[WS02] Taming Alex (5 page)

Hitting the button, he listened to his mother remind him about some out-of-state dinner
guest and say that he shouldn't forget to wear his nice new tie she'd bought him.
It wasn't until halfway through his shower that he remembered that the dinner his
mother had been talking about was tonight. He groaned and looked at the clock on the
bathroom wall. He was due to be at his folks’ house in less than an hour. He groaned
again.

Pulling his tired muscles out of the shower, he put on his best clothes and the tie
his mother wanted him to wear. He wished his younger sister, Melissa, was in town
instead of attending school in Dallas. Then maybe his mother wouldn't be trying to
feed him all the time.

On his last visit, he had finally convinced his father that he was man enough to fill
his own plate, instead of letting his mother pile her fried chicken and mashed potatoes
a mile high. His mother hadn't been so pleased. She kept trying to sneak more food
onto his plate, claiming he was getting too thin.

When he drove up to the simple one-story house, he spotted two cars he didn't recognize.
Just what he wanted, a dinner with a bunch of strangers. When he walked into the house,
he could hear his mother's laughter from the den and walked in to the back room. There
was an older couple sitting on the couch. He walked over and kissed his mother on
the cheek, waiting to be introduced.

His mother jumped up from her chair and patted his arm. “Oh! There he is now. Roger,
Regina, this is our son, Grant.” His mother's fingers dug into his back, forcing him
to step forward and shake their hands. He must have mumbled something like, “How do
you do?” to them, because they both nodded and replied. Then his father stepped in
the back door, his grilling apron wrapped around his larger belly. “Oh, there you
are my boy. I was just telling Terry that you'd be along shortly.”

Grant's heart started beating faster. He felt every vein in his body as it sped up
and started beating frantically. When his ex-girlfriend walked into his parents’ house
holding a glass of wine in one hand, his head almost exploded. She had a large smile
pasted on her face and a worried look in her eyes.

“Would you excuse me for a moment?” he said between his teeth, then he grabbed her
arm and walked outside with her. When they were alone, he turned to her. “What in
the hell are you doing here?”

“What?” She looked shocked at him. “Didn't you get my messages? My parents were visiting
from California and wanted to meet you.” She looked down at her hands. “For Sam's
sake.” She crossed her arms over her chest, then glared up at him.

“Those are your parents?” He turned and looked towards the house. Just great, he thought.
“What have you told them about us?” He turned back towards her, pinning her with a
stare.

She tried to avoid his answer by walking past him, but he grabbed her arm again. He
hadn't seen her in almost a year. Other than the fact that her hair was shorter, nothing
else had changed, and it appeared the way she thought about him hadn’t either. “Terry.
What?”

“They may still think that we're engaged, since I never really updated our Facebook
page.” She sighed and looked away.

“I'm not doing this.” He turned and walked into his parents’ house, Terry close on
his heels. “Mr. and Mrs. Walkins.” He waited until they both looked at him. “I want
you to know that Terry and I were never really engaged and that we broke up over a
year ago.” He felt Terry's fingernails dig into his arm. “I'm sorry about Sam. He
was one of my best friends for over five years. There isn't a day that goes by that
I don't remember his advice and training. Even up against one of the best cooks in
the south.” He nodded towards his mother, who beamed back at him, her hands going
over her heart. “I'm sorry you came all this way to meet me under the assumption that
we were engaged. I hope you weren't deceived.” He waited.

“Thank you.” Terry's mother, Regina, stood and smiled at him. “We assumed your relationship
had been broken off once we heard you had moved back home and Terry was still staying
in Boston.” Her husband stood next to her. “I hope this won't hinder the wonderful
dinner your parents have planned for us. Your father has been grilling the most delicious
smelling steaks and your mother promised me a copy of her peach cobbler recipe.”

He smiled quickly. “Not at all.” Then he held his hand out again and shook Roger's
hand once more. “It truly is an honor to meet you both.”

Three hours later he drove back up his driveway, thinking about how Sam and Terry
had come to be some of the best friends he'd had in Boston. Terry still had her quirks,
but by the time his mother had served up dessert, he believed Terry was no longer
under the assumption that they were an item.

They'd talked about the online business Grant’s father was trying to start with him.
He was on board even knowing he was most likely going to be doing all the work. It
was a legal advice site that would help customers with basic legal filings and paperwork.
They'd found a company in Houston to design the site and they had done all the background
work for them. All they had left were some small basic things, which his father was
currently taking care of. His dad had talked in great detail about the business with
Regina and Roger. They'd been so interested that his father had pulled out his laptop
and they’d spent almost an hour going over everything. Now Grant’s eyes burned, as
well as every muscle in his body.

When he hit his bed after taking his boots and tie off, he fell face-first into his
soft mattress and was out like a light.

A
lex had been working at Mama's Diner since her sophomore year. She loved working for
Jamella, aka Mama, the owner. Jamella was in her late sixties and was big enough that
most everyone gave her space and respect.
Mama's Diner had been hers for the past twenty years. Jamella knew everyone's business
and everything there was to know about the small town of Fairplay.

