Tyler snorted. “I would certainly hope not.”
“My two half brothers live with her,” she said. “Kyle and Jacob. Kyle was there. Jacob was at work.”
“And what about your stepfather?” Tyler asked. “I’d like to give him a piece of my mind.”
Tom’s expression darkened. “Get in line, Ty.”
“Down, boys. He’s out of the picture. He abandoned them a few years ago. Kyle wasn’t any fonder of him than I am, apparently. He and Jacob got her to file for divorce so she could get government assistance.”
“Wow,” Tom said. He gently squeezed her hand. “So how are you? Really?”
She shrugged. “I’m okay. It was good and bad. Not exactly what I expected. She looks so old and frail. Even older than Mom. She’s not in good health from what I can tell.”
Tyler brushed the hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. “And you’re sure you want to go back for dinner?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I do. If nothing else, I’d like the boys to know their uncles.”
* * * *
They stopped by a grocery store on the way so Nevvie could pick up a fruit salad to take. Jacob was as welcoming to Nevvie and her family as Kyle had been. Tyler and Tom might have wanted to give Mary a piece of their minds for what happened to Nevvie, but they didn’t speak it out loud.
By eleven that night, Mikey and Adam had both fallen asleep on the sofa, and Nevvie couldn’t hide her yawns anymore.
Jacob gave her a huge hug. “Thank you for coming, Nevvie. Please, keep in touch with us.”
“I will,” she promised. She’d already exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses with her brothers. And if any of the three of them were off-put by her having two husbands, they didn’t show it.
Mary hugged her. “Thank you, Nevvie. You’ll never know how much this means to me.”
Nevvie wasn’t sure she had a handle on her feelings over the matter yet, but she wouldn’t spoil what had been an overall nice evening. “Thanks. I’m glad I was able to see you again. And my little brothers,” she joked.
A little after midnight, they’d returned to the RV and settled in for the night.
“You okay, baby girl?” Tom asked.
“I’m better than I thought I’d be.”
“How’s that, love?” Tyler asked.
“I thought I’d be an emotional wreck. I’m not. I feel…peaceful.”
“That sounds healthy,” Tom said.
“Very,” Tyler agreed.
“But you know what I am now more than anything?” she asked.
“What?” the men asked in unison.
“I’m horny,” she whispered.
“Why didn’t you say so?” Tom asked. “We can take care of that for you.”
“Quietly,” she said.
Tyler nibbled on her earlobe. “Of course, love.” Tyler enveloped her in his arms, his lips pressed against hers.
Tom slid down the bed and came to rest between her legs. With a wicked grin he pushed her thighs apart and settled in. His skilled hands, knowing every nuance of her flesh, parted her labia and he took a long, firm swipe along her clit with his tongue.
Tyler’s mouth on hers muffled her moan.
Nevvie felt like she could melt into the bed from how good Tom’s mouth felt on her clit. She squirmed against Tyler, losing herself in the sensations as Tom took possession of her pussy and Tyler kept her mouth occupied.
Tom slipped two fingers into her cunt as he licked and sucked her, hitting that sweet spot inside her that sent her flying over the edge into a sweet explosion that left her breathless and trembling.
Tom sat up. “How was that?” His cock jutted out from his body. From the feel of Tyler’s stiff cock rubbing against her thigh, she knew he was ready, too.
She nodded, out of breath.
Tom didn’t waste any time. He lined up his shaft with her wet pussy and slid deep inside her with a happy grunt. Then he leaned over and sucked Tyler’s cock into his mouth.
Nevvie felt her pussy throb and contract around Tom’s cock at the sight of Tyler’s cock disappearing between Tom’s lips. Tyler rolled completely onto his back and buried his hands in Tom’s hair as he thrust his hips, fucking Tom’s mouth.
Tom braced himself on the bed with both arms and slowly fucked Nevvie as he sucked Tyler. Nevvie wanted him to fuck her harder, faster, but he wouldn’t be rushed. Tyler turned his head to look at her, and his sweet blue eyes looked glazed with passion under heavy lids. She kissed him, enjoying the feel and sound of him moaning into her mouth.
