Trails of Love

by Melissa Foster

  “Oh my gosh.” Amber set down her fork and said, “I almost forgot to tell you. I had no idea that Beau Braden was your brother. His fiancée, Charlotte Sterling, is one of my LWW sisters.”

  “LWW?” Graham asked.

  “Ladies Who Write. It’s like a sorority, but without all the nonsense,” Amber explained. “We went to school together in Port Hudson, New York, and we lived in the same LWW house. She is such a talented writer, and she’s been through so much, losing her whole family. I’m glad she and Beau found each other.”

  “Beau’s gone through a lot as well. They’re really happy together,” he said. “Did you hear about Char’s movie deal for her book?” Charlotte had inherited her family’s inn, and when Beau had gone there to fix it up, they’d fallen in love.

  “Yes,” Amber said. “My friend Aubrey runs the film division of LWW. She said they’re scouting for locations to film the movie. Charlotte doesn’t want the inn to become that kind of tourist attraction. I suggested that they have Grace write the screenplay. Grace has a conference call scheduled with Aubrey when they get back from their honeymoon.”

  “Wait. Isn’t Char the erotic romance writer?” Brindle asked. “No wonder Beau’s so happy.”

  Graham chuckled.

  “I can’t wait to read her newest book,” Amber said. “Maybe I should ask her to do a signing at the store. She and Janie Hudson could do it together. They’re both erotic romance writers. Which reminds me, have any of you read Janie’s new book?”

  All eyes turned to her.

  “What?” Amber looked innocently around the table. “It was just a thought. Is it a bad idea?”

  “No,” Sable said. “But who knew our sweetest sister enjoyed erotic romance?”

  “It’s always the quiet ones,” Brindle said. “Maybe Amber likes to be spanked.”

  “Ohmygosh!” Amber turned bright red. She reached down to pet Reno and said, “You guys are pigs.”

  “Agreed,” Marilynn said.

  “Sorry, Mom, but the blush is a dead giveaway that she’s not as innocent as you think,” Brindle said.

  “Hey, leave Amber alone,” Morgyn snapped. “I’m sure I blushed, too. If anyone around this table is into that stuff it’s Sable and Brindle. Sable probably chains up her guys and, Brindle, I’m sure you whip Trace into shape.”

  Amber put her hand on Morgyn’s and said, “Thanks, but I don’t need you to protect me.” She sat up a little straighter and said, “What’s the matter, Brin? Jealous? Isn’t that what every man wants? A lady in the streets and a freak between the sheets? Too bad neither of you can fill the bill. It’s a little hard to be considered a lady when you’re blowing through men like the wind.”

  Graham bit back a laugh at the look of shock on her sisters’ faces.

  “Okay, girls,” their father said with a sigh. “Now that you’ve shown Graham how utterly ridiculous you can be, how about we head over to the sink and see if we can wash out your filthy mouths with soap?”

  That earned a round of apologies, and Brindle said, “Daddy, you’re such a softie. Remember when you used to threaten to wash our mouths out with soap? You’d end up making us hot chocolate and sitting around the table lecturing us about the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behavior while we fought over marshmallows and whipped cream.”

  “I see that worked well,” Cade said, earning a round of laughter and setting the tone for the rest of dinner.

  After eating, they all helped clear the table and wash dishes, and then Graham and the girls took the dogs outside. The dogs took off for the barn, and Graham and Morgyn sat on the porch steps, while Brindle egged her sisters on to do cartwheels. It was easy to imagine them as teenagers raising all sorts of hell. Even Amber. She might be quiet, but she had fire in her belly, and he’d bet Pepper possessed the same hidden fierceness.

  “I haven’t done a cartwheel in a hundred years,” Morgyn said as Brindle pulled her to her feet.

  “Can’t we do something else?” Amber suggested.

  Sable plopped down on Graham’s other side and said, “Horseshoes?”

  “I’m leaving, and you won’t see me again until September third. Anything could happen between now and then,” Brindle said. “I want to remember you doing a cartwheel.”

