Snatched (Coronado Series Book 2)

by Hart, Lea

  “All right Mama, I think that’s a good idea. Thank you for understanding.”

  Max put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her, “Thank you, I know Rory was worried about how you would feel.”

  “The first priority is your health and the health of the baby you’re carrying. Let’s not make stress where we don’t have to.”

  “Mama, I think I really hurt Jackson. I bashed him over the head with my risotto pan.”

  Her Mother looked at her for a second with a concerned face and then broke out in a laugh. She quickly covered her mouth and tried to stop, “I know it’s wrong to laugh, but that boy has had problems for years. In a way he had it coming for all of the pain he caused. He has caused his Father so much grief and sadness, and it makes me miserable because his Father gave him every opportunity and chance.”

  “Maybe he will get the help he needs and take this opportunity to change his life around.”

  “I hope he does, because he’s been cut off by his Father. Bob set up provisions with his lawyer that Jackson has to meet. If he is unable to do that, then he will not be eligible for any of the money in his trust. It was a very smart move, because it leaves me out of it. It’s between Jackson, the lawyer and the director of his trust. Bob set this up almost a year ago along with the sale of his company. When we first got the diagnosis, he confessed that he’d been aware of it for almost two years.”

  “How are you doing, Mamma - do you feel like you are under a lot of pressure?”

  “No, I’m relieved. We have a diagnosis and a plan, and now we just enjoy all of the good days we have together. Bob took care of everything before he felt like he was unable to.”

  They were interrupted by a knock on the door, a tech rolled in a big cart with the ultra sound machine. “Would you like to take a look at baby Bishop?”

  “I would love to see the baby.”

  “My first picture of my grandchild, I’m so lucky to be here.”

  Max went around to the other side of the bed, “I hope she looks like her you.” He kissed her lips quickly and rested his head against her forehead. “Love you.”

  “Love you more.”

  The images started to come up on the monitor as the tech moved the paddle around on Rory’s stomach, “When is your due date?”

  “I think they estimate June 15th. How does the baby look in there?”

  The woman was quiet as she looked at the monitor and Rory started to feel a little nervous. “You are around ten weeks pregnant – that’s a little early to determine if you are having twins. Let’s take a look and see what’s happening.”

  Max held his breath and wondered if his gut was going to be right about this. The tech continued to move around the monitor, and clicked lots of buttons as she created images and noted measurements. She finally looked up at them and smiled, “Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, it looks like it’s going to be twins.”

  Max felt his legs falter for a second as he looked down at the woman who had made every single one of his dreams come true. She looked at him as a tear rolled down her cheek, “Show off.”

  A huge smile creased his face, “I can’t help if my swimmers used their super SEAL strength to make it to home base.”

  Carolina took both of their hands, “Congratulazioni! I nostril migliori auguri e tanta felicita.” She kissed them both and then looked at the monitor, “I would like to have copies of the pictures as well. These are my first grandchildren. I have waited a long time for these two.”

  “Mama, I’m only twenty eight, you have not been waiting long.”

  She shrugged her shoulders, “It seemed like a long time.”

  Rory shook her head, “Well at least we are giving you two… since you had to wait so long.”

  Max watched Carolina straighten her shoulders and look at her daughter and nod her head. Now he knew where Rory got the royal nod from.

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  “I can’t believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I feel like it was just yesterday when I walked into your office.”

  They had parked down the street from Birdie and Mark’s house, when Max stopped in front of a house that was having some work done. “I think that was the house that Birdie and I looked at last month. It looks like someone bought it.”

  Max started pulling her through the gate, “Do you want to look inside?”

  “No, someone bought it. I don’t want to snoop.”

  “Come on, let’s go see if the door is open.”

  “Max, stop. We can’t.”

  “Yes we can.” He walked backwards holding both of her hands in his, “I think we can.”

  She looked at his mischievous smile and started to get an inkling of what was going on. “Mr. Bishop, is there anything that you would like to tell me?”

  “Let me think about it Mrs. Bishop … there might be something.”

  “Max, please ….I’m dying to know.”

  They stood at the front door, and he pulled out a key ring with a red ribbon on it and handed it to her. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.” He watched as his wife stood in front of him speechless, he knew how rare it was for her not to be able to come up with something to say.

  She threw herself at him and hugged him with everything she had, “You bought me my dream home. How did you know?”

  “Remember when I brought those files for Mark and Travis? You and Birdie had just come back from looking at it, and Birdie was excited because you liked it. She wanted you to move in. I contacted the realtor and started working on purchasing it. I wanted it to be the house that we raise our family in. It closed while you were on your trip.”

  “We were not even speaking at the time and you bought a house that you knew I loved.”

