Chapter Fifteen
Let My Love Open the Door
“Say Walter. Say Walter!”
“She’s not gonna say it, she’s too young.”
“She’ll say it. Or. I’ll. Get her belly!”
I stood in the doorway, laughing as Walt blew raspberries on his goddaughter’s tummy. He was lying on his back in bed, holding her up high, her blond ringlets hanging down as she squealed with laughter.
“She’s still only in a diaper?” I said. “Shannon’s picking her up any minute, you’re supposed to be getting her dressed!”
“But if I get her dressed...” Walt tossed her up and caught her, bringing more giggles from the baby. “If I get her dressed then I can’t...GET HER BELLY!”
He blew more raspberries and I shook my head, smiling. “Give her to me. I’ll get her dressed. You need to get in the shower. We’ve got a big night.”
“Oh okay. But she’s gonna say my name. Soon.”
“I’m sure she is.” Walt handed the baby over, and I wiped drool off her chin. “Right, Miss Molly?” I bounced her on my hip. “Can you say Walter?”
She slapped a tiny hand on my face. “Ju!”
I looked at Walt, my mouth falling open. He widened his eyes, pointing at me. “Oh. You traitor!”
“I didn’t even prompt her!” I laughed. “She just said it.”
“Give her back.” He took Molly from my arms. “I will get her dressed. She’s clearly spending way too much time with you, Ju.”
Walt got Molly dressed, and when Shannon arrived at the house, he reluctantly handed her over. “The place looks great,” Shannon said. “Even the road coming in!”
“Yeah,” Walt said. “We had it done. Cost a mint, but worth it. Can’t have a hotel if guests can’t get to the place, right?”
“Well, Carl and I will be here tonight,” she said. “Got a babysitter for this one.”
“You promise you’ll come?”
“I wouldn’t miss it.” She kissed Walt’s cheek. “See you both tonight.”
Maggie showed up shortly after, then Shea, and a bunch of his staff. “Are we ready for this?” Shea asked. “I’m nervous.”
“We better be, been busting my ass all week to prepare.” I smirked at Shea’s attire, a ripped tee shirt and jeans. I’d rarely seen Shea not dressed to the nines, but he had a lot of grunt work to get done before the opening party tonight. “You’re not wearing that tonight, are you?”
“Hell no. I’ve got the most amazing suit, I’m gonna look like a million bucks. Terry too. We spent a bit of money.”
“You? Can’t imagine.”
He smacked my shoulder. “Where’s my brother? Is he freaking out?”
“He’s surprisingly calm, actually,” I said. “Annoyingly. This party is important and he’s like walking around, humming, taking his time with everything.”
Tonight was the opening party for The Lighthouse Inn, and it was supposed to be a gorgeous summer evening. We had lights on the walkway outside that would stretch all the way to the road, and the entire field around the house was green now, no more dead, overgrown grass. There were shrubberies, newly planted trees, a gazebo, and it looked wonderful, as did the interior of the house. The restaurant would be running for the first time tonight, just to present food for the party guests, and Shea had hired extra staff to hand out hot appetizers, as well as the bartenders that would be working here full time.
We’d be officially opening as a hotel in a week, and everyone was excited. But tonight was for Walt. At least to me. He’d worked his ass off and taken every chance, gone through hell to change his life for the better. And I wanted everything to be perfect so he could really enjoy it. But he was being so fucking relaxed, it was driving me bonkers.
“You don’t have to worry about Walt,” Shea said. “Back when he ran the hotel in Landing, everything always went smoothly. He’s good at this, knows what he’s doing. If he’s being relaxed today, it’s because he’s been so organized in the planning that he’s not worried.”
“That’s true,” I said. “He is a planner.”
“Will you look at the drink menu? I just want a second opinion.”
“Sure.” I followed Shea down the hall, past the now finished, and absolutely stunning guest rooms. There were more on the upper floors. I couldn’t believe everything was done. We had a hotel. On the cliffside of Gullport. And it was beautiful. Now we just had to hope it would succeed. But I wasn’t too worried. Walt had been promoting it like crazy and my family was helping out too. We’d agreed that we would promote Beaver Tail at our front desk, and Mom was already promoting us, handing out brochures and spreading the word.
I smiled as I stepped into the bar and restaurant area, the wall of windows overlooking the sea. And Walt got his big, lighted sign on the roof. Now all the boats out there could look up and see The Lighthouse Inn as they passed by the Gullport Lighthouse. It had been fascinating and emotional, watching Walt take a concept, a dream, and make it a reality. Yes, he had the money to do it, and that was crucial of course. But as he’d once said, he earned that money. With his flesh and his blood and his bones, and with his hard work.
