by Savanna Grey
The mental image he created did crazy things to her libido, but the physical image of him frowning on her couch looked like the roaring lion with the thorn in his paw. He was absolutely the most sexy, adorable man alive, and he was hers.
The question was for how long. Don’t go there, she warned herself.
“How about I make it up to you with a pile of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies? Chocolate is no substitute for sex, but it’s the next best thing.” She told him leaning in to whisper in his ear.
“I know that now thanks to you.” She winked at him and headed for the kitchen knowing he would follow.
Chapter Twenty-two
They talked for another hour over cookies and coffee before saying goodnight.
The closeness and ease of being together was so natural. Tori loved the fact that she didn’t have to hide her feelings and her love was not only shared but returned. Something this right had to find a way to work.
Closing the door and turning lights off as she headed upstairs to bed, Tori wondered if she would be able to sleep. Tomorrow was a big day. The decorating and set up would begin for the festival. Watching the barn being transformed was always exciting.
Tori grabbed her jacket as she headed over to the Morgan’s house the next morning. She could see across the field several cars had already arrived. It was just after ten, and the morning was bright and cool.
As she drove up the drive she could see Kevin directing a group of men moving bales of hay. He turned, hearing her car and waved.
He walked over to her car with a smirk on his face, and Tori knew he wasn’t letting last night’s free show go.
He grinned from ear to ear. Tori couldn’t help the blush that crept up her cheeks.
“That grin gets any bigger, a bird could use your pie hole to build a nest.” her words dripping with sarcasm.
“Good Morning to you too, Hot Pants. No, wait. There weren’t any pants involved, were there.” he harassed her.
“Alright. Get it over with now, but I wouldn’t let your brother hear you. He wasn’t any too happy to have you barge in last night.”
He laughed at that. “Don’t I know it. I have been getting the silent treatment all morning.”
Placing his arm around her shoulders he said “Come on. You’ve been assigned to help with the lights.” and guided her towards the barn.
Drue saw them walk in as he stood where the stage had already been placed in the back for the band.
He honed in on Kevin’s arm being draped across her shoulders. He was still in a foul mood from his brother’s interruption last night and seeing him with his arm around her notched up his irritation a few more degrees.
He was getting tired of his brother always being in the middle. How were he and Victoria supposed to have a relationship if he was always getting in the way. Something was going to have to give, and it wasn’t going to be him.
“Hey, man. You paying attention?” someone hollered at him.
Not to what he was supposed to be doing thanks to his brother. Focusing back on his task, he placed the remaining slats in place for the stage and secured it.
Groups of people littered the barn conducting various tasks.
There was lighting to be strung, tables and chairs to be erected, decorations to be laid out and hung up, and the list went on.
His mother was at the center of it all, her clipboard in hand. She loved putting this event together. It had been going on for ten years now. Everyone enjoyed it so much each year that they flocked to help put it together.
Usually they had too much help, but she found a job for everyone to take part in. No helping hand was turned away.
Drue made his way over to Tori who was at a table in a corner filled with boxes of lights. Coming from behind, his arms snaked around her waist. As she looked up over her shoulder, he planted a quick kiss to her cheek.
“I hope you brought your patience with you. I think you’re going to need them with the amount of lights you have to untangle.”
“As luck would have it I seem to have an ample supply on hand today. I always stock up when I am with your brother.” she teased.
She felt him tense against her. Turning in his arms, she looked at him questioningly.
“You’re not still upset about last night, are you?”
His forehead creased and he shrugged his broad shoulders. “I’ll get over it eventually.” was all he said. “I’m off to help get the generators set up. I’ll see you later.”
Tori wondered if there was more to the frown she had seen creasing his tanned face. She was determined to find out, but it would have to wait until later. Right now she had a mountain of lights to contend with.
Things were coming together very nicely. Everyone had been working for several hours. It was just after lunch, and Tori felt like she had gained her second wind.
She was working with Kevin and a few other girls stringing lights from support beam to support beam. Since she was smaller, she was the one climbing the ladder to attach the lights to hooks that had been put in place.
The ladder apparently wasn’t on level ground when they had moved it over, so as Tori leaned forward to reach the hook, it started to teeter. The girl spotting the ladder at the bottom wasn’t prepared as Tori tried to counter the movement forward by leaning backward.
Kevin was carrying another box over for them, or he would have been spotting her. He saw what was happening and dropped the box he was carrying, yelling “Tori, hang on!”
Just as the ladder gave way and tipped forward, Tori had two choices: go with it or let go.
Kevin was there and yelled for her to let go. “I’ve got you, just let go!”
She trusted him and did as he instructed. As she fell backwards, she prayed he did. Just as suddenly as it occurred, it was over. It happened all in a matter of seconds, but it felt longer.
True to his word, Kevin was there and caught her in his arms, hugging her close, his chin resting atop her head.
“Crap, Tori. That was a close one. Are you alright?” he asked as he stood her upright.
