Games of the Heart

Chapter Nineteen Done with Your Shit

Mike rolled me to my back and his hand slid down my side, in, down my belly, down, down. With his elbow cocked, his eyes holding mine, my arms around him, his fingers started playing between my legs with intent as I breathed hard and held on tight.

God, what he was doing with his fingers felt good.

God, it felt good.

“Baby,” I breathed and he dropped his head, treating me to a slow burn kiss as his fingers kept at me.

That was better. Way better. God. God.

We were in the burn phase of the kiss when my hips started moving, my belly tightened and Mike broke the kiss. I focused dazedly on him as I saw his eyes moving over my face, down my body to his hand between my legs.

My hips kept moving, my hands roaming the skin of his back as his eyes traveled back to mine.

“Jesus, fuck, you’re beautiful,” he murmured.

“Mike,” I whispered, my nails digging in.

“So fuckin’ beautiful.”

I lost his face when my neck arched and my eyes closed as it tore through me, an orgasm that had to be in the top ten of my lifetime (all of which were given to me by Mike) or maybe even the top five. When it started, I felt Mike thrust two fingers deep inside and I moaned.

Yep, top five.

I was still coming when Mike growled, “Spread,” and I did as I was told, lifting my knees automatically but when Mike positioned, he hooked an arm around the back of one anyway, yanked it high and drove in.

God. Gorgeous. God. Amazing.

I pressed my other leg to his side, one of my hands drifting up, fingers sliding into his hair, one of them going down to clench into his ass. I came down and saw his eyes on me, dark, intense, burning as his hips rammed into mine.

Then his head dropped and at my ear he grunted, “Your pussy when you come, near as beautiful as your face.”

“Honey.”

“Fuck, mind-blowing.”

I liked that. Yeah, I liked that a whole lot.

He kept driving in, harder, faster and I was so sensitive from my orgasm, his fingers playing between my legs, all that we’d done before, his words, the noises he was making in my ear, his cock beating into me, it built again and fast.

“Mike,” I whispered urgently, shocked. Mike had pulled off a double, repeatedly, but never one this soon after the other.

His head came up and his eyes moved over my face then his mouth took mine in a hot, wet, deep kiss that he grunted through, I panted through then I came, my whimpers drowned by his mouth.

“Fuck, Angel,” he groaned against my lips when I was done then he took them in another searing kiss, thrust hard and deep, stayed planted and growled his orgasm down my throat.

When he started coming down, he switched the kiss from deep to sweet before he swung my leg in at his back. I curled my other leg around his ass, he rested a forearm in the bed, the other one he pushed under me to wrap around and his lips slid down to my neck.

I sifted my fingers through his hair with one hand as I skimmed the skin and muscle of his back with the other and turned my head slightly to whisper in his ear.

“Never does it stay good much less get better every…freaking…time.”

His head came up and he smiled down at me.

I loved his smiles. Loved them. Every…freaking…one.

“Yeah,” he agreed softly.

It was Saturday morning, early. We were trying to be quiet because of the kids. We made love early mornings before they were up and at night after they went to bed and it was sure they were asleep. It was a good schedule that we were so working. Even with all the shit going down, in Mike’s bed, going to sleep after making love and waking up to the same, I’d never slept better.

Mike rolled to his back, disengaging from me but moving me with him and I shifted my legs as he did so I was straddling him but we were still pressed torso to torso. I lifted up my head and my hand drifted absentmindedly on the skin of his side and chest as I looked down at my man.

“Missed you last night, honey,” he whispered and I grinned.

It was Scary Movie Friday Night last night, Mike and Rees. No was out cavorting with some buds.

Both of them invited me to attend but I made the decision to give them their time together without me and instead hit J&J’s with Cheryl, Vi and Jessie. I knew their invitations were sincere and maybe I might join them eventually but now I figured they should have these times together. Rees was gone in two and a half years and they’d want those memories. It wasn’t that I’d fuck them up, it was just that that was special and I thought they should have it, just Daddy and his little girl for as long as Daddy had his little girl. I knew I still cherished my times when my Dad took me out on the tractor, just him and me, and I figured Dad did too. Rees and Mike should have the same.

“You guys have fun?” I asked.

“It’s a wonder I can move, I ate so much junk it settled like a weight in my gut but yeah,” he answered. “We always do.”

“Good,” I whispered and he grinned up at me.

Then his grin faded and he told me, “Had my time with my girl last night, Dusty. All three of us can help you today.”

With it being the weekend, Fin and Kirb would be working the fields with my Dad. There wasn’t an extra tractor and I needed to get my pottery sorted. The plan was, Mom was helping me crate the finished pieces for a delivery pickup on Monday at the same time I’d teach Mom to do that on her own so, when I had time, I could be at my wheel or glazing and firing. I had pottery to sell and a variety of galleries, including my own not to mention my website, to keep stocked. This meant I worked the fields on the weekdays and I was in the barn on the weekends. Until the crop was in, this was going to be my life. And Hunter and Jerra were arriving with their kids the next day. I needed to be able to spend time with them so I had to sort my shit out which meant I was facing a long day.

