by Kaylea Cross
“Isn’t it?”
“Aye. A lot bonnier than the ’32 Ford in your garage.”
“Because I like you, I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that. Nice hat, by the way.”
Mac doffed it. “Aye.”
Poppy and Sierra both hugged him gently, and Poppy thrust a plate containing a cupcake with a candle burning in the center. “For you.”
“Thanks.” He stood there holding it, waiting while they sang happy birthday to him.
“Make a wish,” Molly said, taking pictures of him on her phone.
Jase met her gaze. She was his wish, and she’d already come true. But he pretended to think one up and blew out the candle anyway.
They stayed to visit for a while, then Molly called a halt to the celebration, announcing he’d had enough excitement for one day, and they got back in the car. Their friends stood on the sidewalk, waving at them as they drove away.
Jase couldn’t remember ever being so happy as Molly drove them to the 101 and they started south along the coast while the autumn sunshine lit everything with a warm glow and the rolling waves crashed into the rocks below with an explosion of white foam.
He glanced over at Molly, reminded again of how lucky he was, then took her hand and raised it to his lips for a kiss. She’d gone to a hell of a lot of work to pull off this surprise and he appreciated all of it. “I love you.”
Her mouth curved up. “I know. Love you too.”
Jase leaned back to enjoy the ride. Everything was finally right in his world. He had his girl, a child on the way, and the rest of their lives together to look forward to.
Without a doubt he would do it all over again, endure every moment that had brought them here. Even the taking a bullet part.
Epilogue
“Just one more push, Molly,” the doctor said.
“No.” This sucked.
She’d changed her mind. She didn’t want to have the baby anymore. She hadn’t wanted to have the baby for the past twelve hours, not that anyone seemed to care. In hindsight, she should have taken Zoe the author up on her offer and called, because no one had warned her it would be this bad.
“The baby’s head is right there.”
Yes, she was fucking well aware of where it was, because it felt like her entire vulva had been submerged in sulfuric acid for the past fifty-plus minutes. She growled and squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, trying to escape the pain.
“You’re so close, angel,” Jase said, his low voice breaking through the haze of pain and fear. It was like being caught on an out of control roller coaster from hell, and there was no way to get off until it rolled back into the station. “Just one more. You can do this.”
Molly shook her head, gritting her teeth against the urge to shout at him to go fuck himself. “Can’t,” she gasped out. This was way worse than she’d ever imagined it would be, even though things were going “perfectly” according to everyone in the room. Screw them all. She was a freaking ER nurse and she couldn’t believe this was what it was like to give birth.
Jase set her leg down and leaned over her to cup her face in his hands, getting her full attention. He wiped away the sweat and tears from her cheeks, his gaze solemn and steady on hers. “It’s almost over, sweetheart. I know it hurts—”
Oh, hell no. “You don’t have any clue what this feels like,” she snapped, realizing even as she said it that he’d been shot in the abdomen not too long ago. Maybe he did kind of know. “You—” She broke off, a strained groan pulling from her as another contraction squeezed and twisted, lighting her entire lower body up in pain.
Jase straightened and grabbed her leg again, pushing her thigh up and out while the hideous burning sensation intensified. Folding her into the equivalent of a human pretzel while she was enduring hideous amounts of pain. She wanted to kick him.
“There,” the doctor encouraged. “Slow, now. Nice and slow.”
Molly didn’t have a choice. Her body was forcing this on her, and she screamed as the baby’s head popped through the awful pressure.
“You’re doing fantastic, Molly,” Dr. Smithers said.
She used to be Molly’s favorite doc, but not anymore. The woman was a heartless sadist, refusing to give Molly an epidural or even knock her out with a rubber mallet because it was too late. “One more gentle push.”
Molly opened her eyes to stare up at Jase, her body caught in a vise. “So close, Moll,” he told her, his expression intent but excited. “I’m right here, angel, and I’m so proud of you.”
Well, he should be proud. She was being ripped in half, trying to shove what felt like a concrete bowling ball out of her hooha.
“One more,” he encouraged.
Okay. Okay, only one more. I can do one more.
She closed her eyes and summoned her strength, bracing for the agony she knew was coming. This was gonna hurt like a bitch no matter which way she sliced it, so might as well just get it over with.
Crushing Jase’s hand in her own, she locked her molars together and pushed with all her might, holding it, an animal sound of pain and exertion coming from her throat.
Another pop, a gush, and the baby slipped from her body.
Instantly the hideous burning stopped. Molly’s eyes snapped open and she scrambled up on her elbows to see. “What is it?”
A tiny wail rang through the room, making Molly’s racing heart squeeze.
Holding the baby, Dr. Smithers smiled at Jase, who answered for her. “It’s a girl,” he said, his voice rough.
A girl.
“Ohh, is she… Is she okay?” She tried to sit up, but she was too weak, and held out her limp arms instead. Jase was there in an instant, sliding a powerful arm behind her to help raise her up as Dr. Smithers placed their daughter on Molly’s chest.
