Loving Lauren (18 page)

Chase felt Lauren relax against his chest and wished the night would go on forever. She felt so good next to him, and she smelled sweet as he placed soft kisses along her hairline. It was all he could do not to pull her into a dark corner and take what he wanted from her. She sighed and slowly turned towards him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Then she slipped up onto her toes and started placing soft kisses along his jaw line. His eyes slid closed as he pulled her lips up to his.

He backed her up a step until she was pinned between him and the fence. His hands roamed over her until he couldn't stand anymore. The light material of her skirt and top did little to hide her curves. He wished they weren't just a few steps from the largest crowd in Fairplay.

“Lauren.” He pulled back and cupped her face so she would look up at him. “Come back to my place with me tonight.” He held his breath, waiting for her response. Her eyes fluttered open and for just a moment, he thought she would say yes. Then she closed her eyes and shook her head.

“I can't.” She let out a deep sigh and rested her head on his shoulder. “I wish it was all that easy, but I just can't right now.”

He pulled back a little more as she snuggled into his chest. Looking off towards the town, he wished he had someone to blame, but knew the mess she was in was more his fault than anyone else’s.

“How about we go back in and get a few more dances in?” He closed his mind to the possibilities of the night and settled his mind on just enjoying every moment he could with her.

She looked up at him and smiled. “I'd like that.”

Two hours later, Chase drove up to the little house alone. It had been years since he'd been with anyone. To be honest, it felt longer when he was with Lauren. He couldn't seem to control his desires and felt like he was fumbling around like a high school kid instead of a man almost in his thirties. When he got out of the truck, he heard a loud noise off toward the next little house in the row of ranch houses.

Loud voices carried across the empty space and he listened for a while as two men argued. When he heard fists hitting bone, he rushed towards the noises to break up the fight. He didn't expect to see Jimmy, Lauren's foreman, lying in the porch light on the ground with a younger, but much larger, man sitting on top of him, pummeling him til the older man was no doubt unconscious.

“Hey.” He rushed over to the side of the house and started pulling the larger man off Lauren's foreman. “Knock it off.” It took some doing, but finally he pulled the man off. When the heavyset man started swinging in his direction, Chase planted two quick jabs into his ribs and sent the man falling back two steps.

Jimmy moaned and Chase looked down at the man for a split second. He didn't see the blow that took him down, but woke a few minutes later to Jimmy shaking him. “You okay, Chase?” Chase shook his head clear and tried to focus his eyes.

“Son of a...”

“Hey now, it's not his mother's fault.” Jimmy sat in the dirt next to him. “That boy is the spawn of his father. My sister tried the best she could. Nothing would have turned that boy around.” Jimmy shook his head and leaned his hands on his knees.

“I'm sorry, Jimmy.”

The foremen looked over at him. “Don't worry about it.” He started to get up and Chase rushed to help him stand. He'd been cold cocked, but the other man had been pummeled. “Well, come on in and get cleaned up. I might have a beer in the fridge for you.”

“Thanks.” Chase followed Jimmy past the other buildings until they reached the first and largest of the houses. He knew that Jimmy had been foremen on the ranch since Lauren's father had run the place. Other than that, he didn't know much about the man.

He followed Jimmy through the door and noticed how clean the place was. It looked like a woman lived there. There were small yellow pillows on the bright blue couches, a vase of flowers sitting on the coffee table, and there was even a small, white lace doily sitting underneath the vase. He didn't think that Jimmy was married. Maybe he was seeing someone?

“BJ likes to stop by a few days during the week,” Jimmy said when he noticed Chase's attention to the feminine details. “We've been seeing each other for a few years now.” He smiled and tested his jaw a few times. “Damn kid almost took my jaw off.” His smile fell away.

“What were you two fighting about?” Chase took the cold beer Jimmy handed him and popped the top and took a drink. The cold fluid felt wonderful on his back teeth, which still felt rattled.

“This and that.” Jimmy shrugged his shoulders. “I found out he was stealing from the other hands and fired him. I guess he was pissed.”

Jimmy walked over and grabbed a cloth off the counter, then sat down on the couch. Setting his beer down on the coffee table, he started wiping the blood off his mouth, then put a bag of frozen peas on his face.

“There's no cause to beat someone up. Here…” Chase set his beer down and walked over to the other man. “I better have a look. You could have a concussion.”

“Naw, I've been on the losing end of plenty of fights. Had plenty of concussions falling off a bronco before, as well. I'm just rattled a bit. I guess it hurts more when it's family doing the swinging.” He shook his head and Chase sat next to him on the couch.

“Yeah, I remember getting into a fight with my cousins once. They live east of here a ways. I don't get to see them often, but a dozen years back one of them started talking bad about someone I knew and the next thing I knew I was on top of him. He was twice my size at the time and a few years older, so naturally I didn't stay on top for long.” Chase smiled a little. “But a few days later, we made up and everything fell back into place.”

