Sophia’s arms around me pulled my gaze downward. “Love you, Miss Lilly.” Oh God, I couldn’t take much more goodness or I was going to be just as emotional as Eliza. But that didn’t stop me from squatting down and wrapping her in a tight hug. “I love you too, Little Miss.” She struggled from my hold and squealed excitedly before rushing off to take her position. There was very little she loved more than being the center of attention on that stage, and I couldn’t wait to watch her dance. It was quickly becoming one of my very favorite things.
Mom came up to my side and placed a kiss on my cheek. “You happy, honey?”
I leaned in for a hug. “So happy, Mom.”
We pulled apart and she gave my cheek a soft pat. “Then that’s all that matters.” Then she turned and made her way to her seat.
“I’ll just take this hot mess to our seats,” Ethan said, guiding a still crying Eliza from the back stage.
Quinn’s parents stepped in front of us, and Mrs. Mallick offered a genuine, “Welcome to the family.” I got an arm squeeze from Quinn’s dad before they, too, headed for the audience.
That left me and Quinn with his late wife’s parents. I didn’t know how to act, what to say to them, but I soon discovered that it didn’t matter. Quinn’s father-in-law slapped him on the shoulder like a proud father, and offered him a, “Good work, son.”
Janice’s eyes were full of happy tears as she smiled up at me. “I’m really looking forward to getting to know you.”
“I’m looking forward to that, too,” I whispered.
“Well, I guess we’ll see you two after the show,” she added, then the two of them made their way from the back stage.
I felt Quinn’s arms wrap around my waist, and I turned to look up at him. “Are you going to go find your seat?”
He bent and pressed another kiss against my mouth. “No fucking way,” he muttered softly against my lips. “Now that I’ve got you in my arms, I’m never letting go. I’ll watch from back here. With you.”
I sighed happily and melted into his embrace. “I love you, Quinn.”
“I love you too, Lilly. And I’m going to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.”
Oh yeah. Definitely the best moment of my life.
And somewhere deep inside, I knew my father was looking down on us, happily. Because he knew his baby girl had found exactly what she deserved.
37
Lilly
I’d been on cloud nine all evening. As promised, Quinn stayed with me backstage for the entire program, only letting me go when I needed to flit around to help students get ready for their numbers. As soon as I was finished, he rejoined me, and we watched the kids dance while wrapped around each other.
Once the show was over, he’d asked if I would stay at his place for the night. Sophia was going to dinner with Addison’s parents, then staying with them at their hotel for the night.
Alone time with Quinn after he confessed in front of all our family and friends that he loved me? Yes, please!
We walked through his front door, and I made my way into his living room, kicking off my heels as I went before dropping my purse in the recliner. I turned back and looked over my shoulder as I plopped down on the couch. Quinn was resting against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, that gorgeous full smile on his face as he watched me.
“Do you still have Vikings on your DVR? I kind of got hooked on that show when I babysat Sophia that one time.”
He chuckled and moved further into the living room. “I do. But first, there’s something I want to show you. Will you let me?”
His question caught me off guard. “Of course.”
“Wait here.” He leaned down to the couch and kissed my lips before heading off in the direction of the hallway. He returned a minute later, carrying a cardboard box in his hand. “I want you to see this,” he said, as he took a seat next to me, setting the box on the coffee table in front of us. “I need you to see that I want you in every single part of my life. And in order to do that, I need to open up, talk to you about my past.”
My heart was in my throat and tears began to well up, clogging my throat and making me unable to speak.
“This is Addison, my wife,” he spoke quietly, removing the lid off the box and pulling the picture out that I knew used to sit on his nightstand. He’d moved that, too. God, he was killing me.
I took the picture that he handed to me and looked down at it. Feeling myself smile at the sight of his own radiating out from the photo.
“I met her my first year of college after I moved to Seattle. We got married shortly after we graduated. She was…” A variety of emotion flitted across his face.
I rested my hand on his thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to offer comfort. “Quinn, you don’t have to do this.”
When he looked back at me, his eyes were shining brightly. “I want to.” His voice was hoarse. “It’s sad, and I still miss her all the time, but it doesn’t hurt like it used to.” He pulled in a long breath and I waited, giving him time as he composed himself.
Eventually, he continued, taking a different picture from the box and studying it as he spoke. “She was amazing. A great wife and mother, a fabulous daughter. There wasn’t a single person she met who didn’t instantly fall in love with her.” He turned his head and gave me his eyes. “You would have really liked her.”
“I have no doubt,” I whispered. “She sounds wonderful. And she helped to make you the man you are today. That takes someone truly amazing.”
His smile touched his eyes as he leaned into me, touching his forehead to mine. “And she really would have liked you.”
At that, I lost the strength to hold back the tears and let one… two… three slide down my cheeks. But these were different. For the first time in months, I was crying because I was well and truly happy. “I hope she would.”
