Heartbreak Holiday
Page 17
Brady squeezed my hand and slipped an arm around my middle.
Mum pursed her lips and sighed. “I feel like I don’t even know you anymore, Sophie. You’ve been away for eight weeks and you’re just a completely different person. I don’t understand what’s changed. Where’s my sweet, polite, wouldn’t say boo to a goose little girl gone?”
“That’s just it, Mum. I’m not a girl—I’m a woman.”
At that, Brady lifted my hand to his lips and pressed several kisses onto the back of it. All eyes fell on that simple yet tender gesture but not a word was uttered.
“Shall we go?” Brady said, not even acknowledging anyone else in the room.
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” I said.
“Excuse me, young man,” Mum said, addressing Brady. “It would be nice to at least hold a conversation with the man who is keeping my daughter on the other side of the world.”
“With all due respect, Ma’am, I am not ‘keeping’ your daughter. She is free to do as she pleases, when she pleases.”
Mum’s face contorted in horror but I couldn’t work out whether it was her title of ‘Ma’am’ or the fact that Brady put her in her place. Either way, it made me smirk.
“Well,” Dad said, his lips turning up at the edges. “I think it’s safe to say that our daughter has finally found herself a man. Well done, Sophie, and thank you—”
“Brady,” he said.
“Thank you, Brady, for being the first person in over two decades to stun my wife into silence. I hope we get a chance to meet under better circumstances someday.”
I stifled a laugh at my father’s direct approach. He was a man of few words but those he did say were always carefully thought out.
“We’re flying home next Thursday,” I said, walking us towards the front door. “If you want to see us before then, we’ll be staying at mine.”
“Where am I supposed to stay exactly?” Ben said, the tremble in his voice more than evident.
“Couldn’t care less. Since you’ve been gracing her bed for months, why don’t you try there?”
“That house is just as much mine as it is yours, Sophie. I have every right—”
“You have every right to shut the hell up and quit whinging like a little girl,” Dad said, not even looking up from his newspaper.
“Roger—”
“Enough, Sheila. I’ve never liked the boy. There’s no reason for him to think otherwise now.”
An eerie silence crept over the room and I gratefully used that as an excuse to run out of there as fast as possible. Dad rarely challenged Mum but when he did, it usually resulted in a sulking mother for days. She knew if he said something he meant, there was no budging him.
We sat back in the car and burst into laughter. After a couple of minutes, Brady took my left hand and stroked his thumb over my ring finger.
“You were very forceful in there, I’m proud of you.”
I blushed. “Yeah, well, I’m not being walked all over anymore.”
“Are you going to show me that forceful side later?” He gave me a cheeky wink.
“Well, I do still have some riding whips and some knee-high leather boots…”
He grinned before turning all serious on me again. “Hearing you call me your future husband, it did funny things to me. It made me realise how proud I would be to call you my wife. I want everyone to know that I’m yours and you’re mine.”
My heart began thudding. Heat trickled through my veins at the sincere edge to his voice and the determined look on his handsome face.
“I’m going to push the divorce through with Anna as quickly as I can,” he said, inching his way towards my lips. “Because I want you to be Mrs Lancaster—no one else.” He graced me with a dizzying kiss. “Marry me, Sophie. Please?”
Chapter Thirty Six
My breath caught in my throat. Had he really just asked that? What was I supposed to say? Think? Do? Several heavy seconds ticked past as he continued to stroke the third finger of my left hand. My heart pounded beneath my ribs as I deliberated my answer.
“Nothing like keeping a guy hanging,” he said, forcing a smile.
“I…I just…I didn’t exactly expect to be proposed to in a car outside my parents house.”
He laughed. “I’m sorry. The moment felt right and I had to say it before I chickened out.”
