CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Sunday, September 10th
Claire sat on the porch and listened to the water of Lake Pontchartrain slosh against the stilts of the cabin. It was so peaceful with the whisper of wildlife moving around in the morning. Lifting her eyes, she saw a bald eagle make a slow pass over the trees to the east, then make a sharp turn and dive into the wetlands. She figured breakfast was about to be served for the majestic bird.
Pushing her feet against the floor, she tipped her rocking chair and let its gentle rocking motion calm her fluttering heart. The things she’d done with Brady last night were beyond anything she’d ever imagined. Which might be saying more about her lack of creativity than she cared to admit. The places he’d taken her when she submitted to him were filled with an intensity she hadn’t known existed. They created their own little bubble and the connection they had with one another made her feel there was no separation between his skin and hers. No line of demarcation that would tell you whose soul was whose.
To think a random act of violence could’ve ended that was unbelievable. Had she not thought her undies needed an upgrade, they never would’ve been in the mall. But she had and that put them smack-dab in the middle of the tragedy. And who’s to say that’s not exactly how it was supposed to happen? After all, Brady’s presence had probably saved countless lives. Who knows what could’ve happened had the shooter been allowed to continue? He certainly would’ve killed his ex-wife and God knew who else.
So, it was like most things: meant to be.
It certainly had put her and Brady in a situation that fast-tracked their relationship. Living with someone told you pretty quickly whether it was going to work or not. And the time she’d spent in his house had been nothing short of terrific. Stretching her legs out, she let out a small laugh. Okay, not completely terrific, considering he’d been hovering like a drone until she asked him to back off. But since last week, it had certainly been one hundred percent amazing. Seemed giving him the green light to fully express his feelings worked out for both of them.
The many, many hours they’d spent in bed had proven that a hundred times over. If they were not at work, then they’d been at home acting like bunnies. Thinking about what happened in the laundry room alone was enough to make her cheeks red. Fanning her face, she cleared her throat and tried to think of something other than Brady’s amazing…ness.
So, here she was, miracle of miracles, in love. With, by all accounts, a very fine man. A man who could easily be described as a hero. Why the whole thing made her slightly uncomfortable was not a puzzle that she couldn’t put together.
Her early years had conditioned her to believe that the people she loved got taken away. By no fault of anyone’s. It simply was. So, having Brady in her life made her wonder when the other shoe was going to drop. When was he going to be taken away?
Thinking like that didn’t do her any good and she knew it. But knowing something in your head didn’t always mean that your heart and soul got the message. There was a lag and she was definitely experiencing it.
As much as she wanted to grab ahold of the man and the love he was giving her, she almost couldn’t. Which was self-sabotage at its finest. There was a little part of her brain that suggested if she didn’t totally give in to it, then it couldn’t be taken away. Which was not how the world worked.
Unfortunately, that was a war in her head that had yet to be won. Didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to continue, but it was a battle nonetheless.
Courage—she needed a ton of it if she hoped to make anything with the man asleep inside the cabin. Hearing the door scrape open, she turned around and saw Brady stretching in his boxer briefs. A blessed event if ever there was one. Watching his rippling muscles move as he pressed his arms against the top of the door frame reminded her she needed to make it to church soon so that she could thank the good Lord for the man who was mere inches away. “Morning.”
“It sure is,” he commented as he stepped out onto the porch. He stood behind her chair and rested his hands against her shoulders. See anything interesting this morning?”
“A bald eagle and that’s about it. I was hoping to see the elusive alligator snapping turtle. But no luck so far.”
“Let’s take a walk through the park before we head back to pick up our dogs.”
“Sounds good.” Standing, she moved around her chair and found herself inside Brady’s arms. About the best place to be in the world, as far as she was concerned. His sleep-warmed skin felt wonderful against the morning chill, so she burrowed in as far as she could. His scent surrounded her and she felt her heartbeat slow down. The worries that floated around when they were apart seemed to disappear when she was holding on, so she figured it might be a good idea to hold on. As best she good.
As tight as she could.
***
Brady held Claire’s hand as they strolled under a canopy of live oaks draped in Spanish moss. They had just finished their picnic lunch and were enjoying the area before they made their way back to Mandeville to pick up their dogs.
“These old oaks are so beautiful with their mantle of decoration dripping off their branches. Kind of reminds me of some of the lessons that the nuns tried to drill into our heads back in grade school.”
“What do you mean?” Brady asked.
“I don’t know. It’s almost sensual the way the moss covers the oaks. Lusty and greedy. Two of the seven deadly sins.”
“Lust and greed get you every time. I know I’m well under their spell when it comes to you.”
Laughing, she squeezed his hand. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
“I hope you do. I’m not real reasonable when it comes to you, so I’m probably pretty much stuck with what I’ve got going on. Hell, I should just embrace the damn devil on my shoulder and be done with it.”
“And what is that devil telling you to do?”
“Dirty, delicious things to the woman I love.”
“Yeah, you might want to keep him close and see what he has to say because the things we’ve done in the last week are downright amazing.”
Tugging her closer, he kissed her head. “May not be much of a sin if we’re two consenting adults, doing what we want within the privacy of our bedroom.”
“That’s where it gets a bit sticky. There were a few incidents that were not anywhere close to the bedroom.”
“Details,” Brady replied. “Locked doors. Does that sound better?”
