“No.” Jade gave them a half smile. “I’ve had four years and I had five good friends to help me get through that. At the time, I did feel guilty because he died. He gave his life to protect our country and although I mourned and grieved, I had known for a year that I wasn’t in love with him any longer. At least, not as much as I was before he started asking for a divorce. I did feel bad for that, okay I felt guilty.”
She continued, “I thought that maybe it was partly my fault, because I wanted to stay here and finish college instead of following him from base to base. Sometimes I felt like that was a selfish thing for me to do. Then again, he never even asked me before he joined the military, and he knew how important college was to me before we married. But, no, I don’t feel bad anymore.”
She looked to Harper then Erin to assure them. “You’re right. Austin and I were too young to get married. I should have listened to my parents. They told me if he really loved me, he would wait for me to finish school. I thought I was in love, the real thing, and could never love anyone else that much. I was wrong.” She shrugged.
“He asked you for a divorce two additional times while you stayed with him in Italy for six months. I’ll remind you how devastated you were the first time he told you he wanted a divorce, over the phone while he was God knows where. That’s why you went to Italy, remember, to try to put your marriage back together. You gave it your all. You left your job, home, family, and friends to be with Austin and try to make your marriage work. You couldn’t be the person he wanted you to be. You were beyond partying and drinking every night. That’s what he liked to do in his down time. He wanted to be around his friends all the time. It’s not your fault that your love had cooled when he died. Up to the point he first asked you for a divorce, you still loved him,” Harper reminded her.
“I know. I did. I have truly moved past all that, thanks to my two BFF’s, and our three other colleagues and partners in crime.” Jade gave them an appreciative smile.
“You’ve helped us each through several badly-ending relationships, and Claire, Riley and Annie too. Not one of us has found the right guy as yet,” Erin pointed out.
“Yeah well, some men can be asses. That’s why there is chocolate raspberry frozen yogurt!” Harper laughed as she folded up her empty wrapper and picked up her paper plate. “Who wants some?”
“Me!” Erin and Jade chimed in unison then laughed.
While Harper dished up three bowls of the frozen yogurt, she looked at Jade and said, “So, if Hot Cop Decker asks you out, you are going to go out with him, right?”
“Enough already! Yes. Sure, I’ll go out with him if he asks. But I truly think he just wants a reading,” Jade tried to convince them.
“Okay, enough. We just want you to be happy,” Harper explained as she carried the bowls to the table.
“I know, Harp.”
“You’re taking an important step just saying you will go out with him if he asks. You’re moving forward.” Erin smiled at her.
Jade shrugged. She accepted the bowl from Harper and took a bite of the frozen yogurt. “Oh my, this is to die for!” She grinned.
“Almost better than sex!” Harper agreed.
Why, when sex was mentioned again, did Jade picture Officer Decker in her mind’s eye? Hmm. Interesting.
Chapter Two
Decker was tempted to call White Magic and make an appointment with the tall, leggy Jade Murphy when he woke on Saturday morning. It hadn’t helped that he’d dreamt about her, or that he woke up thinking about her. From what Connor told him, he guessed Jade wouldn’t respond well to him coming on strong or making a move so soon. He remembered that burst of warm energy he’d felt when she ran into him. The feeling of all that tingling warmth surging through his body had been nothing short of amazing. Maybe he could just call the shop today and set up an appointment for next week.
No. He decided against that. It wasn’t his style to rush things anyway. He would be more comfortable if he waited. He liked taking things nice and slow. He had a valid reason to get to know a woman first. It was the best thing to do. The last thing he wanted to do was get involved with another psycho. The memory of all the crap he and his brothers had to go through with his last serious girlfriend turned psycho brought a frown to his face.
Yeah, he reminded himself. Moving slow was the best way. He’d stick to his dating rules. At the first sign of psycho, he’d be gone, no matter how beautiful the woman was.
He put on a pair of worn, gray sweatpants cut off at the knees and a thin, worn, white t-shirt and left his bedroom. He made his way into the kitchen. He wasn’t surprised to see his brother, Liam, sitting in the oversized leather recliner with his Kindle. Liam was always reading.
