Chapter 9
W hat a way to make a situation go from bad to worse. I kissed her. I fuckin’ kissed her because, suddenly, despite all the years I’ve spent holding back when it comes to her, I got no self fuckin’ control.
Last night she wouldn’t let me, and I couldn't not know what it felt like. Even if it took making a fool of myself for a second time to get it, it was worth it. Well, at least it felt worth it at the time. Now it feels more like a fuckin’ curse because all I wanna do is kiss her all over again.
I head for my room and slam the door behind me, ripping the towel from around my waist and throwing it at the bed.
I place one of my hands against the wall, taking my cock with the other and stroking it firm and fast. It’s already hard, her pretty, little lips moving back against mine when I kissed her, did a good job of making that happen.
Now, I gotta release all the tension inside me because there ain’t enough Houston brothers in the world for me to kick the shit into, to get rid of that.
I pump myself through my fist and think of the way her pussy felt around me, and when I think of Caleb-fuckin’-Mason being inside her after me, I slam the palm I’m bracing myself with hard into the wall.
I should have made it special for her, especially since it was her first time.
She was too drunk to be nervous, maybe even too drunk to remember and the fact I may never get another chance to fuckin’ show her how special she is, makes the fury inside me escalate.
I taunt myself by thinking of the way her skin tasted on my lips, and that shocked little gasp she made into my mouth when I kissed her in the kitchen has me edging closer.
Working my fist harder, I push myself over that edge and squeeze my eyes tight so I get a vision of Leia-fuckin’-Walker taking my cock, as I spill over my fingers.
I have to sink my teeth into my bicep to stop myself from growling out her fuckin’ name because she’s only downstairs.
When I’ve got my breath back, I pick up an old tee from the floor and clean up my mess.
I throw on some jeans and button up a shirt before I head across the hall to the bathroom, and while I wash my hands clean, I stare at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
Garrett’s right, I should’ve told her first. I should never have let things go as far as they did, but I dare any man who had everything he ever wanted right at the tip of his cock, not to fuckin’ take it. Guess now I’ll just have to deal with the consequences.
I splash some water on my face and dry my hands before I head downstairs. When I get onto the porch I see a very suspicious Maisie staring at me with her arms folded over her stomach.
“What just happened? Leia went inside to get drinks and stormed out in tears.” She narrows her eyes and dares me to lie, while Garrett gives me a discreet shake of the head from behind her.
“What makes ya think it has anythin’ to do with me?” I shrug my shoulders.
“Something’s going on, I can sense it, and I swear to God…” She holds up her hand to silence my brother before he can interrupt. “…if you tell me it’s my hormones I will find something to stab you with!”
“I wasn’t gonna say that.” Garrett talks her down calmly. “I was gonna tell you that, as beautiful as you look when you're all angsty, you promised me you’d try to be more relaxed about shit,” he reminds her.
“This is me being relaxed about shit, Garrett,” she growls. I smile at them both and leave them to it, heading toward my truck.
“Hey, where are ya going?” Garrett calls after me.
“To get a fuckin’ drink!” I yell back, pulling open my door and getting behind the wheel.
* * *
Cahoots is a lot busier than The Shack was earlier and as I walk toward the bar, I notice the look everyone’s giving me. It’s the silent stare that makes the hairs on the back of your neck prickle, and as I take a stool and get ready to order a beer, Maria smiles at me sadly.
“Hey, sweetie.” She approaches me far too cautiously for me not to sense that something’s off.
“I’ll take a beer.” I shake off the unease when she pops the cap off the bottle and places it in front of me, and as her fingers touch mine I notice how they linger.
“I get off at 7:30 if you wanna blow off some steam,” she offers seductively, and when I don’t answer, she tries a different approach.
“How have things been with your mom? Dolores pretty much told the whole town she’s back.
” She tilts her head and gives me a pitiful smile.
It at least explains why all eyes are on me.
“Woman’s got one heck of a nerve if you ask me.” Old man Lawrence lifts his head up from the paper he’s reading.
“What ya just say?” I stand up so fast the stool I was sitting on throws back. Marching up to the old bastard, I take him by his scruff and his bloodshot eyes double in size.
“She may not have been around here for the last twenty years, but that’s still a Carson woman you're talkin’ about.
Watch ya mouth, old man!” I throw him back down onto his stool and get back to my spot.
Picking up my bottle I knock it back and when Maria continues to stare at me with pure fuckin’ pity, it makes me wanna scream at her, and everyone else in this damn place.
I finish my beer and, seeing as I’ve had enough of all the eyes judging me, I storm out the bar and head straight for the guesthouse where Mom’s staying.
The Taylor’s guesthouse is sweet and quaint, with furniture that don’t quite match and ornaments filling the space on every surface. When Fiona sees me standing in the hall she immediately springs to action, calling through loudly to the communal room where I assume Mom is.
“Teresa, I think there's someone here to see you.” She smiles at me, the same way everyone over at the bar did. It does nothing to calm me down, in fact, it only agitates me further.
Mom steps through the door looking every bit as put together as she did yesterday. Not a hair out of place or a crease in her pantsuit. It’s hard to believe that she was ever married to a rancher.
“Wa—”
“Why? Why fuckin’ now? We’re grown men, we don’t fuckin’ need you.
We needed you when we were growin” up. Bree needed you when she was sixteen and pregnant and thought her only option was to throw herself off a fuckin’ cliff.
And every goddamn one of us needed you, after we lost her, when we were blamin’ ourselves. ”
“Bree was pregnant?” I can tell that the shock on Mom’s face is genuine, and when I notice that Fiona is still in the room, I cold-stare her for long enough to let her know that this is a private conversation.
