Chapter Eighteen

A few weeks passed, and things were finally looking up for me.

All of my boys were getting along well with Seth, and the bed and breakfast was nearly complete. He’d worked overtime to refinish the hardwood floors and the staircase, and both came out beautifully. All there was left to do now was decorate the rooms and get all of my paperwork in order before I could officially open for business.

And then there was the best news of all. Although the court date was coming up soon, Jeremy seemed to be losing interest in picking Austin up. He’d brought him home early twice recently, citing that he had better stuff to do than watch a kid. Well, that was fine by me. Not only had I documented the incidents for the court, but I was happy to have my son home where he belonged.

In fact, I had hoped Jeremy would bail out on picking Austin up today, since the Jam Session Fair kicked off this morning. Since he was born, I’d always been the one to take him to the fair. But of course Jeremy wouldn’t miss the opportunity to spite me by picking him up. He even got off work early to do so. At least the asshole promised to bring Austin up to the fairgrounds for a little while and let him ride some of the rides. That was something, I guess.

The Jam Session Fair was a fun occasion for people of all ages that featured two things in particular: music and food. Local rival bands performed against one another to see who would be crowned the Jam Session Kings every year while others participated in the jam-tasting contest by putting their best jams on display for the judges inside the tent.

There were rides, concession stands, games, the Jam Session beauty pageant, a pie-eating contest, a fireman dunk tank, and a dance-off for all ages. As usual, everyone I knew would be there. It was our yearly tradition.

It was a hot day, so I wore blue jean cutoffs, a thin cotton shirt the color of sunflowers, and a pair of yellow flip-flops. Seth had on a pair of khaki shorts, a plain white T-shirt, and a pair of sneakers. We walked through the crowd with his arm around my waist, and every once in a while, he pulled me in for a quick kiss. Every time he did it, my heart fluttered.

Seth hadn’t told me that he loved me yet. At least not verbally. But he showed it in all the little things he did. To me, that seemed more important than actually saying the words. But it still would be nice to hear them. Besides, it wasn’t like I’d told him that I loved him yet, either. I mean, I wanted to. But I just didn’t want to be the only one to say it. So I was hoping he’d take the lead at some point.

Hopefully soon.

As we neared one of the concession stands, I spotted Jeremy sitting on a bench looking at his cell phone while Austin sat beside him with a snow cone. Most of it had already melted under the hot sun, and the sticky syrup was already running down his fingers.

“Hey, monster,” I said, smiling at Austin. “What are you doing?”

“Momma! Seth! Look what I got.” He held up his snow cone and more syrup leaked over the edge onto his lap.

“I see that. Can I have a taste?” I asked.

Austin held it over to me, and I took a big sip off his straw so the syrup wouldn’t spill over the edge anymore. Well, at least not until it had melted down some more, anyway. “Mmm. That’s good. Blueberry?”

“Yep, it’s my favorite.”

I smiled and ruffled his hair. “I knew that already.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes. “You ready to go jump on that bounce thing,” he asked Austin, diverting his attention away from me.

“Yeah!”

Jeremy got up to leave, so I gave Austin a quick kiss on the forehead. “Be sure to stop by the bathroom on the way and wash your hands and face. You don’t want to get the other kids sticky while you’re on the jump castle.”

“Okay, Momma,” Austin said, waving as he left with Jeremy.

I gazed up at Seth, who had fire blazing in his eyes. “Ya know, every time I’m around that prick, all I want to do is rearrange his face.”

I patted his chest, in hopes of calming him down. “I know. But that wouldn’t help the situation any. Just ignore him.”

“Hard to do when the guy is all but asking for a fist to his face.”

I lifted onto my tiptoes and brushed my lips lightly across his. As I started to pull away, Seth captured the back of my neck and brought my mouth back to his in a steamy kiss that had my toes curling.

An older woman’s voice came from behind me. “Woowee, girl, don’t just give it away for free. Make that man earn it.”

I recognized the voice immediately and laughed as I turned toward the lady who, for some strange reason, thought she was a grandma to all of us. “Hi, Momma Bell,” I said, waving to her. I motioned to the man beside me. “Have you met Seth yet?”

He offered his hand to her. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”

Momma Bell ignored his outstretched hand and said, “Sonny, bless your heart. Do you even realize that your horse is almost out of the barn?”

“My what is where?” Seth asked, completely confused.

I glanced down, and sure enough, Momma Bell was right. “Ahem,” I said, nabbing his attention. Then I pointed down to his crotch, grinning because I knew Seth never wore any underwear.

He realized his mistake and immediately turned away from us to zip up his shorts.

When he turned back, Momma Bell continued to look him over, even circling around him and sniffing him like she was a drug dog hooked on cocaine…with him being the cocaine, of course. Hell, I couldn’t really blame the woman. I was pretty hooked on him myself.

“There’s something familiar about you,” Momma Bell said just as she zeroed in on his eyes. “Why, you’re Junior’s nephew, aren’t you?”

