His Bahamas Affair (The Albury Affairs) (26 page)

Her mother pulled a few
leafs and wiped the sauce off her cheeks. “I don’t know, but it’s nothing bad.”

“How do you know?”

“He would have said
whatever it was in front of everyone, exactly like your grandparents. A
scathing remark deserves an audience.” Her mother smiled sadly and Loraine
winced.

She was right. Her
grandparents loved an audience when they took someone apart, and more often
than not her mother was always their victim.

“How are the old—”
Loraine clamped her mouth shut before she said goats. “How are the old folks
doing?”

Her mother shrugged.
“Last I heard they were in the Hamptons. I haven’t spoken nor seen them since
they dismissed…you know.”

Loraine nodded she
knew—Pierre coming back. They didn’t care much when she was actually attacked,
why would they care if she was being stalked, especially if her father still
kept it under wraps?

“Don’t sweat it, mom.
I’ve got all who really matter right here under one roof.” She turned to the
rest of the table. “Though I still don’t know why exactly everyone is here.”

They all exchanged
amused looks but stayed silent. That only made her more suspicious. What was
Reno up to?

She narrowed her eyes
looking at each one of her guests. “What’s going on?”

“I know mama!” Tyler
announced.

Everyone groaned as
they turned to look at Tyler. With a smug smile Loraine faced her son. “I knew
I could count on you. What’s daddy planning?”

He gave her one of his
smiles that tugged at her heart. “I can’t tell you. Daddy says it’s a sap…sap…”
his brows twisted in concentration.

“Just sound it out
honey,” she said encouragingly.

“Sap…ice…Surprise!” he
laughed, clapping at his success and Loraine felt a little proud.

“What if I gave you a
big slice of chocolate, would you tell me then?”

“Loraine!” her mother
admonished her laughingly.

Ignoring her, Loraine
went on listing the bribe. “With a big scoop of your favorite ice cream, how
about that?”

Tyler suddenly jumped
off her mother’s lap and ran out of the room screaming, ‘Daddy’ at the top of
his lungs. Loraine stared after him dumbfounded as everyone else burst out in
laughter.

“What was that?” she
asked no one in particular.

“Reno must have told
him to run screaming if you tried to get the surprise out of him,” Riana
responded.

Loraine sighed standing
up. “Of course he did. I’ll get desert, you guys clear the table.”

“In a minute.” Reno
walked in with Tyler perched on his arm. “Bribing our son, really Lori?”

Loraine rolled her
eyes. “I wouldn’t have to if someone would tell me what’s going on.”

With a chuckle, Reno
handed Tyler to her father, which took her by surprise. The man smiling at her
son like an endearing grandparent was not the same man who wanted to drag her
back to the States kicking and screaming.

She raised her glass of
wine and took a long whiff.

“Lori, what are you
doing?” Reno took the glass out of her hand and placed it back on the table.

“Checking to see if
there is something in the wine.” She looked at her father, her brows knitted in
both surprise and wonder. “What did you do to my father in there?”

“What do you mean,
Rain?” her father asked, shifting Tyler to his other arm. Her mother gasped and
stood, quickly moving to where he stood, tears in her eyes and the biggest
smile on her lips. Her father wrapped his free arm around her and hugged her to
his side.

Loraine felt a little
panicky watching this. She didn’t want to hope in case he fell back to being
the oppressive father who showed very little affection. And her mother, God,
she’d cry if she went back to being the socialite puppet.

“Who is he and what
have you done with Robert Larson?” she demanded a little too forceful.

“I know I haven’t done
right by you and your mother for a long time and I’m trying to change that.
It’s been a long time since I recognized not only myself but your mother too.
I’ve made mistakes and I promise to right them…but right now isn’t the time for
that honey.” Her father responded his excitement rolling off him in huge waves.

She knew she should let
it go, but that explanation wasn’t enough for her. There was too much
disappointment to get over and she needed to be sure this wasn’t just an act.
It would kill her if they were dangling her biggest fantasy in front of her
eyes only to yank it away. If this were a set up…she wouldn’t be able to handle
the fall.

Loraine blinked away
treacherous tears. She hadn’t cried in front of her parents over this and she
wasn’t going to start now. “What was your incentive?”

He signaled to Reno
with a nod of his head. “Your man here. He told me if I disappointed you again,
I’d never see you again and that just isn’t an option for me.”

“Why?”

She felt Reno move to
stand behind her, his arms going around her waist. She fell back into him, a
weight lifting off her with his show of support. She loved how he made her feel
strong, a little fearless knowing he had her back.

Her father blinked a
few times, his brow creased in wonder. “Why? You’re my daughter and I love you,
why else?”

“Why are you sad mama?”
Tyler whispered reaching out to her.

Loraine moved to take
him from her father and reassure him but Reno held her back.

“It’s okay, kiddo. Mama
is fine. I think it’s time to give her the surprise, don’t you?”

Tyler nodded slowly his
eyes shifting between her and Reno. It was clear how much he wanted to believe
Reno and she wasn’t helping with a sullen look on her face. She forced a smile
and turned to Reno. “It better be a car, or the title to this house to appease
me. I don’t like being the only one out of the loop.” She held her hand out and
quickly drew it back. With a warning glare she said, “It better not be a
hissing cockroach or some other stupid practical joke.”

Reno’s mouth fell open.
“I would never…”

“Don’t lie big
brother,” Riana warned. Loraine turned to her. Loraine had laughed at the
story, especially since Riana had a phobia to the creatures. Reno had told her
he had a surprise for her. She’d eagerly held out her hand and he’d placed a
hissing cockroach on it. She’d screamed trying to shake it off but it stayed
stuck on her hand, which made her scream more as she ran around their
apartment. Reno had to catch her and hold her down to remove the thing.

