Lena's Happily Ever After [The Town of Pearl 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

“Honey, explain the situation to us so we understand. You’re telling me that the Joneses know that you’re staying here in the office?”

“Yes. They offered for me to stay on their ranch, but I don’t know them. I just met them a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been working here all week and hoping to get a job at the restaurant, too, so that I can pay them back.”

“Where’s your family, honey?” Wyatt asked, and Kenny could see the fear in Lena’s eyes and the sadness.

She swallowed hard and raised her chin.

“I don’t have a family, Sheriff.”

Kenny felt the punch to his gut. She was homeless or an orphan. No, she couldn’t be an orphan. She was young but maybe eighteen or so.

“You’re sweating, sweetie. Don’t be nervous. If your story is true, then we’ll check it out and let you go back inside,” Wyatt stated calmly.

“I’m not nervous. I just don’t like being manhandled,” she stated toward Kenny. He was shocked by her attitude, and he still wasn’t sure if he trusted her.

“I’m sorry, but do you mind if I take off this sweatshirt out here? It is so hot. Inside the office the air-conditioning was stuck on and when I tried to turn it off, I did something that made it even colder in there. I was freezing.” Kenny knew that the old air-conditioning unit was broken. His father had that problem for years. Maybe she was telling the truth after all. He suddenly wanted to know everything about her. As she took off her hooded sweatshirt, he felt his whole body react. She was only wearing a black tank top. It was tight and only fell to her belly button. Her breasts were large, the cleavage deep, and the rest of her very muscular. The sweatpants hung off her hips, showing the top of boxers and a tiny bit of a very small tattoo hidden below.

She cleared her throat, and he felt his cheeks warm, and then Wyatt chuckled.

“I have the feeling that you’re telling the truth. I heard some gossip about a very attractive, young woman in town working for Doc. Let’s go see if we can get that air conditioner fixed so you’ll be more comfortable tonight.” Wyatt began to walk toward the office. As Lena walked in front of Kenny, he touched her shoulder to stop her, and she abruptly turned around, prepared to strike. Talk about being on the defensive. This young woman looked fearful and ready to fight. He wasn’t sure if he was prepared for the hit.

“I hope you’re not trying to scam my parents. They’re good people. Most of the folk around here are good-hearted people. So I’m warning you, Lena, I’ll be watching you.”

She looked him over, and his whole body hummed in awareness.

“I owe your parents a lot and would never hurt them. It’s nice to know that you care for them so deeply.”

He hadn’t expected that. It made him feel guilty, and he wasn’t the one caught running from the police. He followed as he absorbed the way her hips swayed when she walked, how her arms and shoulders were toned and defined, and how stupid he was to think that she was a teenager instead of a voluptuous, petite woman. Oh yeah, he was definitely going to keep a close eye on Lena.

It was Saturday morning when Lena accepted the invitation to see a potential cottage she could rent from the Joneses. She hadn’t entered the town of Pearl through this side of town. The ranch was magnificent and like nothing she had ever seen before. There were horses and real-life cowboys and everything big, bold, and beautiful. The main house was stunning and looked like a mansion of sorts, perfect for this particular setting. There were smaller houses and cottages along the outside of the main home and then one lone house with a small, detached cottage nearby. It was so strange and made her feel excited simply because she had never seen anything so beautiful before. She felt a bit disconcerted.

She had come from nothing, had survived with hardly anything, going hungry more often than not and living in survival mode. Lena would hide out during the day in malls or the library, then freeze at night on the streets. Then she met Ariel. She had seemed so worldly to Lena because she was older. She made life on the streets sound like freedom and opportunity. That wasn’t the case at all. In fact, it was a death sentence.

Looking around at the land here, the Joneses and the community in Pearl made her not only feel like such a loser and so below their standards, but also made her feel a tinge of determination. She wasn’t living on the streets of Detroit anymore. She could really make a better life for herself here, and the Joneses were her saving grace, her angels.

“That over there is the cottage we mentioned. It’s small but in very good condition.” Abigail pointed to a beautiful white house that was way smaller than the larger white house next to it. There were planter boxes out front and a small area that looked to have been a sitting area at one time.

Her heart hammered inside of her chest. The cottage was gorgeous. She was finally going to have a place of her own to live.

“Oh my God, it’s so beautiful. Are you sure about this?” she asked them, and Abigail nodded her head and smiled wide.

As they got out of the truck, Abigail took Lena’s hand and led her toward the front walkway. She pointed toward the right. “Over there are the horses’ training stables and acres upon acres of Jones property. There’s a swimming hole and a cookout area where we’ll host a BBQ for Fourth of July.”

Lena touched the small white fence that needed some paint as well as the planter boxes that remained filled with old dirt.

“You can plant anything you like, dear. The place is all yours,” Doc stated from behind her, and Lena felt the tears reach her eyes. Could this really be happening to her? Could she seriously have found the best place on earth to live and be free from danger?

They walked her inside to a small living room and a decent-size kitchen. There were boxes everywhere.

“Quinn and some of the workhands will be stopping in to help clear out the boxes. We wanted to be sure that you were okay with the place,” Abigail stated, sounding nervous.

Lena looked toward the older woman, so grateful for everything her and her husbands had done for her.

Lena slowly reached for Abigail’s hand and squeezed it gently.

“Thank you. I could never repay you for this. Please let me know what the rent is. As soon as I get my paycheck, I can pay you.”

“Nonsense, child. The place is yours for as long as you need it. We’re hoping that you’ll love this town and want to set roots down somewhere around Pearl.”

“Oh, by the way, here is your pay for the week.” Dr. Jones handed Lena a white envelope. She thanked him then smiled.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Abigail asked.

