Petite Madeleine: Drew's Story (Meadows Shore Book 3) (7 page)

“Maybe she’s not as serious about him as he is about her,” Jake said, shrugging. “I don’t understand why everything involving women has to be some big drama.”

Ella glared at him. “You’re lucky I can’t reach you and my feet hurt too much to get up.”

“All I’m saying is, it doesn’t have to be that complicated. Sometimes it just boils down to she’s not that into you.”

“For all we know, he’s not that into her, and his sad sack attitude has more to do with his dic—disappointment—that he didn’t get lucky tonight.” Luke stole a glance at Ella to make sure her butt was still planted in the chair.

“No way,” Helena said shaking her head. “Did you see the way they were looking at each other while they danced tonight? There was enough light beaming from their faces that we could have lit the barn in a power outage.”

There was a collective male groan.

“Okay. Here’s the thing, ladies. Whenever some guy’s face lights up when he’s looking at a woman, it doesn’t mean he’s in love with her. He’s just trying to get some, and Mother Nature’s giving him a helping hand, lighting the way, so to speak. It’s how the species is propagated.” Mark celebrated his words of wisdom with a cocky grin and a Sam Adams.

“It’s a human mating sign. Nothing more.” Luke agreed, tapping his bottle against his brother’s glass.

“Oh, please.”

“Nah, they’re right. Don’t go through life interpreting that shine in some guy’s eyes as love. It’s about getting into your panties. It’s always about getting into your panties. Remember that.” From the time they’d developed breasts, Will had warned the girls: guys are either having sex, or they’re thinking about how they’re going to get some. It was a simple message, always clearly delivered, but they never really took it to heart.

Mark shook his head. “How many times do we have to explain this? It’s how women get into trouble with men.”

“And you know how men get into trouble?” Talia asked with an angelic smile.

“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell us. Before you start…” Luke signaled to the bartender for another round of drinks.

Helena rolled her eyes. “Men think the light and those warm feelings are just about sex, and before they know it, Cupid’s sneaked in and shot them with a tiny little arrow filled with hearts and kisses.”

Jake snorted, and his brothers snickered, shaking their heads in disgust.

“Isn’t that what happened to Cole? Got hit when he wasn’t looking?” asked Talia, repeating how her cousins regularly explained Cole’s love for Alexa.

“Cole’s a pussy.”

“Where’s Juliana?” asked Luke, who always kept a close eye on his youngest cousin, even more so than his older brothers did.

“She’s at the hotel restaurant with Grace.”

“They could have ordered food here.”

“They’re on a date.” Talia’s face paled. She’d spilled the beans without thinking, beans that were best kept sealed in a tight-lidded jar.

“A date? With each other I hope.” Mark was drumming his fingers on the table, waiting for a response.

“They met a couple of guys in the lobby. Nice guys.”

“The hotel lobby?” Luke was in full-blown prosecutor mode now.

Ella nodded.

“Tonight?”

“No. A couple of days ago. They’re firefighters, here for a wedding, too. I think they’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Firefighters?” several male voices said in joint horror. They’d spent many an evening playing pool with firefighters in a small bar just outside of Boston. They were great guys, with some amazing stories to tell. Some smokin’ hot stories that involved hoses, but no fire.

Jake was the first to pull out his phone. “I’m getting hungry, it’s been a while since I’ve eaten. Want to go over to the restaurant with me, Lukie?”

“I could eat.”

“You can get food here. Leave them alone,” Ella cautioned.

“If they wanted to be left alone, they should’ve answered my texts. Or stayed in their room and played Barbies, like old times.”

“Julianne’s going to be furious if you guys go charging over there.”

“I’m shaking in my boots,” Luke tossed over his shoulder while they swaggered in the direction of the restaurant.

Talia shook her head at the two big galoots who were under the impression that those young women were still seven years old. Juliana was a law student, and Grace a medical student. Grace and her mom, Veronica, had moved to Meadows Shore shortly after the Claytons moved in. Veronica helped Mary Clayton manage the household, and Juliana and Grace had been inseparable.

“Is Drew okay?”

“He’ll be fine,” said Will, but his brow never eased.

Mark drained his glass, and signaled for the check. “I’ll check on him when I go up.”

