“I think I’m ready to go to sleep,” she muttered against his shoulder.
He gently stroked her back. “Exhausted?”
“Yeah.” Nevvie took a deep breath. “You know what we talked about? About my birth parents?”
“Yes?”
She settled deeper into his lap. “Okay,” she softly said. “But I want to be the one to talk to her. I want to see her face to face one last time.”
He didn’t make her repeat or clarify. He knew what she meant. “I’ll call Bob tomorrow and have him start the process.”
“Thank you.”
They sat there a few more minutes before he gently said, “Let’s go to bed, sweetheart. I’m rather worn out, and I’m sure you’d like to get to sleep.”
She nodded but didn’t move.
Tyler kissed the top of her head. “Where did you go today? You look rather sad.”
“I took the boys to visit my dad’s grave. I haven’t been there in years. I needed to go.”
He fell silent for several long minutes. “Are you all right? You know, you don’t have to have any contact with them. We can let Bob—”
“No. I need to finish this. I want to see her one more time. I want her to see what she’s missed all these years so I can turn my back on all of that for good.”
“If it’s what you want, you know we’ll do it. Anything you want.”
“Maybe we can turn it into a family vacation?” It was a question, not a statement.
“You’re not asking permission, are you?”
She snorted. “Well, I don’t want to just demand it.”
He sat her up in his lap. “Darling, you say the word, it’s done. You know that.”
“Would Tommy be up to a trip like that?”
“I think it might just be what he needs. We could drive, take our time. Lately we’ve taken damn few pleasure trips, you know. Usually it’s dash somewhere for work and dash back home. I think a long extended trip would do us all some good.” He nudged her to her feet and took her hand. “How about you let me handle the plans, right?”
Nevvie smiled. It would be nice to step back and let Tyler fully take charge again, like he had in the early days. “Okay.”
Tyler’s broad smile lit her heart. “Aces. Let’s go to bed, sweet.”
* * * *
Nevvie put their conversation behind her. She knew Tyler would take care of things without her involvement. She enjoyed her sons and helping Maggie with the business. Between Maggie and Kenny, both Nevvie and Tommy felt comfortable not being in the office every day. It wouldn’t be long before he stepped back and let Kenny take full control of everything.
And Nevvie had decided when that day came, she would most likely stay home full time with him and Tyler.
With her family.
Andrew came over for his next visit and stayed with them nearly two weeks. They enjoyed his company and the boys loved spending time with Gwampa. Tyler’s emotional healing from reconnecting with his father made him even happier than Nevvie and Thomas ever thought possible.
It was with some surprise that, two weeks later, Nevvie looked up from her laptop one rare, cool Florida spring afternoon where she’d been answering Tyler’s fan email. The windows were opened to take advantage of the beautiful weather, and Mikey was asleep in the nursery. Tyler had gone out that morning and taken Adam with him to run errands. The loud rumble in the street, like a large truck, sounded like it came from in front of their driveway.
Thomas walked down the hall, drawn from his study by the noise. “What the hell is that?” he asked, frowning as he walked to the front door. He opened it. “Son of a bitch!”
Nevvie put the laptop on the coffee table and stood to join him. “What?”
He snorted, whether in amusement or irritation, she wasn’t sure. “Come see.”
Nevvie had never seen the large red and white RV parked in front of their driveway before. Scratch large, it was huge. Her old Chalmette apartment in New Orleans probably had less square footage than this beast.
The side door opened. Adam carefully climbed down the steps and ran up the driveway to them. Thomas scooped him up.
“Poppa! Mommy! Look what Daddy bought us!” Tyler appeared in the doorway, a sheepish grin in his face.
Nevvie knew that look. The “forgiveness instead of permission” look. He knew he’d get chewed out over this.
He also knew damn well the two of them would quickly forgive him.
Stunned into silence, Nevvie walked down the driveway.
“Well, loves? What do you think?”
She couldn’t chastise him for spending the money. The movie rights and residuals from his last book would probably pay for ten of these things.
“You bought it?”
“Well, love, they don’t let you drive one off on your own unless you do.” His grin told Nevvie he already knew she would give him a pass on this. “You did agree to let me make the plans.”
Thomas stopped next to her, holding Adam, and stared at the RV. “Holy crap, Ty—”
“Thomas!” Nevvie scolded.
Adam grinned. “Poppa said a bad word.”
