by Francis Ray
She started to tell him she was capable of buying a pair of boots, then changed her mind. Kane had a stubborn streak sometimes, and she knew he wasn’t above putting her in the truck and taking her despite her protests. The trouble was, his stubbornness was usually for her benefit.
How do you fight a gentle, protective man who has your best interest at heart? “All right. I think I’ll walk back.”
“Not in those play shoes.” Gathering her closer, he rose in one lithe movement. “Once we’re home you can walk around until you wear a trench in the yard.”
“Anyone ever tell you how bossy you are?”
“Once or twice.”
Chapter 11
The next day when Victoria came home from work, Kane was waiting for her. Black Stetson pushed back on his head, one booted foot crossed over the other at the ankle, he leaned against the porch post with folded arms. “You ready to go shopping?” he asked as soon as Victoria’s sandaled foot touched the bottom wooden step.
“I suppose if I refused, your reply will be ‘walking or over your shoulder’,” she tossed, feeling un-expectantly jubilant at the thought of verbal sparing with him.
“Actually I was thinking of something else,” he drawled.
“Such as?”
Unfolding his arms and body in one fluid movement, he walked to the edge of the porch. “This.” Strong hands lifted her; gentle lips closed over hers. The kiss was slow and drugging. After a long moment his head lifted. “Do we go shopping for your boots or keep on kissing?”
Heavy lidded eyes opened. Victoria realized her feet were on the step again, but their bodies still touched. She looked at Kane’s lips, felt the erratic beat of his heart, knew hers wasn’t any steadier. For the first time the knowledge didn’t frighten her. From Kane she had known only tenderness, the same tenderness with which he now held her.
“What’s the third choice?” she asked breathlessly.
He blinked, then threw back his dark head. Velvet laughter rumbled from his throat. “Tory, you finally got one over on me.” Curving his arm around her waist he started for his truck, parked in front of her Jaguar.
“I told you I would.” Smiling, she started to get into the truck, then stopped. “You opened the wrong door.”
“No I didn’t. If you’re going to be the wife of a cowboy you might as well learn how to properly ride in a truck.” He urged her inside on the driver’s side. “Couples sit so close you can’t tell where the man stops and his woman begins.”
Victoria inched across the seat. “Kane, I’m not so sure we should carry things this far.”
“I am. In fact I’ve been thinking about it all day.” He slid in beside her. “You aren’t afraid are you?”
“What do you think?” she answered evasively.
“I think you’re the most beautiful woman in the world and I’m proud to call you my wife,” Kane told her softly, his knuckles grazed across her jaw.
Her heart skipped a beat. “You’re not so bad yourself,” she said just as softly.
Kane started the engine and pulled off. “After we get your boots, we better have your eyes tested.”
“My judgment is faulty at times, but my vision is twenty/twenty.” Tentatively, she touched his hand, trying to give him the reassurance he had given her so many times. “In the ways that count you have no equal. No matter what happens, remember that.”
“I’ll always remember everything about you.” He turned onto the Farm and Market Road. “I think you might look good in red boots.”
Victoria willingly let Kane change the subject. “Only if you get a matching pair.”
“You’re getting too good at this.”
“Ain’t I though?”
“Mrs. Taggart, thank you again for letting the kids come out so soon after your marriage. We are all so thrilled for you and Kane. You two looked good riding side by side.”
Victoria smiled at the elderly black woman. “Mrs. Sanders, please call me Victoria. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Kane only recently started giving me riding lessons.”
The gray-headed woman stopped dishing out potato salad. “No wonder Kane offered to let you ride on his horse with him.”
Victoria blushed. “Kane likes to tease.”
“He looks happier than I’ve ever seen him and we’ve been friends for five years,” the other woman said.
“Mrs. Sanders, am I going to get any potato salad or not?” asked an ebony-hued teenager.
She glanced at the young man, an ear stud in his left ear and three inches of hair sticking up from the crown of his otherwise closely shaven head. “Keep on with that attitude and you might not.”
