Fires of Autumn (52 page)

Colt was pale, tears lingering in his eyes, as he looked
over at the baby, who was now crawling around in the hay.   He was trying not
to weep again at the sight.

“God, no,” he whispered. “But what I did, I did to protect
him.  I did it to protect all of you.”

“I get that. But we’re willing to take the risk with you, so
long as we’re all together.” When he didn’t reply, she went for the jugular.
“Would you rather that Scott raise Jack as his son? Would you rather that Scott
is the only father he knows? And would you like to open the newspaper one day
and see that Senator Scott Dane has married a woman named Casey Cleburne,
knowing that he’s now her husband and doing everything to her that a husband
does?  As much as you think you’re doing us all a favor by dropping out of our
lives, the truth is that you haven’t.  We love you and we want to be with you,
through the good times or the bad.”

Colt had turned away from the baby and was watching her
intensely. Then he slumped, dragging a weary hand over his forehead. He made
his way over to the hood of the old Chevy and leaned against the car hood as if
he could no longer support his own weight.  He was a man with a good deal on
his mind.

Casey watched him, sensing his reluctance, his determination
that he was doing the right thing for them all.  She was starting to feel
desperate.

“Please don’t make me beg,” Casey was starting to cry again.
“Please don’t tell me that you don’t want me, that you don’t want us.”

He shook his head firmly, turning to look at her. “Angel,
that’s not it at all,” he murmured. “I… I guess I’m just overwhelmed. When I
left you at Walter Reed last year, it was the worst day of my life. I’m still
not over it.  But I truly believed I was doing what was best for you and the
boys.  But now… now I look at you, at the baby, and I’ve never wanted anything
so badly in my entire life.  But I still don’t know if it’s fair to you.”

She walked up to the car and leaned on the hood next to him,
brushing against him, feeling his body heat and her heart racing as a result.  
It was enough to make her quiver.

“What’s not fair to me is to not let me be with the man I
love, the father of my child,” she whispered, gazing into his dark eyes. “You
know that there have been a lot of changes to the Norte del Valle cartel,
right?”

He nodded faintly. “I’ve heard it on the news.”

“Hasn’t anyone called you to talk about it?”

He shook his head. “I don’t have a forwarding number or even
an email address. For all intent and purposes, I died the day I left 
Washington D.C.  I haven’t had any contact with anyone.”

She was careful in her reply. She didn’t want to shock him
anymore than he already was.

“Russ told me to tell you that those people who were out to
kill you have been killed themselves, or have run off,” she said softly. “A
whole new regime has taken over that doesn’t give a damn about you. If
anything, you did them a favor by removing their predecessor and allowing them
to come into power.  They don’t even care about you anymore, Colt.  Russ wants
to talk to you. He wants you back with him in D.C.  He says you were the best
damn Secret Service agent he ever had.”

Colt looked at her seriously, glancing over at the baby as
the kid continued to roll around in the hay. “I’d really like to believe that.”

“Call Russ. He’ll tell you the truth. He says you can have
your old job back if you want it.”

Colt was terrified to believe that it all might be true,
afraid to get his hopes up. The fact that Russ had told Casey everything was
now starting to make sense; there was no longer any reason to keep the secret. 
His expression was wrought with uncertainty, with excitement.

“Casey, it’s not that easy,” he said softly. “These people
don’t give up just like that.”

“Russ seems to think so.  Peter does, too.”

He digested the possibility, feeling his hope rise.  It was
nearly too good to believe.

“And if it’s really true?” he murmured. “Do we go back to
the life we had before?  What about you and I?”

She smiled faintly, holding up her left hand and removing
the glove.  The big diamond engagement ring that Colt gave her glimmered in the
weak light.

“Do you want this back?” she asked softly.

He gazed at the ring. “Of course not,” he whispered.  “It’s
yours. I gave it to you.”

“Do you still want to marry me?”

“More than anything in the world.”

“Then you come home and we get married.  I haven’t taken this
ring off since you gave it to me. You promised me a wedding and I’m going to
hold you to it.”

“Even though I’ve been gone… nothing has changed with you?
With us?”

She shook her head slowly, firmly. “Nothing.”

“What about Scott?”

She shrugged. “He gave up trying to convince me to marry him
months ago.  I just wasn’t interested.  You are the only man I will ever love
and he knows it.”

Colt pushed himself off of the hood and just stared at her. 
After a moment, his hands came up, daring to touch her for the first time since
she entered the barn. He cupped her face in his big hands and gazed steadily
into the violet eyes.  He watched as Casey dissolved into tears at his touch. 
Colt shushed her softly, kissing her forehead, her cheeks.

“No tears, angel,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry for what I
did.  I never wanted to hurt you.”

She was sobbing softly. “Then please tell me that we’ll
never be apart again.”

“We’ll never be apart again.”

“Swear it?”

He nodded, kissing her nose gently before moving on to her
lips. “I swear,” he murmured, kissing her salty lips tenderly. “You are my
life, Casey Cleburne.  I love you very, very much.”

“Then you’ll call Russ?” she wept. “You’ll come back to us?”

“I will.  I swear, I will.”

She threw her arms around his neck as he swallowed her up in
his enormous embrace. As they hugged tightly, Jack let out a squeal and they
both looked over to see that he had apparently spotted one of the many barn
cats.  He stood up unsteadily and began to run after one. Laughing, crying,
Colt and Casey watched him approach a little cat who wasn’t afraid of him.  The
kitty wanted to be petted, rubbing up against the little boy as the child
grabbed for the cat’s tail.

“Be nice,” Casey admonished the baby softly. “Be gentle,
Jack.  Pet the kitty nicely.”

