Van, Becca - Slick Rock Cowboys [Slick Rock 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (13 page)

“Did you know what my dad had done? Stealing money from Celia’s family?”

“Yes, we did, sweetheart. We wanted to tell you, but your mom didn’t want you to know. She wanted you to keep on loving your dad, not hating him,” Johnny replied.

“Well, that didn’t work, because I ended up hating him for leaving me and Mom. No, that’s not right. I don’t hate him. I was just so angry that he could up and leave us, you know?”

“I’m sorry, baby. We wanted to tell you, but your mom made us promise not to say anything. Do you need me to take you to see Doc?” Clay asked in a gentle voice.

“No. Can you help me into the house? I think I’d like to go and rest for a while,” Tara said with a hitch in her voice.

“Whatever you need, sweetheart,” Johnny replied as he stood with Tara in his arms.

Tara was thankful when Clay held the door open and Johnny carried her to her room. She sighed when he helped her get comfortable and lay down on the bed beside her. She arched her head up as he soothed a hand over her head and down her back until she began to relax. She felt the mattress dip as Clay climbed on the other side of the bed, resting an arm over her waist, and cuddled her from behind. She hoped they stayed until she was in a deep sleep. She just didn’t want to be alone right now and to have them hold her and make her feel safe was cathartic on her wrought nerves. Her eyelids became too heavy to keep open, and she drifted in a cocoon of warmth, surrounded by her men’s hard bodies.

Chapter Thirteen

Over the next six weeks, Clay watched Tara withdraw into herself a little more each day. He and Johnny tried to talk to her to find out what was going on inside her head, but she kept changing the subject or brushing them aside. Clay knew his brother was just as anxious as he was and couldn’t wait until Tara got her plaster cast off. Clay had decided enough was enough. He and Johnny planned to get Tara to open up to them and talk using any means he deemed necessary.

Clay had advised Johnny not to touch Tara intimately since she had her plaster cast on, and he knew Johnny was beginning to feel as sexually frustrated as he was. Clay knew the both of them were still going to have to take things easy with her, but looked forward to being able to move her around without the fear of her hurting her with her cast.

The day Tara was to get her cast removed dawned bright and sunny. Clay was up early, Johnny not far behind him. He knew Johnny was also anticipating a night of making love with their woman. Clay made a pot of coffee while Johnny set about cooking some breakfast. He knew Johnny was as happy as he was with the bit of weight Tara had gained since she had been a little more inactive because of her cast. He still wanted her to put on a few more pounds, though.

Clay turned to Johnny just as his brother finished cooking scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast when he heard the thumping of Tara’s crutches down the hall. She was actually using her leg to walk on now, but used the crutches for stability.

“Morning, baby.”

“Morning, sweetheart.”

“Morning,” Tara relied grumpily.

“What’s the matter, Tara?” Clay asked as he brought her coffee to the table.

“This damn cast is making me so itchy it’s ridiculous, and I’ll bet my leg is going to be as hairy as an ape since I haven’t been able to shave it. My appointment is going to come around fast enough to get the damn thing off, and the first thing I’m going to do is have a bath and shave my leg.”

Clay could see Johnny was holding back a grin the same as he was. Tara was so sexy when she was grouchy. She pouted like a child, but they knew not to tell her that, it would only get her more riled up.

“Do you want some help to shave your leg, sweetheart?” asked Johnny.

“No, I don’t want any help,” Tara replied sullenly. “Thanks for asking, though.”

“No problem. Let’s have breakfast, then Clay can clean up while I help you in the shower. By the time we’re done, it’ll be almost time to leave for the Doc’s. Is that all right, sweetheart?” Johnny asked with a gleam in his eye.

“Well, I can’t very well do it by myself, can I?” Tara asked facetiously. “Sorry. I must have got out of bed on the wrong side.”

“Don’t worry about it, baby. We all get tetchy now and then,” Clay said as he turned away to hide his smile.

Clay was surprised that their little woman was acting like a little girl. Clay could see Johnny was as happy as he was to see her displaying her feelings, even though it was a bad mood. Tara had closed herself off from them and had been hiding behind a wall of indifference. She was finally coming back to them.

Clay and Johnny drove Tara to Doc’s office and sat waiting for her to come out after getting her plaster removed. They talked to each other, planning a special night for their woman. Fifteen minutes later, Tara came out leaning on her crutches with the first smile they’d seen on her face in six weeks. She had brought along a pair of sweatpants to pull over her loose shorts after she got her plaster off.

“Are you two ready to go home, because I need a bath,” Tara said as she walked over to them, the crutches in her left hand.

“Should you be walking without your crutches yet, baby?” asked Clay.

“Yes. Doc said I could, as long as I use them when I need them. The more I use my leg, the stronger my muscles will become. Come on. I want to go home,” Tara said with a smile and led the way to the truck.

Clay was happy to see Tara smile all the way home as she relished being able to scratch her left hairy leg through her sweatpants. He knew she couldn’t wait to get into the bathtub with some scented oil thrown in to put the moisture back into her dry leg as she’d told him and Johnny umpteen times already. Maybe he would give her a helping hand.

* * * *

Tara gave a sigh of relief as she limped up the steps and into the house, heading straight for the bathroom. She plugged the tub and turned on the faucets then dribbled in some of her avocado-and-honey bath oil. She shaved her legs, sighing blissfully as the itchy growth disappeared beneath her razor, and drained the tub. She turned the faucets back on and filled the tub once more, pouring in some more bath oil.

Tara had just finished washing her body and was relaxing into the massaging bubble of the spa bath when she heard the bathroom door open.

