The Sheriff Catches a Bride

Chapter Five



AT TWELVE, Fila had been a typical American kid and was well aware her mother never wanted to set foot in Afghanistan again. Like her father, her mother had moved from Kabul to the United States in her twenties. The daughter of a government official, she’d been raised more liberally than most, and as soon as she reached the States she’d thrown off all vestiges of her homeland’s restrictive traditions. Fila, born and raised in Connecticut, was aware of her heritage, but not concerned with it. All that changed when her great-grandmother died and her father insisted they travel to Afghanistan to pay their respects. Both her mother and father had lost their parents in the past decade. Fila assumed he craved a connection to what was left of his family.

“We have to go, just for a week,” he said over and over again to her mother, and in the end her mother had given in. She spent the remainder of their time in the United States alternately packing and cramming Fila’s head with every memory she had of how restrictive Afghanistan was to its women, the expectations her relatives would have for her, and how much she regretted ever having to bring Fila there.


“I’d leave you here if I could,” she said, “but your father insists.”

“It’s okay,” Fila said. She was excited about the plane ride and their exotic destination despite her mother’s stories.

As soon as they boarded the plane, however, she wished she had stayed home. They were split apart, Fila and her mother in one row, her father in a different one, and all Fila’s mother’s fears sprung to the surface. She spent every minute of their time in the air telling Fila more stories—horrible ones about public floggings, death by stoning, wife-beating, child marriage, until Fila thought she’d never sleep again.

“If anything happens to us while we’re there,” her mother said, taking her hand and gripping it tight, “if anything happens to your father and me, promise me you’ll do anything you can to get home. Get to the embassy, kick up a fuss, do whatever it takes.”

Fila, terrified now, promised her she would. By the time they reached Kabul she’d been consumed by fear, exhausted with the effort to calm her mother, and sure they all faced certain death.

For the first few days, however, all went well. They were welcomed by dozens of relatives with tears and laughter. Fila understood almost nothing that was said, having never learned Pashto. She understood her relatives’ smiles, though, and their hugs and glad exclamations. Surely there was nothing to fear.

Two days later, however, her grandmother’s funeral procession was attacked by armed gunmen and her parents were among the victims. Snatched from the chaos by Taliban radicals, the next few weeks were so terrifying Fila couldn’t bring herself to remember them. In the end her captors claimed they were also her relatives, and brought her to their home in a nearly inaccessible mountain village. They tried to beat out of her every American habit she held in a kind of Taliban experiment: could they transform an infidel into a proper Afghani woman?

After a decade, their methods worked to the extent that Fila blended in with every other blue-veiled woman in the village. She spoke Pashto fluently and cooked, cleaned and sewed like all the rest of them. But she remembered America, she remembered friends and pop music and iPods and all the rest of it. So now—surrounded by noisy American passengers—she could process the cues she saw around her in the AirTrain.

As her guards approached down the center aisle and looked at each seated woman in turn, she knew what happened next hinged on her ability to channel her American youth into the present moment.

She listened to Carla’s music and watched the approaching men out of the corner of her eye. Catching the beat, she began to nod her head.

“You like it, don’t you?” Carla said. Her voice was dim beyond the music flowing from the earbuds, but Fila caught her meaning.

“Yes, very much,” she said with a wide grin. She allowed the beat to take hold of her and she nodded her head with a more exaggerated motion. She recalled watching music videos as a girl, dancing with her American friends and trying to copy the moves of her onscreen idols. She snapped her fingers along to the beat, and shimmied her shoulders a little.

“It’s terrific, isn’t it?” Carla asked.

That’s when Wahid leaned over their seats and caught her eye.

Fila didn’t skip a beat. The chorus came on and she started to sing along, pitching her voice much louder than the submissive murmur she’d adopted back in the village. Carla, laughing, joined in and together they sang, bobbed, and shimmied to the music. Wahid’s gaze slid along the seats.

Ten seconds later he was gone.

Fila fought back the nausea that swept over her in waves. Saved by music. Saved by laughter.

She was home.

THE ONE FLAW in Rose’s plan was a lack of electricity. She needed somewhere to plug in her power saw and Carl Whitfield’s woods didn’t come with an outlet. She couldn’t work at Emory’s place, either, for obvious reasons, so she took a chance and headed for the Cruz ranch, phoning Autumn from her truck. As she’d expected, Autumn welcomed her right over, and when she pulled up in front of the Big House, she met her on the front porch.

“Tell me about this project of yours,” Autumn said, craning her neck to see the lumber in the back of Rose’s truck.

“It’s a secret. It’s really important you don’t tell anyone else.”

“A secret, huh? Sounds exciting.”

