Cassie's Hope (Riders Up) (32 page)

Nodding, Cassie
welcomed his advice. She wasn’t about to let the tension between them get in
the way now. After all, he did this for a living. She rummaged in her purse
until she found the package of antacids.

An attendant led
out Hip Number 52 onto the raised podium. The dark bay yearling colt looked
tremendous under the lights. Cassie hoped the bidding wouldn’t push the animal
beyond her price range. The opening bid was seventy-five hundred. Her shaking
hand raised the bid a thousand. She didn’t have to do more than twitch to stay
in the bidding game once she was identified by a floor man as a bidder.

Rapidly, the
bidding moved to thirty-five thousand. Longer time lapses between bids occurred
as bidders reconsidered just how far they would go for Hip Number 52, but with
so many lots of horses to be sold, the auctioneers would not wait very long. Decisions
to spend large sums of money were made in seconds, not minutes. At forty-five
thousand the bidding stopped. The gavel fell.

“Sold to the pretty
young lady in the fifth row,” the affable auctioneer announced.

Cassie tried not to
jump up and shout. She wanted to do a victory lap. But instead, she waited
impatiently for the floor man to bring over the purchase slip for her to verify
and sign. Damn, she’d just spent more than her old annual salary on a yearling
and a dream.

Grabbing her hand,
Clint whispered, “You did great. Real cool down the stretch. I can see we’re
going to have to do this often.”

“Yeah, well how
come I’m shaking like a leaf before gale-force winds?”

He smiled at her
lazily. “That’s normal. You’re having an adrenaline rush in the midst of some
fierce competition.”

After picking up
Hip Number 68, a nicely conformed yearling filly for twenty-two thousand five
hundred, Cassie was ready to call it a day. Once she’d signed the slip, she got
up to leave, then sat quickly sat back down, aware that Clint hadn’t made a
move to follow.

“You haven’t done
any bidding,” she told Clint. “I don’t want to offend you, but I’ve got to get
out of here. I’ve got to go see those two yearlings I just bought.”

“Cassie,” he said,
watching the handlers lead in another horse, “I know you’ve got to double check
that those yearlings are okay. And you have to go look at them and wonder what
you missed when evaluating them on paper and in the flesh. Run along and check
them out. There’s something I need to see about before leaving. Meet me back
here at five and we’ll find a place to eat.”

“Sounds fine to me,”
Cass whispered. “Thanks for understanding.”

As she stepped
through the swinging doors of the pavilion, she leaned heavily against the
wall, clutching her stomach, hoping passersby wouldn’t notice her trying to
catch her breath and steady her nerves. What a day, what a day, she wanted to
shout. Two beautiful yearlings and the possibility of getting her man back in
her life.

Would he really
listen to her? They’d been quite calm in the canteen, given the circumstances. But
what about when they were alone, away from the horse crowd? Would he be honest
with her? Could they trust each other enough to let go of the past and look to
the future?

Uneasily, Cassie
pushed herself away from the wall to check on her horses. Her spirits lifted
again when she walked along the horse stalls. If nothing else, she had two very
fine prospects to take back to the farm. The trip had already been worthwhile.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“I’m sure I’m
repeating myself.”

Clint grinned at
Cassie sticking her fork into a tender piece of prime rib while still
chattering about her purchases. Horses were so in her blood.

“But I have to
pinch myself now and then to think that I stayed in the bidding for the bay
colt. Thank god, we stopped when we did. I don’t think I would have gone much
more than another five thousand.”

They sat in a
candlelit curtained alcove at an upscale restaurant. Unlike at lunch, neither
noise nor stares of other patrons threatened to intrude.

“You did real fine,”
Clint said, with a little hint of pride. “Once, though, I thought you were
going to go over and clobber that guy in the loud green sport coat.”

“Well, he looked at
me with such disdain. Like I didn’t belong.” Cassie pouted. “I didn’t like him
one bit.”

“Some folks think
they can intimidate anybody, especially a woman.”

“Hah, a lot some
folks know,” she retorted. “And that beautiful little filly. I still can’t
believe I stole her for such a low price. Both of them looked fantastic. I
expect to buy a couple broodmares tomorrow to go along with them. What about
you? You’re not going to drive back to Utah with an empty trailer are you?”

“No, while you were
checking out your yearlings, I was dickering with the buyer of Hip Number 12. I
offered him ten thousand more than the original purchase price and he took it.”

“Hip Number 12,”
Cassie muttered, brushing back wisps of hair from her ear. “That filly sold for
a hundred thousand, easy.”

He loved watching
Cassie with her mouth open. Cute. It made her look cute. “You have a good
memory.”

“You bought a horse
plus made reservations for this luxury setting? You’ve been a busy boy. What
else have you been up to?”

