Roundabout Road (Saving the Sinners of Preacher's Bend Book 2) (19 page)

Jake moaned, his mind reliving the past in full
Technicolor.

“So Ceril lets me have a key to the cell whenever I’m late
for any of Debra’s parole appointments. I get to use the bathroom, Liddy. A man
has his dignity to protect when locked up over a weekend. Ceril hands me tips
on odd jobs that pay well, probably why Theodora hired me on the spot. I get to
eat dinner at his house every Friday night for the next three hundred years—or so.
Grace is still a pretty damn good cook. And the kids aren’t too bad to deal
with when at the table.”

He was speaking of Grace Berken, the dear saint of Preacher’s
Bend, and her and Ceril’s four grandchildren. The Chief’s youngest son, Travis,
was studying at the police academy looking to follow in his old man’s
footsteps, perhaps to be the second Berken to hold the job.

“Oh my God, Jake!” Liddy’s hand covered her mouth in
utter shock. She backed away. “Oh . . . my . . . God!”

“It isn’t all that bad, Liddy.”

“Not all that bad? Are you kidding me?” she gasped. “I
never knew . . . God! Why didn’t anyone tell me about Debra?”

“Okay. Time for me to go,” Gill harped out, moving for
the door and practically running through it.

Neither Giotti gave him any trouble at all toward the
hasty exit.

Jake shrugged his shoulders as his wife found a chair
to sit down upon. “How the hell was I ever able to tell you? You haven’t been here
for ten years. And besides, pot roast and potatoes every Friday night for the
rest of my life? What more could a man ask for?”

“His freedom. A cleared criminal record. The truth!”
Liddy said.

As Jake followed suit and claimed his own chair, he
said, “My freedom . . . I have that now. I’ll never have a cleared criminal
record, as you well know. As for the truth, you now know what that is.”

“But Jake . . .,” she started.

“No. It doesn’t matter anymore, Liddy. I was okay with
what happened. My life has gone on as it should. The world hasn’t ended. No one
knows about Debra, other than me, Gill, Ceril, and now you. I had ten years . .
. ,” he stalled upon, picking up her right hand. “I now have everything I’d
ever wanted.”

She tried to pull her hand free, but Jake held onto it
for dear life. “No. I will not allow you to run from this, not this time.”

“I’m not running, Jake.”

“Not now. But later? When you’ve had the time to think
this through? Then what? You start to run every time something doesn’t make
sense to you, or doesn’t go your way. Do you plan on repeating the past,
Liddy?”

“I’m not going to run, Jake,” she told him.

“And I’m supposed to believe that?” he barked.

Liddy tugged her hand out of his. She rose and turned
her back to him. “Believe whatever you want, Jacob Curtis Giotti. You always
have. You always will.”

She whipped around, leaned forward, and placed her
palms directly on the tabletop, staring at his face. “I never meant to hurt you.
I never meant to leave you. I never meant to hide from you for so long. As God is
my witness I never meant to do any of this!”

“Then why did you?” he asked, angrily pushing from the
table. He stormed over to the countertop, slamming his fist onto a wooden
cupboard. “Why did you leave me if you never meant to?”

“We’ve already gone over all of this, Jake. Why go
through the agony of talking about it again?”

“Hell, Woman! I could talk about it until blue in the
face, and still not understand why you did it.”

“Then I guess you will never understand my reasoning,”
she said. “It was simple science, Jake; the practical application of one’s
life. No woman alive wants to know that the man she truly loves, with all her
heart and soul, her supposed soul mate, could sleep with another woman and not
care at all how deeply that hurt her. I had never felt so much pain as I had
during that one unforgettable moment, where I couldn’t even take a breath
without wanting to die.” She paused, as the tears welled. “Even the times when my
very own father would get so stinking drunk, when he didn’t know which one it
was he was beating to a pulp—me or Mom—even then hadn’t hurt as badly as you
sleeping with that horrible witch. I couldn’t breathe, Jake. I couldn’t think.
All I knew was I had to get away from you before I found out if I was capable
of murder. I had to get away from you, from Eliza, from this miserable town
doing its damnedest to remind me of my inability to keep something good in my
life.” The tears fell swiftly.

