Then I Met You: A single dad romance (Love in Everton Book 6)

by Fabiola Francisco

  Gavin has made me feel everything I always dreamed I’d find in a man someday. He’s the muse I’ve written about when I’d only hoped to have the real version in my life. He’s got some jagged edges from the pain he’s lived—a few scars on his heart—but I know that every wound heals, and what’s left is the memory that inspires a better life, a better outcome.

  This careful, reserved man is better than any I could’ve come up with. I have no doubt in my mind that we’ll live a happy life.

  “I’ll make you a deal.” I break away from the kiss.

  “Tell me.” His arms tighten around me in a hug.

  “You sleep over tonight,” my eyebrows dance on my face, “and tomorrow we pick up Penny and take her to church. I believe I have some makin’ up to do.”

  The tenderness in his eyes is a punch to my heart. The way he looks at me in this moment captivates me.

  “You’ve got yourself a deal, although there will be plenty of Sundays where you’ll be sitting next to her at church. The forever amount.” The promise in his response lights up my body and soothes my soul.

  “Or however many before she wants to sit next to the boy she likes,” I tease.

  “Not funny,” Gavin growls.

  I giggle and shake my head as he starts to tickle me. “Forever,” I say on a snort.

  “Yeah,” he chuckles. “Forever.”

  Gavin

  Nine months later…

  My legs bounce as I sit in my truck and wait for the bus to pull up. It’s been a month since Sutton left on her short tour, and although I saw her for two days in between, it feels like an eternity since I last held her, tasted her, made love to her.

  These last nine months have been amazing. Sutton’s family even came to Everton for Christmas, and I got to meet her parents and siblings. Seeing her with her family only solidified my feelings for her.

  After her tour last summer, she was actually in Everton most of the time working on her second album and growing her fanbase with local shows and giving us time to grow our love. Penny and I have even gone to a couple of her shows, which Penny loves.

  However, no matter how much time Sutton and I have had together, I still missed her while she was away this month. Penny missed her, too. Sutton completes our family, and I’m grateful I got a chance to get to know the spunky woman who’s shown me real love and stolen my heart.

  I smile, thinking about Penny and the welcome home sign she created for Sutton. She’ll give it to her tomorrow. Tonight, it’s Sutton and me.

  The heater warms my truck as impatience rocks through me. I check the time, and as if cursing me, only two minutes have passed since I last checked.

  A tap on my window startles me, and I look to see who’s knocking. Poppy smiles and waves at me. Turning off my car and getting out, I smile at her.

  “Hey, are you here to pick up Harris?”

  “Yes. As if I would wait at home.” I chuckle, knowing the feeling. Poppy helped a lot when Sutton left on her first tour and also this time, assuring me how quickly time would pass. Having someone who could guide me, even though it seems silly, was a blessing, especially with the media. They may have backed off, but word about Sutton and my relationship still roamed the land of the internet.

  “Ah, here they come.” She claps her hands. I turn to the street and see the bus coming around the corner. A smile breaks out in my face, anticipation making my heart beat fiercely.

  As soon as the bus stops, Sutton rushes out of it and runs toward me. I laugh as I watch her slender form come at me and prepare to catch her. She jumps into my arms, wrapping her legs around me and kissing me despite being in public with a whole town as our audience.

  I hold her to me, not caring about anything else at the moment but this woman.

  “Hi,” she whispers against my lips with a gorgeous smile.

  “Hi.” I kiss her forehead before she wraps her arms around me in a tight hug.

  “I missed you,” she admits, though I already know it because the feeling is mutual.

  “Same, babe.”

  Sutton drops her feet to the ground and smiles up at me. When she looks around, she asks, “Where’s Penny?”

  I grin, loving how much she loves my daughter as if she were her own. She may not be blood-related, but I hope one day she’ll be more to her.

  “She’s staying with my parents tonight.” I wink.

  “Oh, does this mean I get you all to myself? Now, that’s a great welcome home celebration.” She shakes her body, and I can’t wait to feel her moving with me.

