Chapter Ten #2
“No. I always wondered what he thought about my disappearance.”
“That was your only friend your entire childhood?”
“Once, a family moved in next to us when I was eleven. They had a little girl about my age. We met through the fence in our backyards. My father caught me sitting beside the fence, talking to her. He got angry and confronted the father. I could hear him from my house. After that, I wasn’t allowed to go into the backyard, and soon after, they moved. ”
“Jesus Christ. What’s your father’s problem?”
“He’s told me he didn’t want me around any outside influence, that he didn’t want me to turn out like my whore of a mother.
He preached that the world had fallen to the Devil, and he was protecting me.
He called himself a religious man, but from what I saw, he didn’t have a Christian bone in his body. ”
Jared pulled her onto his lap and held her against his chest. He didn’t want her to see the pulsing anger racing through him.
“Where was your mother?”
Sky pressed herself tighter against his chest.
“I don’t know. If she had wanted me, he wouldn’t have let me go anyway. He always told me I would be his ticket. I was never quite sure what that meant.”
Jared knew precisely what that meant and was afraid to find out how he would have used her if he hadn’t come upon his ad for a wife. He tilted her head back and kissed her softly.
They both moaned as he pushed his tongue into her mouth. A car driving by pulled him back. He lifted his head.
“This is not a good place for this, Honey. We need to get some shopping done so we can get back to the ranch. I’m pretty clueless about women’s clothes, but I’m sure we can ask for help if we need it.”
Sky nodded, stood, and then smoothed down the fabric of her dress.
He grasped her hand and started back the way they came.
“Let’s try the second place. I think there were several things you liked in there.”
Sky pulled him to a stop several feet from the shop. “Jared, I’m sure this is the last thing you want to be doing right now. Let’s just go home.”
“No way. I would like us to spend most of the day together. Eventually, we will go on a honeymoon if you want, but it’s a busy time on the ranch. If there is something else you’d rather do today, we can do that, too.”
“Well, there is one thing. Is there a place we can get an ice cream cone?”
Jared stopped suddenly, causing Sky to almost run into him.
“Yes, there is. We’ll do that after, okay?” He glanced down at his watch. “We’ll get some lunch while we’re at it.
Sky nodded.
The next two hours were torture for both.
Sky decided she didn’t like to shop, and Jared decided it was hard to watch her change into so many outfits that showed off her body.
He stayed hard the whole time, making sitting excruciating.
They finally decided on several pairs of jeans, a dozen or so shirts in every style, dresses, shoes, and even underwear.
He hadn’t seen that yet. Sky had been too shy to show him those.
Jared took her to a diner he’d always enjoyed, and he knew they made the best ice cream sundaes. After they were seated, Jared watched as Sky looked around, wide-eyed in amazement. A loud voice beside the table gained their attention.
“Whatleyouhave?”
Sky jumped, startled, and looked at Jared in confusion.
He laughed. “She’s asking what we want for lunch?”
He almost laughed again when they both scowled at him. He coughed out a laugh behind his hand before shielding his face from them with the menu. After a minute, he looked at Sky. She was studying the menu like it was the holy Bible, and she looked more uncomfortable as the seconds passed.
“Baby, do you want me to order for us?”
Sky let out a relieved sigh. “Yes, please.” Then she set her menu down.
After he ordered, and the waitress walked away, Jared reached across the table for her hands. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m tired, how about you?”
“A little. We’ll head home after this, so you can rest while I get some work done today.”
“Absolutely,” she said and tried to pull away from him. “I’m sorry about making you stay in town for so long.”
“For one thing, I made you stay here, not vice-versa, and I hire people who can take care of most of the ranch work, so I can do other things when I need to.”
Jared released her hands when the waitress came back with their waters and his coffee.
“What do you want to do for the rest of the day?”
“I don’t know. Are there things I can help you with outside?”
He lifted his eyes as he set his coffee cup down. “I don’t want you outside right now.”
“What? Why?”
“Because we have more men on the ranch now than usual. I don’t know a few of them well, and I don’t want them messing with you.”
“I see.” She frowned and looked down at her glass. Sky guessed that living with Jared wasn’t going to be any different than when she lived with her father.
Jared watched the light go out in her eyes and could have kicked himself.
“It’s only for a few days. Although one thing I’m very serious about is that you are never to leave the ranch without me.”
Sky looked at his hard face. “Is that an order?”
Jared leaned over the table and narrowed his eyes. “Yes, and I’m telling you right now there will be hell to pay if you disobey me on this. You don’t know your way around, and you could easily get lost.”
Sky leaned over a bit and narrowed her own eyes. “I didn’t know I had to obey you?”
Jared smiled. “You just promised to obey me in front of several people, Babe, you can’t go back on your vows now.”
Sky stiffened and sat back. “I don’t remember saying that.”
Jared leaned back and rested his arm on the back of the booth seat. “Ask Abby.”
She wanted to kick him under the table and was shocked by the urge. She’d never been a fighter, had always been a passive woman until she’d met him. On the other hand, she felt a little stronger as time passed, and it might do him good not to have a doormat for a wife.
Jared was afraid of the look on her face. He narrowed his eyes. “I mean it, Sky.”
Sky leaned back as the waitress placed plates in front of them. She noticed he was still staring at her and shrugged before picking up a fat fry and popping it into her mouth.
Jared gazed at the top of her head and bit back a smile.
She was turning out to have spunk, and he was happy and worried that the more she trusted him, the sassier she was going to get.
He decided he was okay with that. He liked watching her bloom right before his eyes, and he’d have reasons to bicker with her.