Sea of Dreams (The American Heroes Series Book 2) (32 page)

She was coming to understand where he was coming from and she, too, eased up.  He was trying to be reasonable so she tried, too.

“But that’s not what it means at all,” she insisted. “Let me see if I can give you an example of what I mean; let’s say that you sell your townhome and have three hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the bank from it.  Now, let’s say we open the Art Bar and the business isn’t a success. We lose money, we go into debt, and suddenly creditors are filing lawsuits to get their money. We have to file bankruptcy.  Baby, if we don’t divide the assets with a prenup, then that money you have sitting in the bank from your home sale becomes my asset as well and the creditors can take it all.   That’s your money and I want you to keep it safe.  That’s why I suggested a prenuptial agreement, and for no other reason than that.”

He understood what she was saying perfectly.  He sighed heavily, thinking that maybe he had done something terribly wrong in reacting the way he had.  He hung his head.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I thought the worst and I shouldn’t have. That was really unfair and wrong.  I have more faith in you than that and I’m sorry I didn’t show it.  You’re so much smarter than I am… I should just listen to you.”

Blakesley wiped the last of the tears from her cheeks.  “I can get over you thinking that a prenup is an easy-out to a marriage,” she said as she walked around the car. “But I really need to come to grips with the fact that you thought I was trying to bamboozle you somehow or had a lack of faith in our relationship.  That just really hurts.”

He was starting to feel desperate and deeply repentant. “I said I’m sorry,” he said softly, watching her walk towards the house.  “What do you want me to do? I’ll write it in blood if I have to.”

She took the steps up to the deck that led to the master bedroom. “Next time, don’t think the worst of me,” she looked over her shoulder at him. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

He watched her walk into the house with a hugely heavy heart. He couldn’t remember ever having hurt so badly about anything.  There was a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes.  Feeling his keys in his right hand, he went to his old Chevy truck, parked up against the big four car garage, and started it up,

Sliding out onto the street, he drove off into the deepening evening.

***

Blakesley was keenly aware that Beck had left.  Part of her wanted to go running after him but part of her was glad.  She needed some time to breathe, away from him, and ponder his reaction to her suggestion of a prenup.  She saw his point after he had calmly explained it, but to immediately assume the worst had hurt her deeply. It just showed that they really didn’t know each other as well as they hoped.  It wasn’t his fault. It was her fault for assuming he could read her mind.

So she calmed down and settled in to her evening routine with the girls.   All three little girls got into the bathtub at eight o’clock and bath time ensued until eight-thirty, whereupon she got the girls out of the bathtub with Nikki’s help and got them ready for bed.  Then it was story time for Crosby and Charlotte, and Alfie too because he ended up lying on Crosby’s bed. 

As Blakesley lay on Charlotte’s bed and read them the story of the Velveteen Rabbit, Blakesley heard Beck’s truck pull down the alleyway next to the house.  She heard the electric gate at the back of the house open and continued reading distractedly until she heard the back door open downstairs.  Feeling relieved he was home, she finished off the book but Crosby demanded one more.  Blakesley rolled over on to her side to finger through the stack of books on the bed stand between the beds when Crosby suddenly yelled.

“Beck!” she flew off the bed and raced to Beck, standing in the doorway. “Will you read us a story? Please?”

Blakesley turned to look at him.  He was holding Crosby’s hand as she yanked him in the door but his eyes were on Blakesley.

“Sure,” he told Crosby. “If it’s okay with your mom.”

Blakesley nodded, her eyes riveted to him and trying to glean some feeling off of him, good or bad.  “It’s fine,” she said quietly.

He smiled faintly at her and she smiled back, feeling a huge sense of relief. There was warmth in his eyes; she could see it.  Beck picked Crosby up by both arms, dangling her over Blakesley and Charlotte’s head before depositing her gently onto the bed.  As Blakesley held up the book for him to read, he took it and climbed onto the bed beside her.  It was a twin sized bed, rather snug for two grown adults and two small children, but he snuggled in right behind Blakesley and pulled her tightly against him. Blakesley held Charlotte and Crosby, all three of them wrapped up in Beck’s big arms as he read Good Night Moon.

