Stay a Little Longer

by Kait Nolan

  “Let’s get final pictures for the blog post and clean everything up so y’all can get out of here,” Athena urged. “Scott, you’re still good to drop Ari at home?”

  “Sure thing.”

  Logan pitched in, as much out of habit as a desire to hurry them on their way so he could get Athena alone. Since Pru and Flynn’s baby had been born in September, filming had moved to the farm’s kitchen. Athena had been spending more nights here herself, claiming that Rudy was less sleep confused than the newest member of the Reynolds family. Logan wasn’t about to complain.

  By the time they’d broken down all the lights, coiled all the cables, and stowed the rest of the gear, Athena had packaged up part of the demo meal to send home with Scott and Ari.

  “I’ll edit this latest video and have something for you to proof in a few days,” Scott promised.

  “Take your time. I know you and Celeste have got that big Christmas project coming up for the Chamber of Commerce.”

  “Gonna be a stunner for sure. You ready, kid?”

  A flicker of irritation crossed Ari’s face before she fixed her smile firmly in place. The last thing she wanted was to be seen as a kid. “Sure. Let’s go.”

  Logan watched the pair of them leave, ribbing each other. As soon as they were out of earshot, he turned to Athena. “Do we need to worry about that?”

  “Nah. He’s her first real crush. She’s fifteen. He’s twenty-two and doesn’t see her as anything other than a little sister. Hence the ‘kid’ she got so annoyed about. Plus, he’s got a thing for Crystal’s daughter Nicky.”

  When he only grunted, she laughed. “Stand down, Papa Bear. I already warned Pru and Flynn. Pru’s had a conversation with her, which both of them found utterly mortifying. Scott’s a safe one for her to practice her flirting on because it will never go anywhere.”

  “I suppose that’s better than one of her classmates.”

  “That poor kid had no idea she’d be taking on multiple over-protective parent figures when she got adopted into this family.”

  “She loves all of us,” Logan protested.

  “That she does. C’mon. Are you ready to eat now or do you want to wait for later?”

  “Let’s wait a bit. How about a little walk before dinner? We’ve got time to catch the sunset.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  They grabbed light jackets and headed out into the fading light. Bo and Peep raced over from the stables, bumping and barking greetings. After quick, full-body rubs, they seemed content to trot a few yards ahead, sniffing everything as they went. Logan took Athena’s hand, loving how she fell into ready step beside him to walk the land that had, in a very real way, brought them together.

  Talking of basic, everyday things, they trailed past the stables, beyond Sebastian’s little cabin and on up the hill where the ground had been broken for the new greenhouse a couple of weeks back. The framing had been put in place for the foundation and pipes run for irrigation. God and weather willing, the foundation would be poured sometime next week.

  “It’ll be done before you know it, and then you’ll lose the quiet season,” Athena observed.

  “The quiet season?”

  “That’s what my dad always used to call winter. There’s always something to do on a farm, of course, but winter was always quieter. It’s when he used to catch up on reading and make plans for spring. You’ve got a bigger operation here, but it still slows down in winter, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah. The quiet season. I like that. A time to dream and plan for the future.” At the top of the hill he stopped and drew her in, resting his cheek on her hair as they looked down over the farm they both loved, gilded by the setting sun.

  “Helluva view,” she murmured.

  “It definitely is. Your dad’s gonna enjoy seeing it again when we bring him out next weekend.”

  “I hope so. He’ll never be what he was, but he’s made some strides these past few months. There are more good days than there were before, and I think he’s gotten to a place where he’ll get some peace out of seeing this place.”

  “It’s a good place for finding peace.”

  They stood, wrapped around each other in the dying light, and Logan bided his time.

  When the last rim of sun sank below the horizon, Athena let loose a soft, contented sigh. “I never get tired of seeing that.”

  Stepping back, Logan kept one of her hands in his. “Ready to go home?”

  “Yeah. I think I am.”

