Jenny and Violet went off together to the ladies' room to freshen their makeup before the late evening trolling of nightlife began.
"You look good, bro," Tyrell said. "Relaxed, not nearly as stressed as the last time I saw you. How do you like living out in the boonies?"
"We like it. Everything is going great. The renovations are ahead of schedule. It's weird; some parts of the house are incredible, and other parts need to be gutted."
"You haven't let Jenny in on the news yet," Tyrell asked.
"No," Josh admitted. "We are changing, both of us, I think for the better. We are closer as a couple and closer to our children. Emmie is talking again, not as much as before, but she is coming out of her shell. We turned back the clock and things are good. We are both back working on our art—Jenny with her textiles, me with real designing. I have even done a bit of painting. I know it sounds strange to you since you thrive on a high-stress career, but I don't think I'm cut out for it, anymore. I never want to go back to a cutthroat atmosphere. Mandelson and Blake was a decent company, but Pugh and Barkley was toxic."
"What about your new company?" Tyrell asked.
"It's coming along. I Skype with them almost daily. We still have to file a lot of paperwork. Bill Gabriel and Matt Johnson handle the business and marketing end while Brice Haroldson and I are the architects. Meanwhile, we are working together on plans for a side job of his, a huge house. He brought me in on it so we can get a feel as to how our styles mesh. I am able to create the designs at home and share them digitally."
"There will still be business trips and presentations, and you will have to spend a certain amount of your time at the company headquarters," Tyrell reminded him.
"True, I will work out the details along the way. I have added another million plus to my already deep coffers. I sold the properties in San Diego and Fort Walton Beach. They turned out to be rental properties, neither of which was making a profit. Jenny and I went to San Diego once on a business trip. It was picturesque but too crowded for us."
"You lived in Manhattan and loved it," Tyrell objected.
"I know, but it was a different time in our lives," Josh said, shaking his head. "We were fresh out of college with no responsibilities. Having kids changes everything. Parenting slices through your tunnel vision of wanting everything for yourself. Your focus has to be on family.
"We love where we live, now. It's only a two-hour drive to Montrose, a spectacularly beautiful drive. I could buy a house or condo in Montrose, if necessary. I want the new business to succeed, but I don't want to get back into those workaholic patterns and neither do my partners. If we can't handle the workload among the four of us, we will hire more people. We have all agreed to the fundamental principle."
"Yeah well, we all know those hundred-hour workweeks will kill ya," Tyrell grinned. "You can afford to have that attitude now. What about the chalet?"
"We are keeping it," Josh exclaimed. "Yeah, Jenny doesn't know about it yet, but we are keeping it. The place nets approximately a half a million a year in rentals alone. However, it is not under contract until March this year, so if you want to return this winter, just call and I'll make the arrangements.
"By next season, Jenny will know everything. We will decide then how much time we want to spend here during the winter months and coordinate with the rest of the family. It will still give us plenty of time for our personal use, and rent it out the rest of the time for some astronomical rent. I hope the rest of the family will visit with the bribe of skiing. By then, you can visit us in Durango too since the house will be finished. We already took Emmie with us to ski at the Durango Mountain Resort, although the locals still call it Purgatory. It is one of the most family-friendly resorts in the state. Oh, by the way, you will not be paying for all the meals while you are here."
"Yes, I am," said Tyrell firmly. "We are staying at no cost and you provided transportation, the least we can do is pay for meals."
"No," Josh argued.
"Yes," repeated Tyrell, grinning evilly. "Otherwise, little brother, I'll rat you out!"
"You can be a real bastard sometimes," Josh growled.
"So what, you're the idiot!"
"Boys," Violet said, coming to the table with Jenny. "Behave!"
Both men clamped their jaws shut, although they continued to grin at each other.
"So what are the plans for tomorrow?" Violet asked.
"Jen and I want to hit the slopes early. We are sticking to the intermediate slopes for this trip. We want to spend some time looking around town in the afternoon."
