Embracing Everly (28 page)

Fuzz sat and started to set up our gear, but I knew he was listening. My background was something I wasn’t proud of. Dawson knew everything because I had told him, and he listened and gave me a home regardless. I didn’t know who knew what, or how much they knew about it, just that they all accepted me.

“I wasn’t thinking about me. I was thinking about her and getting far away from it all.”

He wagged his finger in my face. “When we find her, the pair of you are sitting down and figuring this shit out— good or bad.” He paused to look at Fuzz and then back to me. “If it’s bad, Mick, you’re sticking around. If you think of leaving, I will hunt your ass down, badass IRA or not.”

He got a smile out of me. “I hear ya.”

“Good! Now let’s find your woman.”

We agreed that Fuzz would take the first watch at the house while Dawson searched the beaches and bars that were still open, and I would hit hotels with her photo and surrounding backyards close to her home in hopes she was sleeping on someone’s porch recliner.

We met back when the sun began to rise early as hell with no luck. Fuzz was asleep on the couch, snoring away with the very blanket that I imagined she used while writing her lyrics or watching television. Dawson kicked him awake, “Anything?”

He shook his head grumbling his annoyance at being woken, but got up anyway.

Fuzz took the photo from my hand to go out and search. “All right, I’m out. Catch some sleep, boys.”

I started my way to the one room I’d managed to stay out of for the last twelve hours, but turned to Dawson. “Did you ever really speak to her dad?”

He laughed. “Yeah, I did. He thinks she came to catch some sun and have some time to herself after her loss of the baby and you. He’s still hiding. He can’t risk everything to come comfort her yet. We had a call arranged for that, and somehow those assholes knew about it, but that’s a problem for another day.”

I glanced around her room taking it all in. Her guitar sat off to the side right next to her bed, and it was as if I could almost hear her singing when I closed my eyes. I kicked off my shoes and climbed under her flowery sheets. I was wiped out with exhaustion, but the scent of her coconut lingering on her pillowcase woke my senses alive. I inhaled several times, pretending she was right next to me and not off hiding in trouble somewhere. I reached out for her as I began to drift off, but then remembered there was nobody there to hold.

FEAR HAD ME
staying put, hiding inside someone’s lanai that wasn’t home. I had walked these streets a million times in two months, and certain houses were empty for periods of time waiting for the Northerners to come down for the winter and this was one of them.

Dawson was out there looking for me, I hoped. Although when he told me to run, I did. I didn’t even look back to see if he or Sara made it out alive. I’d been out all night, and I was running low on steam and food. I had no money and no idea if it was safe to go home or at least check on Sara. My stomach hadn’t stopped rumbling since last night, and starvation or at least the feeling was making me rethink my plan.

I looked down at my watch. It was just nine in the morning, and I was hopeful that any criminals would be sleeping at this hour. Hours and hours of watching Cops taught me at least that. Crime was usually committed in the evening hours since they were awake all night doing no good and sleep in afterwards. I knew it was stupid rationale, but it was all I had, and I was desperate to find out if they were okay.

Sara’s house was first on the path back. I didn’t want to be seen by anyone that may or may not be in my house with a gun to Dawson’s head or a lifeless Sara, or waiting for me to reappear. I’d slip in, see if she’d made it back and call the cops regardless. I tapped the glass lightly so not to scare her in case she was inside. “Sara, are you in there?”

Movement a second later let me know someone was inside. The sheer curtain shifted over, and the window opened. “Oh, honey, it’s you. Go around back, and I’ll let you in.”

I hustled around to the rear and waited, thankful she was okay. The sliding glass door glided open, and her hands pulled me inside. “Oh, Jane, you’re safe.”

“It’s Everly, Sara. My name is Everly. Jane is my middle name. We’ve been lying to you all this time.”

She pulled away with only compassion on her face. “I figured something like that. Come sit and talk.”

She filled two mugs of coffee, and I took it, craving the warmth for my empty belly. She set out a few bagels and cream cheese, and I wanted to break down and tell her I loved her for it. Before any words were spoken, she patiently waited until I had half a bagel eaten. “There are three men next door, honey. That Dawson came back looking for you after he had the man arrested.”

“So the cops have him?”

She nodded. “Oh, yes, Dawson handled everything.”

“Who else is with him?” I tried to act nonchalant, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t working.

“Some grizzly looking thing who needs a shave and then one very nice looking young man. They just got back a bit ago,” she paused. “I’ve been watching everything. They’re all inside.” Of course she had. Nothing gets past her. Well, maybe one madman wanting to kill my dad and me. How the hell did she miss him?

“Oh, does he have dark hair—the younger one?”

She sipped her coffee with a small smile she was trying to hide behind her mug. “Yes, he does.”

“Do you think I should go over? Or maybe you can, and tell Dawson to come here alone? I hate for him to worry about me. And I was supposed to finally talk to my father last night, and I didn’t get the chance.”

“I could go feel things out, but, honey, is that the boy?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Go see him, Jane. Is it okay I call you that?”

“Sure it is.” I took a deep breath. “I don’t know what to say to him. What if he doesn’t want to see me?”

Her warm hand came over mine with a small squeeze. “He’s here isn’t he? Use your heart, and it won’t let you down. If you use your mind, you might say the wrong thing. He’s only human honey, and people make mistakes. You just have to decide if you love him enough to forget those lies, those mistakes enough to move forward. If he’s anything like you told me then he’s going to listen to what you have to say.”

