Finding Forever: Treading Water Series, Book 5

by Force, Marie

  “I know,” Jack said with a sigh. “If Maggie cares about you, you’re a lucky guy.”

  “I’ve never felt luckier in my entire life than I have since I met her.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yes. Sir.”

  Jack stopped walking and turned to face Brayden. His intense gray eyes reminded Brayden of Jill when she was in what Maggie and Kate called lawyer mode. “Do you love my daughter?”

  Brayden thought of the way Maggie had fought for him earlier. He could give her no less than she’d given him, which was everything. “I love her more than anything in this world, even my horse. When you get to know me better, you’ll understand there’s no higher honor I could give to Maggie than to put her before my horse. She’s the most incredible person I’ve ever met. I want nothing more than to marry her and make a life with her.”

  Jack nodded, seeming pleased by Brayden’s answer. “And you’re a convicted felon.”

  Brayden looked him in the eye. “I am, sir. I mean Jack. Sir. I was convicted of a felony as a juvenile. I served time in juvenile detention and five years of probation afterward. I’ve been trying to get my record expunged, but it hasn’t happened yet.”

  “Hmm.” Jack took off walking again.

  Brayden followed, trying to ascertain what that “hmm” had meant. Was Jack going to tell him to stay the hell away from his daughter? Because Brayden wasn’t sure he could do that, not after learning earlier that she loved him, too. Before he’d known that for sure, he’d thought he could leave and not look back. Now everything had changed once again.

  This day reminded him of four others that had changed his entire life forever—when his grandfather died, when he’d assaulted Clive, when his mother died and when he’d met Maggie and had been immediately attracted to her.

  “I want you to know that I don’t regret what I did to my stepfather. I regret the pain it caused my mother, but I’d do it again if the circumstances were the same.” Maybe he was a fool to say such a thing to Maggie’s father, but it was the truth.

  “When I first heard about the stuff online, I’ll admit I freaked out.”

  “I can understand why.”

  “My freak-out switch is set sort of low where my kids are concerned. I’d like to think I’ve gotten better about rolling with the highs and lows of fatherhood, but when one of my kids is in trouble, I act first and think second.” Jack glanced over at him. “Did Maggie tell you about what happened when Kate and Reid were first together?”

  “I’ve heard the highlights.”

  “Then you know he was my good friend from college, and when I heard he’d taken up with my eighteen-year-old daughter… Well, you can imagine I didn’t handle that well.”

  “Who would?”

  “I made a lot of assumptions during that time, only to find out later that I’d been wrong about most of it. While I was thinking that my old friend had taken advantage of my daughter, I missed the fact that she was truly in love with him. I wasn’t the reason they split the first time they were together, but I certainly didn’t help by failing to see the complete picture.

  “She’s happier than I’ve ever seen her since they’ve been back together. Would I have chosen a man twenty-eight years older for her? Hell no. Can I deny that he loves her with his whole heart? Absolutely no question in my mind about that.”

  After another period of silence, Jack said, “After hearing your full story, I understand why you did what you did. I don’t like that you did it, but I get why you did it.” He stopped and turned toward Brayden again. “Do I need to worry about my daughter’s safety with you?”

  “God, no. I’d never…” The thought of anything or anyone hurting Maggie killed him. “No, you don’t need to worry about her safety. I give you my word on that.”

  “And her big, open, trusting heart will be safe with you, too?”

  “Yes, sir. You have my word on that, too.”

  Jack nodded, seeming satisfied. “Well,” he said, “that saves me a bullet.”

  Maggie was dying the entire time they were gone. She stood with her nose pressed to the window facing the direction they’d taken, intently watching, hoping her father wasn’t being too hard on Brayden. He’d already had a rough enough day without Jack piling on.

  Her nerves were stretched to their absolute limit. When she thought about the way she’d begged him to stay, told him how much she loved him…

  She sighed deeply.

  “It’s going to be all right,” Jill said when she joined Maggie at the window.

  “You sound awfully sure of that.”

  “It will be. He loves you. That’s obvious to all of us. You fought for him, and now he’s going to fight for you.”

  “He was going to leave before.”

  “Because he thought that was best for you, not because it was what he wanted.”

  Maggie glanced at her sister. “When did you get so smart about these things?”

  “As the oldest and wisest, I’ve always been smart about all things, as you surely know by now.”

  Maggie laughed and leaned into her sister’s loving embrace, the way she had all her life. She simply couldn’t imagine a world without Jill and Kate supporting and loving her. Sure, they’d fought like sisters did growing up, but after their mother’s accident, they’d come together to survive it. Having them close by again was such a joy to her.

  “You don’t think Dad would actually run him off, do you?” Maggie asked.

  “Nah. He’s just making sure Brayden is worthy of you.”

  “He is.”

  “We know that, but Dad needs to see it for himself. It’s what he does.”

  “It was a lot more fun when he was doing it to you and Kate.”

  Jill laughed. “I’m sure it was.” She gave Maggie an extra squeeze. “Let’s go play with Poppy. She’ll keep your mind off it.”

