Sunshine and Rain (City Limits Book 2)

by M. Mabie

  “Is it usually this deep? You could probably swim in that hole.”

  “We did when we were kids,” I said, then felt weird about it. “When my dad rocked up this crossing it made that side deeper. The water is up pretty high, even in this creek. These rocks are usually dry right here.” At the moment, they were under about a foot of water, making the creek up about two feet.

  We crossed just fine and headed through the pasture, back up to the spot that needed mending. Even if I wasn’t able to repair it myself with what I’d brought, at least I’d need to know what to bring the next day.

  The pasture wasn’t too large and it ran right up to the back of the farm. We had two fields we used for winter wheat and grazing, and the other one was in much better shape to plant. This one, with the creek, was a bigger mess and had a lot more soft spots, but the cows wouldn’t care. There was plenty to eat aside from the hay we’d have for them up at the barn.

  I turned off the ignition and hopped off, then pulled my rubber boots out of the rack and slipped them on to wade into the creek. The fence wasn’t in terrible shape. A large branch had fallen off upstream and washed against it, causing the posts to lean over from the weight of the rushing water. I had what I needed.

  I pulled the limb away and threw it on the bank, thankful the water wasn’t higher than my knee-high boots. Wet feet sucked and full boots were a bitch to walk with.

  “Do you need any help?” Sunny called from the four-wheeler.

  “Nah,” I said, repositioning the post in the soft ground. If I could get it upright it would hold the fence tight and high enough that the cows wouldn’t try to cross it.

  Up the embankment I went and grabbed the sledgehammer. She watched my every move.

  On my way to her, I thought about how I’d wanted to take her on a ride, but my priorities were changing. The closer she’d sat, the tighter she’d held on, the more I wished we weren’t on a damn four-wheeler but somewhere a lot more comfortable. Hell, at least somewhere I could reach her mouth.

  “Is it bad?” she asked, probably seeing the concentration I wore on my face, but it wasn’t for the fence. It was all about her.

  “No. If I get those two posts upright it’ll be fine.” I grabbed the handle of the tool I needed and headed back down.

  The weight of the four-wheeler had made it across the crossing fine earlier, but I didn’t want to push it a second time. It had been pretty washed out. We’d have to go up by the farm and ride the road back to the shed near my place to get back. It was a longer ride, and the sooner I was done, the better.

  I propped the posts up with a few big rocks to hold them where I needed them, and with a few swift hits they were planted deep enough to do the job. We’d do a better repair when the water went down and we could get back to fix the crossing. Until then, it’d be fine.

  Her face was slack and her mouth hung open as I climbed the grassy hill back to her.

  “What?” I asked. Had she seen something? A snake? I was a farm kid, but I still didn’t like those fuckers. I pulled my boots off over my shoes and stuck them back into the rungs of the wire rack.

  “Nothing. You’re just so strong,” she said with a laugh in her voice.

  My whole life I’d wanted her to see me as someone stronger or older or more capable, even as a kid I’d wished I was taller so she’d look at me differently. Over the past few weeks, I’d seen her do just that and it was doing something to my ego. Not in a shitty, arrogant way, it was more like validation. An evening of the playing field.

  At the same time, I was seeing her in a different light, too. I supposed that was only natural. We were both adults now.

  When I climbed on the front of the ATV, I could have sworn she placed a kiss on my shoulder just before I started it. God, she did things to me that weren’t typical.

  As I navigated that side of the property, I tried to remember any other girl, or woman for that matter, who had such an effect on me.

  I’d had girlfriends, a few casual flings. The one legitimate high school girlfriend I’d had moved away my senior year. We didn’t even try to pretend like some long distance thing was going to work. She broke up with me, if I remembered right. Anyway, I survived.

  It wasn’t anything nearly as painful as when I watched, from my bike hiding behind a bush across the street from her house, the day Sunny drove off to college. The day I thought I’d never see her again. Convinced she’d never come back. That day had royally sucked, but I got used to it and things moved on. I’d had no choice.

