The Winter of Regrets (12 page)

Joy’s face brightened up. “You … You tried to buy Moon Glow for me? Jersey! I can’t believe you’d do that for me!” She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. “How’d we end up in a partnership?”

“To prove to you both that I’m here for the long term,” he answered. “I mean it, blondie. I’m in love with you, and you’re never getting away from me.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her as she pulled him into the bedroom.

Joy reached up and stroked his face. “I love you so much, Jersey. Are you sure you want to get involved with me? I’m not going to change much, but I won’t ask you to change either.”

“Blondie, do me a favor and strip those clothes off. I want you to ride me like you do when you’re riding English. What do you call that thing where your cute ass goes up and down?”

His fingers were at his belt buckle. The sound of it hitting the floor along with their heavy breathing brought the two of them out of the trance they were in. Both began flinging their clothes off. Joy beat Jersey and watched as he tugged his boots off. He was hopping around with the pants around his boots.

Joy giggled. “Posting? I can ride you like that. Lay on the bed. I’m already wet just thinking about your cock.”

Finally, a naked Jersey was flat on the bed, his thick large cock standing upright. He watched with hooded eyes as the woman he loved placed her knees on either side on him. She held his cock in her hand and adjusted her body so it would go directly inside of her. As his cock entered her wet cunt, she sat down and engulfed it until she had it all inside of her. She wiggled a bit and began to ride him as he had asked. Up and down she went, riding him hard. Their eyes stayed on each other until she began to whimper and he started to thrust back. Eyes closed, her back arched and she tightened against his cock. He held her hips down as he sprayed inside of her. She collapsed on top of him, their sweaty bodies slippery against each other. Content to stay in bed, she rolled off of him and snuggled under his arm.

“Jerz, I was thinking maybe a baby would be nice. I don’t want to be too old when I have my first. If I could get pregnant, say, in June or July, I could ride a few months after the baby was born. I don’t want to suffer being pregnant all summer.”

Jersey felt his heart race. A baby was what he had wanted since they had gotten together. Elena was right to tell him to get Joyful a ring.

“Blondie, you don’t have to have a baby because you know I want a son. I love you for you, no pressures.” He wasn’t sure what to say to her.

“I know you want sons, but we get what we get. I do want to have a family with you. We belong together after all the crimes we’ve committed. I took too long to realize I was in love with you. I should’ve told you sooner. Thank you for all you do for Elena and I. I’ve got the best ol’ man in Bound for Hell, too.” Her voice was strong and she propped herself to look into his eyes. “We’re going to have a wonderful life, aren’t we?”

“As wonderful as I can make it, blondie, but I’m going to have to work more for my father. I don’t want go to jail, so I’m trying to find ways to get the club more into legal businesses. When I was talking to Elena, she said Nailz could drop over. You’re alright with that?” Jersey hoped he wasn’t going to blow this special time with his Joyful.

“Elena knew better than to get in his face. Nailz was out-of-his-mind drunk. As soon as I knew Elena and Kima weren’t angry at him, I wasn’t either. I guess you’ll be taking me home to meet your family?”

“Let’s get through Jack’s wedding first,” he decided with a smile. “My family will adore you. Don’t worry. Now get your ass up and get me some food. How do you expect a repeat performance if you don’t feed me?” he teased her.

“You want to eat, get your ass up, Charmer, and help me!” she teased right back. “I guess you can start improving this place. If we plan to start a life together, you can change it to suit you—just no barn improvements without Elena and my approval.” She narrowed her eyes at him as he laughed. Tossing a satin robe over her naked body, she strode gracefully out of the bedroom.

Jersey pulled on a pair of camouflage sweat pants and thought to himself how much better life was getting for him. Some of his brothers might regret the choices they made, but he sure as hell didn’t.

K
ima stood in her kitchen, a cup of herbal tea on the counter. She scowled as she held the phone to her ear. Her mother was trying to guilt her into talking to Jo and she was having none of it. Just as she was about to hang up on her, Veiko grabbed the phone from her hand.

“Jean, John told you not to push Kima. You’re not being fair to her. We know you’re worried about Jo, but you have other daughters too. Shelly is upset as much as Kima is. Why don’t you give her a call instead of wrecking Kima’s day? I don’t know why you call each morning, but I’ll be mentioning it to John later today. No more calls, got me?”

Kima shook her head tiredly as he hung up the phone. “I’m so tired of this,” she said, then sipped her tea.

“Babe, she doesn’t understand what she’s doing to you. All she sees is Jo being upset, tired, and pregnant. I’ll talk to your dad later; he’ll handle her. Nailz says, with Katri helping her, Jo seems better. Maybe she really
was
that tired after Tears left. She was doing a lot of work, and—”

As soon as he uttered those words, the cup of tea went flying by his head. He heard the thud as the cup hit the wall, then the shattering as it landed on the kitchen floor. Kima glared at him and stormed out the back door, slamming it as hard as she could. Watching her walk toward the barn, he cursed himself for saying a word. He grabbed the broom and dustpan and swept the mess up.

