by Leger, Lori
“Not long enough, T.J.,” Pete growled, before finally releasing his hand. Vivienne nodded politely and the two of them headed outside.
Annie caught up to her parents. “We’ll meet you at the house, Mom. Do you need us to pick up anything?”
“I’m low on soft drinks, and your father would like a six pack of beer.”
Annie nodded. “We’ll get it, you two go on home. I have my phone if you can think of anything else.”
The older couple departed and Drake and Annie made a bee line for the grocery store. Once there, Drake pulled out a shopping basket and loaded up a couple of containers of soft drinks for Vivi, and the beer of choice for Pete. “As long as we’re here, I may as well stock up on a few things for your place,” Drake added. “I’m sure I eat a lot more than you do. I need sustenance.”
Annie nodded quietly and followed along as Drake began to fill the basket with snack cakes, chips, pretzels and two different kinds of beer as well as two decent bottles of wine. He pushed the basket, sending a sidelong glance at Annie. “You okay?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Her reply sounded somewhat hard and clipped.
Drake stopped the buggy. “Hold on. Are you upset with me for implying we’re a couple?”
She turned on him. “Implying? You couldn’t have been more blatant if you’d put it on a billboard.”
“Well, you went along with it.”
“You didn’t leave me much choice. What was I going to do, call you a liar in church, right in front of my parents?” She checked out an older woman watching them from the other end of the aisle, lowered her voice accordingly. “We can’t discuss this here. My parents do still live in this town, you know.”
Drake paid for their purchases and loaded them in the truck. En route to the McAllister homestead, Drake picked up the precious conversation.
“I’m sorry, Annie, but Tom is a real prick. I know it was wrong, but I couldn’t let him off the hook that easily. And that girlfriend of his—ugh!”
Annie grinned reluctantly. “She obviously thinks highly of herself. I have to admit she is gorgeous.”
Drake huffed in disgust. “That woman is about as real as a plastic doll. A total fabrication. I guaran-damn-tee she’s been botoxed, liposuctioned, lip-plumped, lasered, and silicone-enhanced, until there’s not a square inch of her left the way God intended. Believe me, honey. I’ve been around enough plastic-surgery-enhanced Houston females to recognize a pair of fake hooters when I see them.”
Annie shook her head. “You couldn’t possibly know that without actually seeing them. Take this road.” She pointed to the highway leading south of town.
“I sure as hell can. Hers are way too high for someone her cup size.”
Annie covered her eyes with one hand and laughed. “I cannot believe I’m even having this conversation with you.”
After a momentary awkward silence, they faced each other and both burst into laughter.
Annie quieted enough to continue. “Maybe she’s just wearing a really good support bra.”
Drake sent her a serious look. “Annie, she wasn’t wearing a bra.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “For real?”
He nodded, and they got in a second round of snickering at the Barbie doll’s expense. Drake sobered before continuing. “I told you, I know what I’m talking about. Britt doesn’t possess true beauty … but you do.”
Annie’s mouth twisted in a cynical grin. “If you’re just saying that to get me to fall into bed with you, it won’t work.”
He tweaked her nose and chuckled. “Not that I wouldn’t welcome you falling into bed with me, but no. I recognized that the moment I first saw you. It’s the truth, whether you believe me, or not. Those eyes are enough to stop a man in his tracks, but that perfectly proportioned body of yours …” He sucked in his breath. “That would drive any man insane.”
She stared at him. “Perfectly proportioned?”
He nodded. “Absolutely—as in appropriate dimensions—a harmonious arrangement of parts. Your parts are all in perfect harmony with each other.”
She smiled. “Well, thank you, but it still won’t get me to fall in bed with you.”
Drake sent her a wink. “We’ll see.”
“It’s the last house, all the way at the end of this road.”
Drake approved of the location. “It’s nice out here, all the perks of country but with conveniences of city life.”
Annie laughed at his word choice. “Town life, you mean. By no stretch of the imagination would I call Gardiner a city. It was nice growing up out here, though. I could ride horses out the back door, and ride my bike to school from the front; the best of both worlds.”
