Julia agreed, then reached up to indicate it was time to put the kitten back. Winnie handed the tiny creature to Julia, then stood shaking her head. “No matter how many times I see it, babies are always a miracle, aren’t they?” the old lady whispered.
Standing, Julia smiled and quietly placed a hand on Winnie’s arm to lead her from the room, then gently closed the door behind them. When they entered the kitchen, Winnie stopped in the doorway with one hand on the jamb, her eyes darting from the butcher block to the hutches, to the sink and finally to the stove. Slowly, with her eyes bright, she moved toward the stove. “Julia, this is—why it’s—” She lifted a shaking hand to caress the front edge of the old stove.
“That’s Bessy, do you like her?”
The old woman’s head swiveled up to Julia. “Bessy?” She turned back to the oven and chuckled. “Yes, the name fits her, doesn’t it?”
Julia opened a drawer in one hutch, pulled out a knife and began slicing the banana bread on the butcher block, watching Winnie the from the corner of her eye. “I thought so, but I’ve never named an oven before.”
Winnie tugged open the oven and bent to peer inside. “We had one of these when I was a little girl. I remember the day my father brought it home for my mother.”
Adding water to the teapot, Julia smiled, her head tipped to one side, then stepped up next to Winnie and lit a burner. “What did your mother do when she saw it?” she asked.
“Oh, she sniffled and sobbed and made a show of it for my father,” Winnie chortled. “But in truth she knew it was coming. She did love that oven though.”
Julia crossed the kitchen and reached for a selection of decorated tea tins. “Is chamomile okay?”
Winnie walked across the room to smooth her gnarled hand across the counter of a hutch. “Sounds wonderful, dear.”
Reaching into a hutch to take down two delicate china plates, Julia placed a slice of banana bread on each, then got down two matching rosebud cups with delicate, gold-leaf handles.
Winnie touched the edge of one plate. “What lovely china, where did you get it?”
Placing a tea bag into each cup, Julia sighed wistfully. “It was my mother’s.”
“Where is your mother, dear? Has she seen what you’ve done with this house?”
Julia’s mouth tugged into a grim line, and she turned away to place the tea tin back on the hutch. “No, she’s in a nursing home.” She paused, then faced Winnie. “She has Alzheimer’s.”
Placing her twisted fingers around Julia’s cold hands, Winnie tilted her head to one side. “I’m so sorry, dear. How bad is it?”
The words were always hard to say because Julia didn’t want to admit they were true. “It’s bad. She was struggling with early onset before—before I got sick.” Julia pulled her hands away and tugged on her robe, pulling it tight across her heart. “I hired a nurse to take care of her.”
Winnie nodded. “That was kind of you.”
Julia frowned. “No, Winnie, it wasn’t kind. She didn’t live far from me. I could have done more. I was her only child and...” Silence filtered through the room.
After several long seconds Winnie prompted, “And?”
Releasing a heavy sigh, Julia looked up to meet Winnie’s gaze. “I paid someone else to be with her because I was too busy. Too busy for my own mother.”
“That is a very difficult and complicated disease, Julia, and many family members have a difficult time coping.”
Julia leaned one hip against the sink and nodded weakly. “But when I got better—it was too late. By the time I could travel and go see her, she didn’t know who I was.” A tear formed and rolled silently down Julia’s cheek.
Without waiting for further invitation, Winnie reached out and pulled Julia into a tight embrace. Rocking back and forth, she crooned, “Now, now, dear. Life is a hodgepodge of missed opportunities. Happens to the best of us. Don’t beat yourself up over illnesses beyond your control.”
Julia sniffed and the teapot worked up a whistle. Turning to the stove, she shrugged and reached for the teapot. “I suppose you’re right, but I haven’t gone to see her since I’ve been here. I feel bad, but it’s so hard.”
“I’ll go with you next time,” Winnie stated matter-of-factly.
Surprise clear on her face, Julia paused with the teapot in midair. “You will?”
Winnie nodded. “Of course, I will dear. I’d love to meet your mother.”
