Mindset (27 page)

They rode about half a mile further before she saw what appeared to be a card table and two chairs with some boxes on top of it.  Callie was completely baffled and looked questioningly at Cade, waiting for an explanation.  He got off his horse, reached up to her waist and lifted her down, then tied up both horses by a small outcropping of rocks surrounded by shrubbery, hooking the picnic basket before going back to her.  “Come on.” He took her by the hand and walked over to the table, holding out a chair for her.  “Why don’t you set out dinner while I handle a few last minute details.”

Callie didn’t know what in the world to think about all this.  She looked around her.  There were several groupings of rocks and shrubbery surrounding them, but the ground was mostly level where they were sitting, so the table and chairs were pretty sturdy.  She could see the Franklin Mountains in the distance, and patches of cactus in places.  There was a subtle breeze blowing, and the sun was on its way towards the horizon.  Peaceful.  Quiet.  Private.

While Callie unpacked fried chicken, potato salad, and some fruit, cheese, and crackers, Cade opened what turned out to be an ice chest and pulled out a bottle of champagne and two crystal flutes.  Then he reached into another container and pulled out a dozen yellow roses to be followed by a box of Godiva chocolates.  Callie was stunned and, maybe for the first time in her twenty-seven years, found herself speechless and could not help staring at the table, the flowers, the chocolates, and finally at Cade.

“What’s all this, baby?  I don’t know what to say.” 

He poured her a glass of champagne and handed it to her. 
Maybe I should’ve saved the champagne to celebrate just in case I get the answer I’m hoping for.  Nah, wouldn’t want to jinx anything.
  “Are you ready to eat?”

She smiled widely.  “Sure.  And thank you for the flowers and candy, Cade.  Very romantic.”

Romantic is good, he thought. 

“You brought me yellow roses when I graduated from college, remember?  But I think this is the first time you’ve ever brought me chocolates.  How sweet.”

Sweet’s good, too.  I’m on a roll here.

“I’m surprised you remembered the roses for graduation.  They’ve always made me think of you.  Not red or pink or any other color, just yellow.  And I’m sorry this is the first time I’ve ever bought you chocolates.  I figured you could think of them as a belated Valentine’s Day present.” 

“Wow!  Blown away here.”

Shit.  Now what?

“So, what’s the occasion?”

“Well…I’ve been wanting to bring you here for awhile now, Callie.  Want some more champagne?”

“No thanks, I’m good.  You were saying?”

He scrubbed his hand over his face.  “Look, I’m not very good at this, ok?  Here’s the thing…” 
Shit, I’m gonna fuck this up, sure as shit.
 He stood up, just because he had to get up and walk around.  Just as he rose out of his seat, the silence was broken by a loud blast, and Cade crashed down, across the table, food scattering everywhere as the table collapsed under his weight.

At first, neither of them could comprehend what had happened.  Then a blinding pain in his side demanded his attention, and when he pulled his hand away from it, it was red with his own blood.

“Cade, oh my God, are you okay?  Shit, you’re bleeding.  Oh my God, you’ve been shot.”

“Callie, get out of here.  Now, damn it!”

“Screw that! 

“God damn it, Callie, I said get out of here!”

“Cade, if you think for one minute I’m leaving you here, you’re out of your damn mind!”  She reached for a towel that had been on the table that was now toppled over on its side, shielding them from view of whoever just made the shot and pressed it to the hole in his side to try to slow down the bleeding.

“Callie, for God’s sake!  Someone just shot at us.  You’ve got to get out of here.  Please, baby.  Go.  You can go get help.”

“Just let me think a minute, okay?” 

“Listen, sweetheart.  Please listen to me.”  He was starting to feel a little light headed, so he grabbed her arm and made her look at him.  “You’ve got to get out of here.”

“Can you get up, Cade?”

“Shit!  Would you just get out of here for Christ’s sake?”

“Don’t tell me what to do!  You’re not my father or my boss, so quit telling me what to do.  Besides, who’s to say if I get up from here and climb on my horse and ride for help that whoever shot you won’t shoot me, too?”

He didn’t know what to say to that.

“Can you get up?”

He rolled over and groaned.  “I don’t know if I can get up or not, but I know there’s no way I can ride.”

“Ok, here’s what we’re going to do.  I need you to scoot back until we can get behind those rocks by the horses, ok?  Can you do that?  I’m guessing whoever shot you is waiting for us to get out from behind here, so I’m going to try to pull the table behind us, ok?”

He tried to clear his head.  He had to get her to safety without giving the shooter a chance to hit her.  If he could keep her in front of him, he could shield her body with his own.  “Look, you go first, and I’ll follow, ok?”

“I have to pull the table behind us, Cade, so you’ll have to go first.  It’s not that heavy, but you need to conserve your strength and keep holding that towel against your side.  I’ll be right behind you, I promise.”

