Haven Creek (25 page)

“That’s ingenious.”

“Training him to stay off the bed was easier. I bought a motion detector that expels compressed air whenever he comes too close. One shot of air and he’ll take off like a rocket. It’s a lot more humane that squirting him with water. There’s a window perch and a climbing tree in the area off the pantry for him to climb on. He stays there as long as sun comes through the window. Otherwise he sleeps on the mat at the side door.”

“Have you changed your mind about mating him with Patches?”

“I’ll agree, only if I can have the pick of the litter.”

Nate tightened his hold on her waist. “That’s a promise.” He stopped abruptly when their path was blocked by a young girl glaring at them. She’d rested her hands at her waist. Without warning, she opened her mouth and emitted a bloodcurdling scream.

Morgan and Nate looked at each other. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked.

The child’s chin quivered. “I want a monkey!”

Nate smothered a curse when he realized the girl wanted Morgan’s sock monkey, and then he remembered the vendor saying it was the last one. The child wasn’t much older than his five-year-old niece. He’d witnessed Gabrielle’s hissy fits on more than one occasion. Sharon usually stood her ground with her willful daughter, while Nate gave into her to stop her tears.

Seeing the child was an aching reminder of all the times he’d seen his mother crying. She’d asked everyone not to feel sorry for her, because she was going to a better place, but he knew she was afraid. Manda would often deflect the conversation about her deteriorating health, saying her only regret was leaving her children without a mother. She’d made Nate and Sharon promise not to judge their father harshly if or when he decided to remarry.

Nate knew there was the possibility that his father could remarry, but he never thought it would happen within months of Manda’s passing. However, it all made sense when Lucas announced he was to become a father for the third time. Only his mother’s warning about respecting his father kept Nate from blurting out the reason for the fast nuptials. Odessa had found herself pregnant with Lucas’s baby as Manda lay dying. Nate shook his head as if to free himself from the memories. He didn’t want to dwell on past hurt, but instead cherish the good times he had with Morgan.

Morgan reached up and unhooked the Velcro fastenings on the sock monkey’s arms. Hunkering down until her face was even with the child’s, she extended the toy. “I’m going to give this to you on one condition. Do you understand what I’m saying?” The girl nodded and Morgan smiled. There was something about the child’s face that reminded Morgan of photographs her grandfather had taken of her when she was that age. They had the same complexion and features. Her mother had parted her hair in the middle and styled it with two thick braids.

“Keisha! Oh, there you are,” said a woman who was obviously the child’s mother. Keisha was a miniature version of her mother.

Keisha tugged on the woman’s hand. “The nice lady is going to give me her monkey, Mama.”

“Oh, no, she’s not, baby. You can’t go around asking people to give you what doesn’t belong to you. Maybe she has a little girl she wants to give it to.”

Morgan didn’t recognize the woman or her daughter, so they were either newcomers or tourists. “It’s all right. I don’t have a little girl and I do want to give it to her. But Keisha is going to have to promise me that she will always listen to her mama, or the monkey will come back to me.”

Keisha puffed out her narrow chest. “I always listen to my mama and daddy,” she said proudly, not seeing her mother cut her eyes at her.

“If that’s the case, then you can have the monkey.”

“What do you say, Keisha?”

“Thank you, Mama.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank the pretty lady.”

Keisha’s large dark eyes sparkled in reflection of the lights that lit up the fairgrounds. “I don’t know her name, Mama.”

Morgan swallowed the laughter bubbling up in her throat. “It’s Morgan.”

“Thank you, Miss Morgan.”

“You’re welcome, Keisha.”

Keisha clutched the monkey to her chest in a deathlike grip. “Does he have a name?”

“Yes. It’s Caesar.”

The child laughed hysterically. “That’s the monkey from the movie, Mama!” Everyone laughed, including Nate.

Keisha’s mother extended her hand. “By the way, I’m Georgia.”

Morgan took the proffered hand. “You know who I am. This is Nate Shaw. He won Caesar for me.”

Nate took a step and shook Georgia’s hand. “Your daughter is precious.”

Georgia smiled. “Keisha is what I call my miracle baby. My husband and I tried for more than ten years to have a child, but once we talked about adopting I got pregnant. I know she’s a little spoiled, but I’m hoping to change that before she starts school next month.”

“There’s nothing wrong with spoiling a child,” Nate said.

