Chapter 5: Teach Me: Chapter 5

I settle onto a bale of hay, the rough edges pricking me through the cotton of this dress. “Those are the original beams from a hundred years ago. My great-granddad told me how he watched them haul those up by pulleys when he was just five years old.”

As much as I want to throw myself at Henry before he leaves, I guess it’s not in the cards. Not unless we leave to go somewhere in his truck, and I can’t do that while people are still cleaning up from the party. So, I decided to give him a tour of the farm.

I wasn’t sure how interested he’d be, but if there’s one thing I’m learning about Henry, it’s that he loves architecture.

Henry inhales the everlasting scent of hay, his gaze drifting over the rafters, some fifty feet above us. He looks so out of place in here, the original barn that we now use to store equipment, with his expensive tan dress shoes on the dirt floor, bits of straw scattered here and there. “You need a new roof.”

The three gaping holes above us would agree.

“It’s really taken a beating the last ten years or so. We had a big storm whip through the valley. Destroyed a lot of crops and buildings. Luckily this was the only major damage we got.”

He wanders over to the small workshop, a curious frown on his face. “What’s all this stuff?”

“Lye and glycerin, molds… coconut oil. All the stuff I need to make my soaps. Remember that herb garden I walked you through? It’s a bit sparse since I haven’t been here for it this year, but that’s where I grow everything.” All that’s there now are some lavender and sage bushes, and perennial mints.

He picks up the sheet of labels I printed off last week on our home computer.

“I was thinking of hiring someone to design something a little more professional.” I designed those myself with Word Clip Art, something that I’m sure is pretty obvious at first glance.

“What is it you make again? Soaps and….”

“Essential oils, moisturizers…. It’s something to keep me busy.”

“How long have you been doing this for?”

“A few years. It’s just a hobby, but it’s mine. I’ve never made much. It was enough to pay for my flight to Alaska, though.”

“It’s important to have something that’s yours.” He adds more softly, “That’s what Wolf Cove is to me.”

“I love it when people tell me how good their skin feels after using something I’ve made. I know that probably sounds dumb.” Why am I so embarrassed to talk about my little business with him? I guess maybe because running a soap and essential oils production out of a small room in my daddy’s barn feels so silly next to his luxury hotel chain.

He looks thoughtfully at the label for another long moment, his expression unreadable, before setting it back on the table. “You’ve been busy.”

“Definitely trying to keep that way while I’m stuck here.” Now that my parents are home, I’m sure Mama will be running me ragged with all kinds of extra errands. And my late-night video calls with Henry… those are basically over.

Will he start looking to satisfy his needs with someone else?

His blue eyes settle on me. “So, what are you going to do with this place when your dad’s too old to run it?”

Asked seven months ago, I would have said that I was going to take over. That was the plan all along—marry Jed and run this farm.

Ask me that question now and…. “I don’t know. I guess it depends.”

“On what?”

On where you are, I want to say, but I’m afraid. He’s all “let’s see where this goes” and I’m over here, all “I’m madly in love with you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.” I don’t want to scare him away by letting him know how hard and fast I’ve fallen. How deeply committed I am.

“I’ll stick around until Daddy’s back on his feet,” I say instead.

“Why? Fuckface seems to want to take care of things.”

I roll my eyes. “That was a surprise all right, but my family needs the help so I can’t say too much.”

“You know why he’s doing it, right?”

“Yeah. He thinks I’m not good enough to keep you interested. You’ll get bored of me and move on soon, and he’ll be here to pick up the pieces. Mama thinks that, too.” Are they right about that first part? Am I too head over heels in love to see any different?

Henry’s brow quirks as if he can read my mind, but he doesn’t say anything.

“What?”

“Don’t start getting insecure on me. You have nothing to be worried about.”

He says it so smoothly, so matter-of-factly…. I bite my bottom lip, fighting to keep the nervous smile from escaping.

“What about school?”

“I’ve deferred until at least January. Next September, if I have to.”

“So you’re committed to here and Chicago for the next two years then, basically.”

“Basically.” Is that too long for you to wait, Henry? “I could always work at Wolf Cove again, next year.”

