The Somerset Girls

by Lori Foster

  She was still trying to decide if she had the energy to read when a knock sounded and Pavlov went berserk.

  He launched off the bed and raced down the hall, his nails scrabbling on the hardwood floor. By the time Autumn caught up, his bark had changed from warning to greeting. She knew why when she found him at the connecting door.

  Worried, she swung the door open to her sister. “Are you—?”

  Determined, Ember pushed in and past her. “Where’s that ice cream that cures all ills? Sorry, sis, but I need some.”

  * * *

  It was late, and still Sadie didn’t sleep. Tash had finished reading to her over an hour ago, but from the desk where he caught up with work, he heard her rustling around, tossing and turning. The muted glow of the night-light in her room sent her shadow out the open door, so when he saw her sit up in bed, he saved his file and pushed back his chair.

  Pausing in the doorway, he saw her arranging a pile of stuffed animals into the bed with her. Usually she picked one and slept with it. Sleeping with ten meant something was wrong.

  He took a step into the room, drawing her attention. “What’s up, honey? Can’t sleep?”

  Eyes downcast with guilt, she said, “Sorry.”

  “Hey.” Tash moved into the room. “You don’t need to apologize.” Sitting on the side of the bed, he tucked in a pink elephant so worn in places, it was a wonder his stuffing didn’t fall out. Tash remembered getting the prize at a local carnival when she was four.

  It both saddened and pleased him that she still liked it.

  When Sadie didn’t say anything else, he filled the silence. “So. I was trying to work but I keep thinking about Autumn. I wouldn’t be able to sleep right now, either.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. I like Autumn, so when she’s upset, it bothers me.”

  Sadie nodded. “Me, too.”

  “When you’re upset, it bothers me even more. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

  Clutching the elephant, she rested back in her bed but turned to face him. “She’s going to make the cow okay, huh?”

  “I’m sure she’ll do absolutely everything she can...” Like a tsunami of sorrow, the similarities suddenly hit him, and he faltered. Yes, she’d been used by the mother who should have nurtured her, the mother who’d lied to punish him...and had hurt Sadie in the process.

  Clearing his throat, Tash finished with, “She’ll make the cow feel loved and appreciated.”

  Eyes downcast again, Sadie asked with innocent deception, “Why would anyone hurt a cow?”

  Grief and anger twisted in his guts, but hopefully he hid it. “I think it’s more that the cow was neglected.” Because his daughter was incredibly smart, and now seemed introspective, Tash chose his words carefully. “The cow wasn’t protected or cared for the way it should have been.”

  “I bet the cow was sad.”

  Tash ruined her nice display of stuffed animals by lifting her out from under her blankets and up to his lap. Hugging her protectively, he said, “The cow will talk to Autumn and that’ll help.”

  She gave a little laugh and looked up at him. “Cows don’t talk.”

  But little girls should. “What do you mean, they don’t talk?” He put on his best face of affront.

  “Cows moo.”

  “Ah, I guess you’re right. Too bad, because talking about problems always helps. But you know, just because animals don’t say things the way we do, they still communicate. They relate to us through trust. They accept the love given them, and have faith that no one will ever hurt them again.” Please have that faith.

  “Because Autumn won’t let them be hurt?”

  He tucked a long hank of red hair behind her ear. “Just as I would never let you be hurt.” He waited, but she stayed quiet, so he asked, “Will you believe me, Sadie? I will never, ever let anyone hurt you.”

  Hugging him, she said, “Okay.”

  It scared him, so damn much, but he had to know. “Did your mama ever hurt you?”

  “No.”

  “Are you sure? Or is this one of those secrets that you’re not supposed to share?”

  Shaking her head, she snuggled close again. “Sometimes she would get mad.”

  His heart thumped hard. “At you?”

  “No. She’d just...be mad.” She looked up, talking fast. “She’d make a lot of noise and cry and sometimes break things.”

