Before the Storm (The Cochran/Deveraux Series Book 9)

by Melanie Schuster

  “As good as I am at making love,” he said with a straight face.

  “I’m going to be big as a house,” Ruth said sadly.

  Mac’s laughter echoed through the kitchen. He watched Ruth finish her meal, thinking that once again she’d revealed herself to him in a very sincere and un-selfconscious way. She looked happy and sated as she daintily ate the fruit while she sipped her coffee. Suddenly she put her cup down and looked at him, her eyes soft and serious at the same time. And she did it again; with one simple question she drew him into her enchanted aura without even trying.

  “Julian, you don’t really talk about your wife. Can you tell me about her?” she asked sweetly.

  If Mac was surprised by her question, he didn’t let it show, Ruth thought as they finally drove to the hospital to see about Paris. She’d insisted on tidying up the kitchen while he told her about his wife, Genevieve.

  “She was a Louisiana girl, she and her sister Gertrude. They were from Shreveport and they were both named after great-aunts or something, which is why they had such old-fashioned names. Everybody used the French pronunciation of her name, though, so it suited her better. Most people called her ViVi, which really got on her sister’s nerves because no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t get anyone to call her Trudie. It just didn’t suit her, probably because she was so uptight. She was always Gertrude to everybody, Gert, if they wanted to piss her off.” Mac chuckled.

  “But not Genevieve; she was like her name, exotic and exciting. I called her Ginger, though, because she was sweet, spicy and hot like ginger. In a lot of ways, Paris is just like her. She was tall and plump, a good-sized girl. She had this pretty long black hair and these flashing black eyes and she was curious about everything. People, places, events, everything—She was probably the best-read person I’ve ever met. I think that’s where Paris gets that curiosity from, although her mother channeled hers into the law. She was bright and funny like Paris, but much more intense. She was a true intellectual and she loved to study, to learn.

  “We met young, married young and started a family young, which is probably how we did it all. If we’d waited until we were older, we’d have had more sense than to start a family in the Army and try to go to school at the same time, but we did it. We were a team, we worked everything out. We took turns watching the kids, we made friends on base so we could spend time together without them, we studied together and we managed to accomplish most of our dreams, although she didn’t live to see them all,” he said with a hint of sadness.

  “Paris is a lot like her physically, although she pays a lot more attention to her attire and her makeup than her mother ever did. Ginger was a real gypsy sort, as long as it was clean and decent, it could be red plaid and purple paisley, she didn’t care. But she always had a certain charm about her that made her the most captivating woman in the room. She drew men to her like flies. Women, too, come to think of it. Even though she was light years away from some of the wives we met on base in terms of her attitudes and her ambitions, she still managed to have lots of friends. She didn’t preach at people, I guess that was her secret. You didn’t have to believe what she believed, you just had to be a good person and she was fine with you.”

  Ruth was now finished with the kitchen and was leaning on the counter, watching him with fascination. “You said she went into law, too?”

  “Yep. She went into environmental law before anyone really knew what it was. She had a passion for ecology and she loved her state. She loved Louisiana and she hated what the oil companies had done to it, them and the other big businesses that were buying up the land and destroying it and the people they were shoving aside in their greed. That was her passion and she was a true tigress. When it came to her family and her law, you’d better not cross her or there was hell to pay. She was so full of life and so tough. It was just unbelievable that she could die. I honestly thought she’d live forever, Ruth.”

  Ruth moved to his side of the work counter and stood close to him, placing one hand on top of his and her arm around his shoulder. “What happened, Julian?”

  “She’d had a headache off and on for some weeks. She wasn’t one to complain, but I could tell and she did admit to having some discomfort a few times. I kept trying to get her to go to the doctor, and she promised me she would, but she was working on a big case and the kids were getting over the measles or something. She was just too busy to make an appointment and I was too stupid to make her go. And one day she just dropped dead. She passed out at the office and was dead before she hit the floor. It was an aneurysm,” he said quietly, not bothering to wipe away the tears that appeared in his eyes.

