Once and Again

chapter Nine



“I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

She narrowed her gaze at Chris and handed him a paintbrush. “I’m the only one who gets to say that. You think I wanted to get up on Sunday morning to watch you paint? Now get to work before I change my mind and go get a switch.”

He started to argue but apparently the memories of their grandpa and his peach switches to take care of major infractions when they were growing up was enough to get him past that urge.

“You grafitti’d someone’s fence because you and your stupid friends thought it’d be fun. Friends you were forbidden to see, I hasten to add. Well now you can paint it to undo your work.” She moved to the nearby lawn chair and sat, taking the tea Shannon Belfort had brought out. “Mrs. Belfort here is willing to forgo calling up Sheriff Chase in exchange for this paint job so you’ll say thank you ma’am and get working.”

To his credit, Chris did exactly that.

Mrs. Belfort chuckled and passed over a plate of cookies. “Needed a painting anyway. My Frank has been bellyaching about this fence for three years. Thank you, Christopher, for taking care of it. Now mind you, if I catch you and those boys here with a spray-paint can again, I’m gonna let the dogs out. You hear?”

Chris nodded and got back to work. He hadn’t said which boys he’d been out with, but she’d caught him red handed. Literally red handed—because he’d used red paint and no gloves—and had marched him up to the Belforts’ front door and made him apologize and offer to undo his mess.

A silly way to spend a Sunday afternoon she thought. She’d been up late piecing together a pretty coatdress she planned to list on the website she had put together with some great advice from Nathan’s sister Jill, who worked at a marketing firm in Atlanta. So far, Lily had sold several pieces already in stock.

Even worse, she was supposed to be over at Tate’s at that moment having barbecue and looking at Nathan’s butt. But it had to be done and she planned to make Chris paint the fence at home too. This behavior of his would only get worse if they didn’t react to it swiftly and with a heavy hand.

Her mother seemed only mildly disturbed, though she’d been supportive enough as Lily had lit into her brother about this sort of behavior. She’d planned to have the big discussion about her mother’s deteriorating behavior that morning when Chris would be off with his youth group. She’d do it the following day when he was back in school. It wasn’t as if Pamela actually parented Chris anymore anyway.

It made Lily sad and very tired. But there was nothing else to be done but what she was doing.

“I hear you take pictures.”

After she got her cookie chewed and swallowed, she nodded. “Yes, something like that.” She was good with a camera after all. Had the gear and the ability.

“My youngest just got engaged. He wants pictures. Or, well you know his little girlfriend wants them for the paper and such. What would you charge for such a thing?”

“After my brother ruined your fence?”

Mrs. Belfort laughed and patted Lily’s knee. “Honey, my youngest? The one getting hitched? He’s broken windows and gotten liquored up in Charlie Duke’s barn a time or two. Not many families in Petal who can claim their children never got up to mischief. Then again, not many of ’em would have brought those kids round to make amends neither. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, what do you charge?”

By the time Chris had finished his painting Lily had booked a session with John Belfort and his bride-to-be for some engagement pictures and had given her card to Mrs. Belfort who also happened to manage the schedule booking for weddings down at the Petal First Baptist church.

Maybe this moving-to-Petal thing could actually work out.



“She cancelled? Again?” Nathan paced as Beth watched him, amused.

“She’s got stuff to do. Chris spray painted the Belfort’s back fence last night. She made him paint it and so she has to supervise. It’s not like she’s getting any help from her momma.”

“I barely get to see her as it is.”

“Look, Nathan, she’s got a lot on her plate. You’d do the same in her place and you know it. She’s working on her clothing stuff pretty much single-handedly too. Give her a little room to breathe.” Beth’s eyes narrowed as she dared him to argue with what he already knew.

Tate sent him a look from where she’d been sitting with Lil Beth feeding her. “You don’t like not being at the top of her to-do list.”

“Well no! I don’t. Is it too much to ask?” Cripes, he was planning on asking the woman to marry him, the least he could expect was some attention.

