Authors: Reggi Allder
CHAPTER 19
It
had
felt right to let Wyatt hold her. The corners of Amy’s mouth tiled up remembering. Still, her rational brain told her it was wrong.
They both loved her grandmother. Knowing that sent a wave of relief coursing through her. But even with their similar experiences, by way of Granny, they’d come to very different goals. He cared about the farm, but he could sell it. She couldn’t.
Even though he said he wanted something else, his career made sure he’d always be on the move, a free agent responsible for no one but himself. She, on the other hand, had formed a family unit and had Bobby to consider in all her decisions.
How could she love a man who, in the name of helping her, wanted her to sell Bobby’s legacy and destroy her dream of self-reliance and financial independence? Was love and hate interchangeable? With a groan, she closed the front door.
Somehow she’d stop Wyatt from selling.
***
The sun rose as Wyatt reached his truck. He got in the cab but didn’t start the engine. Instead, he recalled Amy’s kiss. Sweet, sincere, and different from any he’d shared with other women. Not only that, last night he’d talked more to her than he’d ever talked anyone.
There was a vulnerability about her that let him feel safe telling her things he’d never shared. She’d listened without expressing judgment and he’d conveyed things even his brother didn’t know.
He rubbed his stiff neck and stifled a yawn. The cottage had a bed where he could flop. No. It was too close to the farmhouse and Amy and his desire to have her. He imagined her in bed, sexy and wanting him. He recalled the feel of her body pressing against him. His need hardened. The cottage was definitely too near to her.
He’d told her he only wanted to talk. He lied, not merely to her but to himself. He wanted to take her and make her his. He shook his head in disgust. She and Bobby deserved a family man with roots in the community and a stable job that allowed him to come home every night, not a cowhand with wanderlust and an uncertain future. She needed someone like Mike.
No matter how much money Wyatt earned as he got older he was still going to end up a just another broken down cowboy. He started the truck’s engine and drove away.
***
The next morning in farmhouse’s driveway the rumble of machinery caught Amy’s attention. She wiped her hands on her cotton apron, ran to the kitchen window, and looked out. Wearing jean coveralls and a blue work shirt, Johnny Hansen sat on his tractor, straw hat on his head, ready to move the bales of hay just as he promised. Not many men in her life kept their word.
Thank you, Johnny.
At the back door, she leaned out and yelled, “Hi Johnny, come in and have a cup of coffee. I’ve got breakfast cooking, eggs and bacon.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I ate. If you don’t mind I’ll get started. If you’ll just show…
“Can I ride on the tractor?” Bobby interrupted them as he ran up to the door and peeked out. His eyes widened when he saw the man and his machine.
“When you’re older Bobby.”
“Aw.”
She tousled his hair “You’ll grow up fast enough.” With his small hand in hers, she walked out to speak to her neighbor.
“Johnny, I’ve got a picture of what I hope the maze will look like.” She took a folded plan from her pocket and showed it to him. “I wondered if we could do something like that. Thought we could put it in the meadow next to the house. But not too close to the berry patch.” She paused.
Johnny ran his gnarled hand over his stubble covered chin, but didn’t speak.
“Uh. That way it’s near the pumpkins and the barn where we’re going to have the refreshments and the crafts.” She handed the plan to him.
He wiped his brow with a blue handkerchief and pulled the plan close to his face. “Can I keep this?”
“Sure.”
He stared at the paper for a long moment. “Yep, I can make this.” He waved the paper in the direction where she wanted the maze. “Just show me exactly where you want it and I’ll put it there.”
“Oh Johnny, that’s wonderful.” She wanted to give him a hug, but was afraid it would embarrass him.
While he moved the hay bales, Bobby helped her clean the tack room next the barn.
“We’re going to use this room for the craft shop,” she said. “Over there in the corner we can set up tables and your friends can have pie and apple juice.”
“I like apple juice. It’s my favorite.” Bobby set the broom he was using against the wall, coughed and wiped the dust off his jeans. “I like it better than orange juice.”
“Yeah, me too.” Amy laughed remembering the gift Mike gave her. “But they’re both good for you.”
She glanced around the room. “Now that the stuff is out and we’ve cleaned it, the room is bigger than I realized.”
“Was I a good helper?”
“You were great.” She hugged him. “We’ll have lots of room for tables and chairs so everyone can sit down and still have enough room for shelves to put the crafts on.”
“Can I play now?”
“Okay, but stay close to the barn where I can see you. I’ll be in here painting. And keep an eye out for snakes.”
