Michael had only been trying to sleep there for an hour and already he knew the spring his father spoke of intimately.
“Think Mom will let me buy her a new couch for her birthday?”
His dad laughed. “She’ll probably put the new couch in our room and keep this lumpy thing out here.”
After a few quiet moments, his dad asked, “Are you and Karen going to be OK?”
Karen’s words swam in his head. As far as the world is concerned, our irreconcilable differences began today. No use pretending otherwise.
“I screwed up pretty bad, Dad.”
“All marriages have ups and downs.”
Michael shook his head. “This is different.”
Sawyer’s confidence fell. “Do you wanna talk about it?”
Sure Dad…how about I just tell you I’m gay? My marriage is a farce, and I may have just fucked up my only real friend in my life.
“Not particularly.”
Sawyer removed himself from his chair. “You know where I am.”
Emotion clogged Michael’s throat. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d shared this many civil words with his father.
Before Sawyer walked up the stairs, he turned and delivered one more piece of advice. “There’s no shame in a little groveling.”
Michael smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
The dream took hold and didn’t let go.
“If I turned around right now I’d want to kiss you.” Please…kiss me. Take away the question of what you taste like from my mind and swallow me whole.
Zach’s hand clasped her shoulders as they stared over Beacon’s pond, and then…as if he couldn’t control himself, he turned her around, shoved a hand into her hair, and took her lips. She pressed into him, let his pine scent seep into her every pore. His desperate kisses were wet, indecent, and so filled with need Karen didn’t want them to ever end.
Zach backed her up against a tree, leaned into her.
On some level, Karen knew she was dreaming. Lingering thoughts of Michael drifted in her brain…made her heart ache. She shouldn’t be kissing his brother.
Or letting Zach touch her.
You’re dreaming, her mind screamed.
But I want this, her conscience reminded her.
Need quickened. Her breath lodged in her throat, and when Zach reached between her legs…
Karen shot up in bed, her heart pounded behind her rib cage.
A dream.
Damn!
She flopped back on the squeaky childhood bed once occupied by Michael, kicked off the hot covers, and tried to go back to sleep.
There was a back staircase to the Gardner family home, which gave Karen the perfect escape the next morning for her run.
She needed the peace as well as time alone to make a much-needed phone call to someone who knew the hell she was going through.
She slipped from the house wearing running shorts and plugged her ears into her music on her cell phone. With a brisk pace, she made her way to Beacon’s barn and went ahead and turned down the road to the abandoned home she’d passed the day before with Zach.
Once she was sure there wasn’t a soul for miles, she speed-dialed Gwen’s number and hoped she was up and ready for Karen to unload.
Gwen’s cheerful voice brought a smile to Karen’s face. “Karen? How are you?”
“I suck. That’s how I am. Oh, God, Gwen…”
“Oh, no. What happened?”
“Coming here was a mistake.” On so many levels.
“Is Michael’s family awful?”
Karen rubbed the back of her neck. “No. They’re actually really nice. His sister Judy and I really hit it off. Even his younger sister, Hannah, is crazy fun.”
“And his parents?”
She couldn’t even complain about them. “I thought at first his dad and I would fight the whole time but even he seems to have mellowed. And his mom, Janice, is the quintessential mother.”
Gwen cleared her throat. “And Zach?”
Karen groaned.
“Ah! So Zach is the problem.”
“I’m an awful person, Gwen. Tell me how horrible I am to be dreaming of the man.”
Gwen didn’t deliver the much-needed reprimand. “Sorry, my dear, but you won’t be getting that from me. I noticed him watching you at the party. I’m guessing he is still looking.”
“He’s looking. I’m looking.”
“I knew this would become sticky,” Gwen said. “Does Michael know you’re having horizontal dreams about his brother?”
“Who said I’m having sex dreams?”
Gwen laughed. “I don’t believe I said sex dreams. But thank you for clarifying.”
“Ah! No! Michael doesn’t know. Not that he deserves to, the asshat.” She went on to tell Gwen about the previous day and the line Michael had crossed.
“That doesn’t sound like our Michael at all.”
Karen plopped down on the edge of a rock as she talked into her phone. “No, it doesn’t. Which is the only reason I’m still here. I think he’s having his own identity crisis. Having his family and old friends around has been good for him. He hasn’t even asked if Tony has called.”
“I never have envied him. Seems his entire life is a farce.”
“Yeah, well, right now so is mine.” Maybe Karen was having an identity crisis of her own.
“How much longer will you stay in Hilton?” Gwen asked.
“A week. There’s a parade tomorrow and then we’re going up to the cabin for a couple of days. Even Sawyer is taking time off work, which apparently is a rarity.”
“You lost me at parade.”
Karen laughed. “Hilton celebrates its Founder’s Day with a parade and fireworks. Hannah and Judy have been putting together a float of some sort for Michael to ride in. Hilton’s claim to fame will be waving to the crowd.”
“Oh, that’s rich. Will you be on the float with him?”
