“Yes ma’am. I know you have.”
“A whole lot of it is pure luck. Who you’re born to. Where you’re raised. Who loves you.” Melissa stared into the distance, watching the stars that filled the sky. “You know how people say they’re blessed by this or that? I’m not sure if I even know what that means anymore. My grandfather died, the baby I was expecting died, and my husband got hit by a truck. All in about a year and a half.” She turned to Stu. “Does that mean I’m not blessed? You think God’s got something against me?”
Stu shook his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t think God works that way.”
“Your back got injured and you didn’t get the right treatment. That’s bad luck, Stu. Nothing more than that. It could have happened to me or my mom. My brother. Anyone.”
Stu nodded.
“I’m not gonna fire you. I wish you’d told me up front and I didn’t have to hear all this because Cary found out.”
“He was just—”
“You don’t need to defend Cary to me. I’ll deal with him.” She stood. “Anything else you need to tell me?”
“The fight was a one-off. I swear it. I’ve never beat someone like that in my life. I was high and had just been laid off. One of the executives came in—”
“Wait, you beat up an oil executive?”
Stu shrugged. “Pardon my language, but he was an asshole. Came into that bar the end of every week to try to pretend he was one of the guys. Self-made. All that shit. He wasn’t, but most of ’em ate it up. Made ’em feel important that the big boss wanted to drink a beer with ’em. I shouldn’t have lost my temper—”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Melissa hooked a hand in her pocket. “My grandpa used to tell me that some men’s faces could only be improved by a fist.”
Stu cracked a smile. “Well, Leigh wasn’t too pleased with me.”
“I imagine not.” She took a deep breath of cold evening air. “Stu, I think we’re good.”
He waited, hands still folded on the table. “You sure, Miz Rhodes?”
“I told you to call me Melissa.” She held out a hand. “And yeah. You keep everything up-front with me and we’re good. I’m gonna let you get back to sleep because we’re gonna have to move the herd across the creek tomorrow and the water’s still running. I want to start early.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Stu shook her hand. “I don’t want you to be mad at Mr. Nakamura though. He’s right. I should have told you from the beginning.”
She grimaced. “That may be, but Cary needs to learn to mind his business. This isn’t the first time he’s pulled something like this.”
“I suppose.” Stu stood. “But I reckon he thinks you and your family are his business.”
That brought her up short. “Did he tell you that?”
The corner of Stu’s mouth turned up. “Not in those words.”
What did that mean? For a plainspoken guy, Stu could be cagey.
“I’ll figure out how to deal with Cary,” Melissa said.
How? She had no idea. She’d probably be up half the night thinking about it.
Come to think of it, if she wasn’t going to get any sleep, Cary didn’t need any either.
Chapter Ten
When Cary moved back into his mother’s house after his dad died, he converted the back bedroom into a suite with a separate door, washroom, and small dining area. He might have been fine living with his mom as an adult, but she didn’t need to know when he came and went. And he definitely didn’t need to share a bathroom at age forty.
Most days he was grateful for the separate entrance. But when Melissa decided to come knocking at ten thirty, he wished she had to use the front door.
Because she was too polite to use the front door, and then he could sleep.
Cary rubbed his eyes and stared at the ceiling. She wasn’t banging, but the knock wasn’t soft either. He’d heard her truck just as he was drifting off to sleep and knew the knock was coming even though he’d turned out the lights.
He sat up in bed and swung his legs over the side. He walked barefoot to the door and swung it open. “Hey, Missy.”
She glared at him. “I need to talk to you.”
“Yeah, I bet.” He pointed to the rack by the door. “Shoes.”
He hadn’t been raised by Rumi and Gordon Nakamura to let any disgusting boots or street shoes into his home. Melissa had been over to the house enough times that she didn’t bitch about it. She pulled off her boots as Cary went back to the bedside table and grabbed a glass to get some water.
“I’d offer you something to drink,” he said, his voice rough, “but you banged on my door after ten o’clock, so fuck it.”
“You know why I’m here.”
“Yep.” He downed the glass of water in one long gulp and set it back on the table. “And? It couldn’t have waited until tomorrow?”
“No.” She put her hands on her hips. “If I have to sit up thinking about you interfering in my life and what the hell I’m going to do about it, then you don’t get to sleep either.”
He scratched his chin. “I don’t really get that, but okay.”
“Why did you…?” She glanced at his chest. “Can you put a shirt on please?”
The night was warm and he was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and nothing else. Cary glanced down at his bare chest. “No.”
“You’re not going to put on a shirt?”
“It’s hot. Is my chest offending you?”
“It’s… distracting.”
“Then I’m definitely not going to put on a shirt.” He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned back, careful to sit right in Melissa’s line of sight. “So, what’s up? You here to be pissed at me about doing a background check on Stu?”
“Yes. If you had concerns, you should have come to me.”
“I did, and you blew me off.”
“When?”
“When we were pruning my grafts.”
She frowned. “When?”
“The time I kissed you by the greenhouse and you got mad at me and stormed off.”
“Right.” Some of the anger deflated. “I forgot about that.”
