by Lexi Post
Scanning down her body, he was surprised to see she was barefoot, water dripping from her feet.
She’d taken off her cowboy boots! The women must have convinced her that her leg was no big deal. He was excited in a whole new way. Quickly, he pulled off his boots and headed for the side door. Once outside, he came up on her from behind, wrapping his arms around her, grubby sleeves and all. “Hey, beautiful.”
“Ack! Wade you stink!”
He laughed. “Nice way to greet your fiancé.” He kissed her on the lips, loving the feel of them against his own.
She pulled her head away. “You need a shower or something.”
He winked at Adriana before he pulled Kendra off the stool and toward the pool.
“What are you doing? Wade, you’re the one who needs a shower, not me.”
“You said or something.” With those words, he dipped his head to drop his hat on the pool deck then pulled Kendra into the pool, both of them falling in together.
“Woo! Woot!” The cheers as they came up made him smile.
“Now that’s a welcome home.” He recognized Donna’s voice as he held his still struggling fiancé.
“Wade, you’re crazy?”
He nodded. “Yup, crazy for you.” He kissed her and felt her silent chuckle reverberate through her. When he breached her lips with his tongue, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
As she started to moan in his arms, he broke off the kiss. “I missed you.”
She smiled. “I missed you, too.”
“Anything important happen while I was gone?”
“Yes and no.”
He raised his brows at that. “What does that mean?”
“It means yes, I received some interesting gifts at my bridal shower, and no, in that I nixed the head table for the wedding party and have it set with just you, me, your parents and my mom.”
“That’s perfect.”
Her smile faltered. “I don’t know about that. I just wanted mom to feel special.”
“It’s your wedding and you should do what you want.”
She cocked her head at him. “And what do you want?”
Her question caught him off guard. A flippant response came to him, but the serious look in her blue gaze had him rethinking it. “I just want to have you for my wife.”
“That’s it? That’s not much.”
He lost his smile at that. “It’s the world.”
She studied him as if she thought he was joking.
“Kendra, you’re far more than I ever expected to have in a wife. You’re my partner, equal in everything. A man couldn’t ask for more.”
“I don’t know why you see so much in me, but don’t stop seeing it. Okay?”
The blatant insecurity of her statement had his arms tightening without thought. “Never.”
She still didn’t look completely convinced, so he cradled her head and showed her with his kiss.
“Wade Johnson, what are you doing in that pool with all your clothes on?”
His mother’s voice came from behind him. He broke the kiss to answer her though he gave Kendra a wink. “What does it look like I’m doing?” Not waiting for an answer, he kissed her, the woman he loved, until she melted in his arms.
~~~~~
Kendra couldn’t help her excitement as she stroked Sundancer and Ace. Jorge had saddled the horses for them and Wade was on his way. She was looking forward to the ride they’d planned on yesterday. She knew it was silly since they lived together, but they had so little time alone during the day to talk about anything besides Poker Flat and most recently the wedding. A ride into the desert where the cell phones couldn’t reach them was exactly what she wanted.
Wade’s words earlier in the pool had found their way to her heart and she wanted to tell him that she didn’t doubt him. She was done with baggage. Baggage from her failed marriage. Baggage from her childhood, like her stupid leg scars. At the shower when her mother let slip about the coyote event and what an ass her father had been, the women had insisted on seeing her leg.
She’d flatly refused until Mac threatened to hold her down while Adriana took off her boot. With no choice, she’s removed her boot and sock, expecting gasps or complete silence. Instead, they all started talking at once, telling her how it wasn’t that bad and about others they’d seen with worse deformities. A couple of them actually showed off their own scars. By the time everyone had their say, she was laughing so hard, her eyes teared up.
Last night, alone in her house, she’d really looked at her leg. Over the years, her skin had changed and the scars really weren’t as bad as she remembered them. She had avoided looking at them for so long, even when showering, that she hadn’t seen them for what they were, a faded memory.
The tight knot in her belly was slowly unraveling, and she had her family and friends to thank for that, but most of all, she had Wade.
She patted Ace then strolled into the barn to see what the other horses were doing.
“There you are.”
At the sound of that voice, she spun to find Fred walking into the barn. Fury as strong as her happiness and maybe because of it, filled her. She lowered her brows as her blood surged. “I told you to get off my property. If I remember correctly I had you escorted off.”
“Yeah, well that felon isn’t here to do your dirty work, is she? You only have security at night. Yeah, I’ve been watching.” He lifted a bottle of cheap bourbon up to his lips and drank.
A shudder ran through at the idea of Fred as a Peeping Tom, but it would make sense. Thankfully, her guests had already left. “I don’t care what you’ve been doing. If you don’t leave right now, I’ll call the sheriff.” She pulled her phone from her back pocket, her hand shaking with her fury.
He walked farther into the barn and sat on one of Jorge’s lawn chairs pushed against the side of the tack room. “Go ahead, call. I’ll be happy to tell them about your criminal.”
That was all he had? Her brain started to focus with intense detail. The man was slipping. “She’s not a criminal. She did her time. Now leave.”