Last year, after attacking Shea at his former restaurant in landing and ruining what should have been a special night—his engagement to Terry—Walt’s dad had gone away to rehab. He was released under agreement that he’d attend outpatient mental health care, which he did, for a while, but there was no new leaf for Harry Cook. It proved difficult for a proud man of sixty-five, who’d run half a town for most of his life, to be told that everything he’d done for nearly forty years, that everything he’d done since becoming a parent, was wrong.
Sometimes the monsters get away with it, and there’s nothing to be done but for the victims to heal themselves. Sometimes change is impossible, no matter how badly you want it. There was a time I thought Walt was a monster, many years ago. But he was just a damaged frog, and when I kissed him, he turned into a prince. But there would be no transformation for his father, and there wasn’t a kiss or magic wand in the world that could turn him into a prince. Because he regretted nothing. Harry Cook remained the broken king of Landing, still bragging about all his achievements, too blind to acknowledge all he’d lost in the process.
It was devastating for Walt once he realized nothing would ever change. He’d gotten his hopes up without realizing it. But it was over. And he was officially done with his father.
Harry Cook stayed away from his children now, and he hadn’t bothered Walt or Shea since getting back to business as usual, so he’d at least come to terms with the truth that he’d lost his sons. At least the younger two. Rumor had it that Glenn and Harrison still had him over for holidays sometimes. But there had been no moral awakening, and according to Harrison, to this day, his father would not admit complete fault in hurting his kids. He had, according to Harrison, even tried to take credit for Walt’s success and ambition in opening The Lighthouse Inn, because he’d ‘made him tough.’
That was really hard for Walt to hear, and I’d wished Harrison hadn’t shared it. Walt went through what I could only call a period of mourning after that, having held out a bit of hope that his father might one day atone. It was a sobering revelation when it didn’t go that way, and the realization that, somehow, a piece of him still loved his father, surprised and devastated Walt. Because he knew he’d not see him again. It was the only way he could move forward. And it was what Walt wanted. But it was a death of sorts, and Walt had grieved.
But today, my love was happy. And when it got closer to party time, and I stepped into our bedroom and saw him standing before the mirror, adjusting his tie in his gorgeous, sleek black suit that skimmed his body oh so right, I knew that he would stay happy. Because I aimed to see to it.
“My God.” I stepped up behind him and slipped my arms around him. “You are a fucking sight and a half.”
He turned around and kissed me, then stepped back, his eyes trailing over me. “And you. Look at you.”
“My own suit this time.” I chuckled. “Remember last year when I had to borrow one of yours?”
“Yeah.” He scowled. “To go to a party with my brother.” He gritted his teeth and pinched my chin, making me laugh. “You have no idea how difficult that was for me.”
“It was that night you told me how you felt though,” I said. “So it wasn’t all bad.”
He smirked. “I was pretty ballsy, wasn’t I?”
“You sure were. Backed me right up into a tree after leaving the bar and told me what’s what.”
He smiled shyly, flushing a bit, and I was thrilled I could still color his cheeks like that. “I had to. There was no way Shea was getting you. I’d waited too long, and I was insane over you.”
“And you saw me first.”
“Yeah.” He chuckled, adjusting my tie. “I saw you first. And you’re mine.”
We were coming down the stairs to the first floor when the doorbell rang for the first time that night, and Kelsey, dressed in a spiffy tux, was walking down the hall to answer it.
“Kelsey, wait,” I said, and he turned and looked back at me. “Let Walt get it.”
Kelsey grinned. “But he said this was my job tonight.”
“It is,” I said. “But it’s the opening night party, and it’s the very first guests. Let Walt answer the door. He’s earned it.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Walt said. “It’s probably just the cliffside guys or someone.”
“Fuck that, it matters!” I reached up and held Walt’s face in my hands. “You worked your ass off for this. You built a whole new life from scratch, and this is it. This is the moment. The opening of your new hotel. We’re celebrating your accomplishment tonight. Now go open the fucking door, and enjoy your success.”
He grinned, and as the doorbell rang again, he stepped away from me. “All right then. I’ll get the door.” He walked over, looking so elegant and handsome I was swooning, and so fucking proud of him. He opened the door to his first guests of the evening. “Hey guys! Welcome to The Lighthouse Inn.”
The party was a whirlwind. Shea was right, Walt had organized everything, so while I did some running around throughout, I was able to actually enjoy myself. All our friends and family...the ones we still considered family, that is...showed up, as well as plenty of other people that only Walt knew. He’d been a big deal back in Landing, and had no problem pulling in what he called ‘gossip power’ to attend, people who would spread the word about how fabulous the opening was and how lovely the new hotel. There were a few journalists in the mix. But mostly it was people we knew and loved, and Walt was like a firefly all night, just glowing, his smile pasted on every time I located him across the room.
