He couldn’t help but smile back. “Ringo is my best friend. I can’t imagine not working with K9s. It was hard leaving him with another handler while I’m going to be on temporary duty here in the States this coming year.”
“That must be hard.” She sighed. “I always wanted a dog, but not a great idea in an apartment.”
“You’d like a house?”
She nodded. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“Not always. Some people aren’t meant for a cozy cottage with a white picket fence, a dog, and two point five children.”
“And you would be one of those people?” Her question was honest.
Opening his mouth, all set to answer, he suddenly realized, he didn’t have an honest answer. Only a few weeks ago he would have said yes without skipping a beat. Now, after spending afew days with his siblings and watching Sully take the final leap, well, now he wasn’t so sure. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“Sounds a little evasive. Care to share?”
Did he? Normally, he would divert the conversation to less personal matters, but instead, he found Cassidy easy to talk to and the words simply tumbled out. His dad’s unexpected death, his siblings, the ranch, the thieving foreman, and how they stood to lose everything that had been in the Sweet family for generations.
“So, all your brothers and sisters agreed to marry for trust money?”
He bobbed his head, not quite believing that he’d blabbed about everything from being swindled to his siblings falling one by one for their arranged spouses, to how confused everything had left him feeling. And maybe even a little guilty. “I thought they were nuts when they finally told me, but based on the circumstances, the idea had some merit. I actually felt a little guilty for a while that they had to risk so much while I was off safe from the scheme.”
“Not so sure I’d say you were that safe. I don’t know much about the military but I know that side of the world holds more risk than any arranged marriage might.”
As much as he’d have loved to argue with her, the woman had a point. The last few years he’d been in a handful of very sketchy situations and was for the most part damn lucky that he and his team were still alive.
Turning Kade’s words over in her head, Cassidy couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to have siblings you love, land that has been in your family for years, never mind generations, and then to have someone come along and try to steal it all fromyou. Her heart actually ached for him. Especially the pain that lingered in his eyes. “It’s not your fault.”
His head snapped around to face her.
“You said you felt guilty being so far away and letting your siblings carry the burden of finding spouses to save the ranch. What you do is just as important as what they did.”
He stared at her long and hard, his head tipping slightly to one side. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For listening. For understanding.” He shrugged. “Just thank you.”
“Well,” she pushed her chair back and stood, a new resolve settling over her, “come on. There’s a lot to see and not a lot of time.”
A slow, grateful smile spread across his face. “And where are we going now, tour guide?”
“To the heart of old Vegas.” She led him out of the taqueria and back into the warm, buzzing night. “Fremont Street.”
The moment they stepped onto the neon light-covered street, the energy shifted.
“Whoa.” Kade stopped mid-step, tilting his head back to take it all in.
This was the Vegas of old that most people expected when they hit the strip. Bright neon lights and signs. Street performers—a man painted entirely in silver pretending to be a statue, a woman with a python wrapped around her shoulders—vied for attention.
Kade grinned, reminding her of a little kid the first time he met Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. “This is… a lot.”
“And there’s more.” She tipped her head encouraging him to follow. Moving along, she pointed out the landmarks of her city—the Golden Nugget, Binion’s, the El Cortez. They stoppedto watch a surprisingly skilled magician make a tourist’s watch disappear.
“Look,” she pointed to a man in a white jumpsuit, his hair a perfect black pompadour, “an Elvis.”
Kade chuckled. “I guess it wouldn’t be Vegas without one.”
“One?” She pointed in the opposite direction. “There’s another one.” A second, slightly less convincing Elvis serenaded a group of giggling women. “Little did the real Elvis know, after he died there’d be an Elvis on every corner in Las Vegas.”
