Something to Talk About (19 page)

Alan and Andre were the first to recover their ability to speak. “Pop, are you saying we have a brother out there somewhere?” It was impossible to say which one asked the question; their voices were as identical as their faces.

“That’s exactl
y what I’m saying, son. You have another brother. Before you ask, let me explain. His mother died shortly after giving birth to him and I arranged for the baby to be given to a couple in a private adoption. As far as I know he has no idea that he was adopted, has no idea that I’m his birth father. He’s never made any move to contact me, nor has anyone else ever contacted me regarding the matter. He has no clue, no clue whatsoever that he has any tie to this family.”

The
siblings looked at each other and at their spouses and it was
plain that all of them were trying to think of something to say. Clay’s arm was around Benita’s shoulders and unconsciously he pulled her closer to his side in a protective gesture. On the other end of the sofa, Renee clasped Andrew’s hand in hers and squeezed it tightly, giving him all her support and love. Alan and Andre were staring at each
other while communicating silentl
y, something they’d been doing since they were children. This was a moment for the archives; the normally voluble and expressive Cochrans were temporarily struck dumb.

It was the uncharacteristic silence that roused Big Benny’s legendary temper. “Have you
people
all gone deaf or something? I just told you all the deepest secret of my heart and you’re sitting there acting like you’re watching TV! Doesn’t anybody have something to say?” he asked angrily. Martha tried vainly to calm him down, but it was useless.

Andrew raised his eyebrows and said calmly, “Well, Pop, what is it that you want us to say? Do you want us to jump up and run out of the room screaming or something? You just told us that we have a brother out there somewhere. That’s a lot to get used to in the what,
thirty seconds
since you dropped the bomb? Give us a minute to absorb it, why don’t you?”

Alan and Andre spoke in unison, something they always did in moments of crisis. “Look,
Pop
, we appreciate you leveling with us about a part of your past, but we don’t really know how we’re supposed to react.”

Alan added, “It’s not like he’s here in front of us. That would be an entirely different set of circumstances.”

Andre agreed. “If there were a possibility of locating him and the necessity of forming some kind of
association, that
would be different. Your telling us this, it’s kind of conceptual, really.”

Instead of Benny’s being relieved that they were taking it so calmly, the children’s air of sophisticated acceptance pushed the button they all had
learned to avoid over the years,
the button that pushed the emotional elevator in Benny’s head directly to the floor marked
rage.

“What are you babbling about? I know
who
he is and
where
he is,
and as soon as I tell him who I
am, I’m bringing him here. And then your concept becomes reality, Mr. Harvard Law Review,” he snarled in the direction of Alan and Andre. “What the hell did you think,
I was just going to pass a littl
e information on to you and let it go? Of course not, you knuckleheads! I’m bringing my son home and you’d better get used to the idea.”

By now his face was bright red with rage and he was definitely getting the reaction he’d anticipated. Everyone was talking at once now, hands were waving, voices were being raised, and chaos ruled. Martha sighed deeply and shook her head as she insisted that her husband sit down. Aunt Ruth dispatched someone for a glass of water, ignoring Benny’s suggestion that it contain bourbon. Meanwhile Lily Rose woke up from her nap and expressed her dislike for all the yelling with some high-pitched yelling of her own. Clay nuzzled her neck and crooned to her in his deep, gravelly voice and she calmed down immediately. Lillian merely looked sideways at her husband, Bump, who was pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. Finally Benita got everyone to quiet down so she could address her father.

“Daddy, I’m not even going to comment on your announcement. My brain isn’t working well enough for that. But just how do you plan to approach this man? You say you arranged for him to be adopted and he doesn’t know anything about it. This is going to be a huge shock for the man. What makes you think he’s even going to give you the time of day? That’s assuming a lot, even for you,” she said pointedly.

Benny took a few grateful swallows from the icy glass Ruth handed him, frowning when he didn’t detect the bracing taste of his favorite libation and handing it back to her.

“That’s where you come in, daughter. You’re going to help me with this,” he said with the benign, fatherly smile he employed only when he was trying to pull a fast one on her.

“Me?
What have I got to do with all this? Why on earth do you think I’m going to help you approach this man and turn his life upside because you’ve started feeling guilty about your past?” she asked with growing heat.

Benny sat back in the leather armchair and gave her the coup de grace of smiles, the one she referred to as his “jackass eating briars” grin. “Because you know this man, Benita, and he thinks the world of you. His name is John Flores.”

She instantl
y went pale with shock and couldn’t utter a sound.

* * *

Adam was quiet on the way back to the Pier Marquette Lodge, too quiet for Alicia’s comfort. When Adam was upset about something he withdrew from the world and internalized his anger, a process Alicia had become accustomed to over the years. She wasn’t looking forward to a long night of silence and brooding, especially after the day they’d had. His aunts were lively, funny old ladies and they seemed to be born storytellers. They told them about
Idlewild
back in its heyday, about Benny Cochran when he was a child, and about their lives in general, and Alicia
was simply riveted. What Adam thought about the afternoon was a mystery since he’d barely opened his mouth from the time they left the blue cottage.

She eyed him speculatively as they entered the cabin. If he was going to sit and mope all night, she wanted no part of it. She wanted to talk to him, to verbalize her wonder at all that had happened today, but she knew him well enough to know that he was overwhelmed by the unexpected reunion. Her best course of action by far was to leave him to his thoughts.

