by Natalie Ann
When she was in her room she burst into tears on the bed and couldn’t stop sobbing.
“It’s over with now.”
“What?” she said, looking up. “Who’s here?”
Don’t tell me there’s someone else trying to break into my house.
“You know who it is,” she heard again and then watched as the translucent figure of Tyler appeared in front of her.
“No. You aren’t here. I’m seeing things. It’s the drama of the night. It’s not possible.”
Tyler laughed. Or his ghost did. She didn’t know ghosts could laugh. “I am here. I’ve been here for months. I was with you in Tacoma too.”
“Those were dreams,” she argued.
“For you and the kids. Yes. I thought it was best. But you needed to see me now. You need to know so I can move on.”
“Move on?” she asked, the tears just rolling down her cheeks. She wanted to reach for him. To hold him. He looked the same. The boy she’d fallen in love with. The man she married and had children with. The kids had seen him too.
“You’ve got what you need now. I couldn’t leave you and the kids without knowing you were taken care of. It’s time for me to go bother John some more. He’s not handling things as well as you, so cut him some slack when you give him hell for asking your boyfriend to keep an eye on you. I would have done the same thing Ryan did.”
“You know about Ryan?” she asked, her face flushing. She knew Tyler was gone, but it still felt wrong to her...and to be talking about it.
“I do. He seems like a great guy. I know you loved me, Shannon. I know you always will. But you’re young and you aren’t meant to be alone. My kids need another father figure in their life and as fast as this might be, I think you know in your heart what you feel.”
She did know. She’d been feeling like she was falling in love with Ryan for months but worried it was too soon. Not just for her but him. Even the kids.
“He’s a great guy. I can talk about you and so can the kids and he doesn’t care. And John liked him. I didn’t think that would be possible.”
“It is possible.” Tyler floated closer, his hand came out, and she could almost feel it running down her cheek. “I’ll always be in your heart. I’ll always be watching the kids. You know that. But you’re ready to be on your own.”
She nodded her head as the tears continued to pool out. “I know you’re always around. I’ll never forget you. Ever. I won’t let the kids either.”
“I know you won’t. I love you, Shannon,” Tyler said as he faded away. “It’s time to love yourself just as much.”
The next morning she pulled herself out of bed and went to press charges on Walt. She’d found out that once he’d sobered up that he called a lawyer. She had no intention of talking to him but was told by the police that he was pissed off that she wouldn’t help him. That he blamed Tyler for his addiction and Tyler always promised to be there for him. He felt Shannon should have honored it.
What he thought he was going to do with that gun, she didn’t want to know any of it. She didn’t want to think of it. In her eyes it was better this way.
When she got back home, she called John and told him. “He should have come after me. It should have been me. I don’t understand it. I fired him. I cut him off.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to see him. I’m ticked at you though.”
“Because I didn’t want Ryan to tell you?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m madder at him, but I understand too. I guess.” She wasn’t going to tell John about Tyler’s visit. Let him get the shock himself like she had last night. But she did ask, “How are you doing? Be honest with me. I left so the memories weren’t as hard, but you, you’re there daily. You knew Tyler longer.”
“I’m okay,” he said.
“Are you really though?” she asked again.
“I have my moments. I’ll get there. I saw how well you’re doing and I think that helped me. Abby has been great. Every once in a while I have the funniest dreams about Tyler and I wake up laughing.”
“Good,” she said, smiling. “Me too.”
When she hung up the phone, she saw an alert that someone was on the property and noticed Ryan’s truck. She was glad the kids were off to school and had no clue what had happened. Zoe was at the mall treating herself to some retail therapy.
She opened the front door before Ryan could ring the bell. “You’ve got a nice bruise on your cheek,” she said.
“It will heal. How are you doing? Did you sleep okay last night? I wanted to come back but figured you wouldn’t want me here.”
She pulled him into her arms and held him tight. “I’ll always want you here. If you want to be here.”
“I do,” he said. “And I didn’t mean to scare you. I just saw him there and I thought he was going to hurt you and the kids. I couldn’t allow that. When they told me he had a gun on him I wanted to go back and beat the shit out of him again.”
She laughed and then kept it up. “I never really cared for violence. I think because Tyler was just a peaceful person. So soft and tender and sweet. Nothing at all like you.”
“Is this supposed to make me feel better because I can assure you it’s not?” he said, looking a little lost. If she didn’t know any better his eyes might be a tad glossy.
“It’s supposed to lead up to me saying I love you. That I know it’s early and fast and I’m probably crazy and you are so different than what I had before but you’re everything I want now.”
He held her tighter, then kissed her fast. “I love you too. I never thought I’d love anyone. I didn’t know if I had it in me. I’ve been sour on relationships for years.”
“Because of Whitney’s marriage?”
