Trusting Them (22 page)

A small moan pulled him back to the present. She was dreaming and squirmed in her sleep. He wasn’t sure what she dreamed about, but it wasn’t pleasant. He didn’t want her to have bad dreams. Brock bent over her and kissed her cheek.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty. You’re having a bad dream. Wake up.”

Her eyes opened and she stared at him without really seeing him at first. Finally, her eyes cleared and she smiled up at him.

“You were having a bad dream,” Brock said. “What was it about?”

She hesitated for a fraction of a second. “I don’t really remember that much about it.”

“Jeni? Don’t lie to me. I would hate to have to turn you over my knee.” Brock arched an eyebrow at her.

“Well, I really don’t remember a lot. It was about Glenn.”

“Honey, you don’t have to worry about him ever again. First, because he’s in jail and will be for a long time. Second, because Brady and I will always keep you safe.”

“Always?”

Was it his imagination or was her voice quivery when she asked that?

“Always. As long as you are with us, we will make sure no one hurts you again.” Brock hoped he could keep that promise. He would do his damndest, that was for sure.

“I believe you.”

Those were three of the most beautiful words he’d ever heard.

Brady bent down and kissed her forehead. “I promise, too.”

Chapter Fifteen

Jeni woke up the next morning to find herself alone in the bed. A cold draft seeped from somewhere under the covers to her. She shivered and contemplated remaining in the bed all day if it meant not having to get up and dance naked in the living room putting on her pajamas. Still, the fire in the fireplace was dying out, and she needed to keep it going. With a sigh, she climbed out from under the warm covers and scurried to get into her PJs as fast as she could.

Still cold, she hurried up the stairs to the bedroom and stripped off one piece of clothing at a time, only to replace it with something warmer. The thermal underwear turned out to be a godsend, as far as she was concerned. She needed to apologize to Brock about throwing a fit when he bought them for her. Underneath her jeans and bulky navy blue sweater, she finally felt a little warmer. Adding a pair of warm socks and her new boots, Jeni felt ready to deal with the fire and whatever else came her way.

The clock on the bedside table said it was nearly eight o’clock in the morning. Wow! She’d really overslept. Why had they let her do that? Now they were outside without anything warm to eat in their stomachs. She’d just have to make it up to them with lunch.

After adding another log to the fire and poking it until it flamed back up, Jeni wandered into the kitchen. Well, they’d certainly gotten something hot in their bellies after all. The kitchen was a mess in testimony of it. She sighed and began cleaning up the dirty dishes, wiping down the stove and putting away everything left over. How had they managed before she had come along? The place hadn’t been in that bad of shape when she took over. Maybe they usually cleaned up behind themselves but now they knew she would do it for them. Hmmm, she might need to change their mind about that.

The chicken she’d left out the night before to thaw was still not quite there yet. She plopped it in some hot water and let it soak. It wouldn’t take long for it to be ready to cook. She would fry chicken and make mashed potatoes, peas, and cornbread. They could have leftover chicken for dinner that night.

While she waited on the bird to thaw, Jeni peeled potatoes then put them in a bowl of water to keep them clean and white until she got ready to cook them. The peas would cook faster once they thawed out as well but she could put them in a boiler with some water and let them thaw and cook at the same time. All that was left was to make cornbread batter. It could be made ahead of time as well. She mixed it up and covered it until time to cook it.

A stray memory from last night crept inside her head and she shivered. Just thinking about their hands and mouths on her sent her pulse into overdrive. Heat suffused her face and she swallowed around the knot in her throat. If just thinking about them like that got her this stirred up, what would living with them like this for the rest of her life be like?

Could she really keep them happy all by herself? There were two of them and only one of her. Another thought stopped her dead in her tracks. What if one day one of them found another woman he wanted to share his life with? Could she handle that after knowing how it was with both of them? These were all questions she needed to answer before she committed to them as a family. She couldn’t—no, wouldn’t—risk her heart again without knowing the possible outcomes. Then she needed to sit down with the two men and have a long talk. Of course, first she had to determine if they were serious about her, or if this were just a fling.

After checking the clock, Jeni decided it was close enough to noon to start the chicken. There was no way to know when they would come in from outside. She would keep it hot in the oven until they showed up.

Nearly an hour later she had everything cooked and ready for when they got in. Almost as if knowing when the food would be ready, the
thump-thump
of boots on the back porch announced their presence. She couldn’t keep the welcoming smile off her face when they walked into the room arguing over something.

“Hey, there, baby girl,” Brady said as he stripped off his coat.

“Hey, Jeni.” Brock tossed his hat onto a peg then shrugged out of his coat.

“What smells so damn good?” Brady asked, walking over to the stove.

“Chicken. I figured you could use something hot to eat after being outside all morning.”

“Oh, that we can,” he said.

After lunch, they huddled in the living room by the fire. Brady and Brock discussed the condition of the cattle and the weather report they’d listened to on the radio earlier. The worst of the storm was over but the bitter cold air would be with them for a few more days.

“So when do you think the electricity will be back on?” Jeni asked.

“Could be tomorrow or next week. Depends on where the break in the line is and how close it is to us.” Brock hugged her close to him.

