“What about flights?” the big fish asked.
“Dogs need rabies shots and owners will have to bring proof of that, but there is no problem flying animals into the Virgin Islands.”
She glanced at Griffin and his smile said it all. He loved the idea.
“I like the barkaloungers,” a woman sitting next to the big fish said.
“I like it all.” A man with silver hair stood. “You got a great team, Griffin. I’d like to see some mockups of this Hound Harbor, but even without them, you’ve got the contract. Nice job, Miss…”
“Emma Kate Lambert,” Griffin interjected.
“Just Kate.” She caught Griffin’s eye. The look there…her lips trembled and she bit the inside to keep them steady.
“Kate.” Big Fish shook her hand. “Might want to be on time in the future.”
“I’ll give it some thought.” She winked but inside she deflated, and yet there was hope for the future. The Sweet Lord would get her through. Him and creamed potatoes.
“I suppose we’ll be seeing you in four weeks, Griffin.”
Time for him to go to St. Thomas.
She slipped out the door. She’d done the right thing.
Sweet Lord, please take care of Cora Lee.
A week had passed since Kate flew away to make her dream come true. Griffin had managed fine with Cora Lee. Regina Jones would be here in thirty minutes to pick her up. Place her with foster care parents who would proceed with the adoption process.
Except he couldn’t.
Kate was right. He’d been begging for Dad’s love and approval for years. Giving up building guitars, his own ideas, even where he ought to live. After he secured the contract, Dad hadn’t said any of the words he’d wanted to hear.
Kate had.
She’d sacrificed for him. Showed him what selfless love truly was. But she wasn’t the only one who’d shown him unconditional love.
Cora Lee had.
And God. Griffin had asked for His help and He’d sent it. In the form of Kate and Cora Lee. Griff had needed her the day he’d buried his sister. He’d needed the weekend to see what real family looked like. To remind him of what he’d always wanted.
He’d been going the distance with Griffin even when He ran alongside him silently. He’d given Griffin a chance to show his love to Giselle by loving her daughter.
He couldn’t go to St. Thomas. Couldn’t be the man Dad expected him to be. He wanted to be the man Kate loved.
His doorbell rang.
Regina was early.
He opened it to Dad.
“Griffin.”
“What are you doing here?” Griffin motioned him inside and closed the door. The living room was a mess. Toys everywhere. The TV played a kids’ learning show. Lots of color and singing.
Dad frowned. “Saw the mockups. A dog resort, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Totally the nanny’s idea?” He toed a rattle out of the way.
“Yes. I’d have lost it without her idea.” He wasn’t going to steal her thunder. It didn’t matter anymore if Dad ever gave him approval. He had God’s. He’d entrusted Griffin to something much larger than a resort. He’d entrusted a little precious life to him.
“I wanted to come by and see her.”
“Kate?”
“No, not the nanny.” He cleared his throat and actually looked at Cora Lee. “She, uh…she looks more like you than she does Giselle.” He studied her and gave a half-smile. “This is the right thing, though. The trust is in place as well as an allotted monthly expense. I want her provided for.” He stepped closer. “Can…can I hold her?”
Griffin fought back the emotion. Dad did love her. Loved him. Loved Giselle. In a broken flawed kind of way. But he did. “Sure.”
He handed Cora Lee to his father. She studied Dad’s face, then squirmed and reached out her hands for Griffin. “Da-da.” Her little fingers flexed as she struggled for him.
Da-da.
His heart stopped beating. Finally, she said something understandable.
God hadn’t given him a niece to raise.
He’d given Griffin a daughter.
Dad passed her back and sighed. “You’re not giving her up, are you?”
He kissed her chubby little cheek. “Daddy’s here,” he whispered in her ear. “No. And I’m not going to St. Thomas.” There. He’d said it. “We have competent project managers. You’ll have to send someone else.”
“They won’t like that.”
“I don’t care.” For once he honestly didn’t. “I can’t be a good dad to her if I’m not home to raise her.”
