Double In (12 page)

“Where did you get it?”

“It was found in a lockbox in the rubble after the tornado
took out the far wall of the bar.”

Blair stared down at the letter in her hands. After several
long moments, she stiffened, lifted her head, and Marsha saw the ice bitch
return in full force.

“Yes, I heard the place got damaged pretty badly by the
tornado.” A sly grin unfolded on her lips. “The Good Lord does work in
mysterious ways, doesn’t he?”

Marsha thought about the letter in Blair’s hand, about the
words written on it. “You have no idea.”
But you will soon.

Marsha left it at that, turning and walking away from
Blair’s doorstep with that certainty in her mind. She let the smile return to
her lips as she climbed in behind the wheel of Porter’s truck and headed for
Bulls Eye Billiards.

* * * * *

“Some turnout. Gosh, can you believe this? There must be
over a hundred people here!” Allie squeezed past Marsha behind the bar,
shuffling from one cooler to the next as she loaded her tray down with beers.

“Easily. I lost count a long time ago.” It had taken three
weeks, but Marsha had opened the doors of the newly renovated Bulls Eye
Billiards at eleven that morning. In less than ten minutes, the crowd had
started to arrive. People from all over the county came bearing food donations
for the cookout Porter and Reid started in the parking lot, ready to eat, drink
and have a party.

Porter and Reid had posted flyers and spread the word about
the fundraiser they’d aptly named the Bulls Eye Cleanup. All the proceeds
collected would be donated to the victims of the recent storm. Grilled plates
of food and all the trimmings were being sold for five dollars a plate. They
had door prize raffles for items also donated to the cause with tickets selling
for one dollar each. Later that night, they would host a darts blind draw with
a five dollar a head entry fee.

Marsha cast a quick glance around and giggled to herself,
wondering if anyone would be sober enough by then to even pick up a dart, much
less throw one at the six new boards she’d had installed. She shot a quick
glance at the new dart area. It had taken a tornado to speed the process, but
the expansion she’d always wanted had gotten done.

“We’re running low on Bud Light.” Allie sidestepped behind
Marsha and snagged the bottle of Miller Marsha had just pulled from the cooler.
“I’ll take that. Thanks!”

“Twerp.” Marsha laughed and grabbed for another one. “Next
time get your own. And we’ve got more Bud Light on the way. A few of the guys
volunteered to go get some.”

She’d ordered double her usual supply from her distributor
this week in preparation for the event and still ran out within hours.
Unwilling to let that little snag put a damper on the day, she’d contacted the
local grocer down the street, spoken with the manager, and explained the
fundraiser. The manager had already been aware of it and offered to donate
whatever beer she needed under the agreement that ninety percent of the
proceeds went to the cause. She was told to put the other ten percent into her
costs and renovation fund. She would’ve been happy donating one hundred percent
and figured she’d likely do it in the end anyway.

“Good. It looks as if we’re going to need them,” Allie said
as she started to walk away.

“Hey, take a break when you need one. Don’t let these guys
run you ragged.”

Allie shot her a meaningful look over her shoulder. “I’ll
take a break when you do.”

That wasn’t likely to happen in her near future, so Marsha
didn’t comment. She’d taken on volunteers to help serve the customers, planted
Donnie at the register, and implemented a couple of his burly friends to make
sure everyone kept the peace today. Still, the crowd was keeping them all
moving and she doubted that would stop any time soon.

“You sure know how to throw a grand reopening, little lady.”

Marsha served the bottle of Miller in her hand, jotted the
sale on the customer’s tab, and spun. She gasped when her attention landed on
Pete. “About time you got here.” She threw her arms around his neck for a big
hug.

“Lost track of the time admiring that new roof your men put
on my trailer.”

Marsha pulled back and stared at him. “You were on the
roof!”

Pete laughed. “‘Course not. You think these old bones could
climb a ladder to get up there?”

“I think your old bones could manage anything you set your
mind to.”

“I’ll stick to looking at it from the ground. Trailer sits
in a valley, remember? If I stand on the hill, I can see the top just fine.”

“How is R.J.?” Busy with trying to get her own place back
into shape, she hadn’t seen either man since shortly after the storm.

Pete’s smile widened. “Crabby as always. He’s out there with
George and Clyde, telling Porter and Reid how to cook right now.”

Marsha shook her head and laughed. “As always.”

“He’s doing good though. He finally got the insurance people
out there to his land. It looks as if he’ll be getting enough to buy himself a
new trailer in a few weeks.” Pete shrugged. “It won’t be enough to get one as
nice as what he had, but he’ll come out all right.”

