Damon stepped back to include the other woman in the kitchen. “Never to diminish this woman’s importance in my life, this is Vita Yates, Rick’s wife and my aunt.” Damon beamed.
Vita smiled at being announced as his aunt. Her light brown bob framed her lovely face. She was slightly heavier than Nicole but not at all less genuine. Damon had told her about his quite extended family. Ruby was touched that he had received and still received so much love. This truly felt like a family. She didn’t know what to do with how she felt, so bright and tingly inside.
“Would Maya like a cartoon? I see she has her drawing book,” Nicole said. “Can she understand what’s being said on TV?”
“I turn on closed captioning. She gets enough to enjoy it. Plus, I think she likes the actions and the colors more than anything.” Ruby began to feel as though she fit right in. Maya, too.
“Amazing child, for sure,” Vita said. “She’s so young...and yet seems so advanced.”
“I suppose she had to learn early. And I have to agree.” Ruby looked down at Maya and signed as she spoke. “She is very amazing.” Ruby ran her hand from the top of Maya’s head down the back of her hair, feeling full of abounding love.
Maya’s eyes softened with innocent love. Ruby thought her heart would burst. She asked her if she’d like to watch television. Being surrounded by a crowd of adults, she eagerly nodded.
Laughing, she and Ruby followed Nicole into a den off the living room and kitchen. It had pretty French doors and windows on the far wall and another wall made of a built-in bookshelf. Cozy and colorful seating surrounded the television above a gas fireplace. Nicole turned on the TV.
Maya took the remote and began surfing to her favorite channel.
I’ll be in the kitchen, Ruby signed.
Maya nodded.
Ruby followed Nicole back into the kitchen and saw two other women had joined them.
“I wondered if you came with Aaron,” Damon said. “Ruby, this is Fee. She’s with Aaron now.”
“Hi.” Fee smiled, a striking blonde with a thin build.
Good looks abounded in the Colton line. “Hello.”
“And this is my cousin Lila. We were all close growing up,” Damon said.
“Hi,” Lila said cheerily, her green eyes smiling and dark hair up in a twist. “Damon is like a brother to me, so you better not hurt him.”
She said it with friendly teasing, but Ruby had a sense she probably meant it.
“Lila manages an art gallery in North Center,” Damon said, clearly proud of her.
“I work with art, but I am the furthest thing from an artist,” she said.
“You must know a lot about art,” Ruby said.
“She does,” Damon said.
“Damon is biased,” Lila said. “But I do love it, yes.”
Ruby smiled. “Everyone should be so lucky as to do what they love.”
“That’s Mom, too,” Damon said. “She runs a catering business, so this barbecue is going to be delicious.” He leaned over and planted a kiss on Ruby’s cheek before withdrawing. “I’ll leave you in these capable hands.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m going to join them in front of the TV,” Lila said.
“We have enough help in here,” Nicole said.
Ruby could only stare after Damon as he led his cousin into the living room. He had kissed her as though it had been a natural reflex, not rehearsed at all.
“Well, well, well,” Nicole cooed. “It looks like Damon found himself a new girl.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Ruby didn’t know how to describe her relationship to him.
“How did you meet him?” Vita asked.
Fee stirred the potato salad that Nicole and Vita must have just finished. There was a green salad in the making as well and a pan of baked beans that would go into the oven.
“Um...he came into the coffee shop where I work, and then...kept coming,” she said.
“So you’ve been dating him?”
“We dated, yes.”
Nicole looked confused. “Dated?”
“Um...we...sort of...live together.”
Nicole’s mouth dropped open, and she took Ruby into an exuberant hug.
Vita took hold of her next. “Welcome to the family!”
Whoa. That was a bit much for Ruby. She felt stiff all over. When Vita moved back, Ruby caught Fee looking at her with what she could only call understanding.
“You got a good man, Ruby. Just like I did, thanks to these fine women right here.” Fee smiled.
“Yes,” Vita said. “About getting a good man, that is. All of us in this room know what it’s like to be with one that isn’t.”
“That’s an understatement,” Fee said, widening her eyes cynically.
Ruby suddenly was full of questions, but she didn’t want to pry. “I know you, Nicole, were married to Damon’s father. He doesn’t seem fond of him.”
“Not many are fond of his brother, Axel, either,” Vita said. “I was married to him. He was awful. Selfish. Mean.”
“But then she met Rick,” Nicole said. “Those two are inseparable. It’s a wonder to see.”
“I was married to a man I found out later was a drug dealer,” Ruby said, leaving out the part where he kept Maya from her. “I thought I’d never escape him.”
Fee appeared beside her. “I had a similar experience. My husband was abusive. I had to move and change my name...until I met Aaron. Now everything is fabulous. I never dreamed I’d be this happy. So don’t give up on Damon. I know you probably have a hard time trusting men, but don’t let go of a good one to save yourself agony in case it doesn’t work out. Even if it doesn’t, you’ll be better than you were when you were with your previous partner.”
Ruby looked from her to Vita to Nicole and back to Fee. She was among kindred spirits.
