Theirs (16 page)

The old abandoned drive-in movie lot was now a strip mall. Out of curiosity, Alex drove around the town noting all the changes. Like Cash had said, there was a community of
townhouses
where the old
farmland
used to be. There
were
, however,
some places that hadn’t changed, like the high school and even though the diner had a different sign, it was still the
same. Seeing all the changes made since her departure was bittersweet. She wondered if the attitudes of the people who lived here were as modernized as the town.

Alex wanted to get her meeting with her grandmother over with before seeking out her men to make amends when them. When she made it to the hospital and found out the room her grandmother was in, she didn’t count on seeing Rusty. “Rusty!”

Before she could offer her apology, he pulled her into his arms and gave her a hard kiss. He then buried his face against her neck. “You came,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

She returned his hug. “I’m sorry for not getting here sooner but I had to sort some things out at work first. I needed to make sure someone could cover my shifts so I could take the week off.”

He pulled away and looked into her eyes. “You’re staying with us for a week?”

“That’s if you’ll have me. I’ve been selfish and…”

“Shhh.” Rusty silenced her by placing his finger against her lips. “We’ll discuss this later. In the meantime, I need to get a doctor to check on your grandmother.”

“Is she…how is she?”

“Why don’t you go see for yourself? I have a feeling you might just be what she needs.
”

Alex took a deep breath, nervous to face the woman she hadn’t seen or talked to in eight years. “Okay. Here goes nothing.”

Rusty gave her another peck on the lips and squeezed her arm as if to assure her that everything would be all right. “I won’t be far. Holler if you need me.”

She nodded before going into the room. When she saw her grandmother lying in the bed hooked up to several machines, Alex nearly gasped out loud but just managed to keep it in. What she saw wasn’t the stern woman who used to intimidate the hell out of her.
Instead
,
she saw a frail old woman. Her grandmother was thinner than she remembered and had aged to the point where her once smooth brown skin was lined with wrinkles.

“Alexandra? Is that you?” Her grandmother was the only one who ever called her by her full name. Whenever she said it, Alex always felt like she was in trouble.

“Yes, Grandma.” She took the seat next to the bed.

“I didn’t think you would come.”

“How are you?” Alex deliberately ignoring the question seeing no point in telling her grandmother that she nearly didn’t come.

“I’m in this hospital bed.” Came Ida Mae’s weak reply.

“Well, you sound like you should be resting. I can always come back to visit. I’ll be in town for the week.”

“No!”
The word seemed like it had taken a great amount of effort to project. “Please, I have to talk to you, to get some things off my chest.”

“Okay.”

“I…I’m sorry.”

Alex had been waiting for those words for as long as she could remember but now that she’d finally heard them they were a bit anti-climactic
because
,
in her heart, she’d forgiven her grandmother the second she’d stepped into the hospital room. “It’s okay. You did what you thought was best.”

“No. I did what I thought was best for me. Not for you. I’ve made so many mistakes. After your grandfather died, I had to raise two children the best I knew how. My
Dalvin
, he was special. I saw that he was smart so I nurtured his gift.
I was even a little bit intimidated by him. I had an
eighth
-
grade
education and somehow I produced this brilliant son.” Grandma stopped to gasp for breath.

Alex frowned in concern. Alex wanted to hear what her grandmother had to say but not at the detriment of her health. “We can talk later Grandma. You don’t sound so good and from the sound of that heart monitor, you seem agitated.”

“No,” Grandma made a small shake of her head. “I need to get this out. I may not get another chance.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true and I’m an old woman.
Now hush up and let me finish. Where was I?” She paused for a moment as if to gather her thoughts. “
Anyway, I s
howered
your uncle with
affection.
Gave him whatever he wanted. Sacrificed for him.
Your mama Deena was different. Always full of energy. That girl could never keep still.
I…I’m ashamed to admit that I neglected her in favor of your uncle.
But she was so defiant sometimes I just couldn’t deal with her. We fought a lot. Looking back, I realize it was because she resented me for favoring
Dalvin
over her. I didn’t mean to, it just happened
. And then one day she ran off.
Eventually
,
my
Dalvin
went away to school and never came back except for the occasional visit. Your mama would pop up every now and then
wanting
money
or to
cause trouble.
It was
clear she was on drugs and the people in town were always gossiping about it.
I was ashamed was so ashamed about they said that I pretended she didn’t exist. Whenever she’d come around I’d send her off instead of trying to get her help.
”

Alex had never thought that her grandmother had been the victim of the vicious gossip circle. It certainly put things into perspective. “That must have been tough.”

“I did my best to ignore them all
but it hurt. I didn’t have much to be proud of except
Dalvin
who never came to see me so I threw all my energy into taking care of the
Bradfords
. They became my family and I cared and loved them like they were my own.”