Mama had been like a surrogate mother to Alex ever since her own mother had died in
that tornado when she was just six. Since then, Jamella had treated the three sisters
like they were her own, and they loved her for it.

Not only did Alex love the job, she loved the people. Seeing almost everyone in the
small town had its perks. You were always up-to-date on the gossip and the first to
hear any news. She even enjoyed working there when it meant serving the woman who
had broken up her engagement.

It was a few days after her picnic with Grant that she “
accidentally”
spilled a whole plate of spaghetti over Savannah Douglas' white lace dress. She had
apologized profusely while using the greasiest rag in the kitchen to help her wipe
the mess off her new dress. Once Savannah had screamed loud enough that everyone in
the next two counties could hear her, she marched out of the restaurant, threatening
to sue Mama.

When Alex went back into the kitchen, Jamella and
Willard, the longtime cook, were laughing so hard, Alex had to join in.

“You sure showed dat girl. Maybe now she keep her oily hands to herself,” Jamella
said in her Louisiana drawl. She smiled and slapped Willard's shoulder.

“It did feel good.” Alex crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the countertop,
smiling. But her good mood went away later that evening when she overheard one of
the clerks from the Grocery Stop talking to Patty Nolan, Travis' mother, who was a
regular at Mama's, about how the Holton's had had out-of-town visitors earlier. Alex
had been dealing with Patty ever since she'd started dating Travis. The woman always
seemed to have her nose in their business, but after a while, Alex had found a method
for dealing with her. She pretty much ignored her.

From what she'd overheard, it seemed that Grant's fiancée and her parents had come
into town for dinner. Alex's heart dropped.

Grant was engaged? She kept trying to persuade herself that it didn't matter. After
all, she'd been pretty much using him, right? And she had planned to keep using him
to help her get over Travis and the whole ordeal. Then she got angry. How dare he
use her like that! She tried to shake the thought out of her mind, but for the rest
of her shift, the whole mess kept playing over and over in her head. By the time she
left the dark parking lot, she had a slight throbbing behind her eyes. She didn’t
know what sent her driving past the turn off to Saddleback Ranch, but she found herself
heading towards Grant’s farm. When she pulled up and saw that his bedroom light was
still on, she slammed the car door and marched to the front porch. She knocked until
someone answered, praying the whole time that it wasn't some half-dressed woman.

Instead, she was greeted by a very angry Grant, who was shoeless and looked like he'd
slept in his clothes.

“What?” He drew up and shut his mouth quickly when he saw who was banging on his door
at one in the morning. “Alex? What are you doing here?” He looked around. “Are you
in some sort of trouble?”

“What? No.” She looked past him, trying to see if there was anyone inside with him.
Maybe they had just started undressing each other?

“Then I'll repeat my first question. What are you doing here?”

“I…” Her mind went blank. She'd driven here and banged on his door, expecting to find
his arms wrapped around some other woman, but she had never expected to have to explain
herself. “I heard you had dinner with your fiancée’s family,” she blurted out.

He looked at her, and his eyebrows slowly went up in question.

She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Grant Holton, are you going to let
me in or are you going to make me stand out here trying to see if you're alone in
that house.”

His smile was quick. “Alexis West, would you please come in.” He bent at the waist
and bowed, waiting for her to walk past him. Then he turned and shut the door with
his foot. “As you can see, it's just me. You're welcome to come and check under my
bed, if you feel so inclined.” She turned and saw him flash a smile at her.

“That won't be necessary.” She walked into a large room, which she happily noticed
was his living room. Walking over, she sat on the couch and started biting her nails.
She never bit her nails unless she was nervous. How was she going to explain herself
to him?

He walked over and sat across from her, then rubbed his hands over his face.

“I'm sorry if I woke you. I worked the late shift at Mama's and overheard Jenny, the
clerk at the Grocery Stop, talking about your mother coming in, bragging about cooking
dinner for some out-of-town guests…”

She stopped when he groaned. She looked up at him, in question.

“Now it'll be all over town.” He put his head in his hands and shook it. “Just great.”

“Will you please tell me what is going on?” She sat forward.

“It was Terry. She dragged her parents all the way from California to meet me. Well,
they'd wanted to meet me anyway, for Sam's sake, but she neglected to mention that
we'd broken it off over a year ago, oh, and that we were never really engaged.”

She released the breath she'd been holding and leaned back in the couch. “Is that
all?” When he nodded, she started laughing so hard she had to hold her sides.

“You think this is funny?” He looked at her like she was crazy.

“Yes.” She nodded her head. “I spilled hot spaghetti sauce all over Savannah's new
white dress today, then proceeded to mop it up with the oiliest rag I could find,
and you spent a night having dinner with a crazy ex-girlfriend and her parents.” She
laughed some more.

Then she looked at him and noticed he was frowning.

“What?” She dropped her smile a little. “What's wrong?”

“You're still crazy for Travis, aren't you?”

