Dirty: The Complete Series (Secret Baby Romance Love Story) (16 page)

“If
Dad decides to sell off part of the farm later on, he’ll choose someone who it
seems like he can trust,” Tuck said sharply. “Cade—Cade shows me up on
everything all the time! He’s too good, he’s always too good, and he makes me
look like I’m lazy.”

“How
is that
my
problem?” I couldn’t
believe how far and wide my brother’s brain had traveled, apparently without me
even knowing about it.

“That’s
bullshit and you know it,” Tuck said. “Those comments he made about being
motivated. He wants to buy out part of the farm one day when Dad can’t manage
it on his own, and he’s showing me up so that Dad will sell to him.”

I
opened my mouth, realized that I was so stunned by Tuck’s accusation that I
couldn’t even formulate anything to say, and closed it again. I stared at my
brother in complete shock.
What in the
world had gotten that idea into Tucker’s head?

“What
in the world are you even talking about, Tucker Nelson?” I shook my head,
almost completely bereft of belief. “In what world is the stupid plan you’re
talking about even a thing that exists?”

“In
this world!” he insisted. “I know you want stability for Addie. I know you like
Cade. And, I know Cade wants to own a piece of this farm. It’s as obvious as
the damn sun.”

“You
need to get the hell out of my house,” I told my brother. “Go back to the main
house and get some sleep. You’ve been out in the heat too much.”

“This
isn’t just your place,” Tuck said stubbornly. “Mom and Dad own it, and when I
inherit the farm, I’ll own it,” he told me.

“Assuming
that you inherit the farm, I guarantee you that Mom and Dad would never put my
welfare in your hands alone,” I told him hotly. “Get off my porch and go home
right now.”

Tuck
looked for a moment like he was going to keep arguing, but then he turned on
his heel, jumped off of my porch and onto the walkway, and stalked back towards
the house in the darkness. I sighed and leaned against the frame of the door,
shaking my head at the nonsense that had just happened between me and my own
brother.

I
realized I was standing in my own open doorway and went back into my house,
closing and locking the door behind me. I needed to talk to someone about what
had just happened.

I
couldn’t talk to Cade about it—he would just feel guilty, and probably would
worry about the future of his job, with Tuck against him. I couldn’t talk to
Dad about it for obvious reasons. I also couldn’t really talk to any of my
friends about it, since they didn’t even know that I was interested in anyone,
and I didn’t want to share the news of my brother’s irrational attack with
them.

That
left Mom.

I
checked on Addie first. I’d put her in her playpen with the kid-friendly music
station on the TV, and she was playing more or less contentedly, mumbling to
herself. I found my phone and took it into the bedroom with me. I hoped Mom
would be able to talk to me without Dad eavesdropping.

“What’s
up, sweetie?”

I
took a deep breath. “Mom, is Tuck close by? Or Dad? I want to talk to you about
something private.”

“I’m
in the office,” she replied. “Your dad’s watching TV in the living room and
Tuck just came in and went upstairs.”

“Okay,”
I said. My heart was still beating fast from the stress of my argument with my
brother. “I need to tell you about what Tuck was just over here doing.” I told
her about the argument, about Tucker’s accusations, and Mom stayed quiet
throughout the story—so much so that I worried more than once that the call had
dropped.

“Your
brother’s under a lot of stress right now,” she said finally. “I’ll admit, most
of it’s self-inflicted. You were right to make him leave you alone—what you do
with your life is none of his business.”

She
paused and I wondered if that was all she would have to say on the subject. “I
do want you to be real careful, if you’re going to get involved with Cade,” she
said finally. “Make sure it’s what you want, what he wants, and most of all
that it’s what’s best for Addie.”

“Mom,
all we’re doing right now is flirting,” I said. I couldn’t even admit to her
what Cade and I had done the day we’d gone to the movies together. “I’m not
going to get into anything serious unless I’m sure. I’ve learned my lesson on
that score.”

