Summer's Desire (19 page)

“You’re right.
I guess I feel a bit better but I still feel heartbroken about the whole
thing.”

Caressing her
blond hair, he turned and kissed her forehead. It felt so right to be together.
This is what’s been missing from his life
—
or rather who. He wanted her so badly it hurt
but he knew she was too fragile. He’d just hold her for now
and
hope she would
stop blaming herself. Maybe
today
they made strides toward that.

“I’d hate to
think what would have happened to me if not for you and your brothers, Holden.
Oh and I can’t forget your merry band of protectors.” She traced the buttons on
his shirt.

“I think we
should head back before Luke and John decide to find us. Have you noticed they
don’t like you out of sight too long?” Holden kissed her forehead once more and
sat up, bringing her with him.

“I noticed.”
Summer stood and wiped the grass off her jeans. “It’s nice though, almost like
I’m part of the family.”

Holden had
the sudden urge to wipe the grass off the back of her jeans. He quickly lifted
her up and practically threw her on Links. “Honey, you are part of the family.”
Her smile warmed his heart.

They made
good time getting back and Mark and Luke offered to take care of Jessie and
Links. Hand in hand they strolled inside.

“What would
you like for dinner?” She asked. She stopped suddenly and he glanced to see
what she was staring at.

“Whatever
you’re making,” Sheila answered from the kitchen in a low sultry voice.

His body
stiffened and he
silently
curse
d
his fate. He gave Summer’s hand a quick squeeze and let her go.
The first thing he noticed was that Matt was missing from his usual place on
the couch. He was relieved. “What are you doing here?”

“Visiting of
course. I knew once you got settled you’d want me to join you.” Her big
,
brown
,
doe eyes studied
him.

He wasn’t
going to get lost in those eyes again. They might look like doe eyes but they actually
belonged to the devil. Her long brown hair hung down her back and she wore a
sexy halter top with a denim skirt. Her legs stretched forever and she filled
out her top. Devil he reminded himself. “Who let you in?”

“Darling,
Matt. I’m not sure if he was happy to see me or not. He certainly appeared
surprised when I told him you asked me to come.” She smiled at him, ignoring
Summer.

He could feel
Summer’s eyes boring into him. He hoped she trusted him enough to know he
didn’t invite another woman to visit. “I didn’t ask you to come. In fact
,
the last time you
called
,
I
asked you to stop calling.”

She stepped
closer to them. He’d forgotten just how tall she was.

“I’m not calling
,
I’m visiting. There
is a big difference.” Her gaze flickered to Summer and she dismiss
ed
her.
“
I never cancelled the
wedding plans. Everything is still in place for next month.”

“Where are
you staying?” Summer asked
,
her irritation evident.

Sheila frowned.
“I guess I didn’t think that far ahead. I’ll sleep with Holden.”

Summer
elbowed Holden and when he glanced down at her,
her blue eyes were full of fury
.

“Listen
Sheila, that’s not going to happen.” He ran his fingers through his hair trying
to figure out a way to get Sheila to leave. She had a volatile personality and
anything could set her off.

Sheila folded
her arms under her chest making it look bigger. “I don’t see why not. We always
did before.”

“Not any
more. I had to get a restraining order, remember?”

She laughed.
“A piece of paper can’t separate us.” She smiled at Summer. “I’m Sheila,
Holden’s Fiancée.”

Summer
summoned up a smile and put her hand out to shake Sheila’s. “Nice to meet you.
If I’d known you were coming I’d have made a hotel reservation for you. As it
is we’re short on bedrooms. Poor Matt is sleeping on the couch.”

Sheila shook
Summer’s hand. “Well
,
then I can camp out here with Matt—”

“No! You will
go nowhere near my brothers. Actually
,
I think you should leave.” His patience was
wearing thin.

“Fine. You
said there’s a hotel in town?” She asked Summer.

Summer
nodded. “It’s at the far edge of Carlston. You can’t miss it.”

Sheila smiled
at them both. “All righty then. I’ll be going. See you soon,” she said as she
sailed out the door.

He wasn’t
sure what he expected
from Summer
but it wasn’t calm silence. It surprised and worried him. She
waltzed over to the kitchen and stood at the kitchen sink peering out the
window. “Summer, I’m so sorry.”

“I know.” Now
he could hear the tears in her voice.

“We are not
engaged. I have a restraining order against her.”

She turned
and gave him a sad smile. “But you were engaged at one time. I kept wondering
why you moved from Texas. I realized that it was a private matter. I assumed
one of the boys got in trouble or something and you wanted a new start. A woman
didn’t occur to me. I mean I figured you must have dated, though I couldn’t
imagine
when you found
the time between college and taking care of your brothers.” She shrugged and
grabbed the coffee pot, pour
ed
out the old coffee and began to make a fresh pot. “What now?”

“I’m not
putting you off but I need to get to Matt. What happened concerns him and I
need to check on him.”

“Well, don’t
explain
,
go. I hope Matt is okay. Bring him home when you find him.”

He smiled and
nodded realizing how wonderful Summer really was. He took off and raced to the
barn. Mark was there cleaning stalls. “Where’s Matt?”

