The Power of Love (19 page)

She laughed, surprised at the move, especially as it was in front of Lexi. Only, when she turned around after having her butt caressed in public, Gia saw Luke had taken their daughter up to the house. On top of that, Josh hadn’t been touchy-feely for what felt like a lifetime. It was good to see him loosen up a little, better still to feel it.

Luke was stiff after the long drive and Lexi was dancing around his feet like a demented puppy, her skirt flying up as she hopped from side to side, eager to see her grandparents. Gia chuckled at the pair of them. Josh, spying her amusement, peered over in the direction she was looking. “I’m glad they’re close,” he murmured, suddenly somber as he squinted at the sunlight. “I think she’s helping him get through this.”

“I think a lot of things are helping him get through this. The appeal, the therapy…”

“I know what isn’t,” Josh remarked, his tone growing grim.

“What?”

“The thought of you going away.” He sighed. “He won’t forgive me for that, you know. We’ll be old and gray together, and he’ll still begrudge me.”

She shrugged. “He loves me.”

“
I
love you too.” He reached for her hand. “No less than he does, sweetheart. But he needs me right now. He needs me to protect him. I’d do the same for you. In a heartbeat. I swear it.”

Her top lip quirked up as she looked into his earnest face. Lifting a hand, she cupped his cheek. “I know.”

“I’ll miss you too. I wish you didn’t have to go.”

“I know,” she repeated.

“Stop saying that. Stop being so understanding. I wish you’d rail at me, throw a few punches.”

“Would that make you feel less guilty?”

“Maybe.” He pouted a little. “Won’t you miss us?”

“Did you have to ask me that? Seriously?” she asked, astounded. “Of course I will. Hell, I don’t
want
to go. But I understand. Needs must, and all that.”

He grabbed her hand and pressed her knuckles to his lips. “Once we get this all sorted out, things can go back to normal.”

“God forbid,” she teased and found she was able to smile at him over this. At least, she could at the moment. When she had to leave in a few days’ time, it might be a whole different kettle of fish.

“We could all do with a dose of normalcy. Now and again.” He huffed. “Come on, love. Let’s get this damn dinner over with.”

“Well, that’s nice,” she chided.

He grimaced, then rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I purposely booked today off. I wanted to spend it with you, Luke, and Lexi. Instead, I’m here, about to listen to some of my sisters’ bullshit gossip. Something they have to share with us all, apparently. I’m not in the mood, but I know Mom only disturbs me with this shit if she thinks it’s important enough to call us all over.”

As he talked, he grabbed hold of her hand and walked her up the garden path. The door was open and inside, chaos was reigning. The house was small as after the kids had left, Laurie and Dave had downsized and invested in a new home and the aforementioned deathtrap RV, which they used to travel around the southern half of the country, dropping in on each of their children when the fancy took them.

People poured out of all the rooms. Kids cried and laughed, sisters bitched together, brothers-in-law groused. At the center of it all was Dave. He was sitting on his recliner like it was a throne, watching the madness ensue while a replay of a game was on the TV. Lexi was already on his knee, cuddled into him as she talked a mile a minute about something or other, and Dave, with one eye on the game, was managing to keep up with her as he discussed the match with Luke, who’d taken a seat at his father-in-law’s side.

Laurie would be in the kitchen with Loretta, the only one of her daughters able to boil water without destroying the stove.

“I’ll go and help your mother,” she told Josh, speaking up over the noise of close to twenty people.

“Throwing me to the lions, are you?” he asked mournfully. “I knew you’d get me back.”

She grinned. “My punishments are always fair.”

With a wink and a kiss to his cheek, she fluttered off, leaving him in the hallway where one of his brothers-in-law, Jamie, flagged him down. Considering Jamie was a car salesman, one who loved his job, Josh was in for an enthralling session about the latest luxury saloon on his books.

Amused by the notion, she smiled and waved her way through the family. Kissing some, squeezing the hands of others, and all before she made it to the kitchen. The instant she crossed the threshold, Laurie crossed herself—she did that a lot. “Thank you, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. What did I do to deserve four daughters, not a single one of them able to boil pasta!” She nearly crashed into Gia as she embraced her and anointed her cheeks with two boisterous kisses. “Where’s my angel?” she asked, peering around Gia in search of Lexi.

