Love Came Home (4 Oaks)

by Gayle Eden

  He dampened his lips. “Very, very, strong attraction?”

  “Yes.”

  That smile came full-blown. “You trust me.”

  “Maybe.” She released a breath she had been holding.

  “You like me.” His gaze drifted down meaningfully and back up.

  She could have used the chilly night to explain her hard nipples, but had it been 90 out, she would have reacted the same. Instead, Skye looked him over the same way, lingering on the upper thighs of his nice jeans before meeting his gaze.

  “Maybe.”

  “We could?” he offered.

  “I’ve got an early morning, and some…thinking to do.”

  “We will,” he predicted. “Sooner than later.”

  She put her helmet on and muttered, “No doubt.” Hearing him chuckle.

  “Skye?”

  She was about to leave and hesitated, looking up at him.

  “Where can I see you, besides running you over on the road?”

  “Around, I guess.”

  “That’s not good enough.”

  “How long you hanging around?”

  “Thinking about staying—might have to leave for a bit.”

  She smiled dryly, “I’ll be at the Edge, Saturday night.” With a nod, she turned and rode off down the lane.

  Carter watched her ride off and then walked to his truck.

  Three nights away.

  For the first time in a very long time, he was looking forward to hooking up. Something he certainly avoided since Stephanie screwed around on him. It wasn’t rebound. He felt all the right stuff with Skye. He felt anxious.

  Anxious for him—was good.

  ~4 Oaks~

  Kane didn’t really know what to do with the odd-one-out houseguest that Carter had brought with him.

  She had not come out of the guestroom much.

  Though it was all of their house, equally, he had lived in it all his life and was the host, technically. It was damned awkward.

  Carter had told him the whole spill when he had questioned, “So what’s the story with Kelly?”

  Carter supplied, “I hope you don’t mind I brought her along? She’s gone through a rough time lately. Not the social type—had her head in books from the moment I met her. She has been working in research and marketing. I felt protective of her from the moment Mom first married Charles. Last few years, I’ve been on the road a lot. I hadn’t realized she finally got a boyfriend— right after college, and her first good paying job. He’s turned out to be jackass. The usual stuff, swept her off her feet. She moved in with him.

  Kelly is—she takes people at face value. She was living life, working, and the usual. The guy was verbally abusive. Cheating on her. It took Mom and Charles reading between the lines to make her see it was a bad relationship. Given that she never had a boyfriend before; it took some detangling to get her to stop letting him mess with her emotions.

  Mom called me when they couldn’t get her to leave him. Charles was ready to beat him to a pulp, for shoving her around. I went to the apartment, got one look at the little ass hole and packed all of her stuff. I picked her up kicking and screaming and carried her to my apartment and moved her in.”

  (That was what he knew,) Kane mused, while he stirred the fire in the great room fireplace. It was a bracing night. Foggy out. It would likely frost in the morning. He had spent the evening after Carter left and Rio took himself to the barn to check on a sick mare, carving pumpkins and doing the lanterns up the drive. His Grandpa made a big deal of it for the local kids. He felt comforted doing the decorations that last year the old man had been too sick to do himself. Hell, he tried to stay busy in order to deal with losing the only man who had been a father to him.

  Walking up the drive at sunset, he had seen his grandfather’s image sitting in his favorite rocker on the porch and felt a chill go down his back. JC had his pipe, was wearing that old red checked shirt he favored, and overalls and was smiling

  He blinked, and the image vanished.

  He supposed the old man was glad Carter was staying. Glad too—they were all here together. The house was big enough. It felt rambling now. It had eight bedrooms, three baths, and was full of his grandmother’s antiques. It was home to Kane, though anywhere out on the land, felt the same.

  Sighing, he watched the flames flicker. He would make some coffee, and go knock on the guestroom door and…what?

