Chapter 21 YellaWood 500 #9
“Very good, Greg. You do remember who I am,” she said as she moved over and sat down beside him on the bed. “I’ve only got a few minutes before Keith get’s here with Cassie, so I’ve got to make this quick.” She leaned down and kissed him deeply. “First, I want you to know that I love you.”
“As if I couldn’t tell by the way you just kissed me,” he replied. “Hold on, did you say first?” he asked clearly confused now.
“Yes, Greg, I did say first.” She held him tight; her chest pressed against his. “Second, I need to apologize for what happened at the barbeque. It was just a bit of jealousy that I experienced in seeing you with Veronica in the pool together.”
“Why are you apologizing for me being with Veronica, Carry. I’m a bit confused here about why you are apologizing,” he said then sucked in a breath. “Did you get upset because I was with her?”
“Yes and no,” she confirmed slowly then let out a long breath. “I reacted by kissing Billy,” she slowly admitted.
“Okay,” he replied slowly. “I guess I had that one coming for a while now.”
“What do you mean for a while now?” she demanded.
“I mean that Billy has been getting very close to you for some time now, and naturally something was bound to happen,” he assured her.
“No, Greg. You don’t understand.” She grabbed his hands and held them firmly.
“I Kissed Billy!” She paused as it sank in.
“And I liked it,” she admitted. “That’s not right for a woman trying to win you back.
” She sniffed hard as she tried to prevent herself from crying.
“I didn’t just kiss him once,” she said. “I kissed him twice.”
“Okay, so you kissed him twice. So what?” Greg retorted as he moved to sit all the way forward and take her in his arms. “I didn’t get the words out when you needed me to say them.
” She was softly beginning to sob and he wrapped her tightly.
“I haven’t stopped loving you. You stood by me when I was reliving being with Erica, and you suffered as I repeatedly called you her, even when I felt you up because I saw you as her and I was ready to make love with Erica. ”
“Being felt up wasn’t actually that bad, Greg,” she confessed. “I actually was starting to enjoy how your hands were exploring over my back and breasts,” she recalled with a small smile. “That was right up to the point you called me Erica.”
“And I’ve apologized for that. Erica has figured out that Lance was poisoning me for a long time which kept my neurochemistry out of whack.”
“Greg,” she said stopping him with her fingers on his lips.
“There was one night I was ready to cross that line with you. I wanted you so much that I let you run your hands all over me for a full fifteen minutes, kissing you deeply. If I hadn’t triggered you to call me Erica, I’d have crossed that line that night, and most likely have ended up pregnant. ”
“We’d have married then,” he assured her. “I wouldn’t have left you if you were carrying my child.”
“I know, Greg. And I thought long and hard about it that night. GOD! I Wanted You!” she exclaimed in a loud hushed tone. “Another couple of minutes and I wouldn’t be a virgin any longer.”
“Well,” he said slowly. “I’m glad you showed restraint when I had none,” he admitted slowly. “So, what do we do now?”
“Exactly like we discussed at dinner. You have to make a decision. It’s either her or me.”
“Carry, can I ask you something without upsetting you?”
“Sure,” she replied nervously.
“If Billy had met you before me, would you have dated him?”
“I think so” she replied. “Why? Are you trying to get rid of me now?”
“No, Carry,” Greg said in as soft and assuring a voice as he could. “I just wanted to gauge how things would have happened if you’d met Billy first. It leaves me wondering if I’d have stood a chance with you.”
“Stood a chance with me?” she replied in disbelief. “Greg, I’m barely in your league. If Veronica hadn’t made her move and declaration at Club Euchre that first night, I wouldn’t have been bold enough to put the moves on you in the printer room.”
“Wait a second. I remember that first kiss,” Greg protested. “I initiated it.”
“No Greg. I did.” She giggled softly. “Don’t you remember I caught you watching my butt as I was walking in front of you toward the printer?”
“Yeah, that was quite the view,” Greg admitted.
“I was still reeling from Erica then,” he said softly.
“And if you’d have given me the opportunity, I would have taken you right then and there in the printer room.
” Carry’s jaw dropped. “I wanted you so much that I would have been willing to make you my wife without waiting. I’d been watching you for months at the Black Angus.
But, I still didn’t recognize you that first day at the Clinic or when you came back in for your clutch. ”
“Are you kidding me?” she said with a laugh. “You would have just wham bam thank you ma’amed me, then taken me to the altar because you knocked me up?”
“I’d have taken you to the altar whether or not I got you pregnant.
” He pulled her close to him. “I think I was already falling for you before I really knew you. And spending all that time together in my house when I was recovering from being shot, I got too comfortable. I didn’t realize that I could lose you. ”
“You don’t have to lose me, Greg,” she assured him then kissed him deeply. “I love you. I know I messed up with Billy,,,” Greg kissed her before she could continue.
“Carry, I’m not ready to choose. There are things I’m still dealing with, including the miscarriage.
I’m still shook up inside about that. So, if you happen to want to date Billy while I try to sort this out, I will understand.
IF we’re not going to work out because he’s potentially someone you can love, then we need to know that now.
You’ve been patient with me, so it’s my turn to be patient with you and let you see if your heart is telling you something different than it was several months ago. ”
“So, you are giving me permission to date Billy?” she asked and he nodded yes.
Before either one could fully react to the realization that Greg had just agreed to giving Carry permission to date Billy, there was a soft knock at the door.
Carry pulled back from Greg instinctively and moved off the bed to go open the door.
She stood beside it for several seconds, waiting in near dead silence before she heard the light drumming of long fake fingernails rhythmically across the door need the doorknob.
She slowly twisted the knob and eased the door open.
Cassie and Keith were standing there waiting.
Keith gave Carry a silent nod and she opened the door fully so they could step in.
She silently closed the door after they were both in the room.
“Good, I’m glad you were already here,” Keith said. “Greg, are you decent?”
“You know I sleep in pajama bottoms,” Greg nearly protested.
“Alright, we need to talk about this situation with Jenny and Millard,” he said, waving both Cassie and Carry over to the bed. “What are we going to do?”
“YOU aren’t going to do anything,” Carry said with a resoluteness that she didn’t have just a moment ago. “Cassie and I are going to make it look like this weekend’s activities with her getting engaged gave me all the reason I needed to be convinced to come in.”
“And you are going to place a recording device on both of us,” Cassie said firmly. “When we go in, we need a full record of that conversation.”
“I’ve got those back in Kansas City,” Keith complained.
“We’ll need them before the weekend is over,” Cassie said firmly.
“Jenny can’t have any clue that we’re recording her. They have to be passive.”
“I know, Carry. Maybe I can get Jeff or Randy to bring them down tomorrow,” Keith suggested.
“And what is my part in all this?” Greg asked.
“Just be there for us to call on, dad,” Cassie said.
“My dad was always distant with me, only hanging out with my brothers. After they died, he just became a shell of the man he’d been growing up.
You’ve been more of a dad to me than my own over the past year, Greg.
” She smiled then gave him a big hug. “I know you love her, Greg. AND I know you love Veronica. Please just make a choice already.”