"We already went skiing at the Durango Mountain Resort several times," Jenny said. "We discovered we are out of practice and out of shape, so Intermediate will have to do for this trip. I could barely walk after our first day of skiing at Purgatory."
"Imagine living where a ski resort is only thirty miles away," Violet exclaimed with a wistful sigh. "Tyrell and I will hit the expert runs, so I guess we won't see you on the slopes. Why don't we meet at the Lodge for lunch around one o'clock?"
Once they decided on their plans for the next day, the two couples enjoyed strolling along the streets. Tyrell and Violet enjoyed a few drinks while Jenny and Josh enjoyed the dance floor in two retro lounges.
* * *
Kevin presented his layouts for Mila's kitchen in the housekeeper's quarters. He and Mila argued over them for several hours. He finally dragged out his laptop and made adjustments. The only thing he held the line on was the appliances. Josh had already ordered and paid for them, they were to be delivered at the end of the week. He told her to bite it when she wanted to change the style of the sink and dishwasher. He gave in on the taller cabinetry with alternating heights, even though it would be more work on his part to put in the finishing molding.
He mourned the loss of the existing cherry cabinets his father had built two decades before. They were clearly his father's artisanship. However, someone, likely the housekeeper, had painted them a hideous pink color inside and out, and put decals on the doors.
By the end of the evening, they had a design pleasing to both of them. His cousins were arriving the next morning to help with the demolition work.
Mila enjoyed her evening with Kevin. They argued over the plans, her ideas versus his ideas, but she actually had fun. She liked giving him a hard time, and he liked giving her ultimatums. He made her swear and sign a handwritten note she would never paint the new cabinets. Later, he told her he planned to strip and refinish the old cabinets and sell them in his showroom to offset some of the costs of the kitchen rehab. She invited him to dinner in the guesthouse. She noted how much he liked children as he sat with Adam in his lap a good portion of the evening. Meanwhile, Emmie used Buddy as a living pillow lying on the floor watching television.
* * *
Mila went to bed thinking about Kevin. When she rolled over and had trouble getting out of bed, she realized exactly how crazy that was. She was eight months pregnant with her deceased husband's child. She had no business even thinking about another man.
As she struggled out of bed and into the bathroom, she went to the mirror and traced her rounded belly with her hands. She no longer recognized the contours of her body. Her breasts were full and the child within her rotund. She protectively cupped a hand on each side of her protruding stomach.
Mila loved the child inside her. It still surprised her how much she wanted this child. When she first suspected her pregnancy, she had been angry. Actually, she had been beyond angry. She had been hurt, broken, and devastated. She had felt betrayed by her body. She had not wanted a baby, no way, it was not happening. She knew she had choices, but she couldn't face them. She went into denial, although it is hard to deny something steadily growing inside you.
Then she received word of John's death and she was surrounded by friends, military support groups, and counselors. They were doing their best to help her. She was torn between the truth and a lie. She opted for the lie.
Everyone thou
ght she was mourning the loss of her husband. In a way, it was true. She did grieve the man he had been. The man she had loved and married, and the man who died in a war zone long before they returned him to her in a casket. John had died twice for her. The vicious man, who returned to her from Iraq after fourteen months of duty, was someone she did not know or even like. She tried to reach him, pleaded with him to get counseling. He refused all her efforts. Then he systematically proceeded to kill their marriage with liquor, infidelity, and cruelty.
They had only lived together two months after his return when Mila discovered his infidelities and quit sleeping with him. By then, she could barely tolerate being around the man he had become. She leased a small efficiency apartment off base on a monthly basis.
The night before he left for his second tour, he eradicated what little regard and empathy she had left for him. He had come over and they had argued, as usual. When she wouldn't give him what he wanted, he took her captive and held her for hours. He forced himself on her repeatedly, claiming it was his 'right' as her husband. In the morning, he grabbed his duffle bag and walked out.
