Under his breath as he piles arugula onto three ham and cheddars, Ethan reluctantly mumbles, “Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great.”
Eric eyes his older brother. “Who said that?”
Ethan and I both answer, in unison, “Roger de Rabutin.”
“Who the hell is that?”
We both shrug.
Eric grabs his sandwich and mutters, “I can’t wait to stay single for the rest of my fuckin’ life. Ooops. Sorry, Kaya.”
“Real nice, Uncle Eric. Give her back.” Ethan lifts his daughter into his arms and turns to me. “I’m getting her bottle. Grab your sandwich, then Bahamas. Go.”
On a sexy smile I ask, “You guys really want the details?”
They gag and back away from me like I’ve puked right here between us.
“What?! Just because you’ve held me hostage all these years, I’m still a virgin?”
Fresh gagging noises as they head out the backdoor, Ethan calling to Eric, “Grab my food and meet me outside. I can’t take it!”
Eric runs back for the abandoned sandwich as I comically announce, “I have sex!”
“Stop it!”
He disappears outside and I follow them. “Sex sex sex!”
“Oh Gawd,” Ethan groans. “You are killing me. I just can’t. I mean it.”
We plop onto the patio furniture under the beautiful umbrella. Ethan cradles Kaya and gives her Charlie’s breast milk in a bottle, “Here ya go Princess. Almost as good as if Mommy was here, huh?”
“I swear, seeing you with a baby is pretty much the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, Ethan,” I whisper, in awe.
Eric’s mouth is full as he demands, “Bahamas!”
“Don’t snap at me! Lord!” Between bites I explain, “You know those montages you see in the movies, where the woman comes out in a different outfit with the guy outside the dressing room? That was us in all the stores, since we didn’t bring suitcases. We were both wearing our outfits from the fundraiser.”
“Save me the clothing descriptions,” Eric mutters. “Remember who you’re talking to here.”
“Oh right, you probably want to hear about snorkeling with dolphins in Atlantis.”
They stop chewing, jaws dropped and food showing. “No way!”
Ethan mutters to Kaya. “Oh sorry, baby. Here ya go. That’s it.”
“Atlantis isn’t real of course, but they’ve constructed one, sunken and everything. And the dolphins’ habitat is because during Hurricane Katrina all those years ago, sixteen dolphins were stranded. They created this wonderful place for them. Totally thriving. New generations born. Tanner and I swam with them. It’s not an amusement park or anything. It’s an eleven acre lagoon with seven connected pools, where they really live! So amazing we went back another day and paddle boarded with the frigging dolphins, too!”
My brothers exchange a look as Ethan mutters, “I’m having a hard time hating Tanner.”
“I want to swim with dolphins.”
“Ever been to Turtle Island?” Ethan asks.
“No, where’s that?”
“Fiji. I’m taking Charlie there one day.”
“She’s going to love that!”
“I know I can’t wait.”
“I wanna come.”
“What? No, you can’t go.”
“Take all of us!”
“Eric, you’re out of your mind.”
“I’m serious!”
I stamp my foot, “Hello! Remember me? The intervention?”
My brothers eye me and settle back in for the rest of my story.
But I’m over it now. “You know what? Forget it. I don’t have to tell you everything. All you need to know is that I love him. He loves me. It was so much fun I can’t begin to describe it, despite the fact that my voice is very flat right now, I have never had more fun in my life. And I think the most telling part of how compatible we are is that Tanner and I would be sitting on the patio, him talking to his employees and me researching office spaces for my new real estate agency, and it felt very natural and easy. We fit.”
Ethan’s eyes glitter with excitement. “You're going to open your own place?”
Biting my lip I grin, “I think I might.”
Whooping, Ethan rises up and dances with his daughter, barefoot in the sweet-smelling grass. “You hear that, Kaya? Your auntie is a businesswoman now!” He looks at me and somberly asks, “What makes you think you can do it, Emm?”
