TWICE UPON A TIME
Page 21
She wound her arms around Rico's neck, hugging him to her.
"I got you, baby. I got you," he said against her ear.
Anna opened her eyes and was astounded. Rico carried her farther and farther from the plane, revealing more and more people. People in police uniforms, plain clothes, fatigues. Many of them stood watching their progress across the field.
Looking up, she was stunned by the spectacular colors brushed along the sky and above the plane. Fuschias, violets, oranges and reds. How could it be so beautiful out here when something so ugly had just happened inside?
Closing her eyes again, she asked about the twins.
"I'm taking you to them. Kid took Rafe to the ambulances."
She twisted and looked in the direction Rico was walking and saw they were halfway up the incline. "Rico, put me down. I don't want you hurting yourself."
He halted but didn't let her go. He stared at her intensely with those fake-brown eyes. "Say it again."
"Say what?"
"My name."
She frowned at him. "Why?"
"Because that's only the second time you've called me by my name in years."
She huffed. "That's not true."
"Yes, it is," he said, and started walking again. "You screaming my name in the plane was the first time I heard you use my name since the last time I saw you."
"No way."
"Yes," he said simply, and looked down at her quickly. She could see the hurt she had so unintentionally inflicted.
"I didn't realize."
"I know you didn't I hoped that when you finally did, it would mean you'd accepted me back into your life."
She opened her mouth to answer him when she heard Rebecca.
"Mommy!"
Rebecca came flying at them, and Rico lowered her to her feet. She knelt and caught her now sobbing daughter. Rico looked at her and smiled.
"We'll talk later. Let's take care of our children." She nodded, and they went to find Rafe amidst all the confusion. She saw him curled in Runt's arms, drinking from a cup Runt held for him. Runt noticed them, lowered the cup and said something to Rafe.
Their son looked at them, his eyes wide, and began to cry.
Runt grinned.
Rico reached out and picked Rafe up, rocking him against his chest.
"Excuse the smile, Anna. I'm just so glad the little guy's reacting."
Anna's eyes filled with tears as she rubbed Rebecca's back. Her children weren't the only ones reacting. "Thank you for taking such good care of them for us, Runt."
He smiled and reached out to tug one of Rebecca's curls. "You have the bravest children I've ever met."
Rebecca's head popped up off her shoulder, and she looked at Runt with a shuddering sigh, she examined him, her brow furrowed.
"Why's your name Runt?" she asked.
Surprised more that Rebecca's first question was about Runt and not Dana or everything that had happened, Anna looked at the men. All around them, people had quieted.
Runt's booming laugh had a ripple effect. The stranglehold of tension in the forest broke, and everyone's relief trickled out in chuckles.
"I'm a twin, too," he told her, rubbing her back with a huge hand. "I'm smaller than my brother so they call me the runt."
Rebecca's eyes widened as if imagining this, and she gave a wobbly smile, a bit unsure of herself. Rafe, still nervous, curled his small arm around Rico's neck and pressed his cheek against his father's. Looking around at all the people, he pulled away and looked at Rico.
"Rico was my daddy's name," Rafe said, his gaze intent on Rico's face. "Does that mean you're him?"
Rico smiled through the tears in his eyes and nodded, "Yes, son, I am."
"Mommy said you went to heaven," Rebecca said, sounding only mildly confused by the revelation.
Rafe looked at his mother and after gauging her expression, he nodded and sighed. His body shuddered slightly with his breaths and he relaxed completely against Rico, "’Kay."
Rebecca leaned out of Anna's arms and patted Rico to get his attention. "Maybe you need some ice cream, Daddy?"
Deep chuckles camouflaged the emotions Rico's men couldn't hide, but Anna's tear-stained face and relieved smile said it all.
* * *
Hours later Anna and Rico stood at the end of Lina's hospital bed. Although she was still on monitors, the doctors felt her prognosis was very good. They said she was extremely lucky the drug hadn't triggered a real heart attack, and they wanted to monitor her for a few days to make sure her own stress didn't cause one.