“Hell no. He can have the spotlight all to himself. Besides, it’s not like I want this town to know me more than they do right now. I won’t be Mrs. Michael Wolfe or Gardner…or whatever next year at this time.”
“I suppose that’s for the best. Unless of course your sex dreams about Zach manifest into something more than a fantasy.”
Karen squeezed her eyes shut and ignored the heat that rushed to her face with the mention of intimacy with Zach. “You’re not helping, Gwen.”
She giggled and Karen imagined Gwen tossing her long hair over her shoulder. “I’d apologize but we both know I’m not sorry. Taboo sex is the best sex of all.”
“I haven’t had sex in so long I forgot the mechanics of it.”
They both laughed. “It’s like riding a bike and all that. One never forgets. Though the longer you go without the better it’s likely to be when you’re back in the game. And Michael’s brother is rather sexy.”
“Aren’t you married?”
Gwen couldn’t stop laughing. “And satisfied on more levels than is proper to say into a phone, but we both know your paper marriage has left you frustrated for over a year. And if I’m not mistaken you didn’t have even a one-night anything for months prior to slipping on Michael’s ring.”
Karen didn’t need to be reminded. “I really did need you to tell me to keep my distance, Gwen. If anything happened between Zach and me, we’d both feel remorse on colossal levels. I may know that I’m not cheating on my husband, but Zach wouldn’t. What kind of woman sleeps with her husband’s brother? And what kind of brother goes after his sister-in-law?” No matter how she looked at the situation, the outcome was bad.
“Matters of the heart are not dictated by societal restrictions, Karen.”
She didn’t need Gwen to tell her that. She’d been married to a homosexual man for a year because of societal views.
“Doesn’t change the facts. If I did anything right now to jeopardize Michael’s secret, I’d never forgive myself. I love him too much.”
“What if Michae
l were to give his blessing?”
“That isn’t going to happen unless he tells his family about the entire arrangement. After yesterday, I don’t see that happening.”
Gwen sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I know I am.”
“Can you promise me something?”
Karen glanced toward the white fluffy clouds in the sky and cursed such a perfect day. “Sure.”
“Promise me if anything does happen between you and Zach that you won’t hate yourself for it.”
“Nothing is going to happen.”
“Good intentions aside, if something did—”
“I can’t let it happen.” God knew she’d already gone there in her head and the experience had been fabulous. The fallout, however, was a bitch…even in her dreams.
“Be true to yourself, Karen. You know where I am should you need me.”
Karen counted her blessings for having such a great friend. “Thanks. Say hi to everyone.”
Nolan had shown up ten minutes early and eagerly jumped into whatever Zach wanted him to do. Zach hadn’t bothered approaching his father for more hours for the kid. Working retail was fine if you owned the business or had another source of income. It wasn’t something that would sustain Nolan in life. With Zach, Nolan would learn a trade that could support a family.
After listening to Karen’s concerns about Nolan and his girlfriend, Becky, he couldn’t walk away from these two kids’ problems. Not that Zach needed to invite any more issues into his life.
After breaking up with Tracey and fantasizing about Karen all night, Zach only managed a few hours’ sleep. He had to put in a full workday considering the entire job site would shut down for the Founder’s Day festivities on the next.
His second-in-command, Buck Foster, was going to keep an eye on things over the next several days in Zach’s absence. The Gardner family routinely vacationed together up at the cabin after Founder’s Day. Sometimes they spent an entire week up in the forest. Other times they’d scrape together only a handful of days. With Michael joining them for the first time in years, it should be something to celebrate.
Only Zach was dreading it.
He knew that if he witnessed Michael so much as lay a finger on Karen in a harmful way, he’d flatten his Hollywood profile to teach him some manners. Zach wanted to believe Karen when she told him that Michael had never treated her poorly in the past. But he couldn’t be too sure. Something about his brother was off and he had yet to figure out what.
Then there was Karen herself. How the hell was he going to sleep in the same room with her only feet away? The cabin was communal. There was a huge loft upstairs where for years they’d all dropped into their bunks at the end of the day. The only bedroom was on the main floor and that was his parents’ sanctuary. Up until Zach had obtained his contractor’s license, there had been only one bathroom. But with so many women under one roof, he wasn’t about to leave the cabin with one shower. They owned over a hundred acres at the top of the mountain and Zach had considered more than once to build a second structure. Now that Rena and Joe’s family was expanding, the cabin felt smaller and smaller.
Maybe he’d bring a tent…just in case.
“Where did you find this kid?” Buck asked as the two of them were visually inspecting the latest supply shipment that had come in that morning.
“He works for my dad. Just graduated from high school.”
“I thought I recognized him. He’s eager.”
Zach glanced over and noticed Nolan lugging an armload of two-by-fours. “I can see that. What we need to see is if he has the ability to learn.”
“I paired him with Sean. We’ll figure out how he is with framing.”
Zach nodded. “Good idea. Let me know if there are any problems. He still has hours he has to work at my dad’s, so see if we can keep him going here part-time.”
Zach checked the invoice order numbers against the pallets of kitchen hardware.
