by Sam Crescent
“No, he’s not.” She continued to stroke Stitch, and Parker played with her hair as Shawn took a seat in one of the deck chairs.
The peace that came over him felt right.
Casey returned home.
“Are you ready to take me back?” Poppy asked.
Each of them hated when she asked that question.
“Let me get cleaned up first, and then I’ll take you back.”
None of them were happy with finding the mutilated cow. Sheriff Dawes was looking into it, but right now, no one knew who’d go to that length on an animal.
Parker would never be able to get the image out of his mind. He was a cattle rancher, but he was not cruel. He didn’t hurt any of the cows in his care.
“I’ll go and get my things,” Poppy said.
Stitch stayed on the floor, rolling over and staring up at Parker.
“She’ll come back, buddy. I promise.”
Shawn sighed. “It’s taking forever.”
He didn’t even pretend that he didn’t know what Shawn was talking about.
“At least I got her to enjoy spending time with Stitch. He’s going to be staying with her while we’re out at the ranch.”
Shawn nodded, taking a seat beside him. “She’ll come around, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. Casey’s having a hard time dealing with it.” At least he’d stopped snapping at their ranchers.
Parker loved working on the ranch, but he didn’t want to have to do twice the workload. All of his life he’d been busy, but that was how he liked it. He wasn’t the kind of guy to sit around all day doing nothing.
He liked to get busy, to keep his mind occupied.
Poppy waved goodbye for the evening, and Casey looked like he was being led to his death. If they didn’t do something soon, their brother was going to snap.
****
Casey glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Poppy looking at the view as he took her home. The thing about the Smith ranch was that it was set back in a beautiful part of the world. He’d never wanted to leave it, even as a young kid. The ranch had been part of him. Everything was there that he needed. Wide open spaces, the lake, work, a home, and a family. All that was missing was a family of his own.
He wanted Poppy to be part of that family. To see her swollen with his kid and smiling as he came home, and of course his brothers. The need to have her as theirs had gotten stronger as he saw her struggling with his mother’s death.
Cathy Williams had been a sweet woman. She’d raised her daughter to be as caring. Watching Poppy lose her mother, and to see Cathy wilting away, had been one of the single hardest things of his life. Not something he wanted to repeat anytime soon.
“It was great to see you with Parker’s dog,” he said.
He’d enjoyed watching her, and then when she asked if he was ready to take her home, it was like a kick to his gut.
“Stitch is so sweet. I was so scared of him. You should have seen me hiding in the kitchen window. He wasn’t even growling at me. I’m so silly at times.”
“Sometimes we can’t handle fear. Real fear.” He reached out, taking her hand, offering her comfort. The truth was, he just wanted to touch her, and if that meant taking her hand, he would.
She was driving him crazy. He’d never been an entirely patient person. He was the kind of guy to do it now rather than wait.
Poppy was testing his patience, and it wasn’t even her fault.
Silence filled the car once again.
“Are you still happy that you hired me?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m more than happy, Poppy. The guys are all complimenting your food, and I’ve got no problem with how our place looks. You’re amazing, as I knew you would be.”
He entered the trailer park, and with it, bringing their short journey to an end. This was the part of the ride he hated most, leaving without her.
“Thank you so much for bringing me home, Casey. I really do appreciate it.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I left a chocolate pie in the fridge. I know you guys love to have a midnight snack of some kind.”
“You’re fattening us up with all those treats.”
“You and I both know you’re going to love it.” She went to kiss his cheek again, but he couldn’t resist. Turning his head slightly, her lips grazed his.
Poppy froze, and he kept his gaze locked on her.
Yes, I’m a man.
Look at me like that, and baby, you’re going straight home.
“See you tomorrow,” she said.
Whatever had been going through her head had terrified her. He didn’t like it. Maybe it was time for him and his brothers to step up the seduction, to show her they were indeed men to be desired, and not to be looked on as friends.
Something had to give. His cock was rock-hard, and it was going to be another long night with blue balls. It didn’t matter how many times he took care of business in the shower. Each night he went to bed, craving her touch more than anything.
Sooner or later, something had to snap.
He hoped.
Chapter Four
A couple of days later Poppy looked in the mirror and groaned. Her nose was red, and it looked swollen to her, as did her eyes. In fact, her whole face did. Her stomach twisted, and she spun to the toilet, and threw up once again.
Grabbing some tissue, she wiped her mouth and tossed it into the pan before flushing the toilet. She felt rotten, and hadn’t gotten any sleep last night. Before leaving the Smith ranch, she’d had a headache, and her stomach was cramping. At first, she thought it might be that time of the month, but no, it was something worse.
By the time she got home to her trailer, she’d been able to wave Casey goodbye, and as soon as she got inside the comfort of her home, she’d gone to hell and back.
Standing back up, she washed her hands and dabbed at her face. She was sweating all over, and it wasn’t doing any good.
In a couple of minutes Casey would be here to take her to the ranch.
She moved toward the small sofa at the far end of the trailer and sat down. She wore a pair of sweatpants and a shirt that was so big it hung off one shoulder. There was no way she could work today.
