American Heroes Series - 03 - Purgatory (18 page)

At Friday morning’s briefing,
Nash stepped into the conference room to find the giant poster on the wall with
the words “Mrs. Nash Aury” written in black marker across the bottom. He had
just stood there and laughed as his commanders roared at the joke. Nash’s only
comment was that they were all jealous, to which the group heartily agreed.

Nash got off of work early on
Friday afternoon, eager to spend the weekend with Elliot. He wanted to take her
and the kids down to New Orleans and as he drove Highway 10 south, his mind was
on the luscious little blond and the sweet personality. He was so enamored with
her that he couldn’t put it into words, so in love with the woman that he kept
thinking he was dreaming. He never imagined something like this would ever
happen to him.

The sun was starting to set as he
pulled down the long driveway to Purgatory. He could see where the contractors
were beginning to lay the forming for the paved driveway, careful not to drive
over the wood forms as he pulled up in front of the house.  All of the trucks
were gone, including his brother’s, as Beau headed back home for the weekend.

Climbing out of the car, Nash’s
gaze drifted over the enormous structure, noticing that they were already
beginning to paint some of the exterior. Plaster had been repaired and the
peeling, crumbling entablature was nearly finished being repaired and
reinforced.

 The army of workers his brother
had on the house were doing their jobs in record time and the entire place was
really starting to come together. As he slammed his car door and headed for the
house, Penelope ran up the driveway behind him and gave him a playful shove.

“Hey,” he shouted weakly,
pretending to tip over. “Watch where you’re going.”

Penelope had been out jogging.
Sweaty and smiley, she ran backwards as she headed for the house. “You’re too
slow, old man,” she teased. “Did you bring any food?”

He lifted his hands in an
offended gesture. “Is that all I’m good for?”

Penelope laughed, slowing down as
she reached the steps. “I wouldn’t know,” she said. “I’d have to ask my mother
that question.”

It was a rather bawdy comment and
Nash lifted an eyebrow at her as she sat down on the big, wide steps of the
porch and began untying her running shoes.

“Your mother is too much of a
lady to discuss such things,” he said quietly. “Besides, it’s none of your
business.”

She looked up at him, still out
of breath, and laughed. “I wouldn’t want to know, anyway,” she said. “What you
two do is your business. But I will tell you this; I don’t think I’ve ever seen
my mom so happy. I want to thank you for that.”

He smiled modestly. “It goes both
ways,” he said softly. “She’s a wonderful woman.”

Penelope untied both shoes and
exhaled sharply, trying to catch her breath. “I know,” she said. “I think she’s
kind of great, too.”

Nash lowered himself down onto
the step beside her, his big leather Sam Browne belt creaking and groaning as
he sat.

“I was thinking of taking ya’ll
down to New Orleans this weekend,” he said. “Would you like that?”

Penelope looked at him with
surprise. “Really?” she said gleefully. “I’d love it!”

He smiled at her. “Good,” he
replied. “Do you think your mother will…?”

He was cut off when the front
door suddenly flew open and Elliot appeared.  Dressed in Capri-cut jeans, a
pretty white blouse and white sneakers, she ran at Nash before he could stand
up from the steps and grabbed him by the hand.

“Come on!” she said excitedly.
“I’ve been waiting for you all day. You have to see them!”

Grinning, he let her yank him up
the stairs. “Hi to you, too,” he quipped.

She smiled at him as she
practically dragged him across the porch.  “Hi,” she said quickly. “Hurry up. I
want you to see them!”

He laughed softly at her, waiting
until Penelope had gone into the house before pulling Elliot to a stop and
whipping her into his arms. He kissed her deeply, unable to restrain himself,
loving the feel of her hands on his face as he sucked her lips.

“I’ve missed you,” he murmured.

Elliot closed her eyes as he
tasted her. “I’ve missed you, too,” she whispered.

He kissed both cheeks and the tip
of her nose before quickly letting her go, looking around to make sure no one
had seen them. Elliot put her hands on his hips, pursing her lips irritably.

“Why do you do that every time?”
she wanted to know.

“Do what?”

“Kiss me like you mean it and
then let me go so fast that I nearly fall over,” she lifted her eyebrows at
him. “Are you ashamed of me?”

He snorted at her. “Are you
crazy?” he exclaimed softly. “I just don’t want the kids to see us.”

She shook her head at him.
“They’ve already figured it out,” she took his hand again and pulled him
towards the door. “At least, Penny has. I don’t know about Alec.”

He pulled her to a halt before
she could go through the door.  His features were suddenly very serious.

“Come on,” he took her hand and
tucked it into the crook of his elbow. “Take a walk with me.”

“But…,” she was pointing inside
the house. “I want to show you something.”

“It can wait a minute.”

With a shrug, she followed him
around the porch that encircled the entire house. Carpenters had been repairing
the porch and they walked on reinforced board as they circled the north side of
the house. Elliot snuggled up to him and he held the hand that was lodged in
his elbow.

“I’d like to take you and the
kids to New Orleans this weekend,” he said quietly. “What do you think about
that?”

She looked up at him, surprised.
“All of us?”

“Sure. Why not?”

She shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know,”
she looked down at her feet as they walked along the new wood. “Seems like a
lot of money for you to spend.”

“No, it’s not.”

“It seems kind of crowded.”

“Come again?”

She looked up at him, grinning.
“What if I want to be the only one that goes with you?”

The corners of his mouth tugged
with a smile. “What are you going to do with your kids?”

She laughed softly. “It’s not
like they’re little children anymore,” she said. “They can spend a day or two
alone. They won’t burn the house down.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”

He toyed with her fingers. 
“Well, then we may have a bit of a problem,” he said as they rounded the house
and ended up overlooking the back yard. “I already asked Penny if she and Alec
would like to go.  She seemed pretty excited about it.”

