“The sexy?” She smiled up at him, that wicked grin he loved so much, the glint of devilishness in her eyes. Daniel groaned. Damn, how he’d like to follow through on that idea. His balls tightened harder than walnuts.
“Of course those. Especially those.” He pulled her mouth to his. Her lips molded against his own. Her arms slid around his neck, playing with the hairs at the very base of his nape. He groaned, yanking her closer. He loved when she did that. And she knew it.
When they both were panting, he broke away from the kiss. Casting a glance to the side, he noticed Grant smiling down at them. He didn’t seem upset to watch them together. He actually looked happy. Happy they’d made up. Happy they were together.
She leaned down on his chest. Her heartbeat pounded against his, and a calm settled upon him. A calm only Kate could provide.
“So here’s your first test,” she mumbled into his shirt before picking her head up to look into his eyes. “You need to tell me what you want. Don’t worry about how it will make me, Grant or anyone else feel.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“Do you want to marry me tomorrow?”
He looked down at the woman he loved so much. Her lips were slightly swollen from his kisses. Little lines creased her brow. Her arms shook a bit. She was beautiful, even in her fear.
He placed a quick kiss on her temple, then across her cheek. “Of course, I want to marry you. I never stopped wanting to be with you.” He cast a quick glance to his brother, then back down to the little hellion in his arms. “We just have to keep working on this, keep talking.”
Kate nodded, leaning her head on him. Her soft flower smell surrounded him. Her head tucked gently beneath his chin. “We will. For the rest of our lives.”
Chapter Nine
“Mom, open the door.” Kate stood outside her parents’ hotel room. Both Grant and Daniel had wanted to come with her, to help her convince her parents to come back to the ranch tomorrow for the wedding, but Kate had to do this on her own. She loved both her men, but her issues with her mother extended far beyond this weekend. She needed to end them, once and for all.
“Mom…Dad…open up. I need to talk to you.” Kate knocked again, not caring if she woke up the rest of the hotel. They needed to have this out. She needed to tell them the truth—like Gale had encouraged her to do from the very beginning. If Kate wanted her family to be close, the way Gale and her boys were, they needed to be honest with each other, so they could move past this.
She banged louder. “I’m not leaving until you open up.”
The door slid open. Her mother stood in the doorway in her robe. Her hair was mussed and she’d taken off her makeup. Kate hadn’t seen her mother look so human since she was a little girl. A thick gold necklace with a big diamond hung from her neck. Even at night, she couldn’t live without her baubles.
“Katherine Elizabeth, quiet down.”
“I will, if you talk to me.”
Her mother turned around, walking back into her room, leaving the door open behind her. It wasn’t exactly an invitation, but it was probably the closest Kate would get.
She followed her mother into the hotel room and closed the door. The only light in the room was the flashing of the Late Show on the TV screen. The sheets were tangled across the bed. But overall, the hotel room looked nice, which gave Kate some confidence. Her mother had good reason to be upset about a lot that had happened during this visit, but her hotel room didn’t appear to be one of them.
“Your father went to the airport to get us on the next flight home. This damn hotel doesn’t have Wi-Fi.”
Kate shook her head. “I really wish you wouldn’t. I want you to be at my wedding.”
“So you still plan to marry that boy? Even after everything?” Her mother raised an eyebrow at her.
The disbelief smacked her, knocking Kate back a few notches. The sense she wasn’t good enough for Daniel, for her relationship, battled through her. But no matter what her mother thought, Kate knew the truth. She was good enough for her two men. And they did love her. No matter what.
“Yes, Daniel and I talked. We’re still getting married tomorrow. And we’d really like you to be there to celebrate with us.”
Her mother sank down onto the foot of the bed, wrapping her robe tighter around her body. She rolled her eyes. “What celebration? Katherine—”
Kate tightened her hands into fists, steeling against her mother’s next words. She knew what was coming, but she wasn’t about to rob her of the opportunity to say it.
