There was nothing quite as overwhelming, in a positive way, as their hands loving and touching her body all at once. She hoped she never grew accustomed to it. But she also loved and craved the time she spent alone with them. What she needed from Richard when they were alone together was different from what she felt for them as a group. In contrast to his formidable size and strength, what turned her on about Richard was his tenderness and the caring way he had with her, which made her feel immeasurably precious. She appreciated their differences more with each passing day.
Thinking of their little group reminded her of the note tucked into her purse. She was determined to not ruin the mood tonight and decided to give them the note in the morning.
Maya slid her hands up his torso and stroked the short strands of dark brown hair at his nape. The timer was set on the oven. Hopefully Boone or Kendall would hear it if she didn’t return to the kitchen in time.
“Do you have any condoms in the bathroom, Richard?”
“Medicine cabinet,” he murmured against her neck as he brushed his warm lips under her ear.
* * * *
Taking out his bandana to wipe his sweat-soaked brow, Kendall looked around at what he’d accomplished that day. He remembered what the JWB had looked like the day they’d arrived two years before.
The rickety old ranch house had been uninhabitable after sitting unoccupied for thirty-plus years. The fields and pastures that now sported grass ready for baling and herds of Hereford cattle had been left fallow, and mesquite trees had gotten a prolific toehold, even around the house itself. In the last two years they’d done a lot—root-plowing and bulldozing the mesquites, cross-fencing the pastures, purchasing and maintaining breeding stock, and making the house habitable.
It was unfortunate the house had been leveled in the storm, but he didn’t miss it all that much. It hadn’t been near good enough for Maya to live in. With satisfaction at a job well done, he tipped the water bottle and splashed water on his face then took a long drink. He dried his face and grabbed his cell phone as it rang.
He glanced at the number on the screen and chuckled as he answered the phone, “Mom!”
Josie Warner’s familiar, soothing voice responded, “Can someone please tell me why I have to hear that my son is in love from his cousin’s wife? I just got off the phone with Grace and she tells me that Maya Daire has got you wrapped around her finger.”
“Well…” The statement was mostly accurate.
“It’s good to hear that she’s moving on with her life, Kendall. I always wondered after Morgan’s passing if the two of you wouldn’t wind up together.”
“But, Mom, it’s—”
“That it’s the four of you is no big shocker as close as you boys have always been. Grace tells me that Maya fits right in down there.”
Kendall smiled that his mom made that news seem almost run-of-the-mill. “She does.”
“How is the ranch?”
“Hard, hot work but it’s looking good. How is Aggie Rose?”
“Your sister is just fine, from what I can tell. She’s about as good at keeping in touch as you and your bothers. But you know her. She’s an aggie all the way to her maroon blood, still loving Texas A & M. It looks like she’s going to finish early.”
“Yeah, she keeps telling me she’s going to open her veterinary practice in Divine after she gets her degree. I can’t wait, because vet bills are expensive. Did she tell you if she’s coming for a visit here soon?” He thought Maya would adore his spunky little sister Agatha Rose, affectionately known as Aggie Rose.
“With the schedule and hours she’s keeping? I wouldn’t expect to see her until Christmas time. I’ve never seen a more focused student than Aggie.”
“That’s good because I know you were relieved when the three of us barely managed to squeak by with our diplomas in hand.”
“But you’re good boys.”
“When are you coming for a visit?”
She snorted. “When I hear you have space for visitors. How is the house coming?”
“We’ll get started in a few weeks.”
She giggled and speculatively said, “Oh! You’re too busy romancing the beautiful widow?”
Laughing, he replied, “Something like that.”
She turned more serious and asked, “Richard doing okay?”
“He seems to be doing great. Maya has been good for him, I think.”
“I’m happy to hear that. How is my eldest doing?”
“Boone is still working at the Rockin’ C Ranch with Richard. I imagine they’ll both come on fulltime at our ranch sometime next year. He’s crazy about Maya.”