by Marla Monroe
“Um, thank you. I know it needs brushing after everything that’s happened. I’m not sure if I could handle washing it yet, though.” Abby reached up to touch where she’d hit her head but Harry took her hand, stopping her before she was able to touch it.
“Don’t mess with it, honey. You might start it bleeding again. Give it a few days and I’ll help brush it so that you don’t accidentally hurt it.”
“You’d brush my hair?” Abby was sure her eyes were as wide as her mouth had been earlier.
“I used to brush Harriet’s all the time. She’d get the worst knots in it.”
“You just liked torturing her is the only reason you brushed her hair. Admit it.” Abby laughed.
Harry’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Well, maybe a little bit, but don’t tell her. She thought I was the best brother in the world.”
“She still does, Harry.” Abby smiled up at him.
He leaned closer to her and before she realized his intentions, his lips pressed softly against hers before he backed away.
Chapter Thirteen
Abby sat propped against the end table, still reeling from the kiss Harry sprung on her. She sure hadn’t seen that one coming. He’d been so standoffish at times, but then at other times, he seemed to really like her. She wasn’t sure what to make of his hot, then cold treatment.
The kiss had confused her even more. He didn’t push himself on her or drop the kiss, then run. Instead, he’d seemed to brush it lightly across her mouth, then leaned back to smile before running his finger down the bridge of her nose. He got up and excused himself to see if he could help the others load up the bags.
She pressed her fingers against the spot that Harry had touched with his lips. It still seemed to tingle, though she couldn’t feel anything with her fingers. Even as light as it had been, it affected her on a much deeper level. Where before she’d been attracted to him, now she was attracted and emotionally interested. He’d gone from being a handsome man to dream about to one she was going to hurt over if he proved to only be attracted to her while there wasn’t anyone else around.
I’m making more out of that kiss than there was. I’m sure of it. He was just glad that I’m okay. It couldn’t have meant anything else. Could it?
“Hey, Abby.” Thad stuck his head out of the kitchen so that she could see nothing but his head and the fingers of one hand curled around the doorjamb. “What’s your favorite kind of jelly?”
“What?”
“There’s a lot of different kinds of homemade jellies and preserves, but we can’t take all of them so we’re trying to get some of our favorites. What’s yours?”
“Um, either apple butter or apple jelly, if there is any. Otherwise, I like grape.”
He winked at her, then left her staring after him. This was so odd, maybe she was actually still unconscious and dreaming all of this. That had to be it. Abby got to her hands and knees, then slowly stood up, being careful not to lift her head too quickly so she wouldn’t get dizzy.
When she was able to hold her head up without her stomach swimming or her body swaying, Abby grinned. Walking proved a little more difficult until she’d gotten used to being on her feet again. She would be fine walking the next day. She might need an extra break or two, but she’d be able to walk so they wouldn’t lose any more time.
“Whoa, chèr. You’re going too fast.” Thad caught her around the waist and pulled her back against the hard length of him.
She felt small in his arms but loved the feeling. She imagined she would feel the same way in Harry’s. His frame was even a little larger than Thad’s. A quick teasing image of the two of them holding her gave her heart a tiny thrill that took her breath. Once again, she felt the heat of embarrassment and maybe even a little arousal saturate the skin of her chest, neck, and face.
“You should sit down before you pass out. You already look a little peaked.” Thad walked her over to one of the chairs they’d cleaned off. “Rest and one of us will help you walk around in a little while. You need to take it slow, Abby, eh?”
Her smile took over her face before she even realized it. Something about the way he looked at her and treated her like she was the most important person in the world to him gave her a sense of excitement and happiness she hadn’t felt since she’d lost her David.
In that moment, Abby realized that she hadn’t really thought of him much at all in the last few weeks. Thad and Harry had somehow taken the place of the pain and ache she normally felt when she thought of him. It didn’t really hurt as much now, and she didn’t feel guilty about that.
“I’ll be fine to leave in the morning. I just need to move around some tonight. I’ve been flat on my back for a couple of days now.”
“Just don’t overdo it. One more day won’t be that bad, but another three or four because you’ve had a setback would.” Thad’s warm smile turned serious. “Harry and I want you well again, so go slow.”
There it was again. That reference to the both of them. Was Thad trying to tell her something, or was it just wishful thinking? Harriet interrupted her thoughts when she hurried over to show her some of the things she’d found.
“Look. I haven’t seen one of these since I attended a Tupperware party years ago.” Harriet held up what looked like a yellow plastic crochet hook. “I think I just about made myself sick peeling oranges and eating them just because I thought it was so cute.”
Abby laughed. “I remember them, too. Mine was green, though. I remember Mom had a red one. Wonder if we will have any oranges again?”
Thad and Harry leaned against the old stone fireplace. Harry shook his head. “I doubt it, unless someone makes a trip down south. Oranges don’t like cold at all.”
“What about the West Coast? I know most of California is gone, but maybe along the Washington coast area? It stays fairly warm there.” Abby nodded at Harry. “We can’t be that far from the coast, up near Yellowstone.”
