by Tessa Gray
“I’ll help with the dishes, and then Carly and I had better get at that algebra assignment.” Adam rose from the table and began clearing dishes, wanting desperately to get out of this room and escape Katrina’s angry, relentless glare.
“We’ll get those, Adam. Mother and I will take care of this, won’t we?” Meredith’s blue eyes widened, and when he saw what a deep shade of black her pupils were, he wondered if she’d been pushed too hard. He hadn’t realized it until this very moment, but whenever Meredith was frustrated or angry, her pupils became enormous.
“Well, I suppose I could help, Meredith. I’m exhausted from traveling, of course, but, I’ll pitch in and help. Just as I always do.” Katrina rolled her eyes but did not move from her seat.
That sarcastic remark was the final straw for Meredith, who plunked the silverware onto the stack of plates. She stomped into the kitchen, ordering her mother to follow. “In the kitchen, Mom. Now. We need to talk.”
Carly and Travis scattered into the adjoining room, motioning Adam to follow. “Mom’s pissed, Adam. You don’t want to be around when she’s mad, trust me.” He smiled at Carly’s remark and quickly made the decision to stay out of the line of fire.
As he followed the children into the other room, he was impressed by the courage Meredith displayed by standing up to her mother.
~ ~ ~
Meredith loaded the dishes into the dishwasher, slamming them about. She counted to eight, aware that her mother would take that long to tell her how to stack the plates properly. When Katrina didn’t make any suggestions on how to restack the dishes, Meredith slammed the dishwasher shut and pressed the ‘start’ button.
“You’re certainly in a foul mood, Meredith.”
The second the words tumbled from her mother’s mouth, Meredith stopped what she was doing, spun around and faced her mother squarely. “I’m falling love with him, so you might just as well get used to the idea of us being together.”
Katrina didn’t react, and Meredith paused, waiting for her mother to say something. But when nearly half a minute passed, she suspected Katrina was thoroughly upset. “Adam saved my life when I first came here. I don’t want to go into detail right now, but he did.”
“Meredith, I don’t think that now is the time to get into another relationship. You’ve barely gotten out of your marriage. Seriously, what’s the big hurry?” When Katrina stared into Meredith’s eyes, a worried expression on her face, Meredith realized that despite her gruff demeanor, Katrina did love her and wanted the best for her.
“I wasn’t looking for a relationship right now, Mother. Trust me. It just happened.” She paused, wondering if there was anything she could say about Adam that would convince her mother to give him a chance. “He’s one of the most genuine people I’ve ever known. There’s not a mean bone in his body. And I guess what I like about him the most is he’s not pretentious. He lives his life giving little thought to what others think.” After she said it, her mother rolled her eyes; a clear indication there was little Meredith could do to change her mind about Adam.
“That’s not always a good thing.” Katrina was looking down at the floor now, shaking her head as she spoke. “Opinions matter, Meredith. Surely you know that.”
“He’s great with the kids, Mom. I don’t quite know how Adam does it, but he manages to bring out the best in everyone.” Meredith stared at her mother, praying she’d give Adam a chance. But that was unlikely, given the fact once her mother made up her mind about something, she rarely changed it.
“As usual, you’re putting a person you care about on a pedestal. In the end, he’ll hurt you. His kind always do.”
“You’re missing out on knowing a phenomenal man because you can’t let go of your prejudices,” Meredith exclaimed, shaking her head.
Meredith’s mother looked up. Staring directly into her eyes, she said exactly what Mere suspected she would. “Know what I think, Mere? I think you’re becoming involved in Adam Lightfoot just to make my life miserable.”
“It’s always all about you, Mom, isn’t it?”
Her mother cleared her throat and swallowed, before delivering her ultimatum. “I’ll take the children this week, just as I promised, but if you continue seeing this Lightfoot fellow, your father and I will cut off your inheritance. You may think you’re going to have the last word here, Meredith, but you’re not. Because when push comes to shove, I’ll get my way. I control the purse strings, and don’t you forget that.”
Chapter 13
The following afternoon, Adam finished packing the truck and waited nervously for Meredith to text him, telling him the coast was clear. He’d spent the better part of last night worrying that Katrina would change her mind about taking the children to Dallas. And if that were the case, he and Meredith would need to cancel their plans.
By the time his cell phone rang, he’d already talked himself out of sleeping with Meredith. This would never work, not in a million years.
He cleared his throat several times before speaking. “Hey, Mere.”
“She finally left.”
“With or without the kids?”
Meredith laughed before blurting out, “She took the kids with her.”
Despite the fact he and Meredith would be alone for an entire week, he was still reeling from the previous evening spent dodging Katrina’s sarcastic remarks. As things stood, there was little point in continuing this relationship. The last thing he wanted was to come between Mere and her mother.
“We don’t have to go see the Marfa Lights tonight, Meredith. We can do it another time.” He mentally gave himself a high five for sounding so nonchalant.
“No, no, it’s all right. I still want to go.”
