Chapter 46

If she didn’t get the time she wanted to recover Rielle shrugged as she looked at the red scratches on K.C.’s back in the dim light. 

When they woke up the next morning the winds were dying as the grey skies continued to dump rain on the island.

She was even more tender than the previous night but oh so satisfied as was K.C. and she winced a little as she rolled over but ignored the pain between her thighs.

They talked for a little while listening to the heavy rain falling and tried to find a local radio station on her battery powered radio. It was with relief that they found several were still broadcasting.

K.C. finally left her in bed and Rielle watched him stride into the bathroom, admiring the view of his broad golden skinned back except where she had marked him, her eyes dropping to the dimples just above his round ass and she moaned softly as her clit pulsed.

“Down you greedy kitty you can’t handle any more of that right now.” She said quietly.

~*~

He ventured outside to turn on the generator and Rielle got up gingerly to unplug everything except her refrigerator and stove. The water heater and pump would also stay on so that they could take showers after the excesses of the long night.

K.C. came back in and reported that Rielle’s yard was a mess from the heavy winds and rain with debris everywhere but there had been no damage to the house and her solar panels had weathered the storm just fine.

The vehicles had also survived but the storm had left a dent on the rear driver’s side panel of Martha which after looking at it K.C. had told her could be taken out easily. 

They ate oatmeal with some almond milk and even though the situation was serious they couldn’t help the smiles that crossed their faces as green eyes meet blue.

~*~

They got dressed in t-shirts and shorts taking turns at Rielle's insistence and covered up with raincoats before walking over to Chris’s house at Gabrielle’s insistence and he couldn’t refuse her when she looked up at him with big, pleading eyes.

He hadn’t forgotten the power of that pouty mouth even though he tried to remember why they were doing this as they avoided a downed power line in the course of crossing the street to see her brother.

Chris’s property had also fared well with only debris in the yard, nothing that couldn’t be cleaned up after the rains stopped.

He had a fully enclosed garage and his black Jeep Wrangler was unscathed as was his tenant’s car but the same could not be said for the renter’s wife. She was freaked out and nothing that the husband or Chris could say and had been saying since the storm began had calmed her down.

~*~

“Janice the worst is over; we only have some rain coming now.” Rielle said trying to reassure the older woman.

Peter Allen and his wife had been renting the three bedroom apartment for two years and he was the assistant manager at AutoWorld, the largest automotive store on the island.

The middle aged couple were originally from St. Paul, Minnesota and while they were used to snowstorms the wife had been seduced by the weather that for the most part was balmy, bright and beautiful. This storm had shocked her with its ferocity.

While Rielle could sympathize having experienced her first major storm at the impressionable age of ten and K.C. could too having just gone through it for the first time no amount of empathy on their part was making a dent in her hysteria.

“I don’t care! I never want to go through one of those again! I want off this damned island Peter.” she said vehemently her grey eyes filled with tears.

Most people were prepared to take the good with the bad living on an island but Janice’s sense well-being was gone. Chris looked at his tenant and could see the resignation in the other man’s face as he led his distraught wife away. They had spent the night upstairs but the woman had jumped at every little sound and Chris was bleary eyed from staying up with them.

“I don’t think they’re going to stay much longer.” He predicted and would prove to be correct.

K.C. went up in the afternoon to check on the Hawks Nest and found it in good shape too except a glass window had been broken in the master bathroom.

~*~

The rains slowly tapered off on the third day and the result of that was a confrontation between and K.C. and Graham who somehow got a ride with one of the emergency vehicles.  Government officials were still making the rounds through all of the parishes to assess the damage and what response was needed.

The residents of Mt. Elizabeth had gotten out in between the rain to clear the road, so that traffic wouldn't be impeded. 

He showed up at Rielle’s door early in the morning after hearing from a friend that they had seen his daughter’s boyfriend on the island.

Having K.C. open the door with only a pair of hastily donned shorts on, no shirt and rubbing sleep out of his eyes confirmed that story much to his dismay.

