Forever's Affection (Forever In Luck Series Book 3) (24 page)

The
match was on and Dani pulled their knotted hands towards her, tightening the
angle of her elbow in an attempt to throw off his center of gravity. Remembering
everything the ranch hands had taught her, she worked her grip up his thumb,
forcing his grip to slip down her hand weakening his leverage. He compensated
by trying to hook his hand around hers. Hah! She was ready and held her arm and
wrist steady as she tilted their gripped hands at the wrist towards her. It was
a one, two, three, punch in arm wrestling. Pivoting her body in the winning
direction, she felt his grip slip just as she’d planned, then…

*****

WHAP!
The back of Nik’s hand hit the table.

There
was cheering all around, and Nik fell back in his chair shaking his head as he
smiled. Kris pulled Dani up into a big bear hug, kissing her soundly. “That’s
my girl!” Squeezing her tight and looking in her eyes, he said, “I love you.”
Everything went quiet as heads swung their way. Kris looked beyond Dani’s
shoulder to his family, feeling as though he was on the spot. “What?”

No
one said anything,
then
Jules, who’d recently joined
them, spoke up, “It’s just that we’re glad to see you with someone special in
your life. It’s nice.”

“It
sure is,” his dad added. “And for whatever its worth, I approve of this one
wholeheartedly.”

Staring
down at Dani, Kris nodded.
“Me too.”

“I
know you haven’t known each other long,” Linnie said, “but are we maybe going
to hear wedding bells in the future?” She held up two hands with fingers
crossed on each.

God
he hoped so. He shrugged.
“Maybe.
We need to get
through some stuff with Junie before we can think about the two of us.”

“Like
what?” his dad asked.

Lifting
his head, he looked at his family. “Like Junie could be forced back to Wyoming
at any time and it may be that she will have to stay there. We have to wait and
see.”

“What?
Why?” Jules cried, plopping down in one of the chairs. “Can’t you keep her
here?”

Turning,
Dani looked at all of them. “Have a seat, I’ll try to explain.”

Twenty
minutes later, Dani, sat back in her chair feeling exhausted having shared all
the sordid details with them all.

“So
at any minute your mother could swoop in here and take Junie?” Linnie asked,
clearly irritated.

Dani
nodded.
“Pretty much.”

“This
sucks,” Nik added. “There should be something we can do. It’s not right that
she gets to walk in and out as she pleases.”

“Dani,”
Karl said, “I’m real proud of you for caring for Junie as you have. If there is
anything we could do to help you, please let us know. We care about you and
Junie greatly, and we won’t let you go through this alone if we can help it.”

The
look of shock was apparent on Dani’s face. It was
obvious,
she’d never expected to hear that.

“
Ummm
,
th
,
th
,
thank you.”

“You’re
welcome.” Reaching over his dad patted her hand. “And just so you know, you’ve
been good for Kris and I hope to one day call you daughter.”

Dani
looked at them with wide eyes and Kris stepped in. “Yes, they like you and want
you to be a part of this family.”

“Hell
yeah,” Nik said. “Kris is a whole lot more fun to be around now that he’s
hanging with you, and Junie’s a kick. I’ll never have to buy another dog bone
again.”

Dani
laughed. “Those are perks, for sure.”

“You
bet,” Karl said, “Little Miss Juniper is quite the artiste. Look.” Walking to
the fridge, he pointed proudly and said with pride, “Here’s me in my sleigh,
and here are all my reindeer, and here’s me trying to get my big butt down a
chimney.”

They
all laughed.

“She
wants me to show her Rudolph, but I told her he’s hibernating till winter and
that we need to let him sleep. So far she’s buying it.”

“Well,”
Jake said, “that explains why she tells the cows to be quiet when they make
noise.”

They
all chuckled.

“We’re
having a picnic on Sunday for Father’s Day,” Jules interrupted. “We hope you
and Junie will join us.”

Dani
nodded.
“Sounds nice.
If you want to have it at the
ranch, we could drop in a few lines, catch some
fish,
go for horseback rides, stuff like that?”

“
Ohhh
,” Jules answered, her gaze spanning the group
excitedly before returning to Dani. “I’ve never ridden a horse before, I’d like
to,
that
sounds fun. Are you sure?”

Dani
nodded. “Junie would love it and I would too. What should we have?”

Linnie
jumped in. “I’m craving barbeque ribs, and I saw sweet corn advertised. We’ll
pay an arm and a leg for it, but I don’t care, I’m hungry for it. Oh, and the
baby wants a root beer float,” she finished sweetly.

