Within the Realm (The Gifted Realm Book 1)

by Jillian Neal

  With another quick yawn, he leaned over and kissed Emily’s forehead, and squeezed her backside again while he was at it. She giggled, and gave him a delighted mischievous grin, the one that always made his heart stutter momentarily.

  “So,” he drawled, “you sure you want to become Mrs. Lawson?” He let the idea of Mrs. Emily Lawson fill his heart and his soul. Her grin somehow grew even larger as she nodded.

  “I can’t wait!” she squealed.

  “Me, either.” He assured her.

  Sam

  A few minutes later, Rainer was standing in his and Logan’s room, checking to make certain everyone else was downstairs. He pulled the phone from his pocket, and scrolled down the contact list. He smiled automatically when he found the number. After touching the name, he listened to it ring.

  “Hey, Sam, it’s Rainer Lawson. How are you?” Sam was one of his favorite people, and one he hadn’t talked to in a while.

  “Well, as I live and breathe, if it’s not the stud his-self,” Sam drawled with his signature chuckle. Rainer laughed, and felt his nerves ease instantly. “And to what does Sam owe the honor and privilege of getting to speak to none other than-- the man?” Sam teased. Rainer shook his head as he laughed again.

  “Shut up, man. You kidding me? The honor is all mine,” Rainer enthused.

  Sam gave his smooth, heart-filled, rumbling laugh again. “Ah, wait a minute, Rainer,” Sam sighed, and Rainer fell silent for a moment.

  “Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh...” Sam fussed as he came back to the phone. “I’ll tell you Rain man, my daughter’s just gotten me one of these Smart Phones, and I can’t tell the heads from the tails, boy. What do I do when the screen looks like it split in half, and it’s giving me stock reports that you know sure as hell don’t mean a thing to me?”

  “Hit the center button, Sam.”

  “There, thank you. This thing crazy, I tell you. To me, a phone should be square, have a cord, and a spin dial like my record player.”

  Rainer laughed heartily. “You gotta come into this century, Sam. That’s old school.”

  Sam laughed again. “Well s’pose that’s better than being an old fool, which I tell you is what I’ve been feelin’ like since she gave me this thing. And then up and moved all of my shop calls to it.”

  “Yeah, but I can show you how to store my number in it, and then when I call, it’ll tell you that it’s me,” Rainer pointed out.

  Sam laughed again. “Or, I could pick up the phone, and say hello, and then say ‘hell’s bells Rainer Lawson’s calling his dear old friend Sam,” he chirped, making both of them laugh heartily.

  “Hey, Sam, I need a favor,” Rainer checked down the hallway again to make sure Emily wasn’t looking for him.

  “Don’ everybody?” Sam quipped. “So, what is it that Mr. Lawson, owner of the slickest ‘65 Mustang in town, might need from me?”

  “I want to get Emily a car.”

  “Yeah, I seen that you asked your redheaded sizzle pop to save your sorry soul from bachelorhood. She gon’ keep your dinner and your bed warm, Rain man?” he razzed with a hearty chuckle.

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Well, then, let’s get the girl the car o’ her dreams.”

  “Thank you for your help. I want her in something really safe, but sporty, you know? Like maybe an Audi or and M-class, or, I don’t know, maybe a Hummer.”

  “Now are you her fi-an-ce or are you her sugar daddy, Rain man?”

  “Hey,” Rainer drawled with a smile. “For her, I’d gladly be both!”

  A low, slow whistle slid from between Sam’s teeth into the phone. “Boy, you better not let her hear you say dat,” Sam tsked again. “All right,” Sam hemmed. “I’ll see what I can find you. Bring yo’ red- head over to the shop later in the week and we’ll talk.”

  “That’d be great, Sam; I really appreciate it, really!”

  “Hey, for you, anything, boy.”

  “You still got your GTO?” Rainer quizzed.

  “Baby boy!” Sam huffed. “You know you better bury me in that car, or I will haunt you from the grave.”

  Rainer laughed. “It’s a sweet car.”

  Sam grunted. “You know it, and you know you should’a gotten yo’self one when you came to me whining, ‘but Sam I want a ‘65 Mustang with a pop top, and a engine so fast I can fly!”

  “Hey, lay off my ‘stang. You know you’re jealous, old man.”

