We had nowhere to be until Sunday, when the family planned to throw Mason and me a pool party. As we were leaving Good Wood Friday night, Kelly let it slip that she was nervous to see my grandmother again.
“She doesn’t like me,” Kelly said, and I could tell by her slumped shoulders that she was genuinely unhappy about it.
“She’s like that with the whole human race,” I responded, gently rubbing her shoulders.
This little talk proved fortuitous the following morning, when loud knocking blasted me out of bed. I untangled myself from Kelly and stretched. The doorbell rang repeatedly as I dragged my sleepy ass to the door to see who needed to be bitchslapped. Through the blinds, I saw my mom and grandmother standing on my front porch. They were cradling all manner of produce and baked items in their arms.
“Happy birthday to you! We bring goodies from the farmers market!” Granny sang through the screen door.
“Damn, woman,” I groaned. “Let me drink my coffee before you start in with that shit.”
“Is that any kind of language to greet your mother with, Malcolm?” Mom asked, her usual swearing-is-the-devil frown in place.
“Sorry, Mom,” I mumbled.
“Now open the door, Son. This stuff is heavy.” Without giving it a thought, I swung the door wide, grabbing a few of the bigger things from each of them.
“How does it feel to be thirty-four?” Mom asked.
“Tiring.” I replied, and as I set the boxes on the counter, I heard Granny make a disapproving noise with her tongue from behind me.
“M.J. isn’t here, is he?” She demanded.
“No…” I frowned. “He’s at his mom’s. Why?”
She gave a sniff, gesturing at Kelly’s purse which hung over a chair at the dining room table.
“Just making sure you weren’t entertaining one of your floozies when he was home. It’s best that the boy not be exposed to that sort of thing. He’s gonna grow up to be President of the United States, and I don’t want him to have to explain a sordid past to Fox News.”
“Gran, give it a rest.” I grumbled, hurrying with the coffee maker. She was getting pretty loud, and I knew there was no way Kelly was sleeping through her litany.
“Back in my day—” she started, but I interrupted her. I had no desire to get into a pissing contest this early in the morning.
“I know, I know. Back in your day Fred Flintstone would have been mortified. Luckily, time travel is frowned upon in this establishment.” I pressed the sacred on- button of my coffeemaker, knowing the elixir of the gods would soon be ready and that all would be right with the world. “My girlfriend happens to agree with you. She doesn’t stay over unless M.J. isn’t here.”
Gran shot me a suspicious look, not at all put off by my assurances.
“So you’re dating a woman who doesn’t want to be around your son?” Her face was turning red, and I knew I needed to speak up before she kicked down my bedroom door and dragged Kelly out by her beautiful long locks.
Fortunately, Mom came to my rescue with a roll of her eyes.
“Mother Hildebrandt, for heaven’s sake. Mac is dating Kelly again. You remember, Francis’s daughter, the schoolteacher? She’s probably the most responsible woman that Mac has ever talked to, much less dated. Quit trying to pick a fight; it’s too early and you’re giving me a headache.” I gaped at Mom and then realized that my loud-mouthed sister was probably the culprit for her knowing who was in my bedroom. It had to be Molly or Robin, who had been hanging out with Molly way too much for my taste.
It wasn’t often that Mom shut Granny down like that, and I was tempted to do a victory dance. I was about to thank her, when Kelly came out into the kitchen. She was fully dressed and looked adorably fresh-faced with her preppy ponytail bouncing on top of her head. She’d changed into new clothes, and the pink blouse and white shorts suited the image of her that my mom had just painted. She looked sweet, friendly, and cute as a button.
“Morning,” she smiled, and I crossed to her, my arm slipping around her shoulders. As my mother hurried forward to greet her, I snuck a peek at Granny, and her stunned face as she took in my protective stance was priceless. Mom did her best to smooth over the comments that Kelly had obviously overheard, gushing about how nice it was to see Kelly again. Granny was surprisingly quiet, though she seemed unable to resist the occasional dig at me during their visit. When they left, Kelly let out a giant, mortified sigh.
