Killing Bliss
Page 29
There went her heart again, thumping and banging in her chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist and muttered into his shoulder, "Well, you'd better stay proud, then, because I'm thinking I'll take you up on that 'us' thing you're so set on."
He kissed her then, and soft hearts and melting bones were forgotten in the wonder of it. "Thank God," he whispered finally, his breath hot against her forehead.
She pulled back, took a breath for courage, and said flat out, "I love you, Cade. And I owe you."
He frowned.
"You've given me back my life." And she'd never forget that. Nor would she forget the tears she'd cried when she'd arrived at her mother's grave hours before, first tears of grief for Beauty, what might have been, then tears of relief, of gratitude for what now might be.
She wasn't sure how to put it into words, but she knew she had to try. "Today was the first time I've sat on the grass beside my mother's grave. Before, I was always too afraid I'd be seen. Thank you for that And thank you for coming after me." She smiled then.
He kissed her again and smiled back. "You're welcome. And as for my coming after you? I didn't have a choice. You stole my dog."
Epilogue
Three months later
Susan went to the window. By Cade's count, it was at least the fifteenth time in as many minutes.
"Relax, Susan. He'll get here when he gets here," he said. "You know the traffic on I-5."
Addy came in with a tray of sandwiches, the tower that was Stan a few steps behind. "Is he here yet?" Addy asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.
Addy had a lot of curiosity—and dedication, as Cade had discovered in the past three months. She was already reading at high school level, and she'd surprised him yesterday by telling him she'd signed up for some online courses and had Toby helping her on the side. When he'd told her not to be so impatient, she'd calmly advised him that her "learning" was taking up too much of his writing time, and she planned to speed things up so she could start taking college courses next year.
Cade got up from the chair he was sitting in and took the tray from her. "No," he said, "he's not here yet. Now will everyone relax? You sound like a bunch of kids in the back of a van heading to Disneyland."
"I second that," Stan said, adding, "Susie, sit down, you're giving me an ulcer. You've waited this long to see him, you can be patient another ten minutes."
She sat, but didn't look happy about it. "I'm not patient. And if it weren't for that Gus person insisting he send Josh to me—in his own good time, I might add—I'd already have seen him ten times over. Now the boy has to find his way here alone. What if he gets lost?"
"He's seventeen," Cade reminded her gently. "He can make telephone calls and hail a cab."
Susan wasn't to be placated. "And that Gus fellow," she went on. "Arrogant, that's what he is. With far too many secrets if you ask me. In the private security business, he says. Humph. He might be smart enough for that, but he doesn't seem to have grasped the fact that he kidnapped my grandson."
"He did not kidnap him." Addy rose to Gus's defense, as Cade knew she would. "First off, Gus didn't know Josh had family, Susan. He thought he was... like him. That he was alone, had no one. All he wanted to do was take care of him, like he did Beauty and me."
"He should have—" Susan started.
"Leave the should-haves, love. Let it go," Stan said firmly. "Or, at the very least, reserve judgment until you meet Josh. From all reports, Vanelleto did a hell of a job raising him. If, after you meet the boy, you think otherwise, you can have the man hanged, drawn, and quartered. But the way I read it, Vanelleto and the boy are tight. Family. You mess with that and you risk alienating that boy, maybe never seeing him again, no matter what the law says."
She glared at him, unable to argue, but every bit the petulant have-everything-her-way woman Cade had come to love and respect. She might be mad as hell, deeply regretful she'd missed seeing her grandson grow up, but Cade had no doubt her every instinct was to do right by him, even if it cost her.
"I hear a car," Addy said and jumped to her feet. In four steps, she was at the window. "It's him. He's here, Susan. He's here. In a limo."
The reality of Josh's arrival froze Susan where she sat.
The doorbell rang, and when she still didn't move, Cade walked over, took her arm, and led her to the door.
On the second ring, she opened it, and the smile that bloomed in her eyes rivaled a summer sunrise.
The boy, wearing jeans and sporting a blue backpack, was thin and nearly as tall as Cade. He stood nervously looking down at the white-haired woman in front of him.
When she didn't speak, he coughed and awkwardly stuck out his hand.
"Grandmother? I'm... Josh."
The End
Page forward for more from EC Sheedy.
Dear Reader:
Thank you for buying and reading KILLING BLISS, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, you'll check out my other e-titles—and maybe leave a review, if you're so inclined.