“I didn’t believe it when Clive told me you were back.” Graham said looking down at K.C. incredulously.

“Graham, ah Mr. Hall good morning...” K.C. said his friendly smile slowly fading.

The older man didn’t really seem surprised to see K.C. more like disheartened and K.C. knew he had been spotted at the airport or the job site. The baseball cap and sunglasses had apparently not been a very effective disguise. He and Gabrielle had always been discreet about their sexual relationship, not wanting to offend her parents or even Chris but he could see that didn’t matter now.

“Gabrielle Marie Lopez-Hall how long has this man been in your house?” he thundered in response, his hazel eyes filled with righteous anger on his only daughter’s behalf.

Rielle cringed hearing that voice and tone, she had hoped to have a little more time with K.C. before this happened. She heard her father roaring while she struggled to cover her nakedness with a red and white checked shirt and a denim skirt in her bedroom.

She had been wrapped up in the euphoria of having K.C. back and not thinking that her father would somehow find a way to verify his children were safe after the storm. Rielle had hoped that the rain would keep everyone at bay for a few more days but forgotten that her father was a lion when it came to his children.

That had been a mistake and hopefully she could prevent this situation from getting out of hand as she hurriedly made her way to the living room, a t-shirt for K.C. in her hand.

“Hi Daddy come in. Is everything okay, was anything damaged? How did you get here? Is Mama with you?” she asked quickly her eyes bright as she went to greet her father who filled the doorway.

K.C. stepped back so that Graham could come in but the tall man didn’t move although he gave Gabrielle a brief hug after scrutinizing her quickly.

“No your mother isn’t with me. I came up with Neil Simmons, from Emergency Services; he’s got a crew checking this area and I asked for a ride. Rielle what the hell is going on here?” Graham asked looking down at his daughter, a forbidding expression on his face.

There was no sense in trying to avoid this conversation as her father stepped into the room; she hadn’t been raised to lie. But she hadn’t told the entire truth either and she knew that. She felt some relief when K.C. came to stand beside her and reached out to hold her hand as she faced her father.

“Daddy, K.C. came in on one of the last flights before the storm hit. We had a chance to talk and we are back together.” She said after taking a deep breath as she looked up at her father.

Graham stared down at his little girl remembering when she had first been put into his arms as a newborn infant and then shifted his gaze to the man who had broken her heart.

She had tried to be brave when she came back alone, but he knew this bastard had hurt Rielle deeply and he wasn’t about to let him think he’d gotten off scot-free.  Graham didn’t care if Rielle had decided to forgive him or who his family was.

“Mr. Hall, can I speak with you outside for a moment?” asked the culprit boldly.

“We’ll talk alright young man, after I deal with my daughter.” He told K.C. ominously, his West Indian twang showing up as he eyed the younger man intently.

Gabrielle knew that wasn’t a good sign and for a moment felt like a child, but she was an adult and really needed to act like one as she faced her father.

“He was here when you called us before the storm wasn’t he?” Graham fired off like a prosecutor.

“Yet somehow that fact never came up. Why is that Gabrielle?” he asked folding long arms across his broad chest as he stared down at the young couple.

K.C. looked at Gabrielle and gave her a reassuring smile before she turned back to her father.

“Yes Daddy, K.C. was here when I spoke with you and I chose not to mention it. I knew that you wouldn’t be happy with that knowledge and we planned on coming to see you and Mama when we had finished dealing with the aftermath of the storm here which would probably have been in the next day or two.” She replied bravely.

K.C. knew that Graham probably didn’t want him anywhere near his daughter after what had happened between them and that was understandable but he wasn’t going to stand by and let him do anything that might upset Gabrielle.

“Sir, I’d really like to say something.” He tried again and watched the tall man’s eyes shift to his face.

"Yeah and I’ve got something to say to you too. I had my doubts when the two of you got together in the first damned place and I don’t want you back in Rielle’s life if you don’t have your shit together this time!” The angry father said ignoring the gasp from his daughter.