"I cannot believe this day," Lina said, more under control than she had been when they first told her the day's events.
Both children, sound asleep, curled alongside their grandma, braced from falling off the sides by the bed rails. White, nubby blankets covered them up to their elbows. "To think I could have lost all of you today."
Anna looked at Rico, hearing the words her heart had dwelled on for hours. Dana could have taken everything from them. As it was, she'd taken her children's trust and sense of safety. Anna worried about the long-term effects on them, but the doctors who checked them over suggested a wonderful hospital therapy program.
"Instead, Dana lost her freedom for the rest of her life," Rico said grimly. His whole demeanor had started changing when they arrived in the emergency room with the twins. "I'm not sure that's punishment enough."
Maybe the whole situation had made her paranoid, but Anna could swear he was pulling away from her.
"Will she go to jail or a mental hospital?" his mother asked. Anna couldn't claim relief that Dana had survived her gunshot wounds, but she was glad she didn't have her death on her conscience.
"I don't know, Mama. She has serious psychiatric problems, but she's responsible for a lot of deaths. It will be up to a judge."
There was a brief knock on the door, and Irish stuck his head in.
"Excuse me, am I intrudin'?"
"No, please come in!" Lina exclaimed in a low voice, playing hostess from her hospital bed. "Let me guess. Irish?"
He grinned. "Ah, you're as perceptive as your son, Mrs. Carella. How are you feelin'?"
Lina laughed, then sobered. "I'll be back to new in a day or two. Thank you for helping my family." She blinked back a tear. "Are you okay?"
Irish waved the question away as if taking a bullet in the chest was as common as bumping your knee. He walked up to the bed and ran a finger lightly down Rafe's cheek. "Just a bruise. Nothin' to concern yerself with."
"What about California?" she asked.
Irish smiled at the use of Cal's whole nickname. "He's doing very well. They gave him somethin' to knock him out and keep 'im from leavin' and now his snores are fillin' the ICU. The bullet went right through him but missed all the important things."
Lina smiled, relieved. "I'm so glad."
He faced Anna. "Anna, there's a young lady downstairs lookin' for you. I would have brought her up, but I needed to ask you a few questions."
"Who is it?" Dread knotted her stomach. She wasn't up for any more nasty surprises. But who would know to look for her here?
"She says she's your cousin, Brooke."
Relief allowed her to smile. "How did she find me?"
"Well, apparently she called you 'fore Layton got the taps and call-forwardin' set. He tried questionin' her, and she demanded to know where you were. When he wouldn't, she drove to yer home, and they finally brought her here. From what I understand, Layton's ears are still burnin' from the blisterin' she gave 'em."
Anna laughed, she couldn't help it. She'd seen Brooke on trial in court. She turned even more formidable when it concerned her family.
"You can bring her up, Irish."
"Uh, I was goin' to. I jes' wanted to know if the lass was single."
Rico's amused tone came from behind her. "Thinking of settling down?"
"Well, I'm gettin' a bit old runnin' around like this. Who knows what could happen?"
The lights in his
eyes danced, and Anna knew Brooke didn't stand a chance.
"Don't count on settling down with Brooke," she warned. "No one's ever been able to catch her."
Irish narrowed his eyes at her. "They don't call me Irish for nothin' ye know." He looked down at the bed. "How are the wee ones?"
Anna looked at Rico as he answered. "They're doing as well as can be expected."
Irish's gaze took in Anna's swollen jaw, from which she'd just removed the ice pack before he walked in. "You are a brave lass, Anna. We were all very proud of you out there."
She flushed from the praise and felt tears welling up again. She felt like a wimp.
Irish grinned and started out the door. "By the way, does all that red hair of yer cousin's mean she's Irish?"
Anna shook her head and chuckled. "No, she's Scottish."
Now outside the room, with only his head sticking in, he made an approving noise. "Good strong stock, those Scottish."
He disappeared as quickly as a leprechaun.
