The Somerset Girls

by Lori Foster

  His hand was large, hard and hot...like the man himself.

  They paused in the doorway to watch Sadie carefully petting Franklin the sheep, who’d come to join them, only to get nudged by Delilah the goat, who wanted her own pets. Sadie laughed until she got Mike laughing, too. Having two hands, she solved the problem by petting them both. Kneeling down beside her, Mike ensured the animals couldn’t get too frisky.

  “We talked about Deb a little. I want her to have good memories of her mother, so I had to juggle my part a few times.” He gave her a sideways glance. “She said you were nothing like Deb and that she liked you.”

  Maybe that’s when Tash had gotten the idea for their relationship. “I like her, too, very much.”

  “I know—I told her. She wanted me to ask you over for dinner, but I thought I should preempt that with the details of my situation, just so you’d know where I stand.”

  Ha! She wasn’t at all sure where he stood, but she’d deal with it. “Thank you for being upfront with me. I prefer honesty, always.”

  Lifting her hand to his mouth, he kissed her knuckles. “Me, too.”

  But was she being honest? Nope. She felt like a fraud, but she couldn’t admit that she’d have loved to have more. More of them. More focus on a physical relationship.

  It felt selfish when his reasons for waiting were so valid.

  “Ember will start on the yard equipment Monday. I’ve got the designs for Sadie’s bedroom finished, too, so now we need to look at fabrics and paint and—”

  Turning her to face him, Tash said, “Come to dinner tonight.”

  Here in the open doorway, blistering sunlight added heat to her disappointment. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.” Today was her day with her parents. She and Ember took turns making them a priority...much as Tash did with his daughter.

  Instead of questioning her, he asked, “Tomorrow then?”

  Sometimes she wished she wasn’t so reliable. “Sorry, but I’m slammed until Thursday.”

  “Thursday it is.”

  Grateful that he so easily accommodated her schedule, Autumn smiled. “Perfect.” Already she looked forward to it. “I’ll see you Monday, too. That is, if you’re around.” This new relationship was loose enough that she wasn’t sure what to expect. “My plan is to help Ember get things started before I head out for afternoon appointments. While I’m there, I’m hoping to set up a few other appointments with you so I can get some decisions made on the bedroom and your office.”

  “Sadie and I’ll both be there Monday. Thursday for dinner will be even better. Okay?”

  She nodded and, still determined to be different from her wallflower years in high school, went on tiptoes to put her mouth back to his.

  She’d just felt the touch of his warm mouth when a shadow moved over them. They immediately broke apart and found Mike grinning.

  Hand to his heart, Mike said, “Damn, I hate to interrupt, but I just got a call from your mom. She wants you to come by.”

  By force of will, Autumn swallowed back a groan of dread. “Did you tell her I’m showing around a client?”

  “Since you two were making out here in front of God and all the animals, no, I’ll admit I didn’t quite put it that way.”

  Mortified, Autumn took a quick look around and saw no one, not even a goat, paying attention to them. The animals kept Sadie occupied and her parents were in their small home, with no visual access to the barn.

  “Mike, I swear...”

  “What?” He laughed. “I witnessed it all, and that counts, right?”

  Surprising her, Tash looped his arm over her shoulders and said to Mike, “You can plan to see it more often.”

  Already playing his part? He was good. And since he’d reminded her, Autumn leaned into him and pasted on a smile.

  “It’s like that, huh?” He clapped Tash on the shoulder. “Good work. She’s a tough one to win over.”

  Autumn knew she’d actually been ridiculously easy, but whatever.

  “Your mom wants to see Tash and Sadie, too. She said she remembers him from years ago.” In an aside to Tash, he added, “Beware the artwork.”

  Oh, God, the artwork. Dread stole her voice for a second or two, but she wouldn’t let Mike get away just yet. Suspicious, she asked, “How does Mom even know they’re here?”

  “Your sister,” he replied as he headed back to Sadie. “How else?”

