Noble Love (The Nobles of Sweet Rapids #1) (14 page)

"Your father proposed to me out here."

Irene Noble stood with her kids surrounding her on Genoa Peak over looking Lake Tahoe, clutching their father's urn to her chest.

Chuckling, she said, "I didn't know what we were doing out here so early in the morning." Sighing, she shook her head, "But when he got down on one knee as the sun was rising..."

She wiped a tear from her eye and Ivy and Isabella wrapped their arms around her, both of them resting their heads on her shoulders.

"Are you sure you're ready to do this, Mama?" Isabella asked.

Irene nodded. "Your father wanted this...and it's time. Time to say good-bye."

Taking a step forward, she removed the top off of the urn.

"Thank you, Isaac for your love, the life we had together," she looked around. "...And the beautiful children we shared. You'll always be in my heart."

And then she tipped the urn and let the ashes float away with the wind.

"Bye, Daddy," Ivy whispered.

After the ashes disappeared, becoming one with the earth, they all turned and began their hike back down the mountain.

"How are things going with you and Tessa?" Isaiah heard Irene ask.

Ivy, Ian and Isabella were walking a little bit ahead of them.

"Things are better than ever."

With Tessa back in his life, each day was a little easier to get through.

"Good. She's such a sweet girl."

He wrapped his arm around his mother.

"How are you doing?"

"It's been a rough month. Absolute hell."

"Yeah, it has."

"But saying good-bye to your father today...I could feel his presence. He's at peace, and that gives me a bit of peace too."

It pleased him to know that his mother's grief was beginning to lighten. They would never completely get over the loss of the head of their family, but each day would get a little brighter.

"I need you to do something for me."

"What do you need, Mom?"

"I've decided to move out of the office at Noble Naturals. I can't stay in there, just too many memories." She shook her head.

"You're not ready."

"No. Besides, according to his will, it's your office now anyway," she said, with a smile.

At the reading of their father's will, it had been revealed that Isaac wanted the firstborn of the quads to help their mother run Noble Naturals and then takeover as CEO after she decided to retire. No one was surprised about the request, but Isaiah was still trying to let it all sink in.

His mother had assured him that there was no rush for him to take over and she was still capable of running the company until he was absolutely ready to step up.

He squeezed her shoulders tighter and kissed the side of her forehead.

"Don't worry about it, Mom. I'll handle it after the film screening."



Tessa was just finishing up a new dessert when her cell phone rang.

"Hey!" she said, answering her phone with a smile.

"I was wondering if I could talk a certain manager of this bakery in to letting me in for some of her irresistible treats."

Tessa laughed lightly, remembering when Isaiah had said those same words several months ago when he walked into the bakery early in the morning.

"Well, it's Sunday. If I told you I wouldn't make the exception to open early in the mornings, what makes you think I'll open up for you on days when we're closed."

"There might be that little thing of you being madly in love with me that allows me all kinds of exceptions now."

"So now you're using that as an excuse to get my goodies?"

"Oh, I have so many inappropriate responses for that question."

"You're terrible."

"Yet, you still love me."

"Yes, I do."

"Well then quit making me stand out here and come open the door."

Shaking her head, she hung up her phone and went to unlock the door for him.

He gave her a quick kiss before following her back to the kitchen.

"How was the trip up to Genoa Peak?"

"It seemed to be very cathartic for my mother."

"I'm glad to hear that. Sweet Rapids won't be the same without your father."

"No, it won't."

Looking at the countertop filled with delicious treats, Isaiah rubbed his hands together. "I see some new things."

"Yep! Wanna try them?"

"What kind of question is that?"

Smiling, she held up a cupcake.

"What's this?"

"Margarita cupcake," she said. "For the more mature crowd."

She watched as he took a large bite of it. After chewing a bit, he nodded, "These are good."

She swiped her thumb across the corner of his mouth, wiping away a trace of icing. She brought it to her own mouth, tasting it.

"Do you think there's too much tequila in it?"

Isaiah shook his head. "It packs a punch, for sure. But I don't think it's too much. What's that?" he asked, pointing at a cake.

"Oh..." Tessa grinned. "That's uh...a Better Than Sex cake..."

"Oh really?" Isaiah said, his eyebrows hiking.

Tessa nodded.

"Let me try it."

She grabbed a fork and dug into a slice of cake. She watched, growing quickly aroused as his mouth covered the fork, taking in the chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and caramel drizzled on top. Her nipples hardened when his eyes closed and he moaned.

Nodding, he said, "Now...that
is
a good cake. But do you really think this is actually better than sex?"

