Sarasota Steam

by Sarasota Steam (lit)

  Callie crossed her arms over her chest and looked down to avoid Bessie’s gaze before the girl turned back to Goyo. “Who?” Bessie asked.

  “Callie. Charlie’s twin sister. Oh, didn’t you know? She rode the train from Jacksonville into Arcadia and came over the day after the storm. “

  “No, I didn’t know Charlie had a sister. I’m sure Leda and I would love to meet her. I hope Callie’s not as rude as Charlie here.”

  “Ruder,” Callie growled without looking up. She suspected Leda would be getting an earful about this as soon as Bessie could track her down to tell her. She knew from what Jasper told her that Leda was sweet on him, had set her sights on him.

  That could cause trouble for all of them.

  “Charlie, you settle down,” Goyo warned, but Callie didn’t miss the playful tone in his voice. “I’m sorry to break it to you, Bessie, but Jasper’s really sweet on Callie. Oh, he doesn’t admit it in so many words, but a man can tell when his best friend pines for a woman.”

  As Callie listened she wished it were true. Then again, that would mean choosing between the men, something she didn’t want to do. They were both handsome, and she’d love to have either in her bed, not that it would ever happen anywhere but in her dreams.

  They finally got away from Bessie and returned to the wagon. Callie remained silent as she climbed aboard before Goyo snapped the reins and the team moved on. They headed for the feed store. Callie felt conflicting emotions swirling in her.

  “Nice lie you told about ‘Callie’ and Jasper. Now we’ll have to go to the blasted social. How am I supposed to go to that?”

  “That dress you have will look right nice with your new bonnet.”

  She stewed. At least she still had shoes, too, the one pair beside her work boots.

  As they approached the feed store she asked, “Why’d you have to tell her that lie? Couldn’t you have said we just weren’t going? Now Jasper’s going to have to pretend he’s courting me.”

  Goyo didn’t look at her. The brim of his hat shaded his eyes, casting his face into shadow. “No lie. It’s the truth.”

  “What is?”

  “That he’s sweet on you.” He finally turned to look at her. She couldn’t read his normally open expression.

  “What?”

  He nodded. “He is.”

  “But...” She licked her lips to wet them. “What about you?”

  That’s when he smiled and pushed his hat back on his head. He leaned in. “Truth is,” he softly said, “I’m sweet on you, too.”

  That’s not what she’d meant, but she sat there, stunned, as he pulled the wagon up in front of the feed store, secured the reins, and walked inside.

  By the time he’d returned and she climbed down to help him load, she had a million questions she wanted to ask and knew she couldn’t until they were safely out of Sarasota and on the road back to the ranch.

  He knew it, too. His playful smirk betrayed his amusement. Once they were safely out of town, she confronted him. “What did you mean back there?”

  He feigned wide-eyed innocence. “What?”

  “When you said what you said.”

  “What did I say?”

  He would make her say it. She gritted her teeth. “About Jasper and you. I thought you...how can you...I don’t understand.”

  He laughed long and hard. “Never had the talk about men and women with your momma? Where would you like me to start, sweetheart?”

  “No! I mean, yes, I did, but I thought that—” She took a deep breath and resisted the urge to shove him off the wagon. “You and Jasper.”

  He pushed his hat back. “Yes?”

  “I mean, you. And. Jasper.”

  “And?”

  She let out a frustrated scream. “How can you both be sweet on me?”

  “Why? Don’t you want us to be sweet on you?”

  “Yes! I mean, no. I mean—” She let out another scream and turned away from him.

  His laughter rolled over her. “Your face turns all red when you get upset. It’s very cute, sweetheart.”

  “You are an insufferable man!”

  “Yes, I am. Jasper tells me that at least once a week.”

  When she refused to speak again, he hooked an arm around her waist and dragged her across the seat to him. After glancing around to make sure no one was on the road behind them, he leaned in and kissed her.