His day was going to start late because he refused to fight with Kima. As he dumped the broken china into the outside garbage, he saw his wife on her horse Sugar jumping fences. His heart beat rapidly thinking of the day he witnessed her fall off of Cool Chrome. That was the day he felt remorse for spooking the horse she was training, causing her to fall and incur head injuries. He hated seeing her be reckless on a horse. He never revealed that to her because she didn’t tell him how to run his life.

Sugar reared suddenly, stopping at the fence closest to Jo and Nailz’ side of the property. He dropped the dustpan and walked over to see what was going on.

He found Jo by the fence screaming at Kima. His wife slid off her horse. This was not good, but he’d figured it was bound to happen sooner or later. He’d jump in if it got too nasty. Kima went storming over to the fence. He moved closer, but stayed out of sight.

“Get the fuck off my property line,” barked Kima. “I don’t need you screaming like a banshee at my horse. What do you want?”

Jo stood there, hands on her hips with her belly poking out. “How dare you upset our mother, Kima? You have to get Veiko involved? You’re so childish.”

That wasn’t the smartest thing Jo could have said.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Kima looked ready to slap her. “Our mother? She’s
my
mother. She gave birth to
me!
You’re just some pitiful nobody that got lucky my parents knew you all your life! What have you ever done to earn the right to be a Regan? Not a damn thing.”

“That’s not true!” Jo snorted back.

Kima pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes and grinned snidely at Jo. “You’re a leech, Jo. You clung to me because I had a car. When I needed a friend, you were too busy fucking Nailz and using my car while I was in the hospital, since
your
parents wouldn’t allow you to use theirs when they found out what a liar you were. I never, ever lied about Veiko. I was never ashamed of my ol’ man like you were of Nailz! You never even came to see me, you fucking ungrateful selfish bitch.”

Kima was letting Jo have it, no holds barred. She watched Jo’s expression change. Then, she continued letting her true feelings out.

“The truth hurts, doesn’t it? You didn’t care that I lost a baby. In fact, you wouldn’t even have Nailz if I didn’t invite you to that party. Are you going to cry now and call
my
mother and tattle on me? You always were such a tattletale, even back in school.”

“Your parents adopted me because I’m the daughter they always wanted,” Jo screeched back, “
not
you. You embarrass our family. What is it Dad called you? A wiggler? Yeah, you danced half-naked for money … Oh,
that’s
something to be
real
proud of,” she said sarcastically. “After this baby’s a few months old, I’ll be going to nursing school. I’ll
be
someone. What’ll you be doing, huh? Mucking horse shit?”

Kima had it. Without a second of hesitation, she bent down and grabbed a handful of horse shit by her feet, then flung it at Jo, hitting her square in the face.

“You always were a jealous bitch, Jo!” Kima cried as Jo screamed curses and frantically wiped her face. “You forget that dancers supported your lazy ass. You, who wouldn’t go on birth control. Maybe your family was wise to disown you. I seriously doubt you’d have made it into nursing school, either.”

“Fuck you!” screamed Jo, unsuccessfully trying to clear off her face and only making a worse mess of it.

“I got better grades than you ever did and I didn’t have to study,” Kima went on furiously. “You’re just a pain in the ass to everyone. Had my parents asked Shelly or me how we felt about you being our sister, maybe we would have said hell no. My parents felt sorry for you because you were always second to me in
everything!”

Another shit bomb hit Jo just then, and Kima’s aim was true.

Veiko stood there in shock, watching the two of them fight. Jo wiped the horse manure off of her face as well as she could. He could see Kima wasn’t done and wondered if he should step in. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped; usually no one was able to sneak up on him. His brother-in-law Jack and Thorn stood there, both trying hard not to laugh.

“Let it go,” said Jack to V. “This has been a long time coming. Kima has ghosts, too. She needs to let loose some of the shit she’s got bottled up, pun intended. This is funny as hell.” He kept his hand on V’s shoulder.

Veiko screwed his face up. “Not to me, it isn’t! What if Kima hits her?”

“Kima won’t hit her,” Jack insisted. “She knows Jo isn’t a fighter. She might pelt her with more shit, though.”

“Jack’s right,” Thorn added with a nod. “Shit washes off. Let it go.”

Meanwhile, Jo stood her ground. “Like hell, Kima! Ever since we were little, everyone told you to be more like me. I was the perfect child! You were the wild child, always getting into trouble. Even now, you have to resort to hitting me with horse shit? Josie doesn’t have a chance in life with you as her mother. What a great example you’ll be!” she spat back acidly.

Veiko moved forward mad as hell, but Jack and Thorn held him back.

“Go home, Jo,” shouted Kima. “The only boys who wanted to date you were boys I promised a date with if they went out with you first. Did you know that? I was taught to be kind, and I was
always
a good friend to you. Out of respect for my parent’s foolish mistake, I tolerated you. I just thank God my brother found a decent woman to marry or else you really might be part of the family. Don’t think I didn’t know you weren’t eyeing Jack up and flirting with him all the time.” Kima looked at Jo with scorn on her face. “You caused Nailz to lose his colors. You don’t have a real friend anymore because you don’t know
how
to be a friend, you red-haired, shit-faced bitch. And don’t you dare have a girl because that pinky-promise is done. You’re not allowed to use my name. Everyone has always liked me better. Always!”  

