[WS02] Taming Alex (12 page)

He looked up at her, then shook his head. “Oh, no, it's nothing. I was just thinking
of everything that still needs to be done to the house before the baby comes along.
There's baby-proofing the entire place. Not to mention painting. I think some of the
walls still have lead paint on them.” He frowned some more as Alex laughed. It was
his turn to ask, “What?”

“You.” Alex said, smiling at her brother-in-law. “Did you ever think you'd be talking
about what kind of paint you needed for your baby's room?” She looked at him, really
looked at him. He was tall like Grant. But where Chase had almost jet-black hair and
dark chocolate eyes, Grant's soft, curly, sandy hair made his light blue eyes shine.
The men were almost equally matched in form, but for some reason Grant filled out
his shirts better. Maybe she was biased?

“Hey.” She leaned back again and smiled. “I've got another idea. It'll be tricky pulling
it off, but I think with everyone's help, we can surprise Lauren.” She smiled, planning
everything out in her head.

“What do you have in mind?” Chase asked, looking a little worried.

She laughed. “Come on.” She grabbed his arms and started pulling him towards the barn
where she was certain Haley would be, brushing Oliver, her two-year-old steer. “I'll
tell you and Haley together.” She pulled him into the cool barn, found Haley, and
proceeded to tell them her plans to surprise Lauren. She'd watched a show where a
group of people had remodeled a room in one day while the expectant mother was out.
When she came home, the baby's room was completed. She thought that if they got enough
people together, and could keep Haley from blurting it out, that they could surprise
Lauren that way. When they walked out of the barn half an hour later, everyone had
tasks they needed to complete for the event to happen. First things first—Alex had
to move out of the bigger room.

That evening, Grant picked her up at a quarter past eight, and they headed to the
Rusty Rail for karaoke night. Everyone in town always ended up at the bar one Thursday
night out of every month. Even Chase and Lauren were going to be there. Haley had
called off going that night, due to a headache.

When Grant drove up, the small parking lot was full, so they pulled into the field
across the train tracks and parked next to Lauren’s truck.

“It's packed tonight,” Alex said, looking at the lights coming from the old building.
Loud music could be heard whenever someone opened the door. The wood building had
been remodeled after the big tornado that had swept through eighteen years ago, the
one that had taken Alex’s mother.

Under the new green metal roof, the town of Fairplay had seen more than its fair share
of action in the form of fights, though most fights here were between close friends
or family members and almost always ended up over a cold beer.

As they walked towards the door, hand in hand, Alex felt a little nervous. This was
their first time out in public as a couple. Since the breakup, she’d learned what
people had thought about her relationship with Travis. Most people had smiled and
told her how sweet they were together when they were engaged, but after their breakup,
everyone proceeded to tell her that Travis was no good and not right for her. Would
people do the same to her and Grant?

She looked over at Grant and noticed his eyes were glued to the door. His profile
was something to dream about. His nose was perfect. His jaw was strong and sexy and
he had just the right amount of stubble over his face. His blue dress shirt and old,
worn-in jeans looked even sexier since they fit like a glove. His black hat caused
shadows to fall over his face, sheltering his eyes. He looked like a sexy, dangerous
cowboy who knew what he wanted and how to get it.

But it was more than his appearance that had her holding onto his hand and smiling
up at him. He was the kindest person she knew, besides her brother-in-law. Grant treated
her like she was something special. She'd never been treated like that by a boyfriend
before. She looked at him more closely; he looked as nervous as she felt. Pulling
on his hand, she stopped him at the base of the stairs and wrapped her arms around
his shoulders. His nervous smile almost stopped her heart. What was she doing with
someone so pure?

“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” He whispered it to her, pulling
her up a little more until they were looking eye to eye.

She shook her head, not trusting her voice since her throat had gone dry.

