by Celya Bowers
As he walked up to the front door of the two-story house, he heard noises coming from inside. Sounded like a party, he thought. Surely, she would have told him if something had occurred when he called her yesterday. Shaking away all those doubts, he rang the doorbell. Then he heard it.
“Aunt Jem, someone at the door.”
“That’s Mr. Kyle,” Kassie said from behind the closed door.
Kyle’s heart swelled with pride. As did everyone in the house. He heard cheers of joy. Finally someone opened the door to let him inside. That feeling of dread he’d had all day came front and center when his eyes locked with another pair of blue eyes. The man smiling at him was maybe an inch or two taller than he. His brown hair had large specks of gray in it.
“You must be Kyle,” he said extending a hand. “I’m Brandt Sheldon. Jemma’s father. She’ll be down in just a minute. Why don’t you come inside? You might as well see what you’re getting yourself into.” He motioned him to the living room.
“Sure, Mr. Shelton.” He followed the man into the crowded living room. “This is my wife, Imogene, I call her Emmy.” The woman who reminded him of Jemma, nodded. “This is our son-in-law, Damon.” He nodded to a tall, slender African-American man sitting on the sofa. “These are my grandkids and of course, you know Kassie.”
Before he could acknowledge the child, she was at his side, hugging him. “Hi, Mr. Kyle.”
“Hi, Kassie. It’s good to see you. Did you tell your grandparents how well you’ve been doing in your lessons?”
She nodded. “Yes, I did.” Suddenly, the kids took off for another part of the house.
“You may as well cop a squat,” Imogene said. “When Jemma and Janna get together, there’s no telling how long it’s going to be.” She took a deep breath. “So tell us about yourself,” Imogene said.
He took a seat beside Jemma’s Dad. “Not much to tell, Mrs. Shelton. I’m the ranch manager where Kassie takes her riding lessons. I’m divorced.”
“First of all, you can call me, Emmy. Especially since Kassie has started speaking. We heard about Nutmeg. I’m so glad you could reach her when the rest of us couldn’t,” she sniffed. “It means so much to us.” She reached for a tissue, but her husband was already at her side, wiping her face.
“It’s been my pleasure, Emmy. In a short time, I’ve become very fond of Jemma and Kassie.” Had he really said that out loud?
“Well, that’s good to know,” her mother said. “Sounds like they’re finally coming downstairs.
Kyle had never been so happy to hear footsteps in his life. He stood as she entered the living room. Jemma looked like a goddess. Her curly black hair was straight and hung below her shoulders. She was wearing a lacy pink blouse that was going be his death, he knew. It displayed just enough cleavage to get him in trouble. She had on dark slacks and stilettos. Perfect. “You look absolutely perfect.” He kissed her on the cheek.
Jemma smiled at him. “You looked very handsome. I’m sure you’ve already met everyone.”
Kyle nodded.
Someone cleared their throat. “Oh, this is my sister, Janna.”
Kyle met the gaze of Jemma’s sister. They could almost pass for twins, except Janna was about two inches shorter than Jemma. He stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Same here. Now don’t you worry about a thing. Kassie will be well looked after. So don’t hurry back.”
Kyle looked from Jemma to Janna. “O-kay….” Not sure of what to do next, he said, “Ready?”
“Yes,” Jemma said smiling. “Kassie, we’re leaving.” She looked at him. “She wanted to say bye.”
Kyle felt honored. “No problem.” He grinned as Kassie ran into the room and into his arms.
“Bye, Mr. Kyle.” She hugged him before sliding down the floor.
“Bye, Kassie. I’ll see you next week.”
“Have fun at the movies.” She took out for the other room.
“Movies?” Janna looked at him.
“That’s what I told her,” Kyle admitted. “It seemed easier than saying an actual date.
“Got it.” Janna start ushering them toward the door, then she opened it and waved them out of the house.
Kyle took the hint and put his arm around Jemma’s waist guided her out of her house. Subltety was not her sister’s thing. The door quickly closed behind them.
