Long Ride (Riding with Honor) (6 page)

“You didn’t have to do this…” h
e indicated the dish that she had since handed off to him.

“No, I wanted to.  Edna called looking for Chuck who is out and about with Meredith somewhere.  She told me what happened
.  I made way too much lasagna the other day and the boys are sick of it now that we’ve had it twice so I thought I’d bring you the other pan of it,” she said, looking around.

“She’s in the bath… still kind of shook up
,” he said as he led Carla to the kitchen where he put the lasagna on the countertop.

“Well
, I was planning to stop by and see her while she was in town anyways.  I have some documents I was hoping she could take a look at for me…” Carla said, leaning against the kitchen cabinets.

“What documents?” Becca asked from the entrance to the kitchen.

Christ!
  She was wearing his robe.  Though she meant nothing by it, he couldn’t help but imagine that it would now smell like her.  Wearing his clothing… even his robe felt intimate.

“Oh no… you don’t need to do that right now… they’ll keep for a better time
,” Carla smiled at her.

“No… please… I need the work.  It will take my mind off… everything
,” Becca nearly begged.

“Why don’t you two ladies let me pour you some tea and then go and have a seat in the living room while I heat up the lasagna you brought
,” he offered, taking out two glasses from the cabinet.

Becca
hated being needy and she hated being afraid even more.  Thank God for Carla’s well timed distraction or she might actually have lost it.  She followed Carla into the living room and sat down. 

Carla smiled at her and said
, “Are you sure about this…?”

“Yes, please
… I need something else to focus on… think about, at least for a little while,” she replied.

“My late husband and I talked about getting life insurance… but that’s all we ever did… talk about it.  Then suddenly it was a little too sorry… too late.  I’ve finally been offered a full time job at the courthouse but I’m behind in my bills.  I called the bank and asked about refinancing and they sent me this
,” Carla said, handing her a letter she pulled out of her purse.

Scanning the document it appeared that Carla was more than a
little
behind and the bank was preparing to foreclose if the account was not brought up to date immediately.  Carla looked anywhere but at her. 

“I kept waiting for a settlement to come from the other guy’s insurance… unfortunately it looks like the bank i
s as tired of waiting as we are,” Carla offered by way of an explanation.

“Did you happen to bring any of the paperwork from your husband’s accident?  If I could look through it I might be able to determine if a settlement has been or will be awarded to you, you could then borrow against the settlement depending on the amount
,” she replied.

“I can’t make the payments even if I were able to borrow against the settlement and bring the account current
,” Carla said, her voice shaking from the tears that were shining in her eyes.

“May I keep this?”
she asked indicating the letter.

“Yes, any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated
,” Carla said with a watery smile.  “I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything to Chuck or Meredith either way.”

“I would never break the confidentiality of my clients
,” she replied, patting Carla’s hand. “I’ll draft a letter on your behalf and see if the bank is willing to work with us.”

“Thank you
,” Carla said sniffing.

Dickie cautiously made his way into the living room after a few minutes and sat next to her on the couch.

“So did you hear any more about your neighbor girls?” Carla asked him after collecting herself.

“Actually I got a call this afternoon before… from social services asking if I might be interested in taking in those two little girls.  Can you believe that?  I guess they are finally ready to take m
e up on my offer to keep them,” Dickie said smiling at Carla.

“
I’m just not sure what took them so long.  The social worker lady gave me a list of the requirements they have for the house and signed me up for some classes.  I haven’t had time yet but I’m going to call Dana and ask her about being a foster parent,” he finished.

Becca
could only stare at him.  At this point nothing about him should shock her but somehow his latest bombshell did just that.  Had Carmen James known it was
him
that Becca would be representing when she had asked her about it just this morning?  Did
he
know what all this would likely entail?

“I should get going, the boys will be home soon and I need to get back
,” Carla said standing. “I hope that things settle down for you and this latest trouble, along with the events at my house, doesn’t hinder you in getting those girls.  They need a decent parental figure in their lives.  Maybe it’s not too late to make a difference.  What am I saying?  It is
never
too late…Chuck is proof of that.”

Dickie walked Carla to the door and she laid the letter on the coffee table.  Upon opening the front door Chuck
stood there in the doorway.

“Oh Chuck!” Carla said
. “I just dropped off the left over lasagna and was on my way home so I would be there for the boys.”

“You’re such a do-gooder
, Carla,” Chuck said to her with a smile.

She smiled
, patted his shoulder and then left once Chuck entered the house.  Becca needed to talk to Dickie about all that he had shared with Carla.  Standing up she approached the two men. 

