Curtis (25 page)

Curtis nearly fell over laughing. “God, no, baby. I got her a new one.”

Lorrie was confused. She didn’t understand.

Curtis moved closer, taking her hands in his and then leading her farther into the living room. He turned her to face the mantel, his hands on her shoulders, his chest pressed against her back.

“This is your house now, Lorrie.
Our
house.” He kissed her temple. “A house big enough for us to have a hundred kids running around if that’s what you want.”

Lorrie’s legs felt weak, her heart beating a little too fast.

He held her tightly as he explained. “Momma wanted a smaller house, and we knew this would be perfect for us. And you can do to it whatever you want. I’m willin’ to work to make it ours, darlin’.”

Tears filled her eyes, but she fought them back. She couldn’t believe he’d done this. For her.

Then again, she shouldn’t have been surprised. The man had renamed an entire town for her.

“Mrs. Walker’s okay with this?” she asked, her throat tight.

“She’s happy we’re gonna make it our home,” he said. Curtis moved, coming to stand in front of her. His big hands circled her face as he tilted her head back. “Are you okay with it?”

She nodded, trying to hold the tears back. “It’s … more than I ever dreamed of.”

And it really was.

With Curtis there, her life was more than she’d ever dreamed of. Despite the hard years, despite the loss of their baby… This one man still completed her in ways she had never imagined. And the fact that he still held out hope that they’d have a house full of children…

She smiled, her heart filled to overflowing. “I love you, Curtis Walker.”

He tugged the scarf, pulling her closer before leaning down and brushing his lips over hers.

“And I love
you
, Lorrie Walker.”

chapter THIRTY-NINE

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1973

For some reason, this has been the best Christmas yet. Perhaps it’s because we spent it in the new house, or maybe it’s because my heart is once again settled. I don’t know why exactly, but it has been a wonderful day. Curtis and I have been doing the work on the big house ourselves, actually living here now that the bedroom is redone. That took a while, but I have to admit, watching Curtis work … mmm. Probably my new favorite pastime. Merry Christmas!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1974

I am an aunt once again. Mitch’s third child was born today, a sweet little boy they’ve named Seth. He’s precious. I have to admit, today was bittersweet. Part of me was hoping we’d be pregnant again by now, but the other part of me is scared. I can’t go through what we went through before. Losing a baby… I never dreamed it could be so hard. On another positive note, Curtis’s brother Joseph announced that he is getting married in a small, private ceremony on New Year’s. He’s been with Rosalynn for almost a year and a half, and they’re trying to keep it secret, but she’s pregnant. The baby is due in May.

SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1975

Today was an incredible day. Gerald and his new wife came to visit. Although we just saw them back in February at their wedding (it seems all of the Walker men are getting hitched these days), it was so great to see them again. The whole family was together for lunch, and let me tell you, that was a lot of people. I asked Gerald if they’d considered moving back to Coyote Ridge, but he says he’s quite content where he is. His wife, Sue Ellen, was born and raised in El Paso, and she says she wants to stay there with her parents and siblings. I can’t blame her for wanting to be close to them.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 1975

Once again, another precious child has been brought into this world. Joseph and Rosalynn had their baby today. A little dark-haired boy they named Wade. We went to the hospital for a little while, but when we came home, I broke down and cried. I know it’s selfish of me to do. I’m happy for the proud parents; I simply want a child of my own. I know Curtis hates to see me cry, but I can’t seem to help it.

chapter FORTY

SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1975

Well, it’s officially been twelve years (tomorrow) since Curtis and I got married. And it has officially been the first time I’ve been inside a bar, the first time I’ve had a “real” drink (and maybe the last time, too). At twenty-seven, I think it might be safe to say that I’ve taken my time getting to this point.

“You ready, baby?” Curtis called to Lorrie from the living room.

He’d helped a couple of the hands take care of a few things that afternoon, then come home, showered, and changed, all in preparation for tonight, only to realize that women needed a hell of a lot more time to get ready than a man.

He’d been ready for the past hour and a half. Lorrie had been getting ready for twice that amount of time. And yet he was still the only one ready to go.

“One more minute!” she hollered.

Yeah, he’d heard that already. About twenty-five times.

Knowing it would be pointless to rush her, Curtis flopped down onto the couch and was about to light a cigarette when he looked up to see Lorrie stepping into the living room.

His world came to a jarring halt.

“Holy shit,” he mumbled under his breath.

