Chapter 50
I watch from down the street as Taylor, Ivory, and Gabby leave the dress shop, laughing and chatting. They’re headed to the cafe on the corner for lunch and we plan to crash their lunch before hitting the resort for a round of golf.
At the door to the cafe, Taylor almost collides with a man—my oldest brother. I pick up my pace and hurry after her in case this turns ugly. I don’t know whose claws would hurt worse—hers or his.
Hers.
“Reginald,” I hear Taylor say, drawing back from him. Neither of them has noticed me closing in on them. I hang back, close enough to hear every word but unseen.
“Man, what are you—” I slap a hand over Miller’s mouth and hold a finger up to my lips, tuning back into the conversation as Reginald starts speaking.
“I never hated you, Taylor. There was a lot going on back then, and I’m sorry if the way that I handled things made your relationship with Grant harder.
He wasn’t the same after you left. Our relationship wasn’t the same after you left and that’s on me.
That’s not on you and that’s not on him, but I am happy that you’re back together. ”
Color me shocked and confused because there’s no way my hard ass oldest brother just apologized unprompted.
“Thank you,” Taylor says softly, obviously as surprised as I am. “What are you doing down here? I didn’t know Reginald Davenport IV ever left the Upper East Side,” she playfully jabs at him.
“I’ve been put in charge of the Seaside Pines Davenport property for the time being.”
“I’m sure Grant would like to see you.”
Would I?
“Is he here?” Reginald asks. Is that hope I hear in his voice?
“Not right now, but I’m sure he’ll crash this girl’s trip any day now.”
Try any second, wife.
Reginald laughs and it’s been a long time since I’ve heard him do anything joyful. “Sounds about right. He never could go without you for very long.”
“Good to see you. We’re going to get some lunch,” Taylor says, and I hear their combined footsteps.
“Yeah, see you, Taylor.”
I step out of the shadows and come face to face with my brother. He freezes, unsure how I’ll react to him speaking to Taylor after my threats in the past to never talk to or mention her name again.
“That was big of you,” I say, rocking back on my heels.
“It was overdue.” Reginald nods, holding out a hand.
Sliding my hand into his, I give it a firm shake. “So the resort?” A smile spreads on my face and it feels good to have a remotely friendly conversation with him.
“You should come by,” he says.
“We have a tee time in a couple hours.” I gesture to the guys behind me, who’ve been standing quietly.
“Reginald,” my brother introduces himself. Preston, Chase, and Miller return the gesture.
“You should join us,” Preston says, ever the inviting one.
“I’ve got a busy afternoon, but stop by the clubhouse after and maybe I can meet you for a drink,” Reginald offers.
We part ways with a curt nod and I watch as he walks to his car down the street. What a wild turn of events this weekend has brought and the girls don’t even know we’re here yet.
“Was that a good or bad thing?” Chase asks, slapping me on the shoulder.
“Progress, I think.”
“Let’s go crash this party.” Miller rubs his hands together and starts walking to the cafe. Stepping inside, I find Taylor immediately.
Her head falls back in an uninhibited laugh. “So you guys lasted a total of thirty-six hours. Very impressive.”
Chase moves toward Gabby and drags her out of her chair for a hug. “Technically, we didn’t last twenty-four hours, but we stopped at a hotel outside of town so you wouldn’t know.”
“Ridiculous.” Gabby shakes her head before kissing him.
“So we’re obsessed with our girls. Where is the crime in that?” I ask, lifting Taylor and then taking her seat, planting her in my lap.
“No crime. I’m equally obsessed with you, and I got a house big enough for all of us because I had a feeling that you wouldn’t last without us.” She scratches the stubble of my beard and brings her mouth to mine softly.
“Did you find a dress?” I ask, tuning everyone out around me.
“How did you know?” Taylor runs her fingers through my hair and tips my head back.
“I saw you coming out of the store.”
“So you saw who I ran into?”
“I did. Ran into him too. It was surprisingly good.”
Taylor smiles at me with understanding. “Hopefully this is the first step on the road to healing for all of you.”
