“So break the latch.”
She smiled at his simple answer. “It’s not that easy.”
“Sure, it is. Go tell your parents what you want to do. They love you and I know they want your happiness.”
“What about my pregnancy?”
“What about it? You can have it all, Bellamy East… almost Manning. You can have it all. Have the baby, graduate, attend Ian de Caro’s training. Whatever you want. Besides, your parents will forget all about you and Ian de Caro when they hear our offer.”
Bellamy unbuckled her seatbelt. “I hope you’re right.”
Inside the courtyard of her childhood home, Bellamy told her parents her plans. Briefly, Regina appeared as though she might cry, but she sobered and offered her congratulations.
“Are we ever going to see you, sweet girl? And that baby? Between classes and Locke and living so far away, maybe holidays?” Bill asked.
“Well, that’s what we wanted to talk to you about.” Bellamy motioned for Locke, who’d been waiting on the porch. “We’d like to ask you something.”
“You know the house we just got has all that land around it?” Locke asked.
They were confused, but still nodded.
“We’d like for you to consider moving to Atlanta and building a house next to us.” Bellamy’s voice was small, but she continued, “We’ll need some help when the baby comes and, well, you took such wonderful care of me. I don’t want my little one to miss out.”
After a glance at Bill, Regina extended her hand to her daughter. Loving Bellamy meant letting her spread her wings and fly. “It’s a deal.”
Epilogue
Four years later…
Bellamy couldn’t help but laugh at her four-year-old daughter’s choice of attire. A plastic gladiator breastplate and a lime green tutu, rounded out with pink cowboy boots. Though Bellamy thought it was precious, Regina would not. Even now, she could hear her beloved mom’s voice echoing through the house.
“Kelley Johanna, by the time I count to ten you better get your little tail back in this room. I’m not playing games with you today. We’ve got a graduation to attend. One…”
Kelley giggled and pointed to her mother. “Your graduation, Mama?”
“That’s right.”
“From Ian the sparrow.”
“Ian de Caro.”
Kelley’s hand went to her hip. “Ian the sparrow.”
“Child, you are full of sass.”
“Just like her mother,” Locke said, arms full of their six-month-old daughter, Amanda.
“Five… six…” Regina counted.
Bellamy gasped and brought her hand to her mouth. “Better go quick before Nana gets you.”
After a twirl, Kelley was gone. Bellamy and Locke chuckled when they heard Regina’s reaction to the little girl’s clothes.
“Where’s Will?” she asked.
“Curled up asleep between my mom and dad at your parents’ house. To be twins, he and Kelley are so different. He’s sleeping and she’s bouncing off the walls. Wonder what this little tot’s personality will be like?”
“No telling.” Bellamy peered out the window to see Bill walking back across the backyard they shared. Pongo and Luci frolicked around, begging for him to throw their ball. She smiled. Having her parents so close was wonderful. They’d loved their great-grandchildren as much as they’d loved Bellamy.
Bill opened the door and clapped his hands. “T minus ten minutes before we leave. Is everyone ready?”
“Mom is still wrangling the wild horse known as Kelley Manning.”
“I’ll go help her, babe,” Locke said, passing Amanda to an open-armed Bill.
When Locke had gone, Bill reached for Bellamy’s hand. “Sweet girl, your mom and I are so proud of the woman you’ve become. And of your drive and determination to make your dreams come true.”
“You know it would be impossible without the two of you.”
“And Locke too. He’s good people.”
Kelley came zooming back in the room, Regina and Locke following closely behind.
“Look, Mama! I’m a bird. I’m flying.”
Bellamy linked arms with her dad. “Yes, baby, you surely are.”
Glancing into the crowd, Bellamy saw her children’s smiling faces. Though all three of them needed naps, they were still happy and proud to watch her graduate. The last two years had been tough with training, pregnancy, and keeping up with twin toddlers. Bill and Regina had been godsends as were Locke’s parents when they visited. And finally, at this very moment, their hard work had come to fruition.
“Bellamy East Manning,” the director said.
Standing from her seat, Bellamy walked the stage to receive the certificate.
“Congratulations, Mrs. Manning. You may speak your declaration.”
“By day or night, I will keep watch. I promise to uphold integrity and honesty and perform to the best of my ability. I will put others before myself. I will gain trust, offer respect, and be willing to sacrifice my life if needed. This is my solemn oath.”
Bellamy glanced at her son and daughters. Her parents and in-laws. Her husband. The man who’d given her the courage to reach for her dreams. She recited these vows to the hundreds of people she hoped to protect, but mostly, she spoke to those who meant the most: her family.