Mike had long since planned a trip into Indy with the kids to go to No’s favorite music store so he could pick his birthday present. This included lunch at some restaurant that they all liked to go to when they were in Indianapolis.

Mike wanted to delay it so they could all help out. I didn’t want my shit bleeding into his kids’ lives, especially not when they had a fun day planned. With Audrey playing games and Rees having bullies on her back, they needed their good times, not to be put to work on the weekends.

“I’m good. Mom will help and I’ll see if I can rally Rhonda,” I told him.

“Dusty –” he started and I gave him a squeeze.

“I’m good, gorgeous, really. Mom’s great. She likes to be busy. She needs more to do. That’s the crap part for me but she’ll be all over it. I love being at my wheel. I lose time, I love it so much. It’s all the grunt work that’s a pain in the ass. Mom likes doing that kind of shit. It’ll be fine.”

“Sure?” he asked, his fingers moving randomly on the skin of my ass.

“Sure,” I replied on a smile. “But, while I have you and we have a quiet moment, we need to talk about something.”

His head tilted slightly on the pillow and he held my eyes when he invited, “Shoot.”

“I’ve got a phone meeting with my accountant next week. I need to give him your bank details and tell him how much to transfer into your account monthly for my part of the mortgage and utilities.”

Mike’s brows drew together and he asked, “Your part of the mortgage and utilities?”

“Yeah, whatever it is, half it and I’ll have that transferred whenever you want, first of month, middle, last. Whenever it fits your schedule.”

“You’re not paying half the mortgage and utilities, Angel,” Mike stated, he did this firmly, very firmly, and I stared at him.

“Sorry?”

“You’re not paying half the mortgage and utilities,” he repeated.

“What do you mean?” I asked then didn’t give him a chance to answer before I said, “Are you thinking about the kids? Because I don’t think a quarter is cool. Or a third. They aren’t earning so they don’t factor –”

Mike cut me off with, “No, I’m not thinking about the kids or a different percentage. You’re not payin’ any of the mortgage and utilities.”

I blinked. Then I stared again.

Then I asked, “Why not?”

“Why not?” Mike asked back.

“Yeah, why not?”

I felt Mike’s body get slightly tight under me and his hands stopped roaming on my ass.

I should have taken this as a warning.

I didn’t.

“Because this is my house, it’s my mortgage, the utilities are my responsibility and you’re my woman and I take care of my woman.”

Was he insane?

“Mike, this isn’t the ‘50’s. I’m living here. I earn. So I help pay the bills,” I told him.

His body got tighter, another warning I didn’t take.

“I know it isn’t the ‘50’s, Dusty. I also know you’re at your wheel two days a week rather than whenever you wanna be. And you’re workin’ a tough gig the other five days. Not to mention you told me that, with the economy, your business has taken a dip. And further, your ranch is not rented out so you’re already paying a mortgage and utilities for a home you aren’t occupying.”

“Yes, but I’m occupying this one so I pay my way.”

“You rent your ranch, we’ll talk again. For now, I pay your way.”

He was insane.

“Mike, that’s nuts. I’m living here.”

“Did you pay rent on the farm?” he shot back.

“No but I paid for groceries and anyway, that’s my family home.”

“Uh…Angel,” he started, his deep voice holding a vein of sarcasm I didn’t like all that much. “You might have missed it but a week ago this became your family home.”

Now my body was getting tight. “You know what I mean, Mike.”

“I do and I mean the same thing, Dusty.”

With a forearm in his chest, I pushed slightly away from him only for his hands to slide from my ass to wrap around my waist and hold me close so I stopped.

But I didn’t stop talking.

This was unfortunate though obviously I didn’t know it at the time.

“I get you’re an alpha, Mike, and I’m your woman. I dig that. I like it. But I can’t live in a house and not help out. And, might I point out, you need to think about Rees’s school and now No who either needs his car cleaned and repainted, which, with that car, would be throwing money away, or he needs a new car. I lighten your load, things ease for you.”

“Yeah, and we can talk about you lightening my load when your ranch is occupied. But it won’t be half. Four people in this house, I’m responsible for all but you wanna be responsible for you, then we’ll make a deal. But we’ll do it then, not now.”

“That could take months, Mike.”

“So you lighten my load in months.”

I felt my teeth clench and I forced them to unclench when I informed him, “This makes me uncomfortable.”

“Give it time, you’ll get used to it,” he replied immediately and I felt my chest start burning.

I took in a breath.

Then I stated with forced calm, “This means something to me, Mike. I’ve been taking care of myself for a while. I’m used to doing it. I’m proud I’m able to do it so well. And I want to help you out.”

