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Chapter 58: Benji
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2022-11-24 14:09:48Related chapters
The Love Barn Chapter 59:Dixie
DIXIE APPLEWHITE SLID ONTO the tall pub chair, her feet dangling, and sat very still. If she closed her eyes, she could still smell his cologne mixed with the subtle scent of peppermint. Had he been chewing gum? She couldn't remember. The moment he'd grabbed her hand her fuzzy brain had gone completely offline.A man hadn't hugged her in so long she'd forgotten how nice a pair of strong arms could feel, even in a platonic gesture."Holy crap, DeeDee, that was Benjamin Lively, right?" Elisabeth stared at Dixie."Is Benji that cutie you were hugging outside?" Shonda arched a brow at Dixie."It was." Dixie's cheeks flushed recalling the way he'd stared. Plenty of men had checked out her outfit tonight, but it was different when the man paying attention to her was her secret high school crush."You should have invited him in for a shot." Shonda pouted her perfect, glossy lips. The mother of three was happily married, but that didn't stop her from admiring the scenery, as she like
Last Updated : 2022-11-24The Love Barn Chapter 60: Benji
BENJI SUCKED DOWN SOME water. His buddies were already too far into their beers. He'd never catch up with them and he had another long day tomorrow. He watched as one of the guys tried to line up a shot at the pool table while a couple of attractive ladies looked on. He missed, and the girls laughed.Everyone was having fun.Benji wasn't quite feeling the vibe, but the lighter mood was just what he needed after his brother's sour mood. He'd have to grin and bear it tomorrow, something he wasn't looking forward to.His phone flashed a number he hadn't seen in a while.What was this about?He picked up the phone and moved toward the patio door before answering."Hey, man. What's up? Working tonight?" Benji plugged his right ear to hear better."Hey, dude." Ralph was a bartender that took shifts at a half dozen different bars up and down the street. "You wouldn't be at the stockyards tonight by any chance, would you?""Yeah. What's up?""I'm over here at the Cantina and
Last Updated : 2022-11-24The Love Barn Chapter 61: Benji
So far so good."Want to give me your phone?" He braced his hands on the truck door."Why?" She clutched her purse to her chest."Because I'd like to let your friends know I'm taking you home and that you're safe. It sounds like you all had a wild time tonight." He also didn't want to leave anyone behind in case someone else had gotten lost.Dixie stared at him for several long moments.He'd like to have thought there was a day when she wouldn't have hesitated to take his help. Today wasn't that day. They were both different people. And he didn't honestly know what Dixie's life had been like the last few years. He'd heard things, of course, but he didn't know anything. Not first hand."Shonda." Dixie handed her phone over.Benji tapped Shonda's contact and hit dial. He closed the passenger door and walked around the front of the truck.The line rang twice before a man with a deep baritone voice answered, "Hello?""Uh, hello. Is this Shonda's phone?""It is. This is
Last Updated : 2022-11-24The Love Barn Chapter 62: Dixie
DIXIE HURT.All over.It was worse than that time her in-laws had thought it would be fun to take her skiing.She groaned and lifted a hand to her face.Her cheek...She traced the bone and down to her jaw. That was the wrong shape. It felt funny.What the hell happened last night?The pub crawl.Divorce shots.So much laughing she'd gotten sick to her stomach from it.And then...everything got pretty fuzzy. What had she done to herself?Dixie needed to see the damage.She pushed the light blanket and sheet down her body. She felt the hand on her waist before she saw it.A large hand with neatly trimmed nails rested against her ribs. The skin was tan and the hair at the wrist a light, golden brown.That was not her ex-husband's hand, and that certainly wasn't his wrist. His nails were always ripped. His skin was paler and his hair dark. And he never, ever touched her while she slept.What had she done last night?She scrambled to gather her thoughts, but
Last Updated : 2022-11-24The Love Barn Chapter 63: Dixie
"Pull yourself together." Dixie pulled herself up to perch on the edge of the tub.Her whole body felt sticky. A shower was in order. She might want to burn her clothes. Laundry would have to be done. But her immediate need was to face down the man currently in her house.A quick washrag bath and a bra would at least make her feel more human.Ten minutes later teeth were brushed, face washed and wipe down complete. Her hair was an unholy mess. She bound it up into a bun until she could properly deal with it later. A bra rounded out her list, and she was ready. For what, she still wasn't sure, but she'd gotten this far. The rest couldn't be that bad, could it?God, she'd slept with Benjamin and she didn't even remember it. How embarrassing?She gave her head a little shake, then thought better of it as an invisible ice pick jabbed at her temple. Those pain killers would be a godsend."You can do this," she muttered to herself.Dixie pulled the bathroom door open and steppe
Last Updated : 2022-11-24The Love Barn Chapter 64: Benji
BENJI PLACED THE TWO guitars and their respective stands in the living room of the house he shared with his older brother, Garth.Speaking of...Benji glanced out the front windows.His brother's truck was gone.Finally.Ever since Benji had dragged ass home Sunday morning, well before their workday was scheduled to begin with the day's events, his brother had been all over him. And it hadn't changed Monday or Tuesday or all day today.What the hell was up with Garth? Was this what their cousin Scarlett had put up with before her boyfriend was in the picture? Was all of Garth's crabby assedness now directed at Benji?He'd always known Garth's protective instincts were on overdrive where she was concerned, but Benji had the sinking realization that he'd allowed far too much family bullying to go on under his nose.That was in the past.They'd figure out their rhythm soon enough.And speaking of rhythm, he really needed to decide what song he was going to start Dixie
