by Jamie Pope
“No, thank you. I’ll stay with Mommy.”
“Okay.” Tanner motioned his head toward the path that led to the beach. It might have been a mistake to head that way because he couldn’t think of this beach without thinking of Nova. It had been a sort of breakthrough for them and he didn’t think he would ever get the image of her topless in the moonlight, looking up at him with that expression of naughty innocence that only she had.
“If you wanted to speak to me in private, why did you invite Teo?”
“I knew he wouldn’t want to leave the baby, but I don’t want him to feel like we’re leaving him out.”
“He’s growing attached to you.”
“I’m growing attached to him.”
“His father is dead. Nova is an adult and I don’t want to get in your business, but unless you plan on sticking around it might not be such a good idea to get so involved in their lives. I don’t want to see Teo hurt when you decide that a family is too much for you.”
“It won’t be me who ends it,” he said with certainty. “I have no idea what’s going in your sister’s mind.”
“You know she doesn’t tell me anything.”
“And yet she cares so much about what you think.”
“No, she doesn’t. I think she does the opposite of what I say just to annoy me.”
“Do you know where she goes on Thursday nights?”
“I thought she might be seeing someone who lived out of town, but with you two together I don’t know what to think.”
“She’s going to night school. She’s getting her high school diploma. She’s graduating in June.”
Wylie stopped in his tracks and stared at Tanner for a long moment. The shock on his face was clear, which was odd for a man who used to be so unreadable. “Why the hell didn’t she just say so?”
“She’s ashamed that she never finished, but from what I can gather, something happened to make her run away from home. Her not finishing wasn’t her fault.”
“My mother was bad off then.” He rubbed his head. “That’s bullshit. My mother was always bad off, but when I tracked her down, she was unrecognizable. She was in extreme liver failure. Her skin was yellow, her body bloated and misshapen. There were bottles of gin everywhere. She didn’t even recognize me. She thought I was there looking for sex. Do you have any idea what it’s like for your own mother to proposition you? I can’t imagine what it had been like for Nova. I hauled her ass out of there and put her in rehab, but she died soon after.”
“Where was Nova?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t find her. I wish she would have come to me instead of marrying that loser.”
“She was ashamed. It’s the same reason she never told you she was in school.”
“I would have supported her. I would have done anything to make it work for her.”
“In her own stubborn way she wants to prove to you that she doesn’t need you anymore. She wants you to be proud of the things she’s doing on her own.”
He nodded. “She’s been better about Teo. There was a time when I thought she didn’t want him. Cass and I were ready to take him.”
“I think she’s afraid of turning into your mother.”
“Why the hell can’t she tell me any of this? I would have understood. I wouldn’t have been so hard on her.”
“The last thing your sister wants is your pity.”
“She’s planning on moving away, isn’t she? That’s why you went with her to Boston. I thought it was just something she was thinking about, but she’s really ready to do it.”
“She’s still thinking about it. Her career is blowing up. But that’s not why we went to Boston. We went because I asked her to come with me. I had some family business I had to take care of.”
“Are you leaving here, too? You don’t say much about it, but I know that you are one of those Brennans. Your family has enough money and power to buy up this entire island.”
“Ah, but that’s what I went to take care of. It turns out that I’m not one of those Brennans. My mother had an affair. My father isn’t my father.”
“What?”
“They’ve been lying to me my entire life.”
“Who is your biological father?”
“I don’t know. My father claims he has no idea.”
“What did your mother say?”
“Nothing. I’m too damn mad to speak to her. I should have known. The signs were staring me in the face for years. In a way what she did to my father was cruel. She would throw my existence in his face. She used to like to tell me how tall and handsome I was getting and that I must have gotten that from my father’s side of the family.”
“Damn.” Wylie shook his head. “And I thought only poor people were this messed up. It seems like rich people are just as trashy as the rest of us.”
Tanner laughed. “Damn right. Even trashier at times. Makes you feel better about life, don’t it?”
Chapter 12
Nova went down hermental checklist for about the hundredth time that morning. She couldn’t forget anything. She didn’t want to look like a fool in front of one of the most powerful political families in the country. As it was, she was working on two hours of sleep. She went to bed early, even tried to send Tanner away so she could get a full night’s sleep, but he wouldn’t go. And she ended up being glad he didn’t. He was the only reason she got any sleep at all. After putting up with hours of her tossing and turning he had made quiet love to her. It calmed her. She was annoyed that he knew her body so well. Knew that that was what she needed to get any rest.
They had been together every day. Going back and forth between each other’s houses. They saw each other after work. They texted throughout the day. He was a part of her life. There was no doubt about it. A big part of it and the worst thing about it was that he never once forced his way in. He pushed her without it hurting. He merged his life with hers so subtly she hadn’t noticed. She was starting to depend on him. She was starting to fear being without him. It was the same thing that happened with her and Elijah. She had stayed for so long because the thought of being completely alone in the world had terrified her.