He chuckles but it’s not humorous. “With the outdoor crew? Hell, no. Not a chance.” He twists his lips. “Forgot to mention earlier, there was an error in accounting. You’ll be getting a check deposited shortly.”

I’ve learned that Henry loves to change topics abruptly. I’ve gotten used to it. “Really?” I was already netting a lot of money—more than what I could earn at any job around here.

He shrugs casually. “I don’t know what happened, but it sounds minor. You’d have to ask Belinda. She manages all of that.”

Right. I smile at the mention of the Wolf Cove general manager, a cougar who has slept with Henry and had it out for me for a while. She actually wasn’t so bad in the end. We shared a common hatred—Henry’s brother, Scott. “How is Belinda doing?”

“Ready to come back to civilization.”

“Funny, I would do anything to leave it.” Though Belinda would never call Greenbank, Pennsylvania, “civilization.” I pause. “And everything else at Wolf Cove? Sounds like it’s going well from what I’ve heard.” Ronan and Connor still text me occasionally, but those messages are growing very few and far between.

“Your fuck boys found a new plaything, so they seem to be entertained for now,” he answers with an edge to his voice, as if able to read my mind.

I avert my gaze to my feet where I still have hints of red polish left. I’m in bad need of a pedicure, something I didn’t even think about pre-Alaska. I blame Katie for that.

“What’s wrong? Does hearing that they’re with someone else bother you?”

“No! Of course not!” Just as quickly, I meet his gaze. “I wish I could erase what happened.”

He strolls slowly toward me, his scrutiny of the barn now shifted fully to me. To my face, and then lower, over the buttons of my dress that run from neck to knee. The dress does very little for my figure, though Celeste did put in darts at the chest to give it at least a bit of shape. “Why? Because you didn’t enjoy it?”

I open my mouth to say “yes,” but falter because that would be a lie. I did enjoy it. “Because I don’t want you to be mad at me.”

“I let you go. I have no right to be mad at you for what happened.”

“So it doesn’t bother you?”

“That you were with someone else? I fucking hate it. Every time I think about it, it’s like a punch to my gut.” He heaves a sigh, reaching up to run his finger along the collar of my dress. “But I’m not angry with you. I’m angry with myself for ever allowing things to go the way they did. Had I been completely open with you, had I put you before myself and Wolf Hotels, we could have avoided it all.”

His fingers leave my dress to wipe the tear that slipped from my eye. “I’ll try not to bring it up again. Okay?”

My head bobs up and down. I slide off the bale of hay and reach for him, needing to feel his mouth on mine, his body against mine. I press myself against him and rope my arms around his neck, pulling him into my mouth, trying to convey how badly I want him, how much I feel, with each graze of my lip, with each stroke of my tongue.

“You can’t start this now, Abbi,” he growls between kisses, his arms tightening around me, pulling me closer to him. I feel him growing hard against me.

“Why not?” It comes out in a painful moan.

“Because I have to go if I want to get to New York tonight, and we both know your mother would not be okay with this happening under her roof. Neither would your father. I can’t disrespect them like that.”

“It’s the barn, not the house,” I counter with a pout. He’s right.

And yet I can’t just let him go. I’ve been watching him all day long, sneaking in touches wherever I can, thinking about kissing him but unable to, imagining him undressed in front of me, remembering what it looks like when he strokes himself for me at night.

I’m completely wound up and no amount of touching myself is going to satisfy me.

Plus, who knows when I’ll see him again!

“Hold on a second.” I pry myself away from him and dart over to the open doors. It looks like the last of the revelers have left. All the cars are gone, even the Enderbeys’. I can see Mama moving about in the kitchen. No doubt Daddy’s in his bed already, exhausted from the day.

My stomach flutters with excitement. “Follow me.” I smile at him as I head to the other side, the one that faces the open fields. The sun’s just dipping below the horizon, leaving streaks of hazy pink and purple, promising another hot day tomorrow.

“What’s out here?” he asks, eyeing the stack of hay that’s sitting just outside the door. It’s a nice place to sit and rest after a long day.

“No roof.” I smile as reach up to unfasten the top button of my dress.

He smirks. “Sex by semantics?”

