No one had ever made her feel so tingly in her life. His kisses moved to her neck. She leaned her head over to give him better access. He unfastened the hook and eye at the back of her halter top and let it fall. He took a long searing minute to look upon the porcelain skin and then started stringing kisses down her body, removing clothing as he went. His kisses were alter nately demanding and steamy and then soft and sweet as butterfly wings against her skin, his hands rendering touches as soft as cold silk caressing her. Heat and cold all mixed together to send her senses reeling and her body begging for more.
The only thought that crossed her mind was that everyone had been wrong about Griffin. He wasn't the good twin; he was the evil one. The wolf in sheep's clothing. When he slipped her silk bikini panties down to her ankles and tossed them aside she was biting back moans and the only thought in her head was that she was more than ready for him to get on with the job.
She pressed her naked body against him, arching her back to get closer and closer. But he didn't hurry. He continued to kiss, caress, and make love to Julie until she was ready to scream. When she shivered, he pulled a blanket from a nail and covered them both.
"Don't look at me," she said.
"Why?" he whispered.
"The stretch marks never went away," she whispered.
He kissed each of them. "They're not to be ashamed of. You are so beautiful, Julie," he murmured.
When she begged him to make love to her, he told her that like her, he wasn't going to rush into anything.
His touch created shivers in the weirdest places. She could have sworn her toenails curled and her hair straightened out when his fingertips played with the palm of her hand. The muscles in her legs quivered when he kissed the bottom of her feet. The nerves under her hair vibrated when he brushed his fingers over her breast.
At that moment, she realized she'd had sex but she'd never truly had love made to her, and she enjoyed the passion as it took her right to the brink of heaven and back again.
"Please," she begged.
"Please what?" he whispered in her ear and strung another line of kisses from her neck to her waist.
She groaned. She couldn't take anymore and he was teasing now. She'd show him what please meant and he'd be begging by the time she was finished. She rolled him over on his back and sat on his waist, pulling the blanket up over her back to keep from freezing. As if that would happen. The heat between them was so intense, she thought she'd die of a heat stroke before she ever talked him into really hot, plain old animal sex. She pushed him backwards and very, very slowly unfastened each button on his shirt, kissing the naked spots as they appeared. When his shirt was in a heap with her under pants and dress, she unbuckled his belt.
"Hurry," he groaned.
"Remember, I don't rush into anything. Sex…" She pulled the belt out of the loops.
"Fun," she unsnapped his jeans.
"Love," she unzipped them ever so slowly.
He reached down to slip out of his jeans and she slapped his hands away. "My turn, Griffin Luckadeau. You have met your match. Sex, marriage, happiness… don't rush. It's not a destination. It's the journey," she whispered in his ear as she stretched out on top of him.
She strung kisses downward as she slipped the jeans from his hips. It was her turn and it was too late now for either of them to stop. It was going to play out to the finish.
By the time she finished removing his boots he was moaning. When she tossed the last sock toward the pile of rumpled clothing in the corner he reached out and took her in his arms, rolled her over in the hay, and in one swift stroke was inside her.
It lasted longer than either of them thought it could when their bodies were screaming for release.
*********
"Damn!" she gasped.
He rolled away, yet kept her snuggled into his arms. "Amen. Want to analyze that?"
"No, I want to do it again," she said.
"Right now? We've been gone from the party a long time."
She put her fingers over his lips to shush him. "Shut up and be still. You've got two minutes to get ready to go again or I'll get you ready."
He drew one of her fingers into his mouth and she gasped.
They made it back to the barn as the band announced the last song. Griffin led her out onto the dance floor and she swayed in tune with his body. The singer finished up the night with a request from Laura which was "The Dance," an older song by Garth Brooks.
"Fitting," she said.
"All of it? Including the hayloft?" he asked.
"Every bit of it," she said.
"Are you going to say good-bye?"
"I don't rush into good-byes, either. Like the man says, our lives are better left to chance. Who knows what tomorrow might bring? I'm tired of trying to figure it out."
"Hey sis," Sally and Alvie danced by them.
"Here." Sally put something in the hand Julie had around Griffin's neck.
"What?" Julie asked.
"Just one little piece of hay in your hair. We'll talk how it got there and about that shit eatin' grin on your face later. I'll bring the beers. You keep the light burning."
Chapter 15
SALLY'S HAIR WAS WRAPPED IN A TOWEL AND SHE WORE A T-shirt and cotton underpants. She eased into the room to find her sister sitting up in bed, her knees drawn up like she always did when she was trying to think her way through a problem.
Sally propped two pillows against the headboard and settled in for a visit. "I found the bathroom because the door was open and had a shower. Then I found your room because the light was showing under the door."
"Why did you quit your job?" Julie asked.
"Do you believe in fate?" Sally asked.
"What's that got to do with quitting your job?"
"Everything. I don't believe in fate. Never did. Thought it was the biggest bunch of hogwash in the world. Then Momma called and told me about this thing you are going through with the Luckadeaus. Still didn't believe in it. Coincidence explained it all. I got to admit it was a hell of a lot of coincidence, but still—fate? No way, sister." Sally poked Julie in the ribs.
"So now you do or now you don't?" Julie poked back.
"Do you?" Sally asked.
"Didn't, but I might be changing my mind," Julie said.
"Okay, hear me out. When you moved here I thought you were crazy like Aunt Flossie. Figured she saw the trait in you and that's why she left you all that money. I couldn't understand why you'd leave Jefferson. Apartment where the rent was never going up; Momma to take care of Annie; Daddy to fix your car or your garbage disposal. Now I think fate brought you here."
"Okay," Julie said.
