Gone Country

Chapter 44 (A Shell-less Turtle)

I pulled down the Holt's driveway at seven 'o' clock on the dot. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a teensy bit nervous about how things were going to go when Clay and I were alone. Brant made me promise that if I felt too uncomfortable that I would just get into my truck and leave. He told me that he would explain to Clay why I left if it came to that. Hopefully it wouldn't and things would be completely normal.

Things felt okay when I got out of the truck and neared the house. I heard some faint laughter from inside that made me feel even better about today. When I knocked on the door, I was knocked off guard when Jives was the one to open it. He seemed just as startled to see me as I was him.

"What the hell did Brant do?!" he immediately assumed.

Clay decided to walk in and investigate who was here. That would've been completely fine if he wasn't shirtless and in his boxer briefs for crying out loud. "Shit! Charlie!" he hissed, covering his exposed pecs. "What are you doing here?!"

I covered my eyes, shielding my vision from the scene before me. Jives willingly guided me into the house to get me out of the cold. "You didn't tell me what time we were going to start working with the horses, so I came over the second I could," I explained to Clay.

"You should've called!" he shouted, sounding distressed. "I wasn't expecting you until noon!"

"I'm sorry..."

"Just please wait for me in the kitchen with everyone, I'll be down in a second!" he interrupted before I could even begin to process an apology.

I sealed my mouth closed and kept it that way until Jives pushed me into the kitchen and amongst three cute faces I didn't mind seeing when I dropped my hand from my eyes. "Hey, beautiful," I greeted Avery. She blushed and waved me off. "Howdy, handsome," I said to Jax. He chuckled and held up a spare plate of breakfast I didn't mind digging into. I passed an antsy Heather sitting at the table with half eaten breakfast foods on her plate. She smiled up at me when I kissed her forehead good morning. I took notice that she was still wearing that ring Clay gave her. There was no doubt in my mind that this little princess had talked her father into bringing her over here this morning.

"Hey there, little princess." She welcomed me with a quiet hello and continued to pick at her food uninterested. There wasn't much on her plate, I knew she could finish it if she tried, but she wasn't enthused enough about it to try. "I bet if you finish the rest of your strawberry pancake and that piece of sausage, Clay will give you a big hug and kiss. That was all that needed to be said to motivate her into finishing all of her food and even take a couple of nibbles off of my plate.

"How did you do that?" Jives asked when he noticed her eating. "I try to get her to eat, but she only nibbles here and there. I had no problem getting you to eat, you were always hungry."

I glared at him, but found his words amusing to say the least. "You and my father are the cause of my past obesity," I accused. He sheepishly smiled and pushed my plate towards me, urging me to eat. "To answer your question as to how I got her to eat, I just motivated her. I told her that if she finished, Clay would give her a hug and kiss."

Jives shook his head at the thought when he took a seat next to little Heather. "I don't know what I'm going to do when we have to return home. I can't take Clay with us."

Heather's head snapped up and I braced myself for impact. He really shouldn't have said that. Jax and Avery immediately covered their ears, both expecting the worse. "Clay can't go?" she whimpered.

Jives cursed under his breath when he saw the gobs of tears forming in his eyes. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but he has to stay here," he said in a hushed tone, hoping to keep her calm.