Welcome to Mills & Boon. Jennifer Rae
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he’d already loved one woman who’d preferred his brother. He wasn’t about to do that again. No matter how much her blue eyes haunted his dreams.
Still, he was tired of being angry. Tired of resenting Doug and wishing things were different. Tired of living in the past. For years Tanner had battled the anger he’d felt toward his brother. It had kept him shut off and restrained in relationships with almost everyone he knew. Except for Ruthie and his closest friend, Grady Parker, who knew some of what happened between him and his brother.
Almost losing his life in the accident had shifted his perspective. Tanner didn’t want to be angry anymore. He wanted to live the rest of his life without blame and bitterness. And to do that he had to truly forgive Doug. Only then would he find the peace of mind he craved.
“I know what I’m doing,” he assured the old woman sitting opposite.
But he was pretty sure she didn’t believe it.
She nodded anyway. “So, you gonna stay there tonight?”
“No,” he replied. “I’ll check into a hotel in Bellandale.”
“Nonsense,” she huffed. “You’ll stay here.”
Tanner grinned. “You know, you’re getting bossy in your old age.”
“Hah...I’ve always been bossy.” Ruthie’s throaty laugh made him smile. “Besides, I’ve got a new colt that needs breaking.”
Tanner tapped his leg. “I’m not quite back in the saddle yet.”
“No problem. I just need help mouthing and long reining.” Ruthie’s brows came up and she grinned. “You still look fit enough for that. As long as you can do it without whining like a girl.”
Tanner laughed loudly. Ruthie always cheered him up. He left a short time later and headed back to Cassie’s. She was in the front yard when he pulled into the driveway. Oliver’s stroller was parked nearby in the shade and Mouse sat by the front wheels. She wore cutoff jeans, a gray T-shirt, trainers and thick gardening gloves. A bougainvillea twisted up and across the paling fence and she was cutting off some of the biting vines as he approached.
He patted the dog and flipped his sunglasses off. “Gardening?” He stood by the stroller. “Looks like fun.”
Cassie stepped back and turned. “Well, maybe not fun, but necessary at least. I’ve neglected the yard since Oliver arrived. My grandfather always took such pride in his garden.”
Tanner looked around, hands on hips. “It’s a big yard. Perhaps getting someone in would be a better—”
She stiffened. “I can do it.”
“I’m sure you can do anything you set your mind to.” He smiled at the defiance in her expression. “Would you like some help?”
Cassie nodded and bent to collect the gloves. “If you have time. I could make lunch.” She stilled and met his gaze. “Unless you’ve already eaten?”
“No, I haven’t.”
She held out the gloves. “Great. I’ll take Oliver inside and you see if you have any more luck cutting back that vine. See you back in the house in half an hour.”
Tanner grabbed the gloves and clippers and got to work on the overgrown vine. He made short work of it and once the branches were hacked he hauled them into a respectable pile. But the spikes, he discovered, were unforgiving and the razor-sharp thorns bit through his T-shirt. He pulled the shirt off, removed the spikes from the fabric and re-dressed before he headed up the path and toward the house.
He cleaned up in the laundry and Cassie was in the kitchen making sandwiches when he rounded the corner and stalled by the threshold. She looked up instantly and brought plates to the table.
Tanner spotted the stroller by the table. “Is he asleep?”
“Yes. I gave him a small bottle and he went out like a light.”
Tanner walked into the room and peered into the stroller. Oliver’s little face looked peaceful. It occurred to him that he might be able to help out with the baby. “You don’t...you know...feed him yourself?”
Her brows came up slowly. “Do I breast-feed, you mean?”
Tanner tried to ignore the ridiculous heat that crawled up his neck. “Yeah.”
She shook her head. “I did for a few weeks. But after that I couldn’t.” She shrugged and walked back to the countertop. “Sometimes it happens that way. I was unwell and after Doug—”
“It’s okay, Cassie,” Tanner said quickly. “You don’t have to explain.” No, because he understood. The man she loved was dead, she had a new baby and she was faced with the knowledge that the home she’d lived in most of her life was about to be pulled from under her feet. It wasn’t difficult to figure out why she’d struggle to nurse her son.
She shrugged again and he was sure he saw moisture in her eyes before she blinked and turned toward the refrigerator. Half a minute later she returned to the table and sat down.
“Where’d you go this morning?” she asked and pushed a plate toward him.
“Ruthie’s,” he explained.
She nodded. “Ruthie Nevelson? She sent me a card when Oliver was born. Doug never visited her much. I guess you’re closer to her than he was.”
“I guess,” he said. “I always spent my summers with Ruthie once school was out. Doug was in the army by then.”
Cassie looked up and smiled. “My friend Lauren and I used to swipe oranges from her tree when we were kids. Funny,” she said and toyed with her sandwich. “We never saw you there. I mean, Crystal Point is a small town—you’d think we would have crossed paths at some point.”
We did.
But Tanner didn’t say it. Even though the memory was etched into his mind. At thirteen they’d met briefly. It was fourteen years later that he met her again. And by then she was Doug’s girlfriend and hadn’t remembered those few moments on the beach so many years earlier.
“I was usually hanging out with my friends,” he said, taking a sandwich and smiling. “No time for girls back then.”
“And now?” she asked, grinning slightly. “Is there someone in the picture?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “No one at the moment.”
“But there was?”
Another shrug. “For a while. It wasn’t all that serious.”
In truth, Tanner hadn’t ever been completely committed in a relationship. For a time, with Ash, he’d thought they might have a future. But it had faded quickly once they realized they were better as friends than lovers. It had ended over a year ago and he hadn’t been inclined to pursue anyone since.
“But you want to settle down eventually?”
“Eventually,” he replied and took a bite of the sandwich.
“In South Dakota? I mean, you’re settled there?”
He nodded. “Cedar Creek is a good town, with good people.”
“Like Crystal Point?” she asked.
“There are similarities,” he said. “Small towns tend to breed a certain kind of people.”
“I suppose they do.” She stared into her plate, and then spoke a little wistfully. “Doug didn’t share the same beliefs about small-town life. He never seemed happy here.”
“It just wasn’t his...fit,” Tanner said. “The military was his home.”
She nodded. “Maybe that’s why he found it so hard to come back. Even when he did he was always...” She stopped, paused, clearly