Love Under Two Outcasts [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Cara Covington

  Nothing would be served for Mrs. Mills to beat herself up over her son and the consequences of his actions. Charlotta knew the woman and her husband had two other children, one older and one younger than Danny, who hadn’t exhibited any anti-social tendencies. So she decided to tell the woman what she absolutely believed. “Guilt is a slippery slope, Mrs. Mills. Once you start down it, you lose all control over where those emotions will take you. Nine times out of ten, they take you entirely in the wrong direction.”

  “I’m a mother, and I think the capacity to feel guilty is a requirement of the position.” Then she shook her head. “But yeah, I’ve been coming to that conclusion. I’m not perfect. I did my best. But I think…I think there was just something in him that wasn’t quite right. He was incapable of making the connections—thought connections and emotional connections—that most of us make. It breaks my heart…but I know I did the best I knew how to do.” She inhaled, and then nodded. “I just needed to stop by and tell you that, and to thank you, Dr. Carmichael. I know you didn’t have time to really get to know Danny before—well, before. But the staff on his ward told me how you’ve been by on a regular basis, just sitting with him for a while. His father and I appreciate you care and concern.”

  Charlotta wanted to say that she wished she’d had more time with him before he’d taken those pills—but like the guilt Mrs. Mills had faced, it would be pointless. “Thank you. I’d be pleased if you could keep me updated as to how Danny’s doing. And if you ever need to talk—I’m here.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Carmichael.”

  Charlotta walked Mrs. Mills out, and then headed back to her office. She decided to swing past Helen’s desk on her way and see how Tiffany was doing.

  The woman couldn’t be more than eighteen or nineteen years old. In fact, Charlotta would guess this was her first placement with the temp service.

  She looked up when Charlotta approached. “I’m sorry, Dr. Carmichael, I couldn’t find your extension. I don’t know why I’m having so much trouble with this phone system.”

  “You had a call for me?”

  “Yes, but I couldn’t figure out how to put the call to your voice mail, so I just took a message, instead. I was kind of scared to make another mistake.” Tiffany handed her a pink slip of paper.

  Charlotta took it and gave her an encouraging smile. “I’m only in for the morning tomorrow, and then I’m taking the rest of the week off.” She was looking forward to leaving and heading back to Divine. This time, instead of staying at the Hourglass Inn, they’d be staying with Veronica and her husbands. Charlotta was looking forward to getting to know her future sister-in-law better.

  She turned her attention back to Tiffany. “I’ll sit with you for an hour or so tomorrow and see if we can figure out why that monster system is giving you such a hard time.”

  “Really? Oh, thank you, Dr. Carmichael. I’d really appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  She headed back to her office and the moment she stepped inside, she remembered the slip of paper in her hand.

  “Huh.” Willard Smith had called. There apparently was some sort of problem at Tall Oaks. Mrs. Conway wanted Charlotta to meet with her and Gene Harris at three-thirty today.

  “Well, rats.” It was just after three now. She’d have to hustle to make the meeting on time.

  She grabbed her purse out of her desk drawer, and then fished out her cell phone. Jesse and Barry were meeting her here at four. They were having a date night—dinner and a movie. She’d just let them know she might be a bit late.

  “Well, double rats!” Her cell phone was dead. She picked up her office phone, and called Jesse’s cell phone—and got a message that the call could not be completed. She got the same result trying to call Barry.

  “Of all the times for their cell phone network to go down.” She dialed their number at ranch, not surprised when the call went directly to the machine. They were either not in yet, or had been and gone. Regardless, she left a message at the beep. Then, because she couldn’t be sure they would get that message, Charlotta headed for the door and stopped again to speak to Tiffany.

  “I’m heading out to the stables for a meeting with Mrs. Conway and Mr. Harris. My cell phone is dead, so can you do me a favor? If Jesse and Barry Benedict show up before I get back, will you please tell them where I am, and that I shouldn’t be long.”

