Blown Away: A Small Town Military Romance (The Moore Brothers Book 1) (21 page)

“I never said it was little.”

“But you did use the word
quaint
.”

“Yes, I did. That’s very true. This isn’t some cold, modern, billionaire’s hideaway. This is warm and inviting, the home I grew up in.” Ian threw the car in park and turned the key in the ignition, but didn’t get out.

“Those things are all true, but you have to know that when you use the word
quaint
it just automatically means small.”

“No. It really doesn’t. It means picturesque and charming. Not small.”

Juliet sighed and stared at him. She didn’t mean to be difficult; she was just so nervous. Not only did she want the Moores to love her, but this lunch was pretty much everything she’d ever wanted as a child. Hell, as an adult, too, for that matter. A family lunch where everyone came together, laughing and joking? At the home all the kids had grown up in, nonetheless? She’d been lucky to have a sullen meal in the same room with her mom and step-dad in any of the many houses they’d lived in throughout the years. And her biological dad? Yah, right.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just—”

“Nervous,” he finished for her and smiled. Reached out and took her hands. Kissed each one and then held them to his lips. “You’re gonna be fine. Now, we’ve officially used up my calm and patient demeanor and it’s time for you to buck the hell up, Private Lane.”

Juliet stifled a giggle. “Yes, sir!” she said with a curt nod, trying to lose her nerves by playing.

“Ah, ah, ahhh.” Ian dropped her hands and waggled a finger at her. “What did I say about that word?”

They got out of the car and Ian led her up to the front door, his hand grazing the small of her back. He didn’t knock, just opened the door and tried to guide her through. Juliet froze. She really didn’t want to go in first. Many threads of mingled conversation and what sounded like some kind of sporting event on the TV burbled out towards her, mixed with the scent of something delicious. All very warm and welcoming and utterly, completely, terrifying. She hung back and Ian gave her an odd look, but went in first anyway.

“Hey! You’re favorite first born is here with a very important guest!” Ian took Juliet’s hand and led her through the entryway into an open first floor where his family was gathered in the living area, ignoring the TV and focusing on a very sullen James.

A tiny woman, her gray-streaked dark hair still long and thick and pulled back into a low ponytail, bounded up to them and wrapped her arms around Ian. “So good to see you. I miss you every day, you know. You need to come around more.”

Ian dwarfed his mother. “I was here just the other day.”

“Were you here yesterday?”

“No.”

“The day before?”

“No. But I was here the day before that.”

“Well, that just proves my point. You need to be here more.” Ian’s mother disengaged from her son and took both Juliet’s hands in her own. “And this must be the angel that’s made you so happy lately.”

Ian put a hand on Juliet’s shoulders. “The very one. Mom, this is Juliet Lane. Juliet, meet the woman who gave me life.”

Juliet smiled and dipped her head. “Mrs. Moore.”

“Oh, we can just drop that nonsense before you even start it. Call me Diane. I’d tell you to call me Mom, everyone always does, but I’m afraid Ian would think I was trying to be prophetic or something.” Diane dropped an eyelid in the very same conspiratorial wink her son used. The one that Juliet loved so much. She couldn’t help but smile when Ian blustered in some kind of shocked response to his mother’s statement. Was he actually blushing? She’d never seen Ian look out of sorts. Never ever. It was kind of adorable.

An elegant older man ambled over, his salt and pepper hair thick and long enough to curl at his ears and neck line. “So this is the one, is it?” He asked, extending a hand. “Juliet? Did I hear that correctly?”

This man just oozed power and confidence. He had Juliet’s eyes dropping to the floor and a flush running up her cheeks. “Yes, sir. Juliet Lane.”

Mr. Moore shook his head and laughed. “What did my wife just say, young lady? We can drop all that formality nonsense. You call me Frank and I’ll make up some funny nickname for you and we’ll just call it a normal Sunday, understand?” Frank’s eyes crinkled merrily and Juliet relaxed significantly. Even if she
had
used the dreaded ‘sir’ word.

