Forces of Nature

Chapter 12


Douglas should’ve known when to say when. He should’ve just gotten dressed, headed back to the cottage, packed his clothes, and left. Crystal made it clear that the connection they had was a shallow physical one, and with what Waylon told him, he knew trying to be with her wasn’t the best idea ever. But as soon as he zipped his pants, Douglas dashed toward the house, not giving a damn about the logical things he should’ve done. He banged on the back door as if he was trying to warn Crystal about a fire. In a way he was—the fire of longing and desire that was building like an inferno deep inside him. He wanted her more than he wanted the land, the CEO title at Welco, or his next breath. She had to understand that, even if that meant he had to lock her in that house until she realized that he genuinely loved her.

Crystal snatched the door open, her eyes red from crying, and asked, “Why are you here?”

“Because you don’t understand what I’m feeling right now,” he said.

“And just what are you feeling and why should I give a damn?” she snapped.

Douglas moved closer to her until they stood inch to inch. “You should give a damn because I know that I’m falling for you and I’ll do whatever it takes to make you see that.”

She tilted her head to the side, thinking about the words Dena said to her hours ago. Was this all a part of the grand plan? Under different circumstances, she would’ve fallen into his arms, told him that her heart was beating the same song. But she couldn’t trust what he said nor what she felt. Lust. That’s all it was. Plain and simple, it was a lustful yearning that she felt for him and that would never be enough to make her give him the main thing he wanted.

“You’re a liar,” she whispered. “You’re falling for this land and falling for the future business park you have planned. You’re falling for the idea of me being silly enough to say I love you and sign those papers. That’s not going to happen and you should leave before I call the sheriff to escort you off my property.”

“Oh, yeah, call Ron and see how that works out for you,” Douglas spat. “You invited me here, remember?”

“My mistake,” she said. He took her face into his hands and forced her to look at him. “This was a huge mistake,” she insisted.

“Why? Because you’re feeling something more for me, just like I am for you?” he asked as he stroked her cheek.

“Stop,” she said as she turned her face away from him. Douglas didn’t stop. Instead, he sought out her full lips, kissing her tenderly and slowly. He wished his kiss told her the truth about what he was feeling, told her that he wasn’t trying to use her, wasn’t trying to play with her emotions. He wished he could take her away from this farm, this town, and go someplace where they could simply be Crystal and Douglas. A place where her parents and his parents never met and never had their battle. When he released her lips, he read something in her eyes that gave him hope.

“Douglas,” she whispered.

“Yes?”

“I just can’t . . .” Crystal stopped when she heard a commotion on the front porch.

“Just what in the hell are you doing here?” Crystal heard Dena exclaim as she and Douglas rushed to the front door.

“It’s wonderful to see you as well,” Waylon said as he gave Dena a slow once-over. He smiled at her, and Crystal could see that her attorney was fuming underneath his gaze.

“Up to your same old tricks?” Dena snapped as she looked from Douglas to Waylon.

“I’d like to talk to you,” Waylon said, stepping closer to Dena.

She threw her hand up in his face. “Don’t come a step closer to me,” she snapped.

“What’s going on?” Crystal asked. “And who are you?”

Waylon glanced up at Crystal and Douglas. “You must be Crystal Hughes,” Waylon said. “Waylon Terrell.” He never took his eyes off Dena, who was dressed in a simple pair of black slacks and a sleeveless ivory shirt. Waylon remembered days when she showed off those lovely legs in cut-off denims. This serious Dena was still beautiful, but how could he convince her that he wasn’t playing the cruel games that his best friend was known for? How could he explain to her that he too was a victim of Douglas Wellington Jr.?

“You should take your godson and leave,” Dena said. “Crystal may not know the truth about you two, but I do.” She jabbed her finger in his face and Waylon grasped her wrist. Crystal heard Dena gasp and saw a flicker of something—desire—cross her face. Really? Crystal wondered as she looked from Dena to Waylon. As if she remembered that the others were around, Dena snatched away and stalked over to Crystal. “Have you lost all that’s left of your mind?”

“What do you mean?” Crystal asked.

“I mean that these two are trying to play you and you’re just being a welcome mat for them.”

“I’m doing no such thing,” Crystal cried incredulously.

“Why do you think Waylon is here? He’s giving his godson pointers and I’m willing to bet my practice on the fact that he’s using the same dirty tricks his father used all of those years ago,” she said, hurling her thumb in Waylon’s direction. “They don’t fight fair and you’re a lightweight. Do you want to lose your family’s land?”

“Of course not, but—”

“Then get them off this property and let me handle this through the courts,” she snapped.

Waylon walked over to Crystal and Dena. “Does this have to be ugly?” he asked, focusing on Dena.

Crystal saw a change in her attorney’s body language as she whirled around and faced the tall ebony man. There was more than a legal battle going on between those two—that much was clear.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Dena said.

