Chapter Six
Sitting down for Sunday dinner with the family was one of the high points of Justus’s week. Each seat was filled, and several parents held children in their laps. Recently, a kids’ table had been added to one corner of the room where the older kids sat.
Ham and all the fixin’s were spread out before them, and Uncle Ted said grace before they all dug in.
Justus’s plate was filled and he was starving. But he felt a little out of sorts too, had been since his stolen moments with Tuesday.
He hadn’t seen her the past few times he’d been in town, though he’d driven past the hardware store and her apartment several times. She was probably working or maybe her momma had come in, like she’d said.
Looking around the table at the happy couples surrounding him only made him wonder how that would feel. To sit next to a woman he loved and touch her hand under the table, to look into her eyes and share a joke with her.
“How’s everything going up at the Guthries?” his uncle asked.
He swallowed a bite of ham and nodded. “Pretty well. Mark’s headin’ to auction soon to build the herd.”
Uncle Ted arched a brow. “That so? Well, prices are on the upswing, so makes sense.”
“Yes. I told him as much.”
“You got a good head for business on your shoulders, boy. Your pa raised you right.”
He smiled and exchanged a look with his brothers, who sat farther down the table with their wives. “I’m sure he’d like to hear it.”
Uncle Ted shook his head. “Can’t make his head too big now, can I?”
They all laughed.
Talk turned to cattle and news of the neighboring ranches. To his right, the women discussed teething. Funny enough, he tuned in to their conversation.
“Is that why Joshua James is always gnawin’ on his fists?” he asked.
Several people around him silenced. Beck’s wife Sabrina smiled. “Yes, he’s just gearing up. Have you been babysitting him?”
He lifted his shoulder in a shrug and shoved in a bite of ham to keep from replying. The awkward moment passed, but he was left wondering why he was so attached to that boy after only seeing him a few times.
Funny thing was, it wasn’t only his momma Justus was enthralled with. Though she slobbered less and was prettier.
He knew she had that pageant hair job in the next county and wondered how it’d gone. He didn’t want to pry into her life even as the desire to just show up on her doorstep had pricked at him a half dozen times this week.
She said she couldn’t go further with him. He understood.
That didn’t mean he’d abide by it.
He leaned close to Sabrina and lowered his voice. “What time’s the party next Saturday?”
She shot his aunt and uncle a glance to make sure they weren’t paying attention. “Four o’clock,” she returned.
He nodded and got back to his Sunday dinner while she resumed her conversation with her sister-in-law. After the meal, the ladies left the table and men all hung back to clean up the dishes, as was tradition. None of them minded. In fact, after tidying Tuesday’s place, he understood wanting to take care of a woman.
Dammit, she had him knotted up and he’d only made it to second base. How would he feel if she really let him into her life?
He tried to think up a reason to go into town but everything was closed on Sunday. He could just claim he was going for a Sunday drive and then knock on her door. She wouldn’t be working, he knew that much.
After handing over the dishtowel to Hank, he headed outside. The fresh air brought the scents of mowed grass and a tang of hay. He wandered toward the barn but caught sight of the paddock and two of the horses running.
He strode to the fence and immediately spotted the foal, trapped beneath the bottom rung, his slender legs twisted.
“Damn!” He vaulted over the fence and landed on his boots, running as soon as he hit the earth. The momma snorted at him in warning, but he ignored it.
He dropped to his knees and took hold of the foal’s leg at the knee joint to try to work it back through the fence, when it started thrashing.
He released it and backed off. It could hurt itself more if he pressured the animal. Speaking in hushed tones, he attempted to soothe it. When it had calmed a bit, he took hold of the leg again.
It kicked wildly, and the fence shook. He glanced up but no one was around, all still inside cleaning up. He didn’t have time to spare—one wrong twist and the foal would have a busted leg.
He couldn’t risk that.
Determined, he grasped its leg again and maneuvered it. Somehow it had managed to hook its hoof between the upper rungs while the rest of its leg was beneath. Justus had to fish it through one side to get it out the other, and if the foal kicked again, it could easily break the bone.
He spoke to the horse softly and pushed its hoof through. It went wild and the momma gave a warning snort nearby. Justus was aware he was in a tenuous position, but he had no choice. Sometimes you got thrown into a situation and you handled it even if you’d never done it before, just as he had with Joshua James.
