Can't Get Enough of You (8 page)

She stood for a moment, taking in every detail of the house. A large wooden porch swing was positioned near the arched oak door that sported a stained-glass window.

It didn't matter that she was so numb she couldn't feel her feet as she began moving up the walkway. She was grateful for Scott's supportive arm around her waist as they mounted the porch stairs together.

When he would have reached for the doorbell, Jenna shook her head. She didn't want to rush this moment. She wanted to savor every second, lock it away in her memory to be replayed again and again. She looked through the bright-colored glass into a wide foyer. She thought she heard a male voice coming from the back of the house, but she couldn't be sure, because her heart was pounding wildly.

“It's going to be alright, Jenna. You're going to be fine whether this is your Lincoln or not,” Scott said quietly.

She mouthed the word “thank you,” unaware of slipping her left hand into his while she reached to press the doorbell. As they waited, Jenna was so glad to have Scott at her side.

She froze at the sound of approaching footsteps. Unconsciously, she held her breath, her eyes closed while she silently prayed for strength.

“Take a deep breath, babe,” Scott urged.

Jenna did just that as she stared at the tall man who'd opened the front door. A screen door separated them. His long frame was shadowed by the mesh frame.

“Can I help you?”

Jenna felt the reassuring squeeze of Scott's hand on her waist just before she found her voice. “Hello. We're looking for Lincoln Nicholas. Is this his home?”

“I'm Lincoln Nicholas. What can I do for you?”

Jenna's heart pounded like a steel drum as she fought to collect scattered thoughts and an avalanche of emotions. She didn't speak because she couldn't. She stared at Lincoln Nicholas. He was well above six feet tall, with dark bronze skin and close-cut, dark brown wavy hair. As she studied his African features, she realized he reminded her of someone, only she didn't know who.

“I'm Scott Hendricks and . . .”

“The NBA player?” Lincoln asked.

Scott nodded. “And this is Jenna Gaines. May we come inside?”

“Did you say Jenna Gaines?” Lincoln asked, his voice barely above a whisper. “It can't be . . .” His voice suddenly trailed away.

“May we come inside? Just for a few moments, please,” Jenna asked softly.

Lincoln nodded, unlocking the screened door and pushing it wide to allow them entrance.

Jenna had no recollection of entering the foyer, or viewing the living room as he closed the door behind them. They followed him down the central hall to a large family room. Lincoln Nicholas had a handsome, strong, square-jawed face. As she studied him, she acknowledged that while he didn't look like anyone she'd ever met before, he seemed incredibly familiar. There was something about the shape of his forehead and his wide mouth that tugged at her.

“Lincoln, who was at the door?” a woman's voice came from over his right shoulder.

It was when he turned toward the sound that Jenna saw the mole at his jawline, below his right earlobe. Suddenly, she knew why he looked so familiar. He looked like her father. Her legs began to shake so badly that she had to grab Scott's arm to steady herself.

Just then, a beautiful woman with dark brown skin and a short natural entered the room. On her hip she carried a little girl with dark brown curls. The child's denim-clad legs were wrapped around her mother's small waist, and her bronze cheek rested on her shoulder with her thumb firmly in her mouth.

“I'm not sure,” he said as he turned back to them. But he didn't take his eyes off Jenna. “Did you say your name was Jenna?”

There was no hesitation on her part; Jenna lifted her chin, stared up into her brother's brown eyes, and declared, “I'm Jenna Marie Gaines. I have a sister, Lenna Marie Gaines. I also have a brother, who's a year older. His nickname was Sonny. My parents were . . .”

Lincoln quickly bridged the space that separated them. “Fred and Jennifer Gaines,” he finished for her.

With tears in her eyes, Jenna nodded, then whispered, “Are you my . . .”

“Yes, I believe I'm your brother.” Lincoln reached out to touch her cheek. “It's you, isn't it, Jenna? After so many years.”

She couldn't push the words past the swell of emotions in her throat. She merely nodded, “Yes, Lincoln. You still have the mole, just like Daddy. You look so much like him.”

Jenna wasn't aware of the tears that trickled down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around her brother for the first time since they were young children. Her cheek rested against his chest. “Oh, Lincoln . . .” she sobbed, “finally I found you.” She was flooded with so many emotions, mostly joy and heartfelt relief.

The siblings held on to each other for a while, neither of them moving from the comfort of the long, welcoming hug. Eventually, Lincoln and Jenna drew apart, but brother and sister were unable to look away for some time.

Eventually Lincoln said, “Jenna, this is my wife, Carolyn. And our daughter, Corrie, she's two.” He grinned as he urged his wife forward. “Carolyn, this is my sister Jenna.”

