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“Ryder, don’t you have to be somewhere? Soon?” Cassidy twisted back to him as Miss Peaches half dragged her through the door separating the supply area to the actual church.
“Now, now, Clem would love to see you again. And the other ladies, too. The children.” Miss Peaches tugged harder.
“My, Miss Peaches, you’ve got some grip on you. Been working out?”
“Must be all those boxes of decorations she’s been hauling.” Luanne nudged Cassidy. “Go on now, make her happy. Me, I’ve got more to do back here. See you Monday afternoon, all right?”
“Come with Cassidy and me, Daddy.” Molly wiggled down out from his arms and clutched his hand. “I’ll protect you both.”
Cassidy smiled widely at his shiver. “Misery loves company, and all.”
“Payback.” He narrowed his eyes playfully.
She recalled the look. It led to lots of kisses... Who’s shivering now? And where had that whoosh of heat come from? The man could bring her to the edge of madness and rope her back in...
In a matter of moments, Cassidy trudged into the beehive of activity called a church with madwomen digging out tons of decorations from piles of boxes. More than a dozen kids played on the raised stage—the preacher’s podium tucked away in a safe corner—running, chasing, and laughing. Their squeals of delight filled the tall, long room.
Miss Peaches called out, only adding to the sense of chaos.
Cassidy stood planted in one spot, overwhelmed with the noise crashing around her. The frenzy reminded her of setting up for rehearsal before a big concert or award show. Her ears hurt. Her chest tightened.
She backed up a step and slammed into Ryder’s big, hard chest. He gripped her upper arms to steady her, keeping her close.
“You’re trembling.”
“You’re not.” No, Ryder felt like a rock in a storm.
Solid and sturdy and something to hang on to. Like he’d been years ago. Why him? Why this same longing, even after she’d found out about Naddie?
“They mean well.”
Brushing back a tendril of hair, she released a shaky breath. “Cray cray, as they say.” Isolating herself from swarms of tabloid reporters and curiosity seekers, Cassidy had been holed up the last two months in Tennessee, close enough to her specialists to go in for follow-ups, yet far enough away from hoards of people.
This rattled her. To her bones.
How in the world was she going to slide back into that life when she didn’t like huge chunks of it?
“Easy. You got this.”
A sting of tears bit her eyes at the familiar, soothing sound of Ryder telling her that. “If I faint, be sure to catch me. I wouldn’t want a matching cut on the other side of my noggin.”
“It would look so pretty, too.”
She chuckled—a new strained version she wasn’t sure was allowed. About time you call your voice therapist, isn’t it? But her anxiety eased a notch, even when a bustle of women stopped in mid-task and rushed over.
“Why, Miss Clementine, don’t you look all refreshed? You and Miss Peaches are a mighty sight in the matching cowgirl outfits of yours.”
The colorful red and blue scarves draped crisp white shirts tucked into denim skirts and they wore intricately designed tan cowgirl boots.
“Can’t say the same about you, Cassidy James. The refreshed part.” She stood back, eyeing her as the others crowded around, giving her a wave or saying hey. “But you’ll do.”
A slip of shock stole thoughts and a comeback at the woman’s audacity. Cassidy bit her tongue, remembering her momma telling her to always be nice, even if the older sister looked cross all the time. “Thank you kindly.” What else could she say?
Twitters of laughter came from all around Cassidy. A buzz of excitement rippled through the ladies.
“I knew you’d do it.” Miss Peaches clasped her hands to her chest. “You’ll make the best Christmas Parade Queen ever.”
“Wait, y’all. What are you talking about?”
Miss Clementine shot her sister a stern look and then turned back to Cassidy. “Our current beauty queen has come down with the mumps. She’s unable to fulfill her duties, so Peaches and I chose you.”
“Don’t you have to ask first?”
“The answer will be yes, so no need.” She smiled sweetly, well as sweetly as Miss Clementine could. “You don’t want to disappoint the good people of Honor, now, do you?”
Just go saying it in front of half the town, why don’t you?
Molly jumped up and down at her side, gaining attention. “Oh, please, Cassidy. Please do it. And let me ride along with you. I’ve never been in a parade before and daddy can come, too, to look out for me so you won’t have to. I won’t be a bother. I promise.”
Cassidy’s heart squeezed so tightly she thought two hands had come in and wrung it out. Molly’s eyes held hope, but her pretty little face went pale as if expecting a refusal. The look of bracing for rejection slammed into Cassidy. Hard. Painful.
