Silken Threads (16 page)

The silence following her words was louder than any noise could be. They stared at each other, their eyes sweeping back and forth across the planes of their faces.

Kirk wanted to declare his love for her, but reality intruded once again, and with it came logic.

“
Cassandra,” he began in a low voice tinged with the sadness of the memory of their lovemaking. “Is love enough for people as different as we are? Our lives are so far apart. Our thinking, our desires—”

“
Are they, Kirk?” she asked, refusing to let his words shatter the love she had openly confessed. He had done it once; she would not let it happen again. “Or are you afraid of making a commitment? Are you afraid of being responsible for another person’s happiness?”

“
Cassandra,” he began.

She cut him off quickly. “You chased me away once. I deserved it; I never considered your feelings. I was just what you called me, a shallow, even callous, and spoiled girl. Have you looked at me lately? Have you really seen who I am now? I’ve learned a lot, Kirk. I have more to learn, but I’m trying, damn it. I’m trying with all my heart.”

Kirk gazed at her, his hand tightening on hers. Cassandra sighed. “You love me. I knew it the first night we made love, and I know it tonight. You don’t have to say anything; it’s not necessary. But don’t run from me…and don’t chase me away.”

When Cassandra had started speaking, her thoughts had become crystal-clear, and she knew not only what must be said but also what must be done.

“
I’ll be here for you when you need me. I’m yours, Kirk, just as you’re mine. Besides, you’re forgetting something.”

“
What?” Kirk asked in a thick voice.

“
We still have to beat my father!”

“
You already have,” he told her proudly.

“
Not yet. Remember, I said he always hedges his bets. He has other ways to stop us.”

“
He won’t,” Kirk promised just as the first thin streak of daylight appeared on the horizon.

Standing, Kirk offered his hand to Cassandra. She took it and pulled herself to her feet. “I love you, Kirk, but let’s let it stay between us for now. I know how you feel, so we won’t advertise our doings to the others.” Cassandra bent, recovered her blanket, and started away. She turned back several steps later.

“
Good morning,” she said with a smile.

Kirk watched her take a few more steps before he finally spoke. “Cassandra.”

She stopped again, her heart pounding so loudly she thought the whole world must hear it. Slowly, with her breath lodged somewhere between her heart and her mouth, she turned to face him.

“
I love you,” he said.

