My Mistake (Stories of Serendipity #7) (20 page)

“I’ll call Summer and let her and mom know, then. Do I need to call Max and tell him not to come? Or do you want him to come over too?”

“I want you all to myself. I’ve got some making up to do.”

B
rent was out in the barn with Mooch, trying to get some work done, while Casey straightened up around his house, making it look less like an invalid lived there. She knew he didn’t want her to see exactly how weak he still was, which was why he wouldn’t let her help him with the horses. She also knew he needed to see for himself how strong he’d actually gotten. She’d go out and help him tonight, but for now, she was enjoying the solitude of his home, surrounded by Brent’s things. She’d been enjoying the comfortable domesticity of his small house the past few days.

She was cutting up meat for a stew to simmer and fill the house with delicious aromas, looking around his sparse kitchen. She smiled to herself as she noticed his one sauce pot, cutting board, and scant selection of knives. She’d brought over her mom’s stew pot, but made a mental note to run by her storage unit later to bring more kitchen stuff over. If she was going to cook for her man, she needed the proper tools.

Her man. As reticent as she was to admit she was falling for a guy even remotely similar to her father, she knew in her heart that she’d fallen for Brent years ago, and he wasn’t anything like her dad. He had made a mistake and fallen into a trap of pills, which he was climbing out of. Brent had worked hard for the life he was living now, and she knew the only thing he needed now was love. Her love.

Once she got the stew meat browning in the pot, she added onions and garlic and sat down at the table to call her mom.

“Hey.”

“Honey! How are you doing? Is Brent doing better?” Her mother beamed at her through the phone lines, and Casey felt the warmth flow through the cables.

“Yeah, Mom, he is. How are you doing? Is Summer sick of you yet?”

“I don’t think so. I’m trying to earn my keep. I’ve been picking up around the house and cooking meals for her. She seems lonely, but she’s excited about her trip coming up. It’s going to be good for her, I think.”

Casey smiled at the thought of her mom, following Summer around, picking up shoes and sunglasses, trying to fatten up the pixie-like woman. She hoped her mom wasn’t stepping on any toes. “When does she leave?”

“Next week…Um, Honey?”

“Yeah Mom?” Casey felt her heart rise to her throat at the tone in her mom’s voice.

“I got a phone call from Officer Sanchez. They can’t find Kevin.”

“What do you mean, they can’t find him?”

“Well, that woman he got pregnant reported him missing three weeks ago, and nobody knows what happened to him. The big fancy house he bought with her has been foreclosed on, and he’s disappeared.”

“I hope he’s not hurt.” Casey didn’t have any fond feelings for her ex, but she certainly didn’t wish any harm to come to him. If he was dead somewhere, she would feel awful. Even though that would mean the stalker had to be someone else.

“I hope he hasn’t purposefully disappeared. The police are looking into that. They said it looks like he had some financial troubles and skipped town. It’s obviously bumped him up on the suspect list for your stalker.”

Casey’s pulse started pounding in her ears while dread settled in her limbs. “That could make all this much more sinister than it first seemed, huh?” If his house had been foreclosed on, the evidence of his high-rolling lifestyle would be disintegrating, and something inside may have snapped.

“The police are definitely looking for him.”

“Wow. I honestly don’t think he’d have the guts to be malevolent, especially with me. I thought he was just looking for attention. He’s so…so…average. I don’t know how to explain it. The divorce didn’t seem to affect him that much, I thought he was relieved to be done with me. What do you think he wants?” The maddest she’d ever seen him was when she’d told him they didn’t have the money to buy the Hummer he wanted. It had nothing to do with her, specifically. To imagine him stalking her, taking her things, with the knowledge of his house being foreclosed on reeked of pre-meditation and sent a chill coursing through her body.

“Well, I’m just telling you what the police think. Be on the look-out for him, okay?”

“Okay. Look, I called for something else altogether, Mom. Do you have a minute?”