Nurses wiped the baby gently with soft towels while Molly cradled her newborn to her. She had a cap of thick black hair, and her skin was a shade or two lighter than Molly’s.
“Oh my God, she’s beautiful,” she choked out, tears flooding her eyes. They came out of nowhere, the release of pent-up emotion hitting her like the mallet she’d wished for moments ago.
“She’s perfect,” Jase said in awe, reaching out to stroke the baby’s hair with a gentle finger.
“What’s her name going to be?” the doctor asked.
“Savannah Carter Weaver,” Molly answered. Today was February eleventh. That was her daughter’s birthday, just a week after Carter’s. Incredible.
The tears came faster and she gave up trying to stop them, pulling her hospital gown aside to put the baby against her bare skin. Carter had never even known he was going to be a father.
He should have been here. Not in Jase’s place beside her, but at least out in the hall with the others, waiting for word. Though he would never know his daughter, a part of him would live on through her forever.
“Would you like to cut the cord?” Dr. Smithers asked Jase, who took the surgical scissors from her and did the honors.
Molly reluctantly allowed the nurse to take the baby to weigh her and check all her vitals. Molly tore her gaze from that tiny form to look up at Jase. “Oh my God, I did it.”
“You sure as hell did,” he told her, wrapping both arms around her and pushing his face into her sweat-soaked, matted curls. “You deserve a medal.”
“I totally do.” She stared across the room at her daughter on the scale while Dr. Smithers gave Molly a shot of oxytocin in the thigh that burned like a wasp sting.
Delivering the placenta thankfully didn’t hurt at all, and they mercifully froze her before putting in the stitches. Through it all, she was distracted by what was going on with the baby.
Finally, the nurse turned to Jase, holding out Savannah, who was now swaddled in a receiving blanket. “You want to hold her?”
“Yes.” Jase stood and wiped his hands on his jeans, looking adorably nervous as he reached for their daughter. The way he carefully tucked her into the crook of his arm, the sight of
her tiny body cradled so protectively against that broad chest, made Molly’s heart turn inside out.
But the look on his face. The absolute awe and pride and joy there brought on another wave of tears as the nurse stood by taking picture after picture on Jase’s phone.
He’d been her rock through this entire ordeal. Through every hellish step of her marriage’s painful decline with Carter, through his death and beyond and through the ordeal of childbirth. He’d been at her side. She loved him more for that than anything else.
He was all choked up, his voice rough and raw as he stared down at their daughter. “You’re mine in every way that counts, and I’m gonna be here for you forever.” His gorgeous aqua eyes shimmered with tears when he looked over at Molly, but he was smiling. “I love her so much already,” he said with a rough laugh.
If the man hadn’t already owned her heart and soul, those words would have done it.
Molly smiled back and reached out a hand for him. “Me too.”
He came and sat beside her, carefully transferred Savannah to Molly’s hold. The nurse had put a little knit cap on her perfect head to keep her warm.
Molly cuddled her close, pain forgotten, cataloguing every little thing about her face. Savannah had Carter’s cleft in her chin. Her eyes were a deep, slate gray right now. Would they be dark, like his had been? Or hazel-green, like hers?
She looked up at Jase. “Do you think he knows?” she whispered, meaning Carter.
He understood exactly what she meant. “Yeah, he knows. And he’s damn proud of you both.”
She smiled, believing it was true.
Molly sighed in relief as soon as everything was done and the staff filed out, leaving them alone. “That’s better,” she whispered, bending her head to kiss the center of her daughter’s forehead.
“Much,” Jase agreed, and stood.
She was so preoccupied by the baby that she didn’t notice what he was doing until he sat a hip on the edge of her bed next to her thigh and held up one hand. The gray morning light coming through the window caught on her gold wedding band as he took her left hand and slid it onto her finger. He’d proposed on Christmas Eve and they’d eloped the first week of January with just Sierra, Beckett, Poppy, Noah and Aidan there.
“I’m putting this back where it belongs now,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her softly. He cradled her cheek in his palm, his gaze so tender and fierce all at once that her heart skipped. “I love you so damn much, Moll, and I’m in awe of how incredibly strong you are.”
She was only strong because she’d had him beside her through everything. “I love you too, sweetheart.”
He glanced toward the door. “Guess I should tell the cheering section out in the hall. Your mom and grandma are probably ready to claw the door down.”
“Not yet,” she begged, wanting to hold onto this moment forever. She loved that her mom and grandmother had made the trip out for the birth, but she wasn’t ready to give up this solitude yet. “I want a few more minutes with just us.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Me too.”
Together they gazed down at their newborn daughter, a forever family.
No matter what else life threw at them, Molly would always have Jase at her side. And not a single day would pass when their daughter didn’t know how much she was loved.
—The End—
Dear reader,
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Kaylea
Excerpt from Rocky Ground
Crimson Point Series
By Kaylea Cross
Copyright © 2019 Kaylea Cross
Chapter One
A womanizing deadbeat, a not-so-high-functioning alcoholic, and a pedophile.