“You weren’t here when she came back alone, crying her eyes out every day because you had hurt her and I will not stand by and let that happen to her again! I didn’t raise my daughter to be any man’s doormat, punching bag or easy piece of tail!” Graham roared.

K.C. who moved to stand in front of Gabrielle whose hand had gone up to cover her mouth in shock at what was being said.

“Mr. Hall, can we please speak outside sir?” K.C. repeated patiently.

He could see that Graham was getting more enraged and he needed to calm the other man somehow.

Graham saw the worried look on Rielle’s face as she looked over the blond man’s shoulder at him, she actually seemed scared and that wasn’t his goal.  Even when she had been growing up and he had spanked her for one infraction or another he had never seen that look on her face.

“Rielle, baby girl are you really afraid of me?” he now asked stepping towards his daughter and stopped when he saw her eyes widen.

“Fine Whitfield, let’s go have this talk you seem so determined to have with me.” He finally conceded with a sigh turning to go out the door.

“Daddy wait!” Rielle said afraid that her father thought she was really afraid of him.

~*~

Both men turned to her and when she nodded at K.C. he left, giving them some privacy and met Chris who was coming onto the porch.

“Is my Dad here? I thought I saw him.” Chris said running his hand over his wet face.

“Yeah, he’s talking to your sister right now. You didn’t tell your father that I was here before the storm. Is there a reason why?” he asked the younger man.

He was curious as to why Chris hadn’t thrown them under the bus.

“My sister isn’t stupid and I have to trust that she knows what she’s doing. It’s up to you to prove her right and I hope that you can do that cause if not you’ll have my family to deal with.” Chris answered reasonably as they waited for Graham to come outside.

When he had first seen K.C. yesterday Chris had refused to acknowledge the signs of suffering on the other man’s face. In hindsight and without anger blinding him it was still visible but not as much now.  

~*~

Inside the cheerfully painted yellow living room Rielle looked back at her father with unease in her gaze.

“Daddy, I’m not afraid of you but you can’t come into my home and yell like that. I really need you to accept that K.C. is who I love. Tell Mama we’ll be down in a few days ok?” She told going to give him a tight hug.

“I love you and Mama too but I- I’m a grown woman. I know that you were worried watching me go through the last few weeks and maybe you’ll always think of me as your baby girl, but I’m more than that.” Rielle said calmly looking up at her father.

“That might take a while to process Rielle but I’ll work on it. Your mother and I only want you to be happy, you know that right?” He finally replied after searching his daughter’s resolved expression and watched as she nodded.

“Let me see what your young man has to say. Neil is going to come back for me in about ten minutes.” Graham told her before stepping outside.

He found K.C. and his son talking and greeted his son, keeping his focus on the blonde man who had usurped his position as the most important man in his daughter’s life.

“All right what is it that you want to tell me Whitfield, how much you love my daughter? Your love wasn’t good for my daughter before, what makes this go around any different?” he asked staring down at the young man who met his intimidating gaze easily.

“I do love Gabrielle and I apologized to her for what I did. I also wanted to apologize to you and hope that my actions prove that it was never my intention to abuse the trust you or your daughter placed in me Mr. Hall.”  He began respectfully.

The older man seemed willing to listen and K.C. remembered his father’s words as he was waiting for his flight.

“You have to know that Gabrielle’s father will be angry with you and he has a right to be. He treated you fairly and you lied to his daughter something that can’t sit well with the man because it wouldn’t sit well with me if this was Danni. He’s going to say his peace and you my boy have to listen.” Colton had told him before clapping him on the back.

“I’m glad you’re both here because I wondered if you had made plans already for Thanksgiving. I wanted to invite you all to Denver for the holiday with my family.” K.C. offered having already spoken to Gabrielle about the idea.

Both of the Hall men looked at each other before turning back to K.C. with speculation in their eyes. Graham still wasn’t sure about this young man or his intentions but K.C. wanting them to meet his family at Thanksgiving was quite the gesture.

