Rebel Betty Page 8

  “It's nice,” she said, and stepped closer to run her finger over the black ink, making him shiver. Her eyes had gone dreamy.

  Thad slipped his index fingers in the loops of her jeans and urged her closer. She molded herself to his body, and he crowded her against the tiled wall.

  He had not touched her since the day he had brought the trailer, and the need for her was a fire in his stomach. He pulled her jeans up, rubbing them against all the places his body longed to go, and leaned his forehead against hers. “Seen a lot of tattoos, have you?”

  “One or two,” she breathed, and scrapped her nails down his chest. Gooseflesh exploded, and his nipples went diamond hard. She licked her lips and focused on the hardened points, and Thad knew that she was controlling the urge to taste him. With a sinuous flexing she brushed up against him, teasing the erection cresting his jeans.

  “You are making me crazy,” Thad said, knowing that his voice had gone hoarse. He wanted her so desperately that it pained him to be the voice of reason, but he was a hair’s breadth from pulling her to the floor.

  Lara slid her hands down his back and into his back pockets, molding his ass. One more sinuous press against him and then she stepped back, breathing as though she had just run a race.

  “We have the worst timing.” Her words were firm but her eyes screamed a wanton appeal, moving lazily down him as though he were a dessert buffet.

  There was a rustling sound from the open door to the bedroom, and a tiny voice called.

  "Larry? Where are you?"

  Lara gasped, and poked her head out the door. "Yes, baby?"

  "Gotta go potty."

  Lara flew from out the door after giving him a glance filled with mingled humor and frustration. There was the sound of running feet, then another door opening, far down the hall.

  Impelled by some impulse he could not name, Thad walked to the door and listened as he pulled on his shirt and laced his boots.

  "Hop up there." There came Lara's voice, followed by the indistinct sounds of a bathroom visit.

  Mackenzie began humming, and Thad chuckled as he recognized the melody from "Twinkle twinkle little star."

  "Larry."

  "Hmm?"

  "Taddy your special friend?" There was an odd inflection to her voice, as though she was aping an often heard phrase.

  "What do you mean, sweetie?"

  "Your special friend. Mama had friend. He would come over to give Mama her medicine and he and Mama would play and if I was good and stayed on the couch Mama would give me sucker."

  Down the length of the hallway, Lara turned and caught his eye. His horror was reflected in her face. "Do you mean your daddy?"

  "Daddy at work. He Mama's friend."

  Lara sat back on her heels and wrapped her arms around her legs and rocked slowly back and forth. "Taddy is my friend, sweetie. He’s nice, like your mommy was nice. You like him, don't, you?"

  "Hmm mm."

  "Well that's what is important, just like knowing that you are safe here is important. Now why don't you wash your hands and then you can show Taddy your pretty room."

  Mackenzie peaked around the door to see him walking in their direction; her angelic face beamed. There was the sound of running water, and the happy sounds he associated with warm splashing and bubbles. Mackenzie emerged from the bathroom and took his hand, leading him to her room.

  It was a space fit for a princess, complete with piles of toys, a fairy tale canopy bed, and a three foot tall wooden castle with miniature figures. And from each wall, framed photographs of the girls' parents looked down on her. They were pictured separately and together, grade school pictures and pictures of family vacations, as well as grungy, dimly lit photos taken by friends. Together, they seemed to watch over their daughter.

  When Kenzie began to lose interest in the tour, Lara sent her downstairs. "Why don't you see if you can find where I hid the graham crackers so I can take them with us?"

  Blue eyes lit up. "With frosting?"

  Lara chuckled. "No way. But maybe if you are good, we can stop for ice cream." She glanced at Thad. "If the nice professor eats ice cream."

  "What sort of person doesn't eat ice cream?"

  Mackenzie ran from her bedroom to the stairs. She slid down, each step sending her bouncing and laughing like a piece of popcorn in a heated pan.

