Don't Say Goodbye (Taphouse Blues Book 2)

by Heather Lyn

  “Here, Sades. You open one.” I hand her the box with the new Keurig machine I got her, and when she opens it, she whoops in delight. Twenty minutes later, there are only two presents under the tree, including the one I’m dying for her to open. I feel like I’m gonna puke all over the tree.

  Handing her the box, I pat myself on the back for the clever wrapping. I asked the woman at the jewelry store to put the ring in the largest box she could find, so it wouldn’t give it away. Sadie rips the paper off and tosses it to the side, the gray box large in her hands. She snaps the top up and her eyes widen in shock.

  Moving to kneel in front of her, I take her left hand in mine and look into her eyes, tears already spilling down her cheeks.

  “Sadie Nacole, from the second you came into my life, you’ve changed me in every way possible. My life wouldn’t mean anything to me without you by my side. I love you so much. Will you marry me, baby?”

  Through her tears, she nods, her brilliant smile spanning her face.

  “Yes. Yes, Garret Walker, I will marry you.”

  Launching herself into my lap, she devours my mouth, arms wrapped around my shoulders as I hold her to me. When she breaks the kiss and pulls away, I take the box out of her hand and pluck the ring from it. Holding her shaking hand in mine, I slip the one-carat princess-cut diamond onto her finger, the ring sparkling against the Christmas tree lights.

  She cups my face and kisses me again, her happiness radiating and my smile just as big.

  “I love you so much,” she whispers, and I press a kiss to her forehead.

  “I love you too. Merry Christmas.”

  “There’s still one more gift.”

  She sniffles and reaches under the tree, staying on my lap. The small package she hands me is light, and I shake it next to my ear, making her laugh.

  Tearing the paper away, I find another gift box, which I pop open, sifting through the tissue paper until I reach a small piece of white cloth. Unfolding it, I realize it’s a tiny little unitard-looking thing.

  “Babe, that’s not exactly my size,” I tell her, and she turns it over in my hands.

  Daddy’s Little Officer.

  I’m pretty sure my heart has stopped beating.

  I look up at Sadie, my jaw dropped, and she starts crying. “Are you…? Are we…?”

  She reaches into the tree for an envelope, pulling it open to slide out a small photo that she hands to me.

  It’s an ultrasound picture.

  “I’m pregnant,” she tells me, and I shove everything away from me to lay her down on the floor, hovering over her while I kiss her until we’re both breathless and I’m not sure whose tears are on our faces.

  “I’m gonna be a dad?” I ask.

  “Yeah. I’m due July 9th. I was eight weeks on Monday.”

  “But we’ve always used condoms,” I say, trying to figure out how this happened.

  “Yeah, I have no idea. I told my doctor that, and she said sometimes it can fail. I don’t know how, but I’m pregnant.”

  “You just made me the happiest man in the entire world, babe. Now, can I ask you something else?”

  “What?” She looks up at me through her long lashes.

  “Is it safe to have sex during pregnancy?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Because I really need you upstairs in our bed. Like now.”

  “Can I ask you something, Garret?” She bites down on her bottom lip.

  “What?”

  “We don’t need to use those condoms anymore, so why do we need to go upstairs?”

  “You’re gonna kill me, baby.”

  This Christmas is one I'll never forget. Not only did the woman of my dreams agree to marry me, but she’s also carrying our first child. I couldn’t love her any more than I do at this exact moment.

  Sadie always says she thinks her mom brought us together somehow, and I know she’s right.

  Sadie Ward was meant to be mine.

  EPILOGUE

  Sadie

  “Come on, Sades. You can do it, baby. Push, push, push.”

  My head falls back onto my shoulders, my hair soaked in sweat and my body aching in every way possible. I’m sure I look terrible, and I don’t even want to know how many random people have seen my vagina today. But I also don’t care. Fourteen hours of labor will do that to a person, I suppose.

  “Come on, Sadie. One more big push and you get to meet your baby.” Dr. Reed smiles up at me and I jerk a nod, determined to do this. Garret has a hand on one of my legs, the other crushed in my grip, but he doesn’t complain once.

  “You can do this, baby.”

  “Okay, Sadie, I need you to push as hard as you can, okay? Here we go. One, two, push!”

  Tucking my chin to my chest, I scream and push with all my might. I swear it feels like I’m going to pass out, and then the most beautiful thing happens—I fall back against the bed and the high-pitched cries of our baby fill the room.

  “It’s a girl!” Dr. Reed exclaims, and I start to cry, Garret’s head on my shoulder.

  “You fucking did it, Sades. I love you so much.”