Something about what I said struck him in a place that was unhappier than his current unhappy. I knew this when he knifed to sitting, taking me with him, but his arms locked around me, keeping me in place.

And I would know what struck him as unhappier when he returned, “I don’t need help. I’ve been doin’ just fine, I’ll keep doin’ just fine. And it means something to me that you let go what you had in Texas to be here. I know you came to help deal with the shit at the farm but I also know you came to be with me. I’m not gonna let you take a financial hit for that. Your ranch rents, we’ll talk. It won’t be half. No fuckin’ way. But we’ll talk and we’ll talk then not now.”

“I know what I can afford financially, Mike,” I snapped.

“After tellin’ me your profits have been down for two years to the point you and your manager had to start sellin’ your shit over the internet and recruiting new galleries, are you tellin’ me that wouldn’t be a hit?”

It would but that wasn’t the point.

“That’s not the point,” I replied.

“Dusty, it is. You do not take a hit for me. You already took a hit for me, leavin’ your life, comin’ up here to be with me. That’s the first and the last.”

There were clearly some times when Mike’s bossy and macho weren’t all that cute.

“You can’t make that decision for the both of us,” I retorted.

“I just did,” he fired back.

I glared at him a second then whispered irately, “Mike, that is not cool. I get you’re a man, all man, boy do I get that, and most of that’s good. This is bad.”

I knew he was losing patience when he replied in a low voice, “Dusty, we’ll talk about this shit and come up with a deal when you rent your ranch.”

“And until then you’re happy for me to be uncomfortable with the situation?” I shot back.

“No, until then I’m happy for you to stop being so fuckin’ stubborn, understand I got your back with this and I’m tellin’ you the compromise we come to will be delayed which makes me comfortable.”

“That’s not an acceptable solution for me,” I told him.

“Dusty –”

That was when I lost it and cut him off to declare, “Choice, Mike. I move back to the farm or find an apartment or I stay here and pay my way. That’s it. Those are your choices. What do you choose?”

It came out of my mouth and even as I was speaking I saw his face turn to granite and I realized I’d done something horribly wrong.

But, unwisely, I did not stop.

I would know this was true when his hands went to my hips, he lifted me off him, planted my ass in the bed and angled out of it. But instantly he turned, put a fist into the mattress beside my hip and leaned in so our faces were close.

Then he growled, low and rumbling, “You get I’m a man? Then you learn you don’t give a man like me an ultimatum. Not ever. You wanna be an independent woman to the point you refuse to compromise, have at it, darlin’. But you make that choice. You don’t force that shit on me. You can’t have all the good parts of me bein’ who I am then expect to lead me around by my dick whenever you feel like it. That’s not gonna happen. You made a sacrifice for me. I live with that daily. It is not a sacrifice havin’ you in this house. The mortgage doesn’t increase, the utilities I’ll barely feel. It means somethin’ to you to pay your way, terrific. What you gotta get is it means somethin’ to me to have your back while you’re settlin’ in my home and your life is settling elsewhere.”

Then, after warning me off making ultimatums, he made one of his own. Except, considering how pissed he was, his was a whole lot scarier.

“You can’t handle that, the farm is right next door.”

After delivering that, he pushed off the bed, turned, bent, snatched his jeans off the floor, stalked to the dresser, grabbed some stuff then prowled into the bathroom where he closed the door.

I pulled the covers over me but other than that, I didn’t move. This was mainly because I figured I’d just fucked up. I’d taken it too far. And I forgot who I was dealing with.

Mike came out of the bathroom and immediately I called softly, “Honey –”

“Pissed now, Dusty,” Mike interrupted, not looking at me as his long legs took him straight to the door. “We’ll talk later when I’m not.”

Then without me getting a word in edgewise, he was gone.

And I sat on my ass in Mike’s gorgeous, six thousand dollar bed and stared at the doors thinking that it would eventually have to happen. It couldn’t be beautiful and perfect every second of every day only marred by outside factors we couldn’t control.

But with my history, I expected that it would be Mike who’d do something that would make him a pain in my ass.

I never suspected it would be the other way around.

“I don’t feel up to it, Dusty.”

I stood in the double doors of the family farm and stared at Rhonda who was lounging on the couch, eyes to early morning TV.

Mike did not return to our room and when I got dressed and went downstairs, I saw a note he’d written to the kids to say he was going to Hilligoss to get donuts. At the bottom it said, See you tonight, Dusty.

This meant I was dismissed. This didn’t piss me off. It also didn’t scare me. I couldn’t imagine Mike was the kind of guy who held grudges, not after trying to make his marriage work for the length of time he did it. I figured Mike was the kind of guy who got pissed fast, it burned bright and if you gave him time, he’d be approachable for you to sort shit out.

Or at least I hoped so.

