Strong Heat

by Niobia Bryant

  With one last wiggle and giggle she climbed into her car and reversed in a semi-arc before pulling off down the tree-covered dirt drive.

  Pushing all thoughts of the woman away, he loaded the horse into the trailer and finally headed back to work. As he drove, his thoughts were on Lisha—as they had been since yesterday.

  It felt like a lifetime had passed between them and not just a day. So much had happened. So much had been said and done. So much revealed.

  He couldn’t believe he told her about his ex, and then she said something he would never forget.

  Hey, she didn’t just cheat on you . . . she cheated herself out of what I think is a really good man.

  And then the surprise kiss outside her door.

  That surprised him. Surprised and thrilled him.

  She completely invaded his dreams with that. Instead of a good-bye, it seemed like a hello to forever.

  “Damn,” he swore, remembering the feel of her. Again.

  I really, really hate your ex.

  That made him laugh. And it made him feel good in a sadistic way because even though he wasn’t willing to take the risk with his heart, it felt good knowing that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

  You’re really missing out on her, son.

  The next day, Lisha was surprised to see Kael’s truck parked in between his father’s and sister’s vehicles. She glanced at her clock. It was a little after four. She was surprised he wouldn’t be at work or least working on his ranch.

  As she climbed out from her car, she thought of him having the determination and strength to work that hard to get his ranch up and running. He basically had two full-time jobs. For that she felt he should be commended.

  Usually it was a man with a family who struggled to provide that for his wife and children, but Kael was doing it while young, single and without kids. Most men would party their twenties away, but he put all of his energy into working for his future.

  She liked that in the man and many other women would too. Someone would scoop him up and Lisha honestly hoped he fell for the right one the next time.

  Closing the trunk of her Nova, she hitched her tote bag of equipment higher up on her shoulder. She smiled at Kelli sitting on the porch, but her smile faltered at her lips and left her eyes as the door opened and a woman with a body like it was drawn by a man stepped out onto the porch as well. She had full glossy lips and half-closed eyes that made her look like she was in the throes of sex. Her white shirt seemed to be bursting at the seams and she had no room to pass gas in her skin-tight bell-bottom jeans.

  “Hello, hello,” Lisha said even as she wondered who the woman was.

  “Hey, Lisha,” Kelli said.

  “Your dad inside?” she asked, all business.

  “Waiting on you,” she said.

  Lisha noticed the other woman studying her and gave her a nod before stepping up onto the porch.

  “I hope Kael loves that chicken I fried for his dinner,” the woman said. “That stove was hot . . . but he’s worth it.”

  Lisha entered the house, but she couldn’t deny that she slowed up her steps.

  “My brother deserves a good woman like you,” Kelli said.

  Lisha stopped and anger made her body hot from her feet and up to the top of her head like mercury rising in a thermometer set in boiling water.

  That lying, cheating, manipulating, gray-haired—

  “Hi, Lisha.”

  Mr. Strong stepped into the living room, already dressed in one of the sweat suits she made him wear during their sessions so that his movements weren’t constricted by the jeans or the green Dickies uniform pants he seemed to favor. “Hi there. You ready?” she asked, forcing a smile to her face even as her soul felt crushed.

  Logan pierced her with his eyes. “You okay?” he asked, his voice sharp.

  “Yes, sir,” she answered. And somehow his show of concern kicked the gate off her emotions and tears welled up quickly. “Can I use your bathroom, please?”

  “Yes, you know you’re more than welcome,” he said, stepping back into the kitchen to make room in the hall for her.

  She set her bag on the floor by the sofa and dashed past him before the tears could fall. She had just made it to the bathroom door before the first tears raced down her face.

  “Who fucked up this chicken like this?” Logan snapped from the kitchen.

  Lisha shut the door and closed the lid on the commode before sitting down on it. “I don’t want a girlfriend,” she mimicked, unrolling sky blue tissue to wipe her eyes.