Rationally she knew this time was different. Tanner didn’t slap her around. Tanner didn’t screw around on her. Tanner didn’t steal. He didn’t use drugs. And Nova was different now. She had a skill. She had her family back in her life. She had choices. She knew she was strong and that she could stand on her own.
But she was afraid that she might choose not to stand on her own, that being with him would become too addictive. That she wouldn’t be able to pull away and follow her own dreams because her life would be too attached to him. She would hate herself for that. When she was old, she would hate herself for giving up everything to stay here with a man.
“The last suitcase is in the back of my car.” Tanner walked through her door and eased himself down on the couch next to Teo, who was playing on the tablet that Wylie got him for his birthday. She didn’t let him have much screen time, but she felt guilty for leaving him for nearly four days, so she was letting him take it with him to Mansi’s house. “You should have taken them up on their offer to ship your supplies to Nantucket. All of that stuff weighs a ton.”
“Why do you think I’m taking you with me? I can’t entrust thousands of dollars’ worth of hair and makeup supplies to some shippers even if it is the Secret Service.”
“You trust me.” He gave her that cocky grin she was growing so damn fond of. “I’m honored.” He knew he was getting to her. He knew the number he was doing on her heart.
“Oh, shut up, Sasquatch.”
“You know I like it when you get all salty with me, Nova. It makes me feel alive.”
She tried to stop herself from smiling but she couldn’t. He made her smile. He always made her smile. She looked at her son. “Time to turn off the tablet, Teo. We’ve got to get going.”
Teo said nothing. He continued to play the game, completely engrossed in it.
“Teo,” she said, a little louder this time. “Screen time is over for now. Turn it off.”
“But I just want to finish this level. Why can’t I play it in the car?”
“Young man,” Tanner barked in a voice he must have used with the men in his unit, “your mother told you to do something. She should never have to repeat herself. Give her the tablet.”
Teo dutifully shut it off and handed it to her. “I’m sorry, Mr. Tanner,” he whispered.
“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to your mother. What she says goes. You have to respect her. She’s the most important person in your life and always will be.”
“I’m sorry, Mommy.”
“I forgive you. I think the tablet is staying here though.” She scooped him up. “I’m going to miss you this weekend. I’m coming back though. I promise. When you get home from school on Monday, I’ll be here.”
“I know you’re coming back. I’m not worried.”
That was new. He used to be worried about it. Afraid that she was going to walk away from him and never come back. She felt guilty all over again. “I’ll call you every day.”
Teo nodded and rested his head on her shoulder for a moment. “Is Mr. Tanner going to call me, too?”
Tanner got up and took Teo from her arms. “Of course I’m going to call you. Probably more than your mother. I’m going to be bored when she’s working.” Tanner smoothed his hand over Teo’s curls. “You don’t think I’m mad at you, do you?”
“I don’t know.”
“There will be times when I get tough with you, but that doesn’t mean I’m ever going to stop liking you. But you’ve got to listen to your mother.”
“Uncle Wylie yells at me all the time when I don’t listen. I’m tough. I can take it.”
“I never doubted it.” He kissed Teo’s cheek. “Now let’s get going. We don’t want Mommy to be late.”
Nova felt odd about what had just happened. Tanner hadn’t done anything wrong. He was firm with Teo and then sweet to him. It was very . . . fatherly.
It was one more reason why this thing with Tanner scared her so much. She had already disappointed her kid so much in his short life. She couldn’t allow him to get so attached to this man if she knew it was going to end before winter.
After they dropped Teo off they took the ferry over to Nantucket instead of flying. It was just easier with all of her supplies. Tanner hadn’t arrived in the SUV he drove around the island; instead he showed up in another black luxury model sports utility vehicle. When she looked at him questioningly, all he said was that he wanted her to arrive in style. He must have known that that’s what the superwealthy would arrive in because nearly every car she saw in the parking lot was sleek and black and cost more than she made in the last three years. The nervousness set in as the valet came to take their car away. Bellmen in crisp white uniforms carried their belongings to their room. She spotted Secret Service men in the lobby and her voice shook ever so slightly as she gave her name to the woman at the front desk when they checked in.
Tanner’s hand settled on her back, a gentle reminder that he was there.
A woman in a gray, no-nonsense skirt suit walked over and handed her a thick leather folder. It was an itinerary for the weekend with Nova’s role and schedule broken down for her. They had rented out the hotel’s salon just for her use. She was to report at four to do the hair and makeup for the rehearsal dinner. Until then she could relax in her room. She just nodded as the woman told her these things. Her tongue felt too heavy to speak and she was afraid if she attempted words, the wrong ones would come out and she’d make them realize how in over her head she was before she even started.
When she was finished with her briefing, they went upstairs to the room they had assigned her. It was lovely with a view overlooking the harbor.
“It’s nice,” Tanner said, going over to the window. “I haven’t been to Nantucket since I was a little kid.”
“I’ve never been before.”
“My parents had friends who summered here.”
