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by Stacy Borel

  But falling in love was an absolute leap of faith. There was no comparison. I’d found something in this man that was communicating to my cold and closed off heart, and he was busting down those walls faster than I could keep putting them back up. He wasn’t going to let me win this battle. Not now, and maybe not ever. And you know what? I was okay with that.

  I hadn’t made a single sound the whole time we were flying through the air, but as the machine lowered us to the ground I started laughing. I laughed hysterically. No doubt Turner thought I’d gone mad.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked, an amused expression on his face.

  I shook my head, laughing even harder because we were hanging upside down and we both looked ridiculous. “Oh, just all of this. Today should have been the second worst day of my life, and somehow you made it okay. You showed me I’m a part of a family again, and now you’re teaching me how to live. Where did you come from, Doctor Brooks?”

  He smirked. I knew a smart ass answer was on the tip of his tongue. “From snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails. And of course good genetics.”

  I chortled. “Always arrogant.”

  “Wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t.”

  “Hmmm, yes, I know.”

  When we were set on the ground, we both stood on our feet and regained our balance. I used his chest as a place to steady myself.

  “Can we do this again sometime?”

  I don’t think he could be any more shocked than he was right now. “I suppose, if you really want too.”

  I nodded. “I do. But on one condition.”

  “And what’s that?”

  I reached up on my tippy toes and kissed his soft lips. “That you fall with me.”

  He smoothed my hair back and placed a kiss on my nose. “Always, Annabelle. Always.”

  With that I knew I was okay. I had loved, lost, and been loved. I was a part of something huge, and my life wouldn’t be wasted sticking to the sidewalks. Turner Brooks was my future, and I planned on living it to the fullest as long as was by my side. I had a feeling that was going to be for a very long time to come.

  The End

  “ANNABELLE, I THINK YOU HAVE a visitor,” Keegan said from beside me. She nudged me with her elbow.

  I looked up to where she was staring. Turner was walking towards me wearing his obnoxious white doctor’s coat and a smile. I smirked. What was he up too?

  As he approached me, his face turned serious. “Nurse Annabelle, I have some things I need to talk to you about.”

  I stood and straightened my scrubs. “Doctor Brooks. Does this pertain to a patient?”

  “Actually, it has to do with your behavior and some complaints that I’ve received.”

  I jerked my head back. “Whomever had complaints hasn’t come to me to discuss them, so as far as I’m concerned, I don’t care.”

  “That’s not the best attitude to have, Annabelle.”

  Keegan snorted. I glanced down at her and tapped her with my foot. “Oh sorry, I think I have a patient to check on. Have fun you two.”

  She took off down the hall. I brought my attention back to Turner. “Well, my attitude is none of your concern, Doctor. If there are any more complaints the HR department can come talk to me.”

  He frowned. Darting his bright blue eyes around, he took a step into me. “I think we should discuss this in private.”

  A snarky grunt came from across the counter. Little Miss Red Silk’s lip was curled in disgust. I broke character for a brief moment and winked at her. Eat shit, honey, he’s mine. I had the gratification that one of the many women Turner had once dated wasn’t who he was searching for—he was looking for me. My gesture wasn’t well received. Instead of watching the rest of our exchange, Robin stormed off down the hall. Served her right.

  Turner cleared his throat. “Now that that’s taken care of, what were we talking about?”

  He broke character as well appearing amused.

  “About that private talk . . .” I leaned into him and kissed his cheek.

  Turner raised his brow. “I do believe that goes against protocol, Annabelle.”

  I stood on my tippy toes and nibbled on his ear, not caring who saw my public display of affection. “Protocol, schmotocol.”

  “What am I going to do with you?” I heard the smile in his voice.

  “Whatever you want.”

  “Hmmm . . .” he whispered in my ear. “Find an empty room, now.”

  Who was I to argue? Twisting around, I began the short walk to the end of the hall where I knew a room was empty and we’d have a few moments alone. Turner swatted me on the butt, reminding me who was in charge. I shook my head and bit my lip. Only two months had gone by since Noah had passed, but I’d never been so happy. Yeah, Turner Brooks made me happy. He was life. He breathed it into me, and showed me who I could be. I learned how to smile again. I was my reason, but he was the teacher. For that I’d be forever grateful. I loved him and today, that’s what mattered the most.