She sucked in an aching breath. “Now, lookee. I think you, the cowgirl princess, is the real beauty here. I’ll just be there to ride along.”
Molly’s jaw dropped. “That’s a yes?” As it sunk in, she squealed with delight. “Daddy, I’m going to be in the Christmas parade.”
Steeling herself, Cassidy slowly turned to look at Ryder. A mixture of gratitude and anxiety washed over his features.
“Looks like all three of us will be, Molls.”
“Can you dress as my daddy’s Christmas bride, too?” Molly held her breath and pressed her clasped hands to her lips as if she were saying a prayer.
The murmurs all around—even from the children playing—came to a screeching halt, like the needle scratching over a vinyl record.
“Christmas bride? Oh, why didn’t you two tell us? Of course, that’s the real reason you’re back, Cassidy. You and Ryder have gotten back together.” Miss Peaches’s excited voice rang through the church. “I do love a good wedding. Oh, my! Another McCall wedding!”
A sudden burst of activity ensued—chattering, giggling, and gossiping—just to name a few.
Thump! Thump!
The sound of Cassidy’s heartbeat filled her ears.
She gulped hard as she lifted her gaze to meet Ryder’s. The shock in his green eyes reverberated and must have matched the look of hers, because she sure did feel as if the world—their world—just came crashing down on them.
Ryder paced outside the garage, buttoned up tight with no sign of the mechanic. But, if truth be told, Clyde’s absence was the least of his problems. His gut swirled with churning emotions.
“Sign says, be right back.” Cassidy sat on the concrete step, watching him, studying him.
Bandit pressed close to her and laid his head on her thigh as she petted her dog. Both seemed to watch him as he walked, halted, turned, and then marched back again.
Cassidy was his problem. She looked adorable there—her blue-gray eyes with a hint of wonder and a splash of anxiety tracking his every move. The way she bit her bottom lip between her teeth sent all kinds of thoughts rushing through him.
I want to do that. I want to kiss her.
He clamped down harder on the surging feelings—because, heck if he’d go there again. But, even after finding out about Naddie, Cassidy’s eyes shone with such empathy and caring for Molly. That had torn apart those built up layers surrounding his heart when it came to Cass; if anyone should feel betrayed by him marrying her rival it should be her.
Thankfully, she didn’t hold it against his precious little girl.
He stopped in front of her and then nodded to his crunched heap of metal he used to call a truck, sitting toward the back of the lot. “Looks like there’s no CPR for that bucket.”
“Not waiting for the lab results? Or, should I say, the score board?” She giggled.
It might sound rough and raw, but to Ryder it proved a welcome relief. He searched her face, long and lingering. Memories tumbled in his mind, drawing him back to a time and place he both loved and hated in the end. “And look at that ride! There’s a hairpin twist. The bull bucked. The cowboy’s holding on for dear life. Oh, there he goes! Buzzer rings. Couldn’t hang on for eight seconds.” He did his best announcer voice. Somehow he’d just described his life with Cassidy as he knew it.
“Seems like. But cowboys never quit, Ryder.”
Her saying his name—soft and sweet—struck him to his core. It might not sound the same as it used to, but, that hitch tugged at him. The melting look in her eyes slammed into him full force like those bulls he’d been bucked off of many a time.
The playful air siphoned out. Something kicked in the dust.
“Cowgirls quit their men.” It dropped down, hard and fast, between them.
She sucked in a sharp breath that sliced the air.
Standing up, she brushed off the back of her jeans and faced him. “Well, darling, I never said they had a lick of sense when it came to matters of the heart.”
Ryder’s own heart jolted. “Admitting you were wrong?”
“Oh, let’s not get riled up now, hear?”
A flash of longing in her eyes came and went.
“Cassidy James... I know. That fix comes first.” It had taken getting married to another woman before Ryder had realized the entire truth.
Naddie had supplied him with a woman’s point of view—fessing up to waiting to share with him after he’d slipped the ring on her finger and made it official.
His wife had known once he made a promise he’d never break it. He’d never leave Naddie even after she’d informed him that Cassidy flat out lied to his face.
After all these years apart, Ryder stared into the blue-gray gaze that haunted him since that day he met Cassidy at the McCall ranch nearly eight years ago.
He didn’t want it, not that constant urge to be with her, or the ache when she left, or the deep need to claim her as his.
It felt like a fever took hold of him, keeping him in a perpetual state of wanting her even when everything came between them.
Ryder broke the stare. He had to break the hold, too. “In however many weeks, you’ll be gone again. Back to your music world.”
