Payback (21 page)

He didn’t say anything
, and he didn’t “fuck” her.  He just held her all night long; his long, warm body covering hers, making her feel safe and loved. He stayed that way until the sun came up, and then he slipped out of bed, heading out to feed the horses.  Marie rose to make breakfast and was surprised to see that the amount on the whiteboard had been reduced three hundred dollars. It didn’t make sense, no “services” had been rendered. But she was grateful.

Doing the math, she calculated that if she worked her usual 45 hours that week
, her debt would drop another six hundred and fifty dollars.  She could conceivably be gone before the wedding in six days…if he had sex with her. Her heart started racing and she felt flush and dizzy. She had to sit down.  It passed, but for a moment her body and her heart had screamed that she didn’t want to leave Montana or the meadow, the ranch, the animals, the big blue sky, the mountains, the new friends, and, of course, she didn’t want to leave Caden.  And that didn’t make sense.  He’d made her life a living hell, and yet she still loved him and found it hard to give him up.

Caden walked in from the cold rubbing his hands to get warm. “Damn, I wish this weather would make up its mind. It’s back in the low twenties.”

Marie looked through the window in the mudroom at the large, round thermometer that hung on a post outside.  It read twenty-two degrees.  “When does it actually warm up?”

“In a month. In the summer
, it hovers in the eighties in Whitefish, high seventies up here. We’re about fifteen hundred feet higher.”

We…he said
“we.”
  “Maybe someday I’ll get back to Montana in the summer.”

“You’ll enjoy it. Glacier Park is be
autiful in the summer, lots of grizzlies.”

“Beautiful
, plus grizzlies. Who can resist?”

He smiled. “I know the park well. A couple of the rangers are friends of mine.”

Is he suggesting that he could show me the park?
”That’s cool.  It’s always nice to have someone show you the best spots.”

“What’s for breakfast?”

“I could make whatever you want.”

“How ab
out French toast?”

Now he wants French toast? The very French t
oast he told me not to make when I came here?  I don’t understand what’s going on here. Is he thawing, or is this a new form of torture? I liked it better when he was just an asshole. It made everything so easy. “You got it!” 

As he finished the French
toast, he looked up at her and sighed. “That is so good. I know it’s your grandmother’s recipe, but maybe you could let me have it?”

She pretended to be shocked. “But then, why would you ask me back?”

There was no missing the perplexed look on his face that broadcast, “Why would I want to invite you back?”

She blushed when she realized what she had just said. “I’m just joking. Of course I’ll give you the recipe.”

He stood with his dish and took it to the sink, rinsed it and put it in the dishwasher. Another first.

“Okay. What’s going on?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re talking to me, rinsing
your dishes, asking for French toast…”

“Have you seen the whiteboard?”

She nodded.

“Before you came I did my own dishes, cooked my own meals, washed my own clothes. I just figure that I should get used to doing it again.”

“Oh. I see.”

“I’m going to take some silage out to the cows.”

“I’ll have lunch ready when you’re done.”

He didn’t sleep with her that week, so when Friday rolled around
, she was certain that she’d be there for a few more days. But just in case, Marie had packed her duffle bag, leaving out what she needed for the next week. 

Caden climbed off the horse and started to take off the saddle and bit without even thinking, it had become so ingrained in him over the last six years. 
His mind was on Marie. Six years of healing, only to find out that the scar she had left behind was just as painful and even more debilitating than the wound. The problem was that he had allowed the scar tissue to encase his heart, keeping him from feeling how lonely he was. In five months, she had opened the wound and eviscerated the scar, exposing his heart to old and new emotions. But now, what would he do with all of these feelings? For one thing, he didn’t trust his feelings, and that made it even more difficult for him to deal with them.

Excited. S
he hadn’t been this excited in a long time. She was getting out for the first time in a long, long time. After her shower, she spent an hour getting dressed. It was now four o’clock, and she had heard Caden go downstairs a few minutes ago so she knew he was waiting.

As she started down the stairs
, she could see him from the back. He was doing something, but her view was blocked. 

“I’m ready.”

He turned, and his heart crushed up against his chest. She was the most beautiful woman in the world. Everything about her, all that he remembered, came flooding back. The dress was gorgeous, emphasizing what was great about her little figure and minimizing what wasn’t. She had put on a little weight, but on her it looked good.  Still, it wasn’t her figure or the pretty face that made her so beautiful, but her persistence, determination, intelligence, kindness, and generosity. Marie had been tested over the last few months and she had passed.  She hadn’t run, she didn’t moan, she simply got on with life and did the best she could. Caden knew that Marie was not usually submissive, but she seemed to know that he had been baiting her, wanting her to fight with him, to give him an excuse to dismiss her from his life.  But now he couldn’t.

“You’re beautiful,” he said quietly.

Marie stopped breathing. It was too much for her to stomach. She turned and ran up the stairs, into her room, and closed the door. Looking across the room, she could see the mascara streaking down. 
The bastard…he’s playing me, building me up just so he can bring me down later.  I’m not going to play this time.  I’m not going to let him humiliate me in front of dozens of people again.

There was a knock on the door. “Marie, we have to get going if we’re going to make it in time.”

“Go without me.”

“No.”

“I’m not going. Go without me.”

“No. If you don’t go, I don’t go.”

“But they’re expecting you.”

“Get your things and let’s go.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“My makeup is ruined.”

