Killing Casanova (6 page)

“Twice a week,” Debra repeated as she descended the staircase.

Jake grinned at his mother’s disappearing form. So she wasn’t softening up to him at the bar. Maybe she just didn’t like pick ups in bars. Jake closed the bathroom door and got into the shower, thoughts forming with clarity as the hot water washed away his drowsiness. She worked with his sister and that would give him the chance to break that icy exterior. He’d never known a female that could resist him for too long.

“You had better get this one,” he said to himself as he soaped his hair and grinned wickedly. “Casanova is a name you earned, and this girl is ruining it.” He stepped farther into the spray of hot water, rinsing as quickly as he could. The summer had just gotten started, and he was bored already. This would be a good game to stir things up a little, and keep him distracted from his growing unease.

Jake left the shower and dressed quickly but carefully. It was Sunday afternoon; he could show up at the horse ranch dressed as if he hadn’t been working the cattle, but he traded his leather pants for black jeans at the last minute. Cassie had seen those at the club the first time he’d run into her, and, though he was trying to break her icy façade, she seemed to be less impressed with his Hollywood look than other girls, so he opted for his rough-and-rugged look. He left the first three buttons of his white shirt unbuttoned, his tawny skin catching the rays of the afternoon sun and the thin layer of dark whisker across his jaw like dark velvet against his strong features. He escaped the ranch house without his mother coming out of the laundry room, shouting through the kitchen door that he was going to pick up Heidi.

• • •

Jake listened to his messages as he drove toward The Rocking J. He skipped the three that Natalie had left him, instead checking Facebook and Twitter for comments from the new crowd of fans he had picked up at the rodeo. Tonight was the final show and the bull rides. Lilly preferred the Bronco riders, but she would want to go with him to the V.I.P. section of the stands. He skipped past Gary’s message with his agenda for New Zealand, listening to Lilly’s silken voice.

“You’re on your own tonight, Jake,” Lilly’s message said without even a greeting. “I’m going back to California with my dad.” Jake thought he could almost hear a choked sob break her voice as she paused; his heart took a dive. “I’m sick and tired of playing with little boys.” There was another pause, and Lil’s breath rang over the recording. “I can’t waste … I’m going back. Take care.” Jake dropped the phone on the passenger seat next to him, squinting into the bright afternoon blare. He couldn’t tell if she was mad at him or at something that had happened last night. When he had left Mcgoo’s at 2
A.M.
, she had been knee-deep in rodeo cowboys and had assured him he could go.

After Cassie had stormed out, and he had gotten a good chewing from Troy for losing her, Jake had been in a sour mood. Even the fireworks had done nothing but remind him of that white flash of fury in Cassie’s eyes, and his frustration with her had driven him home, alone. Jake grimaced again, picking up his phone from the seat next to him, and dialing Lilly’s number, only managing to get her voicemail.

“Hey, Lil,” he said attempting to sound more nonchalant than he felt. “What’s the deal? You bailing on me? Did you end up falling for Zach Harper after all? Call me, okay?”

Jake tossed the phone onto the passenger seat of his car again, trying to shake Lilly’s distress from his mind. Something in the sound of her voice poked guiltily at him, and he wanted it to stop.

As the white rail fence of The Rocking J came into sight, he focused more fiercely on his current challenge, pushing his unease to the back of his mind and only casually noting that, except for the ten or so weeks he and Lilly hooked up in the summer and a couple of times a year on Facebook, they didn’t really have a relationship and thus far, she might be his best friend.

The silver Mitsubishi came to a stop in a cloud of dusty gravel in front of Miriam Sorenson’s farm house. Through the screen door he could see movement in the kitchen and heard Miriam’s voice, but he didn’t hear Heidi’s.

Climbing from the car, he vaulted the porch steps and knocked gently on the door before swinging it open and poking his head through. “It’s Jake,” he called out, before entering the warm kitchen, passing first through the wide screened porch that served as the dining hall for the weekend groups. Stepping up to the hardwood floors, Jake threw a half smile to the women who were sitting around a pine table, eating sandwiches and drinking lemonade. Miriam sat at the end, her dark hair sticking to her moist forehead. Jana Pembrooke and Lacey Gibson sat at either side of her and looked up as Jake sauntered through the door. Lacey grinned at him, her brown eyes inspecting every feature and her lips widening at his smile. Jana just stared. He had met Jana a bunch of times, but whenever he tried polite conversation or even just looked at her, the girl was practically comatose.

