by April Zyon
She snorted. “Are you kidding me? You have seen me eat, Joshua. Have I ever skimped on food? Bacon and eggs sound yummy to me, but only if you make mine scrambled with cheese in them, please.” She loved food, always had and always would. “While you are doing that, I will even cut up an apple, pear, and some bananas and make us a quickie fruit salad. Sound good?”
“I was thinking of stealing some of Mama’s pancake batter I saw in the fridge and make those instead of fruit salad? Maybe do some up with a few chocolate chips or blueberries. Oh! Chop up little bits of apple and pear. We’ll throw those in there. Damn, that sounds good.”
“Oh God, that does sounds good. And the banana as well. I would love to add mashed banana to my pancake. It gets added into the batter. It’s yummy.” Damn, she was starving now. “I can’t believe how hungry I am.”
He shot her a look and shook his head. “I’m always hungry, but as I keep telling my mother, I’m a growing boy that works hard. Now I can add that I play hard too,” he said with a wink at her right before he ducked into the fridge to start rooting around and setting things up on the counter near his shoulder.
Alison watched him moving, and then she got to working on her part of the food.
Chapter Eight
Ali stood with her hand shading her face. The back porch looked out over the biggest part of the ranch and it was a beautiful sight. Looking toward the barn where Josh had been called to, she waited on him to join her. Thankfully, her mom and his mom had started to cook lunch for them, so that meant that they were no longer constantly peppering her with question after question.
She spotted Joshua coming back her way, his long stride eating up the distance quickly. When he saw her, he frowned before picking up his pace. He jogged the remaining few feet and hopped up onto the porch. “What are you doing out here, love?” he asked as he got into her personal space.
“I was just coming out to see you.” Ali wrapped her arms around his middle. “The moms are pestering me about our relationship and I’m tired of saying the same thing over and over again, so yeah, I came out to wait for you. Besides, this is the back of the property and the hands have been on hyper awareness all day and so far, so good. Right?”
“True,” he said softly. After slipping his arms around her, he nuzzled her cheek. “What are they pestering you about now?” The lucky man had escaped the earlier third, fourth, and fifth degrees by their mothers to head to the barn. She, on the other hand, had been trapped with nowhere to go.
“News, any sort of news about this guy. Mom goes between fretting about what Rhys is up to, and then asking me what our plans are. She even had it all in the same sentence at one point. I think she confused herself even, getting it all muddled in her head. Your mom stepped in at one point, though, thankfully,” she whispered. Tipping her head back, she gave him better access to her neck, and shivered as his lips moved over the expanse of skin she’d given him. “I’m worried about Mom. One moment she’s worrying about this guy, wanting to hire a security team to protect me. In the next, she wants to plan our wedding. I think she’s trying desperately to keep her mind off what this lunatic is putting us through.”
His mouth paused on her throat, allowing her a moment to catch her breath. “It has to be stressful for her, Ali. With losing your dad not that long ago, now with a threat to you, she’s got to be an emotional wreck. Hell, my mother is a wreck because of this too. For Kristin, it has to be even worse. Maybe we let her focus on a wedding if it helps keep her stress levels down,” he suggested. “Though, if she asks what I want, mention I’m all for tossing you over my shoulder and hauling ass to Vegas. It’s not particularly romantic, I know, but really, the end results are what matters. Tell her to plan a huge, blow out party for after instead. That is unless you want to go with the big wedding.
“I would do it,” Alison admitted to him. Pulling back, she looked up at him. “Joshua, I would love that. I wouldn’t mind it at all. If you would be able to run off with me, I would do it. As soon as this asshole is caught, I say that we do it. We take the moms with us, and Rhys and Gwen if they want to come, and then we do it.” Why wait when there was the chance of life ending far too soon? It was best to simply live life to the fullest.
He laughed, and scooping her up, spun her around in a circle. “Then I’d better do this right.” Not letting her down, he headed for the door. Inside, he ignored the calls from their mothers, going straight for the stairs and up to his room. Setting her on her feet, he held up a finger and locked the door before digging through his dresser. A moment later, he was back in front of her and holding an open ring box. “I bought this years ago when I realized you were the only woman I’d ever love, and the woman I’d one day talk into marrying me. So.” Joshua went down on one knee, pulled off his Stetson, and looked up at her. “Alison Hollister, will you marry me?”