  “Good.” Surrounded by the scent of freshly-tilled earth and a watercolor sky, he sank down to one knee.

  “Logan.” She pressed a hand to her mouth.

  “In general, I’m a patient man. I said I’d wait until you were ready, and I did my best, but it turns out I’m kinda in a hurry. I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for you. I didn’t even know what my life was missing until you came into it. So I hope I’ve waited long enough for you to adjust to the idea because I want to marry you. I want to bring you back to this land, where you’ve always belonged, and make a family and life with you. Say you’ll be mine, Athena. Say you’ll come home to me.”

  With her free hand, she cupped his cheek. “All I’ve wanted since I was twelve years old was to come home. It was a dream I gave up a long, long time ago. So to have you giving me that chance, to know that you’re part of the package, not for a few days or weeks but a lifetime—well, Farmer Boy, I can’t think of anything I want more. So yeah, I’ll marry you.”

  Whooping, Logan shot to his feet, scooping Athena off hers and swinging her in a dizzying circle. The dogs leapt and danced around them, joining in the fun. Laughing, she held on.

  “I love you. I love you so damned much.”

  “Are you gonna show me what’s in the box?”

  “Oh, right.” He set her back down and opened the little box still clutched in his hand. The diamond caught the last faint rays of the sun as he pulled it out and slid it on her left hand.

  She ran a thumb over the low profile band. “It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”

  “Far from it.”

  “Perfect for me,” she corrected, twining her arms around him and brushing her lips to his in a kiss that was all too brief. “C’mon let’s get dinner.”

  “You want to eat now?”

  She tugged away and shot a wicked grin over her shoulder. “You’re gonna need your strength to celebrate.”

  Wrapping an arm around her, he pressed another hard, fast kiss to her mouth. “Yes, Chef.”

  Choose Your Next Romance

  Maggie and Porter’s book, Bring It On Home is FINALLY available for preorder! You can grab your copy here. Keep turning the pages for a sneak peek at the first chapter.

  Meanwhile, why don’t you hop on over to my intertwined Rescue My Heart series? It begins with Baby It’s Cold Outside, a snowbound, forced-cohabitation romance between a former Army Ranger and a runaway author?

  What I Like About You, Book 2 in the Rescue My Heart trilogy, follows another of that band of brothers, former Army Ranger turned horse trainer Sebastian Donnelly, and Logan’s little sister Laurel. Plus, you get to attend Logan and Athena’s wedding! Who wants to miss that? Nobody.

  Turn the page for a sneak peek!

  Bring It On Home

  The Misfit Inn #4

  "That girl who got knocked up in high school.”

  * * *

  Maggie Reynolds went all the way to Los Angeles to escape that label, but she hears the whispers every time she comes home to Eden's Ridge, Tennessee. She's been burning the candle at both ends for the last twelve years, trying to make something of her herself, trying to give people something else to say about her.

  * * *

  Porter Ingram prides himself on being a steady man, a good friend, but he's none too steady when he flies off to California because Maggie's collapsed from exhaustion and she doesn't want her sister, Pru, to worry. Not when Pru's about to have a baby any minute. What Maggie doesn't know is that she
's more than just a good friend to Porter. It's an open secret he's been wearing on his sleeve for years, if she'd only see it.

  * * *

  When Maggie's forced to take a sabbatical from work, the obvious choice is to go home to Tennessee. But there's nothing restful about just doing nothing for a doer like her. Throwing herself into getting the Eden's Ridge Artisan Guild off the ground is a natural fit for her talents, and Porter's grateful for her help. But walking in the shadows of their painful past could reveal secrets that just might destroy everything they think they know about each other.

  Chapter One

  “In conclusion, I think we can all agree that Aponyx will be in good hands.”

  A single pair of hands began to applaud. “You nailed it.”

  Satisfied, Maggie Reynolds nodded at her audience of one, her administrative assistant Alyssa. “I think I did. Now let’s just hope the real presentation goes off without a hitch.”

