Ginny leaned back against the hot tub, allowing the churning water and red wine to numb her frazzled nerves. A few drops of Zeke’s blood at a crime scene had turned their world upside down. The DNA markers on the test results still stood out in her mind’s eye. A jumble of dots and numbers had changed her life forever, and yet it hadn’t. It was difficult to explain, but Mox had always been a child of her heart. Maybe she had subconsciously recognized him as Zeke’s and maybe she just loved Mox for Mox.
As livid as she had been when she found out, it had been humiliation that fueled her anger. She wasn’t naïve. It wasn’t so much that it had happened as with who, and the fact that it was going to come around and publicly smack her in the face. Trinity Falls was a small town; secrets were difficult to keep even if you wanted to. She couldn’t deny Mox the right to claim Zeke as his father. For that matter, how could she deny Zeke the honor of such a fine son? She knew that he must be regretting the years of not knowing as well as his penchant for stinging words even if coated in jest.
She knew Zeke had spoken with the boys about what was going on, but she had no idea what they were feeling, what was going through their minds. It was doubtful they could love or accept Mox more than they did, but she was concerned about their perception of their father. The knowledge changed things for the boys, for Mox, and even for Zeke, but really, what changed for her? Mox’s name already graced one of the shamrocks that made up her lower back tattoo. There was a shamrock for each one of the three boys and a forth that just carried the Brawer surname in honor of the two little ones she hadn’t managed to carry to term. No, nothing changed for her. Mox had always been hers.
Stepping from the hot tub, she shivered in the cool night air. Fall was coming to the mid-west. Wrestling the cover into place, she picked up the wine and glass before hurrying inside, goose bumps raising the flesh on her slender body. Once inside, she peeled out of the wet bikini, briskly toweling off in an effort to rub some heat back into her body. Feeling Zeke’s stare, she turned, tossing the towel in the hamper and stepped into his arms to steal his body heat. Strong arms wrapped around her and she didn’t miss his relief at the small gesture.
“You ready for bed?”
She nodded into his chest, reluctant to leave her safe haven. Sensing this, Zeke scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. Slipping between the sheets, he kept her close, slowly running his big hands up and down her arms and back. Without words to express his regrets or apologies, he offered what he had, humbled that she accepted it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The relentless pounding of the pavement, the thud of the ball on the backboard, the metallic spring of the rim … time and again it echoed through the dark neighborhood. His motions dogged and mindless, Mox sought escape from the avalanche of unfamiliar emotions and questions that threatened to bury him. Ginny’s words to him in the hall had been in direct contrast to the hurt he’d seen in her eyes. She was the last person in the world he would ever want to hurt and his very existence was tearing her apart.
Rage roiled in him. He wanted to hit something, anything. That wasn’t particularly true. It was Zeke’s face that fueled the fire; that he wanted to pummel until the uncanny resemblance, so obvious now, faded. How had they all missed it? Growing up, he’d thought Zeke invincible. Tonight, he thought he could take him. How had it come to this? He had always looked up to him, wanting nothing more than to be just like Zeke, to gain the big man’s respect. How had the older man not known, guessed at least? Would it have made any difference if he’d known? Truthfully, he had never treated Mox any different from the other boys. Ginny was the only one that brought out the tender side in Zeke.
A guttural growl of fury tore from his throat as he dropkicked the basketball with all his might. Slumping to the ground, he dropped his head into his hands, tears welling. Ginny, it all came back to her. How in the hell could Zeke have done this to her … to them all? If there was one person in this world that Ginny hated with every fiber of her being, it was Flo. Of the hundreds, thousands, of women Zeke could have betrayed Ginny with … why Flo? He hadn’t lied when he had told Ginny that his biological mother had always coveted her life. He remembered from an early age the way Flo had jumped at any chance to talk to Zeke Brawer in town and the scorn she had shown to the woman he had taken as his wife. Mox hadn’t understood it then any better than he did now.
It was no secret that Flo married Miles Sampson for his money. She still spoke longingly of the car dealership and stately colonial he had inherited after his father’s death. Flo’s greed and Mile’s drinking had slowly pissed away both the business and grand home. Only Flo’s pink corvette and a few designer bags remained from those days. Had the bitterness and affairs started then? Mox didn’t know the answer to that. There were a lot of things he didn’t have an answer for tonight.