The doorbell rang, and seconds later Ruby heard Damon say, “What are you doing here?”
She turned to look over the island at two men who had entered, alarmed by the tone of the newcomer.
“Why are Erik and Axel here?” Vita asked.
Ruby turned to them. These men were Damon’s father and uncle? She looked back at them. One wore a scowl, and the other seemed more aloof.
“I’m sure it has something to do with their mother,” Nicole said. “And this can’t be good, if so.”
“Why are you boys mingling with those traitorous Coltons?” Axel demanded.
Apparently they had discovered their kids had gone to a party to meet their cousins. And oh, what a party it had been. Glamourous and fun at first, but for Ruby it had a bad aftertaste now. For the Colton cousins, it had been the beginning of a family alliance.
Damon and Nash stood at the door, and Rick remained on the couch, looking on. Aaron joined them, standing beside Nash. The three of them looked like brothers. Ruby didn’t miss the body language along with the physical resemblances. They were close.
“Which one is Damon’s father?” she asked Nicole quietly.
“The one who is grayer,” she said.
Ruby saw they both had green eyes. They looked like brothers and not twins. Maybe it was Erik’s grayer hair. Maybe it was his sterner look, but he looked older than Axel. Axel appeared less stressed out—and not as angry as Erik. In fact, Ruby wouldn’t be surprised if his brother had dragged him here.
“Axel is probably here because Erik made him come,” Vita said, sounding derisive.
Ruby said nothing, just marveled over their similar line of thought.
“How could you?” Erik asked, bitterness dripping from his tone and looking from Damon to Nash.
“How could we what?” Nash asked, more like a challenge.
“Betray your own father.”
Damon scoffed. “You’re no father.”
Erik subtly
flinched, his head drawing back. Clearly he hadn’t expected his son to say something so hurtful. Could a man like Erik Colton be hurt by anyone? Ruby wondered.
She saw how Aaron observed the exchange, eyes hardening as Erik pretended he had been a real father to his half brothers.
“One party with those...those...impostors, and now you insult me like that?” Erik said, incensed.
“What you’re doing is wrong,” Damon said. “Those people are nice and full of integrity.”
Damon turned his back and walked into the living room. Erik followed, marching to get in front of Damon. Nash stayed near the entry, seeming reluctant to engage anymore.
Axel glanced at Nash and then went to stand before the television, near the couch where Rick still sat. He was more interested in that than his brother’s ranting.
Nash looked toward his father and brother, regarding Erik in distain.
“What we’re doing is taking what belongs to us.” Erik pointed his finger at Damon.
“Everything those Coltons have doesn’t belong to you,” Nash said.
He and Aaron walked closer to Erik and Damon.
“Grandmother started this,” Aaron said. “You’re only doing her bidding. All of this—” he swept his hand up and down Erik’s body, indicating his demeanor and storming temper “—is to please her.”
“My mother is right. She deserved better from our father. She’s only stepping up to defend us...and you, you ungrateful kids.”
Damon shook his head, looking exasperated. “When are you going to wake up and realize she’s been controlling you your entire life? You’ve been programmed to do whatever she wants, no matter how condemnable.”
Erik stared at him, Aaron and Nash looking on, and Rick and Axel turning their heads to see Erik’s reaction.
For a moment, Erik seemed stunned by the truth of what Damon said. But in a second, he reverted to his cantankerous self.
“You’re all ganging up on me...and Axel.”
Nash looked at Axel. “Uncle Axel?” he queried. “Are you in agreement with our dad?”
Aaron put his hands in his front pockets.
Axel looked from him to Aaron and then Damon, pausing there awhile before turning to his brother. “Yes.”
So, he was under the grandmother’s spell as well.
Ruby saw how neither Damon, Nash or Aaron were shocked by this declaration.
Some fathers didn’t realize the impact they had on their families. Erik struck her as a man whose self-interests overruled any care or love he had for anyone around him. As long as people behaved according to his script, they were welcomed into his good graces. Disagree or go against his way of seeing things, and that made you an outcast, or at least subject to his wrath and contempt. Ruby had a friend from high school who grew up like that. She had watched the poor thing struggle to rise above damaging insecurities that wouldn’t have been there had her father actually loved her for who she was and accepted her views regardless of how different they were from his.
Erik glanced around, satisfied that his brother had capitulated. “Where’s Lila and Myles? Were they at that party, too?”
“Yes,” Vita said.
Ruby became aware of her and Nicole on each side of her. Fee had taken a seat at the table, her feet up with ankles crossed on the adjacent chair, clearly entertained, albeit with cynical vibes.
“Yes, they were at the party,” Damon said.
“What were you doing there? Turning your backs on your own family?” Erik asked.
“We wanted to meet them,” Nash said.
“They’re good people,” Damon said. “You should talk Carin out of her lawsuit. It isn’t right to do that to people who don’t deserve it.”
“Axel and I deserve an inheritance. Dean Colton was our father, too. What part of that isn’t right to you?”