“On Dave’s knee, of course,” she replied, hugging Laurie back.

“He steals her,” came the indignant answer. “She should be in here with me, learning how to cook
conchiglie al forno
properly. Instead, he’s making her watch that damn fool game.”

“I can teach her that, don’t worry.”

“Not
my
version,” came the stout retort. She eyed Gia up and down a second. “You look thin. You’ve not been eating enough?”

“It’s been tough at home,” Gia confessed, grabbing one of the aprons that always hung at the back of the kitchen door and heading straight into the melee of the small but neat kitchen. A scrubbed-down oak table sat at one wall, currently loaded down with bakeware, the counters were white marble, pots and pans were bubbling away on the eight-burner stove, and the matching oak cupboards were in a disarray. Some half-open, others wide, few were shut. The sink was piled high with dishes, which Loretta was trying to tame.

Before Gia was handed a knife and a tray of salad veggies to cut, she popped over to Loretta and kissed her cheek. “She’s on the rampage,” came the warning.

“When isn’t she?” Gia teased before she started dicing and slicing.

Laurie stirred her famous red sauce, then waggled the wooden spoon at Gia. “You need to eat more.”

“I’ve lost a couple of pounds,” Gia complained. “It’s not like I didn’t need to lose them.”

“Pooh,” Laurie retorted. “You were perfect as you were. Now, you’re scrawny.” She peered deep into Gia’s eyes a second, then tilted her head. She looked around the room a second, looking for only God only knew what, then pressed her free hand to Gia’s belly. “You’re with child.”

Gia shook her head. “Don’t be silly.”

“I’m not. A mother always knows.”

“I’m not your daughter.”

Laurie sniffed. “You might as well be.” She whispered, “Get one of those tests done, sweetheart. I’m telling you. It’s in your eyes.”

Gia would have brushed it off if not for the seriousness of Laurie’s tone and the fact her mother-in-law had known before anyone else had that she was carrying Lexi. Astonished by the notion she might be pregnant when the idea had never occurred to her, her voice was shaky when she replied, “I will. I promise.”

“Bad timing, huh? Babies always are. What’s going on with Luke? He driving you both mad yet?”

She blinked, then grinned, wryly. “A little. Josh is as bad. He’s on the warpath.”

“Never could see the people he loved getting hurt. One thing I did right with that boy.”

“I’d say you did a lot right.”

Laurie smirked. “I know, but it ain’t right to brag.”

Gia laughed. “You’re a pain in my behind, Laurel Henderson.”

“I’m a pain in
someone’s
butt.” Laurie chucked her under the chin. “Congratulations, sweetie. I know Luke’s wanted to be a daddy for a long time. Not that Lexi isn’t his, but men like those boys, they need to spread their seed.”

Gia wrinkled her nose. “That’s disgusting, Laurie.”

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Think of all those genes gone to waste, though.”

“Okay, you’re right. I can’t. How do you know it’s not Josh’s?”

“Because I highly doubt you’d let it be,” came the knowing retort.

She flushed. “Well, one from each would be perfect, you know?”

“And I’m not complaining. Try for another girl, though, eh? Boys, boys everywhere! I see boys!”

“Like you don’t love them to death,” she teased.

“Ach, they’re the pains in
my
behind.”

“They keep you young.”

“They turn me gray.”

Considering her mother-in-law made Sophia Loren look dowdy, she discounted that for the attention-seeking missile it was. “What’s going on, Laurie?” Gia asked, changing the subject. “Why are we here?”

“You been in the lounge yet?”

“Nope. I peeked in, that’s all. Saw Lexi was okay, and that Luke was watching the game with them both.”

“There’s another visitor.”

“Don’t gossip, Ma,” Loretta hollered from behind a wash of steam. Hot water cascaded from the faucet as she spoke.

“I’m not, I’m not!” Laurie immediately denied, then in a hushed voice, murmured, “Elin has only gone and done what you, Luke, and Josh have.”

“What’s that?” Gia asked, perplexed.

“Got another one.”

“Another what? Baby on the way?”

“Nope. Dave’s beside himself. Thinks something’s in the water.”

“What something?” she barked. “Explain.”

“Well, Elin and Jason have a new addition. Sarah.”

“Sarah?”

