12. Clay

CHAPTER 12

Clay

C lementine is dozing on the couch, wearing one of my shirts I grabbed from the laundry room, slid on her, and told her I’d grab whatever she needed from her van. There’s no need for her to get out in what has to be two feet of snow. Hell, she’d have to wear more of my clothes, which I’ve got no problem with, but I’d rather her be safe and sound inside my house. The list she gave me wasn’t long: her laptop, charger, some clothes, and a pair of slippers. I grabbed her a pair of socks immediately after she made the comment for the shoes. In all fairness, I should have done that a while ago. This house can get damn cold with the hardwood floors, even with the fireplaces going. I go about stoking the fire, adding more wood and making sure the screen is closed.

The house is quiet with only the news playing softly in the background on the television. I grumbled and groaned when Clementine suggested it, not wanting to listen to the doom and gloom. She made a valid point that when her sister, Lennie, called, or she checked in with her, it’d be better to have the facts than to hem and haw only to create more worry. As the news would have it, the two feet of snow we have on the ground now will double if not triple come tomorrow morning. We’ll be staying put indefinitely, and I warned Clementine she’d need to call her sister today before it gets much worse with the snow. The phone and power company have yet to switch to underground lines. Kind of hard to do with digging into the rocky terrain.

I drop a kiss to her forehead, pull the blanket up to her chin, and smirk at how tired and worn out she is. All her energy is completely zapped from her body after the two orgasms I gave her. After we cleaned up, me helping her for the majority of it since I’m the man who made her walk bow legged to the point she was nearly unable to walk, I placed her on the kitchen counter and made her a cup of coffee, this time with creamer consisting of milk instead of the normal half and half she prefers. The next time I head into town, I’ll have to grab her more of what she likes. After I prepared pancakes, bacon, and eggs, I stood between her spread legs while feeding her a bite and then myself until we were both full.

I never thought I’d have a woman in my home, much less a woman like Clementine Sinclair. She’s strong yet soft and independent yet still needs a man, this man, at times.

My phone is on the coffee table. I chose to keep it on silent instead of it blasting through the room and waking up my sleeping beauty. I pick it up to check if I missed anything important and see that Amos sent a text hours ago. There’s only a handful of people who have my new phone number. When I hung up my hat in Texas, changing numbers and being unavailable to outsource animals became my first priority once the property sold. That part of my life is closed, yet some people couldn’t get it through their thick head. If they didn’t want animals, they’d call to ask me to do long-haul trailering even though most of them knew that type of service only came if they bought animals from me.

Amos: Hey, bud, you doing good? This weather on your first winter is shit.

Me: Hey, I’m good. Shit is fucking wet. Everything good your way?

I watch as the text tries to send, but the bar on top of the screen goes all the way to the end before it stops. There’s no use trying to send another one again or staring at the damn thing. I’ve got shit to do and a woman I’m having hard time leaving. Clementine would probably be pissed as hell at me if she knew I could work on her van to at least get it on the road to a mechanic shop. A new tire, rim, and some banging of body parts to remove some of the dents so the metal isn’t bent into the wheel well. I could even do a few things with the motor if I got down to it. Might need parts, might need a whole lot of shit that will total the vehicle out. As horrible as it sounds, I’d much rather keep Clementine here, even if that means she doesn’t have a vehicle.

I’m walking out the door when the house phone rings. I run to the kitchen to grab the receiver and huff out a “Hello.”

“Hey, man, it’s Trey. Amos mentioned he texted you but didn’t hear back. Figured I’d use the house line since he didn’t think to do it.” I’m cussing myself for not grabbing the other one in the bedroom or doing something like buying a damn portable phone. It seems I’ve got a lot of changes to make should Clementine choose to stay: a couch, a better barn for a vehicle to stay out of the elements unlike my truck, a portable phone, and a shit ton of better groceries.

“Hey, Trey, only saw his text a few minutes ago. I’ve got shit for service out here the minute snow starts coming down.” My eyes move from the kitchen, where dishes are piled up. There was no way I’d let Clementine do them when she’s dead on her feet. Then I see where my animals are, right next to her, too. Nala may be on the ground as close to the couch as she can possibly be, but make no qualms about it, she’s imprinted on Clementine in a matter of minutes. Jasmine is lying on her feet, curled up in a ball.

