Chapter 133: Beach
*If there’s heaven for me, I’m sure it has a beach attached to it. – Jimmy Buffett*
It was the last day in Hawaii and Jolene stood on the private beach watching the sun go down. Neo stood off to the side, giving her the space that she had asked for. As always, the guards stood discreetly out of the way.
After the kidnapping incident, he was not taking any chances. Reese had the same mindset and cancelled the airplane tickets and chartered a plane. The hotel had been changed and they were staying at a private bungalow. Neo did not want to know how much his friend had paid to get this on short notice during spring break.
Knowing Reese, he probably bought the house.
And did not have to spend way too much time and money getting it livable. Not that he regretted buying the old mansion. With the plans that he had; his three locations would soon become one. The house was almost done and the foundation for the garage and parking area was being laid down while they were gone.
The rest of the family was back at the large beach house. Helen knew that this was hard for her daughter but was proud of her. She was facing her last fear. Where she had started her life with Hank. Her own marriage to Bob had been at a local church with very few people there. Jolene had the destination wedding and so many people wanted to be there.
Helen included.
But this, this was better. The whole week had been spent doing whatever anyone wanted. There was no schedule. No itinerary. No one to dictate who did what. Or when. Or where.
The only thing that was set was breakfast in the morning and dinner at night. Breakfast was at the house. Dinner was at a restaurant that someone chose. They had taken turns choosing and last night was a luau. Tonight, had been a much simpler beach front barbecue.
Jolene fell to her knees as her sobs overtook her. Neo walked over and sat down next to her.
“Come here, pet.” Neo murmured as he pulled her to him.
“I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about.” He soothed.
“I was so certain that we were going to have a great life together. That he loved me.”
Neo kissed the top of her head and smoothed down her hair.
“You know what I realized the other day during a therapy session?”
He gave a soft sound encouraging her to continue.
“He never once said that he loved me.” She whispered. “Anytime that I said it, he replied with ‘you too, babe’ and never said that he loved me.” She shook her head. “Because he didn’t love me.”
“He was an idiot.” Neo murmured against her temple.
“Maybe I’m not lovable.”
“Why do you say that?”
“My dad didn’t love me. He never wanted anything to do with me.” She gave a soft sob.
Neo tightened his arms around her and took a deep breath. He needed to be in control of his temper. His anger. He had seen what happened when a Neosho was not in control of himself.
His own father was executed for murder in Texas. His brother died in a shoot out with cops. His sister sat in jail for assault.
The name Neosho was known for violence and abuse. He refused to be like the others in his family. He had spent all that time in the Marines learning to control his temper. He could still hear his drill instructor counting out pushups.
“Seventy-five. Seventy-six. Seventy-eight. Oh, did I mess up? One…”
Thirteen weeks of a zillion daily pushups got his temper well under control. Now he was very rarely rattled. He had faced down more things than most could ever imagine. Could control his breathing and emotions and damn near everything in his life.
After he got out of the Corps, he met up with a Navy buddy that he had met while providing protection to a group of Seabees. The older man had recognized a fellow Dom and they had become fast friends.
Now, he was sitting here, holding that same friend’s future stepdaughter. And Neo needed to have control over himself.
Taking a deep breath, the scent that was distinctly Jolene filled his nose and mind. His mind grew silent, and his soul was soothed in a way that no one had ever been able to touch it before. Neo felt his body relax even as he pulled Jolene even closer.
“Jo, pet, tell me something.” He said quietly.
“Hmmm?” she hummed between small sniffles.
“What he used to say to you, is that why you sometimes cringe when I call you baby?”
Jolene was still in his arms and her breath caught. She had not realized that she was doing that. But as she thought about it, she realized that she did cringe or flinch when he called her baby.
She nodded against his chest. “I think so. I never realized that I did that.”
“It’s okay, pet.”
“It’s different when you say it.” She admitted.
“It doesn’t matter. He ruined that for you.” He kissed her hair. “I promise, pet, I will never call you that again.”
“See?” Jolene shifted in his arms and looked up at him. “That’s why you’re different.”
Neo smiled down at her. He tucked some of her hair behind her ear and cupped her neck in his large hand. Smiling down he couldn’t help but chuckle at the tie-died shirt with surfing skeletons on it. In the week that they had been here, her skin had taken on a healthy tanned glow and her hair had gentle highlights in it.
His own skin was a little darker than usual and he had a strange tan line across his thighs from rarely worn shorts. Sure, he wore them to work out and train. But they were not something that he wore on a regular basis.
But with the way that her soft skin felt against his thigh muscles, he decided that he needed to reconsider his wardrobe.
“Jolene,” Neo said softly, “you’re not unlovable.”
“I am…”
Neo shook his head.
“No, my beautiful pet. You are loved.” He leaned down and kissed her lightly. “I love you.”
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