Edge (Gentry Boys #7) (22 page)

Creed was practically beaming now. “Well, damn, little brother. Congratulations.  I really want to meet this girl of yours.  She must be pretty spectacular.” 

“Yes she is.” 

“Then she’ll fit right in.”  He puffed his chest out proudly. “That’s one thing the lot of us excel at you know, finding outstanding women who make every day worth waking up to.” 

“Amen to that,” I agreed, thinking of the Gentry women. 

Saylor. Truly.  Stephanie.  Jenny.  Evie. 

If I had my way Roslyn was going to join that club. 

By the time I got back to my car I was running late.  I’d have to hustle to make it back downtown to meet the agent.  Even so, I paused and tapped out a text message.  A response arrived only seconds later. 

I love you too. 

I smiled.  Life was good.

ROSLYN

Conway would not allow me to do a thing. 

I couldn’t even pick up a shoebox without being actively thwarted and banished to the couch to lie around uselessly like the Queen of Sheba. 

Finally I gave up trying and just sat down to watch while Stone and Conway moved all the heavy boxes and furniture as Evie followed them out, usually carrying something portable like a lamp or a vase.  For the last hour the three of them had been busily loading up the moving van parked on the street downstairs while I was relegated to the sofa with a towering glass of ice water and a book of baby names. 

Today was moving day.  In a quirk of fate, the house we’d rented was right in Stone and Evie’s neighborhood.  Plus, thanks in no small part to Deck, Conway was about to lease some garage space.  From what I could see it would take a lot of elbow grease to get it in shape but Conway and Stone had big plans and were eager to get started. 

Since we wouldn’t be downtown anymore, getting to work would be a bit of a commute for me.  But then just last week Mary Agnes told me Homestead would be branching out.  An old motel close to the university was being renovated into a new facility.  It would be opening in the spring if all went according to plan and Mary Agnes wanted me to promise that I’d be back from maternity leave by then to help open the doors.  I’d be able to leave the baby in the resident daycare center and visit throughout the day to nurse or cuddle.  Frankly, I couldn’t have scripted this outcome more beautifully if I tried.   

“So hot out there,” Evie complained, fanning herself with a piece of cardboard as she trudged back inside. 

“Well, I did hear it’s supposed to get up to one hundred and ten today.  Anyway, stop with the hard labor and come sit with me.  I’m lonely.” 

She happily scurried to the couch and sat down, immediately tucking her legs under her and tightening her brown ponytail.

“Those boys,” she said with a shake of her head, “they keep bickering down there by the truck.” 

“Still?”

“Yup.  Conway complained Stone was loading up far too slowly and Stone barked back that he’s been a professional mover so he knows what he’s doing and plus he’s the oldest and big brothers always knows best. I thought they were going to wrestle for blood right there on the street but in the next second they shrugged it off and Conway handed Stone a bottle of water.” She giggled. “It was cute.  Those two, they’re either bosom buddies or at each other’s throats.  But that’s brothers for you.” 

“Well now they’ll be living in close proximity and working together so I guess we can look forward to a lot of that.” 

“Oh honey, you have no idea.”  Evie reached over and fondly patted my belly.  “How’s our baby?” 

“Growing.  Conway swore he felt an early kick this morning but I think it was just a hunger spasm.”   

Evie laughed. 

We’d spent a lot of time together lately.   So much that Evie insisted on adding me to her wedding party.  At first I’d scoffed and mentioned that I’d be as big as Hotel San Gabriel by the time October rolled around but Evie wouldn’t let up until I agreed.  More than anyone I’d every known, Evie possessed an infectious charm that made you want to do anything for her.  In my totally unbiased opinion I thought that Evie ought to run for president.  She’d win in a landslide.

Conway and Stone were back to arguing by the time they marched back upstairs to retrieve more furniture. 

“Dammit, I told you to bring the covers down last time,” Stone was saying. 

“Covers?” Conway grumbled.  “What covers?” 

Stone picked up a pile of fabric and shook it at his brother’s face. “These, knucklehead.” 

