“Mama, you think someone is after me? That this is personal?” My stomach tumbled at the idea and my brain went through all the people I knew that might want to do this to me.
“Now I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is it will give your mama a piece of mind if I know you both are safe. Promise me, Abigail Layne.”
I huffed, feeling like a thirteen-year-old version of myself, agreeing to something that was clearly not what I wanted to do.
“Fine. I promise. Under one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You promise me that you will do what you can to speed up the renovation process.”
“Deal. Now tell me all about last night.”
I was dying to tell someone what a wonderful night we’d had even if I was a bit shaken about the arson. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again still annoyed that she seemed to be more into Thatcher than her own daughter. The screen door squeaked again and slammed shut as a hollering Thayer came running through the house with the dogs hot on his heels.
“We had dinner, went up near Pepper Ridge on the ATV trails and he taught me how to drive the four-wheeler-”
“No fair. I want to drive it,” Thayer said as he climbed onto the counter.
“Thayer, when you get bigger, you can. Then he made a reading spot for us.” I felt like a love-struck fool with the large smile on my face. He’d worked so hard to make our evening special. I could feel her questioning eyes on me as she doled out small mounds of cookie dough onto her cookie sheet.
“He read out loud to me,” I swooned.
She cocked an eyebrow at me in that way only mothers can do, “Is that all you did?”
“Yes, Mama. You think I’m just going to,” I covered Thayer’s ears, “jump into bed with him the first chance I get?”
Blood pumped overtime through my system, pounding in my ears. Having an orgasm on his knee wasn’t the same. Right? I could still feel the heat from his mouth through the cloth of my top as his mouth did wonderful things to me. The feel of his hands as they bit into my hips as he let me rub against him. I felt like I was carrying a big sign that read Thatcher made me come. But I couldn’t tell her. Wouldn’t tell her, dear Lord. He was the perfect gentleman after the nipple biting incident. We had bid each other good night and that had been that. Except for the fact that I lay in bed all night thinking about him. Then when I heard tell-tale signs of his bed squeaking, I imagined him jacking himself off and well, I used my fingers to make myself come listening to those sounds.
“That young man? I would. Honey, men like him don’t come ‘round all that much. You have to take advantage when the timing’s right.”
“Mom. He left.” I helped Thayer climb down from the counter.
“About that. Did he give you a reason?”
“Mostly, yes. He was young and dumb and afraid he would turn out like his father.”
“In which way?” She opened the oven and placed the pan inside.
“His dad was really mean to him, abusive at times. Back then, he was afraid he would turn out like Walter. He didn’t know how to be a father through his own volition. He was scared, Mama.”
“Bless his heart. I told you Abigail Layne that man would have a reason clear as mud why he didn’t take up with you and Thayer.”
I rolled my eyes. She was so easy. So easy for Thatcher. Seriously, who’s side was she on? Mine or his? I’m the one that got the broken heart in all of this. The one that had to live a fake life. Fake sounded much too dramatic. But still.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me young lady. I was right.”
“Is that really a good enough reason, Mama? Think about it. Think of all the things humans are afraid of. Do we walk away from everything we fear? Is being scared that good of a reason? I don’t think so. Besides, he hurt me. It’s not that easy to get over.”
“Abby, give the guy a break. How many perfect decisions did you make when you were twenty? Twenty-two? Heck, twenty-six even? I know it’s sudden with the divorce and the fire. He is a good man. I’m not wrong when I say that little boy needs his real father in his life.”
“What if we try and nothing happens? Nothing works between us two? Not from lack of trying, just, what if we don’t get on as well as we did when we were younger?”
“What if you do and it works?”
I resisted the opportunity to roll my eyes again because I knew she was right. What if it did work between us? What if we were soul mates and that was why we were being tossed together again? Fates way of saying something was in the air.
“That’s a lot of what ifs, Mama.”
“Did I ever tell you the story about when I met your daddy? I was a waitress at the diner in Deer Creek and he came in every day and requested to be seated in my area. Every day I served him coffee and two fried eggs sunny side up with whole wheat bread. Then my daddy got a new job and we moved away. Saddest time in my life. Even though your daddy and I hadn’t dated, something inside me was pushing me to let him know we was moving. I went to work that morning and told him when he came in for his cup of coffee.”
“That’s hardly romantic, Mama.”
“That’s not so much as the fact that when we moved from Deer Creek to South Bend, it took one month and somehow your daddy got sent to South Bend for an insurance job and when he came into the café I worked at for breakfast, I knew then and there, that it was meant to be.”
I wiped at the tears in my eyes, thinking of how long Daddy had been gone. It touched me, really. My daddy worked at an insurance company until the day he died. Heart attack took him when he was just forty-eight years old.
“Honey,” she went on, “my point is you’ve gotta grab life by the balls. You don’t know when you’ll get another chance and hell Honey, you don’t know how long you’ll get even when you find the right person. Your daddy died way too soon. I can feel it deep in these old bones, Baby. Thatcher is your chance. It’s time for you to grab-”
“To grab life by the balls,” I finished for her. “Thanks, Mama. I have to go. Thatcher will be picking us up any second. I wish you were done renovating so we could stay here.”
