Chapter 98

When dinner’s over and the kids are sprawled out on the sand listening to the guys playing guitar and singing, Eva looks over at me and says, “Wait a minute. Is it just me or does my sister look like she’s got a secret?”

Everyone’s eyes focus on me and I say, “Eva, what in the world are you talking about?”

She says, “You. You have that sneaky ‘I know something you don’t know’ look on your face, so spill it. What’s going on?”

I laugh and lay my head on Nick’s shoulder. I say, “I think the cat’s out of the bag.”

Beanie says, “You have a cat?”

We all laugh and I say, “No Beanie, it just means Eva figured out I’m keeping a secret.”

She looks disappointed and says, “Oh, I thought you were gonna say you had a kitty I could play with. I can’t have one at home because of the restaurant.”

I look at Jax and Ariana and Jax says, “Hey, Beanie, come over here. I need to ask you a very important question.”

I smile, watching as she slowly walks over to her Dad. Nick puts his arm around me and whispers, “Is this what we talked about before?”

I say, “No, I haven’t talked to him yet. This should be interesting.”

Jax says, “Beanie, Mom and I were thinking that maybe we need a house now. So you don’t have to live at the restaurant anymore. What would you think about that?”

The smile on her face is so big, I’m afraid her cheeks are going to crack. She says, “Daddy, Daddy, that would be awesome. Can I have my own room? Can I have a kitty? And a dog? Please, Daddy, say yes!”

He laughs and says, “Well, first we have to find a house. But I think maybe we can give you a couple of those things.”

I look at Jax and say, “Have you found a house yet?”

He says, “We’ve looked at a few, but we haven’t made an offer yet.”

Nick nudges me and I say, “Well, I have an idea. I just saw a house a few days ago that’s going up for sale soon. It’s really beautiful with lots of room.”

Ariana says, “Lots of room sounds good. Where is it?”

I say, “Well, it’s actually my house. I’m moving in with Nick and I was going to see if you guys would be interested. I was going to call you Monday.”

Beanie says, “YEAH YEAH, let’s move into Elaine’s house. Her house is COOL.” Will’s enthusiasm matches his sisters and their antics make us all laugh.

When the laughter dies, Eva says, “So, Nick, you’re going to live in sin with my sister, huh?”

He says, “No, I’m going to live in my house with my fiance.”

Everyone looks at us shocked, then Eva jumps up and says, “OH MY GOD I KNEW IT!” She practically tackles me off the log Nick and I are sitting on, which of course Will and Beanie think is a game so they join in.

I laugh so hard my sides hurt. When Nick finally helps me sit back up, he says, “You ok?”

I giggle and say, “Yeah, I’m fine. She didn’t do any damage.”

Eva says, “Oh Sis, I’m sorry, I forgot about your arm. But I knew you’d be marrying Nick. I just knew it.”

Nick pulls my ring from his pocket and slides it on my hand. Everyone cheers and Eva hugs me once more. She says, “I am so happy for you, I can’t even tell you.”

I laugh and say, “I’m pretty happy myself. Now, while we’re all in the mood to celebrate, I think we should go play in the pool a while before they close it.”

The kids cheer and everyone slowly makes their way to the pool. Nick pulls me into his arms and says, “It’s been a good day, Elaine.”

I look up into his eyes and say, “It’s been a perfect day Nick. How can I thank you for making it possible?”

He kisses me and says, “You don’t have to thank me at all. I love you. I would do anything to see that beautiful smile on your face.”

I pull his lips to mine for a slow, sensual kiss. When he pulls back, he says, “OK, that’s a really good way to say ‘thank you’.”

I laugh and say, “Oh, that’s just a warm up. I have a surprise for you upstairs in our room.”

He groans and says, “I can’t wait Baby. We better make this a fast swim.”

By the time we get to the pool, a very spirited game of volleyball is going on inside. Nick dives in to join them while I make my way to the other side of the pool. I don’t want to press my luck with my arm so I slide in and float on my back.

Suddenly the ball lands about 3 feet from me in the water splashing me. I look down the pool seeing the kids laughing and I have to giggle. Jax swims over to get it and says, “Sorry, it got away from us.”

I laugh and say, “Sure it did, Jack-Rabbit. Paybacks are a bitch, remember that.”

He swims away as I climb from the pool. I run back down to the beach to get my towel. The fire pit is dying and the glowing embers barely give off any light. I feel kind of vulnerable out here so I grab my towel and quickly wrap it around myself.

The quietness of the night is kind of alarming to me, the only sound I hear are the waves and the distant laughter of my friends in the pool. I turn to head back and walk straight into a pair of outstretched arms. I scream and stumble back, trying to get away.