With This Pledge (Windswept Bay Book 8)

by Debra Clopton

  She had walls of her own.

  And now she was about to let herself be vulnerable to hurt.

  Her phone rang before she got out of the truck. She was in a hurry so she snatched it off the console and answered it on the second ring.

  “Kelsey, I can’t live without you.”

  Her mouth went dry at the sound of her ex-boss’s voice. “Harrison, what are you doing?”

  It was unimaginable that this man was acting like this. Yes, he had a control issue and had thought he could control her and manipulate her because she worked for him. But this was far over the top. “You tried to ruin me. I have no feelings for you. Leave me alone.” She started to hang up.

  “I want you, Kelsey. I love you,” he said immediately. “I’m divorcing my wife—”

  “Not for me,” she snapped, completely sickened by the man. “I don’t want anything to do with you. If you come near me again, this time I will press charges. Am I clear?”

  She knew now that Max and Levi had been right. She shouldn’t have let him off after attacking her in the grocery store parking lot. What had she been thinking? Clearly he had a problem and somehow she had become a fixation of his.

  “I won’t let someone else have you,” he growled and then the line went dead.

  Her pulse skittered…and her stomach soured with anger and bafflement rather than fear. If he thought he was going to push her around, he was mistaken. She got out of the truck and stalked to Max’s door. Harrison was a control freak, obviously, but she had done nothing, absolutely nothing to warrant his odd behavior.

  Trying to gather her wits, she took a deep breath and then tapped on Max’s door.

  “Come in.”

  She was happy to hear his voice and opened the door.

  Max stood in the kitchen, leaning heavily on his crutches. His knee was in a brace and even from this distance, she saw strain in his face.

  “Hey,” he called, grinning at her as if he wasn’t in pain.

  She knew differently. She had been able to see past his façade almost from the beginning. “Max, you shouldn’t be standing,” she said instantly, forgetting everything but him in that moment.

  “I’m fine. I’m warming up supper for us. My sisters and my mom delivered enough food to feed a small army.”

  She stalked across to the kitchen and stuffed her hands on her hips. “Max, you are the most stubborn man. I can fix my own food,” she snapped. “You need to sit down. And when was the last time you took your pain meds?” She knew she sounded awful but she was done seeing him hurting. This was the last straw.

  “I skipped it. I didn’t want to be all medicated and out of it when you got here.”

  “Max, you need it.” She tried to keep her voice steady, to keep the emotions she was feeling for him inside. “Where is your pain medicine?”

  “It’s on the coffee table.” He rested against the wall and leaned his head against it.

  “Come on. Let’s get you back to the couch.” She placed an arm around his waist and he looked down at her.

  “You’re angry at me.”

  “More frustrated than anything,” she said, sternly. “After the other night, you should have call—”

  He stopped her words with a kiss; his arm slid around her waist and pulled her close while his mouth moved over hers.

  She stiffened, tried to resist the emotions melting her knees and her resolve, and then she was kissing him back. Losing herself in the wonder and joy of his touch.

  “I’m sorry,” he muttered against her lips at last before he pulled away to look at her. “I should have let you in. I told you I was going to. I told you I was going to treat you right and I didn’t. It’s not a good way to start our relationship.”

  Her heart had been hurting with his lack of including her, of not letting her past his barriers but now, she felt as if they’d made a step forward. “This…what is happening between us…has to be a partnership. I’ve given it a lot of thought and you…you spent most of your life having to keep your life to yourself. You haven’t had anyone other than your team members to talk to. But now it’s a new time…and for a relationship to work, we’ll need to be a team. You and me.”

  “I like that.”

  “You have to let me in. And I get that we just started this. But if you can’t let me in now, I’m afraid you might not let me later. And Max, I have my own baggage, my own insecurities and barriers to overcome and I can’t risk my heart with so little. No matter how much I care for you.”

  “I understand. I agree.” He kissed her again.

  He agreed.

  His hand cupped her face gently. One of the crutches fell to the ground, making a horrible crashing sound, and they both jumped. “Sorry about that. That’s enough to wake us both up.”

  She chuckled. “Or give us a heart attack,” she said. “I care about you, Max.”

  “And I care about you. I’m falling in love with you, Kelsey.”

  She closed her eyes. His words sunk into the dark space inside her heart. A space that had been dark and lonely for so long. She opened her eyes. “That’s how I feel. I’m falling for you, too, Max.” She’d already fallen.

  “Then are you going to give us a chance? It looks like I have a few things to learn. But I want to. You’re worth it, Kelsey. Can we start from here?”

  She knew there was no way she was going to say anything but yes. At least he knew how she felt. “Yes. Now you have to sit down. I’m going to give you a pain pill and you’re not going to feel any pain for a while.” She picked up his crutch and helped him over to the couch.

  Then she picked up his medication and read the instructions, shook out one pill and handed it to him along with the glass of water from the table. “Take this.”

  He did exactly as she asked. “It looks like you’re learning,” she said as he swallowed the pill.

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m going to try.”

