Trouble In Dixie (32 page)

Dixie lifted her head and excitement made
her eyes sparkle. "He only goes outside now, he hasn't had an
accident in a long time...and he's staying now!"

"See, it just takes a little work and
persistence," Katie told her with a smile. "How's school
going?"

Dixie's face fell and her eyes darted away
from Katie's, then she said. "Not so good, I got in trouble and
daddy had to go to talk to my teacher," she admitted then looked
back at Katie and said, "It wasn't my fault! Danny took my pencil
and wouldn't give it back...the teacher wouldn't listen, so I
kicked him and he dropped it."

"You know you should never hurt someone
else, right? That wasn't right...why wouldn't your teacher listen?"
Katie asked her.

"She was at the chalkboard, and I went up
and told her like you said I should, but she told me to go sit back
down."

"When I get to feeling better, I'll go talk
to her," Katie promised, then reprimanded, "But you keep your hands
and feet to yourself, deal?"

"Yes ma'am..." Dixie said and dropped her
chin to her chest. Katie lifted it up and smiled at her then said,
"I love you, Dixie."

Dixie threw herself against Katie's chest
and she moaned, but wrapped her arm around her and hugged her.
Dixie mumbled into her chest, "I love you too, Miss Katie...please
don't leave us again."

"I'm not sugar, I'm here for good," she
promised and stroked Dixie's hair.

"Can you help me with my homework?" Dixie
sat up again and asked.

Tommy walked up behind the couch then and
barked, "Dixie get off of Katie, you're going to hurt her!"

Dixie jumped up and her face turned red and
her lower lip trembled. "I'm sorry, daddy...I was just excited to
see her."

"It's fine, Tommy, we were just
talking...I'm going to help her with her homework," Katie told him
evenly.

"I'll help her," he said then shoved a hand
through his thick hair. "You need to rest."

"No! I
want
to help her, and all I've
been doing is resting. Go get a snack, then bring your books,
baby..." she told Dixie and she scurried off toward the kitchen.
Katie moved her gaze back to Tommy and anger sparked inside of her.
If she didn't tell him how she felt, she was going to go off on him
eventually, because she had a feeling it was only going to get
worse. "Tommy, stop managing me, okay?"

"I'm just trying to make sure you don't
overdo it, sweetheart," he told her defensively.

"It's my body, I know my limits, let me
decide what constitutes 'overdoing' it."

"I'm sorr--" he started and she held up her
hand and lifted an eyebrow, and he revised his words. "I'll back
off, if you promise to rest and let me know if you need
something."

"You've been so good to me, baby, and I
appreciate it, I really do...but I'm really not as helpless as you
think I am," she said softly and his shoulders slumped. She wiggled
her finger at him and gave him a sexy grin. "Come here cowboy, mama
needs a kiss."

Tommy growled and then hurried around the
couch. He slid his hand gently under her neck, and the other under
her legs, then turned and sat back down with her on his lap. She
put her nose into his neck and inhaled deeply. He smelled of hay,
sunshine and pure man, and her senses soaked him up like a sponge.
Placing a kiss on his neck, she brought her right hand up to his
face and ran her hand over the light stubble there, then kissed her
way up to his ear and nipped his earlobe. He groaned and then
turned his face and captured her lips in a gentle kiss that wasn't
enough for her. She licked his bottom lip and he opened his mouth
and she forced her tongue inside and teased his into an erotic
dance.

Katie pulled back and looked deeply into his
eyes, and told him softly, "I missed you so much...I can't wait til
these ribs heal, so I can show you how much."

Tommy hugged her to him and she could feel
the emotion pouring through him, because his body trembled and his
breathing was unsteady. "You're never going to have the chance to
miss me again, baby...I'm not letting you go, ever."

The doorbell rang and Tommy kissed her hair
and said, "That must be the new housekeeper." He lifted her up
gently, then laid her back on the sofa and walked toward the front
door.

Katie smiled and laid her head back on the
pillow, but lifted up again when she heard loud voices, one of them
Tommy's at the front door. Panic coursed through her, and she
ignored the pain in her side and sat up to see what was going on.
Whoever he was talking to was still on the doorstep, because he
hadn't invited them inside. She saw his jaw was clenched as were
his fists at his sides, and she gingerly sat up, then pushed with
her good arm to stand. The arguing continued, as she put one foot
in front of the other and slowly made her way toward the door.

When she was halfway there she saw Dixie's
terrified eyes, as she put her back against the wall and snuck past
her daddy, then ran for the back of the house. With determination,
Katie squared her shoulders and picked up her pace, because she had
a feeling she knew who their visitor was. Tommy waved with his hand
and shouted over her then slammed the door in her face and fished
his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Roger, this is Tommy Tucker, we need to
speed things up. I just got served by Edith Preston and her posse.
Get that restraining order, because if she comes back on my
property, I'm gonna pepper her skinny ass with buckshot," he yelled
into the phone, then said, "Yeah, I'll fax it to you right now,"
Tommy said then disconnected, and crumpled the paper in his
hand.

"What did she want?" Katie asked flatly, and
took the last step, so she was at his side.

He lifted his head and met her eyes, and
evidently redirected his anger to her. "
What the fuck are you
doing up?!?
" he shouted at the top of his lungs, then picked
her up roughly in his arms and she groaned as pain shot through her
chest and she lost her breath. Her hand flew to her chest and she
tried to suck in a breath, but couldn't.

Tommy looked down at her and his eyebrows
slammed together and his face blanched, then he all but ran to the
sofa with her. Gently he laid her down, a lot more gently than he'd
picked her up, then he put his hands on her face and he had tears
in his eyes.

