Forces of Nature

Chapter 20


A month later, Douglas was starting to get used to the early mornings on the farm. More than anything else, he was enjoying waking up every day with Crystal in his arms. Today, though, he had to sneak out of bed to make sure his plans were going to come together.

He, Renda, and MJ had been planning a party that would celebrate three things: the success of the Starlight girls who were about to graduate and head off to college, the addition of Hughes Farm to the Duval County Historical Landmark registry, and his engagement to Crystal—provided that she said yes.

Glancing at her sleeping body, he smiled. She was so beautiful when she slept, Douglas wanted to kiss her before he left, but he couldn’t wake her up just yet. Slipping into a pair of jeans and a V-neck T-shirt, he crept out of the room and met the girls on the back porch.

“Do you have the ring?” Renda asked, not bothering with a good morning greeting.

“Renda,” MJ said, nudging her sister in the ribs, “you can be a little rude sometimes.”

“I’m just making sure he isn’t going to change his mind,” she replied.

Douglas glanced over his shoulder, checking that the coast was still clear. He pulled a small black velvet box from his pocket. “Listen,” he said, “I’m not changing my mind and we have to be quick about this because Crystal’s going to be up soon.”

Renda took the box from his hand. “Tell us the plan again,” MJ said as Renda opened the box.

“This ring is so pretty!” Renda exclaimed.

MJ nudged her again. “Don’t wake up Miss . . . Ooh, she’s going to love this.”

Douglas grinned at the pink-diamond-encrusted ring, which was shaped like a rose. He’d had the ring especially made for Crystal. He hadn’t wanted to get her a regular engagement ring because she definitely wasn’t a regular woman. “All right,” he said as Renda snapped the box close. “When the champagne comes out, this ring has to be in the bottom of Crystal’s glass.”

“Right,” MJ said.

“We’re going to toast to the farm being included on the historical registry and then I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

“What if she doesn’t say yes?” Renda asked. “Will you try to tear the place down again?”

“No one will ever be able to tear this place down,” Douglas said. “And I have a pretty good idea that she will say yes.”

“I hope she does,” MJ said. “She smiles a lot more now.”

Renda nodded in reluctant agreement. “I guess you are good for her and the farm.”

Douglas really liked Renda’s suspicious mind because he knew underneath, she was a sweet little girl who wanted to be happy. That’s why he’d established a college fund for the Starlight girls. It was the least that he could do, since his words had caused them a lot of pain. They’d finally gotten over that hump when Douglas treated all of the Starlight girls to dinner and offered them a public apology. He’d even gotten his godfather to get Welco to provide the products and volunteers to do some renovations on their home.

Waylon had been happier these days himself, even if he was in a job that he claimed he didn’t want. Douglas knew that the man’s happiness came from his reunion with Dena. At some point, Douglas wanted to know the story about how his father broke the couple up. Why had his father been so hell-bent on keeping everyone around him unhappy? Maybe that’s why his mother left and never came back. He was sure those details were in his father’s diary, but he wasn’t ready to allow that negativity to infringe on his happiness. Today was about his future. His future with Crystal.

“All right, girls,” he said. “Now, make sure no one else knows about this.”

“You got it, Mr. D.,” MJ said.

“But,” Renda said, “you’re going to have to load those eggs for us so that Ms. Fey and Miss Crystal think that we got up early to work.”

Douglas shot them the thumbs-up signal as they headed to the Starlight House and he grabbed his boots.





Crystal rolled over on her side expecting to collide with Douglas’s body. Instead, she found the bed empty and cold. Sitting up and yawning, she wondered where he’d gone so early. These last few weeks with Douglas practically living on the farm with her had been blissful. She’d begun thinking about a future with him and worrying less about him deciding to leave her and Reeseville. Still, that whisper of a thought rippled through her this morning. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Crystal decided to start breakfast. Walking into the kitchen, she wondered when they would hear from the historical society about the farm’s status as a landmark.