  Yet, there we were. Together. Riding over the tall grass. Even though she didn’t need to, her legs were wrapped around me and her hands held different places on my chest. I glanced down and one of her thumbs was rubbing up and down over my shirt, though I couldn’t feel it much as softly as she was doing it.

  There hadn’t been any other spots along the fence that looked bad, and, frankly, I didn’t have it in me to wait until we got back to touch her again. Really touch her.

  I looked up to the farmhouse, the back of it was just in view in front of the barns and sheds at the back of the lot. No one would be looking back there. Not that I cared, but maybe she would.

  My thumb eased off the throttle, and we slowed to a stop. Then I put on the e-brake and killed the engine. I climbed off and took a few steps back, crooking a finger for her to do the same, which she did.

  She tried to hide her smile, but failed beautifully as she leaned against the seat, teasing and pleasing me at the same time. When I couldn’t keep the cool on my face and grinned at her, she shyly looked around the meadow and something behind me caught her eye.

  I reached out for her hand and gave it a slight tug so she’d come closer. Willingly, she did. Oh shit, what it did to me.

  “I want to take you out.” From that moment on, I decided I wasn’t going to squander whatever was happening.

  She was interested, for whatever reason. I’d been cautious, treading lightly, but I wanted her to know I wasn’t just some guy who wanted to kiss her when we were alone, then go our separate ways. I wanted more than that.

  I wanted to take her to dinner, wanted to go out and ride through town, and for her to always sit in the middle. Wanted the beginning of something, not just some novel thing.

  “You do?” she asked, but whatever had her attention wasn’t letting go of it. “What is that?”

  I turned my head and could barely make it out on account of how badly it had been neglected, but it was still standing.

  “Is it a tree house?” she asked.

  Tree house didn’t sound as silly as my fort did, so I answered, “Yeah. It’s old.”

  The look in her eyes was almost enchanted, and they shined a deeper blue. “I want to go check it out. I always wanted a tree house when I was a kid.”

  The thing was, I knew what was in there. I didn’t want to go up.

  Maybe my dad had cleaned it out, but I seriously doubted he’d been in there. I hadn’t been inside the fort for nearly seven years. Probably early high school. Still, I knew it wasn’t smart letting her see inside.

  A diversion was needed.

  I grabbed her other hand and tried to steer her focus to me. It was all I had.

  “Come here. Let me kiss on you.”

  Her eyes parted with the fort, and she stepped between my legs. “Let’s go check out that tree house. Maybe I’ll let you kiss on me up there.”

  She was tough.

  “I also want to talk to you about letting me take you out.” I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her neck, which I’d dreamed of doing nothing short of a million times.

  She tipped her head to the side and allowed me more, but insisted, “Rhett, let’s go up there.”

  “I don’t want to. It’s old and there are probably snakes in there. Plus, it’s most likely rotted out.” I didn’t believe half of that, but I’d rather lie—if it would work—than let her up into that tree.

  It didn’t work.

  “I’ll let you
take me out if you take me over there first.”

  She left off a part. An important one.

  “And the kissing?” I asked, hoping she’d come back to that.

  Sunny grinned and leaned into me, throwing her arms around my neck. “I’ll let you kiss me either way. Rhett, you can kiss me whenever you like, but if you want to take me on a date anytime soon, I suggest you get up that ladder and let me in your tree house. Please.” Her eyelashes batted up at me.

  She wasn’t shy about what she wanted. Dammit.

  “All right, but give me those lips first.” Just in case she changed her mind after, at least I had one more chance to feel her mouth on mine.

  “Deal,” she said with a wide smile. She turned my cap around for me so it wouldn’t hit her in the face then pressed her lips to mine. I didn’t think I’d ever get over the way it felt.

  Or the way every time she kissed me I wanted to strip her naked and show her all the things I wanted to do with her. Now that she was about to see my fort, I worried that might not happen, so I concentrated on giving her everything I had in that kiss.