Morgan gave him a sidelong glance. She remembered him saying that he’d wanted children. She recalled his words as vividly as if he’d just uttered them:
I wanted children, but my ex-wife didn’t, because her career was more important than our marriage.

Did he still want them? Since he didn’t want to marry, would that mean he was okay with having a child out of wedlock? He seemed adamant about never fathering a child without the benefit of marriage. Staring at Keisha, Morgan felt something so foreign she thought she was hallucinating. She felt the pull of motherhood for the first time. She shook her head as if to banish the thought, yet it persisted. She wanted a baby—and not any man’s baby: Nate’s.

“That’s what my husband says.” She gave a Morgan a warm smile. “I thank you again for being so selfless.”

“You’re welcome. Enjoy her.”

“Thank you.”

Morgan watched the mother and daughter walk away, and then let out an audible sigh. “I guess it wasn’t meant for me and Caesar to live together.”

Nate wrapped both arms around Morgan, pulling her to his chest. “I didn’t know you were masquerading as Mother Teresa. First you give away food and now your sock monkey. What’s next? Rasputin?”

“That’s where I draw the line, Nate. Ras is my baby. My grandpa taught me if you have enough, then you can always afford to give some away.”

Cradling her face, he met her eyes. “Your grandpa was a very wise man. What about a real baby, Mo?”

Ignoring curious stares coming from those watching their interchange, Morgan anchored her arms under Nate’s shoulders. “That will happen eventually.”

His expressive eyebrows lifted. “When?”

A beat passed. “When I meet the man who’ll love me as much as I love him.”

A hint of a smile tilted the corners of Nate’s mouth. “It’s going to happen for you.”

She smiled. “What’s makes you so certain?”

“Don’t you know you’re the total package? You’re everything a man wants in a woman, with a little extra thrown in.”

Morgan couldn’t help but laugh. “Is the extra a perk or a benefit?”

“It’s definitely a perk.”

“Shame on you. Get a room, brother.”

Bryce stood a short distance away, watching them. Morgan managed to extricate herself from Nate’s embrace. “Hello, Bryce.”

Bryce nodded, smiling. “Hey, Mo. How are you?”

“I’m good,” she said.

He clapped Nate on the shoulder. “I called you earlier this morning to ask whether you were coming here tonight, but it went to voice mail.”

Nate patted the pocket of his jeans, where he kept his cell phone. “I haven’t checked my messages today. Where’s Stacy?”

“She wasn’t feeling well, so she decided to stay home tonight.”

“Who did you come with?” Nate asked Bryce.

“Mom. I left her in the gaming tent. Don’t worry, Nate. I’m not going to do anything that—”

“Don’t worry, bro, I trust you. Is there anything you need to tell me? Because Mo and I are leaving.”

“Where are you going?” Bryce asked, looking at Morgan and then his brother.

Nate put an arm around Bryce’s neck, holding him tightly while he rubbed his knuckles over his head. “Do you really expect me to answer that? I didn’t think so,” he added when the younger man slipped out of the loose headlock. “Tell Dad and Odessa I’ll stop by the house and see them after the fair. Webb, Sharon, and the kids are back, so if you don’t see them tonight there’s no doubt they’ll be here tomorrow.”

“Did you tell her she’s going to become an aunt?”

“No. I’ll leave that for you and Stacy to tell her.”

“Mo, did Nate tell you that I’m getting married?”

Morgan had to decide whether to pretend she didn’t know about the upcoming nuptials or to be truthful. She decided on the latter. “Yes, he did. Congratulations to you and your fiancée.”

“Are you coming to the wedding?”

She glanced at Nate. “I will if I get an invitation.”

Bryce looked confused. “You don’t need an invitation if you’re coming with Nate.”

Before she could say anything, Nate responded. “Of course she’s coming with me. Who else would I bring?”

Bryce gave Nate a rough embrace. “Don’t start me lying, brother. I’m going to find Mom and let her know I’m going home.”

“How are you getting there?” Nate asked.

“I’ll hitch a ride with someone going back to the Creek.”

“Forget it, Bryce. I’ll drop you off. Meet us in the parking area.”

Morgan knew she would have to wait for another night to go on the carnival rides as she walked to the place where Nate had parked his truck. “What did you tell your brother about me?” she asked.

“We don’t discuss you.”

“Then why would he assume I would attend his wedding?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Morgan?”

“Not to me, Nate.”

“I’ve been back more than seven months and this is the first time anyone’s seen me with a woman.”

