by Addison Cole
Kaylie’s voice softened. “Of course. What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“No. Well, something did. Something big. But I can’t get into it now.” She’d never told Kaylie about what happened with Ryan, and she didn’t want to try to go over it now. She was too excited and nervous to waste another second thinking about the past. “Can you meet me at the mall?”
“You hate shopping.”
“No kidding. That’s why I need you. Please, Kaylie? I hate myself for sounding like a needy woman, but I am. So will you meet me before I change my mind?”
The situation with Ryan could not have been anticipated, and as Max had traveled home, she’d realized it couldn’t have gone any better. The pieces of her past were falling into place, clearing a path for her to understand what she had misconstrued years earlier. Although she felt horrible for what they’d both gone through, the fact that Ryan hadn’t been in control of his actions when he’d hurt her released her from the guilt she’d been harboring. She could no more take responsibility for causing his actions than she could for Treat wanting to change the way he ran his business in order to make their relationship work.
She’d spent years burdened with guilt she didn’t deserve and fearing the worst in the wrong people. Now she was dead set on making things right.
“Be there in thirty minutes,” Kaylie said.
“Meet me at Victoria’s Secret.”
“WHO ARE YOU and what have you done with Max?” Kaylie asked, peering around her.
“Shut up before I change my mind.” Max had purposely never stepped foot in a Victoria’s Secret store before. She’d stayed away from places that encouraged the idea of women being seen as playthings. But now, as she walked through the brightly lit, far-too-pink shop, with half-naked mannequins donning barely there, sexy lingerie, she saw it through the eyes of an undamaged woman. Or at least through the eyes of a woman who was coming out from under the cover of clouds, and she began to understand how sexy lingerie was about owning—and enjoying—her sexuality, not exploiting it or asking to be hurt.
If meeting Ryan was a big step, this was a giant hurdle, and she felt like she had springs on her feet. She was bound and determined to own Treat-worthy, seductive, take-me-all-the-way attire.
“Max, I’m scared,” Kaylie teased.
“I want a wardrobe that will turn Treat on. All of it, from my head to my toes.” She looked at Kaylie with a serious face and said, “Kaylie, make me hot.”
“Girlfriend, just saying that makes you hot.” Kaylie dragged her to the rear of the store, where she fingered through racks of lacy lingerie, holding up corsets and camisoles, lace bras and barely visible thongs. “What are we talking here, a few nights, a weekend? Seasonal?”
Max held up her credit card. “Whatever it takes. Whatever you would wear, I want to wear. Um, maybe. Be a little careful with that suggestion.” She laughed. “Then we’re going to buy clothes to go on top of the naughty bits.”
“Max, you’re talking about a lot of cash. Are you sure? Being sexy is expensive.”
Max rolled her eyes. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in all my life. Besides, I’ve had the same jeans and shirts for years, and a five-digit savings account that I’ll never spend. For Treat? Definitely worth it.”
“But you can buy a few nights’ worth and just use those over and over.”
“I want to be sexy all the time. I don’t mean that I’ll stop wearing jeans and T-shirts, but I want to know that what I have on underneath, seven days a week, is appropriate for making him lose his mind. I want to walk into my closet and find something that begs me to pull myself out of efficient Max and morph into seductress Max. I want options. And you know me well enough to realize that this is my one shot. I’m not suddenly going to turn into a woman who loves to shop. I’ll probably have whatever we buy today until I’m fifty. Besides, Treat has a major social calendar, and I want to make him proud with nice feminine dresses.”
“No, you want to make him horny. Because what you wear to elite social events will not show what we’re buying here.”
Max grinned. “I want to make him hot and bothered, and proud.”
That’s all Kaylie needed to hear to let loose. “We’ll have to go shopping another day for those social-event outfits. You can’t find the right dresses for black tie situations at the mall. Right now let’s focus on knocking his socks off tonight.”
Max tried on so many outfits that her head was spinning. She stood in front of the mirror in a pink lacy baby-doll nighty. “Wow.” She turned to the side. “Look at my butt. And look at these.” She grabbed her breasts and lifted them up. “They’re kinda hot, huh?”
“Scorching hot.” Kaylie pulled the elastic from Max’s hair, and her hair billowed around her shoulders. “You’re always gorgeous, Maxy, but now you’re too insanely delicious for him to turn away.”
“Oh, turning away hasn’t been an issue,” she said with a coy smile.
They left Victoria’s Secret with several large bags and sexy lingerie for every occasion. Kaylie took her hand and dragged her into Hot Allure, a trendy clothing store known for upscale and sexy clothing.
Kaylie and Max picked through the racks and carried enormous piles of clothes into the dressing room.
“You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do this,” Kaylie said. “This is like every girl’s makeover fantasy come true.”
“I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. I really appreciate your help. I would never pick out half these things. I’m still not sure they’ll fit.” She held up a red clingy dress that looked too small to fit over one leg, much less her whole body.
“It stretches. Trust me,” Kaylie said. “I have an eye for fashion and figures and, girlfriend, we’re going to feature your figure in fabulous fashions.”
“What are you, on a shopping high or something?” Max laughed.
