Then she rushed back to the men hoping to prevent any bloodshed. Her heart sank when she heard Will’s deadly voice provoking her ex as she pushed the door aside.
“Now, you son-of-a-bitch, how about you pick on someone more your size or are you too lily-livered to take a swing at a gimp?”
Rob’s eyes locked with Will’s then shifted down to his bum leg as if assessing his chances.
“Go for it,” Will egged Rob on. “Shall I tie an arm behind my back too?”
Rob lunged attempting to draw Will to his bad leg, but Will shifted and pivoted on his right, neatly avoiding the forward moving body that rushed by and slammed into the wall. He pivoted back, grabbed Rob by the collar of his shirt, spun him around, and swung an uppercut to the lip followed by two quick jabs to the middle before the man could raise his hands in defense.
“How’s it feel, asshole? Not as much fun when you’re on the receiving end, is it?” Will’s fist came up again but froze midair.
“Stop, Will. Please.” Amy grabbed his arm. “Don’t.”
Breath heaving, legs splayed, Will glanced down at her with a ferocious expression on his face. She dropped his arm and stepped back not sure of his reaction. She didn’t recognize this Will—eyes glazed with anger, jaw muscles clenched with grim determination. No wonder he’d earned a number of military medals. “Will, let him go, please,” she implored.
As if coming out of a trance, Will dropped his hands to his sides and as his eyes regained some sanity, he stepped back from both her and her bloody ex huddling on the floor.
“Rob, you all right?” she asked, not really giving a damn whether he was or not. Her main concern was the angry Marine behind her.
The man she had been married to wiped the back of his hand across his swollen lip and stood.
“I think you best leave now,” she said.
His eyes turned murderous.
Will stepped to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. “And the next time you want to see your son,” he said with no flexibility, “we’ll drop him off and pick him up. You’re not welcome here.”
Rob locked eyes with Will then turned and left the barn. A few minutes later she heard his car speeding back down the long rutted lane, the tires squealing once they hit the pavement.
She turned to Will wondering what to say but stopped in her tracks at the expression on his face. She began to backpedal as he moved towards her.
“I thought I told you to stay with Thomas.”
“I was worried.”
“And I said there was no reason to be.” Still high on adrenaline, he backed her into the corner. “I lost my foot, not my balls.”
Surprised at his vulgarity, she said, “I understand that, and there’s no reason to be crude.”
“Isn’t there?” He placed his arm over her head and braced it against the wall, effectively pinning her in the corner. “Twice you’ve questioned my manhood, and that’s one time too many. Now you pay the consequences.”
Backed literally into a corner, Amy had no room to maneuver when Will’s body pressed into hers and his hand slid down the wall to wrap around the nape of her neck tilting her head back. “In case you’re in any doubt that I’m still a man . . .” His mouth swooped down and ravished hers.
Amy froze in his arms then kissed him back, wrapping her arms around him. God, he felt good. There was never any doubt in her mind about his virility. Thomas’s cry pierced the haze that surrounded her as she realized she’d forgotten all about her son.
Will released her, and she took off at a run toward the sandbox where she left Thomas. Shep, the larger of the two pups, had managed to climb out of the box and her son was chasing it in circles trying to catch it. With a sigh of relief that Thomas and the dogs were safe, she ushered them with shaking knees into the house.
His mind full of the puppies, Thomas refused to settle down until she agreed to put them in a box beside his bed. She’d have done almost anything to get him to sleep, her mind so full of Will.
Once her son had nodded off she brought the sleeping puppies in their box back down to the kitchen where she could keep an eye on them while she prepared a simple meal for dinner, expecting Will to come up when he was ready. While the food simmered on the stove, she changed out of her work clothes, took a shower, and lightly spritzed herself with perfume in hopes she could convince Will to pick up where they left off.
When an hour had passed and still no Will, she began to get concerned. Was he all right? Had Rob hit him after all? She hadn’t seen any blood on him. She fixed a tray of food and carried it to the barn. After banging on the door for several minutes with no answer, she yanked it open and realized there was no light coming from the tack room. Was he asleep?
“Will,” she called before stepping over the threshold to his room and moving into the darkness toward the bed. She set the tray on the end of it and felt along the edge. No Will. Where was he? She went back outside and searched around, then followed the path to the pond. Still no, Will. She traced her steps back to the house and checked the porch then lit a lantern and returned to the barn.
She held up the light and glanced about the tack room. Something didn’t feel right to her. As she gazed about the small space, she realized that Will’s canvas bag no longer hung from the hook on the wall. Her heart sank like a stone in water. He left, and unless she missed her guess, he had no intention of coming back.
Chapter 23
March 2013
Today was Sunday morning, and Callie fully expected Michael to visit his grandparents that afternoon as was his usual habit. Since blackberry pie was his favorite dessert, Amy had insisted there should be one waiting for him upon his arrival. After making sure Will and Amy were all set, she made the fifteen-minute drive to Albion and ran into Walmart to purchase a few groceries, and of course a pint of blackberries.
