Her smile came, slow, but sweet. “Maybe sometime, I will.”
“Good.” Jesse picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. “For right now, why don’t we saddle up and go for a trail ride? It’s hard to hang onto your troubles when you’re on the back of a horse.”
“Yes, please. I want to ride with you. I want to ride with you both.”
The twinkle in her eye let them both know the double entendre was deliberate. Jesse laughed. He was looking forward to learning just how good a horsewoman Charlotta Carmichael was.
Chapter 10
“Please, tell me about this one, Grandma Kate.” Charlotta kept her finger on the old photograph, entranced by the scene. It looked to have taken place in the nineteen-forties, depicting a large family gathering. Two elderly women sat side by side in high-back chairs. One was dressed in black and had a heaviness to her expression—as if she grieved, and grieved deeply. The other had laid a hand over-top hers, as if offering comfort. Surrounding the ladies, some standing, some kneeling, eight other people had been posed, all but one of them men.
The other woman, middle-aged, stood behind the two elderly women, with a hand on one’s right shoulder and the other’s left.
“That was taken a couple of days before James, Jacob, and Rosie’s youngest, Edward, left for Europe. Amanda’s men had both recently passed—she wore black for a long time after,—and she was still wearing it when I first met her. I was told it was more than a year before she could really smile again.”
Kate Benedict stood beside her, and it wasn’t until that moment Charlotta realized the nonagenarian was so much shorter than she. Of course, a lot of women were shorter than she was, but for some reason—whether it had been hearing of the matriarch’s adventures in Divine or because of the liveliness and warmth of the woman she’d just met for the first time—Shar hadn’t noticed her lack of physical stature until that moment.
She turned her attention back to the photograph. “The baby-faced young man in uniform? Is that Edward? Barry favors him.”
Kate’s grin was quick. “Yes, he does, and yes, that was Edward. And this stern looking young man, right here—that’s Jesse and Barry’s grandfather, Emerson.”
“He looks like a member of the frozen chosen.” The comment had come without thinking. Charlotta quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Whatever opinions she’d formed of Jesse and Barry’s grandfather, the man was a family member of theirs and Grandma Kate’s.
Kate not only didn’t apparently take offense to the comment, she laughed. “Grace Warner’s term for the morally self-righteous is spot on. Emerson was all of that—according to my men—from the time he was a small boy.” Kate sighed. “I never got to meet Edward, as he left a few months before I arrived. He was the only one the family lost—in the ultimate sense—to the war. Howard and Lincoln, who’d been home on leave at the time of this photograph, chose to stay overseas when victory was declared.” She’d pointed to each man as she’d said his name. “Shortly after the war was over, Emerson headed to Montana, and Christopher went north, settling down in New York State. This was the last photograph taken with all of Aunt Rosie’s chicks together.”
“It must have been hard for her, having her sons all scattering that way. But more…” Charlotta caught herself.
Kate laid a hand on her back. “Please, don’t censor yourself. You’re a trained psychologist. I’d like to know what you were about to say.”
“I was just wondering how it felt for her, having one son stand in judgment of her—that’s what Emerson did when he left, isn’t it?”
“It was, indeed. It’s happened in this family a few times, over the years—those who’re born and raised here in Lusty choosing their own path and their own lifestyle. But Emerson stands out, because he was so unbending toward his own mother. And he lived to rue that—as I visited him in later years, he told me that he regretted turning his back on his mother, acting as if he’d been ashamed of her. Even though I assured him time and again that Rosie never held his actions against him, he died remorseful of his behavior toward her.”
“Life is so unpredictably short. There’s no knowing when time will run out for any of us.”
“There’s not, no.”
“I wonder if that stubbornness that Emerson ended up regretting runs in that branch of the family?”
“Oh, we Benedicts can, every one of us, born or married, be a stubborn lot—especially if our backs are to the wall—or if we’ve been treated badly by someone.”
How had the woman known who I was thinking about?
Charlotta felt her cheeks color. “I guess I’ve rushed to judgment. I want you to know that I don’t usually do that. In fact, I absolutely hate that characteristic in anyone.” Especially in light of all the emotions she’d been battling herself lately.
Roger Brown’s rejection of her—but specifically the words he’d hurled at her when she’d told him about being an exotic dancer—had wounded her.
Because they’d echoed the words my dad said to me when I told him—words that had arrowed deep and dug in.
“Sweet girl, we all do that when those we care most about have been hurt, or threatened, or even if they disappoint us.”
Thinking of a woman she’d not yet met, she said, “Or if they hurt us.” She’d studied families and their interaction, and she knew that when someone who was supposed to be on our side instead attacks us, the hurt could be devastating.
Maybe I need to forget about the mother and think about the children. I should think about what life must have been like for Veronica, growing up in a family where being put down was a way of life. Her heart ached for the young girl—and it ached for the young boys who were taught patterns of behavior that would later haunt them.
“Oh, yes. Some people feel things more acutely, don’t you think? For whatever reason, some of us simply never grow that thick skin everyone’s always telling us to go out and get—as if it was something you could just order online with the click of a button.”