“Yes it is.” Tate shrugged and the baby did the same, laughing. Unable to resist, Nathan plucked her up, and she tugged on his ear before snuggling in for a sloppy kiss. “Yum, oatmeal.” He grabbed the cloth and got her face clean and then his.

“She’s the only one interested in really helping that boy. She’s his family. That’s what family does. You of all people should know that.”

He wanted to hang his head as he was righteously busted. But he resisted, trying not to pout. “I just want to be with her.”

“You sound like a two-year-old.” Beth stared him down. The disapproval of his sisters never sat well with him and he knew they were right, but he wanted to see her more and it wasn’t happening. It had been a week and a half since the last time he’d been able to actually touch her, damn it.

“She asked you to give her some time. She’s being reasonable and you’re being petulant. It’s very unlike you.” Tate handed him a cookie he gobbled down after sharing a little bit with the baby.

Not enough apparently as she grabbed his wrist and started to cry when she saw none left.

“You’re starving this baby. Clearly.” He shot an amused glance to Tate who handed him a graham cracker. Lil Beth examined it closely and then his face as if to say, Are you serious?

“The others had nuts in it. These are better for you.” Tate gave the baby a stern look.

Lil Beth was her mother’s daughter and she narrowed her gaze for a moment back at Tate. “No.” She shook her head and he laughed, kissing her cheeks, which seemed to satisfy her for the moment.

“Give the guy a break. He loves her and she’s not with him. Makes a man antsy.” Matt spoke from his place at the table with Meg, who was coloring.

“Do you love her?” Beth examined him carefully.

He took a deep breath and sighed. “Yeah. Probably. Definitely. Yes, yes, I love her. Heck, I want to marry her. But she holds me at arm’s length. I hate that.”

“Get over it. You screwed her over. It takes time to trust again. You can’t expect her to just go poof it’s over and then you two are hunky dory. You have to keep with the woo.” Matt looked up again. “And for crissake don’t go with this marriage stuff until the summer. She’s not going to run away. You’ve got her back. Give her time.”

“Ha. You were up on my sister five minutes after you met her.”

Matt snorted and looked to Tate with a smile. “Yeah. She gave me a run for my money. I made mistakes too. I seem to remember one of her brothers threw a drink in my face when he thought I’d hurt her feelings.”

Nathan barked a laugh, remembering that time at the Pumphouse. “You made her cry. I can’t abide any of my ladies crying.” He undid a fist that had been in his hair and kissed it. “Of course I’m waiting until summer to propose. But I have intentions with this woman and I aim to keep them. This is serious business. Marriage business. This is not dating. I’m past that with Lily. I want a life with her.”

Tate nodded curtly. “Of course you do. Help her instead of making her feel like she’s got to try and make everyone happy. She’s trying to deal with her momma, her brother and you. All while trying to make a living. She’s got enough to juggle. ”

He did hang his head then. “You’re right.”

Tate laughed and took the baby. “Of course I am.”



Which is how he managed to finally get her alone just a few evenings later when he crashed dinner at Beth’s house. Crazy loud with Murphy and Chase women, he brought over a box of stuff Beth had been bugging him about.

“Put it in my closet please.”

He started to get annoyed when he noticed Lily wasn’t in the room and realized most likely his quarry was also in Beth’s closet doing something or other. His sister had totally helped him corner his lovely Lily.

“I have a pretty awesome sister. Thanks.”

“Don’t get anything gross on my clothes or I’ll hunt you down.” She said it quietly and then turned around and headed back toward the kitchen.

Ah and there she was. He put the box down and moved to where she’d been hanging her coat up.

“Good, you’re wearing a skirt.” He closed the door behind himself and looked to the one window at the far side of the closet. Closed. Good.

Startled she turned to him and he caught the blush. “Wh-what?” She backed up.

“I’ve missed you.” One handed, he loosened his belt and unzipped his jeans. “And now I aim to remedy it. In part. You wearing panties under that pretty skirt?”

“Wh-what?”

