Intertwined Hearts Series (4 book collection): (Intertwined Hearts, An Exceptional Twist, Tangled Paths & Grafted Vines)

by Kimi Flores

  Unable to resist, I pulled her onto the bed and cradled her petite body in my arms. “Would you like to help me cook Daddy some breakfast?”

  Hopeful brown eyes glanced at me. “Can we make pancakes? Daddy loves pancakes.” The bed rocked as she jumped up and off the side. “Come on, Abby, before he wakes up.”

  I sighed as I thought about that. What I wouldn’t do to go up the stairs and wake him up myself.

  Softly yanking on my arm, Madison led me to the tree in the living room. “First, you have to see what Santa brought. Look at the dollhouse. How does Santa know so much? I always wanted this.”

  I held in a snicker. It was funny when small children said ‘always’, as though they’d lived a hundred years and yearned for that one item every moment.

  Madison clapped her hands together. “How fun would it be if it was super big and we could go inside to have a tea party?”

  Secretly, I loved that idea. Growing up, my mom hadn’t had a lot of money, so dreams like playhouses hadn’t been feasible. “What do you say we get breakfast ready, then we play tea party with your dolls.” I ran a finger through her hair, tangled from sleep.

  She nestled her head into my side. “That sounds like lots of fun.”

  Strutting over to the kitchen, I found all the ingredients we’d need in the cupboards and got to work.

  nce we had a stack of pancakes on a plate, Madison took off toward the bathroom. I softly gasped when firm arms wrapped around my waist from behind and warm breath tickled my neck. Caleb moved the top of my flannel nightshirt aside, and I had to grip the countertop to keep myself upright as he brushed his lips along my bare shoulder.

  “I love waking up to the sight of you in my home. I could definitely get used to this.” At his words, I relaxed into him and let out a little moan.

  “I love waking up to the sight of you too, although technically I haven’t actually seen you yet.”

  He turned me around in his arms, and I got an eyeful of his bare chest and gawked shamelessly.

  “Merry Christmas, Abby,” he chuckled, kissing my forehead.

  “Yes, it is.” My thoughts accidentally slipped out as I looked up into his eyes. “I mean, Merry Christmas, Caleb.”

  ⁂

  Caleb

  Just as we were about to open presents, my phone rang for the fifth time this morning. Covering the mouthpiece with my hand, I apologized, “Sorry, work stuff.”

  If Abby wondered why I was getting so many work calls on Christmas morning, she didn’t say anything. With one finger in the air, I indicated I’d only be a minute, then I ducked into my office.

  When the door clicked firmly behind me, I pushed the laptop aside and sat on top of my mahogany desk. “Mom, what’s up? Are you on your way?” Nervous about getting caught, I threw a quick glance at the door and lowered my voice. “Did you pick up the package yet?”

  Grace calmed my nerves by responding, “Yes, everything’s fine. Merry Christmas, son.”

  I relaxed my tense posture and let out a breath. “Thanks, Merry Christmas to you too, Mom. See you all soon. And drive safe.” We hung up, and with the knowledge that I’d achieved my secret mission, I headed back to the living room.

  Madison was sitting on Abby’s knee, lightly shaking a gift. With a curious look on her face, she tried guessing what was inside. The tree just beside them was a beautiful vision, decorated in red, brown, and silver, strung with twinkling white lights.

  Abby glanced at me and mouthed, “Everything okay?”

  Feeling the beauty of this moment, all I could do was nod. “Couldn’t be better.”

  Excitedly, Madison opened all her goodies first, including a charm bracelet from Abby, and she was thrilled once she learned the ballet shoe charm was from Leah and her new special friends at the dance studio. Then Abby explained that the pumpkin charm was from both her and me, since she was our little pumpkin. I sat on the arm of the couch and leaned down to squeeze Abby, amazed that she continued to find a new way to fill the smallest spaces left in my heart.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love my presents.” Madison glowed with happiness.