Jemma huffed. “I’m being ran out of my own house!” Her mind really wasn’t on the fact that she didn’t even have her purse, she was focused on the man now holding her hand.
Kyle was dressed in a dark button down shirt, black sports jacket, slacks and leather shoes. She’d expected jeans and boots. That was what she got for stereotyping him. And he smelled wonderful. It was going to be hard to resist him.
“Where’s the truck?” She assumed he’d bring one of the ranches’ vehicles.
“I brought my car,” he said, leading her toward a very stylish BMW. He opened the door for her and she slid inside. After he closed the door, she realized that this was going to be a hard night. She ran her hand across the leather interior.
He slid behind the driver’s wheel. “You could have told me about your father.” He started the car. “Not that it matters to me, but a heads up would have been nice. I thought I was at the wrong house.”
“Yes, I could have. I like surprising people. My parents have been married 41 years. My dad was an English professor, he retired a few years ago. He met Mom his sophomore year hear. She was a nursing student. They met at a party.”
“Wow! Does he ever go back to England?”
“Yes, he and Mom go every year. My grandmother is there, along with aunts and uncles, and several sets of cousins.”
“When did you go?”
“A few years ago. We were supposed to go last year, but you know with losing Jared and Kassie’s condition, I just couldn’t do it.”
He reached across the console and grabbed her hand. “I understand, Jemma. It would be hard to face anyone with the amount of stress you were under. You’re a very strong woman.”
She smiled. “I never thought of myself that way. I was just doing what I had to do for my family.”
At the red light, he kissed her hand. “You are strong to me. That’s what I admire most about you.”
He always said the right thing to make her feel better about herself. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He continued driving.
“You know, Janna rushed us out of the house so fast, I don’t even have my purse.” She didn’t know why she was mentioning this.
“No problem. He pulled up to La Bella’s Italian Cuisine. “Here we are.” He parked at the valet stand.
The passenger door suddenly opened and a slender hand reached in to help Jemma out of the car. “Hello, ma’am,” the young man said. “Welcome to La Bella’s Italian Cuisine.”
“Thank you.”
Kyle soon joined her. “Reservation for Cosgrove.” Kyle grabbed for her hand.
“Yes sir,” the young man said. “Felipe will show you to your table.”
“Thank you,” Kyle said, leading Jemma to the waiting area. Another young man was waiting for them.
He showed them to their table and helped Jemma with her chair. After he distributed the menus, he took their drink orders. They both ordered a glass of Pinot Grigio.
Jemma shook her head. “You just keep surprising me. I didn’t think men drank wine.”
“I do occasionally. At home, I usually have a beer after work.”
She nodded. Her father would never have wine. “Oh, I can’t remember the last time I had a beer. Probably a baseball game with Jared.”
“I take he was a big Ranger fan?”
She nodded. Why was talking about her dead husband? “Season tickets for all of our marriage.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t mean to keep bringing Jared into the conversation.”
“It’s okay. Sometimes, it helps to talk about it,” he said, opening his menu. “I’ve never been
here before. Krista says just about everything tastes good. She and my brother-in-law come here a lot.”
“That’s nice.” She opened her menu and perused the menu. She gasped at the prices, but groaned at the delicious meals. It was going to be too hard to pick one.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. Everything sounds delicious. It’s going be hard to decide.”
“I’m having the same problem. I guess we’ll have to come back,” he said quietly.
“Seems so. It’s been a while since I had an adult meal. I mean something not involving a drive-thru.”
He lowered his menu and smiled at her. “Tonight will be very adult, I promise.”
Yep, he was going to be her downfall. Between that dazzling smiled and the ocean blue eyes, she was going to be putty in this man’s hand. “I’m going to hold you to that.” Did she just dare this man?
The waiter returned with their drinks and took their food order. “I’ll have the Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken,” Jemma said. She loved the Italian styled ham inside a chicken breast.
“Good choice,” Kyle said. “I’ll have the Linguine Frutti di Mare.”
“Yes sir. I’ll have these right out.” The young man left the table.
