“Oh, go ahead and lay a wet one on Noah, too.” Shar’s laugh was low and melodic. “I have two husbands at home myself—Jesse and Barry. A couple of supremely studly cowboys are my men.” Then she shook her head. “I thought they grew them sexy over in Divine, as I have some friends in that city. And then I moved to Lusty and realized they grew ’em just as hot here, if not more so.”
Brittany responded to Shar’s words by indeed laying a wet one on Noah, too. Then she led the way to the kitchen. The guys got out the sweet tea, as promised, and placed a small plate of Aunt Anna’s pecan cookies on the table, as well.
As soon as Brittany had the chance to meet Aunt Anna, she was going to hug her for these amazing cookies.
“We’ll be in the den if y’all need anything,” Sean said.
“We’ll yell if we do,” Shar said.
It didn’t take the men long to get out of sight. Brittany sighed. “They’re just worried about me.”
“From my own personal experience, I can tell you that all the men in the families here tend to hover—and it’s not that they don’t think the women in their lives are capable.” Shar shrugged. “They’re just made that way. Not abused, that’s a wonderful trait. My husbands are always there for me, and even more so now since Patrick was born. I don’t get to feel that phenomena known as ‘new mother stress,’ because they simply won’t allow it.”
“Oh, you have a baby!” Brittany hadn’t been around many babies in her life, but she went soft inside every time she saw one. Or, apparently, heard of one.
Shar grinned. “We do. He’s six months old.” It only took the woman a couple of seconds to produce a picture of a sweet baby cuddled by one good-looking hunk, flanked by a second good-looking hunk. Those were the proudest daddies she’d ever seen.
“I see what you mean about growing them sexy here.”
Shar took back the picture, looked at it for a moment, and sighed. “Yeah. Maybe that was a bit misleading, as Jesse and Barry are from the Montana branch of the Benedict family, and your guys, I’ve been told, hail from Wyoming.”
“Yes, they were born in Wyoming. I didn’t even know they had relatives in Texas until we were on our way here, yesterday.”
Shar reached for one of the cookies. “These are just so freaking good.”
Brittany grabbed one, too. “I know. I haven’t met Anna Jessop yet, but I am going to give her such a huge hug.”
“She’s a real sweetheart. In fact, I haven’t met anyone here that isn’t a good, caring person.”
“Sean said something to me before we landed. He said that they wanted to bring me here because it was the best place they knew.”
“Family is at the center of everything here in Lusty. You’ll discover this as you meet everyone. That and patriotism and doing what’s right. So perhaps I’ll be the first to say to you, Brit, thank you for your service to our country.”
Brittany felt her face color. “You’re welcome. I’m sorry, though. You’re not the first. Aunt Samantha was.”
“Of course!” Shar grinned, “She would have been on hand when y’all landed yesterday.”
“She was, yes.”
“Did you sleep well last night?”
Brittany sighed. “I did, for a change.” Her face colored, simply because she wasn’t used to sharing extremely personal details. But she did like Shar. She thought if she stayed in this area, the two of them might become good friends. “Yesterday, and last night…it was our first time making love.”
“Ah.” Shar nodded. “I imagine under any circumstances you’d have slept like a baby after an afternoon and night of making love.”
“Probably.” This wasn’t so hard after all. Maybe, given a decade, she wouldn’t even blush. “But it went deeper than our making love. When I awoke from a nap, just before supper, I remember thinking that I was snuggled down between them and warm. I hadn’t been able to get warm, even cocooning myself in the blankets, all the time I slept alone in Indiana.”
“That’s because you were finally where you really wanted to be.”
“Yes, I think you’re right.”
“Now, Brit, just because they contacted me and asked me to meet you, that doesn’t mean that they’ll hear anything from me about what we discuss. If you want to share with them, feel free. Just know that I won’t. I won’t share with anyone, except both Drs. Jessop, and only then if I believe there’s a real need. I want to be a safe, neutral person for you.”