  No, he just didn’t want me as a girlfriend.

  “And I believed his story about being cheated on. Old dusty-haired liar,” she mumbled, unrolling more tissue to blow her nose.

  Lisha hated a liar.

  And then to parade his woman in my face. Ole non-cooking heifer.

  She actually giggled at Mr. Strong’s complaint on her chicken. “Humph. Who can’t fry chicken?” she said, rising up to stand in the mirror and make sure her eyes weren’t puffy—as they tended to do whenever she got teary.

  “All right, Alisha,” she admonished herself. “Get it together. He wasn’t yours to lose and who cares if he lied. All he gained was a little swapping of some spit . . . and a dry hunch.”

  Still ...

  Giving herself a shake before she washed her hands and rinsed her face, Lisha reached for more tissue. When the roll quickly went empty, she grimaced even as she patted her face dry. Dumping it all in the trash can, she finally opened the door and walked right out to Kael leaning on the wall.

  His face lit up and he smiled at her. “Hey, Lisha. Were you talking to yourself?” he asked.

  “What I do in the lavatory is my business,” she said coldly before easing past him into the hall.

  He grabbed her wrist.

  She turned to glare at him.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Kael asked, obviously taken aback. “Are you mad at me?”

  Lisha snatched her arm away and quickly walked up the hall.

  “Lisha,” he called.

  She ignored him, walking out onto the porch where Mr. Strong was standing, talking to his daughter and future daughter-in-law. “All set, Mr. Strong?” she asked. “I thought we might walk to the stop sign down the road and back.”

  In truth, she wanted to get the hell away from Kael and his girlfriend. This was going to be the longest hour of her life.

  He nodded and offered her his elbow.

  Lisha took it and they walked down the drive at a good speed together. “Let me know if you have any pain, and be careful of anything you can trip over,” she said.

  “I’ll be fine as long as I don’t have to try and rush home to shit out that nasty chicken,” he said.

  Lisha smiled. “You ready to run now?” she teased.

  “No, and that’s why if you see me hit the woods, you run home and get me some toilet paper,” he said. “Deal?”

  Feeling better, she nodded. “Definite deal.”

  Kael’s father’s home sat on two acres of land and he used the rear section of the land to house his barn and the two horses he used to race. Hating to sit around with idle hands—especially with Bea and Kelli’s game-playing—he’d decided to clean the stalls out and replace the hay and water.

  He’d actually knocked off work early and left the duties of the ranch to Jim to be home when Lisha came for his father’s physical therapy. He changed out of his work clothes and showered to sit and wait on her, wanting to see her again.

  And then at the first sight of him she gave him the cold shoulder? That wasn’t nothing like the heat of the kiss she gave him last night.

  He did overhear her in the bathroom mumbling something about dry hunching? Kael frowned as he gave each of his father’s horses his two carrots to eat from the palm of his hand.

  When he was done he walked out of the small barn and secured the gate, leaning the rake and shovel he used against the wall. In the distance he spotted his father and L
isha walking back down the road toward the house.

  He eased his hands into the snug back pocket of his denims and honed his eyes in on her as she laughed at something his father said, causing her hair to fly back from her face.

  Fresh faced, no makeup and in her uniform, and Kael would choose her over all of the flash of Bea any day.

  He made his way across the grassy land, coming from around the house and sitting down on the swing just as they turned onto the drive. He leaned forward and pressed his elbows to his knees, his eyes watching her every move.

  “Oh, there you are, suga.”

  Kael rolled his eyes and ignored Bea. The only thing on his mind was finding out what had Lisha mad at him now. That’s all.

  Kelli came out onto the porch, wiping her hands on the edge of her apron. “Daddy, you ready to eat?” she called out to him.

  His father opened his mouth, but Kael spotted Lisha tug at his arm and say something to him. His brows dipped when his father just said, “No thank you,” in the fakest voice.

