At Peace (85 page)

“What’s that mean?” Sully asked.

Cal ignored this question and went on.
“She’s already got one, you need to revoke it.”

Mike chuckled and remarked, “Hoyt Atkins,
gung ho. Guessin’ he passed that shit down.”

Cal turned his eyes to Mike. “Let’s just say
Lindy doesn’t shy away during a firefight.”

“And let’s just hope she doesn’t get a shot
at another one,” Colt muttered.

Cal didn’t reply as it went without saying he
agreed.

Instead he said, “I appreciate the support
but I gotta get my girls in bed.”

“
I’ll start the clear out,” Morrie murmured
and peeled off.

Colt’s eyes moved with Morrie and then
went to the back of Vi’s head that could be seen on the couch, one
of her girls tucked close on either side.

Colt turned back to Cal. “She okay?”

“
Uncertain,” Cal replied and he looked at
Vi, “could be she feels relief even seein’ Daniel Hart’s head
explode while he was holding a gun to her face. Could be she
doesn’t. You need to text me the number to victims’
assistance.”

“Gotcha,” Colt replied.

“You okay?” Sully asked Cal.

He was. He was beyond okay. He already knew
he felt relief that it was over. He also knew he would lose no
sleep from his decision to fire a kill shot. Vi might relive that
as a nightmare but he sure as fuck wouldn’t.

“Yep,” he answered.

Sully nodded. Colt studied him. Benny leaned
against the counter and crossed his arms on his chest.

“We’re off,” Colt said.

Cal nodded then said to Colt and Sully, “I’ll
get Vi to make her seafood risotto.”

“Feb’s comin’ over in the morning with shit
for her frittata,” Cal replied.

“Maybe I should spend the night,” Benny
murmured.

“You’re not?” Cal asked.

“Gotta get back,” Benny answered.

“For what?” Cal went on and Benny just looked
at him.

Francesca.

Cal grinned but advised, “You’ve driven down
here twice today. Put a bullet in a man. Rest. Eat frittata. Go
home tomorrow.”

“Gotta get back,” Benny repeated and Cal
turned fully to him.

Then he said quietly, “Ben, she’s in a
hospital bed. She isn’t goin’ anywhere.”

Benny’s jaw got tight before he repeated,
“Cal, I gotta get back.”

Cal studied his cousin. Then he nodded.

Everyone left with Benny the last to go. He
gave Vi a hug and then he turned it on the girls. Cal walked him
out to his SUV.

They were standing by the driver’s side door
when Cal said, “You get tired, you pull over.”

“Right,” Benny muttered.

Cal was silent. So was Benny. Neither of them
moved.

Then Cal said softly, “Wouldn’t be here right
now, wasn’t for you.”

“I remember it right, by the time I got
there, you had the situation under control.”

“I didn’t mean me, I meant Vi,” Cal
replied.

Benny held his gaze.

Then he repeated, “Right.”

“Huge,” Cal said.

“What?” Benny asked.

“Owe you huge.”

Benny shook his head. “Nope. This was
family.”

Cal sighed. Then he said, “Still owe you huge
but, even so, you get back and you fuck that up with Frankie, you
answer to me.”

He watched Benny’s body tense. “Your day was
worse than mine but mine wasn’t so fuckin’ great either. Don’t piss
me off.”

“You all been swimmin’ in muddy waters where
it comes to Frankie and doin’ it for years. Don’t fuck it up.”

“Okay, now, gotta tell you, you’re pissin’ me
off.”

“Just layin’ it out.”

“You think you might’ve wanted to lay it out
seven years ago? Even before?” Benny suggested.

“Would you have listened?” Cal asked a
pertinent question. He knew this because Benny’s face grew hard.
“Don’t fuck it up,” Cal repeated.

“I’ll be sure to call, case I need advice,”
Benny replied sarcastically.

“
Don’t know if you noticed,” Cal jerked his
head toward the house, “but I got it goin’ on.”

Benny stared at him three seconds. Then he
burst out laughing.

“
Yeah, kinda noticed,” Benny stated when
he’d stopped laughing. “Though, I could do without runnin’ through
the woods and shooting at bad guys and carrying damsels in distress
who bleed all over my clothes and give me attitude back through
those fuckin’ woods.”

