by Liz Talley
“Yes, they are.” Fran popped her head back into the foyer. “And we all need to get ready. Your grandfather is on his way to Belle Chasse to pick them up, so we need to make our beds, pick up and tack these balloons on the porch. Lucas, get some britches on and grab the banner out of the car. Your aunt Camille made it.”
Addy moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll be glad to help, but first I need to grab a shower at my place.”
“I better help her.” Lucas wiggled his eyebrows.
His mother gave him a blank stare…but Addy saw the twinkle in her eye before she turned around. “Forget about it. I know last night was, well, traumatic, and you two need some time together, but it will have to be later. Today, we’re focusing on Benjamin’s welcome home. Snap to it, mister.”
Addy looked about for her flip-flops and slid a glance toward where Lucas stood still stretching. “I wouldn’t mind some company on my walk over. I know it’s silly, but the thought of taking a shower alone in that house after Robbie attacked me last night gives me the willies.”
Lucas dropped his arms. “Let me grab a few things for Mom and make sure the kids are set, then I’ll walk over with you.”
Minutes later, hand in hand, they headed silently toward her house.
She pulled the damaged back door open, punched in the code for the alarm and looked at her kitchen. The police had left it as it was, chairs scattered, table shoved out of its normal spot. The pan for cookies still sat on the counter, but thankfully someone had turned the oven off. Addy felt as if she was having an out-of-body experience. It was her kitchen…yet a stranger’s kitchen.
Lucas slid his hands to her shoulders and she jumped. “Hey, it’s over,” he said.
She nodded. “The rational me knows that, but I still feel all quivery in my skin. The only good thing is now I have you beside me.”
He wrapped his arms around her and calmed her soul. It had been that way from the beginning—Lucas soothing her fears with his touch, his smile, his very presence. She should have trusted that instinct.
Turning, she laid her head against his broad chest, whispering a prayer of thanks. “It’s over for me, but what about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ben and Courtney will be here in a few hours.”
He pulled away and glanced out the back window. “Yeah, there’s that.”
“You want to tell me about what really happened? The non-kid version?”
He shrugged those massive shoulders, his head tilting forward enough to give him vulnerability in the morning light. “Just a major screwup.”
Addy didn’t say anything, just hooked her foot around the same chair she’d crashed into the night before and pulled it to her. She sat…and waited.
“Courtney was my best friend, first girlfriend, first lover and I had assumed my future,” he said, his dark eyes trained on some unseen horizon outside her kitchen window.
He sank into a chair. “You plan things, you know? I was attending Tulane Law, Courtney at University of New Orleans working on her business degree. We were comfortable and I thought happy, even if I studied too much. She was lonely and when Ben came home for Christmas and stayed to find a job, he took her to the movies, for drinks with friends and they job hunted together. I was relieved because I didn’t have her nagging me about ignoring her, but the joke was on me—they fell in love.”
Addy made a sympathetic sound in her throat.
“No, it was partly my fault. I took her for granted, and she was lonely. Ben didn’t intend to betray me. I could see that in his eyes. He was torn up about it, but I guess they couldn’t stop it. I had saved for a ring and planned to propose to Courtney. I’d booked a condo in Destin, picked out the Gulf View Grill for the proposal and sent in my resumes to intern at some big law offices. All planned out…except Courtney was pregnant with Michael.”
“Oh, Lucas,” she murmured, stretching out a hand. He pushed it away, lifting fierce eyes that still mirrored pain.
“A real Jerry Springer special and it killed me. I couldn’t believe they’d done something like that behind my back. I dropped out of law school and left New Orleans. You know the rest.”
“So why did you come back?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think you do,” she said, seeing straight into his heart.
He shook his head. “When mom called me about Ben getting hurt in Afghanistan, something tore loose inside me. All that bitterness and hate rusting away inside me just broke away. I took a ride on Cisco—”
She lifted her eyebrows.
“That’s my horse. And as I stared across the grassland, I knew it was time to let the hatred, the shame of losing out to Ben, go.”
“Did you love Courtney?”
“Yeah, of course. You know her. She’s hard not to love. But I think it was more a comfort thing. We’d both decided we were better together than apart. She just hadn’t banked on finding true love instead.” His words fell soft on her and she could feel the change in him even as he spoke.
“You don’t ever plan on true love, do you?”
“I kind of figured that out. That’s what I wanted to tell you earlier—that when you asked me about love, I froze and panicked.”
Addy smiled.
“Fate brought me home. Now I know what it’s like to find the person you’re meant to be with. I know what real love is.”
Addy clasped his hands. “You came home for me.”
“I did.” He set his forehead against hers. “We don’t have time for more, but I’ll take a kiss before you go.”
“I’m not leaving. Just taking a shower.”
He looked at her, the devil in his eyes. “Want me to wash your back?”
Addy’s kiss told him all he needed to know.
