“I don’t know if you’ve realized this or not, but I’m not a person that bargains or demands that you do things in trade for sex. We’ll make love when you’re ready.” She asked him if he’d be willing to wait that long. “Yes. I want you; I won’t lie to you about that. In fact, I can’t lie to you, not that I ever would, but I don’t want you to hate me even before we get to fall in love.”
“Do you think that is possible? For us to fall in love?” He told her he hoped so, that he was always hopeful for someone to love him. “You’re a very strange man, Wesley. I have a feeling, however, that under that shield of just being an aw-shucks farmer, you have a side of you that can scare people if necessary. Do you have a beast inside of you?”
“Yes.” Penny stared at him for several seconds before she only nodded and asked him what he wanted for dinner. Just like that, he thought, she was all right with him having another side of himself. “Dinner? I don’t know. I mean, I’ve just been having sandwiches for the past three months while I got the crops in and the ground ready. By the way, Penny, are you all right with me being a farmer? I’ll find another job if this isn’t anything you’d be proud of telling people I do for a living.”
She looked around the barn, and he did too. There were things in here that were older than his dad, but he still used them. Dirt too, that was older than anyone around, spread out almost as smooth as the hardwood floor in the house. She turned to look at him.
“This is you. You’re a farmer. Not only that, I think that taking even a little of this away from you would make you fade away.” He thanked her. “There are a great many jobs out there that you could do that I know you’d do well. But this job, being a farmer, is one of the oldest and most fulfilling jobs there is, I believe. You just don’t feed a family with this, Wesley, but an entire town. Even animals get something of what you’ve done here.”
He kissed her on the cheek and thanked her again. When they both seemed embarrassed by the seriousness of the conversation, he decided to change the subject. But seeing her there, her cheeks all pink from the compliment, he had to turn away and look at what he’d been doing before she came in the barn.
“You’re very beautiful. The first time I saw you, I was in awe of your beauty and poise. I didn’t know you were my mate then. But sitting there, watching you and your grandda fixing things up so that his grandsons wouldn’t bother you was— Well, it was the kindness you showed toward him. An elderly gentleman that had to make sure his own family didn’t rob him blind.”
“I love him.” Wesley looked at her and told her it was much more than that. “He raised me; did you know that? I didn’t know who my mom was, but I thought about her often. If it hadn’t been for Grandpa Joe and Emmie, I don’t think I would have survived my childhood. My dad wasn’t so bad, not really, but Uncle James would get him into trouble a great deal.”
“I don’t know your uncle well, but I’ve seen your dad around town a few times. He seems very gentle.” She told him she thought that as well. Then her uncle would get him to do things. “I’m sorry about that. It’s rough when family forever takes advantage of someone. We don’t have that in my family. I think it has a great deal to do with us being shifters.”
“I’ve always loved your family. From afar.” He laughed when she did. “You might not remember this, but your mom, she was forever sending things to Grandpa Joe’s house for the three of us. Food. Blankets that she told him she didn’t need. We both knew she was helping out an old couple raising a child. He loved that she didn’t try and embarrass us in that way.”
“My mom has the nicest way about her that makes her the talk of the town. A great many people benefit from us having fruit trees and a large garden. I try hard to follow in their footsteps now. If I have it and you need it, I want you to have it. The same with you, Penny. Whatever you want, I’m going to try my best to make sure you have it.” She looked away again, and he could see her eyes were filling with tears. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I said to upset you, but I’m profoundly—”
“It’s not so much what you said but that you’d actually do what you’re saying. You would give this all up, no matter how much it meant to you, just to satisfy me. No one, not in all my life, would have done something like that for me.” She laughed a little. “They might well have said it, but they wouldn’t have meant it. Not like you do.”
He didn’t know what to say to her on that, but did put out his hand for her to take should she wish. When she did, wrapping her much smaller one into his, Wesley felt like he could conquer the world with one hand tied behind his back.
“You’ve made me safe and secure. Things I’ve not felt in a long time.” Wesley told Penny he would continue to do so because he wanted her to feel safe and secure. “Thank you, Wesley. You keep this up, and I’ll be announcing to the world that I’ve fallen in love with you.”
“I cannot wait for that day.” He let her go when she pulled her hand out of his. She didn’t leave him but walked to the other side of the barn to look at the things there. He cleaned the tractor the way the instructions recommended. When he was finished, he drove the tractor deeper into the barn and covered it with a tarp. “I never did this before about five years ago, covering the tractor. But I came out here once to check on things, and there were enough bird droppings on the seat that I vowed never to let that happen again.”
The two of them worked in the barn together as he put the implements away. There were several pieces he’d not gotten to use this year but had good ideas on how he was going to work them into his next year of planting. They moved out into the sunshine just as someone pulled into the driveway.
He didn’t know the person who got out of the truck, but that didn’t stop him from being friendly to him. Wesley started to stand in front of Penny, so this person wouldn’t approach her, but she moved toward the house on her own. Wesley watched her until she was inside before he turned to the man.
“May I help you?” The man asked if he was one of the Bishops. “I don’t know who I am. Why don’t you tell me why you’re asking after them, and I’ll let you know how you can find them.”