“It’s the only way.” I drop my voice to a soft lull. “And I need you.”

The humor vanishes from his face in an instant. “Are you sure? Out here?”

“Everyone’s gone and Mama’s not going to walk all the way out here to check up on us. Not if it means leaving Daddy alone.”

I unfasten another button, the one that holds the dress together between my breasts.

Even in the dim light I can make out the heat flaring in his gaze as it rakes over my soft pink bra. “I almost forgot how beautiful your body was, hidden under that ugly thing.”

I giggle. “I wish Celeste would stop making me dresses. I look like a ten-year-old girl.”

Henry strolls forward with even strides, his hands sliding inside my dress, pushing either side open to uncover my bra. His fingers settle on the outer curve of my breasts, his thumbs stroking the swell back and forth, almost soothingly. “No, you look like a woman to me.” With a heavy sigh, he grips either side of the dress and yanks the skirt apart. Buttons pop and scatter all over the ground.

My mouth drops open in shock.

“Just making sure you don’t wear this one again.” He smirks, pushing either side off my shoulders until the material slides from my arms. He tosses it onto the makeshift hay bench, leaving me in nothing but my bra and panties. Taking several steps back, his eyes travel from my breasts down over my abs and farther, to where my legs are parted, sliding up my thighs to the crotch of my cotton panties. I feel every stroke of his gaze as readily as if it were his fingertips.

“Take off the rest,” he demands in that cool, commanding way he has.

Flutters churn in my stomach as I hesitate. I was thinking he’d hike up my skirt. I didn’t expect to be completely naked. I should have known better.

“You started this.” He folds his arms over his chest, waiting expectantly. “I don’t have long. My plane won’t be able to take off past a certain time.”

It’s been three weeks since I’ve felt him inside me. Three weeks. It could be three more weeks until I see him again.

Holding my breath, I reach back and unfasten my bra. My breasts tumble out, heavy and swollen, my nipples already pebbled with anticipation.

His eyes settle on them immediately, his jaw tensing. He says nothing though and I know he’s still waiting.

Setting my bra beside me, I push the sides of my panties from my hips, letting the material fall. I shake my flip-flops off as I slip my feet through the legs.

And now I’m standing stark naked in front of Henry in the great outdoors.

I can just make out the hard ridge of his erection in his pants, so I know he’s enjoying this, but he simply stares at me—my breasts, my stomach, the bareness between my legs—for the longest moment, searing my skin. He still fills me with an odd mix of nervousness, exhilaration, and borderline terror.

I fight the urge to cross my arms or legs.

Finally, Henry makes a move, reaching back to peel his t-shirt over his head. “Sit down,” he orders, tossing his shirt to the side. I can’t help the gasp as I take in his upper body again, so hard and perfectly sculpted. He’s religious with his gym regimen and besides the odd Scotch, I never see him consuming anything harmful or of poor quality.

Gingerly, I climb back onto the bale of hay and sit on the dress Jed’s mom made for me, conveniently now serving as a barrier between my naked skin and the scratchy straw.

Henry strolls to me, unfastening his belt and buckle, letting his jeans pop open. The thick, hard ridge of his cock shows through his boxer briefs. I reach for it but he blocks my hands with a smile. And then he pushes my thighs up and so far apart that I’m forced onto my back.

He drops to his knees, settling himself at eye level in front of my wide-open legs.

“Fuck, I’ve missed this.”

Right now I’m wishing I had Katie around to keep me smooth. I’ve had to resort to shaving because it’s not like I can go anywhere in town to get a Brazilian. I don’t even know if anyone does them in Greenbank. Discretion or not, I’m afraid somehow Mama would find out and that conversation would be unbearable.

I gasp as Henry takes one long swipe along my slit, the tip of his tongue just skating over my clit.

“Watch,” he demands. I struggle to lift my head and meet his eyes, letting a slight whimper out at his intensity, my gaze darting around us. No one can see this, I remind myself.

He seals his mouth over me and I feel his tongue pushing inside with force, making his way deep in me. “Oh my God!” I gasp out, letting my head fall back until I’m staring at the dimming blue sky, his arms hooked around my thighs, holding me still as his mouth works away relentlessly, the buildup coming so fast.