“Was it because I kissed you?” The corner of his mouth turned up. “Don’t answer. I’m going to assume it’s because I kissed you.”
“Ha ha.” The anger was back. “This is so easy for you, isn’t it?”
That woke him up. “Excuse me?”
“It’s so easy for you!” She looked around the room. “You’ve got your nice independent life. Your successful farm. Your awesome mom who cooks and cleans and does your laundry for you.”
Cary stood and put his hands on his hips. “Are you trying to imply that I’m lazy?”
“You have enough spare time to mess with my life, so maybe you need a new project to keep you busy.”
I do have a new project. In fact, you’re a project and a half, Melissa Oxford.
She continued in her rant. “You have enough time to go behind my back, investigate a man who has done nothing to you that would make you suspi—”
“This is not about me!” He stopped just short of yelling. “This is about you. And about Abby. Do you honestly think there is anything I would not do to keep you and your family safe? Do you think there is anyone I wouldn’t check out? Big Bird could move behind your fucking barn and I’d do a background check on him, Melissa.”
“So you think I can’t protect them?” She slapped a hand on her chest. “You think I’m… what? Careless? Naive? A bad mother? Trust me, you’re not the first person who’s said it, but I don’t give a shit. I know I’m a good mother. All I do is work for my family. That is my whole life. You sleep soundly over here, and I lie in bed every night worrying—”
“You think I sleep soundly?” He swung his arm toward her ranch. “You want to know what I lie awake at night worrying about? I worry about strangers living behind your barn. I worry about someone doing something to hurt Abby. I worry about you working yourself into complete exha
ustion because you’re too damn stubborn to ask for help. I worry about your fucking in-laws making your life so difficult you think mourning Calvin has to be a full-time job six years after he died!”
She got in his face. “I never asked you to worry about me, and dealing with Calvin’s parents is none of your concern. I will handle this. I’m not some whiny little—”
“Why?”
She stopped short and blinked. “What?”
“Why do you have to handle everything?”
The sound she made was halfway between a laugh and a cry. “Because I have to, Cary. Don’t you get it? There’s no one else. This is the backup plan. There isn’t a plan C. If I don’t make this work, then I have nothing. I don’t have any other options. I have one ranch. One chance to make something for myself and my daughter.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “And you have to do all that on your own?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s my responsibility.”
“Even when other people are offering to help?”
“I have to do it myself.”
“Why?”
“Because I have to prove that I can!” Tears sprang into her eyes. “If I don’t, then… they’ll be right. The plan didn’t work. And Calvin died for nothing. It would have been better if he stayed with his family and never married me!”
“What?” Cary grabbed her shoulders. “What are you even saying? You think it’s your fault he died in a car accident?”
She said nothing.
“Melissa, what the hell are you thinking?”
She swallowed hard and the tears came fast. “They don’t have fog in Paso Robles. Not like here. The truck would have seen him.”
“Dammit, Melissa.” Cary pulled her into his chest and hugged her so hard if she was anyone else, she might have broken. “You know that’s not rational. You know it.”
“I tell myself that.” Her voice was muffled against his chest. “But every time I see Bev, I just hear her, over and over, what she said after the funeral…”
Damn, he’d forgotten all about that. Beverly had railed at Melissa, shouting at her for insisting on living in the country, living on the ranch. She had blamed Melissa for Calvin’s death, even when Melissa had been shattered.
“Calvin’s mom never should have said that. There’s no excuse for it.”
“But Cary, she lost her baby. I don’t know what I’d do or say if anything happened to Abby. I can’t even think about it because it takes me to such a dark place that—”
“Shhhh.” He kissed the top of her head. “Stop. Don’t even let the thought enter your head.” Cary held her for a long time, rubbing her back and wishing that grief took a rational path. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d blamed himself for not being at the farm when his own father had passed.
“What happened to Calvin…” Cary ran a hand over Melissa’s hair. “Accidents are accidents, Missy. They happen everywhere. Marrying you? Living here? It didn’t cause anything. You know that.”
She wiped her eyes. “Most of the time I do.”
He held her for a long time, until her breathing evened out and her shoulders stopped shaking. “You know,” he said softly, “I still feel guilty I wasn’t on the farm when my dad died.”
Melissa pulled back and looked at him. “What?”
“I was at a growers’ conference in Texas. And even though I know it’s not logical, I still feel like… if only I’d been here.”
“‘If only’ is the devil’s chorus. That’s what my grandpa used to say.”
“If only I’d been at the farm and with my dad instead of being in Texas, maybe I could have gotten him to the hospital and saved his life.”
“If only Calvin and I had decided to live in Metlin and not Oakville after Abby was born.” Her smile was sad. “Lot shorter trip to the store when you run out of milk.”
“He was going out for milk?”
“Yep.”
“Damn.” Cary sighed. “If only I’d bugged my dad about going to the doctor to get regular checkups, we would have known he had a heart condition.”
She sighed and laid her head on his chest. “If only I hadn’t insisted on buying a white truck because they’re cooler in the summer.”
