Bound to You Page 22

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Once they’d finally lugged all the bags upstairs, most of which were Brianna’s, Jenna toured the house. Ethan had crashed out in his car seat and was asleep upstairs in a spare room. Bri had taken one of the other three bedrooms. Jenna unpacked her things along with Sam’s in the master bedroom.

  The house was much larger and nicer inside than she’d imagined. Very clean and tidy, thanks to a housekeeper who came in twice a week, Sam had told her. The kitchen was modern with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Big enough for a large oblong table, with a matching granite top, in the middle. Travertine tiles decorated the floor. The kitchen was mostly in golden tones, much cozier than her white and gray kitchen at home.

  Throughout the house, golden hardwood floors gleamed and the furniture in the living room, while stylish, was warm and comfortable, decorated in browns, gold and greens with accents in reds. Jack’s girlfriend, now fiancée, she’d been told, had decorated the house herself and it reminded Jenna of the house her mother had decorated in similar warm tones. The house where she’d spent her happy childhood. Before her mother had died and she’d discovered just how serious and distant her father really was.

  She’d have been happy to be in the house if it hadn’t been for the niggling fear pestering her mind.

  She looked through the screen door, to check in on Brianna and Sam, who were chatting. Or, rather, Bri was chatting and Sam was listening, or being polite and pretending to listen.

  The sparkling lights in the backyard held Jenna’s attention for only a moment before she started pacing again. She peaked in on a dining room with a large table with eight chairs, a china cabinet and sideboard. A large potted tree in the corner and decorative landscapes on the wall. The china cabinet was empty and she decided to pack up her grandmother’s china and bring it out. She didn’t want to go home again, to her father’s house, back to the place where everything seemed to go wrong. She wanted to stay here, forever, and start over. And try to make things right again.

  Wandering back upstairs, she checked on Ethan then crossed over to the master bedroom. Lights blinking in the window caught her attention and she went over and opened the blinds. She had a great view of the backyard and lights from there, of the pond where Ethan was conceived.

  She lifted her foot and dropped it to the floor, a little stamp, claiming this room, this place, as her own. For as long as she could hold on to it.

  She heard a light knock on the door and Sam strolled in, smiling. He joined her at the window and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Not bad, huh?”

  “Did Bri talk your ear off?”

  He chuckled. “She started texting and I made my escape.”

  “I’m sure she has to tell everyone where she is.”

  He moved around her and sat on the wide windowsill. “Wanna tell me what’s really going on? Something’s wrong. Who called earlier?”

  She backed up and sat on the bed. “My boss. Just like I said. Apparently, the stroke is pretty bad and Mr. O’Hara won’t be coming back to work. My promotion is off.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Mr. Brandt, another senior partner, said Mr. O’Hara created the position for me. Which, I guess explains why people believed the rumors. He said they didn’t need another paralegal and couldn’t afford to pay my salary.”

  “Oh.”

  Her stomach tightened and she had to force herself to say the words aloud, knowing they would become real the moment she spoke. “In fact… they’re downsizing. Mr. O’Hara’s secretary and assistant are being moved to other positions and I’m pretty far down on the ladder.”

  Sam leaned forward, frowning. “So, what are you saying?”

  The air around Sam’s face was suddenly filled with little dancing stars. “I’ve been fired.”

  “Damn,” Sam whispered. He came over, sat on the bed with her, and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

  She held back tears. “I can pick up my stuff at the guard desk tomorrow morning. At least they offered to give me a good reference. I’ve been sending out resumes for the past couple of months, but I haven’t had any luck so far. Maybe I can find a job with a law firm in Nashville.”

  “Is law what you really want to do?”

  “It’s where my experience is.”

  Sam shook his head as if disgusted with her. “You’re living your dad’s life. A really rough version of it, too. You said it yourself. You’re doing what he wanted you to do. Now’s the time while you’re still young. What do you want to do?”