“You look amazing,” he said as his hands rubbed up and down her sides and arms. “I'm
the luckiest man here.” She'd worn one of her favorite jean skirts and a black lacy
top that buttoned up the front and showed off her hot pink tank top. Her matching
earrings and jewelry accented the pink glow of her skin. His eyes traveled over her,
resting on her lips.

She wrapped her fingers around his neck, pulling him down until their lips met. The
zing she felt when his lips touched hers went straight to her toes, causing them to
curl in her boots. When she finally pulled back, she was breathless and her eyesight
was a little misty.

He rested his forehead on hers and smiled. “Are you sure you want to go in?”

She laughed and nodded her head, just as the door opened and loud music came pumping
out, making her want to dance. Grabbing his hand, her confidence boosted, she rushed
through the door, a large smile on her lips as they glided through the full room,
straight to the dance floor.

His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close as they moved across the old wood dance
floor. Spinning along with other couples, they swayed with the music, smiling and
laughing together. Grant had a talent for dancing. He spun her, lifted her, and dipped
her, and did it all very smoothly. She'd never danced with anyone as smooth as him
before. When the song was over, they walked over to the table where Chase and Lauren
sat. Chase was nursing a beer, Lauren sipping what looked like Sprite and cranberry
juice.

“Evening.” Grant nodded to them.

“You two look good out there.” Chase smiled and nodded to the waitress, lifting his
fingers to signal they needed two more beers.

“Where did you learn to dance like that?” She sat on the chair, breathless.

He smiled. “My mother would never let me go to any school dances, but that didn't
stop her from teaching me all the moves.”

Alex remembered that Grant’s mother was a god-fearing woman, highly involved with
all the church events. She was even the secretary at the local Baptist Church.

“Smooth,” Lauren said, taking another small sip of her drink. Alex noticed that she
looked a little pale.

Leaning over, she whispered to her sister, “Are you feeling okay?”

Lauren nodded a little and closed her eyes. When she ran from the table towards the
bathroom, Alex apologized and followed her sister.

She rushed into the bathroom, just in time to hear her sister lose her dinner. She
didn't know what to do, so she stood outside the door, wishing she could do something,
anything to help her.

When Lauren walked out of the stall, a hand on her stomach and a smile on her face,
Alex encased her in a hug.

“Are you okay? Maybe we should take you home?” She pulled back and looked at her sister.
Her eyes were a little dull. Her skin color was coming back, but she could see she
wasn't back to her normal self, yet.

Lauren shook her head, “No, I'll be fine now.” She walked over and rinsed her mouth
out, looking in the mirror at her sister. “I almost always only throw up once. Now
it'll settle down.” She put a hand over her stomach again.

Alex wrapped her arms around her sister. “I'll be glad when the morning sickness is
over.”

They both heard a squeal and looked over to see Savannah's back receding out the bathroom
door.

Lauren looked over and shrugged. “Now at least we know that the news will travel fast.”
She chuckled. “Come on, I'm sure my husband is worried sick.”

They walked out and when Chase saw them, he rushed over and took his wife in a light
hug, whispering to her. Alex walked over and sat next to Grant, smiling to him. “She's
okay.” She picked up her cold beer and took a sip as the couple came back and sat
down.

“Alex, tell your sister we should head home.” Chase frowned and motioned towards Lauren.

Alex shook her head. “If you can get her to do something she doesn't want to, then
you have more influence over her than I've ever had.”

Lauren laughed. “I'm fine, really.” She took a sip of her drink and smiled. “Besides,
you promised to dance with me, cowboy.” She pulled Chase up off the chair and walked
with him to the dance floor. Alex sighed when she saw them slowly gliding across the
floor in each other’s arms.

“They look good together,” Grant said next to her ear. His arm came around her shoulders,
pulling her closer.

“Yeah,” she sighed again, “they do.”

Just then Savannah walked up to them with two of her friends, a sneer plastered on
her face.