“Morning, beautiful,” Douglas said as he walked into the kitchen.

“Well, you’re up early this morning,” she said as she kissed his sweaty cheek.

“Wanted to get a jump-start on some things since we have a big party coming up.”

“The girls are really excited about this,” Crystal said. “So, Mr. Wellington, since you’ve been so busy, why don’t you sit down and I’ll make you breakfast.”

Douglas yawned and took a seat at the kitchen table. “Thank you,” he said.

“Still having fun?” she asked as she prepared the coffee machine.

“You could say that,” Douglas replied as he looked down at his hands. “I’m forming my first callus.”

“Umm, that’s not exactly a good thing,” she said.

He laughed. “I know.”

Crystal crossed over to the refrigerator and grabbed eggs, cheese, bacon, and a bag of grits. “My grandmother had a secret remedy for callused hands.”

“Is that so?” he asked.

Setting the ingredients on the counter, she turned to him and smiled. “Yes, because when you touch me, I want to feel nothing but your smooth hands.”

Douglas rose from his seat and crossed over to her. He ran his hands down her hips and then pulled her against his chest. “You know,” he whispered. “I did a lot of work this morning, so there’s no rush for you to get out there.”

“And what do you suggest we do instead?”

He didn’t reply; he simply kissed her slow and deep. Crystal moaned softly as he lifted her up on the counter. The cotton gown she wore was quickly discarded and Douglas planted his face between her thighs, sucking and licking her throbbing pearl as she clamped her thighs around his neck.

“Yes,” she cried as he licked the sweetness of her pleasure. “Oh . . . That. Feels. Good.”

Pulling back after she’d reached a second climax, Douglas lifted her from the counter. “Let’s go back to bed.”

“Umm,” she said breathlessly. “I like that idea.”

Douglas rushed down the hall with Crystal in his arms. He needed to melt with his woman. His future wife.

Entering the bedroom, Douglas laid Crystal in the middle of the bed, then stripped his clothes off. As he joined her, she ran her hand down the center of his chest. His skin was so smooth and so silky. Douglas moaned as her fingers circled his nipples, and his erection grew harder. The anticipation to feel her wetness wrapped around him made him shiver.

Crystal locked eyes with Douglas as he spread her thighs and thrust into her. “Douglas,” she moaned, meeting his long, slow strokes. Her body hot, wet, and tingling as he touched her in the most sensitive spots.

“I love you,” he called out. “Love you.” He dove deeper into her, imagining the look on her face when she accepted his engagement ring. He wanted this to be the rest of his life. Wanted to make love to her every morning before they started their day. Wanted to carve out time to sneak away in the middle of the day to taste the sweetness and saltiness of her skin at lunch.

Never did he think they’d fall in love when he met her all of those months ago. He never thought she’d change his life in the manner that she had. Douglas closed his lips around her neck, gently licking and sucking as she tightened herself around him, milking his essence from him. He didn’t pull back or out as he reached his explosive climax. Douglas wanted to give her everything, even if that meant giving her his child. Crystal clutched his back and the waves of her own orgasm flowed through her body.

Spent from their lovemaking, the couple held on to each other, neither feeling the need to speak—or rather, having the energy to do so. Crystal stroked his arm and nestled closer to him. This felt good. This felt right. She didn’t want this feeling to ever end. Crystal loved this man, loved him so much that she couldn’t think about her life without him. How unreal was it that this multimillionaire, former CEO was working on her farm? The same man who she’d expected to have horns and breathe fire had shown her how tender and caring he could be. Crystal was touched by how he got along with the Starlight girls, especially Renda and MJ.

She sucked her bottom lip in and sighed. Her life had worked out better than any Lifetime movie she’d ever seen. And there was no stalker.

“What’s wrong?” Douglas asked.

“Nothing,” she replied. “Everything is just fine.”

