Authors: Tymber Dalton
Tags: #Romance
Jack, the owner, waved when he saw Tyler enter. Tyler walked over to the end of the counter where Jack was already putting several boxes of 9mm shells and targets for Tyler to shoot on the counter. “I already started you a ticket. You’re on lane one.”
“Thanks, mate.” He grabbed the targets and boxes of ammo after donning his shooting muffs. “Why all the people?”
“The storm,” Jack explained. “Always brings a lot of people out to stock up on ammo and weapons. They worry about looters. Sucks for our area, but it’s great for business.”
“Ah.” Tyler went into the shooting range, where he had the place to himself, and set up. His aim and skill had greatly improved from when he’d started. He began his practice by putting the back holster on and practicing drawing the Glock, unloaded, several times. He couldn’t do it at home, usually, because he risked Tom or Nevvie discovering him. He kept everything locked in the trunk of his car. Not the ideal situation, but once he had his concealed weapons license, he’d keep the gun on him at all times when not at home.
He wouldn’t risk her safety again, or their children’s safety.
Nevvie had clearly said she didn’t want a gun in the house with the boys being so young, but he would keep it locked in a file drawer in the house, in the locked case, with a trigger lock on it when at home. He’d buy a locking file cabinet next time he went to Savannah and keep it in the RV. Since they’d already agreed he would use the RV as a mobile office while there, it wouldn’t cause Nevvie any suspicion at all.
Then again, once they were all permanently moved to Savannah, he wouldn’t have to worry about Nevvie. There was no way in hell Alex could track her there. Even if it meant uprooting themselves and moving up there away from their friends, it was worth it.
At least their family would be together. And safe.
After practicing with the back holster, he practiced with the underarm one. That completed, he loaded the gun, put his shooting glasses on, and took aim at the target. With every shot, he envisioned a bullet hole between Alex LaRogue’s eyes.
Before they reached Peggy’s, Nevvie dug her phone back out of her purse to call John and Kelly Fleischman, her birth parents, and give them the happy news. Now reunited with them, it sucked that they were in Tampa while she was in Savannah. At least she could celebrate the news with her twelve-year-old sister, Laurie.
Laurie had stayed behind in Savannah after the family cookout over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Nevvie enjoyed her company and getting to know her, and Laurie had fun playing with her young nephews, as well as getting acquainted with the other various Kinsey cousins.
Kelly squealed with delight when Nevvie told her. “Twins? Are you serious? That’s fantastic!” Upon meeting Adam and Mikey, Kelly had immediately immersed herself in the role of Grandma and had taken great pleasure in spoiling her two grandsons rotten as much as she could.
John must have taken the phone out of her hands. “Nevvie? What is that? Twins?”
She laughed. “Yes, Dad. Twins.” In the background, she heard Kelly still cheering the news.
She didn’t anticipate his sudden silence, however.
“Dad? Are you okay?”
His voice sounded choked when he finally answered. “Okay, Nevvie. Seriously. When are you going to let me teach you how to shoot?” John, recently retired from the air force, was bound and determined to keep her safe from Alex LaRogue once he heard the story about the attack. Now that he had his daughter back, he’d made it abundantly clear he didn’t want to lose her again.
Nevvie gentled her voice. “I don’t want a handgun in the house, Dad. I told you that. But…” She hoped she wouldn’t regret this. “You mentioned you like shooting skeet. I guess I wouldn’t mind learning that. Would that satisfy you?”
“Not completely, but it’s a start. We’ll come back up next weekend. I’d be up this weekend except for the storm.”
“You and Mom don’t have to come up just for that.” Despite being reunited with them for less than a couple of months, she’d found it surprisingly easy to call them Mom and Dad.
“Yes, we want to. As long as it’s all right with Peggy.”
“I’m sure it will be. Hold on.” She pulled the phone away from her face. “Is it okay if Mom and Dad come up next weekend?”
