by Karen Anders
“Braxton?”
“Yes. I saw a picture of him a long time ago before Mom destroyed them all. She never told me his name, but I heard her and Grandpa talking about him one time. His name was in the paper so I cut out the clipping and saved it. I wanted to meet him one day. I wanted to tell him exactly what I thought of him. I never...I feel... Oh God, he’s repulsive. He’s awful. I hate him.” She cried harder and Corey didn’t know what to do. He just held her and rocked her.
He knew how she felt. He’d seen a dream die before. He’d hated as she hated right now. He knew what it meant to be disillusioned by a father. He knew what it was like to hate a father.
“What did you want to tell him?”
She swallowed and wiped at her face. Taking the handkerchief he offered, she blew her red swollen nose. “I wanted to tell him that he was a fool to leave us. That we were the best things to ever happen to him and he threw us away like garbage. I wanted to show him how wonderful I turned out. I wanted him to know what he was missing.”
And she wanted to know why he’d left. She wanted his love.
He pulled her tighter. “He is a fool, Ellie. A big, sorry fool.”
That started her crying again and his words were thick with understanding. “I know how you feel. He’s not worthy of your precious tears, but somehow you can’t help caring. Can you, little darlin’?”
At those words, her jaw hardened and anger blazed in her eyes. “Yes, I care, but you’re right. He isn’t worthy. And I have a championship to win.”
Corey smiled. “That’s right. Let’s go get Limelight saddled up and make Molly Duncan really anxious.”
Corey was relieved to see that sly look back on her face, even though beneath it he knew she still reeled from the shock of finding out what a bastard her father was.
“Let’s,” she agreed.
Hours later, he drove up the long winding driveway of the Triple X. He could feel Ellie’s nervousness.
“What do you think Mom will say?” she asked as she searched out the first sight of the house. Pleasure was on her face and Corey envied her the sheer joy of knowing what it felt like to come home. But then her expression turned serious. “Corey, I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention that run-in with my father. I’ll tell Mom in my own way.”
“Sure, little darlin’,” he replied.
He could almost pretend that this was real. That he and Ellie were returning to Jennifer as a family. He could see his life spread before him.
But it was a dream. Jennifer could never be his wife, Ellie could never be his daughter, and this wonderful place full of warmth and love could never be his home.
“She’ll be concerned, but you told me yourself how cool she is,” he said with soothing tones.
“Yeah. I can’t wait to see Two Tone. I bet he missed me. Do you think Mom missed us?”
Corey felt his body tighten and heat. He knew that he’d missed her. He wanted his mouth on hers, her whimpering cries like sustenance for his soul. The woman had gotten under his skin, into his soul, embedded in his heart.
He looked over at Ellie, watching the pleasure on her face flare and blossom as she caught the first glimpse of her home. This little girl had gotten to him, too. He reached out and pulled on her braid.
“Corey?” she asked, her big serious eyes turning to him, her hand landing on his forearm. He clenched the wheel tighter knowing that what was coming was going to be painful for him.
“Yeah, sweetheart,” he said, his voice gruff with emotion.
“Thanks for, you know, being there at the hospital, for not leaving me alone with those people.” A tremor touched her smooth pink lips.
“I promised your mom I’d look out for you. No one was going to make me leave when you wanted me to stay.”
“I was scared and it hurt,” she said, keeping her features deceptively composed, but her eyes said all he needed to know.
“You were so brave, I was wondering when you were going to admit that.” He chucked her under the chin and smiled warmly again.
“I want to thank you for agreeing not to tell Mom about seeing my father and how it made me feel.” She bit her lip, looking as if she might start crying again.
“I think that’s something you should tell her. You know your mom’s pretty smart. She might see it for herself. She always seems to know what’s wrong with you before you do.”
Ellie studied him for a moment, her young eyes seeing more than her years dictated. “I know,” she said thoughtfully.
As soon as the truck came to a stop, Ellie gave a whoop and climbed out of the cab and ran toward the house.
