Barking Up the Wrong Tree

by Sawyer Bennett

  “What the hell?” I say in astonishment, and then move closer to watch. MG’s little tail is swishing wildly and she’s gulping down the milk without a care in the world.

  “Looks like I’ve got skills,” Kelly says smugly as she watches the little goat with amusement.

  “Carlos,” I call out, knowing he’s somewhere close by and should be able to hear me. He comes jogging in and looks at me expectantly. “Come over here and try to feed MG.”

  He does as requested, easily taking MG from Kelly’s arms. When he takes the bottle to hold it toward MG’s mouth, she hesitates for only a moment before extending her neck and latching onto it.

  “She’s doing it,” Carlos says exuberantly.

  “It appears she’s decided to grow up,” I mutter, and oddly find myself feeling a little sad that the apron string has apparently been cut.

  “Why don’t you take her into the pasture with the dam?” I suggest to Carlos. “See if she’ll nurse.”

  “Si,” he answers and walks out with Miss Goatikins still happily slurping at the bottle.

  “So what’s her hang-up?” Kelly asks curiously, and it takes me no time to realize she’s turned the conversation back to Laken.

  “Bad relationship with a rich city guy who promised her the world and then yanked it out from under her,” I say, summarizing Laken’s crappy relationship with Dr. Jackass.

  “Well, she’ll have to get it over it.” Kelly states the obvious, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. Some people never get over hurts.

  “What do you think I should do? Push at her or sit back and see what happens?”

  Kelly’s eyes turn soft and she steps into me, putting a hand on my waist to give me a slight squeeze. Her other hand goes to my chest, and she looks up at me with earnest eyes. “I don’t know this woman, Jake, but I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say she must be amazing to have you be so into her. I do, however, know you and you’ve never sat back and waited for anything in your life. You’ve always gone for what you wanted, and you do it with headstrong determination. It’s made you a very successful man, so I’m thinking you should stick with a formula you know.”

  Because we’re out of the office and nowhere near a board room, I feel comfortable in reaching out to put my hand on Kelly’s cheek. I do this because I have a rush of deep affection for her. “You’re an amazing woman, Kelly. You know I’ll always listen to what you have to say.”

  She brings her free hand up, locks it around my wrist, and gives me a return squeeze of fondness. “You should. I’m pretty damn smart.”

  I start to laugh but then movement at the barn door catches my eye. I look over Kelly’s head and see Laken standing there, her eyes narrowed on Kelly and me.

  Now to me… it’s nothing more than two friends sharing a close confidence with each other. Two friends who have been far more than friends together, so it’s not unnatural to show physical affection although we don’t do it a lot.

  To Laken, I imagine she sees something quite different. A man… her man… standing close to a beautiful woman. Her hand on his waist, his hand on her cheek, and her other hand wrapped around his wrist to hold him there close for a moment. If she heard our last words exchanged, that probably didn’t sound good either.

  I step back from Kelly to break our contact, but Laken’s already spinning around on her heel. I only catch a glimpse of the fury on her face before she’s gone from sight.

  “Crap,” I mutter as I push past Kelly. “Be right back.”

  By the time I make it out of the barn, I see Laken half walking-half running to her truck. Her arms are locked straight, hands curled into fists and swinging violently to propel her forward. But I’m a former professional football player and I beat her to her truck, my hand going to her elbow to spin her around to face me.

  “Get your hands—” is all she gets out before I put my mouth on hers for a hard, deep kiss that shuts her right up.

  Her hands push at my chest, but I hold her to me tighter. I kiss her slower, gently probing her mouth with my tongue, scraping my teeth on her lower lip. When I feel her loosen in my hold, I pull back to tell her, “That’s not what you think it is.”

  “That wasn’t you and another woman with your hands all over each other and you telling her she’s amazing?” Laken asks as she crosses her arms over her chest.

  “Well, yes… that was that,” I admit. “But that’s just Kelly. My ex-wife.”

  Laken’s eyes narrow at me. “That’s not helping, Jake.”

