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

by Melanie Schuster

  Maya’s eyes lit up with surprise. “I still have my plain gold band, Julian. I wear it every day,” she confessed.

  “Well, I always wanted to get you a beautiful engagement ring and I never got around to it. I never found anything special enough for you but now I think I have. I had this made for you,” he said as he took a small box out of his pocket.

  She opened it with shaking fingers and went completely still when she saw what it contained. The ring was a big oval diamond, about four carats. It was set in eighteen-carat gold and there were three smaller stones on each side of the main stone. The main stone was brilliantly faceted and had a soft pink cast, while the smaller stones were pale green and lavender. She held out her hand so Julian could put it on her and she wanted to weep with joy.

  ‘Those are all diamonds, but they’re different colors. Kind of like you, they’re precious and rare and unusual. I hope you like it,” he said in a low, compelling voice. “I hope you love me as much as I love you.”

  “I love you more than you’ll ever know because you gave me our baby and you never stopped loving me. I know that now. I’m so sorry I didn’t have enough faith in you.”

  “You were tricked, baby, you were deceived in the worst possible way. Forget it—that was our past. This is our future right here. But I have to ask you one favor,” he cautioned her. “There is one thing I’d like you to do.”

  “Anything at all, sweetheart. What is it?”

  ‘Take a bath with me.”

  They smiled ravishing smiles at each other and Maya jumped off his lap. “I’ll race you to the bathroom,” she called over her shoulder.

  Chapter 24

  The plan was for Ruth, Maya and Corey to come back to New Orleans with Mac and Julian, but the weather didn’t want to cooperate. A huge tropical storm named Katrina was making its way across the Gulf of Mexico and it looked like it was headed right for Louisiana. The Deveraux men weren’t taking any chances; they insisted that their women stay put in Atlanta until the weather improved. Ruth, ever-practical, didn’t mind too much because she decided to go back to Chicago to start the process of packing up her beloved loft.

  “I need to get started on this, Julian. I know we haven’t set an exact date yet, but there’s no point in waiting until the last minute. I can put my time to good use until the big, bad storm goes away.”

  She and Mac were in their own suite in Bennie and Clay’s guesthouse. The couple had bought the house next door to them and converted it into five separate suites for guests with a large central kitchen, great room and home theater. They loved to entertain and since they both came from big families, there were usually guests around, especially for an event like Paris’s wedding. Ruth was sitting on the long sofa in the living area of the suite and Mac was stretched out with his head in her lap.

  “Fine, honey. I think it’s a good idea to get started on the packing. I’ll come up and help you when I can. But don’t take this storm lightly, baby. Tropical storms pick up energy when they’re over open water and by the time they hit land they become hurricanes. This one could be a category three or four and they’re no joke, believe me.”

  “I always do, darling.” Ruth was massaging Mac’s temples and just enjoying the feel of him and the sight of him in her lap. He was so darned good-looking and so darned sweet Ruth still wasn’t sure she deserved him. Before she could stop herself she’d told him those very words, which caused him to open his eyes and give her a stern look.

  “How many times do I have to tell you, I’m the lucky one in this partnership, honey. And by the way, I want us married before too much longer. How about we just elope in a month or so? Do you want a big wedding?”

  “Nope, I just want you. I love you, Julian, and all I want is to be with you.”

  A statement that sweet couldn’t go unrewarded and a couple of hours later, she was still naked and tingling from his reaction. “Okay. As soon as that storm is over, we’re eloping, Julian. We can go to Hawaii and get married there, then come home and have a big party.”

  He agreed, rubbing his big hand in slow circles on her bared behind. “And a long honeymoon, ,just the two of us.”

  Corey didn’t mind staying in Atlanta because she had lots of cousins with whom to play. She was also enthusiastic about the idea of all of them living together in N’awlins. But she did have one request as far as any future babies were concerned.

  “I want two,” she said, holding up two fingers. “Two just alike, like Malcolm and Marty and Bella and Kate and all those other twos. Can we have two, please?”