  I laugh and take her hand. “Let’s get your things and go.”

  “Impatient, huh?” Her eyebrows waggle.

  “I haven’t had you to myself in weeks,” I whisper in her ear and smirk when she shivers.

  After talking to Knox, Ainsley, and Harris for a few minutes, I hold Sutton’s hand and walk to my truck, opening the door for her before placing her bags on the bed of my truck.

  “Um… my house is in the other direction,” Sutton comments when I start driving.

  “I know, but I’ve got something to show you first.” I glance at her quickly before looking back at the winding road.

  When I drive onto the dusty road, I see Sutton’s eyebrows furrow out of the corner of my eye as she leans forward in curiosity. I hold in my smile, wishing I weren’t driving so I could fully witness her reaction. I slow my truck as Sutton leans forward and holds on to the dashboard with wide eyes.

  I put my truck in Park and turn to her. Her same wide eyes look at me.

  “What is this?”

  “Come on.” I open my door and hold her hand, guiding her out of the truck on my side.

  She sees the view in front of us. “You’re building a house?” Her eyes light up. “This is amazing, Gavin.”

  Her body vibrates with excitement.

  “We’ve been working on it for a few months. Eli’s in charge of the construction. We’re on my parents’ property, but it’s far enough away that it’s private. It should be done by summer,” I explain, gauging her reaction.

  “Whoa, you didn’t mention it to me this whole time. You’ve been working on this for a few months?” Her brows furrow with confusion, looking between me and the construction site.

  “I wanted it to be a surprise.” I walk her further onto the property, the walls still half-built, but the frame standing sturdy already.

  “It’s a four-bedroom house with three bathrooms.” I walk her through. “A room for Penny.” I show her where that would be. “A big kitchen and living space so her friends can come over.” I continue to guide her as I point out where each room will be.

  “And this…” I stand in the middle of an open space. “Would be the master bedroom.”

  “Wow,” Sutton whispers as she spins around. “It looks like it would be big.”

  “Yes, we drew up plans. I wanted to make sure it was perfect for us.”

  “Penny is going to love it.” Sutton smiles, taking it all in.

  “How about you?” I tilt my head and look at her. Clearly, she hasn’t gotten the hint yet.

  “Me?” Her hand moves to her chest.

  “Yes. This is for us: you, Penny, and me. You’ve already given my heart a home, but I want to share this house with you. Make it ours. Have extra space for future kids.”

  Her eyes pop open, and I chuckle. “What do you say? Do you want to live with Penny and me?”

  “You’re serious? Yes! Of course, I do. But wait, have you spoken to Penny about this?” A concerned frown creases the space between her eyebrows.

  “I have. She’s seen the house so far and loves the idea of having our own place. I’ve spoken to her about everything.”

  “Everything?” Sutton cocks her head.

  “Yup. I do have one condition for living with you.” I raise my forefinger.

  Before she can ask, I drop on one knee and pull a small box from my pocket. Sutton’s hands lift to her open mouth.

  “You move
in as my wife. You’ve given me hope, a second chance when I thought there was nothing left of me but the shell of a man I once was. You’ve shown me who that person is again, allowed me to rediscover myself. I love you with all my heart, even when I didn’t want to, was afraid to. I promise to keep feeding you cupcakes, finding time for rides and sunset picnics, and making you happy. Sutton Wright, will you marry me?” I open the box encasing the round cut diamond ring.

  “You want to get married? I know we had talked about it briefly as something in our future, but I thought…” Tears stream down her cheeks.

  “I want you to be mine, legally and before the eyes of God.”

  “Yes,” she breathes out and kneels on the hard floor with me, wrapping her arms around me and kissing me wildly. “Of course, I want to marry you! I so was not expecting this.” I wipe her face and smile, kissing her softly before slipping the ring on her finger.

  “I love you,” I say millimeters from her lips before taking her mouth in mine.

