Cayla started to stir and I reached down to pick her up. Her sweet baby smell instantly put me at ease. Her blue eyes widened as she stared up at me, cooing softly. I rubbed gently at the downy soft blonde hair covering her head. From what Memphis said, Caelan had gotten a good look at her the day he showed up. I wondered what he thought—if he was as wowed by this little miracle as I was.
Emery came by the table and set down cups of water. “I didn’t think you’d want coffee, Sunshine. You’re already jittery enough.” He winked. “And are you even allowed to drink coffee when you’re breast-feeding?”
“Emery!” I laughed. Leave it to him to make this situation not seem so dreary. As he grinned at me, I thought back to how insistent he was that Memphis and I were perfect for each other. He had been right, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
Emery walked away, laughing at my exclamation.
I didn’t get to see him as much anymore. I’d quit my job to stay home with Cayla and I used my spare time to help Memphis look for a spot to open his own restaurant.
The door opened and I looked up. I knew in my gut it would be him and I wasn’t disappointed.
He looked different from all my memories of him. He’d filled out more and his skin had a rosy, healthy shine to it. His blond hair had gotten longer and his eyes weren’t cloudy with what whatever drug he’d been using. When he saw me, he smiled. I hadn’t been expecting that. More so, I hadn’t been expecting it to be the smile of the boy I saw in the online article when I’d first tried to find out about him. When I saw it, I’d been determined to make him smile like that again. Only back then, I wanted him to be smiling at me. He wasn’t though. He was smiling at the squirming baby in my arms. Seeing him light up like that brought tears to my eyes. I was so relieved to know he was happy and healthy.
I startled when I saw a beautiful woman with vibrant red hair come in behind him and clutch his hand.
I was shocked and I was sure it showed, but I quickly smiled once more.
I stood and Memphis joined me in walking over to Caelan.
“You look good,” I smiled fondly.
“Thanks.” His smile was crooked and almost boyish. He looked his age now, except for his eyes that held the pain no one should have to experience.
“Hi.” I turned towards the woman beside him. While I didn’t feel any jealousy towards her, I did hope she was good to him. Caelan deserved to love and be loved, but I didn’t want him to be taken advantage of. “I’m Sutton.”
“I know,” she replied, forcing a smile. I could tell she was nervous around me. “I’m Leah.”
“It’s nice to meet you. This is my husband, Memphis,” I nodded my head towards the man playing bodyguard. He shook hands with both and said a few words. “Should we sit down?” I suggested.
They both nodded and we all sat down at the table Memphis and I had previously occupied.
I had no idea where to start, but seeing as Caelan and I were going to be connected for the rest of our lives, the rest could come later.
Right now was about introducing him to our daughter.
Memphis cleared his throat and pointed at Leah. “I’m going to get some coffee, would you mind coming with me?”
I smiled. That was my Memphis, always trying to do the right thing. He saw that this moment needed to be between Caelan and I only.
“Sure,” Leah agreed, knowledge shimmering in her pretty green eyes.
As soon as they were gone, I moved to sit beside Caelan. “She’s beautiful,” he whispered, reaching out to touch Cayla’s smooth cheek.
“She’s perfect,” I added. “Here, you hold her,” I tried to hand her to him but he flailed. “Caelan,” I laughed. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know how to hold a baby,” he admitted. “I don’t want to break her.”
I bit down on my lip to contain my giggles. He was dead serious and I didn’t want to embarrass him. “Just hold your arms like this,” I nodded down at the way I had her cradled in my hold, “and make sure you support her neck.”
He mimicked my pose and I eased our daughter into his arms. “Wow,” he gasped as she stared up at him. “I can’t believe we made her.”
“Me either,” I laughed.
“I love her so much already.”
“Babies are pretty amazing like that,” I agreed.
He kissed her head and then his eyes flicked up to meet mine. “What’s her name?”
I let out a breath and answered. “Cayla. Cayla Hale Gregory.”
He gasped. “You named her after my sister?”
“Of course,” I replied as he looked down at her with even more awe than before. “No other name was right.”
I saw Memphis and Leah take a seat at another table. I was thankful that they were giving us more time.
I grew quiet, watching Caelan gaze at Cayla. I laid my head on his shoulder and he stiffened at first, but then relaxed.
“I live for you,” he breathed as he cradled our daughter in his arms. His finger tenderly stroked her pouted lips.
Tears pooled in my eyes at the words he spoke to her—words he’d once told me.
We both lived for Cayla now and it was the best thing either of us had ever done.
THE END
COMING SOON
SAVING TATUM
Trace + Olivia Series Book 4
(September 2014)
WHEN WE FALL
A companion novel to Beauty in the Ashes (Late 2014)
SAVING TATUM
Sneak Peek
Even tough girls need saving.
Jude Brooks is bad news. He’s the kind of guy that leaves behind a string of broken hearts and Tatum O’Connor is not about to be one of those girls, despite all of Jude’s advances. They have a past, and Tatum’s determined to make sure they don’t have a future.
Unfortunately for her, “no” isn’t a word in Jude’s vocabulary.
The more she backs away, the more he pushes.
But what if he pushes too far?
Tatum’s hiding a pain that no one sees and holding on to a hurt that may never heal. Letting Jude into her heart could shatter her completely—and what if she opens up to Jude and he can’t handle her baggage?
Love is never easy—especially when the person you’re falling for is the person you blame for the worst event in your life.
Love, heartache, and despair.
That’s the name of the game when you’re Saving Tatum.