  Chapter Eight

  So far, everything was going better than Tash had dared to hope. He hadn’t seen Sadie this happy in a very long time. Even before Deb had wrapped her car around that pole, his daughter had been alternately distant and then too clingy.

  It pissed him off when he thought of how blind he’d been, how he’d bought in to Deb’s fairy tale. So many times he’d asked about things, and Deb had lied, making up one excuse after another. She’d cheated a dozen times over, but blamed him for their marriage failing.

  And her family followed her lead.

  Once, when Deb had dodged out on his time with Sadie, he’d gotten hold of her mother to make sure everything was okay. She’d given him an earful that day, all of it hateful accusations. According to her folks, he’d ruined Deb’s life.

  He hadn’t made the mistake of contacting them again after that, but he’d seen them at the funeral and it had been predictably ugly.

  Sadie had grown so subdued since then, it sometimes felt like he couldn’t reach her, and that scared the hell out of him. He wanted her to laugh and have fun, and he wanted her to sometimes misbehave and make mistakes, to feel secure enough to know it wouldn’t matter. He loved her and he’d never stop loving her, no matter what. He needed her to believe it.

  Since coming here, things had changed a little. Most especially around Autumn. Last night when Sadie had opened up, she’d given him reassurance that he was on the right track.

  On the ride to the farm that morning, she couldn’t stop her excited chatter. Using his phone, she’d looked up info on the various animals, what they liked and didn’t like.

  His seven-year-old daughter had wanted to be prepared.

  God, she amazed him.

  She’d also talked nonstop about Autumn.

  In Sadie’s mind, Autumn knew something about everything. And the kicker? She saved animals. To Sadie, that made her a superhero.

  To Tash, it made her so much more. Autumn made him rethink everything he knew about women. After Deb, when physical need arose, he’d sought out slim, sexy, stylish women who disdained involvement as much as he did. Their “dates” served a purpose, but they no more cared than he did.

  With Autumn, caring was an integral part of her. He doubted she knew how not to care. Things happened around her and she reacted in a way to make them better. Every damn time. Even with Patricia, who’d badgered her with mean assumptions, Autumn had remained considerate.

  She was...a breath of fresh air. Emotionally substantial.

  And incredibly sexy—maybe because of her caring nature, maybe because she didn’t seem aware of her own allure.

  Over and over, he studied her, trying to figure out what single feature pushed him over the edge. Her lush mouth and easy smiles drew him, but then so did the vulnerability in her soft blue eyes. Her hair, always a little unkempt, naturally drew his fingers and...hell, it was all of her. The whole package. The ripe curves of her body and her angelic face and the way she tried to nurture everyone around her, including him and his daughter.

  “There,” Autumn said, sliding her phone into her back pocket. “I told Mom we’d be there after I give you a tour of the farm.” With a hint of hope in her eyes, she said, “Unless you have to go before that?”

  No way would he budge. He wanted to know more about Autumn, and meeting her folks would help. “Sadie and I have the whole day free.”

  “Oh.” She mustered up a smile. “Good. Okay
then.”

  It was all Tash could do not to laugh. Seriously, how bad could a mother and father be?

  For the next forty minutes or so, Autumn doted on Sadie. The chores she described boggled Tash’s mind. When did the woman ever rest?

  “Ember did the chores for me this morning, even though it was my turn. Mike and I will check on the animals off and on throughout the day. Especially in this heat.” Eyes squinted, she looked up at the sky. “We could really use a good rain. Hopefully soon.”

  “How long have you had the farm?” Tash asked, watching as Pavlov rolled to his back in a barren spot of the field, only to be joined by the goat and sheep, each of them loving on him. Pavlov wallowed in their affection.

  “Ember and I inherited the farm when our grandparents passed away. That was five years ago. Life was in turmoil, let me tell you. Dad had suffered a stroke, Mom had just lost her parents and we inherited a big old farm. It took us a few days to figure it out, but then we knew what we wanted to do.”

  “Take care of animals!” Sadie cheered, her tiny fist in the air.

