Dirty: The Complete Series (Secret Baby Romance Love Story) (27 page)

Tuck looked at his father like he wanted to
protest, but of course, he couldn’t
—
not really. He gulped down the last of his
coffee and turned away from Bob and me to stalk towards the shed.

“I’m glad you showed up when you did,” I said,
smiling wryly at Bob.

“Tuck’s feeling insecure,” he told me, sitting
down on the porch stairs. He shook his head. “You’d think after teaching him all
his life that the only thing that matters to me is how much effort he puts in,
he’d know better.”

“I think he’s just...worried,” I said with a
shrug. Bob looked almost sad. I couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like
for him to be so disappointed in his son.

“Let’s give him a chance to get out to the
other end of the field,” he suggested. “For that matter, I’m going to give you
a warning in the interests of fairness to stay away from him, too.”

“That’s fair,” I agreed. He looked at me for a
long moment and I worried that he was going to ask me if I’d done anything to
spur Tuck on.

“While we’re at it, I’m going to ask Autumn to
bring your lunches out to you separately,” Bob said. He half-smiled. “Don’t
take that as an excuse to slack off and flirt with my daughter.” I laughed
—
nervously, I have to admit.

“I’m focused on the work,” I told him. “I made
you a promise, and I want to live by it.” I couldn’t quite meet his eyes
square. I looked at his eyebrows instead.

“I see the two of you together,” he told me
matter-of-factly. “I might be old before my time, but I still remember what
young men act like around girls they’ve taken a shine to.”

“I have a lot of respect for you, sir. But I
will admit that I like your daughter a lot. I’m keeping focused on my work, but
she’s a beautiful woman, and kind and smart.”

“You could do a lot worse than her,” he
agreed, his smile warming a little bit. He sighed and stood. “As long as you’re
working as hard as you have been, now that it’s harvest and you’ve proven you
can hold your own, I give you leave to like her.”

He pulled his gloves out of the pocket of his
jeans and looked at me again. “I might have given up on trying to keep the two
of you apart, but remember this, Cade: if you break my daughter’s heart, I’m
going to have to fire you.”

Chapter Thirty Five

Autumn

When he told me that Dad had given him the
all-clear to date me, I could have happily dragged Cade to the guest house to
make love with him right then and there. Instead, I’d kissed him, right there
in the front yard, where anyone could see us, and felt Cade’s arms tighten
around me.

It was a relief not to have to lie to my mom
and dad about where I would be going, who I would be spending time with. It
felt good to openly see Cade, to go out with him without trying to make sure we
didn’t look like we were too close, or going out of our little town to make
sure no one saw us being too familiar.

I found out one afternoon when I went to get
some things for my mom in town that apparently the fact of Cade and me being
together had become a hot topic for everyone. Someone congratulated me for
“snatching up the last decent man in town,” and another girl I barely knew
except by name said that she would have to try and conquer her envy of me to be
happy for me.

It turned out that apparently Cade was quite
the catch
—
and equally apparently, there were men in town who’d been waiting for
the chance to come court a single mother, who were kicking themselves for not
applying to the job my dad had posted.

When Cade and I told each other about what
we’d heard from friends around town, while we lay in bed together
—
at his place, since I still didn’t want to be
too
obvious about just how serious we
were in front of my parents
—
we both laughed at the fact that we’d clearly
been the most eligible bachelor and bachelorette in town, without even knowing
a thing about it.

The harvest came to an end, but there was
still lots of work to be done; the corn had to be processed and prepared for
shipping, and then, too, Cade had agreed with my father to continue through to
the winter, getting the fields ready for the next growing season by putting
them down to lie fallow through the cold weather.

I mentioned the Farmers’ Ball to Cade in
passing. I hadn’t gone to the event in years, and I hadn’t expected to go at
all, since I’d been left by Titan and didn’t think it would be all that seemly
for a single mother to go when it was one of the romantic events of the year.
But as soon as Cade heard about it, he’d asked me to go with him. “I’m technically
a farmer now,” he’d pointed out to me.

“You’re a farm
hand
,” I had corrected him playfully.

“Does it make that much of a difference? Are
we going to be turned away at the door since I’m only a farm
hand
and you’re only a
farmer’s daughter
?” I’d rolled my eyes
at that, but I’d agreed to go. I was actually excited about the ball for the
first time in years. Cade offered to pick me up, and I took advantage of my
newfound freedom to ask my parents to watch Addie for me for the night.

When Cade picked me up for the ball, I felt as
giddy as I had the first time I’d been old enough to go. I was going to spend
the evening dancing with him, having fun, pretending at least like I was a
carefree woman, instead of a single mom. We drove into town together and I wasn’t
sure if I was more excited about the prospect of the ball or the possibility of
spending the night at Cade’s place afterward.

After we’d danced for a few hours and chatted
with friends, and when one of the teenaged girls won the Belle of the Ball award
and there was nothing more for us to do, I’d gone back to his place more than
ready to get out of my dress and heels and slip into bed with him.

Even my mom was thrilled for me. I was pretty
sure it was more the fact that I had a little romance in my life than that it
was Cade specifically, but while we worked around the house day in and day out,
she asked me about our dates and if I thought we were serious. I told her that
I wasn’t sure, and I wasn’t lying, but I definitely hoped that there was a future
between me and Cade...and I thought there might be.

Instead of becoming bored because our
relationship wasn’t a big secret, I liked him more and more when we had a
chance to spend time together openly and be upfront about the fact that we were
seeing each other. Dad was a little less pleased, but he was willing to let me
make my own choices in the matter.

