He couldn’t bring himself to put silk flowers there. Silk lasted longer, but he wasn’t trying to impress cemetery visitors. The flowers were for her and they should be alive, if only for a short time.
The breath-stealing pain of loss and loneliness he usually felt at visiting her grave had lessened somewhat and was now replaced by the low, dull ache of missing her. Her stone wavered in his vision as tears slicked his eyes, and he leaned his elbows on his knees and dropped his head so it hung between his shoulders.
He knew what she would do if she could see him now. She would plunk down in his lap, put her hands on his cheeks, and lift his face to look at her. Then she’d hash out whatever was bothering him. That was why they had been so perfect together. She’d known how to help him put his feelings into words when he sometimes didn’t. She had been easy to be around, and she’d made life feel less complicated.
After she’d died, there had been no reason to stay in Ruidoso. He’d left and joined the rodeo circuit for a few years with his brothers, riding bulls. He’d done what needed doing every day, rode with the best of them, but hadn’t really been alive. Boone and Kendall had been great, not pushing him to talk unless he wanted to. He’d gradually gotten to where he could wake up in the morning without wishing he’d died, too. It was no loss or hardship for him when the guys began talking about taking their winnings and heading down to Texas, to the old ranch his dad had left to them when he’d passed on a few years before. He’d known they would end up there eventually and it was better to go now rather than wait until they were crippled by injury or life on the road.
The move had been well-timed, even though rebuilding the ranch had been hard-ass work. The fruits were now becoming visible. The thought of having someone to share his life with there made it even more appealing to him. But this still hurt, too. Would the scales ever swing in the other direction, and he could look back and feel only happiness and gratitude for the time Michelle was in his life?
A breeze kicked up and roiled around him, and for a few seconds Richard felt as though he was wrapped up in her arms. Maybe it was only a memory producing the sensation, but he felt it like a comforting hug.
Letting her go three years ago had felt like razor blades shredding his soul. Today, those wounds felt covered over. There was scar tissue that would last a lifetime, but he’d healed and there was no question in his mind that he could move on now.
Serenity leaked into his chest and filled the place that had been painful for so long as he told Michelle all about Maya. Tears made dusty wet blots on the toes of his boots as he let it all out. He told Michelle he was in love again.
* * * *
Boone watched his brother as he made his way back to the truck, almost an hour later, minus the thick bouquet of white daisies he’d carried into the cemetery.
He sighed in relief at the absence of renewed devastation usually showing on Richard’s face after these visits. He seemed at peace, judging by the look on his face and the loose, relaxed way he walked. He’d hoped Richard would eventually get to this place where closure could occur and knew Maya was a big part of it. For a long time after Michelle’s death, Richard had seemed like he was one foot in her grave, wishing he could join her.
Richard stopped and looked out over the sprawling green lawns and seemed to take a long deep breath and let it out. He opened the truck door and climbed inside.
Wordlessly, Boone looked over at his brother and smiled then started the truck and headed for the exit. A thought occurred to him as he put some distance between the vehicle and the cemetery. After they were back on the state highway and pointed toward home he glanced at Richard. His brother sat quietly staring off into the distance, but the grief wasn’t etched into his features like the last time they’d made a stop to the cemetery.
“I know what you need right now.”
Richard turned to him and lifted his chin in a typical mute inquiry.
* * * *
Wednesday after lunch, Kendall and Maya sat at the kitchen table and talked about moving her to Divine permanently.
“I don’t think you should list the house with Frank Reeves, Maya, especially not after all the e-mails he sent you.”
Maya shook her head. “I have several friends who can handle selling the house for me. We don’t have to involve him at all. Morgan had left me detailed instructions of what to do if something ever happened to him.”
“Morgan was always good at seeing the big picture and planning ahead.”
Maya was relieved when the memory evoked no pain or melancholy, merely a welling of gratitude to her deceased husband. “There was a key to a safe-deposit box in last week’s letter.” Had it only been last week that she’d received the letter?
“Any idea what’s inside of it?”
“No idea. I didn’t even know he had one. We had a big safe at home.”
They decided to return to her house that Saturday morning and pack her essentials and hire a moving company to handle everything else. Maya wondered if her men would be shocked by what she called necessities.
* * * *
That evening, Maya smiled at Kendall as he pulled open the massive inlaid wood door and escorted her in gentlemanly fashion into the entry of O’Reilley’s Restaurant. The luscious aroma of grilled steaks and other cuisine assaulted her senses and made her mouth water. The interior of the waiting area was decorated in typical Texas Hill Country style, with dark red-tiled floors, and long wooden benches along two walls. Large mirrors hung on the walls, and windows looked out onto a walled terrace festooned with foxtail ferns and other greenery.
Kendall nodded at several others who waited in the entryway after giving his name to the hostess. Maya spotted several lingering looks directed Kendall’s way from women in the room, but he didn’t appear to notice. He smiled down at her and kissed her tenderly before greeting another rancher and his wife who’d just come in the door.