“Do you feel better, baby?” Clay asked as he leaned against the doorjamb.

“Oh, you have no idea. I was growing an ape on my leg alone,” Tara stated with a grin.

Clay chuckled with her then stepped further into the room. “Johnny and I have planned a surprise for you, Tara. How long before you’ll be finished with your bath?”

“Give me ten minutes to soak, then I’ll get out.”

“Okay. We’ll be waiting, baby,” Clay said, giving her a wink over his shoulder as he left the bathroom.

Tara got out of the tub, dried off, moisturized, and got dressed. She walked into the kitchen to find Johnny and Clay waiting for her, sipping from coffee mugs.

“Hey, sweetheart. Do you feel better?” Johnny asked.

“Yes, thanks for waiting for me. What are we doing?” Tara asked.

“We’re taking you for a ride, baby. You can ride with me on the way to where we’re going, and you can ride with Johnny on the way back. Do you want a drink before we leave?” asked Clay.

“No. I’m good. Let’s go.” Tara smiled at her two men and took the lead to the barn.

“Slow down, sweetheart. You don’t want to fall over and hurt yourself,” Johnny warned.

“I’m just so happy that I can ride again.”

“Come on, baby. Let me mount up first and Johnny will lift you up to me.”

Tara waited beside Clay and then let Johnny lift her up to Clay. Clay clasped her waist while she swung her leg over the horse’s neck and settled onto his lap, then urged the horse into a canter. Tara felt free again as she rode on Clay’s lap. She laughed out loud with sheer exuberance.

They rode for half an hour until the creek was in their sight. Tara let her childhood memories play in her mind of her, Clay, and Johnny swimming in the summer heat in the pool of water at the end of the creek. They were such happy times. She felt her heart filling with love for her two men all over again.

Johnny dismounted first, tethered his mount, leaving plenty of room for his horse to graze, and then walked over to help Tara off of Clay’s lap. He swung her around in a circle and smiled when Tara laughed out loud again.

“I love it when you laugh, sweetheart. You haven’t done much of that lately.”

“I know. I’ve been really hard to live with, huh?”

“You? Never, sweetheart,” Johnny said with a grin as he slid her down his long, hard, muscular torso.

“Come on, you two,” Clay called over his shoulder as he headed for the creek.

Johnny helped Tara limp her way to the creek, and she gasped with surprise when she saw a blanket on the ground near their swimming hole and a picnic basket hanging in the branch of a tree above.

“Oh, we’re having a picnic. I love picnics.”

“We know, baby. Come and sit down. Let us feed you while you sit back and relax,” Clay stated.

“I’ve done nothing but relax for the last six weeks, Clay. I need to get back to a normal routine.”

“Just one more day. Please, baby?”

“Okay,” Tara sighed out.

They fed Tara spit roast chicken with potato salad, tossed salad, and small bread rolls. They plied her with two glasses of wine until she lay back on the blanket, totally replete.

“Oh my. I haven’t eaten so much in a long time,” Tara mumbled sleepily as she put her arm over her eyes to shield them from the sunlight.

She heard Clay and Johnny moving, packing the food away, but was feeling too lazy to help. She lay back enjoying the sound of the water babbling over the rocks in the creek and the sound of birds twittering in the trees above. Life couldn’t get much better.

“Tara, can you sit up for a bit, sweetheart?” Johnny asked in a voice Tara had never heard him use before. She removed her arm from her eyes and pushed herself into a sitting position.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, baby. We’ve got something we want to ask you.” Clay hedged.

“Okay, shoot.”

Tara looked from Clay to Johnny and back again. It looked like they were nervous to her, but she had no idea why.

“Tara, you know we love you, don’t you?” Johnny asked hesitantly.

“Yes, and I love you both very much.”

“Tara, would you honor us and become our wife?” Johnny asked and swallowed loudly as he drew a small jeweler’s box from his pocket.

“What? What did you say?” Tara asked quietly then yelled the next minute.

“Tara, we both love you so much, baby. We would be honored if you would consent to being our wife!” Clay reiterated.

“Are you serious? Oh, sorry, of course you’re serious.”

Tara launched herself into Johnny’s and Clay’s arms as she yelled, “Oh my God. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I would love to be your wife. But how is that possible? I can’t marry the both of you, and I refuse to choose between you two.”

“We’ve already talked about it, sweetheart. You’ll marry me since I’m the youngest and closer to your age, but in our hearts, you’ll be married to Clay as well,” Johnny explained.

“Are you sure this is what you want, Clay?”

“Yes, baby. I’m sure. So what do you say? Is that still a yes?”

“Yes,” Tara screamed at the top of her voice, joy, love, and happiness filling her heart.

The two horses in the background neighed with enthusiasm, which had all of them laughing. Tara wrapped her arms around her men and kissed them one at time. She put all the love she felt for them into her kiss, which had them growling low in their throats. Clay clasped her by her upper arms and moved her away from them slightly. She glanced to Johnny and gasped as the most beautiful eighteen-carat gold ring with a one-carat solitaire diamond was held out to her, displayed in the small box. She held her breath as Clay plucked the ring from the box and placed it on her left ring finger.

“Sweetheart, if you keep that up, we’re going to strip you naked right here, right now,” Johnny panted.

“So what’s stopping you?” Tara replied with a saucy smile and a wink then surprised Clay and Johnny by removing her top and slowly reaching around to her back, flicking her bra open, and letting the traps fall from her shoulders. She held the cups of her bra to her chest as she removed her arms then flung it at Clay. It hit him in the face, which had Tara giggling uncontrollably with her eyes closed.