From Ashes To Flames

by A. M. Hargrove

She play punched me. “You’re crazy.”

  I laughed along with her.

  It registered then that I’d made love to my wife. My wife. The love of my life. It was hard to believe, yet it was real.

  “What are you thinking? Your brow is furrowed.” She took a finger and rubbed my forehead.

  “I just made love to my wife. And I love how that sounds.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “Close your eyes.” When they were closed, I reached into the nightstand and grabbed the box I’d put there earlier. I slipped on the other band I bought for her. “This is for the eternal love of the children we have and the ones we will have in the future.”

  Her eyes popped opened and she blinked several times. “Oh, Grey. It’s beautiful. Thank you.” The kiss was even more perfect than the ring. “It looks gorgeous with the diamond and the other band.”

  “I knew it would.”

  “I have something for you too.” She got up and went to the bureau where she pulled out an envelope. Then she handed it to me as she got back in bed. “This is for you.”

  I opened it up and grinned. “The test results.”

  “Yes. But let me explain.”

  It was my turn to interrupt her. “Before you say anything, I need to give you something.” I got out of bed and reached into the side pocket of my carry-on bag, where I’d stashed her journal. “This belongs to you. I didn’t read it all, if you’re wondering, but I did happen to see your last entry.”

  Her furrowed brow told me she didn’t know what I was referring to. She flipped open her journal and I saw when it became clear. “You know?”

  “Yeah, and I couldn’t be sorrier than I already am.”

  “Every time I tried to tell you, you wouldn’t let me get the words out, or something would interrupt us. I just forgot when Aaron was in the hospital and I sent it in much later than I originally said I would. But you were so angry with me, I couldn’t explain it to you. You’d lost your trust in me and there wasn’t any point in telling you then. Anyway, you are Aaron’s biological father.”

  I took my wife’s face between my hands and kissed her soundly on the lips. “You should probably kill me. We went through all that for nothing.”

  “I disagree. It taught us a lot about each other. You learned not to be so self-centered and I learned my assumption about you being an ass was true.” She laughed. “But … you came around eventually.”

  We laughed for a moment, but then I became serious. I slid my hands into her hair. “All the heartache. I am tremendously sorry. I never told you, but Susannah wasn’t a warm person, nothing like you are. All those years we were together, I thought we were fine. I asked Hudson not too long ago if he thought she was a pompous bitch. He did but never said a word to me about it. I was a fool. God knows what she did to me behind my back and I was determined not to be made a fool again. So, when I thought you did that, it struck below the belt. Betrayal is a difficult thing to bear, you know? But I was so closed off, I didn’t give you a chance.”

  “It is difficult. Especially when it comes from the people you put the utmost trust in. But I promise you, Grey, I won’t ever betray you or your trust in me.”

  “I know that.”

  I grabbed her hand and said, “You are the solitary person I would trust with my life, with my children’s lives. You are the love of my life … the one who took my life from ashes to flames. I was nothing but a charred-up wreck of a man when I met you, but you put the fire back into my heart. You’re forever mine, Marin West.”

  The End

  Epilogue

  For The Secret Epilogue Click Here

  * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from For The Love of English, another Single Dad Romance.

  * * *

  Thank you for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed the journey. If you did, I would be very grateful if you would take a brief moment to leave a review.

  Sneak Peek of From Ice To Flames

  *This is unedited

  * * *

  Chapter One

  Milly

  * * *

  What in the world had I been thinking? Moving away to clear my head and get Harry off my mind was one thing, but all the way to New York City? I seriously had a screw loose and knew exactly where it was. In my brain! After living my entire forty—ouch, it hurt to say that—years in suburbia, and enjoying all the conveniences it offered, I was now schlepping all over the place, running errands, and dragging groceries home in one of those silly looking carts.

  My arms were loaded down with an impossibly huge number of items when my phone rang.

  “Shit, shit.” I dug into my pocket, fingers clutching onto my lifeline.

  “Hello,” I huffed.

  Good Lord, Mills. Are you having sex?”