“Right,”
Nik said all drawn out. “You’re turning into a float.”

Linnie
gasped, and Jules reached over and pinched the back of Nik’s arm making him
howl. “You take that back or I’m telling Nate,” Jules snapped with irritation.

Cringing
and in pain, Nik relented reluctantly, “
Owww
, damn
Jules, I’m not sitting by you anymore. Fine, I’ll buy the stuff for the floats
and get extra for “the baby.”
How’s that?”

Linnie
rolled her eyes. “More’s the pity for the woman who agrees to marry you. Get
the good ice cream and premium root beer too. Oh, and the baby wants a straw
while you’re at it.”

Nik
snorted as he glowered at her. “Anything else the baby wants?”

Linnie
smiled brightly. “There’s hope, you’re trainable. Yeah the baby wants you to
rub my feet while I eat the float.”

They
all laughed, except for Nik.

“What
time works for you, Dani?” Jules asked, smiling, clearly pleased that the girls
had trumped the guys.

So
this is what family life was like. “Anytime really, should we say about two?”
Dani answered, smiling at the bunch. “We’ll provide the charcoal and other
beverages, and leave the cooking to you two. Does that sound alright?”

“Perfect,”
Jules answered. “We can talk more about it when the day gets closer.”

Reaching
and pulling Dani closer, Kris put a kiss on her cheek,
then
looked over at Linnie and Jules. “Can the two of you keep an eye on Junie for a
little bit? I have a little something I want to show Dani on the north side of
the property.”

They
both smiled instantly upon hearing his words, and Dani turned to him
questioningly.

“Sure,
I’ll be here for an hour or so,” Jules answered, grinning from ear to ear.
“Then I need to get over to the creamery and turn some cheese.”

Dani,
turned and
looked back and forth between all of them skeptically. “What’s on the north
side of the property?”

Standing
up, Kris held out his hand for her.
“Just a little
something.”
Looking at Jules, he said, “We’ll be back by then, promise.”

“You
know I hate surprises.”

He
grinned.
“
Mmhmm
.
Let’s go,
Chicken
Little
, come on.”

CHAPTER 12

Stepping
outside and squinting from the midday sun, Kris reached over and took Dani’s
hand. “They love you, I hope you know that.”

Staring
ahead into the distance, Dani answered, “Yeah, it scares the hell out of me.
What do you want to show me?”

He
had a feeling. “Let’s talk about that. Why does it scare you?”

She
looked all around, studying their surroundings. “I, I don’t want to disappoint
them. What is it, tell me?”

Kris
shook his head and ignored the question. “You won’t, and even if you did,
they’d still love you and it would be okay. Take me for example, I’ve been a
bear to live with for a while now, and the sleeping around really made my dad
mad, but they’ve stuck with me through it all and I realize now how fortunate I
am to have them. A month ago, not so much, it was all about me, me, me, and I
was a real ass at times.” He pulled her closer and put his arm around her as
they walked along the trail past the barn. He heard her take a deep breath and
let it out on a sigh.

“You
have a nice family. I like them. I’ve never really been around women, so it’s
interesting to see Linnie and Jules together. I don’t know how to act a lot of
the time.”

That
made sense, he thought. “Linnie had mom all the years growing up, and a few
girlfriends, but no one real, real close till she met Jules about seven years
ago, and Jules’s parents died when she was an infant. She was raised by her
grandma and was so shy she didn’t have any close friends either. When she met
Linnie, they were two peas in a pod, having forged a strong friendship. They understand
what it means to be on the outside looking in, and they’ve made it abundantly
clear, in the way women always do if you know what I mean, that they’d like to
make it three peas in a pod.”

She
looked down and smiled trying not to laugh, then turned and stared at a tractor
as they walked by. “I’m fortunate, the two of them have helped me a lot. So,
we’ve walked past the barn and the creamery, and now the garden, where are we
going?”

“Just
over the hill, then you’ll see what I want to show you.”

Topping
the hill, she stopped and blinked, then blinked again. Then her eyebrows
dropped low over her eyes, as she stared in confusion. “What is it?”

He
laughed. “Now you’re the one who needs glasses. It’s our house.”

She
turned and looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language. “What?”

He
laughed some more, getting a kick out of her reaction. “Our house, I hope you
like it.”

Slowly
turning her head back, she looked at the house like it was some figment of her
imagination. “It’s...It’s…grand,” she said in astonishment.

