Secret Dream: Delos Series, 1B1 (12 page)

“Makes sense,” he agreed, smoothing his hand across her hip, cupping her cheek, feeling her move like the sinuous lioness she was to him, pressing her breasts against his black polo shirt. He liked to hear that low hum in her throat that told him she liked what he was doing to her. Cav allowed his long fingers to follow the curve of her cheek, brushing teasingly against her curls, feeling that she was already dampening with juices because she wanted him.

A small cry came out of her throat as he stroked near her damp entrance. She asked for more of his exploration of her. Lia pressed her cheek against the column of his neck, gasping with delight, twisting, opening herself to his touch.

“Hey,” he rasped, inhaling her sex scent as he kissed her temple, “do you want to play around? Or are you serious?” Because his erection was throbbing, tight against his jeans.

Lia smiled sweetly as she lifted her head away. “I want to do that same position right now, Cav. I loved it. It made me feel so incredibly good. Are you up to it?”

He grinned. “Oh, baby, I’m
always
up for you . . .”

*

“They’re very much
in love with one another,” Steve told his wife as they sat at the breakfast table. It was six a.m. and it was nearly time for him to get going to the beet fields. He gave his wife, who sat at his right elbow, a warm look. “Those two young ones kind of remind me of you and me from a long time ago.”

Susan gave him a slight smile, spooning hot oats with brown sugar spread across them into her mouth. “Cav is utterly devoted to Lia. That’s all I care about.”

His eyes sparkled with mirth. “Like I’ve always been devoted to you?” He saw her expression melt, felt his heart opening to that intimate look she would sometimes give him. This woman never failed to make him feel good as a man, as her partner in their life together.

“Yes,” she whispered, suddenly emotional. She had shared her talk with Cav with her husband last night as they lay in bed together. “He’s got a lot of hard edges to him and I was afraid . . . well . . . afraid that it would in some way hurt Lia someday.”

“He’s in love with her,” Steve murmured, giving his wife a tender look. “I’ll bet my monthly paycheck that our daughter has brought out all that goodness he didn’t know he had. The more he’s around her, those hard edges are going to dissolve, just like sugar dissolves in that hot coffee you’re drinking.”

“You always see everything with such clarity, Steve. I waffle for days trying to get my head around what’s going on and you just cut through it to its essence.”

“One of my strengths,” he admitted, cleaning the last of the oats out of his bowl and licking the spoon. “You eventually figure it out on your own, Susan.”

“I know,” she muttered grudgingly, “but you just slice through all my confusion and emotions and call it what it is.”

“Because I love you,” he said quietly, holding her unsure look, her worry over what she saw as her own weaknesses. In his eyes, they weren’t. “And you’re just like your daughter, honey. You’re an emotional being, sensitive and so very, very beautiful to me.”

She gave him a look of gratitude. “Do you
always
have the right words when I need them?” Reaching over, she grazed his fingers, her love for him deep and always on tap.

“I try,” he grunted, pushing the chair back, giving her a careless grin. “I’ve gotta get going. If Cav wants to come and join me, give him the other truck. He knows where we’re working.”

“I feel guilty about making them sleep apart like that.”

He chuckled and rinsed the bowl beneath the faucet. “Oh,” he murmured, “I think they’re probably making up for lost time.”

She managed a nod and squelched her laughter. “You’re probably right.”

He ambled over to the table, came around it, and kissed her hair, moving his callused fingers across her nape. “I’ll see you tonight for dinner.”

Lifting her head, she kissed him, always cherishing the love they had for one another. Steve always made her heart beat faster, made her yearn to do more than just kiss him, even after thirty years of being with the man. She opened her eyes, drowning in his amused blue ones, feeling cherished. “I love you. Don’t do anything stupid out there today, okay?” Farming was dangerous sometimes, and she knew that they were finishing the first field of sugar beets, where some of the corners of sandy soil were not as stable as she wished they were. A tractor could suddenly slide sideways into one of the irrigation ditches if the driver wasn’t careful. She never wanted to see her life without her strong, quiet husband beside her.

*

“Is there any
possibility that you can come to Alexandria for Christmas?” Lia asked her parents. They had settled in the living room after dinner with coconut cream pie and coffee for dessert. Her father was in his favorite brown leather chair and her mother was sitting in one of the overstuffed flowery chairs, her knitting needles in hand, making an afghan. Lia tried to quell her anxiety, her hand on Cav’s thigh, his arm around her waist.

“What would we be coming for?” Steve asked, sipping his coffee.

Lia smiled at Cav and then held her father’s gaze, barely able to contain her excitement. “I swore Cav to secrecy, but I can’t stand it. I’m ready to burst.” She gave her parents a loving look. “Cav has asked me to marry him, and I’ve agreed to it.” Lia saw her mother’s face fill with joy. Her father grinned widely. She glanced at Cav, who gave her a warm look.

Susan set her needles aside and got up, going over and hugging Lia hard. And then she went to Cav and hugged him, too. “This—this is such wonderful news,” Susan said, tears coming to her eyes.

Steve joined her. He put his arm around his wife and offered his hand to Cav. “Congratulations, son. I think Lia has real good taste.”

“Thank you,” Cav managed to say, feeling the sincerity in Steve’s words, in his grip.

Steve released his hand and turned, walking over to his daughter. Lia stood up and walked into his embrace. He gently held Lia and kissed the top of her head. “Congratulations,” he told her gruffly, releasing her and holding her at arm’s length. “You’ve chosen a fine man to be your husband.”

“I think so too, Dad,” she whispered, tears in her eyes. “Cav is so much like you.”

