Claiming the Enemy: Dustin (Porter Brothers Trilogy 3)

Rising from the bed, she handed Noelle to Dustin. “Can you put her in the crib, and I’ll go ask Holly if she’ll watch her for ten minutes?”

Dustin blew kisses on Noelle’s neck as he carried her into the bedroom next to theirs. Laying her down, he started the unicorn mobile circling over her.

“She said okay. We can go.”

Holding hands, they went down the hallway to the living room.

“Logan, your dad and I are going for a quick walk. I’ll help you with your homework when I get back.”

His son was drawing at the kitchen table. Walking closer, Dustin stared at what he was drawing.

“Carry the five. I’ll help you when I get back.”

“He’s just being a know-it-all.” Jessie handed him his jacket, then put hers on as she looked down at the paper that Logan was working on.

“You know, Logan, I think I need to get your clothes washed for school tomorrow. Dustin will have more time to help you than me.”

“I have homework in English, too,” he said, looking up from his homework.

“I can help with that. I only have one load of clothes to do. We’ll be right back.”

Dustin took her hand, leading her out the door.

“The only load you have to do is that load of horseshit you have to shovel up.”

“Are you saying I can’t do math?” she asked, dropping his hand to twine her arm through his.

“I’m saying that I washed and folded the clothes this afternoon while you were taking a nap with Noelle.”

“You didn’t wash the clothes we’re wearing now, so technically, it wasn’t a lie. Did you have any problems getting the pictures developed?”

“Switching the subject?”

“Yes, but I still want to see them.”

Dustin reached into his pocket, taking the pictures out and giving them to her.

“They turned out much better than I expected.”

Reaching the tree, Dustin reached into the hidey hole and tugged the plastic wrapped cigar box out. As he was taking it out of the freezer bag, Jessie knelt down next to him. On top was the last note she had written him.

- Will you marry me?

P.S. Quit eating my candy bars. Next time, buy Reese’s Cups

On top of the notes had been the beads she had given him so long ago and he rejected. His hand went to his throat where he had put them on the same long cord as his neck knife.

Dustin laid the picture of them hugging the tree on top before closing the box and resealing it in the bag. Shoving it back in the hole, he helped Jessie back to her feet.

Brushing the leaves off her jeans, she straightened to take his arm again. “I’ve meant to ask you a dozen times. Where did you get the cigar box? I don’t remember your pa smoking them.”

“Ma brought it home from Mrs. Langley’s house when her husband threw the empty box away. She set it down at the kitchen table in front of us kids and said. ‘“That’s what getting a good education will get for you; money to buy the finer things in life, or you can be like me and settle with watching other people have the things you want and can never have.’ I’ve had it since.”

“I’m surprised Tate or Greer didn’t want it.”

“No. Tate never did or ever will ever care about money. It was empty, so Greer didn’t want it. I took it because I wanted to grow up and have enough money, so Ma wouldn’t have to work so hard. She died before I could do that.”

“Are we ever going to tell the kids about the box?”

“No, it’s always been our secret, and I want to keep it that way.”

“What if someone ever finds it?”

Dustin cocked his head at her. “Would it matter? It’s just little notes that we wrote to each other. It wouldn’t mean anything to them. It just means something to us.”

“I just thought of something.” Jessie stopped dead in her tracks.

Dustin stopped, too, as Jessie dropped his arm, turning as if she was about to go back to the tree.

A second later, she took off running toward their house. “Last one in has to do the dirty dishes.”

Dustin laughed as she ran through the field. Damn, how he loved that woman.

Smiling as he took off halfheartedly, he was planning to let her win again until he remembered that it had been Holly’s turn to cook and she had burnt the roast to hell and back. It would take a blow torch to clean that darn thing.