He had to give the guy credit for knowing when to make a big play and Graham could even admire his cojones but he was a baller from the old school and he was about to remind the young man of that fact.

“I’ll have to talk to Magdalena but my parents were planning on coming down from Vegas and I know Carlos and Marielena were going to come over from Puerto Rico. I wouldn’t want to cancel on them when they were looking forward to the trip, especially since my parents already had their reservations.” He said folding his arms across his broad chest again as he waited for K.C.’s response.

K.C. wasn’t stupid, he knew what the astute older man was doing, and the fact was he wanted his family to meet Gabrielle’s folks including both sets of grandparents. They were a great family and he wanted them to see where he had come from as well.

“That’s not a problem sir, we’d be happy to have all of the Lopez-Halls come for the holiday, I have access to a company jet and if it’s not too presumptuous I’ll have my secretary coordinate the travel arrangements when the phones are back up.” He assured Gabrielle’s father.

Graham had never known the young man to throw his money in anyone’s face and even when he had rented the yacht and gotten Tarrus Riley to perform for Rielle’s birthday he had been low key about it.

Graham had been around other wealthy people when he was playing professionally and he could feel the vibe that K.C. had was like them. Essentially he was an all right fellow who had just gotten caught up in a really unfortunate situation.

“I’ll see what my wife has to say and get back to you later.” Graham told him only slightly impressed with his answer.

“As to your apology; you didn’t break my heart it was my daughter’s but it’ll take me a while longer than it has taken her to recover. There’s one thing that would go some ways towards making me feel a bit better about the whole incident though.” He said rubbing his chin.

“What would that be?” K.C. asked not realizing that Chris had stepped back.

“Just this.” Graham said casually.

K.C. learned why Graham was nicknamed ‘The Big Flash’ for the burst of speed he could put on; taking his opponents by surprise as he blew passed them to score the winning shot. He was slower and older and he telegraphed his intent a little so K.C. knew what was coming.

With his martial arts training he could have done something to avoid the older man’s heavy fist connecting with his diaphragm to take the breath from his body as he absorbed the punch.

Gabrielle came out just in time to see K.C. wheezing and Chris helping him up and she looked at the trio with bewildered eyes.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

Seeing her father’s looking down at K.C. with grudging respect and her brother’s concerned look at her question while K.C. coughed between them made her frown when no one seemed in a hurry to answer her question.

The palpable relief on the faces of the Hall men was almost laughable when a horn blew out in the street and they turned to see the emergency vehicle.

“I’ll take you up on that Denver gig K.C.; it’ll be nice to see some new scenery.” Chris quipped over K.C.'s coughing.

He loped off down the steps and went out the gate, Rielle watched him go through the raindrops and turned back to K.C. and her father.

“Rielle, I’ll tell your mother you said hello. I won’t lie I didn’t think K.C. would come back to St. Sebastian after all that’s happened, but the fact that he did says something about his character.” Graham said as K.C. straightened his face twisting with grimace of pain.

“Young man I expect you and my daughter at my house for lunch on Sunday and even if we only have bread and cheese with sugar water I want to see your faces. Be safe baby girl.” He told the pair and waved in farewell before he also took his leave.

It was as the truck drove off that she turned back to him watching as he slowly caught his breath.

“Ok, I know something happened between the three of you.” Rielle said looking at him squarely an eyebrow raised.

“Your father and I are coming to an understanding. I told him and Chris about Thanksgiving and I think we’ll be having a full house in Denver.” K.C. answered hoping she would let it go.

He watched Gabrielle cross her arms under her chest, pretty much the same way her father had but the move was more distracting when she did it.

“Do we have to have another conversation about honesty? Did my father hit you?” she asked reaching out to pull up his shirt.

He caught her hands before she could do that and grimaced having moved too fast.