The woman standing before him, glammed up like he’d never seen her before, made his dick jump to attention. Her hair was straight, falling over her shoulders and midway down her back. She was wearing cowboy boots and a frilly skirt that hung above her knees, along with a black shirt that she had tied beneath her breasts, showing off a glimpse of her stomach.

He damn near came right there in his jeans.

“You said to dress sexy,” she said, looking at him sideways.

“Well, woman, you nailed it,” he mumbled, getting to his feet. “I’m just not so sure I wanna take you out in public lookin’ like that. Don’t wanna have to hurt a man for looking at you too long.”

What he said seemed to please her, because she smiled brightly. “Well, I’m ready when you are.”

He’d been partly serious when he’d said he wasn’t sure he wanted to take her out in public. The woman made his mouth water looking like that, and he knew she would draw attention wherever they went. But since one of David’s high school buddies was officially opening his new bar tonight, Curtis had promised his brother he’d go, and he wasn’t about to go without her.

Sending up a silent prayer that he wouldn’t get in a fight tonight, Curtis walked Lorrie out to the truck, admiring the sexy sway of her ass every step of the way.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the gravel lot of Moonshiners—what had previously been known as Gary’s Bar. Since no one knew who Gary was, one of David’s buddies from high school had bought the bar from the previous owner and decided to rename it Moonshiners. Fitting name, Curtis thought.

“Why did he name it Moonshiners?” Lorrie asked as they walked through the parking lot.

“If I had to guess, it’s because he’s been makin’ his own liquor up to this point.” Living in the country had its perks. It helped that the sheriff was quite fond of moonshine.

“Really?” She peered up at him.

Curtis nodded and opened the door to the bar, allowing her to go in before him. T.G. Sheppard’s “Devil in the Bottle” crooned from the jukebox, heard over the sound of muted conversation. The place wasn’t crowded, but then again, in a town the size of theirs, it wasn’t expected to be. It looked no different than when it had been Gary’s Bar, except for the sign that spouted the new name.

“Curtis,” a deep voice rumbled from across the room.

“Robert,” Curtis replied, taking Lorrie’s hand and leading her over to the bar. “You remember my beautiful wife, Lorrie.”

“I remember,” Robert said with a grin, holding out his hand to her. “Good to see you again.” His eyes returned to Curtis. “Thanks for comin’ tonight.”

“Thanks for invitin’ us. How’s your brother?”

“Who, Mack?” Robert chuckled. “That boy ain’t got a lick of sense.”

Curtis laughed, but only because they all knew the opposite to be true. Turned out Robert Schwartz’s kid brother Michael—everyone knew him as Mack because even at twelve he was as big as a truck—was some sort of genius. Not that you’d ever know it to talk to him. Apparently he preferred to keep that tidbit of information to himself.

“Good to hear,” Curtis teased, glancing down at Lorrie. “You want somethin’ to drink, darlin’?”

Lorrie nodded.

“What can I get ya?” Robert asked, his eyes hopeful.

Lorrie shrugged. “What’s good?”

Only then did it occur to him that his wife had never had a drink before. At least not that he knew of.

“I’m thinkin’ you look like a Tequila Sunrise girl,” Robert suggested, glancing at Curtis for approval.

Curtis nodded. He hadn’t a clue what was in it, but why the hell not? “I’ll take a beer.”

“Comin’ right up. We got billiards and darts in the back if you’re interested.”

Following Robert’s direction, Curtis led Lorrie to the
back
—which was really only a few feet away from the
front—
to check out the billiards table. He wasn’t much for the game, but he didn’t mind sitting and watching. He found an empty table in the far corner, pulled out a chair, and waited for Lorrie to take a seat before he took the seat next to her.

“What d’ya think?” he asked her as she continued to look around.

“Nice place,” she said sweetly.

“You don’t have to be nice on my account,” he teased.

“No, I like it. I’ve just never been to a bar before, so I don’t have much to compare it to.”

Curtis frowned. “I guess I shoulda been takin’ you out before now, huh?”

Lorrie shook her head. “You know me; I’d much rather be at home.”

“Well, tonight we’re gonna enjoy ourselves. Have a coupla drinks, maybe do a little dancin’.” He smirked at her.

“You? Dance?”

There was a first time for everything.

Robert brought their drinks over, then disappeared quickly.

Curtis watched as Lorrie peered into the glass in front of her before leaning down and sniffing the drink. Her cute little nose curled up the way it normally did. She met his gaze and whispered, “What’s in this thing?”

He had no clue. “You probably don’t wanna know.”

She took a tentative sip, her nostrils flaring as she did, but then her eyes lit up, and he knew tonight was going to be a good night.