Riana still rubbed her
hand unconsciously on her hip at the memory.

Reno laughed drawing
her attention back to him. “I said I was sorry and no it’s something equal to
the title of the house.”

Loraine held out her
left hand. “
Gimme
gimme
.”

Reno gave her an
intense look before he took her held out hand and placed a little box in it.
The entire world stopped for Loraine as she looked at that little box that
rested on her palm like a ticking bomb.

This
wasn’t…it couldn’t mean…
Her mind ran a mile a minute.

“I know we haven’t
known each other long, but from the moment I heard your voice, the concern you
showed for my sister, I knew you were someone special. But when I saw you in
that dress at Riana’s and Allan’s wedding with those sexy legs teasing me, I
knew I just had to have you.”

Her father cleared his
throat behind Reno, his eyes narrowed making Loraine laugh. It made her less
anxious and seemed to also relax Reno as he winked and smiled at her.

“I had to have you
in my life
,” he amended, making everyone
laugh again. “And then you came here and just gave more of yourself to me and
to my son. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t taken charge of
Tyler. I would have kept being an ass if you hadn’t stressed how important
family is and I thank you for that. Even more, I want you to be a part of my
family.”

Loraine quietly sobbed
as teas ran down freely down her cheeks.

“I want you to be my
wife, the mother of my son, the woman who’ll bear me more children and who’ll
be beside me for the rest of my life. I know I haven’t said this before, but I
love you, my crazy Lori, with all my heart, body and soul, with everything I
am. I can’t think of living another day without you with me.” He dropped to one
knee and Loraine covered her mouth with her free hand to muffle the sobs. It
was really happening, it wasn’t a fantasy anymore. “Loraine Larson, will you do
me the honor of becoming my wife?”

With her throat clogged
with tears, Loraine could only nod her assent. The room erupted with cheer as
Reno opened the box and took out a ring she recognized.

“Mom?” she looked at
her parents. Her mother cried openly and her father fought to blink back the
tears.

“I thought we’d start a
tradition. You’re father gave me that when he proposed. It holds so much love
and happiness of the best years of our lives, and I wanted to share that with
you.”

Loraine nodded hugging
her endowed hand to her chest. “I’ll treasure it and keep it safe for my future
daughter.” She turned to Reno wrapping her arms around his neck. “I love you so
much and I can’t wait to be your wife.”

He held her to him,
rubbing his nose against hers. “Good, because we are getting married tomorrow.
I don’t want to risk you changing your mind.”

Loraine laughed. “If
you are so worried, we can sign the marriage certificate now.”

“Good, because the
notary is here with a few papers to sign.”

Loraine laughed harder.
“You’re not risking anything are you?”

He shook his head,
pressing a light kiss on her lips. “You have no idea.”

A man in a dark suit
carrying a briefcase walked into the room, a huge grin on his face. “I believe
congratulations are in order.”

Loraine side stepped to
stand next to her husband-to-be –she just loved that name—as he turned to face
the new visitor.

“Mr. Harrison, you’re
just in time.” He wrapped his arm around Loraine’s waist and pulled her into
him. “This is the amazing woman I told you about. She just agreed to be my
wife, the nut!”

Loraine elbowed him.
“Don’t mind him, he thinks he’s funny— as much as I’ve tried to convince him
otherwise.” That earned a snicker, but Loraine wasn’t paying attention to that.
She looked Mr. Harrison over again and he had that thing her father had in
spades. “You’re an attorney aren’t you?”

He nodded. “And a
notary. You are very observant, Miss Larson.”

Her first instinct was
to say ‘yeah, being stalked does that to a girl’. But she’d learned to always
take in her surroundings and the people in it, assessing potential danger
before she fully relaxed. But instead she said, “It’s a talent. So what
wonderful surprise do you bear?”

He chuckled shaking his
head. “Right to the point.”

Reno snorted next to
her. “You have no idea.”

She shrugged. “What can
I say, I love presents.”

Her mother cleared some
space on the table to make room for Mr. Harrison’s briefcase. He thanked her,
laying it on the table and opened it. “Let’s get this ball rolling then. Why
don’t you take a seat Miss Larson?”

Loraine gave Reno a
quizzical look but he just smiled down at her, pushing her to the seat. She
fell in it and watched as Mr. Harrison take out a few papers and lay them
before her, placing a pen above them.

“What’s this?”

He pointed the papers
out as he explained. “Your marriage contract, adoption papers and Tyler’s new
birth certificate naming you as his mother. Keep in mind the original birth
certificate stays even though it’s from Spain for record purposes.”

Loraine was completely
dazed, staring up at Reno. She hadn’t heard a word after Tyler’s new birth
certificate listing her as his mother. When Reno had kept saying they would be
a family, this was the furthest from her mind. She’d been fine with being a
step-mother, she had expect to have the right to adoption and custody rights,
but had been afraid to ask in case Reno thought she might run off with Tyler
once it was all legal. It would be easy for her to take the kid out of the
country, if she wanted to, without his permission.

But this…on Tyler’s
certificate of birth, she was listed as his mother. This was better than
anything he could have given her.

She stood up and moved
to her parents, taking her new son, who was already dozing from her father’s
arms and hugging him tightly to her. He wrapped his little hands around her
neck tucking his head into her neck and sighing contently like he was home and
allowing sleep to overtake him.

Loraine cried into his
hair, knowing just how he felt as Reno wrapped his large arms around them both.
He kissed the top of Tyler’s head and Loraine’s temple before he rested his
forehead against Tyler’s on her shoulder. It had been so long, a very long
time, of searching and hoping, and now she had finally arrived. Her spirit was
settled, her soul at peace, and her heart overflowing with joy she never
thought she would ever feel.