“Gee, Mommy. I know about snakes.”
“I just worry.” She drew him into her arms and hugged him again. So small and delicate, she doubted strangers would guess he was nearly five years old.
Please God, keep him safe.
He pulled out of her arms and ran into the yard. So grown up and that’s what she wanted. But soon he wouldn’t want her hugs, because he’d be too big for that kind of stuff.
With the broom, she yanked down the last cobweb. Then opened the can of paint left over from Bobby’s room. She could hear him playing in the yard. The sound of Johnny’s tractor buzzed in the background, the hum of a busy farm. The life she’d dreamed of was becoming a reality.
Three hours later, she stopped to take a break and get lunch ready. She glanced at Granny’s old wrist watch, one o’clock. “Late for lunch,” she mumbled. Bobby was still playing in the yard with his Hot Wheel cars.
“Time for lunch. Go wash up.”
She’d heated the beef and carrot stew she’d made earlier and tossed a salad. In the morning she’d baked two apple pies, one to eat and one for Johnny to take home. The kitchen still smelled of the baked apples. She took a gulp of air and then exhaled slowly.
Nothing better than the aroma of baked pies.
Where was Wyatt right now? What was he doing? Was he thinking of her? She shook her head to clear it.
He has a long line of women he could be thinking about.
All prettier and with fewer problems than you. So stop.
After he left this morning, she’d promised not to mull over their situation, no a point in tormenting herself. It was crazy wishing for a relationship with a man who had more women in his life than anyone she’d ever met. No matter how much Bobby needed a man’s influence, it wasn’t fair to let him care too much for Wyatt, who didn’t want to be his father.
He was probably on his way back to the rodeo circuit and this time she wouldn’t follow his travels online. A grown woman shouldn’t waste time dreaming of a relationship that could never be.
There was enough to do taking care of Bobby and the farm, including the pumpkin patch and the apple orchard and the blog talking about farm life. The more she concentrated on getting that right, the better chance she had keeping the property.
A man like Wyatt only brought emotional upheaval in her life and she certainly didn’t need that. Decision made, she’d forget about any future with Wyatt. She grabbed a quick breath and relaxed her shoulders. She and Bobby would be just fine on their own.
“Honey, did you wash your hands?” she shouted from the kitchen doorway looking toward her son’s room.
With the table set for three, she went to find Johnny and tell him lunch was ready.
She got back from the meadow and entered the house in time to see her son open the front door. “Honey, where are you going?”
Bobby ran out of the house to the front porch.
It was then she heard a pick-up truck in the driveway.
CHAPTER 20
She
glanced out the living room window just as the black Ford rolled to a stop.
“Hi Wyatt,” Bobby yelled.
“Hey big guy.”
Her heart thundered as she watched Wyatt jump out of the cab. Bobby ran up to him.
“Where’s your horsy?”
She couldn’t hear the answer because the sound of Johnny’s tractor drowned out their voices.
Bobby waved his hands in the air as he talked. Wyatt leaned down and then he kneeled on the ground near her son. Her son’s expression became serious. Wyatt leaned closer. There they were speaking man to man. Again she was reminded how much a man’s influence was needed.
Finally the noise from the tractor stopped and she heard Wyatt say, “I’ve got something for you.”
“For me?”
“Yeah.” He went to the cab of the truck. “Big guy, I got a new book for you. It’s about dogs, all kinds of breeds how they look and what they do.”
Amy saw the excitement in her son’s eyes as he clasped the new book to his chest.
“How’d you know I need a doggie?” He ran to the front door where she was standing. “Mommy, look what Wyatt gave me.”
“That’s wonderful. Did you say thank you?”
“Thank you,” he said and ran into the house.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to. It’d be my fault if he went around scaring half the town with his snake book.” He grinned.
Amy’s heart thundered. Damn Wyatt and his charming grin. She had just prepared herself for not seeing him again. And now here he was unsettling her and her son. Anger raced through her, but it quickly changed to joy when he smiled again.
“I didn’t think I’d see you—so soon, or ever.”
“Thought you and Johnny could use some help with the maze.”
“Guess we could.”
He moved toward her and she felt his strong presence, his manliness barley leashed. He said the right things to her, but there was an undercurrent radiating from him. An emotion she wanted to decode. She looked up. He was staring at her.
“Uh, we were about to have lunch. Why don’t you join us?”
