13.

E LIZABETH

“I think I found everything we’ll need to make roasted vegetables to go with the steak,” Dub said as he walked through the kitchen door with his sisters trailing behind him. The girls were carrying baskets full of veggies they’d pulled from Dub’s garden, and he was carrying a stack of large flat boxes. Once he set them on the buffet behind the kitchen table, he motioned the girls toward the sink and said, “Start washing ‘em, and we’ll get going.”

“You grew all of that stuff?” I asked in shock as I pawed through the baskets to see his haul. “Zucchini, squash, potatoes, carrots, peppers . . . Is that an eggplant?”

“Yeah. Only a couple of them were ready to harvest, but I thought I’d make some baba ganoush. I have enough tomatoes and peppers to make a nice batch of salsa. I’ll portion out some for the girls since they don’t like things too spicy.”

“Homemade salsa?” I asked curiously as I watched the girls begin to clean the veggies. It was obvious they’d done this before because they worked efficiently as they held the vegetables under the running faucet and scrubbed the dirt off with their fingers. Dub grabbed the towel I kept tucked into the handle of the oven and spread it out beside the sink. As the girls finished up, he sorted the veggies out - some to roast and others for the salsa. “I’m not sure I’ve ever had salsa fresh from the garden.”

“He has a whole bed planted just for that,” Mary explained.

“Are those green beans?” I asked.

“Yeah. I like to blister them in bacon grease with onions and garlic.”

“You cook?” It was a dumb question, obviously, but it had to be asked. Maybe these were the only things he knew how to put together. It was grilling after all. “Do you cook all the time?”

“I didn’t get this big by dieting,” Dub mumbled as he started opening cabinet doors.

“He cooks every night,” Laura explained.

Dub was still searching through the cabinets so I asked, “What are you looking for?”

“I need a big bowl, a few small bowls, a knife, and a cutting board.”

I pulled out everything he needed and set it on the counter before I moved aside so I could watch the magic happen. Before I got in the shower, I’d been scrambling to figure out what to cook for lunch, rushing around because I knew I needed to make a trip to the grocery store when Dub insisted that he had everything we needed at his house.

Little did I know that he wouldn’t only be bringing me food but preparing it too.

“Girls, chop the veggies into large-ish chunks and put them in that bowl while I season the steaks.”

“We’re having steaks?”

“I brought some chicken too. The girls like that better than steak,” Dub said as he set his hands on my hips and moved me aside. “I don’t understand it myself, but to each her own, I guess.”

“What can I do?”

“You’ve got plenty of fruit in the fridge. Can you make some more fruit salad?”

“Yes, please! That was so good!” Laura exclaimed. “I’ve never had it like that before.”

“You’re making an entire meal, and all I’m going to do is cut up fruit?” I asked in awe.

“You can help with the dishes when we’re finished,” Mary suggested. Dub made a ‘tsk’ sound, and she sighed. “Actually, that’s our job.”

I glanced over at Dub who was sorting through my spice cabinet and pondered this layer of the man I’d never seen before. I’d seen the biker and thought that was sexy as hell. I’d seen the horse lover when he rode up on Hercules after taking some tourists on a trail ride, and that was hot too. I’d seen the grumpy man who was in pain but tried his hardest not to whine about it as well as the laughing man who loved to tease me.

And then, last night, I saw a passionate and intense man who played my body like an instrument and said things so filthy, I felt a blush heating my cheeks just thinking about them.

But what I’d never even contemplated was the domestic man in front of me who knew his way around the kitchen, grew his own produce, and was intent on keeping the children in his care well-fed and responsible for themselves.

“Holy shit,” I whispered to myself as I walked to the refrigerator to retrieve what I’d need to make the fruit salad. I silently chanted, “Do not fall in love with him. Do not fall in love with him. Do not fall in love with him!”

I had a feeling that if Dub kept surprising me with all these different facets of his personality that was going to be impossible.

◆◆◆

“I didn’t have a chance to come down at Christmas since I’d spent so much time at Sugar’s, so I’ve held on to these since then,” Dub explained as he sorted the boxes he’d carried in into two piles. “If y’all will take the rest of these back and pass them out, I’d appreciate it.”

