by Naomi Niles
Kirk began making friends and often invited one or two to come home with him after school to swim and play. It was a good, honest childhood for him.
We started out overly cautious of one another’s areas in the house. I knew Silver stayed to her sitting room and watched television or read. I never intruded. The only truly common area was the kitchen as it was impractical to duplicate that in a house that size.
It felt like when we were living in Dallas again and I never thought we’d get there. We cooked together, ate together, went to teacher/parent school conferences and shopped together. We had acres of extra property, so I had a white, modern barn built and bought two horses, one for Silver and one for me, and a pony for Kirk. I took him to rodeos and he learned to twirl a rope.
Our businesses were exploding. Silver opened four more restaurants in the ensuing six months and I opened six or seven. We began to exchange business confidences and make joint decisions. It was the perfect partnership.
Sarah had moved in with us. Just as I’d suggested, Silver donated the house for a woman’s shelter and that left Sarah with nowhere to go. There was plenty of room to create an apartment for her in the lower level and she looked after the house somewhat and after Kirk to earn her keep.
I had just closed a new store in New York City—a long-desired target—and to celebrate, I asked Sarah to stay with Kirk and invited Silver to dinner. She had smiled shyly, but accepted.
It turned out to be a night to remember.
Chapter 24
Meli
I’d found a silvery-blue silk dress in a shop on my travels and since it accented my coloring, I bought it for that eventuality when I would go out. That night came when Blake invited me to dinner to celebrate his newest store.
I pinned my hair up high on my head and fastened it with silver pins. I found silver heels with just the right height and wore a diamond tennis bracelet as my only jewelry.
Blake had purchased a new Mercedes, and although he had my Escalade shipped to our new house, we chose to drive the Mercedes.
He had chosen a seafood restaurant on the coast. It was a gorgeous night and the moon roof was open on the car. He had turned on sexy jazz on the sound system and he drove slowly so we could hear crickets and bullfrogs from the bayous as we drove.
When we reached the restaurant, the waiter showed us to a table that was isolated somewhat from the rest. The top of the table was strewn with white rose petals and a bucket with iced champagne awaited us. The champagne flutes were crystal and sparkled in the candlelight. There were lights from boats on the water and the effect was magical.
We had eaten and were sipping chicory coffee when Blake began talking, but in an unusual tone.
“Silver, I have a story I want to share with you. I hope you will let me tell you about this as it’s important to me that you know,” he began.
“Go ahead, Blake,” I encouraged him.
“When I was a kid, I had four brothers: Baldwin, Bixby, Blaine, and Burton. We were quite a five-some; and not always with the best reputation. When we weren’t fighting with each other, one would pick a fight with a stranger and the rest would back him up. My parents weren’t around much and pretty much washed their hands of the lot of us. Since I was the eldest, it became my job to keep everyone in line as best as I could. I generally did a pretty good job of it, as long as I wasn’t involved in the tussle.
“One night the five of us decided to camp out at the back of the property. There was a pond there; which more or less doubled as a septic pond, so it wasn’t fit for fishing or swimming. But it was as close as we could get to water in our part of Texas and we weren’t picky.
“Blaine had lifted a tent from the hardware store in town and we put it up after dark where the folks wouldn’t be able to see it. We built a fire and sat around it, drinking beer. I think I was about sixteen at the time. We got to telling dirty jokes and Bix, well, he had the best memory and was full up of them. So, he was telling one about a naked girl who got caught in the bathroom with a boy and I think he forgot most of it so he was sort of making it up as he went along. He was sort of a bully and always picked on Burton, the youngest. Burt was finding himself and starting to come back on Bix when he did this. Bix used Burt’s name in the joke and the rest of us were rolling because the idea of young Burt being with a girl was hysterical.
“Anyway, Burt got pissed, I mean really pissed at Bix, and came up off the ground and rammed Bix in the chest with everything he had. He knocked the wind right out of Bix. That got Bix pissed and as soon as he could breathe, he launched himself on Burt. It was dark and they were shoving out of the reach of the campfire light. I told them to stop it but then just sat back and laughed… figured they needed to get it out of their system.
“I could hear the fists thumping and then I heard a splash. There was some more splashing and then Bix was calling out Burt’s name. His voice had changed; it was scared, really scared and desperate sounding.
“I jumped up and ran in the direction of his voice. We didn’t have a flashlight and it was a dark night. I finally found Burt … kicked his body by accident as I waded around. Bix had shoved him and he’d hit his head on a rock probably because there was some blood on him as we pulled him out, but he wasn’t breathing. I did what I could remember as CPR, but it wasn’t good enough. Burt never came to and by the time we got him up to the house, he had turned blue and you could see by looking at him that it was all over.
“My folks both blamed me, because I was the eldest and supposed to be responsible for all of them. Dad hauled off and knocked me in the head and Mom refused to talk to me for years. My name wasn’t to be spoken in the house and even my brothers blamed me, although they knew it wasn’t my fault. Bix never stepped up and said a word.