  “Jealous? Boy, I was here when they rolled yo’ car off the line, and I said to myself then...Sam, ‘that there is a sissy white-boy car.”

  Rainer doubled over, laughing. “All right, Sam, I better go. Call me when you find something, and I’ll bring Em over later this week.”

  “Now just hold on there, slick, and tell me, do you want her in something safe, and she want to be in something flashy, or you two are in agreement with me building her a tank, as long as it has a flashy emblem on the hood?”

  “I think she agrees, but if you come across something too good to pass up we’ll look at that, too.”

  “Mmmm, smart man,” Sam quipped. “All right, Rain man, I’ll call you later.”

  “Thank you! I owe you, Sam.”

  Sam huffed. “Don’ they all, an don’ nobody never pay up.” Rainer laughed as he bid Sam good-bye.

  Sam was an Academy dropout. He quit in his junior year, but he had an astounding ability to harness and use mechanical energy. Rainer was perpetually amazed by his skills. He and Sam had become good friends when Rainer was looking for his car. There were very few people who Rainer admired more than Sam, and there was no one that he trusted more to find Emily the perfect car.

  Sam’s specialty was finding the perfect car for the person making the request, and then helping the customer make the car all they wanted it to be.

  He’d helped Rainer install the screaming V-8 in his Mustang and rebuild almost everything under the hood. They’d also replaced the worn leather seats and dash panel. Sam had done a phenomenal job, and taught Rainer a tremendous amount in the process.

  His shop on the outskirts of Arlington wasn’t fancy, but it housed Sam’s vibrant purple ‘67 Pontiac GTO convertible, and any other cars he was working on at the time.

  He smiled to himself as he stepped into the shower. Rainer knew Sam would love Emily. How could anyone not? He grinned as he filled his mind with cars and with Emily.

  Butter-Churning Battle Plans

  Rainer found Emily and her mother sitting at the island, whispering and giggling in the kitchen. The room was filled with delicious smells. Adeline was with them. She was at the kitchen table, smiling serenely.

  The rain had subsided as evening had come. He whisked by Emily, and planted a kiss on top of her head, which made Mrs. Haydenshire beam.

  “Where’s Logan?” Rainer pulled a few grapes out of a bowl on the counter and threw them in his mouth.

  “I sent him for more rolls, but I made Adeline stay with us so we could have some girl talk,” Mrs. Haydenshire explained as she opened one of the oven doors and checked the food.

  “Oh, sorry,” Rainer immediately apologized. “I’ll go back upstairs.”

  “No,” Emily countered, “you’ll come back here, and let me sit in your lap.” Mrs. Haydenshire and Emily chuckled as Rainer returned.

  “Is that ok?” Mrs. Haydenshire chuckled, and nodded.

  “Rainer, don’t let Stephen get to you, sweetie. He will eventually realize that Emily isn’t seven years old anymore. It might just take him a little while,” she excused with a dramatic eye roll.

  Rainer seated himself at the kitchen table. He spun Emily into his lap. She didn’t remain there for long, though as the doorbell rang. Will and Brooke arrived, followed by Levi and his girlfriend, Sarah. Patrick was eating at Lucy’s parents’ home, so he and Garrett wouldn’t be attending the gathering. Connor emerged from the backyard carrying Keaton, who was screaming and kicking his legs with ferocity.

  “What happened?” Mrs. Haydenshire fussed as she
took Keaton from Connor.

  “I brought him inside,” Connor huffed with an eye-roll. Mrs. Haydenshire chuckled, and handed Keaton an animal cracker, which quieted him down.

  Emily’s Nana and Paps, the Andersons, Mrs. Haydenshire’s parents, arrived next. They hugged Emily and shook Rainer’s hand.

  “Now that you’re getting married, I can tell you the three things you can do for him to get him to do anything you want, my sweet Emily,” her Nana teased.

  “Nana,” Emily blushed, and pushed her hair behind her ear. Rainer chuckled as he watched her.

  Her grandmother laughed, and kept her hands on Emily’s shoulders to guide her back into the kitchen. Logan returned, carrying Henry and a grocery sack full of rolls.

  Mrs. Haydenshire was very adamant that all of her children bond with one another, and she often sent one twin off with any of their older siblings, for one-on-one time. Henry was sucking a cherry lollypop delightedly. Mrs. Haydenshire raised an irritated eyebrow at Logan.