  "Jesus, just when I thought I had heard the worst of it." Lara leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, and for a moment her face looked older, and immeasurably tired. A beam of sunlight from the window hit her scalp, and she turned to it, letting the warmth bathe her.

  "Drugs? No, sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

  "Don't worry about it. It's not as though it were a secret, in a town this size. It was heroin. Becky OD'd, and then Will killed himself. Drove his motorcycle into an abandoned building after he found Becky dead on the couch. He'd been an addict for years.”

  "My God. And that sweet little girl." Thad shook his head. “She is lucky to have you."

  "More like I am lucky to have her. What I am doing is nothing special."

  "From where I am standing it is. Not only are you raising your brother's child like a princess, complete with her own castle..."

  Lara spared a furtive, embarrassed glance at the castle. "I got a really good deal on that."

  "Sure you did. If you spent less than a grand on it, you got a bargain. But what I mean is that you do so many things for her just because it's the right thing, like keeping her parent's memory alive for her and letting her see her grandparents even though it makes your life harder."

  "But…"

  He saw that she would object, protest that she was doing was what anyone would do, so he stepped forward and pressed a hard kiss to her lips. He tried to infuse all of his conflicting emotions in the kiss, all the passion and admiration, frustration and longing, and she must have felt them, because she sagged against him. With a groan, he pulled back and rested his cheek against Lara’s temple. She would have to go downstairs soon. Mackenzie had been quiet for too long, always a bad sign, but for the moment he relished the feel of her, gathered in his arms.

  "I don't know who you see when you look in the mirror, Lara, because from where I am standing, you are damn near perfect."

  His eyes followed Lara as she walked down the stairs, all feline grace and bouncing hair. He briefly contemplated a return to the shower for an icy dousing, but a quick glance at his phone and the waiting text proved an effective antidote to desire. The boy would not have written unless there was something seriously wrong.

  Hope the dig is good. You find anything? I just wanted to tell you that my Dad is back in town and he is using again. H. Mom is scared but she says that he had nowhere else to go. I am worried something is going to happen.-D

  After biting off a quick curse, Thad sent a quick text to Mike Blackwell, asking him to look into the situation. Mike had introduced him to Dwayne two years ago. Although musically gifted and intelligent, the kid had bounced from one petty crime to another, accumulating an impressive juvenile record. When his father had been sent to prison for a minor drug offense, Dwayne's behavior had improved, as had his grades, and thanks to some behind the scenes maneuvering, he had been accepted into the university for the coming year.

  He might need to make another trip back to Oxford soon, if the problem could not be resolved. He’d been able to help a few kids find their way over the years. One was now a promising chemistry student at State, and another had decided to enter the military. But for each success there had been a dozen failures and each one was a weight on his heart. Had Mike not taken him in, he could have been another statistic.

  He headed back downstairs, following the sounds of Kenzie laughing. Lara was loading her canvas bag with an assortment of pull-ups and wipes, snacks and juice boxes. The blush of passion still colored her cheeks, making Thad think again how unassuming and lovely she was. Her smile was luminous; seeing it, he felt a pang emanating from the center of his chest, the
emotion at once terrifying and wonderful, like unearthing a buried treasure.

  “I was wondering if you minded taking my truck,” she said. “We would not have to move the car seat and there is a DVD player in the back.”

  "Nope," he said. "I don't even mind if you drive."

  The truck cruised down the highway. Lara, as he would have suspected, drove with careful precision, obeying the speed limits and flicking annoyed eyes at drivers who zoomed past.

  In the back, Mackenzie was hypnotized by a Disney movie. Her blinks had become longer and longer, and her head bobbed gently. The headphones she wore drowned out the majority of the noise, but she sang along with the music.

  “I think she will be out before too long,” Thad said, nodding in her direction.

  Lara looked in the rear view mirror. “Never fails. You can’t get her to nap at home, but put her in a moving vehicle and she is out within ten minutes.”

