by S. E. Rose
I grab her hand and take her to the car. We get in and instead of backing out of the driveway, I pull off into the side yard.
Tabby screeches. “What are you doing?”
I laugh as I drive along the side of my property and onto the small acreage behind me that I purchased from Mr. Hannum’s orchard.
“Where are we going?” she laughs as the car bounces along the trail.
As we come out of the woods, there’s a small clearing at the top of a hill overlooking the apple orchard. And sitting on the edge of the hill is the studio that I have had built for her from an old barn on the property.
I park the car, and we get out.
“What is this?”
I smile as I hold out my hand. “Come see.”
We walk slowly up a gravel lane that comes off the orchard drive, where guests can park and pick their own apples.
I open the door, and she follows me inside. From the outside, the structure looks like a barn, but inside skylights let in natural light. There’s a loft over half of the building and the other is open to old beams of the roof. One whole wall is covered in giant windows that look out over the orchard. There is a bathroom and a dark room and an office.
“It’s your new studio,” I announce with a wave of my hands.
“It’s what?” she asks, her eyes growing wide.
“I had it built for you.”
She turns to me, clearly waiting for a punch line.
“I. Had. It. Built. For. You,” I enunciate.
“Kent, don’t be ridiculous. People don’t just go and build other people whole buildings.”
I grin. “Well, this person did.”
She slowly looks around. I had Lyla help me decorate.
She freezes when she sees a photo I had hung above her desk. It’s surrounded by a few other shots I took of her with my family. I had seen her admiring my mom’s wall of photos and wanted to give her one. She walks toward the open door and stares at the photo of us. It’s a candid silly shot she took that day we met. A selfie of us. I had asked if the photographer ever is photographed, so she turned around and snapped a photo of us. We’re both grinning and looking completely happy. The photo makes me a little sad, knowing what is to come after that moment, but it also is the reason we are here now.
She turns back to me. “You did this?”
I nod. “For you.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “But…why?”
I smile at her and cradle her face in my hands. “Because I want you to have the best. You deserve your own studio. Mr. Hannum has been trying to sell me some of this back acreage for years, but I never had a reason…until now.”
“I…I don’t know what to say.”
“Do you like it?”
Her smile widens. “Of course. I love it. It’s amazing!”
She swirls around and looks at the wall of her photos that I had hung.
“I…Kent.” She turns to me with tears streaming down her face. “No one has ever done anything like this for me.”
“Please tell me those are happy tears! Because I’m pretty sure that I can’t return it.”
She laughs. “Very happy tears!” She spins around and launches herself at me. I catch her as she throws her arms around my neck and kisses me.
“Well, if I’m gonna get that reaction, I guess I’ll surprise you more often,” I murmur against her lips.
“You built me an entire studio; you crazy man. Of course, you’re gonna get this type of reaction.”
“Noted…build more studios.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re crazy, you know that?”
“I may have been told that a few times.”
She shakes her head. “Seriously, this is…” She trails off and looks around. “This is too much, Kent. It’s beyond too much. I don’t even know what to say.”
“Say you like it. Say you want to stay out here with me. Say…you want to be with me.”
I get quiet. I wasn’t expecting to lay all that on her. But my mouth tends to run when I least expect it.
She looks at me with her head cocked to one side.
“Yes.”
“Yes to which question.”
She grins. “Yes to all of the above.” I lift her and spin her in a circle.
“We’re not rushing things, right? This isn’t too soon?” I ask her as I set her back down.
Her laughter is my answer. “Yes, and yes. But…fuck it. I want to be with you, Kent. If you asked me two months ago, whether I’d move in with a guy after dating him for a month or two, I’d have said you were crazy. But here we are…life is crazy. And maybe it’s a bad decision, maybe this is all insane and we shouldn’t do this. But maybe this is perfectly imperfect. Maybe, we are just meant to be together, crazy or not.”
“I can live with that answer.”
“Good, because you’re not getting rid of me that easily,” she says as she leans her forehead against mine. We both stare at each other grinning like the asshats we are, and it is perfect.
Tabitha
I unwrap the sandwiches that Kent picked up for a picnic at the new studio. I need to tell him all about my past, specifically the part I left out the last time we spoke about it. We sit down at the giant table in my office.
“Kent,” I say to him as he brings the sandwich up to take a bite.
He sets it back down and looks at me.
“What? Are you OK?”
“I need to tell you something. About my past.”
He scoots his chair closer to mine. “OK.”
I take a deep breath and tell him the whole story of how my mother died. When I finish, I bite my lip and wait for him to speak.
“Kitten…I’m so sorry. I…wish you would have said something earlier. That’s a big burden to bear on your own.”
“Brix knows, and my grandparents.”
He pulls me into an unexpected hug and kisses the top of my head. “You know that’s not your fault, right?”
“Yes, it was,” I state.
He lets go of me and cups my face in his hands. “No. It wasn’t. You were a little girl. You shouldn’t have had to fend for yourself. You shouldn’t have even had to look for food.”
I feel the tears threaten to fall, and I close my eyes. “Kent, it’s fine. I caused the fire, and she died. End of story. It was a long time ago. It’s my albatross to bear.”