My heart hammered against my ribs, my mouth ran dry, and my head whirled in a hazy fog of surrealness. I had always wanted the ‘fairy tale’ lifestyle—and that included marriage. I yearned for it, my heart ached for it, to know that someone wanted to commit themselves to me that much. The past few weeks had been a string of spontaneous decisions—was I now going to change that pattern?
Before I conflicted with myself anymore, I took a deep breath and gave him his answer. “Yes.”
A broad smile enveloped his handsome face. The corners of his chocolate eyes creased up, a film of water glistening over the top.
“I’m the luckiest man alive,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to mine.
I smiled, thinking that really, I was the luckiest woman alive. This man had fixed a soul deep scar in me. He’d allowed me to blossom into this confident woman that had only taken a few short weeks, and he’d relished every stage of it. I couldn’t care less what anyone else might think of our relationship, especially this massive next step, because the only thing that mattered was that it felt right.
We drove back to my house in a comfortable silence, our hands clasped together and stealing glances at each other every now and again. Walking back inside the home I’d created with Ben just added to the reality of what was happening. The Sophie who last stepped foot inside this house was gone—overrun and beaten down by the ‘new’ Sophie. As I looked around at the pictures of the last decade of my life, remembering passionate kisses, laughter, and tears, it all dissolved into nothing as that unforgiveable affair between Ben and Alyssa hung in the air like a black cloud threatening a storm.
I was settled with the fact I’d attempted to fix things. I’d still entertained him in conversation and even contemplated getting back together, but ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be. If it had of been, then my head wouldn’t have been turned by Brady.
“You ok?” Brady asked. He laid his hands on my shoulders, kneading at the tense knots in my muscles.
I leaned my head back into his firm body and closed my eyes. It was then that I realised Brady was my heaven, my home. I could have been stood in a swamp with crocs snapping at my legs, but the way he made my heart flutter and warmed the deepest parts of my being washed everything else away. He was my world—everything else was just detail.
“I couldn’t be better,” I said, a contented smile tweaking at my lips. After a couple of moments of his delightful massage and soft kisses trailing across my cheek, I turned around and placed my arms around his neck. “Let’s go home.”
He jerked his head backwards and frowned. “I don’t understand?”
“My home is anywhere with you,” I said, biting back a bout of joyful tears. “And that’s not here. This is…alien to me now. I feel like a foreigner, like I don’t belong. I want to be back in Arizona—where it’s just you, me, and the never-ending desert.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Cowgirl wants her cowboy, but this isn’t where we play.”
He grinned and pressed his lips to mine. “You’re right about that.” He took a moment to look around at the clinical house we were stood in. “I can’t picture you living the life this house portrays. It’s…monotone, always the same.”
It was true—everything was painted magnolia—bleak, bland, and boring. Strategically placed shelves and pictures were dotted about, but even their frames were cold and dreary. Tiles covered the entire downstairs floor and it held nothing but a ‘don’t touch me’ look. Had I really lived like this for so long? Or had I just blended into my habitual life to such an extent that I paid no attention to what was around me?
&
nbsp; “Well you, Mr Lancaster, are definitely not monotone.” I lifted a hand and stroked through his hair. “Thank you,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
“For what?”
“For saving me…from me.”
He smiled and cupped my cheek. “I haven’t saved you from you. You’ve saved yourself, Sophie. I’m just forever grateful that I got a front row seat to see you bloom into this beautiful, passionate woman who is giving her heart to me.”
Heat flushed my skin to new shades of red at his heartfelt words. Those few words alone would be something I would take to my grave, comfort myself with on my death bed.
“I’m going to look after this,” he said, moving his hand to my chest and resting it over my heart. “This is worth more to me than anything else. I know how hard it’s been for you to even think about trusting someone else and I can’t believe you’ve found the courage inside of you to trust again.” He kissed me with a fervent passion. “Thank you for making that person me.”
The floodgates opened then and I cried inside his arms like a little girl who’d just found a long-lost teddy. After a good few minutes, he whispered into my ear, “Let’s go home, Mrs Lancaster.” I nodded and took his hand as we headed for the door. He stopped before opening the door and asked, “Do you not want anything from here?”