  “Shut up. I just walked off the elevator carrying a million things such as groceries and I’m trying to get to my apartment door, which is approximately three hundred thousand miles away.”

  My sister cackled into the phone.

  “This is not funny, Ellerie. Why did you let me do a harebrained thing like move up here? Not to mention I’m freezing my ancient, underused vagina off. It’s colder than hell in New York.”

  “Hell is hot, not cold.”

  “Whatever.”

  “And hey, moving there was your idea. I was the one who tried to talk you out of it. Remember? I was the one who moved back to Atlanta from Manhattan.”

  “Shut up. I don’t need reminding.”

  “Besides, your vagina isn’t ancient. You’re only forty. You’ve got a good forty years of use left in that thing.”

  “Yeah, well, at this rate, it’ll be frozen solid and put out to pasture before I hit forty-five.”

  “Ahh, come on, baby sis. It’s not that bad.”

  “You only say that because your husband didn’t walk away from you after almost twenty years of marriage.”

  Suddenly, the load I’d managed to juggle came crashing to the floor, my apples rolling all over the place, followed by lemons, tomatoes, and the rest of everything I’d purchased.

  “What the heck was that?” Ellerie asked.

  “Ugh. I just lost all my shit.” Kneeling down, I gathered up my runaway items and began stuffing them back into one of the bags.

  “At least it wasn’t eggs. That could’ve been a catastrophe.”

  “True.” I was just pushing the last of the escapees in when I noticed a pair of feet in my vision. Large feet. I was positive they belonged to someone so I glanced up and had to crane my neck to see exactly who owned them.

  “Ugh, Ellerie, let me call you back.” Shoving myself up, I stared at the owner of said feet as he held out a huge box of tampons.

  “I believe these belong to you.”

  Eyes that reminded me of a frosty blue sky on a cold winter day gazed at me with undue curiosity. But these eyes weren’t the least bit icy. They were warm. No, make that scorching. In fact, I slid a finger under the neck of my sweater because it had gotten way too hot in here. Was that sweat on my upper lip? Oh for Pete’s sake, that was all I needed—to have a hot flash in front of this sexy guy. Wait—I didn’t have hot flashes. Was this just a heated moment of lust flaring in my deprived loins?

  “Oh, thanks.” I grabbed the jumbo box of tampons from him and stared. It was more like ogled the man. He wore jeans that hugged his sexy hips and stood with his feet slightly parted in a stance that imparted complete confidence. Then the skies parted, the heavens opened, and the sun’s rays beamed down right in the dim apartment hallway as the man smiled. Oh, God. His perfect teeth sparkled and I was speechless as I gaped at him. Who was this perfectly formed human male with this arresting face? Was it possible he lived on this floor?

  “Are you okay?”

  His voice was like a choir of angels—hot and muscular manly angels—not the pudgy cherubic kind. I was certain his body was honed to perfection by hours and hours of gym workouts. He was probably a famous body builder. Or m
aybe even one of those popular underwear models I fantasize over while using my favorite vibrator.

  “Sure. I’m fine. Yeah. Good here.” I swallowed the desire that had overtaken my sensibilities. “You? How are you? Because you appear to be, um, really fine.” What the hell was I saying?

  He smiled again. I may have had a teeny tiny orgasm. Maybe. “I’m great.”

  You certainly are.

  “Well, have a nice day.” He nodded and walked by. I inhaled as much air as I possibly could because he smelled delicious. Like … soap. Manly man soap. The kind that only an extremely sexy guy would use.

  The elevator dinged and as soon as the doors closed I fell to my knees. It took a couple of minutes to collect myself. Oh, my, gawdddd. I needed to get a hold of myself. That brief encounter with the underwear sex god model had completely incapacitated me.

  After I grabbed my groceries, I stumbled into my apartment, dizzy from my post erotic event, and unpacked everything. And then I realized what he’d handed me—a jumbo box of tampons. Shit. Shit. Shit. Why couldn’t I have been one of those cool girls who only bought cool things, like super expensive wine? Or imported cheese? Or even liver pâté, although the thought of liver made me shudder. But, no, I had a jumbo box of tampons.

