by Leanne Banks
Wilhemina shot Katie a look of pure gratitude. “Yes, that's right.”
“I think she may want to do that very soon since we really do need to return to Philadelphia,” Katie said firmly.
Wilhemina sighed and reluctantly nodded.
His brow still furrowed with displeased confusion, Douglas shrugged. “Well, I guess that means you two will be staying for the night. I would offer you a room, but I only have one extra and Wilhemina's using it. I suppose you could use the mobile home I have on the other end of the farm. I keep it for temporary employees to sleep over during the busy season.”
Mobile home. Visions of her childhood assaulted Katie. “Isn't there a hotel some—”
Douglas shook his head. “I tried one for Wilhemina, but the plumbing's messed up and the owner's taking his time getting to the repairs. It's not a bad trailer.” He cleared his throat. “I just need to take a couple of the Baywatch posters off the wall.”
Katie swallowed a moan and looked at Michael.
He sighed. “It'll just be for one night,” he said, throwing both Wilhemina and Douglas a firm glance. “We'll leave tomorrow.”
After dropping their bags at the small trailer, Katie and Michael put fresh sheets on the beds and dusted and cleaned. It truly wasn't that bad, Katie thought and tried not to give in to bittersweet memories of her childhood. Douglas took them on a tour of the farm and showed off his prize hogs: Luckily he didn't go into an in-depth description of the fate of the hogs, but Katie still wasn't sure she'd be able to look at a ham sandwich exactly the same way for a while.
Wilhemina complimented Douglas and flirted with him shamelessly, and he didn't seem to mind at all. Douglas barbecued burgers on the grill while Katie helped Wilhemina prepare potato salad.
“I don't know how to do anything but boil water,” Wilhemina confessed to Katie. “You're so lucky you know how to cook. Douglas has had to cook for me every night.”
“It's not difficult if you can read and follow instructions, and you can do both.”
“Do you think you could help me bake a cake for him?” Wilhemina asked. “As a thank-you for all he's done for me.”
Katie didn't want to think about all Douglas had probably done to Wilhemina. She felt uneasy about the looks they shared. She was concerned about Wilhemina's feelings, but she was also concerned about getting Ivan's daughter on the plane back to Philly. “Sure. I think I remember a simple recipe for a dump cake and we can put it together in no time.”
Wilhemina looked doubtful. “Dump cake? How does it taste?”
“Don't let the name fool you. It's chocolate, and it's great hot. I bet Douglas has the ingredients,” she said, looking through the cupboards. “If we hurry, we can get it in the oven and bake it while we're eating dinner.” It took a little extra time to give Wilhemina the instructions and allow her to put the cake together, but seeing the sense of accomplishment on her face pleased Katie. Wilhemina might have one of the richest fathers in the world, but she'd been deprived of so many things that could have helped her self-esteem. She wondered how Wilhemina might have turned out if she had been raised in a more normal home.
Katie paused. Not that she knew what a normal home was.
Just as Wilhemina carefully set the cake in the oven, Douglas and Michael brought in the burgers.
“Hi,” Douglas said, nearly drowning as he gazed at Wilhemina.
“Hi,” Wilhemina said breathlessly.
The two looked so sappy Katie glanced down at their feet to see if they were melting into the floor. Hearing Michael's put-upon sigh, she looked up and saw him roll his eyes.
Katie bit back a chuckle, but couldn't help thinking that there was something sweet about their adoration for each other. She cleared her throat.
Douglas blinked and glanced at Katie and Michael self consciously. His gaze traveled back to Wilhemina. “That potato salad sure looks good. I thought you said you couldn't cook.”
“Wilhemina blushed. “Thank you, but Katie helped.”
“I can't wait to taste it.”
Michael walked to Katie's side. “That isn't all he wants to taste,” he muttered in her ear.
If Katie didn't do something, she wondered if Wilhemina and Douglas would throw the food aside and jump on each other. “The table's ready and I'm hungry. Let's eat,” she urged.
The four sat down to dinner and Katie and Michael were forced to endure glances brimming with lust and longing and lengthy distracted silences. Katie remembered to get the cake from the oven and Douglas made over it as if Ivan's daughter had made him a gourmet delicacy. When he asked what kind of cake it was, Katie didn't have the heart to tell him dump cake.
“Chocolat special,” Katie improvised in a French accent she could only say she'd learned from Pepe LePew. “She did a great job.”
“Sure did. I think I want some more.”
Wilhemina's face colored prettily in delight and she quickly rose to take care of Douglas's request.
Unable to endure their verbal foreplay any longer, Katie grabbed Michael's hand and dragged him to his feet. “Michael and I will do the dishes,” she said, ignoring Michael's glare of displeasure.
“Dishes?” he echoed.
“Are you sure?” Wilhemina asked, returning with Douglas's cake.
“Sure,” Katie said. “It's the least we can do. You two have done all the work.”
“That's so nice, Katie. Isn't that nice, Douglas?”
“Yeah, it is,” Douglas said, his gaze dipping into Wilhemina's cleavage.
“Get the plates,” Katie muttered and cleared the table in record time. Michael followed her to the sink, but she could feel his dark unspoken grumbles at her back.