“Well, come in, come in, meet the rest of us.” Diane paused and looked thoughtful. “And I guess by that, I just mean Lilah because from what I hear, you’ve already met the boys.”  The three Moores led Juliet over to the living room. Harry sprung off the sofa and gave her a quick, though awkward, hug. James just waved, barely taking his eyes off the TV, and that just left Lilah—a striking blonde who regarded Juliet as if she had something nasty in her hair.

“So this is the girl everyone won’t stop talking about, huh?” Lilah regarded Juliet from her place on the sofa without making a move to get up or even extend a hand.

“Juliet, this is my very rude little sister, Lilah.” Ian gave Lilah one hell of a look while Diane chastised her daughter for not being polite.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lilah.” Juliet ignored Lilah’s caustic attitude and took a seat when it was offered to her. When it was appropriate, Juliet found a chance to compliment the youngest Moore on her entire outfit. And it wasn’t a fake compliment, either. Lilah truly looked stunning. It wasn’t long before everyone was talking and laughing and telling stories about Ian’s childhood. Well, everyone except for James, who kept his attention mostly on the TV.

Lunch was delicious, a combined effort of both Harry and Diane.

“Harrison didn’t just spring forth into this world knowing how to work magic in the kitchen,” said Frank when Juliet complimented the meal. “Diane passed her gift onto him.

“And I got all the looks,” chimed in Lilah, smiling broadly. “And Ian got all the smarts, and poor James, he got all the leftovers.” The Moores all snickered and joined in, poking fun at James in what sounded like a long-standing family joke.

When James only grew more sullen, Ian held up a hand. “Look, man,” he said as the family quieted, “you’ve been off all day. What’s up?”

James sighed and took a drink of coffee, a stalling technique Juliet recognized all too well. The entire family grew tense and Juliet wished she could ball herself up and disappear. Whatever was going on with him was none of her business and the flicker of his eyes to hers only confirmed that.

James sighed and rubbed a hand over his chin. “Erin and I called off the wedding.” And the look in his eyes revealed a heart breaking into a thousand pieces that only splintered into a thousand more. “I almost didn’t come,” he said, pushing his chair back from the table to stand. “But I didn’t want to be rude by not showing up and I thought I could pull off a good mood. I’m sorry to ruin your day,” he said to Juliet as he stood and left the room.

There was an explosion of sound and movement while the Moores rushed to console James. Ian muttered an apology and promised to be right back and suddenly, Juliet was alone at the table. She sucked in her lips and stared around the empty room, trying to decide just what to do with herself. Pictures adorned the wall in the hallway near the entrance, she’d seen them when she’d come in. She could go amuse herself with looking at them, but maybe that would come across as snooping. She didn’t think it would, but one never knew how private people could be. All she knew was that she felt pretty damn awkward, and totally like the odd man out.

She considered going home, just making a quiet exit so the family could console James, but she’d come with Ian and the Moores lived far enough away that a walk home was out of the question. After taking a couple nervous sips of her coffee, she decided to clear the table. She couldn’t just sit there alone anymore with nothing to do. Careful to leave any plates that looked like someone hadn’t finished, Juliet carried everything into the kitchen. Deciding that actually doing the dishes might be going too far, Juliet wandered into the hallway and amused herself looking at the pictures on the wall that chronicled the entirety of each Moore child’s life.

She saw Ian, tall and gangly and missing a few teeth with his arm around a very dirty James. That had to be Harry, there, with his hair streaked with blonde and curly with sweat and Lilah sitting daintily in her diaper, bows in her nearly non-existent hair. She found school pictures, and bad hair days, goofy outfits and camping trips. Juliet smiled and traced a finger along some of the best ones, getting a feel for the happy family Ian grew up in.

In almost every picture, Ian had his arm around at least one of his brothers, but more often than not, he had both of them under an arm, and sometimes, he managed to squeeze Lilah in there as well. Watching them all get progressively taller and stronger and better looking, it became more and more clear that Ian was the rock for his siblings. That he took care of them. Protected them. A hero and guardian from day one.