“Hey
, Becca, I got the signed contract in the mail today from the attorney representing the art gallery.  I also got some contract thing with it from Daniel with a potential sale price for one of my paintings.  I guess he can sell my first painting for like a shit ton of money.  I told him I had to talk it over with you first so when you get… better…” he said and then hesitated. “When you feel… better… let me know.”

“Can I see you for just a minute in the kitchen?”
she asked Dickie.

Dickie
followed her into the kitchen and she listened as Chuck walked over to the couch, sat down and, taking the remote, turned on the television.  He was giving them as much privacy as he could, using the television as a noise barrier.  The young man was truly a wonder and she couldn’t help but think that Dickie had a little bit of a hand in that.

“Don’t worry
, darlin,’ he is not staying long.  I’ll go talk to him…” he started.

“No it’s not that…it’s what you said earlier to Carla
,” she started.

“That whole foster parent process will probably take a couple of months, at least that is what the lady said, so don’t worry about being here with me right now.  I would expect Greg to have caught this guy way before they place the girls with me
,” he said, moving up close to her.

“No…
it’s just my meeting today.  I can’t go into too many details but Carmen James asked me to take a pro bono case as a children’s advocate…” she said. “You’re neighbors… the little girls… I think they are my new clients.”

A smile broke out on his face and before she knew what he was about, he had her pinned to his chest in a tight hug and then his mouth was on hers.  It took but a split second for the shock to dissipate and the passion in her to win out. 

Her body disconnected from both her head and her heart and completely took over until she was kissing him back with the force of a whirlwind.  She reached up to his face and pulled him down to her as his arms wrapped around her waist pulling her even closer.  She couldn’t get close enough to him or the fire in his kiss and his touch. 

She hadn’t realized just how starved for affection she really was.  His kiss
had cut loose an avalanche that she was unable or unwilling to rein in. 

At her soft whimper
, his kiss changed from an innocent, sweet kiss to a hungry onslaught of emotion.  This man had saved her today in more ways than one. 

When she had entered the bedroom and the
stranger’s hand covered her mouth, she was transported back in time to when Brian had done much the same.  She hadn’t missed how Dickie had put himself between her and the man.  She had a lot of fears but no longer was this man one of them. 

His easy ways, horrible pickup lines and straight forward approach to life left her as breathless as
this kiss. 
She wanted him.
  Gone was the thought of never wanting another man… she wanted
him
… right
now
… in this moment she would let
him
have his way with
her
if he asked it.

The touch of his tongue to hers felt like a rebirth into the land of the living. 
Her body understood and was bursting through the soil stretching toward the sunlight, as it pressed up against him like a second skin. 

“What is this?” Chuck’s voice
cleared the haze that surrounded them.

She quickly broke the kiss and stepped back from him.  Dickie stared at her for a brief moment before turning to look at Chuck.  Chuck stood before them with the letter from Carla’s bank in his hand. 
Shit!

“That is correspondence
given to me by a client,” she said, snatching the paper out of Chuck’s hand. “It is confidential.”

“I have a checking account
now and I understand money.  What that paper says is that Carla owes a bunch of it,” Chuck said in response. “Why does she owe so much money on her mortgage?”

“I cannot discuss that with you Chuck, just as I cannot discuss what you and I talk about to anyone else
,” she said. “If I talked about another client to you, you would no longer trust me not to tell another client about you.”

Chuck’s expression changed and she could see his brain processing what she’d said to him
.  Though for once, he remained quiet instead of blurting out his thoughts. 

“Can we have that talk about the painting
Daniel is trying to sell now?” he asked. “Are you over the ass whooping Dickie gave that piece of shit?”

She glanced at Dickie
, who still stared at her as though he was seeing her for the first time, and then said, “I suppose so.  Did you bring the sales contract from him?”

Chuck pulled out a paper that had been folded multiple times and stuffed in the front pocket of his jeans.  Handing her the paper he said
, “I want to make a counter offer.”

Taking the
document and unfolding it, she read it quietly.

“Counter offer?  They are offering you $150,000 for one painting Chuck!  That is a
substantial
amount for an unknown artist.  I would strongly encourage you to take their offer,” she said.

“Two paintings for $225,000, that’s what I want
,” he said matter of fact.

“Why would you need more than the $150,000 they are already offering you?”
she asked.

“Because I’m getting married and I want to buy Edith a
house,” he grinned. “I figure a quarter of a mil should do the trick… right?”

