Beachcombing in the Bahamas (Once Again #11)

Chapter 11

11

“ O h my God, Grandmother, swimming with the horses was out of this world,” Jodi said. Seated next to Garth at the dinner table, she punched his shoulder lightly. “Didn’t you think it was a blast?”

“Yeah, it was great,” he said with only slightly less enthusiasm.

Eyes as bright as Jodi’s, Kacey added, “We swam bareback through the waves, Grandmother.”

None of the children called Adeline by anything but Grandmother. She was never Grandma or Nana, especially not Grams. Adeline didn’t allow it. Just as she didn’t allow a single silver hair out of place in her perfect coiffure.

She gazed along the length of the table. “I’m so glad you had a wonderful time. That’s what we’re here for.” Then she turned to Lorna. “And Lorna here had such a marvelous time shopping with me.” She smiled like a shark. “Isn’t that right, dear?”

Yvette waited for Lorna to deflate. She looked for signs of trauma. But Lorna merely smiled. “I had an amazing time, Adeline. We had brunch at a lovely little cafe overlooking the ocean.”

Yvette thought she might choke, though the conch fritters were amazing, especially dunked in the spicy mayo dip Olive had prepared.

She leaned across Trevor to say to Lorna, “You have to look at Trevor’s pictures. And next time, after the baby, you’ll go with us.” She gave the other woman a smile that said , I get you, I know where you’re coming from, I know all about Adeline.

But Lorna simply smiled. She had a sweet, almost childlike smile.

Yvette wondered when Adeline would bully it out of her.

“This is the best mac-and-cheese I’ve ever had,” Garth said. “I wonder if we can get Mrs. French to make it exactly this way.”

Adeline looked down her nose at him. “Don’t even mention to Mrs. French that somebody made something better than she does. Or she’ll go on strike.”

They all laughed, even with Adeline’s dry tone. Mrs. French was a very proud cook.

The mac-and-cheese was delicious, accenting the conch fritters, especially accompanied by the grilled plantains again. Yvette would never tire of them.

Seated at the opposite end of the table from Adeline, Yvette was on Brock’s right. He moved his leg, brushing her knee. Then he curled his foot, minus his deck shoe, around her calf, letting her feel the warmth of his toes in an intimate gesture.

She wanted to smile because it was so damn sexy playing footsy beneath the table. She loved the games he played where no one could see. And she could feel it all. Even deep inside.

For dessert, Olive served Caribbean Black Cake made of raisins and cherries and other fruit marinated in rum. A mixture of rum and cherry brandy soaked the cake, making a deliciously heady combination. Without fanfare, Olive gave Lorna a special dessert which had no alcohol.

After the cake, which Yvette was sure had gone to her head, she took the bull by the horns, as the old saying went, and invited Lorna for a walk on the beach. “The men can settle by the fire pit and have a drink.”

Lorna smiled. “That would be wonderful.”

No one invited Adeline to do anything. She rose from her chair, saying, “I’m tired. It’s been a long day. I’m going to bed.”

Did Yvette imagine the sigh of relief that everyone let out as Adeline climbed the stairs?

Brock said nothing about her invitation to Lorna, but when she looked at him, there was a promise in his eyes. Then he rose and clapped his brother on the back. “Let’s do as Yvette suggests and have a drink by the fire pit.”

He grabbed a decanter along with two glasses off the sideboard. Before they departed, Ethan said, “Dad, is it okay if we all take the Jeep into town tonight to do a little barhopping and dancing?”

Brock smiled, a twinkle in his eye. “Of course.”

Yvette wondered if he was thinking how much easier it would be to sneak into her room with the kids in town. She kissed the girls, then looped her arm through Lorna’s and led her across the screened-in porch to the beach.

Stars studded the night sky like a carpet of jewels. The warm, slightly humid Bahamas air bathed Yvette’s skin. The real humidity would come in a few months.

Her arm linked with Lorna’s, the younger woman’s baby bump led the way across the sand.

“I’m so glad we’ve all come on this vacation,” Yvette said, waiting for the right opening. It wouldn’t do to rush into things.

“We should do this every year,” Lorna agreed. “I want my baby—” She put a hand on her belly. “—to know all her aunts and uncles and cousins.”

Was it meaningful that Lorna hadn’t mentioned Adeline? “Maybe even half yearly,” Yvette added, already warming to the idea. “Like a hiking trip in Tahoe.” She would love to sneak off for a hike with Brock.

Lorna put her hand over Yvette’s. “That’s a fabulous idea. We could go camping. In Yosemite. Or even in Big Basin over the Santa Cruz Mountains. That would be so amazing.” Her smile lit up her face even brighter than the stars. “We can toast marshmallows over a fire.”

Adeline surely wouldn’t go along. Maybe there was a devious method to Lorna’s ideas. “I love it. You tell Trevor, and I’ll tell—” she cut herself off. Of course, she’d been about to say she’d tell Brock, as if they were a couple.