As the pictures progressed into the high school years, James often had his arm around a girl, a pretty blonde thing with a wide smile. The pictures of her started off with that smile showing off crooked teeth, then braces, then, in one of the last few, the girl—who was a woman in these—was proudly showing off a diamond on her left hand. Damn. Judging by these pictures, James just dumped the girl he grew up with. Called off a wedding after at least ten years of dating what looked like his first love. Juliet’s heart broke for him. She remembered the loss of her first love, and they’d only dated a year or two. It’d been harsh and bitter and hard enough to make her retreat into herself for a long time, afraid to put her heart into anyone else’s hands. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what James was going through.

She wandered back down the hallway, looking for pictures of Ian she’d skipped while following James’s progression with Erin. She found a few of him in his dress whites and stopped. He looked so handsome! So proud. So strong and straight and trustworthy. She found a few of him, standing in front of an airplane, beaming. The guy beside him was the same in each picture. A vibrant guy with a joking smile.

“That’s Bradley.” Diane’s voice came from behind, soft, nearly a whisper. “Ian’s co-pilot.”

Juliet spun and pulled her hand back from the frame. “I didn’t mean to pry … I’m sorry ….”

“Don’t be. There are no secrets in this house. Thank you for clearing the table, by the way. You didn’t have to.”

Juliet shrugged. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

Diane moved in beside her, ran a finger along the picture Juliet had been studying. “We were so proud of Ian when he decided to join the Navy. Scared, too. Very scared. And maybe not supportive enough because of that fear. But not surprised. He told us he was going to fly planes when he was barely able to speak and didn’t change his story for the rest of his childhood.”

“That sounds like the Ian I know. Gets his mind on something and then just goes for it.”

“I’d say that about sums him up.” Diane met Juliet’s eyes and Juliet felt like she’d known the woman for more than just the afternoon. Like she herself had been in those pictures on the wall. A lifelong friend, practically a member of the family rather than a stranger. “When we got word that his plane had gone down…” Diane shook her head and put a hand to her stomach. “There aren’t words to express the hole that appeared in my belly that day. Even knowing he was going to live didn’t completely fill it back up again. A fear like that—the fear a mother feels when her child is in danger—it stays with her.”

“How badly was he hurt?”

“He was pretty bad off for a while. But I think it was losing Bradley that did the most damage. Ian makes it his job to protect the people he cares about.”

Juliet nodded and gestured towards the wall of pictures. “I’m figuring that out.” She gave a little shrug. “And I’m feeling it myself. He makes me feel so safe.”

Diane touched Juliet’s arm. “Oh, you are. If you’ve got my Ian in your corner, you couldn’t be more safe.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ian

Ian knew that his mom was taking care of Juliet while he took care of James. He could hear them in the kitchen, talking and working on the dishes together. It made him smile, listening to the two of them together. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could tell they were enjoying each other.
Leave it to Mom
, he thought.

After the entire family had followed James outside, Ian had stood back and watched while James fended off their mother’s attempts to pull him into a hug. James had bristled when their dad had tried to give him some bullshit piece of advice on the power of positivity. Lilah had stuck her foot in her mouth and rushed off in a huff and Harry had nothing more for James than a quick hug and an apologetic smile. They had all filtered off back inside the house, leaving Ian leaning against the house while James sank down to take a seat on one of the porch steps.

“It was inevitable, you know,” James said after a long silence.

“Was it?” Ian didn’t move, gave James the space he needed.

“Yup.” James nodded, staring off into the distance. The cicadas sang in the hot summer sun and a bead of sweat worked its way down Ian’s back. Another eternity of silence passed between the brothers before James continued. “She was cheating on me,” he finally whispered, as if the admission proved some fault of his own.

“How’d you find out?”

“Things weren’t good between us. They hadn’t been for a long time. We fought more than we did anything else.” James turned and met Ian’s eye, indicated he could sit next to him with a nod of his head. “I suspected for a while and finally confronted her last night.”

Ian took a seat next to James, and stared off into the distance with him. “What’d she say?”

“She was honest. Finally. Told me it wasn’t the first time.” James’s voice cracked a little and Ian ignored it. Gave him the time he needed to compose himself. “Said she wasn’t in love with me anymore. Said she hadn’t been for a long time.”