Hammer It Home: Powertools, Book 6 (16 page)

“We’ll be here to kick your ass and fuck some sense into you.” James patted his chest. “Don’t you get your panties in a wad about that.”

“Right now, I’m not worrying about anything.” And it was true. Since the accident, his mind hadn’t once been quiet. Constant babbling terror had coursed through his brain. Telling him he’d never heal, never satisfy his wife, never be the man he’d promised to be.

In the wake of passion, silence reigned supreme.

Welcome quiet.

Calm.

Peace with whatever might come next.

“I love you, Dave.” Kayla hugged him tight before pulling off, allowing him to slip from her body. “Please never forget that again.”

“I promise.” He grunted. “But…is someone crushing my leg? Can you move over, please?”

He couldn’t lift his head very far, being the bottom of the pile of crewmembers. Still, it was far enough to catch the glances that winged from person to person.

“No one’s touching your leg, Dave. We were all careful not to hurt you.”

“Shit. Then why is it burning so bad?” He clawed at the sheets as tingles spread from his toes, up the sole of his foot to his ankle then along his calf. “Holy fuck. It hurts.”

He laughed and laughed and laughed—with a generous amount of crying, cursing and gasping mixed in.

“Should I call 911?” Devon got to her hands and knees, poised to scramble for a phone.

“No.” He chuckled some more. Relief flooded his veins, making him believe he could dance a jig like Uncle Joe with his golden ticket in
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
despite the pain. “Don’t you see? It hurts. I can feel it. Finally, I can feel it.”

Kayla buried her face in his neck and sobbed.

The rest of the crew stroked him over every exposed portion of his body. Fingers combed his hair, held his hands and rubbed his chest. They comforted him through the initial blaze of returning sensation. When the stabbing tingles began to abate, he puffed out a huge sigh.

“Okay, big guy. Let’s get you to your doctor’s office. Pronto.” Mike put an arm around Dave’s shoulders, as though he would lift his hulking carcass from the bed singlehandedly. Even with one withered leg, he still weighed a ton. Physical therapy had seen to that.

“Wait a minute.” Dave brushed him off. “I want to try something.”

The eight faces ringing him looked at him in unison. Devon tilted her head.

He stared at his toes—afraid to do it, afraid not to.

When they realized what he was about to attempt, they switched their gazes to his foot.

“It’s okay if nothing happens.” Kate stroked his bad knee…and he felt it.

“Don’t push yourself.” James clasped Dave’s good ankle. “This is a big step already.”

Dave reached out blindly, finding Kayla’s hand and clutching it in his.

“I love you no matter what.” She kissed his knuckles. The contact sent a jolt of blissful electricity into his system, lighting up his nerve endings. He twitched.

And the toes on his left foot wiggled.

Epilogue

“What the hell was so urgent you couldn’t wait for the end of the game?” Dave grumbled to Joe as he navigated the half a flight of porch stairs on his crutches. He was getting damn good on the things and cheating a bit, putting pressure on his bad leg when he thought no one was watching.

Joe didn’t blame the guy. He’d be going stir-crazy by now too. Eight months was a hell of a long time to be benched, doomed to rely on others for most everything. Hopefully, today would help Dave regain even more independence.

“Is that any way to greet your best friend’s favorite cousin?” Eli shouted from around the corner of the house, intentionally out of sight.

Dave swung out, then back, as he stopped abruptly. “Holy fuck.”

Joe sidestepped in time to avoid knocking him over. The rest of the crew and their women scrambled to join them once they realized their friend had spied his surprise.

“What’s going on?” The hesitation in Dave’s voice might have been amusing if circumstances had been different. Kayla joined him, laying a hand on his ass from a step behind.

“Seeing as your truck wasn’t quite as indestructible as your hard head, we thought maybe you’d like a new set of wheels.” Eli sat on a gleaming chrome bumper, muscular arms crossed over his built chest. Apparently working on classic cars was about as much exercise as construction jobs. All of his hot-rodders were lean and mean. Not dudes Joe would want to scrap with in a dark alley.

“Well, an old set of wheels, really. She’s a 1934 Ford Model A.” Alanso winked from his spot beside Eli. He patted the enormous red ribbon tied into a bow on the hood of the retro delivery truck. The glossy black paint job, complete with flames on the front, gleamed along with chrome in the fall sunlight.