  She wanted some control over her life again. She wanted to get a job and support her son and sister. She wanted to earn a living. She looked at this man she loved. He’d had freedom handed to him and couldn’t understand. She had to support Ethan somehow.

  Except…. She wasn’t alone anymore. And neither was Ethan.

  “I used to have this stupid idea,” she said. “I always thought it would be nice to run a riding school like the one I attended. I heard it had shut down so maybe there’s an opening in this area. I was never good enough to seriously compete, but I was pretty good. It was the only time I ever felt free. When I was riding horses.”

  Sam raised his eyebrows, his face brightening. “Then do that.”

  She shook her head. “It takes money to start up a business like that. I’d need the land and stables, and… it’s impossible.”

  “Not impossible at all.” Sam thought for a moment, and then chuckled. “In fact, it’s very possible. My dad has everything you need. He’s got the land and the stables. He’s even got the horses. All you’d have to do is buy a sign and advertize.”

  Her pulse sped up at the thought of taking advantage of such an opportunity, but something held her back. Her need for independence. “Then it would be your dad’s school, not mine.”

  Sam sat still staring straight ahead so long Jenna had decided he’d given up. She patted his knee and was about to stand when he grabbed her hand. “No, actually it would be ours,” he said, turning to face her. “Dad’s looking to retire. He asked me to take over the horse farm.”

  “Really?”

  “He’s sixty-six. Mom wants him to spend more time with her. Do some traveling while they still can. He fell when he was younger, when he was working on Granddad’s ranch in Texas, and his back is starting to give him problems now.”

  “Is that how they met?”

  “Yeah, he set out on his own when he was eighteen and went to Texas. Mom’s parents weren’t really happy about it, her marrying a ranch hand, but they’ve made it work. The point is, he needs to slow down. So, I’ll take on his farm and you can have your riding school.”

  Again, she let herself entertain such an exciting and inspiring notion, but only for a moment. “No. It’s stupid. I haven’t ridden in years and I don’t know anything about teaching.”

  “Neither did my brother, Boone, and his wife, but they both do it.”

  “Really?”

  “Boone was in the air force and runs a flying school and Becky runs a cooking school. You’ll learn. The trick is to hire the right people to help you.”

  “More money,” Jenna mentioned. “More of your money.”

  Sam sighed, quietly, but she heard him. “Then we’ll have a partnership,” he said. “Or, if you’re gonna be stubborn, it’ll be my school and I’ll hire you to run it.”

  “That’s better, I guess. Except that you’re only doing it for me. You’d never do it otherwise.”

  “So what? Now I like the idea. I’ll do it whether you want in or not.”

  “Now you’re being stubborn,” she said, but couldn’t hold back a smile.

  He smiled with her. “It just takes a little guts. How brave are you?”

  She looked at Sam, but wasn’t thinking about bravery, or even the idea of having her own riding school. “What about your ranch? Your life in Texas? If we did this, then….”

  “Then I’d have to move here,” he finished for her. He
squeezed her hand. “I told you. As long as we’re together, I don’t care where we are. I’ll keep the ranch and we’ll take Ethan there to visit, like I did growing up.”

  The thought of him giving up so much for her, for their son and a chance at a life together, made her a little sad. As if she were taking everything from him. Selfishly.

  “What about a riding school on the ranch?” she asked.

  He cocked an eyebrow at her, as if surprised she’d even consider moving to Texas with him. Then he shook his head. “It’s too far from anywhere. You’d never get anyone to drive out that far. And Ethan needs to be here, with his family.” His eyes glazed as he laughed softly. “Watching him play with the kids, with his cousins, it’s like…. I can’t even describe it. You’ve gotta see it. This is where he belongs.”

  She fell back on the bed and let her mind roam free, let herself imagine this fantasy life Sam described. It seemed too good to be true, and her father had always warned her about that. Opportunities are earned. But she knew Sam was right about one thing. Ethan needed his family. All of his family. He needed more in his life than a stressed mother and distracted aunt, a few toys on the floor.