*
LUCAS WATCHED as Courtney rolled Ben up the ramp he’d installed after painting the porch. His brother wore a gray sweat suit with his unit’s emblem on the front. Very noticeable was the empty right pant leg. He tried not the look, but it drew the eye…and made his heart clench.
The kids hung back watching their father move toward them in a wheelchair. Fran gave Michael a push, but he resisted.
“Look at the porch,” Courtney breathed, stroking the glossy satin of the rail, looking up with a pasted-on smile. Her eyes pleaded with her children. “And who put the ramp in?”
“It’s temporary,” Lucas said. “I figured Ben wouldn’t be in a wheelchair long.”
At hearing his voice, Ben looked up to where Lucas stood behind their parents. His dark eyes were unfathomable, his expression fierce. Courtney’s eyes reflected gratitude…and a certain wariness. He didn’t blame her. The situation was awkward and carried enough tension to smother the neighborhood.
With another small push from Fran, Michael moved toward his father. The other two followed clustering around Ben, hugging him, chattering about winning races, making the lacrosse team and getting a new Creampie stuffed kitten. Ben’s smile lit up the porch, and though he’d lost much weight and looked older than his thirty-five years, Lucas could see a glimpse of the old Ben within his face.
“Let’s all go inside,” Fran said, opening the front door. The kids tumbled in, Chris already asking about cutting the cake.
“You haven’t had lunch yet,” Fran admonished. Lucas glanced over at his father who stood holding the door. The older man nodded and left him on the porch with Ben and Courtney.
Lucas swallowed the sudden emotion that stuck in his throat as the click of the door sounded like thunder.
Ben sighed. “I guess we’re doing this.”
Courtney rubbed his shoulders and his brother lifted a hand to pat one of her hands. And Lucas got it—they were united in solidarity.
Lucas kicked at the runner of the freshly painted rocker. “I think it’s time we did.”
A few seconds ticked by.
“What do you want us to say we haven’t already,” Ben asked, anger still lurking in his tone. “We’re s
orry for the millionth time?”
Lucas didn’t say anything for a moment. “No, you’ve already apologized.”
“Then what?” Courtney sank onto the rocker. “We wronged you. Everybody knows, and we’ve had to live with it. It’s a crappy cloud over your head…and though it’s very accurate, it’s also not fair because people see only what they want to see. They don’t see inside us to the feelings within, to the—”
She shook her head. “I’m so sorry for what happened between us. I wish in one way I could undo how it went down. If I had only told you how I felt instead of hiding from what was happening, things would have been easier.”
Lucas nodded. “You’re right.”
“What more can we do to make things right with you, Luke?” his brother asked.
“You can’t make things right,” Lucas paused for a moment, eyeing each of the people who’d once been such a part of his life. He didn’t know them any longer…but he wanted to. “But we can start over.”
Courtney’s eyes widened. “How? There’s too much hurt. Too many years gone by.”
“So we don’t try to be a family?” Lucas asked. “The years have given me wisdom. Time has revealed you and I weren’t right for each other, Courtney. I understand what happened between us…and what grew between you and Ben. It hurt. But now I see with different eyes.”
Ben jerked his head away, aiming his gaze at the recently trimmed azaleas. He remained silent.
“Why now?” Courtney’s eyes searched his.
“Why not?”
“Doesn’t make sense,” Ben said.
“Maybe not, but life doesn’t make sense, does it? Does that war you fought make sense? Does the fact you and Courtney ended up together make sense? Christ, does that Creampie movie even remotely make sense?”
A snort escaped Courtney.
He continued, “No, because life is not something to be figured out. It’s not fair. It’s not easy. And sometimes it sucks. But it’s what we have, and if we can find love, if we can grab on to a piece of happiness, we should. And if we can forgive each other for the wrongs in the past, it’s a no-brainer.”
“What’s caused this change in you?” Courtney asked. “The kids?”
Lucas nodded. “But it started long before. I couldn’t seem to find a reason to reach out to either of you. You needing me was the catalyst.”
Ben’s eyes glittered. “Don’t do this because you feel sorry for me. Don’t come in here painting my house, playing the hero, making me feel guilty all over again for what happened between us years ago.”
“Is that what you think? I feel sorry for you?”
Ben held his gaze. “Yeah, I think you love to be the good guy.”
“And you’re the bad guy?”
Ben jerked away. “I’ve been the bad guy since I fell in love with your girl.”
Lucas snorted. “You’re going to play the martyr now? Your leg gets blown off and you survived knocking at death’s door, so you’re done fighting? You want to continue sticking your head in the sand?”
“Bullshit,” his brother said, squaring his shoulders.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Nothing worth doing is easy, Ben. It’s going to be hell to learn to walk on that prosthetic, to be the man you’ve always been, but you’ll do it. That’s who you are. And it’s not easy for me to stand here, remembering the past, but I’ll do it. Because that’s who’ve I’ve grown to be.”
The seconds ticked by again and Lucas struggled for his thoughts. “I don’t want to be the man I’ve spent the past decade being. I don’t want to miss out on this family. I’m tired of being angry. I’m tired of weathering life alone, shrouded in my lonely house on my lonely prairie. I want more.”
