Buckhorn Brothers: Casey Part 2

Casey sat down beside her and shoved a peanut b.u.t.ter and jelly sandwich into her hand. Emma stared at it, knowing she wouldn't be able to swallow a single bite without throwing up. She had to do ... something. She had to get out of here before their acceptance and understanding weakened her resolve.

She would not become someone else's burden.

Her mind made up, she put the sandwich aside. "I'd really like to just take a shower if that's okay. I know I look a mess."

Using his fingertips, Casey wiped away a lingering tear she hadn't been aware of. He hesitated, but finally nodded. "All right. You can sleep in my room tonight."

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Casey grinned at her, then pinched her chin. "I'll, of course, sleep on the couch."

Mortification washed over her for her asinine a.s.sumption. At her blush, Casey's grin widened. She couldn't believe the way he teased her in front of his parents.

"You could have used Morgan's old room, except that Honey's been painting it and everything is a mess in there."

Morgan was his uncle, the town sheriff. Most people thought he was a big, scary guy. He was enormous, but he'd always been kind to Emma, even when he'd caught her getting into trouble, like breaking curfew or being truant from school. Newly wed, Morgan had recently moved into his own house.

"I'll take the couch." Emma thought that would be easier, but Casey wouldn't hear of it.

"You'll take the bed."

His father and stepmother agreed with him. In the end, Emma knew she was no match for them. Exhaustion won out and she nodded. "All right." It would be strange sleeping in Casey's room, in his bed. A secret part of her already looked forward to it. "Thank you."

Casey took her down the hall to the bathroom, then got her one of his large T-shirts to sleep in. She knew it was selfish, but she accepted the shirt, holding it close to her heart. It was big and soft and it held his indescribable scent. Since she couldn't have Casey, it was the next best thing.

Their bathroom was bigger than her whole bedroom. It was clean and stylish and that d.a.m.n envy threatened to get hold of her again. Emma swore to herself that someday, she'd have a house as nice as this one. Maybe not as big, but just as clean and warm and filled with happiness. Somehow, she'd make it happen.

Knowing it would take forever for it to dry, she didn't bother washing her long hair. When her opportunity arose, she had to be ready, and she didn't want to run away with wet hair. She did brush out all the tangles and tie it back with a rubber band. The shower did a lot to revive her and make her feel less pathetic.

After she'd dried off and donned the shirt, Emma glared at herself in the mirror, and cursed herself for being such a crybaby. Casey wouldn't be a whiner. If something happened in his life, he'd figure out how to deal with it. He'd do what he had to.

And so would she.

With the makeup washed away, her red nose and eyes looked even worse. The bruise showed up more too. It had all been necessary, she reminded herself, but still the thought of change terrified her a just not as much as staying.

She lifted the neckline of the shirt and brushed it against her nose, breathing deeply of Casey's scent. She closed her swollen eyes a moment to compose herself.

Everyone was waiting for her when she left the bathroom, which made her feel like a spectacle. She was used to being ignored, not drawing attention. In a lot of ways, she preferred being ignored to this coddling. They were all just so...kind.

Sawyer gave her a cool compress to put over her puffy eyes, along with two over-the-counter pills that he said would help her relax and get some sleep.

Honey fussed over her, occasionally touching her in that mothering way. She told Emma to help herself if she got hungry during the night and to let her know if she needed anything.

She'd rather die than disturb any of them further. Emma knew she could be very quiet when she needed to be; she'd learned that trick early in life. Like a wraith, she could creep in and out without making a sound. No way would she wake anyone up tonight.

Honey kissed Emma on the forehead before she and Sawyer went down the hall, leaving her alone with Casey so he could say good-night. Emma was amazed anew that they'd trust her enough to leave Casey in the room with her, especially now that they had firsthand evidence of her character. She was a liar and a user.

Then she realized it wasn't a matter of trusting her. They trusted Casey, and with good reason.

Casey sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her. After a moment, he even smiled.

Emma remembered how many times she'd done her best to get Casey this close. That last time at his family's picnic, she'd almost succeeded. But in the end, Casey had been too strong-willed, and too moral to get involved with her. She'd decided that night to leave him alone, and for the most part she'd stuck to that conviction. She hadn't seen him in so long.

Now he was right next to her and she was in his bed, and she could see the awful pity in his gaze. That hurt so much, she almost couldn't bear it. She'd make sure this was the last time he ever looked at her that way.

"Are you all right now, Em?"

"I'm fine," she lied, confident that it would be true soon enough. "I just wish I hadn't put your family through all this." She wished she could have thought of another way.

Rather than reply to that, Casey smoothed his hand over her head. "I've never seen your hair in a ponytail."