“Jake,” Lacey said pulling out the chair beside her at the table and patting the seat. “Come have lunch with us. You look good enough to eat.” Lacey jumped in her chair a little, and Jake saw Jana’s mouth drop in blatant embarrassment at the girl’s comment. It quickly became obvious to Jake that Miriam had kicked Lacey under the table, and Jana had felt the jolt of it as well.

Jake smiled crookedly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans and watching the looks pass between the three girls.

“I’d love to have lunch with three such beautiful ladies,” he drawled casually, “but one of the Caswell women has sent me and the other is expecting a ride home, so my lunch hour doesn’t belong to me.” A new blush of scarlet crossed Jana’s cheeks, and Jake smiled at her to ensure it would remain. “Can you tell me where to find Heidi?”

Lacey flashed him another tempestuous look and started to rise from her seat when Miriam placed a hand over hers and stood herself. “Lacey, you and Jana finish up in here, and I’ll take Jake to the barn.”

Jake grinned again as the blond girl’s face fell in disappointment, and Miriam squashed it with a warning glance.

“Come on, Jake,” Miriam said, taking him by the arm and hustling him out the door.

She didn’t give Lacey or the still-silent Jana the chance to protest. Waiting for the screen door to slam before pinching his arm, Miriam scolded, “Jake Caswell, you know those girls will be useless to me for the rest of the day. The least you could do when you come is show up
after
a round up or a day repairing fences.” Jake held back a chuckle as Miriam looked back at the screen door to the kitchen. “You show up here looking like … that.” She punctuated the word with a flourish of her hand toward him. “And I’ll be lucky if I can get you off my land without one of my girls stowed away in the trunk of your car.”

“I’ll try and remember,” he said faking a serious tone. “Hot, sweaty, and filthy. And I’m welcome.”

Miriam looked up at him with a sideways glance and a grin on her face. “That probably wouldn’t be any better,” she said with a shake of her head and a failing frown. “We’ll just have to learn to keep the girls out in the paddock when you come to pick up Heidi.”

He tried to look apologetic as they rounded the corner of the barn, and Miriam stopped, pointing toward the corrals. “She’s just finishing up with Applesauce and Cassie. You’ll see them on the other side of the doors.”

Jake smiled again and lifted an eyebrow questioningly, “Cassie? Aren’t you worried about Cassie being useless for the day? Especially if I’m such a distraction for your girls?”

Miriam turned to head back to the house and pivoted back to look at Jake. “Have you ever met Cassie?” she asked, the edge of something in her question.

“A couple of times at Mcgoo’s,” he answered keeping his expression blank. Miriam tilted an eyebrow and then shot him a half-hearted smile.

“So … then, she gets all befuddled when you’re around, too?”

Jake didn’t answer with anything except a shrug of his shoulders, and Miriam gave him a watery smile. “I think Cassie will be all right,” she said, suddenly brightening and waving him toward the spot she had showed him.

• • •

Jake watched her return to the big house and then turned toward the barn doors as he heard laughter drifting through the wide opening toward him.

“Showtime, Jake,” he murmured as he steadied himself against the sound of Cassie’s presence as he walked through the shadowed recesses of the barn. The summer sun was baking the smell of leather, feed, hay, and dirt into a steamy cloud as he passed beneath the loft, and he rushed through it to step into the sunlight. He could see Heidi’s long dark hair swaying in the breeze that trickled through the corral as she rubbed her gray mare Applesauce down with a dry cloth.

Heidi loved that horse, despite being generally afraid of the animals. She had become attached to the old mare’s warm, dark eyes and velvet muzzle the first time Jake had showed her how to pet it. Jake shook his head at the sight of the ugly beast standing placidly in the hot sun with the two girls. Applesauce wasn’t exactly a swaybacked nag, but her coat was mottled gray, like granite that couldn’t decide which shade to be. Her back and legs were thick and strong, but the horse paid no mind to speed or destination, preferring to meander like a wandering brook. The placid nature of the old horse convinced Heidi she could be around the gentle animal.