The one thing I knew was that I’d find out eventually and I had too much to do, I had to see about doing it. I’d be doing it worried about what went down with Mike but I didn’t have the luxury of popping open a carton of ice cream at seven o’clock in the morning and obsessing (or waiting for Hilligoss for that matter). I had to keep on keeping on. I also sensed I had to give Mike a chance to cool down. So I did that.

I grabbed a bowl of cereal, downed it fast, wrote a note to Mike, No and Rees telling them to enjoy their day and I’d see them that night and carried my cup of coffee over to the farm with me. Then I’d gone directly to Rhonda.

I’d just asked her to come out to the barn and help me feed my horses then help Mom and me crate my pottery. She needed to step up. This had to end.

Thursday night, Mike, Dad and I had the talk with Fin about what had happened at Mike’s house even though he already knew something went down. Rees had also been there. Mike had talked with No alone that morning before school. With what he said to Fin, I figured he did well with No since what he said to Fin was good. Still, as I suspected, Fin looked to Rees. She nodded her head that she agreed with her Dad, something I suspected Mike had primed her to do. So Fin promised no retribution and if anything further went down in school or out of it, he, like No and Rees, would report it to Principal Klausen as well as Mike and me.

Rhonda and Mom had sat with us through this talk. Mom did it worrying her lip. Rhonda did it like she’d had an exhausting day, was camped out in front of not very good TV and zoned out, not taking anything in.

It pissed me off.

And now, after having a spat with Mike, I was in no mood for her shit.

“Rhonda,” I called and without her taking her eyes from the TV she asked, “Hmm?”

I drew in breath.

Then I walked to the TV and turned it off.

Her body jolted minutely and her eyes drifted to me.

“Dusty, honey, I was watchin’ that,” she told me something I already knew.

“You aren’t watching it anymore. You’re going upstairs, putting on a pair of jeans, some boots and a t-shirt. Then I’m teaching you how to feed my horses and how to muck out their stalls. When you’re done with that, I’m teaching you how to crate my pottery.”

“I can muck out your stalls, Dusty.”

This came from Kirby.

I turned to the doors to see Kirb standing there and Fin walking down the stairs.

That was my gentle Kirby, taking his Mom’s back.

“You’re on a tractor today,” I reminded him.

“I can join Gramps and Fin later,” Kirby replied.

“You can, honey, and it’s sweet of you to offer, but you aren’t,” I told him.

“What’s goin’ on?” Fin asked, his eyes moving from one to the other of us.

“Aunt Dusty needs a hand with the horses,” Kirby told his brother. “I’m gonna help her out with that before I hit a tractor.”

“Kirb, love you, babe, but you know that’s not what we’re talking about,” I stated gently and looked at Fin. “I’m asking your mother to help. But this is between me and your Mom so you guys go on out to the pole barn. Dad’s already out there.”

Neither moved much. Kirby shuffled and Fin’s eyes cut to his Mom.

“You helpin’ Aunt Dusty?” he asked.

“I’m thinkin’ I’m not feelin’ up to it today,” Rhonda replied, her voice soft.

“Yeah, and you weren’t up to much yesterday or the day before that or the week before that or the fuckin’ month before that,” Fin clipped, his tone hard, his face harder and I sucked in breath. I figured he likely cursed but I’d never heard him curse at his mother.

“Fin –” I started.

“Finley, we don’t use that word,” Rhonda talked over me.

He threw out his hands as his eyes narrowed, “Oh, you gonna be a Mom now? Is that it? You’re gonna be a Mom now when for the last three months you been nothin’ but a zombie.”

Oh God. Fin was done. I could tell by his tone and the look on his face. His patience with his Mom, strained now for weeks, had snapped.

“Fin, honey, careful,” I whispered and Fin’s eyes sliced to me.

“Careful?” he asked. “You’ve tried careful, Aunt Dusty. Gram tried careful. Gramps tried careful. It isn’t working.”

I opened my mouth to reply but Rhonda straightened up to sitting and got there before me.

“Finley, you know it’s been hard on me,” she said quietly.

“Yeah?” Fin bit out. “Well, clue in, Ma. It’s been hard on all of us.” He threw his hand out at the last. “You don’t have a husband anymore. I get that. You know why I get that? ‘Cause I don’t have a Dad. We all lost him, not just you. And all sorts of shit has gone down all around you and you’re like, in a daze or somethin’, lettin’ it happen and not steppin’ up for the farm, for your boys, for anyone. Not even yourself. And you know what that feels like, Ma?” he asked but didn’t wait for her to answer. He laid it out. “It feels like we not only lost our Dad but also that we lost our Mom. And the first one sucked big time. You addin’ the last seriously fuckin’ sucks. Dad didn’t have any control over dyin’. But you? That’s a different fucking story.”

Rhonda lifted her hand to her throat and whispered, “I can’t believe you’d speak to me that way. Your father would never speak to me that way.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But I bet, he was here now, he’d be as done with your shit as I am,” Finley returned then without another word and not allowing anyone to say one, he stalked out of sight.

