“But first our milk shakes,” Tia reminded him. By then maybe she could figure out what to do next.
She slung her purse onto her shoulder and was about to grab her suitcase, when she heard a phone ring.
Ethan’s.
He looked at the small screen and then swiped his thumb across it to answer. “Aunt Kay,” he said into the phone.
Tia had tried to call Carol to warn her she and Ethan were on their way to Oklahoma City and for goodness’ sake, to stop posting their every movement on Glenn’s Facebook page. There was no answer, so she’d left both voice and text messages in hopes Carol would retrieve at least one of them.
Ethan’s deep baritone broke into her thoughts.
“Yeah, I know Grandma’s coming out to visit today. As a matter of fact, so am I and I’m bringing a friend with me.” He paused. “Don’t tell Grandma. I decided to come at the last minute, so she doesn’t know. Let’s just surprise her.”
Tia chewed the inside of her lip. All she could do was hope Carol got her messages and altered her plans, because nothing was going to stop her grandson from finally tracking her down today.
“Oh, she’s registered for a poker tournament at the casino tonight, huh.” Ethan’s easy tone belied his stony face. “Oh, was she really? No. I had no idea she even played cards until recently.”
A muscle twitched in Ethan’s clenched jaw, and Tia knew it didn’t bode well for Carol’s pursuit of her bucket list.
“Oh, yeah, I know all about her plans for zip-lining over the river,” he said. “But like I told you, let’s just surprise her.”
Ethan told his aunt he’d see her soon and returned the phone to the pocket of his khaki shorts. Exhaling, he ran a hand over his short, cropped hair.
Although she knew the underlying reason for them being on the road together, Tia wasn’t ready for reality to overshadow the closeness they’d shared last night and this morning. Not yet.
“Pop quiz...” she said.
Ethan shook his head. “Not now, Tia,” he said. “I’ve got too much on my mind.”
“Pop quiz,” she repeated, louder and lowering her tone several octaves.
The firm line of his lips twitched at the corners. “Do you really think you can bully me into playing by adding bass to your voice?”
She walked over to him and kissed the corners of his mouth. “Pop quiz,” she said.
Ethan sighed. “Okay, go ahead.”
“There was an ad for the diner you told me about in the hotel guidebook with a menu of their milk shakes, so my question for you this morning is—” she paused dramatically “—banana or pineapple?”
“Pineapple.” Ethan cracked a full-fledged smile. “I also checked out the guidebook and have a question for you.”
He grabbed both their bags and bent down to retrieve the hotel bill that had been shoved under the door.
“Go ahead,” Tia said.
“I was thinking of their more daring flavors,” he said. “Peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and bacon?”
Tia scrunched up her nose. “Peanut butter and jelly, definitely. Peanut butter and bacon, blech.”
“Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?” he asked. “Like you advised me at the statue back in Metropolis, pull the stick out of your behind.”
Tia frowned, but it didn’t hold. The laughter she’d tried to hold back bubbled out, and Ethan joined in.
“You know, that was a heck of a lot funnier when I said it to you.”
Ten minutes later, they parked in the lot of the retro diner, housed in a restored railroad car, and Tia’s stomach growled. Everything about the place practically screamed good eating.
She took in the shiny silver train car with bright red accents as Ethan came around to open the car’s passenger-side door. An orange neon sign boasting the World’s Best Milk Shakes flashed in one of the huge windows.
“So you’re just getting plain old vanilla?” Ethan asked, continuing the milk-shake-centered conversation they’d been having on the ride over.
“No offense, but bacon in a milk shake would only induce a sequel to last night’s vomitfest,” she said.
When Ethan didn’t respond, she looked over to see he’d stopped walking. He stood frozen in the parking lot, staring at one of the diner’s large windows.
“It’s them,” he said softly as if he didn’t believe it.
Dread pooled in the pit of Tia’s gut as she followed his gaze, catching a parked Harley in her peripheral vision. She peered through the window, and even at a distance, she could see he was right.
Carol and Glenn sat across from each other in a booth, leaning over the table sipping a single milk shake from two straws. Totally engrossed in each other and oblivious to the storm headed their way.
Ethan strode ahead of her toward the diner’s door.
“Wait,” she called out to him, but he kept walking as if she hadn’t said a word.
Tia glanced at the couple again. “Ethan, please.”
He stopped, and she caught up to him. She placed a restraining hand on his forearm.
Ethan stared down at her. “I know your heart’s in the right place, but you’re wasting your breath. I’m not leaving here without her. If she won’t come with me, then I’m going with them,” he said. “That ought to put a kink in her plan to wind up back in the hospital following that ridiculous bucket list.”
Tia had no idea what to say to him, what she could say, until the words tumbled out of her mouth.
“Just look at Carol, take a really good look.”
Ethan heaved a sigh filled with impatience. “I see her, Tia.”
“You’ve known her a lot longer than I have. Tell me, have you ever seen her look so happy?”
The dark, silver-haired man reached across the table and took Carol’s hands while they continued to gaze adoringly into each other’s eyes.
