The Patriot A Small Town Romance - Jennifer Millikin Page 0,115
you’ve gone. But I knew it was happening the night you came over and watched TV in my hotel room. After you left, I screamed into my pillow, because I realized I was in over my head.”
He leans down, feathering kisses on the underside of my jaw. “We’ve made a mess of things, haven’t we?”
I nod. “What do we do now? Date like normal people?” I don’t like the way the words taste or sound, and it feels as if I’ve let down every cell in my body just by uttering them.
Wes tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingertips trailing down my neck. “I don’t know about you, but I made a deal to walk down an aisle and I shook on it. Where I come from, a handshake is as binding as the law.”
My smile is so wide it hurts my cheeks. “Funny you should mention it, because I also made a deal just like yours.”
“Odd,” he murmurs, his lips vibrating on my neck and his hand running the length of my stomach.
“Yes it is, and—” My stomach growls loudly. Wes laughs, his hand still on my middle. “I both heard and felt that. Come on, let’s tame the hungry beast.”
He rolls off the bed first, coming around and giving me a hand. I wince, and try not to show it, but I’m stiffer than I originally thought. I go into the bathroom, clean up and wash my face, rinse my mouth with toothpaste I find in a drawer, and go back out to the bedroom to find Wes has changed into last night’s clothes. I glance down at my pile of dirty, ripped clothes.
Wes must see what I see, because he instructs me to wait here. He’s back quickly with a pair of athletic shorts and a T-shirt.
“Jessie’s,” he says, holding them out to me.
The shorts are a size too small, but the T-shirt is oversized and comfortable.
Wes takes my hand and leads me out the guest room door and down the stairs.
“Dakota, when was the last time you ate?” Warner asks, smiling. “One might think you’d been kidnapped recently.”
Wes elbows him and he grunts. “Too soon?” he asks.
I take a big bite from my second helping of hash browns. “One might think you joke around so often to cover up something inside you that hurts. Like, perhaps, your pride.”
Warner frowns, but Wes laughs, and Wyatt joins in.
“Shut up,” Warner tells Wyatt, folding him into a loose headlock. Wes lands a few playful punches in Warner’s stomach.
“Do you three ever stop?” Juliette asks, coming into the dining room with another bowl of scrambled eggs. She winks at me and places the bowl in the center of the table.
I wouldn’t say Juliette and I are best friends, but after she cared for me last night, I think we’ve come to a place of mutual respect.
Beau walks in, water droplets from his shower still clinging to his hair. The corners of his eyes turn down, like he didn’t sleep much. Wes, Warner, and Wyatt stop horsing around, all three paying close attention to their dad. The last time we all saw him was at Dixon’s place, and I don’t know about his sons, but I have no idea what happened.
He grabs a biscuit from the basket on the table and walks into the adjoining living room. He turns on the TV and changes the station to the news. Everybody but Beau shares glances with each other, and then Beau walks over to the dining room table and makes himself a plate. Juliette leaves the room and brings him black coffee.
He thanks her and takes a big sip. Whatever Beau was looking for on the news doesn’t appear to be there, and conversation starts back up at a trickle. First Wyatt asks me how construction is coming along on The Orchard. We talk about that for a few minutes, and Wes asks Warner a question about a calf that was born a few weeks ago. Juliette says something about goat cheese, and her voice breaks. I look to Wes for an explanation and he tells me about the barn fire.
“I just can’t believe…” But the rest of what I’m saying is drowned out by an exclamation from a reporter on TV. “Breaking news. We’ve just learned of an explosion at a suspected meth lab in the mountains near the town of Sierra Grande. As of right now we are unaware of any fatalities, but we will keep you