We all stood there, frozen, silent.

After a while Kirby asked softly, “You want me to take care of the stalls, Aunt Dusty?”

I took in another breath and looked to him. “No, honey, get to the pole barn. We’ll deal with the horses.”

He looked to his Mom then to me then he nodded and moved down the hall.

I looked to Rhonda who still had her eyes aimed where Finley had been, her face paler than normal but it wasn’t blank. There was pain stark in it.

Shit. I didn’t want to hit her when she was down.

But I had to hit her when she was down.

“Rhonda,” I called gently and her eyes drifted to me.

“My boy just talked to me like that,” she whispered.

“Yes, he did,” I told her. “He’s dealing with a lot. He needs you now.”

It was like I didn’t speak.

Still whispering, she said, “He said the f-word and the s-word. Repeatedly.”

Honestly? That was all she took out of that? Fin cursing?

“He was angry, Rhonda,” I pointed out the obvious.

“We don’t say those words in this house.”

God! I wanted to shake her!

“Rhonda, look at me,” I ordered.

“I am, Dusty,” she replied and she was.

But I still said, “Really look at me and listen to me, listen closely. Are you listening to me?”

She nodded.

I spoke.

“I know you’re suffering. I know you’re lost. But you have got to find yourself. You have got to dig down deep and pull up the strength to move on from Darrin’s loss. I’m asking you to do that for you. I’m asking you to do that for your sons. But mostly I’m asking you to do that for Darrin. I don’t want to be harsh but I don’t know how else to reach you. Fin was right. Darrin took care of you, he protected you from a lot but if he knew you were letting his boys swing in the wind like this, he would be disappointed in you. Even angry. And if you think about it and you’re honest with yourself, you’d know I’m right.”

She was even paler when I finished that and I hoped to God that I got through and she listened to me.

After what Fin said, I decided to leave it at that and finished, “Now, I have a lot to do and I need to start doing it. It would help me out a lot if you could get changed and meet Mom and me out in the barn. A lot, Rhonda. And I’m gonna point out I left my life to help take your back. The least you could do is scoop out some oats, shovel some horse shit and place some pottery in crates.”

Then, quickly, I exited the room.

As soon as I got outside, I dug my cell phone out of my back pocket and called Dad to give him a head’s up about Fin’s disposition and what went down. My beloved nephew didn’t need to be pissed as all hell and on a tractor with a farm grade rototiller on the back of it.

Then I got to the barn to see Mom setting out crates and filling them with the finely shredded straw I packed my pottery in.

Mom and I got down to work.

Rhonda did not join us.

My horses were fed. Their stalls mucked (by me). My pottery was crated. Dad and the boys were out on tractors. Mom was at Bobbie’s Garden Shoppe buying flowers. Rhonda was wherever Rhonda was. And I was at my wheel, Big and Rich singing, “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” when she showed.

And she took me by surprise.

Hunter warned me, keep the music down, be aware of your surroundings. Did I listen?

No.

Therefore I found myself sitting, leaned forward, my hands forming a bowl while Audrey strode into the barn wearing a slim-fitting, pencil skirt, a shiny, satin blouse and a pair of stiletto-heeled pumps that even I, who the vast majority of the time wore cowboy boots, flip-flops or thick socks (when it was cold), would likely kill for.

How could a day that started out so fucking great turn to complete and total shit?

“Dusty?” she called as she got close.

Shit. Shit. Fuck.

“Audrey,” I replied.

“Can we talk?”

Jesus. Was she serious? Showing up at my family farm out-of-the-blue dressed like someone out of a TV show about women who spend their time drinking cosmos, having sex, talking about sex, shopping for clothes and bitching about men and she wanted to talk?

“Um…not to be a bitch or anything,” I tipped my head to my spinning wheel, “but I’m kinda busy.”

She hesitated then she walked to my radio and turned it down.

My eyes followed as she did this but my mind was thinking, yes again, Jesus. Was she serious?

I pulled in a very, very deep breath.

She moved close(ish).

“It’s important,” she whispered.

I reached down, turned off my wheel and sat up enough to lean my elbows into my knees, my head tipped back to look at her and I replied, “We met once briefly. I’m not certain we have anything to talk about but I am certain I have concerns about talking with you without Mike knowing it’s going down. And again, not to be a bitch or anything but I’m not comfortable with you showing up at my family barn without warning wanting to talk about something important.”

“I can understand that,” she replied but didn’t move.

“So, um…I have a lot to do,” I prompted her to take her leave.

“I won’t take up much of your time,” she stated instantly.

Jesus. Seriously?

“Audrey –”

“You must know this is hard on me,” she whispered and I blinked.

Hard on her? I didn’t show up at her house all of a sudden wanting to talk about something she had no clue what it was I wanted to talk about.

