His Unexpected Return. Jessica Keller

was a truth he would never be able to erase. One she would remind herself of every time his gentle, searching gaze fell on her.

      Wade gripped the fencing near where she stood and Cassidy wished he hadn’t. He smelled like salty ocean air and late-night walks and even now, even after everything, his proximity made her heart rate tick up. It had always been that way between them though—a strong physical pull to one another. Her younger self had confused attraction with love. Physical desire is all that had existed between them, not anything real, not anything lasting.

      Not anything worth fighting for.

      She realized that now.

      No matter how handsome or charming Wade was, she wouldn’t allow herself to be drawn to him again.

      “I will never be able to take back what I did. I may never get the opportunity to explain why I did it.” Close up now, his eyes blazed with intensity. “But when I say I loved you—believe me. What I felt for you was the realest, rightest thing I’ve ever felt. And it doesn’t matter if you doubt that—it’s my fault that you would—but disbelief doesn’t make something any less true.” He took a step back and ran his hand over his jawline. His fingers tripped along his throat.

      She hugged her arms to her body. It had been hot all day but a sudden chill rolled down her back. “It certainly makes for a nice story. But I know what happened, Wade. You can’t rewrite it into something prettier than what it was.”

      Wade barked out a single laugh that held no trace of humor. “You don’t believe me. You don’t want anything to do with me. Message received. I get it,” he said. He crossed his arms, mirroring her pose. “Will Piper be back tomorrow? Should we pick a time so I can meet her?”

      Cassidy held up a hand. “I said this will happen on my time, when I’m ready. It definitely isn’t happening tomorrow.”

      He frowned. “Then when?”

      “When I decide it’s the right time. For now, I want to make sure you’re not going to meet her and then never have anything to do with her again.”

      “I wouldn’t—” He worked his jaw back and forth, clearly biting back whatever he was about to say. “I’m not leaving. You know that, right?”

      “We’ll see.”

      Deep down, she hoped he would prove her wrong. For Piper’s sake, she hoped he’d stay.

      Maybe for Cassidy’s sake too.

      She firmly shoved that thought away.

      Foolishness like that had only ever gotten her a broken heart.

       Chapter Three

      Cassidy lifted the stiff curtain and peeked out the window in her small office located on the side of the dining hall. From her vantage point, she spotted a lone figure near the row of growing camper cabins. It was past dinner, past quitting time, but he was still out there.

      Had been all week.

      For four of the last five days, he had worked from sunup to sundown, and the one he hadn’t worked like that he had been gone from the ranch. The first time he had put in a thirteen-hour workday she had thought he simply wanted to make a good impression on everyone. But then he had done it again and again. He worked with every ounce of his strength until he dragged himself to the Jarrett family home each night. Rhett had told her they were now five days ahead of schedule thanks to Wade’s dedicated efforts.

      She let go of the curtain and watched it fall back into place.

      It was the second time Wade had skipped dinner that week.

      Without giving her actions much consideration, Cassidy left her office and headed toward the kitchen. Workers needed to eat. That’s all there was to it. It didn’t matter who he was. Their history didn’t factor into her actions.

      She automatically snagged a plate from the cabinet, then headed into the walk-in fridge. Cassidy piled a large piece of fried chicken, brown sugar cowboy beans, buttermilk and chive whipped potatoes, and a few cornbread muffins onto the plate. At the last minute, she remembered Wade had always had a soft spot for seafood so she wedged a generous chunk of pan-seared snapper next to the chicken. She tossed everything into the warmer to heat while she gathered an insulated jug, a mug, silverware and napkins and set it all in a basket.

      Back in the walk-in fridge, she fetched what remained of her homemade blackberry lemonade to pour into the insulated jug and two of the caramel brownies she had tucked away for later. She dashed back to her office and picked up a little note scribbled in uneven letters on pink paper. Cassidy’s eyes clouded over as she read the sweet words Piper had scrawled there for Wade. No doubt someone had helped her spell out everything, but the giant letters were from Piper’s heart. Cassidy prayed Wade wouldn’t break it. She ran her thumbs over the paper before tucking it into her back pocket.

      When the plate of food was warm, she carefully wrapped it in foil and set it in the basket with some pot holders. Satisfied with the meal, she hauled up the basket and headed outside.

      Cassidy was more than halfway down the hill when she started having second thoughts.

      What would Wade make of her offering?

      She clamped her fingers tighter around the basket’s handle. Wade was doing hard manual labor in the hot sun and was no doubt hungry. He would be of no use to the ranch if he passed out or got himself injured. She could set aside their personal baggage because a hard worker not eating didn’t sit well with Cassidy. She was the head chef, after all. It was basically her job to make sure everyone at Red Dog Ranch had the nourishment they needed in order to keep up their stamina.

      There was zero reason for awkwardness.

      She was simply doing her job.

      Though she had never packed and carried out a basket to a lone worker before.

      Nor noticed who had eaten and not eaten.

      Or how many hours one of the ranch hands put in on any given day.

      Cassidy straightened her shoulders. She had never noticed because no one else was reckless enough to skip meals. People tended to look forward to her cooking, so she had never had to entice someone to turn in for the day. That’s all this was. Her actions had nothing to do with whom she was bringing food to. It didn’t matter that it was Wade.

      Maybe it mattered a little.

      Cassidy adjusted the basket, moving it to rest against her other hip.

      The back of Wade’s gray T-shirt was wet with sweat as he swung his hammer. His shirtsleeves were the snug kind that hugged his biceps. Wade was stronger than she remembered—much more filled out than the twenty-year-old lanky boy who had kissed her goodbye when he left for an ill-fated fishing trip. The years had chiseled his muscles and built his work ethic.

      Cassidy stepped into his line of vision and he stilled. Set his hammer down on the platform.

      “Everything okay?” His eyes searched hers. “You okay?”

      They hadn’t spoken since their conversation by Sheep and Romeo’s enclosure. Cassidy had sent Piper to stay with some friends who had kids Piper’s age to play with, but the few times Piper had been on the property, Wade hadn’t tried to make contact with her behind Cassidy’s back. He had respectfully waited for Cassidy to make a move.

      “How come you’re still out here?”

      He propped a hand on the framing he had been working on. “There’s still work to be done.”

      “That’s what tomorrow’s for.”

      He shrugged. “If there’s still light to work by, might as well keep at it.”

      “Is this some twisted sort of penance? Because you know you don’t need to