Lorna didn’t seem to notice as she went on. “I used to go camping with my parents when I was a kid. I loved it. I didn’t have to take a bath for days.”

They laughed together.

Lorna hadn’t been raised in an exclusive, pampered environment. She was like Yvette, coming from a middle-class family. Lorna had been a paralegal at a law firm Donnelley Shipping used. The way Trevor told it, he’d fallen head over heels the moment he saw her. And Lorna was pretty without the showy elegance of the upper crust. She was just as pretty on the inside. Adeline had put up a fight, of course, but Trevor was old enough to know what he wanted. And nothing Adeline said swayed him. They’d been married for four years now.

Yvette decided this was her opening. “Camping is an amazing idea.” Then she added, as if the thought had only just occurred to her, “Adeline definitely won’t come along.”

“No, she won’t go in for camping.” Lorna’s sweet laughter filled the night. “That’s part of the appeal.”

Oh yes, this was her opportunity. “You know, whatever Adeline says to you, you just need to take it with a grain of salt.” She wondered what the old saying actually meant.

But Lorna knew what she was talking about. “You mean when she picks on me about my baby weight?”

Yvette gave her a friendly hip bump. “That’s exactly what I mean. And whatever else she says when nobody’s around.”

Lorna patted her hand. “Trevor warned me what she was like before we even got married. He wanted to live somewhere in the city, or maybe down on the Peninsula, in our own house or apartment or condo.”

“But you didn’t?” Yvette was astounded.

Lorna was shaking her head. “I loved that old house from the moment we stepped inside it. I don’t mind living there.”

“But Adeline?” Yvette said with a trace of wonder in her voice.

“I know how to deal with her. I just ignore everything nasty.” Lorna stopped herself there. “No, not nasty, because she’s never truly nasty to me. But every subtle dig that she makes, I just ignore it.”

Yvette stopped walking to turn and stare into Lorna’s face. She’d never managed to ignore a single dig Adeline ever made. Perhaps the woman had been worse to her than to Lorna. It was hard to say. Maybe she had just been much more thin-skinned, especially when Pierce had never supported her.

“My doctor tells me my weight is perfect for the month of pregnancy I’m in.” Lorna rubbed her belly. She was beautiful in the moonlight, her hand a sweet caress over her baby. “But I still don’t want to gain too much. Adeline’s right, it’ll be harder to take it off. But Trevor is so supportive. He wants to have it out with Adeline and tell her to bug off.” She laughed softly. “But I told him I’m handling it just fine.”

“You’re amazing. I never handled it.”

“Maybe Adeline has mellowed with age,” Lorna mused. “Or maybe…” Her voice trailed off.

“Or maybe it’s just me she doesn’t like.”

Yvette knew that was on Lorna’s mind, but the woman said, “I don’t mean it in a bad way. She’s focused. I’ve never seen anyone so focused in my entire life. And yes, I think she takes things out on you especially.” Yvette was technically old enough to be this woman’s mother. And yet Lorna had so much more confidence than Yvette had at her age. Maybe it was being pregnant and having to get married to Pierce amid Adeline’s relentless opposition.

“You don’t need to worry about me.” Then Lorna hugged Yvette, holding her tight for a moment. “But thank you so much for thinking about my feelings.” She stepped back, her hands still on Yvette’s shoulders. “I hope we can be friends. I’d like a friend like you.”

Because she was rarely at the house and also went to work with the men every day, Yvette hadn’t spent much time with Lorna. And now she smiled. “I’d very much like a friend like you too.”

The fire pit was blazing. But before either Trevor or he had even poured the brandy from the decanter Brock had brought out, Olive appeared from the house. “I’ve made drinks for you. This is our specialty. A Bahama Mama.” She set a tray on the small nearby table. “It has both dark and light rum, with a hint of Kahlúa, giving it a lovely coffee flavor. Then there is fresh squeezed orange and lemon juice, along with pineapple juice.” A cherry bobbed in each glass. She pushed one drink away from the others. “And for the mother-to-be, I made a special concoction that will taste almost the same, but without the alcohol.”

“Thank you, Olive,” Brock said before she melted once again into the house.

They retrieved two glasses and held them up to toast, their bare feet propped on the stone edge of the fire pit. “Cheers. Here’s to a fabulous vacation,” Brock said.

He was having the time of his life, crawling into Yvette’s bed, waking up with her in the morning.

“You should marry her.”

Brock felt his heart pound almost right out of his chest. He turned on his brother. “What the hell do you mean?”

“It’s so freaking obvious driving with you two every day into work. You’re totally besotted with each other. Just get it over with and tell her how you feel. I’m sure she feels the same way.”

So his brother didn’t know they were lovers. But he knew they were hiding big feelings. And maybe this was why he’d brought up the subject of Yvette’s dating while they were on horseback.

“Your mother,” Brock said harshly, “would have a heart attack.”

