JC dropped to her knees, pulling her nephews in for an airtight squeeze. Emotions jumped in her chest as she held back a deluge of tears. The sound of her voice was lost momentarily to a mushy ball of sentiment stuck in her throat. She closed her eyes, playfully rubbing her nose against theirs.
“Oh, my gosh! Is somebody happy to see me? Holy cowboy!” Rising to her feet, she locked her arms around the boys, carrying them to the couch. She plopped backward onto the brown leather. “What have you been eating? Look at how big you two are!”
Richard snuggled up beside her. His big round hazel eyes bore into her soul, filling in a missing puzzle piece of her heart. “We’ve been eating your chili. Nana says it’s your favorite.”
“Yeah, but Papa says we can’t have no more.” Thomas climbed onto her belly. Using his whole palm, he wiped away the wetness leaking from her eyes. “It turns us into stinkers.”
JC burst out laughing, pinching her nose between her fingers. “Why are you sitting on me then? You better go sit on Papa’s lap.”
“No way!” Thomas giggled as JC tickled his tummy.
Tess stood behind the couch and leaned over JC to kiss her forehead. “You better be careful tickling them. They’re loaded shotguns.”
“Momma!” JC tossed the boys to the side, jumping to her feet, wrapping her Mom in a warm embrace.
“It’s about time you get your ass home, baby girl.” Tess stepped back, giving JC the once over while clasping her hands. “You look beautiful.”
“That’s one more dollar, Nana.” Thomas held out his palm.
Tess grinned, digging into her back pocket. “Fair warning, every time you swear, they expect a dollar. I’m going broke.”
Richard tugged on JC’s hand, pulling her toward the kitchen. “We have a surprise for you. Come on. Come on.”
JC ruffled his blond hair. “Let me put my things away. Then I’ll eat chili. We can both sit by Papa and let stinkers on him.”
Thomas stood behind her, pushing on her butt, forcing her toward the kitchen. “Not chili, silly Aunt JC. It’s a surprise. Cover you eyes.”
JC placed one hand over her eyes and let them lead her into the kitchen.
“One, two, three, open you eyes!”
Her breath hitched and brows creased in confusion. She couldn’t move, staring warily into Luca’s the dark brown eyes.
Luca leaned against the counter next to Tom. Both men wore smiles on their faces when she rounded the corner, but now both frowned, mimicking her uncertainty.
“Luca? What are you doing here? I don’t understand. Why are you…how did you get here?” A landslide of feelings tumbled on top of her, suffocating her reaction, nearly knocking her to her knees.
An icy chill riffed through her veins sending a shudder down her spine. JC’s sanctuary had just been tarnished, taken over. Her body reacted automatically, elongating her stance, morphing into a defense mechanism. Luca ambiguously crossed the kitchen and reached for her, tenderly caressing the length of her arms with his fingertips.
“I came to surprise you.” His warm lips brushed both cheeks whispering, “Are you happy to see me?”
Goosebumps skittered across her flesh as her feet remained frozen to the floor.
After a long pause and several reassuring strokes of his warm hands, she forced a small smile to avoid a scene. “How did you get here before me?”
“Stand by. I got a better flight.”
Luca wrapped his arms around her. JC stiffened. Caught in the confines of his embrace and the observant stare of her stepdad, she worked to regulate the rapid gusts of breath burning her lungs.
Tom watched their every move with bent eyebrows.
****
Tom Clemmins had the uncanny ability of reading JC Mathews like a book. Hell, he wrote her rulebook before she was even born, or at least a similar male version. A few of the chapters might’ve differed, but basically, they shared the same unconscious inability of letting a person of the opposite sex get close to you. That is, until the day he laid eyes on Tess six years ago on the island of Bora Bora. Tom flat out pursued her, falling head over heels in love with the woman he considered to be his soul mate.
Previously, the idea of having responsibilities, family traditions and everything else that comes along with three kids, never entered Tom’s mind. Those words had hung like a noose around his neck right next to a marriage license. However, the instant he said I do, he became a stepdad. Tom cherished the opportunity. Being part of such a tight-knit family made him happier than he’d ever been in his entire life. He loved John, Tracy and JC and would do anything for them.
Including protect them.