Chasing Dreams (Devil's Bend)

by Edwards, Nicole

  He pulled around to the back of the house, put the truck in Park and climbed out. Stealing himself for the conversation to come, Kaleb took a deep breath and looked around. With the sun shining bright and not a single cloud in the sky, Kaleb took in the vast landscape, looking off to the south as he tried to picture the entrance to the resort as Travis envisioned it.

  He could see the massive wrought iron gates in his mind, the ones that would be manned twenty four hours a day by security, allowing only those invited to come inside. Kaleb had seen the artwork for the gates design, including the large “A” and “I” that would be welded into the intricate iron design. Alluring Indulgence, the name he and his brothers all agreed on.

  Given the type of resort they were looking at creating, the name suited it. The goal had been to come up with a name to reflect the carnal temptation they fully intended it to be. So, thanks to an online dictionary and a case of beer, Alluring Indulgence was born.

  He wouldn’t lie, he was anxiously waiting for the day they opened their doors, but in order for that to happen, Kaleb had to convince Carl to sell him the land. With a resigned sigh, Kaleb shut the truck door and made his way to the side door of the house.

  Rapping his knuckles on the wood frame, Kaleb waited like he always did until Carl’s gruff voice instructed him to “Come in,” The man never bothered to get up, nor did he bother locking any of his doors so Kaleb let himself into the large, typical farmhouse kitchen.

  “Mr. Stranford,” Kaleb greeted Zoey’s father as he stepped into the living room.

  Instead of a greeting, Kaleb was met with a muted “Hmmphh”.

  Figures.

  “How are you today?” When Carl pointed to the couch, Kaleb took a seat, keeping a smile on his face and his eyes on the old man sitting in the chair.

  Just like in recent days, Kaleb felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia sitting on the couch in the Stranford’s dated living room. With the dark wood paneling, well-worn hardwood floors and a ceiling fan that had to have been produced in the 1980’s, he was hit with flashbacks from his teenage years. There was even the faint smell of cigarette smoke still lingering, although Kaleb knew Carl had quit smoking long ago.

  He and Zoey spent many days sitting right there on the very same maroon and green, flowery couch Kaleb sat on now, talking, laughing and avoiding the glares of one ornery old man who continuously traipsed back and forth through the room, making sure the up-to-no-good teenage boy in his living room wasn’t somehow taking advantage of his sweet little girl.

  “Was doing fine until you showed up,”

  That was definitely the Carl he’d grown accustomed to. He much preferred the ornery old man to the fragile, forgetful one he’d spent hours with, as well. Carl had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s within the last year, and as each day passed, Kaleb recognized more and more symptoms. At times, he was positive Carl didn’t know who he was, even though he pretended to.

  “If you’re looking for Zoey, she’s not here,”

  Kaleb barely heard him over the television turned up loud enough for Carl to hear without the hearing aids he refused to wear. Glancing over at the TV and then back at Carl, he bit back a laugh when Carl sighed dramatically before turning the volume down with the remote on the arm of his chair.

  “I’m not here to see Zoey, Mr. Stranford. I’m here to see you,”

  “Ahhh,” Carl didn’t look any happier than he sounded by the news. “Out to try and steal my land again, are you?”

  “No, sir,” Kaleb said, forcing back a smile. He was, of course, looking to acquire some of Carl’s land, but in his opinion, the offer was more than fair. So, no, he was not looking to steal anything.

  “So, why is it that you can come over to talk to me about my land, but you aren’t here trying to woo my daughter?”

  Kaleb couldn’t tell whether Carl was serious or trying to jack with him. Woo? Seriously? Who said woo anymore?

  He couldn’t very well tell Carl that he’d been thinking about “wooing” his daughter for some time now, but had never gotten up enough nerve to do so. No matter how Carl sounded, Kaleb wasn’t convinced he’d take any man’s intentions toward his daughter as a good thing. Not after her devastating divorce.

