Stonehill series collect.., p.109
Stonehill Series Collection, page 109
“Yeah, he’s been great.”
“And the lighting in the alley. That’s good.”
She nodded. “He’s gone above and beyond. Have, um…have you talked to him lately?”
He shook his head. “Not since I left. You’re not the only one I have to beg forgiveness from.”
Taking a breath, she looked around the empty street. “You’d spent your life working for something that was yanked away from you and you found yourself on a downward spiral. I understand that. I’ve been there. I know how hard it is to bounce back when you’ve lost everything.” She swallowed hard and cut her gaze to him. “But you promised I’d never doubt that you loved me. And then you left me.” She didn’t bother to wipe away the tear that dripped down her cheek. He needed to see how much he’d hurt her. “Made me give up on you. Made me believe I’d made another huge mistake.”
“Jen,” he whispered.
“You made me look like a fool,” she said before he could try to talk her out of giving him the verbal lashing he deserved. “I believed in you. I vouched for you with my brother and with Charlie. I told everyone that I could trust you. That you weren’t the man they saw. That you were so much more. And you left me when I needed you the most. Once again I’d put all my faith in the wrong person and I was left holding an empty bag looking like an idiot.”
He sniffed as he ran his hand over his hair. “I’m sorry.” His tears didn’t fall, but she could see the sheen in his eyes glimmering in the streetlight. “I’m so sorry. I don’t deserve a second chance, Jenna. I know I don’t, but I came here to beg for one.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it once, twice, and a third time before holding it to his heart. “I’ve worked so hard to be better. For you. For this life I promised you. Please let me give it to you. Please let us have the home and the family that we dreamed we’d have. Please. Just give me a chance.”
She looked away and he cupped her face, wiping her tears away with his thumbs.
“You don’t have to decide right now,” he whispered. “I’m here. I’m not leaving. You take as long as you need to figure out what we mean to you.”
A bitter laugh erupted from her. “What we mean to me? I know what we mean to me, Daniel. I’ve known all along what we mean to me. I’ve been here. Day after day waiting for you to prove all those plans weren’t just empty promises and pretty words. I know what we mean to me. I don’t have a clue what we mean to you.”
His jaw tensed as he looked around. “Do you know the moment I fell in love with you?”
She shook her head.
“The moment you held up a strainer to try to ward me off.”
She laughed softly at the memory. She couldn’t stop herself.
“I’d been hiding in that alley watching you because something in you called out to me. I wanted to protect you from the first moment I saw you. My heart was yours before we even met. And every day that I spent here, I loved you more. But I never believed that we could have the life that I wanted until that day I saw you with a baby on your hip.”
She inhaled slowly and lowered her face.
“From that moment,” he continued, “I knew I had to make this life a reality. I had to make you love me too. To want that life too. And then, by some miracle that I still don’t understand, you said you wanted me, and with that happiness came the realization that I wasn’t nearly ready to be the man you needed me to be. My past was a demon I had to tackle on my own. You couldn’t fight that for me. I had to leave you so I could have you. I fought and I won. Now my fight is to get you back, and I’ll go to battle every day until I win. I told you once you were mine, I wasn’t going to give you up easily. Maybe to you I’d given up, but I was fighting. For you. For us. I want what I’ve wanted since the first time I laid eyes on you…a life and a family with you.”
She covered her face with her hands as a sob erupted from her. Pulling her to him, he hugged her as he’d done a thousand times—an all-encompassing embrace that made her want to crawl inside him and meld into his warmth and never leave.
“I love you, Jenna,” he whispered in her ear. “With every last bit of my dysfunctional heart, I love you.”
She leaned back and braced herself for what she was about to do next. “Come with me. I’ve got something to show you.”
Daniel stopped inside Jenna’s door. “Wow. This place is completely different.”
“Your uncle hasn’t stopped coming up with projects to do since you left. It’s almost as if he’s been keeping an eye on me.” She turned to him and cocked a brow.
He smiled, but didn’t confess the promise he’d extracted from his uncle before leaving.
A staircase and cutout in the ceiling made her apartment the top two floors of the building instead of just one loft, as it’d been a few months ago. The first floor was still wide open, but consisted of a living space, a dining room, and the kitchen, as well as the bathroom. Her bedroom was no longer down here.
She tossed her keys on the table.
“This is amazing. What made you decide to expand your place instead of renting out the upstairs like you planned?”
She stared at him for what seemed like forever before she started for the stairs. “Follow me.”
“Jen, I didn’t come here to…”
She scoffed. “Oh, I’m not taking you into my bed. I want to show you something.”
She walked down a hallway in what used to be his living room, and then turned through a newly erected doorway and flipped on a light.
Daniel’s chest grew so tight he couldn’t breathe. This wasn’t just a room.