  “I think there’s a present missing.” I got up, stepped over all of the messy, scrunched up wrapping paper and searched around the tree, pretending like I didn’t know what was missing. “Hold on. I know it’s here somewhere.”

  I scratched my head, catching Abby staring at me. A fire burned in her eyes. The blue of her irises were intense, little bursts of light sparkling in pools of heat, making them appear to be dancing mischievously. I was finding it increasingly difficult to remember Madison was in the room as Abby leaned forward, absently twining a piece of hair around her fingers. When she started chewing on her bottom lip, I was done for. She was killing me with that look.

  I gulped and grabbed her hand. “Will you help me search upstairs really quick?” I needed her alone, and we had to get the present anyway, so why not?

  “Sure.” It was a whispered breath as she got up and followed.

  “Stay right here and play with your toys, pumpkin. We’ll be right back.” Holding a hand up to Madison, I pulled Abby up the stairs, down the hallway, and into my very personal space. Hearing her take a deep breath as soon as we entered my room did me in.

  I closed the door behind us, my voice gruff. “You can’t look at me like that in front of Madison.” My body hummed, anticipating her touch. Drawing her body into mine, I delicately moved her hair away from her shoulder. I bent close enough to leave featherlight kisses down the side of her neck while backing her up. We stopped once the back of her knees met the end of my bed. Licking then nipping the other side of her neck, I sensed that she was completely open to whatever I wanted to do to her, and damn did I want to do lots of things to her. It took all the self-control I had to stop as I pressed my forehead to hers. We panted, trying to catch our breaths as we stared into each other’s eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I got a little carried away.”

  “It’s okay, Caleb. I did, too.” With a sly grin, she added, “I don’t mind at all.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to refocus.

  Present. We’d come up here for a present. “We better bring the last gift down or she’ll be up here soon.”

  Painfully aware of how excited my body had gotten to her nearness, I groaned and spun around, heading to my master bathroom. I needed to calm down before going back downstairs.

  Abby giggled. “I’ll go. You stay here until you’re ready. See you in a few.”

  Well, damn.

  ⁂

  Abby

  Madison snuggled up on the couch with the last of her Christmas gifts. Her adorable expression was precious when Caleb had handed the female kitten over, saying she was a gift from both him and me. It was so thoughtful that Caleb had consulted with me first. He’d been continuing to talk about our future together and wouldn’t get a pet if I were allergic, or didn’t like them. The grey and white fluff ball, now named Olivia, was curled contently in Madison’s arms.

  Only two presents remained, and neither was the size of a ring box. Trying not to show my disappointment, I reached for the envelope and handed it over with a smile. “Merry Christmas, Caleb.”

  Two hockey tickets to his favorite team’s next L.A. game fell out of the card as he lifted it up. “Are you serious? How did you get these? They sold out weeks ago.” He looked at the tickets in amazement, double-checking the details.

  “I got them as soon as they went on sale.” I said it like it should be obvious.

  “Wait, we weren’t dating then.” His eyebrows squeezed together.

  “I know.” I’d been waiting to give him those tickets for months now.

  He swallowed hard and held my eyes for a moment. “Thank you, I love them.” He gave me a quick kiss as he picked up another envelope and handed it to me. “Merry Christmas, Abby.” He explained as I opened it up, “Cruise ticket vouchers. I got them for you and your mom. I thought you might li
ke to go with her next time.”

  A wide smile crossed my face as I threw my arms around his neck. “You’re so thoughtful. This is very sweet of you, thank you.” I was happily returning the kiss he’d just given me when the front door opened.

  Grace, Robert, and my stepdad, Dave, entered the room when I heard a voice behind them. “Abby Rose, did you wish on the star for me at our spot on the beach yesterday?”

  My mouth fell open as my mom poked her head around Grace.

  “No way.” I shot a surprised look at Caleb before I ran to my mom, just like I used to when I was a little girl. We hugged for a long moment, then I looked around the room and back at my mother. “No, but I sure did something right because I’ve got more than I could ever imagine for Christmas this year.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Forgiveness is a Gift You Give Yourself

  Abby

  The sense of family and new beginnings over the holidays instilled a need to move forward. I felt like my life was moving in the right direction. And Caleb had a point— I needed to let go of the past. After a lot of thought, and several hours over the last two weeks in my new counselor’s office, I finally called Peter to ask him to meet me.

