Chapter 13 Carli #2
“Your biscuits are enough of a treat.” She smiles. “Scratch that. Seeing you is the biggest gift. How long can you hang out this morning?”
The taste of my secrets leaves a bitterness in my mouth. I’ve never kept anything from McKenna and she’s always been the first person I wanted to talk to or see on any given day.
We walk up the porch steps arm in arm. Cody’s in the kitchen, looking more scrumptious than my warm biscuits, leaned back against the counter in a Waterford Rodeo T-shirt, jeans and socks.
His eyes move slowly between me and McKenna, our linked arms, the broad smile on her face, the more reluctant one on mine.
“Carli!” Mrs. Lawson says.
“Ooooh. Marry me, Carli,” Luke teases. “I need a good farm girl who makes a mean biscuit in my life.”
Cody’s smile drops to a near scowl and my grin widens at his obvious reaction.
“She’s all mine,” McKenna announces. “And so are her biscuits. Find your own farm girl.”
“I second that, Luke,” Mrs. Lawson says. “I’d like some grandbabies around here before I’m too old to recognize them.”
We all laugh. I set the pan of biscuits on the island.
Cody saunters over. His voice is low and directed at me. “Good morning, Chuck.”
“Morning,” I manage to eek the word out without melting into a puddle at his feet.
Why does he have to be so … Cody?
The Lawson family buzzes around us, bringing down plates, pulling the butter and honey out of the bag—which brings on a whole other round of praise and teasing about how I’m marriage material.
Fruit salad shows up from out of the fridge.
Someone else plops the platter of bacon that was fresh off the stove next to the biscuits.
The flurry of hands and arms serving up our spontaneous feast separates me from Cody, but his eyes are on me as if he’s physically touching me.
“Carli?” he asks.
“Yeah?”
“Your dad mentioned he needed an extra livestock panel. We’ve got one in the barn. I’ll haul it into your truck bed for you.”
“Can’t it wait?” Mrs. Lawson asks. “She just got here. If you’re in a rush to shower from work, I can have Luke get it after we all have a chance to eat.”
“No. Yeah.” Cody looks at me and then his mom. “You’re right. We should eat. It can wait.”
Mrs. Lawson smiles.
“I’ll just get it after breakfast,” I say, quietly assuring him I’m still on board.
“How long do you have?” McKenna asks.
“For?” I’m so distracted and off my game. I’m not used to being on guard and sneaking around the Lawsons.
“To sit and eat—to hang out,” McKenna says hopefully. “Do you work today?”
“Yeah. I do. I can stay for breakfast, but then I have to go.”
“Awww.” McKenna pouts. “Well, something’s better than nothing, I guess.”
Cody’s quiet, but his eyes barely leave me the rest of breakfast. McKenna talks about her upcoming wedding. My attention drifts, even when I try to rein it in. I take a breath and fix my eyes on McKenna.
“... and the arch,” she says. “We’ll need you to make something we can stand in front of. I’ve got a Pinterest board full of ideas.”
“On it,” Luke says. “I’ll grab Ethan and we’ll build you whatever you need.”
“I’ll help you,” Cody offers easily.
Cody pushes his chair back after we’ve all been sitting for over a half hour. I follow suit, carrying my plate to the sink.
“Leave that,” Mrs. Lawson says. “I’ll wash since you baked.”
“Thank you,” I tell her. Then I glance up at Cody. “I’ll meet you out there. I just need to say goodbye to McKenna.”
He smiles and turns for the back door that leads out to the barn.
“I’ll call you and we can plan some time together soon,” I promise McKenna.
“Please do. I want to catch up. And not just about wedding stuff.”
“Me too,” I tell her, meaning it. I may be eager to see Cody—to find out what he wants to say. But she’s still my person. Being here this morning only served to remind me of what she means to me—what the whole Lawson family means to me.
I don’t run across the grass and dirt to the barn. My pace is measured, natural, controlled. When I walk through the barn doorway, Cody’s inside—alone. He’s leaning back on a low stall door, looking every bit the cowboy that he is.
“Hey,” he says, a soft smile growing at the sight of me.
“Hey,” I answer shyly.
“How are you?” He pushes off the stall door and walks toward me, meeting me in the middle of the barn.
“Good. You?”
“Good,” he smiles, slow and warm. “I’m actually asking about how you are since … you know.”
“Since?” I lift my brows, making him work for it just a little.
“The kiss,” he says, stepping fully into my personal space and knocking my flirtiness off balance. The air is warm around us despite the cool of the morning.
His breath stalls. He searches my eyes.
Doesn’t he know how I feel about him?
I’m so used to my feelings for Cody. They’re lived-in even though they chronically irritate me like a misplaced tag in a new shirt.
“I’m good,” I say. “After … you know.” I manage to stare into his eyes and softly raise my brow with a little flirtation.
He may not feel what I do, but this is my moment. I’m not backing down. I’ll eat humble pie later if he brought me out here to let me down gently. Everything in his gaze and the way his breath comes more quickly tells me he’s right here, in this with me.
He reaches down and cups my jaw.
“I’m good too,” he says. “In case you were wondering.”
I want to say something witty—or say anything—but I can’t find the words.
Cody’s brows lift lightly, his thumb brushes across my cheek, a feather-soft graze. His eyes search mine and I smile. My tongue darts out briefly, moistening my lips.
When his mouth descends on mine, it’s not careful and gentle like it was the first time.
He tugs me closer and holds me, quenching my longing and setting it on fire in the same instant.
My arms lift to loop around his neck and my fingers tangle in his hair. I explore him after years of wondering what this would be like, what he would feel like, how he would kiss.
Our kiss slows. Tender. Sure. Full of relief and need. His mouth dances along my skin with a familiarity that feels so right and yet so new. I lose myself in him and the feel of being held in his arms.
McKenna’s voice rings into the barn from the yard. “Carli! What’s taking y’all so long?”
I drop my arms, flattening my palms on Cody’s chest and pushing him backward, he stumbles for a beat just as McKenna shows up in the doorway.
“Hey, you two.” She puts her hands on her hips. Her face scrunches up in confusion. “This isn’t even where we keep the livestock panels. What are you two doing?”
“We’re looking!” I say too loudly at the same time as Cody says, “Getting a tie-down.”
McKenna’s brow furrows even more deeply.
“A tie-down and … some feed for … the hogs … but actually … a mineral feeder, I mean,” Cody blurts the lies with more jangled nerves than I’ve ever witnessed from him in our lifetime.
McKenna shakes her head. “Tie-downs are also in the storage off the side of the barn along with the mineral feeders and the panels. What’s wrong with you, Cody? You’re going to make Carli late for work.”
“Work,” I mutter, mostly to myself.
I had completely forgotten I had a job or any obligations at all.
“Come on, Carli. Let’s get you what you need,” McKenna says, showing her ranching roots for the first time in a while. “You can come too, Cody,” she adds. “Be our muscle.” She turns and walks out of the barn and I start to follow her.
Cody’s hand lands on my arm. “We’ll talk. I promise.”
I smile back at him and say, “Or not.”
He chuckles, running a hand down his face. “Somewhere that’s not one of our family’s properties.”
“Good plan,” I say.
When our eyes meet my whole body lights up. We’re doing this thing—whatever it is. He’s not tapping the brakes.
“What is it with us and barns anyway?” I ask, turning to follow McKenna to the storage unit.
I laugh softly to myself and Cody’s laughter weaves in with mine.