Always and Forever (8 page)

Brie held Isabella close as she rocked her and sang a lullaby. Even though she’d had four children, the weight of the baby, her solidness, her powdery scent soothed Brie. She was happy today—her family was here and Pat was in a good mood. When the baby sagged into her, she got up and placed
her in the crib. Taking the monitor with her, she left the nursery and walked down the hall to her bedroom. Pat wouldn’t like it if he knew, but she needed to check her work messages.

The first two inquired about her services. They could wait until the morning. But there were two more. One was from Jonathan Forbes. The other…Phillip Carson. He must have gotten the message she’d left him this
morning before everyone arrived.

She punched in Dr. Forbes’s number. He answered his phone right away. “Hello, Dr. Forbes, this is Brie O’Neil.”

“Please, call me Jonathan.”

“All right. What can I do for you?”

“You’re late.”

“Excuse me?”

“You were to be here at noon.”

“No, not today. Tomorrow.”

“My calendar says today. Harlan checked it. We’ve been waiting for you.
Can you come out now?”

“I can’t. I’m entertaining my whole family for a birthday party today.”

“Oh.” A pause. “That’s nice. Tell me about them.”

Remembering the perpetual sadness on his face, she sat down on her bed and humored him for five minutes. Finally she said, “I have to get back to my guests.”

“I understand. But I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, of course, and I’m
sorry about the misunderstanding.”

Feeling bad for the old gentleman, Brie clicked into Phillip Carson’s message. “Hi, Brie. Call me back.”

She glanced at the clock on the dresser. She’d been gone from the party awhile. But she punched in Phillip’s number anyway. He answered on the third ring. “Carson.”

“Hi, Phillip. It’s Brie O’Neil.”

“Brie, hi.” His voice was crisp. Business-like.
“I got your message that you’ve decided to send Annie Cummings in your place, for cleaning out my mother’s house.”

“Yes, I did. Is there a problem with that?” Brie stood and went to the window and stared out at the party in the backyard. The volleyball game was in full swing, but she didn’t see Pat in the water.

“Somewhat of a problem. I hired
you
.”

“I thought you hired InPlace.”

“You know what I mean. I was looking forward to seeing you again.”

His statement made her uncomfortable. “Sorry to disappoint you, Phillip, truly. But I’ll be there to assess the job. You can see me then.”

Before he could respond, she heard, “Brie?”

Pivoting, she saw her husband at the door. He filled it with his wide bare shoulders and muscular build. “Why are you on the phone?
Who don’t you want to disappoint?”

Gripping the cell with one hand, she held up a finger to Pat. “Phillip, I’m sorry, I thought this would be a quick call. And I have a houseful of people. Can I speak with you tomorrow?”

After he agreed, she clicked off.

Pat was openmouthed. “You’re sorry to disappoint Phillip Carson?”

“Um, no.” She didn’t like it that he was spying on her. “He
called about the job. He said he was looking forward to seeing me again, and I was just being polite.”

“You snuck up here to call
him
during Ma’s party.”

Getting impatient now, she took in a deep breath. “I had to check for messages. I put the baby down and then returned some calls. His was one.” With more edge in her voice she added, “And I didn’t sneak.”

“Nice retort, Brie.”

“It wasn’t a retort. It was true.”

He turned and started away. She rushed to the door and pulled at his arm.

“Don’t,” he said.

“Pat, I assigned Annie to this job. Then I left Phillip a message telling him that.”

Pivoting, he faced her. “You said you would. I wasn’t sure if you’d changed your mind.”

“You asked me not to work for him, and I can understand your objections. Don’t
misinterpret some idle comments.”

He blew out a breath. “All right. I’m sorry I overreacted.”

She leaned into him, his masculine scent calming her. “Okay, let’s go back to the party.”

He didn’t move. Just brushed a gentle hand down her cheek. “I love you, Brie. So much.”

“I know, Patrick. And I love you, too.”

He was obviously pleased and relieved. Which was good.

