Loving Her (Mitchell Family Series BK9)

by Foor, Jennifer

  “I told her she couldn’t live with us.”

  “I’m so sorry, Mom. I figured she’d be fine with you.”

  “She was fine until I brought up her father. The fact that she’s calling him Tyler is really disturbing me. This can’t go on much longer. If Tyler heard that, he would have been so upset.”

  “I know, Mom. Do you want us to come get her?”

  “No. That’s not necessary. We’re going to take them to see some caverns today. John’s sitting with her now and she seems calm. Maybe she just needed to hear that we really would call you.”

  “If it happens again, please call me.”

  “I will, honey. Tell Ty hello.”

  I hung up the phone and looked at my husband. “So much for her being subtle.”

  “She’s disrespecting your mom now?”

  “Apparently.” I lifted my hands in the air, as if to give up hope of things changing.

  “Do we need to leave?”

  I shook my head and sat down beside him. “No. Mom says that they have it under control. She said she thinks that her calling us did the trick.”

  Ty rubbed his face and kept his hands there. “I can’t believe it’s gotten so bad. She’s obviously acting out. I just hope it doesn’t persist. I mean, how much worse can it get?”

  “Don’t say that. We don’t want to jinx ourselves.”

  Ty stood up and cleared his throat. “Let’s go get something to eat. If your mom says she’s fine, there’s nothing we can do from here. When we get home, we need to get in touch with that doctor again. There’s got to be something we can do to fix this. If I need to stay at my mom and dad’s for a few nights to make her feel better, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything to make her happy again.”

  “Leaving isn’t the answer, Ty.”

  Although, after hearing my daughter, I was starting to wonder if that’s what she wanted this whole time. Was she acting this way to get me to choose between the two of them? I honestly didn’t know anymore, and I was worried more than ever before.

  Chapter 29

  Tyler

  Miranda didn’t know I could hear Izzy calling me Tyler. As much as it broke my heart, I didn’t want her worrying about me when she already had so much on her mind.

  She got ready to go to breakfast in silence, and I gave her some space to clear her head. Unfortunately, it only made things harder for me. There had to be a way to reach out to our daughter. I knew that deep down inside she still loved me. It was clouded by her feeling so betrayed, but it still had to be there.

  We headed off to breakfast, neither one of us wanting to address the elephant in the room. Maybe it should have hurt me that she wasn’t telling me what our daughter had said about me, but I understood her predicament. She didn’t want me to have to suffer any more than I already was.

  Knowing that she’d been able to sense my change in attitude, I knew I had to act like nothing was wrong. We were able to find a place that served the best breakfast, who was also open year round. Instead of waiting in a long line, like we had to do when we went to the beach, we were able to seat ourselves. A few other couples were enjoying their meals, but it was quiet and relaxing.

  It could have just been me, but the longer Miranda went without telling me, the more upset I got. “Baby, I heard what she said on the phone. I know you didn’t want to tell me.”

  She looked up at me, seemingly astonished that I’d heard and waited so long to admit it. “I’m so sorry. She doesn’t mean it, Ty. She’s just actin’ out, and when I see her she’s goin’ to get it.”

  I placed both of my hands on the table and looked down at them. “Let’s just stop. If she’s doing all this to get to me, it’s working. I think we need to act like it isn’t. She’s lashing out because I hurt her, we know that. So I say we take a chance and act like it doesn’t bother us. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll stop acting the way she has been. It’s about attention. If we take that away, she’s got nothing.”

  Miranda raised her eyebrow and I could tell she was wondering where I’d come up with such an idea. “If you think it’s worth a shot?”

  “What else do we have to lose? She can’t hate us anymore, can she?” When I said it I realized that it was causing me to lose my appetite. We were both losing hope, and as far away as we’d tried to distance ourselves, the problem wasn’t going to go away.

  “Alright. When we get back we’ll pretend that we don’t care anymore. No more exercises, no more pleadin’. We’ll just act like she isn’t there and see what happens.”

