Truly Sweet

by Candis Terry

  With another quick look at the property, he sealed the remodeling idea inside his brain and headed toward the barn. When he got close, he heard an odd noise. As a rule, he didn’t carry a weapon, but his father had always kept a shotgun over the front door. Just in case it was needed. Coyotes usually didn’t come this close to the house, but one never knew. They might keep a close eye during calving season, but that wasn’t till spring. Didn’t sound like a coyote anyway.

  He eased open the barn door and saw . . . nothing. Still, the strange guttural sound continued. Amplified. He moved inside and grabbed a pitchfork for protection. Yeah. Go figure.

  He was a Marine.

  With a pitchfork.

  Oooh. Scary.

  Shaking his head he made his way toward the back stall where the sound seemed to originate. He peeked through the bars and found Miss Giddy pacing and grunting. Her blue satin ribbon was bedraggled as she looked up at him. If a goat could wear a bitch face, Miss Giddy would be sporting one.

  Something was wrong.

  “You okay, girl?” He stepped inside the large stall.

  His mother’s favorite farm animal was an affectionate sort, so he was a bit surprised when she didn’t trot over for the usual rub between the horns. Instead, she pawed at the straw on the ground, then paced some more. Which made Jake very nervous. He knew squat about goats. That was his mom’s area of expertise. Still, he’d lived on a ranch long enough to recognize the signs. If he was correct, Miss Giddy was about to become a mama.

  The question was how?

  Wilder Ranch spread out for several miles in all directions, and as far as he knew, there wasn’t another goat within sneezing distance. Which meant either Miss Giddy had been on the prowl or some Billy had hoofed it past party lines to get a little action.

  Whichever it happened to be, he didn’t think it wise to leave her alone right now. He cut open a fresh bale of straw and spread it on the ground. Miss Giddy looked at him as if he’d offended her.

  “Just want you to have a clean place to deliver if that’s what you’re going to do.” He pulled out his phone and thought about calling Jesse. Couldn’t hurt to have a veterinarian on hand in case something went wrong. After all, Miss Giddy was getting up in years. But he knew if he called Jesse, then the whole thing would turn into a big whoop-de-do, and most likely, the entire freaking family would show up. Right now, he really just wanted to be alone. Just him and the goat. And the horses who were standing near the doors of their stalls trying to get a look. And the chickens, who were perched for the night up on the haystacks. Okay, so maybe he really wasn’t alone.

  For good measure, he checked his phone to see if by any chance Annie had called or left a message to tell him what a total jackass he was. But there was radio silence on that end. No surprise there. He stuffed the cell back in his pocket and pulled a camping chair into the stall to wait.

  At first, Miss Giddy didn’t seem overly pleased with his presence. Eventually, she gave in and continued her pacing and pawing like he wasn’t there. He leaned back and stretched out his legs, folded his hands together across his stomach.

  As the time went on, and Miss Giddy seemed to get more uncomfortable, he began to get more worried. At the same time, she seemed like she knew what she was doing, so he tried to keep his concern contained. Sure, he knew when women were giving birth they had a tendency to call their husbands’ names, hold their hands tight enough to break bones, and threaten that they’d never let the man touch them again, but in the end there was really only one word for what they went through and how they handled it.

  Amazing.

  Yeah. He got that from a goat.

  About two hours later, Miss Giddy pushed out a cute brown-and-white fuzzy little kid. She hadn’t needed any help, and the process had been fascinating. And even though everything appeared to be normal and he could probably close the stall door and Miss Giddy and her baby would be safe, he sat there watching.

  Several things came to mind that he wrestled with. He’d been raised on a ranch and had seen countless heifers deliver their calves. Most had a happy ending. But unless there was a problem that required veterinary help, the moms did it all on their own. The dads were nowhere to be found. Not that he was comparing Annie to livestock, but the situation was the same. She’d done it all on her own, without a father around to help her through the tough times. The long, lonely nights. The restless days. He admired the hell out of her. Her strength and willpower made her even more desirable.

  Last night, she’d had every right to kick his sorry ass out the door.

  She’d offered him a soft place to land. She’d offered friendship. She’d offered her heart. And all he’d wanted to do was bury his troubles between her legs. To momentarily forget the misery that plagued him night and day with the friction of good sex and the release of a powerful orgasm.

  Most of his life he’d thought Annie was nothing but a pain.

  He’d been wrong.

  All along Annie had been something really special.

  He thought back to when he’d just started high school, and she’d been in junior high. Some old memories popped up that he’d long forgotten. Memories of Annie with her hair in braids, her complexion imperfect, and her attitude in sore need of adjustment. They’d spent hours sitting on the large stack of hay bales, talking about where they fit in and where they didn’t. What they wanted to do and what they refused to do for fear of total humiliation. They talked about their families, his being stable and hers ready to crack at any moment. They talked about dreams and fears and what they would ever do if zombies took over the world. They’d been as close as two people could possibly be without being related.

  It took him a few minutes to remember that somewhere along the way after she’d entered high school, he’d taken to ignoring her. In front of his buddies, he treated her like some nerd girl with cooties. A time or two he was sure he’d hurt her feelings and made her cry.