Tia opened her mouth to say something, anything to build her case. Instead, she let the scene unfolding before them speak for itself.
Glen abandoned the milk shake only to bring Carol’s hand to his mouth and kiss it. Tia had no idea what they were talking about, but the love the two shared was as unmistakable as it was timeless. She could only hope Ethan saw it, too.
“No,” Ethan said softly, finally answering her question. “I’ve never seen her like this.”
“If today was my last day on Earth, I’d want to be as happy as they look right now,” she said, more to herself than to him.
Ethan didn’t appear to hear her anyway. He simply stared at his grandmother through the window as if he was seeing her for the first time.
“And Glenn seems like a good guy,” Tia said, her hand still resting on Ethan’s arm. “I think he really loves her.”
They watched as Carol threw her head back and laughed at something Glenn had said. Despite the lines time had etched in their faces, when they looked at each other, Tia could almost see the years vanish, and it was as if she were looking at young love.
“He never stopped loving her,” Ethan said. “This morning when I took so long getting ready, I was reading the investigator’s report.”
He continued as they stood in the parking lot looking through the window at the older couple.
“Glenn Davies is seventy-five years old. He owned a chain of auto-repair shops until he sold them a few years back for a hefty sum. Never married. No kids. Until he moved back to Nashville a month ago, he’d spent his free time fishing on his boat. He calls it the Carol.”
Tears welled in Tia’s eyes, his words only cementing what she could see through the diner window.
“Ethan, we’ve only known each other a few days, but I know you’re the strongest, most protective and caring man I’ve ever met,” she said. “Be strong enough to take your advice to me. Let her m
ake her own decisions and accept the consequences.”
“But her heart,” he said, continuing to stare through the window. “The things on that list are so risky.”
Tia stroked his arm and watched a pink-clad waitress bring the older couple another milk shake. The two were so absorbed in each other they didn’t even notice the waitress. Nor had they spotted her and Ethan standing right outside.
“Her heart appears to be in very good hands,” Tia said.
Ethan looked down at the ground and back at the window. He patted her hand on his arm before enveloping it in his. “Let’s go before they see us.”
“Really?”
Relief washed over Tia at his slight nod as they turned and walked back toward the car. She was happy for the couple sitting in the diner, but moreover she was proud of the man beside her.
“I still don’t like that bucket list,” he said. “You’d think as a retired nurse she’d know better.”
Tia recalled their earlier conversation just before they’d made love. “Sometimes you want something bad enough to say to hell with it...” she began.
He squeezed her hand. “And do it anyway.”
* * *
Ethan held the car door open and watched Tia slide into the passenger seat.
Lingering reservations about his decision to walk away had abated, but he remained troubled as he started the car’s engine. He turned the air conditioner up full blast.
“You okay?” Tia asked.
No. I’m not, he thought. “Yeah, sure,” he said aloud.
He glanced over at her, and it hit him. Now that the situation with his grandmother was somewhat resolved, his and Tia’s journey was essentially over.
“So what now?” she asked.
“We can either leave now or wait for them to leave and have our milk shakes.”
“Maybe we should just get out of here.” Tia gnawed at her bottom lip. “I don’t want them to see us.”
Ethan shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it. They could walk right past us and not notice. They only have eyes for each other.”
“True.” She nodded. “So we’ll wait them out and then go inside.”
“Sure,” Ethan said.
An awkward silence fell over the car’s tight cabin. For two people who shared such an easy camaraderie, the silence was even more unnatural. Ethan shifted in the driver’s seat.
The only thing making him uncomfortable was holding back, instead of telling Tia what was on his mind, he thought, and his heart.
“I’m not ready for this to end,” he said.
Tia leaned across the armrest and laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m not, either, but we’ll see more of each other when we get home, right?”
“Oh, I fully intend to do just that.” He kissed the top of her head. “What I mean is, I’m not ready for our vacation to end. Not yet.”
Regardless of how this journey had started, it had morphed into something entirely different. At least for him, and he hoped she felt the same way.
“Are you suggesting we continue with our plans to go to your aunt’s in Oklahoma City?”
Having spouted off half-cocked, Ethan didn’t know what the hell he was suggesting—then suddenly he did.
He turned around in the driver’s seat and held her beautiful face between his palms. Almond-shaped brown eyes stared back at him, kicking his pulse rate up a notch. He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, softly at first, until he heard her soft moan.
Ethan deepened the kiss, stroking her tongue in a slow motion filled with bone-deep emotions she provoked in him. Tia returned the kiss with matching intensity, and Ethan now understood how a man and a woman could be oblivious to the world going on around them.
When the kiss ended, he rested his forehead against hers.
“I’m not talking about going to Oklahoma City. I have nearly a week and a half left on an already-paid-for trip to Hawaii,” he said. “You’ve spent the last few days in a cramped car, eating junk and looking at nothing but highway.”
He lifted his head and gazed into her eyes. “Join me, Tia. Let me spoil you in paradise.”
Ethan waited for what felt like an eternity for her response.