 Jack looked at his parents, grinning, as he patted the cat
as carefully as a toddler could. Colt watched the baby, shaking his head with
wonder.

“I still can’t believe it,” he whispered. “You’re here. He’s
here. I’m stunned.”

Casey wiped at the remaining tears on her cheeks, gazing up
into his handsome face. “It’s over, Colt,” she murmured. “Everything that kept
us apart is over.”

He smiled at her, lowering his head to capture her lips in
his.  The passion that had been dormant these long months roared to life and
Casey wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her into his powerful
embrace, tasting her, reacquainting himself with her. Colt knew, no matter
what, that he’d never be separated from her again. Come what may, they would
face it together. He’d been a fool to leave in the first place.

“Come on,” his mouth left hers, his eyes full of longing and
adoration. “I guess I need to go give the President a call.”

Casey smiled at him, thrilled beyond words. “You sure do,”
she replied, looking to Jack who was still petting the kitty. “Jack, baby,
let’s go. Leave the kitty there.”

Unfortunately, Jack didn’t want to leave the cat. He
continued petting the animal until Colt swooped down and picked him up. Jack
fussed for a moment at the strange man but he stopped soon enough when Colt
promised him a dog to pet inside grandma’s house. 

Intrigued, Jack went peacefully with his father and mother
into the softly blowing rain outside.

CHAPTER TWENTY

“Seriously?” Casey sat at her desk on a warm July day,
frustrated with the person on the other end. “Maybe you didn’t hear me the
first time. I’m talking about the President of the United States, and you’re
telling me you can’t accommodate him at your restaurant? Are you really that
dumb?”

Chris sat across from Casey, snickering at the conversation
he was overhearing.  Usually it was him yelling at people over the phone, but
today it was her.   As Casey continued to argue, they could hear a group
approaching the Oval office from the hallway. Casey was still entrenched in the
phone call, but Chris glanced up to see Colt and Peter enter the office,
followed by Russ and a few other agents.  Russ was talking to his aide,
Barbara, as they walked through Casey’s office and on into the Oval Office
beyond.

There was a lot of conversation and activity filling the
office area.  Colt and Peter went into Colt’s office and had a brief
conversation before Peter turned around and left the office as Colt sat down
behind his desk.  Phones were ringing and more agents went into Sheridan’s
office.  He had a phone receiver in his hand as he issued directives to the two
new agents and sent them on their way.  Then he got on the phone just about the
time his wife hung up.

“Morons!” Casey hissed as she began to type something into
Russ’ calendar. “You would think that if the freaking President of the freaking
United States is visiting your city and specifically requested to have dinner
at your four star restaurant, you would move heaven and earth to accommodate
him.”

Chris snickered as Colt, hearing his wife’s tone of voice,
peered at her from his desk even though he was still on the phone call.   As
Casey typed furiously, Colt got off his call and got up from his desk.

“Keep your cool, Mrs. Sheridan,” he fought off a grin as he
made his way to her desk. “The President is up for re-election in November and
you don’t want to piss anybody off.”

Casey glanced up at her husband of one year. It had been the
best year of her life. Just the sight of him was enough to lighten her heart,
and she smiled sweetly at him.  Then she suddenly glanced at her watch.

“Are you going to be able to pick up Jack?” she wanted to
know. “I have to finish this for Russ and Jack’s out of school in a half hour.”

Colt shook his head. “I can’t,” he told her. “The President
wants to make a run over to that rally their having over by the Vietnam
Veterans memorial.”

Casey glanced at the President’s laminated schedule on her
desk. “Oh, right,” she lifted an eyebrow. “If he had enough time when he got
back from his meeting on the hill, he was going to try and go.”

Colt nodded, leaning over and bracing his big arms on her
desk. “Have Riley pick the baby up.”

Casey wriggled her eyebrows and picked up the phone. “I
don’t have a choice.”

Colt winked at her and headed into the Oval Office.  Casey
got a hold of her sister and coerced the woman into picking up her nephew from
nursery school.  Then she continued making adjustments to Russ’ calendar.

Casey could hear the voices in Russ’ office as she typed,
the day itself an ordinary day just like most of them.  The President had been
on the re-election trail for the past nine months and Colt had been with him,
traveling like crazy, in and out of Washington, to points all over the
nation.   Casey had mostly stayed at home with the kids, her duties as personal
assistant to the President having shifted slightly since Colt was doing so much
traveling.  They had decided one of them needed to stay home with their growing
family and that choice was logically Casey.

So she stayed home at their residence in Falls Church, a
home that had once belonged to the Cleburne/Nantz Clan but one that now
belonged to three Sheridans and two Nantzs.  Riley had moved out when Colt and
Casey married, deciding she needed to have her own space, so Colt sold her his
townhome and he now parked his flashy Audi next to Casey’s Cadillac in the
driveway of the two story brick home.  He went to soccer games and baseball
games when his schedule allowed, cheering on Brody and Hunter in the stands
along with Dennis, Casey and Riley. 

Oddly enough, Colt and Dennis had become good friends, which
benefitted the boys when their dad and step-dad took them to Washington
Nationals games or some other event. Colt had become part of their lives, the
step-dad who the boys thought was pretty cool. But wherever Colt was when he
was home, it was never far from Jack.

The three year old had pretty much taken over the entire
household.  He was a very big boy, like his father, with dark blond hair and
intense dark eyes eyes.  He was vocal, intelligent, sweet and hilarious, always
wanting to be with his brothers, toddling along after them and trying to do big
boy things.  Colt was so proud of the kid that he could burst, very attentive
to the point of nearly pushing Casey out of the way.  He fed the boy, changed
him, bathed him, and generally made himself a fixture in his son’s life.  He’d
spent the first year of his young life away from him and was determined to make
up for lost time.