Pulling Home (29 page)

With sensual grace, she stood and toyed with the top button of her shirt. “I like the sound of that.” She flipped open one button, then another, and another. He sucked in tiny breaths, fighting the need to yank her skirt up and bury himself so deep inside her he’d never find his way out.

“Audra”—he reached for her—“I’m only a man.”

“Oh, I’m well aware of that.” She stepped back, just out of reach as the pink shirt slipped off her shoulders. Jack zeroed in on the golden flesh stuffed in a pink bra rimmed with black lace.

Better than Christmas morning.
He liked pink and black, he thought, as she trailed her fingers along the rim of black lace. They were his new favorite colors. Audra reached behind her back and unfastened the bra. There was no breathing after that. Firm and full, and waiting to be tasted. He blinked hard. Since she’d returned to Holly Springs their couplings had been fast and desperate. He wanted this one to be slow and titillating, but when she unzipped her skirt and stood before him in a pink and black thong, he knew ten seconds of waiting would be too long.

Jack hauled her on top of him until she straddled his belly. “Baby, you’re driving me crazy. We’ll go slow later, maybe in a year or two, or ten.” He eased the thong to one side and impaled her moist heat with a low, satisfied groan.

Audra let out a moan and road him, eyes fluttering closed, hands gripping his

shoulders so hard there would be marks in the morning. “Jack. Oh. Jack.” The rhythm increased, the force intensified as he joined in, half bucking her off with his need. He knew the instant she split apart but half the city might have also. She screamed her pleasure, a shrill delight of obvious fulfillment which only enhanced his excitement.

Three seconds and two pumps later, he spilled hot, wet need into her with an equally loud, equally satisfied yell.

Later, after they’d slept, she lifted her head from his chest and murmured, “Jack, do you think anyone heard us? The windows are open and you’re close to the street and

—”

He hushed her with a kiss. “I don’t care if the whole city heard us,” he said,

stroking her back. “They’ll all just be jealous anyway.”

“But I didn’t mean to...”

He smiled. “Experience pleasure so intense you temporarily lost your sanity?

Sweetheart, you haven’t seen anything yet. I’ll have you pleasured so well you’ll be crazy with lust and loving every minute of it.”

And then he spent the rest of the night showing her exactly what he meant.

Chapter 32

“Who would have ever thought things would turn out like this?”—Joyce

Kirkshorn

Jack and Audra had a plan. They talked about it the next morning after showering

—together, of course. The plan involved Jack’s parents and a combination of exposure, confession, and withholding. The degrees of each were what plagued them.

“Audra, I do hope your stomach has settled itself,” Alice Wheyton said, concern

shadowing her gray eyes. “The twenty-four hour bug is just horrible. Joe had it this past spring and it wiped him out.”

“I’m feeling much better now.”

“Jack give you some magic potion?” Joe asked, eyeing his son. “Jack D and

Coke?”

Jack cleared his throat and said, “I didn’t pound her with whiskey, Dad.”

Alice darted a quick glance at Audra. “What did you want to see us about, Jack?

We figured it had to do with Leslie.”

“Partly.”

“Pills,” Joe harrumphed. “Sissy’s way out. I say if you’re gonna do yourself in, do it the right way. Get a gun and stick it—”

“Joe! The girl needs our prayers, not critiques on how to do yourself in, for

heaven’s sake.” Alice handed Audra a cup of hot tea and sighed. “Never mind him.

Sometimes he acts like this is the Wild West and he’s the town sheriff.”

“All’s I’m saying is my way gets the job done.”

“Unless that’s not the real goal.” Jack leaned forward and said, “I broke up with Leslie yesterday and I think she took pills to try to make me change my mind.”

“You broke up with her?” his mother repeated, her gaze narrowing slightly in

confusion and dismay.

“What the hell for?”

“I didn’t love her, Dad. At least not enough to want to spend the rest of my life with her.”

There. He’d said it. Audra sat very still, waiting for his parents’ response. “Well.”

Alice cleared her throat and plunged her hands in her apron pockets.