The End
If you enjoyed Latch, a review is always appreciated. Read further for an excerpt of Counterplay Book 1, Misdirection.
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Misdirection
Prologue
Arianne Douglas stood over her son. Her dead son. Murder weapon in hand. Blood and tears running down her face. Helpless. Powerless. Paralyzed. Recalling his first steps, first words. There would be no more firsts. Her child was dead. Startled by the buzzing of her cell phone next to his body, she answered but did not speak.
“Ari?” her best friend said. “You called but didn’t leave a message. Andrew texted me about the fight between Reece and Nash. I’m on my way to you now.”
Silence.
“Arianne?”
“Lesley, I need you.” Arianne sobbed into the phone. “He’s dead, he’s dead… my baby… my son… Lesley, he’s dead… God, please no… I’m so sorry, baby…” Her voice broke with every word.
“Arianne, I’m on my way. Are you still at the house?” Lesley Huff remembered her recurring dream, pangs of regret pelting her heart. A storm was coming.
“Yes.”
“Have you called the police?” she asked, certain Arianne had not.
“No, only you,” she cried. “My… my son…”
“Dammit, Ari, call the police. Now.”
Ending the call, Lesley pressed the accelerator, speeding down West Esplanade Avenue. Arianne hadn’t said which son she had found. Thinking of her own two little girls, she choked back tears for her dearest friend.
South Lake Drive was quiet except for Lake Pontchartrain’s choppy waters lapping over the levee rocks. Lesley wrapped one arm around her chest, her breathing stifled by the heavy Gulf wind. Sirens screeched in the distance and the night sky was filled with the blue and red glow of emergency vehicles. She was glad they were close. Parking next to Arianne’s Jeep, Lesley offered a silent prayer of thanks that Arianne’s thirteen-year-old son, Pike, was with his father and nowhere near this house tonight. So was it Nash? Or Reece? Both of their trucks were parked underneath the awning. Fearful, she opened the back door leading to a dark kitchen, and a bloody Arianne cradling the lifeless body of her son.
“Holy Mary
Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners
Now and at the hour of our death.”
Books by Elizabeth Burgess
The Counterplay Series
Counterplay follows the Douglases, Adames, Caissys, and O’Malleys—four intertwined South Louisiana families and their struggle for power,
love, and revenge. Your move.
Prequel
(may be read at any time during the series)
Misaligned
Counterplay
(should be read in order)
Misdirection: Book 1 (FREE)
Mishap: Book 2
Misled: Book 3
Misfire: Book 4
Misdeed: Book 5
https://liddyburgess.com/counterplay/
Counterplay Shorts
Latch: A Yeah, Baby! and Counterplay Crossover
http://liddyburgess.com/counterplayshorts/
Hopewell Coven
Born of a forbidden love between a Celtic witch and an Apacik man, fifteen-year-old, Starling Hopewell must earn her place within her mother’s family by facing four tasks that will prove her worth as a witch. Embrace Destiny. Face the Fire.
Witch Dance: Book 1
https://liddyburgess.com/hopewellcoven/
Scarlett Dawn’s The Complex
One little boy’s last chance at life; two loves written in the Stars.
True North
https://liddyburgess.com/truenorth/
Sign up for Elizabeth’s newsletter for news about upcoming releases and special offers.
http://eepurl.com/caVIkP
About the Author
For Elizabeth Burgess, writing is not only what she loves to do, it is freedom, salvation, and escape. It is life. Introduced to the art of words at a young age by her junior high school English teacher, she poured herself into a self-study of all things poetry and prose throughout high school and college—hoping one day to become a lyricist in Nashville. As the years passed, her dreams changed and morphed, but her love for words did not.
A nurse by trade, Elizabeth loves incorporating some medical knowledge in each book she writes. Her favorite characters are always flawed, and if you see her wearing any color other than black, you know she’s sick. Thanks to her maternal grandparents, she believes she can do anything if she sets her mind to it, and will always offer guests a glass of sweet tea.
When she’s not working on her next novel, she enjoys Saturday nights in Death Valley, listening to Fleetwood Mac on rainy days, and taking pictures of her beloved Louisiana. Elizabeth is the author of Counterplay and the Hopewell Coven series books. She lives in Northeast Louisiana’s farming country with her partner, Terri, German Shepherd and Malamute mix, Matsi, two Catahoula Curs, Bowie and Pike, and host of spoiled cats.
Connect with Elizabeth:
https://liddyburgess.com/
[email protected]
Passion, Vows & Babies: Latch (Kindle Worlds Novella) (A Yeah, Baby & Counterplay Crossover Book 1) Page 7