 “And you were that something good, Jake. For ten miserable
years I tried to look for something better. I can’t seem to find it.” Her
tear-filled eyes reached for his. “And why is that?”

“I don’t know. You tell me,” Jake ruled.

“I will tell you. It’s not out there,” she rushed out,
sweeping her arm around his one room shack. “It sure as hell was not out there for
little ole’ me.”

“Then where the hell was it?” He moved forward,
towering over her.

Liddy swiped the falling moisture with her fingers. This
time, her gaze locked with his as she placed her hands to his upper arms. “It
was always right here, standing right in front of me. If I’d come back sooner I
would have seen this.”

Jake swept her into his arms and kissed her hard,
setting the world on fire; settling a score, so to speak. And no one could tell
him otherwise confessing the truth wasn’t good for a man’s soul.

Chapter Nineteen

“I have something for you,” Jake informed, smiling at her
face.

They were sitting by a fire, roasting marshmallows. They’d
wanted a place remembered with good memories, and the old quarry held a lot of good
memories between her and him. Nothing bad had ever happened here; nothing in
this old place had ever ripped them apart.

It was Jake’s idea to make a fire, but he hadn’t
planned anything too far in advance. The bag of marshmallows was the only thing
in his cupboard until he actually took the time to go grocery shopping. Yet marshmallows
were enough.

He and she had been to hell and back over the years. The
strange part was whatever he wanted of her now Liddy was more than ready to
give, in spades. She’d found home again.

Odd that it took so long to realize home was always at
her grasp; that she only need to reach out with both hands to have it back.

She’d felt abandoned by this man ten years ago. The
hurt of such a thing could never be replaced by sweet words and kind deeds. One
never forgets abandonment. But Liddy was willing to try things his way—this
time. If not for her own benefit, then she could certainly do so for the man
who’d given up so much of his life because of her.

She shoved the sticky, sugary goo into her mouth, then
gave him her fullest attention. “Oh, and what is this something you have for me?”

Liddy leaned over, drifted her fingers down his
shirtfront, teasing the poor man with a slow and steady slide of her hand further
downward. When she reached the waistline of his jeans and dipped her fingers
under the material, Jake leaning back on his elbows making for easy access, he
lurched forward, grabbed her wrist, and stalled this quest.

Their sex life had become quite active over the week. She
couldn’t help herself. She simply wanted more of him any way had. And she knew Jake’s
smile couldn’t be helped either, but the determination in his gaze drew her attentions
from what she would confess she desired the most.

He wouldn’t elaborate on what he had that was so
mind-consuming. Instead, he drifted onto another path of thought, staring at
her across the shadows of the flickering firelight. His gentle touch removed
sticky sugar from her lips as his smile held firm.

“A stupid question would’ve been for me to ask you if
you’d remembered what you did that night. So I’ll not be stupid and ask,” he
started with, drawing out her frown. “But do you remember what you threw at my head
while screaming how much you hated me?”

Oh, God! This was not good. He was bringing up a part
of their life she desperately wanted to forget.

Not good at all.

The idea to come here was suddenly taking a downward
turn.

Liddy leaned back as far as she could until she was
forced to stand up, due to her shock. She, with blinding clarity, couldn’t help
but remember what she’d thrown at his head, hoping to hit him right between the
eyes with it.

Jake stood, then stepped back from her, and as he did
this he sunk his hand deep into the front pocket of his jeans. He pulled out a
closed fist, hiding the find. With deliberate slow motion he unfurled his fist.

“I do believe this is yours, Mrs. Giotti.”

Stinging tears pooled her eyes, her gasp audible, as
she couldn’t quite fathom the depths of her shock with any useable words.

“Ever since my freedom gained from prison I have kept
this in my pocket. I suppose . . . I was hoping you would come back to claim it
and I could put it back on your finger, where it belongs. Where it will always
belong.”

Those tears fell quickly, but she bit her tongue to
stall her enthusiasm; or perhaps this done only to diminish the astonishment he
still had her wedding ring in his possession and hadn’t pawned it for something
far more valuable, or far more needed in his life.

