For The Love of Easton : A Single Parent Romance and Sequel to For The Love of English

by A. M. Hargrove

“No, because my grandparents have offered to do the same. The problem still exists and she’ll want to bring that dog home and will pester me to death on a daily basis.”

  Damn, I really had caused a huge predicament. “Is there any way at all you can think of for me to make this right?”

  “Oof. Now I’m getting a migraine.” She massaged her temples.

  I pointed to the space between my legs. “Come sit here and let me do that.” Her squint told me she didn’t trust me. “I promise I won’t bite and I am a decent massager.”

  “I think the correct word is masseur.”

  Finally, she gave in and sat down. I went to work on her tense muscles. “Damn, you’re as tight as a drum.”

  “Thanks to you,” she sassed back.

  “Shit, I’m sorry. Guess I’m not used to kids and the ramifications of bad ideas.”

  “Just be quiet and keep working there.”

  After about five minutes, Beck walked in.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Thanks to you and doofus behind me, I’m getting a migraine.”

  I offered up a sheepish look.

  “What happened?”

  “He told Easton she could get a dog and we were getting married.”

  Beck roared with laughter.

  “Dad, it’s not funny. You know how persistent she is.”

  “Why do you think I’m laughing?”

  I wouldn’t interrupt this conversation for anything. My fingers kept up their work as the two of them went at it.

  “Why did you even bring up marrying Tristian without consulting me?”

  “I planned on it, but your mother and I were so worried about you with the Stuart situation we thought it best to talk to him.”

  “Over my head?”

  “No! Yes! I’m sorry, munch, it just sort of happened. I got an earful from your mom and I get you’re angry. But I did it for a good reason.”

  “Dad, this isn’t the eighteen hundreds and I can’t be bartered to the first man who comes along. I’m not a fucking horse.”

  The first man, huh? Why hadn’t she dated anyone?

  “English, you have spent the last six years of your life dedicated to raising your daughter. While that’s very admirable, it’s been at the expense of your own life. We’ve offered countless times to help, to babysit, and so on, in order for you to have a life, but you refuse. Tristian is a good man and we felt he would make a great husband and father for the two of you.”

  I was compelled to say, “Thank you, sir. I’m honored you feel that way. And just so you are aware, I have asked English to marry me.”

  Beck nodded. “I gathered that from what she said.”

  English stood up, shoving my hands away. “This isn’t about the two of you deciding what’s right for me. It should be a mutual decision between Tristian and me. But the way this has turned out is nothing more than a shit show.” Then she rose to her feet and stormed out.

  What should I do now? The answer came from her father.

  “Tristian, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. English is the most rational person I know. Give her some time to work all this out. I’m positive she’ll come around.”

  “I think you should know the other half of the equation.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  With dread, I filled him in on the situation with my father’s will and the family business. It wouldn’t be fair not to. After what had happened with English and Easton, at least I could be honest with him about things. When I was done explaining, he did what I least expected. He laughed.

  “Oh, God. Of all things, this.” The man was literally bent over, slapping his leg. “Wait until her mother hears. She’ll love it.”

  I was more baffled than ever.

  Before I had time to think, he bellowed, “Sheridan, get in here. Wait until you hear this!”

  Moments later, Sheridan ran in asking, “What’s going on?”

  “Tell her, Tristian, and spare no details.”

  Puzzled, I filled her in on what happened, including the information about the marriage proposal and contract.

  “Dear God, this is priceless.” They gazed at each other and both cracked up.

  “Would either of you care to tell me what’s going on?” This behavior was quite strange. One would think telling a parent they offered their daughter a marriage contract would upset them, but they thought it was hilarious.

  Beck was the one who spoke. “Well, it goes something like this. About twenty-one years ago, English’s biological mother decided to make a play for custody. My attorney strongly advised me that getting married would help my case substantially. I was a lot like English then. By that, I mean I dedicated my life to raising her. So marriage was an outlandish idea as I didn’t know anyone to date, much less marry. That was until a gorgeous blonde became her first-grade teacher. I asked Sheridan to marry me much the same way you did English. If it didn’t work, we could divorce when English reached the age of twelve. I don’t have to tell you that never was an issue for us.” They gazed at each other and it was obvious they loved each other deeply.

  Was that even a remote possibility for English and me? I guessed I didn’t have to worry about that because right now she hated me.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  English

  My feet chewed up the sidewalk until I arrived at Banana and Geepa’s house. They, too, lived only a couple of blocks away. I was going to give them a piece of my mind and then explain how my parents were selling me off to Tristian.

  When I walked into the foyer, I heard them in the kitchen, so I headed toward their voices. Banana saw me first and came to hug me, only I stopped her.

  “I can’t believe you two. You’ve conspired against me and told Easton she could get a Bucker.”

  Banana was the first one to laugh, followed by Geepa.

  “Can I remind you of something?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “Do you remember when you begged for Boonior and your father refused? Geepa was the one who caved and we took care of that puppy for you until he was trained. We thought we’d do you the same favor. You loved that dog. Can you deny it?”