  “Absolutely. I’ll even write it down.” Tiffany grinned, and Charlotta understood that while the young woman might not be in Helen’s league, competency-wise, she did possess one very admirable trait—she knew how to laugh at herself.

  “Thanks.” Charlotta didn’t honestly think this meeting would last very long. But since Miriam Conway’s support of the Healing Rides program was so generous, she didn’t want to keep the woman waiting.

  Chapter 22

  “Any luck getting a hold of her?”

  Jesse looked over at his twin and shook his head. “No. The good news is that our cell service has been restored. The bad news is my call went straight to her voice mail. She’s probably with a client. We both know she leaves her phone in her desk when she’s with her clients.”

  “So that means our having gotten away a bit early isn’t likely going to get her into our arms any sooner than we’d originally planned.”

  Jesse sat back in the passenger seat, content to have Barry drive. “Well, at least we’ll be there on time. We can sit in her office and sing Brad Paisley’s ‘Waiting on a Woman’ together.”

  Barry laughed. “I don’t think she’d appreciate that.”

  Jesse grinned. “Probably not.”

  The city traffic was lighter than normal for this time of day. Jesse guessed a lot of folks—the nine-to-fivers—took the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day as vacation time. We’re not much different this year ourselves. They were leaving around eleven tomorrow, heading back to Divine. It had warmed him down to his soul that Veronica had been the one to call and invite them to stay with them at their house. He was looking forward to getting to know his brothers-in-law better, as well as meeting some of his sister’s good friends.

  And we’re only slightly nervous to finally meet Camilla and her husbands. Charlotta had confessed that her best friend was very protective of her. That didn’t bother either one of them one bit, because they were, too.

  “There’s still a part of me that believes we don’t deserve Charlotta.” Barry shot him a quick look. “A part of me feels as if we’re still outcasts.”

  “I feel the same way. It probably has to do with the rift between us and Mom.” He looked over at his twin. “Maybe we need to do the same thing Shar has decided to do. We’ll reach out and let Mom know that we love her, that we’ll always love her, but that we can’t live our lives according to her design.”

  “It’s the right thing to do, I know that. But it makes my stomach tense up just to think about it.”

  Jesse understood why. It was very likely that Norah Benedict wouldn’t appreciate the effort or their boundaries. “Yeah, me too. We’ll work up our courage, and then take that step together.”

  Barry pulled into the parking lot for the center. Jesse did a quick scan but didn’t see Charlotta’s Buick. He frowned. “Huh. I wonder where her car is?”

  “Not a clue. Maybe she had to run out for something.”

  “Yeah, and she might have tried to call us, but with the damn cell service down for most of the afternoon, she wouldn’t have even been able to leave a message.”

  Charlie at the reception desk was on the phone and lifted his hand in greeting as they walked past. Jesse recalled that Shar had told them Helen, her department’s admin, was on vacation for the next two weeks, but there was a temp at her desk.

  If Charlotta had had to go out, and couldn’t get hold of them, she’d have left a message with the temporary admin.

  They rounded the corner and saw an unfamiliar, young looking woman sitting in Helen’s chair—and a posh, sophisticated, and
frazzled one standing in front of her.

  “But Dr. Carmichael couldn’t possibly be out attending a meeting with me, young lady, because I’m right here.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but she left this message for Jesse and Barry Benedict, and it clearly states…”

  “Hi. I’m Jesse Benedict. What’s going on?”

  “Ah, Mr. Benedict.” The older woman sent him a dazzling smile. “I’m so pleased to meet you and your brother at last. I’m Miriam Conway. I’m the owner of Tall Oakes Stables, and I’m a friend of your grandmother’s, as well.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Conway.” Jesse shook her proffered hand. “You know Grandma Kate?”

  “I do indeed. Kate and I have been friends for years. In fact, it was Kate who told me about the Healing Rides program her wellness center was putting together.”

  “Her wellness center?”