  “Yes.” Autumn swung Sadie up and in a circle before putting her back on her feet. She bent down to look Sadie in the eyes, then explained, “But first we built a house for my folks.”

  “You build houses?” Sadie asked with a lot of awe.

  Shading her eyes with one hand, Autumn pointed out a neat little cabin apart from the other structures. “Not exactly. Ember oversaw most of the actual building, but I designed it.”

  “You designed an entire house?” Tash was just as awed as his daughter.

  “I wanted it to work for Dad’s wheelchair, so I made everything a little lower than standard, with lots of baseboard lighting. It’s superefficient, compact, but they have everything they need—including a studio off the back of the house for Mom. An intercom system makes it easy for either of them to reach the other.”

  Arms out, face up to the sun, Sadie turned a circle. “You all live here together.”

  Autumn’s smile was contagious, making him smile, too. “Yes, we do.” She touched Sadie’s nose, then let her fingers drift through her hair, which looked an even brighter red in the afternoon sunshine.

  Tash did his own perusal and thought what an amazing place it would be to raise a family. Had that been Autumn’s plan before Chuck bailed?

  She’d probably already imagined her own children playing outside with the animals. The devastation she had to have felt made him put his hand to his own chest, where his heart would be.

  How could anyone hurt her like that? Protective instincts rose, along with a territorial inclination he’d never before experienced.

  Never mind that their relationship right now was superficial at best. He’d work on that and somehow, as things worked themselves out, he’d—

  “Mom and Dad aren’t keen on the smells,” Autumn said, interrupting his disturbing and profound thoughts. “That’s why Ember didn’t build their house a little closer. Plus, the animals would eat Mom’s flowers and she’d have a fit. They’re fenced off so critters can’t get to them.”

  Sadie hugged Matilda. “I like how they smell.”

  That made both adults laugh. “You,” Tash teased, “are probably the first person to say that about a pig.”

  Autumn winked at Sadie. Sotto voce, she confided, “I like how they smell, too.”

  Sadie grinned so widely, it made Tash laugh again.

  “Next, we remodeled our grandparents’ house to turn it into a duplex so Ember and I would each have our privacy.” In an aside to Tash, she said, “I love my sister, but no way could we live together. Next door is close enough.”

  “So that big house is actually two places?”

  “Yup. Big divider nearly down the middle. I can show it to you sometime if you want.”

  “Yeah, I’d like that.”

  As they moseyed forward, she gestured back toward the barn, where they’d already been. “We had to take down a lot of old outbuildings, repair and expand the barn, fix a few fences.” A look of true contentment settled over her face. “Not long after, we got our first animal. Then another and another.”

  As Tash watched her, he accepted that she belonged here. The love she felt for it showed in her eyes, in the flush in her cheeks and the smile she couldn’t suppress.

  “It’s beautiful,” he said, his gaze still on her. “All of it.”

  A large outcropping of rock, half buried in the earth, caused her to pause. She dropped down to sit, patting a spot beside her for Sadie. “I’m lucky that I found what I’m meant to do.”

  Sadie leaned into her, then smiled at him.

  Choosing to take that as an invitation, he settled on the other side of his daughter. His seat was a little lumpier, made up of two smaller rocks, putting him a bit lower on the ground, but he didn’t mind. “It’s amazing, Autumn. Everything you’ve done, all you’ve accomplished, is—”

  A velvety—and slightly wet—pig snout cut him off, followed by a pig head, then feet that toppled him off the rock and into the dry dirt. Before Tash could fend her off, Olivia was on him, rooting around and cuddling, joined by Matilda, and Pavlov, and maybe a chicken. Hard to tell.

  And, damn, it was nice—especially when Sadie and Autumn fell against each other laughing.

  Urging the animals to the side of him instead of atop him, he’d just about freed himself when Autumn’s face appeared above. Wearing a grin of barely banked hilarity, she said, “Awww, they like you. Isn’t that sweet?”

  “Like syrup.” He swiped away a suspicious wet patch from his cheek. “Very sticky.”

