by Darcy Burke
Shit, he was getting a stiffy already.
She undid her coat and he helped her out of it, leaning close to her ear to whisper, “You look amazing.” Her subtle, spicy perfume assailed him. “And you smell fantastic.”
Before she could say anything, Dad joined them, taking her coat. “Hi, I know we’ve met at some Archer shindig, but it’s nice to see you again.” He draped her coat over his left arm and shook her hand with his right.
“Hi, yes, it’s good to see you. Thank you for having me over tonight.”
“I’ll just hang this up.” He went to the closet and hung her coat inside.
She stepped close to Jamie as she pulled her hat from her head and tucked it into her purse. “You didn’t call me back.”
“Crap, I forgot.” He’d gotten a voicemail from her that afternoon, but work had been busy. “Sorry.”
Mom came out of the kitchen drying her hands on a towel and then laying said towel over her shoulder so she could shake Crystal’s hand. “Welcome! Would you like a glass of wine?”
Crystal smiled. “Sure, thank you.”
As she went back around the island, Mom said, “Jamie, would you open the wine?”
Dad brought glasses from the table and set them on the counter while Jamie went to retrieve the opener. He paused. They’d remodeled the kitchen since he’d lived there, and he hadn’t memorized where everything was located. “Where’s the opener?”
“Here.” Dad pulled the tool from a drawer and handed it to Jamie. Then Dad moved to join Crystal on the other side of the island. “So you’re helping Kelsey and Brooke with the Ribbon Ridge history exhibit? That’s taken a lot of your time the past several months.”
She nodded. “Yep. We really enjoy it, though.”
Mom scraped the tomatoes into the salad bowl and then tossed everything together. “What sparks your interest in history?”
Jamie poured the wine.
Crystal tucked her hair behind her ear. “Our town was kind of historic, I guess.”
“Where’s that?” Dad asked.
“Blueville, North Carolina. It’s near the southern border. My grandfather was really into history—there’s a church outside of town that was built in 1762.”
“Wow, that’s much older than anything we have around here,” Dad said, chuckling. He picked up his wineglass and offered a toast. “To history.”
Crystal and Jamie lifted their glasses but they had to wait a moment for Mom to finish tossing. Then she grabbed her glass. “Sorry, thanks for waiting!” She clinked her glass to theirs, and everyone drank.
“You work for Alaina, is that right?” Mom asked as she turned to the fridge and pulled out a couple of different kinds of salad dressing. She looked to Jamie. “Will you put this on the table, please?”
Jamie took the dressing, and Dad hustled to deliver the salad.
“Yes, I’m her assistant,” Crystal said. “Can I help with anything?”
“Sure, if you’d like, you can take the rolls there and put them in the basket.” Mom had already prepped a basket with a cloth inside it. “What does being Alaina’s assistant entail? Besides rubbing elbows with famous people.” She laughed.
Crystal opened the rolls. “A lot of things. I manage her various projects and help her review scripts and contracts. I also keep her calendar organized and coordinate where she needs to be on what days. It’s a lot to juggle between her work, appearances, and personal life.”
“She spends a lot of time here now. Do you still work full-time?”
Crystal hesitated briefly before answering. “Uh, yes. Actually it’s kind of nice because I work less. I can say I work full-time now instead of insanely more than that.” She flashed a smile, but Jamie caught that she might’ve been slightly irritated by the question. He would’ve been too. But then Mom wasn’t always the most diplomatic interrogator. Her filter wasn’t much better than Jamie’s. Upon reflection, it was maybe worse.
“Have you always been Alaina’s assistant?” Mom handed the basket of rolls to Jamie, and he took them to the dining room, which was adjacent to the kitchen—really, it was all one big room, along with the living area. It was much better than the closed-off galley kitchen he remembered from his childhood, but then it was a 1970s split-level.
“Yes. We’ve been friends since elementary school. When she went to LA, I went with her.”