  “I love you, too,” she says as soon as she breaks away from the kiss. “So wait, you want to get married before we move? As in, we have about six months to plan a wedding?” Her eyebrows shoot up.

  “I’d like that, yes, but if you need more time, then I’ll wait to marry you.”

  “Hmmm…” She gives me a secret smile. “Do you think Mrs. Engle will be able to make our cupcakes? We can get married on the ranch. I think we could make this work.” Her golden eyes sparkle in excitement, and she bites her lower lip as her grin broadens.

  “I have one more thing to say.” I swallow thickly as I look into her eyes and bare my soul with a pounding heart. “When the time feels right to you, if it ever does, I’d love for you to adopt Penny and make her ours instead of just mine. You’re already like a mom to her, and I’d be honored.”

  “Wow,” she whispers, more tears swimming in her eyes and moving down her face. Sutton places a hand on my chest and nods. No more words are needed, and deep emotion moves between us. I give her a bruising kiss, pouring everything into it.

  Having Sutton in my life isn’t just about me, and I’m lucky to have found a woman that loves me and my daughter just as much. It was unplanned, and I fought it, but there is no way I can visualize my life without Sutton in it. Without feeling her love each day.

  “You’re so gonna get lucky tonight. Do you want it cowgirl style?” Sutton winks, breaking apart my thoughts.

  A gruff laugh moves through me. “I was thinking more along the lines of a reverse piggy-back.” My eyes widen, and eyebrows waggle.

  “Piggy-back first, then cowgirl.” She leans forward and presses her lips to mine. “Maybe I’ll surprise you, just to keep things interesting,” she says against my lips.

  I hold her to me and explore her mouth. She has kept things interesting in my life from the beginning, and I plan on keeping it that way until the day I die.

  With her in my arms, I look down into her eyes, holding her jaw and stroking my thumb across her smooth skin. “You’re the best surprise I’ve ever received when I thought I’d never be happy again, and I’ll live my life a million times over, suffer through it all if it means I end up with you.” Then, I kiss her softly, promising to love her for eternity.

  …

  Thank you for reading Then I Met You! I hope you enjoyed Gavin and Sutton’s story. I absolutely loved digging deeper into these characters! We’ll be heading back to Everton this winter for the final book. I can’t believe it!

  I am so excited to share Faith’s story. It’s a second chance romance with a hero you haven’t met yet! Gasp, I know. I am sooo excited for you to meet her leading man and follow their story as they see each other again years later and become reacquainted.

  Continue reading for a sneak peek of My Way To You and meet Easton!

  …

  If you haven’t yet read Abbie and Finn’s story, you can read this best friend’s brother romance now! You Make It Easy is sweet, relatable, and swoon-worthy.

  …

  If you enjoyed Then I Met You, you can return to Everton in the following books!

  Write You a Love Song: Knox and Ainsley, a country music romance

  Roping Your Heart: Axel and Lia, a friends-to-lovers, roommates romance

  Pretend You’re Mine: Harris and Poppy, a fake relationship romance

  Make You Mine: Eli and Averly, a hate-to-lovers, surprise pregnancy romance

  You Make It Easy: Abbie and Finn, a best friend’s romance

  Easton

  I had forgotten exactly how small Everton is. At church this morning, people stared at me with curious eyes as they whispered. It was awkward as hell, sitting there knowing they were talking about me and not doing anything about it.

  It was great to see Gavin and meet his wife and his daughter. I promised him we’d catch up this week. It seems a lot has changed in the years I’ve been gone.

  I stop for coffee at Cup-O-Joe, the same coffee shop that’s been in the same location since I was a kid, and random people greet me. Some look familiar, others I had forgotten about. They didn’t forget about me, though.

  I am surprised by how many people have called me by name and asked about my parents and sister. I should’ve known, though, that once you’re from Everton, you’re a member for life.

  In the sea of familiar faces, the one I didn’t see is the person I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. I thought I’d see Faith at church, but it seems like she skipped today’s service.

