The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [40]
"Time heals all pain," Corinthians Grant whispered to her husband as they stood watching Sir Drake. Their backyard was swarming with both kids and parents who had come out to help celebrate Rio's first birthday. Sir Drake was on the sidelines, reclining in one of their lawn chairs sipping a glass of lemonade while watching a clown paint the faces of the kids who stood still long enough for him to complete the task.
Trevor had told his wife about the conversation he and Ashton had had with Drake yesterday. He and Ashton had listened attentively while Drake told him about CIA agent, Tori Green. The crux of Drake's problem was that since returning to the States, he'd found out the woman had resigned and he had no way of getting in contact with her. He had questioned the two agents that he'd heard she had gone out with in the past. Both men claimed they hadn't known her whereabouts, and if they did, they hadn't talked. Drake had even called in contacts and so far no one had anything to report. The thought that he even wanted to find the woman was surprising to anyone who knew Drake. For the longest time it was obvious that Drake had pretty much accepted a future without a serious involvement with a woman, and now it seemed that this Tori Green had, for the short while they had spent together, more than piqued Drake's interest and had possibly given him a reason to hope again. Although Drake had insisted he merely wanted to see the woman again and that his interest didn't particularly mean anything, Trevor and Ashton knew better.
Trevor had noticed the gleam of hope in Sir Drake's eyes when he mentioned that a friend of the family, Alex Maxwell, who owned an investigating firm, was good at locating people and felt pretty sure the woman could be found. Alex would be attending the party later and Drake had plans to talk to him.
"Time may heal all pain, but I wouldn't go overboard and start planning the wedding yet," Trevor said, after hearing the hope and excitement in his wife's voice.
A soft smile tugged at Corinthians's mouth. "Yes, but it's a start."
"Yes, it is." Trevor smiled as he glanced across the yard at all the babies that had been born to his close friends over the past year. First, there were Ashton and Nettie's triplets; Clayton and Syneda Madaris's daughter; Jake and Diamond Madaris's son; Kyle and Kimara's son; Trent and Brenna Jordache's son; and Dex and Caitlin Madaris's son. No one was surprised when Trask and Felicia Maxwell had shown up with their six-year-old son Austin and announced they were having a baby in seven months. Now Felicia joined Trevor's sister Gina among the new list of pregnant women.
Trevor frowned when he noticed that his wife's brother, Joshua Avery, had arrived. A part of him had wished that Joshua wouldn't show up today. Trevor inhaled deeply and wished there was some way that he could overlook Joshua's faults and decided the man had too many to dismiss. Besides, Joshua wouldn't know how to handle it if he were to suddenly start being nice to him so it was best to leave well enough alone.
He glanced around and smiled when he noticed that the Madaris brothers' youngest sister, twenty-one-year-old Christy, was busy organizing a game of kickball for the older kids, many of whom were her nieces and nephews. He smiled, thinking how Christy had grown up over the past few years. He could vividly recall when she'd been born. At the time Justin, Dex, and Clayton had been in their late teens and had long since become the most overprotective big brothers he had ever seen. Now that Christy was officially a young woman, he wondered how the brothers would continue to keep a tight rein on their sister when she appeared to have definitely developed a mind of her own.
Even with all the noise surrounding him, Drake managed to drop off to sleep. Once or twice he was awakened when one of the kids' balls landed near him, but otherwise he was able to tune everything out. With his arms covering his face, he stretched his