I shook my head. “The girl who lived this life is long gone. Time to look forwards, not back.”
He kissed my forehead. “That’s my lady.”
Epilogue
And look forward we did. I didn’t hear from my mother for nearly ten weeks after we left that day. My father, on the other hand, seemed to gain a whole new life now I’d ‘freed’ myself so to speak. He emailed me almost daily with general chit chat and silly jokes. I’d never known this side of him but I wholly appreciated this new level to our relationship.
After I walked out, leaving all of my life with Ben behind, he seemingly fell to pieces. Finally realising he no longer had a hold over me, he also decided he wanted nothing of what was once ours. Everything went up for sale, the house having sold only three weeks ago, and all the monies were split fifty-fifty. From what I’d heard since, he’d done nothing but drink himself into stupors from day to day. Needless to say, my prissy sister couldn’t tolerate that and promptly told him they were done for good.
It’s been nearly a year now, since we came back to our home. Brady’s divorce with Anna finalised last month and much to our surprise, she couldn’t actually lay her hands on any of Brady’s inheritance.
When meeting with his solicitor, it became apparent that Brady’s mum had gone behind her husband’s back and changed the trust fund conditions without him knowing. Seeing as he thought they were in the same frame of mind, he stupidly left out needing double signatures to change anything.
As such, his mother changed the terms, stating that should Brady divorce from an unhappy marriage in order to pursue a new relationship, the monies would remain his. She’d left a handwritten note with the lawyer which simply said:
I know what true unhappiness is. To live like that for the sake of money is hell in itself. Love Mum x
Brady smiled and asked the elderly guy to send thanks to his mother. The hope of one day establishing a more regular relationship with his parents was now a reality—it was just a waiting game.
Right now, I am sat in a silk wedding dress on our Queen-sized bed in our house. Brady is in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. We’ve had a quiet, perfect ceremony today set within the ranch. John and Zoe were the only witnesses which was exactly what we wanted. Once we’d settled into married life, we would have a big do with a massive party to boot. But for now, it was just about me and Brady.
With Cody as our ring bearer—a black silk ribbon hung around his neck with our rings tied to it—and a picture of Kelsa behind us, we needed no-one else. My father was disappointed he couldn’t come but my mother didn’t know about the marriage yet—she was still trying to come to terms with everything. Once she’d accepted it, we would announce the official date and have them over for a party. However, I prayed to God she would make that sooner rather than later.
The bathroom door opened and my handsome husband appeared in the doorway, his mouth hanging open.
“Soph?”
I can’t help my smirk as I glance up at him. He’s trembling and looking from me to the object in his hand—a tell-tale white stick.
“Are we…are we pregnant?” he asks.
I nod and burst into a huge grin.
“I couldn’t have ever asked for a better wedding present,” he says, covering the ground between us in two strides. He folds his arms around me and kisses me relentlessly. “I hope the world is ready for The Lancaster’s.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First off, the biggest acknowledgement goes to you, dear reader. Without you guys, this would all be meaningless.
Secondly, my ever-loving partner, Steve. Your support and constant re-grounding of my ‘head in the clouds’ ideas are something I will never find in someone else.
Last, but not least, my dear writing buddies—May Freighter, Juliet Lyons, R K Close, and Leila Adams. I love you ladies and am forever grateful we are on this journey together!
Love, CJL XXX
WHERE TO FIND C J LAURENCE
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ALSO BY THIS AUTHOR:
Want & Need – August 2016 – Limitless Publishing
Sex, Lies & Demon Ties – Dark Desires Series Book I – September 2016
COMING SOON:
Sex, Lies & Vampire Ties – Dark Desires Series Book II
Retribution – Purple Ribbon Series Journey #1
Lust & Love – Sequel to Want & Need