  Kane decided he would adlib, because though he was used to his own company, he was not normally rude. It did however remind him how much time he’d spent, just himself, and his grandfather, out here on the ranch. If he went into town, he already knew everyone. It wasn’t like entertaining a stranger. What the fuck did he know about introverted twenty four year old women?

  Maybe she was having a delayed reaction to the prick Carter had rescued her from?

  He hoped not. He didn’t do emotional meltdowns.

  He didn’t do emotional—anything—with women.

  Setting two full mugs of coffee on the kitchen counter, he left and went through the dining area, out into a hall and up smooth wooden stairs. His cowboy boots were his newer ones and his footfalls gave her plenty of time to hear him coming.

  Turning right on the landing, he knocked and called out, “Kelly?”

  It took a while. There was rustling. The scuff of some kind of slip on shoes on the wood floor, before the door opened.

  With muted light behind her, he could smell night air and tell she’d been looking out an opened window.

  Viewing her sapphire eyes, a little blotchy behind the lenses of her glasses, and her mussed dark caramel hair, he offered, “I made some coffee. Grab a jacket and we’ll sit on the porch.”

  She didn’t quite meet his eye but turned and gathered up a sweater and slipped it on over her sweatshirt she wore with jeans, and some sort of sheepskin clogs.

  Kane stepped back as she came out and then preceded her down stairs. He handed her the cup, got his own, and in a flannel shirt and jeans himself, led the way out to the wide cement and stone porch.

  He waved her down in a rocking chair and took one slightly angled. Propping his boots on a planter, he sipped and watched her draw her knees up, the cup atop them, she tilted her head down to sip.

  There were night sounds, echoes from the horses and cattle carrying from the distance, and birds calling. Landscape lights glowed faintly in the flower garden and by the entry gate.

  Kane sensed her eyes on him and met them, then watched her blush, and skitter her gaze away. Mentally shaking his head, he knew he was rough around the edges. He had not shaved in two days. He never had been the talkative one either. He wasn’t as silent as Rio tended to be, but…

  “I don’t understand the point in dating if men are going to lie to you,” she blurt softly.

  “Not all men lie.”

  “Everyone I ever met, did.”

  “Date a lot, did you?”

  “No. But I saw enough.” She chewed her lip staring out at the darkness. “You have a girlfriend?”

  “Not at the moment.” He grunted and rolled his eyes, taking a sip. Not his forte, this sort of discussion.

  “But you’ve had them?”

  “Not a steady girlfriend. I’ve had….” What the hell, he decided. “Mutual—er—understandings.”

  She was staring at him again. “That’s likely easier than relationships.”

  “You’re still young.”

  “I never was young,” she surprised him by saying. “My mother had an ongoing battle with cancer. It was a horrible existence for her and my dad. It consumed their lives, and mine too. Afterwards, he was lost because it defined his normal. He was adrift, sad. Your Mom coming along—it saved him, I think.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Do you resent her for leaving you? Your mom?”

  “I did when I was a kid. But I wouldn’t have gone with her.” Kane shrugged. No use getting into his distance with women, issues.

  “She
said it was hard on her. She grieved…”

  Kane caused some of that by not being available when she would call. “I belonged here.” He drank another drink, ignoring the fact she was looking at him still.

  “Do you think—the way I am—isn’t normal? That’s what he said—Jeff, my ex. He said I …”

  “—I don’t know you very well, but being shy or smart, whatever. Being a hard worker and having faith in people, sounds more normal than what Carter said about him.”

  “Carter is always protective of me.” She laughed softly.

  It was a surprisingly nice sound. Kane met her eyes. “He’s been that way since he was a kid. He can’t stand a bully of any sort. But for the record, any decent person who cared would have stepped in…”

  She searched his face, her voice was gruff as she confessed, “I knew it wasn’t good. I was lonely when I met him. I have felt that way, most of my life. Like an outsider —because my family life revolved around that battle with death. I had never dated. I had not slept with anyone before. It was good at first, but I knew deep down—he didn’t respect me.”

  “He’s an ass hole.”

