Friday night, Rand stood in her kitchen, surrounded by all the Calhoun sisters, and several of their friends, including Jamie, listening as they talked excitedly. When the phone rang at five after seven, she rushed to pick it up, escaping into her bedroom to answer.
“Save me,” she whispered.
Jake’s laugh was music to her ears. “I was just calling to see if you were hanging in there.”
“They are putting a poster up of a naked guy right now! How do you think I’m feeling?”
“Yikes. Yeah, make sure that’s taken down before I get home.”
Home. The way he said it made her insides warm up.
Suddenly, the door to her bedroom was thrown open, and Jamie cried, “There you are! We’re ready to get started!”
“What time is the party over?” Jake asked.
“I think ten,” Rand replied.
“Better make it eleven, Jake!” Jamie yelled, her margarita sloshing dangerously.
“Have fun.”
Jake hung up before she could say anything, and Jamie grabbed her hand. “Come on, we saved you the best seat.”
Rand took her place on the couch between Tabby and Jamie, her gaze zeroing in on the array of penis-shaped devices on her coffee table.
What the fuck had she gotten into?
“Ladies, welcome! During the demonstration, I only ask that you try to keep the noise level down. Other than that, let’s just have fun. Are we ready?”
The living room exploded with cheers, while Rand’s horrified eyes followed the demonstrator as she picked up a hot-pink penis-shaped device about nine inches long.
“This is the Corruptor. It uses a nine-volt battery and has six speeds, three rotations, and a clitoral stimulator. With this bad boy in your drawer, you will never need a man again.”
Rand reached over and grabbed Jamie’s margarita and started chugging. She was going to need a lot of alcohol to get through this.
* * *
Jake walked in the door to find Rand and Jamie on the couch, giggling as they played with a hot-pink vibrator.
Stunned motionless, his gaze traveled over the penis balloons, streamers everywhere, and the floor covered in tissue paper.
“Jake!” Rand jumped up from the couch, wobbling in her bare feet. “Do you want some penis cake?”
Jake looked at the half-eaten cake that was down to the balls and grimaced. “No, thanks. Did you have fun?”
“So much! Jamie is just waiting for her ride home, but check this out.” She held up the vibrator and pressed a button. Suddenly, the thing bent to a fifty-degree angle and started spinning. “Isn’t it hilarious?”
A honk sounded outside, and Jamie jumped up with a grin. “That’s me!”
Rand spun around and threw her arms around Jamie. “Thank you for staying and for the party!”
Jamie was laughing, her eyes shooting Jake an apology as she detangled Rand’s arms. “You’re welcome, honey. It was fun. I’ll see you Sunday!”
Jamie left the room, and Jake took the vibrator from Rand, tossing it on the couch. “You don’t need that.”
“I don’t? ’Cause I have you?” she teased, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
She tasted fruity and delicious, and he swept his tongue inside. He started backing her toward the hallway.
“Do you want to see what else I got?” she whispered against his mouth.
“Later.”
* * *
Rand sat in the middle of the bed an hour later and a lot less giggly as Jake went through the sacks of stuff she’d received.
“Tasty Titty Cream?” He looked up at her with a grin and set it aside. “That’s going in the keeper pile.”
Rand shook her head and held up a leopard-print nighty with crotchless panties. “Never.”
“Oh, come on. That’s hot.”
She threw it at him, and he pounced on her, pushing all the bags out of the way as he hovered over her.
“I have something for you. It’s been burning a hole in my pocket for days.”
He bent over the bed and came back up with a ring box. “My mother gave this to me to give to you. It was my grandma’s.”
He opened the box, and she gasped. “Jake I can’t—”
“Yes you can,” he said softly.
She took the box with shaky hands, the implications playing havoc with her firm stance that she didn’t love him. He’d given her his grandmother’s ring.
It had to mean something, right?
* * *
After church on Sunday, instead of her usual afternoon of leisure with Earl, she donned a long cream skirt and purple blouse she’d bought while out with Jamie and Tabby, and headed over to the town grange hall. She’d invited Earl to come to the shower, of course, but the old goat had simply snorted at her.
When she walked through the door, her gaze took in the autumn colors blended about the room. The tables were laid out with plain white tablecloths, but a dark, forest-green doily covered the center, where orange pumpkins filled with an array of flowers sat. Streamers were woven across the ceiling with white lanterns hanging throughout.
