The Crown Jewels

by Honey Palomino

  As if to answer my question, Crit walked in the door, his arms full with two boxes of produce. He put them on the counter, and turned to scan the diner. Our eyes locked, and my heart skipped a beat. There was something about Crit that caused an extreme physical reaction every time he was near me. It never failed.

  Today, though, there was something different in his eyes. Something that I hadn’t seen for a long time. In fact, I hadn’t seen him look like that since his parents died. I wanted to run to him, and hold him in my arms until all the little wrinkles on his forehead had disappeared.

  Stop it, I thought to myself. Don’t let him under your skin again.

  As he walked over to our table, I tried to resist his magnetic pull, reminding myself of his rudeness the last time we talked.

  Don’t give in to him, Ruby Rae, I thought, trying to push all thoughts of his touch, the long, wild nights of love making, and his passionate kisses that curled my toes, out of my mind. Lincoln’s face flashed in my mind, and I took a deep breath as I tried to keep it there.

  It was no use, though. Crit’s eyes were glued to mine, and my body didn’t listen to a damn thing my mind was telling it. By the time he made it to our table, my panties were soaked.

  He tipped his hat, forever a gentleman.

  “Ladies,” he drawled.

  “Hey Crit,” I said, trying my best to sound aloof. I pulled my eyes away and looked out the window instead of drinking in his powerful arms, his strong body, and the relentless sexiness that oozed from him.

  “Hi,” George mumbled, her mouth full of fries.

  “Hey, sis, listen, we need to have a family meeting tonight,” he said.

  “I’ve got dinner plans with Beau,” she protested.

  “I don’t care. You can have dinner with him any ol’ time. Be at the house at eight.”

  “But —,” she began. I knew she had cooked a pot roast in her slow cooker, because she had told me all about it before I began telling her about my date with Lincoln.

  “But nothing. Be there. It’s important, goddammit,” he growled, before turning and storming away. Not even a ‘goodbye, Ruby’ or a ‘kiss my ass’ before leaving.

  Fine, I thought. Good riddance!

  He left the diner in a huff, and as I watched his back disappear down the street, I sighed with regret. Regret for all that could have been, and all that never was.

  “What’s wrong with you?” George asked, her eyes squinting suspiciously at me. “You were just brimming with joy about Lincoln, and now you look like you just lost your best friend.”

  I almost did it, right then and there. I almost told George that I had been sleeping with her brother for over a year, that I was madly in love with him, that all I could do was think about him. But then, I thought, what’s the point of telling her now, now that it was over?

  I shook my head, smiled, and lied. Just like I always did. Just like I always would.

  “Sorry, Georgie, but you’re my best friend, and I don’t ever intend on losing you!”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Crit

  I paced up and down the barn aisles like a bull for the rest of the day, ignoring my chores. Luckily, the horses were out to pasture, or they sure as hell would have picked up on my rage and freaked out in their stalls.

  I had no idea what the hell I was going to do. I had tried in vain all day to come up with some idea, some solution, some way to convince this fella to give me the deed to my farm back. It irked my hide to be in this position.

  I felt like a failure, and I hadn’t even done anything to get in this situation. I couldn’t blame my parents, though. They had done what was right for them at the time. They never intended to leave me with this burden. Hell, they never intended to leave us at all.

  They didn’t even have life insurance when they died, leaving us to figure it all out on our own. I was still trying to forgive them for that oversight.

  I sure wished I could go to my Pa for advice, though.

  My siblings would have to do. I had debated whether to tell them what was going on or not, but in the end, I knew it wouldn’t be fair to keep them in the dark.

  It was their farm, too.

  By the time I got all the horses in and fed, the sun was setting in the horizon. I looked over the perfect rows of crops, the land I had worked with my own two hands, pouring sweat and blood every day, doing my damnedest to keep the legacy that my parents had built alive. The thought of losing it all wrecked me. Where would we all go? What the hell would we all do without this place?

  No, leaving wasn’t an option.

