Summer's Desire (20 page)

Summer opened
her mouth to ask why but Holden interrupted her.

“I’ll tell
you the whole story after my brothers are in bed. I’m worried about Matt
though.”

“I’ll listen
.
Y
ou’ll
have to
come to my room.”

“It was on my
list of things to do from the time I woke up this morning.” He chuckled.

Summer smiled
and shook her head. “You are insatiable.”

“Only when
you’re around.” His teasing smile dimmed and he grew serious. “It’s true,
Summer. I think I should go and watch them play video games for a while.”

She stood and
slowly approached him. She pulled his head against her middle and caressed his
shoulder
, running
her fingers through his hair and kiss
ing
the top of his head. “It’ll be fine.”

“If we were
alone, honey, I’d have you on my lap stripped naked right now.”

Summer let go
and laughed. “You sweet talker. Go.”

Summer
cleared the table and washed the dishes, glancing over at the five brothers and
Mindy Sue. They were all enjoying themselves, except for Matt.
H
is smile wasn’t
genuine. It didn’t reach his eyes. Sheila must have done something to that
sweet, young man. She went up and took her shower as usual and climbed into bed.
She grabbed her latest book, western romance was her favorite, and tried to
read. The book was a page turner but she couldn’t concentrate. Her imagination
took her places she didn’t want to go.

What happened
and why
was
Matt involved if Sheila planned to marry Holden? Nothing made
sense. She didn’t get a good vibe of
f
that she devil. She was here to cause trouble and Summer realized
that she would have to trust Holden to tell her the truth. Being doubted was
not fun.

She had put
her flowers on her nightstand earlier. They were so fragrant. Her heart filled
thinking about Holden. She’d have to help him any way
she could
. That’s what
you did for the person you loved. She wasn’t falling in love
anymore;
she
’d
already dove in
head first.

*
*
*
*

Holden
watched his brother’s play. They were surprisingly good. He never had the time
to practice and he knew his fingers and thumbs would not move as quickly as theirs
did. Mindy Sue had left, kissing Matt on the cheek before
going
. Matt seemed a
bit quiet and it worried him. This was bound to have an impact on him. Damn
Sheila anyway. What was she doing in Montana?

He pictured
Summer in bed all rosy from her bath and he longed to join her. Soon, he
reminded himself
,
but he was still impatient.

Finally, he
mentioned having to get up with the sun and they all agreed it was time for
bed. Holden made sure that Matt was comfortable and had everything he needed.
“Matt
,
are you okay?”

Matt nodded.
“Brought back some bad memories is all. I’ll be fine. What about you? She seemed
to think you’re still getting hitched.”

“We knew she
was loco. I’ll deal with her and in the meantime you can hang out with Mindy
Sue.”

Matt blushed.
“Mindy Sue is nice.”

Holden
smiled. “That she is. Goodnight.”

“Yep, see you
in the morning.”

Holden stood
outside Summer’s door wondering what he should say. He’d tried to move on, but
it was all in front of him again. He hoped she’d listen and realize the truth
of the matter. He lightly knocked and opened the door. He quickly stepped in
and closed the door quietly behind him.

Summer was as
rosy as he imagined. She had the flowers next to her bed and it made him glad. “You
look lovely.”

“Thank you.
You’re not so bad.”

“If that’s a
compliment
,
I think you need to work on it.” Holden laughed.

“Come sit
next to me,” she beckoned.

“I’m too
riled to sit right now.”

Summer nodded
and peered at him expectantly.

“It’s a crazy
story, really. If it hadn’t happened to me I’d have thought it made up.” He
took a deep breath and began to pace. “You already know that we lived on a
ranch in Texas. I had a partial scholarship plus I applied for every grant I
could find. The boys were in school, except for Matt. He declined to go to
college. We couldn’t afford much at that time. We had enough for our needs but
it was a tough go. I went to school all day and worked the ranch until the sun
went down. Homework needed to be done. Now you know why spaghetti comes out of
a can.”

Summer smiled
encouragingly and nodded.

“Our closest neighbor
was Rose Farly. She was an amazing woman. She’d lost her husband years ago but
she managed her ranch and made a nice profit. She often brought desserts over
for us. She sent her live in housekeeper over twice a week. I don’t know what
we would have done without her.

“
I finally graduated and was brought into a
small local practice. Things got easier. Then Rose had a stroke and her granddaughter
Sheila showed up to help. We all liked her. She was fun and kind
, and s
he began to spend
a lot of time at our ranch. I figured her grandmother was better but that
wasn’t the case. Sheila didn’t like sick people.” Telling the story was harder than
he thought it would be. “We became close and I thought that we were in love. My
brothers’ like
d
her and I thought why not? I asked her to marry me. It was then I
went to visit Rose to get her blessing. The poor woman was half dead and the
place was disgusting. I came to find out that Sheila fired the housekeeper. I
had Rose rushed to the hospital and that’s when all the trouble started.”

“Holden, if
it’s too painful you don’t have to tell me.”

“No, you need
to know. Sheila and I had ou
r
first fight and I found out she wasn’t as classy as I thought. She
screamed words that I never heard a woman say before. She belittled me and the
ranch. She started in on my brothers. I sent them to another neighbor
’
s
place
for the day. It
scared me how hateful her words were and how angry she’d become. I kept waiting
for her to hit me or something. She left.