Non-consensual sex was rape even if you were married to the man. Mila went to John's Commanding Officer to file a complaint, but John was already out of his jurisdiction and in a war zone. The CO said he would look into the matter, but she walked out of his office knowing he would do nothing. She was John's wife, and he was overseas. The military protected its own. The complaint would be 'lost' or buried.
She had spent seven years in the military living with its male dominance and double standards. She could be tough when necessary, but it was a constant battle for acceptance as an equal, no matter what the law said. She lived with it, fought against it when needed, and had refused to allow it to hold her back. She had taken on two male-dominated fields, the military, and engineering.
In the end, she felt betrayed and hurt.
Everyone around her thought grief caused her anguish, but it was not. It was pure, unadulterated anger. She decided to leave the service. She decided to have the baby. She wanted to go somewhere where no one knew her, have the baby, and give it up for adoption. That had been the plan.
Everything changed in a millisecond when she felt the little flutter as the baby quickened. It was not John's baby. It was her baby living and growing inside her. This was her baby. Mila was a strong woman and had always been proud of her strength. Her child would be loved, and never know Mila's secrets.
Mila smiled at her reflection and tried to refocus her mind. She did this sometimes, floundering in a single block of time in the past. She would soon relegate the entire experience to the back of her mind forever. She had survived. Soon she would have a baby to love.
She had jumped at the chance to reunite with her sister and the consequent move to Colorado had been a good decision. Jenny, Josh, and their two adorable children were showing her what a happy family was like. They were the example she wanted to follow.
Kevin now challenged her as a woman. It was always there in his eyes, a little flirting, and a knowing glance. The attention confused her. She did not get it. She was a waddling watermelon. He simply could not be interested in her. He could not. She was having a baby. He was just one of those men who became overprotective around a pregnant woman. She slammed out of the bathroom and ignored the bed. Instead, she sat in a chair and tried to sleep.
* * *
Kevin slid into Mila's bed, but he could not get to sleep. The bedroom smelled of her with a bit of jasmine in the air. He did not know the name of the perfume, but one of his sisters wore it. It did not smell nearly as good on his sister as it did on Mila.
The bedroom was the only room in the little house that was a reflection of her. An ancient, beat-up bookcase overflowed with engineering texts, murder mysteries, and thick science-fiction tomes. The black-and-white prints on the walls featured photographs of bridges and buildings taken at angles challenging the mind to look and study the perspectives. He knew these were her things, brought with her from wherever she had lived before. The rest of the room was horrible from the overly flowered bedspread and curtains to the ugly lamps and shag rugs. She deserved better.
It did not take him long to figure out sleep would be elusive in her room. He grabbed the comforter from the bed, but at once put it back. It smelled of her, which was the very reason he could not sleep. He padded down the hall, grabbed his sleeping bag, and unrolled it on the couch. He did finally sleep, dreaming of a blonde woman, thinner than now. There was also a little boy with dark hair and brown eyes, and a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes very much like his own.
When Kevin dragged himself out of his sleeping bag the next morning, he was puzzled and perturbed. He hated it when he could only remember fragments of his dreams. He could not shake the image of two children, though. He mulled over his hazy memories until his first cup of high-test coffee brought him out of his sleep stupor, and even those fragments faded and disappeared.
Chapter 9
Jenny awakened to Josh nuzzling her ear. "Go away, I can't move!"
"You have to move," Josh said, but she heard the humor in his voice.
"Don't make fun of me!" Jenny moaned.
"I wasn't the one who decided to ski down Highline," he reminded her.
Jenny smacked at him with a pillow. "Why didn't you stop me?"
"I tried. You were adamant. It was too steep and too dangerous for you, and you knew it. You are damn lucky you went down in the snow, and not into tree or a rock," Josh said pulling off the covers and hoisting her to her feet.
"Ouch, that hurts!"