“I hear congratulations are in order.” She crossed her arms over her chest, causing
the buttons on the front of her red blouse to almost pop.

Alex nodded, not really giving her any attention. She knew she was just trying to
provoke her in front of her friends. So instead, she pulled Grant away towards the
dance floor.

“What was that all about?” he whispered into her ear as they slowly moved to the sad
song.

“She walked into the bathroom right after Lauren was sick. She's been a friend of
Lauren’s since they were kids. The least I can do is be polite when it concerns Lauren.”
She leaned back and smiled up at him. “Doesn't mean I have to actually talk to her,
though.”

He chuckled. “You know, I never did like that girl. She used to call me hippo.” He
frowned and she could see the pain in his eyes. “Hungry hippo.”

“How horrible.” Alex looked around for Savannah, feeling like dumping something over
her head again. Maybe a pitcher of beer?

He chuckled. “I'm supposed to be the one defending your honor, not the other way around.”

“Hmm. What?” She looked back up at him.

He chuckled and shook his head. “Never mind. Forget her. It was a long time ago and
it didn't mean anything.” He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. “Besides,
it made me a stronger person.” He kissed her again as they swayed on the dance floor.

“Mmmm, what were we talking about?” She laughed and pulled him down for another kiss.

T
hat night Alex stayed at Grant’s place again. He loved that he woke with her sexy
scent filling his senses. Her soft skin was up against his, and when he opened his
eyes and looked at her sleeping face, he started dreaming of their future together.

Tonight was the dinner with his folks, and even though he was a little nervous to
bring her over, he was very eager to make it official with his folks. It wasn't as
if they didn't know Alex. His dad and her dad had been best friends since grade school.
He even thought that his folks were godparents to all three of the West sisters, but
he wasn't sure.

He rolled over slightly and watched her sleep for the last few minutes before the
alarm went off. Her blonde hair was tied back in a loose braid, which fell over her
shoulder. It was soft and smelled of flowers. She'd brought some stuff over and now
his bathroom was slowly filling up with sexy smelling bottles.

Her skin was soft and the color of ripe peaches. Her lips were pink and always tasted
so good that he never wanted to stop tasting them. Reaching over, he ran his fingertips
over her cheek. In sleep, she moaned and snuggled closer to him, causing his body
to react to the nearness of her naked one. Closing his eyes, he thought that if she
woke, he might be late feeding the livestock again. When her dark eyes slid open,
he knew he wouldn’t be leaving the bed for a while.

When he finally made it outside, he walked out onto the porch to rain and thunder.
He went back in and grabbed his rain jacket and boots and made his morning rounds.

By noon the sun had broken through the layer of clouds, and sweat was pouring down
his back as he worked with one of his new horses. Alex had left shortly after sun
up, heading into work at the diner. He was going to pick her up at home around six
thirty so they would be at his folks in plenty of time for dinner. His mother was
a stickler for punctuality. She always had been, so he'd learned at an early age to
be someone who was always early.

He'd gotten the corral back up and the smaller animals spent a lot of time there playing
in the sun, while the horses and cattle spent their days in the larger fields.

He loved that his little piece of land was crowded with all kinds of animals. He'd
never really been allowed a pet growing up, though he'd tried several times as a child
to talk his parents into it. His mother was the classic Type A personality and vacuumed
and swept at least four times a day. Animal hair was the last thing she would have
allowed in her house.

Over the years, he'd brought home everything from kittens to a small alligator he'd
found in the grass behind a dumpster when they'd taken a trip near the coast one weekend.

He'd begged his mother to let him keep the little guy when she'd caught him letting
Roger swim in the bathtub. It had been three days since he'd snuck him into the house
under his jacket. He'd promised her that Roger would live in the bathtub and wouldn't
get the rest of the house dirty. But in the end, his father had taken Roger away,
promising he'd deliver him back to the water.

As he looked around his yard now, he smiled at the diversity he saw there. He had
a lot of different kinds of animals, but no alligators.

