by Tamie Dearen
“Laurie? Are you okay?”
The arms released her and hands seemed to cup her face, lifting her chin. Her mind was trying to wake up, but she resisted, squeezing her eyes tighter.
“Laurie? Say something.”
Warm lips brushed her eyelids. It felt so real, her eyes popped open.
“Finn? Is that really you?”
His mouth curled into his classic lazy grin. It was Finn, in the flesh. And he was on a train, filled with more germs than you can imagine.
She pushed away from him. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you wearing a mask?
His grin widened, dimples deepening. The pupils dilated in his crystal blue eyes.
“Because… if I’m wearing a mask, I can’t do this…”
His hands rose to tangle in her hair. His head dipped toward her, his mouth kissing a lazy trail from the top of her forehead, down the side of her face and under the edge of her jaw, setting off a chain of goosebumps that reached all the way to her toes. Playful lips slid over to tease the corner of her mouth. She held her breath as he edged his way to the center of her lips, brushing lightly over the sensitive skin.
Then it was as if he couldn’t hold himself back. His lips took possession of her mouth—demanding, claiming her. Eyes closed, she was back in her dream—weightless, floating through the air, with only his arms to keep her bound to the earth. The galaxy flashed inside her eyes, eclipsing all her senses. Nothing existed but Finn and his kiss.
When she looked up, she saw love written in his gaze, and it brought tears to the surface.
Is it real? Or am I seeing what I want to see?
“Please, don’t cry,” he begged, kissing the tears from her eyes, cinching his arms around her like a prison. “I should’ve told you I loved you, but I was afraid. Tell me I’m not too late. Tell me you still love me. Tell me you still want me.”
“I tried all day to drive you out of my system. It hurt so bad.” She took a shuddery breath. “I’m sorry, Finn. I don’t think I can handle any more pain.”
He covered her face with kisses. “Tell me you love me, and I’ll promise never to do that again. I’ll buy you new diamonds every day, so you’ll know I love you. You’ll never doubt me again.”
“I don’t want diamonds,” she whispered, nothing but air in her voice. “I never wanted anything from you, but you.”
“You have me,” he said, his eyes shimmering with tears. “I’m yours, if you want me. I’m nothing, if you don’t. Please say you’ll marry me. I can’t guarantee many years, but I’ll give you every last second of my life.”
“I can’t believe it’s real.” She tasted her tears in the back of her throat. “I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and this’ll all be a dream.”
“It is a dream,” he said, dropping to one knee and stretching out his hand, a small black box open on his palm, a gargantuan diamond ring tucked in the velvet folds.
“Cripes! Is that the one? The Avanza? From last night?”
“It is!” His smile split his face. “And the others are in the trash, I think.”
Her heart wrenched in her chest. “But you didn’t need to spend that kind of money on me! I don’t need that. All I want is you.”
“I used to think I would never share my life with someone. That it would be negligent for me to marry.” His mouth flattened into a determined line. “Jerome told me, if you love someone you have to show them what they’re worth. This ring is my way of telling you you’re the most precious thing on this earth. That I want to be with you, even though I won’t have a long life. That it would be irresponsible of me not to marry you.”
“Jerome told you that?” A light wind would’ve knocked her to the ground.
“Never mind Jerome.” Finn took the ring out and tossed the box over his shoulder. Then he lifted her left hand and pressed his lips to the back of it, sliding the ring onto her finger. “This diamond has hundreds of millions of years in it… that’s how long it took to form. And that’s how our life together will be. We’re going to squeeze millions of years into a short time.”
As he rose to his feet, she stared at the ring on her finger. Her heart swelled with his love. But she wasn’t ready to accept his description of their future together. Holding back a sob, she gripped his arm with both hands. “Stop talking like you’re going to die in a few years. Some people with CF live to be in their sixties. Some have made it to seventy.” She stuck out her jaw, swallowing a lump of air. “You don’t have to promise to live that long, but you have to promise to try.”
His hand rose to caress her face, his thumb brushing a tear from her cheek. “I’ll keep living as long as I can. With every fiber of my being, I’ll try.” He kissed her forehead and held her against him, his voice rumbling in her ear. “Until this moment, I’ve never had a reason to try. But now I have you… my reason to live.”
Epilogue
Finn had sweat beading on his forehead, and it wasn’t because of the temperature. In fact, the hospital room was cold. But, trying to comfort his emotional wife was proving to be the challenge of his life.
“Nothing’s happening the way it was supposed to,” she said, in a wobbly voice as she shifted in the hospital bed. “I ruined your birthday.”
“You didn’t ruin it—you’re giving me the best gift ever.”