Dickie smiled and shook his hand and then gave him a quick hug, complete with a brutal smack to his back and shoulders.  When Chuck turned to her with the same grin, she impulsively leaned forward and gave him a hug too.  It wasn’t nearly as awkward as she thought it would be. 

“See… I knew you liked me some,” Chuck said to her. “Not a word though, not many people know yet… we are announcing it at Gran’s tomorrow night… you’ll be there right?”

“Yes we will be there and I will contact Daniel and have him approach the buyers with your counter offer
,” she agreed with a smile.

“If they don’t like any of the other paintings he has up there, let them know they can send me a picture of their family or a pet or even a home video or whatever and I’ll do something with it
,” he said.

“I will see what I can do
,” she smiled.

“Well I am going to take off so you guys can back to… getting busy
,” Chuck said with a knowing wink and a grin.

Embarrassment lit her cheeks so
much that she could feel the heat from them burning down her neck to her chest.  Grabbing Chuck around his shoulders and leading him to the front door, Dickie said quietly, “She likes sleeping with me.”

“That’s a little TMI man
, but I’m glad for you anyways,” Chuck said, before heading out of the door and over to his bike he had parked in the front yard.

She headed to the bedroom
, then to the bathroom to change clothes and then poured over the letter Carla had received.  Afterward she reviewed the sale proposal that Daniel had sent to Chuck while Dickie fixed them a salad.  By the time dinner was over she found it hard to keep her eyes open. 

The events of the day had just been too much… too much drama… too quickly.  She wasn’t used to dealing with anyone other than herself, especially someone who was hell bent on hurting her or at least scaring her horribly. 

Dickie entered the living room where she sat on the couch looking over the documents and researching information on her laptop.  He stopped directly in front of her and gently pulled the papers out of her hand and she sat the laptop aside.  Then he pulled her up to stand in front of him.

“Shall we attempt to fit on the couch again, like the first night, or do you trust me in there with you?” He said indicating his bedroom
. “You need to rest…
really rest
like your first night here so I’m offering my services.”

Looking at him she realized he was truly concerned for her.  It was there in the frown and the lines of his forehead that spoke of his worry for her.  Reaching up she touched his eyebrow with her fingertips and tried to smooth the lines on his forehead so that the frown disappeared. 

Capturing her hand with his, he placed an open mouthed kiss right in the palm of her hand.  Heat shone in his eyes but again he went no further, instead he pulled her along to his room where he held her until she at some point fell asleep.

Sleeping with him really did seem to agree with her and for a record breaking second night in the same week she was able to get a full night’s sleep.  She woke to find herself spooning him this time complete with an arm draped across his chest held in place by his bigger arm.  It should be awkward like a coyote ugly moment but it wasn’t.  In fact it felt so good she laid there just enjoying holding him in her arms.

“If you let me up just for five minutes I’ll start you some coffee and then I’ll come back and allow you to hold me or whatever else it takes to satisfy you,” he offered. 
She hadn’t even known he was awake!

After a shower and some breakfast she called Dana and set up a time to meet with her and Tommy for the following week.  She decided not to mention that the meeting would be work related rather than just a social visit.  Dana sounded excited and somehow being around the group never seemed to be only about a case, it was like they were
friends.

She spent the rest of the morning trying to catch up on work at the office by both remote accessing her computer and through a couple of conference calls.  Several times she caught herself staring aimlessly at the computer screen while thoughts of how
Dickie had held her so close throughout the night filtered through her mind.  He seemed fascinated with the feel of her hair either that or he just used it to make her fall asleep.

“How about you let me take you out for lunch?”
He asked, coming out from the room where his leather working supplies were stored.

“I need to draft that letter for Carla yet, call Daniel for Chuck and I actually need to contact another client as well
.  Plus, I need to go over the case file for the two foster girls.  I also need to call my office back and check on a couple of things from earlier,” she said as he approached.

“Actually, this is kind of work related for you too…
Bobby wants to talk to you about hiring some employees but he’s a little nervous and has questions.  Having a stranger work for you is a little different than people you’ve known for years,” he said. “I thought we could meet him and Lilly uptown.”

Sighing she said
, “Ok, you hooked me.  We can have lunch with Bobby and Lilly.”

An hour later they were sitting across from the happy couple and Edna at a local mom and pop restaurant.  She could understand the sentiment about pregnant women glowing because Lilly positively shined with health and vitality. 

Bobby sat quietly looking as though he’d rather be anywhere else while Edna studied the menu.

