Everything She Needed (Cedar Valley Novel Book 2)

by Christina Butrum

  “Tell ya what, let’s pin this to the fridge and we’ll talk more about it tomorrow,” he offered, as he slid his way around the table in order to hang the paper on the fridge. “We’d better eat before the food gets cold. Rachel and I worked hard on this supper.”

  Offering a wink to Rachel, he said, “But Rachel deserves most of the credit. If it wasn’t for her, we’d be having pizza for the third time this week.”

  Not that they’d had pizza that often this week. He was only making a statement because if it wasn’t for Rachel and Ava moving in, he and Tyler would definitely still be roughing it.

  13

  Clearing the table and putting dishes away, Rachel allowed Adam to tuck the kids in. Tyler had protested that he was getting too old to be tucked in, but Adam had insisted jokingly that as long as he lived under this roof, he’d get tucked in. Tyler had made a face at Rachel, almost as if to say he was calling his dad’s bluff, but Rachel egged it on by saying he was probably telling the truth.

  She watched as Adam carried Ava off to bed, turning the corner around the stairway banister, climbing each step as he promised she could listen to as much Elmo as she wanted in the morning.

  She had everything she needed right here in this house, right here in Cedar Valley. All she needed now was a job that she enjoyed as much as Adam enjoyed his. She thought about the offer from Granny Mae’s before she heard Adam whistling, as his heavy footfalls landed on the steps.

  Pulling the folded paper from her pocket, she looked it over as Adam entered the dining room. His eyes landed on the paper before offering her a questioning look. She held it up like it was no big deal and said, “I stopped by Granny Mae’s earlier and was offered a job.”

  His expression changed from worry to excitement. “That’s great. Are you going to take it?”

  She had wanted to tell Granny Mae that she accepted the offer as soon as it was given to her, but she had thought it best to talk it over with him before making any sudden changes that could possibly affect their schedules. She’d already lost a couple of extra hours a day with him, now that he was picking up the slack at the station. They were down a few guys, so it was something he had no choice but to fill in where there were gaps.

  “I told her that I would let her know tomorrow.”

  Pulled into his arms, she wrapped hers around his neck. “I know that you don’t like working at the school as much as you did back in the city, and you know that I’d rather you not work at all, because we could manage just fine,” he said, keeping his sincere eyes locked on hers. She knew this, because they had talked about it many times before she finally accepted his offer to move here. He had told her several times that she wouldn’t have to work, if what she wanted to do was stay at home with the kids; that he would be fine with that. Before she could rebut what he had already heard her say many times before, he said, “If they offered you a position to bake, I think you should take it. Your baking is the bomb dot com, if I say so myself.”

  He pressed her against him, leaving a trail of kisses from her earlobe down along the sensitive skin of her neck. Allowing her head to fall back, she forgot what they had even been talking about while thoughts of straddling him right there on the couch rushed in. It had been more than a week since they had last snuck in time for themselves, and now that the kids were in bed and the offer was blatantly in their favor, she refused to keep talking and waste another minute.

  Shoving him back, his knees bent against the couch as he fell back, landing with a hard thump in the center of the couch. Straddling each leg over his lap, she teased him with what she knew he couldn’t resist. Weaving her hands through his hair, allowing her body to grind against his, she teased him in such a way that he would be begging her to finish him.

  His hardened length pressed against her, separated by the thin material of clothing. She fumbled with his buckle, along with his zipper and he stripped her shirt, tossing it into a heaping pile next to the couch. Cupping her breast in his hand, he found her weakness with his mouth, and as he suckled on a nipple, and she was begging him to have his way with her.

  His grunt was heard over the deafening rush in her eardrums as he stripped her bare without a struggle. Sweat glistened against his face as she struggled with his zipper, pressed firmly against his erection.

  Frustration charged though as he lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to their bedroom, adjacent to the living room. Catching the door with his foot behind them, Rachel watched as the door closed.

  He had his pants unbuckled and down to the floor before he even put her on the bed beneath him. He crawled to the edge of the bed, pulled open the drawer of the night stand, and pulled out a condom. She ripped it from his hand and tossed it out of reach as she crawled on top of him. “We don’t need that, do we?” she breathlessly whispered against his skin before being hoisted on top, straddling him once again; she took them into an unconscious stupor.

  * * *

  Talking over breakfast about her decision on changing jobs; they welcomed Tyler’s input. He had told Rachel, yet again, that when he was old enough, he would come work with her at Granny Mae’s and they could bake the best pancakes in the world. Once again, the conversation had ended with a promise not to take too many pancake lovers away from the fire department.

  Filling his mug to the brim with coffee, Adam sealed the lid with a quick twist and kissed Rachel on his way out the door. It was his third Saturday pulling a shift at the station, and, though one could say he could stay home with the pager on standby, he disagreed because there was always something going on that needed his attention. He wasn’t one to sit at home and ignore it, but then again, he wasn’t one to ignore his family either.

  “I’m going to be working on an ad for the paper today,” he promised Rachel, offering another kiss before making his way out the door. “I’ll be making sure we hire at least two people by mid-week.”