Charlotta turned so she could face the elderly woman. “The actions suffered in childhood can bury themselves deeply, building walls and fortifications, making them entrenched. I’ve seen it happen with some of my clients. I’ve seen it and worked with people to help them overcome those hurts—and yet, when the issue comes closer to home, when it’s more personal, it’s tough for me to maintain perspective.”
“That’s probably only one of the reasons it’s not wise to have family and friends as clients,” Kate said.
“Yes. You’re right. It’s not. And it’s not a good idea to turn friends and family into clients, either.” Charlotta nodded. “That’s a line I sometimes have problems with.”
“It takes time to build that emotional detachment you need in a profession like your own. I know, because I’ve been a nurse for most of my life. When I first arrived here in Lusty it was to be the administrator for a convalescent home during the Second World War. Some of my patients suffered from PTSD and other emotional upsets. So I know how hard it is to compartmentalize.”
“One of my clients—a young man I only saw once—tried to kill himself recently. I hate that feeling of helplessness.”
“I know you do, because you’re a caring person. Your calling will take a toll on you, so you need a good support system. I know you can’t divulge some things, but if you need an unbiased ear, I’m here for you.”
“Thank you. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.” Charlotta blushed, but wanted to be completely honest. “I have friends in Divine, so I’d heard wonderful things about you even before I met Barry and Jesse.”
Grandma Kate’s eyes sparkled as she grinned. “How are Camilla and those sweet boys?” Then she laughed. “Of course I mean the grown ones as well as the babies.”
She really does know practically everything. “They’re all well. I plan to visit for a couple of days around the Fourth of July.”
“Give them my best. In the meantime, since you’re here w
ith Jesse and Barry, I’m going to be bold and ask how y’all are getting along.”
“So far, so good, Grandma Kate. It’s very early days, yet.”
“Oh yes, I know it is. One thing you should know. The men in this family have a habit of falling for one woman—and falling quickly. I understand—” She held up her hand as if to ward off Charlotta’s protest. “It’s far too soon for any of you to know if this is something more than just a mutual attraction. But I can hope.” And then Kate Benedict gave Charlotta a grin that melted her heart, just a little.
“There you are.” Jesse stood at the door way of the study, with Barry just slightly behind him. When their Uncles Jonathan and Caleb had waylaid the guys, Kate had suggested a tour of the house that had ended here, in the library. Charlotta was wondering if the last half hour had been kismet, or if it had been engineered.
She bet the latter, rather than the former, and she really couldn’t mind that at all. Clearly, though they’d not been raised here, Jesse and Barry had been fully adopted by the Benedicts of Lusty, Texas. They had family and a home—two things she suspected were very important to them both.
Kate turned and gave Jesse what looked like a cheeky grin. “As you can see, your Charlotta has survived my company just fine.”
Jesse’s cheeks turned pink. He immediately came into the room and placed a kiss on that withered cheek. “Now, Grandma Kate, you know there’s no one else on God’s green earth I’d trust Charlotta with more than you.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. But I wouldn’t want you to think for one moment that I wasn’t capable of a little mischief, if the mood struck.”
Barry came into the room and kissed his grandmother, too. “From what we’ve been hearing from our cousins about your shenanigans, and from the way you shanghaied Veronica last year, sweeping her from Cord and Jackson’s engagement party by helicopter all the way over to Divine—we know the kind of mischief you’re capable of inciting.”
“Grandma Kate had even met Hank Stinson once,” Jesse said to Charlotta, “and from that one meeting she must have realized he’d be perfect for our sister.”
“Oh, you boys. You young ones all give me far more credit for matchmaking than I deserve.”
“The cousins have been filling us in on the way you like to play matchmaker. They’ve also told us that you have a perfect record, so far.”
“Everyone always thinks I have some sort of a magic touch. Really, all I do is bring people together. Whatever happens next is entirely up to them. You are where you are in life as a result of every decision you’ve ever made. Even those decisions you might later question, or think were ill advised, have helped to get you where you are right this minute.”
Kate gave Charlotta another sweet smile. Then she patted her arm. “We best make our way to the dining room. My daughters-in-law have prepared a scrumptious feast for us today.”
Jesse cocked his arm for Kate. She slipped hers through his, and patted him, too. “Why thank you, Jesse. I don’t know about you, but I am starving!” And she giggled, which made the men blush.
Charlotta wanted to laugh out loud. Kate Benedict had lived up to every expectation she’d had of the woman. And she wondered, briefly, if maybe the elderly woman somehow knew a lot more about Charlotta than she ever could have imagined.
* * * *
After their ride that afternoon, they’d washed up in the kitchen and headed out to the Big House. There’d been no time to get her bag out of the car. Now, as the sun began to kiss the horizon, Jesse parked his truck in what she guessed was his usual spot, which tonight happened to be right beside Charlotta’s Buick.
“I need to bring my overnight bag in.”
As soon as she had it out of the car, Barry scooped it from her, and then took her left hand in his, while Jesse took her right.
“I really enjoyed myself tonight—especially meeting Grandma Kate.”
Jesse grinned. “It didn’t take you long to start calling her that, I noticed.”