Cassandra smiled. Her eyes flooded with tears. “It took you long enough,” she said before walking back to camp.

~~~~

Cassandra looked at the cold black plastic telephone and reached for it. It was report time—the third quarterly report—and for the first time in nine months, she was looking forward to talking to her father.

As she dialed, her thoughts flashed back to the time just after the roundup, when the days had spun into weeks and the weeks had blended into months of hardworking days and slow, incredibly wonderful nights hurtling her and Kirk onward to their destiny.

At the office, Cassandra became more and more adept at cutting corners to save money, while learning how to set prices and read the markets well enough to project accurate figures.

Working with Kirk instead of against him, she had learned more in the space of a few months than most people would have learned in years. Working together, they were able to initiate a wide variety of changes on the ranch.

Cassandra surprised him with several new ideas, and after scrutinizing them for hidden flaws, he pronounced them sound.

“
What I don’t understand,” he said one evening as they’d sat in his living room listening to music, “is how you spotted these things when I couldn’t?”

“
You’ve lived with them all your life. Because I’m new to all of this, I have to question the why of everything. When I do, I see other possibilities.”

“
Yes, you do,” Kirk had said with a proud smile on his face.

They spent many nights enjoying each other’s company, sitting for hours, complacently talking, and having no other need than to be with each other. As their love progressed and the ranch work continued, Cassandra found she was bothered by the way they acted around everyone else.

Although she had agreed with Kirk about keeping their relationship private from the others, she disliked having to hide her emotions so totally from the world. She had consented to keep their love a secret at the beginning, but as the months passed, Cassandra wondered why it had to stay hidden.

One of the reasons was Kirk’s own stubborn pride. Kirk felt that the knowledge of their relationship must remain between them. He believed it would still be detrimental to the ranch if the hands discovered the general manager and the boss’s daughter were in love.

Cassandra, although annoyed with Kirk’s reasons, did understand them. She found herself praying for the end of the year to arrive and free her of her promise to her father, and free her to declare her love openly for Kirk.

Even though her schedule was jammed, she still found time to spend with Jane, riding, or just talking. Their friendship was growing even stronger, and Cassandra treasured it. Even with Jane, she did not speak of Kirk in any but the broadest of senses.

She filled her days with work and found herself enjoying the business of ranching and the challenges it offered her. One in particular emerged during the monthly staff meeting, which involved Cassandra, Kirk, and several of the ranch hands. The subject of the meeting was the Appaloosa sales.

“
We’ll just have to wait until we’ve built up a new herd,” Kirk had reiterated.

Jack Slater, the man responsible for the breeding of the horses, spoke up. “I still think it’s a mistake not to buy a few-hundred head. If we don’t supply anyone this year, the other breeders are going to take our future business from us.”

“
We’ve been over that ground before,” Kirk said in a tired voice. “It’s a chance we have to take. We want everyone, when they think of Twin Rivers, to think of our stock as the best. If we have to buy prime two-year-olds, it will take years to make back the money. Which is something we can’t afford.”

Cassandra, sitting silently, had listened to the exchange when she had an idea. “May I ask a question?” she offered.

“
Go ahead,” Kirk said.

“
Before I do, let me see if I’ve got my facts straight. If we can’t afford to wait for our herd to mature, and we can’t afford to buy horses for resale, then we stand the chance of losing a large amount of future business to our competitors, who will already have made substantial sales to our customers. Correct?”

The five men sitting at the table nodded solemnly. “Then why not presell the horses?”

“
Excuse me?” Jack Slater asked.

“
Like the commodity market. Sell a chance on the future. Look,” Cassandra had said as she stood. “We need two full years to build the herd up to size. But we also need money. Everyone here has said, often enough, the new stud will make our herd the finest in the area. Why not use that? Besides, our other studs are, according to all of you, of the highest quality.”

Cassandra looked at each man individually, it was only when she reached Kirk’s face did she see a hint of understanding.

“
It’s really quite simple. We go to our best customers, show them the new stud’s papers, and make a deal. We give them the projected price per head for both our regular breed stock, and the newly bred stock, but we tell them if they buy now, the price will be twenty-five percent less. We’re asking them to take a chance, but we’re giving them the incentive to do so. Next year they’ll make do with whatever horses they have to buy, knowing that in two years, they’ll get the very best!”

“
And,” she’d continued, rolling along with the excitement her momentum had created, “with the advance sales, we can buy more brood mares to increase the herd faster.” When she’d finished, she’d seen the surprised looks turn to grudging admiration. However, the best reward came afterward, when she and Kirk were alone.

He’d looked at her, his eyes sparkling. “I knew you were smart, but I never realized so much brainpower could be wrapped in such a pretty package.”

Cassandra had smiled and remained silent for a moment.

When she spoke, her smile had widened. “Yes, you did.”

~~~~

Cassandra gripped the phone tighter as her thoughts returned to the present and she heard her father on the other end.

“
Hello, Father,” she said in a level voice.

“
Good evening, Cassandra. I’ve been expecting your call.”

“
I know you have,” Cassandra said, her voice pitched in a haughty, mocking tone as she informed him that the ranch had broken even, according to the figures of the third quarterly report.

“
And we fully expect to show a profit by the end of the fiscal year—in three months,” she stated proudly.

“
I’m surprised,” Gregory Leeds said in a tight voice.

“
Why? I told you I could do it,” she responded.

“
How?”

“
The horses, Father. The horses.”

“
What horses? The ranch doesn’t have any horses to sell.”

“
Read the third-quarter report. We sold two-hundred head at nine-hundred dollars apiece. Half down, half upon delivery. That’s ninety-thousand dollars in advance! Goodbye, Father. I’ll speak to you in three months.”

Cassandra hung up the phone and smiled. She was doing it … They were doing it. “I love you, Kirk,” she whispered.

The soft strains of a gentle ballad floated in the air. Cassandra closed her eyes and rested her head on Kirk’s shoulder. She felt at peace with herself and with the world.

They had just finished another long workday and afterward Cassandra had invited Kirk up for dinner. She had cooked two steaks, which they’d eaten sitting at the candle-lit kitchen table.

The entire evening had been spent in a relaxed, romantic mood that neither wanted to break. Now, resting against Kirk, she felt drawn to his heady masculine aura.

“
Dance?” Kirk asked.

Cassandra opened her eyes and lifted her head. “I’d love to. We haven’t danced since that night at the…Cow Palace.”

“
Wonderful place, the Cow Palace,” Kirk said with an amused grin.

“
It was,” Cassandra stated in a serious voice as she stood. A moment later Kirk enfolded her in his arms.

They danced slowly, lovingly, and when the song ended, they swayed together, waiting for the next cut of the album to come on.

The world, as was its wont lately, disappeared again for Cassandra, and nothing else existed except for her and Kirk. When the song was over and they stopped moving, Cassandra opened her eyes to find Kirk gazing at her.

“
I love you,” he whispered as his lips came down on hers and his arms moved in unison. An instant later, he swept her off her feet and carried into the bedroom. “I need you, Cassandra,” he said in a husky voice.

