“I love you too, Dad,” I told him with a watery smile.
“Son,” he said, facing Ethan and holding his hand out. “We’ll see you at dinner Sunday.”
“Yes sir,” Ethan responded, shaking my father’s hand.
“Wait, Sunday?” I cut in.
My father’s expression melted into one of approval as Chloe came up and wrapped her arms around him. “Family dinner. Can’t have one of those without your man there, now can we?”
Just like that, Ethan had earned my father’s acceptance, giving me the very last piece I needed to finish building my own happiness.
32
Ethan
“Honey, what are you doing?” Eliza giggled from behind me as I dragged her through the woods. Christ, I’d never get used to that beautiful sound. She’d been mine, completely mine for the past few weeks, and every moment I woke up with her in my arms, I had to pull her closer to convince myself it wasn’t all a dream.
I’d been waiting for the perfect moment to ask her to be mine for the rest of our lives, and this was it. After spending a blissful, yet somewhat chaotic Thanksgiving with both of our families at her father’s house — my sister having been banned from the kitchen, thank God — I’d finally found the opportunity to pull Derrick aside and ask his permission to marry his baby girl. He made me sweat for a few minutes before finally slapping me on the back and welcoming me to the family, and that led to the here and now.
I pulled her to a stop once we reached our destination. The sun was just beginning to set over the lake, painting the sky in the most amazing colors. I couldn’t have possibly timed it better.
“God,” Eliza breathed, releasing my hand to walk closer to the edge. “I haven’t been up here in years. I’d forgotten how beautiful this place is.”
“Me too,” I mumbled, coming up behind her, breathing in that glorious scent of almonds and vanilla. “You know, I always thought of this as our spot.”
“I did too,” she whispered. I wrapped one arm around her waist and, with my other hand, pulled out the ring that had been burning a hole in my pocket all evening.
“That’s why I couldn’t have imagined doing this anywhere else.” I held the ring out in front of her. Her body went tight for a second before she spun around in my arms, her hazel eyes dancing with the happiness I’d put there. I couldn’t imagine a better feeling in the world.
“Are you serious?”
I chuckled and lifted her left hand to slide the ring into place. “Never been more serious about anything in my entire life. Eliza Anderson, I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember, and I can’t imagine there ever coming a day when I won’t love you even more than the last. Will you give me my happiness and be my wife?”
“Yes!” she shouted, throwing herself in my arms as she peppered kisses all across my face. “Oh my God!” She threw her head back and yelled, “I’m getting married!”
I held her to me for several seconds, enjoying the feel of her against me before finally forcing myself to pull back. “That’s not all, baby.”
“What could you possibly have left?” she laughed.
“This,” I answered holding my arms out at my sides.
Her eyebrows dipped and her head tipped to the side in confusion. “Huh?”
“This. All of this,” I stated looking around our spot. “I bought this land not too long ago and have been in contact with a few contractors. Baby, at this very moment, you’re standing in our living room.”
She clamped her hands over her mouth and spun around in a circle. “You didn’t.”
“I did.” I nodded, making my way back to her so I could hold her against me. “Construction starts at the beginning of the year. Welcome home, sweetheart.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered, tears swimming in her eyes. “That’s just… I can’t…” Placing her hands on my chest, she suddenly looking worried. “But Ethan, what about your career?”
“Fuck football.” I locked my wrists together at her back so she couldn’t pull away. “Football means nothing to me if I don’t have you in my life, Eliza. I said I’d bend over backward and do whatever I had to show you I loved you, and that’s what I’m doing. Your life is here. You’re here. So this is where I want to be.”
“But—”
“No buts. I’ve thought long and hard about this, baby. This is what I want.”
“I get that,” she started. “And I love you so much for wanting to give this to me. But what about the café?”
My head jerked back and it was my turn to be confused. “What about it?”
“Well, it’s just that if we’re here who’s going to run the café Chloe and I are opening in Denver?”
“What?” I froze solid as a sneaky smile stretched across her beautiful face.
“Surprise,” she giggled. “You see I’m in love with a man who’s kind of a big deal football player back in Denver. It’s always been his dream, and since I’m such a wonderful fiancée, I never would have considered asking him to give that up. I too have been in talks with a few contractors, along with Chloe, and we’re breaking ground on Sinful Sweets Café, Denver at the beginning of the year.
I was having trouble processing everything I’d just heard. “Are you… you can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I’m dead serious,” she said. “And since there seems to have been a lack of communication on each of our part, I figure there’s only on solution for our little problem.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I leaned down and kissed her lips. “And that would be?”
“During the season, we live in Denver. During off-season, this is our home,” she replied, hold her arms out wide. “See? Perfect solution.”
I chuckled against her mouth. “Thank God I’m marrying someone so smart.”
She nodded. “Exactly. Now, Ethan Prewitt, football star. Do me a favor.”
“Anything, baby.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” She gave me a quick kiss and took one step back. “Make love to me in our living room.”
