Could Have Been Us

by Corinne Michaels

  Oh, I love this kid. Stella, who is way too hopeful that Kinsley will want to be in her life, isn’t going to disappoint her.

  “Right. I just . . . I’m not dressed for it.”

  “I have some clothes in my truck,” I offer.

  The soft, sweet woman who was just talking is no more. No, now she’s looking at me as if she wants to rip my eyes out and feed them to a bear. “Clothes?”

  “Yeah. I always have a change of clothes. Don’t you keep something in your car?”

  I know she doesn’t, but this is fun.

  Stella sighs. “No, Jack, I don’t because . . . well, I just don’t.”

  Kinsley laughs and then covers her mouth. I give her a wink. “You can stay back if you want,” I suggest.

  “Stay? What?” she sputters. “Why would I stay back . . . and why . . . ugh.”

  “I don’t know, but do you want the clothes?” I walk over to my car and pull out a sweatshirt and a pair of pants.

  She takes the offered clothing and then walks behind the car, dragging me with her. “You are in so much trouble,” Stella warns. “I thought you were proposing! I got all dressed up.”

  “I can’t propose to you here,” I say as though she should understand that already. When she doesn’t say anything, I continue. “You know it’s where Grayson proposed to Jessica.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Right. Makes total sense.”

  “Aww, don’t be mad, baby. I promise I’ll propose at some point this weekend.”

  “I’m wearing a dress now.”

  “I see that. I like it.” I pull her close to me, my hands moving toward her bare legs.

  Stella slaps me. “No, no touching for you.”

  “It starts already. We aren’t even engaged yet, and I’m being punished.”

  “You have no clue . . .”

  “I’m sure I don’t,” I agree. I’ve seen Stella pissed off at others, and she’s . . . scary. But in about thirty minutes, if I’m not dead, she’ll have a ring on her finger, and hopefully, all her ire will be forgotten.

  She puts on the extremely large pants, rolling them and then groaning. “Jack, I can’t wear these.”

  I smile. “I know. I was kidding.”

  “So, I’m supposed to hike in a white dress and heels?”

  “No, you’re going to put on the leggings that are in the bag Kinsley has and we’re going to ride out.”

  “Ride?”

  I nod. “I have two ATVs . . . you’ll ride with me.”

  “I hate you.”

  “I know you don’t.” I walk out from behind the car, and the pants she just had on hit me in the back of the head.

  “I should!”

  I laugh, turning toward her with a grin. “But you don’t.”

  As we head toward the clearing where everyone is waiting, nerves start to build. I know this is what she wants, hence her dress, but I really want today to be perfect. The sun is just setting and these woods are special to me.

  It’s where I kissed her at her brother’s wedding.

  It’s where I fell asleep under the stars, holding her close.

  It’s where we’ve laughed, and in truth, it’s where it all began.

  When we were kids, the woods is where we played. Willow Creek Valley is all mountains and trees, and Stella has always been the ground that kept me steady.

  However, right now, she’s tapping my stomach and just pinched my side. “Yes?” I call to her, turning my head to the side.

  “Can you stop?” she yells.

  I stop where there’s a break in the trees, and Samuel comes beside me. “If you go up just a little bit, the trees open, that’s where we’ll camp. I have a tent already there. Go on ahead, I want to talk to Stella.”

  “All right, I’ll unload and get ready.”

  Samuel and Kinsley drive off, leaving the two of us.

  When I turn to her, she’s grinning. “You’re taking me to the spot we were at last time, where I almost died from a bear attack, because everyone is here and you’re going to propose.”

  I stare at her as she raises her brows. “Seriously? You stopped me here, right here, before we got to where you believe that was going to happen, to what?”

  She shrugs. “Prove that I’m right.”

  “You couldn’t just let it go?”

  “Does that sound like something I’m able to do? Admit it. You got me all dressed up so you can propose.”

