Or rather what she could possibly have with him.
For that possibly to progress though to a strong maybe and then beyond, she had to get through this day so she could get moving on to the hot night she had planned with him.
She’d just made it to the door when her phone rang, and she saw Frankie’s name on the screen. Millie juggled her purse to her shoulder so she could answer it.
“I’m sorry,” Millie said right off. “I’m running late, but I should be there in about five minutes.”
“No need. It was a false alarm. I’m not pregnant.” Frankie practically sang it, and judging from the other sounds that Millie heard, the woman was doing some jumping up and down.
Millie was jumping up and down with her in spirit, and some of the tension vising her head eased up. “Thank God,” Millie muttered.
“Yes, God, Mother Nature and anybody else who had a part in getting my butt out of this particular sling. I’ve never been so happy to be bloated and have cramps from hell.”
Millie could hear the happiness. Along with more jumping. She considered adding something about it being a good idea for Frankie to be more careful, but she had to believe Frankie had learned her lesson.
Well, maybe she had.
“Uh, you said Tanner and you still had sex every now and then,” Millie reminded her. “So, maybe it’d be a good idea to keep some condoms handy.”
“I do, and we use them. It’s just when my period was late, I thought maybe the condom had a leak or something. They’re only like 85 percent effective.”
That was a “squirm in the seat” kind of reminder, considering Millie was planning on using a condom with Joe. But a second reminder came of all those times Millie had tried to get pregnant and had failed. Still, she’d check the expiration date on the condom packets Joe had given her. No way would Joe want to deal with an unplanned pregnancy with her. Still, Millie let the fantasy of her having Joe’s child spin for a couple of seconds.
“Anyway, there’s no reason for you to come over,” Frankie continued, the sound of her voice yanking Millie out of her daydream. “But a thousand gallons of thanks for you being willing to sit with me through the test and talk me down from any possible ledges.”
“Anytime,” Millie assured her. And she meant it. She did want to be there for Frankie, and their new closeness was yet something else she could attribute to the research. Frankie and she had always gotten along, but Frankie’s worry about the research had brought them together in a good kind of way.
“Gotta go,” Frankie said. “I really need to take something for these cramps.”
Millie figured that was the first time she’d smiled over a woman suffering cramps, but she ended the call and checked the time. Instead of being late, she’d be too early if she went to the ranch now so she’d have time for an early lunch. Then, she could mull over her choice of underwear for her date with Joe.
Something she’d already mulled over for hours, including the entire time of her long bubble bath. It was probably ironic that she was putting this much thought into something that she sincerely hoped Joe would shuck right off her.
She set her purse on the kitchen island and was about to head upstairs to the bedroom when her doorbell rang. For a couple of heart-fluttering, body-flaming moments, she thought it was Joe, and that’s why she practically sprinted to answer it. Not Joe though.
Aunt Freida.
“I just came from church and decided to stop by so we could talk,” Freida greeted.
It wasn’t unusual for Freida to do that, especially since Royce’s death. But since the woman had been dodging her calls for days, Millie certainly hadn’t expected her to just show up.
“Are you here to finally tell me what’s going on with Mom?” Millie came out and asked.
Freida made a noncommittal sound, stepped in and walked past her, heading to the kitchen. “It’s too early for a glass of wine, but I think it’d be all right to have an Irish coffee.”
Millie sighed. If Freida needed booze to get through this, then it was going to be bad.
Sighing some more and silently cursing, too, Millie followed Freida into the kitchen and started assembling the doctored coffee. It wouldn’t take long since she could use the Keurig and then pour in some whiskey. A large amount of it. Freida wouldn’t mind if they skipped the whipped cream.
Her aunt stood and glanced around as if seeing it for the first time. “I thought you would have redecorated by now,” Freida muttered.
Millie glanced back at her and saw that Freida’s forehead had bunched up and that she’d gone a little pale. Oh, yeah. This was going to be bad.
“Actually, I’d rather move,” Millie threw out there even though it would only add more to the bad stuff that was no doubt about to be aired.
“The Daytons won’t like that,” Freida said, stating the obvious. She finally sat at the table in the breakfast nook and began to tug off her gloves.
“No, but it’s possible the scandal that’s about to hit will overshadow any complaints they have.”
Freida made a groaning, moaning sound. What she didn’t do was deny that a scandal was in the making.
She finished the coffee, set it on the table in front of Freida and then took the seat across from her. Just as her phone dinged with a text. Millie snagged it from the counter where she’d left it and saw that it was from Dara to let her know that it was okay for her to come over anytime. Millie didn’t answer and wouldn’t until she figured out how long it was going to take her to pull this info out of Freida.
“I need you to spill everything,” Millie insisted, sitting down again. “What do you know about Mom, an affair and blackmail?”
Freida had a not-so-prim sip of the coffee. It was more like a gulp. “What do you know about it?”
“Uh-uh. I asked first. Spill it,” Millie repeated.
Freida had another gulp, dragged in a long breath and then another before she spoke. “Marriage is a complex union with its ups and downs.”
