by Annie Evans
He stopped on the second-floor landing, noting the scarred heart pine floors extended to this level too. It was probably his favorite feature of the old house, a distant second to its owner. Narrow hallways branched off in both directions from the stairwell, with doorways on either side of it. There were no lights on anywhere that he could see and no sounds coming from any of the rooms.
“Marco?”
“Polo,” came her reply from down the hall to his right.
He followed the sound of her voice to the last room, finding Bellamy lying on her back on the floor in the middle of the empty room, her blue fleece blanket wrapped around her body. Her hair was damp, as if she’d recently showered. Her top was hidden by the blanket, but she wore jeans and a pair of purple socks with pink flying pigs on them, which made him smile. There wasn’t much about Bellamy that didn’t make him smile.
Sunshine streamed in through the sole curtain-less window in the room, right across the floor to where she lay, turning the skin of her face and throat golden.
Surprised and curious, he strolled closer, peering down at her. “What are you doing on the floor, darlin’?”
She opened the blanket and he accepted the invitation. When he stretched out next to her, crossing his legs at the ankles, she lifted her head for him to tuck his arm beneath her neck and scooted close to his side. Her fingers slid between the snaps on his shirt, grazing his skin.
“I heard a noise up here.”
The hairs on the back of his neck rose. He rolled his head to look at her, knowing his eyes had widened a bit. “You mean like…”
“A ghost?” At his slow nod, she smiled. “No, more like a small critter. Although I kind of wish my nana would pay me a visit. Maybe she could tell me what to do.”
Oh Bellamy.
The ping in his chest turned to an ache.
This was something he hadn’t stopped to consider—the guilt she might feel at selling the place her grandmother had clearly wanted her to have. More uncertainty to add to the pile of worry inside her head.
“What do you think she would tell you?”
“To follow my heart,” she said without a moment’s hesitation.
“And knowing that doesn’t help?”
“Not when my heart can’t make up its mind in the first place.”
Eli wondered what her heart was telling her about the two of them—stay or go. Push him away or let him all the way in and fall just as hard as he had. He almost asked, but then thought better of it. As bad as he wanted to know how she felt, he realized part of that desire was fueled by his own inexperience with matters of the heart.
“Are we okay?” she asked.
The fact that she asked erased his worries and told him that perhaps her mind had gone to the two of them as well. If it was bothering her enough to question, she cared enough to not want what they had to end, at least for now. He might not know a lot about serious relationships, but he recognized this as a good thing.
“We’re just fine, Bell.” He nudged her foot with his booted one. “How’s Petunia?”
“Officially retired from baby-making.”
“Good for her. I’m sure the Freemans have plenty of other available options, what with owning a pig farm.”
“Not all sows make good mothers. Petunia was just their tried and true. It looks as if I might’ve won them over as a customer, though, even in delivering bad news.”
He pressed his face to her hair, breathing in the soft scent of her shampoo. “It’s been tough, hasn’t it?”
“A little, but I was prepared for it. My uncle warned me I might lose customers once they found out I was female.”
“Narrow-minded assholes,” Eli muttered.
She snuggled against his side, working her hand deeper into the gap of his shirt. “They’ll come around eventually.”
He hoped so, for her sake.
The house’s age was more apparent up here than on the bottom floor. Above their heads, cracks lined the plaster on the ceiling like spider webs. In one corner, it was stained from an old roof leak. The paint on the walls of this particular room was starting to flake away, collecting with dust around the perimeter in tiny drifts. One of the panes in the casement window was broken, and as he studied it further, he saw that a wedge of the glass was actually missing.
“What kind of noise did you hear?” he asked her.
“Something scratching. Or scurrying.” She shivered. “I hope it’s not a giant rat.”
“Could’ve been a bird. There’s a piece missing from that broken window pane.”
Bellamy tilted her head back to look. “Huh. I hadn’t noticed that. Well, there goes more of my heat. But there’d be droppings or feathers on the floor most likely if the bird spent any time trapped in here.”
