Finding Home (29 page)
Authors: Lois Greiman
“Good God,” Gil said.
“Casie. Geez, Casie!” Colt had his arms wrapped around her torso like a straitjacket. “Simmer down.”
“Touch him again and I'll take you down!” She screamed the words over Colt's shoulder, straining against the confinement. “Do you hear me, you bitch? I'll take you down!”
Jessica rolled onto her side, expression dazed, face bloodied.
Then Casie was dragged away and shoved into the passenger seat. For a second some wild demon made her try to leap back into the fray, but Colt restrained her, pushing her back inside, slamming the door behind her.
“Stay there. Stay the hell there!” he ordered. That's when she began to shake. She sat there stunned, blinking out the passenger window as he fired up his engine and roared out of the yard.
There was utter silence. She blinked at the rolling countryside, seeing nothing. Seconds ticked away like time bombs as reality settled over her in a suffocating wave.
“You'll . . .” She could feel Colt's gaze on her battered face. “You'll take her down?” he asked.
Casie closed her eyes in abject misery and wished she were dead.
C
HAPTER
31
HAPTER
31
C
asie sat in absolute silence. Her nose had almost stopped bleeding but her left eye was beginning to swell shut. Everything ached.
asie sat in absolute silence. Her nose had almost stopped bleeding but her left eye was beginning to swell shut. Everything ached.
“Are you . . . ?” Colt began, then paused. “Okay?”
She turned slowly toward him and managed a nod.
“Yeah?” he asked. There was an odd light in his eyes. “Because seriously . . .” He shook his head, changed verbal tracks, and exhaled noisily. “So . . .” He nodded, shrugged a little, seeming at a loss for words. It was a landmark occasion. “Just out of curiosity, what the hell were you thinking?”
She pursed her lips a little, then winced at the pain. “Well . . .” Her voice sounded admirably calm to her own ears. Even
they
hurt. “Actually . . .” She lifted her pinky to the corner of her mouth and winced as new pains ran off in a thousand directions. “I was thinking of killing her.”
they
hurt. “Actually . . .” She lifted her pinky to the corner of her mouth and winced as new pains ran off in a thousand directions. “I was thinking of killing her.”
Maybe he tried not to chuckle, but if that was the case, he failed miserably. She scowled at him as they turned into the Lazy's drive.
“Well, you just aboutâ” he began, but just then Tyler caught the attention of her one good eye.
“Stop the truck!”
“What?” Colt glanced toward the barn.
“Ty's coming.”
“Soâ”
“Hurry up! Help me into the house. I don't want him to know what happened.”
“Are you nuts?” he asked, but he was already shifting into park.
“Come on!”
“You think you can just dab on a little mascara and that eye'll be good asâ”
“Help me,” she ordered, and held her ribs as she tried to wrestle open the door. Despite his bitching, Colt was beside her in a minute. Ty approached more slowly.
“What's wrong?” The boy raised his voice to be heard across the distance. His tone was rusty with worry. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Colt said, and slipped an arm around Casie's waist, avoiding her ribs. “Nothing. Casie's justâ” he began, but just then Bradley stepped onto the porch.
His jaw dropped at the sight of her. “Cassandra!” he said. “What have you done now?”
“I'm sorâ” she began, but Colt tightened his arm around her waist and gritted his teeth as they hobbled up the steps.
“Don't you apologize. Don't you dare apologize,” he warned.
“Cass,” Brad said, turning as they passed. “What the hell's going on?”
Emily was just rushing out of the kitchen. She stopped dead at the sight of Casie's face. Her eyes popped wide.
“Holyâ”
“Take her upstairs,” Colt ordered.
“Are you all right? Case, what happened?” She gasped. “Was it Ty'sâ”
“Just get her upstairs,” Colt snarled. The door was already being dragged open behind him. “And keep him away from her.” He tossed his head toward the rear.
Emily's eyes couldn't get any wider. She shot her gaze toward the door and back. “Who? Ty?” she asked.
“Him too,” Colt said.