The sad truths of her three longest-lasting relationships. Not exactly a track record to be proud of, or a recommendation for mother of the year.
Tiana Fitzgerald pulled the hood of her coat up as she got out of her car and dashed through the rain from to the Crimson Point police station to face more fallout from her most recent disaster of a romantic relationship. Her week had already gone from bad to shit on Monday after receiving another blow, this one by mail.
One crisis at a time.
Sheriff Noah Buchanan rose from the chair behind his desk with a broad smile on his handsome face when she knocked on his open door. He’d been so good to her and her daughter through everything that had happened. Over the past year he and his girlfriend Poppy had become her friends. “You look half-drowned,” he said with a chuckle. “Come on in.”
“It’s monsooning out there.” April showers brought May flowers and all that, except here on the Oregon Coast when it rained nonstop for weeks on end and saturated everything.
“Is Ella at afterschool care?”
“No, I dropped her off at Beckett and Sierra’s before coming here.” She took off her soaked jacket and draped it over the back of the chair in front of his desk before sitting and folding her hands in her lap, maintaining at least the outward appearance of calm and collected. “So, you said you had an update for me about Brian.”
She still hated saying his name. Hated even more than she’d fallen for his fake charm in the first place and not seen the monster underneath. It disgusted her to think that she’d slept with him. Filled her with rage that, unbeknownst to her, he’d exposed himself to her then eight-year-old daughter, and would have molested her or worse if Ella hadn’t told someone.
Ella hadn’t told her. No, she’d told their neighbors, Beckett and Sierra. Noah’s best friend and sister.
It broke Tiana’s heart that her daughter hadn’t trusted her, but once Ella’s reasoning had become clear, she understood her decision better. Ella had been trying to protect her.
“I do.” Noah reached one muscular arm back into a file cabinet and took out a folder that he placed on his desk. “The latest report came back from the computer forensics people.”
Her insides curdled. They’d seized Brian’s electronics after he’d been arrested last spring, but they’d found a personal laptop of his a month ago. She hadn’t been shown any of the information about the ongoing investigation until now. “Let me guess—they found all kinds of child porn and a whole bunch of other disgusting stuff on his hard drive.”
Noah confirmed her suspicions with a nod. “Right.”
Gross. “And I’m also betting Ella’s not the first girl he’s done this to.”
“Right again. We identified three other possible victims. All girls, aged eleven and under, and there may be others we don’t know about yet. His pattern seems to be targeting single moms with young daughters.”
The news sickened her. It was horrifying to think that predators like him were walking around in plain sight but undetected, and that she’d fallen for his act. His clean cut good looks and impressive professional image as a successful and highly sought after investment banker working for a large firm based in Portland. “Well that’s…disturbing.”
Noah’s deep blue gaze was steady. “Yes it is.” The night of the confrontation with Brian, Noah had been especially wonderful. Beckett too, whom she’d never be able to thank enough for intervening on Ella’s behalf.
Tiana had arrived home that evening, clueless as to what had been going on, and walked into a chaotic scene straight out of her nightmares. Brian in cuffs in the back of Noah’s cruiser, his nose and mouth bleeding from Beckett’s powerful fist. When she’d found
out what Brian had done, she’d wanted to rip him apart. “I can’t say any of this surprises me, though. Not now.”
“I showed you this because I wanted you to know you’re not the only one. You’re not the only person he’s fooled. He’s done this before and gotten away with it, at least three more times that we know of. But because Ella spoke up and he’s been charged, two of the other girls are willing to testify as well.”
“A tiny bit of a silver lining in this whole mess.”
“Yes.” He opened up the file, leafed through some papers and began to read. “The forensic psychologist’s report says the usual things common to most child predators. He was likely sexually abused himself as a child himself and blames external factors to explain and justify his actions in an attempt to diminish his guilt. He’ll also go to great lengths to hide his behavior.”
“Boy, did he ever,” she said bitterly. She’d been completely oblivious to what was happening behind her back.
Noah closed the file. “They’re experts at it. That’s why it’s so hard to catch them. And they control their victims, making it hard for them to speak out. But not Ella.” He sat back in his chair, a slight smile lifting one side of his mouth. “You’ve got a brave little girl there.”
“I know it.” She pulled in a breath and shook her head. “How do you do this job, Noah? Seeing this kind of thing day after day?”
“Thankfully around here that kind of thing is rare, but yeah, I’ve seen my fair share of shit. It’s always harder when kids are involved. And I do it because I can make a difference and protect kids like Ella by taking the monsters off the street and putting them away for as long as possible.”
If it were up to Tiana, Brian and all the other child predators in the world would rot in prison for the rest of their lives and never see the light of day again.
Noah’s parting words resonated with her as she drove home to her rental house on the other side of town. If Brian refused the plea bargain that was about to be offered him—and it was sickening enough that he was being offered any kind of a deal at all—then Ella would have to take the witness stand and testify in court in front of him.