“No, you don’t. If you do, you shouldn’t. At least not when you have a perfectly acceptable man like Mr. Patterson offering you a place to stay. Even if he does have the work of the devil on his arms.”
I shook my head and this time did roll my eyes not afraid to let her know that she was a bit crazy on Thatcher, dreaming up all these ideas that weren’t going to happen. “Thayer, time to go. Come and give Gigi hugs.”
Thayer, looking every bit the prodigy of Thatcher, came bounding around the corner with the dogs at his heels. “Run! Run! Monsters are chasing me!”
I laughed at his imagination and urged him forward to give Mama hugs. We’d barely made it outside when Thatcher pulled up to her gate. Thayer ran along, pushing the gate so hard it let out an enormous squeak and slammed back shut.
“Thayer. What has gotten into you? Settle down, you almost tore it off its hinges.”
Once we were settled into the truck and were on our way to Thatcher’s, he asked about Mama.
“Did you tell her about the arson?”
“I told her. Standard reaction you’d expect from a parent. She did say something that gave me the chills though.”
He cocked his head toward me, “What’s that?”
“What if someone is out to hurt me and my son?”
“Who would want to do that?”
“I don’t know. It was just a thought.”
“Did you hear more about that second fire?”
“Not yet. I’m sure it will take the fire marshal a few days to investigate it like it took for mine.”
We sat in silence the rest of the way home. I was exhausted. Mentally and physically exhausted. I know my mother only meant well, but I didn’t like the turn my mind was taking as far as having to look out for Thayer and my well-being. There hasn’t been a soul who I’d wronged in my entire life, let alone
anyone who would want to hurt us. As he pulled into the drive, my eyes closed and I remembered my promise to her.
“One more thing, Thatcher.”
“What’s that?” his voice had a quiet quality to it.
“I promised her we would stay with you indefinitely. I hope you don’t mind.”
Chapter Thirteen
Thatcher
“Why didn’t you ever say anything, man?”
“Thatcher, after the car wreck, I owed you big time. Running into the parked car of my coach while drunk, that would have sealed my fate on not getting my free ride to college.”
“It was a lesson learned. Damn, for both of us. When I took the blame, I didn’t anticipate that I would ever need you to follow through on your offer of owing me one.”
“Me neither. But you have to know, dude, I wasn’t trying to hurt Abby. Or Thayer for that matter. I couldn’t ignore my feelings for Rachel any longer. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Thanks for being there for her after the fire.”
“No problem. I get it now. These past few weeks while they’ve been living with me, have been something else entirely. Especially with the other fire.” I didn’t tell him that I fully understood where he was coming from with Rachel because any time I was with a woman, I thought of Abby. Now that they’ve been living with me for these past few weeks, I couldn’t imagine pretending to want someone else.
“There’s clearly an arsonist around town. The police will find him.”
“Sure as fuck hope. They have to be working alone. Town as small as this, there are bound to be rumors if there were other parties involved.”
“I hear you. One thing Thatcher, with her living with you, you better not hurt her. You and I know how she’s always felt about you. I don’t know where her feelings for you stand now, but your heart better be in it.”
That ball of cement that I carried around in my stomach since I’d gotten the terms of the will rolled around like a bowling ball meant for The Flintstones. I told myself that having custody of Thayer was my right. The will only made my decision to go to them and ask for custody sooner rather than later.
My phone rang cutting into our conversation and Adrian shook my hand and walked out of the feed store.
“Thatcher here.”
“Thatcher, it’s Wilhelm and Associates, Martin here. Do you have a minute?”
“Sure do. What can I do for you?”
“I know you spoke with my associate Glenna a month ago, and your time is dwindling. Was she not clear that you had a deadline to produce the necessary paperwork in order to receive the rest of your grandfather’s inheritance?”
“When is the deadline?”
“The terms of the will stipulate that you have eight months from your grandfather’s death to produce documentation that you have a child. Or children.”
“I wasn’t aware it was from the day he passed away.”
“Firm stipulations.”
“Can I get an extension?”
“No Sir. Your grandfather’s stipulations are strict. He made his wishes abundantly clear. Would you like me to fax you a copy for your records?”
“No. I have a copy somewhere around here. I’ll find it.”
I ended the call not willing to accept my fate. Why had my grandfather done this? I pulled out all of the paperwork I’d received during the reading of his will and perused through the documents.
I’d already inherited four hundred and fifty thousand dollars the day of the will. No strings attached. I found the paragraph where there were stipulations on me receiving the rest. I had eight months from the day of his death to produce an heir. Wait. Eight months? That’s not even giving me a chance to get a woman pregnant had I been in any position to do so. Shit. Why hadn’t this stuck out to me before?
It took me half a second to realize I’d been duped. I could hear my grandfather’s boisterous laughter from the heavens above. He knew. The old bastard knew Thayer was my son. How could he have known? Son of a bitch. He was getting back at me for not coming clean about Thayer to begin with.
