His Wicked Mouth

by Jessica Mills

  Instead, I made sure the plates were scraped off and started filling the sink to wash the dishes.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Annabelle said as she came back from the refrigerator. “I can take care of them later.”

  “Or I can take care of them now,” I said. “It’s no trouble. You took care of dinner, so let me take care of the dishes.”

  “Technically, Mrs. Cook is the one who made the dinner,” she said. “Actually, you made the salad. I didn’t do anything besides make the dessert. So really, I should be the one doing the dishes, shouldn’t I?”

  “Little girl, stop arguing with him,” Mr. Dixon said. “Let the man do the dishes for you. You do enough around here all the time. You deserve somebody giving you a hand for a change.”

  Annabelle laughed. “I don’t notice you jumping up to help me with the dishes after supper every night.”

  “I’m feeble and unwell,” he said. “Or haven’t you heard?”

  “Uh huh,” Annabelle said. “That’s you. Frail.” She looked over at me. “Convenient how that works out, isn’t it? Everything’s all good and fine until he has to wash a dish or peel an apple, and then he’s falling apart.”

  “I’d probably say I was frail and needed my rest if somebody asked me to peel apples, too,” I said.

  Hugh laughed. It was a deep, husky laugh, the kind that a lot of the farmers and ranchers out there had. He stood up from the table. “I’m going on into the living room to read my book,” he said. “Maybe I’ll be ready for dessert sometime soon.”

  “It’ll be ready for you,” Annabelle said. “Should I wake you up if all your frailness has made you fall asleep in your chair?”

  Hugh shook his head as he headed into the living room. Annabelle smiled at me and we kept working on cleaning up. When we were done, she dried her hands off on a kitchen towel and tossed it over onto the counter.

  “So I might not know a whole lot about cooking or anything, but I’m pretty sure there are no apples in lemon curd,” I said.

  “No,” Annabelle said. “There aren’t.”

  “Then why would you be peeling apples? Are you holding out on me? Do you have an apple pie or fried apples hiding here somewhere?”

  She laughed. “No. I’m not hoarding pastry anywhere. They were for applesauce.”

  “Well, that’s not nearly as fun,” I said.

  “How about some coffee?” she asked. “We can bring it on the porch.”

  I agreed and she went to the coffeemaker to brew a fresh pot. It was the way of the farmland out there. Coffee wasn’t just for early mornings. We drank it to wake up, and we drank it to relax. It was a way of life. The strange lemon curd I still wasn’t totally convinced about forgotten, we brought our coffee out onto the porch along with the quilt Mrs. Cook had repaired.

  Annabelle sat down on the white wicker glider on one side of the porch and I sat down beside her. The quilt draped over our laps made her cuddle a little closer, and I smiled at the feeling of her pressing up against me. I took a sip of the coffee and let out a sigh.

  Annabelle laughed. “Good?”

  “You have no idea. This is one of those things I thought about while I was gone.”

  “Coffee?” she asked.

  “Good coffee. There are a lot of places in this world to get coffee, but none of them taste as good as what comes from the roaster on Main Street. Especially when you’ve tried to force yourself to get used to the cheap, watery stuff at hotels.”

  A gentle breeze rustled the leaves across the farm. I leaned back so I could see the sky. There were a few wisps of clouds stretched across the dark expanse like cotton balls pulled thin. All around them were countless stars. I couldn’t remember the last time I could see so many stars.

  The lights of the cities drowned them out. It was almost like they didn’t exist when I got too far away from Green Valley.

  Annabelle leaned back with me and let out a sigh. “I never get tired of this view,” she said. “Did you miss it?”

  I nodded. “I didn’t realize just how much until this moment.”

  We turned to look at each other, our eyes meeting. A soft smile came to her lips and a sweet, tender feeling passed between us. I sat up to take a sip of my coffee and she stared down into her mug for a few seconds before turning to look at me.

  “What’s happening between us, Garrett?” she asked.

  There was no hesitation in the question. No beating around the bush or trying to be careful about how she was going to ask it. She was straightforward, not leaving any ambiguity about what she wanted to know. Only, I didn’t really know what to tell her.

  “I’m not sure,” I said. “But I do know I want to see you again.”

  The smile came back to her lips. “I’d like that. And I would like to stay out here with you for much longer, but I actually have some writing work I need to catch up on.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s right. You were telling me you were doing some writing.”

  She nodded. “Just some articles tonight. But I do have a deadline I have to meet.”

  “Then I should probably be going,” I said. We hesitated for another second before reluctantly getting up. “Thank you for having me for dinner.”

  “Of course,” she said. “It was really nice having you here.”

  I handed her my mug and she set it down along with hers on the table next to the glider. Pulling the blanket away from where she had draped it over her arms as we stood, she folded it up and put it down on the glider.

  “Walk me to my truck?” I asked.

  “Absolutely,” she said.

  We walked down the porch steps to where I parked my truck. I turned my back to it and reached for her hands. Our fingers linked together between us and we held them there for a few seconds as we just looked into each other’s eyes. It was as if we were both trying to figure out what was going on.

