Candy Crush (28 page)

Because she felt slightly unnerved after
that encounter, Gabriella and Butter speed-walked back to Brandon’s
house, and her heart rate didn’t slow to a normal pace until she
reached the back door.

After the football game was over, Emmett
dragged himself upstairs to take a shower and then the three of
them piled into Brandon’s truck and headed to his parents’ house
for dinner. As soon as he walked inside, Emmett took a deep breath
and said, “I feel better already. Whatever is cooking smells
awesome.”

Brandon sniffed the air and said, “Damn,
mom’s making lamb shanks for you guys.” He held the door open and
Gabriella walked inside after pausing so that Butter could rush in
first. Butter scurried straight to Laney, at least Gabriella
assumed so, based on Laney’s squeal.

Courtney walked into the foyer and said,
“Why did you bring
him
?”

Brandon walked by and gave her a one-armed
hug. “Just to annoy you. Glad to see it worked.” He jumped out of
her reach as she took a swing.

Courtney gave Gabriella a hug. Emmett
stepped up behind her and smiled hopefully. “Not on your life,”
Courtney said waspishly, and she turned and walked into the
kitchen, where everyone was gathered, chatting and eating
appetizers.

***

Dinner was, as usual in the Sarantos
household, a noisy, raucous affair. Eleven adults squeezed around
the dining room table, plus Laney in a booster seat, tucked in
between Courtney and Emmett, and Anthony Junior in his
highchair.

Courtney was annoyed by the seating
arrangement, but it made perfect sense, since Gabriella sat on
Emmett’s other side. Besides, Emmett could convince Laney to eat
like no one else could. He had even convinced her to eat an olive,
besides lamb and green beans and feta cheese. And Laney seemed
content to hang out in her booster chair, so long as Emmett was
sitting next to her, talking to her as if she were every bit a part
of the conversation that ebbed and flowed around the table.

Stephanie sulked next to Patrick. Emmett
wasn’t even someone’s date, he was just Gabriella’s brother, and he
received a warmer welcome than she’d ever gotten from Patrick’s
parents. And Grandma Sarantos was falling all over herself fawning
over him. Although, Stephanie admitted to herself as she watched
him chat with Laney and ignore Courtney, he was certainly easy on
the eyes. And he obviously liked kids. Patrick was still
half-afraid of his niece and never volunteered to baby-sit. Not
proving to be good dad material at the moment.

Stephanie sighed, because she was
twenty-seven years old and she desperately wanted to get married.
To marry into the Sarantos family was practically like marrying
into royalty in this town. She thought she had her ticket with
Patrick – Brandon had been a stone wall last year when she had
tried flirting with him, and Anthony and Nicole have been happily
married for four years – but Patrick was thus far showing no
inclination to move their relationship any further along. It didn’t
help that his mother practically hated her.

Now this Natalie Reager woman was back in
town. When Stephanie grilled Patrick about her earlier today, he
had flat out refused to discuss her or any relationship they may
have had. Not open for negotiation. But Stephanie was sure she
meant something to him, and she didn’t like the idea that the woman
had moved back to Holly.

Stephanie did a mental tally in her head of
all the unmarried Sarantos men and she didn’t come up with much:
Patrick, Brandon, their cousin Jared, and a few other cousins who
were at least several years younger than her. The rest were married
or still teenagers. Jared scared her a little with his womanizing
ways, and Brandon was apparently well on his way to being shackled
to someone else, so that left Patrick. With a sigh, Stephanie
turned and tried to flirt with him, ignoring his mother’s
beady-eyed stare.

***

After dinner, Courtney and Nicole
disappeared upstairs to give the kids baths and put them to bed,
while everyone else helped clear the table and clean up the
kitchen. Rosalie pulled out a deck of cards and a notepad and
suggested they play cards. Brandon explained the house rules to
Gabriella and Emmett, while they waited for Nicole and Courtney to
return.

Everyone turned towards the staircase when
Courtney bellowed, “Laney!” and then Laney came rushing down the
stairs and all but leapt into Emmett’s lap.