“Ok yes he did. We needed to get it out of the way so that he and I can move on and if it took a hundred punches I would accept them all.” K.C. told her philosophically, raising a hand to caress her face.

She rolled her eyes at him but accepted his explanation.

“Be that as it may macho man I’ll be having another chat with my father on Sunday.” She told him, as she rubbed his bruised abdomen lovingly.

~*~

The island suffered as did much of the region with damaged buildings; downed power and telephone lines caused by overhanging trees and major flooding from two days of rain afterwards. Thankfully there were no fatalities but the residents had dodged a bullet and knew it as they worked to repair the destruction.

Despite some residents being without power for nearly three weeks everyone was grateful and when another tropical depression looked like it might turn into a storm K.C. watched everyone pull up their bootstraps and go through the process again.

Janice Allen however left as soon as flights were resumed to the island and Peter left shortly before the storm fizzled out to a day-long thunderstorm.

K.C. received a cool reception from Gabrielle’s friends at first which he expected but by Halloween even Camille had forgiven him for his transgressions helped by Jarrod.

Two weeks after Otto, Georgie went to Jacksonville and got to see Michael make a touchdown against the team that had defeated them last season. The following week was a bye week for the Admirals so they also were able to spend a little time together.

Andie and Bryan were still going strong and even though they had also argued about the situation with Rielle and K.C. they had tried not to become mired in the drama.

The beach volleyball tournament concluded the week before Thanksgiving having been postponed twice by inclement weather. The fact that the eight finalists were all former Olympic medalists had drawn the attention of one of the national sports networks and there had always been speculation as to who the better players were.

This brought in some much needed publicity and the local media was all abuzz because one of their colleagues was playing in the championship.

The game would begin at two and a court had been set up not too far from the water giving the spectators beautiful landscaping and crystal clear beach views as well. Graham had been acting as unofficial coach and gave his players a rousing speech before they said a prayer for the safety of all involved.

The first point was scored by the other side before Rielle and her teammates settled down, the nervous excitement affecting them all. She slowly gathered her focus and the next several points were quickly earned by a crosscourt slam by Georgie, an ace from Cam and a kill by Rielle.

The hard fought game lasted for nearly an hour and a half but in the end the ‘Awesome Foursome’ were victorious against the other team by a score of 3-1 when Andie crushed the ball giving the women a decisive win.

This was in no small part due to the core support of their friends and families including Marielena and Carlos Lopez who had come over for the event.

Michael was the only one who couldn’t be there but he had called Georgie two hours before the match and he had promised to make another touchdown for her in the Admirals game against the Eagles.

She could hear the ribbing of his teammates in the background who were making kissing noises that had her laughing especially when he told them to shut up because he was talking to his lady. That had made her smile, her brown eyes that had been sparkling with tears dried up as she said that she had every confidence that he could do just that.

That night Bryan who had been biding his time waiting for the perfect moment surprised them all by proposing privately to Andie out on the beach.

When Camille spotted her brother down on one knee she called over her parents and they watched from the stone balcony of the restaurant as Andie jumped up and down on the sand before launching herself at Bryan, nearly pushing him over in the process.

They tried to be nonchalant but the older couple had watched their son mope over Andie who they loved like a daughter for years already.  His father had finally given him a serious man to man talk and Bryan had made his move soon after.

When Andie came back into the restaurant looking all discombobulated and flustered in her jade green dress it was like a chain reaction. She held out her hand so that their families could see the glittering Asscher cut diamond on her finger while she looked at Bryan with eyes that sparkled as brightly.

Everyone else gathered around when the screaming began and drinks were raised as the mood shifted and a toast was to congratulate the newly engaged couple. There was plenty to celebrate that night and the festive air dispelled any lingering signs of the tumultuous last couple of months.

The men clapped Bryan on the back and bought him drinks before they started singing off key and when they were done it was Bryan who looked at his friends with a devilish expression on his handsome brown face.

“So who else is man enough to join me in wedded bliss?” he asked looking pointedly at Jarrod.