“Not sure.” Harry looked at Thad. “Did you hear anything about how close to the ocean we’ll be once we make it to the community?”
Thad shook his head. “Really hadn’t thought about it. I’m not sure if anyone even knows how much of California or the northern states are gone. Don’t know if anyone has ventured that far or if they did and never returned. Maybe someone from the community will know more.”
“Abby do you feel like sitting in the kitchen so I can show you what all I’ve found that we’re going to try to take with us?” Harriet jumped up and held out her hand.
“Harry, help her, will you? I’m going to check on the travois we built. I think I know how to fix the wheels to be a little sturdier. I’ll be back inside by dark.” Thad ran his fingers down her hair, then turned and headed toward the front door.
“Travois?” Abby had never heard of such a thing. “What is that?”
Harriet started talking before Harry even opened his mouth. He just shook his head, even as his lips turned up in an amused smile.
“They built a stretcher in case you weren’t able to travel. It has wheels on one end and someone pulls the other end. Now we’re going to use it to carry things that we might need in the future, like the meat grinder.” Harriet plopped down next to her on the edge of the chair. “I was totally surprised when they proved to me it would work. It looked so—”
“Primitive is the word you used when you saw it, little sister.” Harry’s smile expanded to fill his entire face. “She told us we were crazy to think we could build something that would work like that. We showed her.”
“I can’t wait to see it.” Abby had a vague notion of what they were talking about, but really wanted to see it in person.
“Tomorrow is soon enough. Come on. Let’s get you to the kitchen so you can help Harriet decide what to take. She can bring two bags of gadgets. We’ve already packed up the canned goods and she moved some of the things you wanted from the sewing room into another pack. That one isn’t quite full, so you can still add to it.” Harry wrapped o
ne arm around Abby’s waist while Harriet took her other arm.
“I can stand and walk on my own, guys. I just have to move slowly at first.” Abby didn’t resist though when Harry continued to keep his arm around her. The warmth of it felt so good there.
“Not taking any chances, honey. Harriet, open the door for us.” Harry gave her waist a gentle squeeze. “Okay, here we go. Have a seat on this chair. Harriet will move everything to the table so you can look through it. I’m going to see what Thad is up to.”
Abby couldn’t help but miss his presence when he moved his arm from where they’d settled on her shoulders after he’d helped her to sit down. She watched him walk back through the doorway into the living room and a few seconds later, the front door creaked open, then shut with a decisive bump.
“You know they both are crazy about you, don’t you?” Harriet asked as she set a large wash pan full of things on the table in front of her.
“What? No, they’re just being really nice to me is all. I’m sure it scared them when I got trapped in that closet and hit my head, so they’re overly protective right now.”
Harriet pursed her lips as she added another large bowl of things to the table. “If you ask me, it’s more than just being nice or worried about you.”
“Harriet, Thad and your brother are handsome men. Any single woman would be lucky to be theirs. I’m not really the kind of woman men like them look at.” Abby hurried on to stop Harriet from saying anything. “And that’s okay with me. I know that I’m overweight and a little dumpy.”
“You’re not dumpy! Where in the world did you ever get that idea? And you’re not overweight either. You’re a full-figured woman with curves. I sure wish I had the kind of curves you have. I ended up with the same straight body Harry has.” Harriet shrugged. “But hey, I can build cabins!”
Abby laughed, shaking her head. “We both need to get to work before the guys come back inside and claim the rest of the space for themselves.”
For the next hour, Harriet brought things to the table and they sorted through them to determine what they wanted and needed that would fit into the allotted space. To her surprise, the other woman had lined both their packs with material from the sewing room and had managed to talk the guys into letting her wrap more up in plastic to be the base for the travois. They would be able to make replacement clothes once they arrived at their destination.
“So, how do you feel about taking on two men at one time?” Harriet asked out of the blue.
“Um, I guess I haven’t really thought about it. I hear that most men out here do share in order to keep their wives safe.” Abby looked up from the tea ball she’d been looking at. “What about you? Have you thought much about it?”
Harriet’s eyes twinkled. “Only about every time I close my eyes.”
“Really? It doesn’t scare you to be the only woman for two men?”
“Not really. I’m a little uneasy about the anal sex thing, but having two men to dote on me and fetch me things would be amazing! I’ve spent my entire life waiting on my brother, so a little spoiling would be nice for a change.” She looked up from the knives she’d been checking out. “I’m not complaining about Harry at all. It was my job as his assistant to do that. I’m just saying that I’d like to be the one being waited on for once.”
“I—I hadn’t even thought about that part of such a relationship. I guess I was thinking that they would take turns or something.” Abby squeezed her ass just at the thought of it.
“I think they do mostly, but I’ve heard some of the women back home talking, and they like to share at the same time, too. It kind of binds them all together and according to them, drives a woman insane with pleasure.” Harriet had leaned forward to whisper closer to Abby.
“Why are you whispering?” Abby teased.
