Worth the Wait (Picking up the Pieces #4)

by Jessica Prince

  He scanned the papers before looking back up to me. “Are you fucking kidding me? They’re my kids. I’m not signing over my rights!”

  Placing my hands on the table, I calmly stood until I was leaning over, hissing in his face.

  “You will sign over your rights to those children. Don’t sit here and act like you give a shit about either of them because we both know you don’t. Give them a chance at a good life, Lance.”

  “So, what?” he sneered. “You want that fucking redneck back there to play daddy to my kids? I don’t think so.”

  I slapped my hand down on the table so hard it echoed loudly through the room, startling a jump from him. “Goddamn it, Lance! For once in your pathetic fucking life, do something for someone else! If you don’t sign that paper, I’ll make sure to rain fucking Hell down on you so hard you’d wish you’d never crossed my path. I’m not the same woman I was when I was with you. I let you off easy. If you don’t do this for me, I swear to every god in existence, I will make you pay for everything you’ve done to me and those children. Do. Not. Test. Me,” I ground out so harshly spittle flew from my mouth, hitting him in the face.

  I sat back in my chair slowly as Lance cowered away from me. The moment my butt hit the cold metal, Brett’s soothing hand appeared on my shoulder. For just one second, Lance’s eyes bounced back and forth between Brett and me, and I saw something flicker in the icy-blue depths, something that looked awfully close to regret. But as quickly as it was there, it was gone. He reached for the pen on the table and scribbled his signature on all the proper pages.

  That was all it took. Thirty seconds and my children and I were finally free. I wanted to cry in relief as he pushed the pen and papers back toward me.

  Grabbing both, I stuffed them in my purse and stood. “You can keep those,” I said, pointing to the folder. “I have several more copies.”

  With that, I was finished. I walked away without so much as a backward glance. The second that door closed behind me, I collapsed into Brett’s arms, sobbing like a baby as he held me tightly to him.

  “Beauty,” he whispered in my ear after several minutes. “You’re starting to freak me out, here. Isn’t this supposed to be a happy moment?”

  “H-happy t-tears,” I stuttered, wiping my nose against the soft cotton of his shirt. “S-so happy!”

  Brett’s entire body shook with laughter as he squeezed me tighter. When I finally pulled away, I was surprised to see all of my friends standing there.

  “Well?” Lizzy asked, wringing her hands in front of her nervously. I knew exactly what she was asking.

  “It’s over,” I whispered, trying to push back another wave of emotion trying to come to the surface. “It’s finally over.”

  They all erupted in cheers as the women ran to engulf me in a gentle hug, mindful of my soar ribs. Once that was done, each man took their turn until I’d finally made it back to Brett.

  “What are y’all doing here?” I asked, wiping more happy tears from my cheeks.

  “You’re family, babe,” Emmy answered. “And we always support our family.”

  Family. Each one of the people standing before me was so much more than I ever could have asked for. They took me in when I had no one and accepted me, scars and all. If I lived to be a million years old, I’d never find a more loving, caring group of people. I was blessed to have them as friends.

  “Who’s got the kids?”

  Emmy answered, “Luke’s mom has Matthew and Kathy’s at your place with the twins.”

  “I’m seriously starting to think Mom’s gonna kidnap your kids and keep ‘em as her own,” Jeremy told me with a laugh.

  As I smiled lovingly at everyone standing around me, Brett leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Let’s head back to our kids, beauty.”

  My smile was positively beaming as I looked up at the love of my life. “Yeah,” I breathed. “Let’s go home.”

  Three Months Later

  I’d never get used to how Kenzie stole my breath each and every time I looked at her. I stood at the bar with a beer in my hand, watching her from where she sat, three-month-old Matthew in her arms as she chatted away with all of the girls. My gaze wandered a little farther behind her to see Cameron and Callie running and laughing, blowing bubbles at each other. No doubt, they were going to be a soapy, sticky mess when we got home. Whoever had the genius idea to set bubbles out on the tables for all the wedding guests should have been strung up by the short hairs.

