American Heroes Series - 03 - Purgatory (30 page)

Nash froze, his eyes widened as
he looked at his brother.  Beau had no idea why until Nash’s eyes flicked at
Elliot and he shook his head faintly.  But Elliot had heard the comment as she
made sauce for the asparagus on the stove top.

“I heard about that,” she said,
not looking at Nash. “Your brother told me you were going to work for the state
police commission.”

Nash looked over, feeling
incredibly guilty for not having told her all of this before. The truth was
that it hadn’t crossed his mind and it had never come up in conversation.  It
had been the proudest moment in his life before he had met her, now paling in
comparison to what he felt for Elliot. She had trumped everything. 

“The police commissioner is
leaving office next month,” he said. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it before. It
just never came up.”

She looked over at him as she
whisked something in a saucepan. “That’s okay,” she smiled. “You can’t tell me
your whole life story in a week.  When do you take the new job?”

“September first.”

“What will you be doing for the
police commission?”

Beau spoke up before Nash could
because he knew Nash was too modest to point out the truth. They’d be here all
night beating around the bush.

 “He
is
the Police
Commissioner, Ellie,” he said. “He was appointed by the Governor back in
March.  Nash will be the new State Police Commissioner when he takes office.”

She stopped whisking and looked
at Nash with shock. “Are you serious?”

Nash nodded humbly. “Yes.”

Her eyes opened wider. “Oh, my
God!” she exclaimed. “That’s…. that’s amazing!”

He smiled faintly. “Does that
change your mind about me?”

She laughed. “I don’t know,” she
said. “Should it?”

“I won’t take it if it means
losing you.”

Her smile vanished. “Why would
you lose me?” she asked seriously. “Unless one of your job perks is a harem of
women, I’m not sure what one has to do with the other.”

Beau thought that now might be a
good time for him to leave but Elliot barked at him to sit back down and he
did, like an obedient kid. He pretended to drink his beer as Elliot approached
Nash with the whisk in her hand.

“I’m going to be spending a lot
of time in Baton Rouge, honey,” Nash pointed out. “I won’t be seeing you as
much and….”

“Are we getting married before or
after you take office?”

He looked surprised. “I… I don’t
know,” he said. “I haven’t really thought about it.  But I’ll tell you this –
I’d sure like you by my side when they swear me in. That would mean the world
to me.”

“Then we’ll do it before,” she
said decisively, turning back to the stove. “That way, you’ll be coming home to
me every night so it really won’t matter if I don’t see you during the day. 
We’ll sleep in the same bed every night and that’s what matters.  Are you going
to sell your house over in Gonzales?”

Nash blinked, looking at his
brother, who was amused by the way Elliot had taken charge of the situation.
Beau just grinned.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Nash
replied, looking back at Elliot. “I was planning on commuting. It’s only about
thirty miles away.”

Elliot whisked the saucepan
furiously and turned off the stove. “But I want to live here at Purgatory,” she
said. “What are we going to do with two houses?”

“Then I’ll sell it.”

She reached into the oven and
began pulling out the plates. “So why did you ask if I had changed my mind
about you?”

He sighed faintly, toying with
his beer bottle. “Because I’m stupid and insecure, I guess,” he said, shrugging
when she looked at him. “I don’t know why I asked. I’m sorry I did. I should
have given you more credit.”

Elliot smiled faintly as she
brought the plates over to the table and set them down.  She poured Hollandaise
sauce over the asparagus before sitting down next to Nash. Once she sat down,
she and Nash gazed at each other a moment before exchanging tender kisses right
in front of Beau.  Beau kept his head down, eating the delicious meal and
trying not to pay attention to the love birds.

Not another word was spoken about
the State Police Commission job. It was the first time Elliot had actually
cooked for Nash and he discovered, with delight, that she had a talent for good
cooking.  He chowed down on the herbed chicken and rice dish, finishing it off
with a pineapple upside-down cake that was heavenly.  When all was said and
done, he’d stuffed himself silly and had four beers.  Beau wasn’t much better. 
Together, the brothers wallowed in gluttonous misery.

