“I’m sure you will, Tucker. But,” Bug paused to chuck Heather beneath the chin and touch the tip of Reed’s nose. “Heather and Reed aren’t your responsibility. You’re a good big brother, and it’s important you watch over them, but they’re old enough to know how to behave.” Bug once again glanced to the Reed and Heather. “Aren’t you?”
“Yes, sir, Bug!” Reed assured.
“Yes,” Heather whispered. Eva patted the girl’s thin tiny shoulder and rested her head atop the fine red hair.
“Eva and I are getting married tomorrow. It will be a big party, and I’m going to need your help getting ready for it.”
“What you need us to do, Bug?”
“Well,” he started, glancing up at Joanna. “Mrs.
Porter will tell you what you need to do.” His eyes went back to the children. “And after we’re married, you’ll move into the house here with us. But,” he grinned at the kids, “this is where I need the favor.”
Their attention was stuck on him, as was Eva’s.
“I’m wondering if you could stay at Mr. and Mrs.
Porter’s house for a few more days. Just until Tuesday or so. That will give Eva and me time to get the house all ready for you.”
“Oh, sure, Bug,” Tucker said, sighing as if he expected something different. “We can do that. And we’ll help with the party, too.” He glanced at his brother and sister. “Won’t we?”
“Yes,” Heather and Reed agreed in unison.
The children had a few other questions, mainly about the party, that Bug answered. The Porter’s two children, playing on the porch, kept peeking in, and Bug, noticing, said, “I think your friends want you to go out and play for a bit. Do you think they’ll help with the party?”
“Sure they will,” Tucker offered. “You remember Adam and Anna, don’t you Bug? They’re good kids, too.” Eva grinned at how mature Tucker acted. It was delightful, yet at the same time, she was anxious for him to be able to return to being a little boy, and have another chance to not have to grow up as quickly as he already had.
“Yes, I remember Adam and Anna, Tucker.
You’re right, they are good kids. You all are.” Bug lifted Reed off his lap. “You go play with them, now.
Eva and I have to talk about the wedding. I’ll see you again before I leave.”
Tucker scrambled to his feet and then waited while Heather stood up so he could take her hand and lead her to the doorway. Joanna fell in step behind them and quietly pulled the door closed. The squeals and laughter of children faintly filtered into the kitchen.
“So, what do you think?” Bug asked, his eyes still on the door.
Eva leaned over and kissed his cheek. “That you are going to be the best father ever.”
“They are good kids, Eva. Real good kids.”
His voice was so heartfelt, she shivered. “I know they are, Bug. I already love them dearly.”
“You do?”
“Yes, I do.” She wrapped an arm around his neck and leaned her head against his. “We are so very lucky to have them.”
He sighed heavily. “That’s what I think, too.”
His hand slipped over her stomach to caress her side. “Oh, Eva girl, I sure do love you.”
She slid her other hand down his folded leg and ran her fingers over the top of his bare foot beneath his knee. The skin was soft and smooth. She’d never imagined a man’s skin could be so silky. “I love you, too.” He tugged his foot aside. Her fingers followed it.
He tugged harder. She started to giggle. “You’re ticklish.”
“No, I’m not,” he tucked his foot all the way under his thigh.
She found it, tickling the bottom of his sole with the tips of her fingers. “Yes, you are.”
His fingers dug into her side. She yelped as her skin puckered. He lightly pinched her, making her giggle harder. “You are, too,” he acknowledged.
“No,” she let out a little squeal at the sensation rippling up her side. “I’m not.”
Still tickling her side, he flipped around and grabbed her other side. She tried to wiggle away, but couldn’t. The delightful spasms he created in her sides held her captive. She went for his sides. He squirmed and she burrowed her fingers deeper, running the tips of her fingers up to his armpits.
“Hey!” He twisted, but didn’t stop teasing her sides.
Laughing, she reclined, flat on the floor, and kept tickling his sides. He straddled her legs, looming over her, with eyes so dark, her breath stalled in her chest. Simultaneously, their fingers slowed. Her hands slid around his back, aiding as he leaned toward her. His hands snuck up her sides.
Her breasts started to throb as his fingers brushed along the sides of them.
“Oh, Eva, tomorrow can’t come soon enough, can it?” His breath tickled her lips.
“No, Bug, it can’t,” she agreed, parting her lips in an invitation. The connection was soft, yet demanding, and swiftly gained momentum like a rain shower that started out slow, but then exploded into a full out storm, demonstrating how ready they both were for their kisses to lead to something more.
Locked together, they kissed and touched, and Eva grew more heated by the second.
Bug rolled, pulling her until she was plastered on top of him. His heart nearly beat its way right out of his chest, not to mention other parts of his body that throbbed and screamed for release. He kissed her one last time, and then pulled his lips away, drawing air into his burning lungs.
“Oh, Eva girl,” he whispered. Her delicate scent, like roses in bloom, filled his nostrils as he buried his face in her neck. Cloaked by her hair, he filled and emptied his lungs until he dragged up the final ounces left of his endurance. “You’re driving me insane. You know that, don’t you?”