“Hey, what do you think?” Jamie had popped up next to her, giving her a little start.
“It’s awesome.” Rand meant it. The whole place was elegantly beautiful.
“Oh, and Mrs. Hansen wanted to know who your bridesmaids were going to be. Jake was just going to have Red and his brother, so she suggested you pick two people.”
Rand smiled. “Could you and Tabby do it? You two have really been there for me these last few weeks, even when I wasn’t—”
“Really? Yay! Absolutely. We will take care of everything, don’t you worry.”
As she whirled away, calling Tabby’s name, Rand shook her head with a laugh.
Suddenly, someone snatched her hand, and she turned to find Jake grinning at her. Relieved to have him there, she let him drag her into a broom closet and press her against the door.
“What are you doing? Your mother is going to have a cow if she finds us in here.”
“No, she won’t, and besides, I missed you.” He nibbled along her neck, and she pushed at his chest weakly.
“You just saw me in church an hour ago.”
“I meant I missed you naked, in bed, your body beneath mine as I—”
The door flew open, and they turned to find Jake’s mom looking put out. “Jacob Michael, I asked you to go to the store twenty minutes ago.”
“I did.” He protested, and Rand covered her mouth to smother a laugh as Mrs. Hansen reached out and caught her son’s ear, yanking him off her and out of the closet.
“Then go make yourself useful instead of pawing at your bride!”
When she released him, Jake rubbed his injured ear with a glare. “If I want to kiss my bride, I’ll do it any time I damn well please.”
Rand chose that moment to make her escape, her eyes tearing with suppressed laughter. Who would have ever thought going through all the pomp and fuss of a wedding could be so much fun.
* * *
When they got home that night, the last thing Rand wanted to do was put all the presents away, especially after she, Tabby, and Jamie, had spent yesterday cleaning up the house after the bachelorette party.
“I guess I’ll terminate the lease on my apartment early. I’ll take a hit, but it doesn’t make sense to keep it,” Jake said, putting a set of oven mitts in a drawer.
Rand stopped opening the new coffeemaker and asked, “How much will they charge you?”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s just my deposit, and I’d pay more in rent keeping it. Besides, this has to be real, right? Can’t do that if I’m keeping an apartment on the side.”
She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Which means I should probably make some room for your stuff, huh?”
He kissed her, nipping at her lips. “That would be nice.”
“I’ll have to see if I can get Red and a couple of the guys to help me move and get rid of stuff to make room.”
“We can do it after the wedding. I won’t be so busy then,” Jake said.
“No, it’s fine, I’ve been meaning to get rid of stuff, just Granddaddy wouldn’t let me. It’s time, though.”
“Have I mentioned you are one of the toughest women I know?” Jake asked, backing her against the kitchen counter with a deep kiss, his hands all over her.
“Hmmm, and you like that.” She reached for the buttons of his shirt.
“Hell, yeah. I need a firm hand.” To prove his point, he grabbed a hold of her hand and brought it down to where his cock strained against his jeans.
“Hmmm, impressive, but according to the demonstrator, once you have the Corruptor, nothing else compares.”
Suddenly, she found herself ass up over his shoulder and squealed at the resounding smack his hard hand made. “Sassy mouth, I’ve told you before. You don’t need to compare anything.”
She held on tight as he carried her down the hallway and proved it to her.
* * *
Red came over on Monday to help her clean out the attic and pack up her granddaddy’s things for the church. She was loath to part with everything, so she kept his old corduroy jacket, his best black Stetson, and his favorite cowboy boots. The smell of pipe tobacco still lingered in the fabric of the jacket, and her eyes stung as she breathed in the same smell that had enveloped her with every bear hug. She hung the jacket back in the closet and made her way upstairs to pick through the attic.
Red and Jesse, one of the hands, were struggling down the stairs with an antique dresser she was going to sell to Martha Roberts for her guest bedroom.
“Don’t scratch it, you two!” She said it with mock fierceness, and Red gave her a dirty look as he continued to puff.
The two men set it down, and Red panted, “You are…so lucky…we’re friends.”
“She pays me,” Jesse puffed.
“You’re right. I should get paid for this.” Red held his hand out. “Hundred bucks.”
She gave him a smack on his hand as she passed. “How about a low five?”
“You owe me!” he yelled.
She smiled, glad that in the few days that had passed, they had seemed to get back to their comfortable banter and heckling.
