She put an arm around my waist and held me to her side. “It’s okay, sweetie. It’s okay.”
I didn’t know how she could say that. Standing in front of my mother, I was anything but okay. And she couldn’t have been much better, seeing as it was the same woman who’d trashed her bakery and hit her with a car years ago.
“Eliza, darling,” my mother started, but I clamped my hands over my ears, squeezed my eyes closed, and shook my head, unaware I looked like I was having a mental breakdown in front of God and everybody.
“No,” was all I managed to get out when the door to the café swung opened so fast the glass almost broke. Before I could process what was happening, Ethan came barreling in with my father close on his heels.
“Upstairs,” he growled menacingly as he pulled me from Chloe’s hold and held me to him. “We’re not doing this shit down here with a goddamned audience.” Then, without further ado, he picked me up, in front of God and everybody, and carried me through the kitchen and out the door that led to the internal stairwell.
“Ethan,” I whispered, still feeling somewhat hysterical.
“Not yet, baby,” he returned as he took the stairs at a surprisingly fast clip. Once we reached the top, he put me to my feet. “Keys, sweetheart.”
By the look on his face, I knew it wouldn’t be smart to argue, so I pulled the key from my back pocket and deposited it in his waiting hand. In a blink, he had the door unlocked and thrown open, ushering me inside. Seconds later, the door slammed closed and I looked around the room to see it was filled with me, Ethan, my father and Chloe, my mother, and that bitch from Hell, Shannon.
“Right,” Ethan spit before anyone else could say a word. “First things first.” He left my side just long enough to get in Shannon’s face. “Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly get any fucking lower, you go and pull a stunt like this.”
To her credit, she at least had the decency to pale under Ethan’s terrifying demeanor. “Ethan—”
“Shut the fuck up!” he bellowed. “You don’t get to talk. I’m going to tell you how it’s going to be from here on out, then you’re going to get the fuck away from Eliza, and so help me God, she better never lay eyes on you again. I know it was you who sold those photos to the tabloids. I know it was the bullshit you fed them that was posted online. And I swear to fucking Christ, Shannon, if I ever find out you’ve taken another picture of us without our permission, I’ll slap you with a goddamn harassment and stalking charge!” She swallowed so thickly I could see her throat moving, but Ethan wasn’t done yet. “There is no amount of money I won’t spend, no resources I won’t utilize to bury you if I so much as hear you looked at Eliza in a way she doesn’t like. And sweetheart, I’m fucking rich, so you better believe I’ll spend every goddamned dime I have to ruin your fucking life. Do I make myself clear?”
“Eth—”
“Yes or no question. Do I make myself clear!?” he finished on a roar.
“Y-yes,” she stuttered, looking about two seconds away from bursting into tears.
“Good. Now get the fuck out,” he hissed. She didn’t hesitate, turning and running for the door, and something told me Shannon wasn’t a person I’d ever have to worry about again.
“Ethan,” I whispered, breaking him from his rage and drawing his attention back to me. He moved so fast I didn’t have a chance to take a step back before he was on me, his arms wrapping around my waist and pinning me to his side as he turned us to face the one other person in my apartment that I didn’t want there.
“Now you,” he said, sounding no less angry, even with the absence of Shannon The Bitch. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
My mother, never one to be cowed by someone she felt was inferior to her, squared her shoulders and lifted her chin in an effort to look down her nose at Ethan. No small feat seeing as he towered over her. I noticed then that in all the years that had passed, she was still no less beautiful. But her eyes remained hard and uncaring, just as they’d been when I was a child. Whatever brought her back to Pembrooke had nothing to do with a loving Mother-Daughter reunion.
“I’m here to speak with my daughter, if you don’t mind,” she said in an ice-cold voice.
“Well I fucking mind, Layla,” my father chimed in. “You haven’t had fuck all to say to her in nine years and you think you can just waltz your ass back into town and demand a face to face?”
“I don’t see how it’s any of your business, Derrick,” she hissed. Hate radiated from her entire frame as she looked back and forth between my father and Chloe. “She’s my daughter, too.”
“No she’s not,” Chloe replied, sounding madder than I’d ever heard before. “She’s my daughter. Not yours. I was the one who held her when she cried. I was the one that taught her to cook. I was the one who helped pick her up when you almost ruined her! I was the one who loved her unconditionally. She’s my daughter!”
My breath hitched at everything she’d just said, and I couldn’t help but cry as I watched tears course down her cheeks as my father moved to hold her the same way Ethan was holding me. God, God. She was right. Chloe was my mother in every single way that counted. I’d always loved her, always would, but it wasn’t until that very moment that I realized just how deep that love ran.