“If only I had listened when my mom started talking about Dad’s dizzy spells.” He kissed the top of her head. “Come here.”
Cary walked backward to the bed, Melissa still in his arms. “Sit.” He sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard, settling Melissa between his legs. “Times like this, I really do wish this room was big enough for a couch.”
She sniffed. “It’s okay. I already know you’re trying to get me into bed.”
The laugh grew from his chest and he couldn’t stop it. He laughed hard, the feeling of release like a salve. Melissa started laughing too, grabbing a tissue from the box by the side of the bed.
She was laughing and crying at once, shaking her head over and over. “Sorry. That was just wrong.”
“No, that was perfect.”
“I know what you’re saying is right. About the accident. But…”
“Grief isn’t rational.” He smoothed his hand over her hair, playing with the long braid that lay over her shoulder.
“Yeah.” She wiped her eyes again. “And I don’t mourn him, Cary. It’s not like that. It’s been six years. I can remember the good stuff and not just the heartache. Lately, I’ve been feeling more guilt than grief.”
“Guilt?” His hand froze. “About what? About us?”
She frowned. “No, not because of… us. Or this. We still need to talk about… this.”
“Nothing to talk about. We’re just going along. Being friends. Who kiss.”
Was that side-eye? Yeah, that was definitely side-eye.
Melissa said, “I feel guilty because I’m kind of pissed at Calvin.”
“Why?”
“Because he died, and now I have to deal with his parents!” She let out a strangled laugh. “How is that fair?”
“It’s not.” He stroked her back, enjoying the solid feel of the muscles under her shirt. “You’re so damn strong.”
“Yeah?” She let out a hard breath. “Sometimes it’s exhausting being strong.”
He cleared his throat. “Okay, you are strong in many ways, but I was being superficial and talking about your muscle tone.” He slid his fingers under the back of her shirt and ran his fingers up the small of her back. “I mean… damn. Have you been lifting? It’s sexy as hell.”
She shivered. “You know what I do for a living.”
“Is it the riding? Does that…?” He slid his finger just under her waistband before he pulled his hand back. “Sorry. Not the time.”
She turned her eyes up to his. “Why not?”
Oh, don’t look at me like that. Not right now. “Because you’re upset.”
Melissa turned and sat up on her knees, tilting Cary’s face to hers. “So distract me… friend.”
Cary fisted his hands on his legs, but Melissa took each one, unfurled his clenched fingers, and placed them on her hips.
“Melissa, I don’t think—”
Her mouth stopped his words. Her kiss was unexpected and sweet. It was the first time she’d initiated anything since their heated kiss at the hospital, and everything in Cary’s body came to attention.
Yes, finally! battled with Not a good idea!
She pulled back. “What’s wrong?”
He looked her straight in the eye, but he didn’t move his hands. If she was going to run, he figured he’d at least be able to slow her down. “You said, ‘Distract me.’”
“And?” Melissa bit her lip, and dammit if that wasn’t as sexy as the curve of her hips under his palms.
Cary wanted to flip her over, cover her body with his own, and fulfill about a dozen fantasies in one night. He wanted those legs wrapped around his body. He wanted his mouth between her thighs. He wanted to make her absolutely
mindless with pleasure. She desperately needed stress relief, and he’d been thinking about how to provide it for years.
He flexed his hands and felt the give of her flesh. It would be so easy to give in and be her distraction, but that wasn’t what he wanted. “I want… a lot of things, Missy. But I don’t want to be a distraction for you.”
She draped her arms over his shoulders and frowned a little. “You are distracting. I was waiting in the car the other day and all I could think about was you naked.” She glanced down. “Kind of like you are right now.”
He’d never been happier that he lifted weights. Granted, it was mostly because he was getting older and he wanted to keep mountain climbing, but impressing Melissa was a definite bonus.
“And when I think about kissing you…” She sank lower and let her lips hover over his. “You are distracting, but you’re not a distraction. Does that make sense?”
Well, when she put it like that…
“Yeah, that makes sense.” He put his hand on her nape and pulled her mouth to his. Cary wasted no time sliding his hand from her hip back to cup her ass.
The sound she made in her throat was both shock and pleasure. Cary left his hand there, massaging the round curve as he devoured her mouth. He put his arm around the small of her back and pulled her close.
Her breasts were against him, and she slid her arms around his neck. He slowed down, savoring her mouth, tasting her over and over. He didn’t want to go too far—it was the first time she’d initiated anything, and he wanted her to lead.
She rose to her knees and kicked one leg over his, pressing closer. When she brushed against his erection, Cary let out a hard grunt.
“Oh.” Her voice was breathless. “Hey.”
“Ignore him.” Cary squeezed her ass. “He has no sense of timing.”
“I didn’t plan—”
“I told you.” He shifted his hips. “Ignore him. Come here.”
He kissed her over and over, running his hands up and down her back until he felt her shiver. The stiffness in her back disappeared and she melted against him.
Thank fuck.
“I know you probably need to get home,” he whispered against her lips. “Just stay with me a few more minutes.”
Grit: A Love Story on 7th and Main Page 10