A Family Worth Fighting For (The Worthy Series Book 3)

by S. M. Smith

  Catching my breath, I look up at Stephen who is grinning adoringly at me.

  “It’s good to hear you laugh, Mrs. Cahill.” He wraps an arm around me to pull me to him so he can kiss me again.

  ***

  I hug Shelby and say my goodbyes to her and Isaiah just outside the restaurant, where the night air has become arctic. I hug myself to keep warm as I wait for Stephen to finish his goodbyes. Daphne taps me on the shoulder and pulls me in close when I turn toward her.

  “Are you okay?” she asks quietly in my ear as Stephen goes to shake Beau’s hand. “You handled that exceptionally well.

  “I’m fine. Shelby found me at the studio before I left and gave me a heads up. I’ve had plenty of time to absorb.” I smile at her, hopefully placating the mother hen. She gives me a sympathetic look and tries to pull me into another hug, but I’m tired of the pity looks so I hold up my hand to ward her off.

  “Really, Daph. I’m fine. Let it go.”

  She looks expectantly up at Stephen who steps up behind me and wraps his warm arms around me. I feel him nod in agreement.

  “So fine, I’m taking her to take some pictures tomorrow,” he says, no doubt provoking her to tell him how bad of an idea that is.

  “Don’t forget we have yoga in the morning,” she says, testing him. I see one of Beau’s eyebrows pop up curiously. I choke back a chuckle and watch as Daphne rolls her eyes at him.

  “Daphne, I’m fully aware of and hope to benefit from my wife’s yoga class.” I slap a hand against his chest, making both him and Beau laugh out loud. “As it is,” he continues, “she says she’s ready, and I believe her. As should you.”

  She scoffs at his scolding but I beam up at my knight in shining armor. He squeezes me tighter. A gust of wind blows our way, making my bones shiver.

  “Take me home,” I say, turning in his arms to snuggle against his chest.

  “Absolutely.” He growls, irritating Daphne some more.

  She turns away and I hear her mumble something about being thankful she doesn’t have to babysit us anymore. I say another polite goodbye to the very patient Beau and let Stephen walk me back to the car.

  Before pulling the car out of our parking spot, Stephen crosses the console of the car and pulls me to his lips. He kisses me hungrily, restarting that pull.

  “You continue to amaze me,” he breathes after he sits back and puts on his seatbelt.

  “Oh. How so?” I ask doing the same.

  “First that you can put up with Daphne all day, every day. Second, you were the embodiment of grace and elegance tonight. Really, you handled that remarkably well.”

  I take a deep breath, realizing that for the first time since Shelby talked to me earlier, I don’t feel like crying. Something clicked between dinner and telling Daphne off, and although I’m not sure what it was, it is definitely liberating.

  “Thank you. I think the promise of getting to shoot tomorrow definitely helps. I really, really need to get back to normal,” I tell him. He looks at me again with admiration and something else in his eyes.

  “Well I’m glad I get to help with getting you back to normal.”

  “Me, too. You do come up with some pretty good ideas,” I confess.

  He pulls out of the parking spot and glances at me with fiery eyes.

  “I do,” he says with a little too much confidence. “In fact, when we get home, I have a few more I’d like to discuss with you.”

  Oh my.

  Chapter Five

  ~Jessie~

  I drop my keys into the dish by the door and nearly stumble in and onto the couch. Stephen watches me wide eyed.

  “Baby?” He sits up, concern laced in his voice.

  “I’m okay.” My voice is muffled by the cushion my face is planted in. I feel like someone rolled me over with a rolling pin then beat me with it from my shoulders all the way to my toes. I’ve never felt more out of shape, and honestly after almost a month of not being able to work out in any way, I really shouldn’t be surprised. But I didn’t expect a simple yoga class to take such a toll.

  I feel his hand on my back so I turn my head up to face him.

  “Yoga kicked my butt.”

  An amused smile graces his face. “Yeah?” He chuckles.

  He pulls at the rolled up mat I’m still clutching. I let him take it before I flip over, feet still hanging off the edge of the leather couch. I kick my shoes off and let them fall to the floor, not caring for once that there are shoes in the middle of the floor that could be tripped over.