  “He wouldn’t shut up,” Logan huffed, and handed her the rolls.

  With that, everyone began helping set the vast table in the dining room. Just before everyone was seated, the doorbell rang one last time. Levi pulled open the oak front door, and smiled as Grandpa Haydenshire made his entrance.

  “Levi,” he grumped. “You and Emily sharing barbers now?”

  “No, Grandpa,” Levi stepped back and let his Grandfather enter. Levi’s hair was much longer than most of the other Haydenshire men’s hair. This suited his personality.

  Grandpa Haydenshire was of the opinion that a buzz cut was the only suitable haircut for a man, and felt fully at liberty to remind all of his grandsons of this on a regular basis.

  Dinner began, and everyone dug in. Mrs. Haydenshire had prepared three delectable beef roasts, with mashed potatoes, along with corn on the cob from the garden, snap peas, fried okra, and cornbread.

  “This is delicious!” Rainer complimented. Mrs. Haydenshire grinned at him adoringly.

  “So,” Grandpa Haydenshire edged closer to Rainer. He leaned across the table, narrowed his eyes, and directed his fork at Rainer. He was still chewing a piece of roast beef that he swallowed before he continued.

  “You thought about the logistics of marriage, son?” he bellowed.

  “Uh...” Rainer swallowed a sip of iced tea. “The logistics, sir?” Mrs. Haydenshire and Emily rolled their eyes simultaneously.

  “Yes, logistics. I thought you were an Academy grad. Head of Ioses Order? You understand logistics, do you not?”

  “Uh, yes, sir,” Rainer suddenly felt that the collar on his shirt was very tight, “just not as it applies to marriage.”

  “A battle plan!” Grandpa Haydenshire roared. “You won’t make it very long in this life without a battle plan, son.”

  All of Emily’s brothers were fighting to hold back laughter as they watched Rainer shrink under their grandfather’s derisive glare.

  “Uh, well, I suppose I’ll just do whatever I can to make sure Emily is safe and happy, and has everything she needs. Always be there for her.”

  “That’s a big bowl full of shit with a cherry on top,” Grandpa Haydenshire huffed.

  Logan and Connor lost it. They doubled over as Governor Haydenshire and Emily said “Dad,” and “Grandpa,” simultaneously.

  “You listen up, boy!” Grandpa Haydenshire ordered. He ignored his son and granddaughter completely. “You gotta be ready to get up every day, work your ass off at the office, make enough money to keep her happy, buy her something pretty once in a while, pick up a gallon of milk, loaf of bread, whatever she forgot at the grocery that day, six pack for yourself, come home, tell her dinner’s delicious, and that she’s the prettiest damn thing you’ve ever seen, then get into bed and make her eyes roll back in her head several times, before you get back up and do it all over again the next day.”

  Rainer covered his mouth as the tea he’d just sipped came back out forcefully. Emily’s eyes goggled as she promptly turned the color of her hair.

  Every male in the Haydenshire household guffawed as Mrs. Haydenshire glared furiously at her husband. The Governor cleared his throat, and tried very hard to stop his uproarious laughter and force a stern face.

  “Dad, if I didn’t think Rainer could handle it, I wouldn’t have agreed when he asked me if he could ask Emily to marry him,” he reminded before scooping up another fork full of mashed potatoes, and trying not to meet Mrs. Haydenshire’s glare.

  “Now, Bill,” Emily’s Nana patted Grandpa Haydenshire on the arm consolingly. “I’m sure Rainer will keep Emily just as happy as Stephen keeps Lillian,” she assured him kindly while she winked at Rainer, who was still choking on his tea.

  “As far as I can tell, for most of their marriage he just kept her knocked up,” Grandpa Haydenshire grumped before he speared more roast with a vengeance.

  After dessert was served and devoured, the men and women separated. The Governor handed out bottles of beer to his sons, Rainer, his father, and his father-in-law. They retired to the back deck as Adeline, Brooke, Sarah, and Emily stayed in the kitchen with Mrs. Haydenshire and her mother. They sipped tea and looked thick as thieves.

  “So where’s Garrett?” Grandpa Haydenshire demanded, as soon as he’d popped the top of his beer on the bottle opener that was affixed to the wooden decking. Garrett was Grandpa Haydenshire’s favorite grandchild, by a long shot. It was no secret.