  I held on to her, tipping her back a little. She moaned into my mouth, and my dick twitched and throbbed behind the denim of my old work jeans.

  My mouth found her neck and I lost myself a little.

  “I think you’re trying to distract me,” she said, her words shaky and low.

  My mouth near her ear, I asked, “How am I doing?”

  “Pretty damn good, but I really want in that tree house.”

  I paired our lips again and prayed it wasn’t for the last time.

  It was clear he was trying damn hard to get me to let the idea of going into the tree house slip away, but it looked so cool.

  The tree that held the structure was a short walk across the meadow, along a hill line. After he planted another knee-buckling kiss on my lips, I pulled away and tugged his hand in the direction of the big oak tree.

  “Just remember I was young when I hung out in there, okay?” he said, readjusting his hat as we walked through the grass. I didn’t want him to be embarrassed, but curiosity was driving me forward.

  When I was a kid, the neighbors had a great tree house, but I didn’t. We didn’t have any trees that one would work in, and let’s face it, my dad wasn’t all that confident in his handiwork.

  This one was incredible. It almost looked like it had two stories from the outside, but maybe it was just tall on the inside. I couldn’t tell yet.

  “I wanted one when I was a little girl. I wanted to have my friends over and sleep in it. Did you ever sleep out here?” I asked as we got to the tree.

  He stepped up to the ladder, which was more like small foot shelves built into the massive tree trunk, to make sure it was solid and could hold his weight.

  “No. I had to be back up at the farm by dark, but I spent a lot of time here.” He took a few steps up, bouncing and satisfied that it was sturdy enough. “Let me go up and make sure it’s not full of spiders and stuff. I haven’t been up here in years.”

  Yeah, I wasn’t that afraid of snakes. So when he tried to change my mind with that threat, I didn’t give it much thought. Actually, I probably just hadn’t had any bad experiences with snake. But spiders? Yeah, me and those sumbitches were never going to cohabitate.

  “Okay, but no lying. If it’s fine I’m coming up.” I expected him to make some kind of excuse to not let me in. I wasn’t sure what he had up there, but he did his damnedest to keep me out.

  When he got to the top of the ladder, he unlatched the toggle and pushed the door open above his head, then stepped up to peek around.

  “What’s it look like?” I hollered up. “Is it gross?”

  He laughed, looked down the tree at me and said, “No. It’s not gross. You can come up, if you really want to. Do you need help?”

  I’d watched how he did it. I could manage.

  “Nope.”

  One foot above the other, I climbed the eight or nine feet up until my head was rising through the floor like his had done. He was standing inside and held a hand out for me to take as I took the last few steps up.

  It was awesome.

  When my feet were on the floor inside the tree house, he stepped away to open the windows. They were on hinges at the tops and when pushed open, they were held there with a propped up board in the center.

  “Did your dad build this?” I asked, looking around the room in the tree, amazed.

  Rhett scratched his head and the back of his neck. “A little. Mostly he helped me with a material list and cuts for the frame. Then I did the rest. Well, Lance helped sometimes, too.”

  It creaked a little, but didn’t sag under my weight when I walked around.

  He opened a few more windows, and the light that poured in was all you’d need for a cool hangout.

  “What about Haley, did she play up here?”

  “No. She wasn’t allowed,” he said quietly as he looked through a pile of magazines he had on a makeshift table in the center. There were two upturned milk crates for chairs.

  Then I saw a wall that had writing on it, and he stepped in front of it as I got closer to read it.

  “Now, just a second. I was eight or nine when I built this. And I had it pretty bad for this one blond, high school cheerleader.” His face was stoic and sincere, his hazel eyes showing a hint of vulnerability. “I never thought you’d come up here. Ever, Sunny.”

  Did he think I’d make fun of him? It saddened me that he might. I never made fun of him when we were younger, why would I do it now?

