Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Remi
In the forty minutes after the semi hauled the excavator away, Brooks actually did run canter practice—because he was nothing if not efficient—and Alicia and I joined in a game of euchre before we were eliminated embarrassingly fast. Neither of us could stop laughing about it.
Shortly after, it was decided to be “too gosh darn cold” to remain on the side of the road.
Brooks offered to stay behind for another hour or so to be sure the driver didn’t come back.
“Thank you so much,” Alicia shivered out.
And even though her car was parked on the shoulder, she sat in front of me in the saddle to return Stone to the stables.
The soft curve of her seated against my groin was hard to ignore, despite the trail of high school students following us.
She leaned back against my chest, putting her clove-scented hair under my nose.
One of my hands held the reins loosely, and the other was wrapped protectively around her waist despite the easy pace we kept.
Turning her head, she asked, “How did you do all of this?”
“I was only responsible for the kids and horses. I’m guessing Mrs. Higgins got the euchre club activated,” I said, trying and failing to ignore how close her mouth was to mine. It would be easy to lean a few inches down and kiss her, but again, the children.
“I want to be just like those ladies when I grow up.”
I hugged her even tighter against my chest. “I don’t see you calming with age.”
She snorted. “Absolutely not.”
“We don’t even have to make bail.”
“That really is a relief. I hate getting arrested.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You have been?”
“Not for work. It was recreational.”
I nudged her with my thigh. “Continue . . .”
“Not in front of the children.”
At the stables, she helped get the horse brushed down and ready for the night.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her, the easy way she made conversation with the kids and retold Emmett and his business partner, Missy, the story of the showdown—earning a couple of hearty laughs from him.
Missy’s pale eyes flicked to mine and Alicia’s entwined hands, and the two women shared a nonverbal conversation that ended with Missy’s eyebrow raised very high, and Alicia blushing.
I squeezed her hand and lowered to whisper in her ear, “Are you okay? Should I limit the PDA?”
She pulled back to glare up at me. “Absolutely not,” she answered at normal volume.
My stomach flipped, and a smile spread across my face. “Okay.”
Emmett and Missy promised to join us in celebrating at the Pour House after finishing a few things, as Alicia and I waved goodbye before sliding into my SUV.
When we arrived downtown, we had to park a few blocks away and it seemed that most of the town was inside the little restaurant.
It was a staple of the older generations in Grand Ridge, so it was the obvious choice of the euchre club.
As we neared the front door, the sounds of people gathered inside grew louder and tumbled out when we swung the door open.
We had hardly stepped inside, when a cry rang out.
People clapped and called out from every corner of the building.
I fell behind Alicia, joining in with the applause.
She waved a hand over head, her smile so bright she practically glowed.
She reached a gloved hand behind her back, and I didn’t know if she was offering it to me because she wanted my support or just my touch, but I placed my palm in hers following her further into the restaurant.
People pulled us into group hugs and patted her on the back.
Nora slid out from a booth followed by Hazel. Both Alicia and I took the opportunity to take off our coats and gloves tossing them into the green vinyl booth.
Alicia cried out, “Oh my God! Did you hear about what happened?!” as they neared.
“It’s all anyone can talk about,” Nora said.
“The livestream was hilarious,” Hazel added handing Alicia a cider and me a beer.
Flicking her eyes to our joined hands, Nora smirked. “And that kiss was hot as hell.”
The blood drained from Alicia’s face.
A shiver ran down my spine, and my stomach twisted sickeningly. I cleared my throat. “Our kiss was on it?”
Nora went to answer, but Alicia turned to me, her face stricken. “My mom follows that page.”
Hazel and Nora only looked confused for a moment, when Hazel’s eyes widened with understanding. “Your moms don’t know?!”
I set our drinks back on the table, snatching our coats in the same motion. “We gotta go make some phone calls.”
We’d gotten ourselves pretty psyched up on the drive home, but actually waiting for my mom to answer my call kinda sucked. Alicia had her phone pressed to her ear too and stood when the call connected.
“Hey, Mom,” Alicia spoke into her phone, walking toward my kitchen while I held my phone to my ear listening to it ring for my own mom to answer the other end. I rubbed at the back of my neck, where my anxiousness was tightening my muscles.
Alicia’s voice was confident and unwavering, but I was sure just like me her mom knew it for the tell it was—Alicia was at least a little nervous too.
“You know how you’ve always said that you will always love me .
. . Well . . . what I’m about to tell you will test the boundaries of that statement . . .”
I snorted, but my smile turned into a cringe when my mom answered.
“Rem, I was just thinking about you!”
“You were?” I asked, relieved to ease into the conversation a bit.
“I. Was.”
Just like when I’d thought I’d gotten away with sneaking out of the house when I was sixteen, alarm bells sounded inside my head.
“Tell me why,” she went on, “I just saw a video come across the page of that cute little bar in your town, of you climbing down from a horse and kissing your ex-wife.”
“You saw that?”
“I did.”
Sighing, I sent a silent curse to the Internet.
“It’s a wild story. You’re not even gonna believe it.”
“Considering I don’t believe what I saw with my own eyes, you might as well tell me a story.”
“Remember when I told you someone was moving into the other side of my duplex?”
“Yeah.”
“Guess who it was.”
She chuckled a little as she said, “You have got to be shitting me.”
When we’d exhausted every angle of shock, and outright disbelief we ended the conversation, and I stood to join Alicia in the kitchen. She sat on the countertop, typing something out on her phone.
I ran a hand up her thigh, planting myself between her knees. “Texting Sadie?”
“Yeah,” Alicia said putting her phone on the counter next to her.
“Telling her about everything with your mom?”
Alicia rested her hands on my shoulders. “Yeah. She did that mom thing where she isn’t mad, just disappointed.”
I pulled her to the edge of the counter wrapping my arms around her waist—appreciating the way she arched her back and pressed her tits into my chest. “I’m sorry, Leese.”
“How’d it go with your mom?”
“She thinks it’s all too kismet for it not to be divine intervention.”
Grinning, Alicia brushed her lips across mine. “Will you have her tell the divine thank you for me?”
Deepening our kiss, we fell into the rhythm of our quickening heartbeats. The heady demand of our bodies. Giving ourselves to something as simple and complex as surrendering to love.