And what a difference she’d made during her tenure. Brian had been right in recommending her. The theater needed a fresh start, and a woman’s touch. Lindsey was the perfect choice.
And speaking of choices, Kyle, her boyfriend who performed with me on stage, had proposed to her just before we all left the city. This was somewhat of an engagement celebration for them.
I was so glad Kyle had decided to pop the question leading into this weekend. He knew we’d all be together, as we often are on the weekends. Family meant as much to him as it did to all of us.
I look down at Brianna and see her shoveling in another forkful of eggs. She’s as cute as a button, and doesn’t realize her mouth isn’t big enough to hold all the food her eyes and stomach are set on consuming this morning.
She looks up at me, not even realizing how much she’s eating, and how much she’s wearing.
“Look sweetie,” I say, in an excited, but hushed tone.
Brianna freezes, staring at the squirrel that’s no more than a yard from her feet. He smells the food and is giving her his best little sad face, hoping he might get a bite.
Brianna reaches into her pocket and pulls out half a granola bar. How in the world did that get in there? Was that in her pocket since I gave it to her yesterday afternoon?
I bury my head in my hands, and laugh at the cuteness of this moment. I feel a hand on my shoulder and recognize it immediately as Brian’s.
“That the granola bar from yesterday afternoon?”
“I think it’s got to be the same one,” I say.
“No wonder that squirrel likes her. They’re both experts at hiding, or is it storing, food.”
Brianna squats down and holds out her hand with the granola bar.
The squirrel’s little nose sniffs the air a couple times before approaching her, stopping just short of the granola bar.
“Maybe best to put it on the ground,” I say softly.
Brianna can’t hear a word I say. She’s connected with that little squirrel, and the sight of it has connected with my heart.
“She’ll be okay,” Brian says. “These squirrels are pretty tame. They’re used to people. He won’t hurt her.”
The squirrel crawls forward the last few inches before coming up on his hind legs.
He reaches out and takes the granola bar from her, and starts nibbling through it right in front of her eyes…her very, very big eyes.
Her eyes are as wide as fifty-cent pieces. This experience alone will make her entire weekend, and it’s already made mine.
“You okay over there?”
I look to the side and see Bryce is down in the prone position, his cap gun pointed directly at the squirrel.
“Don’t scare him, Bryce,” she whispers.
“I won’t hut him, as long as he doesn’t hurt my little sister.”
I feel a wave of emotions come over me, and as much as I try not to, a little tear forms in the corner of my eye.
Somehow life dealt me the perfect hand, and it all started with my ace in the hole…Brian.
He came into my life years ago, and flipped my world upside down, only for us to be separated the very next morning when I moved far away.
But he never stopped looking for me until he found me. And when he found me, I found true love.
My one and only love for a lifetime. The man who gave me so much, but most importantly he gave me my children…my two little perfect children to love, and look after, just as my son looked after my daughter.
I look up at him. “Thank you,” I say, but the words barely come out.
“I’m not sure what for, but you’re welcome.”
“For everything,” I say, wrapping him up in a big hug. “I love you.”
“And I love you. Always and forever.”
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Brian
“Ewww!” Brianna says, as I slide the worm onto her fishing hook. “I don’t want to touch it.”
“Well, you’re in luck, because you don’t have to. All you have to do is cast it out there, next to that sunken tree, and wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“For that fish to come and get his dinner.”
“His dinner?”
“Yep, this juicy worm right here.”
“Ewww!” Brianna says again. “He eats worms?”
“That’s what fish like.”
“Why don’t we give him hot dogs?”
“Catfish like hot dogs, dad!” Bryce says, casting his line expertly to just the right spot next to the submerged trees where there’s sure to be plenty of fish just waiting to take the bait.
“That’s true, but catfish are a specific type of fish. A special kind.”
“Cat…fish?” Brianna says.
Barbara
“They have whiskers, honey,” I say.
“But cats don’t live under the water.”
“It’s just a fish, but it has whiskers like a cat.”
“Do they eat mice?”
“They eat hot dogs,” Bryce says, reeling in his line a couple inches, before his bobber suddenly goes up and down.
“You’re getting a bite, Bryce,” Brian says.
“This is a big one. I know it.”
The bobber disappears underneath the water’s surface, and Bryce leans back far in an attempt to set the hook as he almost falls right out of the boat.
“You got him, Bryce!” Brian says, as Bryce straightens back up, but his rod tip bends all the way over in a complete U shape.