“But—it’s a three-hour drive, and she won’t—”
“Shush and pour that tea before the water cools, dear,” Winnie said, as she collected the plates of bread and shuffled toward the dining room.
Chapter Sixteen
Chad paused at the edge of Julia’s porch. The tune of Love Me Do he’d been whistling disappeared into the breeze as he studied Julia standing in the doorway holding open the screen. She smiled, her expression speculative, as she bobbed her head in greeting. “Chad.”
“Julia,” he returned as he scooted past her.
As the screen door banged gently shut, Julia asked if he’d like a beer. He nodded and she headed to the kitchen.
Chad wandered to the mantle to examine the various blue bottles in front of the antique mirror, distractedly scratching Ringo between the ears. Glancing from the pillow-covered sofa to the coffee table with books sprawled across the low table, he nodded. “She did good in here didn’t she, little guy? It looks like her.”
Ringo wagged his tail in answer.
Chad looked up and Julia stood in the hallway, a beer in her hand and her worn jeans and sweatshirt appearing soft and somehow seductive. Her feet were bare, and her blond curls were mussed. She looked delicious.
“I’d planned to fix some food and have paperwork ready when you got here,” she said, handing him the beer, “but Winnie came by this morning and brought banana bread and well...”
Chad scoffed. “Hey, her bread stops traffic, no need for explanations.”
“Would you like a slice?” He nodded enthusiastically and they headed toward the kitchen.
“How are the kittens?” he asked.
Julia reached into the hutch for a plate and smiled. “Amazing and perfect in every way.”
Chad took a long pull from his beer, noticing the way the evening sun made a long orange stripe across the dark floor they’d stained.
“One of them fell off Ringo’s bed this morning,” Julia said, “I was worried for a minute, but George just picked him up and put him back in the nest.”
He set down his bottle, watching the grace of Julia’s movements as she sliced the bread and placed it on a plate. “Smells great.”
She handed him the dish. “Shall we talk at the dining room table?”
Already taking a bite of the bread, the plate held under his chin, Chad nodded, still chewing. Julia scooped up his beer and they headed from the kitchen.
She pulled out a dining chair, plopped his bottle on the table and sat with one foot curled under her. A private smile teased her lips as she watched him, happy to see him scarfing up the bread. “I’ve got the business plan written and cards ready to print,” She confessed. “I’ve also requested a business license online and lined up a distributor. They can start with orders to be picked up on Mondays, if that works for you.”
Chad daubed the last bite of bread across his plate to catch every crumb. “How big will the order be? Does it need to be refrigerated?”
“I’m not sure of all that yet,” Julia muttered, rubbing her forehead. “I’ll know more when I’m ready to order. Is refrigeration a problem?”
He tucked the last bite of bread into his mouth and chewed, then swallowed and pushed back from the table. “No, I have a cooler I can plug into the back of the truck if needed.”
She didn’t comment.
With the food gone and the conversation lagging, Chad squirmed in his chair then tipped up the last of his beer. Finally, he leaned forward and laced his fingers on the tabletop. “Hey, are you okay?”
Glancing at him through her lashes, Julia could see concern and—something else— etched across his face. “I’m okay, I just didn’t sleep very well last night.” She shrugged. “It happens sometimes.”
He stood and moved around the back of her chair where, much to Julia’s surprise, he massaged her shoulders. His touch was sure and firm, yet tenderness underlay his movements. The conversation earlier with Winnie still reverberated through her mind and heart as his fingers worked magic on the base of her neck.
“Whoa, what is this?” Chad asked, pausing at one point between Julia’s shoulder blades. “You’re all tied in knots.”
“Yeah,” she murmured, her head falling forward as his thumbs massaged the muscles along her spine.
After working at the tender spot for several seconds, Chad’s fingers skimmed gently up Julia’s neck and into her hair. Tingles and honey flowed through her veins as he massaged her scalp. Concern and trepidation melted from her body and fell to the floor forgotten. Once she was nearly numb with calm, he stepped in front of her and tugged her up to stand in front of him.