  I crumbled like a cookie. Boonior had been my companion for as long as I could remember and when he’d died, a piece of me had died too. I’d cried for weeks—no, months. Every time I thought of him, I’d sob. Nothing had cheered me up until the cloud of grief lifted. I broke down in tears just thinking about it.

  “Ah, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Banana wrapped her warm and cuddly arms around me.

  “I don’t want to love that hard again.”

  Banana chuckled. “You already do. And don’t you think Easton deserves to have the joy of owning a pet?”

  “Not if it’s gonna die on her.”

  “But you had Boonior for sixteen long years.”

  “It wasn’t long enough.”

  “It never is, but he had the best life with you. And dogs aren’t supposed to live forever.”

  The more she spoke the harder I wept. Emotion clutched my heart and clogged all my senses. Misery enfolded me in its cruel arms and threatened to crush me in its prison. What the hell was wrong with me?

  “English? Come here.” Banana tugged me to the couch and stuffed tissues into my hand. “This isn’t about a dog at all, is it?”

  Digging into my head for an answer, I sniffled. “Things are so messed up.”

  “Tell me.” Banana was easy to talk to. She never judged.

  “Mom and Dad want to sell me off to the highest bidder. He’s already got Easton on his side with Bucker, and Stuart and his dad are freaking me out.”

  Geepa was seated across from us and asked, “What’s this about your parents selling you off?”

  My normal inner self sparked back to life. I sniffed, wiped my leaky nose and answered, “Can you believe it? They’re treating me like a breed horse. A mare.”

  “Who are they selling you to?” Geepa asked.r />
  “Tristian.”

  “Uh-huh. I see. And how much is this Tristian paying?”

  “Well, I don’t know that part yet. We didn’t get that far before I walked out and came here.”

  “Hmm. If I were you, I’d get back over there and discuss the price. Up the ante and throw in a huge diamond too.”

  “Geepa! I can’t believe you!”

  He chuckled. “Honey, do you honestly believe they’d sell you off?”

  “Oh, my God! You don’t believe me, do you?”

  Banana’s arm circled my shoulders. “Now, sweetheart, your parents adore you. I can’t imagine them selling you off like that.”

  I was standing before either of them could blink. “You two have always had my back and what? Are you abandoning me now in my time of greatest need?”

  “Of course not. We only think your parents love you too much to sell you off to some man.”

  “You should’ve heard them. If you don’t believe me, just go there and ask them.” I didn’t wait for an answer. I hoofed it back to my parents’ house. The world was against me tonight so I was going to put up a fight… and not with one but with two fists.

  I stormed into the front door, ready to take them on, but no one was there. Dammit, wouldn’t you know it. They weren’t in the kitchen either. I finally found everyone outside. Tristian had implanted himself smack dab into the middle of my family. He was playing soccer with Rey and Easton while Mom and Dad watched. He gave the girls pointers as he defended the goal. I was silent as I observed the scene before me. Rey was fairly skilled with the ball, but she was no match for him. It was nice seeing him allow Easton to pop balls past him, but he didn’t let Rey get away with that. He taught her a few tricks and she picked them up easily. I relaxed as I watched. That was until Dad noticed I was there.

  “Nice to see you join us.”

  My hackles rose at his comment. I sneered at him. “Never thought my dad would sell me off to some man like that.”

  “Jesus, English, is that how you see it?”

  “Damn right I do.”

  “Then you are dead wrong. I see it as spending time with someone who cares for you and your daughter, not to mention having his protection as well.”

  “Thank you for that, but I prefer my own conclusions.”

  “Since when have you become so negative?”

  “Since people started making decisions for me without consulting me. Easton is my daughter and it’s my life you’re making decisions for. How would you feel if I did the same for you?”

  “Yeah, about that. You pretty much did.”

  He got a sarcastic laugh for that. “Me? How was that even possible?”

  “Because when you were six, your birth mother decided she wanted custody. She did everything she could to get it, including taking me to court. I married your mom to prevent that from happening. It was supposed to be a temporary thing, a fake marriage, one of convenience. You can decide what to call it. However, we fell deeply in love and have been ever since. So I get what you’re dealing with.”

  My mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. I vaguely remembered going to my birth mom’s, but we never really discussed it much. All I knew about her was she hadn’t gotten custody and that was fine with me, but I’d never known the details of my mom and dad’s dating history. Now that I did, no wonder my parents weren’t opposed to this marriage between Tristian and me.

  “Heads up,” Tristian yelled, as the ball came our way and bounced off my head. I fell to the ground and Easton, Rey, and Tristian came running.

  “Mommy, are you hurt? Do you want me to kiss your head?”

  “I think I’m okay. Surprised more than anything.”

  Easton was on her knees and kissed my head, then turned to Tristian. “I think you should kiss it too. When you and Mommy are married you can kissy-face all the time.”

  Perfect, just perfect.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Tristian

  How could I refuse the demand of an adorable six-year-old? The kissy face part made me laugh, but the expression on English’s face sort of scared me. Nevertheless, I knelt down and kissed her forehead. There was a red spot where the ball had smacked her. Rey had a pretty good cannon on her when she let loose. Too bad her aim was so off.

