by Marla Monroe
“It was unlocked?” Harriet asked.
“No. I had to break a window at the back of the house to get in. We’ll cover it with some wood before we leave so the house will still be in decent shape for someone else to use later.” Thad was pleased to notice that Abby’s face relaxed when he said that. She held others’ needs as important to her. It made her a good-hearted woman who would make a good mate.
Thad drew in a deep breath and willed his muscles to relax. He’d been on edge ever since he’d scared them back at the road. He really hadn’t meant to. The sight of Abby’s anger bothered him. While he’d already decided she’d be a good woman to care for, he hadn’t thought he was more than sexually attracted to her. Having more than casual feelings for her really wasn’t what he’d planned. That sort of investment made a man vulnerable and weak. It was what could cause a man to lose focus and get the woman he cared about taken or even killed.
While he welcomed the sexual attraction because it would help them to form a bond, anything more could put her at risk. He needed to really think about it again. Maybe Thad would be better suited to take care of her, and he should look after Thad’s sister.
That didn’t sit well with him. He wasn’t attracted to the other woman at all. She was sweet and cute and seemed like a warm person, but he really liked the way Abby’s wide ass talked to him when she walked in front of him. Her generous curves were the stuff of fantasies, and he liked that she wasn’t thin with a flat stomach. He’d never gone for the sickly stick thin women that seemed to crawl out of every corner to parade in front of him.
Harriet was small but didn’t have that starved look about her. She still had meat on her bones. Yet Abby’s squeezable flesh and huggable body made him hot and kept his dick hard. Not many women had appealed to him like she did. He had no doubt he would dream of her often even if he didn’t manage to win her over.
“It’s too dark to see where we’re going in here,” Harry commented as they stood in the living room in a loose circle.
“I found candles in the dining room. I put them on the coffee table. Let’s get them lit.” Thad picked his way around furniture until he found the coffee table.
He was surprised when Abby knelt next to him to assemble candles into old food cans as holders. He lit one and waited until the wax was soft before tilting it so that the hot, melted wax poured off to land in one of the small cans. Once there was enough to support the candle, Thad settled it into the soft wax and held it until it hardened enough to hold the candle upright.
The four of them did this until the room was well lit with flickering light that bounced off of every item of furniture including the ceiling. It showed off the thick layers of dust and clinging cobwebs covering everything. While it didn’t bother him all that much, he noticed the women rubbing their hands up and down their pant legs.
“Well. Nothing to do but clean a spot large enough for all of us and roll out our sleeping bags.” Abby set her pack to one side and looked around. “Do you know if there’s a well or pump house or something where we can try to pull up some water?”
“There’s a pump house, but I think it was shut down when they got electricity. Besides, it’s too dark out now to try to navigate around. I’ll grab some towels and we can wipe off as much of the dust as we can.” Thad picked up one of the cans holding a candle and left the three of them to locate a bathroom and, hopefully, a supply of towels.
He heard Harriet and Abby discussing the best place to start, followed by Harry muttering something about allergies. Their voices faded as he walked deeper into the house. Almost immediately Thad missed their presence around him. After being completely alone for nearly two years now, it surprised him that he’d become this attached to them so quickly. He’d expected their chatter and mere presence would bother him at first since he wasn’t used to anything but nature, but instead it soothed him and gave him a measure of comfort.
Or maybe I’m just getting soft in my old age. I never realized I was lonely before. Why now?
Thad dismissed his inner puzzlement and opened yet another door to finally locate a bathroom. The cabinet next to the vanity held a generous supply of bath towels. He took out a good handful, along with a few face cloths, before retracing his path back to the main living area.
“Hope these will do.” Thad divided the stack between Abby and Harriet.
“Great. Now the two of you need to go rummage through the pantry for something for supper tonight. No use using what we have in our packs if there’s something we can eat here.” Abby sank to her knees next to Harriet and began wiping the floors of dust to prevent them from suffocating as they slept.
“There should be something. It didn’t look like anyone has been here at all.” Thad nodded toward the door leading to the kitchen as Henry picked up a candle.
The sight of Abby’s amazing ass swinging back and forth as she wiped down the floor had Thad’s dick reaching for the sky and adding even more pressure to the already too-tight jeans. One thing he knew without a doubt was that if he stayed around Abby any longer he would need a size larger pair of jeans or he was going to burst out of the ones he had on.
* * * *
“If I don’t end up with a sinus headache after this, I’m going to be pleasantly surprised.” Harriet wiped her nose with the sleeve of her T-shirt.
“Too late for me. I’m already clogging up and my head feels like there’s a tourniquet around it right across my cheeks.” Abby had known this was going to be the outcome when they started. Even tying one of her T-shirts around her face hadn’t kept all of the dust out.
“I’m not going to feel like eating if they do find something worth opening. What about you?” Harriet asked.
“Same here. Right now all I want is a hot bath and some sinus medication. My ears are starting to hurt from all the pressure.”
“I think we would have been better off sleeping outside on the porch or something.” Harriet turned toward where the men had disappeared earlier as voices intruded into their conversation.
