Rustic Hearts (Poplar Falls Book 1)

by Amber Kelly

  “Wow,” he says. “Momma, can we visit Miss Sophie and see their glowing butts?”

  “Maybe we will one day, but for now, we have to help her get all this mess cleaned up and get you to bed. Someone has had a big day, and he has school tomorrow.”

  “Me?” He points his thumb into his little chest.

  “Yes, you,” she says as she starts to tickle him, and he curls up on the tarp in a fit of laughter.

  “You guys go ahead. I’ll get Elle or the boys to help me clean all this up. You need to get him home and in a bath.”

  “Are you sure? I hate to carve and run.”

  “I’m sure. Just load him and your jack-o’-lanterns and get on the road.”

  “I’m leaving mine here,” Beau says.

  “You are?”

  “Yes. I made it for you.” He picks up his hacked-up pumpkin and hands it to me.

  “I love it so much. Thank you.”

  “You can take it home with you, so you’ll remember me.”

  I tap him on the nose. “As if I could ever forget you, Beau Stovall.”

  Sophie

  After Elle and I clean up most of the mess we made out front, Braxton takes a hose to the tarp, and he and Emmett put it away. I place the pumpkins on the steps leading up the porch and add candles, so they glow.

  Braxton comes, sits on the first step, and watches as I light the last one.

  “Thank you for helping,” I say as I close the top.

  “Well, I was promised pie.”

  “Is that right?”

  I stand and start up the steps. He wraps his hand around my calf to stop my progress.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

  I run inside, and Aunt Doreen and Madeline are in the kitchen.

  “Where are the pies?” I ask as I grab a fork from the drawer.

  “In the refrigerator on the back porch,” Aunt Doreen answers.

  “Thanks.”

  I grab a pie and a can of whipped cream from the refrigerator and walk back through the kitchen. They watch me the entire time, but neither asks what I’m doing.

  I make it back out to the front porch, and Braxton is right where I left him.

  I take a seat beside him and remove the foil from the top of the pie.

  Then, I shake the whipped cream can and spray small circles on top of it. I set the can down and turn to Braxton. “Your dessert, sir.”

  He takes the pie from my hand and holds it as I stick the fork right in the center and dig in. I take the big bite and moan as I chew.

  His eyes never leave my mouth.

  I dig in again, and this time, I turn the fork for him to take the bite.

  He does, and I smile as he swallows.

  “You like it?”

  “Uh-huh,” he replies.

  I take another bite, and he brings his hand to the side of my face and swipes a tiny bit of the cream from the corner of my mouth. Then, he licks his finger.

  I imagine him licking whipped cream off other body parts, and a shiver runs through me. He notices.

  He sets the pie aside. Then, he twists to pick me up from my seat and plants me in his lap. I’m straddling him, and his hand cups my ass and moves me against him.

  I gasp.

  He brings one hand up, fists it in my hair, and pulls me to his mouth. Then, he runs his tongue across my bottom lip, and I plant my lips on his.

  I don’t know how long we kiss, but at some point, I feel him grow hard beneath me, and I start moving my hips against him, bearing down harder and harder to feel the friction I need.

  He finally can take no more and halts my movements by gripping my hips.

  I let out a little cry of protest, and he stands with me in his lap and picks me up.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Taking you to bed.” He starts walking to his front door.

  “Braxton, they’re going to see us.” I look back at the light coming from the kitchen window where I can still see Madeline and Aunt Doreen moving around.

  “Don’t care,” he says as he takes the steps two at a time.

  He grabs the handle, opens the door, and kicks it closed behind us. In a few long strides, he has me tossed on the bed and is over top of me.

  He undoes his jeans, and then he sits on the bed and pulls me on top of him. We are nose-to-nose, and he reaches between us to my jeans and pops the button. He seals his mouth to mine. We are in the exact same position as we were on the steps. Me straddling him, except this time, his cock is free, and he’s unzipping my pants.

