Having Prudence (2 page)

Chapter Two

Johnny looked at Prudence and felt his heart stutter in his chest. It seemed like there hadn’t been a day of his life that he was not head over heels in love with her. She was everything to him. But there were some things that you could not run from, no matter how much the desire to presented itself. He would do just about anything for her but he could not run from his responsibilities. Surely she would understand that. But the look of devastation on her face told him that she didn’t see.

“Say something, Pru,” he demanded when she continued to just sit there.

She shook her head and glanced down. He watched her take a few deep breaths before she glanced up at him. And he hated it. She wore that mask that he hated, the one where she shut out her emotions and showed what she thought others wanted to see. She did it a lot with her father, with her fiancée, with other people in this town. But she had never done it with him before.

“You’re right,” she whispered and he hated the smile that touched her lips. “You can’t run. There’s too much here for you. Your dad needs you as well as your mom.” She nodded her head and reached out to touch his face. “I understand your choice.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” he bellowed as she began reaching for her clothes. “You understand my choice? You say that as if my choice doesn’t include you.”

“Johnny, you know what will happen if I stay here,” she said, pulling on her panties. His eyes were glued to the bob and sway of her breasts for a moment until her next words crashed over him. “So I’m still leaving.”

“No,” he gritted the word out between his clenched teeth. “We are not running.”

“You’re not,” Pru said as she finished dressing. “I am.” He was amazed at how quickly she managed to pull her clothes back on.

“I love you, Pru,” he said reaching blindly behind him for his jeans and what he had in the pocket.

“I’ll always love you too,” she whispered and hugged him closely, closing her eyes and squeezing him tightly. It was just the opening he needed. She would kill him for this when she was free again, but he would already have her where he wanted her by then.

He slid his hands down her arms until he had both of her wrists in his. He pulled them from his neck moving them slowly behind her back so that her breasts pressed firmly against his still naked chest. And before she could catch on, he had her cuffed.

“What the hell?” she panted and her eyes were already filled with fire when she met his gaze.

He stuffed the bandana in her mouth and tied the other around her head to keep it in. She was spitting mad and he backed up real quick to miss her knee. She was still talking behind the makeshift gag and he was really glad that he had no idea what she was saying. When she kept coming for him, he picked her up and sat her on the top of a pile of hay high enough that her feet didn’t touch the ground.

“Now sit still Pru, while I get my clothes on,” Johnny told her. “I said we were not running. That means you too. I have something else in mind and I’m damn sure not going to let your fear screw this up for us.”

He reached for his clothes and dressed as quickly as he could. “Now I’m going to pick you up and carry you down that ladder over my shoulder. It will be up to you if we make it down without one of us breaking our necks.” He leaned into her, cradling her face in his hands and searching her eyes. “Just trust me,” he whispered. “I won’t lose you. I would die for you. But I won’t run away when there is another solution that will allow us to stay exactly where we want to.”

She started mumbling behind the gag again and he just shook his head. “That is part of your problem, Pru. You always think that only you know the answers. Well if you are going to be my wife then you’re going to have to learn to listen to me once in a while too. I’m not just some dumb, farm boy jock.”

Her face softened and he knew he’d captured her attention. She hated it when he referred to himself that way. She had always seen who he was. “Just trust me, Pru. Give me a chance to try this. Please?”

She nodded her head, her gaze was so soft and filled with the love he knew she had for him. And he prayed harder than he ever had that this plan would work just the way he wanted it to. If things went well, Prudence would be his wife by this time tomorrow. He just had to believe.

He managed to get them both down the ladder without incident and apologised again as he sat her on a high bale of hay just inside the door.

“Sorry honey, but I need to check and make sure that no one is around to see me put you in the truck. They’re going to come look for you at my place anyway when you don’t show up. It will be easier for me to deny if no one actually sees us together.” Johnny placed a kiss on her cheek and eased through the door.

His truck was exactly where he’d left it and he walked to it and opened it, glad for the dual opening doors. He eased both of the ones on the passenger side open and leaned the seat forward before pulling a blanket from the floorboard. He’d tried to make the back as comfortable as he could since that would be where Pru was lying as he drove. He hoped he’d done okay. Johnny took the blanket and turned back to the barn, scanning around them the whole time searching for anyone. Luck seemed to still be with them as he saw no one.

Pru’s eyes widened when he re-entered the barn with the blanket. “It’s just long enough to get you out of here undetected. I promise,” he swore to her.

He laid the blanket on the floor and then picked her up and lowered her to it. He loomed over her and seeing the uncertainty in her eyes, he reminded her of what they were doing this for. He brushed his fingers over her nipples, pinching and stroking the flesh there. His other palm pressed against the heat of her pussy that could still be felt behind her jeans. Her body responded just as it always did and her eyes darkened with passion.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I want to love you every day for the rest of our lives. I want to wake up with you in the bed beside me and go to sleep knowing that you are only a finger’s reach away. I need you like I need air. We just have to make it through tonight Pru. One night and then tomorrow no one will be able to separate us ever again. Just give me one night Prudence. One night to begin the rest of our lives.”

She nodded and he bent to place a kiss against her forehead. She was perfection to him. She was everything. And if for some reason his plan did fail? They would run as far and as fast as they could. For the one thing in this world he could not do was let her go.

He wrapped her quickly in the blanket and after checking that the area was still clear he lifted her and carried her to the truck. Carefully he lowered her into the back trying to make sure she was as comfortable as possible. He strategically placed things around her to diminish her size and shape in the blanket and when he was done there was no way to tell that there was a person in the back seat of his truck. He lifted the seat and shut the doors moving around to the other side and getting in. Once he’d started the truck he finally breathed a little sigh of relief. So far, so good.

