Chapter 92

Lights—a car’s headlights—flashed through the windows along the side of the house, having bypassed the circular drive out front, and then were switched off as the Jeep rolled to a stop.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief and hurried toward the kitchen. Tommy was home.

The back door flew open, driven by the wind, and Tom was blown in, followed by a big man. Well, the man had no choice but to follow him. Tom seemed to have a death grip on his arm.

Resolutely Jack ignored the buff, blond man who stood beside his lover, staring down at the floor as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world. At least he had the courtesy to be uncomfortable confronting Tom’s partner.

“Tom, where have you been? Do you know how worried I’ve been?” He cringed. His tone of voice reminded him of Julie, his third wife, and her complaints and reproaches whenever he’d come home late. He’d never cheated on her, but she’d always seemed to be waiting for him to take that first step.

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, you’ve succeeded.” Jack was more than surprised. He was scared. Had Tommy brought this man home to make Jack realize what they’d had was over? Normally he wasn’t inclined to think that way, but Tom had been so freaking secretive these past weeks…

“Merry Christmas, buddy!”

“Christmas isn’t for another two weeks.”

Tom tried to frown at him, but there was subdued excitement in his gaze, and Jack’s right hand clenched into a fist. Goddammit, Tom was his, and he wasn’t going to let him go, not after he’d finally realized having this one man in his life and in his bed was what he’d needed since the day he’d barreled into Tom all those years ago.

The big man beside Tom cleared his throat and raised his head, and Jack found himself staring into a pair of blue eyes he hadn’t seen in more than half his life.

“A-Andy?” Jack’s voice cracked. His brother had always hated his given name and resented that he’d been named after their daddy. Jack could hardly believe that after all these years, Andy was standing here in front of him.

“Yes, it’s Andy.” Tom was almost bouncing with excitement. “I drove up to Myrtle Beach to get him. I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure—”

“Sure about what?”

“That he’d want to come back to Savannah.”

“Hello, little brother. Although you’re not so little anymore.”

“What—How—Why—Where—”

“You want those answered in any particular order?” Andy’s grin was lopsided, and it was obvious his brother was as nervous as he was.

“Andy, don’t give him a hard time.” The voice was warm and husky, and it wasn’t Tom who spoke, but a woman. She was almost as tall as his brother, beautiful, dark-skinned, with astonishing green eyes.

“This is Eve, Thaddeus. She’s my wife.”

“Hello, Thaddeus.”

“Uh…Hello, Eve. But please, call me Jack. That’s the name I go by these days.”

“Jack?” Andy looked confused. “I’d have thought, if anything, it would have been Tad.”

“No, that’s my son.”

“You have a son?”

“And a daughter.”

Andy shook his head. “We’ve missed so much. But…Jack…I need to know if you have a problem with this.”

“With what?” Jack was not only nervous, but now he was as confused as Andy had been.

“The fact that I’m married to a black woman.”

“Huh? What are you—” The light suddenly went on. “Is that why you left all those years ago?”

“Didn’t Daddy tell you?”

“You’re kidding, right? He just dropped dark hints about you doing something unnatural. I thought he meant you were gay. Sorry, Eve.”

His sister-in-law burst into a deep, full-bodied laugh.

Andy glared at her. “I don’t see how you can find that amusing. My father is a bigoted old man who—”

“Knowing you, darlin’, how could I find that anything butamusing?”

“Wait a second. Tom, you said you went up to Myrtle Beach. Is that where you’re living, Andy?”

“Yes. Evie and I have lived there since Daddy found out about us and threw me out.”

“Dammit!”

“What?” Andy looked hurt, and Jack pulled him into a hug, the first physical contact with his brother in almost thirty-four years.

“I was there with my ex-wife on our honeymoon back in ‘88. If I’d known…I would have looked you up. I’ve missed my big brother so much.”

“I’ve missed you, too. It was hard not having family close by. Evie’s folks died just before she turned sixteen.”

She smiled at Andy and touched his arm. “You’re all the family I ever needed.”

It was easy to see from the expression on his brother’s face that Andy felt the same way. Jack was glad he’d found love.