“I just wanted to say good night to
everyone,” she mumbled into his shirt, as she hid her face from her
mother, who was stomping down the steps, looking angrier and
angrier with each step she took.

Emmett whispered in her ear, “Give everyone
a hug and say good night and I’ll help put you to bed.” Laney
smiled impishly and raced around the table, giving each adult a hug
and kiss and saying good night. Then she leapt into Emmett’s lap
again and he stood up and carried her to the stairs.

Courtney stood at the foot of the stairs,
arms crossed, blocking his way. “She’s
my
daughter,” she
said waspishly.

“Do you want to spend all evening fighting
with her or do you want me to help, so this is quick and we can get
back downstairs to play cards?” Emmett asked, low enough that the
rest of the family couldn’t hear him.

Courtney held her stance for several
heartbeats, and then she huffed out a breath and stomped back up
the stairs. They passed Nicole as she made her way back
downstairs.

Emmett followed Courtney down the hall and
through a door into a pink and purple little girl’s room. The walls
were pink and purple. The curtains were pink and purple. The floor
was wood with pink and purple throw rugs everywhere. The comforter
on the bed was purple with large pink polka dots. “This is awful,”
Emmett said as he walked over and deposited Laney on the twin bed
that jutted out into the middle of the room.

Courtney laughed. “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?
Laney talked my mother into it while I was at school. I came home
one Friday night to this.” She waved her arm in an arch.

Emmett tucked Laney under the covers, gave
her a kiss on the forehead and whispered, “Good night.” He stepped
back and watched as Courtney did the same, and then they stepped
out of the room and closed the door.

“Wow,” Courtney said, pausing in the
hallway. “That is never this easy when the whole family is here.
She always wants to stay up and visit, and the later she stays up,
the more excitable she becomes, which makes it nearly impossible to
actually get her to sleep.”

“You’re welcome,” Emmett said. A smile
teased at his lips.

Courtney couldn’t help it. She smiled
back.

“Finally,” he said with a chuckle.
“Something other than a smirk or a scowl from you.” Then he kissed
her, softly, on the lips. He pulled back and made no move to deepen
the kiss.

“What was that for?” Courtney asked in a
bemused voice.

“Curiosity. I have a feeling I’d really
enjoy kissing you, Courtney.”

“I’m seeing someone,” she blurted out.

Emmett’s smile widened. “I’ve heard. Several
times. Your brother is a bit protective.”

“I’ve made some really stupid mistakes in my
life, and most of them are centered around men.”

Emmett nodded, as if he understood.

“I guess you can kind of relate, having a
sister and all.”

“I can. She tended to rebel in the form of
the men she dated.”

“How do you feel about my brother?”

“I think I’ll kick his ass if he breaks my
sister’s heart. But I don’t think he will.”

“It’s not really that serious,” Courtney
said suddenly.

“Brandon and Gabriella?”

“No, the guy I’m seeing, back at school.
It’s not really serious. He’s kind of a loser anyway. I’ve been
thinking about breaking it off, but I just haven’t gotten around to
it.”

“Oh yeah?” There was amusement in Emmett’s
voice.

“I’d like you to kiss me again.”

Emmett stared at her for half a heartbeat
and then he pulled her close and dipped his head for a kiss that
quickly escalated into a near full-body experience.

***

Nicole stopped at the top of the stairs,
caught sight of them, smiled to herself and tiptoed back
downstairs.

She sat down at the table and said, “We
should probably start without them. They’re getting to know each
other better.”

Anthony, Patrick and Brandon all surged to
their feet. “Sit,” she commanded in a voice that almost rivaled
Rosalie’s. All three men slowly sat back down.

“He’s Gabriella’s brother. He’s a perfectly
respectable man.”

“I agree,” Rosalie said with a firm nod, and
she began shuffling cards.

“He’s hot,” Grandma Sarantos said and
Brandon’s father choked on his beer.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It was mid-morning on Sunday. Brandon and
Gabriella sat on the built-in bench in the kitchen, drinking
coffee, reading the newspaper and eating breakfast. They were both
startled when Emmett walked into the room, fully dressed, with his
car keys in his hand.

“Where are you off to?” Gabriella asked,
watching as he poured coffee into a travel mug.

