by Leanne Davis
So scared.
The days got colder as they drifted towards winter again.
“Ranching slows down in winter. We’ll have to find something else to do,” Hunter said with a salacious smile at her. Sex of course. He meant more sex.
“For you maybe. I still have animals I need to keep alive. When are you going back to your old way of life?”
He sighed, rolled on his back in the bed they shared. “Soon. Maybe. I guess I should consider it. You don’t think I should be insulted that Asher never asked what I do here? Where I go all the time? I mean, he thinks I’ve done nothing for nearly a year, and I don’t correct him because of us. Is it weird he isn’t more concerned about me?”
She laughed and playfully hit his arm. “You could just tell him. But no. It’s not the proper protocol for the odd, back-and-forth bromance you two enjoy.”
“Well, I am a little offended he isn’t more interested.”
She slid the covers back to get to her feet and started to dress. His gaze stayed on her, hot and focused. “Hunter, he knows all about us. I told him.”
“You say that, but he still doesn’t ask me anything.”
“Because you get all squirrelly about it. That whole ‘I used to sex up your cousin’ thing.”
He shuddered and glared at her. “That is totally unnecessary.”
She laughed, leaned over and kissed his mouth. “But I love to see your jealousy. He’s just staying out of it. Respecting you. You don’t bring it up to him. I do. It’s good. We’re all good. Strangely enough. Even though Daisy would make the house overcrowded, we might have to consider new arrangements…” She shrugged as she pulled on her shirt over her head and searched for her pants.
“It’s fantastic they finally pulled their heads outta their asses, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Asher just can’t face his emotions and he had a lot of pain and trust issues to work through.”
Hunter released the covers and started to hunt for his clothes, giving her a smile as she stopped to lap up his nakedness. She loved seeing him naked. He scowled when he noticed her eagerly devouring him. “You’re not allowed to stare at all this when we’re discussing your ex.”
She turned, biting her lip and retorted, “You can’t throw out ultimatums when your ex is stepbrother-fucker Francine. You’re the idiot who married her. So…”
He threw his hands up. “Always, you got me there. How can I argue with that?”
“You can’t.” She caught the bra he threw to her. She slipped it on under her shirt.
Hunter put his pants on and walked around the bed before setting his hands on her waist, drawing her forward and kissing her. “You can have long talks with your ex and let’s pretend mine doesn’t exist. Let’s just kiss all the time and forget everything else.”
They did too. They kissed all the time. They had sex and fun and worked together. Hunter finally learned how much fun dating and getting to know another person were. Considering how fast he got hitched to Francine, Kyomi hoped he learned a lesson there. They didn’t talk about work or the city much. It was still abstract. Someday in the future. Not yet. Not now.
Someday.
But now? Surviving the loss of Kate and being there for Asher at Reed Ranch were simply all Hunter wanted to do.
Kyomi still wondered about their future. Now that Daisy was planning to move to the ranch, who knew what would happen?! Pretty groundbreaking when Asher unceremoniously announced it to them last week. No preparation or more details. He wouldn’t even tell Kyomi, it was so sacred or some such crap. He was gaga over Daisy. But sad about his mom.
And his dad. His dad was moving to the ranch too. AJ Reed was unable to stay in his own house without his wife. The widower AJ.
She knew Asher would never ask Hunter to leave, and likewise, her. Never.
But it was time to maybe realize that “yet” was quickly becoming “now.” They had to figure out what was next for them.
Chapter 15
HUMMING AWAY, KYOMI SWEPT the kitchen floor and tidied up after breakfast. Asher had long departed and Hunter was upstairs sleeping in. She finished her self-assigned chores when a knock sounded at the front door. Surprised as always at having company in so isolated and remote a location, she guessed it had to be someone close to them.
“Just a minute,” she called out as she swept the pile on the floor into the dustpan, dropping it into the trash before stowing the broom and dustpan in a closet. She flipped open the front door and her face was just about to break into a polite smile when her entire body froze.