  His hand finds me, and I lean back to give him full access.

  “Wet for me,” he groans as he slides his finger in my entrance and then another.

  “Right there,” I breathe as he starts pumping in and out.

  I move against him until he hits the exact spot I need, and I ride his hand.

  “That’s it. Look at me, Princess. I want to see your face as you come.”

  I give him my eyes, and I try to focus on him as the first wave hits me, but I close my eyes and lean back further, so I can get him deeper. He brings his thumb to my clit and strokes, and I tumble over the edge as pleasure overtakes me.

  “Beautiful,” he murmurs as I come down from my high.

  Then, he bucks his hips and twists until I land on my back on the bed. He tugs my jeans down my legs, and a moment later, he is inside me.

  He takes his time. Building me up and then bringing me back down. He leisurely makes love to me. He kisses my forehead, my eyes, and my nose. He nips at my earlobe, and it drives me wild. I want him to go faster and harder, but he controls the pace.

  When I can finally take no more, I demand, “Harder, Braxton. I’m so close. I need it harder, baby.”

  He dips his head and bites at my nipple, and I buck off the bed. Then, he grins.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  And he finally starts drilling into me until my toes curl as the sensation shoots from my core, and I scream his name into the room. He arches his back as he releases with me.

  We lie there, naked, me against his chest, and he plays with my hair in the darkness.

  “We probably shouldn’t have come up here while everyone was still awake,” I say as I try to figure out how I’m going to explain where we ran off to.

  “You started it on the porch,” he accuses.

  I raise my head. “I did not. You pulled me into your lap, remember?”

  “Yeah, but you’re the one who pulled that whipped cream stunt.”

  I did do that.

  “I was trying to feed you your dessert,” I say innocently.

  “You were trying to tease me, Princess.”

  “Are you going to miss me when I leave?” I blurt out of nowhere.

  He considers me for a second.

  “Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked that.”

  I try to hide my face from him as mortification washes over me for putting him on the spot.

  He lifts my chin with two fingers and looks at me. “I’ll sure miss your pie.” He grins.

  I grab the pillow at my back and smack him with it as he laughs while I struggle to pull back and strike him again.

  He snatches the pillow from my grasp and asks, “What about you? Are you going to miss anything around here?”

  “I’ll miss lots of things. I’m going to miss the hell out of Huckleberry and Hawkeye,” I tease.

  He flips me to my back. “That damn dog trumps me every time.”

  He kisses me again, and I proceed to show rather than tell him how much I’m going to miss him. Then, we finally let a very put-out Hawkeye out of the bathroom, and he settles in with us.

  I wake up with his arms around me, and I feel his morning erection on my backside.

  “What time is it?” I ask as he slides his hand around to caress my breast.

  “Early. I have to get out to the cattle.”

  “Oh,” I say as I back up and push myself closer to hi
m.

  His hand travels down between my legs, and I spread for him and open myself in invitation.

  He finds my opening and gently slides into me, making love to me from behind.

  “I like having you in my bed in the morning,” he says as he buries his face in my neck.

  “Me too,” I manage to get out before I spasm around him.

  He lies with me a little longer before he gets up, and I hear the shower start. I drift back off to sleep.

  When I wake up again, Hawkeye and I are tightly tucked in, and there is a fire dancing in the fireplace. I’m warm and comfortable and satiated. I pull Hawk closer and snuggle his little body.

  I finally get up after sleeping in the longest I have since I arrived in Colorado. I take a quick shower and dress, and then I look to make sure the coast is clear and head toward the house.

  I get about five feet from Braxton’s steps when Daddy and Emmett emerge from the barn.

  “Sophie?” Daddy calls, and it sounds like a question.

  I squeeze my eyes tightly closed and pray that I will just disappear.

  No such luck.

  I slowly turn to face them.

  “Good morning,” I mumble.

  “Ain’t it though?” Emmett replies as he places a calming hand on Daddy’s arm.