“Courtney’s going back to school tonight and
I have to drive down to Detroit, so we’re going to spend the day
together. I’ll be back probably late evening. See ya.”

As the back door banged shut, Gabriella
glanced at Brandon. He scowled.

“Stop it,” she admonished. “Look at how he
is with Laney. It could work.”

“Do I really need to point out the obvious?
That he lives in New Orleans? That she’s still in school? Besides
the fact that she’s only twenty-two years old.”

Gabriella put her hand on his arm. “Brandon,
you are really getting ahead of yourself here. They aren’t going to
move at warp speed. They don’t have a choice. Brandon is here for a
month. Let’s just sit back and see how the relationship develops.
They could do the long-distance thing until she graduates, and then
decide where they want to go at that point.”

“Doesn’t he travel all over the country with
his job? How’s that going to work with Laney?”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself again.
Relax. If it’s meant to be, it will work itself out.”

“If that’s your philosophy, why do you keep
resisting what’s happening between us?”

Gabriella was so startled by the sudden
shift from talking about Emmett and Courtney to talking about their
own relationship that she was rendered speechless.

“Huh,” Brandon said when she didn’t respond.
Because this subject more often than not led to potential
arguments, he changed the subject again. “Anything special you want
to do today?”

“The candy store has been cleared for me to
get in again. I wouldn’t mind going over there and throwing all
that old candy in the dumpster. Then I can call to have the
dumpster emptied tomorrow. And then I guess I just sit and wait it
out, till the police find whoever has issue with opening the
store.”

They both dressed in sweats and tennis shoes
and walked to the candy store. It took several hours and they were
both exhausted when it was done, but finally, every box had been
pulled out of the storeroom and thrown into the now overflowing
dumpster. All that was left was a pile of dirt and dust.

Gabriella leaned against the wall next to
Brandon and mopped her brow with the sleeve of her shirt. “I don’t
think I have the energy to even sweep and mop this up right
now.”

Brandon shrugged. “Then leave it. It’s not
going anywhere. We’ll come back up here one day after work and do
it. Come on, let’s go home and take a shower.”

Brandon pushed off from the wall and pulled
Gabriella into his arms. He kissed her on the forehead and they
walked outside together, with Butter on their heels.

***

The next few days were uneventful. Brandon
and Gabriella woke up together, went to work together and ate lunch
together unless one of them had a lunch appointment. On the days
Brandon went to the gym after work, Gabriella went home and made
dinner. It was domestic and peaceful.

Gabriella enjoyed the routine and the peace
and quiet. Mostly, she enjoyed spending time with Brandon. She knew
their relationship was budding into much more than either of them
ever expected, and, she realized with a start, she was inclined to
just let it happen.

Late Thursday night, the serenity was
shattered. Gabriella surfaced from sleep to a constant, low
rumbling sound. She wrinkled her brow and tried to figure out the
source of the noise. She lifted her head and saw Butter, standing
on her hind legs, front legs propped on the windowsill, looking out
the window, and growling, deep and low in her throat. Gabriella
glanced at Brandon. He was sound asleep, lying on his side with his
arm draped across her stomach. She gently lifted his arm, slid out
of bed and tiptoed to the window. She patted Butter’s head and
looked outside.

Someone was standing next to her car, which
was parked in the driveway. It was a man, and he was dressed all in
black with a black knit cap on his head. Gabriella watched as he
stood behind her car, writing something on a piece of paper he held
in his hand. Her license plate number, maybe? He walked around and
bent over to peek into the driver’s side door. He walked all the
way around the car and then turned his head up, towards the house.
Gabriella instantly shrank back from the window and dropped to the
floor.

“Oh my God.”

***

When she spoke, Brandon woke up with a
start. He reached across the bed, and when he realized she wasn’t
in bed with him, he lifted his head and looked around, wondering
where Gabriella went. He spotted her sitting on the floor and sat
up in bed. “Gabriella? What are you doing?”

She glanced up at him. The stark terror on
her face caused him to scramble out of the bed to the floor, where
he pulled her into his lap and hugged her tightly to him. “What’s
wrong?”