As they all sat around the table
and enjoyed the after-feast of light conversation, they heard faint knocking at
the front door. Elliot moved to get up but Nash stopped her, crossing through
the dim central hall and going to the door himself.  Unlatching the bolt, he
pulled open the panel.

Two familiar faces were gazing
back at him.  Nash grinned, pulling each young man towards him in turn,
planting a fatherly kiss on the head.

“Well, it took y’all long
enough,” he said.

Beck Aury and Shane Aury smiled
back at their father.  Beck was nearly the spitting image of his dad, handsome
and well-built, while Shane resembled their mother, a bigger-boned lad with
dark-brown eyes and hair.  They were very handsome young men and very glad to
see their father.

“We came as soon as we could get
here,” Beck said. “Shane had to work.”

Shane was much like Alec in his
demeanor, kind of the big, easy-going type. “Yeah, but I’m off for the next
three days,” he said, looking around the porch of the enormous house. “Are you
going to invite us in or do we have to stand here all night?”

Nash stood back, ushering the
boys in.  Since Purgatory had been inhabited by a crazy old woman or had spent
years in probate during their lifetime, they had never really seen the interior.
Both of them looked around with awe.

“So this is it,” Beck said,
peering into the front double parlor. “This place is a monster.”

Nash watched his boys look
around. “I’ll give you a tour.”

While Shane agreed, Beck put his
hand on his father’s arm. “In a minute,” he said, his voice quiet. “So what’s
going on, Dad? Why are you here? Why are
we
here?”

Nash had planned this moment in
his mind for days, what he was going to tell his sons about him and Elliot.  He
had been very close to his sons, especially since the divorce when both boys
had elected to live with him.  Julie had fought him on it and a nasty custody
battle had ensued until a judge in Baton Rouge decided that a sixteen year old
and a thirteen year old were capable of deciding where they wanted to live. 

Therefore, the boys had stayed
with Nash during the week, seeing their mother on the weekends. Now, they had
their lives up in Baton Rouge where they were going to school, young men
growing up and finding their place in the world.  Still, Nash desperately
wanted them to be okay with him and Elliot.

“Well,” Nash scratched his head.
“It would seem that your dad has fallen in love.  She’s the most amazing woman
I’ve ever met and she happens to own Purgatory.”

Beck didn’t react at first but
Shane looked shocked.  Both boys waited for more of an explanation to be
forthcoming but when Nash didn’t continue, Beck lifted his eyebrows
expectantly.

“And?” he said. “What else? How
did you meet her? Were you going to tell us this at some point or just mention
it in passing some time down the road?”

Nash put his hand on the young
man’s shoulder. “Look,” he said softly. “I haven’t had a chance to tell you
because she and I have really only been together a matter of a week.  I don’t
know how else to tell you that I love the woman and we’re going to get married.
She’s intelligent, beautiful and amazing in every way and I really hope you’ll
give her the chance to come to know you. It would mean a lot to me.”

Beck looked at his dad, shaking
his head with the shock of the situation, before turning to look at his brother
to see how the younger brother was reacting. Shane merely shrugged.  Beck
turned back to his father.

“Isn’t this happening kind of
fast?” he scratched his head.

Nash lifted his shoulders. “If it
had happened to you, I would have said the same thing,” he replied. “All I can
say is yes, it happened really fast, but in my whole life, other than you boys,
nothing has ever felt so right. I don’t make swift decisions and I don’t act on
whim, so all I can tell you is that Ellie is a wonderful woman and I adore
her.  Give her a chance, okay? And don’t think she roped me into anything
because I promise you, it was the other way around. I pursued her until she had
no choice.”

By this time, Shane was grinning.
“Right on, Dad,” he fist-bumped his old man. “Is she hot?”

Nash snorted. “Smoking.”