“I know it,” he replied earnestly. “Lilly, I want… I want to keep Addy’s spirit alive here, for Sophia’s sake. I want her to know her mother. She was so little when she died. I—”
I reached up and pressed two fingers against his lips, silencing him mid-sentence. “For you and Sophia both,” I told him. “I don’t want her memory to be a bad one for you. Sophia deserves to know her mother, and you deserve to remember the woman you loved with all your heart. It’s tragic how she was taken away from you, but we don’t have to let it stay that way.
“She’s an important part of both of you. That should never change. I wouldn’t want it to.”
“You mean that?”
“With all my heart, honey. I never want you to feel like you have to choose between the two of us. You gave her a part of you years ago.” I rested my palm flat against his chest, staring down at it as I said, “I’m not going to try and steal it back. That’s hers always. But I’m lucky, because there’s another part that’s just for me.”
“God, I love you,” he rumbled, his lips moving against mine as he asked, “You believe me, right?”
I gave him a small nod. “I do. And I love you, too.”
“Thank you,” he breathed against my skin. “Thank you for giving me another chance, for believing in me, for loving me.”
“You’re welcome,” I smiled, giving him that dimple I knew he loved so much. “And thank you for fighting so hard to be the man I deserve.”
“Always, baby. Now, about Vikings…”
“Yeah?” I asked on a soft moan as his lips skated across my jaw and down the throbbing vein in my neck.
“It’s going to have to wait. Because I’m taking you to bed, right now.”
I giggled and wrapped my arms around his neck. “You won’t get any argument from me.”
Epilogue
Quinn
Thanksgiving
I took in the view of the chaos happening through the glass French doors that led inside as I stood on the back deck of my new house. Well, mine and Lilly’s, seeing as she agreed to marry me when I proposed a few months back, and d
idn’t put up much of a fight when I told her we were buying a house and moving in together.
I brought the bottle of beer to my lips and chuckled as the screams of children getting into God only knew what echoed from somewhere inside. We had a full house this year, and I couldn’t be happier about it, but that didn’t mean I didn’t need an escape — a few minutes of peace and quiet to break through the pandemonium that came with hosting Thanksgiving with everyone you knew and loved.
Garrett and Janice had flown in from Seattle to spend the long weekend with us. Eliza and Ethan where here with their baby girl, Avery, and their own families. That included Ethan’s sister Harlow and her husband Noah, and Eliza’s father Derrick and stepmother Chloe, along with both of their brood of rugrats. We had a full house. Lilly’s mother had commandeered our kitchen right alongside my mom, Eliza, and Janice. Garrett, Noah, Ethan, and Garrett had set up in front of the TV in our massive family room to watch the football game, and Chloe and Harlow were busy trying to keep the kids in check. From the sounds of something breaking inside, they weren’t doing all that good of a job.
But I couldn’t seem to care that my house was being torn apart, because I had everyone I loved right here under one roof. There was nothing but goodness and light in my life lately. I turned to face the snow-topped mountains that surrounded our little town in such beauty, thinking how thankful I was.
I was lucky enough to wake up each morning and get to make pancakes for the two most amazing women in my life. It couldn’t possibly get any better than that.
The sound of the door opening and closing had me turning to look over my shoulder. The sight of Lilly joining me on the deck had a smile stretching clear across my face, and just like every time since the Spring Showcase, Lilly sucked in a breath at the sight of it. She’d told me not long after that the sight of my smile reaching my eyes was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
I turned as she made her way in my direction. “What are you doing out here all by yourself?” she asked, as she fitted her chest to mine.
“Enjoying the quiet,” I answered, wrapping her in my arms. She nuzzled into my chest and let out a content sigh. “What about you? What brings you out here?”
“They kicked me out of the kitchen,” she grumbled, making me burst into laughter.
“You should have known better, baby.” I chuckled, as she gave me a playful smack.
“Yeah, well. I thought I had veto power since it is my kitchen.”
I smiled against her hair and asked, “You tell Jan and Garrett we’re flying out the day after Christmas?”
“Yeah.” She giggled. “I thought Janice was going to burst into tears. She’s already making an itinerary.”
“She likes hosting family,” I told her, remembering how much she used to love it when Addy and I would pack Sophie up and come to stay with them for a few days, even though we lived in the same city. Janice was a natural-born hostess.
“Then I’m more than happy to give her that,” Lilly whispered. My girl, always giving so much of herself. Luckily, now she was surrounded by people who gave her the very same.
We settled into silence, just holding on to each other, happy to live in the moment.
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” she said a few minutes later, her voice all soft and happy.
“Oh yeah, what about?”
“I think we should change the wedding date.”
I lifted my head and she tipped hers up to look into my frowning face. “If you think I’m pushing the wedding date back, you’ve lost your fucking mind.” We’d fought when she informed me she wanted to wait until the following summer to get married. I’d wanted to make her my wife the moment she had my ring on her finger, but she refused to rush, saying a wedding took months to plan.
I’d finally caved, but I wasn’t necessarily happy about it. Lilly was mine, but I wanted her tied to me in every way possible.