“Well, that went well,” I said, kissing her behind her ear.
“They think I’m a tramp,” she fretted, and she retreated into the bathroom to shower alone. Not willing to let the matriarch of my family ruin our budding relationship, I stripped off my clothes and went in after her. When I stepped into the warm water and pressed my body against hers, she didn’t resist my touch.
“Mom already loves you, Sugar. And Granny’ll come around. They’ve never seen us in the same place at the same time before. Now…I think she gets it.” I expected an argument, but I saw in Kelly’s eyes that she wanted to believe me. Hoping to change the subject, I smiled wryly. “Now where’s that birthday present you promised me?”
It was obvious when we got to Mason’s the following day, that my girl was a hit. My mother was all smiles when she spotted us and waved us over. Even though it was supposed to be a cook-out and pool party, Mom had decided it was appropriate to bring a slideshow of pictures from my youth. She dragged Kelly into the house to watch it, and Kelly went a little too willingly for my liking. Naturally, Molly tagged along like some hellish movie critic. For the rest of the afternoon, she provided color commentary about the soul patch I’d had in my senior pictures, my Justin Timberlake style bleached tips in my twenties, and the short lived love affair I’d had with bandanas. I had to put up with Short Shit calling me J.T. for the rest of the afternoon. Molly is why God created beer.
Kelly made a point to go over and greet my grandmother, who was camped out in her usual spot at the table under the covered patio. Kelly had already hijacked Eva from Joe, and she and Granny spent a good thirty minutes tag-team ogling the baby girl. I have no idea what they were talking about, but I watched carefully from afar, ready to rescue Kelly if at any point she seemed like she was in distress.
Later, when I took a break from swimming pool volleyball, I went to have some shade with Granny. She nodded at me as I dried off and dropped into the chair beside her. I noticed she was studying Kelly and Mac Junior closely. They were oblivious, far too consumed in their need to destroy Mason and Joe’s team. Junior managed to bump the ball over for a victory, and he and Kelly celebrated with high fives.
Granny reached over and slapped me with the flyswatter she brandished in her right hand.
“Ouch! What the h—” I exclaimed.
“Don’t screw this one up, Malcolm.” She commanded.
“I don’t intend to,” I replied. Granny raised her eyebrows, but she wasn’t the only one surprised at how passionate the declaration was.
Mason and Robin seemed overjoyed with my new relationship status. Kelly and I were a built in social life for them. As much as we all enjoyed doing things with Joe and Molly, the twins took up a lot of their time. Molly rarely left the kids with anyone, so my twin and his wife were ecstatic to finally have another couple go out with.
We did manage to get Joe and Molly to come along with us when we took Mason’s boat out on Lake Travis. It was a scorching day, but Molly refused to reveal her swimsuit, though Joe did everything he could to try to talk her into it.
“I’m nowhere near swimsuit ready, baby.” She tugged at the hem of her denim cut off shorts.
“I beg to differ, Baby Girl.” Joe’s deep voice carried over the motor as he snaked his arm around Molly. She suddenly looked sunburnt.
“I didn’t wear any sunscreen,” she countered, studying her red fingernails.
Joe reached into his bag and pulled out an aerosol can, holding it out toward her. “I come prepared.”
“Yeah, unless i
t’s with birth control,” I cracked, taking a dig at the mishap that resulted in their twins. Mason fell out of the driver’s seat laughing, and Robin grabbed the steering wheel as she choked on her beer.
“Ha! Ha!” Molly snarled, her blue eyes filled with disdain for us all. She snatched the sunscreen from Joe and hurled it at me. “You’re hilarious.”
“Hey, now,” Joe chimed in, though he was smirking with amusement.
“That was perfect,” Mason managed between chortles. “Mac for the win.”
Joe turned his green eyes on Kelly, who was staring at us all like we were insane. “It’s all fun and games until you knock up someone’s sister. The condom broke, and these assholes will still be talking about it on their deathbeds.”
