Fearless In Love(92)

She came apart with starbursts before her eyes, the pulse and beat of his climax deep inside her…and the sweet certainty that every ounce of love she had to give would be returned a million times over for the rest of her life.



Giddy with happiness, Ari laced her fingers through Matt’s as they stepped out of her apartment a short while later. Not even Gideon’s absence marred the joy she felt, because she truly believed they would eventually bring her brother home.

Matt carried her bag, and she slung her backpack containing her laptop over her shoulder. She led them down the stairs, and as they turned at the landing, the light in the lower hall was blocked by a man studying the row of mailboxes.

“Can I help you find someone?” she asked.

He turned, and her heart stopped.

The man’s hair was military short, and his muscles were as big as a weight lifter’s. He was about Matt’s age, his face tanned, with lines at his eyes as if he was used to squinting against the sun. An old, battered khaki rucksack lay at his feet.

“Gideon,” she whispered.

“Hey, kiddo.” His voice cracked, as though he didn’t use it a lot, and his eyes were no longer the startling blue she remembered. As though he’d seen things that had leeched the brightness from them.

Ari dropped her backpack on the stairs, and a beat later she was in his arms, hugging him for every one of the sixteen years he’d been gone.

“You’re home,” she whispered. “I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you too, Ari.”

When he finally let her go, Matt held out his hand. “Matt Tremont. I’m your sister’s fiancé.” Turning his head to look directly at her, he dropped every last wall. “You should know that I love Ari very, very much.”

She gazed at the two most important men in her life, and a tear slid down her cheek. Matt smoothed it away before looking at her brother. “You weren’t here to ask permission. But I hope you’ll approve of our marriage.”

Gideon looked at Matt as if he were measuring the man he was on the inside, and then back at her. Finally, he said, “I can see how she feels about you.”

“Let’s go have a cup of coffee and talk,” Matt suggested.

“Yeah.” Gideon nodded slowly. “We should talk.”

They put his rucksack, along with Ari’s bags, into the trunk of Matt’s Jaguar. Gideon traveled as lightly as she did, and she wondered if he’d learned that with their mom too. Leaving the dingy neighborhood, they were soon sitting in a coffee shop with old-fashioned vinyl booths and freshly roasted coffee.

“How did you find me?”

Gideon reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter, stained, wrinkled, and smoothed flat again over and over. He slid the worn envelope across the table. The postmark was two years old. She didn’t remember the address, but it was probably one she’d scratched off her list when she never heard back.

“I move around a lot.” He stared at the letter. “Your letter finally caught up with me a year ago.”

“A year ago?” She was thankful for Matt’s warm grip and his big presence beside her. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“I’m sorry, Ari.”

Gideon watched her with those washed-out eyes. They weren’t the eyes of the boy she remembered. He was bigger than her memory, and still handsome. But he was also…distant was the only word she could find for it. Like a shadow.

Instead of answering her question, he asked, “How did you two meet?”

“I hired Ari to take care of my son, Noah.” Matt explained that she’d been his nanny without even the slightest hint of shame, then brought their linked hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Your sister has grown into a wonderful woman while you were gone. I’ve been helping her look for you.”

She forced herself to push away the ache of knowing Gideon had waited a year to come home. “What have you been doing? Where have you been?”

“I worked mostly construction since I got out.” Gideon drank again, then set his cup back on the table. “Moving around a lot. I did a stint up in Alaska for a while.” He laughed softly but not happily. “I’m a drifter.”

“But you’re home now.” It suddenly hit her. “Are you staying? Or will you be moving on?”

“I’m not sure.” Gideon wrapped both hands around his mug as if he needed the heat.

“You’re welcome to stay with us,” Matt said. And it was clear to Ari that he meant it.

When Gideon didn’t respond—didn’t give any hint of whether he’d take Matt up on his offer—the dam Ari had tried to build around her questions finally burst.