by Lacy Camey
“Of course, I’d love to! That honestly sounds like so much fun. But there’s just a problem.”
“What?” he asked in complete concern.
“I thought you hated me, remember?” I teased.
“I don’t hate you.” He leaned over and kissed the healing scar on my forehead. “Isn’t it obvious of that by now?”
“So are you saying you don’t mind my company?”
He reached for my hand, “I haven’t stopped thinking about you. I heard more than you realize while I was asleep in that coma. At first I thought it a strange dream, but after talking it over with Norah, I found out the truth; how you were handled with the whole situation. How you wanted to stay. That means more to me than you realized.”
“It means a lot for you to say that. I was afraid you would have thought I’d gone and left like Britney left you.”
He shook his head, “No, you’re different than her.” We shared a gaze and I wondered if he felt the flips and flops in his stomach like I did in mine. He must have because he quickly cleared his throat and said, “I have something for you.”
He reached into his back pocket and unfolded a manila paper, revealing a child’s art work.
It spelled, “Thank You Chloe Banks.”
“Trek and Madison made this for you. Thought you should have it.”
As I grabbed the paper and looked at the display, I wasn’t sure why, but I felt so touched. I felt accepted already into his warm, gregarious family and it felt so wonderful and normal.
“Do we really have to wait until a holiday?” I tilted my head.
“Montana always needs good honest nurses.” He winked at me.
“Are you suggesting I—”
“Let me show you Montana, show you my world. Meet my family.”
I never in my life felt more like a princess, being swept away into a new life with my prince, than in this moment.
“I like you, Chloe. For who you are and not because of your last name.”
I really needed to hear him say that.
“I feel like I’ve known you for years. I know I’m taking a chance being here, asking you to join me. You may not even feel the same way, but you taught me how to move forward. You helped me move forward. Wanna move forward with me? And that’s not a line out of a movie, it’s straight from a Montana boy’s heart.” He smiled at me with the cutest, alluring smile.
“Of course, I do silly. I feel the same way.” I said, feeling completely giddy out of my mind.
As I rested my hand on his hand, I felt a sense of excitement, of peace, of bliss. Hope. I knew this would be a new chapter in my life, something I’d never done before. But like my dad so prophetically spoke last week with the box of chocolates and life is a series of choices and chances, I finally was willing to take a chance and live my life free, being me, Chloe Banks, with no regrets. I wasn’t sure where this road would lead me, but at the moment, at this café, I hoped this would be the first yet last bite of chocolate in my love box I’d ever take.
Acknowledgements
Thank you Kim Van Meter for creating another fun cover for this series! Thank you to my editor, Samantha Robey, whose excellence, thoroughness and fresh perspective polished this story and made it sparkle. I look forward to working with you again on future projects! Of course, I always want to thank my extremely supportive, handsome husband for the many dinners where the main topic consisted of Chloe and her friends. I am always appreciative of your ideas, feedback, and thoughts. As always, you’re the “heditor” of the year (husband + editor). May this bring us one step closer to building that orphanage! My eternal gratitude to God for this wonderful gift He’s given me to create. It truly is my calling in life and I’m so thankful and blessed each day to live it out.
About the Author:
Lacy Camey lives in Houston, Texas with her musician/producer/songwriter husband, Joel, and has a cat who acts like a dog, named Blue. When she isn't writing, or collaborating with her husband, she enjoys being outside, running, working out, reading, cooking, is a huge movie buff and loves watching reality shows on Bravo, especially The Real Housewives franchise. She loves having fun, enjoying the life God has given her and loves to encourage others to follow their bliss. Every book written by Lacy Camey purchased by others, a portion goes to supporting an orphanage. Lacy has plans to one day build an orphanage. You can stay updated on the process at her blog at www.lacycameywrites.com. She also writes YA fantasy fiction under a penname.
Lacy would love to stay in contact with her readers. Feel free to visit her blog and website at http://www.lacycameywrites.com/ or follow her on twitter @lacycamey or e-mail: lacycameywrites (at) gmail (dot) com
Other books by Lacy Camey:
The Last Page
Coming Soon in Fall 2012:
The Last Pretense
