The Discreet Cowboy (Cowboys of Nirvana Book 6) (21 page)

She leaned in closer. “Enter at your own risk. One of the guests came in earlier and after she left, he slammed his door and I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since.”

Dade knew that Chase was never one to lose his temper unless it was something significant. “Okay, well I can’t wait. I need to speak to him now.”

“Sure go on in.” She waved a hand through the air.

The door was still closed to Chase’s office and Dade knocked.

“Come in.”

Dade opened the door, peered in through a two-inch crack and saw that Chase was standing at the window looking out. “Am I interrupting?”

“No. Just the man I was needing to see.”

There were moments when a person knew they were walking straight into a war zone and there wouldn’t be an easy exit, and yet Dade couldn’t help but continue. He had a gut feeling Chase wasn’t happy with him, but it was time to face the fire.

Dade closed the door and stood in the center of the room, leaning on his cane. Chase remained quiet and statue still, watching out the window. His shoulders were tight and when he finally turned, his jaw was tighter.
Oh shit!
He knew about Dade and Felicia. He dragged off his hat and held it against his gut. “I have something I need to speak…”

“And so do I.” Chase tore a hand through his hair and his lips were thin, dark circles appearing under his eyes. “I had a visitor earlier. Monique.”

His chest caved in. Oh shit!

“She had an interesting story.”

“I can explain.”

“Hell, I bet you can. But I’m not interested in hearing another lie.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“You and my sister aren’t fooling around?” His gaze narrowed like arrows targeting on their destination. “And then you had Monique in your cabin? Damn!”

Dade crunched his hat under his fingers. “Well, yes, no, but…”

Chase held up a hand, ceasing Dade’s words. “You either are or you aren’t. You either did or you didn’t have Monique in your place. I remember you and I having this discussion, you telling me nothing would happen between you and Felicia.”

The oxygen depleted from the room, but Dade didn’t back down. He held his ground. Chase had the capability of scaring a lot of men, even some of the bravest, but Dade didn’t believe he’d done anything wrong. “It wasn’t a plan of ours.”

“It never is.” Chase chuckled, but there wasn’t any humor. “I’ve heard every excuse under the sun, but I can’t make myself clear enough that the cowboys need to control themselves while they’re here at Nirvana.”

“You’re acting as if I—”

“What? Screwed my sister then lied about it? You of all people, Dade. I counted on you. I thought you were different. I set you up here, thought of you as a brother.”

Dade’s throat constricted. “You’ve been good to me.”

“And this is how you say thanks? By sleeping with Felicia?” He shook his head in agitation.

There was no longer any anger left in his expression, only disappointment which ripped through Dade like a hot poker. The last thing he’d wanted to do was disappoint Chase. And yet, he loved Felicia. But what could he do for her? Dade and Felicia couldn’t stay here. They could go back to his hometown, but he couldn’t ask her to do that. And he couldn’t ask her to nurse him through recovery. He couldn’t bear the thought.

“I quit, Chase,” Dade said.

Chase’s gaze turned steely. “What’s that?”

There was no hesitation, “I’m leaving Nirvana.” Pushing his hat back on his head, he turned and left the office.

Life screwed him.

He had no choice but to go back home to Ohio.

His chest tightened and his body ached as he numbly walked outside, not paying attention to Jennifer who was asking him a question.

Everything he’d worked for, wanted, was all down the drain.

****

  “What did you do?” Felicia eyed Chase who was sitting at the dinner table buttering his bread, innocently.

He didn’t even look at her. “Are you referring to Dade?”

She took a step toward him, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot dangerously. “Why?”

He slowly laid his knife and roll down onto his plate, then looked at her. “Do you really need to ask that question?”

Kaycee, who looked about as shocked as Felicia, sighed heavily. “What’s going on?”

“Your husband fired Dade! How could he?” Felicia could barely contain the urge to dump Chase’s plate over his head.