  She even has Daddy wrapped around her finger.

  His father had never really cared for Donna. In fact, he had been one of the ones to warn him about trusting in her so much.

  As they neared the porch, he eyed Bea and Kelli share a look.

  “Y’all were gone a long time,” Kelli said. “Lisha, I hope you’re not running late to get ready for your date?”

  Kael stiffened.

  “My date?” she asked, looking confused.

  “That cute guy you were talking to at the clinic,” Kelli explained. “I overheard him ask you out before I left.”

  Kael couldn’t believe the way his gut felt like he’d been kicked by the hooves of a stallion.

  Lisha looked over at him but her face closed up as she glanced away. She shrugged. “I’ll be fine,” she said.

  Kael was floored. Kissing him less than twenty-four hours ago and accepting a date with another man already? He shook his head and looked toward his father. “I guess they are all just the same, huh?” he asked, before brushing past Bea and Kelli to walk into the house.

  Seconds later the door to his bedroom slammed and they all jumped at the sound of it.

  “Love is passion and fire; it haunts and enchants the one who touches it.”

  —Unknown

  Interlude

  Present Day

  “Wow, so Aunt Kelli was a . . . a hater?” Kaleb asked, his face incredulous.

  The few lines on Kael’s face deepened as his expression changed. Lisha reached over to stroke his hand and wrist. “We didn’t know that at the time,” she said gently, motioning with her eyes to her family to leave it alone.

  And they did.

  “How bad was Bea’s cooking, though?” Jade asked, trying hard to change the mood.

  Kael begrudgingly smiled. “It was bad,” he said. “Too bad she didn’t cook as good as she looked.”

  His sons all grimaced or covered their faces with their hands.

  The ladies all got fired up and their mingled voices of protests clashed with the jovial sounds of Destiny’s Child singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

  “Hey, hey, hey,” Kael roared in a strong voice, bringing immediate silence.

  Everyone in the room looked to him, but he gave the floor to Lisha with a wave of his hand.

  She smiled. “No worries, children. She couldn’t touch me in cooking, looks or—”

  “Hey,” Kaeden hollered in protest.

  “I was going to say in personality, son,” Lisha told him.

  “Thank God,” he muttered, pulling at his long slender fingers—his new nervous gesture since he finally overcame reaching to push up the glasses he hadn’t needed since his Lasik surgery almost two years ago.

  Jade chuckled and reached over to press a kiss to her husband’s smooth-shaven cheek where they sat on the floor in front of the Christmas tree. She enjoyed the scent of the pine and said a silent thanks to God that Kaeden’s allergies didn’t kick in and send him running for his inhaler.

  She still marveled at how different they were but how much they loved one another. She loved adventure and the outdoors, even once co-owning an adventure tour business, while Kaeden was a straitlaced accountant who was pretty much allergic to any and everything in the outdoors. Growing up with brothers who all enjoyed and thrived in the outdoors and who now all worked in ranching had left him feeling like the odd man out even if he did the accounting, bookkeeping and taxes for each of his brother’s businesses.

  She had been surprised to discover that behind the glasses and the suit was a handsome man with beautiful eyes and a body that was lean and still fit. And his prowess in their bed?

  Uhm-uhm-uhm, Kaeden still gives me fever.

  She eyed her husband looking ever so fine in his navy blue long-sleeved shirt and dark denims sitting on the floor beside her. A lot of people thought he and Kade looked like twins, and although Jade thought they favored each other, she believed her Strong man was the best of the lot. He was definitely the best for her.

  She looked around at the large room filled with family—her family now too—as everyone was seated and centered around Lisha and Kael. They were respected and loved as the elders of the family. From their love had come five children who now all had love of their own.

  And children of their own, she thought with sadness as she looked down at the area rug to keep from showing her emotions on her face.

