Heart of Clay (35 page)

When Josh first introduced Jenna to his
family, she and Callan hit it off immediately. Now, they were close
friends and often planned fun activities together. Clay and Josh
had been friends for years and, as Josh learned about farming, he
appreciated the experience and wisdom his brother-in-law
offered.

Carefully climbing out from under the
machine, Josh took off his ball cap and gloves, setting them on the
swather step. He tugged off his T-shirt and wiped at the sweat
streaming down his face and chest. It was certainly warm for early
May. With a mild winter and an early spring, the hay had been ready
to cut earlier this year than usual.

Hot and thirsty, Josh wished he’d remembered
to bring along something to drink. Rather than take a break, he
decided to get back to work and finish this field along with one at
the end of their road today. He wanted to have plenty of time to
spend with Jenna when she arrived home.

He swiped his soggy shirt across his face
and looked across the road again. A profusion of colorful flowers
bloomed in baskets hanging from the porch and in beds along the
front of the house. He promised Jenna he would faithfully water her
flowers while she was gone and so far had only forgotten to water
them twice. Although he had farming in his blood, Jenna had
gardening in hers. He willingly gave her full credit for doing all
the work in the yard that made their house an inviting home.

Josh thought he might be hallucinating from
the heat as a familiar figure walked across the lawn his
direction.

It couldn’t be Jenna. She wasn’t due home
until tomorrow. Maybe he’d lost a day somewhere. He frantically
tried to remember if he’d left any major messes in the house and
concluded only his lunch dishes in the sink and yesterday’s dirty
clothes on the bedroom floor could get him into trouble.

Convinced he wasn’t seeing things and it
really was his wife, he jumped over the fence and jogged across the
road.

“Babe.” His voice sounded husky as he swept
Jenna into a tight hug and swung her around in a wide circle. He
breathed in her warm vanilla scent, soaking in the sight of her.
“I’m so happy to see you. You’ve been gone for half of
forever.”

Jenna laughed as he held her close, enjoying
the feel of being in his arms again. There was no place on earth
she liked better than in Josh’s strong and capable arms. Three
weeks was too long to be away from him.

“Oh, I bet you didn’t miss me at all.” She
offered him a teasing smile when he finally set her back on her
feet, feeling a little off-balance by his affectionate welcome. She
inhaled his unique masculine scent, mixed with sweat and the smell
of fresh cut hay. The combination was oddly appealing.

“You have no idea how very much I missed
you,” Josh said in a gravelly voice. He placed his hands on either
side of her face and lowered his head, claiming her lips in a kiss
that assured her how very much she was missed. “I love you so much.
Always have, always will.”

“Josh, what’s gotten into you?” She took a
step back and tried to catch her breath as her heart began to beat
in an accelerated tempo.

Her training wrapped up a day early and she
couldn’t wait to see Josh. She flew into Portland that morning, ran
by the office to complete some required paperwork, stopped at the
grocery store, then hurried home. As she drove down their road, she
watched Josh climb under the swather. Hurriedly unloading the
groceries, she traded her business suit for a T-shirt and shorts,
made a pitcher of lemonade, and started over to see if he could
take a break.

When she walked across the front yard, she
was surprised he jumped across the fence shirtless and hatless. She
wouldn’t ever grow tired of watching him move and work. Swarthy was
the word she often thought best described him. If he had a flowing
white shirt, sash at his waist, and an eye patch, he could easily
be mistaken for a swashbuckling pirate.

Tall and muscular with olive-toned skin,
broad shoulders, and narrow hips, she had mistakenly thought he was
a dignified urbanite when they were dating. Little did she know
that beneath those expensive tailored suits hid a finely sculpted
body of someone accustomed to hard physical labor.

Josh could be polished and refined when he
dressed in his “city duds,” as he liked to call them.

Despite what she thought she wanted when
they were dating, she much preferred seeing him relaxed and at
peace in the country. Jenna long ago decided that her husband was
most wickedly handsome when he was dressed as he was today in snug
jeans, shirtless, with scuffed boots.

The swanky goatee he grew while she was gone
pushed his raw appeal up to a completely new level and drew her
attention from his bare chest to his chin.