“Why the hell—”
Katie covered his mouth with her fingers until she saw that Wilhemina and Douglas had adjourned to the den. “Because I was going to scream if I had to witness one more minute of the loopy way they were acting.”
“It's better that they have supervision. He's probably banging her right now.”
Katie covered her ears. “Don't say that.”
He covered her hands with his and pried them away from her ears. “We have to decide if we're going to try to keep them apart or not.”
“Wouldn't it be easier to change the force of gravity?”
He looked at her, then rubbed his forehead. “We still have to decide if we're going to try to chaperone them or not.”
“Don't you think they've already—” She broke off, wanting him to fill in the blank.
“Been at each other like rabbits.”
But not quite that way. She looked up at the ceiling.
“Yeah, I think they have. The question is whether he gets her pregnant or not.”
Shock raced through her. She gaped at him. “Preg—Preg—Preg—”
Michael frowned at her in concern. “Are you hyperventilating? Do I need to get a paper bag?”
She shook her head and forced herself to breathe slowly. “I'm the one who might be—be—”
“Pregnant.” His gaze gentled and he brushed his hand over one of her shoulders. “You're gonna be okay.”
Her stomach dipped at the steadfast assurance in his eyes, and she wondered how the moment had changed in less than a heartbeat. She shook her head and swallowed over a strange lump in her throat. “We got off track. You were talking about Wilhemina.”
He nodded, “One of us needs to make sure she's using contraception.”
“And exactly how are we supposed to do that?”
“Someone needs to talk to her.”
“About contraception,” she said. “I'm not sure I'm the best candidate for that job in light of the fact that I completely forgot to use any when you and I—” She broke off, wondering why all roads of this conversation kept leading back to the same uncomfortable place.
“Then I can talk to her. I can talk to Doug too.”
Katie saw visions of Michael with broken bones and Wilhemina sobbing with tears of embarrassment. “
I'll talk to her,” she said quickly, not at all sure what she would say.
“Okay,” he said and waited.
“After we do the dishes,” she clarified.
“Are you sure you should wait?”
“It can't be that urgent.”
“Listen,” he said.
She heard a combination of feminine moans and low groans and slapped her hands over her ears again.
Chuckling, he pried them loose again. “I'll load the dishwasher.”
“The most important thing you can do in life is to be your best you. You wouldn't have been born if the world wasn't needing you for something.”
—SUNNY COLLINS'S WISDOM
Chapter 17
Katie frowned at Michael, then made her way to the den. The sighs and moans of hot and heavy foreplay made her want to cover her ears again, but she stiffened her spine. She had a job to do.
She cleared her throat, but the love sounds continued. Katie sighed, wondering if she would need a whistle or a water hose.
“Wilhemina,” she called from the hallway. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”
Katie heard the rustle of clothing being rearranged and a nervous feminine twitter. Katie counted to ten. “Wilhemina?”
“Just a second, Katie,” she said, then appeared in the hallway, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling.
“Is there somewhere you and I could talk?” Katie asked.
Wilhemina shrugged. “How about the front porch?”
“That will be fine.”
“Douglas, I'll be back in just a few minutes,” Wilhemina called and walked with Katie outside.
Katie remained standing while Wilhemina sat in one of the old rockers. “What did you want?”
Katie searched for the words. “It appears that you and Douglas have gotten close in a short amount of time.”
Wilhemina's gaze turned guarded. “'Yes, we have. He's been very kind to me.”
“I'm glad he's been kind,” Katie said and cleared her throat. “But there are other concerns when you get close with someone.”
Wilhemina frowned; “What do you mean?”
“Well, you will be leaving and while I'm glad for you to have a good—” She broke off again searching for the right word. “A good experience with Douglas, I wouldn't want you to have to face any unpleasant repercussions.”
“Unpleasant?”
Katie decided to be blunt even though she felt like a complete hypocrite. “Pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease.”
Wilhemina's eyes widened. “Oh, that. Douglas uses a condom every time. Even when I get in a hurry and just don't want to wait for him to put—”
Katie was hearing far more than she wanted to. “That's good,” she cut in. “That's good to know. I know you haven't had a lot of experience with men, so I felt like I should just remind you to take care of yourself.”
Wilhemina stood and took Katie's hand. “That's so sweet of you. You're right. I haven't had much experience with men, but I've been doing my best to make up for it the last few days.”
Again. More than she wanted to know. Katie forced her lips into a strained smile. “You just keep making sure you protect yourself, then.” She patted Wilhemina's shoulder. “That's all I wanted to tell you.”
Wilhemina smiled. “Okay, I'd like to get back to Douglas now.”
Katie nodded, hating the necessity of taking some of the sparkle from her eyes. “Remember, Wilhemina, we are all leaving tomorrow.”
Wilhemina's smile fell. “Yeah. I guess so. Are you coming back in?”
“Just to finish cleaning the kitchen. Then Michael and I will probably go to the trailer. We've had a long day. Please tell Douglas we appreciated the meal.”
“I'll do that,” Wilhemina said, and hotfooted it back to her hog farmer lover.