  So how the hell did he get lucky enough to have the amazing woman she’d become look at him and not find him a complete toad?

  “Sugarplum?” His mother entered the barn in her pajamas, robe, and boots. “What are you doing out here? I got back late from seeing Paige and Aiden’s new baby boy, then got up for a glass of water and saw the barn light on.”

  “Watching.”

  “What could you possibly be watching at this time of the—Oh! Land sakes, Miss Giddy. What a surprise!” His mother’s face lit up as she came into the stall.

  Miss Giddy perked up like she was full of pride as she licked the top of the tiny little kid’s head. His mother hunkered down and gave Miss Giddy a gentle rub between the horns.

  “How did this happen?”

  “Mom. You had five sons. You have to ask that question?”

  She laughed. “I know how, I just don’t know how. As far as I know, there aren’t any goats around except for the ones Virginia Peabody brought back from her sister’s over in Stephenville about six months ago. But they live over a mile away.”

  “Well, it looks like somehow Miss Giddy has been meeting someone on the sly.”

  “And all this time I just thought she was putting on some elderly weight. Did everything go okay?”

  He nodded. “She handled it like a pro.”

  “Of course she did. We women know how to take care of things when there’s no man around to help. Don’t we, girl?”

  Point taken. Jake stood and stretched. “Think I’ll try to catch a few winks before the sun comes up.”

  “Did you have a nice time last night?”

  He shrugged. “Didn’t do anything special.”

  One all-knowing motherly eyebrow lifted. “You sure about that?”

  “Good God.” He jammed his fists on his hips. “Who called and ratted me out?”

  “Mrs. Jennings. Bo was upset when he stopped by her house after hi
s date mysteriously disappeared.”

  “She didn’t mysteriously disappear.”

  “Oh?” His mom stood, brushed off her hands, then folded her arms across a striped pair of pajamas. “Then what happened to her?”

  “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “You’re giving me the stink-eye.”

  “Do you deserve it?”

  “Okay, so I might have persuaded Annie to leave.”

  On a good day, his mother’s smile was hard to resist. Not that he had to worry about that right now because currently there was a big-ass frown on her face.

  “Persuaded?” she asked. “As in you threw her over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carted her off to your truck? Son, I thought I raised you to treat a lady better.”

  “I don’t even want to know how you know all that happened.”

  “Well, that’s just fine. Sometimes it’s best to keep the confidential informant names . . . confidential.”

  “Why can’t anyone in this town just mind their own business?”

  “Now where would the fun be in that?” She closed the distance between them. “Sugarplum, you’re my son, and I love you more than life. But I have some real concerns about you.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as, if you don’t have the right intentions in your heart, then please leave Annie alone. She might have had a thing for you for a whole lot of years, but she’s been through a rough time, and she deserves to find someone who’ll make her happy. If that’s Bo Jennings, then so be it. I’d rather have it be you but—”

  “There’s nothing between me and Annie, Mom. You don’t need to worry.”

  “Ha. Shows you how much you know.”

  “Now, what’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means, dear boy, that there’s plenty going on. But unless you remove your stubborn head from your rear end, you are never going to find out.”

  “Didn’t you just tell me to leave her alone?”

  “I might have misspoke.” She flung her hands upward. “It’s the middle of the night, and I’ve got too much on my mind right now to make any sense.”

  Jake watched his mother stalk off in an obvious snit. “What the hell was that all about?”

  Miss Giddy replied, “Meh-eh-eh.”

  “Yeah, that clears it right up.” Jake bid the goats good night, shut the door to the stall, and followed his mother into the house. Trying to sleep now would be a lesson in futility. Because sure as hell, he’d either be thinking of helping Annie out of that hot little black dress and his hands caressing her all over her body, or he’d be thinking of her in Bo Jennings’s arms.

  Neither was right, but he sure liked the first image a hell of a lot better than the second.

  Chapter 11

  “I thought you were a shop owner. When did you start running a day care?” Jake asked his mother as he came into the kitchen for a cold glass of water, followed closely on the heels of his dusty boots by Hank. After he’d fed the cattle and checked on Miss Giddy and her baby, he’d spent the greater part of the day out in the back, making plans for the transformation of the yard. Most people would start with changing the colors of the walls in a house once a place was their own. He figured when he got around to that, he’d have to incorporate the help of Charli’s design skills. He didn’t know moss green from sage green or turquoise from teal.

  Hank went to his bowl of water, then lay down on the big dog pillow Jake had bought him and closed his eyes. Guess all that walking around wore the poor guy out.

  “I’m not running a day care,” his mother insisted while she juggled trying to feed Max his lunch while propping up the bottle for Adeline. “I’m being a grandma.”

  “Last I checked, Annie’s name wasn’t on the family tree.”

  “She’s as much a part of our family as anyone else, and you know it.”

  Yeah. He did. And that didn’t make it easy to avoid her.

  The problem wasn’t because he was embarrassed about what happened just a few nights ago. The problem came because he wasn’t sure he could look at Annie without wanting her. Wanting her was wrong. So avoidance became his method of control. He had a shitload of things to focus on and another shitload to deal with, so inevitably both of them were better off with some distance.