  Conversation lapsed between them, and within seconds, Mackenzie’s head was cocked at an impossible angle, her lips pursed in sleep.

  “Sweet girl,” he murmured.

  “Yes, she is.”

  “You ever think about having one of your own?” Now where in the hell had that question come from? Thad had to resist the urge to face palm. Hard.

  She took her eyes off the road, and although she smiled, there was something sad in her face. “Yes. I am almost thirty years old, and before Mackenzie, my biological clock was starting to tick very loudly. It was one of the reasons I broke it off with the guy I was engaged to.”

  Ahh. He had to suppress a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't the only one with a complicated relationship history. “He wasn’t interested?”

  “He liked the idea of us getting married, but not having children. It would have cramped his lifestyle,” she said. Then she glanced sidelong at him, hair blowing wildly in the breeze. He shunned the air conditioning, as she did, preferring to allow her body to become accustomed to the warmth of the day.

  "So what did you do in the Marines?"

  "Artillery." At her surprised expression he shrugged. "Not exciting enough for you?"

  "Hardly," she replied. "I was always suspicious of the number of men who claimed to be Navy Seals or Special Forces. I was just surprised because I would have expected something in Intelligence."

  "They tried to recruit me for that, but it sounded like less fun than blowing shit up." he looked out the window. "The twins were Army Rangers."

  "Really? And did you say they are twins?"

  "Logan and Lucas. Jesus, those two. Even before Mom and Dad died, they were always in trouble. Afterwards, it was ten times worse. I have had a lot of success in my life, but getting them to finish high school without ending up in jail is still my greatest achievement. I should have gotten a medal for it."

  Lara snorted with laughter, and then raised a hand to cover reddened cheeks. "That's awful!" She laughed, and he did not know whether she meant his assessment of his brothers or the noise she had just made.

  The road stretched out before them, miles upon miles of pavement gradually sloping upwards to the horizon. Big rigs zoomed around them, monstrous engines roaring like dragons as they devoured the miles. Kids who did not look old enough to drive passed in their sporty cars, and families in minivans with children’s gear piled to the roof. It was very busy for a Thursday, vehicles jammed together on the road. With a start he realized that the Fourth of July Weekend was upon them. The summer was half over.

  “You take Mackenzie to see the fireworks?”

  Lara shook her head, expression pinched. “Her grandparents are taking Kenzie to visit some family near Cincinnati. It's not even supposed to be their weekend, but I would feel…” Lara looked in the mirror, ensuring that the child still slept, “like a bitch for refusing. We didn't have anything planned.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  Lara shrugged, and then cast a teasing glance at him. “Sit on my back patio and have a beer and watch for the faint sparkles over the trees. You are welcome to join me.”

  “That sounds great. You should let me cook, though, just so that I can prove I am not useless in the kitchen.”

  “I’m sure you have many skills that I have not had the opportunity to experience.”

  The punch of heat to his stomach at her husky tone was so unexpected that his hands were reaching for her before his mind had the chance to put on the brakes. If he could, he would lay his hand on her warm thigh and squeeze, feeling the strong muscles and the blood pulsing though her veins.

  “At least not until August,” he said, knowing that his voice had gone hoarse. “Although I seem to remember the social worker saying that she was not the sex police and that you were free to live your life. There is nothing to stop us from dating, even if we would have to be careful, for Mackenzie's sake.”

  “Dating.” She rolled the word around on her tongue, seeming to taste it. “Is that what you want, for us to date? Not just a quick roll?”

  "No, I am not interested in a fling, or in hooking up, as the kids say. I got over wanting that kind of relationship a long time ago.”

  “You don’t know me very well,” Lara said, and there was a note of vulnerability in her voice that made him want to shake his head. It made no sense.

  “Looking for a list of your virtues? Let's see, you are loving, smart, brave, loyal…”

  “So is a collie.”

  “Yes, but I don't want to have sex with a collie.”