  She’d wanted to start a legacy for them as well. Last year she made the decision to pause her work as an adventure tour guide to focus on having a baby with Kaeden, but so far they had not been blessed with a child. Just that morning she had taken yet another pregnancy test, hoping to surprise her husband with good news for Christmas. Instead she put on a brave face and just gave him the newest iPhone.

  Kaeden loved gadgets and technology so the phone went over well, but she knew a child would have been the best gift of all . . . for them both.

  Tears welled up quickly and Jade climbed to her feet with ease and quick-walked out of the living room and across the hall to leave the house. The cold snap in the air felt invigorating to her, and as she stood at the railing she took deep gulps of it, enjoying the feel of the crisp wind wrapping around her body.

  Their home in Summerville seemed empty this last year without the laughter of a child, and although they never spoke of it, she knew Kaeden had to be feeling the same way. They were the only ones to have a home without kids; even Kaitlyn and Quint had Lei.

  Jade opened her eyes as something warm was placed around her shoulders. She smiled at the smell of Kaeden’s cologne as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. She leaned back against his strength, needing it.

  “You okay?” he asked, pressing a kiss to her temple.

  She started to nod. She started to lie. “No, I’m not okay,” she said, whispering the truth as she looked out at the vast lands of the ranch in the distance. The grounds were white tipped with frost and the skies were cloudy.

  Kaeden turned her body around to face him, readjusting her coat around her shoulders. When she looked down at his chest, he used a strong finger to press up against her chin to raise her face. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his eyes filled with concern and love. Lots of love.

  “I want to make a baby with you,” she admitted, her voice breaking as a tear raced down her cheek.

  He caught it with his thumb and then pressed his kisses to her lips, warming them instantly in the cold. “And we will, baby. It’s just not our time yet,” Kaeden said, pulling her body close to his.

  “But what if we can’t?” she asked, admitting to her newfound fears.

  “We will,” he assured her.

  Something in his voice eased her fears a bit.

  “After the new year we’ll make an appointment to meet with your doctor and we’ll go from there and do whatever we have to do to have a baby,” Kaeden promised.

  Jade’s face brightened and she smiled as she lifted up on he
r toes to kiss her husband. “Maybe we’ll get lucky during that vacay to Hawaii you surprised me with this morning.”

  Kaeden pressed a kiss to her forehead like he did so many times over their years together. “Maybe,” he said.

  At the loud snap of something overturning around the corner of the house, Kaeden and Jade walked around the large wraparound porch to find Kadina and Lei stretched out on their backs in their outer gear with a broken table in between them.

  “Hey, Uncle Kaeden. Hi, Aunt Jade,” Kadina said from the ground.

  They rushed forward to help the teens to their feet.

  “Are you okay?” Jade asked, her pretty dark brown face filled with concern.

  “Yes, ma’am,” the girls answered in unison.

  Kaeden held up one hand to keep everyone quiet.

  A Christmas tune mingled in the air with the raucous voices of the family inside.

  Kaeden looked up at the small window overlooking the living room. It was clear the girls used the table to open the window and it gave way from under them.

  He easily reached up and closed the window that was designed for ventilation in older homes.

  “Uncle Kaeden, we want to hear the story too,” Kadina said, giving him her best sad face with pouted lips and all.

  Jade bit back a smile.

  “That worked when you were four inches shorter and six years younger,” he said dryly, waving the girls toward the front of the house.

  The girls walked off, mumbling under their breath.

  “You sure you want one of those?” Kaeden asked.

  “Definitely,” Jade said.

  They walked back into the house together, secure in their love and their desire to build on it. Hanging up their coats, they moved back into the living room to reclaim their spots on the floor before the tree. They slid right back into the good-natured banter of the family as Kael and Lisha continued telling their story.

  “Wait a minute . . . are y’all talking about Bea Olson that lives on Honeysuckle Lane?” Kaleb asked.

  Lisha rolled her eyes. “Yes,” she said with emphasis.