Soon enough, I don’t care that I’m out here on a bale of hay, naked and out in the open. All I want to do is come.

Suddenly his tongue disappears. I groan my displeasure and he chuckles, grabbing hold of my hands to pull me up off the bale. “Turn around,” he orders, even though his strong hands have already fastened around my slender hips and spun me around. His hand slides up my spine to the middle of my back and then he pushes. His way of telling me he wants me to bend over.

I can hear the rustle of his pants as he pushes them down and pulls himself out. I want to see him—all of him— but he’s too fast, his urgent hands finding the insides of my thighs and forcing them farther apart.

I gasp as he rubs the smooth, round head of his cock against my slit once, and then he’s pushing in with a single thrust.

I cry out.

“Too much?” There’s a hint of humor in his voice but he pauses to let me get used to him.

“You’re always too much for me,” I tease, even as I’m pushing back against him.

With a sigh, he slips one hand around my waist and between my legs, to rub my clit with slow precision. His fingers slide all over me, I’m so wet. “You don’t know how many times I’ve thought about this these past few weeks.” His hips start moving, slowly and methodically.

“Faster,” I whisper.

“So you can come too soon? I don’t think so.” He keeps his leisurely pace. It’s both heaven and hell. It can’t be just for me, either. If he hasn’t had sex since he saw me, then that’s three weeks of hand jobs for a man with his appetite.

Of course he hasn’t had sex since he last saw me. Get a grip, Abbi!

A sudden hard thrust makes me yelp.

“Where’s your head at?”

“Nowhere.” I let my voice fade as he keeps pumping in and out of me.

His hand leaves my clit to slide up and grab hold of my left breast, gripping it to just short of the point of pain. “Knees up.”

I do as asked, kneeling on the bale, my ass in the air. Henry pushes my legs as far apart as they can go, until I’m resting on my elbows, my forehead down on the bale to balance myself, and I feel like I’m about to split open. But Henry, the expert he is, makes me forget the strain quickly, his thrusts growing hard and faster, until I’m fisting the material of my ruined dress in my fingers and trying not to scream. If not for the light breeze, I’d be afraid that our sounds would carry all the way to the house. As it is, all I can hear is his thighs slapping against my ass and the slurping sound of him plunging into my wet core.

“You’re dripping,” he murmurs between pants.

“I’ve missed you.” And if he keeps up with this pace, I’m going to come very soon.

He slows for just a moment—and I curse myself for acknowledging that because he seems to know what I’m thinking—before speeding up, his hand reaching around to my clit. He’s pinching it this time. Gently, but enough to make me hiss because it’s already so sensitive.

“Yeah? How much?”

“So much.”

“Have you thought of me?”

“Every day and every night.”

“And? What do you do at night?”

He wants details. Henry loves dirty details. “Touch myself.”

“Until you come?”

“Always. You make me come every single night.”

His pace is punishing now. I’m sure my knees will be scratched up from the straw tomorrow, even through the cotton. “Only me?”

“Only you. It’ll only ever be you, Henry. I—” I bite down on my tongue to keep from blurting out what I really want to say.

I am so in love you.

Suddenly, he’s pulling out and flipping me over onto my back and gripping my thighs tight, lifting my hips clear off the hay. And he’s so deep. So impossibly deep, it’s borderline painful.

Now I can see all of him—his blue eyes shifting between my face, my bouncing breasts, and where our bodies are joined; his hard chest tensing with exertion; that perfect washboard of muscles; that V that leads down to his beautiful length like an arrow; that cock, plunging in and out of me with abandon, slamming into something deep inside me with each pass.

Blood rushes between my legs, sending my muscles into spasm and my sensibility into an abyss. His name slides from my lips in a breathy cry as I try to keep control. But that’s the thing about Henry, about what happens when I’m with him: I lose all control.

A second later he lets out that deep, stomach-tightening grumble. I feel him pulsing inside me, filling me with spurts of his hot seed. Just the thought of that has me panting harder, has me stretching my thighs farther apart.

With a sigh, I let my head loll to the side, my hair scattered everywhere, partially draping my face.

Not enough to block my view of Jed, who’s standing at the corner of the barn, a stony look on his face.