  I called Ellerie back. “You won’t believe what just happened.”

  I didn’t need have the phone in my hand to hear her laugh. I could’ve heard it all the way from Atlanta without it.

  “At least it wasn’t poop medicine or something for hemorrhoids.”

  I sucked my breath in. “Stop! That’s a positively horrid thought. And I don’t even have hemorrhoids. ”

  “Right? But what if you did? And you just stood there staring at him like an idiot?”

  “Well, yeah. He’d hypnotized me. Spelled me. I couldn’t help myself.”

  “You didn’t bother to introduce yourself?”

  “Of course not. You said it. I’m an idiot. Why on earth would I do something as intelligent as that?”

  “Well, if he’s your neighbor, you’ll have more opportunities.”

  That made me think of something. “Then that means I have to be prepared at all times. No going out looking like a slob. Ever. Oh my God. I’m going to have to dress up to do my laundry.”

  “Oh, Milly, you can’t worry about it. And when do you ever look like a slob.”

  “All the time. But especially after one of my gigantic cry sessions.”

  Ellerie was quiet a second. “I wish I was there for you.”

  “You are. All I have to do is pick up the phone.”

  “No, I mean really there. So when you have those moments, I can hug you and tell you it’s going to be fine.”

  I sucked back a sob. “Am I so bad, Ellerie? I mean, I know I can be hard-headed and bossy sometimes. But I did try. I honestly did.”

  “I know you did. For years. I didn’t live with the two of you so I can’t really say, but something happened to Harry when his best friend died. Mills, I don’t think there was anything more you could’ve done. John and I talked about how much he had changed. You even tried therapy but I think he needed it alone. And you can’t make someone do it.”

  “I have this book—”

  “Mills, how many books have you bought?”

  “I can’t say. A bunch.”

  “How many did he buy?”

  “I don’t know. I never asked.”

  “My guess would be a handful compared to the several dozen you own. Look, all I’m saying is you can look at yourself in the mirror and know you did everything you could. But in the end, if both people don’t work at it, a marriage can’t survive.”

  “You’re right. I guess he didn’t want me anymore.” A sniffle escaped.

  “Hey, but isn’t it better to move on than to stagnate in that?”

  “Yeah, but it still hurts my heart.”

  “So, here’s want I want you to do. Be on the lookout for hot and sexy. Then think of things you’d like to do to him.”

  “Ellerie, I don’t have to think. My body does that for me.”

  She giggled and I went along with her.

  “I gotta run, baby sis. My pups are barking and they need a walk.”

  “Ooh, you make me miss my Dick.”

  She cracked up. “You know I could take that a couple of ways.”

  “I told that idiot not to name him that.”

  “So, why don’t you just get another dog?”

  “I don’t know. Training a puppy is a lot of work.”

  “Think about it. Call me tomorrow. Love you.”

  “Back at you.”

  I finished the task of putting the rest of the groceries away and thought about getting a dog. But Dick was special. I fought for him but in the end, I let Harry keep him. He had the big yard that Dick loved and needed.

  Saying goodbye had nearly broken me. It was bad enough with the divorce, but the dog … ugh, I can’t even imagine how hard it is for parents with kids in a custody battle.

  It was early February and I was getting cabin fever with this cold weather. Maybe I’d take a walk in the park this afternoon. I’d purchased a Canada goose coat because I wasn’t very tolerant of the freezing temperatures. Surely I could do it wearing that thing.

  I peeked out the window to see bright sunshine and about that time, my buzzer rang. It was odd because I hadn’t been here long enough to make many friends and only knew a couple of people from work. My friend Ava was busy so I know it wasn’t her. Pressing the button, I asked, “Yes?”

  “Ms. Fremont, you have a delivery. May I send him up?”

  “Uh, oh. I guess that would be okay. Does he look safe? I mean he doesn’t look like a serial killer or anything?”

  The security man chuckled. “No ma’am. He looks fine.”