“So maybe you best get in there while things
are quiet,” Cal advised.

“I would, you shut up and let me get in my
fuckin’ truck,” Benny returned and Cal chuckled and stepped
back.

Benny opened the door, got in but Cal put his
hand to the door when Benny moved to close it.

He leaned in and whispered, “Owe you
huge.”

Then he let the door go and walked into his
house.

* * * * *

Joe threw the covers back and settled on his
back in the bed. The minute he did, I curled in.

“They asleep?” I asked.

“
Keira is,” he replied, snaking an arm
around me and pulling me closer, “Kate’s restless.”

“She okay?”

“She says she will be. Listenin’ to
music.”

“Maybe I’ll go check.”

“Buddy, you move, I do to and that would be
to tie you to this bed. Sleep. She’ll be okay.”

I lifted my head and looked at his face in
the dark.

“I should check.”

“She’ll be okay.”

“She might need her Mom.”

“
Vi, this is Kate. She’s got her Mom. She
knows that. We’re all home. We’re all safe. Safer than we were
yesterday. And we’ll be safe tomorrow. Just fuckin’ safe. Let her
be. She doesn’t need you fussin’ because she’s got enough in her
head. She doesn’t need to worry about
why
you’re fussin’. She needs to think you’re safe and
sleepin’.”

He was right which was annoying.

“It’s annoying when you’re right,” I
muttered.

“Better learn to get over that, you’ll need
to get used to it.”

I rolled my eyes and settled in, head to his
chest, ear to his heartbeat.

We were silent for awhile, me listening to
the pounding of Joe’s heart, I didn’t know what Joe was doing.

“Today, I thought for a coupla hours you were
dead,” I whispered.

“Vi –”

“Tomorrow, I glue a camera to my hand.”

“Violet –”

“I won’t need them. This is over and it’s
just us now. But I want memories. Millions of them.”

He was silent.

Then he said, “Whatever you want, buddy.”

I would have lifted my head but I didn’t want
to lose his heartbeat.

“Whatever I want?” I asked.

“Whatever you want.”

“Careful what you promise me, baby, even in
your state.”

His body shook gently with his chuckle and
his hand at my hip gave me a squeeze.

We were silent again then I called,
“Joe?”

“Yeah, buddy.”

“I never said thank you.”

“Honey, for what?”

“For handin’ me the world.”

“Yeah you did,” he replied.

“I did?”

“
You do it all the time,” he said, “fuck,
baby, you’re doin’ it now.”

God I loved him. I more than loved him.

“What’s beyond love?” I asked and felt Joe’s
body give a slight jolt.

“What?”

“What’s beyond love?” I repeated.

“Don’t understand the question, Vi.”

I didn’t explain. Instead I said, “Whatever
it is, that’s what I feel for you.”

He was silent and still for a second. Then he
rolled into me.

“Joe –” I whispered when his hands went into
my tee.

“Shut it, buddy.”

“Joe –”

“Shut it.”

I shut it.

Crash

“Momalicious!” Keira shouted. “I’m gonna go
to the beach and lay out.”

“Big surprise,” Joe muttered and pressed
deeper into me as I looked at the nightstand and saw it was barely
nine o’clock.

I lifted up from the pillow as far as I could
go with Joe’s weight against my back holding me down and shouted,
“You had breakfast, baby?”

“Toast!” Keira shouted back.

“Where’s Kate?” I yelled. “She still
sleepin’?”

“Um…” Keira muttered loud enough for me to
hear and at her hesitation I felt Joe’s head come up and his body
move and I twisted my neck to look at him. “That boy from next door
is out on the beach. She’s out there talkin’ to him.”

I wondered when Taylor had become “that boy
next door” since I was under the impression, considering the amount
of time Keira spent talking about him, that she had a crush on him.
Not to mention the amount of time Taylor spent out on the beach
which I reckoned meant he had a crush on Keira. Perhaps I was wrong
and he had a crush on Kate.

This was not good.

“Bummer for Dane,” Joe murmured and even with
my misgivings about the Kate/Keira/Taylor teenaged triangle, I
grinned.