Suddenly, Katri appeared from nowhere, flying over the fence. Even Kima was shocked to see her sister-in-law in her face.

“You leave Jo alone, you bitch,” she shouted, shaking a finger in Kima’s face. “Only
you
would be low enough to attack a pregnant woman. Shame on you!”

Veiko groaned while Jack and Thorn grinned. They were truly enjoying this and V rolled his eyes. He hoped his sister had the sense to leave Kima alone after saying her piece. Knowing her, she’d end up face down in a pile of manure—and he knew his ol’ lady well.

“Damn, this must be my day,” mocked Kima. “The paid nanny’s coming to the rescue?”

Kima started to laugh until Katri shoved her.

Sighing, Kima looked at Katri. “You just made a big mistake, Katri. I didn’t put my hands on you. This fight doesn’t involve you at all. You do know JJ dumped your ass for Amy, don’t you?” She wiped her hands on her jeans. “What’s that saying? … Birds of a feather flock together?”

Katri shoved her again, and Kima got that hard Regan-look on her face. She stared her sister-in-law down, then shot forward and grabbed a big handful of Katri’s blonde hair.

Jack laughed as quietly as he could when Veiko let out another groan.

Thorn was grinning widely. “Damn, I wish Tears was here to see what’s coming next. I give it a second more before Kima loses it.”

Sure enough, Kima yanked Kat’s head down and punched her in the gut. Katri grunted as she dropped to her knees. Kima’s boot connected with her stomach again and she was flat on the ground.

“I never liked you much, Katri,” she said, staring down at her. “You know that saying ‘eat shit’? If you don’t, then you’re about to.”

She pulled Katri’s head over to a fresh mound of manure that Sugar had dropped when she rode him. Katri was screaming murder while Kima just laughed, pushing her sister-in-law’s face into the mound.  

“I’d shut the hell up before you really
do
eat shit,” warned Kima. “And don’t bother to threaten me with Veiko because my brother Thorn and Veiko have been watching us this whole time. I’m sure Nailz and my mother will get the true story. Jo, word of advice, Jack is the favored child.  Now you stay off my property or I’ll get peacocks. You think your twins will sleep through their screeching? Think again. Have a nice day, ladies.”

Kima whistled and Sugar came running full speed, stopping suddenly, kicking dust all over Katri. Kima pulled herself into the western saddle and looked at where the men were standing now, two of them howling in laughter. She shot them the middle finger.

Bringing Sugar closer to Katri, she leaned down. “And don’t
you
ever come on my property again,” she shouted. “Not for any reason. If I find you on my land—near my barn, near my animals or my house—I’ll hurt you. Badly. Stay out of business that doesn’t concern you and things you know nothing about. Now get the fuck up and get moving before I have my horse trample you.”

Kima’s voice was no nonsense and Katri had the sense to get up and rush back over the fence as fast as she could. Kima stayed on Sugar until she saw both women depart into their house. Then, she rode back to the barn, leaving Veiko, Jack, and Thorn staring after her.

With a sigh, she removed Sugar’s saddle and let him wander in search of what grass was left in the paddock. The emotions still racing through her, she went into the barn office and collapsed into the desk chair. She started to laugh as she went through the index box of numbers she had. Finally, she found the one she was looking for. She dialed the number and waited as the phone rang.

“Hey, Jerry,” she said into the phone. “You still raise peacocks? I want about a dozen adults. Male ones, and maybe a female or two. If you can deliver them today, I’ll pay in cash. Yup, to my grandparent’s old house. I need them to keep unwanted guests off the farm. I’ve got a coop in the back. Just add a sack of food to the price.” She nodded as she listened. “Yes, three o’clock is perfect. Thanks, Jerry.”

She hung up the phone, a satisfied smile on her face. She got up and rubbed her hands together. If Jo wanted a fight, she’d be ready. Veiko would have to learn to like peacocks. He’d be gone when they arrived, but she was hoping her brother or Thorn would check out the old coop. A shadow blocked the door and she looked up to find Jack and Thorn.

Her brother wore a grin. “V’s changing a shitty diaper. Stunk to hell,” he added with a dry chuckle. “What do you feed Josie?”

She didn’t answer as she watched Thorn remove a rake from the corner. She grinned back at him. “So you heard I’m getting peacocks?”

“You were a bit loud and excited, Kima. I know you’re going to ask for help making sure the coop is clean. Veiko needs to get to work, so we’ll make sure it’s got clean sawdust.” Thorn winked at her.

Kima made a fast decision. “Thorn, tell Tears she’s hired. I plan to board horses and she needs a job. I don’t want to see her dance, and she wants to make her own money. I have calls each day to board horses. Tell her I need her badly,” she added, her voice coaxing. “I don’t want her to have dancing rubbed in her face like it was just rubbed in mine.”