Divine Charity (36 page)

“You did?”

“Yeah,” he said, with a devilish grin on his handsome face. “You’re fiery when you’re righteously indignant. It was kinda hot.”

Heat filled her cheeks and she giggled. “I’ve been told I take after my mom.”

He gestured at the front of the house, where the porch light had just flicked on as Beau pulled into the driveway in his truck. “Speaking of parents, looks like they’re waiting for us.”

Even though she knew they’d done no wrong, she still braced herself when the front door opened as they went up the porch steps. Beau hurried over to join them, once again carrying the horned helmet he’d been crowned Prom King with earlier.

Justin stepped out and said, “Jack called us to tell us what happened. Still in one piece, I see.” She was relieved that he didn’t sound mad.

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Luka and Matthias?” he asked with genuine concern in his voice. “I didn’t even know they were back in town.”

Justine said, “The last we saw of them, they were being led out to a patrol car in handcuffs. The house was trashed.”

Her father shook his head in disgust. “It’s time those two grew up.”

Justine asked, “So you’re not pissed over finding out we were out there?”

He shook his head. “I can’t fault you for doing what your mom would’ve done, honey, checking on people you care about when you suspect trouble. Although I hope you’ll avoid that kind of drama if the two of you go out again.”

“Yes, sir,” Noah said without hesitation. “Count on it. I’ll say good night now.”

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and she went inside, the memory of his warm lips on hers still fresh in her memory.

Val admired Charity’s ass as she strutted through the living room, into the kitchen and the utility room beyond. She was clad in nothing more than a red satin thong and a matching red push-up bra.

He and Ransome were eating bowls of cereal at the table while Justin stood at the kitchen sink buttering a piece of toast.

“Hey, babe! You want some toast?” Justin called as he took the second piece from the toaster.

Suddenly Charity’s destination registered with Val and he turned to Ransome and found him already staring at him, a worried look on his face.

The dryer opened and then they heard a very loud thump. “Thank you, my love,” she called in a strangled voice. “But all I want right now is to
kill a motherfucker
!”

Justin slowly shook his head and looked at them, pity in his eyes. “I warned you. I fuckin’ warned you. The only time I touch her clothes is to take them off of her. Make this right. I’ll see you later.” Footsteps stomped toward the kitchen and Val felt an honest-to-God chill go down his spine. Justin stalled her for a kiss before heading out the back door, a dark chuckle following him.

He and Ransome studied their bowls of cereal until the presence in the doorway could no longer be ignored. He heard a soft growl and knew it was bad, bad, bad. Then he looked up. Her breasts were heaving and there was a flush in her cheeks.

“I made it easy for you. What did I say about laundry?”

“To just leave your stuff in the hamper, where you put it, separate from everyone else’s,” Ransome said helpfully. He looked up at her and his eyes were riveted on her breasts which Val noticed were jam-packed inside that sexy bra, looking ready to spill out like so much luscious bounty. And his dick got hard.
Down boy. So not a good idea right now
.

“Honestly, Charity,” he said softly. “We just wanted to help out, with everything going on. We had a half load, and hell, they’re just jeans.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Just jeans? To a woman on a budget with a thirty-four inch inseam, who splurged and spent eighty-five dollars on a pair of embellished designer jeans”—her eyes seemed to blaze hotter and damned if his dick didn’t get a wee bit harder—“they
aren’t
jeans. They are now high-waters! Fucking capri pants!”

His eyes finally moved from her captivating cleavage down to her lower half. She was literally poured into jeans that didn’t look anything like the last time he’d seen them on her. Saying they were high-waters was being kind. “Oh, shit.”

“Oh, shit is right!”

“Damn,” Ransome said as he turned in his chair. “They’re ruined, aren’t they?”

She took deep, slow breaths, trying to calm down. The combination of fury and hurt in her eyes made him feel even worse.

“I asked only one thing. That you leave my laundry the fuck alone. What else am I going to find that’s ruined?”

Ransome scratched his chin and the look he sent Val’s way said confession was good for the soul.

Charity clued in to the look and said, “What? What else of mine did you wash?”

“Well, we didn’t actually wash them but we found a load of clothing in the washer, and we wanted to do laundry, you know, to help out, and we didn’t want to just put them in a basket and let them sit and get sour, so…”

She looked ready to cry. “Just tell me.”

Ransome opened his mouth to speak, all ready to confess and get it off his chest but Val stopped him and said, “Before we say anything else, we just want you to know that we will replace all the ruined stuff. And I don’t just mean in the future. Today. You can take my debit card and go shopping.”

“You didn’t say ‘if it’s ruined,’ you said ‘all the ruined stuff.’” Her expression transformed as realization dawned and she looked even more ready to cry. “My bras and panties. Where are they?”

“Well,” Ransome said, looking over at Val with healthy fear in his eyes. “We took them out of all those little white zipper bags you had them in and…put them in the dryer.”

Justin had warned them but they clearly hadn’t understood. He felt like every inch of skin was being flayed off as she laid into them, her voice booming with power that he had not heretofore known she possessed. Frankly, it made him even hotter even though he knew on some level contrition and repentance should be the only emotions he was feeling. She was glorious as she let them have it. “I showed you my hamper in the laundry room, the one with my name on it, when you moved in. And what did I tell you?”

Ransome started to speak but she cut him off.

“I asked you nicely,
nicely
, to leave my clothes for me to wash. I told you I do my own laundry. I explained why I do my own laundry. I can’t afford to replace some of those items. I have to budget to go clothes shopping. I take special care of my clothes. I don’t put lingerie in the dryer because it ruins it. I don’t put my blue jeans in the dryer because the legs shrink. I know it’s an idiosyncrasy to some but I made it clear.
Leave my laundry the fuck alone
!”