He’s gone in a heartbeat—just long enough for me to blink and open my mouth, but before the shriek actually escapes.

“Oh my God!” Two minutes ago, on the edge of an orgasm, I might not have cared if he and the farmhands all pulled up chairs. But now, I’m horrified.

Henry slides out of me and tucks himself into his boxers, seemingly unfazed.

“Did you see him? How long was he watching?”

He kneels to slip my panties on over my feet and gently slides them up my thighs. He pulls me off the bale to finish getting them on. “Just long enough to get the message, I hope.”

What? “You knew he was there?” My voice is thick with accusation.

“Yes,” he murmurs, leaning forward to run his tongue over my nipple and suck.

It’s distracting, but not enough. “Henry….”

“What? You like watching but you don’t like being watched?”

“Not by Jed! He saw me completely naked!”

He stands and tugs his shirt over his head. “He’s never seen you naked before?”

“No! You were the first!” Well, and Katie, my friendly and promiscuous roommate at Wolf Cove, who took to barging in on me in the shower. But Henry was the first man.

He chuckles. “Even better. Now he knows exactly what he lost.” He grabs my bra and frowns at it. “How does this one go on?”

“Not an expert at something. Finally,” I grumble, tugging it from his grasp to pull on and fasten. “And this isn’t funny.”

Henry sighs. “I noticed him just before we were coming. It’s not like I was going to stop that.”

“Great.” My cheeks flush. Who knows how long he was standing there, then.

“Hey….” He grasps my chin between his fingers and lifts my eyes to meet his. “He knew damn well he’d be interrupting something when he came back over, looking for you. So what, he saw us fucking. Maybe he’ll pack his shit up and go back to college like a good little boy now.”

I’m not convinced he’ll do that.

“Didn’t you walk in on basically the same?”

“Yeah, I did. It hurt!”

“But you don’t owe him anything. You guys are done, right?” There’s a challenge in his tone.

“Yes, of course we’re done.”

“So then, do you care that reality might sting for him, after how he’s treated you?”

I think about that for a moment. “No, I guess not. It’s just… that was such a private moment for us.” Even out here, behind the barn, in the open. “I don’t want to share that with him.”

He slides the ruined dress up over my arms and begins fastening the buttons that weren’t torn off. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. He stayed and watched because he wants what I have.” He pulls me to my feet to plant a sweet, warm kiss against my lips. “And he can’t have it.”

Henry’s being possessive, but I don’t mind. I like it.

The cooler evening air reminds me that my dress is gaping open.

“How am I going to explain this dress to Mama?”

He smirks.

“She’s going to figure it out and hate you.”

“She already hates me.” When I glare at him, he heaves a sigh. “I saw another dress hanging on the clothesline. I assume it’s yours. Why don’t you throw that on before you go in? She may notice that you changed but at least you won’t go in half-naked.”

I can’t help but smile at his slyness. “Always one step ahead of me. It’s like you planned this out.”

“You’re the one who seduced me back there, remember? I was being perfectly respectable. Though, I’ve been thinking about tearing that dress off you all day.” He curls his arm around my waist and leads me back through the barn. “I do have to go now, though.”

I rest my head against his chest, enjoying his warmth for a little longer. “Thank you for staying. I didn’t think you were going to.”

“I didn’t think I was going to either.”

We walk along the cut path, the five hundred yards to the house and his truck is suddenly too close. The evening sky is creeping up and, with it, the hint of many stars. “So, New York and then…?”

“LA, Seattle, Alaska. After that… not sure. You’ll have to ask my assistant.”

“How’s it going with… what’s his name again?”

“Miles.” He smirks. “Well, I haven’t found him on my bed in his underwear yet, so there’s that.”

“Blame those stupid nylons you make your staff wear,” I say with a giggle, thinking back on my first days being Henry’s assistant. They were absolute hell. I had no experience and kept screwing up. I was sure he would fire me. Little did I know that he was attracted to me. What I’d do to be back there and his assistant again. Though, that would mean hiding our relationship and I don’t ever want to go back to doing that.

I may be stuck on this farm in Pennsylvania, but at least I don’t have to hide us.