“I am, thanks to you.” She hugged him again.
Drue had looked up from hammering nails when he’d heard Kevin yell Tori’s name. He’d watch as if in slow motion as the whole thing happened.
Seeing Tori in Kevin’s arms cemented his foul mood. He was grateful that his brother had been there to prevent her from getting hurt, but his alpha male ego was focused in on the fact that he was always there with his hands on her in some form or fashion every time he turned around.
He headed for Kevin with a look of purpose on his face.
“Hey big brother, did you see what happened?” he asked. “You can thank me later.” he said gloating slightly.
“I need your help in the garage.” was all Drue said and kept walking obviously expecting Kevin to follow.
Tori was dumbfounded. He hadn’t even acknowledged her standing there. Then he had all but glared at Kevin.
“Somebody’s got a burr up their butt.” Kevin told her as he turned to follow Drue.
What in the world had gotten in to Drue. It wasn’t like him to be downright rude. Steam had practically been coming out of his ears when he spoke to Kevin.
She picked up the ladder and the strewn lights. She told Missy, the girl that had been helping her, that she would be back in a minute.
Before she could get to the door Mrs. Morgan was advancing on her.
“Tori, honey, are you okay?” Mrs. Morgan held her shoulders and conducted a visual inspection from head to toe.
“Yes, I’m fine. Kevin caught me, so no harm was done.”
“Thank goodness. I swear, I don’t know what we would do if something happened to you.”
“Thanks Mrs. M. Ditto on my part too.” She hugged her and headed toward the garage to get to the bottom of what had gotten under Drue’s skin.
As she approached the garage, she could hear elevated voices.
“What is your problem,
big brother? You’ve got quite the attitude today.” Kevin asked Drue.
“My problem is you.”
“Me? What did I do? I said I was sorry for walking into Tori’s house last night. How was I supposed to know you guys were doing the nasty?” he shook his body in disgust. “I’ll probably need therapy.”
“Funny. Always the jokester, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg where you’re concerned. I’m sick and tired of every time I turn around there you are with Victoria.”
“What? Are you serious? Are we really going to go down this road?”
“I think it’s time we did. How am I supposed to develop a relationship with her if you are always in the middle?”
“You sound like you got a shiny new toy, and you don’t want to share it.” Kevin snarled. “She’s not a thing to be played with. She’s been my best friend way before you decided to get into her pants. Nothing’s going to change that.”
Kevin knew he had pushed too hard, but dammit, he wasn’t giving in where Tori was concerned. He wanted them to be happy, but that didn’t mean he was going to sacrifice a lifelong friendship either.
Tori sucked in deep gulps of air finding it difficult to breath. What was going on? Drue and Kevin couldn’t be fighting about her. That had been one of her biggest fears in getting involved with Drue.
She hadn’t wanted to jeopardize her friendship with Kevin nor create any issues between them because of her, but that’s exactly what it sounded like was happening.
She walked around to the side of the garage where she couldn’t be seen but could still hear them.
“I’m warning you Kevin, give us some space. Don’t force me to ask her to choose.”
Kevin knew his brother had never reacted this way to any other female. For him to even threaten such a thing showed how out of control his feelings were and how much he cared about Tori. He knew he needed to blow off steam, so let him. That didn’t mean he was going to make it easy for him.
“Be careful what you do, big brother.” he warned. “You may not get the results you think you will.”
Tori felt ill. She had heard enough. She felt like her heart was being squeezed by an invisible force, and it would burst any second. Her worst nightmare was coming true. Tears pricked her eyes as she replayed Kevin and Drue’s words in her mind.
How could Drue think Kevin would be in the way of their relationship? Hadn’t she given him the one thing she had never given anyone else? Couldn’t he see how much she loved him, and how different her feelings and relationship was with Kevin?
Jealousy was an evil green-eyed monster and had destroyed many a friendship and family. There was no way she would be the cause of creating such a rift between Kevin and Drue.
She only knew of one way to prevent that from happening, but the thought of actually doing it shattered her heart into a million pieces.
Wanting nothing more than to go home and curl up in a ball and hide from prying eyes but knowing it would be too obvious to all involved, she solidified her resolve and plastered the best fake smile she could muster.
If she could get through the next few hours she deserved a freaking Emmy. It would be the performance of her life. She didn’t have a choice.
Chapter Twenty-three
Tori went back to the barn to help finish stringing the lights. It was about fifteen minutes later that first Kevin and then Drue came back in.
Here we go. Kevin knew her so well that she was going to have to work really hard not to give anything away.
“Everything worked out?” Tori asked nonchalantly.
“Yep. He just needed an attitude adjustment. He’ll be fine.”
She wasn’t so sure about that. It had only been two weeks since they had started this whirlwind romance. If this was how Drue was acting now, the damage would be done too quickly to recover from before she could do anything about it.