  Shaking off that train of thought, Kaleb focused his attention on Carl once more. “Mr. Stranford, I wanted to stop by to see if you’d come to a decision about the land,”

  “What are you planning to do with my land again?”

  Kaleb’s hands balled into fists, but he kept them hidden. He was fairly certain Carl knew exactly what he and his brothers intended to do with it, but he figured he had no choice but to oblige him.

  “Sir, we’re looking to build a hotel,” Well, it was more of a resort, but he didn’t want to go into the details.

  “A hotel? Like what? A La Quinta?”

  Fighting the urge to laugh, Kaleb shook his head. “No, sir. Not a La Quinta.” Not by a long shot, he thought to himself.

  “What do you plan to do with my house if you build this hotel?” Carl asked, sincerely, his forehead creased with worry.

  “We don’t have any plans for your house, Mr. Stranford. We aren’t looking to buy the land that your house sits on. We’re only looking to acquire the one hundred acres that sit adjacent to my father’s land,”

  “One hundred acres, huh?”

  Oh, brother.

  “Yes, sir,”

  The amount that Kaleb and his brothers were looking to purchase was about half of what Carl owned in total. Even though he was certain Carl didn’t have any intentions of using the land in the future, they didn’t want to go overboard. In Kaleb’s opinion, Travis was riding a fine line as it was.

  Since Travis was insistent that the entrance face the south, for a number of reasons he’d been told, this had been their only option.

  “And how much are you offering me?”

  Kaleb was pretty sure he saw a twinkle in Carl’s eye, and if he wasn’t mistaken, the man was trying to catch him in a lie. Well, that was one thing the Walker’s didn’t do. They didn’t lie, and they didn’t try and cheat someone out of what was rightfully theirs.

  Taking a deep breath, Kaleb settled in for the long haul. For the next half hour, he repeated the same conversation he’d had with Mr. Stranford for the umpteenth time.

  ♀♂

  To say Zoey was tired was an understatement.

  She and V were going on hour number three of their weekly visit to the Wilson’s gi-freaking-normous house in which they scoured the five thousand square foot monstrosity from top to bottom. Sometimes she wished she wasn’t quite so gullible because when Victoria Wilson had bragged about how well kept her house was, Zoey had actually believed her.

  Ummm... That was so not the case.

  “V?” Zoey called out, her voice echoing off of the Travertine floors and twenty feet tall ceilings. “Where are you?”

  Making her way to the master bedroom downstairs, Zoey had a good idea where V was, and she smiled at the thought.

  Noticing that the master bedroom was in tip top shape, Zoey continued toward the master bathroom and the sound of V sighing. Loudly.

  “Are you almost done?” Zoey asked when she found V on her hands and knees near the toilet – the one thing V absolutely detested about cleaning houses. For a while, she had tried to convince Zoey that she was allergic to toilets, and some of her excuses had bordered on insane, but knowing V, Zoey had never given in.

  “Does it look like I’m almost done?” V snarled. “If someone,” cough, cough, “understood how much I truly hate this part of the job,” cough, cough, “they might’ve agreed to handle the bathrooms all by herself,”

  “Ummm... In case you didn’t know, I’ve already cleaned the other four. And you’re just lucky I volunteered to clean the kid’s bathroom,” Zoey snarled back, remembering all too vividly what the Wilson’s son’s bathroom had looked like before she went in there.

  Unfortunately, the bathroom hadn’t been the worst o
f it this time. She wasn’t sure what it was the Wilson’s did to make this much of a mess in a seven day period, yet each week it seemed to get worse. With six children – Zoey had no idea how they kept up with six kids – it was a wonder the house was even still standing.

  “Well, what’s one more?” V asked, still scrubbing away before flushing the toilet and standing. With a little wiggle of her hips, V managed to straighten her skirt before tossing her hair back over her shoulder.

  How the woman could come to work – cleaning houses, mind you – looking impeccable day in and day out was beyond her. If she didn’t know better, Zoey would’ve thought V worked in the corporate world for all of the trouble she went through to get dressed up each day.

