Betting the Farm (7 page)

“Fritz, I’m not ready to face those questions yet.” She
tilted her head back to look at him, touching his face, smoothing the obvious
frown line from between his eyes with her thumb. “Can you be patient with me?
Please, just for a little while longer? I understand how you feel, I do.
They’re domineering and self-righteous, just like always. But they’re still my
parents. I have to take this one step at a time to keep the peace.”

He nodded then pulled her close, tucking her head beneath
his chin as he stared blankly at the wall.

Mitchell Donnelly practically ran Serenity. He held power
over a lot of important businesses and people in this town, not just his
daughter. The one thing Fritz found intimidating about him was the fact that he
sat on the board of Serenity Community Bank, where Fritz’s family had done
business for years. When it came time for them to borrow money, which they
inevitably had to do, Mitchell could make that process difficult if he chose
to.

Kai’s mother was a snotty, uptight bitch whose main goal in
life was to marry Kai into a family as wealthy and influential as her own.
Kai’s happiness didn’t matter. She turned up her nose at common, working-class
folk like Fritz.

If he were to strike oil in the middle of one of his
cornfields, he still wouldn’t be good enough for their daughter.

Kai scratched another rental prospect off her dwindling list
and tossed the pen down in disgust. This time she was too late—the owner had
rented the place two days ago. Before that, it had been an issue with an air
conditioner or a creepy neighbor or a bug problem. Things were looking bleak
for her ever getting out from under her parents’ roof.

“Crap,” she muttered.

“Did you say something, Kai?” Lita asked, breezing into the
kitchen with a stack of folded dishtowels.

Kai tucked away the notepad. “Sorry, Lita. Just grumbling to
myself.”

“I do that a lot. Doesn’t seem to help much,” she replied,
opening and closing cabinets. “Oh my, we’re all out of cream of mushroom soup
and I’d planned to make your father’s favorite baked chicken dish for dinner.
Guess I’ll have to make a run to the store.”

Hearing her mother’s footsteps descending the stairs, Kai
jumped at the chance to escape. “I’ll go.”

Lita’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank you, dear. I
despise the grocery store. Sometimes I feel like I live there.”

“How many cans do you need?” Kai asked, grabbing her purse
and car keys.

“Go ahead and get six, then I’ll have extra.”

“Six it is.” Kai waved over her shoulder as she pushed open
the back door, headed for the garage.

Fifteen minutes later she was standing in an aisle at
Kroger, plastic basket clutched in one hand, her wallet in the other. She found
herself staring at a wall of soup while the constant
beep beep beep
from
the cash registers lulled her into a catatonic state. The colorful cans blurred
into one of those hidden picture posters where any minute now her eyes would
cross and the image of a leaping dolphin or a pirate ship would emerge.

Good heavens.

Is this what her life had become? Absolutely no idea where
she was headed, running errands to escape her mother, desperate for any
personal space she could find, even if it was in the aisle of a damn grocery
store?

Kai shook her head to break the spell, and wondered if she
could stomach the tackiness of buying a six-pack and drinking it alone in her
car like a closet alcoholic. Fresh tears stung the back of her eyes. She sighed
with disgust, sick and tired of being such a pathetic crybaby, and vowed it was
the last time she succumbed to this vat of self-pity she’d fallen into.

Her other dilemma was Fritz. He’d made it clear Wednesday
night he wanted her back.
I was the first man you allowed between those
gorgeous thighs of yours, and I intend to be the last.

Remembering the intensity in his eyes when he’d said those
words, the way he’d kissed her afterward, made her cheeks flush with renewed
heat.

But right now they were swept up by undeniable lust. Could
he get past the old hurt and love her? Trust her? Kai was certain it wouldn’t
take much for her to fall head over heels in love with him again. The second
time around could be different—richer, deeper and much more powerful. It was
already starting to consume her. But if it didn’t work, it could be devastating
to them both.

She knew what Fritz expected. He wanted her out from under
her parents’ roof and their influence and on her own. He hated that Kai hid
their relationship from them, that she wouldn’t confront them about it, be
defiant and bold. Be the old Kai. Before she could step out on that limb
though, she had to find her footing, had to know that if she slipped, the fall
wouldn’t destroy her.

“Kai?” a female voice asked, startling her enough to drop
the empty basket from her grasp. She blinked her eyes into focus. It was
Fritz’s mother, Ruby. “I thought that was you.”

“Ruby! Gosh, it’s good to see you,” Kai gushed, relieved it
wasn’t anyone else, except for maybe Fritz himself.

Ruby stepped close, holding out her arms for a hug, a
bright, genuine smile on her face. It wasn’t hard to see where Fritz inherited
his dark good looks. “You too, sweetie.”

