Page 29 of At Last

9.

Caitlin

“Try to only touch what you need to touch.” Tommy orders us after he’s taken my statement. “We need to dust for prints. Though, if this is Houdini, which I hope to god it ain’t, we won’t find any.”

Both he and Duke follow me around upstairs and down as I pack a few bags of essentials for Jade and me. I left her outside clinging a death grip in the arms of Jesse. Hero, Sneak and Carver check out my backyard for any more signs of Houdini’s presence.

After I’ve packed two bags for each of us, Duke hefts them over one shoulder, and taking my hand, leads me back downstairs. “Need anything else before we leave?”

“No. Thank you. My purse is in the truck.”

“Good deal. Tommy, you need any more from Doc?”

Sgt. Tommy Doyle gives his head one sharp shake then squats down to open a kit he’d set down on the front stoop when he’d arrived, to fish a pair of blue latex gloves out and shove them over his hands.

We leave Tommy and his police brethren to search my house.

The brothers ride off, some in front of the pickup, some to the back like a convoy. A different recruit mans the gate since Jesse’s been promoted to protection detail. He opens the gate for us, then as the bikes drive straight, Duke turns to the right to park his truck under a carport attached to a gorgeous painted white wraparound porch off the pretty blue doublewide. Flower boxes and hanging baskets overflow with red and pink perennials.

Several other double and singlewides dot the grounds, but this one is by far, the cutest. My umbrella table and chairs would look great on the back stone patio, an extension off the covered porch, with a clear view of the woods and mountains.

Plenty of room for a little girl to play.

Without thinking, I admiringly tell him what his yard screams for. “You need a swing set.”

“Sorry?” he asks.

Thankfully I start thinking once more, enough to realize my faux pas. “Oh, nothing.” I reply. “I was overstepping again.”

“Something you or Peaches need?” He stares out to the open acreage, along with me.

“No. Nothing we need. Just me being foolish.”

“Then let’s go inside.”

We climb out of the truck, Jade in my arms because Duke once again, hefts all four of our bags over his shoulder as we walk up the steps to a side door which opens into a large utility room. He has a nice, front loading washer and dryer and a couple wicker hampers with probably a week’s worth of dirty laundry stuffed inside. A dusty blue washer and dryer. White wicker hamper. I’m sensing a theme.

From the utility room, we emerge into a huge, open plan kitchen. Smack in the center is a ginormous butcher-block island with an attached bar along the back where four white barstools sit snuggly pushed under the lip. The stools are white with dingy from use, flowery chintz fabric covering each. Not the fabric a biker would choose.

All the cabinets have been painted white, the upper ones fitted with glass fronted panels. All the doors, to the utility room and I assume a pantry, are white as well as all the appliances. A short curtain made from the same flowery chintz fabric of the stools, hangs from the window over the sink, which looks out into the backyard.

Next to the kitchen he walks us through the dining area. More white on the rectangle table legs with a varnished tabletop, the same blond wood as the butcher block. A variation on the flowery chintz, although using the same colors, each high-backed farm chair has a cushion. And long chintzy curtains drape from a rod, framing each side of a set of double French doors.

Very pretty. Very girly. Again, not at all where I’d expect a biker like Duke to live. Too much flowery, even for me. My denim covered sofa would fit in nicely in this space. Something hearty, but with class. That’s what Duke needs.

First we stop at a smallish room of four white walls and a window with standard, white horizontal blinds, no curtains. There’s a twin bed with a faded, navy blue comforter and two pillows in white cases. A guest room, which will work as a temporary room for Jade, although I know she’ll miss her pink princess room back home. Though, he has an older television and a DVD player. So she should be happy.

Duke drops her bags next to the bed. I’ll get her settled after the rest of the tour.

There are two more rooms the same smallish size of Jade’s, but without bedding. One he uses for storage and for bike parts. And one, stark empty. Those three share a decent sized bathroom with a large tub-shower combination and double vanity, along with the commode.

At the back of the home, last room in the hallway, he leads me into the master suite. I’m not sure why one man would need so much space. Granted, he’s filled it with a king sized bed. The headboard pressed center to the main wall opposite the door we entered. There’s a walk-in closet as big as the room Jade will sleep inanda master bath with a swimming pool for a bathtub, complete with hot tub jets, a separate two person shower, double vanity and a separate, sectioned-off “room” for our other bathroom needs.

My heart breaks even more for Duke as I walk around the place. He’d set my bags down in the closet and now just watches me, arms resting at his hips. A single man with all this room. In a house made for a family. The man has so much love to give. He’s already given glimpses. But has lost his world.

Thus, I walk over to him, wrap my hand around the back of his neck to pull his head down, as I go up on tiptoe for us to meet in the middle, and place the tenderest kiss I could imagine against his perfect lips.

Duke being Duke, he takes over the kiss.

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