Moving
to stand behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her. “I
figured I’d just drive through the farmyard to get to it, but now I’ll probably
put in a road leading out to 150
^th
.”

Turning
her head a little, she looked at him, dazed and confused. “Why?
When you can drive through the yard to get there.”

Squeezing
her tight and kissing her cheek, he said, “Too long for the school bus, and too
long for the kids to walk.”

Getting
the picture, the reality setting in, she stood taller. “Kris…we…I…maybe we
should…well…umm…”

He
had a feeling she would react this way. Anything that sparked of permanence or
commitment scared the hell out of her and he knew it was because she didn’t
want to love something only to have it taken from her later. “Trust me
beautiful, this is real and it’s ours.”

“But…how?”
she asked incredulously.

“I
plowed a lot of snow, drove a lot of bus, and milked a lot of cows to be able
to afford it. Then with the help of my brothers and several handy friends, I’ve
done much of the work on it by myself. I’ll need to return the favor.”

Her
mouth fell open.
“Seriously?
I mean, well, look at
that fireplace. Wow!”

Kissing
her cheek again, he gave her another squeeze. “That you like it means a lot to
me. You want to see our new house?”

She
started dragging him along at a clip, “Come on,
show
me your house.”

Tugging
back on her arm, he pulled her to him and said firmly, “Our house. I’m glad you
like the fireplace. I gathered the stones over the years from the fields I plowed.”

She
gasped.
“No way!”

Damn
she was cute. “Yeah, way,” he answered with a laugh.

Yanking
on his arm again, she pulled and pulled. “Come on pokey, I want to see this
house!”

He
was relieved she was so excited. Soon they were walking up the stairs to the
front door. “When the inside’s done, and we have the money saved, I’m putting a
deck out front here and these stairs will be gone.” Opening the door, he
stepped aside for her to enter and prayed she liked it enough to want to be
here forever.

A
few steps in, she stopped and stared, then said “Oh my God…this is
extraordinary…” Her voice trailed off and she swallowed. Slipping off her
shoes, she stepped onto the carpet and stopped, looking down. “It’s, it’s so
soft.” Walking in further, she turned and looked in all different directions
appearing lost.

Stepping
towards her, he said, “This is obviously the living room, I was thinking a
couch here in front of the fireplace, then a chair on each side. Over here a
dining table with chairs. We have room for a bigger one as you can see. I
didn’t know what to do in the kitchen, so Jules helped me out. I hope you like
what she did.”

Stepping
to the sink, she looked around and touched the surface. Turning, she walked to
the fridge and opened the doors, then to the cooktop, complete with a grill on
the island counter. Looking over she noticed the dishwasher she’d missed and
walked to it, opening the door and staring inside.

“Can
I show you the rest of the place?”

She
turned to him and stared speechless. Smiling, he reached for her and took her
hand. Walking down the hall, he pointed out the main floor bathroom, and then
they stopped at the end of the hall and he opened the two bedroom doors, one
room a soft lemon yellow, the other a gentle, light shade of green. “Junie said
her favorite color was yellow, and I picked green because…well, because I hope
we can have a child, and one can never be sure if it will be a boy or a girl.”

When
she didn’t say anything, he started to become nervous. Taking her hand again,
he said, let me show you the upstairs. Back in the living room they went up
some stairs, turned at the landing and went up a few more, then stepped into
the loft. “This part here, I was planning on making a reading area, maybe a
little couch, chair, some books, a reading lamp, but we could do whatever
really.”

Stepping
to the railing, she looked down onto the living area below, then up to the fan
hanging from the peaked ceiling. Standing next to her, he waited, then taking
her hand, he led her to the door on the back wall. “This is the master
bedroom.” Opening the door, he let her step past him and waited.

She
stopped and stared. It was a huge room, with a large window on the opposite
wall. “I,
ahh
, had the window put up a little higher
as I was planning on putting a king sized bed under it. Imbedded in the walls,
here on the sides—he demonstrated—
are
little doors
that open to a crawl space for storage.” Standing he looked at her,
then
pointed, “Over there is the master bath.”

Turning,
she walked to the room he’d had done in a crisp white, complete with a large
skylight and whirlpool tub. She stepped inside, and he stood at the door
watching her. Walking over to the hexagonal shaped window on the wall, she
stood and stared out at the scene. He knew she could see the whole farm from
this vantage point, and for whatever reason, he felt it was one of the best
parts of the house.

