He grabbed her around the waist, whirled her around and, lifting her slightly, kissed her. “Your dog woke me up to go outside. Say thank you properly.” And then he buried his lips in her neck and growled.
For once in her life, Sierra chose not to kick good fortune in the teeth. She put her arms around his neck and let go of the sheet. It was caught between them and dragged, which of course made Molly think it was playtime. She bit at the sheet, pulled it, chewed it and wouldn’t let go. But Conrad was not discouraged. He reached into his bedside table, grabbed a condom and then grabbed Sierra, pulling her into the bathroom and closing the door on Molly. He was not the least bit distracted or dissuaded by the barking, whining and scratching at the door. He made sure Sierra was completely satisfied before he satisfied himself.
“Oh my God, who taught you how to make love?” she asked him.
“No one taught me,” he said. “That’s ridiculous. Nature taught me.”
“Nature didn’t show you how to back a woman up to a bathroom counter and melt her bones like that.”
“Isn’t it amazing what you can figure out when you have to?” He gave her a kiss. “Do you want a shower before you go? Breakfast? We could improvise for Molly...”
“I’ll take you up on that shower...alone. Then I’ll get Molly home for breakfast and I’ll have my coffee with Sully.”
“I hate to let go of you,” he said.
“The dog will starve if you don’t.”
“Can I be serious for a second?” he asked.
She felt a moment of dread. She wasn’t ready for him to get too serious. “Sure,” she said.
“I think it was almost the best night of my life,” he said.
She smiled at him. “You’re just saying that because my dog goosed you,” she teased.
“I’m saying it because it was. Can we talk later today?”
She nodded. “Of course. Are you working?”
“I’m helping out with a bunch of camp kids at the firehouse—just a few hours. I’ll come to the Crossing later. Is that okay?”
“You’ve been doing that almost since we met, Connie,” she said.
“Oh, that’s right.”
She took a breath. “It was one of the best nights ever for me, too,” she finally said.
He slapped her on the ass. “I don’t know how it could be. The dog didn’t goose you.”
*
There was another thing for which Sierra was grateful, if a little nervous at the same time. She had someone to come home to. Sully was waiting for her. Molly’s dish was full and Beau hadn’t touched it, though he’d eaten his own.
“Well, good morning, ladies,” Sully said. “And did we have a nice evening?”
“I spent the night,” she said. “Big deal.”
“Coffee?” he asked while pouring a cup for her.
“I’m thirty years old,” she said. “Old enough to make adult decisions for myself.”
“Did I say anything?” he asked.
“You’re judging me,” she said.
“If I were judging you, which I am not, my judgment would be that you chose a good man to pal around with. I’ve known Connie since he was about seven. How about an omelet? With bacon?”
“Are you supposed to have bacon?” she asked.
“I’m making it for you. You probably need sustenance.”
“So, how long are you going to have fun with this?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Sully said. “I have a lot of stamina. Just ask your brother.”
She was planning to see Cal that afternoon but talking to him about Conrad was the last thing she wanted to do. “It occurs to me I have a shortage of women in my life. And a surplus of very bossy men. As it happens, I was thinking of going over to Cal’s to see how the barn’s coming along, but I wasn’t planning to discuss my personal, um, business.”
“Then you better wipe that glow off your cheeks. Your personal business is shining all over your face.”
“I’ll have an omelet,” she said. “Extra bacon, please.”
Sierra worked around the Crossing in the morning and after lunch she went to see her brother. Molly went with her, of course.
Cal and Tom had made tremendous progress on the downstairs—the kitchen was complete and most of the flooring was installed. The laundry room and mudroom were finished, complete with cabinetry. Cal had had the cabinets made and brought to the house to install them all, an operation that took three days, but it gave the barn a classy, complete look. Except there was no furniture, but for that picnic table, which at the moment was covered with catalogs and fabric samples. “We’re getting started on the furnishings, some of it will take nearly a couple of months.”
“I hope the baby doesn’t come early for your sake,” Sierra said.
He tilted his head and peered at her. “Did you get a little sun today?”
“Probably,” she said. “I helped Sully this morning, since I didn’t have to work. I’m going to help him this week as much as possible—the Fourth of July is coming up and the campground is full from Wednesday till Tuesday.”
Cal looked at her more closely. “Could that be...whisker burn?”
“California!”
“It’s whisker burn,” he said, grinning at her. “I’ll be damned. I thought Connie was going to have to work at it all summer.”
“We’re very good friends,” she said.
“Sierra, don’t get your back up. I don’t care if you have a boyfriend. In fact, that makes me happy. After what you’ve been through—”
“He doesn’t know,” she hastened to inform him.
“And that’s okay, too,” Cal said. “I haven’t even told Maggie. I probably will, eventually. Or you will. But it broke my heart. Just like it broke yours. And I want you to have a chance to heal.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said. “He’s my good friend.”
“I don’t care, Sierra. As long as you feel good about it, whatever it is. I don’t know Conrad that well but Maggie does. And Maggie loves him.”
After they talked awhile longer, after Cal pointed out every seam in the floor, every door frame and hinge, every fancy cabinet with slide-out shelves and special drawers with dividers, they hugged and said goodbye. Sierra held the door of the pumpkin open for Molly to jump in the backseat. She looked at her rosy cheeks in the rearview mirror and said to Molly, “It’s okay if we have a boyfriend as long as he’s a good boyfriend.” And Molly smiled.
Connie was at the store when she got back to the Crossing. He was loading some trash into the back of his truck for Sully.
“What’s going on?” she asked him.
“I was just hanging out, waiting for you to come back, and I told Sully I’d take this to the dump on my way home. How’s the barn look?”
“It’s starting to look great. They’ve been at work on it for eight months and it looks like they’re going to make it. Are you hanging around for a little while?”
“Sure. Want to come home with me? Have dinner?”
“I’m sure you’ll sympathize, but I’m a little tired...”
He grinned proudly. “You have plans?”