by Marie Force
“Wait. You’re going where?”
“Philadelphia.”
“You can’t do that, El. You’re nine months pregnant.”
“We’re not flying. We’re taking the same bus we used to go to Boston. Hunter said it’ll be just as long as it would be to fly from Burlington.”
“That’s like six hours or something.”
“Seven. I checked online.”
“Ella… Fourteen hours on a bus when you’re nine months pregnant? You can’t do that. What if you go into labor or something happens or…”
She put her finger over his lips. “I’ll be fine. I’m not due for three more weeks.”
“Neither was Cameron, but she went weeks early.”
“That’s very rare with first babies. I don’t think we need to worry. It’s down and back in two days.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Why don’t you come with us so you can be right there if I need you?”
“You wouldn’t mind that?”
“I’d rather you come than be wound up in knots the whole time I’m gone.”
“Sign me up.”
She caressed his handsome face. “Figured you might say that.”
“You were all ready for me, weren’t you?” he said with a hint of a smile.
“Maybe just a little.”
“What did I ever do without you to keep me calm?”
“When are you ever calm?”
“Haha, I’m a lot calmer with you than I was without you, and I’ll be back to what counts for normal for me after our baby arrives safely.”
She rested her head on his shoulder, knowing for sure he’d worry obsessively about their baby once he or she arrived, but that was okay. She’d be there to keep him sane. “That’s good to know. I don’t like to see you so spun up.”
“I can’t help it. You’re the most important person in my life. The thought of you being in any kind of danger makes me crazy.”
“I’m not in danger, Gav,” she said, laughing. “I’m pregnant.”
“Don’t act like shit can’t go sideways with having a baby, because it can.”
“I’m fine. I’m going to be fine.”
“You can’t know that for sure.”
“No, I can’t, just like we can’t know for sure that we’ll be okay every time we get into a car or leave the house or walk down the street.”
“Great, now I have all that stuff to worry about.”
She laughed and elbowed his ribs. “I understand the reason why you worry the way you do, but it makes me ache for you. I want you to find a way to relax and enjoy the life we have together.”
“I enjoy every second of our life together, which is why I worry so much about something happening to ruin it. Somehow I survived losing Caleb, but if anything ever happened to you…”
“It’s not going to. We just have to believe that everything will be fine. Have faith.”
“I’m working on that. It’s your fault for making such a mess of me that I can’t stand the thought of being without you for even a day or two.”
She arched a brow. “How is that my fault?”
“You relentlessly pursued me and made me fall in love with you.”
Flashing a satisfied grin, she said, “I was rather relentless, wasn’t I?”
“Thank God for that, because I was too stupid to see what was right in front of me, waiting to make me the happiest guy in the world.”
“I’m glad you’re happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”
“I never could’ve gotten there without you.”
“I know! That’s what I tried to tell you for so long.”
Laughing, he drew her into a soft, sweet, lazy kiss that made her so, so thankful that he’d finally come around to seeing things her way. She’d always known, in her heart of hearts, that they could have something special. The only one who hadn’t been convinced was him, until she showed him the error of his ways by loving him as fiercely as she possibly could.
“I was thinking we ought to get married over Christmas,” she said. “Just us and the families, no fuss, no big deal.”
He leaned his forehead against hers. “When I marry you, my sweet Ella, it’ll be the biggest deal of my life.”
Smiling, she kissed him again. “Mine, too, but we don’t need the fuss of a big production.”
“Every girl dreams of the big production.”
“Not me. I only ever had one dream when it came to my wedding, and it’s already come true because I got the groom I always wanted. So yes to a small wedding at Christmas?”
“Yes to whatever you want. Anything at all.”
“I’ve got everything I’ve ever wanted already. This’ll just make it official.”
“I’m all for making it official so you can’t get away from me.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Charley was as tense as she could recall being in a very long time. Hearing what her poor, sweet dad had gone through with his father… It made her furious. And sad. She banged around the kitchen, getting out pots to make pasta and sauce, her go-to dinner when she hadn’t given a thought to what to make until it was time to eat.
Tyler was home all day, working from his office, and made dinner most of the time, but on days he got too busy, it fell to her to make something when she got home. It was a good thing that pasta was one of his favorite things to eat.
She continued to clatter around, taking her frustrations out on the pots and pans until he appeared in the kitchen, his brown hair standing on end, dark-framed glasses making him look sexy and smart, earbuds still in place and a perplexed look on his face.
“I could hear you over my meeting,” he said, removing the wireless buds, “and I had the volume turned up.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. We were done. Mostly.” He took a closer look at her. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything. Every single thing is wrong, and people suck.”
“You’re just finding that out now?”
“I’m just finding out that people in my own family suck.”