“I know you better than that, and when you suck that luscious lip in and sigh like that, it’s not because everything is all right,” he said as he propped up on his elbow.

“I hate to be a pessimist,” she said, knowing she was going to mar their afterglow. “But, are you sure this is enough?”

Douglas stroked his chin. “Nope.”

“What?”

“That’s what you wanted to hear, right?” he asked with a low chuckle. “Crystal, when are you going to understand that I’m right where I want to be? If I had my way, you’d let me hire some people to do all the work we do here and we’d spend all of our mornings in bed just like this.”

She smiled and stroked his cheek. “I’m being ridiculous,” Crystal replied. “But I keep looking for the other shoe to drop and hit me on the head.”

“It’s not going to happen,” he said. Douglas glanced at the clock on the nightstand and smiled. He needed to go into town so that he could talk to Waylon about the party, and despite himself, he was a bit curious about what was going on at Welco. Moreover, he wanted to make sure Waylon and Dena were as happy as he and Crystal were. “I have to go into town to get some things for the party tonight, and to see Waylon at Welco.”

Crystal smiled, thinking that she should give Dena a call since she hadn’t seen her in a while. “Do you miss it, at all?” she asked as Douglas climbed out of bed.

“I don’t miss the work, but I can’t say that it’s easy to simply turn my back on Welco. No matter what he did, my father built that company. I’m hoping that Waylon can erase the bitterness and one day our children can be proud of all sides of their family legacies.”

Crystal didn’t say anything, simply smiled at the thought of having Douglas’s children. Just how in the world would they explain the strange history of the Wellington and Hughes families, though?

“And just how many children are we talking about?” she asked as she rose from the bed.

Douglas laughed. “We could be like the Duggar family, nineteen kids and counting.”

She playfully smacked him on his shoulder. “You’re out of your mind,” she quipped.

“Come on, you don’t think you can handle that many kids?”

“You can’t handle that many kids,” she said. “Because you will be hands on, especially in the diaper-changing department.”

“I’m guessing you’re against nannies,” he said as he headed for the bathroom.

“Nannies?” she called out after him. “Are you serious?”

“Not at all,” he replied. “Who needs a nanny when our kids are going to have the sweetest and most beautiful mother ever?”

Crystal followed him into the bathroom and wrapped her arms around him. “And our kids are going to have a father who will love them unconditionally and teach them to follow their dreams and desires.”

Douglas’s insides clenched and he wondered if he could be the father that Crystal described. She had been lucky to grow up with parents who cared and loved her, and he’d never had that. Not a loving mother to offset the coldness of his father nor a father who gave a damn about anything but himself.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “We’ll be great parents.”

“You can read my mind now, huh?” he asked before kissing her forehead. “Join me in the shower?”

“Sure,” she said as he turned the water on.

After another round of lovemaking, Douglas and Crystal finally pulled themselves apart and he headed to Welco. On the drive over, his smile was plastered on his face. Talking about a future with Crystal made him even more excited about his proposal.

Crossing the lobby of Welco, Douglas did feel a slight tug. If he was honest with himself, he’d admit that his time as CEO wasn’t all bad, despite the fact that his work was now tainted by his father’s need for revenge.

“Mr. Wellington,” a security guard said. “Do you have an appointment?”

Douglas tilted his head to the side and walked over to the elevator without saying a word. He might not be CEO anymore, but he wasn’t a guest in the building that he built either.

When he made it to Waylon’s office, Douglas laughed at the irony of the situation. Waylon had been so happy to be retired; now he was working and Douglas was living the life of a nearly retired man. Knocking on the open door, Douglas walked into his old office.

“What’s up, godfather?”

Waylon popped his head up from the file he was reading and sneered at his godson. “I could punch you in the chest, boy,” he said.

“What?”

“I’m supposed to be retired, living a stress-free life, and here you come looking like you’re having a great time doing nothing,” Waylon quipped.

