Page 53 of A Chance to Believe

Cassie watched intently and he watched her watching, keeping half his attention on the scores. With the added knowledge of this afternoon’s revelations, it put into context her statement, ‘I don’t ride,’ because she would have learned to ride as a child if she’d grown up out west. He’d thought it odd. He’d expected her to say she couldn’t ride. Most city people didn’t get an opportunity to learn. It was an expensive hobby, even for those on the land. He dragged his attention away when Kim’s number was announced, and he focused on the arena.

She did well. Maybe not the best time, but damn close.

Cassie turned to him with sparkling eyes. ‘Do you think she placed?’

‘It will depend on the last two competitors. They could dislodge her from the board.’

He could sense Cassie holding her breath as they announced the final times. Second. Kimberley had come second. His daughter might be disappointed. He wasn’t sure from her expression, but he wasn’t. The field was exceptional, with a couple of national champions. Not all the top range competitors came to such a minor event, but it was enough to keep the locals on their metal.

‘Did you see? Did you see?’

Kimberley bounced as she joined them in the stands after giving her horse a rubdown and settling him near the horse float with food and water. ‘I beat Hayley Pierce. She’s amazing. I am soooo stoked.’

She tucked herself into the bench seat between him and Cassie to watch the senior riders.

‘What did you think, Cassie?’

‘Your run was flawless. You should be pleased. It was fantastic.’

Kim pursed her lips. ‘I checked a bit going round the second barrel. That probably lost me a fraction of a second.’

‘But you might have clipped the barrel and lost points if you hadn’t.’ Cassie said it with all the seriousness of an expert, and he wondered if perhaps she knew more than they assumed. If she’d been attending events with her fiancé years ago, she wasn’t a stranger to the rodeo arena.

Kimberley didn’t seem to notice. She was still on a high.

In the end, he swapped keys with Ben so his brother could bring Kimberley and Samson home. Kim was determined to stay, and it was clear Cassie had no desire to watch the bronc and bull riding events. After seeming happy to watch the entire barrel riding program, she’d become restless, shifting on her seat. She stared down at the program clutched in her hands, her knuckles gleaming pale against the crumpled paper. She was oblivious to his arrangements with Ben and Kimberley. How much was because of the heat and how much due to some internal memories he wouldn’t hazard a guess. Going home would solve at least one of those possibilities.

Normally, he might have stayed. It was a big social event for the town. But Cassie was his priority. Kimberley would be fine, hanging with her friends with Ben as backup.

They waited for a gap in the program while the volunteers reset the arena for the evening’s entertainment.

‘Ready to go?’

She nodded, the tautness about her jaw seeming to ease as she let him pull her to her feet. ‘You’re sure you don’t mind missing some events while you’re gone?’

Her assumption that he would drop her home and then come back in would receive a jolt. He intended to spend the evening with her if she didn’t object. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too tired to talk because he wanted the opportunity for more clarity on her past.

It would be nice to have the place to themselves for a change, with no interruptions. Almost everyone was at the rodeo apart from a couple of his team, who preferred a bonus for staying home and keeping an eye on the place. They wouldn’t come near the house unless there was a problem with the stock they couldn’t handle, which was unlikely. Even Jim and Parker were at the event. Jim was keen to watch the bronc riding, even though he hadn’t competed in decades.

Chapter 11

Cassie breathed a sigh of relief as they turned up the driveway, heading for home in the Subaru wagon Ben usually drove. It was feeling like home after all these weeks. Surprising, considering she’d never expected to stay. Not in the house as part of the family. Everyone had been so accepting, even Kimberley, after her initial suspicions.

There’d been no pressure either way from his family, something that also surprised her. Perhaps they’d learned from the Courtney incident. Perhaps they accepted Shayne was a grown man, able to make his own life choices. He was the parent of a daughter nearly grown and he seemed to have a done a good job. It couldn’t all be because of his family support, though that wasn’t to be dismissed.

If she accepted Shayne’s proposal, the annex would have to be abandoned. A wife would live in the main part of the house with her husband, upstairs with Shayne in the redecorated master suite with the nursery next door.

It had last been done up years ago, but Cassie liked the colours, the drapes and bedding in a rich dark green ornamented by gold tassels and the kitchenette and sitting room echoing the colours. The colours complemented the richness of the Victorian era timber furniture. Dawn was keen to freshen it up and Shayne trusted her to do it well.

‘Are you too tired to join me in the lounge? Parker left us a salad for dinner.’

Cassie jerked her attention back to Shayne. She noticed they’d pulled up near the pool, leaving only a short walk to the annex corridor.

‘You aren’t heading straight back into town?’

‘I was up at dawn, and I’ve been at the Showgrounds all day with Kimberley and Samson and meeting up with the committee. I’m looking forward to some downtime.’

He’d had a strenuous week, too. Not only on the farm, but with all the rodeo competitors using the facilities, in between supervising Kimberley going through her paces. ‘I’ll need to freshen up. When will I meet you?’

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