Break in the Storm (WeHo Book 2)

by Sherryl Hancock

  Devin answered the door. She wore a purple silk tank top, and black capris. The top was the same shade as the purple in her hair, and it matched her makeup and jewelry too. Quinn thought once again, that Skyler Boché was a lucky woman. Devin was beautiful, but with a quirky edge to her.

  “I love that top!” Xandy told Devin.

  “Thanks. I gotta say I’m jealous of yours,” Devin told the girl. “Is that the new Dolce?” she asked, as she motioned them into the house.

  “Yeah,” Xandy said, grimacing slightly.

  “I didn’t think that one was even out yet.”

  “It just came out, I had it on order. I know it was crazy, but I just loved it so much when I saw it. It’s probably way too much for dinner, but I just got it,” Xandy said, looking somewhat embarrassed suddenly. She was pleased that she had someone to share her very first high fashion purchase with though.

  Devin admired the beautiful silk top; it was white with a colorful print in golds and blues, flared feminine sleeves and a handkerchief hemline. It looked beautiful on Xandy and she’d paired it perfectly with a pair of blue capris that picked up the colors, and a matching leather dauphine shopper style bag. Devin knew she was looking at well over $4,000 worth of outfit. Xandy definitely had good taste.

  “It’s gorgeous! That’s never a bad thing,” Devin enthused. “And of course you look great in it too.”

  Quinn was dressed much more casually; her sleeveless black shirt showing off her tattoos in all their glory. Paired with her black jeans and biker boots, it definitely painted a ‘wild side’ picture that Devin hadn’t previously detected. Quinn had been wearing long sleeves at BJs house, even the tattoo on her neck had been covered that night.

  Quinn inclined her head to Devin, then handed her the laptop case.

  “Aw, perfect, thank you,” Devin said.

  Quinn whistled low as her eyes scanned the house.

  Skyler is out back smoking,” she said to Quinn, pointing to the back door. “Go on out; I need to take a look at Xandy’s computer and I need her for that.”

  “I heard what I needed,” Quinn said. She pulled her lighter out of her pocket, brandishing it lightly, and walked toward the back sliding door.

  Quinn stepped out in the backyard, and was immediately greeted by a husky pup bounding up to her.

  “Benny, sit!” Skyler called.

  The pup’s butt immediately plunked down on the ground, his light blue eyes staring up at the newcomer expectantly.

  Quinn knelt down, giving him a good rub.

  “There’s a good dog,” she told the puppy.

  Moving to stand, Quinn looked over at Skyler who was sitting on a lounge chair a few yards away.

  “He’s beautiful,” she said, giving the dog another pat on the head before turning to walk over to where Skyler sat.

  She caught sight of the ocean at that point and stood staring. “Holy shite…”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?” Skyler said, looking out over the view of the sea, with the cliffs of Malibu on either side of them.

  “You’re tellin’ me,” Quinn said, sitting in the chair next to Skyler and pulling out a cigarette. She lit the end and took a deep drag

  “I had pretty much the same reaction the first time I saw it.”

  Quinn nodded, understanding.

  Benny, who had followed Quinn over, moved to lay in front of Skyler, his eyes looking up at her, and then lay his head down on his paws.

  “How old is he?” Quinn asked, looking down at Benny.

  “About eight months,” Skyler said, grinning down at the dog who wagged his tail slightly as if he knew he was being talked about.

  “Why Benny?” Quinn asked.

  “He’s named after a member of my crew that died in Iraq,” Skyler said, her tone somewhat subdued as she looked down at the dog.

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  Skyler nodded, still looking affected. She looked at Quinn then. “You serve?”

  Quinn nodded.

  “Combat?” Skyler asked.

  “Yeah, two years, in Syria peace keeping,” Quinn said, her look wry.

  “See much peace?”

  “Nope. I saw a lot of good men killed though.”

  Skyler nodded, knowing what Quinn meant.

  The two were quiet for a while, each smoking and lost in their own thoughts.

  Inside the house, Devin was standing at the kitchen island with Xandy working on the laptop. “So Quinn seems pretty intense,” she said conversationally.