That, I could definitely do.
Epilogue
Eliza
A year and a half later
“Move your ass, baby! If we don’t get on the road now, we’re going to be late!”
“I’m coming!” I yelled back, throwing the last of my clothes into my suitcase and rushing around the bed to snatch the picture of the two of us Ethan had kept on his bedside table all these years. I tossed it on top of everything and zipped the bag closed.
“Geez, woman. Your father’s already been staring daggers at me since I knocked you up. If we’re late to family dinner, he’s going to shoot my ass on sight.” I laughed as I gave the suitcase a yank, only to groan when the weight refused to budge off the bed. “Here, let me get it.” Pressing a kiss to my lips as he walked by — just as he always did whenever I was near — Ethan pulled the suitcase off the bed and dropped it to the floor.
“Good Christ. What the hell did you pack?”
“Hey! Don’t give me shit. This is off-season. We’ll be in Pembrooke for months, I need my things.”
“I can buy you more things, there. There’s no need to pack up the entire condo, baby.”
“I didn’t pack up the whole condo,” I glared. “That’s just the important stuff.”
He laughed and began wheeling the bag out of the room, kissing me on the way. “Whatever you say. Now can we please go so your dad doesn’t send out a search party?”
“You’re over exaggerating,” I told him with a roll of my eyes. “He hasn’t hated you since before we got married.”
Ethan let out a disgruntled grunt. “Then you clearly didn’t see his face when we told him he was going to be a grandfather. I thought the man was going to have a coronary at the thought of me defiling his precious daughter.”
I couldn’t help but laugh because he wasn’t exaggerating. You’d have thought my father believed we’d been living as a married couple for the past year complete with sep
arate bedrooms. “Yeah, well, I think he’s lightened up since your team won the Super Bowl. The bragging rights with that alone are enough to buy you at least a year of no death threats.”
We locked the door to the condo and headed toward the elevator. “You’d think,” Ethan grumbled, pressing the down button and slinging his arm over my shoulder as we waited. “But just to be on the safe side, all the paperwork for our life insurance policies are in the lockbox on the top closet shelf. Use the money wisely.”
He winked and I smacked him in his nice, firm stomach as the doors opened and we climbed onto the elevator. With my head resting against his shoulder, I thought back over the past year and a half.
Shortly after proposing, Ethan had insisted we get married right away. We argued about it… a lot, but ended up getting married on our spot just before Christmas — despite the chilling temperature — with the reception being held at my dad and Chloe’s house. It was the most perfect wedding. Small, intimate, and quick, just us surrounded by the people who loved us the most. Since he was still out for the season, we spent the holidays and the following summer bouncing between Pembrooke and Denver so I could check on the progress of the new café and begin the hiring process. I’d lucked out in finding a general manager who could run the place in her sleep, so moving back home during the off-season wasn’t such a terrifying idea now that I knew the restaurant wouldn’t burn to the ground in my absence.
I could honestly say that I’d never been happier in my life than I have been married to Ethan Prewitt, football star, and every morning I wake up thankful that we both managed to find our way back to each other.
I loved him as a child, and that love eventually turned into the most important friendship I’d ever had. We lost our footing for a few years, but we found our way home, and I was happy to say our relationship had come full circle.
The elevator dinged and my husband took my hand, leading me through the parking garage toward our car. “Did you call Lilly to tell her we were coming?” he asked as he popped the truck and put the last of our bags in.
“Yep. And she can’t wait. She said she’s been dying to rub my belly ever since she visited last month.”
We climbed in, buckled up, and Ethan started the car. “You ever find out what went down with her and Quinn?”
I frowned at the reminder. Lilly called me around last Christmas in tears over a guy she’d been dating. She didn’t go into detail, but she eventually let it slip that she’d been seeing Quinn for a few months and it had ended badly. “No,” I answered. “Did you ever ask him about it?”
“I did, but he was suspiciously tight lipped about the whole thing.”
I gave that some thought. “I don’t like this. Quinn’s a good guy. I can’t imagine what he could have done to make her so upset.”
Knowing how much it bothered me that my best friend was in pain, Ethan reached over and took my hand in his, lifted it to his lips and placed a kiss on my knuckles, right where his ring rested. “Well, no worries baby. We’re heading home now, so you have all the time in the world to meddle in her business.”
I laughed at that. “It’s only fair. She did the same with us.”
“That she did,” Ethan grinned, giving my hand a squeeze before resting it on his thigh. “And I couldn’t be happier about the outcome.”
“Me either,” I smiled as we turned out of the garage and onto the road that would lead us home.
“I love you, Ethan Prewitt.”
He gave me a quick look, gracing me with that smile that got me every single time. “And I love you, Eliza Prewitt. Always have and always will.”
I let that rest in my soul and warm me from the inside out because I had no doubt that he meant it.
I took his hand and rested both our palms on my protruding belly. Together, we’d found our happiness. And it was the most beautiful thing imaginable.
The End.