  “Yes, then, send him up.”

  I’d chosen this building for that very reason. Not being familiar with Manhattan, I didn’t want to move here without some assurances of safety. Soon my doorbell rang and I looked out the peephole, only to see the back of a man’s head.

  I opened the door and got the shock of my life.

  “Surprise.”

  Then I was knocked on my back by a slobbering one hundred and forty pound furry mastiff.

  “Dick, mind your manners,” Harry said.

  When I was able to move the gigantic pooch aside, and only after he had completely covered my face and head in his greeting of slobbery kisses, I stood up and asked, “What the hell are you doing here, Harry?”

  “Yeah, I know. I should’ve called. But Mills, I’m in a huge bind. I need your help and I know you love Dick as much as I do.”

  “What does this have to do with Dick?”

  “I’ve accepted a job in London and I’m leaving today.” He was smiling like I hadn’t seen in years. Harry was … happy. And I was … crushed.

  “Oh … that’s fantastic.” My artificial grin didn’t reach my eyes.

  “Yeah, it is but I can’t take Dick.”

  “No Dick?”

  “No Dick.”

  Dick stared at me with his soulful eyes.

  “This is where you come in.”

  “Me? Harry, look at my apartment. You were right. Dick needs a yard. Room to expand.” Room to expand?

  “Yes, well, at this particular time, that’s something I can’t worry about. I know you love him and will care for him. I just can’t put him in the shelter. God forbid no one would want him.”

  Dick’s eyes begged me to take him in. “Oh, my sweet Dick. Come here.”

  Harry let his leash go and Dick galloped into my apartment, knocking everything down in his path. His tail whipped all the items off my coffee table in seconds and all I could do was hug the gigantic hound.

  “I’ve missed my sweet boy.” Then I sniffed. “What’s that odor?”

  “Well, he rolled in something in the yard, right as we were leaving. Sorry.”

  “Ugh. It’s offensive.”

  “Yes, I kno
w. I just drove fourteen hours in the car with him.”

  “You drove?”

  “Yes. I was going to ask—do you want the car?”

  “Harry! When are you leaving?”

  He checked his watch and said, “Five hours so I don’t have much time.”

  “And you waited until now to tell me this?”

  “It just sort fell into place.”

  I massaged the place between my eyes. “Let me call the guy downstairs to see if you can leave the car.”

  “No. Mills I’m not coming back.”

  “You—you’re leaving for good?”

  “Yeah. I, uh, this is a new beginning for me. Just sell it if you don’t want it. I’ll sign the title over to you now.” He waved it in his hand. “You have my number and can reach me with any other legal stuff. My lawyer knows how to get in touch with you too.”

  “Harry, are you sure you want to do this?”

  He smiled again. “Never been more sure. Now that I know my Dick’s in good hands, I’m good.”

  “It always was,” I mumbled.

  He signed the title over and turned to leave. Then he stopped. “Mills, I’m sorry … for the way things turned out. It was all me.” He dipped his head and left. And I’d never been more stunned in my life. Then I broke down in tears. My ex was gone for good. But the good news was he’d left me with his Dick.

  * * *

  Chapter Two

  Hudson

  The sexy woman on her knees brought all sorts of dirty thoughts to mind. Like how that pretty pink mouth of hers would feel wrapped around my cock. It had been too long since that had happened. She was adorable as she looked up and gazed at me. Her flushed skin didn’t hurt either. For a moment, my feet were rooted to the floor. If only I didn’t have to pick up Wiley, I would’ve helped her take her things into her apartment, maybe found out if there was a Mister Adorable, or even invited her over for a glass of wine. All I needed was thirty minutes … but then, the last thing I wanted was a woman who knew where I lived. The next thing I’d be dealing with would be her bringing over a casserole or, worse, setting up a coffee station in my place. Soon she’d be expecting me to take her to dinner. Or even lattes every morning. Shit, now that I think about it, that’s exactly how I met Lydia. I shuddered at the idea, then rubbed the ache in my chest.