Dad rubbed his chin. “I did what I thought was best with you and Giselle. What I thought was right.”
That was the best apology Griffin was going to get. “I know. But I’ve got to do what I think is best, and right. For me. For Cora Lee. And for Giselle.”
“And what exactly is that going to look like?”
Griffin went with his heart. “I’m going to stay on as a consultant. But I’m going to build something else, Dad.”
“Guitars?” He frowned.
Didn’t matter if he loved the idea. “That…and a family. A really big family. In a big house. In the South.”
“It’s hot in the South.” Dad smirked.
“Don’t I know it?”
“I still think it’s a mistake, Griffin.”
“I know.” Dad might always think that. But in Griffin’s heart, this was exactly what he was born to do. Peace washed over him. Peace he hadn’t had in most of his adulthood.
Dad touched Cora Lee’s hand and shook it. “What about an off-site liaison? In the South.”
“Only if it doesn’t cut into quality time with Cora Lee.”
Dad gave a solid nod. “I’ll see myself out.”
Griffin sighed. Now the even harder part. Convincing Kate he’d never walk out on her. Never abandon her.
Chapter 11
Emma Kate’s eyes flew open. She lay in bed, listening to a scratching noise. Other than Mama and Daddy and Mary Ellis, no one was in the house.
Mice? Eeew.
Wait. It wasn’t coming from inside.
Her eyes adjusted and she glanced toward the bedroom window. A figure perched on the trellis near the window.
She shrieked.
“Shhh!” a voice came. She looked closer.
Griffin? She sat straight up.
His nose pressed against the pane. “I’m getting eaten up by mosquitoes,” he hissed. “Open the window!”
Griffin Noble. Mr. Money. Was pecking on her childhood bedroom window. In the middle of a Thursday night. In September. She rubbed her eyes afraid she was dreaming.
“Kate! For the love!” He smacked his neck.
She jumped out of bed in her T-shirt and boxer shorts, racing across the hardwood floor and unlocking and opening the window. “What are you doing?” she whispered.
He grinned. “I’m storming the castle for my girl.”
Her heart leapt.
“Your…girl? Are you drunk?”
“I made it all the way up the trellis, didn’t I?” He finagled through the window, tripping over the sill and crashing to the floor. “That was a mistake. I’m not drunk.”
“Ssssh! You’ll wake up my parents.” Then she giggled. Griffin was in her room. Right here. “Why are you here?” And what did he mean by his girl? “Why aren’t you in St. Thomas?”
He picked himself up off the floor. “I didn’t go to St. Thomas. I couldn’t.”
“What about the resort? The doggie resort?”
“It’s happening. They liked the dog resort idea so much they were okay with the fact I wasn’t the one overseeing the project. They didn’t want to lose out on that.”
“And Cora Lee?”
“She’s with Angel Beth and Chris right now.” He cupped her face. “She called me da-da, Kate. Her first word.”
When? Kate hadn’t seen him since the end of July. Over a month ago.
What was he saying? What did this mean? “You quit what?”
“My job. I want to build something else.” He ran his hand through her hair. “I want you. I want lemonade on the porch and little league games. I want to know everybody’s business—not really—but I want to build guitars and sell them. I want to school your brothers-in-law at basketball on the weekends. I want to see you in floppy hats on Saturday when you go to tea with Honey. I want to raise Cora Lee with you.”
A tear slid down her cheek and he brushed it away.
“I want to build your Pet Palace right here in Sweet Gum.”
“Griffin,” she cried.
“I want to make out in the yard with you whenever I want, and when it goes too far for neighbors to see…” he laughed softly, “I want to take you into our bedroom and make love to you. Because you’re my wife and I can.”
Butterflies swarmed her stomach.
He dropped to his knee. “Emma Kate Lambert, will you marry me? Make a life here in Sweet Gum with me? Be the mother of my children?”