  Julian and Maya had burst out laughing, which died away when they realized there was a good possibility that they could have twins. Multiple births were quite normal in the Deveraux family. “Well, we’ll do our best, sugar baby. We’ll just have to work extra hard at it, won’t we?” He gave his beloved a wicked grin, which she was reluctant to return.

  When Corey scampered off to play with Bella and Kate, Maya confessed that she didn’t want to stay in Atlanta. “I want to go home with you,” she said firmly. “I have a ton of things to do before I go back to Chicago to get the place packed up, get our things shipped and get the place up for sale. I don’t want to be away from you that long and I don’t want to be here twiddling my thumbs. My new job doesn’t start for a month and I want to...” Her voice trailed away and she looked away from him in frustration.

  “You want to stay busy,” he supplied. “I understand,” he said soothingly.

  “I want to be with you, Julian. For some reason the idea of being away from you even for a couple of days is bothering me. I just have a bad feeling or something. We’ve been apart for so long it’s like staying apart is a bad omen. I love you, Julian, and I want to spend as much time with you as I can. I don’t want to miss you again, it hurt too badly the last time,” she confessed.

  Julian enfolded her in his arms and held her tightly. “Let’s go make love, baby. Let’s go make some memories to tide you over until you’re back home in my arms.”

  Maya smiled at her man and agreed that it sounded like a perfect plan to her. “In fact,” she whispered, “I may or may not have on underwear because I was hoping you’d suggest this.”

  Julian grabbed her by the hand and they took off for the guesthouse, sprinting along as if they were in a track meet. In a very few minutes he was delighted to find that she really wasn’t wearing any panties. She didn’t have time to take off the wide-legged shorts she was wearing, he just unzipped them and before she knew what he was about to do he lifted her up with one strong arm while he unzipped his own shorts. She wrapped her legs around his waist and they made hot, energetic love right there against the door. He pumped into her over and over, while she dug her fingers into his shoulder and cried out his name. They came together in a shattering release that went on for so long she almost passed out, but Julian wasn’t having it. He continued to move inside her, loving the primal moans that came from deep in her throat.

  He walked them to the bedroom, stopping every few feet when the friction brought them yet another climax. When they finally reached the bed, they feverishly stripped off the rest of their clothes and began all over again, indulging in every erotic fantasy they’d nurtured during their long years apart. After a long while, when they finally came up for air, Julian looked down at Maya and smiled.

  “If we keep this up, we should be able to give Corey that set of twins with no problem at all.”

  Maya gave him a sleepy and sexy smile in return. “I never doubted you for a minute.”

  ***

  It was the very end of August, the 28th, to be exact, and Ruth was hard at work deciding what she would take to New Orleans and what she would donate to charity. Capiz, Kimmi and Sylvia were helping her and the result was more like a party than a work detail. Capiz was urging her to have a sale and Kimmi was angling for freebies.

  “Come on now, Ruth. I know you’re not gonna go off to the swamps and not leave me a treasured memento of our friendsh
ip,” she whined. “I’m like the daughter you never wanted and you’re gonna leave me empty-handed?”

  Ruth laughed at the hurt expression on Kimmi’s face. “I think there’re two big jars of Vaseline in the hall closet, how about them?”

  Kimmi looked outraged and Ruth laughed even harder. “Sweetie, I promise you I’ll be leaving you with plenty of stuff. But you need to quit calling my new home a swamp. Louisiana is a beautiful place, especially New Orleans. It has a unique charm that’s different from anyplace you’ve ever been. It’s mesmerizing, it really is. If you behave yourself you can come visit me whenever you like, you’ll love it down there.”

  Now it was Capiz’s turn to laugh. “You sound like a brochure from the board of tourism or something. But you’re right, I’ve been to N’awlins several times and every time I found something else to love about the city. However, I personally think it’s your Julian who’s all uniquely charming and mesmerizing, what do you think, Kimmi?”

