I looked at Nora, who was pushing the food around on her plate and not looking at me. Fuck. Dammit, Drew. If I could have punched my brother in the face then and there, I would have.
“Umm, yeah.” I cleared my throat and shrugged it off. “I got a letter from some girl about a year ago, and we’ve been writing ever since.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Maybe something will come of that. A year is a long time to correspond, especially if you’re sending letters by mail.”
“We’re just friends, Evelyn. It won’t go anywhere.”
“You never know. Now that you’re coming back, you might pursue something with her.”
I wanted to say,‘No, the only woman I’m interested in pursuing into the bedroom each night is your daughter,’but I didn’t say it. If there was a blowup, if Dad didn’t accept mine and Nora’s relationship, then I didn’t want it happening in public or with Nora depending on him.
“Only time will tell, I guess,” I hedged. “I have a few months before I’m officially discharged and back home, so we will see.”
The rest of dinner went smoothly. Drew and Nora were both right about Dad. He was different, thanks to Evelyn’s influence, I think. He talked to Drew about school and Nora about her upcoming year. He asked me about being over in Korea, and about my trips that I’d taken instead of coming home.
I’d seen the world. I’ve been with many beautiful women, but there was no place like home and no other woman could ever make me forget Nora. She was buried so far under my skin, even before I had her. Now that I’d been with her, the next few months were going to be a whole new level of torture.
When I got back from my deployment, I was going to take her away for at least a week. We were going to spend as much time in bed as we could, only getting out when we needed food to refuel, and then I would feed her from my hand and eat from her body.
“What do you think, Dean?” Drew nudged me in the ribs, and I realized I hadn’t been paying attention to anything going on around me—and just noticing the boner that was now making my jeans very fucking uncomfortable.
“Sorry. I zoned out. What do I think about what?”
Drew grinned. “What do you think about heading over to Savannah tonight? The Fairwell Summer Festival is going on.”
“I thought you needed to study?”
“I do, but you never come home, and I haven’t seen you in three years. Studying can wait one night.”
“Don’t let your grades slip, Son. You’ve worked too hard.” Dad spoke up. “Evelyn and I are going to go back to the house, but you kids can go have fun.”
“Sure.” I spoke to Drew. “Why not?”
After we said our goodbyes to Evelyn and Dad, we climbed into Drew’s truck. I let my hand squeeze Nora’s backside quickly as I opened the backseat door for her. Her face flushed, and she sent me a small, flirtatious grin only I could see.
I slid into the front seat with Drew as he took us back up to Savannah. Heading back there made me think about Georgia Peach, and I wondered if she would be at the fair tonight. Would she be mad if she saw me with Nora? It didn’t matter if she did get mad because we weren’t anything but friends and pen pals, no matter what she felt for me.
What I felt and had with Nora was real. It had been a long time coming, and there was no way I was going to fuck it up.
“Oh, I love this song.” Nora started to sing loudly and slightly off key. “Rebellious Dynasty is my favorite band. I wanted to go see them play when they were in Savannah last.”
“Why didn’t you go?” I turned in the seat to look at her sitting behind me.
“Drew had school and couldn’t take me, and I didn’t have anyone else to go with.”
“Like Evelyn and Dad would have let you go with anyone else anyway,” Drew scoffed.
“Mom would have. Dad, probably not.” She laughed until she saw my face.
When the fuck did she start calling my dad, her dad? Fuck, this was going to ruin everything. He was finally going to disown me for good. Shit. I wanted to beat the hell out of something. My muscles coiled tightly as I turned back to look out the windshield.
Tension filled the car when Nora stopped laughing. Drew noticed the icy climate change almost immediately. “What just happened?”
“Nothing. Just drive,” I replied through gritted teeth.
Of all the women in the world I had to fall in love with, it had to be the one woman who could end what little relationship I had with my father and destroy the relationship I had with my brother.
Loving Nora was complicated, but it was also inevitable. I tried to stop loving her. I put half the world between us, but I never stopped thinking about her. When I dreamt at night, it was always her face I saw. Whether I was by her side or half a world away—I loved her and only her.
