The Secret Ingredient (A Place to Call Home Book 2)

by Laura Browning

  As their eyes met, he realized he’d like nothing better than to spend all night long kissing her and making it better. He cleared his throat. “Run along into the living room, Bash. I’m going to tuck Miss Becca in, and then you and I will stay for a little while to make sure she falls asleep all right.”

  “Okay.”

  * * * *

  Bash’s sneakered feet slapped the hardwood as he raced down the hallway to the front of the apartment. Becca turned her gaze back to Eli.

  “I could kiss a few other places to help you forget your jaw if you’d like.” There was that sexy rumble in his voice again. His gaze dropped to her nipples, and they puckered as though he’d stroked them.

  “I don’t know. I have to get up in the morning...”

  “I’ll set the alarm.” As he shifted to turn it on and the light off, the bulge in his shorts was unmistakable. He leaned over her and put his mouth next to her ear. His hand slipped beneath the covers and gently cupped her sex.

  “I could rock you to sleep, baby, but you’d have to be very quiet.”

  His fingertips slipped beneath the lace edge of her panties, delving further until he was rubbing the bud of flesh nestled there.

  “Eli!”

  “Shh, baby,” he whispered. “Relax.”

  Relax? Becca’s heart thumped heavily as she felt him slide two of his broad fingers inside her, gently caressing back and forth across her g-spot. His lips found hers in a feather soft kiss before he moved back to whisper in her ear again. Passion exploded inside her, and she only half heard the love words he murmured to her. A soft whimper escaped, and she clamped down on her lower lip.

  “That’s it. Let me do this for you. It’ll help you sleep, I promise.”

  Becca didn’t see how. His fingers probed deeper now, mimicking the sex act before softening again to stroke across and around her g-spot. Pressure built, different than anything she’d felt before. As it washed over her, he covered her mouth in a kiss, ever careful of her jaw. He cupped her sex before slipping his hand out and tucking the covers around her.

  “Go to sleep now, Becky.”

  She touched his face. His voice sounded so tender, and she wished desperately that she could see his expression. But some things she didn’t need to see. He’d done that simply for her.

  “Good night, Eli.”

  * * * *

  Eli turned the television set on low and let Bash stretch out on the couch. The little boy was tired, and in less than an hour, he was sound asleep. Taking a soft, woven wool afghan from the back of the couch, Eli covered Bash with it and slipped down the hall to check on Becca. From the light in the doorway, he saw she had turned on her side. He also saw the darkening bruise on her jaw.

  Eli knew how things worked. He was a bad boy compared to Caleb and Noah. Even though he’d been on the football team, there’d been a few scrapes outside of school. He’d had a hot temper. Eli had never resented it before. It was just a fact of life, but now, for Becca’s sake, he did worry. The wagging tongues in Mountain Meadow were sure to attribute her bruised jaw to him no matter what anyone said to the contrary. He was a big boy. He could take it. But he hated that Becca would have to endure it. That Bash would as well.

  Damn.

  He stayed until midnight, until he was sure she was sleeping peacefully and normally, and then he picked up Bash and let himself out the front door. He’d grabbed her key so he could lock the bolt. He’d return it in the morning.

  Eli carried his sleeping son home the few blocks to their rented house. It had been nice having both Becca and Bash with him. It had been even nicer to walk in and see Bash curled up so trustingly next to her. He thought back again to his father’s words reminding him that she wasn’t Heather. To give her a chance.

  He thought he just might be able to do that.

  * * * *

  “Jesus, Aunt Becca! What happened to you?”

  Jared’s words told her very plainly that her attempts to cover the bruise on her jaw had been far from successful.

  “It’s a long story, Jared,” she muttered.

  “Did...” he cleared his throat, “did Eli do that?”

  She looked up from the dough she was kneading. “No! And if anyone suggests that, you make sure they know that too.” She sighed. “It was Uncle Caleb. It was an accident, Jared. He didn’t mean to.”

  “Well he must have meant to hit someone. Accidents don’t normally leave bruises.”