Thomas laughed and rubbed noses with the little boy. “Holy
crud
, Ty, what the heck did you do?”
“We’re going on a road trip, loves.”
Adam threw his arms up in the air. “Yay! Vroom vroom!”
Nevvie laughed. “
You
driving this? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.”
Knowing he was already forgiven, Tyler kissed her, then Thomas. “They worked with me at the dealership before I even signed. They have a huge lot in the back where you can practice. It’s quite easy.”
Thomas shook his head. “You can barely drive a motorcycle. You expect me to believe you can steer this land yacht?”
Adam nodded. “Daddy did good. Only hit three cones.”
Tyler quickly added, “That was just backing up in the beginning. I wasn’t used to the camera yet. We have an appointment tomorrow at two to come back for you both to get lessons.” He looked at them. “Well? Don’t you want to see the inside?”
He gave them a quick tour and explained that the dealership would send someone over shortly to pick it up and bring Tyler’s car home. They couldn’t keep the RV parked at the house because of deed restrictions—and no room—and Tyler still had to make arrangements to get a spot in their subdivision’s RV storage yard. As Nevvie sat in one of the chairs near the front, Adam climbed into her lap.
“Did we do good, Mommy?”
Those huge, blue eyes. Just like Tyler. Just like Andrew. How could she or Thomas ever discipline him? In fact, it was increasingly obvious Tyler was apparently the only one immune to his “look,” frequently the one who had to be stern when called for.
“You did great, baby.”
“Daddy let me pick the color. Do you like it?” He looked worried, tiny creases furrowing his smooth brow.
She laughed. “It’s beautiful, baby. You did good.”
“I can’t wait! Daddy said we can see the whole country. We can go to Yellowrock and see buffalo!”
Nevvie tried to decipher that and looked to Tyler for clarification.
“Yellowstone,” he corrected.
Thomas shook his head. “We need a tow dolly and a car for that. You can’t drive this crate around the park. It’s too big.”
Tyler grinned. “Already taken care of. I went and talked to Rollo.”
“Daddy let me pick the color out there too!” Adam chimed in.
Thomas closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You bought a
car
, too?” Tyler was as mechanically inclined as a banana in a fruit salad.
Nevvie laughed. “Oh, boy. What’d you get?”
“A Pilot. Brand new. It seats eight, and Rollo is coordinating with the RV dealership to get a car hauler for us.” Tyler happily clapped his hands together. “I’ve taken care of everything, loves.”
“You? Bought a car?” Thomas repeated.
“Well I’m not a total ignoramus in that department, Thomas.”
Thomas and Nevvie both arched an eyebrow at him.
“I bought new!” Tyler defended himself. “It’s not like a used one. Thomas, you yourself said Rollo has never cheated us.”
Nevvie and Thomas exchanged a look. “Well,” Thomas finally said, “I guess we’re going on a road trip.” He hugged Tyler and left his arm around his shoulders. “So when are we leaving, Evil Genius?”
Tyler looked sheepish again. “Two weeks from Monday. I’ve already made us reservations in a campground out there.” He coughed, looked down. “And one more thing—”
“Gwampa Andy is coming with us!” Adam happily exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air again.
Nevvie and Thomas both raised their eyebrows. The surprises just kept coming.
Tyler nervously laughed. “Well, I didn’t think you’d mind, loves. I’ve asked him to come over and join us. There’s plenty of room in here. And I think it would be good to spend time together as a family.”
Nevvie sighed. Sure, a cross country drive in a vehicle nearly as big as the Queen Mary, with the five—make that six—of them.
What could
possibly
go wrong?
THE END
WWW.TYMBERDALTON.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tymber Dalton lives in southwest Florida with her husband (aka “The World’s Best Husband™”) and son. She loves her family, writing, coffee, dark chocolate, music, a good book, hockey, and her dogs (even when they try to drink her coffee and steal her chocolate).
When she’s not dodging hurricanes or writing, she can be found doing line edits or reading or thinking up something else to write. She’s a bestselling writer published in several genres and loves to hear from readers. Please feel free to drop by her website to keep abreast of the latest news, views, snarkage, and releases.
You can also check out her other bestsellers, such as “Trouble Comes in Threes,” “Love Slave for Two,” and “Love at First Bight,” also available on the BookStrand website.
Please visit Tymber at
Website: www.tymberdalton.com
BookStrand: www.bookstrand.com/authors/tymberdalton/
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Table of Contents