The boy behind the impatient youth snickered. Mrs. Sanders shot him a look. “That goes for you too, Emmanuel.”
Both boys cut their eyes at Victoria and tucked their heads. “However, since it was my fault for not paying attention, I apologize. Can’t have the two star players of the baseball team hungry.” She dumped an extra portion on both plates.
The young men straightened, their pride intact, and moved down the line to where several other volunteers handed out beef brisket, corn on the cob, and soft drinks.
“You handled them well,” Victoria commented.
“I didn’t always. You should see Kane with them. He’s a natural father.”
Victoria’s hand paused in serving baked beans on the plate of the last person in line. “Yes . . . he’s very caring.”
“Forgive me for saying so, but you’re not what we expected.” Steadily working, Mrs. Sanders kept talking. “We all saw your picture in the paper with the announcement, and you looked a little tight in the shoes.”
Victoria recalled having the picture taken for her thirtieth birthday. She had looked straight at the camera as if daring it to do its worst. It had. “I didn’t want my picture made, but my grandmother insisted. I’m afraid it showed.”
“I liked it.”
Victoria glanced up to see Kane grinning at her. He did that a lot lately and more and more she found herself grinning back, as she was doing now. “You’re just asking to wear these beans.”
“On my plate is fine,” he said, waiting until she complied, then he moved down the food line. Shortly, he returned holding a cardboard bottom of the soft drink case he had converted into a tray. Inside was a plate laden with food. “I’ve already staked us out a quiet spot.”
Trying to ignore Mrs. Sanders’s indulgent smile, Victoria followed Kane to a blanket under one of the many oak trees in the back yard. In the middle of the blanket was a card that read ‘reserved.’
“Quite inventive.” Victoria sat down and crossed her jean-clad legs over her new black eel-skin boots.
“I thought so. Here, hold this and I’ll go get us a couple of drinks.”
Leaning against the tree, Victoria watched Kane cross the yard. The graceful power of his muscular body drew her eyes like a magnet. He had only gone a few feet when he was stopped by one of the youths, then another youngster joined them. A couple of times, he glanced back as he moved slowly toward the ice cooler. She waved her hand in understanding.
The teenagers, between thirteen and sixteen, vied for Kane’s time and his attention. She couldn’t blame them. She had sought solace in his arms and had never been disappointed. Kane gave without making you feel less for needing to ask.
She wasn’t surprised when five of the twenty kids came back with him. He looked apologetic, then pained as another youngster dropped down on the blanket, music blaring from his boom box. Kane glanced at Victoria.
She shrugged her shoulders. “When in Rome.”
“I brought my algebra grade up and I’m going to pass,” boasted a pimply faced boy, his baseball cap on backward, his teeth bared in a wide grin.
Kane slapped him on his broad shoulders. “I told you. Some of us have to study harder than others.”
“What did you ever have to do that was hard?” snarled a voice that plainly couldn’t decide what pitch to maintain.
“You have everything. A nice place. A rich, pretty wife.”
Kane lifted a brow at the thin young man standing belligerently over him. “I worked on my father’s farm two hours before school and until dark after I got home. I didn’t expect people to give me anything. The world doesn’t owe you anything, Ali, and thinking that it does is going to leave you bitter and angry.”
“I’ve got a right . . .”
“Says who? You’re barely sixteen. If you want to reach seventeen happy, change your attitude and try to figure out how the system works instead of working against it.”
“That’s selling out.”
“That’s surviving. Then you can help someone else have a better life.”
Ali dug the toe of his well-worn sneaker into the lush grass. “I’ll think about it,” he said sullenly.
“You do that. In the meantime, stop standing over my wife and have a seat.” Kane said. “And if you keep on trying to ruin the day for everyone, I might put Mrs. Taggart on your softball team as a pitcher.”