“You okay, bro?” Rhys asked, stepping from the shadows.
Mox shrugged, not sure what to say.
Rhys kicked at a stone with the toe of his battered Converse, hands shoved in his pockets. Silence hung between them.
“You know we’re cool, right?”
Mox looked up in surprise, not really sure what to say to that.
Rhys flushed, taking an inordinate amount of interest in a crack in the drive.
“Look, I just meant that you’ve always been my brother, now you’re just a Brawer. Nothing changes with us. This isn’t about us.”
“This is about Zeke hurting Ginny,” Mox said, anger deepening his voice to a growl.
“Ma’s hurting, but she’s strong. She’s not stupid. As much as dad loves her, well, he’s Zeke,” Rhys said with a helpless shrug.
As ridiculous as the comment sounded, it made sense. Zeke and Ginny’s relationship was different. They were both allowed to be themselves and they made it work. Neither was what friends and family would have pictured for the other, and yet they made a perfect couple. That didn’t stop Mox from wanting to kick the shit out of the old man right now.
“I keep asking myself how, why? How could he do that to Ginny, with Flo of all people, and why did he never say anything? I don’t buy that he doesn’t remember. Would it have been so awful to admit that I was his son, to stand up and claim the dumb ox as his?”
“Zeke’s many things, but not a liar. He looked Garrett and I in the face and said he didn’t know. I believe him. I know you’re hurting, man, and I’m sorry, but trying to kick Zeke’s ass is only going to upset mom. She loves you both.”
“Don’t you think it’s suspicious that no one knew, no one guessed? How many times has Ginny said that I look more like Zeke than you do?” Mox asked, blowing out a frustrated snort.
“So what, there is no doubt that I’m his son and I don’t look anything like him. On the other hand, Garrett does. So, what does that prove one way or another? If anything, I think it’s weird that Flo didn’t say anything. You know, being the woman and all you would think she would have a clue who the father was.”
“Shit, as many men as she sleeps with who knows how many she slept with that day, let alone week.”
“You know, you should be looking at this on the bright side,” Rhys said with a smirk.
Mox gave him an incredulous stare and just waited.
“You got legitimate cause to drop that Miles moniker now.”
They both snorted.
“You think I should make Mox my legal name?”
“Mox Brawer, yeah, it has a ring to it.”
“It sounds thuggish … not sissified like,” Both men strived for a snooty accent and drawled in unison, “Miles Sampson the third.”
Mox shrugged with a chuckle. “I like it. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what Ginny and Zeke have to say and what the results of the second blood test are.”
“The second test is just to make sure Kramer isn’t just messing with us all again. I get why you requested it, but in the family’s eyes, it’s nothing more than a formality. Seriously, bro, cut Zeke a little slack while he fixes things with ma and then talk to him. You know he isn’t the real emotional type, but he cares.”
Mox sighed and stared into the darkness for a moment before nodding reluctantly.
“You’re right. I owe him at least that much.”
Clipping away the clinging ivy, Ginny traced the recessed letters naming this simple lot, Miles Sampson Park. Letting the men walk out the door that morning had been difficult. So much felt unresolved. Everything in her cried to circle the wagons, to wall her family off from the rest of the world until she could fix the cracks Kramer’s revelations had opened. Fear twisted her gut. They were her world, the four of them. Sometimes she thought they were her sole purpose for living. Zeke had given her three strong, handsome sons. She had promised herself a long time ago that if gifted with children she would move heaven and earth to see them safe and happy. Now, that all felt threatened.
There was no question that she would forgive Zeke. She loved the man beyond all reason, for just who he was. He was her rock, always had been. They shared the same beliefs about family. The tremors Kramer had sent through their family’s foundation had shaken them both. Each, in their own way, were doing damage control now. Zeke’s initial priority was their marriage, while, despite her hurt, she focused on the boys. Their marriage would survive, but what type of wedge would this drive between Zeke and his sons?