As he opened his door and followed her, he thought sadly that he had never been this enthusiastic about coming home.
Jennifer heard the truck and pleasure detonated inside her moments before her daughter came bursting through the door. “I won, Mom! Thanks to Corey, I won.”
She ran into her mother’s arms and it wasn’t until Jennifer finished hugging her bundle of energy that she noticed the cast.
“Ellie! What happened?”
“I fell and broke my wrist. Corey was wonderful. He took me to the hospital and wouldn’t leave even though the doctors tried to make him. Don’t blame Corey. It was all my idea to stay,” Ellie said in a rush. “I’ll tell you everything later. I need to find Two Tone and Tex and Jimmy.”
Jennifer could feel Corey’s presence in the doorway and her palms began to sweat. She faced him and her heart began its familiar tattoo. God, the sight of him was enough to make her swoon. His hat was hanging down his back by the cord, his hip cocked in sexy male aggression and his turquoise eyes were doing a slow burn. The message he sent her had her breasts tight and tingling, the nipples contracting in painful need for his hot, wet mouth. He looked so damn good it was all she could do not to go over and throw her arms around him.
Ellie, totally unaware of the sexual tension in the room, said, “I’m going to show Jimmy and Tex my trophy and my broken wrist.”
But before she left, she threw her arms around Corey’s waist and hugged him hard. She reached up, tugged on his hair, and when he crouched and his face was close enough, she kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear, “Thanks a lot for taking me. You’re just as cool as Mom.”
Even after she bolted out the door with the ease of adolescence, Corey stayed crouched. Emotion choked him, so that when he looked into Jennifer’s soft eyes he knew that they both had him wrapped around their little fingers.
The kitchen smelled just as good as he imagined it would. She was making a roast. He watched as she picked up the oven mitts and shoved the roast back in the oven.
“How did she break her wrist?” Jennifer sounded nervous and anxious and she looked so good. She always looked good. She was dressed in an old red cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up exposing her elegant arms. Her hair was curling around her face from the heat of the oven. She wiped her hands down her jeans in a nervous manner.
“There was some idiot who didn’t know how to handle his own stallion. The black bolted into the ring and collided with Limelight.”
“Oh my God! Is Limelight okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine,” he answered tightly. “A bruised foreleg and a gash along her ribs, but amazingly, she’s okay.”
“Thank God. Thanks for taking care of Ellie,” Jennifer said softly. “In the hospital, I mean.”
“Hell, Jennifer, I should have been paying more attention.” The self-condemnation was evident in his words.
“Was Ellie riding at the time?” Jennifer watched him closely and she saw an easing of his expression, and the tenderness that stole over his features took more of her heart.
“Yes.”
“Were you watching her?”
“Yes.”
“Corey, that’s what I would have expected you to do. As much as I would like it, I wish I could wrap her in foam rubber and keep her safe. Accidents happen. You can’t be everywhere, every minute.”
He shrugged.
“Right?” she pressed. “It’s just part and parcel of being a parent.”
He stiffened. “I’m not Ellie’s parent.”
“I know, but—”
“Jennifer, don’t go down that road, please.”
She stared at him for a moment, regret coursing through her, then she changed the subject. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes,” he said tightly, but food seemed to be the furthest thing from his mind.
“The roast will be another forty minutes or so. I hope you’ll stay.”
He didn’t speak but nodded his acceptance.
“How did your business go in Phoenix?” he asked quietly after a momentary pause, his voice sending shivers of delight through her.
“Very well. I negotiated three new contracts and renewed two others.” She gripped the sink to keep her body in place, the need to greet him with a kiss so overwhelming that she almost couldn’t fight it.
She gasped a little moan of pleasure as he came to her, sliding his hands around her waist and jerking her body against the lean length of his, roughly, almost violently.
“Jennifer,” he whispered against her ear, causing quivers of excitement to race from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. He captured her mouth, his tongue thrusting, exploring, desperately seeking her response.
She moaned again, unable to help herself.
