“We have to help Mama get ready for the new babies,” Lily corrected her brother.
“But we can still play, too. The babies aren’t coming till the fall. That’s what Aunt Wendy said,” Jack argued.
“Eat, both of you,” Morgan stated firmly. “Granny’s coming to get you at noon to go to the playground.”
That was enough to silence Jack for the rest of the meal, and while Lily obeyed her mother, she continued to send questioning gazes toward Garrek. She was a pretty little girl with her black hair separated down the middle into two ponytails, the way Garrek’s mother used to style his sisters’ when they were young.
Olivia Taylor had loved the sextuplets she’d prayed for. Bringing the six babies—Grayson, Garrek, Gemma, Genevieve, Gage and Gia—home from the hospital thirty years ago had been the light of her life. Having a town that was just as excited about the first multiple births as they were about the revenue from the reality show the Taylor family starred in, was a joy as well. Until seven years later when it all spiraled out of control.
The constant invasion into their privacy, coupled with the scandal Theodor created by having an affair had proved to be too much for Olivia to endure. She moved her children to Pensacola. When each of them graduated, they’d all gone their separate ways, with no intention of ever returning to this small town. But look at him now.
After breakfast Gray announced that he and Garrek would clean the dishes while Morgan took Jack and Lily upstairs to get them ready for the day with their great-grandmother. Garrek had planned to spend the bulk of the day going over the papers in his room and doing more research, but he had to admit that Gray stopping by and bringing him to meet his family had been a pleasant distraction.
“You’ve got a great family, Gray. I’m really happy for you,” Garrek said as he brought in the last of the dishes from the dining room.
Gray was at the sink scraping the remnants of the plates into the garbage disposal.
“Thanks, Garrek,” he said over his shoulder. “I didn’t think it was possible, but here it is.”
“Yeah,” Garrek said and nodded. “Life’s funny that way.”
He walked over to the back door and stared out the windows to a porch that was in progress and the large backyard where Garrek remembered them playing as kids.
“Life is what you decide to make of it,” Gray said.
Garrek nodded. “Dad said that at our graduation.”
“He did.”
“I didn’t think you were listening to him. You never made it a secret that you hated him,” Garrek replied without turning to look at his brother.
“I didn’t hate him,” Gray answered. “I hated what he did to us.”
“The affair or leaving?” Garrek asked, because their father had done both. He’d had an affair with one of the production assistants from the Taylors of Temptation reality show, which their entire family had starred in from the time Garrek was born until he was seven years old.
“It doesn’t matter,” Gray said. “He’s gone. Mom’s gone. All of that happened a long time ago.”
Garrek agreed with that, but still, he couldn’t help but wonder if some mistakes were hereditary.
“I opened a new account and transferred the money under my name,” Garrek told Gray. “If my commanders found out I had an offshore account, it could be a problem.”
That had been his reason for taking the money that his father had apparently saved for him. Theodor Taylor had left his wife and six children for a younger woman, but he’d never stopped taking care of his family. That was obvious by the child support payments their mother always received on time, the gifts their father routinely provided for them as they were growing up and the money he’d put into accounts on Grand Cayman Island for each of his children. Money that Garrek had no idea what he was going to do with.
“It’s yours to do with as you please,” Gray said. “That’s why I sent everyone the account information.”
Gray had sent that information, along with a sealed envelope that Garrek had just opened two days ago.
“How long are you planning to stay?” Gray asked him.
Garrek turned to see his brother loading the dishwasher. He moved to the counter and picked up a damp white cloth. Without another thought, he went to the island and began to wipe it clean.
“I don’t know,” he answered finally. “This wasn’t a planned trip, but I’ve got a lot of thinking to do about that stuff you sent me, so I’m going to take my time with that.”
“Is that okay with your commander?” Gray asked. “Gen and I have been talking about how hard you work and how you’re rising in the ranks. You sure you can be away now?”
Garrek paused and lifted his head to look at Gray, who was now standing on the other side of the island.
“Yeah, it’s cool. I just want to take care of a few things before accepting my next post.”
Gray stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. “Well, like I said, you’re welcome to stay here.”
When Garrek opened his mouth to reply, Gray held up both hands.
“But it’s cool if you don’t. I understand. It wasn’t easy for me when I first came back here, either. I do, however, want you to come over for Sunday dinners and to spend time with us. We’re family, Garrek. I know we haven’t acted like it in the last ten years, but I think it’s past time we started living up to what Mom always wanted.”
Olivia had been proud of Garrek when he’d decided to enroll in the Naval Academy. She’d visited him in Annapolis and beamed at him in his dress uniform. Garrek could still hear the last words she’d spoken to him that day at the airport.
You’re going to be a fine pilot and an extraordinary man, Garrek. I know it here in my heart.
The memory almost brought tears to his eyes as Garrek thought about the past few weeks and how the choices he’d made would have been such a letdown to his mother.
“Ah, I will,” Garrek said and cleared his throat. “I’m going to head back to the B&B now. I’ll catch up with you later.”
He moved quickly, afraid that if he had to stand in that charming kitchen staring at his brother, now a father and a husband, a moment longer, he would crack. He did not want to break down, and least of all in front of Gray. So Garrek moved quickly out of the house, so fast that he almost stepped off the curb before spotting the tractor-trailer speeding down the street.
He did, however, look up in enough time to see that Harper was carrying two huge bags of something over her shoulder in a way that blocked her view of the tractor-trailer and its fast trek toward her. Garrek ran into the street and pushed Harper out of the way. They landed on the other side of the street, the bags going one way, Harper flat on her back and Garrek on top of her.
Time seemed to stand still. Everything and everyone around them also disappeared. Or rather, Garrek tuned it all out as he looked down at her. Yes, her body was soft and his was definitely responding quickly to the new physical arrangement. But it was her eyes that reached out and grabbed him, holding every part of his body completely still. It was fear, stark and bold in the depths of her eyes. He couldn’t look away. Not from the orbs that resembled drops of root beer.
“I’m okay now,” she said in a breathy whisper.
She pushed at him, her palms moving between them to flatten on his chest. The blood that had been pooling in his groin heated, and his erection pressed painfully against the zipper of his jeans.
“Garrek,” she started once more.
He liked the sound of his name on her