Page 1 of Her Missing Cowboy (Silver Creek Ranch #10)

One

Cassie

Two years later

“Damn, Cassie, is that what they taught you in the military?” her brother, James asked.

“Oops, sorry. I forgot you were there,” she replied with a sheepish grin on her face.

“Not sure how that happened since I’ve been working by your side all morning. Ever since you came back from the Marines, you have been so unladylike. Just damn rude!”

“Hello, do you even know me? I ain’t no fucking lady. I was rude long before enlisting.”

The siblings chuckled at their antics. Since they were little, the two joked and laughed at the other’s expense. In fact, James had been the one to teach Cassidy her tomboy ways. Never wanting a little sister, he made sure to force any girly habits she may have had out of her personality.

“It’s good to have you home little sis. Can you believe we own our very own orchard? Not to mention, it is thriving.”

“We are living the dream, big brother. It’s all thanks to you. I appreciate you holding us down while I was deployed.”

“If it wasn’t for the money, you sent back home, we never could have bought this place. So, I guess it was a dual effort.”

She did a little happy dance making her look like she was of Irish descent. When she was done, she bowed to her brother’s applause.

“Thank you! Thank you. Just a little something I learned from one of my Marine buddies.”

“I tell you what, it sure is good to see you laughing. For a minute, there, I thought you would never be happy again.”

The smile instantly fell from her face, causing Cassie to become defensive.

She was sensitive about her time in Syria.

There was a lot of loss, and she was still healing.

It wasn’t something she wanted to talk about.

She wished her brother would just let her be.

If she was happy for a few minutes, he should just leave her alone.

The misery would be right back. She promised.

There was no escaping it for a long period of time.

“Yeah, well, these apples aren’t going to pick themselves,” she barked.

Turning her back to James, Cassidy began picking apples like her life depended on it. It was her way of letting him know to leave her alone. She would not be good company for a while. She was too much in her head for good conversation.

“Little sis, if you don’t take it easy on those apples, they are all going to get bruised. I might have to call Fruit Protective Services on you.”

James’ joke fell short. She just wasn’t in the mood for his shenanigans. Plus, that shit was corny. She rolled her eyes to let her brother know that she was annoyed and then began softly placing the apples in her picking bag.

Cassie hated it when she shut down emotionally.

Especially after seeing the hurt look, it put on her brother’s face.

She just couldn’t help it. How was she supposed to heal her broken heart when Joaquin was still out there somewhere.

She needed to know what happened to him.

She was torn between helping on the orchard and continuing her search.

She was fine during the daytime. It was when the sun went down that her thoughts plagued her.

Any time there was downtime, her mind wondered to Joaquin.

Where was he? Was he okay? Why couldn’t she find him?

And better yet, why didn’t he find her? She was not hiding.

He knew where she was. Doubt set in. The only logical explanation was that he was either suffering from amnesia or dead.

Option two wasn’t even on the table, so she went with the medical excuse. It was what kept her going.

For the rest of the day, James left her alone. He allowed her to retreat within herself. That was the only solution to getting Cassie to open up. Let her think for herself without offering any solutions or advice. When she was ready, she would tell her brother what was on her mind.

At the end of the working day, Cassie retreated to her bedroom.

It was her sanctuary where she isolated herself from the rest of the world.

The room was more like a luxury suite you would see in a five-star hotel.

It was the one place, in the shared house, that she splurged on.

Hiring her high school friend, Bianca, to decorate her domicile was the best decision she had made in a long while.

It allowed her to escape for just a little while.

Her favorite place in her sanctuary was the clawfoot bathtub that sat in the center of the ensuite bathroom.

And that’s where she found herself trying to relax at the end of a long day.

Sitting in the skin-peeling water covered by lavender scented bubbles, Cassie closed her eyes and let the tears she had been holding back all-day flow.

The smooth voice of Luther Vandross crooned from her portable speakers about how a house wasn’t a home.

She always listened to Luther when she was upset and thinking about her lost love, Joaquin.

It reminded her of their time together in Syria.

They found love in the middle of war. When they made love, Joaquin always made sure Luther was playing in the background.

In fact, her playlist had been on repeat since that infamous day when the IED exploded. Chaos caused Cassie and Joaquin to become separated. Before she knew it, Cassie’s squad was being evacuated to a secret location. She was forced to leave her love behind without knowing if he was dead or alive.

That was two years ago, and she has been searching for him ever since.

She was able to confirm he survived the attack.

Her friend, Michaels, who worked in IT, had also informed her that he made it back state side.

However, Joaquin’s exact location was unknown.

He had gone off grid. Not once had he used a credit card or taken any loans.

Just as Luther was getting to the bridge of the song, her phone rang. She wiped the tears away so she could read the caller id. It was Michaels. Hopefully he had good news.