“How? Who was the father?” Mom’s skin turns pale as she slides onto one of the seats that are randomly placed beside the wall.
“We don’t know, we’re tryin’ to figure that out.
But that’s not why I came here. I wanna know how ya can just turn back up and expect us to give you a welcome home.
You broke Dad’s heart, you abandoned us.
If learnin’ your own daughter was dead wasn’t enough to bring ya back, then I need to know what the hell is!
” The volume of my voice grows with my anger, and Mom still manages to smile as if we have an audience to perform for.
“I need to sit down and talk with you all. There are things you don’t know, that you should.
I need you to talk to your brothers, convince them to hear what I have to say.
” She stands up and warily steps toward me, slowly reaching up her hand to stroke my cheek the same way she used to when I was little.
“I want to be your mom again, and once I’ve explained you can decide for yourselves if you're gonna let me. If you don’t want me in your lives after that, I’ll leave Fork River and never bother you again,” she promises.
“Ya got the whole town talkin’, Mom, people thought ya were dead. We thought you were dead because we were convinced that was the only thing that would ever keep you from comin’ back to us.” I slide my hand under my nose when I feel it start to run.
“I don’t care what the town says. I don’t owe the town an explanation. But I do owe you and your brothers one.” She smiles at me sadly, and despite all the anger and disappointment I got for her, I find myself nodding as I back away and head straight for home.
* * *
Things are a lot calmer when I get back, Maisie and Garrett must’ve made up because she’s laughing when I walk through the door. He quickly jumps up from the couch where he’s been stroking her stomach when he notices me throw my eyes toward the office door, discreetly.
“Where's Cole?” I ask, heading in after him.
“Shower, he just got back from the line camp.” Garrett closes the door and lowers his tone so Maisie can’t hear. “What the fuck happened earlier? You had Leia in tears when she ran out. She couldn’t even say goodbye for fuck’s sake.”
“I kissed her,” I admit, without a single regret.
“Will you stop with all the fuckin’ action and try some talkin’!” he scolds me like a child and I’m not in the fuckin’ mood for it.
“Well, if I recall correctly, you did three years of not talkin’ to the woman you loved, so I’d go easy on the judging’.”
“Maisie said ya wanted to see me,” Cole interrupts us just at the right time.
“Yeah, we need a family meeting’,” I tell them both, trying to get the conversation back on track.
“Ya want me to get Maisie, or are we takin’ this out to her?” Cole starts making his way back toward the door.
“Wait, we're doin’ this one without her,” Garrett tells him with a guilty look on his face.
“Hang on, you were the one who came up with this whole family meeting’ rule, we ain’t supposed to keep nothin’ from each other,” Cole reminds him.
“ Will you keep your fuckin’ voice down?
” Garrett hushes him. “Maisie’s at a crucial time right now, the longer she keeps those babies inside her, the better chance they have of being healthy when they come out.
All triplets come early, but if they come too early they can need a lotta help.
I’m tryin’ to prevent that. Work with me on this.
I don’t want any stress for her. I don’t even want her worryin’ over a broken fingernail. ”
“You know ya should ease up on the stress a little too,” I point out cleverly.
“Yeah, well that ain’t easy when I got a bone-head brother who forgot to tell the girl he loves how he feel, and drunk-fucked her instead!” Garrett snaps back under his breath.
“You did what? ” Cole raises his voice in shock and Garrett practically grapples him to the ground to keep him quiet.
“What did I just say? This is the kinda shit we can’t have Maisie stressin’ over. Leia was here today, she didn’t mention it to her so we keep this between us until it’s resolved.”
“That's not what I need to talk to ya about.” I take a breath and get ready for the onslaught. “I called into the guesthouse and spoke to Mom,” I admit. Both my brothers glare back at me in shock, and I see how pissed they both are.
“You know what, Wade? You’re makin’ some real fuckin’ stupid decisions just lately. You wanna get that head of yours checked.” Cole taps his temple at me.
“Mom says she wants to explain why she left, that she had her reasons. She promised if we hear her out and decide we can’t forgive her that she’ll leave, and I for one wanna know what she’s got to say.”
“No!” Cole stares back at me coldly, proving he ain’t budging on this, and when I look at Garrett he also shakes his head. “I’m sorry, I ain’t interested. She's twenty years too late for explanations. You want answers, Wade, you go get ‘em, but I ain’t with ya on this.”
“I ain’t doin’ this alone, we made a pact, and we stick to it. It’s all or nothin’.”
“Sometimes, you gotta do what ya gotta do, Wade. We’ll understand. If ya want them answers, go hear her out.” Cole shrugs his shoulders.
“I wanted us to make this decision together, logically, and this ain’t a fair vote. Maisie should be in here and if she was, we all know she’d stand with me. The way I see it, this is a split decision.”
“It don’t work like th—”
“No, he’s got a point,” Garrett holds Cole off.
“Fine, we’ll take it as a split decision, and since I’m the eldest, I get the swayin’ vote,” Garrett lowers his tone.
“Like I said, we ain’t interested. If ya wanna hear her lame ass excuses, go hear ‘em, but as far as I’m concerned my mom died twenty years ago.
” Garrett marches toward the door, taking a deep breath before he opens it up and pastes on a smile to go out to Maisie.
“I can’t believe ya still haven’t told her how ya feel.
You fucked her, but you didn’t tell her…
Wade, she’s gonna marry that little weasel and you’re gonna spend your whole life wishin’ you’d have found your fuckin’ balls.
Do it before it’s too fuckin’ late.” Cole steps out too, and even he manages to put on a smile for Maisie as he heads over to join ‘em.