Claudette shook her head. "You've really got a case on him, haven't you?"
Cynthia clammed up. What was the use? It was best to stay out of the entire thing - if they would only let her. Tomorrow they would be leaving, and it couldn't come fast enough. She turned to the stove to prepare supper and Claudette left the room.
Later, as she was straining the water from the potatoes, Cade wandered in. He took a mug from the cupboard and poured himself a cup of coffee. He leaned against the wall, sipping his coffee silently as he watched her mash the potatoes. It was obvious that he wanted to clear the air, but couldn't decide where to start. Finally he pushed away from the wall and crossed to the table. Glancing into the family room, he turned back to Cynthia.
"I shouldn't let her get to me that way."
Cynthia glanced at him and frowned. "She seems to have so much animosity toward you. Why?"
He shrugged. "Who knows? Wild imagination, listening to too many stories, or maybe because I have the ranch. She doesn't want it, but it irks her to think that it was left to me - the weirdo."
Cynthia smiled. "She can't make up her mind whether you're having an affair with me or hiding something. It kind of leaves you in trouble either way, doesn't it? Like the choice between the devil and the deep blue sea."
He glanced up sharply, his lips thinning down and his face paling. He slammed the mug on the table and stood, crossing the distance between them in two long strides.
He jerked her around and grabbed her shoulders roughly.
"I couldn't care less what Claudette thinks, but let me take the question out of your mind."
His lips crushed down on hers, bruising them as his fingers dug into her shoulders. She pounded his chest with her fists and tried to scream. He released her as suddenly as he had begun the assault. She swung hard and her open hand cracked against his face."
His voice was barely more than a whisper. "Nice touch."
That was when she noticed Claudette standing in the kitchen doorway. So it had all been a show for Claudette.
"Of all the..." Tears stung her eyes as she brought her hand around and struck his other cheek with a ringing blow. How could he betray her trust so utterly - for the sole purpose of proving a point to Claudette?
He grabbed her hand. "That's enough, Cynthia."
A sob tore from her throat. "Not nearly." She jerked her hand free and darted past the wide-eyed Claudette - up the stairs and into the safety of her room. Flinging herself on the bed, she sobbed out the anger and hurt. Why couldn't he have confronted Claudette, instead of acting like a beast? And to think she had trusted him. Didn't he know that his brutal assault proved nothing? Did Cade even know how to be romantic? How she would have welcomed a loving hug or kiss from him. But now he had ruined everything. It was bad enough that his actions warranted her decision to leave, but now she actually feared him.