It was sweet and heavenly and cozy. Blakesley relished the feel of him against her and she closed her eyes, listening to his deep and sultry voice read the children’s book.  When he was finished, he put Crosby in her bed and tucked her in while Blakesley tucked in Charlotte.  He left the dog because Crosby had begged him to and, being a sucker, he couldn’t refuse.  He would leave the mutt until the girls fell asleep, at any rate.  As they both walked from the room together, Blakesley softly shut the door.

“Baby,” Beck didn’t even wait until the door was completely shut. “I’m so sorry I said those things to you.  Please don’t be mad at me any….”

Blakesley put her fingers to his lips, silencing him. “It’s my fault,” she murmured. “I just assumed you knew what I was thinking and why, and I shouldn’t have done that to you. I blindsided you and that wasn’t fair.”

He pulled her into a fierce hug, holding her tightly. “I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did,” he whispered, kissing her ear. “I love you so much. I’m nothing without you. If you think a prenup is the right thing to do, then go right ahead. We can do it however you want.  I know you’re just trying to be smart about things and I respect that.”

She put her hands on his cheeks, looking him in the eye. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. “

“My lawyer said he can write it up any way we want, but you should have another lawyer look it over. Just like a second opinion.”

“Sure, baby. Anything you want.”

She kissed him and he responded fiercely, soft touches and gentle tastes reaffirming their love and commitment to each other.  Lizzie picked that moment to come out of her bedroom and she groaned at the sight of the two adults in a tight clinch.

“Geez, Dad,” she sneered, pushing past him on her way to the bathroom. “Don’t do that around the kids.  Go downstairs and do that stuff in your own space.”

Beck grinned, looking at Blakesley, who was also smiling.   Blakesley gently pulled from their embrace and headed downstairs as Beck had a few words with his daughter. Blakesley closed the blinds in the small playroom off the entry and turned off the light, turning on the porch light and making her way through the house closing blinds, curtains, and turning off lights. 

By the time she reached their bedroom, she opened the door to find the entire room lit with a dozen or more candles and a gigantic bouquet of flowers lying on the bed.   As she gasped, she felt a body walk up behind her.

Beck bent over and scooped her into his arms, carrying her into the bedroom and kicking the door shut behind them. Blakesley’s arms were around his neck, looking around the room at all of the candles.

“Baby, what did you do?” she asked.

He kissed her on the cheek. “I’m trying to make up for being an ass,” he told her, setting her gently to her feet.  He pointed to the nightstand on his side of the bed. “I got a bottle of the best champagne I could find. The guy at the liquor store said that brand is guaranteed to get me laid.”

Blakesley looked at the bottle of Veuve Cliquot sitting in a blue plastic bucket with ice.  She giggled as she turned to him.

“You didn’t have to do all of this,” she said softly. “I forgave you the moment you drove out of the driveway.”

He sighed faintly and made his way towards her. “I couldn’t count on that,” he said quietly. “I just wanted to say how sorry I was. I was a jerk.”

She smiled at him. “You’re forgiven.” She stood on tip-toes to kiss him. “Now, are you going to get me drunk and take advantage of me?”

His eyes twinkled. “Can I?”

“Sure.”

Beck did just that.  He came to discover that Blakesley had a very low tolerance for alcohol and by the third glass of champagne, she was quite literally wasted.  She was a happy, funny drunk, and very horny, and he had some of the best sex of his life that night before she passed out. The unfortunate part was that he awoke to a grumpy fiancée with a very bad hangover. 

Chapter Seventeen

Marshall Thorne came down from Los Angeles a couple of days before the wedding to meet his future son-in-law and spend some time with him.  Beck had been a little nervous meeting Blakesley’s father but discovered that Marshall was one of the nicest guys he’d ever met.  He had a quirky sense of humor and walked around with an unlit cigar hanging out of his mouth.  Blakesley wouldn’t let him smoke it around the girls so he would go outside and sit with Alfie, who happily followed the man around in the yard.

Beck’s parents also came down from Santa Rosa and he had the privilege of introducing Blakesley to his father, Rear Admiral Beckham Raymond Seavington the Second, retired, and his mother, Elizabeth.   Blakesley was surprised to know that Beck’s father was a retired admiral, but she remembered that Beck said his father had been in the Navy, so it really wasn’t that much of a surprise in hindsight.  Tall and blond like his handsome son, Beck Sr. was a quiet and kind man, and Blakesley liked him immediately.