“Baby,” Ethan called, breaking into my thoughts. “Is there anything this woman has to say that you want to hear?”
“No,” I whispered with a shake of my head. Because there wasn’t. There wasn’t a single solitary word I wanted to hear from her. The thirteen-year-old girl who’d once wanted nothing more than for her mother to love her had grown up. And I had so much love in my life already that I didn’t need anything from her anymore.
“Eliza—” my mother started.
“You heard her,” Ethan cut her off. “She doesn’t want to hear whatever shit you have to say.
For the first time ever, I saw my mother express something other than superiority and hate. Cold, hard fear. “Eliza, please,” she said, pushing past everyone to get to me. “My last husband divorced me. I have nothing left. Nothing. He left me penniless! I saw those pictures of you and your Ethan, and I knew you were doing well. I knew you’d made a life for yourself and were happy. I just thought—”
“You thought you’d try and dig your way back into your daughter’s life in an effort to get to her man’s money,” Ethan voiced the words I was just thinking, sounding just as disgusted as I felt. “Christ, I take it back. I thought no one could get lower than Shannon, but I see I was wrong. There’s a special place in Hell for bitches like you.”
At that, Chloe choked on a laugh, having to slap her hands over her mouth in an attempt to keep it in. And that warmth that had started blooming in my chest at her heartfelt declaration suddenly exploded, shrouding me like a comforting, loving blanket. With Ethan, my father, Chloe, and the rest of my loved ones, I realized I had it all. I didn’t need anyone else. There was room in my heart, sure, and as long as I had them with me, I knew I was safe to let others in because they’d always be there to protect me. But I didn’t need anyone else, because standing in the apartment of my living room, in that very moment, I realized I had everything.
I was happy.
“Fuck me,” my father seethed. “How I managed to make such perfection with the likes of you is beyond me, but I thank Christ every single day that your poison never infested my girl. She’s everything you’re not.”
God, and the feels just kept on coming!
“You need money?” Ethan cut in. “I’ll give you money. I’ll write you a nice fat check to get the fuck out of our lives and never darken Eliza’s doorway again. Her peace of mind that she’ll never had to see your face is worth more than anything to me.” It was when he began to pull away from me and reached for his back pocket that I finally came out of my daze and jumped into action.
“No.” At the sound of my voice, everyone paused and turned to me. My mother, who looked ecstatic just one second ago started to look wo
rried again.
Ethan leaned in close, “What, baby?”
“No. Don’t write her a check.” I disengaged from Ethan’s arms and moved to stand before my mother. “He’s not giving you anything. You don’t deserve a single cent from him, but he’d have given it to you… for me,” I whispered, leaning in closer. “Because he’s a good person, the very best kind, and he loves me, he’d have done it. But I won’t let him, because I’ve just realized something myself. He loves me because I’m a good person and I deserve it. He loves me because I’m worth loving. You’ve done nothing in your entire life to earn that kind of devotion from anyone. So I’ll be damned if I let the man I love give you anything. I’m done with you. I never want to see you again. And when you’re laying in your bed at night, bitter and alone, I hope you know that I’ll be surrounded by people I love, who love me back, because I was worth it.”
With that, I’d said everything I ever needed to say to the woman who gave birth to me. I moved back to Ethan, but not before looking in my father’s direction, pride shining deep in his eyes. “Please get her out of my house. She isn’t welcome here.”
“Gladly, baby girl.”
I walked straight into Ethan’s arms and wrapped my own around his waist, holding on for dear life. “I love you,” I whispered against the heat of his chest.
“I love you too, Eliza,” he said against the crown of my head. “Always will.”
Pulling back slightly, I looked up at him, the vision of him blurry through my unshed tears. “I’m sorry it took me so long to pull my head out of my ass,” I whispered, earning a deep, vibrating chuckle from him.
“Better late than never, sweetheart. I’m just glad to be hearing it now.”
The apartment door opened and closed. “Well,” my dad spoke up, interrupting our moment. “That’s done, so I better be getting back down to the station. Need to make sure that woman actually leaves town.” My father made his way toward us and leaned in to press a kiss to my cheek. “Love you, baby girl. And so damn proud of you.”
“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.
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 a
nd took one step back. “Make love to me in our living room.”
That, I could definitely do.
A year and a half later
Eliza
“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 separate 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.”
Coming Full Circle (the Pembrooke series Book 2) Page 20
