In fact, he was so anxious to get the difficult conversation over with that he got to the gym the next night before seven, while the reunion committee was still setting up its tables outside the doors. Mimi Frances Lawson took one look at him and latched on to his arm with a death grip.
"I need you inside, Cole," she announced, dragging him along behind her. "The streamers are falling down around us, and I don"t have time to deal with it. The ladder"s over there." She pointed it out. "Here"s a roll of tape. I don"t know what Hallie used when she put them up, but it"s not holding."
She leveled a look straight into his eyes, the somber look of a general sending troops into battle. "I"m counting on you to fix it."
"Yes, ma"am," he said, amused and somewhat relieved to have a task that was actually within his capabilities and not fraught with the emotional repercussions of his antic.i.p.ated confrontation with Ca.s.sie.
"I mean it," Mimi Frances said with an authority that came from being cla.s.s president for three years running, or maybe from being the mother of five rambunctious boys. "I"m counting on you, Cole."
"These streamers won"t budge before next Christmas, Mimi Frances," he a.s.sured her. "Now go on with whatever you need to be doing and leave this to me."
She nodded. "I"ll send someone in to help as soon as I can spare them."
The fact that she thought he needed help rankled a bit, but Cole ignored it and went to work. He was at the top of a ladder, balanced precariously, when he realized he was no longer alone. He looked straight down into Ca.s.sie"s familiar green eyes. She stared back unhappily.
"So, Mimi Frances recruited you, too," he said mildly, all too aware that she wasn"t one bit happy about being stuck with him, even in this very public setting.
"That woman could run the entire U.S. government without breaking a sweat," Ca.s.sie muttered. "I"m fairly certain I told her I was not climbing any ladders."
"Then it"s fortunate she paired you up with me. I"m not scared of heights," Cole said, trying not to stare too hard at the s.e.xy little black dress that revealed way too much cleavage, at least from this angle.
"I"m not scared of heights, either," Ca.s.sie retorted, indignant patches of color promptly flaring in her cheeks. "I beat you to the top of the town water tower, if I remember correctly."
"So you did," he agreed, grinning. "Then what"s the problem?"
"I"d like to see you climb anything in this dress."
"Honey, if I were in that dress, we"d have bigger problems at this reunion than the falling streamers."
A chuckle erupted, just as he"d intended, but she was quick to choke it back. Clearly, she wasn"t quite ready for a thaw in the icy distance between them.
He gazed down at her. "Don"t stop. I always liked hearing you laugh."
Her gaze narrowed. "Don"t go there, Cole."
"Go where?"
"You know."
"To the past? Isn"t that what this reunion is all about? Can you think of a better time to think about what used to be?"
"I suspect you and I have very different memories about what used to be."
He nodded. "Based on our conversation yesterday, I"d say you"re right about that."
He was about to use the opening to pursue the topic, when Mimi Frances bustled up.
"Stop chatting," she ordered briskly. "We only have a few more minutes."
"Everything is going to go beautifully," Ca.s.sie rea.s.sured her. "The gym looks sensational. And Cole only has one or two more streamers to secure. Go outside, Mimi Frances, and take a deep breath, then sit back and enjoy yourself. You"ve outdone yourself. It looks prettier in here than it did on prom night-and that"s saying a lot."
"I don"t have time to enjoy myself," Mimi Frances snapped, refusing to bask in the praise or take the advice. "Somebody has to see to all the details. I"d like to know who it"s going to be, if not me."
"Delegate," Cole advised. "You got me on this ladder, didn"t you?"
Mimi Frances looked fl.u.s.tered for a second, then a smile spread across her face. "Yes, I did, didn"t I? Well, let me just go outside and see who"s lurking about with nothing to do. Thanks, Cole."
He gave her a wink. "Any time, Madam President."
Mimi Frances went off in search of more recruits. Cole came down the ladder, slid it a few feet across the floor, then turned to Ca.s.sie. "Okay, your turn."
"My turn?" she echoed blankly. "To do what?"
