Can't Stop Believing (HARMONY) (13 page)

M
ARCH
23

F
RUSTRATED
AND
EXHAUSTED
, N
EVADA
CAME
HOME
LATER
than usual. She’d spent an hour longer at the office than she’d planned. Bryce had dropped by the office as if he thought he’d be welcomed back after two years. Though he’d been polite to all, it set her nerves on edge and she couldn’t get back to work for an hour after he’d left.

When no one was near enough to overhear, he’d whispered, “You about ready for me to come back, Nevada? You know you can’t handle the ranch and this business without me. I’ve grown up in the oil business and I like the idea of playing rancher.”

“I’m married,” she said, holding out her hand with Cord’s mother’s ring.

“Yeah, how long will that last? Even an ex-con is too good for you. He wouldn’t put up with you for long. You’re the kind of woman who needs a strong hand.” He stared at her. “He’ll be gone soon and you’ll need me back.”

Despite his family’s deep pockets, she’d heard that he’d failed at several ventures since he’d left her. Maybe he figured running a ranch was easy. She really didn’t know or care what he thought. “We’ll never be together again, Bryce. Never.”

He smiled that playboy smile that she’d loved when she’d first seen it. “Don’t be too sure about that, Nevada. I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind, and I’m a man used to getting exactly what he wants.”

“Not me. I’m married.”

He smiled. “What’s he going to do to stop me? If McDowell lays a hand on me, he’ll be in prison the rest of his life. All I’d probably have to do was say he threatened me and there are cops in this county who’d lock him up.”

Nevada felt a chill. She told herself Bryce was lying, but she wasn’t so sure. The thought of how gently Cord held her at night crossed her mind, and she decided she’d keep this problem with Bryce between them. She didn’t want Cord involved or hurt.

Bryce made a polite bow and left her office, probably knowing just how badly he’d frightened her. Before their honeymoon was over, he’d begun playing a game with her. He liked to plant the seed of trouble or place a threat as if casually making a bet that he knew he’d collect on later.

The
later
always came after he’d had a few drinks and they were alone.

When Nevada left the office after sunset, she asked security to walk her to her car. Bryce wouldn’t try anything in public, that wasn’t his style, but she wasn’t sure what she’d do if she had to face him alone.

Storm.
She thought of the word Cord had used when she got angry. He’d said it so simply.
“My wife tends to storm.”
Like it was something she just did from time to time. Cord had said it as if storming were a part of her character that he didn’t mind at all.

Nevada could never remember knowing that kind of acceptance in her life. It seemed every day of her life someone had been trying to change her, mold her, control her.

She’d always worked hard, even when her father didn’t notice, but all he’d ever done was criticize her. When he died, she walked into the company her grandfather had built and took over without missing a step. There had been no one to pat her on the back and say
Good job
, but for every mistake she made there were whispers.

Only now, Bryce was back in town and the constant feeling that she was being watched fed a bad mood she’d had all week. Bryce thought he’d keep pushing, keep pestering, until she caved.

He didn’t know her as well as he thought he did, she decided. All she needed was the weekend off and she’d come back fighting. She wanted to relax at home and ride her horses, and sleep without an alarm. Maybe she’d even say she was sorry for barely speaking to Cord, if he ever stopped working long enough to listen.

Her short-term husband deserved better.

Bryce Galloway would eventually go away. She didn’t like the idea that he’d come to Harmony. Maybe he thought his downhill slide started when he walked out on her to teach her a lesson. She knew he hadn’t expected her to go through with the divorce. Even now, he hadn’t fully accepted that they were over, forever and ever over.

She wasn’t afraid of him anymore. He might hit her, if he got the chance, but he’d never own her again. No man ever would. Two years ago her father was dying, her brother was planning his escape from the ranch he hated, and Bryce had left her to deal with it all. It was the lowest point in her life. Strange thing about dropping to the bottom of a deep well—you’ve got nowhere to go but up. She had begun to climb.

The only thing that did frighten her was how he might try to hurt Cord.

As she walked into her cool home, Nevada set her packed briefcase on the nearest chair.
Home
, she thought,
I’m finally home
.

Her day had started out a disaster. The designer briefcase she always carried back and forth to the office had toppled over that morning when she was leaving, and she hadn’t had time to get all the papers back in order. Then she had to deal with a lightning fire at one of the rig work sites. Her secretary had called in sick, something Bridget never did, and from there the day dropped even lower when Bryce came in. Now, she just wanted to forget about everything and relax.

When she walked by the kitchen, she almost didn’t notice Cord sitting at the breakfast nook table, his meal half finished.

“About time you got in, Babe.” He sounded cold, almost angry.

She stopped. He’d never questioned her hours and he’d never called her Babe.

“I told you several times, I don’t like nicknames. Maybe it’s time to test your hearing.” She moved closer to the table. “And . . .” She drew a breath, knowing that she had to nip his questions about her time in the bud. “It’s none of your concern where I’ve been. I told you from the start I often work late.”

“I waited dinner for you.”

“Why, so we could have another meal not talking?” She was being bitchy, but she didn’t care. Her head hurt. Her feet hurt. Her emotions had been shredded like cheap confetti.

“Don’t pick another fight when we’re in the middle of this one.” Cord’s cold eyes drilled into her. “You weren’t late working. I called your office. You weren’t there. No one was. Even the answering machine must have taken off early.”

“You could have called my cell. We’ve been getting some odd calls at the office. I have the systems turned off at five so no one can get through.” She didn’t add that it was her ex-husband she feared would call late.

He didn’t look away. He only asked, “So you could lie to me and tell me you were working late. I don’t care what you do or where you go, Nevada, I just hate being lied to.”