The walls, a soft shade of pink, were adorned with gray elephants and yellow lions. A white crib sat centered along one wall, a rocking chair beside it, and a changing table sat against another.
He turned slowly, his heart thudding as he took in every inch of the space.
No. This wasn’t just a room. This was a nursery.
For a baby girl.
A daughter.
Finally he came face to face with Jenna again. She had her lip between her teeth as she did when her nerves kicked into high gear.
“Charlie’s been working hard to get this ready in plenty of time. Kara came over and painted just yesterday. I really like it. She did a great job.”
He lowered his gaze, not really hearing a word she was saying. The body he’d memorized and dreamed about every single damn night had changed. Not drastically, but the changes were obvious now that he was really looking at her in the light. Her breasts were fuller, her stomach rounder, her hips just slightly wider.
She was pregnant. She was going to be a mother. To a daughter.
He opened his mouth, but he couldn’t seem to find the words.
A blush crept up her neck as his gaze made its way back to her face. “If you recall, last we were time together, things happened pretty quickly. Guess what we forgot to use.”
“We…” He swallowed as his heart began thundering in his ears. “We’re having a baby?”
A half smile touched her lips. “Looks like that three-year plan is pretty much toast.”
He stepped to her, staring at her stomach. Pressing his hands to the bump, he laughed softly. “We’re having a baby.”
She pulled his hands from her body, but held them until he looked into her eyes. “I’m having a baby,” she said firmly.
Bile immediately burned up his throat.
She was going to reject him. No. She couldn’t. Not now. Not that he didn’t deserve her rejection. He’d walked away from her. She’d been here rebuilding the café, planning for the birth of a child—their child—without him. He had no right to come back now and expect her to just open her arms to him. But she couldn’t turn him away when they were so close to having everything.
“I’ll never cut you out of your daughter’s life,” she said softly. “But I won’t allow you to hurt her, either. You’re in or you’re out, Daniel. None of this leaving for everyone else’s benefit bullshit that you just pulled. You’re a father or you’re not a father. There is no in-between. You will not walk in and out of her life and make her feel like she means nothing to you.”
“I’m a father,” he said without hesitation.
There was no reason to hesitate. He’d never turn his back on his child. But he didn’t blame Jenna for doubting that. It’d take a long time to fully earn her trust again, but he still had her heart. Her eyes betrayed her attempt to be distant. “I’m not going anywhere, Jenna. I’m here. For you, for her. For us.”
He reached out and when she didn’t pull away, he jerked her into his arms and held her in the way that had always eased his pain.
Only this time he was trying to ease her fears.
“This is what I’ve been fighting for. This is the future I promised you. I won’t turn my back on it. I love you so much.”
Finally, she wrapped her arms around his waist and he hugged her even more tightly. Pulling back, she met his teary gaze with one of her own. “I love you, too. And I believe you. I believe that you won’t leave again. But you need to know I won’t be so forgiving in the future. This is your second chance. If you blow it…”
“I won’t.” He laughed as his heart filled to the point of overflowing. Putting his hands to her stomach, he shook his head. “How can I love her so much already?”
She covered his hands and laughed softly. “Crazy, huh?”
He nodded. Then a million questions hit him at once. “How are you? Are you okay? Do you need to sit? You’ve been on your feet all day. Have you hired more help? Is she okay?”
Lifting her hands, she stopped the barrage. “I’m fine. She’s fine. I have more help because the café is busy all the time now. Believe it or not, having the place vandalized was the best thing to happen to it. Not only did it give Charlie a chance to do all the updates at once, but people couldn’t wait to come in and dine at the scene of a crime. Things really turned around after the reopening.”
“Good. That’s great. I’m so happy for you.”
“The doctor says I can work right up until I choose not to.”
He put his hands on her face. “Don’t overdo it. I’ll help as much as I can. Whatever you need.”
“I know you will. Listen, you’ve convinced me to give you a second chance. My family, on the other hand…”
“Yeah, that’s going to take some time. I know.”
“But I love you, and God help me, I believe you.” She closed her eyes and took a breath. “But you ever leave me again—”
He put his hands to her hips and pulled her to him. “I won’t. I swear to you right here and right now, you are never getting rid of me.” His heart lifted and he could finally breathe again as he looked into her eyes. He belonged here. He finally belonged with her. He finally deserved her, and he would spend his life proving it to her and anyone else who doubted that.
Stroking her hair back, he pictured the image that had gotten him through the darkest of nights away from her. But he didn’t have to pretend anymore. The image was a reality, or would be in a few months. Jenna with their baby on her hip. Jenna smiling at their daughter. Filling his heart and soothing his wounds.