  “You said it yourself,” Sam said, leaning over her. “It’s his life we have to consider. I’m doing that.”

  He didn’t say it, but the question hung in the air. Was she considering what was best for her son? At some point, if she truly planned to marry Sam and build a life with him, she had to start thinking of the three of them as a family. Not just her watching over Ethan while Sam looked on at a distance. She had to let him, and his family, into Ethan’s life. And hers.

  A bubble of joy began to grow somewhere deep inside her, and it scared her half to death. Her first instinct was to push the bubble back down, stop it before she lost control. Then Sam kissed her and the rightness of his lips on hers, his strong arms around her, overpowered her fears and the bubble of joy returned.

  “What do you say?” he asked, smiling down at her. “Wanna see what we can accomplish?”

  She nodded before she could stop herself. Before the fear returned.

  Sam gave her another warm, deep kiss. “Train’s rolling now,” he said. “Don’t even try to stop it.” He sat up and dug his phone out of his pocket. “What time is it?” He looked around then remembered he had a clock on his phone. “They’re still up. I’ll call Dad and make sure he was serious.” He stood and walked away.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I left something in the other bathroom. Something your sister doesn’t need to see. We’re celebrating tonight.”

  A tingle ran through her and the bubble of joy returned. She couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, yeah we are.”

  He stopped in the doorway. “I’m taking you riding tomorrow,” he said, pointing at her, grinning. “I need to see you on a horse.” He walked away, chuckling. “I can’t even imagine that.”

  He was right. She needed to see herself on a horse again. Was that the kind of skill a person could forget? She’d loved riding horses, and had never forgotten the way it felt to fly through the air, but she’d put that part of her life behind her. She wasn’t sure she could get it back.

  But she was finally willing to try.

  ***

  Brandon Stewart sat parked off the road in the dark and watched the old farmhouse. He’d followed them from Jenna’s house, driving his sister’s Audi Roadster so he wouldn’t be recognized. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but they’d packed Strickland’s truck full of bags and boxes and then Jenna had followed him in her car. They’d arrived at this crappy little house and unpacked everything. As if they were moving here.

  He wasn’t sure what Jenna was playing at, but she couldn’t get away that easily. She’d tried to go over his head, to his grandfather, as if she’d thought that would stop him. He’d endured a scolding, sitting in his grandfather’s office, a reminder that the family had a reputation to uphold, a code of conduct to follow. With great power comes great responsibility and all that crap.

  Brandon had a saying of his own, one that hick Strickland could appreciate. If Jenna wanted to mess with the bull, she’d get the horns.

  He was only getting started.

  ***

  When Jenna woke to daylight, she found Sam gone and Ethan sleeping in bed with her. Sam had left a note on his pillow. He’d found Ethan wandering around lost and half-asleep. He’d be back soon. He didn’t say where he’d gone.

  Rolling to her back, she listened to the house, blinking around the unfamiliar room. She glanced at the lighted numbers on the bedside clock. It was eight-thirty. Her stomach clenched and for a moment she thought she was late for work. But she didn’t have a job anymore.

  And a part of her was glad. She wasn’t sure she could have gone back there, anyway. It was more than she could have stood to go in to the office and face her co-workers. People who thought she’d tried to earn her promotion through unethical means. Who probably thought she’d given Mr. O’Hara a stroke. Some would be snickering at her failed attempt. And she didn’t want to go back to the life she’d had before, the dull and tiring life she’d led before Sam had returned to her world. She was tired of living the life arranged for her by her father.

  The new house, the unfamiliar room, gave her a slight thrill, as if she were on vacation, staying in a nice hotel. It was as if part of her brain had shut off, the part that took care of responsibilities. Sam had awakened a side of her that she’d kept dormant for the past three years. But now that she’d remembered, now that she’d had a taste of youth again, she wanted more. A lot more. She wanted to feel like she had at the waterfall. She wanted to keep running and jumping.

