Mountain Country Cowboy Page 18

  “You were wronged, Cash. I believe that now. I’d believe it even without Will’s confirmation. And I’m sorry for not trusting you.”

  For pushing you away.

  “I appreciate your telling me that.” But he sounded resigned. Weary. She was responsible for that, at least in part.

  “You’re a good man, Cash. A man with a heart for God. A good father to your son.”

  And you’d make me a wonderful husband.

  “You helped me see, too,” she continued, “that God didn’t bargain with me to spare my mother’s life. I admit I struggled with your viewpoint. But I believe now that His plan was to use Mom’s situation—my vow—to nurture a too-long ignored dream to make a difference in the world. To help other victims of dating violence. To bring good from a bad experience.”

  Cash winced. “I’m sorry, Rio, that my behavior that night in Canyon Springs brought it all back. Forced you to relive that fear. And to fear me.”

  “I don’t fear you now.”

  “For which I’m grateful.” Their gazes held briefly, his relief genuine. Then he looked away. “So you’re going to finish up that degree, right?”

  “With my transferable hours from the junior college combined with those from my freshman year, I figure I might have another year and a half, possibly two. For undergrad, anyway.”

  “Then you plan to work on a university campus after that.”

  He made that a statement, not a question, based on their earlier conversations.

  “Not necessarily.” She brushed her hair back. “There’s dating—and domestic—violence all around us. People who need guidance, counseling.”

  “Sad state of affairs this country has gotten itself into. We’ve done our best to push God out of it, and now we’re reaping the rewards.”

  “We are.” She drew a breath. “So I’ll get my degree and see where God leads.”

  Back to Hunter Ridge? To the Arizona mountain country where Cash and Joey would be building a future?

  “I wish you all the best.” He looked away for a moment, then back at her. “Anyway, as I started to say... Joey and I’ll be leaving the Hideaway as soon as I find another job and a managerial replacement can be found for the horse operation.”

  An invisible fist squeezed the air slowly from her lungs. He was leaving?

  “I don’t know how soon that will be,” he continued, “but there’s no reason to change your college plans. I’ll make sure the season is covered until it wraps up later in the autumn and the horses are shipped south for the winter.”

  “But I thought...”

  That he’d be here forever? That although things hadn’t worked out between them, she’d see him when she came home from school on weekends and holidays? That maybe, just maybe, over time God would mend their mutual hurts, lead Cash to forgive her for her hardness of heart and open a door to a shared future?

  “I’ve talked to your Grandma Jo,” he went on, “and we’ve reviewed the applications that came in a few months ago at the time I applied. A few look promising, and maybe some of the applicants are still available. Hopefully, I can get my replacement brought up to speed before this current season’s over.”

  She swallowed the lump in her throat. He’d discussed this with Grandma, and even knowing how her granddaughter felt about him she was going to let him head off into the sunset, never to be heard from again?

  “Don’t leave, Cash. You’re needed here.”

  “I think it would be best for all concerned if I did.”

  “I disagree. You’re good for the Hideaway.”

  For me.

  He cared for her. She knew he did. But had her apology not done a thing to repair the damage she’d done? Impulsively, she stepped forward and slipped her arms around the startled man’s neck.

  “You and Joey belong here, Cash. This is your home now. Don’t leave.”

  Don’t leave me.

  * * *

  Rio didn’t want him to leave. His heart pounding, Cash stared down into her beautiful eyes. Eyes clearly speaking an unmistakable love he’d only dreamed of—and calling him to declare his.

  But he couldn’t. Nor could he remain at Hunter’s Hideaway.

  He wasn’t the man he’d once naively thought he’d become. He needed more time. Time to grow. Change. To become the kind of man a woman like Riona Hunter deserved.

  “We both need to move on.” He leaned in to gently kiss her forehead when every ounce of his being screamed to pull her into his arms and beg her to spend the rest of her life with him.

  But although she said she trusted him, didn’t fear him—words his heart had hungered to hear—he didn’t trust himself. Until he could do that, he could offer her nothing. Maybe on down the road. Maybe if she didn’t find someone worthy of her while she was in school...but not now.

  It would be unfair to give her false hope.

  Woodenly removing her arms from around his neck, he stepped back, his hands clasping hers as he gazed tenderly into her eyes. But before he could say anything more, the tack-room door slid open with crash.

  “Keep your hands off her, Herrera.”

  Cash released Rio and turned warily to Eliot Greer whose big body filled the door. But too late he recognized the other man’s intent. A monster-size fist slammed into his stomach, doubling him over and sending him crashing into a saddle rack. He went down hard, the wind knocked out of him.

  “Eliot!” Rio lunged at the other man.

  He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her aside. “Stay out of the way, sweetheart. I’ve had enough of this guy taking liberties with you that he has no right to take. I’ve been keeping an eye on him. Didn’t think I’d see you slippin’ in here, did you, Herrera?”

  Cash stared up at him, his voice low. Deadly. “Take your hands off her, Greer, or answer to me.”