  I groan, getting off the quad. This woman, this absolutely maddening woman who I love more than anything in the world, is a pain in my ass. Still, there’s no other pain I want besides her.

  Suddenly, I don’t want to ask her in front of the world. Because the world never mattered. She’s what does.

  She watches me. “What’s wrong? You’re mad? I’ve practiced my surprise face all day, so don’t worry, I’ll get it right. Look.” She opens her mouth, and her hands go flying up.

  I laugh and shake my head. “You look ridiculous, and nothing’s wrong.”

  “Then why are you making that face?”

  “What face?”

  “It’s a mix of: I have to poop and I’m thinking so hard my head might explode.”

  Stella climbs off the ATV and walks over to me carefully since she has freaking heels on. I take her hands in mine and then drop to my knee.

  “Stella Parkerson, I love you more than I have ever known another could. I’ve never been worthy of you. Not the day I met you when we were kids. Not the day I kissed you and made love to you. Not the day you gave me a child or any day in between or since. I have always loved you, but have never deserved you. Today, I kneel before you, despite all we’ve been through, and ask you to let me try to be worthy. That you give me your heart and your hand, knowing that I will always fight to be more—for you. I wasn’t going to do this now. I planned for this to happen just through those trees, but this isn’t about anyone else but us. I choose you, Stella. I love you, and I am asking if you will be my wife?”

  Tears fall down her cheeks as she drops to her knees with me. Her hands cup my face, and she kisses me. “Yes, I’ll marry you, you stupid, amazing, wonderful man. I have always been yours, Jack. No matter what you think, you are better than anyone in this world.”

  I kiss her again, clutching her to my chest.

  “Now, I’m going to have to do this again when we go through those trees,” I tell her.

  “Why?” she asks, rubbing her thumbs along my scruffy jaw.

  “Because everyone you love is there, and they’re desperate to watch me grovel.”

  She laughs. “Well then, let’s not keep them waiting.”

  “One more thing,” I tell her.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m not waiting long to marry you.”

  “Good. Let’s run away tomorrow,” Stella says with a grin.

  “Tomorrow sounds perfect.”

  Epilogue

  Stella

  ~One Month Later~

  Marrying Jack in Vegas was the best and easiest decision I ever made.

  For the last month, we’ve enjoyed being husband and wife. However, Jack gave me the best wedding present ever—Kinsley and Samuel moving here.

  “Can you help me with this?” Samuel asks.

  Jack rushes over, grabbing the box from him. We gave them Jack’s cabin to live in until they want to move, and Samuel started working for Odette last week.

  Kinsley comes over, wrapping her hands around my arm. “I love what you did here.”

  I smile at her. My big surprise for them was a renovation. One that included enclosing the loft area as a bedroom for Kinsley and converting a space downstairs into a bedroom for Samuel. It’s not five-star, but it gives them each the privacy they need. No kid wants their dad to see them when they’re sulking.

  Not only did we do that, but also we redecorated Kinsley’s room at my place however she wanted. We’re not complicating things, just giving her a space wherever she wants.

  “I love it to
o. So much better than Jack had it before.”

  She nods. “Especially now that we’re living here all the time.”

  God, those words just make my heart race. I have everything, and I’m still not sure how it’s possible. I got the most amazing husband any woman could wish for, my kid who has been missing from my life for far too long, and a friendship with Samuel that I think would make Misty happy.

  And, of course, we broke ground on the Firefly Resort.

  “Do you like your teacher?” I ask.

  “She’s fine. I got into the advanced math program, which is what I wanted.”

  “I knew you would.”

  Jack yells from the other side of the room. “Damn right we knew.”

  He is so proud of her.

  “Do you think we can go look at the Firefly today?” Kinsley asks.

  “Not today. Jack and I have to meet the design crew in about an hour, and you have a lot of unpacking to do.”

  “I really want to see it,” she complains.

  Samuel speaks up. “Maybe another time, Kins. I need you here. Plus, they’re going to be busy since Odette has big ideas.”

