Home to Laura

by Mary Sullivan

  No beating around the bush for Laura.

  Emily shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “It’s a big change for you.”

  Emily nodded.

  “So is moving to Accord. How does that feel?”

  Emily launched into a description of her morning with Gabe and the dogs.

  “I’m so envious. I’ve never been dogsledding.” Laura might have been trying to put Emily at her ease, but her enthusiasm sounded real.

  Emily had also met Caleb and gushed about him.

  She stopped abruptly. “Dad, I just realized. I’m starving.”

  “Will you two be okay if I run down for sandwiches?”

  “Sure.”

  “Emily, you want our regular?”

  She nodded.

  “What’s your regular?” Laura asked.

  “Turkey on rye with avocado.”

  “Sounds good. Can I have the same?”

  Nick flew down the stairs and out onto Main on weightless feet. This might work. It just might work. Emily and Laura were talking!

  Emily hadn’t met the baby yet, though. That would be the real test. She had to decide whether her dad was telling the truth, that he had endless, boundless amounts of love inside of him for all of the women in his life.

  When he returned, they were still talking.

  Laura seemed to be filling Emily in on the schools in the area.

  They ate their sandwiches in harmony, but Nick knew that was relative. They weren’t fighting, were having a decent conversation, but relationships took time to grow.

  A tiny wail sounded from the baby’s room and Laura left to get her.

  Back in the living room, she prepared to feed the baby, but had brought a small blanket with her and draped it over her shoulder, as he’d seen Tammy do. She was being modest for Emily’s sake. Nick’s heart warmed. She was trying so hard.

  When the baby finished at the first breast, Laura rubbed her back to burp her then said to Emily, “Do you want to hold her?”

  “I’ll try.”

  Laura put her into Emily’s arms.

  “She’s so tiny,” Emily whispered. “When I saw Rebecca she was a lot bigger. Caleb is bigger, too. I’ve never held such a small baby. What if I hurt her?”

  “You won’t. You’re holding her properly. You’re supporting her head well.”

  “Tammy taught me how to hold a baby the right way.”

  “You’re doing a good job.”

  Pearl stared at Emily.

  “She’s watching me.”

  “She’s listening to you, too. Learning what her sister’s voice sounds like.”

  “She looks like you.” Nick touched Pearl’s cheek with his forefinger. It looked ridiculously large against her tiny pink face. “Do you remember that picture of you as a newborn that your mom kept on top of the piano?”

  They’d had delusions that their daughter would someday be a world-class pianist. Trouble was, she’d shown no aptitude for or interest in it. She’d loved the violin, though. She’d brought it here with her.

  “I remember that picture. Mom took it with her to France.”

  “Pearl looks so much like you in that photograph.”

  “She really is my sister, isn’t she?”

  “Yes. You have a sister.”

  “Awesome,” she whispered and Nick caught Laura’s eye above her head. They smiled, because life just might be working out for them.

  * * *

  IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS, Nick was careful to give Emily as much attention as he gave to Pearl.

  Without the burden of the work he’d always carried with him wherever he went, it was easier to juggle the time spent with his two daughters.

  Nick enrolled Emily in school, then he and Laura set a wedding date, for May.

  “May?” Nick yelled. “Why the hell do I want to wait so long? I want to get married now.”

  “Do you have any idea how long it takes to organize a wedding?”

  “It didn’t take Ty and Tammy very long.”

  “Nick, I’m only getting married once. I want everything to be perfect.”

  They decided that Nick and Emily should stay at the B and B until then, for propriety’s sake. As well, Emily would need her sleep to stay alert for school, so her grades wouldn’t drop. Pearl was feeding every four hours—she would wake Emily up during the night.

  Emily spent a fair amount of time after school every day with Laura and the baby. In fact, she went straight there instead of coming to the B and B.

  Laura made sure that the Gems set one cinnamon bun aside for Emily every day. She picked it up on her way upstairs to see Pearl.