Ali looked down at Joshua and felt her heart swell with happiness. “Joshua Carver,” she whispered, and reached out to touch him. With her hand on his cheek, she nodded. At his look, she laughed. “Yes, Josh, yes, I will marry you. I have waited for so very long to have you ask me that question.”
Grinning wide, he plucked the ring from the box and slid it on her finger. “Thank God it fits,” he muttered as he wrapped her in his arms. The next moment, he kissed her, devoured her, and feasted on her.
Alison had her leg wrapped around Joshua’s and kissed him back. When they parted, she was laughing. “So should we go and tell the moms? I think that they would beat down the door if we did what we wanted to do right now. Well, at least what I want to do.”
With a rock of his hips, he proved he was of a like mind. “If we tell them, they won’t let us loose for hours. They’ll want to start planning immediately. They’ll want to call everyone and anyone. It’ll be a nightmare,” he said softly. “I say we keep it quiet until tomorrow morning, at least. Then we’ll tell them that we aren’t doing the big ass wedding. You deserve one, though, so are you really sure Vegas is okay, Alison? I’ll wait for the big wedding if that’s what you’ve always wanted. I may grumble and mumble a bit, but I’ll wait.”
“Yeah, but I say that if we tell them now, they will start to plan and then we will get to have time alone. We will be able to sneak away, right?” She gave him another hug. “Vegas is more than okay for me. I have never wanted a big, huge wedding. I know that is strange, but it’s true. I hate being in the limelight and that’s just what it would be. Plus, the stress of a big wedding? No thanks. When we come back, we will have a huge party for the entire town, but I want to have fun in Vegas with you, baby.”
He nodded after a moment and brushed a kiss to her lips. “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy. I still say we don’t tell them right away,” he muttered. “They’ll have the minister booked, the caterer booked, flowers, and God only knows what else if we tell them too soon. Because you know as well as I do, we say the words we’re getting married, and they’ll be off to the races no matter what we say to deter them.”
“Well, they will know the moment that they see the ring, you know,” Ali reminded him as she looked at it. “God, it’s beautiful.” It was a simple ring, platinum band with a diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds, her birthstone. “I am so happy. The only thing that would make this better would be if this ass who is stalking me were caught.”
“He will be, baby,” he said softly. Cupping her face with a hand, he rubbed his thumb lightly to her skin. “How about we tell them right before dinner? That way everything is closed for the night, so even if they go crazy with trying to plan, they can’t book a damn thing until the morning.”
“That sounds good to me.” Ali hugged him back and then pulled away. “For now, though, why don’t we go and sit on the back porch? It has beautiful views, and we are outside so that I’m not attacking your beautiful self. Thoughts?”
He actually pouted before sighing and nodding. “All right.” Slowly, his arms slipped from around her and he went to unlock the door. Taking her hand in his, he l
ed her back to the stairs.
As they began their descent, there was a loud ruckus in the kitchen. They both stopped to share a confused look. A huge bang followed with, “and stay down, you twit” had them racing down the remaining stairs. Barreling into the kitchen, she nearly plowed into Joshua’s back when he stopped suddenly. Easing around him, she saw why right away.
Ali gasped. “Holy crap.” She saw her mother standing over a prone Jeremy Rodgers on the floor with his head bleeding, her mother standing with an iron skillet in her hands. “Mom?” she asked and then looked to Josh. “Shouldn’t someone call the cops?”
Josh nodded before easing over to her mother. He gently took the skillet from her hands and hefted it with an impressed look on his face. “Nice take down, Mrs. H,” he said with a hint of awe in his voice.
“I played many years of racquetball before moving to tennis,” she said, brushing a hand over her perfectly coiffed hair. “The little shit thought he had the draw on me,” she muttered. Then she kicked him in a place that had Joshua using the skillet to protect his own “assets.”
Ali winced and bit her lower lip. She moved to her mom and wrapped her arms around her to keep her from hurting the man even more. She hugged her mother and felt like crying. She had done this, brought danger to her mom and Josh’s mom. “I’m just happy that you are okay,” she whispered softly. She looked to Joshua’s mom and asked, “Are you okay, Mrs. C?”
