Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
K athy glanced around the house to make sure everything was in order. She had no idea why she was so nervous about tonight. Barry had been coming over every Friday night for months, but … She smiled and twirled around a bit, laughing at the thought of being so excited about being intimate with him. She wasn’t experienced with sex, although she wasn’t a virgin either. She’d gone to college and had one or two regrettable relationships. Regrettable because she’d been raised that giving herself to a man was saved for love. She hadn’t loved either of the men she’d dated, and they sure as heck didn’t love her. The second one had dropped her the next morning, which was a soul-crushing experience. She’d felt so dirty and used. It had taken her a long time to get over that jerk. Bu t she had, and she’d vowed that if she didn’t have true feelings for a man, they weren’t getting close to her.
She’d forgotten all those promises to herself the night she’d woken up looking into Barry’s eyes. The accident was nothing but glimpses of memories. Something darting across the road. Her overcorrection, the tires not grabbing on the ice, and then the impact of her head as she ran off the road. She didn’t remember walking to the dance or opening the door. Then, the next thing she remembered was Barry looking down at her like she was the most important thing in the world. She’d asked Gen for Barry’s telephone number. She’d needed to thank him. One call led to two, and then, he’d finally called her first. They’d met at the diner and talked. She’d invited him to dinner with her parents because she didn’t know him that well and wanted a buffer. That invitation to dinner was the best thing she’d ever done.
What had made her fall for him was the way he’d been completely transparent and honest with her and her parents. He’d explained he had problems with anger caused by his time in the service.
Her father put down his knife and fork. “I’m going to ask you a question, and I’d like an honest answer.”
Kathy felt her heart leap into her throat and started to object, but Barry held up a hand. “It’s okay, Kathy. Go ahead, sir. I’ll answer it as honestly as I can.”
“In one of those rages, would you hurt her?” He pointed to his daughter .
Barry closed his eyes and shook his head before looking at her dad. “In those rages, I want to hurt myself. Have I picked a fight? Yes, usually with bigger guys who could beat me down because, as I said, I don’t like myself when I’m in that state. Before I came here, I started many fights. Only the last guy, although way bigger than me, couldn’t fight. I got into a legal pickle. Andrew Hollister is my old CO. He bailed me out, got me legal representation, and gave me one chance to pull myself together. I’ve been working with Dr. Wheeler, and I haven’t crossed that line again. I’m not saying I haven’t wanted to, but I haven’t.” He glanced at Kathy. “I’d walk off a cliff before I hurt a woman. That is a fact. You can ask Corrie. She and her husband took me in after the military. I wasn’t in therapy then, and I was a loose cannon, but I never raised a hand to her, and I never would.”
Her father stared at him for a long moment. “All right. I can live with that. However, if you ever hurt her, you’ll have to deal with me.”
“I respect that, sir,” Barry acknowledged.
“Well, now that all the posturing is over, who would like some apple pie?” her mom asked, and the tension around the table fell away like fluttering leaves in a breeze.
Since then, they’d spent time together. Long walks in the fields beside her home. One night they took a blanket out to the backyard and stared at the multitude of stars. He’d told her about his childhood. Thankfully it was dark, and he couldn’t see the tears she’d shed for him. No child should grow up unloved and mostly unattended. Yet, the kindness that he showed her and her family had survived .
They’d spent the day down at Orman Dam, the lake just outside Belle Fourche, and played in the water with the pups. She’d laughed so hard that day her cheeks hurt. Barry made her happy. He made her feel loved, wanted, and so safe. There wasn’t any one date that triggered all the feelings she had for him. It was a multitude of things, mixed up over the last six months. No sudden revelation but a growing culmination of time spent together. It was a simple, easy way to fall in love. She chuckled. A simple, easy way to fall in love with a complicated, wounded man.
Mitzi jumped off the couch and ran to the door. Kathy followed her and smiled when she saw Barry’s truck. Honey dropped down, and she let Mitzi out. The two dogs started zooming all over the place. Barry pulled out a large bag and headed her way.
Toeing up, she kissed him at the door. His free hand went around her waist, and the warmth and feel of his body against hers fed a need deep inside. She leaned against him and sighed. Both Mitzi and Honey started barking. The sound wasn’t friendly.
“What in the world?”
Barry spun and gave a sharp whistle. Both dogs stopped barking, but they were staring at a big clump of bushes in the field next to her. “Honey, Mitzi, come,” Barry barked the command, and the dogs backed up before they turned and hightailed it to the house.
