“You haven’t missed us for a number of years and suddenly you arrive unannounced right after you and Ralph divorced.”
“I said we split.”
“You took Dad’s name back. It must have been an ugly divorce.”
Her mother’s face flushed. “You know I don’t do well in relationships. I can’t help it. I get bored after a few years and have to move on. Ralph didn’t take rejection as well as Dan did. Dan was a good man. I should have stayed with him. He did well by Gina and you. Another man would have sent you away with me.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know.” Her mother slumped onto the couch. “I try to tell myself I’m still attractive, but I know the lines are beginning to show. It’s scary being alone at my age.”
“And yet you sought the divorce.”
“Not exactly.” Her mother’s face flushed. “Ralph found someone else. He always did have a roving eye.” Suddenly she looked close at Sylvia’s face. “What in the world happened to you? I immediately noticed your scar, but I didn’t want to ask about it in front of your friends. It ruins your looks.”
Sylvia felt the knife go in and turn. Mom had a sharp tongue and knew how to use it as a weapon. Involuntarily, Sylvia’s hand went to her face.
“I was tortured. They cut my face.”
“What kind of people do you associate with?”
“In my last job, not always the best.”
“And now you’re working for the sheriff, and you shot a man. What are trying to prove? No man will ever want to marry you.”
“I’ve had offers and turned them down. I was afraid I’d be like you. I’d get bored and leave my small children behind crying for their mother.”
Her mother stiffened. “I knew Dan would be better for you than I would. I had to have my independence to do what I wanted. You are like me, so you must understand.”
“Am I? I hope not.”
Her mother stood, walked the short distance to Sylvia, and slapped her face. “You will show respect to your mother.”
“I have no mother. She ran away and good riddance.” Sylvia stormed into her bedroom. When the phone rang, she started not to answer, and in that brief hesitation her mother picked up the phone in the kitchen. Sylvia carefully lifted the receiver, of the phone by the bed, and listened in.
“Hello, this Sam Brodie. Is Sylvia there?”
“She’s in her room. I think she’s dressing for the dinner with Gina and her husband. I’m Gina and Sylvia’s mother, Pearl Piercy.”
“I didn’t know you were coming. Sylvia didn’t mention your arrival.”
“I surprised them. I’m very anxious to meet you, Sam. Sylvia hasn’t told me much about you, but maybe she wanted me to make up my own mind.”
“I’ll meet you at five when I pick you two up to go to Gina’s. Tell Sylvia I called.”
Sylvia waited until her mother put down the kitchen phone. Then she laid hers in the cradle. Her mother had already begun her manipulations to get what she wanted.
She stepped into the bathroom and stared in the mirror. Her fingers brushed across the scar. With Sam’s help she’d almost forgotten how it looked. Tomorrow, she’d call the doctor in Washington, DC, and set up an appointment. Her wrist had recovered pretty well. She wasn’t going to wait any longer to take care of her face.
Deep inside she knew she should ignore her mother’s cutting remark, but if she thought it was ugly, others would, too. Sylvia had relied on her beauty for a long time. She needed to feel good about her appearance. Otherwise, it might undermine her confidence. She walked back to the bed and lay down. Then she hugged her pillow and silently cried.
How does my mother manage to bring me to tears every time I see her? She reduces me to a small child yearning for approval, and I never get it, not from her.
It was only three thirty. She’d rest until it was time to dress. That way she’d avoid any further one-on-one conversations.
Voices woke her. Sylvia sat on the side of the bed and tried to get awake. When she glanced at the clock, she was surprised to see the time was five o’clock. Someone knocked on her door.
“Sylvia, it’s Sam. Are you OK?”
“I took a nap and overslept. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“Don’t rush. We have plenty of time. I’ll talk with your mother and get to know her.”
That’s what I’m afraid of. She hurriedly showered and dressed in jeans and a red shirt. She needed more makeup than usual to hide the red under her eyes and the scar. Leaving her hair down, she pulled on her boots and went to rescue Sam from her mother.