Steve smiled benignly. “Well, that’s a good thing. So? When’s the date that you two young ones want to get married?”

Susan came over and slid her arm around Lia’s waist. She kissed her daughter’s cheek. She looked over at Cav. “Have you made up your mind about it yet?”

“Ask Lia,” Cav said, grinning. These three people couldn’t have looked happier. He was glad Lia had decided to share the good news with her folks now, not later.

“We’re going to announce our engagement at Christmastime,” Lia said, her voice rising with excitement. “Dilara and Robert Culver are going to host it over at their house in Alexandria, Virginia. All of their Turkish and Greek family will be there, too. Every year their family flies in for the holidays.” She looked pleadingly at her parents, who had their arms around her. “Mom? Do you and Dad think you could come? It would really mean a lot to us.”

Susan looked to her husband. “We should be able to. Steve?”

“Sure.” He smiled over at Lia, then explained to Cav, “We don’t often take off because of the farm, but I’m sure I can get some of our farm friends to babysit the place while we’re gone.” His voice lowered with feeling. “It isn’t every day your only daughter gets engaged to get married.”

Relief sped through Lia. “I remember the last time you had to fly somewhere to see me, at Landstuhl medical center in Germany. This, I promise, will be a much happier occasion.”

Cav stood up and walked over to the family. They released Lia so she could stand in his embrace instead. He could feel Lia’s tension and smoothed his hand down her back. “Dilara and Robert Culver treat their employees like they’re a natural part of their far-flung family,” he explained. “And Dilara runs Delos from their headquarters in Alexandria. She likes to celebrate happy events in people’s lives.” Giving Lia a warm look, he added, “She insisted on doing this for us.”

Steve chuckled. “What? Did she think you two would run off to the justice of the peace otherwise?”

Cav grinned. “Well,” he hedged, “this means a lot to Lia and this will be her day.”

“I think it’s wonderful,” Susan sighed, giving her daughter a loving look. “Where would we stay?”

“Oh, Dilara is arranging all of that, Mom. She’ll put you on her social email list and give you all the details. Best of all, as part of their wedding gift to us, she’s insisting on paying for first-class tickets, round-trip, for you and Dad to come and be with us.” Lia beamed. “I’ve just never met anyone as generous as Dilara and Robert. You’ll love them. They’re such good, hardworking people.”

Steve smiled. “Sounds a lot like us: always working.”

“So? What about the wedding date?” Susan asked her.

“March second.”

Susan gave her a soft smile. “Have you talked about where you’re going to wed?”

Lia gave Cav a warm look and turned, holding her mother’s gaze. “Well . . . we’d like to get married here, at our family’s church. I’m hoping Pastor Wickcomb will agree to marry us.” She saw her mother’s face crumple, tears suddenly in her eyes. Lia knew how much her parents would love to have them married here where she was born and had grown up. She saw her father smile and nod approvingly, giving his wife a loving look as he pulled her beneath his arm. Susan was wiping tears from the corners of her eyes with trembling fingers. Lia knew how important this was for her parents.

“I’m sure that can be arranged,” Susan said quickly, rapture in her expression.

“I thought I’d call the pastor tomorrow,” Lia said. “I want him to meet Cav. I’d love it if both of you could come with us.”

“I think we can manage that,” Steve drawled, love shining in his eyes for his daughter.

“Do you need some help picking out a wedding dress?” Susan asked, her voice unsteady as she picked up a tissue from a nearby box sitting on the lamp stand.

Lia nodded. “Yes. Dilara wants to help and I thought you two might get together after the party at their house. She has a number of wedding shops that she’d like to take us to.”

“I’d like that,” Susan said.

“Cav? What part are you playin’ in this shindig?” Steve asked teasingly.

“I’ll be paying for it,” he said, a grin coming to his mouth. Lia gave him a playful punch in the ribs and he laughed a little, giving her a warm look. “It’s Lia’s day. Whatever she wants, however she wants it, is all right with me.”

“Man after my own heart,” Steve jested, smiling over at his wife.

Susan snorted. “You men,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Don’t worry, Lia, I’m sure between the two of us and Dilara, we’ll get everything arranged. Will she and her husband be coming here for your wedding? Do you know?”

“If you send them an invitation, they will,” Lia said, enthusiastic. “Dilara and her family just love weddings!”

Lia eased from beneath Cav’s arm and stepped to her dad, giving him a big hug. He hugged her back and smiled down at her, kissing her brow and then releasing her. Lia then walked over to her mother, giving her a kiss and a big, long embrace. Susan gave Lia a gentle hug and kiss on her scarred cheek. “I’m so glad you can both come,” Lia said tearfully, her voice wobbling.

Susan sniffed and nodded, wiping her eyes. “I never thought this day would come, but I’m so happy it has, Lia. You and Cav are a beautiful-looking couple and you’ll be so pretty in whatever wedding gown you want to wear . . .”

Nodding, her throat tight with unshed tears, Lia whispered, “We’ve all had our dreams and hopes smashed, but look at us, five years later.”

Cav saw the heartfelt emotions mirrored in the faces of her family. He understood the fallout of Lia’s assault on her parents. Silently, he wished his mother, Elizabeth, were here to see who he had fallen in love with. Cav knew she would approve. A sadness wound through him for a moment, and then, when Lia moved back to him, slipping beneath his arm once more, and gave him that beaming smile of joy, he couldn’t help but quietly put the past away. Lia was his present. She was his future. And as she snuggled beneath his arm, leaning against him, her head resting on his shoulder, he saw the unfettered joy shining in her expression. Her happiness was infectious, surrounding him, and he leaned over, kissing her temple.