“How can you do that, Katherine? How could you cheat on your fiancé with his brother? During the rehearsal dinner? That’s not the daughter I raised.”
“I didn’t cheat on Daniel,” Kate spoke, using a calm tone to fight through her mother’s criticism.
It must have worked. Her mother looked up at her, surprised and silent. She opened her mouth as if to argue with Kate, but before she could, Kate interrupted, “I’m in a relationship with Daniel and Grant.”
Her mother’s mouth hung open like a fish out of water. Kate fought back the urge to laugh.
“What are you talking about?”
“Daniel, Grant and I are all in a relationship. We all live together. We run the farm together.”
“What do you mean relationship?”
Kate blew out a deep breath. Was her mother trying to make this as hard as possible? “A sexual relationship, Mother. I have sex with both of them.” Kate swallowed to stop the anxious ramble biting the back of her throat. That was way more than any mother needed to know already. Kate didn’t need to say any more.
It took a second of silence until her mother digested Kate’s words and the implications behind them. Then her face fell. Her mouth gaped and her eyes widened. “Does Gale know about this?”
Kate smiled, holding back her laughter. Gale knew far more than any mother should know. With the tight quarters they lived in, it was impossible to prevent. “Yes, Gale knows. She supports us. She knows we all make each other happy.”
“Oh.” A little sadness filled her mother’s eyes, along with a flare of jealousy Kate had never seen before, almost as if she wished she’d found out before Gale, though given their living arrangements, that was practically impossible.
Maybe she wasn’t the only one that wanted to be closer. Her mother wanted it too. She just didn’t know how to get there any more than Kate did.
“Well, maybe that’s what they do in these backwater, hick country towns. But it’s not what civilized people do.”
The words stung, but Kate ignored them. They held pain, not truth.
“Being with Daniel and Grant makes me happy, Mom. Doesn’t that count for anything?” Desperation burned down Kate’s throat, collecting unsettlingly in her stomach.
Her mother shook her head, her face softened in a way Kate had never seen before. It surprised her, not in a bad way.
“Of course it matters. I love you.” Her mother grabbed her hand, and Kate’s heart beat a little faster. “I want you to be happy. I just see this situation hurting you in the end.”
Kate smiled, blinking back happy tears. Though she’d always thought her mother loved her and wanted her to happy, her mother had never confirmed it before. “You might be right, Mom. This might end badly, but I have to try. I love both these men, so much. I can’t imagine my life without both of them.”
Her mother looked away into the darkness of the room, as if debating what Kate had told her. A thick knot formed in Kate’s throat, waiting for a response.
Kate had tried to convince herself it didn’t matter. What her mother thought was just details. What mattered were her men. But she failed miserably. She wanted her mother’s approval. She wanted her parents to come to her wedding. The longer the silence stretched out, the harder it was for Kate to breathe. The air around her was too thin. Her senses spun. Her desperate heart pounded in her ears.
Yes, if her parents decided not to accept her choices, she’d still have her men.
And she would be thankful for them every day. But she didn’t want this to be the end of her relationship with her family. They weren’t perfect, but they were parents. And she wanted them to be a part of her life—now and in the future.
“Are you sure about this?”
Kate almost flinched beneath her mother’s serious look. Her gaze was penetrating, trying to see down deep into her for the truth, but it didn’t scare Kate. Her mother could stare Kate down all she wanted. There was no truth to find but her love for these two men.
“I am.” Kate met her mother’s gaze head-on. “I know it’s a chance. But if I don’t at least try, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
Her mother nodded, placing her hand on Kate’s knee. The comforting touch was so unlike her mother, which made it all the more precious.
“I won’t lie to you, Kate. I don’t understand this. I don’t even think I want to.”
Kate smiled. Her mother definitely didn’t need to know the finer points. “You don’t have to understand it, Mom. You don’t even have to condone it. I just hope you’ll find a way to support me. I want you to come to my wedding. It wouldn’t be right without you there.”
