Always A Will And A Way_Western Romance

by Barbara Gee

  It was on Saturday afternoon that Will’s patience came to an end.

  “Hey, Chad, I’m going to head over to the house to catch up on some paperwork I’ve been neglecting. Can you finish up the supply order for me? It’s lying on the desk. All you need to do is take an inventory of the supplements and medicine that we have on hand and restock anything we’re low on. I’ve got everything else done.”

  “Sure thing, Will.” Chad ripped open a bag of feed then straightened up, putting his hands on his hips as he watched his friend leave. “But if I were you,” he called out, “I’d forget the paperwork and have a sit down with Kelly. I’m tired of you two looking like the sky has fallen. It’s making us all depressed.”

  Will had been walking toward the door, but he stopped and turned back.

  “Kelly’s been upset?”

  “Of course she’s upset,” Chad said, his frustration finally showing. “That shouldn’t come as surprise to you. You’re both miserable and none of us know why. It’s ridiculous. You obviously love each other, so why can’t you figure things out and get back to being a happy couple?”

  Will took in a sharp breath through gritted teeth. “Because she won’t talk to me, Chad,” he ground out. “She refuses to even see me. All she’ll say is that she can’t talk about her reasons for breaking things off because it’ll only make things worse.” He raised his hands, palms up. “What am I supposed to do with that, bro? How can I fix it if she won’t even tell me what’s wrong?”

  Chad frowned, obviously stumped by that revelation. “And you really have no idea what caused her to have second thoughts?”

  “None. Believe me I’ve tried to figure it out, but I’m coming up empty. One minute things were fine and dandy, the next she cancelled a date and she’s barely spoken to me since. I’ve gone over every minute I can remember of the last few days we were together, wondering if I did something to piss her off, but I can’t come up with anything. I’m at a total loss, Chad, and I can’t keep going like this. It’s been over a week and I’m done with sitting back and giving her space. I’m going over to the house and if she’s home, I’m going to do everything in my power to make her talk to me.”

  Chad nodded. “I’ll be praying for you, Will.”

  Will closed his eyes briefly, exhaling slowly. “Thanks, man. I need all the help I can get.”

  Will entered the house through the kitchen, careful to leave his boots on the rug in the breezeway. Sarah was busy at the stove, but Will was too preoccupied to even notice the delectable smells that promised another tasty dinner.

  “Hey, Sarah. Do you know if Kelly’s around?”

  “She just went by with a load of laundry. I’ll get her,” Sarah said, moving a pan off the burner and leaving her post to go stand in the hall. As soon as Kelly exited the laundry room, Sarah called her over.

  “Kelly, you have someone here to see you.”

  When Kelly entered the kitchen, Will’s breath left him. She was so damn beautiful and he’d missed her so much, and in spite of the week of suffering she’d inflicted on him, it was all he could do to resist the urge to pull her into his arms and never let go.

  “Hey, Kelly,” he said finally. “Do you have a few minutes?”

  “Um, I’m kinda busy with some laundry and cleaning,” she said after a moment, her voice soft and breathless. Her gaze locked with his, and if Will wasn’t mistaken, she had missed him, too, although even now she was trying to get rid of him.

  Sarah was looking back and forth between them, hands on her sturdy hips, not even pretending she wasn’t wondering what was going on.

  “You’ve been busy all week,” Will stated. “We need to talk.”

  Kelly nodded uncertainly, looking at Sarah and then back at him. “Okay, I guess we can do that. Let’s go to the living room.”

  Sarah’s eyes narrowed as they turned to leave the kitchen. “Oh, Kelly?”

  Kelly stopped walking and looked back, hoping maybe Sarah was going to rescue her from having to talk to Will.

  “I keep forgetting to ask you. Did Charlene McCallum ever find you? She stopped in here last Thursday looking for you. I told her you were still at work and she said she might drop by the school.”

  Kelly sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, feeling her face flush. Sarah was looking at her closely as she awaited an answer, and a quick glance at a frowning Will told her that he was also very curious to hear her answer.

