Her cheeks heated and her heart swelled. “Okay,” she drawled. “You can drive.”
He chuckled and his broad smile stretched across his sharp jaw. “Nah, sweetheart, you’ve got the helm.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Opening the door, his mother’s squeal of excitement stopped Drake in his tracks. Looking down he saw a sea bag sitting at the front door and knew what was going on.
“Christ, my ugly brother’s come home.”
Layton untangled himself from his mother and laughed at him. Two years younger, but in no way smaller, Layton looked in peak condition. He’d joined the Navy and then transferred into specops with the Marines five years ago.
Layton’s line of white teeth gleamed against a dark, rugged face. Layton ended up with his father’s looks, dark haired, but they both had their mother’s green eyes, which didn’t hurt when it came to the ladies. “How’s it going, junior?”
“Fuck off,” Layton said, with a huge grin.
They grabbed each other in a bear hug, two men and six-foot-three of muscle crashed together. “Mom says you’ve fallen in love.”
“What the hell, Mom, he’s been home five minutes.”
His mother pulled her hands to her chest and beamed.
“So who’s this unlucky Twila?” Layton asked, heading for the fridge and chucking him a beer. They all settled on the front patio. Layton lay back on the couch and threw an arm around his mom. “Tell me about her. Can’t imagine there being one woman who could tame my brother.”
He laughed and pinned his jaw. “Yeah, me neither. She’s...”
“Holeee shit look at that,” Layton said, sitting up straight and craning his head. “That isn’t a senior citizen. Who is that Mom? I’m in love.”
Drake turned in his seat to see Twila riding by on her bike. “Take a breath, asshole.”
Twila rode up their driveway and dropped to one foot. “I told Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter I’d help them tomorrow instead of tonight.”
Layton shot out of his chair like an RPG had fired into his ass and was front and center. “Hey, I’m Layton.”
Twila turned her head up to him with a heart stopping smile. “Hi.”
“I’ve got dinner with my folks tonight, but how about we find some secluded romantic digs tomorrow night and I can woo you with drinks and appetizers.”
“Stand down, asshole,” Drake drawled.
Seeing the burning look in his eyes, Layton clued in. “Aw, shit.”
Twila cleared her throat. “You have to be Drake’s brother. You have your mom’s eyes.”
Layton gave her a little space and extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Twila.”
“What times dinner?” she asked. A few steps had her in his arms and just for good measure and to drive his brother crazy, Drake zeroed in on her and laid a crushing kiss on her lips, and a few quick bites to follow. “Five o’clock.”
“Should I meet you guys down at the Gator’s Nest?”
He shook his head. “No, we’ll go together and my idiot brother here can take Mom and Dad.”
Layton burrowed his hands in his cammies and rolled his shoulders. Back on the patio, he jerked a hard look at his brother.
“Love at first sight, huh?” Layton grunted.
“Keep it in your pants, man.”
“Aren’t you heading back to the Keys soon?” he asked, and raised a brow.
That wasn’t funny at all, and he couldn’t figure out whether his brother was joking. The grin on Layton’s lips said he was, but his eyes said something different as they continued to follow Twila till she turned the corner.
“I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
Everyone’s heads whipped in his direction and then his mother clutched her chest and screamed, scaring the hell out of all of them.
* * * *
Twila, Drake and Layton stood on the command bridge as his parents sat on the back deck with drinks, comfortable with their son doing the driving. They’d already dropped the lines but drifted, waiting for two other yachts already backing off their berth to clear.
They’d picked up take-out instead of someone having to spend time in the galley.
“Which way?” she asked, slipping in front of him.
Layton appeared and shoved his tongue in his cheek and grinned at them. “You let a woman drive?”
“No, I let my woman drive,” Drake said, with a chuckle close behind. “Taught her everything I know. She could circumnavigate the globe now.”
Layton laughed. “I’ll get some beers.”
“I’ll wait till we get anchored up,” Drake said.
Drake continued to give her impromptu lessons, and he showed her how to give the vessel a quick correction as the tide tried to pull them toward the other yachts.
Twila joined the party downstairs for a short while, and then headed back up the ladder to join Drake.
“How they doing down there?” Drake asked.
“Having a ball reminiscing. I really love your family.”
“My brother really likes you.”
She gave him a twisted brow to tell him he was being silly. “When was the last time you saw him?”
“A little over a year ago.” He drew her under his arm and kissed the side of her head. “Think he’s got a crush on you, sweetheart.”
She gave him a doe-eyed look. “My brother doesn’t visit either, but now that my parents are gone, he doesn’t really have a reason.”
“It’s probably a little too early for that. Coming here brings back memories for him. It’s hard getting over grief, but it’s doable with time.”
She nodded and let her eyes drift over the horizon.
“Your parents were happily married?” he asked.
“Very. They loved each other furiously until the end. Dad was a terrible tease and mom was a very gentle woman who wasn’t quick to anger.”
Drake squeezed her a little tighter. “How long were they married?”
“They were just one month shy of hitting their thirty-fifth anniversary.”