Shane laughed. “Then if you’re
happy, I’m happy.”

“I’m happy,” Nash assured him,
looking at Beck. His oldest seemed to be the only hold-out. “And you? What are
you thinking?”

Beck wriggled his eyebrows much
in the same way Nash did. “I’m thinking that I’m smelling something really good
in this house.”

Nash grinned at him and clapped
him on the neck, pulling him into an embrace.  The three of them headed back
towards the kitchen.

“The reason why I called you was
to not only introduce you to Ellie, but to introduce you to her kids,” Nash
said. “She’s got two kids your age and they don’t know anybody around here. I
was hoping you could take a couple of days and show them around. I know they’d
really appreciate it.”

Shane shrugged easily while Beck,
as always, was more resistant. “Great,” he grumbled. “Now we’re tour guides?”

“No, you’re being friendly to two
people who really don’t know anyone in the State of Louisiana,” Nash said pointedly.
“Ellie’s oldest is Penelope, a very lovely girl who just enrolled at Tulane,
and her youngest is her son, Alec. I think you’ll like them.”

Beck seemed to perk up at the
mention of a girl. “Penelope?” he repeated. “And she’s cute?”

Nash cast him a long look.
“You’re a gentleman, remember? I raised you better than that.”

Beck shrugged. “I know,” he said
defensively. “But if I have to drive people around, then at least one of them
can be nice to look at.”

Nash grinned at him as they
entered the kitchen.  Beau, seeing his nephews, jumped up from the table where
he had been in quiet conversation with Elliot.

“The troublemakers have arrived!”
he said happily, embracing Shane and then Beck. “Y’all have grown up right
before my eyes.”

Beck smiled at his Uncle Beau but
his gaze was drawn to Elliot, who had risen from her chair and was smiling at
the strange young men in her kitchen.  Nash held out a hand to her and she came
to him.

“Honey, these are my boys, Beck
and Shane,” he indicated each young man in sequence. “Boys, this is Ellie
Jentry.”

Shane was the first one to extend
his hand. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Ellie.”

Elliot shook the young man’s very
large hand. “It’s so nice to meet you as well,” she looked at Nash, a little
flustered. “I had no idea you were coming.”

Nash had his hand resting on her
shoulder, an affectionate and possessive gesture. “I wanted to surprise Alec
with some young men his own age,” he said, “but Alec and Penny had plans of
their own.”

Elliot waved him off. “They’ll be
back soon,” she extended her hand to Beck, who looked a good deal like his
father. “I’m so happy to know you.  Have you guys eaten dinner yet? I’d be
happy to make you something.”

“No, thank you, ma’am,” Shane
said. “We ate on our way over.”

Elliot was ushering them all to
the table, the only table in all of Purgatory at the moment. “Please, sit,” she
insisted. “Would you like some cake and coffee, then? I just got this stove and
it’s the very first thing I’ve ever baked in it.”

Beck started to decline but Shane
wouldn’t let him. “Thank you, ma’am,” he said. “We’d like some.”

Beck kept his mouth shut and sat
next to his Uncle Beau.  He watched the petite, beautiful woman as she happily
cut cake and doled it out.  He watched his dad as the man stood next to her,
helping her, and he saw the smiles that passed between them. He’d never seen
his father smile like that before. All surprise at the situation aside, he
couldn’t decide how he felt about the whole thing.

So they sat with cake and coffee,
getting to know each other in the brightly lit kitchen of Purgatory.  Shane did
most of the talking between the two boys and Nash couldn’t help but notice that
Beck was unusually silent. 

Beck was usually the more mature
and understanding of the pair but it was evident he wasn’t happy. He wondered
if Beck was going to give him any trouble about it. As he sat in increasingly
brooding silence over Beck’s behavior, Elliot turned her attention to the
oldest Aury son.

“Your dad tells me you’re in law
school, Beck,” she said politely. “Where did you get your undergrad?”