“Of course I am.” She smiled a little. “Crazy
is
the right word. I've come to realize that I stopped loving him years ago.” She leaned
back again and looked at him. “I think I was in love with being in love. I had always
wanted what my folks had.” She sighed and looked off, past his shoulder. “I remember
them dancing in the kitchen, holding each other. I never heard my pa say a bad word
about my ma, nor the other way around. I suppose I was hoping one day that Travis
and I would be like that.”

When she looked at him again, he was smiling. “Why Alexis West, you're a romantic.”

She balked. “No I'm not. You take that back.”

Then he was laughing. “That's a good thing, sweetheart.”

She started blushing. “Oh.” She shook her head. “I must be tired.” She looked down
and fiddled with the bottom of her uniform skirt.

“Where you really upset over the possibility of me being engaged?” He walked over
and sat next to her.

“No.” She pulled her hand out of his.

“Alex?” He put his fingers under her chin and turned her head towards his.

“Fine, yes. I was trying to figure out what I could spill on you the next time you
walked through Mama's doors.” She pulled back and crossed her arms.

He leaned forward and kissed her quickly. “Thanks.”

“What for?” She wanted him to kiss her again.

“In a roundabout way, you just told me that you care about me.” He smiled and she
noticed for the first time that he had a slightly crooked smile. Had he always had
that? And why hadn't she noticed how sexy his smile and his eyes were before? Before
she could say anything, however, a large yawn escaped her.

“I'm sorry. I pulled a double shift today. I've missed a couple days work this last
week.” She yawned again. He smiled at her.

“Don't worry about it. I was so tired during dinner the other day that my mom had
to keep kicking me under the table when I would nod off.” He chuckled. “If you want,
you're welcome to crash in my spare bedroom upstairs.”

She stretched her arms over her head and thought of how wonderful it would be to sleep
in a room next to him, in his house, or next to him in his bed. Then shook her head.
“That's okay. I want a shower and my own bed. Thank you, though.” She stood up and
smiled when he quickly followed, then pulled her close for another kiss.

“Alex?”

“Hmmm?” she said against his lips.

“How is it that you can make grease and coffee smell so sexy?” He nibbled on her neck
for a moment. She chuckled and pulled back.

“I'm sorry for barging in on you this late. I suppose I wasn't thinking clearly.”
She pushed her hair back out of her eyes. No doubt she looked like the tangled mess
she felt like.

“Any time.” He smiled and walked her to the door.

When she got home, she tiptoed past her sisters’ bedrooms. She doubted she would even
make it through a shower, so instead, she filled the new garden tub that Chase had
installed a few months back. Resting her head against the pillow while the hot water
soothed her muscles, she dreamed of Grant.

Grant was beginning to wonder if he had gone crazy. He was a lawyer, not a farmer.
His animals meant a lot to him, and he was driven to take good care of them, but sometimes
he just wished they could talk.

He'd called Chase over more times than he wanted to admit, afraid that one animal
or another was sick. Chase had assured him that every one was perfectly healthy.

But now he stood looking down at one of his goats, Mojo, wondering why she wouldn’t
get up. He'd sat with her for the last few minutes before rushing into the house and
frantically calling Chase, who had arrived just in time to see the first kid being
born.

“Why didn't you tell me she was pregnant?” Grant asked. He looked over at Chase, who
just laughed.

“I never got a look at her before. You had me look at all the other animals first.
Besides, you should have been able to tell by looking at her.”

“I thought she was just fat,” Grant said, sitting next to her on the hay floor, holding
her head. He looked up in time to see Chase shaking his head and laughing.

“Here comes another one.” Less than ten minutes later the third and final girl was
born.

“Congratulations.” Chase slapped Grant's back and laughed, watching the first two
kids stumble around the small space. “You're the proud papa of triplets.”

He kept his friend there for over an hour asking him question after question. What
did they eat? What shots did they need? And more important, what did the mama need?

Chase was patient and answered all his questions, even showing him how to clean the
little girls up, but Mojo was doing a fine job of it herself. Then they reloaded the
small stall with fresh hay and Grant walked Chase back to his truck.

“Heard your folks had some company the other night.” Chase leaned against his truck
and smiled.

Grant groaned. “Yeah. What's the best way to spread a rumor around town that I'm not
engaged?”

Chase laughed. “You could start dating every available girl in the county.” Then he
chuckled. “Or tell everyone you're secretly married. That seemed to work well for
me.” They laughed.

Later that night, Grant swung out to the barn to check up on the new family. The kids
were snuggled down fast asleep in a corner. Mojo, on the other hand, looked wired.
He sat and talked to her for a while, then made his normal night rounds. During his
nightly routine, he'd come up with a plan to get the rumors stopped around town.

The next day, he walked into Mama's Diner with the biggest bouquet of flowers he could
buy at the Grocery Stop, making sure to write the little note within sight of the
clerk and a few of the ladies standing in line behind him.
He sat down at the booth and waited for Alex to walk out from the back room. Then
he stood and, to the surprise of her and everyone else in the diner, swept her into
a long, heated kiss, then handed her the flowers.