  “Oh, um, yes, she did. She stopped by the school and introduced herself.”

  “Why was she looking for you?” Will wondered, his intent gaze never wavering from her face.

  Kelly shrugged. “She’s on the school board, I guess she wanted to meet their latest hire.”

  “But why come here? I can’t even remember the last time Charlene came to the Wild Rose. Why not save herself the trouble and get your schedule from the school and go there in the first place?”

  “Um, maybe she was going by anyway,” Kelly ventured. “I really don’t know. She didn’t mention to me that she’d come here first.”

  Sarah harrumphed. “Well if you ask me, she was up to no good. That woman is trouble, no two ways about it.”

  Will’s mind worked quickly. Thursday was the day Charlene had come looking for Kelly, and Thursday was also the day everything had changed between them. And Kelly was obviously uncomfortable with this conversation. That had to mean something, and thanks to Sarah’s intervention, Will felt he just might have a chance of getting to the bottom of this whole thing. He also realized that Sarah had deliberately mentioned Charlene’s visit, and he’d be sure to thank her later.

  “Kelly.” his voice was soft but stern. “If Charlene said something to upset you, I need to know about it.”

  “She, uh, she isn’t very happy about the school spending money to have me act as a consultant,” Kelly told him finally, giving him the truth but not the whole truth and hoping it would be enough for him.

  She should have known better. He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders, ducking his head to catch her eyes.

  “What else did she say to you?”

  Kelly shook her head, her eyes brimming with sudden tears. “Just leave it alone, Will,” she begged. “Please.”

  “That’s not gonna happen,” he said intensely. “I can’t walk away from this so easily, Kelly, and it hurts to know you can. I think the least you can do is tell me why.”

  She remained stubbornly silent, and surprisingly Sarah intervened again, her hands still on her hips as she faced Will.

  “Based on the tongue wagging I’ve heard in town, I’d say Charlene is hell bent on running Kelly out of town so you will get back to dating her spoiled rotten little daughter.”

  “What?” Will’s hands tightened fractionally on Kelly’s shoulders. “Is that true, Kelly?” he asked softly.

  Kelly stared at the floor, desperate to get away from his questions but having nowhere to go. Short of running to her room like a child, she wasn’t getting out of this.

  “Talk to me, Kelly. Tell me you’re not letting the likes of Charlene McCallum come between us,” Will pressed, his tone disbelieving. “You don’t think we’re strong enough to overcome her scheming? One challenge from her and you’re ready to throw it all away?”

  Kelly shook her head but she still couldn’t speak. The tears overflowed now, and she gratefully accepted the tissue Sarah handed her.

  “Will Connor,” Sarah said, her exasperation showing, “things are more complicated than that. Kelly doesn’t want to tell you the whole story and I understand why. But that story needs to be told.”

  “No, Sarah, please,” Kelly implored. “It’ll only make things worse.”

  Sarah’s voice was kind, the first time Kelly had heard it that way. “No, Kelly, it won’t make it worse. Will isn’t Jamie, and his dad isn’t James Senior. And his mother will get over this.”

  Kelly realized then that Sarah had figured out exactly what she was struggling with.


  “I can’t risk it, Sarah,” she said miserably.

  Will shook his head slowly, his gaze shifting between the two women. “Can one of you please tell me what my mother has to do with this?”

  “I’m sorry, Kelly, but he deserves to know.” Turning to Will, she leveled with him. “Diana is in cahoots with Charlene. They think that if Kelly is gone, you will fulfill their fondest wish and marry Lindsay. As if that girl is even half good enough for you.”

  Will’s frown deepened at this new revelation. “My mom is trying to make Kelly leave?” He looked from Sarah to Kelly, confused and betrayed. “Is that true, Kelly?”

  Kelly again looked at the floor, fighting the urge to flee. She felt trapped between Will and the mother who loved him, and she was at a complete loss as to what to do next.

  “Kelly,” Will said, taking her face in his hands and tilting it up so she had to meet his brilliant blue gaze. “Tell me how my mom is involved in this, baby. Please tell me.”