Cassandra, hearing the love and desire in his voice, lifted her mouth to his to taste his warm sweetness.

He placed her gently on the bed and preceded to slowly and sensually undressed her. When she was bare to his gaze, he stepped back and undressed. Cassandra watched him unashamedly, drinking in his every movement, letting her eyes wander freely where they would, knowing there was no shame in what was happening between them. There could be no shame in their powerful love.

Undressed, he went to the bed and joined her, gracefully easing his length next to hers, scooping her in his strong arms and drawing her close while he let the warmth of her silken skin radiate along his body.

Cassandra moved closer to Kirk even before his arms were fully around her and, pressing her to his chest, tiny explosions of desire flared within her breasts. Her fingers ran through his thick hair and then traced the lines of muscles radiating from his neck downward until her fingertips reached the arching swell of his buttocks.

Their tongues danced together; their hands stroked and explored in a combination of desire and love. Then Kirk shifted, moving Cassandra with him until he was above her. He tore his mouth from hers and let his lips roam downward along her jawline, the heat from his mouth was maddening by the time he reached her neck and the lightly pulsing vein that throbbed just beneath the surface of her skin.

His burning lips heated her blood further. Her fingers roamed across his back as his mouth incited her. She cried out when he took his mouth from her throat and again, when he captured one already stiff nipple between his lips.

Lances of fire flashed on her nerve endings, and her need for him grew out of control. When he graced her other breast with the demanding heat of his tongue, her hands returned to his hair and she pulled his head up, forcing his lips to hers.

She trailed her nails down the muscles of his back while his lips crushed down on hers. Her hands trailed over his hips and as their tongue danced together, she slid one hand between them, grasping him. She felt his hardness and his heat radiating in her hand.

Then Cassandra’s urged Kirk to love her. She widened herself, and drew him in. At his heated yet gentle entrance, she cried out his name and he plunged deep inside her, joining and making them one again while giving each other the full measure of their love.

Their hearts and bodies blending into one and carrying each other to the farthest heights of sensation until at last they exploded in a shattering, magnificent climax of love and fulfillment.

When their breathing eased and their minds returned to reality, Cassandra held Kirk a prisoner within her body. She kissed him again and again until she finally relinquished her hold on him and let him come to rest next to her. With a soft purring sigh, she fitted herself within the sanctuary of his arms.

A few moments later Cassandra realized he was gazing down at her. “What?” she asked.

“
I love looking at you.”

“
Thank you…Kirk?” she asked, her voice catching when she spoke his name.

“
Yes?” he said, instantly alerted by the tone of her voice.

“
The year will be over soon.”

“
I know.”

“
When it is, can we stop hiding? Can we let the world know how we feel?” As she asked the question which had been burning in her mind for longer than she cared to admit, her stomach tightened nervously.

Kirk sat up and rested against the headboard. He lifted Cassandra as if she were weightless and turned her so she faced him while she lay diagonally across his chest.

“
You told me a long time ago, when you gave your word you kept it. Isn’t that so?”

“
Yes,” she agreed, wondering what he was leading up to.

“
If we don’t make a profit, will you still marry Somner Barwell?”

Cassandra held her breath. Nine months ago, the answer would have been easy. Not today. “Kirk, we have to make a profit. We have to!”

“
If you had lied to me, I…” Kirk began, hating himself for telling the truth.

“
I can’t lie to you,” Cassandra whispered truthfully. Then she blinked and smiled. “Besides, we’re already into the black.”

“
For now. Have the new prices for beef come in?” he asked, his voice changing again.

“
Today,” Cassandra said with a nod. “But I didn’t like them. I’m checking with two other distributors.”

Kirk shook his head. “You can’t.”

“
Why? It’s our beef; we can sell to whomever we want.”

“
No, we can’t. The Twin Rivers Corporation, under the direction of Leeds International, signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Carway Meat Distributors. It’s a four-year contract. This is the second year.”

“
I didn’t realize,” Cassandra said in a distant voice. “I thought we dealt with them because they gave us the best price. Why an exclusive contract?”

“
You’ll have to ask the home office. It was their decision.”

Cassandra sat up, ignoring her nakedness as her thoughts turned exclusively to business. “That’s ridiculous. Why would they limit themselves to a single distributor, especially one who’s paying almost fifteen cents a pound under market price? That’s unfair.”

“
Tell me about it,” Kirk said sarcastically. “But it’s not unheard of, either. Except when you consider a guaranteed sale makes the exclusive contract desirable.” Kirk paused to regroup his thoughts. “Cassandra, I told you once I thought something wasn’t right here.”

Cassandra’s voice still sounded far away. “It seems as if Leeds International doesn’t want a profit at Twin Rivers.”