“Summered.” She smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone actually say that word. I think it must be a word only rich folks use.”
“My grandmother used to say it all the time.” One side of his mouth curled into a smile. “I think you must be right.” He turned away from the window and walked to her, but he didn’t touch her. He sat on the edge of the bed instead. She studied him for a moment. She hadn’t noticed what he was wearing when he got dressed that morning because she had been too preoccupied with this weekend’s events, but he looked like a different man. Well, maybe not different. He was still impossibly tall and handsome. He still looked at her the same way. He still made her smile, but there was a sharpness to his dress today. No old jeans. No worn shirt. He wore a soft pink button-down shirt that fit his muscular body perfectly and made his slightly brown skin look even more beautiful. Over it he wore a gray cotton blazer complete with a navy pocket square that matched his pants perfectly.
He looked like he fit into this environment. A young businessman on vacation for the weekend. She stood out. Her nails were too long. Her heels were too high. Her look too ethnic. She didn’t want to change any of that about herself. It took her too damn long to like the person she had become. But she wasn’t sure she could be who she really was here. And she wasn’t sure she could fake it long enough to get the job done.
“You look really handsome today,” she told him. “If you weren’t with me I would be checking you out. I didn’t know you had this sense of style in you.”
“I don’t. I knew we were coming here and I didn’t want to embarrass you. I went into one of those fancy boutiques in Oaks Bluff and bought some stuff. Of course nobody makes clothes in giant size so I had to get everything altered.”
“It’s funny that you think you could embarrass me. You summered on islands as a kid. I lived in roach-infested motels. Your father is a billionaire.”
“And I am an enlisted man. I went to war. I slept in the dirt and on military bases. I get my hands dirty every day. I am not my family.”
“No.” He was right. He was just a man who worked hard and treated people right. A man she never would allow herself to have fallen for if she knew where he had come from. It wasn’t fair. “Ignore me. I’m in a funky mood.”
“Did I overstep with Teo today?” His question surprised her. She had felt funny about this morning, but she wasn’t sure how much it had to do with Tanner.
“I think I turned a corner in my relationship with my kid. He used to be so afraid I was going to leave him that he never acted up. Now he trusts me enough to be a pain in the butt.”
“That’s a good thing.” He squeezed her hand.
“It made me feel guilty. I don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling guilty. I think they must install a guilt chip the moment you get pregnant.”
“Everything you did was to better his life. Everything you are continuing to do is for him. So stop acting so damn nervous. I know you, Reed. You’re acting like these people are better than you. I’ve lived with them and I’m here to tell you that they are just as fucked up as the rest of us. You’re here because you deserve this job. Start acting like it.”
“Sir, yes, sir.” She saluted him.
“I like having you obedient. Makes me feel like I’m wearing the pants in this relationship for a change.”
“Hey! I’m not in charge. I compromise all the time.”
“But you don’t have to.” He stood her and kissed her cheek. “We both know I would do anything you wanted.”
“Lucky for you I’m easy to please.”
“This weekend will be about pleasing me, woman.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door. “When you’re not working we’re going to go where I want to go and do what I want to do and I don’t want to hear any back talk or sass from you.”
“What happens if I get sassy?”
“You will be spanked.”
“I th
ink I might like that.”
“I think you know that I’m hoping you fight me at every turn.” They left the room and ended up leaving the hotel through a door that led them out to the beach.
Tanner had suggested they head to a little bistro a few minutes’ walk from the hotel and Nova was just about to agree when they ran right into an elderly man.
“I’m sorry!” Nova cried.
Tanner remained silent. His jaw went tight. His nostrils flared a bit. There was anger in his eyes.
“Senator Edmonds,” he said when he finally spoke.
“Tanner. I’m glad to see you.”
“You don’t look surprised to see me. You knew I would be here.”
“The vice president has been my friend since my first term in senate thirty-six years ago. Of course I was invited to this wedding. Of course, I knew you would be coming. Why do you think I’m here?”
“I don’t have time for this. I’m not here to rehash some family drama. I’m here for Nova and I’m not going to let your personal agenda distract her from what she has to do.”
“I’m sorry, dear girl.” He looked at her with sincerity in her eyes. “My name is Bryce. It’s lovely to meet you. I spoke to your son. He’s a handsome, well-mannered boy. You should be proud.”
Nova shook her head. “First of all, thank you. I am proud of him and it’s nice to meet you. Secondly, you’re a senator. I’m not calling you by your first name. I just can’t. Lastly, when did you speak to my son?”
“I was calling to video chat with Tanner. Teo was with him when he answered.”
“You’re the captain?” It dawned on Nova at that moment. “That means you’re Tanner’s grandfather. He keeps talking about you.”
“I’m assuming you mean your son. Tanner probably hasn’t mentioned anything to me about you.”
“He neglected to tell me you were a senator.”
“It’s not important,” Tanner interrupted. “We’ve got plans for lunch and then Nova has to get ready for work.”
