Beachcombing in the Bahamas (Once Again #11)

Chapter 28

28

D arryl jumped out of the car before the tires even stopped crunching on the gravel. He ran for the girls’ house just as Yvette walked toward Brock along the path from the big house. “You got him out already?”

Brock’s heart thundered at the sight of her and the sweet sound of her voice. “We got a deal.” He took her arm, leading her to the girls. “Let’s talk about it with everyone inside.”

With the front door wide open, Darryl called for Kacey. When Brock and Yvette stepped into the house, Kacey was already at the top of the stairs. Darryl stood at the bottom, looking up at her like a scene out of Romeo and Juliet . “You see, they let me out. I didn’t do what they said I did.”

Yvette said softly, “He didn’t do any of it?”

Brock gave a slight shake of his head. “Let’s see what he tells her.”

Darryl tossed out his sob story. “She recanted everything she said. It was all a big lie.”

“Now that’s an even bigger lie,” Brock muttered so only Yvette could hear.

Kacey didn’t make a move from the top step. “She lied? But why would she lie?” Her hair was straggly, as if she hadn’t washed it for two days, and her puffy face revealed long crying jags.

Brock made his way into the living room. “Go ahead, Darryl. Tell Kacey what happened.”

The kid looked back at him. Brock felt Yvette step closer, heat sparking between them, even if they weren’t touching.

“She said I didn’t attack her. That I didn’t even touch her. She admitted that.”

Brock stared him down, waiting for the kid to tell the truth. The room was full, though he hadn’t noticed when they’d first walked in. Maybe the others had drifted through the screened-in porch along the back of the house after hearing the commotion Darryl made. By the sofa, Garth crossed his arms over his chest, Jodi beside him, death-glaring Darryl. Ethan, Malcolm, and their girlfriends stood next to them. And Trevor had entered the front door.

Kacey took only one step down. “But why would she lie?” she asked again, her tone far from Juliet begging for Romeo’s protestations of love.

Brock willed the kid to tell the truth. If he did, it might show that he’d changed, that two nights in a jail cell had given him a different perspective.

Instead, Darryl said, “I don’t know why she lied.”

Brock felt forced to step in. “She didn’t lie, Darryl. She never lied. Not even in the beginning.”

Kacey looked at Brock, her eyes glittering as if the tears could come at any moment. “What exactly does that mean?”

Brock narrowed his gaze on Darryl. “It would be better if you said it, Darryl, rather than me, don’t you think?”

His skin had turned pale, even after only two days behind bars. Or maybe it was the fact that Darryl felt cornered. “I didn’t touch her. I didn’t do anything,” he said, making a very hard emphasis on do .

Because Darryl hadn’t actually done anything.

When he failed to add further explanation, Brock asked, “But what did you say ? And what happened when you said it?”

“I…I,” Darryl stammered. Finally, because he didn’t have a choice, the words rushed out. “I just asked her for a happy ending. That was all. I couldn’t help it. It was a massage. And well, things came up.”

“And?” Brock pressed. Because the kid just couldn’t find the courage to admit it all.

“And—” Darryl gulped. “Well, then I turned over. I didn’t know she was right there.” He cupped his hands as if showing right where . “And her hand accidentally touched me—” He gasped in a breath like a fish thrown on the beach. “—there. Then she freaked, started screaming, and ran out.”

The boy had gotten a hard-on when a beautiful woman had given him a massage. Then he’d asked her to jerk him off. And there’d been some accidental contact. Which was what the massage therapist had told the judge today. She’d admitted that she overreacted. She’d been afraid of what he might do, not what he actually did.

Kacey stared him down. And that glitter of tears morphed into a gleam of anger. “You asked her to give you a happy ending?”

“It was nothing, babe. I just needed a release, and I couldn’t wait until we got home.”

Now the entire family stared him down. Her voice tense, Kacey said, “But we’d made love the night before.”

Brock felt Yvette cringe. Was it knowing that her daughter was having sex, something a parent doesn’t want to think about? Or that it was Darryl, and nobody liked the kid?

“I know,” he whined. “But it didn’t mean anything with that girl. It was just a physical reaction.”

Brock wondered how many men had said that. But sex always meant something. It could have different meanings, but it always meant something .

Darryl pleaded then. “Look, I’m sorry. It’ll never happen again. Please forgive me, baby. I need you.”

Kacey looked at him, her puffy face a mask of anger and hurt. “I wish you were staying in my room. Because if you were, I’d march in there, throw all your stuff in your suitcase and dump it on your head.” Then her gaze lasered in on Brock. “Is it possible to get him a flight out now?”

Brock smiled. “Oh yeah.”

