It was so cute the way he tripped over his explanation.
“Why me?” I asked.
When he spoke, there was no hesitation in his words. Some of the cocky guy I’d met that first night showed through in the form of confidence in what he was saying.
“Besides the fact that you’re gorgeous.”
“I doubt that’s it. I’ve seen and heard about the women who would gladly take a single night with you. Was it the challenge because I blew you off that first night?”
“There was some of that. But if that was all it was, when you—”
“Gave it up,” I supplied, grinning.
“When you let me have you, I was so far gone for you already; it was more than just sex that I wanted from you.”
My heart overflowed with what I felt for this man. I crawled down his body, and took him in my hand.
“I love you,” I said.
His eyes held mine. He wouldn’t force me or even so much as ask.
Because of him, I wouldn’t let those assholes have any more power over me. This was my choice.
Because of him, it wasn’t something dirty—I did it because pleasuring him made me happy.
I dipped my head and took the hard length of him in my mouth one inch at a time with no memories of the past. Our future together consumed my every thought. As I sucked him deep and his hands fisted the sheet, joy painted my life with new colors.
Because of him, my life wasn’t empty—it was full and complete with so many possibilities for the future.
Epilogue
The sky above was bright with stars as I held Reagan in my arms.
“We could do this somewhere else,” I offered.
She leaned into me, pressing her cheek to my chest.
“It wouldn’t change anything. She’s not coming.”
Reagan’s mom didn’t agree with us getting married so soon, she claimed. In my estimation, it didn’t matter where or the when, she just didn’t want her to do it at all.
“Besides,” she continued, “I began to fall in love with you the first time you took me sailing. I can’t imagine a better place for us to get married than on a boat.”
I’d fallen for her the first time I saw her at the bar.
“Whatever you want.”
Seeing her happy was the pinnacle of my existence.
“You don’t think me seeing you before is bad luck?” I joked.
She lifted up to brush her red lips over mine. She stroked a thumb over my mouth. “Oops. I got lipstick on you.” She paused before adding, “And no, superstition doesn’t scare me.”
“Come on Rae, you’ll have time for that later,” Megan called.
“I’ll see you in a few minutes,” she said, eerily reminding me of what she’d said before graduation.
I watched Megan drag her away before I walked down to the lower deck where a small army of people was gathered.
The minister and a violinist talked off to one side while the rest of us, including a photographer and a videographer, waited on the signal from one of the crewmembers.
Besides Reagan’s Dad, my parents, Gavin, and Megan, notably present was my father, who’d been released from prison, cleared of the murder charge.
So far, no one had come for him. He wasn’t a snitch, but he was using his contacts to help the private detective in the search for my mother and Reagan’s daughter.
When the signal came, we all took our spots. The violinist began what I was told was aptly named the Wedding March.
Gavin leaned in and whispered, “I can’t believe that is the name of the music.” I’d told him during rehearsals. “It should be called a death sentence. Do you know that in some states you can murder someone and have a shorter sentence than marriage?”
I glared at him, only to get him to stop because it was kind of funny.
“I’m just saying,” he said, then took a step back.
Megan entered first, followed by Reagan with her arm looped in her dad’s. I barely paid attention to Megan. I couldn’t even tell you what color she wore.
Reagan was draped in some shade of white, maybe ivory, with something that shimmered attached to the fabric. Her shoulders were bare, exposing the expanse of collarbone I loved to kiss. A necklace pointed directly to her cleavage. A burst of jealousy almost had me taking off my jacket to cover her. Though when she reached me, it was her red lips that stopped my heart. I had to find her eyes if I didn’t want to kiss her right then and there.
Her dad nodded to me and took his place behind us, leaving her to stand before me. I briefly glanced down at her hands to see she held a bouquet of yellow roses like the one I’d given her that day long ago. When her eyes held mine and didn’t waver, I broke tradition.
As much as my lips wanted to form the word Biscuit, that was a name only between us. So I took her hand and said, “Reagan, I want to do this right.”
When the minister arrived earlier, we had done a quick run through of the ceremony. Although according to my plan, everyone but Reagan knew what I was about to do.
I got to one knee. “I know you already answered me, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.” That got a little laugh from the few people who were witnessing this. “But I want to do this right.” I cleared my throat because I felt a little choked up. “You are the sun that brightens my day. You are the moon that lights up my night. You are the starlight that dazzles my world. You, Reagan, are everything to me. We may have only known each other for less than a year, but I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And I hope you will do me the honor of becoming my wife.”
Although I wasn’t a poet, her glassy eyes told me that I’d said the right things, and that she wasn’t going to deny me after all of this. Her free hand muted a sob as she said, “Yes.”