  Taking a deep breath, I let it out. I put my hands on Laken’s shoulders and bend down to peer at her. “Just listen, okay?”

  Reluctantly, she gives me a nod.

  “Kelly and I were married for almost ten years,” I tell her, and Laken actually flinches from that fact. “But we ended up divorcing because I want kids and she doesn’t. It was something we really didn’t spend the right amount of time talking about in those first formative years, and then we got sucked up in building my business. Kelly is my chief operations officer. When we finally had the maturity to really discuss it, we just realized we wanted totally different things in life. Our divorce was amicable, and Kelly is still a dear friend and colleague of mine. What you saw back there was nothing more than friendship and fondness. We were talking about you, actually.”

  “Me?” Laken blurts out. “Why me?”

  “Because Kelly apparently took one look at me and knew there was a woman in my life, and she harassed me like only a woman can do to get the details. So I told her about you.”

  “And what exactly did you say?” Laken says, her words coated with a tinge of frost.

  “I told her I was into you, but that I didn’t think you felt quite the same,” I tell her honestly, and Laken winces, which means there’s a ton of truth in that supposition.

  “I’m sorry,” she murmurs, her eyes dropping.

  “Don’t be,” I say as I take her chin and force her gaze back up to mine. “It’s who you are, but it doesn’t mean it’s who you will always be. Besides… Kelly reminded me I’m a determined man who always goes for what he wants. I’m not giving up on you just yet.”

  To my surprise, Laken steps into me and puts her hands on my chest. Her eyes are earnest and her voice somber. “I’m not sure I’m worth the effort. I don’t know that I can be what you want.”

  My hands wrap around her wrists. I pull her hands up to my face and playfully bite on the pad of her index finger. “You think too much, Laken. Just relax and enjoy this and let’s see where it will go.”

  I’m rewarded with Laken’s body almost deflating in capitulation as she nods. “Okay. We’re just enjoying. Seeing where it goes.”

  Leaning into her, I brush my lips over hers. “I’m going to miss you tonight.”

  With Laken doing the family dinner thing before Pap’s surgery tomorrow and me having guests, I won’t be spending the night with Laken, which is the first time in over a week we haven’t slept together. Damn if I’m not going to miss the hell out of her, not just because of the sex, but just because I’ve become all too fond of having her body wrapped around mine all night. There’s something very sweet and it says a lot that Laken is a nighttime cuddler.

  “Okay… I’m going to head out of here,” she says as she starts to pull away.

  “Would you like to come and meet Kelly?” I ask her before I fully let her go. “Darby’s around here somewhere, too.”

  Laken just cocks her eyebrow up.

  “Maybe some other time,” I mutter, and then give her another kiss before I let her go. But then I remember to ask, “By the way, what did you come by for?”

  “I stopped by the farm supply store today to pick you up some supplements, but they were out of stock,” she mumbles, stuttering over her words.

  I grin. “If they were out of stock, why did you come over?”

  “Um… just to tell you that, I guess,” she mutters.

  “You came over to see me,” I
taunt. “You missed me and you came over to see me.”

  “And I found you with another woman all over you,” she snaps back at me.

  My grin widens. “I like jealousy on you, Laken. That means you feel something for me.”

  “Bite me, Jake,” she grumbles and then pulls away from me to jump in her truck.

  I’m still grinning as I watch her truck travel back down the gravel lane to the main road.

  “So that was Laken, huh?” Kelly says as she comes to stand beside me.

  I look down at my ex-wife. “That was Laken.”

  She gives a low whistle of sympathy, indicating she totally eavesdropped on our conversation. “You’ve got your work cut out for you, buddy.”

  “That I do,” I murmur back as my eyes stay pinned on Laken’s truck until it makes its way around a curve and I can’t see it anymore.