A Broken Soul
Book 3
He’s terrified of loving her.
Quinn Mallick already had his happily-ever-after, and in the blink of an eye it was ripped away from him. Now he’s content to walk through the rest of his life carrying the weight of that guilt on his shoulders. He’s convinced he doesn’t deserve a second chance. But when the town’s beautiful dance teacher turns her sights on him he finds himself questioning everything.
She’s terrified of losing him.
Lilly Mathewson’s once quiet, predictable life has been turned on its head. Feeling alone and adrift, she finds her comfort in the most unexpected of places. Falling for the town widower was never part of the plan, but there is just something about the temperamental man she can’t seem to let go of.
What started as two grieving people leaning on each other has quickly turned into something neither of them expected. Lilly is ready to take the next step, but how do you move forward when the man you love refuses to let go of the past?
Especially when the only hope they have of healing their broken souls is if they do it together.
Prologue
Quinn
“So, what? You’re not talking to me now?”
At the sound of Addison’s soft, sad voice I felt my white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel begin to loosen. Tonight was supposed to be special, memorable. But instead of a romantic dinner with my wife, we ended up arguing. I went silent, turning into the brooding, moody asshole I knew I could be when I was upset, and in return, she got upset, never liking it when I lost myself in my own head.
“How long are you going to give me the silent treatment this time, Quinn?”
I sighed and took my eyes off the dark, rain-slick road for just a moment. Addison’s gorgeous blue eyes glimmered in the lights coming off the dashboard, and just like every goddamn time I looked at her, a rush of undeniable love enveloped me. “I’m not giving you the silent treatment, baby. I just don’t understand why you won’t even think about it.”
“Because I’m not ready,” she stated, turning her beautiful face away and staring out the windshield. “I love you, Quinn, you know that. You’re the love of my life—”
“And you’re mine,” I interrupted. “That’s why I want to try for another baby. Sophia’s getting older now. Don’t you think she’d want a little brother or sister?” Taking one hand off the wheel, I reached over and laid my palm on top of Addy’s clenched fist. As always, the tension melted away and her grip loosened, allowing me to thread my fingers through hers and hold her hand tightly. That was just one of the many great things about our marriage. Even when we were arguing, we couldn’t help but show each other unconditional love. “We’ve always talked about having a big family. I thought that’s what you wanted.”
“I do! I want a big family like we talked about. Just… maybe not right at this minute,” she stated hesitantly. “We’re still young, Quinn. We have years ahead of us. Can’t we just enjoy what we’ve got right now?”
My shoulders tensed and my back went straight as I stared out the windshield, the headlights casting a glow along the dark, tree-lined road. Anxiety began to claw at my insides at the thought that Addison could possibly have any regrets in our life together. “What are you saying?” My voice was hard when I spoke. “Do you wish we’d waited?”
“No!” From the corner of my eye I saw Addy turn in her seat, fully facing me as she held on to my hand with both of hers. “No, not at all! Quinn, I love our life. I love you and Sophia more than anything. But we’re still young. I want to enjoy our time together, just the three of us, for a little while longer before we start filling our house full of kids. That’s all. But I do want to fill our house full of kids, I swear.”
Even though her words helped to ease my worries, I still needed to be positive. “You sure?”
Her voice went low as she leaned across the console and pressed her lips against my ear. “Absolutely.” Christ, I loved when her voice got husky like that. I felt myself getting hard behind the zipper of my slacks as thoughts of what I’d do to her w
hen we got home began to run through my mind. “And in the meantime, I think we should practice…” Her teeth grazed my neck, sending sparks of pleasure through my body. “A lot. Starting tonight. Sophia’s with my parents and we have the whole house to ourselves. I think we should practice in as many rooms as possible. Starting with the kitchen.”
I groaned, struggling to stop my eyes from rolling back in my head as her hand slid down my chest and between my thighs. “Christ, I love you,” I grunted.
She giggled into my ear. “I love you too, Quinn. More than anything. Drive faster.”
I didn’t have to be told twice. My foot began to press on the accelerator, and I warned, “As much as I love what you’re doing baby, you want to make it home in one piece to live out that kitchen fantasy, I suggest you stop.”
Addy’s laughter when she sat back in her seat warmed my chest. I loved when she laughed, it was one of the best sounds in the world. Second only to the sound of our daughter calling me Daddy. For the millionth time since Addison came into my life, I thought to myself that I was the luckiest bastard in the world.
Glad that we’d moved past the tense conversation from earlier and we were back to normal, I turned and smiled at my wife. “Love you, sweetheart.” Grabbing her hand again, I lifted it and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. She smiled brightly back at me.
“Love you too.” Her gaze turned back to the windshield and her eyes got big just seconds before she shouted, “Quinn, watch out!”
I jerked back just in time to see a deer standing in the middle of the road. On instinct, I slammed on the brakes. Addison’s scream echoed through my head as the car began to spin out on the slick roads.
Welcome to Pembrooke: the complete Pembrooke series Page 41
