by L. P. Maxa
***
Waking up next to Mason was almost as hard as falling asleep next to him. He looked like a fallen angel while he slept. His jaw was still strong and chiseled, but his face was relaxed. Katie was still asleep too. The Tylenol was helping. I should have gotten up. There was no reason for me to stay there, stay close to him. There was no reason for me to continue to watch him sleep.
“Stop being a creeper.” Mason smiled without opening his eyes.
I snorted out a quiet laugh, careful not to wake the baby. “Says the guy who went all the way to the grocery store to stalk me.”
He opened one eye. “You caught me.”
“Who told you the grocery store was by the yoga studio?” I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.
“Paxton.”
I rested my cheek on my hand, turning my body toward his completely. “My brothers think that I need to give you another chance. That I owe it to us, and to Katie, to let you try again.”
His face turned serious, all humor gone. “And what do you think?”
I let out a soft sigh. “I think that only time will tell.”
I wanted to forgive him. I wanted to put it all behind us. But I just didn’t know if I really could. He’d hurt me. He’d left me. Pax was right, what was eleven weeks in the grand scheme of forever? But I was scared all over again. I’d pushed past my fears and my reservations once, I didn’t know if I could do it again. I felt like I was standing on the top of this awesome cliff, looking down into this beautiful blue water. Everyone was telling me that it was okay to jump. Mason was at the bottom promising to catch me.
But I just couldn’t quite make the leap.
Chapter Forty-four
Mason
Almost four months old
Waking up next to Payton again was a fucking dream come true. Realizing she was watching me sleep? The cherry on top. She’d left a little while ago to take Katie up to the hospital. I’d offered again to go with her, but she said the same thing she had last night. It’d be faster if she went by herself.
I figured I’d use the time to finish cleaning out my parents’ room. I thought maybe tomorrow I’d talk Payton into helping me pick out some new furniture for in here. Maybe for the rest of the house too. I wanted this place to feel like it was hers. Like it was ours.
“Sleep good?”
I looked up from the watches I was sorting through to find Parker leaning against the wall, studying me. “We slept okay, once Katie got settled down.”
“I don’t like you.” He took a step into the large walk-in closet. “But Payton loves you.”
He and Paxton were both so sure that she still loved me. That she would forgive me. I wished I had their confidence. I wanted her forgiveness more than I wanted anything else in this world. I wanted to start over, I wanted to spend the rest of my life making her happy and calling her mine.
“I love her too. Very much.”
“How did you get her before? How did you get her to stay?”
I chuckled, remembering our first night together. “I asked her for three minutes. I told if she still wanted to leave after my three minutes were up that I wouldn’t bother her again.”
“And that worked?” He sounded skeptical.
I nodded. “Yep.”
His eyes narrowed but he didn’t punch me like Paxton would have, which was shocking as shit. “What about the second time?”
“Uh, I don’t know. I guess we were friends at that point. We’d been living here at the ranch together with Katie. She’d told me that we shouldn’t complicate things with sex, and then one night…we did.”
“Was it just sex between you two?” His eyes were narrowed, like he was daring me to say it was.
“No. It was everything, she was everything to me.” I took a deep breath, correcting myself. “She is. She is everything to me.”
He nodded once. “Retrace your steps, and you’ll get her back.”
I cocked my head to the side, confused by his vague instructions. “Huh?” He just stared at me for another few seconds and then walked out. I was somewhat annoyed, but also grateful that he hadn’t tried to punch me or anything.
I reached up high, stretching almost beyond my limits, to grab a shoebox, putting Parker’s weird instructions out of my head. When I was too lazy to go grab the step stool the box fell to the ground and papers started to scatter in the air.
Most of what was strewn across the closet floor looked like receipts and tax stuff. I figured my old man kept those in a shoebox. Bet his accountant loved that. I was about to shove them all back in when I came across an envelope with my name on it. Seeing my name in his handwriting cause the air to leave my lungs. My hands began to shake so bad it took three tries to get the letter out of the envelope.
Mason,
If you’re reading this…well, I’m dead. I told Kate that I didn’t want to write a letter like this, because it was morbid as fuck. But she said that it was the fatherly thing to do. She made me write one for the baby too. I’m really hoping that you’re old and gray and you’re reading this while toasting my decrepit ass with a shot of whiskey. If you aren’t, well, I’m sorry, punk. I hate the thought of not seeing you grow up, not seeing you become a man. Become a father. I know I wasn’t always around, wasn’t always the dad that you needed me to be. I regret that. And I really fucking hope that I at least got time to make that right. To be there for you. I know I don’t say it enough, but I’m so damn proud of you. I’m lucky to be your father, Mason. I’m lucky to have known you, to love you. If I died too soon, please take care of your sister. She’ll need you in her life. She’ll need a good man to look up to, to protect her. Take her to see the places we saw, teach her to surf, tell her stories about me. Only the ones suitable for children though. Love her, like I love you. I hope you’re happy. I hope that you found a good girl, someone who doesn’t take your shit. Someone who you can laugh with, dance with. Someone who knows the words to all the best songs. Cough, “Rock On,” cough. Love her too. Love her like I love Kate. With all your heart and soul. You deserve to be happy, punk, please never forget that.