  The fancy purple velvet chair was soft and matched the extravagance of the rest of the café. Huge framed paintings decorated the walls, and crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. It was just like Peter to choose a place like this, with its frou-frou coffee. Also, it looked like old habits were dying hard—he was still late to everything.

  Nervous, I rolled the salt shaker around in my hand and eyed the clock. When someone cleared his throat beside me, I looked up to see Peter.

  “Sorry I’m late. I had trouble finding a place to park,” he explained. There was a brief pause before he went in for an awkward hug, changing his mind at the last minute and shaking my hand instead. The look of horror on my face must’ve deterred him from his original plan. “Isn’t this place great? They serve fantastic coffee.” He took a seat, and I had to hold back a grimace.

  But today was about forgiveness for my benefit, not his. I had to let go of the bitterness. “Thank you for meeting with me.” A well-rehearsed speech sat in the forefront of my brain, ready to go. But before I could continue, a waitress interrupted and asked what she could get us to drink. . Peter ordered a tall caramel mocha something-or-other , but I already had my regular drip coffee with vanilla creamer sitting on the table between us.

  He said, “Of course, I’ve wanted to meet with you for a while. Do you mind if I go first?”

  I groaned inwardly. I had hoped to just say my peace and leave. “Sure,” I said hesitantly.

  “I need to tell you my side of the story.” Of course he did, because this was going to be all about him.

  I sat back in the chair with my hands in my lap, waiting to hear what he had to say.

  “Here goes nothing.” He paused, flexing his fingers in front of him. “Abby, you were the first love of my life. I know we were young, but I felt it. This is really difficult for me to tell you, but you need to know the truth and how sorry I am.” Taking a deep breath, he continued, “When you told me you were pregnant, I wasn’t completely shocked, and I knew the baby was mine. I was also sure you’d only had sex twice, and both times were with me. Something you don’t know is that I noticed a tear in the condom right after our second time, but I didn’t want to freak you out.” There was guilt and regret on his face.

  I was horrified. All this time he’d known and still treated me the way he had. My hand trembled, but I yanked it back before I did something stupid, like slap him across the face in outrage. In my speedy retreat, coffee spilled all over the table. “Shoot, I’m sorry.”

  As I started to blot the table dry with a napkin, Peter stopped me. “It’s fine, Abby. Here, let me.” Taking the napkins from me, he wiped the table.

  I was still shaky after hearing what he’d just laid out, but I could see he was trying to make an effort.

  Once the surface was dry, he continued with his story. “I was so freaked out when you told me, though. Like a nightmare come true. I went home and talked to Tiffany about it. She reminded me of the plans I had and that I wasn’t of any use to anyone as a high school dropout with a kid. I wasn’t father material. I was only seventeen.”

  “So was I,” I whispered. Moisture started to gather in the corners of my eyes as I realized that he, too, had been frightened about all the same things, but had coped differently. It was difficult to think about his feelings, though, when mine kept resurfacing.

  “I’m not making excuses,” he rushed to say. “I just wanted you to know my side. If I had listened to my heart, I would’ve married you. That’s the truth. And we would’ve raised our baby together.” A wistful look came over him as he went quiet. In that moment, I realized he’d also been tortured by the decisions we’d made. And we’d only been children. I had to keep reminding myself of that.

  When his coffee was delivered to our table, he started to speak again. “Stupidly, I followed my sister’s advice instead, and I pushed you away. I cried myself to sleep every night, knowing how shitty I’d treated you. And I also realized I didn’t deserve you in the first place.”

  I couldn’t help but silently agree. But he wasn’t the only one at fault. I clenched my teeth as I pressed down the fury bubbling up. So, Tiffany had a part in this, too. She’d manipulated him. That interfering cow.