“I think that’s what I need. Thank you.”
“So how are you feeling about your stump?”
“I sometimes call it the left of the left.” When Shar didn’t seem to get it, she leaned forward. “You know, what’s left of the left leg.”
Shar grinned. “Humor’s good.”
“It is, when I’m not using it to hide my anger.”
“You don’t need to hide your anger. Anything you feel is valid because you feel it. If your feelings bother you, then we can talk about them.”
“I know that grieving is natural. To be honest with you, the depression got hold of me before I realized it was happening.” She’d lowered her voice. Remembering what it had felt like brought it there again. “It got a lot worse after I told the guys I needed some space. And that was a lie. The truth was, I sent them away because I didn’t think I deserved them. And I didn’t think they deserved to be saddled with a cripple. I thought they were getting badly shortchanged.”
“So, you sent them away, and they actually went?”
Shar didn’t disguise her outrage. That bit of humanity just endeared the woman to her more. “They did, but to be fair, on our way here to Lusty, they told me that would never happen again. They said they never should have left, that doing so was a major fuck-up on their part.”
“Well, at least they’re self-aware.” Then Shar tilted her head as she focused on Brittany. “Can you answer my previous question? How do you feel about your…left of the left?”
“Not as angry as I was at first. It is what it is, and that can’t be changed.” She thought of the day before and met Shar’s gaze. “Yesterday, before we…well, before, I got totally naked with them. I knew I needed to show them.” She shrugged. “They were curious, and then they were okay with it.”
“They wanted you anyway.”
“Yeah. They wanted me anyway.”
“They love you, anyway.”
“They do, yes.” Brittany sighed. “They’d told me, in California, that they did. I think I’m finally beginning to believe it.”
“Good. It sounds to me as if you’re on your way to getting things together. Do you think you’re there, yet, Brit?”
“No. Not yet. Not by a long shot. I still have things I need to figure out. I’m not sure I could requalify for active service. I couldn’t run an obstacle course or hike a twenty-five-mile course.”
“Well, certainly not yet. Is that what you want to do? Focus on getting back to fighting trim?”
Did she? She became a Marine because she wanted to serve her country, and she’d wanted to make a difference. In her family, you did both by enlisting. She’d never thought about it twice and had enlisted with her parents’ consent when she’d been eighteen. And although she hadn’t managed a full lifetime career the way her father had, or even hit the ten-year mark like her older brother had so recently done, she had served. But did she want to go back to that life?
“I don’t know.” Brittany blinked. “I became a Marine to make a difference, and to serve my country. But I really don’t know if I want to stay in in the Corps anymore.”
“If you had your heart set on it, I believe it’s an achievable goal for you. You won’t see combat again. But unless you enlisted because you wanted to be a Marine—or maybe because you discovered being a Marine was what you were—perhaps there are other ways to achieve your main purpose of making a difference. You have options, Brittany. Maybe it’s time to explore them.”
“You’ve certainly given me something to think
about.”
Shar ginned. “And I’m about to give you something else to think about, too. Tell me, Brit, have you ever heard of horse therapy?”
* * * *
“So just about everyone in this town is your cousin?”
Sean nodded then turned off the car. Brittany had asked to see Lusty, and she’d also wanted to meet Anna Jessop. He and Noah had hoped that she’d want to share what she and Shar had talked about that morning, but she’d yet to offer.
“I suppose, if you want to be specific,” Noah said, “we’d have to qualify that a little. Some are cousins by blood and some by tradition.”
“Except for those who are of our parents’ generation. Those are aunts and uncles.”
“No grandparents?” Brittany looked from him to Noah and back. He had to admit she was more relaxed than he’d seen her since before the accident.
“There’s one, here in Lusty.” Sean admitted.
“Grandma Kate.” Noah’s tone was the same that his was, too, when he mentioned the woman’s name. They both were very fond of Grandma Kate.