“Sure.”
Brady smiled like an idiot as they walked along and thought about how fortunate he was that he came to work for TRG. Had he not, he might’ve missed meeting his person, which seemed almost inconceivable now that they were together.
For the first time in his life, he dared to want something without reservation. The singularity of the desire and love he felt for the woman walking next to him stole his breath because it had the power to destroy him if ever it was taken away.
And that was the deepest fear in his heart: it could be taken away. Just like his mama when he was a boy. But he wasn’t a boy anymore. He was a full-grown man who needed the courage to claim what was his. Claire was his other half, his better half, the person he was going to spend the rest of his life with.
“Honey, you excited about us starting our family?” he asked.
“Are your referring to those two puppies we’re going to pick up in a couple of hours?”
“Yeah. It’s not like I knocked you up yet.”
Stopping, Claire looked up and frowned. “What do you mean…yet?”
“Eventually, I will, and that’s what I mean by…yet.” He gave her a once-over and wondered if maybe she hadn’t eaten enough at lunch. What he’d said was pretty clear. Not too many ways to interpret it.
“We are at the beginning of our relationship, and what you’re talking about probably won’t happen for years.”
“Sure,” he mumbled.
When she squinted her eyes even further, he smiled and pointed to a bunch of birds taking off. “Look, honey, isn’t that pretty?”
When she looked away, he took a breath. Note to self: keep mouth shut. When she turned back around, he gave her an innocent smile. He remembered what Brock had told him about a love language, and he figured now might be a good time to figure out what hers was. “Honey, what’s your love language?”
“My love what?”
“My brother told me that he and Lilly speak the same language so they know how to make each other happy, or he knows hers and vice versa. Anyway, I’m supposed to find out yours and then speak it to you.”
“Well, I guess I never really thought about it.” She swung their hands back and forth. “I like the way you tell me how you feel and I like spending time with you. Those are the things that make me feel close to you.”
“Okay, I can work with that.”
“What makes you feel loved?”
He looked down and raised an eyebrow. “Spending time together doing…stuff. Naked stuff. Stuff that lets me ravage you and make you scream.”
“Okay, I get the picture. What else?”
“The way you take care of me. The food you make me, the way you wash my back in the shower. Small stuff that lets me know I matter to you.”
“Brady, I love you and of course you matter to me.”
Scooping her up in his arms, he lifted her off the ground and swept her in a circle. “That. That right there is my love language. Do that a hundred times a day and I’ll do whatever I can to make you happy.”
Claire placed her hands on his face, lowered her mouth, and smooched him good and hard. “Almost seems too simple,” she whispered against his lips.
“Always is with the right person.” He kissed her back and then lowered her to the ground. When her laughing hazel eyes gazed into his, he knew he’d been given the world. “How long is it going to take before I can get you to marry me?”
“When the time is right, we’ll know.”
He lowered his head and rested it against hers. “That’s where it’s going to get interesting because I have a feeling that I’m going to know long before you do.”
“Brady, you can’t make something move faster any more than you can slow something down. Let’s just enjoy the journey and not worry about the destination.”
“If you say so, Claire. Just know that I like to get places fast, so slowing me down is going to be hard.”
“I think you and I understand the brevity of life. We understand that things can be taken away in the blink of an eye. Maybe we have to trust that what is happening between us is going to last and we can let it be.”
“But you’re going to marry me someday…right?”
Claire stopped under the canopy of trees and slid her hands onto her hips. “Is that a proposal, Brady Landry?”
“Only if you say yes. Otherwise, it’s just an exploratory conversation.”
“That is the saddest proposal in all the world.” Shaking her head, she turned away.
Brady stepped in front of her and picked up her hands. “I know that you’re the one for me. Our happiness is inevitable. The family we’re going to make is inevitable. You and I hand-in-hand until the end of our days is inevitable. I just want to get started as soon as we can. I won’t ask you today to be my wife and let me make you happy. But I might ask you next month to let me be the one to protect you, cherish you, and kiss you until the day we leave this earth.”
Claire raised their joined hands and kissed his knuckles. “When you ask me properly, then I can just about guarantee that I’ll give you a resounding, absolute, unequivocal hell yes.”
Lifting her up again, he embraced her tightly and buried his face against her neck. “Get ready, Claire ’cause I’ll be satisfied with nothing less.”
“Didn’t think you would be.”
“I love you, sweet darlin’, and I always will.”
“Love you more, Brady.”
Looking up into the canopy of trees, Brady heard the haunting call of the loons out on the lake. He remembered something he’d learned back in grade school about the male of the species having a yodel that marked his territory. He swore the sounds he heard were just that, which he totally understood. He wanted to claim Claire as his very own and it seemed that she wasn’t going to mind when the time came. Which he was going to be satisfied with…for now.
Dastardly plans to knock her up and bind her to him were beneath him, but accidents happened and who’s to say what would occur down the road?
“Let’s go get those dogs of ours,” he said.
“We have to be a bit crazy to take on two puppies, but what the heck? Go big or go home.”
“Couldn’t agree more, Claire.” He took her hand, headed them back toward the picnic area, and thought about the plans he was hatching. Going big didn’t even begin to describe what he had in mind. Letting out a little chuckle, he knew it was his best plan yet. After all, his and Claire’s happiness was inevitable.