If You Only Knew (Harper Falls Book 3) (24 page)

Thank God it was over. Drew and Tyler were on the road back
to each other. The racing was a thing of the past. Hopefully, any bumps ahead
would be mild ones.

He didn’t need to hit Drew to get over his anger. Smiling,
Jack formed his hand into a fist. His mad had fizzled. When he punched his
buddy, it wasn’t going to be a chore. It was going to be pure, unadulterated
pleasure.

“FINALLY! I THOUGHT they would never get here.”

Rose had spoken with Jack an hour earlier. Not to check up,
she assured him. She needed to know when they would arrive for dinner. As ruses
went, it wasn’t a very good one. Jack knew the real reason she called. He
didn’t satisfy her curiosity. Instead of giving her an update, he told her they
would be along soon.

“They certainly took their sweet time.”

Rose came to stand on Tyler’s left. Dani joined her on the
right. Lila trailed behind, happy to observe from the doorway.

“I’m not rushing down there. It isn’t like they’re
returning from battle.”

“Right,” Rose nodded. “Why do men think
fighting is the only solution?”

The three women exchanged grins.

“Fine,” Rose conceded. “We’ve kicked some ass
in our day. It isn’t our choice, is it? If one of you pissed me off, I wouldn’t
challenge you to fist-a-cuffs at twenty paces.”

“How would that work? Don’t you have to be next to
someone to punch them out?”

Rose snorted, bumping Tyler with her hip.

“You know what I meant, smarty pants.”

Jack’s SUV pulled to a stop. Alex followed right behind on
his motorcycle. Drew was next, driving his car-of-the-day — an ice gray
Porsche.

A 1967… something. Nice. Tyler couldn’t remember the model.
Not that it mattered. It was a car Drew used to covet. He would show her
pictures, dreaming of the day that he would have one of his own. Looking at the
sleek lines, she had to admit it was even better looking in person.

“Do you realize we have six cars here? That isn’t
counting the one in the garage that I drove earlier to do some errands. As
environmentalists, we suck.”

Tyler was only listening with half an ear. She waited for
Drew to step out of his car. She swore that if Jack had messed up that gorgeous
face, she would never talk to him again. Then she would give Drew the silent
treatment. He deserved what Jack gave him.

Wait. Did that make sense? The second she saw Drew she
stopped worrying about it. As far as she could tell, he looked… perfect.

It was after six, which meant the sun was down. Floodlights
illuminated the driveway. The three men walked towards the house, each
crouching in turn to pet Edgar. The dog knew his job. Fawn over Jack; he
adored
Jack. Then greet anyone lucky enough to be with Jack. You had to love a dog
who had his priorities straight.

“Are we late?”

“Yes,” Rose answered. She stood with arms crossed
over her chest. “Are you hurt?”

“Not a scratch.”

Jack waited where he was. Drew and Alex flanking him.

“He looks like he did when he left this morning,”
Rose whispered to her friends.

“I don’t see a mark on Drew.”

“I see three mouth-watering men waiting for us.”
Dani looked at her friends. “Why are we up here when they are down
there?”

Not waiting for them to answer, Dani ran down the steps and
into Alex’s waiting arms.

“Looks good to me.”

Rose skipped the steps, jumping to the ground.

Jack didn’t wait for her to come the rest of the way.

“There’s my girl,” he said before taking her mouth
with his.

Drew walked past the two couples, his eyes on Tyler. He
jogged up the steps stopping a few inches from her.

“You came to me.”

“Someday, when I’ve earned the right, I’ll stand and
wait for you. I figure that day is still a ways in the future. I have a lot to
make up for, Ty.” He picked up her hand, lacing his fingers with hers.

Neither of them noticed when their friends went in the house
or heard the closing of the door. They were in their own world.

“Someday,” Tyler agreed.
Soon
, she thought
to herself.

“After dinner.” He kissed the back of her hand.
“Will you come home with me?”

“Yes.”

“I have a story to tell you. It won’t be easy to
hear.”

“I know. It won’t be easy to tell.”

Drew gathered her close, swaying slightly to music that
played only for them.

Tyler pulled back just enough to examine his face.

“How are you?”