Like Billy Dee Williams in a classic movie, Waylon stroked her cheek and smiled. “I have something to say to you. I’m sorry.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” she snapped. “Why don’t you take your tired-ass apology and leave?”

“I’m not going to do that because you need to hear the truth, finally,” he said forcefully. Douglas and Crystal watched in rapt attention.

“Your friend told me the truth when you disappeared and left your check.”

“My check?”

Dena glanced over her shoulder at Crystal. “I’m not doing this here.”

“I never walked out on you—you left me first,” Waylon said. “And why would I leave you a check?”

She glared at him, and as if something clicked in her head, she sighed. “You never knew, did you?” Dena asked quietly.

“Never knew what?”

As if she’d forgotten they had an audience, the unflappable Dena started to cry. “I was pregnant and he said you wanted nothing to do with my bastard child and that was why you left.”

Waylon looked shell-shocked as well as he drew Dena into his arms. “I never knew and I would’ve never abandoned you.”

“But you did,” she said in a hushed tone, then slammed her fist against his chest. “I needed you and you weren’t here for me.”

“I didn’t know, Dena.”

“Would it have made a difference? I lost our child and suffered alone,” she snapped.

“Don’t you think I would’ve been there?” he exclaimed. “Dena, I loved you then and if you’d give me a chance, I’d prove to you that I love you now.”

“Love me?” she asked. “You don’t know the meaning of the word, and if you think your confession is going to change what’s going to happen in court on Monday, you’re wrong.”

“I never gave a damn about this land or anything that Doug wanted to do out here. I tried to stop him because you’re all I ever cared about. I don’t know why you don’t believe that.”

She glared at him, dried the tears from her eyes as she spat, “You’re a liar and that’s all I need to believe.”

Waylon, in a quick move that caught everyone off guard, lifted Dena over his shoulder and bounded toward his car—ignoring her demands to put her down.

“Wow,” Douglas said as he walked over to Crystal. “That was intense.”

“There seems to be a lot of history that we don’t know about. Is Dena right? Was this a part of the Welco legal plan?”

“Seriously?”

Crystal raised her right eyebrow at him. “You should go,” she said.

“You want to end up like them? Hating each other for years and not knowing where this could go? I can’t live like that and I won’t.”

“Douglas, this isn’t about us. This is about this land. At least that’s what it looks like on the surface, but it seems as if this whole thing is bigger than either of us know.”

“I don’t give a damn about this land.”

“But you’ve said many times that you can’t call it off.”

“And I can’t turn off what I feel for you, either,” he said.

“What are we supposed to do, then?” she said as he took a step toward her. “I can’t let my girls down. You can’t come in here and pretend that building on this land is going to benefit them or that you’ve had some change of heart.”

“Give me a chance to make this right,” he said as he reached out for her. Crystal didn’t want to, but she fell into his embrace and she even believed that he would make things right between them. Still, she wondered if Dena and Waylon were a glimpse into the not-so-distant future with her and Douglas. There was no way she’d just allow him to win because she had feelings for him. Too many people depended on Hughes Farm, and just like he had family pride, she did too. “My parents are coming tomorrow and I don’t think they need to find you here. So, for the last time, I’m asking you to leave.”

“I don’t think so,” Douglas replied. “If you want me to walk away from us, I can tell you now that isn’t going to happen.”

“Why? Don’t want to end up like your godfather? Really, Douglas, we have nothing else to . . .”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her words away, replacing her bitter sentences with the sweetness of his tongue and the tenderness of his lips.

She moaned softly as he gently stroked her back and kissed her. Crystal pulled back from him, shaken and confused by what she was feeling. “Douglas,” she said.

“Don’t give up on us and don’t let their past cloud our future.”

“It’s not that simple and you know that,” she said, turning her back to him, willing her heart to stop beating so damned hard.

Douglas placed his hands on her shoulders and the heat from his touch made her shiver. “We’re going to figure this out,” he said, then brushed his lips against the back of her neck. She sighed, wishing that tomorrow morning wouldn’t make them enemies again. But had there ever been more than sex between them? Was she being a fool like Dena said?

“I guess I’d better go,” he said as he dropped his hands.

Crystal turned around and faced him. “Don’t go yet,” she said quietly. “Let’s just pretend we’re two normal people enjoying the land.”

“Are you sure?”

Staring into his sparkling eyes, Crystal replied, “I’m not sure about anything anymore.”

He drew her into his arms and gently kissed her forehead. Douglas knew two things for sure: he had to find his father’s file and he had to convince the board to scrap the project.

As he glanced down at Crystal’s radiant face, he knew the battle that he was about to confront would be well worth the risk. Maybe he could right the sins of his father and find the happiness that had eluded Douglas Wellington Jr. all of those years.