Beck’s mother was a sweetheart, too. Everyone called her Betty.  Betty was a warm and gracious woman who took to Blakesley and her girls right away.  She only had one son, and one granddaughter, so the introduction of a new daughter in law and three new granddaughters was thrilling for her.  Beck noticed that it took all of five minutes before Crosby and Charlotte were sitting happily on his mother’s lap. His mother ate it up.

Sometime around mid-afternoon on the day before the ceremony, Blakesley’s best friends from Los Angeles had driven down and Beck found himself introduced to a horde of beautiful and feisty women. Sophia, Kimberly, Barbi, Cyndee and Terri were sweet, friendly, happy, funny as hell and incredibly protective of Blakesley. Beck found that out when Blakesley introduced him to the group of ladies and then was called away because Charlotte had awoken from her nap. 

Alone with the group of women, Beck smiled at the women as he thought on how to continue the conversation without Blakesley but the group had other ideas. They literally ganged up on him in the kitchen and told him in no uncertain terms what their expectations of him were.  He fought off a grin as Sophia, the most beautiful but most outspoken of the group, stopped short of threatening his manhood should he do anything to hurt Blakesley. Beck understood and was touched by their loyalty and softened them up with his honesty and charm. Within the first twenty minutes of knowing the ladies, he’d won over most of them except for Sophia. She was still the hard-sell but she was fading fast.

The women hit the beauty salon on Friday afternoon, with Blakesley and Betty going on Saturday morning.  Beck dropped them off at the salon before heading out with his dad and Blakesley’s dad, picking up the flowers and running last minute errands.  When he returned an hour later pick he ladies up, he was astounded at Blakesley’s transformation.

She had an elaborate up-hairdo with a tasteful small tiara artfully woven into her honey colored hair.  From the neck up, she looked like a goddess but from the neck down, she wore yoga pants and an oversized shirt, so he ran the women home so they could get dressed. Time was growing short.

Nikki and Lizzie had dressed the girls while Blakesley had retreated to the master bedroom to put on her wedding gown. It was a beautiful casual wedding gown made of chiffon and satin, with bejeweled spaghetti straps, an empire waist, and a jewel-encrusted band embracing her torso just below her breasts. It was sweet and gorgeous and flowing, and it took Beck’s breath away when he saw her emerge from the master bedroom. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.  He took her hand, kissed it, and struggled not to tear up.  He had no idea that Blakesley was doing the same, looking at him in his sharp dress white uniform. He was handsomest man in the world.

Charlotte and Crosby looked like little angels in their pretty white dresses.  Cadee also had a pretty white dress that was a little more grown up than her sisters’ clothes, while Lizzie had a gorgeous silky white dress that made her look like a super model.  All of the girls had bouquets of orange-yellow roses with orange lilies and yellow irises mixed in. With everyone dressed and ready, Beck herded everyone in to three cars and they headed off to the county clerk’s office.

Captain Davis, Anthony Solis, Gina and several other men and their wives from Beck’s troop were waiting for them at the main San Diego county clerk’s office in the heart of San Diego along with a photographer Blakesley had hired.  Truthfully, it was a bit of a circus as they all filed in to the country clerk’s office for the five minute ceremony, but when all was said and done, Beck and Blakesley were married and that was all that mattered.  Blakesley had her gorgeous ring on, plus a matching slender wedding band with pave diamonds and Beck had a big, sleek titanium wedding band.  He’d never worn one before but he was very proud to wear one now.  He kept touching it, hardly believing it was real.

When the ceremony ended, Crosby and Charlotte had had enough pomp and circumstance, and Beck found himself carrying Crosby out of the building because she was very unhappy about nearly everything.  Sophia had Charlotte while Cadee followed her mom, holding her hand, and somehow they made it out to the grassy area outside of the building to take pictures.  Now they had two crabby little girls on their hands but Beck and Blakesley got some spectacular shots with San Diego harbor as the backdrop, and when the picture taking was over, Captain Davis had made arrangements at the Grant Grill at the U.S Grant Hotel in downtown San Diego, a local icon built in 1910 and very upscale.  Davis knew the general manager and had set up a fabulous lunch reception.