“Jack let me off easy. I’ll tell you about it
later.”

“Another story?”

“This one has a happy ending.”

Tyler took a deep breath. Her eyes were a hazy gray. A
little worried, a little unsure. She lay her head on his shoulder.

“I want one of those.”

“Me too, Ty.” He wrapped his arms tight around her
waist. “Me too.”

Their own happy ending. What had seemed impossible only a
few days ago was now right there for the taking. Drew was determined to finally
have the woman of his dreams. Nothing, and especially no one would stop him.
Not this time.

TYLER FOLLOWED DREW in her car.

Dinner had been relaxed, free of any lingering anger or
tension. The story Drew promised to tell her entertained them through most of
the meal. He and Jack trading off on the narration. Every now and then Alex
would throw in a piece of colorful commentary. By the time dessert was served,
they were laughing; hard feelings put behind them.

Rose passed the bowl of fluffy, perfectly prepared mashed
potatoes. The meal that she had agonized over was a hit. Roast chicken was
crispy on the outside, juicy and succulent inside. Warm buttermilk biscuits
disappeared in record time. The braised carrots and onions had just the right
amount of bite left to them. Jack’s mother warned about the horrors of mushy
vegetables. Rose followed her instructions like a pro. She beamed like a proud
parent as her food was eaten with obvious enjoyment.

“You had to wait all day?” Tyler asked between
bites. “That couldn’t have been much fun.”

“Not just wait. This guy,” Drew tipped his head
toward Jack, “kept popping his head into my office.
Tick, tock
, he
would say doing a fair Vincent Price.
I am the voice of vengeance
.”

“Really, Jack? Melodramatic much?”

“I thought it was effective,” he said, winking at Rose.

She just shook her head. She loved the man, every sexy,
goofy inch of him.

“Effective? Hell, by the end of the day, I didn’t know
what to expect. Was he going to hit me? Dip me in wax?”

“Wax?” Lila looked around. Everyone was laughing
except her.

“Movie reference,” Alex explained.

“Oh, right.”

“We didn’t watch much TV when we were growing up,”
Alex told their friends. “I had to do a lot of catching up when I started
seeing Dani. I’m still clueless about half of the time.”

“You’re getting better,” Dani assured him.
“Though you would get a lot more out of our movie marathons if you would
pay attention and keep your hands to yourself.”

“I always took girls to the movies to neck. Old habits die
hard. Besides, I don’t remember any complaints the other night when we missed
the end of
From
Here to Eternity
.”

“True,” Dani smiled. “That beach scene gets
me every time.”

Preferring not to hear any more about her brother’s love
life, Lila spoke up.

“So what happened? Obviously, Jack didn’t clean your
clock. How did you get out of it?”

“Jack is so understanding and compassionate he decided
to forgive and forget, right?”

“I hate to disillusion you, my love. When I met Drew
down in the gym, I had every intention of punching him out. My degree of mad
diminished by the end of the day but not
that
much.”

“Yet here he sits, unbruised and unbowed.”

“Oh, he’s bowed,” Jack assured Dani. “I got
my apology, a very sincere one. Then when I went to hit him, the bastard made
me laugh.”

“What did you say?” Tyler asked.

Drew shrugged. “I just pointed out that since I’m such
an idiot, it must be my good looks that attracted you. If Jack broke my nose or
knocked out a tooth, you’d dump me in a heartbeat.”

“Because right now you’re barely hanging on in the
looks department,” Lila scoffed. “A broken nose would make you
hideous.”

“Exactly. I would end up alone the rest of my miserable
days.”

“Drawing a lipstick-covered face on the back of your
hand to represent your simulated girlfriend. He even has a name for her.
Jackoff Judy.”

“Alex!”

“I’m just repeating what Drew said,” Alex told
Dani.

“I planned on leaving that part out.”

“Oops,” Alex grinned. “My mistake.”

“The point is I was laughing so hard I couldn’t work up
the ire or the strength to do more than give him a shove.”

“It was a pretty hard shove,” Drew assured Jack,
rubbing the side of his shoulder.

“You do realize that I don’t come off very well in this
story.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Rose nodded.
“According to you, Tyler is so shallow, one little imperfection and she’s
out the door. Not very flattering, Drew.”