“Us. All of us,” I correct her. There’s not a future for my brothers and me without her being involved too.
“Us,” she agrees, kissing me deeply.
“Hey, lovebirds. Some of us want to eat.” Miller hollers from the other side of the table. Opening my eyes, I see they’ve pulled two tables together so we can all sit together.
“Who invited him?” Taylor murmurs into my mouth.
“You love me and you know it,” Miller responds to her.
“Have you girls been having fun?” Preston asks, spreading his arm behind Ivory and playing with her hair.
“We have, but what are ya’ll going to do this afternoon? Because we’ve got plans that don’t involve you,” Ivory responds.
“Grant is treating us to a round of golf at his family’s course,” Miller answers her, picking up a menu in front of him.
“Do you even know how to golf?” Gabby looks between Preston, Miller, and Chase.
Preston nods. Miller waves his hand in a so-so motion, and Chase says, “Nope.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” I say to Chase. We didn’t have to golf today. It just seemed like the easiest thing to do.
“I’m just here for the good times. I don’t care what we do.” Chase shrugs, pulling Gabby onto his lap.
The server comes over to take our order.
She recognizes Miller from his parents frequenting the cafe on their trips to Seaside Pines.
For the rest of lunch, Miller, Taylor, and I compare stories of vacationing on the island and all our favorite spots in town.
We go our separate ways after with a promise of a family cookout for sunset on the beach.
For a bunch of baseball players, golf doesn’t suck, and neither does the drink with Reginald in the bar when we’re finished.
“I’m going to text the girls and make sure they don’t need anything for dinner,” Preston says as we get in the car.
“Sounds good. We can detour to the store if we need to on the way.” The Davenport resort is on the far end of the island with a golf course, private beach access, and a large hotel. It’s divided from the rest of the island by a massive gate and security station.
“They said to pick up stuff for margaritas. Taylor is in the mood for tequila.” Preston chuckles.
“Lord help us all,” I say, turning onto Ocean Drive and pulling off at the entrance to the small store.
“Tequila makes her clothes fall off,” Miller sings.
“Not for you they don’t.” I glare at him in the rearview mirror. He cackles in response and steps out of the car.
When we make it to the rental house, music is blasting so loud that we can hear it in the driveway.
“Heck yes, they’ve got the boy band playlist on.”
Miller bounds up the stairs two at a time, shouting the lyrics as soon as he bursts in the door. By the time the rest of us make it into the house, the four of them are belting out the lyrics and doing a choreographed dance in the kitchen.
Preston, Chase, and I are momentarily stunned as we watch them jump around perfectly in sync. Taylor dances over to me after the song ends and launches herself into my arms. Carrying her down the hall, I lay her down on the bed and hover over her.
“Where do you want to get married?” I ask, unable to think of anything else in this moment but renewing my vows to this incredible woman.
“I was thinking about that earlier when I was trying on dresses. Someplace warm.”
Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, I take a guess at her dream location. “What if we got married in Long Caye over New Years? Invite all our friends?”
“I’d love to, but in case you didn’t notice, we have more friends than a two bedroom house will hold.”
“It’s a good thing I built some guest cottages on the island then, isn’t it?
” When Preston asked to take Ivory back to Long Caye for their honeymoon last year, I knew we’d have more visitors than we had room for.
The island has always been special and I couldn’t think of a better way to pay homage to our memories there than to expand so we could share it with those closest to us.
“You built guest cottages? For what?”
“For all our friends to come visit.”
“You said ‘our friends’. Wait, you can’t build that many guest cottages in less than two months on that island.”
“I told you, I’ve been making moves behind the scenes for a very long time.”
“You’ve been playing chess while everyone else plays checkers.” An amused chuckle falls from her mouth and the urge to taste her is too great.
“I’m ruthless in my pursuit.” I lean down and kiss a trail from her collar bone to her ear.
“What made you so sure it would all work out this way?” she asks, breathlessly when I nip her earlobe.
Pulling back to look into her eyes, I smile proudly. “I had the home field advantage.”
A love like ours wins, every single time.