Ruby smelled homey, like air-dried laundry and…fresh
peaches? She’d probably been canning the fruit. She smelled the way a mother
should, comforting, not at all like expensive perfume and self-importance.

The differences between Ruby and Elizabeth were like night
and day. Whereas her mother spent a fortune each month on keeping her brown
hair gray-free and perfectly styled, Ruby’s hair was unfussy, the longer
chestnut tresses pulled back in a casual ponytail. Around her familiar face,
silver was threaded through the strands but it only made her that much more
attractive to Kai. She wore simple gold hoop earrings and virtually no makeup.
A natural beauty. Elizabeth never left the house without diamonds, lipstick and
Chanel No. 5.

The same went for their styles of dress. Elizabeth wouldn’t
be seen in anything that lacked a designer label. Growing up, Kai had fought
with her mother constantly about her own clothing, preferring to fit in with
the other kids at school and not stand out with the pricey things her mother
bought and hounded her to wear.

Today, Ruby had on a pair of worn jeans, faded red Keds and
a simple, sleeveless button-up blouse. Elizabeth would sooner die than wear
denim. What she didn’t understand was that those prejudices made her that much
more unapproachable and closed-off. It made her seem colder.

Kai ignored the pang of guilt at feeling that way toward her
mother and perhaps held on a bit too long to Ruby, but it felt wonderful to be
hugged by this kind, endearing woman. To know she held no grudges toward Kai
for leaving her son.

Reluctantly, Kai pulled away. Ruby grabbed her hand, squeezing
and not letting go. Kai swallowed hard, fighting more ridiculous tears. “How’re
you and Joe?”

“We’re doing fine. Joe’s under my coattails all the time
since he’s turned most of the business over to the boys.” She laughed. “Fritz
told me you were back.” Ruby’s eyes searched Kai’s face, seeing too much, she
was certain.

“A little while now, yes.”

“For good, I hope,” Ruby said.

“For good.”

“I’m glad.” Ruby squeezed her hand once more before turning
her loose.

“Me too.”

“Well, I have to get home and finish baking a cake. It’s
Eli’s birthday tomorrow. We’re having the family celebration tonight.” She
reached out and brushed Kai’s hair back over her shoulder. “Why don’t you come
too, Kai?”

Wanting to accept but unsure if she should, Kai nibbled at
her bottom lip.

She already missed Fritz. It had been not quite two days
since he’d dropped her off at her front door with a long, hard kiss and no
spoken expectations. Her father had been in bed but her mother was still awake.
She’d glanced up from buffing her nails, a suspicious look on her face. Kai had
ignored her, climbed the stairs and went to bed, exhausted and satiated from
hours of lovemaking.

“Oh, Ruby. I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to intrude on such
a special occasion.”

Ruby fluttered her hand dismissively. “Don’t be silly.
You’re welcome at our house anytime and that includes special occasions. Please
come. I haven’t seen you in so long and I have to put up with those aggravating
boys of mine all the time. It’ll be nice to have another female in the house
for a change.”

“Then I’d love to,” Kai said, feeling her sullen mood lift.
“Can I bring something?”

“Just that lovely smile of yours.”

Kai couldn’t stop herself from hugging Ruby again. “What
time should I be there?”

“Say around five? You can help me frost Eli’s cake. I’m
terrible at it.” She grimaced.

“Five it is then.”

* * * * *

Fritz parked his truck in his parents’ drive, right next to
Kai’s shiny, cherry-red Camaro. Her being here didn’t come as a surprise. After
all, his mom had called earlier, bursting at the seams to tell him she’d bumped
into her at the grocery store and invited her to dinner. Ruby had ulterior
motives transparent as a sheet of clear glass.

He sat for a moment, getting a surge of teenage eagerness in
check. He wanted to see her again. See her heart-stopping smile, touch her soft
skin, breathe her honeyed scent deep. Two days had felt like two years. Kai had
called him last night and they’d stayed on the phone for an hour, laughing,
talking, flirting. It made him ache to have her back in his bed again, for
good.

Perhaps it was foolish of him to jump back into a
relationship with her, but in truth, he was powerless to stop it. That’s the
way it had always been between them, since the day he’d sat down beside her in
eighth-grade science class. Inevitable. Undeniable.

He stopped on his parents’ back porch, letting the magnetic
sound of feminine laughter wash over him from inside the kitchen. Fuck, he was
such a sap. He snuck in through the screen door and hid in the laundry room,
enjoying the easy conversation between his two favorite women.