To her utter surprise, there stood Francine Rydell. Her legs were as high as Kyomi’s torso, encased in black leggings with strappy shoes and a striped shirt. Her chunky bracelets clanked as she dropped one hand to her side. Blinking several times, Kyomi hoped the image would waver and disappear. Perhaps the remnants of guilt allowed Kyomi to conjure up the source of all her guilt.
But no. The mirage stood there in bleak reality.
Tilting her head, Francine’s exquisite eyes raked over Kyomi. “You’re that girl. The one in our bedroom.”
“Your bedroom. I was in your bedroom, not his.”
“You’re still in the picture then?”
Kyomi had to restrain a catty response, and she fisted a hand in her effort to keep her sharp retort inside her mouth. “Yes, if you mean am I still in Hunter’s life? I am. And you’re not. What are you doing here?”
“I need to see him. My dad told me he’s still holed up here, refusing to come to work and using up his leave of absence while living with his cousin. I only assumed it was his favorite cousin, Asher Reed. I never understood why Asher was his favorite after he was so surly to me, and Hunter. But whatever.”
Hunter liked Asher best because he was fun and they enjoyed a repertoire of harmless back-and-forth insults. That was how they bonded and showed their affection for each other. Kyomi doubted this wet blanket of a woman could begin to understand the reason for their ribbing, which showcased their complete devotion to each other.
“Yes. Hunter is here.” Kyomi settled for a simple and polite answer. Plus, in good conscience, she couldn’t slam the door in this women’s face, although she ached to do so. Slipping the door open wider, she spun around and headed towards the kitchen to finish up her chores. Why waste precious moments when she had so much work to do? Picking up the dishes she ran the faucet to rinse them. The woman followed her.
“Can you get him for me? Please? It’s important.”
Sighing, Kyomi glanced over her shoulder. The evil-eye lock she received from the woman was so typical. Perhaps how every ex-wife and new girlfriend received each other. That was something so beneath Kyomi’s normal motto of never getting too involved in any relationship.
She could not do the mean-girl thing. Kyomi was most often the understanding, awesome one who shattered the usual stereotypes in such a situation. Turning off the water and grabbing the tea towel, she dried her hands. “Yes. Of course. I’ll go get him. Sorry. I was in a hurry; I have to go to work.” Running up the stairs two at a time, she burst into Hunter’s room.
Hunter stood before the window, staring out at the car parked in the front yard. He would have seen Francine’s arrival. His hands were tightly gripping the molding around the window, turning his knuckles nearly white. He leaned into the glass, straining his arms to keep him from flying through it.
“What is she doing here?”
“I have no idea. She obviously wants to see you.”
His head shook. “No. Not here. I can’t see her here. I don’t want to. This place has become my haven. My shelter against the anger that I left in the city. It changes me in ways my family’s ranch never could. For one, you and I are here. My two most important friendships are with you and Asher. I can’t allow her to contaminate all the good memories I have here. She taints everything she touches, and I don’t want this tainted. Just tell her to go. Tell her to talk to the lawyers.”
Kyomi walked up to him
and set a hand on his back. She was unsure how he’d react when his entire body seemed taut and strung tight. Anger all but emanated from his skin. But he gripped her hand over his shoulder and held it tight. “I’m sorry she came here and that you had to see her. When I promised I was done with her, I meant it.”
“I know you weren’t playing games. I just wanted to touch you.”
His shoulders relaxed and he spun around and buried his face in the spot where her neck met her shoulder. “How could I ever be so duped to believe that someone like Francine loved me when I could have had someone like you who offers the real thing? The opposite of Francine’s feeble effort. Does that mean I fully know what true love is now?”
She let him squeeze her and leaned back to look up at him and pat his cheek. “You didn’t know any better with Francine.”
He smiled and blinked at her. “How blind and dumb the city-Hunter was.”
