“Listen I don’t know exactly why you are here, but I know it probably isn’t to marry my brother.”
Caroline was surprised by Keith's forwardness but nodded, "Yes, that's true. I came here thinking that Conner wanted to speak to me, I had no idea that Mary set it all up."[G2977]
Keith nodded his understanding, “I figured it was something like that.
They both walked quietly for a while before Caroline spoke up again.[G2978][G2979][G2980][G2981]
“Does Conner always work in the stables?”
“You mean, is he always in trouble?” Keith said with a chuckle.
Caroline laughed and nodded.[G2982][G2983]
“No,” Keith answered honestly, “He works on different parts of the ranch but he is usually with the animals some way or another.”
“So he likes taking care of them?”
Keith nodded, “He’s always been a huge animal lover, never did like working with the cattle. It used to bother him that we would have to slaughter them eventually.”
“He doesn’t wrangle them like the rest of you do?”
"No, he would put up a fight when Pa made him go out there so he found him another job. We found that he was a whiz at keeping the animals calm when they needed to be stitched up or dipped for ticks and parasites."[G2984][G2985][G2986][G2987]
Caroline smiled, she could imagine a young Conner stitching up little animals and nursing them back to health.
He truly was a soulful person with a big heart.[G2988]
"He never really told me about his family when we were together," Caroline said, completely off topic, "I guess that's what a holiday romance rendezvous is all about in the end."[G2989][G2990][G2991]
"They are the best experiences in life, though," Keith said with a smile.[G2992]
"So besides working on the ranch, does Conner do anything else to pass time?"
[G2993][G2994][G2995][G2996][G2997][G2998][G2999][G3000][G3001][G3002][G3003][G3004][G3005][G3006][G3007][G3008][G3009][G3010][G3011][G3012][G3013][G3014][G3015][G3016][G3017][G3018][G3019][G3020][G3021][G3022][G3023][G3024][G3025][G3026][G3027][G3028][G3029][G3030][G3031][G3032][G3033][G3034][G3035][G3036][G3037][G3038][G3039][G3040][G3041][G3042][G3043]She was fishing out if he had another woman out there that Mary didn't know of. A few times since her arrival, she caught herself wondering about that, but was too scared to ask. It wasn't her business anyway. [G3044]
Keith shrugged, "We always thought he would go to school and become a vet, but no, he only works on the ranch when he isn't out gallivanting on his motorcycle, and doing the Lord knows what else."[G3045]
Caroline laughed, "Mary doesn't seem to like it much. So why did he not go ahead and study to be a vet?"[G3046][G3047][G3048][G3049][G3050][G3051][G3052][G3053]
“I’m not sure, but I think he started to turn a little sour when he got to the end of high school. Hung out with a group of kids that weren’t on the straight and narrow and it didn’t help that his temper would always get the best of him.”
They reached the stables, and Keith called him, "Conner![G3054][G3055][G3056][G3057][G3058][G3059][G3060][G3061][G3062][G3063][G3064][G3065][G3066][G3067][G3068][G3069][G3070][G3071][G3072][G3073][G3074][G3075][G3076][G3077][G3078]
You planning on moving into the stables?"[G3079][G3080][G3081][G3082][G3083][G3084][G3085][G3086][G3087][G3088][G3089][G3090][G3091][G3092]
“Shut up Keith,” Came Conner’s voice from inside.
Keith snickered and gestured for Caroline to follow him inside, "Lunch is here! Figured you could use some sustenance," he called out.[G3093][G3094][G3095]
The stable was very large with two long rows of stalls on either side of it with a few horses in them. Conner emerged from one of them, looking very dirty with hay stuck in his hair.[G3096][G3097][G3098][G3099][G3100][G3101][G3102]
Caroline fought not to smile as she regarded him amusedly.[G3103][G3104][G3105][G3106][G3107][G3108][G3109][G3110][G3111][G3112][G3113][G3114][G3115][G3116][G3117][G3118][G3119][G3120][G3121][G3122][G3123][G3124][G3125]
“What?” He snapped.
Keith let out a sigh, walked over to his little brother and pulled out a strand of straw from his hair.