  CHAPTER 20

  Laken

  I square my shoulders, take a deep breath, and open the door to Central Cafe. Jake had called me early this morning and asked if I’d meet him and Darby for breakfast there before I opened the clinic. He was going to be taking her to Raleigh after to catch a flight back to Illinois. Kelly had left the day before to meet her boyfriend in the Keys and had taken the rental car to the airport, which is why Jake had to drive Darby to Raleigh for her flight.

  I haven’t seen Jake since I walked in on the intimate moment with him and Kelly two days ago. And when I say intimate, I do know their relationship is nothing but friends now. But they are close friends and they still share a bond, and damn if that didn’t make me insanely jealous. It forced me to admit, finally, I might actually be dating Jake contrary to how much I deny that, and I really felt a bit foolish.

  That’s not why I haven’t seen him though. That night I’d had a family dinner and he had Kelly and Darby to entertain. The next day was Pap’s surgery, and I spent most of the afternoon and early evening at the hospital. By the time I was being shooed out of the hospital along with the rest of the family, I wanted nothing but my dog and my bed.

  That was nothing against Jake, but I was just so exhausted I didn’t have anything to give at all. Jake, because he’s Jake and is wonderful, totally understood.

  Pap’s surgery went well. Actually very well considering he’s eighty-one. Sure, he’s in decent shape for his age, but going under the knife for a major operation and anesthesia is no joking matter. We were all a bundle of nerves while he was in surgery, and it wasn’t until the surgeon came out to tell us that it went very well that we were able to breathe a tiny sigh of relief.

  Jake had texted me throughout that afternoon to check in and see how things were going. He offered to come up to the hospital, but I put him off. I did this because I was afraid that if I saw him, it would be too apparent how much I really wanted and needed him there, and I wasn’t ready to admit that to myself, much less to my family and Jake. So I put him off and he respected that, although he kept close tabs on the situation.

  He called me just before I was ready to crash that night in my bed with Herman, and only to wish me a good, restful sleep. It was sweet.

  So damn sweet it made my chest ache.

  When Jake asked me to breakfast this morning, regardless if there was going to be another person there with us, I was just beyond ready to see him. The two days we’d been apart were decidedly lacking for me. I felt it down to my bones, and it made me realize that Jake is something special I’d come to crave and perhaps depend upon.

  His wit and humor. His care and sweetness. His hotness. Oh, man… his hotness. His confidence in not only himself, but those around him. He’s an affirming man, and he makes you feel good about yourself.

  Yes, I’d come to realize that Jake was unlike any other man I’d ever been with. Frankly, it scared the hell out of me.

  It also gives me a thrill of excitement as I step inside Central Cafe and lock eyes on him. He’s sitting at a table with a woman, but I don’t even spare her a glance. I can only watch when he stands from the table as I approach, holding a hand out to me. His smile is warm, welcoming, and wistful. His eyes tell me not only that he’s missed me the past two days, but also that he appreciates very much what he’s looking at right now.

  When I put my palm against his, he pulls me to him for a soft kiss that makes my cheeks heat up over his public display of affection, yet I wouldn’t trade that kiss for the world.

  “Laken… this is my sister-in-law Darby,” Jake says as he nods down at the table.

  I manage to tear my eyes away from Jake to take in Darby Culhane. She looks nothing like her sister, but what I see on that sincere freckled face and within the light blue eyes I find I like immediately.

  Darby smiles and holds a hand out. “Well, technically I’m the ex-sister-in-law, but semantics.”

  “I was going to call you my annoying-ex-sister-in-law-who-is-like-a-little-sister, but it takes too long to say,” Jake grumbles as Darby and I shake hands.

  “It’s a complicated relationship,” Darby says as she releases my hand. I slide into a chair that Jake pulls out for me. “Who would have thought two people could get a divorce and still be such good friends?”

  “It’s kind of strange,” I admit. “Divorce is supposed to be ugly and brutal with divisive lines. Or so I’ve seen on TV.”

  Both Darby and Jake laugh, which is a fortuitous time for Muriel to come over and pour me some coffee. Darby and Jake already have full cups.