Love you,
Dad
Tears were cascading down my face and falling to the floor, barely missing the edge of the letter that was still clasped in my hands. My dad wrote me a letter. Besides Katie and Payton, this piece of paper was the most important thing in my life. He’d loved me, he was proud of me. He said I deserved to be happy. Everything in that letter was exactly what I needed to hear, and somehow he’d known it would be. I was crying because I was happy, because I missed my old man, and because Katie would never get to meet him.
I could love Katie like he loved me. I knew I could, I had from the moment I first saw her. And the girl he’d described in that letter? It was Payton.
There was no doubt in my mind that she was the girl for me.
Chapter Forty-five
Mason
Almost four months old
“Hey, we’re home.”
I was still working in the master bedroom when I heard Payton get back from the hospital. I stopped what I was doing and met her in the living room. “Hey, what did the doctor say?”
Payton was wearing a frown, looking around the large space. “Uh, it’s an ear infection. We have some antibiotics that she needs to take twice a day. Mace? Where is the furniture?”
“I got rid of it.”
Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “Why?”
I stepped forward and took the car seat from her hands. I sat a sleeping Katie down on the tile floor. After I’d read my father’s letter, I’d gotten my ass in gear. “Because this is our home, Payton.” When she opened her mouth to talk, I held my hand up. I tossed her my cell phone with a smirk on my face. “Just give me three minutes, okay?”
Her smile was small, but it was still there. “Okay.” She brought my phone closer to her face and set the timer, turning it around and showing it to me.
“You and Katie? You’re my fa
mily. The three of us are a family. Payton, we’re Katie’s parents. We’re the only ones she’s ever going to know. I think a part of me felt like admitting that meant I would need to let my dad and M Kat go. And I am so fucking sorry that it took me so long to realize that that wasn’t the case. Because the only way they can truly live on is through us. We’ll tell Katie about them. We’ll make sure she knows how much they loved her. I can tell her stories about my dad and you can tell her about all the lives her mom saved.”
I wiped at the tears in my eyes, smiling when Payton let hers roll unchecked down her face. “Time is so short, and life is fleeting. I know that I have a lot to make up for. I know that we have things to work through. But I don’t want to waste another minute. I don’t want to be without you.” I took a step toward her. “You’re the last thing on my mind when I fall asleep, and the first thing I want to see when I open my eyes.” I took her hand in mine, my smile growing when she didn’t pull away. “I love you, Payton. I’ll love you as long as I live. And I promise that if you stay with me, you won’t ever regret it.” I kept my gaze on hers, silently begging her to say yes, to give me one more chance.
“Okay.”
My heart stuttered in my chest. “Really?”
She nodded. “I love you too, friend.”
“You ever going to stop calling me friend?” I put my hands on her hips, pulling her toward me.
She laughed. “You ready to define this relationship, Mace?”
“Hell fucking yeah.” I wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her off her feet, kissing her with everything I had. I dipped her, letting both my arms snake around her. When I finally pulled back, her lips were swollen from mine. “I swear I’ll spend the rest of my life loving you the way you deserved to be loved, Payton.”
“I know you will.” She smiled and reached up, kissing me one more time playfully.
“And if you don’t, we’ll take turns beating your ass.”
I turned at the sound of Parker’s voice to see him and Paxton standing in the empty living room. Paxton was holding Katie and she was smiling at us. He looked down at her. “Did you hear that, Bug? We’re all going to be one big happy family. Good thing this is a big house, huh. sweet girl?”
Chapter Forty-six
Payton
Seven months old
I was laid out on the dining room table, naked. “It’s weird not having Parker and Pax around all the time.”
Mason looked down at me, his arms shaking from the sex we’d just had. “Is it?”
I laughed. “I said it was weird, not that I missed them or anything.” I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled him down on top of me. “I like this new table we picked out.”
He knocked on the solid wood with his knuckles. “Yeah, me too. Way stronger than the last one we tried.” He winked.
The last one we’d bought was currently sitting, repaired, over at Parker’s and Paxton’s new house. Their new house on the other side of the ranch. Mason wanted them to move out, but he never really specified how far they had to move. It was a huge piece of property, miles wide. And I’d reminded Mace that there were going to be times, especially when Katie was older, that we’d want some alone time. Who better to watch her than her uncles? After that it had taken three months to have a house built, record time according to our contractors. This was our first official day without my brothers in this house.
“What else do you want to do today? We have another six hours before Pax is bringing Bug back.”
I pushed at his chest. “I actually need to get dressed and head to the hospital.”
“What? Why? You aren’t working today are you?”
