Chapter Twenty #2
He wanted Jenna and Axel to remember why they’d fallen in love in the first place.
Even if it meant setting aside his own feelings.
He just wanted them to be happy again. That was what mattered most and Jenna’s baby deserved to have a dad.
His chest tightened. Yeah, he wanted that for her, even if it meant stepping aside and not pursuing her himself.
“Yup, Daisy, looks like Axel’s the lucky dog tonight, and so are you because you’ll be bunking in a bed with me. I hope you’d don’t mind if I snore?”
She ignored him as she continued slurping her food. He forced a grin. The truth was that the dog’s affectionate presence would keep the emptiness at bay.
He reached down and ruffled Daisy’s soft curl enshrouded warm body, grateful for her uncomplicated companionship.
Yeah, uncomplicated affection in a world that suddenly felt very complicated.
* * * * *
“Can nails really make all four tires go flat? There must have been a lot of them. Very careless neighbours,” Jenna mused as Axel hung up the phone.
Her voice carried a sharp edge of concern, and anxiety flickered across her face as she folded the towel she’d been using to dry the dishes and draped it over the stove handle.
Axel shrugged, watching Jenna swiftly walk over to secure the kitchen door.
His casual shrug felt wrong. He hated downplaying danger, especially when she was already on edge.
“Anything’s possible,” he replied, attempting to sound reassuring even as a sense of unease prickled at him, recalling Nick’s earlier admission. The absence of any nails in the tires suggested that someone had deliberately let the air out.
“Sam’s truck keys are at the back door. I told him that the first day he was here,” Jenna said as she closed and locked the kitchen windows.
“Said he couldn’t find them, which makes me wonder if someone took them.”
“Oh, gosh. It’s a good thing Daisy is with him. She’ll bark if she senses someone around. Funny that she didn’t hear anyone maybe tampering with the tires?”
A cold prickle ran along his spine. Daisy missing something wasn’t impossible, but it wasn’t comforting either. But Nick seemed confident she was a good watchdog.
“She might have been busy exploring and didn’t notice. When she’s inside the house, she will be alert. Don’t worry. Oh, and Nick said there’s a storm on the way. Lightning up north. We better get the horses inside before it gets wild out there,” he added, changing the subject.
There was no way she was going out there alone tonight.
But afterwards, what then? How could he possibly stay under the same roof as Jenna or even sleep just down the hall from her.
Would she even allow him to stay in the house?
“I’ll get the bedroom window where you sleep, you check the others,” Axel commanded.
Jenna nodded and rushed off.
A couple of minutes later, they met in the hallway. Their eyes met for a heartbeat too long. The air became charged, uncertain, and threaded with everything they weren’t saying.
“Let’s move,” Jenna said.
“Right behind you,” Axel replied, following her toward the back door.
Stepping outside, Axel immediately sensed a shift in the air. The wind hit him like a warning. It was coming out of the north, sharp and cool and it carried the metallic scent of coming rain. Lightning flickered in that direction. He waited as Jenna quickly locked the back door behind them.
He could tell by her tense shoulders that she was on edge. She was locking the door and taking no chances tonight after Nick’s unsettling phone call about the tire incident.
“Remember, don’t approach the horses head-on or from behind,” Jenna instructed, her voice firm and authoritative as they hurried across the yard toward the looming barn. Her voice steadied as she spoke. She was confident and capable. This was the Jenna he remembered and the one he’d missed.
“They’re gentle, but they need to see you, especially if the storm’s got them on edge.”
“After all those years hearing Nick’s ranch stories, I think I’ve got a fair idea of what not to do.”
“Good. I’m glad you were an attentive pupil,” she replied coolly, rushing off ahead.
Axel grinned at her remark.
The moment they entered the barn, Jenna pulled up short and he almost crashed into her.
“I forgot the raincoats in the house. It’ll be raining by the time we’re finished.”
“I can run back and get them,” Axel offered, though he doubted the rain would start that quickly.
Jenna shook her head as she grabbed the halters and lead ropes from nearby hooks.
“No time. I’ll put these on the horses, and we’ll lead the horses into the barn and tie them off in here. We can bring them to their stalls afterwards. We have to move fast. If you listen close, you can practically hear the rain coming.”
Her urgency sent them back outside into the quickly forming night.
Axel strained his ears but heard only the steady chorus of crickets. The tension in the air, however, was unmistakable. The wind was rising; every shadow and distant sound set his nerves on edge as the lightning flashed brighter and thunder rumbled quietly in the distance.