“
The next day she came over crying and
apologizing and saying she wasn’t herself. She has this way of making her eyes
look so
…
so
innocent and somehow I ended up apologizing. Rose was finally able to go back
to her home and I hired a nurse. I should have trusted my instincts but I
didn’t. Things went back to the way they were, except she was around all the
time, even when I wasn’t there. She planned this grand wedding that she thought
I was going to pay for. I was so foolish—I thought the down payments were the
full price and I gave her the money.
I noticed that none of my brothers seemed
happy about the wedding. I couldn’t figure it out. They loved Sheila or so I
thought.
Later I found out
s
he back handed Luke
and John more than once and threatened them. She had them believing that if
push came to shove I’d choose her and they’d go to foster homes. She left Mark
alone, I don’t know why. Matt, well, Matt she did the most damage to him. She seduced
him in my house. She slept with both of us. Me when I was home and Matt when I
wasn’t.”

“Oh poor
Matt.”

He finally
sat on the edge of the bed. “I came home early one day and caught them. I threw
her out and I couldn’t look at Matt. I felt that he betrayed me. Things were
bad enough but they got worse. Sheila accused Matt of rape.”

Summer
gasped. “No way. How could she?”

“It was a
huge mess. She refused to retract her statement. Matt was devastated and
ashamed. It wasn’t his fault. The woman is poison. To top it off she still
thought we were going to get married.”

“Was Matt
arrested?” she asked, shocked.

“Yes and I
didn’t go get him right away. I’ll be sorry about that decision the rest of my
life. Nothing made sense and I couldn’t think clearly. I forgot it takes two
and when I saw them in bed, it didn’t look like rape to me. The prosecutor
didn’t take my word for it. Matt was a minor and his name should have been kept
quiet but Sheila thought it her civic duty to tell everyone about Matt.”

“How long did
you let Matt stay in jail?” Summer moved until she sat right next to him. She
put her arms around his waist and
leaned
her head on his shoulder.

He
appreciated her comfort. “Half a day.”

“That’s not
so long, Holden.”

“I should
have been there the minute I heard about the arrest. I bailed him out but we
didn’t talk. I knew he didn’t rape her, but he still slept with my girl. I
couldn’t let the anger go at first. It started to consume me. Meanwhile Sheila
still wanted to see me. I refused. She started showing up everywhere I went and
I brushed her off. Finally
,
she cornered me and told me if I didn’t let her back into my life,
she was going to go through with allegations. She even threatened to hurt
herself and blame it on Matt.”

Summer
squeezed his waist. “She’s evil.”

“I went to
the district attorney and told him what was going on. They had me wear a wire.
It was so surreal, like a movie but too much was riding on the outcome. They
got their evidence
.
Matt was cleared and I got a restraining order.”

“Why did you
leave Texas?”

“Matt’s name
had been dragged through the mud and people still had their suspicions about
him. It got ugly a couple times. I got a good price for the ranch
and
I figured coming
up here in the middle of nowhere would suit us just fine.”

“Until my
problems became your problems. I’m so sorry
,
Holden.”

He smiled and
put his arms around her. “Nothing to be sorry about, honey. Last I heard she
was going to be charged with some kind of false reporting or something. I
didn’t keep track. I really thought she was out of our lives for good.”

She gazed
into his eyes, her concern filled his heart. “How about you and Matt?”

“Mark almost beat
me to a pulp when I wouldn’t listen. Mark, Luke and John all saw how Sheila was
grooming Matt to be her victim. They made me listen and now I understand that
Matt was the victim of a predator. How sick is she to have sex with us both?”

Summer kissed
his cheek. “And now she’s here.”

“Yes, now
she’s here.” Holden sighed.
“I’m going to call the authorities in Texas
and see about that restraining order. I have no idea if it’s a state thing or
if it’s good here too. Then I’ll talk to Sheriff Brown and
that lawyer,
Rolly.”

Summer
snuggled closer, she felt so soft against him. “I’ll help in any way I can.”

His heart
beat faster. “Thank you. All I need is your trust and understanding.”

“You got it.”

He tilted her
chin up with his index finger and stared into her caring blue eyes. He leaned
down and slanted his mouth over hers. She opened for him and he groaned as he
deepened the kiss. His hands ran up and down her sides and rested at the sides
of her breasts.

Summer
trembled and kissed him back. Her hands went to his chest and then to his
buttons. She made quick work of unbuttoning them as he lifted her night gown
higher and higher. She lifted her bottom so he could get the gown completely up
and over her head. She knocked him for a loop every time he saw her. “You’re so
beautiful.” He leaned down and took one hard nipple into his mouth and sucked
on it while his fingers tugged at the other pebbled one. Her breathing came in
pants and he needed to get his jeans off. His phone rang and he almost gave
into the urge to not answer it, but
since
an animal might need help
, h
e pulled away and
answered it.

“You naughty
boy. Remember we’re engaged. Don’t cheat on me.”

“Sheila?
Where the hell are you?”

“Close enough
to see you with that little skank. Get rid of her.”

He heard a
click and the call ended. He sat with his elbows on his knees and his face in
his hands.

“I heard what
she said, Holden.” She quickly put her night gown back on. She skedaddled to
the window and peered out. “I don’t see anyone.”

“Maybe she
was guessing.”

Summer closed
the curtains and gave him a slight smile. “Let’s hope so.”

“I’d say let’s
go back to what we were doing but somehow she ruined the moment.”
Summer
nod
ded as h
e stood and took her into his arms. He loved her but now wasn’t the
time. “We’ll have our moments,” he whispered. Her shiver boosted his
confidence.