Jimmy shook his head. “I don't think Hewitt is one to easily forget. Besides, I knew when I hired him on that the boy was pure trouble. I should have sent him packing when he disappeared last weekend.”

Chase's mind cleared a little. “Last weekend? The weekend Lauren went up to the cabin?”

“Yeah, I'd taken all the hands to the east ridge. We'd lost a lot of the pine trees along there to beetles last year.” He shook his head. “It was a mess. Had to practically rebuild the whole damned fence. Anyway, Saturday morning I went to check up on Hewitt and he was gone. Stayed gone until we got back to the ranch and found him sitting in the loft, drunk as a skunk.”

Chase thought back to the man who'd tried to break into Lauren's tent. It could have been Hewitt, but it had been too dark to really know.

As he walked back to his place, Chase couldn't stop comparing the man from last weekend with Hewitt. Had they been the same man? Jimmy mentioned that he'd fired Hewitt, which was a good thing. He would just have to make sure the man was gone first thing tomorrow. He didn't like knowing that it could have been a lot worse had he not gone along with Lauren. He walked around his small rooms for a while. Buddy was curled up on the dog bed Chase had bought for him. The bowl of food and water sat next to it. The small dog had put on a few pounds since he'd rescued him. He knew he'd have to watch his weight since he only had three legs, but he could still use a few more pounds to get to a healthy size.

Chase switched on the TV set, but his mind just wouldn't shut down, so he decided a nice long walk would do him some good. Grabbing his light jacket, he headed out, not knowing he was aiming for the main house.

Lauren sat on the front porch swing, waiting for Alex to get home. She didn't like the way she'd handled things and wanted to talk to her sister and try to smooth everything out. She'd showered and changed out of her skirt and blouse and had put on her comfortable cotton Dallas Cowboys PJ bottoms and a t-shirt. She had grabbed her dad's cotton pullover as she walked out the front door to ward off the chill in the air.

She could see the clouds building in the night sky and knew that by tomorrow evening they'd have heavy rain. The fields could use the break and so could she. Late summer rains were the best. Even though the temperature hardly ever dropped lower than seventy even after a storm, it was still a nice change from the pounding heat that came every day.

Her mind sharpened when headlights turned into the driveway. She frowned a little when she saw it was Travis's truck. It stopped a few yards back from the house, and she could see her sister waving her hands around, then she got out of the passenger side of the truck and slammed the door. The truck spun out in the gravel and took off back down the drive at high speeds.

“He hates it that you wait up for me, you know.”

Lauren smiled a little as her sister stepped onto the porch. “I know.”

Her sister leaned on the railing and crossed her arms, then tilted her head. “You're not my mother, you know.”

“I've never claimed to be. I just want what's best for everyone.”

“And you think Travis isn't what's best for me?” For the first time in months, she could see her sister thinking about things.

Lauren took a deep breath and released it. “I think you're still young enough to find someone who fits you perfectly. Like what mom and dad had.”

“I can barely remember them together.” Alex looked off towards the barn. Lauren stood up and walked over to her sister, putting her arms around her.

“They used to dance in the kitchen. She'd be humming a tune and he'd sweep her off her feet with a kiss.”

Alex chuckled. “I remember walking in once and seeing her slap dad's hands out of her cookie batter.” Lauren smiled.

“They never fought. Dad never raised his voice to her. Lauren turned her sister until she looked directly in her eyes. “And Dad never cheated on mom.”

Alex pulled back a little. “Travis has never cheated on me. The one time he did get with someone else, we'd broken up. But now that we're back together...”

Lauren shook her head. “I'm not going to stand here and tell you what's right for you. I realize it's not my place. Just know that I love you, sister. You have to find the right man for you. The one that's going to make your knees weak and turn your insides to jelly.” They smiled at each other.

“Mom always used to say that about dad.” Lauren nodded in agreement.

“That's what she wanted for us. All of us.”

Alex stood there for a moment, then hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

“Thanks. Good night.” Alex walked to the door and pulled the screen door open, then stopped and looked back at her. “Lauren?”

“Yes?”

“I see what Chase does to you. Don't be fooled. That man is crazy for you and I think...I
know
you feel the same way about him.” She smiled and pulled the front door closed behind her.

Lauren leaned against the railing and wrapped her arms around herself, thinking of Chase.

“Is she right?” came a deep voice behind her.

Lauren squealed, and spun around. All the air in her lungs got knocked out of her. Dingo let out a happy bark and rushed to his side. The dog was always letting him sneak up on her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as he stepped into the light of the porch. Then she noticed the large bruise running down the left side of his jaw. “Oh!” She rushed over to him. “How did this happen?”