“True.”
“This was the room I slept in when I came for visits. Unless it was cold. Then I slept with Nana. She used to pile so many quilts and blankets on the bed it was almost impossible to move, let alone turn over. I’d wake up in the middle of the night thinking I was being suffocated. And she had this horrible, lumpy mattress.”
“Worse than the one downstairs?”
She poked him in the ribs. “Much worse.”
“My grandparents had beds like that too.”
“Sometimes I miss her so much it hurts.”
Eli rubbed her shoulder. “I think it’s supposed to when they’re special like that.”
After a quiet minute, she tilted her head to peer up at him, her gaze roaming over his face before she asked, “Can I stay with you tonight?”
His heart swelled at the surprising request. In the time he’d known her, she’d never outright asked him for anything significant. Had she really asked him for anything at all? Wanting to spend the night at his place was a simple wish, nothing over the top or out of left field, but it still felt as though it had weight and promise.
He pulled her on top of him, fitting her hips to his, and pushed strands of that pretty black hair away from her face. “Of course you can stay with me. Whenever you want.”
She kissed him then nuzzled her face to his neck, mouth tracing the ridge of his jaw before she jerked her head up. Her eyes went wide and she covered his lips with a finger, whispering, “Listen.”
Focusing past the sudden southward rush of blood, he heard the noise above their heads—a faint ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump across the attic floor.
“Squirrel,” he murmured. “Watch the tree limb outside the window.”
They both tipped their heads, waiting. Sure enough, a few seconds later the small barren limb jerked with the sudden added weight of Bellamy’s stowaway.
“Sneaky little shit. What’s it doing inside my roof?”
“Stealing insulation for a nest, probably.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “You think there’s some up there?”
He barked out a laugh, his body shaking hers, while she grinned down at him. “They’ll chew through wiring too. I’ll bring a ladder over sometime next week and cut that limb down. Deny the thief a way in.”
Bellamy pushed up into a sitting position across his hips, the blanket sliding off her shoulders. She might as well have been naked by the sudden punch of arousal he felt. Eli propped himself on his hands. “How shall I ever repay all your kindness and generosity?” she drawled like Scarlett, fluttering her eyelashes.
Wrapping a hand around the back of her neck, he pulled her to him for a hard kiss. “I’m sure we can think of something.”
Chapter Eighteen
Thanksgiving Day found Bellamy in Ruby and Joe Carter’s big country kitchen, surrounded by new friends and the amazing smells of dinner being prepared.
Using the sharp tip of a paring knife, she traced the shape of a leaf in the leftover piecrust she’d rolled out. She added a few fake veins with a toothpick then slicked the back of it with egg wash and added it to the top of the peach pie she made, with the help of Ruby’s well-stocked freezer.
“Bellamy Haile, that’
s just about the prettiest pie I’ve ever seen and it’s not even baked yet,” Ruby said. “I do declare, between Kai’s cake-decorating skills and your pie-making expertise, I think I’m going to give up making desserts altogether and hand it over to you girls.”
“Don’t you dare!” Kai said. “You make the best sorghum cookies I’ve ever eaten, plus your banana pudding won a blue ribbon at the Centennial Celebration this past summer. And just because I can frost a cake doesn’t mean I can bake a decent one.”
“You’ll get there,” Ruby said. “Fritz brags on your cooking all the time.”
“He knows it’s a surefire way to get lucky,” Kai whispered to Bellamy while Ruby’s back was turned.
Snickering, Bellamy added a few more leaves to the pie for decoration and brushed a final coat of egg wash across the entire thing, getting it ready to bake.
“All done,” she said proudly. It really was a pretty pie, if she did say so herself. “Ready for it to go in the oven?”
“Ten more minutes on the dressing, then we’ll start baking the pies,” Kai said.
“Here’s hoping it tastes as good as it looks.”
“Sugar, you learned from the best. No way will it taste anything but delicious.”
