Sassy Cowgirl Kisses by Kathy Fawcett
Chapter 41
If she’s not leaving then I’m going.
Kat tried to go about her business as usual the next day, but remained red hot with rage over the continued presence of Sassy. That Gunnar and Rowdy wouldn’t cut her loose from the ranch was a slap in the face, and it burned. And hurt. The ranch had become her sanctuary—her home. A place where she could put the past behind her at last and focus on what she could control, and that was her little family.
But even that didn’t feel safe any longer, in light of…
The presence of Sassy on the ranch made it feel like four walls were closing in on her, even though there were thousands of acres and miles of wide-open spaces.
In blind anger, Kat stomped into her suite and threw a suitcase on the bed.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” she said as she threw odd bits of clothing into the open bag without stopping to fold or organize anything. It didn’t matter—she’d buy what she needed when she got to… where?Where was she going?
That didn’t matter either.
Kat was distraught and didn’t see or hear Willow enter the room. The child was half cowering by the wall, looking at her mother with what could only be fear in her eyes.
“Mommy?” The small girl spoke tentatively, but it cut through the tension like a sharp knife. Kat looked over, wild eyed, which only frightened the girl. In her six years, Willow had never seen her mother as anything but calm and in control.
“Are we going somewhere Mommy?” Willow spoke again with an unmistakable tremble in her voice. “Should I get my suitcase, too?”
Kat took a sharp intake of breath at the question, blinking hard as she struggled to focus on her daughter, and her next words. Her eyes stung as she blinked away hot tears that felt salty and sharp. For a minute, she was a young girl again, watching her father pack his bags—wondering if she and her mom and dad were finally taking a family vacation, the one that had been promised for years.
Are we going somewhere, Daddy? Should I pack?
“Yes, sweetie, we’re all going up to Yellowstone for a few days.”
It was a deep voice. Gunnar was in the room, assessing Kat and Willow and answering.
“Willow, why don’t you go pack a few toys and books, and your favorite PJs. I’ll come help with the rest in a little while, after I help mommy pack.”
He kissed the girl on the top of her head, and hugged her until she exhaled her fears and rewarded him with a smile and laugh. When she left, Gunnar softly closed the door.
“Where are you going, Kat?”
Gunnar was standing next to her, with concern in his eyes. He reached his hands up to her, but then dropped them again.
As in a dream, Kat shook her head. “I just have to get away. Go somewhere else.”
“Do you?”
Do I?
Looking up at her husband and suddenly feeling uncertain, her anger melted and her legs gave way as she crumpled onto the edge of the bed. Gunnar fell to the carpet, kneeling next to her. He reached up again but this time he pulled her to him in a hard embrace.
Kat resisted at first, but then dropped her head onto his shoulders and cried like she hadn’t in many years. Waves of pain poured from her as Gunnar simply held on, stroking her hair and holding his wife in his arms. They sat like this for a long time, Gunnar eventually reaching into his pocket to hand Kat a clean handkerchief.
At last, he pulled away to gaze into her face—red and swollen from the tears. But more appealing and beautiful than ever to him in her vulnerability.
“I promised on our wedding day that I would never leave you, nor forsake you. And I’m keeping that promise, Kat, and asking the same in return.”
She regarded him thoughtfully.
Before she could speak, he went on.
“If you need to get away, then let’s all go. We’ll take Willow right now and leave everything for a few days—the ranch, the hospital and Sassy. But we won’t leave each other. Okay? That’s not who we are.”
It would have been easy to say no; that it wasn’t necessary to leave.
Only, it so was.
As she was debating their little trip, the rational and irrational warring inside her head, the door opened and Willow ran into the room, holding her small pink duffel bag.
“I’m ready for Yellowstone, Mommy,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve got my bathing suit and five books, two stuffed bears and sunglasses. Oh, and a nightlight. And some candy I found from Christmas. Let’s go.”
Gunnar smiled and laughed, and so did Kat, he was glad to see.
“Let’s go,” Kat smiled as she pulled Willow into a hug. “Give me ten minutes to finish my packing and I’ll be ready.”
The three looked over at Kat’s open suitcase, spilling over with an angry hodgepodge of wool slacks, still on the hanger, tee shirts, a pearl-buttoned riding shirt, and running shorts.
“I’ll give you twenty,” Gunnar said.