“It is,” Rose confessed. “I need a place to paint, somewhere accessible only to me. I’ve thought it through and decided to build it from scratch.”

Autumn raised her eyebrows. “Why don’t you paint at home? I thought you had a studio in the carriage house.”

“It’s a long story, and it probably wouldn’t make sense if I told you,” Rose said, knowing you had to live with Emory to understand what he was capable of. “I appreciate you letting me cut some boards here.”

“Where will you build the studio?”

Rose bit her lip and shook her head.

Autumn’s eyes widened. “I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“Really? Not even Ethan?”

Autumn had the grace to look abashed. “I guess you’re right, you’d better not tell me. Is it somewhere safe?”

Rose thought of Cab ensconced in Carl’s house right next to the woods. “Yes, I think so.”

“Okay, but you know how this town is. It won’t stay secret for long.”

Autumn was probably right, but she hoped it would stay secret for a few months, long enough for her to reconfigure her life. By then she’d have a new plan and maybe she wouldn’t need to be secretive anymore.

“I don’t know why you aren’t in art school, anyway,” Autumn said. “And why aren’t you exhibiting the work you’ve already done? You could definitely sell more paintings. I love the one of yours we have in the living room.”

Rose liked it, too. It was one of her best; a fall landscape, all oranges and browns, with a herd of cattle in the distance.

“You’re the only one who wonders that,” Rose told her. “My parents think it’s a waste of money and Jason thinks it’s downright ridiculous.”

Autumn pressed her lips together. “Your family should support your dream, but if they don’t you have to support it on your own.”

“I guess that’s what I’m trying to do. I don’t have the money for art school, but I do have enough to build a cabin art studio. At least I’ll get to paint in peace.”

“That’s a good first step. You’d better build fast, though. It’s going to snow any day now.”

“I’ll get started right now,” Rose said. She hugged Autumn. “Thanks—you have no idea how much this means to me.”

“Just invite me over someday when you get sick of being alone,” Autumn said. “Sometimes I need to get away, too.”

“I will,” Rose said. “First, I need to cut a bunch of boards. Do you have an outside power outlet? I have a battery operated drill, but my saw needs power.”

“No problem,” Autumn said. “Why don’t you come inside for a minute first, though, and I’ll make you a cup of cocoa. That will keep you warm while you work.” She led the way inside the house. When they entered the great room, however, Rose wished she’d stayed outside. She’d mistakenly thought no one would be around at this time in the day, but Ethan, Jamie, Rob and Cab had just entered through the back door, and were taking seats around the dining room table. Her heart zinged when she saw Cab, but then it sank. Four men to get interested in her project. Four men to try to supervise her and tell her what to do.


Was there any such thing as a battery operated power saw? If only she could hide in the woods while she built her tiny cabin.

Rose hesitated in the entryway, but didn’t see how she could escape notice. Sure enough, Autumn said to Ethan, “Rose is going to saw up some boards outside after we have a cup of cocoa. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Fire away,” Ethan said affably. “I’ll come and help you set up.”

“That’s all right, I don’t need any help,” Rose said, following Autumn into the kitchen.

“It’s no trouble at all.”

Rose clamped her mouth shut to block the words fighting to pour out. She didn’t want help. She wanted the space to do something on her own, for once. Her way. Was that so hard to understand?

“What are you building?” Cab asked.

She noticed the glances the others shot her way. She didn’t want to answer the question. In fact, she was beginning to think coming here at all was a huge mistake. “A kind of shed,” she said finally, shooting a frown toward Autumn.

Autumn’s brows went up at the lie, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she went behind the kitchen counter and got to work on the cocoa.

“What kind of shed?” Cab asked.

“A shed shed.”

“Ah.” Cab didn’t press her further, but she could tell he was thinking hard. In fact, a second later, he drew a pencil and small pad of paper out of his shirt pocket and started sketching. “What size were you thinking?” he asked. “Eight by ten?”

Her fingers spasmed but she stopped herself before they formed fists. Was he going to draw her a blueprint?

“Not quite so big,” she said. “But I’ve already got plans.”

He didn’t even glance up. “I’d put a window here,” he said, sketching rapidly. “South facing, to get a lot of light. You’ll lose some storage space, but it’ll make the building far more usable.”

“I already have plans,” she repeated.

Rob bent over Cab’s drawing. “You’ll want some shelves there for your smaller tools. Maybe a pegboard, too,” he said, pointing. “Are you going to run water to the place, Rosie? Like for a potting shed?”

A familiar paralysis stole over Rose. This was just the way she felt when Emory barged in and started cleaning the carriage house. This was her cabin they were talking about—her getaway place—so why were Cab and Rob designing it? And why couldn’t she stop them?