Searching her eyes, he held her firm with a big hand gripping each of her arms. “Julia, I don’t care about who you were before or what you did. I didn’t know you then. I know you now. Want you now, all of you, whatever is included.”
She wasn’t sure if currents of electricity passed from his eyes to hers, or if the power he emanated surged through his hands – either way, she couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe.
“Do you hear me?” he asked, waiting for her to respond.
All she could manage was a bob of her head and a giant swallow.
When Chad’s lips came down on hers, perceptions had altered since their last kiss. The graze of his lips spoke of passion and tenderness, acceptance and possession, not just sexual tension.
Julia’s world tipped on its axis, but for the first time since her illness, the sensation was filled with wonder and allure instead of disorientation and fear.
Their kisses built from tender caresses to passionate challenges, their hands roaming and searching across each other’s backs. Chad finally pushed back and took Julia’s hand to lead her to the bedroom. Floating above the floor, she followed, feeling shy.
Chad pulled Julia into the bedroom and leaned her against the wall by the door. A wicked smile lit his face as he bent to nibble kisses up her neck, his fingers inching up under the bottom of her sweatshirt.
Julia sighed, melting into the wall of the dimly lit room, her fingers in his hair. The sound of Ringo pacing on the wood floor, nails clicking, mixed with kittens mewing and Chad’s murmured endearments.
He moved toward the bed and Julia glanced down at the kittens, surprised to see them alone in their bed, with George nowhere in sight.
As Chad tugged her onto the bed, her mind spun in an attempt to focus on the kittens instead of Chad’s hands caressing her stomach. Lost in sensation, she left the cats to the world and fell headfirst into the sensation of his fingers on her skin. Before she could form another coherent thought, her shirt was slipped over her head and Chad rolled over, pulling her up onto his chest.
She could feel that he was hard and ready under her, and she knew it was time to make a conscious decision. They had to stop now, or not stop at all.
Leaning up to straddle Chad, Julia formed herself against him and reveled in the way their bodies fit together, her knees at his sides and her feet tucked against his hips.
He raised his hips to grind his jeans against hers.
She smoothed her hands up over her face, then up into her hair, scooping it into a pile on top of her head, arching her back. “Wait a minute. Just...”
Realizing she was hesitant but willing, Chad gripped her hips in each hand and rocked her against him. “What’s wrong? If you’re worried about protection, I brought some.”
Her stomach lurched with desire and her forehead wrinkled, unsure if she was flattered that he’d handled it, or offended that he’d been so sure she’d be willing, but she was very sure they needed to talk for a moment. “That’s—that’s good I guess, but what about after?”
“After?” Chad asked, his mind unable to focus on anything but the beautiful woman on top of him.
“Yeah, you know, tomorrow, the next day, next week,” Julia pushed, her expression stolid. “What will happen if we do this? I can’t just sleep with you—and then— we are supposed to be doing business together.”
Chad sighed and released her hips. His hands came up to press at the corners of his eyes. “I hardly think making a delivery run once a week will force either of us into a bad situation.”
Biting the inside of her lip, Julia pulled her thoughts away from Chad between her legs and turned to gaze at the kittens who still mewed and tumbled around the bed, searching blindly for their mother. “I haven’t been with anybody since—” she started, but Chad cut her off.
“Are you afraid you’ve forgotten how?” he chuckled.
She shook her head. “It’s not like that. I’m not very flexible, and I don’t— I have some muscle control problems, limited range of motion, and numbness in places. I haven’t given much thought to—any of that. I may not be able to—” She frowned. “Finish it,” she ended lamely.
“Really?” he asked in shock. “You haven’t even—by yourself?”
Julia blushed deeply, covered her cheeks with her hands, feeling the need to run. Once she’d been sophisticated, sexual, and in control. Now she was an insecure, awkward freak.
“Don’t freeze up on me. Julia,” Chad said, his hands back on her hips. “It’s good that we can talk like this, tell each other stuff, right?”