  “And I want to remember you not being a pain. We can’t always get what we want.” Morgyn reached for Graham’s hand and said, “Come on, cracker. I’ll take you down to see my parents’ horses, Sonny and Cher.”

  “Oh no.” Brindle grabbed Morgyn’s and Amber’s hands and pulled them toward the house. “First help me pack; then you can go do the naked-hayloft dance with Mr. Thick Thighs. Come on, Sabe!”

  “Pack?” Morgyn and Amber said in unison.

  Sable snickered as she followed them toward the door.

  “Yes,” Brindle said. “It’s that thing you help your sister with before she flies a thousand miles away.” As Cade and Marilynn stepped onto the porch, Brindle called over her shoulder, “I’ll bring them back in a few minutes!”

  “Don’t take it personally,” Cade said as he sat beside Graham on the step. “I’ve been the odd man out for thirty years.”

  “Where are they off to?” Marilynn asked.

  “To help Brindle pack.” Graham took a swig of his beer.

  Marilynn smiled. “You know Brindle doesn’t live here, right?”

  “I figured as much,” Graham admitted.

  “It’s code for stealing away for girl talk,” Cade said. “Like I said, don’t take it personally.” He headed into the yard and whistled so loud it rivaled Graham’s brother Nick’s whistle, which he swore could be heard from two miles away. The dogs ran up the yard.

  “It’s fine. I’m sure they’re going to miss each other while Brindle’s away.”

  “Speaking of traveling,” Marilynn said, “I hear you’ve been trying to coax my wanderlust girl into traveling far and wide.”

  He smiled at wanderlust girl. “She’s got the soul of a traveler and the heart of an artist. She could gain inspiration from other places and use it in the things she makes.”

  Marilynn looked expectantly at him, brows lifted, head tilted, a small smile tugging at her lips.

  “Okay, you caught me. Selfishly, I’d love to be the one to show her the world,” he admitted. “What can I say? She’s captivated me. But I’m not trying to steal her away from you.” The dogs bounded up the steps and licked Graham’s face. He loved them up while Marilynn tried to calm them down. “It’s okay. I love dogs,” he reassured her.

  Cade whistled again. He threw two balls into the yard, and the pups sprinted away.

  “I’m not worried about you stealing Morgyn away, Graham. Her roots here are deep, but so is her need to be free. I stopped by to see her this afternoon and she told me about your suggestions,” Marilynn said. “Putting her things on consignment at different stores? That’s brilliant. Her aunt Roxie does that with her soaps and fragrances. Morgyn seemed intrigued by the idea, too.”

  “I also suggested she think about buying an old train car and running her business out of that. Once it’s paid off, she’d have no rent to pay. Her monthly overhead would be solely tied to the items she buys and advertising. It would also be a nice testament of her love for her grandfather.”

  “She told me that, too. It was a very thoughtful suggestion, although I was surprised to hear she took you to the train graveyard.”

  “Why is that?”

  Marilynn smiled, gazing out at the dogs as Cade tossed the balls for them again. “Because I know Morgyn seems like an open book, but there are certain things she’s never shared with a man.” She glanced at him and said, “Her love for her grandfather is at the top of that list. When he passed away, he took a piece of Morgyn with him. She was only thirteen, and they were so close. Grandparents aren’t supposed to have favorites, but there was a connection between those two, like kindred spirits. He loved all our kids, don’t get me wrong, but the two of them saw the world i
n ways no one else did.”

  “She speaks of him often.” And now I realize how much of a gift that is.

  “Does she? I’m glad. It’s good for her to share that. She cried for two straight weeks after we lost him, and then one day she disappeared. I was frantic, of course, because she’d been so distraught. I thought the worst. She was gone for hours, and we had friends, neighbors, everyone looking for her. Sable was sixteen at the time and working at the Stardust Cafe. When she got wind that Morgyn was missing, she knew exactly where to find her. You see, Sable comes across tough, but she has a heart as big as the clouds, just like Morgyn. She’s always taken on the protector role for all her siblings. Even Gracie, who’s the oldest. Sable has made it her business to know what her siblings were up to. She knew how hard Morgyn had taken the loss, because she’d taken it just as hard, although she hid it well. Thankfully, she’d been following Morgyn down to the train graveyard for weeks. That day, she found Morgyn in an old caboose and texted us to say she was okay. Then she stayed with her until Morgyn was ready to come home. As far as I know, you’re the first person she’s ever taken there, which means more than you can imagine.”