“Well, maybe with the money we raise here today, we can add
to that and he can buy an even better one.”

Pete nodded. “One thing about this town, the folks know how
to lend a hand when it’s needed.” He looked around. “Sure did a bang-up job on
this place. It looks better than it ever did.”

“I had a few changes made, things I’ve been wanting to have
done, but just hadn’t gotten around to.” Porter and Reid, along with some of
their crew and a slew of volunteers, had done the work and Pete was right,
they’d done a bang-up job.

“Well, it looks good. Now give me a beer so I can get back
out there before George, Clyde and those men of yours decide to hang R.J. from
a tree by his toes.”

Marsha giggled at the image that created as she snagged him
a beer from the cooler. “Lucky for R.J. there aren’t many trees left out
there,” she said as she handed Pete the bottle.

“Sometimes I’d be willing to drive to the next county to
find one if I had to.”

As Pete made his way through the crowd, Marsha paused to
simply stand stationary for a moment. She’d been on her feet since she rolled
out of bed and hadn’t stopped. She knew better than to sit or she’d be done
for.

But it’s worth it.
Seeing so many people enjoying
themselves while helping out their fellow neighbors was definitely worth
countless hours on her feet. She stretched and rubbed the aching small of her
back. And when it was over her men, as Pete and half the town had taken to
calling them, were going to be hit up for one hell of a back massage.

“Can you spare a minute?”

Marsha blinked. She’d noticed the woman approaching the
service opening on the side of the bar, but hadn’t recognized her. Blair stood
with one hand fisted around the strap of her shoulder bag, the other shoved
into the pocket of her shorts. She was dressed way down in a pink knit blouse,
brown shorts, and tennis shoes. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail with
tendrils left dangling at her temples. Marsha had never seen her dressed so
casually, but instantly saw more of a physical resemblance between them than
she ever had.

“That’s probably about all I can get, but yeah. What can I
get for you?” She hadn’t talked to Blair since the day she’d delivered the
letter. Neither had Porter or Reid. She knew they’d tried to call her, even
stopped by her house a time or two, but Blair had been avoiding all of them.

Blair glanced around, fidgeting with her shoulder bag. “I,
uh, wanted to apologize.”

Shock rendered Marsha speechless for a full three seconds.
Not only had she never seen Blair dressed the way she was, but she’d never seen
her looking so ill at ease. It was eye opening and she actually found herself
feeling sorry for the woman. “Do you want to go someplace quieter so we can
talk?”

Blair shook her head. “No, here is okay. I really don’t have
much to say.” She gave a short laugh, but there was no humor in the tone.
“There really isn’t much I can say except I’m sorry.” She swallowed. “For
everything. I’ve been a total bitch to you since day one. I hated the way Daddy
was with you, the bond the two of you built. I felt…threatened because he was
my
daddy, but—” She broke off as her eyes filled with tears. “He was your daddy,
too. We just didn’t know it.”

Marsha knew she should say something, but she didn’t know
what. All the snide remarks of the past, all the pain seemed to wash away at
the sight of those tears. Maybe she shouldn’t be so easy to forgive, but this
was her half-sister. The ice bitch was melting before her eyes and it tore at
her heartstrings.

Blair’s shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. “He did
the right thing, leaving you this place. Not just because he knew the truth,
but because he knew you would take care of it. He knew you would take pride in
it.” She shook her head again. “I never would have. He knew that, too.”

“He loved you, Blair, more than anything.”

She nodded vigorously. “He did. I know that. He loved you,
too, and I’m glad you got the time with him that you did. He was a great man, a
special man. Despite abandoning you the way he did. I hope you can forgive him
for that.”

“I already have.”

Blair hesitated, licked her lips and wrinkled her brows.
“And can you forgive me for the things I did?”

Marsha smiled, her eyes filling with tears. “I already
have.” She closed the distance between them and opened her arms. Blair held
back for only a heartbeat before walking into them and hugging Marsha tightly.

The bar erupted in applause, whoops and whistles.

“I guess the cat is out of the bag, huh?” Blair said, wiping
her eyes as she pulled back.

“Sounds like it.” Marsha didn’t know exactly how, but word
had already gotten around town about the letters they’d found and the contents
they’d revealed. She figured it could likely be pinned on the grumpy old men
crew seeing as how they’d forced the truth out of her shortly after the storm.

“I always wanted a sister,” Blair said once the noise died
down. “Growing up with two older brothers and not many girlfriends, I always
wanted a female to get close to, especially after Mother left us.”