  “It won’t be easy, baby, but I think it’s worth a try.” I looked up at the waitress who was approaching our table. “Let’s try to enjoy the rest of our weekend. We don’t get to do this that often, and aside from Izzy, we’re having a good time.”

  Miranda reached across the table and ignored the waitress for a second. “We are, Ty.”

  I didn’t know how hard she was trying, but neither of us discussed Izzy for the rest of the morning. We decided to go shopping at some outlet stores, since it was drizzling a little bit and not the kind of weather to sit on the beach and relax.

  There was only one problem with our shopping plan.

  Me.

  I hated to shop. It was so redundant and boring that I had to do things to pass the time. Usually it was things that would embarrass my wife, so much so that she’d promise to never bring me again. In lieu of her forgetting, I decided to make it a shopping day that she’d never forget.

  The first store we went in was a kitchen store. Miranda was looking for some kind of pasta machine for her mother. While she searched, I began browsing the isles. Of course, a clerk came up to me instead of her. “Can I help you find something?”

  I spotted my wife one isle over, giving me that look like I better not do what she thought I was going to. I smiled back and turned my attention to the clerk. “Yes, my wife and I are looking for a special kind of apron. It’s plastic.”

  She guided me over to where the aprons were and started pointing to some. “We have these. Did you need it to be water proof?”

  I could hardly contain myself. After bringing my hand up to my chin and pretending to ponder on her question, I straightened my face and looked right at her. “Actually, not just water proof. We’re into bondage and it can get real messy. I need it to be urine and feces proof as well.”

  Her mouth dropped, and it took everything I had in me to keep a straight face. I felt a tugging on my arm and turned to see that I was being pulled out of the store. Once the doors shut, I got smacked in the chest and the evil eye. “Seriously?”

  “Baby, did you see her face?” I couldn’t contain myself.

  “Yes. She was repulsed. Why must you do this every single time I take you anywhere?” She started walking in front of me, and I hurried to catch up.

  “Come on. It was funny.”

  Miranda turned and looked right at me. She was annoyed, as usual. “Can we please shop like two grown adults?”

  I put up my hands. “Fine! You’re no fun.”

  She shook her head and started walking toward the next shop. Deciding not to push my luck, I did behave in the next few stores. We stopped and grabbed a bite to eat and had two more stores to go in. I was exhausted and tired of carrying the slew of bags around. All I wanted to do was stop at a drive thru and take my wife back to the hotel. We had a perfectly good room waiting to be used, and we were out in the rain, shopping.

  Finally we came to the last store of the day. It was a clothing store, and I just couldn’t contain myself any longer. First, Miranda was shopping for some special bra. I located a clerk, grabbed the skimpiest little outfit they sold, and held it up to my chest. “Excuse me, is there somewhere I can try this on?”

  The woman, who looked to be in her sixties, appeared to be appalled. She tightened her lips and guided me to the fitting room without saying a single word to me. I made sure to thank her for helping me, which made her even more angry.

  I came back out a coupl
e minutes later and caught the eyes of my wife. She looked in my hand and then back at me as I approached the same woman that had helped me. I handed her the undergarment with a straight face. “It just wasn’t what I was looking for. Do you have anything with the nipples cut out? That’s what my lover likes, and I find it so hard to find them in my size.”

  Miranda came over to where I was standing and grabbed me by the back of the pants. I waved to the lady while being pulled out of the store backwards. She had bags in both of her arms, but refused to ask me for help. I was laughing so loudly that people were beginning to watch us. She got me to the car before I was shoved against it. Her finger was up in my face, and I couldn’t stop laughing at her.

  “I asked you nicely, you know.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. You expected me to stand in that shitty underwear store twiddling my thumbs. I was giving that woman something to go home and tell her church group about.”

  Miranda shook her head and threw her bags in the backseat. She climbed into the passenger seat and crossed her arms.

