Page 8 of Starting Our Chance

4 Duke

It might be just afterdawn on Saturday morning but I knew that Mrs. Forman would be awake. Saturday was baking day, after all.

As I walked into their yard leading the horses, I saw Old Bobby Haywood’s truck parked in the drive. Chuckling to myself, I thought how Lore’s mama wouldn’t be Mrs. Forman much longer; Bobby was going to pop the question any day now.

This is a bad idea, I told myself for the thousandth time. When I had saddled my trusty horse, Smoke, I had also saddled Willow in an ambitious burst of optimism. All I can do is try.

When Mrs. Forman saw me with the horses, her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Lazy bones is puttering around in the kitchen. She can go riding with you, but not until she sweeps the back porch like I asked her to three times already.”

I hid my smile. So like Mrs. Forman. Her daughter might be a full grown adult, but that didn’t mean squat to her mama. “Well, I was going to see if Lore wanted to ride the property fence—I always do it myself and report to Bobby, but since it’s y’all’s land, too, it would technically be a chore for Lore.”

Mrs. Forman chuckled. She saw what I was doing. Bustling over to the screen door, she called for Lore to come out.

Two long legs, thick with muscle that led up to an ill-concealed, yet equally tight ass had me momentarily mesmerized—Lore was every bit as sexy as the last time I had seen her. Only now she had grown into her woman’s body, no longer the dancing teen.

“Good morning, Ma’am.” I tipped my hat to her, as if she hadn’t been a kid in diapers running round my mama’s chicken yard a long time ago.

“Is that . . . ?” Loretta’s voice died off in a squeal and she ran down the steps, nearly toppling her mama. She lunged for Willow, who whinnied and kicked up her head in greeting.

“I took care of her for you,” I said. Just like I promised I would.

Loretta might have had tears in her eyes. I stood back a respectful distance and let the beautiful woman enjoy her old horse. So what if I took the chance to soak in the site of her ass in those painted-on cutoff jeans? And her flannel—riding up around her tits as she clung to the horse—well, let’s just say I got my fill of toned midriff when she moved around the side. My dick twitched in my pants and I wished we were alone so I could run my hands over that smooth belly of hers, and see if she shivered in delight.

When Mrs. Foreman coughed lightly next to me, I immediately came back to reality and turned my attention to the older woman. “Boy, do you have your inhaler?” Her sharp gaze was directed at me, and no doubt had caught my unrelenting gaze on her daughter. Her words, however, brought color to my face.

Why the fuck did she have to bring that up?“I never leave home without it, Ma’am.” I patted my breast pocket and spoke low, hoping to hell that Mrs. Forman would take the hint and zip it. My own mama might have been broke-ass poor, but she raised me right. And that meant I would not mouth off to an elder, especially a neighbor. But Christ, I prayed like hell that Mrs. Forman would drop the subject.

She didn’t. “The last thing we need is a trip to the emergency room today.” Mrs. Forman looked to the sky. “Harvest is almost on us and there’s much to be done. Plus, it’s Saturday, and we have a heap of baking to do before Church tomorrow. Which reminds me—Loretta Jane?”

Lore looked up and sauntered closer to her mama. If I reached out, I could damn near touch the soft skin of her side. It was so tempting; I had to make a fist.

“You said something this morning about helping with the baking?” her mother asked.

“Yes, Mama.” Lore never once broke her hold on that horse of hers.

“Good. All right, well I don’t see why y’all can’t go on an itty-bitty ride just now. Don’t dawdle, though, and be back in good time to be sure to sweep before we start the baking. Oh, and Loretta, don’t let Duke over exert himself. His inhaler is in his breast pocket should you need it.” With those marching orders, Mrs. Forman nodded and retreated back to the clothes-line to hang the washing in her wicker basket.

I knew from past experience that I was beet-ass red. Unable to meet Loretta’s gaze, I walked to Smoke’s side and mounted. I might be the richest man in town—the second wealthiest person, in fact—but right now I felt like I was still that scrawny kid from our youth who was never going to amount to much. Ignoring what had just been said, I began, “I’m walking the fence line. I came to . . ..” The words got stuck in my throat and I couldn’t continue.

Loretta, bless her sweet heart, walked right over to me and placed a hand on my thigh. Looking up at me, she smiled and said, “I still can’t sleep without a night-light on. And that is so much worse than occasionally needing medicine to breathe.”