  “I hoped that you would give me another chance, and I wanted that chance to happen here. I told you that I wanted everything, and the only way to have that is to give everything.”

  She lifted the key and watched the sun glint off the surface as she turned it in the lock. She finally realized that Max had brought every magical thing into her life. They walked in the front door and stood there in a puddle of light and looked around their new home. “I think your right... five bedrooms is not too big at all.”

  He wrapped his arm around her as they walked around. “Adam is checking out the electrical and plumbing and refinishing some surfaces and painting the walls white. All you have to do is tell him what you want.”

  “How did you know what to do?”

  “I spoke with Birdie, and she told me what you would like. I’m smart enough to ask if I don’t know the answer.”

  “I think you are very smart and I’m lucky I married you.”

  “We are lucky.”

  “Let’s go upstairs and look around.” They made their way up the wide stair case, and Rory stopped for a moment. “Just think, someday we are going to watch our daughter walk down these stairs when she is getting ready to go on her first date and we’re going to hear the loud footsteps of our son when he is on his way outside to play. Everything important in our lives is going to happen in this house.”

  “I don’t think our daughter is going to date until she graduates college.”

  She patted his arm as they started walking again, “Whatever you need to tell yourself to get through the next twenty years.”

  He followed, “I’m serious about the dating thing.”

  “I know honey….I know.”

  They walked into the master bedroom and looked around, “Would you care to guess about all of the memories that we are going to make in here?” He sat down on the floor and held his hand for her to join him. They sat with their backs against the wall facing the big set of windows that looked out over the backyard. “Just think … we are going to make more babies in here.”

  “Can I deliver the two we have, before we talk about anymore?”

  “Sure sweetheart, we are going to practice a lot in here. Does that sound better?”

  “Yes, practicing is good.”

&
nbsp; “Do you want to change anything on your top five list yet?”

  “No, I think I’m happy with it. What about you?”

  “No, I’m going to keep mine as well.”

  She turned to him with a serious expression on her face, “I want to thank you for making me realize that loving someone could be easy…. loving you is easy.”

  “I hope I never do anything to change your mind about that. Remember, you have to tell me if anything starts to change.”

  “I will…. I promise. You make me feel beloved Mr. Bishop and I didn’t even know that was possible.”

  “You are beloved Mrs. Bishop… you are my beloved and I plan on spending the rest of my life making sure you know that.”

  THE END

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  Birdie’s Matchmaking

  This is the story of Ed and Amelia’s first date….

  He opened the gate and walked up to the front door and wondered again how he’d let Birdie talk him into this. He couldn’t quite remember why he had agreed to ask her friend out, but felt it might have had something to do with her relentless personality. He wondered if Mark had any idea what he was getting into, maybe they deserved each other. He remembered a couple of times that Mark had displayed a similar personality. They could drive each other crazy and leave other innocent people alone.

  He knocked on the front door and waited, he heard a loud sharp bark and footsteps. As the door opened he got his first glimpse of Amelia and took back everything he thought about Birdie in the last week. In fact he was going to try and to come up with a gift to thank her for giving him this opportunity.

  Amelia looked up from her dog Lilly and smiled at the man in front of her. Thank you Birdie, you are my new favorite person. She let her eyes run up his long legs to his slim waist and broad chest. She continued to smile as she admired his face and fell into his beautiful brown eyes. “Hi, you must be Ed?”

  “Hi Amelia, nice to meet you.” He put his hand out and heard her dog growl in his direction. She looked down and gave her a command, “Friend – Lilly.” He watched the dog relax and start wagging her tail. “She won’t give you a hard time now – she’s a little overprotective.”

  He took her hand and felt her soft skin against his as he looked into her eyes. Yes, Birdie was definitely getting a present.

  “I’m sorry to leave you on the porch, please come in.” She slipped her hand out of his and stepped back to let him in.

  He got down on one knee and put his hand out flat to let the dog smell, she gave him an approving look and licked his hand. He petted her head and rubbed her chest a little. He looked up, “I thought I’d better make friends with your dog if - I ever want a chance with you.”

  “Lilly is a big sweetheart …. until she’s not. She seems to like you, which is probably a good sign.” The dog gave him one last look and then turned around and walked over to her bed and laid down. She rested her head on her paws and tracked his every movement. “Please come in and have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?”

  He walked into her front room and noticed how comfortable it looked. She obviously had spent time on making a home for herself. “I’m fine, thank you.”

  She walked to one of the couches and sat down in the corner and tucked one leg underneath her as she watched him move around the couch, he took a seat on the opposite end. I have a feeling that whatever question he asks…. the answer is going to be yes.

  He looked around the room for a moment taking in the details, “I like your photographs – who took them?”