He grinned and he knew it affected her by the way she widened her eyes. “You got anything else to say but what?”

She swallowed hard and then again when he pulled his cock free. “I want you. Right now. No one is going to notice we’re gone, not with all the hubbub out there. And even if they did, each and every person here would go out of their way to protect what you and I have.”

She bent and produced a bright red pair of panties that she stepped out of. He took them from her hand and stuffed them in a pocket. “Compliance. I like that.”

In two steps her back was against the wall, and he inched her skirt up until he exposed stockings and a garter belt. “Oh you’re so sexy I can’t stand it. I think about you. About this all the time.”

“You’re a boy, that’s what you all do.” Her voice was breathy, which only made him want her more.

He slid his hands up those pretty thighs and snapped one of the straps holding the stockings up. “I like these.” He walked his fingers up her thighs until he found the part of her he wanted most right at that moment. Hot and wet. “You’re ready for me.”

No response this time, just a nodded head. Which was fine with him. He knew what a nod meant and as long as he had the go-ahead, that was enough.

“No time to taste you. That’s a cryin’ shame.”

She stuttered a breath

She should have remembered how much it got him off when she did that. But all the more for him. He stood and pushed her back against the wall. “I want you here. And I want you now. You on board with that?”

There was no argument on her face. Not at all. She hauled him closer and her lips met his, opening to him right away.

As he kissed that sweet mouth he pulled one of her legs up, and she hooked a calf around his waist, bringing him even closer. He growled and she swallowed the sound, whimpering a little until he brushed the heart of her with the head of his cock. Then she stilled and groaned. Her fingers in his hair tightened. “In. In. In.”

He had no arguments with that plan. Not a one. And when he pressed into her p-ssy, they both hissed at how good it was. But there was no time to luxuriate in that heated wet, just enough time to f*ck her hard and fast and spend the rest of the afternoon with her scent on his skin like a secret.

Once fully seated, he met her gaze and never gave it back as he began to f*ck her in earnest.

Hard.

Fast.

Deep.

So good he nearly lost his mind, but he held on, needing all of her he could get just then, knowing it might be all he’d have until they could sneak in some time next. She was wily, ridiculously busy, and he had to compete with all sorts of priorities he knew were important, but hated to share her over anyway.

Her muscled calf held him tight. As if he’d move anywhere else but inside her.

“I love it when you take me this way,” she whispered into his ear. “I love the denim of your jeans against my naked thighs.”

He snarled a curse and dug in deeper. Admittedly, it rang his bell too, that she was partially naked and he had on all his clothes. They needed to explore that further.

But right then he would die if he didn’t keep f*cking her. Harder and harder until her eyes went half-lidded and glossy, her lips wet from his kisses. “I want you this way all the time. But for now, let’s get you coming.”

“Mmm. Good idea.”

He watched as she slid a hand between them, jumped with the first tightening of her p-ssy around his cock when he knew she’d found her * with her fingertips.

“I know you’re ready. Take your pleasure. Come all around me.”

Her bottom lip caught between her teeth as her gaze remained locked with his. He wanted to look down, to watch her hand as she made herself come. But he couldn’t tear himself away from her eyes. From the total honesty she gave him in those stolen moments.

It wasn’t long before she got even hotter and wetter, not long before she gasped and then came all around him. Came so hard he saw stars and had to find his own climax. Which had been hovering just at the outer edges of his consciousness, waiting, waiting until the right moment. And as she moved her hand to grip his waist and hold him close, the moment hit hard as he pressed deep and came.





On shaky legs, Lily headed back into the house after she dropped Chris off at school. Today was the day for yet another conversation with her mother. She’d been put off the last time and Lily didn’t plan to let her mother dodge the subject again.

“Mom?”

Pamela wandered into the living room. “Yes? Everything all right?”

“No. Not really. Can you sit and talk with me for a bit?”

Pamela sat. “What is it? Is Chris all right?”