She took another step back to study it and
tilted her head from side to side, trying to decide if she merely
liked it or absolutely loved it.

Josh caught her studying gaze and stuck out
his chin, rubbing his whiskers with his hand. He turned his profile
to her and smirked.

“What do you think? Does it add to my
dashing good looks?” He shot her a roguish grin.

“You are too cocky for your own good, Josh
Carver,” Jenna said in a feigned huff. “Just for that, you can get
back to work while I enjoy a glass of cold lemonade.”

Jenna turned and managed to take two steps
toward the house before Josh grabbed her around her waist and swept
her into his arms.

“Not without me you don’t.” His lips
plundered hers as he carried her into the house. He loved holding
Jenna close in his arms every bit as much as she enjoyed being held
close to his heart.

After walking inside the front door, Josh
set Jenna on her feet then stooped to pull off his boots in the
foyer, leaving his soggy T-shirt there as well. He followed Jenna
through the cool of the house to the kitchen, surprised to see a
plate of sugar cookies on the counter along with two glasses.

“Looks like you were expecting company,”
Josh teased, raising an eyebrow at the treat. As he stepped over to
the sink to wash his filthy hands, he noticed the trail of hay
leaves and dust floating behind him. Shooting his wife a panicked
glance, he started to backtrack and apologize but Jenna waved her
hand at him.

“It’s fine, Josh. Wash up and sit down. A
little hay and dust won’t throw me completely off kilter.” Jenna
smiled as she poured the lemonade.

Surprised at her acceptance of the dirt,
Josh washed his hands then sat on one of the swiveling bar stools.
Jenna usually pitched a fit if he dragged any mess inside the
house, but she didn’t seem concerned at all today. Maybe she missed
him more than she cared to admit.

“I want to hear all about your trip.” Josh
leaned back and munched on a cookie. He listened to her talk about
the training, the people she met, and places she visited. He sensed
there was something she refrained from telling him, but she’d get
around to it when she was ready. Josh glanced at the kitchen clock
and decided he better get back to swathing. The afternoon was
half-gone and he still had a lot of work to do.

“Thanks for the break, babe.” Josh set his
dirty glass in the sink and wrapped Jenna in another hug. “I’m so
glad you’re home. If you want, I’ll take you out for dinner
tonight.”

“I think I’d rather stay right here, with
you.” Jenna pulled his head down for a sizzling kiss that made them
both struggle to catch their breath when they finally broke apart.
“I can’t tell you how nice it is to be home. The peacefulness of
your wretched farm has finally gotten to me. I’d forgotten how loud
cities can be at night.”

“That just goes to show what good clean
living can do for you,” Josh joked as he walked back to the front
door. While he tugged on his boots, she ran into their bedroom and
snagged a clean T-shirt for him.

“Your other shirt doesn’t look like it will
make it through the rest of the day and we can’t have you showing
off all your goods to anyone who might drive by,” Jenna teased,
holding out the shirt, emblazoned with a logo from a popular
implement dealer.

Josh yanked on the shirt and smiled down at
her. “Who do you think would drive by since we’re the only people
who live on this dead-end road? I don’t think you’re worried about
unexpected visitors. The problem is you’ve been gone so long, Mrs.
Carver, that you’ve forgotten just how irresistible your husband
can be. Admit it, you’re utterly overwhelmed by my dashing good
looks and considerable charm.”

“Oh, you conceited thing.” Jenna swatted the
seat of his attractive posterior and gave him a shove toward the
door. “Don’t you have some hay that needs your attention?”

Before Josh sauntered out the door, he
turned back and gave Jenna one more long kiss, their lips tasting
of lemonade and sugar. “I love you, babe. Welcome home.”

She watched him jog across the road and
waved when he climbed back in the swather’s cab.

Josh finished cutting the field just before
dinner and called Jenna on his cell phone.

“Hey, babe, can you come pick me up? I want
to move the swather to the field across from the Harold place so it
will be ready to go in the morning,” Josh asked when Jenna answered
the phone.

“Sure. I’ll be right there,” Jenna said.
Josh heard the clatter of a lid on a pot in the background. “Just
let me turn off the oven.”