  I got in and sat there for a second before turning to face her. “Come on, baby. Didn’t you see her face? She was starting to have a stroke.”

  Miranda started to laugh, but stopped herself. “Don’t say that.”

  “Fine, she was about to shit in her Depends. You know she was.”

  I didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

  At the same time as me, we both burst into laughing fits. It felt like we were young again, even before we were a couple.

  “You’re still embarassin’, Ty. Now I’ll have to pay full price back home for the same item.”

  I pointed toward the store. “I can go back in.”

  “Forget it. Let’s just head back to the quiet room and get back in that tub.” She leaned over and kissed me slowly, as if she was telling me that somehow she’d gotten turned on by my antics.

  I leaned over enough to kiss her. “So you’re not mad?”

  She shook her head and kissed me again. “No, I’m not mad. I probably should be, but I certainly know who I’m married to. Besides, it ain’t like I have to see that woman again.” She laughed and looked down for a minute. “Plus, I may have sent Van and Amy a picture of you naked on the balcony this mornin’.”

  I pulled away and just shook my head. I should have known she’d send it. When I saw her taking it, I promised that I’d sneak her phone away and delete the photo before she could. She’d always promised that photos had been deleted when they weren’t. I knew how she liked to save them for ammunition. “I’m sure they liked it.”

  “I highly doubt it. Most likely Conner will frame it and hang it in the barn.”

  I rolled my eyes, imagining him getting off on one upping me.

  By the time we rolled into the hotel lobby it was getting dark. We’d stopped by a drive-thru and loaded up to take it back to the room and eat. Our coats were wet from the rain, so we removed them before doing anything else. Once we entered in the elevator and the doors closed, I looked over at my wife, who was already looking at me. I did something without regard in that split second.

  I hit the emergency stop button, and the elevator came to a halt. Miranda’s eyes got huge as she looked around and realized what had happened. “Oh my God! What did you do that for?”

  “What? On television it stops and you can start it right back up.” I pushed on our floor, but nothing happened. After a few more seconds, the red phone for emergencies started to ring.

  “Hello?” Miranda had her arms crossed, and she wasn’t thrilled about our predicament.

  “Sir, we’ve alerted the elevator company of the issue. Are you the only passenger?”

  “No, it’s me and my wife. Can’t you just reset it?”

  “Unfortunately, an elevator mechanic needs to come and reset it. Are there any medical conditions that we need to know about? Are you and your wife okay?”

  “We’re fine.”

  “It might take an hour for them to come. I’m very sorry for this, sir. I’m going to call the manager and see if we can credit your room for one night because of the inconvenience.”

  “That would be great. Thanks, dude.”

  I hung up the phone with a smile on my face, sat down, and started pulling out the food that we’d bought. “You need to sit down, baby. It’s going to be a while before they come.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? How can you be so calm about it?”

  I took a bite of fries and smiled as she sat down across from me. “Because we’re getting our room for free tonight due to the elevator malfunctioning.”

  “Shut up. Are you serious?”

  “Dead serious.”

  She grabbed her food out of the bag and started laughing. “Only you would get so damn lucky.”

  I cocked my brow and smiled. “Speaking of lucky, how about you take off your clothes and give me some elevator sex?”

  “How about you take off your clothes and beg?”

  “Will it get me laid?”

  She scrunched up her face and shook her head. “Probably not.”

  I can’t say I didn’t try.

  Chapter 30

  Miranda

  It took an hour and forty minutes for the man to come and reset the elevator. I almost peed my pants because I had to go so badly. Ty insisted on talking the entire time, and I was ready to drop kick him to knock his ass out for some peace and quiet. Even our phones didn’t have service, so we couldn’t call or talk to anyone.

  My eagerness to get into the room was obvious, and I was pretty sure my husband knew to give me some alone time. He retreated to the balcony without saying anything to me.