“This is your big day…” She sniffed. “I had this really great speech ready, all about how you turned thirty-eight and officially beat the odds. And how our next forty years together will be even better than our first five have been.”
“You can give your speech later. I’ll still be thirty-eight a month from now, and we’ll still be married.” He bobbed his eyebrows up and down to tease her. “At least, I hope so.”
Her mouth twitched, like she was holding back a smile.
“I’m serious,” she said.
“Hi, Serious. I’m Finn.”
Laughing, he ducked to avoid the hand that swatted at him.
“Don’t you ever stop joking around?”
“I assume that’s a rhetorical question. We’ve been married for five years, so I think you know the answer.”
Suddenly, her eyes flew open wide. “We have to tell everyone the party’s canceled. They’re all going to be waiting for us.”
“It’s already done.” Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss on her fingers. “Branson took care of it, hours ago. They’re still having the party—they just moved it to the waiting room.”
“Everyone’s here?”
“Everybody. My folks and your folks. Bran and Stephanie. Cole and Jarrett. My sisters. Jerome and Charisse even came with their baby.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“You were kind of busy having labor pains when they got here.”
This was evidently the wrong thing to say. Tears welled in her eyes. “Thirty-six weeks—it’s too early.”
“The doc isn’t worried at all.”
“I wanted to do it naturally. I didn’t want to have a C-section. I didn’t even want to have an epidural.”
“Yes, but we aren’t in control here. God is. You didn’t plan to have pre-eclampsia. You can’t help that your blood pressure shot through the roof. But we’re blessed with an amazing doctor. She said the scar won’t even be that big.”
“I don’t care about the scar,” she muttered, her lower lip trembling.
“In that case, I’ll tell her to cut a great big half-circle so your belly will look like a one-eyed smiley-face.”
Her lips twitched up at the corners.
“I did it!” he said, pumping his fist in the air. “I made you smile.”
“Finn, you’re incorrigible.”
“Why, thank you. That’s the nicest thing anyone ever said to me.”
Her smile stayed in place, though it was understandably weak. She’d been laboring for six hours. Though she’d hoped to have a natural birth, he was secretly relieved when the doctor announced they needed to do a C-section and gave h
er an epidural. Watching someone he loved in so much pain was the worst experience of his life. At least now her pain was only the emotional kind. That much he could handle… maybe. But if he’d known how hard this part would be, he never would’ve agreed to do the invitro fertilization.
Her gasp made him jump.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurting again?”
“What about Larkin?” she asked in a worried tone, as if he would’ve forgotten about her.
He tried to sound patient. “Marianne’s taking care of her. She’ll stay the night.”
For over a year, Marianne had been a devoted nanny to their eighteen-month-old adopted daughter. Larkin was a bundle of joy who hadn’t let blindness stop her from conquering her world on a daily basis.
Laurie’s hand gripped his wrist. “You didn’t tell them, did you?
He knew what she was asking. “They all begged me to say if it was a boy or a girl. But I didn’t budge. I figure, if they’ve waited this long, they can wait a few more minutes.”
“Finn?” she whispered, and he leaned in close to hear. “I’m nervous. I’ve never had surgery.”
He shrugged. “It could be worse.”
“How?”
“Instead of getting cut open, you could be boarding a plane.”
A smile fought its way onto her face. “I love you, Finn Anderson. You always know what I need to hear.”
“I love you more, Laurie Anderson. You’re beautiful, caring, and smart. You’re an amazing mother and wife. And your parole officer says you’ve almost got that temper problem under control.”
She giggled as he bent to kiss her lips.
The nurse stuck her head in the room. “We’re almost ready.”
Finn fought a sudden urge to grab Laurie and escape the hospital. He pictured himself running, pushing her bed, careening down the hallways, yelling, “No one’s going to cut my wife open!”
Though his heart clattered like a machine gun, he kept his exterior calm. She needed him.
“I’m so proud of you,” he murmured in her ear, while squeezing her hand. “I could never have made it through that pain without drugs. You’re amazing.”
When she started to protest, he silenced her with another firm kiss. “And I can’t wait to raise all our kids and grandkids together.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. At last, she whispered, “Those are the sweetest words you could ever say. I can handle anything, as long as you’re with me.”
As Finn stepped into the waiting room, armed with a slew of pictures on his cell phone, his family and friends crowded against him from every angle. His mouth already hurt from smiling so big.
“What is it? Is it a boy or a girl? Do you have pictures? How’s Laurie?”
“Hang on,” he said. “Laurie wants a video so she can see your faces when I tell you. Jarrett, would you record it for me?”
“I’m on it.” Jarrett moved beside Finn and aimed his cell phone at the crowd.