  Sarah was right, Will deserved to know the truth.

  “She loves you, Will,” Kelly finally said brokenly. “She wants what’s best for you, and she is sure that’s not me.”

  “You’ve talked to her?” he asked, shaking his head in renewed bewilderment. “You’ve talked to her about us, and you didn’t tell me?”

  Sarah’s exasperation took over and she threw up her hands. “Use your head, Will Connor. Use the brains the good Lord gave you to figure it out. Here’s a hint for you. After what Kelly went through with James Senior and Maggie, what would be her biggest fear about a relationship with a Texas cowboy whose mama opposed it?” With that, Sarah flounced back to the stove.

  As understanding crept in, Will cupped Kelly’s head in his hands. “Did she threaten to make me choose?” he asked, his voice soft and dangerous, making Kelly fear for Diana.

  “No, Will. No, she didn’t. She just said your family all wants you to be with Lindsay and she doesn’t think they can handle having me replace her. If you disliked the ranch like Jamie did, it might be different for me, but you love it and you work with your brothers every single day. If things get tense with your family it could ruin everything for you. And ultimately you would have to choose. I know the ramifications of a family split all too well, Will, and I will not be a part of that again. I can’t do it, no matter how much James and I love you.”

  “My mom said that about my family? She asked you to leave me?”

  “She loves you. She wants what’s best for you,” Kelly told him again, hoping to head off the rage she saw building within him.

  “Well she obviously knows nothing about me if she thinks Lindsay McCallum is the one for me.” Will stepped back and ran his hands through his hair, his frustration almost more than he could bear. “Kelly, why didn’t you tell me about this? Why did you shut me out?”

  “Because I knew this was how you’d react! I knew you’d be furious at your mom, and I knew you’d refuse to give up on James and me, and your family would end up fractured—all because of me! They’re your family, Will. You love them, and you work with them every single day. I refuse to ruin that for you. There are lots of women out there—if not Lindsay, at least someone more acceptable than me. I’m not worth losing your entire family for.”

  His beautiful blue eyes were sad as his gaze held hers. “I’m gonna have to disagree with you on that, babe. But trust me, it won’t come to that. The truth is, Kelly, my dad and brothers have warned me away from Lindsay more times than I can count. And if they had a chance to meet you, I know they’d love you. I’ve tried to make that happen, but there was always a reason why we couldn’t get together, and I see now it was because my mother was determined it wouldn’t happen.”

  Will put his hands on Kelly’s waist and slowly drew her against him, breathing in the familiar scent of her hair and skin. He rested his cheek in its familiar spot on the top of her head. “Believe me, Kelly, my mom is the only one in my family who wants me to end up with Lindsay, and that’s only because she’s a complete pushover when it comes to her best friend, Charlene. I’ll make her see reason, I can promise you that.”

  “I promised her I wouldn’t tell you about her and Charlene,” Kelly confessed. “She’s going to be even more angry at me now.”

  “You didn’t tell me, Sarah did.”

  “And I’d do it again,” Sarah called out from across the kitchen, making no attempt to hide the fact that she was eavesdropping.

  That got a hint of a smile from Will.

  “Thanks, Sarah,” he said before drawing Kelly out into the hall, out of sight and earshot of the well-meaning cook. “I’ll make this right, Kelly, I promise you that.”

  With a sob Kelly gave in to what her heart so desperately wanted and she wrapped her arms around him, holding him as tightly as she could, loving the feel of his big warm body against hers once again.

  It didn’t last though, as Will took her wrists and removed her arms. He stepped back from her, but laced his fingers through hers, retaining at least that much contact.

  “Kelly, I’m glad to finally know what’s been going on with you, but I have to level with you. I’m disappointed and angry. I can’t help feeling like you gave up on us way too easily. I know you feel terrible about what happened with Jamie and his family, and I know you feel like it was ultimately your fault, but did you really think I was going to just let you walk away with no explanation? I feel betrayed by my mom, obviously, but also by you. I think I deserved more. And James—what were you going to tell him? I mean, were you even going to stay here, or were you going to go back to Virginia?”