He chuckled at the geese and ducks as they fought for space in his small pond. For
some reason they kept coming back, and even though he technically had no claim to
them, he thought of them as his. It didn't hurt that he threw them his stale bread
every day. He knew they nested in the tall grass around the smaller pond.

He smiled and looked around again. The place was his, and there was no way he was
going to leave it anytime soon. It was home, and he knew who he wanted to share it
with in the future.

He looked off towards the house where he could just imagine Alex coming out the back
door and waving at him. Children would be running around the trimmed back yard, chasing
each other, three of them, maybe four. She'd plant flowers in all the window boxes
and along the back pathway; their sunny faces would catch the sunlight.

Looking down at his watch, he realized he'd spent too much time daydreaming and was
likely going to be late. Gathering the animals, he tucked them away for the night
and went in to shower and change, making sure to put on his good shirt and tie for
his mother's sake.

When he drove through Saddleback Ranch's gates, he noticed the large herd of cattle
being driven into the fields by half-a-dozen ranch hands. Waving, he continued up
the long drive and stopped in front of the front porch. The place was sure big, almost
triple the size of his house.

He knew the third floor was a large attic, but even so, the place had enough room
for the four people living in it to be comfortable. His heart skipped and he began
wondering what it would take to convince Alex to live in a smaller place.

By the time he walked up to the front door and knocked, he'd pretty much talked himself
into believing that she'd never agree to live on a small farm with a man who used
to be chubby and nearsighted and the victim of bullying.

As the door opened, he wondered why she was even agreeing to go to dinner with him
at all. Nothing could have prepared him for the classy woman he saw on the other side
of the threshold.

Alex was so nervous, she'd changed her outfit seven times. A new record. She finally
ran into Haley's room wrapped in only her towel and started digging through her closet.
When Haley walked in ten minutes later, she squealed.

“What are you doing?” Haley bent down and picked up the brown skirt Alex had tossed
on the floor by accident.

“Help!” She turned around with a desperate look in her eyes. “Dinner. The Holton’s.
Less than an hour away.”

Haley smiled and grabbed her sister's shoulders. “Breathe. We'll make it through this.”
Then she closed her eyes and Alex could tell she was imagining the best outfit. Alex
knew that Haley had a talent for seeing which clothes would be perfect, so she stood
silent until finally Haley opened her eyes and a large smile crossed her face.

“Come with me.” She tugged her hand until she followed her down the hall. At first
Alex thought she meant to take her into Lauren and Chase's room. Lauren had nice clothes,
but she was at least two sizes bigger around the hips than Alex. Even Haley's clothes
were a whole size bigger, but with the right belt, Alex could have made it happen.
But when Haley walked past her sister's bedroom, she felt even more frustrated.

“Where are you taking me?” She tugged a little on her sister's hand.

“Wait and see.” Haley pulled her towards the door that lead up to the attic. Alex
hadn't been up there in years. To be honest, she didn't want to go up there. There
were too many memories of her mother, too many emotions. She'd avoided opening the
heavy wood door as long as she could. Now she followed Haley up the narrow stairs,
listening to them creak as they made their way into the darkness above.

“Haley.” She felt like pulling away from her sister's light grip and running.

“Just wait. You're going to love this. I was up here the other day, seeing if there
was anything up here for our surprise.” She whispered the last part. “Anyway, I stumbled
upon this old trunk full of clothes. I think they were Grandma's, maybe Mother’s.”
She shrugged her shoulder and dropped Alex's hand. “Anyway, I found the most perfect
dress.” Haley bent down and opened the lid of the old box.

Alex's first thought was that anything that came from it must be too old and destroyed
by now, but when Haley fished around and pulled out a square of dark gray material,
Alex took a step closer.

“What is that?” She bent down and took the square from her sister. Haley sat back
and smiled.