  “Yeah, that’s a pussy whipped expression if I’ve ever seen one,” Trevor teased as he, Luke, Gavin, Jeremy, and Ben made their way over to where I was standing.

  “Like any of you assholes have any room to talk. Y’all stare at your women the exact same fuckin’ way.”

  “Yeah,” Jeremy sighed like a love-sick puppy as he looked lovingly at his wife. He and Savannah dropped the bomb on us not too long ago that she was four months pregnant. They’d been keeping it on the down low until she was in her second trimester, but considering her tiny little belly was poking out of all her clothes, they wouldn’t have been able to hide it anyway. Loud laughter drew all of our attention to our girls. Emmy sat next to Kenzie, leaning in and laughing at something she said as Kenzie rubbed on Savannah’s belly. Mickey, Stacia and Lizzy all surrounded them, each woman with a different expression of bliss on her face.

  If you’d have asked me a year ago if this was how my life was going to turn out, I’d have laughed in your face, but since I was living it, I questioned how I ever survived without Kenzie, Cameron and Callie in my life. I woke up every morning with my girl curled up in my arms, thanking the Lord above for bringing the three into my life.

  Yeah, they made me whole.

  “So tonight’s the night?” Trevor asked, giving my shoulder a nudge.

  “Hell yeah,” I grinned. I couldn’t fucking wait.

  Just then, the DJ’s voice echoed through the dimly light room.

  “It’s that time, folks. Let’s get the bride and groom out here for their first dance as husband and wife!”

  Everyone in the packed ballroom broke out in applause.

  “If you’ll excuse me, assholes,” Luke said with a shit-eating grin. “I need to take my wife for a spin on the dance floor.”

  Luke dragged a beaming Emmy to the floor as the rest of us took our seats.

  “Hey there, beauty,” I whispered into Kenzie’s ear as I pulled my chair close to her.

  “Hey, handsome, have I told you how sexy you look in a tux?”

  My lips tipped up in a cocky smirk as I gave her a wink. Yeah, my girl wanted me badly. “That so? Well, play your cards right and I may just drag you into the coat closet before the night’s out.”

  “Promises, promises,” she teased, making me laugh.

  “Daddy! Daddy!” Callie yelled as she and Cameron came running over to us. That was another thing I was never ever going to get tired of. After everything that had happened with Lance, and me telling them that I’d love nothing more than to be their father, they’d quickly taken to calling me Daddy. Every time that word slipped from one of their mouths, my heart jumped. I never thought it was possible to love anyone as much as I loved those two.

  “Look it! I can make the biggest bubble in the world!”

  “Mines is bigger!” Cameron insisted, trying to shove his sister out of the way.

  “Hey, you two, no fighting,” Kenzie scolded as she gently rocked a sleeping Matthew, still tucked comfortably in her arms.

  I turned to them and leaned forward. “Tell you what, rugrats. If you promise not to fight for the rest of the night, I’ll make sure you both get two pieces of cake! And wedding cake’s the best cake in the universe.”

  “YEAH!” they shouted with more enthusiasm and energy than I thought two little people could ever have. Then they were off like a shot, running around and blowing bubbles like nothing had even happened.

  When I turned back to Kenzie, she was passing the baby off to Luke’s mom, Ilene.r />
  “You’re dealing with them when they’re in the middle of their sugar high, you know that, right?”

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” I told her, leaning in to steal a kiss. We turned back to the dance floor to watch as Emmy and Luke danced to some song about loving someone for a thousand years. I’d never admit it aloud, because it would make me look like a pussy, but I was thrilled those two finally made their way back to each other.

  “They look so happy, don’t they?” Kenzie asked as she leaned back against me, resting her head on my shoulder.

  “Yeah, beauty, they do.” And that was when I decided that it was time. The moment was perfect. Reaching into the pocket of my tuxedo pants, I pulled out the ring I’d been carrying around for months, just waiting for this moment. “How’d you like to be that happy?”

  “Already am, honey,” she told me as she snuggled back.

