An Angel for Them [Riverbend, Texas Heat 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  Randy nodded while stroking Angela when Travis whispered that he was going to take a shower. Turning away, he shuffled into the bathroom and closed the door. Leaning on the counter, he hung his head as the worry returned full force pushing aside the euphoria of making love with Angela.

  “What are you keeping from us, Angel?” Shaking his head, Travis pushed off of the counter and walked over to the shower to turn on the water and adjust it to a temperature just below scalding.

  He stepped into the punishing spray of the water and let it pour over him as he tried to settle inside himself. He wasn’t about to let anything take away what he and his brother had finally found. It had taken nothing short of a miracle for Randy to put their past relationship behind them and take a chance on Angela. He’d be damned if anything stood in their way this time. Somehow he had to get her to feel comfortable enough to be open with them now. If she kept things from them now, it would only get worse as time went by.

  The longer he stood there thinking about it, the more convinced he became that something had happened while she’d been in town. He needed to get to the bottom of it and make sure that Angela knew she could talk to them about anything. How he was going to do that, Travis didn’t know, but he was going to figure it out.

  As the water began to cool, he quickly washed off and climbed out. After drying off, he turned off the bathroom light and slipped back into the bedroom. When he eased into bed on the other side of Angela, she turned in her sleep to wrap an arm across his chest. Though it went a long way to soothing some of the worry weighing him down, it didn’t completely alleviate it. When he finally fell asleep, it was to dreams of losing her.

  * * * *

  Angela woke early the next morning to find that both men had already gotten up and dressed. She eyed the clock by the bed to find it was only around five in the morning. Why had they gotten up so early? Had something happened on the ranch? Then the fact that she’d left poor Harley D back at the cabin all by himself spurred her into action.

  She jumped out of bed and nearly fell on her face, having forgotten how tall the bed was. She quickly rounded up her clothes and did a quick cleanup in the bathroom before dressing and hurrying downstairs. When she couldn’t find either man in the house, she decided to go back to the cabin to shower and dress. Walking through the living room, Angela was relieved to find a note taped to the front door. Grabbing it, she read it and relaxed.

  Morning, beautiful. We figured you would head to the cabin to change and check on the rat before work. We really need to talk about moving your things to the house. Mom and Dad will be here this weekend sometime. They can’t wait to meet you. We had to leave early to move some cattle. See you at lunch. Love, T and R.

  Tears welled up in her eyes at how obvious it was that they loved her. She shouldn’t feel so insecure when they gave her no reason to doubt how they felt. She vowed to stop letting her own fears rob her of the happiness she had within her grasp. They knew all about her. She’d kept nothing from them about her past. All she had to do was return their love and trust them to keep their word.

  Angela held the note to her chest and hurried out the door toward the cabin. When she opened the door, it was to be attacked by a hyper-vigilant ball of fur. Laughing, she cradled the tiny kitten in her arms and talked to him while she quickly tended to his litter box, food dish, and water bowl. Then she plopped him down in front of his meal and escaped to the bedroom. She needed to shower and dress before he lost interest in eating.

  By the time she’d redressed in fresh clothes, the kitten was walking around meowing loud enough to wake the dead. It immediately climbed up her jeans to her waist the minute it spotted her.

  “Crazy thing. You can’t climb me like a tree. When you get bigger, your claws will hurt.” She scooped him off her hip and settled him on her shoulder while she gathered his things to carry to the office with her.

  Harley D kept up a steady chatter as she got ready to leave. Though he didn’t have the coloring of a Siamese, the little monster talked like one. She found herself talking back as she double-checked that she hadn’t left anything she might need.

  “You have giant feet for such a tiny kitten. I bet you’re going to be bigger than we think. If you grow into your feet, you’re bound to be a big cat.”

  As she climbed the slight rise with the kitten on her shoulder and both hands full of his “things,” Angela decided she would let the guys help her move the rest of her belongings over to the house after dinner that night.

  “No reason to put it off. We’re getting married. That’s as much of a commitment as you can get.”

  Harley D didn’t comment this time. She could hear him purr, though, and took that as his agreement with her decision.

  When she walked into the office, the phone was already ringing. She hurried to answer it after dropping Harley’s supplies to the floor.

  “Wood’s Wilderness. Can I help you?”

  “Is this Angela?” a woman asked with a voice strong and demanding.

  “Yes, it is. Can I help you?” she asked again, frowning.

  “I’m Grace Woods, Travis and Randy’s mother. I’m so glad you answered the phone. I’ve wanted to talk to you ever since the boys told me about you.”

  Angela felt her newfound self-confidence falter. She hadn’t expected to have to deal with their parents so soon and certainly not without them there for support.

  “Um, hi.”

  “Don’t worry. I don’t bite.” Laughter filled the other woman’s voice. “I just want to find out more about you. All I could get out of my boys was that you were wonderful and an amazing cook.”

  “Oh. Well. I’m not a chef or anything. I think they have been living off of their own cooking for so long that they are exaggerating a little.”