Fire shoots out of my skull. “Because I was born to do this! I work harder than anyone, definitely harder than I ever saw Cora work, and I’m very good at…oh, you’re messing with me.” My shoulders relax.
With mischief in his eyes, Ethan smirks, “Got you good.”
Eric chuckles, “Should’ve known better.”
“Well it’s a sensitive subject!”
Ethan resumes dancing, “I can still get your auntie all riled up when I want to! Weeeeeee fun fun fun. Never gonna grow up!”
Chapter 39
JAKE COCKER
The knock at my front door is right on schedule. Irritating. Opening it I give Tanner’s expertly tailored suit a slow appraisal. “Don’t you ever wear jeans?”
“The occasion called for greater respect than that.” He motions with his sharp chin to my black slacks and button up. “I see you agree.” I’ve got no tie, collar unbuttoned to a comfortable level. In all those months he was in Atlanta a decade ago I never saw him out of a suit. Reminds me of my brother Justin, somber fucker who’s hard to like. I was prepared, that’s why I’m wearing this.
“Take off your shoes,” I scowl, trying to get the image of him with my little girl out of my head.
It would have been so much easier if she’d picked some kid, not a powerful man like this whose horns I’ve already locked with.
He bends to straighten his shoes next to mine and Drew’s on the tan mat that lives there for this purpose. “Thank you for agreeing to see me.”
“Since my daughter hasn’t called I had no choice.”
A dark eyebrow lifts, “You could just go over to her apartment.”
I grunt, “And see you there in a robe? No thank you.”
“For the last two weeks I’ve been in California. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you, but you’re both equally stubborn.”
Crossing my arms I’m about to tell him he’s wasting his breath, but Drew’s voice interrupts me.
“Tanner, so good to see you,” her sweet southern drawl sings with urgency just behind it. “Come away from the door and make yourself comfortable. We have some cucumber lemonade waiting outside.” She locks eyes with me, warning not to push Emma even farther away by blowing this.
“I need something stronger than that,” I announce.
Tanner says, “I’m with you.”
Surprised, Drew wrings her hands, “You’re already agreeing on something! How nice!”
A smile flashes on my face despite my struggle to stay pissed. I love my wife beyond anything in this world and her ingrained sweetness to this day, charms the fuck out of me. “Drew, you’re ridiculous,” I say under my breath, squeezing her hand as I head for the bar.
Tanner follows, but Drew hesitates, not sure quite how to act now that her lemonade idea is blown. A couple of Alphas are in her home, and a daughter’s love is hanging in the balance. It’s all over her face how much this means to her. She knows it means everything to me, too. She also knows I have the Cocker temper.
Getting Emma to talk to me again is all I want, it’s the only reason I agreed to meet this bastard. I just haven’t been able to pick up the phone. He’s not wrong—I could have gone by her apartment. What my wife and this asshole don’t know is that I have driven by it a few times. Couldn’t bring myself to go in. I’m angry at her. She chose him.
Drew asks, “What would you like to drink, Tanner?”
Grabbing two rocks glasses with one hand I mutter, “He’ll take what I
give him. This is my house, dammit.”
I pour my finest whiskey in my glass and go for the cheaper stuff for his.
“Jake!” Drew balks.
“What?” I innocently ask.
“You know what!”
She doesn’t want to say it aloud because that would make it more rude. “What’s the problem?” I ask, bottle suspended above his glass.
She huffs and throws her fists on those hips I love so much. “Give him the good whiskey, too!”
“But I don’t want to,” I insist.
Tanner’s back is to her and he’s struggling not to laugh.
She sees his shoulders shake and rushes over. “Jake Cocker, that’s not funny!”
“It’s a little funny,” I chuckle, snatching up the finer whiskey and filling his glass, handing it to him as my upset wife blinks too much. “Now that we’re loosened up, what the fuck are you doing with my daughter?”
Tanner’s eyebrows lift and he takes a sip at the same time as me, neither of us bothering to toast.