  “In here, Doctor,” I summoned, entering a room.

  His eyes shifted from entertained to lustful. Oh yes, Turner Brooks was undoubtedly mine and I was going to keep him for as long as he’d have me.

  My hands shook furiously as I ripped open the box and pulled out the white sheet of paper. I laid it flat on the counter so I could read the instructions. My eyes scanned over the words.

  “Ack, not fucking Spanish. Where’s the English version?”

  I searched vehemently for anything that said “Step one” or for an image to follow. It’s not like I didn’t know how to use these things. They played commercials all damn day for the women who stayed at home and watched soap operas. I’ve seen a few of them. But I wanted to make sure I was following the instructions to the letter. Any skipped stepped or timing or whatever could make it all invalid or false.

  “Ha!” I said to myself.

  I found it. It said to take the applicator out of the plastic wrap and place it in the urine stream for five seconds, then lay it flat. It would take two minutes for results to appear in the window. I sat on the toilet and tore the test open with my teeth. There was a purple cap on the end that I took off and tossed to the side. Thank God I needed to pee. I did exactly as it all said. Standing up, I pulled up my pants and hovered over the test, refusing to take my eyes off of it.

  My finger nails tapped on the counter like I was playing Chopsticks on the piano. A nervous habit I had picked up since I was a kid.

  Two minutes. Two fucking minutes.

  Why did it take two minutes? This shit should show up right away. The idiots who created these things clearly didn’t realize how time sensitive it was to know the answer right away. And honestly, why don’t I wear a watch? Where in the hell did I put my cell phone? I should be timing this. I glanced around. It was nowhere near. Apparently, it was still in my purse on the bed.

  “Damn,” I grumbled under my breath.

  My eyes went back to the little game changer on the counter. Something started to show up in the first box. What does that mean? Fuck, I didn’t even finish reading all the instructions. I don’t even know what I’m looking at. I searched. Okay, two lines is positive, one line is negative.

  Two lines is positive . . . two lines is pos—oh God!

  I was going to be sick. Rushing to the toilet, I flipped the lid and threw up. My stomach heaved so hard it hurt. Every ounce of food and coffee I’d inhaled this morning was now a mess of bile and disgustingness. I slid down ‘til I was on my ass on the cold travertine tile of my bathroom. Tears streamed down my face and confusion wracked my brain. How did this happen? I was on birth control. It didn’t make any sense. Was I part of that small two percent population that the pill wasn’t effective for? God, I was going to sue the shit out of the company. Nobody was in the two percent. The two percent was just there to scare the shit out of people to take their pills on time. I was someone that took it at the same time every day.

  What was I going to do? I looked
up at the counter and saw the stick still sitting there. With uneasy fingers, I took hold of it and checked it again. I shook my head. The results hadn’t changed. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

  I was pregnant, and it was Dodger’s. My life was about to be flipped upside down.

  To my family, especially my kids, thank you for being the faces that push me forward every day. Picking up my slack when there was too much going on, and for always being understanding. I love you all very much.

  Missy, I have no clue how you deal with my wishy washy ass, but you do and you take it in stride. Pushing back deadlines, understanding why I took long pauses, and then taking the time to tell me to pull up my big girl panties and get my shit done. You’ve known the right words to tell me when I needed to hear them. A good editor is invaluable, I hope I begged enough to keep you around. Please keep tolerating me!

  To my group of beta readers: Beth, Stacey, Heather, Shelly, Diane and Nichole. You women are amazing. You all read the book in record time, in a crunch, and provided me some incredible feedback and suggestions. I’m so grateful to each of you and that you took a chance on me.

  Nichole, you’ve become the best friend I didn’t know I was looking for. Every single day, you deal with my crazy. And we both know it’s crazy. I don’t know why you stick around, but you do. I’ve come to rely on you for so much and I adore you. Thank you for being you, and not giving up on me.