by Sara Daniel
“Yep, I’ll have to. I have a lot of strawberry preserves I don’t want to go to waste, but I don’t like to eat plain jelly. I thought if I had some scones to mop it off my sheets—”
The boy snapped his head up. “Did you tell Mom?”
“Well, I could.” Caleb bit his cheek to keep his smile in check. He’d succeeded in garnering the boy’s attention. “As the adult in charge, she’s the person I should talk to, but I thought we could clear this up man to man instead.”
Austin puffed up for a moment before turning defiant. “You made her cry. She used to always be happy.”
And Caleb had never been happy, not really. He didn’t enjoy media appearances, writing books, or counseling couples. His whole life he’d focused on things he thought he had to do. He’d even avoided getting close to great kids like Austin because he feared somehow turning into a bad guy.
Then he’d turned into the bad guy with Austin anyway. But he’d improved his relationship with Liam, despite his initial missteps. If he could fix where he’d gone wrong with Austin, he could make everyone happy, including Olivia.
“Do you think she’ll be happy if she finds out about the jelly?” Caleb asked.
Austin’s lips quivered. “What do you want me to do?”
“Since you’re going sledding, do you mind if I join you?”
“I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“You always have a choice.” Caleb had to convince him to make the right one if he had any shot at winning back Olivia. “You love your mom and want her to be happy, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I love her too.” He’d barely thought it, let alone said it aloud before, but he’d known last night. Once he’d gone looking for love, it had surrounded him and filled him to overflowing. “I wish we could both take care of her and make her happy, but you do a better job than me.”
“If you love my mom, why is she so sad?”
Aw, shoot. Caleb knelt on the floor and looked Austin in the eye. “I love your mom. But I made a bad mistake. When you asked me to take care of her, I—I wasn’t very nice to her. Now I’m really, really sorry, and I wish I’d never done those things.”
“Kind of like me with the strawberry preserves.”
Caleb wrapped his arm around the son of his heart and drew him to his chest in a hug. “All’s forgiven, buddy.” But he wouldn’t breathe easy until Olivia exonerated him for the grief he’d put her through.
Austin lifted his head. “Want to come sledding with me and Mom?”
“Absolutely. But let’s surprise her, okay?”
* * * *
A day at a time. One foot in front of the other. As soon as Caleb left, she would breathe easier. By the time she survived twenty-four hours since they’d made love, the worst would be over and she’d be on to another day. Within a week, agony would be part of her everyday course and nothing out of the ordinary.
But she still had to slog through the first twelve hours of the first day.
She wound her scarf around her neck, tugged her hat over her ears and trudged outside to join Austin. Since he’d returned from his trip with his dad, she’d allowed him to go on the bunny hill alone but forbidden him from taking on the bigger slope until she joined him.
“You’re here. Let’s go.” Austin threw her the rope for the metal runner sled and raced ahead to the cliff run. She needed to broach the subject of the jellied sheets, but she hated to ruin his morning and add more misery to hers. Besides, she’d told Caleb he could talk first.
Austin reached the top of the hill, and she plodded up the last ten feet. Stopping at the top, she turned the sled perpendicular to the slope so it wouldn’t slide down prematurely. Lifting her gaze to her son, she instead connected with Caleb.
He rose from a prone position in the snow next to a plastic disc. No. He couldn’t be here. Her heart trembled.
Instead of acting out, Austin grinned. “He wants to sled too. We had so much fun last time. It wouldn’t be the same without him.”
Her six year old was way too devious, but he also had a willing accomplice. Her heart quaked a little more. “What’s going on?”
Caleb reached for her hand, and she took a step back. Barely able to manage standing so close and carrying on a conversation, she couldn’t cope with touching him too.
“I’ve had a watershed of emotions lately,” he said.
“How inconvenient for you.” She should send Austin away before he witnessed another emotional dip.
“No, actually. Emotions add richness and fullness to my life. The only thing better would be to share them with you and for you to return my feelings.”
She narrowed her eyes. The Caleb she knew didn’t have feelings, let alone talk about them in a positive light. He possessed the emotionless soul she needed to create in herself.
He wiped his hands on his coveralls. Coveralls. The man who wore his designer suit on a sledding outing had dressed in heavy winter coveralls, boots, and a green scarf the exact color of his eyes with pink pom-poms at the ends.