  Not even her beloved niece could distract Maggie. “You go ahead. I’m going to stay here.”

  “Keep breathing, Mags.”

  “I’m trying.”

  While she waited, she read texts from her mom, Andi and Eric, all of whom had seen Kate’s post about Brayden and were sending love and support to Maggie.

  Can’t wait to meet this guy, Eric said. Kate and Jill say he’s cool, but I need to see for myself before I decide if he’s good enough for you.

  Maggie smiled as she realized that Eric was just like their dad in that way, even though they weren’t biologically related. Nurture trumped biology when it came to her dad and Eric, who were the epitome of the expression two peas in a pod.

  Hang in there, honey, Clare had written. This, too, shall pass. I heard Dad was on his way. Sending you love and best wishes for your visit with your father. Haha!

  Hugs and love, Mags, Andi said. Sorry about your dad. I tried to tell him to stay home and mind his own business, but you know how he is. LOL. I’m here if you need me. Always.

  Maggie put her phone back in her pocket. She would reply to the messages later. For now, all she could do was stare at the tree line and wait.

  A little while later, Reid silently handed her a glass of iced tea with a lemon wedge.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “I’ve been where Brayden is right now. If I got through it, he will, too.”

  “I suppose that’s true.”

  “After me, a little old felony is nothing.”

  Maggie laughed when she wouldn’t have thought it possible.

  “At the end of the day, your dad just wants to be sure his girls are happy, healthy, safe and well loved. You can’t blame a guy for that.”

  “Spoken like the father of a daughter.”

  “I have a whole new appreciation for your dad since Poppy was born. I hope I can be half the father to her that your dad is to you and your sisters.”

  “You’re going to be great.”

  Reid nodded toward the window. “Here they come. Looks like Brayden still has all his limbs.”

  W
hen she saw Brayden, her heart gave a happy lurch.

  “Play it cool, darlin’,” Reid said as he kissed the top of her head and left her.

  Maggie tried to follow his advice. She really did, but she couldn’t play it cool when it came to Brayden. She went to the mudroom door to greet them.

  When he saw her there, Brayden gave her a wink and a smile that filled her with relief.

  He was okay. They were okay. It was going to be okay.

  They brought the smell of fresh air and spring grass with them.

  Brayden came directly to her, put his arm around her and pulled her in close to him. That he did that right in front of her dad said a lot about what’d been decided between them.

  Jack glanced from Maggie to Brayden and back to Maggie again. “I’m happy for you, Mags.”

  She stepped forward to hug her dad. “I’d say thanks for coming, but…”

  “I’ll always come. That’s one of the few things in life you can absolutely count on.”

  Maggie held on tight to the man who’d been her first love, her anchor and touchstone. “Love you, Dad.”

  “Love you, too, sweetheart.”

  Maggie wanted to take Brayden and get the hell out of there so they could be alone. But her dad had come so far, and Jill was making dinner, so they stuck around long enough to eat and be polite. The second the last dish was in the dishwasher, Maggie said, “We have to go.”

  “You lasted about two hours longer than I would have,” Kate said. “Go. Be with your man. Recover from this day, and make some plans.”

  “And invite him to my wedding,” Jill said.

  “I will. In case I forget to tell you, I have no idea what I’d do without you guys.”

  “Likewise,” Kate said. “Harrington sisters forever.”

  “We need to start a hashtag,” Jill said.

  Maggie enveloped them in a group hug. “Love you so much.”

  “Love you more,” Kate said. “You were our first baby. Don’t ever forget that.”

  “How could I when you’ll never let me forget?”

  Brayden came into the kitchen and stopped short when he saw the three of them clinging to each other. “Oh, um, sorry to interrupt.”

  “You’re not,” Maggie said. “We were just saying goodbye. You ready to go?”

  “Whenever you are.”

  “Brayden,” Jill said, “I was thinking that Ashton and I might be able to help you get your juvenile record expunged. We’d be happy to try if you think it would help.”

  “I’ll take all the help I can get with that. I’ve been trying to do it on my own for years and getting nowhere.”

  “We’ll see what we can do.”

  “Thank you so much.”

  They said their goodbyes and thank-yous and were on their way a few minutes later in Maggie’s car, which had been left at Kate’s the day before. Brayden offered to drive, and she happily handed him the keys.

  “Are they talking about us back there?” he asked, holding her hand the way he always did in the car.

  “What do you think?”

  “We gave them enough for a year today.”

  “It won’t last long. My dad has six children. Something else will knock us off the front page. He doesn’t know yet that Eric wants to go into the Peace Corps rather than go to college. That news is gonna drop any minute.”

  “How do you feel about that?”

  “I think it’ll be great for him. He’s applied to teach English as a second language as well as American Sign Language to other Peace Corps volunteers. He’s heard there’s a bit of a demand for that.”

  “But his parents will freak.”

  “Probably. He got into Northwestern in Chicago, which is where Andi is from. Her mom and aunt would be nearby. Andi was happy with that plan.”

  “And now he’s going to upend it.”

  “Looks that way.” She glanced at him. “Will you please tell me what my dad had to say before I die from wanting to know?”