He stared outside at the sunlit sky, confident that as cloud-free as the day had been, it would prove easy to spot the Marfa Lights tonight. It wasn’t always that way, but tonight would be perfect.
“I’ll pick up some wine for you if you’d like. I can just pop it in the cooler for when we go see the lights.”
“No, Adam. Water will be fine. I’m afraid I can’t make it a very late night. I’ll be working at the diner in the morning. Stephanie gave me the early shift, lots of people to wait on. Of course, that’s a good thing. It means she considers me a good waitress,” she said, offering a hollow laugh, as though it was painful to make conversation with him.
“I’ll pick you up at six then.”
“That should be fine.” The comment sounded as though it came from someone he didn’t even know, someone he’d met on the Internet, not a woman who’d shared her childhood memories with him.
“Later, then.” That was all he said before hanging up the phone.
He walked back into the house over to his laptop and began checking his emails. There’d be plenty of time to kill before driving over to pick up Meredith. The initial plan had been to drive to the grocery store and pick up some wine. Well-that wasn’t all he had intended to pick up. But judging by the lack of enthusiasm in Meredith’s voice, he wouldn’t need them after all.
Frustration washed over him like Nor’easter high tides on the Boston shore, as he recalled Katrina Gustafson’s harsh glare— the same glare classmates had given him when he first set foot into public school. Somehow, though, he’d survived, largely because of two parents who believed in him.
He stopped typing, picked up a pencil and began tapping it again. He began thinking about Meredith and her friend, Gloria, as two young girls sitting on the dock of Gloria’s lake house. Mere had always claimed they’d sat for hours, their feet dangling idly in the cool, crisp water, thinking about their futures. What had Meredith been like way back then?
He felt his gut wrench as he pondered over what would have happened had he, as a young boy, raced out to the dock to join the girls. What would Katrina Gustafson have thought of
him way back? He already knew the answer.
“Meredith. Get the hell inside this instant. You are not allowed to talk to Indian boys.”
Climbing from the chair, he walked away from the computer and stared outside once again. He’d need to rethink his relationship with Meredith. The last think he wanted was to drive a wedge between this woman and her family. Besides, once she finished college, he was fairly certain she’d move back to Dallas.
He should have trusted his instinct all along, and not gotten involved with a woman who had enough problems without adding a relationship to the mix.
~ ~ ~
Meredith stared up at the large Longhorn Steer head displayed on a wall at the Reata restaurant where she and Adam were eating. She’d opted for the salad, sprinkled with strips of lean steak. While she’d promised herself to abstain from alcohol since she’d be working the early shift at the diner, the selection of top quality chardonnays had proven too tempting.
Adam had been remarkably quiet as the two sat at a squared off, Western-style, wooden table. As his dark eyes lingered on the candle centerpiece on their table, she wondered if he’d spent as restless a night as she had, tossing and turning, wondering where to go from here.
She gazed at him across the table, noting how his eyes had narrowed, as though something was bothering him. When he picked up his beer and took a swig, she decided to just come out with it. “I told my mother that I’m falling in love with you, Adam.”
He pulled the beer mug away from his lips and his mouth twisted into a smile. And that’s when she saw his dark eyes glistening under the soft glow of the candle.
But when she saw the smile slowly fade, she suspected he was overthinking the situation, no doubt evaluating the logistics of this complicated situation. Not only did she have two kids that would be part of the mix, but a mother who tried to control her every move. What man on earth wouldn’t be daunted by those two things alone, not to mention how incredibly different she and Adam were.
“I guess if you don’t feel the same way about me, it simplifies things.” She stopped speaking after she said it, regretting putting herself out there like she did. As she stared past the midnight blue chambray shirt he wore, her heart raced.
Adam set the mug down on the table with deliberation, and she decided that between her mother treating him like a second-class citizen and Meredith pouring her heart out to him, he might have had enough.
Moving his plate off to the side, he reached over, cupping her face with his hands. His deep, brown eyes bore through her, and the emotions of the past twenty-four hours began taking their toll.
When several tears slid down her cheeks, he pushed them away with the pads of his thumbs.
She heard him inhale sharply before he finally responded. “Do you have any idea how happy I am to hear you say that?”
“My mother treated you horribly,” Meredith said softly, brushing back tears.
He leaned over, tugged on her lower lip with his thumb and gently kissed her several times. “Don’t give it another thought.”
“My mother grew up with money—a great deal of money. I’m not saying this about all people who lead a life of privilege, but she’s been very sheltered. Mom’s had little interaction with people who aren’t as fortunate as herself. She liked Blake very much, always claimed he was a blueblood. I guess that made up for the fact that the man treated me like crap, rarely giving me a compliment. Eventually, of course, that takes a toll on a person.”
She never intended to share this much of herself with Adam, but as he leaned forward in his chair, elbows propped up on the table, listening intently, she had no regrets about opening up like this.