* * *

Mark had one hand on the doorframe, bracing himself, when Drew pulled the door open. “What do you want?”

Mark pushed his way past his brother into the small suite, and made himself comfortable in a wing chair in the far corner of the room. “My room’s nicer. It has more windows, and the drapes aren’t as ugly.”

“Are you here to discuss the furnishings, or do you actually have something to say?”

Mark leaned back and crossed his legs, ankle over knee. “So, what’s going on?”

“With what?”

“With Cassie.”

“None of your fucking business.”

“If you expect me to leave here any time soon, you need to come up with a better answer than that.”

“I can handle it. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I’m not worried about you handling it, but you don’t need to handle it alone. It’s one of the good things about having so many brothers. That, and there’s always someone to have a pissing contest with.”

Drew sat on the edge of the bed, across from his brother. Mark was a funny guy, sometimes hilarious. His personality was a cross between Cole and Will. On the surface, he seemed a lot more like Cole—Cole on steroids—but Drew and Mark shared a room growing up, and he knew him better than anyone else.

Mark carefully contemplated most things, mulled them over just like Will did, but he never let anyone see that side of him. He preferred the reputation of the laid-back class clown, with a wild, impulsive streak when something got his hackles up. And he had an enormous soft spot, especially where his family was concerned.

They’d grown up in a home with enough bedrooms to house a small army, but their mother insisted they each share a room until high school. “It’s nice to have a friend to share your dreams with, tell your secrets to. And late at night, when life’s problems seem enormous, it’s important to have someone who can ease your mind so you can sleep.”

They’d all groused about it at one time or another, but to no avail. Maggie Harrington loved her boys more than anything, but she wasn’t a pushover. And despite all the complaining they’d done, the day Mark moved into his own room had been bittersweet for both of them.

“Earth to Drew. The night’s growing old here, and so am I.”

“I bumped into her by chance a couple of months ago, when we were playing the Orioles. Since then, we’ve been spending a lot of time together in Baltimore, where she lives. She claims to be committed to giving the relationship another try, but we’re moving at a snail’s pace. Not sure why. It’s not just a physical thing,” he shrugged. “I could understand that. I wouldn’t like it, but I could understand it. But she’s holding back in every way.”

“Maybe she’s still hurt and wants to be careful. We’re always telling the girls to go slow, eyes wide open, no rush. Things didn’t end all that well with you guys. I can see why she’d be nervous about jumping right back in.”

“Didn’t end all that well between us? I’d say that’s the understatement of the millennium… But there’s something else, too. I can feel it.

“Cassie’s good people. She’ll get around to telling you when she’s ready. Can you give her time?”

“I thought I could give her as much as she needed, but I’m not so sure now. The whole thing’s starting to fuck with my head. I’m so distracted, and we’re in the middle of the season, I can’t afford to have my head up my ass all the time.” He filled his chest with air and blew it out “But I can’t let her go. I missed her every day. Every damn day, since I left Brown.”

“Talk to her.”

“You don’t think I’ve tried?”

“Maybe she just needs a little nudge.”

“Maybe, but I don’t want to push her too much. A long-distance relationship is hard enough. She needs to be ready.”

Mark got up from the chair and patted his brother’s shoulder on his way out. “I’m next door, and when I’m not, you know how to find me. Anytime, anywhere,” he said reaching for the doorknob.

“Hey.”

Mark swung partway around with one hand on the door.

“Thanks.”

“No woman is ever getting in your bed while you’re wearing that stupid baseball shirt. How many times do I have to tell you baseball’s a pussy sport?”

A smile brightened Drew’s face until it became a chuckle. It was an old joke between them. For most of their lives, Mark had played lacrosse in the spring and Drew had played baseball.

Drew grabbed the padded bolster from the bed and lunged in his brother’s direction, getting in a whack or two before Mark made it out the door.

Then, grinning from ear to ear, he latched the lock and crawled into bed. All and all, it had been a great weekend.

Cassie slipped on a floral sundress and flat sandals before texting Lee to make sure everything was set for Drew’s birthday dinner.

This was the weekend. Tonight they’d celebrate his birthday, and tomorrow after breakfast, she’d tell him. She wouldn’t send him home one more time without talking to him.

