Life After Wife : Small Town Romance (Balsam Ridge Book 1)

by Amber Kelly

  “Have you ever smoked it?” she asks cautiously.

  “No. I’m twelve. I don’t want to stunt my growth,” he says.

  “And it’s illegal and a bad idea, and it leads to other bad habits,” she corrects him.

  He turns to her and grins. “That too,” he agrees.

  Leona walks in from the back deck, and we all look to her.

  “You make pot candy, Granna?” Caleb asks.

  “I do. It’s for my glaucoma,” she says as she pinches his cheek.

  “Glaucoma? I thought you said it was for your arthritis,” Taeli asks.

  “That too,” Leona replies as she takes a piece and pops it into her mouth.

  Caleb giggles.

  “What? It’s herbal medication,” she insists.

  “Yeah, and Mom’s wine is a natural stress reliever,” Caleb adds.

  “Hey, I don’t drink that often,” Taeli defends.

  “I know. And I’ve never seen Granna high. At least, I don’t think so. She’s always a little loopy,” he whispers the last part.

  Leona laughs.

  “I’m a free spirit, remember? We’re loopy loos,” she says as she places a finger under his chin and lifts his face to hers. “Besides, I don’t like chemical pharmaceuticals. Those are overprescribed and made to be addictive, causing an epidemic. God gave us the means to take care of ourselves naturally.” She kisses him on his forehead and flutters past us.

  Taeli’s eyes meet mine, and she shakes her head.

  “Good talk,” she declares.

  “Yep,” Caleb agrees and then asks, “Are the cookies safe?”

  She lets out a breath. “Yeah, have at them, kid.”

  He grabs a handful from one of the baskets and takes off up the stairs to his room.

  Taeli’s worried eyes follow him.

  “Something wrong?” I ask.

  She looks at me. “Yeah. Damon called the other day, trying to convince me to hop on a plane with Caleb and join him for a vacation in Cabo. Apparently, Ivy is too far along in the pregnancy to travel.”

  “What?” I ask a little louder than I meant to.

  “I know. He’s insane, and I told him so, but he asked about Caleb going, and I told him I’d give Caleb the option of accompanying him by himself. I thought it would do them both some good to spend quality father-son time together.”

  I nod my agreement. It’s important that Caleb knows his father wants to see him and that what’s happening with his parents has nothing to do with their love for him.

  “Caleb didn’t want to go?” I guess.

  She shakes her head. “No. He agreed to go, so I texted Damon and told him to book his flight to come to Knoxville, and he and Caleb could go on to Cabo together from there.”

  “And?” I prompt her to continue.

  “And this morning, I received a voice mail from him, telling me that something came up and he wasn’t going to be able to make the trip. So I called him back. We argued and the asshole wants me to break the news to Caleb.”

  The coward.

  I prop a hip against the island.

  “So, he wanted to take you and Caleb, but once he realized you wouldn’t be joining them, he bailed on his kid. What a jackass,” I say.

  “Right?! And now, I have to find a way to tell Caleb without calling his father a jackass because I don’t want him to think of him that way.”

  “He’s a smart kid. He’ll figure that out for himself.”

  Pain passes over her face. “I don’t want that for him. I don’t want him to feel unwanted. Damon is just punishing me because I refused his invitation to join them.”

  I walk over and clasp her shoulders. “No, he’s being a dick because he didn’t get his way.”

  “And Caleb is the one who will suffer.”

  She plants her head on my chest, and I kiss the top of her head.

  “I have an idea,” I tell her.

  She brings her hopeful eyes to mine.

  “You want to go fishing?” I ask.

  Graham

  “I can’t believe I let you two talk me into this,” Taeli says as she walks out of the dressing room at the outfitter shop.

  I whistle when she does a little twirl to show Caleb and me her chest-high waders.

  “You like?” she asks.

  “I do like,” I tell her.

  She’d look good in a potato sack.

  Caleb giggles.