  Still laughing at me, Stephen picks up my head and sits, gently placing my head in his lap.

  “Need a nap before we go then?” he asks gently. Something about the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes questions whether I should go on my little adventure at all this afternoon, but I’m not backing down.

  “More like a shower. Ugh. I’m so out of shape.” The muscles in the back of my legs tingle lightly, letting me know they need me to keep moving them.

  “I kind of like your shape.” A wandering hand finds the hem of my pullover and starts digging toward the clammy skin of my belly.

  “I bet you do.” I say, trying to stand up.

  Resistance seems futile when I get pulled back down and into his lap. He wraps his arms around me and rubs his nose against my neck, kissing tender spots along my hair line.

  “You said something about a shower?” His voice is husky and I know that if we’re going to make it on the road anytime soon, I need to fight my salacious husband off.

  “Yes.” I stand up quickly, wiggling out of his reach. “Did you find a hotel?”

  He quickly stands and follows me as I make my way toward our bathroom. He stops and leans against the bedroom doorframe, watching me with lustful eyes as I shed my layers of sweaty work-out clothes. I inch my way closer to the bathroom door with each layer I take off, hoping to be able to get in and lock the door before he can join me.

  “I did. And I called my parents to let them know we would be meeting them at the church tomorrow instead of for breakfast.”

  He takes a careful step forward, an impish glimmer in his eyes. I step out of my yoga pants and make a mad dash for the bathroom, but am too slow. He squeezes into the bathroom with me, swiftly ditching his shirt in the process and distracting me with the chiseled muscles of his torso.

  “Why, Mr. Cahill, I do believe I claimed the shower already.” My voice comes out breathy and faint sounding.

  He steps up close and reaches out to turn the shower on, just barely not touching me, never letting his eyes wander away from mine. The room quickly fills with steam in more ways than one. He pulls the hair tie out of my ponytail, letting my gross hair cascade down my back.

  “My dear Mrs. Cahill.” His pants fall to the floor. “I do believe I’ve claimed you. Ergo, I get the shower too.”

  ***

  Nearly an hour later than I wanted, we are finally on the road. After yoga and some extracurricular marital relations, my body is thankful for the pause. Stephen puts on the gentle sounds of Tenth Avenue North and I feel myself starting to drift once we get out of the city. I let my eyes close and sink back into my seat.

  It’s no time at all when I feel the car slow. I slowly open my eyes to watch as we approach a beautiful body of blue-green water. Stephen parks the car, smiles over at me and opens his door. I lazily watch him get out of the car and stretch, taking a deep, relaxing breath of fresh air. I follow him, feeling the pull of my tight leg muscles with every step I take. My abdomen is a little sore too, so I check my incision site and find nothing wrong with it. Carefully stretching my arms above my head I realize that my sore abs must be from the rigorous yoga session from this morning. I wince from the tightness and Stephen catches it.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m just feeling the pleasant effects of my work out.” I smile at him. One eyebrow pops up suspiciously. “Yoga. This morning?” He continues with this wolfish grin.

  Shaking my he
ad at him, I go to dig my camera bag out of the back seat. I wrap the camera strap around my neck and hand Stephen my bag with my additional lenses.

  Stephen offers his hand, and taking it, he guides us off down the shoreline. The lake is peaceful since the breeze is gentle, the water lapping quietly against the pebbly shoreline. We don’t talk as we walk through the landscaped state park, but just take in the beauty of creation.

  As we approach the wooded area, Stephen lets go of my hand to start pulling back shrubbery so that we can enter the woods. We hike through the overgrowth for about five minutes before reaching a natural clearing with a great view of the lake. I hold out my hand for my bag for a lens.

  Finding the one I want, I click the lens in place and take a couple of test shots before getting lost in whatever I can capture in focus. I feel free as I crouch to capture a tiny brown and green caterpillar creep across a leaf. I stretch out and lean over a thick branch to catch an image of a crane take flight from a rock just off the shoreline, about ten feet away from us. I don’t feel the cool ground under my knees as I kneel down to get a horizontal shot of the setting sun against the lake.