Molly must have been pissed, because she spent the rest of the day verbally assaulting me. She joked that Kelly must be into “silver foxes,” implying that I was too old for her. That was rich considering that Joe and I were same age and that Molly was only about a year older than Kelly. I told her as much, but she didn’t let up. I deserved it for all the crap I’d given her about Joe, but I worried that she was making Kelly uncomfortable.
Finally, after Molly made some comment about Kelly having my dick in her purse, I picked her up and tossed her ass in the lake. Joe laughed harder than anyone, and when he tried to help her back into the boat, Molly released a string of swear words that nearly made me blush, and she splashed Joe, leaving him sputtering a mouthful of lake water.
Mason and I lost it all over again, but Kelly elbowed me and wearing a somber expression, nodded in Molly’s direction. Ready to offer the olive branch, I went over to hand Molly a beer to enjoy in the water, since she had no intention of coming back onto the boat.
Kelly must have decided I needed to be taken down a peg, because she waited for me to bend over the side and pushed me in. Joe’s laughter echoed off the water, and after snapping several pictures with his cell phone, Mason handed Kelly a celebratory beer, which she accepted with a showy curtsy. Left with no alternative but to embrace my fate, I helped my sister climb back onto the boat. Luckily, I hadn’t cracked the beer, so it was still perfectly good.
When we weren’t hanging with our friends or family, the two of us were out and about. I got her to do some golfing with me and taught her to play a little pool. We spent a lot of time outdoors; whether riding the backroads on my Harley with my club, or canoeing the Colorado, we both shared a love for being out in the elements.
One morning, we had a misunderstanding, and she nearly got away from me. Thankfully, I was able to contain the situation before it blew up. My housekeeper, Donna, was finishing up her bi-weekly clean, and she went out to her car to grab her credit card device for her phone. When she came back in, she was as white as a sheet.
“Mac…there’s a really pretty, really angry looking girl standing in your driveway,” Donna stammered. I took off out the door, and as I cleared the porch steps I saw Kelly climb inside her car. Red-faced, she looked close to tears. I rushed to her car and hopped into the passenger seat, removing the keys from the ignition before she could start it. Kelly covered her face, but I reached out and took her hands away.
“Kelly,” I spoke calmly, anticipating the conclusion she’d jumped to.
“Get out of my car.” She tried to pull her hands away from me, but I wouldn’t let her.
“No.” I forced myself to stay level.
“The one night I don’t stay over.” Her eyes slayed me; the betrayal within them was so raw.
“She’s my housekeeper, Sugar.” The doubt I saw on her face was instant, as if I’d splashed her with cold water. The speed with which her mood swung back in my favor was…disturbing. She swallowed hard, her eyes shifting to the front door, just as Donna opened it to carry out her vacuum. Kelly turned even redder, and she wiped at her eyes.
“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered. She suddenly looked incredibly tired. “I assumed—”
“I know exactly what you assumed. You need to hear me out.” I turned her chin, so she was forced to look at me. “Are you paying attention?”
She nodded, her eyes full of fear and uncertainty.
“I’m no saint. I’ve done some stupid shit in my time, and I will continue to do more as time goes on. But if I want out, you’ll be the first to know. You’re the only person I’m seeing, and I don’t want to see anyone else. I don’t want you to see anyone else either, but that’s your call.”
We agreed to be exclusive that morning, and we’d been on an even keel ever since. It still worried me how quick she’d been to dismiss me. She’d admitted later that day that she’d never dated anyone for more than a couple of months. I was stunned. Kelly was absolutely the kind of girl you took home to your mother, and I couldn’t believe no one had sunk their teeth into her before.
As July came to a close, I got a little twitchy. When we were out on the river or on a remote trail, doubt would spring up, and I wondered if she was taking me out somewhere to dump me.
Just before Kelly was due back at school in August, I set up a trip to Sea World in San Antonio. MJ was freaking out about seeing the whales and begged to take his cousin Ben with him. That meant I’d be outnumbered, but I didn’t want to say no, especially considering that Robin and Mason had watched M.J. so many times for me. It was only fitting I take their only boy on a road trip and give them a little break.