“How is it with your brother in town?” Buck asked.
Zach tried to separate his brother and Karen in his head in order to answer the question.
“I’m looking forward to getting him away from his adoring fans in town.” And he was, he decided.
“Gotta get him off his own personal float first. I hear the mayor has the road sign ready to unveil tomorrow morning.”
He’d forgotten all about that. All across the country, small-town America celebrated its stars with freeway signs that boasted things like HILTON, UTAH, HOME OF MICHAEL WOLFE, hoping to draw in tourist dollars. Hilton was taking the opportunity to bestow such a sign on Mike.
“His ego can handle it.” At least Zach hoped it could.
Buck pushed into another pallet to check his set of numbers. “I hear his wife is hot.”
Did he have to mention Karen?
“She is beautiful.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
Buck cut through the cellophane that kept the boxes on the crate together with a grunt. “You know…when he started doing those plays in high school several of us laid bets that he was gay.”
Zach froze.
“Guess we were wrong about that.” Buck ripped the packing slip away with a curse. “Dammit, I ripped off the number. What do you have?”
Zach shook his head, looked on his invoice, and repeated the numbers Buck asked for.
“Close enough.”
Zach scratched his head, lost in his thoughts. “Yeah, close enough.”
Chapter Fourteen
The flowers started arriving shortly after Karen stepped from the shower. She’d arrived back at the Gardner home to find Michael gone. She shouldn’t have been surprised, but with his family eyeing her every move…all of them no doubt wondering what had transpired between them to warrant a night on the couch, she felt a little abandoned. The brat.
“Karen?” Judy yelled from downstairs.
She was just about to switch on the hair dryer when she heard her name called.
“You have a delivery.”
She set the hair dryer aside and walked downstairs with the hairbrush in her hand. “Delivery?”
Judy stood beside a kid in his early twenties wearing a goofy smile and holding a bouquet of two dozen long-stemmed white roses. “Are you Karen?”
Flowers? Really Michael? “I am.”
He offered a shy smile in Judy’s direction and handed the roses to Karen.
“Oh, wow!” Hannah ran down the stairs.
If Michael thought a couple of dozen roses would sway her, he hadn’t been paying attention. “You like ’em?” Karen asked Hannah while she plucked the small envelope from the stems to read later.
“I don’t think I’ve seen that many roses in one vase.”
The delivery boy turned to leave.
“Let me get a tip.”
He waved her off. “It’s all taken care of.”
“Thank you,” she said to the kid.
Before the door could close behind him, Karen turned to Hannah and thrust the roses into the teenager’s hands. “For you.”
Hannah gasped.
Judy said, “Whoa.”
The delivery boy managed, “I haven’t seen that before.”
Karen skipped up the stairs and continued her morning routine.
Thirty minutes later the same delivery boy arrived again, this time with pink roses…again two dozen. Karen plucked the card, shoved the flowers in Judy’s hands, and returned to her room.
When the doorbell rang a third time, Karen called to Janice, who was in the kitchen cooking food to last the family for a week. “Janice? You have a delivery.” White lilies made a wonderful display on Janice’s table.
By noon, Judy was on a first-name basis with Myles, the delivery boy who was apparently driving three towns over to the florist where he worked part-time in the summer. The house smelled like the floral house at the LA County Fair.
“Ms. Karen?” Myles said as he handed her his eleventh delivery that day.
“Yes, Myles?”
“I was kinda hoping to hook up with my friends tonight. But my instructions are to keep delivering flowers until you accept them.” He shuffled his feet. “And I’m running out of gas.”
Karen hid a laugh behind her hand. She glanced at the orchid bouquet she held and buried her nose in them for a sniff. “Well Myles, you can tell your boss that the orchids worked.”
He sighed with relief. “Thank you.”
Three sets of eyes watched her set the orchids next to Sawyer’s chair. She pulled one stem from the bouquet and grinned.
“I think Mike is sorry for whatever he did,” Hannah said.
Janice watched her with narrowed eyes.
“You’re not going to keep any of them, are you?” Judy asked. “You just said that to Myles so he didn’t have to keep coming back.”
Karen pointed the flower in Judy’s direction. “You’re right.”
Hannah puffed out her lower lip. “But why? I think if a boy sent me one bouquet I’d press each flower into a book forever.”
“They’re just flowers, Hannah.”
“Thousands of dollars’ worth of flowers,” Judy pointed out.
Hannah glanced around the room. “Thousands? Really?”
“A dozen roses on their website are a hundred bucks.” Obviously, Judy had used the time between deliveries to look stuff up. “Without delivery.”
It was time to impart some older sister advice to the younger generation. Advice Karen had told more teens than she could count. She dropped into the couch and looked between Judy and Hannah. “Let me tell you how the male brain works. Men think sending flowers to a girl when they’ve done something to make you mad is their get out of jail free card. Lots of girls fall for it. So what does that tell the guy?”
Judy spoke first. “Means he can do whatever he wants and send flowers later and everything is good.”
“Exactly. Apologies are only words until they are backed up with actions.”
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