She smiled, giving me that dimple that drove me crazy. “I was thinking more along the lines of pushing it up.”
My brows shot up in confusion. “What?”
“Yeah,” she shrugged. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle big and pregnant, now would I?”
Every muscle in my body locked tight as my arms squeezed around her waist. “What?” I repeated on a ragged breath.
“I’m pregnant,” she said so softly I barely heard it.
“Are you joking with me right now?”
She shook her head and giggled as my heart expanded in my chest. “No shit. You’re really pregnant?”
“No shit,” she confirmed. “I’m really pregnant.”
I grabbed her hand and jerked her across the deck and back into the house, shouting, “Sophia!” as I pulled her through the kitchen and into the family room. The women saw my frantic motion and quickly followed after us. “Sophia!”
“What?” she shouted back, as she came around the corner.
“You’re going to be a sister, baby!”
She screamed loud enough to burst an ear drum before launching herself at Lilly and me. I scooped her up and wrapped both of my girls in a bone-crushing embrace as everyone around us hooted and cheered with excitement.
“So I take it you’re happy?” Lilly giggled, giving me that dimple.
I put my lips against hers as I answered, “Every time I think I couldn’t possibly get any happier, you prove me wrong.”
“I love you, Quinn,” she breathed.
“I love you too, baby.”
“And I love that I’m gonna have a baby sister!” Sophia yelled, making everyone burst into laughter.
Oh yeah. Nothing but goodness and light in my life.
And it just kept getting better.
The End.
*keep reading for a sneak peek of Wildflower*
Sneak Peek of Wildflower
Prologue
Harlow
Eighteen years old
Blinking rapidly against the tears that blurred my vision, I moved to my dresser and pulled out another handful of clothes, tossing them haphazardly into one of the open suitcases laying on the bed. I didn’t have it in me to care about taking the time to fold each item and placing them in neat, orderly stacks. Wrinkles were the least of my worries at that moment.
Escape.
That was all I could concentrate on.
Escape from this small town where everyone knew everyone and there were so many noses in your personal business keeping a secret was an inconceivable notion.
Escape from the heartache that seemed to chase me around day after day. Where a dark cloud hung over my head like a beacon for everyone to see, announcing my misery with every step I took.
Escape from the one and only boy I had ever loved. The boy I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with. The boy I had spent the last two years giving every single piece of myself to, just to have him shove it all back in my face without so much as blinking.
I fell in love with Noah Murphy the moment I laid eyes on him, and like any naïve, ignorant teenage girl, visions of white picket fences and happily-ever-afters clogged my brain.
I was an idiot.
I thought he was the love of my life. My knight in shining armor. I thought he was my fairytale come to life and we were going to spend the rest of our lives together, one blissful year after another.
Then real life happened and my dreams shattered into a million pieces, falling at my feet. What did I even know about love anyway? I mean, really. I only knew of the romanticized version I’d created in my head. I knew nothing about the real world and what being an adult with adult problems and adult responsibilities meant. I’d been safely cocooned inside my own little childish bubble all my life. I couldn’t even wrap my head around the concept of being an adult.
Sure, it sounds easy enough in theory. We all want to grow up faster than we should, right?
We can’t wait to be old enough to drive.
We can’t wait to be old enough to drink.
&nbs
p; We can’t wait to be old enough to move out on our own. Out from under the thumb of all those responsible adults with their unreasonable rules and expectations. I, just like every other dumb kid I knew, figured I could do anything. How hard could it really be?
Right?
So, so wrong.
The moment Noah and I were hit with something outside the realm of our tiny, insulated existence, we faltered, we stumbled, and we eventually crashed, unable to pick ourselves up from the wreckage and dust ourselves off. It was over. Done. There was no going back. We’d been tested by the real world and we had failed.
Epically.
So I was doing what I had to in order to make things right again.
“What’s going on?”
I spun back around to grab another load of clothes from the dresser, not bothering to glance in the direction of Noah’s voice. I knew if I looked at him and saw those whiskey-colored eyes looking back at me my resolve would weaken. It always did.
“I’m packing,” I answered blandly, closing the lid on one of the full suitcases and zipping it up, ready to move on to the next one.
When Noah spoke again his voice was closer. “I can see that. What I don’t understand is why. Where you goin’, wildflower?”
The sound of that endearment—that sweet nickname he’d given me the first day we met—was like a shot to the heart. I had to squeeze my eyes against the onslaught of tears that threatened to fall.
“I’m leaving,” was all I said in response as I kept my sole focus on the task at hand.
“Look at me, wildflower.”
I ignored his soft command, for my own wellbeing.
“Goddamn it, Harlow! Look at me!”
I spun around on a shout. “What? What do you want from me, Noah?”
“Baby, please,” he pleaded, taking a step in my direction. The instant I moved back a pace he stopped, seemingly shocked at my reaction. “Let’s talk about this, okay? We can fix this.”
Welcome to Pembrooke: the complete Pembrooke series Page 65