Millie ducked down so that Freida could see her scowling face. “Spill it,” she three-peated.
Her aunt still paused long enough to grow chin hairs. “Laurie Jean did ask me for money, five thousand dollars, and I gave it to her.”
All right. That was a start. “Why did she need the money? Is someone actually blackmailing her?”
Freida nodded, gulped, breathed, gulped. At the rate she was drinking, she’d either get tipsy or need a second cup. Or a paper bag to stave off her hyperventilating. “Yes. This person apparently saw Laurie Jean in what he or she thought was a compromising situation.”
“Thought?” Millie questioned. “Or was it actually a compromising situation?”
“The second one,” Freida confirmed.
Even though Millie had already heard about that situation from Tanner, or rather a situation like it, Freida’s admission shouldn’t have made her sick to her stomach. But Millie had held out hope that her brother had been wrong.
“Laurie Jean doesn’t want any of this getting back to Asher,” Freida quickly added. “So, I want you to keep all of this to yourself while your mother resolves it.”
Millie hoped that was possible, but it seemed to her that these kinds of payouts could go on forever. “Who’s blackmailing her?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Freida repeated when Millie huffed. “Laurie Jean thinks it could be Joe McCann, his sister, your brother, Skylar Arnold or you. She’s even speculated that it could be Joe’s daughter.”
Millie rolled her eyes. “It could be the man Laurie Jean’s been seeing. Affairs are a complex union with their ups and downs,” she added, paraphrasing Freida.
That earned her some steely eye from eyes that were looking a little glazed. “True,” Freida admitted. Hesitantly admitted, “But I don’t know who he is. I don’t want to know,” the woma
n emphasized. “I just want all of this to go away so that all of you will be happy again.” She stopped, paused. “You look happy. A rosy glow. Does it have anything to do with you being with Joe at the drive-in?”
Millie was about 90 percent sure the question was a deflection, that Freida wanted to close the discussion about Laurie Jean, the affair and the blackmail. And apparently Freida wanted to accomplish that by bringing up a second possible affair. The one Millie was having with Joe.
Or rather the one that Freida thought Millie might be having with Joe.
Millie nearly asked how she’d known about Joe and the drive-in, but she could guess that someone had driven by and had seen their vehicles. The gossiper/gawker wouldn’t have been able to see in the car because of the fogged-up windshield, but it wouldn’t have been hard to guess what was going on—even if said gossiper/gawker had seen the stick figure drawings Joe and she had made.
“I’m not having sex with Joe,” Millie offered, and she hoped she wouldn’t be able to say that after tonight. “I was upset and went to the drive-in. Joe found me there and offered me some comfort.”
Her lips quivered on the last word. And crud, she smiled. But it was the truth in a roundabout sort of way. The orgasm had indeed given her some comfort, along with a massive amount of pleasure.
“The drive-in,” Freida said, the disapproval coating her voice.
Millie nodded. “I love it there. It’s one of my favorite places. That’s why I’ve been thinking of buying it and reopening it.” Actually, she hadn’t been thinking about it, but she would now. Joe and she had created some very fond memories there.
Freida stared at her, and Millie could practically feel the woman trying to use ESP on her. Millie gave her the same look, and after a standoff that lasted probably a full minute, Freida finally looked away and stood up. When she staggered a little, Millie got to her feet to take hold of her arm.
“I’m all right,” Freida insisted.
“No, you’re not. Come on. I’ll drive you home.”
“I walked to church today, and I’ll walk home. It’s only three blocks.”
Since it was only three blocks, Millie didn’t argue with her, especially since she was betting that Freida needed a little alone time to deal with her Irish coffee buzz and the worries that the woman she’d raised had screwed up her own life.
Millie walked with Freida to the front door and stood there until the woman was on the sidewalk and out of sight. Then, she texted Dara that she was on the way to the ranch. However, Millie held out, waiting a couple of minutes so she could drive past the route Freida would have taken. She caught a glimpse of Freida going inside her front door so with some relief, she made the drive to finish the research with Dara.
It wasn’t relief Millie felt when she pulled into the driveway at the ranch. It was lust. That’s because she immediately spotted Joe coming out of the barn. He was shirtless again and had obviously just hosed down. The water was sliding down his body and going into places that Millie planned to do some sliding of her own.
Like the waist of his jeans.
He didn’t exactly smile at her, but she hoped that’s because he was having the same dirty thoughts about her as she was about him. She went to him.
And kissed him.
While she was at it, Millie trailed her fingers over his water-trickled chest and gave herself the thrill of touching his bare skin. She also got the thrill of hearing his breath hitch a little and seeing the lust creep into his eyes.
Yes, he was having dirty thoughts about her.
However, those thoughts didn’t last. He glanced over her shoulder when the back door of the house opened, and Dara called out.
“I’m inside,” Dara said, “but take your time.”
Millie thought maybe the girl added a giggle to that, and she looked up at Joe to make sure he wasn’t embarrassed that his daughter had just witnessed him being kissed. He didn’t seem embarrassed, but there was definitely something on his face. Something that didn’t have diddly to do with wet kisses in front of his barn.