I feel his thumbs wiping away my tears as I open my eyes. “Tabby, it’s not your fault. Did you tell her you found food?”
I think back trying to remember. “I…maybe…I don’t remember.”
“So, say you said, ‘I’m making soup,’ then she knew and should have checked on you. It’s her fault for not getting her ass off that sofa. For popping painkillers instead of caring for her little girl.”
I blink back tears as I try to remember what I said. “I should have tried to get to her.”
Kent shakes his head. “No. You would have died, too. You’re here for a reason. Make the best of it. That’s what you should do.”
I’m not sure what about that statement gets my wheels turning, but it does. “I have an idea,” I state, my tears starting to dry up as the wheels in my head begin spinning.
Kent raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”
I nod. “I need to talk to Walt.”
“My manager?”
I nod again. “He mentioned that he thought my photos were good publicity for the team and to reach out if I was interested in working more with the marketing team. I want to do team photography, but with the kids from the hospital. If I can bring joy to one of them, maybe…this is silly, but maybe I’ll feel better. Like I paid it forward, somehow? Am I making sense?”
Kent laughs. “Yes, perfect sense. And I love that idea. I’m sure all the guys would love to do photos with the kids. You know I will.”
“You will?” I say so hopefully it almost sounds silly.
Kent looks seriously at me. “Of course, kitten. For you, anything. I love you, Tabby.”
>
My heart skips a beat every time he’s said that to me. His eyes search mine, and all I see in them is the truth. He loves me. I seriously think the grin that forms on my face might split it in half. I launch myself into his arms and kiss him.
“What’s that for?” he murmurs against my lips.
I giggle. “For being you.”
We finally eat the picnic, and as I look around, I decide we need a puppy.
“Let’s get a puppy!’ I declare.
“Uh, what?”
“A puppy.”
“Uh, nope.”
“Come on, you know you want one. You clearly grew up with them, and I’ve never had a pet. I need a puppy, for real. This has to happen.”
“Nope.”
“Yep.”
He wrestles me to the ground. “If I say that I’ll think about it, will you leave it for now.”
I ponder his request. “OK, for now.”
He grins and kisses me. “Now, let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Epilogue
One month later…
“You sure you have the right flight information?” I ask Tabby for the tenth time.
She gives me a pointed look as does Lanie, who is here to pick up her college bestie, Heidi, who flew in for the weekend. Lanie types something on her phone and a moment later, Heidi appears behind us.
There is lots of screeching and jumping around. Passersby look toward us to see what all the commotion is about. Women.
“Don’t think that,” Tabby says, nudging me.
“Think what?”
She rolls her eyes. “I know you better than you know yourself now. Trust me, Brix is totally going to jump up and down, too.”
I snort a laugh. “Right. Brix, the manly doctor dude who we FaceTime with weekly. Not a chance.”
She grins at me, and I shake my head.
She shoots Brix another text. I stand waiting for Brix to appear. Last week, I got to meet their grandparents. They were polite but not overly warm. I could tell immediately that Tabby loves them, but they just don’t get her. So, that leaves Brix. I know they are close. I can tell by their nicknames for each other and the fact that they live thousands of miles apart but still know what’s going on in each other’s lives. I’m curious to meet the one family member in Tabitha’s life who has her back, who’s had her back through everything. Once Tabby shared the details of her mother’s death with me, it was like the dam had been breached. She started sharing more and more of her past with me. And my takeaway from that is Brix has been her protector since she was born. I owe a lot to this man who as a child essentially raised another child who became this woman that I’ve fallen madly in love with in a few short weeks.
“He’s just leaving customs. He should be here any second,” she says excitedly flashing her phone with the text message in my face.
I rub her back, and she grins a face-splitting grin at me. “I can’t wait to meet him,” I say.
“You guys already met.”
“FaceTime doesn’t count.”
She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. You’ll love him.”
“I’m sure I will, kitten. I’m sure I will.”
Lanie introduces Heidi to Tabitha, and I hug Heidi and ask about her flight before Heidi and Lanie launch back into a heated discussion of what they will do this week.
Tabby and I both stand there staring at the exit doors. The excitement is palpable as I look around. There are probably fifty people standing around waiting. Some have “welcome home” signs, some are in groups talking excitedly, others are by themselves and staring at phone screens. Every time the doors open, everyone looks up to see if it’s their person.
The door opens for what seems like the millionth time and a face I now recognize appears. I watch as Tabby takes off running toward her brother. Heidi and Lanie turn, and I see Lanie’s eyes widen. I roll mine. Yeah, Brix is a good-looking dude, but come on, Lanie, put your tongue back in your mouth.
I watch as my girl leaps into her brother’s arms, forcing him to drop all his bags. I smile. Our family is all together, finally.
Tabitha
I’m crying and laughing and squeezing the shit out of Brix. It’s been too long since I’ve been able to hug him. I missed this guy!
I pull back and stare at him, just making sure he’s not a mirage.
“You’re finally here,” I say with the world’s widest smile on my face.