“It’s not uncommon
at these auctions for a horse to change hands a couple times before it actually
leaves the premises. A lot of folks are in this to make a quick profit. This
guy made ten thousand, a ten percent profit, without lifting a finger, buying a
bag of oats, or taking a risk. He’s happy and I’m happy. That’s what makes for
good horse trading.”

Clint sliced
another tender piece of meat. Knowing they couldn’t avoid discussing the topic
weighing on them like reinforced concrete any longer, he decided to go for
broke. “We’ve got to talk about us, you know.”

“I know,” she said
weakly.

He put his fork
down on the tablecloth and sighed deeply. “I told you earlier about going to
see my grandmother. She was very helpful.” He chuckled. “You might not be
surprised to learn that she came by one day to tell me to come and see her once
I realized I was totally lost.”

Wiping a tear from
the corner of her eye, Cassie nodded. “That’s not hard to fathom.”

“Anyway, I’ve felt
lower than a snake for some time about what I did to you. What I did to the
kids. To all of us. Now, I’m aware I was battling fears of losing you and being
rejected by you. In the end, I guess I thought I wouldn’t measure up. You were
taking so long to decide. I panicked.”

He paused to sip
some water. “You see, I had to reject you before you walked out on me. It was
so uncharacteristic of me to declare my love before knowing where you were. I
was certain you were using suspicions of my involvement in drugging your horse
as a way of rejecting me.”

Cassie shook her
head. Tears pooled in her eyes.

“I now know I was
dealing with stuff I’d learned from my father as a child.” Even to him, his
words sounded hollow, divorced from feeling. “You see, I never quite measured
up. I had learned that love was earned, meted out in small bits as a reward for
good behavior….

“Anyway, I had to
at least see you and apologize for distrusting you, for hurting you. I’m so
sorry, Cassidy. You were the best thing to happen to me in years, and I threw
you over like it meant nothing.” Clint paused. His shoulders slumped. “I was
wrong.”

Cassie reached into
her purse for a tissue. Gingerly, she reached across the table to wipe his
tears away, then dabbed at her own. “I can’t tell you it didn’t hurt terribly. You
wouldn’t listen. It was like I was a non-person. I made a pledge to myself that
I would never forgive you.”

 She chuckled
softly. “Yet, here I am. Oh, I was still raging at you when I left Chicago. But
somewhere along the way—maybe flying over Utah—I rediscovered my heart, what is
really important and what I really want. You are not the easiest person to
love, Mr. Travers. But I seem to be up to the task.”

His heart pounded
into overdrive.

“The irony is that
I ran from you, too,” she added in a soft voice. “I ran from your declaration
of love. I didn’t know if I could be a good mother. I knew loving you would be
a terribly wrenching thing for my life. I wasn’t at all sure that I wanted to
take the risk to really love. And when I decided…the day I decided to make that
leap, to acknowledge and completely express that love, you showed up at my door
in the middle of the night accusing me of betraying your trust and your honor.”

For long moments
Clint met Cassie’s gaze, unable to respond with words. The yellow flame of the
tiny centerpiece candle flickered in the breeze of the air conditioner.

Clint wet his lips
and broke the silence. “I love you, Cassidy O’Hanlon. I always will.” He
swallowed and waited.

Cassie smiled
radiantly and murmured, “And I love you. And always will.”

“Then we ought to
be able to figure out a way of building a future together. Don’t you agree?” he
said, again holding his breath.

“We ought to.”
Cassie chewed on her trembling lower lip. “If we can commit to listen to each
other. And when we think things are going awry, to stop and ask how we’re
doing. Then we’ll have a viable future.”

Cassie laughed out
loud, her eyes snapping playfully. “Remember what your grandmother advised
me…the message you gave me from her:
Tell Fire Woman to trust only her
heart. Not what she sees or hears. Only her heart.
”

He closed his eyes
briefly. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Well, it was a
very long flight out here from Chicago.” Moving aside her plate, she placed her
elbows on the table and spoke quietly. “When I left, I dreaded the possibility
that I might bump into you here. I cussed you out in all the ways I could think
of. By the time I landed, I was hoping you would be here. That we might have
one more chance.”

Clint could have
watched her eyes sparkle and dance all night long. He had no doubt they’d have
as many chances as it took.

“Maybe I needed
that time alone.” Cassie sighed, interlacing her fingers. “Anyway, I tried to
take your grandmother’s advice and listen to my heart. Maybe I needed a lot of
quiet, solitary time before I could hear what my heart was speaking. For in my
heart, I know we belong together. Somehow, we have to work it out.”

“We’ll work it out,”
he responded confidently, reaching for her hand. “We have to.”

“Would you two like
some dessert?” asked the waiter, pulling back the alcove curtain.

Cassie replied
quickly, “Why not? I’ll have the New York cheese cake.”

“Make that two,”
Clint said. “And could you bring us another bottle of wine?”

“Sure. I’ll bring
it right out.”