  “You’re due in the conference room downstairs in―” Alyssa checked her watch. “―ten minutes.”

  “No time to lose.” She shoved up from the chair behind her desk and her stomach pitched as the room made a slow revolution.

  “You okay?”

  Fingers gripping the edge of the desk to keep from sinking right back into her chair, Maggie blinked and waited for the world to right itself. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just stood up too fast.”

  Alyssa looked askance in her direction. “Are you sure? Have you eaten today?”

  Had she? “I grabbed a pastry on my way into the office.” Or was that yesterday?

  “That was six hours ago.”

  Convinced her legs would hold her, Maggie began to gather up her presentation materials. “We’ll get a celebratory meal after the contracts are signed. Seriously. I’m fine. I just need another cup of coffee.”

  “Already on it.” Alyssa thrust a travel mug into her hand.

  “You are a goddess.” Even as Maggie sipped, she wondered if Blood Coffee Level was a thing. If so, hers was well over the legal limit. But it was the only way she’d been able to function the past few weeks. Okay, months, if she were being honest. She’d been working too hard because work kept her from thinking. That was par for the course and what she’d done for the past twelve years when September rolled around. A part of her was afraid of where her mind would go without the distraction of contracts and mergers and the endless minutia of being right-hand to one of the most powerful women in the country.

  But this year had been worse than usual. Ever since her mother died in a car accident and she’d been pulled home to Tennessee help her sisters deal with the estate and the aftermath, it had just been one thing after another. A lot more travel to settle things, a lot of legal stuff Maggie had been the natural choice to take on. A lot of reconnecting with her sisters. Which was good, so good. Mostly. But it was bringing up memories she’d done her best to forget.

  Instead of a few weeks of overwork distraction in September, she’d been at this for more than a year. She’d been doing double duty for somewhere around eighteen months, keeping herself too busy to be overwhelmed by things she’d rather not remember. She couldn’t deny it was taking a toll. Her body was drained, and all the caffeine had her pulse skittering so she felt simultaneously edgy and dull. Maybe she should take a little time. A long weekend to catch up on sleep. Maybe she’d find a spa up in Sonoma and get pampered.

  Later. After the anniversary.

  Palming the flash drive with her presentation, she moved around her desk. “Let’s do this. Do you have the copies of the contract?”

  “Right here. Sticky-tabbed, exactly as you wanted.”

  “Perfect. You’re a lifesaver.”

  Reviewing the details of the final pitch, they headed down the hall toward the elevator that would take them to the conference room on the forty-second floor. The merger with Aponyx was all but locked in. Its owner, Roman Lewis, just had to sign on the dotted line.

  Maggie’s phone began to vibrate. Seeing her sister Pru’s name flash across the screen, she stopped dead. The baby. Thirty-seven weeks. Her mind spun through all the prospective complications, everything that could go wrong. Preeclampsia. Preeclamptic seizure. Placental abruption. What if Pru had gone into pre-term labor? What if the umbilical cord had wrapped around the baby’s neck?

  A cold wave of fear swept over her skin, leaving a dewy sheen of sweat in its wake. “Let them know I’ll be there as soon as I can. I have to take this.” Peeling off, she strode back to her office, punching answer as she went. “What’s wrong?”

  “Do you want to tell me why there’s a $700 stroller in my foyer?”

  Mind still trapped in the horror of what if, it took Maggie a few moments to register the tone of mild interest underscored with just a hint of exasperation. “I…what? Are you okay? Are you having contractions?”

  “I’m fine. The baby’s fine. I’m just trying to figure out why you sent me the Cadillac of baby strollers.”

  Reassured everything was okay, Maggie released a controlled breath and wrangled her emotions back in line. She couldn’t afford to be rattled for this meeting. “Because you’re going to need it in a few weeks.” Of course she would. Because her pregnancy had been textbook perfect so far. There was no reason to expect anything else. But that didn’t stop Maggie’s brain from reminding her of the possibilities. She knew better than many that textbook-perfect could turn into a nightmare in a heartbeat.

