by Jamie Pope
But Sunny had forced him into doing things he didn’t normally do. Things he didn’t want to do. He had felt used by her. Maybe she did use him. Maybe she should have told him. But she couldn’t feel guilty because she had loved him. She did love him and she wouldn’t take any of it back.
Some of her greatest joy came from being in love with him.
The court proceedings went very smoothly with the judge talking to Soren first and then the Earls about their life together and their future plans. And then it was done. The papers were signed and Soren’s last name officially changed and Sunny cried again. And so did the Earls. All of them hugged Sunny, thanking her for what must have been the hundredth time that day. They gave her a gift. A locket with a picture of Soren and her together at Soren’s last birthday.
Sunny put it on immediately. It was one of those things she would keep beside her heart forever. Soon it was over. The Earls were off to celebrate with a lavish lunch at Soren’s favorite restaurant. She watched them walk away as a family. She kept her eyes on them until they disappeared from sight, just to avoid looking at Julian who was standing behind her.
“Sunny . . .” he finally said.
She turned to look at him. He was so handsome in his suit. He was once again the image of the powerful attorney she had met when she begged him to take her case. He was partner now. His dreams had come true. He finally was who he had always wanted to be.
“Thank you for coming today,” she said to him. “It meant a lot to the Earls. And thank you for all that you have done for them. It made a huge impact on their lives.” She turned away from him, ready to leave for good, but he grabbed her wrist.
“I need to talk to you.”
The tears that were so close to the surface all day came again. She had never cried. For years she hadn’t. She had forced herself to turn off that part of herself, but with him she became raw and open. Her wounds were sore and not ready to be picked at.
“We don’t have to do this. I think we should both move on with our lives.”
“I can’t,” he said, and his voice sounded choked. “I can’t because there’s something I have to tell you.”
“I’m not sure I can hear it. Being near you hurts too much.”
“I’m miserable without you, Sunshine. I haven’t been able to function. I’m in love with you and I have been for a long time.”
She turned to face him. “Excuse me?”
“I love you. I love you. I love you. I’ve never said it before. I didn’t know how to tell you. I wasn’t pushing you away. I was making plans for us.” He pulled out his phone. “I went looking for houses in those days before we left. I found this one. It’s not far from my sister’s place.”
He started swiping through pictures on his phone. It was a large three-story home with a huge wraparound porch that overlooked the ocean.
“There’s a porch swing,” he told her. “And rocking chairs and my favorite part is the hammock that can fit two people. There are six bedrooms and on the side of the house there is already a little swing set. And there’s the kitchen. It’s got an island just like you wanted and a double oven. This is the kind of room the family gathers in.”
“Why are you showing me this?”
“I bought it.”
“You what?” The shock of his statement made her take a step back.
“It’s not as luxurious as Galen and Alex’s place, but I thought it would be good for us.”
She shook her head, trying to make some sense of his words.
“I was going to bring you there after we left Hope.” He pulled a small box out of his pocket and got down on one knee. “I was going to propose to you with my grandmother’s ring on the porch.” He opened the box and revealed a simple but lovely diamond ring. “I was going to tell you that I needed to grow old with you and make babies with you and love you for the rest of my life. But I didn’t want to blow the surprise. So I didn’t say anything.”
“I thought you didn’t want me. That you didn’t want that kind of life.”
“I’m resigning from my firm. I want more than a career. I want you and whatever is going to make you happy. Marry me, Sunny. I can’t go through this life without you.”
She nodded and wrapped herself around him. “I love you. I’m so sorry. I’ve been so miserable without you.”
He stood up, his arms still around her. “I would have helped you find your mother. I’ll still help you. I would give you the entire world if I could, just don’t hold any part of yourself away from me.”
“I thought you would think I was crazy.”
“I do think you’re crazy, but I love you because of it and I want to be crazy with you.”
“Say you love me again. I need to hear it.”
“I love you. I’m in love with you. Please be my wife.”
“Of course, I will.” He spun her around, put the ring on her finger and then they left the court house, ready to start their lives together.
Epilogue
“You’re going to keep me?” the little boy asked Sunny as she tucked him into bed.
“Yes, Tyler.” She kissed his forehead and then his cheeks. “Your social worker said we could. We are going to go to the courthouse to see the judge and then we’ll sign papers that say you will be ours.”
“Forever?” he looked up at Sunny, the skepticism in his face clear.
“Forever,” Sunny said. “You are our boy. Our son. No more foster care.”
Julian watched Sunny scoop Tyler into her arms in a ritual that was becoming a nightly thing since they decided to adopt him. It was very important to Sunny that they foster a child. They had two of their own, a little girl that was just over eighteen months and another girl that was six months old. Julian was holding their youngest now, feeding her the last bottle of the night. They had been married for five years. And happy. Julian hadn’t thought this kind of happiness was possible.