Unedited and subject to change
Prologue
I jolted awake at the sound of someone trying to beat our front door down. I sat straight up, the blankets pooling at my waist. My head twisted to look at the blinking orange numbers flashing on the clock beside my bed. Three in the morning.
Fear slithered down my spine like a serpent.
Nothing good came from someone at your door that early in the morning.
I heaved my tired body out of bed. My muscles were stiff and overworked from a rigorous cheerleading practice the night before.
I opened my bedroom door and poked my head out. I saw my mom and dad coming out of their bedroom. A baseball bat was clutched in my dad’s hand. What did he think he was going to do to an intruder with that? Knock them out? Besides, if someone was trying to break in, why would they be knocking on the door?
“Stay up here, Tate,” my dad warned, quietly tiptoeing down the steps. My mom followed him even though he warned her to stay put as well.
I kept watch on the door.
My dad looked through the peephole and muttered, “What the hell?”
Swinging it open, I saw red and blue flashing lights and an officer stood at our door.
I rolled my eyes. The neighbor’s kids were probably vandalizing again.
I was about to close my door and get back in bed, when I heard the officer speak.
“Mr. and Mrs. O’Connor?” He asked. He was young and nervous, obviously new to the police force.
“That’s us,” my dad ans
wered, “is there a problem?”
“It’s about your son, there’s been an accident. I’m so sorry to tell you this, but he didn’t make it.” His face was somber, eyes downcast.
My mom let out a piercing, soul-crushing wail, and started to fall. My dad’s arm held her upright.
But there was no one there to hold me up.
I crumbled to the floor, clutching at my chest.
I couldn’t breathe.
I was suffocating under the pressure.
He didn’t make it.
He was dead. My big brother—my best friend—was gone.
“I’m sorry,” I heard the officer say one more time before my dad closed the door. His cries soon joined the sound of my mother’s.
Tears streamed down my face, but my sobs were silent.
Graham was gone. In a matter of hours he’d been ripped from my life forever. I’d just seen him at dinner! We’d been talking about school and how I’d be cheering at the football game on Friday! He was telling me how proud he was of me!
Everything had been perfect! The way it was supposed to be!
Something like this wasn’t supposed to happen!
Graham was a senior! This was his last year! He was supposed to leave for college and study to be a lawyer like our dad!
He. Wasn’t. Supposed. To. Die.
None of this was supposed to happen.
My perfect life wasn’t supposed to explode like this.
But it did.
Over night, I went from having it all, to having nothing.
I watched my mom close herself off from everybody.
I watched my dad spend his every waking hour slaving over his job so he didn’t have to think about Graham, or mom, or even me.
I watched myself slowly spiral from a carefree happy girl, into a complete and utter cynic.
And I knew exactly who was to blame for everything.
Jude Brooks.
ACKNOWLEDGEMETS
Wow, I don’t even know where to begin. I have so many people to thank for helping me with this book and keeping me sane. This has been my hardest book to write, but I’m definitely the most proud of it. Beauty in the Ashes pushed me as an author. It challenged me and forced me to think differently. I’ve been trying to write this story for five or six years, and now finally felt like the right time. So, I went back to Caelan and Sutton’s story and finished it once and for all.
Becca, Haley, Kendall, Stefanie, and Heather, I can’t thank you all enough for beta reading and keeping me sane through this whole process. I was beyond stressed while writing this book and your words of encouragement kept me going. Thank you for shaping Beauty in the Ashes into the book it is today. In other words, thanks for making it better.
Harper James and Regina Bartley…ladies, I don’t know what to say. Thank you, doesn’t begin to cover it. You guys are always there for me when I’m freaking out. You tell me when something sucks and when it’s awesome. You keep me motivated when I feel like falling apart. Through the good and the bad you’re both there. I’m so incredibly thankful to have friends like you.
Thank you to all the bloggers who took time to read Beauty in the Ashes and for those that participated in the Blog Tour. I appreciate everything you do for me and other authors. Without you most of us would fall into obscurity.
Thank YOU for reading Beauty in the Ashes. Whether you loved it or hated it, THANK YOU for taking a chance on this book. If you’ve read my other stuff then you know this is quite the departure for me. Thank you (are you sick of me saying that yet?) to every single person who has ever read one of my books, because of you I get to do what I love, and for that I will always be grateful. I wish I could meet all of you and express in person just how thankful I am. Since I can’t, I hope this rambling paragraph has done the job.
Of course I have to thank Jenessa and Jeff for being the cover models. Thank you for being a part of my book and bringing my characters to life. You both did an amazing job and I couldn’t be happier.
Regina Wamba (Photographer and Cover Designer Extraordinaire) I have three words for you… You. Were. Right. I was so against having a “paint picture” on the cover, but you wouldn’t let it go and in the end it was exactly what the cover needed. Thank you for always being amazing and giving my books the most beautiful covers.
Lastly, Grammy deserves the biggest thanks of all since she’s stuck living with me and I was a complete psycho while writing this book…well, more than usual. Anyway, thanks Grammy for always believing in me even when I don’t. When you look at me with concern when I’m having a rare meltdown, you’ll still say, “You can do it.” Those four words might not seem like a lot, but they mean everything to me. When I doubt myself, I hear your voice in my head encouraging me to keep going. You’ve always been there for me and I don’t know what I’d do without you. I might not always say it, but thank you. For everything.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Micalea Smeltzer is a bestselling Young and New Adult author from Winchester, Virginia. She’s always working on her next book, and when she has spare time she loves to read and spend time with her family.
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