by Terri Osburn
Kyra touched the hair above Molly’s ear. “She’s a Farmer. She’s one of us.”
Temper rising, Carrie said, “She’ll never be one of you. Ever.”
“You’re such a bitch. Patch should have left your ass years ago.”
“I wish he would have.” Pushing through, she added, “Noah will be looking for us.”
“You think you have him wrapped around your finger, don’t you?”
Ignoring the taunt, Carrie kept moving. Footsteps echoed on the hardwood as the hateful girl followed.
“He’ll get tired of you soon.”
“Go to hell, Kyra.”
“I’ve already fucked Noah once,” she snarled, lip curled in rage as she beat Carrie to the steps. “He’ll come back for more. They always come back for more.”
Refusing to believe the lie, Carrie kept her voice even. “Get out of my way. Now.”
“It’s a good thing that kitchen table of his is sturdy,” she said. “You know the one, right? With the yellow top and ugly red chairs?”
The color drained from Carrie’s face.
“Oh, you believe me now, don’t you? Noah has a hearty appetite. And you will never be enough for him.”
Pointed heels clicked down the stairs as Kyra disappeared into the party without a backward glance. Knees weak, Carrie slowly sank down to sit on the top step. Drums beat in her ears as a headache raged to life behind her temples.
Kyra had to be lying. Noah wouldn’t do that. He wasn’t that guy. But how else could she have described the table? The night they’d talked about Molly seeing Patch’s family, he said he’d run into Kyra. Right. Ran into her naked in his kitchen.
Unaware of how she’d gotten down the stairs, Carrie found herself standing on the edge of the crowd as someone carried a yellow cake into the dining room. The gathering broke into song, but she didn’t join in. She didn’t cheer when the candles went out. Or get in line to taste the main dessert. Carrie didn’t do any of those things. Instead, she remained in the foyer, staring straight ahead but seeing nothing. Her body felt heavy. As if someone had filled her veins with cement.
She didn’t move for several minutes until Noah appeared in front of her.
Snapping his fingers, he said, “Hello? Anyone in there?”
Carrie blinked, and when Noah reached for Molly, she jerked the child away.
“I want to go home.”
“Now? Ma hasn’t opened her—”
“Yes,” she interrupted. “I want to go now.”
Noah put his hand on the small of her back, but she stepped out of reach.
“Babe, what’s wrong?”
“I want to go home,” she repeated.
Tears threatened to shatter her control. Not tears of sadness, but tears of rage. She’d picked the wrong man. Again.
“Okay,” he said, tone soothing as if he were dealing with a hysterical child. “Let’s tell Ma that we’re leaving.”
Carrie shook her head. “You tell her. We’ll be in the car.”
“Hold on,” Noah said. “We can leave together.”
But Carrie was already out the door.
Noah tried several times to get Carrie to talk to him, but she wouldn’t stop staring out the damn window. He touched her knee, and she smacked his hand away. By the time they reached the main road to the farm, his patience had worn thin. What the hell was he supposed to do if she wouldn’t tell him what the problem was? And what could have happened between the time she left him on the porch and when she came back downstairs.
The answer was obvious.
Kyra.
The little menace must have found Carrie alone upstairs. But what did she say? If she pulled that shit about Carrie being the reason Patch was dead, Noah would strangle her himself. Whatever it was, he wasn’t about to drag the answer out of Carrie with Molly nodding off in the backseat. The minute he parked in front of the trailer, Carrie burst out of the car. The same time she opened the back door on her side, Noah opened the opposite one on his.
“I’ll carry her in,” he said.
“I’ll get her,” she replied.
“Carrie,” he said, his voice low. “I get that you’re pissed. Go open the door and I’ll take her in. Then we’ll talk.”
“I don’t want to talk,” she snapped, but she did climb out of the car and let him get the baby.
Noah got Molly into the crib and removed her tiny shoes without waking her up. Stepping into the living room, he found Carrie standing with her arms crossed at the end of the coffee table. Wilson meowed near the empty bowl in the kitchen, but his owner ignored him.
