“Marshall, good to see you, my boy,” a voice called beside him. Two strong arms wrapped around him, a hand clapping on his back.
“Uncle Jarrett, good to see you too,” Marshall said into his shoulder. Boy, his uncle gave hearty hugs. “How have you been?”
“Well, I’m awfully upset about what’s been happening at the ranch. Do we have any more information about poor Jack?” his uncle asked.
Marshall waved Colette over and she joined them. “You’ve met Colette, right?”
“Yes, we met at the wake. Such a shame we had to meet under those circumstances.” His uncle shook his head and clucked his tongue. “You’re looking lovely tonight, Colette.”
A soft pink blush suffused her cheeks at the compliment, and she thanked him. Colette stepped closer to Marshall, tugging her bottom lip through her teeth.
“It’s hard to believe,” Marshall agreed with a nod. “We’ll figure it out. We’re cooperating with the police on the case. Colette is helping me figure out the finances, and I promise, things will be back on track soon.” Marshall pressed his lips together, not entirely convinced he was being truthful. Every part of him wanted to show his uncle, his father, his grandfather, that he could be trusted to run the family ranch. That trust had been shaken, but the will behind his words was there.
“Colette, do you have any idea who might have hurt Jack?” Jarrett asked, rubbing his chin with his hand.
Colette shook her head. “No, I’m just tidying up the mess that was left by your former accountant. Cleaning up financial disasters is kind of my specialty.” She gave a soft chuckle. Her stiff posture belied her actual ease with the conversation.
“I can’t believe Agnes left like that,” his uncle said with a shake of his head. “Especially after we took such good care of her over the years.”
Colette shrugged.
Marshall sensed a nervous energy coming off her. It was easy to forget that Colette had something to prove, too. She was atthe ranch to do a job, and obstacles were getting in her way, too. With a gusty sigh, Marshall shook his uncle’s hand.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got everything handled. I just want all this bad stuff to be in the past so that we can get on with our work,” he reassured.
“I know you will,” his uncle said with a chuckle. “And make sure my son helps you; he has to earn his keep. You two take care and keep up the good work.” Adjusting his suit and tugging on his shirt cuffs, his uncle strode back into the ballroom, leaving Marshall with Colette. She turned her wide-eyed gaze on him.
“What do you want to do now?” she asked, her tongue darting out to sweep across her lips. Marshall’s eyes darkened as he watched the movement.
Finally, they were alone.
“I want to get the hell out of here.”
Tearing his gaze away with effort, he swallowed and pulled her by the hand, heedless of who was watching. Reaching for his phone in his pocket, he ordered a car to pick them up while they waited for their coats at the coat check.
Clasping her hand tightly, he led her toward the gold-trimmed entrance of the hotel and out into the night. The night air was bracing, laden with car engine fumes and the pungent smell of dumpsters wafting from the back alley. Marshall barely understood how people breathed in the city. The air was occupied with an overwhelming array of scents. He would take the smell of cow shit and hay over this any day. Their shoes clicked on the damp sidewalk. It had rained while they had dinner, and the pavement gleamed where the streetlights touched its surface. Marshall looked up at the sky and shook his head.
Where were the stars? Where were the soothing sound of breezes weaving through fields of grass or tickling aspen leaves? Everything about being downtown Calgary filled him withmemories he wanted to forget. Nothing about the city filled him with the same sense of freedom. Rosebud Ranch was always calling him back.
Bundling Colette into the dark SUV, he breathed a sigh of relief as he clasped her hand the way he had wanted to do all night. It wasn’t as though he wanted to keep her a secret, but he did want to protect her from anyone who might want to hurt them. He would be devastated if she was somehow damaged by association.
Even Colette was different here, quiet. It was as though the city silenced her spark, subdued that magic that glowed from within her. Maybe it was his imagination.
“Are you okay?” Marshall questioned, wanting to dig deep into her brain and find out what had changed. “How does it feel being back?”
“It’s good. I missed having all my stuff, I guess,” she said as she looked down at her hands. “Everything is so loud and bright, like I’m used to. It’s…familiar.”
Marshall watched as she played with her hands in her lap, her answer sitting heavily on his chest. Maybe she was happier here. It was unlikely that a month at the ranch would have made that much of an impact.
When Marshall first arrived at the ranch, he was lonely, but it was the first time in his life that he could be himself. It was freeing. He didn’t have to fit into a mold, get a certain degree, talk about football or hockey, or build his life according to a set of expectations placed before him. Even if it meant he could never get back certain parts of himself and had to sever certain friendships, it had been worth it to be his own person.
The last thing he would ever want was to stop Colette from being her own authentic self. “Hank misses you,” was all he could say. How mature of him to use his dog to communicate what he was actually feeling.
She gave a soft snort. “Really? He said that?”
“Oh yeah. He said you know right where to scratch him behind the ears.”
“Well, tell him I miss him too. When you go back.” Her eyes dulled at the last words, as though the same heaviness was wearing upon her.