Back at the house an hour and a half later, she was ensconced in flour up to her elbows and cursing herself for not buying a premade pie crust. Amy had insisted only a homemade one would do for her golden boy. Now, with Amy seated at the kitchen table giving instructions, Callie found herself not only preparing dessert, but evidently Michael’s favorite home-cooked meal. Cooking was not Callie’s forte, and she sincerely hoped the good doctor appreciated her efforts, or else he’d be wearing his pie home.
Noon arrived, and shortly thereafter, Amy and Will’s grandson. “Mmn, something smells good,” he said as he hugged his grandmother. “Did you make my favorite pie?”
Amy lit up with pride as she patted her grandson’s arm. “I supervised. Callie made it just the way you like it.”
With sparkling eyes and a raised brow, Michael threw Callie a teasing glance. “She cooks too? My, oh, my, she’ll make someone a perfect wife. She cooks, cleans, and answers the phone, what more could a man want?”
Amy beamed at him.
Callie wondered what Amy would say if she went over and kicked the man in the shins. “I imagine in your case beauty, wealth, and a dearth of brains.”
Michael screwed up his face as if giving her words serious thought. “Nah, I can do without the money.”
Callie turned and barely refrained from stomping off to the kitchen. “I need to check on dinner.”
Michael chuckled as she walked away.
Callie knew Amy’s grandson got a kick out of razzing her, and the old Callie would have relished reciprocating in kind, but for some reason she couldn’t seem to hit her stride with the man. There was no reason for her to get so riled, and perhaps if he hadn’t appeared quite as approachable today, she might have responded with a wittier repertoire instead of being caught up in lustful thoughts that scrambled her brain functioning, further pissing her off.
Instead of wearing his more formal attire, Michael had arrived in a pair of well-washed jeans and comfy-looking sw
eatshirt. His hair was slightly mussed as if the wind had danced with it. He appeared entirely too human, reminding her of the night he’d come to her bedroom and the unwanted feelings that visit had evoked in her. “Damn.” She slammed the casserole dish down onto the top of the stove and put her burnt finger to her mouth.
“Everything okay in there?” Amy called.
“I’m fine, burnt my finger is all.” She no sooner finished her statement when a hand on her back guided her to the sink.
“Here.” Michael flipped on the spigot then grasped her hand and stuck it under the cool running water.
“I’m fine, really.” She glanced up at the man now pressed slightly behind her with one hand on her shoulder, his other holding the injured finger under the water. She began to tremble. He smelt good enough to eat. “You do know I’m not one of your pediatric patients, don’t you?”
Michael let go of her hand, stepped back with a sheepish expression then shrugged. “Force of habit.”
Callie reached up and turned the faucet off and held out her finger for him to see. “No big deal, a minor boo-boo is all. Nothing to worry about, Doc.”
He grinned at her. “Since I’m here, can I help with anything?”
“No, I’m good. Dinner will be on shortly. Why don’t you go help Will and Amy to the dining room table?”
He nodded and left to do her bidding.
Dinner was a pleasant affair and when Amy told Michael that she and Will had been telling Callie about how they met, he suggested they pick up where they left off then he could hear the story himself. Michael helped Callie clear the table and then while she made coffee to go with their dessert, Amy and Will summarized for him what they’d already told her.
After she dished out the pie and poured everyone their coffee, she glanced at Amy and Will. “All right then, whose turn is it to go first? If I remember correctly, Will had just kicked your ex’s butt.”
“I believe it’s my turn.” Will’s face reddened as he continued the tale. “After the fight in the barn and Amy’s return to the house, I felt pretty ashamed of myself. So, I packed up my things, and while she was taking a shower, I broke one of her cardinal rules. I entered the house uninvited and called my buddy Travis. After which I high-tailed it down the road as fast as my gimp leg would allow me to . . .”
Chapter 24
April 1948
Will hoofed it down the road with his duffle bag slung over his shoulder. Thankfully, Amy had been in the shower when he entered the house to tell her he was leaving. He used the phone to call Travis then left with guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders. He knew he was being a coward slipping away without speaking with her, but he needed to get a better perspective on the situation before he did. Travis said he could bunk at his place for a few days, no problem. After that, he’d decide what he wanted to do.
God, he’d forgotten how alive a good battle could make him feel, not that he could really call the minor skirmish with Rob one. But, it had gotten his adrenaline flowing and for a few moments he felt like the old Will again. It was the aftermath that he was struggling with now—when he let the heightened emotion from the fight blind him into making a colossal mistake.
What had he been thinking? He hadn’t been, at least not with his logical head, and that was the problem. He’d been acting on pure adrenaline when he cornered Amy and attempted to ravish her. Thank God Thomas cried out when he did, bringing him back to his senses, or he’d have dropped his drawers to his hips and had her there against the wall. She’d never have seen his missing foot.