Peggy smiled. “Of course. And tell him not to go out and buy you a skeet gun.” She pointed at Karen in the rearview mirror. “Keep your mouth shut, young lady.”
“Yes, Momma.”
“What?” Nevvie asked.
“Just tell him,” Peggy insisted.
Nevvie eyed her, but passed the word to John.
“Why?” John asked.
“She won’t tell me, but she’s got a sneaky look on her face. I suspect she’s up to something. I’ll let you know what once I find out.” They made the arrangements and Nevvie hung up as they were pulling into Peggy’s yard. “What are you up to, Mom?”
She wore a pleased smile. “You’ll see, sugar. I have a surprise for you. We’ll talk about it tonight after dinner and the boys are in bed. Now let’s get inside and spread the good news. Plus I’ve got calls to make about looking at Ben’s house today.”
* * * *
Two hours later, Andrew and Laurie were wrangling the boys and cooking dinner at Peggy’s house, while Nevvie, Peggy, and Ron Baker finished a tour of Ben’s house and property. They settled at Ben’s dining room table. Ben had a folder of paperwork in front of him.
“It’s a little over thirty acres altogether.” He handed a paper to Ron, whom Nevvie had already dubbed her de facto property expert. “When my wife died five years ago, my kids started harping on me to sell it. I didn’t want to then, but I’ve got grandkids now. I want to spend time with them while I’m still in good enough shape to enjoy them.”
He looked around the house. “Besides, this place isn’t getting any easier on me to take care of by myself.” He wistfully smiled. “The kids don’t get down here very often. They all live within a few minutes of each other. If I move up there, I’ll be able to see them whenever I want. I’m thinking of getting a small RV so I can escape back down here during the winters if I feel like it.”
“You haven’t actually put your house on the market yet, though?” Nevvie asked.
“Not yet. Peggy had mentioned y’all might be interested in it. I figured I’d talk to you first and see if you’re interested. I’m glad you called me.”
The house was older. Not in bad shape, but smaller than they would need. The good thing was the property had more than enough room to expand. Nevvie could easily picture a whole new wing added onto the western end of the house, including a private master suite. Tyler and Tom could both have downstairs offices, they could add a guest room, and the three existing upstairs bedrooms would be perfect for the kids. Most of the property was still wooded. The yard around the house and the backyard down to the pond were cleared and would make wonderful play areas for the kids.
They’d have lots of privacy. They’d be next door to Peggy. Within minutes of Karen and Tom’s other sisters.
“How much are you asking for it?”
He shrugged. “I know property isn’t cheap anymore, but my wife and I bought this land years ago while we were still up in Michigan. It wasn’t that expensive then. We had it paid off before we even built the house. When we sold our house up there, when I retired, we used that money to pay this off. Overall, we didn’t do too bad.” He sadly smiled. “It’d be nice to have a family living here who would appreciate it and enjoy it.” Then he named a figure that nearly dropped Nevvie’s jaw. Not because it was so high, but because it was far lower than she’d anticipated.
“Um, are you sure you don’t want to have the property appraised first? Not to be a bad negotiator, but that price sounds awfully low.”
“I already have. But what stinks is if I sell to someone else, they’ll just turn around and split it up into lots and put a bunch of them little Monopoly mansions up all over the place and ruin the area for everyone like they did two roads over. Hell, I could easily get another thirty thousand for it, if I wanted. I just want a fair price for it without screwing my friends over who live here. Like Peggy.” He nodded at her. “And since we’re doing this privately without any real estate agents involved, I reckon I don’t need to pad the price to pay for their fees. The only thing I ask is if you do want it, you pay the closing costs, and you promise not to sell it out and let it get split up.” He smiled. “And that I don’t have to get out until after Karen’s wedding. I’ve known that girl most of her life. Besides, I’ll need the time to pack.” He offered his hand to her.
Nevvie smiled as she shook hands with him. Despite her earlier promise to Peggy to wait, she said, “You have a deal, Ben.”