The waitress reappeared, interrupting their conversation. Adam seemed to sense how raw the wounds were because without saying a word, he merely held up a hand and shook his head, signaling that neither would require a refill from the bar.
But Meredith decided to have another glass of wine. She was opening herself up to Adam in a way she did no one else. She didn’t want the evening to end, at least, this part.
“Wait, I’ll have another chardonnay. Adam, would you like anything?”
“No, nothing for me.”
“I’ll have that chardonnay here in a minute.”
The waitress left quickly, leaving the two of them alone once more.
“I hope you don’t mind. I know I said earlier that I wasn’t going to drink . . .”
“It’s fine, Meredith, really.” He’d scooted his chair closer now and leaned over, kissing her again. She loved the warmth and fullness of his mouth as he continued kissing her. She knew that if they kissed like this under the West Texas sky when they watched the Marfa Lights, she would be helpless to stop herself from making love with him. As she thought of how deeply she desired him, her mind raced. If the two of them didn’t consummate this relationship soon, she’d go mad.
~ ~ ~
Later that evening, Adam sat in the bed of his pickup truck, Meredith at his side as the two of them stared out into the black West Texas night sky. The best thing about living here was that the stars seemed to go on forever, thanks, in part, to the lack of city lights.
When he draped his arm about her, she snuggled up and leaned against him. Although he sometimes lacked confidence when it came to women, he reminded himself that Meredith had openly admitted that she was falling in love with him. Her openness had surprised him.
As he struggled to recall exactly the last time he’d made love, he tried to see things from Meredith’s perspective. Did she actually want them to make love, or was she more interested in a platonic relationship for the time being? Or was it somewhere in between? Whatever that was.
Stop overthinking this.
“So they look like big headlights bobbing about in the field?” Meredith appeared focused on the history of the famous Marfa Lights, and he tried to think how to best answer her question. Truth be told, observing the Marfa Lights out here in West Texas was sometimes an opportunity for a guy to score with a woman he liked, kind of like the old drive-in movies used to be.
“So those headlights along that highway in the distance aren’t really Marfa Lights?”
Was she ever going to let this go?
“No.”
“For a science geek, you’re not all that enthusiastic about them.” Her comment made him smile.
That was probably the thing he liked most about Meredith, her total honesty.
He thought back to when they’d first met, the way she’d put on airs, denying that her kids were less than perfect. But now, much of that had changed. He’d heard her tell Rachel on more than one occasion that she’d spent a great deal of time enabling her children, trying to preserve the Chapman name. She appeared to be taking a long, hard look at herself now.
“You’re not at all living up to your image as a science professor, you know.”
He studied her silhouette under the soft glow of the moon, and noticed how she started twisting her hair, and he smiled. “What would you think about us spending the night together?”
He heard her inhale sharply and considered perhaps that had been the last thing on her mind. Loving a person and sleeping with them could be two different things. Not in his eyes, of course, but Meredith might feel that way.
“I think I’d like that.” Her comment came out like a whisper, and he nearly bowed his head in a prayer of thanks that the two of them were finally on the same page. “Let’s stay at your place, Adam. Would that be all right? I just need to stop by my apartment and pick up a few things.”
“Of course.”
He began moving about the tailgate of the truck, eager to get things going. The sooner they left the Marfa Lights, the better. Hopping from the truck bed, he reached out for her to guide her down.
As he stood waiting for
her to jump down, she parted her legs, drawing him in. When she wrapped them about his waist, he groaned softly.
As she reached up, clasping the back of his neck, he leaned forward and kissed her long and hard. She opened her mouth slightly, allowing him to probe her with his tongue. She exhaled softly for a second and then shuddered. “Let’s go home, Adam.”
He’d have given anything just to take her here, on the bed of the truck, but she deserved better. He’d waited a long time for the two of them to get to this level of commitment. He wanted their first time to be perfect. And he hoped this wouldn’t be just a one-time thing.
~ ~ ~
“I need to make a quick stop at the supermarket. Do you mind?” Adam’s question surprised Meredith since he’d seemed intent on moving things along quickly once she’d agreed to spend the night with him.
“Sure . . .” she paused, wondering if it’d been so long since he’d made love that he needed to buy protection. If that was the case, it would be difficult not to tease him.
As they pulled into the parking lot of the store, Adam bolted from the truck. “I’ll just be a second.”
“I’ll come with you. If I pick up a toothbrush, we won’t need to stop at my place.” She barely got the comment out when he headed into the store.
Locking her arm through his, she walked quickly, trying to keep up with his long strides.
It wasn’t until they arrived at the large, metal, sliding doors leading to the inside of the store that she noticed how his eyebrows narrowed, as though her invitation to join him had caught him off guard. He hesitated for several seconds when they reached the checkout lanes before proceeding. “Why don’t you go get that toothbrush, Mere? I’ll just be a minute.”
She let go of his arm when she noticed the aisle of condoms. As she turned to look at Adam, his face turned a deep shade of red. Unable to resist goading him, she showed no mercy. “Guess it’s been a while, huh?”