Sam stood when she entered the living room. “Your mom has been telling me stories about when you were young.”
Sylvia eyed her mother. “I’m sure she doesn’t know many since she was seldom around. Shall we go?” She put her arm around Sam’s and pulled him along with her. He tried to wait for her mother, but Sylvia wouldn’t let him. “She can find her own way, believe me.”
He gave her a strange look, opened the front door of the car for her, and waited to open her mother’s door. When he closed the door, he walked around to the driver’s side.
“It isn’t far, Mrs. Piercy. We just drive down this lane behind the cabin. My brother lived here until he and Gina married. But he started building the house once he knew he wanted to marry her.”
“I’m glad she found a good man. Gina had always been the quiet one. I feared no one would ever notice her.”
“Graham did. We never thought he’d find a woman he’d want to live with, but she moved right in and straightened him out.” Sam grinned. “We all loved watching their courtship.”
“I can hardly wait to meet Graham.”
“I hope Sylvia warned you. He’s not much of a people person. Don’t feel slighted if he goes off to his den to write.”
“Gina mentioned that her husband was a writer in her letter to me.”
Sylvia couldn’t wait for Sam to park the car at Gina’s and to get out. Everything about her mother irritated her. Was it because she feared she had the same self-absorbed personality?
When Sam parked, he opened the door for Pearl first. Sylvia got out and walked quickly to the front door, where Gina waited to greet them.
Gina looked at Sylvia’s face. “It’s been that bad, huh?”
“Worse.” She walked on inside and stopped. “Mrs. Brodie, I didn’t expect to see you.”
“Gina invited me. I’m looking forward to meeting your mother.”
Realizing she’d sounded rude, Sylvia sat by Mrs. Brodie. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said to come out that way.” She glanced at her mother and Gina headed toward them. “My mother and I don’t get along.”
“Mom, this is Mrs. Brodie. Mrs. Brodie, my mother, Pearl.” Gina did the introductions.
“Where’s Graham?” Sam asked.
“In his workroom He’ll be out in a moment. He’s killing off one of his characters, and he couldn’t stop right then.”
“I’m done.” Graham came walking from the direction of his study. Gina introduced him to Pearl.
Graham put his arm around his wife and leaned down to whisper in her ear. The anxiety on Gina’s face cleared as Graham shook hands with her mother. Sylvia took a breath of relief to see Graham on his best behavior. But what had she expected? Graham would do anything to keep his wife happy. Gina was very lucky.
The dinner went well. Sam kept the conversation general, told a couple of funny stories, and Graham even told a few of his own. Mrs. Brodie and Pearl, as Sylvia preferred to think of her mother, were polite, but distant.
Sylvia thought they’d made it safely through dinner when Pearl looked her way and asked, “Dear, when are you going to get cosmetic surgery for your face? The chandelier lights really make it very noticeable.” She turned to the group. “Sylvia was so beautiful. It must be very difficult for her to look in the mirror each day and see how her beauty has been taken away from her.”
The group all looked stunned at her mom. Sylvia felt her face flush. She swallowed hard to keep from crying.
To make matters worse, Pearl added, “When I start losing my looks, I’ll have surgery. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, dear.”
Sam, who was sitting by Sylvia, took hold of her hand. Then he turned to Pearl. “If you weren’t in my sister-in-law’s home I’d ask you to leave. None of us see Sylvia as anything but beautiful. Even when the cut was healing, her beauty shone through.”
“It’s all right, Sam. My mother is right. I’m planning to have the surgery soon. Can we talk about something else now?”
The congeniality of the evening never got back to where it was before Pearl’s remark. Sylvia had a headache by the time Sam suggested they leave.
When he stopped at the cabin, he stopped Sylvia from getting out. “Come stay with me for the night.”
“I’ll let Mother in and get a change of clothes for tomorrow.”
Her mom followed Sylvia into her bedroom. “You’re going to leave me alone in this godforsaken place for the night?”
