Free Knotted Roots by Ruthi Kight Page B

attention
like that, which did more to irk me than his seeming inability to notice me.
    “Chase,
are you staying for breakfast?  There’s plenty here,” Grandma asked as she put
the sausage on a plate and carried it over to the table. 
    “I
would love to Ms. Betty, thank you.  Would you like some help?” he asked as he
stood and helped Grandma gather the food and bring it to the table.  What did I
do? I stared at him as he moved around the kitchen.  Not very helpful, I know,
but if you could have seen the way his jeans clung to his body...well, you
wouldn’t have been very helpful at that point either.  It really should be a
crime to look that good.
    We
ate together, Chase and Grandma chatting the entire time.  It seemed that they
couldn’t run out of things to talk about.  I learned that Chase and Brian both
worked a second job year round, but cut their hours down to part-time during
the summer so they could help Grandma out.  Seemed silly to me, to want to
spend your entire summer on a farm, sweating to death in that heat.  They had
to be slightly deranged to want to do that.  I sure as hell didn’t find that to
be a good use of freedom.   Give me a beach, suntan lotion, and my favorite
bikini, and I was set for the day.
    “Okay
kids, I’ve got some errands to run in town, so I’ll leave you two to clean up
this mess.  Please, try to stay out of trouble.” The last part directed solely
at me, which caused me to frown.  I shot her an angry glare, but she had
already turned her attention to Chase.              
    “Do
ya want to drive my truck Ms. Betty?  I would hate for yours to break down
again,” offered Chase, his award-winning smile firmly in place.
    “That’s
sweet of ya Chase, but if I do that, then you won’t have a way to get home. 
I’ll be fine, I promise,” she assured as she left the room.   I heard the front
door close as I sat at the table, staring in the direction she had gone.
    I
stood and walked out of the room in a huff.  Again, she was treating Chase
better than me, trusting him to be the well behaved one.  I walked into the
living room and flopped down on the couch, throwing my head back as I tried to
control the anger I could feel building.  I had to calm down.  I couldn’t let
her words get to me like that.
    I
closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths.  After a few minutes my anger
was in check, but my devious mind was working overtime.  If she wanted to see
trouble, I could show her trouble.  Dad had always said it was my middle name,
so maybe it was time to live up to everyone’s expectations.  I heard Chase’s
footsteps as he walked into the room.  They slowed until he came to stand in
front of my sprawled form.
    “You
sure have a flair for the dramatics, don’t ya?” He sat down beside me on the
couch and smiled at me. 
    I
sat up and locked eyes with him.  “What’s there to do for fun around here? 
‘Cause I’m in need of a release,” I said as I inched closer to him.  My bravado
began to slip as he closed the gap between us, his hand coming dangerously
close to my knee.
    “I’m
thinking you already have something in mind,” he replied, moistening his lips
again.  Damn him and those glorious lips.  If he didn’t stop that soon we would
both end up in a ton of trouble.
    “I
want to get out of here.  I need some excitement.  Now.” I stood up and
reached my hand down to help him up.  “And I think you know where I can find
what I need.”
     
    * * * *
     
    “Well...this
wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” I said as the truck came to a stop at the
edge of a wooded area a few miles away from the house.  I looked over at him
and found him grinning. 
    “You’re
in the middle of nowhere.  Where did you think I was taking ya? To the mall?”
he asked as he shut off the engine and climbed out of the truck.  I followed
suit, swinging my legs down to the ground, and straightened out my dress.
    I
trailed