“I’ll
see if I can’t talk to your brother about the way he’s acting without letting
him know you told me about tonight,” Mom suggested. “I’ve noticed his temper is
shorter than usual, especially in regards to Cade.” She sighed. “He’s even
beginning to get on your Dad’s nerves—but don’t tell him I said that.”

I
laughed. “Glad it’s not just me he’s coming down on, I guess,” I said, shaking
my head again at the ridiculous argument. “You don’t think there’s anything in
what he was accusing me of, do you? You don’t think I’d be that sneaky?”

“Of
course not,” she said. “And, you have just as much a right to a piece of this
property when we’re gone as Tuck does. He’ll have to learn to mange himself
properly or he’ll be unpleasantly surprised with how your father settles matters
in his will.”

Mom
changed the subject after that, and I told her that Addie was settling in for
the night. It was nearly time for my daughter’s bath and to go to bed, and
while I was relieved from talking to Mom, I wasn’t entirely sure that I’d heard
the last of Tucker’s insecurities.

Chapter
Twenty

Cade

A
few days after the weird interaction with Tuck over lunch, I had almost
forgotten about it. I told myself that it was just Bob’s son being irritable in
the heat. I’d noticed that somehow Autumn didn’t seem to linger as much
whenever she delivered food or water to us in the fields, but that didn’t seem
all that strange.

It
was heading into a busy part of the year once more, as the combination of sun
and rain encouraged insects and the developing corn and soybeans attracted
other pests, interested in sampling the growing plants.

In
addition to the pesticides and fertilizers we were spraying out in the fields,
Bob had had Tuck and I put out traps. Part of every day’s work was to go out to
the different parts of the fields where we’d put traps out the day before and
check them for critters—mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits, and so on.

If
we’d caught something, we emptied the trap. If the trap was empty with the bait
still in, we left it where it was—it was probably just not an area the pests
were going. If the bait was gone and the trap was empty, we moved it to another
place with new bait. Rats, mice, voles, and the like got bagged up and disposed
of in the trash, while rabbits—assuming they were fresh kills—got gutted,
cleaned, and packed away in the freezer. I had to admit that I’d had plenty of
delicious rabbit stew in my life; and it was clear that Bob didn’t let
anything, even pests, go to waste on his farm.

I’d
finished checking my allotment of traps, moving them around or emptying them as
needed, and had moved on to spraying down my rows. I mostly worked on the new
section, which was half soybeans and half corn.

Bob
had explained to me from the beginning that it was sort of a test site for him:
he wanted to see how much he could make off of the split crops, and then he
might put the whole new section into soybeans the following season.

It
was trickier going with the fertilizers and pesticides than it was in the rows and
fields that were just corn—or the few that were just soybeans—because the needs
of the two plants were different, and spraying the wrong thing on either one of
them could damage half the row.

I’d
been doing pretty well with my assigned sections. Bob had commented on it early
on, thanking me for my hard work and attention to detail. He’d even begun to
float the idea of keeping me on the following year if I was available, which
pleased me. I could certainly take on a few construction jobs in the winter when
the farm was dormant and be ready for more work once it came time to clear and
plant again the following spring.

But
after Tuck’s pointed comments I wasn’t so sure that I was going to push the
idea of being hired on again. I didn’t want to be a bone of contention between
Tuck and his father or Tuck and Autumn.

I
felt more than a little guilty, too, about the fact that Autumn and I had slept
together. In the moment it had felt good—so right, so perfect that I hadn’t
wanted to let her go back home at the end of our tryst. I’d wanted to try and
talk her into staying the night with me, or at least a few more hours, so we
could go at it again.

But
one of the things I had admired about Autumn from the moment I’d met her was
the fact that she was so dedicated to her daughter. I couldn’t expect her to be
anything less, just because it was me she was with.

I
also couldn’t shake the fact that I’d promised Bob Nelson I wouldn’t fall in
love with his daughter, and while I couldn’t exactly say that I was in love with
her—not really—I didn’t think he’d make much of a distinction between true love
and sleeping around, even if it had only happened the once.