Jemma couldn’t hide her curiosity. “What did you order?”
“It’s kind of like a seafood sampler. It has shrimp, baby clams, mussels and calamari, in a screaming hot tomato sauce. I like spicy food.”
“Super spicy? I mean like Habanero hot?” She took a sip of wine. Her mouth heated up just thinking about the world’s hottest pepper.
“No, not that hot. A little hot is good. Every now and then I like to push the envelope. Normally, I eat at my parents, and Mom doesn’t do spicy, so this is a treat for me.”
Jemma nodded. Another piece to the puzzle. “I don’t each much spicy food. Especially, with Kassie. She has such a picky appetite. Today we had fish tacos for lunch, she didn’t want the coleslaw on hers.”
“So it was just fish and a tortilla,” Kyle said. “Sounds like my niece. The last time they were at the ranch it was my Dad’s birthday and he loves steak. Well, Cara didn’t want that. She ended up having a hamburger.”
Jemma shook her head. “I’m glad I’m not alone.” Perhaps they weren’t that different after all. “Tell me about when you lived in Austin.”
“Conversation shift, I like it. To be honest, I barely remember living in Austin. My marriage was falling apart, I felt like I was drowning.”
“So what did you do?”
“I came back home and worked on the ranch. A few years ago, my dad decided it was time for him to step down from running the ranch. So I started learning all I could. I’ve been the ranch manager for about three years.”
“So do you like it?”
“Yes, before I came back home, I had high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, overweight, and other issues. I wasn’t made for an office,” he admitted. “At the ranch, I feel free.”
She tried to hold back her feelings, but couldn’t. Janna had warned her this would happen. Tears trickled down her face. She tried to wipe them away discreetly.
“Jemma, is something wrong?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem fine,” he said calmly. “So you might as well tell me what you’re feeling.”
Of all the men she could have dated, she would have to pick a psychologist. “All right. You described how you feel now. Free. Some days that’s how I feel.”
“Explain.”
“When I was married, we both worked crazy hours. Mom took care of Kassie mostly. Then when he died, between the insurance, and other payouts, I could take an early retirement. I know it makes me sound awful, but I feel so free now. I can spend time with Kassie, my sister, my parents and just relax. I didn’t know how run-down I was until I wasn’t working seventy hours a week.” She wiped more tears away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to get all weepy on you.”
“It’s all right, Jemma. You’ve been through a lot. You have a lot of pent up emotions about your husband and they’ll have to come out sooner or later,” Kyle said.
The waiter returned with their food. She loved Italian food, especially anything with prosciutto in it. She took a bite of her chicken and savored the aroma, the texture and finally the taste of organic free-range chicken, stuffed with bacon. Oh yeah, she was definitely going to have to work out after a meal like this.
Kyle’s meal looked just as appetizing. The seafood was sitting on a bed of pasta and was garnished with parsley. “Romano cheese, sir?” The young man asked.
“No, thanks.” Kyle took a bite of his food. “I’m good.”
The waiter nodded and left the table. Kyle took another bite. “How’s your food?”
Thankful for something else to talk about. “Delicious. I miss meals like this.”
“I wish I could cook meals like this for you,” he said. “Truth is, I can barely make a hot dog.”
She laughed. “Oh, I can cook like this. I’m a foodie. I love all kinds of food, but Italian is my favorite.” She took another bite of the delicious meal. “So what happens if your mother is sick? Your parents takes a vacation?”
“I eat a lot of takeout,” he said.
“Why don’t you learn to cook?”
“I don’t know. I guess I hadn’t thought about it.”
Jemma imagined his mother spoiled him. “It’s not that hard. I’d be happy to teach you the basics. So you’d be able to feed yourself if the case arise.”
“You’ve got a deal.”
Jemma hoped her offer would not bite her in the butt. He’d been so helpful with Kassie, there wasn’t much she’d refuse this man.
Kyle struggle to maintain his calm exterior. Inside his brain, he was jumping up and down in celebration. Jemma offered to give him cooking lessons. This had to be a sign.