Taking
a deep breath, she turned and stepped up to the sink. Looking into the mirror,
she shifted her eyes to his in the reflection and he saw her ambivalence. “Tell
me what’s wrong and we’ll fix it.”

Shaking
her head, she looked down as she gently touched the surface of the sink. “It’s
perfect, it’s absolutely perfect. It’s stunning, and wonderful, and you deserve
this so much. I am happy for you, so very, very happy for you.”

Damn
it, he wanted to punch a hole in the wall. She still didn’t believe in them.
“You don’t see yourself here, do you? Why not?” he damn near snapped and
struggled to rein in his anger.

She
shook her head. “I want to, boy do I want to,” she said looking all around.
“This is but a dream for me, a big beautiful dream. Kris I’m going to have to
go back to Wyoming. Once Sarah from child protection realizes my mother’s gone
and they can’t find Junie, they’re going to start looking for her, and they’re
going to start by looking for me.”

Refusing
to accept it, he shook his head stubbornly. “No, even if you have to return
there, you’ll be coming back. They’ll see the truth for what it is, because we
will show them. They’ll see that Junie is better off with us. She will not be
taken from
us,
it’s not going to happen. It’s not. I
can feel it, here—he thumped his chest with his fist—right here. It’s a done
deal. Believe me when I tell you, you two are not going back to Wyoming. Wisconsin
is your home now, so get used to it and help me make this house into a home.”

Smiling
at the strength of his conviction and subsequent ultimatum, she took a deep
breath and let it out. “You’re getting a little bossy and I really shouldn’t
let you get away with that.”

Walking
up to her, he took her face in his hands and kissed her gently. “You bring your
rope?”

Laughing,
she shook her head a little.

“Then
I’m safe.” Leaning in, he kissed her softly and with tenderness to start, then
more passionately. “I want you,” he said in her ear, “and I’m not going to stop
till I have you. Let me make love to you.”

Looking
up at him, she stared into his eyes. “You’re sexy as hell, you know that?”
Reaching up she put her arms around his neck pulling them closer. “Love me
Kris, love me like there’s no tomorrow.”

Picking
her up, he carried her to their bedroom.

*****

Four
days later, Dani was in the barn in the early morning hours. Grabbing a shovel
and her sledgehammer, along with a couple of posts, she headed out into the
yard just as Kris came out of the ranch house.

“Hey
beautiful, you’re up early. What are you doing?”

She
sure was, unable to fall asleep after waking and needing to use the bathroom
again, her mind galloped and leaped all over the place until she couldn’t take
it and had to get up and do something.
“Getting ready for
your family to come over for the barbecue.”

“Let
me help you.” He took the tools from her hands, kissed her good morning and
smiled at her. “What are we doing?”

Stopping
and looking at him, she suddenly felt waspish. “I can do it.” She really was
tired.

Putting
an arm around her, he said, “I have no doubt, but please tell me what we’re
doing and I’ll help.”

Grrrr
, her discontent
was prevalent.
“Making a horseshoe court.”

“Nice!”
he said, ignoring her mood and patting her bottom before giving it a squeeze.
“That’ll be
fun,
I can’t say I’ve ever played
horseshoes.
Where we setting up?”

Walking
to the spot, she pointed to the areas she’d marked with spray paint. “Here.”

“Alright.”
Dropping the
hammer, he headed for one of the outlined squares with the shovel in hand. “I’m
guessing you want this dug up?”

Watching
him, she answered, “I can do it?”

“I
know, how deep?”

She
stood staring at him. He did not want her digging.

Taking
off the layer of sod, he looked at her,
then
charmed
her by pursing his lips and blowing her a kiss.
“How deep?”

He
was placating her.
“Six to eight inches.”

“Where
do the posts go?”

“
Ahh
, gee, in the center,” she answered as she crossed her
arms over her chest.

“Alright,”
he chirped, not buying into her latent sarcasm. “I can do this if you have
something else you need to do. Jules had me bring the watermelon yesterday, you
could cut that up.”

Women’s
work, she thought.
“
Mmhmm
.”
Dropping the posts, she headed for the back of her pickup. This will draw him
out and tell her if she was right. Opening the tailgate, she hefted a fifty
pound bag of play sand onto her shoulder and made her way over to him. She damn
near lost the bag when she laughed at the shocked look on his face.

Dropping
the shovel, he dashed over to her and took the sand from her.
“You all right?
You scared me.”