After some very persuasive tactics on my part, I got Kelly to agree to come help me as long as we got separate rooms. Initially, I balked at the idea, until I found a hotel online with a two-bedroom suite. I agreed to her terms, without filling her in on the hotel arrangements. I figured I’d give her a nice little surprise. Well, maybe not a little one…
The trip itself went smoothly, and between the shows, the rides, and the extreme heat, the boys were both wiped out and sound asleep by eight. I piled the luggage in front of the door to the hall, set the deadbolt, and then retreated into Kelly’s room. She’d already dozed off, but I had fun creeping under the covers and sliding her panties aside. She moaned as my tongue made contact with her, but after a few seconds, she woke fully and gasped.
“Mac!” Her surprised cry was louder than I’d expected, and I quickly crawled up to put a hand over her mouth.
“Shhhh…” I hissed into her ear, releasing her mouth so I could brush my lips against hers. “We have to be quiet.”
“But the kids—” As scandalized as she sounded, her hands had already found their way inside my shirt. “What if they—”
“They’re dead to the world, Sugar.” I kissed her, letting her taste herself on my tongue. She moaned quietly, and her hands raked through my hair. “And they’re barricaded in. Now, where was I?”
“Down here.” She pulled her mouth away from mine and then shoved my head back down under the covers.
“This is really light. What did you pack?” Kelly snagged the backpack and hopped out of the truck.
“Bug spray and water.” I reached out to take the backpack from her as we headed toward the staircase at the bottom of Mt. Bonnell.
She shot me a look of mock hostility and moved away so I came up empty handed. “You promised me a picnic, and I’m starving!”
“Alright, settle down. I might have talked Molly into making us some wraps.” I confessed. “They may not feel like much, but they pack a punch.”
“Mmmmm…I can’t wait.” She replied, her tone unintentionally erotic and I grabbed her wrist, swinging her into my arms.
“I can’t wait for after. We could skip this, ya know.” I offered. “Go off and find a place to park.”
Her dark eyes shone with lust and anticipation, but she stepped away from me.
“Nice try…but this was your idea and now you owe me dinner with a view,” she replied, taking my hand as we ascended the stone stairs. She looked over, and she must have seen my disappointment. “I missed you this week.”
“I know,” I acknowledged, planting a kiss on her temple. “
Summer vacation spoiled us.”
With school back in session and Good Wood’s apprenticeship program in full swing, our time together was sacred. Kelly had never hiked Mt. Bonnell, which was a rite of passage for Austinites. I wanted to be with her when she reached the summit, but I also had an ulterior motive. With a view like this one, I’d have some extra confidence when I broached a delicate subject. I wanted her to move in with Mac Junior and me, and I knew it wasn’t going to be a simple discussion.
“I’m glad we’re getting a little cardio if I’m eating something Molly made,” she quipped.
“This isn’t going to be much of a workout for you,” I replied. “Mt. Bonnell’s more of an overlook than a mountain.”
“I know. I read up on it.” She grinned. “But I only ran five miles this morning. At this rate, I’ll be lucky to qualify for the half marathon.”
“Bullshit.” I gave her a sideway glance. “You know better.”
“No. I don’t. I’m not sure I’m getting enough cardio,” she complained. “Damned work. Always getting in the way of my extracurricular activities.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “You aren’t counting all the cardio you get when you stay over.”
“That’s because it’s immeasurable.” Her white smile and pink cheeks were fleeting, but rewarding.
“Bring a ruler next time,” I suggested with a devilish smirk. “I’ve got game.”
She giggled and then looked around to see if anyone had overheard us.
“So are y’all ready for Heartwood?” She asked, referring to Joe’s charity build- off event that was scheduled for the following weekend.
“About as ready as we’ll ever be,” I replied, launching into a tirade about all the last minute phone calls Francis and I had to make in the past few days. Joe had lined up everything early in the summer, but with his impending wedding, a lot of the last- minute scramble had fallen back on us. Luckily, Nick stepped up to deal with the interns, so I was spared that annoyance. When I said as much to Kelly, she shook her head.
Wood U (Carved Hearts #4) Page 20