Once they finished their meal and he’d paid for their dinner, he escorted her out of the restaurant. “What do you say to a drive in the country instead of the going to the dessert place?” He put his arm around her waist as they waited for the valet to return with his car.
“Why?” She peered at him with those beautiful green eyes.
“I thought we could talk in private,” he said honestly. “I’m going to show you the most serene place in Tarrant County.”
“Is this anything like, come and see my artwork?”
“More like come and see the horses,” he jokes. “No, this is a real place. I go there a lot when I can’t sleep.”
“Is that often?”
“Sometimes,” he said. “I’m in negotiations for about 12 horses. It’s my first deal solo, so I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing.”
She moved closer to him. “I can imagine that’s a lot of pressure.”
“You have no idea.” He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
The car arrived before they could get into any trouble.
NINE
Jemma relaxed against the leather interior as Kyle drove to the countryside. Everything so far that evening had been perfect. Now she peered through the sunroof at the moonlight. Jazz music played through the speakers, and Kyle was gently caressing her hand. She felt very content.
They drove passed the ranch, further into the countryside. Jemma had no idea where they were going. She had assumed it was somewhere on the ranch, but like most of her other assumptions, she was wrong.
He turned down a dark, desolated road. Alarms started going off in her head. “Um, Kyle?”
“Yes.”
“Where exactly are we going?” She couldn’t see anything but darkness. She was out in the country with this white man and no cell phone. How would they find her? Her mind buzzed with news-story headlines. Calm down, girl. He’s not going to harm you. Slowly, her overactive imagination calmed down to rational, coherent thoughts.
He stopped the car, let the windows down, and cut the engine. Once her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, she
saw it. “It’s beautiful.” She inhaled deeply. “It doesn’t smell like a ranch or anything.” It was too small to be a lake, she guessed it had be a pond of some sort. It was a quiet, serene place. She easily imagined a picnic.
He chuckled as he unclipped his seat belt. “Actually, this is part of the ranch. It’s not used often. Dad was trying to start a stock tank of fish. The doctor wanted him to start eating more seafood about ten years ago.”
“Heart attack?” Jemma knew that scenario well. Jared’s Dad had the same problem. Damn it, she thought. She was doing it again. Why did she keep bringing that man into their date?
“Myocardial infarction. Doctors ordered him to slow down. But Dad doesn’t do slow. Although I have been running things, he still has his hand in the ranch. The horse deal is the first one I’m doing totally on my own. I had to research it, see how it affects the business, and if we really need that many horses.”
“How many horses are there at the ranch?”
“Currently, we have about seventy-five horses on the ranch. We have about fifty for riding purposes. The others are our personal horses. Normally, we have some for sale. Just last month, we sold fourteen horses.”
“Wow!” Jemma couldn’t keep the amazement out of her voice. “It’s that a lot?” She thought it was much like selling a house.
“Yeah, I mean we normally sell a few per month. The horses we sell are trained, so that drives the price up. A good horse trained and ready to compete can run up to twenty five thousand dollars. Ours run between five and twenty thousand.”
“Wow! I never knew how much a horse could cost that much.”
He moved closer to her. “I really didn’t want to talk about horses, I want to talk about you.”
“What about me?” She inhaled the aroma of his cologne. She shifted in her seat. He was much too close.
“I know you were dedicated to your husband and rightly so. I know how difficult it can be to process grief, especially when you have others depending on you, such as your daughter. I have a feeling you haven’t grieved for your husband.”
How did he know her so well so fast? “I don’t follow.”
“Jemma, you bring him into the conversation constantly. Then when you try not to, it still happens.” He turned to face her and grabbed her hands and brought them to his lips. “I want us to be honest with each other. I don’t have a problem with your talking about your husband. You’ve been keeping a lot to yourself. I don’t why you think you’re not allowed to grieve, but right here, right now, you have the right to grieve. You won’t be able to go forward if you don’t.” He kissed her hands again. “And I want us to be able to go forward.”