Trevor turned to him. “What Adeline thinks doesn’t matter. It’s what you and Yvette want.”

Unable to bring himself to say that Yvette was the problem, he felt Trevor out. “But she was our brother’s wife.”

“Pierce has been gone for five years.”

So Trevor didn’t care about that. “But you know how families can screw with a relationship,” he said, realizing he was parroting Yvette.

“Your family won’t care one damn bit. Your sons love Yvette. And her daughters feel the same way about you. It wouldn’t bother me one damn bit either. And when you think about Adeline, ask yourself if her opinion is as important as she seems to think it is.”

Brock watched the two dark shapes out on the beach, one obviously pregnant, the other lithe and sexy even at this distance. His guts twisted because he wanted her so badly. He loved her so freaking much.

Then he said to Trevor, “Adeline poisoned what Pierce and Yvette had together. What makes you think she wouldn’t do exactly the same thing now?” He was admitting something to his brother. Something huge.

But Trevor shrugged. “She can only ruin it if you let her. Just like she can only ruin what Lorna and I have if we let her. But we don’t. When she pulls a stunt, we laugh about it. Maybe you need to think about doing the same thing.”

He wondered if he could explain that to Yvette. He wondered if she could ever let go of the past. Probably not. Adeline had not only ruined her marriage, she’d poisoned Yvette’s belief in true love.

If truth be told, he wasn’t sure their love was big enough to overcome it. At least not for her.

Then he realized they were both watching Yvette as Trevor said, “You don’t have to admit it to me, brother. You don’t even have to say anything to Yvette right now. But you do need to think about it. Because one of these days, and probably sooner rather than later, she’s going to need someone. And I’m just saying that you need to make sure that someone is you.”

Oh yeah, this was why Trevor had talked about Yvette while they were riding. Maybe he already had this speech planned. And Brock’s heart punched all the way into his throat, choking him.

Because if she ever left him, if she ever wanted to choose a man she could have an out-in-the-open relationship with, it would be over his dead body.

Brock woke before the sun rose, with only the slightest lightening of the sky. The warmth of her in his arms could have been his undoing. Maybe it was his undoing. Because he needed this to go on forever. After his talk with Trevor last night, he would never be satisfied with anything less.

And in his heart, he knew that eventually, she wouldn’t be satisfied with what they had now.

He could accomplish it by breaking completely with his mother. He could move out of the house, get his own flat, refuse her calls until she was the one who relented. But he knew Adeline. She was the most stubborn person on the planet. She would never forgive him.

And despite how cool she could sometimes be, she was still his mother and part of him still loved her. The danger was that if he broke with her, he might lose his sons too. Although that danger was far less for him than for Yvette and her daughters. Perhaps her thinking was infecting him.

He wanted Yvette. He wanted his family. He wanted everything just the way it was now, except that they would be openly together. And that was the conundrum. How could he have everything? He snuggled her closer in his arms. As if that would keep her there forever. She sighed, nestling deeper into him, on the edge of sleep, but not quite waking yet. He enjoyed these long moments of closeness with the memories of last night in his mind. The touches, the kisses, the caresses, the feel of her body tight around him.

He was already hardening against her backside.

Choices. His other choice was to convince Yvette to ignore all his mother’s barbs. They didn’t have to live in the house. Yvette never even had to go there. But he understood her fear that Adeline would somehow turn the girls against her. But did Adeline have that much sway?

You should marry her.

Trevor’s words echoed in his mind. God, what he wouldn’t give for that. But would he give up sons? He couldn’t dwell on that. The answer was too heartbreaking. And he didn’t want to choose. He didn’t want Yvette to choose.

Maybe there was a third choice. He could try talking Adeline around. He could be the one to threaten to take the boys away from her. To take Yvette’s girls away.

But none of those solutions would be satisfactory. He knew that in his gut.

The sun tipped over the horizon, spreading its wings of color across the sky.

Yvette stirred in his arms. “It’s sunrise,” she whispered. “You better go before anyone else gets up.”

“Not just yet.” His words wafted his warm breath across her ear. He felt her shiver. He knew her signals. And he scented her arousal. “What do you want to do today?”

“Whatever the kids want to do. I like spending time with them.”

He trailed his fingers up her torso, cupped her breast. “We can talk about it at breakfast.” He dropped his head to kiss the fragrant skin of her neck.

“We don’t have time,” she said, already arching against him.

He rubbed, twirled, pinched lightly, and brought her nipple to a tight peak. “We have time. And I love a little quickie.”

He’d once made love to her in the backseat of an airport limo, all the curtains closed, on the way from Atlanta’s Hartsfield airport to the hotel.

She moaned. “Then you need to make it real quick.”

And he did, fast, hard, and mind-blowing.

Then she pushed him out of the bed.

He laughed, though his heart was still pounding, his body still quaking, his mind still reeling.

And he vowed to himself right then that he would find a way to make Yvette his forever.