“Keep you rod tip up, buddy. Don’t let him get back into those trees, he’ll snap your line.”
Bryce’s tongue is out of the side of his mouth and he’s focused intently on landing this fish. He was right…judging by the angle of his rod it looks like a big one.
“Is it a catfish?” Brianna asks.
“We won’t know until we see it,” I say.
“It’s a striped bass, mom. There aren’t catfish here.”
“Are you sure, honey?”
“I can feel it. I read about them before we came. There are a lot of them here.”
Bryce battles for what seems like an eternity, but is really about three minutes. Suddenly the head of the fish breaches the surface right next to the little boat we rented.
“A striper!” Bryce yells.
“I got it, Bryce!” Brian yells, scooping it up in the net.
He pulls it into the boat, and there it sits flopping at Bryce’s feet. He’s looking over his prize, breathing hard from the struggle. I imagine something out of The Old Man and the Sea, but this is the opposite. There’s no bad luck here, and this is the young man.
My eyes move from Bryce to Brian, and I can’t tell who’s more excited.
“Put ‘er there, partner!” Brian says, and Bryce high fives him as best he can with a life jacket on. Brian extends his hand and I high five him too.
I love every second of being a mom, but it’s moments like these that really make life worth living. My two boys excited beyond belief, and my little daughter crawling up onto my lap.
“Can you show me how to prepare it?” Bryce says.
“You betcha!” Brian says.
“Well, I guess I have another night off from cooking dinner.”
“You’ve got the whole weekend off,” Brian says. “This cowboy and I are taking care of everything, so you two little ladies can just kick your feet up and relax.”
“I’m more than happy to work on my tan,” I say, but I’m not sure my words register with them right now.
My boys are still hovering over that giant fish, reveling in what they just did. Not only did they do something sporty and active, which they love, they did something which I love…they enjoyed their day together and in doing so they even provided for their family.
I know one day Bryce will grow up to be just like his dad, and he’ll find a wife of his own. And when he does we’ll bring them and their kids here, and relive moments just like these all over again.
&n
bsp; I can hardly wait.
SERIES
Book 1: Baby Lust
Book 2: Veteran
Book 3: Built
Book 4: Bambino
Book 5: Rescued
Book 6: Leader
Book 7: Professor
Book 8: Burned
Book 9: Worldly
Book 10: Pistol
Book 11: Policed
Book 12: Driven
Book 13: Lucky 13
Book 14: Lumberjacked
Book 15: Protector
Book 16: Carpenter
Book 17: Italian Stallion
Book 18: Gardener
Book 19: Budapest Billionaire’s Virgin
Book 20: Billionaire’s Babysitter
Book 21: Cocky CFO
Book 22: Fireman’s Filthy 4th
Book 23: Mechanic
Book 24: SEAL’s Secret
Book 25: Police, Pooch, and Smooch
Book 26: Fireman’s Fake Fiancée
Book 27: Billionaire’s Virgin Ballerina
Book 28: Bitcoin Billionaire’s Babysitter
NEXT BOOK
Joshua: My business partner and his wife experience tragedy on vacation and suddenly I’m no longer their daughter's godfather....I'm her father, a single dad to seven-year-old Brianna. She’s an incredible little girl, but as an eternally single bachelor I'm in way over my head. Still coping, no one can seem to reach her anymore until an unexpected visit from the neighbor girl brings a smile to her face for the first time in months. I know immediately I’ve found my babysitter, and my gut tells me I’ve found a whole lot more.
I've gone from rags to riches, making billions investing in Bitcoin, but the most important change in my life isn't the financial kind...it's the two new amazing girls in my life.
Diana: My dad’s best friend is suddenly the single dad next door. Thanks to my poor genes I never thought I'd be able to have a child, but when I babysit Brianna for the first time my motherly instincts kick in and I realize there are different ways to become a mom. I haven't had a date in over a year and my doctor says I'll never have children, but suddenly I've got Mr. Right and his beautiful little daughter right on my doorstep. Do I have the courage to open up and let them in...and tell him what I know he won't want to hear?
*Bitcoin Billionaire's Babysitter is an insta-everything standalone romance with an HEA, no cheating, no cliffhanger, and no math. :)
Buy Bitcoin Billionaire’s Babysitter now at Amazon.
Billionaire's Virgin Ballerina: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 27) Page 8