  Kelly saw the depth of his hurt in his blue eyes and she had to look away. It crushed her to know she’d caused him that much pain. Her intentions may have been noble, but she knew now she’d handled it all wrong. She lifted one of his hands and pressed the back of it against her cheek, sorrow and regret making it hard to speak.

  “You’re right,” she finally said thickly, her throat throbbing with unshed tears. She bravely raised her eyes to his, because he did deserve an explanation, and the least she could do was look at him while she gave it.

  “I’m so, so sorry, Will. I guess I panicked when Charlene confronted me. I mean, everything had been going so well between you and me, and to be honest, it kind of scared me. That old saying ‘if it seems too good to be true it probably is’ had been going through my head a lot, because you’ve seemed too good to be true from the first moment I laid eyes on you. I guess once you lose someone who is important to you, it doesn’t seem so farfetched that it might happen again. So when Charlene came and told me that your mom was convinced our relationship would splinter your family, I realized what I’ve been afraid of all along was happening. I really was going to lose you, because I simply couldn’t put you and your family through that. It practically killed James Sr. and it was devastating to Jamie, and they weren’t anywhere near as close as you are to your parents and brothers.”

  Kelly shook her head sadly. “I wanted to tell you why we had to end things, and I should have. I should have talked to you instead of going right to your mom, but I truly thought I was doing what was best for you. I thought I could fix it, but she didn’t want to listen to me. I’ve been second guessing myself the last few days because I know you deserve to know why I pulled away, but I told your mom I wouldn’t tell you we’d talked and I didn’t know whether I should go back on my word. I didn’t want to make things even worse.”

  Will read the sincerity in her sad green eyes and he sighed and pulled her close, breathing her in and absorbing the warmth he’d missed so much the past week.

  “You need to be a little less selfless, babe. Let me decide what’s best for me from here on out, okay?”

  She nodded against his chest. “But I’m still worried, Will. Your mom really, really wants us to be over and Charlene said it’s affecting her health. Even to the point of medication.”

  “I’ll get to the bottom of it. Don’t worry, Kelly, I can fix th
is. I should have made it more clear to my mom how I felt about you, and why. She needs to realize that you’re it for me. Not Lindsay, not anyone else. Only you.”

  His arms loosened and he started to step away, but Kelly hung on to him.

  “Not yet, Will,” she begged, “please don’t go yet. I’ve missed you so much.”

  He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Come outside with me,” he said.

  A moment later they were in the hammock, Kelly curled into him, her head on his chest where she could hear the steady beat of his heart. He needed this, the closeness, the relief that came with finally knowing what she’d been struggling with.

  “Hey, Kel,” he said after they’d lain in a contented, healing silence for a while.

  “Mmm hmm,” she said, snuggling closer to him, making him realize more than ever how precious she was to him.

  “When we were talking earlier you said something about doing what you needed to do to keep my family happy, no matter how much you and James love me.”

  “Because I don’t want you to suffer the way Jamie did, Will. Being estranged from his family was harder on him than even I realized. And it almost killed Senior and Maggie.”

  “I get that, and I think I understand why you felt you couldn’t talk to me about it. But what I’m asking now is, did you mean it when you said the “L” word, or was that just the heat of the moment talking?”

  He felt Kelly go still against him, and he held his breath as he waited for her response.

  After a moment she pushed up onto an elbow, her face only inches away from his as she looked down at him, her eyes so full of emotion he couldn’t even begin to decipher everything he saw there.

  “Of course I meant it, Will,” she said softly, her fingertips drifting down his cheek and along his jaw. “I fell in love with you sometime during that first week we were here at the ranch, and I’ve fallen a little harder every single day since then.”

  Her eyes welled up and she pressed her lips to his in a hard, quick kiss. “I hated this past week, Will. I love you so much and I thought I had to give you up and it was almost more than I could bear.”