“You know,” he said, thinking of a conversation he’d had with his sister earlier, “Frankie buys a new car every year. Her SUV is still in great shape and your sister needs a vehicle of her own.”
Jenna glanced at him without actually looking in his direction. “What are you saying?”
“I was just thinking of buying Frankie’s car and Brianna could have your little Toyota to take to college. You also need a phone of your own.”
Jenna lifted her shoulders and then let them fall. “Okay. That’s a good idea.”
Sam raised his eyebrows at her but she didn’t notice. He could see she’d decided to give up and let him help her. He let the subject drop, not wanting to argue about it. “That’s what family’s all about, kiddo. We help each other out. And you’re family now, whether you feel like you are or not. Get ready to do a ton of babysitting.”
She glanced at him again. “Your mother bought my house. Crystal told me.”
“Oh.” That did sound like something his mother would do. He wasn’t sure whether or not to apologize.
“What’s she going to do with it?”
He shrugged. “Probably donate it to a charity. So long as we don’t have to live there. No offense.”
“No,” Jenna said, “I don’t want to live there anymore. I’m ready to move on.” The baby fussed a little so Jenna started rocking and the baby quieted down. “I’m just tired of everyone having control over my life but me.”
“What about your riding school?”
“Your riding school.”
“But it’ll be up to you to make it a success or a failure. All up to you. I’ll keep my hands out of it.”
She pressed her lips together but he saw a smile hiding under there. “You promise?”
“Hey, I’ll have plenty of my own stuff do to. Apparently, I’m a horse breeder now.”
“Are you okay with that?” she asked.
He gave her knee a slap. "You know what, I am. That's what I always planned to do growing up. Before I got... sidetracked. It feels like I'm back on track now. It feels good.”
Bri came around the corner with a handful of her friends. She spotted Jenna on the porch and came running, holding a beach towel. “Guess what?” she said, trotting up the steps. “I got a job! I’m gonna be a barista at Café Mania.” She leaned back against the railing with a sigh and wrapped the beach towel around her neck. “Kayla’s sister quit and they were looking for somebody ASAP. I get to start tomorrow.”
They both congratulated her and she ran back to rejoin her friends, bounding with energy. The girls all stripped down to swimsuits and jumped in the water.
“What say,” Sam said, “we go to town, take care of your business, get some lunch, and then head out to ride horses? Just you me and our boy. Family time.”
“I like that,” Jenna said, reaching over to rest her hand on his thigh.
“Told you,” Sam said, laughing when the girls shrieked because the water was cold. “You can forget all about peace and quiet out here.”
“Good,” Jenna answered. “I’m tired of quiet.”
As if the baby had heard, Riley woke up and started crying. Becky heard and came walking up with Ethan trotting along behind her.
Becky took her baby with a thank you, and an apology, and carried the baby inside. Ethan climbed the steps then to Sam’s surprise came to him, instead of his mother, and tried to climb up on his lap. Sam lifted him to his knee.
“Having fun playing, buddy?”
“No,” Ethan said, but laughed. “Doggy.”
There wasn’t a dog on the property and Sam wondered if Ethan had meant to say the word Sam was anxious to hear again, this time in Jenna’s presence, as proof.
Jenna turned and smiled at her son, giving his foot a shake. “Did you feed the duckies, sweetie?”
Ethan nodded and fell to the side, leaning against Sam’s chest. Sam wrapped his arms around his son’s soft body, barely able to believe this was happening.
“This is my boy,” he said, whispering. And for the first time, it truly felt real.
***
After stopping by the real estate office and then picking up her things at the law office, Jenna had Sam stop by the house so she could find her riding clothes. She’d had to dig around in the back of her closet to find her boots and again she worried too much time had passed since she’d been on a horse. She’d find out soon enough.
As she came out of the closet, Sam took the jodhpurs from her and held them out to look at them. “These’ll get you teased,” he said.
She snatched the breeches back from him. “These are my riding clothes. I’m not a cowboy. Or cowgirl… whatever.”
He shrugged and went to look out the window while Ethan jumped up and down on the bed. “Your choice. I’d go with jeans, though, if I were you.”
But she took off her shorts and put on the jodhpurs, anyway, feeling stubborn. She was starting up a riding school, and equestrian riding school. She wasn’t going to pretend to be a cowgirl, even if it got her teased by his family. She was a little fuller now than she’d been at sixteen and had to suck in her gut to get the pants fastened.
Sam came over, his expression changing as he ran his hand up a thigh of her skin-tight pants, his cheeks darkening. “Forget what I said. Wear these. I like these.” His hand landed on her butt where he began stroking her. He leaned in close.
“Behave,” she whispered, nodding to Ethan.
Letting out a low growl, Sam backed off. He glanced back toward the window. “Do you know anyone who drives an Audi?”
Jenna grunted as she sat down on the bed to put her on her boots, realizing she’d have to use some of her final paycheck to buy some new riding clothes. She could barely breathe. “I don’t know. Why?”
“One just drove halfway up your driveway, then backed out again. I’d swear I saw that car earlier at the real estate office. Maybe not.”