“Of course, Honey.”

Casey steeled herself. She had wondered her entire life, but had never had the guts to actually ask her mother. She had never wanted her to feel worse about her choices in life, but now she couldn’t hold back. Her own life seemed to hang in the balance. “Why did you stay married to Dad for so long? Why didn’t you ever leave?”

A deafening silence came to her through the phone line.

“Mom?”

“I’m here, Honey.” Her mother’s voice sounded small. “It’s hard to describe what I went through during some of those times. But, the truth was, I was scared of what would happen. When I left things the way they were, I knew what to expect, I knew exactly how your father would act. If I’d left him, I had no idea how I would have supported you, where we would live, if he would find out and get mad, anything. There were just too many unknowns in the change. I realized now that was a mistake, but I couldn’t make myself do anything to change things at the time. I’m sorry…”

Casey heard the tears behind her mother’s voice, and felt awful about them. “It’s okay Mom. I was just curious that’s all. Don’t worry about it, it’s in the past. And I grew up okay, didn’t I?” She was greeted by a sniffle.

“I’m sorry, Honey.”

“No. Mom, don’t apologize, that’s not why I asked.”

“Why did you ask?”

Casey wasn’t sure how to answer that. She wasn’t really one to lay all her problems on her mom. “Something came up with Brent, it got me thinking, that’s all…”

“Brent’s nothing like your dad.”

“I know, it’s just got me thinking.”

Her mother let go of a heavy sigh. “You can’t live in this town and not hear things, Hon. I may know a little bit about Brent…he’s different. Brent needs support through his darkness. He wants to be good. Your father always had a mean streak, even before he started drinking. Brent’s never been like that. He needs you.”

Part of Casey wanted to know exactly what her mother knew about Brent, but the bigger part of her knew that her mother would have only been exposed to gossip, and she didn’t really want to hear that. So she didn’t ask.

“Okay, thanks Mom.”

After chatting some more and then hanging up with her mom, Casey added liquid and potatoes to the stew and went about cleaning Brent’s house. She dusted his knick-knacks, mopped his floors and then set up a special spot for when he came home that evening. The cake she’d made was cooling, and she licked her lips in anticipation

Two hours later, she was putting the finishing touches on the cake frosting, getting ready to place strawberries around the edge, when she heard Brent’s boots clomp up the porch steps. Over her shoulder she yelled, “Take off your boots outside, I’ve mopped! And Mooch stays on the porch!”

A soft chuckle responded, followed by a “Yes, ma’am.” Knowing what was coming next made her heart start pounding.

When he opened the door, his face lit up as he removed his hat, clutching it to his chest. “Smells good, Case. What you got cookin’?”

“Beef stew. You want a shower before you eat?”

He looked around the kitchen, his eyes stopping on Casey. She stifled a giggle as his eyes reflexively landed on her shoes and she could see the mental calculations working on what her underwear looked like, based on her hot pink high heeled sandals. Then they worked their way up her body, taking in her white bootie shorts and hot pink halter top, sans bra. Under his gaze, she felt her nipples harden as he licked his lips.

“Uh…” He seemed to register her question, and his gaze snapped back up to her eyes. “Yeah, let me take a quick one.”

Casey watched as he raced to the shower, peeling off his T-shirt and tossing his worn Stetson onto the couch. She had half a mind to join him, but instead she turned to ladle some stew into a bowl for him, and sat it on the table to cool.

She listened to the shower run, imagining Brent furiously washing his body, slathering soap and shampoo everywhere in his rush to get back to her, and she couldn’t contain the smile erupting on her face.

Casey thought about him constantly. Like a new car smell, Casey wanted the “new love” feeling to last. She caught herself wondering how to fix her hair so Brent would like it, she dressed to please him, and she cooked what she knew his favorite foods were.

She did it all willingly, because he never held back with his appreciative looks, adoring smiles, and kisses of thanks. Brent was easy to please, and he made pleasing him fun.