A conversation he had about a month before he died sprang to my mind. We’d been at the hardware store doing our usual thing. He did everything on the business end while I basically went to work every day and dealt with customers. Arthritis prevented him from being able to sit and stand, for long periods of time and having to stock shelves and check out customers, it was only fitting that I do that part.
We’d had a conversation about my mom and dad and how I’d been closer to my grandpa than to either one of them. He’d asked about my future and what I planned to do with my life. I’d been annoyed at the time because at that time, helping him was my life. I’d have gone to heaven for the old man. Our bond ran about as deep as one could get. I’d shrugged it off when he asked. Nothing was as big of a deal to me as his health, his shop and livelihood.
In hindsight, he’d said something that I brushed off at the time. Any man can have a family but it takes a man to raise his children. I was still in the denial zone with Thayer, constantly telling myself I couldn’t raise a child because I couldn’t be like my father. It was a comment I hadn’t taken very seriously.
Until now.
He knew. He knew Thayer was my son and this will crap was his last great effort to get me to see reason. And he got me alright. The feed store in Deer Creek was going nowhere. There was an amazing boy out there who I hoped needed a father. Okay, an amazing boy who I hoped needed me.
And his mother too.
She’d managed to keep her heart under lock and key these past few weeks and I was beginning to wonder if Abby’s heart was made of steel. Impossible to penetrate. I’ve been doing everything I could think of to get her to trust me. To prove to her that I could be there for the both of them. Love them the way they deserved.
I knew the information about the will was not showing my best side. I knew if Abby found out about it, her not trusting me would all be valid reasons again. It would look like I was being deceitful. And I wasn’t. Not totally. It’s not like Thayer wasn’t already my son. I simply had to show documentation to my granddad’s attorneys that he was in fact my son. The only way I could think to do that was be to take them to court. I don’t think Abby would be all that eager to hand him over to share him part-time.
I saw Abby and Thayer walking through the parking lot before they came inside. Abby wore a loose-fitting green top that showed off her shoulders – another one of my sister’s finds I imagined because Abby usually dressed more low-key. Thayer happily trudged behind her in a black batman t-shirt with his little backpack resting on his shoulders.
School had started so Thayer got picked up from pre-school every afternoon at three. Abby didn’t always pick him up but when she did, she brought him over here until she got off work.
“Hey Thayer. How was school?”
“School was fun. We have a new kid today. His name is Hamilton. Do you want a Tootsie Roll? Mama got me a couple from her work.”
“No thanks, Thayer. I don’t like Tootsie Rolls.”
“I thought everyone liked them.”
He looked disappointed but I wasn’t about to go down that road and explain to a four-year-old why Tootsie Rolls didn’t appeal to me.
“Guess what?” Abigail exclaimed the second Thayer became uninterested in the conversation.
“You’re happy to see me?” I raised my eyebrows at her, showing her how pleased I was to see her.
“That too. But not what I was thinking. Insurance called and they are going to replace everything!”
She pushed into me, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck and it made me think of a few nights ago, when we’d gotten done reading together and she’d spontaneously hugged me much like now. It was killing me. These hugs. The way her c-cup breasts – I know, because I’d checked for replacement clothes and my tongue had memorized her perky nipple and mounds of flesh – pressed into my chest and bounced against me when she bounced on the balls of her feet. Eve
ry time she wrapped her arms around my neck, I could smell my shampoo in her hair and to hell if that didn’t turn me on even more.
“That’s good news, Baby,” I mumbled into her hair, getting lost in the feel of her. I could hear Thayer rummaging through the bucket of peanuts on the counter and I knew he didn’t have a clue what I was thinking of doing to his mother. She was so fucking soft and fruity, fitting into my body the way a bolt fit snug into a wrench.
Fuck it. Tired of acting the gentleman, my mouth found hers and I crushed into her lips, swallowing her gasp as she tensed in my arms. She tasted like she’d been devouring Starbursts on her walk over and it was pure heaven. Nothing like I’d imagined after all this time. Her mouth was wet and hot and I berated myself for not doing this a week ago. She relaxed, her hand cupping the back of my head as she met my insistent tongue, thrust for thrust. My lower body had its own idea, as it pressed into her. My dick wondering not for the first or last time, what it would feel like to sink into her wetness and make her moan. My knee wedged itself between her thighs and I swallowed another one of her gasps.
With her heartbeat a fast tempo against my chest as we kissed and the crunches from Thayer cracking peanut shells, my world felt right. I felt at peace. I don’t know how I got her in my life now. With her. With them. But I knew I didn’t want to go anywhere else. My soul was hers, if she wanted it. I was falling for her all over again. Abigail and Thayer were what I thought about the second I woke up and the last thought I had at night.
She pulled away from the kiss, breathless, “Well, that was something I wasn’t expecting.”
“Did you want it though?” I whispered, still rock hard and wedged into her legs.
I didn’t move and neither did she as I waited for her answer. Her green eyes were bright, aroused and when she licked her lips, I leaned in to kiss her again. Not the fierce way I’d just done but rather a gentle, sweet kiss, in the hopes that I could convey to her what she meant to me.
“I wanted it. I’ve been wanting it for a long time.”
Wild: A Small Town Romance (Love in Lone Star Book 2) Page 12