One more shove and the foal’s leg came free, but that left another. The foreleg looked even more twisted than the back one, and he wondered if it was too late and might be broken.
Precious seconds ticked by with him fighting to release the foal and it bucking against his efforts.
“Crap,” he heard one of his cousins say and then Cash was in the paddock with him, crouching to help. “How the hell’d this happen?”
“No idea. Slippery little devil, though. Throw somethin’ over its eyes.”
Cash whipped off his shirt and placed it over the foal’s head. It calmed immediately, and Justus realized he should have thought of it sooner. The second leg came out of the fence easily without the animal struggling against him.
He and Cash sat back on their haunches watching the foal stumble to its feet and get its bearings. Then it trotted toward its momma like nothing at all had happened.
Justus laughed. “Guess it’s okay.”
“Seems like. Makes you realize that in a split second, things can change.”
He mulled that over a moment. In the second when Tuesday had thrust the baby on him, he’d changed. It hadn’t dawned on him right away, but sure enough, that minute had turned him from a bachelor into a man who started thinking about having a family of his own.
The first kiss had made him realize the type of woman he wanted.
And that last had confirmed exactly who it was.
* * * * *
Tuesday sat on the bottom step with the baby on her lap, listening to the traffic in town. It was always what she’d call light, but since she was waiting to hear one car approach the hardware store, it seemed like nobody was out and about at all.
“Nana’s flight came in hours ago,” she said to Joshua James. He stared at her and babbled back.
“I know,” she went on. “She rented a car and should be here soon. Maybe she stopped off for food.”
She’d taken the day off to greet her momma and that alone was a pleasure. She’d worked every day this week and traveled a couple times on top of that. She was glad for the cash but her apartment had been difficult to keep up, and the last thing she wanted was her momma coming to find her place in a bad state.
She’d also hoped to make that dinner for Justus, but…
She hadn’t heard from the man at all and had no idea what that meant. What did it matter anyway? She wasn’t on the market for a relationship. Their few stolen kisses would have to be enough.
Joshua James wiggled in her hold. “You’re starting to squirm a lot. I know you want down to practice rolling, but I can’t lay you in the parking lot, you little turd.” She planted a big kiss on his round cheek.
A car engine sounded nearby. She cocked her head and got to her feet as the sound grew closer. She tucked the baby against her middle and excitement bloomed in her as she saw the unfamiliar car that could only be a rental roll into the lot.
“Nana’s here!” She looked down at the baby and back to the windshield of the car and her mom behind the wheel. She took Joshua James’s arm and flapped it in hello.
Her momma parked and jumped out, running the few steps up to Tuesday and the baby. Of course, she made a grab for her grandson first, leaving Tuesday to loop an arm around her neck and kiss her cheek.
“Ohhh, look how big you are!” Her momma had eyes only for Joshua James. “Your momma’s taking good care of you, isn’t she?”
A lump formed in Tuesday’s throat at the praise. Tears formed in her eyes as she watched her mother bond with the baby once more. He wasn’t strange with people at all, which was a good thing when she was shuttling him between a babysitter near her workplace on weekdays and alternating between a couple teens in town.
Her momma snuggled the baby tight and kissed that kiwi-soft hair on the crown of his head that Tuesday kissed too many times a day to count.
“Oh honey, he’s beautiful. And so are you. Though you look tired.”
“Gee, thanks, Momma.”
She chuckled. “Comes with motherhood. Someday you’ll sleep again. Come help me with my bags. I’ve got some presents for this little boy, don’t I?” she said to the baby.
By the time they got upstairs with Tuesday lugging a bag and a rolling suitcase, she’d officially been caught up in the whirlwind that was her mother’s visit.
After she checked out every corner of the apartment and sat with Joshua James on her knee and stared at him for a long time, she finally looked to Tuesday.
“How are you, honey? I worry.”
“I’m doing fine, Momma. I’ve had some ups and downs. Figuring out how to live in a new town, living alone, being a mother… all those are learning curves. I think I have everything under control now.”
“You got solid childcare for this important baby boy?” She stared into Joshua James’s blue eyes.
