Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
RYDER
“ S o you checked the whole grocery store and didn’t see anything?” Jake frowns into his beer.
Everyone left this morning to go back home, and I’m taking this opportunity to talk with my brothers while we are alone. It’s been weighing heavily on my mind, and I need to fill them in.
I shake my head. “Nothing. I can’t shake the feeling, though, that something is not right.”
“I have a new client that may be able to help us. He’s done some investigating work, and I’ll see if he’s willing to look into her whereabouts.” Travis watches Max jump back into the pool. “I don’t like the idea that her mom could be anywhere near our family. She’s bat shit crazy, and there’s no telling what losing her husband and all their precious money did to her.”
“Agreed.” Miles’s fist opens and closes as his thoughts of her parents resurface.
“I’m getting Eve a new number and installing some cameras outside. I’ll feel better knowing I can keep an eye on the place when I’m not home.”
“Good idea. Don’t worry, Ryder. If she’s here, we’ll find her, and when we do, I think it’s time we all have a little chat with her.” Jake’s eyes burn into mine, and we silently agree on what we all are thinking. Nobody is ever going to mess with our family again.
“Where are you taking me?” She laughs and adjusts the blindfold on her eyes. It’s been two weeks, and we haven’t seen or heard a thing from her mother. The guy Travis hired is having a hard time locating her. If she is here, she drove and is using cash, leaving us with no paper trail. My nerves are finally starting to settle, but I’m not stopping until I know for sure she’s not going to bother Eve.
“You’ll see. We are almost there.” I had a client come in last week, that I’ve done a lot of work for on his cars. He mentioned he was moving up North for work and wanted to thank me again for the jobs I did. We started talking about how the move was going and how much he hated to sell his house. From his description, I immediately asked him if I could look at it before he put it on the market. Eve worked at home that day, so I followed him back and fell in love with the place. I set up today to show her and see what she thinks.
I glance over at her and grin. She looks adorable in her yellow sundress and ponytail. Her skin is glowing from all the beach days we’ve been having. She looks in my direction and grins even though she can’t see me. “It feels like we’ve been driving forever. Are we still in Blue Haven?”
“You never were good with surprises,” I laugh. “Always so curious.” I place my hand on her warm thigh, and she covers it with hers.
“I am curious. You blindfolded me for this, and I have a million questions running through my head.”
“Maybe I’m just kidnapping you and taking you to the middle of nowhere so no one will be able to hear you scream my name over and over again.” I grin as her cheeks get a nice pink color to them.
“Hmmmm.” Her bottom lip disappears between her teeth as she thinks about what I said. I grip the wheel tighter and focus back on the road before I pull over and really do make it happen. “I don’t think that’s it. You don’t need to kidnap me for that. You did that last night when Sophia and Travis watched a movie with the kids.”
“True,” I laugh. Thoughts go back to me bending her over the couch as her muffled screams drove me right to the edge where sane blurs into insanity. I never came so hard in my life. My dick stirs in my pants, and I shift uncomfortably in my seat.
She senses my movement and grins. “You’re thinking about it right now, aren’t you?”
“You know I am,” I growl. Her laugh rings out before stopping on a gasp as my hand on her thigh meets damp panties.
“I’m not the only one.” I run my thumb along the wet spot, and she presses her legs together on a soft moan. I remove my hand and smirk when a slight pout happens on those beautiful lips. “I’ll take care of you later, I promise.” Her lips part, and she looks sexy as hell in that blindfold. “You’re wearing this tonight,” I touch the soft black fabric over her eyes. “I like you not being able to see what’s coming next.” She squirms in her seat, and I grin at how responsive my wife’s body is to me.
“We’re almost there. You can take the blindfold off.” I want her to be able to take in the area surrounding the house. She lifts the material off her eyes and blinks as they adjust to the light. I pull off the main road and hit white shell gravel as we enter the small neighborhood. It’s about a thirty-minute drive from the downtown area where I work, but I don’t mind at all. I love driving, and the roads to get here will be fun with a little speed.
I watch her take in all the houses lined up on either side. Some are pushed far back from the road, and you can barely see them. “The beach is right at the end of this road.” I point where the gravel road turns and you can see the ocean off in the distance. I pull off into a driveway that takes us back a bit from the road before a two-story white house comes into view. We are surrounded by palm trees and bamboo providing privacy from the neighbors. There is a big yard in the front that extends in the back around the screened-in pool.
I shut off the engine and stare at her as she takes it all in. I’m hoping she feels what I felt when I first saw the place. She turns toward me with questions in her eyes, and I smile when I see how much she loves it.
“What do you think?”
“I…” She turns and looks at the house again. “It’s beautiful. I love the privacy and the yard. Do you know who lives here?”