  I held the ring up in front of her so she could see. “So you’ll marry me then?”

  Her gorgeous hazel eyes were wide, shining with tears as she spun around to look at me. “Really?”

  “Really. I told you I was gonna ask you to marry me, didn’t I?”

  She nodded enthusiastically, a few tears breaking free to flow down her cheeks. “Yes. You also told me I’d say yes.”

  The grin that stretched across my face was so wide it hurt my cheeks. “Well? Get to saying it then.”

  Her head fell back on a laugh before she lunged at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me for all she was worth. “Yes,” she whispered against my lips. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  “That’s my girl,” I spoke before taking the kiss deeper, slipping my tongue passed her lips. When we finally pulled ourselves away from each other, her breathing was a little erratic and there was a sexy flush on her cheeks and neck.

  I’d just finished slipping the ring on her finger when she told me, “I got something for you, too?”

  “Oh, yeah? Is it something that’ll require us heading to the coat closet?” I asked with a wiggle of my brows.

  “Ha! No. But I’m hoping you’ll like it just as much.” She grabbed her tiny purse off the table and opened it, pulling out a bunch of folded up papers. Her hands shook slightly as she handed them over.

  As soon as I unfolded the document, my jaw dropped. Tears burned the back of my eyes as I read the first page over.

  “Adoption papers? Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, I’m very serious. I mean, only if this is what you want.”

  “Hell yeah, beauty!” I shouted, jumping from my chair and dragging her with me. “Hell yeah, I want this.” I dipped her backwards and kissed the shit out of her. My girl just made my day. Hell, she’d just made my entire life.

  “So you’re happy?” she asked me once the kiss was broken.

  “Ecstatic, baby. Never been so happy in all my life.”

  “I love you, Brett.”

  “Love you, too, beauty.”

  Life was perfect. I had my future wife in my arms and we’d be going home later to tuck our kids into bed. I was living the dream.

  It was worth the wait.

  Five Years Later

  “Oh, for the love of…” Emmy muttered from her perch at the picnic table. “Matthew, stop pulling Chloe’s hair!”

  “But, Momma! She started it!”

  “I’ll get him,” Luke stated, planting a kiss on his wife’s cheek before he stood to pull his son off Savannah and Jeremy’s daughter.

  “I swear,” Savvy huffed. “Those two are gonna kill each other before the hit puberty.”

  “Nah,” Stacia chirped. “I’m putting my money on those two getting married one day. Just you wait.”

  “Like hell, Jeremy grumbled as he took a pull of his beer.

  “You sayin’ my kid’s not good enough for yours?” Luke asked defensively as he made his way back to the table.

  “No, what I’m sayin’ is Chloe’s never dating anyone. Ever.”

  Mickey let out a laugh as Jeremy glared in her direction. “Good luck with that. She’s already a hardcore flirt, just like her mom.”

  Savannah gave Mickey a playful shove before stating, “Well then, she comes by it honestly. And like you have room to talk. With you and Ben as his parents, Conner’s destined to be a tatted-up lawyer when he grows up.” She gave a nod in the direction of Ben and Mickey’s three-year-old son. “He’s already doodling on his arms with sharpies.”

  “Dad!” Cameron called as he and Callie ran over to where their parents sat with all their aunts and uncles. “Uncle Trevor’s hogging the ball again.”

  Everyone laughed as Lizzy let out a frustrated breath. “Every damn time,” she complained as she passed her one-year-old baby girl, Maggie, over to Stacia so she could try to wrangle her husband. Maggie was their second child. They had a four-year-old boy who Trevor insisted be named Merle. After five months of silent treatment and no sex whatsoever, he finally broke down and agreed to name their unborn son Rick.

  “We gonna have to ban flag football from our Sunday family day?” Gavin shouted after her as he bounced his and Stacia’s eight-month-old daughter, Delilah, on his knee.”

  “Wouldn’t do any good,” she yelled back as she made her way over to where Trevor stood with the rest of the kids. “He’d find a way to act like a big-ass child no matter what!”