I
came to the end of one of my rows and stopped, looking around for the water
cooler that Bob had hauled out to the section we had split between us. Tuck was
on the other end of the fields, taking care of the rabbits he’d caught in his
traps, and I was relieved at the fact that I wasn’t going to have to interact
with him all that much for a few hours.

I
walked over to the cooler, mopping at my face with a towel that I’d kept tucked
in one of my pockets, away from where the chemicals could get to it. It was
heading into deep summer and getting hotter by the day, or so it seemed. I
poured myself a cup of water and drank it down; it was just cool enough to
slake my thirst, without being so cold that it’d give me water cramps.

“Cade,”
I heard Bob Nelson calling. “How’s your section?” I poured myself another quick
cup of water and looked around until I spotted the farmer coming towards me
from his part of the section.

“It’s
looking good, Mr. Nelson,” I told him. “Hot as blazes out already, isn’t it?”

“As
long as we can keep everything watered, I don’t mind a little heat,” he said.
He strode up to the cooler and poured his own cupful of water. “You’re doing
better with it than I would’ve thought.”

“I’m
used to working out in the elements,” I pointed out. “Construction contracting
is pretty much all outdoors.”

“Still,
farming is a bit different,” Bob countered. “I’m pleased with your work,
overall.” Something about the way he said it sent a cold jolt of nerves through
my body.

“Overall?”
I finished off my water and gave my face another quick mop with the towel
before stuffing it into my pocket once more. “Is there something about my work
you’re unhappy with? I’d love to fix it.”

Bob
Nelson drank down his water and met my gaze. “You seem to be spending a pretty
good bit of time around my daughter,” he said. “Some of that’s unavoidable—I
understand. But it looks from my perspective like the two of you are getting a
bit cozy, and I wanted to remind you of one of the conditions I set for your
employment here on the farm.”

“I
remember it well,” I said quickly, feeling guilty at the fact of what I’d done
already. “I promised you that I would get distracted by falling in love with
your daughter.”

“That’s
right,” he said, inclining his head towards me. “I know Tuck’s been on your
case a bit, and I’m sorry I haven’t come up sharper with him about it.” He
shrugged. “But I think it’s legitimate for me to be concerned that you seem to
be at least a little interested in my daughter, after the promises you gave
me.”

I
felt my mouth going dry. At least the heat would excuse me getting some more
water.

I
poured myself a third cup. I might get a cramp later on, but I needed the
lubrication to cover my sense of guilt and shame and nervousness in the face of
Bob Nelson’s confrontation.

“I
don’t want you to feel uneasy about me,” I said, finishing off the water in a
couple of gulps. “I can promise you that I’m not distracted—you’ve seen my work
around the fields…and everywhere else on the farm. You haven’t noticed a bad
change in it, have you?”

He
shook his head, almost grudgingly. “I understand where you’re coming from, but
for both Autumn’s sake, and my own, I want to make sure you keep the situation
in check,” he told me.

If
he hadn’t been my boss—and a man I respected, all things considered—I might
have laughed in his face. Autumn was a fully-grown woman with thoughts and
feelings and needs of her own. Her father wanted to protect her, and I could
understand that, but as far as I was concerned, any man who thought he could
control or protect Autumn against her will was greatly mistaken.

“I
promise you, I am committed to making sure you don’t regret hiring me,” I told
Bob. “If it’ll set your mind at ease, I’ll work harder not to spend quite as
much time with Autumn, at least until harvest-time. Is that okay?”

He
considered the suggestion and nodded. “It’s not that I don’t want to see her
happy, you understand,” he told me. I nodded back to him. “I just want what’s
best for everyone. I got no real complaints with your actual work, and as long
as everything goes the way that it’s supposed to, I’d be happy to hire you back
next year.”

That
was a relief; I didn’t want to ruin my chances at a more steady income through
my foolishness. “As long as you’re honoring your promise to me, there aren’t
any problems between us.”

“I
appreciate it, Mr. Nelson,” I said, setting my cup aside. “I’ll get back to work,
since that’s what you’re paying me to do. That is—assuming there isn’t anything
else you wanted to discuss?”