“I can take care of myself,” Casie reminded him. She was ready for battle, but something flared in his eyes. It might have been pride. It was definitely confusing. She let Emily ease her out of the tiny foyer and onto the stairs.
“Hey.” From below, Colt's tone was convivial. “It's Brad, isn't it?”
“What's going on?” Brad asked. There was a shuffling of feet as if they waltzed a wary dance.
“It's good to see you again. When did you get back?” Colt asked.
Bradley didn't answer. “What'd she do?”
The question was low and quiet, but managed to rip its way into Casie's heart.
“You're not worried about her? Not worried that . . .” Colt paused as if shrugging. “That
I
might have hit her?”
I
might have hit her?”
“What?” Ty's voice joined the fray.
“Shit,” Brad said, glancing at the boy. “What the hell happened to you?”
“A rogue horse.” Colt's voice was soft.
“What?”
“One of the horses,” Colt said. “He's a . . .” He forced a chuckle. “He's a wild one. Isn't that right, Ty?”
There was a long pause. “Yeah,” Ty said. “Crazy.”
“Listen, Brad, you're a doctor, right?”
“Going to be a surgeon.”
“A surgeon. Wow. Impressive,” Colt said. “That's really something. Maybe you could take a look at Ty's bruises then, huh?”
“What?”
“The doctors around here . . .” He paused. “I'm sure they don't have the know-how you do. Would you mind taking a look?”
“I think I'll see to my fiancée first, if you don't mind,” he said and moved toward the stairs. Footsteps danced again.
Casie scowled toward the bottom of the stairs. What the hell was going on?
“Listen,” Colt said. “I don't think now's a good time.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You'd know best, of course, but I don't think you should disturb her just now.”
“Disturb her! She's my fiancée!” Brad said.
“Wait a minute.”
Footsteps scuffled.
“What now?” Casie breathed and, breaking free of Emily's hold, hobbled downstairs just in time to see the two men break apart.
Colt saw her first. Brad whipped his head around a moment later. His brows lowered.
“Jesus!” he hissed.
Ty drew in a sharp breath. “Did my . . .” His eyes were tormented as he lifted his gaze to hers. “It was my mom, wasn't it?”
“Your mom?” Brad snorted, shook his head. “Christ, Cass, I knew when we met that you didn't come from the best family. Knew you were kind of a hillbilly. But I thought you had come to see reason. I thought you were lucid.” He swung a palm in a wild half circle, as if encompassing everything. “Sane. You knew how to conduct yourself in social situations. You were learning to become a decent doctor's wife. Then you come back here and get involved with your damned backwaterâ”
“Hey,” Colt said, keeping his tone level. “Let's not get all riled up.”
“Riled up!” Bradley snorted a laugh. Dragging a cell phone from his pocket, he jabbed a single button. “And now you've got some ragtag cowboy come riding to your rescue like some damnâ” He paused, jerked his attention to the phone.
“Yeah, Clark, Cass got herself in trouble again.”
There was a murmur from the end of the line.
“Cassandra, my fiancée. Can you guys protect my interests or not?”
He glared at Colt before shifting his attention back to Casie.
“Yeah. Physical evidence that should be documented. Okay. I'll get her there,” he said and clicked the phone shut.
“What's going on?” Casie kept herself very still, kept her voice very quiet. As it turned out, all kinds of hell could break loose when she got riled up.
“Come on,” Bradley said. “We're going home.”
“What are you talking about?” Casie shifted her gaze to Tyler. “I can't leave now.”
“That's the only thing you can do. We're going straight to the attorney's to get photos of your face. We'll file a complaint before the other party does.”
She remained silent a second, thinking. “If she files, what will happen?” she asked.
Brad deepened his glare. “I don't know and I don't care, because you're not coming back here. We're selling this godforsaken piece of land and making a decent life inâ”
“No, we're not,” she said. Her voice was extremely low, barely audible even to herself.
Bradley stared at her for a second, then snorted and shook his head. “Cass,” His patient tone was back. “Look at you. Look what's happened. Chaos. Deprivation.” He chuckled, swept his hand toward her. “Battle scars. Remember how it was living with your parents?”