He was taken aback by that. “Your family is awesome. Who are you fighting with?”
“It’s part of the family you don’t know. Hell, I don’t know them because they cut my dad out of their lives when he decided to marry my mom and run her family’s business rather than theirs.”
“Whoa. And you just found this out?”
“We all did. He told us the story for the first time today.”
Leaning his hip against the counter, he gave her his full attention as usual. No one had ever seen her quite the way he did, which had annoyed the shit out of her before he showed her that being seen and loved by him was rather sublime once she stopped fighting it. “What brought this on?”
“His dying father, who’s apparently grown a conscience all of a sudden.”
“How so?”
“He asked to see him—and he’s going. We’re going. Tomorrow. All of us.”
Tyler processed that news in his usual thoughtful way. “That’s good. He shouldn’t have any regrets.”
“What regrets would he have when he was the one banished by his own family?”
“Your dad is one of the kindest, most decent people I’ve ever met. If his father asked him to come and he didn’t, he would regret that.”
“It’s preposterous to me that he’s been put in this position after four decades of complete silence from them.”
“Yes, I can tell you’re upset by the clattering.”
“It’s infuriating!”
Tyler took a step forward and put his arms around her, even though she didn’t want him to.
She wanted to continue to rant and rage and clatter the pans, which strangely made her feel better.
“Take it easy, sweetheart. Your blood pressure has to be through the roof.”
“I hate mean people, and finding out I’m related to one…”
“I know,” he said, rubbing so
othing circles on her back that made her want to purr.
How did he do that? How did he take her from the red zone to purring in a matter of seconds? It was his superpower, because no one else in the history of Charley Abbott had ever been able to do what he could. She knew her brothers referred to him, behind her back, as the Charley Tamer, which would piss her off if it weren’t so true.
“Not sure how you do that.”
“Do what?” he asked.
“Make me forget why I was in a rage ten seconds ago.”
His low rumble of laughter made her smile. “All I did was hug you.”
“Apparently, that’s all it takes to tame me—and yes, I know my brothers call you the Charley Tamer.”
“I’ve never heard that.”
She looked up at him. “Don’t ruin your very high approval ratings by lying to my face. You do too know about that.”
“I can neither confirm nor deny knowledge of said nickname out of fear of losing my magic taming powers.”
“It would take a lot for you to lose your powers.”
“If I ever do, you’d let me know, right?”
“I think you’d already know. From what I’ve been told by those closest to me, I’m a bit ‘unruly’ when I’m not being tamed by you.”
“Don’t let anyone tell you you’re anything other than perfect.”
She snorted with laughter. “My siblings have been pointing out my faults since the day I was born.”
“That’s because they don’t get that your faults are part of what make you perfect.”
“Said the man who’s sleeping with me.”
“Mmmm, and I know just how perfect you really are,” he said, nuzzling her neck right as the water on the stove began to boil.
They broke apart, laughing.
Charley turned down the heat under the pot and looked up at him. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Whatever it is you do to keep me sane. It’s really a gift to me.”
He brought her back into his arms, running his hands over her back and down to cup her ass. “You’re a gift to me, every delightful inch of you, even when you’re in a rage.”
Charley closed her eyes and allowed herself to wallow in the comfort only he could provide.
“How long am I going to have to live without you?” he asked.
“Two days and one night.”
“That’s a really long time. I’d better make sure I inject you with a good dose of my special Charley-Taming Elixir tonight so you’re fully declawed before you spend all those hours with your siblings.”
She shook with silent laughter. “That’s probably a good idea.”
Under normal circumstances, yoga was Wade’s answer to anything stressful or upsetting, especially when his wife, Mia, was in Boston visiting her dad. Tonight, yoga wasn’t doing it for him. He wished Mia was home so he could vent to her about the many ways his afternoon had been seriously fucked up.
Instead, he went through the motions while his mind raced and his heart ached for his poor dad. No amount of stretching or breathing was going to help him find his Zen tonight. He gave up after half an hour and was coming out of the shower when the house phone rang.
Hoping it was Mia calling, he ran for the extension in the bedroom and picked it up right before the call would’ve gone to voicemail.
“Why are you out of breath?” his wife asked.
“I was running from the shower to grab the phone.”
“Ah, okay. I was hoping you hadn’t found a new wife to replace me since I’ve been away.”
“Nah, it took me a long time to find the wife I have. I think I’ll keep her for a while longer.”
Her laughter made him smile as he yearned for her. He was so far gone over her that spending even one day without her was almost unbearable, and she’d been gone three days already. Because they were so busy at work in the final Christmas rush, he hadn’t been able to go with her to celebrate an early holiday with her dad and his family. She’d felt guilty leaving her job at the warehouse when they were so busy, but they’d all wanted her to be with her newfound family for their celebration over the previous weekend.
