Claire had appreciated that Jack respected her enough to wait for her to be ready. She knew he was ready as he was often leaving her house in favor of a cold shower. Having that effect on a man boosted her own ego a bit, but she was ready to get more serious with him herself.
“Where’s my Aven?” Jack asked as he looked around the house. He adored Aven, and she loved him too. They often rode bikes to the park or baked cookies together on Sundays. He was like a big kid himself.
“Ellie took her into town. They are having a craft fair there all weekend,” Claire said as she put her new flowers into a vase and set them in the middle of the breakfast table. “They won’t be home until late tonight since Ellie is also taking her to visit her grandkids.”
“Oh… I see… So what you are saying is that we have the house all to ourselves for a few hours?” he said as he pulled her close and kissed down her neck.
“Well, yes, but I was going to scrub the toilets…” she said with a snicker.
“Hmm… Well, as sexy as that sounds, I don’t think I am game for that…” he said as he reached down and picked her up over his shoulder, leaving her hanging upside down.
“Jack!” she screamed as she smacked him on the back over and over.
He tossed her onto the overstuffed beige sofa and fell on top of her, tickling her. She screamed and giggled until she was out of breath, and then she grabbed his neck and kissed him passionately.
“Are you trying to distract me?” he whispered.
“Maybe…” she said against his lips.
“Claire?” he said looking down at her.
“Yes?”
“You know that I love you, right?” It was the first time he had said it. Inside, she had known it, but she was aching to hear the words.
“Now I do…” she said. “And you know I love you too, right?” she said with a smile.
“Now I do.”
“Jack?”
“Yes, my love?” he said with a silly grin on his face.
“How much longer do we have to wait?” she asked.
“Wait for what?” he asked, hoping she was talking about what he thought she was talking about.
“How much longer do we have to wait before I can show you just how much I love you?”
“Well, you can show me that anytime you want to,” he said smiling as he softly kissed her on the lips. She slowly stood up and took his hand, pulling him off the sofa and toward the hallway.
“I’d like to show you right now,” she said as she took him into her bedroom.
***
It was a beautiful Fall afternoon. The leaves had just started to turn all shades of yellow, gold and orange. The sky was a brilliant blue, and clouds had vanished from its beautiful palette.
Claire could just hear the faint sounds of people milling about outside of the building. She could see some men playing golf just off in the distance, but mainly she had a view of the beautiful lake that made up much of Jack’s property.
“You look stunning, my girl,” Ellie said as she walked into the changing room. “You make a beautiful bride.” Ellie was like a mother to Claire, and she often appreciated her maternal instincts.
“Thank you,” Claire said trying not to start crying. She had waited a lifetime for a man like Jack. As they dated the last year, he only got better. The romance only got stronger. Her love for him only increased with each passing day.
“Mommy!” Aven said as she walked into the room. Having turned ten years old, she was wise beyond her years. She had told Claire that she wanted Jack to be her Daddy after they had been dating about six months. She adored him, and he thought she hung the moon. An outsider would have never known that Jack wasn’t her biological father. It made Claire ache for the kind of childhood she never had.
“Hi, baby! Are you ready to be the best flower girl ever?” Claire asked smiling down at her.
“Yes. I cannot wait for our wedding!” she said. “Our” wedding. That is really what it was. Joining Claire and Aven with Jack to create a new family.
“Claire? It’s time,” Natalie said as she poked her head in the door. She had directed many weddings as a side job, and Claire had asked her to handle the logistics of her small ceremony.
Dragging her short ivory train behind her, Claire made her way down the hall. As she heard the wedding march begin, she walked through the double doors and down the red carpeted pathway toward a waiting Jack. He was standing just beside the lake, near where they’d had their first picnic.
The irony of walking the red carpet was not lost on Claire. She had gone to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune so many years ago. She had hoped to find a treasure there. She had hoped it would be life changing. It had been life changing in so many ways. She now had Aven. She now had Jack. She wondered if she had never walked that red carpet so many years ago, would she have found her way back to herself?
As she reached the end of the red carpet, she stepped toward Jack. He reached out his masculine hands and took hers. His eyes were misty, and she was on the verge of tears. She had never known that true love felt this good. This safe.
The minister began speaking, but she could only stare at the man who would be her future husband. In his eyes, she saw stability, adoration and protection. In his arms, she had felt safer and more loved than she had ever been. Being with him had represented the end of her sad childhood and her train wreck of a marriage. In this moment, standing beside the lake, her life began again.
***
Two years after her nursing school reunion, Claire’s hand was poised to open the door to her meeting with Ashley, Shelby and Emma. She wondered what had become of them. Many times over the last twenty-four months, she had wanted to pick up the phone to ask for advice or send an email and check on their progress.
She could hardly believe the whirlwind her life had been in the last two years, and she could not wait to share her story with her three old friends.
THE END
Afterword
Thank you so much for buying and reading THE REUNION: CLAIRE'S REBUILDING CONTRACT novella! This story is the third in "The Starting Over Series." Since word of mouth is so critical to readers and authors alike, I would really appreciate it if you'd pop back to Amazon and leave a review of this story. It will only take a minute or two, but you opinion is priceless.
REVIEW THE REUNION: CLAIRE'S REBUILDING CONTRACT
Other Books In This Series:
Book #1: Emma - http://www.amazon.com/The-Reunion-Vacation-Starting-ebook/dp/B009SRIGX4
Book #2: Ashley - http://www.amazon.com/The-Reunion-Mountain-Starting-ebook/dp/B009WX20PE
About the Author
According to her family Angelina Rose was a sweet child … maybe a little shy. She often spent a lot of time making up stories rather than running around and playing outside with her brother and sister. She won several writing competitions and used the prizes to help her single mother pay the bills.
Like Emma, Claire, Shelby and Ashley, Angelina Rose is a Nurse. At a recent reunion of her graduating class she could not help but notice how the same girls would group together and laugh, chat and even shed some tears over their lives since graduating. Many of the girls had divorced … so Angelina thought "what if a group of the nurses came up with a plan to meet in two years and have a new love story to share?" Then this first story in the series was born!
Angelina lives in the mountains with her husband, her two poodles and two bombay cats.
Contact Information
Website:
http://AngelinaRoseRomance.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/AngelinaRoseRomanceAuthor
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/RoseRomanceBook
Copyright Information
All rights reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Nam
es, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the Author.
The Reunion: Claire's Rebuilding Contract (Starting Over Series) Page 4