  “Would Daddy like to cut the cord?” Dr. Reed asks, and Garret nods, stepping forward immediately.

  A tear runs down his cheek when he sees our little girl for the first time, and then she’s placed on my chest, the most perfect little human alive. Gripping her tiny little fingers, I bring them to my lips and shift her around so I can see her sweet face.

  “Hi, baby,” I whisper. “We’ve been waiting to meet you for so long.”

  Garret sits on the bed next to me and lays his head on my shoulder, both of us staring down at her, her big eyes blinking open so she can gaze around the room.

  “What do you want to name her?” he asks, and I look at him with tears in my eyes.

  “I liked your name best,” I tell him. We never found out the sex of the baby, so we each picked a boy name and a girl name. His girl name was secretly my favorite.

  “Are you sure?” he asks and I nod, resting my cheek on her little head.

  “Well then, happy birthday, Hadley Nacole Walker. Daddy loves you so much, sweetheart.” He rubs his thumb over her forehead and her eyes close, her fingers wrapped completely around my finger.

  “Thank you,” Garret murmurs to me, turning his head to give me a soft kiss.

  “For what?” I ask, forehead resting against his.

  “For everything. And thank you, Nacole, for giving me my girls. We love you, Nana.”

  I cry softly, then start laughing when Hadley coos in her sleep.

  Our daughter is perfect.

  §

  Hours later, Hadley is asleep in her little bassinet and I’m completely in love. After they cleaned us up, they changed the sheets on the bed and now I’m back resting, waiting for Garret to get in here with his family. They’ve all been waiting to meet Hadley, and I can’t wait for them to see her. She looks just like Garret, and I’m hoping she has his blue eyes. They’re my favorite feature of his, after all.

  Garret and I got married one month after Christmas. We exchanged vows in front of our friends and his parents, Brody standing by his side as his best man. Carmen was my maid of honor, and they made sure my mom was included in the ceremony. It was short and sweet, and absolutely perfect.

  The second I became Sadie Walker was the first day of the rest of my life. Now we have a beautiful little girl, and life is perfect.

  A soft knock on the door has me looking up from my perfect bundle, Garret stepping into the room with our visitors behind him. Keith and Angela—or Granny and Poppa, as they’re now known—step into the room with Brody and Lindsey right behind them, their one-month-old son, Paxton, in Lindsey’s arms. I didn’t think babies were allowed in unless they were siblings, but clearly Lindsey working at the hospital gave her the in.

  “Sorry, Pax wanted to meet his new baby cousin.” She smiles, and I reach out to give her a hug. “She’s so beautiful. Congratulations.”

&nbs
p; “All right, Uncle Brody needs to get in on this love fest,” Brody jokes, and I hand him his niece. He tucks her into his arms and rocks her back and forth.

  “Hey there, sweet girl. I’m your Uncle Brody, and we’re gonna get in so much trouble together. See, your daddy is my big brother, and trouble is in our blood.”

  Garret laughs and rests his hands on his hips. His platinum wedding band shines in the fluorescent lighting, and my heart swells with pride for my new husband. My new detective husband, that is. Garret got the call three days after Christmas with the job offer, and I couldn’t be prouder of him.

  Brody passes Hadley off to her granny, and my mother in-law starts gushing about how beautiful she is.

  Sitting in my hospital room, I look around at the most important people in my life, and I feel so damn blessed to have them. I’m one lucky girl, and now I know my daughter is the luckiest.

  I’m telling you, life sure works in mysterious ways.

  §

  Garret

  Sitting in the dark nursery, I sway Hadley back and forth in the rocking chair, softly humming to help her fall asleep. She’s the sweetest little thing, and it's crazy how such a small little girl could bring me to my knees. She takes my breath away, just like my beautiful wife. My girls are my life, and every day I show them just how much I love them.

  A few minutes later, I carefully set Hadley in her crib and kiss her tiny cheek, her impossibly small hands curled up next to her face. Tiptoeing out of the room, I leave the door open a crack and walk down the hall to our bedroom. Sadie's asleep in the middle of the bed, completely wiped out. Hadley is three weeks old, and time is already flying by.

  Pulling the blankets back, I climb into bed with my wife and fold myself around her. She wakes up and turns back to look at me. “Is she asleep?”

  “Yeah, went back down easily. How are you doing, Momma?”

  “Tired. I didn’t mean to fall asleep again. I wanted to go get something to eat. Did you want anything?” Sitting up in bed, she climbs out and slides her feet into her slippers.

  “No, I’m good, but I’ll come with you.”

