Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

turned her head back around, but not before she caught his smirk. “That’s eight children, Jackson. That’s a lot of children.â€
    â€œWel , look at it this way. Ilya and Joley wil probably have seven boys. And Jonas won’t keep his hands off Hannah and he’s competitive, so who knows how many they’l have. We can’t be slackers.â€
    She choked. Jackson stiffened and jerked her around to face him. She burst out laughing. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. You’re just so bad. We are not competing with Jonas to see who has the most children. After the first one, I’m certain you’re going be shaking in your boots. You’l start thinking about the dating years and freak out on me.â€
    â€œI have weapons, honey. Lots and lots of weapons. And I know how to use every single one of them. I don’t mind scaring the hel out of teenage boys.â€
    El e was silent for a moment, replaying the picture of Jackson chasing their daughters in her mind. She frowned. “When you were thinking about having little girls running around the house, it was the Drake kitchen, not this one.†In fact, the house had been very detailed in his mind, as if he knew the entire layout already.

    He sighed. “That’s just my personality, El e. I have an eye for details.â€
    For security he meant. He noticed people as wel as things. He could lay out the Drake home exactly from furniture to items on their wal s. He had that kind of memory.
    â€œWhy the Drake house?â€
    â€œIt wil afford them more protection than just the two of us can give them. I wouldn’t mind being in it now, with you. And as the youngest daughter, it’s your inheritance. You deserve it and so do our daughters.â€
    She looked around her. Jackson’s home felt safe to her. “I like your house, Jackson.â€
    â€œThat’s a good thing because we’l be retiring here when we hand over the legacy to our youngest daughter. I think your ancestors are moving in. Have you noticed al the new shrubbery? It wasn’t there a couple of days ago.â€
    She turned her head again, earning another sharp tug on her scalp. “Are you certain?â€
    â€œI’d know if I planted those vines and flowers, El e. I’m not real y a gardener.â€
    El e settled back. “If you don’t garden, who does? You have one of the prettiest properties around here.â€
    He worked on a particularly difficult tangle until it was smooth. “I think we’re done. You can take another shower and condition your hair.â€
    El e burst out laughing. A real genuine laugh. “Jackson the hairdresser. I swear, you have more surprises than any man I know. I’m betting Jonas doesn’t know what conditioner is.â€
    â€œMaybe not before he married Hannah, but he’s sure to know now. She makes al that stuff. I know, because he brings it to me by the boxful.â€
    â€œYou have some of Hannah’s conditioner under your sink? You should have told me earlier!†Eagerly, El e jumped up and rushed into the bathroom.
    Jackson picked up his tea, took a sip, and found it too cold to drink. Smiling, he shook his head. He real y had wondered how it would be living with El e. He’d been alone al of his life. His mother and he had been happy for brief times together in the bayou, when she wasn’t pining for his father.
    And there were even a few times he could remember enjoying his father’s company, but those times were few and far between. Mostly he was alone, long days and nights, running in the bayou and avoiding the truant officer as much as possible.
    He’d kept to himself in the army, getting the job done, until he’d met Jonas. No one avoided Jonas. And through Jonas he’d found Matt.
    His circle of close friends widened, but Jonas was always the center. They had been through hel together and fought back to back to make it out. Jonas had gotten free, but Jackson had been captured. A fairly routine mission gone wrong and then he was real y in hel . Weeks went by and he knew he was lost until he heard a voice.
    He would never forget El e’s voice wrapping him up in satin sheets and hope. She’d found a way to light the darkness and give him the strength to make his escape. They’d planned it together, that soft feminine voice and he. She was