Jenna accepted the other woman's hug and looked with adoring eyes at the beautiful toddler. “It's nice to meet you, Carolyn,” she said, reaching back and linking her fingers with Scott's. “Carolyn, Lincoln, I'd like you to meet my friend, Scott Hendricks. We've driven down from Detroit.”

As the two men shook hands, Jenna noted that while Lincoln was tall—close to six-three—Scott towered over him by a good five inches. When Jenna's gaze locked with Scott's, her eyes sparkled with happiness and excitement. With a radiant smile, she thanked him. Yes, she could have done this without him, but she was relieved that she hadn't had to.

“I can't believe it!” Lincoln exclaimed. “Jenna, my beautiful sister, is all grown up!”

“This is incredible. Sit down, please,” Carolyn urged, indicating the two blue sofas facing each other adjacent to a navy leather armchair and ottoman. There was a large flat-screen television mounted on the wall above a fireplace and a child-size padded armchair, along with a collection of toys, in the corner of the room.

Once they were all seated, Lincoln and Jenna were busy smiling and holding hands while Carolyn and Scott looked on affectionately.

“You said that you finally found him. Have you been looking long?” Carolyn asked with her little daughter on her lap.

Jenna laughed. “It seems like forever. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted my brother back. For years, I've searched online for information about my family. I couldn't find Lincoln Gaines anywhere. It's only recently that I've been able to afford to hire a private investigator to help me. I knew you were out there somewhere.”

“I was privately adopted when I was seven. I took my parents' last name. Tell me about Lenna,” Lincoln asked.

Jenna's eyes lost some of their sparkle. “I haven't been able to locate her yet. I think she might have been privately adopted, like you. Her name must have been changed. My investigator is still searching. I've got to call him and let him know that you are indeed my brother. I wouldn't let him approach you when he first located you. I wanted to do that myself.”

“I'm glad you cared enough to look.” He gave her a hug. “What about you, Jenna? Has this been hard on you?”

She smiled, blinking back tears. “It's something I felt compelled to do for a long time.”

“Tell us about your life,” Carolyn encouraged.

Still shaken by strong emotions, Jenna took a deep breath before saying, “I live in the Detroit area. I have a house in the city. I finished my doctorate in the spring and began teaching economics this fall at the University of Detroit-Mercy.”

“That's great, Jenna. Congratulations. So you were also adopted,” Lincoln surmised.

Eight

“N
o, Lincoln. I was never adopted. I stayed in foster care after Mama left us.”

Lincoln exchanged a concerned look with Carolyn before he said earnestly, “What? But . . .” He paused as if shocked. “I'm so sorry. That had to be difficult for you. How did you manage on your own?”

Jenna quickly added, “It wasn't difficult or hard on me. I am blessed. I was placed in a wonderful home with two other little girls. We had a truly wonderful older woman, Mrs. Green, to look after us. She was good to us. It wasn't like those horrible stories you hear about. We weren't shifted from home to home. Mrs. Green raised us. We stayed with her until we were eighteen and old enough to go on to college. All three of us finished college. We beat the odds,” Jenna ended proudly. She glanced at Scott, and he smiled back at her.

“That's wonderful, Jenna.” Lincoln beamed and squeezed her hand, truly happy for her. “You flourished in spite of the circumstances. I'm proud of you.”

“I am, too,” Scott put in. “With the help of scholarship money and grants, Jenna worked her way through school. And she went all the way through.”

Lincoln marveled, “And you two are friends. I can't get over it. Scott Hendricks is sitting in my house. I watched you win that last championship where you were the MVP. I bet you can't go anywhere without being recognized.”

Scott laughed good-naturedly. “The height thing always gives me away. Now that I'm retired, the attention gets to be a little old.”

“You're a celebrity!” Carolyn exclaimed as her daughter crawled off her lap and climbed on her dad's. “How did you two meet?”

Scott leaned back and waited for Jenna to answer.

“We met years ago in college,” she smiled.

Carolyn jumped up. “I forgot all about dinner. I'd better check on it. You two haven't eaten yet, have you? Please say you'll stay and eat with us.”

Jenna glanced at Scott. He smiled back. She nodded. “We'd like that. Do you need any help?”

“Nope. You visit with Lincoln. I'm sure he's dying to know everything you've done in the last twenty years,” Carolyn called as she hurried toward the kitchen with Corrie in her arms.

“It's truly incredible,” Lincoln said, shaking his head in amazement.

“Incredible,” Jenna repeated.

Scott asked for directions to the restroom and excused himself. When he didn't return, Jenna smiled, realizing he'd gone into the kitchen to visit with Carolyn to give them an opportunity to talk privately.

Jenna asked, “Lincoln, did you ever try to find me or Lenna?”