“Did you know my nana McCoy, Ruby?”
“Of course. Everyone in Serenity knew your grandparents. They were wonderful people, kind and generous, and neither one of them ever met a stranger. I graduated with your Aunt Trudy too. Your momma’s a couple years younger than me I think, but I remember her from school. Where are your parents spending Thanksgiving?”
“With Davy Crockett’s ghost at The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.”
Ruby and Kai blinked at her, more than likely wondering if she was upset by their absence or not, but when Bellamy smiled wryly, they decided it was okay to find some humor in her dry comment. “My dad loves that sort of thing. He’s ex-Army. What started out as a four-week trip out west has morphed into a tour of the entire southern half of the U.S.”
“Will they be home for Christmas?” Kai asked.
Bellamy shrugged. “Not sure. Mom called last night to wish me Happy Thanksgiving, but she didn’t sound like they were tiring of the road yet, so who knows.”
Surprisingly, the thought of not seeing her parents over the holidays didn’t sting as much anymore. She was certain that being able to spend the time with Eli and his wonderful family was the reason why. She only wished her parents could meet all of the Carters too, especially Eli.
The back door opened and Grace and Fritz joined them in the kitchen, both carrying covered dishes.
“Thanks for the help, Fritz,” Grace said. With Ruby’s guidance, they found spots on the jam-packed counters for the casseroles Grace brought along. Kai had explained earlier that Grace’s parents and brother were spending Thanksgiving with extended family in La Grange, and since Grace had to work tomorrow, she opted out of making the trip.
“No problem,” Fritz replied, then gave his fiancé a quick smooch on the lips. “I set the cooler of ice on the back porch. Anything else I can do to help?”
“We’re going to need the extra leaf in the dining room table and more chairs,” Ruby told him. “After that’s done, y’all can go ahead and get the table set for dinner. Eli and Sage are in the family room with your dad watching football.”
Fritz nodded and strolled out of the kitchen to follow his mother’s orders. It touched Bellamy just how close the boys remained to their parents and how polite and respectful they were to them always, a sure sign they’d been raised up right.
“I brought presents!” Grace said, digging inside a huge leather purse. Even when Grace did casual, she still looked gorgeous. Today she wore a pretty green tunic over black leggings. On her feet were gray suede pumps. “I was going to save them for Christmas, but I figured you might like to get some use out of them now. Plus, I’m terrible at waiting to give out gifts.”
She produced a stack of folded fabric with a nervous smile then proceeded to hand Kai, Ruby and Bellamy one apiece, keeping the last one for herself. When Bellamy unfolded the gift, she saw that is was an apron.
“I made them myself,” Grace said, blushing adorably beneath her freckles.
“Grace, these are beautiful,” Ruby said, removing the faded half-apron she wore to don the new one.
Bellamy couldn’t stop smiling and touching the fabric. They were made in the style that covered you from chest to thigh and tied behind the neck, with a small pocket on the front. The cloth Grace had chosen looked to be vintage, in floral prints with pastel backgrounds. Around the edges, she’d added a narrow eyelet ruffle in cream.
“They’re so pretty,” Bellamy said, smoothing her hands down the front of hers. It reminded her of something Nana would’ve worn. “You’re talented, girl.”
Grace shrugged. “I make a lot of my own clothes too. Stuff for work mostly, like dresses and skirts. My mom is a brilliant seamstress. She taught me how to sew when I was ten and I’ve been doing it ever since. I find it cathartic in a sense, a nice way to unwind after a tough day.”
“I could see where it would be.”
“Her mom’s making my wedding dress,” Kai offered.
“Oh, how cool,” Bellamy said. “What does it look like?”
“Well, Fritz likes me in sundresses, so the top will be similar to those, with spaghetti straps. The skirt is straight and simple with a short train, and the entire dress has a lace overlay and a cummerbund-style wrap around the waistline, which will be in a pale-peach color. I’m not wearing a veil. I decided on a wreath of tiny flowers instead.”