Shea managed the food and drink like a pro, and Walt commented privately to me how proud he was of his little brother. He’d been a bit worried, as Shea had so many staff at Asiago, he rarely did anything himself, and Walt didn’t want him treating things here like his playground. But Shea had absorbed plenty of experience over the years, and put out an elegant and delicious performance.
People ate. People got drunk. People laughed, and people danced. People admired the view, and checked out the guest rooms. It was a hit, and once the last guest left for the night we were so fucking exhausted that Walt and I both conked out on our bed, fully clothed.
I awoke in the morning to the sun leaking in through the gauzy curtains, and Walt sliding my pants down. “Oh. Good morning.”
He smiled up at me as he tossed my suit pants aside. “Good morning. Get naked.”
I watched, entranced as Walt stood at the end of the bed and undressed for me, his tanned, muscular body never ceasing to make my breath catch. By the time he crawled back into bed, I still hadn’t taken my shirt off, and he tugged at the buttons. “I said get naked.”
“Sorry. I was admiring the view.”
He struggled with my buttons, then grew frustrated and growled. “Fuck it.” He ripped my shirt open and buttons went flying.
I laughed hard as he tugged my legs up in the air. “My God, you’re full of energy this morning.”
“I sure am.” He buried his face between my legs, and my laughter drifted away as I began to moan.
“God...Walt...”
“Getting you wet,” he mumbled as he lapped at me, his tongue lathing my hole while probing me with his finger. “Wet enough to slide my dick into you.”
“That’s good,” I huffed. “God, that’s good enough. Come on, fuck me.”
“I love when you say that. But say the other thing I like too.”
“I belong to you. Take me.”
“That’s it.”
Naked but for my ripped white button-down, I held my arms out and laughed as Walt dove on top of me, biting my neck and kissing up under my ear. I spread my legs and reached down, lining his cock up, and we both sighed as he pressed into me.
He seemed wound up this morning, ravenous. It wasn’t that he was hornier than usual, because he was always horny. It was more a frantic desperation. He usually liked to play with me more, but he seemed to just want to be inside me this morning, and soon he was thrusting into me with such passion and enthusiasm I came before expected, gasping my orgasm as he drove it home.
With a grunt, then a whispered, “I love you,” he came too, filling me, gathering me up in his arms as his hips pumped until he finally quieted, easing his weight down on top of me.
I wiped the sweat from his brow. “Having a successful hotel opening party sure makes you good in bed.”
He chuckled against my neck, then slid off me, rolling onto his side. “You make me good in bed. You make me good at everything.”
I shifted onto my side to face him, tracing his lips with my finger. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
“So you’re happy?”
He smiled. “A little.”
Snorting, I playfully smacked his arm. “You’re happy. I can tell. You did it. You’ve got everything you wanted.”
“Yeah, and now I’m fucking exhausted. Will you run it all for me from now on?”
“Can I at least get Shea and Maggie and Kelsey to help?”
“Yeah, the lot of you. Just let me rest up here in my suite, drink champagne. Occasionally stepping into the bar to grace everyone with my awesome presence. I want to become an eccentric old retired drunk. The fool on the cliff.”
“Liar. I think you can’t wait to get to work. You love this. You’ve got everything you want.”
“Not everything.” His eyes softened as he stared at me, a finger trailing over my bare shoulder. “I want to marry you.”
I went very still, noting the vulnerability in his eyes. I knew this man loved me completely, because of the way he looked at me sometimes, like now. Like he was still afraid I was going to disappear. That old inconsistent parenting curse kicking in, making him fear he’d lose everything good he attained. So I didn’t play games, and I didn’t question him. I just looked him in the eye, and responded, “Then marry me.”
A slow smirk curved his lips. “I will then.”
“Good. You do that.”
He rolled on top of me, and we spent the next hour kissing and laughing and speculating about how we’d want our wedding, plans for the hotel, then eventually there was more sex. Then breakfast, downstairs, with a bleary-eyed Shea and Terry, then eventually Maggie, who’d had a bit too much to drink the night before and was shouting at us all to stop talking so loud. But she paused and turned from where she was perusing the fridge when Walt suddenly announced, “Julien and I are getting married.”
Kelsey stepped into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. “Wait...what did you just say, Walt?”
Shea beamed. “He said him and Jude are getting married.”
After that there were hugs, laughter, teasing, and champagne poured into orange juice, because what the hell. Hangovers were temporary, but love was forever, so we drank.
And we loved.
THE END