  I go on and on, barely remembering I’ve been on restricted movement as I move about take picture after picture. Stephen hasn’t said a word, not once asking me how I’m feeling or if I should be getting up and down as much as I am. It feels incredible being outside, away from Daphne’s overly cautious eye, and free to do what I want and the way I want. When I finally feel like I have gotten enough pictures of this area, I reach out for Stephen’s hand to help me up.

  “Did you get enough pictures?” he asks amusedly.

  I check the screen and see that I’ve taken over a hundred pictures. Holy cow!

  “How long have I been shooting?!”

  Stephen checks his watch. “About forty-five minutes,” he chuckles, rubbing his hands together.

  “Oh.” I blush. “I had no clue. You should have said something. You’ve just been standing there this whole time?”

  He steps up to me and wraps his long arms around my waist.

  “I have been watching you enter a whole different world where you were content. You weren’t worried about whether Columbia is doing well or not. You weren’t crying in pain, physical or otherwise. You weren’t frustrated because you were being contained. You were brilliant. Astonishing. I think this was a perfect idea.” He kisses me tenderly. When he pulls back, his eyes are watery.

  “You’re cold. Let’s—“

  “I’m not cold, baby. I’m so happy. I haven’t seen you like this in a long time and I’m ridiculously ecstatic to see you like this, in your element. I can’t explain how worried I have been about you and to finally see your old self returning…” He sighs heavily. “I really needed to see you like this again. Thank you.”

  I don’t know what to say. I just taking advantage of the liberty to do what I know how to do best.

  “Thank you for bringing me out here. I really needed it.” I plant a quick kiss on his cheek and take up his hand to head back toward the car.

  “Now, I just need to convince Daphne that I’m perfectly capable to do this at the studio,” I mutter once we’ve cleared the wooded area and are back in the state park.

  “Let me take care of Daphne. Hearing it from me, she won’t have anything left to argue.” He smirks at me.

  “Gonna release Counselor Cahill on her, are you?” An image of Stephen going all defense lawyer on her makes me giggle. He comes up behind me, picks me up and twirls me around, making me laugh harder.

  “This giggling thing you’ve been doing for the last day or so. You need to keep it up,” he growls in my ear when he puts me down. “I’ve really missed it.”

  “Oh really? What else have you missed?” I ask, half legitimately wondering, half trying to flirt with my dapper husband.

  “Mmm. You know that thing we did earlier in the shower.” He kisses the corner of my mouth, pinning me up against the car with his hips. “Then that one thing we did last night on the counter.” He kisses the other corner. “Then, there’s this thing I have every intention of doing to you when we get to the hotel.” His eyebrows pop up quickly before he kisses me full on, pressing his whole body into me.

  Unexpectedly he steps back, takes my camera from my neck, carefully stores it in the bag and walks around the car to place it in the back seat floorboard, leaving me gasping for air. When I finally get my wits about me, I turn to see him holding my door open with the smuggest look on his face.

  ***

  The alarm goes off way too early for my liking. My heavily sleeping husband doesn’t wake as it starts to go off, so I lift his burly arm from my waist and slide out from underneath him to turn it off. Feeling the aftereffects of yesterday’s adventures, I stretch up into a mountain pose. I feel the t-shirt I fell asleep in creep up over my belly and hear a swift intake of breath from the drowsy figure still in bed.

  “I could get used to waking up to that.” I look over my shoulder to see Stephen grin lazily and sit up.

  Knowingly, I bend into a forward fold, exhaling carefully. Just as I’m about to pull myself up, I feel hands on my waist and hips against my behind. I finish pulling myself back to a standing position and feel his breath on my neck.

  “I think we need another shower.” I feel rather than see his grin before he kisses the back of my neck.

  “It will have to be a quick one, we need to be on the road in less than an hour if we’re going to make it to service on time.”

  “Hmmm…a quickie,” he purrs and wraps his arms around my belly.

  I turn around and lightly smack his intrusive and very bare pecs.

  “No. No quickies.” My growling stomach gives away my deepest needs, making him smile.