An hour and a half later, they collapsed onto a bench in the center of the mall, surrounded by bags of dresses, slacks, sexy skinny jeans, heels, lingerie, and accessories.
“Your man is going to be so excited every night of the week!” Kaylie squealed.
“Uh-oh. Kaylie.”
“What? Oh no. You look like something awful happened. Did you spend more money than you meant to? I’ve done that. Should we return some of it? Not the baby-doll nighty. Every girl needs a baby-doll nighty.”
Max shook her head. “I have no idea where Treat is. I know he was at his father’s ranch, but what if he went out? I want to surprise him.”
Kaylie took out her cell phone and started texting.
“What are you doing?” Max asked.
“I have an idea. He’s Blake’s cousin, so I’ll text Danica. She’ll ask Blake, and he’ll know how to find out where he is.”
“Thank goodness for the sister network,” Max joked.
Kaylie’s phone vibrated, and she checked the message. “She said hold on a sec.”
Max sighed and threw her head back. “How can I be so together at work and so bad at surprises?”
Her phone buzzed again. “It’s part of being a woman. We can’t be perfect all the time.” She read the text and said, “Fate is on your side! He’s at his father’s ranch.”
Max jumped to her feet. “It really is fate.”
“Settle down, doe eyes. Now what?”
Max gathered as many bags as she could carry and started for the exit.
Kaylie scrambled to pick up the remaining bags and hurried after her. “Max!”
Max held up her bags and said, “Home. Shower. Sex it up. Get my man!”
Chapter Thirty-One
BY DINNERTIME TREAT was exhausted. His father was feeling infinitely better and practically needed to be tied to his chair to follow Ben’s order to rest. Every time Treat and his siblings turned around, their father was trying to get outside to the barn. Josh finally lured him back inside by offering to watch a rodeo with him. Now Treat was relaxing on the front porch as Rex parke
d the tractor in the barn. They’d worked from sunup to sundown, and they still had evening chores to take care of. He had to give Rex credit. He was still running on full steam while Treat was sucking down coffee just to get a second wind.
The screen door opened behind him. “You still alive out here?” Savannah sat beside him on the top step.
“Barely. I had forgotten how labor intensive it was to run the ranch. I don’t know how Rex does it.”
“He’s pretty tough. So are you, you know. Everyone is tough in their own way.”
“I guess,” Treat said. The spark in his sister’s hazel eyes had dulled. He’d assumed it was from his father’s health issues, but he remembered what his father had barked at him in the hospital. “Everything okay with you? What was Dad saying about Connor? Do I need to take care of him for you? Because I’m wondering if Rex might be a better person for that job.”
She linked her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder. “No one is better for that job than you. You’ve always been my protector.”
The weight of her against him made him miss Max even more. “Way to skirt the question, Vanny.”
She sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“Isn’t everything?” he said, thinking of Max.
“Yeah, I guess. Do you remember what Mom and Dad’s relationship was like before Mom got sick? I don’t remember much more than what you’ve told me.”
Treat had always tried to keep their mother’s memory alive for his siblings. “I remember some of it, but as a kid, you don’t focus on your parents’ relationship. You know what I mean? They’re Mom and Dad. That’s it. Mom was beautiful. She had this light about her that’s hard to describe. She was always happy, but I do remember how she used to yell at Dad when he’d try to toughen you up. I can still hear her.” He raised his voice an octave. “Hal, she’s a girl. G-I-R-L. She doesn’t need to know how to bang a nail. That’s what men are for.” He laughed at the memory.
“She did?” Savannah smiled. “I wish I could remember that.”
“She always treated you like you were precious. She’d want to put you in frilly pink dresses with ribbons in your hair, and Dad would say she was raising a sissy.”
Savannah scrunched her nose. “Pink dresses? I can’t even imagine. I loved growing up as a tomboy. I always thought Dad did such a good job with us.”
“He did. So did she. She loved us so much. Even when we were bad, she would give us heck for a minute or two and her eyes would turn fierce, like yours. And in the next minute she was laughing and joking like we were blessed angels who could do no wrong.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You know it was Mom who started the whole backyard grilling thing, don’t you?” He watched Rex ascend the hill, heading in their direction. His jeans stretched tight across his massive thighs, and his hat was still pulled down low. He looked every bit like the quintessential cowboy he was.
“I never knew why we did it,” Savannah said. “It’s all I’ve ever known.”
“It was Mom.”
Rex stepped onto the porch and sat beside Savannah. “What was Mom?”
“She was the one who started the barbecue tradition,” Savannah answered.
Rex took off his hat and ran his hand through his thick hair. He set his hat back on his head and wiped his face with his hand. “Remember that? She said we were only nourishing our bodies if we ate inside all the time and that we also had to nourish our souls.”
A warmth softened Rex’s hard exterior, and for a brief moment Treat saw the gentler little boy Rex had been before their mother became ill. Had he changed too? Was there a before- and after-Mom-was-sick Treat? If so, he had no recollection of that person.
“‘Because that’s what the sun, wind, snow, and rain are for,’” Treat added, quoting their mother.
“I wish I’d known her the way you guys did.” Savannah tried to mask her frown, but she fell short.