By the time he got back from Philly, it’d be five days since Wade saw Mia, the longest time they’d spent apart in the year they’d been together. But he knew she needed the time with the dad she’d only recently reconnected with, and he loved the bond she’d formed with Cabot.
“So guess who’s been here a couple of times?” she asked.
“Who?”
“Your cousin Izzy.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep. My dad isn’t saying much on what’s going on there, but they’ve definitely seen each other since the wedding.”
“Wow, that’s cool. I thought she’d been working in Europe the last few months.”
“I guess she had been, but she’s back now and was here for dinner last night.”
“Very interesting.”
“What goes on there?” she asked.
“You won’t believe it.”
“That sounds worrisome.”
“We found out today why my dad doesn’t ever talk about his family.” Wade told her the story, giving her the highlights—or lowlights, such as they were.
“Oh my goodness, Wade. What’s your dad going to do?”
“He’s going there. We all are. Tomorrow.”
“Wow. How’re you feeling about that?”
“Conflicted. On the one hand, I get why my dad needs to go. On the other hand, I want him to tell them all to fuck off after the way they treated him.”
“I can see both sides of that. Your dad tries to do the right thing, and in this case, that means going there because his dad asked for him. But a part of him must want to tell them to fuck off, too.”
“I’m sure he does, but he won’t. That’s not who he is.”
“And thank goodness for that, right?”
“I suppose so.”
“I’m sorry you’re upset and I’m not there to hug you.”
“Talking to you helps.”
“When will you be back from Philly?”
“Day after tomorrow, probably pretty late.”
“I’ll be there when you get home.”
He hated that he wouldn’t be there when she got home. “I’m counting the minutes. Are you having fun?”
“Lots of fun, as always. I met more of my dad’s friends today at the holiday party he had at his office this afternoon. He seems to have an endless number of friends. And I had lunch with my cousin Caroline. She was asking about Max.”
“Was she now?”
“Yep.”
“Anything in particular?”
“Just whether he’s met anyone new since June. I told her I didn’t think so, but I honestly wasn’t sure. She seemed disappointed that she doesn’t hear more from him.”
“Is that something I need to tell him?”
“If you find a way to work it subtly into conversation maybe.”
“Subtlety is my middle name, baby.”
She laughed. “Sure, it is. None of you Abbotts are known for being subtle.”
“I’m the most subtle of the unsubtle Abbotts.”
“I’ll give you that.” She let out a deep sigh. “I miss you.”
“I miss you more.”
“I don’t know if that’s possible.”
“Trust me, it is.”
“Will you call me from Philly and let me know how it goes?”
“Of course.” He’d borrow Max’s cell phone to call her. “Wouldn’t miss a day talking to my favorite person.”
“I hope it all goes well for your dad and the rest of you, too, so we can enjoy a fabulous Christmas.”
“Christmas will be fabulous no matter what, because it’ll be our first one together.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Me either.”
“I’ll be home and waiting for you to call me tomorrow night.”
“Wil
l do, honey. Drive carefully coming home. The roads are slick in the mountains.”
“I’ll be fine. I hope it all goes well for your dad and family in Philly.”
“Thanks. Love you.”
“Love you more.”
“No way,” he said.
“Yes way.”
“We’ll finish this ‘fight’ when we see each other.”
“I’ll look forward to that.”
Chapter Eleven
“I feel the older I get, the more I’m learning to handle life. Being on this quest for a long time, it’s all about finding yourself.”
—Ringo Starr
As he did whenever he was agitated, Colton went straight to the wood pile when he got back to his home atop Butler Mountain. Lucy would still be working in the cabin they called home. After giving his dogs, Sarah and Elmer, perfunctory pats on the head, he picked up his ax and got to work splitting the never-ending pile of wood they needed to heat the cabin through the winter and boil the sap during sugaring season. He split wood year-round, especially when he needed to work out aggravations, like he did now.
Apparently, he was the only one who didn’t agree with the plan for the family to traipse to Philadelphia to appease the dying wishes of a man who didn’t deserve one minute of their time, let alone two days of their lives at the worst possible time of year for such a mission.
He’d never met his grandfather or even seen a photo of the man, and yet he was able to picture his head on the log before he brought down his ax to split the log in half. That’d been rather satisfying, so he did it again and again until the imaginary head on a stick was good and dead.
Even though it was freezing, he worked himself into a sweat and had his coat and flannel shirt off by the time Lucy came out to find him stripped down to only a thermal T-shirt in twenty-degree weather.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked him, as she did almost every day.
He glanced at her and saw she had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her whiskey-colored hair was in a ponytail with multiple mechanical pencils sticking out of it. She was fucking adorable. “The usual stuff.”