He bent down, lifted her over his shoulder, carried her into the bathroom, stood her on her feet, and flipped her flimsy tee shirt over her head. Then, he lifted her into the Jacuzzi tub so the swirling jets of hot water could soothe her aching muscles.
"Five minutes alone, and then I'm joining you," Josh warned. He came back a few minutes later with an ice bucket, glasses, and a bottle of orange juice.
"So romantic," Jenny murmured.
Josh smiled as he pulled off his clothes and joined her in the tub. "Not romantic, practical. Tyrell and Violet can have the hangovers; I think both of them will have one this morning." He sat down beside her. "Feeling better?"
"Yes, but the pain will resume as soon as I get out of the hot water," Jenny whined.
"More than muscle pains," Josh said while his hands stroked and massaged her thighs, and he worked his way down her legs. He worked on her arms, moved around, pulled her over so her back was to him and dug his fingers into her sore shoulders. Soon, he lifted her again, this time to bend her over the edge of the deep tub and smacked her bottom hard.
The wet slap stung and Jenny squealed, "Josh!"
"This is for not listening to me," Josh said firmly. "I told you not to do the Highline run, you ignored my warning. Now, you will pay for it in more ways than one."
His second spank was harder, and Jenny realized this was not foreplay, but discipline.
The evening before, they had all taken the lift to the top of the mountain at the Highline run. Josh and Jenny intended to look at the view, take the lift back down, and wait for Violet and Tyrell at the Lodge. Violet had teased them about not wanting to attempt the expert slopes. When Jenny countered she could do it, Josh had interjected with a firm, "No!" Something in Josh's voice challenged Jenny. When Violet kicked off, Jenny followed her. She was skiing down the steep run almost before realizing what she was doing. Instantly, she knew the advanced slope exceeded her skill level. Tyrell pushed off as soon as he saw she was having problems. He skied over to her and stayed beside her until Josh caught up with them. She and Josh then proceeded down at a much slower pace.
She knew Josh was upset the night before, but he had gone along with their plans for the evening as they had gone to dinner and tried out a few clubs. He had not acted angry, but then again, he wasn't one to rant and rave. He was a thinker and reviewed issues before taking action. He was not angry
now, but he intended to discipline her for not listening to him.
That she was warm, naked, and wet was not going to stop him. There was no preparing for it. He slapped his hand across her ass with whack after painful whack. He took turns swatting one butt cheek, then the other. The heat built up until her bottom burned, and then he applied more spanks to her tender sit spots.
She cried, as he calmly explained how she deserved every single smack. They had agreed the week before when they had gone to Purgatory for practice that they would not attempt expert runs until he felt confident she could handle them. Josh had taught her how to ski and took her safety seriously.
"I love you Jenny, but sometimes your common sense flies out the window!" Josh scolded sternly, laying several severe spanks to her already tender backside. "You will not take another irresponsible chance like this again while we are here! Is it understood?"
Jenny was crying because Josh followed nearly every word with another smack. She was almost dancing as she tried to squirm away from the pain. Oh! She wanted this to end! "Yes," she exclaimed, "Yes."
"Good!" Josh wrapped his arm around her middle and lifted her out of the Jacuzzi. He stepped out behind her, wrapped her in a towel, briskly rubbed her dry, carried her back to the bed, and tucked her in. "Get some rest. I am going to call over to the main lodge and see if I can get you in for an appointment for a professional massage."
When Josh went to the kitchen, Tyrell and Violet were already sitting in the glassed part of the breakfast room. They were enjoying coffee and the view of an overnight snowfall at the top of the mountain. He poured himself a mug and joined them.
"Is Jenny okay?" Violet asked. "I was teasing yesterday. I didn't mean for her to take the last run."
"Her muscles are sore, but she is okay," Josh shrugged. "She will miss out on skiing today. I am going to see if I can get her an appointment for a massage. We will probably spend time in the pool and Jacuzzi. She still has tomorrow for more skiing."
Broken Vows (Domestic Discipline Romance) Page 15