Her heart started thumping too hard and her breath caught. She stared down at her hands. "That's because it looks dumb, but I figured I looked bad enough tonight that nothing could make it worse."

As if she hadn't intruded in the middle of the night, hadn't dragged him into her problems, hadn't disrupted his life, Casey chuckled. "It does not look dumb. Actually it looks kinda cute." Then, startling her further, he leaned forward and brushed his mouth over her forehead. "I'll be right out on the couch if you need anything, or if you just want to talk."

Emma said nothing to that.

"Promise me, Em." His expression was stern, with that iron determination that awed her so much in evidence. "If you need me, you'll wake me, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Not in a million years.

Looking unconvinced, Casey straightened. "All right. I know it's not easy, but try not to fret, okay? I'm sure we'll be able to figure everything out."

We. This family kept saying that, as if they each really wanted to help. She'd made herself his problem by using his name, but by tomorrow he wouldn't have to worry about her ever again. "Casey? Thank you for everything."

"I haven't done anything, Em."

She lifted his large, warm hand and kissed his palm. Her heart swelled with love, threatening to break. "You're the finest person I've ever met."

THE RED HAZE OF DAWN streamed through the windows when Honey shook Casey awake early the next morning. He pushed himself up on one elbow and tried to clear away the cobwebs. He'd been in the middle of a dark, intensely erotic dream. About Emma.

His father stood behind Honey and right away Casey knew something was wrong. "What is it?"

"Emma is better than me," Honey said.

Casey frowned at that. "How so?"

"None of us heard her when she left."

Sawyer looked grim. "There's a note on your bed."

Casey threw the sheet aside and bolted upright. He wore only his boxers, but didn't give a d.a.m.n. His heart threatened to punch out of his chest as he ran to his bedroom. Worry filled him, but also a strange panic.

She couldn't really be gone.

He came to a halt in the middle of his room. The covers had been neatly smoothed over the empty bed, and on the pillow lay a single sheet of paper, folded in half.

Dreading what he would read, Casey dropped onto the mattress and picked up the note. Honey and Sawyer crowded into the doorway, watching, waiting.

Dear Casey, I know you told me not to say it, but I'm so sorry. For everything. Not just for barging into your life tonight but for trying to corrupt you and trying to interrupt your plans. It was so selfish of me. For a while there, I thought I wanted you more than anything.

Here she had drawn a small smiley face. It nearly choked Casey up, seeing her attempt at humor. He swallowed and firmed his resolve.

But that would have been really unfair to you. I'm also sorry that I took the money you had on your dresser.

Casey glanced at his dresser. h.e.l.l, he'd forgotten all about the money, which, if he remembered right, amounted to about a hundred dollars. Not enough for her to get very far. Emotion swamped him, then tightened like a vise around his chest, making it hard to breathe.

I had some money of my own, too. I've been saving it up for a long time. I promise as soon as I get settled I'll return your money to you. I just needed it to get me away from Buckhorn, and I figured better that I borrow your money and leave tonight than to continue hanging around being a burden.

d.a.m.n it, hadn't he told her a dozen times she wasn't a bother? No. He'd told her not to apologize, but he hadn't told her that he wanted her there, that he wanted to help. That he cared about her.

Have a good life, Casey. I'll never, ever forget you.

Love, Emma Clark Casey crumpled the letter in his fist. He wanted to punch something, someone. He wanted to rage. It felt as though his chest had just caved in, destroying his heart. For a long moment, he couldn't speak, couldn't get words out around the lump in his throat.

Sawyer sat down beside him with a sigh. "I'll call Morgan and see if he can track her down."

As the town sheriff, Morgan had connections and legal avenues that the others didn't have. Casey looked at his father, struggling for control. "We don't know for sure where she's going."

"To Ohio, to her cousin, she told us," Honey reminded them.

"She never gave us her cousin's name."

"I'll call Dell." Sawyer clapped Casey on the shoulder, offering rea.s.surance. "He'll know."

But half an hour later, after Sawyer had finished his conversation with Emma's surprisingly rattled father, Casey's worst suspicions were confirmed. Emma didn't have a cousin in Ohio. As far as Dell knew, there was no one in Ohio, no relative, no friend. Dell spewed accusations, blaming Casey for his little girl's problems, for her pregnancy, even going so far as to insist he should be compensated for his loss. He said his wife was sick and now his daughter was missing.

Casey suffered a vague sense of relief that Emma had gotten away from her unfeeling father. If only he knew where she'd gone.

If only he knew how to get her back.

Neither he nor Sawyer bothered to explain the full situation to Dell Clark. If Emma had wanted him to know, she would have told him herself. Eventually Dell would know there had never been a baby, that Emma had only used that as an excuse to be thrown out a to escape.