This is it
, she thought.
This is where the marriage starts to turn. From now on it will start to rot and nothing can be done to save it.
She held her ground. “I don’t want to lie to you, Cord, but it’s none of your concern. I thought we had that understanding from the first. I don’t want you worrying about me; that’s just one step from controlling me.”

She expected him to accuse her of having an affair or of drinking or even shopping too much, but he said simply, “Want to tell me about the odd phone calls?”

She shook her head. “No. It’s just business.” She felt terrible for lying. He didn’t deserve it. He’d been straight with her, but she saw no point in telling him about Bryce. There was nothing he could do.

He stood and walked to her. For a second she flinched, a tiny part of her bracing for a hit. Cord was bigger than Bryce. If he hit her, it would break bones.

But he only walked around her and pulled her plate from the microwave. When he’d set her food on the table, he pulled out her chair and waited for her to join him.

She took the offered seat, unsure where she stood with this husband she rarely talked to.

While she picked at her food, he pulled a note from his pocket and slowly unfolded it. Before he placed it between them, she knew what it was. A note from Bryce. Three had come to the office, always addressed personally to her. Always the same.

She didn’t pick up the paper.

“You know what it says?” Cord asked. “I wasn’t prying. I found it on the floor next to where you always leave your briefcase. It must have fallen out.”

“I know what it says. It says the same thing as the odd phone messages I’ve been receiving at work.” She couldn’t lie anymore. Not to him.

Just to have something to do, she picked up the note and saw four words written in bold print.
Missing you. Coming soon.

She expected Cord to accuse her of having a lover, but he just waited. “It’s not a love note. It’s a threat, and I’ve taken measures at the office. It’s not something you have to worry about, Cord.”

To her shock he seemed to believe her. He took the note, folded it back into his pocket, and said simply, “You’ll tell me when it is?”

She thought about hugging him for not asking more. This was her problem, and she’d made up her mind after talking to Bryce that she’d do her best to keep Cord out of it. “I promise.” She’d dealt with Bryce two years ago, and she could deal with him now.

“Then let’s eat, Babe.” He smiled. “And I thought we’d talk at meals from now on. Maybe not rattle on, but it doesn’t have to be so silent.”

She realized he was dropping the subject. No drilling of questions. No yelling. All he asked for was that she didn’t lie. “Back to argument number two. Don’t call me Babe.”

Now, when the argument turned to nothing of importance, he frowned. “I like calling you Babe, but I could change to Honey. Honey sounds a little too sweet for you. Darling or Sweetie wouldn’t be right. No, Babe has to be it.”

“
No
,” she yelled. “Babe is the name of a pig.”

Cord thought about it. “Yeah, I know, but it was a cute pig.”

She took a bite of pot roast, chewed while she thought about him, and then said, “Are you trying to pick a fight?”

He smiled. “Maybe, Babe. I like to see you fired up. It’s better than worried.”

She considered hitting him with her baked potato, but she doubted it was hot enough to do any real damage.

He read her mind. “If you toss one bite of that food I swear I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Even play-fighting with him could get her hurt.

He grinned. “I’ll think of a worse name to call you than Babe.”

She smiled, settling into the nearness of him like she always did. “If you call me Babe, I’ll call you Pa because it fits you. I swear, Cord, you look young but you’ve got the ways of an old man.” She guessed he’d had very little time in his life to have fun.

Then it hit her. He’d gone to prison about the time he turned eighteen. He’d never had time to flirt or act silly. The man was almost thirty and he’d never flirted with a woman. Even when he’d asked her out once when they were still both kids, he’d just asked, no smiling or
How are you doing
, just “You want to go out?” She’d said no more because of the way he asked than because she didn’t want to date him.

“Cord,” she said, before he thought of another topic to bug her with tonight. “How about we go sit on the couch and watch a movie?”

“Why?” He looked like he smelled a trap.

“I could pop some popcorn and we could hold hands and pretend we’re at the movies on a date. You’re right. I need to leave my worries for a while and relax. You’re the only one around, so I guess that makes you my date.”

He stood and collected the plates. “You pick the movie, I’ll pop the corn. It sounds like a dumb idea, but I’ll go along with it.”

When they were settled on the couch and had munched on half a bowl of popcorn, she took his hand in hers. For a few minutes he didn’t seem to know what to do, and then hesitantly he began to move his thumb over her palm. When she shifted and pushed her shoulder against him, he lifted his arm and pulled her to him.

Halfway through the movie he lowered the volume and whispered, “I wasn’t checking up on you today. One of the men said he found you one night a few years ago between here and town. You’d totaled your car. He claimed you must have taken the curve at sixty instead of thirty. I called because I thought you might have had car trouble or wrecked another car. I tried your cell first but you didn’t answer.”

“I remember that night. I don’t know how fast I was going, I only remember crying so hard I couldn’t see the road.” She leaned her head back against his arm. “Funny, I don’t remember why I was crying.”

“I was worried about you tonight.”

“I know,” she answered, “but don’t expect me to report in. Just know I’ll always be coming home as soon as I can. I’ll keep my promise to sleep in your bed every night.”

“Fair enough.” He kissed her cheek.

“And, anytime you call, always leave a message. Sometimes I step out of my office and forget to take the phone.” When he didn’t look like he understood, she added, “You know, to the ladies’ room.”

“Oh.”

She swore he blushed.

She placed her hand on his jaw and turned his head toward her. The kiss was soft, gentle, like a first kiss. Neither seemed to want it to end, but neither pushed for more. For now, it was enough. This wasn’t a peck on the cheek or a kiss for show. This kiss was real and they both knew it.