Russell's Return (14 page)

Resting against her body, he untangled
her hands from his hair and pinned them above her head. His thrusts slowed
exquisitely then picked up to a punishing rhythm.

“Russell,” she whimpered. “Soon. Oh God,
now!” Her body trembled and the look on her face once again took him to the
edge. This time there was no stopping it though. He fell over the edge with
her.

Russell rolled onto his back. He
couldn’t speak so he looked over at Emily and smiled. She smiled back. “Never
knew that you being able to feel again could be so beneficial to me.”

“Are you saying you would have counseled
me earlier if you had known?”

“I would have taken you on a date and to
visit your dad that first day we saw each other again in the parking lot,” she
teased.

“I probably would have refused,” he
said, looking away.

“I know,” she murmured, moving over to
rest her head on his chest. “But you seem to have started to trust me now.”

“I do trust you,” he stated, absently
rubbing her arm. “And I think I’m starting to fall for you.”

Emily smiled big against his chest. He
had just uttered the words she most wanted to hear. “I
know
I’m falling
for you.”

“We’re in the ‘falling for you’ stage. I
think we should seal that with a kiss,” he suggested.

Emily reached up and kissed him. A
simple kiss quickly turned passionate. Russell pulled back first. “How about a
shower, a small amount of sleep, then breakfast at my house?”

 ”A shower huh?” Emily grinned. “I
think I could go for that. If I can still walk.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, walking
isn’t a requirement,” he smirked as he sprung up, gathered her in his arms and
tossed her over his shoulder.

CHAPTER
11

“Well Mr. Kitty,” Lucy purred. “It seems
that dumb ass Dylan Harper was in a bad car accident and his lake house is
empty. That would be much better than this dingy hotel, right?”

Mr. Kitty meowed in response and curled
up on the foot of the bed.

“Don’t get too comfortable you lazy
fuck. We’re moving on as soon as I pack up.”

Lucy packed and loaded the car before
dumping the cat in the passenger seat. The window was down and he jumped out,
running around the side of the motel. “Oh you stupid cat. I don’t need you
anyway.”

She started the car and headed to the
grocery store to stock up. Thankfully she had worn her disguise. The town
seemed to be crawling with Harpers.

After the store, she headed to the
Harper Ranch. If she remembered, there was a roundabout route to get to the
lake house. Taking that way would allow her to stay out of sight.

When she pulled up to the small house,
she noticed a tarp sitting on the ground. Now she could hide her car easily.
Once inside, thanks to her new lock picking skills, she put the necessities
she’d bought away. Then she stepped out the front door. The view was absolutely
breathtaking. Definitely worth putting up with the tiny cabin.

A noise sounded from far off, a car and
voices. She hurried back inside and locked the doors. Hopefully no one was
coming to check on the place. She sat below the front window and waited.

Happy voices sounded outside; voices she
recognized. The Harpers were out to play today. She crawled over to the window
at the side of the cabin and slowly peeked out. Her prize, her property, was
sitting there plain as day. Oh how she wished she could just grab it and run.
But of course things couldn’t be that easy. She would sit and wait for just the
right time.

She couldn’t help but occasionally look
out the window to see what was happening. Some of it made her quite angry, but
she concentrated on what was to come to calm herself. The Harpers, one in
particular, would pay for taking something that belonged to her.

**********

Russell and Emily walked into the main
house hand in hand. It was just past eight in the morning.

“Well hello you two,” Evelyn said from
the easy chair near the fire place. “You’re just in time for breakfast.”

“Do you need any help?” Emily asked her
friend.

“Yes, thank you,” Evelyn accepted as she
stood to go into the kitchen. “Rusty why don’t you get Miranda up and Let Rizzy
out.”

Okay, Ma,” he said with a smile as he
hugged her and kissed her cheek. “I sure did miss you.”

“I…I missed you too, son,” she stammered
as she watched him walk up the stairs. What in heaven’s name had gotten into
her second born?

Russell knocked then walked into
Miranda’s room. “Time to wake up kiddo. Breakfast will be ready soon.”

Rizzy jumped down off of the bed and ran
over to him, her tail wagging wildly. Miranda sat up in bed and rubbed her
eyes. “Hi Daddy, did you have fun last night?”