  “She is sometimes,” Xandy said, smiling.

  “But not always?” Devin asked, as she moved the mouse, clicking and then beginning to type again.

  “No, she’s actually really great.”

  “Intense can be pretty great,” Devin said, winking at the girl.

  Xandy looked at Devin surprised, but then nodded, biting her lip unconsciously.

  “How long have you and Skyler been together?” Xandy asked.

  “Almost two years now.”

  “Is Skyler intense?”

  “Oh yeah,” Devin said, rolling her eyes.

  “And that’s a good thing?” Xandy asked, very curious about the couple.

  Devin grimaced. “It wasn’t always.”

  “Why?” Xandy asked, hoping she wasn’t being too nosy.

  “Skyler’s been through a lot in her life. Sometimes it backs up on her.”

  “But she has you.”

  “Yeah, she does. And I have her.”

  Xandy smiled wistfully. Devin noticed it, but said nothing. “So how did you meet her?” Xandy then asked.

  “She came to a party here at the house, and the minute I saw her…” Devin said, shaking her head at the memory.

  “What?” Xandy asked, wanting to hear the story.

  “Oh, man, I really didn’t know what had hit me,” Devin said, turning to look toward the back yard. “I literally stood over there watching her from the back slider, just mesmerized by her. I had no idea what was drawing me to her, but I knew I needed to find out.”

  “Wow… what ended up happening? I mean, how long until you two got together?”

  “Oh we ended up sleeping together that first night. It was afterwards that she tried to run.”

  “Really?” Xandy asked, surprised because the two seemed so deeply connected. She couldn’t fathom that it hadn’t been the case from the very first moment.

  “Yeah, she tried. I pursued her, even when she tried to push me away.”

  “But it worked out.”

  “It did, but it wasn’t easy at all. I just knew that I loved her, and that I wanted to be there for her in whatever way I could.”

  Xandy nodded feeling a bit envious that Devin was so sure about what she wanted, and knew how to get it.

  Devin closed the laptop. “Okay I’ve got what I need to do some investigating. Do you want some wine or anything?”

  “I’m okay,” Xandy said, smiling.

  Just then the doorbell rang.

  “That must be Jams,” Devin said, “I’ll be right back.”

  A couple of minutes later, she came back with a man trailing behind her. The man was tall, with blond hair and blue eyes. He smiled warmly at Xandy.

  “Xandy, this is Jams. He’s Skyler’s best friend, and copilot at the LAFD, and in Iraq too.”

  Xandy nodded, smiling, and extending her hand to him. “It’s good to meet you.”

  “You too,” he said, smiling again.

  Jams looked over at Devin then. “She out there?”

  Devin nodded, moving to the fridge and handing Jams a couple of beers.

  “Good plan,” he said, “it was a bit of a rough one today.”

  “She told me,” Devin said, nodding.

  “Well, that’s headed in the right direction, right?” Jams said.

  “Definitely,” Devin said. “We’ll be out in a minute. Hey, wait…” She reached into the fridge again and added a third beer to Jams’ load.

 
; “Quinn might want one too,” she said, smiling over at Xandy.

  Jams nodded. “Got it.”

  Devin watched Jams go and looked over at Xandy.

  “Let me put this away, and then we can join them,” Devin told her, picking up her laptop and walking away.

  Xandy nodded. As she waited for Devin to return, she walked over to the slider and looked outside, seeing Quinn sitting next to Skyler. She was thinking about what Devin had said about being mesmerized by Skyler. The trouble was, Xandy didn’t have either the courage or the confidence that Devin James seemed to have oozing out of every pore in her body. Xandy wished she could be that comfortable in her own skin, like this whole group seemed to be. It was intimidating.

  “Let’s go,” Devin said, coming up behind her.

  The two women walked out into the backyard just as Quinn was midway through telling a story.

  “Wait, there were two of them?” Skyler asked, looking dumbfounded. She held her hand out to Devin as she approached, who took it and sat on her lap.

  “That’s what I’m sayin’!” Quinn said, her face animated. Seeing Xandy with Devin, she stood to give up her chair for her, without missing a beat. “There were two of the fuckers! Er, oh, sorry,” she said, looking embarrassed to have cussed in front of the ladies.