  An invisible fist squeezed his throat, making him swallow twice before he could get words out. “I’m sorry.” He rubbed his hand up and down her back. “I wish I’d known—”

  “She said we couldn’t tell.” Lifting her small shoulder in a philosophical shrug, she added, “It was just sometimes. Don’t be sad.”

  God love her, she was an amazing child. Deliberately erasing the torment from his expression and tone, he made himself smile. “How can I be sad when you’re here with me now?” He punctuated that with a kiss to her forehead. “But I am sorry. I’m your daddy and I should have known.” I should have protected you.

  “It’s okay.” She patted his cheek.

  “What did you do when your mama was that mad?”

  “I played in my room.”

  “With the TV on?” He imagined it would help drown out the noise. Deb had obviously suffered worse depression than he’d ever imagined.

  Nodding, Sadie leaned back in his arms and assured him, “I miss her but I like living with you.”

  “I love living with you. And just so you know,” he teased, quickly tickling her ribs, “I’m keeping you until you’re as old as I am, and then, maybe, if you want to move out on your own, I’ll let you.” He wanted to lighten her mood, and his, as well.

  He figured he’d succeeded when she giggled happily, then settled again with a sigh. “Do you think we could help Autumn?”

  “With the cow?”

  She nodded. “Would she let us?”

  “I’ll talk to her about it.” Since he didn’t know much about cows, he couldn’t promise anything beyond that. “How would you help?”

  Her auburn lashes sent shadows over her eyes. “I could maybe read to the cow, like you read to me.”

  Very seriously, Tash said, “You are a good reader.” It helped that she loved books. “You think the cow would like that?”

  Sadie nodded. “I like it so maybe she would, too.”

  “Then tomorrow we’ll go shopping for a few new books. Maybe something to do with farms and pastures and happy cows.”

  Grinning, Sadie squeezed him tight, then squirreled around until she got back under her comforter. “I’m ready to sleep now, ’kay?”

  Tash bent to kiss the tip of her little button nose. “On one condition. If you want to talk more, if you have trouble sleeping, just let me know. Even if I’ve gone to bed, okay? You can always wake me up and I promise it won’t be a problem.”

  After a wide yawn, she said, “Okay, Dad.” She pulled her elephant close, her arms around it, the elephant’s head tucked under her chin. “If you want to talk, you can wake me up, too.”

  “Deal.” He smoothed her blankets, stood to go, then whispered, “I’m so very, very proud of you, Sadie.” After one last smile, Tash left the room, touched, encouraged and, as he’d said, proud of the generous caring child he’d fathered.

  Chapter Ten

  After greeting her, Pavlov went back to bed. Smart dog. They should probably do the same, only Ember knew she couldn’t sleep, and Autumn swore by the powers of her magic ice cream...

  “So.” Curled up in the corner of Autumn’s comfy couch, Ember dug into her chocolate-latte ice cream. Heaven. Who knew such a thing existed? But it did, and her enterprising, ice-cream-loving sister had it. “Tell me about Tash.”

  Autumn gave her the look, the one that said she saw through her bullshit but would indulge her...for now.


  “What do you want to know?”

  Anything and everything that might distract her and give her something better to think about. “Is he a hot kisser?”

  “Mmm,” Autumn said, her mouth full. She nodded fast and swallowed. “Very hot.”

  Waving her spoon, Ember demanded, “Elaborate.”

  “He kissed me in the barn the other day.”

  “Ooooh, do tell.”

  “He took me by surprise, but once he kissed me, he kept kissing me. It was pretty awesome.”

  “Wow. Okay, this is good. Has he kissed you since then?”

  Autumn focused on her ice cream. “He has.”

  Curious over her reaction, Ember asked, “Really kissed you?”

  “Pecks mostly.” In a rush, Autumn explained, “It’s not like we can make out with Sadie there. Neither of us wants to do anything to make her uncomfortable.”

  “Hmmm...” The wheels started turning. Mike made her realize how little Autumn did for herself. While Ember went out nearly every night, Autumn stayed home. Alone.