“House hunters, probably,” she said, sighing as she stood, glad at least her boots still fit. But the outfit wasn’t working. She was in pain. She sat down again to take off her boots, then the jodhpurs. She went to get a pair of jeans instead, finally breathing freely.
Sam frowned this time as she pulled on the jeans. “I’ve had a baby since then,” she told him, frowning right back at him. “Your son.”
“That’s right, my son,” Sam said, catching Ethan as the toddler ran and jumped off the bed into Sam’s arms. Sam cradled Ethan, dipped him low, then tossed him in the air and caught him.
Jenna gasped, but Ethan laughed excitedly, hopping, wanting Sam to do it again, which he did.
Jenna finished dressing, watching Sam and her son play.
It had bothered her as she’d signed the papers at the real estate office, knowing Sam’s mother was buying the house. It also bothered her that Sam was buying his sister’s car for her. It had even bothered her that Sam was practically handing her a new career.
But now, watching Ethan give Sam’s neck a hearty hug, nothing bothered her anymore. She truly wanted everything Sam offered. She truly wanted to give Ethan the life he was quickly becoming accustomed to, a life full of family and new adventures.
And most especially, a father who obviously loved him and wanted to be in his life.
***
Brandon Stewart waited until finally the farmhouse was empty and he was free to drive up and roam around, to scope out the place. He tried all the doors and found them locked. But he lost interest when the large pond out back caught his eye.
He walked the length of the pier and frowned at the gathering ducks, quacking for food. He aimed his finger and thumb at a duck like a gun and shot the duck between the eyes.
Chuckling, turning, he checked around for nearby houses as he walked back to the car, but the house was nicely isolated and sheltered by surrounding trees.
This would be no problem at all.
***
After a leisurely horse ride with Sam’s parents and Ethan riding happily sittin
g in the saddle in front of his new father, Jenna and Sam set out on their own.
Jenna flew through the air, loving the feel of the horse beneath her, the strength of its stride, the power of its muscles. After teasing her with an ancient sidesaddle, Sam’s father, Knox, had fitted an English saddle on a thoroughbred they called Red Bird. The instant she climbed into the saddle she felt right at home and all her anxiety about riding again left her. Sam rode beside her, keeping up. She couldn’t keep from smiling as she urged Red Bird faster, breezing now, letting the horse have as much fun as she was having. This was as close as a human could come to flying, she was sure of it.
The meadow stretched out at a distance before her and she rose slightly as the horse jumped a fallen log, finding it all coming back to her, letting her body fall into sync with the horse beneath her.
They slowed as they neared the creek and she loosened the reins, letting the horse step down for a drink. Sam stopped beside her.
“You’re damn good,” he said. “I knew you’d fall right back into it. Like riding a bike.”
She gave the horse a pat on the neck and dismounted, realizing she was going to be sore later. But she didn’t care. “This is the life for me,” she told Sam. “I hadn’t realized how much I’ve missed this. I feel like I’m dreaming.”
Sam walked over and draped his arm around her shoulders. “Can you finally see it now? Our future?”
She nodded, taking in the beauty of the landscape, breathing in deeply the fresh air and scents of grass, wood, and horses. His parents had a lovely stretch of land with rolling grasslands interspersed with patches of woods. Currently, Ethan was napping at his grandmother’s house, but she could see him one day, riding alongside her, and his father.
Maybe by then there would be more children. She looked at Sam’s handsome face and realized she did want more children with him, as many as they could handle. She never wanted to feel as if she were all alone in the world. Never again.
She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Let’s get married.”
He tilted back to look at her, frowning and smiling at the same time. “We are, right? At least, I thought we were.”
“I mean soon. As soon as we can. I feel so….”
His smile faded but the frown remained. “So… what?”
“Chased,” she decided. “I feel like I’m being chased by something awful. Something I can’t see or control. I feel like I have to fight back or it’ll catch me.”
Sam pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her so tightly she could barely breathe, but the comfort he offered brought tears to her eyes.
She was just so afraid something else would go wrong and she’d find herself alone, unemployed and homeless with a small child to care for. She wanted some stability in her life.
“Hey,” he said softly, “I want to marry you. I really do. I love you, Jen. And I love Ethan. We’ll be a family soon. But if we don’t do it right, you’ll regret it. You’re just scared because so many things have changed for you lately. But you’re not alone anymore. I’m here. I’ll be here. I promise.”
She knew he was right, she was probably reacting to all the changes she’d experienced lately, but at the same time, she knew what she wanted.
The truth was she loved him so much she wanted to spend her life with him. And she wanted to make sure he felt the same way, that he wanted to be with her, and was willing to prove it with wedding vows. A part of her still worried he might change his mind and leave again. But Sam was right. That wasn’t a good reason to rush into marriage.
“I want to do it before Bri leaves for college,” she said, leaning back. “At Jack’s house.”
“Our house,” Sam interrupted.
She gave in and nodded. “At our house. At night, under the lights. By the pond. I thought how beautiful that would be.”
Sam smiled and nodded. “That’s a great idea, baby. We’ll do that.”
“Is it weird to get married at night?”