Jake took another step back and suddenly went down on
one knee. Okay, so maybe she became a blubbering idiot at that point. But who
wouldn’t? The big lug was bent down on one knee, and with love in his eyes, he was
holding onto their wedding ring,
her
wedding ring, as if at any given moment
the tiny gold band might burst into flames.

Liddy had chucked the ring at his head while telling him
he could rot in hell for all of eternity. And she did believe at the time she’d
meant this.

“Will you put this ring back on your finger and stay in
Preacher’s Bend as my wife? You have to know I love you. Dammit! You know well
and good I’ve always loved you. This place, us, I never once doubted we weren’t
created by God to be the other half of ourselves.”

He stopped at that point, stood, and stepped forward,
taking her hands into his and slipping the gold band with the one carat diamond
onto her fourth finger, left hand. There were tears in his ruggedly handsome,
hold-it-together eyes too.

The man could eat nails if he had to. Tough guy Jake
Giotti was getting emotional? If he was, how the hell was she expected to keep
it together?

“But I’m not so certain
He
meant that creative
goal for good or evil. I’ll just take my chances if you say ‘yes’,” he added
softly, gaining her smile.

Liddy nodded. How could she possibly disappoint his
enthusiasm? Why would she disappoint him? He needed her to say ‘yes’. And for
the love of God, she needed to say it, too.

Her tear-blurred eyes lowered and she stared at the
very ring this man had pledged his love to her with, ten years prior.

“Can I make a suggestion here?” she dared thrust out,
raising her gaze.

Jake looked chagrined; most likely he’d been expecting
her to say “no”, or “see ya later, pal”. Surely, he wouldn’t have put any thought
to she’d throw it at his face again?

“Can we, instead of simply taking up right where we
left off . . . Do you think we can remarry instead?”

Jake’s eyes widened. “You want to get remarried?”

“Um, yes, I do. It does seem to be the right way to go
about changing things for the better,” she suggested.

“Why would you want to do another wedding? We’re
already married. Another elaborate ceremony would be costly. I know you no
longer have the funds . . .um, hadn’t this been clarified while stuck in a holding
cell?”

When she growled, he added, “And I wouldn’t exactly
say Theodora is all that generous in the wage department, because what I have to
my name is a crappy roof over my head, food when I need it, but not much else.
Under the circumstances, you’re agreeing to stay a pauper’s wife if you say yes.”

Her shoulders rose and fell. “I was always a pauper’s
wife, Jake. And we did leave each other on a terrible note. If we take up right
where we left off, then this would probably be thrown at your face again at
some point in the future, and I’d rather we just start over. I want a clean
slate with a new beginning. I’m sure it . . .”

She never got out the rest. Jake reached for her and she
drifted into his arms as his mouth descended to hers. No quick peck, no rushed
sincerity, the kiss told her she’d come up with the best idea he’d ever heard. And
perhaps it was a good idea—one neither could get out of. They both needed a
fresh start, a clean slate.

They did not have the funds for a huge wedding, but they
would figure something out, somehow.

And Jesus! She wanted this man like there was no
tomorrow due only to the sudden tears in his eyes. The ring of her finger made
this new beginning a sealed deal.

Tonight she would have him again; as with all the rest
of her nights—and her every day, if at all possible. She wouldn’t have to wish
for it. He’d be hers.

But hadn’t he always been hers? Preacher’s Bend kept
him alive and well for the eventual return. Surely this meant she wouldn’t be
able to leave him again.

His large hands settled on her face as a second and
third kiss made the temperature inside her rise to unbearable.

“Do you know how much I love you, Liddy? How much I
want to make love to you right now?” he asked.

Her tongue dragged over his bottom lip, the quivers of
sensuality inside him running across her skin like bolts of lightning. Oh, God,
did she ever know how much he wanted to make love to her! She’d have to be
blind not to notice the huge bulge in his pants.

Nor notice that bulge growing by the second.

“Don’t tell me, Jake. Show me.”

“Now?”