“I didn’t want to be rude. I appreciate whatever you felt I should get paid for working for you, Doc,” she whispered.

“You deserve a hell of a lot more. I hope that can help you to spiffy up the place,” he added with a smile as he looked around.

“So, this is Lena?” someone asked. When Lena turned around, she saw one very tall cowboy. He was wearing jeans with dirt on the thighs, cowboy boots, and a light-colored plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The man was gorgeous. She had difficulty swallowing, felt her cheeks warm from the sight of him as she wondered what was in the water here in Pearl. The men were some of the best-looking men she had ever laid eyes on.

“Hey, Quinn, I thought you were out in the fields,” Doc stated as Quinn removed his hat and ducked his head as he entered the front doorway. Lena once again felt so feminine and tiny compared. He held her gaze and looked her over with hungry eyes. Oh yeah, he had to be about mid-twenties and filled with cockiness and experience to boot.

“This is Lena. Lena, this is our son Quinn. He works here on the ranch with the horse-training business,” Abigail introduced.

The closer he walked the farther up she had to tilt her head.

“So, you’re the one the police thought was a teenager committing a break-in at the office? They must be blind. Ain’t no way I’d mistake a pretty young thang like you for a kid,” he teased as he touched her hand to shake it. The moment their fingers touched she felt the jolt of awareness. What was with these cowboys around here? She pulled away and turned shyly as if looking around the room again.

“There’s no need to be bringing that misunderstanding up right now. We’re showing Lena the cottage. As soon as we can move out some things, she can start working on moving in here,” Doc stated.

“She’s going to be staying here on the ranch? In this cottage?” Quinn asked, and Abigail chuckled. They all heard someone calling from outside, and so Abigail and Doc left her alone with Quinn. He held her gaze as he smiled at her, and feeling on guard and shy, she reached for a box and began to lift it out of the way so she could get a better look at the flooring.

A moment later she felt his presence beside her.

“No need to be lifting anything, darling. I got the men coming over any minute to start moving this crap outside. It’s going to be nice to see you around the ranch, Lena.”

She swallowed hard then walked away from him to place some space between them. That was when she heard a whole lot of noise coming from outside.

* * * *

Quinn watched Lena as she walked away from him. She was real sweet and very shy just like his fathers, Doc, Frank, and Will, had told him. As she headed toward the front porch, he saw the other men getting out of the trucks, waving and saying hello to Lena. He couldn’t help the jealous feeling he had inside. She was young and innocent looking, and men around here could see a woman like that from miles away.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lena. You remember me from Doc’s office Wednesday don’t ya?” Clay asked as he tipped his hat toward Lena.

She reached out to shake his hand.

“Of course I do. How are you feeling?” she asked as she pulled her hand from his.

Clay looked Lena over and he smiled. “I’m feeling real fine knowing you’ll be my neighbor on the ranch. You need anything at all, even a tour, you let me know, Miss Lena,” he stated then winked. Before she could respond, the others were shaking her hands and flirting with her. Lena took a step back as Clyde and a few others seemed to get into her personal space. Quinn placed his hand against her waist before she bumped into him. She jumped then turned to the side and nearly knocked Clay off the front porch.

Quinn was taken aback by her reaction to being touched. He also realized just how petite she was. Her head had barely made it to his chest, and protectiveness steered his next move as he stopped Clay from following Lena.

He pressed his hand palm-forward against Clay’s shoulder.

Holding his stunned gaze, the man looked annoyed for being stopped in his pursuit.

“Start taking the boxes I placed outside in the back. Have the others start with the inside.”

“No problem, although I’d rather be inside where the view is much more interesting.”

Clay turned on his heels and gave orders to the other men as Quinn clenched his teeth.

“What’s wrong, Quinn?” his father Frank asked. He and Will rode up on horseback.

“Nothing.”

“That didn’t look like nothing. It looked to me like you were jealous of Clay talking with Lena,” Frank pushed. Quinn stared at his father, who stood a few inches lower than him.

“I know these guys, and they don’t always have the best of intentions, especially when they see new, prime meat like Lena.”

Frank placed his hand on Quinn’s shoulder.

“That’s why your mother, fathers, and I hope that you’ll keep them in line and keep an eye on Lena. She’s not from around here, hence her non-Southern accent and tough demeanor. Doc thinks she’s had a rough life and been on her own for a while.”

Quinn looked over his shoulder and saw that Lena was helping Abigail look inside a few boxes in the kitchen.

“How did he come about meeting her anyway?” Quinn asked.

“He found her sleeping between the garbage pails in back of the office.”

“What?” Quinn asked, feeling sick and concerned. Why would she be there? Where was she from, and didn’t anyone care about such a beautiful, young woman?

“She hasn’t told them much, but knowing your mother, she’ll get to the bottom of Lena’s story and help her the best she can.”

“I guess Dad’s lucky he found her before someone else did.”

Frank peeked into the house and saw Abigail and Lena talking and smiling.

“I think we’re the lucky ones. I think she’s special,” Frank stated then headed inside.

Quinn watched as Lena shyly looked away from his dad Frank then glanced in Quinn’s direction. He tried to smile, but looking at her and knowing that she had been living on the streets made his heart ache. Quinn decided then and there that he would do whatever he had to ensure her safety and well-being.

The next few days after work, Abigail had come over to help Lena fix up the house. They had started with a thorough cleaning and then began to wash all the dishes and pots and pans that had remained in the closets for years.

“This crap needs to be replaced. It’s just old and doesn’t match the paint color you picked out. We should go shopping for all new stuff.” Abigail looked over the brown handles on the steel pots.