“Bad night?” Decker asked him. Liam had served four tours of duty in Afghanistan with the army. Early into his last tour, he was injured and sent home. He wouldn’t be returning to action. The burns he received had healed, and the scars from the burns and the surgeries he required after he was shot up were fading. His badly injured right leg was slowly mending after his last surgery, his fourth actually. At least he could walk without a walker or cane now. He’d almost lost that leg.
When he finally got out of the hospital, Decker brought him home to his place. It was a big five-bedroom house with lots of room for them both, and he was on hand to help Liam out, emotionally, and physically. Liam had mostly good days now but there were still some bad days. He couldn’t drive yet. There had been a lot of nerve and muscle damage to his leg, but he had made great improvement. He was hoping to get the okay to drive in the next couple of months. Their youngest brother Brody came by all the time too. Between Decker and Brody, they managed to get Liam wherever he needed to go.
Brody owned a house on the next street over. It was a two story and the bedrooms were upstairs, which is why Liam was living with Decker. Liam had just rented before he went into the service. He moved his stuff into a bedroom at their parents’ house when he joined the army. After their parents both died in a car accident six years ago, Decker moved Liam’s stuff into a bedroom in his house.
“Not too bad. I just woke up early, at five, actually. Your chair is comfortable, so I thought I would read. I’ve dozed a bit too.”
“Are you hungry?” Decker asked as he opened the fridge.
“Sure. What’s on the menu?”
“Scrambled eggs, bacon. Do you want pancakes?”
“Hell yeah, I love pancakes.” Liam grinned.
“Pancakes it is then. And I bought blueberries last night, so we’ll have blueberry pancakes.”
“Sweet!” Liam ran a hand through his already tousled black hair. “Hey Mikey, I dreamed you met her. The one. You know, the woman Mom and Dad always told us about growing up, the one who was prophesized, I guess you’d call it. That whole family curse thing. That’s why I woke up at five.”
Decker’s head shot up over the refrigerator door. “Seriously?” It certainly wasn’t cold in May in Chandler, Arizona, but Decker felt the gooseflesh raise on his arms. He was standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open though.
“Yeah. A tall, slender blonde with gorgeous green eyes,” Liam provided.
“As a matter of fact, I did meet a tall, willowy, leggy blonde yesterday at Connor’s. She has green eyes, a real pretty color, like moss. Well, she ran into me, literally. We were in line together. So we talked a little.”
“What’s her name?”
“Jade. Jade Murphy. She’s one of the owners at the White Magic. She’s a tarot reader.”
“Wow! Mom always told us yours would be intuitive. Did you get any weird feelings, like she was the one?”
“I didn’t get any feelings really, other than I was attracted to her.” Decker shrugged. There was that jolt of energy, but it could have just been a result of the physical contact. “She’s really nice looking, she seemed nice. I didn’t think about anything beyond that.” It had been far too long since he got laid. Maybe that explained that rush of en
ergy he’d felt when she collided with him. It might have been the result of unexpected, close physical contact with a pretty woman. One pretty enough to make him think about sex, and dream about it.
“Are you going to ask her out?”
“Maybe. Connor told me she’s a widow. She married a marine who came home in a box. He said she doesn’t date much, if at all. I’ll take it slow with her if I do ask her out. I’d like to get to know her first before things go any further than talking.”
“Duh, you always take it slow.” Liam chuckled. “Does it feel like she’s the woman Mom told us about?”
“No. Maybe? Hell Liam, I don’t know. She’s really sweet and kind, but that’s the impression I got from her in like five whole minutes of conversation, if that. I don’t really know her. I never even thought about her being the one. Since Mom and Dad died, I’d pretty much forgotten about all of that stuff.”
“Maybe she’s not the one if you didn’t get any signs or feelings, I don’t know.” Liam shrugged.