  She laughed and it felt so wonderful. “All right. I’m going to go finish what you were fixing in there while you relax.”

  “Yes, nurse.”

  By the time she had the casserole heated up, he was sleeping. She sank down into the chair and watched him sleep. All the tension that had been in his expression was relaxed. Her heart swelled with fullness and…love.

  Chapter Twelve

  The sun coming up through his window woke Max. He was still on the couch, with a blanket over him. On the table next to him was a tray with some of the blueberry muffins—his favorite—that his mother had brought over before he’d come home from the hospital. There was a container of them on the kitchen counter. Kelsey had also poured some orange juice in a glass and a cup of coffee in an insulated cup. And there was a note, neatly folded beside the plate.

  I hope you slept well. You woke once and took another round of medicine. I left at seven to get ready for work. Call if you need anything. There’s more coffee brewing in the coffee maker. Kelsey

  He fingered the note and wished he’d wakened thirty minutes earlier. He didn’t remembered passing out on Kelsey or waking up to take more medicine. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn’t even made it through dinner. She’d had to eat by herself and then what—sit in the chair and watch him snore? He rubbed his neck. “What a great night Kelsey must have had,” he grumbled.

  He was so ready to be done with this knee. Frustration had him sitting up. He picked up his crutches and ignored the throb in his knee as he maneuvered up to a standing position. He balanced there on the crutches and then reached down and picked up the coffee. She’d taken the time to fix this and he needed something to take the fuzz out of his brain. He took a long swallow of the still hot coffee and then another. Finally he set it back down and headed to the shower, only to remember he couldn’t yet get his leg wet. He turned the shower on and balancing, he stuck his head in. He needed clarity. He wouldn’t be taking any more pain medicine.

  An hour later, when the medicine was completely gone and the pain that radiated
from his knee told him he was back to being fully in control of all his senses, Max headed out to the truck. It was time to see Kelsey again.

  Kelsey was brushing down Rip, one of the big bay geldings, when she heard the crunch of boots. She was tired, after sitting up in a chair most of the night. She hadn’t wanted to leave Max. She’d sat there and watched over him while she watched old movies on the television. It had felt good looking out for him. But it was Saturday and she’d had to come back to the stables and get ready for her morning class of kids. She was expecting to see one of them, maybe Kevin, when she looked up but it was the last person she’d expected to see…

  “Max.” She gasped and dropped the brush and stood up. “What are you doing?”

  He smiled, the dimple showing immediately. “I came to tell you how much I enjoyed you coming over last night.”

  She knew she should be mad at him for disobeying the doctor’s orders again but her heart was dipping with the disbelief and the joy that he’d wanted to come see her so badly. Still, concern for him beat out everything. “Max, you shouldn’t have. You need to be at home. This can’t be good for your knee. And what about the painkillers? Are you drivin—”

  “I haven’t taken any since you gave it to me this morning. I have a high pain tolerance but I’m told when I go for therapy that I’ll have to have it. Jake is taking me for that at nine and I wanted to talk to you before that because who knows—I might be sleeping again—which I hate.”

  She knew he did; she could feel his frustrations. Max was an active guy who’d been sidelined by this injury. She moved to him and cupped his cheek. “You’re going to be over all this in a few weeks and back up to speed.”

  He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “I didn’t think you were ever going to come out of that stall. I’m going to work those therapists out. I’m getting this knee well as fast as possible. Cam and Lana will be getting married in May and I’m needing a date and a dance partner—but not just anyone. I want it to be you.” He hitched a brow.

  “That sounds like a great idea. I’d love that.”

  The sound of a vehicle driving into the yard had his arm tightening around her. “Then it’s a date.” He kissed her gently. “Then I’m a happy man. I’ll head back home and wait for Jake. This waiting around for people is driving me crazy.”

  “Patience is obviously not your strong point.”

  “No. It’s not. I’ll call you.” He kissed her quickly as the sound of kids and the slamming of car doors could be heard. “Sounds like we’ve got company.”

  “Jessica is bringing Kevin and his friends to ride.”

  “Oh, sounds fun. He’s a cute kid.”

  “Yes, he is.”

  She pulled out of his arms and let him get situated with the crutches and start moving. She could see it hurt him but the man was amazing where pain tolerance was concerned.

  Kevin rounded the corner with his buddies and skidded to a halt. “Max, cool. You’ve got crutches.”

  She bit back a grin. Leave it to kids to think crutches were cool.

  “Hey, buddy. I do have them. Give me a few weeks and you can have these if you want them.”

  Kevin looked at the other guys and beamed. “Awesome. You guys can use them too.”

  Jessica approached them and shook her head. “You’ve made his day. Of course, I’m not sure what Mr. Short Stuff thinks he’s going to do with your tall crutches.”

  “I’m sure he’ll figure something out. I’ll just be glad to be rid of them.”

  “I’ll like them,” Kevin said. “I might need them when I grow up.”

  “This is true,” Max agreed. “All I can say is they’re yours when the doc says I can toss them to the curb, so get ready.” He turned to Kelsey. “I need to go. Jake will not be happy if he gets to my house and can’t find me.”