He clasped her shoulder before she could turn away. “Ignore the scarf. My mother’s going to knit me one in dark colors, but she let me borrow this while she’s watching Liam. I know better than to tackle these hills without something to protect my neck.”
“I don’t need an explanation for the scarf. I need to know what you’re doing here.”
“I love you, Olivia.”
She stopped breathing. She saw his lips move and heard the words come out, but what he said couldn’t be possible. He would never love her. “I misheard you. What did you say?”
He hugged her against his chest. “I said I love you. You’re remembering all the idiotic things I said when I didn’t know what I was talking about. Feelings terrified me. I’ve been running from their power for years, terrified they would rule me. I thought my life would dissolve in one chaotic mess. But it did anyway.”
“I thought you blamed me for that.” On the verge of tears again, she fought to hold them in for Austin’s sake. He needed emotional stability. Somehow, she had to find some and hang on to it.
“I blame you for being so wonderful and caring and gifting me with the experience of being loved and cherished.”
She gulped, but the lump wouldn’t dislodge from her throat. His embrace alone destroyed her. Combined with his words, her heart ripped in two. “Coming from you, I guess that’s a bad thing.”
“No.” He held her tighter. “You changed me into a better person. The rigid steps I outlined don’t begin to cover everything needed for a marriage and a full life. Love—your love—is the only thing that can fill the void in my life.”
In a final attempt not to fall apart, she wrenched herself from his arms and turned the wooden sled in the middle of the trail. “Come on, Austin. Let’s sled down.”
“Mom, he loves you.” Her son sat in the snow next to the sled but didn’t get on. “I thought you’d be happy. I thought you wanted him to love you.”
She blinked, trying not to cry as he studied her, assuming everything could be so simple. If Caleb loved her, she should be happy. “It’s not that—”
She broke off. He loved her. Caleb loved her. It was that simple. She’d never needed anything but his love. She faced her heart’s desire again. “You really love me?”
He smiled, his gaze warm and tender and brimming with more emotion than she’d ever seen. “Austin, I bet you we can sled farther than you.”
“Cannot.” As if the words were a cue, he jumped on the wooden sled and flew down the hill, steering competently until the sled came to rest nearly as far as he’d taken it the day he and Caleb had raced her for a kiss.
“What did you two bet on?” Olivia asked.
“If I win, I get to marry you.”
Sure, just like the kiss he’d refused to cash in. She wouldn’t get her hopes up. “Twenty-four hours ago, you were engaged to my sister.”
“Twenty-four hours ago, I still denied my emotions. Look
, if I’m rushing you, I’m willing to wait until you’re certain my love isn’t a fluke.”
“I don’t care if it’s a fluke. I want to be certain your fluke is going to last forever.”
He framed her face with his heavy winter gloves. “I’m out of theories, but I can promise you my love, friendship, emotions, respect, faithfulness, and place in your world.”
“I want my world to be yours too,” she admitted, acknowledging her heart’s fervent hope.
“You’ve got it. Are you still trying to become a foster parent?”
“Yes. Is this going to be a deal breaker?” So overcome with joy, she’d consider giving up her dream for him.
“Are you kidding?” He grinned. “Working with kids coming out of damaged relationships is what I’m all about.”
Her joy overflowed, and she threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, Caleb.”
“Thank God,” he whispered against her hair. “I’ve been terrified I’d never hear you say those words again.”
She pulled back enough to stare into his eyes. “Really? My love matters to you?” Despite his amazing confession, she still couldn’t believe it.
“Your love matters more than anything else in my life. Forever didn’t suddenly turn bad. Your love made me question the foundation I built everything on.”
“Then losing it is my fault.”
“I’m willing to express my appreciation.” The heat in his eyes left no doubt the way he would express it.
“Your turn!” Austin shouted up the hill.
She glanced down the slope to her son’s sled resting at the bottom. “What happens if he wins the sled race?”
“You’re not ready to hear it.” Caleb set the plastic disc at the start of the run.
She kissed the top of his head as he situated himself on the one-person plastic circle. “If you bail out before you hit the bottom, you won’t have to marry me and won’t have to back out of your deal with Austin.”
