Just One Year
Page 24
Teagan would finally be starting her last year of school once we returned to England. Her plan was to continue working at the flower shop while she finished off her marine biology degree at my university. Even though she helped Mum a bit with the rent, she hadn’t had to spend all of the money from the ring Maura gave her, so she’d put the remainder of it in the bank to use toward school. Hopefully, after graduation she’d find a suitable job reasonably close to home. Yes, we still lived with my mother, but we were saving up for our own place. As Teagan had originally proposed, we’d opted to forego the big wedding in Boston in order to use that money toward our future house. We were thinking of possibly settling closer to Brighton, near Emma and Stuart. So many decisions to make, but we’d be making them together.
As nice as it was to be back in the Carrolls’ house in Brookline, we got so much attention here that I missed my alone time with Teagan. Her family had missed her so much, they wanted to spend every waking minute with us. Back home, my mother kept her distance, even in our small house.
After we hung up from the family Skype call with Emma, Maura announced, “Dinner’s in ten, guys.”
I whispered in Teagan’s ear, “We actually have ten minutes alone? Let’s escape.” Pulling her by the hand, I led her down to the basement, where we’d been sleeping.
“Ten minutes isn’t that much time,” she said.
“I assure you, ten minutes is all I’ll need.” I winked. “Maybe five.”
Anytime Teagan and I were alone together downstairs, it made me feel nostalgic. Our lives had changed so much since the days we used to study in this room together. If you’d asked me then if I ever believed Teagan would be living in England with me, I would’ve thought you were crazy. But if you’d asked me whether I thought we would end up together someday, somehow the answer would have been yes. I hadn’t known how that was going to happen, but when I left Boston, I knew in my heart it wasn’t the end.
And I was about to prove that to her.
“If I told you I always knew we’d end up together, would you believe me?”
“You mean from the time you met me?” Teagan brushed her hand along the hairs on my arm as we lay across from each other on the bed.
“Not quite that long. But when I left Boston to head home, I knew we’d be together again. At the time, I just didn’t know how to make it happen.”
She laced her fingers with mine and stared down at our wedding rings. “I don’t think I had as much faith as you did. But I was definitely in love with you when you left, and that wasn’t going to change.”
“You said you found the letter I left you in the makeup drawer. I assume you never found the other one.”
Her eyes went wide. “There was another one?”
“Yes. But you weren’t meant to find it.”
I stood and walked over to the corner of the room. I moved the carpet and lifted one of the floorboards. There it was—the letter I’d hidden the day before I left Boston. Teagan had been showering when I’d snuck the letter into its hiding place, but I’d spent the previous week scouring the room for a secret spot. When I happened upon the loose board, I figured it was my best bet.
I waved the envelope in the air.
“Oh my God. That’s been there the entire time? Under the floor?”
“Yep. Guess I picked a good place for it, eh?”
She hopped up and ran over to me. “What does it say?”
I opened the envelope and unfolded the paper before reading her what I’d written.
Dear Teagan,
If you’re reading this, one of two things has happened. Either we’re together again, and I’m personally delivering this letter (which is my hope), or by some twist of fate you found it before I got to you. If it’s the latter, I’m sorry. It means I haven’t found my way back to you. That wasn’t my intention.
Of course there’s always the chance my plan was foiled—maybe something happened to me and someone is finding this years later, after you’ve moved out. That would be unfortunate. If you’re reading this and you’re not Teagan Carroll, please see that she gets this, wherever she is. She needs to know I’ve always loved her and never intended for us to be apart forever.
In the event that I’m lucky enough to be with you right now, Teagan, I hope you can see this letter as proof that even as I was gearing up to break your heart and go back to England, somehow I knew we’d be together again. I just needed to fix my messed-up parts before I could give you my all, because you deserve every part of me.
I hope you see this letter as evidence that I’ve always believed in us. And I’ll never stop.
As I write this, I may be about to venture “home.” But from probably the moment you held my hand while I freaked out in that dodgy theater, I’ve known that home would always be wherever you are.
Love, Caleb
P.S. Not bad for a love story that started in the loo.