“Yes.” Sylvia filled her overnight bag. She walked around Pearl who stood in the middle of the room.
“What do I do if I get scared?”
“Put you head under the covers like I did when I was five, and you didn’t come when I called.” Sylvia walked out the bedroom door.
“You are a hard, cold woman,” her mother hollered after her.
Sylvia locked the door and shut it behind her. When she got in the car, she looked straight ahead. “Drive.”
Sam turned around in the driveway and headed to the road and his house. She took a deep sigh of relief as the cabin disappeared out of sight.
They didn’t talk. Sam patted her knee once. When he parked, he came around to her side, picked her up, and carried her in. He sat her in one of the lounge chairs by the fireplace. Then he started a fire.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” He walked through the dining room and disappeared into the kitchen.
She laid her head back and closed her eyes. Her body ached. My mother might as well have beat me as embarrass me in front of my new friends and family.
Sam was beside her. She felt his presence before he spoke.
“I fixed you a cup of tea and brought a plate of Mom’s homemade chocolate cookies. You didn’t eat much dinner.”
“Thanks.” She took the teacup and he placed the plate on a table beside her chair. He sat across from her.
“Do you want to talk about her? I must admit I was surprised how rudely you were acting toward her when I came to get the two of you. My guess is she’d already mentioned your scar.”
“It has been a main topic of conversation. She keeps pointing out how awful I look.”
Sam got out of his chair and knelt at her feet. “You know that isn’t true. You were beginning to forget it until she made it a sore topic between you. Why do you think she wants to hurt you?”
“Because I remind her of my father, her only true love. According to Mom he left her because she had me. He didn’t want children.”
“So when she left your stepfather she didn’t take either of you, because you might have prevented her from finding another husband?”
“That’s what I figured out.”
“I told you the other night I loved you. To me you’re beautiful with or without the scar. I don’t notice it. I see your green eyes, your luscious lips, and your wavy brown hair.”
“But she sees what most people will notice.”
“I don’t believe it. Have you seen people in Frontier City staring at your face?”
Sylvia smiled. “They wouldn’t dare. You or the sheriff are usually at my side.”
“See. No problem.” Sam pulled her down on the soft rug by the fireplace.
He nuzzled her neck and stirred her insatiable hunger for his touch. Her breath caught in her throat when he gazed at her directly.
“I want to make love to you by the fire. I’ll turn off all the lights and let the full moon shine across us.” He nodded to the wide windows with the curtains opened all the way. Sam didn’t wait for her answer. He got up and clicked off the lights.
Then he sat next to her and began to undress her. When he was finished, he stood and threw off his clothes. The moonlight etched his muscled body in a silvery glow. She couldn’t see his expression, but his body reminded her of a long-ago conqueror standing over his prize. He placed a condom package on the rug as he knelt beside her.
* * * *
Sam brushed his hand across her face, along her neck, and over her soft breasts. He watched as her breathing came quicker. Her body relaxed under his hands and her legs separated. He saw the sparkle of her arousal on her lower lips.
His desire for her was a raw ache in his belly. He wanted to go into her hard, take her fast, and demand she love him. But he knew that wasn’t what she needed tonight. Tonight, she needed comfort. Sam feared she planned to leave soon after the disastrous dinner. He had to give her some reason to return.
“Are you going to love me or stare at me all night?” Sylvia asked.
“Oh, darlin’, I’m going to love you so good.” Sam licked around her peaked nipples, and then slid his teeth across the nearest one. She gasped, but didn’t tense. He played with both breasts, tasting, licking, and sucking until she moaned and trembled under him.
Her hand reached for his hard dick and grasped him tight. A shot of pure lust went straight up his spine to his brain. He threw his head back and growled out his pleasure.
“I’m glad I can make you respond so fiercely.”
“You are the only one who can.” He dipped down and ravished her mouth as her hand rubbed up and down his cock.