Within minutes the entry was filled with a number of couples and groups waiting for tables, and Maya recognized several of them from the assembly she’d encountered outside of Batson’s a few days before. One of the women who had stood staring into the window of Batson’s Grocery Store was with one of the groups. Maya didn’t have to wonder what she was thinking, because it was obvious in the superior, judgmental gaze she cast coolly in Maya’s direction.
She did a mental cringe as she realized she’d forgotten about the note tucked in her purse. It was still there. Not wanting to ruin their evening out, Maya resolved to give it to him later. She took a lesson from Kendall and ignored the others in the room and focused her attention on him and the conversation he was having with the older couple that had walked up.
“Warner!” the hostess called out.
Kendall placed his hand at her lower back and turned to say his good-byes to the couple as a woman behind her whispered loud enough for Maya to hear, “Which one?”
Maya turned to her, noting her self-righteous posture, and said simply, “All of them, of course.”
The woman gasped and sharply elbowed her companion, who giggled and murmured, “Lucky girl.” Maya winked at her and allowed Kendall to lead her forward from the waiting area into the dining room. He quirked an eyebrow at her in inquiry but she shook her head, determined to not let anything ruin their evening.
She was glad she’d brought a dressier outfit, otherwise she would’ve felt out of place. Sometimes she envied her men the simplicity of their clothing choices. The only difference for them between daytime wear and nighttime wear was a little bit of starch in the shirt, a crease in the blue jeans, and a different pair of boots.
Not that she’d minded dressing up for him. She’d felt sexy as she’d slipped into the ass-hugging black skirt with the slit up the side, and the silky, ultrafeminine top that went over it. High, black wedge heels and diamonds at her wrist, throat, and ears set the outfit off perfectly. Kendall’s eyes had been full of admiration when she’d come from the bedroom.
The hostess
seated them at their table in the main dining room, and a waitress immediately appeared to take their drink orders. Kendall stroked her hand on the tabletop as they shared a quiet moment looking at their menus.
Maya glanced up at a noise and looked directly into the eyes of a dark-haired woman two tables away. She was seated with her husband and toddler son. The husband followed the woman’s gaze and seemed embarrassed when he glanced back at his wife.
If this was where the rumor-mongering was going to start, Maya was ready for it. They could bring whatever they wanted her way and she wasn’t going to back down.
She maintained a level, unashamed gaze in the woman’s direction, which evidently served only to incense the woman. She rose from her chair, throwing her napkin down on her empty plate. Her husband laid a hand on her upper arm and directed her gently, but firmly, back into her seat. He murmured something to her as she took out her cell phone and began typing on the keyboard. The man sighed heavily and looked down at his plate as he continued his meal. The little boy babbled on as his mother silently fumed.
“What are you in the mood for, Maya?”
The words were innocently intended, she was sure, but when she turned her gaze on Kendall, he must’ve seen the heat in her eyes, because he chuckled and placed a hand on her thigh under the table.
She turned her full gaze on him and whispered, “I’d like my dessert first, please. À la mode.”
Kendall nearly choked on his beer as he took a sip. Whatever the good citizens of Divine had to say about her relationship with these wonderful men was of no interest to her when compared to the love and merriment in his eyes as he wiped his lips with his napkin.
He murmured, “Check, please. We’ll take ours to go.”
Maya laughed softly and caressed his hand resting on her thigh. They were in the middle of the dining room, and she didn’t give a rip who saw his hand there. It wasn’t like he had it under her skirt, and the slit didn’t go past the knee.
The waitress returned with an appetizer and cheerfully told them about the specials and took their orders. It struck Maya as odd the way people, most of them women, moved around the dining room, conversing with each other during their meals. Didn’t they know it was rude to interrupt someone when they were trying to eat?
Kendall noticed it, too. “Wonder what’s got them all stirred up?”
“Are they normally like this?”
“Well, it’s not unusual for friends to leave their tables and go greet someone, but they’re milling around like this was a cocktail party. Shit.”
Maya turned to Kendall as he caught sight of the same dark-haired woman making a beeline toward Maya. “Who is that woman? She was staring at me earlier like she wants to rip my hair out. What is with all these people?”
Maya felt other eyes upon her as the woman drew close.
“She’s a member of the ‘frozen chosen’ as Adam likes to call them. She’s been rude to the girls on a number of occasions.” Maya glanced at Kendall and he looked ready for anything, too. It was a shame it had to be like this.
Just as the woman closed in on Maya, drilling her with her dark eyes and looking ready to say something righteously indignant, her husband caught up to her and placed a firm hand around her upper arm and diverted her back to his side and whispered in her ear. He nodded at Kendall, and they continued on their way. Maya hadn’t moved in her seat and realized she’d been holding her breath for the first salvo fired directly at her.
“Thank goodness her husband has managed to gain some control of her. For a while there, the girls could count on that woman to have something nasty to say to any of them, even Rachel and Juliana, for being friends with Grace, Teresa, and Rosemary. She looked like she couldn’t wait to get her claws into you. Sorry, baby.”
Maya looked at him and smiled. “Who is she?”
“Her name is Elizabeth Owen. She leads a women’s Bible study here in town. She has quite a following. Her opinions about the girls are very vocal, and she has some friends who follow her example. I’m sorry, babydoll.”