Marsha gave her a pointed look. “You know I’ve never been
much for the princess act.”

“Princess? What are you talking about? I’m the queen.” Blair
smiled shakily. “But you can be my lady-in-waiting.”

Marsha laughed. “Now there’s the Blair I know.”

“Some things can’t change, right?”

“I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

Blair looked around. “It looks as if you could use some more
volunteers. I’m here. Give me something to do.”

Marsha lifted both brows at that. “You want to help?”

“I didn’t come dressed in these hideous clothes for
nothing.”

Marsha laughed. “Well, okay then. Grab a tray. You can help
Allie and the others serve drinks.”

She watched as Blair took a tray from the countertop and
started wending her way through the crowd. The woman looked so uncomfortable
she couldn’t help but giggle. Blair had apparently called a truce. She could
live with that. She didn’t kid herself into believing they would ever be best
buds, but they were half-sisters, they were family, and she knew now more than
ever exactly what kind of joyous weight that created in the heart.

Chapter Nine

Porter hooked an arm around Blair’s shoulders as he walked
her to the front door of the bar. “I’m glad you came today. I know Marsha is,
too.”

She shrugged and looked at him. “I did what I had to do,
just like always.”

Porter bit back a smile. He knew she would never accept
praise for what she did today. Her actions had showed everyone just how much
she’d swallowed her pride. “Don’t ever ignore me and Reid again like you’ve
done the last three weeks. We were worried about you.”

“I was fine.” She smiled halfheartedly at the disbelieving
look he gave her. “All right, I wasn’t fine. I was hurting, confused and in
shock. I needed time, Porter, time to absorb it, to adjust to it.”

Porter squeezed her shoulders before letting his hand fall
to his side. “But you’re okay now, right?”

She took a deep, audible breath. “I will be. It’s still an
adjustment, but…” She shrugged again as she let the rest of her thought trail
off.

“You were a huge help today. We all appreciate you pitching
in the way you did.”

“It was fun.” She sounded surprised she’d actually enjoyed
herself. “And I needed to be here.” She turned and glanced around the now-empty
bar. “It’s not Daddy’s place anymore. She’s changed it, made it better, made it
hers.”

“She’s done a hell of a job with it,” Porter agreed.

“It sucks to find out you were wrong, especially so badly.”

It shocked him to hear that, but he fought not to let it
show. “We all make mistakes. The two of you can put that behind you now and
move on, maybe build the relationship sisters are supposed to have.”

Blair grimaced. “I don’t know if it will go that far but
yes, we can move on now.”

“Sure you don’t want to stick around for a while, have one
of those beers you’ve been serving all day?” Porter asked when she reached for
the door.

“Yuck!” Blair wrinkled her nose. “No, I’m headed home to my
husband and a long soak in my hot tub. Parts of me are hurting that I didn’t
even know existed.”

Porter barked a laugh, pulled her in, and kissed the top of her
head. “Drive careful, little sis, and call one of us soon.” He held the door
open for her.

“I will,” she said as she walked out.

Porter closed the door behind her, fished in his pocket for
the key he’d put there earlier, and locked it. He turned around, spotted the
mess, and whistled. “We’ve got our work cut out for us here.”

The place looked as if an army of drunken Neanderthals had
been let loose inside. Bottles and glasses covered the surfaces of every
tabletop, napkins and cellophane wrappers cluttered the floor, and paper plates
teetered on the edge of the already overstuffed garbage cans.

“Work that will keep ‘til tomorrow,” Marsha told him as she
moved slowly from behind the bar. She looked exhausted. Her hair was a mess.
Her clothes were a mess. And despite it all, her eyes gleamed with a happiness
he realized he was starting to get used to seeing on her face. “We’ll have help
then, too.”

More than a handful of people had volunteered to return the
next day to help with the cleanup inside and outside the bar.

“Works for me.” Porter hooked his thumbs in his pockets and
rocked back on his heels. “So what next, Mars? You ready to sit down and take
it easy for a few minutes before heading to bed?”

“I’m ready for one of those beers you offered Blair.” She
frowned and tossed a cursory glance to the bar. “Which I should’ve gotten
myself while I was still back there.”

Reid chuckled as he stepped out of the kitchen, obviously
hearing her last comment. “Sit down. I’ll get it for you.”

“If I sit I’m not likely to get up again.” She rubbed the
back of her neck and groaned. “And make it a Bud Light instead of a Select if
there are any left, and a shot of Southern Comfort. I need something with a
little umph in it after today.”