"I...uh...I suppose I haven't accurately tested the theory," she tried to joke.

"Well we have to make sure your theory is correct," he murmured with a sexy grin as he pressed his body against hers, trapping her between him and the island behind her. His mouth dropped down onto hers, his tongue explored her mouth, and the fork she was holding slipped from her grasp.

Her body trembled when she felt his warm hand sliding upward against her thigh until it disappeared underneath the skirt of her dress.

"I have a hard time believing that this cake, while it is very good, is better than sex," he whispered, his breath causing her skin to tingle as it fanned against her neck. "Because you, sweetheart, are, by far, my favorite dessert."

She pulled her lip between her teeth when the hand beneath her skirt, slid her panties to the side, and two fingers dipped inside of her. His other hand grabbed the front zipper of her dress, pulling it down, as he worked her body in to a frenzy.

A moment later, her dress fell to the floor and she was standing in the kitchen in nothing but her panties. He pulled his hand out of her and she missed the connection instantly. He quickly lifted her onto the island, then reached over and grabbed the spoon out of the leftover caramel.

Before she could question him, he swiped the sticky, sweet concoction down the front of her body, from the valley between her breasts, all the way down to the band of her panties.

She watched with heated anticipation as his hands gripped her ass and he pulled her forward to the edge of the island, before leaning down to press his tongue to her skin. He licked his way up her body and then all the way back down until every drop of caramel was gone.

"So good," he murmured against her skin, now wet from his tongue.

He stood, grabbing his belt. "You ready to find out which is better?"

She sat up and shoved his hand away from his belt and grabbed it, yanking it out of its loop. In seconds, they had his pants undone and down and her panties were gone. After he covered himself, he grabbed her butt again, entering her in a long, hard thrust that had her screaming out.

Her first orgasm slammed through her minutes later, and ebbed and flowed for several minutes. Isaiah continued to make love to her relentlessly and soon she felt a second one building up, even more powerful than the last.

He tilted her body backward, hooking her legs over his arms to deepen the penetration and Tessa's body climaxed again. This time Isaiah was right behind her with his own orgasm.

After they caught their breath, Tessa finally spoke.

"Okay...I guess we'll have to come up with a different name for the cake."

I
saiah peeked out of the curtain and was overwhelmed by the sight of the full theater. Every seat was sold for the special screening of the Noble Naturals documentary. Everyone in Sweet Rapids wanted to get a chance to see the film before it was sent out for the rest of the world to see. In fact, they were going to have to add another showing for everyone who hadn't been able to get a ticket to the first screening.

Rather than outright charge to see the film, the family had instead requested donations for entry. The funds raised would go to one of Isaac Noble's favorite charities.

The sound of footsteps behind him caused him to turn around.

Tessa was walking toward him with an excited and proud smile on her face.

"Full house," she said, reaching up to adjust his tie.

He nodded and she reached up to stroke his cheek.

"Are you okay?"

He wrapped his hand around her wrist and turned his face to plant a kiss on her palm.

"As good as I'm gonna get tonight."

"I'm going to go and take my seat, I'll see you after your introduction."

"Okay."

She took his hand in hers and gave it a firm squeeze. "Everyone is going to love it," she assured him, then headed back out front.

He took another minute to gather himself, blew out a deep, fortifying breath, and then stepped through the curtains.

The audience instantly began to applaud and he gave a brief smile and nod. His eyes fell to the front row, where his mother, siblings and the woman he was crazy about sat, smiling at him.

He held his hand up to quiet the crowd.

"Thank you for coming tonight. Before we begin, I just wanted to say a few words. First, on behalf of my family and myself, I'd like to say thank you. Losing of Isaac Noble wasn't just felt within my family, but within this entire community. You've all been so supportive towards us and your love and sympathy has been felt. It's one of the things that helped us continue moving forward with this documentary. That, and the fact that we all know that Pop would have been disappointed if we never completed it. I wish he would have been here to not only see the finished product of this film, but also the end results of the plans we've set in to motion for Noble Naturals to help the company continue to grow and flourish. But I hope he's looking down on us with pride. Without further ado, I present to you Forever Noble: The Rise and Success of Noble Naturals."

The applause began again as Isaiah exited to the side of the stage and went down the stairs to the front row where he found his seat in between his mother and Tessa.

The curtain opened, lights dimmed and the film began, the opening scene was his parents sitting on the couch just a few short months ago. The audience laughed when they saw Isaac Noble, shifting uncomfortably as Isaiah, from offscreen, insisted that his father relax because he sounded like a robot. Isaiah had decided to keep the candid shot in the film.