Well, if he could get her home in one piece, it would be.

After just one of those fruity drinks, Lorrie was feeling good. Better than good, actually. Her fingers were a little numb, as were her lips. Maybe her ears, too. The effect the alcohol had on her was interesting. She wasn’t sure how much she liked it, but for now, she was going to enjoy.

Not only was it making her worry less, it was also affecting her libido. She’d found herself needing to be closer to Curtis, so rather than sitting in her own chair, she’d taken to sitting in his lap while he talked to several people who’d come to say hello. Apparently, as she’d always suspected, Curtis was a rather popular guy. A lot of people who’d come tonight knew him, which wasn’t at all surprising. She enjoyed sitting there, listening to them chat.

Rather than interrupt, she’d decided to watch people, enjoying the music and the laughter, wondering why they hadn’t done this before. Then she remembered, they hadn’t gone out like this because she always came up with an excuse not to. But now that she was here, Lorrie knew that this was the sort of place she could get used to. Although it was a bar, it had a homey feel. Everyone knew everyone else, and the conversations were about family and friends and all things Coyote Ridge.

“You want another drink?” Robert asked, passing by their table on the way back to the bar.

Figuring what the hell, Lorrie nodded.

Robert tapped the table and smiled. “Be right back.”

She felt Curtis’s warm breath on her neck as he moved her hair back. “Are you gonna get drunk tonight, Mrs. Walker?”

“I might,” she said, smiling although she still couldn’t feel her lips.

His voice was low as he whispered into her ear. “I’d definitely like to see my naughty girl drunk.”

She wasn’t so sure about that. As it was, she was feeling a little frisky already. If the alcohol continued to work, she might just want to sneak Curtis into the bathroom and have her wicked way with him.

Robert brought her drink back, striking up a conversation with Curtis and ending their teasing session. Because her tongue was also numb, the second drink went down a lot easier than the first, but she tried to drink it slowly, knowing that too much alcohol wasn’t a necessarily a good thing, no matter how great she felt at the moment.

“You ’bout ready to head home?” Curtis whispered to her.

Almost an hour had passed since the last drink, and she was still tipsy, not quite sure she could stand on her own. They’d attempted dancing, which she’d learned Curtis was actually good at, but when the room had begun spinning, he’d insisted on sitting back down.

“Ready when you are,” she told him.

“We’re gonna head on out,” Curtis told whomever he was talking to.

Lorrie hadn’t been paying attention to half of what they were saying, choosing to enjoy simply being out of the house with Curtis. She liked the fact that he was so popular, that everyone seemed to like him and want to chat. More than that, she liked that he didn’t want to be too far away from her, pulling her back into his lap when she had tried to give him a little breathing room earlier.

“Come on, darlin’,” Curtis said, putting his arm around her. “Let’s get you home.”

Lorrie nodded, though he hadn’t asked her a question. The action made her smile, which then made her laugh, and before she knew it, she was giggling uncontrollably as Curtis helped her into the truck.

“I think it’s official, darlin’. You’re drunk.”

Maybe so.

When Curtis climbed into the truck, Lorrie took a deep breath, then rolled down the window to get some air when he was pulling out of the parking lot.

“Did you have fun tonight?” he asked.

“Yep,” she said quickly, looking over at him. Once again she was smiling, and the numbness had spread throughout her body.

“Sorry you didn’t get to do much. Next time we’ll try the dancin’ thing before you knock one back,” he said, his eyes on the road.

“Well, I can think of somethin’ I can still do,” she slurred, leaning over so that her head was in his lap.

Curtis’s hand came to rest on the back of her head. “Honey, what’re you doin’?”

His voice was rough, and she knew he didn’t need her to answer, because she was already unbuckling his belt buckle and then undoing his jeans, freeing his erection.

“Baby…”

Feeling emboldened by the alcohol, Lorrie took Curtis’s penis into her mouth, sucking him just the way she knew he liked.

“Aw, fuck, darlin’,” he growled. “This ain’t safe, you know that? Your mouth feels too damn good. Hard for me to focus.”

Lorrie didn’t let up, slurping him into her mouth, licking him with her tongue, teasing him the way he’d always teased her. She loved the sound of his voice as he continued to talk while he drove, apparently not as distracted as he’d said he was.

When the truck came to a stop, she knew they were home, yet she still didn’t release him from her mouth. She liked the warmth of him against her tongue, the way his hand fisted in her hair, the deep rumble as he encouraged her to continue.