Roping Your Heart (3 page)

Cat went back to working on George’s documents. She liked numbers. Liked how neat and orderly they were in comparison to her life, which had always seemed out of control.

Her thoughts flashed back to being in math class with Blake. She’d always excelled at math and would get an A to Blake’s B every semester. Grades were a form of competition between them from the time they’d started high school. He beat her in Spanish and biology but she had him in math and English. They’d both been in FFA, studying agricultural education, and were usually in a dead tie there. They’d graduated in the top ten of their class.

Warmth flushed through her as she thought about how good Blake had looked. He’d always been muscular with a great body, but damn, he was even hotter now than he had been then. He’d filled out in a hard, sexy way that had made her heart race and her body tingle from head to toe. Through his shirt, it had almost looked like his muscles had muscles. The thought caused a giggle to rise up inside her.

She’d known she’d run into Blake sooner or later, she just hadn’t expected to have the kind of reaction that she’d had. And she certainly hadn’t expected to be obsessing about him.

In front of her, the screen blurred. She bit her lower lip and tried to turn her attention back to her work.

When her thoughts kept returning to Blake, she groaned and put her head on her arms in front of the keyboard. What would her life be like now if she’d never left Blake or Prescott?

It didn’t do any good to think that way.

She finally gave up trying to concentrate on her accounting work, shut down her computer, and took her coffee mug to the kitchen to rinse it out. She grabbed her purse, headed for the front entrance, and locked it behind her.

Humming to herself, she got into her truck and soon was on her way to her grandmother’s favorite grocery store.

She passed the local swimming pool and waves of memories washed over her. She’d had a summer job as a lifeguard and Blake would meet her there. Sometimes they’d go swimming and she remembered laughing with her friends, water fights with Blake, and stealing kisses in the deep end of the pool.

Often, after she got off work, they’d go out for pizza or play miniature golf, or go to the arcade. She couldn’t help a smile at the thought of the things they’d done together.

The whole town was filled with memories. It seemed that everywhere she turned, something evoked thoughts of the past. Every now and then she would find herself wishing things had been different and that she’d made different choices, but then chided herself. She was lucky to be alive and to be healthy and relatively whole. The scar reminded her of that every day when she looked at herself in the mirror.

It was Monday afternoon and the grocery store wasn’t too crowded. Cat pushed her basket up and down the aisles, picking out things for herself and for her grandmother. Cat had never been crazy about cooking and living on her own gave her the excuse to make fast and easy meals. She figured she wouldn’t make the best cook if she ever did get married, but she could nuke a mean ready-made dinner and she could dial the phone with the best of them to get carryout from her favorite restaurants.

She did, however, love fruit and fresh vegetables and her hamster, Sam, appreciated them too, especially apple chunks. She guided the cart to the produce section and immediately started gathering ingredients for salsa, which included plum tomatoes, garlic, jalapeños, a habanero pepper, onions, and limes.

Just as she was twisting a tie on the bag of jalapeños, she looked up and saw a familiar face. She turned from her basket and looked at the woman she’d known since elementary school. “Jackie?”

The pretty blonde glanced from the carrots to Cat. “Yes,” Jackie said. “Do I know you?”

Cat moved closer. “Cat Hayden.”

“Cat?” Jackie looked surprised and set down the bunch of carrots she’d picked up. “Is that really you?”

With a smile, Cat nodded.

Jackie reached out and hugged Cat who hugged her friend in return. Jackie stepped back. “It’s hard to believe it’s you. You don’t look anything like I remember.”

“Long story,” Cat said. “I was in an accident with a horse and had to have reconstructive surgery.” She was tired of having to explain herself every time she ran into someone she knew from the past, but there wasn’t much she could do about it without taping the explanation to her forehead.

Jackie’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry.”

Cat gave a casual shrug. “It was a long time ago. Not too long after I left Prescott.”

“With Toby Jennings,” Jackie said.