"Did you fall asleep in the stalls again?" he asked, exasperatedly.[G3126][G3127]
Conner rolled his eyes and pushed Keith playfully, "That happened once when we were kids, and now I'll never live it down."[G3128][G3129][G3130][G3131][G3132][G3133][G3134][G3135][G3136][G3137]
"Well, how else do you explain the mess?" Keith chuckled as he pointed to Conner's appearance, "Either that you're you've been rolling in the hay," he winked.[G3138][G3139][G3140]
Caroline knew exactly what that meant and her heart sunk to the bottom of her stomach. For a moment she half expected a woman to stumble out of one of the stables.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we are on a farm, Keith. It’s common for real cowboys to get dirty.”
"Says the man who tries to escape his duties, every chance he gets."[G3141][G3142][G3143][G3144][G3145][G3146][G3147][G3148][G3149][G3150][G3151][G3152][G3153][G3154][G3155][G3156][G3157][G3158][G3159][G3160][G3161][G3162]
"I never!" Conner snapped, "Every cowboy needs time away from the grindstone."[G3163]
"Anyways, get cleaned up, your fiancée brought you lunch."
Caroline's eyes grew wide and her jaw tensed in anticipation of Conner’s reaction to the word “fiancée”.[G3164] She felt thrown for a loop herself.[G3165][G3166][G3167][G3168][G3169][G3170][G3171][G3172][G3173][G3174][G3175][G3176][G3177][G3178][G3179][G3180]
What was it with everyone? She agreed to a week, only to tell him about his daughter, in no way was she planning on getting married, no matter what Mary demanded." [G3181][G3182][G3183][G3184][G3185][G3186][G3187][G3188][G3189][G3190][G3191][G3192][G3193][G3194][G3195][G3196][G3197][G3198][G3199][G3200][G3201][G3202][G3203][G3204][G3205][G3206][G3207][G3208][G3209][G3210][G3211][G3212][G3213][G3214][G3215][G3216][G3217][G3218][G3219][G3220][G3221][G3222][G3223][G3224][G3225]
Conner glared at his brother, “She’s not my fiancée.”
"No, I'm not," Caroline seconded.[G3226][G3227]
"Ma seems to think so."
"Keith, don't you have somewhere to be?" Conner muttered.[G3228]
Keith raised his hands in surrender, “Want some alone time to your betrothed, I get it just make sure to clean up after.”
Keith laughed at his own joke as he turned around and walked out. And Caroline averted her gaze, not wanting Conner[G3229][G3230][G3231][G3232][G3233][G3234][G3235] to see her blushing.[G3236]
“Is your whole family so brazen?”
“Pretty much, “Conner said shaking his head.
"Well here you go," She said, handing him his lunch.[G3237]
She turned to leave, wanting to get out of this place as quickly as possible. The thought of being alone with him here was worse than sleeping in the same room for some really strange reason.[G3238]
“You can stay if you want,” Conner said.
Caroline turned around and gave Conner a confused look, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“Because we just started being amicable to each other again and I don’t want to jinx it.”
Conner sighed, “I already agreed to start over, what’s the point if you avoid me?”
“I’m not avoiding you.”
“Prove it, keep me company.”
Caroline looked at him for a moment, confused by his behavior, she was starting to tamper with the idea that he might be bipolar, which explained the random outbursts followed by sudden calm and good behavior. But if he insisted that she stayed, then she may as well.[G3239][G3240][G3241]
Conner went to sit down on a bale of hay in front of on[G3242][G3243][G3244][G3245][G3246][G3247][G3248][G3249][G3250][G3251][G3252][G3253][G3254][G3255]e of the stalls that held a chestnut colored horse. The horse snorted when he came near and he patted her nose fondly. [G3256][G3257][G3258]
“Why are you being so nice all o
f a sudden? Yesterday you wouldn’t even meet my eye,” Caroline said, sitting down.
Conner shrugged, “I just think that maybe you didn’t deserve the way I treated you. What happened between us was a long time ago and we were both really young. I can’t fault you for leaving, you must have had your reasons.”
Caroline looked guiltily at her hands, she considered telling Conner the truth of why she left and finally telling him about his daughter. She looked over at him and opened her mouth to speak.