“I’m so sorry, angel. We’re so sorry.” Ransome said, gesturing at Val. “We didn’t mean to ruin your sparkly pants or your other stuff.”

“Where is my lingerie?”

Val said, “In the basket on the dryer.”

Hope shriveled that she was winding down and close to forgiving them when she ran in the utility room and made a pained shrieking sound. She returned with the basket, which she thumped on the table. She reached in and lifted out the first…thing and held it up. “What is this?”

Val frowned, knowing this was going to get worse. “I think it’s a bunch of your bras all…knotted together.”

“This is why I put them in those nifty zipper bags.” After a little work, she unknotted one of the bras and held it up to her. “You remember seeing me in this the other night?”

Ransome grinned at the memory and then had the good sense to stifle himself. “It doesn’t look the way it did last time we saw it on you.”

She turned a steely gaze from one man to the other, “And it never will again. This stuff is called delicate for a reason. The heat from the dryer ruined the lace and the elastic.”

Val reached out and stroked her hip. “We’re really sorry, baby. We’ll never touch your laundry ever again. I hate seeing you upset. I’ll replace everything.”

Ransome said, “It was just as much my idea. We’ll share the cost of replacing everything, angel.”

She let out a breath and nailed them with her blue eyes. “You’ll have to because I don’t have the money in my budget right now and some of this stuff was for work.” She gestured at her jeans which were undeniably never going to look the same again. As if to emphasize the point, one of the large rhinestones popped off and fell on the floor at his feet. “How many of my jeans did you wash?”

Ransome exchanged a glance with him and gave a minute shake of his head, the coward.

Val said, “All of them that were in the hamper.”

Charity nodded, several times in succession while breathing deep, her lips mashed into a flat line. Val reached in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. She kept nodding and he said, “Was that every pair you owned?”

She just kept nodding and held out her hand as he pulled out his debit card. “If there’s any problem just have them call me to authorize the purchase.”

“Purchases, you mean. Right? Grace and I are going to Cheaver’s to do a little shopping for Rose Marie. I’ll replace the jeans there and then we’re going to Discretion, because—” She waved the big knot-o-bras through the air.

Preemptively, he said, “Buy whatever you want, baby. Buy extras.” Ransome nodded in confirmation.

“—because I can’t be having this shit.”

“And we solemnly promise to never touch your laundry ever again.”

She took a deep breath, threw the bras back in the basket and trudged off still nodding, muttering under her breath, his debit card in her hand.

“This is gonna hurt, buddy,” Ransome whispered, rubbing his face and then shaking his head.

Val shook his head, recalling the way she stood in that utility room door, breasts heaving, fire in her eyes, looking like an avenging Valkyrie. “We don’t see her like that very often. She’s really hot when she’s angry.”

He turned to Ransome and his cousin smirked for just a second but hid it, possibly in fear that she might come back and catch them.

Val said, “She has to budget to afford clothing. I think maybe we need to give our girl a raise so she can get what she needs when she needs it and not have to wait to save up.”

“You won’t hear me arguing.”

Five minutes later, she reappeared, dressed in a sexy red burnout T-shirt and the sparkly jeans, only now they were cuffed up and she wore sandals instead of the fancy cowboy boots she normally wore with them. She still looked pissed off.

“Enjoy your day off shopping with your sister, angel,” Ransome said as he kissed her. “Sorry.”

She nodded, looking morose. “I’m sorry I blew a gasket.”

“That was more like blowing an engine, baby,” Val said before she turned to him and he wisely shut up.

“My budget is still recovering from Justine’s prom dress and all of her accessories, and shopping for you guys last time we were in Stigall’s.”

Yeah, it’s possible to feel even worse about this.

“Just bring me the receipts, baby,” Val said.

Charity nailed them both with a serious gaze. “Just so you know, I won’t demand much from you, but this one thing. The next time you get a wild hair up your butts and decide to do my laundry, what are you going to do?”

“Lie down until the urge passes?”

“Run the vacuum?”

“Dust?”

“Do our own fucking laundry?”

“Mow the grass?”

“Knit a doily?”

“Scrub the toilet?”

“Wash dishes?”

She was smiling by the time they finally wound down and said, “You’re smart guys. You’ll get the hang of living with me eventually.”

She kissed Ransome and then Val pulled her to him and squeezed her tight, enjoying the feel of her soft, plush breasts pressed against his chest. “I love you, woman. Don’t forget to bring me receipts.”

* * * *

Charity helped Grace out of the car and then held the door open for her as they walked into Cheaver’s Western Store. The scent of leather lingered in the air as they headed toward the children’s department.

“What are we shopping for, sis?” Charity asked as she lifted a fancy toddler-sized Western shirt from a rack and looked at the price tag. “Oh, hell no.” She put the garment back while Grace chuckled. There was no way anyone in their right mind would pay that kind of money for something a child would outgrow in one month.

“The guys instructed me to shop only for basics for Rose Marie. Blue jeans. A belt. And a cowboy hat. Nothing fancy.” Grace showed her the list of Rose Marie’s sizes and measurements and they searched the racks for the proper sizes.

“So I take it she’s getting acquainted with things on the working side of the ranch now?”

Grace nodded. “Jack, Ethan, and Adam thought it might help. They want to take the pressure off of me. They were overprotective in the beginning, not wanting her to get hurt or get in the way of the workers or the horses but now it’s time she started learning. Angel and Joaquin are completely on board with her helping with small chores and want to help teach her riding and handling skills. Michael is going to help her learn how to clean hooves and brush out tails, he said.”