“I’ll be damned.” Joe smacked his knee and let out a belly laugh. “We got

ourselves our own little Eden Street right here in Holly Springs.”

“Joe Wheyton, you stop that right now,” Alice warned. “This is our son’s life

we’re talking about, not a soap opera.”

“I know, I know, but it sure makes things interesting. Too bad Leslie’s in the

loony bin. Nice girl. Real proper young lady.”

“What do you expect? She was a minister’s daughter. Of course she’d be proper.”

Alice pulled out her rosary and made the sign of the cross. Then she cast a sideways glance at Jack and frowned. “You should never have led her on. If you had no intention of marrying Leslie, you should have said so from the beginning.”

“Leslie has issues that have nothing to do with me. She needs time and a good

psychiatrist to help her sort them out.”

Alice sighed. “My, how that family’s fallen apart in the span of a month. Poor

Grant. I know you never cared for him, but that boy’s had his share of grief these last few years. I always wished he’d find a nice girl and settle down.”

“Actually, he had his eye on Audra,” Jack said.

Jack. What are you doing?

“Oh?” Alice leaned in, trying not to appear too interested.

“What the hell,” Joe said, slapping both knees. “Doesn’t the horny little bastard know you just lost a husband?”

“Dad, it’s okay. He only expressed an interest. He never acted on it.” Jack looked at Audra and a smile crept over his lips. “You can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“Even if he had, Audra would have rejected him,” Alice affirmed, “being a new

widow and all.”

Why did the statement sound like she’d slipped a question in the middle?

“True,” Jack conceded. “But there’s another reason too.”

“There is?” This from Alice.

It was Joe’s turn to lean his stalky body forward. “What? What’s the other

reason?”

Here it comes. My world will never be the same. Please, God, please let them
understand.

Jack reached for her hand and squeezed tight. “What the papers suggested about

me and Audra—it’s true.”

Alice and Joe Wheyton stared at their son’s hand as though they couldn’t

comprehend his words or his actions.

Jack clarified it for them. “Kara’s our child.”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!” Joe Wheyton boomed.

Alice simply continued to stare at their joined hands.

“Mom?”

“I don’t understand. All these years. You...Christian...how?
Why?
”

There were years of questions in her halting words. Had Christian known his

brother was the father of Audra’s child? Or had he believed the child was his? What about Jack? Had he refused to marry her?

“We know it’s a shock to both of you.” He managed a tight smile. “Trust me,

nobody was more shocked to learn the truth than me.”

“You didn’t know you had a kid?” Joe sounded like he’d just discovered the next

twist of
On Eden Street
.

“Not until a few weeks ago.”

Alice cleared her throat and cast her oldest son a no-nonsense look. “Your father might like this mish-mush drama, but I prefer the facts. Start from the beginning and end with right now.”

“Alice, he’ll get to it,” Joe said, settling back in his recliner. “Give him time.” He glanced at his Timex. “You think we’ll finish by three? No rush, but if we don’t, I want to tape the show.”

“This won’t take two and a half hours, Dad. You’ll have plenty of time to watch

your show.”

Joe held up a beefy hand. “No rush. Take as much time as you want.”

Jack squeezed Audra’s hand and began, “I was in medical school when Christian

brought Audra to my apartment. He said she was new to the school and wanted me to watch over her, kind of like a big brother. The second I looked at her, I knew she was the one.” His voice dipped and turned rough. “I asked if she and Christian were together and when she said no, that was it. The only time we spent apart was during class or when I was at the hospital. By Christmas I knew it was getting out of hand and affecting my studies. I didn’t want to fall in love, not when I still had residency and specialties. Mom, I made a promise to you that I was going to become a neurosurgeon and help children like Rachel. So, when Christmas break came along, I took off.”

“You just left her? Without saying anything?”

“I know that’s the coward’s way, Dad, but that’s what I did. I left and headed

home with nothing in mind but getting away. I planned a ski trip to Toggenberg and actually had the car packed when Audra showed up. She came to tell me she was

pregnant but I shut her down before she could say a word by telling her it was over.”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Joe murmured.