  I went into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of whiskey and downed it and then another. Maybe if I could fucking relax a little, I could come up with some solution to all of this bullshit.

  George came in the door fifteen minutes past eight, and Jesse and Seth came in from practice five minutes after that. By the time they arrived, I was pissed and buzzed from the whiskey.

  “It’s about fucking time!” I yelled at them.

  “What the hell, we’re barely late, Crit,” George said, sniffing the air and eyeing the almost empty bottle of Jack Daniels on the kitchen counter. “Are you drunk?”

  “No, I’m not fucking drunk, I just had a few drinks,” I growled.

  “Whatever. What’s so fucking important anyway?” she replied.

  “Y’all need to sit down,” I said. After they had arranged themselves around Ma’s antique dining table, they looked over at me for an explanation. The last thing I wanted to do was tell them the bad news. This farm was the only stability any of us had, and I was about to take that away from the people I loved the most.

  “I got a call from Barnard Johnson the other day,” I began. “Old man LaCroix died.”

  “I heard that,” Seth said. “I guess it’s been a long time coming,” he said, echoing the words of my newly acquired enemy, Lincoln LaCroix.

  “Yeah, I guess, but that’s not the issue,” I replied.

  “Well, are you just going to keep us guessing or what?” George asked, her voice full of frustration.

  “You know what, George? This farm is part yours, and I know you’re all cozied up and married to the Haggards now, but it’d do you good to remember where you came from,” I snapped.

  “That’s a load of bullshit, Crit. You know I do my job here,” she replied, her eyes flashing with anger.

  “Forget it,” I replied. “Listen, here’s what’s going on. Johnson called me because Ma and Pa took out a loan from LaCroix before they died.”

  “What kind of loan? Why would they do that?” Jesse asked. I looked over at my brother, remembering all the pain and heartache we had been through over the last year, remembering the fires, and the look in his eye when he finally fessed up to setting all of them. He had made so much progress in the last few months, and the last thing I wanted to do was set him back. But I had to go on, and hope he was somehow strong enough to handle it all now.

  “I suppose they fell on hard times. We had a few light crops for several years there, and they needed money.”

  “Well, what does this have to do with us?” Seth asked.

  “Ma and Pa never paid LaCroix back.”

  “Well, okay, but he’s dead now, so what does it matter?”

  “I’m not being clear here, I guess. If y’all would stop asking so many damned questions, I could get it all out,” I said, my voice raising higher than I wanted it to. My plan was to keep my cool to avoid worrying them, and I was already doing a piss-poor job of that.

  “Well, go on!” George said.

  “Everyone thinks LaCroix didn’t have any heirs, but that isn’t true,” I continued. “His sister, Lucille, who died five years ago, had a son. So LaCroix has a nephew. I met with that nephew today, and he’s not interested in negotiating.”

  “He lives here?” George asked.

  “No, he’s some fancy investment fella from New York. We ran into him the other day, actually. The guy that was yelling at Sammi
e at Norma’s diner.”

  “That douchebag? He was a total prick,” Seth said.

  “Yes and he still is,” I replied. “As you can imagine, the meeting did not go well, especially not after we kicked him out of the diner. So, like I said, he’s not interested in negotiating and he’s demanding the full payment of the loan.”

  “Well, can’t we just pay it? The farm’s doing alright these days, isn’t it?” Jesse asked, his eyes full of confusion and worry.

  “Unfortunately, that’s not an option,” I replied.

  “Oh, come on, we have a little savings,” George said.

  “George, the loan is a hundred thousand dollars. And this prick wants interest, too, but I have no idea how much that is.”

  “What!” my siblings shouted in unison.

  “Yeah, so now you understand the seriousness of the situation,” I said.

  “Well, what if we don’t pay it back? Olly LaCroix made that loan, not the nephew…what’s his name?” George asked.

  “Lincoln. Lincoln LaCroix.”

  “That guy?” she exclaimed.

  “You’ve run into him, too?” I asked.