After he resigned from his job, they had married a month later in a small ceremony on the beach in South Carolina and then he took her on a three-month honeymoon around the world. He had thought that that would be the happiest time of his life, but he had been wrong. Watching her love their children made him even happier. She had so much love to give. And when she told him that she wanted to foster almost a year ago, he agreed, but he knew it wasn’t going to work because Sunny was never going to be able to give a child back once she loved them. And she fell hard for little Tyler, who was abused by his birth mother and tossed around three foster homes in his short life.
“And I can call you mommy?”
“If you want to.”
He looked so unsure. He didn’t trust easily. It had taken so long for him to be this comfortable with them. To let Sunny hold him. “I will if you want me to.”
“I would love it if you called me mommy, but it has to be your choice. You can call me Sunny if you want to.”
“I will call you mommy.” He looked at Julian. “Can I call him daddy?”
“Yes,” Julian answered for her. “I would be very proud to have you call me daddy.”
“We love you.” She placed him back beneath the covers. “We won’t stop.”
“Even when I misbehave?”
“Especially then. We will always love you. We will never give you back. Even if we get mad. Even if you misbehave, you will always have a home here.”
He nodded. “I love it here.”
“I’m glad.” She kissed him again. “Good night, Tyler. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Julian put their daughter, Juliana, in her crib and followed Sunny out of the room.
He grabbed her hand and slipped his fingers through hers as they walked down the hallway. “It was a very brilliant idea to put Ana’s crib in the room with him. He hasn’t been scared, which means we haven’t had a four-year-old sleeping between us.”
“He’s never had his own room before. It’s a big change for him.”
As soon they crossed the threshold of their b
edroom he shut the door and pushed her against it, kissing her deeply. She wrapped her arms around him and melted into his kiss.
Her reaction to him never changed. Five years and three kids later and she still smiled when he walked into a room. His heart still raced when she touched him. He missed her whenever he was away from her for more than a few hours.
“Don’t kiss me like that, Mr. King.”
“Don’t be so damn cute, Mrs. King.”
“I missed you today.” She rested her head against his chest.
He had opened up his own law practice that he ran out of the house, but his business had grown faster than he expected and he had to hire more lawyers to help with the work, which meant he had to move his practice to a small office downtown. He couldn’t pop upstairs to kiss his wife when he had a free moment, but working outside of the house might have been a better move. He stopped working every day at four-thirty to make sure he was home by five. He left work at work. His weekends were free. He took long vacations. He had more of a life now than he had ever had.
“I missed you too.” He kissed her cheeks and then down to her neck.
“Stop kissing me,” she moaned. “I want to talk to you.”
“I’ve already sent out the invites for Tyler’s party. The whole family will be there for his adoption day.”
“Thank you, but that’s not what I want to talk to you about.”
He stood up straight and looked down into her eyes, which held a little fear. She had gone to the doctor today. She told him she had been feeling a little run down lately and thought she was getting a cold.
“Please don’t tell me you’re sick. I can handle anything but that.”
“Okay, I’m having a torrid affair with the young hot lifeguard on the beach. He satisfies me in ways you never could.”
“You’re hilarious. Now tell me what’s wrong.”
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered. “Again. I’m three months along.”
“You are?” He grinned at her. “That’s amazing.”
“You’re happy?” She looked up at him unsure.
“Of course, I am.”
“But you said I can’t foster any more kids after Tyler. I thought you didn’t want more children.”
“I don’t want you to foster because foster care is temporary and you have a very hard time giving them back. When our first foster went back to her mother, you cried for three days. And before Tyler’s birth parents’ rights were terminated you were a nervous wreck. I can’t bear to see you like that. We can adopt from the system, but let’s only take them if we know we can keep them. I want as many children as you’ll give me.” He rubbed her belly. “I’m very happy about it.”
“This is why I love you.”
“I love you too. And I have some news for you.”
He had hired a private detective to track down her mother. There had been so little to go on. Grace Gibson had left almost no trace. “We found your sister. She’s twenty-seven years old and lives in DC.”
Sunny gasped. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. She’s the daughter of Warren Bates.”
Sunny frowned. “Why do I know that name?”
“He’s the millionaire tech mogul who ran for Congress a few years ago. There’s talk he might run for president.”
Sunny was having a hard time processing that. Her sister didn’t live in foster care. She lived a life of privilege. She had lived without their mother. She wondered if she had known her like Sunny had.
“Does she know about me?”
“I don’t know. We can do whatever you want, Sunny. Just tell me and I’ll get it done.”
She thought about it for a moment. Her sister probably led her own quiet life. She wasn’t sure if she wanted more family. But Sunny had searched so long. “I want to meet her.” Even if she didn’t want a relationship, Sunny wanted to meet the person she shared the same blood with. She wanted to know what she looked like. Wanted to see if they had even the smallest things in common.
“Okay. We’ll do it. Just let me know when you’re ready.”
She nodded, feeling completely heady. She was one step closer to closure.
Don’t miss Jamie Pope’s next book
ONE WARM WINTER,
Where we meet Sunny’s sister.
It’s coming to you in April 2019 Available at your favorite bookstore or e-retailer.