  When I came out of the bathroom and found that he was still out there, I decided it would be a good time to take a nice hot bath. I went back into the bathroom and started the water. Once I undressed, I got in even before it had filled up.

  It was nice, feeling the hot water soothing every inch of my body. Within seconds, I was closing my eyes and enjoying the peace and quiet.

  I heard the slider opening and closing, but he didn’t come into the bathroom for another few minutes. When he did, he was completely naked. He walked up to the tub and just stood there. “Can I join you?”

  I moved my legs to the side. “Do you promise to behave?”

  “Maybe.”

  I could tell from his grin that making that kind of promise was hard for him. Ty wanted to be himself around me, and acting like a moron was as real as he got. “You know bickerin’ is a sign of affection?”

  “Duh,” he said as he climbed into the large tub.

  “What were you doin’ out on the balcony for so long? It’s too cold.”

  He grabbed my foot and started massaging it. I closed my eyes and felt like I’d just died and gone to heaven. “I was playing that stupid game. I’ve been stuck on level three hundred for two weeks. I’m ready to throw my damn phone in the ocean.”

  “Would it make me seem old if I just wanted to lay here until we get pruned up? This feels amazin’, and I really don’t want to move.”

  It wasn’t just the foot massage. I was one-hundred percent relaxed, which was something that never happened at home. I wouldn’t want to change my life for anything, but a break like this was definitely something that I’d consider doing again.

  Ty dropped my foot and grabbed the other, working his hands into my sore toes. “I always said you’d turn out to be a cougar.”

  I kicked my foot away from him. “Shut up! Cougars are single. I’m not!”

  He chuckled, getting a kick out of making me freak out. “Okay, but if you were single, you’d totally be a cougar.”

  “You’re hopeless. The next time I come here, I’m coming alone.”

  Ty grabbed my legs and pulled my body on top of his. He wrapped his arms around me and stuck his face down against my collarbone. I felt his lips kissing me, and as much as I wanted to ignore him, I couldn’t help but enjoy the way he made me feel.

&nbs
p; When our lips met, I could immediately feel something growing underneath me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him harder, knowing where this was headed. I was ready and willing to forget about all the times he’d driven me crazy in the past twenty-four hours.

  His touch felt amazing under the water, and I found myself starting to explore his wet skin. I massaged the base of his shoulders while our tongues played together during our full-blown make-out session.

  Things were heating up again, and the pressure growing under my ass indicated that Ty was ready and willing to take things to the next level. Far be it from me to deny him something that we obviously both wanted. I closed my eyes again and reached down, grabbing a handful of his stiff shaft. I couldn’t help but begin to stroke it, getting off on hearing Ty moan. Instead of letting him take control, I positioned him at my entrance and shimmied around before allowing it inside of me. It went in hard, with the water fighting against it. The pressure was intense, so I lifted up until it was almost out and sat back down on top of it again.

  We both made sounds as our bodies reacted to the physical pleasure we were giving each other. Ty reached around and grabbed my ass, squeezing it and using it to set a good pace. Just when it was starting to feel like the room was spinning out of control, he pushed me off of him, shoving me to the other side of the tub, and lifting my legs up against my chest. He slammed his body into mine, splashing the water out onto the floor. This time when he entered me it was rough, and I felt like it was ripping me inside out. He rammed into me harder with each thrust, holding my legs up above my head the whole time. The water kept going into my mouth as the waves came to my side of the tub. I reached for his shoulders and then his neck, tightly putting my hands around it, like he got off on.

  It made it go faster, and the look on his face was nothing but pure lustful intent. He wanted to get off and it sent me into a sexual frenzy. The rougher it was, the more it turned me on. Ty bit down on one of my legs as he pushed them more into my chest. It felt like he was hitting bottom, filling me up as far as it would go.

  I dug one hand into his hair and pulled him in to kiss me, to tease his tongue with mine. I licked his lips, each time pulling away before he could get to me. When our mouths finally met, I couldn’t hold in the pleasure any longer.