The young man looked horrified. Victoria glared at Kane. “Did I ever tell you that the year I was the pitcher on the girls’ softball team in high school we went to state?”
Kane’s mouth dropped open.
“I know it’s hard to close your mouth with your foot inside, but try,” Victoria said sweetly.
The kids looked from Kane to Victoria, then they all burst into laughter.
Kane took the converted tray out of her hands and pulled her into his arms before she could protest. She could only accept and enjoy the brief kiss he gave her.
The boys whistled. The girls giggled.
He lifted his head. “I’ve got a feeling I’m going to pay for that remark for a long time.” Sitting her upright, he picked up their food. “You know I was kidding, Tory. We’re a team. We’re going to beat all comers in every event.”
“Event?”
“Three-legged race, sack race, water balloon toss.” He eyed her cotton blouse. “Maybe we won’t enter the balloon toss.”
Victoria smiled. “Yes, we will. I am going to show you exactly how good I can throw.”
Victoria and Kane lost every event.
In the three-legged race she fell on top of him within five feet of the finish line. They lay grinning from ear to ear at each other. Two hops and she was out of the sack race. Kane landed beside her. The softball game was a tie between the adults and the youths. Victoria pitched to Kane’s loud praise and encouragement.
When it came time for the water balloon throw, the counselor couldn’t find the balloons. From the hunches and grins the boys were giving each other, Victoria deduced they had helped a little with their disappearance. One of the girls suggested a dance. The boom box blared out.
“Wanna dance?”
Leaning back on the blanket, Victoria glanced at Kane beside her. “I don’t think my feet can move that fast.”
“They don’t have to.” Pulling her up and into his arms, he held her close. “Listen to the music inside your head.”
Her head pressed against his chest, she followed his lead. As warmth and need coursed through her, everything else ceased to exist. She felt cherished, needed, wanted.
The intrusive noise of whistles and applause caused her to lift her head. All the other couples had stopped dancing and moved back to watch Kane and Victoria. A few of the women counselors were dabbing their eyes, the men were giving Kane a thumb’s up sign, the young girls looked dreamy, the boys surprised but pleased.
“It’s nice to know love still exists,” Mrs. Sanders said. “We’ve taken up enough of your time. You’ve only been married a month. Come on, people, and let’s get the place cleaned up.”
With a light squeeze and a brush of his lips, Kane went to help. Her mind in a turmoil, Victoria didn’t move. She had forgotten about her boutiques and their business agreement. Frantically, she thought back and realized she had stopped thinking about the reason for their marriage after Kane kissed her earlier on the blanket. She had been a woman enjoying the day with a man she cared about.
“Tory, are you all right?”
She glanced up into Kane’s ruggedly masculine face. If she didn’t watch herself, when the time came, she wouldn’t be able to walk away. “I’m just tired.”
“Go on inside and rest. I’ll explain to everyone.”
“No, I’ll be all right. You go on.” She watched Kane help load up the van and knew she lied. She would never be all right if she didn’t stay away from him.
Something was wrong. Kane knew it, but he wasn’t sure what to do about it. He looked across the breakfast table at Victoria’s bowed head. The only reason she sat there was because this morning she had been unable to think of an excuse fast enough. This was the first meal they had shared in a week. Where he was, Victoria wasn’t.
It was usually dark when she arrived home. Mumbling that she had work to do, she closed herself in her room. He didn’t know what had changed at the outing, but maybe tonight after the banquet they’d have a chance to talk.
“I’ll pick you up around four.”
Her head jerked up. “For what?”
“The banquet in Houston honoring black men who have made a significant difference in the community. A friend of mine is flying us down,” he explained patiently. “I told you Monday.”
Victoria put her fork beside the uneaten stack of pancakes. “I was out of the shop last Saturday. I can’t be gone again.”
“You can if you want to.” Some of Kane’s patience slipped. Maybe it was time to push again. “I made room reservations so you can rest and get dressed in Houston. After the banquet, we can stay over and fly back tomorrow.”