  “I think I can imagine exactly how special that is.”

  Marilynn touched his hand and said, “You’re good for her, Graham. I realize this is fast for you kids, but some relationships are written in the stars. They don’t need the same time to brew as others. She has so much light in her, and usually people try to tamp it down or bend it to their will. But you let her shine, and I’ve never seen her happier.”

  The girls stumbled out of the house in fits of giggles, and Brindle said, “Oh no. Mom’s cornered your man.”

  “She’s probably telling him embarrassing baby stories,” Amber said.

  “Who are you kidding? Look at him all manly and hot,” Sable said. “I bet she’s begging for grandkids.”

  Graham rose to his feet and reached for Morgyn, drawing her into an embrace.

  “Is my mom scaring you off?”

  “If Sable didn’t scare me off, do you think anyone else can?” He glanced at Marilynn, who was watching them with love in her eyes, and he said, “I might even be up for grandkids.”

  “Oh, sweet girl, please marry that man!” Marilynn said.

  Morgyn’s eyes went wide, and he had to laugh at the worry in them. “Have no fear, sunshine. I’m not in a rush for kids. I’m just getting on your mama’s good side.”

  Chapter Eleven

  GRAHAM AWOKE WITH a start Wednesday morning, surprised not to be blanketed by Morgyn’s sweet, soft body. Over the last several days he’d awoken to find her fast asleep lying on his back, stretched over his stomach, clinging to his legs with her leg across his chest, and a handful of other funky positions. She slept like she did everything else, with zest and vigor—just another item to add to the growing list of what he loved about her.

  He stepped from the bed, listening for clues of what she was up to, and peered over the railing as he tugged on a pair of jeans. “Morgyn?”

  Answered with silence, he went downstairs. The bathroom was empty, and her design notebooks weren’t on the coffee table where she’d left them last night. In their place was a note scribbled on a torn piece of paper that read In the barn! with a smiley face.

  He shoved his feet into his boots and headed outside, thinking about last night. They’d hung around her parents’ house for hours talking with her family about Brindle’s trip to Paris and Morgyn’s business. When Morgyn told them she was worried about whether her merchandise was good enough that other people—strangers in other cities—would want to sell it in their stores, not only had they raved about her work, but they each offered to make a few calls and talk to people they knew who might be interested. They were equally excited about the idea of buying a railroad car from which she could run her business. Graham had seen the prices for old cabooses ranging from two thousand to twenty thousand dollars, and others asking upward of sixty thousand, depending on location and state of wear. If he knew Morgyn as well as he believed he did, then there was only one caboose she’d want, and there was no way that particular one cost more than fifteen or twenty thousand. She was already spending nearly thirty grand a year on rent. In the long run it was a winning concept.

  Music streamed out the open barn doors, and just inside, Morgyn bopped to the music in her fuzzy slippers and one of Graham’s T-shirts, which barely covered her ass as she leaned over a table working on one of her creations.

  “Is this a solo dance party?” he asked as he walked in.

  She spun around, with a hilariously adorable mass of tangled hair and a heart-stopping smile. “I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about all these designs.” She waved her hands toward the surrounding tables, which he now realized were covered with fabrics, bags, jewelry boxes, and other items that hadn’t been there yesterday morning.

  “I’m making fresh stock. The business owners around here will want something new in their stores, and people who don’t know me would probably take my existing stock.” She moved to the other side of the table and placed a thin line of colorful fabric to the seam of a black bag. “What do you think of this? I thought I’d silk-screen a dream catcher on the front in bright blue, white, and gray.” Apparently she didn’t expect an answer because she took his hand and led him to another table displaying several necklaces—some with tiny charms and others with interesting shapes of metal and glass. “I made these this morning, and I emailed Magnolia to see if she’d be interested in taking a few. I thought I’d drive them down tomorrow afternoon along with that chair over there.”

