Page 36 of Snow Kisses

“And what time you can’t, I will,” came the fervent promise. “Now go set the table.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Abby said, grinning.

She carried two place settings of everyday china into the dining room and helped put the food on the table. Cade was uncharacteristically late getting downstairs, and she was almost ready to go up and call him when he walked into the room.

He looked as if he hadn’t slept a wink. His dark hair was damp from a shower, and he was wearing a tan patterned Western shirt over rust-colored denims, and polished tan boots. He looked rugged and formidable, and so solemn that he intimidated her.

“I thought you were going to fix fences,” Abby remarked.

“I am,” he muttered. He sat down at the head of the table and stared at her for a long moment, taking in every line of her face and body. “When you finish your breakfast, go back upstairs and get dressed. I’m not taking you on a picnic half-naked.”

The sudden attack left her dumb. She gaped at him with wide, hurt eyes before she put down her napkin and got up from the table in tears. She’d worn the sundress especially for him, to please him.

“Where are you going?” Calla demanded, elbowing in with a platter of scrambled eggs.

“To put on some clothes,” Abby said in a subdued tone, and didn’t look back.

“Now what have you done?” Calla was demanding, but Abby didn’t wait around to hear the answer. She rushed up to her room and slammed the door with tears boiling down her flushed cheeks.

She cried for what seemed hours before she dragged herself up and put on her blue jeans and a short-sleeved blue blouse. She put on a vest over that, a fringed leather one, and put her hair up in a bun. Before she went back downstairs, she scrubbed off every trace of makeup, as well.

When she walked back into the room, pale and silent, Cade barely glanced at her.

“If you’d like to call the picnic off, I can finish Melly’s wedding dress instead,” she said as she sipped her coffee, ignoring the eggs and sausage and fresh, hot biscuits.

“I’d like to call everything off, if you want to know,” he said shortly.

“That’s fine with me. I have plenty to keep me busy.” She finished her coffee and, trying not to let him see how hurt she really was, smiled in his general direction and got up.

“Abby.”

She stopped, keeping her back to him. “What?”

He drew in a slow breath. “Let’s talk.”

“I can’t think what we have to talk about,” she said with a careless laugh, turning to face him with fearless eyes. “I’ll be leaving as soon as Melly comes back after her honeymoon, you know. But I can go right now, ifyou like. I’ve had an interesting offer from a boutique owner—”

His eyes flashed fire, and he cut her off sharply before she could tell him the rest. “And you’ll be off to another landmark in your career, I suppose?” he asked with a mocking smile. “It’s just as well, honey—I plan to do some traveling on my own in the next few months. There’s only one job here, and Melly’s got it.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t particularly enjoy keeping records on cattle,” she replied with a cool smile.

He stood up and lit a cigarette, leaving his second cup of coffee untouched on the table. “Calla’s got the picnic basket packed. We might as well spend today together. It’ll sure as hell be the last time we have, because starting tomorrow I’ll be out with the boys constantly.”

“Why don’t you take Calla on a picnic?” she asked coldly. “You like her.”

His nostrils flared as he stared down at her from his superior height. “I used to like you pretty well,” he reminded her.

“Sure, as long as I stayed away.” She moved about restlessly. “I should have stayed in New York. I didn’t think I’d be welcomed here with open arms….”

“You might have been, once,” he said enigmatically, “if you hadn’t decided that the world of fashion meant more to you than a home and family.”

She glanced up at him narrowly. “Pull the other one.” She laughed. “If I’d stayed here, I would have withered away and become just another old maid dotting the landscape, and you know it. Or are you going to tryand tell me that you were dying for love of me?” she added mockingly.

His dark eyes went quietly over her face. “Why would I waste time telling you something you wouldn’t believe in the first place?” he asked. “If we’re going, let’s go. I don’t have time to stand around talking.”

“Oh, by all means, the ranch might fall apart!” she replied, and walked into the kitchen.

Calla glanced at her and scowled, a scowl that grew even fiercer when she saw Cade. “There’s the basket,” she grumbled at him.

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