Dear Readers,
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading Just One Year! Want to read DRY SPELL, a free short story from my friend Vi Keeland? How about a sexy novelette I wrote? JADED and TYED is not available for sale anywhere as an ebook. Both of these stories are exclusively for subscribers to our mailing list. Click to sign up: https://www.subscribepage.com/2FreeBooks and you’ll receive these EXCLUSIVE free books.
OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE WARD
* * *
THE DAY HE CAME BACK
USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
STEPBROTHER DEAREST
New York Times, USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
NEIGHBOR DEAREST
New York Times, USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
WHEN AUGUST ENDS
New York Times, USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
LOVE ONLINE
USA TODAY Bestseller
GENTLEMAN NINE
New York Times, USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
DRUNK DIAL
New York Times, USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
MACK DADDY
USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
ROOMHATE
New York Times, USA TODAY and #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller
JADED AND TYED (A NOVELETTE)
SINS OF SEVIN
USA TODAY Bestseller
JAKE UNDONE (JAKE #1)
JAKE UNDERSTOOD (JAKE #2)
MY SKYLAR
USA TODAY Bestseller
GEMINI
COCKY BASTARD (CO-WRITTEN WITH VI KEELAND)
New York Times and USA TODAY Bestseller
STUCK-UP SUIT (CO-WRITTEN WITH VI KEELAND)
New York Times, USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
PLAYBOY PILOT (CO-WRITTEN WITH VI KEELAND)
New York Times and USA TODAY Bestseller
MISTER MONEYBAGS (CO-WRITTEN WITH VI KEELAND)
New York Times, USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
BRITISH BEDMATE (CO-WRITTEN WITH VI KEELAND)
USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
PARK AVENUE PLAYER (CO-WRITTEN WITH VI KEELAND)
REBEL HEIR (CO-WRITTEN WITH VI KEELAND)
New York Times, USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
REBEL HEART (CO-WRITTEN WITH VI KEELAND)
New York Times, USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
HATE NOTES (CO-WRITTEN WITH VI KEELAND)
#1 Amazon Bestseller and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
DIRTY LETTERS (CO-WRITTEN WITH VI KEELAND)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
* * *
I consider myself the luckiest gal in the world to have readers all over the world who continue to support and promote my books. Your enthusiasm and hunger for my stories is what motivates me every day. And to all of the book bloggers who work tirelessly to support me, please know how much I appreciate you.
To Vi – Forever my partner in crime. Hopefully you don’t get tired of me singing y
our praises. Each year our friendship becomes more invaluable to me. I couldn’t do any of this without you. The best part of this career has been our collaborations and getting to work with my friend each and every day.
To Julie – My late-night watch dog. Thank you for your friendship and for always inspiring me with your amazing writing and attitude.
To Luna –Thank you being there day in and day out and especially this year for being such an inspiration. The best is yet to come.
To Erika –Thank you for always brightening my days with your daily check-ins and virtual smiles. It will always be an E thing!
To my Facebook reader group, Penelope’s Peeps – I adore you all. You are my home and favorite place to be.
To my agent extraordinaire, Kimberly Brower –Thank you for everything you do and for believing in me long before you were my agent, back when you were a blogger and I was a first-time author.
To my editor Jessica Royer Ocken – It’s always a pleasure working with you. I look forward to many more experiences to come.
To Elaine of Allusion Book Formatting and Publishing – Thank you for being the best proofreader, formatter, and friend a girl could ask for.
To my assistant Brooke – Thank you for hard work in handling Vi’s and my releases and so much more. We appreciate you so much!
To Letitia of RBA Designs – My awesome cover designer. This cover is one of my favorites that you’ve designed. Thank you for always working with me until the finished product is exactly perfect.
To my husband – Thank you for always taking on so much more than you should have to so that I am able to write. I love you so much.
To the best parents in the world – I’m so lucky to have you! Thank you for everything you have ever done for me and for always being there.
To my besties: Allison, Angela, Tarah and Sonia – Thank you for putting up with that friend who suddenly became a nutty writer.
Last but not least, to my daughter and son – Mommy loves you. You are my motivation and inspiration!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
* * *
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author.
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son and beautiful daughter with autism.
With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels.
Penelope’s books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
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