  She pointed across the room to an antique aqua tufted-velvet wing chair. “I adore that chair, and I was never sure what to do with it, but look.”

  He followed her around the table to the back of the chair and was met with an unexpected and gorgeous array of reds, greens, yellows, pinks, and purples embroidered in circular patterns with black accents. Green leaves and small shapes were threaded throughout the design, and it was trimmed in aqua to match the front of the chair. It was magnificent.

  “This is hand-embroidered silk Suzani fabric. It’s a one-of-a-kind tribal textile from Tajikistan. I found it on eBay a few years ago and, like the chair, I was never sure what to do with it. Then you got me thinking outside the box, and look. With the double-welt trim, it’s the perfect backing for the chair, isn’t it? It takes it from boring to wow! See that, cracker? You’ve inspired greatness!”

  He laughed, blown away by everything she’d done. He looked around the barn again. A number of freshly dyed scarves hung on a drying rack. Painted vases and newly embellished picture frames were set up on two other tables. “Sunshine, how long have you been out here? This is all stunning.”

  Beaming with pride, she set her hands on her hips and said, “I don’t know. I got up to pee after you fell asleep and decided to see what I could do.”

  “After I fell asleep? You mean last night?”

  “Yup,” she said with a sexy smile. “Right after I showed you just how flexible I could be.” She wrapped her arms around his middle and said, “I wore you out, and you inspired me. Want to know the best part?”

  “As I recall that was a pretty mind-blowing part. With an encore.”

  “Two encores, but who’s counting? The best business part is that if they don’t sell, then I’ll have new stock for my shop. This is a test.”

  He couldn’t mask his surprise. “Wait. Is my floaty girl actually planning? Strategizing?”

  “No,” she said with a laugh. “I’m testing a market.”

  “Which equates to risk assessment and involves both a plan and a strategy.”

  “I am not planning. I don’t plan.” She grinned up at him and said, “I came out here on a whim.”

  “And then you came up with a plan to create new inventory and test a market.”

  She pressed her lips together, her smile pushing at them.

  “Admit it. I’m wearing off on you.” He li
fted her and set her on the edge of the table, stood between her legs, and kissed her neck. “My floaty girl is seeing the value in risk assessment.”

  “I’m acting on a whim.” She pushed her hands into his hair. “God, I love when you kiss my neck.”

  He sank his teeth into her flesh just hard enough to earn a sinful gasp. He licked over the tender spot, and she moaned greedily, digging her nails into his skin. He bit down again, and she arched against him, pressing all her softness into him. “A whim?” he whispered against her skin. He pulled her to the edge of the table, holding her ass as he ground against her. “For someone who’s not a planner, it sure looks like you’ve worked your sexy little ass off preparing. I was going to reward you for planning ahead, but…”

  He took a step back, and she grabbed his arms, pulling him close again.

  “Do that bite-lick thing again,” she said seductively. “Maybe it was a plan.”

  “Oh, maybe it was…?”

  He lowered his mouth to her neck, earning more needy noises. Her hands moved over his body as he feasted on her neck, her mouth, and then nipped playfully at her lower lip, taunting them both. They’d just made love last night. He should be satiated, but when it came to Morgyn, his desires—and his heart—knew no limits. He didn’t just want sex, although their lovemaking was like nothing he’d ever experienced. His desire for her went beyond orgasms and lustful pleasures. He craved their deep connection, the feeling of oneness and completeness that overtook him when they were together.

  “What do you think, sunshine?” he asked between kisses. “Am I wearing off on you?”

  “Think…? I can’t think.” She tore her shirt off and dropped it to the floor. “The question is, can you?”

  A sound somewhere between a growl and a curse escaped as their mouths crashed together, extinguishing all thought. That was how it was with them. Their kisses led to a world of passion where nothing mattered except coming together. They tore at their remaining clothes, and he swept the fabric off the table and laid her down. Perched above her, he gazed deeply into her eyes, wondering again how he’d ever say goodbye for a day, much less a week, a month, or more.