The Marine's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 3) (25 page)

“No.” She stepped forward and touched his hand. “Thank you.”

“All of us are here for you. Whenever you need us, okay?”

“Okay.”

When she went back out into the main room, Zane stayed behind to think, afraid that trouble would come of this. He’d fill his brothers in on the situation, but apart from that he didn’t know what he could do to head it off.

“Opening day. I’m
so proud of you, honey,” Cheyenne said, giving Storm’s shoulders a little squeeze as they stood outside and looked at the new sign that graced the store. After a lotof thought, Storm had decided to rechristen the establishment Heloise’s in honor of the cantankerous old woman who’d brought her and Zane together. “The store looks beautiful. Women are going to be lining up to get their clothes here.”

“I sure hope so,” Storm said. She was proud of what she’d accomplished. She’d decided to start by focusing on clothing that the women around town could wear every day, with options for dressing up their outfits for going out on the town at night. The clothes were practical, yet she strove to ensure that every one of her outfits would be flattering, as well. She had decided not to partition larger sizes off to one area, either. Instead she stocked most items from petite through women’s sizes.

Interspersed among the clothing she’d stocked decorative household items she found charming and exotic. Some were one of a kind. Others were manufactured, but all of them had flair.

Belinda had taken charge of the jewelry section and Storm loved the displays she’d set up around the checkout counter. Her mother had gravitated toward the boots and handbags. Together, Storm felt they made a terrific team.

Her one worry was Darren. Zane had told her about the conversation he’d had with Belinda on the topic and she knew it was only a matter of time before the man had it out with his wife. She hoped when he did, Belinda wouldn’t back down.

“It’s time,” Belinda called. “Should I open the doors?”

“You bet,” Storm said.

A moment later the first customers walked in and she didn’t have time to worry anymore.

Four hours later,
Storm was exhausted but pleased with the way her first day was unfolding. The women of Chance Creek certainly liked a novelty. The stream of customers had been almost constant since they’d opened. She knew that would subside in time and she’d have to be careful if she wanted to turn a profit, but with the rate women were purchasing her clothes, she felt that she had a hit on her hands.

She was handing a large shopping bag to a customer when Darren walked in.

“Uh-oh,” she said.

Cheyenne looked up. “What’s wrong? Are you out of change?”

“No, that’s Belinda’s husband.”

“Uh-oh,” Cheyenne echoed her. “I’ll head her off.”

It was too late. Belinda came out of the back room leading a customer who’d just tried on a stack of skirts and sweaters.

“I’m sure you’ll be happy with the ones you picked out,” she was saying when she spotted her husband.

“Grab the customer,” Storm hissed at Cheyenne. “I’ll help Belinda.”

As Darren and his wife faced off, Storm rounded the counter and came up beside her.

“Darren, don’t make trouble,” Belinda said.

“No need for trouble, as long as you’re out that door in three seconds.”

Storm didn’t think he’d been drinking, for which she was very grateful. Alcohol could turn this confrontation into something serious in a matter of moments.

It looked like it was going to get serious anyway, though. She wished Zane was here. She wondered if she should call the police, but before she could move Darren grabbed Belinda’s wrist. “I said go. Get in the truck.”

“No. This is my job. I’m not leaving.”

“Why would you work for the people who stole our home from us?”

All around the store, customers stopped browsing and turned to watch the argument.

“They didn’t steal our home. Your father piddled it away.” Belinda matched his volume and his tone. “He’s the one to blame, Darren. He’s the one that couldn’t even bother to change his will and leave it to you. Why was that?”

“Because he was a bastard.”

“That’s what you always say. What if it was something else? What if he knew you hated ranching? What if he didn’t want to saddle you with a property that would be a mill-stone around your neck?”

He looked confused. “I don’t hate ranching.”

“Are you serious? I’ve known you all my life, Darren Hall. I listened to you bitch about every last detail of working with cattle from the time we were in junior high. I cheered you on when you left the ranch, or have you forgotten that? We went out to the Dancing Boot and toasted your freedom!”