He pulled up into the driveway and parked his truck. Drake grabbed the drinks and followed Annie to the side door of the large two-story house. The exterior was clean, sharp, and looked freshly painted and well-kept. The yard and outbuildings were all neat and trimmed, as well.
The second he stepped inside the pleasant space, Drake’s senses flooded with delicious smells and mouth-watering sights.
“Man, it smells awesome in here,” he whispered, his stomach growling in anticipation.
Annie grinned. “It always does. If any of my friends were dieting, they refused to come here.”
Vivienne walked into the kitchen. “Oh, you got drinks. Merci, ma petite fille.”
Annie hung her purse on the coat rack. “Don’t thank me, ma mere. Drake insisted on paying for everything.”
“Merci beaucoup, Drake. You’re such a sweetie,” Vivienne said, giving his arm a pat.
Drake turned to her. “You’re welcome, Ms. Vivi. By the smells coming out of that kitchen, I know I’ll be well compensated.” He set the drinks on the counter top and turned to embrace her in a bear hug. “And have I told you how much I love that photo album you designed for me as a Christmas gift? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat and looked through it. I still can’t believe you did it.”
Pete McAllister chose that moment to walk in the room. “Hey now, should I be worried?”
“Sorry, sir.” Drake grinned and released her. “I was just thanking her again for my photo album.”
“I could lie and say you’ll get used to her thoughtfulness, but she still amazes me, even after forty-six years.” He embraced his wife gently and gave her a tender kiss. They turned simultaneously toward Annie, clearly expecting a scathing comment from her.
Annie surprised them with a tender smile. “Obviously, I’m totally desensitized to you two.”
Drake cleared his throat. “Or maybe something happened to make you feel a little more empathetic?”
Annie walked past him, issuing a sharp command. “Don’t you start with me, LeBlanc.” Just as quickly, she dismissed him. She lifted the lid on the huge pot on the stove and stirred it. “Shrimp and okra gumbo, for us?”
“Actually, Julia requested it. She and the children will be here, too,” Vivienne admitted. “Julia and Jacob are leaving for England in the morning, so it’s even more perfect that you and Drake could be here with us.”
“I’ll be glad to see Jules and the kids again,” Annie added. She turned toward Drake. “You do eat shrimp and okra gumbo, don’t you?”
Drake shrugged. “Honestly, I’ve never had it before. I eat shrimp and okra in any other form, so I don’t see why not.”
“You’re in for a treat, because Mom’s is the best.”
Drake held up the drinks. “Where do you want me to put these Ms. Vivienne?”
“There should be room in the bottom of the fridge.”
Drake did as he was told then made his way over to the cabinet to stare at one of the most beautiful cakes he’d ever seen in his life. “Is this coconut?”
Vivienne nodded. “You’ve met Carrie and Sam, haven’t you, Drake?”
“I did, at Tiffany and Red’s wedding. Isn’t Carrie also from here?”
Vivienne nodded. “She and I are cousins, actually. That re
cipe comes from Sam’s mother, who used to sell her baked goods around Kenton. That coconut cake was her specialty. The filling is a boiled custard type that we Cajuns call bouille which means simply ‘boil’ in French.”
“Vivi!” Pete called from the living room. “What’d you do with my glasses? I can’t find them, and yes, I already checked to see if they weren’t sitting on my head.”
“That man.” She left the kitchen muttering under her breath.
Drake wrenched his gaze from the luscious frosted concoction as Annie spoke from just behind him.
“That cake is made from scratch and has four layers, with that pudding between each layer. Do you like coconut?”
“It’s my favorite cake in the world. Coconut cake and pecan pralines, that’s my idea of heaven.” He looked down at Annie, couldn’t help but come up with a vision to top that. This woman … wearing his ring on her finger, and carrying his child … Yeah, that would easily make it to the top of his idea of heaven. He smiled as he caught her curious gaze on him. “What’s wrong?”
Her brow wrinkled. “You didn’t seem as though you were thinking only of cakes and pralines.”