“
I know.”

She closed her eyes for a moment while she tried to grasp at an elusive thought. “It’s Father’s failsafe, Kirk. It’s what he’s counting on to beat us; I know it.” Then she shook her head angrily. “There will be a profit. There will be!”

Kirk gazed at Cassandra for a long time afterward, realizing and accepting both the love and the vehemence behind her declaration. Finally, knowing no words would help, he bent and kissed her deeply before he slid down onto the bed and drew her into his arms.

~~~~

Seven-thirty found Cassandra was at her desk, her fingers flying over the computer keyboard, drawing up file after file, in a search to defeat her father. There had to be a way because no matter how much she argued and fought with her father, she loved him and knew somewhere, buried deep within his own heart, Gregory Leeds loved her and would not lie to her.

The harder she searched the less certain her convictions became. She was coming to an alarming conclusion, too many of the deals made no sense, and too many pieces of a puzzle didn’t fit.

Earlier she had read the original contract between Twin Rivers and the meat distributor and found it completely legal and binding. She still didn’t understand was why Leeds International had approved the deal, especially in light of the most important clause of the contract, which dealt with price setting.

In the contract, Carway Distributors had the right to set beef prices, period! It just didn’t make any sense to her. Her father and Murray Charter, who both had to approve any contract, would never have agreed to that clause.

Yet, they had, Cassandra concluded as she glanced at the signatures on the contract and saw her father’s bold scrawl on one line and Murray Charter’s stodgy penmanship on the other.

By the end of the day, Cassandra knew she would have to return to New York and confront her father. She needed to face him in person and see his expression when she asked him why they were dealing exclusively with one distributor, to the detriment of the company.

She was deciding whether to tell Kirk or not when her office door opened and he walked in, a worried frown on his handsome face.

“
Trouble?” Cassandra asked as he sat down.

“
Maybe. One of the men found two of the foals dead, ripped apart.”

Cassandra’s stomach went queasy with the image Kirk’s words evoked. “What happened?”

“
Seems to be a mountain lion. It’s unusual, but it happens. We caught one two years ago. That one went for the cattle.”

“
What can we do?”

“
Catch the cat before it kills any more of the horses.”

“
How?”

“
Go after it; hunt the cat down.”

“
Kill it?” Cassandra asked.

“
I hope not,” Kirk said in a low voice. “There’s usually a reason why a cat goes after livestock. It may be injured.”

“
Who’s going?” she asked, already knowing the answer. “You?”

Kirk nodded. “And a few of the men. I just wanted you to know I’ll be gone for as long as it takes, hopefully only a day or two.”

“
When are you leaving?”

“
Now,” he said as he stood.

Cassandra stood, too, and went around her desk and into his already open arms. “Be careful, Kirk, please.”

Gazing down at her, Kirk nodded, his mouth set in serious lines. “I will, for you.” Then he kissed her, gently, lovingly, and with the promise of many, many more.

After he’d gone, Cassandra sat at her desk for another hour, wondering if she really should go to New York. She glanced at the projections for the sale of the cattle and saw that no matter how she played with the figures, there was no way to make a profit. She had to go to New York.

The only problem she faced would be with Kirk. When he learned she’d gone to New York to challenge her father and demand an explanation about Carway, he would be furious. His pride would get in the way of their happiness. His pride and her father’s deceptions could prove the undoing of their love. She couldn’t let such a thing happen.

Glancing at her watch, Cassandra saw it was almost six. She stood, stretched, and then left the already deserted offices. She walked past Thelma’s desk without stopping to check the stack of messages sitting there, as was her habit. She never saw the pink slip with her name on it and the note that Somner Barwell had called.

She went to the small house where Jane lived and knocked on her door. When it opened, Jane smiled at her as she dried her red hair. “Hi. Coming for dinner?” she asked. For the last five months, two or three times a week, she and Jane went to the dining hall together for dinner. It was a ritual she enjoyed.

“
Not tonight. Jane, you know about the cougar?”

“
Uh-huh,” she said, grimacing with disgust. “I was out there today.”

“
Kirk said he’ll probably be gone for a few days.”

“
At least. He’s got to go into the mountains to look for its lair.”

“
I have to go to New York,” Cassandra said.

Jane looked at her and waited.

“
I don’t want anyone to know,” she added.

Jane still didn’t speak.

“
Can you cover for me?”

“
You mean with Kirk?” Jane asked, her stare penetratingly deep.

Cassandra sighed. “You know, don’t you?”

“
How could I not? I saw it from the beginning,” Jane admitted.

Cassandra smiled. “And I thought we had everyone fooled.”

“
As far as I know, no one else suspects a thing.”