  Not Zoey. No way. Her outfit for the day consisted of her soft, faded jeans and an oversized t-shirt that had clearly seen better days. But, neither her shirt nor her jeans had holes in them, and that was about as good as it got for her.

  Staring back at her friend, Zoey realized they looked like polar opposites, what with V wearing wedge heels and a flouncy skirt. V was also tall and curvy in all the right places while Zoey was on the short side. Like day and night, Zoey smiled to herself.

  After V stripped the latex gloves off, tossing them into the sink, she turned her attention to Zoey. “What’s left?”

  “I think we’re done,” Zoey smiled. “As long as you’re done in here, that is,”

  “Oh, I’m done,” V said feigning exasperation.

  “What do you say I buy you a drink then?” Zoey asked, turning toward the kitchen to pack up the rest of their things.

  “Throw in dinner, and you’ve got a date,” V stated, tossing the last of her supplies into the bucket they used to haul them back and forth from the truck.

  “Can’t do dinner tonight,” Zoey grinned. “I’m meeting Kaleb,”

  “Ohhhh... That’s right. I almost forgot. Your weekly date,” V pretended to be offended, but Zoey knew better. “I’m being shunned for that sexy, hot neighbor of yours,”

  “It’s not a date,” Zoey realized how defensive she sounded as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

  “When are you going to give in and sleep with him?”

  Hefting her bucket of cleaners, Zoey managed to lock the front door and roll her eyes at her friend while pretending not to have heard the question.

  It wasn’t the first time V had asked that particular question, and she knew it wouldn’t be the last, so Zoey wasn’t even going to dignify it with a response. Best friend or not, V had an uncanny ability to get on Zoey’s last nerve with her constant pestering when it came to her friendship with Kaleb Walker.

  It seemed as though once a week V would go off on a tangent about how Zoey and Kaleb were dancing around one another and should just give in and admit they wanted to sleep together. For the most part, Zoey managed to ignore her. The rest of the time she just made it worse by arguing.

  There was possibly a smidgeon of truth to V’s assessment of the situation, but Zoey wouldn’t admit it. Ever since Zoey’s marriage came crashing down around her, she and Kaleb had managed to rekindle the friendship they’d shared since middle school. Only this time, her best buddy managed to spark an irritating amount of lust that Zoey refused to acknowledge.

  Considering there weren’t many days that passed in which they didn’t meet up for dinner or drinks, or just to hang out with a group of friends, Zoey was having a hard time ignoring this little infatuation she’d apparently developed for him.

  As far as she could tell, there wasn’t an ounce of reciprocation from Kaleb’s side, so it made it a little easier to pretend he was just her friend. And she could’ve lived with that if her warped and twisted mind hadn’t gone and conjured up a plethora of images that consisted of all of the things Zoey wanted to do to the man.

  She had a feeling V’s comments were to blame for that carnal slide show playing over and over again in her mind.

  Ten minutes later, Zoey was pulling her truck into the gravel parking lot of Moonshiner’s – the one and only bar in their very small town. For a Thursday afternoon, it was packed, but the more the merrier, Zoey thought to herself.

  It took a little persuading – or flirting, whatever you wanted to call it – to commandeer two bar stools, but they finally managed. Ordering their usual – mango margaritas – Zoey glanced around the dimly lit room, scoping out the familiar faces.

  Most of the Thursday crowd was younger, getting a jump start on the weekend and choosing to battle it out at the pool tables. The dance floor was empty, but that wasn’t unusual for this time of day. It usually livened up quite a bit after dark, but they were still a few hours off from that.

  Feeling a tad surly after V’s pestering from earlier, Zoey turned to her friend and threw out the one question she knew would get V riled up. “So, when are you going to focus on your own Walker man and lay off my nonexistent sex life?”

