Absentminded Angel(Divine Creek Ranch 20)(74)

He heard Presley Ann giggle softly as she moved in beside him in the open doorway of the truck. “They should bottle that scent, huh?” she asked as she stroked Jared’s arm. “Can I take him?” she asked as she adjusted her red sling and held her hands out.

“Nope, it’s my turn,” Kendry said as he came around to the door, too.”

Whit decided for them as he looked at her and whimpered, his little hands reaching for her. She said, “I’ll take him, since he looks like he’s getting hungry.”

The quiet night and rest she’d gotten with Kendry seemed to have been just what she needed. Although Kendry had mentioned that she’d awakened during the night and taken full advantage of him, a fact which made his brother grin like an idiot as he’d described the encounter.

Whit let out a soft sigh as Presley Ann took him and held him to her chest as she situated him in the sling. She seemed to glow in the twilight and he couldn’t help himself when he leaned down to kiss her crown.

“What was that for?” There was a softness in her voice, a quality that had nothing to do with what she said but more with the feelings she projected. Satisfaction filled him as he gazed at her. The changes were subtle but he’d been noticing it since stopping in to see her in the store to drop off lunch for her earlier that afternoon. She’d been chatting with a customer, smiling and laughing at something they said, before moving on to her next task. She’d been walking up the aisle toward him, and as she looked up and made eye contact with him, her already beautiful face had brightened so much that it’d made his chest ache just to look at her. Then as she reached for him he’d realized what made the difference. The reserve was gone. Was she finally beginning to understand? Because they were in a public place, with her coworkers and customers looking on, he hadn’t said anything, but there was no reason to hold back now.

“I love you,” he whispered as he brushed his lips against her temple once more.

He could feel Kendry’s eyes on him and he glanced up, not surprised to find Kendry smiling as he rubbed the scar on his sternum. He reached down with the other hand and patted his jacket pocket.

“O’Reilley’s parking lot hardly seems the place for an assignation, Presley Ann Woodworth. Especially with an innocent child in tow. Wait until your father hears about this perverted business,” her aunt said in a terse voice as she walked past them on the nearby sidewalk.

Walking beside her, Willie harrumphed and said, “She doesn’t care, mom. Hell, she’s also living with them.”

The aunt tsked and then made a snide comment under her breath. “Shameless hussy. Your poor father.”

When he would’ve replied, Presley Ann put a gentle hand on his chest and gave a minute shake of her head. Quietly, she said, “Don’t bother. They’re not worth it.”

Kendry made a disgusted sound as both women strutted away like two ruffled chickens, and then he muttered, “What is with that woman? She’s really got it out for you. And what’s with her popping up like Whack-a-mole everywhere we go? Is that her daughter?”

Presley Ann took a deep breath and let it out. “Yes, I work with her at the store. One of several reasons I hope to go full time as a self-employed person. The joys of small town living.”

Newly motivated to help her achieve that goal, Jared frowned back at the woman when she turned to look at them one last time. Her face scrunched up like someone had stuck something stinky under her nose, and anger blossomed when he read her lips as she said, “Trash.”

He didn’t make a reply because he didn’t think Presley Ann had seen. He wouldn’t risk the woman repeating herself in Presley Ann’s hearing. This was a special night and he wouldn’t allow that woman’s ignorance to ruin it.

Presley Ann ignored her relatives as she cooed to Whit, adjusting the little Elmer Fudd hat on his head and bussing his cheek and earning a grin from him.

“Angel, would you like us to take you to Chantilly’s in Morehead instead, so you don’t have to see either of them?”

She glanced from him to his brother and said, “No, because they’re probably packed already and I like eating here. It’s her loss if she refuses to accept my son into the family and the two of you in my life, and I don’t need her approval in order to feel good about myself. I love two men. If they don’t like it, they can kiss my booty.”

Standing behind her, Kendry’s face went slack as he clutched playfully at his chest and staggered, mouthing, “Marry me.”

Jared chuckled, even though his joints went weak and he could almost imagine hitting his knees right then and there. She deserved the trappings, the romance. At the very least she and the baby deserved to get in out of the cold. “You’re sure?”