Mom’s eyes lit, and she smiled broadly. “How lucky for you that she made it big! Did you go to college then?”
Crystal’s gaze darted to Jamie’s. “Uh, no.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. But it’s never too late. I’m sure you know that Jamie has two master’s degrees. From the London School of Economics, no less.”
“Yeah, I’d heard that,” Crystal said somewhat distractedly as she took a long drink of wine.
It was past time for Jamie to rescue her. “So Mom, Crystal’s here to talk about the Stowe family. What can you tell her?”
“Oh yes, I’m so glad. I’d mentioned to Kelsey that my father’s family had been around almost as long as the Archers, but she was too fixated on whatever else she had going on. I’m happy that you’ve finally found the significance of the Stowes.” She pulled a pair of oven mitts from the drawer and opened the stove. “Sam, can you carve the chicken and then we’ll sit down.”
She took a dish of scalloped potatoes out and set them on a hot pad before removing the chicken next. Dad went around the island to help.
Jamie moved to Crystal and spoke softly. “Come on, we can go sit down. Sorry about my mom. Her filter’s worse than mine, I decided.”
“Is it bad if I agree?” she whispered.
He laughed. “Not at all.” They carried their wine to the table, and he held a chair for her. “I’ll just be across the table. Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.”
“You know I’m taking that as a sexual innuendo,” she murmured near his ear as she sat down.
Because last night she’d been on her knees, and he’d waxed practically poetic about the incredible sexiness of her back. She was muscular and soft in all the right ways. And there went his cock again.
He leaned down and whispered, “Take it however you like. Later I’ll give it to you how I like.” He felt her shiver, and it took everything he had not to lick the outer edge of her ear and take the lobe between his teeth.
He subtly tugged at his jeans before moving from behind her chair and taking the one across from her.
Dad finished carving the chicken and brought it to the table. “Do we have everything?”
Mom stood at one end and made a quick survey. “Yes. Thank you!” She sat down before Dad could get to her and help. He went to the other end and took his chair.
Jamie stared at Crystal across the table as she took a drink of wine. Part of him wished he was sitting next to her, but it was probably for the best since he’d likely get caught touching her in some way. He could barely keep himself in check. Damn, he didn’t remember the last time anyone had turned him on like this.
Mom dished some salad into her bowl, then passed it to Crystal. “What do you know of the Stowes so far?”
Again, Crystal hesitated. “Not a lot. We know that a couple of them were mayor of the town.”
“That’s exactly right. The first one who came to Ribbon Ridge—before the town was incorporated, I think—was from Tennessee. He became mayor at some point.”
“And his son, yes.” Crystal sent a quick glance toward Jamie but focused on dishing up her food and passing it along.
“You know quite a bit already, then. But probably not everything.” Mom winked at Crystal. “I’ll grab the boxes from downstairs, and we can look through them after dinner if you like.”
“That would be great, thank you.” Crystal took a bite of chicken and a moment later said, “This is terrific. Thanks again for having me over.”
“It’s our pleasure. We’re always happy to entertain our sons’…friends.”
Jamie rushed to cut off that line
of conversation before Mom drove Crystal running from the house. He brought up the forecast for snow, which took them through most of dinner, thank goodness. It didn’t snow in Crystal’s town so she was as keen to see it as the kids in Dad’s school. Mom and Dad happily shared stories of snow days in years past.
“Do you ski or snowboard?” Dad asked Crystal.
She washed down a bite of potatoes with her last splash of wine so Jamie poured more into her glass. “Thank you,” she said to him before looking toward his dad. “Both, actually, though I’m pretty bad at snowboarding. I usually spend at least a couple of weekends a year in Vail or sometimes Telluride.”
“How posh,” Mom said. “Do you own a place there?”
“No, I just have my house in LA. Alaina has a place in Vail, and another friend of mine has a condo in Telluride.”
“Vail sounds fun,” Jamie said, thinking he’d like to spend a day on the slopes with Crystal followed by a night of incredible high-altitude sex.