  “I don’t think that’s your call to make,” the other man mocked. “You came back here full of yourself just like your old man, who thought he could lay claim to any woman he set his eyes on. Maybe everyone else is willing to look the other way, but I’m not. So let’s settle this once and for all.”

  Cash’s fingers fisted as a familiar inner fire raged through him. This guy needed knocking into the next county, and Cash was more than happy to be the one to do it.

  Recognizing Cash’s intent, Eliot held out one hand to keep Rio back as his gaze flitted nervously between her and Cash.

  “Please, don’t do this, Eliot.” Desperation colored Rio’s voice.

  “Stay out of this,” Eliot barked. “There’s been bad blood between us for a long time. Like father, like son.”

  “He’s nothing like his father. Nothing.”

  Still prone, as though an invisible hand were holding him down, Cash scowled up at the sneering face. Remembered the day their fathers fought. How he’d laughed and cheered, and how Eliot had glared at him with hate-filled eyes. The same eyes now daring him to meet his challenge.

  “Come on, mister, get on your feet and let’s get this over with.”

  Eliot had been ten back then. Proud of his father. Ashamed of his mother. Humiliated that the hated Hodgson Herrera, although ultimately cast out from Hunter’s Hideaway, had nevertheless bested Jeb Greer in a fight that even after all these years Eliot hadn’t been able to let go of.

  Cash again clenched his fists, ignoring the deep ache in his belly. He had no choice but to fight the man. Blood pumping adrenaline through his veins at the unprovoked attack, he wasn’t going to let the belligerent man use him for a punching bag. The guy needed to be taught a lesson. And Cash was more than capable of delivering it.

  Eliot kicked a curry comb that Cash’s fall had jarred to the floor. It bounced harmlessly off Cash’s shoulder. “Come on, get up you coward!”

  Having had enough of the
big man’s bluster, Cash moved to rise again. Then once more halted.

  Because you are His son, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your heart...

  In his mind’s eye, the face of the boy Eliot had once been superimposed itself over that of the hostile hulk standing above him—and an unexpected compassion welled up inside. The child had suffered undeserved humiliation at the hands of a parent’s poor choice. Just as Cash had.

  Eliot’s father had been knocked down by an egotistical man half his size who’d walked away hurling insults as to his opponent’s manhood, his inability to keep a wife from running off with a “superior” man. The marriage had shattered. The family unit ripped apart. Only God and Eliot knew how that had eaten away at him through the years.

  “Get up, you—” Eliot kicked at him again, this time slamming Cash in the leg. He could have easily grabbed the booted foot and brought the reckless man crashing down, but chose instead to weather the blow.

  “Eliot! Stop it!” Rio took a step forward, but the other man blocked her way.

  “Looks like you’ve found yourself a real winner here, Rio. Too spineless to get up on his feet like a man.” His lips curling in disgust, he pinned his gaze on Cash. “Nobody would have called your pa yellow.”

  But they’d called his father a lot of other things. Things that, God willing, nobody would ever call the son of Hodgson Herrera.

  Who was now a son of God.

  He took a weary breath as his own anger drained away. “I’m not going to fight you, Eliot.”

  “Hear that, Rio? You may want to reconsider the company you’ve been keeping. Find yourself a real man.”

  “I’ve found the real man I’m looking for, Eliot.” Her determined gaze met Cash’s for a startling moment, then again focused on the other man. “And he’s not you.”

  “You’re making a mistake, babe.”

  “No, you made the mistake. You’re fired. Go see Luke. Tell him I said you were to pick up your check for this week and next, and get off Hunter property within the hour.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “You heard me. And you heard Cash. There’s not going to be a fight. And now that you don’t have a job, there’s nothing to keep you here at the Hideaway. So get out of here. Now.”

  “You can’t—”

  “You think not? Then take it up with Grandma Jo—and Deputy Turner if you want me to involve him, too. I’m a witness to an unprovoked assault. A second one, I might remind you. Grandma knows of the first and you were warned, so I’m sure this one will catch her interest.”

  Eliot’s stare of disbelief turned to one of disdain. “I never thought you’d hear me saying this about you, Rio, but you’re not thinking straight. You’re starting to make me think you deserve this loser. So don’t come crying to me.”

  He gave Cash a scorn-filled look, then strode out the door.

  Rio was immediately at Cash’s side, but he waved her away. Easing himself to his feet, the weight that had pressed upon him, forcing him to stay down, now lifted.

  In its place an inner assurance had taken hold. As tempting as it had been, as much as the desire had warred within him, he hadn’t given in to the other man’s relentless baiting.

  “You’re sure you’re okay?”

  “Fine.” He dusted himself off. He might be in a world of hurt for days from that gut punch, but the elation, the sense of triumph that filled him was already overriding the discomfort. “Thanks for saving me the trouble of firing him.”

  “Better coming from me than you, I thought. I doubt he’ll challenge it with Grandma Jo.”

  “Or Brax.” He smiled. “Although I’ve on occasion suspected the good deputy would like to deck me himself.”

  She bent to pick up his hat from where it had fallen, dusted it off and placed it on his head. “You think so?”

  “I know so. And if I’m not mistaken, somebody said something to Eliot about having found the man they’ve been looking for.” Cash angled a look at her. “That man have a name?”