  Remember, Abby, this is for you. Don’t let Tiffany’s disgusting behavior get to you. I kept repeating this in my head like a mantra. You will never heal past hurts if you keep letting them upset you. Let go, you can do it.

  Deep calming breaths helped to center me again.

  He paused, gulping and averting his gaze to the tabletop. “When I would catch you looking at me with other girls, I would lose it. The expression on your face killed me. Then you left school right after it all went down. I can only assume you went somewhere to have the baby and give it up for adoption, because I can’t imagine you aborting your child, no matter who the father is.”

  I blurted out, “You’re wrong. I was going to have an abortion, but I never made it to the clinic. I had a miscarriage the night before my appointment.”

  At this, his eyes went wide in surprise, but there was no anger there. “Oh, wow. So—there is no…?” He seemed stunned. “All these years, I thought for sure I had a child out there.” His eyes glossed over before he grabbed my hand. “Abs, I’m so sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you. Can you forgive me?”

  Time had helped mend my heart, and working with my counselor definitely helped. I finally felt like I could honestly and truly forgive him.

  I wiped my eyes with the hand that Peter wasn’t holding and sniffed. “That’s why I asked you here today. I wanted you to know that I forgive you.” Just saying that to him, face-to-face, lifted the biggest weight off my shoulders and the noose around my heart loosened. I felt so free in that moment. I’d been carrying around this heavy weight for so long that it was amazing how a handful of words could give me the freedom I’d been longing for.

  Just then, a young couple with a screaming baby entered the café, interrupting my heartfelt words. The mother was clearly stressed, and the father took the baby out of the woman’s hands, doing his best to calm them both. I watched Peter as he looked on with a pained expression. I could tell it truly had affected him that he didn’t do the same for me when I’d needed it. This reaffirmed that I really had made the right decision in coming here today.

  “I forgive you,” I said again, bringing him back to our conversation. Oh man, did that feel good. His response made it even better. He stood up, pulled me to my feet, and hugged me for what seemed like an eternity.

  “Thank you, Abs. So much.” He held me for a few more moments, and I started shifting from foot to foot, wondering when he would release me.

  “This is getting uncomfortable now, Peter.”

  He instantly pulled back with a bashful look on his face.
“I’m sorry. Can we sit a little longer? I really want to know what you’ve been doing.”

  I glanced around, uncertain. We were in a public place. We could talk, couldn’t we? I didn’t know what Caleb would think of me playing catch up with an old flame. As far as he was concerned, though, I was here to forgive and move on with my life, with him. Maybe I could get away with summing it all up quickly, then be on my way? We took our seats once again.

  “Well, as you know, I became a teacher,” I offered. “My mom remarried, and now I’m happily in love.”

  “Yeah, you look really happy, Abs. That’s great. Really.” A sad expression made a quick appearance on his face before vanishing just as quickly.

  That was weird. I frowned. “Tell me about Janice. Where did you meet?” I didn’t necessarily care, but I wanted to be polite. I took a sip of what was left of my coffee.

  “I broke off the engagement a couple of weeks ago,” he admitted, glancing down at the table. “Right after I saw you at the tree lot.”

  I blinked in surprise. “I’m so sorry, Peter. She seemed like a nice girl.”

  “She is, but it was only fair for her. I would’ve always compared her to the one I let slip through my fingers.” I didn’t want to make assumptions, but was Peter talking about me? “My sister was already wearing her down, too. She deserves a better life than that.” He looked somber now, and my heart ached for him. How had things turned around so drastically? I’d gone from hating him to feeling sorry for him, all in one afternoon.

  “I wanted to apologize for the whole Tiffany thing, too. Maybe it’s not my place, but I know she’s been hard on you.”

  “Yeah, what’s up with her?” I leaned in curiously, my elbows on the table and my head propped in my hands.

  Peter sat back in his chair, shaking his head. “She’s in the middle of a tough situation with her husband. Justin is a handful, as you know, and she tends to attack anyone she thinks she can manipulate. With me coming back to town and her having to move back in with my parents, it’s been difficult.”