  The salesgirl chimes in from behind us, “It’s perfect. Waders and flannel are the latest in lady lumberjack fashion. They’re the new little black dress of the valley.”

  Taeli looks at herself in the mirror. No makeup, hair pulled back in a ponytail, and a smile on her face.

  She’s absolutely stunning.

  She catches my eye in the reflection, and her cheeks flush. I hold her stare, letting her know in no uncertain terms how gorgeous I think she is.

  “Now what?” Caleb asks, breaking the moment.

  I bend down to him and whisper, “Now, we find her some boots.”

  “Yeah!” He skips over and takes her by the hand. “Come on, Mom. Let’s get you some real wading boots,” he urges.

  Taeli obliges and lets him lead her over to the boot section, and I follow.

  Once we have her tricked out with her pants and footwear, I grab a bucket hat and a pair of ladies’ wraparound, polarized sunglasses.

  I walk over and tug the tie from her hair. She shakes her head, and her long locks fall across her shoulders and down her back. The scent of apples envelops me, and I breathe deep.

  I pop the hat on her head and gently place the sunglasses on her face.

  She grins. “I have sunglasses, you know.”

  I tug the hat further down on her forehead. “Those are for fashion. This bucket hat and these wraparound sunglasses, though they look awesome on you, are for safety. They keep the glare of the sun bouncing off the water out of your eyes. If your line breaks or gets caught in the wind and snaps back at you, you don’t want to spend the night in the hospital, having a fly removed from your eye because you were blinded,” I explain.

  “No, there are definitely better ways to end our night than in a hospital,” she agrees, and I step into her.

  “Careful. My son is in the next aisle,” she murmurs.

  I slide my hands down to her ass and pull her in close. I lay a quick kiss on her nose.

  “You started it,” I accuse.

  She comes up on her tiptoes and nips my earlobe with her teeth.

  “And I’ll finish it. Later,” she whispers.

  I growl just as Caleb rounds the rack a row over, holding a colorful dry fly.

  “Can we get some of these? They’re cool,” he says.

  Taeli quickly steps back and looks down at him. “Sure, buddy. What is it?”

  “It’s a fly. It’s what we trick the fish with. They think it’s a real fly, and they bite it.”

  “So, we don’t have to put live worms on a hook?” she asks.

  Caleb shakes his head. “Duh, it’s called fly-fishing, silly.”

  We leave the outfitter shop and head down the creek bank. Caleb wades out into the water first, proud to show off his newfound skills to his mother.

  He casts his line near the rocks upstream, which is a great technique.

  “That was excellent, Caleb,” I praise, and then I lead Taeli into the water beside him.

  “See how his fly is hanging out in that cluster of rocks. That’s a great place to concentrate on because trout hide in the rocks and wait for food to flow past them. You always fish upstream because it allows you to use the current to your advantage, the fish won’t see you, and it’s safer. Now, all Caleb has to do is wait for a tug on his line,” I explain.

  “Okay, I think I can do it,” she says, and she takes her fly rod and whips it over her head before I can catch her.

  “Whoa,” I say as I watch her fly flop in the water about ten feet from Caleb’s.

  “You don’t want to cross l
ines with him,” I tell her just as Caleb cries, “Moooooom.”

  “Oh, sorry.”

  She steps back, pulling her rod with her. I come up behind her and take her hands in mine, helping her reel it back in.

  Caleb looks over at us and rolls his eyes. “Girls,” he says.

  Taeli gasps and kicks at him, splashing water onto his waders.

  “You’re gonna scare the fish,” he scolds.

  She looks at me. “One afternoon fishing with your brother, and suddenly, he’s an expert.”

  “He is a better student than you are,” I say.

  Her mouth falls open.

  “It’s true. Now, let’s give you a lesson in casting, so you don’t tangle with us or scare the trout.”

  It’s a fun afternoon. Taeli never quite picks up the rhythm needed to be a good fisherwoman, but she tries, and Caleb has a great time, instructing her.