She had no idea what that hand on my leg was doing. Desire coursed through my whole body. I wanted to reach down and trace the lines of her face with my finger before grabbing her jaw and kissing that sweet mouth of hers. Instead, I shifted in the saddle and said we’d best be off.

It wasn’t the time to give effect to my desire, no matter how much I wanted to close the distance between us. Our last kiss was seared into my mind. It had been the night before she left for a dance scholarship with early admission to college in the north. And it was a memory I kept suppressed for the sake of my sanity.

Thankfully, Lore wasn’t aware of my inner turmoil as she left my side and mounted her horse. As we set off, she asked me question after question about Willow. We fell into a comfortable chat. Eventually my shoulders loosened, and I relaxed from my naturally withdrawn state. I couldn’t believe that Lore was actually here, where she belonged. . . if I could only convince her that there was enough here to stay for—that I was good enough for her. I never thought she’d come back to stay, or that I’d have a chance to convince her.

She kept pulling her dark hair behind an ear. She’d also lean forward in the saddle and become animated in whatever it was she was telling me. I would nod, shifting my gaze away. Then I would catch her slip her hair back from the corner of my eye. There were still some wild flowers growing on the path, and I debated during the whole ride whether I should grab some for her. It wasn’t until her yard was in sight that I finally dove down to snatch a clump of purple petals. Lore was shading her eyes as I rode up beside her. Grabbing Willow’s reins, I pulled the girl and the horse close, noting how our thighs grazed.

Lore turned her wide gray eyes up to me, and it was my turn to tuck that piece of hair behind her ear. But this time, I slipped the flower’s stem in with it. As her gaze locked on mine, I knew this was our moment. So did she. Lore’s eyes fluttered closed, and I began to close the space between our bodies. I drank her in, realizing how parched I had been all these years. But just before I brushed my lips across hers, I heard a holler that was unmistakably her mama. We both paused, and Mrs. Forman came crashing through the back door—the slam was loud enough that we could hear it a good twenty yards away. Jumping apart like guilty kids, we turned our horses toward her, crossing the distance from pasture to yard.

Fuck.I began to groan aloud—but then stopped myself, hoping Lore hadn’t heard. But Mrs. Foreman’s next words blew my world apart.

“Loretta Jane Forman, what in tarnation is Dylan Dwire doing calling my telephone?”

And just like that, my seemingly perfect morning came crashing down in flames. I cut my gaze to Lore, feeling my scowl fall back into place. She, however, was oblivious. Slapping her palm to her forehead, Lore let out a screech of frustration in response.

“He said something about taking you out to dinner?” Mrs. Forman was shouting, even though we were close enough that she didn’t need to raise her voice.

I heard Loretta release a low growl just before the blood began rushing through my ears in a deafening roar that didn’t allow me to hear another damn thing. Loretta was waving her hands to the high heaven and talking hurriedly to her mother, but all I could picture was my hopes and dreams bursting into flames. The horse ride had been my perfect plan to start anew with Lore. Instead, it was history repeated.

Right before my senior year, I had been going to ask Lore out, who, at that time, was about to become a sophomore. But just as I had been getting up the courage to ask her, and making the perfect plans, Dylan had swooped in to date her. They’d been together that whole school year, and I’d had to watch them all year long. Sure, they’d fought and been on and off, but when they finally broke it off at the prom, I had finally seen some light at the end of the tunnel. But then Lore had received a scholarship to some famous dance academy in the north. She’d had enough advanced placement credits to be considered a senior at their school and was going to start college level classes in the fall. It had been her dream, and I knew I had to let her go, but not before taking a kiss. I had needed to taste her—even just that once.

And right now, after Mrs. Foreman shouted that Dylan had called, I had been robbed of a second change—for a second kiss and the continuation of a long-held dream. Sure, we were adults now, but in my heart I had carried a flame for this girl all that time. Some people are just that unforgettable. And Lore was one of them.

Gut churning, I watched Lore dismount and put her hands on her hips as she spoke to her mama. Mrs. Forman held a spoon covered in batter and was waving it wildly about. But I wasn’t listening. I grabbed Willow’s bridle and slunk off to my house; the empty heap of wood that was a reminder that I couldn’t go getting above my raising no matter how hard I tried.

I was never going to get the girl, forever doomed to be the man in the shadows.

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