“I’m still attracted to her, how could I not be? She’s gorgeous. I’ll ask her out whether or not she’s the one,” Decker grumbled as he began to prepare the pancake batter. She was the first woman in a long time that had made him turn and watch her walk away. Those beautiful, long legs. Yeah, last night before he fell asleep he’d thought about those same long legs wrapped around him while some hot, hard sex was going on. Damn, maybe he did just need to get laid. Maybe that’s all this was.
“We grew up with our parents telling us about our purpose, and how things would be for us. I hope they were right, but it seems like we’ve been waiting most of our lives. We’re getting older. You’re thirty already. Nothing’s ever happened,” Liam said with an irritated sigh.
“We have waited a long time. You know what? I decided years ago, that I’m going to live my life. If we have a purpose and the right things happen, then we’ll step in and do what we need to. If not, I’ll have a life anyway,” Decker offered.
“Yeah, good point. Hey, I have a physical therapy appointment at ten. Can you give me a lift? I can take a cab home.”
“You’re not taking a cab. I’ll wait for you.”
“Cool. Thanks, Mikey.” Liam grinned.
The sound of a key in the lock caught their attention.
“He must have smelled the bacon from his house.” Liam laughed.
Decker grinned and nodded. “That would be my guess. Our bro is a fast-food junkie, not a cook at all. A microwaver, yeah, cook, hell no. But he is an eater!”
They heard the beeps of the alarm keypad.
“It smells great in here. Bacon! Tell me I’m not too late for breakfast. I’m starving!” A tall, lean man with golden brown, shoulder-length hair sauntered into the great room and open kitchen area. He wore cargo shorts, a baggy t-shirt, and all terrain sandals.
“Nope, it’s not too late. I’ll crack some more eggs and pull out some more bacon.”
“Blueberry pancakes! Freaking awesome.” Brody Decker, the youngest of the Decker brothers at twenty-six, gave his eldest brother a thumbs up.
He grinned at both his brothers. “Hey, Deck, did you meet a blonde recently? I had a weird dream.”
“It’s her, Mikey!” Liam sat up in the recliner then stood. He pointed a finger at his brother.
“No shit, you met her?” Brody plopped onto a barstool at the black granite counter across from where his brother stood cracking eggs into a bright orange bowl.
“I met a nice, gorgeous blonde.” That he apparently wanted to have hot and hard sex with, but he wouldn’t admit that to his brothers. “I don’t know if she’s the one Mom told us would come. I don’t even know her. I had a whole five-minute long conversation with her.”
“Is she hot?” Brody asked. “The chick in the dream was hot.”
Liam grinned at Brody and gave him a nod of affirmation.
“Like I said, she’s gorgeous,” Decker mumbled.
“But we’ve never dreamed about you meeting someone before, Mikey,” Liam offered as he took the bar stool next to his brother.
“You dreamed about her too, Liam? Tall, slender blonde with amazing green eyes and long legs that made you want to-”
“Hey!” Decker glared at Brody and pointed a warning finger at him. He had thought the same thing, but he didn’t want to hear that his brothers were thinking it.
“Well she had long, killer legs. In my dream, she wore skinny jeans, and if I hadn’t woken up when I did, I might have seen her without them. Um, sorry.” Brody shrugged. He winced when Decker glared at him again.
“My bad.” Brody shrugged and tried unsuccessfully to hide his amused grin.
Liam nodded. “Yep. I dreamed about her too, but not quite the way Brody did though. Mikey, you can’t deny now that she’s the one our parents told us about.” Liam turned serious, deep blue eyes on his brother.
“It has to be her,” Brody declared.
Decker shrugged. He sighed in aggravation before he calmly said, “Look, I don’t know if she’s the one or not, but I am interested in her, enough that I’m going to ask her out, regardless. Hell, I don’t even know if she’ll go out with me. I have no idea if she’s interested in me or not. For all I know she could be a lesbian.”
“That’s not all bad.” Brody laughed then cringed when his brother gave him another look. He turned to Liam. “Mom always told us he’d meet his woman first and he did.”