"Nice horse," she said instead and cursed inwardly for being such a coward.[G3259]
"Yeah, she's a real beauty, but not easy to ride, s[G3260][G3261][G3262][G3263][G3264][G3265][G3266][G3267][G3268][G3269][G3270][G3271][G3272][G3273][G3274][G3275][G3276][G3277][G3278][G3279][G3280][G3281][G3282][G3283][G3284]he doesn't like anyone but me to ride her."[G3285]
Caroline smiled and sat down on one of the other bales. She had no knowledge of horses, so going into any in depth discussion on why the horse was so stubborn was senseless, "So why does it look like you've tumbled in the hay?"[G3286]
Conner chuckled as he bit into a sandwich, "Don't tell Keith, but I did actually fall asleep."[G3287][G3288][G3289]
Caroline giggled at that and shook her head, "I guess you needed it, I'm sure sleeping on the floor wasn't very comfortable."[G3290][G3291]
"You can say that again, I didn't exactly sleep very well and Lacy is excellent company," Conner said while the horse behind snorted in agreement.[G3292][G3293][G3294][G3295][G3296][G3297][G3298][G3299][G3300]
Caroline smiled, “Is that what you named her?”
"No, Macy did. She's named pretty much every animal on this ranch, excluding the cattle."[G3301][G3302][G3303][G3304]
The way Conner spoke of Macy made Caroline smile, “You two are close?”
Conner grabbed the bottle of water and took a sip, "Yeah, we banded together when the older ones wouldn't let up."[G3305][G3306][G3307][G3308][G3309][G3310][G3311][G3312][G3313][G3314][G3315][G3316][G3317]
Caroline laughed, "I like your siblings, they seem very nice."[G3318]
Conner snorted, “Even Rachel?”
“Even Rachel.”
"Maybe you can take them with you when you go back to France."[G3319][G3320][G3321]
Caroline looked down at her feet, her chest feeling heavy at the thought that she would have to leave soon. But what did she expect? Just because they were starting over as friends, didn't mean he would just take her back into his arms. [G3322]Our let her be a part of his family. Her heart ached at thought of Lizette being at the center of such a loving family, playing with her little cousin, Rachel’s baby.
"I'm sure they aren't that bad," she murmured, "They all seem to care a great deal."
Conner huffed and then closed the lunch box, "Thanks for bringing lunch."[G3323][G3324][G3325][G3326]
Caroline gave him a small smile, “You’re welcome.”
Conner offered her his hand and helped her to her feet, "I need to finish up here, you head on back to the house."[G3327]
She took the lunch box from him and turned away, her heart drumming frantically in her chest. As she walked back to the house, she wondered if she would be able to tell Conner about Lizzi before the week was out.[G3328][G3329]
She needs a papa in her life, Adalene's voice repeated in her head[G3330][G3331], and she realized that she had no choice. She had to do it, not for herself, but for her child. But what if Conner rejected them both? [G3332][G3333][G3334][G3335][G3336][G3337][G3338][G3339][G3340][G3341][G3342][G3343][G3344][G3345][G3346][G3347][G3348][G3349][G3350][G3351][G3352][G3353][G3354][G3355][G3356][G3357][G3358][G3359][G3360][G3361][G3362][G3363][G3364][G3365]
Chapter 5
Conner walked into the kitchen after finishing up for the day, it was surprisingly empty. He grabbed a glass of water and went into the library, where Ma was sitting at the desk going over the accounts.
“You smell like a barn,” She commented without looking up.
“I was actually in the stalls,” Conner corrected.
Ma looked up, “I’ve heard that you and Caroline are getting along better.”
“No thanks to you.”
Ma sighed, “You can’t possibly still be angry with me.”
“You tried to force me into a marriage by threatening to take my trust away.”
Ma waved her hand as if to shoo the comment away, “I wasn’t going to go through with it.”
“I know that.”
“Back to the subject, are you and Caroline going to give it another shot?”
Conner rolled his eyes, “No, Ma, she told me why she came.”
Ma perked up at that, “And why is that?”
“To make amends.”
“Oh.”
Conner narrowed his eyes at his mother, “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Ma gave an innocent smile, “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Uh huh, well your plan didn’t work. I’m not getting married, Caroline will be gone soon, and everything will be back to normal.”
“We’ll see Conner, now go take a shower you really smell something awful.”
Conner smiled and turned around, “Oh before I forget, move Caroline to a room that isn’t mine. I don’t want to sleep on the floor again.”
Ma sighed in disappointment, “I already did son, but I’ll bet by the end of the week she’ll be back in that room.”