Her giggle tickled the edge of his ear.
He laid his head back so he could see her twinkling eyes. “What do you find so funny?” His hands continued to roam up and down her sides and back. Try as he might, he couldn’t stop them.
She flipped her head, making more of her hair slip out of the pins holding it up on the back of her head, and leaned over his face. “You, me. When did it become so hard for us to be together and not…”
His fingers found their way to her hair, and one by one, plucked out the tiny bits of metal. Fine, silky, strands of hair fluttered to fall around her face. “I don’t know, for sure,” he said, pushing the hair over her shoulders and down her back. Kissing the tip of her nose, he added, “Tomorrow seems a long way off, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
The somber tone in her voice had him wrapping his arms around her.
“So very long,” she added as she laid her cheek against his.
He held her, letting both of their bodies cool down as they lay on the hard kitchen floor. It may have been the sounds of people outside, or the stiff wood beneath them, either way, at the same time they shifted. Bug released his hold, and Eva slid off.
The separation left him chilly—like a part of him was all of a sudden striped away. He rose to his feet, and held her wrists as she did the same. Then, because he needed just one more hug, he pulled her against his chest.
“We still need to talk, Eva girl.”
“I know.” She sighed heavily. “This is just so much more fun.” Her head snapped up and she grinned. “Isn’t it?”
He kissed her lips, quickly so he wouldn’t be tempted to carry her upstairs—as if that was possible—and then took her hand to lead her to a chair.
“You sit,” she instructed near the table. “I’ll get us some lemonade. Joanna made some earlier.”
None to gently, Bug plopped onto a chair. Still fighting the burning urges deep in his core, he tugged his eyes from her departing form. Tiny hair pins were scattered across the floor, and he moved off the chair to gather them up. They were sitting in a pile on the table when she set two glasses on the table and took a seat on the chair next to his.
> “Thank you,” she said, glancing at the pins.
“Thank you,” he offered, lifting one of the glasses.
She giggled again.
“Now, what’s so funny?”
“You, me. A minute ago we were rolling on the floor, and now we’re sitting here like two proper strangers, thanking one another.” She took a sip of her lemonade.
Without taking a swallow, he set his glass down.
“We’re far from strangers, Eva.”
“I know. It was just a comparison.”
Bug nodded. The lemonade was good. Not to tart, not to sweet. Just like Eva. He chugged the rest of the beverage and set down the empty glass. There was so much he had to tell her. Where should he start? “I came across the kids on the train from New York.”
“I know,” she said, twirling her glass between her fingers. “Mrs. Porter told me about it.”
“There were hundreds of them, Eva. Hundreds of little kids with no families.” The remembrance made him shudder. “I never saw anything like it.
Some were tiny babies. And the folks at the stations…” he dragged a hand through his still damp hair. “I didn’t know what to do.”
“You did the right thing.” She reached over and took his hand. “Tucker and Reed and Heather are wonderful kids.” With her other hand she smoothed his hair back. “And we’ll all get along stupendously.
I know it.”
A sense of unease rippled his spine. “I don’t know much about being a father.”
“And I don’t know much about being a mother.
But we’ll figure it out. We have lots of family who’ll help. And I’ve hired the Porters to stay on here.”
He folded his other hand on top of their clutched ones. “You have?”
She covered his top hand with her other one.
“Yes, I have. I knew we’d need the help, and they needed the jobs. It was the best possible solution.
The children already know them, and it will help with their transition into our home.”
Kid had told him about the storm that took out the Porter’s small farm, and Bug decided he’d talk to Jonathan Porter about the arrangement, make sure the man did intend to stay on for a bit. It appeared that subject was settled, for now anyway. With a sigh, he went on to the next. “I was arrested while I was in New York.”
“I know,” she said, grinning.
“It wasn’t funny,” he insisted.
Her face grew solemn. “I’m sure it wasn’t. I didn’t mean to make light of it. It took some finagling, but I finally got Jack to tell me the whole story.” One side of her mouth curled up adorably. “I said I wouldn’t paint a picture for the judge if he didn’t.”
The painting! That was probably why the judge sent his message.
She smiled. “I was kidding of course. I’ll complete the painting as soon as I get Buffalo Killer’s approval. I was a bit shocked to hear about Jenny’s part in your arrest.”
That snapped his attention like twine pulled to hard. “Jenny’s part? You know about that, too?”
“Of course I do.” She slid her hands from his, and took another drink of her lemonade. “Actually, there’s probably not anything I don’t already know about.” Handing him the glass, she continued, “I don’t mean to sound pretentious, but I couldn’t wait any longer for us to get married. I figured if I took care of all the…the issues separating us, there wouldn’t be any reason for you to say no.”
Her cheeks had turned bright red. He took a swallow from her glass and then set it down. “Say no? What made you think I’d say no?”
“A lot has changed since you—”
“What’s changed?” he interrupted. “Nothing’s changed.”
“Yes, it has.”
“What?”
“Me.”
Bug froze, all except for his mind. It was running circles around itself like a dog chasing its own tail.
Chapter Eighteen
“What do you mean?” His guts were curdling.