Cat sighed. “The biggest mistake of my life. Getting stomped on by a horse was a close second.”

“That bad, huh?” Jackie glanced at Cat’s shopping basket. “Are you here to stay?”

Cat set her bag of jalapeños in the cart. “I just moved back three months ago and I don’t plan on leaving.”

“Three months?” Jackie put her hands on her hips. “And you haven’t called me yet?”

Blake had said the same thing.

With a sheepish smile, Cat said, “I planned to.”

Jackie waved it off with a grin. “We need to go out for coffee. Or better yet, a drink after work sometime.” Jackie pulled her cell phone out of her purse. “Give me your number and I’ll call you.”

Cat gave her number to Jackie who put it into her contacts. When she finished, Jackie asked, hesitantly, “Have you talked with Blake?”

The sound of Blake’s name sent a burst of warmth through Cat, followed by a wistfulness she’d never expected. With a not-so-casual shrug, she tried to sound indifferent as she said, “I saw him Saturday.”

Jackie’s tone was hopeful. “Did you go out with him?”

Cat found herself wishing they had as she shook her head. “His daughter is in the 4-H horse club that I’m working with now. I saw him when he picked her up.”

“Oh.” Jackie sounded disappointed. “What did he have to say?”

“Not much.” Cat put a smile on her face. “I told him what a great rider his daughter is. She’s a better barrel racer than I was at her age.”

Jackie raised her brows. “Considering all of the trophies you racked up over the years, that’s pretty damned good.”

Cat nodded. “I think she’s a little star.”

“I’d better get going.” Jackie gave Cat another hug. “I’ll call you. We have lots to catch up on.”

“Yes, we do,” Cat said when they parted. “Lots.”

Cat finished her shopping and tried not to think about the way Jackie had studied her, obviously unable to keep from looking at the scar. It was always that way whether she was first meeting a person or had run into someone she’d known before the accident.

After she paid for the groceries, she pushed her cart out to the parking lot and loaded her groceries into the passenger seat of her truck and headed to her grandma’s. Considering each of them lived alone, there weren’t a lot of groceries to load.

Despite her illness, Grandma Hayden had insisted on Cat having her own place rather than moving in with her grandmother like she’d offered to. Grandma had said that Cat needed her freedom. Cat had relented and found a house around the corner from her grandma’s so she could be there in no time if the elderly woman needed her.

When she arrived at Grandma Hayden’s, Cat carried in the groceries after unlocking the door using the key she’d been given.

She tucked her keys into her pocket. “Hi, Grandma,” she called out as she took everything to the small kitchen.

Her grandma was in the pantry. Her petite figure was wasting away to nothing, making Cat heartsick. Grandma had always been stout and larger than life, and it was hard to see her this way.

Grandma Hayden turned around. For a moment Cat thought she saw pain flash across her grandmother’s face, but that was replaced with a smile.

“Thank you, Catharine,” she said as she looked at the bags Cat had just set on the table with noisy thumps.

“It was no problem.” Cat went to her grandma and hugged her. She smelled of lavender sachet and felt small and frail in Cat’s arms. When she drew away, she said, “I can’t stay long. I have groceries in the car that I need to take home and get into the fridge.”

“Supper on Sunday?” Her grandmother asked as she took a carton of eggs out of one of the bags.

“You know I wouldn’t miss it.” Cat put a container of rainbow sherbet, her grandmother’s favorite, into the freezer.

“Good.” Grandma Hayden returned to the bags and took out a quart of milk. “I’m making fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Apple crumble is for dessert.”

“Yum.” Cat put her hand to her belly. “You know I love your fried chicken, no matter how bad it is for me.”

Grandma Hayden laughed. “Sweetie, I’ve been eating fried foods all my life, going on eighty-five years now, and I’ve done just fine.”