  “We already had a stroller.”

  “Yeah, but this one reclines to become an emergency bassinet. And it has a two-way facing toddler seat, an adjustable handle-bar, a temperature-regulating bamboo insert to keep the baby from getting too hot in the summer, and a massive, extendable canopy with UPF 50+ to protect the baby from sun. It’s very well-rated.” She’d researched every model on the market before settling on this one.

  “I’m sure it’s wonderful, but honey, it’s too much. You already gave us the Pack ’n Play, the BabyBjörn, a DiaperGenie, and enough clothes to clothe the kid until he or she is four. It is not on you to outfit us with every baby accessory known to man.”

  It was the only way Maggie could think of to make up for the fact that she’d been slowly pulling back as her sister’s pregnancy progressed. She hadn’t known it would be this hard, watching Pru and her besotted husband, Flynn, prepare for their new arrival. The baby had been a surprise―a good one. Everyone in the extended Reynolds family was beside themselves with excitement. Not at all how anyone had reacted when it had happened to her. There was no comparison to their situations, but still, Maggie had struggled with feelings she’d thought long buried. She’d sooner streak naked down Rodeo Drive than have Pru realize she was anything other than ecstatic about this baby.

  “Are you seriously going to rain on my doting-aunt-to-be parade?”

  In the beat of silence, she imagined Pru closing her eyes and praying for patience as she rubbed the mound of her belly. “No. And thank you for your generosity. But seriously, you have to stop. We’ve got absolutely everything we need. We don’t have room for anything else.”

  “I suppose I could return the cute little giraffe onesie.”

  “Giraffe?” Pru didn’t quite manage to hide the interest. She had a weakness for all things animal. The nursery had been done up in a Noah’s Ark theme and already held more stuffed animals than FAO Schwartz.

  “Mmhmm. It says ‘You bet giraffe I’m cute.’ But it’s still got tags on. I can take it back.”

  “Don’t you dare.”

  Laughing, Maggie felt the last of the tension dissolve. “I put it in the mail yesterday, along with a box of those bonbons you like.”

  Pru groaned. “I’m going to be big as a cow before this baby comes.”

  “Give them to Ari. I’m sure she’d be happy to take one for the team.” Her teenaged niece had a major sweet tooth.

  “Over my dead body.”

  “That’s the spirit. Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ve got a meeting to run. I�
��ll check in soon. Love to everybody.”

  “We love you back. Come for a visit when you can. I miss your face. We got used to seeing more of you over the past couple of years.”

  Maggie swallowed back against the lump in her throat because that, too, had been harder than she’d expected. There’d been a reason she’d run from Eden’s Ridge when she’d turned eighteen. She hadn’t been the only one, but at this point, even Athena, their youngest sister, the award-winning chef, had moved home. That left her the odd-sister out, way out here on the West Coast.

  “I miss y’all, too. Talk to you later.”

  As soon as she hung up the phone, the warm glow she’d felt talking to her sister faded. Did Pru suspect she wasn’t being completely honest? Did she and the rest of the family realize that Maggie had been burying herself in work and sending endless baby gifts as an excuse not to be directly involved? She’d been in Los Angeles for five years, rocketing up the ranks at Invation. That had involved plenty of backbreaking work. She hoped they just thought she’d been making up for all the time she’d taken off to come home since Mom died. The alternative―that they’d look at her in pity and realize she wasn’t made out of titanium like she pretended―that was unthinkable.

  Shutting it away, she hurried down the hall toward the elevators. Halfway there she staggered, pressing a hand to the wall for support.

  What the hell is wrong with me? Did I pick up some kind of a bug?

  Vowing to take the rest of the day off as soon as the meeting was over, she straightened, squaring her shoulders and pinching her cheeks so she didn’t look as worn out and ill as she felt. Yeah, she shouldn’t have had that last cup of coffee.

  The conference room was full when she stepped inside, mask firmly in place.