“You should ski Mt. Hood, if you haven’t,” Dad suggested.
She nodded enthusiastically. “I have. It’s amazing. I love Timberline Lodge. I’d like to go to Bachelor next. Have you been there?”
Mom waved her hand. “Of course.” We took a few trips there when the boys were young—to Sunriver, which is a big resort community near there. It’s beautiful year-round. Lots of pine and beautiful red soil.”
“Sounds pretty.”
They finished dinner, and everyone helped bus the dishes into the kitchen.
When everything was stacked in or near the sink, Mom turned to Crystal. “Boxes first or dessert?”
“Boxes, if that’s all right.”
“Boxes it is! Sam, give me a hand, please.”
He joined her at the stairs and slipped his hand around her waist before giving her a quick kiss. “You got it.”
As soon as they’d descended out of sight, Jamie reached for Crystal and pulled her hard against him, his hands encircling her waist. His lips crashed into hers, and he kissed her with all the lust currently bottled up inside him.
She kissed him back—wildly—but only for a moment before tearing her mouth from his. “We can’t do this here. Your mom will have us married in no time!”
He squeezed her waist and kissed her jaw, running his tongue along her flesh. “Nah.”
She pushed at him. “Are you serious? You warned me. Kelsey and Brooke warned me. And now I’ve seen her firsthand. I wonder if she isn’t brewing up a love potion downstairs right now.”
He laughed but quickly sobered. “Yeah, maybe. But I can’t help myself. You’re fucking irresistible.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, but she didn’t look mad, she looked horny. “Resist.”
“Stop wearing those damn boots, then.”
She pointed her toe, flexing her leg to great effect. “What, these?”
He reached for her again and moved close, their chests touching. “Tease.” He kissed her one more time, hard and fast, his tongue diving deep into the heat of her mouth. God, she turned him on.
The sound of feet on the stairs drew him away from her.
She frowned. “You totally distracted me. I wanted to tell you something before they came back.”
“We’re back!” Mom’s voice carried up the last few stairs. “Just giving you advance warning. You know.”
Oh great. She might not have a love potion, but she was sure working the power of suggestion.
Jamie mouthed, Sorry, at Crystal. She shrugged, but little worry lines remained around her eyes. What had she wanted to tell him?
Mom carried a box into the living room and set it on the coffee table. “Here’s fine, Sam.”
Dad deposited the other one next to it.
Mom lifted the lid off the first one. “Now don’t get too excited. I think most of this stuff is from the 1950s and later, but there’s a bit of older stuff. We just have to find it.”
Crystal moved to stand near her. “How cool. Do you remember what you’re looking for?”
“Not exactly. It’s been years since we went through this. To be honest, I haven’t gone through it since my mom died.” She gave Dad a sad smile. “I guess I’ve been putting it off.”
Dad touched her arm. “We don’t have to do this now either.”
“No, we don’t,” Crystal said, her brow creased with concern.
Mom squared her shoulders and summoned a bright show of determination. “It’s okay, I want to.” She pulled an album from the top and set it aside. “I know this is from right after my parents were married. In fact, I’m pretty sure this whole box is later stuff.” She bent over and shuffled through it for a moment before putting the album back inside and replacing the lid. “Let’s start with the other one.”
She moved around the table and sat on the sofa. Dad sank down beside her.
Mom lifted the second lid. “Yes, this looks better, I think.” She pulled out some loose photographs and laid them on the table. “You can sort through those, but they seem too late. I know there’s an old album in there from the 1920s or so. And some letters.”
Crystal leaned down to pick up a few pictures. “These look like the 1940s, maybe 1950s.”
“Yes,” Mom said, distracted by going through the box. “I think those are my father with his cousins.”
“Here’s a picture.” Mom smiled victoriously as she handed it to Crystal. “That’s my grandfather. He was born in 1911. The date of the photo should be on the back.”
Crystal flipped it over and read, “October 1922.”