“I struggled at first, but that’s improving, yes.” For some reason, her mind shot to the times Justus had watched him. How good he was with the baby. And how good he kissed.
She focused on her momma again as she went off on another tangent, asking how much he was eating and if she was giving him cereal. She already knew most of this information, because Tuesday texted it all to her or spoke to her over the phone. But it was so good to have her mother here, she didn’t mind retelling it.
After getting them both some sweet tea and the baby a bottle, which her mother settled down to feed him in the cozy corner of the sofa, Tuesday was told to dig out all the gifts in her suitcase.
While she pulled blue outfit after blue outfit from the bag, along with a pretty sundress for herself in her favorite aquamarine hue, she hit the toys. “Momma, what is all this?” She pulled out a stuffed whale, something with flashing lights and several toys that jangled.
“I have to spoil my boy. There are books too.”
“Oh good. I’m trying to build his bookshelf and we read every day.” She reached into the suitcase and removed the books one by one, reading the titles. From across the room, her cell phone rang.
She prayed it wasn’t her manager, because she’d told them her mother was visiting and she couldn’t come in. She’d also asked for the fewest number of hours this week as possible, though her momma had really come to spend time with Joshua James and wouldn’t mind too much.
She jumped up and answered the call.
A deep rumble filled her ear.
And sent her stomach south.
“Tuesday, it’s Justus.”
“Uh, hi.” She shot a look at her momma, who was busy gazing at the baby as he sucked down his bottle.
“I hope you don’t mind I got your number off Shelby.”
“Of course not. What’s up?”
“Are you free tomorrow?” he asked.
“No, I’m expensive.”
Across the room, she heard her momma giggle.
Justus chuckled too. “I’m calling to invite you officially to my aunt and uncle’s anniversary surprise party.”
“Oh, a surprise party?”
Her momma’s head snapped up.
“Yes, somehow we all managed to keep it from them. They think it’s a normal Saturday, but everyone’s showing up around four.”
“I’d love to come. Is it all right if I bring my momma?”
“Of course.”
“Can I bring anything?”
He chuckled, the sound edging deep inside her and sending tingles between her thighs. “If you saw the list of food the Dalton women have prepared, you’d see there’s nothing left to make that won’t be a double.”
She laughed. “Knowing them, I believe you. All right, four o’clock. We’ll see you then.”
“Tuesday.”
She paused, heart beating faster at the serious tone he used to say her name. “Yes?”
“I’ll pay any price to see you.”
Her mouth dried out, and with her momma staring at her, heat scorched her cheeks. She turned away from her knowing eyes and spoke to Justus. “I’ll see you then.”
Once she ended the call, she took a moment to stare out the window and think over his words and how he made her feel.
He makes me feel things I don’t have time for.
She turned back. Her momma arched a groomed brow. “Who was that?”
“Justus Dalton.”
“Oooh, nice name.”
“Momma, stop that. He was just calling to invite us to his aunt and uncle’s anniversary party. Their fiftieth. Would you mind going? It will be fun, on their ranch, with a ton of people to talk to. The whole town’s practically going.”
“Sounds nice. And you’ve got a new sundress to wear for Justus.”
She groaned and covered her face with her hands. “Oh Momma.”
“Don’t oh Momma me. I saw that blush when you got off the phone. And why shouldn’t you date, honey? You’re young and beautiful and you have a lot to offer.”
“Sleepless nights and baby spit-up aren’t exactly enticing to single guys.”
“It will be to the right one. Just because you have a son doesn’t mean your life’s over, Tuesday.”
She felt her cheeks heat again at the thought of seeing Justus and knowing he was still asking to see her despite knowing she came as a package deal.
* * * * *
“Justus.” Hank’s wife Charlotte grabbed Justus’s forearm as he passed. “Would you mind setting up more chairs under the tent? I can’t believe everyone came!”
“Yeah, it’s wall-to-wall people.” People milled all over the back yard where a big white tent had been set up to keep guests out of the beating sun. A country band was on a wooden platform a few of the Daltons had used for their weddings and now they just needed Hank to drive Uncle Ted and Aunt Maggie home from town for their surprise.