I dropped my chin some, trying to talk the tears away. “What if what Dawson said is true and he moved on? I don’t want to screw that up for him.”

“Jane, you lost a child together, that’s not something one forgets so easily. Open up to him, and maybe he’ll open up to you and tell you why he did what he did. I don’t think he’d be here if he moved on either.”

“I hope you’re right.” I stood after finishing the coffee and bagel to look in a mirror hanging by the door, praying she was right. “I look a mess.”

“You look beautiful. A little tired and worn, but still beautiful.”

“You’ll be here later?”

“Where else would I be?” She kissed my cheek, gently nudging me out the door.

To him.

I WAS DREAMING.
I had to be because I could hear her voice. That was how fucked I was since I figured out that embracing Everly and the love she offered was the only medicine I needed to keep me grounded.

I wrapped my body around her pillow and blankets drifting deeper into oblivion.

“You look like a Fuzz,” her voice said. Why the hell would she say that in my dream? Why couldn’t she be naked and straddling me instead? Nope, my stupid ass conjured up fricking Fuzz in mine.

I rolled over to face the door believing I possibly heard her a second time. I started to sit up when the door creaked open, and her beautiful face came into my view. I jumped out of bed, not thinking about having lied down in only my boxers. “Angel?”

Her eyes took my chest in, then back up to meet mine, and then stayed on my lips for a beat. If I were betting man, which I was, I’d place my life savings on her wanting to kiss me right at that moment. I wanted that so much I couldn’t move, petrified one little thing might trigger her to run back out that door and out of my life. “Hi,” was all she said.

One look, one word and it was like everything lifted; the pain, the deep ache in my chest, the doubt of her love, the thought that she deserved better, and the fact that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I loved her.

“I don’t care that you ran.” I opened my arms wide wanting to hold her and never let go, but I knew it was her move. Her choice. If she couldn’t forgive me, I’d either walk or spend the rest of my life gaining her trust back. “I don’t care, Ev, just come here.” If she didn’t feel the same, I didn’t want to know today. I didn’t care if she lied as long as she fell into my arms, letting me hold her and pretend to love me one more time. The damage had been long done, and I didn’t care. I just cared about her. That was all that mattered to me.

A tear dripped down her face. I took a few steps closer to be able to reach out and wipe them away. “I’m so sorry, Everly. I swear if you forgive me that will be the last tear you’ll ever shed because of one of my lies or because of me.”

Her head tilted into the palm of my hand, her baby blues closed and then opened. “There’s so much to say.”

“There is, I know there is, but right now… right this minute, Angel, I don’t want to talk about it. For over two months I felt like I couldn’t breathe without you and now you’re right in front of me, in my reach and I just want to kiss the hell out of you until I can catch my breath again.”

“Well, you do need to breathe.” She smiled. “C’mere you.” She grasped the back of my head, tugging it down until our lips met. It was amazing how one little smile and your emotions could flip in a matter of a nano-second from depressed to downright blissed out.

A light tap on the door had us both turning toward it. “We’re taking off for an hour or so. Have fun you two,” Fuzz hollered through the closed door. We could hear him snickering away, laughing and telling Dawson to leave us alone. My gaze was already on her when she swung hers back to mine. “I think I like that Fuzz guy.”

Angel wasted no time at all slipping out of her clothes and tossing them aside as I hurried to strip out of my boxers to keep up with her. She stepped close and pressed her hips into my erection, her hands wrapping around my neck.

“God, I missed you,” I told her. I squeezed her ass with a groan as she shifted. “But, Pedro really missed you.”

She looked down and then peered up through her lashes with fire in her eyes. “You tell him I missed him too.”

“Why don’t you show him instead?” She narrowed her eyes, pulled one arm from around my neck and slowly, and torturously ran her fingers down my stomach until—bingo!I loved this playful side of her, when she let her guard down and rolled with the punches, but suddenly her hand stopped, and her face lifted with one small tear slipping down her cheek.

I lifted my hand, the pad of my thumb wiped it away. “What’s wrong?”

“What happened?”

“It’s nothing. A job went bad, I’m fine.”

She hesitated, but honored my answer. A few seconds later she removed her hand from my healed wound and looked up. “It’s just… I love you.”

“Babe,” I cupped her face and stared into those blue eyes that always made my heart beat a little faster. “I love you so much, Ev.” My lips pecked the tip of her nose. “Now, I’m going to show you how much.”

My hands knotted in her hair, tugging her closer trying to get her as close to me as two people could be. Her legs wrapped around my waist as her mouth came down on my lips, her soft tongue moving with mine. I felt the wetness on my cheek, and I didn’t even think she realized she was crying.

“Hey,” I pulled back an inch. “Don’t cry, Ev, please.” I buried my face in her hair, inhaling her scent that I missed.

“Mick?” she whispered.

I kissed her lips, my tongue tracing both. “Angel, later. We’ll talk later.”

“I guess I should get reacquainted with Pedro?”

And she did. She got very acquainted with Pedro.

She was lying on top of me, naked; sweat glistening down her back as I ran my hand up and down wiping it away. It was hot as hell in there and the sex just ignited the heat up more. Her face was snuggled up under my chin. “I missed you,” she said, as her arms gripped my neck tighter.