She was moved when Tina arrived but not surprised when her friend began to cry. Her father’s illness was getting progressively worse and there would come a time in the near future when she’d be arranging his funeral.
When it came to blood family, both of them would be alone.
Holden drove her and the girls down to Beaver’s Bend in the Ouachita Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma. It was a stunning place and as she scattered her mother’s ashes from a peninsula that jutted out into the lake, she smiled.
“I can see why you remembered it so well, Mama. It’s real pretty here…peaceful.” She swallowed hard. “This is just a resting place for your ashes. I know your soul is already starting your next journey. Maybe we’ll meet again one day.”
Taking hugs from Holden and the girls, she said her final goodbye.
After eating lunch, they took the twins on the park train and guided horseback rides. Holden took a hundred photos of the four of them.
As she sat between the girls and smiled for the camera, she was humbled by the happiness and deep love apparent in their father’s expression. Twenty years in the future, Holden’s children would possess countless photo memories of their childhood.
She imagined that in the majority of them, they would be captured smiling.
It was strange that the day she scattered her mother’s ashes was the first day she admitted to herself how much in love she was with Holden Mayes, with his daughters, with his parents, and with the way he made her feel.
Just as the sun was starting to set, they carried the exhausted little girls to the truck. In the amount of time it took to buckle them in the backseat and close the doors, the girls were already crashed. Jo figured they’d sleep for most of the ride north to Skiatook.
There was an exact moment where she felt her mind move past “attraction,” “respect,” and “friendship” to consider other words like “husband” and “lover.”
The shift happened when Holden looked over at her from the driver’s seat as he started the engine. He sighed happily and lowered the music on the radio. His smile made his whole face light up.
“I know our reason for coming here was sad but this has been one of the best days of my life. Thank you, Jo.”
A long pause was necessary as her heart fully expanded to hold him and she caught her breath. Then she went up on her knees to lean over the console, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him until he moaned into her mouth.
As she broke the kiss, returned to her seat, and watched him drag a shaking hand through his hair, she grinned. “You’re welcome, Holden.”
* * * * *
Two months later…
Jo and Holden took things slow and settled into a routine without meaning to. Every morning, Jo let herself in through the kitchen door and made coffee for the adults with a half-caffeine blend and Ovaltine for the girls.
She’d start omelets or French toast or waffles and the smell would bring the three of them running. Abby and Andy, who previously despised eggs, would eat them as long as Jo cooked them. She gave them a balanced breakfast then helped get them ready for their day in pre-Kindergarten.
After they were certain everyone had everything, the twins would scramble into the back of their dad’s truck and giggle as he kissed her goodbye through her window.
Holden insisted on getting Jo a cell phone in case of emergency. All she knew how to do was make and accept calls but she found it very thoughtful of him.
During the week, he worked at his construction company until almost six then picked them up. Jo usually beat the three of them home and had dinner ready when they walked in the door. Fridays, he dropped them off to his parents and met Jo at the bar.
She’d requested and received an extension on her electrical finals due to the death of her mother. The constant studying helped keep her mind off jumping Holden.
When the school offered a practice test one Friday, she signed up to take it before her shift at The Dog Pound.
Holden called to ask about it and she grinned at the worry in his voice. “I’m confident. I missed the same ones I did when you and I went over the sixth chapter. I think I have them now and I feel real good about the actual final next week.”
“You are so fucking smart. I barely passed my electrician exam the first time I took it. I’m proud of you. When are you going to come work with me?”
Jo laughed since it was a daily conversation between them. She liked that he always talked about her working with him rather than for him. “I’m going to take a couple of weeks after I get my license to think about it.”
“You’re playing hard to get.” His admiration was clear. “I’ll pay you top scale, Jo. I already know you know your shit. I’ll give you whatever hours you want.”
There was no disguising the pleading in his voice and he happened to hit on the one perk she wanted. “I…want to work from when the girls go to school until four. I’ll pick them up for you.”
The other end of the line was quiet for a moment. “They adore you and would love having some girl time.” She listened to him inhale carefully. “I don’t want to take advantage. You already do so much for us.”
“I live rent-free in the prettiest apartment I’ve ever seen, hang out with my favorite people, and you pet me so nice. Yeah, lots of big sacrifices on my part.”
He laughed. “We get the best side of the deal, Jo. Take a couple of weeks after you’re done with school. You need a break and then we’ll talk. I’ll give you whatever you need to make it work. My benefit package is excellent.”
“Is that what men are calling it these days?”
“You are so funny, sweetheart.” She soaked up his laugh through the phone. “I know you’re about to start your shift. I just wanted to check that you weren’t on a ledge after your test. I should have known better so I’ll see you in a few hours. I miss you.”
“I miss you too, Holden. See you soon.” She hung up and got to work.
Chapter Eleven
The bar was slamming even for a Friday night and Jo raked in great tips. Several hours passed quickly.
Tina chuckled as she passed. “Your man’s here, Jo.” Glancing over, she grinned at him sitting at his usual table and he winked at her. “Y’all are real good for each other. You light right up when you see him.”