  Nick would join them and Laura taught him how to cook. Soon, while Laura took care of Pearl and Emily did homework at the dining room table, Nick cooked their dinners.

  Feelings of harmony flooded him in those times.

  His favorite times were when it stormed outside. They lost their power once and had to do everything with emergency candles, bundling up in heavy sweaters. Emily loved the adventure.

  Rather than fight the storm to cross the street, they slept over that night.

  Laura piled heavy quilts onto her bed and put Pearl in the middle between her and Emily.

  Nick slept on the sofa.

  In the evenings, he and Emily designed the house they would all live in. Nick bought a piece of land adjacent to the resort.

  When Mike Canning came to town to oversee parts of construction, to make sure that all was being built according to plan, he would review the work that Emily and Nick had done on the design of their house.

  Nick built in an extra room. He wanted another baby with his wife.

  Mort lived at the B and B while he scouted out a place to live. He had dinner with them often.

  One night, he showed up with an expensive bottle of wine that Laura swooned over. Then she grimaced. “I can’t drink it because I’m still breast-feeding.”

  “I’ll buy you a whole case of it when you finish breast-feeding.”

  Emily and Laura drank milk while Mort drank iced tea.

  “What the hell,” Nick said and left the wine unopened. “I can’t drink alone.” He joined Mort in a glass of iced tea.

  “We’re celebrating tonight,” Mort said.

  “Celebrating what?”

  “I found a small house a five-minute walk from the home. I bought it today.”

  “Squeeee!” Emily hugged her grandfather. “I’m so happy, Gramps. You love the home.”

  “When I’m too old and decrepit to live alone, it will be a short walk to move into the place.”

  The relationship that had developed between Mort and Johanna was heartwarming. Every day, Mort started their relationship anew, because Johanna would have forgotten who he was from the day before.

  “I’ve given the home a donation to help Callie get it running to full potential.” He blushed. “What do I need all my money for? Especially here in Accord.”

  Unless Nick missed his guess, his ex-father-in-law had fallen in love with Johanna.

  Throughout those perfect months, only one thing marred the perfection of Nick’s life. He wanted to sleep with his wife. Laura became more desirable by the day. Her joy in motherhood and life were an aphrodisiac stronger than anything Nick had known.

  He wanted her.

  * * *

  BEFORE THEY MARRIED, there was one other problem Nick had to take care of. Laura’s brother.

  Noah had hated Nick from the moment he’d slept with her all of those years ago for petty revenge. A changed man, he wanted no disharmony in his life. He needed to build a bridge with Noah.

  He found him in his Army Surplus shop.

  Nick could give Noah tips on how to run a business a hell of a lot better than Noah was doing, but he doubted Noah would be open to listening, suspecting instead that the man didn’t mind living on less. Probably took pride in it.

  When he saw Nick, Noah scowled. “You’d better take care of my sister. If you
hurt her, I’ll rip your throat out.”

  “I thought you were a pacifist.”

  “Not where Laura is concerned. You screwed her up so badly the first time around. I don’t want to see you do it again.”

  “I won’t. You have my word on it.”

  “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

  “You don’t. You’ll just have to trust me like your sister is doing. Think about this, though. I’ve quit my job in Seattle and brought my daughter here with me. Would I do that if I planned to turn around and abandon Laura later?”

  “I guess not.”

  “Laura says you don’t plan to attend the wedding.”

  “Nope. I’d rather see her marry a snake.”

  “Be there. Trust that Laura is smart enough to make her own decisions. She’s a grown woman. She doesn’t need your support, but she could use your acceptance.”

  Noah studied the counter in front of him and came to a decision.

  “Okay. I’ll be there.”

  “Be there and be happy for her.”

  “Don’t push it, Jordan.”

  Nick turned to leave, but Noah called out before he got to the door. “I’ll be watching you.”

