Rory (4 page)

“But my job.”

“There’ll be another one”

“But you…”

“Worry too much. You’re coming
back to Montana, and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

He winked at her. He’d finally
made her smile. While he hated the thought of her being hit by a car and
injured, he loved the fact that he’d be spending time a lot of time with Cass.
He took a deep breath, hoping that his brother would forgive him for never
owning up to the simple fact there’d always been a place in his heart for her.

Chapter Five

Rory was the sweetest guy she’d
ever met. Well apart from his baby brother. She’d struggled to walk down the
aisle of the plane so he’d scooped her up, carried her, and then placed her
gently into the seat. She’d seen other women looking at her, envy written all
over their faces as the handsome cowboy had whisked her past them. The
stewardess had taken her crutches and put them in a closet close by, and now Rory
was sitting beside her reading one of his ranching magazines as they waited to
take off from Tacoma Airport.

The thought of going back to
Montana both thrilled and scared her. She was born there, and her heart would
always be in Big Sky Country. However, all the bad things that still played in
her head had happened there. It was the reason she’d moved to Tacoma. However,
she never been wise enough to realize that while you could physically run, your
mind could never escape the past no matter how far away you got. The now older Cass
knew it was up to her to heal and move on. Maybe going home would do that, or
perhaps it would make it worse.
 

“You just let me know if you need
anything,” said Rory jarring her out of her train of thought. She glanced out
of the window and realized they’d left Tacoma and
were
already in the air.

“I think I might just try to get
some sleep.” She was tired, but she really just wanted to sit in silence and
mentally prepare herself for how she’d feel when she saw Timber Creek again.

“You want me to turn these
overhead lights off?” asked Rory.

“No, that’s fine.”

She closed her eyes and pretended
to be sleeping. The plane hit some turbulence, and she dug her fingers into the
armrest hoping Rory didn’t see her reaction. She could count on one hand the
number of times she’d been in a plane, so she wasn’t the best traveler. She
shifted her body to the left a little, regretting it immediately when her leg
got twisted a little, and it began to throb. The doctor said she was healing
nicely but would need to start physical therapy soon. A sharp pain shot through
her calf as she tried to get more comfortable.

Painkillers.
Maybe if she
took one of those it might numb her before she arrived in Montana, and would
take the edge off the ride to Timber Creek. A tear slid down her face, but she
quickly swished it away with the edge of her hand before Rory spotted it. He
never missed a thing.

Pretending she was asleep wasn’t
working. She tried to sit up some more and once again her leg let her know it didn’t
like her making quick movements any more.

“I think I’ll take one of my pain
pills,” she said.

Without saying anything, Rory
reached up into the air and pressed the call button while she dug out her
bottle of medication the doctor had given her when she’d been discharged a
little over three hours ago.

The stewardess soon stood by his side.

“Could you bring both of us a
soda?” asked Rory.

“Sure, I’ll be right back with
those.”

Cass struggled to sit up some
more and Rory must have noticed her fussing. He put his arm behind her back and
within minutes she was in the most comfortable position so far. He was the
strongest guy she’d ever known. One hell of a great looking guy too. She loved
the way his temples were now grey with little flecks of the same color
sprinkled throughout his thick, wavy locks.

He had to be close to
forty-seven. She knew lots of women had been hoping they’d become his
girlfriend and then wife, but he’d carried the responsibility of the Malone
family on his shoulders since his father had passed away.
 
He’d held them together, and for that she
admired him, but she knew because of it he lost out on having a family of his
own.

The stewardess brought their
drinks, and Cass quickly downed the pill and swallowed, washing it down with
the lime soda, the bubbles traveling up her nose.

“Did you drive to the airport
when you flew to Tacoma?” she asked. She wondered if Shane or Flynn might be
there to pick them up.

“Yes and I took the truck, so I’m
thinking there will be enough room for you in the back so you can spread your
leg out.”

That was Rory always thinking of
others before himself.

“I’ve told everyone to expect us
home around seven, but to let you rest up a bit, at least for a day or two
before they stop by. I know everyone’s real excited about you coming home. When
I called Flynn this morning he said that’s all Emily’s been talking about.”

Cass smiled. Emily was a
sweetheart. She and Ryan had often taken her into town for ice cream. She had
to be a teenager now, which reminded Cass that she’d been away from Timber
Creek for three years.

“Ladies and Gentleman, we’re
about to begin our descent into Missoula, so please fasten your seatbelts and
put your chairs into an upright position.”

“Lucky thing it’s a quick flight,”
said Rory.

Too quick.
She just wasn’t
ready to be back in Montana quite yet.

Rory pushed her chair up for her,
and she caught a whiff of his spicy aftershave that clung to his denim shirt.

“We’ll be in Timber Creek before
you know it,” said Rory.

Yeah,
that’s what I’m afraid of.

Chapter Six

Cass had been quiet most of the
way home. At first he’d thought she was just tired, but when he’d glanced in
the rearview mirror he’d seen her looking miles away, and simply staring out of
the truck window.

He could only begin to imagine what
was going through her head.
The pain, the memories, and the
loss.
The Malone family’s loss too, but it had been much worse for her because
she’d had to deal with the guilt over her father’s alcoholism too. No matter
how many times they’d told her it wasn’t her fault, that she wasn’t to blame
for Ryan’s death, she’d insisted that she could have and should have stopped
him from being a hero. He glanced in the mirror again.