“Oh you look wonderful
, Lilly, pregnancy is agreeing with you,” she said as they approached the table. 

Dickie held her seat for her and then sat in the chair next to her moving his chair closer to her
s.  He made a point to sit close enough that part of his thigh was touching hers.

“Now that the morning sickness seems to have let up, I’m actually enjoying it.  I am even getting used to the whole baby moving thing
,” Lilly laughed. “Poor Gran, she answers all my questions but I have to be getting on her nerves by now.”

“You know I don’t mind a bit… just sometimes hard to remember since it’s been fifty years since
I’ve
been pregnant,” Edna laughed.

The waitress came and took their drink orders while Bobby and Dickie talked quietly about the break in that had happened, and about a new build that they were getting ready to quote for a customer. 

Listening to them talk about business was so completely different than what she’d ever experienced before, she wasn’t sure if they were talking about work or something they were planning to do for fun. 

When the waitress returned with their drinks and took their food order
Becca realized the difference was they loved what they did for work.  She remembered what that felt like when she was first out of school, when she still had grandiose ideas of making a difference. 

For the past five years or so it had been hard to be motivated by the money and prestige of seeming unbeatable in court… she longed for cases that
really
mattered.

“There might actually be two builds coming up if the guy ever calls me back
,” Lilly interjected.

“Well
, that’s what we’re here for… to see if we can get you some more help,” Dickie said looking at Becca.

Turning to her
as well, Bobby said, “My business is really taking off and I know I need to hire some help… the guys and I can only do so much.  The problem is there are a few parts I make that are custom… meaning I make them, not order them.  Those parts are what let us modify the bikes safely and do some of the cool effects as well.”

“He’s afraid that if he hires someone and shows them how to make those parts, they could leave the shop and give his ideas to a competitor
,” Lilly said, after Bobby finished. “I think he needs to patent those custom parts… we were hoping you could assist us with that since none of us know anything about patents.”

“I’m sure I can help with that but you will need to provide an individual schematic of each part you want to patent along with a description of what it is and what it is used for
,” she replied.

“Once you have given me that information I will look it over and then ask you some questions to make sure I clearly understand the purpose of each part before I draft t
he submission paperwork,” she finished.

“See…” Lilly smiled at
Bobby and then nuzzled his neck which garnered a smile from the usually solemn man.

“One condition though” Bobby said, his smile fading and a frown taking its place
. “You
will
be paid this time…we are
not
a charity case.  I already intend to cut your brother a major discount on his bike so there is no need for you to work for free.  Bill me for the work you do, that is an order, or I will be forced to get an inferior attorney.”

“Ok
, I will bill you…” she laughed.

“I think Florida weather is agreeing with you or something
, Becca, you look much more refreshed than you did while we were in New York,” Lilly said, after the waitress delivered their meals.

Remembering the spectacle she’d made of herself at a restaurant they had went to while in New York she could only smile.  She’d been to her breaking point over the hang up calls, the threatening messages and knowing that someone was watching her every move. 

That topped with the news that Dickie would essentially be a hired bodyguard for her, had sent her over the edge and the women of the group had rallied around her in a way she’d never expected.

“Sleeping with me agrees with her
,” Dickie said with a smile.

Bobby laughed as did Lilly while Gran eyed Dickie and said
, “Richard…”

“You are just not going to let that go…
I keep thinking if I ignore your comments they will stop,” Becca said.  Then looking to Gran she said, “He is insinuating something happened that did not… I simply fell asleep beside him.  That’s all.”

“Twice
,” Dickie smiled, while extending two fingers. “Then she laid a big fat kiss on me just yesterday… I fear for my reputation.  What will the neighbors think?”

Gran burst out laughing then and seeing the tears of humor in the old woman’s eyes
, she couldn’t help but laugh at him too.

“Stop it…”
Becca giggled at him.

Leaning next to her ear he whispered
, “
Make
me.”

It was
difficult to finish her food as thoughts of having her way with Dickie played on repeat through her mind making it hard to focus on what was actually being said.  The bastard was growing on her. 

His grin made her stomach tingle and his nearness was like a magnet pulling her
toward him.  His gentle teasing ways set her at ease… admittedly she tried to be put off by him, but it never lasted long and if she wasn’t careful she could grow to care for this man.

“You two come on by the house later for the cookout.  Dickie, you can bring some potato salad if you don’t mind.  I need to get a shopping list together for Chuck, both for this cookout and for Thanksgiving
,” Gran said finishing her meal and placing her napkin on her empty plate.