Present
“So, you want a honeymoon?” Will asked, caressing my arm as he held me in his arms.
“If you want.”
His body shook under me with a laugh. “That sounds enthusiastic.”
I grinned, slipping my hand up his shirt as we laid on a pile of canvas cloth on the floor behind the stage. The catwalk loomed above us, wires, ropes, and cords dangling every which way, and I couldn’t even remember what the movie was about last night, because both times we tried to watch it, we just wanted to watch each other instead. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.
“I’m not in a hurry to leave again if you want to wait.” I nestled into his warm body. “I just want you right now. The Eiffel Tower or the Mayan ruins or whatever you have planned would just go to waste on me when I only want this.”
We’d been apart too long, and I was in need.
Sliding my leg over his body, my jeans somewhere on the floor and my bra who-knew-where, I climbed up his body as his hands slipped up my thighs and gripped my ass.
“Maybe stay here and take a tour of the Bell Tower and the cemetery,” I taunted, kissing those tattoos on his arm and chest. “Do some climbing and have a tasting of the best cuisine Thunder Bay has to offer.” I bit his nipple, tugging it and then licking it. “Lots of tastings.”
He shivered and smiled, bringing me up and kissing my mouth. All I wanted to see in the world right now was him sweaty, him wet, him walking naked from our bed to the shower, him tied up underneath me…
He put his arms behind his head as I kissed his body and rubbed him everywhere.
“I’m putting a down payment on my old house,” I told him, nibbling his neck and breaking the news while he was weak. “We don’t have to live there. I’m just not ready to lose it yet.”
When I saw it was for sale, I sent Alex to the realtor after the dress shop, so my brother wouldn’t know it was me buying it. I still might sell it. I just didn’t want to lose it before I was ready.
He stopped me, looking down as his thumbs rubbed circles on my face. “It has so many bad memories, Em.”
I know. But…
“I’m not giving him that power,” I told my husband. “That’s my family’s home. My grandmother grew up there. My mother and I did, as well.”
That house was more than just Martin.
He gazed into my eyes, and after a moment, nodded. “Okay.”
I dipped down and kissed him on the lips, soft, slow, and deep as I grinded on him through his jeans.
He gasped, chuckling. “Oh, baby. As much as I don’t want you dressed, I need to eat.” He groaned as I kept going. “Can you stay here? I’ll go grab us some bagels and coffee or something?”
At the mention of bagels, my stomach growled.
Shit. Food would actually be good, but I didn’t want him to leave me.
“I’ll come with you,” I said, looking down at him.
“Yeah?” He shot up and gave me a peck on the lips. “All right, let’s go.”
We threw on our clothes from last night, and I was kind of anxious to get to the hospital and check on Alex, and check in with the police to make sure there was nothing hanging over our heads regarding Martin.
It still hadn’t hit me yet, except for the slight thump in my chest when I thought about them going over that cliff. I should be wrecked, right?
For some reason, I didn’t hate him.
But there was that tear in the membrane again, my emotions muddled and confusing. His end wasn’t going to go any other way.
We left the theater and locked up, Will taking my hand and leading me past Sticks toward the bagel shop, but I looked over toward the gazebo and saw Damon straddling the railing and disconnecting the lights they’d installed for the ceremony.
I stopped and looked at Will. “Can you grab us a table? I’ll be there in a minute.”
He followed my gaze, seeing his friend at the top of the hill and then back to me. “Sure.”
He kissed me and left, and I pushed my hair behind my ear, crossing the street in a jog.
Orange and red leaves fell from the trees, and the chill in the air nipped at my nose, but there Damon was, black T-shirt and no jacket as the wind blew through his black hair.
Decorations hung from lamp posts, and people walked to work dressed in costumes for Halloween.
I stopped, looking up at him and taking in the beautiful work, the solid build and foundation, and the jingles in the trees from the chandelier crystals rustling in the wind.
“I drew up blueprints for a gazebo just like this,” I told him. “But with marble instead of wrought iron.”
I gazed at him knowingly, and he just shot me a glance but kept silent.
“I like the wrought iron,” I said. “It was a good choice.”
He’d found my design and built it. The one I did after I lost my heart for the other gazebo and just forced the finish, instead of doing it right.
Hopping off the railing, he dipped down, picked something up, and tossed it over the side, into my arms.
I caught the coffee can, recognizing the mustard yellow container.
“We found it when we were digging the new foundation,” he told me.
I opened it up, finding what I knew I’d find. A plastic bag with the necktie, the Ride All Night bracelet, and the empty box of Milk Duds from Will’s and my first date.
My throat swelled with a lump. “Thanks.”
He descended the stairs and walked up next to me, both of us looking up at the beautiful work he’d done.
“Thank you for this. It’s better than I imagined it.”
“Well, let’s face it,” he replied. “That other gazebo was a freshman effort.”
I chuckled. Yeah, thanks.
A smile played on his lips as he studied his work. “This is the one you had your heart in. I liked the idea for the chandeliers.”