  “Eli. I stepped into the path of Caleb’s fist.” She formed loaves from the bread she was kneading, put them on a large bread tray and slid it into the proofer. “I’m surprised your dad didn’t tell you. He and your Uncle Jake were both there.”

  “Huh?”

  Becca was in a foul mood and felt a grim satisfaction in ratting on her brothers. “Oh yeah. They had all ganged up on Eli over at Mercer’s to give him the big hands off our sister speech. Except I ended up in the middle of it.”

  “Jeez, Aunt Becca. Why didn’t Dad and Uncle Jake stop Uncle Caleb?”

  The evil genie riding Becca’s back refused to get off. “I don’t know, Jared. Maybe you should ask them.”

  She returned to work, the throbbing in her jaw preventing her from noticing how quiet her normally talkative nephew was all morning. When it was time to open she turned to Jared.

  “You think you can handle things out front today? I’d rather not give everyone in town even more reason to talk.”

  Jared’s blue eyes were sympathetic. “Yeah. If I have a question, you’ll be right here, right?”

  She nodded then winced as it made her jaw throb. “Yes. I’m going to get some work done in my office, and then I’ll start work on the cakes for this weekend.”

  “Aunt Becca?”

  She stopped and looked back over her shoulder at her nephew. “Yeah?”

  “I’m really sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  It was inevitable, she thought later, that when a customer finally arrived with whom Jared needed help it was none other than Betty Gatewood. Becca nearly retreated, but the older woman had already seen her.

  “Oh my, Rebecca dear. What happened?”

  Becca tensed and cast Jared a warning glance. “It was an accident, Mrs. Gatewood.”

  “How did it happen?”

  Well you had to give her points for being direct.

  “I’d really rather not talk about it. I’m in a fair amount of pain as it is.”

  She did get the message, though Becca wondered if it would do any good. She was probably just as likely to make up a cause, and no doubt embellish it.

  Mrs. Gatewood wanted an estimate on having a cake done for the Baptist Church’s homecoming planned for the end of July. Once she stated her business, Becca did her best to guide her through what she could offer as quickly as possible.

  “That sounds lovely, Rebecca. I have a committee meeting tomorrow when we’ll discuss it and get back to you. How much lead time do you need?”

  “A week or two. I’ll want to show you a couple of specific designs and have you approve one before we start work.”

  “We?”

  Becca nodded. “Yes, Jared is a wonderful baker. In fact, why don’t you have him get you a piece of his raspberry pecan cake, on the house? That would be one of my suggestions anyway.”

  She left Mrs. Gatewood and Jared both smiling as she made her way back to her office and collapsed into her chair. After shaking out several ibuprofen she dry swallowed them and leaned her head in her hands. All she really wanted to do was go up to her bed, curl up with an ice pack, and sleep until the pain went away.

  “Becca?”

  She glared at Caleb, who stood in the doorway of her office with his hands shoved into his jeans pockets. He looked like hell, his nose swollen and black circles under his eyes. She supposed it was some consolation that he looked worse than she did.

  “I’m sorry, honey. You know I would never have this happen to you for anything.”

&
nbsp; “Go away, Caleb. I’m not ready for an apology.”

  “Becky...”

  She pushed her hand toward him. “Stop it! I can’t handle anything else right now. Okay? Just go on about your business and leave me to mine.” She turned her back on him, trying to hold herself together. At the moment, she didn’t want to see any of her brothers, Caleb least of all. She heard him sigh and then the sound of his footsteps going away.

  Somehow, she got through the rest of the day, but she’d never been so relieved as when she finally flipped the sign on the door from open to closed. Jared was just behind her when she turned away from the door.

  “Go upstairs Aunt Becca. I can get everything set for tomorrow.”

  She looked at him gratefully. “Thank you, Jared. You’re a great kid. I don’t care what your little brother says.”

  Jared grinned at the thought of Elijah saying much of anything.

  “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

  * * * *

  The sidelong looks started around midday. By the time lunch gave way to the dinner crowd, looks had become snide remarks. As he manned the cash register while one of his part-timers was on break, he heard a woman at a table nearby.