* * * *
Tyler hoped he didn’t smell like gunpowder when he returned home from the gun range. When he arrived, he was relieved to find a note from Tom saying that he had gone to the store to pick up extra storm supplies.
Tyler didn’t like the way this storm kept growing in size and intensity, stubbornly refusing to veer off its track. The way it looked now, it would sweep up Tampa Bay from the southwest to the northeast. Tom had already arranged for John and Kelly to ride it out at their house because of the Fleischmans’ proximity to the bay and evacuation zone. Kyle and Jacob, Nevvie’s half brothers, would also stay with them because Tom wasn’t sure how sturdy their apartment building would prove to be.
He doubted he’d get any work done with a house full of people, but he echoed Tom’s sentiments that he’d rather have them all there, with them, in relative safety.
Tyler took the gun and shooting supplies into the house with him and locked them in his file cabinet in his office. He wouldn’t have to worry as much about keeping them hidden with Nevvie and the boys gone. Tom rarely went into his office, and he never snooped around in Tyler’s file cabinet.
He doubted he’d get another chance to go shooting before the storm hit anyway. To be on the safe side, he’d even purchased several boxes of ammunition to keep at home, including hollow-point rounds that Jack had assured him would stop most attackers with the first hit.
He quickly changed clothes. He wanted to try to get some writing in before Tom returned. Then Kyle and Jacob would come over for dinner to discuss final storm preparations with Tom.
As Tyler walked down the hall to his office, he flipped on light switches. With the shutters up, the darkened house felt more like a tomb than a home.
He walked into the living room and turned on the corner lamps, too. It made it feel slightly less depressing.
The quiet also unsettled him. He loved his alone time, but also welcomed all the normal sounds of his family. The voices of Nevvie and their sons, even the ticking of little Harley’s nails on the tile floors.
Without his family surrounding him, it didn’t feel right.
Didn’t feel like
home
.
He made himself a cup of hot tea and went into his office. Even there, his refuge, his sanctuary, the atmosphere felt unsettled. Normally, the window in his office, which faced the front yard, let in just the right amount of daylight.
He turned on his desk lamp, then finally gave in and turned on the overhead light as well.
When Tom returned an hour later, Tyler went outside to help him unload. “Are you preparing for the apocalypse?” he asked as he spied both the cab and bed of Tom’s truck filled with shopping bags and purchases.
“I wanted to get a portable generator for a spare, smart-ass.” Tom lowered the tailgate. “They’ll be impossible to get after the storm. Hell, I almost couldn’t find one now. Help me get it into the garage.”
After the truck was unloaded, Tyler tried to find room for all the canned goods and flats of bottled water in the pantry. No good. Most of it would have to be stacked in the utility room. He turned to his lover. “Are you not telling me something, Thomas? I thought you said we already had adequate supplies.”
Tom wore a grim expression. “You haven’t been watching the news, have you?” he asked.
“No. I was trying to get some work done before you returned. Why?”
Tom stepped into the living room and turned on the Weather Channel. The meteorologist was in the process of giving an update on Hurricane Edgar.
“And that means those of you living close to Tampa Bay or the Gulf need to pay close attention to your evacuation zones. We’re expecting a potential storm surge of anywhere from ten to twenty feet in Tampa Bay at this point. That includes the areas of Safety Harbor and Oldsmar, downtown Tampa, Harbour and Davis Islands, the Bayshore district, Hyde Park, Apollo Beach, and people along the southern end of the Hillsborough River…”
They put up the projected storm surge maps as the announcer continued. “Bloody hell,” Tyler whispered. “It’s a Cat 3. When did that happen?”
“National Hurricane Center upgraded it at the 11:00 a.m. update. You’ve got to pay attention to these damn things, Ty. You’ve lived here long enough to know that. Thank god we got the houses boarded up already. This thing is going to destroy the area.”
He felt a little queasy. “Perhaps we should consider evacuating.”
“No. The roads are already packed. It’d be a nightmare. Getting back would be even worse. We’re not in an evacuation zone. We’ll be okay.”