“You didn’t have to make us gifts, Dub,” Frankie said even though she looked as excited about what the boxes held as Maylee and Pita.

“I’ve been working on them since the houses were built on the compound . . .” When he heard Mary gasp, he smiled at her and said, “Not that kind of compound, honey. This is just a bunch of friends who bought a big plot of land and built their own houses near each other. It’s nothing like what you’re thinking.”

Pita put her hand on Mary’s arm. “I can’t wait for you to come down to Texas and visit us in Tenillo. I’ve missed having my daughters at home since they moved into their college dorms. Even though there aren’t any kids your age living there, I’m sure there are plenty of fun things we could find for you to do.”

“Are there not a lot of kids there?”

“There are a few, but they’re much younger than you girls,” Maylee told her as she picked up her phone. She held it out toward Mary and said, “This is our daughter, Boo, with some of the other kids who live around us.”

“They’re adorable,” I said as I looked at the smiling children in the picture.

“So, it’s a compound but not really?” Laura asked as she handed the phone back to Maylee.

“It’s more of a neighborhood filled with bikers who don’t socialize well with others,” Frankie said with a big smile. “Kind of like Dub.”

“A lot like Dub,” Pita said as she put her hand on Hammer’s. I smiled when he twined his fingers with hers and then lifted her hand to kiss the back of it. “Now can we open our gifts?”

I gasped when Frankie unfolded the tissue paper and lifted up a beautiful piece of stained glass. The image was a myriad of colorful flowers with a clear blue background, and I saw Frankie’s eyes fill with tears when she said, “It looks just like my bridal bouquet.”

“I had one of the girls send me a picture since I couldn’t make it to the wedding,” Dub said sheepishly.

“This is my front window!” Pita said as she lifted up a piece that was framed like a window with colorful pots and plants lining the bottom edge. “It looks exactly like the view from outside as you come up the walk.”

“Oh, Dub!” Maylee exclaimed as she held her piece up to the light. “Those are my horses!”

I looked over at Dub and found him blushing, and again he apologized, “I’m sorry I didn’t get them to you sooner, but . . .”

“You could sell these for a mint, brother,” Santa said as he looked at the piece in Frankie’s hands.

“We helped him deliver a bunch to an art gallery, and the woman who worked there said they were all treasures,” Mary boasted proudly.

“I’ve got some in a gallery in Rojo too,” Dub said as he got up to walk into the kitchen. “I started selling them online a few years ago, and business is pretty good. I have an appointment with a gallery owner in Denver who is also interested.”

He’s loyal to his family, takes care of his younger sisters like they’re his own children, is gentle with animals, well-read and smart, grows his own food, cooks like a five-star chef, fucks like it’s his mission in life to give me orgasms, and he’s an artist.

And when I told him my story last night in bed, he didn’t give me platitudes about how he was glad I’d turned my life around after tragedy or treat me like I was made of spun glass once he knew what had happened.

If I didn’t let myself fall in love with this man, I’d be a fool, so it was a good thing I was so far gone that there was no turning back.

◆◆◆

DUB

“While Pita was getting ready this morning, I took a few minutes to go over the files the equipment recorded last night,” Hammer said as we watched Maylee putting Hercules through his paces in the field behind Elizabeth’s house.

“What did you hear?” I asked.

“Honestly, it was hard to hold myself back from storming into your house and killing that bitch,” Hammer said gruffly. “If Pita hears what’s going on, we’re going to have to dispose of a body.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. “What did she say?”

“She’s got them convinced that she and the girls are being held hostage and their virtue is in jeopardy,” Hammer explained. “She told whoever was on the phone that they’d have to send someone to rescue Mary and Laura from your evil clutches because you had gone down the wrong path and didn’t believe the prophet deserved to marry the girls.”

“What.The.Fuck?” Santa asked angrily.

“Oh, hell no,” Bug fumed before he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Give me an address.”

“Problem is, we don’t know who this other person is yet,” Santa said. “Could be some weak douchebag or could be a man with an army at his back.”

“I’m guessing the army.”

“Do we need to stay here with you for a while?” Hammer asked. “We can send the women home and . . .”