He started across the yard to the pickup where wooden chairs were stacked in the bed, borrowed from the church hall. When he spotted Tuesday’s car, he forgot his errand and headed straight for her.
Her bare legs emerged first and stopped his heart. When she revealed she was wearing a sundress in a blue color that set off her light brown hair and made her look like a model you’d see on a beach photoshoot, he stopped in his tracks.
God, she was beautiful.
A grin spread over his face and he reached the car just as an older version of her got out of the passenger’s side. Tuesday started for the back seat where he knew Joshua James was buckled in, but then she spotted him.
“Wow. I mean. Hi.” She gave a nervous smile. “I’ve never seen you dressed up.”
He glanced down at his only good pair of jeans without holes and stains and the white shirt with a lariat around his neck. “Dunno if most would consider it dressed up, but I was asked to put forth an effort, so I did.”
She smiled, mesmerizing him all over again. “It looks good.”
“And your dress… Beautiful.”
They stared at each other. Then he realized someone else was staring at them.
“Oh, this is my mother Rae Lynn. She’s here visiting.”
“I knew that. Welcome.” He gave a nod and smile. A squawk came from the back seat, and he pulled open the door to address the boy.
Joshua James gave a wide smile and flapped his arms.
“He recognizes you,” Rae Lynn said.
“I dunno about that. I think he just likes my hat.” He noticed the ladies exchanging a look and Tuesday waving a hand as if to shoo her mother away. He unbuckled the little tyke and then lifted him out. “Don’t go puking on me, buckaroo. You got it?”
Joshua James cooed.
“I’ll take him so he doesn’t. Come to Nana now.” Rae Lynn took the baby in her arms. “Where’s the party?”
“Around the side. You can’t miss it.”
She took off without a backward glance.
Tuesday laughed. “She doesn’t care that she doesn’t know a single soul here. She’ll make her own friends.”
“Carrying the baby, she’s bound to. Now…” He did what he’d been aching to since he’d last seen her and captured her hands. Her skin was silky-soft and glowed with a sort of shimmer up her arms and on her shoulders. He bet if he lowered his nose to it, he’d detect some delectable fragrance.
And he planned to.
His body was telling him now.
He led her away from the vehicles and toward the barn.
“Justus, where are we going?”
He shot a look back at her. He was burning to cup her face in his hands and look into her eyes before kissing her. And there were a thousand more things he wanted that weren’t fit for public viewing.
Like throw her dress up and shimmy her panties down her thighs.
Pulling her through the barn door into the cool shadows, he whirled to grab her. Yanked her flush against his body and claimed her lips.
She made a soft noise of want as he crushed his mouth over hers and molded her to fit his body.
“I’ve wanted to do this for days,” he grated out.
“Justus…” She clung to his shoulders, kissing him back. The quiet snort of a horse in a far stall was the only sound besides their shared labored breathing.
Passion rose up and he couldn’t stop himself. He reached under her skirt and clutched her round bottom in his hands. She cried out, and he plunged his tongue between her lips as he lifted her.
Wrapping her legs around him, she angled her head and parted her lips for him to take more even as she rocked against him.
He slid a finger along the curve of her ass down between her legs. The thin strip of cloth covering her pussy was damp with need.
“Hell, you’re wet for me.”
“Have been since setting eyes on you. We shouldn’t do this, Justus. But don’t stop.”
He flashed a grin. “Contrary woman. You drive me crazy.”
She ground herself against the bulge in his jeans, and he had to have her.
He let her fall down the length of his body until her sandals touched the floorboards. Then he brushed a kiss across her lips before dipping his tongue to bathe the crests of her breasts, just peeking from the neckline of her blue dress.
She threw her head back but knocked off his hat to sink her fingers into his hair, guiding him where she wanted him. When he burrowed into her bra and lashed his tongue over the swell of her breast, she cried out.
“Don’t stop,” she panted.
“Not till you’re calling my name, doll.” He took her nipple in his mouth. The first gentle pull had her arching. The second she was writhing. By the third, she was tearing at his shirt.
The buttons fell open and the lariat hit the floor. When she spread her soft fingers over his chest, curling them lightly into the hair there, he didn’t think he could grow any harder.
He slid his fingers under her skirt and found that damp cloth again. Running his fingertip over the bumps of her pussy, learning the shape of her. The scent of her arousal struck him, and he groaned.