Her mother grabbed her hand, and Kate blinked back tears. Her heart warmed with the simple gesture. “I want you to be happy, Kate. If being with both of them is what you want, I want to celebrate that with you. If you’ll still have me.”
Kate smiled, fighting to breathe instead of sobbing like a little girl. She wrapped her arms around her mother’s shoulders, pulling her into a big hug. Shyly, her mother returned the embrace.
“Just promise me one thing.”
Kate pulled back, nodding. If Kate had the ability to give it to her mother, she would. Kate understood how far outside of her comfort zone her mother was. If she could make it easier for her in any way, Kate would.
“Promise me, regardless of all this stuff”—she extended her hand, circling the empty air, as if that encompassed her whole relationship with Grant and Daniel—“I’ll still get at least a few grandchildren.”
Kate smiled. It wasn’t exactly how she’d describe her relationship. But she’d give her mother this one. She’d come far in only an hour. They’d work on classifications on her next visit.
She nodded. “I don’t know when we’ll be ready, but we’ve already talked a little about it.” Some of their triad was more focused on kids than others.
For the moment, Kate was happy with just her men. Happy she’d soon be married to Daniel. Happy to be mastered by Grant. But one day, she hoped there’d be more than just the three of them. “I think I can guarantee there will be at least a few grandkids for you and Gale to spoil.” If Grant had his way, there’d be a whole dozen of them. Kate might be submissive, but she was prepared to put her foot down on that idea.
“I know I won’t be the same kind of grandmother Gale will, but I want some time with my grandchildren.” Her mother looked down at her hands folded in her lap.
Was it possible her mother felt inadequate? Was that what the dinner fight had really been about? It had never crossed Kate’s mind before.
Her entire childhood, her mother always seemed like the most confident woman Kate had ever known. She’d never acted like she wanted to be another one of those mothers. The kind that baked brownies, sewed Halloween costumes and ran the Girl Scout troop. She’d always been unapologetic about what she wanted. Maybe Kate had painted her the wrong way too. Maybe Kate wasn’t the only one in the family that had kept a few secrets.
It’s true her mother would never be a grandmother like Gale. She wouldn’t bake cookies or get up in the middle of the night to soothe a colicky baby the way Kate envisioned Gale would be a part of her children’s lives. But her mother had other skills to impart to their children. She’d take them to the theater and ballet. She’d teach them how to appreciate art and fine dining. Not to mention they’d love to visit her house in Dallas with the large in-ground pool and waterfall. They wouldn’t find anything like that on the ranch.
“How about we make a deal?” Kate slipped into the negotiating persona she’d learned from watching her father over the last twenty-eight years. “We’ll promise to come down to Dallas at least twice a year to meet and spend time with you and Dad on your own. I’m sure Gale would be happy for you to come here as often as you want, but this way, you’ll be guaranteed some alone time with Daniel, Grant and me—and any children we have.” Kate wasn’t sure how much time her parents cared about spending with Grant and Daniel, but they were a package deal.
Abruptly, her mother stood up and walked across the room. Kate’s heart sank. She’d really thought she’d been getting somewhere. For the first time in her life, Kate believed she’d made an honest connection with her mother. She saw her mother for the person she was, with flaws and insecurities. Kate pulled in a shaky breath. Just like her childhood, what she wanted was beyond her reach.
“I have to call your father,” her mother declared from the other side of the room. Rifling through her purse, she picked up her cell phone from the small bag. She slid her fingers across the screen as she selected the number she needed and set it to dial. “We need to get him back here before he buys those tickets.” She smiled over at Kate. “We have a wedding to go to.”
Kate looked up at her, surprised. Did I hear that right? Her mother was coming back to the farm. Her father would walk her down the aisle. They’d be a part of the lives of the children Daniel, Grant and she made together.
