Page 44 of Snow Kisses

“I’ll arrange to go Saturday morning,” she said.

His face hardened at her subdued tone, but he only nodded. “It’s for the best. You came to me hurt, and I hope I’ve helped you to heal. But your world isn’t mine. The longer you stay, the harder it gets….”

He didn’t finish it. Instead he lit another cigarette. “You’d better go in. It is getting cold out here.”

“Arctic,” she mused, glancing up at him. She gathered her poise and her pride and smiled grimly as she brushed past him and went back inside. She moved quickly, grateful that he couldn’t see the tears that slid down her cheeks as she went up the stairs. They made her oblivious to the dark eyes that followed her almost worshipfully until she was out of sight.

* * *

Melly and Jerry came home looking tanned and rested from their Florida vacation and blissfully happywith each other. Abby could hardly bear their happiness, since it reminded her so graphically that she’d lost every chance of having any of her own with Cade.

“How’s everything going here?” Melly asked when they were alone, Jerry having ridden up into the hills to help with roundup.

“Just fine,” Abby lied, “but I’ve had a call from my agency and there’s a possibility of a long-term contract for a bottling company. I’m terribly excited about it.”

Melly’s face fell. “You’re going back to New York? But I thought…?”

“Now that you’re home, I can leave it all in your capable hands,” Abby said with a forced smile. “I’ve missed New York, and it will be great to get back to work.”

“But the attack, the reason you came here…”

“Cade helped me over it,” Abby said quietly. “I’ll always be grateful to him for that. But he wants no part of me—he’s made that quite clear. I’m going to do him a favor and go away.”

“He loves you, you stupid idiot!” Melly burst out.

Abby flinched and tears welled up in her eyes. “No!” she said huskily. “If he feels anything, it’s anger because I preferred modeling to ranch life.”

“Have you talked to him, at least?”

“Sure,” Abby agreed, not adding that they’d argued every second they were together. “We’ve both agreed that I have no place in his life, or he in mine.” She turned around and walked toward the stairs. “I’m going to pack. Want to help me? I’ve made reservations on a plane in the morning.”

“Oh, Abby, don’t do it!” Melly pleaded.

But all her pleading and all her reasoning didn’t sway her stubborn sister. The next morning Cade drove the two women out to the airport.

It had been a shock to find him at the wheel of the big sedan when it pulled up at the front door. He was wearing the same navy blazer and dark slacks he’d worn the other night at supper, but he had a striped blue tie over his white silk shirt. The only Western thing about him was his dressy cream Stetson and leather boots.

Her flight was being called as they walked into the terminal, and Abby hugged Melly quickly, suitcase in hand, before she boarded the plane. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Write to me,” she pleaded.

“I will,” Melly promised. Her eyes narrowed. “I wish you wouldn’t go.”

“I have to. I have commitments.” She told the lie with panache and a faint smile.

Cade didn’t say a word. He stood looking down at her with eyes so dark they seemed black, a smoking cigarette in one hand, his face like flint.

Abby forced herself to look up at him. She was wearing shoes with only tiny heels, and he was taller than ever. Bigger. The most impossibly handsome man she’d ever known, and her heart ached just at the sight of him.

“Bye, Cade,” she said quietly. “Thanks for letting me stay so long.”

He only nodded. His chest rose and fell heavily, quickly, and his lips were set in a thin line.

“Well…I’d better go,” Abby said in a high-pitched tone.

Cade threw the cigarette into one of the sand-filled ashtrays and abruptly reached for Abby, crushing her against the length of his body. The suitcase fell and she struggled helplessly for a moment, until he subdued her with nothing more than his firm hold.

She stared into his fierce eyes and stopped fighting, and they looked at each other in a tense, painful exchange that made Abby’s knees feel as though they would fold under her. Her lips parted on a sobbing breath, and he bent his head.

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