“But they had almost thirty-five years to love each other,” he whispered in her ear, and then kissed her neck.
She nodded again, and fought the prick of tears. Guess she wasn’t quite over their passing yet.
“Come here, sweetheart,” Drake said, turning her and folding his arms tightly around her. She immediately buried her face in his chest. “Twila, you can’t be afraid of the future because of death. It happens to the best people at the strangest times, but its life that needs our attention, not death.”
“I know that.”
“I don’t think you do.”
He raised her chin and gazed down at her, his eyes so gloriously sharp. His intelligence, his strength and control always wavered like an aura around him.
“Twila, you cared for your father until his death, you stayed by your mother’s side until hers, and you saw all the pain, but you’re forgetting about all the years of happiness.
“I know it seems unreasonable. I can’t explain it.” She shrugged.
“I can.”
“You’ve got your shrink hat on again?” she teased.
He passed a gentle kiss across her lips and held her captive with his handsome features. “Many things can’t be explained. Love is one of them, but I don’t question how much I love you, because I know it’s real.”
She looked him in the eyes. “I don’t question how much I love you either. It just is.”
“There’s only one thing we can do.”
She nodded. “I know, appreciate it. I will, but my heart will hurt for a while.” Probably a long while, but Drake wouldn’t be that far away, and he was her friend too, not just a lover, and she prayed it would remain that way.
He chuckled. “Twila, moving on from you would be like leaving half of me behind. That’s why I’m asking you to marry me.”
She sprung from his arms and stumbled a few steps backwards. “I…what?”
Drake’s eyes took a quick survey of their
position and switched on the auto pilot. She pressed herself against the starboard bulkhead and he cornered her, peering at her from beneath his bangs. “I love you, and I can’t stop. I’ll never stop.”
“Say yes,” came from a head sticking up over the deck from the ladder. Becka grinned. “Please, honey, I don’t know how much longer I can hang on here. I’m an old woman, you know.”
Both Drake and she laughed as he helped his mother into the bridge.
“Seriously, Drake, we’ve only known each other for a few weeks.”
“Oh, pshaw,” Rebecca touted. “Drake’s father and I only knew each other for four when he proposed. I haven’t killed him yet, although I’ve considered it over the years.” She brushed her shoulder. “Now listen to me, young lady,” she began. “Your momma and daddy were so happy, even when your father got cancer they treated every day as if it were the last and loved each other until death did they part.” She patted her hair back into place. “The truth is, I want you as my daughter-in-law, so put my son out of his misery because I see the love in your eyes and so does he.”
Drake drew a velvet box from his pocket and stepped up to her. “You better listen to her. She’s a smart woman. A pain in the ass sometimes, but a smart woman.” Drake lifted the top of the box to expose a dazzling ring, brilliant and sparkling with the sun’s ebbing rays.
“Becka, ya just couldn’t leave them be, could you?” Drake’s father growled joining them, and Layton was right behind him.
“We’re waiting,” Becka said with a mock scowl on her face.
She cast her gaze across all of them, from Layton who’d crossed his arms and grinned from ear to ear, to his mom and dad, who wrapped their arms around each other.
“We’re a close family, Twila. You’re already a part of it, but I want you to be Twila Addison, my beautiful wife, for the rest of your life.” He grinned. “Even though you’ll have to put up with Mom from now on,” he chided.
She loved this wonderful family, and her heart skipped several beats looking into Drake’s gaze. “Yes, but…”
“No but’s,” Becka cried out.
“Mom, cool it,” Layton ordered and she scowled at him. “Carry on Twila.”
“Thank you, Layton.”
Drake slipped the ring onto her finger and pinned her to the bulkhead, kissing the life out of her. “I really don’t want to hear a ‘but’ either, but go ahead.”
She looked down at the diamonds, lots of them, weighing down her finger. She felt so stupid saying it. “Drake?” she said in a small voice.
“What, sweetheart?” His brow wrinkled with worry.
“It’s really big.”
His eyes rolled and he turned a squinted look at his mom. “I told you. Didn’t I say she’d say that?”
Layton nodded. “He did. Mom, you shoulda listened.”
“Phooey, people need to know Twila is Drake’s wife.” She nodded sharply. “He didn’t even pick the one I wanted you to wear.”
“That’s because she would have needed a sling to hold her hand up,” Drake teased. “Twila, if you want a smaller ring we’ll pick one out together, without the evil force’s influence.”
Becka palmed her hands. “No, Twila can have a second ring, more suitable for her business.”
“Yes, she can,” Drake said and kissed her again. He leaned his forehead against hers. “What’s mine is hers, until death do we part.”
“Anytime you get bored of him, you can call me,” Layton interrupted.
Drake turned with a scary expression blooming on his face. “Never going to happen, brother.”
“Meh, never know.” Not affected by his brother’s angry glare.
“Are we almost there, dear? I’m getting hungry,” Becka asked. “All this proposing has got me peckish.”
“Just around that point. Now give us a minute—alone would be good.”
Drake’s father raised both hands. “Get going woman.”
“He needed my help.”
“He didn’t need your damn help, he was doing fine on his own.”