“Yes, you have.” Cat folded up the now empty plastic grocery bags and tucked them into the pantry. “Don’t worry, Grandma. Nothing will stop me from eating your fried chicken.” She smiled. “Just talking about it is making me hungry for it right now.” She turned back from the pantry. “I ran into Jackie Dunham at the grocery store.”

“How’s that girl doing?” Grandma Hayden asked. “What’s she been up to?”

“She looks great.” Cat thought about the pretty blonde. “Of course, she didn’t recognize me.” She stuffed her hand into her pocket and grasped her keys, which jingled when she pulled them out. “But we’re going out for coffee or a drink to catch up. She’s going to call me.”

“Good.” Grandma Hayden smiled. “You need to get out of that house more.”

Cat nodded. “I think you’re right.” She gave her grandmother a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’d better get those groceries home. I’ll see you on Sunday.”

“See you then, Catharine,” the elderly woman said.

As Cat started out of the room she looked over her shoulder. “Call me if you need anything before then.”

“Don’t you worry about me,” Grandma Hayden said. “I’ll be just fine.”

Cat gave her grandmother a little wave before she headed out the front door, locking it behind herself. As she jogged down the porch steps toward her car, memories came back to her of the times Blake had been waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, a sexy smile on his rough features. He’d always had a rough look about him, even when he was young. She’d loved the way he looked as well as the way he held himself, his easy stride, and his natural confidence.

She reached the last step and paused, thinking about the way he would kiss her while she stood on the bottom step, bringing her to eye level with him. His kisses never failed to set her on fire.

Why had she left him? After the fight they’d had, she’d ended up becoming infatuated with Toby Jennings for all of the wrong reasons. Choosing Blake meant staying in a town filled with bad memories of her abusive father. Toby meant getting away from Prescott and into the wide world just waiting for her.

Nothing had turned out the way she’d thought it would. Nothing.

Chapter 3

Cat Hayden. Her name went through Blake’s mind once again. KitCat was back.

A breeze tugged at his work shirt as he rested his hands on the top wood rail of the riding arena and stared out at the valley. A mix of emotions clenched his gut. Twisted inside him was a good dose of anger at the way she’d left him, surprise at how the accident had changed the way she looked, and an uncertain feeling about the fact that she’d returned.

Part of him knew that they’d both been young and he shouldn’t hold what had happened against her. Hell, they’d both been only eighteen, not more than kids. But the other part of him couldn’t get past the fact she hadn’t even said goodbye.

He gripped his leather gloves in one hand and tugged down his Stetson with the other, shading his eyes from the warm Arizona sun.

When he’d hugged her, memories had flooded him, one after another. She had the same soft scent that he remembered and he’d breathed her in without even realizing he was doing so. She had felt good in his arms, familiar and comfortable, even for the short time he’d held her.

She’d looked so different but her eyes were the same beautiful golden-brown and she still had that dimple when she smiled as she was complimenting his daughter’s abilities.

His heart had known it was Cat even before she’d told him. Nineteen years and a new face couldn’t take that knowledge away from him.

Her quieter, less confident attitude had taken him aback. She’d always been confident and outgoing. She seemed more reserved now, guarded even. He’d noticed how she’d put her hand up to her face as they talked, as if embarrassed by the way she looked. He didn’t give a damn about the scar and he hated the way it seemed to make her feel about herself.

She must have been through hell and back once that horse had tried to kill her. He couldn’t imagine the kind of pain she’d been through, both physically and emotionally.

Damn, but he’d loved her and she’d broken his heart and scattered the shards across the valley. He’d known she wanted to get away from Prescott, but he’d never expected her to leave like she did.

In some ways it reminded him of Sally… His ex-wife had always battled drug and alcohol addiction and had gone through rehab before abandoning her husband and daughter to run off with a man she’d met in rehab. Blake had never loved Sally—the only reason they’d married was out of duty, because he’d gotten her pregnant. They’d only dated a few times and then a month later she’d come to him, telling him that she was having his child.