  Why had she never thought about that? Her sister was loving and sweet and...okay, not great at fashion, and she definitely didn’t present herself as nicely as she could, but still—

  “What are you doing?” Autumn asked with a lot of worried suspicion.

  Ember pulled her most innocent expression.

  Brows pulled together, Autumn thunked her ice-cream bowl loudly onto the table. “You’re plotting something and I don’t want you to.”

  For her sister to forgo her ice cream, she must be pretty serious. Time to switch tactics. “How do my roots look?”

  Predictably, the switch threw Autumn. “Your roots?”

  “Yeah, for my highlights.” She turned her head and lifted out a hank of hair. Unlike Autumn, who left her dark brown hair alone, Ember liked to play. Right now she had bold reddish highlights pieced all through her hair, and in her opinion it was a pretty kick-ass look.

  “They’re okay. Still look nice.” Picking up her bowl again, Autumn grumbled, “Don’t go plotting. I can handle my own love life.”

  “Do you even have a love life?” Cutting short the answer she knew Autumn would give, she said, “Outside of what you read in your books.”

  Deflating, she shook her head. Going one further, she set aside her ice cream again and dropped her face in her hands.

  Whoa. What was this? Autumn never acted all dramatic and forlorn. That was more Ember’s speed—coached out of her by their mother from a very young age. For as far back as she could remember, her mother had harped on Autumn being the responsible one while telling Ember she was a free spirit, whatever the hell that meant. Probably code for flighty, or unreliable, or something even worse.

  There were times it gave her carte blanche to be bad. A free spirit had to do what a free spirit had to do, right?

  She snorted to herself.

  Her folks might not believe it, and obviously Mike didn’t, either, but she could be reliable. She could be as responsible as necessary. She could—

  Through her fingers, Autumn muttered, “Stop that.”

  Uncanny how Autumn read her even with her face hidden.

  “What are you doing, Autumn?” An awful thought struck her and she asked, “Was the cow hurt? You said it wasn’t, and I didn’t see any injuries, but you’re better at that than me, so I believed you. Now you’re all morose and—”

  The fingers parted for a glare. “Tash wants a relationship, but sex is iffy.”

  Hold the phone! Scooping the last bite of ice cream out of her bowl, Ember set hers away too. First things first. “The cow will be okay?”

  “We’ll make it so.”

  Dropping back to the couch with relief, she asked, “No sex?”

  Miserable, Autumn sprawled back, too. “It’s not really possible. He said he likes me, he likes being with me, and Sadie adores me.” Expression softening, Autumn said, “I’m pretty nuts about her, as well.”

  “Yeah, she’s a doll. But...no sex? Seriously?”

  “Sadie is adjusting, you know? So it’s not like Tash will leave her with someone just to, um...”

  “Do the horizontal mambo? Light your fire? Make you scream with torrid—”

  Laughing, Autumn said, “Stop.”

  “Autumn.” Her sis might have trouble saying it, but Ember wasn’t nearly that discreet. “Sex. The man won’t make time to have sex. With you.”

  Autumn closed her eyes. “Yeah.”

  Energized, Ember sat forward again. “It wouldn’t have to be a straight shot to the bedroom! You could go on an actual date, dinner, maybe a movie, then do the nasty.” She bobbed her eyebrows. “God knows, you’re ripe for the pickin’.”

  Cocking open an eye, Autumn stared. “Once more for the record—he’s new to town. He doesn’t have a babysitter and doesn’t want to leave her yet, anyway.”

  “My opinion—”

  “I didn’t ask.”

  “—is that he can’t help her by smothering her.” She picked up Autumn’s bowl. “What flavor did you have?”

  “Strawberry Marshmallow Crunch.”

  “Oh, my god, that sounds amazing.” Taking a big bite, Ember let it melt on her tongue with humming satisfaction.

  “Hey! I was going to eat th—”

  “Delicious.” Settling back again—with Autumn’s share of the magic ice cream—Ember asked, “So...do you want to get him naked? Do you want him in a bed? Or against the wall, or maybe over the table?”