“Those look like old horse blankets.” 

“They are
not
old horse blankets.”

“They smell like old horse blankets.” 

“You can’t smell them from all the way over there.”

Conway raised his chin and sniffed.  “Know what? I think it’s actually
you
that smells like old horse blankets.” 

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.  These are furniture covers.  You need to secure them properly on your larger pieces so that you don’t risk nicks or dents.” 

“Hey Stone, when did you turn into a fussy old woman?” 

“Up yours, little man.” 

Evie cleared her throat quite loudly and the guys looked over at her.  She pointed.  “Um, what happened?  When I left you guys downstairs you were both fully dressed.” 

Stone and Conway looked down at their extremely impressive bare chests. 

“We were hot,” Conway shrugged. 

“It’s like Satan’s mouth down there,” Stone growled as he began wrapping the legs of my coffee table in padding. 

“Well, you might cause an accident or two from all the rubber necking but I’m sure the neighborhood appreciates the show.” 

Stone flexed his arms rather theatrically.  “Do
you
appreciate it, sweetheart?” 

Evie rolled her eyes.  “Stay on task, boys.  Roslyn’s tired and we don’t want to listen to you two carrying on all day.” 

Conway picked up three kitchen chairs at once. 

“Evie’s so bossy,” he complained to his brother.   

“Tell me about it,” Stone muttered but then he grinned and winked at his fiancé. 

Evie winked back.

When it came time to move the couch Evie grabbed my hand and declared that we should go out to lunch and let the boys finish the messy work of transporting everything over to the new place. 

“We’ll meet you guys at the house after lunch,” Evie said.  “You’ll be hungry by then.  If we’re in a generous mood we’ll bring you some hamburgers.” 

“No cheese!” shouted Stone. 

“I know.” 

“No onion!” bellowed Conway. 

“Of course.” 

Stone was right.  It
was
hot as Satan’s mouth outside.  Evie had arrived with Stone in the moving van so we took off in my car.  She mentioned a favorite restaurant close to where she lived.  I said that sounded good because I might as well get to know the neighborhood since as of today it would also be where I lived. 

We enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the air conditioning.  When I asked Evie if we ought to feel bad that we were hanging out in here while the guys did all the heavy lifting in the awful heat she waved a hand and said we’d just be in the way.

“Anyway, they’ll have more fun without us.” 

“They didn’t seem like they were having fun,” I said doubtfully.  “They seemed like they were sweating and busting each other’s balls.” 

“Haven’t you figured it out yet?  That’s their idea of fun.”  She smiled gently.  “Stone is so happy you know. Ecstatic actually.  I mean, it’s true Conway’s been back in his life these past two years but now with you guys living close by and them opening up a business together he really feels like he has his brother again.  Those two, they were so very close growing up…” She blushed.  “Of course, you know all this.  You knew them back then.” 

“Yeah,” I said, “I knew them.” 

My fingers touched the necklace around my neck.  I only wore it every once in a while these days.  Someday, many years from now, I expected I would explain its meaning to my child.  I would talk about life and loss and love and hope, the lessons I had learned along the way and the people who had taught them to me without even intending to. 

We ordered a stack of food to go.  Just as we were on our way out the door Conway texted to let me know he was already waiting at home and struggling with hunger equal to that of twelve famished bears. 

I texted right back. 

I’ll be home soon.

Home. 

My home was wherever he was now. 

It seemed there was no limit to what the Gentry boys could do when they made an effort because in the hour that had elapsed since we’d left them they’d cleaned out the old apartment, reached the new house and unloaded every single box, lamp and couch cushion.

Evie and I found the two of them lying on their backs in the middle of the living room. 

“Hey baby,” Conway yawned from his position on the floor.  “I’d carry you over the threshold but I can’t seem to move.” 

I dropped the bag of food beside his head.  Nearby, Stone was pretending to sleep with his hands folded over his chest.  Evie sat right down on top of him and started tickling him mercilessly until he managed to pin her quick hands and retaliate. 

“No fair,” she gasped through laughter. 