  She laughed again because he’d muttered that, and looked away.

  “I didn’t know there were predators—guys—who would see your vulnerable spots and swoop in, manipulate you emotionally. Still, it makes me think that he couldn’t have done that had there not been some truth to what he said…”

  “What did you do, work a lot?”

  “Work and study.” She nodded. “I worked a lot because I’d just gotten the job and it promised a future if I stuck to it.” Sighing she added, “Scratch that off my list too. He harassed me so much with calls; they were ready to fire me anyway.”

  “You can’t blame yourself for him.”

  “No.” She drank several sips. “I miss the sex though. I liked that part most. I tolerated a lot just for that. Eventually, he was just selfish, so I didn’t accommodate him. He was cheating. I totally do not get that either, since he wasn’t that… good. “

  Kane laughed, somewhat uncomfortable.

  She added, “Not that I have anything to compare. You understand. I’m just saying, he didn’t do everything I wanted to, or let me do what I wanted to explore—so.”

  Kane coughed and tried to swallow a drink he’d taken during that bit of info.

  “I think that’s what I’ll do next time. Focus on building a career and just have sex with someone. Less complicated. If I pick the right kind, I can explore all that erotic, intimate, stuff.”

  Not sure that he wasn’t blushing; Kane had to look at the woman in glasses for a bit. She didn’t look like the “explore” type at all. She had a quiet, yes, a studious look about her. On closer inspection, her eyes were striking. Her mouth was a little fuller on the bottom. Not that he could tell in her current clothing, but at the wake, in black slacks and sweater, she was built nice.

  What the hell was he doing?

  She asked, “How do you know? I mean, how do the women you pick know? Providing you are a good lover. And I assume you are.”

  Kane muttered, “I knew them for years. Two I have seen on and off, are divorced. In college. They just don’t have the time, or inclination, to date.”

  “You care for them?”

  “I respect them. But nobody is falling in love.”

  “That’s the hard stuff.” She sighed. “Sex would be the easy part.”

  Kane wished Carter would get his ass home. This—was a conversation he wished he had not invited.

  He was in a muse, half amused and half discomforted when he heard her say, “You have something…potent. Like Carter. Not just handsome and well built, but there is something earthy there. Solid. There is no pretense or fake charm in you. You’re real.”

  He wasn’t going to touch that one. No, sir.

  She went on. “I should have compared Jeff to that. He’s all swagger and ego. You’re better looking.”

  “Thanks.”

  She laughed. “I never talked like this. I must be daft.”

  “You and Carter—”

  “Well, no. Carter is blunt. He is to the point. However, he thinks I am too naive. He’s like a brother that you know will protect you, but you feel kind of like you would rather he didn’t know all your weaknesses. Nor your secret thoughts. I love him for the way he is. But he’d freak out if I talked about a sexual affair.”

  “You’re an adult.”

  “Almost twenty five.” She sucked in her breath then released it. “Damn. That’s half way to thirty.”

  “Age is just a number.”

  “Um.” She leaned her head back, rolled it, and regarded him a moment. “I feel like I missed out. Like I am trying to catch up and I can’t. All that teen stuff, I was not a part of. First guy I… I wish… never mind.

  Kane saw faint reflections in the lenses of her glasses. He hoped she wasn’t crying.

  He was relieved when she said quietly while scanning his face, “Carter missed you. His Grandpa. And 4 Oaks. He talked about you and the ranch all the time.”

  “He could have come home sometimes.”

  “Yes.” She agreed. “I could see at the funeral, how he regretted that.”

  Kane looked away.

  “I was watching you two riding out there, and working. Even though Rio doesn’t look like you two, when I watched him, it’s like watching shadows. You all move the same—everything is as natural as breathing.”

  “I’ve no quarrel with Rio. Whatever our father did and why, is not his doing.”

  “True, but he feels like the outsider.”

  Kane shrugged. “Not my doing. “

  She made a sound.

  He looked at her.