Alex raised a brow. “Even Mrs. Bradford?”

Ida Mae looked like she wanted to smile but couldn’t. “Maybe not her but I did love Mr. Bradford and those boys. They became my babies. And then one day Deena shows up with you.
She just hands you
over like she was making a delivery and they she just took off. It was the last time I saw her
.
”

It was no wonder her grandmother had resented her.
She’d had no plans to raise her grandchild especially when she’d never been close to Alex’s mother.
“That must have been a shock.”

“It was. I thought I was through with raising kids of my own. As you grew up, you started to look just like Deena and I was so hard on you because you reminded me of her.
When I found out she overdosed a few years later, I told myself I was better off without her. I know that sounds evil but I was hurt and didn’t want to face the fact that I was to blame for her turning to a life that eventually led to her death.
I was
too
scared to love y
ou because I’d already lost her.
I feared I would end up losing you too. So I pushed yo
u away before I could give you the
chance to hurt me.
”

Tears swam in Alex’s eyes. “All I ever wanted was for you to love me.”

“I made so many mistakes. My biggest was sending you off. I heard people saying you were hanging around the Bradford boys a little too much and they were calling you fast. I turned a blind eye to your friendship with them because I could see you made them happy. But then Mrs. Bradford found out about the three of you carrying on. My job was all I had, taking care of the Bradford household was all I knew so when she said I had to kick you out or lose my job…well, Lord forgive me, I chose my job. I’
m sorry. Not only did I send you away, Cash and Rusty never looked at me the same again.”

This was a surprise to hear. She knew how much they cared about her. “But they love you. They’ve taken care of you all these years.”

“Out of obligation because they’re good boys. But when they found out I sent you away, it was never the same. They stopped talking to me for a long time.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I mean they didn’t ignore me. They were cordial, but it was never the same. It took them a few years to even look me in
the eye again. That hurt but not
as much as
the
pain of not knowing where you were or if you were all right. I think eventually they took pity on me because they saw how broken I was. They set me up in the nice retirement community and they visit from time to time but we’re not as close as we used to be and I deserve it.”

“They still care about you very much or else they wouldn’t have been here around the clock making sure you’re all right.”

“I know, but I still think a part of me knows they’ll never completely forgive me. I was an old fool and I want you to know that I do love you and my biggest regret is that I was too much of a coward to show it. I cared too much about
what other people thought and it ruined my life. I know that you three are seeing each other. The boys told me they visit you. I don’t understand it but you’re adults and what you three do is between you and your maker. So don’t let…other people…dictate how you live.” She took a deep breath. “Getting tired.” She then closed her eyes.

“Grandma?”

“Don’t worry, child. Just resting my eyes,” she whispered.

Just then there was a knock on the door and a Rusty returned along with who she assumed was a doctor.

“I’m Doctor Madison. You must me, Mrs. Bryant’s granddaughter.” He held out his hand to her.

“Yes.” Alex stood up and wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks before taking the offered hand.

“I’m going to check on your grandmother. She’s doing amazingly well for having suffered a stroke, but we’re going to n
eed to keep her hospitalized
a few
more days for
observation and more tests. If you don’t mind,
I’m going to exam her. I’ll get
in contact with you if there are any changes.”

“Will she be okay?” Alex asked.

“We’re going to do our best to make sure that she is.” Doctor Madison smiled.

“Okay. “ Alex walked to her grandmother’s bedside, leaned over and placed a kiss on the old woman’s forehead. She may not have ever had a good relationship with her grandmother, but she hoped
this was the start of a new beginning.

Rusty wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led them out. As they made it to the waiting room the first person Alex saw was Cash. He raced over to them and yanked Alex into his arms.

“About damn time,” he growled before covering her mouth with his.

Chapter Fifteen

When Rusty ha
d called to say that Alex was at
the hospital he raced out the house and drove here as fast as he could. The way they’d ended their last conversation had been weighing heavily on his mind and it scared him to think Alex was pulling away from them. But the fact that she was actually here in the flesh gave him hope.

He kissed her with all his might, squeezing her against him and not wanting to let go.

Alex twi
sted her head with a laugh. “I
can’t breathe.”

He buried his face in her neck. “Missed you so much.”

She returned his hug. “I’m missed you too. “I’m so sorry, Cash. When you called and asked me to come down I shouldn’t have prevaricated. I was a jerk. Please forgive me.”

He pressed his lips against hers. “Of course I do sweetheart, I love you and trust me. I’m sorry too.”