As a Marine he’d done his damnedest to protect women, children, and his buddies in the heat of war. He never used a woman to prove his manhood, and the thought that he had tonight left him feeling deeply ashamed.
Down the road headlights swung around the bend and came to a stop. Good, the cavalry’s arrived.
Travis stuck his head out the window, a grin on his face. “Need a ride?”
Will slung his bag over the side of the truck bed then climbed into the beat up old cab.
“Running away from home, are you?”
Will grunted. For once he didn’t appreciate his buddy’s humor, in fact, tonight it was downright annoying. “How about you shut the hell up and drive.” He stared out the passenger-side window into the darkness, his jaw set tight.
They rode in silence the remainder of the way to the one-bedroom, above-garage apartment Travis rented. Will set his bag inside the door and limped to the couch.
Trav went to the fridge, grabbed two beers, and handed one to him. “Okay, what’s eating you? I’ve never known you to quit a job before you finished or to tuck your tail and run, which is exactly what it appears you’ve done. You’re more apt to run into the fire, not away from it.”
Will took a long swallow of beer, thinking a shot or hell, a quart of whiskey would be better for what ailed him.
As if reading his mind, Trav got up and removed a quart of Scotch from the cupboard and two glasses. “Ice, water, or straight up?” he asked.
“Straight up and bring the bottle.”
“That bad, huh? What’d you do, set the place on fire?”
“As you said, I wouldn’t run from fire.” He swallowed the liquor and poured another shot. He thoroughly planned to drink himself into oblivion tonight.
Travis kept pouring until Will told him about the fight. “Hey buddy, the asshole had it coming to him, but that can’t be what’s got you all worked up. What else happened? Where was your cute little lady friend during all this?”
“She’s not my lady friend,” Will slurred then shook his head. “Especially not after what I did.”
Trav’s smile slipped and his eyes turned serious. “Okay, now, my friend, you’ve got me worried. What happened with Amy tonight?”
Will put his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands. Staring at the ground, he mumbled, “I ravished her.”
“You what?” Trav sprung out of his chair. “You want to say that again because I thought you said you ravished her.”
“I did.”
His buddy sat back down as if the wind had been knocked out of him. “How about we backtrack to your fight with the ex and we take it from there. Where was Amy during the fight?”
Will explained how she’d come in and intervened. “You get how it is after a fight. The adrenaline’s pumping, and there she was questioning my manhood, and the next thing I knew I had her in the corner about to drop my drawers when her kid lets out a cry and brings me back to my senses.”
Trav let out a whistle and poured himself a shot. “Give me a second to think about this. I guess the question is, were you forcing her, or was she participating?”
Will closed his eyes to think. “It’s hard to remember. I was merely reacting, not necessarily conscious in the moment.”
“Jeez, did she struggle, yell, tell you to stop?”
“Not exactly.”
“Well . . . what then?” Travis asked with exasperation in his voice.
“Let me think. After the initial shock, I’m pretty sure she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me back.”
His buddy sat back in his chair, relief evident on his face. “I don’t think that’s ravishment, at least not in the forced sense. Sounds like two people caught up in a haze of passion to me.”
The weight that had been bearing down on Will’s chest from the moment he left the farm eased, and he felt he could breathe again.
“I can’t say for sure because I wasn’t there, but it’s as clear as the nose on your face that there’s an attraction going on between the two of you. One you’ve been trying your damnedest to ignore.”
“It’s not possible.”
“Why?”
“You of all people should understand why. I don’t need to tell you how it
was with Cindy after my return. She could barely look at me, let alone touch me. Besides, until I feel like myself again, I’ve nothing to offer a woman like Amy. She needs a whole man, and I’m not talking physically.” He snapped his jaw shut and refused to say more.
“You can’t compare the two girls, Will. Amy’s not Cindy. She’s got more grit than the glitzy girl you were engaged to. Fran told me Amy’s had a rough go of it since her husband left her for another woman, and from what she said, I’d say probably even before then. She said Amy used to be the bubbliest girl she knew. Doesn’t quite seem like the little woman you work for, does it? You two might be exactly what the other needs.”
Will stared at Trav, shaking his head from side-to-side. “I don’t have it in me to try again.”
“Have you told her about Cindy?”
“Nah, what would that accomplish?”
“Well, she might understand you better.”
“As I said, no need to.” Will set his jaw. “I’m leaving in the fall, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.”
“It’s your loss, my friend. In the meantime . . .” Trav took what was left of the whiskey and put it back in the cupboard. “I think you’ve had enough for tonight, you won’t thank me come morning.” He entered his bedroom and returned with a blanket and pillow which he set on the end of the couch.
“Thanks, buddy.”
“No problem, you’ve pulled my ass out of the fire on more than one occasion, happy to return the favor. Now I suggest you get your beauty rest because come tomorrow it will be time to face the music. I’ll give you a ride back to the farm after work.”
Chapter 25
When The Geese Fly North Page 11