Jake’s mustang, Deseo, had been caught and tamed from the wild herd that ran in the deep meadows of the high country, and Heidi was terrified of the blond stallion. Deseo snorted like a wild bull and was given to unannounced mad dashes even under Jake’s firm hand. But Jake loved the horse’s unquenchable spirit and the freedom he felt riding bareback through the stands of aspens climbing the slopes of the lower Sierras.

His dad had given Applesauce to Miriam, hoping the methodical plod of the old mare would help Heidi learn at least to walk the exercise ring on her back. Both Heidi and the mare had made a lot of progress lately, and Jake suspected Cassie was at least partially responsible. A month ago Heidi hadn’t gotten any closer to the horse than the stretch of her fingers toward her silken nose, but now she pulled carrots from her pockets and was letting the horse eat directly out of her hand.

Grinning broadly as he walked quietly to the corral to watch her, Jake saw the trepidation mixed with elation light Heidi’s dancing eyes. He was still a few steps back from where Cassie leaned against the side of the rails of the corral, whispering soft words into the horse’s ear. A sudden gust of wind blew from behind Jake, and he brushed a tangle of curls back from his forehead, with his fingertips, letting the cool touch of the slight wind soften the sun’s glare.

Cassie suddenly stiffened her back and stood straight, pulling back from Applesauce and holding her hand up, palm out toward Jake. In a quiet whisper, he barely heard her warn him to stop.

Jake stood quietly a broad smile across his face; she hadn’t even seen him. She had sensed that distraction Miriam had complained to him about earlier, and his expression became smug at her inability to ignore him when he was near.

“Heidi,” Jake heard Cassie say softly. “When she’s finished, let’s let her run back out in the pasture. Your brother is here to get you.” Heidi looked up from her scrutiny of Applesauce’s lips and teeth in the palm of her hand and noticed Jake, arms crossed over his chest, waiting behind Cassie.

Jake’s sudden appearance startled Heidi, and she dropped the remnants of the half eaten carrots to the ground with a shaky smile. “Hi, Yake,” she whispered loudly. “Do you see I’m feeding the horse?”

Jake smiled widely at her, and then took two more steps to stand beside Cassie at the rail.

“She’s not even scared of me or anything. Cassie says she trusts me, and if I trust her there isn’t anything we can’t do, even ride … fast.”

Applesauce finished the carrot in her mouth, and the girl, bright-eyed and eager, pulled back from the horse. Jake shot Cassie a crooked smile; now she would see him truly, not in a bar, not sullen and avoiding Natalie. Just that unmistakable, palpable presence she could not fight.

Heidi moved the rail from the corral behind her to let the horse back into the field, and then turned for approval from Jake.

Jake grinned widely at her, “You are so good with that horse, Heidi. I think you might be ready to come break mustangs in Wyoming with me.”

Jake saw his mistake at once, as Heidi turned wild eyed to look at him, fear running rampant in her face.

He meant to encourage her progress, as he put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. Her brimming eyes and trembling shoulders made it clear he had failed. He was usually so careful with his words, especially where Heidi was concerned. Distracted by his plans for charming Cassie, he hadn’t been thinking. Cassie was not charmed, though. Her back stiffened at Heidi’s response.

“No, Yake, no,” she said pushing away from him. “You said you’re not leaving until September, and then the snow will be too deep in Wyoming for riding horses. You promised me, Yake. You promised me.”

“I’m sorry,” he said over and over again, rubbing her bare arms and looking directly into her overflowing eyes. “You’re right. No Wyoming, no mustangs. I’m sorry I said that. Calm down, sweetie, there’s no reason to panic. I was being stupid, I’m not going, you’re not going. I wasn’t thinking.”

Heidi buried her head against Jake’s chest, and he threw an apologetic smile at Cassie, who stood stone-faced. After Jake had assured Heidi they were not going to Wyoming another hundred times, she wiped her eyes and leaned exhausted against his shoulder. Jake smiled brokenly at Cassie, still trying to get a flicker of something from her unyielding features, but her expression remained unwavering.

“I hope I didn’t just set you back,” Jake mumbled apologetically. “I really am impressed with how far you have gotten her.”

“It’s not me, Jake. Heidi is like most people … and horses too. She is remarkable when she is partnered with someone … or something …” Cassie said gesturing toward the pasture, “that she trusts.”