“Do you have something better to do right now, Mr.
Giotti? I do believe we are out of marshmallows.”

In unison they turned their heads and watched as the bag
melted, set too closely to the fire.

“Hell no! I do not have something better to do.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Written permission from
Mrs. Rosebud?”

Jake stepped back and lowered the zipper of his jeans,
the sound of the sliding metal deafening in her ears. Liddy could only stare at
the growing appendage that bounced out of those tight-fitting Levis; an
appendage waiting for her deft hands to take hold of and her mouth to encompass,
given the chance.

“Now you follow suit, sweetheart.” He eyed her fully-dressed
body with silken devilment in his gaze.

Liddy removed her T-shirt, tossing it on the dirt. Her
jeans followed quickly, her silk underwear flipped haphazardly about until she
stood in front of Jake the way God made her. The way Jake wanted her.

The way she wanted him to be.

“Come here,” he said.

Liddy dove into his arms, pressing her sensitive breasts
against his solid chest. How was it possible their heartbeats seemed to match
every time they touched?

“This is so wrong,” he chuckled against her ear. “So
wrong, in so many ways. But a good kind of wrong, if you know what I mean.”

“What is so wrong about making love to your wife?”

“It’s not that. It’s just that I have a funny feeling
this is wrong us wanting to do this here, of all places.”

“We’ve had sex in this quarry before, Jake. This wouldn’t
be anything new to try.”

“But we were a whole lot younger and far more agile
the last time we’d been down here. I don’t know what it is, a strange feeling
perhaps . . .”

“Are you getting too old for this, Jake?”

“Hell no! I’m just thinking about your needs.”

“If you need me agile . . .” Her grin couldn’t be
stopped. “I can do agile.” She jumped up and was in his arms, with her legs
wrapped around his waist, and Jake’s face practically buried between her naked breasts,
in two seconds flat.

He licked a fiery path of desire down the center of her
breasts, then lowered her back down upon her feet, his arms locking around her waist.

“No. What I want is you, now, no theatrics, and no
kinky tricks. We’ve been blessed with a bright moonlight above our heads, so
something has to be right about this,” he determined.

Liddy looked up and only briefly smiled at the moon. They
were about to make love in the old abandoned quarry, under the height of a full
moon, below the twinkling stars, and if done right, on top the actual soul of
the earth. They had no blanket, no comfy bed to cushion the aggressive nature
they’d likely not curb; just dirt, grime, and rock to mock their cravings of
one another.

“Take off your shirt, Jake.”

“No. You take it off me yourself.”

Christ! Did he somehow think she wouldn’t?

Her fingers laced under the cotton hem, then drove
upward hard and fast as she removed the man’s shirt faster than he’d likely
thought possible. He never had to ask about his jeans. They came off just as
quickly, but she had a little trouble when they’d caught around his ankles, so
he helped at that point.

Liddy was then back in his arms as Jake’s mouth met
hers half-way. His fingers threaded into her hair and his grip locked on tight
to the back of her head. He maneuvered the both of them down to their knees. From
there, Liddy arched until he lowered her onto the ground and she drew him down with
her.

“Jesus, Liddy, slow down before you hurt yourself.”

“Hell no, Jake Giotti, I will not slow down. This is
going to be hard, fast, and so damn sweaty, most of the dirt in this quarry should
be stuck to us when I’m through with you.”

“You’re never going to be through with me, if I can
help it,” he said.

She kissed his chin, his cheeks, his lips, placing her
hands on either side of his more than handsome face.

“Is that a promise?” she teased.

Jake shook his head, grinning shamelessly, as she
parted her legs and he entered her quickly; no foreplay, no sweet-talking, just
hard, fast, and exactly how they both wanted the sex.

This was the real hardcore of nature. The sex had to
be equally dominating.

Jake returned to the conversation. “No, Liddy, I said
this to you as more of a challenge than a promise.”

Liddy’s hands went from his face to grab his firm ass
and hold him as close as the two of them could get; as close as God wanted a
man and a woman while making love. He was so deep inside her, pushed to the
hilt; she did believe he was touching her soul with the heel of his incredibly demanding
cock.