“It’s a date.”
THIRTY-FIVE
CALDER
I’ve had to pull a cat off my face the past four mornings before I rolled out of bed. This morning would be the same, but I don’t move Winnie. The mama cat and her kittens have been mainly staying upstairs in the plush cat bed set up in Bowen’s old room. Meredith and I feed and water them each day, play with them as we come and go, and I’ve caught each brother up here at least once, cuddling all of them. One time, Bowen was on the floor, his legs kicked out, eyes closed, dozing, with Winnie in his lap. Bonnie was asleep on his shoulder, and the other three were in a furry line down his legs. I took a picture. If he ever joins a dating app, he can use it for the profile image and snag all the dates in the world.
Light pours through the window. I stroke Winnie’s soft fur, and she starts purring like a freight train, tucking herself into a tighter circle in the crook of my neck. She’s even louder than the birds singing from the rows of trees surrounding the house.
Meredith lets out a little groan and stretches before tucking her ass against my side. “That cat is loud,” she murmurs groggily.
I smile at the humor in her voice. “You’re just jealous because she snuggles with me.”
A little kitten bounds across the bed and crawls over Meredith. “Morning, Cheddar.”
I’m content. As soon as I get up, I’ll check my phone. I’ll already have a full inbox, and the calls will start. The longer I’m away from the office, the more frantic my staff gets. I can at least give them a date I’ll return. Meredith gave us a timeframe.
The acute disappointment that welled up when she didn’t ask for ten years…Twenty. Days. Because she knows I’m leaving. Our only connection is this ranch and the brewery I just fucked her in. When I go, we’ll be left with only memories.
Goddammit.
My phone buzzes, and a sigh slips out. Was a few minutes to enjoy the quiet morning with a beautiful woman in my bed too much to ask? Actually, I’m in her bed. My bed is a California king with steel-gray bedding some interior designer picked out, and it wouldn’t fit into this room, nor any of the others in the house.
“Work or your brothers?” Meredith asks, her voice still full of sleep.
“I haven’t heard Bowen moving around yet, and Landry is never here that early.” I tuck a hand behind my head and stare at the ceiling while Winnie purrs against my neck. I still have time before Carlos arrives. He’s been coming later, since my brothers and I are doing chores.
In a little over a week, we’ll be gone. Then what?
She stirs but doesn’t roll over. “Work can wait?”
“Yeah. But not for much longer.”
The other side of the bed is quiet. I don’t know what she’s thinking, but are we feeling the same thing? Have we moved beyond crashing together for selfish reasons to wanting more? There’s only one way to know.
“I don’t want this to end.”
The bed jostles as she turns onto her back. Cheddar bounces over to curl up next to his mama. “I don’t want it to either.”
“My life isn’t in Scandal anymore, but I want you, Meredith. I’ve never wanted anyone like I do you.”
She rolls up and swings her legs over the bed. Winnie raises her head and lets out a tiny meow. Meredith stands and tugs her pajama shirt down. “I need to brush my teeth for this conversation.”
If only a simple toothbrushing could make this easier. Meredith’s happiest memories are here, but my brothers and I have moved on. We left all this behind long ago, and I’m not going to be the one to drag them back. They’re willing to stay for the cattle drive. I can read their anticipation. Who wouldn’t enjoy that? But I can also see the shadows. I can hear all the things they aren’t saying.
The memories are everywhere, and the good ones only remind us of what our Dad threw away when we couldn’t tolerate how he handled Mama’s death. We needed him, and he chose Holly when he told us to leave if we couldn’t handle her sleeping in our Mama’s place, sitting at her spot at the table, or, goddammit, wearing her robe at night.
I’ve always had their best interests at heart, and that doesn’t involve being tied to the ranch and the distillery after not receiving the closure we all needed.
But what if there’s another way Meredith and I could foster this blazing chemistry between us?
Meredith returns, and I pry myself out of the cat nest. I use the bathroom next. We’re going to have this conversation, and I might as well have fresh breath too.
Back in the bedroom, she’s sitting at the head of the bed, her elbows over her knees. She’s pushed her hair off her face, but the mane billows around her head, messy and sexy, demanding I shove my hands through it. She’s fucking gorgeous, and I want to keep her.
I sit on the edge of the bed like I did the first night I came to her room, which happens to be the last night I slept alone. The cats have taken over my pillow. I saw the other two curled up on the bed on my way back from the bathroom.
“Come with me.” I bypass all the probing questions and get to what I really want. “To Denver.”