Her hands dropped. “I suppose so, I just hate being such a loser.”
Chad grinned. “Honey, you are about to lose your clothes and then your mind.” His fingers toyed with the button of her jeans just as one of the kittens toppled from Ringo’s bed and onto the floor.
Julia glanced over, and when she saw the kitten, she jumped at the chance to avoid the situation and yanked herself from Chad’s grasp to leap from the bed. Gently scooping up the blind kitten, Julia lifted it to her cheek to feel its downy fur against her face. The kitten swatted at her with its tiny paws and cried for its mother.
Chad sat up and leaned over the edge of the bed for a look. “Julia, they’ll be okay.”
She sighed and cuddled the kitten to her chest. The baby clawed at her skin, his little claws catching on the lace of her bra. “I know, but...” She held up the kitten. “Isn’t he the cutest thing?”
“Are you sure it’s a he?” Chad grumbled, his plans falling to ruin.
Lifting the kitten higher, Julia shot Chad a dirty look and then looked at the kitten’s rear. “His tail is in the way.”
“Julia...” Chad disparaged, his male ego battered over her rejection, no matter the reason.
Glancing up at him, Julia realized she was avoiding the situation. “Just let me see if George is in her litter box or eating, and I’ll be right back. Okay?”
* * *
A silent moment hung heavily in the air. Even though he was rattled and ready for sex, Chad recognized that Julia’s hesitation had far more to do with her insecurities than it did the kittens. He knew that some people could push through emotional trauma once they were “in the mood,” but others had to feel comfortable in order to relax and get into the moment.
Julia was important to him, and even though he was ready and willing to show her how to relax, and he was confident that he could, he wanted her to come to him willingly, as excited as he was. Determined not to pressure her but disappointed in the extreme, he pushed away his frustration and rolled over to sit on the edge of the bed. “I’ll come with you.”
The smile Julia beamed on him lit the dark room.
Placing the kitten carefully back onto the dog bed, Julia padded down the hall toward the kitchen with Chad behind her, his hands around her hips as they walked in step. She glanced to George’s food and water dish, no
kitty, then headed for the mudroom. No George was in the litter box.
Julia twisted one of her curls. “George has never left the kittens before.”
Desperate to hurry the cat hunt along, Chad tromped past Julia and into the nearly dark mudroom. He lifted coats on hooks and looked behind the door; he even moved the mop bucket. Turning, he noticed that the back door was open, and the screen was closed but not latched. Irritated that the cat may have gone outside, he felt his excitement began to shrink..
He jerked open the screen door and glanced toward the garage, then behind the house. A glimpse of black and white fluffy fur disappeared around the corner of the house and into the shadows.
“Oh no you don’t, George,” he muttered under his breath as he hurried behind the house. Rounding the corner, he could see the cat in the deep shadows near a bush, her black and white fur barely discernable. “Your little walk about is over, missy,” he declared as he sprang forward, catching the surprised cat around the hips.
Standing and pulling the cat close so she couldn’t escape, he called to Julia. “I’ve got her—” but as the words left his mouth, the animal in his arms scratched and scrambled, emanating an odd noise as it struggled. A strange warm sensation hit Chad’s face and arms about the time he realized that he wasn’t holding a cat.
Tossing the frightened animal away from him, Chad fell against the side of the house, rubbing at his face and eyes. A pungent, sickening odor rose around him, burning his senses. Blindly, he staggered back toward the corner of the house, swearing and cussing. He fell to his knees in front of the garage, misery and anger mixing with disgust, defeat, and embarrassment.
Julia hurried up beside him wearing a hastily tossed-on jacket from the mudroom. “Chad, did you get—Oh my Gawd!” Her hand flew up to pinch her nose. “What on earth?”
With his hands on his knees and his head hanging, Chad stopped cursing, only to cough over and over.
Julia glanced at the corner of the house and back to Chad. “What did you do?” she cried, her voice clogged and nasal. “Grab a skunk?”
Hometown Series Box Set Page 49