“I need to taste you.” He let her slide to the floor.
“Justus.” Her voice wobbled, and he didn’t know if it was with resistance or a plea.
One look into her eyes and he knew the answer.
He hit his knees in front of her, cupping her ass with one hand and pushing aside her panties to access that sweet nectar between her legs. When he flicked his tongue over her swollen nub, she bit back a cry.
He licked her again, and she swayed into his mouth. He sank his tongue between her slick folds, groaning at the honey he tasted, and eased it backward till he discovered her soaking opening.
“Oh God. I’m shaking, Justus. I’m… I’m…”
He hadn’t licked her a full minute before she was coming apart for him. Quaking in his grasp, her pussy pulsating under his tongue. He slid his finger into the folds and sank it deep inside her just to feel the contractions.
She cried out louder this time, bowed forward, her whole body shaking and undulating against him.
When he brought her down, she hung over him, her shiny waves of hair fallen forward to cover her exposed breasts.
He pulled his finger free and gained his feet. Crushing her to his body as he kissed her.
* * * * *
Somewhere between her riding his tongue and her inner walls squeezing his long finger inside her, the Daltons and all their guests had yelled, “Surprise.”
But the biggest surprise had been her reaction to Justus. He’d barely touched her, and she’d been so keyed up, she’d come apart for him in seconds. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry that she hadn’t gotten more out of the moment.
Yet her insides still pulsed with liquid heat and the man was looking at her like he wanted to eat her up all over again.
Thing was, she’d let him.
And that scared her.
“We missed it,” he rasped.
She nodded. “I know.”
“I want more out of you. I want to drag you to that hay and have my way with you the rest of the afternoon.”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
“God, you’re so fucking beautiful. Your eyes are all wide and I can see the desire in them.” He cradled her face and kissed her, gently this time, but given another heartbeat and the kiss would swell out of control.
He broke the caress, leaving her to stare at the warm, tanned muscles of his chest under her hands. She’d known he’d be natural with body hair, and the spattering of black hair grew darker as it hit his abs in a thin trail that disappeared into his waistband. Below that, his bulge of arousal made her wet her lips.
He groaned. “I’m torn.”
“Between?” she whispered.
“Throwing your dress over the hay and taking you or putting in an appearance first.”
She leaned back to look at him. “Who knew you were so restrained?”
He gave a low noise that was almost a laugh, almost a moan. “If we go out to the party, promise me you’ll come away with me and let me have you again.” He brought his finger that had been inside her to his lips and sucked.
A shudder ran through her. If he’d been trying to persuade her by doing that, he’d done the job right.
Besides, she hadn’t given him any pleasure, and he had to be in pain judging by how tight those jeans were against his erection.
She nodded.
This was crazy. Irresponsible as hell.
When he pulled back, she followed him.
He flashed that crooked grin that melted her even more and began doing up his shirt buttons. She supposed watching him was her right, because it wasn’t every day a woman get to see a hunky cowboy getting dressed.
She adjusted her bodice and tucked her breasts away. There was no hope for the wetness between her legs. She’d just have to live with it throughout the party, knowing he’d given her a racking orgasm to blow her mind.
As he settled his hat on his head, she reached for his lariat to straighten it.
“Do I look like I just tasted a beautiful woman?” he rumbled.
She shivered again, running her hands down over the starched cotton of his shirt. “You look like you always do—handsome.”
He grinned.
“Do I look like— Never mind. I can see I do by your smile.” She smoothed her hair. “Just tell me my momma isn’t gonna know it the minute she looks at me.”
He didn’t say anything.
She settled a hand on her hip. “At least lie to me, Justus.”
“She won’t know a thing, doll. C’mon.” He took her by the hand, threading their fingers, and led her back across the yard and around the side of the house. The party was in full swing, and the happy couple was the center of attention, dancing alone to an old slow song while everyone looked on with happiness and tears in their eyes for a love that had withstood the test of time.
Justus released her hand and shot a look over his shoulder at her. “I forgot to get more chairs.”
She watched him go, but that look lingered in her mind. What if his expression right then… had been the same one Mr. Dalton had given his young woman fifty years ago?