  “What are you doing out there in the back anyway?” His mother gave Max a piece of banana, which he immediately squished in his chubby hand, then tried to shove in his mouth.

  Jake chuckled. The kid was damned cute, with his big eyes and ever-present, toothless grin. Jake just couldn’t figure out how the little boy could make him smile and make his heart ache all at the same time.

  “I’m making some sketches,” he said. “Looking things over.”

  “Sketches? For what?”

  He flipped open the pad of paper and pushed it across the table. Her eyes grew wide.

  “Oh, son. That’s beautiful. Is that what you plan to do with the backyard?”

  “If that’s all right with you.”

  “It’s your house now. You can do whatever you want except burn it or knock it down. I might have to come after you if you tried to do that.”

  “I love this house. You know that. I’m just trying to think of ways we can all enjoy it a little more.”

  “Your daddy would be so excited to see what you have in mind. He always wanted to do something back there, but he never had the time.”

  “I know. He worked way too hard.” Jake grinned down at the design on the paper. “I think adding a pool like Jesse did would be a great idea. But with all the kids coming along in this family, I think I might go bigger. Add a slide. Maybe a cave. Something to spur on their imaginations. One of those cable shows had extreme backyards. One guy even designed a pirate ship with slides that went into the pool.”

  “That really sounds like something.”

  “Geeeeeee,” Max shouted.

  Jake looked up and answered Max’s smile with a grin. “You want a pirate ship, buddy?”

  “Ip!” Max threw his hands upward, and the banana went flying. Hank’s eyes popped open, and before anyone could blink, he was up off that pillow and snarfing down the squished fruit.

  “Oh, dear.” His mother grabbed a towel and struggled to hold baby Adeline’s bottle in her mouth while reaching to clean up the mess.

  “I’ve got it, Mom.” Jake took the towel and cleaned off Max’s hands. Then he cleaned the bits of the banana Hank missed off the floor. “You’re going to give your mommy a run for her money, aren’t you, little man?”

  When Jake sat back down at the table, Max clapped his hands together then reached out for Jake with a big grin. Two little bottom and top teeth flashed at him like tiny pearls in a sea of pink.

  Jake had no warning of the tidal wave that overtook his emotions and the almost breathtaking need to swoop up the little boy and hug him close. In his mind, Jake pictured Eli and his son sitting at a table just like this one. Eli feeding his son bananas and the son holding his messy little hands up to Eli’s gruff face and giggling.

  None of that would ever happen.

  No hugs.

  No kisses.

  No laughter.

  Jake knew Max wanted him to pick him up. But Jake couldn’t do that. He knew if he held that little boy in his arms, he’d completely lose it. Eli would never be able to hold his child. Jake shouldn’t have that right either.

  “You okay here?” he asked his mother.

  “I’m just fine, sugarplum. You okay?”

  “Yeah. Just . . . have things to do.”

  Without a backward glance, he escaped the heat in the kitchen and went in search of something to occupy his mind until the darkness and the reminder that he’d failed to do his duty by Eli’s wife drifted away and gave him ro
om to breathe.

  Behind him came the click click click of dog toenails on the floor. Just like Annie had said, dogs were loyal. And, apparently, Hank could sense when his buddy Jake was drowning in the deep waters of his own guilt.

  Annie finished placing the last batch of chocolates into their decorative boxes. She tied the ribbons and added the Dinky Dots Chocolates cards to the top. Finding a name for her little business venture had been a challenge until she started looking at everything she’d put together for Max. His room had been decorated with dots. His car seat, blankets, and even a lot of his footie sleepers had dots. The name had been staring her in the face.

  Finally, she managed to put it all together with coordinating boxes, cards, brochures, and she’d even started to work up a Web site. She’d been trying to take some online classes about conducting an online business, but between the job at Bud’s and being a single mom, there was little spare time in her daily bank. As it was, she felt guilty enough for having to ask friends and family to watch Max just so she could get some things done. Or go out on a date that might very well end in disaster.

  Jana—bless her heart—had offered to watch him today. And since Annie knew the woman had a to-do list of her own a mile long, she hurried to clean up so she could pick up her son.

  Heading down the gravel road that led to Wilder Ranch, Annie banked inside her head a list of chores she needed to do when she got back home. But first she and Max had a date at the grocery store. The cupboards were starting to look a little Old Mother Hubbard, and Annie never liked being caught without the essentials. One thing she’d learned being on her own was that there was nobody to help you out in the middle of the night when you or your child got sick. Or if something prevented you from having the ability to run to the store at a moment’s notice. Thinking ahead prevented stress. And though her life was anything but stress-free, she figured why add to the problem by being lazy.

  As she eased her car toward the barn and parked, she glanced at the house and noticed Jake sitting in the big blue rocking chair on the veranda. In one arm, he held her sleeping son. In the other arm, he held his equally slumbering niece, Adeline. Eyes closed, Jake’s head rested against the back of the chair. Annie wondered if he might be asleep too. Stretched out at Jake’s feet, Hank apparently had traveled off to dreamland with the others.