  I wasn’t used to feeling that way. In all honesty, I didn’t even know if I ever had felt that way. It was strange and new. But also exciting. Just like I told Annabelle, I wasn’t sure what was actually happening between us, but I did want to find out.

  If she had let me, I could have just stood there with her, holding her hands like that for the rest of the night. But I knew she had work to do and I didn’t want her to have to stay up all night and then go out to work on the farm in the morning exhausted. I stepped closer and kissed her on the cheek.

  “Good night,” I said. “Sleep well.”

  “You, too,” she said. “Good night.”

  I stepped away from her, slowly letting my fingers slide away from her. She stepped back when our hands parted and waved at me. I climbed into the truck and looked through the window at her. She was cute as hell standing there, one arm wrapped around her body to ward off the chill that was sinking through her sweater and jeans, and the other waving.

  Returning the waves, I threw the truck into reverse and backed away from the house. I paused just for another second to look at her in the rearview mirror before driving out onto the narrow lane leading back into town. My chest felt full and warm, and I couldn’t help but feel incredibly lucky as I made my way back to the ranch.

  The drive through the hills and to the big sign leading to the Montgomery Ranch was beautiful, and there were no other cars on the road, so I took my time. I was happy and looking forward to the next day when I planned on calling Annabelle up and deciding what we were going to do next.

  All too quickly, that good feeling disappeared. Behind me, blue and red lights started flashing. They reflected in the rearview mirror and glowed in the cab of the truck. A police siren screamed, cutting through the still silence of the night. I grabbed onto the edge of the rearview mirror and looked into it, trying to see the car behind me.

  My stomach twisted and my heart sank when I saw it.

  “Shit,” I said as I pulled over. My teeth gritted so hard my jaw hurt. “Hayes.”

  In town for two days, and I was already having to deal with him
.

  Chapter 20

  Annabelle

  My laptop was still sitting in the living room and I sat down on the couch to open it up and start working. The topic for the articles was no more interesting than it was the day before, but I didn’t feel as weighed down by them. It was like my boosted mood from spending the afternoon and evening with Garrett was helping me concentrate.

  Either that, or I would turn the articles in only to hear from my client that they were a ridiculous jumble of words that didn’t make any sense and the occasional repetition of the name Garrett Montgomery.

  “Now, what’s that all about?” my father asked.

  I looked up at him. He was sitting in his usual chair, the tall lamp arched over his head to provide him enough light to read from his beloved paperbacks. One of his eyebrows was arched up and he had a suspicious expression on his face.

  “What’s what all about?” I asked.

  “You’re sitting over there smiling to beat the band,” he said.

  I hadn’t even realized I was smiling to myself. It had crept across to my cheekbones and I looked down at my computer screen again, hoping he wouldn’t notice the flush come to my face.

  “Am I?” I asked. “I guess I’m just in a good mood.”

  “Uh huh,” he said, not at all convinced. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on between you and the black sheep Montgomery boy?”

  I looked up at him, surprised by his words. “He’s not a black sheep, Daddy.”

  My father was clearly not moved by my argument. “I bet if you asked anybody else in this town, you would be far more likely to hear that he was than he wasn’t.”

  “They just don’t know him,” I said. “People like to talk, but that doesn’t make it true.”

  “Any of the other Montgomery boys will be better for you than Garrett. What about Sawyer? He’s a nice boy. He’s always hanging around here. I was hoping the two of you might find something between you as you got older.”

  “I’ve told you a thousand times, Daddy. Sawyer is my best friend. That’s it. There’s nothing else between us and there never will be. I just don’t think of him that way. But that doesn’t mean Garrett is bad.”

  “No,” Daddy said. “He doesn’t need any help in that area. He’s a runaway. He doesn’t know how to handle responsibility and he’s always acting out for attention.”

  “How could you say that about him?” I asked. “You watched him tonight. He was polite and pleasant. He even helped me clean up. Even after I said he didn’t need to, he did.”

  “So, he knows how to put on a show to impress people. That doesn’t mean he’s anything but what he’s always been. Everybody in Green Valley knows the kind of man Garrett Montgomery is. He did the town a favor when he left. And all of us were hoping he would never show his face around here again.”

  “I can’t believe you’re saying this,” I said. “You just sat there in that kitchen and had supper with him. You carried on a conversation with him.”

  “Because I was raised with manners, and I raised you the same way. He was a guest in my house, so I was going to treat him as such. That doesn’t mean I would have ever chosen to have him at my table. And if you had asked me before you just invited him over, I would have said he couldn’t come. He’s trouble, Annabelle. I don’t want you spending time with him.”

  I was so shocked I couldn’t do anything for a few seconds but blink. My surprise made my mouth fall open, but no words would come out. I genuinely couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Since when did my father tell me what to do? I came here to take care of him because he needed me. Not because I needed him or because I wanted any input into how to live my life.

  I was a grown-ass woman who could do what I wanted, when I wanted, with whomever I wanted to. I could see whom I liked, and he didn’t have any room to tell me otherwise.