“Probably cornered a critter or a snake,” Kathy mused.
As she held the door open as the dogs ran inside, an amazing aroma hit her. “Oh my goodness, that smells delicious. What is it?” She reached for the bag and put it on the counter.
“Steak au Poivre with cognac cream sauce, baked potatoes, salad, and red wine.”
Kathy turned to look at him. “Steak au what?”
“Poivre,” he said and laughed. “I call it steak and peppercorn sauce. Corrie knows all the fancy names. It’s one of my favorite dishes that she makes. She was thrilled I asked her to make us dinner.”
“She’s the best. Make sure you thank her for me. Oh, never mind. I’ll tell her when I see her on Sunday. She’s coming to Mom and Dad’s for dinner?”
“She is.” Barry helped her pull the containers out of the bags. “I’ll get the wine opener and glasses.” Kathy opened the utility drawer, pulled out her wine opener, and then went to the glass hutch in the dining room to get two of her crystal wine glasses. She’d won a set of four as a conference door prize. If she were alone, she’d pour a small amount into a coffee cup and nurse it all night long. Usually, she ended up pouring at least half out at the end of the night, but it was nice to enjoy a bit every now and then.
They were just sitting down to eat when the dogs started barking again. Barry was up almost instantly. “I’m going to go take a look outside.”
“Take them with you, but don’t take too long. I might eat without you.” She watched as both dogs and Barry trotted down the stairs. The dogs went back to that same area, and Barry followed them. He pushed open the bushes, and the dogs darted in. He stepped into the bushes and then hopped back out, calling the dogs.
He picked up Honey, who came immediately, and then grabbed Mitzi. She opened the screen door. “What is it? What’s …” The wafting odor of skunk hit her. “Oh, no, not again!” Kathy grabbed her nose and darted for the kitchen sink. She yelled, “Don’t come any closer! Keep them out there. I have the stuff right here.”
She grabbed two pairs of rubber gloves and the de-skunking solution and dropped them into a big silver tub.
She ran outside with everything and turned on the hose. “Oh, God, not again.” She gagged at the smell. “Put them in the tub.”
Barry bundled both dogs into the tub. He pulled off his shirt and flung it away from him, still wearing his white t-shirt. “What in the hell were you thinking, girls?” he said to the dogs as he put on the gloves and poured the soap over them.
“They weren’t. Stupid animals.” Kathy coughed and gagged.
“I’ve got this. You don’t need to get stinky, too.” He tipped the bottle over Honey and then Mitzi.
“Strip out of your jeans and t-shirt.”
He looked up at her. “Excuse me?”
“Your clothes. This stuff works on clothes, too. You can take a shower with it. It really works, I promise. I have three more bottles in the house. ”
“Why?”
“Because Mitzi isn’t the smartest animal. She chases skunks.” Kathy wiped at her watering eyes.
“You could have told me before I went in the bushes.” Barry stood up, opened his belt, toed off his boots, and peeled off his good jeans. His t-shirt was next, leaving him in body-hugging boxer briefs that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Her eyes may have been watering, but even that couldn’t hide the muscled form of the man in front of her. He paid her no mind as he dropped back down and started soaping the dogs.
She grabbed his clothes and ran inside to the washer. Dropping the clothes in after she pulled out his wallet, keys, and change, she dumped half a bottle of the de-skunking solution into the washer and turned it on.
She grabbed a spray bottle of the solution and went outside, spraying down the outside of his cowboy boots. “Are they ready to rinse?”
“Just about,” he said as he lathered Honey’s ears. “Okay, give me the hose.”
He reached for it at the same time as Mitzi shook, sending foaming mounds of solution all over him. “I’m so sorry.” Kathy wanted to cry. That wasn’t the way the night was supposed to have gone.
Barry flicked off the soap and worked on the dogs. He washed them three times before she took Honey in a towel and wiped her off, setting her inside the house and returning for Mitzi. Barry stood up. He was muddy from the knees down, and his boxer briefs were soaked.
She motioned to him. “Wipe off with this towel.” She pointed to the front step. “Then go get in the shower. I have the solution in there. Just don’t get it in your eyes.”
He nodded and walked past her to the towel. He got the majority of the mud off before trudging through the small house. She dried off both dogs after checking his clothes. They smelled okay. A bit of odor, but nothing like they were before she washed them. She dumped more solution in the washer and started it again.