“You don’t deserve the amount you’re going for,” Aaron said. “You weren’t part of his life. You were part of Carin’s. Stop her, Dad. Before it’s too late.”
Ruby could see there would be no reasoning with him. She almost pitied him. How terrible it would be to live a life full of wanting and blame. Greed. Erik, as a product of his mother, depended on the handouts from others to feel important, superior even. Maybe he even deluded himself into believing he was envied.
“I’m not stopping anything.” Erik looked at his sons one by one with disdain. “What a disappointment you turned out to be. You should be fighting for your family.”
“Our cousins are our family,” Aaron said.
Nicole stepped forward, going into the living room. “All right. Enough!” Her commanding tone spoke of all the turmoil she had suffered being married to a man like this. “It’s time for you to leave. No one invited you here today, and you aren’t welcome.”
Erik leveled her a hard look. “These are my kids, too.”
“Leave before we call the police,” Vita said.
Rick stood when his wife said that, ready to protect her if necessary. He had been watching the exchange quietly up until then.
Axel glanced from his attention on the television to Vita. He surely must have been listening. Ruby didn’t know what to think of him. He must agree with his brother, but for some reason he wasn’t as aggressive. Maybe he wanted the inheritance but wasn’t as confrontational as his twin. Maybe he preferred to leave the fighting to Erik. He just went along for the ride.
Axel walked to him. “Let’s go.”
Erik looked at him and then cast a belligerent gaze at each person in the room.
When Erik didn’t move, Axel said, “Vita will call the cops.”
“Now you talk?” Erik spat. “You never have my back.”
“I figured you’d handle it,” Axel said.
Erik glanced back at Vita, who put her hand on her hip and cocked her head, cell phone in her other hand, ready to call 911.
Erik muttered something Ruby couldn’t hear, and he and his brother left.
Nicole shut and locked the door.
She faced the room. “Never a dull moment in a Colton house.”
Everyone laughed.
Damon came over to Ruby and put his hands on her upper arms. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. You told me he wasn’t the congenial type.”
He smiled softly, and she fell into the twinkling affection of his eyes.
“How are things going in there?” He gestured with his head toward the kitchen, where Vita and Nicole had returned. But Nicole watched them closely.
“Really great. I love your mom. Fee and I have a lot in common when it comes to men.”
“Oh, yeah? What does that mean for me?”
“Maybe something good.” She smiled in a way that felt flirty.
He chuckled, and before she could prepare herself, he leaned down and kissed her, not deeply, just a gentle peck.
Tingling everywhere, Ruby stepped back and turned to walk to the kitchen, seeing Nicole smiling her approval. Ruby took up a knife and started helping to prepare the salad, glancing up at Damon every so often. How did he make her feel so loved? And why was it so difficult for her to accept it?
Chapter 13
Damon drove Ruby and Maya by two more places where Kid might have hidden weapons. They struck out again. Maya didn’t show any sign of recognition. They even got out of the car and walked to give the child time to absorb sights, hoping something would trigger her memory.
The rest of the barbecue had gone smoothly—more than that. Damon could see Ruby warming to his family, and he loved it. He was afraid to believe she was also warming to him. She looked at him several times in a way that suggested her affinity to belonging to this—and him. But he was not one to make decisions based on instincts, good or bad. He followed them but didn’t make life-altering changes just because they felt so damned good.
Damon was so touched he had kissed her cheek as well and said, “You are a precious little girl.” He wanted to say my precious little girl.
It was true: Maya had found her way into his heart the moment he’d met her. Although he had known she was deaf, he hadn’t been prepared for how smart she was for a five-year-old or how endearing. Then her personality had dug into him. Brave. Confident. Innocent. Even after living with the likes of Kid Mercer, she had overcome. Maybe it was her young age, but Damon preferred to think it was her strength that had gotten her through. Now she was like any other child her age. Except more special, as far as he was concerned.
Maya trotted off to the kitchen table, where she had her favorite coloring book.
When he stood up, he met Ruby’s furious eyes. She wiggled her crooked finger for him to come out into the entryway, outside the door of the apartment.
“What the hell are you doing?” she hissed, hands on hips, mama bear wakened.
Damon took in her stance a bit longer and relented to honesty. “I love that kid, Ruby. I didn’t plan on that. I didn’t expect it. I’ve told you this before.”
“My daughter is different. You can’t mislead her!”
He raised his palms with two stop gestures and then lowered them to his sides. “I know. I am not misleading her. I truly adore her. More than that. She’s...” He searched for the right words. “Special.” No, that wasn’t enough. “She’s amazing...” No, that wasn’t enough, either. “Ruby, she completely caught me off guard. I can’t explain why she is so special to me. Maybe it’s that she’s deaf and doesn’t let it get to her. Maybe it’s how she likes me. I can’t tell you. All I know...is I feel a powerful connection to her.” He met her now-stunned look. “What that means for you and me, I don’t care. I just hope I can keep being in her life. No matter how you feel about me.”
Colton 911: Temptation Undercover Page 17