I wanted to ask him why he did it. Why he put in the time and effort, but I knew he’d only respond with a flippant remark. Maybe he felt he owed me something after I helped him that night in the cemetery, or maybe he felt guilty about the fire.
“I tried to stop him,” he told me, looking down at me. “Kind of, anyway. Sorry.”
Honestly, it was the least of the pain Will and I had caused each other. I loved the new gazebo.
I recapped the container, too afraid to raise my eyes as I said, “You gave me the key to The Carfax Room, didn’t you?”
The BMW we left the cemetery in was the same one outside my house that night I received the key. That was where I left the blueprints for the new gazebo. He’d found them there.
Finally, he nodded. “As someone gave it to me once.”
“How did you know I’d figure it out?”
He could’ve left a note directing me to the cathedral.
But he just shrugged. “I was in the church every Wednesday. I saw you hang out sometimes.” He looked over at me. “After I saw the bruises in the shower, I figured fate was trying to tell me something.”
So he passed it on when he no longer needed it. As I should’ve done. Nine years later, and I still had the key in my possession.
Being privy to that one mystery in Thunder Bay kept me a part of this town long after I’d left. I couldn’t give it up.
Maybe now I could.
“It helped those last couple of years at home,” I murmured. “Thank you.”
I might not have survived if I didn’t have that one place where I knew I’d be safe. Even if I rarely used it.
He started to walk away, but I stopped him. “I have to tell Will about that night,” I said. “I just wanted to warn you.”
His back went rigid, and he didn’t turn to look at me, but he knew what I was talking about. I couldn’t keep the fact that I’d helped conceal a body from Will.
Damon sighed. “I appreciate the heads-up. I’ll be waiting for the beating.”
I laughed. “Just keep Winter close. He won’t hit you with a pregnant woman nearby.”
He shook his head and kept walking. “He’ll just get her to hit me for him,” he grumbled.
• • •
After a splendid month of squatting in my old house with a mattress on the floor and take-out Chinese food where we were completely happy, barely leaving bed or seeing anyone but each other, we finally took over Christiane Fane’s house up on the cliffs.
She moved in with Matthew Grayson, and even though we didn’t need that much space, Will made some good points. Enemies seemed to be an occupational hazard of Graymor Cristane, and our family needed more protection than a neighborhood Victorian offered.
Not to mention, our children someday would want to be close to their friends. Kai and Banks had the Torrance house when they were in town, Damon and Winter had the old Ashby house, Michael and Rika had St. Killian’s, and we were in her old house, the company buying it and turning over the deed to Will free and clear. We were all on the same road up in the quiet, haunting sea cliffs of Thunder Bay.
I was happy, and over the months of celebrating the holidays and the snow and the first warm day of spring, I couldn’t stop smiling, the pain of the past there but no longer hard.
Micah and Rory decided to laugh in the face of danger, however, and took over my house in town, Micah absolutely loving the simple life. He and Rory’s families were more than happy with the capital their sons were now good for, and left them the hell alone.
“Baby, I need you!” Will called from downstairs.
I bit my bottom lip to stifle the smile as my hand shook.
I looked down at the third pregnancy test I’d taken this morning, the plus sign big and bold and pink.
It was no wonder I’d gotten knocked up, and I was surprised it didn’t happen sooner with as much as he was on top of me.
Wrapping it in toilet paper, I stuffed it in the garbage can and looked up, fluffing my hair in the mirror and unable to hide the huge-ass smile.
William Grayson IV.
I squealed and then clamped a hand over my mouth, not ready to let the cat out of the bag. Winter had gone into labor a couple of hours ago, and Will was trying to wrangle Ivarsen and Madden from their naps so we could get to the hospital. We’d been babysitting overnight to give the parents a break.
“Please, baby!” he shouted, sounding stressed.
I laughed to myself, hopping out of the bathroom and down the stairs, Will’s beagle, Diablo, scampering after me. I found Will in the foyer and watched him grab Ivar’s foot and pull him back so he could get his sock on.
I snorted. The twenty-month-old giggled, finding it all so funny as Madden stood nearby and watched the action.
I slung my purse over my head, grabbed the diaper bags that we’d already filled with snacks, drinks, and toys, and picked up Madden, leaving the house and loading him into the car. Will could deal with Ivar. I swore the kid knew Will owed him for lost time, and loved yanking his uncle’s chain constantly.
I buckled Madden into his car seat, giving him an attack of kisses as Will carried Ivar out, the kid kicking and squealing, full of smiles.
Fruit punch stained Will’s button-down shirt, and he looked like he was going to punch Damon when he got a hold of him, because Ivar’s sense of mischief was entirely his fault, and not Winter’s.
I climbed into the driver’s seat, picking up Will’s textbooks off the passenger seat and dumping them onto the floor behind me.
In addition to the company’s real estate ventures, breaking ground on the resort, and helping Winter with her humanitarian organization, Will had started college.