“Thanks. That means a lot, Tina.” Jo walked to Holden’s table. His eyes roamed over her body and she said with a cheeky smile, “My name’s Jo and I’ll be your server…what can I get you?”
“Cute. That’s quite the loaded question, Jo. I could give you a list but you’d be blushing bright red in under ten seconds.” She blushed anyway and he smiled. “You’re looking extremely hot this evening. You are rocking those shorts. I’m uncovering the pool in the morning. Please tell me you have a bathing suit.”
“I do. It isn’t skimpy though. I don’t do that.”
“Thank god. You pick what I’m eating while I imagine you in a bathing suit. Take a break and eat with me.”
She nodded and blew him a kiss as she headed to the kitchen. Halfway across the room, she felt him watching her and glanced over her shoulder. He brought his eyes up and smiled with an unapologetic shrug.
Ten minutes later, she brought him a steak salad with double steak and a longneck as a couple of guys came in and sat at his table.
“Jo, this is Darren Harris and Warren Miller. They go by Dare and War. Yes, the names are descriptive. This is Jo. Hopefully, she’ll be working with us soon.”
Dare held out his hand. “Holden is finally putting in the bar we’ve been asking for?”
War shook her hand next. “She will sure pretty up the place.”
“Yeah.” Holden winked at Jo. “Except she’s a master welder and carpenter, takes her electrician exams next week, and works circles around any man I’ve got…you two included. Don’t underestimate her.”
War whistled. “Well, shit, honey…I apologize.”
“Apology accepted…and I’m not your
honey, honey.” She went to get them a bucket of longnecks as Holden laughed loudly behind her.
When she came back, Dare asked, “How old are you, Jo?”
“Just turned twenty-two. How old are you?”
His eyes wide, he answered, “Uh, thirty-six. So is War.” He pulled out a stool. “Why don’t you join us?”
Jo leaned against the table. “Since my man was already here, I planned on it. Why don’t you join us?”
It was the first time she’d claimed him as her man outside their very tight circle and she heard him give a low growl at her side. His hand slid across her low back and gripped her hip, pulling her closer.
“Let me tell Park I’m taking a break.” He leaned in and kissed her lips. “Be right back. Keep my spot warm.” All three men openly stared at her as she walked back to the table and she shook her head with a grin.
The moment she sat down, War put his face in his palm. “What the hell made you choose Holden? He’s boring and domesticated. Don’t you want to live it up a little at your age? I put forth Dare and myself as shining examples of fun incarnate.”
“I’ve experienced plenty of wildness by association, thanks.” Resting her palm on Holden’s thigh, she rubbed the muscle hard and felt him tense. “He isn’t domesticated. He happens to be mature and responsible. I’m sure his primitive alpha qualities are still firmly intact where it counts.”
“You mean you don’t know?” Dare frowned.
“Impertinent much?” she asked him with an arched brow and he had the good manners to look embarrassed. “It is absolutely none of your business but since Holden has kids and I’m careful by nature, we’re taking things slow. Is that alright with you two?”
They mumbled and nodded.
“I thought only teenagers jumped into the sack within hours of meeting one another. Aren’t y’all a little old for that kind of behavior?”
“Ouch.”
“Double ouch.”
Holden laughed and tugged her to him for a light kiss. “She’s feisty and brutally honest. I told you not to underestimate her.” He smiled as she snagged a piece of steak off his salad. “My family loves her. She’s perfect.”
“Hardly,” Jo snorted. The four of them chatted for a while and she noticed that Holden’s friends kept staring at Tina. “Before you start hunting, can you maybe talk to my friend for five minutes?”
War looked confused.
“Women seem to, I don’t know, enjoy learning a man’s name…maybe where he’s from before fucking him.” Hearing her use such language made both sets of eyes open wide. “I’m sorry, did I shock you?”
“A little…maybe.”
“For your information, Tina is twenty-six. She takes care of her elderly father who has lung cancer from working a factory job all his life. She dropped out of college when he got sick. She’s an artist and works here so she can paint while her father is sleeping. Isn’t that interesting?”
“Actually…yeah, Jo,” Dare said quietly. “Those…aren’t things we normally find out.”
War gave her a crooked smile. “We usually just make sure they’re over eighteen.”
Jo laughed. “Yeah, I kind of figured. Tina’s fun and pretty. Maybe she’d welcome a break from reality. She has a lot on her plate right now so if you’re planning to use her like a blow up doll, I’d like you to know who she is as a person.”
Both men stared at her for a long moment. “Thanks, Jo.”
She nodded and the discussion turned to the trial of her mother’s killer. Buddy French showed up at his ex-wife’s house drunk and covered in blood the night Donna died. He promised the woman his truck and five-hundred dollars a month if she let him hide out in their old house.
The woman agreed. Two weeks later, he changed his mind about giving her his truck and admitted he didn’t have any more money. They argued and he struck her several times – the reason they’d divorced in the first place.
Afterward, her response was to feed him, get him drunk, and have sex with him. The moment he passed out, she unburied the plastic bag of his bloody clothes – that she swore she’d burned – and called the police.
