The Family Gathering (Sullivan's Crossing #3)(55)

“Debauching,” she repeated. “You did get a good education in the Army. Your vocabulary is very good. I think you should expect ‘Go, Aunt Sid’ and ‘Ew.’ And they might tease, but they don’t scare me.”

“They don’t?”

“Your family was very well behaved. Welcoming, even. They’re cool. I am in love with most of them, especially Sam. Was that a huge surprise to you?”

“Everything around here surprises me,” he admitted. “Cal and Maggie surprise me. Cal was married before. His wife died a very sad and painful death while I was in Iraq. She had scleroderma. That’s when—”

“I know what it is,” she said. “Was that long ago?”

“A couple of years before he met Maggie. And I knew Sierra and Connie talked about fostering kids but I didn’t know they were thinking about adopting. I didn’t know Connie was actually at the accident when Sam’s mother died. I think they did the right thing, getting married right away and pursuing the adoption. I haven’t been as close to my brother and sisters as I should have been. It’s hard when you’re in the military and deployed all the time. Now that I’m around them, they’re pretty cool people. I keep asking myself if they’ve always been and I was missing out.”

“What did you plan to do when you got out of the Army? I know you didn’t pin all your hopes on being a garbage collector.”

“I got out kind of suddenly,” he said. “I used to think maybe I’d teach. I don’t know what—history, maybe. I’d have to go back to school. I never did get a teaching certificate. I studied history and English and political science.”

“English!” she said, surprised.

“I think we all did, all four Jones kids. We didn’t have a TV—we read. We didn’t have many books and we’d read them over and over and then trade them at a used-book store for a new supply. Cal can recite To Kill a Mockingbird, practically the whole book. I noticed that Sierra has a full bookcase now, but there are a few completely worn paperbacks—Pride and Prejudice. Another is Wuthering Heights.”

“And your favorite books?”

“Steinbeck. Hemingway. Jack London.”

“Ah. And did testosterone flow from the pages?”

“Well, I thought so...”

“We have so much to learn about each other,” she said.

“What do you need to know? Do you need to know that I’m in trouble here? Because I’ve known you three months, been this close to you for three weeks, but it hasn’t been often enough. And I already want to sleep with you every night. And not just sleep.”

“Sex really works for you, doesn’t it, Cody?”

“It does, but that’s not really what I was thinking about. I was thinking about rolling over and feeling your soft skin, hearing you breathe—you snore a little. It’s a cute snore. When you fall asleep, you curve against me and put your leg over me. Your hair tickles me. Your hands wander...”

“Do not,” she said.

“Do so,” he argued.

“We still have so much to find out...”

“Tell me what you need to know,” he said. “You know I grew up strange—my parents are beyond crazy. It wasn’t an easy childhood and we all left as soon as we could, the second we got out of school. Cal and Sedona found a way to go to college but I wasn’t that imaginative. I joined the Army.” He brushed back her hair. “Is that what you want to know?”

She looked up at him and smiled. “I want to know who you loved.”

He rubbed her hair back a little longer. “Not yet, okay?”

“Is it very private?” she asked.

“It’s private, yeah,” he said. “That’s not about you. I have this feeling I don’t want to keep things from you. But just not yet, okay?”

“That means you haven’t told your family?”

“That’s what it means. But I don’t want to talk about it right now because I don’t want to be sad. You’re in my arms and I am so happy. Can you give me a little time?”

She raked her fingers through his beard. “It must still hurt.”

“I guess. I want to feel good right now, when you’re here, naked, mine for the night.”

“Reasonable,” she said. “What do you have for breakfast?”

“Bacon, eggs, toast.”

“Do you have fruit and oatmeal?” she asked.

“It never crossed my mind.”

She sighed. “If I’m going to get a pass from my brother and nephews, we’re going to have to stock up.”

“Give me a list, gorgeous, and I’ll get anything you want.”

“Want to explore your woods after breakfast?” she asked. “I brought some outdoor clothes and shoes. In my car.”

“An overnight bag?” he asked with lifted eyebrows.

“Uh-huh,” she said. “I didn’t think you’d say no. And I’m fussy about having my own toothbrush. But I’m afraid I neglected to bring pajamas.”

*

Maggie drove to Denver early Tuesday morning and went directly to her practice. She had left Elizabeth with Cal. She had several patients to see in the office, then she was spending the afternoon in surgery—two simple cases and one complex surgery that could last well into evening. In fact, she might have two very long days, which was why she left Elizabeth at home, though she started missing her the minute she left.