“It’s possible you could’ve been seeing someone on the down low.”

“That’s something I did when I was a teenager. At thirty-seven I’m much too old to sneak around.”

“What kind of down low were you into?”

Nate stopped when they reached his truck. His hands circled her waist, pulling her so that she was leaning against him. “Do you really want to know?”

“Of course I want to know.”

Nate raised his head, staring up at the nearly full moon. “The year I turned sixteen I started sleeping with an older woman. She was divorced and highly sexual, and I was a randy teenage boy ready and willing to give her what she wanted. ”

“Do you still keep in touch with her?”

“Come on, Mo, no more questions about that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to talk about her.”

Morgan stared at his face. His expression looked macabre in the silvery moonlight. “Who do you want to talk about?”

“If it’s not about you, then there’s nothing to discuss. Why dig up the past?”

“Okay. If that’s the case, I want to tell you something I’ve been thinking about for a short while now.” She took a deep breath. “I want to fall in love and I want children, but I know you don’t want either because you’re afraid of what happened in the past.”

“I’m not afraid, Mo,” he countered defensively. “I just don’t want to deal with the heartbreak again.”

There came a beat. “I can understand that.” Morgan gave Nate a forced smile, but inside she was truly hurt. She thought what they were building was strong enough to change his mind.

N
ate maneuvered up the driveway to the beachfront B and B. Decelerating, he followed the narrow road leading to one of two guest cottages on the expansive property. He’d found Morgan unusually quiet during the drive from Haven Creek to Sullivan’s Island, and wondered if perhaps she now had reservations about accompanying him.

He’d suggested going there to minimize gossip about his truck being parked at her house overnight. Jeff told him about the gossipmongers who had initiated rumors when he’d stayed over at Angels Landing, not because he was sleeping with Kara but because he was protecting her after several kids threw bricks through her windows. He didn’t know why people felt the need to spy on their neighbors. Perhaps their lives were so unremarkable they had to divert attention away from themselves.

His own life was also predictable, but he lived it by his own rules. Nate divided his nights between sleeping in Sharon’s guest room and in his apartment on the air mattress. He got up before dawn to paint until it was time to go to the workshop. Most mornings Bryce was there when he arrived, and they worked together through the early afternoon. Morgan had become a welcome distraction from what others may have considered a humdrum existence. Besides himself, only Bryce and his father knew the intense gratification of working with wood. He’d become addicted to its different smells and gloried in the feel of the grain under his fingertips. Once a piece of wood began to take shape, just looking at it was akin to a rush.

Nate pulled alongside the cottage and shifted into park, but didn’t turn off the engine. Resting his arm over the back of the passenger seat, he turned to stare at Morgan. She was so still she could’ve been carved out of marble. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Morgan turned her head, staring at him. “I never said I didn’t want to.”

He unbuckled his seat belt. “It’s what you’re not saying, Mo. You look like you’ve been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. I thought you would be a little more animated.”

She gave him a too-bright grin. “Is that animated enough?”

Nate was not amused. “Something’s wrong, and we’re not getting out of this car until you tell me what’s bothering you.”

“I feel comfortable telling you whatever is on my mind, and I’d hoped you would do the same,” she said.

Nate rested his hand alongside her cheek. “I want to open up to you, but I can’t right now, baby. I should’ve warned you when you agreed to go out with me that I’m carrying a lot of baggage.”

Her hand covered his. “Aren’t you tired of holding onto it?” The query was whispered.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Sometimes I am.” Nate reopened them, the light from the dashboard casting long and short shadows over his face.

Morgan leaned in as close as her seat belt would allow, their lips only inches apart. “You can’t heal unless you’re willing to let go of the hurt, darling.”

“Now I’m your darling?” he said, smiling.

Morgan flashed a dimpled smile. “You’re my BBD.”

“What’s that?”

“My baby, boo,
and
my darling.”

“Now, that sounds real serious.”

Morgan shook her head. “You don’t know how serious I am.” She wanted to tell Nate that her earlier confession of love wasn’t a slip of the tongue, but that she was truly in love with him. But she didn’t want to spoil what they had with declarations of love.

“I like you, Morgan,” he whispered. “Much more than I want or need to.”

“So it’s not about sex?”

He went completely still. “Is that what you think? That I pursued you because I wanted to sleep with you?”

She stared at him through lowered lids. “Why else do men seek out women?”

“The same reason why women chase men,” Nate countered.