His mother just waved her off and moved closer to Mrs. Hollister. “Look at this, Kris. I got the photo right when you clocked him,” she said.
“Hot damn.” Kristin Hollister hooted out. “That’s going on this year’s Christmas cards,” she said with a laugh.
Joshua looked like he just wanted the floor to open up and swallow him. “You do realize that your son may have something to say about that,” he muttered.
“I dare him,” Kristin said. “I have a license to carry a skillet and I’m not afraid to use it.”
Ali didn’t know why, but that had her laughing. “Oh God, Mom you are too funny.” She hugged her once more and then pulled back. Shaking her head, she smirked. “I so can see you putting that on your Christmas cards this year.” Her mom had a twisted and wicked sense of humor and she loved it.
“Damn straight I am,” Kristin said. Then her eyes went wide and she yanked the skillet from Josh’s hand. She dashed around to the other side of the downed Jeremy and waved Alison and Joshua out of the way. “Get this one for the year after,” she said to Josh’s mom. Planting a foot on the man’s chest, she took up a classic hunting pose, skillet propped on her hip and her chin up with a happy look on her face.
“Mother,” Joshua said in warning, but it was too late. Theresa was taking more pictures. “For the love of God,” he muttered, digging out his phone. He shook his head at her as he spoke to the sheriff quietly. He even begged the man to hurry before their mothers really did something idiotic.
“Oh dear God.” Ali shook her head and looked up at Joshua. Well, at least with the moms busy taking pictures of the downed asshole, they wouldn’t notice the ring on her finger, so that was a bonus. She looked to Josh and asked, “When will he be here, and should we call Rhys?”
“He’ll be here as soon as he stops laughing,” he muttered, rolling his eyes because he likely already knew just how her brother was going to react to this one. Rhys Hollister had a twisted sense of humor at times. He put his phone to his ear once more and sighed. “Rhys, we have Jeremy,” he said, and winced. “No, Alison’s safe. Unfortunately, Jeremy isn’t currently. Your mother whacked him upside the head with a cast iron skillet and she and my mother are now taking trophy shots… No, I’m not kidding. What? Fine,” he muttered. “He would like to talk to you as he thinks you are the only sane person on this ranch currently.”
Ali took the phone from Josh and winked at him. “Hey, Rhys.” She listened for a moment and then laughed. “Yes, Mom really did whack him with an iron skillet. Yes, she spouted the crap about playing tennis and stuff.” She listened and then snorted. “Yes, she said she’s putting it on her Christmas cards as well. No, I’m not kidding. Yes, she really is.” Her heart softened and she nodded. “Yes, Rhys, she’s smiling. Crazy, I know.”
“Think they’ll give them adjoining rooms at the funny farm?” Joshua asked quietly. Sighing, he wrapped an arm around her in a loose hug before he drew away. “I’m going to get something to tie him up with, just in case he comes to. We don’t need your mom up on assault charges if she whacks him again.”
“Thank God.” She watched as Josh walked away and then looked to the moms. “How about the two of you come over here and stand with me?” She saw the blood on the man’s head and felt bad—well, no, not really. “Should we give him an ice pack for his head maybe?” she asked. Her mother had, after all, raised her with some sort of manners.
“Nope,” Theresa said after setting her camera down on the counter. “He broke into my house, tried to hurt my friend, and was after my baby’s fiancée. He’s lucky I don’t chop him up and feed him to the pigs up the road.” She moved to Alison’s side while Kristin moved to her daughter’s other side. “Don’t think we missed that rock you’re sporting, Alison. Spill now or we’ll tie you and my boy up until you give us the goods.”
Alison laughed. “Yes, he just asked me to marry him.” She watched Josh as he moved around, wrapped the rope around the man’s wrists, and hog-tied him. “We are planning on going to Vegas for our wedding and we would love to have you both with us if you wouldn’t mind?” She held her hand up as she spoke.
“Vegas?” Her mother spat the word out like it was dirty. “Why on earth would you want one of those classless Vegas weddings, baby? Theresa and I could have one whipped up in no time at all.”