“You getting stir-crazy?” Brady asked with an odd look on his face.

“No, just thinking about how long we can go without doing laundry. We’re covered for food since you have a gas stove, but clothes might be an issue in a week.”

“We can wear our jeans over and over again as long as they don’t get cow or horse shit on them. Same with the shirts.” Brock nuzzled her neck with his nose and mouth.

“Not underwear though,” Brady admitted. “Got to have clean underwear every day.”

“I guess I can hand wash those in the sink and dry them by the fire.” Jeni thought about it and nodded her head. “Yeah, that will work.”

“I don’t want you scrubbing clothes with your hands like that. They’ll keep till we get electricity, or we can go without.” Brock scowled at her and Brady.

“I don’t mind washing underwear out in the sink, Brock.”

“No woman of mine is going to use her hands like that. That’s why there are washing machines.” Brock walked away from them.

Jeni stood with her mouth open. What had he said? His woman? She looked over at Brady but the other man wouldn’t look her in the eye.

“What is going on, guys?” she asked.

“Nothing. I’m going back out to check on those calves.” Brock disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later the back door slammed.

“Brady?”

“Let it be for now, Jeni. He cares about you—you know that, don’t you?” Brady said.

“No, I guess I don’t know what either one of you feels. You’ve never told me.”

“We could say the same thing about you. Do you care about us, Jeni?”

“Yes, Brady. I do. You both mean a lot to me. I don’t go around having sex with two men and not feeling anything for them. That would make me a slut. Are you calling me a slut?” Jeni could feel red hot heat fill her face.

Brady’s eyes flew wide. “You’re not a slut. Don’t you ever let me hear you say that again.”

“That’s what I’m beginning to feel like.”

Jeni stomped out of the living room and up the stairs to the bedroom. She fumed while pacing the room. They thought she fucked them for the fun of it. Yeah, it had been fun, but it had been intimate too. She thought they’d shared more than just sex. Maybe she’d been wrong all along. Maybe she needed to leave while she still had an ounce of dignity left.

Only she was stuck for now. One, she didn’t have a car and two, the roads were iced over. She couldn’t demand they take her to town in this weather. What was she going to do? Tears began falling from her eyes to roll under her chin. She brushed at them, anger replacing the hurt. She wasn’t a floozy to be used then shoved aside when things got too close. That was what Brock was doing. He didn’t want to discuss feelings or where she stood with them, so he’d walked out. Well she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

She stormed back down the stairs and swept into the living room to give Brady a piece of her mind, only he wasn’t there anymore. Fine, she’d find both of them and give them a piece of her mind.

Her coat hung on one of the pegs by the back door. She pulled it down and shoved her arms into the sleeves. Then she pulled on the gloves and grabbed the hat, plopping it on her head. Wrenching open the kitchen door, she stomped out onto the porch and promptly slipped and fell flat on her back. It knocked the wind out of her. She lay there gasping for breath and disbelieving her bad luck.

Finally, she was able to roll over to all fours and crawl to the wood pile frozen solid to the porch. She used it to pull herself back up until she was standing once again. This time when she took a step, she was cautious. Instead of taking off across the yard to look for the men, she eased off the porch and tested the crunch of the snow for ice beneath it. At this rate, they would be coming back inside for the night before she even made it out to the stables.

After what seemed like hours, she opened the stable door and checked for them inside. There were three horses left in stalls. She guessed the men had ridden out on the rest of them. She really didn’t even know how many there were supposed to be. If they had taken horses out somewhere, she would never be able to find them. That wasn’t acceptable. Since she didn’t know how to ride a horse, she would keep checking around until one or both of them showed back up. She was not going to sit in
their
house waiting on them to grace her with their presence. The longer she thought about it, the madder she got.

Ice crunched under her feet as she used the fence to steady her. She slowly made her way around the corral to the first barn. Inside were fifteen or so cows that looked young. They were kind of cute, actually. She slipped inside to get a closer look at them. They shied away from her. Thinking she might spook them if she continued trying to follow them, she left that barn and closed the door, sliding the bolt back into place. Then she advanced to the other barn. Inside of it were older cows. These all looked to be dangerous to her, so she didn’t go inside. Once again, she slid the bolt closed.

Where could they have gone? She debated whether to wait on the back porch for them to show up or look around some more. She hadn’t seen much of the ranch other than the day Brady took her around. It wouldn’t hurt to look around a little more.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but the sun seemed to be going down by the time she turned around to return to the house. There had been no sign of the men anywhere she’d walked. Her legs were tired from trying to keep her balance. She’d fallen several more times during her walk, but she’d gotten back up and kept going. It pissed her off that she still hadn’t been able to locate them.

It seemed like it was taking her forever to make it back to the house. She didn’t think she had wandered that far away. The more she walked, the colder she became. With the sun setting, the wind was picking back up and the chill turned downright frigid. She began to worry she was lost but didn’t see how she could be since she followed the fence line the entire time. When her teeth began to chatter she knew she was in trouble. It reminded her too much of when she’d been running from Glenn. Only this time, she might not have anyone to save her in time since no one knew where she’d gone.