  Ruth couldn’t help herself; she put both arms around his big shoulders and held him while she kissed the tears away. “She sounds like a wonderful woman, Julian. I think I would have liked her very much.”

  Mac turned on the stool so he could return her embrace, holding her tightly and letting her comfort him. He rubbed his face on her soft hair and kissed it. Then he kissed her forehead and tipped her chin up so he could look in her eyes.

  “She would have liked you, too. She would have called you a woman with a good head on her shoulders. She would have loved having you for a friend, honey.”

  Ruth buried her head in his neck and squeezed her eyelids together tightly so the torrent of sentimental tears wouldn’t gush out. “Me, too, Julian,” was all she could say.

  ***

  By late afternoon, Paris was home from the hospital and her family was gathered around her making sure she was comfortable. She had protested several times that she was fine, she didn’t need to be waited on, but it didn’t do a bit of good. Mac watched the scene with amusement as Lillian, Bennie and Ruth fussed over her.

  “I’m fine, I really am,” she insisted. “The boys brought me ice cream and candy and magazines, none of which I need, but all of which I appreciate,” she said as she smiled at her brothers, who were lounging about on the floor and the chairs like big jungle cats. I’m perfectly fine. Aunt Ruth, I’m still surprised to see you. I had no idea you were here. I was so out of it from whatever they gave me last night I didn’t know what was going on. Where did you spend the night?” she asked innocently.

  Ruth’s face turned bright pink and for once in her life she had nothing to say. If Paris had looked at her father she’d have noticed a definite redness along his ears, too, but her attention was all on Ruth. “Were you at Bennie’s house? I know the boys were there and they didn’t mention you being there,” she mused.

  Ruth looked like a doe in the crossfire of an AK-47. Suddenly Bennie thrust a plate in the younger woman’s face. “Have some pie,” she said.

  Paris looked tempted, but shook her head. “I can’t use this as an excuse to eat like a horse. So, Aunt Ruth, were you in the guesthouse at Clay and Bennie’s?”

  Bennie practically shoved the plate up Paris’s nose. “Have some pie,” she repeated firmly. “I made it just for you; it’s Key Lime from Ceylon’s recipe. Want a bite?”

  “Oh. Okay, it looks delicious,” she said as she took the plate from Bennie’s hands.

  Mac wanted to laugh at the scene but he knew Ruth would have his head if he did. He was getting ready to go back to New Orleans, as were his sons. They all had court appearances the next day and as long as Paris was healthy and cared for, their concerns were allayed. Besides, Mac wanted to get them out of there before it became too obvious that he and Ruth had spent the night in Paris’s guest room. Some things were too private and precious to be shared with the world and this was one of them.

  He managed to get a few minutes alone with Ruth before he left, though. “I’ll see you next weekend. I’m looking forward to seeing you, honey. To be perfectly honest, I’m going to begrudge every minute that we’re apart,” he said while kissing her neck.

  He loved hearing the soft sigh that escaped her lips. “I am, too. Are you sure you want to come next weekend? I told you all my friends will be there for our customary Ac
ademy Awards party. They can be rather. ..intense,” she said dryly.

  “This is a must, darlin’. We both want to see Paris walking the red carpet and what better way to meet your friends than all at once? It’ll be fun, you’ll see,” he crooned as he continued to kiss her. They were in the pantry, of all places, but it was the only place they could be alone. It was sweet, in a way, hiding from the family and necking like teenagers. Ruth gasped as Mac demonstrated his agility by putting his hand under her sweater and her bra, massaging her breast while he kissed the daylights out of her.

  “Judge, let’s get going, we don’t want to hold up takeoff,” Phillipe said from the kitchen.

  Ruth sprang away from Mac, adjusting her top and giving him a glazed smile. “You’re a hot mess, Julian. You should be ashamed of yourself,” she fussed, but it was obvious she was teasing.

  “Ashamed of myself for what, darlin’, falling in love and wanting to show it? I don’t think so.” He treated himself to one more quick kiss and whispered that he’d call her that night.