He didn’t want to go back to school or be with people younger than him, but he wanted to do something more with his life outside of what he had with the guys.
So he bit the bullet.
And I loved him for it. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to be a lawyer or a veterinarian or what, but I kind of saw him running a publishing company someday.
Which was going to come in handy, because I wasn’t helping William IV with his lit homework. That stuff came easily to Will.
He finished with Ivar and opened the passenger side door, sliding into his seat.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked, buckling up.
I eighty-sixed the grin. “I’m sorry. I’ll stop.”
He chuckled, and I ran my hand over his hair, soothing him. The boys had taken a lot out of us the past twenty-four hours.
“Fuck, baby,” he groaned at the feel of my hands.
But then we heard Ivar shout behind us. “Buck!”
And it sounded a lot like…
“Shit,” Will mouthed, looking behind him as both of us went wide-eyed.
I frowned. “Oh, come on. You know he already got that from his father.”
We didn’t teach him bad language.
“And when Mads says it to Kai?” Will retorted, worrying about Banks and Kai losing their shit.
I just shook my head. Oh, well. “If you don’t act like it’s a big deal, then it’s not.”
Kids tended not to repeat behavior they didn’t get a reaction for. And it wasn’t like we were going to be able to protect the children from Damon Torrance forever.
We raced to the hospital, maybe a little over the speed limit, Will introducing the boys to Disturbed for the first time. Ivar banged his head, rocking out to the music, but ever-calm Mads sat there and observed, so much like his dad in his poise.
It would be interesting to see what a girl would bring to the new family, since Damon was convinced the newborn was female, even though they didn’t find out the sex yet.
Grabbing the boys and the bags, we hurried into the hospital and up to the third floor, finding a hallway full of family as Winter screeched from inside the room.
I winced, realizing I was no longer a spectator in her plight. I’d be doing what she was doing next fall if my calculations were correct.
“Ah!” she growled from inside the room, the door just cracked enough to hear.
“How’s it going?” I asked, handing off Mads to his mom as Rika took Ivar from Will.
Another scream pierced the air, and a nurse ran past us, entering the room.
“Should be soon,” Alex said, the rock on her hand gleaming as she held her phone to her ear.
Aydin had to rush to Chicago this morning for a meeting, but he was supposed to be flying back now. He and Alex had taken over most of Evans Crist’s responsibilities, both of them in Meridian City most of the time and loving it. They liked the noise and the hustle and bustle.
Michael sat on a chair next to Athos, enthralled as he watched her play some game on her phone while she wore huge headphones over her ears.
He pointed to something and she shoved him off, not wanting help. “Daddy, stop it.”
He smiled, watching her now instead of the game.
They had told her when they adopted her this past winter that she could call them whatever she felt comfortable calling them, but it only took a few weeks for her to love the fact that these were her parents. She wanted everyone to know Michael and Rika were her mom and dad.
And who wouldn’t love it? She had everything she could ever want in life, and she certainly knew that.
They were the lucky ones, though. They’d all found each other.
“What?” Damon shouted from inside the room.
We all stopped, looking at each other.
“It’s a boy?” he blurted out. “Are you sure?”
We leaned in, and I folded my lips between my teeth to contain the laughter.
A baby cried, there was some shuffling, and then we heard Damon’s playful little growl. “Ugh, what am I going to do with you?”
“Damon!” Winter growled. “I’m going to kill you. You better love him. You do, right?”
There was a pause, and I met Alex’s wide eyes with my own.
Drama…
Damon and I ran the construction business together now, him building and me designing, so I’d gotten used to his…brand of humor.
Finally, he answered. “Y–yeah,” he stuttered, not sounding convincing. “Yeah, of course, baby. But like, are you sure there aren’t any more in there or something?”
“Damon!”
Will collapsed against the wall, shaking with laughter, and I shook my head, reaching over and taking the squirming Ivar out of Rika’s arms.
I set him down on the floor, holding his hand as we walked and Will followed.
Another boy. Fun, fun.
I looked over at Will, amusement written all over his face, but I could tell the wheels were turning.
“You sad?” I asked.
“Why would I be sad?”
I shrugged, leaning against the wall as Ivar reached for me and I picked him up. “He’s got two kids on you now.”
“It’s not a contest, Emmy.” Will leaned next to me as he let Ivar wrap his little hand around his finger. “I’m fine. I’m in school right now, anyway. We’ve got plenty of time. We’ll have our family and fill all those rooms. Whether it’s in three years or five or ten.”
“Or eight months,” I offered, a tingle fluttering under my skin. “Eight-ish. Give or take.”
He stood there silently for a moment, and when I finally looked up, he was staring at me and not breathing.
“Are you serious?” he murmured.
I couldn’t contain the excitement. “Are you ready?”
He grabbed me and kissed me, laughing against my lips. “I am never not ready for anything with you.”
And with the long, hard road it took to get us here, I’d never trusted any other words more. I kissed him, nothing clouding my happiness with him for another second ever again.
This was always our story.
We want what we want.