  “I would expect no less.”

  Nick had done as much as he could with Noah.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  ON THE INTERNET, Nick ordered lush, colorful silks and put them away for later, to use as a surprise for Laura. He ordered a beautiful pale yellow sari. Laura would look amazing in it.

  When Pearl was old enough to be left with her grandmother, and when he and Laura could finally have sex, he wanted an orgy of the senses with the woman he planned to make his wife as soon as possible.

  The wedding took place when Pearl was four months old.

  The night before, he shooed Laura out of her apartment for the entire night and made her take Pearl to stay with her mother.

  Nick worked into the wee hours draping the silks he’d ordered around Laura’s ceiling. He still hadn’t finished building the house where they would all live permanently, but that seemed a small problem. They would be together—he, Laura, Emily and Pearl—and that was all that mattered, whether in Laura’s apartment or in a larger home.

  He left the pale yellow sari on the bed for Laura to wear later.

  The following morning, Nick walked down the aisle with his daughter. She stood beside him at the altar with Gabe and Ty on her far side.

  Callie and Tammy were matrons of honor on his other side.

  Laura made a beautiful bride.

  Nick watched her walk toward him up the aisle and held his breath, clutching to himself all of the deep-seated emotions—joy, love, wonder—that threatened to explode out of him.

  She walked with her mother on one side and her brother on the other, in a white dress that showed off every one of her glorious curves. They’d filled out more with Pearl’s birth. Laura complained about the extra fifteen pounds she still carried.

  He planned to love the daylights out of every one of those extra pounds tonight.

  When the minister asked, “Who gives this woman away?” Noah and Olivia answered, “We do.”

  When he asked, “Who gives this man away?” Emily said, “I do,” then beamed up at him. He leaned down and kissed her nose.

  After a beautiful ceremony, they held a celebration in the community hall.

  Later that night, Nick and Laura returned to the apartment alone. Pearl was staying with Grandma and Emily with Ty and Tammy and Rebecca and Ruby. Ty had shared the good news that Ruby was moving to Accord to live with him permanently.

  Nick turned to Laura. “I left something on the bed for you to change into.”

  Laura raised a brow. “You did?”

  Nick’s kiss lingered on her lips. When he pulled away, he said, “You use the washroom first.”

  “Nick?”

  “Yes?”

  “No condoms, okay?”

  “You want to get pregnant again?”

  “Yes. Okay?”

  “Yes. A thousand times yes.”

  While Laura washed up for the night, he lit candles and incense in the bedroom and turned on a CD he’d made for tonight, music for them and them alone. It featured masters of the sarod and sitar and tabla, East Indian pieces he’d found that were sensuous and uplifting.

  Laura finished in the washroom, then he cleaned up and returned to the bedroom.

  She lay across the bed wrapped in the nearly sheer yellow sari, her hair luxuriant on her shoulders, her body’s curves abundant, everything hinted at with contours and shadows.

  She’d foregone the skirt and short top that belonged underneath the sari. Thank God.

  She’d found the bracelets and anklets and necklaces of tiny golden bells that he’d left for her and had adorned herself.

  While he undressed, she stretched sinuously to the exotic music then rested on her elbows and arched her back. Her breasts rose and fell with her breathing. Her nipples peaked against the delicate fabric, all of her hidden or exposed at the whim of flickering candle flames.

  Nick leaned one knee on the edge of the bed and hovered over her, running his hands along her body. Laura sighed and purred.

  “You’re a happy cat,” he whispered, smiling, his voice deep with desire.

  “Mmmmm,” she murmured low in her throat. He’d never met a more sensual woman.

  He ran his hands under the sari, watched as they traveled her body beneath the pale fabric. Her nipples hardened against his palms while the silk caressed the backs of his hands, the contrast sexy and startling.

  Taking the gold chains between his fingers, he played them over her nipples.