As he pressed her back against the counter, he ravaged her mouth in a way she came to recognize as his loss of control.
She moved her mouth away so she could speak. Breathless with a wanting that scared and exhilarated her, she managed to say, “Ellie...”
Corey’s voice sounded strained, “She’ll be busy for at least an hour, chasing all over looking for those cowhands and Two Tone.” He pressed his arousal against her hips.
“The bedroom,” she suggested breathlessly. A sense of urgency drove her.
“I won’t make it, darlin’,” he answered in a voice that was hoarse with out-of-control desire.
Her heart jolted and her pulse pounded. “The pantry,” she suggested, her insides jangling with excitement. The area was small, but two bodies could fit and with his body blocking the door no one could walk in on them. It was also a helluva lot closer than the bedroom.
The heat came fast and overwhelmed them. In the aftermath of the awesome passion, they held on to each other tightly, only now realizing what it was like to be apart even if it had been for only two days. Still, it was enough to make them both panic inside, thinking about the inevitable future. One neither wanted to face.
“After the bulk of the branding and calving is done. I’ll be leaving,” he said dispassionately.
She nodded her head, knowing he was trying to diffuse the intense emotions between them. She chose to ignore the pain that swamped her and, changing the subject, asked, “Besides the broken wrist, how did it go?”
“You’re one lucky woman. Your daughter is wonderful, curious, energetic and beautiful. Your husband was a complete and utter fool to give all this up.”
“Well, his brains were always in his pants. I can sure pick them.”
“Just so you understand that I’m a tumbleweed, too, Jennifer. I didn’t mean to get intimate with you.” He smoothed his hands over her hair. “Things just got out of hand.”
“I know. I’m not saying this was all one-sided, Corey. I wanted you as much as you wanted me.”
He closed his eyes and touched his mouth to hers, still deep inside her. “How are things going here?” When her body stilled, he opened his eyes to look at her. “Jennifer?”
“Why don’t we get dressed and discuss it over a glass of iced tea?”
“Who says we’re finished?”
She gasped as he lowered his head and took her nipple into his mouth, gasping again as she felt him harden once again, inside her.
“It can wait,” she groaned as she gave herself up to the spiraling sensation only he could arouse in her.
Heated minutes later, her whole body tingling from his thorough lovemaking, she sat across the table from him. “I lost two bulls when the fence was cut. They were hit by a semi that took out hundreds of yards of fence and gouged up the ground. Thank God the driver was okay.”
He swore softly, his eyes heating and narrowing. “This vandalism has got to stop. It think it’s time to have a nice chat with Jay Butler.”
“We don’t have any proof, Corey.”
“He cuts your fences, shoots your bulls and we can’t prove a damn thing!”
“Look, I don’t want to argue about Jay. I want you to help me plan Ellie’s birthday party. She’s going to turn fourteen. God, I can hardly believe it.”
“Of course I’ll help. What were you thinking?”
“A good old-fashioned hoedown with a fiddle and country band. What do you think?” she asked enthusiastically.
Corey smiled, his teeth flashing brightly against his dark face. “I think that you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
Jennifer took a deep breath, got up from the table and settled onto his lap, circling her arms around his shoulders and burying her face in the hollow of his neck. He was slipping away from her. She could feel it. Soon he would be gone and no matter how much she told herself she would let him go, she just didn’t know if she could.
God help her. She closed her eyes tightly against a wealth of emotions. She just didn’t know.
Chapter 12
Ellie’s birthday party was in full swing. They had just finished eating cake and opening presents. A group of Ellie’s friends were dancing and having a good time and it gave Jennifer a moment to settle back and relax. She closed her eyes and let the music take her away. The fast country beat wrapped around her and she relaxed against the barn wall, sinking a little deeper into the bale of hay on which she sat.
Corey had spent so much time helping her that he had neglected his duties, but now he stood near the door watching Ellie and Tucker dance, a reflective look on his face.
