you I have never felt for any man,
but I don’t want to be stampeded.”

“I don’t want to
rush you or me,” Clint agreed. “But I’m convinced our destinies are intertwined
and we will be together. I know that as certainly as I know that the sun will
rise tomorrow.”

Cassie stepped back
and struggled to get hold of her feelings. “You’re convinced? You’re certain. Well,
I’m not.”

She hated the hint
of a smirk on his face. “And don’t think bringing the kids here is going to
sway me. To my way of thinking, a man and a woman have to work out their
relationship before being a family.”

 Clasping her hands
tightly at her waist, Cassie continued, “I won’t be railroaded into anything. Don’t
push me. Or I just might give you all the puzzle pieces back.”

“Cool your fires
some, lady,” Clint said, none too gently. “I’m not pushing you. Just because I’m
certain about the end doesn’t mean I’m not a patient man. But you’ve got to
realize that from my culture, family is very important. I wouldn’t consider
marrying a woman without having a good idea about how she’ll connect with my
children and the rest of the family. I’m not just one person in this
relationship. I bring with me many others.”

Cassie nearly
collapsed under his intensity. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, “I didn’t mean to
suggest the children aren’t important. They’re very important, and incredibly
lovable.”

She swallowed hard.
She glanced toward the house. She struggled to hold herself in place. Family. What
did she really know about being a family? Damn, she hated that word. She looked
at Clint, patiently waiting for her to say something. She shivered.

“I guess,” she
said, brushing a tear from the corner of an eye, “maybe I don’t know much about
family. We didn’t have much of one. Yet Dad did the best he could, I know he
did.”

Then the tears
flowed freely and she moved into her lover’s arms. She didn’t want to be
pushed, but neither did she want to shove him away.

“He did a great job
with you,” said Clint, over her muffled sobs. “And this isn’t some sort of
test. The kids…my family already love you. They just want you to know them
better.”