“Maybe I wasn’t. All you have to do is ask, and I’d be happy to tell you what else is included in my idea of heaven.” He leaned in low to speak softly into her ear. “I’d be happier to show you.”
Annie struggled for calm, tried to keep her breath from hitching—no easy feat with her heart thudding furiously. Drake’s eyes, sexy and deep, chocolaty brown. Her dad’s noisy, grumbling entry jarred her comparison of his eyes to chocolate M&M’s again.
“If people would leave my damn glasses where I put them, I’d be able to find the damn things when I need ‘em.”
Her mom swept into the room, wearing her classic I’m-about-to-put-you-in-your-place look. Annie elbowed Drake’s side. “Watch this. She’s so good at it.”
“Oh, I know, sweetie,” Vivienne gushed. “Just yesterday I left them in your shop out in the back yard. The day before, I laid them down on your barbeque pit out on the back patio. This morning I managed to place them next to the book you fell asleep reading last night. One of these days, I’ll learn to tell the difference between your glasses and mine.” With that, she held up her own tiny pair of reading glasses next to his own considerably larger ones, before handing them over to him.
Pete reached for them and grunted at her obvious victory. “No need to gloat.” He leaned to kiss her lightly on the mouth. “Thanks, hon.”
She gave him an indulgent smile. “You’re welcome, Dear.”
Pete turned to Drake, wearing a smug expression. “Nag, nag, nag! Sometimes there’s no living with this woman.”
Vivi’s tinkle of laughter drifted across the room. “Take a few minutes to show Drake around the place, Annie. Your dad and I have everything under control in here, don’t we, Pete?”
“Sure, sure,” Pete grumbled.
Annie shoved Drake through the doorway into the living room. “Hurry. That’s code for they want to make out in the kitchen.”
“Annie Nicole!”
She chuckled at her mom’s mortified reply, while pushing Drake ahead of her into the huge family room. He stopped in the center of the room, staring at the conglomeration of McAllister family portraits—a visual display of their family history, open to anyone who cared to look.
“What a great place to live.” His comment sounded sincere. “If you could see the house where Tiff and I were raised, you’d realize how little it means to have money. Our house never felt comfortable. It still doesn’t. This place says home without having to utter a single word.”
She studied him. He studied the room, seeming to absorb every detail of the place she’d always taken for granted. She suspected he meant every word. “Money can’t replace being loved and wanted.”
He scanned his surroundings and nodded slowly. “You’ve got that right.” Then he smiled. “I love the way your mom gets Mr. Pete to eat out of her hand without raising her voice. He knows he’s being played and it doesn’t bother him a bit. Your folks are something.”
She walked over to the mantle and touched the most recent family portrait they’d taken. “Yeah, they are. We always knew we were lucky. I’d go to spend the night at the homes of some of my friends, and sometimes it was like being in a war zone. We never had to worry about things like that.”
Drake snorted. “Ours was more like a refrigerator. Cold as ice.”
“Did your parents argue a lot?”
“My parents tried never to be in the same room at the same time. It worked for them, but Tiff and I would have been seriously warped if it hadn’t been for Melinda.”
“Who says you aren’t?”
“Be nice, Annie Girl.”
She sighed. “God, I wish you wouldn’t call me that.”
Drake turned her shoulders gently so that she had no choice but to face him. “What did he do to you? I wish you’d talk to me about it, so I could understand why you put up this wall.”
“It’s ancient history, Drake. Leave it alone.” The sudden, noisy arrival of Julia, Miranda, and Jacob saved her from having to dodge any more of his questions.
Annie intercepted the look Julia and Miranda passed each other when they saw Drake accompanying her. She held up one hand. “Don’t get any ideas. This is a girl and her bodyguard, taking a road trip. That’s all.”
“Oooh…” Miranda teased. “Is that bodyguard prepared to perform any extra services?”
“Stop, brat.” But Drake’s deep chuckle had Annie’s gaze locked onto his mouth.