  Following Rachel’s blown kiss out the door, he turned and shut it. It had been too long since he had enjoyed a Saturday at home with Rachel and the kids. He knew without her telling him so, that it was getting redundant, with him working so many hours through the week and then come the weekend, still having to pull another full shift or two.

  Backing out of the driveway, he pulled his phone from the side pocket of his carpenter shorts and dialed his brother. Some would call it desperation, he called it determination. “Hey, bro,” he said as soon as he heard Conner on the other end of the line. “Whatcha got goin’ on today?”

  Trying to make friendly conversation had become tedious where their bond was concerned. Left aside due to his move, Adam didn’t quite know how to start a conversation with him. It sucked because they had once been close. Not terribly close, but close enough to have a decent conversation without the awkwardness.

  “Not a lot. I got the day off so I’m getting ready to take off and hit some trails.”

  Glancing at the clock on the stereo, he realized that it was before seven there in Colorado. Another thing that had changed since Conner had moved. The kid hadn’t enjoyed mornings, and had spent his days playing video games until he was forced to shut them off. He hadn’t thought his brother had it in him to pursue any kind of fitness, let alone running along the mountain trails.

  “Wish I could say the same,” he said, grumbling over the fact he couldn’t. “Except for the trails part. It’s been a while since I’ve run outdoors.”

  It was kind of upsetting to admit that he was somewhat out of shape. As a firefighter, the last thing you wanted to be was out of shape. There’d come a time that it would kick him the ass. The thought actually scared the shit out of him. Not that he was too out of shape to handle his job, but he had to admit it wouldn’t hurt to get back into running.

  “I’ll have to whip you back in shape if I come back, old man.”

  “Hey, about that, I’ve heard from quite a few people that you’re thinking about coming back,” he said, trying to keep his tone cal
m. “When were you gonna let me know about it?”

  Awkward silence hung between them, and he knew his brother hadn’t wanted him to find out. Hesitation could be heard in Conner’s voice when he said, “I’m not sure I’m coming back.”

  “Come on, man, you can’t be serious right now.”

  So much for keeping his anger under control. His cheeks flared red with heat as he thought about his brother keeping him out of the loop. “What is it?”

  “What is what?”

  “What’s keeping you from coming back home?”

  Failing miserably at keeping his anger to a minimum and his tone calm, Adam blew out a ragged breath before saying, “I didn’t call to hear excuses, bro. I called to ask, because we need help here. We’re down a few guys and I’m struggling to keep the shifts full.”

  As desperate as it sounded, he couldn’t care less. They had to break up this bullshit between them. Whatever pissing match had happened was well over and gone by now. There was no pissing match where he was concerned, and he wasn’t going to let his brother believe there was. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if there ever really had been one.

  “So, you’re in charge now?”

  Grunting, Adam gripped the steering wheel until his hands turned pale. In his eyes, it didn’t matter who was in charge of the station. All that mattered was the community being protected. The medics did their job, the deputies did theirs, and the fire department was barely staying afloat.

  “Tell me why that matters?”

  Pulling the truck into an empty spot near the station, he slammed into park. This wasn’t how he had wanted the conversation to go. He wasn’t sure how smooth he had originally thought it would have gone, but he had definitely thought it would have gone a helluva lot smoother than this.

  “It doesn’t.”

  Brushing a stressed hand through his hair as he looked in the rearview mirror, he could see the wear and tear from the job. His hair was thinning, his eyes were tired, and his body was exhausted. Pulling regular shifts upon double shifts was getting to him. He would do whatever it took to get men on board at Cedar Valley Fire Department.

  “Look, man, I didn’t call to cause an uproar,” he said, damned near betting that his brother was blowing him off. “I just heard that you were talking about moving back home and thought I’d talk to you about it.”

  He wasn’t going to waste any more time on this conversation. It was pointless and nothing was going to change his brother’s mind. Regardless if he was really coming back home or not, he wasn’t going to tell Adam. That was fine with him. It was whatever.

  “I guess I’ll just talk to you later, then.”

  Without waiting for his brother to confirm the conversation was done, he hit the end key and tossed his phone onto the dash of his pickup. Slamming his hand against the steering wheel, he cursed all things unworthy.

  He couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t lose his shit, but if things didn’t change at the station, he promised himself he would walk away, no matter how bad the department needed him to stay.

  14

  Shortly after dropping Ava off at daycare, she called the school to let them know she wouldn’t be there today. She had given them two weeks’ notice the day after she had told Granny Mae that she would take the job, and had only a few days left. Baking was her passion, and what was the saying? Find a job you love and you’ll never work another day in your life?

  She was looking forward to living up to that. Being able to spend more time in the mornings with Ava, practicing her ABCs and one, two, threes, meant the world to her. She couldn’t help but think of all the valuable time she had long since missed when she had begun her mornings at seven and ended her days after four.

  The bell above the door chimed as she walked in. The first person she noticed was Leah, who was more pregnant than the last time she had seen her, a couple of weeks ago. They hadn’t been able to spend much time together, with Tyler’s practice and Adam working crazy hours; she wanted to spend as much of her time at home as she could.