  “I think it’s cool up here,” I said, then I leaned up to give him a quick kiss. It was a far cry from the physical persuasion he’d tried to use on me to forget the tree house. My kiss was more of a thanks and don’t worry kiss. When I left his lips, he moved to the side so I could check out what was so important and top secret.

  FORT RULES:

  No girls, except Sunny Wilbanks.

  Only radio station is WDKR.

  Cussing is okay.

  No telling on what happens in the fort.

  No smoking. It’s wood.

  Take your trash when you leave. Raccoons live in this tree.

  Below the rules there were scribbles of my name and proclamations of Rhett Caraway’s love for me. 4-Ever. There were drawings of the sun and in one spot there was a place that said I’m going to marry Sunny Wilbanks, then it went on to say Rhett and Sunny Wilbanks.

  I tried not to laugh at young Rhett for thinking he’d take my name. It was so sweet. My hand covered my heart as I looked over all of the precious things he’d written about me.

  When every inch of the wall had been examined and absorbed, I turned to see him sitting on a milk crate, which again made me almost lose my laugh. His big body was crouched down on the red plastic makeshift chair. He’d opened the back of a battery-operated radio and was messing with the corroded springs that years out in the weather had claimed.

  Taking a seat on the blue milk crate, I waited for him to look at me. I was positive he was embarrassed, but there was no reason for it. It wasn’t funny or stupid to me. It was endearing and it made me feel really special—even if it wasn’t a timely representation of our situation.

  He’d been a kid when he wrote it. Now we were adults, and it felt like we were the same age. He was a man and I was a woman, and there was not a damn thing wrong with that.

  “Hey,” I said and kicked his foot off to the side of the tiny table. “Look at me.”

  He crooked his neck up, his expression almost defensive.

  “Stop it. We aren’t breaking any rules, Rhett.” Then I smiled and pointed to the first rule. “See? I’m allowed up here.”

  “It was dumb, Sunny.” His words, although trying to make light of something he’d done as a child, kind of pissed me off, and I stood.

  “It is not dumb. It’s really nice, Rhett.”

  He challenged, “Nice if you’re a kid.”

  “Who cares?”


  “I care. I know what everyone is saying. What this looks like. Rhett Caraway still chasing Sunny Wilbanks.”

  “That’s not what it feels like to me.” I stepped forward.

  He was a man, and that was only proven further by this pride, but he had to know a few things.

  I sat on his lap, praying first that the milk crates would hold us, and second that the floor would. Then I took the radio away from him and put it on the table, wrapping his arms around my waist.

  “I don’t see you as that little boy, Rhett. But don’t be ashamed of him. Hell, there’s never been anyone else who treated me as sweetly as he did. No one who ever paid me that much attention. No one who ever tried to make me smile every day. Even as an adult, no one ever worked that hard to make me like them.

  “And maybe that’s why I never did. No one ever made me feel as special as I did when I was in high school and this younger boy was chasing me. You’re the only guy who has ever bought me flowers. The only one who ever left me my favorite candy bars in my car every morning before school, which I’m still not sure how you did. The only one who ever brought me thoughtful gifts. The only one who never asked for anything but a smile from me.”

  My hands met the light stubble on his relaxing face, and I held his gaze there. “It doesn’t matter when you did all of those things. You did them, and they count. If anyone had ever treated me better than Rhett Caraway, then I’d probably be with them, but I’m not. I’m here with you. Maybe it wasn’t the right time back then, but who knows? Maybe it’s my turn to chase you a little. Because no matter how old you are, it feels pretty damn good.”

  My eager lips were an inch from his and his arms around me only grew tighter. I felt small sitting on his huge thighs, his strong hands creeping up my back as I turned a little more and threw my leg over to the other side.

  I opened my mouth like I was going to kiss him and he leaned into it as I pulled away holding his face in place. Halting his approach.

  “Now, let’s talk about this date you want to take me on,” I said quietly against his chin before placing a kiss there.