“She’s gorgeous.” Dave crossed the rest of the driveway in three swings. He trailed a finger lovingly along the contour of the oval side mirror. “This is way, way too much. I could never accept this kind of gift.”

“Look, Joe isn’t the only guy in my family who gets off on surprising people. You wouldn’t steal all my fun, now would you? Besides, the gang worked their asses off on this beast. They’ve been dying to hear about your reaction. Don’t make me say you rejected their efforts.”

Dave didn’t respond. His face fell a bit, and he looked kind of pale.

“What’s wrong?” Kayla whispered to her husband. “Do you need to sit down for a minute?”

“No. Shit. Sorry.” He held his crutch in the juncture of his arm long enough to wipe his face. “It’s just that… I’m not really to a place where I can drive. I mean, it’s better, but the doctor said it could be months still.”

“Dude.” Eli shook his head. “No worries. We heard that too. Figured you could use a little freedom. Come here.”

Eli stood, crossing to the driver’s side door. The motion caused his midnight spikes, accompanied by a smattering of neon blue locks, to bob. Dave joined him, picking at the foam rests on his crutches.

“We modified more than just the exterior for you. It’s got hand controls. No foot action necessary.” He slapped Dave on the shoulder, then dangled a key with chrome dice for a keychain in front of their friend. “You’re ready to blow this joint.”

“I. Uh. Wow.” Dave froze for a few seconds. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for this, but…thank you.”

His crutches clattered to the ground as he balanced on his good leg. He smashed Eli in a bear hug that seemed to rattle even the sturdy mechanic. Alanso cracked up and snapped a picture with his smartphone of the two men with the truck in the background alongside Eli’s pristine Shelby Cobra. “The gang is going to love this shit. I think his eyes bugged out.”

Dave put one hand on the frame above the door, then hopped, pulling himself into the driver’s seat of the lowered vehicle. He fiddled with the chrome shifter and admired the extensive detailing Eli and his hot-rodders had crafted in the cabin of the truck. Even from a distance, Joe could tell the vehicle was a masterpiece. Maybe Dave would let him have a turn sometime in the next decade.

Dave shut the door then rolled down the window, wiggling his eyebrows at Kayla. “Want to go for a ride, sexy?”

Alanso turned his head, his eyes looking misty, even as a punch hit Joe’s gut.
This
was the Dave he knew and loved. The confident, optimistic man who had been missing since that fateful day, eight months earlier.

Thank God.

Kayla squealed. She bolted for the other side of the truck. With her tattoos and new eyebrow piercing, she looked right at home in the stylish ride. The engine roared as Dave turned his key in the ignition. If Joe knew his cousin, he wouldn’t have settled for any reasonable amount of horsepower.

Eli did everything full throttle.

The head mechanic snagged the crutches from the driveway, carefully lowered them into the bed, then leaned in to give Dave a one-minute tutorial on operating the modified controls. “Have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Dave grinned. “That leaves a hell of a lot on the table, doesn’t it?”

“Damn straight.” Eli waved as Dave put it in reverse and carefully navigated the open space, three-pointing it until he could pull forward through the winding drive. He seemed to have no problem with the new driving technique, not that the crew limited themselves to traditional methods in any situation. He honked before rounding the bend and cruised out of sight.

“That was fucking awesome.” Mike strode up to Eli and slapped him on the back. “Thank you so much.”

“Anytime.” Eli and Alanso stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the rest of the crew and their women. “I have a feeling we owe you just as much. For showing us…what you did.”

Joe grinned. “So, have you shared your sordid knowledge with the rest of your group? How’d that go?”

“It didn’t. Not yet.” Alanso cursed in Spanish. “Cobra’s too damn cautious. Soon, though. If he doesn’t, I will. Things are getting tense at the shop.”

Eli glared at Alanso. “We have to be careful. When the time is right…”

“Sometimes, things just happen.” Kate crossed the gap. She shifted a bundle swaddled in bright pink blankets to one arm, then hugged Eli. “If this past year has taught us nothing else, it’s that time is precious. I know you get that too. We never know how long we have. Don’t waste your chances. I was scared at first. I almost waited too long. What if I hadn’t taken that leap? Told Mike my fantasy about him and his crew? Where would I be today? Certainly not here, with my family.”

Alanso grunted his agreement.

