Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
I need to see you. When can you meet?
E lias frowned down at the text he’d received from Quinley several days ago. He hadn’t responded—again—but odds were she would be in attendance at Mia’s birthday party today.
The images of her dance with her ex, of them laughing, staring into each other’s eyes with loving adoration, of him kissing her hand, had gone viral. Every social media outlet, every grocery store tabloid, even the news agencies reported about them, debating whether the couple had worked out their differences and was going to reunite. Most thought they would. Because what woman would walk away from a man like him?
Elias tossed the gift bag and his phone onto passenger seat with a growl.
He hoped Isla had been right in her gift purchase for Mia. The last thing he was in the mood for was a birthday brunch, but he’d skipped the family’s last birthday gathering so he couldn’t skip this month’s without risking the wrath of all eight of his siblings.
The only problem was this month’s party was being held at the Drakes’ because Mia and Isabel had grown especially close, and Isabel asked to host as a kickoff to spring. The day would include a pool party and cookout where all the kids could play and all the adults had plenty of room to mingle.
He choked down his unease and drove to the Drakes’, parking beside Isla’s new purchase—a Tuscadero Pink Wrangler with all the bells and whistles.
Isla had been hard at work customizing her Jeep as it now sported a ridiculously fluffy and fuzzy pink steering wheel wrap, pink-and-black skull and crossbones decals and wheels that earned a low whistle of admiration from him. Apparently nannying did indeed pay well. At least when you worked for a billionaire.
Which were becoming more prevalent in Carolina Cove, he thought darkly before trying once more to shrug off the bad mood.
Everett and Isabel Drake treated Isla well, watched over her as if she were a kid sister, even though from what Quinley had said, Everett was friends with Rhys Lachlan.
The moment the thought entered his brain, Elias faltered. Seeing Quinley today was one thing, but surely Lachlan wouldn’t be joining them. Would he?
“You gonna sit in there and brood all day or come join the party?”
Brooks appeared beside Elias’s open window, chewing on gum and looking far too smug.
“Heard Finn ripped you a new one. ‘Bout time one of us had the balls to do it. Did anything sink in?”
Elias glared at the second oldest Blackwell brother and gave his wife, Allie, credit for being a saint for putting up with him. “Move,” he ordered, “or better yet, don’t so I can hit you with the door.”
Brooks flashed a wide grin but stepped out of the way. Elias grabbed his phone and the gift bag and got out. He ignored Brooks’s question and his dogged steps behind him as they made their way past Isla’s aptly named Pinkalicious Pirate. He shook his head at the name. Isla and Alec had always been fascinated by Wilmington’s pirate history.
A landscaped path led to the massive door of the beach house that looked large enough to be a resort. Rumor—namely Isla—said the house had everything, including an indoor and outdoor pool with a lazy river, sauna, workout room and more. Yeah, his kid sister wasn’t hurting for job perks.
Elias felt Brooks eyeing him again like he was going to say something stupid and decided to combat the possibility with a question. “Why are you late?”
“Had a tow,” Brooks said. “People drive some crazy vehicles on the beach and think they can make it. Good for business but bad for being on time for family events.”
A housekeeper led them through the house to the huge backyard where party guests—mainly Brooks’s girls, a little boy safely ensconced in a water tube, and Isla obviously watching them closely—swam, while the others gathered around to watch from lounge chairs, in seating areas and at a dining area near an outdoor kitchen Elias couldn’t help but envy.
After placing his gift on a table with the others, Elias turned and recognized Logan Davenport and his wife, Zoey; the group of sixty-something older ladies that made up the island-infamous Boardwalk Babes; as well as Isabel. Everett Drake stood steps away from his wife, talking with Dawson and Michael Davenport, Logan’s brother.
Brooks greeted his wife and then returned and mentioned grabbing food. Elias reluctantly followed Brooks to the outdoor kitchen where a woman wearing a white catering smock with Gemma embroidered on her left shoulder stood smiling beside catering staff in black uniforms.