“Bail? Olivia, I want to marry you more than anything. I love you.” Tugging her wrist, he pulled her onto his lap. She curled against him as he sent the plastic disc flying down the hill. Spinning backward and then forward again, she clung to him, not caring where they were headed. He loved her. She loved him. They were together.
The sled coasted slower and jolted to a stop, bumping Austin’s sled and pushing him another couple of feet in front of them.
“Yeah.” Austin shoved his fist in the air. “I won.”
“What did you win?” Straightening, she struggled for the words to explain they were going to get married even though Caleb hadn’t won the bet.
“You have to marry Caleb, and Liam and I get a baby sister.”
“A baby?” Stunned, she turned to the man grinning like the proverbial cat that swallowed a canary.
Austin laughed, high-fived Caleb, and dashed back up the hill with his sled.
“A baby?” she repeated. “When we already have two boys and we’re taking in foster kids?”
“Sometimes, love and emotion need to trump logic and doubt.” He curved his hand around her cheek.
“That’s advice I will take to heart.” A heart so filled with love and happiness it ached.
“Love me forever,” he whispered.
“You’re my Mr. Forever.”
The Bad Boys of Regret Hollow Series
By Sara Daniel
The Bad Boy’s Gift
The bad boy of Regret Hollow had received an engraved invitation to return to town. Zane DeMonde smirked and flicked the card in the trash.
Although he appreciated the ego boost, no amount of groveling would convince him to return to the place that had scorned and vilified him, especially when the girl he’d loved had chosen it over him.
“Did you actually read the invitation?” Ken Hawkins demanded, striding toward the discarded paper.
“I don’t need to,” he assured his business manager. “Those people don’t warrant a reply. After sending me out with a boot to the ass, no matter how much they kiss my ass now, they won’t convince me to give them the time of day.”
“That’s an interesting ass fixation you have.” Ken grinned. “I’ll have to hint at it when you release your new painting and see if the critics can divine where it comes into play.”
Zane snorted, relieved for the distraction from the place he could never exorcise from his mind. “Speaking of which, have you planned a debut for the new pieces yet?”
“I’m waiting for the buzz about this auction of your early work to reach its peak. Then I’m going to book a top venue and capitalize on the momentum.”
“What auction? What early work?”
“If you bothered to read your mail, maybe you’d know.” Ken retrieved the invitation from the trash and slapped it on the desktop. “Four original pieces from a private collection that have never been on public display are going on sale. The woman in charge won’t give any details about them until the day of the sale.”
“Sounds like fraud to me. No one in town would want anything of mine, even if they could afford it.”
“If you really think it could be fraud, we better be damn sure before we start pointing fingers. The woman running the event is Julianne Truman. Ring any bells?”
Zane froze. Her name rang all his bells. “Julianne sent me the invitation?” He picked it up and ran his fingertip over the gold engraving. Maybe she hadn’t completely forgotten about him the way he’d assumed.
“I’ve talked to a couple of dealers who’d contacted her for more information. She hinted that these pieces were a personal gift from you to her. Are we still talking fraud, or did you give away originals of your art before you had a manager to save you from your own stupidity.”
“She wouldn’t sell the pieces I gave her.” Except, why the hell not? Even when she’d vowed her love for him, she didn’t believe in it enough to follow him away from their childhood homes. Fifteen years later, any emotional attachment to his gifts would long since have died. “Is she married?”
Ken blinked. “What does that have to do with the art she’s selling? More importantly, why do you care?”
He didn’t. Of course not. Life had moved on for both of them. He rubbed his finger over the RSVP line with her name. If she was married, she’d kept her maiden name. He tossed the invitation to Ken. “Call her and tell her I’ll buy the paintings from her at twenty percent above whatever she expects them to earn at the sale. In exchange, she cannot show them publically, and she needs to cancel the auction.”
The Bad Boy’s Gift © 2016 by Sara Daniel
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About the Author
Sara Daniel writes what she loves to read—irresistible romance, from sweet to steamy and everything in between. She grew up in a small town and was once a landlord of two uninvited squirrels. She has no regrets about turning her back on her accounting degree to write romance, but she deeply regrets her inability to keep track of her car keys. Subscribe to Sara’s newsletter: http://eepurl.com/rx_AL Visit her website: http://www.SaraDaniel.com
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