"Did you do that on purpose?" Rico asked, amused.
"Do what?"
"Give him a challenge about not catching Brooke?"
"Well, not exactly. Brooke refuses to settle down, that much is true. But she needs someone who'll fight for her and give her a reason to."
Rico smiled, and Lina chuckled.
Seconds later Brooke burst in the door with Irish at her heels. Wearing a suit the color of sage and full of wrinkles, tendrils of hair falling around her face and her green eyes darkened with distress, she was as disheveled as Anna had ever seen her. Seeing the full bed, Brooke stopped, her gaze darting over all of them.
"First, is everyone all right?" she asked in a low voice.
"We're fine," Anna assured her as Brooke dropped her purse on a chair and swooped her up into a tight hug.
"I want the whole story, but Irish here says it's long. We'll keep it for later." She loosened the embrace to watch Anna carefully. "I just want to know what this has to do with Rico. I kept hearing his name, but they wouldn't give me details."
Anna looked at him, and Brooke followed her gaze.
"You must be Gage," she said with one of her devastating smiles. "I've heard a lot about you."
Anna waited for Rico to glaze over the way all males did when they met Brooke.
He didn't glaze, but he did smile back. "I've heard a lot about you, too. But my name's not Gage."
"Oh, I'm sorry," she chuckled, only slightly embarrassed. Not much threw Brooke for a loop.
Rico looked at her, and she gave him a small nod.
He took a few steps closer to them and held out his hand. "My name's Rico."
Brooke paled, and the arm encircling Anna's waist slackened and fell to her side. "No, you're not."
He looked at Anna and pointed to an eye. "Do you think I can finally throw these things out?"
"Please do," Anna said with a smile.
He bent his head and, with two pinches, removed the contacts and threw them in a small trash can beside the bed. Then he looked at Brooke. The effect wasn't as stunning as it had been outside that afternoon, with the sunlight striking them to pure gold, but Brooke's eyes widened just the same.
She took a step closer to him.
"I don't understand," she said dazedly.
"I don't blame you," he said wryly. "I have a hard time with it myself."
Brooke looked over at Anna with a frown. "This is your Rico?"
Anna stared at her cousin, remembering their conversation about him just days ago. Remembered saying how he'd never seemed more alive to her. Remembered Rico saying that her heart already knew the truth.
"Yes, that's my Rico."
Brooke's eyes widened again, the daze gone. She faced Lina. "Oh, my! Lina!"
Lina's beatific smile said it all. Irish, the level of emotion in the room maybe too much for him, made his exit silently.
Brooke faced Rico again, blinking and taking in his every feature. Then she walked up to him and gave him a hug.
Pulling away, she looked up into his face. "Welcome home."
Anna, swallowing the lump in her throat, knew Brooke couldn't have said anything more appreciated. The words, even from a total stranger, gentled his expression.
"I'm going to have a lot of questions, but I'll save most of them for later," she said in her best trial lawyer tone. "Just tell me, is Irish single?"
Anna rolled her eyes as Rico burst into laughter and gave Brooke a squeeze.
* * *
With Runt carrying Rebecca and Rico cradling Rafe, the small army of adults left the hospital. All of the men and Brooke were going to follow them to the house. Rico had pointed out that he was staying at a bed and breakfast, so he had more than enough room for everyone.
Brooke suggested she stay in Lina's room downstairs and get up with the children in the morning so Anna and Rico could sleep late. The offer, Anna knew, was mainly because Brooke was so worried about her godchildren. She wanted to see them awake and okay for herself.
As far as she and Rico were concerned, Anna didn't know what to think. So much had happened. While she'd already decided to take another chance with him, the closer they got to home, the farther he had pulled away from her.
They made one long convoy back to Anna's cozy home and trouped inside her house. Brooke went upstairs ahead of them and pulled down the twins' bedcovers. They woke briefly, thrilled to see their aunt Brooke, but too tired to do anything besides make her promise to stay.