“I’m going to drive you crazy. You know that, don’t you? You thought I was protective before, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
Sliding her arms around his neck, she brushed her nose against his. “I’m counting on that.”
Forever Yours
Copyright © 2019 by Marci Bolden
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cover design by Okay Creations
ebook layout by Lori Colbeck
mobi ISBN-13: 978-1-950348-17-6
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Aiden Howard’s stomach clenched into a bundle of nerves as he parked in front of the O’Connell Realty office. He had sworn that once he spread his wings in “the real world,” he’d never come back to this sleepy little suburb. Yet, here he was. Not only had he returned to the small town where he grew up, but he was committing to staying for the long-term by purchasing a home.
Part of him wanted to run before it was too late. But it was already too late. He’d accepted a job at Stonehill Hospital. He’d already crammed what he’d brought back from New York City into his parents’ garage. He had told people he was coming home. His cousin Phil and his wife were expecting a new baby in just over a month, and Aiden had promised to be here to help them out.
He had broken a lot of promises in the past. But he had come home to change. His mom liked to talk about how they were a tight-knit family, but the truth was the rifts ran deep and wide.
Living away from home, moving to the city, had taken a toll on Aiden that he hadn’t even begun to process yet. He just knew he needed time to heal his soul after the horrors he’d seen. He wasn’t soft by any means, but he sure as hell hadn’t been prepared to deal with the level of inhumanity he’d faced on a near-daily basis.
So, despite years of swearing he never would, he’d come back to the security of suburban life. Not only was he back, but he was taking steps to settle in for the long haul. After taking a deep breath to firm up his resolve, Aiden climbed out of his SUV and walked into the office. He smiled warmly at the receptionist and let her know he had an appointment with Mallory Martinson-Canton. Within moments, she came out of her office, pregnant belly first, and beckoned for him to join her.
Aiden tried to keep his physician’s mind turned off when he wasn’t in the emergency room, but he couldn’t help noticing Mallory’s slow movements. He’d only been back in town for a week and didn’t know Mallory well, but he was uneasy with the obvious toll this pregnancy was taking on her. “You look tired.”
She turned her lips down in an exaggerated frown as she sat behind her desk. “Nice to see you too.”
“Sorry.” He wasn’t really. “How are you feeling?”
She shifted in her chair. “Have you ever seen one of those stores where you make your own stuffed animals?”
Aiden blinked. “Sure.”
“Have you ever seen one of those stuffed animal skins get filled to the point of bursting?”
He grinned, finally following her train of thought. “You’re only eight months along, Mal. You’ve got a bit more filling out to do.”
Even though she insisted she was miserable, she smiled and happiness lit her eyes. “I’m going to explode. I swear it.” She rolled her head back and sighed dramatically. “How are you doing?”
He blew out a breath to release some of his stress. He’d been home a week. A very long week. “I love my mom.”
Mallory’s grin widened. “But?”
“But we need to get moving on this house search.”
Aiden knew Mallory understood and wasn’t judging him. His mom and Mallory’s mother-in-law Kara were cousins, and they weren’t on the best of terms. Whenever Aiden mentioned Phil, Becca would mutter under her breath about how Kara had torn their family apart. Mending those familial rifts wasn’t going to be easy. Becca Howard was almost as good at holding a grudge as Kara Canton.
Almost.
The cousins were more alike than they wanted to admit. Both were fiercely protective of their kids and would do anything to help them, but both seemed to be a little put out that Aiden and Phil were trying to help them let go of past grievances and move on.
“First things first.” Mallory slid a clipboard and pen across to him. “All of our clients have to have a background check. Even family.”
Aiden didn’t protest. Mallory’s mom had been hurt in an attempted mugging a few years ago and still suffered side effects from the injury. He was happy that the company was enforcing rules to protect their agents. As he filled out the form, she tossed questions at him.
How many bedrooms? How many bathrooms? Was location important?
He knew the answers to all of those without thinking about them. As soon as he had started to realize city living wasn’t for him, he found himself dreaming of the home he’d have some day. Three bedrooms. At least two full bathrooms. A big fenced yard. Preferably a two-story home with an open layout downstairs to make entertaining easier.
He wasn’t a great cook, but he loved the idea of having big family dinners or lots of friends over. During his time in New York, he’d become a bit of a hermit. The stresses of working in an ER hadn’t left him with enough energy to socialize. He’d always been active and involved, but leaving Stonehill had changed him in more ways than one. He needed to get back to living his life instead of just getting through each day.
He hadn’t quite determined what that life was going to look like. When he’d left Stonehill, he’d still been too immature to thoroughly understand what his future should be. While in New York, he had become too isolated to care. He was determined to do better now, and that meant having room for big gatherings. Even if he couldn’t cook a proper meal for them.