Katie sighed and returned to Michael in the kitchen. He had loaded most of the dishes and was wiping off the counter. “I'm impressed,” she said.
“With what?”
“It takes a real man to do the dishes,” she said, unable to prevent a smile.
He rolled his eyes. “I seem to recall a similar statement about changing diapers. Dishes and diapers? Sounds like pansy material to me.”
“Not with your body,” she murmured.
He stopped and looked at her, something electric coming from his eyes. “What a surprise. That kind of remark could make me think you'd like to do a lot more than look at my body.”
Katie's stomach twirled at the velvet invitation in his voice. He was taunting her, and she probably deserved it. She struggled with a strange undercurrent of danger and excitement. She liked his attention entirely too much. “You're full of it. You're not surprised. You walk around with your shirt off every chance you get just to distract me.”
She barely got the words out of her mouth before he backed her up against the kitchen counter. “Is it working?”
Her nerve endings jiggled up and down, but she lifted her chin. “I don't have to answer that.”
His lips lifted in a sexy, but maddening grin. “You just did.”
She scowled at him and pushed at his muscular chest, barely resisting the urge to allow her hands to linger on his muscles.
Michael chuckled, stepping back slightly. “So are we chaperoning or not?”
“Not.”
He lifted his brows. “So Douglas wears a sock?”
She nodded. “Every time even when Wilhemina gets—” She gave him a pained look. “Eager.”
“Eager,” he repeated, his lips twitching with humor, but his eyes dark with an undercurrent of something hungry and wild. “Maybe I need to ask Douglas his technique for making women eager,” he ventured.
She groaned and started walking. “That's it. I'm going back to the trailer I've had all of this loony bin I can take.” When she heard him laugh, she walked faster, stepping swiftly to the door and letting it fall as she skipped down the stairs. She needed some fresh air. Her brain was getting all gooey with Michael. She'd barely taken a few steps on the dirt road before Michael swooped up behind her and grabbed her hand.
“Was the discussion with Wilhemina that rough?” he asked.
“It's just the whole situation. She and Douglas walking around like they're going to rip each other's clothes off any minute and make those-never-ending sound effects.”
He pulled her around and took her mouth so fast her head spun. He gave her a swift, hot kiss that gave her a glimpse of his need. And hers.
He pulled back and inhaled. “Feeling deprived?” he asked, then didn't give her a chance to lie. “I am.”
She took a mind-clearing breath, but still felt dizzy. “Why me?”
“I could ask the same of you.”
“That's not an answer.”
His gaze flicked over her. “You're strong, you're tough, but you have a lot of soft spots. You're sexy even when you try not to be. I wanted—” He broke off and shook his head.
“What?” she asked, dying to know what he was going to say. “What?”
“I watched you with Wilhemina and that deaf woman. You were passionately protective of both of them. I think you would do just about anything to help them. I'm betting you're the same way about your brother.”
She felt somehow naked by his assessment of her, but she couldn't deny it. She nodded. “I would.”
“I've never met anyone like that. Like you.”
She felt her heart swell in her chest “But you said something about wanting.”
“You make me want a lot of things. Do you really want me to go into all of them?”
Katie felt her insides heat up several degrees. Whew! “Maybe not tonight,” she said in a breathy voice and began to walk. “Lots of stars out. Did you notice?”
“Yeah.” He walked beside her. “Do you remember a lot of nights like this from your childhood?”
She nodded. “My sisters and I used to catch fireflies and when they went to bed, I would let them go.”
“How much
baby-sitting did you do when your mom went out at night?”
“A lot. Sometimes she worked as a waitress. She was always looking for the man who would make her life perfect. I liked to think she was always looking for someone as good as my father, but I never knew him, so I'm not sure what he was really like. She was always talking about wanting to go back to Myrtle Beach, but heaven knows, we never had enough money for that. That's where she met him.” She always felt both hopeful and silly when she thought about her father. “She said that was where I was conceived. I know she had this romanticized version of it in her mind, but I can't help wondering if it was some kind of spring break fling. My mother saw potential when most other people would see a big question mark.”
“It's hard when you want answers to questions and the people who can answer aren't around anymore.”
Katie nodded, looking at Michael and remembering what had happened with his father.
“I've heard about your youngest sister's dad. What about the middle sister?”
“Ah, Delilah,” Katie said, smiling at the memory of her sister. “Delilah was three years younger than me. Prissy, but she liked frogs too, so that saved her from being a pain. Her father was from a well-to-do family. He got involved with my mother when he was part owner with the local bar owner. My mother won a wet T-shirt contest and he was smitten. Temporarily. When his mother found out he was carrying on with a waitress in a bar, she had a stroke. Literally. He felt so guilty that he repented of his sins, ditched my mother, and went to seminary.”
Michael stared at her in disbelief. “You're joking.”
“Nope, and my mother was too proud to go after him, so she had his baby and named her Delilah just to drive him and his mother crazy if they ever found out.”
“And they did.”
Katie felt her humor fade. “Yeah, he took her away one day before Lori left.”
“That must have been rough on you.”
“It wasn't fun. That was when I started dreaming about running away. I didn't really hate my mother. I just hated the situation and how people whispered about me behind my back.