“So you think.”
They continued to bicker down the ladder, leaving Twila with the man she’d just agreed to marry. Her pulse raced. “How did this happen?” she said, staring up at Drake.
“Think I knew it the second I saw you carry that ficus up Mom’s driveway, but I realized a week ago there was only one answer. We were meant to be.”
“A week ago?”
He drew her back to the wheel and deactivated the autopilot. “Not really,” he said skimming her shoulder with kisses. His hands drifted down to her hips and he squeezed them against his insatiable bulge. “I just had to kiss you once to know it was forever.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Drake called her three times on his way back to the Keys and every night since he’d gotten home.
The word of their engagement spread with lightning speed. Everyone wished her well, and when she took Mr. Bertrand for his appointment to see Dr. Aikens, even he’d heard.
“That’s happy news, Twila,” Michael said, helping Mr. Bertrand into a room.
“I have some time tomorrow afternoon if you’d like to discuss the geriatric service center.”
Michael settled Mr. Bertrand and then closed the door speaking to her in the hallway. “I still believe it’s a good idea. This community needs people like you, Twila, but I don’t see us going forward on the service center being here.”
“I don’t understand?” Drake was right!
“We can discuss it some other time. Congratulations again, Twila.”
That evening she curled up on her couch. Disappointment and relief were having an all-out brawl. She set some hope on opening a business again, being in the same office as Dr. Aikens would have lent some credentials to her start up, instead of just word of mouth.
“Hello,” she said, picking up the phone.
“Twila, what’s wrong?” Drake asked, concern dropping into his voice.
She cleared her throat. “Nothing. How was your day?”
Drake remained silent for a second or two then said, “You’re not having second thoughts are you?”
“No.” She brushed a tear away and turned down the news. “I just got shot down by Dr. Aikens. He’s not interested in having me join his practice.”
“Because he heard we were engaged, no doubt. What an asshole. He’s the one missing out, Twila, not you.”
“I just thought…never mind. So, what’s happening down in the Keys?”
“Sweetheart, it’s gonna be all right. You’re going to start up your business and its going to be a huge success.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Her eyes rose to the TV and Jimmy the Human ass-o-meter reported on the weather as the headlines poured across the bottom of the screen. ‘Two day outlook.’ Twila turned the sound up. “One second.”
Jimmy explained the track of a tropical cyclone, now officially a hurricane named Wilma headed their way. “Folks, this is the most intense hurricane I’ve seen in a while. Powerful winds, high tides and flooding are to be expected. An advisory to leave the area has not been issued, but it looks like she’s bound for Central Florida.”
Drake had turned the TV on and watched with her. “Twila, pack your bags.”
“Drake, I’m used to them and so are you,” she said calmly.
“Mom said you missed Frances and Jeanne because you were visiting with your brother on the west coast.”
“True, but I’ve been through many others.”
Jimmy was gesturing, and she turned the volume up. “The storm surge on this inbound lady is going to be significant. Prepare yourselves, Floridians, it’s another season of hang onto your hats. If you have somewhere else to go, I suggest you pack now. A Hurricane warning is now in effect, forty-eight hours until land fall.”
“Twila!”
Her phone beeped and she saw it was her brother. “Can I call you back?”
“No.”
“My br
other’s calling, I’d better talk to him.”
“Good, I hope he tells you to get out. Call me back.”
“I will.”
“Twila?”
“Hi, Ray. Takes a hurricane watch to hear from you, huh?”
“Very funny, now get on a plane and come visit us.”
“No, I’m staying here. It’s just forecast as a cat3.”
“Just,” he snorted. “Come on, Twila, that trailer isn’t worth it and neither is taking a chance on your life.”
“I have other reasons.”
“Like a bunch of old stubborn goats who are going to stay and you’re staying with them, right?”
“Ray, they’ll need help, and I can help. Besides my fiancée is only five hours away.”
The line went dead while her brother processed the word. “Fiancée?”
“You heard me.”
“Who, when?” he barked into the phone.
She heard Samantha, Ray’s wife, in the background spouting off saying they had to meet him. “Where does he live, Twila?”
“In the Keys, he’s a marine architect, he has his own company, and builds big, bright, shiny yachts.”
“So why can’t he convince you to get out?”
“Tried already, but I’m sure he’ll try again.” Twila stepped out into the Florida room and looked into a pure blue sky. It would look a lot different in two days. She asked about Ray’s family and how her nieces and nephews were doing? Then filled him in a little on who Drake was since her brother kept nagging about details.
“It’s time for the kids to go to bed, Twila. I better go. If I can’t convince you to come here than at least get out of its path, please.”
“Don’t worry, Ray.”
“I’m always worried about you, sis, even though I don’t call and tell you enough.”
“Love you too, Ray.”
“Love you, and call me tomorrow. If you don’t, I’ll call you, so keep the phone close.”
“I will, big brother. Bye.”
The second she hung up the phone, it rang. She looked at the caller and shook her head.
“Thirty minutes, Twila.” Drake barked into the phone.
“We haven’t talked for a while, Drake.”
Twila's Tempest Page 24