“Let’s go outside,” Noah said, reaching for her hand.
“Don’t touch me,” she said, stepping back. “You need to go home.”
“I’m not going home until I find out what Kyra said to you.”
Blue eyes shot up. “How do you know I talked to Kyra?”
Noah ran a hand through his hair, struggling for patience.
“Just come outside so we don’t wake the baby.”
Lips pinched, Carrie stormed onto the porch.
“Do you want to sit?” he asked.
Carrie shook her head.
“Fine. What did Kyra say?”
“You know so much, you tell me.”
“This isn’t a game, Carrie.”
“Are you sure?” she said, a scary smirk on her face. “Maybe this was a game all along. Cuddle up to the widow next door. Make her think you care. That she’s special. And then bang your dead best friend’s little sister on your kitchen table so the tramp would see how it feels to be humiliated. Give her a taste of her own medicine, right? Cheat on the cheater.”
Breathing deeply to control his reaction, Noah locked his hands at his sides. “Is that what she told you? That we had sex on my kitchen table?”
“You know,” Carrie said, mimicking Kyra’s nasally twang, “the yellow one with the red chairs. How else would she know that, Noah?” Waving her hands in the air, she shook her head. “Forget I asked. This is over.”
“This is not over,” Noah growled. “Kyra showed up at my house the day of the bachelorette party. She brought one of Althea’s pies and made no secret that I was welcome to a lot more than dessert.”
“I don’t want to hear this,” Carrie said.
“I kicked her out,” he continued. “But she made it as far as the kitchen, where she set the pie on the table. That’s how she knows what my stupid table looks like.”
“Why would she lie?”
“Have you met her?” Noah asked. “I saw her at the party when I left you with Mom to get the drinks. She said she didn’t get how I could want you over her, and I snapped. I told her I would never want her and that if she dared to talk to you, I’d make sure Lenny grew a nut and left her ass.” Noah ran a hand through his hair as he stalked from side to side. “I should have known that she’d pull something like this anyway.”
Staring at the floor, Carrie said, “So you didn’t have sex with her?”
Wanting so badly to hit something, Noah said, “Even if I’d never met you, I would not have sex with Patch’s little sister. Not only is she practically a child, she’s married. To one of my friends. I’m a lot of things, Carrie, but I’m not . . . that.”
Slamming her hands into her hair, she dropped onto the glider. “I didn’t believe her until she described the table. I knew she had to be lying, but I fell for it anyway.”
Noah crossed the porch to sit beside her, but Carrie bolted up as soon as his ass hit the bench.
“I ruined your mother’s birthday party. I ruined us. All because of that malicious woman. I’m such an idiot.”
“You didn’t ruin anything,” he assured her, but the rant continued.
“I insulted you. I made a fool of myself,” she said, pounding her chest. “What is wrong with me?”
Taking her by the shoulders, he said, “Look at me, baby. Calm down and look at me.”
Shoulders heavy with defeat, she lifted her e
yes.
“The only way Kyra wins here is if we let her. Right?” Carrie blinked, but she nodded. “I’m not letting that happen. How about you?”
“Two minutes ago, I thought the worst of you.”
“I thought the worst of me for the last year,” he said.
By some miracle, she laughed. “I’ve screwed up so many times.” Carrie caressed his cheek. “I want to do something right for a change.”
Drunk on relief and something a hell of a lot bigger, Noah said, “This is right, baby. You and me against the world. You can’t get more right than that.”
“Remind me to thank your mother the next time I see her,” she said, wrapping her arms around his middle.
“Thank her for what?” he asked with a chuckle.
“For making all my hopes and dreams come true.”
Noah didn’t see what his mom had to do with that, but he didn’t say so. Instead, he held his girl tight to his chest and sent off his own thanks to whatever higher power had brought her to him.