He nods at the glass, eyes me that it’s a good blend, sets it down on the bar and slides his hands into his pockets. “I want to ask for Emma’s hand in marriage and I’d like your blessing.”
My chest thuds and I down the whiskey. “That’s what I was afraid you were gonna say.”
Drew slides her hand down my back, knowing I hate everything about this. She asks the question knocking through our minds. “But why do you want to marry her, Tanner? Have you ever been married? Do you know what it means?”
“I do, which is why I’ve never been married before. I’ll be honest, I never thought I’d want to be…until I met your daughter.”
Like I’ve been kicked, that’s how it feels. “Nobody prepares you for this shit,” I mutter, pouring a fresh glass even though I’m not a heavy drinker. “I knew it when she was a baby staring up at me, didn’t I say it, Drew? The day Emma gets married would be the day I’d want to kill a man.”
He rightly asks, “You think I’m going to hurt her?”
“You do and you won’t see another day.”
A glint of respect lights his dark eyes. “Understood. You don’t have to worry.” He lifts the glass he’d set down, still almost full, and stares into the amber liquid. “Emma is a miracle to me.” Meeting our eyes he explains, “I’ve never laughed so much in my entire life. And before you interrupt me, with all due respect, I understand it won’t be all laughter. She’s temperamental, stubborn, strong-willed, highly intelligent and maybe even a little high maintenance even though she doesn’t think she is. I’ve never seen anyone butter their toast to all the edges, and skim off the excess quite like that before.”
Drew and I exchange a look before she quietly says, “Emma likes her food just so.”
Tanner smiles, “And don’t try to butter it for her.” He takes a sip, thoughtful. “Something changed inside of me the day I met her. Maybe I was supposed to come back to Atlanta after all these years. Cora set us up to cause drama, but maybe it was meant to be. We talked about it in the Bahamas. Hell, we talked about a lot of things. I shared aspects of my life that nobody but her knows. I woke up early just to watch her sleep. There wasn’t a moment, even when she lost her temper because she hadn’t eaten anything in a few hours when we were snorkeling, where I didn’t think she was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’ve done a lot in my life, traveled the world, seen pretty much everything there is to see, except love like this. It’s new, everything else pales to this feeling. Now that I have it I can’t let it go. Emma and I were both half-empty before the day we met. I love your daughter maybe more than I love myself, and I never thought that could happen. I think pretty highly of me.”
I snort, “Well, shit,” sliding a hand in my pocket, too. “You fit right in with this fucking family, damn you to hell.”
Tanner and I stare at each other while Drew holds her breath. I’m a very good judge of character, and this man just told me the truth. “For a lot of years I hated you, Tanner.”
He nods. “I wasn’t a fan of you either.”
“But it was a misunderstanding.”
“Yes.” He flicks a glance to Drew. “I never go after married women.” Meeting my eyes he holds my look. “If I had known that’s why you fought me I’d have cleared this up way before that fundraiser.”
“Guess I didn’t give you the chance,” I concede, grabbing my drink.
Tanner lifts his glass. “Hell of a punch though.”
I grin and knock my glass to his so hard they almost break. “My jaw hurt for a week after you got me right here.” I poke at where he landed the best shot. “Pretty evenly matched I’d say.”
“Want to go again?” he smirks.
“Right now,” I smirk back, “Let’s go.”
Drew laughs and hugs me out of the blue. “Can you please call her now?”
Wrapping my arm around the woman who changed my life just like Tanner says our Emma changed his, I kiss her. “Wanna bring me my phone, babe?”
As soon as he and I are alone I narrow my eyes. “Why didn’t you hit on my wife?”
He laughs and I grin at him. We clink our glasses one last time, understanding each other.
“To a future that’s going to be a little weird, but what are you gonna do?”
“Roll with the punches,” I smirk. “Glad I got a few in, by the way.”
He chuckles before taking a sip, “You can imagine how much it hurt not to be able to hit you back.”