  “It was fine. He told me about when Reid and Kate first got together and how he feels like he didn’t handle that as well as he could have. He’s trying to learn from his mistakes.”

  “Wow. That’s highly evolved for him.”

  “He did come right out and say, ‘You’re a convicted felon.’”

  “Ugh.”

  “He said he understood what I did and why, and I told him I’d do it again under the same circumstances. That led to him asking if he needed to be worried about me harming you.”

  “No,” she said, aghast. “He did not ask that.”

  “Of course he did, and I don’t blame him, Maggie. He was making sure his beautiful daughter would be safe with me. I assured him you will be. Always.”

  “Always is an awfully long time.”

  He brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed the back of hers. “Won’t be long enough for me.”

  Maggie shivered from the promise she heard in the gruffly spoken words.

  They got home just as the sun was heading for the tops of the trees in the distance.

  “Let’s walk,” he said after parking her car behind the stables.

  They set out in the direction they usually took to ride, but after having worked the horses hard earlier, they left them to rest.

  Brayden put his arm around Maggie and matched his stride to hers. “What a day.”

  “One we won’t forget. That’s for sure.”

  “I’ll never forget the way you came after me, or how strong you were when I was falling apart.”

  “I was falling apart on the inside.”

  “I never would’ve guessed that.”

  “Well, it’s true. I was so afraid you’d ride away, and I’d never see you again.”

  “You made it impossible for me to leave, even if I still think that would’ve been the best thing for you.”

  “No, it wouldn’t have.”

  They walked into the woods, down the path to the clearing by the pond, where they sat on the grass to watch the sunset.

  “There’s something I didn’t get a chance to tell you earlier, but it’s something you should know.”

  Maggie glanced at him warily. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

  “This is actually something good. The best thing ever, in fact.”

  “What?”

  “I love you, too. I have for a while now. I was dying to tell you, but I kept thinking it was too soon.”

  They were among the best words Maggie had ever heard. “I was the same. Dying to tell you, but afraid to freak you out with too much too soon.”

  “I could never have too much of you, sweet Maggie.” He kissed her then with hours of desperate need and desire coming together in an explosive burst of passion that left them both reeling when they finally came up for air. “Whoa.”

  Maggie laughed at the astounded face he made.

  “We should get married,” Brayden said.

  “What?”

  “You heard me. We should get married and live together and run this program of yours together and have beautiful dark-haired babies together. We should have everything. I love you. You love me. Your dad didn’t kill me. What else is there?”

  “Nothing,” Maggie said, her heart so full of love and excitement, she feared it would burst. “That’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  She couldn’t believe this was happening. “Are you really asking me?”

  He got up on his knees and reached for her hand. “Maggie Harrington, I love you. I’ll always love you, my dream girl, the one I thought I’d never find. For the rest of my life, I’ll remember the way you chased after me, stared me down and forced me to fight for myself and for us. Will you please marry me and live with me and let me help you change people’s lives in this incredible place and father your children and be part of your amazing if overly involved family?”

  Maggie laughed through her tears. “Yes, Brayden. That’s a yes. Yes to everything.”<
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  Epilogue

  Dressed in a black tuxedo, Jack Harrington walked through the ornate main doors to the Infinity Newport Hotel he and Jamie had designed and built a dozen years ago. His only job today had been to get his three sons into their tuxes and deliver them to the hotel by two o’clock. They’d made it with minutes to spare.

  After reminding them to behave and do what they were told, he turned the boys over to a member of Andi’s staff and then exhaled as he took in the huge staircase that provided the centerpiece of the hotel’s lobby. At the landing halfway up, it split into two sets of stairs, one leading to each of the hotel’s wings.

  He’d proposed to Andi at the top of those stairs, by the big window that overlooked Narragansett Bay, and had married her here on the same day their twin boys arrived. What a day that had been, and what a day this one promised to be.

  He’d been an emotional wreck since Eric graduated from high school and started making preparations to leave for Thailand. Ugh, that was really, really far from home, but Jack had been trying to make peace with it and support his son’s decision, even if his heart was breaking at the thought of his precious boy being so far away. Letting go continued to be his greatest challenge as a dad. Maybe he’d have the hang of it by the time the twins left home.

  The wedding weekend had kicked off with an informal cookout for the entire extended family at Clare and Aidan’s home on Thursday night, followed by a fantastic rehearsal dinner hosted by Reid at the Tennis Hall of Fame last night. And today, Jack would be expected to give away another of his precious daughters.

  He’d gone round and round with Jill and finally convinced her to allow the father of the bride to pay for the wedding. She hadn’t wanted that, but he’d insisted, and she’d ultimately relented because she understood it was something he wanted to do for her.

  It was all too much for one doting dad to handle. His kids had grown up so fast, were still growing up too fast. How was it possible that the twins would be eleven in August?

  His sister, Frannie, and her husband, Jamie, came in through the main doors with their twins, Owen and Olivia, who’d recently turned twelve.

  “Uncle Jack.” Olivia rushed over to him. “Listen to the sound my dress makes when I swirl!”