“Why do you keep apologizing? You can’t control what she does.” She cast her eyes around the dining room at all the people staring. “Nor can you control their narrow-minded thoughts. I love you, and none of this,” she said, gesturing around the room, “can change that. I’m here and I’m staying.” She’d turned to the woman who’d made the rude comment in the entryway and emphasized the word “staying” as she held her gaze.
Kendall chuckled and squeezed her hand. “I think the Divine Moral Authority has met its match.”
The title of the blog came to her mind, and it gave her the creeps to think whoever had written the judgmental, narrow-minded blog was probably seated in this room right now.
“Maya, do you want to leave?”
“Not on your life, handsome.”
A shadow passed over their table, and both Maya and Kendall looked up into the faces of an elderly man and his wife. They were both white-haired and looked to be in their seventies.
“Son, you don’t know me, but I knew your father, Jack. We grew up together in these parts and used to run wild on Divine Creek every summer. I just wanted you to know we’re glad you’re back in the area and we hope the ranch is coming along. I also wanted to tell you that not everyone in Divine has a damn burr up their asses like some of these folks do in here tonight.”
He said the words with a dark, damning look in his eyes as he cast them around the room. Maya was amused to note many folks who had been milling around gossiping were now returning to their tables like puppies with their tails tucked between their legs.
The venerable man continued as his wife stood proudly by his side, holding his hand. “My name’s Sherwood Porter. Your dad knew me as Woody. It’s Justice of the Peace Porter nowadays. Forgive ’em, son, ma’am. Some people are like cattle. They tend to follow aimlessly without thinking where they might wind up.”
Casting another dark gaze around the now quiet room, Porter turned kindly eyes on Maya and quietly said, “Welcome to the neighborhood, ma’am. I reckon old Jack would’ve doted on you for a daughter-in-law. Y’all have a nice evenin’.”
“Thank you, judge,” Kendall said as he offered a handshake, which was returned.
So that was Justice of the Peace Porter.
The dining room returned to a more normal-sounding buzz, and the waitress delivered their food a few minutes later. Maya traded bites of her honey-glazed salmon for a taste of his perfectly seared beef tenderloin. The food was so good it almost made up for the rudeness of the restaurant patrons. Almost, but not quite. That didn’t mean she was staying away from there, or that she was going to be run out of town.
Kendall groaned quietly when she ate her dessert, which came with a scoop of ice cream, with obvious relish. The heat in his eyes promised he’d be enjoying his dessert just as much, as soon as they were alone.
Chapter Twenty-one
Richard denied the urge to floor the accelerator as the truck ate up the distance between Divine and Morehead. He was already going fast enough to get a ticket.
Boone had generously suggested that Richard drop him off at the Divine Creek Ranch and then head over to Discretion to surprise Maya. After a quick shower and shave that’s exactly what he did.
He was tensed and ready to jump out of the truck and run up the steps to the boutique as soon as he got there. He sat behind the wheel, taking several deep breaths. He hadn’t felt so anxious about a girl since he was a preteen about to ask his first girlfriend to a school dance.
He lifted the wrapped bouquet of red roses from the passenger seat and sniffed them, hoping she’d like them. She wasn’t expecting Boone and Richard home until late that evening, so this was going to be a surprise for her.
Sweet scents filled his nostrils as he quietly entered the boutique. The bell rang, and Teresa looked up from the large wooden counter by the door. A wide, surprised smile lit her face, but she remained silent as he put his index finger to h
is lips. She pointed to the far wall, at a row of tall book cases and mouthed silently, “Over there.”
Rachel stood behind a glass-topped counter rearranging…butt plugs and dildos.
Focus, dude.
Rachel looked up at him and grinned as she slid the door on the display case closed. “Hello, sir. Can I help you find something?”
Richard spotted Maya dusting and arranging a bookshelf. Their avid erotic romance reader was probably keeping her eyes open for more bedtime stories in the process.
“I think I’ve found just what I need.”
Maya turned abruptly at the sound of his voice. “Richard!”
He happily held his arms out and caught her as she flew at him. She enveloped him in a delicately scented hug. He pressed his lips to her silky head and held her close. She practically vibrated with happiness as she burrowed close, pressing her breasts against his upper abdomen. He had heaven in his arms. “Hi, honey.”
“I didn’t expect you back until tonight.” She looked up at him, her blue eyes sparkling joyfully. “I missed you so much.”
Not caring who watched, Richard lowered his lips to hers in a sweet, slow reunion kiss. By noticeable degrees she turned to putty in his hands as she melted into the kiss. He wanted more than anything else to get her alone and make love to her. Boone was at the ranch with Kendall and would be all day. If they left now they’d have the house to themselves for several hours.
“Can you get away?”
Maya turned and looked at Grace. She’d ridden into Morehead with her that morning.
Grace waved her hand in a shooing gesture. “I’ll be fine. Adam is in Morehead doing a job today. I’ll let him know, and he’ll probably show up when I leave and follow me home. Rachel and Teresa are carpooling it today, too. We’ll all get home just fine.”
“If you’re sure.”
“Positive. Go have fun.”
Rainier, Heather - Maya's Triple Dare [Divine Creek Ranch 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 20