But first she wanted to enjoy a special evening together, maybe their last. She wanted to see his face light up when their eyes met, see his mouth curl in an easy smile. She wanted to make a memory, a perfect memory. One she could file away and pull out when she was lonely or scared, like she did with all the other memories they’d made.

They met outside his hotel.

“Where are you taking me?” he asked nibbling on her ear.

“I told you, it’s a birthday surprise. You’ll see soon.”

“I’ve always loved the idea of being kidnapped by a hot babe.”

The cab pulled up in front of the National Aquarium, and Drew’s eyebrows shot up. “The Aquarium?

“Do you still like them?”

“Oh, yeah. I visit one in every city where the team plays. But isn’t it closed for the night?”

“Not for us.”

He swung her around to face him, trapping her with one leg on either side of hers. “We have it to ourselves?”

She recognized that look on his face. “Down, boy!” she laughed. “Yes, we have it to ourselves, but we’re not really alone. There’s security all over the building.”

“How did you arrange this?” he asked with the excitement of a little boy who was about to be let loose in the toy store with a roll of bills in his pocket.

“We did a special cake for them for their anniversary last year. They forgot to order a cake, and called in a panic at the last minute, and we accommodated them. It ended up to be a big hit, and the woman in charge of the event told me to call her if I ever wanted to use the space. They rent it out for all kinds of parties.”

“We’re having a party?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him. His eyes were dancing with the possibilities, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this happy. “A birthday party, just you and me. Happy birthday.”

“Cassie.” He found her mouth and refused to let go until neither of them could breathe.

They strolled through the aquarium hand-in-hand, taking in the sharks, penguins, and octopus, enjoying the exhibits and each other. His hands were tough and callused, and his fingers strong and dexterous from years of baseball and drumming, while hers were deceptively smooth and soft
,
like pampered accouterments rather than hardworking tools used for kneading dough and adding delicate touches to desserts.

The contrast was an aphrodisiac, a metaphor for the kind of sex they’d once shared. Yin and yang, male and female. Her belly clenched, as though it remembered the rough texture of his hands on her flesh, awakening a need that began and ended at her core.

“Hungry?”

“Ravenous.”

“Let’s go. Dinner’s almost ready.”

“We’re having dinner here?”

“Mm-hm.”

She led him downstairs to a table for two, ready and waiting in a cozy alcove under the stairs. “Dinner will be out in about five minutes.” The lights were low, and the sound of water bubbling in the distance added to the romantic ambiance.

“I love aquariums, but I have especially fond memories of this one.” His mouth curved slightly and his eyes had a faraway, wistful look. “When we were kids, my dad brought the four oldest to Washington with him one school vacation. Mom stayed home with Jake and Luke. I was so excited to be included with the big guys.” He shook his head, the smile still on his gorgeous face. “We went to work with him, sat up in the Senate galley with Jennie, his assistant. Jennie works with Will now. Anyway, my dad kept glancing up at us, and after about an hour he came up, and said he’d decided to play hooky for the rest of the day. Will, of course, asked him if it was okay to just leave work. And he told us some things were more important than work.

“We went back to his office, and he changed and drove us here. We had lunch near the Inner Harbor, at a place my mother would have hated, and then spent the afternoon wandering around the aquarium before going over to Camden Yards for a baseball game. It was an unbelievable day.”

She was smiling.

“You’ve heard that story before?”

She nodded.

“It’s why you chose this place for my birthday.”

A woman carrying a large tray appeared out of nowhere before she could answer.

“We’ll take it from here, Lee. Thank you for everything.”

“My pleasure. You can drop the dishes in the tub I left in the kitchen, and I’ll be back in the morning when they open to pick it up.”

“What do we have here?”

“Bacon cheeseburgers, sweet potato fries, onion rings, and coffee frappes.”

“That’s exactly what we ate for lunch that day with my dad.”

“Except you had chocolate milkshakes because they had no coffee syrup, and they’d never heard of a frappe.”

He got up and grabbed her off the chair, lifting her a foot off the ground, tightly ensconced in his arms. “I don’t know how I’ve survived most of my life without you. I can’t believe you remembered all those little details about my day at the aquarium.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “I remember everything, too. Everything. I’ve lived off those memories for years. They sustained me through every dark moment, warmed my soul when I was sure I’d die without you.”