I sat up and tried for patience.

“Please understand, I’m very busy and whatever this is, I can’t do it right now.”

“I just –” she started but was cut off with a growled, clipped, very, very angry, “What the fuck?”

She turned swiftly and gave me an eyeful of my man prowling into the barn, his hard, glittering, angry eyes locked on Audrey.

Her showing was already bad. This was really bad.

“What the fuck?” he repeated even though he’d given neither of us the time to explain what the fuck was (not that I knew either).

“Mike –” Audrey started, lifting a hand toward him but he stopped three feet away, his eyes still glued to her and he interrupted.

“I thought that was your Mercedes. I didn’t want to believe it so I hoped it wasn’t. But here it is. It fuckin’ was. What in the fuck are you doin’ here?”

“I needed to speak with Dusty,” she answered.

“Audrey, honest to God, there is not one thing you need to speak with Dusty about.”

“You’re wrong, Mike,” she said quietly.

“Oh no, I fuckin’ am not,” he returned sharply.

“Please, if I can just talk with Dusty for a moment, it’ll only take a moment. Then I’ll be gone.”

“That’s not gonna happen. You’re gonna be gone in about two seconds and in those two seconds you’re not gonna say shit to Dusty.”

“Mike –” she began.

“Get in your fuckin’ car and go.”

“Mike, please –” she started again.

But he leaned forward, face still hard, eyes still glittering and now narrowed and he ground out, “We are not playin’ these games, Audrey. Not now. Not fuckin’ ever. Dusty is off-limits to you. Totally. Completely. She does not exist for you. Now get in your fuckin’ car and go.”

She did not get in her fuckin’ car and go, unfortunately.

She threw up both hands, exasperated, and declared, “You can’t imagine this is easy for me.”

“I don’t even know what this is,” Mike shot back. “And I don’t fuckin’ care.” He looked to me and asked, “You know she was showin’?”

I pressed my lips together since he was so pissed he was the definition of pissed and I didn’t want to make him more pissed. Actually, I didn’t want to be there at all while they faced off but unfortunately my pottery was not making itself and, unlike the other beings with only two legs that were in the barn with me, I had to be there. Still, I slowly shook my head.

Mike’s eyes cut back to Audrey but spoke to me, “’Course not. How would you?” Then he spoke to Audrey, “You don’t have her numbers. But town talk, you know she’s a Holliday. You know where the farm is. And you know she’s workin’ it. So you show. Puttin’ her on the spot for whatever shit you mean to shovel, makin’ her eat it when my woman’s got a vast amount of shit already on her fuckin’ plate.”

And that was when Audrey lost it.

She planted her hands on her hips, leaned forward and snapped, “She does exist for me, Mike. I can’t get away from her,” she unplanted one hand and threw it out to me before continuing. “Rees talks about her all the time. Jonas even talks about her all the time. Dusty has horses. Dusty rode one into the backyard. Dusty has a pretty laugh. Dusty has a pretty voice. Dusty always wears cool clothes. Dusty all the time. They see Dusty more than they see me. And they obviously talk to Dusty more than they do me since they have a lot more opportunity seeing as now she’s living with you and, incidentally, them. So when I want to do something special for my son for his birthday, I have to go to Dusty to find out what that is.”

Mike froze, I froze and Audrey stood there, her chest rising and falling visibly.

I suspected Mike was frozen for the same reason I was. I was surprised. Shocked, actually. This was not what I was expecting. Not at all. And what it was, was sad in the variety of ways that word could be used.

When no one spoke, Audrey broke the silence.

“So, as you can see, this isn’t easy for me. I’m trying to be a good mother and I have to go to my ex-husband’s girlfriend to find out what I should do for my son for his birthday since the thing I thought he would like, having his family all together for dinner, I’m not allowed to do.”

This was the wrong thing to say. She’d gained some amount of high ground but with that, she lost it instantly.

And Mike jumped right on it.

“Oh no, do not hand me that shit,” he growled.

“Is it not true?” she asked.

“You bought that,” he reminded her.

“And I’m paying,” she fired back. “Boy, Mike, am I paying.”

Mike opened his mouth to speak but I butted in and I did it quickly.

“He doesn’t care.”

Both Mike and Audrey looked at me but my eyes were on Audrey.

“No,” I started to explain. “He doesn’t care. Take him to Frank’s. Take him to The Station. Order in Reggie’s and rent movies. You live in Indy now, take him somewhere new and fun. He doesn’t care. He loves you. He believes you’re a good Mom deep down already. Anything you do to prove that belief right, he’ll love. So bake him one of your great cakes that even Mike says are the bomb, do something out of the ordinary but fun and spend time with him. That’s all you have to do.”

Audrey held my eyes. Then I watched her take in a deep breath.

Then she stated, “But it needs to be special.”