“It sounds beautiful.”
“Here’s hoping it’s not too cool that day, otherwise I’ll freeze my fanny off.”
Ruby smiled warmly. “You’ll be so excited you won’t notice the temperature.”
“When’s the big day?” Bellamy asked.
“The second Saturday in March. We can’t push it back any further because corn has to be planted soon after and Fritz will be too busy.”
“Ooh, corn,” Ruby said. “Should I grab a few bags from the freezer and throw them in a pot to cook?”
“Good heavens, Ruby,” Kai said, gesturing to all the pots and dishes of food scattered around the kitchen. “I think we’ve got enough to feed an army already.”
“But I want Bellamy to have plenty of choices since she won’t be eating any turkey or ham.”
“Don’t you worry about me,” Bellamy said, wrapping an arm around Ruby’s shoulders. “I could eat nothing but your macaroni and cheese and be perfectly happy.”
* * * * *
“Where in God’s name are y’all getting all this energy from?” Fritz groaned.
It was the day of Ruby’s birthday party and they were finalizing the decorations in the barn. Fritz was sprawled across a row of hay bales Kai had draped with pretty red-and-white gingham fabric that she was planning to use for extra seating.
“We’re staying away from the leftover turkey,” Kai said. “And if you mess up that fabric with your nasty work boots, you’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”
Fritz bolted upright, checking to make sure he hadn’t dirtied anything. Behind him, Kai winked at Bellamy. The girl sure knew how to keep her man in check.
Smiling, Bellamy twisted a length of wire around the raised lip of a Mason jar. Eli was perched atop a ladder waiting for her to hand it up to him, where he’d suspend it from another long stretch of wire wrapped around a beam of the barn’s roof. For the party, the votive candles placed inside each jar would be lit for a pretty ambient glow. In addition to candles, they’d draped long strands of white twinkle lights across the beams. By the time they were done, the place would sparkle like a Christmas tree.
“Last one.” She passed the jar off to Eli. Once he had it secured with the wire, he climbed down off the ladder and dropped a quick kiss on her mouth. “Nice job,” she said.
“Y’all did most of the work. I just followed orders. I’m good at foll
owing your orders.”
He grinned, the teasing light in his gray eyes reminding her of the night she’d chained him to the chair, making Bellamy’s knees weaken and her heart flutter. Making her crave another kiss, then another and another.
Despite having spent most of the last two weeks’ worth of nights in his bed, she was surprised to discover she didn’t feel the least bit claustrophobic or pressured. Nor was she growing weary of his company. She knew he wanted her there, but Eli left it up to her to decide whether she stayed or ventured back to her own place.
Cold, empty house and a cheap, lumpy mattress—or warm home and a great big soft bed occupied by Eli? Not a hard decision to make.
“What’s next?” she asked Kai, perusing the row of cardboard boxes full of fabrics, more Mason jars, candles, and bundles of fresh flowers from the florist in town.
Kai had gone with an old-timey country theme for the decor, using vintage flour sacks, gingham print, sunflowers and farming accents. A large wooden sign painted red with white lettering hung on one wall of the barn. It read, What happens in the barn stays in the barn. Across from it hung another, similar in shape and color scheme, that said, Life is better on the farm. Bellamy was beginning to agree with the sentiment.
“Now that we’ve finished with the stuff that needed hanging, I think we can start getting the tables and chairs arranged and decorated. That’s really the last thing. Then all we’ll need to do is set up the food once it arrives.”
“And what time is that?” Fritz asked, folding up a ladder.
“Around six forty-five. I didn’t want it to sit too long and get cold,” Kai said. “Grace went to pick up the cake, and the band is setting up just before the party starts at seven.”
Since Bellamy had clothes at Eli’s place, she could shower and change with him when they were done decorating.
“Where are the tables and chairs?” Eli asked
“In the trailer hooked to the back of my truck,” Fritz said. “Come on, we’ll start unloading.”