  “Levi isn’t going to believe it when I tell him you are already up and about. Are you supposed to be driving?”

  His lip lifted into a lopsided grin. “I had something important to take care of. I’ll call you, Kelsey.”

  “Please be careful.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “See you later, fellas,” he called to the kids. They all waved and yelled bye to him as he headed to his truck.

  She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulled it out to glance at the screen. Harrison. She ignored the call. She’d thought about telling Max about his call last night but it hadn’t been the place and then Max had fallen asleep. She’d tell him later but for now she would ignore him. With any luck, he’d get the message and leave her alone.

  She told the boys to get their horses, which she had tied in their stalls.

  Jessica looked at her with smiling eyes. “So, he came to see you? How interesting.”

  “Is Levi as stubborn as his brother?”

  “Oh, I think so. I have a feeling he wouldn’t be a very good patient if he was in a situation like Max. But you just sidestepped my observation. He looked really happy and any pain looked insignificant in the face of the way he looked at you.”

  Kelsey took a deep breath. “Oh Jess, I think he and I just moved into some serious relationship waters.”

  “I think that’s wonderful. I know Levi was really happy at the thought of you two being an item.”

  That made her happy, knowing everyone was so thrilled about her and Max.

  But the best part was that she was happy about it. And still couldn’t quite believe it.

  Max lived through physical therapy over the next week. He decided that Phyllis, his therapist, was actually a Marine sergeant in disguise. She was one tough cookie and planned to help him recover as much stability in his knee as possible. Kelsey came in the evenings and she helped him to have patience with his recovery. If it hadn’t been for her, he would not have stayed put. But spending time with her just relaxing was the best possible thing to help keep him from overdoing.

  On the fourth night, he knew he never wanted his life to be without her. He was pretty sure Charlotte felt the same way. His pig loved Kelsey and knew the sound of her truck. He understood how she felt. If he could run to her, he would.

  One thing he knew above all else was he was not ever going to let her down. And he planned to do his best to win her love for the rest of his life.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The next three weeks passed in a blur. Max was involved in therapy and he went every day that he was supposed to and did his own workouts to improve. He called Kelsey and came to see her almost every day. For Kelsey, it was a time of happiness and some disbelief at wondering how she could be so lucky to have found Max. He was everything she could hope for and though she could tell he still had moments when he regretted not being able to go back to his missions, right now his sole focus was on getting better as fast as he could.

  She hadn’t heard from Harrison again and was glad she hadn’t ever found the right time to mention it to Max. With his injury, she hadn’t wanted to worry him.

  Tonight, as she was headed out to his place, she was excited. He’d said he had a surprise and she was curious. Excited and so ready to spend time with him, she drove along the winding road toward his place. It was dark as she neared his drive. The truck that was behind her got right on her bumper, its bright lights blinding in the rearview. She turned onto the road, quicker than she should, and fishtailed as her tires hit the gravel. “Goodness, fella,” she muttered as she slammed on her brakes.

  The truck slowed and then gassed it before it disappeared down the road. Her heart thundered as she drove through the open gate and headed down the lane to Max’s house.

  He stood outside the bungalow, wearing shorts and the knee brace. He had been able to get rid of the crutches and was moving around so much better. Everyone in the family now knew they were a steady couple and they were all supportive, although Max remained private and preferred their spending time alone. But she was fine with that because she enjoyed their time alone. She pushed the thoughts of the
truck out of her mind—looking at Max was enough to wipe out the thought of over-aggressive drivers.

  Charlotte trotted to her, grunting and wiggling all over. Bending down, she rubbed the large pig’s ears and grinned at Max. “This little pig has had a bath…how did you get that accomplished?”

  He chuckled. “Charlotte is like a dog who loves a shower. All I have to do is turn it on and open the door, and she’s in there. I dried her off so she would be nice and clean when you got here.”

  “Well, you are looking mighty nice,” she said to the pig. “And so are you. You look like you’re doing a lot better.”

  “I am.” He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “It won’t be long and I’m tossing this brace.”

  “Sounding pretty cocky there.” She rose and moved toward him. He opened his arms and she stepped into his hug. She looked forward to this all day. And knew she would never, ever get tired of feeling his arms around her.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said. “And you smell good—washed that horse right off yourself?”

  She laughed. “Yes, I did. As always.”

  “I like you any way you are but I have to admit soft floral is better than horse. Come on, let’s get in the ATV. I’ve got something to show you.”

  “My surprise?”

  “Yes.” He took her hand and led her to the ATV. There was no doubt that he was moving better. “Stay here, Charlotte,” he told the pig and immediately she moved to sit on the doorstep to wait.

  He drove up the rutted path toward the house. He pulled to a stop. “Stay put,” he said, his grin sending a shiver of happiness through her. “Wait for me.”

  Moving slower than she knew he wanted to, he came around to her and took her hand. She had a feeling that when Max’s brace came off, the man would be a mass of energy.