“Special is always the people you do stuff with, it’s never actually the stuff you do,” I replied. “But if you want to make an effort, the person to ask is not me, not Mike but Rees. She knows her brother better than any of us do. And she’ll be happy he has something he wants so she’ll also be happy to tell you.”

She continued to hold my eyes, I watched her take in another deep breath, this one deeper and I would know why when she admitted, “Rees and I don’t get along all that great.”

“A good way to rectify that is to communicate with her,” I stated. “And a good thing to communicate about is doing something nice for her brother. You follow that through, she sees she can trust you, you’re one step closer.”

She again held my eyes. Then she nodded and looked to her feet.

“You got what you need?” Mike asked derisively and her eyes shot to him.

“Yes,” she whispered then looked at me, took in another deep breath and forced out a, “Thank you.”

“Good,” Mike stated instantly. “Now you’re done and this shit is never gonna happen again. We clear?”

Her eyes were back to Mike, she took him in for long moments then she nodded.

He jerked his head to the farm doors and told her something she knew.

“Your Mercedes is fifty feet away and your ass needs to be in it.”

She closed her eyes and turned her head to me before she opened them. I saw she was conflicted. I saw she was angry. And I saw she was hurt.

Shit.

“I’m sorry I disturbed you,” she said quietly.

“You did. It’s done. Now go,” Mike stated and I bit back words to tell him to give her a break.

I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to tell her it was okay because it wasn’t. Yet it was, since it was for No and not to cause trouble.

Shit!

She pulled in yet another breath. Then she nodded once to me, her eyes skimmed through Mike and then she walked on her high-heeled pumps toward the barn doors.

I watched as Mike shifted so he’d have a better view. Then I watched as Mike stood, long legs planted, arms crossed on his chest, as he watched out the barn doors what I figured was Audrey getting into her car and driving away. This took a while then he turned and prowled to me.

“You okay?” he asked when he got close.

“Better than you,” I said softly.

He studied me then he muttered, “Sorry about that, Angel.”

“In the end, nothing to apologize for and it’s not for you to apologize anyway. If I gave her the minute she asked for, I could have said what I needed to say and she’d be on her way.”

“She’s full of shit and she’s playin’ games,” Mike replied and I kept my peace.

I didn’t know her. He did. But she genuinely, if surprisingly and somewhat pathetically, wanted help.

“It’s over. Let’s move on,” I suggested, still talking softly.

He studied me again.

Then he asked, “Your shit crated?”

I nodded.

“We’re back. No’s at the house jammin’ on his new bass. Rees is sayin’ hi to your mother. Reesee and I are here to see if you need any help.”

There it was. I knew my man wouldn’t hold a grudge.

“A bass,” I whispered. “Cool gift, Dad.”

Mike’s lips twitched.

“I’m good, honey,” I told him. “All the grunt work’s done but I’ll probably be at my wheel a while then I have a couple of pieces to glaze and put in the kiln. It automatically ramps and I can get them out tomorrow.”

His brows drew together. “Ramps?”

“The pieces need to fire at different temperatures, slow start then lots of heat then cool down. It takes a while but my kiln does it automatically. I leave it. Mom checks it before she goes to bed. I come back tomorrow and voila! Pottery.”

His lips twitched again.

I liked that, the fact he showed to help and I thought both said a lot about him after the way we left it that morning.

So I decided to address the big, pink elephant in the barn.

And I did this by whispering, “I was out of line this morning.”

Mike held my eyes but said nothing.

I kept talking. “We’ll talk again when the ranch is rented.”

He said something then.

And what he said was, “All you gotta say, sweetheart. That’s done.”

God, I loved this man.

Sure, he got his way but I’d been thinking about it (a whole lot) all day. He had been right and I had been stubborn. He felt I’d made a sacrifice for him and he felt that deeply. This wasn’t something I didn’t know. He’d already shared it with me. He also wanted to take care of me. He didn’t close the door on the discussion. He just delayed it at the same time he was looking out for me. And he was right. I had a house I wasn’t living in that I was paying for, a business I couldn’t give my full attention to and if I was honest, I needed the help.

And further, Mike was Mike. He didn’t hide who he was or what he was like. And part of that was he looked after the people he loved. He didn’t do it because he had to. He did it because that was who he was. And one of those people was me.

So it was no skin off my nose.

And that was done.

So I moved on.

“You have a good day with the kids?”

“Yeah. You have a good day with your Mom?”

“Yes, after Fin laid it out for Rhonda, which was upsetting.”

I watched Mike’s face grow alert. “What?”

“I asked her to help. She said she wasn’t feeling up to it. I pressed. Fin and Kirb showed while this was happening. Kirb tried to protect his Mom. Fin lost his patience. It was coming, I knew it. Outside of thinking about how things went down with you this morning, all day I’ve also been thinking about whether I should have tried to stop Fin from gutting his mother. What I’ve come up with was that she needed some tough love. The problem with that is, it didn’t work. She didn’t help and, except this morning, I haven’t seen her all day.”