“Katherine Wesley Benedict, a nonagenarian who’s the head of the combined families of Lusty, Texas, and is nobody’s little old lady.” Sean grinned.
“But she is everybody’s Grandma Kate.” Noah said.
“Will I get to meet her, do you think?” The expression on Brit’s face was one of interest, even eagerness. Maybe she hadn’t spoken about what she and Shar had shared, but she was definitely displaying a lot more energy and engagement than she had in San Diego.
“It’s only a matter of time,” Sean said. “Are you ready?”
“I am. Museum and then a late lunch. Sounds good.”
Noah exited the back seat and had Brit’s door open before she could do it for herself. Her smile and the shaking of her head let them both know she wasn’t used to what his Aunt Samantha would call simple good manners.
He and his brother were determined to see to it that she got used to that, and to so very much more.
This wouldn’t be his first or even third visit to the Lusty Historical Society’s Museum. Every time he and his brother made it to town, they made sure to visit here. Anna Jessop had been named the curator as soon as the museum had been established. She possessed not only a love of the family history but a talent for telling a story.
He recalled hearing last December that Holly Wilson, the town’s librarian, had arranged for Aunt Anna to tell the story of the founding of Lusty to the students of the Lusty Combined School over the last school year. By all accounts, those presentations had been a complete success.
Rounding the front of his SUV, he reached the door ahead of the others and automatically opened it for them.
“Oh!” Brittany’s eyes widened as she took in the photograph, enlarged from the original and framed, that adorned the entranceway. It had been taken on the day that Lusty had become a town. Two women sat in chairs that were angled slightly toward each other. Behind each woman stood two men, one at each shoulder. The way the men had posed, each with a hand on his wife, showed not only possessiveness but pride.
I know exactly how they felt.
Each of those women had faced their own trials by fire, just as his Brit had. Brittany, like Sarah and Amanda, had emerged on the other side, stronger and more resilient.
As she read the plaque at the bottom of the framed photo, Noah slipped his arm around her. “Benedicts and Jessop-Kendalls,” he said. “Sarah Carmichael, who’d been married to Tyrone Maddox, with Caleb and Joshua, and Amanda Dupree—in this photo Amanda Dupree Jessop-Kendall, with Adam Kendall and Warren Jessop.” His brother pointed each person out as he spoke.
“This Adam doesn’t resemble the current sheriff,” Brittany said.
“No, he doesn’t, not in any way.” Noah nodded. “He and his brother, Jake, are married to Ginny, who you might meet at lunch because she works at the restaurant part time.”
“However, when you meet Cord and Jackson Benedict, be prepared to do a double take, as they are nearly identical in appearance to Caleb and Joshua.” Sean opened the inner door, and their woman stepped into the museum.
One of the things Sean appreciated the most was that Anna Jessop rotated the photos on the walls and the artifacts on display inside the glass display cases. The story never changed, of course, but the family had amassed a wealth of memorabilia. Aside from the items here, Grandma Kate had several photos and pieces at the Big House, as did Aunt Samantha at the New House.
And then, of course, there were the journals.
Both Joshua Benedict and Warren Jessop had written personal journals about their lives and times and how to successfully live the ménage lifestyle. Patrick Benedict, one of Kate’s late husbands, and Nick Kendall, his late grandfather, had also penned books. Sean and Noah had both read all four of those journals. He knew that Sarah and Amanda had done the same—written journals that were intended only for the women of the families.
Thinking about Brittany reading the words of his great-greats put a warmth inside him in the vicinity his heart.
Brittany walked ahead of them, her attention focused on the items displayed. She gasped when she saw a picture taken on the verandah of the Big House. It was one of many photos taken by Jeremy Jones after that man’s arrival in Lusty. This particular photo showed the Benedicts and the Jessop-Kendalls with their good friends Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp.
“Oh, my goodness, that’s really them! I saw pictures of them in my high school history book!”