“Figured as much. You’ll let us know if you need anything, right? You’ve done enough for us. It’s high time we return the favor.” Trey and Amos both. I helped them a few times with animals they bought from me. The least I could do was hold them for a bit longer.

“Y’all don’t owe me shit. Gotta ask you a question, though.” I move further into the kitchen, trying to keep my voice down.

“You know to drip your faucets, right?” Trey says with a laugh, thinking he’s being Mister fucking Funny Guy. I roll my eyes. I’ve got this house and animal shit down to a science.

“I’m well aware. Got the fireplaces going, the troughs have heaters at the bottom, the generator is ready to kick on when the power inevitably goes out, and I even have food.” My voice comes out harsher than I intended to.

“Alright, alright. I’m serious now. What’s your question.”

“How’d you know Sienna was the one?” I ask.

“Well, shit, looks like our guy finally found a woman and won’t be trying to go after Sutton,” Trey mentions the time I met a few of the brothers at Hometown Diner, having no realization that she belonged to Ryland.

“Something like that,” I reply.

“When the thought of being away from her made me want to tear the world apart to be near her, I knew. Sienna’s always been mine, but it took us a minute to get our shit together once she came home to stay. There’s no way I’d let her leave my sights again. You gonna tell me why you’re asking?” Trey gives me the information I already knew. Only needed it reiterated to make sure I’m on the right path.

“Her name is Clementine. She wrecked her car into my mountain. Now I’m hoping the damn snow never stops so I can keep her up here with me always.” I’d go into more detail about what I want to do in order to keep Clementine on this mountain with me, but if she wakes up and hears me, she may run the hell away.

“Then I’d say you’ve met the one. Glad, brother, real fuckin’ glad. None of us liked you moving to Colorado and living your life alone. We all deserve a good woman in our corner.” Trey takes a breath. “Whatever you need, Clay. You have it, yeah?”

“Thanks, Trey. I appreciate it. I’ll call you once this shit blows over. I’ve got to head out and grab some things from Clementine’s van and also check on the animals again.” We finish our goodbyes, then I put the receiver in the cradle and start to head out the door to do afternoon chores, or what I can with the wind whipping and snow pouring. I’m pretty sure I’ll need the snow blower out in order to get to where I need to be. It’s either that or shoveling, and while on any other day, I wouldn’t mind doing the heavy lifting, I’m preserving my energy for Clementine and later today.

“Hello.” I answer the phone when it rings again. It feels like this place is Grand Central Station when it comes to calls today.

“Hi, I’m looking for my sister, Minnie. You must be Clay.” The voice on the other end of the line sounds a lot like Clementine’s.

“I am, and you’re Lennon, I take it?” I respond.

“That would be me. Thank you for taking her in and helping her out.” I can hear the slight tinge of worry in her tone.

“You’re welcome.” It’s not a hardship, but I’m not going to tell her sister exactly how I feel before I tell Clementine herself. “Let me grab her.” I don’t wait for a response. Instead, I place the phone on the counter and head toward the couch.

“Sweetheart,” I say, dropping down to my knees. This time, my dog isn’t ready to attack and has made peace with the fact her owner isn’t going to hurt Clementine.

“Clay. Is everything okay?” She comes awake with a jolt.

“Yeah, Clementine. Lennon’s on the phone, and while I hate to wake you, I’m pretty sure if she doesn’t hear your voice directly from you, she’ll call every three-letter government agency out there.” I smile when she lets out a small laugh.

“You’re probably right about that.” Her finger slides along my cheek, nipping my top lip when it’s near my mouth.

“Go talk to you sister. I’ll be outside for a few minutes, yeah?” She nods. I help her off the couch, lingering when I shouldn’t since her sister is waiting, but damn me if it’s not hard to keep her attention.

“Be careful.” I nod then drop a quick kiss to her lips and head to the mudroom to get ready before heading to the barn.