“I’m just glad we have our own can openers. I can’t believe there wasn’t one anywhere in the kitchen.” Harry’s face emerged from the gloom first.
“I’d say they took it with them when they left, but they didn’t take anything else with them from what I can tell.” Thad followed close behind the other man with a box in his arms.
“Anything that looks good?” Harriet asked as she stood up to take some of the things he was carrying from him.
“Pork and beans, and more pork and beans.” Thad set the box he was toting on the low table Abby and Harriet had cleaned off. “Someone who lived here must have loved them more than anything else because that’s just about the only thing in the pantry.”
“Hey, we did find some Spam and Spaghetti Os!” Harry picked up a can and ran his fingers over the top and bottom before shrugging and dropping it back in the box. “Looks like most of them are still in good shape, so they ought to be edible.”
“I’m not so sure I’d trust the Spam, though.” Abby looked over at Harriet. “I’d be leery of canned meat unless we were starving.”
Thad grunted. “Spam isn’t meat. It’s processed pieces’ parts of questionable origin, but I don’t think you can classify it as meat, eh?”
Abby couldn’t help but laugh at his observation. “Maybe not, but I’ll pass on the Spam just the same. Pork and beans sound good to me as long as the cans were still sealed and the tops haven’t popped.”
“One can of pork and beans coming up.” Thad reached across the box to hand her one of the cans. When she reached to take it, their fingers brushed and both of them snapped their attention up to stare into each other’s eyes.
For a brief flash, Abby’s breath left her as the rough calluses of his fingers rasped across her palm just before he dropped his hand back to the box. Even as she took the can and pulled her hand back, paralysis kept her from moving away. She couldn’t even back up one step as her body struggled to draw in enough oxygen to exhal
e.
“Abby? Did you want to sit on the table to eat or use the table to eat off of?” Harriet bumped shoulders with her. “Are you listening?”
“Oh, sorry. Let’s sit on the table.” What had just happened? She swore she’d seen the same shock in Thad’s eyes that she’d felt when they’d touched.
They’d touched before. Why had that happened now? Abby wanted to look up and see if he still looked as disoriented as she felt, but was afraid to make eye contact with him. What if he hadn’t felt the same thing?
But what if he had?
“Here’s the can opener and a spoon,” Harry said as he dropped the can opener in her lap and held out a spoon for her to use to eat. “We washed them off with some distilled water in the pantry.”
“Um, thanks.” Abby smiled in his direction as she took the spoon but avoided looking directly at him.
She had enough to worry about without adding Harry to it. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking about men and sex and relationships at all right now, much less having aha moments. Abby was putting all of them at risk if she allowed anything to get started between any of them. They all needed to be on alert instead of thinking about how good it would feel to have one of them wrapped around her.
I’m kidding myself. I’m the only one fantasizing about anything other than making it to the community where we can all be safe. I’ve got to stop being so needy. I’m just fine by myself. Once I’m there, the community will protect me.
Once there, she could focus on helping to keep the group going and not think about being alone, because she wouldn’t be. Losing her fiancé had knocked home just how much she’d depended on him and come to expect that he would always be there when she needed him. He’d been her best friend and confidant as well as her lover. She couldn’t hope to replace him and fill the emptiness inside of her. She needed to learn to be fine on her own, without needing someone to always be there. The truth was that no one could promise forever to anyone.
“Do you need help opening your can, Abby?” She looked up without meaning to, only to find Thad crouched down right next to her, reaching for the can. “I’ll open it for you.”
“I can handle it, but thanks.” She snapped the can opener over the edge of the can and cranked the handle to rotate the can while it cut into the metal top.
It took longer than it should have since the opener was old and had been well used. The sharp metal of the handle bit into her fingers as she fought with the outdated scrap of metal to get her can open. Once the top finally popped free, Abby grabbed a spoon and ate. She could feel Thad’s gaze on her as she kept her head down and finished off the beans. They’d been good. Better than most that she’d eaten lately. A hint of brown sugar lingered in her mouth to remind her that she’d scored a delicacy for a change. When she looked around, she realized that she’d been the only one to open that flavor.
She couldn’t stop herself from checking to see what Thad was eating, only to find him watching her with a smile made soft by the flickering candlelight that lent shadows along the creases in his face. He flicked his gaze down at the empty can in her hand, then back to her with a quick wink.
He deliberately made sure that I got that can. Why?
Abby had no idea, but she had to stay clear of him before she made a mistake and allowed herself to act on her attraction to him. It would only end up in a screwed-up mess. Once they arrived at their destination, he’d have other things to do, women to court. She was under no illusions that he was truly attracted to her.
“I’ll take that.” Harry reached down for her empty can. “Better start getting ready for bed. We need to be up early in the morning to take advantage of the light.”
“Thanks.” She gave him the can and her dirty spoon then, stood up and stretched.
“Harriet, you and Abby sleep next to each other and Harry and I will sleep on either side of you. Safer that way.” Thad unrolled the sleeping bag and cover he carried with him on the same side of the room as the front door.
