The Price (12 page)

To be anywhere but here
, Kate mumbled under her breath.

“I’ll have the Chef’s salad with ranch on the side,” she said instead. “Oh, and hold the tomatoes.”

“You want a beer, Jack?” asked Cherry, as she leaned her hip against the table toward him.

“No, water will do for us both,” he answered.

“Coming right up.” She winked at Jack then left the table.

“You could have ordered a beer, you know,” said Kate, still feeling annoyed.

“Not much in the mood for drinking.” He shrugged.

“Why, you expecting to get lucky later this afternoon?” There was sarcasm in her voice.

Jack started to laugh then looked up and saw she was not smiling. He knew that look all too well. It wasn’t a good sign when he saw Kate’s insecurities surface. The last time almost ended in disaster right after he got his GED.

He’d worked hard over the last year to erase her fears, and he thought it was behind them. But seeing the deep frown lines across her brow meant trouble. If he didn’t think fast God only knew what worries she would dwell on until it got out of control and ended in a huge fight.

“I’m hoping,” he said, with a loving smile and folded his hand over hers. “It’s been almost twenty-four hours since I’ve loved you good, baby.”

It seemed to work. The frown faded into a sweet smile and the sparkle returned to her blue eyes.

“It’s been twelve hours,” she said, folding her fingers between his.

“It feels like twenty four.” There was mischief in that tilted grin, as well as invitation, when he lifted his booted foot and ran it up her leg, settling it between her thighs.

“Why Jack McBride, are you trying to seduce me?” She gave him a coy smile of her own.

“Hell, baby, if I was trying to seduce you, I would have taken my boot off and ran my toes all the way up your panties,” he said in a low, husky tone.

“So what’s stopping you?” She bit the bottom of her lip.

“Oh, you’re torturing me, Kate,” he groaned, feeling his own arousal.

“Really?” She flashed a pair of sultry blues his way. “Maybe I should seduce you.”

The next thing Jack felt was her bare foot pressed against his arousal, and she began stroking him under the table.

“Are we playing games, again?” he asked, green eyes waggling with devilish thought.

“I don’t know. Are we?” She continued to stroke him, toes curling around his hardness.

“You’re going to make me come right here at the table if you continue doing that,” he said, closing his eyes and getting lost in the feeling.

“We wouldn’t want you to lose all control, baby,” Kate toyed with him.

Jack opened his eyes and grabbed her foot, preventing her from stroking him further.

“You are getting too good at this game,” he said to her.

“I’ve had a good teacher,” she smirked.

“Well this teacher thinks his star pupil is getting too naughty for her britches,” he said. “Maybe it’s time to put you over my knee and give you a little spanking.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Kate feigned a gasp.

“Oh I would, and I would enjoy every minute of it,” he exclaimed.

“What if I resisted?” she said in a sultry voice, tilting her head.

“Then I would have to restrain you, baby.” His eyes smoldered a dark green at the thought of giving sweet pleasure to an immobilized Kate.

“You still hungry, Jack?” Kate smiled with triumph.

“You have no idea,” he laughed.

The vision was circling his brain, seeing Kate pressed against the leather seat of his truck while he sought his pleasure. It took everything inside him not to jump out of his seat and drag her to the parking lot. Before he could act on his fantasy, Cherry returned to the table with their food.

“Burger for you,” she said sliding the plate in front of Jack. “And a Chef’s salad.”

She placed the plate before Kate. To Kate’s dismay, she saw the salad was slathered with ranch dressing along with tomatoes cut up in little pieces and strewn throughout the greens.

“Umm, I ordered the dressing on the side and without tomatoes,” said Kate, staring at the waitress who was staring at Jack.

“I ordered it just the way you asked,” answered Cherry. “How’s your burger, Jack?”

“My burger is fine,” said Jack.

“I don’t eat tomatoes,” snapped Kate, being overlooked and overshadowed by this redheaded nitwit. “And I like my dressing on the side.”

“If that’s the way you wanted it, you should have ordered it that way,” said Cherry, getting a little snippy back.

“I did order it that way, but you were too busy flirting with my husband to get it right,” Kate growled.