“As all right as he can be I guess. It’s about you. And through that, about us all. Mom…” She paused, trying to remember the script she’d loosely crafted. “I’d like to talk to you about how many pills you’re taking lately. And all the drinking with it.”

Pamela’s back shot straight and her eyes narrowed. Despite the circumstances, that flash of fire was a good thing to see. It was nice to know her mother had some fight left in her.

“That’s none of your business.”

“It wouldn’t be if you weren’t stumbling and falling because you’re so messed up you can’t even walk straight.”

“Those are prescription pills! You’re treating me like I bought drugs on the corner.”

“I’m not treating you like anything. I understand those are pills your doctor gave you to deal with the stress of Dad’s leaving. And I know how hard it’s been for you. Petal is a small town. Everyone knows your business. But they don’t judge you, not the way they judge him.”

“I don’t know why you’re talking about this. I don’t talk to you about what you do.”

“Like what? What do I do that has me falling down and hurting myself and asking my son to lie to my daughter about it?”

Her mother blushed. “Chris is having a hard time but he’s getting better.”

“He’d be a lot better if he wasn’t seeing his mother drunk or stoned all the time.”

“This conversation is finished. I don’t have to make excuses to my daughter about what I do. They’re pills my doctor gave me and a few glasses of wine never hurt anyone.”

“A few bottles of wine to wash down your meds has hurt people. It’s hurting you right now. Yes, they’re prescription but I checked, you’re not supposed to drink when you take them. And you take more than you should at a time. People abuse their medications all the time. You’re self-medicating because it hurts. I get that.”

“You’ve been looking at my pills? I forbid it! I won’t be managed like a child. I had enough of that for years.”

The counselor had warned Lily about getting involved in arguments that took the focus off the real problem so she steeled herself and tried to keep to the topic. “You’ve checked out of your son’s life. I’m raising him, not you. He’s a great kid. You are totally capable of being a good mother. I know that because that’s what you were to me. You drink too much, and you shouldn’t be combining the alcohol and pills. You’re going to not wake up one of these days and then what? How many people does Chris have to lose?”

“What I do is none of your business. Nancy was telling me you’d get this meddlesome and I guess she was right. If you think you can come in here and treat me like you do Christopher, you’re out of your mind. You can just get out now if that’s your plan.”

Nancy. Of course.

“Well, no I can’t get out. There’s no way I’d leave Chris here with you unsupervised. No way I’d let him discover you in a pool of vomit.”

“I told you the oil I made the hush puppies in was bad. That’s why I got sick.”

“Your body saved you from overdosing. Christ, Mom, I’m not stupid! We ate the hush puppies too. No one else got sick. You have bottles in your room. You’re hiding how much you drink now. You know it’s bad or you wouldn’t be hiding it. This is out of hand. Stop it while you still can. I checked. Your medical insurance covers all sorts of different things. I think you’d benefit by at least seeing the counselor a few times a week. Just to talk to her about all the stuff you can’t talk about with me or anyone else. She won’t judge you.”

“I don’t need a psychiatrist! I’m fine. I can stop when I want to. If that’s what it takes to shut you up, I will.” She stood, her hands shaking with anger.

Lily doubted her mother could simply stop. Not without a place to put all the reasons why she sought the oblivion of her haze to start with. But the counselor had said this would be a probable outcome and that it might take several tries before Pamela truly heard what she was saying.

“You know you can always talk to me too. I’m not going to judge you.”

“You’re judging me right now! You always judge.”

That hurt.

“I want you to be all right. I don’t want Chris to see you this way. I don’t want Dad to wreck your life any more than he already has. I’m not judging why you do it. I know why you do it. I’m saying your son sees it and I know the mom I had growing up wouldn’t want that.”

“You said your piece. We’re done. I’m a grown woman and I don’t need to clear anything with you before I live my life.”

Pamela left the room and Lily just sighed. She’d done it. Had no idea if it would help or hurt, but she’d done it and it was all she could do for the moment. If it got worse, she’d have to move to different plans, plans she really hoped she didn’t have to go through with. But she’d protect Chris no matter what.