And from my pocket, as I willed my hand steady, I pulled out a twisted diamond band crowned with an asscher-cut diamond. I wanted something different, as the original ring had been lost graduation night when Kyle had taken her again. The last thing I wanted was something that would remind her of that.
It was a little larger than the first, but small enough that she wouldn’t feel embarrassed that it was too much.
I slipped it onto her slim finger before I stood and gave the minister a slight nod, indicating that he could move forward.
Megan handed Reagan a tissue from out of nowhere as the minister began the ceremony. I absorbed every word, knowing my life had taken a turn for the better. When it came time for our vows, I once again locked eyes with my future wife.
“Reagan, I pledge to you my trust and loyalty. You are it for me, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health. You have my vow that in all things, I will love you unconditionally. Know that you and whatever kids we have will come first in my life. It will be my goal to keep you and our children happy for the rest of my life.”
A lump caught in my throat when the minister asked, “Reagan Winters, do you take this man, Tade Astor, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do.” He nodded at her for her to proceed.
“Tade, I love you. Even though it was hard to give at first, you have my unwavering trust. And in all things, you have my unquestioned loyalty. I too will love you unconditionally, through better and worse, whether richer or poorer, in sickness or in health. It is my pledge to make you happy and keep our future kids happy too.”
“Tade Astor, do you take this woman, Reagan Winters, to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
I cleared my throat. “I do.”
He called for the rings. Gavin placed it in my palm. The infinity diamond band, with its individual diamonds strung together in a perfect circle, felt cool in my hand. To Biscuit I said, “This ring has no beginning and it has no end. It represents my wish that our time together as one will be endless. With it I thee wed.”
Megan handed Reagan a ring. She slipped it on my finger. It was silver in color and bore a pattern that resembled a basket weave.
“This ring is woven with a permanent bond. It too is endless, with no beginning and no end. It represents my unbreakable love for you. With it I thee wed.”
The minister grinned and announced, “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife.”
I didn’t wait for him to give me the go-ahead—I kissed my wife like I’d wanted to when she first stood before me. It was a long time before we came up for air.
Her belly bump had grown some, but she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, maybe more so.
So far, everything was fine with her pregnancy. Some days she had nightmares, but I was always there to hold her until they faded away.
“Congratulations,” Mom said to Reagan. “I’m so happy to have a daughter.”
My parents didn’t have kids because Dad couldn’t. And Mom was okay with just the two of them. Then I came along.
Reagan’s dad appeared. “And now I have a son.”
My biological father stood in the background and raised a glass to me.
After pictures and a few toasts, the violinist began to play a song she’d suggested called At Last.
As we danced, I whispered some of the words in her ear. My lonely days are over…because of you.
Caught up in Reagan, I danced. I held the most beautiful woman inside and out in my arms. I couldn’t imagine doing this life thing with anyone else.
Some hours later, we docked to drop off all our passengers.
My father stopped and took Reagan’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “He’s a lucky man. To the both of you, I wish all the things I never had.”
“Thank you for coming,” she said.
“Thank you for letting me be here to see—” He glanced up me, “—my son on this most joyous of days.” He looked over to my parents. “I’m not going to hold you up. I’m sure both of your parents want time.”
I opened my mouth, but closed it when he walked away.
Reagan’s eyes shimmered. “He’s not a bad guy.”
“He isn’t.”
Then our parents were there with more congratulations. When they started to walk away, I spotted Reagan’s mom standing not too far from the dock.
“Your mom.”
She glanced over and tears spilled from her eyes. She excused herself, her dad on her heels as she found and hugged her mother. When they waved me over, I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
When I reached them, her mom took my hands.
“I couldn’t be there for many reasons. But you are a good man, Tade Astor. I hadn’t seen my girl smile since…well for a long time until she met you.” She let go and pulled a package from her bag. “Time is precious and it reminds us who means most to us. You will be her anchor as she will be for you. I couldn’t have asked for a better son-in-law.”
She stunned us all by hugging me. I drifted back some as Reagan talked some more with her mom. I opened the box to find a vintage pocket watch with an anchor on the cover. I rubbed a finger over it as I glanced over at her mom again.
“It’s my grandfather’s. And I know you’ll take good care of it as you will my daughter.”
Gavin came over and I showed it to him and Megan, who’d appeared as well.
When everyone was gone but our friends, I folded my arms.
“You both are welcome to join us for a trip down the coast and back, but you have to promise not to be at each other’s throats the entire time.”
Gavin and Megan traded glares at each other before agreeing.
We made our way back on the ship and I let the crew know we were ready to disembark again.
“We probably won’t see you guys for the rest of the trip, but avail yourselves of everything—except our room.”