“Fair enough. I was actually looking for Gunner. Do you know him?” He didn’t even blink an eye as he reached for his brother to tell him someone was looking for him. “I guess that’s not going to get me any information either. What if I told you I had money for the other man?”
Did he tell you his name yet? Wesley told Gunner he didn’t. Then don’t tell him anything about me. I was painting here at the house if he wants to give you more than he is right now.
“Are you speaking to your brother, Mr. Bishop? It would go a long way in me being able to finish up my job if you were to tell him someone is looking for him.” He heard the front door open and saw the stranger put his hands in the air. Glancing quickly at the front of his home, he had to look a second time to see Penny standing there with a gun pointed at the man. “I meant no harm in coming here.”
“Sure, you didn’t. Then why are you not telling him your name? For that matter, why are you being all cagy about why you’re looking for Gunner Bishop? Who are you?” The man told her, and he relayed the information to Gunner. “Why are you hunting Mr. Bishop? You’d better be more forthcoming here, or you’re going to lose a part of your body, buddy. I’m not in any kind of mood to fuck around with people today.”
“As I said, my name is Conway Baxter. I’m here representing a firm that would like to hire Mr. Gunner as a consultant on a movie set. But perhaps I’ve come for the wrong Bishop. You seem to be able to handle yourself better than most men I know.” Penny didn’t lower her gun, nor did she smile at the man’s attempt at a joke. He did look at Wesley. “I guess here in Ohio, you don’t have much of a sense of humor when you have visitors coming all the way across the country to speak to someone.”
“As you can see, my wife is very good at keeping strangers at bay. I’m to tell you
from Gunner that he’s not interested in whatever you want from him. He said if you come around again, he will let my wife take you to task. If you don’t think she could do that, you stay where you’re standing, and she’ll prove it.” The man shook his head and got back into his car. “The highway should be less busy this time of the morning. Be on your way, or else I’ll call out the troops. They have less of a sense of humor than we do.”
After the man left, having taken a picture of his license plate, Wesley turned to see that Penny was sitting down on the steps leading up to the front door with her head between her legs. He sat down next to her, rubbing his hand up and down her back as she breathed heavily in and out.
“Thank you for that.” She glanced at him from her position. “Seriously. I don’t know what he wanted, nor did he seem all that forthcoming about it. I think he thought I was going to be a pushover. I am, don’t get me wrong, but you proved to him not to fuck with us.”
“I thought you’d be mad that I came out here with a gun.” He asked her why. “I haven’t any idea. Maybe I thought you’d be pissed because I was protecting you.”
Wesley laughed. “Anytime you think I need protecting, you go right ahead and do it. I can be too friendly at times. I think it’s sort of the middle child thing. I trust way too much in people.”
She laughed with him as she sat up straighter. “I think I’ve told you this before, but you’re very strange, Wesley Bishop.” He laughed and stood up. “I was just going to suggest that we have some lunch and head to town. I have to see about having my loom brought here. If you don’t mind.”
“Loom?” He laughed before she could explain. “When your grandda told me you wove, I just assumed it was baskets or something. I didn’t even consider you were looming things. That’s wonderful. If you’d like to have it in one of the rooms, that’s good. Or there is another insulated building here on the property, with heat and air.”
“That would be perfect.” They wandered to the back of the house where the second building was. “I could even have trucks back here when I have a shipment to go out. This is perfect.”
“We’ll have to put in a walkway for you. I wouldn’t want to be stepping in the wet grass or snow to go to work.” He was also thinking about how she needed a truck to back into the building to have a shipment go out. “You must be in high demand.”
“Sort of. I have an online presence that sells well. Also, there are a few stores across the world that carries my things. I’m not a millionaire by any sense of the word, but I am able to support myself. Grandpa was very proud of my ability to do that, and told me so.” Wesley told her he was proud of her too. “Yes, well, it was easy to do once I got the hang of it, and I can make a good profit out of what I make, so I don’t have to work myself to death in order to pay my rent someplace. But this place here? Wow, I could really spread out. Something I’ve not been able to do.”
As they made their way into the house, Penny was telling him about how she’d made a great many of the rugs and throws in her home. Grandda had a lot of them as well. As soon as they were seated, Mr. Joe, as well as Emmie, joined them. She told them about her visit with her brother yesterday.
~*~
Raven made sure her mother could see her today. This was the sentencing phase of for her mother, and Raven wanted to be front and center when she was sent away. Even her dad and the rest of the Bishop family were there. She had a feeling they were just as excited to hear the news as she was.
When her mom was bought out of the backroom, Raven could tell someone had tried to clean her up a little. The dress she had on was a little big on her, but that wasn’t what shocked her the most. It was her mom’s face and hair, neither of which were done up, as Jane, her mother’s real name used to call getting ready to face the world.
“All rise.” When they were seated again, she noticed her mother was still standing and glaring at the line of people Raven was with. Mostly, Raven thought she was looking at her dad. “Ms. Stipple, you need to have a seat so we can get on with this sentencing.”
“They’re here.” The judge told her he could see them. “Since they’re here, they can pay whatever fine you think I’m supposed to owe for this ridiculous brouhaha and let me go home.”