  “Okay, you shower. I’ll order us some breakfast.” He pats my behind and reaches for his jeans.

  I shower quickly and set about drying my hair when room service arrives with a set of plates full of eggs and pancakes. I break from my beauty routine to scarf down the deliciousness. I finish eating quickly and begin putting on my make-up, repacking everything after brushing my teeth. Stephen takes his shower quickly, filling our room with a sharp soapy scent. He catches me indulging in the intoxicating aroma and we nearly end up back in bed when his fingers find my hair and his lips find mine. I manage to squirm out of his grasp, though, gasping to catch my breath.

  “You’re no fun, Mrs. Cahill.” He pouts as he pulls on his sweater.

  “I know, but you know how your mother worries if we are even two minutes late,” I say, handing him his toothbrush and contact case. He pushes his bottom lip out as he takes them from me, but quickly plants a kiss on my cheek before retreating back to the bathroom.

  “So can I get a rain check then,” he asks, toothbrush hanging from his mouth.

  “Most definitely,” I assure him as I finish repacking his bag.

  I hear a celebratory “yes” from the bathroom that makes me shake my head at him.

  We’re back in the car less than twenty minutes later, flying down the highway to make it to church on time.

  “Didn’t you pack your contacts?” I ask, realizing all of a sudden that he’s wearing my favorite glasses of his.

  “Yeah, I dropped a contact down the sink by accident.” He smirks at me. “What? The glasses not sexy enough for you?”

  “Oh, they’re plenty sexy.”

  He glances curiously at me.

  “Eyes on the road, Mr. Cahill,” I scold. My eyes are glued to the perfect specimen of a man beside me.

  “Admiring the view, Mrs. Cahill?” he asks after a few moments.

  I theatrically plant my elbow on the console between us and lay my chin in my palm, giving him my best love struck face. He laughs loudly as he focuses back on the road.

  “I missed that too,” I say quietly, realizing suddenly that he hasn’t been laughing nearly enough lately either.

  “Well, I promise to do it more if you do.”

  �
�Why do I hear Grady say, ‘that’s what she said’?” I ask, annoyed that my mind went there. I recover quickly though when it makes him laugh again.

  ***

  “Sorry we’re running late.” I hug my dad as we prepare to start greeting early arrivers. He shakes off my apology and I’m thankful that he’s not upset.

  “It’s quite alright, honey. How was your shoot yesterday?” Janine asks as she reaches for a hug. I can’t help the joyful smile that breaks across my face.

  “She was amazing.” Stephen steps up beside me, wrapping a proud arm around my waist. He pulls me close and kisses the top of my head. “We were out there for over forty-five minutes and she was in the zone the entire time.”

  “I could have kept going if it wasn’t so cold.” I get proud smiles from everyone around us and I’m back to feeling on top of the world again. I feel their love and support and it’s an exhilarating feeling.

  The door opens and a steady stream of members enter the foyer. Hand after hand is shook and hugs are given out as needed. I watch the elderly ladies drool over my hot husband, and with those glasses on, I just join them.

  “Jessie, dear. When are you and this hunk of a husband of yours going to make us some precious babies to run around here?” Ruth, one of our longest members, asks sweetly.

  Suddenly, the air is knocked out of me and I struggle to keep standing, let alone keep my happy face on. Fortunately my knight in shining armor is there to keep me upright. His arm immediately wraps around me as I lean into him.

  “Oh Ruth, we’re just enjoying the honeymoon stage, right now.” He winks at her and kisses the top of my head. I steady my breathing and force a grin at her. She just chuckles at his response, cheeks reddening as she gets his meaning.

  “You two are just too adorable,” she gushes as she moves on into the main sanctuary. Stephen turns to me and holds me against his chest tight.

  “You okay?” he asks tenderly.

  “Yeah. Um, could you excuse me for a moment?” I don’t wait for his response before I push away and cut behind him and my father to escape into the bathroom. I flash the best welcoming grin I can muster as I’m greeted by everyone I pass until I can safely lock myself in a stall. I fight the tears that threaten to fall.