The Long Hot Summer (3 page)

All gazes were fixed on Kelly. She felt a wave of heat sweep up her chest and settle in her cheeks as everyone applauded. She was grateful for her darker coloring otherwise they would have been able to see the blush burning her face. She jumped noticeably when Ryan placed a hand over hers.

“You’re expected to say a few words,” he whispered, his mouth pressed to her ear. She jumped again, this time from the moist breath flowing into her ear. Rising, he pulled back her chair, assisting her as she stood up. He stood beside her, his left hand resting against her spine.

Composing herself, Kelly flashed a smile, eliciting gasps of appreciation from several men seated at a nearby table. “I’d like to thank Sheldon and everyone for their kindness and assistance in helping me set up the school.” Her beautifully modulated husky voice was hypnotic. Her gaze swept around the room and settled on Sean. “I’m hosting an open house at the schoolhouse tomorrow morning at ten for everyone, especially the children, to give you an idea of what I’ve planned for the coming year. School begins officially Monday morning at eight o’clock, but for parents who want to drop their children off earlier, please let me know tomorrow.” She smiled again. “Thank you.”

Ryan seated Kelly, flashing a smile that signaled his approval. Listening to her speak, it was easy to tell she wasn’t a Southerner. It was also obvious that she wasn’t married, and in that instant he knew he wanted to know more about Miss Kelly Andrews. He knew he could go through her personnel file to glean her vital statistics, but it was the personal information he wanted. Did she have an ex-husband or a lover?

His musings were interrupted when a young woman approached the table to take their orders. Kelly studied the printout of the dinner choices. Appetizers included curried corn-crab cakes, sesame shrimp with a miso dipping sauce, and skewered spiced pork and red pepper with a spicy mango sauce. Entrées included grilled steak, broiled salmon, and roast chicken along with an assortment of steamed and grilled vegetables.

Leaning to her right, her breast brushed Ryan’s shoulder and he turned and stared at her, the dark pupils in his eyes dilating. Their gazes caught and fused as their breathing found a common rhythm. Within a matter of seconds Kelly registered the overt virility Ryan exuded just by breathing. His warmth, the clean masculine scent of his body, the sensual fragrance of his cologne, and the penetrating gray eyes that appeared to see everything, miss nothing.

“What do you recommend?”

“Everything,” he said in a soft voice as he continued to stare at her under lowered lids.

“How’s the salmon?”

A slight frown marred his smooth forehead. “You’ve never eaten Cook’s salmon?” Salmon had become a regular Friday night selection.

“I’ve never eaten dinner here.”

His frown deepened. “Where have you been eating?”

“I cook for myself.”

“Why would you cook for yourself when we have a resident chef?”

Kelly heard the censure in his question. “I’ve been working long hours, and by the time I leave the schoolhouse the dining hall is closed.”

“You can always put in a request to have your dinner delivered to you.”

She lifted a shoulder. “No one ever told me I could do that.”

“Well, I’m telling you.”

Kelly studied his grim expression, willing he smile again. Raising her dimpled chin slightly, a smile trembled over her full lips, drawing one from him. “Thank you for the information, Ryan.” His name had become a whispered caress on her lips.

Sheldon sat across the table from his son and Kelly, watching a subtle game of seduction being played out in front of him. He doubted whether Ryan or Kelly were aware of their entrancement with the other.

Less than an hour ago he and Ryan had had a short and pointed discussion about his decision to hire Kelly Andrews. And it was the first time in years that he had used his status as majority owner in Blackstone Farms to counter Ryan’s opinion. Ryan thought they should’ve hired a teacher with more experience. Sheldon had ended the conversation, stating that Ryan should find a woman to release his sexual frustration, and then walked out of the room leaving his firstborn with his mouth gaping.

It was never Sheldon’s intent to become a matchmaker, and he knew Ryan had never been involved with any woman who lived or worked at the farm. But, watching Kelly the past three weeks he suspected she would be able to handle herself when it came to his son just fine.

