served herself a portion of the casserole and spooned a generous serving for Nash onto his plate. After he thanked her, he met Cassie’s gaze. “It smells good. And I do like chilis.”
After Cassie poured Nash a glass of iced tea, too, she took a seat next to Trina across from him. He’d taken off his Stetson and placed it on the sideboard. She didn’t know if he knew how to ride, but she could easily imagine him on a horse. When she was a little girl, a school friend of hers lived on a ranch. Cassie escaped to Deborah’s place as often as she could. Debbie had two parents who loved her, took care of her and cared about Cassie, too. She’d been grateful to have a motherly figure watching over her since her own mother hadn’t been able to do it.
Silence reigned at the table as everyone dug into the portions on their plates or took a cornbread biscuit from the basket Cassie had lined with a napkin.
Joe slathered his biscuit with butter. “Delicious.”
His wife nudged him. “You haven’t even tasted it yet!”
“I can tell from its lightness.” He took a bite. “Like I said—delicious.”
Everyone at the table laughed.
“How long have you been married?” Nash asked.
“Forty years this summer,” Trina answered.
Joe patted his wife’s hand. “The best years of my life!”
Cassie swallowed hard. Was that kind of marriage even possible? She thought again about Debbie’s parents. Yes, she supposed it was. She explained to Nash, “Joe and Trina stopped here on their way to Oklahoma. They’re visiting family.”
Nash’s gaze met Cassie’s and she knew why. He’d told her he was from Oklahoma. Maybe he didn’t want her to bring it up. She, of course, wasn’t going to spill his personal background.
“What part of Oklahoma?” Nash asked. “I was born and bred there.”
“We’re heading for Tulsa. Where did you live?”
“Oklahoma City. I was raised by my mom. She insists she did a good job. But I’m not sure how many people would agree with her.”
Joe took another biscuit and chuckled. “If she’s proud of you, that’s all that matters.”
As they ate, Nash asked leading questions of the Warners, and they delved into the subject of their children...and their grandchildren.
Cassie thought again that Nash knew how to deflect attention from himself. She noticed it because she knew how to do it, too. The people she’d come to know in Austin believed her parents were dead. She hadn’t corrected them because she didn’t want the truth to get out.
After coffee and chocolate cream pie, Cassie asked the Warners, “Will you be stepping out tonight?”
The husband and wife looked at each other and shook their heads. “No. We’re going to enjoy our beautiful room and just watch some TV. Tomorrow, we’ll go sightseeing to some of those places you mentioned.”
Joe stood, patted his stomach, which protruded over his belt, and waited for his wife to stand, too. After good-nights all around, they crossed to the staircase and climbed the stairs.
“Nice couple,” Nash said as Cassie started to clear the table.
It felt odd being alone with Nash...it seemed intimate in some way. That was silly. Yes, they were alone in her downstairs, but there was nothing intimate about it. Still, feeling self-conscious, she busied herself with clearing the table. To her surprise, Nash helped her and brought dirty dishes to the counter.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said. With him standing beside her, he seemed to take up all the space in the small kitchen.
“It’s no bother. It’s the least I can do after that good meal.”
She decided to keep the conversation as light as she could. “A man raised with good manners is hard to find these days,” she teased.
“Wow! That makes me wonder about the kind of men you date.” With a brow arched, he leaned his hip against the counter, looking relaxed...and too sexy for words.
His comment was bait and she understood that. He was trying to find out something about her. “Date? I don’t have time for dating,” she explained, keeping her reason light and short.
“A busy life. I can certainly see that. I can’t believe you run the B&B and still have time to take on art students...and volunteer somewhere. Let alone your winery nights.”
Because of his comment, Cassie could tell he had been thinking about what she’d told him. Why? “You have a good memory.”
“Only when I’m interested.”
He had to mean interested in the conversation, right? He wasn’t even from Austin. He couldn’t be interested in her.
Nash quickly opened the dishwasher and began loading the dishes inside. “I would help my mom with things around the house. I’m sure you did with your mom, too.”
Cassie just nodded but didn’t say anything else.
Nash gave her a sideways look.
Still, she kept silent. Too many memories of her taking care of the cooking and the dishes and everything else, while her mom drank herself into oblivion, played unbidden on her mental screen. Thoughts of her mother were frequent still. Her mother didn’t want to see her or hear from her...not while she was in prison. Every day Cassie hoped that where her mother lived now, she might not have any choice but to find help and detox.
Her thoughts were cut off as Nash straightened and she realized how close they were standing to each other. She passed him a plate. His fingers brushed hers as he took it from her. There was heat...not only in her fingers. And when she looked up into his eyes, there seemed to be sparks there that ignited sparks in her. He was a guest. He’d be leaving at the end of April. She couldn’t even think about sparks...and kissing—
Kissing? Where had that come from?
She turned away from him, picked up a dish towel and began wiping crumbs from the counter into her hand.
Nash asked lightly, “Anything else I can help with?” His deep voice seemed to affect her as much as his touch. But she wasn’t a coward, so she turned to face him. “Nope. Nothing else.”
Their gazes collided again for at least three heartbeats. Then he nodded and went to collect his hat that was still on the sideboard. He carried it with him to the stairway, but then he said to her, “Good night. Sleep well.”
Before she could return the sentiment, he was up the stairs and gone. Had she imagined the chemistry between them?
Feeling as if she’d been caught in a whirlwind, she added detergent to the dishwasher and started it. She just needed a good night’s sleep. That was all. She’d go to bed, close her eyes and forget all about Nash Tremont.
* * *
When Nash returned to the bed-and-breakfast