When he pulled back and looked into her face, her lips were plump from his kisses and her eyes glazed with desire. His cock ached for release. If he didn’t stop her now, he’d come before he finished pleasuring her. He moved her hand from his dick and slid down her body where he separated her pink folds and licked across her sensitive nub.
“Damn, you drive me crazy. I want you in me.”
“Soon, sweetheart.” He dipped his head again and licked from her clit to her pussy opening, where he lapped up her sweet, tangy juice. His tongue went in her pussy and licked across her G-spot. Sylvia’s body vibrated with desire. She threw her head back, and he quickly thrust inside her rippling pussy. Her body moved up and down, demanding more. Sam held her hips tight and plunged deeper and harder.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she screamed out.
“Come on, baby, give it all to me.”
* * * *
Sylvia’s pussy ached for more of him. She bucked and yelled, and tossed her head back and forth. The heat and trembling spread from her clit and moved inward, making her pussy clench tight around Sam’s satin, hard cock. He pulsed against her pussy walls. When she stared up at him, his eyes glowed with the fire of love. Her heart beat hard and fast, and felt like it might explode at any moment.
Then he pushed in deep one more time and a wave rolled over her, sending her up into the stars as she yelled his name over and over.
Sam collapsed on her body. His heart thumped against her chest. They were covered in perspiration, and his arms trembled as he held his weight from her. Then he rolled to the side and closed his eyes.
Sylvia stared at the ceiling. No one had ever touched her so deeply. It scared her. She didn’t deserve Sam. He needed a wife as good and loving as him. Tomorrow, she’d leave, but tonight she’d take his love to keep her warm when she found herself alone again. Perhaps it wasn’t fair, but this was the only way she could tell him good-bye.
She leaned across his body. “We aren’t through yet, are we?”
“Hell no.” He pulled her body up to where she straddled his. “You make love to me this time.” And she did, but the rest of the night was bittersweet.
Chapter Twelve
Sam suggested they go horseback riding the next day, and Sylvia agreed. She might a
s well enjoy the weekend. Then on Monday she’d resign from her job and leave town.
He saddled his stallion and a mare for her. “Your mare will be ready soon. I want to be sure she’s settled down where she won’t throw you.”
Sylvia nodded. She couldn’t speak for the tightness in her throat. Maybe today wasn’t such a good idea. Every gesture and word made her want to stay more. She couldn’t do that to him. She’d taken from men like her mother did and the consequences didn’t bother her. Sam would hurt less if she went now. He’d soon forget her. What he felt was lust, not love. No one could love her like he said he did.
“You are very quiet. If you’re worried about your mom, you can stay here as long as you want. She can use the cabin.”
“Thanks, but I have a feeling she wants to stay much longer than just a quick visit.”
“We’ll work something out.”
They’d ridden toward the road, but stayed inside the fence. Tall fall wildflowers bloomed across the prairie to the mountains.
“It is gorgeous out here in all seasons. Although I’m not sure about winter.”
“Winter isn’t bad. The snow and ice sparkles, and we ski or go snowboarding. You’ll love it.”
“I used to ice skate, but it’s been so many years I’ve forgotten how.”
“You’ll remember when you get your skates on. But I’ll be by your side in case I need to catch you.” A car coming along the road toward Mrs. Brodie’s house caught Sam’s eye. He frowned, and moved his horse closer to the fence. The car stopped.
A tall, leggy blonde got out from behind the wheel. “Sam, I was hoping to see you.”
Sylvia studied the woman’s face and Sam’s. He looked surprised.
“Camille, did you come home to see your folks?”
“No. I’m home to stay.” She glanced at Sylvia.
Sam motioned for Sylvia to ride up by him. “Camille, this is Sylvia Rufus.”
“You must be new to Frontier City.” Camille tilted her head back, and the gleam in her eyes told Sylvia she was after her old boyfriend. Someone had mentioned Camille to Sylvia, and she hadn’t forgotten.
The Intriguing Billionaire Cowboy [Wives for the Western Billionaires 8] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) Page 10