  I grab the baby monitor from my nightstand, and we slip downstairs and head to the kitchen. I help her take a seat on one of the stools around the island, then open the fridge.

  “What do you want, baby?”

  “I was just gonna make a grilled cheese or something.”

  “Grilled cheese, coming right up.”

  Bending down, I grab the pan and place it on the burner. Ten minutes later, I slide her sandwich onto a plate and hand it to her.

  “Thank you,” she says, taking a bite, groaning in delight.

  “Glad you like it, Sades, but if you could not make noises like that when I can’t make love to you, that’d be great.”

  Sadie laughs around a mouthful of food, and I smirk at her.

  “My bad,” she mumbles, and I roll my eyes.

  “You aren't sorry.”

  “Nope.”

  Grabbing a water from the fridge, I hand it to her and open one for myself. She’s only just finished her sandwich when Hadley starts crying, both of us laughing at how even though she’s upset, she still sounds so damn cute. Sadie tells me she’ll grab her, and I stay behind to clean up the plate and other dishes.

  Switching off the kitchen light, I head upstairs. Sadie's in the middle of our bed, breastfeeding our girl. Sitting next to her, I switch the television on and find some reruns of Criminal Minds, turning the volume down to a low rumble and pulling the blankets up to my waist. The soft glow of the TV washes over Sadie’s face, and I turn to look at her, finding her smiling right at me.

  “What?” I ask, leaning forward to run my fingers up and down Hadley’s arm.

  “I want at least two more babies,” she says.

  I laugh, resting my chin on her shoulder so I can look down at our daughter. “I’m good with that, babe.”

  “We have such a beautiful life, and I’m so grateful for you. You work so hard for us, and I’m so proud of you.”

  My throat swells with emotion at her words. Taking her lips in a soft kiss, I look back down at Hadley.

  “I love our life, and I’m grateful for you too, sweetheart. Every morning I wake up and think, 'How the fuck did I get so lucky?' Your mom would be so proud of you too, and I know she’s looking down on you every day.”

  “Me too.”

  Hadley finishes eating soon after, and Sadie doesn’t put her back in her room, setting her in the tiny bassinet we have in our room instead and then climbing back into bed with me. With the two pieces of my heart in the room with me, I switch off the end table light and roll over so I’m lying face-to-face with Sadie.

  “I love you, Garret.”

  “Love you too, Sadie. Get some sleep. I’ll be here all night if you need me.”

  Resting her face in the crook of my neck, she falls asleep and I follow not long after her, my sleep peaceful with no dreams to wake me up.

  After all, why do I need to dream when everything I need in life is right next to me?

  I already have my dream.

  Forever.

  The End

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  My husband: Thank you for being my rock. Always. I love you.

  Heather, Nancy, Janell: If only you knew how much you meant to me, and this journey. I love you so much. Thank you for being my constants. And no, I’ll never stop bringing the evil, you love it. You know you do.

  Marcie: I would, without a doubt, be lost without you. I love you more than anything.

  Heather & My Mady: I love you. So much more than you know.

  Stacey: My boo. My favorite person ever. Thank you for everything you do. #LeoPapi

  Kathy, Leaona, Heidi: Thank you for being my crew. I want to be you when I grow up. Love you.

  Renee, Teri: My beautiful ladies. I love you. So glad I found you two.

  Lisa: I love everything about our friendship. I’m so grateful this book world brought us together and I love you.

  Kristin: You really are the best editor a girl could ask for. I adore you, and one day I will use that word in my book. Promise.

  Melissa: Slaying my covers since the beginning and I love your crazy talented self.

  Juliana: Thank you for the amazing work. Best formatter ever!

  Golden: We finally got Furious together! You inspire me every day in all walks of life and I’m so grateful to have finally collaborated. I see many more in our future.

  Robert: You’ve been nothing but a constant support system, friend, and colleague. I am so honored to have this cover with you, and everything about Garret Walker is embodied in your kind and genuine soul. I wish you nothing but continued success and I know that you’ll change this world one day.

  Lydia: I am so glad that I chose to work with HEA and I am so grateful for all the hard work. You’re absolutely amazing!

  My Lovelies: Without you I’m nothing. And I mean that in every way. I love you all.

  My readers: Thank you, times a million, times infinity. I love you.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Born and raised in New England, Heather Lyn lives in Southern Maine with her husband and son. When she doesn’t have her nose in a book, you can generally find her listening to country music or drinking coffee. Proficient in sarcasm, she enjoys bringing as much life to her books as she can. With a lifelong love of reading and storytelling, she decided to try her hand at self-publishing in 2016, when she released her debut novel.

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