She saw Corey stiffen and draw away from the doorway and then she saw why. Jay Butler stood at the barn entrance searching out the crowd. When he saw Tucker and Ellie, he headed in the same direction. Corey pushed away from the wall with a murderous look on his face. Jennifer jumped up and tried to intercept Corey.
She got to Corey just before he got to Jay. She looked up into his eyes, pleading with him not to make a scene. With her hand against his chest, she could feel the tension in him.
She turned to face Jay, Corey a large warm shadow behind her.
“Jay, what do you want here?” he said in a steely voice.
“I came to pick up Tucker. Isn’t that right, boy?” he said with smug confidence.
Jennifer could see that Tucker hadn’t expected Jay and was just as angry as Corey that he was here. Tucker’s eyes flicked to Jennifer’s and she saw the realization in them that if he said he didn’t want to leave, there would be a fight.
Tucker turned to Ellie and jammed his hands into his pockets. “I’ve got to go, Ellie. I’ll see you around, kid, okay?”
Ellie took in the scene and her mouth tightened. She began to reach out to Tucker, but he sidestepped her touch and turned toward his father. “Let’s go,” he said between clenched teeth, and Jay gave them all a self-satisfied grin as he followed his son out.
Ellie watched Tucker walk away and Jennifer felt her heart constrict when she realized what Ellie didn’t even know yet. She had her first crush on a boy. Jennifer’s heart ached for her little girl.
Ellie then looked at her as two silver tears tracked down her face and Jennifer heard Corey swear low and vicious.
Jennifer approached her daughter and took her into her arms. “I’m sorry, honey.”
“He’s mean and horrid, Mom. Just like Dad, just like Sonny.”
Shock held Jennifer immobile. How had Ellie found out her father’s name?
Ellie supplied the answer. “I heard you and Grandpa talking about him, and since it was easy to follow him on
the circuit I collected every clipping and every article until his retirement.”
Ellie looked at Corey and he nodded his encouragement, then very quietly left. “I saw him at the junior championships. He wasn’t very nice and Corey punched him out. Oh God, I hate him and I hate Mr. Butler. I wish he would die and leave Tucker alone!” With tears running down her cheeks, she ran out of the barn.
She sighed deeply, calling Sonny every vile name she could think of. Jennifer had a feeling she’d find Ellie with Corey. They had gotten so close in such a short time. It warmed her heart to know that Corey would be there for her daughter. When she got to the horse barn, she stopped in the doorway so her eyes could adjust. She heard Ellie’s voice clear and trembling.
“I know it was stupid and that I should have stopped wishing for him to come and visit me, but there were times I just wished...”
“I know, darlin’,” Corey encouraged her with his tone of voice.
“Do you know what I wish now? I wish my father was just like you.” She gently kissed him on the cheek. “Corey, you’re the best.”
Ellie then saw her mother at the entrance to the barn and went to her, wrapping her arms around her waist. “I love you, Mom.”
Jennifer hugged her daughter.
Ellie said very firmly, “I’m going back to enjoy my birthday party.”
Jennifer’s daughter looked up at her, the pain in her eyes gone and she smiled impishly when she saw where her mother’s soft gaze searched. “You like him a lot, huh, Mom?”
Jennifer’s eyes searched for Corey’s shadowed form in the barn and the feeling inside her swelled. “Yes, sweetheart. I like him so very much. Now scoot.”
Jennifer went to where Corey still knelt in the barn. She lowered herself down and gently took his face in her hands. “Thank you. Ellie’s been wrestling with the absence of a father every birthday. I think she just came to terms with it, thanks to you.”
His voice hoarse with suppressed tears, he uttered, “Touch me, hold me, Jennifer.”
Her eyes widened, realizing that this was the first time in their relationship that he wasn’t taking command. The first time he was relinquishing control. The knowledge flashed through her mind, and she loved him all the more. She loved him for his open giving, his tenderness, and even his fears and doubts. She realized how stupid she’d been when she was young. When she thought she loved Sonny. This feeling she felt now didn’t even come close.