Reaching the top of the attic stairs, she looked around at the array of boxes that still needed to be sorted. She grabbed the box closest to her and read the name on the top. Catherine. Her mother.
She took out her box cutter, cutting through the packing tape carefully. Opening it reverently, she looked inside, her heart flipping with excitement.
Inside, she found a framed picture of her mother and granddaddy, smiling for the camera. Her mother was dressed in a cap and gown and looked so beautiful, it pinched Rand’s heart. Setting it to the side, she unwrapped a jewelry box that was obviously from her mother’s childhood and flipped the lid open. A tiny ballerina danced to a tinkling tune, and cheap beads, plastic rings, and a few pictures in crayons lay within. She set the pink box next to the picture and continued through her mother’s memories.
A hand dropped onto her shoulder, and she wiped at her wet eyes, not even aware that she’d been crying. “You okay, Rand?”
Nodding, she said, “Of course. Can you take this box down to my bedroom, please?”
“Sure.” Red didn’t say anything else, just reached down to help her repack the box and left. She looked at a few other boxes that said “kitchen” and several others filled with more clothes. She saw an old hope chest against the wall and reached out to open it.
“Hey, boss, anything else for me?”
She was so focused on the chest that Jesse’s voice behind her made her jump. She pointed to the boxes by the opening wordlessly, and he took several back down.
She turned her full attention back to the chest and lifted the lid. A handmade quilt lay inside, beautifully designed with small squares sewn together. She ran her hand over it and pulled it out of the trunk to find a garment bag underneath. She stood up with the canvas cover and slowly slid the zipper down. White, gauzy fabric appeared as the zipper spread open, and she gasped. Afraid to touch it with dusty hands, she closed the bag and set it back inside the trunk with the quilt on top. When Red and Jesse came back upstairs, she asked, “Can you two take this down to my bedroom too, please?”
Red went to grab the handle and groaned. “I’m going to need a four-hour massage after today.”
Rand smiled and said, “Well, don’t look at me. I’m about to be a married woman.”
* * *
Rand stood in front of her mirror, and for the first time in her life, she twirled. Her grandmother’s wedding dress. The same dress her mother had worn to her own small affair, and now, it was her turn. It needed a few nips and tucks, but the beautiful satin dress with short sleeves was encased in a layer of lace and pearls. She had also found a veil with the dress, but it was so large, it made her look like a ghost and she decided not to wear it. A set of good china and a box of letters were nestled at the bottom, and carefully she removed them. Opening the box, she’d picked up several pictures of her mother with a handsome man in a uniform and looked at the name on all of the postmarked letters. Sgt. Earl Humphries, U.S. Marine Corps.
She’d been surprised to say the least when she’d opened up the first letter and seen them addressed to her mother. She had never asked Earl’s age, but he had to be at least five years older than her mother, if not more. Her mother would have been forty-eight this year if she had lived.
The stack of letters started when her mother would have been about seventeen.
Dear Caty-Girl,
I had a dream about you last night, smiling at me so sweetly and asking me how much I missed you. The truth is, darling, I miss you more than I can tell you in a few words. You are the one thing from home I miss. Well, and my dogs, but that’s not exactly romantic, is it? I will say that those weeks I spent with you keep me sharp and sane, because I’ve got something more than a crumbling old house to get back to. I’ve got a beautiful brown-eyed girl with a heart so sweet, I wonder how in the world I got so lucky. What could a no-account like me have done to deserve someone so wonderful waiting and worrying about him?
It’s lights out now, sweetheart, but I promise to write you again soon.
Missing you like crazy,
Earl
Rand grabbed the next letter and continued reading, surprised by the romantic sentiments Earl wrote, and it was hard for her to think of the crusty old codger being so eloquent. Earl wrote about the first time meeting her mother, as a freckle-faced girl with two braids following him around her daddy’s ranch as he worked. Earl had worked for Granddaddy?
He wrote about seeing her at the Soda Shack while he was visiting on leave when he was twenty-seven, how he’d tried not to watch her, until he’d caught her looking at him. So many moments poured out of the one-sided conversation. He told her jokes and admitted how scary it was during Desert Storm most nights, but her letters got him through it. How he thought about the night she’d snuck over to his house in the pouring rain every time he closed his eyes and told her it had been the best night of his life. Three years’ worth of letters in a shoe box told a story of her mother when she was in love and she was happy, not abused by an awful husband or riddled with cancer. Rand dashed at the tears on her cheeks as she picked up the second-to-last letter.