“A client of mine owns it. He’s moving and when he told me about the place I had to see it for myself. I knew the moment I pulled up that this was it. It was our home. The home where we would raise our kids and fill with so many memories.”
“Ryder…I…” Her eyes fill with tears, and I catch one as it falls, wiping it away.
“Do you want to see the inside?” I reach for the spare key he dropped off this morning so we could look at it in private.
She nods her head, grinning before excitement has her throwing the door open. I laugh and follow her to the front porch before walking inside. Light grey wood floors are throughout the open-concept kitchen and living room. A grey stone fireplace is along one wall with lots of room for a big sectional. Windows cover most of the walls overlooking the front and back yard. The kitchen has white cabinets with a huge island in the middle. Wooden barstools line the white marble countertop. An alcove overlooks the backyard with rounded windows and a place to put a dining room table.
“So these open up all the way and slide into one another, making this whole glass wall disappear.” I point to the big sliding glass doors that lead to the pool. “There are two bedrooms down here,” I say, walking her to the right of the kitchen, where a little hallway leads to two good-sized bedrooms and two bathrooms. “This door leads to the pool area.” I point to the door in the back bathroom.
I watch her smile as she looks at everything, and I know she’s picturing us living here just like I did.
“Then, on the other side of the kitchen is an office.” I lead her across the kitchen to a small room overlooking the backyard. It has cottage doors leading out to the deck. This will be a perfect place for her to work from home when she wants to. “Now for the best part, where all the magic happens,” I wink at her, and she laughs, taking my hand as I lead her back to the living room and up the wooden staircase.
“Besides the master, there are two bedrooms up here and another bathroom.” I walk down the hall and open the doors for her to see. “I thought for now we could use one for a nursery and the other for Ryland so they can be close to us. Then, when they get older, they can move downstairs, and our new little ones can take their place up here. We will get baby gates, of course, for the stairs to contain our little animals.”
She laughs and swipes another tear away.
“And this,” I say, opening the door, “this is ours.” I watch her as she gasps at the view. Most of the back wall is covered in windows, and cottage doors lead out to a small balcony. We step outside, and through the trees, you can see the ocean in the distance as the wind blows the palm tree leaves.
The pool is good-sized, with a hot tub cascading down into it. Off to the side is an outdoor kitchen and a place to have some outdoor furniture with a fire table. They don’t have an outdoor shower, but I already have plans to build one for us.
“It has a castle swingset,” she whispers, looking down at the yard. I couldn’t believe it either when I saw it. It was exactly what I was picturing when I mentioned it before. They can get to the tower by a rock climbing wall or spiral steps. The tower is covered by a grey roof resembling a castle. Two different slides can be used on the way down to the swings and monkey bars. Under the tower is a shady area filled with sand for playing.
“It stays with the house.” I smile and wrap my arms around her from behind. “Ryland will love it, and this little one, too.” I place my hand on her tiny bump. She’s still not showing but I can see little changes in her body every day that get me more and more excited to become a father again.
“It’s perfect, Ry,” she says softly.
“You haven’t seen the best part yet.” I pull her back into the bedroom and across the wooden floors until I reach the door to the master bath. I know how much she loves bubble baths, and I especially love her in them. She walks in and gasps. A double vanity sits along one wall, with white marble surrounding the two sinks. In the corner is a huge walk-in shower with matching marble tiles but it’s the tub along the back wall that’s got her attention as she walks over to it. It’s a huge standing tub with jets, big enough for both of us. A beautiful chandelier hangs from above, and the light hitting the huge frosted glass window casts tiny rainbow prisms around the area.
“So what do you think?” I watch her run her hand along the white surface of the bathtub.
She turns and flings herself in my arms, burying her face in my chest. “This is our home, Ryder. I can feel it. It’s more than I ever thought to imagine or let myself hope to have.”
“I feel it, too. That’s why I already put an offer in and they accepted.” She goes still in my arms, and I grin. I took a chance on her loving it as much as I do. “It’s ours, Eve. We close at the end of next month and can move in on the first of September.”
She lifts her head and looks up at me. Her blues are so bright now and full of love that it takes my breath away. I gently brush back a piece of her auburn hair that escaped her ponytail.
“I love you so much,” she says softly. “You have no idea how much because it’s impossible to say in words what I feel for you.”
“I have an idea because it’s exactly what I feel for you.” I lean down and bring those lips to mine. My fingers weave into her hair as her tongue comes out to dance with me. We both softly moan as our words are felt in every touch we feel…every sound we make when our bodies are pressed together. We may not be able to speak the depth of what we feel for each other, but it’s heard loudly in the silence whenever we are together.