Do you take this rebel - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,70
She studied her friend’s face. “Unless, one of these days, you decide there’s something you’d rather be doing. If you decide you want to sell, it will be okay, Karen. Caleb would understand.”
“I’m not so sure of that,” Karen said, then sighed.
“He would,” Cassie insisted, then gave her friend’s hand a squeeze. “You have to do what’s best for you now. And you don’t have to decide what that is today or even tomorrow. You take your time. And if you need extra help, call me. I might not be experienced, but I’m willing. And Jake’s been learning to do chores at the Double D. He could just as easily do them for you. In fact, I’d prefer it.”
Karen forced a smile. “Thanks. Now go home to your husband. Your work with me is done.” Her grin spread. “And that counter hasn’t been that spotless in years, so you’re off the hook with Stella, too.”
They walked out of the diner together, then went their separate ways. It wasn’t lost on Cassie that both of them were heading home with unmistakable reluctance. There was a difference, though. Karen could never get her husband back, while Cassie still had a fighting chance with hers. Watching her friend climb dejectedly into the battered pickup that had been Caleb’s, Cassie resolved to make the most of the chance she had.
Cole looked up when he heard Cassie’s key turn in the lock. His pulse ricocheted wildly. This was it, the moment of truth. Do or die. A few more clichés rattled around in his head as he dared to face her, still trying to decide what to say.
“You’re home,” he said. Now there was a brilliant beginning, he thought, cursing his stupidity. He tried to salvage the moment. “Rough day?”
That was better, he concluded. It sounded like the start of a perfectly normal conversation between husband and wife. Unfortunately, there was nothing normal about any of this. It was awkward as hell.
“It was okay, at least until Karen came in.” Her expression turned sad. “I’m worried about her. She’s not handling Caleb’s death well at all.”
“How could she? He’s only been gone a few months. It must be a terrible adjustment to make.”
“She ought to sell the ranch before it kills her, too,” Cassie said. “But right now she won’t hear of it. She thinks she owes it to Caleb to stay.”
“And as long as she thinks that, then that’s what she needs to do,” Cole said. “You can’t push her. That ranch is her connection to him. It’s little wonder she doesn’t want to lose that.”
Cassie sighed. “I know. Some things can’t be rushed.”
Her gaze locked with his, and they both knew that she wasn’t talking only about Karen. “I’m sorry if I pushed too hard yesterday. I just want…I want things to be okay, to be good between us.”
Cole nodded. Here it was, the moment of truth. “I want that, too,” he said quietly. “I really do. I’m not saying it can happen overnight, but it is what I want. You need to know that. You need to believe it, even when I’m shutting you out.”
“I’ll try.”
“And sleeping in the same bed will be a start,” he added quietly. “If that’s something you still want.”
Hope lit her eyes. “I do,” she said at once. “With all my heart.”
“Good.”
They stared at each other, neither of them moving, neither of them knowing what else to say, until finally Cole could bear it no longer.
“Come here,” he said, beckoning her.
She hesitated.
“Cassie, you’re not changing your mind already, are you?”
“No, but—”
“Come here,” he commanded.
She took one step toward him, then eventually another, until their knees were touching. He reached up and touched her cheek, surprised to find it was damp with tears he hadn’t noticed in the room’s shadows.
“Oh, baby,” he murmured, drawing her into his lap. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Is it?” she whispered, sounding more uncertain than he’d ever heard her.
“It is,” he said confidently.
Given time, given commitment, given love, it would definitely be okay. Hopefully, he had just bought them the time they needed.
Chapter Sixteen
It wasn’t okay, not by a long shot. Oh, Cole was trying. They were sharing a bed, but the gap between them hadn’t been closed, not all the way.
Cassie had had high hopes for the move into the new house. Surely then, when they were in the home they’d designed together, the last pieces of their relationship would fall into place. But it wasn’t working out that way.
The new house