  Once I have my cup of black coffee in hand, I step out into the frigid cold with only one destination in mind. Camden is still sleeping, and I have a feeling he’ll be passed out for a while.

  You forget how cold a place can be when you haven’t lived there for years. Hopping in my car, I make a mental note to check out some car dealerships this week. It’s time to trade in this sedan for a pickup truck.

  Fuck, I missed this place.

  I drive through the curvy roads, taking in the snow piled on each side of it. It snows in Virginia, but it’s nothing like this. When I first moved, people were amazed at how thirty degrees felt like fifty to me. Here, in Wyoming, thirty degrees is almost a spring day.

  A slow smile tilts up my lips as I see the old, familiar structure in the distance. I can’t believe it’s still standing after all these years. My heart stops when I see another car parked near the barn. When I look at the barn, I see someone standing by it. She’s here. I hoped she would be—this was always our place.

  At the echo of my door closing, Faith turns around and her eyes widen in surprise. She takes her bottom lip between her teeth as she stares at me.

  “Hey,” I smile, standing in front of her now.

  “Hi.” She offers a sheepish grin, all tight-lipped and tense.

  “I see this place is still standing.” I slap it once and the wood creaks.

  “Careful,” she warns.

  “Barely standing…” I trail off as I look at it.

  “Yeah. It’s endured some harsh winters.” Her lips are set in a straight line.

  “I bet.” I run a hand through my hair. Are we seriously talking about the weather and this barn? After not seeing each other for thirteen years, I expected our conversation to go a little differently.

  “How are you?” I stick my hands in my pockets, needing more warmth than the gloves can provide.

  “I’m good. How about you? Moving back, huh?” Faith wipes away strands of hair that whip in the wind, the tip of her nose red.

  I smile at the memory of teasing her when we were young, calling her Rudolph since her nose would always turn red when the temperature dropped.

  She looks beautiful. Her tousled hair adds to her beauty as she stands before me—a woman instead of a girl—with the same shiny blue eyes.

  “Yeah,” I nod. “The time was right. I had heard about a position for a lawyer that opened in town hall and next thing I knew, the ranch was for sale.”

  “I didn’t hear about any properties
going up for sale,” Faith states with bunched eyebrows.

  “Do you work in real estate?” I lift my eyebrows.

  “No,” she shakes her head. “I don’t know why I said that. I guess I thought the Prewitts were happy living there.”

  “Their kids went off to college, Mr. Prewitt is ready to retire, and they had no future for the ranch. I think they bought a vacation home in Florida and a small apartment here,” I explain, shivering as the wind kicks up.

  “I forgot how cold it got here,” I comment, staring out at the white mountains. Actually, everything is covered in snow. Not one inch of the surrounding area is clear of the white powder.

  “Yeah…” Faith’s teeth clatter, but she doesn’t move.

  “This is still here…” I find the carving, smiling widely.

  “Yup, it’s withstood it all, like the barn.” Faith’s voice is clipped.

  I look at her again, my fingers still tracing our names. “Well…” I stare into her eyes. “It was meant to. It’s why I put it there.” I take a step closer to her, wishing I could hold her. I’m having deja vu of the day I met her here to tell her we were moving. The sadness swimming in her eyes that day is almost identical to what I see now staring back at me.

  “We were just kids, Easton,” Faith says defensively.

  “Yeah, just kids…” I look at the carving again, flattening my palm over it. “Do you ever wonder what would’ve happened if I had never moved?” The million-dollar question. Actually, it's the trillion-dollar question. I’d give everything I owned for a glass ball that would show me an alternate world, one where Faith and I stayed together, went to college, did everything we talked about. I’d love to see how we would’ve turned out.

  She shrugs but remains silent.

  “You look good, Faith.” I nod, taking her in. I could look at her for hours and not believe she was standing in front of me.

  “Thanks.” She relaxes a bit. I wonder what’s going through her mind.

  “Aren’t you going to say I look good, too?” I raise my eyebrows and cross my arms.