“I want to. God, I want to so badly,” she said.
However, something in her voice made him wait for the inevitable but. Sure enough, it came.
“But I can’t pick up and go to Hawaii just like that,” she said. “I have a business to run and obligations.”
Ethan smiled. “You’ve already picked up and left.”
“But Hawaii, it’s so far.”
“We’ll still be in the country, and just like now, you’ll be available to handle anything that comes up through phone or email.”
The roar of a motorcycle engine caused them both to look up. Carol donned her helmet as Glenn revved the bike again.
Ethan looked back at Tia. “Come with me,” he said.
She looked at his grandmother and Glenn across the parking lot and then to him. Her eyes narrowed. “Is this another ultimatum?” she asked. “If I don’t come with you, then you’ll go after them.”
Ethan shook his head. “No more ultimatums. I only want to continue this trip if you do.”
The bike roared out of the parking lot, and they both watched the elderly couple leave, Carol’s arms wrapped tightly around Glenn’s waist.
“Ethan, I...”
“If you want this as much as I do, all you have to do is say yes.”
The phone in her purse buzzed, cutting her off. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen and back at him. “It’s Espresso’s head accountant. I need to take this.”
Ethan nodded and pulled out his own phone to tap out a quick email. If things went the way he hoped, he wanted to put something special in the works for the woman beside him.
“Hi, Malcolm. What can I do for you?” Tia’s cheery voice chirped into the phone.
Ethan hoped it remained that way.
“He what?” she asked incredulously. “No, it’s perfectly fine. I’m glad you called. Now, tell me more about these plans of my father’s.”
In the confines of the small car it was impossible not to hear the entire conversation. Apparently, her father was in the process of planning a lavish celebration to commemorate the company’s founding. A celebration they couldn’t afford.
The more involved the conversation grew, the more Ethan believed he’d have to kiss his plan of sweeping Tia off to the islands goodbye.
Tia sighed wearily. “Yes, I’ll authorize the funds to cover the expen...” Her voice trailed off. “No, Malcolm, wait.”
Ethan watched her close her eyes and do one of the breathing exercises she’d done the first day he’d stormed into her office. She opened her eyes and pushed out one long breath.
“I changed my mind. The spas will no longer cover cosmetics division’s expenses.” She paused. “That’s right. I’m not authorizing it.” Another pause. “My father’s already well aware of my position. If he needs clarification, he knows how to reach me.”
Tia ended the call, stuck the phone inside her purse and looked over at him. A seductive smile spread across her lips.
“Now, where did we leave off?” She touched a finger to his chest and slid it slowly downward. “Oh, yeah, there was a trip to Hawaii on the table.”
“You game?” he asked. His casual tone belied the feeling of unadulterated giddiness coursing through him.
“When do we leave?”
“I’m calling my travel agent now to change my departure city to Branson and add your ticket.” He scrolled through his phone for the number. “And brace yourself, because I have a surprise in store that’s going to blow you away.”
Chapter 11
N
early twenty-four hours later, including three flights with connections through Denver and Portland, Tia and Ethan walked through the open-air terminal of Honolulu International Airport.
However, the mild breeze floating on the salt waters of the surrounding Pacific Ocean was lost on Tia, who’d been peppering Ethan with constant questions about her big surprise ever since he’d mentioned it.
“Come on, give me a hint,” Tia said.
He wheeled her carry-on roller suitcase down the long corridor, his own bag slung over his shoulder. “No hints.”
Tia frowned at his mouth, which promptly shut every time she attempted to wheedle it out of him.
“Come on,” she pleaded, barely able to contain her excitement. She held up her thumb and forefinger, positioned with less than an inch of space between them. “Just an itty-bitty one.”
Ethan leaned over and kissed her fingers. “No.”
He tugged her hand in the direction of a nearby cart bearing a colorful assortment of Hawaiian leis. Ethan selected one made of purple orchids and laced with fragrant plumeria blossoms and draped it around her neck.
“For you,” he said.
Tia ran a fingertip over the ring of delicate tropical blooms and then peered up at the man who’d given them to her. “I love it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful.”
His gaze locked on hers as he brushed his knuckle across her cheek. “Neither have I.”
The clerk manning the stand cleared her throat, breaking their trance. Ethan caught the hint and reached for his wallet to pay for the flowers.
“Sorry to interrupt, but you honeymooners are often so wrapped up in each other, you forget.” The dark-haired woman grinned, holding her hand out for the cash. “And what a lovely couple you two make.”
“But we’re not mar—” Tia began.
Ethan cut her off with a kiss that nearly made her forget her name, let alone what she was trying to tell the clerk. When they came up for air, she sagged contentedly against him.
The clerk wagged a finger at them and grinned. “You two try to make it out of your honeymoon suite and see some of our beautiful islands.”
“We’ll try, but I’m not promising anything,” Ethan said. He winked at Tia, who wasn’t sure if the heated blush crawling up her neck was from the clerk’s teasing or anticipation of another night with Ethan.
Every Road to You Page 14