  Mrs. Conway looked nonplussed. “I probably shouldn’t have said that. After all, Kate isn’t involved in the day-to-day operations of the G & P Wellness Center. She simply endows it and is a member of the board of directors.”

  “G & P. Gerald and Patrick.” Jesse shook his head. “We should have put that together sooner.”

  “I’d told Kate that I was looking for an opportunity to give back, and she told me about the equine therapy program. She knows what a horsewoman I am and she was right, this was right up my alley.”

  “Ma’am, pardon me for changing the subject, but what did we hear you say—that you couldn’t be meeting Charlotta out somewhere else because you were here?” That didn’t make any sense at all.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Benedict? Dr. Carmichael left a message for you. I wrote it down as she said it.” The young woman held a piece of paper and began to read. “‘I’m heading out to the stables for a meeting with Mrs. Conway and Mr. Harris. My cell phone is dead, so can you do me a favor? If Jesse and Barry Benedict show up before I get back, will you please tell them where I am, and that I shouldn’t be long.’” Then Tiffany looked from Jesse to Mrs. Conway. “I don’t understand, either, but likely your Mr. Smith made a mistake when he called earlier and left that message for Dr. Carmichael. The one about the meeting. Because you are here so there was supposed to be one. Right?”

  Miriam Conway shook her head. “No, I just stopped by on impulse, though I had mentioned the possibility to Charlotta the last time I spoke with her. And Willard is on vacation. He and his wife are in Hawaii for the week, so he wouldn’t have called.”

  “Well, someone did, ma’am, and he said he was Willard Smith. I was the one who took that message.”

  Jesse had a sick feeling in the bottom of his stomach. He turned to Mrs. Conway. “Gene Harris had been coming on to Charlotta around the time that we first met. He’d been pretty persistent, even cornering her once. But we thought he’d gotten the message over the last few months that she wasn’t interested in him. Now, I’m not saying that he deliberately lured her out there, but…”

  “But we need to go and check it out.” Mrs. Conway looked fierce. “If that man has done this, he’ll be looking for another job, I promise you that.”

  Jesse thought if Gene Harris had lured Charlotta to the stables, he’d need a hell of a lot more than another job.

  But he didn’t say a word. He just looked at his brother and then ran for the truck.

  * * * *

  “Hello?”

  Only one vehicle had been parked out front, a pickup truck with the words Tall Oaks Stables emblazoned on the side of it. Not even the Morris’s’ truck was here. But then, they tended to come each day just after lunch time and by now—three-thirty—they would be long gone.

  Stepping into the stables, Charlotta was greeted with only the sound of the occasional horse-snort. No music played, no voices kibitzed back and forth. She couldn’t say she’d ever been here when the place felt so deserted. Usually there were three or four staff members present at all times. The horses stabled here needed work every day and were never left alone. She poked her head into the office, but saw no one. But the lights were on, as was the computer on Gene’s desk, which told her he was likely around, someplace.

  She made her way into the heart of the building, passing horses that appeared content. She could see they had both hay and water, and seemed to be minding their own business, doing whatever it was horses did when they were in their stalls.

  “Hello?” Charlotta wasn’t nervous so much as she was confused. If there was a problem here, wouldn’t there be more people about, trying to deal with it?

  “Back here, Charlotta.”

  Gene’s voice seemed to be coming from the rear of the building. She knew there were staff quarters back there, as well as the doors to the outdoor paddock.

  The horses owned by the center were back there as well. She hoped nothing had happened to any of them.

  No, if there was a problem with our horses, Ernie and Paulette would be here. Despite the logic of that last thought, she did relax slightly as she passed Coco, Pete, and Sugar. The three horses were fine. Sugar, of course, came right up to the locked door of her stall to say hello. Charlotta gave the horse a couple of long strokes on her neck, and then moved on.

  Tucking her car keys into her slacks pocket, she headed toward the back. The door to the staff quarters stood open, and she stepped inside. Gene was leaning against the front wall, on the other side of the small room, right by the window. His arms were folded in front of his chest. The expression on his face was that of a man who had a secret that he was eager to share.