  Devin found the consideration and old world manners incredibly endearing. Devin shook her head, grinning. “Around these two, I hear worse.”

  Quinn glanced at Xandy who just shook her head smiling.

  “So what happened?” Jams asked from his place in a chair across from them.

  “I told ‘em,” Quinn said, hooking her foot around another chair and pulling it closer to sit down next to Xandy, “that I hoped they liked hospital food. That’s when the charge went off, hard te beat, I tell ya.”

  Jams and Skyler laughed nodding their heads.

  Music was playing in the backyard, and Xandy noticed it was an interesting mixture of rock and dance music. A particularly techno pop song came on, and Skyler scowled up at Devin,

  “Really?” she asked, her tone accusing even as she grinned.

  “Hey, you said you liked this song,” Devin said, holding out her hands as if in futility.

  Skyler picked up the iPod that rested it on the table in front of her, glancing at Quinn. “Who do you like?”

  “Disturbed is good,” Quin said, grinning.

  “Oh, I do like you,” Skyler said, smiling widely as she found a song by Disturbed.

  The title track to Disturbed’s album “Immortalized” pumped through the speakers.

  Both women and Jams nodded their heads to the beat. Devin and Xandy exchanged a look and grinned at each other.

  When that song ended, another one began, and Xandy saw Skyler’s head drop back, and Devin and Jams wince.

  The song had a kind of haunting beginning, and then a heavy beat. After the first few words, Skyler excused herself, standing up and gently setting Devin on her feet. Picking up her cigarettes and lighter, she walked over to the retaining wall a few yards away. Devin’s eyes followed her, then she glanced at Jams. He nodded to her, and gestured with his head toward Skyler. Devin nodded in silent agreement, then looked at Xandy and Quinn, who were watching the scene in surprise.

  “I’m sorry, I’ll be right back,” Devin said, and walked off toward Skyler, who was now smoking with Benny right by her side, her hand on his head.

  Quinn looked over at Jams. “She okay?”

  Jams shrugged. “This song reminds her of Benny; he loved Breaking Benjamin, that’s why we gave him that nickname. We were called ‘Hell’s Angels.’ Benny was one of the members of our helicopter crew that died when we went down in Iraq. This song, ‘Angels Fall’ came out after the crash.”

  “She mentioned the crash earlier,” Quinn said, looking mournful for this woman she’d recently met, but already respected.

  Jams nodded, looking surprised. “That’s good. She wouldn’t talk about it at all for the longest time.”

  “What actually happened?” Quinn asked.

  “We took fire,” Jams said. “It took out our tail rotor, we went down hot.”

  Quinn winced, knowing what that kind of crash looked like and that most people didn’t survive it.

  “You two went through that?” Xandy asked, her voice sympathetic.

  “Yeah,” Jams said.

  “I’m so sorry,” Xandy said, shaking her head sadly, tears shining in her eyes.

  Quinn had a feeling Xandy was thinking of her family. She reached over, taking Xandy’s hand in hers, squeezing it gently. Xandy returned the squeeze, looking over at Quinn and smiling softly.

  “How many did you lose?” Quinn asked Jams, her tone respectful.

  “We lost two men, Benny and Radar,” Jams said, his tone grave.

  The song played on; the chorus “when angels fall with broken wings” seemed to go right through all three of them.

  Xandy looked over at where Skyler and Devin stood, watching as Devin looked up at Skyler, and then leant her head against her arm. Skyler put her arm around Devin’s shoulder, and hugged her close. Devin’s arms went around Skyler’s waist. After a few minutes the two came back to the table and the group stood in response.

  “Sorry guys,” Skyler said, still looking a bit haunted.

  “All good,” Quinn said, extending her hand to Skyler.

  Skyler smiled gratefully, grasping the other woman’s hand and nodding.

  Xandy stepped forward to hug Skyler. Skyler accepted the hug, though her face reflected surprise at such a kind gesture.

  “Thank you for your service and your sacrifice,” Xandy said, her voice muffled by Skyler’s shirt.

