Chaste (McCullough Mountain) (37 page)

He
tugged her behind the coat tree. “Ashlynn, listen to me. They’re a bloody
circus. If you want to go, we have to escape now while there’s an opening. Once
they’re all here no topic will be off limits.”

She’d
seen that with Maureen alone. The whole situation was ridiculous. It was just
supposed to be dinner. Kelly didn’t get shaken up about much, but he was
certainly dreading this. “What do you want to do?” she asked.

He
grabbed both her hands and squeezed. “I wanna run. You agreed to be my wife. I
don’t want the lot of them messing it up. Not when I’m this close to heaven.
Run with me, Ashlynn.”

“Run
where? It’s pouring.”

“Who
cares? Let’s go, the two of us, where no one in the world can find us.”

The
idea of hiding away from the world with Kelly —from the mayhem unleashing in
the kitchen—sounded magical. Her body pulsed with curious excitement. “Okay.”

He
smiled and kissed her. The kiss became more than she’d expected in the face of
such urgency, and her stomach flipped with anticipation. Someone called their
names and he broke the kiss. “We have to go now. It’s gonna be wet out there.
On the count of three. One. Two—”

“Three!”
She ran out the door. The second she left the awning of the porch rain pelted
her, soaking right through her clothing. Thunder rolled and the sky webbed with
lightning. A strobe of headlights came through the trees as another car arrived
followed by another and another.

“Come
on!” Kelly snatched her slick hand and they jumped off the second to last step.
She raced him to the truck and whipped the door open. It was loud inside the
cab under the pounding rain.

Kelly
started the truck and hightailed it out of there like the hounds of hell were
on him. Her heart raced. What would they say when they realized they’d left?
She worried how this would portray them to the others, but Kelly seemed only
focused on their escape.

Breathing
fast, she swept a wet snarl of hair off her forehead and mussed her damp
strands with her fingers, sending dripping spikes every which way. Buffing the
specks of water from her glasses she asked, “Where are we going?”

“Where
they won’t find us.”

He
didn’t expect the relatives to actually come looking for them, did he? The
truck raced through town, wipers squeaking against the glass as they worked to
keep up with the downpour. When he pulled into the pub parking lot she frowned.
“Kelly—”

“Don’t
worry. We’re not going to the bar.”

The
truck whipped around back and parked in the shadows along a fence she never
noticed before. He shut off the truck and took her hand. “Follow me.”

Sliding
out his side of the truck, she raced through the rain, unsure what they were
doing. There were stairs attached to the back of the building and they took
them quickly. At the top Kelly jammed a key in a nondescript black door and
pushed it open. Stepping out of the rain, soaked, she swiped her glasses off
her face to clean the lenses again.

She
pressed her glasses back on her face and stilled. “What is this place?”

Kelly
shifted, hands in the pockets of the damp jeans that clung to his legs,
shoulders hunched in what she could only assume was a show of nerves. “This is
my place, or what would have been.”

It
was an apartment. The one he’d told her about. A small kitchenette showed on
the far wall, but the framed cabinets lacked doors or dishes. The walls were
covered in chalky dust and patches of spackle where the stud nails had shown.
Several clear tarps were blanketed over large items she didn’t recognize and
tools were scattered here and there.

Taking
a few steps forward, she lifted a tarp tacked to the ceiling and found a
sectioned off area with a couch and an end table made of empty pizza boxes.
“You stay here?”

“Only
when I’ve had too much to drink or I’m too tired after a shift to drive home.”

A
sick feeling filled her stomach and she stepped back, letting the tarp fall
back into place, cutting off her view of the blankets thrown over the couch.
“Oh.”

He
frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Never
expecting to suffer such a fierce burn of jealousy, she took another retreating
step toward the door.

“Ashlynn?”

He’d
had women up here. If he lived with his parents this would be where he’d take
them. The sudden urge to bolt took hold of her, so much stronger than when they
were at his parents. “Why did you bring me here?”

“What
do you mean? The rain’s coming down too hard to drive back to your place.
What’s the matter?” He crowded her, a look of concern on his face. “Ash, talk
to me?”

“I
don’t want to be here.”

His
expression blanked, but not fast enough to hide the hurt of rejection in his
eyes. “Why? I’m not going to take advantage of you. I wouldn’t do that—”

“It’s
not that!” God, was that her shrill voice?

His
brow pinched. “Then what?”

“Kelly…
how many women have you had up here?”

His
hand dropped and he stepped back, a hard look on his face. “One.”

Oh
God.
Her hands
fisted so she wouldn’t touch anything. “Can we go, please?”

His
expression hardened. “Yeah. Let me get a towel. I’m soaked.”

He
disappeared through the
tarped
off section. She would
have been more comfortable waiting outside if not for the rain. Stepping closer
to the door, her foot knocked into something and she stilled. Glancing down she
saw a large brown file of sorts she’d knocked over. Papers had spilled out.

“I’m
ready.”

Turning
from where she crouched on the floor she saw his eyes widen. He rushed to where
she was and stuffed the papers back in the file. She frowned. “What is all that
stuff?”

“Nothing.
It’s nothing. Come on. We can go now.”

She
caught his hand. “Kelly—”

“What?”
She flinched at the way he snapped at her. She didn’t understand why he was so
angry. He had to recognize she wouldn’t want to be somewhere he’d had another
woman.

“Why
are you angry?”

Tipping
the folder back against the wall, he stood. “I’m not. Just disappointed.”

“In
me?”