Laurie grunted. “
Sarah.
”

“I’m lost. Explain.”

The older woman crossed herself. “One in the family was one thing, but two? I can see why Dave’s starting to wonder if the water’s dodgy. They’re a…what do you call it? Like you three.”

Gia blinked. “A menage?” A squeak escaped her. “Elin?”

Laurie nodded quickly. “I know.”

“She’s bi?” Gia whispered.

“Apparently so. Either that or Jason is one lucky man.”

“If Loretta, Dave, and you know, then why the emergency lunch?”

“So Josh can find out in safety.”

“What do you mean?”

She snorted. “Elin’s his baby sister.
The
baby. How do you think he’s going to feel when he finds this out? Jason is going to be lucky if his nose is still stuck on his body.”

“Why?”

“It can’t possibly be that they’re in love,
cara mia
. They can’t possibly be like you three. Oh no, it will be Jason who can’t keep it in his pants.” She crossed herself again. “God help me if they spill my sauce on the carpet.”

Gia was about to chuckle at Laurie’s melodrama when a roar sounded from the other room. To the sound of that explosion of fury, Laurie wailed, “Who the hell let the cat out of the bag?” and immediately took off for the living room, leaving Gia blinking at the notion the most staid and serious of her husbands was in a fistfight of all things.

Maybe they did need a dose of normal after all.

Huh.

Chapter Ten

A few days later

“I don’t understand, Mommy, why can’t I go with you?”

Lexi’s innocent question only added to the nausea swimming through Gia’s gut. They’d put off telling her for as long as they could but today was the day… Maybe it was a testament to how well they’d raised her that she hadn’t burst into childish hysterics at the notion of her mother going somewhere without her. As it was, there was a befuddled air about her. She simply couldn’t understand why she couldn’t go with her mommy.

In truth, Gia was relieved. Had Lexi made a fuss, she didn’t know if she’d have had the strength to leave her little girl behind when she went on her unwanted road trip. As it was, she could handle perplexity because it spoke of Lexi’s self-assurance and certainty of her place in the world.

That boosted her. It really did.

It meant that when she doubted herself, wondered if she was doing the right thing by homeschooling Lexi, or by letting her keep to herself, or allowing the little girl to explore her love of books rather than play, Gia was a good mother. She had proof of that now.

“Because it’s a place only mommies can go, Lexi.”

That earned her a suspicious frown. “There are places where mommies go that kids can’t? What kind of place is that?” She pursed her lips. “I don’t like the sound of it. Are you sure it’s safe?”

The question made Gia blink and her mouth work, but Josh snickered. He would. It was said in a tone of voice that echoed him. “It’s an unusual one, short stuff. It’s called a retreat, and I’m sure Mommy will be fine without you to hold her hand,” he piped in from the other side of the breakfast counter.

Luke, for once, was fiddling around at the stove, snacking as he cooked, and Josh had already eaten the eggs she’d prepared him twenty minutes ago.

Lexi’s granola sat untouched, but at Josh’s answer, she took her spoon and shoveled a load of nutty oats into her mouth. Gia wasn’t reassured. That simply meant she was percolating. Eating did that for Lexi. Each chew was a process, a chance for her to formulate her next question.

“I still don’t think I like the sound of this place,” she eventually said, the serious words sounding horribly amusing coming out of such a young mouth.

Hard-pressed not to grin at Josh, she bit back a smile and murmured gently, “No, but then, you don’t have to, Lexi. It’s for me to enjoy.”

“Don’t you enjoy being with me?”

“Of course, I do, love. But it’s been so crazy with your new routine and everything that a little break will do me good.”

“A change is as good as a rest. That’s what Grandma Lou always says, isn’t it, Lexi?” Luke remarked as he bit into a banana.

Ever since Josh had filed his final report a week ago and the appeal process was due to start in a few days’ time—had in fact been fast-forwarded thanks to General Jarvis’s interference—he’d started eating again. If anything, he was eating more than enough. That was all the proof she needed that she was doing the right thing by slinking off. Even if it hurt like hell to have to leave.

Some of the weight he’d lost on his face had padded out; that chilling gauntness had disappeared. That he was slowly getting back on the right track relieved her greatly. She hated the need to disappear, to hide away from the world, but if it meant helping Luke, then it was worth it.