“You’re not trying
to get me drunk, are you, Travers?” Cassie quipped. “Get the lady drunk and work
your wiles on her.”

“That’s a thought,
but I’m not in a rush,” he drawled, clinking his glass against hers. “The night
is long, but we do have to be back in the pavilion by the morning to catch up
with your broodmares. You want to get the best you can afford.”

Cassie brought the
wine glass to her lips. “This is your world, isn’t it? You don’t bat an eye
dealing with these high prices. You’re a much more sophisticated fellow than
you like to project at the Downs or at the ranch.”

Shaking his head,
Clint gave her his best boyish smile. “I don’t know about that. I do okay, I
suppose, but I much prefer working with a yearling in a round pen or taking a
two year old out to a training track.

“Still, I’ll
probably be able to make a fifty percent profit on Hip Number 12, if not more. This
world gets crazy at times. I sometimes can’t believe what people are willing to
spend. Yet, we might decide to have you race her. Or, given her breeding, she
would make an excellent broodmare for the ranch or for the McHenry farm. You
know she’s a chestnut. Reminds me a lot of Cassie’s Hope.”

- o -

Cassie watched
Clint carefully, sensing he was switching the conversation back again to a much
more intimate level. They’d enjoyed sharing dreams about the yearlings and had
playfully skirted issues that still remained between them. But no longer. Those
earlier declarations of love weren’t going to be enough.

He wanted more than
that. So did she. Here we go, she sighed, as goose bumps scurried to find a
safe place on her arms.

“You know, Cassidy,
I’ve only loved one other woman,” Clint said. “She was the mother of my
children. I don’t take love lightly at all.”

“I know you don’t,”
Cassie murmured, trying not to roll the napkin into a tight ball.

“I want you to
marry me,” he declared simply. The flash of desire in his eyes made her knees
go weak. “I want you to be a mother for Lester and Sammy. I want you to be the
mother of our children yet to be born.”

Cassie’s heartbeat
stopped and then leaped of its own accord. Her vision fogged over.

“I love you,
Cassidy. Will you marry me? Will you dream with me?” Clint asked, reaching
across the table the table to stroke her cheek lightly.

She’d waited
through a lot of agony to hear that question. Now she wanted to savor it, but
there was no time for that. The corners of her mouth turned up happily. She
reached across the table to interlace her fingers with his. Her voice was calm
and exuded strength. Her words were uttered without hesitation. “I love you,
Clint. Yes, I will marry you. I want us to chase dreams together. I want to be
the mother of our children.”

She leaned over to
brush her lips across his. He chewed lightly on her lower lip and then let her
sit back.

Cassie choked more
out. “I want you take me to my room now, Mr. Travers. I want to touch my man
all over. I want you to touch me all over. I want to love and be loved.”

“You’ll get no
argument from me on that, my lady,” Clint said, scrawling his signature on the
credit card slip.

Much later, she
luxuriated in his touch, in his feel. As soon as they’d reached her room, they’d
made love fast and furious. They’d been in a pell-mell rush, as if to close the
distance that had separated them for weeks. That had been bone crushingly
fantastic. This was delightfully sweet.

Intertwined side by
side, facing each other, his cock filling her completely, they hardly moved,
yet she sensed another wave building from deep within. He laved a hardened
nipple. She ran her nails lightly across his back. His fingers grazed her bare
nape, as if trying to memorize its texture and indentations. Subtle movements
flickered back and forth. Her pussy clenched around his shaft, causing him to
groan. She watched his eyes follow her hand as she reached between them to graze
her clit. She blew him a kiss, knowing how much that simple gesture turned him
on. He swelled deep within her.

“Now,” she heard
him say hoarsely. She braced herself for the final charge.

“Faster,” she
murmured. “Fuck me. Love me.”

The wave enveloped
her. She crested as he released. Not wanting him to withdraw anytime soon, she
hooked a leg around his butt and held him in place. He lurched into her one
more time, depositing more of his essence. She hugged him tightly.

At last she let
herself bask in the afterglow of lovemaking—and in the six dozen yellow long
stem roses that had greeted her on returning to her room. Clint had spent a
very busy afternoon.

Again, she felt him
busy himself by nibbling the base of her throat. Would she ever grow tired of
his loving attention? Never.

“You know,” she said,
“you haven’t commented on my hair. Are you disappointed I had it cut?”

“Nonsense,” Clint
murmured. “You’d be beautiful if you were bald.”

Cassie giggled. “I
don’t think I’ll try that anytime soon. But do you like it? It would take some
time to grow it back, but I would.”

“No. I like it a
lot,” he confided. “The long hair made you appear sultry and I loved playing
with it, but this style actually makes you look, if anything, breezier and even
sexier. And it’s much easier get to this sensitive skin.”

He laced her neck
with butterfly kisses; her skin drank deeply of his wet caresses.

“That feels so
good. I think I’ll keep my hair short, at least for awhile.