When Douglas saw the smile plastered on his face, he realized that Waylon wasn’t as stressed as he’d led him to believe. “So, how’s Dena doing?”

“Wonderful. As a matter of fact, I’m trying to convince her to come on Welco’s legal staff, since I see how much pleasure one can get working with the woman he loves. She’s having a hard time dealing with the history of this company, though.”

Douglas nodded. “I can understand why, I guess.”

Waylon leaned back in his chair. “Dena and I should’ve been married and celebrating our anniversary. But, outside forces—”

“My father.”

“Yes, your father stepped in and altered our destiny. We’re working our way back to where we should be,” Waylon said, his smile telling Douglas that things were going very well on that front. “But, I’m sure you don’t want to hear about that. You’re going to ask Crystal to marry you tonight, right?”

Douglas nodded. “I wish her parents could be here, but Joel said he and Erin are on their way to Jamaica.”

“He told me that he expected this sooner or later. He really likes you and that shocked the hell out of me.”

“What? Everybody loves me.”

Waylon snorted. “Your dad and Joel had a bitter battle. I’m surprised that he was able to get past your lineage.”

Douglas leaned against the wall, still trying to wrap his mind around the evilness of his father’s deeds. “Why did he do it all?”

Waylon shrugged. “Your dad was very smart and in a small town none of that mattered because he was from Waverly. He was poor and thought that defined him.”

“But when he created this company and . . .”

“As much as he tried to pretend that he wasn’t, your father remained that same little boy from Waverly who thought he didn’t measure up. When we were growing up, the Hughes family was the talk of the town. You know, people took pride in what that farm meant. To your dad, when Erin chose Joel as the man she loved, she was just like everyone else—thought he wasn’t good enough.”

Douglas wished he could say he understood why his father took everything so personally, but it was too hard for him to wrap his mind around what Waylon said. Hearing about his father’s coldness further solidified his decision not to read the diary. Douglas wished his father would’ve been proud of the life he’d built for himself, treated his mother with more love and opened his heart. Maybe things would’ve been different and he would’ve had a happier life.

“Trey,” Waylon said, taking note of the pensive look on his godson’s face, “what’s done is done. Your father could’ve done so many things differently, but he made the choice to be consumed with anger and resentment. I wanted to shield you from that.”

“How? By leaving the company?”

“And not letting your father’s bitterness shape you. I was glad when you wanted to abandon business and do your music thing. Your father wasn’t happy about it at all. He made me promise I wouldn’t let him die alone; that’s why I begged you to come back.”

Douglas shrugged. “A lot of good it did.”

“You did more good than you think,” Waylon said. Before Douglas could reply, the phone rang. “I have to take this. The headhunter is having a hard time finding a qualified replacement.”

“Welco without a Wellington running it seems odd.”

Waylon raised his eyebrow before picking up the phone. “Second thoughts?” he asked.

“No,” Douglas said quickly. “Take your call and I’ll wait for you outside so that we can talk about the party.” As he left the room, he wondered if he could really cut his ties with Welco forever. Even if his father had tried to use the company for revenge, it was still a part of his family’s legacy. He could make it something that he and his future children could be proud of, couldn’t he? Shouldn’t he?

“Trey,” Waylon called out from his office. “So, this party is going to be when you ask Crystal to marry you, huh?”

Douglas smiled brightly. “Yes, but I’m wondering if she’s going to accept my proposal when I tell her what I’m thinking about doing.”

Waylon folded his arms across his chest and looked up at his godson. “You want your job back, huh?”

Douglas nodded. “While I’ve been working to get Hughes Farm on the historical registry, I can’t help but think about the Wellington family. My grandparents worked hard, tried to help out in Waverly as much as they could, and then there was my father and Welco. I want to be as proud of my Wellington roots as Crystal is of her Hughes roots. If I come back to Welco with a board that supports my ideas, Welco can do some serious good in this county.”