“I like the ranch-Hunter a heck of a lot better.” A ripple of doubt always rushed through Kyomi still. Did he really intend to abandon all that was his former life? Could such an ambitious, goal-driven man give up the empire he barely started to build? For this? To be here with her? She was the antithesis of what his life had been before. He got badly burned, and was deeply scarred, so she understood his need to hide, rest, and heal. Was he fully healed now? Was he strong enough to return to what he began? Kyomi wasn’t ready to offer him her heart and was skeptical in believing he could stay on the ranch forever.
“Okay, I’ll go tell the disdainful ex you don’t want to see her. She will not like that, especially coming from me. She’s biting her tongue right now to avoid calling me names like farm-girl or saying I’m uglier than she remembered. I told you I was the best revenge. Far better than a woman who relies on her looks. I’m so damn much better than—”
He leaned forward and kissed her long and deep, cutting off her words. “Everything,” he whispered after releasing her and setting his forehead on hers. “You’re so much better than everything and everyone.”
When he let her go, she grinned while blushing at his deep, intense look. His words always left her flustered and breathless. No one spoke that way to her before. It made her insanely uncomfortable and she worried what to do with her hands, but it also gave her a thrill that streaked through her because he seemed to believe his words.
Hearing Kyomi’s footfalls coming downstairs, Francine looked up at her return. The pouty, sultry look on her face comically disappeared when she met Kyomi’s gaze. “Where is he?”
“He doesn’t want to see you. Said to communicate strictly through the lawyers. I’m sorry, Francine. He’s been through a lot. Maybe at a later—”
Francine flabbergasted Kyomi in her response. Instead of getting angry or running up the stairs to knock on Hunter’s door, or simply yelling for him to come down, Francine suddenly turned and started to cry. She flopped down on the edge of the nearest chair and buried her face in her hands. It wasn’t a soft, seductive, pretty act of crocodile tears. No. Not at all. It was a rush of choking sobs and makeup-streaking waterworks.
Kyomi’s mouth dropped open with confusion. She looked around for help from anyone, but there was no one there. What to do with this crying, cheating, beautiful, but perhaps insane ex of her boyfriend?
“Um… Francine? I’m really sorry. I’m sure he needs some more time…” Why was she trying to soothe this woman? This woman who crushed Hunter and snatched away his life? Why should Kyomi try to comfort the woman who set all of this into motion? Francine’s shoulders jerked as if Kyomi’s words were pellets of buckshot hitting her. Her sobs grew exponentially. Stunned into inertia, Kyomi stood watching her, dumbfounded at the outburst. This was her boyfriend’s cheating ex-wife? What the hell was she doing? And why now?
Incoherent and totally inconsolable now, Francine seemed oblivious to Kyomi who stood there helplessly. Should she have patted the unwanted guest on the shoulder? What would she have said? Words were impossible with the loud decibels of her sobs. It was so pathetic, Kyomi wondered if it had to be an act. Or was she completely insane? What kind of a woman mourns the loss of her husband in front of the new girlfriend? Kyomi expected Francine to verbally degrade and belittle Kyomi with a litany of little digs and jabs that were both pointed and subtle. She never expected Francine would literally fall apart in the living room or to find her in such a decimated state.
Francine Rydell just sat there, crumbling in the middle of the living room.
A break in the sobs allowed Kyomi to spring forward. “Francine? Francine?” She called the girl’s name, feeling unsure of what to do and trying to distract her from continuing the sobbing frenzy she was engaged in. Did her guilt drive her insane?
Hunter must have heard the racket. But several glances at the staircase proved Hunter was either hiding or not interested. Concealed upstairs, he left Kyomi to deal with the stormfront. Kyomi wished she could hide too. This was not how she imagined starting her day. Not at all.
Kyomi finally sat beside Francine and touched her shoulder. “It can’t be that bad. Come on, Francine, take a deep breath.”
Several more sobs followed until she eventually started sputtering. Francine took a single shuddering breath, then another that was not quite so shuddering. Kyomi rubbed the spot between her shoulder blades. “That’s it. Breathe deeply. Breathe slowly and deeply.”
When she finally had her sobs more or less under control, Francine lifted the hem of her shirt and wiped the wet tears from her eyes. “I can’t do this.” Her voice trembled. Another hard shudder. Kyomi feared the waterworks were about to start all over again.