  At first she froze, surprised by it. But then as his lips insisted on her giving over to him, her arms wrapped around his neck and she melted against his side as the horses continued their steady pace, ignoring their silly human drivers.

  When he finally lifted his lips from hers, his blue eyes scorched her soul. “That,” he hoarsely said, “is how I can be sweet on you. I can love him and still want you, too. So does he. We have absolutely no interest in those two girls when we’ve got a beautiful woman already living with us.”

  She spent the rest of the ride staring at him, her jaw gaped, while he focused on the road ahead of them and sang songs in both Spanish and English.

  * * * *

  Callie had thought to spend the trip asking Goyo more about his and Jasper’s pasts, but his revelation had shocked her into silence. When they returned to the house, they found Jasper hadn’t yet returned.

  When she tried to help unload the wagon, Goyo gently refused her assistance. “You go ahead and start dinner.” He handed her the package with the bonnet. “And put your new pretty away.”

  She smacked his shoulder as he laughed at her indignation. When she stormed across the yard she made sure to slam the front screen door hard behind her.

  Insufferable man!

  But a handsome one. Both of them.

  She left the bonnet on her bed and headed for the kitchen to check on the soup she’d left on the stove. After stirring up the fire, she prepared a batch of biscuits and had them in the oven when she heard Jasper return.

  She was tidying up the kitchen when she heard the front door open and close a few minutes later. Booted footsteps walked down the hallway and out the back door to stand in the kitchen doorway.

  She pretended not to hear.

  When Jasper cleared his throat a moment later, she almost jumped out of her skin before she turned. “Hi,” she said. “Did it go well?”

  He held his hat in his hands and looked...well, bashful, truth be told. “It’s all finalized. We’ll take it over at the first of the month.”

  “Oh, good.” She continued with her cleaning.

  He laid his hat on the small table they ate breakfast at and walked over to her. She had to stop moving when he caught her wrists and gently turned her to face him. When she wouldn’t look up, he tipped her chin so she stared into his brown eyes.

  “He told me,” he softly said.

  She swallowed hard.

  “The question is,” he continued, “are you sweet on us?”

  Her heart raced as sweat trickled down her back. She couldn’t find her voice, so she nodded. Why deny it? If they could be honest, so could she.

  A slow smile spread over his face. He leaned in and kissed her, different than Goyo’s hot and heavy embrace. Despite the scratchy stubble on his cheeks, this kiss felt tender and gentle, a request instead of a demand. A different kind of heat coiled inside her, spreading through her insides and sending fiery sparks of heat lightning through her soul. With a mind of their own, her hands clutched at his shirt, pulling him closer, holding him there. When she felt a hard bulge grow against her, she realized the effect she had on him was as powerful as the effect they had on her.

  Then he stepped back, leaving her swaying on her feet. “I promise I’ll take a bath and shave before the social,” he said with a teasing smile before he left the kitchen.

  She had to grab hold of the table because her knees had suddenly gone weak and wobbly. Once she could walk, she followed him out of the house and to the barn, where he stood talking with Goyo. The men turned to her expectantly, awaiting whatever she had to s
ay.

  Her mouth flapped open and shut a few times, no sounds coming out.

  Both men smiled as they surrounded her. Goyo stroked her cheek. “You’re not a kid like those other two,” he teased. “You know what we’re talking about when we say we’re sweet on you, don’t you?”

  She nodded. She’d die of shame rather than admit it, but there were a few times she’d pleasured herself in bed at night, especially when she heard the men making love across the hall.

  She felt a dangerous, sensual heat radiating from the men, more sultry than any Sarasota summer day. Jasper stood behind her as his arm encircled her waist. “You ever been with a man before?”

  She shook her head as she felt her face grow red.

  When his lips brushed the back of her neck, she closed her eyes and moaned as her knees went weak again.

  “Do you like that?” Goyo asked. Gone was his playful, teasing tone. His voice sounded full of unrestrained emotion, low and hoarse.

  She licked her lips and nodded even while more heat flared inside her.

  “Do you want him to stop?”

