“That, he is.”
Judy stretched her hand and introduced herself before turning back to Kinsley. “I’m going to clean up now. Do you need anything before I get to it?”
Kinsley shook her head and pointed to a stack of about twenty books. “Are these the ones you want me to sign for the store?”
“Yes, please, if you don’t mind.”
“You’ve been so wonderful; of course I don’t mind.” She looked at Jared as Judy walked away. “Okay if we stick around a few minutes for me to finish?”
“I got all the time in the world.” He sat next to her and made himself a part of her work by having each book open to the proper signing page for her.
“Careful,” she said. “You just might find yourself as my assistant from here on out.”
“Honey, I’ll be glad to assist you with any of your needs.” He put his hand on her leg, making the signing of the last three books the most difficult of them all.
***
After they left the bookstore, they wasted no time getting to Kinsley’s room and out of their clothes. They had barely spoken once in the room, but the few words expressed the urgency of their need and a softness between them.
Lying in his arms afterward, she marveled at how each time they made love seemed, impossibly, to be even better than the time before. The intimacy between them deepened each time, as they learned a little more about each other, mostly by how they reacted when touched or kissed in a certain way, but also in the calm afterwards, in the pieces of themselves they shared with each other in the wake of their passion.
She turned her face to his and he kissed her nose. “You have no idea how glad I am you came,” she said, snuggling closer to him.
“I think I have a bit of an idea,” he teased, rubbing his hand over her back and hip.
“I was getting worried when you hadn’t returned my call.”
He sighed. “I didn’t get the voicemail until I was almost here. There was spotty reception and I didn’t even think to check the screen for calls or texts. By the time I got it, I figured you were busy, and I knew I’d be seeing you in person soon.” He lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. “I wanted to call immediately. It took a lot of willpower to wait, but I didn’t want to interrupt anything or distract you. And, to be honest, I was looking forward to your reaction when I showed up as a surprise.”
“So, you missed me that soon after I left?”
“Nah, I’ve always wanted to visit Carrollton.”
She smirked and he chuckled, pulling her head to his chest.
“I missed you hours before you left. I just didn’t realize I couldn’t take it until Ethel was out of my sight.”
Kinsley’s stomach flipped and she traced his chest with her fingers. “I was so afraid you were ready for me to move on.”
He put his finger under her chin and lifted her face so he could look into her eyes, his expression serious. “Kinsley, I am sorry that I haven’t made it one hundred percent clear how I feel about you.” She started to speak and he put his finger on her lips. “I’ve been kicking myself for letting you leave without having any idea when you were coming back.”
“Me too,” she said quietly against his finger.
“For God’s sake, we’re grown people. Why is it so hard to tell you how much I like you?”
“Maybe you could write me a note that says, ‘Do you like me? Check yes or no.’”
He threw his head back and laughed, rubbing her cheek with the rising and falling of his chest. “And which box would you check?”
“I would make my own box to check that said ‘Absolutely, definitely, YES.’”
He laughed again, and Kinsley thought she had never been as comfortable with the world as she was at that moment.
“Well, you don’t need to write me a note to ask me. You don’t have to ask at all. I’ll tell you right now. I really like you, Kinsley Griffin … a lot. More than a lot.” She started to speak, but he continued, putting his lips on her neck and kissing. “In fact, I love you, Kinsley.”
She froze for a moment as the feeling washed through her, and tears filled her eyes, while she tested the words on her tongue. “I love you, too, Jared.”
He put his hand on her cheek and brought her eyes back up to him. “And having you in my home this last week or so has brought me to life in a way I had forgotten I could feel. I don’t want to go back to my bed without you. Nikki is leaving this weekend, and I usually love having the house to myself. But the thought of being alone now makes me feel sick. I don’t want a long-distance relationship, Kinsley. I want you there. I want you to move in with me.”
She started to speak and again he returned his finger to her lips.
“I know you have this exciting life now in Chicago and maybe you don’t want to come back to the small-town life for good. I don’t care. I’ll pack up and sell everything I have to be with you … as long as Marshall can come along.” She’d never heard him speak with such speed, as if he were afraid she would jump in before he could tell her all he wanted to.
She smiled broadly and kissed his finger before he pulled it away from her lips. “There’s no way you and I can have a relationship without Marshall. So, you’d better not abandon him.” Pulling up to her elbow, she continued. “And I don’t want you to come with me. I want to be there with you. I want to move in. I’ve been thinking of Adamson Pride as ‘home’ ever since I entered it. It just felt right from the moment I rode through the gate with you and Marshall. And I have been trying to figure out how in the world I was going to go back to Chicago now and not fall apart.”
He pulled her down and put his arms around her, kissing her passionately. There was so much more to say, thought Kinsley, but she felt his interest in words ebb and interest in something else grow, and she found herself wanting him to show her how he felt now.