Last Updated : 2022-11-24The Love Barn Chapter 65: Benji
The car turned off, and Benji closed the distance to the driver's side, grabbing the door and opening it for her. She tipped her head up those sharp, intelligent eyes of hers focused on him. It felt as though she were slicing layers back until she could see deep into him. If he had anything to hide, she'd see it.Yeah, drunk Dixie and sober Dixie were different people."Good evening," he drawled, leaning an arm on the door. "I wasn't sure you were coming."Dixie didn't answer right away. She pushed to her feet, rising to just below his chin. Her hair was tamed and pinned into place in an over the shoulder, complicated braid thing. Instead of the fuck me heels and sexy witch outfit she wore a high-necked, loose blue tank top and denim capris that hid all those luscious curves she'd had on display the previous weekend. Too bad he hadn't been able to admire her in all her glory. He was willing to bet it had been a sight to behold.What were the chances she'd wear it again?She t
Last Updated : 2022-11-24The Love Barn Chapter 66: Dixie
TWO HOURS AND THE best Dixie could do was hold a couple strings down and strum. It had taken them almost an hour to even get to actually playing the instrument. Benjamin was a surprisingly thorough teacher. She understood the anatomy of the instrument and some music theory before he'd gotten to how one actually played the thing.She'd done better at the anatomy and theory.Make a G chord.That sounded easy enough.But getting there was a contortion act. Her wrist was bent at an unnatural angle and the strings bit into her skin, but damn it, she was going to hold those three strings down and strum if it was the last thing she did.Learning to play an instrument had sounded beautiful and romantic. Hunched over glaring at the strings was neither of those things."Almost." Benjamin reached over from where he sat across from her and adjusted the way her fingers pressed on the strings.She caught a whiff of his cologne again and sighed.Damn him, why did he always have to sme
Last Updated : 2022-11-24
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The Love Barn Chapter 167: Epilogue
SIX MONTHS LATER...SCARLETT SAT STRETCHED OUT on the old, wooden swing content to watch the circus going on over in the flower garden.Mom threw her hands up and said something Scarlett couldn't hear. She chuckled and knew the others were likely beside themselves trying to figure out how to make Mom happy.They all called Noemi's mother Mom now. It just felt right. Garth stood next to Mom, shaking his head at the others. Noemi bent, fussing no doubt over the way the blankets lay or how the bow sat.Benji and Dixie had the whole light kit out and three cameras.All the attention was focused on the bundle of joy currently sleeping soundly in the cradle Garth had carefully restored. It was one of a handful of old things he'd found in the barn and kept. Judging by the initials on the bottom of the old crib, generations of Livelys had slept in that thing.And now so would her baby.Scarlett smiled and sank further into the cushions Cole had set up for her. She was still ex
The Love Barn Chapter 166: Noemi
Noemi WHIPPED HER CAR into the driveway. With it being so early and since everyone had family visiting the street was packed with cars. Garth's truck barely fit in the one open spot.Where the hell was he?What was he doing?Why was he talking to Ángel?A Jeep pulled across the drive behind her, Cole and Scarlett getting out."Why can't you answer your phone?" Scarlett demanded.Noemi threw up her hand as she caught the sound of a deep, rumbling voice."Benji? Hey, we're already here." Scarlett's voice faded as Noemi crept toward the fence and the gate her mother always left open between the two properties.Ángel sat in the swiveling chair at the head of the table on his parent's patio.Garth had a tight grip on one of the other chairs, his back toward her. He was leaning forward, his entire focus on Ángel, who was staring back at Garth like he'd just sprouted a second head or something."You're only going to get one shot at this. If she's decided to give you anothe
The Love Barn Chapter 165: Garth
Garth HAD ALWAYS THOUGHT the hardest thing he'd ever done was bury his parents and accept responsibility for Benji and Scarlett.That had been easy. A simple process and an obvious life altering decision.Neither of those moments had anything on what he was about to do.Garth stood on the front porch of the brick house and glanced to his left, where Noemi was likely sleeping. He hoped that she was getting rest. She never took off except for holidays and if he remembered correctly, she had events this weekend. With any luck, she'd have someone in her corner that would look after her properly.He turned his attention back to the door. There was one of the new, electronic doorbells. He pressed it, listened to the chime and waited.It was early still, but he hadn't been able to make himself wait any longer.After a few moments the locks clanked and the door swung open.Ángel stood on the welcome mat in sweatpants, a T-shirt and a hoodie draped over his shoulders. His hair was
The Love Barn Chapter 164: Noemi