Chase blew out a long breath from the corner of his mouth. “Is there something about the rules of Nirvana that people don’t understand?”

“Don’t even begin to bullshit me. You did this because I’m your sister. Every cowboy here has let the horse out of the corral in one way or another, and they didn’t get fired,” Felicia said through clenched lips.

“You fired Dade?” Kaycee was staring at her husband as if he’d grown horns.

“No, I didn’t fire him. He quit.”

Felicia almost choked on her saliva. “He quit? Not possible.”

Chase blinked. “It’s the truth. Monique, one of the guests, came by the office today and informed me that she saw you in Dade’s cabin, while she was in there too.” He moaned. “While I was speaking to him about it, he said he was leaving.”

She groaned. “You must have said something.”

He laid his palms down on the table on either side of his still full plate. “I should have fired him, but it wasn’t my plan. Although I wasn’t sure what was going on between you two, I’m also very aware of what people are doing here. Maybe him leaving is for the best, Felicia.”

She shook her head. “If I don’t catch him before he steps foot out of Wyoming, I’ll never forgive you, Chase.” She turned and stomped off in the other direction, slamming the screen door on her way out.

“What the hell did I do beyond being boss around here?”

Kaycee looked across the table at her husband. “You should remember, ‘happy wife, happy life’.” She stood up and walked upstairs.

****

Dade boarded the bus for Ohio and took a seat near the back. Across the aisle sat a mother and her son who looked like he was about five. He was playing with a small fire truck and it fell to the floor. Dade picked it up and handed it back to the kid who stared at him closely. “Are you a cowboy?” he asked.

Dade smiled. “I guess you could say that.”

“You have a horse?”

“I take care of horses.”

The little boy rubbed his dark eyes. “I want to be a cowboy.”

The boy’s mom lifted him onto her lap. “Now, Donnie, don’t bother this fine man.”

“He’s no bother, ma’am.”

“What’s that?” Donnie pointed past Dade’s shoulder.

“Hmm, looks like a lady is looking for a cowboy named Dade,” the woman said.

Dade narrowed his gaze, twisting in the cracked vinyl seat. Standing outside of the bus, holding a sign was the one woman he wasn’t sure he’d see again. Felicia.

He read the sign,
“Looking for my cowboy Dade.”
Then she switched signs, “
Where you go, I go
.” Again, she moved the sign to the back of the stack. The third one read, “
That’s what people in love do
.” The next read, “
And love can’t be easily broken
.”

He sat there, his head reeling and his heart aching.

“Wow, it seems this Dade is one lucky fellow,” the man sitting a few seats up said.

“Yeah, he certainly is,” Dade said as he stood, made his way down the aisle and out the door. Once his boots hit concrete, Felicia was beside him, her mouth twisted.

“You’re so wrong. How could you just leave without saying goodbye? Kiss my ass? Anything?” She sighed.

He swallowed against the bitterness in his throat. “I didn’t have a choice?”

“You didn’t have a choice? Really? My brother’s an idiot, but we only share the same genes, not thought processes.”

“It wasn’t his fault. I quit and it’s only for the best. I got a visit from the doc and looks like I’m facing more surgery and recovery time. I’ll be down and out longer, and I can’t just sit around Nirvana another six months. And I can’t have you taking care of me.”

She wrapped her arms around her chest, several of the signs dropped to the ground. “People have setbacks, Dade. But that’s all they are, setbacks. They aren’t permanent situations. Are you going to allow yourself to be your biggest obstacle?”

“I’ve made some pretty rotten choices, but this isn’t one.”

“Oh yeah? So I mean nothing to you?” She lifted a brow.

“If you choose me, you might be making the biggest mistake of your life.”

“Now you’re back to feeling sorry for yourself? Is that it?” She rolled her eyes. “Nirvana isn’t the only place we can live.”

“It’s where I wanted to live,” he mumbled.

“So what. I once wanted to live in Neverland. And I survived knowing I’d only get reality. We adapt, we change. We grow, we survive. You need to ask yourself if you’re going to do those things with, or without me.”