“I guess she went to Christian and confessed everything. That’s when he asked

her to marry him and head to California.”

“California was Christian’s idea?” His mother asked the question with equal

degrees hurt and apprehension.

Finally, Audra spoke. “Yes.”

“And he knew the baby was Jack’s?”

“He knew,” Jack said. “By the time I got back from the trip, I realized what a jerk I’d been and how much I needed her.” He squeezed her hand again. “That’s when you told me they’d eloped.”

“Lord Almighty, this really is like
On Eden St
.”

“Joe Wheyton, stop that right now or I swear I will disconnect the cable and

you’ll never see another soap opera again.” Alice turned to her son. “Why would

Christian do what he did?”

“He loved her and he knew I wasn’t ready for a wife, let alone a child. I think in his own way he was trying to be honorable.”

“Did you love him?” Joe asked Audra.

“In time, yes.”
But not the way you think.

“But you never got over Jack,” he said.

“No.”

“And now you want to be together,” Alice supplied through pursed lips.

“Mom, we’re not going to throw away another chance. We love each other and

we’re going to be together. The only question is when and where.”

“And Kara?” His mother’s voice rose. “What will you tell that poor child? That

the father who raised her for eight years isn’t really her father at all? That the man we just buried was her
uncle
?”

“No!” Audra couldn’t listen to any more. “She’ll believe Christian was her real

father. Jack will help raise her but only as her uncle.”

“That’s a pretty big order, for a man not to claim his own flesh and blood.”

“Christian deserves that, Dad.”

“I don’t see how this is going to work.” Alice worried her lower lip. “People were just starting to accept Audra and now if she takes up with you, what will they say?

They’ll think what the papers suggested is true.”

“Alice, will you stop worrying about what everybody thinks? Who cares what

those old cronies of yours say? Tilly McNally probably thinks Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward didn’t belong together, and Marion Fitzpatrick has her nose buried so deep in those damn knitting needles, she can’t see a thing. These kids love each other.” He made the sign of the cross. “I say God bless.”

“But where will you live? Please don’t say California.”

“We thought we’d build in Landemere. Do you think you could get used to a

twenty minute drive?”

Her eyes teared up. “Thank you, Jack. That would be wonderful.”

He leaned over and placed a kiss on Audra’s temple. “Don’t thank me, Mom. I

would have followed Audra to Alaska. She’s the one who wants to live near you and Dad.”

***

He stood by the park bench, hands shoved in pockets of well-tailored navy slacks,

head bent to study a fallen oak. His hair remained perfect despite the September breeze which bounced Audra’s about her shoulders. Except for the slight furrowed brow, one would never know Grant Richot’s world had turned upside down these past two weeks.

“Grant?”

He turned and the furrow disappeared, replaced with casual ease and a slow smile.

“Audra. Thanks for coming. I thought you might change your mind.”

“Of course I’d come,” she said, taking a seat on the bench. Jack hadn’t liked the idea and had insisted he accompany her which would defeat the whole purpose of the meeting. Of course, she’d told him no. Whatever Grant wanted to say, he was not going to say in front of Jack.

Grant sat beside her, his blue eyes scanning her face. “It’s been a tough few

weeks.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“In some ways I wonder why I never put it together—the mood swings, the over-the-top behavior followed by depression. I chalked it up to our line of work. When a child makes it, we’re euphoric, when he doesn’t, we crash pretty hard. It’s a tough business.”

Kara was one of the ones who was making it, thank God. With annual MRI’s,

close observation, and prayers, she would continue to make it. “We parents thank you for helping our children,” she said.

He covered her hand with his and said, “I’ve had an offer from the Stevens

Institute. They want me to head up the research and diagnosis for congenital anomalies and it’s close to where Leslie is. Who knows how long she’ll be hospitalized? She’ll need extensive therapy and it’s going to be a long road, but I’ll be there for her.”

“She’s very lucky to have you.”

“I’m trying.” He smiled again and said, “Enough about that. My new place is only an hour from here.”

What to say to that? “Great.”

Those blue eyes turned bluer. “I know this is premature but if there was a reason to make that trip every weekend, I would.”