Because she couldn’t do so without being rude—without hurting their feelings. And she always put men’s feelings ahead of hers. She couldn’t stop Emory, couldn’t break the lease on the carriage house, couldn’t tell Jason she wanted to go to art school… couldn’t split up with him.

The truth of the matter hit her like a two-by-four to her forehead; she lived her whole life in fear of stepping on anyone’s toes. But the more she pulled herself back and tried to make everyone happy, the closer they all crowded in and until she had no space for herself.

Hence the need for a cabin in the first place.

The cabin now being overtaken by the men.

“I’ve got to go get started,” she squeaked and fled the room. As she shrugged on her jacket and boots she was aware of the silence she’d left behind her. She bolted out the front door and over to her truck where she briefly considered hopping in and driving away.

No. She needed that cabin and once it was built everyone would leave her alone. She only had to put up with a little more interference while she cut the boards. As long as she stuck to her guns, she’d get what she wanted.

By the time the door opened behind her, she’d hauled her circular saw out of the truck bed, along with some lumber. She had a sheet of paper that listed all the lengths she needed to cut. She’d planned everything down to the last board. Hopefully once she was finished here she wouldn’t have to come back.

“Are you okay?” Cab asked, coming up behind her as she set up her newly-purchased sawhorses near the Big House’s outside plug.

“Sure,” she said.

“You left a little abruptly.”

He wasn’t going to let it go, was he? She turned around. “Look, it’s nice that you guys want to help, but I want to do this alone. That’s the whole point.” Cab was silent, but his gaze was on the sawhorses. “What?”

“The cord of that saw isn’t going to reach the outlet. Ethan’s got an extension cord. Want me to get it? He’s got a table saw, too. It’ll do a better job for you than that one.”

Rose counted to five. He’s only trying to help, she told herself. “Why?”

“With a table saw you can line up the cut and you have something to guide the wood against. That circular saw requires you to cut freehand. You probably won’t make the cuts as straight as you’d like.”

Really? She hadn’t known that.

“It’ll only take me a minute to get them,” Cab said.

“Okay,” she said and knew she’d been beaten again.

CAB WALKED TO ETHAN’S WORKSHOP with a light step. He’d worried for a minute there he’d gotten on Rose’s nerves with his attempt to design the shed, but now that he’d prevented her from using the wrong saw things were back on track. He’d show her his design a little later, when she realized how much he knew about woodworking. He was glad he had the afternoon off. He couldn’t think of a better way to spend it than doing a project with Rose.

Building a shed together. It wasn’t quite the same as building a house, but it was similar. Maybe she’d come to see he was a better partner for her than Jason…

Whoa, time to pull back on that train of thought. He wasn’t trying to undermine Jason. He was only being a good friend. A friend who was somewhat concerned about the idea Rose was building a shed at all. He wondered exactly where she planned to put it. If she was building on Emory’s lot, that meant she expected to stay there a long time. Which meant she had no plans to leave Jason.

Ten minutes later, he set up the table saw, plugged it into the extension cord and turned to Rose. “Okay, what’s first?”

She frowned. “I’ve got it from here, thanks.”

“Just hand me a board and tell me the dimensions you need. I’ll make the cuts for you.” He held out his hand.

“No,” she said, sounding annoyed. “I’ll do it.” She pulled a piece of notepaper out of her pocket, consulted it, put it back and grabbed a two-by-four out of the pile. Cab stepped back as she approached the saw.

“Do you know how it works?” he said, coming up behind her once he’d avoided getting clipped by the board.

“I can figure it out.”

“You’d better mark your cut first. Here’s a tape measure.” He pulled it out of his coat pocket. Lucky he’d thought to grab it from Ethan’s workroom.

“I’ve got one.” She produced a much smaller tape measure from her own pocket. She put the board on the ground, knelt down beside it and made the measurement.

“Remember the saw blade actually takes off a little of the wood as it cuts. You want to set the blade to the side of the mark,” he said.

Rose dropped the tape measure and pencil and stood up. “I know how to measure and cut a board.”

Cab straightened from where he’d been bent over her to watch. “Well, sure, but…”


“But what?” She faced him straight on.

Was she mad at him? What did he do? “The measurements can get thrown off by the way you cut,” he explained.

She didn’t say anything.

“I don’t mind looking over your design,” he offered, uneasy at her silence. “I’ve got some experience with this kind of thing and I can point out your mistakes.” A funny look came into her eyes and Cab had the feeling he should probably stop, but he just wanted to get this next bit out. “And it doesn’t seem like you’ve thought about your foundation at all. That’s probably the most important part. Did you think about a foundation?”

“Get out,” Rose said.