  Cracking up, she helped to untangle him, and once he was on his feet, she took some time briskly brushing him off, clearing away the dust from the front of his shirt, out of his hair and...near his lap.

  As detached as a doctor, she said, “There. You’re almost good as new.”

  Actually, he was suddenly primed, on the verge of reacting...until his daughter said, “You look so funny, Dad.”

  Yeah, he could imagine. In his most fatherly voice, he said, “Not every day I’m accosted by pigs.”

  “And a dog,” Autumn added.

  “And a chicken.” Sadie’s eyes were bright with humor when she looked off to the side. “More were ready to join, too.”

  He turned to see an entire flock—or whatever a group of chickens was called—bearing down on them.

  Autumn hugged into his side. “Come on. Time to meet my folks before you get any messier.”

  The chickens followed, but Pavlov veered off somewhere else with the pigs, no doubt in search of shade.

  Using both hands, Tash tried to restore some order to his hair, but dust had mixed with sweat and he knew he wasn’t at his best.

  Then again, Autumn wore her own fair share of dust and dirt, as did his daughter. He tried to smooth Sadie’s hair, too, but she had no patience for it and sidled away to take Autumn’s hand, then snagged his, as well.

  Skipping along between him and Autumn, she led them toward the home of Autumn’s parents.

  Autumn didn’t hold back. In fact, she talked nonstop, telling them what to expect, explaining about her father’s stroke and her mother’s idiosyncrasies. Someone who didn’t know might think she was anxious for them to meet.

  He knew better. From that first day when they’d become reacquainted, he’d felt attuned to her, what she thought and what she felt. Right now, she was anxious...to get it over with.

  “It’ll be fine,” he whispered over Sadie’s head so she wouldn’t hear. How bad could her parents be?

  “Ha,” she said just as quietly, then gave him a look of pity. “My folks are great, but a wee bit eccentric. They take a little getting used to.”

  “Mike likes them?”

  She dismissed that as unimportant. “Mike likes most everyone and they hit it off righ
t away. My mother thinks of him as the son she never had.”

  Yet Autumn thought he’d be different? Either offended by them or shocked? Determined to prove her wrong, Tash mentally girded himself for anything.

  It astounded him that she’d react to this, when she’d so easily rolled with everything else. An ex who jilted her back in town? No problem. A gossipy friend spreading rumors? She responded with kindness. His suggestion for a sexless relationship?

  She’d almost shrugged!

  That still burned his ass a little. After his long bout of singular concentration on his daughter, he’d finally met someone who interested him—as a man, not just a dad. Hell, he wanted her so badly that around her, he stayed wired. Kissing her? Yeah, he’d be lucky if he didn’t self-combust.

  Yet she hadn’t batted an eye at the idea of a no-sex relationship. Was it sex in general that she could take or leave, or him in particular?

  Despite her assurances, did she still have feelings for Chuck? Did pride prompt her vehement denials? The idea nettled big-time.

  “Mike wasn’t kidding about my mom’s art, okay? Just...maybe prepare yourself. I wouldn’t want you to hurt her feelings.”

  “You think I would?”

  “Not on purpose,” she rushed to say, then bit her lip and gave a subtle nod at Sadie. “You might not want her to see—”

  The front door flew open and a short, somewhat squat woman, dressed in a bright, boxy tunic and white capri jeans exited with open arms.

  “Autumn! You brought them.” She forged a path toward Tash.

  Uncertain of the welcome, Tash said, “Ah—” and she threw herself against him for a big, affectionate hug.

  “My goodness, you haven’t changed.” She pressed him back, looked him over and pawed his chest. “Still jacked, aren’t you?”

  Confusion wrinkled Sadie’s little button nose. “What’s jacked?”

  Autumn said, “It means he’s strong and fit in all the best ways.”

  Sadie grinned. “Dad has muscles everywhere.”

  Her mother turned her eye on Sadie. “Oh, my, and aren’t you just the brightest little princess ever?” She scooped her up, squashing Sadie to her bosom. Poor Sadie, unsure what to do, held her arms and legs stiffly extended, like a dried-out starfish.