  “I hear that’s why his wife left him. Of course, why they’d let a wife beater keep a child...”

  Eli smiled into the face of the customer in front of him as he accepted his money, noticing for the first time that it was Bill Mitchell, Luke’s semi-retired partner at the veterinary clinic.

  “I hope you enjoyed it, Dr. Mitchell.”

  “I did. You just ignore ‘em, Eli. Idle gossip. It’s the bane of living in a small town.”

  He nodded, his fists clenched inside his pants pockets. He had wanted to check on Becca all day long, but they’d been busy from the moment the doors opened, and his morning had been spent having a security system installed for his rental house. When his dad mentioned it seemed to be an extravagance for just a rental, Eli shrugged. He wasn’t eager to tell his dad that Heather had already tracked him down.

  So, now he was on edge. Obviously, someone had seen Becca today, and she must look bad enough that it appeared she’d been beaten. He glanced across the square to The Secret Ingredient. There was still light in the upstairs windows.

  “Go on over, sugar,” Ruthie said from next to him. “There’s only a couple of folks left. I’ll take care of them until you get back. I saw her brother earlier, and he looks bad enough. If she looks anything like him, people won’t be able to keep from talking.”

  Eli’s jaw hardened. “Thanks, Ruthie. Every once in a while I understand why my dad never fired you.”

  She winked at him. “Just don’t stay too long or one of them Allred boys will show up again for you to black their eyes and bust their noses.”

  He went around to the fire escape and climbed the steps to knock on her back door. As he waited for her to answer, he smoothed his palms over his thighs, surprised by how nervous he felt.

  He saw her face in the window and smiled. As soon as she opened the door, he saw just how bruised she really was.

  “Oh baby,” he growled. “I wanted to check on you earlier, but I couldn’t get away. How are you feeling?” He touched his fingers to her chin and tilted her face to the light.

  “I can go bust Caleb’s lip if that will make you feel better.”

  She chuckled. “No. I’d rather have a hug.”

  He opened his arms. When she stepped into them, his entire body relaxed. Relief flooded him along with the urge to keep her right there forever. He inhaled the sweet scent of her hair and stroked his hands over the length of it. She wore it loose tonight, and he wondered if it was because her head ached.

  “I can’t stay long,” he murmured. “Ruthie’s covering for me, but Bash is with his grandparents tonight. I could come back after closing.”

  She ducked her head against him. “I’m kind of tired.”

  He tilted her chin up. “I’m not looking for raucous sex, Becca. I want to help. Have you had any dinner?”

  “No. My jaw hurts. It’s hard to chew.”

  He stroked his hands through her hair and tilted her face to his. “I’ll bring you some soup and a big chocolate shake. How does that sound?”

  “Better than sex.”

  “Careful, you’ll crush my ego.”

  “Right.”

  “I’ll see you in an hour, okay?”

  She nodded. “Thanks, Eli.”

  As Ruthie waved the last customer out the door and locked it behind them, Eli was already cleaning out the night’s receipts and storing them in the safe. He would take care of reconciling everything in the morning. He dipped some of the leftover homemade chicken soup into a Styrofoam container and closed the lid. Still working automatically, he began preparing the milkshake.

  “Hot date, sugar?” Ruthie asked leaning a hip against the counter as she smacked the gum she usually had going.

  Eli spared her a glance. “I’m taking the soup and a shake over to Becky. She’s having trouble eating because of her jaw.”

  Ruthie straightened. “If it’s that bad, maybe she should see Doc.”

  Eli started the blender. “You think? She says not, but I’d hate for her to really be hurt.” He turned off the blender and poured the shake in another taller Styrofoam container. “Caleb really clocked her.”

  “You might suggest it.”

  Eddie came from the back. “Everything’s cleaned up back here. I’m punching out. See y’all tomorrow.”

  “I’ll go too so you can get over to her.”