“What?”

“Get. Out. Of. Here.” She glared at him. “I mean it. Get out!”

Ethan, Jamie and Rob came around the side of the house, drawn by her shout. “Is everything okay here?” Ethan asked. “Cab, what’s going on?”

“For God’s sake, would you all just leave me alone?” Rose stuck her hands on her hips. The four men stared at her.

“I’m not sure,” Cab answered Ethan. “I was helping her…”

“I don’t want any help!” Rose cried. “I mean…” She visibly fought for control. “Thank you, Cab, very much, but please—I’d like to do this on my own.”

“Is that my saw?” Ethan asked, coming closer. Jamie and Rob faded back around the side of the house.

Rose flashed a desperate look at Cab.

“I told her she could use it,” Cab hastened to say.

“That’s fine,” Ethan assured him. “Rose, let me just show you a few things.” He came around and picked up the two-by-four Rose had marked minutes before. He turned on the saw and positioned the board. “You hold it like this,” he said in a voice loud enough to be heard over the din of the motor. “Guide the wood but don’t push it, otherwise you’ll burn out the blade.”

Cab stood by, burning with impatience as Ethan showed Rose everything he’d wanted to tell her. Why had she flown at him like that? And why wasn’t she doing the same to Ethan? Judging by the look on her face she’d like to, although she was keeping her thoughts tightly under wraps now. When he was done with the first one, Ethan went on to cut more boards, and although Rose pressed her lips into a thin line so hard the skin around them went white, she didn’t say a word. When she wasn’t marking the measurements on the boards, or handing them silently to Ethan to cut, she kept balling her fingers into fists. Delicate fists.

Almost small enough to be a child’s, Cab thought affectionately. A memory intruded on his consciousness. He was standing near his father in the garage workshop in his childhood home. They were building a birdhouse and Cab longed to work the bandsaw to cut out the circular door.

“I’ll cut and you watch,” his father said, like he always did. Cab had squirmed with impatience but bit back his protest, just like Rose was doing now.

Understanding flooded him. “Hey, Ethan,” he said, straightening up. “Ethan, buddy—give Rose a turn.”

She glanced up, startled. So did Ethan.

“I’m just showing her…”

“I think she’s got it now. Rose, you want us to leave you to it?”

She nodded vigorously, and he thought for an awful second she actually might cry with relief. “Thanks,” she said.

“Okay,” Ethan said reluctantly. “I’ll be nearby if you want some help.”

“Terrific,” she said. Cab noticed she waited until they’d retreated around the corner before she got the saw running.

“What did you do that for?” Ethan asked as they headed toward the barn. “I wanted to help.”

“So did I,” Cab said heavily.

ROSE GOT ALL THE WOOD CUT, but the afternoon wasn’t nearly as fun as she had hoped because she felt like she was being watched the entire time. Ethan and Cab kept their distance near the corrals or in the house or barn, but she saw them glancing her way from time to time and more than once seemed prepared to come and see how she was doing. She refused to catch either one’s eye, however, and turned her back on them whenever she could. Still, she messed up more than one cut because of nerves.

What was it with men that they needed to control everything? It was one thing to help; it was another thing altogether to remove the tools from her hands and do it for her. At least Cab seemed to get it in the end, although she was sure he wouldn’t have hung around the ranch this long if he wasn’t hoping she’d ask for his help again.

Well, she wouldn’t ask for his help. She didn’t need it. She was perfectly capable of sawing lumber and anything else she needed to do.

Autumn brought her a steaming hot cup of cocoa just as she was finishing up. “I figured you could use this by now.”

“You figured right,” Rose said, cupping her hands around its warmth.

“I heard some yelling out here earlier.”

“I swear they would build the whole thing if I let them,” Rose said disgustedly.

“I’m sure they would,” Autumn said with a smile. “Especially Cab. I think he’s sweet on you.”

Rose kept silent, all too aware of Jason’s ring on her finger, and the reasons she couldn’t date anyone else. Even someone as handsome as Cab. Now that she was done with her work and had recovered her sense of humor, she could admit that she’d like to spend time with him, but not while she was building her cabin. That was private. “I got them to back off finally.”

“Good for you,” Autumn said.

“I guess I’m going to head out now and do a little work on site.”

“Want me to come along? You can watch while I assemble your shed.”

Rose stared at her until she caught Autumn’s mischievous grin. “Stop it! You’re worse than they are!”

“Don’t worry,” Autumn said, laughing. “You definitely won’t see me out there poking my nose into your business. I like it here in my warm house just fine.” She patted her belly with the same gesture Rose had seen Mia make at the hardware store the other day.

“How’s the baby?” she asked.