  She huffs. “Fine.”

  Odette is amazing. She’s on top of everything and has contingency plans on top of each other to make sure we’re able to open and be fully functioning within the year. I don’t see how it’s possible, but she swears it’s going to happen, and Samuel agrees.

  “Tomorrow we have that girls’ spa day,” I remind her.

  “That’s right!”

  Jack puts another box down and gives me a look. “I’m not going.”

  “You weren’t invited.”

  “I’m just saying that Stella is known to torture people at the spa,” he warns Kinsley.

  “I do not. He’s just a big baby.”

  “A baby?”

  I nod. “Yes, husband, a big baby who doesn’t keep his pants on.”

  He glares and then leans in, kissing me quickly. “You’re lucky I love you so much.”

  “I know.”

  Kinsley makes a gagging noise. “You guys are so gross.”

  The two of us chuckle, and then Jack heads off to see if Samuel needs help before we head out. “I’ll pick you up around noon, okay?”

  “You’re leaving now?”

  I nod. “We have to if I want to make it over there on time. I’ll see you tomorrow, though, okay?”

  She gives me a hug before I head outside where Jack and Samuel are leaning against the car. “You ready?”

  “Yeah,” Jack says before turning to Samuel. “I’ll come back tomorrow and help out after the girls leave for the spa.”

  He nods. “I appreciate it. Maybe Kinsley can spend the night with you guys tomorrow? I want to go to a meeting, and I have to leave for work before she will get up. That way, you can help her off to school?”

  “Of course,” I say quickly. “We can do that.”

  On the way to the Firefly, we talk about how things have turned out. It’s really sort of magical.

  “You’re happy?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  Jack grabs my hand and kisses my palm. “Blissfully.”

  “Me too. Well, other than when it comes to this wedding we have to plan.”

  Apparently, I’ve stolen this moment from my brothers, and they’re not having it. I am required to marry Jack in front of them. According to Grayson, we’re not legally married unless he witnesses it.

  He’s an idiot.

  And so are the others.

  Or maybe I’m the idiot since I’m actually having the fucking wedding they demanded.

  “I don’t know why you’re so against this,” Jack says as we near the property.

  “Because we’re already married! Now we have to spend money on a wedding that is literally just for their benefit.”

  “And Kinsley’s,” he reminds me.

  “Yeah, yeah, I guess . . . I don’t know, I just didn’t think she really cared about it. When we left that morning, she was fine.”

  “What was she going to say?”

  I sigh. “I don’t know. I just—I loved our cute little wedding in Vegas. It was perfect, and it’s the vows that matter, not the rest of it.”

  Jack lifts our entwined fingers, my ring glittering in the sunlight. “I love you, Stella, but we’re having this wedding because I will not listen to your brother bitch for another minute about it.”

  “He’s such a jerk.”

  “He is, but there’s a part of me that wants to see it too,” he admits.

  “What?”

  “The white dress, the flowers, you looking at me all lusty as you see me in my tuxedo.”

  I roll my eyes. “You’re ridiculous. I don’t look at you all lusty.”

  Jack laughs and pulls into the construction site before putting the car in park. “You do. Admit it. I leave you in a perpetual state of horniness.”

  “Oh, yeah, don’t you know it. I’m just walking around, wishing that you were there to satisfy me,” I say with so much sarcasm I could choke.

  I get out of the car before he can give me a lame retort and walk around the car. When he gets to me, he scoops me into his arms, walking through the mud as I laugh. “Put me down!”

  “And let you ruin your shoes? Not a chance. I’m a smart man, Stella O’Donnell, and I am aware of what those things cost.”

  I smile. “You are going to have to do a lot of wilderness trips to keep my shoe collection happy.”

  “Is that so?”

  “It is, Jack O’Donnell.” I grip his face and pull him in for a kiss. “And you promised to cherish me. Shoes are the way to my heart.”

  “Here I thought I was.”