  “Although I know you are right about the extent of their skills or lack of skills in the kitchen, I’ve no doubt you are every bit as good as they claim. I can’t wait to meet the woman my boys have finally fallen in love with. They did tell you that we’re coming this weekend, didn’t they?”

  “Yes. They did. It will be a pleasure to meet you and your husbands.” She had no idea what to say to this woman.

  Grace sounded like a force of nature that could blow in and control everything and everyone in her path. Angela didn’t know yet where she stood with this woman. Hopefully she would like her and not hold her background against her. There was always the worry that no woman would ever be good enough for her sons in her eyes.

  “I can tell you’re nervous, Angela. Don’t be. We aren’t coming to judge you. We’re coming to meet the future mother of our grandchildren and help you plan the wedding.”

  “Oh.” Her stomach performed a perfect backflip at the mention of grandchildren.

  “What I originally called for was to let y’all know that it will be Saturday afternoon before we get there. Burt, one of my husbands, is going to be tied up for a while Saturday morning handling some business, so we’ll get a late start. Don’t expect us before two or three in the afternoon.”

  “I’ll tell Randy and Travis. Do you need to speak to them? I can get them on the radio.”

  “No, don’t bother them. Oh! Almost forgot. We’re planning to stay in the cabin, so tell them to make sure those damn goats they insist on keeping are penned up somewhere. I swear they have it in for me for some reason.”

  She heard a full-out laugh in the background then someone with a deep voice that reminded her of Randy said, “Could be because you talked about roasted goat for Christmas last year, Grace.”

  “Oh, shut up, Mark.” Grace’s voice sounded muffled as if she’d put her hand over the mouthpiece. “Anyway. You take care of yourself and don’t let them work you too hard. You’ll need your rest for when I get there. We have a lot to do. Bye, dear.”

  Grace disconnected, leaving Angela feeling as if the whirlwind she expected to feel once they arrived had already passed through. She stared at the phone still in her hand and slowly
replaced it in the charger. It took her a few seconds to calm her jittery stomach as she sat down behind the desk. Harley had jumped down earlier when she’d dropped his things on the way to grab the phone. Now he climbed into her lap and notified her that he needed something.

  She tried to put the phone call behind her and concentrated on setting up Harley’s area before getting down to work. Since she was obviously going to be busy with Grace for several days, she decided that she needed to make sure everything was as caught up as possible. Randy and Travis had warned her that their parents tended to stay almost an entire week when they visited. With the threat of planning their wedding in the air, Angela wouldn’t be surprised if that turned into two weeks this time.

  Lunchtime snuck up on her before she realized it, and the guys walked into the office startling her into shrieking and scaring Harley D in the process.

  “Sorry, honey. We didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you heard us calling you when we came in.” Randy grabbed the kitten and settled it in his arms, stroking his head absently.

  “That’s okay. I guess I was concentrating harder than I realized. I’m sorry I didn’t have lunch ready for you.” She jumped up to head to the kitchen to make sandwiches.

  “Forget it, Angel. You don’t have to fix us lunch all the time. We’re perfectly able to make them ourselves.” Travis stopped her and pulled her into his arms.

  “Yeah, it’s the one thing we can do that doesn’t involve cooking something on the stove. Can’t mess them up.” Randy grinned before leaning over and kissing her cheek.

  “Bet you’re hungry though.” Travis gave her a quick kiss on the lips before pushing her toward the door. “Let’s go eat. Then we need to talk.”

  “Talk? About what?” Angela asked, worry creeping in again.

  “Just stuff. Like setting a date for the wedding and moving you in and stuff like that,” Randy said.

  “Oh, well, I thought we’d move my stuff over tonight. I don’t really have that much to move.”

  She could tell she’d surprised them by the way their mouths dropped open then quickly closed. Then Randy pulled her away from Travis and swung her up and around, hugging her to him before letting her slide back down to stand on her own once again.

  “That’s great, honey!”

  “Besides, your mom called and said they planned to stay in the cabin. Um, she said they would be late getting here because one of your dads has some business Saturday morning. She said to expect them around two or three in the afternoon instead.”

  “Bet Burt finally found a buyer for that Mustang he rebuilt,” Travis said, looking at his brother.

  Angela caught the warmth in both men’s smiles as they talked about their dads and how Burt liked to work on old cars and Mark trained horses used mainly as therapy horses. Their parents were semi-retired from ranching but still kept horses, and the men had their hobbies to keep them busy and out of their mother’s hair. She listened to them as they ate and realized that their family had been so much different than her own.

  Where Randy and Travis’s family life appeared to have been close and where they were all open with each other, hers had been much more reserved. Although she and her mom had been close, they hadn’t discussed anything and everything like Travis and Randy had growing up. Her father had loved her, but he’d been a strict man, expecting her to follow the rules and learn to be a good housewife like her mom.

  When she’d lost her parents, Angela had relaxed some and finally pursued the education she had craved so she wouldn’t be stuck with her only option being to get married. And here she was about to get married after all. She couldn’t stop the smile from breaking through at the thought of spending the rest of her life with Randy and Travis. Somehow the idea of keeping house for them didn’t sound all that bad after all. She guessed love had a way of softening anything that once appeared harsh.