Kate hid a smile. “Why would I want to marry you?”
Confusion clouded his eyes. “I thought I…” he grinned as recognition dawned. “I love you, Kate.”
He loved her. Griffin Noble loved her. Had given up on Chicago and his construction company for her. Sweet Lord, I didn’t expect all this. But thank You.
“So will you marry me? We can even get a dog.”
Everything inside her soared, but she held back from throwing herself into his arms. “One dog won’t work for me. Five.”
He stood and a sly grin spread across his face. “Two.”
“Three and if one of them has puppies we keep them all.”
“We keep two.” He clasped her hands and drew her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Four.”
“Oh I looove you, Kate Noble.” He grinned “Yeah, I like how that sounds.” As his mouth descended on hers, her heart puddled. He nipped at her bottom lip. “Four then.”
“Griff, Griff. You should have negotiated better. You could have gotten three.”
He skimmed her lips. “Mmm…I’ve missed this,” he whispered. “I’ve missed you.”
She’d missed him too. The way he kissed. His smell. The thickness of his hair. The scraping of his stubble across her skin. His hands on her. His voice. His laughter.
He broke away, resting his forehead against hers. “Can you tell me your name?”
“What? It’s Emma Kate—”
Griffin’s lips met hers again with a slow burn that consumed her inch by inch until she was heady and dazed. “Let’s try this again,” he whispered. “Can you tell me your name?”
A man who could kiss her until she couldn’t remember her name. She grinned. “I forgot.”
“I knew I was the man for you.”
She sighed, satisfied. Happy. “Does my whole family know you’re here?”
“Your dad knows.” He grinned. “But he thinks I’m proposing tomorrow. Which I will. You’d think I’d come all this way without a ring?”
A ring. She hadn’t even thought about it. “I want to see it!”
“Not until tomorrow. Cora Lee helped me pick it out.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Did she now?”
“Mmm-hmmm.” He eyed her. “I didn’t even think to ask if you’d been licked on the mouth by dogs today.”
“Scads of dog tongue. Didn’t it taste good?”
He laughed.
“I went to school today. No dog licking.”
“And how is school?” He laced his arms around her waist as she told him about her new adventure in business classes. She hadn’t gotten a job yet, even though Travis offered her a part-time position at his vet practice.
“I’m gonna have to burn that place to the ground with him in it,” Griffin teased, rubbing his hands along her lower back. “Or maybe just run him out of town.”
“How about we don’t talk about the ex.” She pressed her lips to his. “And I thought I wasn’t your type.”
He turned serious, strummed his thumb across her lower lip. “I’m glad you weren’t. I don’t want to spend my life with a woman who tries to hide her real self or wants to put her career before family. I want you, darling Kate. I love your sloppy buns and big Tshirts. I love your smile that lights me up. Your raw honesty. You’re not a type. You, Emma Kate Lambert, are one of a kind. And I get to love you.”
“And I get to love you.” She laid her head against his chest listening to it beat.
For her.
So this was what the center of the sandwich felt like.
Emma Kate would take it.
Forever.
About Jessica R. Patch
Jessica R. Patch is the author of the contemporary romance series Seasons of Hope and she also writes romantic suspense novels for Love Inspired Suspense. When she’s not hunched over her laptop or going on adventurous trips in the name of research with willing friends, you can find her watching way too much Netflix and collecting recipes for amazing dishes she’ll probably never cook. Jessica resides in the mid-south with her husband and two kiddos.
Sign up for her newsletter at http://www.jessicarpatch.com.
If you liked Unleashing Love, then you’ll enjoy reading the Seasons of Hope series, beginning with Book 1, Hope Under Mistletoe.
A rowdy bar owner. A widowed pastor’s wife. And Christmas hope that brings them together.
Other books by Jessica R. Patch
Seasons of Hope Series (Contemporary Romance with some laughs!)