“I hear you. I do.” Eli nodded. “I’m working on it. Now let me see this daughter of yours. I hope she gets her looks from you, gorgeous.”

Mike growled, “Abby’s too damn beautiful for her own good. I’m hoping she’ll grow out of it. Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll need braces. And some really thick glasses.”

“Payback is a bitch, my friend.” Eli cooed for the infant, wiggling his fingers and turning to jelly, pretty much the same as all the rest of the crew inevitably did around the minx. It was pitiful how easily one tiny baby could rule them all.

Especially when she giggled and smiled, like now.

“And you,
mamacita
?” Alanso gathered Morgan to his side carefully. His accent always seemed to thicken when he talked to women. Most of them melted beneath the force of his Latin lover routine. Even Joe’s wife wasn’t immune. “How are you doing? You’re glowing and…huge.”

She laughed as she patted his rock-hard abs. “Thanks, I think. Things are great. I’m ready to meet our son though. Any time now. The guys keep teasing he must be Dave’s to be so damn big. My back is ready for a break.”

“It isn’t your back I’d be worried about.” Alanso’s rich skin couldn’t hide his blush.

Eli smacked him upside his sexy bald head. “Will you ever learn to think before you speak?”

The crew laughed. Except Morgan’s chuckle sounded strained. She grabbed her middle, then bent in half.

“
Joder
! Lo siento. Didn’t mean to upset you. He’s right. My mouth has no filter. I’m sure it’s stretchy—”

“Alanso. Shut it,” Morgan hissed. “Not mad. Having a contraction. Sort of been having them all day. Not like this, though. I think it’s time. Now.”

Before the startled man could recover, Kayla, Devon and several other crew members swarmed Morgan, helping her to sit on the grass by the driveway. James shook Joe from his daze. “Where are your bags? In the car?”

“Yes. Morgan’s been packed for a couple days. We’re ready.” Somehow it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

“You’d better be.” Eli grinned. “Go ahead. Take her to the hospital. Unless you plan to deliver that baby yourself on the way down the mountain. Al and I will wait for Dave and Kay. We’ll come as soon as we can.”

“Right. Yeah. Okay.” Joe could hardly catch his breath when Morgan shrieked again. Kate tossed him a look that said they should get to the hospital
fast
. It was going to be a long night. Somehow, though, he knew by morning his world would be forever changed. For the better.

Kate handed Abby to Mike, then sank to her knees beside Morgan. She coached her best friend through the now-familiar breathing routine. When Morgan relaxed, Kate looked up. “Carry her to her car. Neil can drive for you. I’ll come in the backseat too. Okay?”

“Yes. Thank you.” He smiled, unable to believe the day had finally come. He scooped up Morgan and cradled her to his chest. After contorting himself into her tiny backseat, while wishing he’d talked to Eli about finding them something more practical, he reached into the front pocket of his jeans.

“I know they’re going to make you take off all your jewelry, but I wanted you to have something to hold. Something to remind you of how far we’ve come,” he murmured to Morgan, love radiating from his heart. Every particle of hope, care and concern was returned to him a million times over in her doe-eyed stare. “So I brought this.”

He handed her a pebble. The edges were worn smooth and the stone had turned glossy in spots from him handling it so often.

“What is this?” Her brows arched as she looked back at him.

“Just a rock.” He shrugged. “I picked it up from the pumpkin patch on our first date. Kind of kept it as my good-luck charm. Maybe if things get rough, you could squeeze it in your fist and remember, I’ll always be there for you and our son. You’re not alone. We’ll do this together.”

“All of us,” Neil and James added simultaneously from the front seat.

“I love you, Morgan.” Joe kissed her, then tucked her head against his shoulder as they pulled out of Dave and Kayla’s yard. Close behind them, Mike and Devon followed. He caught Eli and Alanso waving as they passed by.

Lifting his hand to say thank you and goodbye, Joe knew it was really the beginning of so much more.

About the Author

Jayne Rylon is a
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author. She received the 2011 Romantic Times Reviewer Choice Award for Best Indie Erotic Romance. Her stories usually begin as a daydream in an endless business meeting. Writing acts as a creative counterpoint to her straight-laced corporate existence. She lives in Ohio with two cats and her husband, who both inspires her fantasies and supports her careers. When she can escape her office, she loves to travel the world, avoid speeding tickets in her beloved Sky and, of course, read.