  She shook her head.

  Goyo stepped closer and she felt the heat from his breath against her lips. “Jasper and I’ve been talking. We need a woman around here full time to take care of us. You need two strong men to keep you safe. I think it’s time Jasper gets remarried.”

  Her eyes flew open. “What?”

  His blue eyes burned with the intensity of a flame. “No one will spread stories about you, shame your reputation if you’re married to Jaz.”

  She harshly laughed. “Living with two men won’t shame my reputation?”

  He gently held her chin. “We continue like we are. Me and Jaz are best friends. Charlie moved on, and Callie stayed behind. You’d be Jasper’s wife. No one’s gonna talk. They’ll talk less that way than they might now.”

  “But...” She looked back at Jasper. His brown eyes looked darker. “That’s not fair to Goyo.”

  Goyo caught her chin again and made her look at him. “Baby, if people knew the truth about me, they wouldn’t want me around them. A Seminole half-breed? They tolerate me because they think I’m half- Cuban. If I married you, they’d look down on you and me both. Even more if they ever found out the truth about me. I’m not stupid. I’m not an outcast right now, at least.” He smiled. “What’s more important, what we feel and know is true, or what everyone else thinks?”

  Somehow, this wasn’t sinking into her brain. She wasn’t sure she understood them. “I can’t choose between you. I...I love you both.”

  “We’re not asking you to choose,” Jasper rumbled against the back of her neck. Goodness, she couldn’t think with the delicious feel of his lips there! “We’re asking you to share our lives and our bed. Getting married to me will make sure we’re all left alone.”

  “On one condition.” She turned and put her arms around his neck.

  “What?”

  “I want you both to tell me everything about your pasts. How you met. About your family.”

  His face darkened. “I can’t talk about them,” he softly said.

  “You’re asking me to share your bed. I need to know I really have your hearts, so I know I’m not little more than some cheap whore and a convenient excuse.”

  Goyo grabbed her from behind and turned her to look at him. “You’re not a whore or an excuse. That’s not what this is about. We love you.” He almost looked shocked that the words had flown from his mouth.

  She turned back to Jasper. “Is that true?” she asked.

  He nodded. “We do.”

  “Then if you love me,” she carefully said, “you need to be able to trust me the way I trust you two. I need to hear it from you to know you mean what you say.”

  He pulled her into his arms again and kissed her. She could almost taste his pain, his guilt, his heartbreak lurking just beyond his passion. “Okay,” he hoarsely said when he broke their embrace. “But not today, please.”

  “Not today,” she agreed. “Soon.”

  He nodded. “Soon.” He kissed her again. “Will you marry me, Callie Johnson?”

  “Yes I will, Jasper Collins.”

  Goyo stepped behind her and turned her. “Will you still want me, too?”

  She kissed him. “Gregorio Valdes, I’ll always want you, too.”

  Chapter Six

  “I still don’t understand why we have to go to the social,” Callie groused at dinner.

  Goyo laughed. “Leda’s father is a powerful man. It pays to keep on his good side.”

  “She’ll be madder than a wet hen when she finds out about our impending nuptials,” Callie said. “Why throw it in her face and make her madder?”

  Jasper laughed. “No, William Palmer is a reasonable man. He knows his daughter is a spoiled brat, believe me. Besides,” he said as his face darkened, “I’m a widower. I can’t imagine any father wanting their young daughter to marry a widower almost twice her age.”

  She turned her attention to Goyo. “What about you? Bessie seemed pretty hot to go after you.”

  He shrugged. “Her daddy’s a deep-water Baptist. I’ll genuflect in front of him. No way he’ll let his daughter anywhere near a papist.” He laughed. “I can’t believe he’s letting her go to the church social with Leda. It’s an Episcopal church.”