Josh drove the swather to a field at the far
end of their property. The acreage he’d purchased at the end of the
road belonged to a man named Henry Harold, so now he and Jenna
referred to property as the Harold place.

In addition to the small acreage, it
included a four-room house and a barn with a corral. When Josh got
to the point he could afford a hired hand, he thought the house
would come in handy. As it was, he hoped to hire some help for the
summer and planned to discuss the possibility with Jenna.

After shutting down the swather, he climbed
out and walked across the culvert at the entrance into the field.
He waited a few minutes for Jenna to arrive. When she failed to
appear, he started walking toward home. Although it wasn’t quite a
mile, he was tired and didn’t relish the thought of trekking home
in the heat. He’d gone about a quarter-mile when Jenna charged down
the road on their four-wheeler.

The first time he tried to get her to drive
it, she refused to go faster than ten miles an hour because it
stirred up too much dust. Now, she drove it with dust billowing
around her, as if she was in some kind of race and planned to win.
She turned the four-wheeler around, stopped in front of him, and
slid back so he could drive.

“I thought maybe you forgot about me.” He
looked over his shoulder at her as he shifted into gear and drove
home. “Either that or you decided to make sure I was exhausted by
the time I got in the door and too tired to consider any
extra-curricular activities this evening.”

“Neither one.” Jenna hugged him around the
waist and scooted closer, resting her cheek against his back.
“Callan called as I was walking out the door and I couldn’t hang up
on her.”

“Why not?” Josh questioned jokingly. “It’s
not like the two of you don’t talk every day as it is.”

Josh stopped by the back door and gave Jenna
his hand as she climbed off the four-wheeler. He stepped off and
stomped his boots to dislodge some of the dust then they walked
into the mudroom. He removed his dirty clothes before entering the
house.

“Do I have time to take a shower?” He paused
in the kitchen as Jenna washed her hands at the sink.

“If you make it quick. Dinner is more than
ready. I’ll have it on the table in a minute,” she said, hurrying
to dry her hands and push a pan back onto a warm burner.

“Quick, got it.” Josh hustled into their
bedroom, jumped into a shower, and washed away the dirt and grime
of the day. He might not mind being hot, sweaty, and dirty most of
the time but he liked to be clean when he ate dinner and spent time
with his best girl.

In five minutes, he was back in the kitchen,
dressed in clean jeans and a T-shirt, smelling of soap and his
aftershave. Jenna wondered how he could have possibly shaved that
fast and quickly looked to make sure he still sported the goatee.
To her relief, it still beckoned to her. She might have to mention
to Josh how much she liked it.

After setting their plates on the counter,
they sank onto the bar stools and Josh gave thanks for their
meal.

“So, what did that sister of mine want?”
Josh asked as he picked up a piece of warm buttered bread and took
a bite.

“She had some good news.” Jenna turned to
him excitedly. “Some very good news.”

“Is it final?” Josh set down his fork and
bread, looking at Jenna. “It’s all finished?”

“Yes! The judge finalized the paperwork this
afternoon. Isn’t it amazing?” Jenna sighed in happiness over the
good news Callan shared.

For the past sixteen months, Callan and Clay
had been guardians of their two young nieces. They spent the better
part of the last year trying to adopt the girls. The proceedings
would have gone smoothly and ended quickly except for the
involvement of Callan and Josh’s brother Bob and his wife. For
unknown reasons, they fought the adoption every step of the
way.

Bob and Donna’s only child, Melanie, ran off
with a drummer she met in a club in Portland. She left behind
signed divorce papers as well as documents granting all parental
rights for her two daughters, Audrey and Emma, to her husband. Ted
tried to keep the girls for a few weeks but finally asked Callan
and Clay if they would watch them for a while until he got back on
his feet. Another month went by before he signed over parental
rights to them and moved away.

Callan and Clay were thrilled. Not that
Melanie and Ted abandoned the girls, but that they would finally be
able to give Audrey and Emma a stable home. Since they were unable
to have children of their own, they had often taken the girls on
fun outings or invited them to spend the weekend.