“Ms. Stipple, there isn’t going to be bail for you. That boat already set sail. We’re here today to tell you how long you’re going to be spending in prison.” She told the judge her name was Addington. “We’ve also established that it’s not. Will you please sit down? Good lord, you’ve been nothing but a pain in my— I said to sit down.”
Mother did, but she bounced back up in seconds. Finally, she turned to them again and called out her dad. Her too, but Dad was the one that stood up. Mother asked him what the hell he was wearing.
“Jeans and a nice shirt. We’re going out to celebrate after this is over, and I wanted to be comfortable. Why do you care what I have on?” She told him he looked cheap. “No, I think that would be what you look like, Jane. I’m comfy, you’re a pain in the ass.”
“You’ll have to change before we celebrate. And I do hope you’re not taking me to someplace cheap for dinner. I want a nice steak and all the trimmings. I think I can have a good solid meal tonight, don’t you?” He told her she’d not been invited. “Well, that’s just rude. Why would you want to celebrate me getting out and coming home, to my home, if I’ve not been invited? Don’t bring that little bastard with you either. I’ll not have that monster of Raven’s messing up my celebration.”
“You do know that because you lied on just about everything during our horrible life together, Raven is also a bastard.” Mother totally ignored him to talk about her. “She’s here, Jane. If you have something to say to her, why don’t you say it to her face?”
Raven stood up then, proud of the fact she was showing a great deal and that her mother couldn’t help but notice. Rubbing her hands over her baby she carried, Raven smiled when her mother asked her why she’d not gotten rid of it as she’d told her to.
“You might find this a little hard to believe, but I no longer do what you tell me.” Mother told her she’d never done anything she’d told her to do. “That’s true too. For your information, Sawyer has adopted Molly, and now she’s a Bishop. This baby will be as well.”
“I don’t care what you put on its headstone. I want you to get rid of it. I’m much too young to be a grandmother. I told you that when you shit out that other monster.”
It hurt her in ways that she couldn’t imagine when her mother said things like that about her children. When Sawyer took her hand into his and Dad the other, she felt a renewed strength that she’d felt every day since she’d been married. Glaring at her mother just once more, she sat down with her family.
“Ms. Stipple. Will you please sit down and shut up?” She told him she wasn’t finished. “Well, I’ve had more than enough. I have your sentencing right here, and I’m going to read it off to you.”
“You’re just wasting your time. I know they have the money to bail me out. Tell them to get on the stick so I can get away from the nasty reprobates that are locked up.” He told her the only place she was going to was to prison. “For what? For trying to keep my name in good standing? For making sure the good name of Addington is now and will forever be a name that means something? Get that stick out of your ass and just tell them how much you’re going to make them pay for me being locked up for the last several months. Not too extravagant—I do have to redo my home when I get back there. I just can’t imagine what sorts of things have been done to my home since I have been taking time away from it.”
“Ms. Jane Stipple, this court has found you guilty on all counts brought before you. A list of them will be handed to you once you are in the safe hands of the prison you’re going to be sent to. Your sentencing is seven hundred years—that is one hundred years for each death you caused for your family. An additional six hundred years
for the six people you murdered that we’re aware of. Also, you are never going to be eligible for parole, nor will you be able to leave the prison on good behavior. Not that I think you could do that anyway. Behaving doesn’t seem to be anything that you’re good at.”
“Are you quite finished?” He told her she would be taken to the prison as soon as the paperwork was filed. “Whatever. Have you decided on a bail amount yet?”
“Did you hear what I told you?” She said she had, but it didn’t pertain to her. “Why the hell not? Please, tell me why your sentencing isn’t something you should have?”
“Because, as I know I have pointed out to you on several occasions, Addingtons don’t do prison terms. Not that I think I should do one in the first place. The name Addington is pure, and it’s a good solid name. Made more so by my own hard work. Why, before I was one of the elite, the name was rubbish. Just look how my husband is dressed. Garbage. I tell you right now, I’m not going to allow you to spoil things for me, so I have to sue you for having me locked up all this time.”
The judge looked at them. He finally smiled and looked around the room at the crowds of people that had shown up today. The verdict had been guilty on all crimes, even the one where she’d threatened the officer that had arrested her at the country club. Her mother, because she’d been found mentally competent to stand trial, would be in a prison lockdown for the rest of her life.
“Also, how is it you expect me to take you seriously for telling me I have to serve seven hundred years? I’m not sure where you learned your addition, but I doubt anyone in their right mind would think you were serious.” She looked at them, then back at the judge. “Unless this is you showing off for me. I hate to tell you this, but you’re as beneath me as everyone in this room is. Nice try, but I’m not going to help you up the ladder of the rich. You’ll have to do that on your own.”
When the judge told the police to take her away, Mother was still screaming about how she wasn’t going to help him. With what, that wasn’t clear, but she did tell him he’d rot in hell over his treatment of her. The judge looked around the room before clearing his throat and speaking.
Wesley: Bishop’s Snowy Leap – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance (Bishop's Snowy Leap Book 3) Page 4