  “Well, not exactly. Ruby met him at the saloon the other day, and went out on a date with him. Tall guy? Dark hair? Rich as hell, apparently. He flew her to Dallas for dinner in his private plane!”

  “What did you just say?” I asked through clenched teeth, anger beginning to boil through my veins. “Surely, you’re mistaken, sis.”

  “I doubt it, Crit. There aren’t too many people with that kind of money in Sugar Hill. And she said his name was Lincoln, anyway. Definitely the same guy.”

  I was about to come out of my skin, I was so pissed off. Ruby went out with this fella? Why the fuck would she do that? Why would she cheat on me like that?

  “I can’t fucking believe this,” I replied, continuing to swear under my breath as I stood up and began pacing around the kitchen.

  “Why are you so angry about that?” George asked suspiciously.

  After all this time, for some unknown reason, I still couldn’t tell my sister the truth. But knowing Ruby had gone out with Lincoln just made me crazy. If this fucker thought he was going to take my farm and my girl, he was sorely mistaken.

  “I’m angry because this asshole holds the deed to our farm, goddammit! And I don’t have a hundred thousand fucking dollars to give to him to get it back. As of now, this asshole owns our farm! You should all be pissed!”

  I was screaming now, any sense of calmness about all this bullshit having gone out the window.

  “What do we do?” Jesse asked, his voice so low I could barely hear him. I looked at him, and saw the fear in my heart reflected in his eyes, which only made me angrier.

  “We fight. Because that’s what Hopes do.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Ruby

  My phone rang as I was getting ready for bed. I picked it up and saw it was Crit calling, and my heart skipped. I debated whether I should answer it or not for a second, but couldn’t resist.

  “Hey, Crit,” I answered.

  “So you cheated on me?” his voice roared through the phone, angry and accusing.

  “Excuse me?” I asked.

  “George told me you went out on a date.”

  “Oh. She did? Why would she do that? Well, sure I did, but Crit, nothing —.”

  “—why would you cheat on me like that, Ruby?”

  “Cheat on you? Crit, darlin’, I’m sorry but I’m looking at my left hand right now and I don’t see a ring on it. Hell, honey, you won’t even tell your family you’re seeing me, and to be honest, you’ve been quite rude to me lately. What am I supposed to do? Just wait around for you to call me up in the middle of the night for a booty call for the rest of my life?” Tears stung my eyes, and I fought to keep my voice from breaking.

  “Look, Ruby, you can do whatever you want, but do NOT and I repeat, do NOT, go out with this Lincoln asshole.”

  “You’re telling me to do whatever I want, but just not with this guy? Is that what I’m hearing?” I asked, feeling like my heart was begin stabbed.

  “Yes, that’s what I’m saying. This guy is bad news, Ruby,” Crit said, his voice low and angry.

  “What is it you don’t like about him, Crit? That he has money? That he treats me like a man should treat a lady? He wasn’t afraid to be seen with me, not like you!” I hollered accusingly into the phone.

  “Ruby, I’m not playing around here,” he slurred.

  “You’re not, huh? So up till now, you didn’t care who or what I did, but since you have it out for this guy, for God knows why, you think you can tell me what to do?”

  “Ruby, look, just do me this one favor. Don’t go out with him again.”

  “I’m not making that promise, Crit. Why should I? You have no claim on me, not that you’ve ever even tried to make one anyway. Are you ready to tell your family and everyone else in Sugar Hill that I’m your girl?” I asked, my heart filling with the tiniest bit of hope that he had finally come to his senses.

  “Not yet, Ruby. In time. I can’t deal with this right now!”

  “Well, then I guess we’re at a crossroads, Crit. If I want to go out with Lincoln, or anyone else, for that matter, I sure as hell will. And I don’t intend to ask your permission either!”

  “Ruby Rae, I mean it, goddammit!”

  “I mean it, too, Crit. I’ll go out with who I damn well please!”

  I hung up on him and sat down on the side of my bed. My hands were shaking, hell, my whole body was shaking, and as I laid back, hot, wet tears began sliding down my face.