When
they arrived back at the pool, Aidan yelled, “We get Brie.” She played well and was stronger than she looked.

“Then we get Uncle Pat.” This from Hogan.

Brie and Pat went to the edge of the pool, and he linked his hand with hers. “Thank you,
a ghrá
.”

She didn’t ask what he was thankful for. He knew she knew. And for now, that was enough. Holding hands, they both jumped into the water
together.

Late, late that night, after everyone had left the party, Brie waited for her husband by the pool. The nocturnal creatures were out, singing their songs. The scent of mowed grass from the neighborhood surrounded her. She’d dressed in a one-piece terry thing that would drive her husband’s blood pressure up. She needed him tonight.

When he came outside and over
to her, she could see his hair was messy and his chest bare, as he wore only a dry suit. “You’re lookin’ good, love.”

She reached to the table in front of her, picked up a glass and handed Pat some wine. “It was a nice day, wasn’t it?”

“Mama loved it.” He sat adjacent to her, grasped her hand, kissed her knuckles. Feathers of desire teased her. “Thanks for always entertaining my family
so well.”

They spoke of the day, the people who had come to the party. “Our kids always have so much fun at these gatherings.” She frowned. “But Sinead seemed preoccupied a little.”

“He’s almost twenty. Guess what he’s preoccupied with?”

“Hmm. Just like his dad was then.”

Pat stared over at her. Studied her. She was absolutely beautiful, especially with the moon kissing her face
and hair. He tugged on the strings of her outfit. “Then and now, you know you make me hot with just a look, girl.”

“Do I?” She leaned in close and whispered in his ear. “I don’t have anything on under this.”

“Fuck. You’re gonna kill me someday with your teasing.”

He glanced at the house. “What about the kids?”

“The boys have overnights with Hogan and Cleary. Isabella and Kathleen
were worn out from the party. They’re fast asleep, but I have the baby monitor here in case they wake up.”

He glanced out over the pool. The space was sheltered, too, with the high fences and trees. They’d done some interesting things out here, when they could grab the privacy. This would be another of those times. He sipped his wine, enjoying its tart taste. “Aren’t you a smart girl to have
arranged all that?”

“And you’re gonna be a lucky man, Patrick O’Neil.”

His laugh echoed through the backyard.

Brie liked to shock him. Mix things up. She stood and slipped off the garment and tossed it at him. It landed in his face, then she turned and dove into the pool. The water had cooled some, feeling good on her heated skin.

After wrenching off his swim trunks, he dived in
after her. She was floating in the shallow end, and he came up next to her, grabbed her around the waist, made her stand. “You drive me crazy.”

“Good.” He nuzzled her neck, sending shivers through her whole body. His hands found her breasts, and he kneaded her. Tension invaded her, and soon she began to moan. His hand went lower to tease all the sensitive spots there. “Oh, God, Pat. You’re
so good.”

“Hmm.” His erection nudged her backside. “I love you, Brie.”

“I love you…oh, man. Wow.”

“Want to come this way?”

“No. Inside me. From behind.”

“Whatever you want,
a ghrá
.” Pat walked her to the edge of the pool and gently bent her over. Entered her slowly. Began to move. As he did, the water lapped in time with his thrusts. Soon the waves swirled as he brought them
both to climax.

The man was fidgeting. He knew this would be slow, and he’d always believed he had more control, but he was getting anxious. The situation wasn’t progressing fast enough, and he could ruin it if he wasn’t careful. “Be patient,” he said to the empty room. “Be patient.”

“What are you looking at, sweetheart?”

When Clay stepped out onto the back lawn of the White House and asked the question, Bailey quickly closed the photo album in her lap. His agents
moved to join Mitch, who was keeping an eye on the kids. They stood in the shade for a good view of Bailey and Clay, too. As always.

“Just some pictures.” She gestured to Rory and Angel, playing with their half-brother Jon in the hot afternoon sun while Tyler slept inside. Clay had been in a meeting all day on Capitol Hill. “The kids will be glad to see you. When did you get back?”