“Strong as a horse. I can’t wait until it’s born.”

“Come spring your life will be really different,” Rose told her.

Autumn met her gaze. “How about you? Seems like you might be making some changes, too.”

Rose nodded, but didn’t say anything more, even though it was hard to keep secrets from Autumn. “Thanks for letting me come and cut the wood.”

“Any time.”

A half hour later, with Ethan’s tools put away and everything else loaded back into her truck, Rose made sure neither Cab nor Ethan was visible before she drove away from the Cruz ranch. She didn’t want the sheriff to see where she was going next. Picking Carl’s woods had both advantages and disadvantages. They were relatively close to town and to where her friends lived. Plus, there was a tap in Carl’s huge garden not far from the edge of the woods. Most of the time she’d haul her own supply in, but she figured in a pinch she could sneak in and grab water from it if Cab wasn’t at home. On her reconnaissance the other night, she’d even discovered a place she could pull into the woods and hide her truck among a thick clump of pines. From there she’d need to carry everything deep into the forest where it was safe to build, but at least her vehicle couldn’t be spotted from the road.


She reached the woods without incident and made sure no one was coming as she pulled off the country road in between the trees. She spent an hour scouting the woods until she found a building site. As she hauled the two-by-fours in a few at a time, she thought about what Cab had said. Contrary to his belief, she had thought about a foundation. She doubted he could have come up with anything suitable, no matter how much experience he might have in construction; she wasn’t building a cabin on the ground—hers would be high in the air.

Rose had always wanted a tree house of her own. Now she was going to get one.

Just six feet by six feet, the tree house would hold a bench seat, a desk and two windows. Shelves for her painting supplies. A door. That was it. She wouldn’t damage Carl’s property. He’d never know she’d been there.

Her plan was flawless.

She uncovered a bundle she’d kept wrapped in a tarp in the bed of the truck while she was at the Cruz ranch. She’d completed this little project at the abandoned Sutter place on the south side of town. Since she didn’t want to harm even a twig on Carl’s property in case she got caught and had to answer for what she’d done, she’d taken four long four by four posts and stuck one end of each into metal buckets filled with cement mix. After leaving them there to harden overnight, she’d picked them up first thing this morning. It had been a bear to lift them into the truck and would be a bear to move them to the building site, so she positioned an old radio flyer wagon she’d found in Emory’s shed under the tailgate and shifted one post at a time until it fell off the end and landed in the wagon. With the plain end resting on her shoulder and the cement end in the wagon, she could just pull them one by one to her building spot, with a fair bit of cussing and complaining. She measured off the correct distances, poked sticks into the dirt at each corner and set about the task of digging holes for her posts.

Again she underestimated the time it would take. She’d only set two posts in place when she checked her watch and saw that it was after three. By four-fifteen, the four posts were in place and she’d fastened the cross-pieces to them designed to hold up the floor. She was tired, dirty, and more than a little frustrated, but she was elated, too. Her hideaway was taking shape.

Still, she needed to get out of here before Cab came home. There was a chance he’d stay to dinner at the Cruz ranch, but if not, he’d head back this way soon. Checking her watch again, she hustled to pile up the remaining boards and supplies into a heap, cover them with the green tarp and pile evergreen branches on top. She couldn’t do anything about the four pale four-by-four posts sticking out of the ground, however. It was too late to paint them so that they blended into the surrounding fir trees. All she could hope was that no one decided to take a walk through these woods tonight.

She looked at her watch again and swore; she’d meant to be long gone by now. Doing one last sweep to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, she hurried to the edge of the woods where she’d stored the truck. All was quiet on the country road when she reached it, so she climbed in, got it started and pulled quickly out of her hiding place. She reached the asphalt safely, and passed Carl’s place, her heart slowing down as she breathed a sigh of relief, but just as she accelerated to head back toward town, Cab’s truck pulled around a bend in the road.

Damn. Could she drive on by without him noticing her? She didn’t have a good reason to be out this way. She hunched in her seat and hoped like heck he’d be too preoccupied with his own thoughts to even look at her, but no—his truck slowed as it approached, he rolled the window down and stuck out his hand to wave.

There was nothing for it but to do the same. They came to a stop in the middle of the road and Cab eyed her curiously.

“Hey, Rose. Long time, no see! What are you up to way out here?” This was Cab in sheriff mode, his voice friendly but his question probing. Rose could trace his line of thought. Back at the Cruz ranch she’d said she was cutting lumber to build a shed at home. Now she was coming from the wrong direction entirely. Even if she’d been at home and was returning to visit Autumn again, she’d have been coming the from the other way—and she’d have missed her turnoff already.

There was no good reason for her to be where she was.