Brief descriptions of my books follow, or you can check them out here: http://amzn.to/Lgyz0m
Contemporary Romance
ONE TOUGH COOKIE
Set on Spain's magical Costa del Sol the story features Willy Desmond, a woman resolutely committed to being financially, emotionally, and physically independent. She wants no man—until she meets Mister Wrong. (If you like a woman who wants to be the hero of her own life, you'll like wild Willy.)
CALIFORNIA MAN
A romance set on an idyllic Pacific Northwest island, it tells the story of Emily Welland, a timid, reclusive woman who meets a golden California man—a man determined to calm her fears and gain her love. (Emily's battle with extreme shyness is one a lot of us introverts can relate to.)
MAN FOR THE MORNING
Lynn MacDonald, a single mother, gets a break from her busy responsible life with a trip to Paris. Open-hearted and open-minded to all that life has to offer, in the City of Light, she meets a man her polar opposite. (Lynn is a favorite of mine, a strong caring woman who deserves to find the love of her life.)
LOVE LETTERS, INC.
Rosie O'Hanlon, a clever and funny tech writer, moonlights writing love letters for the "dating impaired" and ends up with love being returned to sender—in the form of the last man on earth she should fall for. (If Rosie doesn't make you smile—I'll turn in my writer's badge.)
A MAN CALLED BLUE
Simone Doucet, a woman caught between her own ambition and loyalty to her boss, her ruthless mother, is determined to prove herself during a critical business trip to London. That means staying focused. But that focus blurs when she meets Thomas Bludell. (Simone needs to learn how to live her own life—and the man called Blue is exactly the right man to teach her.)
DREAM'S DON'T WAIT
Evan North has dreams, dreams put on hold years before when she became a teenage mother. But just as her dreams, finally, are within reach, she meets Lincoln Stewart, a man rich enough and seductive enough to disrupt her thinking. Linc has plans of his own. Plans that tempt Evan to change her course and put those dreams away–forever.
Romantic Suspense (Full length novels)
A PERFECT EVIL
Hannah Stuart, overcome by loss and her own despondency, is a willing recluse, until she inherits a fortune and three letters. The letters contain proof positive of heinous crimes, old and new; crimes Hannah feels honor-bound to expose—no matter the cost to her own safety. But she needs the help of the one man willing to do anything to destroy the letters.
IN ROOM 33:
When her stepfather dies, travel writer, Joy Cole, inherits the aged and derelict Hotel Philip. In the Philip's grim, hoary walls she sees the chance for a new and better life, both for her lonely soul and the long-neglected hotel. She also becomes attracted to one of the Philip's residents, the enigmatic Wade Emerson. But among the ragtag group of tenants in the hotel, there is a resident evil, an evil with plans to end Joy's life before it can begin—in
Room 33.
Romantic Suspense (Short stories and novellas)
OVERKILL
The first in a series of short stories and novelettes, this story features Tanner Cross and the test he's given before taking leadership of the Raven Force, a privately funded group of covert agents who work against the illegal arms/drug trade. Tanner's okay with the test. He's not okay with the idea that a very special woman in his life might be collateral damage.
STAYING COOL
Once burned twice shy, Patrick Byrne wants no part of the woman who walked out on him and took his heart with her. The trouble is, someone wants her dead, and if he doesn't help her, no one will—not even the powerful, lethally effective Raven Force.
IN GOOD HANDS
Thrown together by chance—and very reluctantly—Esme Shane and Dane McCoy instantly know they're all wrong for each other. But when fate gives them ten days on a secluded estate on a sun-drenched island in the Gulf of Mexico, what happens between them is anything but reluctant. It's incendiary.
ATTITUDE
When Ginger Cameron decides to do a re-do on her life, she doesn't mess around. She changes her attitude and her wardrobe. She's planning on a nun-like life for the next two years, all work and no men. A great plan, until she meets sexy former soap star Cal Beaumann who sets out to test Ginger's new attitude to the max.
All available at your favorite eBook Retailer
EC Sheedy who also writes as Carole Dean, lives in British Columbia. She is an island dweller—and loves it. Every morning she wakes to the ever changing sound and colors of the ocean outside her window. Whatever its mood, summer calm or winter storm, she finds it the perfect background for writing romance. She lives with her husband of many years and a Rhodesian Ridgeback who has convinced them both he is a person in dog's clothing.
For more about EC Sheedy and to see some views from her window, visit EC's webpage www.ecsheedy.com
Or follow her on Twitter @EC_Sheedy
To contact EC Sheedy, email: ecsheedy@ecsheedy.com or you can visit her at:
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Table of Contents
Cover
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
A Note from EC Sheedy
Meet the Author