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I met you before. Your momma came for a visit during the Jam Session Fair once when you were just a little thing. About Austin’s age, I think. You had to go to the bathroom, but the line was long, so I told your momma to let you water the tree while no one was looking. It sounded like a cow pissing on a flat rock,” she said with a wide grin. “I always said anyone who could pee that loud had to be well-endowed below the waist.”

Seth grinned and gave her a little wink.

Of course he did. The cocky bastard.

Momma Bell cackled and gazed over at me. “Lord a’mighty, I bet you were on that piece of meat like a duck on a June bug.”

Good grief. “Um, I think it’s time for us to—”

“Hold up, girl. I was still talking.” She looked directly at Seth. “So as I was saying, when I met you, you were playing with little Miss Bobbie Jo here when she was a baby. You two rolled around on a blanket for two hours straight, and she wouldn’t leave your side. Now it looks like you two are rolling around together again, but this time, you’re doing it in the sheets while you’re both naked as jaybirds.” Momma Bell cackled at herself. “Fate sure works in funny ways, doesn’t it?”

Seth leaned over and whispered, “Is she being serious? Or has she been hitting the sauce a little too hard?”

“Uh, maybe a bit of both. However, I did meet you back when I was a baby. My mom told me that story the first day she met you at my house.”

“Really?” He grinned. “Guess nothing was going to keep us apart.”

I smiled. “Apparently.”

He nuzzled his face into my neck, and I laughed.

“Oh phooey,” Momma Bell said. “You two should just get a room already.”

Seth lifted his head and grinned. “I like Momma Bell. She gives good advice.”

“Of course I do, Sonny. Why, if my Earl were around, he’d tell you that I know everything. That man was a smart one, ya know? And, since you’re my granddaughter’s new beau, you’ll be seeing lots more of me around, Sonny.”

“Earl was Momma Bell’s husband. He passed away some time ago,” I explained.

Seth lowered his voice and whispered, “On purpose?”

I nudged him with my elbow as Momma Bell’s attention drifted.

He grunted and said, “Does she realize my name is Seth and not Sonny?”

“Just go with it,” I whispered back, stifling a giggle.

“Hell no,” he whispered. Then his voice rose. “Well, Momma Bell, it was nice to meet you. We should really get going now,” Seth said, pushing into my back to get me to walk.

But Momma Bell wrapped her loose-skinned arms around both of us and crushed us together in a group hug. By the time she released me, I was pretty sure that one of my ribs had splintered off and punctured my lung. “Oh, look. There’s my little Jakey,” she said, waving at Jake and Emily as they passed by. She turned back to us. “You two don’t be gone long. I want to spend some time getting to know my new grandson, Sonny.”

“Okay, Momma Bell. See you later,” I said as we walked away, thanking our lucky stars that she didn’t stop us from leaving.

Seth waited until we got well away from her before he spoke. “Bobbie, I’m sorry, but if you think I’m going to go back and hang out with that crazy woman, you’re as nuts as she is.”

…

After a while of walking around the fairgrounds and getting sweaty from the trees blocking what little wind there was blowing, I decided to show Seth one of my old hangouts from back when I was a teenager.

The small lily pond with dragonflies darting above it didn’t look like much. But it was deep enough to swing and drop into from the other side of the bank using an old piece of knotted rope that had probably been hanging there since I was little. That ratty rope was eventually going to give out on someone one day. But thus far, it had been holding strong to the large oak tree.

“So this is your little oasis in the woods, huh?”

I grinned. “Yep. It’s a pretty secluded spot. Not many people know about it.”

He pulled me into his arms. “Oh yeah? So you mean we’re alone out here all by ourselves?”

“Uh-huh. Just us. It’s a great place to get…soaking wet.”

“Mmm,” he said, brushing his lips over mine. “I like the way you think.”

“Good, then follow me.” I pulled away from him and climbed up the steep bank with Seth right behind me. When we reached the top where the rope hung looped over a low brand, I grinned. “Ready to show me your best Tarzan move?”

His brow lifted. “Seriously?”

“Oh, come on. You’re not scared, are you?”

The challenge lit a fire in his eyes. “Baby, you know me better than that.”

I laughed and kicked off my shoes before placing them on a nearby rock. Then I grasped a hold of the rope just above one of the large knots, lifted my feet, and swung out over the water, letting go of the rope. I flailed my arms as I dropped out of the air and into the cold water. Then I kicked my way to the surface to hear Seth laughing as he hurried to strip off his shirt.

“That looked like fun.”

I smoothed my wet hair out of my face. “It was. Always has been. Why do you think I loved coming here so much?”

Seth stretched his arm out to grab the rope. His lean, muscular male form sent my tongue wagging. The man had the most amazing body I’d ever seen with all that smooth, dark skin and bulges everywhere the eyes could see. He pulled back on the rope and swung himself out over the water, letting go in time to do a somersault before splashing into the water.

When he didn’t come up right away, I started to get a little nervous. I looked around, but I didn’t see any movement beyond the ripples that his splash into the water had created. Shit. “Seth?”

Something grasped my ankle and pulled me under the water. I kicked back to the surface to see Seth there laughing at me. I splashed him. “Damn you. Don’t do that. You scared the crap out of me.”

“Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.” He reached for me and pulled me against him. “You forgive me?”

I wrapped my legs around his waist and clutched at his brawny shoulders. “I guess so. But don’t do it again. I hate being dunked underwater. My boys used to always do that to me when we would come out here.”

“You came out here with the guys?”

“All the time. We always had so much fun together.”

His jaw tightened. “Like this,” he said, pressing his hard length against me through our clothes.

“No. We were just friends. Mostly.”

“What do you mean mostly?”

“Well, uh…Jake and I used to date back in high school. I lost my virginity to him.”

His lips pursed. “Don’t tell me that. You’re going to make me not like the guy anymore.”

I grinned. “That was a very long time ago. You have nothing to worry about. He’s married to Emily and they have Lily together. Jake and I are nothing more than best friends.”

“Would you like it if I said my best friend was a woman?”

“To be honest, no. Probably not. Emily didn’t like it when I first met her, either. I never once blamed her for that, though. I’m glad she gave me a chance to be her friend, too. I hope you’ll be the same way with Jake. He’s a good man and a great friend. The best, really.”

Seth nodded. “I don’t have anything against the guy. Unless he pulls another gun on me. Then we might have a few problems.” He grinned.

“How about we stop talking about Jake?”

“I’ll do you one better. How about we stop talking altogether?” A large hand fondled my breast.

My mouth slid over his as his tongue probed between my wet lips. Our bodies squeezed tighter together, our hips grinding against one another. His mouth moved to my neck as he licked at my skin and then nipped at the outer shell of my ear, sending tingles through my body. I shivered and held my head to the side to give him better access.

As he continued his assault on my ear, I opened my eyes, enjoying the pleasure of his lips nibbling on me as I looked out over the smooth surface of the pond. It resembled glass, mirroring the fluffy white clouds above us and the cardinal chirping in the cypress tree on the opposite side of the bank.

But then something moving caught my eye as it blurred the image on the surface of the water. “Um, Seth.”

“Hmm,” he said, still working on my neck.

The moving object was getting closer, and I could see it more clearly. My body tensed. “Oh shit. Seth!”

He lifted his head, looking mildly confused. “Baby, there’s no way you’re that close to coming just from me kissing your neck.”

“No, damn it. There’s a snake!”

He turned with me still in his arms, which only put me closer to the damn thing. I screamed and started splashing frantically to get away from it. Realizing what he did, Seth shoved me toward the bank and stayed in between me and the snake until it swam directly past him. How the hell he had stayed so calm was beyond me.

I climbed out of the water and headed for my shoes that were still on the rock. I was wringing out my hair by the time he joined me. “This is the last time I come here. Why the hell was I thinking this was so much fun when I was younger? It’s dangerous as shit.”

Seth laughed. “We are always braver when we’re younger. Stupider, too.”

“I don’t know. You’re four years old than me and you didn’t seem the least bit scared of that snake.”

He pulled on his dry shirt. “Sweetheart, I’ve swam in the Amazon River with crocodiles, caimans, predatory fish that could swallow a man whole, and snakes a hell of a lot bigger and more dangerous than that one.”

I shook my head. “God, you sound just like the other boys. I’m starting to agree with Emily. You’re all fucking crazy, you know that?”

He grinned and wrapped his arms around me. “Crazy about you.”

My heart stopped. Was that his way of telling me he loved me? I wasn’t entirely sure, but it sounded like it to me. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part. Either way, I was glad to hear it. Because I was crazy in love with him. Even if I still refused to say it first. “Why don’t we head home to finish what we started?”

He kissed me. “I love the way your mind works.”

We made our way out of the woods behind the fair grounds and headed straight for the parking lot. Seth had parked my truck at the end of a row, and by the time we got there, it was already starting to get dark.

He opened the driver’s side door and motioned for me to get in, swatting me on the rear as I started to climb up into the truck. But I froze halfway in when my eyes fell on something disturbing. Austin’s little spotted stuffed bull that he named Cody was stuck to the dash with a large knife sticking out of him.

“Oh my God. What kind of sick joke is this?”

Seth maneuvered around me to see what I was looking at and climbed up into the truck. He pulled the blade out of the stuffed animal and then handed me the toy while he twisted the knife back and forth in his hand. “Fuck. It’s not a joke.” He rubbed a hand across his distressed face. “Damn it.”

Confusion swamped my body. I probably shouldn’t have left my vehicle unlocked, but who the hell would do something like this? “I don’t understand. What’s happening?”

He shook his head. “I’ll explain later. Right now we need to go.”

My head snapped up at his urgent tone. “No. Tell me what’s going on. Now, Seth.”

“Later,” he repeated, his tone even more demanding. “Right now we need to get to Austin.”

“Austin?” My whole body stiffened at hearing my son’s name, and my heart pounded against my rib cage. “Seth, what are you saying? Are you telling me my son’s in danger?”

“Yes.”

Fear and panic bubbled up inside of me. “Why? Who did this?”

“There’s only one person I can think of. Bishop.”