If he’d simply said hello, or asked where she was going, or even came right out and asked if she’d been trespassing on Carl’s land, she could have told a white lie and gotten away with it. Something about his tone when he asked what she’d been up to told her he wouldn’t be fooled by a white lie, however. He was about to catch her and she was about to lose her hideaway.

She needed that hideaway. Desperately.

Summoning all her strength of will, she looked him right in the eye.

“I came to see you.”

CAB SET OUT TWO PLATES of macaroni and cheese and kicked himself again for not having something else to offer Rose. The steaks in his freezer would have taken too long to defrost, and that was pretty much the extent of the food he had on hand. They sat in Carl’s kitchen, a restaurant-level facility that always made him feel like he was playing at cooking instead of really doing it. A solid oak table and chairs sat at one end of the room. It was better than eating in Carl’s formal dining room, but only a little. Rose didn’t seem to notice her surroundings, or that the meal he set in front of her was singularly lacking in anything green. She picked up her fork and toyed with it.

“I’m not sure I’m the best person to give you advice,” he said cautiously. He still couldn’t believe Rose had driven out to his place to ask for it, especially after the cold shoulder she’d given him earlier. He hoped it was a sign she wanted to patch things up. Maybe she was more interested in him than he’d thought. His gaze fell on her left hand and he took in the ring still on her finger. Jason was still in the picture. On the outskirts, yes, but definitely in the picture. Until that ring came off, he had to be a gentleman. He took a seat across from her.

“It’s not for me,” she said. “It’s for a friend.”

A friend. Of course. “Shoot.”

“If you were a man and you’d been with a woman,” she began, blushing faintly, “and she got pregnant…”

Cab, who had so far enjoyed where this question was going, sat back in his seat. Pregnant? Was she pregnant?

“…but you were married to another woman and you didn’t want her to know about the baby, what would you do?”

Cab blinked. Okay, Jason wasn’t married to another woman. As far as he knew. “Well…” Hell, what would he do?

“What I mean is…” Rose sighed in frustration. “Obviously this guy doesn’t want to claim paternity, and the girl who’s pregnant thinks that’s for the best. She doesn’t like him anymore since he’s being such an ass. But what about the baby?”

He raised his eyebrows, experiencing the distinct sensation of being swallowed by quicksand. “The baby?”

“Shouldn’t the baby figure in all of this? I mean, she could let the guy off the hook and not tell anyone that he’s the father, but that means the baby will be raised nearly in poverty. Shouldn’t the guy be held accountable?”

Well, shit. She really did want advice for a friend, didn’t she? He’d hoped that was just an excuse to come and see him. Although maybe it was. She’d never come to him for advice before. Was this some kind of round-about apology for being short with him earlier today and for leaving the Cruz ranch without even saying good-bye? If it was, he’d take it. He wanted Rose to feel like she could talk to him. Whether or not they ever had the chance to take things further—which they wouldn’t unless she removed that ring from her finger—he wanted to be her friend. A good one.


“Here’s the thing,” he said. “I’d never back away from my responsibility as a father. When I marry a woman—and I will marry the woman I have children with—I’ll stay married for good. However many kids I have, I’ll support them. That doesn’t just mean I’ll pay for their upkeep. I’ll be there for them, too. Any man who doesn’t step up the same way doesn’t deserve to be a father.”

She stared at him. “You mean that, don’t you?” she said softly.

“Of course I do. Life isn’t all that complicated. People make it complicated. They overwhelm themselves with options. For me, when it comes to kids and responsibility, there is only one option.”

She held his gaze for a long moment, a funny look on her face. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear she was a little turned on by what he’d just said.

Interesting.

“Okay,” she said. “But what about my friend? Should she force the issue? She can take him to court and make him take a paternity test.”

“Do the benefits outweigh the cost of having that kind of jerk in her life? Because once she forces him to pay child support he’ll think he has every right to tell her how to raise her kid. He could even try to get custody and force her to pay child support to him.”

Rose’s eyes went wide. “He could do that?”

“He probably wouldn’t win,” Cab said. “But he sure as hell can try. Sounds like he can outspend her on lawyer’s fees.”

Rose nodded.

“Maybe you’d better let your friend decide what’s best for her,” he said gently. “Eat your supper, it’s getting cold.”

She looked down at her plate. Picked up another bite of mac and cheese with a sigh. “Thanks,” she said when she’d swallowed. “For everything.”

“Next time let’s go to DelMonaco’s,” he said, finishing the food on his plate. “What about the rest of your life? Everything okay?” She looked up at him sharply, so he added, “What about work?” That was a safe enough topic. He wanted to keep her talking about herself. He wanted to know more about what made Rose tick.