“Didn’t work out too well, did it?” he said belligerently. “Construction doesn’t pay enough.”

“Which is why I’m working—to help out,” Belinda pointed out.

“A man should be able to support—”

“How many men are supporting their families single-handed these days?” Belinda raked her gaze around the store and called out, “Raise your hands. How many of you are getting by on one income?”

One woman raised her hand timidly. “I’m a single mom,” she said, then ducked behind a rack of clothing.

“See? It isn’t the Hall boys, or your daddy that’s the problem. It’s your pride.”

“Pride’s all I got!”

“You know what? Zane’s proud. Austin’s proud. So’s Mason. But you know what else they got? Family! Each other. Friends, too. That’s what I want. I want to stop sitting alone in my house night after night because where we live or what we cook or how we dress isn’t good enough for you. No one cares if we’re tight on money. We have five children. We live in the modern world. Life is hard, Darren, but you’re making it harder.”

“You can’t blame a man for wanting to hold his head up. I want to feel like I’ve done something at the end of the day.” His face was twisted with a pain Storm recognized all too well.

“You’ve done plenty.” A woman Storm didn’t know stepped toward Darren. “You came and fixed my fence for me last year when the neighbors’ dog kept getting in and digging up my garden. I know that’s not a big job for you, but it was a big deal for me. I freeze and can what I grow. We eat that food all winter long. You barely charged me for the work, either. I appreciated that more than I could say.”

“You helped my parents last year, too,” another woman said. “Pat and Sarah Fullman on the east side of town. You fixed their roof in the middle of that awful week of rain we got last October. Got it patched up before the damage spread too far. They’re on a fixed income. They might have had to sell their home if it weren’t for you.”

“Remember when my Cynthia moved home with her two kids four years back?” a third woman stepped forward. “We didn’t know where we were going to put them. We’d already downsized. You built that basement suite for them for half of what the other contractor quoted us. Two bedrooms and a bath. Cynthia still talks about that, even though she’s married again and moved back out. Now we have a place to put guests when they come to stay.”

Darren stepped back as the compliments kept coming, as if he was spooked by the positive attention. Belinda took his hand, basking in the other women’s approval. When the stories began to die down, she said, “See? I wouldn’t marry a man who wasn’t wonderful.”

“I—well, I…” Darren scanned the room. Caught sight of the door. “I’ll be back at closing time.” He hurried away and disappeared outside. Belinda faced the customers.

“Thank you. All of you. That meant a lot to me.”

With murmured assurances that what they’d said was true, the women began to return to their browsing. Belinda fluttered around the room to help. Cheyenne returned to Storm’s side.

“That went better than I’d expected.”

“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.”

“You know, I’m beginning to really like this town,” Cheyenne said.

When Zane came
to pick the women up at the end of the day, they were celebrating with mock champagne, and to his surprise Darren was holding his plastic glass up for a toast along with the rest of them.

“To your first day,” he was saying to Storm as Zane walked in.

“Hear, hear,” Cheyenne said and drunk hers down.

Darren lowered his glass as Zane approached. “Hey there, Zane.”

“Darren.”

Zane looked around at the women’s happy faces, and noticed that Darren had Belinda’s arm tucked through his. He didn’t know what kind of magic Storm had wrought, but he decided he wouldn’t be the one to undo it, as much as he still wanted to know if Darren was behind the cut in the pasture fence or Mason’s flat tire. He could see that Belinda and Storm were thrilled that Darren was behaving himself. It would be churlish of him to rock the boat.

“What do you think of the store?” he asked his cousin.

“I think it’s great. Belinda did the jewelry displays.” He lifted his chin as if daring Zane to put his wife’s efforts down.

“I didn’t know that. They look great, Belinda. And you…” He dropped a kiss on Storm’s nose. “Look fantastic for a hard-working entrepreneur. Ready for some dinner?”

“Should we all head to DelMonaco’s?” Belinda asked.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Storm said. “Is that okay, honey?” She linked her arm with Zane’s.

“That’s just fine.”