"Oh, baby--I'm so sorry--Jesus, I'm an
idiot," he berated himself, then urged in a frantic voice, "Breathe
baby, breathe..." as he rubbed the spot between her breasts.

Katie swallowed down the pain, then was
finally able to draw a breath. She laid back against the pillow and
concentrated on taking breaths to get the pain under control. When
she managed it, she opened her eyes again and said in a raw
whisper, "Don't you ever talk to me like that again."

Tommy shook his head, then leaned down to
kiss her and she put a hand in between them to stop him. "Just
leave me alone for a little while," she said then closed her
eyes.

He stood back up and she opened her eyes,
saw him slap his forehead then heard him curse, before he turned
and walked off.

"Dixie!" she yelled at the top of her lungs,
and then heard her tentative footsteps coming from the back of the
house. "Get your books, let's do your homework!" she added, then
huffed out a breath and closed her eyes to get control of the
emotions ripping her apart. Maybe the mundane task would help
distract her from the doubts that were pouring through her as to
whether agreeing to marry Tommy had been such a good idea after
all.

She heard his keys scrape on the table by
the door when he grabbed them, then the door opened and shut, and
she guessed he was leaving for a while. That was fine with her,
because she did not want to talk to him again until she calmed
down.

***

Calling himself an idiot for the umpteenth
time, since he'd left the ranch, Tommy swerved to miss a bicyclist,
then swung into the copy store, so he could fax the damned notice
of summons to his attorney. He made a note to buy one for his
office the next time he came to town, because he certainly wasn't
going to do it now in the mood he was in. It seemed like every time
he turned around these days he was fucking up.

The horrified look on Katie's face when he'd
yelled at her in the foyer, was forever burned into his mind.
Emotion surged up into his throat again, and he swallowed it down,
then went in the store and got the clerk to fax the paper, then he
walked back out to get into his truck, and his eyes snagged on two
things, a flower shop, and a jewelry store. Softly, he closed the
truck door and walked to the jewelry store. He hadn't gotten Katie
a ring yet, needed to get her one, so everyone who saw it knew she
was his. She'd agreed to marry him, and he was going to hold her to
that, even though she was probably having second thoughts after the
way he'd treated her earlier.

Yelling wasn't in Tommy's nature, but he'd
been so upset by Edith's visit, then she'd promised to stay on the
couch and take it easy, yet she'd hobbled all the way over to the
door, he'd just lost it. He needed to make it up to her...and make
his proposal a lot more romantic than a spur of the moment thing
first at his house, then at the hospital. She deserved better.

He walked into the jewelry store with
purpose and found a woman to help him. There were several men
hanging out behind the counter, but he zeroed in on her, because if
there was anyone who knew what a woman would like, it was another
woman.

She must've shown him thirty rings, before
he settled on one in the first tray they'd looked at. It was a
princess cut diamond with two baguettes, one on either side of the
sizable center stone, set in platinum. The matching wedding band
had a row of four baguettes channel set into a dainty platinum
band. Katie didn't wear jewelry typically, so he wasn't sure about
the ring, but she'd wear this engagement ring, and he'd put the
matching band on her finger very soon.

"I'll take it," he told her, and she pulled
the set from the tray, then got a small blue velvet box from under
the counter and slid them inside.

Snapping it shut, the woman handed it to him
with a smile, then said, "Your fiancé is a very lucky lady...she's
gonna love it." Hopefully she still loved
him
, that was the
sixty-four thousand dollar question. Tommy shoved the box in the
pocket of his jeans, then pulled out his wallet and tossed his
credit card down on the counter.

On the way to the register, a horseshoe
shaped necklace caught his eye. A diamond heart dangled from the
chain in the center of the horseshoe. He stopped and tapped on the
glass, then said, "Can I see that too?"

The woman opened the case and pulled it out,
and he lifted it from the velvet bed and twirled the dainty chain
to look at the pendant closely. It was so Katie...she would love
this, he knew it. "I'll take this too, please," he said and handed
it back to her.

His credit card was smoking by the time he
left the jewelry store, but he was smiling. He went next door to
the flower shop, and flinched when he walked inside, remembering
his last attempt to give Katie flowers. Something about the yellow
roses he'd given her had set her off, and he was not going to
repeat that mistake. Tommy was going to find out how he'd screwed
that up, and what he should have done.

The gray haired lady behind the counter,
looked up from the cash register when he walked in and gave him a
bright smile. "Oooh, I see you've been next door. Looks like your
lady is going to get doubly lucky today," she said in a chirpy
cheerful voice. "What can I do for you young man?"

"I gave my girlfriend yellow roses once, and
she almost hit me over the head with them...can you tell me
why?"

The lady chuckled and asked him, "We're you
just friends then?"

"Well, um, no, we weren't just friends. I'd
done something stupid, and was trying to make it up to her."

"Flowers have a language...that's why when
you give them, you have to really consider what you're trying to
say with them."

"Really?" Tommy snorted then leaned on the
counter.

"Yes, indeed...every type of flower has a
meaning. The yellow roses you gave to your girlfriend? That meant
you wanted to be friends, not lovers."

"Holy, Sh--Moly!" he shouted, then stood up
and felt the blood drain from his face. "No wonder she wanted to
hit me with them!"

She chuckled, then asked him, "So, young
man, what message are you trying to send to your lady today?" then
she walked around the counter to the showroom and said with a wink,
"Maybe I can help you say it right this time."

"I want to say that I love her, and want to
spend the rest of my life with her. I'm going to ask her to marry
me," he said sincerely.

"Red roses with primroses, maybe a few pink
buds," she told him then went to the cooler and started pulling out
stems of flowers. "True love, eternal love, and desire...sound
about right?"

He huffed out a relieved sigh that this
woman knew what she was doing, and told her, "That sounds perfect,
thank you."