“Then I’d appreciate it if someone would get him out of here.” She disappeared down the upstairs hall, and a moment later, her door slammed.

Garth punched the air. “Yeah.” Then he stalked to Darryl, grabbed his arm while Malcolm grabbed the other, and they frog-marched him out of the house. Ethan, following right behind, said, “We’ll help you pack your bags, buddy.”

Trevor was right on the other side of the doorway. “I’ll call for the helicopter.” Which was how they’d all arrived. “They can take him to the airport in Nassau.” Then he smiled. “We should make him fly coach, don’t you think?”

Jodi said, “Mom?” Just that, with a definite question mark at the end. Then she added, “Maybe we should go up and talk to Kacey.”

“I’ll be up there in a minute,” Yvette said. “I just need a few words with your uncle first.”

Jodi waved a hand, then rushed up the stairs.

Yvette shifted to face him.

Without Brock even realizing it, they were alone in the living room. Francine and Iris had returned to their lounge chairs out on the sand.

“Is that what really happened? She took back her story?”

He shrugged. “She didn’t take anything back. She just said that Darryl hadn’t put her hand on him or held it there. That the touch was accidental, and she’d panicked, afraid because she was alone in the room with him. It was everyone else she worked with who got the story wrong, because of her reaction.”

“And you believe it was an accident?”

“Yes, I do.” The young woman had seemed sincere.

“So the judge just let Darryl go?”

Brock felt the smile grow on his face. “They charged him with solicitation and some misdemeanors and required him to pay a large fine. Then the judge told him never to come back to the Bahamas.”

Her smile matched his. “It might have been better if they locked him up.”

“But at least we’re shipping him out.”

And something burned in her gaze. “Can you still rent that cabana in the cove for tomorrow?”

His heart beat like a steel band drum. “Hell, yes.”

Her smile turned sultry, downright seductive. “Then why don’t you take care of that, as well as asking Olive to pack a picnic for us first thing in the morning?” She put a hand on his arm. “I’m giving tonight to the girls and a long talk with Kasey. And tomorrow, I’ll have a long talk with you.”

He didn’t know what had changed. But he didn’t care.

She was his again.

For over twenty years, every choice she’d made was for her daughters, and that was as it should be. Before that, she’d taken care of her mother and her grandparents. She’d never done anything just for herself. Even sleeping with Brock, she’d thought about her daughters first, about how they’d feel, and she’d tailored their affair to her daughters’ needs. And to her fear of Adeline.

She wasn’t afraid of Adeline anymore.

Now, she had to tell Kacey she was proud of her for not accepting Darryl’s lies. There would be other lovers. There would be the love of her life and marriage and children. While she might still come to her mother for advice, her life would be about her own family. The same was true for Jodi.

And Yvette needed Brock. Because Brock was the rest of her life.

Her girls deserved the truth, not secrets, not evasions.

Laying both hands on Brock’s shoulders, she went up on her toes and kissed him on the mouth. It was passionate. And it was a promise.

Then she climbed the stairs to her daughter’s bedroom.

Yvette gave herself one last glance over the banister at Brock. He still stood there, his face lifted to hers, their eyes meeting. Then he smiled, a smile so beautiful her heart turned over with more love than she had ever known.

Jodi had left the door open, but Yvette knocked anyway. Seated on the bed, her daughters were mirror images of each other, one leg bent, the other foot balanced on the floor.

Kacey faced the door. Yvette couldn’t read a single clue in the look on her daughter’s face. “May I come in?”

Jodi turned then, waved her over. Yvette thought she saw the slightest movement of Kacey’s fingers, and she took it to mean agreement.

She had to. It was the only thing she could cling to.

Would Kacey ever forgive her?

She didn’t sit on the bed but stood between them. She didn’t fold her arms over her chest in a defensive posture but left her hands hanging limply. Honestly, she didn’t know what to do with her hands. She only knew what she had to say.

“I want to ask both of you to forgive me for not telling you the whole story.” She didn’t use the word lie . Even though that’s what she’d been doing for nine months. Neither of them spoke, and she carried on. “I’m in love with your Uncle Brock. And yes, we have a relationship.”

Not a single flicker passed over Kacey’s face. Nothing to show what she was thinking. But Jodi’s lips curved slightly, giving Yvette hope.

“I didn’t tell you about it because I was afraid you wouldn’t approve.” The whole truth and nothing but the truth. But still, she wanted to soften it. “Nothing happened when your father was alive. In fact, neither of us felt anything then. And not when Aunt Corrine was married to Brock either.” The familiarity of his name just slipped off her tongue.

Still, Kacey didn’t move, didn’t say a word. Was she waiting for Yvette to hang herself?