  Ruth wandered back into the living room in time to see all the men leaving. She waved her hand and added her goodbyes to everyone else’s but she forgot to school her face into its normal demeanor. She was still looking all gaga over her little tryst in the pantry and eagle-eyed Paris was all over it in a nanosecond.

  “Okay, Aunt Ruth, the jig is up,” she said with a glint in her eye. “And no, Bennie, I don’t want any more pie, thank you very much. I want to know what’s going on with Aunt Ruth and Daddy. I’ve seen that look before so don’t try and lie. You two are in love, aren’t you?”

  Ruth looked around the room, trying to find a quick exit. She had no allies, either. All Bennie could do was hold out a plate and start laughing as she did so. “Have some pie?”

  Ruth sat on a flowered ottoman next to Paris and all but snatched the plate from her niece’s hand. “If I’m going to be interrogated the least you could do is give me some coffee to go with this bribe,” she grumbled.

  Lillian was ready for her, handing her a coffee that was hot and black, the way she liked it. “Here you go, Ruth. Now start at the beginning and talk slow. We don’t want to miss anything,” she said with a huge smile.

  Chapter 12

  “You’re on the run; you know that, don’t you?” Sylvia’s voice was gentle but the words still sounded like a rebuke to Ruth. The fact that she was packing her bags to go to Hawaii notwithstanding, she didn’t feel like hearing the truth. She looked around for something else to put in the bag.

  “Syl, can you hand me those sandals? The green ones?”

  Sylvia sighed deeply and picked up the little thong sandals. She held them out to Ruth and then snatched them back. Holding them against her chest, she looked at her friend with exasperation. “You’re ignoring me and you know how that drives me crazy. You’re running away from Julian and we both know it. What’s the matter, sugar, has he done something to make you angry?”

  Ruth gave up her frantic packing and sat cross-legged on her huge four-poster bed. She scooted over to make room for Sylvia, who joined her at once. Brushing a loose strand of hair off her forehead, she went for a nonchalant look as she faced Sylvia’s questions.

  “I’m just going to Hawaii for a week. I go there several times a year, as you well know. I have a cottage there, or did you forget that? How does that qualify as running away?” She defiantly bit a tiny snag of cuticle off her thumbnail and refused to look at Sylvia directly, something that her friend pointed out.

  “You’re hiding something from me,” she said doggedly. “You won’t look me in the eyes and your toes are wiggling and the only time you do that is when you’re trying to lie about something. You’re the worst liar in the known world, so you may as well give it up. And you never go to Hawaii in April, so you must be running away. What’s up, chick?”

  Ruth looked utterly crestfallen. “Syl, I’m so confused I don’t know what else to do but get the hell out of Dodge. I need some time to think. I’m just totally overwhelmed at this point,” she admitted.

  “Has Julian done something? Are you not getting along? I know I’ve said this a hundred times, but when he was here last month you two seem so well-suited. I’ve never seen you so happy and relaxed in my life. You looked like you were having a ball,” Sylvia said gently. “What’s been going on?”

  Sylvia was referring to the weekend of the Academy Awards, when Julian had come to visit Ruth in Chicago. It had been a wonderful weekend, full of laughter and lovemaking and fun. Despite his assertion that he could get a car, Ruth had insisted on picking him up from the airport, and from the moment his tall frame came into her view she’d been filled with a joy she hadn’t felt in years. Every time he kissed her it set her heart dancing with excitement and they kissed long and often, so she was giddy with happiness the whole time he was there.

  He’d admired her loft greatly, particularly the bedroom with the skylight and the massive bed, and the bathroom, which was custom-fitted. Ruth could remember his exclamation when he saw the huge tub and the separate shower enclosure.

  “Honey, this thing is gigantic! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bathtub this big in a private home. This looks like something from a spa or an exercise club. This thing is big enough for six people,” he said in wonder.