It had been months but Dane had not fully
made it back into my good books yet, nor Joe’s. Kate had forgiven
him and they were as tight as ever so Joe and I should give it up,
it was just that we couldn’t. If you hurt someone’s child that
forgiveness takes awhile but Dane was determined and I figure he’d
get there one day. As long as he didn’t act like an ass.

“All right, honey,” I yelled.

“See you on the beach,” Keira called then we
heard the door close.

Joe settled back in and I did too.

It was Christmas break and we were at his
beach house in Florida for two weeks. The house was up on stilts
and painted a faded blue with white woodwork. It had a deep deck
all around and a big locked garage which held Joe’s Land Rover, a
beach buggy and a huge barbeque grill which was the first thing Joe
(with Keira’s help) rolled out onto the deck. The house had wood
floors all through, even the kitchen. It was rustic but cute with
two bedrooms; open plan living room and kitchen; a small utility
with a deep sink, a washer and dryer and a bunch of hooks for beach
towels; and one bath. But the bedrooms and living room were huge
and airy and all the furniture was way comfy. There were so many
windows that there was barely any wall space and all you could see
was ocean or trees. It was fantastic.

Even as fantastic as it was, my first
order of business was to make Joe take us to town where we bought a
Christmas tree and all the decorations. We also bought bright,
braided throw rugs, new linen and bathroom and kitchen towels to
perk up the place. Further, I bought a huge windsock which Joe
installed on a flagpole out on the corner of the deck. Lastly, I
bought some wind chimes because nothing said “Florida” (or “beach”
for that matter) better than wind chimes. Joe put those up on the
overhang of the deck.

We’d been there three days and the girls were
already golden tan from playing Frisbee, laying out and travelling
the beach in the buggy Joe taught us all how to drive.

He was mostly right. There wasn’t much to
do but fish, cook, eat, sleep, read and, for Joe and I, have sex.
He was only mostly right for there was a beach which meant the
girls could lay out, Joe had the buggy in which the girls could
tool around, the girls bought a Frisbee which provided them with
hours of entertainment. The kitchen had been updated with
top-of-the line appliances so I was in throes of ecstasy. I’d
already finished two books while sitting out on the deck or in the
sand and the beach house next door had the aforementioned cute
boy-man in it named Taylor. Therefore, the Winters girls were not
at any loss for things to do and were nowhere near
bored.

I, particularly, was not bored. I was a lot
of things but bored was definitely not one of them.

It was the best vacation I’d ever had, bar
none, even the ones I had with Tim and that was saying something.
And we were only on day four.

There was a reason for this and I lifted my
hand to my face and stared at that reason. On my hand was the
princess-cut diamond ring Joe slid on my finger last night over
shrimp at a shrimp shack in town. He did this without saying a
word, just like Joe, letting his face and his actions speak for
him. He also did it with the girls looking on, Kate crying
silently, Keira giggling excitedly.

Only Joe Callahan would propose in front of
his woman’s daughters.

Many would find this unromantic, such an act
being a couple’s thing.

I thought it was perfect.

Therefore I’d cried too, all the while
giving Joe a kiss that communicated my “
Yes!
” and tasted of tears.

A tearful kiss might not have been the thing
but Joe didn’t seem to mind.

In our Florida bed, Joe’s hand went from my
belly to slide up my forearm then his thumb tweaked the ring.

“How much time you think we got?” Joe
whispered into the back of my hair.

“
Kate’s just havin’ fun. She won’t step out
on Dane especially when I think Keirry’s got a thing for Taylor.
She could be back anytime,” I told Joe.

“Mm,” Joe murmured.

“Keira’s out for the long haul,” I went on
because I knew she was and I also knew she looked cute in her
bikini and I reckoned Taylor felt the same. Or at least I hoped so
for Keira’s sake.

Joe chuckled and his hand left mine and went
back to my belly where he pressed in. He moved slightly away and I
fell to my back and looked up at him. His hand started to move from
my belly but my hand went there to hold it where it was.

“Joe?” I called even though he was up on an
elbow, not but a foot away and looking down at me.

“Yeah, buddy?”

“I like that you proposed in front of the
girls,” I whispered and his face got that tender look and started
to dip closer but I kept talking. “It was sweet you included them.”
His face kept coming at me so I said quickly, “Joe.”