When asked why she kept the clothes, she shrugged. “It was my insurance when he went back on our deal. I got what I could and now the law can get him out of my hair.”
It worked. His trial for second-degree murder was due to start soon and his attorney was trying to plea him out. Trial or not, he was going away for a long time.
Jo gave her deposition a month after scattering her mother’s ashes. She answered every question asked about Donna’s long-term business arrangement with French. Holden took her home when they told her she was free to go and held her while she cried.
Dare and War told her they were sorry for her loss and she thanked them. A few minutes later, she got up and kissed Holden before heading back to work.
Jo took Tina aside a little later and told her the two men with Holden were doing a lot of staring. She laughed and shook her head, her red curls bouncing in her ponytail. “I’m an artsy bookworm…no one looks at me unless they think I’m related to them.”
“They’re cute and seem nice. Darren and Warren or Dare and War. They work with Holden so they can’t be all bad.” Putting her mouth against Tina’s ear, she added, “You work all the time…maybe a break would be good. Work all the kinks out and give you a fresh perspective.”
“Jo, I know you were a virgin before Holden and something tells me you still are. What the hell do you know about working out the kinks?” Tina couldn’t stop her grin.
She put her hand on her hip and replied saucily, “Not a damn thing but I plan to get it all figured out this weekend.”
Chapter Twelve
Tina whistled and gave her a fist bump as Jo shooed her in the direction of Holden and the other men. She kept them in longnecks and wings while Jo took care of Holden.
A couple of men two tables over started getting rowdy. Park had already told them to quiet down once before and Jo had avoided them like the plague.
She knew Holden saw the taller man watching her all night, talking about her to his friend. He gradually tensed and she hoped he’d let her handle the situation.
The one that was trouble said loudly, “Well how nice. We gotta fight for our pitchers and that table gets two girls waitin’ on ‘em. Blondie…who do I need to fuck to get that kind o’ service?”
Calmly but firmly, Jo told him, “Dale, mind your manners. Tina and I are keeping your pitchers coming just the same.”
“You gonna come sit on my lap, Tina? We’ll talk about the first thing pops up.” Dale and his friend were proud of his cleverness, laughing in a way that drew attention.
Though Tina was several years older, she blushed hot in embarrassment.
They were used to rowdy customers but most of the men who came in knew there was a line and didn’t cross it. After years of living with Donna, men like Dale didn’t faze Jo. She knew they were weak and cowardly, trying to make themselves seem bigger.
Turning on her way to the bar, she walked to the pair slowly and put her hands on top of their table as she saw Holden stand in her peripheral vision.
“Let me tell you something, Dale. You’re loud, ignorant, and rude. There isn’t a woman in this bar interested in anything you’re offerin’.”
Dale muttered with a grin, “Your mama didn’t have no trouble with what I had to offer.” Holden stepped around his table.
Jo’s voice went low and anyone who really knew her understood the danger. The man in front of her didn’t know her at all. “You certainly weren’t anything special, Dale.”
“’Cause your mama was a cheap whore whatn’t worth a damn thing.”
One second Jo stood calmly. The next she’d kicked the stool from under the big man and had his shoulders pinned to the floor with her knees, a busted longneck at his throat. The entire bar went still and quiet. Park cut the jukebox.
“You think you’re so much better than my mama, Dale? Yo
u got how many kids? Nine? You don’t take care of even one. The fuckin’ state takes care of them because you’re a no-class son-of-a-bitch. You used my mama…that don’t make you any better than her.”
She tossed the bottle and punched him in the jaw, then again, coming from her chest like an old Army neighbor showed her once. “Mama said she had to pretend your dick was bigger than a cocktail frank.” She leaned close. “She had to be an excellent actress from what I heard.”
Holden lifted her off Dale and said her name when she almost swung on him.
His friends pulled the other man to his feet but kept their hands around his arms. “You think to hit me, little girl? You think I won’t tan your damn hide?” He was spitting mad and his face swelled by the second.
War and Dare tightened their grip on him.
“Bring. It. On. I’ve been itchin’ to whoop your ass for years, Dale…or should I call you daddy?” She went to lunge and Holden caught her around the waist, his eyes wide as he absorbed her words. “You knocked her up and left her to figure it out at fifteen. You took advantage of her and ruined her fuckin’ life.”
She shrugged free of Holden’s grip.
“A man left my mama bleedin’ out on the floor but her blood is on your hands, too. You mark my words you goddamn piece of white trash, say one more thing to me and I will beat you until you can’t stand up. You didn’t get a fraction of the ass whoopin’ you got comin’ to you.”
Jo spit on the floor between his feet and brought her booted foot up to rack him in the nuts, watching as he crumbled. “May you reap what you have sown. I hope you get every single thing back you’ve put out there, motherfucker. Every single thing.”
Shaking Holden off again, she removed her apron and went to Park, gave him a big hug, and said quietly, “I quit.”
Then she walked out the door with Holden right behind her.
* * * * *
“Jo, don’t even think of getting behind the wheel of your truck in your current state.” She stomped to his instead and Holden reached for her hand. “Come here, honey.”
Gravity: A Country Romance Page 6