  “Rey, you tell Mommy you’re sorry and kiss her head too.”

  “Sorry, English, about the ball, but it’s a hard no on the head kiss,” Rey said. “I’ll let Tristian handle that for me.” She winked at me, the little devil.

  “It’s fine. I’m fine,” English said as she stood. “How can you soccer people stand to head the ball? That hurt.”

  “We’re more prepared for it than you were,” I explained.

  “I guess.”

  “Mommy, you want some ice?” Easton asked.

  “Thank you, honey, but I’m good.”

  Beck eyed us all with a satisfied grin. I wasn’t sure what that was about, but at least English didn’t act as though she wanted to murder me anymore.

  “Hey, everyone, I’m going to put the steaks on in a minute. Kids, go wash up,” Beck said.

  “Rey, will you make sure Easton scrubs her hands?” English asked.

  Rey nodded and off they went. Easton babbled all the way until we couldn’t hear them any longer.

  Instead of waiting, I figured I’d get it over with and jumped right in. “Are you still super angry with me?”

  She let out a long breath. “I’m not exactly sure what I am at the moment. I’m somewhere between confused, conflicted, and angry.”

  That gave me hope. “I understand.”

  “Do you?”

  “Yes, because so am I. When I found out the entire family fortune was left to me, I was stunned. I had never been involved in the family business, so why me? My brother explained that my father admired the way I’d made a success out of my photography business, even when he didn’t think it was possible. So I was stuck with everything, like it or not. I wanted to hand it over to my brothers, but the way it was set up, I can’t. And I can’t inherit if I’m single. So yes, I do understand, because I’m feeling the same things, but for different reasons.”

  “Do you even like me?”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  “I like you a lot. Why?”

  She glanced away and answered. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because any woman could fill my shoes right now.”

  “Not the way I see it.”

  “I have a serious dilemma.” She ran her fingers through her blonde waves. “Let’s say I agree. My daughter is crazy about you. What if things don’t work for us? That leaves me with an extremely difficult decision on my hands. Not only will I have to withdraw from the marriage, I’ll also have to take Easton away and that would break her heart. My decision doesn’t involve one, but two people.”

  She was right. “I’ve thought about that and I promise to make it as easy as possible on both of you. I’ll even put it in the contract if you wish. I mean, I would never fight for custody or do anything to hurt her.”

  “Oh, you better believe I’d demand that. I could never let anything happen to my daughter.”

  It was time to play my biggest card. “This is another reason why it would help. If I adopt Easton, it would make it that much harder for Stuart to get his hands on her.”

  English actually nodded at that. I wasn’t there yet, but at least she was talking to me. “That is the only reason I would entertain this crazy notion of yours.”

  “Fair enough. Would you like for me to set up an appointment with the attorney so you could at least see what the contract would look like?”

  After biting the tip of her nail for a minute, she agreed.

  “We could go together after work one day next week, if that works.”

  “Okay, but no promises.”

  “None at all.”

  We went inside where dinner preparations were taking place and we both asked if we could help. Beck hand
ed me the heavy platter laden with steaks and I followed him outside.

  “Looks like the two of you are getting along now,” Beck said.

  “Better than we were. She’s at least speaking to me. I feel terrible about the way this all panned out. I know it’s stressful for her.”

  “Tristian, it’s stressful either way. We’re all on the edge of our seats over Stuart, his father, and what they’re planning.”

  The sizzle of meat hitting the hot grill grates sent the aroma of beef straight to my nose. It reminded me of how long it had been since my last meal and my belly growled in protest. “Those look amazing.”

  “My master chef skills will astound you.”

  I was sure he was serious until I noticed his grin. “Just don’t ruin those things.”

  “Don’t worry. I don’t want to face the wrath of Sheridan. She hates burnt steaks.”

  “I’m right there with her.”

  When the steaks were finished, we went inside to a table set for dinner. Sheridan had baked potatoes and all the sides ready, plus a huge salad. We took our seats and began to eat.

  Beck raised his glass and made a toast. “Here’s to the beginning of a new family. Welcome to our world, Tristian.”

  “When do I get to call you Daddy?” Easton asked.

  English stared at me, open-mouthed.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  English

  Tristian went to cook steaks with Dad and the next thing I knew, Easton wanted to call him Daddy. Fuck my life. This thing had hurricaned out of control and that was one thing I didn’t need. “Easton, there’ll be plenty of time to call Mr. Tristian Daddy.”

  “Okay, but will you tell me when?”

  “Yep.”

  “Can I be the flower girl?”

  “Sure.”

  “Can I wear a dress just like yours?”

  “We’ll think about it.”

  “Will you have a long white one with lots of sparkles?”

  “Not sure about that yet.” Aggravation laced my tone as I snapped. My daughter was the most inquisitive thing in the world. A white wedding dress with lots of sparkles. The next thing she’d want would be a tiara. I could already see us.