  “Gene. What’s going on? Where is everyone? And where’s Mrs. Conway?”

  “She’s not here. You and I have something important to discuss. I even gave the staff the rest of the day off, so we’d have privacy for our talk.”

  Though there was no sign of the lasciviousness she’d seen in him months before, Charlotta’s instincts were telling her to get the hell out of there.

  Charlotta ignored that tiny voice. She kept her tone polite. “We don’t have anything to discuss, Gene.” Inspiration struck. She held up her left hand. “I’m engaged to be married, and I’m very much in love.” She didn’t like that he’d tricked her to get her out here, but she wasn’t going to say anything about that, at least not until she was back at the office.

  “Congratulations. I thought your relationship with baby-face Barry Benedict might be headed that way. Seriously, I’m delighted for you.”

  “Well good, then.”

  He unfolded his arms and took a couple of steps toward her. “The Benedicts are rolling in cash, so I certainly understand the attraction. As far as I’m concerned, your marrying someone like him doesn’t have to come between you and I having a purely sexual relationship.”

  “Excuse me?” She wasn’t certain that she’d heard him correctly. Hadn’t he just congratulated her on being engaged?

  “You heard me. You need to know that it really is in your best interests to do as I ask. I figure, a couple of times a week for the next few months, right here or some other discreet place, ought to be enough. I can’t imagine you’re good enough between the sheets to hold my interest much longer than that. Here’s the deal. You give me that, and while we’re together you play the obedient little fuck slave—and I won’t tell your beloved fiancé that the woman he plans to marry is nothing more than a stripper and a whore.”

  Charlotta’s mouth had fallen open as Gene had spoken. The man had to be demented if he thought for one minute that she would ever break a promise, or betray the men she loved.

  Then his last sentence echoed in her head, and everything clicked into place. The looks he’d given her when she first met him hadn’t just been a man giving a woman a good look. He’d recognized her, likely had been a customer at the Dollhouse.

  Part of her wanted to kick him in the balls right then and there. But keeping a cool head, and appearing to have cool emotions, would likely be the best way for her to handle this situation. A fine rage was growing inside her but she held it
back. She cocked her head to the side. “I’ll admit to being a ‘stripper,’ as you say, although I prefer the term ‘exotic dancer.’ But I never prostituted myself, so I don’t know where you got the idea that I’m a whore. And we’re done here.”

  She wouldn’t have thought the man could move so fast. Before she’d taken the first step back he lunged, reached out, and grabbed hold of her left arm. His fingers dug in cruelly, and she winced.

  “You’re a whore all right, rubbing yourself all over those poor suckers at the Dollhouse just so they would stuff money down your crotch. ‘Lap dancing.’ What a joke that term is. I bet you were real good after hours, delivering on all those promises given during your show.”

  “Let me go, you son of a bitch.”

  “Not until I get what I want—what I’ve wanted since I saw you shake your tits all over the place. Or believe me, I will be telling that sap who put his ring on your finger. As soon as he finds out you’re not the lady he thinks you are, you can kiss marriage to his millions goodbye.”

  “Go right ahead and do that little thing. They already know.” Too late she realized her slip.

  “They? Ah, I see. It’s not one Benedict, it’s both. I guess you really are a whore, aren’t you? Well then, it shouldn’t be a problem for you. Now, you’ll be my whore, too. What’s one more cock to service?” He started to drag her toward one of the cots.

  No way in hell. Charlotta took one step toward him at the same time she pulled back her right arm. She let her fist fly, missing his nose, but connecting solidly with his face, splitting his lip. The shock of her action caused him to loosen his hold of her just enough. She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and ran.

  “Bitch! Come back here!” He pounded after her and caught her just a few feet before she would have been outside. He grabbed her hair, jerking her to a stop. The sudden sharp pain startled a scream out of her. Gene’s arm banded around her and he lifted her off the ground.