“Didn’t hurt me one bit,” I mutter as I give him a once over. “Why couldn’t you have been shorter?”
He laughs a nice deep relaxed laugh, tension ebbing away from both of us. “So this is where Emma gets her sense of humor.”
I eyeball my future son-in-law from under my brow, “Wait until you meet my boys. And dye your hair for chrissakes. Can’t take the grey.”
“You’re whiter than I am.”
“I’m older than you!”
Tanner smirks, “Thank God.”
Chapter 40
EMMA
With Hannah’s voice through the car speakers, convertible top down to help ease my hyperventilating, I am speeding toward the house where I was raised for most of my life, the bigger one we moved to when our family grew, the only one I remember.
“Dad was stiff on the phone. He said nothing about Tanner, but Mom gave away the secret before she handed me over to him.” Hannah yelps in dismay, and I cry out, “How am I going to face Dad after all this time, Hann? And what are they doing there without me?”
“I remember facing my dad, Emm. You were there! But you weren’t in my body so let me just tell you that it is harder than you can imagine, and that was with a guy he half-liked!”
“Oh great, I feel so much better.”
“Well he had seen Tobias’s fights, so he respected him, but I’m sure he hated that his daughter was with this beast of a guy. Visually that can’t be easy on any father, you know?”
I mutter, “Right,” stomach in flutters as I turn the steering wheel onto my old street.
“But he still liked him.”
I shout, “You’re not helping!”
“I can’t think of anything that will help!”
“Oh God, this is it. I’m going to die. I’m about to take my last breath, Hannah! What have they been talking about? Why didn’t he tell me he was going to confront my dad? How come he never fucking calls when he returns to Atlanta? Is he trying to keep me guessing, because it’s working!”
“You would have stopped him.”
“Tried to, you mean,” I mutter as I pull in front of the lovely two-story home that today looks like doom. “Tanner isn’t a man you can easily sway.”
I hear the smile in her voice. “That’s what we love about them, right?”
“No, I hate it! Sorry, but I’m not feeling mooshy gooshy right now. I might vomit. There might be vomiting.”
“Do it now and eat some gum.”
This makes me la
ugh as I disengage the phone, whispering as I bring it to my ear, “If I never see you again I want to tell you this one sweet little thing.”
“Fuck off?”
“That too, but no, I was going to tell you that Tanner agreed to get a house near you and Ethan even though he knows my brother will be a hard nut to crack at first.”
Hannah shouts with happiness and calls to Tobias. “Babe, if Emma lives through the day we might almost be roommates again. She’s going to move into the neighborhood! Maybe even on this street if I have my way!” I hear him in the distance offering to scout For Sale signs. Hannah calls back, “I think she’s kinda got that covered. You want her to fight a match for you while we’re at it?” I hear his deep throaty laugh in the distance.
“Wish me luck,” I sigh. “I’m shaking.”
“Emma, you can do this!”
“You sound like you mean it but I think you must be out of your mind.”
Stuffing the phone in my purse, I release my hair from its battle, smoothing it into submission before I walk over and touch the hood on Dad’s work truck. Warm but from the sun. How long has this little party been going on without me?
Heart thudding, I knock on the door for the very first time in my life.
Family…why do they have to hold our heartstrings so tightly in their unpredictable fists?
It swings open and I sink. “Hi Dad.”
He eyes me. “Thought your mother was going to answer, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Step back.” He closes the door, standing on the porch with me, looking very handsome in all black. Any other Sunday and Dad would be in jeans and a t-shirt, tank top or Henley. He must have known Tanner was coming over, and he dressed to impress.
Coughing he attempts idle chit-chat. “You go to church this morning?”
Stiffly I inhale, “Yes. Have you had a nice day?”
“Why did you talk to your mother, but not me, when you were in the Bahamas?”
I scowl back, “Why was Mom the only one who called me?”
“You wouldn’t have picked up!”
Cocky Love: Emma Cocker (Cocker Brothers of Atlanta Book 11) Page 16