With her hand in mine, I took my wife to our room, to stay for the rest of the weekend.
***Five years later***
There were two gifts I promised myself I’d give my wife when we got married.
The first was the death of Frank Westmont. I’d tried to go see him in prison, but he’d refused my request. It was just as well, seeing that I didn’t need to be in jail for murder. But a fellow inmate agreed to see me, ostensibly for a law review paper I was working on. I’d told him I would look into his case and see if anything was missed that could help overturn the verdict. The guy was in for fifty years without parole.
When we talked and I brought up the subject of his cellmate, who just happened to be Frank, thanks to information gathered from my dad, I cleared up a few things.
Unfortunately, the crimes against minor children didn’t have as harsh a punishment as a capital crime. So Frank had been charged with, among other things, human trafficking. Because he pleaded guilty with no trial, the specifics of his case hadn’t trickled down to the general population. He’d claimed he’d bought a woman. I clarified to LeRoy Jensen that all Frank had bragged about had been done to a twelve-year-old girl, not a woman.
At my follow-up visit to the prison to see LeRoy, he’d proudly told me all about Frank’s unfortunate death, even after I’d told him there was nothing I could do for him. I had reviewed his case, keeping my word.
Let’s just say Frank didn’t go gently into the night. Criminals had a code and crimes against children weren’t taken lightly. Frank wasn’t afforded a quick death, though he’d been shanked in the end. Inmates believed a lot in an eye for an eye, and Frank found out just what it was like to be a pleasure slave.
When I told Biscuit that Frank was gone and could never hurt her again, her infrequent nightmares vanished.
Today, with the sun warming the air and allowing our sons, four-year-old Cody and two-year-old Caleb, to run and play outside, I sat with my wife, our daughter growing in her belly.
She loved to be outdoors for hours at a time. This was especially true during the summers we spent at the lake house.
With a canvas in front of her, she painted the landscape. She was really good and her art filled our homes.
“Daddy, catch,” Cody said, tossing me the ball.
I caught it before it landed in Reagan’s paint.
“Whoa, buddy. Why don’t we go for a boat ride?”
Cody nodded. “Give your mom a few minutes to finish, okay?” He bobbed his head, blond curls bouncing.
I loved taking my family in the canoe around the lake. Rowing was still in my blood. We planned to sail this weekend—my boat was too big for this lake, so we’d make the trip down to St. Marys River where she was docked.
Cody tossed the ball to his brother. Reagan turned and gave me a smile.
“We’ll find her,” she said.
The woman could read me. My thoughts had drifted to the woman who’d given me life. There was no trail after she left my father. He claimed to have no knowledge of her whereabouts.
“We’ll find them both.”
She leaned over and kissed me. Every kiss we shared was better than the last.
A car drove up and Reagan didn’t bat an eye.
“Is that Gavin?”
My best friend often showed up for Reagan’s cooking. Although he’d never admit that.
“I don’t think so. You stay here and I’ll go check it out.”
I leaned in and kissed my beautiful wife.
“If that is Gavin, you can tell him he can grill steaks if he wants to eat.”
I grinned at her. But I knew it wasn’t Gavin. My second gift had arrived.
Our dogs, Bo and Skipper, trailed after me as I trekked up the hill to greet our guests.
After doing so, I waved them to follow me.
“Reagan.” She hummed a response. “We have company.”
She turned around and lifted her hand to shield the sunlight from her eyes.
The girl stepped forward as I saw recognition dawn on her face.
“My name is Lily Rose. They tell me you're my mother.”
I didn’t need a DNA test to know the truth. The girl was the spitting image of Reagan.
My wife was on her feet and cupping he
r hands on the girl’s cheeks before the social worker that accompanied her could stop her.
“Lily Rose, such a pretty name for a pretty girl.”
Lily broke down at the same time Reagan did. I wasn’t a crier, but water filled my eyes as it did the social worker’s.
I knew some of what happened to Lily. However, it wasn’t my story to tell.
When Reagan spoke, there was no hesitation. We’d spoken about what would happen if we ever found her. She’d be my daughter too, I’d told her with absolute conviction. My parents had never once made me feel any less than their son. The way they raised me, I could do no less for any child, mine or not.
“Cody, Caleb,” Reagan called. “Come meet your sister.”
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thank you to all my readers for continuing to take a chance on me. If not for you, I couldn’t do this. Your continued support means the world to me. So Thank You!
To my publicist, Nina Grinstead at Social Butterfly PR. I’m thankful for having met you and lucky to have you in my life. Also thanks to Chanpreet, you rescued me in my darkest hour. And to all the people at Social Butterfly PR, Jenn, Shannon, and Sarah, thank you.
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