“I did no such thing.” Cherry flipped her red hair back, as if in defiance.

“I think it’s an easy fix,” said Jack, trying to diffuse the situation. “Why don’t you bring her another salad with no tomatoes and ranch dressing on the side?”

“For you Jack, I’ll do it since you asked so nicely.” She gave him a flirty smile then looked at Kate smugly.

“Don’t bother,” said Kate, too disgusted to argue. She picked off the tomatoes and placed them in her napkin. “I wouldn’t want you losing your job for being a terrible waitress.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time I lost a job on account of Jack,” Cherry giggled, then gave a little wink.

Kate’s eyes got as wide as saucers. She looked up at Cherry then turned to Jack.

“What does she mean by that?” She questioned him.

“Didn’t Jack tell you I use to clean his house,” said Cherry and they both watched Jack slink down in the booth, practically disappearing. “Word has it you may be looking for someone since I hear you’re going back to teaching in the fall. Maybe I should put my application in with Mark again. You think you might want to give me another tumble?”

Jack saw a line of red drift from Kate’s chest all the way to the top of her head. She slammed her fork on the table and sat back in the chair.

“Sure, why not,” Kate hissed through gritted teeth. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you bend over and let Jack have another poke at you because this little sweet ass is done!”

Kate grabbed her purse and jumped up from the table. Jack couldn’t do anything but blink. He watched Kate storm from the room and leave by the restaurant’s front door.

“Shit!”

Jack grabbed his wallet, threw a wad of cash on the table then bolted to his feet and ran after her, leaving a way-too-pleased Cherry in his wake. He caught up to Kate just in time to see her speed away out of the parking lot in his dark-green truck.

“Stop!” he hollered, running after her on the black top. “Kate stop!”

She did a quick glance in the rear view mirror and saw Jack in full running stride. She floored the gas pedal, and like a crazed demon, did a sharp turn on-to the main road and left him in a cloud of dust and the sound of squealing tires, putting distance between the man who threw off his Stetson in frustration, and skipped it like a stone across the parking lot.

Angry tears ran down her cheeks, blindly following the road in front of her, while the matriarchal voice blared like a raging stereo, filling the inside of the cab and her head.

You think a man like Jack will remain faithful to you? Oh Kathryn, I didn’t raise you to be a fool. It takes a strong woman to keep a man like that satisfied, and I am not so sure you are strong enough for the long haul.

“Damn you Mother!” Kate slammed her hand on the wheel. Why did she always have to be right?

“And damn you too, Jack!” she said aloud with hot, mad tears, picturing him entwined with that little, red-headed twit, passing spit and sweat between them and most likely in their bed too.

What was she thinking? She couldn’t keep a man like Jack satisfied. It was only a matter of time, before he grew bored and went looking for someone else and if Cherry had her way, she’d be the first in the line of many.

Kate drove around the block and parked the truck. Poison was creeping through her pores, and she had no control to stop it. The voices in her head grew loud and her heart sank. She placed her head on the steering wheel and wept.

How did it all change so quickly? They were happy. Right? So why suddenly did she feel so crazy and out of control? God, where was Black Thunder when she needed him?

She closed her eyes and imagined the great steed, offering his back as a shelter from the raging storm brewing inside her. Though they were three hundred miles apart, she felt his presence and could almost hear his short snorts, calming her and wooing her to listen to that one voice of clarity in her soul. She quieted, breathing in and out with the rhythm of his steady heartbeat, like a metronome, ticking back and forth keeping the beat for her to listen to instead of the white noise of negativity shooting chaos through her head. It shouldn’t have bothered her, knowing about Jack’s past. After all, he was a one-night-stand kind of guy before he met her.

But then slowly, she heard Jack’s voice filtering through the haze.
Those women are nothing more than history and history remains in the past. You are my present and my future.

She lifted her head from the steering wheel and looked out across the vast, blue sky. She was his future. And the reality began to sink in, gazing at the mountain with Virginia City nestled in its crest. He had built a life with her and she with him, and now they had a son together. Why now did she question it when she came to terms with it so many months before?