“My surgery. I—”
A wave of relief set his mind and stomach at ease. “Eva,” he said sternly, only because he wanted her full attention. “If you’re about to say things have changed because you can’t have children, stop right there. We talked about this in Wichita. I told you then, and I’ll tell you until the day I die, that doesn’t matter to me.” He waved a hand toward the back door. “Besides, we already have three kids. How many more do you want?”
A tiny grin momentarily flitted across her lips.
“Three is a perfect number.”
“I think so, too.” He touched the point of her chin. “And I love you. That’s never changed. There isn’t anything I want more than to marry you.”
The smile returned, and stayed on her pink lips.
“I love you, too.”
He leaned close. “I do have one thing to ask you about.”
She tipped her head so her lips almost touched his. “Oh, what’s that?”
“What’s up with the oil well?”
“I told you,” she whispered. Her breath floated over his lips like a gentle caress. “I didn’t want any reason for you to say no. You love oil. I have an oil well.” Her lips touched his. “We’re a perfect match.”
It was more than an hour later when Bug tugged on his oil soaked boots, and then gave Eva a parting kiss before he walked down the back porch steps. They’d talked just like they had years ago.
About things that mattered to both of them and things that didn’t. The smile on his face was fueled with deep-down appreciation. The kids were all in the fenced in garden with Mrs. Porter. He waved at them while walking toward the oil well.
The derrick stood out like the lighthouses that lined the eastern seaboard. How had he not seen it before? His mind circled back, telling him he’d been a little busy the last month, and not noticing a derrick shouldn’t surprise him. Men swarmed the base, unloading things from the wagon. Excitement bubbled in his veins. He owned an oil well. Once again, his mind corrected him. He’d own an oil well as soon as he and Eva got married. And this was just the first. Before the end of the year, he’d have a field of them that would rival Chester’s American Refinery ones.
****
Eva tried to see around Jessie’s shoulder, to catch a glimpse of how the curls were forming in her hair. “Keep your head still, I don’t want to burn you,”
Jessie instructed, wrapping another clump of Eva’s hair around the hot metal bar Lila kept heating up on the little parlor stove in the corner of the bedroom.
At first they’d all thought Lila had no idea what she was talking about, but like usual, the woman did. The hot iron made Eva’s otherwise straight, flyaway hair, form into lush curls.
The women, as well as the Quinter men, had descended upon Eva’s house shortly after the sun rose this morning. The steady bang, bang, bang of hammers creating tables and benches floated through the open windows, as well as the happy shouts of people setting up the wedding preparations.
Eva’s heart quivered, as if it, too, couldn’t quite
believe her wedding day was finally here. She’d barely slept last night. Her mind had roamed and danced, thinking of all the wonderful days to come.
And of course, their wedding night. A profound, dreamy sigh left her chest.
Jessie patted her shoulder. “Happy?”
Eva grinned, afraid to nod with the hot rod twisted in her hair. “Very.”
Lila, staring out the window, turned around.
“Well, I can’t believe you invited her to attend.”
“Who?” Eva pretended ignorance, for she knew who Lila referred to.
“Jenny Staples. Who else?” Lila walked across the room, flouncing her mint green dress around her legs as she planted herself on the bed. “If she was after Skeeter, I’d have already ripped every hair out of her head. Especially after that little gun incident yesterday.”
The violence in
Lila’s voice made everyone—Eva, Jessie, Randi, and Summer—turn and gape at her. Lila rolled her eyes to the ceiling, and then pointed a finger at her sisters-in-law. “Don’t any of you look at me like that! You know damn well you’d have each done the same.”
The three of them, Jessie, Randi, and Summer looked at each other. Practically giddy, they nodded at one another.
Eva turned to Lila. “You and Skeeter have been married for years. Surely you’re not worried about his love for you.”
“Of course, I know he loves me. But, I come from a time and place were a relationship is never safe.
No matter how much a man loves a woman, and vice-versa, there’s always an outsider thinking they can have what’s not theirs. Skeeter assures me there’ll never be anyone else, and I believe him, but
that doesn’t stop me from making sure.” She glanced
to the other women. “You girls know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”
Eva waited for them to react. Lila often talked about another place and time, but she’d been born and raised over near Hayes—or so she said.
Jessie handed the curling rod to Summer, who carried it across the room. “Yes, we know what you’re talking about,” Jessie agreed. “It wouldn’t matter if I was as old and feeble as Mrs. Butterfield, I’d fight tooth and nail if another woman attempted to draw out Kid’s attention.”
Eva grinned at the image of Mrs. Butterfield, who was a hundred if she was a day, defending herself with her knob-headed cane.
She turned to Lila, and admitted, “That’s the reason I invited her.”
“What?” Lila asked. “So you can pull her hair out at the wedding?”
“No.” Eva giggled. “Not that I wouldn’t like to.
But that won’t happen. I invited her just so she could see how much Bug and I love each other. So, she’ll see with her own eyes she doesn’t have a hope in hell of having him.”
The other girls chuckled, but Lila remained thoughtful, patting her lips with one finger. “Good thinking, girl. I’d have never thought of flaunting it.”
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