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“That says it all,” I muttered back.

“Way he acts, sometimes forget Fin’s just a kid,” Mike said. “He’s got too much to deal with.”

That sure was the truth.

“Agreed.”

Mike studied my face and clearly read my concern.

“It’ll make him the man he’ll become,” Mike told me gently.

“Thinking he’s already that man, babe,” I said softly. “And that man is d…o…n…e done with Rhonda being what he calls a zombie.”

“He called her a zombie?”

“That and told her the way she was behaving meant that he not only lost a Dad but he lost a Mom. He also shared Darrin had no control over him leaving them but she does.”

Mike winced to something that was definitely wince-worthy then he tipped his head to the side. “You want me to talk to him?”

“Yes,” I answered instantly. “I want him to know he’s understood and he’s not having these feelings all by himself. But I briefed Dad about it. They came back for lunch but I only saw them go into the house. Let me talk to Dad to see where he got with Fin. Then I’ll let you know.”

“Right,” Mike murmured, his eyes dropped to my wheel then came back to me and he grinned. “Seen Ghost?”

I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Sorry?”

“The movie Ghost,” he explained and I then knew what he was talking about so I grinned back.

“Yeah,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” he whispered back and his grin became a smile.

My mind was pleasantly occupied with visions of Mike and me acting out one specific scene from that movie when he got close, bent to me and touched his lips to mine.

He pulled away an inch and said, “Come home soon’s you can.”

I nodded.

“Love you, Angel.”

“You too, honey.”

He grinned again, lifted up, kissed the top of my hair and I watched him walk away.

There it was. That was it. A busy day with a lot of shitty parts and one lip touch from Mike and it was all better.

I reached down, turned on my wheel and got busy so I could get home as soon as I could.

Mike kissed my earlobe, pulled out and rolled off of me and out of bed. He tugged the covers over me as I tried to regulate my heartbeat.

Like this morning, not a double (alas) but a near simultaneous orgasm.

Unlike this morning, I got to play with Mike.

It was glorious.

Yes, sex with Mike just kept getting better and better.

I watched him walk to the bathroom then minutes later I watched him walk out with a wet cloth. He joined me and bed, his hand with the cloth between my legs as his lips brushed mine, my cheekbones, my nose, my eyes.

He bent and kissed my throat when he finished, got out of bed and headed back to the bathroom.

I watched again.

Then he came back, tagging my panties and nightgown from the floor. He handed them to me and I shimmied the panties up and pulled my nightie over my head as Mike yanked up his pajama bottoms. Tying the drawstring, he went to the doors and let Layla in.

She ran toward the bed, jumped up, came right to me and I reached out to give her head a rubdown.

As I did, she licked my wrist.

Then Mike joined me in bed, curled me into him and pulled me with him as he reached for the light. He turned it off as Layla sauntered down the bed, turned once, twice then she fell to her side on a dog groan.

I closed my eyes and snuggled closer to Mike, tangling my leg with his, gliding my arm around his stomach, settling my cheek on his chest.

Then I said softly into the dark, “Can I address something from this morning?”

His arm got tight and he started, “Dusty –”

I lifted my head and looked at his shadowed face. “Please, Mike, one thing and I promise it won’t piss you off.”

He was silent a moment then he gave in. “One thing.”

I wet my lips, rolled them together then I dropped my cheek back to his chest and whispered, “I miss Texas.” His entire body got tight and I kept going but this time quickly. “I miss Jerra, Hunter, their kids, my place, Schub’s, my gallery, a lot of stuff.”

“Dusty –”

I squeezed his stomach and kept whispering, talking over him, “Please, honey, let me finish.”

I felt his chest expand then he let out the breath he took in.

I kept going, still whispering, “But I go to sleep beside you. I wake up the same way. And I got the honor of talking to Reesee about becoming a woman. I’m one of the first to hear No play his new bass. I sleep with a golden retriever’s head on my ankle. I eat dinner with you at night. I watch TV with you until I’m ready to hit the sack. But even if I didn’t get all the extras and I just got you, I’d be happy. You see me giving up a lot and what you said earlier made me realize you haven’t gotten over that. But you need to know I’d be happy in Siberia just as long as I went to sleep and woke up with you.”

I stopped talking and Mike was silent. This lasted a long time.

So long, a little freaked out, I called, “Mike?”

“You’re right, that didn’t piss me off.”

I blinked into the dark.

Then I burst out laughing.

Through my laughter, Mike ordered, “Stop laughin’, Angel, kiss me and go to sleep.”

Still chuckling, I lifted up, pushed up and kissed him.

His arms closed tight around me and he kissed me back.

This lasted longer than his silence.

A lot longer.

Then he let me go, I snuggled back into my man, his dog scooched until her head was resting on my ankle and we went to sleep.