While he sprawled out on the sofa in the living room, she announced that she was going to take a shower and went to do just that. She undressed in the bedroom they were sharing and donned a pale green terry cloth wrap before entering the s
potl
essly clean bathroom. After adjusting the water temperature, she put on a cute little green shower cap, took off the wrap, and g
ot into the shower with her bottl
e of
Algemarin
bath gel. The clean scent of the gel rose as the hot water cascaded over her body and she began to relax in her enjoyment of the bathing ritual. Closing her eyes, she turned her face into the stream of water and sighed with pleasure, a sigh that turned into a yelp of surprise as Adam stepped into the tub to join her.

“You scared me,” she protested even as she was admiring his long naked body. He traded places with her so that he could get wet all over, looking deeply into her eyes as he did so.

“You left me,” he pointed out. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms, kissing her hard and fierce. “You know I’m a moody idiot. You’re supposed to love me out of it,” he growled, “not leave me alone in my misery.”

Alicia giggled madly as their soapy bodies rubbed together,
then
protested as he pulled off her shower cap. ‘Thanks a lot, my hair’s going to be a mess tomorrow.”

“I like it messy,” he murmured as the water slicked her hair back and filled her lashes with big drops. “You look so hot, baby,
so
incredibly sexy with your hair like that.”

His big hands stroked her back, making firm circular motions on her bottom and anchoring her against his growing erection. She returned the favor, grabbing his hard, muscular rear end and treating it to the same caresses she was receiving. She looked up into Adam’s face and melted against him. The look of love he was giving her was so profound she forgot how to breathe. He leaned down and kissed her again, this time with tenderness and passion. As he gently parted her willing lips with his tongue, Alicia trembled with delight and slid her sudsy arms up around his neck. He pulled her luscious lower lip into his mouth and groaned with pleasure as she did the same. They continued to kiss, sucking on each other’s lips and gorging in the sheer taste of their passion.

When they finally pulled away, Alicia sighed. “I love the way you kiss me.” She
slowly
removed her arms from around his neck and kissed it, then his collarbones, and began licking her way down his chest while the water continued to flow over their bodies.

“I love the way you love me,” Adam countered. “And I want it right now, so we’d better get out of here before we welcome a bundle of joy in about nine months.
 
Emmaline’s
right, you know, we’re going to make some pretty babies.”

Alicia’s tongue was circling his nipple with unerring erotic precision while her hands caressed his hips. His knees buckled under the twin assault and without another word he scooped her up and prepared to leave the shower with her in his arms.

“The water, Adam, turn off the water,
querida
”

He did so with a grumble, not caring about the stupid water at a time like this. Carrying her into the bedroom, he threw a large towel across the bed before placing her on it like a precious work of art.
 
Alicia was about to ask for another towel when it became apparent that Adam had another idea. He turned to the small bag that contained her toiletries and pulled out her blow-dryer, something that Marielle had insisted she take although Alicia had no intention of using it. He turned off the overhead light of the bedroom, leaving them in semidarkness with only the light from the bathroom showing.

After plugging it in, he adjusted the stream of air so it was on a warm setting with medium force. With a smile Alicia was beginning to understand very well, he began to direct the warm air over her waiting body, which was already beginning to tingle with anticipation. The warm stream of air played across her arms, her neck, and her stomach, making her nerves dance with delight.
 
When he started the soft stream over her breasts, she gripped the bedclothes and trembled from the unusual sensation, but he didn’t relent. Using the blower he stroked her entire body over and over, letting the heated air caress her like a lover, gently igniting a fire everywhere it traveled. When he let it play at the apex of her thighs, she gasped aloud, calling his name.

“Adam, stop, that’s not fair,” she moaned.

He knelt on the floor beside the bed and turned the blow-dryer off. “What’s not fair, my love? Doesn’t that feel pleasant? Don’t you like it?” he teased and turned her so that she was crossways on the bed with her legs hanging down. He picked up one of her long, slender feet and began kissing it, licking it across the sole and making his way up to her toes, which would have curled in appreciation if she hadn’t been so limp from sensation. He continued up to her ankle, licking and kissing his path up to her knee, then the tender flesh of her inner thigh, all the while pulling her closer to the edge of the bed.

By now she was so aroused at the sensual onslaught to which she was being subjected
that her breath was coming in fevered gasps
. The warmth of his hands, coupled with his hot tongue, was conspiring to make her start to lose herself in ecstasy. She felt as if she were being swallowed up in a starry sky. When his seeking mouth delved into the moist opening between her thighs, the stars exploded all around her as his tongue imprisoned her, bringing her to a level of release she didn’t know existed. Her hips moved in undulating circles as he plundered the honeyed sweetness he craved in an unending kiss that went on and on so long that she thought she would die from the pleasure.

After, giving her too many orgasms to count, Adam relented and began to kiss his way up her body, rising from the floor and finally arriving at her mouth, leaning over her and lifting her body so that he could join her on the bed. When they were wrapped in each other’s arms and she was able to speak again, her first words were “I love you.”

He grinned in the semidarkness of the room and hugged her even closer. “I know, isn’t it great? Because I happen to love you, too, with all my heart,” he said softly. After a few more kisses, he turned them so that they were spooned together, a position he loved. He liked the feeling of warmth and protectiveness it gave him. He planted a wet kiss at the nape of her neck and sighed.

“Allie, this has been the damnedest day of my life. I come up here to be alone with the woman I love and plan our future, and I find out that I have kinfolk here, that my father, who always said he had no relatives, has family up here. A family that he’s ignored for years and years, that he’s never mentioned even once. That’s deep, Allie, it really is.”