  He loosened the garment and touched her belly. She gasped. He smoothed his fingers lower and touched her wet core. She arched again, gracefully, like a panther, her heels digging into the mattress and her knees falling open to give him access, the music of the bells at her ankles ringing with the sitar floating through the room.

  She eased the sari open and held it out, inviting him in. He lay with her and she closed the fabric across his back, the silk soft on his spine and her skin silky against the hard planes of his body.

  His fingers inflamed her, wrought gasps from her. She writhed against him, her thigh brushing against him, hardening his flesh.

  The bells on her wrists and ankles tinkled, a musical counterpart to her earthy moans.

  He kissed her and she sucked on his tongue. She lifted her ankle to his waist, opening herself to him, and the bells tinkled. His fingers went deeper.

  He knelt between her legs and spread them wide, bringing his mouth to her moist flesh while his fingers filled all of her, every bit of her, and she shuddered. He kissed and licked her until she writhed, until the edge of her control.

  He sucked hard and she came. He would never desire another woman as he did this one. Laura was every woman to him, every desire and need fulfilled. He held her while she shivered then quieted.

  Her husky laugh filled the room.

  “I love you, Nick Jordan,” she said. “I always have and always will.”

  “I love you, Laura Cameron, and will until the end of my days.”

  How right to discover that love was an aphrodisiac. He’d never known.

  She took him in hand and used skillful fingers to harden and lengthen him, to please him and to prepare him for her.

  Finally, he entered her, flesh against flesh. She took him in as though molded, sculpted for his body.

  The music changed tempo, became smoky, and someone’s husky voice sang of love while he performed love, while Laura took from him and gave to him all of her self, of her being, of her bold and generous spirit.

  Her perfume floated around him, mingled with her sex, with her essence, fomenting his passion, fanning flames higher.

  Silk floated across his back.

  “Look,” he whispered and she followed his gaze.

  She hadn’t noticed. He’d put up a mirror on the wall on the
far side of the bed.

  “You’re so beautiful.”

  She watched them move together, in harmony, in lust, in rut. He screwed her until they nearly turned inside out, transforming the most basic animal needs into transcendent beauty.

  He touched every part of her and she him. They left nothing to the imagination, nothing unloved.

  The tempo of the music picked up again and so did Nick. Laura drove him higher with her vocal demands and with her body’s strength, with her body’s ability to keep up and to want more, more, more.

  He drove her higher. She keened long and loud, the most beautiful music he’d ever heard.

  He followed her into oblivion.

  Minutes later, he rocked her in his arms, whispered inanities, feathered love nips along her neck.

  Her heavy breathing slowly calmed until they lay still in each other’s arms.

  Unwrapping the sari from around them and getting out of bed, she walked to the bathroom, returning with two warm wet towels.

  They cleaned each other, because it was more fun than cleaning themselves.

  She walked to the mirror and ran her fingers over the reflection of her body.

  Glancing over her shoulder with her hair running down her glorious back, she said softly, “This is brilliant, Nick.”

  She looked up at the swooping falls of color across her ceiling. “Thank you.”

  She lay beside him and he enfolded her in his arms. He draped the sheer sari across her body. She arched when the silk whispered across her skin. He played with the fabric, with her. She turned over and he ran it across her back, along the chasm of her full behind.

  She took the fabric from him and played it over his body like a maestro. When he began to harden, she took the silk and bound his wrists to her bedposts.

  Moving slowly, she straddled him, settled onto him, her moist and ready flesh embracing his. When he responded and hardened enough, she took him into her body.

  She sat up straight and proud on him and he glanced at the mirror. In the smoky candlelight, her breasts, her hips, her bounteous body glowed. Then she moved and his breath caught.

  She rode him hard while the bells of her jewelry played a delightful symphony.

  They bathed by candlelight then gathered apple and pear slices and a warm triple cream Brie and carried them to bed. They sliced off the top of the cheese and dipped the fruit into it and fed each other.