“So … I left home at an early age and made my own way in the world. The rodeo was all I knew. For a large part, it’s still all I know.”
“I’m so sorry to hear about your brother. That wasn’t fair to you.”
“Life isn’t fair, Silver. That’s what I want to share with you. I know you’re carrying around a sense of responsibility for the entire world, but most of all for yourself and Jill. You shouldn’t have ever been put in that position. You got through it and you brought Jill through it safely, too. You kept the both of your out of the system and stuck together. That takes guts and intelligence. You did it. But there’s no one threatening you now. No one even need know about it if you don’t want it out there. It’s gone … forgotten. For the most part, it only still exists in your mind anyway.”
I could feel the resistance rising along my spine. I never wanted to talk about those times. He could see it on my face.
“Silver. It’s gone. Forgotten. Never to be brought up again. As far as Kirk is concerned, you grew up here in Louisiana. He’ll never know the difference.”
I had to admit, his words had a certain positive motivation to them. Perhaps I had been carrying around old wounds too long. Perhaps I was making others pay for them. Either one was unacceptable. I didn’t hold grudges against others like that. Why was I holding one against myself?
He had put his hand over mine. I nodded in agreement with his words. “You’re right,” I told him. “I think I’ve known it for a long time and just didn’t want to admit it to myself. It’s gone. Forgotten. Never existed.”
“That’s my girl,” he said and leaned forward to kiss me in approval. When his mouth hit mine, it was as if electricity had fired through both of us.
He pulled away in shock and we stared at one another. In that second we knew we had been fighting the inevitable. We had delayed what was certain to happen eventually between us. I knew Blake wanted me; but more importantly, I knew I wanted him and I was not only good enough for him, I was the best woman he could possibly have.
There had been something deep and knowing in that kiss. It required no discussion. No contemplation.
Without a word, Blake threw three hundred-dollar bills on the table and
got up, taking my hand and drawing me behind him as we left the restaurant. He drove swiftly, but masterfully through the night air, lightning bugs hovering over me as I lay my head in his lap, stroking him with hunger.
He pulled into our drive and stopped in front of the porch, pulling me up and into his arms. His hungry mouth searched my every inch and I felt him hard beneath me. He was breathing hard and wanted everything I could possibly give him. It was not enough.
He was out of the car and before I could get my door completely open, he had forced it wide and lifted me out. He carried me up the steps and into the house but we did not turn down my corridor, but his. It was the first time I’d seen his side of the house and I was touched to see that it matched … that is until we entered his bedroom.
There was gorgeous, mahogany paneling and a plaid comforter on his massive bed. It was a man’s bed and the room held the scent of fresh shaven chins and sexual tension. Blake set me on the floor long enough to pull my dress off and I kicked off the heels. Both of us now naked, he picked me up again and as if I was made of glass, he laid me on the bed and his mouth began its journey upward from my knees.
His tongue inched its way, searching for ownership in the territory that belonged only to him. As his mouth advanced, he pushed my legs further apart until his face was buried against me, his hands opening my feminine petals as though searching for the sweet pollen of its stamen.
Blake’s hands slid over my hips and onto my flat belly, finally cupping my breasts in a manner that claimed ownership. He rolled then, pulling me atop him. Raising my hips, he lowered me onto his erect member and I felt him penetrate all the way to my core. I rolled forward to get purchase with my knees and leveraged myself up and down. He groaned with me as the culmination of the electric charges we’d felt all the way home finally overcame us.
Blake stiffened and I reared back, my hair fanning over his thighs like a horse’s mane. He groaned again at the sensation and froze that moment in time. He throbbed within me and I gripped him and held him in place.
When at last our hearts had slowed and the tears began to dry upon my cheeks, he rolled again, taking me with him. He clutched me against his chest and folded my hair up and over his forearm.
“I love you, Silver, and this time you’re not running away.”
I nodded against his chest. I finally felt … home.
Chapter 25
Blake
I awoke to find Silver had left the bed and gone back to her room. This wasn’t unexpected as Kirk would be looking for her in the morning and she would want to be dressed and in her bed as normal. There was time enough to transition him to the idea that his parents were finally sleeping together.
I went into the kitchen and found Sarah and Kirk there, studying his alphabet and reading simple words. Kirk hugged me and Sarah nodded and smiled, both in greeting and as approval for what she realized had happened in the night. I was a little embarrassed that it was so apparent but this was quickly overridden by the realization that I had finally brought Silver around and out of self-damaging shell.
I tiptoed down Silver’s hallway and tapped on her door before entering. She was dressed but lying on her bed. Her eyes opened as I came in and she reached her arms out to get me to lie down next to her.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“For …?”
“For freeing me from the past. For loving me and for making love to me last night. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a hundredth as much peace and happiness as I do right now.”
“I’m glad, my sweet Silver. Now I have to ask you something.”
“What’s that?” she answered, lying back and closing her exhausted eyes once again as she waited.
“Would you marry me?”
She smiled and her eyes popped open as she rolled to kiss me. “I thought you’d never ask,” she teased me and nodded. “I would love to marry you.”