The screen suddenly clipped to a second take, and this time Isaac and Irene began talking; reminiscing on the way they met in college. Two hours later, the film faded to black and a dedication appeared on the screen.

For Isaac Noble.

Isaiah had tried to think of something profound to say, but he decided keeping things simple would have just as strong of an impact. He looked in his mother's direction when he felt her hand grip his. She had tears streaming down her face, but she was also smiling.

Once the dedication on the screen went away, the credits began to roll and the crowd burst into raucous applause. Everyone rushed to their feet in a standing ovation and the applause continued on for several minutes.

Irene wrapped her arms around Isaiah, and his siblings joined her.

"He would be so proud," his mother said, though he almost didn't hear her over the audience. He finally pulled away from the group hug of his family and turned to find Tessa standing behind them, smiling brightly, her own eyes damp.

After the film, they were all going out to eat, but he would have much rather preferred to go home with her instead.



"Tess, you didn't have to come with me today."

Tessa waved her hand as she entered the building of Noble Naturals.

"It's Sunday, the bakery's closed. I'd much rather be here with you, than alone in bed all day."

Isaiah smiled as they boarded the elevator and rode it up to the executive suites.

They were quiet on the way to the office that his parents had shared for the last twenty-five years. Tessa noticed that his hand actually trembled slightly when he touched the doorknob, but he cleared his throat, steeled his spine and pushed the door open.

He took one step into the room and froze.

Tessa couldn't even imagine the emotions rolling through Isaiah at that moment. A masculine scent hit her nostrils and it was obvious that it was his father's old cologne lingering in the air.

She lifted her hand to his back to gently rub it.

"If you're not ready–"

"I'm fine," he said, shaking his head. Lifting the box he was holding, he added. "Mom doesn't have a lot of stuff. This won't take long."

They headed over to the large executive partners desk and Isaiah sat the box down on the center table. They worked together emptying Irene's side of the desk.

"IT is going to come in tomorrow and move her computer..."

Tessa looked up when Isaiah's voice drifted off.

"Isaiah?"

She watched as he slowly moved around to his father's side of the desk. He picked up a photo of Isaac, Irene and all four of their kids together.

"I remember this picture. It was the day our parents bought this building," Isaiah said, quietly. "After they signed the papers, they decided to let us celebrate with them and they took us to a water park. We spent the entire day there."

He sat down in his father's chair and his face twisted in confusion. Bending down, he murmured, "What's this?"

When he sat back up, he had a large box in his hands. He stood and placed it on the desk and pulled the top off.

Isaiah's face filled with shock as he pulled out a CD case.

"What is it?" Tessa asked.

"It's...it's the first CD I ever produced." He began going through the box and he shook his head. "It's
every
CD I've ever produced."

He continued pulling items out of the box.

"There are articles in here about me and my siblings. Every episode of the cooking show Ian was on and won, every one of Ivy's vlogs and videos of fashion shows Izzy helped with."

"There's so much stuff in here," Tessa said, looking in the box with Isaiah.

"I can't believe he chronicled...everything."

Isaiah dropped down in the chair again, covering his face with his hands. When his shoulders began to shake, Tessa rushed to him and hugged him tightly. His arms wrapped her around her waist and he held her tightly, clearly overcome with emotions.

Since the passing of his father, Tessa hadn't seen Isaiah truly mourn the loss of his father. She had a feeling that the weeks after Isaac's death, when they were apart, Isaiah was too focused on everyone else's wellbeing to be concerned with his own. And then he dove in to finishing the documentary.

When he pulled away, he wiped the wetness from beneath his eyes with the back of his hand. His voice was rough as he said, "The last thing he said to us was that he was proud of us."

"Everyone knew how proud your father was of the four of you. You couldn't run in to Isaac Noble in town without him bragging on his four kids; that he made by his damn self."

Isaiah let out a broken laugh at Tessa's comment.

"Don't get me wrong, I believed him when he told us that. But to see all of this–"

"Puts it in a whole new perspective?"

Isaiah nodded. "Yeah...it does."

After taking a moment to collect himself, Isaiah finally stood and began to put all of the items he'd pulled out of his father's box back. He covered it with the top and then slid it back under the desk.

"I think it's time to go home," Tessa said, grabbing the box with Irene's things.

Isaiah took the box from Tessa and then leaned down to kiss her lips. It was a sweet, lingering kiss and she could feel him thanking her for being there with him. There wasn't anywhere she would have rather been.

"We'll drop this off at my mother's new office, and then we'll head home."

There was something different about Isaiah as they left Noble Naturals. A weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

Tessa believed he was beginning to truly heal.