“No.” I got off the table and made my way down the hall, smiling at all the new pictures we had lining the walls. There were still photographs of Mason’s dad and Kate around, we’d just kind of filled in some of the space with images of Mason, Katie, and me. We were all her parents, just in different ways. Johnny and Kate had given her life, and Mace and I were going to help her live it.
Mason followed me into our newly furnished and remodeled master suite. He’d added glass doors leading to the pool and given our shower a new bench. We’d picked out new furniture together and painted the walls. It felt like our room. This was our home. “Okay, then why are you going up there? Are you sick? Is Katie sick?” His eyes traveled up and down my body while he licked his lips. “You don’t look sick.” I put my hands on my hips and his face paled. “Oh my God. Are you pregnant?”
I frowned and looked down. “Uh, no. Why? Do my hips look wide or something?”
He laughed and crossed the room, getting down on his knees and kissing said hips. “No, they look perfect.” He nipped at my flesh with his teeth. “Edible.”
I pushed at his forehead. “I did something and I didn’t tell you, and I don’t want you to be mad at me.”
I redirected his chin on my stomach so his eyes would meet mine. “Did you cheat on me?” I shook my head the same time I thumped him in the forehead. “Did you buy a jet?” I shook my head again. “Did you tell your other brother he could move in with us?”
I snorted. “No.”
“Then I really don’t see why I would possibly be mad at you. Just tell me.”
I took a deep breath. “I took a chunk of the money we made from the auction on your dad’s things and donated it to the hospital. They’re building a pediatric wing and they needed some help.” I smoothed his blond hair back on his head. “They break ground today.”
He kissed my bare stomach. “Why in the hell would I be pissed at that? That hospital saved our baby.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean it was your money, and I know you want Katie to live a super normal life, and having your name on the side of a building doesn’t exactly scream inconspicuous.”
“Our name is on a building? How much money did you give them, baby?”
“Enough.”
We’d auction off a bunch of dad’s belongings and then we’d begun to donate the money. We did a lot of research and tried to send the money where it was most needed, where it would make the most difference. After about a week of that though, Mason asked if I would mind taking over. RiffRaff had called and they were discussing the terms of him writing a new album. So I’d become the money fairy. And I got to sprinkle it about as I saw fit. Talk about a dream job.
“I told them we didn’t want the recognition, but they weren’t really hearing it. So after tons of back and forth I finally agreed to let them name it the James Memorial, since I knew that’s Katie’s middle name because of that song that your dad loved.” I shimmied a little and started to sing, “Hey kid rock and roll, rock on…”
“Marry me.”
My eyes went wide and my mouth fell open. “What?”
“You’re standing naked in my arms, singing my dad’s favorite song. You are the girl of my dreams. You are everything to me. Please, Payton, marry me.”
I started to cry as I rested my hands on his shoulders. “Okay.”
Epilogue
Five years later
“Hey, where are your girls?”
I smiled at Dash when he walked into the sound booth I was currently using. “Payton is due in two weeks. I didn’t want her on the road.” I grabbed my phone and showed him the picture she’d just texted me. “And Katie is camping out with her Uncle Paxton.”
They were just putting a tent in the backyard, but she was having a blast. Pax still lived on the ranch, but Park had moved away last year. He met a girl he wanted to stay faithful to, at our wedding of all places. They’d been together for four years now.
“How’s Lexi feeling? Isn’t she about ready to pop too?”
“Yeah, next month.” He winced. “I’ll have three daughters man.” He sighed. “Karma is a bitch.”
I pointed to the other side of the glass. “Is that Halen and Beau? Man, I can’t believe how big they are getting.” Halen was Dash’s daughter and Beau was Jacks’s son. They were sitting
behind a big desk, side by side in the same chair.
“Tell me about it, she’s seven going on seventeen.” He turned to watch the two of them. “And she is Beau’s shadow. I swear they are inseparable. It’s adorable.”
I laughed. “It’s adorable now, probably won’t be in ten or so years, right?”
He cocked his head to the side. “You think?” He waved the thought away. “Nah. They’re like brother and sister.”
Couldn’t he see what I saw? What ten-year-old boy wanted to hang out in a sound studio and color all day? That kid was here because Halen was here, not the other way around. But if Dash wanted to think they’d just be BFFs all their lives, who was I to burst his bubble?
“We ready for another take?”
“Yeah, man, let me just get back to the board.”
Dash walked out the door, shutting it quietly behind him. He pulled up two more chairs to the board, picked up Halen and put her in one, and then sat himself in the other. I couldn’t help but chuckle. Looked like he was a little worried. And it looked like I was right, because the second Dash moved Halen to her own seat Beau shot him a go to hell look that could rival his Aunt Lexi’s.
The RiffRaff saga continues with Beau and Halen’s book, Legacy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
L.P. Maxa lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, daughter, three rescue dogs, and one stray cat. The fish died. She loves reading romance novels as much as she loves writing them. She’s new to the writing game but has published four books in her first year alone. Inspiration can come from anywhere: a song lyric, a quote, a weekend with friends. The tiniest things spark amazing stories.
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