  I grin. “You rank high, but not above my Jimmy Choos.”

  He puts me down, and just as I get my footing, I catch sight of someone sneaking out of Joshua’s RV and almost fall on my ass.

  I grab Jack’s arm, pulling him behind one of the stacks of wood.

  Jack lets out a chuckle. “Well, how about that?”

  “Delia,” I say softly.

  Not only is she sneaking out of there, but also her hair is a damn mess and she’s struggling to get her arm through her sleeve.

  “We both know how this goes,” he says, shaking his head.

  “Yeah, my brother is a freaking mess. He’s never going to commit, and she’s going to be crushed.”

  “Or they fall in love and your brother gets his head out of his ass.”

  That’s never going to happen. Josh is . . . different. He doesn’t want love, a family, or anything in his life worth losing. “I think not.”

  “Well, this isn’t our business.”

  I look up at him. “You don’t know me very well.”

  “Stella, you cannot get involved.”

  I shrug because . . . I can, and I probably will. “If you say so, husband.”

  Jack’s eyes close as he lets out a heavy sigh. “You’re already planning something, aren’t you?”

  “Me? Never.”

  “What are we watching?” someone asks, and I jump, pushing Jack in front of me.

  When I see who it is, I work on calming my heart.

  Jack speaks first. “Nothing, just trying to get my wife to see the scenery differently.”

  Odette looks over at the RV and then back to me. “Did your brother have a visitor?”

  I grin and walk toward her, hooking my arm in hers. “Why don’t you tell me everything you know.”

  “Great. Just freaking great,” Jack says from behind us. I ignore him, hoping I can get some dirt from Odette that I can use on our girls’ spa day in two weeks.

  “To Stella and Jack!” Winnie says, raising her glass.

  Everyone does the same, and I smile. Today has been a load of fun. We’ve been pampered to the max, Kinsley has had a great time, and I have kept my promise not to say a word about Delia doing the dirty with Josh.

  They think they’re so sly. Pfft. They’re idiots, and once today
is done, I plan to call them out. It’s only fair since Josh spent a good portion of time tormenting me as a kid. Plus, I don’t want to see Delia hurt.

  “Thank you, girls, for being here today. I’m glad we were able to have some fun, leave the boys, and spend some much-needed time together,” I say. “I love you all so much, and I can’t believe I have to have this big, expensive wedding just to make my siblings happy.” They all laugh. “But in all seriousness, I want to thank you all. Each one of you played a vital role in my life. Whether it was being a friend, a sister I never had, or the reason Jack and I finally got it together, you are the best bridal party anyone could have.” I look at Kinsley. “And to my beautiful maid of honor, thank you for letting me in your life.”

  Winnie raises her glass again. “To the bride!”

  Everyone toasts as I wrap my arm around Kinsley. “Do you think . . . do you think I can call you something other than Stella?”

  I look down at her, blinking and trying to form an appropriate response that isn’t just sobbing and incoherence. “Yes, I mean, whatever you want to call me is fine.”

  “I talked to my dad about it. I didn’t want to hurt him.”

  “Of course. Kinsley, you don’t have to. You can call me Stella. It doesn’t upset me.”

  I mean that, and even with wanting so badly for her to think of me as her mother, just having her near is enough.

  “I know, but, now that I’m here, it’s really hard to say, ‘Oh, that’s my birth mother,’ you know?”

  “I don’t, but I’ll take your word for it. Well, whatever you want to call me is fine, and if you’re not always comfortable and need to flip around until you settle on a name, that’s fine too.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” I let out a long sigh. “So, did you have fun?”

  “I did. I’ve never been to a spa before, and this was really cool.”

  I know that things between her and I won’t always be so fabulous. There will be times when she might hate me, and that’s okay because I’ll love her enough for the both of us. All that really matters is that I’ll be around for her life.

  “Hey, you two!” Jess calls us. “The limo will be here soon, and we have some shopping to do.”