“Has anyone figured it out yet?”

“Belinda strongly suspects but she hasn’t come out and asked, surprisingly. Aside from that… no, not yet. I’m sure they will, soon enough.”

“Will it matter to you?”

He heaves a sigh. “I’ll catch some flack from my father, no doubt, but the fact that I transferred you to a different department and left Alaska will help. And now… it doesn’t matter. You’re not a Wolf employee, I own 61 percent. More, when my father passes.”

He rarely talks about his father, or the fact that he has three years left to live, at most, before the pancreatic cancer takes him. I open my mouth to ask now, but a gust of wind distracts me, catching my dress, forcing me to fix my grip to keep it from flying open.

He slows as we pass by the vegetable garden, eying the vines of plump red tomatoes. Beyond them are rows of peppers, zucchinis, and cucumbers. The string beans are almost over. “What do you do with all those?”

“Sell them at the Saturday farmers’ market on Main Street. We preserve some for sauce, but I don’t see that happening this year, with Mama minding Daddy. We’ll probably just sell them fresh off the vine. That’s what I’ll be doing tomorrow. Super exciting, right? Life of a farm girl. Bet you never expected to be with someone like me.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret saying them. I just reminded him of how different our lives are.

In case he momentarily forgot.

“I assume that’s yours.” He nods to the line of clothes—dresses, tops, panties—that runs between two giant oak trees. I should have taken everything down before the party but I had too many other things on my mind, the biggest one being the tall, gorgeous man beside me.

I peek at the house. The lights are all on, but I don’t see Mama’s scowling face pressed against the windowpane. Daddy must have distracted her with a request. “Yeah. Can you toss it over to me, please?” I ask, shifting to hide behind the trunk as best I can as I unfasten the two buttons left and let the dress drop to the ground.

Henry pulls the sundress off the line but takes his time bringing it over, leaving me standing there in my bra and underwear.

“Hurry up!” I hiss with a nervous giggle.

If there’s one thing you can’t do with Henry, it’s rush him when he doesn’t want to be hurried. He throws the dress over his shoulder and leans against the trunk, a smirk on his lips as he gazes over my body.

“Seriously, Mama is going to look out that window soon and when she sees me standing here in my underwear, she’s going to have a heart attack. I know you don’t care if she hates you, but I do. It bothers me.”

The amusement slips from his face. He passes the dress to me and quietly watches as I slip it over my head. It’s a long black-and-white striped figure-fitting cotton dress that I dared buy, knowing Mama wouldn’t approve, because I thought it would be cool for the summer.

I smooth my hands over my hips. “Okay, ready.”

He’s still watching me. “It’s not that I don’t care if she hates me, Abbi. In fact, I’d be quite happy if she liked me, but I figure that if rushing you across the country and flying in the best trauma surgeon doesn’t earn me a chance, then nothing will. I’m not going to kill myself trying to please someone who has very clearly written me off. I’ve already spent enough time doing that with my own mother.” He grits his teeth, as if he didn’t mean to say that. With a sigh, he pulls himself from the tree trunk. He begins walking toward his truck.

I speed up to close the distance, slipping my hand into his. “Have you seen her at all lately?” I ask tentatively.

“No.” That’s all. One single word. Clearly this isn’t something he wants to talk about.

I hesitate. “Belinda told me that you aren’t close with her?”

His feet slow to a stop and tension begins radiating from him. “Why the fuck were you talking to Belinda about my mother?”

“It just came up, back when Scott and your father were at Wolf Cove.”

“My personal life just came up?”

Great. Now I’ve pissed him off. Angry Henry has never been easy to talk to. “I asked if she’d be there and she said your mother… hasn’t been around in a while.” Had enough of them, were Belinda’s exact words, if I recall correctly, but I’m not about to repeat that.

“She doesn’t know the first thing about my family.” He makes to keep walking.

I step out in front of him, reaching up to rest my hands on his chest, rubbing as soothingly as I can. “Neither do I. But, I’d like to. Talk to me.”

He’s not even looking at me, his eyes locked beyond me, on his truck. To escape. “I don’t talk about my personal life with women I’m f—” He cuts himself off, his jaw tensing.