It didn’t take Tom long to make Tyler come, and when he did, he immediately started fucking Nevvie harder, faster. Her swollen clit, given no relief by the sexy sight of her two men together or the sweet feel of Tom’s cock buried inside her wet hole, couldn’t stand it anymore, and she came a second time.
“That’s it, baby girl,” Tom grunted. He took one last, hard thrust before falling still inside her. She felt his cock throbbing, pumping his cum deep inside her.
Winded, the three of them lay there twined together before falling asleep.
Chapter Nineteen
Nevvie nervously monitored the weather all day. “I don’t like the looks of this. Let’s find a place to stop.”
Andrew picked up Del’s business card from the counter. “Why don’t you call this fellow, Nevvie? Wouldn’t that be close?”
“Oh. Oh, yeah, you’re right.” She grabbed her phone and, after a brief discussion, hung up. “We’ve been invited to stay with them. And, according to Del, we need to hustle our asses, because we don’t want to be on the road when this weather system hits.”
“Well, where exactly are we going, baby girl?” Tom asked from the driver’s seat.
“He said to call him from the exit and to pull over there. He’ll come meet us. Their house is only a few minutes from there.”
“How will he know who we are?” Tyler asked.
Nevvie and Andrew both shot him identical looks of disbelief.
Tyler blushed. “Um, right. Sorry. Yes, I guess he has seen our RV before, hasn’t he?”
“Duh,” Nevvie said.
“I’m sorry, love. I’m rather tired. I was up late last night working on my book.”
“How’s it going?”
“I can honestly say I’m making real progress.”
“Next time you get blocked like that, don’t keep it a secret. Okay?”
“Yes, love.”
After leaving Sheridan, they’d stopped at Devils Tower, and again in the Rapid City area. Now, on their homeward leg of the trip, they would spend at least the night parked at Del’s house.
Nevvie didn’t like the looks of the sky when they reached the Mitchell exit. “I thought our summer squalls were bad,” she said. Purplish-black lines of clouds had exploded across the horizon. The wind had picked up, and she had a bad, nervous, on-edge feeling she couldn’t explain.
“Those aren’t like our Florida squalls, Nev,” Tommy said. “Call Del back. Now.”
The urgency in Tom’s voice spurred her to action.
Del arrived five minutes later and looking nervous. “Come on, and hurry. I think we’re going to need the storm shelter today.”
When they reached Del’s house, a man and a pregnant woman holding a young toddler stepped out onto the porch. “We need to head downstairs,” the man said. “Quick. Have them grab stuff for their kids, and let’s move.”
“Okay, John,” Del said. “Come on,” he told them. “That’s John, Sarah, and baby Mark. We’ll save the formal introductions until we’re all safely downstairs.”
In a panic, Nevvie grabbed the diaper bag, her purse and phone, and Harley. Tyler started for Mikey, but she said, “No, give him to Dad and go get your computer!”
“Screw the computer—”
“Do you have a backup?”
He froze. “Blast!” He raced back for it.
Tom handed Adam off to Del, who picked him up and raced toward the front door with him. Andr
ew followed, with Nevvie and Tyler right behind while Tom grabbed the folder with all their paperwork.
As John led everyone downstairs to the basement, Nevvie heard a siren go off somewhere in town.
“Tornado warning,” Del barked. “Into the shelter!”
At the same time, a radio Sarah carried in her free hand let out a shrill alarm tone.
“What the hell is that?” Nevvie asked.
She cut the sound off. “Weather alarm.” She opened a cabinet, punched numbers into a keypad, and pulled open a large, metal door. She stepped inside first and pulled a cord on a light switch.
Everyone else crowded in, with John bringing up the rear and pulling the door securely shut behind him.
Del helped everyone find a place to sit and made formal introductions. “Well, let’s make ourselves comfortable. We’ll be here for a little while.