  The gang burst into laughter at the sound of Trevor’s whiny, “What’d I do now?” from across the park.

  “They kicking a lot today?” Callie asked, rubbing on her mother’s protruding belly as Kenzie leaned back in Brett’s arms with her feet resting on the bench. It was her third pregnancy. Only about a year after getting married four and a half years ago, Brett and Kenzie welcomed their son, Cole, into the world. The second pregnancy was unexpected, but no less welcome. And when they discovered they’d be having twins, they were on cloud nine. They were also done. Five kids was more than enough. Kenzie had even gone as far as to threaten Brett with bodily harm if he ever tried to knock her up again.

  “Like soccer players, honey pot,” Kenzie answered her daughter.

  “I can’t wait to meet them,” Callie said in awe, smiling up at her mom and dad.

  “You’re such a great big sister, ladybug,” Brett told her, kissing her on the top of her head.

  “Thanks, Daddy.” She grinned lovingly at Brett before she and Cam took back off to play football with—a hopefully better behaved—Trevor.

  As the gang watched their little ones run around the park, all giggling and happy, each one sent up a prayer of thanks for the life they’d all been granted. They had it all. Friends who had become their family in the quaint little town of Cloverleaf.

  Life had thrown some serious curve balls, each of them going through their own ups and downs, but they’d all managed to pull through it with the love and help of each other.

  Yeah, life was great for the Cloverleaf gang.

  And every day was better than the last.

  The End.

  This book was the hardest book I’ve ever written. Not because of the subject matter, but because I finally had to say goodbye to the Cloverleaf gang. I never could have predicted just how much you guys would fall in love with this gang when I started Luke and Emmy’s book nearly two years ago. I started this journey with these characters, and leaving them behind nearly broke my heart. But I’m happy with how their stories ended, and I hope you are, too.

  I couldn’t have done this without my fabulous readers.

  Much love,

  ~Jess

  After having her heart broken by the only man she’s ever loved everything seemed to go downhill for Emerson Grace. It has taken eight years but Emmy is finally starting to pick up the pieces of her damaged life. But the man who destroyed it has returned bringing with him the pain of the past. Can she let go of the pain Luke caused and accept him back into her life or will the memories be too much for her to overcome?

  Running from Emmy was the only way Lucas Allen knew he
could protect her from the demons he carried with him. After spending one perfect night together Luke takes off, certain that he can’t possibly give Emmy everything she deserves. Now he’s made the decision to return to Cloverleaf and make things right. But is he prepared to truly face all of the damaged he has caused?

  Will Luke and Emmy finally get their chance at love or will the secrets of the past stop them before they even get to begin?

  People make mistakes when they're young, but how they choose to come back from those mistakes is what matters in the end.

  Savannah Morgan found true love at a very early age, but one rash decision — one that she would regret for the rest of her life — was all it took to end her relationship with the love of her life.

  For seven years, Jeremy Matthews has accepted being "just friends" with the only woman he's ever loved. Finally deciding that enough is enough, Jeremy relentlessly pursues Savannah until he forces her to see just how right they are for each other.

  When Savannah's past mistake is revealed, threatening the future she so desperately wants, the fate of their relationship lies in Jeremy’s hands. Will he be able to forgive Savannah, or is the relationship truly over?

  When struggles and obstacles threaten the foundation of Savannah and Jeremy's relationship, will they choose to let each other go, or rise from the ashes of the past to claim their happiness?

  Living in the small town of Cloverleaf, watching her friends settle down one by one, all Lizzy wants is her own happily ever after. But with each failed date she starts to believe that finding the one man who will look at her like she’s his reason for living is practically impossible.

  Trevor has had feelings for Lizzy since stepping foot into Cloverleaf, but despite their intense chemistry when they first met, the feisty little redhead friend-zoned him before he ever had a chance to make his move. After watching her date every loser in town he’s finally decided enough is enough. Thanks to a drunken weekend in Vegas, he finally has the one thing he’s always wanted…Lizzy as his wife.