Destiny Wears Spurs (25 page)

Natalie didn’t say a word, but took Monica back to her apartment. Monica didn’t put up a protest. She ate a little, then after a long hot bath, she curled up on Natalie’s couch with a cup of tea. The bath and the tea had thawed her out of her frozen state and into a consuming need to talk.

She spilled her guts about everything that had transpired since the first time she and Cody made love. Nat wrapped her in the support of her arms while she wept, until she was left with nothing but exhaustion and a nasty case of hiccups.

Nat said, “I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier about you-know-who. I’ve been taking this new self-defense class. I could always give him a couple black eyes. Kinda sounds like fun.”

“Natalie. You will not lay one hand on Co …
his
head.”

“I was hurt at the time. I wanted to hurt him back.” Monica chewed her bottom lip. “Look. What I said or didn’t say doesn’t really matter. He doesn’t love me. He said so.”

“Well, I’m going to jump in the shower. Think on that for a while. You’re a smart woman, Mo. Trust your instincts. Trust in what you knew to be true before last night.” She ran upstairs, leaving Monica confused.

Could Nat be right? Monica didn’t know what to think anymore. Or what to do.

* * *

“Hey, shrimp, what’re you doing here?” Cody tried to force some enthusiasm into his voice, but failed big-time. He must look like hell. He hadn’t slept at all last night. “Don’t you have some dudes to ship off?”

He flinched as the pain knifed through him with the sharp blade of regret, then he hid his reaction behind his emotionless mask. Not quite quick enough.

“She called me up in the middle of the night and said she needed to leave early because of a family emergency, but I know it had something to do with you.” Cassie’s tone softened. “Why, Cody? Why are you fighting this? You two are so perfect together. Can you honestly tell me you don’t love her?”

She was hot on his heels. “I do have a say. Monica is my friend, and it’s obvious she loves you. I will not stand by and see you hurt her.”

He swung around and glared at Cassie with such intensity, she stepped back. “I never wanted to hurt her. Can’t you see it’s killing me? There’s no other way, so leave it be please.” His shoulders slumped, and he went back to work.

“I can’t. I’m your sister. I love you, too.”

He paused with his back to her and hung his head.

“I just want to see you happy. You’ve been through so much.
We’ve
been through so much. You’ve always been there for me. Is it so hard to understand why I want to be here for you?”

They sat on a bale of hay, side by side, but he couldn’t look at her. “I know what it’s like to be deceived. She’ll hate me when she finds out what I’ve done.”

Cassie shook her head and started to protest.

He cut her off with a slice of his hand. “I can’t take her thinking she’s in love with me and deciding to stay, only to discover down the road that it’s not enough for her. I’m not enough for her. It was bad enough with Barbara. I don’t think I could take that from Monica.” He stood and began to pace.

“Oh, Cody. You’re so wrong, you know.”

“You don’t know all of it.” He met her eyes. “The deal was phony, Callie. I never intended to use the campaign Monica came up with. Her father’s agency is the company Dad used years ago. Their campaign made our ranch a success. When Hammond called in a favor, I couldn’t refuse.”

She sighed. “Well, you did what you had to do. I know you won’t believe me now, but in time you’ll realize the mistake you’re making with Monica. Barbara was a lying, deceitful, selfish bitch. Monica doesn’t have a deceitful bone in her body. Selfish? Hell, she gave up her dream just to save her father’s ass. How do you know she wouldn’t understand if you told her why you did what you did?”

Cody opened the folder and flipped through the pages in awe. “I had no idea.” She’d captured the mountains perfectly. And his animals, God they were beautiful. He’d never seen them in this light. And the way she’d captured his men depicted life on the ranch perfectly. “She’s extremely talented. It’s a shame she’s letting it waste away.”

“Isn’t it? Take a look at the last drawing. It’s dated last night. Before you broke her heart.”

Cody turned to the last page with a sense of dread, afraid of what he might see. His heart lurched. It was a picture of him. A close up of his face, looking out over his land with a perfect mixture of pride and love for a part of him that was deeply rooted in his soul. “How could she capture what I’m thinking, feeling, in a sketch of my face?”

“Because she loves you, and you love her. You’re connected, and she would never try to change you. Just like you wouldn’t try to change her. Don’t you see, you’re both doing what you think is best for the other, instead of what’s best for both of you. Maybe it’s time you did some changing in your way of thinking.”

He closed the sketchbook and rubbed his temple, confused. “When the hell did you grow up?”

“While you were falling in love. But remember this, only a woman who really understands you could have drawn a picture like that.” She walked out of the barn shaking her head.