Epilogue
Eight Months Later
Kinsley slept late for the first time in months. On most days over the past few months, she was up early enough to help Jared on the farm where he needed her the most and then work on the book. Now, the book was completed. She had sent her final draft to Lynn six weeks before, right on schedule, and had received the author’s proof earlier that week. The euphoria she always felt after turning her books over was one that caused relief and peace to flood her for several weeks, with a tinge of sadness at the knowledge that something so intimate, something of her, no longer belonged to her.
Jared had refused to allow her to help on the farm that morning and would not let her set the alarm clock. She glanced over at his side of the bed—their bed. He had probably been up three hours or more. He needed to take care of a few things with the fencing before he joined Nikki, who was home for spring break, and some of their friends and neighbors in the refurbished barn to prepare for the celebration they were hosting that evening for the completion of the book.
It had been the first time they had hosted an event in the barn since the fire. Ralph Schmidt had made a recovery and had been formally charged for his attempt to kidnap Kinsley. He was pleading not guilty, and she wished it was over already and worried about the outcome until she was reminded that she and the two people she loved most were safe.
Kinsley had tried to get Jared to hold off on a celebration for the new book. She preferred that he wait and host a book release party. It seemed rather premature to start celebrating at this phase. He just shrugged and said, “We can do both.”
In the end, they had agreed on a smaller affair with just a few close friends and family and then they could have a larger event for the day the book was launched in the market. Lynn and Carley would come in for that event, and Kinsley planned to invite Jana, the bookstore manager in Chattanooga, and Carrollton’s bookstore owner Judy. It would serve as a great marketing and community outreach opportunity. Judy had also offered to contact some other local bookstore owners nearby.
She’d also made contact with some distant cousins three counties over, and
they were looking forward to joining them for the big event. Kinsley could not believe how much her family members and her new family in Belle Ridge had welcomed her into their lives and made her feel at home.
It was the upcoming book release party that Kinsley felt would be the most important for so many reasons. She had yet to figure out why Jared was making such a big deal out of everything so early in the process, but she had come to accept that he loved to make her happy and enjoyed finding excuses to celebrate their life together. So, she didn’t push back too much. She had learned to let him shower her with attention; she hoped she’d been able to reciprocate.
After stretching her arms above her head, she crawled out of bed and threw on some jeans and one of Jared’s t-shirts, then padded barefoot into the kitchen. Jared was standing at the sink, holding a mug and staring out the window toward the barn. He turned when he heard her enter and shared a wide smile. She walked over to him and kissed him. He set his mug down and put his arms around her waist. Steam spiraled above the hot beverage, making Kinsley long for her own cup.
“I was just about to come wake you up,” he said. “You’ll be sorry you didn’t get that wakeup call. It was going to be nice.”
She grinned and kissed him again, pulling away as his hands began to wander. “Then I’d better get a raincheck.”
“That, I can promise you.” He let go of her and poured her a cup of coffee while she sat at the table. “Nikki and Tammi are already here and out decorating the barn. I told them I’d be out to help as soon as I had another cup of coffee and made sure you were up.”
“Great. Let me finish this and I’ll come out and help.”
“Uh-uh,” he argued as he sat next to her. “We’ve got this under control. I want you to enjoy your day off. No book, no farm, no work.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “You know, I have published books before now. This part is not that big of a deal.”
“It’s a big deal because it’s the first time I’ve gotten to be a part of this.”
She nodded threw up her hands. “I’m not going to win this argument, am I”
“Nope,” he said, shaking his head.
“Okay, well then let’s celebrate to your heart’s content. You are, after all, the reason for the book.”
“Nice shirt.” He gestured to the tee she wore.
She lifted the neckline and inhaled his scent. “The nicest part is how much it smells like you.”
He stood abruptly and took his mug to the sink. “If I don’t leave this room right now, I will be of no help to those girls today because I won’t be leaving the bedroom.”
She laughed and stood next to him, draping her arms around him again. “Okay. I’ll keep my tempting ways under control.” She disengaged herself, picked up her mug from the table, and walked back through the door, considering how she might occupy herself for the next several hours until the party that evening.
She stepped out onto the porch and felt the chill of winter’s last breath in late March. Setting the mug onto the porch railing, she rubbed her arms and looked out at the car they had picked out together a month after she’d moved in. This one was Bessie, and Kinsley had claimed that she definitely had a crush on Jared. She smiled and, feeling the chill bite harder, took her mug and went back into the house.
After drawing herself a bath, she found a book to download onto her iPad. It was the first time she had allowed herself a few moments of relaxation in months. She put the tablet inside a waterproof bag, then lit some candles and pulled off her clothes. She almost fell asleep in the tub, she was so relaxed. The water had started to cool and the candles danced around her, nearly hypnotizing her.
She roused herself and stepped out of the tub, unplugged the stopper, and began drying off, blowing out candles as she moved around the room. She couldn’t believe the luck she’d stumbled into the day she’d met this family she now called her own. She’d made herself at home, becoming the new Mistress of the Pride, as Jared had referred to her. She giggled, remembering the moniker.