  Just then, Sylvia’s voice was heard. She was in the living room watching The Weather Channel while the other women were in the bedroom and she sounded odd. “Ruth, get in here, you need to see this. That storm is worse than anybody expected.”

  ***

  It was late in Atlanta, too late for Maya to be awake, but she’d gotten to be obsessed with the coverage of the tropical storm that was now named Hurricane Katrina. It was approaching Louisiana with the fury of a runaway train and it was bound for New Orleans. When the family and friends who’d been staying with Bennie and Clay left after the wedding, Maya and Corey moved to the main house. It just seemed silly for the two of them to occupy the huge guesthouse all alone when they could be in the main house with everyone else. Right now, Maya was thrilled with the arrangement because she needed the company. She needed to be around other people in the worst way because the fears she had regarding Julian’s safety were almost overwhelming her. She was in the family room staring at the television, but late as it was, she had company, of sorts. Patrick, the Deveraux’s golden retriever, was lying at her feet, Kasey, who was visiting while Paris was on her honeymoon, was on her lap and Della, the family cat, was curled up on her shoulder. She wasn’t alone, but it felt like she was.

  Bennie Deveraux came downstairs and turned on the kitchen lights, making the animals run to see if there was going to be a snack of some kind offered to them. Bennie didn’t often feed them between meals, but they lived in hope, especially Patrick. She soon joined Maya, offering her a mug of chamomile tea with vanilla and honey added.

  “Here, sweetie, I know you’re frazzled and this might help,” she said sympathetically as she sat down next to her.

  Maya thanked her, glancing at her tummy. “How many months are you?”

  Bennie beamed. “Just two. You can’t even see the bump yet, but I know it’s there. People must think Clay and I are crazy for having another one, but we’ve agreed this one will be our last. Six children are enough for anyone.”

  “Six or seven. You might have twins again,” Maya teased her. Bennie just laughed and said the more the merrier. “Corey is quite taken with all the twins in the family. She’s put in an order for a set of her own.”

  Bennie put her hand on Maya’s arm. “This is the first time I’ve had a chance to tell you how happy I am that you and Julian are together again. You were such a lovely couple and this is the first time I’ve seen Julian really happy since you two were separated. You belong together, sweetie, and we’re so happy to have you back in the family. And Corey! What a little treasure she is. You did a beautiful job of raising her, Maya, she’s just adorable.”

  “Sometimes I think we raised each other. She’s so smart it’s almost scary sometimes. She’s in love with her daddy and her grandpa. And her uncles and her cousins and her grandma Ruth. You know she started calling Ruth grandma the first day she met her,” she told Bennie. “I know she’s your aunt, but I have to tell you she’s closer to me than my own mother. She feels me more, she understands me. I have a feeling we’re going to be very close, I really do.”

  “That’s because Aunt Ruth is a very special woman and because she loves you. I’m so glad she and the judge are getting married. They both deserve all the happiness in the world.”

  Another special report came across the screen that was already broadcasting hurricane news. Both women watched transfixed by what they were seeing and hearing. Maya tried calling Julian but the call wouldn’t go through due to the weather. She tried his cell, his house phone and then she tried his father’s cell and house phone, all with the same results. She turned to Bennie, her eyes full of fear.

  “I can’t reach them, Bennie. I’m scared, I really am. This Katrina storm is going to be worse than anybody imagined and I don’t think anyone is prepared for it.”

  ***

  In New Orleans, the Deveraux men were gathered in Mac’s kitchen. The storm was raging but the worst was yet to come. They were well-equipped with a generator and bottled water and other necessities, but it didn’t lessen their concern for their fellow residents. They were very lucky because they all lived in the higher areas of town, but there was going to be flooding in some other areas.

  New Orleans lay below sea level. It was bowl-shaped; to be more accurate, the communities were a series of shallow bowls connected and surrounded by water. Levees were the only thing that kept Lake Pontchartrain and the other lakes out of the city. In a storm like this one, flooding was inevitable and something the city was used to. But this had all the earmarks of being something else, something capable of destruction on a level no one could imagine.