  “I did. I’m guessing that Birdie didn’t tell you anything about me.”

  “Your right, she gave me your number and very clear instructions to call you.”

  “What does she have on you? She must have something good….. for you to agree to a blind date?”

  He laughed, “Nothing. When she gets an idea in her mind, she doesn’t let it go. She’s pretty relentless.”

  “Oh… so she wore you down, until you agreed.”

  “That sounds bad.”

  “But… true.”

  “A little, I’m going to have to thank her though. I might even get her a present.”

  “We haven’t even gone on our date yet…. it could be a disaster.”

  He looked at her as a sexy smile played on his lips, he reached for her hand, “I don’t think a disaster is what’s going to happen.” He watched as Lilly lifted her head when he took Amelia’s hand. He noticed the dog was highly trained and wondered why she needed a dog like that. “What do you like to photograph most?”

  Amelia felt the dry heat from Ed’s enormous hand and couldn’t remember the last time she felt so strongly attracted to someone. She gazed at his face and realized that she liked beards, at least she liked his. She continued to study his face and noticed his mouth and wondered if he would kiss her goodnight. He had a great mouth, she realized that he’d asked her a question. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that.”

  He smiled when he noticed that she was staring at his mouth when she zoned out. “What do you like to photograph most?”

  “I’m a food photographer. I take pictures for magazines, cookbooks, websites and some advertising campaigns. Apparently, I have a gift for making fruit and vegetables look appetizing.” She watched him laugh and noticed that his eyes crinkled up when he did. “But to answer your question, my favorite subject to photograph are people – I like to catch the moment that no one else is aware of.” She swept her hand up towards the wall, “I took those at my friend’s party last year and I think it’s some of my best work.”

  He looked over and noticed the black and white photographs, he pulled her hand as he got up. “Tell me what you noticed, when you took them.” She stood up and followed him over, as she walked behind him she noticed that his jeans fit him really well. She stood next to him in front of the pictures, “This was a going away party for a friend that moved to Virginia. She graduated from medical school and was going to start her internship.” They stood close to one another, and she noticed that he smelled yummy. It was a combination of laundry soap, something woodsy and maybe soap. Whatever it was seemed to be a perfect combination.

  Ed pointed to a picture of a couple who stood facing each other with cheerless looks on their faces, “What happened to these two?”

  “They stayed in their relationship too long. They broke up a month after this picture was taken. They had been dating for so long that they had become habit to one another. They forgot to pay attention and make sure it still made sense for them to be together.”

  “Why did you want to catch that moment?”

  “I thought it was one of the most honest moments of their relationship. I think they denied what was going on for a long time, neither one of them wanted to make the effort to break up. I took it, because I never want to let that happen.”

  He looked down at her, and smelled oranges and baby lotion. He noticed that her light brown hair had about a thousand colors mixed together, it looked soft and he wanted to run his hand through her long curls. He looked into her whisky brown eyes and felt himself tumble into them. He noticed a smile played at the corners of her mouth as they stood side by side barely a breath between them. Time slowed down as he became aware of every small detail about the moment. He felt the breeze coming in though the patio doors and saw the shaft of sun that created a pattern against the wall. He lifted his eyes and pointed to another one, “Tell me about these two.” It was a picture of a man with his arm around a woman. The woman’s face was buried in the man’s chest as his head rested on the top of hers. The man’s eyes were closed and his forehead was wrinkled in intense emotion. He looked completely lost in the moment and in love with the
woman in his arms.

  “These two have one of the best relationships that I have ever seen. Brad is completely in love with Denise and she feels the same way about him. I think this picture captures the intensity of their feelings for one another. They have been together for five years and they just keep getting better. I took this picture so I could remember never to settle. I want someone to have feelings like that for me.

  He nodded as he studied the picture, she had captured a moment of raw uncomplicated emotion. He looked at several more pictures and then took her hand, “You are very talented.”

  She looked down at their hands, “Thank you. Tell me what you do for work?”

  “I work for a security firm downtown. I’ve been there for two years.”

  “Do you like it?”

  “I like the people I work with, I’ve know most of them for a long time. I enjoy the work we do…. most days.”

  “What did you do before that?”

  “I was on the Teams for ten years until my shoulder gave out.”

  “What Teams?”

  “Birdie didn’t really tell you anything – did she?”

  “No, she just told me that you are a nice man and someone I should get to know.”

  “I’m a retired SEAL. I was on Team One, based in Coronado.”

  “Oh… your friends with Mark?”

  “Yes. We have worked together over the years and have been on a couple of ops together. I work with Max Bishop.”

  “The man who is helping Rory?”

  “Yes, I work with Max at the Security Alliance.”

  “Did she talk you into this - the night she and Rory got drunk at her house?”