I caught the gist of what he was going to say. I back away slightly, unable to hide the hurt from my face.

I’m unable to stop the question from slipping out. “Is that all I am?”

Finally, he settles his steely gaze on me.

And I suck in a breath, terrified of the answer.

“She walked out the door when I was eleven. Said she’d had enough. Sent her lawyers to collect her divorce settlement and that was the end of it. We spent our years in boarding schools and summers in Alaska. I didn’t even see my father until I started working at Wolf.”

I frown. “And you haven’t seen her since?”

“Not in almost twenty years.”

I’m trying to wrap my head around this but I just can’t. “How does a woman just do that?” I don’t even have children, and yet I can’t imagine just walking away from them. Granted, Henry and Scott wouldn’t have been babies, but still….

They were her children.

“I don’t know, Abbi. I guess some women just aren’t made for it. That was her excuse, anyway.” He clears his throat. “I’ve got a plane to catch.” Stepping around me, he opens the driver door and tosses his wallet into the console. “I’m glad to see your father doing well.”

I want to say something to him about what he just revealed about his mother. I just have no idea what. “So am I.”

I can feel the sudden strain between us and I hate it.

He must feel it too because he heaves a sigh. “Come here.”

I step forward until I’m within arm’s reach. He pulls me into his body, one hand curling around my back, his other brushing the hair from my face. “Thank you for an… interesting day.” He leans in to plant a soft, sweet kiss on my lips. “And an amazing fuck.”

Despite the tension, my thighs clench with his words. I can still feel him inside me and it’s a delicious burn. “I wish you could stay.”

He smirks. “And what? Climb up your TV tower and sneak into your room?”

My cheeks flush. I feel like such a child right now. “There’s an inn in town, just off Main Street. Maybe next time you come, you could stay there.” Will there be a next time?

“What’s it called?”

I hesitate. “The Inn.”

“That’s… original.”

“It’s an old Victorian house. Small but quaint. Really pretty. People seem to like staying there. I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes would go out of their way to make you comfortable.” Preferably not in the cat-themed room. “I mean, I know it’s not exactly at your level but—”

“I’ll consider it for next time. Gotta go. I’ve got a packed schedule and I’m meeting with a new business partner.”

Wolf Hotels is partnering with someone? The curiosity gets the better of me. “For what?”

He smirks. “Stop trying to stall me.” He leans in again for another kiss, this one quick and chaste. “Your mother’s watching.”

I glance over my shoulder. Sure enough, her silhouette fills the den window. She doesn’t even try to hide the fact, having pulled the drapes wide open, standing there with her hands on her hips.

Did Jed call and tell her what he saw? No… she’d be on the porch, screaming at Henry to get the hell off the property and never come back.

“Call me when you land.”

My heart is heavy with disappointment as I watch Henry drive away until his taillights vanish around a bend in the road. Then I drag my feet into the house.

Creak…

Thump.

Creak…

Thump.

Creak…

Thump.

Mama’s in her rocking chair in the den and, judging by the tempo, she is fuming.

She loves me, I remind myself. I have a mother who loves me and would never abandon me because she didn’t feel like being my mother anymore. I’m lucky to have that.

“Abigail!”

Crap. “Just a minute!” Despite Henry’s rationale, I can’t go in there wearing a different dress. There is just no good explanation for that. So I scurry up the stairs and into my room to throw on my pajamas as fast as I can.

I head back down and pour myself a glass of water. With great reluctance and trepidation, I take a deep breath and enter the den as if nothing’s wrong. I head straight for Daddy, settled into his hospital bed. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Not before we have a little talk,” Mama demands behind me.

I can feel the daggers boring into my back. “About what?” I ask casually.

“You know exactly what about.”

I heave a sigh, peering down at Daddy, who looks exhausted. He’s given me and Henry his blessing, I remind myself. So at least I’m only gravely disappointing one of my parents.

He reaches out to take my hand and squeeze it. “Good night, Abigail. Thank you for the lovely welcome home party.”

“I’m just so glad you’re home.” I smile and lean down to lay a kiss on his forehead.

“Don’t let her get to you,” he whispers, then gives me a secretive wink.