He would call Monica’s father and tell him he intended to use the campaign Monica had come up with. By God, he owed her that much at least. She deserved to get what she wanted. She deserved it all. But one thing was damn certain.

She sure as hell didn’t deserve to be saddled with him.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Monday morning Monica went back to work. She headed to the board room because her father had called a meeting, but she dreaded seeing the disappointment in his eyes. Her stomach knotted. She held her head high and waltzed into the board room with an air of confidence, though her palms were sweating. “Dad. It’s good to see you again.”

“Is it? I wouldn’t know. When you got hurt, you didn’t want me in Colorado, and you haven’t bothered to drop by since you’ve been home.” He stared at her forehead, then her eyes, and scowled.

She had used cold teabags on her lingering puffy black eyes, and she’d replaced the orange Band-Aid on her forehead with a flesh-colored one. Apparently, it hadn’t worked. She must look as crappy as she felt. “Sorry. It’s not that I didn’t want you in Colorado, I just didn’t want you to come running when I got hurt. I wanted more time to finish my campaign. I stayed with Natalie for the weekend to get up to speed on work. I figured we could get caught up at lunch.”

She hoped he bought that. She hadn’t been in a rush to see him because she knew he wouldn’t approve of her blubbering like an idiot over the loss of Cody. The client. Someone she wasn’t supposed to get involved with in the first place.

Her father stared at her for a full minute. “Fair enough. Lunch it is.”

Natalie entered the room, her black silky bob bouncing off her shoulders. “Hi.” She winked.

Monica smiled and took a steady breath. “Hi, yourself.” Okay, she could do this. Wendell entered the room on crutches, and her smile disappeared.

He stood by her father’s side, smirking at her. Monica had the strongest urge to break his other leg, remembering she had a score to settle, but she’d bide her time and hear what her father had to say first. Ignoring Wendell, she turned to her father as he began to speak.

“Now that Monica’s back, I called you all here today to discuss my retirement before the big meeting with the board.”

Wendell stood a little straighter and gave Monica a pompous grin, as if to say ‘I’ve got this one in the bag, darling.’ She stiffened, wanting to slug him, but Nat nudged her with her knee. His time would come.

“I’ve made my decision,” her father continued, and she focused her attention on him. “I said in the beginning this job was too much for you to handle, and when you got hurt--”

Monica’s lip twitched, and it took everything in her not to scream. She forced her voice to remain calm. “That’s not fair, Dad. The accident had nothing to do with the campaign, or my abilities to run this company.” She shot Wendell a scathing glare and then looked back at her father. “Rafferty liked my plans. He just didn’t like how Wendell kept trying to sabotage me.” Bluffing might come back to bite her, but she had no choice. Cody never said he didn’t like her campaign; just that he wasn’t going to use any advertising. “Wendell made us look as if the whole company wasn’t on the same page.”

“I mean, that’s right, I was.” Monica raised her chin a notch and held her hands behind her back. He didn’t have to know her fingers were crossed. “Wendell doesn’t deserve to run your company. His actions at the ranch should be proof enough that he can’t be trusted.”

“I agree.”

“You agree?” Wendell blurted, knocking over his crutch.

Her father ignored him, speaking directly to her. “I’ll admit that in the beginning, I honestly wondered if you could hack the work, but I never doubted you wouldn’t give it your all. And now I have my own proof.”

“Proof? Of what?” Monica glanced around the room.

“I did a little digging on my own. I just couldn’t risk letting you know.” He smiled at her like he’d done when she was a child. A smile that said everything a little girl ever wanted to hear her father say, but knew he wouldn’t because expressing emotions was hard for him.

Her heart squeezed, and a lump formed in her throat. So he’d believed her all along. “Thanks. That means a lot.” She wanted to hug him, but she had to remain professional.

“Whoa, wait one minute,” Wendell said, balancing on one crutch. “I saw with my own eyes what a lousy job you were doing, and not just with the campaign. You can’t hack it, and you know it.”

Outrage filled Monica to the core. She opened her mouth to let him have it, but her father beat her to it. “She didn’t blow anything, because this deal wasn’t even real.” Her father stepped between them, his face hardening once again.

“Not real? What the hell are you talking about?” Wendell frowned.

“My daughter’s a smart woman. When she says something’s not right, I listen. I could have fired you on the spot, but I wanted to know why you have it in for me. I knew if you thought I was giving her a real shot, then you’d try to sabotage her.”

Monica gasped. “You didn’t have enough faith in me to let me in on it? I busted my butt for nothing.”

“Monica, you wear your emotions on your sleeve. I needed you to be convincing. And sending you there was not for nothing. It showed me what you’re really made of. I’m damn proud of you.”