AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ewww, just ewww,” she said.
“No, it’s all right. It’s a way of life here,” Preston said. “When you attend the wedding with us, you’ll see. Married threesomes with children running about. It’s an accepted way of life.”
She jumped up and paced across the patio, her eyes wide, her facial expression intent.
“Oh my, this may be the reason my father left and never returned. He was such a prude. A man who didn’t believe in so many things. He attended a religious college. After he graduated, he moved to Connecticut and there he met and married my mother. He never came back to Texas,” she said softly.
Colby reached out he took her hand. A zing of awareness spiraled up his arm and straight down to his groin.
“Look, this must be a shock to you,” he said.
“Yes,” she replied, gazing at him.
“Don’t judge. Give it some time and when you see the good people together, happy, living their lives the way they want, you’ll understand it’s a good thing. Maybe your father was too young to understand, but after I realized how the families here were strong and more fulfilled than any family I’d ever seen, I accepted that this was a good thing.”
Preston took her other hand. “All we ask is for you to not make a judgment until you’ve seen our life.”
“How many divorces?”
“Very few,” Preston said. “Most men and women are married for life.”
She nodded. “Just like my grandparents were married for life. But who was the third man?”
“Ben Jones,” Preston said. “We mentioned him last night. He’s been dead for over ten years. I believe that Granny Jones was his sister.”
Glancing down, Colby realized they both still held her hands.
“Thanks for telling me. It makes me even more curious and I can’t wait to speak to Granny Jones about my grandparents and my father. I’m not a prude. I don’t know if I could do what this town believes in, but I’m open to learning more about what goes on here before I return to New York.”
There it was again, she still planned on returning. Releasing her hand, he glanced down the lane at the sound of a car.
“Jim White,” he said. “He’s driving up the lane now.”
“The man who disliked my grandparents?”
“Yes,” Colby hissed, knowing they should let her form her own judgments about the man, but it was so hard.
She watched as the big diesel pickup truck with a gun rack in the back pulled up. Jim stepped out, his jeans had a crisp line down the center of each leg and his shirt was starched and stiff. Just like the man.
“Good morning,” he said, walking over to the table with a smile the size of Texas on his face. “I wanted to come and welcome you to Texas.”
“Thank you,” Kalie said.
“I’m Jim White,” he said, holding out his hand. “I’m one of the people offering to buy this property from you, so you can return as quickly as possible to New York.”
“Kalie Parker,” she said, taking his hand. “Thank you, but I’m kind of taking some time off and learning about my family. No need to get in a hurry.”
Colby was so proud of her for not taking his bait.
“Boys, how are you?”
“Doing well, Mr. White,” Preston said.
“I’m feeling a mite ornery,” Colby said. “I hate to tell you this, but you just stepped in chicken shit.”
The man’s eyes widened and he scurried to the grass and tried to clean the imagined poop off his boots.
It was all Colby could do to keep from busting out loud. Preston sent him a look that clearly said to behave, but he didn’t want to. He wanted to get into trouble.