They were gossiping about old man Charlie Kilgore’s ugly
plaid pants, and the rumor that the pastor of Serenity Baptist Church had been
seen last week with a prostitute. When his mother mimicked the pastor’s wife’s
high-pitched voice, he burst out laughing, giving away his hiding spot. As soon
as he stepped around the corner, his mom popped him on the butt with a wooden
spoon.

“Ow!” he squawked, rubbing his stinging ass cheek and
winking at Kai. Pink bloomed on her cheeks prettily. It took all he could do
not to grab her right there in front of his mom and kiss her senseless.

Today she wore a bright yellow sundress with narrow straps
over her shoulders and a row of tiny white buttons down the front shaped like
daisies. The dress hugged her torso just enough to show off the shape of her
breasts, then flared into a full skirt at her trim waist. Her hair hung loose
around her shoulders in soft curls. How could looking so innocent still be so
sexy? Fighting the need to touch her, he shoved his hands deep inside his
pockets.

“That’s what you get for sneaking around, listening in on
private conversations,” his mom said, shaking the spoon at him while trying her
best to look stern.

“Oh, please. You two were gossipin’ so don’t go denyin’ it.
You should be ashamed of yourselves, talking about poor ol’ Charlie’s pants
when the whole town knows he’s color-blind. And Pastor Shanahan was only trying
to save that hard-workin’ woman’s lost soul.”

Kai giggled. Fritz shook his head at her, telling her with
his eyes she was driving him crazy with want. But damned if she didn’t drag her
index finger through the bowl of leftover cake frosting and offer it to him,
wicked little wench that she was.

He stepped close, holding her gaze while he grabbed her
wrist and sucked her finger clean, taking an inordinate amount of time to
tongue the soft skin. Her top teeth clamped down hard on her bottom lip and her
eyes got that smoky look he knew meant she was turned-on too. Good. He wanted
her to stay that way until he could get her alone, which he had every intention
of doing as soon as this birthday dinner for his big brother was over.

When his mother started talking again, he let Kai’s hand go.

“Ha! Being color-blind is not an excuse for bad taste. He’s
had those same pants since 1972. And as far as the good pastor goes, no one
believes he was saving that woman’s soul at a seedy motel that rents rooms by
the hour,” his mother said. She had a point. “Where are Sage and Eli? Dinner’s
almost ready.”

“Sage is over at the barn finishing paperwork and Eli’s on
his way,” Fritz said, admiring Kai’s handiwork on Eli’s cake. He grinned at
her, nodding toward the iced cake. “Nice work, Martha Stewart.”

She dabbed frosting on his nose. “Don’t mock my
masterpiece.”

Snagging a dishtowel, he wiped his face. “I wasn’t! It looks
good, better than when mom does it.”

“Fritz!” Kai said.

His mom laughed. “It’s true, Kai. I make a good cake, but a
mess of the frosting. Why do you think I begged you to do it?”

“But at least you put forth the effort to make them a
homemade cake, Ruby. I don’t know when I’ve ever had—” Kai stopped herself, her
lips pressing together as if trying to trap her words while she took the empty
frosting bowl to the sink.

Fritz and his mom exchanged a knowing look behind her back.
He hated that for all the money her family had, Kai seemed to have missed out
on simple things like homemade birthday cakes. Just because his mom’s cakes
weren’t picture-perfect didn’t mean she hadn’t poured her heart into making
them since he and his brothers were babies.

Kai’s parents might think spoiling their kids with lots of
expensive gifts made up for the personal touches. It didn’t, at least not in
Fritz’s eyes, and judging by Kai’s reaction to him teasing his mom about her
cake-decorating skills, she felt the same way. It broke his heart to know she
had wanted those gestures from her folks and never got them.

“Fritz, would you mind setting the table while I go up and
check on your father? I don’t hear him moving around, which means he fell
asleep after taking his shower,” his mom rambled, changing the subject. He
wanted to hug her for saving Kai from the awkward moment.

“’Course not,” he replied while watching Kai scrub the bowl
hard enough to leave grooves in the plastic.

As soon as his mom left the room, he wrapped his arms around
Kai’s waist, pulling her softness back against his chest. “You look beautiful,”
he whispered in her ear. He felt the tension seep from her body as she relaxed
into him. “I need a kiss, honey, and I can’t wait ’til later to get it.”

Smiling, she dried her hands and turned around, sliding them
up his arms and around his neck. “Who am I to deny such an earnest request?”

Kai’s mouth tasted as sugary as the icing she’d teased him
with. He loved the way she gave in so readily, melted against him like candle
wax, pliant and warm. She whimpered when he pressed his tongue past her lips,
deepening the kiss. Fritz squeezed her tighter, slid his hand over the firm,
rounded cheek of her ass, snugging her closer.