Adam and Mark played with Harley in the corner while the adults talked. “This is a heck of a shelter,” Tom said, awestruck after Del and John finished explaining its features. “We could use something like this in Florida for hurricanes, but we don’t have basements, usually.”
“Where in Florida?” Sarah asked. “My uncle has a condo in Miami.”
“Other coast,” Nevvie said, her stomach churning. She hoped she didn’t need to use the bathroom before they got out of there. “We’re from Tampa.”
“So,” Del said, “has your trip gotten any easier since I last saw you?”
Nevvie, Tom, Tyler, and Andrew looked at each other and burst out laughing. They spent a half hour regaling the three with their misadventures while glossing over or omitting the more emotional points. By the time they finished, Del, John, and Sarah were all laughing.
“I think you have more than enough material for a couple of books out of all of that, Tyler,” John said.
Tyler agreed. “The problem is, it’s quite likely no one would believe me.”
Sarah tried tuning in the weather radio again. While there were still weather warnings for nearby counties, their community had been given the all clear.
“You all wait here,” Del said. “I’ll go check.” He opened the shelter door and went upstairs. A few minutes later, he returned. “All clear. The sirens are off and the radar’s clear. It’s raining now, but that’s it.”
“I think I prefer hurricanes,” Nevvie said. “At least you have plenty of time to get out of their way.” Having escaped from Chalmette outside of New Orleans before Katrina hit, she was an expert in that.
* * * *
After it was obvious they weren’t about to reenact The Wizard of Oz, Nevvie was happy to help pitch in with cooking dinner. While her men sat in the living room with John and Del, talking and watching the three boys playing on the living room floor, Nevvie enjoyed talking with Sarah while they cooked.
“You know,” Nevvie said, her voice low, “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you welcoming us into your home like this. I don’t mean just for the hospitality.” Nevvie glanced out at the living room. “I don’t know anyone else in a relationship like ours. I mean, it’s nice to know there’s other people out there like us.”
Sarah gave her a kind smile. “I was scared people around here wouldn’t accept us at first. But John and Del told me to quit worrying about it, and I did. I mean, we don’t go out in public sucking face or anything, but our friends don’t even bat an eye over it.”
“When are you due?”
Sarah smiled and patted her tummy. “Just before Christmas. That little guy in there was three weeks late, though. My doctor had decided to induce me when my water finally broke. He was just being a slowpoke.”
Adam came running into the kitchen. “Sarah, who is the little boy on your porch?”
Nevvie noticed Sarah’s face blanched. “You see him?”
“Uh-huh.” He turned and pointed at the French doors leading out to the porch through the dining room. “He’s right there. He’s waving at us.”
Nevvie didn’t see anyone.
A weird feeling washed over Nevvie.
Sarah knelt down to Adam’s level. “Can you tell me what he’s wearing, Adam?”
He looked at her like she was crazy. “He’s wearing jeans and a red shirt. You can’t see him?”
She pasted a smile on her face that Nevvie thought looked fake. “No, I can see him just fine. His name’s Robbie, and yes, you can invite him in.”
“Thanks!”
Nevvie watched Adam run over to the door, open it, and invite his invisible playmate in.
Sarah stood, watching them. “What’s going on?” Nevvie quietly asked.
Sarah took a deep breath. “Nevvie, do you believe in ghosts?”
* * * *
After dinner, the men offered to clean up. Mark and Adam had a campout in the living room after Tom and John made them a tent out of blankets and the dining room table. Andrew would sleep in their guest room with Mikey while Nevvie and her men slept in the RV. After the afternoon’s brush with severe weather, Nevvie preferred her boys be in the house overnight.
Nevvie and Sarah sat on the porch and sipped cocoa. Alone, Sarah quietly told Nevvie the story of what happened when she first met Del and John, and who Robbie was. When Sarah finished her story, Nevvie felt goose bumps rippling her flesh.
“The guy died right there in your basement?”