"You were a.s.signed streamer duty, too. So far, I"m the only one who"s done a lick of work. How could you stand there and look Mimi Frances in the eye, knowing that you hadn"t done a blessed thing she asked you to? That woman is counting on us. The success of this entire reunion rests on our shoulders."
"Oh, please," Ca.s.sie said with a groan. "Besides, you"re doing a fine job. I"ll hold the ladder."
"Not that I don"t trust you, darlin", but I think I like the idea of me me holding it for holding it for you you a whole lot better." He handed her the tape, plucked her off the ground and set her on the first rung. "Climb." He paused, his gazed locked with hers. "Unless you really are scared of heights." a whole lot better." He handed her the tape, plucked her off the ground and set her on the first rung. "Climb." He paused, his gazed locked with hers. "Unless you really are scared of heights."
She frowned at him, then dutifully kicked off her shoes. She was halfway up, seemingly oblivious to the fact that her dress had hiked a good three inches up her thighs, when she paused and scowled down at him. "If I catch you looking up my skirt, Cole Davis, you"re a dead man."
"The thought never crossed my mind," he lied cheerfully, then dutifully averted his gaze, at least until her back was turned.
"You can"t have changed that much," she retorted, shooting daggers at him when she caught the direction of his gaze.
"Maybe I have," he said. "You haven"t spent enough time with me to find out."
"And I"m not likely to," she told him, slapping a wad of tape on the streamer, then sticking it to the wall before descending.
Cole stood right at the bottom waiting for her, just far enough back to give her a little room to maneuver her way toward the floor. Then he braced one arm on either side of the ladder so that when she reached the last step she was all but in his arms.
"Want to place a bet on that?" he taunted, his mouth next to her ear. She almost tumbled off the bottom rung and into his waiting arms, just as he"d antic.i.p.ated. He was starting to enjoy keeping her off balance, literally and figuratively.
"Back off," she commanded.
Cole recognized the heat in her tone. Ca.s.sie had always had a temper. It was slow to flare out of control, but once it did, it was as lively as the fireworks the town had planned for the Fourth of July. He"d missed that kind of excitement in his life.
He stood his ground. "Not just yet."
She looked over her shoulder and straight into his eyes. "Why are you doing this?"
For the longest time he just lost himself in the depths of her furious, flashing eyes. He ignored the whisper of dismay in her voice, the cry of old wounds in his soul. Finally he sighed.
"I wish to h.e.l.l I knew," he said softly.
Then and only then did he take a step back and, after one last lingering look, turn and walk away.
It was a strategic retreat, nothing more, he told himself. He needed to spend a little time getting his head together before he had that confrontation with her he"d been thinking about for the past two days.
Otherwise he was liable to spend the time kissing her senseless, instead of getting the answers he wanted.
Chapter Five.
Ca.s.sie hadn"t felt this jittery since her first date with Cole more than ten years earlier. After he"d walked away, when she finally managed that last shaky step from the ladder, her knees all but buckled. She grabbed her shoes and fled to the ladies" room. She was splashing cold water on her overheated cheeks when Karen wandered in.
"Here you are. Cole said you were around. How long have you been here?"
"Too long," Ca.s.sie muttered.
"What?"
"Oh, never mind. I never should have come back to Winding River."
Karen"s gaze narrowed. "Is Cole giving you a rough time? He hasn"t seen Jake, has he?"
"Not yet, but wouldn"t you know my son spotted him yesterday and knew exactly who he was. Apparently Cole is some hotshot computer guy, total hero material to a tech-savvy nine-year-old. Jake is furious because I won"t introduce them."
"Oh, my," Karen said, regarding her with sympathy. "That is is a problem. Will Jake let it drop?" a problem. Will Jake let it drop?"
"Not a chance, which is why I"m getting out of town first thing next week."
"But your mom," Karen began, then fell silent.
Ca.s.sie seized on the inadvertent slip. "What about my mother?"
"Nothing." Karen turned away to concentrate on touching up her lipstick.
Ca.s.sie regarded her with impatience. "Dammit, not you, too. Cole started this same tight-lipped routine with me yesterday. What is going on? The doctor"s out of town, so I haven"t been able to get any answers from him."