  By the time dust settles over the mountain, he and I have bagged three nice-sized trout.

  “Can we try one more cast? I want to catch another one, so Graham and I will be even,” Caleb pleads.

  “One more,” Taeli agrees.

  After we all get our lines in the water, I get her attention.

  “Tell him now,” I whisper.

  She nods.

  “Hey, bud,” she calls.

  “Yeah?”

  “Remember that trip to Cabo with Dad?”

  He nods.

  “Well, he called this morning, and an emergency came up, so he won’t be able to go now,” she tells him.

  He looks straight ahead and doesn’t respond.

  “Caleb, did you hear what I said?” she asks gently.

  “Yep.”

  “Are you upset?” she asks.

  Again, he doesn’t respond.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No. It’s fine. I’ll just see him when we get home,” he says, and the emotion is heavy in his voice.

  Taeli cuts her eyes to me.

  “At least you’ll get to see the fireworks with Tucker now,” she offers.

  “Won’t that be fun?” I ask, trying to help.

  He looks over his shoulder at us. His brave face is firmly in place, but he is clearly disappointed.

  He nods. “That’s what I wanted to do. I should have told him no in the first place,” he says.

  The fact that he was more worried about hurting his father’s feelings than his father was about hurting his makes me want to drive all night to Illinois to punch Damon in the face.

  Caleb gets a tug at his line, and his head snaps around as he shouts, “I got one!”

  I rush over to help him with his reel, and he is back to excitement when he pulls in the biggest catch of the day. He holds it up to proudly show his mother.

  When he turns around, she mouths, Thank you, to me.

  Being in the creek and having a good day softened the blow that I had known his father’s cancellation would deliver.

  I’m glad I was able to help.

  We gather our gear and our catches and pile back into the truck. I take Taeli and Caleb to dinner in the valley before taking them home.

  “I’ll take the fish and put them on ice so that I can show you how to clean them tomorrow,” I tell Caleb.

  “Cool, I’m going to go find Granna,” he says before hopping out and running inside to tell his grandmother about his day.

  “You all right?” I ask Taeli.

  “I’m all right as long as he is,” she replies.

  “He’s lucky to have you,” I tell her.

  She shakes her head. “I’m the blessed one.”

  I lean over and kiss her temple.

  “Will I see you tomorrow?” I ask.

  She brings her eyes to mine. “Let me get Caleb to bed, and you can see me tonight,” she says, “if you want to, that is.”

  I kiss her again. This time on the lips.

  “Hurry. I’ll be waiting for you.”

  She smiles and follows her son into the house.

  I race home to unload before she arrives.

  I get everything put away, shower, change into a pair of lounge pants, and build a fire before I hear her SUV pull into the drive.

  I walk over to the door and swing it open before she has a chance to knock.

  “Hi,” she says.

  She is wearing a linen dress, and her damp hair is pulled into a knot.

  “I couldn’t wait to get here, so I skipped drying my hair,” she says.

  Thank goodness.

  I grab her around the waist and pull her inside.

  She wraps her arms around my neck, and then we are all hands. I pull her hair loose and run my fingers through it as I walk her backward into the living room.

  I maneuver her body around, sit down on the couch, and tug her onto my lap. She leans back on my thighs and concentrates on unbuttoning my shirt. Once it’s open, her mouth finds my chest, and she runs her hands over my sides and around my back. She is soft and warm, pressed against me. I find her throat with my mouth, and she tastes so damn good. I let her explore my skin, and I can feel myself growing hard beneath her. She starts to slowly roll her hips against me, and I lay my head back against the couch and groan. The sound is deep and guttural, and she moans in response, letting me know that she wants this as badly as I do.

  One second, her tongue is climbing the column of my throat as she writhes in my lap. The next second, I lace my hands under her ass and hoist her up as I stand to my feet.

  “What are you doing?” she asks breathlessly.

  “Taking you to bed,” I growl as I head toward my room.