He
pressed his lips together and took another sip of water. “Don’t worry too hard
about Tuck,” he told me. “My son is sometimes not as polite as he should be,
but he’s got a good heart at the end of the day. This has been tough for him,
since he isn’t used to sharing the responsibility with anyone but his sister.
But I want you to know that as long as you’re doing the work—and following up
on your promise—we’re on good terms.”

“Thanks,
Mr. Nelson,” I said, starting back towards the rows. “Thank you for talking to
me about it, instead of rushing to a conclusion.”

“No
effort at all,” he said with a shrug. “You’re a good employee. I’d like to keep
you.”

I
smiled to myself and stepped back onto the row. “I’d like you to keep me, too,”
I told my boss, before getting back to the work he had for me. It was going to
be difficult to stay away from Autumn, but I was determined not to give Bob, or
Tuck, and reason to doubt my word.

Chapter Twenty-One

Autumn

I saw Cade heading back towards the house just
as I was leaving it. I had decided to take Mom’s advice about making sure that
I took time for myself, and I’d made plans with a few of my friends to just
spend a little time in town.

“Hey, Cade!” He looked up and smiled at me,
and I felt my heart beating faster in my chest, the way that it always did
whenever he looked at me, whenever I saw him smile. “Knocking off for the day?”

He nodded. “Work is just about done, so your
dad said that I could call it. You look nice. Heading into town?”

I felt my face heating up as the blood rushed
into my cheeks and I shrugged. “Just going to meet up with some friends,” I
told him. “Mom agreed to take care of Addie for a few hours, so I could get
away and pretend to be a grownup for a while.”

Cade laughed, coming to a stop a few feet away
from me, at the edge of the porch. “It’s important to remember you’re an
adult,” he said, nodding. “I think even married parents end up forgetting that
if they’re not careful.”

“Mostly, Mom doesn’t want me to get burned out
and have a nervous breakdown, I think,” I admitted. “Also, while it’s not like
they exactly blame me for being a single mom, they’d…” I licked my lips,
forgetting the lipstick I’d applied to them only a few minutes before walking
out of the door. “They’d probably like it if I eventually found someone to help
share the burden, you know?”

Cade nodded again. “It makes sense,” he told
me. “I mean, they see how hard you work, how much you do every day. I’m sure if
I were your parents, I’d like to see you with someone who could help you
—
who could take over some of the stresses.”

“For now, I just have them,” I said, smiling.
“And they’re amazing
—
I’m not in any hurry.” I looked down at my
feet. “After everything that went down with Titan, I mean…” I took a quick,
deep breath. “I guess I’m sort of gun-shy.” I finally worked up the nerve to
meet Cade’s gaze.

“I can get where you’re coming from on that,”
he said. He gave me another quick little smile. “Who are you meeting up with?
And, what’s on the agenda?” My heart stuttered slightly in my chest, and I
couldn’t quite resist the little spurt of hope I felt.

“I’m meeting with Callie Havers, and Katie
Jersik,” I explained. “I think they might have invited Alexa and Paige Mason,
too, but I’m not sure.” I brushed nonexistent lint off of my skirt.

“We were going to check out the new shops in
the mall, maybe grab something to eat and get our nails done.” I gave him a
playful little grin. “You know with as much as you work with your hands, you
could probably use a manicure.”

Cade chuckled. “Can you imagine how much crap
your brother would give me if I showed up tomorrow with manicured hands?”

I giggled. “Yeah, but your skin would be nice
and smooth. That’s the real secret to picking up a lady, you know: nice hands.”

Cade laughed out loud, shaking his head.
“Thanks for inviting me,” he said. He put his stained hand into his pocket and
took his keys out. “I think I’m going to have to pass, though. I’ve got errands
of my own to run.”

I swallowed against the tight feeling that
rose up in my throat at that rejection. It was the third time in about a month
that I’d invited Cade to go with me somewhere that he’d put me off. The first
couple of times it hadn’t been anything terribly social. I’d just asked if he
wanted to come with me to the grocery store or to get something from the
pharmacy for Mom. But it stung nonetheless.