“That’s debatable. The comeback, yeah, not a sure thing.” She turned at the sound of an engine coming their way.
The hint of tears in her voice slammed into Ryder.
“You’ll heal up fine, Cass.” He said it to reassure them. Because dang if she didn’t get out of Honor Texas soon he’d be yanked back into all kinds of thoughts of what could have been...
“Doesn’t take a genius.” Clyde—older and more grisly-looking every day with his untamed graying hair and beard to match and wearing his familiar sweat-stained tanned cowboy hat—walked around Ryder’s heap of metal, kicking the tires. “Totaled.”
Ryder blew out a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Afraid that’s what they’d say.” Plan B, it looks like. “Anything you want to sell? Or know of anyone selling a decent truck?”
“Got a couple of connections. I’ll see what I can come up with. Guess I don’t have to ask how fast. Yesterday about right?”
“And you don’t call yourself a genius.” Ryder shook his head.
Clyde barked out a laugh.
“Can I borrow something? Anything in the meantime?” He needed transportation for Molly to get her back and forth to school and her rehearsals. And heaven help him if anything happened to her at the ranch and he couldn’t rush her to the clinic. A bolt of fear slashed through his chest.
“Well, now...” Clyde scratched his beard. “Thought Miss Cassidy here was toting you around.” He smiled widely. “Before and after the Christmas wedding.”
“Hold on—”
“Where did you hear a thing like that?” Cassidy tensed by Ryder’s side.
He felt the ripple of shock slide over her even from a foot away. Or was that his?
“The whole town’s talking about it. Word travels fast when you got the two Honor sisters in the middle. I’m sure the whole county knows by now.”
“Please don’t let that be true.” Cassidy’s whispered words mirrored Ryder’s thoughts.
“Rumor. A bad one at that.” Ryder clenched his teeth, biting back a cuss word. He promised Molly he’d wouldn’t say a bad word and he aimed to keep his promise. But this was pressing his limit.
Clyde eyed him first and then Cassidy. He shrugged. “If you say so. Things don’t match up, though. You two always had a thing for each other. But what do I know, right?”
“About that ride?” Ryder reminded him.
“Take my heap. Not much to look at with just patina and side boards on the back, but my baby sure purrs going down the road.” He nodded to the rusty truck circa nineteen fifties.
“Is it safe?”
“Course it is. Safer than yours ever was.” He chuckled heartily at that. “Keys in the ignition.”
“Appreciate it, Clyde.”
“There’s a catch.”
Ryder groaned out loud. The generous mechanic always had a condition. He’d bartered and bamboozled his way out of many of things over the years by trading a repair job with some unpleasant duty attached on the repayment side of things. “What do you want to get out of now?”
“Seems like there’s some decorating to be done. Stringing Christmas lights for the town businesses.”
That would take time away from finishing Ryder’s house. His gut clenched. “That all?”
“Well, now that you mention it, there is a tiny something.”
“So it’s a big deal, right?” His exasperation flew out with his words.
“Driving in the Christmas parade.”
His heart stuttered. Yep, word traveled at lightning speed in Honor. It always amazed him how such a small town had the world’s most busybodies in one place.
“Miss Cassidy and your little girl need a driver in that fancy convertible I restored.”
“You think of that yourself, Clyde?”
“Miss Peaches and Miss Clementine made their wishes known...” The tops of his cheeks—what Ryder could see anyway—turned pink and he looked away.
“And no one goes against the Honor sisters.” Not the descendants of the town and with still the largest stake as owners of most of Honor, Texas.
“Aw, now, they don’t mean any harm. Not much.” He cleared his throat. “You want it or not?”
“You don’t have to do it. We can work something out, Ryder, with my truck.” Cassidy turned her full blue-gray gaze on him.
He about lost it. There was a well of longing in him that stole his breath away.
Her barreling back into town and plowing into him tipped his world on its side. And that had nothing to do with the accident.
Ryder wanted a safe, stable environment for his precious daughter. She deserved a real home. She deserved a real sense of security. He’d been working on providing her that for a long time and thought he was almost there.
But with Cassidy back in his life for only a few hours, Molly wasn’t the only one in jeopardy of having the rug pulled out from under her.
Cassidy swept in like a storm and would just as quickly and easily rush back out, leaving a tornado of destruction behind.
He’d never let that happen to Molly. Nor to him again.
Facing her head on, he let his gaze linger on her beautiful, heart-tugging features. A deep ache rippled through his chest.
“Clyde, you’ve got yourself a deal.”
Goodbye, Cass.