“No.” She stood. “I have to stay and work. You go and have a good trip.”
“It’s important to me that you go.”
She stopped, but didn’t turn. “I have things to do. Perhaps it’s best if we don’t become too involved in each other’s lives. Remember, our marriage is only a business agreement.”
Kane’s large hands fisted on the table. “I thought we were . . . never mind. I’ll see you tonight.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Since you’ll be late coming back, I think I’ll stay at my place.”
Something hard flashed across Kane’s face. “This is your place and you had better be here when I get home or I’m coming to get you.”
“I’m tired of you bossing me. I can’t wait until my time is up so I can get back to living my own life,” she snapped, then ran to her car.
Tears rolled down her cheek and splattered on her blouse as she drove out of the yard. She didn’t notice or care. She remembered the pain in Kane’s face. She fought against going back and telling him she was sorry. For her own protection, she couldn’t.
If things continued, she’d end up in Kane’s bed. Once that happened she would be more vulnerable than she had ever been in her life. She couldn’t put herself in that position again for anyone.
Victoria had the worst morning of her life. Realizing she wasn’t going to be any good on the sales floor, she called in a part-time sales clerk and went to her office. However, she couldn’t concentrate enough to work on the books, the time schedule, her summer sale promotion plans or any of the dozen things that needed her attention.
Each time the phone rang, she’d look at it and wonder if it was Kane. Then when her intercom didn’t light up, disappointment would wash over her and she’d wonder how he was doing.
As the clock moved toward three, her restlessness grew. She wouldn’t put it past Kane to make her go. Then she remembered the look on his face and knew he wouldn’t come for her. Whatever feelings he might have had for her, she had effectively killed them. That had been her intention, but she hadn’t counted on the pain for either of them.
It was after one in the morning when she pulled up in front of the ranch house. A single light burned in the kitchen. She didn’t know if Kane had tried to make good his promise to come get her or not.
&n
bsp; Ten minutes after three, she had left the shop and gone to an eight-screen theater. She hadn’t been able to sit through more than three movies before the theater closed. Getting out of the car, she didn’t know whether she was happy or disappointed not to see Kane’s truck in the driveway.
Unlocking the front door, she reached for the light switch.
“So you finally decided to come home.”
Fear splinted through her at the rough, unfamiliar voice. She fumbled for the switch. Light flared. Frantically, her gaze searched the room until she located Matt standing at the foot of the stairs. A part of her wanted to relax, but something about his eyes wouldn’t let her. “Where’s Kane?”
He didn’t say anything, just continued to stare at her. “Answer me. Where’s Kane? Has something happened to him?”
“Would you care?” he asked, his voice as hard as his face.
Fear congealed in the pit of her stomach. She ran toward the stairs. “I’ll find him myself.”
“He’s not there.” His words stopped her midway across the room.
“Where is he?”
“He went looking for you. For the life of me I can’t understand why, after what you put him through tonight.”
“What are you talking about?”
He snorted. “Don’t try to act innocent. Kane knew he had a good chance of receiving the Man of the Year Award tonight. He asked you to go with him, didn’t he?”
Victoria felt ill. “He asked, but . . . I didn’t know he was up for an award.”
“He won. His family was there, but not his beautiful bride. She was too busy with her stores to bother coming. Every man sitting on the platform had a woman with him except Kane. He refused to let Mama or Addie take your place. You can imagine some of the things people said.”
Victoria closed her eyes, her heart going out to Kane. She had hurt him, trying to protect herself.
“What’s your price?”
Her eyelids flicked upward. “Price?”
Matt’s smile left her chilled. “I’m going to save Kane from the hard lesson I learned about beautiful women and lying eyes. One Taggart strolling in hell is enough.” He took a step closer. “A blind man can see Kane cares about you, but only a blind man would believe you cared about him in return. Name your price and walk away. I’ll give you whatever you want if you’ll go upstairs and pack your bags before he returns.”