His lip curled in a sexy invitation. “Fully prepared. I just haven’t been asked … yet.”
Drake stretched out on one recliner next to Pete McAllister and yawned. He rubbed his belly, still full even hours after that delicious lunch.
Vivienne and Annie walked in with two trays bearing coffee and slices of coconut cake.
“Who has room for cake?” Vivienne asked.
Drake snapped to attention in the chair. “I’d have to be crazy to pass that up, Ms. Vivienne.”
Annie eyed his belly. “You sure you can handle that right now? I told you to pass on that second bowl of gumbo.”
Drake reached out for a dessert plate containing the slices. “I’ll make room. That cake has been calling to me since I got here.” He took a bite and closed his eyes in blissful appreciation. “Man, the filling is out of this world.” He took another bite then got up to hug the baker. “Please adopt me. I’ll be the perfect son, I swear.”
Vivienne laughed. “I told you for Christmas you’re already a part of this family, Drake, but if it’ll make you feel better to call me Mom, you go right ahead. One more in our brood won’t make much difference.”
Julia laughed and added, “Why not? The hard part is taken care of already.”
Annie turned to Drake. “You are potty trained, right?” The room’s occupants burst into laughter.
“I was referring to college, but potty training is a plus, too,” Julia commented.
“You two stop teasing my new baby boy, now,” Vivienne fussed. “Drake, you’re welcome here anytime.”
“Thanks Mom,” he drawled before giving Annie a gentle nudge with his elbow. “More and more stuck with me,” he whispered just before a deep voice called from the back door.
“Anybody home?”
Julia & Chad
Julia
Julia felt the color drain from her face as her husband entered the room.
“Chad.” Vivienne rose from her chair to meet her eldest son. “I thought you had a flight this morning.”
“I did, but it got cancelled. That winter storm up north sure has plugged things up.” His McAllister blue gaze landed on Julia.
She sucked in, trying to catch her breath as the atmosphere in the room suddenly thickened, like the deadly calm before a category five hurricane moves in.
“Jules.”
She nodded. “Chad.”
Chad looked over at
their son. “I’m glad I get to see you one last time before you left for London.”
“Yeah, it’s been a good visit, but I’m anxious to get home, I’ve got some studying to do,” Jacob admitted.
Chad stiffened noticeably. “Your home’s here, Son.”
“Come on, Dad, you know what I meant.”
Chad pulled the teenager close for a brief hug. “Yeah, I do. Sorry, but I wouldn’t count on that flight leaving tomorrow morning. Things are pretty bogged down for connecting flights up north.”
“We’ve got a direct flight from Houston at six a.m.,” Julia countered.
“Oh.” He nodded. “You should be okay, then. When are you leaving?”
Julia glanced at her watch. “Actually, we should be going now. This was our last stop before we leave town. Miranda’s driving and spending the night with us in Houston.”
Chad headed for the side door. “I’ll check out her car.”
“You be careful in that Houston traffic, you hear me?” Pete McAllister said in that classically gruff ‘real men don’t cry’ tone of his. Jules got one smile in before her father-in-law enveloped her tightly in his arms.
“I will, Pop.” She turned to her motherin-law and braced herself. “It’s always so hard to leave you, Vivi.” She fought to control the quaver in her voice.
Vivienne placed a hand on Julia’s cheek and smiled through her own tears. “It’s not forever, Julia. I know you’ll be back and things will be fine.”
After a few more minutes of goodbyes, Chad stuck his head in the door. “Hey Houston, we have a problem. Come check this out, Jules.”
Julia wiped her eyes and met him outside, praying this wasn’t an excuse to get her alone. “What is it?”
“Her tires are bad, hon. Look at this. I don’t think you should take this car to Houston.”
Julia checked out the tires and swung around to face her approaching daughter. “Miranda Gail, why are you driving around on bad tires?” She faced her husband. “And why have you allowed it?”
He raised his palms in the air. “I gave her seven hundred dollars two months ago to get four new tires and pay for balancing and realignment. She promised me she’d take care of it, as soon as possible.”