She made a face. “I need a new job.”

“Really? I thought you were pretty good at the one you have. I’ve heard you can tell from the ring if a couple is meant to be together.” He reached across the table and touched her engagement ring.

She tried to pull her hand away. “That’s a whole other can of worms,” she said.

He held onto it, touching her ring again. “What about this one? What does it tell you?”

Her shoulders slumped and the fight went out of her. “Nothing,” she said in a quiet voice. “Not a damn thing. It never did. I didn’t even know I could tell people’s futures from their rings until I started working for Emory. When Jason gave me this one I didn’t get a twinge! We’re over, Cab. I’m going to leave him.”

“Really?” He had to fight back a smile, jerk that he was. Forcing his face into concerned lines, he took Rose’s hand and squeezed it. He hadn’t seen that one coming. Maybe that explained why Rose had driven out this way. Maybe she wasn’t ready to tell her closer friends but needed someone to talk to nevertheless.

“You’re the only one I’ve said that to,” she said, echoing his thoughts. “I haven’t even talked to Jason about it. I don’t know what I’m going to say.” Her eyes filled with tears and he stood up and rounded the table to get to her side. Instinct had him gently pulling her into a hug, and she came willingly, resting her head against his chest for a minute. Cab relished the feel of her in his arms. He knew she only wanted comfort from him, but he’d take what he could get. Maybe one day soon she’d be ready for more. When she pulled back a few minutes later, he tried to bring things back to normal.

“Sit. Finish your dinner.” He nodded toward the remains of her food.

“I think I am finished.” But she took her seat again. He made his way back to his, wishing he could stick closer to Rose, but he refused to take advantage of the situation. She needed to tie things off with Jason before he asked her out. He frowned in concentration. He didn’t want to back off too far, either, or Jason might find a way to recapture Rose’s heart.

He couldn’t let this visit of hers be a one-off thing. He needed to make a plan with Rose to do something neutral, but fun. Something that couldn’t be construed as a date, but would throw them together again. Helping her build her shed was the obvious choice, but he had the feeling she’d refuse as vehemently as she’d done earlier today. He needed to think of something else.

The solution hit him as Rose picked up her plate to carry it to the sink.

“You need to learn to shoot.”

“I beg your pardon?” She looked at him askance. Cab scrambled to find an explanation that would convince her.

“You have trouble being assertive. Lots of women do. When Ethan took over sawing the wood for you today, it made you mad but you didn’t do anything about it.” She opened her mouth and he knew she was about to point out that he’d tried to do the same thing, so he barreled on. “When we give presentations on safety to women, we tell them they need to learn skills that increase their confidence. If you’re assertive, people won’t bully you.”

“What kind of skills?”

“Karate is a good example, but I don’t teach karate. I do train people to shoot firearms, though, and that skill often gives people confidence, too. Especially women, who tend to be afraid of guns. Have you ever fired a shotgun?”

“No.”

“Pistol? Anything?”

She shook her head and he felt a surge of satisfaction.

“How about I take you out on Saturday morning? Just for an hour. That’ll leave you plenty of time to work on your shed or whatever other projects you have. What do you say?” He waited for her reaction impatiently.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “I think you’re right. I do need to learn to be assertive.” She scraped her plate into the trash. “But now I guess I’d better help you clean up and get going.”

“It’s early,” he said with a glance at his watch. “I’m not in a big hurry to call it a night. Want to catch a movie on television?”

He regretted the offer the moment he made it. He’d meant to play it cool. He didn’t want to rush her. Now she’d turn him down and he’d lose all the ground he’d gained with her tonight.

“Okay,” she said.

SHE’D WATCHED THIS MOVIE with Cab for nearly an hour, and she had no idea what it was about. The minute she’d followed him into the living room, her nerves had set alight. The tears she’d shed earlier seemed to have washed Jason clean from her system and left her feeling lighter. Freer. Like a heavy weight had been lifted from her chest. It felt good to admit out loud that she and Jason were over, although she wished the actual breakup was out of the way already. At least her tree house was underway. Now she needed to find an apartment. And a job. Without using Emory as a reference.

Cab shifted, distracting her. He was so close. Too close. She had sat at one end of the couch and expected Cab to take the other end, but to her surprise he sat down right beside her. And since he was probably a hundred pounds heavier than her, he put a significant dent in the cushion that left her sitting on an incline. As much as she tried to hold her ground she kept sliding toward him.


He shifted again and she slid some more until their thighs touched. Rose held her breath, aware of the man beside her in a way she wasn’t sure she’d ever been with Jason. His long legs, encased in faded jeans, played havoc with her nervous system. Everything about Cab was masculine and it made her want to melt against him. In the early days she must have felt something similar for Jason. Now when she thought of him she didn’t feel a thing.