  She turned and looked at Jams. “Both of you.”

  Jams smiled, looking affected by the moment too.

  Devin watched the scene with tears in her eyes. She knew Skyler would appreciate such heartfelt gratitude and understanding, and she instantly loved Xandy and Quinn for it.

  Dinner was an interesting affair, with Skyler, Quinn and Jams arguing over the best way to barbeque steaks. Xandy and Devin hid out in the kitchen and prepared the side dishes. Before they sat down to dinner, they all stood around the dining room table to toast. Skyler held her bottle of beer, Jams followed suit, and then everyone else did.

  “Angels fall,” Skyler said.

  “Angles fall,” Jams repeated, clinking the bottom of his bottle to Skyler’s.

  Everyone else follow suit and drank to the fallen angels.

  During dinner there were discussions of all sorts. At one point Skyler and Quinn were discussing the merits of service in their respective Army units.

  “How long ago did you get out?” Skyler asked Quinn.

  “Two years ago,” Quinn said.

  “How’d you get into bodyguard work?”

  “What else is an ex-Army ranger gonna do? Besides, it’s good money,” Quinn said with a wink.

  “You were special forces?” Jams asked.

  Quinn nodded. “Hand to hand, weapons, explosives, you name it.”

  Jams and Skyler exchanged a look. “I think we chose the wrong path.”

  “Damned right,” Skyler said, grinning.

  “Excuse me,” Devin put in, having tuned into their conversation, “Your path saved my ass, thank you very much.”

  Skyler grinned, dropping her head, looking embarrassed.

  “Say what again?” Quinn asked, her interest piqued.

  “She saved my life, literally,” Devin said, shooting Skyler a look of both admiration and love.

  “She took on a mudslide on Highway 1,” Skyler said, winking at Devin, even as she took her hand.

  “And you actually rescued her?” Xandy asked, astonished.

  “In the rescue helicopter no less,” Jams put in, grinning at his partner’s obvious discomfort.

  “Wow…” Xandy said, her eyes bright with awe. “That’s true love for you.”

  “Well, it is that,” Skyler said, looking at Devin
.

  “It definitely is,” Devin said, smiling at Skyler.

  Two hours later, on the drive back to Brentwood, Xandy was still enchanted with Devin and Skyler’s story.

  “I have to say that I like Devin and Skyler even more after tonight,” she told Quinn. “It’s really sad that Skyler went through what she did.”

  “Yeah, it really sucks,” Quinn agreed. She thought about Xandy losing her entire family; did she realize how tragic it made her life seem to others? It definitely wasn’t in the girl to wear her pain on her sleeve.

  “When you were in the Army, did you have anything like that happen?”

  “Sure, people were killed,” Quinn said, “but never anyone in my unit. We had some injuries, but that was all. Nothing like Skyler’s incident.”

  Xandy nodded, relieved. After a long silence, she looked over at Quinn. “What they have… that’s what I want and I don’t care if I find it with a man or with a woman.” Her voice was determined on the last.

  Quinn grinned, liking that the girl had at least started making some decisions about her life instead of letting it just happen to her.

  “Yeah, but what they have is like unicorn stuff.”

  “Unicorn stuff?” Xandy repeated.

  “You know, almost impossible to find, and almost impossible to capture.”

  Xandy grinned at the meaning. “Well, then I want a unicorn.”

  Quinn chuckled, nodding her head.

  “And whether you’ll admit it or not,” Xandy said, reaching over to tap on the ring with the Viking Runes on it, “you do too.”

  Quinn looked over at her, her eyes reflecting surprise, then she shrugged. “It’ll happen, when it happens. If it ever happens at all.”

  Xandy was surprised by the statement, but didn’t comment.

  “Quinn?” she queried tentatively.

  “Hmm?” Quinn murmured, lost in her own thoughts for a moment.

  “Would you take me to some of the areas of town where I could explore the lesbian culture, like you suggested the other day?”

  Quinn considered the idea. “Think you’d be okay if your picture shows up out there?”

  Xandy shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me.”

  “Alright, we can do that.

  Chapter 5