"There's more. If you hadn't already been here I wonder if Eli would have taken that job in Bowie?"
"Eli is moving to Bowie?" Julie had no idea he was even considering a move from east Texas.
"In a month. He preached at the church there a few weeks ago. The Sunday after Momma and Daddy came for your festival. So you came to Saint Jo and Eli got the courage to leave Linden. He met a woman from here, too. I'm not supposed to tell you because she's your friend and Momma says it might be meddling. Her name is Mamie and they've been out to dinner three times and he's laughing again."
Julie threw up her hands. "Hold on. Eli and Mamie?" So that's why she hadn't seen much of Mamie the past—how long? She had seen her at the festival and when Dian tried to kidnap Annie. But it had been days since they'd talked, what with the sale and the party and the obnoxious Luckadeaus taking so much of her time.
Sally gave a minute to digest that and went on, "Yep, Eli and Mamie. It's looking serious from Momma's standpoint. It's the first woman he's even been interested in since Teresa died."
Julie still had trouble believing it. "Mamie?"
"That's what Momma called her. I thought she said Amy at first, but she corrected me and said the lady's name is Mamie. Think I could meet her while I'm here?"
"How long are you staying?"
"How long are you going to let me without telling Momma?"
Julie giggled. "Forever. Come with me. I've got something to show you."
"Other than that handsome hunk that has to be Annie's father? How'd you find him? Is that the reason you moved here?"
Julie grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door. They tiptoed to the next room and Julie opened the door quietly and led her to the bed. Two little girls with white streaks were side-by-side, holding hands even in their sleep.
"Which one is Annie?"
"In the blue," Julie said.
"He had a wife while he was having sex with you?"
"No, Annie is not Griffin's child. She's his twin brother's. That one is Lizzy. She belongs to Griffin. Annie belongs to Graham."
"This gets weirder and weirder. I think I hear spooky music playing in my head," Sally said.
By the time they got back into Julie's room, Sally had unwrapped her head and wet strands of damp, deep-red hair flowed down her back. She settled in again and started, "I only got a glimpse of Annie's real father as you two were leaving the bar that night, but I like the twin with the hair better. I can see where the white streak came from for sure. And I met the grandmother briefly. Alvie introduced me."
"Did he stop stuttering?"
"After a while. He apologized to me for offering to run away with you," Sally giggled.
"And?"
"He's staying in Texas for a week."
"Be careful."
"I didn't believe in fate. But I do now," Sally said.
"Why now?" Julie asked.
"When summer finished last year and I was ready to go back to school, I felt like there was a brick in my chest. Something big and black and I couldn't shake it. I went to church. I asked God what I should do. I went to parties. I got drunk. Nothing took it away. Not even chocolate." Sally paused.
"Go on."
"Don't know if I can describe it. It was like my heart was somewhere other than my body and the two couldn't live that way," Sally said.
Julie giggled that time. "Exactly the way I felt when I came to Saint Jo and bought the Lassiter property, which burned down. I suppose Momma did tell you that."
"Yes, but she's kept secrets from us both. Guess she figured we needed to find them out together instead of through her. One morning last week I woke up and all I could think was, 'Go home to your sister.' Then I thought about how utterly crazy that sounded. My home was not at your house. You didn't even have a house. You were staying with a rancher in north Texas."
Julie patted her hand. "It can be your home until you get your ducks in a row."
"So I came home to my sister and this is the really, really strange part. I think I could fall for Alvie," Sally said.
Julie clamped her hand over her mouth. "What?"
"I told you it was bizarre. We danced and talked and sat in the corner drinking the same kind of beer and talked some more. Tonight I am a converted believer in fate. He's staying a week at a little hotel in Saint Jo. We're going to explore the area. I didn't even know Saint Jo was big enough to have a hotel."
"Did he tell you that he would sign over his ranch to you?" Julie asked.
"No, he said he would give me his heart, the rest was just material possessions and worthless without a heart," Sally blushed.
"You are turning red? I can't believe it," Julie said.
"He's so handsome and I've never had anyone treat me like that. And Julie, the heavy weight is gone. I listened to my heart. I came home to my sister and you fixed it."
"So, I've been brought here to this little town to face all my demons so that you and Eli can find happiness and you can meet Alvie?" Julie said.
"Hey, wasn't that a bit of hay I picked from your hair? And you can't fool me, honey. That was definitely afterglow on your face when you and Griffin came back into the barn," Sally said.
Julie blushed even redder than her sister. "It was not."
"Liar, liar, pants on fire. I smell smoke coming from your under britches," Sally teased. "I'm going to sleep now and dream of that good-looking cowboy who has stolen my heart. You might do the same. Tomorrow morning we'll compare notes and see who had the best dream sex ever," Sally said.
"You are incorrigible," Julie said.
"Yes, I am, but I'm so glad to feel good again I don't even care."
*********
Breakfast was on the bar by the time everyone awoke. Julie had made oven omelets and kept them hot by draping a wet tea towel over the pans and shoving them into a barely warm oven. Biscuits, some already buttered, some plain, waited in baskets. The crock-pot held sausage gravy and the griddle was set up for anyone who wanted pancakes.
"This is a treat," Jimmy said when he and Laura made it to the kitchen.
Laura dipped a chunk of omelet out of the pan. "You've got to write down the recipe for this. My cook would love to have it."
"No recipe to it but I'll write down the layers. First it's scrambled eggs. A dozen to the nine-by-thirteen-inch pan. Then cooked and drained sausage. After that either a layer of thinly sliced Velveeta cheese or whatever kind of grated cheese is your favorite. Then another layer of eggs. Sometimes I put the picante in it; most of the time I serve it on the side."