Treat put his arm around her.
“You’re just like her.” Rex pushed to his feet and headed for the door. “You doing night chores with me?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Treat answered.
“Why isn’t Max with you?” Savannah asked. “Dad said you haven’t brought her over at all.”
“Because I’m selfish,” Treat admitted. “I wanted every second I could have with her without the pressure of the family.” He picked up a rock and tossed it into the yard. “She had to take care of a few things out of town and Dad got sick, so…”
“She really likes you.” She scooted closer to him again. “I want that for you. I want you to be with someone who adores you. Someone who would go anywhere to be with you, like she did.”
“That makes two of us. I want that for you, too.” Remembering what Savannah had said about reading between the lines, he asked, “Do you want Connor to follow your bread crumbs?”
A breeze swept her long auburn hair away from her face, and for an instant she was the spitting image of their mother.
A shadow passed over her eyes, and she said, “I’m not sure. Most of the time I think I do. Sometimes, though, I’m not sure if I’m setting myself up to be hurt.”
“Please tell me you don’t mean physically hurt, because I’d hate to be known as the guy who killed Connor Dean.”
“He’s a butterfly, really. He’s not a fighter.”
“Well, you are a feisty thing. Is that the problem? That he’s not a fighter?”
“It’s just schedules and craziness.” Savannah put a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s analyze you instead.”
“Let’s not.” He’d done enough analyzing for a lifetime. All he wanted was for Max to call and say she was safely back at her apartment. If it weren’t for her, he might never have dealt with the guilt that had hung over him for too many years.
He stood and reached for her hand, helping her to her feet. “We’d better help get dinner on the table.”
They helped get the food ready, and Treat carried a jug of apple cider out to the table, stopping when he caught sight of his father and Rex walking down by the barn. Rex had a pinched look on his face. Their father put his hand on Rex’s shoulder. Treat could practically feel that secure weight on his own flesh. He knew the look his father was giving Rex, and he would bet the discussion had something to do with him.
He’d better go face it head-on.
Savannah touched his arm before he could take two steps. “Leave them,” she said.
“I’m sure it’s about what I said last night.”
“No, it’s not. Let them be.”
Treat narrowed his eyes at his sister. “How do you know?”
Savannah took the cider from his hands and set it on the table, ignoring his question.
“Savannah?”
“Leave it alone, Treat,” Hugh said as he approached from behind. He set plates and silverware on the table. “Rex seems tough, but he’s not as tough as you might think. He’s having a hard time with Dad’s health issues.”
Treat shot another glance at Rex, who was looking everywhere except at his father, while his father’s attention never wavered from Rex’s face.
“Why wouldn’t he tell me? We worked in the field together for hours and all he did was snap at me.”
Hugh shrugged.
“Would you tell you?” Josh asked. He brought the burgers to the table and motioned for everyone to sit down. “Think about it, Treat. He’s here every day, slaving to help keep the family business alive, and suddenly you sweep in and expect him to just accept it. Meanwhile, the one person he loves the most lands in the hospital. It’s a lot to deal with.”
I failed him again? “So, what? I should have asked his permission to come back to my own family’s ranch and help out? I thought it was what he wanted all these years.”
His three siblings exchanged a look that said perhaps that’s exactly what he should have done. “All right. I get it. I’ll talk to him.” He started for the barn.
“Treat!” Savan
nah hollered. “He’s hurting. Please don’t push him. You know Rex. When he’s ready, he’ll open up to you. He always does.”
When it came to his siblings, hurting them was the last thing he ever wanted to do. His father and Rex headed toward them, and Treat turned away. Was he doing more harm than good by being there?
A few minutes later Rex and Hal joined them at the table. Rex snagged a burger and bun, eyeing the rest of the food.
“Dad, you have a follow-up with Ben next week. I’ll take you,” Treat offered.
“I’ve got it covered,” Rex said gruffly.
“Rex’ll take me. Tell me what’s happening with that pretty little gal I met,” his father said, clearly trying to steer clear of the whole Rex situation.
He’d stirred the hornet’s nest with Rex, and now it was his turn to wait it out—just like Rex had for the past fifteen years.
“Not much to tell. She’s on her way back into town, and every minute she’s away feels like a frigging year.” He stabbed at the steak Savannah had dished onto his plate, anxious to see her.
“So take that lame behind of yours and go get her,” Rex said, and followed it up with a big bite of his burger. “What are you afraid of?”
“Nothing scares me, little brother. I’m here fighting the demons that have strangled me for years, which is more than I can say for you.” He knew he shouldn’t push Rex, especially with his entire family watching them, but he was agitated and sick of playing games.
Rex rose to his feet. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m here every single day, taking care of the family business, while you’re out doing whatever you please. At least I didn’t abandon Dad.”
Treat felt his father’s eyes on him. Their siblings watched without a hint of stress, and Treat realized that they must have known what was eating at Rex the whole time. His father slowly rose to his feet but made no move to come between them.
“I apologized for leaving last night. Remember? You walked out on me. And while you were building your life here, I built mine.” Treat pushed to his feet, too, meeting his brother’s angry glare.