“How are you doing, son?” he asked the moment he approached.
“Good.” Neal took the pate of food offered to him and sat down. He ate in silence for several minutes waiting for his dad to say or do what he had to.
“What happened last night?” his dad asked.
He closed his eyes for the hundredth time as images of Sandy played in his mind. She’d tasted so fucking good. He couldn’t believe he’d acted like a prick.
“I lost control. That’s all.”
“You think that makes what you did right? Your brothers told me what happened. To be honest Neal, I’m ashamed of you right now.” The disappointment on his dad’s face told him how bad he’d fucked up. Not just with Sandy but also with his family. She wasn’t a sister or a close relative. However, Sandy had become part of their family.
In truth she was a Haney without the last name.
“Dad, you don’t know what happened. I let go and Sandy shouldn’t be the one to pay the price. I’ll have better control over myself next time. I’ll make sure I won’t be alone with her.” The moment he said the words he wished he hadn’t. Sandy fired his blood and stirred his passions unlike any other woman. There was something deep inside her that called to him.#p#分页标题#e#
She was potentially the woman who would challenge him in every area of their life and give herself over to him in the bedroom. He’d been looking for so long to find a woman who could satisfy him. None had been worth the time. He could see a future with Sandy right in front of him…and it scared the hell out of him.
“I love your mother. I wouldn’t be with anyone else. But before her I played the field son. I sowed my oats and made my mistakes. I know you boys see us as parents and old fashioned, as if we don’t have a clue what goes on in the world today. This dominant thing I keep hearing, that’s who you are. Not something you should be afraid of.”
Neal cringed as his dad talked. He was thirty-five years old, not some horny teenager needing his dad’s advice on condoms and shit. When he’d reached sixteen and a porn magazine had been discovered under his bed, his dad sat down with him and had the talk.
“Dad, I don’t need your advice.”
“No? Then why doesn’t Sandy have a ring on her finger? That girl has been chasing you for years. You spend all of your time avoiding her. I think it’s time you see her for whom she truly is.”
“Sandy doesn’t have the grit being a rancher’s wife takes.”
“No. Then tell me why she’s the first woman I would call if anything ever happened to your mother? She’s every bit a rancher’s woman. You’ve got your head so far up your own ass you can’t see anything but the crap you put in front of you. Do yourself a favor and grow up, Neal.”
His dad stormed off. The last of his words ringing in Neal’s ears. After finishing his sandwich, he picked up the rake and began working on the hay. Hearing his dad cuss had been a real eye opener. In truth, there were so many things he wanted to deny. Sandy wouldn’t enjoy life as a rancher’s woman. How could a beautician make that kind of transition?
An hour past and his thoughts still plagued him when Luke stopped by.
“I’ve come to pick up your plate,” he said.
Neal handed him the plate. “Are you going to keep acting like a baby? Telling me my fucking faults,” Neal snarled.
“No. Sandy is better off without you.”
“How can you even be rooting for me and her? You dated her once.”
Luke threw the plate to the ground, which smashed on impact. “Yes, Sandy dated me. For fucks sake, we were each other’s first. That’s right I got there first. I love her with my whole heart. There isn’t nothing I wouldn’t do for her. But she’s my best friend. I wished we could see past our friendship and have a proper relationship. I’d be a good husband to her. I know she’d be a damn good wife. But the connection isn’t there. Get over your shit. She deserves better than you.” Luke stormed away in the same direction as their dad.
He looked up to the sky, wondering if lightning would strike him down. Both men were right. Sandy didn’t deserve this treatment.
When he finished his work, he packed everything away for the day, said a goodnight to his family, then drove into town.
Most places in Fort Valley closed at five, that included the salon. He saw Sandy locking the doors with a few other women standing around her. They were all laughing. He parked his truck across the road and ran over to her.
“Sandy,” he called. She didn’t respond. He called her name again, louder this time. She turned, glared at him and went in the opposite direction from the women.