On the way out to their vehicles Zane managed to get Darren to the side. It was one thing to share a toast, but it was another to share an entire dinner with a man who might have been making mischief on his property. “We’ve had a few problems around the ranch lately.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of problems?”

“Mason’s tire was punctured.”

Darren grimaced. “Some damn kids slashed one of my tires, too, last month. Someone ought to give them a whupping.”

Zane frowned. “One of our pasture fences was cut, too.”

Darren swore. “That’s going too far. You don’t mess with a man’s livelihood. Need help repairing it?”

Zane was too shocked to answer. Darren wanted to help?

A look of understanding came into Darren’s eyes. “Oh, I get it. You think I’m behind your problems.”

“Looks like I was wrong,” Zane said. “I’m glad to know it.”

Darren ducked his head. “You weren’t wrong about all of it. I did get Steel to hit on Storm at the Dancing Boot. That was just for a laugh, though. I didn’t mean for it to turn into a fight.”

“Yeah, well, Steel’s in charge of himself, I reckon.”

“Hope he didn’t scare Storm.”

Zane shook his head. “No, it all turned out okay.” He had to suppress a grin when he remembered how that night had ended. In his own messed up way, Darren had helped him and Storm become a real couple.

“See you at the restaurant,” Darren said and walked off.

“See you there.”

Hours later, when they were finally alone together in their room, Zane took his time undressing Storm. “How on earth did you persuade Darren not to be mad at Belinda?” He eased off her shirt and kissed her shoulder.

“I didn’t do a thing. Belinda surprised the heck out of me. He came in like thunder, demanding that she leave and she put him right in his place.”

“And he wasn’t furious?” He trailed kisses across her back to the other shoulder. Storm unstrapped her bra and let it drop. He slid his hands around her to cup her breasts.

“He didn’t have time to be. She was too busy telling him what a wonderful husband he was.”

Zane snorted.

“No, really, and what’s crazy is all these women in the store came forward to tell stories about what he’d done in the past that had helped them. Turns out he’s done a lot.”

“Huh.” He thought about that. “Good for him.”

“Belinda pointed out that he didn’t like ranching but that he was good at his job, and that if they were both working they’d be okay.”

“She’s a smart woman.” He resumed kissing her, this time pressing his lips to her neck.

“She is.” Storm turned in his arms. “Enough about Darren and Belinda.”

“More than enough,” Zane said. Lifting her up, he deposited her on the bed and soon followed, stripping his clothes off as he went.

“I don’t suppose this will be half as exciting as fitting room sex,” she said, pulling him close.

“Oh, yeah? We’ll see about that.” He wrapped his arms around her and rolled over, ending with her straddled across his lap. “Exciting enough for you?”

“Heading in the right direction,” she said.

“Hmm. I think you’re heading in the wrong direction, actually.” He guided her to turn around so she was sitting facing away from him. “That’s better.” When she took him in her hands, sliding them up and down his hardness, he let his head fall back and groaned.

“You like that.”

He made an indeterminate noise and she chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Zane scooted back to prop himself against the headboard, then skimmed his hands up over her waist and down over her hips. When she lifted herself and settled down again, taking him inside slowly, he let out the breath he was holding, gratified as always by how good she felt. As she rose and fell on her knees, the view of her body was enough to make it sweet torture. With the delicious sensation of her slick folds sliding over him, it was enough to make it hard not to lose control.

He guided her up and down with his hands, then slid them upward to cup her breasts. Sliding his thumbs over her nipples, pinching and caressing them, he could tell Storm was turned on by the way she moved. He skimmed his hands down again, captured her wrists and held them behind her while she rose and fell on top of him, encouraging her by the tilt of his hips.

Storm moved faster, each movement exposing her body to his view. He kept his grip on her wrists, imagining the jut of her breasts as her back arched and her breathing quickened.

“Zane.” Her tone told him all he needed to know and he moved faster as she slid up and down. When she cried out he was close behind her, the sound of his name on her lips all he needed to crash over the edge and come with a violence that had his head spinning.

Storm kept moving until both of them were spent. When he released her wrists, he sat up to take her into his arms.

“I will never get tired of making love to you.”