  “What about the fire?” she asks.

  “Let it burn,” I mutter against her throat.

  She giggles.

  I hurry down the hallway and make a right into the master bedroom. I deposit her on the bed and quickly strip out of my slippers and lounge pants, tossing them on the floor before crawling up the bed and kissing her again.

  She wraps her legs around my hips, the hem of her dress riding up to her waist. I’m hard and ready against the silk of her panties.

  I take a finger and tug aside the plunging neckline of her dress, so my mouth can reach her breast.

  As I take one taut nipple between my teeth and gently bite down, she cries out, “Graham!”

  She plants her feet, raises her hips, and rocks them in a circle. Fuck yes, sweet contact. I don’t think I’ve ever been this turned on before. My body is coiled tight and screaming for release.

  I chuckle against her sensitive skin before lapping at her bud with my tongue.

  “My impatient girl,” I say as I sit upon my knees.

  Her legs fall open for me.

  I sit and reverently stare down at her. She’s opening herself up to me completely.

  I hook a finger into the sides of her panties and slowly slide them down her thighs.

  She is totally exposed to me, so damn ready.

  My finger glides through her glistening wetness before I come back on top of her.

  She rakes her fingernails down my back as I find her entrance and slowly move inside.

  Finally.

  We keep a slow-building pace. My eyes never leave hers until my control snaps and I can no longer hold back. She locks her knees to my sides as my powerful hips move urgently. She rises to meet my thrusts as I increase my pace, chasing the burning sensation crawling up my spine. I hold on for as long as I can, and as soon as she begins to spasm around me, an explosion of pleasure sweeps me up. She scores her nails down my back, and I cover her mouth with mine to take her muffled cries until she is panting and sated.

  I bury my face into her chest when I feel it vibrate.

  I look up into her amused face.

  “What?” I ask.

  “I didn’t even get my dress off,” she points out.

  I run my hand down her side and clutch the fabric.

  “Let’s start over, then,” I say as I rise, taking her dress over her head and
tossing it aside.

  “Yes, please,” she says before I cover her again and do just that.

  Taeli

  I wake up before Graham, get up as quietly as I can, and make my way to the bathroom.

  I look a mess.

  Grabbing my bag from the vanity, I dig around for my toothbrush and cosmetics.

  I pull my hair into a ponytail and start applying moisturizer. Once my face is done, I take the tweezers and glue to add eyelashes. I misalign the one on the right and have to tug it loose. A speck of glue gets into my eye, causing me to yelp.

  I blink repeatedly and swear like a sailor as I try to wink away the burn.

  “Why do you women do that?”

  Graham’s sexy morning voice fills the room. I look up through my good eye to see him leaning against the doorframe. His hair is all over the place, and his dimples are dancing.

  “Do what? Wear makeup?” I ask.

  “No, glue those spider legs to your eyelids?”

  I huff. “Because some of us can’t grow luscious, long lashes,” I inform him.

  “Luscious?”

  “Yeah, some are blessed, but the majority of us have to buy them.”

  “What a waste of money,” he mutters.

  “Excuse me?” I ask as I stare at him with one eye.

  He leans in, places his hands on either side of me, and licks his lips.

  “Let me tell you a secret, sweetheart. No man has ever looked at a woman and thought, Damn, she’s gorgeous, and I’d love to push her up against the wall and make her scream my name, if it wasn’t for those short eyelashes she has.”

  Gooseflesh crawls down my arms as he starts to kiss my neck just below my ear.

  Smartass.

  “I have to go to work,” I moan.

  “So do I,” he says against my pulse.

  I stretch my neck to the side to give him better access to my throat.

  “But I’m not my own boss. I have to be on time,” I grumble.

  “You will be,” he says before picking me up and setting me on the vanity.

  He steps between my legs, and I wrap them around his hips.

  “I’m supposed to be there in twenty minutes,” I inform him.

  He kisses my lips and then says, “Okay, so maybe you’ll be a few minutes late.”