“Usually it’s because we want an emotional
and
physical relationship.” Morgan knew she’d shocked him when he eased back. “The initial attraction is always physical. When I walked into Perry’s for the first time and I saw you sitting with Jesse, it was like I was coming face-to-face with my favorite idol. My heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to faint. And when Jesse invited us to sit with you I was certain you could see me shaking.

“Rachel told me the more popular boys usually played football or basketball, but you were an anomaly because you were consistently on the high honor roll and were offered an academic rather than an athletic scholarship.”

Her mother had preached to her daughters that when it came time to fall in love or marry, the requirement should be intellect, not good looks. Well, Morgan had proven Gussie wrong, because she’d fallen in love with a man who had both.

“I always thought you were cute, Mo.”

She laughed softly. “Yeah, right. Like a little-kid cute.”

“By the time you’d grown up, I was living on the West Coast. Maybe if I’d come back things would’ve been different between us. If I’d decided to stay, we could’ve been married with a couple of kids by now.”

“Maybe, but there is one thing no one has ever been able to do.”

“What’s that?” Nate asked.

“Go back and change the past.” Slumping in his seat, Morgan watched as he pressed his head to the headrest.

“I would willingly give up a kidney to be able to change my past.”

She unsnapped her seat belt, leaning into him. “Even if you can’t change your past, you do have the power to determine your future.”

Nate took a deep breath and blew it out. “There was a time when I believed I’d mapped out my future. That was before my mother died. Then everything changed. Instead of coming back to Haven Creek after graduating college to take over the family business, I stayed in California. My father—” His cell phone rang, the familiar number of the caller appearing on the dashboard’s screen. “Excuse me, but I have to take this.”

He punched a button, activating the Bluetooth. “Hey, DW. What’s up?”

“I asked Nicole to marry me and she said yes.”

He smiled. “Congratulations. It took you two long enough to come to your senses.”

“No shit,” Dwight drawled.

“Watch your mouth, Dwight. I have a lady with me and you’re on speaker.”

“Sorry about that. You promised if I married her you would stand in as my best man.”

“And I always keep my promise. Let me know when and where and I’ll be there.”

“This coming weekend in Vegas.”

Nate hesitated. “Which day?”

“Friday night.”

Saturday was Morgan’s birthday, and Nate had promised David and Francine they would get together to help her celebrate it. “Can’t you put it off until the following weekend?”

“No can do. Nicole’s folks are flying in from Milwaukee. It’s the only weekend they can get off until October.”

“Hold on, Dwight,” Nate said, when Morgan touched his arm. “What is it, baby?” he whispered.

Morgan pressed her mouth to his ear. “Go to Vegas. We can celebrate my birthday when you get back.”

“Are you sure?” he whispered.

She mouthed, “Very sure.”

Nate kissed her parted lips. “DW?”

“What’s up, Nate?”

“You’ve got yourself a best man.”

There came a pause. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, buddy.”

“I’m sending a private jet to Charleston to fly you out and take you back. I’ll call you in a couple of days with the schedule. Look, Nate, I gotta go. Nicole and I are going out to dinner with her sister. We’ll talk later.”

“Later,” Nate replied, ending the call. He cocked his head. “I’m so sorry, Mo.”

She smiled at him. “Stop apologizing, Nate. It’s not every day you become a best man.”

“Wrong, baby. Bryce also asked me to be his best man.”

“Lucky you.”

Nate rested a hand on Morgan’s knee. She’d exchanged her jeans for a pair of shorts. “You’re right. Lucky me.”

She slipped her hands between his thighs, laughing softly when she cupped his sex over his jeans. “My, my, my. What do we have here?”

“You’re going to make me embarrass myself if you don’t stop feeling me up.”

“I never suspected you would embarrass so easily.”

“You’d better stop, Mo, otherwise I’ll take you on the rear seat. And who knows who could be watching?”

Nate cut off the engine. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”

He got out and came around to assist Morgan, then retrieved their bags from the cargo area. Nate set the bags down and searched under a planter. He found the keys Lucy Granier had left for him. Twin lights flanking the front door provided enough light for him to open the two dead bolt locks. Inside, the glow from table lamps bathed the white walls in a soft gold.