  “Maybe not six people, but definitely big enough for two,” she said demurely. “This place belonged to a former Chicago Bulls player. He got traded to Miami and put the place up for sale. He had to have the floor reinforced to hold it, but if you ask me, it was worth the expense.”

  Mac had agreed heartily and tried his best to persuade her into it right then and there. She almost gave in to him, but they had tickets for a concert that night and there was no way they’d get out of the bath in time. But after a great evening out that concluded with drinks at the Green Mill, where they were lucky enough to catch a performance by Kurt Elling, they came home and took full advantage of the tub.

  Ruth had filled it with hot water, lacing it with bath salts with a fresh pine fragrance and adding an expensive German bubble bath with the same scent. While she was preparing the tub, Mac was busy making a delicious concoction of crushed ice, fruit juice and seltzer that was as pretty to look at as it was refreshing to drink. When he was finished with the drinks he brought them into the bathroom, where Ruth was waiting for him, already up to her neck in bubbles with lit candles all around the room. He joined her in about ten seconds, laughing as he did so. “I’ve never taken my clothes off so fast in my life,” he told her.

  They changed positions, so that Mac was leaning back with Ruth between his legs, reclining against his chest They stayed that way for a while, both of them relearning the other’s touch, the feel of their bodies close together. Ruth’s hands were stroking his long legs under the bubbling hot water, and he was massaging her breasts while he kissed her nape and her shoulders. “I missed you, honey,” he murmured.

  “I missed you too, Julian. I’m so glad you’re here,” she answered. Her soft tone turned to a gasp of surprise, and then a low hum of contentment as Julian’s hand found her most sensitive spot, causing her to arch her back and move her hips sinuously against his hand. She could feel his sex, long, hard and eager against her back, and she tried to turn around to explore him in the same way he was pleasuring her. He was too determined to bring her to ecstasy, however, and he continued to massage her, one hand on her breast and the other one deep in her womanhood, touching her just the right way, coaxing her closer and closer to the brink until her cries echoed in the scented room. When her body’s trembling and throbbing began to subside, she was finally able to turn around and straddle him. She took him in her hands and leaned forward to kiss him, rubbing her breasts against his chest as she did so. Then she leaned back with a sweet smile. “Your turn.”

  Sylvia had to bring Ruth back into the here and now by poking her in the arm. “Earth to Ruth, come in, Ruth. I know what that look means and I’m too young to be exposed to suc
h things, so let’s stay on target. The party was a lot of fun and everyone loved Julian, so what’s the problem?”

  Ruth had to smile when she thought about her annual Academy Awards soiree. It was something she did every year for all her movie-mad friends, but this year it was very different. She’d made the main course, as usual; her friends would bring the salads and desserts. She’d prepared her stuffed eggplant, a delicious mixture of tomatoes, scallions, mushrooms, ground turkey, seasoned breadcrumbs and feta cheese that was stuffed into the hollowed-out halves of the eggplant, sprinkled with mozzarella and baked. Mac had tasted the mixture and declared it amazing. “I use a lot of basil and a little oregano, and I also use turkey Italian sausage to give it more oomph. I’m glad you like it,” she said modestly.

  Mac had made an appetizer, claiming he wanted to make sure her friends approved of him. When Ruth tasted the big mushroom caps stuffed with spinach and crabmeat with a hint of Pernod, she sighed with delight. “These are beyond delicious, Julian. They were going to love you anyway, now they’ll just be trying to steal you away,” she teased him.

  The party was a huge success. Everyone was absolutely charmed by Mac, especially when his sense of humor was displayed. Ruth started laughing out loud when she remembered the sight of him sitting on the big chair in the living area. He was surrounded by her unabashedly curious friends, especially the extra-nosy Kimmi, who had no shame in asking personal questions. Mac had whipped out a folder, saying, “I thought this might make it a little easier to get the ball rolling. I prepared a resume for your perusal,” he’d said in his deep voice. Everyone had collapsed in laughter except Kimmi, who read hers as if it were the lost books of the Bible.

  “You’re laughing about Kimmi, aren’t you?” Sylvia asked.