Caty-Girl,
I don’t want you waiting around for me anymore. I’ve got another seven years in, and the life of a Marine’s wife is too hard for you. You need to find some nice young man to marry and have a passel of kids. I’ve been selfish, thinking that this would work, but I’ve seen how fast these marriages turn bad, and I couldn’t bear to hurt you. I want you to have a full life, not hopping around the world with me and leaving behind everything you love. I know this will be hard to hear, but you’re young, Caty. You don’t need to spend all your time on military bases by yourself but for a few weeks a year when I’m on leave and raising babies alone. You’ll find someone better than me.
All my best,
Earl
She kept wiping at her eyes as she blubbered, “Oh Earl, you are such an idiot.”
It made sense to her now that a man who had scorned everyone else in this town had acquired a soft spot for a little orphan girl. It had been a puzzle to her much of her life, but she’d only brought it up once.
“Why do you let me come over here? Everybody else is afraid of you,” she’d asked Earl when she was ten.
He’d just given her a grunt and said, “Maybe I just have a soft spot for brown-haired, nosy hellions.”
She laughed aloud through her tears at the memory and changed out of the white wedding gown and back into a pair of comfy jeans
Jake’s bellow from the front door had her hurrying to zip up the dress and get her clothes back on. Gently, she wrapped the letters that were strewn across the bed back up, placing them in the box and putting it back in the hope chest. “I’m coming.”
She came out of the bedroom to find Jake unpacking a grocery bag of food, while Red was headfirst in the fridge rummaging. She wanted to run to Jake wrap her arms around his waist, and tell him how much she missed him.
Jake looked up from his unpacking and said, “So, Red said you kicked his ass today.”
Red pulled his head out of the fridge, three beers in his hand. “She did, man. Jesse and I smelled like we’d spent nine hours in a gym without air-conditioning.”
Rand pretended to sniff. “So that’s what that smell was.”
Red shook up the can of beer and slid it to her. “There you go.”
“So what are you making?” Rand asked Jake, glaring at Red.
He held up the box of bake-and-serve orange chicken and fried rice. “Chinese.”
She put the shaken beer in the fridge and grabbed a new one. “So what’s on the movie menu, then?”
Red grinned and reached into the bag. “The Hangover, The Hangover Part Two, and Bridesmaids for your enjoyment. Oh, that reminds me, my sisters offered to help you get ready if you want.”
Rand looked toward Jake in alarm, and he just laughed. Coughing, she asked Red, “All of them?”
The Calhoun sisters were nice enough girls, but all four of them in one room with her?
Red laughed. “Actually, just M.J. and Tabby.”
Rand’s sigh of relief was audible, and the two men grinned at each other when she said, “Okay, I’d appreciate the help.”
Jake turned on the oven and walked over to her, leaning over to give her a deep, searching kiss that had her holding on for dear life. When he pulled back, he was smiling. “I missed you.”
“All right, if you guys are going to make out all night, I’m going to take my food to go.” Red made a gagging noise, and Rand, her insides a pile of mush at Jake’s admission, flipped him the bird.
Jake laughed and pulled back from Rand with a kiss on her forehead. She didn’t know why the loss of his warmth affected her so, but she suddenly wished they were alone.
* * *
He couldn’t seem to stop watching her. When Red reached out and pulled her into a bear hug, giving her a smacking kiss on the cheek, his fingers twitched with the urge to pull her away from him. Everything she did was distracting—the way she lifted her arms to rearrange the topknot on her head, her full breasts rising with them. When she bent over to put the DVD into the player and the curve of her bottom rose into the air, his palms started sweating.
When Rand came back to the couch and slid in next to his side, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders naturally. She turned to lay her head on his chest as the menu came on the screen, and after pressing the Play button, she snuggled back in, wrapping her arm around his waist.
They had been friends for twenty years, held each other, comforted each other, but this was different. The way they fit, the way she smelled, and even the press of her lips against the side of his neck had him thinking lots of crazy things.
The craziest one being that she felt like coming home. Warmth and comfort and rightness.
Jake looked over at Red, and as if he read his thoughts, Red raised his eyebrow and pretended to hang himself.
I’m in trouble. Big trouble.