she’d quickly added when Jennifer’s eyes grew wide. “Not that we would love him any less if that’s the case. But I mean special as in gifted, maybe even like Nicodemus, as I am told, able to see into the future. Don’t worry. He’ll talk when he’s ready, and when he does, he’ll have something meaningful to say.”
Claire had been right. Two months later Julian uttered his first words, a complete sentence, to his next-oldest brother, Terrell. Julian had been reading a book. Terrell wanted to play a game. Julian had looked up and pointedly demanded, “Leave me alone.”
Jennifer had breathed a sigh of relief. His interactions with siblings and friends gradually increased. But to this day, he was still mostly a man of few words. Although when spoken, his statements usually had value.
Terrell was the exact opposite. He was a talkative extrovert who commanded attention everywhere he went and was the perfect host for these rounds of family fun.
“Next question,” Terrell said, holding up a card while standing between his cousin Diamond and her husband, Jackson, whose hands were poised below bright red cowbells that served as buzzers.
“Name a side—”
Jackson clanged his bell. “Patricia!”
Men groaned. Women laughed. Julian smiled.
Terrell placed a hand on Jackson’s shoulder. “The question is about a side dish, dude, not a side piece.”
Jackson feigned shock. “What kind of man do you think I am? I thought you were going to say sidekick.” He winked at Julian.
“Who’s Patricia?” Diamond crossed her arms in mock anger.
“Who cares?” Faye, the wife of Julian’s cousin Dexter, asked. “Finish the question so Diamond can answer and we can win the game!”
Julian studied Faye’s serious expression. She looked as if she were preparing to treat a patient rather than watch the ladies take a round of Family Feud. He hadn’t gotten the chance to know her well but felt a shared camaraderie with the doctor, even though her title was MD instead of PsyD. In their last conversation, he’d discovered her heart for the less fortunate and had promised that once his internship ended and he started up his private practice, he’d offer monthly free counseling sessions at her clinic in San Diego. Since then he’d talked with his mother and decided to do the same on a more regular basis at the community center his family had built in their hometown. Every member of the family contributed in some way, including Terrell’s twin sister, Teresa, who along with Faye and two women from Pierre’s side of the family were now laughing and high-fiving at the women having beaten the men.
All of the couples were well matched, he reasoned, observing their effortless interactions. Even those with opposite personalities, like Faye and Dexter, who was as easygoing and extroverted as she was serious and subdued. Their dynamics reminded him of his own relationship. Nicki Long, his on-again, off-again girlfriend since college, was a private but sociable butterfly and professional dancer who fluttered seamlessly and graciously throughout life both on and off the stage. Watching the other couples made him miss her even more than he had since moving back to Paradise Cove three months ago.
Dexter walked by Julian and bopped him on the head. “Thanks a lot, genius!”
A nickname, but also the truth. Julian’s IQ was near genius level—part of the being special his grandmother Claire had alluded to when he was a babe.
“For what? I wasn’t even playing.”
“That’s his point,” Terrell deadpanned, taking a seat beside Julian. “We needed that sharp mind of yours to best those conniving women. Now we’re going to have to endure their endless ribbing for the next two years. All because of you!”
“No, because of Jackson and his sidekicks.”
“Don’t put all the blame on me.” Jackson was more than ready to defend himself. He looked pointedly at Terrell. “I’m not the one who named sparrow as a bird that people eat.”
“Hey.” Terrell shrugged. “Chicken, turkey and duck had already been mentioned. Those are the only ones I...” His voice trailed off as he looked beyond Julian. “Is that who I think it is?”
Jackson looked up. “Who do you think it is?”
“Julian, isn’t that your girl?”
Julian turned his head in the direction Terrell and Jackson were focused.
Nicki? He slowly rose from the chair as a tall, fit woman wearing a bright yellow maxi and a devilish smile walked toward him. She was with his youngest sister, London, who, given the look on her face, had obviously been in on the surprise.
He held out his arms to wrap her in a hug. “What are you doing here?”
“Milo decided to let us enjoy the holiday after all.”
“The same director who works y’all for twelve hours a day, the one you questioned had a heart?”
“Yep. Guess there’s something beating in there besides a drum after all. I texted London to surprise you and caught the first plane out.”
“Surprised?” London asked, her smile widening.
“Delighted.” His eyes drank in Nicki like a parched man guzzling water. “Let me take you around to meet everybody. Are you hungry? Can I get you a drink?”
Nicki laughed. “Okay, yes and yes.”
“Hey, Nicki!”
“Hello, Terrell.” She accepted his hug.
“You remember Atka, Teresa’s husband.”
“Of course. My mom still raves about your company’s salmon that I had shipped to her house.”
“And my cousin Jackson.”
Nicki waved. “Hello.”
Both were actually in-laws, but the Drakes disregarded that fact. Family was family. After going around to those nearby, Julian reached for Nicki’s hand and headed toward the food tent. “We’ll say hi to my parents and then get something to eat. You look beautiful, by the way.”
“Thank you.”
“You feel good, too. In fact—” he pulled her closer “—why don’t we make our plates to go and find a more private place to...enjoy the meal?”
“Are we still talking about food?” she teased.
“Definitely not.”
“Ha!”
Exactly thirty-nine minutes later, Julian and Nicki had successfully and surreptitiously left the farm, driven to a four-star hotel and checked in. Here, within the confines of a single room with a king bed, the quiet, studious doctor showed the wilder, passionate side that few would imagine. The door had barely closed when he reached for the hem of Nicki’s maxi and backed her up to the bed.
“Julian, wait!”
“Shh. No
