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“You’re not part of my family,” Noelle grumbled before she disappeared from the screen. The rest of her sisters chatted with Casey for a few minutes before they said their goodbyes.
Cloe and Casey spent the rest of the morning riding around the ranch. She didn’t know what she enjoyed more—being back in the saddle or listening to Casey’s stories about he and Rome growing up on the ranch. The brothers seemed to be as close as she was to her sisters. It sounded like they’d had just as much fun together. What was lacking from the stories was any mention of Sam. Cloe had to wonder if Casey and Rome had pretty much been on their own. While she had plenty of stories about the time she spent with her sisters, she also had plenty of stories about the things she’d done with her entire family. But if Mimi and her mama hadn’t been there to soften her daddy’s sternness, she knew her life would have been much different.
When they got back to the house, she offered to make Casey lunch. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to work with in the refrigerator and pantry.
“Sorry,” Casey said. “Rome usually goes to the grocery store.” He sent her an impish look. “But he’s been a little busy this week.”
“I don’t mind going.” She found a couple slices of cheese in the back of the deli drawer and took them out. “I have to go into town today anyway. I want to stop by the elementary school and see if there’s any openings for a speech therapist.”
Casey pulled out a half loaf of bread from the breadbox. “So you’re planning on staying here in Wilder after you and Rome split up?”
She stopped unwrapping the cheese slices and turned to him. “Rome told you?”
“He didn’t have to. Your grandmother made me the same offer and I knew my brother had no plans to remarry again. Not after Emily broke his heart.”
It wasn’t any of her business, but she still couldn’t help asking. “What happened with Emily?”
He pulled a knife out of a drawer and started buttering slices of bread. “I think she thought being a wealthy rancher’s wife was going to be a lot more glamorous than it is. She wasn’t used to the isolation of a ranch. Rome tried to take her into Austin as much as possible, but it wasn’t enough. She missed her big city life and finally just left.”
Cloe started assembling the sandwiches while Casey pulled out a pan. “Did Rome try going after her?”
Casey shook his head. “That’s not really my daddy’s and Rome’s style. If you hurt them, you’re pretty much dead to them. Rome won’t even talk to our mama.”
Cloe was more than surprised. She had thought their mother was completely out of the picture. Probably because Rome never mentioned her. “Your mother has tried to contact y’all?”
“She started calling a few years ago. I talk to her, but Rome refuses to. Mama thinks it’s because he has a cold heart like Daddy. But I think it’s just the opposite. I think the more fragile your heart, the more you guard it. Rome has put up plenty of guards around his heart all because he doesn’t want to get hurt again.” For once, Casey’s face was serious when he looked at her. “And I don’t want that either.”
She knew the last statement was directed at her. Casey was trying to protect his brother.
“I won’t hurt him, Casey. This marriage isn’t real and we both know it.”
After they finished eating lunch, Casey went back to work while Cloe took inventory of the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry and made a shopping list before she headed into town. She was browsing the meat section at the general store when Mrs. Stokes came around the corner of the aisle, pushing a squeaky cart.
Cloe had always been terrified of the woman so she quickly pretended to be engrossed with selecting a chuck roast, in the hopes Mrs. Stokes wouldn’t see her and roll her cart right on by.
She wasn’t that lucky.
“Why, if it isn’t the new Mrs. Remington.”
It wasn’t shocking she already knew about Cloe and Rome getting married. Mrs. Stokes was a friend of Mimi’s. And Mimi had no doubt broadcasted the news as soon as she woke up this morning. She was thrilled her plan had worked.
Cloe turned and pinned on a smile. “Hello, Ms. Stokes. How are you doing? Just getting a little shopping done?”
“I’m cooking for my boyfriend, Jeffrey, tonight.” Mrs. Stokes glanced down at her basket that held a pile of produce in plastic bags. “He’s one of those folks who doesn’t eat meat.” She shook her head. “That would be a deal breaker if he wasn’t so damn good at foot massages. The other night, he did something to the arch of my foot that almost had me asking him to marry me. And I have no desire to get married again.” She winked at Cloe. “Of course, Rome didn’t either and it only took one night in the hayloft with you to change his mind.”
Cloe’s eyes widened. “Mimi told you about the hayloft?”
“She didn’t have to. I was the one who pointed Rome in the right direction when he was lookin’ for you.” She chortled and then went into a deep, phlegmy cough that lasted so long Cloe was able to pick out a large chuck roast before it was finished.
“Nothing happened in the hayloft, Ms. Stokes,” she said as she put the roast in her cart.
“Oh, something happened.” Mrs. Stokes gaze grew intent. “Something had to happen to make two people who had never paid much attention to each other decide to get married. Since you and Rome have always put your families first, I think I can figure out what that something was.” A smile spread over her face. “But just so you know, even the best laid plans don’t always turn out the way you think they will. Sometimes they turn out worse . . . and sometimes they turn out better.”
Mrs. Stokes winked before she headed down the aisle with her squeaky cart.
Chapter Fourteen
Rome was bone tired by the time he got home late that night. He’d spent the day dealing with the aftermath of the ice storm. The cattle had all survived, but in the late morning one of the ranch hands had discovered an oak tree had fallen and taken down a fence in the east pasture. Not only did they have to round up the cattle that had gotten out, but they had to clear the huge tree that had come up by its roots, fill in the hole so no cows would fall in it, and then fix the fence.