“Lord, don’t tell me I have something else to apologize
for?”

“Cut the dramatics, Meryl Streep,” Tyler laughed.
“We’re good.”

The group soon moved on to another subject, then another.
The talk was light and entertaining. Overall, a normal evening spent with
friends. One Tyler hoped would be repeated many times in the years to come.

As she eased her car to a stop, Tyler slammed the brakes on
her thoughts. It was too soon to picture Drew and her together years from now.
Baby
steps
, she reminded herself. Get tonight out of the way. See what tomorrow
brings.

Before they left Jack and Rose’s, Drew told her about his
underground garage. He said to follow him so her car would be secure for the
night. Tyler hadn’t known what to expect. Some version of the Batcave? A silly
thought. As it turned out, she wasn’t that far off.

The entrance was off to the side of the house, hidden by a
grove of trees. The ground seemed to open up right before her eyes. Two large
doors slowly lifted up revealing a gently sloping ramp. As instructed, Tyler
drove her car in behind Drew’s.

Tyler had no idea how technically difficult it was to set up
a place like this. She didn’t care. She would let Drew worry about stress
joints and retaining walls, or whatever was involved. Tyler just let herself
marvel.

This was like no underground parking garage she had ever
seen. Naturally, cement and beams were the dominant materials. After that, all
bets were off.

Tyler parked next to Drew’s Porsche, her Camry looking a
little sad in a sea of Rolls Royces and Alpha Romeos. All tucked away in their
luxurious, state-of-the-art hidey-hole.

“What do you think?”

“The only word that comes to mind is
wow
.
My
bedroom isn’t this nice.” Tyler did a full circle turn. “How many
cars do you have?”

“As of yesterday? Two hundred and thirty-four.” He
thought a moment. “Make that thirty-three. I sold one to a guy we were
trying to do a deal with. The Maserati sealed it.”

“Naturally.”

“Too much?”

“Yes.” Tyler spun around, trying to take them all
in. She stopped when she was face-to-face with Drew. “I want to drive
every one of them.”

Tyler understood. Of course, she did. Why had he been
worried? Someone else would have been surprised by the number of cars in his
collection. Maybe even appalled. Tyler didn’t even blink. No one understood him
like Tyler did.

“It will take a while. Some are in New York, Los
Angeles, and London. I like to have my own car to drive when I travel.”

“Why don’t we start with the ones here in Harper Falls?
By the time I’ve worked my way through them, we might be ready for New York,
Los Angeles, and London.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“You could kiss me. That’s also a plan.”

“An even better one.”

His lips were soft against hers. Gentle. They held a promise
of more to come. Tyler sank into him, her arms banding around his waist.

Lovely
, she thought. Passion was wonderful. She was
all for it. This, though, this was something else. Exciting in a different way.
A kiss that spoke from the heart.

“Ready to see the rest?”

Drew took her hand, leading her to the back of the garage.
As they approached what looked like an elevator, Tyler’s stomach did a sudden
flip-flop.

“I don’t know, Drew.”

“What’s wrong?”

How to explain? Stepping into the garage was one thing. Once
she entered the house, there was no going back. Secrets were about to be
revealed, the ugly part of their past dredged up. Five minutes ago, she would
have said she was ready. Now she wasn’t so sure.

“I’m scared too.”

“Do you remember the last time you said that to
me?”

Drew nodded. “When we were talking about the first time
we made love.”

Smiling, Tyler tightened her fingers around his. They
survived that just fine; they would get through this.

“Together?” he asked.

Tyler took a deep breath.

“Together.”

The elevator doors opened. Tyler peered around before
following Drew inside.

“What?”

“I thought there might be some outerspacey gizmo that
could teleport us from room to room.”

“Not yet.” Drew laughed.

Just a plain old elevator. Tyler had to admit she was a bit
disappointed.

“Not yet? Does that mean you’re working on one?”

“I have to admit that kind of thing is beyond my
capabilities. As soon as one is available, though, I’m on it.”

Tyler had a million questions running through her head.
Nonsensical, outrageous questions about toilet seats and biodegradable trash
bags. The moment the elevator doors opened, she couldn’t remember even one.