She had proven that once Dennis Poole had tried to come on to her when she’d asked him to move several boxes that had been delivered to the schoolhouse. Dennis had confided to one of the grooms that Kelly told him that if he ever tried to touch her again she would change his gender in a New York minute. Dennis wasn’t certain what she meant by the statement, but had decided it wasn’t worth the risk to find out.

Sheldon gave his dinner selection to the waitress, thinking it would be nice to have another grandchild before he turned sixty. Ryan had made him a grandfather once already, but he looked forward to spoiling more than one of the next generation of Blackstones.

Kelly thoroughly enjoyed her dinner. The salmon was exquisite. The freshly caught fish, packed in ice the day before, had been flown from the Northwest. Dinner conversation was light and entertaining as she listened to Sheldon and Ryan talk about horses while Sean politely interrupted his father several times to ask a question. Kelly found the boy quiet and somewhat withdrawn, and she wondered how much contact he’d had with his mother.

Two hours after dinner began, people began drifting over to the table to introduce themselves to Kelly and to welcome Ryan and Sean back home. Young children hid shyly behind their parents when Kelly told them she expected to see them the following morning at the schoolhouse.

Touching her napkin to the corners of her mouth, she pushed back her chair. Smiling at Ryan and Sheldon, she said, “Thank you, gentlemen, for your company. Dinner was wonderful.” Both Blackstone men came to their feet, Ryan helping her to stand. She smiled at Sean, who wouldn’t look at her. “I hope to see you tomorrow morning, Sean.” Frowning, he pushed out his lower lip.

Sheldon winked at Kelly. “I’ll take care of everything.”

Picking up her crocheted purse, she opened it, and took out her keys. “Good evening.”

Ryan reached for her hand, tucking it into the curve of his elbow. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s all right. I believe I can find my way to the parking lot.” There was a hint of laughter in her voice.

“I want to apologize to you.”

“For what?”

He leaned closer. “I’ll tell you later.”

Sean rounded the table and tugged at Ryan’s arm. “Daddy, can I stay with Grandpa tonight?”

Ryan glanced down at his son before looking at his father. Sheldon nodded. “Of course. You have to listen to Grandpa or it will be a long time before you’ll be permitted to sleep over again. Do you understand?”

Sean flashed a wide smile, showing a mouth filled with tiny white teeth. “Yes, Daddy.” Turning, he launched himself against Sheldon’s body.

Ryan escorted Kelly to the parking lot. “My father will bring Sean to your open house tomorrow.”

“Are you sure he’ll be able to get him to come?”

“My father can get Sean to do anything. The child worships him because Sheldon spoils him.”

Standing next to her car, Kelly smiled at Ryan in the waning daylight. “That’s what grandparents are suppose to do—spoil their grandchildren.”

He nodded, extending his hand. “Please give me your keys.”

She tightened her grip. “Why?”

“I’ll drive you back to your place.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ryan. I live less than a quarter of a mile from here.”

Reaching for her hand, he gently pried her fingers apart. “I know where you live.”

“But Ryan—”

“But nothing,” he said softly, cutting her off.

“How will you get back?”

“I’ll walk.”

Opening the passenger-side door, he held it open for her. His gaze lingered on the expanse of her bare legs and feet in the high heels as her skirt shifted upward when she sat down. Rounding the car, he slipped in behind the wheel, adjusted the seat, and put the key in the ignition in one, smooth motion. The engine turned over and he backed out of the lot. Three minutes later he parked her compact sedan alongside Kelly’s bungalow. The sun had set, leaving the sky with feathery streaks of orange crisscrossing a backdrop of navy-blue. Pinpoints of light from millions of twinkling stars emerged in the encroaching darkness.

Within minutes the landscape was completely black, except for an occasional light coming from windows in buildings spread out over the seventy-two hundred acres making up Blackstone Farms. The farm was laid out in a quadrangle: the main house, dining hall, and school in one quad; the barn, stables, paddocks and grazing area in the second; the cottages for resident employees in the third, and the last quadrant left for future expansion.

The farm was secure and protected by closed-circuit cameras strategically placed throughout the property, and at no time could anyone arrive or leave undetected.