Hours after nearly destroying the best thing that had ever happened to her, Carrie drifted off to sleep secure in the arms of the man she loved. They hadn’t intended to fall asleep on the couch, but the emotional upheaval of the afternoon paired with lack of sleep the night before had done her in. And she couldn’t think of a better place to lay her head than over Noah’s heart.
Because he never slept a full night in her bed, she remained clueless to the nightmares. Until this night.
Ripped from a sound sleep, Carrie found herself flying through the air to land hard on her side between the couch and the coffee table. Feeling as if she’d been hit by a train, she slowly rolled onto her bottom and discovered Noah sitting straight up on the couch, covered in sweat, and breathing like a man who’d been running for his life. His eyes were open, but he wasn’t behind them. Wherever his brain still lingered, she knew that putting herself within reach would be a bad idea.
Crab crawling backward, she said, “Noah? Honey? You’re okay.”
No reaction.
“Noah, it’s Carrie. Wake up now. It’s just a dream.”
His chest still heaved, but his breathing slowed. Brown eyes returned to normal before he dropped his head in his hands and wiped his face.
“Carrie?” he said, searching the area with panic in his voice.
“I’m okay,” she said, rolling to her feet, ignoring the pain that shot through her hip. “I’m right here. We’re both okay.”
“You weren’t,” Noah said, shaking his head. “Some guy had you. I couldn’t get out. I couldn’t open the damn door.”
She held his face so he could look into her eyes. “No one has me, baby. I’m right here, and I’m fine.”
He crushed her against him, forcing her to put weight on the injured hip. When she yipped, he said, “What happened? You’re hurt. I hurt you.”
“No. I promise, you didn’t hurt me. I just fell off the couch.”
Unconvinced, he ran his hands over her arms. “Where does it hurt?”
“Nothing hurts,” she replied before shifting to the right and failing to smother the cry of pain.
“Dammit. That isn’t nothing.”
Carrie rose to her feet and tested the joint. “I can put weight on it. See?” She bounced on one leg pain-free. “I might have a bruise from where I hit the floor, but I’ve done worse tripping over my own feet.”
“I hate these goddamn things.” He set his feet on the floor and shoved the hair out of his face. “I haven’t had that one in weeks.”
Seizing the opening, Carrie curled up beside him, careful to keep her weight on the opposite side. “How often do you have nightmares?” she asked.
Noah shook his head. “Used to be every night. Lately it’s been maybe two a week. Less disturbing than before.”
“Lately as in the last six months, or six days?”
“Since we got together,” he replied, taking her hand. “But the one with you and Molly snuck up on me.”
Surprised, she said, “Molly is in the dream?”
“Nightmare,” he corrected. “Yeah. Skipping the details, you’re both in danger and I can see it, but I can’t get to you.”
Out of her depth, Carrie dug for clues that might help get rid of the dream. “You said a man had me. Who was it?”
He let out a long, slow breath. “I can’t see his face. Just a figure. But I don’t think that part matters.”
“No, I guess not.” They both knew that figure represented Patch, even if Noah didn’t admit as much. “What happens in the other ones? The ones that Molly and I aren’t in?”
“The other nightmares are stuff that happened during my time overseas.”
She could only imagine the horror he’d witnessed, but she would never ask for details. “And you say they’ve gotten less frequent? That’s a good thing, right?”
“Yeah, babe. That’s a good thing.” Noah rose to his feet. “I’d better get home and let you sleep.”
Worrying about him in the farmhouse all alone would keep her up the rest of the night.
“Why don’t you stay?”
He turned her way. “What about Molly? What if she wakes up?”
Carrie smiled. “I don’t think she’d mind finding her favorite person spending the night.”
Pulling her off the couch, he said, “Are you sure? I don’t want to mess Molly up.”
Tucking a caramel lock behind his ear, she said, “Go get your toothbrush, Mr. Winchester. I’ll be waiting when you get back.” Lifting her into a kiss, Noah squeezed her hips, drawing another painful grunt. “I may be sitting on a frozen bag of peas,” she moaned, “but I’ll be waiting.”
