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The hell with gentle persuasion? Where had that come from and what did it have to do with her impending move? “What’s wrong with Georgia?” Cassidy bellowed right back, grateful for the solid door separating Ty’s office from the rest of the house.With luck, it would limit the number of people overhearing their “discussion”. Maybe with a lot ofluck.
He glared at her for an endless moment before muttering, “I don’t live there and neither should you.”
Her lips twitched and her anger faded as swiftly as it had risen. “Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?”
Unfortunately, while her annoyance had ebbed, his had intensified. He booted a leather ottoman out of his path and came to loom over her. Not that she let him get away with it. Heck, no! She shoved her nose to within inches of his and glaredback.
“I’m ridiculous?” he demanded. “Why? Because I want you to stay here? Because I’m willing to admit there might be something happening between us, while you’re intent on running away?”
He knew just which buttons to push to ignite her temper. “I’m not running away.” She fought to lower her voice.
“I’m going home.”
“Home?” That stopped him. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“I...” Good question. Why hadn’t she? Maybe she hadn’t said anything because she suspected he’d react precisely like this. Or maybe she’d kept quiet because she’d taken one too many pages from Lonnie’s book on how to sneak away without anyone knowing. “It didn’t come up,” she said, airing the excuse with a hint of bravado.
Not that he swallowed it. “Bull. We agreed to be honest with each other, remember? Now give it to me straight. Why are youmoving to Georgia? Ithought you’d told me you didn’t have a heritage or roots or a home like mine.”
“I don’t. Not really. Iguess you could say Georgia is as close to a home as I’ve ever had.”
Home. How odd that sounded. She’d never thought she’d call her old neighborhood by that name again. Not in this lifetime. But if she reconciled with Aunt Esther and Uncle Ben, she and Hutch would have family and roots. They’d finally belong instead of being tossed to and fro across Texas like hapless tumbleweeds. She could stop running.
“You still consider Georgia in those terms—as home—even after a ten-year absence?”
Not really. “Of course.”
“You have family there?”
“An aunt and uncle,” she admitted. “We’ve exchanged a number of letters recently and they’ve indicated that they’d like me to come back. They want to get to know Hutch and put our problems behind us. They’re not as young as they used to be and I’m not sure how much longer they can manage on their own.” She gave a helpless shrug. “It seems right somehow.”
“To mend fences and put down roots.”
“I see you’ve been talking to Hutch.”
Ty ran a hand across the back of his neck. “A bit. Ican tell you he’s not anxious to leave Texas.” His eyes glittered with undisguised frustration. “I’m not anxious for you to leave, either.”
Why did she have the uncontrollable urge to throw herself into his arms and confess her desire to remain right where she was? Why did the idea of returning to Georgia suddenly feelso very wrong? And why did a part of her continue to fight so darned hard to deny those urges?
“That decision was made long before we met.”
“And now that we have met?” He dropped his hands to her shoulders, enclosing her in warmth. It was a warmth she wanted to inhale clear down to her soul, arevitalizing warmth like a fragrant summer breeze on a starlit night. It carried the whisper of promises kept and hope renewed and a fathomless, endless love. “Now that we’ve touched each other, now that we’ve kissed?”
She shivered, caught by dueling urges. The one continued its strident demand that she find a home in his arms and never leave, while the other replayed the history of her last botched love affair. Her only love affair. The voices of fear won and she pulled free of his grasp, surrendering ground in order to distance herself from him. She tripped over the poor abused leather ottoman in her haste and it rolled drunkenly on itsside.
“Look.” She lifted her chin, attempting to project a calm control she didn’t feel. “I left home under unfortunate circumstances—”
“You got married. Sure, it didn’t work out, but at least you—”
“I was pregnant.” The truth escaped in arush.
That brought him up short. “A shotgun marriage?”
“Not really. My aunt and uncle didn’t want me to marry at all. They thought I should have the baby and put him up for adoption. Instead, Itook off and married Lonnie.”
“Does Hutch know?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t mentioned it. If he’d ever asked, I’d have been frank with him.” She gave a self-consciousshrug. “There’s not much point in lying. All he has to do is check the date on my marriage certificate against his birthday. Since there’s only seven months between the two, it doesn’t take a lot of brain power to figure out what happened.”