“I’ve got this covered here. I’m just wrapping the poles now with the strands hanging from the hooks. No ladder involved.” She hoped she sounded convincing. “Why don’t you go see where else you can help out?” she suggested.
Kevin laughed. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to get rid of me.”
She paled slightly. “Yeah, right. Like I could ever do that.”
He paused looking at her questioningly. She thought she’d blown it.
“Okay, if you really don’t need me…” he pouted exaggeratedly and walked over to his mother to see where else he could help.
Suddenly Drue was beside her. “Hi.”
She could do this. “Hi yourself.” was all she said as she kept wrapping lights around the pole.
“You sure you’re okay?” he finally said.
She paused for a second and looked at him. “Sure. I’m good. How about you?”
“Sorry I was so gruff earlier. I …”
“Think nothing of it. Look, let’s talk later, okay? I want to get these lights wrapped up. No pun intended.”
He was surprised by her somewhat brisk tone. He couldn’t be sure, but something didn’t feel quite right.
Maybe he was just imagining things. He’d created enough trouble for one day.
She was right. They could talk later.
It was just after five in the evening when things started to wind down. It wasn’t complete yet, but it was getting there. Lots of loose ends to tie up to make the picture complete, but Tori could picture it in her mind.
She just hated that she wouldn’t be there to see it. She knew what she had to do. It was best for all involved.
Letting Mrs. Morgan know that she wouldn’t be staying for dinner and to tell Drue she would see him in the morning because a hot bath and a good book were calling her name, she headed back to her house.
As she parked the car and started up the front steps her cell phone rang. It was Drue.
“Hey, why didn’t you stay for dinner? Aren’t you feeling well? Do you want me to come over?” he asked in rapid succession.
“I’m just beat, and I know my muscles will be screaming tomorrow. I’m going to soak in a hot bath with a good book and call it an early night. You should probably get your rest too. There’s still a lot to be done tomorrow.” She cleared her throat as she began choking up.
Keep it together, Tori. You can’t cave now.
Silence met her on the other end of the phone. Then finally he said, “If that’s what you want, but call if you need someone to wash your back.”
She smiled sadly. “You bet. I have Kevin on speed dial.” she said for good measure.
“Good-bye Drue.” and she disconnected the call.
She wasn’t certain but she thought she felt even more lonely now than when her grandmother passed as she sat at the kitchen table with pen and paper.
She loved the Morgans more than anything. All of them. She could never live with herself is she was the cause of strife between them, especially Drue and Kevin.
As she picked up the pen to write first to Kevin and then to Drue, tears were already running down her face.
She finished the two letters and left them on the kitchen table addressed to each of them.
Climbing the stairs, she grabbed her suitcase out of the hall closet. She didn’t feel like she had the energy to even put one foot in front of the other, but she had to.
She threw clothes into the bag not caring if they were neatly packed. Grabbing only what she absolutely needed to take with her, she put the bag by the bedroom door.
She stripped out of her clothes and took a quick shower washing away the grime from the day, wishing it would take away the heartache too.
Drying off and donning pajamas, she fell into bed. She didn’t know how long she lay there crying herself to sleep. Eventually she drifted off.
Kevin bound down the stairs ready for breakfast. He was starving this morning. He knew they were jumping right back into final preparations for the festival. Yesterday had been a long day, not to mention eventful.
As he c
ame into the dining room, he found his mother, father and Drue already present.
“Good Morning, wonderful family. How is everyone this morning?” he asked.
“Someone is in a good mood this morning.” Mrs. Morgan said. “It’s a good thing too, since you will be short one helper today.”
“Who is that?” he asked unknowingly.
“Tori called a little while ago. Seems she had to go back to Chicago. Work related she said. She didn’t want to wake you, so she waited until she knew I would be awake.”
Drue stopped in mid-bite as he looked at his brother. Something wasn’t right. Why wouldn’t she have called him? First, last night she was stand-offish and now she was gone? What was going on?
“Did she say anything else?” he asked skeptically.
“Oh, yes. She said to tell you both that she left something for you on the kitchen table.”
Kevin knew that something was definitely off. This wasn’t Tori’s mode.
He and Drue jumped up at the same time heading for the back door.
“What about your breakfast?” their mother called as they raced out the door.
As they loaded into Drue’s truck, he looked over at Kevin.
“What do you know about this?” he asked accusingly.
“Nothing. I’m as flabbergasted as you are.”
They went around to the back door where a key was underneath the doormat.
Drue didn’t know why, but he felt a since of trepidation creep over him as they walked into the kitchen. It was eerily quiet.
On the kitchen table set two envelopes, one marked with each of their names.
He didn’t like this. Not one bit.
They looked at each other before going to the table to open the letters.
“What is going on?” Kevin said out loud.
They started reading their letters.
“She heard us yesterday in the garage.” Kevin said first.
Drue was deathly quiet as he read her letter. When he finished, he crumbled it into a ball.