All three boys shared their father’s pronounced protective streak when it came to her and religiously echoed Zeke’s oft pronounced ‘If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nooo-body happy’ as the Brawer household mantra. The glares Zeke had been receiving left no doubt the boys knew how unhappy she was. Stabbing at the stubborn topsoil, she sighed. Usually she took perverse pleasure in watching Zeke sweat and bluster his way through things, but this was different.
This was a time he needed to show the boys how much he cared and that didn’t come natural to Zeke. With the exceptions of anger and lust, he kept his feelings close to the vest. How to get him to open up to his sons was the challenge. Standing up, she dusted off her knees and stepped over to the trunk to pull out the flats of ground cover she had picked up at the greenhouse. Arranging the large rocks already around the base of the sign, she started spacing the clumps of Juniper.
Finishing up, she stuffed the last of the debris into a garbage bag and stepped back to admire her handy work. The sign was now something the eldest Miles would’ve been proud of, a lot like his namesake. Grandson or not, she thought he would’ve respected the man Mox was turning out to be.
The squad room froze as Zeke’s exit nearly ripped the Captain’s door from its hinges. Pressing matters averted every eye as they sought to avoid his frigid stare. His gaze finally landed on a new, yet familiar, figure lounging with a hip resting on Jimmy’s old desk. A box of personal belongings sat behind him. No one dared to breathe as Zeke crossed the room.
“Murphy.”
“Brawer.”
Their greeting was punctuated by a firm handshake that ended in a back-thumping embrace that allowed the room’s occupants to breathe again, but left many picking up their jaws.
“You’re a long way from Boston.”
“Eh, I might’ve finally made one too many enemies at headquarters.”
“With your bull in a china shop finesse that’s so hard to believe.”
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black. I wasn’t here ten minutes before I heard what an asshole you’re to work with.”
“Yeah well, you’ve survived me at my best,” Zeke said with a smirk. “Settle in.”
Murphy grinned and started arranging his new desk.
“You might want to zip up, Skippy, and if you piddled by my desk, clean it up,” Zeke growled, rounding his desk.
His partner of the last couple days looked down at his zipper and flushed scarlet at the growing stain on his slacks. Setting his coffee down with a curse, he made a beeline for the men’s room to a roar of laughter.
“Is that what we have to work with around here?” Murphy muttered, dusting a name plate off on his sleeve.
Zeke shrugged.
“I bitch about how green we are, but I guess they can’t all be old devil dogs like us. We have some real good cops. As for Barney, he’s still wet behind the ears.”
“Not the only place he’s wet.”
Zeke flashed a grin.
“It’s good to see you again, Murph. Why didn’t you tell me you were looking to transfer?”
“Eh, surprises are good for your ticker. I’m hoping the smaller market will have less bureaucratic bullshit and it will be nice to have a partner that has my back.”
“The bullshit is everywhere. Did you have a shit partner in Boston?”
“Kerry and I were together for eight years. After I lost her, I went through a string of ride-alongs, and got the reputation for being a real asshole to work with. Sound familiar?”
“Maybe a little. I’m sorry about Kerry.”
Murphy laughed.
“Don’t be. Her rich ass boyfriend finally popped the question and then promptly knocked her up. She’s living it up in Beacon Hill playing stay at home mommy.”
“I guess there are worse gigs.”
“So are you going to fill me in on what was going on in there?” Murphy asked, jerking his head toward Donovan’s office. “People out here thought you were scary and shit.”
Zeke grimaced.
“I’ve got a lot of shit going on right now and one of the I.A. monkeys has taken up residence in my ass.”
“Anything I should know about?”
“Stand back when the shit hits the fan. The sawed off little fucker is messing with my family now. He couldn’t pin anything on me so he decided to make my life a living hell.”
“Sounds like I came at the right time,” Murphy said with a smirk.
“You always did like being where the action is.”
“Some things never change.”
The tantalizing aroma of steak rolled off the grill wafting across the pool area and backyard. Ginny and Amber bumped hips as they carried trays out to the table grooving to the music. Kat broke into an impromptu cabbage patch dance, drawing laughter and whistles from the men gathered around the grill.