The first time Rance had seen Cassie in town, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. There was no way, no way she could have gotten stuck there too. Not only could he not believe it, the thought of her being trapped in town was something he could not bear. But, once she had proven she was indeed there, and more importantly, soundly lambasted him for having left home, he began to feel more guilty than disbelieving. He had been so eager to persue his dreams--and he hated to admit, too keen to give their father the metaphorical finger--that he had not thought about what he was doing to his family…and to Cassie.
They had always been close in their younger years, and Rance certainly had no quarrel with her. They had both encouraged each other to follow their dreams, he to the rodeo, she to being a writer. But when push had come to shove, he had selfishly left, leaving her alone, and once he had gotten stuck in Huntsville, Rance had had no way to let any of them know he was alive and well. Really, Cassie had every right to yell at him. Though stubborn as he was, he had not taken her initial scolding well, and they had parted ways with little accomplished in the way of mending fences. He really would not blame Cassie if she did not want to see him again, but that was rather difficult to do in a place like this, and Rance's guilt only made him want even more to do right by her now. They were in a dangerous situation, after all, and he would protect Cassie with every last breath in his body if necessary.
So, eventually, Rance made his way over to her place, sheepishly lingering outside the door for a good while before he finally knocked. When Cassie answered, he found himself staring down at his boots instead of meeting her eyes. "I came t' 'pologize," he huffed, "But I won't hold it 'gainst you if you don' wanna listen t' your dumb ol' big brother no more."