He turned his attention to Decker again. “You need to call her. Ask her out. We need to meet her. This could be it, what our parents always told us would come. If she’s the one, we need to figure this out.”
Liam nodded.
“Stop!” Decker commanded as he held up his hands. “I am not going to just assume she’s this person you think she is. I’m taking my time with this. I like this girl. My first impression of her was that she could be special. I might be wrong. I want to take the time to find out. What I don’t need is my brothers getting involved, if you know what I mean.” He gave Liam a glare then turned it on Brody.
“She’s the one!” Brody countered. “You have to act on this, and quick. Remember, Mom always said that you meet yours first. Then he, this evil demon dude, shows up and makes himself known. She may not know what or who he is. She could be in danger, because of that. He will try to stop you from getting together with her. Don’t forget, he is old evil and strong, stronger than we will be until we work out whatever it is we are supposed to do. Mom told us he would be dangerous.”
Brody continued as Decker just looked at him, “The three of us, together with this girl, and the two other women who are supposed to show up are the six people who can defeat this demon guy. So you can’t move at your usual, slow as a turtle, waiting for a month to get to first base, dating pace.”
Decker sighed. If what his parents raised him and his brothers to believe was true, Brody was right. If Jade was this person, she could be in danger. Damn!
“You know I’m right,” Brody persisted.
“Yeah. Give me a minute, I’m thinking about what I want to do here.” Decker ran a hand through his short, dark-brown hair.
“You want to call her and ask her out. She may not even be open to her abilities, Deck,” Brody persuaded.
“She is open. She is a tarot reader at White Magic,” Liam supplied.
“The new metaphysical shop and healing center? That’s great! Maybe she does know. Maybe she knows why you showed up.” Brody rose, went into the kitchen, and took a bottle of water from the fridge. He grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper and tossed it over the counter to Liam, earning another look from Decker.
“Look, Brody, she is a widow. Her man was in the marines and bought it on his last tour. Connor told me she hasn’t really dated since then. I can’t come on too strong here. I want to get to know her to see if we are even compatible. You know, make sure she’s not a psycho straight from hell. The last thing I need is to get mixed up with another one of those,” Decker growled in frustration.
He turned, placed his hands on the counter, and leaned closer to his brothers. The warning in his tone when he began to speak was evident, “If, the big if, she is the one, I need time before I lay all this dark and light crap on her. I want to take it nice and slow, whether or not she’s this one. She seems nice, and genuine, you know. But if it turns out she’s not my type, or if I see any signs of psycho girlfriend, I wouldn’t go out with her even if she was this prophesized woman. She may not go out with me. Nothing is set in stone here.”
“Nothing except she could be in danger now, since you’ve met her,” Liam reminded him in a calm tone, yet his expression remained serious.
“Okay, you’re right. I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.” Damn it! Decker removed the bacon that was done then spread out more strips in the large cast iron skillet. While the bacon sizzled, he flipped golden brown, blueberry pancakes onto a plate, threw on some slabs of butter, and poured pancake batter on the hot griddle again. He poured the eggs into a large, warm skillet and moved them around with a wooden spoon to scramble them as he thought about everything.
His brothers remained quiet and watched him finish cooking the breakfast. He was in thinking mode and they knew it.
“Look, Brody, after we eat and shower, I’m taking Liam to his physical therapy appointment. Come with us. We’ll go by Connor’s for coffee afterward. We might head into White Magic and look around. But,” Decker began as he pointed his finger at Brody then moved to point at Liam. “I’m not asking her out today. I want to take it slow. At least for today, okay.”
“Sure. I’m in.” Brody grinned. “I’ve got your back, bro.”
“I’ll behave,” Liam supplied with a wide grin.
“Why don’t I believe that?” Decker grumbled.
When they ordered their coffees, Decker asked Connor, “Did Jade come in today for her iced green tea?”
Connor raised a brow and grinned at him. “Not yet. You want me to make one up for you to take to her?”
Decker's Fate (The Decker Brothers Trilogy Book 1) Page 3