  “I like that smile, honey.” Randy took the plate from her hands and rinsed it before adding it to the dishwasher.

  “Come on. Let’s go get comfortable in the living room so we can talk.” Travis pulled her away from Randy and the sink.

  She let him draw her into the other room and situate her on his lap in his recliner. He nuzzled her neck, nipping at it while they waited for Randy to join them. She moaned when he sucked at her earlobe. It didn’t take much to arouse her with them. She could already feel the wetness between her thighs as her pussy heated up.

  “No fair. You left me in the kitchen just so you could hold her.” Randy pouted as he dropped into his chair.

  “You can hold her in a minute,” Travis said with a chuckle.

  “Don’t fight over me or I’ll sit on the couch—alone.” Angela grinned as Travis growled behind her.

  “We’re not fighting over you. We’re negotiating who holds you first.”

  Randy rolled his eyes at his brother’s response. Angela couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. This was what she had hoped for when she finally met the man she married. What did it matter if there were two of them? Obviously there were others who felt the same way.

  “Okay. Seriously, Angel. We need to decide when we are going to get married so that we can let our parents know. Randy and I say the sooner the better, but we know you’ll want to plan a wedding, and that takes some time. Just remember, we don’t plan on waiting forever though.” Travis kissed her cheek as she leaned back against his chest.

  “I really hadn’t thought about planning a wedding. I thought we’d just go to the judge and get married or something.” She hated the thought of the expense, and since she didn’t have any money or parents to pay for the wedding, it would fall on Travis and Randy to pay for it.

  “I wish!” Randy hooted with laughter. “There’s no way mom will let us do that, honey. You might as well resign yourself to planning a wedding. If you don’t want anything elaborate, then put your foot down with her, but I know our mom and she’s going to insist on a wedding of some type.”

  “Oh.” Even Angela heard the disappointment in her voice.

  “Hey. It won’t be that bad. Why don’t you want a nice wedding?” Travis squeezed her gently.

  “I don’t really know anyone. It just seems like a waste of money, and I can’t even help pay for it.”

  “Don’t worry about the money, Angel. As for not having friends, what about the women you met at the cookout? You seemed to get along with them well enough,” Travis said.

  “I just met them. I don’t really know them yet.” She didn’t want to think about it anymore. “I’ll work it out with your mom one way or another. When did you want to get married?”

  She could tell that Travis and Randy were looking at each other from the frown on Randy’s face. She’d said something wrong again.

  No matter how hard she tried to do and say the right thing, she always managed to screw up. She sighed.

  “I know it will take some time to plan the two ceremonies, so how about the first weekend in August?” Travis asked.

  “Two ceremonies?”

  Angela had forgotten about there being two. Naturally with her marrying one brother officially the other one would want to be recognized as her husband as well. The second ceremony was all about their commitment to each other as a unit and announcing it to everyone.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t long for a nice wedding. Like most women, Angela had once dreamed and planned hers out in intricate detail, but two weddings with no one she really knew very well attending either one was just plain depressing.

  Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Angela. I have two men who love me and want to make me happy. I don’t have to have a room full of people on my side when I have them.

  Still, it would have been nice to have had even one friend to support her. She wouldn’t even have a maid of honor or any bridesmaids outside of Travis’s and Randy’s sisters. Suddenly she felt overwhelmingly lonely, something she’d never felt before. She missed her parents and wished they could have lived to attend her wedding
.

  Hearing a sound, Angela looked up and met their eyes, realizing that she was being silly. The weddings were one-time events that she probably wouldn’t even think much about once they were over. She would have her men by her side for the rest of their lives. What more did she need?

  A fairy godmother, maybe—and luck. Lots of luck. They said that they loved her just like she was, but when all the new and shiny wore off, would they still feel the same way?

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Yeah, remember? You’ll marry Travis on paper in the official wedding and then we have a smaller ceremony where we all three pledge ourselves to each other.” Randy smiled, standing up.

  He walked across to where she sat on Travis’s lap and knelt down beside the chair to look into her eyes. He could see the anxiety churning there. Tension fairly leapt off her skin. He hated seeing her worried like that.

  “I–I had forgotten.” She forced a smile across her lips, but Randy could tell it wasn’t natural.

  “Don’t worry about it, baby. Mom will help you. I think she’s been planning for all of our weddings since we were born. At least that’s what Dee Ann and Lauren tell us. I think that’s one reason why they haven’t gotten married yet,” Travis said with a chuckle.

  “My turn, Travis.” Randy stood up and picked her up from Travis’s lap before he could stop him.

  He carried his precious fiancée over to his chair and sat down with her across his lap so that he could see her face and she could see both him and his brother. She still appeared to be a little uneasy around them. It bothered him—a lot. She should be completely comfortable around them, able to talk to them about anything. The fact that she wasn’t and didn’t feel that she could confide in them proved that they still had a long way to go in earning her trust. They might have earned her love, but until she completely trusted them, she was not completely theirs.