Hope Under Mistletoe (book 1)
Just the Way You Are (book 2)
More Than Words (book 3)
It’s Always Been You (book 4)
Love Inspired Suspense Books:
Fatal Reunion
Protective Duty
Concealed Identity
Final Verdict (April 2017)
Love Inspired Suspense Miniseries: The Security Specialists
Deep Waters (book 1) July 2017
A (nearly) Normal Nanny
Krista Phillips
Normal is highly overrated…
…Unless you’re Mari Jenkins. Her life growing up was anything but normal, and she’s making up for that as an adult. She has a new job as a nanny of twin girls, a weekly schedule and a detailed ten-year plan, and nothing will get in the way of her meeting every one of her goals. Especially not a man, who isn’t allowed to appear in her life until around year eight or so on the plan.
Until, that is, the twin’s uncle, Brandon Stone, shows up and douses her life with a whirlwind of crazy. Not only is he a lover of all things spontaneous, he is also drummer for the award-winning country music artist she’s had a fangirl crush on for years.
Suddenly, normal doesn’t look quite so enticing.
Dedication:
To my family.
For loving your not-even-close-to-nearly normal momma.
Chapter 1
“…eighteen-one-thousand, nineteen-one-thousand, twenty-one-thousand! Ready or not, here I come!”
Mari Jenkins bit her lip to keep from laughing as she stood from her employer’s leather couch and propped her hands on her hips. “Now, where could those two little girls be?”
A giggle came from behind the oversized chair that sat in the corner next to the fireplace.
At least they’d followed the rules and hid in the great room.
Given the Hillard’s massive house nestled at the back of a swanky Brentwood, Tennessee neighborhood, a free-for-all hide-and-go-seek game with twin four-year-olds would be an ambulance ride ready to happen.
The giggles got louder, then one girl shushed the other.
Taking her time, she walked into the hall that led to the grand foyer, office, and formal dining room. “Hmm. I don’t see them that
way.”
Turning back to the great room, she dropped to her knees and peeked under the couch. Sure, the kids would have to be the size of mice to fit under there, but they wouldn’t realize that. “Huh. Not under there either. I was sure I’d find them there.”
More laughter filled the room.
Mari smiled as she tiptoed over to the hiding spot and peeked over the chair. “Boo! I found you!”
Both girls collapsed in laughter, and Mari sank into the chair and pretended to be relieved. “You all had me fooled! I was worried I’d never find you!”
Trinity stood, her head just barely peeking over the leather trim of the chair. “This was the bestest game. Can we play again?”
Serenity joined her sister and clapped her hands. “Yes! Again! Pwetty pwease?”
The speech hiccup made her smile. The identical twins were not easy to tell apart. They both had light brown hair cut in adorable pixie cuts and the same pale, delicate features. Natalie, their mother, had told her when in doubt, have them say something with a letter R or L in it, and it’d be clear who was who.
She glanced at her watch and sighed. It was another hour until lunch, and they’d already played three rounds of this. Thursday was supposed to be one of her easier days. Ballet class at ten. Home to change, then lunch in Nashville with Natalie, the girls’ mother, at twelve-thirty. Nap time at two, and an hour of free time from four until five-thirty.
But the rare dusting of snow they’d woken up to had collapsed her perfectly planned schedule.
Natalie had still gone to work, but ballet was canceled. The roads were getting worse by the minute, and Natalie had texted her, telling her not to risk coming for lunch.
Mari was left to make up a new schedule as she went, and the whole day was giving her a headache.
Snow in March. In Nashville. What were the odds?
She smiled at the girls, who were bubbling to play more. “Well, how about we—” Mari stilled as a faint noise caught her ear. Was that—
Trinity started jumping. “Maybe we—”
“Shhh.” Putting her finger to her lips, Mari shook her head.
The twins frowned but quieted.
Mari listened.
There it was again. Was someone at the door? Maybe a delivery guy or something?
Love at First Laugh: Eight Romantic Novellas Filled with Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever After Page 49