  Autumn snickered again. “I hadn’t even thought about...well, walls and tables.”

  “But you have thought about the bed, right?”

  Autumn eyed her ice-cream bowl, twisted her mouth and nodded. “You’ve seen him. You’ve talked to him. What do you think?”

  “I think you’ve been on a very—and I mean v-e-e-r-r-ry—long bout of denial and you’ve got to be primed. Like...ready to explode, right?”

  “Will you stop that?”

  “I mean, even before Tash, there was only Chuck, right?” She said his name with a sneer, then gave a delicate shudder of revulsion.

  Slumping more, Autumn nodded.

  “And he couldn’t have been any good, because—seriously—awesome as this ice cream is, sex can blow your mind. You just need the right guy.” She took another slow, savoring bite, then picked up where she’d left off. “So, yeah, Tash is yummy. A gorgeous hunk, and nice, too. I bet he’s good.” With any luck, he’d be a dynamo in the sack, which was just what her far-too-responsible sister needed.

  Autumn heaved a sigh. “Yeah, I’m thinking he would be, too.”

  Hmm...given that moony-eyed expression, Autumn had been thinking about it a lot, and that made up her mind. “It’s decided, then. Leave it to your little sis to take care of things, okay?”

  “What? No.” Alarm brought Autumn forward until she sat on the edge of the couch, looking like she might leap with the right provocation. “Don’t you dare do a single thing!”

  Ember waved away that order. “This really is magic ice cream. I feel better already.”

  Snatching away the bowl, Autumn said, “You feel better because you’re zoned in on me!”

  True. Solving Autumn’s lack-of-nooky problem proved a very nice distraction from her own issues. She knew exactly how she’d handle things, and in no time at all—

  “Let’s talk about you for a bit.”

  Ember noted the evil delight in Autumn’s tone, but she’d wanted to talk to her about stuff anyway. Autumn was always her go-to when life got a little heavy.

  Her sister had a very commonsense approach to all problems.

  “Mike is awesome.”

  Surprised at her willingness to share, Autumn stared. “Yes, he is.” She chewed her lip and said, “So you finally realize it?”

&nbs
p; “I’ve always known. And he wants me. In the sack. Maybe in the lake, come to think of it. He would have been willing the other day if you hadn’t shown up.”

  “I really am sorry—”

  Ember sighed. Loudly. After all, it was her turn to unburden. “Thing is, he doesn’t like me.”

  Softening in that familiar way, Autumn said, “I don’t believe that.”

  “Yeah, well, he said he wants sex, only sex, and then he’ll have me out of his system and we can both go off on our merry way.”

  Autumn’s jaw dropped. “That...”

  “Dick? I know. I was pretty irked, too.” The more she’d thought about it, the less she wanted to tell him off, and the more she wanted to prove him wrong.

  Autumn scooted closer. “Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand?”

  “Nope. He was real clear about it.” Even with Autumn, she wasn’t ready to tell her whole plan, but she could share a few of the details. “Good as this ice cream is, sex is a major cure-all for me, and Mike could be right. Maybe I’ll have him once and won’t even want him again.”

  Settling in to hear more, Autumn asked carefully, “But you do want him?”

  “Oh, yeah. Big-time.” And when she had him, she’d make it so damn good he’d be addicted.

  It suddenly struck Ember as funny. Once she started laughing, she couldn’t stop.

  “Are you going hysterical?” Autumn asked with worry.

  Laughing too hard to answer, Ember shook her head. She’d eaten all the ice cream, so maybe that was part of her lifted spirits, but the facts were pretty humorous, too.

  “Ember...?”

  Wiping her eyes and taking a few calming breaths, she managed to get her guffaws under control but couldn’t do anything about her grin. “Do you realize Tash wants you for everything without sex involved, and Mike only wants me for sex and nothing else? How’s that for irony?”

  “Oh.” Autumn’s mouth twitched. “I have a no-sex relationship, and you have a sex-only relationship.”