“Who could resist that sweet request? I remember my grandmother Carmichael—my father and uncle’s mother—and I miss her. I look in Grandma Kate’s eyes and I see a bit of her there. Maybe what I’m seeing is just the reflection of wisdom that comes with age.”
“I don’t think there’s a person under forty in Lusty who doesn’t call her ‘Grandma Kate,’” Barry said.
“There’re quite a few folks in Divine who call her that, too,” Charlotta said.
“We noticed at Christmas last year, how all those folks we didn’t even know called her Grandma and treated her with love and respect.” Jesse sighed. “Made us feel good, that many people looking out for her.”
“I imagine it would have.”
Barry let go of her hand and closed the door behind them, and Charlotta felt her tummy begin to jitter. Since Jesse still had hold of her she turned so that she was holding on to one brother and facing the other. “I’ve been wondering all day what you meant last night when you said you’d surprise me.”
She didn’t care that it made her look less than sophisticated for them to know she’d been thinking about having sex with them since the night before. She’d never been a person to put on airs or to pretend to be something other than what she was.
And what she was right now was horny as hell.
Jesse’s grin touched something deep inside her. He turned her toward him, eased her closer, and set his hands on her hips. Barry put her case down and then joined them, cozying up to her back.
The sensation of denim-covered erections pressing against her sent a shiver up her spine. Her nipples tightened and her juices leaked.
“So, in other words, you’ve been thinking about making love with us?” Barry’s question tickled her ear.
Making love? Should she point out that this wasn’t love, that it was just…well hell, I really don’t know what it is. What she knew was with each passing moment her craving for these two men drew nearer and nearer to need.
Charlotta really didn’t care at this point what they called it, as long as they did it—and soon.
“Yes.” Well that’s stingy. “I haven’t been able to think of anything else. Please, can we just get naked now?”
“That’s not very romantic, Shar.” Jesse moved his hands up her body. His thumbs brushed close to her nipples and she actually shivered.
“I’m a modern woman, Jesse. I don’t need romance.”
He raised one eyebrow. “Fair enough. But maybe we do. Maybe, we need to lavish you with gentleness.” He cupped her face and used his thumbs to stroke her cheeks. “Maybe we need to surround you with sweetness.” He kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes and he placed sweet butterfly kisses on her lids, and then, light as a feather, slid his lips across hers. “Maybe, baby, we need to worship every inch of you so that you know how special you are to us.”
Charlotta considered herself a modern woman, with all the personal freedom that term implied. She’d had sex before, and when she’d gone a long time without, she’d seen to her needs herself.
But she had never been treated like this. Jesse’s words evoked images of times past, of knights in shining armor winning their maiden’s hand through quests and courting. A silly, old fashion notion, she would have said as recently as that very morning.
Now, she could only look into those amazing grey eyes that seemed to see down deep into her soul. She could only reach up, place a soft kiss on Jesse’s lips, and then turn her head to do the same to Barry’s.
She could only think of one thing to say.
“Show me.”
Chapter 11
Jesse’s smile slid from fun to sexy in a heartbeat, and Charlotta knew she’d said exactly what both men had hoped to hear.
Jesse took her right hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it. “Come, lie with us.” He stepped back, and led her to the bedroom.
Barry stayed close, and when they entered the room, he said, “Surprise.”
Charlotta gasped. “You put
your beds together!” Then she looked closer. “But where the heck did you find a sheet big enough to fit a double double bed?”
“You’ve obviously never seen a master suite here in Lusty,” Barry said.
“Ari loaned us a set of sheets for her bed. We don’t have a Lusty-sized bed. Yet.” Jesse still had her hand. He turned to face her, and the look in his eyes sent arousal humming through her.
Her nerves rose up, a surprise because there was nothing she wanted more than what was about to happen between them. “Lusty-sized, huh?” Her question sounded breathless, because right then, she was.
“Yeah.”
Jesse ran a finger down the row of buttons that held her silk blouse closed. The dark grey top was one of her favorites, the rich material a soft and supple caress against her skin.
“Pretty,” he said. “But it has to go.” He kept his glaze locked with hers as, one by one, he released the tiny pearl buttons.
“My, my, my. Look what’s been hiding under this prim silk.”
Charlotta had chosen her lingerie with these men in mind. The grey top and black slacks hid a fuck-me set of burgundy satin and lace. The uplift bra barely covered her nipples. Held together with a thin piece of satin, the bra revealed her fulsome cleavage. She couldn’t wait for them to see the G-string of the same shade and material she’d paired it with.
Barry slid the blouse off her, and then kissed her shoulder as he looked down. “Hot damn, woman, you have beautiful breasts. Let’s see what else you’ve been hiding from us.” He slid his arms around her and quickly unbuttoned and unzipped her pants. Then he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.
Jesse slipped his hands into the waistband of her pants and eased the fabric over her hips. He followed the drop of material down. One at a time, he raised her legs, slipped her shoes, and then the slacks, off. He sucked in a breath, and then exhaled, blowing a thin stream of air across her barely covered mound.
She met his gaze as he looked up her body. “You like?”
Love Under Two Outcasts [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 10