Bobby ran out of the house still carrying the new book. He grabbed Wyatt with his free hand and pulled him toward the farmhouse.
She noted a look of reluctance in Wyatt’s expression. Finally he shrugged and walked toward the house.
At the kitchen table, Bobby’s eyes glistened with happiness as he talked.
When the old man entered the kitchen Wyatt said, “Hey, Johnny.”
“Cowboy.”
She watched the two men shake hands. Then the guys fell into easy conversation as she served the meal. Soon they had the paperwork for the maze out on the table and were discussing the best way to proceed to get the job done.
Her son watched them with rapt concentration.
How long would Wyatt stay? A day? A week? Not long enough for a five year old. That was for sure. He’d be back on the rodeo circuit, making nice with his many women friends, and grinning for the cameras. She and Bobby would be left alone again.
I won’t let Bobby fall in love with Wyatt—like I have.
Her son had already been abandoned by his father. Could he deal with a loss of a second man in his life? Would he come away thinking he’d done something wrong or worse yet, think he wasn’t loveable? A small hiss escaped her lips.
“Amy, did you say something,” Wyatt asked.
“No—more pie anyone?”
“I’m good.” Johnny shook his head. “Let’s get back to work. Now that you’re here, we’ll make good time.”
“I’m right behind you.”
Johnny walked out of the room. The screen door shut tight behind him.
Bobby ran from the kitchen his new book held close. Amy started to clear the table.
Wyatt took a dish from her hand. “You smell good, all beef stew and apple pie.” He reached out and drew her to him. With his rough hand, he gently pushed her hair back from her face and bent down, his mouth hovering near hers. He searched her face as if wanting to find affirmation of her desire before he kissed her.
About to speak, her lips parted and he kissed her. A playful contact as his tongue danced along her mouth then plunged deeper to strengthen their touch.
The sway of her body moved with his as he lengthened the kiss and his hand moved to her breast. A tingling sensation sent a wave of yearning racing through her. Without conscious thought, she rolled her hips to meet his and pressed against him. “Wyatt,” she whispered.
“I want you Amy,” he groaned. “Need you, but not here, not now.”
He set her free and she stumbled back from him.
She flushed and the heat burned her cheeks.
“I know we can’t, but I couldn’t leave the kitchen without a kiss from you. I’ve got to help Johnny. But later today, after he’s leaves, I have something to tell you.”
Before she could respond, Wyatt was gone.
***
That evening Wyatt watched Amy come out of the farm house onto the front veranda. She’d changed from her work clothes and she now wore a sleeveless white cotton dress that hugged her pert breasts. The hem touched the top of her knees. She carried something in her hand.
“A baby monitor,” she said as she set it on a small table next to Granny’s old rocking chair. “I can hear Bobby if he needs me.” She sat down in the chair and crossed her legs. “He wanted to sleep with the book you gave him. I had a hard time convincing him to take a stuffed animal instead.”
Wyatt chuckled at the image.
“I can’t believe how much you and Johnny did in one day. The maze is wonderful. I’m really getting excited. I just hope people will come to the pumpkin patch.” She sat back and rocked slowly in the antique rocker.
“They’ll come.” He leaned against the railing.
“How can you be so sure? I’ve been tweeting about it for days. I made Facebook page. Vanna gave me photos of kids in costumes and I’ve put them up with photos of the pumpkin patch. I’ve even included a photo of Bobby’s pumpkin. The one he’s growing for the “biggest” pumpkin contest and I’m still worried no one will show up.” She sighed. “I’m rambling. You know I do that sometimes.”
“It’s okay.” He sat in the chair next to her.
In the light of the full moon, her hair shimmered, and just a touch of a smile turned up the corners of her mouth.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she continued.
He knew she had no idea of her beauty.
“I can’t explain how content I feel living here on the farm. Bobby’s happy too.”
The words hit him like a fist to the gut. Granny had been so sure Amy hated the place and needed to sell. As the executor if he forced the sale he’d be hurting Amy. Or would he be keeping the farm with all its inherent problems from putting her financial security at risk? He groaned.
“Are you all right?” She stopped rocking and sat up in the chair.
“Yeah.”
“Wyatt, would you like a beer? Or I could make some ice tea or decaf if you’re thirsty.”
“I’m good.” He tried to relaxed and let the night air cool him. He had something to say to her and the longer he waited the harder it got.
An owl hooted as a slight breeze rustled the trees near the house.
With reluctance he said, “Bobby told me something today. I think you should know. Now don’t get too worried.”