Lois Richer - Rocky Mountain Legacy

“Once or twice.” Her eyelids drooped, shielding her thoughts. One short oval nail tapped against the tabletop.

Sara might not like his questions, but at least she hadn’t told him to mind his own business. Cade pressed on.

“I’m guessing it’s a challenging field.”

“It can be.” She lifted her chin and her face transformed, skin glowing, eyes shining with excitement. “That’s what I like about it. It’s a chance to prove you can change things, make them into what you want. I never tire of that.”

The hint of defiance underlying her words reminded him of Karen on the day she’d announced she’d enlisted. Determination. Grit. Challenge.

Sara’s fingertips tightened around her cup of barely touched coffee.

“I’m going to get into special effects. As soon as I can figure out how.”

“I’m sure you will.” He remembered an earlier comment. “It was nice of you to put your dream on hold to help out while your grandmother recuperates.”

“I didn’t want to.” Soft pink deepened to a rose blush.

“But you came anyway. That’s true commitment.” Cade studied the pure clear shape of her face. “Surely there must be a call for your kind of work in Denver?”

“For makeup. But I’m trying to get into special effects. That means Hollywood.”

“I see.”

“Do you?” Sara Woodward’s velvet brown eyes challenged him to understand.

And Cade didn’t, though he wished he could.

For him, family came right behind his love for God. Although his parents had been gone for fifteen years, he still treasured the family moments he could recall, happy, laughing moments when it seemed as if they’d always be there, providing the love and security he’d taken for granted.

The same love he’d showered on Karen as he tried to protect her.

He’d compared them, but Cade now realized Sara Woodward was nothing like his sister. Karen was a product of her environment, strong and tough like the land abutting the Rockies. Sara, with her dainty figure, exotic scarf and that mass of bouncing golden curls, was more like one of Karen’s delicate porcelain wedding dolls, the ones that belonged in a glass box on a high shelf where the hard knocks of life could not reach.

And yet, in the depths of Sara’s eyes he caught a glimpse of a woman with inner fire and determination. But she was not comfortable with her world.

Cade couldn’t make the pieces fit. Sara had family here, guaranteed job security in the family business. She had at least one sister and one brother that he knew of, and a grandmother who could be called upon if needed. Everything he longed for.

So why did she seem so desperate to run away from them?

“Families are precious. They should be treasured,” he said, and wished he hadn’t when she tossed a glare toward the window and her brother.

“I do treasure my family. Very much.” Her jaw thrust out an inch farther. “But sometimes I have to escape them.”

“Why?”

“Let’s get back to your wedding.” Sara ignored the question, tapped her notepad. “Are we settled on a church for the ceremony?”

Cade kept his focus on her, wishing she’d explain.

“Or you could wait till my grandmother is back.”

“I don’t want to wait.” It took about ten seconds to reach a decision. Cade sat up straight, pushed his shoulders back. “I’ll think about a location. In the meantime, what else do I need to decide to get this thing rolling?”

“Without a firm date it’s difficult to plan a lot, but you could begin to consider invitations, color schemes.” Sara raised one eyebrow. “I’m guessing you won’t choose the bride’s dress?”

“Given your current job, I guess that question is understandable.” He grinned, leaned back in his seat, senses enmeshed in the spicy fragrance of her perfume. “Think more ‘big picture,’ Sara.”

“What? Most brides think clothes are a very important part of wedding. Wedding gowns, tuxedos.” She chuckled at his huff of distaste and continued.

But the more she listed, the more Cade felt like a man drowning. Sara must have noticed because she finally paused.

“It’s a lot to handle,” she said, her voice softening. “Maybe you need to rethink this idea.”

Maybe he did. Nothing about organizing Karen’s wedding seemed as simple as it had back on the ranch. But that didn’t mean Cade was giving up.

“I need a little time to wrap my mind around the details, that’s all.”

“Take all the time you need. I better get back to work.”

While Sara dabbed her lips on a napkin, Cade tossed some money on the table, then led the way outside, holding her arm until she pulled it away.

He checked the sidewalk, expecting to see Reese.

“I guess your brother had to leave.”

“Yeah. Probably to give his report.”

“Report?” He didn’t understand that comment, or what had drained the sparkle from her eyes, but the Woodward family wasn’t his business. “Because Reese isn’t here, I’ll walk you back to the store.”

“Thanks, but I can manage without you or my brother to guide me. I’ve been finding my own way around L.A. for a while now.” Hostility leeched through the sour words.

“I don’t doubt you can.” Cade hadn’t sensed tension between sister and brother earlier, which made him even more curious about the Woodwards, especially about Sara. “I have to walk there anyway. My car’s parked across from the store.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” She walked beside him in a mincing pace, almost falling flat on her face when her heel caught in a sidewalk crack. She recovered quickly, tossed him a smile. “I thought all cowboys drove trucks?”

“I don’t bring my truck into town unless I’m hauling something. Too many bad drivers ready to dent it. And, yes, all the stories about ranchers treating their trucks like babies are true. Hey!” Cade grabbed her just in time and held on until Sara had regained her balance again. “Are those things comfortable?”

“Not in the least,” Sara told him, fingers pressing into his arm as she righted herself. “But Katie insists they’re the only appropriate footwear for my work at Woodwards. I usually work in sneakers and jeans.”

“I imagine you look very nice in those, too.” A sense of loss suffused him when her arm slid out from his. “Oh, we’re here already.”

“Whenever you want to talk again, stop in.” Sara’s eyes lost their brooding, lightened to a rich cocoa. “We’ll do our best to help. But I think you should wait and talk to Karen. Then listen. She might have other reasons for wanting to elope.”

“Like what?” Cade resented the inference that he didn’t know exactly how Karen thought. His baby sister was an open book to him.

“Talk to her. She’ll tell you.”

“Will you be here if I come back?”

“I don’t know.” An internal struggle turned her eyes a shade of bittersweet. “Probably.”

The expressionless gaze she’d first assumed at the store, the “mask” look that hid her emotions, slid into place. He disliked it intensely.

“Well, thanks for coffee and the croissants.” Sara’s clear natural glow reminded Cade of the foothills of his ranch where mountain springs tumbled down in a rush of sparkling droplets chased by sunbeams. Her orange scarf was like a mountain lily.

Cade blinked. Loneliness was definitely affecting him.

“You’ve given me a lot of wedding details to think about. What if we meet tomorrow?”

Sara’s eyes widened with surprise.

“You mean, you still want me to work with you, even though I’m not staying?”

“You have an original perspective. Karen would like that.” His sister’s penchant for the uncommon had often been a source of contention between them.