“Is the barracuda
gone?”

“Yes, where
is he?”

“He called Mindy
Sue to come get him. We were all pole
-
axed when
Sheila
knocked on the door. Then she acted as
though nothing happened and wanted to know if we had rented out tuxes for the
wedding. You’ve got a big problem, Holden.”

“She’s nuts!”
Luke called from the hat loft.

“And stupid!”
yelled John.

Mark smirked.
“Yeah
,
she kept getting Luke and John mixed up.”

Holden
sighed. “I’m glad y’all left the house. I need to make a few calls to see what
we can do about her. Did Matt say when he’d be back?”

“When hell
freezes over!” John yelled.

“He said to
call when she was gone
!
” Luke shouted.

“Call him and
tell him to ask Mindy Sue to dinner, this way Summer won’t ask too many
questions before I get some answers.”

Mark nodded
“Good idea. What did Summer say? She’s not mad is she?”

Holden walked
toward the barn door he turned his head. “Not yet.”
S
he would be. He was
on
b
orrowed
time.

*
*
*
*

“Sheila,”
Summer let the name roll of
f
her tongue. She’s never known a Sheila before. She had to admit
that she was beautiful without an ounce of fat one her. Well
,
except for her
chest. It had taken all the manners her mother had taught her to keep from
going ballistic in Sheila’s face. What was all this about a wedding that was
still planned? Her heart sank and she felt queasy. It was one thing after
another and she was tired, just so damn tired. She wasn’t even sure that the
whole other woman thing had hit her yet. Holden was hers now
,
wasn’t he? Why did
everything have to be so hard? Just when she thought she could get through her
latest problems this
came
up.
M
aybe
she and
Holden weren’t meant to be. Her heart cried no
,
but her head said maybe.

If that woman
did anything to Matt
.
She shook her head. She loved those boys and she didn’t care what
happened with Holden. It was not going to impact her relationship with them, she
vowed.

She’d have to
wait for Holden to explain what happened. It must have been pretty bad for him
to uproot his family. Her mind raced as she started dinner, baked chicken and
mashed potatoes. She looked forward to mashing the potatoes. She really needed
to do something to get out some of her frustrations.

By the time
she was done, Mark
,
Luke and John walked in. Matt and Mindy Sue were next. She studied
each face looking to see if they were all right. They seemed disgruntled all
except for Matt who
appeared
madder than hell. Fortunately
,
Mindy Sue kept chatting at him.

They were
getting ready to sit down to dinner when Holden came through the door. He had a
package in one hand and flowers in the other. He put the package on the couch
and made a bee line for her. They were wild flowers of all colors. Tears
pricked her eyes. No one
other
than
her father had ever given her flowers. Her hands
shook as she reached out for them. Holden leaned in and kissed her lips. She
prepared for a small kiss but he deepened it until the others applauded.

Turning red,
she
broke off the kiss but she couldn’t hide her smile of pleasure. He
was a special man. “Sit, you’re just in time for dinner. Thank you for the
flowers.”

Holden winked
and gave her a sexy smile. “I was hoping you’d like them.”

Her cheeks grew
warm
er
.
“I do. Let’s eat.”

Conversation
was about everything and anything except for their surprise guest. Mindy Sue’s hair
was multicolored, red and purple, with some of the green from the other day. On
anyone else it would have looked a bit strange but Mindy Sue carried it off
as usual
. Her nails
were purple with green tips. More than anything, Summer enjoyed the way she and
Matt smiled at each other. They were a cute couple.

Luke took a
big bite of mashed potatoes and proceeded to ask what was in the package
, but
Holden
just
told him not to
speak with his mouth full.
It was funny to watch Luke try to swallow as
quickly as he could. “What’s in the bag?”

“Something
for y’all,” Holden replied with a teasing smile.

“Please?”
John asked with his puppy dog look.

Summer knew
that Holden had trouble saying no to that particular expression.

“Go get it
John and bring it on over,” Holden instructed.

John shot out
of his wooden chair and was back just as fast. He reached into the bag and
brought out a new video game they’d been wanting. Then he held up an updated
game console that had four controllers. “Wow!”

Matt laughed.
“Maybe I’ll actually get a chance to play.”

“Yeah right,”
Mark kidded. “Who has been lying on the couch mastering game after game?”

“Thanks
,
Holden, now I won’t
have to be last anymore,” Luke enthused.

Summer cocked
her head to one side. “Why would you always be last?”

“Because the
youngest shouldn’t be last, so I am.”

“Luke
,
that is so sweet.”
Summer smiled.

“No
,
I’m anything but
sweet. Don’t try to make a girl of me.”

She had to
bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing. “I wouldn’t think of it and you are
right, sweet is not the right word. How about mature? It was very mature of you
to do that.”

Luke smiled
and gave all his brother
s
an
“I
told
you
so
”
look.

They shoveled
their food into their
mo
u
ths
and inhaled the rest of the dinner. Before she knew
it she was alone at the table with Holden. “Thank you again for the flowers.
You’re the first man beside
s
my father to give me flowers. It means a lot.”

Holden
winked. “You mean a lot to me. This whole thing with Sheila is bound to get worse
before it gets better.”