It was as if time had stood still for Nate. Nothing had changed. The guesthouse was one continuous living space. It was furnished with a queen-size wrought iron bed topped with colorful quilts and tucked in a corner under a window, a bistro table and two chairs, a love seat covered with red-and-white striped ticking, and a white wicker partition, which concealed the door to a bathroom with a freestanding shower, commode, and basin. He’d always felt more comfortable here than in a room at a five-star hotel. The unpretentious room was imbued with a sense of casual comfort. He stepped aside, and Morgan walked in, glancing around the small guest cottage.

“What do you think?”

Morgan walked over to the bed and turned back the quilts to reveal crisp white sheets. “It’s charming.”

“There’s no radio or television.”

She patted the mattress. “That doesn’t matter. Come and sit with me.”

Nate locked the door and tossed the keys on the small round table near the door. He paused, closing the shuttered windows. He kicked off his running shoes and sat next to Morgan. He lay back, bringing her with him. “What are you thinking about?”

Shifting on her side, Morgan braced an elbow on the bed, cradling her head on the heel of her hand. “What makes you think I’m thinking about something?”

He ran his finger down the length of her short nose. “Didn’t I tell you that your eyes give you away?”

“What are they saying?”

“You tell me, Mo.”

“Right now I feel as if we are the only two people in the world.”

Moving quickly, Nate straddled her body. “There’s no reason why we can’t pretend. It’s just you, me, and the beach. Brunch is available until noon, so we can sleep in a little late.”

Morgan wound her arms around his neck. “I can’t believe I’ve lived here all my life and this is the first time I’ve ever been to Sullivan’s Island.”

“I used to come here with my father when I was a kid and he was delivering furniture to the snowbirds who were buying and renovating the island’s abandoned houses.”

“Will we have time tomorrow to do a little sightseeing?”

Nate raised his head. “That depends on what time you want to get back to the Creek.”

“There’s no rush. I’ve asked Francine to look in on Rasputin.”

He pressed a series of light kisses along the column of Morgan’s neck. “I suppose that means I can make love to you again and again and some more.”

“Hold up, Superman. I’m in charge tonight.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Everything.”

Nate rolled off Morgan and sat up. He was momentarily speechless. “What happened to your inhibitions?”

Morgan went to her knees. “I gave them the night off,” she whispered, undoing the buttons on his shirt. “Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

“You’re going to have to let me up.”

Morgan sat back on her heels. “What’s the matter?”

He kissed her nose. “I need to get protection.”

Moving off the bed, he opened his bag, removing several condoms.

Morgan was still in the same position when he returned to the bed. She extended her arms and he went into her embrace. “Where were we?” he asked.

“I was undressing you.” She pressed a kiss to the base of his throat. “Please lie on your back.”

Nate smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

Those were the last two words he remembered after he gripped the iron bedposts, closed his eyes, and surrendered to Morgan’s deft touch. She managed to undress him with minimum effort. Never had he felt more exposed, more vulnerable, as he lay motionless, waiting to submit to whatever she had planned for him.

All Nate’s senses were magnified: He felt the velvety brush of Morgan’s smooth skin once she removed her clothes, the moist feel of her breath feathering over his throat, and the haunting, sensual scent of her perfume as she lay on top of him, skin to skin, heart to heart.

“Am I too heavy for you?” she asked.

He smiled. “I hardly feel you.” Nate wanted to laugh. He probably weighed twice as much as she did. He drew in a sharp breath. Morgan had reached between his thighs, gently massaging his flaccid penis. He hardened quickly.

“Do you like that, baby?”

Nate gasped. “I love it.” She handed him the condom and he slipped it on.

He gasped again when her mouth covered one breast, and then the other. Morgan was making it difficult for him to breathe. Between her tongue suckling his nipples and her hand pumping him vigorously, he didn’t know how long he would last. She caught his nipple between her teeth, increasing the pressure when he reached down to pull her hand away from his erection.

“Please let me do this,” she hissed, applying more pressure.

Nate didn’t know whether to cry out or moan. The slight pain was so pleasurable he believed he was close to fainting. In that instant he forgot every woman he’d ever touched, kissed, or slept with. The pleasurable torture was short-lived. Her mouth had replaced her hand and he did lose control, bucking and rising off the mattress. The muscles in his arms bulged as he gripped the headboard as though it were a lifeline. With his heart pounding painfully in his chest, Nate surrendered to the explosive ecstasy that was spiraling out of control. He saw brilliant lights behind his closed lids, and then darkness when he experienced
la petite mort
for the first time in his life. For several precious seconds his heart stopped, and he died in the throes of the sweetest, most selfless act any woman had ever offered him.