  Daddy looks from me to Braxton’s steps and back again.

  “Well, got to go. Lots of work to do today. I’m teaching Aunt Doreen how to run payroll later. You guys have a good day out, doing whatever it is ranchers do all day,” I spew and then awkwardly salute them before I turn and jog toward the house.

  My heart is racing as I make it to the porch where Aunt Ria is rocking as she reads.

  I calmly walk up the steps, and as I pass, she says, “I cleaned the pie and whipped cream from the porch this morning before anyone else was up.”

  I stop and turn to her. “I’m sorry I left a mess.”

  “That’s all right. We just don’t want to attract ants. Next time, you take it on up to Braxton’s and put it in his fridge, and then you’ll have breakfast for the morning,” she says casually without looking up from her pages.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  I text Braxton to let him know about my run-in with Daddy and Emmett as I left his apartment. He didn’t respond for a couple of hours, and then all I got was a thumbs-up emoji. I’ve been freaking out all day, and that’s all he has to say?

  I spend the majority of the afternoon in the office with Aunt Doreen, going over the computer one more time. She gets flustered, and we finally have to call it a day.

  “I think I can do it well enough,” she says as I close everything down.

  I don’t have much confidence in her “well enough,” but there is nothing I can do about it.

  “I’ll just have to call you if I get stuck.”

  I imagine her calling me a couple of times a day, every single day.

  I ride into town with Elle, who is meeting her friends for lunch at the diner. Dallas is working, so I wait till her shift is over, and she and I pick Beau up and go shopping for Halloween supplies.

  “Sophie, I’m telling you, they all already knew,” she says when I finish telling her about my morning.

  “No, they didn’t. Aunt Ria figured it out when she found our mess on the porch, and you should have seen Daddy’s face.”

  “Okay, so maybe Jefferson didn’t know, but the rest of them knew. Nothing happens in that house without the aunts knowing.”

  “I’m so embarrassed,” I groan.

  “Why? If it were me having all the hot, sweaty sex with Braxton Young, I wouldn’t be embarrassed.”

  “Because … I don’t know why. I just am.”

  “Whatever. At least the cat’s out of the bag, and you can spend your final nights with him.”

  That is a plus.

  Beau picks out his Halloween costume from a selection at the general store. It’s the cutest little Batman suit and mask.

  “Momma is going to be Robin. Miss Sophie, will you be Batgirl and go trick-or-treating with us?” Beau asks as we make our way to the register.

  “I’m sorry, Beau, but I don’t think I’m going to be here for Halloween.”

  “But you have to stay. You want to see me dressed up, don’t you?” he asks as his face falls.

  “You can try it on for me tonight,” I offer as I kneel, so I’m face-to-face with him.

  “I can’t put it on before trick-or-treating.”

  “Why not?”

  “’Cause then it won’t be special.”

  “Trunk-or-Treat is Saturday night at the church. They do it the weekend before Halloween. That’s the trick-or-treating he’s talking about,” Dallas informs me as she joins us with their purchase in hand.

  “In that case,” I turn back to Beau and whisper excitedly, “I’ll still be here. Let’s go pick out my Batgirl costume!”

  His face lights up. “Yay!”

  He grabs me by the hand and leads me back to the racks. They don’t have a Batgirl costume, so I purchase the exact same mask and cape as he did. I’ll wear it with the black dress I brought from home.

  I’m getting all kinds of firsts in before I leave.

  Sophie

  Friday came fast. When I first arrived in Poplar Falls, I couldn’t wait to leave, and now, I’m sad because it’s almost time to go.

  “The will reading is what time today?” Mom asks over the line.

  “Soon. We’re leaving for the attorney’s office now.”

  “Who all is we?” she asks.

  “All of us. Pop, Daddy, Madeline, Aunt Doreen, Aunt Ria, Braxton, and Elle.”

  “Us. You’re part of an us now?”

  “Mom, please don’t.”