But from what?

Casey hoped she hadn't gone far, that it wouldn't take too long to find her. d.a.m.n it, he wanted to take care of her, dumb as that seemed.

But hours after Sawyer put in the request to Morgan, he came outside to give Casey the bad news.

Casey had been standing by a fence post, staring out at the endless stretch of wildflowers in the meadow. He'd bored the horses with his melancholy and they'd wandered away to munch gra.s.s elsewhere. The sun was hot, the gra.s.s sweet smelling and the sky so blue it could blind you. Casey barely noticed any of it.

"Case?"

At his father's voice, Casey jerked around. One look at Sawyer's expression and fear grabbed him. "What is it?"

Sawyer quickly shook his head. "Nothing's happened to Emma. But Morgan checked with highway patrol... They haven't seen her. There have been no reports of anyone fitting her description. It's like she vanished. I'm sorry, Case."

Casey clenched his hands into fists, and repeated aloud the words that had been echoing in his head all morning. "She'll turn up."

"I hope so, but ... something else happened last night." Sawyer propped his hands on his hips and his expression hardened. "Late last night, Ceily's diner caught fire."

Slowly, Casey sank back against the rough wooden post. "Ceily...?"

"She wasn't even there. It was way after hours, during a break-in, apparently." Sawyer hesitated. "Morgan's investigating the fire for arson."

"Arson? But that means..."

"Yeah. Someone might have tried to burn her down."

On top of his worry for Emma, it was almost too much to take in. Ceily was a friend to all of them. Everyone in town adored her, and the diner was practically a landmark.

"It's d.a.m.n strange," Sawyer continued, "but the fire was reported with an anonymous call. Morgan doesn't know who, but when he got on the scene the fire was already out of control. Structurally, the diner is okay, but the inside is pretty much gutted. Whatever isn't burned has smoke damage."

Casey felt numb. Things like arson just didn't happen in Buckhorn.

Of course, girls didn't accuse him of fathering a nonexistent baby very often either. "Morgan's okay?"

"He's raspy from smoke inhalation, but he'll be all right. Ceily's stunned. I told her we'd all help, but it's still going to take a while before she'll be able to get the place all repaired and opened again."

Barefoot, her long blond hair lifted by the breeze, Honey sidled up next to Sawyer. Automatically his father put his arm around her, kissed her temple and murmured, "I just told him."

Honey nodded. "I'm so sorry, Casey. Morgan has his hands full with the investigation now."

"Meaning he doesn't want to waste time looking for Emma?"

Honey didn't take offense at his tone. "You know that's not it." She reached out to touch his shoulder. "He's done what he can, but considering the note she left, there's no reason to consider any foul play."

Sawyer rubbed the back of his neck in agitation. "I know how you feel, Case. I'm not crazy about her being off on her own either. h.e.l.l, I've never seen such an emotionally fragile young woman. But Dell doesn't want to file her as a missing minor, so there's nothing more that Morgan can do. She'll come back when she's good and ready, and in the meantime, all we can do is wait."

Honey patted Casey again. "Maybe she'll contact you. Like Sawyer said, we'll wait a and hope."

When Casey turned back to the meadow, both Sawyer and Honey retreated, leaving him alone with his worries. Yes, he thought, she'll contact me. She had to. They shared a special bond, not s.e.xual, yet...still special.

He felt it. So surely she felt it too.

THE DAYS TICKED BY without word from Emma.

The fire at the diner had stolen all the news, and Emma's disappearance was pretty much skipped by most people. After all, she hadn't made any lasting friendships in the area. The boys had used her, the girls had envied her, and the schools had all but given up on her. Not many people missed her now.

In the next few weeks, the town gradually settled back down to normal, but an edgy nervousness remained because whoever had broken into Ceily's diner and started a fire was never found. Casey went through his days by rote, hurt, angry with himself as much as with Emma.

Three months later, he got a fat envelope filled with the money Emma had taken, and a few dollars more. In her brief note, Emma explained that the extra was for interest. There was no return address and she'd signed the note: Thanks so much for everything. Emma Clark.

Frustrated, Casey wondered if she always signed her first and last name because she thought he might forget her, just as the rest of the town had.

At least the return of the money proved she was alive and well. Casey tried to tell himself it was enough, that he'd only wanted her safe, that all he'd ever felt for her was sympathy with a little healthy l.u.s.t thrown in.

But he'd be a complete fraud if he let himself believe it. The truth burned like acid, because nothing had ever hurt as much as knowing Emma had deliberately walked away from him.

He didn't ever want to hurt like that again.