Lincoln looked away, obviously uncomfortable. He pulled on his chin thoughtfully before he revealed, “It wasn't because I didn't care. I thought about both of you every day while growing up. I hoped you two were alright. I always assumed you two had been adopted together. It never occurred to me that they might split you two up.”

He frowned when he said, “No, I never searched for you two. I believed you two were happy and doing well. I don't really know why I never tried to find you. Maybe I felt a little guilty because I had been adopted into a wonderful, loving family. I wanted for nothing. My parents are wealthy, prominent attorneys, as are my two older sisters. I'm the only boy. It was important to my dad that I took the family name. And it's expected I will take over the firm someday.”

He paused before he confessed, “My father offered to find out what he could about our family when I was a teenager, but I refused. I'd closed that door and didn't want it opened. I thought it was better if I didn't intrude in your lives.” He paused, then admitted, “I couldn't bear it if one of you had suffered while I was living the life.” Taking her hand in his, he whispered, “I'm sorry, Jenna. I know it was wrong.”

Jenna patted his hand, seeing the shame in his eyes. “You have nothing to be ashamed of or even embarrassed about, Lincoln. I'm glad you grew up as part of such a loving family. You deserved to be happy. There is nothing wrong with that. None of it was your fault. You didn't make the mess our parents created. They left us, not the other way around.”

“I know that.”

“Do you? Then stop blaming yourself. You and I were both blessed to be raised by people who loved us. I can only pray that Lenna has been as fortunate.”

“Amen to that,” Lincoln echoed, releasing a sigh of relief.

Carolyn called, “Dinner's ready, you two. Lincoln, please help the baby wash her hands.”

Once they were all seated in the dining room, Jenna said, “Carolyn, everything looks wonderful.” She eyed the serving plates filled with a glazed ham along with a large bowl of creamy mashed sweet potatoes.

“Thanks, Jenna. You and Scott are to relax and enjoy yourselves. We are so happy to have you with us.”

“That's right,” Lincoln beamed. “Shall we say grace?” After blessing the food, he began circulating a serving bowl of mixed greens and a platter of cornbread muffins.

“Delicious,” Scott said, sampling his brimming plate. “You're not only beautiful, Carolyn, but you're also a great cook.”

“She's that, as well as a wonderful mother,” Lincoln added as he gave Corrie a buttered muffin.

Carolyn blushed at the compliment and smiled at Corrie, who was seated between her parents in her high chair.

“How did you two meet?” Jenna asked.

“We were high school sweethearts. I think we fell in love in tenth grade,” Carolyn laughed.

Lincoln smiled, “I proposed the night of the prom. We waited until I finished law school to marry, though.”

“The men are right. Carolyn, you are a fabulous cook,” Jenna said.

“Thank you, one and all. I'm lucky to be able to stay home with our daughter. Lincoln and I just found out we're expecting another baby in the spring.”

“That's wonderful,” Jenna laughed. “Carolyn, how are you feeling?”

“No problems so far,” she smiled.

“Congratulations. Lincoln, you're a lucky man,” Scott grinned.

“That I am,” he beamed.

“Lincoln, tell us about your parents,” Scott asked.

“They're great. Both warm and loving. It didn't matter that I was Black. Like I told Jenna, they are both attorneys. I have two sisters. No, I have four sisters. There's Linda, Candace, Jenna, and Lenna. Wow, I am a lucky man, surrounded by strong, beautiful women.”

Lincoln went on to explain that the family's firm specialized in corporate law. He and his father practiced contract law, managing pro athletics all over the Midwest. Jenna could tell that Scott's interest was piqued when Lincoln began naming the men they represented from the Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Redskins, the Chicago Bears, and the Bulls.

Lincoln took a sip from his glass before he said, “Both Candace and Linda are married, and both have two sons. Corrie is the only girl in the family.”

“Her aunts and both sets of grandparents are determined to spoil her. If I didn't put my foot down, she'd get everything she wanted from both sides of the family,” Carolyn revealed.

“Well, I am pleased to have sweet little Corrie as my niece.” Jenna smiled, reaching out to caress the baby's soft cheek, which earned her a smile from her little niece.

It was while they were eating slices of Carolyn's lemon pound cake that the couple invited them to stay overnight with them.

“We wouldn't want to impose,” Jenna insisted.

“Nonsense. We can bring Corrie in with us and Jenna can have her bed. It's a double bed. And Scott, the sofa in the family room opens into a king-sized bed. Say you will stay . . . please!” Carolyn encouraged.

Scott looked over at Jenna. “It's up to you.”

“Please say yes,” Lincoln urged. “I like the idea of you being close. We still have so much to catch up on.”