Noah kissed her again, his touch carefully gentle. When they parted, he looked into her eyes. “I love you, Carrie.”
Breath catching in her throat, she nodded. “I love you, too. Now hurry back so I can show you how much.”
Chapter 19
Three days later, Carrie continued to float several feet off the ground. They’d spent the weekend creating Molly’s first Halloween costume, which turned into quite the debate. Two weeks shy of eleven months old, her daughter would never remember what she wore, nor would she care about the candy. Not that Carrie wouldn’t let her try a sweet or two, but collecting an entire bag of nothing but sugar seemed unnecessary.
Noah disagreed. And in the end, he’d won the argument.
The Ardent Springs downtown merchants ran a trick-or-treating event every year with most of the stores on Main Street staying open later than usual to hand out candy. Snow’s Curiosity Shop would undoubtedly be a favorite this season, since Lorelei planned to give away tiny bags of her most popular cookies. When Noah picked up that tidbit, he’d insisted they start the evening right there.
“Lorelei, wait until you see this costume.” Carrie rocked her desk chair while holding the cell phone to her ear. “I can’t believe he found a leather jacket small enough to fit her. She even has her own transportation. Noah insisted that every biker needs a bike, so he painted her tricycle black and put a horn on it.”
“That man is wrapped around her finger,” Lorelei said.
And Carrie was wrapped around his. Truth be told, he’d won the argument by playing dirty, gaining her surrender seconds before launching her into a mind-numbing orgasm.
“We’ve had two cuties in here already today,” Lorelei said. “A ladybug and a boy wizard. And Snow has gone all-out, as usual. This year she’s a flapper. I think she just wanted a reason to wear her boa again.”
“Mine is still sitting on Noah’s bedroom floor.”
“Spencer cut mine in half, and we put it to good use.”
“Did not need to know that.” Carrie checked the clock. “I’d better get moving. I’m leaving early to pick up Molly. I’ll change her at the day care, and Noah is meeting us at your place with the trike. Hopefully, we’ll get a couple of blocks down before she gets tired and cranky.”
“You guys have turned into a little
family, haven’t you?”
“I guess we have,” she replied. Once upon a time, the word family triggered ugly memories for Carrie. To actually smile when hearing it now was proof of how much her life had changed. “I can’t remember ever being this happy.”
“Maybe you’ll be the next one going on a honeymoon.” Carrie couldn’t imagine her life without Noah, but she wasn’t ready to go dress shopping either. “Oh,” Lorelei added, “I have a present for Miss Molly.”
“You don’t buy gifts for other people when you’re on your honeymoon,” Carrie scolded.
“Says who?”
Excellent question. “I don’t know. I’m sure it’s a rule somewhere.”
“So I broke a rule. Not the first time, and it won’t be the last.”
The office phone rang, and Noah’s cell number showed in the display. “Lor, I’ve got to go. Noah is calling on my desk phone.”
“Is that how it’s going to be now? Drop the rest of us like a hot potato as soon as your hunk of burning love snaps his fingers?”
“I’m going, Lorelei. I’ll see you tonight.” Carrie ended one call and answered the other. “Hey there.”
“Do you know where Mike is?” Noah asked.
Not the romantic greeting she’d hoped for. “He’s with an inspector over at the church project.”
“That explains why he isn’t answering his phone. We have a problem out here.”
Carrie straightened. “What problem?”
“This isn’t good.”
“Noah, tell me what’s going on.”
A sigh echoed down the line, and Carrie could almost see him running a hand through his hair. “The plumber started working on the new bathrooms and discovered that the pipe leading out to the septic tank is disintegrated. As far as we can tell, the entire line, start to finish, needs to be replaced.”
So they needed to replace one pipe. That didn’t sound so bad. “Okay. Then put a new one in.”
“It isn’t that simple. We’ll have to break through the floor in every room, remove and replace the pipe, and then repair the floor. On top of that, it’s safe to assume the septic tank isn’t any good either.”
“The shelter has to have a septic system. The city doesn’t service out that far.”