“I’ve got this side,” Harry said.
Abby watched as Harriet spread out her sleeping covers next to her brother’s, leaving the only space open between her and Thad. She should have known fate would make it as hard for her as possible to resist the man’s sensual draw. She was so screwed. How would she be able to get any rest sleeping next to him? The man smelled wonderful. Yes, they all needed a good bath, but his natural scent, paired with that of leather and fresh air, overwhelmed her in an entirely different manner.
She ended up being the last one to finish her sleeping preparations and slide between the covers. Abby needed to stop thinking about the man mere inches from her and convince herself to relax and sleep. She had no doubt that she would need all the rest she could manage for the next day’s travel plans. Both men seemed hell bent on getting to that settlement sooner rather than later.
That was just fine with her. The longer they dragged the trip out, the harder it would be for her to keep her distance from not one, but two sexy men. One had an attitude to go with his smooth good looks while the other hid a teddy bear inside a body blessed with rugged confidence and a bite-worthy ass.
Yep, she was screwed. And not the way she wanted.
Chapter Six
Abby was positive they would never find the promised settlement. Each day they pushed forward despite how tired and disheartened they’d become. Even Thad didn’t seem as enthusiastic as when they’d first met him. Taking the long way around the mountains had not only added time and distance to their journey. It had added age and lethargy. It took every ounce of her strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
The other issue was that it gave her way too much time to think. That meant that her favorite subject for long-term, intensive thinking involved the two men currently in her life. Both Thad and Harry intrigued her more than a little, but in different ways. Thad was woodsy, a little rough around the edges, and the way he sometimes stared at her with his intense gaze made her feel like she was the most important person in the world in that moment.
On the other hand, Harry’s almost torn expressions when he looked at her told Abby that he was more than a little interested but conflicted by it. Why was that? She loved his rugged good looks and his slightly more sophisticated demeanor. Both men appealed to her because they were strong and knowledgeable of the world they now lived in and what it took to stay alive and keep those they valued alive as well. Yes, Harry was having a little more difficulty than Thad, but she was positive he would die before he allowed anyone to harm either Harriet or her.
“Penny for your thoughts.” Harriet stepped up her pace to walk beside her.
“Huh?” Abby wasn’t quite sure what she’d said.
“You have the most serious expression on your face I’ve seen since we met. What are you thinking so hard about?”
“I’m not sure,” she hedged. “I’m worried about getting to this new place and finding out it isn’t what we thought or that they are picky about who they let in. I can’t help it. It worries me.”
“Yeah, I’ve thought about that, too. Harry is positive it’s better than where we were. I don’t think he’s even thought about the possibility that they might not allow just anyone to live there.” Harriet shrugged before grabbing the stem of a bush to keep it from scratching her.
“I’m probably worrying for nothing. It’s just that I’m bigger than most of the women these days. They may not think I’ll work hard enough. But I will. I worked hard at the last place I was, but my size isn’t going to change.” Abby didn’t look in Harriet’s direction. She had no idea how the women would react to her confession.
“Why would they think that? You’ve lived through everything that’s happened and are still alive. That alone would tell anyone that you can take care of yourself.” Harriet grabbed Abby’s hand. “You’ve got calluses on your hands that prove you work hard. Hell, I feel inadequate next to you. My calluses aren’t anything like yours.”
Ab
by threw a quick smile the other woman’s way. “I bet your brother refuses to let you do much of anything if he can get away with it. It’s obvious that he loves you and is protective.”
“Yeah, but I’m not coddled or spoiled. It takes both of us to survive. That’s why I admire you so much. You’ve done it all by yourself. That takes a lot of determination and even more guts. Life is dangerous alone.”
“Thanks. I’m really glad we met. I hope we’ll still be good friends once we reach this new community.” Abby stopped and gave the other girl a quick hug before Harry could fuss about them holding things up.
Both of them were silent for the next hour until Thad stopped them to rest. He’d found a nice shady spot among some boulders and a large tree leaning over the top of the large rocks. It provided them a sort of hiding spot while they rested.
“Harry, I’m going to check ahead some. I think there’s a stream around here somewhere. The grass and trees look healthier here, so there has to be a water source nearby.” Thad took everyone’s water bottles once they’d had a long drink.
“I noticed the animal tracks have picked up a lot, too. You’re probably right. I’ve got it here.” Harry settled down on a log.
Thad handed him the rifle. “I’ve got my knife.”
Harry didn’t argue this time. He just nodded at the other man.
Abby was glad that the two of them seemed to be getting along better. It wasn’t that she didn’t think they liked each other. She just felt some tension early on in their journey. She wondered if Harry felt a little threatened by the other man. Thad did seem a little more experienced in the wilderness than Harry did.
“Har, check the map and see where we are and how much longer we have until we get there. My legs are getting Charlie horses from all of this walking.” Harriet stretched out her legs in front of her and leaned back on her hands.
“I doubt we’ve gotten more than five miles since the last time I checked.” Harry’s exasperated expression amused Abby.