Jenna laughed, saying, “Yes. We can stay.”

It wasn't until they were in the kitchen, helping with the cleanup, that Scott and Jenna had a chance to talk privately.

“You don't mind staying? Or using the sofa bed?” she asked as she rinsed a plate and handed it to him to load into the dishwasher.

“Jenna, will you stop? As long as you're happy, I'm fine.” Lifting her chin so he could look into her eyes, he quizzed, “You're happy, aren't you, babe?”

Barely able to contain her joy, Jenna laughed through her tears. “I'm more than happy. I'm thrilled to have finally found my brother.” She surprised them both when she threw her arms around his neck and pulled his head down so she could press her lips to his. “Thank you for tagging along with me. I haven't been myself since Mr. Collagen called to tell me about Lincoln. The not knowing was the worst part of it all. Thanks for putting up with me.”

“You're welcome.” He tightened his arms around her.

With her breasts pillowed on his chest, her senses quickly soared. His unique masculine scent was working its own special magic on her senses. She yearned to rub the aching tips of her breasts against his wide chest, to ease her hips forward until they were against his muscular thighs. The planes and angles of his strong body were both arousing and familiar.

She closed her eyes against the sudden rush of sensual emotions flooding her system. It took all her strength not to rub against his hardness or suckle his full bottom lip. His nearness was like a potent aphrodisiac. As she stared into his dark, sultry eyes she decided ten years wasn't nearly enough to forget what it felt like to be his. She rose up on her toes for another kiss, but before they could connect she heard someone approaching.

“Were you able to find everything?” Carolyn called before she came through the kitchen's swinging doors.

“No problem,” Scott answered, taking a step back, forcing Jenna's arms to drop to her sides.

Jenna's face felt hot from a combination of embarrassment and disbelief. Goodness! What had happened to her common sense? Had she lost her mind as well as her sense of self-preservation?

“We're nearly done,” Jenna volunteered, hoping to fill the void.

Suddenly she was furious with herself and Scott. How easily he made her feel what was best forgotten. She shook with the force of her emotions. She had no business recalling the special promise she'd made to him the night he'd proposed. What difference did it make now if she'd promised to be his . . . always? They were not connected. The past no longer mattered.

“You're our guests. You shouldn't be working,” Carolyn insisted.

“Just be glad you got a night off,” Jenna teased as she struggled to regain control.

Carolyn laughed. “I'm going to like having you for a sister.”

“Good, because I'm looking forward to it. Will you show us the rest of the house?”

Carolyn beamed. “I'd love to.”

While Lincoln got Corrie ready for bed, Carolyn gave them a tour of the rambling, older home. The couple had been slowly renovating the house. Although there was still work to do, they were proud of what they'd accomplished. Three of the five bedrooms needed work, as did the living room, library, and home office. Carolyn explained they'd turned over the renovation of the three bathrooms to the professionals.

It wasn't until Jenna was preparing for bed that she recalled the kiss she and Scott had shared in the kitchen. Although angry with herself for wanting more, she firmly pushed the thought away, refusing to dwell on it. It had been a mistake and didn't mean anything.

J
enna woke to the soft giggles of her little niece, Corrie, standing at the foot of the bed.

“Morning, baby girl. Did you come to wake me up?”

Corrie nodded, then dropped to hide behind the footboard of the double bed.

Jenna smiled, sitting up. “You have such a pretty room, Corrie,” she said, trying to coax her out of hiding. “And so many books.” Jenna pointed to the child-sized shelf filled with picture books. “Which one is your favorite?”

Corrie popped up, giggling. She raced over and pulled out a large book with a bear on the cover. She brought it over to Jenna to see, but she was too shy to stay and was soon racing out of the room.

Jenna laughed, shaking her head. She hugged herself, so happy to have found her brother. Not prepared to waste time in bed, she quickly got up and grabbed her robe and toiletry bag before she headed to the hall bathroom.

The day flew by in a whirl of activity. Jenna got to know her sister-in-law while pitching in to steam the aged wallpaper from the living room walls. Lincoln and Scott painted an upstairs bedroom.

Later in the day, David and Marleen Nicholas stopped by, as did their daughters, Candace and Linda, who came with their families. Jenna had a chance to visit with Lincoln's adopted family during an impromptu dinner. The men grilled steaks and corn on the cob on the patio while the ladies prepared mixed green salad and baked potatoes with all the fixings.

When the festivities were done, and the families had said goodnight, Jenna assured herself that she was relieved that she hadn't had an opportunity to exchange more than a few words with Scott the entire day. It was better that way. She didn't want to magnify the kiss they'd shared in the kitchen, a kiss that never should have happened. She couldn't afford the complications, she told herself as she pulled her nightgown over her head.