“Ready?” Finn held the phone high and turned it around, revealing the first image. “It’s a boy!”
The room erupted with shouts and clapping. Everyone crowded around to see the photo of Laurie, lying in the recovery room bed with a small bundle in the crook of her arm. The baby’s face was barely visible, but the blue cap was obvious.
Finn said, “His name is Henley Joseph Anderson. We named him after you, Dad.”
Finn wasn’t surprised when his father teared up and gave him a hug. “I’m honored. Thank you, son.”
“Show us more pictures,” Susan demanded, trying to grab his phone.
“Are you still recording?” Finn asked Jarrett.
“Still rolling,” Jarrett confirmed.
“Let me show you another shot.” Finn flipped quickly through the pictures, until he found the one he wanted. He turned the phone around to face his waiting friends and family. In the short silence that followed, he enjoyed their confused expressions.
Then Stephanie shouted, “Twins! They had twins! I knew it! I knew it! I thought she got too big, too fast.”
“That’s Henley on the right,” Finn said. “And on the left is Oliver Tyrone Anderson. They’re fraternal twins.”
So many people spoke at once, he didn’t know who said what. That is, until his mother shook her finger in his face.
“Finnian Lee Anderson. We’re not ready for twins. You’re going to need two of everything. How could you keep this a secret?”
Finn felt someone tap his shoulder. As he turned, Tyrone Shields pulled him into a bone-crushing bear hug that rivaled his mother’s.
“I can’t tell you what this means to me.” Tyrone choked out the words. “I want to do something for you. Maybe I’ll start a college fund for the boys.”
Finn shook his head. “Tyrone, you’ve done more than enough. Laurie’s been telling you that ever since you bought us that Bach tour for a honeymoon trip. Just having you in Laurie’s life is all the gift we need.”
Finn returned to the recovery room to find Laurie crying.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen to the boys?”
“No,” she said, with a shaky voice. “The nurses are warming them up.”
“Then why are you upset?” Had he been gone too long? Was the anesthetic wearing off? Or maybe he hadn’t been affirming enough.
“I’m not upset.” She gave him a wobbly smile. “I’m crying because I’m happy.”
“Thank goodness.” Finn blew out a relieved breath. He’d tried so hard to be supportive the last nine months, but most days, his wife’s thoughts and emotions were a complete mystery to him. “I’m really happy, too. I’m happy you’re not in pain. I’m happy our boys are here and healthy. And most of all… I’m glad we didn’t have two more girls. I think if I had to deal with four women I’d just say shoot me.”
Laurie’s laugh was music to his ears.
He brushed her hair out of her face, staring into her eyes, so deep and dark he could fall into them. Her sigh was his undoing. He kissed her with all the love in his heart.
“I can’t believe how much has changed in five years,” Finn said.
“Any regrets?” She tilted her head. Her grin said she wasn’t worried about his answer.
“Only one.”
Her brows knotted. “What is it?”
“That I can’t possibly show you how much I love you.” He pressed his lips to hers, his heart so full it could burst. “But I’ll spend the rest of my life trying.”
From the Author
Thank you for reading The Billionaire’s Reckless Marriage. I hope you enjoyed Finn and Laurie’s story and will take a moment to leave a review. Your words could help another person discover the book, and I treasure your feedback.
If you have any questions about cystic fibrosis, blindness, special-needs adoptions, or any of the other subjects from the book, please contact me on my website, or email me at [email protected]. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I have a lot of great resources at my fingertips.
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Read Book One, The Billionaire’s Secret Marriage.
About the Author
Tamie Dearen lives with her very romantic husband of thirty-six years. She published her first poem in third grade, but didn’t start writing novels until her children were grown. She has been a dentist in private practice for thirty years and has never met a person who wasn’t interesting. Follow Tamie on the website (TamieDearen.com) for news of the latest releases, and get your free books.
Books by Tamie Dearen
Sweet Romance
The Best Girls Series:
The Best is Yet to Come
Her Best Match
Best Dating Rules
Best Foot Forward
&nbs
p; Best Laid Plans
Best Intentions
Sweet Romance
A Rose in Bloom
Restoring Romance
Fall Into Romance Boxed Set
Sweet Inspirational Romance
The Billionaire’s Secret Marriage
The Billionaire’s Reckless Marriage
The Billionaire’s Wayward Marriage (Coming soon)
Christian Romance
Noelle’s Golden Christmas
Haley’s Hangdog Holiday
Shara’s Happy New-foundland Year
Holiday, Inc. Boxed Set
The Alora Series
YA/Fantasy
Alora: The Wander-Jewel
Alora: The Portal
Alora: The Maladorn Scroll
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