  It took a few seconds for me to gather my thoughts enough for me to be able to speak. I wasn’t going to be able to use quite so colorful words as the thoughts that went through my mind, but I needed to make sure my father understood where we stood on the topic.

  “I’m an adult,” I said. “I don’t need you to tell me what I’m allowed to do or who I’m allowed to see. This is my home as much as it is yours. I’m not a child, and I can invite whoever I want to come over here. If you have a problem with that, I will make sure my guests and I eat at a different time or in a different place. But I’m not going to stop because you said that.”

  “Annabelle,” he started, but I shook my head and stood up.

  “You need to accept that I’m an adult, Daddy. I’m grown. This is my life and I will do with it as I please. I don’t need you to approve of it. I’m going to go to my room and finish my work now.” I picked up my laptop and started for my room. I paused beside him. “Good night. Don’t stay up too late.”

  I hoped I had gotten my point across to him. I wanted to be respectful of him because he was my father, but I also needed to be strong and make sure he fully understood what I was saying to him. I didn’t come back to live there because I had to or because I didn’t know the direction in my life.

  Coming back home to take care of my father was out of necessity. And while I loved being there and spending as much time with my father as I could, that didn’t mean I had turned my life back over to him. I was still an adult, and that meant I could make my own decisions. If that bothered him, that was a conversation we were going to have to have and come to terms with.

  I got back into my room and put my computer down on my bed. The conversation hung heavily on me. I didn’t like when my father and I parted on negative terms.

  I went back into the living room and he looked up at me.

  “Yes?” he asked.

  “I promise I’ll look out for myself,” I said. “And don’t worry. I could take Garrett left-handed if he ever needed to be knocked around a little bit.”

  The smile that crossed my father’s face made me happy and broke the tension. He reached over and squeezed my hand. It wasn’t exactly a response, but it was still reassuring. There was no question I hadn’t changed his mind about Garrett. He still harbored the same exact feelings and hesitation about him.

  But I wasn’t going to change how I felt about him because of that. Something was happening between Garrett and me. I had no idea what it was, and he apparently didn’t either. But there was definitely something. And both of us were excited to find out what it was.

  I wasn’t going to let what my father thought about Garrett, or what anybody else thought about him, stop me.

  Going back into my bedroom, I closed the door. I took out one of my favorite candles and set it on the top of my dresser on a glass plate. I lit it and waited a few seconds until the smell started to fill the space. Climbing up onto my bed, I opened my computer again and did my best finishing the articles. I knew it would take me well into the early hours of the morning.

  I wasn’t looking forward to that. Having deadlines and dragging them out until the very last second didn’t stop me from having all my other responsibilities in life. That meant it was entirely possible I would finish up the last words of my articles just moments before I needed to get dressed and head out onto the farm for my morning chores.

  That wasn’t an idea I was particularly excited about. As much as I loved watching the sunrise and enjoying those first few moments of a fresh day, they weren’t quite as enjoyable when they came without me getting a chance to sleep before them.

  If these articles took me as long to write as I anticipated they would, I was going to have to try to find some point during the day when I could catch at least a short nap. Maybe I would get my morning chores done as quickly as possible, then rely on muffins and leftover fruit salad for breakfast so I could bury myself back under my covers for a little while.

  Chapter 21

  Garrett

  My hands tightened on the wheel and I grimaced as the car door of the police cruiser opened.

  “No
t now,” I muttered under my breath.

  Roy Hayes touched the back of my car with his fingertips and took a few steps closer to my window. I rolled it down with the button and waited for the inevitable shitstorm of smugness, holding my ID in my hand already. The registration was in the glove compartment, but I didn’t trust Roy Hayes not to open fire if I suddenly reached for it.

  The Hayes family, and especially Roy, had had it in for the Montgomery family for years. Decades. A land dispute from a time before I was even born created a war between the two families, and the Hayes family decided to go into law enforcement to bully their way around. It wasn’t enough to harass my father, my brothers, and me. They harassed everyone in town. The Montgomery family, by nature of having enough money to pay for lawyers should we need them and absolutely no desire to have a Hayes tell us what to do, often were the only ones to buck them.

  And no one had done more bucking than me.

  I spent years throwing down at school and bars and anywhere I could get into trouble, and it was almost always Roy Hayes throwing me into cuffs and shoving me in a cell for the night. To be completely fair, sometimes, maybe even most times, I deserved to be locked up somewhere for the night. I caused my fair share, and maybe several other people’s worth, of causing trouble, and they were the Law. With the capital L.

  But I hadn’t stopped there. I’d pissed in their jail cells, gotten out in the morning, got drunk in daylight right in the middle of Main Street, drove through a few of their fenceposts, and then said some things about their sister that would make a sailor blush. Or give me a handshake. Or both.

  Everything I did to antagonize them was deserved though. These sons of bitches had been after us since Daddy successfully beat them in court, and ever since, they had been trying to exercise an unlawful amount of force on us and used their position as lawmen as their shield. It wasn’t an event when a Hayes boy and a Montgomery got into a fistfight in public. It was just another Friday night.