Back downstairs Anna found the men checking every nook and cranny of her house. Lucky saw her on the stairs as he checked the bottom of one of her lamps with a black wand.
Holding the lamp in midair, he gave her a sheepish smile and looked at Rico, who had stopped on the stair behind her.
"Looking for bugs?" Rico asked.
"Just a precaution. Mike wants to make sure no one tapped the house while they were here this afternoon. You know how these bureaucrats get. They want to keep tabs on everyone."
At first upset at the thought, but then relieved her house would definitely be her own, Anna nodded and walked into the kitchen.
The guys were into everything. Drawers, cabinets, light fixtures, heating vents in the walls. She should have been really upset.
But she wasn't
"I should probably freak out," she mused aloud, and they all stopped to look at her with varying degrees of alarm. "You guys have been doing this longer than I. Can you actually get to a point where nothing bothers you because you've been up and down so much that your nerves give up and die?"
Kid nodded and answered her with dead seriousness. "Kind of. But you're just tired. Don't worry, it'll all come back to you."
"Probably when the twins escape the backyard again," Joncaluso teased from the den.
"Or when Rebecca brings home her first boyfriend," teased Irish from his perch on the kitchen chair, where he inspected the hanging light.
Anna smiled. "So you're all saying I'll be better after a good night's sleep."
They agreed and went back to work, occasionally sharing other amusing ways the twins would test her nerves.
"Rico, we'll be going over to the B&B and out of your hair in about ten minutes," Mike said, walking by them and onto the back porch.
Rico had sprawled into a kitchen chair, and she wondered how badly he'd strained still-healing bones and muscles. She might just use the doctor's suggestion on how to ease the pain.
"No problem. I've been using the first two bedrooms at the top of the stairs. If you need to log into anything, my office is up there with the computers, and it's got an extra bed. Most of the rooms have double beds and their own bathrooms, so you guys should be set." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, twisting and stretching. "You probably should order pizza and beer tonight, and tomorrow we'll stock up the fridge."
Mike nodded. "We'll be fine. I don't know how many of them have to leave tomorrow."
"I hope none do. I'd like to explain all this," he said, g
esturing to his face.
Irish breezed past them to the foyer saying, "Jes' try and get rid of me."
"He just winked at me," Brooke said in her ear.
"I saw that," Anna answered wryly.
"You know, I could arrange a few days off to help you until Lina comes back. And once Mom finds out, you're not going to be able to keep her away."
A part of her wanted privacy for her and Rico, but they did need to concentrate on the twins. If the men were going to be around, anyway, Brooke and Aunt Clare could be a big help to her.
"Sounds great. Thanks," she said, giving Brooke a hug. "I could use the support. I'm considering having a nervous breakdown."
Brooke pulled away and arched a perfect auburn brow. "I can't imagine why."
* * *
It was another half hour before everyone left and she had Brooke installed in Lina's room with clean sheets and a T-shirt to sleep in.
Strangely, she wasn't exhausted. She'd passed that state about two hours ago, and her second wind was a gale force now.
Slight creaks were the only sounds as the house settled in for the night. The light above the sink glowed with comfort, and even though the heavy threat of danger had disappeared for good, she made sure all the doors were bolted. She glanced out the gauzy curtain by the front door and saw Rico's house ablaze with lights. The guys were still up. Even after Dana's confession to the police that she'd hatched the plot and not Enzo, it was a relief to have the guys close just in case.
She smiled, thinking about what a family they all were in their own right and how nice it was to be included in the circle. She turned to the stairs and the light that tumbled so welcomingly down them.
Rico was up there.
She let that thought swirl around inside her. Relief, gratitude, need and butterflies.
Shaking her head, she smiled. After today she could handle anything.
She put her hand on the railing.
* * *
Rico stood in the shadows of the twins' bedroom. He couldn't stop staring at them. He'd lost all track of time and realized Anna's and Brooke's voices no longer floated up the stairs.
What would he have done if he'd lost them?