As she finished icing the cake, leaving the knife laying on the edge of the bowl, she started placing fresh strawberries around the edge.

But like a new car smell, Casey knew these feelings would fade. She’d experienced it with Kevin, although he’d never been as easy to please as Brent was. But, once they’d been married, his looks of adoration had turned to looks of disappointment, suspicion and finally, loathing. But she’d kept on with the façade of a marriage, in an attempt to get the old spark back, even after she’d realized the spark had been in her over-active imagination.

But Brent was different, he had to be. He was the love of her life. If what he said was true, he’d loved her like she’d love him: forever. So the new car smell would stay in this relationship, wouldn’t it?

When the shower turned off, she took the cake to the table, placing it in the middle. Going back into the kitchen, she was blocked by a freshly showered, amazing smelling, water still dripping down his neck, hadn’t put a shirt on yet Brent.

“Hey there, Gorgeous.” His voice was husky with desire, and his eyes gleamed with mischief. He’d spent the entire shower getting himself worked up, Casey could tell by the bulge in his clean jeans. And now the stew would get cold.

“Hey yourself, Cowboy.” He was barefoot, and the sight of him wearing nothing but a pair of jeans with the top button undone was breath-taking. Her fingers couldn’t resist swiping at a drip of water running over his pecs, and she delighted at Brent’s swift intake of air at her touch.

His face dipped toward hers, as he spoke softly to her. “I’ve been thinking about you all day. Wondering what you were up to.” His kiss was tender and soft, his lips caressing hers and moving over them. Brent’s lips were amazing to Casey, and she could kiss him forever like this. He held her face in his hands, keeping her still, as his lips explored hers, melding to her contours.

It lasted a while, just tender movements across her lips, before his tongue snaked out against the edge of her lips, seeking entrance. As she opened her mouth to his, Brent’s arms went down, pulling her closer.

Casey melted into Brent’s wet body, fitting into him like a puzzle piece. When Brent held her like this, she was the only woman on the face of the earth, he was the only man, and they were meant for each other. There was no past, no mistakes, no skeletons, only the two of them.

She whimpered as his tongue explored the contours of her mouth, as if for the first time, plunging and stroking. She gasped for air, when his hands went to her backside, lifting her to turn and put her on a countertop. Of their own volition, her legs wrapped around Brent, holding his pelvis against her core, which had gotten hot, clenching with need.

She held him against her, twining her fingers in his hair, not willing to let him go. Ever.

His hands were at the tie of her halter top, pulling it free to release her breasts, before he lowered his head to taste them. His rough tongue raked across her sensitive nipples and Casey arched into him. She was hot, and it wasn’t because she’d been cooking all day in a hundred degree weather. He suckled her nipple before taking more into his mouth, then letting go with a loud plop and flicking his tongue over it. When he was through, it was a stiff, sensitive peak, and he moved over to the other one.

Each touch of Brent’s mouth on her breast sent a shockwave to her clenching, hot, weeping core. She was so wet down there, she was afraid he’d be able to smell her desire, coming out of her in waves with each flick of his tongue.

Brent’s hands on her hips moved to the clasp of her shorts, lifting her and yanking them off in one smooth motion. She fumbled with his jeans, her fingers not working right, her only coherent thought being she needed to get the jeans down and him inside her. Now.

Brent grabbed her hands before she’d accomplished her goal and pulled them behind her, kissing her mouth again hard, before breaking the kiss and leaning his forehead against hers.

“Christ, Case…” His breathing was heavy, his shoulders heaved with them, and Casey used her legs to pull him closer again.

“Please, Brent.” The primal groan from her mouth was an attempt to tell him how badly she wanted him.

“Hang on a minute. Let me catch my breath.” He released her hands and pulled her close to him, her sensitive breasts pressed against his naked chest. She couldn’t help but rub against him like a feral cat. His injuries seeped into her lust fog and she pulled away.