“But nine months ago, we both agreed that feelings were growing between us.” The truth. God. How did you tell your daughters the absolute truth? But she had to if she wanted to regain their trust. “We started sleeping together. Secretly.”

Jodi was the first to speak. “Why did you do everything in secret?”

Why? It was such a simple question, just one word, and yet it held so much pain and grief and fear. She swallowed, and it went down hard, but she managed not to choke. “Because I was afraid. I knew your grandmother wouldn’t approve, and I was afraid she might influence how you felt about it. And how you felt about me. So it was just easier to keep everything secret.”

Again, it was Jodi who asked, “Are you going to marry him?”

Yvette admitted the truth. “He’s asked me to marry him. What would you both think of that?”

Jodi had already guessed everything. The words were for Kacey.

“I’m okay with it,” Jodi said. Then she looked at Kacey. “What about you?”

Had they already discussed it? They were sisters, and they were close. She was sure that her youngest knew exactly how her eldest felt.

“I—” Kacey started before she closed her mouth and didn’t open it again.

So Yvette had to address the hardest part. “I know it was a shock when you walked into my cottage after the police arrested Darryl.”

Finally, for the first time since Yvette had entered the room, Kacey reacted. She snorted.

The sound cut through Yvette, dashing all her hopes against the ocean rocks, while all her fears choked her.

Her daughter would never forgive her. And Yvette waited for Kacey’s anger to rain down on her.

Kacey’s voice was hard. “Hell, yes. I was shocked to my core.” She put a hand on her belly. “I mean, he’s my uncle. I’ve known him all my life. It just seemed so—” She shook her hands in the air as if she couldn’t find the worst words to fling at her mother.

And she remembered the word she had used. Disgusting .

But Kacey said, “Unexpected.”

It was better than anything Yvette could have imagined.

Kacey flopped back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “I was so upset about Darryl. I wanted you to tell me everything would be okay. I wanted Uncle Brock to make it all go away.”

Yvette’s heart ached for her daughter.

Kacey blinked, and tears slid down her temples. “The worst was that I knew he’d done something. I didn’t know what, but I was imagining the worst things he could’ve done. I just wanted to throw myself in your arms.” She stopped.

Yvette finished for her. “You were afraid he’d betrayed you. Then you walked into my room and thought I betrayed you too.”

Kacey sniffed, sitting up to wipe the tears from her temples with two fingers. “Yes. That’s how I felt.”

Yvette wanted to throw herself on the bed by her girls, hug them. But she couldn’t. Not yet. “I should have told you both. I shouldn’t have kept it a secret. But even at fifty-three years old, people can be afraid. And I was afraid. But I never betrayed your father. I never broke a promise to you.” She reached for both her daughters’ hands, held them. “And I will never break a promise. I will always love you. I’ll be here for you.” She squeezed Kacey’s fingers. “And I support you in whatever you decide to do about Darryl.”

Kacey didn’t squeeze her hand in return, but she didn’t let go either. “Even if I decide to stay with him?”

It hurt. Because she wanted to fight for her daughter, and she knew Darryl wasn’t the right man for Kacey. “If that’s your decision, then I have to live with it. I might not think he’s the best person for you, but you’re an adult, and you’re my daughter, and I have to trust in what you decide.”

Jodi snorted a humorless laugh. “I’ll accept your decision. But that doesn’t mean I won’t rag on you incessantly until you change your mind.”

Kacey laughed through a sudden bubble of tears. “I know you will.”

Yvette grabbed a tissue from the box on the bedside table and handed it to Kacey, who wiped her nose. “I’m not going back to him. We’re done. Because a man who can say that sex means nothing isn’t a man I want to be with.” Finally, she looked at Yvette. “I think Uncle Brock loves you. I don’t think he’s using you.” She swallowed, almost gulped. “If you want to marry him, then I’m okay with it.”

Though it wasn’t the most resounding endorsement, the ache around Yvette’s heart fell away. She gathered her two girls against her and whispered, “Thank you.” Then she stood back before she started crying too. “Let’s do something fun tonight. Together. Whatever you want.”

Kacey wiped her eyes. “Let’s watch sappy romance movies like Ten Things I Hate About You .”

“How about Kick-Ass ?” Jodi said.

“How about both?” Yvette added. “We can watch all night long.” She wanted to cry. She wanted to hug them. And she would always love them.

She should have told them about her feelings for Brock from the beginning. But maybe the time hadn’t been right. Not for her, not for them. Not even for Brock.

Maybe they had to do this, face the bad so that they could find the good. Just as Kacey had to face the bad about Darryl before she could find the good in her life. Sometimes finding the good took a long, long time.

But Yvette had found it. And she knew her girls would too.