Reid grinned. “Coming right up, honey.” He glanced at Porter
as he poured Marsha’s shot. “Want one, too?”

“Sure, I think we could all use a good—how did you put
that?—umph after today. Make mine Crown or Jack though. None of that sweet
stuff.”

“Aww, you’re just afraid it will make you sweeter,” Marsha
teased.

Porter winked at her. “Darlin’, I can’t get any sweeter.”

Marsha rolled her eyes. “Oh, please.” She took the drinks
Reid handed her and sipped the beer while she waited for him to make the other
shots. She lifted her shot glass once Reid and Porter had theirs in hand. “To a
successful day.”

Porter and Reid echoed her toast and they all knocked back
the shots.

Marsha set her glass on a nearby table. “You know, I don’t
have a clue how much money we raised today.”

“It’s all locked in the safe,” Reid told her as he walked to
the jukebox. He pulled a bill from his wallet and fed the machine. “We’ll count
it tomorrow but, if I were to venture a guess, I’d say it’s got to be several
grand.”

“At least,” Marsha agreed.

Porter propped an elbow on the bar as he leaned against it.
“You’re planning to take it to the disaster relief station tomorrow, right? Or
did you think of something else?”

The opening beats of Billy Currington’s
Must Be Doin’
Somethin’ Right
started to play softly in the room. Porter watched as Reid
slowly came behind Marsha and encircled her in his arms.

“Mmm, no, I think that’s the best way to go,” she answered,
her voice taking on a dreamy sound as her hips started to sway in time with
Reid’s to the beat of the music. “They know better than us the hardest-hit
areas still in need and the places FEMA isn’t helping enough.”

Her head fell back to rest on Reid’s chest, her eyes
drifting closed as Reid’s hands moved to her hips. Her head lifted again, her
eyes widening slightly in surprise when he spun her around, his feet moving in
a dance Porter didn’t know. She was right there with him, effortlessly
following his lead.

Porter tipped back his beer and took a long gulp as he
watched them move. For a woman who’d been practically dead on her feet mere
moments ago, she sure appeared energized now. He grinned around the lip of his
bottle as Reid caught her by the hand, twirled her around, and yanked a
laughing Marsha back against him.

Reid met Porter’s gaze over Marsha’s shoulder, gave Porter a
nanosecond to realize his intentions, then repeated the move. Reid let go of
her hand this time, skillfully spinning her straight into Porter’s arms.

Porter put his beer on the bar and walked her backward. “I
don’t know all the fancy footwork he does.”

She gazed at him, amusement twinkling in her eyes. “That
would be because you never dance.”

“And therein lies the reason.”

“Can you move your hips?” She gyrated her lower body against
his, eliciting a groan from low in his throat.

Porter dropped his hands to her ass, shoved a knee between
her legs, and ground his groin into her lower belly.

“Mmm, so you can move them.” She bent slightly, rubbing her
pussy against his thigh. “Patrick Swazye had nothing on you, honey.”

The heat from her pussy radiated through the material of her
shorts and Porter’s jeans. It went straight to his cock, hardening him to the
point of pain, and ricocheted through his system, short-circuiting his brain.
“Patrick Swazye?”

“You know,
Dirty Dancing
?”

“That movie wasn’t macho enough for him to watch,” Reid said
as the song faded to an end.

Porter cut Reid a look. “I’ve seen the movie and I’ll watch
it again anytime the two of you want.”

“Uh-ah, I’ve got better things in mind than watching a
movie.” Marsha gave her hips another suggestive wriggle and nearly made Porter
come in his jeans.

“Hmm, and what might that be? A few minutes ago you looked
as if you were about to pass out, darlin’.”

She wiggled her eyebrows. “That’s why you’re going to get me
off my feet.”

Reid laughed. “The Energizer Bunny ain’t got nothing on
her.”

“Oh, are you two tired?” She feigned a pout, her tone full
of forced sympathy.

“I don’t know about him, but I’ve got all the energy I
need.” Porter swept her into his arms, catching her off guard, and she let out
a surprised shriek.

“What is it with you two thinking I can’t walk down my own
stairs? The last time one of you tried this we didn’t even make it that far.”

“Reid nearly dropped you,” Porter reminded her as he headed
for the kitchen and the door to the basement inside. “And you made him too
horny to think.”

“Yeah, make me sound like the weak sap,” Reid muttered,
following at their heels.

Marsha’s nose brushed Porter’s jaw as she turned her head to
look over his shoulder at Reid. “You’re not a weak sap by any means. Apparently
I haven’t done something right with this one if he’s still got the ability to
think.”