Knowing they didn’t have much time before whoever had shot him came to investigate, and remembering that he had a rifle on his horse a few feet away, he didn’t want to waste any more time arguing with the stubborn woman at his side.  “Okay.  Ready?”  She nodded.  “Go!”

He crawled as best he could, and Callie, true to her word, stayed close behind him, keeping the table between them and the shooter as much as possible.  Another shot rang out and hit the ground close to her hand, but she didn’t let it slow her down.  By the time they reached the rock cluster, Cade was breathing heavily, and the bleeding had worsened.

Callie grabbed the towel he’d tucked into his belt and pressed it down hard on the wound.  He groaned and closed his eyes.  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.  But I’ve got to stop this bleeding.”  Another shot rang out and hit the rock in front of them, making the horses nervous.  Cade grabbed her and pulled her down to the ground beside him. “Stay down, Callie.  I’ve got to get to that rifle.”

“Yeah, like that’s going to happen.  Be right back.”

Before he could stop her, she jumped up, made a grab for one of the horses, and reached for the rifle, ripping it out of the scabbard.  She was considering the merit of reaching for the rifle on the other mount, but just then, another shot rang out and grazed the neck of the horse she’d just been touching, and it broke loose into a full gallop.  Not wanting to press her luck, she hit the ground and crawled back to Cade, who was still trying to get up.

“God damn it, Callie!  Don’t do that again!  You could’ve been killed, damn it!  What the hell were you thinking?  Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, see?  And I got the rifle, but I didn’t have time to get the extra cartridges before the horse took off.  But that’s good that he’s spooked.  With any luck, he’ll run straight for the ranch, and someone will come looking for us.  By any chance, did you tell them where we were headed?  Where exactly are we, anyway?” 

He was struggling to stay conscious, but he managed to give her a weak smile.  “Home, sweet home.  Or at least I was hoping so.”

“Where?  What are you talking about?”

He reached for her hand and held it to his chest, over his heart.  “This is my land, Callie.  I own it.  I wanted to show it to you.”

“Really Cade?”  She thumbed the safety off the rifle with her other hand and grabbed the stock.  “It’s nice, baby.  How many acres is it?”

“About forty.  It’s underdeveloped, so I got it at a good price.  It’s also mineral rich, so it’ll pay for itself before too long.  That is, if I get a chance to mine it.”

“Don’t even go there, baby.  Of course you’re going to mine it.  Who knows, you might even find that diamond mine.”

He smiled at her and closed his eyes.

“Cade!”  He opened his eyes again.  “Jesus, don’t scare me like that.  Keep talking to me, baby.  You hang in there with me, ok?  Help will be coming soon.”

“Callie, listen.  I need you to do exactly what I say, ok?  Please, baby, please do like I tell you, okay?”  He tried to focus on her face, but it was getting harder and harder. 

“I want you to give me the rifle, and when I start shooting, I want you to get on the other horse and ride for help, okay?  Can you do that for me sweetheart?”  Another shot ricocheted off the rocks, and they both ducked down lower.

“She eased up slowly and aimed the rifle in the general direction the shots had come from and pulled the trigger.”

“Honey, you’re wasting ammunition.  Now, would you please get ready to go?”

“Actually, I’ve got a better idea.  The sun will be down in another half hour or so, and it’ll be dark soon.  I’m guessing that whoever’s out there doesn’t know the land or the area like we do.  So when it’s dark, we’re both going to get on that horse and ride out of here.  And by the way, the reason I fired that shot was to make sure he knows we have a gun.  He’ll think twice before he comes after us.”

She looked down at him, and he had an amazed look on his face.  “Damn, Callie.  That was good thinking about the shot.  Good girl.  But I still want you to get out of here while I can cover you, okay?”

“No, it’s not okay.  I’m not leaving you here, you might as well accept it.  I’ve made up my mind.”

“Shit, woman!  Unmake up your mind, damn it!  I want you out of here!”

She raised that damn eyebrow of hers, which was almost never a good sign, and said simply, “No.”

Cade just closed his eyes.  “You’re the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.  Assuming we ever get out of here, I’m going to have my head examined for ever thinking I could be around you for any length of time without losing my sanity.”

“You’re just mad because I won’t let you boss me around.  And why that comes as a surprise to you I really don’t know.  When have you ever known me to follow orders from you or anyone else besides Granddad?  The last time you tried to lay down the law to me, I gave you a piece of my mind and left you standing there talking to yourself.  You’d think you’d learn.”

“Yeah, you did, didn’t you?  You called me an ass, too.”

“Did I?  I don’t remember that part.”

“Well, I do.  And you wouldn’t speak to me for nearly a week.”

“I do remember that part.”  She smiled, and so did he.

“Hey, Callie.”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I love you.  I brought you here tonight to tell you that, but it looks like I screwed up again.”