Both dogs thought it was fun to zoom around the house while wet. She picked up the phone and called in reinforcements. “Kayla, can you do me a massive favor?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Can you bring me a pair of Alex’s jeans and a t-shirt?”
“Ah, yeah, but why?”
“Mitzi and Honey went after skunks. Barry reached into the bush for them, but they got skunked and transferred it to him. I’m washing his clothes.”
Kayla laughed. “On it. Be there in less than five.”
She went to the bathroom and knocked on the door, opened it a crack, and yelled in. “I have fresh clothes coming for you in less than five minutes!”
“Okay, thanks,” Barry said. She shut the door and went outside to start cleaning up.
Alex and Kayla pulled up, and Alex rolled down the window. “God Almighty, Kathy, it reeks around here. ”
“Thanks, I know that.” She took off her rubber gloves. Alex held a plastic bag as far out the window as he could. “Tell Barry I don’t need them back.” He rolled up the window and laughed as they backed out of the driveway. Kayla laughed and waved goodbye. Kathy mouthed thank you and pointed to the bag. Kayla nodded, and both she and Alex laughed as they pulled out onto the road.
Kathy took the clothes inside, set them outside the bathroom door, and tapped on the door. When it opened, her jaw unhinged and dropped darn near to the floor. Wet hair on his head, chest, and um … legs dripped in fine rivulets. Her eyes caught on one that rolled slowly from his collarbone down the center of his chest to his stomach, where his happy trail rose from the small pink towel covering his?—
“Are those for me?”
Her eyes popped back up to his. A smile played at the corner of his lips. “Ah, yeah.” She lifted the bag, and he took it from her.
He lowered and dropped a kiss on her lips. She sighed into him and may have chased his lips as he pulled away. When she opened her eyes, he winked at her and said, “Thank you.”
Nodding was all she had. No words, no other intelligent communication was possible. He stood up straight and looked at her, lifting one eyebrow. Her brain finally kicked into some semblance of understanding. She blinked and then jerked straight. “I’m going to go …” She pointed outside and powerwalked in that direction.
She put on the rubber gloves and cleaned as her mind raced. She knew he had a hard body. But boy, oh boy, oh boy, his big body was hard and cut with layers of muscles and that wet towel that covered his most personal parts … Boy, howdy, he was gorgeous, and by the bulge under that wet cotton, he was … well … Kathy stood up when the wash tub was clean and the gloves and de-skunking solution were placed in the bottom. As she looked across the unfettered vast expanse of land, a shiver raced up her spine. Longing for a more intimate relationship wasn’t something she had experience with. The relationships before Barry weren’t … well, that. She found herself wanting his touch, imagining what could be. What would be when he was ready. God, she prayed he was ready soon. No, that was selfish. Barry needed to heal. He needed to take care of himself. Still, she’d be ready whenever he was.
Into the distance, white clouds drifted across the endless blue sky. Strong arms wrapped around her, and she leaned back into him. “What are you staring at?” he asked as he started rocking.
With a smile, she answered, “My life, the future, everything.”
He chuckled. “All that is out there?”
“Yes and no.” She turned and smiled up at him. “You smell much better. ”
“Thank God. I might have scrubbed a couple of layers of skin off with that stuff you gave me.”
“Mitzi is a great skunk hunter. I’m never without at least three or four bottles of it.” She shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think to warn you.”
“Not your fault.” He dropped for a kiss. “Who owns these?”
She looked down and laughed. Alex’s jeans were way too big in the waist for him. His belt cinched them against his waist in puckers. “Alex Thompson. I’m washing your jeans a second time.”
“Well, thank you for that.”
“I’m sorry you got skunked, you had to wash the dogs, and dinner was ruined.” She wrapped her arms around his waist.
He shook his head. “Stop apologizing. The dogs were being dogs, and dinner wasn’t ruined. We can reheat it.” He dropped for a kiss, and as his tongue searched for hers, she dissolved into the yearning that wrapped itself around her, her arms reaching around his neck.
Barry slowed the kiss and separated his lips from hers. “I want to make love to you.”
Air left her lungs in a rush, and that wonderful tingling sensation traveled through her body. Breathlessly, she whispered, “Yes. Please.”
He lifted her off the floor and carried her into the house. Kathy sighed and leaned into his chest. Yes. Please .