Sarah nodded. “Yep. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
“Wow. There’s a novel you should write. Just the real life story alone is creepy even before you start adding the supernatural stuff in it.”
Sarah wore a wan smile. “Like Tyler said earlier, no one would believe it if I did.”
* * * *
They got a late start the next day after lunch. Nevvie was sad to be leaving the town and her three new friends, but now she was eager to return to Savannah, and then Florida. To Savannah to see Peggy and Karen and everyone else, and to Florida to begin the search for her birth parents.
She only hoped they wanted to see her. If they were even still alive.
They exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses before leaving. “And if you all want to come visit Florida and see the beaches, you’re always welcome,” Nevvie insisted as she hugged Sarah one last time. “I mean it.”
“We might take you up on that,” Sarah said. “Del’s finally talking about retiring, so maybe we can make some plans for a family vacation.”
“We’ll make it winter, when we don’t have to worry about hurricanes,” Del teased.
Chapter Twenty
As the miles and the landscape passed, Nevvie thought it ironic that the farther away they traveled from Sheridan, the closer she was becoming to Kyle and Jacob. Both of them had exchanged several e-mails with her already, and text messages.
Neither of them mentioned Mary.
She didn’t begrudge them loving their mother. Unfortunately, Nevvie had already spent a goodly chunk of her life trying to sever the emotional ties she still had to her. Now, all she wanted to do was put the past behind her and move forward with her quickly growing family.
If Mary wanted to be a part of it, Nevvie wouldn’t cut her out, but she wouldn’t bend over backward to draw her closer, either.
It was obvious Kyle and Jacob wanted to reconnect with their older sister.
Nevvie couldn’t help but notice how anxious Andrew acted the closer they got to Savannah. “Calm down, Dad.” She smiled at him from across the table. “What’s the worst that can happen?” With Tom driving, Tyler had elected to ride shotgun up front. They couldn’t hear their conversation, and the boys were both napping in back.
“Oh, she could be insulted by me asking her out, or Tyler or Thomas could be upset. Worse, I could alienate my whole family.” He shook his head. “No, this is a horrible idea. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
She took his hands and squeezed them. “Stop,” she gently said. “The worst she could do is say, ‘No, thank you.’ Believe me when I say I think she will say yes. And even i
f nothing comes of it, at least you’ll have had a nice dinner alone together. I already told you, Tommy and Tyler are fine with it.”
* * * *
Their second day there, with Andrew still not having made a move, Nevvie had a brainstorm a little after lunchtime. “Dad, didn’t you say you wanted to go see that new mystery movie that came out last weekend?”
“Beg pardon?”
Nevvie tapped the section of newspaper she was reading, where the theater times were listed. “That movie, Personal Space. The mystery. I remember you said you were interested in seeing it. Hey, maybe Mom would want to go see it with you.”
Nevvie sent silent pleas to Andrew to play along, but he looked confused.
Then Peggy stepped in. “I’d like to go see it with you.”
Surprise replaced confusion on Andrew’s face. “You would?”
“Sure. Give Nevvie and her men some alone time.”
Andrew’s gaze skipped over to Nevvie. She thought he looked like a scared rabbit before his brain finally caught up with what had just happened. “That would be lovely, Peggy. Thank you.”
Nevvie said a silent prayer of thanks.
* * * *
They were in Savannah for another week before heading home. Nevvie was happy to return to Tampa, both to get home and to see Pete, who was still on the mend. Not to mention she wanted to get back to her own home and bed and a real, full-sized shower.
And being able to have sex without worrying any more than normal about their noise levels.
Andrew and Peggy had gone out twice more before their departure to Tampa. Fortunately, things were going well on that front.
When they returned home, Nevvie couldn’t believe how happy she felt. As they began the arduous process of unloading, Nevvie was on her way outside when she heard Tom swear, followed by a crash.
“Do I even want to know what that was?” she asked, turning.
Tom was uprighting the little table the phone and answering machine sat on. The phone looked none the worse for wear. Their answering machine, however…