  “I was hoping you would be here today,” Leah said, waddling her way toward Rachel, carrying a paper in her hand. “Rosie mentioned that you’ll be working here now?”

  Taking the paper from Leah, she looked it over. Of course it was her list of what she wanted for her baby shower. A baby bump cake, with a pink polka dot dress and a black bow. A special note in parenthesis stated that the boobs had to be ginormous because hers were. Rachel chuckled at the thought of making this cake for Leah.

  “I know, it’s a lot of work to hammer you with,” Leah said, pointing at the list.

  “And don’t forget it’s still a few months away,” Rachel added. Making note that Leah also wanted frosted cookies, shaped according to baby related things. Another note in parenthesis stating that Rachel would know what to do.

  “Yeah, I know, but I’m really hoping these last few months fly by,” she said, rubbing a hand around her swollen belly. Her baby bump had grown—nearly doubled—since the last time Rachel had seen her. She tried not to laugh, because she knew how miserable pregnancy could be when you’re swollen and feel fat, along with being miserable from heartburn.

  “She’ll be here before you know it,” she said, rubbing a hand against Leah’s belly. She bent over and whispered, “Isn’t that right, little miss?”

  “Oh, boy, please don’t let Liam here you say that,” Leah said, a moan escaped her lips as she mumbled something under her breath. “He swears that our baby’s a boy.”

  “Well, he’s going to be disappointed when he finds out you’re having a girl,” she said, giving an extra rub to the baby bump.

  Leah laughed when Rosie walked in from the back with a stern look on her face. “Lord knows we don’t need another Spencer boy. We need us a sweet little miss who will love to cook with Grammy.”

  Taking a seat at the counter, Rachel pulled a chair closest to her out for Leah to climb onto. Reaching for the tip jar near the register, she said, “We’ll just have to take some bets on what this little one will be.”

  Rosie pulled the jar out of reach, tucking it behind the register out of Rachel’s view. “No, there’ll be no betting on the gender of a baby. Lord knows we’ll be happy with whatever gender the babe will be.”

  Rachel shrugged. “As long as it’s healthy and loves her aunt Rach, that’s all that matters.”

  Amid laughter at her insinuation that it was a her, Leah grabbed a pen and wrote down the date that she would find out. That way, Rachel could be there to throw a mini celebration if it in fact was a girl.

  “So, enough about me and this baby,” Leah said, twisting toward Rachel in the chair. “How are things going for you?”

  She didn’t like to brag, but she had a lot of things that were going great. She couldn’t be more thankful for the way things were. “Better, now that Granny Mae offered me a job here.”

  “You know those kiddos are going to miss you,” Leah said, shaking a finger in her direction. She was pretty sure they would, too, but they could see her any time around town. “But you’ll have it made here. Granny Mae is the sweetest old lady ever.”

  “I heard that,” Granny Mae’s voice hollered from the kitchen.

  Leah cupped a hand around her mouth and whispered, “She has really good hearing for an old lady too.”

  Laughing, Rachel folded the paper Leah had given her in half and tucked it under her keys.

  “I heard that, too.”

  Granny Mae shuffled out of the back with a tray full of food. Rachel glanced around. The place was empty. Not a single person was here for breakfast. “What are you going to do with all that food?”

  Placing the tray in the center of them, Granny Mae huffed. Handing out a plateful each, Rachel politely refused. “Don’t be silly. I didn’t cook all of this for nothing. Besides, it’s good food if I say so myself.”

  Knowing that she couldn’t turn it down, she grabbed the plate and stuck a fork into the sausage, sliding it through maple syr
up before it landed in her mouth. She loved Granny Mae’s pancakes, and the thought of Tyler’s plan came to mind.

  “You know that Tyler wants to work here with me when he’s old enough?”

  “You don’t say?” Rosie asked, smiling with a wink. “I knew that boy liked to bake since the day he bragged about baking with you.”

  “He says that we’re going to make the best pancakes in town,” Rachel informed them. Laughing at Granny Mae’s reaction. Of course, no one would be able to top Granny Mae’s Café with their pancakes. “He and Adam debate about it almost every time the word pancake is mentioned. Poor Ava had no idea what she started the other morning, requesting pancakes for breakfast.”

  “Well, heck, might as well let the boy dream,” Granny Mae offered a devious grin before filling her mouth with a forkful of scrambled eggs.

  The breakfast tasted delicious, especially since Rachel had forgotten to grab a bite to eat before leaving the house this morning. Making sure the kids had their breakfast, and Tyler had his cold lunch packed, she hadn’t worried about herself. Another privilege of motherhood she was getting used to.

  “So, have you thought about what you’ll bake for the café?” Rosie asked while Granny Mae busied herself clearing plates from the counter. “We love homemade pies and cookies, don’t we Mae?”

  “Yes, we do!” Granny Mae was shuffling around behind the swinging doors, busied with dishes and scrubbing skillets, but Leah was right, the woman wouldn’t miss a beat with her hearing. “Say, Rachel, how about making some of those whatchamacallits...” her face twisted in confusion as she racked her brain trying to think of what she was referring to. Giving up a short minute later, she waved an annoyed hand and went back to work behind the scenes.