He rubbed his chin. “I don’t have anything to offer you.”

“Oh, and somewhere I thought love was enough.” The creases around her eyes deepened and the corners of her lips lowered. She sifted through the signs, tossing them all around her feet until she came to the right one. She held it up, stabbing a finger against the cardboard. He read it, “
You suck!”

She pushed the board into his chest and he caught it as she let go. “Felicia?”

“I thought you meant it when you said you wanted to marry me, but I guess I was completely mistaken. I see that you have two choices, Dade. You can either be thankful for the things you have, or you can go back to Ohio and regret the things you’ve let go.” She turned on heel and stomped off.

He heard a moan and turned, seeing that a small crowd had gathered around the bus. The little boy Donnie had his head hanging out of the open window, rolling the fire truck along the side of the bus. He brought his gaze up. “Hurry and catch her.”

EPILOGUE

THE SUN WAS setting as Dade and Felicia joined hands and the pastor said, “You may now kiss your bride.” They leaned in and Dade kissed her in a way that only a man could do when he’s completely and totally in love with a woman.

He whispered in her ear, “Always and forever.”

“Best choice you’ve ever made.” She smiled widely.

Yes, she was right, as always.

They turned and faced the small crowd of friends and family. Chase and Kaycee were in the front row. Isabella was now standing on her own two feet and learning to balance herself. Kaycee was just starting to show the baby bump. They’d announced a few days ago that they were expecting their second child.

Maverick and Jax were sitting a few chairs back. She held their baby in her arms. A son. Maverick was one of the proudest fathers Dade had ever met.

The last eight months hadn’t been easy, but he couldn’t complain. He’d had an amazing woman by his side who showed him every day how lucky he was to be alive. It wasn’t often that a man could find a woman as wonderful, who would stick by his side through anything. She’d been the first thing he’d seen when he’d woke up from surgery, and he’d known then, she was a gift from above.

He’d wanted to marry her the moment she walked away from him at the bus depot and he chased after her, as fast as his legs would carry him, but he’d wanted to be in the best shape possible so he could take her on the honeymoon that she deserved. Tonight, they would have their feet in the white sand of Bora Bora, and he would have his beautiful wife in his arms. He still had his cane, but he was okay with it. Life was good.

He looked at his wife and he felt more love than he could have ever thought possible. She was absolutely lovely in the simple knee-length white dress that showed off her shoulders and long legs. Damn, he would be a busy man showing her everyday how much he loved her. They’d agreed that when they came back from the honeymoon, they would stay at Nirvana because she accepted a local teaching position. Dade knew she also wanted to be close to Chase, Kaycee, Isabella, and the new baby when he arrived. Although she and Chase still could rub each other the wrong way, he’d finally realized he couldn’t control her.

“How can I prove how much I love being your wife?”

He kissed her on the cheek. “You can try and show me. We have a few hours before our flight leaves.”

“Aren’t you going to at least give me a clue where you’re taking me?”

“Nope, it’s a surprise. Kaycee packed your bags. Everything you need is in your cases.”

“No, everything I need is right here.” She kissed his cheek. “Okay. I trust you and I can’t wait. I did tell you to take care of the honeymoon, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. You’ll be happy. I promise.”

“I think I’d like to try out lovemaking as Mrs. Dade Jarrett.” She wagged her brows.

“You think they’ll expect us to stick around and eat cake?”

“We’ll stuff our mouths then sneak away. After all, it’s our day. We can do anything that makes us happy.”

“I’ve married you and that means every day for the rest of my life will be happy.”

They hurried down the aisle, holding hands and hearts full.

“Moon is wearing a skirt and wow, she’s hot,” Felicia whispered.

“Love changes a person.”

“I knew they’d make a great couple. They look good together,” she said. “And he certainly does make a handsome cowboy.”

“They don’t look quite as good as we do together.”

THE END