“Don’t start a fight you can’t win,” Stone warned as he rolled on top of her. 

“I always win,” she declared, still giggling. 

Stone stared down at her for a moment and then kissed her.  It was no quick peck of affection.  He kissed her long and deep, rolling to his back and pulling her on top of him as he tangled one hand in her hair and moved the other one up and down her body.  Stone and Evie weren’t exactly shy about showing affection. 

Conway propped himself up on his elbows and glared at them in disgust.  “Knock it off, Stonewall.  If anyone’s going to christen this floor today it’s going to be me, not you.” 

Neither Stone nor Evie so much as paused in the midst of their heavy duty make out session. 

  I knelt at Conway’s side and took a Styrofoam container from the bag.  “Here, eat your hamburger.” 

He stopped glowering at his brother and took an interest in the food.

“Mushrooms and no onions?”

“Naturally.” 

As soon as Conway dove into his food Stone sat up, apparently deciding the needs of his stomach outweighed other needs for the time being.  Evie sat on the floor between the two brothers while I wandered around the house.  It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a respectable backyard.  All the rooms were small but it was clean and it was comfortable and even though I had yet to spend a single night here it was already my very favorite among all the places I’d lived before. 

The small desk that used to sit in the corner of my bedroom at the apartment had been temporarily left in the middle of one of the secondary bedrooms.  Since there was another room closer to the master bedroom than this one we would probably use it for the nursery and turn this room into an office or something.  I started pushing the desk toward the far wall so it would overlook the backyard. 

“Don’t do that,” said a voice at my back. 

I turned around.  Stone was there in the doorway.  He walked over to the desk, picked it up effortlessly and moved it over to the window. 

“Is this where you want it?” he asked. 

“Yeah.  Thanks.” 

Stone opened the blinds all the way and looked out the window.  He turned to me and smiled.  “Look at that.  You can just make out the roof of our house from here.” 

I smiled back.  “I suppose that means we’ll run into each other now and then.” 

He looked out the window again, drumming his fingers on the surface of the desk.  I was startled to realize that this was the first time we’d ever been alone together.  I wondered if I should tell him that I still had his letter.  I wondered if I should admit the gratitude I felt because Conway had him for a brother.  And I wondered if I should let him know that I was sure he would be an excellent uncle. 

“Thank you, Roslyn,” he said quietly. 

“I’m the one who should be thanking you.  After all, you’re spending your day off helping us move.” 

Stone looked at me.  His eyes were Conway’s eyes.  I wondered if my child would have them too.

“Thank you for seeing my brother for who he really is, for reminding him just how beautiful life can be, and for falling in love with him.” 

Stone was legitimately choked up.  I was touched.  So I told him the plain truth. 

“Falling in love with Conway has given my heart a workout,” I said and then smiled. “It’s also the best thing I’ve ever done.” 

He nodded.  “I’m glad you think so.  Because on Conway’s planet, you’re the sun.” 

Stone and Evie left a little while later.  I think they were eager to get home and finish what they’d started on the floor of the living room.  Conway embraced his brother in a brief but strong hug before letting him walk out the door. I couldn’t remember ever seeing two grown brothers hug before but as I watched them it seemed to me that hugging was something brothers definitely ought to do more often. Stone whispered something to Conway and Conway nodded. 

When the door was shut and we were alone, Conway turned to me and smiled broadly.  I opened my arms and he rushed over and swept me up as I hung on and laughed. 

“So much unpacking to do,” I groaned when he set me down again. 

“It can wait,” Conway said.  “Stay right here for a minute.” He disappeared down the hall. 

“Oh, by the way my dad plans on stopping by tomorrow,” I called to Conway. 

“Great!” he called back. 

My father had been a big surprise.  I had dreaded telling him I was pregnant, figuring he’d lecture and hang his head and ooze parental disappointment.  Instead he was thrilled.  He took an instant liking to Conway and had already started proudly referring to himself as ‘Grandpa’ in the third person. People were such funny, ever changing creatures.  You never knew what they were going to do until you gave them a chance to do it.