When she was dressed, she stepped to the window in the bedroom that looked over the barn and rebuilt chicken chapel and watched the barn come to life with lights and laughter, as it had those months ago for Nikki’s birthday, the night Jared had first admitted his love for her and the night she knew she didn’t want to leave this place, her home. She closed the curtains and checked the clock on the bedside table. The party wasn’t for another hour. She wondered if the crew below could do without Jared until the party officially began.
***
There were a few more people at the party than Kinsley had expected, but it still had an intimate feel. There were electric space heaters placed strategically around the barn; the night air still carried a chill though winter was giving way to spring. The lights they had chosen for decoration had a bluish tint, casting a calming glow that made the evening feel even more intimate. Candles lit the tables, but out of respect for the barn’s trauma, they were battery operated, yet flickered as if they were real.
There were four tables arranged so that everyone could easily talk with everyone else in the room. Music was playing on a sound system Jared had installed, low enough to not be intrusive. The dress was casual but festive. Kinsley had chosen a long purple sweater and black leggings, adding a beautiful long beaded necklace that wrapped around her neck twice and still reached her navel. She left her long hair down, but pulled it to the side in a loose braid that draped across her chest and was nearly as long as the necklace.
Jared was wearing a pair of black jeans with his cowboy boots and a button-up maroon shirt with some ribbing that gave it depth without making it flashy. She loved that shirt on him and loved tracing the ribbing with her fingers, but would love it more when she was able to unbutton it and push it off his shoulders.
To add some more warmth, they were serving a hearty beef stew that Pat had made with some homemade bread baked by Julia’s mother Dottie. Nikki had ordered a cake created to look like a book, and everyone was finishing up their dessert when Jared unexpectedly stood up to get everyone’s attention.
He cleared his throat and tapped his spoon against his glass. “About eight months ago, Marshall and I took a walk down Raccoon Mountain Road and met what we thought was a lady in distress.” He looked down and smiled at Kinsley as tears began to well in her eyes. “Instead of saving her, she saved us.”
“She did!” shouted Nikki. Kinsley’s eyes flew to her and paused on the way back to Jared as she suddenly felt the intensity of everyone watching them. She had been in front of hundreds of people many times, but she had never felt this level of nervousness.
Jared continued, pulling her attention back to him. “As you can see, she immediately captured our hearts.”
“Everyone’s hearts,” someone at the table said, creating a murmur of agreement and a resounding “Shush!” from Nikki.
Jared cleared his throat, throwing a grateful look at his daughter before continuing. “And these last eight months have been the best in a very long time. When someone like Kinsley Griffin lands in your lap, you don’t want to let her go.”
He looked directly at her, raising his glass of wine to her before setting in on the table and putting his hand in his pocket. The tears that had already begun to pool in Kinsley’s eyes had now started spilling onto her cheeks.
“I know we haven’t discussed this, and I’m taking a pretty big risk here by asking you in front of a bunch of folks, but one thing I’ve learned since you’ve been here is to trust my heart with you.” He pulled a box from his pocket. “Kinsley—”
But before he could open the box or finish his sentence, she jumped up and threw her arms around his neck and shouted, “Yes!” He nearly dropped the ring in surprise but managed to catch it. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her into a kiss, carefully holding the ring box behind her while the guests whooped and whistled and clapped.
He pulled back and searched her eyes. “Now just to make it absolutely cl
ear that you know what I’m asking, can I actually ask the question?”
She nodded, more tears streaming down her cheeks.
He held up the ring box and opened the lid. “Kinsley Griffin, will you make me the luckiest man in the world and be my wife and officially the mistress of all that is part of the Adamson Pride? Marshall made me throw in the whole dang farm to be sure you knew you were saying yes to all of this.”
She nodded vigorously. “It is still a big yes to you and Marshall.”
“And me!” shouted Nikki again.
Kinsley turned her face to the young woman with whom she had fallen in love nearly as quickly as she had her father. “And you, of course!” Then she turned back to Jared and stood on her toes to kiss him more passionately, while he lifted her and returned the kiss, her feet dangling above the ground. She giggled and he set her back down.
He looked back out at their friends and family. “Okay, party’s over. Hurry on home. I have something important to take care of.” Then he took Kinsley’s hand and led her out of the barn and into the heart of Adamson Pride.
I hope you enjoyed getting to know Kinsley and Jared from Belle Ridge, Tennessee. I’d really appreciate it if you’d leave a review. More Books
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Welcome to Charlene’s World!
Charlene writes sweet, heartwarming stories of small-town romance where lucky ladies seem to always fall for the ruggedly handsome cowboy next door. Charlene is a lifelong resident of the American South currently live in southern Oklahoma on a family-owned cattle ranch near the Red River. She loves to greet each morning with a hot cup of coffee and an optimistic smile. After raising their children, she and her husband recently became empty-nesters. With the peace and quiet that comes with that, Charlene began to hear the characters in her head begging for their stories to be told which is when the author inside her was set free. She has always enjoyed reading romance and it was her husband who encouraged her to write her first novel. You can find all of Charlene’s book by visiting and following her on her Amazon Author Central Page.
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