  "That's reassuring." Lara was grinning ear to ear, looking, for the first time, genuinely happy. “Dating,” she said, making it a statement. “Would that make this a first date?”

  The sound of their banter had roused Mackenzie, and she began to make small noises as she emerged from sleep. Reaching into the bag resting between them on the seat, Thad pulled out a juice box and a pack of graham crackers, which he passed back to her. Mackenzie munched away through the rest of drive and began to look around with interest when they drove through the gates of the state park.

  After paying the small fee, Lara parked in the lot and unbuckled Mackenzie, who immediately flew to Thad’s side and began peppering him with questions. The park was more crowded than he might have expected owing to the amount of holiday travel.

  Together, they walked down a path through a copse of trees. The boards which marked the edge of the pathway were made from recycled plastic. Originally stained a deep brown, they were worn to gray in places, forming a patchwork of colors. Through the thick vegetation, wildflowers bloomed, native species carefully preserved by the park employees. Overhead, a woodpecker began tapping on a tree, drawing Mackenzie’s attention. He lifted her onto his shoulder and pointed out the bird

  “He is looking for bugs, sweetheart,” he said, putting her back on the ground. Mackenzie immediately grabbed his hand again, dragging him along the path.

  At first the mound appeared to be no more than a small hill, a grassy expanse that sloped sharply upwards. It was only when they climbed a small platform and looked down that the shape of a bird became apparent, it's wings spread wide, as though to take flight.

  Thad scooped Mackenzie up. “What do you think it looks like?”

  “A bird,” was her immediate reply.

  “That’s right, a bird. There is a Snake Mound and an Alligator Mound, but this has always been my favorite.”

  “And why is that, Professor?” Lara asked, stepping close to him and laying her hand on the dip in his back.

  “It's the only one they let the kids play on.” He pointed to the wing of the bird, where two children lay on the grass, their arms stretched overhead. With a shout, they twisted their bodies and began rolling down the hill like logs, spinning faster and faster as they neared the bottom.

  “Did your parents bring you here?” She asked as they walked over to let Mackenzie try it out.

  He nodded. “My father was a history teacher. He dragged our family to most of the sites throughout the state. When I was e
ight years old, we came here, and spent the day exploring. I went for a walk in the woods and found an arrowhead fragment no bigger than my thumb. When I took it back to my father, he made me feel like it was the most important discovery made in the last hundred years.” He shrugged. “I still have it on a shelf in my office. It was the day I fell in love with history, and learning about other cultures.”

  Tears prickled at the corners of Lara’s eyelids. It was telling, in a way that she could not immediately explain, that he had brought them here, to the site of such an important memory. He had shared it with them, like a window into his soul, showing her an intimate portrait of the kind of man he was. Lara watched with a smile as he knelt next to Mackenzie and helped her to begin rolling down the hill. Then he rose and chased after her, his long legs effortlessly keeping pace.

  She had never met a man that was so open, so kind and caring. Not that she had a large sample for comparison. Despite what the majority of people in town thought, most of her relationship history had been occupied by a high school boyfriend who had fallen off the map years ago, and then Brett.

  Jimmy and Brett were the kind of guys who typically gravitated towards her: hard living, edgy rebels with something to prove. And she understood her appeal to them. What she could not figure out was why the professor was interested in her. Had he only wanted a quick fling she would have understood it better. And perhaps that was all he wanted, the cynical part of her mind offered, and after the dig was completed, he would return to his life at the university. She had never been the kind of girl men took home to meet their mother. Or, in Thaddeus's case, the kind of woman one took to mingle with the other professors.

  It was time to tell him, she thought. Especially now that they were…dating? Even that word did not seem to do their relationship justice. It felt like something more, something deeper; like they were the best of friends who had this insane attraction to one another. They had the kind of emotional intimacy that sometimes took years to develop, if it ever developed at all. And all of it had come without sleeping together, although, to be honest, that scorching kiss in the trailer had been hotter than some of her past sexual relationships.