“Yep, and if you let me go, I can go get the rest of my stuff so we can get out of the airport, and I can change into non-smelly traveling clothes.”
I giggle and release him from my death grip before hugging him once more and kissing him on the cheek for good measure.
His body shakes with silent laughter at my ridiculous behavior.
I lean in and whisper, “Now jump up and down, just real quick.”
His eyebrows shoot up at my request. “Do you have a fever? Seriously, what the fuck?”
“Please, just do it!” I say, putting my hands together in a prayer motion.
He rolls his eyes and jumps up twice. “Sufficient?”
I place my hands on my hips and glare at him. “You could at least do it with some enthusiasm! It’s been almost six months, you jackass.”
He places his backpack down again and then gets a silly look on his face and jumps up and down three times while clapping his hands like an excited kid. “Oh my god! This is so exciting!” he says loudly in his best fake enthusiastic voice.
I double over laughing as I shoot a glance over my shoulder at Kent, whose lips are pressed together to keep from laughing at my brother’s antics.
“That’ll do it. Now come on, let’s get out of here!”
I practically drag him over to the rest of the group.
“I should have bet you,” I say with a smirk.
“Bet him what?” Brix asks as he leans in for a bro hug with Kent. I roll my eyes. Why do guys do that? Like slapping each other on the back is gonna make them look more manly? I lock eyes with Lanie, and we both giggle and shake our heads.
“Nice to see you, man,” Kent says to my brother while reaching out a hand to grab Brix’s laptop bag and one of the rolling suitcases. “This is my sister Lanie and her friend Heidi who just got in too.”
Brix reaches out and shakes their hands.
“Not to break up this lovefest, but I’m starving! Let’s go grab some food!” I say as I take the other one of Brix’s suitcases.
Lanie strikes up a conversation with Brix as we walk to the car, and I look over at Kent who’s chatting with Heidi. He glances at me and motions to Lanie and Brix in front of us. He laughs and shrugs as he wraps an arm around me.
“Can we go to your parents’ for dinner?” Heidi asks Lanie as we reach the car. “They still do their epic weekly Saturday dinners, right?”
Everyone laughs but Brix who looks confused.
“Sure,” Kent answers as he hefts the bags into the back of the SUV.
“What am I missing?” Brix asks me as we pile into the car.
“You’ll see,” I say to him with a wink.
Kent
Seeing my parents’ Saturday dinner through the eyes of a newbie never gets old. Brix’s eyes go wide as we enter the house, which only makes Tabby giggle harder.
The dogs are running around, the neighbors’ kids are running around, there are people everywhere, and just to add to the chaos, Mrs. Miller brought her parrot, Tupac, with her and he’s currently nesting on top of the family room curtains.
“Uh, wow, this is…intense,” he manages.
“Come on, big bro, let’s get you a drink,” Tabby says as she loops her arm through his and leads him to the kitchen where my grandmothers begin doting over him. I grin as I look around.
I am a lucky mother fucker, maybe the luckiest.
I head out to the gazebo, which is surprisingly empty. I open a cooler, grabbing a beer and plopping down on a rocker that overlooks the pond behind the house.
I hear the
door open, but I don’t turn around because I know it’s Tabitha. I can sense her a mile away.
“Come sit,” I say as I continue watching the setting sun.
“Aren’t you cold?” she asks me.
I grin. “I’m like my own sun, you know that. But here.” I offer a blanket that Mom keeps out here.
She curls up against me. “It’s so good to have him home.”
I kiss the top of her head. “I’m glad you are happy.”
“As long as I’m with you, I’m happy.”
“Now I feel like you are just buttering me up for something…”
She giggles. “Let’s talk about that puppy…”
I grin, knowing my girl is gonna talk me into a pet, and not caring one bit because as long as she’s happy, then I’m happy, undeniably, perfectly happy.
Acknowledgments
There are so many amazing authors who helped me with this new adventure. When I decided to write about the Moore family, I wanted to make them as real as possible. I wanted the family to be a living, breathing part of the book.
I also wanted the town to play a part in the book. While Banneker, Maryland, is a fictious town, it is based on many small towns that I’ve visited in Maryland. The name Banneker comes from Benjamin Banneker, who was a free African-American surveyor and almanac author amongst other things. He lived near my current home in the late 1700s and early 1800s. He played an integral part in surveying Washington, D.C. I visited the Banneker Museum a few years ago and was so moved by his story that when it came time to create a small town in Maryland, Banneker was the only choice for a name.
I also have to thank my family, whom this book is dedicated to, for always providing me with endless book fodder, including family text chats, silly conversations, nicknames galore, and so much more.
And lastly, to all my book friends who always encourage me and support me. You’ve made this journey an amazing one!
About the Author
S.E. Rose lives in the DMV. And if you know what that means, then you know where she lives. She currently resides with her husband, two children, and always at least two cats and usually other random creatures her children decide they need. While she works at a desk during the day, her evenings and weekends are devoted to writing and editing her romance novels. She loves all things wine, coffee, tea, and dark chocolate. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, traveling, going to concerts, and reading.