He opened the door and took one look at the black streaks down her cheeks like some tribesman
from the deepest, darkest Africa. He walked into the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth. Wetting it, he walked over to Marie and lifted his hand to under her chin. Softly, he began to wipe at the black streaks as their eyes locked. Without wanting to, he smiled warmly.  She smiled back and then took the washcloth from him.

“Silly, you can’t get mascara off with a wet washcloth. You go downstairs
, and I’ll make some repairs and join you.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

She wiped off the smeared makeup and then put some mascara on and grabbed some makeup to take with her. Running down the steps
, she finally got a good look at him. He was dressed in a black western-cut suit with a silver vest and black cowboy hat, black cowboy boots, white starched shirt, western-styled bow tie. He was delicious, so gorgeous her whole body ached for him.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Let’s go!”

They walked to the truck. Driving down, he was relieved to find that the roads were clear of ice.  He wasn’t sure he should ask, but he had to know. “Why did you start crying?”

“I wasn’t expecting you to tell me I was beautiful. You’ve called me a lot of things over the last few months, but you haven’t called me beautiful in years.”

There was nothing to say that wouldn’t sound ridiculous
, so he said nothing. They arrived a few minutes before the wedding. Marie took off her work jacket, the only jacket she had warm enough for the weather, and left it in the foyer on a peg, along with Caden’s hat. They proceeded arm in arm up the aisle of the church. The entire church, which had been murmuring, stopped and turned to watch them take their seats.

“You always were a showstopper,” she chided.

“I think you might have shocked them. They aren’t used to seeing me with anyone on my arm that doesn’t work in one of the bars.”

“How do they know that I’m not a barmaid?”

“Hmmm. Good question.”

They took one of the pews half way up and sat while the congregation continued to stare and whisper. Up came the cell phone cameras.

“Oh, here we go,” he moaned.

“It does get old, doesn’t it?”

“It seems as if pictures of me are worth more now than before, but that’s because I try to keep my life private.”

The door opened
, and Larry walked out with two of the guys Marie recognized from the bachelor’s party. They stood at the front for five minutes, and then the music started. They all stood and turned to watch the bride, a pretty brunette walk up the aisle in a strapless gown covered with lace with an impossibly long, white train following behind.  Her veil was back so that you could see her beaming face.

They sat and listened carefully as the vows were recited. Both Caden and Marie wondered if they would have been married if the
“incident” hadn’t happened. As if he was reading her mind, he leaned over and whispered, “You’ll make a lovely bride someday.”

She shook her head. “Nah, that ship has sailed.”

He scrunched his face up. “That’s rather melodramatic.”

“Shhhh.”

He smiled and turned back to watch the rest of the ceremony. As they were walking out the door with the other attendees, Caden stopped to talk to an older gentleman that Marie found out later was the man who owned a bull he wanted to buy. 

Ona sidled
up next to Marie. “Arm in arm? It looks promising.”

“It’s only because I’m a few days away from leaving. He’s feeling generous because I’m going to be out of his life for good very soon.”

“I see. You’ll keep in touch, right?”

“Of course.”

The reception was held at the
Hilton Garden Inn
reception hall that consisted of a long, rectangular room, an atrocious paisley carpet, and three undersized chandeliers. But it had been decorated in the bride’s favorite color, fuchsia.  Surprisingly, the color was used as an accent and so it didn’t overwhelm the room.

Caden had hoped their table would be in the back, off to the side, but as usual, they were up front, near the bridal table. People tended
to show him off like a trophy, “Look, I know Caden Kelly.”

He pulled the chair out for Marie and then sat down himself, looking at the cards on the table, relieved when he saw that Jason and Chris were also at their table. But then he saw that Corinne Weston was sitting next to Jason
.

A few minutes later Corinne, Chris
, and Jason were standing at the table. Kisses on cheeks were exchanged, along with hearty handshakes, and then everyone took their seats. Two more couples and an older woman took the remaining seats at the table.  Jason had exchanged seats with Corinne and was now seated next to Caden so that they could talk.  They had a private conversation while Chris, Corinne, and the others exchanged niceties.

Caden watched out of the corner of his eye as Corinne studied Marie. He knew that Corinne had always had the hots
, for him and he knew that Jason was aware of that. So why bring her to the wedding?

“What’s with you bringing Corinne?”
Caden asked.

“I wanted to make sure t
hat she was occupied tonight,” Jason responded.

“Why?”

“So you could concentrate on what’s important.”

Caden sneered. “And what would that be?”

“That’s for you to decide.”

“She’s looking very hot tonight,” Caden remarked.

“Corinne or Marie?”

Caden looked over at Marie. “Both, but I was referring to your companion.”

“You know she’s not half as beautiful as the woman sitting next to you.”

“Don’t push it.”

“You don’t have very long. I saw the whiteboard.”

“I’m not sure I want to do anything about it.”

“Now you’re just a fool.”

The dinner wasn’t bad, but then it wasn’t great either. There was a choice of steak or chicken.  Caden and Marie both chose the chicken because they’d had too many me
diocre filets at weddings. The marsala sauce was very tasty, so it helped to disguise the dry chicken breast underneath. There were plenty of toasts and photo opportunities. Caden, but not Marie, was invited up to be photographed with the couple. He obliged, simply because it was the least he could do for Larry.  Larry had worked his butt off for Caden each summer for the last five years helping him brand and ship the cattle to market. During the winter, Larry worked at the ski resort and always let Caden cut to the front of the line when he went skiing on the rare occasion.