“With everyone from nine counties, a huge band, so much food we all can’t move for days after stuffing ourselves, and not what either of us want,” Josh said softly. “Look, we love you both, but that…that isn’t us. We like to keep it quiet and low key. We’ll do a huge blowout party when we get back from our honeymoon, but that’s it. Alison wants it small, and I’m going to side with her on this one. Vegas is what we want to do, and we will do it, with or without you there.” He said the last in a firm, not taking any shit tone.
Ali was glad that Josh spoke up because she knew she couldn’t tell her mom no. “Exactly. I want to be able to have something small. I’ve been in the spotlight, Mom, and what you want to do will do just that again, put me front and center. Look what happened with me being out in the face of the public before.” She pointed to the man on the floor of the kitchen. “So please understand?”
Her mother had her mulish look on her face, but finally nodded with a sigh. “All right, baby. If that is truly what you want?” she said in a hopeful tone. When Alison just stared at her, Kristin rolled her eyes. “Fine. But you are damn well getting a great dress. I will not have you married in a pair of cutoffs and flip-flops, for the love of the dear Lord above. You can give me this one thing.”
“I am perfectly good with getting a great dress. I will even let you put in your opinions for it.” She wouldn’t have gotten married in cutoffs and flip-flops anyway. “Just make sure that you are ready to dress shop as soon as possible because I really would like to get married as quickly as I can.”
“Why the fuck are you getting married as quickly as possible?” Rhys’s voice boomed through the room from behind her. Josh was the only one out of them they didn’t have to peel off the ceiling after that entrance.
“Rhys Hollister, I am your mother, and I will damn well wash out your filthy mouth with soap for language like that,” Kristin said, a hand pressed to her chest even as she glared at her son.
Ali rolled her eyes and snickered. “I’m not pregnant, Rhys,” she shot back to her brother. “I want to be married so that we can have the life that we have both missed out on for a time. We have waited and danced around each other forever, so I’m tired of waiting. Period.”
; He grunted at that, his glare still firmly rooted on Josh, who appeared not overly concerned, but he did have that killer skillet in hand. Josh caught her eye and winked.
“Where’s the sheriff?” Rhys asked, finally looking to her.
“On his way, assuming he stops laughing long enough,” Joshua answered for her.
“Yeah, evidently he was laughing his rumpkus off because Mom hit the intruder with a skillet,” Ali said, and looked over at Josh and then Rhys. “Stop staring each other down. For the love of Pete,” she grumbled. “Come on, boys, stand down, will you?”
Josh shot her an innocent look and batted his lashes. His eyes were laughing. He was messing with her brother, she got that now. Hefting the skillet up, he flipped it around. “I’m thinking we should have this bronzed and presented to the champ. Maybe mounted on a nice plaque for her wall.”
“Oh hush,” Kristin muttered as she went and gave him a hug. “You are a horrible child, Joshua.”
“Yes, ma’am, I get it all from my mother’s side of the family.”
“You do not!” his mother practically shouted.
Ali snickered. She felt such happiness and relief that this man had been caught. “Now, moms, why don’t the two of you go to the office and start to do online searches for gowns, print some off, and then I will come and say yes or no to them?” She wanted them away from the man who was now starting to move and moan on the floor. It was finally over. Her stalker was well and truly caught and off to spend a good long time in prison.
Swallowing hard, she listened to the banter around her as the reality settled in. Her hands were actually shaking. Ali didn’t know if it was from relief, or maybe the leftover fear that her and Joshua’s mothers could have been harmed. God, what would she have done if either woman had actually been hurt?
“I don’t know, dear,” her mother said. “Joshua, be a darling and hand me that skillet once more please.”
Tears threatened for a moment, but she pushed them back as she focused on Joshua. He’d been her rock through this. He’d helped keep her mind off what could happen, kept her in the moment and looking toward a happier future. While she felt empty inside from the terror Jeremy had brought into her life, her home, and her mother’s life, she also felt that hollow place filling with the love of family. Not only the love she had for Joshua, but also the love for her mother, brother, and her soon-to-be mother-in-law. Bad things happened to good people every single day. She needed to get beyond it all, to move forward, and not let it cripple her as it had once threatened to do in the past.