The downpour came fast and hard, like the sky had been holding its breath and finally let go. By the time they had all the horses inside the barn, they were both soaked to the skin. The rain hit as they Jenna was haltering the last horse and they both led the nervous animal inside.
Quickly Jenna felt chilled. A protective instinct flared and she wrapped her arms around herself, not for warmth, but for the tiny life she carried. Her teeth began to chatter and Axel noticed right away.
“Why don’t you go up to the hayloft. The lantern is on a hook right at the bottom of the stairs to your right.
There’s a clean towel folded on one of the chairs and a nice warm flannel shirt and socks in my duffel bag for you.
My duffel is the one on the right of the bed.
I’ll start bringing the horses into their stalls. ”
His voice was soft in a way that tugged at something deep inside her. His old habits of care resurfacing like they’d never left.
She nodded jerkily.
“There’s some towels in the tack room, Axel. And a pair of oversized dry coveralls that might fit you on a hook. There’s also socks in a cubby hole shelf just inside the door. Not sure if the boots in there will fit you.” She didn’t tell him those coveralls and boots had belonged to Tim.
He nodded and headed for the tack room.
There was no electricity in the loft. She’d figured it might have something to do with it being a hayloft and fire. But they’d rarely used it at night anyways, so she’d had no reason to have it updated.
Quickly she headed to the stairs, switched on the lantern, and ascended the steps, the scent of hay drifting through the air. She remembered being here just last night standing on these steps in the darkness spying on the two men.
Her pulse quickened. The images were too vivid, too intimate, impossible to shake.
Heat fused through her quaking body at the memories of Axel standing naked in front of Nick, with Nick’s mouth taking Axel’s cock down his throat. And of what Axel had done to her this morning.
Heavens! Those two men were going to be the death of her.
Quickly she undressed while listening to the rain pummel the old barn roof. She was glad the storm hadn’t chased away the warmth up here from the day. It was nice and toasty.
Hurriedly she located the towel and dried herself, then wrapped her hair with the towel. She routed through Axel’s duffel bag and immediately found the flannel shirt. She slipped it on.
The shirt dwarfed her, but the material was soft, warm and it embraced her skin like an old friend. It smelled of Axel and his scent wrapped around her like a memory she wasn’t ready for. Warm, masculine, and achingly familiar.
Now that she was feeling so much better, and had stopped shaking, she sure wasn’t going to put her wet underwear on. Her skin felt too sensitive, too alive, the thought of cold fabric against her made her wince.
So she removed the towel from her now damp hair and bundled her wet clothing into the towel and left it near the top of the stairs.
He’d said there were socks in the duffel bag too. She paused for a moment and smiled as she looked at the blankets and the sleeping bags laid along a bottom portion of the hayloft. She had to admit; the guys had made their bed look quite cozy and inviting.
She dug through the contents of Axel’s bag looking for the socks he’d mentioned when her hand settled on what appeared to be a large amount of paper envelopes tied tightly together at the bottom.
Her fingers paused. The bundle felt heavy, important, like a secret she wasn’t sure she had the right to touch.
She almost pulled them out to see what they might be, but then the warmth of a pair of rolled-up fluffy socks pressed against her hands, and she dragged out the roll.
A moment later one pair of fleece socks were loving her feet, and she felt much better.
She wandered to the window of the hayloft and looked out. The rain blurred the world into silver streaks, matching the swirl of thoughts she couldn’t quite settle. The downpour didn’t prevent her from seeing she’d left the kitchen lights on.
Good security.
It was a good thing they’d locked the doors and the windows too because she wasn’t about to dash through this downpour and get all wet again.
Overhead the rain pummelled against the roof and she thought she felt the slightest drop of water on her neck.
Oh dear. She’d have to ask the guys if they had leaks over their bed. Any leaks would have to be fixed.
In the meantime, it was best if she went down to help Axel with the horses.
She had an old pair of boots in the tack room that she could use for herself.
She realized too that if these duffel bags contained all their possessions, she’d have to buy them some work clothes, cowboy hats, socks, and those steel belted boots.
How had she forgotten to buy boots for them when she’d been in town?
They’d been working everywhere in their prison issue running shoes.
That was too dangerous. She’d have to get on that the next time she went to town.
The realization pricked her. She should have thought of all this sooner.
The men were her responsibility now, whether they were here for a long stay or a short stay.