Karen sighed, then stepped away from the mirror to give her a fierce hug. "Talk to her."
Ca.s.sie"s heart began to thud dully. There was only one thing that would have Cole and one of her dearest friends tiptoeing around. She held on to Karen and looked straight into her eyes.
"She"s sick, isn"t she?"
"Just talk to her," her friend repeated, then fell silent. A moment later, before Ca.s.sie could even attempt to persuade her to open up, Karen subtly sniffed the air.
"School"s been out for a month. How is it possible that it still smells like sweaty gym socks in here?"
Ca.s.sie chuckled despite herself, then gestured to the array of air fresheners around the room. "Don"t tell Mimi Frances. She"ll die of embarra.s.sment. Evidently she thought she"d solved that particular problem."
Karen wrinkled her nose. "Not by a long shot." She grabbed Ca.s.sie"s hand. "Come on. Let"s get out of here before the others come crowding in to see what"s wrong. I don"t know about you, but I do not intend to spend an entire evening in a room that stinks, not when there"s fresh air in the gym and a great band playing all our old favorites. I get my husband to myself too seldom as it is. I intend to make the most of it."
Back in the gym, they found most of the Calamity Janes already dancing. Caleb gave Ca.s.sie a quick kiss on the cheek, then snagged his wife"s hand.
"Come on, angel, let"s see if you"ve still got those moves I remember," he said.
Ca.s.sie watched enviously as he spun Karen onto the dance floor. At least one of her friends had settled into a happy relationship, she thought. Caleb might be older than his wife, but it was evident that their match was heaven made. Once Karen had set eyes on the rancher, all her dreams of traveling the globe had taken a back seat to her desire to become his wife.
Feeling blue and alone, Ca.s.sie wandered over to the bar and ordered a soda. Something told her she was going to need a clear head tonight, if not to deal with Cole, then certainly for that dreaded conversation with her mother.
The fast song ended, and a slow, oldies ballad began. Memories of another night, hot and sultry and filled with promise, stole over her. She felt a hand on her waist, felt the whisper of warm breath against her cheek and knew it was Cole behind her.
"Does it take you back?" he asked.
To a place she didn"t want to go, she thought but didn"t say. "Nostalgia"s a funny thing," she said instead. "It tends to take away all the rough edges and leave you with pretty images."
"Anything wrong with that?" he asked.
"It"s not real. It"s not the way it was. Not all of it, anyway."
He stepped in front of her, his gaze steady. "Dance with me, Ca.s.sie."
"Cole..." The protest formed in her head, but she couldn"t seem to get the words out.
"For old-time"s sake."
Drawn to him, caught up in the very nostalgia she"d decried, she slipped into his arms and rested her head against his chest. The feel of him, the clean, male scent, the weight of his arms circling her waist-all of it was incredibly, dangerously familiar. Their bodies fit together perfectly, moving as one to the music, connected in a way that hinted of another, far more intimate and never-forgotten unity.
"G.o.d, I"ve missed you," he said, his voice ragged and tinged with regret.
Was it regret for time lost, though, or for emotions he couldn"t control? Ca.s.sie wondered.
The music played on for what seemed like an eternity, but when it ended at last, she thought it hadn"t gone on nearly long enough. Cole released her, then captured her hand in his.
"Come on. I"ll buy you a drink." He regarded her questioningly as they approached the bar. "Another soda?"
She nodded. When he had her cola and his beer, he led her outside. She didn"t resist. She couldn"t. It seemed they were both caught up in some sort of spell. Reunions had a way of doing that, she supposed. They were intended to take you back in time, to a simpler era when nothing mattered but football victories and school dances. Unfortunately, for her those times were far more complicated.
The heat of the day had given way to a cool breeze. The summer sun was just now sinking below the horizon in the west in a blaze of orange. They stood silently, side by side, watching as the sky faded to pale pink, then mauve, then turned dark as velvet.
"Quite a show," Cole observed.
"G.o.d"s gift at the end of the day, if you take the time to enjoy it," Ca.s.sie said.
"Do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Take the time to enjoy it? What have you been up to for the past ten years, Ca.s.sie?"
"Working."