My Mistake (Stories of Serendipity #7) (23 page)

“Yup. This one gets me every time,” she confessed.

“Why?” He was still wiping his eyes and looking around. She handed over the box of tissues she’d been hoarding and he accepted it.

“The indomitable spirit of the stallion to stay free. He does whatever it takes to cast off the chains that man keeps trying to put over him.”

“Do you see yourself like that?”

“No, but I see you like that. I’ve been thinking about this movie since you told me your story.” She could see she’d touched him, as he sniffed again before blowing his nose into a tissue.

“That’s why I love you,” he finally said, quietly.

“Why?”

His hand snaked to her shoulder, fingering a tendril of hair. “Because you always see the best in people.” He looked at her squarely, his face suddenly serious, and devoid of tears. Slowly, he leaned towards her, and she felt the tremble in his breath, as he slid his warm lips over hers.

He kissed her softly, a kiss full of passion, of need, of promise. Slowly his warm tongue swept into her mouth, and Casey felt a fullness in her psyche, a sense of belonging. Brent’s arms came around her back, pulling her closer as he deepened the kiss, yet keeping it soft. She yielded to his mouth, allowing it to make tender love to hers as he laid her back on the couch and slowly undressed her. Without realizing exactly how it happened, he was making love to her tenderly, their bodies joining slowly. She never left the comfort of his arms, as their bodies rocked together as one unit, climbing the mountain of pleasure and then throwing themselves off together to crash back down to earth.

She had never imagined sex could be anything like it was with Brent. The way she lost herself in the passion had never happened to her before. She’d always been conscious of something else in her life. There’d always been something in the back of her mind, niggling at her while she and Kevin had been together, whether it was bills, an upcoming event, or dishes in the sink. But with Brent, nothing else mattered except the two of them. Nothing.

O
ne afternoon, Casey was watching Lindsey and Brent discuss the horses. Brent kept sending her sideways glances, and she really wished she could hear the conversation. The set of his shoulders showed a tension radiating off his body, and Casey wanted to go comfort him.

The horses in the main barn were all sick, and he couldn’t get them to eat. He thought it might be colic, as they were rolling around on the ground, but his standard remedies weren’t working. Not even with the Colonel, who had an iron stomach. He’d called the vet, who came willingly, but to her credit, hadn’t made any moves on Brent. Yet. Although, from the porch, Casey could see the woman continue to look her way, as if making sure Casey was still there. She was probably waiting for her to leave before she threw herself at Brent again.

Brent had told Casey about Lindsey, and Casey didn’t really care. She knew Brent was hers. Even though it seemed he was mad right now, he wasn’t necessarily mad at her, but she was the one who’d been helping him with the horses feeding times the past week, when they’d gotten sick. He questioned her mercilessly, trying to determine what was wrong with them, before the blood in their stool had showed up.

That’s when he’d called Lindsey.

She was at the sink washing dishes, when Brent’s arms came around her waist and he rested his head on the top of hers. She couldn’t help but close her eyes and lean back into his hard chest, inhaling his scent. He’d just come in from the barn, and the heat of the day emphasized the musky hay smell emanating from his pores. She felt him breathe into her neck, the warmth of his exhale melting her insides.

“Somebody’s trying to poison my horses.” Brent said softly. “I’m fixing to go install a flood light at the barn. There’s ground up glass in their feed and hay. In this barn anyway. Whoever did it, didn’t go to the quarantine barn. Maybe they don’t know about it.”

“Is that what they’ve been eating?” Her mind immediately turned to Kevin. If he’d been following her, watching her, he’d know about Brent. But sneaking in and taking her stuff was one thing. Would he really stoop to poisoning horses?

“I don’t know, but it would explain a lot of things.” He kissed the top of her head. “You sure you didn’t break something out there, and just not pick it up?”

“What the hell, Brent? Like I’d carry a bunch of glass out there, accidentally break it, and leave it for the horses to get in their hooves? I wouldn’t do that! I would know better for one thing, and I would tell you for the next…” Her voice was rising in pitch, but he stopped it with a kiss.

“I know, I just had to ask…I’m worried.”

“About what?”

He didn’t answer right away, instead spinning her in his arms, examining her from head to toe before pulling her back against his body. “Your tennis shoes are green…” He murmured into her hair.

“So?” She was aware he was changing the subject, but allowed it. She didn’t want to think about Kevin right now, either.

“I’m just picturing you at the sink, in your bra, panties and these tennis shoes, all matching.” His hands at her waist pushed her back into his arousal. Casey giggled.

“How very old-fashioned of you.”

“I’m just making observations.” He kissed her neck, his hot breath making her shiver.

She turned around in his arms, so she was facing him. Brent looped his fingers through her belt loops and pulled her closer. His mouth swept across hers hungrily, before he pulled back, not letting go. He continued his playful tug on her belt loops, bouncing her gently against his body.

“You feeling better?”

A lazy grin stole his features. “Absolutely. In fact, I was wanting to see if you wanted to go out tonight. Do you still like dancing?”

Casey grinned in response. Dancing was perfect. They needed to get out of the house, and there would be lots of people at the Gin. It would be safe.

“I’ve got to run home and check my mail for those re-done surveys before I go out.” At the seriousness on his face, she continued. “I won’t stay, just check my mail and grab some things. Promise.”

“Okay,” he relented, but she could see he wasn’t happy about it. “I’m going to go shower.” He ran his hands through his hair, sighing. “This whole thing with the horses just has me stressed out, I guess. Be careful?”

“I will. I’ll meet you there.”