She felt something for Cab, though. Touch me, she thought at him. Go on. Touch me.

He shifted a third time and she found her cheek nearly pressed against his arm.

“Hello,” he said, looking down at her and chuckling, his voice a low rumble.

“I’m not trying to make a move on you. I just keep sliding,” she said.

“Well, come here, then,” he said, and she shivered in anticipation. What did he have in mind? He lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her even closer. “Comfy?”

His voice, a sexy murmur, shot right through her. “Um… yeah,” she said. She was comfy. She could hear Cab’s heartbeat where she leaned against him. Slow and steady. Strong. She let out her breath in an uneven sigh. She wasn’t sure what they were doing here. She might not be making a move, but it sure seemed like Cab was.

She wished he would. Kiss me.

He brushed his fingers down her arm and laced them between hers, and for one heart stopping second she thought he would bend down and kiss her. Instead, he sighed, tugged her ring gently and let go of her hand.

Disappointment flooded her. She wanted to yank her ring off right now, but that wouldn’t be enough. Cab was right; she needed to end her relationship with Jason before she could start a new one. At least he didn’t remove his arm from around her shoulders. She’d take what she could get for now. She settled in to watch the movie, but every minute next to him was delicious agony. If he wouldn’t touch her, she wanted to touch him. She struggled not to rest her hand on his knee and feel the muscles beneath his jeans. She wanted to slide her palm up his thigh. She wanted to tilt her head back and kiss him. Once in a while he moved his hand over her arm in a light caress and she had to bite back a moan.

An hour later she walked with Cab to her truck, dizzy with longing for him. Despite her best intentions her thoughts had been full of images of them together. Cab stroking her, suckling her breasts, pushing her legs apart. She was thankful for the darkness as he opened the door for her, but as she moved to get in, he took her hand and for one moment Rose thought he’d pull her close and give her a kiss.

She leaned toward him, all too ready.

But he didn’t. He squeezed her hand and let go. A little dizzy and highly disappointed, she climbed into the seat.

“Rose?” he said when she’d strapped on her seatbelt. His face was in shadow; she couldn’t see his eyes. “Talk to Jason.”

A zing of electricity shot through her as she completed his sentence in her head. Talk to Jason so we can be together.

“I will,” she said, her voice husky. She cleared her throat. “Good night.”

But Cab hesitated, his hand still on the door. He leaned down closer to her. “You know, I don’t like the idea of you driving home by yourself at this time of night. I’ll just grab my truck. You go first. I’ll follow.” He must have seen her look of surprise because he added, “Don’t worry; I’m not going to come in. I won’t even ask. I just don’t like the idea of you being alone on these country roads.”

Rose frowned. If he going to make a move after all, he wouldn’t do it in the carriage house Emory Thayer owned. He’d keep her here where they couldn’t be observed. He actually meant he wanted to drive behind her all the way into town. As if she was incapable of making it home by herself.

The buzz of longing that had grown inside her during the last couple of hours faded. On the one hand, his concern was sweet. On the other hand, his concern was… ridiculous. It was something her father would try. Or Emory. “Cab, it’s a ten minute drive,” she said gently. “I’ll be fine.”

“It’s no trouble and I’ll sleep a lot better if I know you’ve gotten home.”

“It’s barely nine o’clock.” Her voice developed an edge. Damn, she’d had fun tonight—she was on fire for him—and she didn’t want to argue, but she couldn’t let this slide. She remembered what he’d said earlier about her inability to stand up for herself.

“Humor me, okay?” He smiled and she wanted to humor him. She really did. But she was sick and tired of people telling her what to do, as if she wasn’t old enough to make up her own mind. She was twenty-four. Plenty mature to handle a ten-minute drive to town.

“It’s not necessary,” she tried again.

“It is for me. I promise I won’t even stop. I’ll drive right on by and swing back home.” He shut her door carefully and rapped his knuckles on the roof twice, as if giving her the signal that she was allowed to start her truck. Her annoyance blossomed into anger. It’d be one thing if this was a ruse to get closer to her, but it wasn’t; it was just a way to control her. What if she wanted to go visit someone else? What if she wanted to run an errand or stop and get ice cream?

What if she felt like driving in circles around Chance Creek? It wasn’t any of his business.

Damn it, why did everyone feel the need to parent her?

She stifled the urge to gun the engine and roar out of the driveway, but all she needed was for Cab to come after her with his sirens blaring. No, she’d have to handle this like an adult. Next time she saw him she’d explain that she appreciated his concern, but she didn’t need his supervision, thank you very much.

And if that didn’t work, she’d kick him.