She raised a brow. “For what. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

He caressed her cheek. “For losing my cool. I should have been more understanding of your position. Look, the reason Rusty and I are willing to let you set the pace is because you’re the one who would be giving up a job you love and leaving our friends behind. You’d be coming back to a town that you didn’t hold much love for. We were asking a lot of you and I was just getting a little impatient.”

“A lot impat
ient,” Rusty interjected with a chuckle.

Alex gently pushed Cash away and wrapped her arms around her body. “That’s not it. I’ve been so stupid. I was just thinking about myself, worried about what people will say about of and scared of living in a place of perpetual
judgment
when what other people think about us doesn’t matter.”

Cash got it. Some of the people in Bradfordville had not been kind but he was happy to see that Alex was taking a step in the right direction. “We understand Alex. You’ll probably get the brunt of the gossip because you’re a woman and it’s a sexist world that we live in but those people have no real power to affect our lives unless you let them. But as I said before,
we’re asking you to give up a lot.”

“When I was driving here, I noticed that new hospital being constructed. It’s large and it looks like it’s going to need a lot of staff.”

Cash nodded. “Yeah, apparently it’s in a larger network of hospita
ls in Southern Virginia
. I hear they’re going to have all the latest state of the art equipment and a workout facility and a clinic. A lot of people are saying the new hospital has a lot of fancy units that this one doesn’t so people in Bradfordville won’t have to travel as far to get specialty care. Why do you mention that?”

“Well,” Alex
sighed
,
“I think they’re probably going to need some respiratory therapists.”

Cash’s heart sped up. Did he dare hope she was implying what he thought she
did
?

Rusty
, however,
beat him to the punch. His brother grabbed Alex and turned her around to face him.
“Does this mean you’re coming home to us?”

Alex smiled. “Yes. As I was driving through Bradfordville, I discovered that this place can no longer hurt me. It no longer holds the power it used to. I don’t want to end up like my grandmother, so worried about what other people think about me that it ruins my
life. She’s old and alone,
sure she has you guys and now me, but I can’t imagine what it must be like to have lost a child and then to have another one basically ignore my existence. That made her miserable and I don’t want to be bitter. I want to be happy.”

Cash moved so that he was facing Alex.
“So you’re ready to pack up and leave everything behind? Leave your friends?”

“That’s what email and video chat
are
for. I can keep in touch with my friends and we can always visit them. I know Georgia mentioned coming down to see me when everything is settled. And who knows,” she shrugged, “Georgia might find that she likes it here. She’s been talking about a change of scenery for a while. I might be able to convince her to move as well. As for my job,
I’ll need to put my notice in.
It may be a couple months before I can get everything settled, p
acked up and sorted out but yes,
I’m ready for us to be together, in every sens
e of the word. I love you Cash. I love Rusty.” She looked at each of them in turn. “People may say the three of us are wrong for what we’re doing but my heart tells me its right. And I don’t want to live for other people’s opinions.”

Rusty gave Alex a deep kiss before Cash grew impatient. “My turn.” He gently pulled her away from his brother and softly brushed his lips against hers. “Love you so much.” He pushed
his tongue between
her lips and tasted every inch of her mouth.” He’d missed this so much. His cock sprang to attention. He desperately wanted to be inside of her and was ready to take her on the ground right then and there before he remembered they were still in the hospital waiting room.” Pulling away reluctantly, he noticed, for the first time since his arrival, an old woman sitting in the corner of the room. “

Cash eyed her warily, certain the woman would have something negative to say.
Instead
,
she grinned. “Don’t mind me, this is better than a soap opera.”

Cash caught his brother’s gaze before looking at Alex. The three of them broke into simultaneous
laugh
t
er
.

<><><><><>

Alex snuggled up in the passenger seat of Cash’s car. She’d been dozing on and off all day and she Rusty and Cash hung out in the hospital. By nightfall, Doctor Madison assured them that her grandmother’s condition was stable and it was best if they went home and got some rest. Rusty and Cash insisted that one of
them drive her to their place because they had a surprise for her, so she’d transferred her overnight items to Cash’s car while Rusty followed close behind in his vehicle. The decided to leave her car in the parking lot until they could pick it up in the morning.

She stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “I’m so excited, I’ll get to spend the entire week with you.”

Cash took his eyes off the road briefly to smile at her. “I am too. It’s going to be nice coming home from work to you. Are you sure you’ll be fine by yourself while
me
and Rusty are at the factory?”

“Sure. You do have cable don’t you and all the streaming services?”

“
Yes, all the movie channels as well.”

“Then I’ll be just fine. Besides, I have a ton of book
s
on my e-reader that I have yet to get to. I’m looking forward to sleeping in and total relaxation. I notice that they have a nail shop and spa in that new strip mall. Maybe I’ll go get a mani and
pedi
if I feel like it. Don’t worry about me, I’m sure I can find something to occupy myself with. I haven’t had a real vacation in forever.”