  “Know what y’all want?” Muriel says without even pulling her pad out to write down our orders. She’s got a mind like a steel trap, and if she were to get your order wrong by some chance, all the food is so good you wouldn’t really complain.

  We each give her our orders and she promises them in a jiffy. After I doctor up my coffee, I take a grateful sip before looking at Darby. “So… you’re going to be moving here in a few weeks?”

  She nods, her eyes flashing with excitement. “I’m really ready for this change in my life. And Jake’s been so damn wonderful buying this farm so I can work toward my thesis. I feel like I’m in a dream.”

  My eyes cut to Jake, and I’m surprised to see his cheeks redden as he takes a sip of coffee himself.

  And then it really, fully, truly hits me what Jake has done. He didn’t buy this farm for a tax write-off. That’s just a side benefit. He bought a freaking farm for his ex-sister-in-law so she could make a better life for herself.

  Jake glances at me over the rim of his cup, and I can see it in his eyes. He knows that I know what a good guy he is, and his sheepish grin tells me it slightly embarrasses him.

  So I give him a pass and turn back to Darby. It was important to Jake that I meet her today, and I think he wants Darby to have some connection here, especially since Jake won’t be here forever.

  The thought of him leaving makes my stomach cramp slightly, but I can’t think about that now. He’s given no indication that is going to happen anytime soon, so I need to put it out of my mind.

  “Jake says you have a daughter,” I say to make conversation.

  Darby nods and the smile on her face tells me everything. She’s a mother in absolute love with her daughter, and that daughter would be the most important thing in the world to her. “Linnie. She’s three and a half, and she’s amazing. Bright. Funny. Has her aunt Kelly’s snark, and she’s just such a good kid. I’m really excited to get her down here and away from…”

  Darby’s words trail off, and I can only imagine what she was going to say. Jake didn’t tell me much other than Darby’s soon to be ex-husband was not a nice guy, so I assume she means from him.

  That’s very personal, though, and Darby catches herself. She shakes her head and gives me a sheepish grin. “Listen to me rambling on. Jake’s told me a lot about you. Your family has the other big farm in the area, right?”

  “Mainer Farms,” I tell her proudly. “Eighth generation farmers.”

  “I’d love to see it sometime,” she says wistfully. “I grew up on a large commerc
ial farm in Iowa. A lot different and very mechanized. But that’s where I got my love for crop sciences.”

  “Maybe I can get my brother Colt to give you a tour when you come back,” I say to open up some conversation about the grant. “He’s the only one of my siblings who works the farm with my parents. He does a good chunk of it actually.”

  Darby’s face flushes, and I can tell by that look Jake has definitely told her about Colt being upset about the grant.

  I love my family. They mean more to me than anything, and the success of our farm is important to me. Colt is even more important to me. But I also need to let Darby know my position on the matter so she isn’t uncomfortable.

  “Darby,” I say softly, and her eyes lock onto mine across the table. “That grant is available to any farm in this county. There is nothing that says you can’t go after it. Just because my brother is bent out of shape doesn’t mean I am.”

  “I don’t want to cause any bad feelings,” Darby says in a rush. “Especially because of you and Jake… and well, you know… you two are… um…”

  “Dating,” Jake says emphatically, and to my surprise, I don’t even have the desire to correct him.

  I don’t look at him, though, and just nod to Darby so she gets it all out. “But this grant is crucial to my thesis and my resume. I want to apply to a huge crop sciences research corporation here and part of working in R&D is in applying for grants. I know that seems to put my personal needs above your family’s, but—”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I cut her off. “Like I said, that grant is there for anyone to apply for. If you need to do it, you do it. Colt will just have to live with it, and he’ll just have to try harder to get it.”

  Darby gives me an appreciative nod, and Jake’s hand slides under the table to grip my thigh in a squeeze of gratitude. I don’t dare look at him as I might feel compelled to slump over until my lips mash against his.

  We spend the rest of breakfast talking about Darby’s move, and she and I exchange phone numbers. I assure her she can call me for anything, and we make tentative plans to get together when she returns.