Resting her head in her hands trying to stop the pounding, but when nothing happened, she felt the tears from the pain leaking out of her eyes.
She counted to ten and then to twenty.
Suddenly there was a pounding on her door, and she realized she’d fallen asleep.
Getting up, she made her way toward the door, and there was Casey.
“Hey,” she said, forcing a smile to her chapped lips.
“You look a fucking mess,” he said.
“It’s good to see you, too.” She pulled back and took a seat on her sofa. She was so tired, so exhausted, and standing was requiring too much effort.
“I’ve already had six ranch hands call in sick this morning.” Casey pressed a hand to her head and groaned.
“Did I give them food poisoning?” she asked.
“No. I phoned the doctor this morning, and there’s a rotten case of diarrhea and sickness going around town.”
“Oh, yay,” she said, feeling really tired.
“How long have you been feeling like this?” he asked. Once again, his hand was on her forehead, and she didn’t know whether to moan at the heat or push him away. She kept having hot and cold flashes. One moment she was really hot, the next so cold she was shivering.
“Erm, I didn’t feel well last night, and then I’ve not been able to sleep.” She yawned. “I think it best you go home. I’m not going to be much good there today. No one wants a sick person cooking food.”
For several minutes she sat in peaceful silence, but that soon disappeared as Casey picked her up. He did this as if she weighed absolutely nothing. He pushed his hands beneath her knees and supported her back.
“Let’s get you home,” he said.
There was no energy inside her to fight, so she rested her head
against his shoulder. “This is nice.” He chuckled, and she placed a hand on his chest. “You’re so hard. I always wondered if you were all muscle or if something else was making you up. I like how you feel, and it’s so good.”
“Open up the truck, princess,” he said.
She reached out and opened the handle. He placed her in the truck, being careful with her. She loved how he was behaving with her, like she was the most precious thing in the world to him. She could certainly get used to it.
Her head was pounding, and she drew her knees up, wrapping them around her body, and moaning as she did. “I’m so tired.”
“Go to sleep, baby. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll take care of everything for you.”
“Who’ll take care of you? I like taking care of all of you. It’s what I’m good at.”
Casey ran his fingers through her hair. She felt his touch, and whimpered a little. For so long she’d been craving his touch, and it was just so typical that she was getting it now.
“I don’t want to be like those other women,” she said, closing her eyes.
“What other women?”
“The ones that you screw and never look at again. I want to be special to all of you all of the time. I don’t want to be lonely. I want to love you all.”
With that, she fell asleep, letting the darkness claim her.
****
Casey pulled into the parking lot, and he waved Parker and Shawn over. They were just about to climb on their horses, but he wanted help to get her into her room.
“What is it?” Shawn asked.
“Our woman is ill.” He opened the passenger door and carried her out. She was still so tired that she rolled toward him, snuggling against his chest. Poppy wanted them; what she didn’t want was for them to treat her like others.
They all needed to show her that she was nothing like the other women.
“Is she okay?” Shawn asked.
“She’s been sick all night, and no one’s been there. This shit changes. I don’t give a fuck what she says. I want one of you to go and grab everything from her trailer, and to talk to Herbert. Let him know that Poppy’s not coming back to that trailer.”
“I’ll go,” Parker said. “He won’t try to boss me around. He will Shawn, as he was always there as a kid.”
“Go. I want everything. Take my truck. Completely strip the trailer of everything that’s hers.”
Parker was already climbing in his truck and heading out.
Shawn took the lead, opening the back door and then going upstairs to her door. She had a room, even though she didn’t live there … yet. They all hoped that she would live with them soon. Once inside, Casey didn’t go straight for the bed. He took her toward the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet, he nodded at Shawn to start running a bath.
“She’s not going to like that,” Shawn said.
“Right now, I don’t care what she thinks she wants. She’s soaking with sweat, and I want to get her cleaned up. There’s vomit on her shirt. She’s been ill all night while we were home sleeping peacefully. That pisses me off. She’s our responsibility, and we should be the ones to take care of her.” He was so damn angry right now.
He’d followed her lead, letting her keep the damn trailer because she wanted it. Not anymore. She could have died in the time she’d been away. Sickness could kill. What if she got dizzy and fell down, hitting her head? There would have been no way for him to be there to help her.
His heart pounded as he thought about finding her alone, passed out, with a pool of blood beneath her head.
No!
There was no way anything could happen to her.
“She’s going to be okay,” Shawn said, finishing the bath.
“Help me get her shirt off.” Right at that moment, he didn’t feel anything sexual toward her. All he wanted to do was get her naked, wash her, dress her in one of the shirts they’d gotten for her, and put her to bed.
When she woke, she’d be pissed, but like all the other times before, she’d get over it. She had to. He didn’t want her mad at him because he was choosing to take care of her. He loved her, damn it.
Once she was naked, he carried her over to the tub. With Shawn’s help, they bathed her, and she moaned a couple of times. Exhaustion had clearly gotten to her because she didn’t wake up.