If only it were that easy. Mama has a way of getting under your skin and staying there.

“Why don’t you let her get some sleep, Bernadette. She’s been worked to the bone these last few weeks.”

“You wouldn’t be sayin’ that if you saw what I just did, out by that man’s truck,” she retorts. “I will not allow that kind of behavior under my roof!”

“All he did was kiss me!” I avert my guilty gaze, because what happened outside the barn was definitely more than that.

“Don’t you raise your voice to me, Abigail Margaret Mitchell. What if Jed had seen that?”

This time, my cheeks do flare with heat. I wish that’s all he’d seen. And honestly, despite Daddy’s kind words, I can’t see him being too supportive if Jed blabs.

I finally turn to face her. “Jed and I are not getting back together, Mama. You need to accept that.”

She scowls. “You say that now, but when that man stops comin’ by, like he will, you are gonna be upset that you didn’t treat Jed better.”

“Who says Henry’s going to stop coming by?”

“Oh, come now. You’re my daughter and I love you, you know that. So I’m only telling you this to help you avoid more pain. You are not the kind of girl that is going to keep that man interested for long.”

Again, she doesn’t guard her words, delivering them like a knife plunged deep into my insecurities. The ones that have plagued me since I first met him and have caused so many problems.

But I won’t let her poison my thoughts. “Maybe I am.”

“Don’t even say that. The kind of woman he would need….” She cringes. “Well, I won’t utter those kinds of words in front of your father, but let’s just say she’s not the moral kind.”

Is she the kind who just let him fuck her on a bale of hay outside your equipment barn?

I drop my gaze. I still can’t believe I did that, but Henry has a way of making me forget my inhibitions.

“It’s time to start remembering your responsibilities to your family and this farm.”

Anger flares inside me. “Everything I’ve been doing for the past three weeks is for this family and the farm! I quit my summer job, I’ve deferred college… what more do you want?”

“It’s not about what I want. Look at your father! He’s not getting any younger. He’s started thinking about retiring.”

“No, I haven’t,” my dad grumbles.

She ignores him. “But he can’t until we know the farm will keep going and we can pay our bills. Do you want us livin’ on the street in our old age?”

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “That’s not going to happen.”

“What do you think we’re gonna do, just sell the farm? Four generations of Mitchells have farmed here. Four. That’s history. You don’t just turn your nose up at that. You and Jed need to sort things out and settle down. Take over the farm just like we planned all along.”

I’d love to tell her that was her plan all along, not mine, but that wouldn’t be completely true. I’d thought that’s what I wanted, too. Until I saw what else there was out in the world. “Things have changed, Mama.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I don’t think this is the life for me.”

She snorts. “What on earth are you talking about? Of course it is!”

I heave a breath to keep from yelling. “No… it isn’t. Why won’t you listen to me?”

She stares at me as if I’ve just told her I’m about to burn the house down. And then she shakes her head. “Mark my words, whatever has gotten into you is gonna move out quickly enough. I knew you going to Alaska was a bad idea. But we allowed you to go so you could—”

“You didn’t allow me to go. This is my life, not yours, and I was going, regardless,” I snap.

Mama’s mouth drops open. “See, Roger? See what’s happened to our sweet daughter because of that man? You try to reason with her. I give up.”

Daddy heaves a sigh. “Abigail, why don’t you get some sleep. It’s late and you have to be up early.”

This is the last thing he needs to be dealing with. I take his dismissal as my excuse to leave, muttering a, “Good night,” as I march out the door.

Behind me, Mama is still talking. “That man is not steppin’ foot on this property again.”

“This is Mitchell land. My land. He is welcome here anytime.”

“That’s your head injury talking. Didn’t we both agree to let me make the decisions around here until you’re thinkin’ straight again?”

“Good God, woman! I don’t have a bloody head injury! How many doctors need to confirm that to get it through your thick skull?”

I hear Mama gasp. “Well, you’re clearly not yourself!”

“Good night!” I hear the lamp click.

I scurry up the stairs, not wanting to deal with Mama anymore.

I’m not sure what time it is exactly when I fall asleep, but it’s well after two. Late enough for Henry to message to say that he’s landed safely.

But he doesn’t.