Tuck was different. He’d gotten so used to
silently holding the threat of telling Dad over my head that when he found out that
Cade and I were no longer hiding our relationship, it was like something inside
of him snapped. He complained to me constantly about how Cade was just trying
to show him up, make him look like he was irresponsible or not as good. Of all
the people who had something to say about Cade and me, Tuck was the only one
who was negative about us.

“You know he’s only dating you to strengthen
his case when he tries to talk Dad into selling to him,” he told me one evening
when we were both sitting on the front porch.

“Cade isn’t interested in buying any part of
the farm,” I countered. “He wants to work honestly and be paid honestly. I’d
think you’d at least appreciate the fact that harvesting went smoother than
ever this year.”

“Except that Dad is constantly going on about
what a big help Cade is being and how he doesn’t know how he managed without
him up until this year,” he said, sounding more like a sulky baby than my own
baby did when I told her she couldn’t have Mallomars for dinner.

“If you’re so worried about being shown up,” I
told him tartly, “maybe you ought to focus on making it hard for him to do it.”
Tuck glared at me as I shrugged. “You’re wasting all your energy trying to get
him fired or something when you could be showing Dad how helpful and responsible
you are. What do you think is going to impress him more?”

Tuck grumbled something I couldn’t quite make
out and looked away. “I just want to know that things are going to work out,”
he said finally. “I don’t want to have to keep proving myself to Dad for him to
trust me, especially when Cade is making it harder.”

“Focus on your own work,” I told my brother.
“That’s the best way to get Dad’s approval. He’s always told both of us that he
cares more about us working hard than he does about us being perfect at what
we’re doing. Mistakes can be corrected; doing nothing can’t.”

“Whatever,” Tuck said, scratching at some of
the paint on the railing. “Cade’s contract will be up soon, anyway. Don’t be
surprised if he dumps you as soon as the work’s not going anymore and he
doesn’t have any more chances to win Dad over to selling to him.”

I shook my head at my brother’s insistence on
some kind of conspiracy with Cade. It made absolutely no sense to me, but I
knew better than to try and make him see reason when he was in that mood. I let
him go back into the house before I collected my daughter and went back to my
own place. Tuck would just have to get used to it.

Chapter Thirty Six

Cade

I almost wanted to thank Tuck for picking a
fight with me when I saw how much better it was to be with Autumn openly, but I
figured that thanking him would just annoy him more. When Autumn told me about
Tuck’s big, paranoid theory that I was trying to muscle him out and buy the
farm for myself someday, I had to decide that it wouldn’t make sense to do
something that would just end up picking another fight.

Bob Nelson was obviously still not entirely
onboard with Autumn and me dating, but I had to hope that when I showed that I
meant to be with her for the long haul
—
that I was really and truly interested in her,
not just toying with her for a while
—
he’d be more comfortable with the idea. I only
had a little while left in my contract with him, and then I’d be totally free
and clear of the obligation I’d made.

Even though Autumn and I had been seeing each
other for less than a year, I was already pretty certain that things would play
out in the usual way: we’d get more and more serious, see each other so often
that it didn’t make sense to live in separate places anymore, and then we’d
move in together. I debated in my mind whenever the thought occurred to me
whether it would be better for her to move in with me, or me with her, or if we
both took a new place together in town.

We were sitting outside, on the porch to the
guest house where she lived, when the thought jumped up in my mind again. “You
ever think about what things will be like say...three months from now? Or six?”

Autumn had whipped up a quick, light dinner
for us. It was too hot for anything heavy, and she’d teased me that the big
reason for the vegetable-heavy meal was that she needed to take care of the
last bits of produce in the garden, rather than letting them go to waste.

“What do you mean?” Autumn turned her head and
glanced at Addie, who’d had her fill of tomatoes, corn, zucchini, carrots, and
chicken. “Not-uh, Adelyn. You are just going to hurt yourself if you try to get
out of that playpen, and I am not about to feel bad for you if you do.” Addie
looked at her mother with big baby eyes and then turned her attention to one of
the toys in the pen with her.

“I mean with us,” I said. “Do you see us being
together in three months, or six months?” Autumn gave me a quick look, and I
realized
—
too late
—
that it was probably a sensitive question for
her.

“If I didn’t see us together for at least the
next six months, I would probably not have gone along with dating openly,” she
said, taking a bite of tomato salad. “The last thing I need is to be the jilted
girlfriend again.”

“I would never cheat on you,” I told her,
reaching out to take her free hand in mine. “Whatever else
—
if we end, it will be because you tell me you
want it to end.” Autumn looked skeptical still for a moment, but then smiled.

“That’s good to know,” she said. “Why the
sudden interest in months from now?”

I shrugged. “My lease is coming up in
January,” I told her. “I was wondering if maybe
—
assuming we don’t screw this up
—
we could talk about moving in together.”
Autumn’s eyes widened and she stared at me for a moment.

“You want me to move in with you?”

I nodded. “If you’re interested,” I said. “Or
if your parents are okay with it, I could move in here. Whatever way you’re
most comfortable. I want us to be together as much as possible, and living
together would be the way to do that.”

Autumn stared at me again for a moment and
then began to smile. “You really want to live with me? And Addie, too?”

“No, I’m going to force you to abandon your
child in order to have a relationship with me,” I joked with a laugh. “Of
course I want Addie to live with us
—
if you’re okay with that.” Autumn’s smile grew
bigger.