Ella shrugged, then lifted her face up to his. “I don’t know. But if I do, things between us will never be the same. Some things, once broken, can never be put back together. At least not in the same way. I always longed for a close relationship with my mom and Martha, but I can see now that’s not really possible. So as we move forward, I’ll do it with my eyes open and with my expectations set a hell of a lot lower. Looks like every aspect of my life is getting a clean sweep and a fresh start.”
“I don’t know if it helps, but, Ella, you’ve got a whole new family now. A mother and a father, brothers, sisters, and cousins who all see how fucking amazing you are. And that’s not to mention Edith and Manny, who’ve also claimed you as their own. You’re never going to be alone again.”
Ella’s laugh was breathy and a bit wobbly. “That helps more than I can say.”
“Remember you said that.” Maverick winked at her. “Because we Storms can be a lot. A force of nature, a goddamn hurricane.”
“I’ll be sure to pack a raincoat,” she joked.
Maverick cupped her cheeks, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. “I can’t wait to get you home to start our lives together. I swearto you right now, I’m going to do my damnedest to make you happy.”
“You already do, Maverick. You already do.”
Chapter Fifteen
Maverick kicked back in the camp chair, glanced around at the organized chaos surrounding him, and grinned. Ella was standing next to the picnic table, filling her plate with seconds of Mom’s potato salad while talking to Gretchen and Kasi, the latter just starting to show. His first niece or nephew was due in February, and he couldn’t wait. Actually, he couldn’t wait to fill the farm with his own little rugrats, as well.
Glancing next to him, he saw that his big brothers, Theo and Levi, were looking in the same direction, and he could tell Theo was in the same boat as him—longing to marry Gretchen and start a family.
Grayson had been sitting with them earlier but had since moved away to join Manny and Kasi’s dad, Tim, declaring the haze of lust was so thick around his brothers, he couldn’t breathe.
Maverick was tempted to correct his brother, since it wasn’t just lust clogging the air. There was also a healthy amount of love, along with alpha male caveman chest-beating and obsession, because he was now just as damn crazy as Theo, Levi, and Boone.
He tried to be sympathetic to Grayson’s complaint, because God knew he’d felt that same way a few months ago, watching Theo, Boone, and Levi walk around with their heads in the clouds, fixated on their women. However, now that he was part of the club, he understood.
All Maverick could see—all hewantedto see—was Ella. His world began and ended with her, and he wasn’t a bit mad about that.
August was coming to an end, and they weren’t even halfway through harvest season. With no end in sight on the long days in the vineyard, and with everyone pulling exhausting hours, Theo had declared a mini-holiday, insisting they needed a break. So, he’d told everyone—family and employees—to quit work at four today for a big-ass cookout.
No one needed to be asked twice.
A bunch of the servers, as well as Remi, Jace, Boone, and Everett, were playing tag football, the game as competitive as always. Storms worked hard, but they played even harder…and to win.
“I don’t know how they can run around like that after eating so much food,” Levi mused, his attention turning to the game when Lark accused Jace of pass interference, the two of them arguing loudly. Tommy, Jace’s best friend—and Lark’s on-again, off-again boyfriend—did as he always did whenever Jace and Lark got into a fight, attempting to play peacemaker. And now, as always, Tommy failed in the endeavor, Jace and Lark completely ignoring him as they went head-to-head over who was right.
Nora, the unofficial referee, had apparently missed the play because she was too busy chowing down on another hot dog. “Just run the whole play again,” she finally said, her suggestion not one either Jace or Lark wanted.
“It should be a penalty,” Lark insisted, as Jace said the missed catch should have been the other team’s final down.
In the end, Nora won after reminding Remi thatshehadn’t wanted to be referee. Since fighting was pretty much a standard part of every Storm tag football game, they’d realized years ago, the only way to play without hard feelings was to recruit a referee, whose word was law.
“Nora’s the ref,” Remi reluctantly agreed. “Run the play again.”
Lark and Jace both grumbled, but the argument ended there as they all resumed their positions.
“You’d think there was money on the game,” Theo joked. “Or they were playing for the national championship or something.”
“Always the same,” Maverick said, chuckling.
“You mean the argument over the game or Jace and Lark?” Levi asked.
Maverick had to admit his brother had a point. Jace was, by far, the most easygoing of the Storm men, but there was something about Lark that seemed to push all his buttons.
“Both,” Theo replied for him, his answer the right one.
Typically, Maverick was right in the thick of the games—and the arguments—but it wasn’t just harvest time contributing to his exhaustion this year.
There was also the issue of the beautiful woman sleeping next to him every night.