Elliot shrugged. “She’ll get over
it. We’ll take her another time.”

He stopped and faced her,
watching the setting sun play off her delicate features. There seemed to be
much on his mind.

 “It seems to me that you’re
becoming a little bolder with the courting you and I are doing,” he said
softly. “Am I misunderstanding you?”

She met his gaze. “No,” she said
honestly. “Nash, I just can’t explain what I feel for you. It’s like… like I’ve
known you all of my life, like you’re already a part of me. I was so scared in
the beginning to let myself feel something for you but I just can’t help
myself.  I’m crazy about you and I don’t care who knows it.”

His smile grew. “I am so proud to
be by your side,” he whispered. “You can’t even imagine how proud and humbled I
am.”

She moved to him, putting her
hands on his face as he wrapped her up in his big arms. As the sun dipped down
over the bayou, they held each other, drawing strength and life and love from
one another.

“You told me you loved me five
days ago,” she whispered. “I never told you I loved you in return. I do, you
know. You’re such an amazing man.”

He pulled her against him,
hugging her tightly, feeling something he’d never felt before in his life. It
almost brought tears to his eyes. “God, I’ve been waiting all my life to hear
that from you,” he murmured. “I love you so much.”

Elliot clung to him. Then, her
body began to shake. It took him a moment to realize she was sobbing. Shocked,
he pulled back to look at her with great concern.

“What’s wrong, darlin’?” he asked
softly. “Why are you crying?”

She was smiling with tears
streaming down her face. “I don’t know,” she laughed. “I just am. I’m just so
happy. Nash, I never thought I’d be happy ever again. You’ve changed my life.”

He kissed her, hard, not caring
if the kids were watching them or not.  In fact, he was still kissing her when
Alec and Penelope suddenly burst from the kitchen door and out to the lawn
where the fireflies were now starting to come alive. They didn’t even notice
the two adults in an amorous embrace as they tried to catch the bugs with a
homemade butterfly net.  

Nash stopped kissing Elliot long
enough to watch Alec trip over his own feet as he chased some bugs around the
yard. Nash and Elliot laughed, still locked in a tight embrace, as Alec went
down in the thick grass.  Penelope leapt over her brother as he struggled up
from the ground.

“Stupid bugs,” Alec growled until
he realized they were also in the grass and he began scooping them up with his
hands. He sat up with a bunch of fireflies in his hands. “Hey, look at these!”

Elliot shook her head at her boy.
Then she looked up at Nash. “You wouldn’t have guessed that he graduated
Valedictorian from high school,” she commented. “He’s smarter than all of us
combined but you’d never know it sometimes.”

“Mom!” Penelope suddenly
screamed, pointing at the water’s edge. “Alligators!”

Elliot and Nash came off the
porch, heading towards the pointing girl. “Just stay back,” Nash said calmly.
“They won’t hurt you if you stay clear of them.”

Penelope was jumping up and down,
half from fear and half from excitement.  She went to hide behind her mother
when Elliot approached, but Alec moved up beside Nash so the men could view the
fanged creatures. They watched two of the beasts, small ones, as they lay
leisurely upon the shore.  Nash spoke to Elliot with his gaze still on the
alligators.

“You’re going to want to think
about putting a fence up to keep them from going deeper into the yard,” he told
her. “There was a time when I was kid that they would get up under the porch.
You don’t want that happening.”

Speaking of the porch reminded
Elliot of what she very badly wanted him to see inside the house. Fireflies and
passionate kisses had distracted her. She went over to Nash and took his hand
one more time.

“Come in the house,” she told him.
“I really want to show you something.”

“Wait a minute,” Alec turned to
them, his gaze oddly serious. It wasn’t often he was serious, but suddenly, he
looked quite grown up. “Mom, you go in the house. Penny and I want to talk to
Nash for a minute.”

Elliot tried not to show her
concern or surprise. “What about?”

Alec waved his hand in the
direction of the house. “Just… go inside.  Please?”

Elliot lifted her eyebrows, her
gaze moving between Nash’s somewhat amused expression and her son’s serious
face.  After a moment, she shrugged. “Okay,” she chuckled, letting go of Nash’s
hand and walking backwards towards the house. “I’ll just… go on inside….”

Penelope was grinning at her
mother, which told Elliot that whatever the subject matter, it wasn’t all bad. 
She had a feeling what it was about and she figured that she’d let Nash handle
it. This was, after all, between Nash and the kids for the most part. He had to
earn their trust and with things picking up between them, perhaps now was a
good time. Hopping up onto the porch, she disappeared into the house.

When Elliot was gone, Nash turned
to Alec. “What can I do for you?” he asked.

Alec faced the man that was
exactly as tall as he was.  His expression went from serious to uncertain and
then back to serious again.

“Look,” he began, as if he didn’t
know quite where to start. “I know about you and mom and I just want to say
that I’m okay with it. I didn’t think I would be, but I am. You have to
understand that my mom and I are really close.  She’s always been there for me,
no matter what, and I grew up thinking I was pretty lucky to have such a cool
mom.  When my dad died, it was, like, the worst thing you can imagine. You
don’t even know what my mom went through. She could barely go to his funeral
because she was so devastated. My friends and I spent months spending every
single second of the day with her so she was never alone.  I couldn’t stand to
see my mom so upset. It was killing me.”

By this time, Nash was listening
seriously, hearing the shattered young man who had lost his father, the brave
young man who was trying so hard to take care of his mother. His heart ached
for Alec, but he was also extremely impressed by the young man’s strength of
character. That kind of devotion and compassion was rare. But he didn’t say
anything because he could tell that Alec wasn’t finished. As he watched, Alec
took a deep breath and ran his hands through his cropped blond hair in a
nervous gesture.