  Eli smiled as he quickly cleaned the equipment and utensils he’d just used. “Thanks, Ruthie.”

  After he’d locked up, he picked up the containers and hurried across the square and around the back. This time when she opened the door, he saw that she’d changed. Once again, she’d donned his old jersey, and her long legs were encased in thin cotton sleep pants. Her bare feet peeked out from beneath the hem. He smiled at the hot pink nail polish. It had probably been there all along, but in all honesty, he’d been looking at other things than her feet.

  “Take me to your microwave,” he said with a grin at her. “I’ll heat up the soup.”

  She eyed the other container. “Is that the shake? Chocolate?”

  “Yes and yes.”

  She smiled slyly. “I’ll hold that for you.”

  Eli arched a brow. “Take me to your kitchen.”

  “Oh, all right,” she grumbled, turning to lead the way to the small galley style kitchen. Eli put the soup in the microwave and leaned back against the counter. She had taken the lid off the shake and tilted it to her lips to sip. Seeing the small milk moustache she left behind, he leaned forward and tilted his head to lick it off.

  “What? Oh.” Becca giggled as Eli held her head still so he could finish. He left off his cleaning and began to gently kiss her. She set the shake on the counter and parted her lips.

  “I thought about you all day,” Eli murmured. “Worried about you.”

  “You did?” Her arms twined around his neck.

  This was so where he needed to be, wanted to be. She fit him perfectly, her shapely hips resting against his, her breasts pressing just below his chest. He loved how tall she was, how she filled his arms.

  The microwave dinged.

  “Ignore it,” she whispered.

  “You need to eat.”

  He set her away from him and pulled the soup out. Several minutes later, he knew just how bad off he was as he sat next to her spooning the soup into her mouth. She finished it and then they shared the shake.

  “I should go so you can get your rest.”

  “You should stay,” she countered, “and rest with me. Will you do that? Sleep with me?”

  Sleep. How long had it been since a woman truly wanted him to just sleep with her, hold her so she could draw comfort from him? He smiled at her.

  “I’d love to.”

  * * * *

  A cynical part of Becca full
y expected him to press for sex, but he didn’t. Instead, he massaged her scalp, easing the headache that had plagued her all day long. She grew so sleepy, he half-carried her back to the bed, leaving her for several minutes to turn off the lights, lock the doors, and strip down to his boxers.

  Becca watched him in the glow of the bedside lamp. He was muscular with powerful thighs, well-defined arms and abs that rippled as he moved. A thin covering of golden hair across his chest arrowed down over his belly.

  “Quit staring.”

  Caught, she blushed. “You’re even handsomer than you were in high school.”

  He looked over his shoulder as he took the band off his ponytail and shook out his mane of golden brown curls. “You noticed. I tried to make you, you know. It was always getting me in trouble with Caleb and Noah. So I guess Caleb’s reaction shouldn’t come as a surprise.”

  But it had hurt nonetheless. He didn’t need to say it. She saw it in the fleeting expression on his face before he smiled at her. “I guess I’m doomed to be the bad boy.”

  “You defended me.”

  He laughed without amusement. “Try telling that to the gossip mill. It now appears I’m the one responsible for your face, and I was a wife beater. That’s what happened to my first marriage.”

  Becca sat behind him and rested her head against his broad back, her arms wrapping around him from behind.

  “I’m sorry, Eli,” she murmured.

  He sighed.

  “Sometimes I wish I’d never come back.” He turned and pulled her into his arms, “But then I wouldn’t be here with you.”

  Becca looked at his face, saw the mixture of emotions there, and reached up to lay her palm against his cheek.

  “Why did you come back?”

  He was silent for so long, she was afraid he wasn’t going to answer, or at the very least all she would get was something flippant.

  “For Bash. I had to get him away from Heather.”

  “But don’t you have custody?”

  Eli laughed bitterly. “Yeah. And that works great until Heather’s between boyfriends or needs a little extra cash.”

  “For drugs?” He nodded. She watched the frown on his face and the distant look in his eyes. “She’s contacted you, hasn’t she?”