  She closed her eyes, remembering the night she’d spent with Sam in this bed, his body around hers, his heat consuming her. She loved those moments when she knew his thoughts were only of her, as if they were the only two people in the world.

  She got up and dressed then sat on the bed and stroked her son’s soft hair.

  Ethan opened his eyes and stretched.

  “Are you awake yet, pumpkin?”

  He nodded and rubbed his eye.

  “Wanna get up?”

  He yawned and then turned over, pushed up to his knees and looked around. “Who’s this?”

  She looked around the room. “Where is this? This is our new home, sweetie. What do you think?”

  “’kay,” he said inside another yawn. He held out his arms, so she took him across the hall to get him dressed.

  The blue bear Ethan’s grandmother had given him was on the bed, and she was glad she’d tossed that in with his things. She handed it to him and he hugged it as she cleaned him up and got him dressed.

  She was about to take him downstairs for breakfast when Brianna stumbled into the room and handed her the phone. “Call,” she said and turned and stumbled away again. “I want my own phone.”

  Jenna checked the caller, surprised it was her realtor so early in the morning. Someone had just made an offer on the house, Karen told her. A full-price offer. She accepted the offer right then, certain she’d created some kind of magic when she’d decided to come to this house. To leave her old life, and her old problems, behind. Somehow, even losing her job seemed like a gift now.

  She smiled at Ethan who was fully awake and smiled back.

  A rumbling sound came from outside and she stepped up to the window to look out. Sam’s truck rolled to a stop out front.

  “Daddy’s home,” she told Ethan. “We like Daddy, don’t we?”

  “Yeah,” Ethan answered, nodding vigorously.

  She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Do you know who Daddy is?”

  He nodded, then shook his head and climbed off the bed.

  She picked him up and carried him to the window to watch Sam walk up to the house. “Who’s that?” she asked, not sure how else to explain Sam’s role, and importance, in Ethan’s life.

  When he didn’t answer, she prompted him. “Is that Daddy?”

/>   “Yeah,” he said uncertainly. He almost always answered ‘yeah’ to questions he didn’t understand. Unless he felt fussy, then ‘no’ was the usual response.

  She realized then she needed a current picture of Sam to show Ethan, repeatedly, until it sank in. A picture she could frame and put in his room.

  She set Ethan down and he set off running, turning the wrong way down the hallway. She waited until he reached the end of the hallway, looked around and then ran back.

  She took his hand to lead him toward the stairs. “Wanna ride horses today?”

  Ethan’s mouth flew open and he hopped a few steps. “Horsey!”

  “Your granddad said we could come out today.” He’d also said if Sam was willing to take on the responsibility of the farm, he was ready to step aside. They were creating a new world of their own, Sam had said.

  Jenna smiled at Sam as he came in the door with two cups of coffee and a bag of some kind of breakfast. Ethan pulled away and went to explore the room, patting everything he came in contact with.

  Sam handed her one of the coffees and gave her a kiss on the head. “Where’d you go so early?” she asked him.

  “Early? It was after seven. I dropped by the farm to chat with Dad, stopped to wash the truck, then I went to town and got breakfast.”

  “Is everything okay with the farm? Is your dad still okay with it?”

  “We’re good to go.”

  She reached for his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. “I hope I’m doing the right thing.” Not that she had a lot of options right now. There weren’t any other offers on the table.

  “You’re only twenty-five,” he said, giving her an assuring shake. “If you flub up there’s plenty of time to do something else.”

  She knew he was teasing and only gave him a light jab in the ribs with her elbow. “I’m trusting you,” she said.

  “Finally,” Sam said.

  “And do you trust you yet?”

  “Do I trust me?” He chuckled. “I got over that like, two whole days ago. Ancient history.”