“We’ll talk tonight,” he murmured, brushing his lips almost absently over hers before he turned and headed back into the barn.
Crud. That talk was likely about rules, ones that would include them not doing any more kissing in front of Dara. Millie would definitely agree to that. Agree, too, to keeping anything about their relationship solely between them. Millie hated that Dara might be pulled into this before she was ready to see her father involved with another woman.
However, Millie immediately had to revisit that last theory when she reached the porch and Dara hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re with Dad.”
Millie started to correct her, to say that she wasn’t actually with Joe, but no way would Dara buy that since she’d obviously witnessed that kiss.
“Your dad and I will take things slow,” Millie settled for saying.
Of course, there was the possibility that slow would turn to a complete stop if Joe was having second thoughts about meeting her at the shop tonight.
“Slow is still a start,” Dara said with her usual glee. She caught on to Millie’s hand and led her out of the kitchen and into a family room. The first thing that caught Millie’s eye was an amazing wall mural of the Fairy Pond.
“Mom painted it,” Dara explained. “You should see the one of the painted mermaids on the ceiling in the bathroom. When I was a little kid, I hated baths so she painted it to give me something to look at. She put this one here so Dad would have something to look at when he worked.”
Following the direction of Dara’s head tip, Millie saw the desk. A cluttered one with stacks of papers and folders.
“The house is small,” Dara told her. “Only two bedrooms, so Dad doesn’t have an office. This is his space. Well, this and his man-shed, but I think that’s mainly where he goes when he doesn’t want me to see him sad.”
Millie could see Joe doing just that. Could see him sitting here, too, going through invoices, breeding spreadsheets and whatever else ranchers did.
“Somewhere in that desk are the plans for a bigger house,” Dara explained. “Dad wanted to build it by the pond and let Mom have this house as an art studio.” She paused. “He mentions the new house every now and then, but I guess there’s no hurry to get it built.”
Probably not since his wife had died.
“I know you didn’t want me to do the research report for you,” the girl continued, “but I thought you might have changed your mind since you’d looked so sad when I came by to see Mom’s paintings.”
There’d definitely been plenty of sadness, but Millie hadn’t wanted to put the burden of the report on Dara.
They stopped in the hall bath so Dara could show her the mermaid ceiling. Yes, that would definitely hold a fussy child’s attention during bath time. Ella was obviously a good mother to even consider something like that.
When they made it to Dara’s bedroom, Millie saw another painting. Of the drive-in, and despite the fact that she now knew Ella was the artist, it made her smile. Her smile faded though when Dara picked up a thick manila envelope from her desk and held it out for Millie. Judging from the thickness, she’d obviously added a lot more stories.
“If you don’t want to use what’s in here,” Dara continued, tipping her head to the envelope, “maybe you can just go through what I’ve written and pick and choose what to put into your report.”
On a sigh, Millie set her purse on the bed and took the envelope. It was heavy. In fact, it seemed to weigh a ton. “Thank you. I’m sure you’ve done a great job and I’ll read it soon.”
“You don’t have to hurry,” Dara assured her. “The report’s not due for another month.” She paused. “I just don’t want it to make you sad, and right now, you look sad.”
Millie immediately tried to adjust her expression. It was best to change the subje
ct, too, so she glanced around the room, and her attention landed on the mural. It was a pastoral scene of a wildflower meadow, a stream, trees and a beautiful mustang cropping at the grass.
“Your mother’s work,” Millie muttered. So much for changing the subject. They’d gone right back to Ella.
“Yeah. She did that for my tenth birthday.” Smiling, Dara studied it a moment before turning back to Millie. “I wish you could feel happy when you look at it.”
Millie studied it, as well. “I can certainly see the beauty in it. Remember, I was a fan of your mom’s work. Sounds kind of dramatic, but I felt as if it spoke to my soul.”
It still did. Maybe that made Ella and her kindred spirits. If Royce had sensed that about Ella, it might explain why he’d been attracted to her.
“Are you okay?” Dara asked, and she gave Millie’s arm a little squeeze.
“I am.” Millie shoved aside thoughts of kindred spirits, and cheating husbands, and put her attention back on Dara. Suddenly, she thought of something they could talk about that wouldn’t involve Ella. Something that had been bothering Millie for a couple of days now.
“I’m glad you brought Ian and your friends to the shop,” Millie said, breaking new conversational ground. “Have all of you been friends a long time?”
“Bella and I have. Jace is sort of a new friend since Bella likes him.” She paused, bit her lower lip. “And I sort of like Ian. Dad doesn’t,” she quickly added.
“No,” Millie agreed. “Fathers of teenage girls aren’t big on the teenage boys who show an interest in them. Or ones who might try to cop a feel.”
Dara blushed, winced and sat down on the bed. “You saw that, huh? I moved his hand.”
“I saw that, too.” Millie sat next to her and hoped like the devil that she wasn’t stepping over any lines here. Still, she couldn’t imagine Joe wanting to discuss this with his daughter. “Has Ian done that before?”
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