He held her as close as one human being could hold another, and she hoped he couldn’t sense how vulnerable she felt.

“We’ll always have the old memories, but we’re going to make new ones, too,” he promised. “There’ll be so many, you won’t have space to hold them all, sweetheart.”

“I hope so.”

“I know so.” He nuzzled her neck. “Let’s eat before the sharks bust out of their tanks. I hear they love a good bacon cheeseburger.”

He dragged a French fry through a puddle of ketchup and popped it into his mouth before tackling his sandwich. “The burger’s great. I still can’t believe you arranged all this,” he said, wiping the juices from his mouth.

“I wanted to do something special for your birthday. Something we’d always remember.”

“Seventh game of the World Series, two outs, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, you hit a grand slam, baby. It just doesn’t get any more special than this—not for me.” He lifted her hand to his lips. “Thank you.”

“I’m so glad you like the surprise, I thought you might—I hoped you would.”

At that moment it was impossible to tell which of them was happier, and it didn’t matter, anyway.

“You better help me with these onion rings, because if I eat them all myself you’ll have to roll me out of here like a keg, because I won’t be able to move.”

“Save some room for dessert.”

“Dessert?”

“Mm-hm. I think you’re going to like it, too.”

“I love dessert, and I always save room for it. Usually for more than one round.” He leaned across the table and tucked her hair behind one ear and ran his fingers down the dark strands, playfully tugging at the ends. “Should I open that champagne over there, or are you saving it for someone else?”

“There’s only you,” she said standing up to retrieve the bottle of Veuve Clicquot chilling in a bucket off to the side.

“Good answer,” he growled, pulling her onto his lap, and catching her mouth in a kiss so filled with raw emotion it nearly consumed them. With their foreheads touching, they rested and caught their breath, light years away from the grief and sickness that had torn them apart.

“Open the champagne. I’ll be right back.” She placed a small kiss on his nose, her eyelashes fluttering against his cheek.

“
Mmmm
.” He slid his hands down her back and over the curve of her hip to her thighs before he reluctantly let her go.

He’d just finished pouring them each a glass of champagne when she returned, carrying a miniature replica of the Blues’ historic ballpark, surrounded by silver candles resembling the gaslight torches that lit the perimeter of the park.

“Happy birthday!”

“Did you make this?” he gasped, studying every angle, every nuance that made the park unique. No detail had been too small for her to include.

“I baked the cake, did the research on the park, and some of the decorations, but I had a lot of help from a couple of bakers who do decorative frosting much better than I do.”

“It’s amazing. Whoa! Look at left field wall. You didn’t miss anything. Cassie…”

“Make a wish.” He didn’t close his eyes. Instead, he took both her hands in his, drinking her in, and made his wish before blowing out the candles.

And even though he didn’t extinguish every candle in one puff of air, at that very moment, neither of them doubted that his wish would come true.

“I want to get a picture of the cake before we cut it. Maybe we shouldn’t eat it. Will it harden like clay if we let it dry out? Then I could keep it in my office.”

“Of course we should eat it,” she said while he took a series of pictures. “If you’d rather admire it than eat it, then I haven’t done my job. I’ve stimulated your vision, but not your taste buds. I haven’t made your mouth water. Dessert isn’t a brilliant painting or a magnificent sculpture, it’s meant to be enjoyed first by the eyes, and then by the tongue.”

He stood still, his breathing shallow and his eyes dark and hungry. “I don’t think anyone’s ever made birthday cake sound quite so sexy.”

“My mentor believed that good dessert was poetic, but taste for yourself.” She lifted a small forkful of cake to his mouth.

“
Mmmm
. Saving it was a bad idea. A very bad idea,” he said, helping himself to another bite.

They cleaned up, finished their cake, left a large chunk of it with the security officers on duty, and took the rest with them.

“Drew?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m almost ready to take the relationship to another level, but do you think tonight I can have one more pass?”

“Whatever you need, sweetheart.”

She brushed her hand over his cheek. “Do you want to go back to my apartment for coffee?”

“I’d love to,” he said, taking her hand and depositing a small kiss in the center of her palm.