Kyomi jumped right in, feeling like a high school cheerleader rousing up the fans for the losing home team. But she was addressing her boyfriend’s unfaithful ex-wife. “You can. You can do this. I’m sure whatever it is can be worked out.”
“You say that now. But you won’t…”
What could this woman’s problem be that she would lose her shit right in front of Kyomi? Kyomi was embarrassed for her. Francine might be gorgeous, stylish and intimidating, but right now? Francine was the poster child for the pathetic, scorned woman. Showing up on her ex’s doorstep was her first mistake. She was uninvited. Hunter was so pissed and hurt that he refused to see her, and that was her second mistake. Then she starts blubbering and incoherently babbling to the new girlfriend? Wow. Talk about desperate.
If this were a last-ditch effort to wrangle her way back into Hunter’s life, blubbering like a baby, how wretched can she be? What could make someone act that way? “Francine, I really have to go now. Hunter will not see you. I can’t be your sounding board about all this. So…” Kyomi hated to sound rude, but she had to be blunt and honest with this girl, who needed to hear it. “You have to leave now and seek your healing or whatever you need elsewhere.” You might try your stepbrother, er, I mean, your lover, but Kyomi only thought the last part.
“I—I can’t.” Her voice quivering, Francine shuddered again. “Just… Crap. I have to go to my car.”
Then she bolted. Okay. Good. She took the you have to leave speech seriously. Kyomi didn’t expect her to bolt without another word. Shaking her head, Kyomi rose to her feet and started up the stairs. She couldn’t wait to tell the yellow-bellied chicken, Hunter Rydell, his scary nemesis known as his ex-wife had left the building. But only after making Kyomi sit through one of the most awkward experiences of her life.
Halfway up the steps, the sound of footsteps caught her attention. Gripping the rail tighter, she shut her eyes and swore out loud. No. The crazy ex-wife came back? Why? Folding forward, Kyomi tried to become a puddle on the stair and hide so Francine could not see her through the door relite. But it was too late, she already looked. Finally, the dreaded knock. Turning slowly, Kyomi forced herself to open the door. Here they go again. Apparently, Hunter now had a crazy ex.
Flipping the door open, Kyomi started to say, “Francine, I tried to tell you nicely but you have to take your grievances somewher
e else—”
But all her planned words died away, as did her thoughts, her feelings and any coherency between them. The edges of her vision grew blurry and shock radiated through her body when Francine shoved the baby car seat at Kyomi. Sobbing and blubbering, Francine muttered, “I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”
Then she turned and ran away. Francine sprinted like an Olympian towards her car, jumped in, backed out and peeled rubber on sprayed gravel as she sped away. Kyomi stood there, numb, dumb, and fully in shock. Her mouth hung open. Her eyes were huge. Automatically, she accepted the car seat and now she held it. But her mind was blank as she watched the car disappear down the long, curving driveway, until it hit the main road. It shot away with a plume of dust that reminded Kyomi of a long snaking line of dynamite going off down the valley.
Dynamite was exactly what she held in her arms now.
Did Francine just abandon her baby to Kyomi?
Kyomi gulped as she finally looked down at the child. It was young, maybe a month or so? She had no idea, having zero interaction with babies. Their sizes and ages were incomprehensible to her. But she knew this sleeping child was very young. Thank God so far, its eyes remained closed. What in the hell? What just happened? What?
A shock of bright red hair shone on top of the sleeping infant’s nearly bald head. It only hinted at the reality her brain quickly tried to reject. With a sinking heart, she brought the baby carrier inside and shut the door. What else could she do at that moment? Not like the baby was an unwanted package. Obviously not. She had to do something with it right then.
That red hair. Francine’s freakout. Hunter’s child was here.
There was only one logical conclusion: it was Hunter’s baby. Her heart sinking, her guts churning, her entire body went numb as she mentally tried to reject the deduction. But all the facts could only lead to one conclusion.
This was Hunter’s baby.