Maybe he should have opted to
stay in Tacoma with her while she mended, but that was next to impossible because
he had a ranch to run. He couldn’t let Flynn deal with it all by himself,
especially now he had more family responsibilities.

There was a shortcut through the
center of Timber Creek to the ranch, but Rory decided to go the long way. Yeah,
he was tired and was sure Cass was too, but if he went that route it meant
driving by the spot where the house used to be. Today he didn’t want her
thinking back to that night.

He glanced at her again. Now she
had her head leaned against the side panel, her eyes looked heavy like she was
about to fall asleep. He put his foot down a tad, trying to get home as soon as
they could.

“Did I tell you that Mr.
Pinkerton retired to Florida last year?” he asked her.

“No. Did he sell the ice cream
parlor?”

“Yeah, some couple from Oregon
purchased it. We’ll have to go there one day to check it out and see what
they’ve done with the place.”

She nodded. He thought that might
cheer her up, going back to the place she’d worked. Damn, he’d forgotten that’s
where she’d met his brother. Shit, he’d have to think before he opened his
mouth.

Rory turned down the dirt road
that led to the ranch, driving slowly so the bumps didn’t jar Cass’s leg. He
glanced in the mirror one more time. She was twisting a lock of her hair wildly
around her finger and biting her bottom lip. He knew none of this could be easy
for her, but he and the rest of the family were here for her. There was no way
he was letting her go through all this rehab all by herself.

He pulled up in the driveway and
switched off the ignition.

“Don’t you move an inch until I’m
there to help you out okay,” said Rory.

He got out of the truck and
opened back the door for her.

“How about you put your arms
around my neck and then I’ll walk you to the front door. You can sit inside
while I unload your things.”

She scooted forward and leaned
into him. He knew he shouldn’t even be thinking about it, but he loved the feel
of her arms and hands on his body. She was so soft and smelled like spring
rain. He put his nose close to her hair. That smelled wonderful too. Rory
wrapped his arm around her waist. She’d lost some weight while she’d been in
the hospital, but she was still the curvy girl she’d always been. Strange how
the Malone boys had a soft spot for women who, like their mother, had generous
hips and thighs.

They took only one small step
toward the house, and he already sensed she was struggling so he lifted her up
and carried
her the
rest of the way.

“Rory, you’re going to put your
back out. I’m not the lightest of females.”

“You think I’ve grown weak since
you’ve been gone?”

“It’s not that, but I’d hate to
see you
laid
up with an injury too.”

“Now wouldn’t that be a sorry
sight to see.”

He’d gotten a laugh out of her.
The first one in days.
Shit, he’d forgotten just how pretty
she really was. Rory put her gently down, and she leaned against the doorjamb
as he opened back the door and helped her inside the house.

“Now you sit down on the couch,
and I’ll have all your things inside in no time. After that, I’ll get you something
to eat and drink.”

“I don’t want you to go to any
trouble because of me.”

“It’s no problem at all. Flynn’s
taking care of the ranch today, and Shane said he’d help out too for a few days
until we get you settled in.”

He sat her down and then went out
to the truck and began bringing in her stuff. First her crutches, followed by
the suitcases, and finally some boxes of items she didn’t want to leave behind,
one of which he knew included the framed photo of her and Ryan. If she needed
more clothes, he’d take her into town or shopping in Missoula when she went to
the hospital for her physical therapy. He wasn’t sure how long her rehab would
take, but secretly he wished it was long enough for her to fall in love with
Montana again. While she was under his roof he was going to do his best to
convince her that Tacoma wasn’t the place for her. Timber Creek would always be
her true home.

She was twisting her hair again
when he got back inside.

“Do you still paint?” she asked. Cass
was looking at his latest one that hung on the wall opposite the couch. It was
of the ranch and valley.

“Yes, and I should paint one of
you.
 
I always said I would.”

“Yeah, maybe you should while I
can’t do anything else but sit and have my portrait done.”

“Don’t you worry; you’ll be back
on your feet in no time. I’ll take these through to your bedroom and then I
think we’ll eat because I’m starving.”

****

Cass had never known that Rory
could cook so well. The steak he’d grilled and the tossed salad were both first
class. No wonder the man had
never
needed a wife to
take care of him. He was basically self-sufficient.

“Maybe we can grab a meal in
Missoula when you go to your first rehab session,” he said cutting into the
steak.

“Ryan asked…”

She stopped. It was too painful
to remember the cozy little restaurant they dined at when he’d proposed to her.

Rory put his hand on top of hers
and squeezed it as if he knew the pain she was going through. He’d always been
such a sensitive soul. She glanced down at his hand. It was calloused but warm,
and she didn’t know why but she suddenly wondered what it would be feel like to
have him touch every inch of her body.

She coughed. She’d never had
those
sorts of thoughts about Rory
before. Maybe it was her pain medication doing funny things to her head. Or
maybe she hadn’t been around a man this much since losing Ryan. It could be
that all her sexual energy was pent up inside her, coiled and ready to spring
forth to the first man she was with, and how ironic that it happened to be the
guy who was supposed to have become her brother-in-law. She glanced at Rory,
not realizing how handsome he’d always been, and it scared her.

 
She’d be living under his roof, sleeping in
the room next to his, and sharing his bathroom so she’d have to tone down the
whole horny libido thing or it could get embarrassing for both of them.