Casey stayed until Brent had successfully navigated the shower, before she got into her car and drove home. She had called her mom every day of their self-imposed exile from their home, and her mother had been going back to the house to check on things daily. Gloria hadn’t noticed anything missing, but most of Casey’s things were at Brent’s now anyway.

At her house, there was in fact a package from UPS, a large envelope filled with papers detailing the surveys that she required to finish the job. Casey heaved a relieved sigh. She needed this to finish the job, and she had a sneaking suspicion this would be her last job as a telecommuter.

As she shifted everything in her arms, she noticed another package, addressed to her. It was from Kevin. She sighed again, this one a sigh of frustration. As soon as she managed to get him out of her mind, something would happen to make her think about him again, and none of her memories of Kevin were welcome.

She sat on the couch and opened the small box. It was a photo album, one of those that hold five by seven photographs. Each page had a photo, and the page facing it had some note Kevin had written about the event in the photo. It might have been romantic, if the written notes hadn’t been so weird…

For example, opposite a photo of the two of them at the beach, an afternoon which had ended in a ridiculous fight over who would pay to wash the salty sand off his Lexus before it rusted, was a note about how that was one of his favorite days with her. She had cried herself to sleep that night, after being called names and finally washing his car. Hardly something she would consider a favorite memory.

There was another picture, of Casey in the kitchen, dressed to the nines wearing the stiletto heels she was currently missing, with an apron tied around her waist. She had been so angry at him, coming home from work to find out he’d invited co-workers over for a dinner party that night. She’d frantically run to the store, rushed around to get ready, and barely had a decent meal on the table in time. His note? “
Remember this? That was a magnificent meal, and the bosses were impressed. I got a raise after that.”

There was even a picture of him and Pamela at her baby shower, a picture that Casey herself had taken, not realizing yet they were lovers. Her knuckles whitened on the page as she read the note accompanying that photo.
“This was a great day. You were so generous and giving, making all the food, decorating the conference room, writing down who gave Pam what. I’ll never forget your selflessness that day. You are an amazing woman.”

If she had realized she was doing all that for his mistress, and his baby, she wouldn’t have bothered, and it pissed her off he was acting like she knew and did it anyway.

Her jaw gaped as she slowly turned the pages, re-living horrible memories through his twisted re-telling of events that didn’t happen the way he remembered them. Numbness filled her head as she wanted nothing more than to forget she’d ever met Kevin.

An hour later, she was finished, without realizing how long she’d been absorbed in the photos.

A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach told her there was more to this than she realized. Everything seemed to point to Kevin as her stalker, but the Kevin Casey knew wouldn’t have the nerve to do anything that malicious. The photos showed a skewing of his perceptions, a loss of a grasp on reality. And it frightened her.

Then she remembered Kevin as she knew him. He was an average guy, trying to live an above average lifestyle, getting caught by the realities he was trying to avoid. This was nothing more than his way of molding his life to fit his skewed perceptions of reality. Maybe he was suffering from some sort of mental illness that kept him living in an alternate reality?

Making the conscious decision to deal with it later, she frantically rushed to shower and change before heading to the Gin. She did her damnedest to get the pictures and notes out of her mind. She was ready for a drink.

When Brent got out of the shower, he was rummaging around looking for a shirt to iron. Casey hadn’t seen him in a dress shirt since she’d moved back up here, and he wanted to impress her. And he was excited to show her off, let everyone in town know that she was his, finally. He needed to look the part.

He’d shaved carefully, using the aftershave he knew she liked. He was pulling out a shirt from his closet that was a blue plaid pattern he knew brought out his eyes, and setting up the ironing board when he heard a truck pull into his driveway.

He peeked out the window to see a white Ford F150 pull up. When the doors opened, three leggy brunettes piled out, talking and laughing together. He could see their mother in their coloring and long curls, although he knew better than almost anyone that that’s about as far as the similarity went. Eagerly, he threw open his door. Mooch was beside himself greeting the visitors, barking gleefully, running from one to the other, nipping at heels and wagging his hind end. Brent could swear the dog was smiling.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” He watched as one by one, his cousins Lauren, Alexis and Haley walked through the door, each one laying a chaste kiss on his cheek as they walked by.

“We were in the neighborhood,” Alexis said cagily, and he raised one eyebrow at her.

Lauren cut her off in a no-nonsense manner that Brent was familiar with. Even though she was ten years younger than him, as soon as she could talk, she’d been the bossy one. “We heard about what happened to you, and wanted to kill a few birds with the stone, so to speak. Haley needed to bring some calves to the sale barn, and we all thought we’d tag along and see how our favorite cousin was doing.”

“Well, I’m doing much better. In fact, I have a date at the Gin tonight. Y’all want to tag along? I’d like for y’all to meet Casey.”

Haley’s eyes got round. “
The
Casey?” He nodded, chuckling to himself. Of course Haley would remember. They’d talked about Casey when she was having boy troubles of her own.

Alexis was practically bouncing in her seat. “I would
love
to go to the Gin. I haven’t been there since I had to use a fake ID.” Lauren looked at her little sister with a disapproving look, but Brent could see the love and pride shining through. He and Summer and these girls had been close at one time. Brent and his sister spent the summers at their ranch when their parents had been alive. It was one of the reasons Brent had gotten so interested in ranching himself. Although rescuing horses spoke to him more than raising cows did.

He briefly told the girls about the trouble he was having at the main barn, the glass in the horse feed. They were genuinely sorrowful, then inspiration struck.

“While y’all are here, Haley, will you take a look at a new mare I’ve got? She’s the one who broke my ribs, and I’m wondering if a woman’s touch might be what she needs. She may have been abused by a man, which is why she tried to kill me when I gave her the shot.”