“That’s right.” Kate grinned, standing up from the bed, and racing to the door. She had some beauty rest to get and two gorgeous dates she couldn’t wait to meet. And a wonderful life to start with the support of her family.
* * * *
A knock sounded at his door and Daniel’s stomach clenched.
“Who is it?” he called, hoping for any name but one. His little wife-to-be was good at a lot of things, but following the rules wasn’t one of them.
“Don’t worry. It’s me.” Grant opened the door and walked into his room without any more invitation. He was dressed in his tux. His long hair was slicked back, ready for the wedding. His tie hung limp from around his neck, undone.
He didn’t look comfortable in the attire at all, almost like a dog in a hat. He might look good in it—Daniel couldn’t judge that on a man, especially not his own brother—but he shifted around awkwardly, showing just how uncomfortable he was.
Yet the sight of his brother in the get-up had Daniel sucking in a breath. This was real. He was getting married. Today.
“Kate went to the hair salon with her mom and ours. They should be gone for a couple hours.”
“Thanks.” Daniel’s gut released a bit. One less thing to worry about, freeing up room in his mind for the other million concerns running through his head. He was getting married in only three hours. He’d be crazy if he wasn’t a little nervous, right?
“Mom said you could help me with this.” He picked up the loose ends of his bow tie. Daniel smiled. There probably weren’t a lot of reasons for Grant to wear a bow tie on the ranch. Thankfully, Daniel had a little experience from a few formal events back in Dallas.
“Sure”—Daniel motioned him closer—“I can help you out.”
Grant smiled, striding to where Daniel stood. Daniel grabbed the ends of the tie, twisting them together into a knot and pulling the loops through.
“Thanks, man.”
“What are brothers for?” If anyone pushed the limits of that definition, it was the two of them. He didn’t think most brothers were for fucking the same woman, but most men never met a woman as amazing as Kate.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” Grant looked up at him from his hunched over position as Daniel tightened the bow around his neck. “After all, I am the best man, sort of.” They hadn’t declared titles. No one was standing up with him and Kate at the altar, besides Grant, who was officiating the ceremony. But if there was anyone who could call himself the best man, it was Grant. In
some ways, he was the best man and maid of honor.
“No.” Daniel shook his head. “Nothing I can think of.”
“Are you nervous?”
Daniel shrugged his shoulders. “I guess. A little. Wouldn’t you be?” The words came out of his mouth before he even realized them. Grant would never be in his position. He was as committed to Kate as Daniel would be, regardless of what the law said.
“Yeah. Especially in our situation. You’re not just committing to Kate out there. You’re committing to me too—and all we do together.”
Daniel nodded, releasing his brother with a completed straight bowtie. “But I’ve been committed to you my whole life.”
“I’m not talking about being born into the same family.” Grant laughed, straightening his back. His fingers traced the bow tie, exploring the knot with a little fascination. “This is different.”
Daniel nodded. That was true.
“I want you to know. I heard what you said last night. I want you to feel included. I don’t want us to ever be just two men that happen to love the same woman. We’re a family, in every way that counts.”
“Thanks, man.” That might have been the nicest thing Grant had ever said to him.
“And I also want you to know that I appreciate you being here. Not just because you brought Kate here, but for all you’ve done. The ranch is pulling in the biggest profit it has in years, and that’s all because of you. It’s nice to have someone to count on, someone to work with around here…since Dad passed.”
Daniel’s chest tightened so hard he had trouble drawing in breath. They didn’t talk about their father’s death much or the hole in their lives and the farm his passing had created. But as hard as his death had been on Daniel, he knew it was doubly difficult for Grant. They’d worked together every day, eaten dinner together every night and spent almost every moment between together. Daniel was grateful he could ease some of the pressure of his brother’s shoulders. After all, that’s what brothers did. “Thank you. I’m happy to be here too.”
Owned Forever Page 9