“I did,” he said with a grin. “Did you?”

“Yeah! Grandma took me to a movie and
then we had ice cream!”

“Oh, I wish I could have gone with you
guys,” he sulked playfully.

“Really?” she asked. “But Miss Emily would
have been lonely.”

Russell laughed. “I was just kidding
Squirt. I think Miss Emily and I will keep going on dates. We really like each
other.”

“I’m glad Daddy,” she sighed as she
hugged him.

He squeezed her tightly. He almost
didn’t want to let her go, feeling the need to make up for all of the times
he’d yelled at her. “I love you Randi. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, Daddy,” she said quietly. “I love
Miss Emily too. Do you?”

Russell sighed and ushered Miranda over
to sit on her bed. He sat next to her and took her hand. “I think someday,” he
started. “Someday I could really love her. But we can’t rush it okay? If it
happens, it happens.”

“Okay Dad,” she agreed, jumping up and
running over to her dresser to pick her clothes out.

She didn’t always catch nuances in
facial expressions or tone of voice. He’d read that was part of the autism.
Hopefully she had understood what he was trying to tell her about his
relationship with Em. He didn’t want her hurt if things didn’t work out.

Russell headed back down the stairs.
Miranda would join them when she was done in the bathroom.

“No hurry, dear,” he heard his mother
say.

“What’s no hurry?” he asked as he
stepped into the kitchen.

“Emily moving out of the cottage,”
Evelyn said as she stacked pancakes on a platter. “She’s been having trouble
finding a decent place to buy.”

“And I do not want to live with my
parents,” Emily stressed. “They’ve got their hands full with two of my siblings
living at home again.”

Russell hadn’t thought about her not
being close by. It made him a little sad. He walked over to where she was
standing by the counter and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Emily leaned back into him and sighed.
She felt at home, right where she was.

“You two head to the dining room. I’ll
bring the plates in,” Evelyn said, giving them a knowing look. A few minutes
later, she and Miranda walked in with the food. Russell was propped on the end
of the table and Emily was tucked snuggly between his legs. They were kissing.

“Boy, get your bum off my dining table,”
Evelyn reprimanded.

“Sorry, Ma,” he chuckled, standing up to
lead Emily to her seat.

“You try to raise them right, but they
never learn,” the matriarch mumbled, but she had a smile on her face.

When plates were filled, everyone
settled into enjoying the bacon, eggs and pancakes. Dylan quickly became the
number one topic of conversation. Now that he was on the mend, it seemed all he
wanted to do was be home and he never failed to let everyone know. Evelyn
planned to head to Billings the next day to visit her ornery son and discuss
after care. He would need someone to help him for the foreseeable future.

“I’m going to try Nicoletta. She’s a
nurse and is between jobs right now,” Evelyn informed them. “Otherwise, we
might have to pay to bring someone up from Casper.”

“Oh mother, no! Not Nicoletta,” Russell
said harshly.

“Why on earth not?” she asked, confused.

“Ma, Nicoletta was the only girl to ever
tell Dylan no and stick to it. They did nothing but fight after that. They’d
probably kill each other the first day.”

“Oh yeah,” Evelyn whispered. “That
wouldn’t be good. I might just have to get a hold of Home Care in Casper.”

After breakfast, everyone helped clean
up then retired to the family room. It was a beautiful late September day and
no one wanted to waste it holed up inside. Regular snowfall would be a part of
their lives all too soon.

“We could go to the lake,” Emily
suggested. “It could be the last time this year.”

“Can I stay home?” Miranda whined.

“You don’t like to swim?” Emily asked
her.

“No, it’s too scary,” the little girl
pouted.

“Well, you don’t have to swim, Squirt.
You can just play with Rizzy or sit under one of the big trees with your book.”

“Rizzy can come?” she squealed.

“Of course she can.”

Evelyn went into the kitchen to pack a
picnic while Emily ran home to change into her swimsuit. Russell and Miranda
went upstairs to get ready themselves. By ten o’clock they picked Emily up and
headed the two miles to the lake house. The SUV was unloaded and Miranda
settled under a big tree with a sleepy pup and a book.