“I don’t know exactly when she plans to do this, but the girls said she mentioned next year. You can’t stay here indefinitely.”

“There are a few of the others that live closer who may be able to come stay. We could rotate shifts,” Bug suggested. “Although, if you’d just give me a location, we could nip this in the bud and be done with it.”

“My guess is that whoever this is lives in our small town. He’s probably one of the higher-ups. Charlotte and I were taking an inventory of who we think it might be, and I’m pretty sure it’s my cousin.”

“So fucked up,” Santa whispered with disgust in his voice.

“How do you keep track of that shit?” Hammer asked. “I just don’t get it.”

“Be glad you’ve never had to try.”

◆◆◆

“Where are my children?” Aleta asked the second I walked into my house.

“Since when do you give a shit?” I retorted.

“You’re trying to turn them against me.”

“Lucky for me, I didn’t have to try very hard at all. They hated you before y’all even arrived,” I said cheerfully. Even though I knew the answer, I asked, “Why are you so worried about where they are now?”

“Aren’t there enough children at Charlotte’s house already? The girls need to come home.”

“And almost all of them are your children,” I said with another smile, just because I knew she hated to see any of us happy unless it directly benefited her. “Why do you want the girls here? Do you need them to cook for you? Do your laundry? What?”

“I miss my babies,” Aleta said as her eyes started to fill with tears. “I need them with me.”

“Can the waterworks,” I snapped. “They don’t want to be around you any more than I do.”

“I could just take them and leave,” Aleta threatened. “If you’re going to turn them against me, we should go.”

“And where are you going to go? Let’s see. I know you have a social security number now because I had to take my ass down to the office and help you get one. You’ve got a driver’s license, too, although you refuse to use it. You even have a job and would probably be able to almost support yourself, yet you have no money.”

“My finances are none of your business.”

“Of course they’re not because all of your money went into their coffers, didn't it? You’ll give every dime you have to those scumbags and their fake prophet but won’t give your daughters two dollars to buy a treat in town.”

“Do not speak of him like that,” Aleta hissed. “Blasphemy!”

“And why did you end up here? Remind me.” I knew Aleta wouldn’t say a thing, so I decided to twist the knife in the hopes that it would open her eyes to exactly why she should never want to go back. “Oh, I remember! You can’t have any more children, so you’re not worth anything to them. As an added bonus, you’re a shit-stirring bitch who they can’t trust not to keep everyone’s house in an uproar, so no man wanted you once Father died.”

“I don’t have to listen to your venom,” Aleta huffed, all signs of her fake tears gone now that I’d hit a nerve and angered her.

“You kind of do since you’re in my fucking house,” I retorted with another fake smile.

“What will it take for you to understand that everything I’ve done, I did for the . . .”

“If you say the fucking prophet, I’ll hit you so hard that the prophet you’re so fond of won’t even recognize you,” I threatened. Without thinking, I asked, “How much money will it take for you to sign custody of the girls over to me?” Aleta reared back as if I’d slapped her, but then I saw the light of greed shining in her eyes and knew I’d piqued her interest. “Do you want a house? Fuck! I’ll give you this house.”

“My children are not for sale.”

“Since when?” I snapped. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself before I asked, “What do you want for them, Aleta? Give me a number.”

“I’ll have to think about it and do some calculations.”

“You do that.”

I went into my room and threw some clothes into a bag before I stomped down the hall toward the living room where Aleta was stewing on my offer.

“Where are you going? Have you been staying with that harlot at the end of the road? Is that where my children are?”

“Aleta, I hope you choke on your selfishness and then fall back into your bullshit and drown.”

“You’ve always been a worthless boy, William Kingstone.”

“I got it from my mama.”

Once I had my overnight bag strapped to my motorcycle, I started it up and revved the engine a few times just because I knew how much she hated the sound. I realized I was being petty and kicked it into gear for the short trip back to Elizabeth’s.

She hadn’t exactly invited me to stay, but she had mentioned that she’d like for me to teach her how to make crepes for breakfast in the morning, so I was going to take that as an invitation.

I prayed she wanted me there because I couldn’t imagine ever sleeping alone again after last night. Hell, at this point, if I stayed in the same house as my mother, I might end up back in prison.