“I’ll
tell you in a minute.” He took the book from her hands, settled in a chair and opened it. Inside he’d find pictures of her family and some of her coworkers at ESCAPE, the website she used to run, which helped get young girls out of gangs.

After he perused the photos, he peered over at her. His hair was perfectly cut and in place, his face a bit tanned. He looked healthy and happy. “You’re
lonely, aren’t you?”

“Some.”

“Because you missed your mother’s birthday yesterday?”

“I talked to everybody. Mama even Skyped, though she had no idea how it worked.”

“I’m sorry. Maybe for the next big event, you should go home and say the hell with First Lady duties.” Bailey had been scheduled to give a talk to the Black Women’s Caucus at a Saturday night dinner, then at a rally
for women’s health care on Sunday, so she hadn’t been able to go home.

“It’s not only that. It’s impossible to have friends in our circumstances. The guys and my sisters-in-law are hours away.” She knew she sounded whiny and hated it.

“You could invite Suz”—one of her friends at ESCAPE—“down for a while.”

“She’s busy running Guardian.” With a gentle pain in her heart, Bailey thought
of the shelter for teenage gang members that she’d planned to head before she married Clay.

“Do you want to go home now? Rory’s finished school for the summer.”

She shook her head. “I can’t keep going back there, Clay. Besides, the hours I’ve booked to be with our kids are about the only free time I get all day. The rest of my life is scheduled pretty rigidly.”

He picked up her hand
and squeezed it. “I’m sorry.”

“We agreed you wouldn’t apologize for what we both decided, remember?”

Leaning over, he kissed her lips. His were warm, familiar, wonderful. “I do.” When he drew back, a light sparked in his hazel eyes. “I have something that will cheer you up, I think.” He stood and stepped out to where the children could see him. “Hi, guys. Come over here a minute.”

They raced toward him, Angel lagging, so Jon scooped her up. They reached him just behind Rory, who threw himself at his father. Clay stumbled back with the force of the hit, and Bailey hoped he didn’t fall on his ass and get his lightweight gray suit grass stained.

Rory finally stopped climbing all over him. “Dad, what’re you doing home? We’re done with school. That’s why we’re here.”

“I have a surprise for you. I thought maybe we’d celebrate another completed school year.” He hugged Jon. “I’m so glad you’re with us part of the summer.”

Jon nodded. “Me, too, Dad. What’s the surprise?”

Clay shot a glance at Bailey, then moved to the doorway of the house. “Okay, Connors, you can let him through.”

In bounded a…dog. A beautiful male Portuguese water dog, with curly black
fur and a white tummy.

“Wow, Clay, you got us a puppy!”

“Dog-gie,” Angel squealed. The pup ran around her feet.

“Holy cow, Dad.” Jon was as pleased as the little ones.

Rory managed to corral the pup and nuzzle him. “I miss having a dog so much!” Hower, their first pet, had had to be put down because of old age.

Rising, Bailey went to the kids and knelt down in the grass. She
hugged the puppy, its fur soft, its scent fresh—for now. She looked over at Clay. “Where did you get him?”

“He’s a descendant of Barack’s dog.” Clay shrugged. “He’s probably a Democrat.”

Her arms still around the pet’s neck, she buried her face in his coat. “Good for you, doggie.”

“Maybe this will take away some of the loneliness.”

“It will. Thanks, Clay.”

“See you, guys.”

“Bye, man.”

“Liam, the food was great.”

“As usual.”

“Later, Sophie baby.”

One by one, the firefighters gave their accolades as they exited the pub after a breakfast of ham-and-egg strata and homemade toast. Liam and Sophie leaned against the counter while Patrick stood behind the bar.

“So,” Pat said. “What’ve you got planned for this morning?”

“Sophie’s
taking some furlough. Lunch is ready, so we thought we’d go for a stroll.”

“Sounds nice. I can finish up cleaning the tables.”

“You sure?” Sophie asked.