  “I was just pointing out how, a few weeks ago, it was them, and now, it’s us.”

  “They’re just words, Mom.”

  “When is your flight home? Stan and I will pick you up at the airport.”

  “Sunday evening. I think I land at nine p.m., but I’ll double-check with Charlotte. She made my reservation.”

  “Sunday? Why aren’t you flying home tonight?” she whines.

  “Because, Mom, tomorrow is the Halloween Trunk-or-Treat at the church, and I promised Beau I would be Batgirl.”

  “Excuse me, what?”

  “Trunk-or-Treat. They do it the Saturday before Halloween. Everyone parks in the church parking lot, and they dress up and decorate their trunks. The kids dress up and go from car to car, trick-or-treating. It’s a safe alternative.”

  “Who’s Beau?”

  “Dallas’s son. I told you about him, remember? He’s going to be Batman, and I promised to be Batgirl and trick-or-treat with him.”

  “I see.”

  Aunt Ria calls to me from downstairs.

  “Mom, we’re leaving. I have to go.”

  “All right. Call me when it’s done. I love you, my onliest only.”

  We disconnect, and I clasp my necklace around my neck and race down the steps.

  Everyone is waiting in the driveway, and I climb into the truck with Pop and Daddy and Madeline.

  We all assemble in the office of Dennis Phillips and wait for him to join us. Once he does, he flies through the niceties and gets straight to business.

  “Okay, folks, we are here for the formal reading of the last will and testament of one Mrs. Betty Sue Lancaster. I have requested the presence of all of you here today because each of you is mentioned in Mrs. Lancaster’s will. I have a letter that she wished for me to read to you all.”

  He waves a sealed envelope in the air. Then, he takes a letter opener from his desk and slides it open. He clears his throat and begins to read aloud.

  Dear family,

  I guess if Dennis is reading this to you, I’m in heaven and my Lord has taken me by the hand. Now, I don’t want you all to be sad for me. I’m seeing glorious sights right now as I stroll down the streets of gold, arm in arm with my Savior. I’m sure I’ll only get a quick look around befo
re you all join me. Remember, with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years.

  Now, on to the good stuff. You girls divide up my jewelry. Be fair and don’t fight. The thing that mattered most to me was my wedding band, and I’m assuming it’s in the ground with my remains. As far as everything else, Pop gets everything in our accounts, and my share of the ranch will be divided equally among the other seven of you.

  Donald, my sweetheart, you were the greatest love of my life. Greatest pain in my ass too, but I wouldn’t have traded a single minute of our life together. I’ll keep your side of the bed warm in our mansion in glory. Don’t be in a hurry to join me, sweetheart. I’ll be here when you get here.

  Maria and Doreen, your momma loved you with her whole heart, but you know that. I am so proud of my girls.

  Madeline, Braxton, and Elle, you’re as much a part of this family and my heart as anyone else seated here today.

  Jefferson, my stubborn boy, you’ve been walking around with half a heart for so long. It’s time, son. You’ve protected Vivian long enough. Tell Sophia the truth. Don’t spend one more minute of your life with that chain of regret holding you hostage.

  Sophia, oh my precious girl, I’m sorry it took my passing to bring you home, but you’re here now. Listen to him, baby girl. It’s time for forgiveness.

  Now enough of this, I want you all to go live your lives and love each other well until we meet again.

  Gram

  He finishes, and then he folds the letter. He returns it to the envelope and gives it to Pop.

  We all sit there in silence and let her last words sink in.

  I don’t understand any of it.

  “What did she mean, it’s time to stop protecting Mom?” I ask to the room in general.

  “Sophie, darlin’, we should talk about this when we get home,” Daddy whispers without looking at me.

  I take him in, and the room at large. My aunts’ grim demeanor and looks of concern scare me. What could they possibly be hiding?

  Panic starts to overtake me. My chest is tight and I can’t catch my breath.

  I decide I don’t want to know. I want to leave. I want to get on a plane and go home where things make sense.