“What’s wrong, darling daughter? Just can’t call the cops on your dear father? Good, because I’ve come to walk you down the aisle tomorrow. That’s my right.”
Walk her…there was no way in hell she’d allow him near her wedding. Her heart raced at the gall of it. This was the man who couldn’t afford to buy new school clothes, but spent money buying women drinks at the local bars. It was bad enough she was from a poor trailer park, but then when her chest got big, the clothes made it worse.
Here she’d thought she’d rid herself of baggage and it was staring her in the face. Her hand tightened around her phone of its own accord, the urge to throw it at him hard to resist. “You have no rights. You lost them the first time you slept around on mom.”
He laughed. “Oh, I’d been doing that way before you were born. You weren’t even supposed to be here. Your mother was on the pill.”
Did he really think she’d didn’t know every detail of his crimes against her mother? “I know the whole sordid story. About how you used the money she needed for her birth control to buy another bottle of booze. The laugh was on you, wasn’t it? You were forced to pay to feed and house both of us.”
He jumped up at that and gestured toward her with his bottle. “Damn right I did and that gives me rights.” He spit on the barn floor. “Just what I needed, my bitch having a bitch. I thought I finally had it made when you married rich, but no, you couldn’t throw some cash my way.” He snarled. “You kept it to your fucking self. Not this time. I deserve to live here more than your mother.” He squinted at her. “You – owe - me.”
The absurdity of his thought process stunned her. He didn’t give a shit about anything but his liquor and pussy. She took a step forward, trying to resist the urge to pummel him. “I don’t owe you squat.”
“Fuck that! You owe me for putting a roof over your head and feeding that fucking mouth of yours! You owe me your
life! I’m your father, you fucking cunt!”
His insults toward her didn’t faze her. She’d heard them hurled her way her entire life, but his self-absorption after all he’d put her through was too much. She stepped closer and pointed her finger at him, wanting more than anything to punch him. “Just because you stuck your pathetic dick inside my mother and squirted out some sperm doesn’t make you my father!”
Before Fred could respond, she heard the crunch of cowboy boots on the dirt outside. Shit. She didn’t want Wade involved in this.
“What’s going on in here?” He loomed large in the doorway.
Fred pointed at her, his tone growing whiney. “She has no right to treat me like this. I’m her father.”
“Wade, just give me few minutes. I need to finish this conversation so he understands.” She nodded toward Fred, her breathing heavy as she tried to control her voice with Wade.
“No. I’m not leaving you alone with him.”
Of course he wouldn’t because he always stood by her. She tried one more time, not sure he needed to see exactly how low her beginnings really were. “He’s not a threat. We just have some unfinished business that has finally come to a head.”
Wade shook his head. “I know. But this man can inflict pain with words. I can’t let that happen.”
Her anger calmed in the face of his steadfastness. That she’d known what his answer would be before she’d asked just proved how in tune they were. She’d always had to fight her own battles, even against the man who thought he was a father. If Wade wanted to take care of this one for her, she was more than willing to let him. She glanced at Fred, who was grinning at her as if he thought he’d won.
“You know what? We’re done. He’s not worth any more of my time.” She threw her hand to the side toward Fred. “If you’d like to escort him off the property for me, I’m good with that. I have a horse waiting for me.”
Striding past Fred, she grabbed the whiskey bottle from his hand. “I always hated you. Now I could care less if you live or die.” When she reached the dirt outside, she slammed the bottle to the ground and strode to Sundancer.
Untying the reins, she hopped on his back and kicked him into a gallop. She didn’t care where they went, just away from the man she despised. She was done with him.
“I knew I liked you.” Kendra’s father’s words penetrated Wade’s surprise that Kendra had so quickly handed Fred over to him. That wasn’t like her.
“You understand how these women are. She shouldn’t be treating me like that. What is it that makes women such bitch—”
Wade crossed the space between them in an instant, his hand encircling the short, chubby man’s neck. “You listen very carefully, Fred. You’re going to be leaving here right now. If you return, I will be happy to bury your corpse out in the desert somewhere after my security team deals with you. Do you understand?”
Fred nodded his head, his face bright red.
“Good.” He let go of the man’s neck and grabbed him by the collar of his dirty shirt. Walking him out of the barn, he forced him into the golf cart Kendra had left behind. He wanted to ride after her but she’d left him the responsibility of getting rid of Fred. His concern was she was still a novice rider.
“Sure you don’t want to run after her? Makeup fucking is hard and quick. None of that make me wet, shit.”
Wade smacked the man on the back of his head.
“Ow!”
He needed to dump this piece of garbage. “Shut up.” Decision made, he drove him up to the garage. Without a word, he walked Fred to his car.
Once the man unlocked his door and sat, Wade kept it from closing. “Are we clear?”
“Fuck you.” Fred spit, but it fell far short of its mark.
He slammed the door and stepped away from the vehicle. Though Kendra believed her father wasn’t dangerous, he wasn’t as sure. Any person pushed into a corner could be dangerous, even himself.
Fred started the car and peeled out, sending a cloud of dust in the direction of the garage.
Wade watched until the car was out of sight. He didn’t trust Fred as far as he could throw the man. He’d alert both Hunter and Mac that he might come back. If he’d let Kendra have it out with Fred, would that have that ended it for good?