Kelly waited for Ryan to come around and assist her. He opened the door and she placed her hand on his as he tightened his grip and pulled her gently to her feet. He was standing close, too close, but she did not attempt to pull away.

Holding out her hand, she said, “My keys, please.”

Ignoring her request, he led her up the porch and to the door. He unlocked it, pushed it open, and then dropped the keys in her palm. The glow from a table lamp in the parlor spilled a ribbon of light out into the night.

“Thank you for seeing me to my door.”

The sultry sound of Kelly’s voice swept over Ryan like an invisible caress. “Thank you for a lovely evening. Sharing dinner with you helped make my homecoming even more special.”

Kelly stared at the highly polished toes on Ryan’s low-heeled boots rather than look into his eyes. “Good night.”

Reaching out, his right hand cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Her voice had dropped to a whisper.

“For using profanity, for being rude and for acting like a complete ass.”

“Ryan!”

He flashed a wide grin. “I could’ve said ass…”

“No,” she screamed, covering her ears with her hands.

Releasing her chin, he curved his arms around her waist. “Don’t tell me you’re a prude, Miss Kelly.”

She placed her hands over his chest. “I’m not a prude. It’s just that I’ve heard enough profanity to last two lifetimes. You can’t imagine the words I’ve heard from kids as young as five or six. A lot of them can’t string a sentence together using the correct verb, yet they can cuss you out using words that can make the most jaded adult cringe.”

Ryan lifted an eyebrow. “Whenever I cursed as a kid my mother used to wash my mouth out with lye soap. After awhile I learned never to curse in front of her. She refused to accept my rationale that if Pop said it, then it had to be all right.”

“I hope you don’t use those words around your son.”

He shook his head. “Never.”

“Good.” She eased out of his loose embrace. “I have to go in now.”

He did not want her to go in. He wanted to sit out under the stars and talk—talk about…

“Good night, Kelly.”

She stared at him for several seconds. “Good night, Ryan.”

Kelly stood on the porch, watching Ryan as he turned and walked away. Within minutes he disappeared and was swallowed up by the warm early summer night.

Three

R
yan walked back to his house, his mind filled with images of Kelly. During the evening meal he had watched her, admiring her natural beauty and the ease in which she seemed to accept her femininity.

She had sat upright, spine pressed against her chair, shoulders pulled back and her full breasts thrusting forward. He had felt like a voyeur whenever he watched her breasts rising and falling in an even rhythm. She had worn a lacy camisole under her blouse, and he had fantasized unbuttoning the blouse to run his fingertips over her skin.

Although he had been divorced for three years he had not lived a monkish existence. The day he signed his divorce papers he’d driven to Waynesboro, gone to a local bar and drank himself into oblivion. He woke up hours later in a woman’s bedroom with a hangover that had him retching for hours. It was the first and last time he had gotten drunk.

Once he cleansed his mind and body of the alcohol, he’d called his father to let him know he was still alive. He spent the next day baring his soul to a stranger. Lisa—she wouldn’t tell him her last name—was eight years his senior, but she had become his confidante and eventually his lover. Their on-and-off-again relationship ended abruptly last Christmas when she called him to say him she had decided to remarry her ex-husband. He wished her well, and mailed her a generous check as a wedding gift.

In light of his casual attitude toward women, he simply couldn’t understand the intensity of his initial attraction to Kelly. There was something so deeply alluring about her that he wanted to lie with her, damn the consequences.

He arrived at his house and opened the door. The moment he walked inside he felt the emptiness. Whenever Sean spent the night with Sheldon or overnight with one of his little pals, the emptiness was magnified. He thought he would get used to the loneliness, but it never seemed to dissipate completely.

It had begun several months after he’d married Caroline Harding, a young woman he’d met in college. She had begun to withdraw from him the day she found out she was pregnant. As her pregnancy progressed she confessed to feeling trapped, that she hated living on the farm, and pleaded with Ryan to let her out of their marriage. He’d granted her wish, and she got into her car, drove away from Blackstone Farms two months after she had given birth to a baby boy—alone.

Climbing the staircase to the second story, he walked into his bedroom and prepared to go to bed—alone.