Isabella (The Mitchell/Healy Family #2)(4)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“It feels good to be back, Mom. I miss bein’ home. All jokes aside, it’s wonderful to sit here in the kitchen and talk to you face to face.”

She wiped her hands and leaned over the counter. “Is there somethin’ you want to talk to me about?” I smiled thinking about my mother’s southern drawl from growing up in Kentucky, which never seemed to fade away. Mine was the same; according to everyone I talked to, but never as strong as my mom.

“No. My life is as borin’ as it can get.”

“No new man to tell me about?”

“Mom,” I gave her an annoyed sort of grin. “Seriously, you know the answer to that.”

“Do you hear from Tate?”

I placed my hands flat on the surface and faked a smile. “So where’s Jake?”

Her eyebrow cocked right up. “Bella? Don’t tell me you’re talkin’ to him again. Your father will be cleanin’ his guns if he finds out.”

“Finds out what?” I heard him coming up behind me.

“Nothin’.” I looked from one parent to the other. “I’m not talking to Tate. I swear.” My lies were getting easier, but the horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach was becoming worse.

“You better not. That guy is a piece of work.” My dad offered me a threatening gaze.

I peacefully folded my hands together.

“I didn’t come here to be lectured like a child. I’m single, so you both can drop the subject now. Are you happy?”

“We just want to see you with someone that respects you. That’s all. It has nothing to do with you, sweetheart,” he said in a reassuring way.

“I get it.”

“No rush, though. It’s okay if you don’t marry until you’re at least thirty seven.” He rubbed my head as if I was a kid at the ball field, who’d just struck out and needed to be cheered up.

I shoved him away, annoyed by his teasing already. “Go away or I’m goin’ to stay with Mimi and Poppy.”

My dad put his hands up, surrendering to my promise. I’d won the battle for now, making the conversation about me and Tate get dropped. Still, knowing how adamant they were about the whole situation made me worry about how I was going to sneak to see him. I felt like a teen again, but knew it was the only way. For some reason my parents found it necessary to worry about me more than usual. I wondered why they hated him so much, especially considering that they only knew half of what had happened when I was assaulted over a year ago. Then I started wondering if Noah’s mother, my aunt Van, had spilled the beans to my mom or dad. They spoke all of the time, and didn’t keep secrets. For all I knew it could have been my uncle Colt, Noah’s dad. At any rate, I was almost positive that they knew more than I wanted them to.

Dinner with my family was wonderful, and with my poppy around my dad backed off on the relationship talks, and the comedy show. He and my uncle Conner talked shop, while my brothers and my cousin Josh played pool. I sat playing cards with my mom, my grandparents, and my aunt Amy. As much as I wanted to see my three female cousins, Callie, Cassie, and Cammie, I appreciated having all of the attention for once. Those three were drama queens, and at the age where everything out of their mouths was ridiculously annoying, even more than my brothers.

Once everyone started to clear out, I pretended to be exhausted so that I could retreat to my bedroom. The sooner I got everyone to go to sleep, the faster I could sneak out and meet Tate. Realizing that they couldn’t exactly punish me if I got caught, I put on my planned outfit quietly, just waiting for all of the lights in the house to turn off. I was twenty-four years old, and worried about getting in trouble. What was wrong with me?

Two long hours later I was climbing out of my window and running down the lane, dialing his number while getting further away from the house. Tate picked up after four rings.

“I was wondering when you were going to call. I’ve been waiting for hours.”

“Sorry. Just come get me. I had to wait until they were all asleep.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes. Start walking. I’ll see you and pull over.”

Did he know how dark it was in these parts? “I am not walkin’, Tate. A trucker could hit me or kill me. You can come and get me. I’ll wait at the end of the lane for you. Hurry up!”

I hung up the phone and looked back at the farm. My family would be so disappointed in me, especially Noah, if he ever was to find out. This was something that I was going to have to deal with if I wanted to be with Tate. My heart was telling me one way to go, while my mind was fighting with that same decision. I was so confused, and had nobody to talk to about it, because there wasn’t one person on the planet that understood how much I was in love with him.

I looked down at my phone to check the time. He’d already been twelve minutes. Then I told myself that if he didn’t show up in the next five I was going back to my house and telling him to go to hell.

He pulled up three minutes later.

Chapter 3

Isabella

When I climbed into the passenger seat the first thing I noticed was the smell of one of those hanging tree air-fresheners. It was so overwhelming that I almost considered holding my nose. “What took you so long?” I leaned over and hugged him, waiting for a long awaited kiss. His hand reached into my hair, pulling me toward his lips. It was just as I’d remembered kissing him a million times before, but I was taken aback by the way it made me feel to be able to do it again after so long.

Tate pulled away, and we both began opening our eyes. The smile on his face let me know that he was just as happy to see me. “I missed the hell out of you, Bella.”

I bit down on my lip and felt a wave of butterflies rush into my stomach. “I missed you too. It’s been way too long.”

He started to pull away from the shoulder of the road. “I need you naked.”

I started lifting off my shirt as we drove away from the ranch. If he wanted me without clothes than he was going to get that wish, because nothing was going to stop me from being intimate with him. I’d waited too long to see him, to touch him, and to be alone with him.

He took one quick look at me and realized what I was proceeding to do. “In a hurry?”

“Yeah, you could say that. You’d better drive faster, or else we’re goin’ to have to have a quickie before we even get where we’re goin’.”

I slipped my shorts down off of my legs, sitting there in only my underwear and bra. Tate reached over and started running his fingertips across my thighs. He traced the lace to my panties and growled with anticipation. “I’m going to f**k you so good that you’re never going to go back to Kentucky.”