Jack made her a promise to never break her heart, and he lived up to that promise every day, making her feel more cherished and loved than she deserved. Kate wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled back on-to the main road. She turned the truck around and headed back to the restaurant.

As she pulled in to the parking lot, she saw Jack sitting along the curbside. He looked up to see Kate pull up beside him. Jack stood and walked to the driver’s side while Kate rolled the window down.

“You calm down yet?” He asked her, leaning against its dark green exterior.

“Yes.” She nodded.

Jack opened the door and Kate slid over. He slipped in behind the wheel and closed the door. He glanced over at her and shook his head.

“What am I going to do with you?” He stared at her tear stained face.

“Divorce me?” Kate said in jest, but inside she prayed it was not what he was thinking.

“No, I think I need to love you harder,” he said, placing his arm around her shoulder. “At least until your hormones go back to normal.”

“What if this is my normal?” She blinked back the tears.

“Then I’m destined to live out my life with a crazy woman,” he half-laughed.

“Can you handle that?” She looked up into his green eyes searching for truth.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He smiled at her then placed a kiss to her lips. “I love you, Kate. Remember that when the crazies go round’ in your head.”

“I will.” She laid her head on his shoulder.

“Do you love me?” he asked.

“I love you so much that it scares me sometimes,” she murmured, and held to him stronger.

“I know it does, baby,” he said, stroking her arm. “We’ll get through this together.”

And with that, Jack pulled out of the parking lot of
Bodine’s
Restaurant and headed for home.

EIGHT

IT’S AN EQUILIBRIUM THING

“Maybe she has post-partum depression?”

Jack sat at the table in Clara’s kitchen discussing his overly emotional wife to Adam and Clara. He wasn’t one for gossip, especially about his relationship with Kate, but he was running out of options and needed advice.

“Let me guess,” said Clara. “She’s second guessing everything to death, worrying about things that haven’t occurred and getting upset about absolutely nothing.”

“Exactly!” exclaimed Jack, nodding his head yes. Like a tilt-a-wheel, Kate was off-balance, and it was driving him plumb crazy.

“It’s not post-partum depression,” she explained.

“So what is it?”

“I’ve seen it many times before,” stated Clara, ready to render her prognosis. “It’s apocalyptic fall-out after a visit from Marnie St. Claire. She floats in and turns Kate inside out, then leaves as quickly as she came.”

“Is there a cure?” Jack needed answers.

“It takes about a month for Kate to hear and trust her own voice again,” she informed him. “Give her a little time to sort it out, and she’ll be back to her old self.”

“Are you sure?” Jack seemed skeptical and raised his brow, making a strange-like V.

Clara couldn’t help but laugh. She had witnessed it many times over the course of their friendship.

“I’m sure.”

“Clara’s right. Kate will settle back in,” added Adam. “Marnie likes to blow in and disrupt Kate’s equilibrium, then blow out again once Kate is scattered on the floor. It’s been that way ever since college.”

“I knew that woman was poison the minute I laid eyes on her,” said Jack, and his back pricked just thinking about her. “She’s a control freak and I’m not about to let her get a foothold on my wife again.”

“Hmm, Kate has known her share of control freaks,” said Clara, hiding her grin. “It seems familiarity breeds contentment as far as Kate’s concerned.”

“I don’t
control
Kate!” snapped Jack, hearing Clara’s innuendos loud and clear.

“Really?” Clara raised her eyebrow.

“Well at least not the way Marnie does.” He laughed and nudged Adam. “She likes what I do to her.”

“TMI dude.” Adam raised his hands not wanting to hear. “I don’t want to know what you and Kate do behind closed doors.”

“Did I tell you, she slipped Kate a letter from her ex-husband Paul?” said Jack.

“Kate told me,” she answered.

“I didn’t hear about that!” exclaimed Adam, as he looked at his wife. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you are on a need-to-know basis,” said Clara hiding her grin again.

“What did it say?” Adam returned his attention back to his friend.

“In a nutshell he asked for forgiveness,” said Jack, and a frown crossed his lips. “And he wants her back.”

“So that’s why Marnie came?” said Adam. “She was madder than hell when she found out their marriage fell apart. She blamed Kate.”