“Would you like me to fix you a plate?”
Brooks shot him a side-eye that stated he was in food heaven, and nodded.
“My pleasure. These are lamb shoulder blade chops with mint-gremolata butter. We also have charred corn, a vegetable medley and a rice pilaf.”
Yeah, this wasn’t a typical cookout, Elias mused silently as the woman filled Brooks’s plate to overflowing.
“And for you?” she asked Elias when she finished.
“I’m good. Thanks, though.”
“Gemma, this is the man I told you about,” Quinley said from behind him. “Elias Blackwell, Chef Gemma Davenport.”
“Oh, I hear we have something in common—and perhaps something important to discuss sometime today if there’s time,” the woman said, her smile growing wider as she held up a finger to wait. “But first…”
Elias focused on Gemma instead of Quinley and watched as Gemma walked to a warming tray and removed a covered dish, then carried it toward him. “My son has developed food allergies. The card atop shows all the ingredients, but from what Quinley said, this should be safe for you. I hope you enjoy it.”
Elias blinked, taken aback by the woman’s understanding expression. And Quinley?
He turned his head to find her watching him with a bit of a hurt look. One he’d put there by—behaving like the fool Finn declared him to be? Ignoring her now?
“I’m sure it’ll be great,” Elias said, uncomfortably aware of the way Brooks stared at him for getting special treatment.
“Quinley heard me say I wanted to fix my son a special plate and why,” Gemma continued, flicking a glance at Quinley as though she sensed the tension between them. “She mentioned you might like one as well. You’re welcome to try anything of course,” she said, waving a hand to the food made for the group as a whole.
Just when Elias was about to speak to Quinley, a man—Rhys Lachlan—walked up behind her with an ease and too much familiarity as he placed his hand at her back. Elias gritted his teeth.
“It’s fine. Thank you,” he said to Gemma, ignoring Quinley and her ex as he walked away, gut-punched by the sudden lung-squeezing awareness that he’d waited too long and lost his chance with Quinley. He’d thought maybe the event Finn referenced had been a one-off. A random meeting in passing where the two had made the best of being in the same room. But if they were here together?
He felt…sick. Because in that moment, that split second , he felt the loss. Images flashed in front of his eyes of what could have been. Would have been. If he’d gotten out of his own way.
Thankfully Isabel called for attention and welcomed everyone to the party while Elias found a table with four tall chairs along the far side of the expansive area and sat down, trying and failing to ignore the rapid beat of his pulse and the way he ached to deck Quinley’s date.
Quinley was here. With Lachlan.
And he wanted it to be him. But what was he going to do about it?
“So what’d you get?” Brooks asked, seating himself across from him.
Elias noted that Allie remained by the pool to watch over the girls and supposed he’d just have to put up with Brooks’s commentary while they ate. “I don’t know.”
A round of “Happy Birthday” started, and he stared at the ingredient list atop the plate. Gemma was correct in that the food was safe for him to eat, and she’d even detailed that she’d fixed it first on clean equipment before preparing the rest. But it was the sweetness, the idea of Quinley knowing how much it meant for him to be able to enjoy a plate with his family even if it meant being prepared separately, that nearly broke him.
In all the years and all the events, not a single member of his family had done what she’d just done. They loved him; they cared for him. He didn’t doubt that. But they’d never gone out of their way to make sure he didn’t have to make a meal out of the dessert fruit and meat cuts before they got loaded down with gravy or contaminated with all the things he was allergic to.
Yet she was here. With her ex. More proof that Finn had stated the truth when he’d said he’d seen them at the charity event. Maybe the food was meant to soften the blow?
It didn’t. He’d fallen in love with her and now it was too late.
“That was nice of Quinley and the chef,” Brooks said. “Sweet.”
He nodded and forced himself to take a bite, flavor bursting over his tongue and mouth.