  “He’s at the beach house for the weekend; be back for work Monday,” Governor Haydenshire informed him. Grandpa Haydenshire smiled wryly.

  “Gotta girl with him?” he goaded with a heavy smirk.

  “I have no doubt,” Governor Haydenshire huffed. He didn’t look pleased in any way, despite his father’s obvious approval.

  “That’s my boy,” Grandpa Haydenshire chuckled.

  “Hey, yeah, how long has Garrett been dating Chloe Sawyer?” Logan quizzed Will discreetly.

  As Will and Garrett were barely eleven months apart, and were best friends, he was the obvious person to ask.

  Will shrugged. “Oh, about ten years now, I’d say.”

  “What?” Logan asked, stunned, and Rainer began listening intently. As far as he knew, the longest relationship Garrett had ever been in was about three months.

  “Yeah, Chloe and Garrett dated off and on for years at the Academy. They tend to hook back up whenever one of them is both amorous and nostalgic,” Will had never really approved of Garrett’s wanton ways, either.

  “Logan?” Grandpa Haydenshire inquired gruffly.

  “Oh no,” Logan whimpered just before he replied. “Uh, yes, sir?”

  “You churning the butter of that hot mess in there that kept making eyes at you at dinner?”

  Logan blushed violently as Will and Connor doubled over, laughing.

  “Dad, please,” Governor Haydenshire scolded.

  “You listen to me,” Grandpa Haydenshire commanded. “She’s a mess of gorgeous chaos son, and she’ll either keep your fire lit forever, or she’ll burn your house to the ground and smoke the ashes. So you just watch how you play your hand.”

  Logan nodded confusedly, but seemed unable to speak.

  When everyone finally left, it was well after ten. Rainer was on edge after spending several hours being picked out randomly to have advice from Emily’s grandfather forced down his throat, resulting in mortal embarrassment.

  “Good grief,” Mrs. Haydenshire sighed as she shot the Governor a glare.

  “Here, I’ll do the dishes, sweetheart; you go on to bed. I know my father’s exhausting,” Governor Haydenshire sighed as he made the offer.

  “We can do them,” Rainer leapt.

  “No, no, you two head on to bed. You had a rough night last night; I’ll help you, Stephen,” Mrs. Haydenshire determined. Everyone in her general vicinity knew better than to argue.

  Emily nodded and kissed Rainer’s jaw. “Good night.”

  “Night, baby,” he grabbed her and brushed a k
iss across her lips. Surely he could kiss his fiancée good-night without offending her father.

  She smiled at him sweetly with a mischievous glint in her eye, and then trailed up the stairs. Adeline and Logan engaged in a longer kiss before parting ways.

  After brushing his teeth with Logan, Rainer spit out the toothpaste in his mouth and then dragged a towel across his face.

  “Wow, what a dinner!”

  Logan chuckled as he performed the same move.

  “Yeah, I’m still not entirely sure what ‘churning her butter’ actually means.”

  Rainer laughed and nodded. He wasn’t really tired after his long nap, and from being in a state of nervous embarrassment for so long. He sighed as he fell into his bed.

  Logan switched on the TV, and Rainer stuck his hand under his pillow to fold it over before watching with Logan.

  His hand located a piece of paper folded there. He waited until Logan was involved in a show before he pulled it out slowly. He tried to hide the grin that quickly spread across his face. He coughed to cover the sound of the paper crinkling as he unfolded the note. He read in the light of the TV:

  Meet me in my hayloft at midnight! Love, the future Mrs. Lawson.

  The Hayloft

  A broad grin spread across Rainer’s face as he glanced at the clock on the table between his and Logan’s twin beds. A quarter to eleven, he noted as he considered his options. Although he knew Logan probably wouldn’t have too much to say about his sneaking out with Emily, Rainer wanted to be all alone with her. He didn’t want anyone else, not even Logan, to know where they were. He wanted the world to exist for the two of them alone, if only for a little while.

  He glanced at Logan discreetly, and smiled as Logan yawned.

  “I’m kind of tired,” Rainer commented.

  “Really?” Logan quizzed. “You and Em were asleep forever. Mom thought it was sweet. Dad said he could live without seeing her asleep, wrapped up in you.”