Alex opened the vacuum-sealed bag and pulled out the dress. It was gorgeous. The light
material easily straightened as she shook it out. A large collar crossed over the
breasts and hung below the shoulders on the sides; the half-sleeves would hit her
mid-arm. There were two oversized buttons that would sit across her lower ribs, just
above a wide black belt with a simple silver buckle. The skirt flared out, and when
she held it up to her, she realized it would hit her mid-calf.

Looking down at Haley, she smiled. “It's perfect.”

“Oh…” Haley turned and dug around the trunk again. “There are shoes.” She pulled out
pair after pair, some of which Alex swore she'd come back upstairs and try on later.
Finally, she pulled out a pair of simple yet elegant black heels, which would have
been all the rage in the thirties. If only they fit.

Haley set them down in front of her, since her feet were bare. She slipped right into
them and closed her eyes at the comfort she found.

“If they were a size smaller, Lauren would fit into them, or a size bigger and they’d
be perfect for me. But,” Haley looked up at Alex and smiled, “they were meant for
you. They're perfect.”

She smiled down at her little sister and for a moment believed in destiny. It took
almost a half an hour for her to settle on a hairstyle. In the end, she let Lauren
come in and tie her hair up in a bun at the top of her head. Lauren had rushed back
to her room and pulled out their mother's pearl earrings and choker to finish the
ensemble. Looking in the full-length mirror in Lauren's room, the three sisters sighed
together.

“You look like mother,” Lauren said, under her breath.

“Really?” Alex turned a little, and the skirt of the dress twirled around her. She
could barely remember what her mother had looked like. But she had to admit, she'd
never looked better. None of her short skirts and tube tops had ever done what the
simple, elegant dress was doing for her now. Classy was the best word for it. Now
if she could just pull it off for the night, maybe she wouldn't screw up her relationship
with Grant.

Five minutes before he was scheduled to arrive, she put the finishing touches on her
make up and walked down the stairs to wait. Haley had snapped a few pictures of her
as she'd walked down the long staircase. Her sister had always tried to capture special
moments such as this, but for the most part, she and Lauren had done everything they
could to avoid posing for long sessions in front of their sister's camera.

“Just one more,” Haley said just as the light knock sounded at the door.

Alex walked over and, taking a deep breath, pulled open the door.

The look on Grant's face was priceless. He was only jolted out of his shocked state
by the click of Haley's camera. His eyes blinked a few times, and she thought she
saw him sway a little.

Reaching out, she took his arm and laughed. “Grant?” He looked good in a black blazer
and slacks. His collared shirt was loose at the top, and he’d left the top button
undone.

“Just give me a moment.” He closed his eyes quickly, then re-opened them. A smile
slowly crossed his lips. “Wow.”

Alex smiled and Lauren and Haley laughed in the background.

“Wow,” he said again and shook his head slightly. “Where—?” He started, then shook
his head again.

“It was our grandmother's. Well, at least we think it was. Do you like it?” She turned
for him, showing him how the skirt swayed with her movements.

“I love it. You look so…” He shook his head again as she smiled.

“Thank you.” Then she looked down and smiled even more. “Are those for me?”

“Huh?” He looked down at the small bouquet of white flowers he was carrying. They
looked as soft as the material she was wearing and no doubt smelled as good. “Oh,
yeah.” He handed them to her, his eyes still fixed on her. Then his eyes traveled
down to her feet and she saw him struggling all over again.

“Lauren, would you put these in some water. I'm sure Grant would like to get to his
parents’ place before they start serving dessert.” She chuckled as Lauren stepped
forward and took the flowers from her, but not before she buried her face in and drank
in their sweet scent.

When she turned, he held out his elbow for her to take. She placed her hand through
his and held onto him as they walked to the edge of the porch.

“Hey!” Haley said, and when they turned around, she snapped a picture of them together.
“Thanks! Have a wonderful night.” Then her sister shut the door as they laughed.