“Well?”
“It’s good. Really good.”
“You know, Alec, Cole, and I got to talking in the office the other day about the old days. We feel bad about giving you a hard time back then.”
“You didn’t know. I didn’t even know,” he added with a shrug.
“Yeah, but now we do, and we see the difference. That’s why we also talked about that restaurant you mentioned. That still something you wanna do?”
“Yeah. I do.” How he’d go about it, he had no idea, but interested? Most definitely.
“Bring it up again,” Brooks said, taking a bite of his own food. “Next time we’re all together, you should bring it up again. Or call a meeting. Let’s talk about it.”
Elias stilled at Brooks’s words and then nodded, letting the subject drop for the moment. First he’d been blown away by the realization that his feelings for Quinley were more and now his brothers were coming around to his idea?
He ate the deliciously flavored meat and veggie medley, and he and Brooks both watched as Mia blushed and held her daughter, Willa, on her hip as she blew out her candles. Alec stood at her side beaming like only a man in love could.
Due to his late arrival, most everyone had eaten already or was finishing up, so cake was dispersed, and everyone cheered while Mia opened her gifts. Elias inhaled the food, unwilling to let a wonderful meal go to waste despite his foul thoughts and shattered emotions. It was too late. He was too late.
Alec called out that they had one more announcement to make while they had everyone’s attention.
“You’re pregnant !” Sophia, Allie, and Isabel screamed at the same time.
Elias’s head jerked up at the news, and he watched as the guests laughed at the sisters’ antics, but then cheered when Mia nodded, face radiant as she looked up at Alec. Elias continued to watch as his brother lowered his head and kissed his wife, the love in his eyes, on his face, right there for all the world to see.
His heart tugged, and his hand fisted over the fork he held, easily able to imagine the devastation Alec would feel if something happened to his little family. Willa had already lost her biological mother. And Isla hadn’t been much younger than Willa when she’d lost the parents she’d never known and couldn’t remember. But he did. He remembered it all in every painful, vivid detail.
But how could Alec— How could any of them take that risk? As much as he craved Quinley, would he ever be able to give himself over completely?
“That’s what makes it worth it, you know,” Brooks said softly, his voice low despite the noise of the crowd.
“What do you mean?”
Brooks lost the goofball expression he tended to wear on a daily basis and shifted into what Elias and the others called his dad face.
“You think I don’t freak out some days at the thought of something happening to Allie and my kids? Because I do. But none of us can live life fearing what might happen. We have to live it, loving the moments like this. Like all the ones Mom and Dad had with us before that night.”
Elias locked his jaw, trying and failing to shove away the emotions bombarding him as he watched Alec and Mia snuggle their baby girl and feed her cake and generally look like the world’s happiest couple.
They’d all lost their parents that day. Not just him. And since then… Cole had probably lost more than any of them during his years in the military. He’d lost Ana back then, too—though they’d reunited now—and his buddies to war. Yet Cole loved Ana with everything inside of him.
“Finn told us what he said to you,” Brooks continued in a gruff tone. “What he thinks is going on with you and why you’re so…you.”
“Finn’s got a big mouth.”
“Not if it’s true,” Brooks argued, a too-serious expression on his face.
“I agree. Because if it’s true, we have all failed you, Elias,” Cole said.
Elias stiffened as Cole joined them, having apparently been eavesdropping on the conversation. At least the last bit of it. “You haven’t failed me,” Elias told them, shifting in his seat due to the uncomfortable and very touchy topic.
“Then you know Mom and Dad wouldn’t want you to spend your life alone. Wouldn’t want any of us to do that. You know how much they loved each other, and if they taught us anything, it’s that that’s the most important thing. You can’t go through life avoiding feelings or love because of what might happen. You can’t be too afraid to love because you’re afraid of losing. That’s not living. And if you’ve fallen for Quinley, if you’re in love with her??—”
“She’s back with her ex,” Elias growled, barely able to bite out the words because of the pain and jealousy barreling through him like a runaway train. He wanted to grab her up and throw her over his shoulder like a caveman, and instead he was sitting here listening to his brothers pontificate on love ?