“It is. Both men played an important role in the story of the founding of Lusty—and the lives of the original families as they traveled here.” Sean was, of course, proud of his heritage. He would have said more, but the sounds of a door closing just out of sight and a sweet, singsong voice stopped his words and put a smile on his face.
“Oh, hello! I’m so very happy you’re here!”
He recalled the first time as an adult that he’d seen Anna Jessop, right here in this very place. He thought at the time she reminded him of Mrs. Santa Claus, and that impression hadn’t changed.
“Brittany, this is Anna Jessop. Aunt Anna, Brittany Phillips.”
Aunt Anna never stood on ceremony. She stepped right up and gave Brittany a hug. Then she stepped back and took Brit’s hands in hers.
“I am so very pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Phillips. Thank you for your service to our country.”
“I’m pleased to meet you, too, Mrs. Jessop. Thank you for those wonderful cookies.”
Aunt Anna blushed. “That’s Aunt Anna to you, young lady. And, you’re very welcome. I’ll be baking tomorrow, and I’ll be certain to send some over to you, along with some banana bread.” The woman looked at Sean and then Noah, a sly smile on her face. “And it will be entirely up to you whether you share those with these two prospectors, or not.”
Brit gave them a sly look of her own. “I’ll share…if they deserve it.”
“There’s a girl,” Aunt Anna said. “Now, come with me. We have some artifacts over here that are of particular significance to the Jessop-Kendall branch of the family.”
Noah looked at Sean, who shrugged. It looked like they were relegated to following Brittany around the museum. Since she had a fine ass that was no hardship at all. It also allowed him to watch her without her being aware of his scrutiny. He and Noah took seriously their mission of taking care of their woman. He thought this was one good way to gauge how well she felt physically and whether or not she was at ease, mentally and emotionally.
Chapter Ten
Angela Monroe sat in her office at Angel’s Roadhouse, attending to the necessary tasks every business owner faced. Those included signing the paychecks that Bailey Benedict had written out for her, as well as going over the spreadsheet she’d prepared for the previous month.
Angela was grateful that of all the places on the map Bailey had hit with her dart last year, that pointed little missile had landed on Texas. She was a gem, no doubt about it. The woman w
as not only a qualified bookkeeper, she was also a wonderful waitress. Angela’s regular clientele loved Bailey. Thinking in the beginning she was hiring a nomad, Angela had been delighted when, instead of moving on, Bailey had married two Benedicts who’d relocated there from New York. All three had settled down to stay.
Laci Benedict, married to two other Benedict men—these ones relocated from Montana—was her other best waitress, and of course, she herself loved to take a turn behind the bar on a busy night. She’d taken on several part-time wait staff since she’d opened two and a half years ago, as well. Of the two she currently employed, Jenny Collins was working out well and was going to be moved to full-time status in a couple of weeks. Of course, in the summer, Angela always had a couple of local college kids helping out, as well.
Patrick Riley was her head chef, the man who made magic in her kitchen. She was glad she’d gone with her intuition there. And of course, she had Braeden Carter, her security chief. The man had certainly proved his mettle even before she’d opened her doors, his actions crucial in helping them to defeat the bastard who’d come gunning for Laci.
Angela had answered the call of her soul and returned to Texas, urged by her good friend Kate Benedict to open a business here. And in the end, what she’d ended up doing was making friendships, making a life, and setting down roots.
Roots that before long would become even stronger when she married the true love of her life, Ricoh Stone.
As she often did in the last couple of days, she looked down at her beautiful engagement ring. She wasn’t going to think of the years she’d been without Ricoh. She wasn’t going to dwell any longer on the horrors she’d lived. She’d been a child, really, when she’d fallen in love and given herself to that love. She could never regret that Ricoh had been her first. What had followed after her father had discovered the truth—well, it didn’t serve any purpose to hold onto anger or regret over what could never be changed.
Love Under Two Prospectors [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) Page 10