Noemi HADN'T SLEPT ALL night. Most of the time when she wasn't sleeping it was because she was up at all hours trying to pull the last bits of a wedding together. There was purpose to the sleepless nights.All she'd done since getting home around two was sit in the guest chair at her desk and stare at the clear surface. She couldn't claim to have done a lot of thinking in those hours. Mostly she'd sat, stared and let her mind wander. She'd poked at corners she normally ignored, examining her feelings, her thoughts and all the other uncomfortable bits of her life.She excelled at leaving relationships.There were only two men in her life who had ever left her.Her father.And Ángel.Noemi had left every other man before he could get tired of her. She'd known she had the habit, but she hadn't paused to think it through like this until tonight. It was easy to pretend that she didn't have time for men and relationships that weren't going somewhere. She could spin all the excuse
The Love Barn Chapter 163: Garth
Garth GRIPPED THE WHEEL of his truck and drew in a deep breath. He knew it was his imagination. Noemi's perfume wasn't really lingering, he just wished it were.Another car rolled up to the stop sign at the bottom of the hill. Garth waved and pressed the accelerator, heading into town.It was tradition for the guys to meet up at The Hole in town for beers on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Benji had already texted, wondering where he was. Scarlett and the girls were up to something. All the normal things were underway. Except for him.Garth felt stuck. Like he couldn't move.He rolled the problem around in his head as The Hole came into view.The little parking lot was full and people had taken to finding spots along the street. It would no doubt be loud in there, full of people ready to start talking about the Christmas tours, when they were bringing the tractors to Main Street to help decorate and so forth.He just wasn't in the mood.Garth turned the wheel away from the
The Love Barn Chapter 162: Noemi
Noemi KNEW TODAY WASN'T her best work. She'd gone through the whole day in a fog that had nothing to do with the large, Thanksgiving meal she'd eaten yesterday or the Black Friday shopping she'd done that morning.Once again she had to wonder at a bride choosing to have her wedding the day after Thanksgiving. If Noemi was going to have a wedding-No.Not going there.She shook her head and turned her attention back to packing up the arch and removing the flowers. She had about an hour to get the rental pieces ready to go while the wedding party ate dinner. There were still a few things to make sure went off without a hitch. The cake needed cutting and the bride wanted Noemi to keep the speeches short, but there was time before that got started.It felt like she'd lived in a daze the last forty-eight hours.Wednesday night she'd chosen to not go to the annual meal her family had with Ángel's. She couldn't be in the same room with him and act like she wanted to be there. Not
The Love Barn Chapter 161: Garth
Both Garth and Noemi glanced at the door.Benji laughed loudly and a single pair of heavy footsteps came creaking up the stairs mixed with Dixie's softer voice.Noemi covered her mouth with her hand and glanced at Garth. Her eyebrows were almost at her hairline.He just shook his head as something-probably one of the pictures on the landing-clattered to the ground. Another burst of laughter followed by hurried footsteps into Benji's room and the slam of a door."Well, I guess no one knows we're in here," Noemi said dryly."No they do not." Garth put thoughts of his brother out of his mind. It wasn't the first time he'd ignored his brother's antics. "What's really going on, No-No?"She blew out a breath and let go of his hand. For a moment she fussed with her boots, unzipping them and getting more comfortable, sitting cross legged in the middle of his bed. He didn't say anything, just watched her face, how lines developed and went away as she thought through what was botheri
The Love Barn Chapter 160: Garth
Garth STARED DOWN AT where he'd thought he'd seen Noemi.Except Noemi didn't wear flannel. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen her wearing jeans and have fingers leftover. But he was fairly certain that had been her."Garth?" Adeline's voice brought him back to the moment.He blinked down at this funny, sweet woman, but she didn't stir anything in him. Not like Noemi."Adeline?" He took her hand in his. "It was a pleasure meeting you and I hope we see you around. Scarlett's intentions introducing us were good, but..."She smiled a knowing smile and turned her hand in his so she could give it a friendly shake. "I can tell. She's a special woman. I appreciate the history lesson.""Thanks, Adeline."If he'd met her at another point in his life, he'd have been interested. But it wasn't the burning connection he'd had with Noemi. Nothing could compare to that.Garth headed for the stairs, taking them two and three at a time. He skirted the tables between
The Love Barn Chapter 159: Noemi
Noemi PARKED HER CAR out on the grass along with all the other cars.She could do this.Hopefully Garth wasn't angry with her. Well, he could be a little angry. She'd deserve that much. She just hoped he'd hear her.Noemi began walking with the crowd, toward the festival clustered around the barn. Her heart gave a twinge as she got closer to the houses.She hadn't told anyone she was showing up, partly because she was nervous and feared she'd chicken out. Through all the jumble of thoughts, the one thing she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was that she loved Garth.As the crowd folded her into their midst, Noemi realized there were a lot more people there than she anticipated. How was she going to find Garth in all this?"Noemi?" a familiar voice called out.She turned and saw Scarlett standing with a basket of something hanging from one arm and a toddler perched on her hip looking at Noemi with wide eyes."Hey." Noemi fidgeted with the hem of her T-shirt.Scarlett gr