“Hey Ma, I don’t think it’s a good idea
that Dylan comes back here yet,” Russell suggested. “
It’s
way too secluded and the terrain leading up here isn’t the easiest to maneuver
through for an able-bodied person. I don’t even trust the access road for
emergency vehicles if needed.”

“You might be right, son. We’ll have to
find someplace else for him to go for a while. He’s not going to be happy.”

“Does Dylan have two cars?” Emily asked.
“It looked like there was one under a tarp on the other side of the cabin but I
thought his was totaled.”

“That boy tinkers with a new car every
week,” Evelyn chuckled. “He always has something or other under a tarp.”

“Oh okay,” Emily smiled, with a quick
look back at the cabin.

“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” Russell
murmured, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

“Incredible,” she whispered as she took
in the view. “When you drive up you don’t think it will be much of anything.
But once you hike through the trees and walk around to the front, you see the
clearing and the lake…it’s breathtaking.”

“Is this your first time here?”

“Yeah.  It seemed like every time
there was a party, I was at my Grandma’s house.”

“I’m surprised Chuck didn’t bring you
here that night. The whole group…well never mind.”

Emily turned in his arms, a smile
lighting her face. “Did you lose your virginity here Russell?”

He looked long and hard at her then
sighed. “Yeah. With Sarah Cline, senior year. This is also where I walked in on
Dylan.”

Emily laughed and pressed her forehead
into his chest. “I heard about what happened with Sarah, just not where. Good
memories here, huh?”

“Not funny, Em,” Russell said seriously.
His first time had been a disaster and everyone had heard about it. “I could
arrange for you to get dunked in the lake.”

She pulled out of his arms and stripped
her cover-up off. “Not if I dunk myself first,” she squealed, running away from
him.

Russell quickly took his t-shirt off and
headed after her. “One way or another you’ll end up in the water,” he called.
Or maybe not. He found himself distracted by the vision of Emily in her
swimsuit. Wow, was she beautiful.

She ran straight for the small boat
dock, usually the best place to enter the lake. She heard Russell pounding the
boards behind her and turned to face him. “All I have to do is jump,” she
sneered playfully.

“All I have to do is push you in,” he
retorted.

“I’d like to see you try,” she called
back.

They stood, just staring at each other, undecided
about who would make the first move. Finally, Russell decided that rushing her
was his only option and the perfect opportunity presented itself. “Oh look,
there’s a moose on the other side of the lake.”

Emily turned to look and the moment she
turned back around to berate Russell for tricking her, he was almost on top of
her. She ducked and dodged to her left. In slow motion she turned to watch as
he went off the end of the dock, into the water. The only sound she could hear
was Russell’s roar as he leapt and then the splash as he landed in the water.

“Shit,” he sputtered as he surfaced,
spitting water out of his mouth. “I forgot how cold the lake is this time of
year.”

“And
I’m
still dry,” she
snickered, walking backwards, out of reach of any water he might try to splash
her with.

“Where do you think you’re going? You
need to join me.”

“But you said it was cold. Why would I
want to join you?”

Russell chuckled. “Fine, you’re a spoil
sport. I’ll join you then.” Swimming around to the side of the dock, he hefted
himself up to sit on the edge. His feet still dangled in the water.

Emily stood by watching him, wanting to
go sit but afraid he would push her in. If she went in, it would be a time of
her choosing.

“Have you heard from the specialist in
Denver?” he asked turning to look at her.

“No, not yet,” she said, finally walking
over to sit next to him. “I’ll call again tomorrow.”

“I wonder if Ma would come with us so
you and I can slip away and make out while we’re there,” he asked, a sly smile
on his lips.

“Hmm, now that’s an idea,” she said,
leaning to him for a kiss.

“I have a lot of ideas like that,” he
whispered before their lips met.

Emily felt her body move sideways and
tried to pull away from Russell but his embrace was too strong. A deep chuckle
escaped through the kiss. She knew better than to tense up so she gave up the
fight and fell into the water with him.

When they had both surfaced she smiled
at the man who still had her wrapped in his arms. “I thought you said the water
was cold.”

“You have my hot bod wrapped around
you,” he teased.

Emily laughed and the sound rang around
the lake. She suddenly started to shiver.

“Now you’re cold. Come here and let me
warm you up.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her again.