“Just hold tight, Prudence,” he told her reaching back and touching her through the blanket. She was on her side and his hand touched the curve of her breast. “I’ll have us out of here in just a minute. One night and then the rest of our lives.”

She didn’t make a single sound but he’d seen the love and trust in her eyes. She believed in him and that alone made him believe in himself. Tomorrow Prudence would become his wife and nothing would be able to take her from him ever again. All they had to do was get through tonight.

Prudence must have fallen asleep on the trip out to Johnny’s family’s place. When she woke up she was no longer in the truck wrapped in a blanket that made her feel like she couldn’t breathe. Instead she was lying on a wide cot with a blanket thrown over her, and she was naked again.

“Johnny thought you’d be more likely to stay put and listen to him if you didn’t have clothes on,” came a voice from the corner and Pru barely kept the scream in her throat from escaping.

She could make out the shape of his mother and saw that she was sitting in some rocking chair knitting. She thought his mother had gone to visit her sister for the week. Wasn’t that what everyone in town was saying?

“I thought you were gone, Mrs. Wharfton?” Pru asked, sitting up while keeping the blanket tucked safely around her.

“That was Johnny’s idea,” his mom said proudly. “And please call me Paula. If everyone thought I was gone then I could stay down here with you when Johnny can’t. It’s getting dark now so your dad or someone should show up any time looking for you. They’ll never find us down here, and Johnny said with me down here you won’t panic and do something… Well, he just didn’t want you alone.”

Mrs. Wharfton blushed and Pru knew that Johnny was afraid she would do something stupid. Sadly, he was probably right. He knew her better then she knew herself sometimes.

“Where are we?” Pru asked quietly. She didn’t remember seeing this room ever. Of course her visits here had been short and far between. They hadn’t wanted anyone to know about their relationship. Not when she was already engaged to someone else.

“This old farmhouse holds a lot of secrets,” Paula stated as she continued knitting. “It was once used to hide slaves who made it this far south while still being pursued. Some people will do anything to keep what they feel they possess.” This comment was made with fire in her eyes and Pru had to wonder if it was meant towards her and her sisters’ situation as well. “During Prohibition it was used to make and hide moonshine,” and she giggled at this. “It’s served many purposes in this world and tonight it will be used to shelter you until the preacher gets here tomorrow.”

“There’s a preacher coming here tomorrow?” Pru asked and her heartbeat picked up. He’d said they only had to make it through tonight.

“Yes, my nephew is a minister,” Paula said proudly. “He’ll be here first thing in the morning.” Her smile softened and she looked at Prudence the way she had always imagined her mother might. “And this time tomorrow you will be my daughter. And God help any man who tries to take you from us.”

Now Prudence knew exactly where Johnny got his strength of character and will. His mother might be tiny like Pru was but she seemed to be a force all her own. She remembered when they were kids and Johnny would have to run home so his mom didn’t get mad. Pru had always found that funny. But seeing the strength in the woman in front of her, perhaps she better understood now.

“Johnny is very lucky to have you, Mrs. Wharfton,” Pru said and bit her lip to try and keep the tears from filling her eyes.

“Prudence, dear,” his mom said her eyes not seeming to leave her knitting. “Your mom was an amazing woman herself. I’m not sure what if anything you remember about her, but she loved you girls more than anything in this world.”

Pru smiled. She and Destiny had been so little when their mom had died, when all hell had broken loose. There weren’t a lot of memories that either of them had that hadn’t been shared with them by their older sisters. In fact there was only one thing that Pru remembered. “She always smelled so wonderful,” Prudence sighed. “Like baked cookies still fresh and warm from the oven.”

Paula laughed and it gave Pru a discreet moment to try and wipe her tears away. “Yes, she did. Your mom was always baking something for someone. The woman could have opened her own bakery and made a fortune. But she wanted to stay home with her girls and your dad would have let her do anything.”

“Really?” Pru asked. She didn’t remember much of her dad back then either.

Paula sobered up and looked closely at Pru. “Your dad was a different man back then as well. He loved your mother more than anything or anyone else in this world. She was his sun, his moon, his very air. And when she died, they may as well have buried your daddy that day too. It took him a long time to come back to himself, to realise that he still had children alive that needed him.”

“Would have been nice had he remembered that from the beginning,” Pru mumbled.

Paula smiled and nodded but her words got the point across to Pru. “It is easy to judge what you can’t understand. Your mother was your daddy’s life. They loved you girls and each other. Everyone would smile and feel happiness just to be near them. Then your mother died. And your daddy fell apart. It would be as if my John left one day and never walked back in the door.” Paula smiled sadly at Pru before adding her next comment. “Or your Johnny. When love truly comes into your life there is no his and mine. There is only ours. You are as one person. And if something happens to one of you it is as if it happens to both of you. Your dad died that day as surely as your mother did. Unfortunately there are people in this world that will take advantage of those lost souls. And your daddy found himself in a world of hurt when he finally woke up.”

“My daddy found himself in a mess of his own making,” Pru said with anger. “Only it is my sisters and I that are set to pay for it.”

Paula just continued knitting. “And how do you think your sisters made such an easy escape? How do you think you and Johnny were left undiscovered for so long?”

Prudence jerked her gaze back to Paula’s unsure of where this conversation was going. “What are you talking about, Mrs. Wharfton? What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that there comes a time when you need to open your eyes and look without anger,” Paula said softly with no judgement evident in her tone. “Sometimes things are not what they seem. Sometimes people are more than you can imagine.”