She stared at him. “Yeah, I do,” she said.
“Is that what you want?”
“At least they
were
living.” Her voice was very small, but there was a tiny flicker of something in her chest, something warm that seemed to be igniting a fire.
were
living.” Her voice was very small, but there was a tiny flicker of something in her chest, something warm that seemed to be igniting a fire.
Bradley lowered his brows. “You're not thinking,” he said. “I'm not going to let you throw away what we have.”
“This isn't your choice, Brad.” She drew a deep breath and straightened. Everything hurt, but she ignored the aches. “I'm sorry, but I'm taking my life back.”
He stared at her a second and then he laughed. “Are you?” he asked. “Are you really? Well, then . . .” He dropped his phone into the pocket of his Dockers. “That's fine. That'll give you time to visit the kid in juvie.”
Beside her, Emily sucked in a breath
“What are you talking about?” Casie's words were little more than a raspy breath of air.
“I'm talking about grand theft auto. I'm talking about him physically attacking an innocent young woman. I'mâ”
“
He
didn't attack me.”
He
didn't attack me.”
“Not you. The girl. The one in the hospital. Remember her?” Brad stabbed a finger toward nothing in particular. “Because I'll guarantee you, her father's going to remember the hospital bills when this gets to court.”
Casie shook her head. “Ty didn't do that. He would never do something like that.”
“Jesus Christ!” Brad rolled his eyes. “You're so naïve. I suppose you're going to deny that he took our truck, too.”
“Our . . .” She breathed a laugh, then shook her head, trying to clear it of this ridiculous scene, but it wouldn't go away. “It was probably his quick thinking that saved her life.”
“His quick . . . Are you kidding me? Does he look quick to you? Geez, Cass, he's a court order waiting to happen. He's a fâ” He stopped himself. Emily's fingers felt like talons against Casie's arm. “I'm a doctor, Cassandra. You think I haven't seen this type of thing before. Believe me, we're just lucky he didn't kill her.”
“That's crazy.” Casie breathed the words.
“Admit it!” Brad ordered, turning on Ty with a snarl. “You hit her, didn't you? What did you have? A baseball bat? Aâ”
“I didn't,” Ty said, jolting back, expression broken. “The colt got scared andâ”
“You lying piece ofâ”
“Hey!” Colt said, and lurching between the two, faced Bradley. “How about you and me step outside and talk this over nice and reasonable. Just the two of us.”
Brad looked down at him, raised his brows, and laughed out loud. “You're kidding, right?”
“Not so much.”
“Listen, I'm a brown belt, buddy.”
“Yeah?” A muscle jumped in Colt's jaw. “Well, that's good, cuz I'm pissed . . . buddy.”
Brad stared at him a second, then threw his arms wide. “Great. Let's see what we can do now that your arm is all fixed up, shall we?”
“Brad!” Casie said, panic roaring in. “Don't do this.”
“You think I want to?” he asked and turned abruptly toward her. “I'm a doctor, for God's sake. But I'm not going to just sit back and watch you throw your life away on some juvenile delinquent and a half-ass cowboy.”
“I'm not throwing my life away on anything.”
“Come with me,” he said suddenly and stepped toward her. “Be my wife. The wife of a doctor. I'll give you anything you want. I'll even make sure nothing happens to the kid.”
She frowned, a thousand thoughts jangling for attention.
“I love you,” Brad said, voice soft, hands gentle, as he reached for hers. “I know I've been a little distracted lately, but that's just because I'm trying to build something great. Something for us. A life fit for a princess.”
She opened her mouth, but he continued.
“Remember that night at the theater? You promised you'd stay with me forever. That you'd love me for all time. Was that just a lie?”
“No. Of course not.” She scowled and put her hand to her forehead, trying to think. “You're a wonderful man, Bradley.”
He smiled a little. “We'll be the couple that has everything, Cass. The couple that other people envy if you'll justâ”
“I'm pregnant,” Emily said.
The words crackled through the kitchen like a bolt of lightning. The silence that followed was almost as deafening.
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