Neither of them lingered on the task at hand. Instead, they washed her body, dealt with her hair, and then Shawn picked her up out of the tub while Casey got the towel.
Within minutes they had her wrapped up, her hair brushed quickly, and she was beneath the covers. He pressed a hand to her forehead, not liking how hot she felt.
Shawn stood back as he stared down at her.
“She wants us, you know?”
“She does?”
“Yep. She said as much as I carried her to the truck. What she doesn’t want is to be cast aside like our other women.”
“She never would be.”
Casey signed. “We know that, but she’s just thinking about the other women that have been in our lives, and we don’t exactly have the best track record for this right now.”
“Speak for yourself,” Shawn said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Casey stared at Shawn, confused.
“I’ve been in love with Poppy for most of my life. There hasn’t been another woman for me to be with. I’ve not wanted anyone else. It’s always been her.”
“You’re a virgin?”
“Yeah, I’m a virgin.” Shawn shrugged. “I’m not going to be ashamed about this.”
“I’m not trying to make you ashamed. I just didn’t think for a second that you were a virgin.” Casey ran fingers through his hair, shocked. He wasn’t a virgin. Ever since he was fifteen years old, he’d been having sex. In the past three years, though, he’d not been with anyone, not since he’d given Poppy that necklace, and knew he’d do whatever he could to protect her.
His love for her was absolute. He couldn’t allow anything to happen to her, or for anyone to hurt her. He loved her so damn much.
“I didn’t want to be with anyone else. Poppy always kept us as friends, and I refused to take it any further. Then with all the chaos with her mother, I didn’t want to hurt her. I don’t ever want to hurt her.”
Casey could understand that. Cathy was a strong woman, and seeing her succumb to cancer had been one of the hardest things Casey had ever seen.
“I’m not letting her go back to that trailer,” Casey said.
“Then I’ll make it clear to her how sick she has been, and how silly she’s being not living here. I’m going to go and sit with her.” Shawn didn’t wait for permission. He already entered Poppy’s room, and Casey made his way down to the ranch. He finished some chores that were needed close to home.
Poppy had spent one long weekend preparing meals ahead in case of an emergency, and he pulled out a frozen lasagna, several of them, along with some garlic bread. Checking the heating instructions that she’d left with each item, he got ready to cook.
The ranchers were all sorry for Poppy feeling sick, and sent her wishes of feeling better. Parker arrived as the last ranch hand left for the day. The truck didn’t have all that much stuff in it. In fact, by the time they moved it into the sitting room, he saw how little she owned.
Shawn had come down to help, and each of them stood in three separate points of the sitting room, staring at a few items of clothing, pots and pans, some cushions, and a few pictures.
Casey picked up the bag full of pictures, taking them to her room. While she was passed out, he placed them inside her new bedroom.
He was going to take care of her. They were all going to take care of her, and if she thought for a second she had a choice in the matter, he’d make sure she knew how mistaken she was.
****
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Poppy said a couple of days later.
Shawn sat in a chair beside her bed and stared at his best friend. “You’re still angry that we
got rid of your trailer and moved you here?”
“That was my home. I can’t stay here.”
“You’re staying here.”
“When did you get so bossy?” she asked.
“Right around the time that you got stupid thinking you can take care of yourself.” He glared at her. The last thing he wanted to do was fight with her, but she was being so incredibly stubborn about this. Casey and Parker had tried to reason with her, and in the end, they’d sent him in.
“I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for a long time, Shawn. I took care of my mother.”
“And you know what? You don’t need to keep doing it on your own. You’re not alone!”
She folded her arms and stared out of the window.
Shawn stood, paced the room, and then took a seat beside her. “What would have happened if you’d have fallen over? You were sick and you admitted you were dizzy. You can’t even remember Casey bringing you here, or us putting you to bed. We took care of you, and made sure you were safe. I don’t want to lose you, Poppy. What if you’d hit your head and were bleeding? Be angry if you want. You’re not going back home.”
“This is not your decision.”
“I know you’re not stupid.”
“Don’t call me stupid, Shawn. I mean it.”
“I did say I knew you weren’t stupid. Now you can live here, and everything will be fine.”
“People already think I’m sleeping with you and your brothers. Half of the women pretend to be pissed with you guys, but they all want you. If they can’t have all of you, then they want one of you.”
Shawn took her hand. “I don’t care what other people think. You shouldn’t either. They judge on the littlest thing.” He pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I’ll go and get you that breakfast.”
He moved toward the door about to leave when she spoke.
“Thank you, Shawn, for taking care of me. Please tell your brothers the same.”
“You can tell them yourself,” he said, smiling. Parker and Casey were eating burned toast when he entered the kitchen. “I can’t give Poppy that.”
“We got some perfectly toasted,” Parker said. “This is the stuff we burned. How is she?”
Shawn filled a glass with some juice. “She said thank you for taking care of her. She’s still pissed that we’ve gotten rid of her trailer, and I imagine she’ll have a few choice things to say about that.”