He
shrugged. “Forget it. I shouldn’t have brought you here.”

She
grabbed his wrist. “I don’t understand—”

“What
don’t you understand, Ashlynn? I brought you here because I wanted to show you
a part of myself no one else sees and you basically looked repulsed the moment
you saw.”

“How
would you feel if I brought you somewhere I took past lovers?”

“I
told you I’ve only brought one woman here.”

“Yeah,
and that’s enough—”

“The
woman is
you
!”

“Mm—what?”

“You’re
the only woman who’s been up here. Well, you and my aunt, but I don’t think
that’s the problem.”

She
was an idiot. Her shoulders slumped and guilt ratcheted up her discomfort. “I
didn’t realize,” she said in a small voice.

He
still looked upset. “I wouldn’t bring you somewhere I had other women, Ashlynn.
I’m not an asshole.”

“Well,
I sure am.” She wanted to cry. She was so terrible at all of this.

“Hey.
Let’s start over.” He stepped back and held out his arms. “This is my place, or
what would have been.”

Her
mouth twitched. He was drenched to the bone. His shirt clung to every muscle
over his chest and stomach. His jeans hung heavy at his hips and his shoes
squished with rainwater under his weight. But what she really saw was this
incredible man so capable of rolling with the punches and giving people second
chances.

“It’s
nice. What’s going to happen to it now?”

He
shrugged. “I have some ideas.”

She
stepped closer to him. “I’m sorry I reacted like that. I just thought—”

“You
were jealous.”

Pressing
her lips tight she met his stare. It wasn’t easy to acknowledge, but if
anything, she was honest. “Yes.”

“I
get jealous too.”

She
snorted. “It’s not really the same. I have no one in my past for you to be
jealous of.”

“Oh,
I beg to differ. I was jealous of Josh, every man that’s ever glanced your way,
and even the daiquiri. Hell, I’ve even been jealous of the straw in your diet
cola, wishing just once I could feel your lips around me like that.”

She
grinned. “You can’t be jealous of inanimate objects.”

“Sure
you can. Right now I’m envying your shirt, the way it’s clinging to your damp
skin. I can see your nipples, by the way.”

Her
eyes widened and she crossed her arms over her chest. He stepped close and
caught her wrists, pulling her arms down to her sides. Shivers chased over her
skin sending her into a full body tremble under the heat of his gentle touch.

“Don’t,”
he whispered. “You look so beautiful. I could…”

“What?”

His
head turned, as he seemed to consider his words. “Can I show you something?”

“Sure.”

He
walked her to the couch and gestured for her to sit. A second later he was in
front of her holding the big folder she’d knocked over. He looked anxious.
“I’ve never shown this to anyone before.”

“What
is it?”

He
dropped to a knee in front of her and unhooked a leather buckle at the top of
the folder. It was large, around two feet wide. He held the cover blocking its
contents and she leaned forward hoping to get a peek.

“Promise
not to laugh?”

Why
would she laugh? “I promise.”

He
slid a piece of paper in front of her feet. She gasped. It was a black and
white picture of her standing in her garden. “When did you take this?

“I
didn’t take it. I drew it. It’s charcoal.”

She
saw the smudged edges then and realized it was a drawing. Reaching down she
lifted it by the corner. It was incredible. The shading was so lifelike. Every
line was blended and smoothed to perfection, so realistic she thought of it as
a door to some separate plane she could crawl through. “It’s incredible.”

He
placed another at her feet, this one of her face. Her eyes were cast down and
her expression sad. She frowned. “When was this?”

“Last
spring. That’s the first one I did of you.”

“Can
I see more?”

“Sure.”

She
slid off the couch and onto the floor as Kelly pulled out one picture after another.
There were some of the woods, beautifully covered in snow, some of bear cubs
playing in a creek, but mostly they were of his family.

“Who’s
this?”

He
took the paper from her and grinned. “That’s Morai, my grandmother.”

“Your
mother’s mother?” There were definite resemblances.

“Yeah.”

He
passed her another one. She recognized the face. “This is Colin’s daughter.”

“You’ve
met Tallulah?”

“I
see her in church. She’s precious.” The picture was absolutely charming.
Tallulah’s dark curls coiled loosely around her head as she looked up and
smiled around her thumb. “What was she looking at?”

“Me.”

Glancing
at Kelly she smiled. “Do you want children?”

“Yes.
Someday. I’m a McCullough, so it’s sort of a given. We breed like rabbits.”

She
reached for another, this one of Frank, Kelly’s father. His expression was
happy, serene. He was staring at Maureen. There was something so basic about
the posing. It was a candid, the two of them simply talking on any ordinary
day, yet the love in his eyes was so evident it was almost tangible.

“How
has no one seen these?”

He
shrugged. “It’s all from memory.”

“Do
they know you drew them this way?”

He
shook his head and took the page. “No. No one’s ever seen these. It’s just
something I do to pass time.”

He
had such talent. “No one?”

“Only
you.”

 
A soft, welcome weight settled in her
chest and she smiled at him. There were so many, mostly family. He slid her
another one and soon they were surrounded by a slideshow of secret moments in
time he’d stolen. His eldest sister pregnant and holding her back as she pushed
a baby on a swing, his nephews climbing over Finn, Colin dressed in religious
robes praying at an alter, they were all equally breathtaking.

“How
do you do it?”

“Do
what?”

“Remember
their faces so precisely.”

“They’re
my family. I know them by heart.”

Her
finger traced the picture he’d first shown her, the one of herself. Did he know
her by heart?