Still, Douglas was worried about Crystal’s reaction to him returning to the job in the company that she hated.

“This company is a part of you and no matter how you feel about what your father did, you have every right to want to be a part of this place. I don’t know if the board will be willing to vote you back in though.”

“That could be a good thing.”

“Maybe you should just become a board member. It will keep your home happy and you’ll still have a say in Welco.”

Douglas smiled. “When I grow up, I need to be smart like you,” he said as he shook his godfather’s hand.

“Keep living and maybe you’ll be as smooth and as smart as I am one day,” Waylon said as he gathered the files from his desk. “I have a meeting and lunch with Dena before heading to Hughes Farm for your big announcement.”

“All right, I’ll see you tonight. I have to go and pick up a cake for Crystal.”





Crystal couldn’t put her finger on it, but Renda and MJ had been acting strange all day. Whenever she approached them, they’d stop talking and exchange the oddest looks. Finally she had to ask, “What’s going on with you two today?”

“Umm, we’re just excited about the party tonight,” Renda said as she tied a ribbon on a balloon.

“Okay,” Crystal said.

“It’s going to be a good time,” MJ said.

“MJ,” Renda chided, “shouldn’t you go talk to the caterers?”

She smiled brightly. “I’m on it.”

Crystal watched her retreating frame as she tied another set of balloons. “Why do I get the feeling that you two are up to something?”

“Us? Come on, Miss Crystal. We’re just excited about the party and MJ going off to college,” Renda said.

“I’m so proud of everything that you and your sister have accomplished here. Next year it will be your turn to go to college.”

Renda shrugged. “I want to stay here,” she said. “Work at Starlight House and on the farm so other girls can see that even when people write you off, you can still make a difference.”

“But what about furthering your education?” Crystal asked. Though she admired what Renda wanted to do, she didn’t want her to sacrifice too much.

“I can go to college online. I just want to be like you and help other people,” Renda said.

Crystal enveloped the girl in a tight hug. “I’m glad you feel that way.”

“Well,” Renda said, holding back happy tears, “I’d better take these balloons into the cafeteria.”

As Crystal stepped out on the porch of the Starlight House, she saw Dena walking up the driveway carrying gift bags and wearing a huge grin. “Are you going to stand there or help me?” Dena asked.

“This was so sweet of you,” Crystal said as she took half of the bags.

“Well, I know how you feel about these girls and how you’ve fought for them. I just wanted them to know that there are others who care,” Dena said as they entered the house and dropped the bags on one of the tables.

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” Crystal said. “Not since you and Waylon reunited.”

Dena’s grin broadened. “That man,” she said.

“Seems as if that man is making you happy.”

“Well,” Dena said with a sigh, “he was until he suggested that I start working at Welco.”

“Doing what?”

“Head of their legal staff. Waylon doesn’t trust a lot of the people working there because of loyalties to the old board, and when he brings the new CEO in he wants him or her to have a staff that can be trusted. I’ve tried to move forward, but that company represents a lot of pain and suffering.”

Crystal sighed. “But things are different now, right?”

Dena nodded. “Still, Douglas Wellington did everything in his power to keep me and Waylon apart because he was unhappy. He used Welco to do it, sending Waylon away on ‘business’ and making it seem as if he’d left me on his own accord. Left me and our baby.”

“Baby?”

“I was so angry because I had a miscarriage, alone. I spent years hating Welco, Waylon, and everything Wellington,” she said. “That’s why I filed all of those lawsuits every time Welco started a development.”

“If you work for the company, you’ll be able to make changes from within.”

Dena shrugged. “Some things aren’t worth saving,” she said. “Douglas walked away and that place is his family legacy. What does that tell you?”

Crystal sighed and thought about the conversation she and Douglas had had earlier that day. Part of her wondered if she’d been the reason he left Welco.

“Let’s get ready for the party,” Dena said as she walked over to the helium machine with Crystal.