“Sounds like you have it all thought out.”

“Well, I haven’t had a real vacation in a forever, so I’m going to take advantage of it.
I might as well, considering when I got back up north, I’m going to have a lot of planning to do for the big move.”

He took one hand off the wheel to take her hand in his. “But you know you won’t have to do it all alone.”

Alex’s heart fluttered in her chest. She loved this man so much, she didn’t know how she thought she could live apart from them for so long. “I know. I feel like we could have made this happen so much sooner but I was being a coward. I wish it didn’t take my grandmother having a stroke before a fire was lit under my butt.”

“Don’t blame yourself. What matters is that you’re here now. It could have been much worse. It may have taken you years for you to make up your mind.”

She groaned. “Don’t remind me. I was such a fool.”

“Alex, you have to stop blaming yourself or else we’re doomed to repeat the past.”

She sunk into her seat with a sigh. “You’
re right. We’ll only think about the future. Speaking of which, what if we decide one day we’d like children?”

Cash squeezed
her
hand. “Rusty and I will both raise any children as our own. There will be no DNA tests. We’ll both be the fathers. And we’ve already decided that we would both like to marry you.”

“How exactly would that work, legally?

“Legally it’s not possible but it doesn’t mean that we can’t have a commitment ceremony. We’ll have our lawyer draw up a will that will make sure you’re protected, finally in case something should happen to us.”

A shiver went through her. “That sounds so morbid.”

“Not morbid, realistic.
We want to make sure you’re taken care. Our commitment to you is real, Alex, we plan on living out the rest of our lives with you and now that you’ve promised to be with us, we’re not ever letting you go.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Damn right it is.” Alex wished she hadn’t taken so long to come back to her hometown but now that she did, she couldn’t think of any place she would rather be. As long as she had Cash and Rusty by her side, they can make it through anything together.

Even though it had been a long time since she’d been to Bradfordville and the town had changed considerably, she was almost certain they should have made it to the Bradford house by now. She looked out of the window and realized they were outside of the city limits.

“
Where are we going?
This isn’t the way to your house.” Alex scanned the area to get clues about where they were taking her. “Aren’t we headed in the wrong direction? I thought we were going back to your house.”

“
We are,” Cash answered nonchalantly returning his hand to the steering wheel.

Alex glanced out the window recognizing the familiar turn off.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say we were heading for Lake Underwood.
”

He smirked
. “You’re so impatient. Just sit tight, we’ll be there shortly.”

“How can I be patient when
you’re being so secretive?”

Cash chuckled.
“
Looks like you’ve
forgot
ten
the meaning of the word surprise.”

Alex continued to stare out the window.
They were definitely going to Lake Underwood. As they drove past the familiar scenery, all the
precious memories that they’d made together
came flooding back. This had been her absolute favorite place in the world.
Her heart
bega
n
to flutter out of control.

When Cash finally pulled the car to a halt, it was in the driveway of a massive log cabin style house.
Though this was the spot of their secret hideaway, this definitely wasn’t the same fishing cabin that used to be here.
“What is this?”
She looked at the house in awe. It looked like something right out of her dreams. It had a large wrap around porch equipped
with
a two-seater
s
wing and antique rocking chairs.

“
Home,” Cash answered simply.

Rusty
appeared outside the passenger door. He opened it
and
helped
her out of the vehicle. “This
is
where you’ll live with us.”

“This is your house?”
she asked in awe.

Cash took her hand. “Our house.’

“Ours?” she whispered
as tears welled in her eyes
.

Rusty
took her other hand,
leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Yes, ours. Wanna take a look inside?”

“Yes!”

Alex gasped the second she crossed the threshold. This place took her breath away with its
vaulted ceiling
s
that
give the
living
area a more spacio
us feel. Tastefully decorated with earth tone furniture, the house had everything from
all the modern appliances to a
big fireplace in the living room. There was even a hot tub in the back on a
n
enormous
deck, perfect for relaxing. Alex inspected each room, falling in love with the house a little more with each new discovery. Her favorite feature by far
,
however
,
was the view of the lake from the kitchen window.

Once she toured the entire house, she turned to her men. “This is absolutely gorgeous. This is the type of house that I used to talk about. It has everything I wanted. You remembered.”

“Of course
,
we did.” Cash took her into his arms. “It was always our intention for you to be with us
forever
so we had the old cabin torn down and
this house
was
built for you.”

“No one has ever done anything like this for me before. I love you both so much. One of the reason
s
I was so disappointed about you no
t
coming up the last time we spoke, Cash was because I decided to end our sex drought. I even bought some sexy underwear to celebrate?”