“I’m thinking, all right, all about a bed covered by a blue
spread and frilly pillows in my very near future.”

Marsha playfully slapped his shoulder. “I do not have frilly
pillows.”

Porter stopped at the top of the stairs, turning sideways so
he could fit them both through the doorway. “Would you flick on that light,
please? I’ve kind of got my hands full.”

Marsha flipped the switch and he proceeded down the stairs.

“Then what, darlin’, do you call those?” he asked, spinning
around so she could see the bed and the pillows in question.

“Ordinary pillows inside pillow shams.” Her fake attempt at
snootiness made him laugh.

“Frilly pillows,” he said again and tossed her gently into
the center of the bed.

She let out a short squeal, followed by a fit of laughter as
she bounced on the mattress.

Marsha sat in the middle of her bed with her knees beneath
her, and watched as Porter climbed onto the bed. He walked to her on his knees,
stopping when his thighs met hers. He gazed at her with a softness in his eyes
that made her breath catch in her throat. He touched her cheek, skimming his
knuckles along her cheekbone before cupping her face in his palm.

“I love you.”

Would there ever come a time when hearing him or Reid say
those three little words didn’t make her heart flutter? Christ, she hoped not.
She let a slow smile unfold on her lips, let every ounce of emotion in her
heart shine in her eyes.

“I love you, too.”

He kissed her. She had grown accustomed to more demanding
kisses from Porter. Kisses that made her head spin and her toes curl. Kisses
that controlled and consumed every fiber of her being. But he kissed her so
sweetly, so tenderly this time that for a moment she thought she was kissing
Reid instead.

Porter’s lips were soft, his tongue warm as it swept between
her slightly parted lips. She sighed, kissing him back as she wound her arms
around his broad shoulders, simultaneously rising higher on her knees and pulling
his head down to deepen the kiss. His arms snaked around her waist and he
pulled her close.

Too many clothes.
She wanted him naked, wanted to
feel his heated flesh against hers and she wanted it now! She fisted her
fingers in the back of his shirt, gathered the material in her hands and inched
it up.

He broke the kiss slowly, easing back and outlining her lips
with the tip of his tongue. His mouth tilted in a mischievous grin that sent
excitement racing through her system.

“Do you want that off?”

“Yes, I want it all off. Shirt, pants, shoes, socks, briefs,
everything you’re wearing. I want you naked.” She shifted her gaze to Reid and
found him standing by the bedside with laughter and heat swirling in his eyes.
“You too. I feel as if I’m about to burst.”

How was it that simply looking at them, fully clothed at
that, could put her climbing Do-Me Mountain so rapidly? It was another effect
they had on her she hoped never diminished with time.

Reid’s suggestive gaze raked over her. “It looks to me as if
you’re wearing too many clothes, too.”

“Ah, well, that’s easy to fix.” Porter moved back as she
started to undress. She got naked in record time, wiggling awkwardly in the
center of the bed as she yanked off her clothes, kicked off her shoes, and
tossed everything aside. All the while, they watched her, their expressions
ones of intense desire and carnal lust despite the lack of a graceful show she
put on for them.

Completely naked and back on her knees, she planted her
fisted hands on her hips and lifted both eyebrows. “Aren’t you two supposed to
be getting busy?”

Porter’s chuckle held a volcano of heat. “We all three will
be in just a few seconds.”

He pulled his shirt over his head and went to work on his
jeans. Beside the bed, Reid had already kicked off his shoes and was shucking
his pants down his narrow hips.

Marsha’s mouth watered, her nipples beaded, and her pussy
throbbed as she drank both of them in. Watching them reveal corded muscles and
hardened planes was like seeing the veil lifted off priceless works of art. Her
attention shifted back and forth between them, not wanting to miss a moment,
knowing she couldn’t fully appreciate the magnificence of them at the same
time. But the lioness inside her, the one who couldn’t wait to pounce, didn’t
dare ask either of them to stop so she could focus fully on the other.

Porter came toward her again, gathered her into his arms and
pulled her so tightly against him even air had an impossible time getting
between them. Yes, this was what she wanted, skin to skin, with his rock-solid
frame against her more pliant flesh.

He captured her mouth again, this time in the type of kiss
she expected from him. His tongue drove inside her mouth, claimed her and
consumed her until every ounce of awareness centered on him.

She felt the bed dip beside her. Fingers slid beneath her
hair, pushed it aside, and then lips were on her back, cascading wet trails
along her shoulders and neck. The hands moved to her sides, curled around her
just below her breasts, and drew her slowly back.