  “Pride,” she whispered with a faint smile. “It doesn’t mean as much as family. I know that. I haven’t got anyone—Well, Dad. But, he deserves not to have to worry about me. I am an adult and he’s enjoying life for the first time. He and your mom deserve some happy years.”

  She looked out at the darkness next. “This place—inside the house—out on the land—it’s in all of you. It was in Carter, no matter where he went. You’re all a part of it, and each other.”

  Kane moved his feet and sat up, elbows on his thighs. “Carter can stay or go, it’s his choice. Rio lives here. Everyone is old enough to decide what they want.”

  She supplied, “You’re all grieving. It takes a long time. I still grieve my Mom. Everything is here that could bring all of you together though. You could be close again. And make Rio a part of that.”

  “It’s not my choice.” He shook his head and stood, leaning a shoulder against one of the pillars. His back was to her.

  There was silence a long time. The rocker creaked. Then those scuffing sounds announced when she was standing beside him.

  She’d set her cup down, her arms were folded against the chill as they watched Carter’s truck lights approach.

  Just before he pulled in to park, she murmured, “Could we have something er—sexually mutual, Kane?”

  He swallowed and felt a nervous jump in his stomach. Damn, but he thought he was off that shaky ground already. Dampening his lips, he replied carefully, “It would be best not to. It would—complicate things.”

  Carter had gotten out of the truck. He came up the shallow steps looking at them both. “Something wrong?”

  “No. Just enjoying a coffee,” Kelly answered. “I’m turning in though. G’night.”

  When she left, Carter asked, “Any more of that coffee left?”

  “Yeah.”

  He went in to fetch some. Kane sat down again, but dug a cigarette out of his shirt pocket. He felt like wiping his brow. He was not sure how she had taken his answer. He did not want to further reject her. Or whatever the hell, no, might represent in her currently vulnerable state.

  For a split second, another image of a younger, vulnerable woman, popped in Kane’s mind. He struggled to wipe it away. What was two weeks in all the years since h
e’d laid eyes on woman with misty eyes that tore him up? Hell, he’d been 21 and she was still in school.

  Sage Rossi…

  Dude. Don’t go there.

  He still couldn’t stand to dig into that memory. He’d done her a favor by ending it. He told himself that every time he felt regret. She couldn’t have fallen in love with him that quickly, that young.

  He had been so cold to her though…

  Looking back with thirty three year old maturity, Kane told himself his only regret was that he had been a bastard when he broke it off…

  It wasn’t just her young seventeen. That scared him as much as his initial feelings for her—It was that her Papa was strict and protective. He had no intention of his daughter marrying a rancher. Lorenzo Rossi didn’t waste any time in Maple Grove anyway, a year after moving there he’d bought a bunch of land, developed it, and moved on.

  Kane erased them out his head…Almost…

  “Guess who I wrecked on the way to town?” Carter began as he joined him and eased back in a rocker with his coffee. “Skye.”

  “Yeah?” Kane could read Carter’s husky tone. He couldn’t see his expression very clear, but enough to perceive that grin on his lips.

  Dryly, Kane murmured, “Hope no one got hurt? You move fast”

  “No. She seemed fine. She certainly looked fine. I feel like I have to move fast. She’s skittish.”

  “She has a reason to be.”

  “True. I got excited around her.”

  Kane snorted.

  Carter laughed. “That kind too. But I mean, she fascinates me.”

  “Good luck, then.”

  “You say that like you have doubts.”

  “I say that—because she’s got grit.”

  “I know. I like that about her.”

  “But she’s also had a shit life.”

  “I’m very aware of that, Kane.”

  They sat in silence for some time and then went inside. Settling in the great room, Kane kept the subject on ranching. He was too aware of his age, and his lack of relationships of any substance—to want to prolong the subject of women.

  In an hour or so, Rio came in. He had taken his boots off just inside the door. His sock feet were soundless as he went to the kitchen, made fresh coffee, and then emerged into the great room.