  I crawled into bed, turned off my phone, and cried myself to sleep.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Crit

  “Howdy, Mr. Rust,” I said to Ruby’s dad. He had opened the door for me and let me in. I had only been to Ruby’s house a few times before. We had preferred to spend time outside of the suffocating air of sadness that permeated from her father.

  “Crit, haven’t seen you in ages, boy, how’ve you been? How’s your folks?” he asked, his eyes glassy and yellow from years of drinking.

  “My folks? They died, sir. Remember? In a car accident,” I said.

  “Oh, damn, I forgot, Crit. I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget my own name!”

  “That’s alright, sir. I understand. Is Ruby around?”

  “She’s in her room,” he replied. “You can go on back,” he said, just as Ruby walked into the room. She looked surprised to see me, and her eyes were puffier than I’d ever seen them. I hoped it was from sleeping and not from any tears I may have caused. I already felt like an asshole for calling her last night. Her bright red curls bounced wildly around her face, and the red and white checkered dress wore made her look like she just stepped out of a magazine. My cock twitched in my jeans, but I ignored it as best I could.

  I pushed the white roses I had picked at the farm at her, and tried to grin. It was hard to smile, not only because I felt like shit after drinking all that whiskey last night, having finished the entire bottle after I retired to my room, but also because there wasn’t much for me to be happy about right now.

  Hell, Ruby was the only light I had in my life these days, and I was doing my best to sabotage our relationship.

  “Thanks,” she replied, looking at me warily. “I’ll put these in some water.”

  She disappeared into the tiny kitchen of the trailer, and I stood awkwardly while I waited for her to return. When she did, I tried to smile again, but I couldn’t help but notice her coldness.

  “Can we talk?” I asked, stealing a glance over at her father. “Alone?”

  “Sure, come on,” she said, walking back to her bedroom with the vase of flowers. Her room was small and completely pink, with clothes strewn all over. She sat down on her bed, and looked away from me, her gaze focused out the window.

  “Ruby, I know you’re mad at me, darlin’. And hell, you have every right to be. I’ve been acting like a bullheaded foo
l and there’s no excuse for that.” I sat down next to her, and gently pulled her chin my way. Her bright green eyes met mine, and I felt my heart skip in my chest. She was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen, and she deserved a lot more than I could ever give her. But I wasn’t about to give her up. She was all I had. “I’m real sorry, Ruby Rae.”

  She didn’t smile, she didn’t say anything, she just sighed and looked at me with those sad green eyes and I felt my heart break, knowing I was the one that put that sadness there. I cursed myself silently, vowing to make everything right with this beauty, if it was the last thing I did.

  “Ruby, please forgive me? I’ve just had a lot on my mind, and I know it’s not an excuse, but I promise not to snap at you like that again. I just got so mad when George told me you went out with that fella —,”

  “I can go out with whoever I damn well please, Crit Hope!” she hollered, so loudly my ears rang a little.

  She said it with such force, such determination, that it almost seemed like she had rehearsed it. But of course she had, I had given her every reason to. Her lip quivered and tears filled her eyes. She lifted her chin defiantly, and instead of upsetting me, it just made me realize why I loved this woman so much.

  She was fiery. A spitfire. My own little firecracker.

  Ruby Rae didn’t back down to anyone or anything, and I loved that about her. Before I could stop myself, my lips were on hers, and I was pushing her back on the bed, lying on top of her and kissing her with a passion I didn’t even know I possessed.

  She moaned beneath me, her lips pliant and soft, letting me kiss her, letting my tongue slip between her pretty pink lips and explore her soft wet mouth. My cock hardened in my jeans till I was throbbing painfully against her center and all I could think about was being inside of her, being close to her, forgetting about everything that was swirling around in my stupid head for just a few minutes and basking in the pleasure of her sweet body.

  Ruby was my escape, my little piece of paradise, and I needed her as much as a sunflower needed sun. I was thirsty for her. Hungry for her. Yearning to hear her moans, to feel her soften beneath me, to feel the soft caress of her hands on my back.