God help him; this was torture. Was he really such a coward he’d given up his chance with Quinley and walked away from her?
“You sure about that?” Cole asked.
“He might not be, but I am,” a male voice drawled from nearby. “And as much as I’d like to say she is just to see how you’d react, she isn’t.”
Elias turned and found Rhys Lachlan closing in on the three of them, Quinley nowhere in sight. The party was completely forgotten as the man sat his drink on the table between Elias and Brooks and took the seat directly beside Elias like they were friends.
Cole lifted his eyebrows in surprise at the move, shot Elias a glare that clearly said no punching and grabbed Brooks’s shoulder to yank him away from the table. Brooks grumbled about the interruption but quickly gathered up his plate and drink before giving Elias a glance that indicated Brooks might be a little more forgiving if punches were thrown, before he walked away with Cole.
Elias leaned back in the seat, unsure of what—if anything—he had to say to the man.
“Quinley joked after the breakup that she’d be around to ‘vet’ my next girlfriend. I believe under the circumstances that I should return the favor.”
A grunt left Elias even as he found himself fighting a smile at Quinley’s bold offer to a man whose heart she’d undoubtedly broken.
“One of the things I loved about her is that she’s outspoken and truthful, almost to a fault. That’s why when I asked her about her kissing you— I knew it was over between us, not that her running away from the wedding didn’t get the point across. But the look that crossed her face…”
Elias held his silence, letting Lachlan say whatever it was he tried to.
“That told me more than she did. If I thought Quinley and I still had a chance, I wouldn’t hesitate to take it. Might make me an idiot, but quality women are worth the trouble. I think that’s why I’m so surprised that you’re not doing everything in your power to be with her. A man like you, who came from basically nothing and worked to earn his fortune,” Lachlan said, proving a background check had been performed at some point. “I know you know her worth. And a woman like her at your side? Loving you? Encouraging you? She’s the kind of woman men build an empire with. So either you’re hiding something, or??—”
“I’m a fool,” Elias said, realizing just how true Lachlan’s words were.
Admitting it aloud grated along every nerve and tendon in his body, shredded him from the inside and exposed his vulnerabilities to a man who could just as easily figure out how to use them against him. But it was true. He couldn’t deny it any longer as Cole’s words echoed in his head like a switch had been flipped. And to sit there and hear Lachlan say Quinley wasn’t his?
The relief that slid through him in that instant made Elias glad he was sitting down. How many times did he have to tell himself he wasn’t that boy living in fear anymore? How much was he going to allow to be taken from him because he couldn’t—wouldn’t—let go of the past? How long would he use the past as a sword and shield to protect himself? Was he such a coward that he was going to let Quinley—every bit of the woman Lachlan proclaimed her to be—slip away? Push her toward someone else?
“A foolish man doesn’t deserve a woman like her.”
No, he didn’t. And if he allowed fear to rule his life and keep him from giving Quinley the love she was due, he should lose her.
Elias shot the man a level stare. One probably far too revealing for comfort.
Rhys grabbed his glass once again and stood. “Call me this week. I want to talk about this restaurant idea of yours.”
“You can’t be serious.” Elias stiffened, unable to believe what he was hearing.
“I don’t make jokes when it comes to money. Nor do I allow myself to miss opportunities because of personal bias. You might be a fool when it comes to Quinley, but you’ve proven yourself to be a good businessman. I may not be interested once I hear the details, but if I’m not, I know people who might be.”
“What’s the catch?” Elias watched as the man’s gaze shifted to the left. Elias followed Lachlan’s gaze and found Quinley nervously eyeing them both, looking pale beneath her sun hat.
“You either be the man she deserves—or you get out of her way and let her find the one who is.”