  “He does.”

  “Gonna share?”

  She tilted her head. “Mmm, that depends on how the man in question feels about the girl in question.”

  “So...if some guy did this.” He tugged her closer, then settled his hands at her waist. “And kissed her like this...”

  He lowered his mouth gently to hers. Heard her soft sigh and felt her arms go around his neck as she responded without hesitation.

  “Would she then confess his name?” he murmured against her ear.

  “That—” her words came somewhat breathlessly “—all depends. There are three missing little words. So it has to be assumed...there are doubts?”

  “Assumptions can get you into trouble.”

  “Maybe. But a girl doesn’t want to throw herself at a man uninvited.”

  He cocked his head, playing along. “So that trio of words would be considered inviting—and might result in her throwing herself at him?”

  She pursed her lips thoughtfully, then nodded. “Possibly.”

  “Well, then...” He gently cupped her sweet face in his hands. “Any doubts I previously harbored had nothing to do with you, Rio. They were all about me.”

  “But—”

  “After that episode at the rodeo, I didn’t think I could ever be the kind of man a woman like you could count on. I’d long prided myself on thinking that I’d changed, but that night I discovered the truth. I’d been keeping myself out of temptation’s way. Dodging trouble. But I hadn’t faced it head-on. I recognized, too, that I had so far yet to go.” His gaze searched hers. “But after what happened with Eliot just now...”

  “You mean because you didn’t punch him clear to the moon?”

  A smile tugged at the fact she didn’t question that he was capable of doing it.

  “That took courage, Cash. An incredible amount of courage.”

  “It wasn’t courage.” He shook his head confidently. “That wasn’t me who had that kind of self-control, but God’s spirit in me. It’s evidence that while I’ll undoubtedly be tempted again to settle a score with my fists, He’s going to be with me. To help me work through those negative feelings and to help me become the kind of man He intends for me to be. The kind of man you deserve.”

  Her expression softened. “I’m not without my own faults. He’ll work with both of us.”

  “He will.” Cash clasped his hands around hers, his voice not much above a whisper. “I’m not one for speeches, but I do love you, Rio. With all my heart.”

  “I don’t know exactly when it happened, but as I got to know you, respect you, trust you...saw the way you treasure your son...” She returned his smile. “I love you, too.”

  Her confession sent off a rumble of fireworks in his heart, nudging him to boldly take that next step. “I know this is rushing things and we’ll have to deal with a long-distance courtship for a while, but you have to admit, we do have a fairly lengthy history. So I’m going to ask this right out...will you marry me, Princess?”

  He gazed down at her, amazed at the words he’d never dreamed of being given permission to say.

  But when she didn’t immediately respond, merely stood solemnly staring into his eyes, his throat tightened. Had he gone too far? She wasn’t ready for a proposal yet?

  Or maybe he shouldn’t have called her Princess.

  He cleared his throat uncertainly. “Rio, I—”

  “You want me to marry you?” Eyes now sparkling, she laughed that beautiful laugh that touched him deep within. “Just try to stop me, cowboy.”

  Then, pulling her hands free from his, she threw herself into his welcoming arms.

  Epilogue

  “It’s about time the two of you got engaged.” Delaney, her baby son in her arms, looked up at Cas
h with laughter in her eyes. “I thought for a while there that you both were going to blow it.”

  “Came close. Too close.” His gaze drifted across the moonlit patio at the back of the inn where an engagement celebration was well underway. Fairy lights were strung overhead, tables laden with tasty appetizers and a country-western rhythm echoed in the background.

  But where had Rio gotten off to?

  “As a relative newcomer to this bunch myself,” Delaney continued, “welcome to the family. You’re going to fit right in.”

  “There was a time when I was younger that I looked at the Hunter family with all the envy of a kid with his nose pressed up against a candy store window. Not because they owned the Hideaway and all those horses, but because of who they were. How they treated each other. How they put God first in their lives. I sure never dreamed I’d one day be a part of that.”

  “And it’s doubtful you dreamed Rio would grow up to be such a looker, either,” Luke chimed in as he joined his wife and infant.

  Cash laughed. “That, too.”

  “You’re a fortunate man, Herrera.”

  “I don’t need reminding of that.”

  Rio’s big brother eyed him. “Treat her right and life—and I—will be good to you.”

  “You can count on it.”

  He felt a tug at his sleeve and looked down at his son who was managing a plate of goodies amazingly well with only one arm in working order.

  “Dad, what’s twitterpated?”

  “Where’d you hear that word?”

  “Uncle Grady says that’s what you and Rio are.”

  Delaney and Luke laughed.

  Uncle Grady. Rio was already encouraging Joey to think of her siblings as aunts and uncles, making him feel a part of the family, even though no date had yet been set.

  “What’s it mean?” Joey persisted.

  “Well...” It had been a long time since he’d seen the Disney flick Bambi. “Twitterpated is—”

  “Twitterpated,” Rio joined in from somewhere behind him, and he turned to see her approaching, “means infatuated.”

  Joey’s nose wrinkled. “Fat what?”