Could there be a better feeling than this? Could I ever assemble the perfect storm of love and child and home that would feel more right than this? I knew it would be impossible.
Chapter 26
Meli
We were married in a small ceremony out by the pool. Hundreds of flowers were woven into a canopy to shield us from the direct sun and a massive white tent with opened sides awaited following the ceremony to host a hundred guests. Most of these people were our employees and our best customers. There were twenty or more riders from the rodeo circuit who knew Blake since he was a kid and were there to pay their respects. They gathered around him before the drinking got into full swing and threw him into the swimming pool. Luckily, he had been prepared for this and it was all done in good fun.
Kirk looked exceedingly handsome in his miniature tuxedo. His buttonhole held a red carnation and he kept picking at it to keep it straight. Sometime later I found it floating in the pool and he had tugged his jacket off and was playing in the sand. I wished I could have been a child again, to know such love and acceptance.
Marie had come into town for the wedding and brought Louis with her. Louis played with Kirk while Marie and I sat for a bit and caught up on one another’s lives. She was exceedingly happy for me and quite charmed by Kirk, as well as one of the single bull riders who began to hang around her like a bee on honey.
The only person who did not come was Jill. She refused; but that was Jill and if she had come, quite truthfully, I would have been suspicious as to her motives. Jill never did anything without a very good, very selfish reason.
As the afternoon faded into night, a band played creole music and there was dancing and drinking into the young hours before dawn.
Blake and I found our way into our bedroom sometime around dawn and made love for hours until we finally fell asleep from exhaustion.
The next morning, he kissed me awake and we resumed where we’d left off from the night before. It was absolute bliss. Everything about Blake was so masculine, so protective. I was his woman, his wife, and we had our true family now.
With that in mind, I rolled out of the bed and dressed quickly, heading to my own room to shower and get organized before I began my first day as Mrs. Blake Temple.
I chose white pants with sandals and a feathery, pale-pink top that shimmered when I walked. For some reason, I had the urge to be exceptionally feminine. This felt really wonderful.
Kirk met me in the hallway and threw himself at me, hugging my legs. He began chattering about the wedding and party and how he’d gotten so much attention and that Louis had come and they’d played together. He had shown Louis his pony and while Daddy said Louis would have to come back and ride another time, he hoped it would be really soon. I was delighted with his contentment and took that as a harbinger of what was to come in our lives.
As a new wife, I wanted to make my family’s breakfast. Workmen had stayed through the night to do the clean-up after the wedding. Peeking through the back door, it was as if nothing had ever happened. The pool was sparkling clean and there was a full cart of crisp, white towels. The tent was gone, as were all the food leftovers and dirty dishes. I was so relieved that Blake had the foresight to see to the clean-up; that might have been too much to take on as I felt fairly exhausted from activity of the day before.
Blake emerged, his cell in his hand and a scowl on his face. I felt disappointed that our little romantic bubble of heaven had been penetrated by something unpleasant. “Anything wrong?”
His head snapped up and I could see him framing his response. “Nope. Just business. A contractor didn’t show up and it’s holding up the concrete on the store in Des Moines.” He walked past me without giving me a kiss.
“C’mon, what’s really going on?” I pushed on his arm. He was acting strangely, looking around in a distracted manner and not at all the happy groom who had professed to be truly happy for the first time in his life.
“Just business, Silver. Hey, buddy, did you have fun yesterday?” he picked up Kirk and tossed him in the air. His reward was a spoon of mi
lk cereal splattered against his checked shirt.
I shrugged and went about scrambling some eggs with bits of bacon and making the toast. Blake punched himself in a cup of coffee from the Keurig and then made a hot tea for me. He joined me at the breakfast table where a window afforded us a broad view of the back yard. I handed him a napkin and looked out over the pool, the barn, and the acres of green trees and pasture beyond them. I could hear Kirk scooting off his stool at the breakfast bar and running down the hall to his room. As we watched, Sarah emerged from her downstairs apartment and was headed to the pool for a morning swim. “Do you have any idea how content and happy I feel right now?” I began.
Blake raised up off his chair and leaned over to kiss me. “Thank you for making me the happiest man in the world, Silver. No matter what happens, nothing will ever change that. You remember that, okay?”
I stiffened a bit at his words. Something was definitely up and I had a feeling I was somehow involved. His remark had been uncalled for, at least the cautionary part. Why would he reiterate that our relationship would always remain the same? There was no purpose in going to that length. I did an internal shrug. Whatever it was, it would surface eventually, and in the meantime, I wanted to continue to bask in the warmth of the moment and in the prospect of the days to come.
“We have a table of wedding gifts to open, you know,” I pointed out conversationally.
He nodded absentmindedly.
I tried again. “Do you realize that with the exception of the Escalade and possibly the inheritance from Maudie, that I’ve never received a gift in my whole life?”
He looked up at this and suddenly I noticed that there was actually a glimmer of tears in his eyes.
“Blake! What’s wrong, honey?” I was truly concerned.