  “My Walker man?” V almost sounded as though she had no idea what Zoey was talking about. Almost. “Who the hell are you talking about?”

  Remembering the way V had all but jumped on Zane Walker the last time they’d all gotten together, Zoey arched an eyebrow in challenge. “Don’t deny it. I saw the way you were eye fucking Zane the last time we were here,”

  “Zane? Zane Walker – Zane?” Vanessa laughed, and the sultry sound had half the bar turning to look at them.

  “Do you know another one?”

  The best defense is a good offense – the phrase suddenly rang through Zoey’s mind when she saw the look in Vanessa’s eyes. It was about to be a free for all.

  “Wait,” V held up a hand, taking a sip of her drink. “You first,”

  “Me first, what?” Zoey was confused.

  “You admit to crushing on Kaleb, and then I’ll tell you my story,”

  “Oh, whatever,” Zoey laughed. “I am not crushing on Kaleb or anyone else for that matter. But you, my beautiful friend have a bad case of the hots for one Zane Walker,”

  V blushed immediately, but turned her head and avoided Zoey’s knowing stare. It was obvious the woman had been lusting after Kaleb's younger brother, but Zoey had no idea for how long. Not that age mattered, but there was a six year age gap between V and Zane, which was surprising because her friend had never been the type to go for younger men.

  “You can’t deny it, V,”

  When Vanessa’s ears flamed red, Zoey knew she’d hit her mark. But, they both knew it was all in good fun because yes if either of them were to own up to it, both of them had the hots for one of the Walker brothers.

  “Maybe not, but what about you and Kaleb?”

  “What about me and Kaleb?” Zoey asked, forcing a smile. She did not like where this conversation was going, regardless of whether this was her best friend or not. She was not willing to admit whatever these strange feelings were that she’d developed for Kaleb.

  “You have to admit he’s hot,” V grinned.

  “Well, of course, he’s hot,” That wasn't a secret.

  “Have you ever fantasized about what it would be like to kiss him?” V asked, getting pushy as always.

  What was this? Eighth grade?

  Hoping like hell the heat that suddenly infused her face wasn't visible, Zoey smarted off. “Hasn't everyone?”

  The smile that beamed on V’s face had Zoey stilling in her chair.

  Oh God.

  She was suddenly enveloped in strong, muscled arms and overwhelmed by the all too familiar, highly intoxicating scent of the one man she wished hadn't just heard that comment.

  “So, what would it be like?” Kaleb’s sexy voice whispered in her ear, his warm breath tickling her cheek seconds before his lips landed in a chaste, friendly kiss.

  Shoving him off of her, Zoey laughed because if she didn't, she might just cry. “Oooh, gross! Boy cooties,” Yep, definitely eighth grade.

  “Boy cooties?” V asked, laughing. “That’s what you scream when Kaleb Walker plants a kiss on you? Mercy, woman.
I’m beginning to seriously worry about you,”

  Zoey felt the heat flood her face as she purposely ignored Vanessa, all the while trying to pretend Kaleb hadn't actually heard their conversation.

  “You’re early,” she told him when she finally managed to compose herself.

  “I’m starving,” He waved off the bartender when he strolled over. “Take me to dinner,”

  “Nuh uh, buddy. It’s your turn to pick up the tab,” Zoey reminded him.

  Before Kaleb could argue, Zane walked up and Zoey watched as V’s entire demeanor changed. If she wasn't mistaken, it just got a lot warmer in the bar, despite the blast of cold air from the air conditioner.

  Zoey smiled. Right. Nothing there.

  “Ok, I’ll take you to dinner,” Zoey stood abruptly. “Here, Zane. Take my seat,” Throwing a knowing grin at Vanessa and watching as her friend tried to shoot daggers from her eyeballs, Zoey laughed.

  “You are so dead,” V mouthed before Zoey turned away.

  Truer words had never been spoken because as Zoey turned to walk out of the bar with Kaleb, she was hammered with a sudden, overwhelming urge to... kiss him.