Every moment she could find, she was with the three old men, and she and his sister had really hit it off, even teaming up with some of his staff to cause chaos for him.
He couldn’t be angry, though, because Haley had no family, no friends — no one. That was before he’d entered her life, of course; now she’d never be alone again.
Each day he was with her, he fell further in love. The deepest desire of his heart was to hold on tight and never let her go. And, yes, he would miss the meddling old men once they departed, but he had a feeling Haley would miss them even more.
Crew was hardly surprised to find the three of them sitting at the bar, visiting with his favorite bartender, with whom they’d hit it off quickly. Not a shocker, since both they and Marlin swore by fine booze and expensive cigars. Crew had decided already to offer Marlin a job package too good to refuse if he came to the next resort with him.
“Last I checked, this was a place of business,” Crew said, trying to sound gruff, but not pulling it off.
“Oh, quit your bellowing and join us for a smoke,” his father said as he scooted his chair over a bit so Crew could sit down. At this time in the afternoon, there were few patrons, and Crew had a chance to relax.
“Don’t mind if I do,” he said accepting a cigar from his Uncle Joseph and lighting up. Leaning back in the chair, he noticed that all eyes were on him. The men were looking at him as if they’d weighed him and found him wanting.
“What?” he finally asked, not normally self-conscious, but struggling not to squirm under the heat of their stern gazes.
“We were just discussing you, boy, and wondering what the heck is wrong with you that you haven’t asked Haley to be your bride.”
Leave it to his father to come right to the point.
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business. That goes for all of you.” Crew pointedly looked each of them in the eye, giving Marlin an extra look for good measure. But the man didn’t back down an inch — was Crew losing his touch?
“Well, of course it’s our business. We’re family and want to make sure you’re OK,” Joseph bellowed, blowing a thick plume of smoke from his mouth.
Crew had known of the man’s existence for only a couple of weeks and yet Joseph was already comfortable in his role as uncle. To Crew’s great surprise, he found he didn’t mind at all. He felt as if he’d known Joseph and George his entire life, and he was grateful to be a part of their family now.
“Not that I should admit this to any of you, but I won’t be letting Haley slip through my fingers. I may have made some stupid decisions in my younger years, but when you get your hands on a woman that good, you certainly don’t let her get away.”
“And besides, it’s about time I had grandkids…” Richard trailed off as Crew’s words registered in his ears. A huge smile broke out on his face as he looked at his eldest son.
Crew had never been a pathological people pleaser, but he felt a swell of pride at the slight sheen of tears in his dad’s eyes.
“Uh…well…that’s very good, Crew. I’m mighty proud of you,” Richard finally said as he clapped his boy on the back.
“What are you proud about, Dad?” Brielle asked as she joined them, plopping down in a chair and grabbing Crew’s cigar, much to his dismay.
“I thought you hated these,” he snapped as he tried to grab it back.
“I’m trying to broaden my horizons,” she said and she took in a puff, then doubled over as the smoke clogged her lungs.
“You’re not supposed to inhale, darling niece; just taste the sweet smoke on your tongue.” George patted her back and offered her some water.
“Thanks for the warning,” she gagged with a glare at Crew.
“You didn’t give me a chance,” he responded with a smirk as he took his cigar back. That would show her to take one of his.
“OK. OK. You got me. So what are you so proud about?” she asked again.
“Crew’s getting married,” Joseph piped in.
Crew looked around in a panic. “Shh. I haven’t talked to Haley about any of this, and no one said anything about marriage. I just said I wasn’t going to let her go,” he whispered.
“You’d better not plan on just shacking up with the girl. She’s a lady and deserves a ring on her finger,” George admonished him.
“You guys are so nosy,” Crew growled as he stood and smashed out his cigar in the ashtray. He’d best find Haley before the old men gave away his game plan. He would bet his fortune none of them could keep a secret. Why he’d said anything, he didn’t know.
“Well, we wouldn’t have to be if you weren’t such a blasted fool,” Richard called out.
Crew didn’t bother responding as their laughter followed him from the room. It was a good thing Marlin had kept quiet; otherwise, he might have canned him on the spot.
He wouldn’t have, of course, but it was a nice thought, anyway.
With a determined stride, Crew headed to his room. It was time to give Haley the romance she wanted. He had big plans for them, and the tighter he weaved his net, the more likely he’d be able to keep her stuck in it forever.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Several hours later Crew found Haley reading a book out back by one of the fire pits. He loved the way her face lit up when she came to a good part in a story, and the different ways her tears would fall during joyous and sorrowful scenes.
He didn’t even need to pick up the book. He could read it through her expressions alone. If only she were as easy to read when they talked. She had grown very good at masking her emotions in front of him.
He hoped by the end of the night she’d trust him enough never to do that again.
“Good evening, beautiful,” he said as he sat next to her and nuzzled her neck.
“Hi, Crew. Sorry I haven’t come up yet. I lost track of time.”
“It wasn’t too hard to find you. Are you ready?”
“Yes. I’m getting sleepy.”
Helping her stand, he wrapped his arm around her and began leading her toward the elevators.
“Did you have a good day?”
“Yes. I went golfing for the first time in my life. It’s a good thing your father and uncles are so patient; I was afraid they might throw me into one of the water traps. I’m terrible at it,” she told him with a laugh. “Correction. I’m very good at finding the water traps.”
“I’ll tell you a little secret. I’m terrible, too.”
He could see she didn’t believe him.
“You know those old men are crazy about you. I thought there for a while that I might have to fight my father for you. He’s pretty infatuated.”
“Oh, I love them, Crew. They are all so funny and kind. Whenever I dreamed of having a father, I imagined him being the perfect mixture of all three of them. They may bark pretty loudly, but they all have hearts of gold, and are really just big softies,” she said with a sigh.
Crew was grateful she loved his family so much. Now that he’d found his way back home again, he could never settle down with a woman who didn’t think family was just as important as their relationship. They went hand in hand.