"Not if I can help it," he said and left the room[G3366][G3367][G3368][G3369][G3370][G3371][G3372][G3373][G3374][G3375][G3376][G3377][G3378] before his mother could get in another word.[G3379]
He may have been willing to forgive and forget the past, but he wasn't going to repeat it. The image of Caroline this morning with her hair rumpled around her face and her emerald eye's dewy from sleep flashed through his mind. Conner shook his head to dispel the thought, as much as he still wanted her, Conner was resolute in not g[G3380][G3381][G3382][G3383][G3384][G3385][G3386][G3387][G3388]iving her his heart again.[G3389]
When Conner got to his bedroom, Caroline's suitcase was gone. He ignored the unexpected feeling of disappointment that crept up on him and stripped for the shower. The water was heaven after a long day in that dusty barn and he sighed as it[G3390][G3391][G3392][G3393][G3394][G3395][G3396][G3397][G3398][G3399][G3400] washed the day away.[G3401][G3402][G3403][G3404][G3405][G3406]
Conner let his mind wander and it again it was the woman he met in Mexico, who's face appeared in his minds-eye. She had been something else, with catlike blue eyes, tan skin and curly blonde hair. They certa[G3407][G3408][G3409][G3410]inly had a lot of fun together.[G3411][G3412][G3413]
Conner felt himself start to harden and he moved to take his cock in his hand, stroking it slowly. Thinking about that woman and how her body sung under his hands was a good way to take his mind off things here at home. As he became lost in the fantasy, blonde hair turned brown, instead of the light blue pools he remembered, he was staring into the deepest green. Conner's hand gripped his cock harder as full breasts came into mind, much full[G3414][G3415][G3416][G3417][G3418][G3419]er than they actually had been.[G3420]
He could feel his body reaching its crest as he imagined thrusting into Caroline, with her porcelain skin illuminated by the moonlight. She never could keep herself quiet and when she came, it was always a loud affair.
That final thought had Conner spilling against the tile wall of the shower, panting and just barely keeping from calling out her name, it had been a long time since h[G3421]e came that hard.[G3422][G3423]
He leaned against the shower wall and tried to gather his thoughts. Before Caroline had reappeared in his life, he was confident in who he was. He knew what he wanted, from whom he wanted it, and he knew exactly what to do to get it. With Caroline, all of that came to a complete halt and he was back to [G3424][G3425][G3426][G3427][G3428][G3429][G3430]who he had been four years ago.[G3431]
Logically, Conner knew that going down this path again was a bad idea. To have these thoughts now was dangerous
at best with him knowing how this was all going to p[G3432]lay out by the end of the week. Just like befor[G3433][G3434][G3435][G3436][G3437][G3438][G3439][G3440][G3441][G3442][G3443][G3444][G3445]e, Caroline was going to walk out of his life; at least this time he would see it coming.[G3446]
He shook the thoughts of her naked and in the throws of passion from his mind and got dressed. At least he had a moment to h[G3447][G3448][G3449][G3450][G3451][G3452][G3453][G3454][G3455][G3456]imself and any sexual tension that he may have had before was now resolved momentarily. There will be no chance of an accidental hard-on just from looking at her after his shower.[G3457][G3458][G3459][G3460][G3461][G3462][G3463]
Walking into the dining room he was surprised to see Rachel and Keith at dinner, the second night in a row. Usually it's a once-a-month thing, and only if or when Rachel wasn't in the mood to cook. They never overstayed their welcome.[G3464][G3465][G3466]
"Is there a reason that you two are here, again?" Conner asked pointing his gaze at Rachel.[G3467][G3468][G3469]
Rachel rolled her eyes; this time seated across from him at the dinner table, while Keith grinned innocentl[G3470][G3471][G3472]y at him. [G3473]
"Has your pantry run empty?" he asked.
Caroline elbowed him in the ribs, "They are family, don't be so mean Conner," she said reprimanding him.[G3474]
"Ow," Conner said, pride more hurt than the actual jab[G3475], "They are, but these two birds left the nest a long enough time ago to learn how to cook their own dinners."[G3476]
"That doesn't matter," Caroline said calmly.
Rachel shot Conner a smirk as if to say, suck it up.[G3477][G3478][G3479][G3480]
His eyes pinned on Rachel, he muttered, "Well you didn't have to grow up with them."[G3481][G3482][G3483]
Caroline was quick with her tongue and the banter was amusing, "Well, they had to grow up with you, so give them a break."[G3484]
"You try living with this dragon lady!" Conner snapped irritably.[G3485][G3486][G3487][G3488]
"Hey!" Jack said in mock offense, "No need to start name calling, I would know if my wife was a dragon."[G3489][G3490][G3491][G3492][G3493][G3494][G3495][G3496][G3497][G3498][G3499][G3500][G3501]
drdaddy Page 60