  “The Methodist circuit rider’s in town this weekend,” Jasper said. “Everyone wants to hear him preach when he comes to town, even Reverend Avery. And Bessie’s father wants her married off as soon as possible. He lost a lot of money when his sawmill burned down last year. He’s got three other daughters younger than her to feed, and not a son among them. He’s willing to look the other way on a few issues if it means easing his burden a little—”

  “We have drifted off-topic,” Callie interrupted, glaring at the two men. “Why do we need to go to the social?”

  Jasper sat back in his chair and wiped his chin with his napkin. “We need to introduce Callie around anyway.” He grinned. “Charlie’s already got a bad reputation with the girls, apparently.”

  Callie’s face reddened. “You should have seen Bessie throwing herself at Goyo! It was disgraceful! That girl’s nothing but a shameless hussy!”

  The men laughed. Goyo reached over and caught her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I knew from your reaction you had feelings for us. No way you would be jealous like that if you didn’t.”

  Her face reddened even more. “Was it that obvious?”

  “To me, yes. Bessie was clueless, I’m sure. She’s a ninny anyway.”

  “Another reason we need to go,” Jasper continued, “is we need to talk to the pastor. I know the circuit rider will marry us without any questions. Reverend Avery can be a little too nosey sometimes.”

  “Won’t it hurt his feelings you didn’t ask him to do it?”

  “Nope. When we first moved to town and he paid us a visit, I told him I was Methodist. He’s an Episcopalian. He’ll understand. It’ll also explain why we want it done so quickly rather than waiting until the next time the circuit rider’s in town.” He looked at Goyo. “You really should go, too.”

  He turned to him, startled. “Why?”

  “Ha!” Callie crowed triumphantly.

  “Because you can dance with some of the girls, be polite, and it’ll help keep up appearances.”

  Callie looked at Jasper. “Wait, what? Him dance with other girls?”

  Goyo grinned. “Might be worth it just to see her get jealous. Her face looks so cute when it’s all red like that.”

  She threw her napkin at him. “No! I don’t want you dancing with any other girls but me!”

  “Well I don’t want to dance with any other girls but you, so we’re even.”

  In a huff she stood to clear the table. “I’m not happy about this. I don’t see why we have to go to the social just to talk to the preacher about getting married.”

  “Because the justice of the peace should be there, too. He can issue a m
arriage license right there. We can come home husband and wife. The circuit rider marries people all the time when he’s in town.”

  She froze, her hands trembling. “Really? You’re serious about this? You mean it?”

  “Really.” He stood and rounded the table. “And that’s about all the time Goyo and I will be able to stand looking at you without ripping your clothes off and taking you to bed. You make us wait any longer, we won’t be able to stay honorable.”

  She laughed. “I don’t think what we’ll have is exactly considered honorable by most.”

  “It don’t matter what they think. It only matters what we think. In both our minds, you’ll be our wife, not just mine, even if that’s all we can say to others.” He looked at Goyo. “You agree?”

  He nodded, his face solemn. “I agree, papi.” He pushed his chair back and patted his lap. “Come here.”

  She let him pull her down onto his lap, her arms slipping around his neck. He nuzzled her throat with his lips before speaking soft and low. “I promise to love you, honor you, protect you, cherish you. For better and for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

  She felt the prickle of tears in her eyes. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. You say your vows now.”

  “I promise to love, honor, and obey you, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

  He kissed her, sweetly and tenderly. “Now when you say it to Jaz in front of the preacher, you’ll remember saying it to me first. And you’ll know you mean it for both of us just like we mean it for you.” His hand rested on her thigh, slowly stroking it. “Maybe Sunday night we can finally get a sweet taste of what you hide from us under those clothes.”

  * * * *

  If it’d been up to Callie, she would have skipped the wedding and gone right to their wedding night. With their emotions out in the open, the men took great pains to tease her. It wasn’t uncommon for the men to grab her and kiss her during the course of the day, leaving her panting for breath and decidedly slick between her legs. No matter what, they wouldn’t let her coax them into doing more than that. She suspected she could have teased Goyo beyond the point of control and into bedding her sooner, but Jasper’s honor wouldn’t let them do that. He insisted they had to be rightfully married first.