“So you and I forget about everything and go out for beers like nothing happened?” Ben asked.
“No, we’ll need time, but I’d rather have you in my life in a somewhat uncomfortable way than to not have you at all.”
Courtney looked down at her hands. “And me?”
“The same. We’ve been friends ever since you fell from that tree. I hated you for a long time, but those bonds didn’t break. When you called, I came…because I still care about both of you. Under the anger sat love.”
Tears shimmered in Courtney’s eyes and she reached for Ben’s hand, twining her fingers with his.
At one time that image would have hurt him.
But no longer.
He was over her. He was over being angry at Ben.
“It won’t be easy, but I think it’s time, for all our sakes, that we bury the hatchet and get on with living.” Lucas extended his hand to his brother.
For a moment, Ben studied his hand, dark eyes just matching Lucas’s zoning in. Then he lifted his eyes to Lucas’s gaze, holding it, allowing Lucas to see the relief, to see the longing.
Ben lifted his hand and put it in Lucas’s. It was a firm handshake, full of resolve, full of regret, but most of all it was a forgiving.
Courtney placed her hand atop theirs, the tears shimmering in her eyes now falling on her cheeks.
When Lucas looked up, Addy stood in the door.
He smiled at her and the look in her eyes told him he was truly home.
Courtney’s eyes widened as Addy, clad in her pretty green-striped dress, stepped out and accepted his outstretched arm. She snuggled against him, looking as pretty as she had last Sunday when she’d first worn the dress. Of course this time she’d worn it with underwear—he’d watched her put the lacy panties on. It had been a sweet sight.
Courtney wiped her cheeks and arched an eyebrow. “Addy?”
Lucas looked down at the small woman who’d seeped into his heart and shown him what real love was. “Yeah. Addy.”
Courtney laughed, a delighted tinkle. “Well, isn’t that something. You have a really good reason for sticking around, huh?”
As the kids trooped out onto the porch, complaining about their grandmother refusing to cut the cake, Lucas smiled even bigger. “She’s the best reason, but not the only one.”
“I’m hungry,” Chris complained, kicking his father’s chair wheel.
“Stop,” Ben said, rolling toward the door. “If anyone needs cake, it’s me. Let’s cut the damn thing.”
The kids cheered and everyone left, leaving Lucas and Addy on the porch alone.
The sun slanted in, falling in golden slants across the white boards. Addy looked up at Lucas.
“A kiss before we eat cake?”
He kissed her nose. “How about a kiss to celebrate spending my tomorrow with you?”
She lifted onto her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. “Best kiss ever.”
*
Look for the next Harlequin Superromance by
Liz Talley! Coming in February 2014.
Keep reading for an excerpt from A TEXAS FAMILY by Linda Warren.
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CHAPTER ONE
REVENGE WAS SUCH an ugly word. And Jena Brooks was about to get up close and personal with ugly.
She paused at the office door of Constable Carson Corbett, straightened her deep plum suit, made sure the buttons of her cream silk blouse were fastened and tossed her shoulder-length dark hair to emphasize its layered effect.
But even with the expensive clothes, artfully applied ma
keup and professionally cut hair, Jena couldn’t disguise who she really was—the girl from the wrong side of the tracks whose father had killed Jared Corbett in cold blood.
Because of her.
Or that was what everyone in Willow Creek, Texas, thought.
She took a deep breath and opened the door.
Carson looked up. His green eyes narrowed as he recognized her. “You have a lot of nerve coming back to Willow Creek.”
She closed the door and marched to the chair in front of his desk. His harsh words grated on her sensitive nerves like a cocklebur and oddly boosted her courage.
“You won’t believe the nerve I have, Mr. Corbett.”
Sitting with as much grace as her trembling limbs could provide, she placed her purse on the floor and crossed her legs. Her pencil skirt shimmied up, revealing more of her legs than she’d wanted.
She stared straight at him, resisting the urge to tug at her hemline, and was surprised to catch his eyes on her legs. Briefly.
He leaned back in his leather chair, the fabric of his light blue shirt stretching taut across wide shoulders.
“Why are you here?”
“Revenge.” She fired the word at him with the force of a bullet intending to annihilate his composure. But it didn’t work.
His self-possession seemed firmly intact as he asked, “For what?”
“You know what.”
“Sorry.” He shrugged. “You’ll have to fill me in.”
“Do the Corbetts have a patent on that dumb expression?”
He leaned forward, his eyes never leaving hers. “Ms. Brooks, we can trade snide remarks back and forth all day, but I have work to do. So, once again, why are you in my office?”
“I came back for my child.”
“And that has something to do with me?”
“You really have that blank expression down.”
“That’s because I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” His voice rose with frustration.
“Then I’ll fill you in.” Her voice rose, too. “I would be talking to your father, Asa, but I heard he’s had a stroke. You’ll pardon me if I don’t offer any consolatory words.”