  By the morning of August 29th at approximately 6:10 a.m., Katrina reached land and the destruction began. The waters had started flowing into the city and they wouldn’t stop for three days. When the surge levels were completely reached, the water continued to flow into the city until the grotesquely swollen Lake Pontchartrain waters reached the same level as the flood waters that had overtaken the city. Only then was its hunger appeased and it stopped, hovering over the drowned areas like a lion crouching over its prey.

  Chapter 25

  For the first few days after the disaster, chaos ruled the Crescent City, as New Orleans was also known. No one could have anticipated that much water, that fast. Everyone was braced against the hurricane, but Katrina wasn’t the real culprit. It was the many breaches in the levee system that allowed the water to rush in and fill the city, leaving a desolate, flooded ruin where magnolias had bloomed and the hospitality was second to none in the world. Everyone tried to fight panic and despair as survival became the main motivation for life.

  Mac was lucky, as were his sons. They all lived in the Garden District, one of the higher lying areas of town. They were even able to offer shelter to friends who’d lost everything. In a painful irony, the Montclairs fell into that category. Their house filled with water so fast that like many others, they had to take refuge on the roof of their home to await rescue. And in another act of supreme irony, it was Julian who ended up rescuing them. When it became apparent that only a massive effort from outside Louisiana was needed to help get the survivors to shelter, The Deveraux Group in Atlanta went into action.

  They had private planes and helicopters and they had good people trained as pilots. They had hundreds of employees, many of whom volunteered to go be of service any way they could. They even had boats; Martin Deveraux had a houseboat, his twin brother had a speedboat and they had friend who practically lived on the water. Soon a small but highly skilled and motivated armada was on its way to New Orleans with supplies and clothing. It was but small comfort to Maya, who by now was about to lose her mind.

  She was trying hard not to let Corey see how frightened she was, but it was a losing battle. What she wanted to do and needed to do was see Julian. She needed to see her husband, her father-in-law and brothers-in-law with her own eyes to make sure they were all well and safe. She begged Clay and Martin to take her with them, but they refused on no uncertain terms.
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  “Baby girl, we love you like a sister and there is no way in hell we’d take our sister into that mess. They’re trying to get people out, not in. Hang in there, we’ll bring him to you,” Martin promised.

  “But I’m a doctor,” she protested. “I can be of help down there, Martin. Clay, make him listen tome!I need to be there, I can help,” she pleaded.

  Clay crossed his arms and looked down at her with love and compassion. ‘Tm sorry, baby, but this is how it has to be. If Julian brought my wife into a mess like this I’d put his body in a shallow grave and I know he’d do the same to me. Martin is right, honey, they don’t want people coming in, they’re trying to get people out of there. We’ll bring him and the judge and the boys here, I promise you we will.”

  Not being able to contact Julian was driving her mad with anxiety and she was on the verge of imploding when her cell phone rang. It was Ruth, who had a cryptic message for her. “Get ready to leave. I know a guy who owes me one.”

  Mac and Julian were walking into the Superdome, where survivors were being housed, to see what assistance they could offer. Lucien and Philippe were doing the same thing at the Morial Convention Center and Wade was in a boat with some of his fishing buddies trying to rescue as many people from rooftops as they could. It was hard to say who was the most stunned when a National Guardsman approached them and told Mac there was a lady here who’d been looking for him. Mac and Julian followed the young man curiously and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw his Ruth dressed in fatigues and boots tending to the wounded. Julian had to rub his eyes when he saw Maya nearby in nondescript blue scrubs doing the same thing. Both men spoke at the same time, with the same slightly profane sentiments. “What the f—?”

  Ruth looked up to see Mac headed her way with a look that was part shock, part anger and all love. She had just enough time to give Maya a heads-up before she was caught up in his arms where she belonged. After their kiss, which earned applause from their audience, Mac took her by the shoulders and gave her a little shake. “How in the hell did you get here?”