Mom continued pulling things out of the box and passing certain items on to Crystal, who in turn handed them to Jamie. He gave them to Dad so he could set them on the table.
As she reached the bottom of the box, Mom frowned. “Well, this is strange. I know there’s more than this.” She sat back and cocked her head to the side for a moment. “I think there’s a third box.”
“I didn’t see another box like these downstairs in the storage room.”
“That’s my old bedroom,” Jamie told Crystal.
“I’m not sure it’s there. I’m trying to think.” Mom tapped her finger against her lip. “Mom gave me that box of really old stuff before she died, so it’s not in the same place.” She shook her head. “But what in the heck did I do with it?” She looked at Dad, who shrugged.
He chuckled. “Don’t look at me.”
Crystal cleared her throat softly. “So, I, uh, I don’t suppose you recall seeing anything about the KKK?”
Jamie turned to stare at her, but his mom’s reaction beat his.
“The what?” she asked, sounding a bit shrill.
Crystal’s neck flushed. “The, uh, KKK. We found a letter to Redmond Stowe indicating he was the Grand Cyclops.”
Mom’s gaze turned cool. “You didn’t say you were looking for something like that. I think you must be mistaken.”
Crystal shook her head gently. “We’re not.”
Jamie stared at her. Why the hell hadn’t she told him about that? “That’s kind of a big deal. Why didn’t you mention it?”
The color in her neck spread up into her face. She clasped her hands in front of her. “I’m sorry. I should have. I admit I wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.”
Mom stood from the couch. “Well, I think we’re done here. I know for a fact I don’t have anything about the KKK. I think I’d know. And I’m certain you’re mistaken.”
“I’d be happy to share the letter with you,” Crystal offered.
“If it was a letter to my ancestor, I should hope so.”
Dad stood up next to Mom and put his arm around her. “Should we have dessert?”
Crystal dropped her hands to her sides. “Can I take a rain check?”
Mom pursed her lips. “Yes, I think that would be best.”
Dad went to the closet and grabbed Crystal’s coat while she picked up her purse from the table near the door. Dad helped her into her coat, and she pulled her hat from
her purse.
“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Thanks again for dinner. It was delicious.” She looked at Jamie, her eyes clearly asking if he was leaving too, but he stayed rooted to the floor.
Why the hell hadn’t she said something to him first?
Crystal turned to his dad and said good night, then Dad opened the door, and she disappeared into the cold dark.
Dad closed the door softly and turned with a grim expression. “Well, that was… I’m not sure what that was.”
Mom began replacing all the memorabilia in the box. “It was rude.”
Jamie frowned. Yeah, it was rude. And weird. And he was kind of pissed. “I’ll be right back.” He stalked from the house and caught up with Crystal just before she climbed into her car. “Hey, wait a sec.”
She paused, her gloved hand on the open door. Then she turned to face him but didn’t say anything.
“That was a dick move,” he said.
“Yeah, probably.”
Fuck, it was cold out here, and he was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt. He crossed his arms over his chest. “So why’d you do it?”
“Do what? Ask about the history of your family?”
“Why didn’t you tell me in advance? It would’ve been nice to prep my mom, and we could’ve searched for what you wanted specifically.”
“I don’t know what I’m looking for specifically. I’d hoped to see whatever she had from that time period.” She exhaled, and her breath colored the air for a moment. “Look, I didn’t know how to say something when we talked about it at the pub. And after that…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I was distracted.” She sent him an apologetic glance. “I tried to talk to you about it today, but you didn’t return my call. And when your mom went downstairs, I tried again, but you…were distracted.” She straightened, squaring her shoulders.
“Anyway, that’s not an excuse,” she said. “I should’ve told you before. But it doesn’t change anything. There is a letter to your ancestor, and he was a leader in the KKK. If you guys ever do find anything about that or about what happened to the Bird’s Nest Ranch in 1902, we’d love to know. See you later.”