“Harry would have a heart attack if he even thought that I knew about stuff like that. He thinks I’m this innocent little girl whom he can protect from everything he doesn’t approve of in this world. Little does he know that I’ve lived a little, despite his tight hold on me.” Harriet grinned. “I’ve been to male strip clubs and used to read erotic romances all the time.”
Abby burst out laughing. “You’re right. If Harry knew about any of that, he’d have a cow and banish you to a nunnery if there was one around.”
“So, aren’t you even a little bit curious what it would be like to be between two guys?”
“Are you talking in general or about Thad and Harry? Because I can’t talk about that with you.”
Harriet rolled her eyes. “Just tell me if you like them enough to consider being shared by them as their wife?”
“I—I like them both, Harriet, but I don’t see them sharing me even if they were attracted to me. They argue about everything.”
Harriet nodded, a serious expression pulling at her brows. “They do, but I know they’ve been spending more time together talking. Don’t know what they’ve been talking about, but at first, Harry was real short and tense. But lately he’s relaxed a little more. He doesn’t walk across the room when Thad comes in anymore either.”
“You’ve really noticed a lot about them. Are you sure you’re not interested in Thad? He is a handsome man, Harriet, and strong, too.”
“No. Actually, he reminds me too much of Harry and that’s just”—she shivered with a cringe on her face—“nasty to even think about.”
Abby chuckled. “I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way. I like your brother a lot. I like Thad a lot, too, but I just don’t see them being able to share with anyone, much less the other one.” She shrugged. “It’s a great thought to dream about, though.”
Harriet grinned and winked at her. “We’d better hurry up. It looks like it’s getting dark out. They’ll be in soon.”
It didn’t take long to finish stuffing the two bags with items they thought they’d need. Harriet chose four good knives and used heavy-duty cardboard to keep them from sticking into anything or anyone, then wrapped it with some cheese cloth she knew they could use. Then she took the two largest knives and did the same with them, but she planned for the guys to strap them to the base of the travois so they wouldn’t be in the way.
“Hey, ladies, are you ready for supper?” Harry led the way as he and Thad walked through the doorway. “You did leave something out to eat, didn’t you?”
Harry’s mock frown didn’t hide the way his eyes shone with amusement. Abby could easily see herself falling in love with the man. Harriet might have taken care of him at work, but he doted on her and was always making sure she was doing well. Yeah, she could see being with him.
When she looked up at Thad over Harry’s shoulder, she realized that she could easily fall for him as well. Where Harry was more pragmatic and always on edge, Thad appeared more laid back and seemed to smile a bit easier than Harry. She quickly looked away when she realized she’d been focused on his lips. They were full with laugh lines at the corners of his mouth. She had started imagining what it would feel like to have them on her, on her neck and along her shoulders.
“Chèr, are you still feeling okay? Do you need to lie down and rest before we eat?” Thad reached out around Harry to cup her cheek in his hand.
“No. I’m fine. Harriet and I’ve had fun going through all of this. I don’t want to wait to eat. I’m starved!” Her nervous laugh sounded strained even to her.
Harriet came to her rescue, though. “I haven’t let her move from that chair so she’s fine, Thad.” She punched her brother in the arm. “Come help me find something to eat from what we’ve left in the pantry.”
Thad sat in the chair next to her at the table. “You’ve got some color in your cheeks again.” He reached across the table and trailed a finger down her cheek. “It’s good to see you smile, chèr.”
“I’m really fine now, Thad. We need to get started early in the morning. I can tell each time you open the door that the temperature has dropped.”
“It will be close, but I think
we’ll get there before the worst of it hits. If it looks like we can’t, we’ll find the warmest place we can and hold up through the worst of the winter. We can hunt and trap enough to keep us alive.” Thad sounded so confident that they would make it if worse came to worst.
“I know you and Harry can keep us alive. I would rather not have to survive when we could be living fairly comfortably in the community.” She smiled, then ducked her head as heat burned her cheeks again.
Why am I always blushing around them? I don’t think I’ve blushed this much since I was a teenager.
Thad lifted her chin with two fingers, then covered her mouth with his in a searing kiss. His lips moved over hers in a caress that had her leaning into his arms. Then he licked along the seam of her mouth so that she opened to him. God, the man could kiss! He explored every part of her mouth, teasing her tongue to chase his back into his mouth. When she ventured there, he sucked on it, causing her pussy to throb with the motion.
When he slowly released her, sucking on her lower lip as he did, Abby was sure she would pass out from the intense intimacy and overwhelming pleasure. God, were her ears ringing?
“You taste like pure sugar can with a punch like white lightning moonshine, mon trésor.” With another quick touch of his lips, Thad stood up and left her still reeling from his touch.
“What is going on?”
Chapter Fourteen
“Are you sure you feel up to walking, Abby? We can wait another day.” Harry watched as Abby settled her pack on her shoulders, adjusting one of the straps to even the weight out.
Despite having gotten his sister to sneak some of the extra stuff from her pack into his, Harry worried the pack was still too heavy for her to carry. He and Thad had already tried to get her to let them divide up her pack to carry for her, but she’d steadfastly refused and had given them the cold shoulder the rest of the night.