He wouldn’t apologize for protecting her. Fred was an unknown to him. It had been hard staying out of it when Selma held a knife and iron pan. It was impossible with Fred, even if all he had was a bottle.
As he drove back down the ravine, the lights inside the main building showed his family and friends in the Great Room. In contrast, above the ravine, the sun was just starting to set.
He had to find Kendra before dark. He pushed the cart to its fastest and raced toward the barn, the shadows taking over everything. Jumping out, he untied Ace and mounted. “Come on, boy, we need to find the other half of my heart.”
Kendra let Sundancer wander wherever he wanted, too lost in thought to pay attention. How had she gone from being the most stoic person on the resort to riding an emotional rollercoaster?
What would Wade think of Fred? How much had he heard? Just seeing Fred sent her back two decades, bringing her right back to when she was a younger girl. Even her language regressed.
Pissed at herself for letting the lowlife get to her, she brought Sundancer to a halt. Dismounting, she dropped the reins and looked around. She didn’t recognize the area, but she was on some kind of trail.
Seeing the stream, she moved toward it. She crouched down and splashed the cold water on her face. The coolness felt good and she splashed her face again. Standing, she pulled her shirt out of her jeans and wiped her face.
How did she get to be the lucky one with all the baggage? Wade didn’t have any at all. Even talking to his mother and siblings made it sound like he led a charmed life.
Maybe instead of crushing her past into submission, she needed to just let it go. Fred didn’t get it and he never would. She was wasting her breath trying to make him see what an ass he was. She should have realized that sooner. He wasn’t so much the problem as the catalyst for the rest of her issues.
But she’d overcome those, hadn’t she? She felt better about her body image, her mother, and even her origins. Her ex had been another source of her problems, but he’d probably forgotten about her, yet she was hyped up over her whole wedding because of him. Wade was not Eugene. They were opposites.
Eugene had used her to pursue his dream. Wade had given up his dreams of owning a ranch to be part of hers. It didn’t get any more opposite than that. So why was she still nervous about the actual wedding? If she was so worried about it being perfect like her last one, she should have planned it. But when Lacey offered to take charge, her eyes alight with her excitement, she couldn’t refuse.
Kendra stared at the Palo Verde tree across the stream, its green branches now appearing gray as the sun set over the desert floor above her. The sun would rise and fall no matter how much she worried about things. What had all her worrying done for her anyway? Nothing. No, worse than that, she’d made her life worse. She needed to allow events to happen as they would. She had to trust in her family, friends and staff.
Easier said than done, but she could try.
She needed to trust in Wade, too. No, she didn’t need to, she did. Her confidence in their ability to handle whatever was thrown at them was solid, she just hadn’t realized it. She wanted to smack herself in the forehead. Sometimes, she could be so blind. She had to go back and tell him, everything.
Turning around to find Sundancer, she froze.
A lone coyote stared at her and bared its teeth, a low rumbling sound emanating from its throat.
Panic flew up her spine and she was suddenly three-years-old again, a coyote’s teeth sinking into her leg. The pain sliced through her psyche, stopping her heart. She forced the memory away, blinking as the white teeth of the animal before her came into focus. Fuck that. She was done with being afraid.
“Get out of here!�
� She stepped toward the coyote who spun and sprinted a few yards away.
“I said get!” The coyote ran a few more yards then sat on its haunches and lifted its head, a lonely howl coming from it.
No way was she dealing with a pack of them. Adrenaline suffused her limbs and she started to run, waving her arms. “Go. Get out of here or I’ll come back with my Smith and Wesson and end your miserable life!”
The coyote bounded off in front of her as she ran after it. When she couldn’t see it anymore, she stopped and bent over, taking deep breaths.
She did it. She did it! She wanted to yell to the world.
Standing up, she scanned the darkening landscape in triumph. Another piece of baggage thrown away. If she could chase off a coyote, she could certainly handle a perfect wedding.
“Kendra!”
At the sound of Wade’s yell, she turned, her success turning to joy and excitement. “Over here!” She felt her eyes welling up again, but this time with happiness. Running down the incline she’d conquered to make the coyote leave, she skidded to a halt at the bottom.
“Where are you!” From the sound of his voice, Wade was worried.
She was beyond lucky to have him. “I’m down the trail!” She looked around for Sundancer but didn’t see him. It had grown dark at the bottom of the ravine. “I’m near the stream.” She started walking toward where she heard Wade.
As she came around an outcropping, she saw him, or rather his white hat and the pale shapes of two horses. Too thrilled he’d come for her, she ran toward him and jumped into his arms.
He held her tight for a moment, before pushing her back to look at her. “Are you alright?”
“I’m better now. You mean more to me than any of my past. If I ever do or say something stupid again, you remind me of the coyote.”
He chuckled. “I can’t say I understand half of what you’re saying, but I’m glad you’re unharmed.”
She looked up into his eyes. “I’m better than unharmed.” Without explanation, she kissed him, showing him exactly how fine she was.
Wade pulled away just as she was ready to take off his clothes and make love right there on the trail.