Sam turned his horse so she joined him walking the horses back toward the stables. “Whenever and wherever you want is the right way to do it.
Butterflies in her stomach started fluttering, but this time with excitement and she forgot all about her fears of the future. Instead, she let herself imagine getting the one thing she’d wanted more than anything for the past ten years. A life with the man she loved.
She looked at Sam and he was standing there watching her with an expression she couldn’t interpret. He began to stroke her hair again, a sparkle of mischief in his eyes.
He left her to mount his horse. “Race you back,” he said. “Let’s see what you can really do.”
She hurried to climb back in the saddle, urging Red Bird on before Sam could get the jump on her. “You’re on.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
As far as Sam was concerned, the day had been a success. Jenna seemed to be settling in well with the family and had made fast friends with Crystal, in particular. They both sat on the sofa in the living room, each holding someone else’s child, chatting, while everyone lazed around after the feast Marna and Mirabelle had put together. A few of his aunts, uncles and cousins from his dad’s side had dropped by, along with his brothers, Boone and Mike, to meet Jenna and Ethan. It had turned into an impromptu family gathering.
The younger kids, including Ethan, were in the adjacent playroom having fun. The older kids were in the backyard swimming and hanging out.
Sam stood near the row of windows overlooking the pool shooting the breeze with his brothers and cousins. He nursed a beer as he took in the scene, barely able to believe he’d once contemplated giving all this up to live by himself on the ranch. He’d called Buck about taking over the ranch and even over the phone, and even though Buck was the strong, silent type, Sam could sense the excitement and relief in Buck’s voice.
Buck, much like his mother, had never considered Sam a real cowboy. Sam knew horses, but he’d never worked a ranch. Buck and his granddad had had to teach him almost everything, and the first year he’d felt like an alien, barely understanding the language in that strange land. He’d muddled through, and kept a smile on his face, because he’d believed he was doing the right thing, helping out his granddad. But he hadn’t been exactly happy. He simply hadn’t realized it until now, when he finally knew what true happiness felt like.
His Uncle Tad came over to give him an update. “We’ve been following Stewart around,” he said, checking to make sure no one else was listening. “That guy… man, he’s a weird one. He follows you and Jenna everywhere. He switches vehicles from time to time but he’s not hard to keep track of. I have some stats and photos to give you. Nothing interesting on him but his family’s got their fingers in a lot of pies. He’s definitely obsessed. I’ve got my boy Foster on him, too. He just called to say Stewart was checking out Jack’s house earlier and he just drove by the entrance here. I’m not sure what he has planned. He doesn’t have a job so I think he’s got nothing better to do.” He gave Sam a pat on the arm. “We’re on the job but keep your eyes open.”
Sam glanced in the general direction of the driveway leading up to the house, his face heating. “He’s out there right now?”
“Hang on,” Tad said, taking out his phone. He strolled away, talking, and then turned back. “He just pulled up at that bar, Sidecar, so I think he’s given up for the night. We’ll keep watch.”
That, at least, made Sam feel a little better. “Thanks, bud.”
Tad smiled as he turned away. “You’ll get my bill.”
Sam’s mother came over to pull him aside to speak privately. “I feel so awful,” she said, giving his arm a squeeze. “Please tell me you didn’t say anything to her.”
“About what?”
She widened her eyes at him and gave him a light slap on the arm. “The things I said about her mother. I was just upset. I think Jenna’s really sweet. I really do. And I don’t want her to know I was acting like a you-know-what.”
; Sam chuckled and gave her a hug. “You’re in the clear. Don’t worry about it.”
They both looked at Jenna, who was bobbing Crystal’s baby on her knees and making funny faces at the child who was laughing in response.
“You did good,” his mother said, giving him another pat on the arm as she walked away, this one a pat of approval.
Sam went over and sat down next to Jenna. He took the baby from her when Ethan came in, saw his mother holding another child, and tried to force his way onto her lap instead.
Then when he saw Sam holding the baby, Ethan crawled over wanting to sit in his lap. Sunny, chuckling, came over and took Crystal’s baby.
Ethan climbed off Sam’s lap and followed his grandmother as she walked away.
“Think he’s jealous of the baby or likes the baby?” Sam asked.
Jenna shrugged. “Who knows? He loves being around his family. That much I do know.”
Crystal, probably feeling like a third wheel, went over to a group of women to join in.
Jenna snuggled up against him. “Did you grow up here?”
“Yep. This is home.”
She laughed softly, glancing around. “This living room is like a hotel lobby. And you complain that my house is big.”
He couldn’t really think of an answer. It wasn’t so much that her house was big but that her house was cold and sterile. His parents’ house had a warm, cabin feel to it, despite the size, and he was used to it. “It gets bigger every year. Mom gets bored.”
Jenna sat forward suddenly. “Show me your room.”
“You wanna see my room?”
She stood and held out her hand. “I want to see where you grew up. I always wondered.”
He showed her his room, which was now just a guest room. The only real remnants of his childhood was a trophy case full of his various high school awards and a few pictures from those days his mother had framed and hung on the walls.
Bound to You Page 24