“Yeah. Kevin was an ass. But you know there was more to it.”
“The women that wanted to change you because you weren’t sweet and tender. They were the fools because you are all those things in a hard exterior and you’re mine. I wouldn’t change one damn thing about you.”
“I’d change everything for you,” he said.
“I think we are both perfect the way we are!”
Epilogue
“Ryan’s here already,” Jeffrey said.
“Yes,” Shannon said. “He stayed last night to make sure Santa didn’t get lost trying to find you. You were worried Santa might not know you moved.”
Jeffrey ran to the tree with Maddie on his heels while her two kids looked over the loot left for them.
She was pretty sure she went overboard, but she couldn’t seem to stop. Ryan bought just as much for the kids as she did, it seemed.
Once the living room resembled a war zone of red and green paper, Jeffrey looked up and said, “Are you going to do it now?”
“Do what now?” she asked.
Maddie moved over and climbed onto Ryan’s lap. “Ryan said he has a special gift just for you.”
“He does?” she said, wondering how her kids could know this and not say anything. “Do you know what it is?”
“No,” Maddie said. “Is it another puppy?”
“No more dogs,” she said.
“I know what it is,” Jeffrey said. “He told me last night. He asked me first. Man to man.”
She loved the relationship that Ryan had with her son. “Man to man, huh?”
“Yeah,” Jeffrey said. “And Daddy told me it’s okay.”
She was going to cry. She knew she was. She hadn’t had any more dreams or visions of Tyler, but he was still there for the kids. That was all that mattered.
“What did Daddy tell you was okay?” she asked.
“No, Ryan has to ask,” Jeffrey said.
She looked over at Ryan and saw him grinning, then moving Maddie off his lap. “I asked Jeffrey if he’d be okay with me marrying you. If I could have his permission to move in and take care of you all but most of all to just love each and every one of you.”
“Yes,” Maddie yelled cli
mbing back into his lap.
Shannon laughed and moved her daughter, the tears filling her eyes. “I think he’s asking me too, sweetie,”
“I’m asking you all,” Ryan said. “But I’m giving this to you.”
Shannon looked down to see the heart-shaped diamond ring flashing back at her. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, to it all. Everything you want to ask, the answer is yes.”
“Yeah!” Jeffrey said.
Maddie moved in and squeezed her way between the two of them and then first kissed Ryan on the cheek and then her. “Do I get to wear a pretty dress?”
“You do,” she told her daughter.
“I don’t have to wear a suit, do I?” Jeffrey asked, looking almost pained.
“You do if you want to be my best man,” Ryan said.
Now the tears were flowing. How could this man that everyone thought was so gruff and hard be the same person with her daughter on his lap and telling her six-year-old son he was going to be the best man?
“I guess I could,” Jeffrey said. “As long as Mommy is happy, then I’m happy.”
“You sound just like your father, Jeffrey.”
“And our wedding picture can go right next to your first one on the wall,” he said.
“What?”
“You heard me. Tyler is always going to be in your life and in your heart. I’d never replace him nor do I want to.”
“Sometimes I don’t think I’m good enough for you,” she said.
“You’re exactly what I always wanted and I’m never letting you go.”
“I’m never letting you go either!”
The End!
Check out the next in Paradise Place… Mistletoe Magic!
If You read Chasing Love, then you met Meena Dawson’s brother, Brian. Who was also Troy Walker’s best friend. Troy also happens to be the cousin of Harris Walker (Change Up) So be on the lookout for more connections in Paradise Place!
Sneak Peak at Mistletoe Magic
Robin pulled down the long driveway of her gated residence just outside of Saratoga that she shared with her husband. She never had anything like this growing up, but when she met Alex Fischer four years ago her world changed.
She’d kept her job as a dental hygienist four days a week and she volunteered at a local animal shelter every Monday and on a few Saturdays, but money wasn’t an issue.
Her paycheck was hers and hers alone. Alex’s family had oodles of money and he was determined to make sure he paid for everything. That he was the hero and the provider in their marriage.
If she was uncomfortable with it at first, he put her mind at ease.
Early on in their relationship, and even their marriage two years ago, he’d won her over spoiling her rotten even when she insisted she didn’t need flowers and fancy dinners. Balloon rides and vacations.
Now though, things weren’t as sweet or wonderful as they used to be.
Where his mind was at and why he seemed so distant just made her wonder if there was someone else in his life.
Rather than pull into the garage today, she parked in the half circle in the front, unlocked the door and moved up the stairs. She should know better by now to bring a change of clothes when she volunteered at the shelter, but she’d been upset with how short Alex had been with her this morning when she brought up counseling before starting a family that she left without thinking of it.
Now she had mud all over her jeans and the sleeve of her shirt from a rumbustious puppy she was handling during the vet’s exam. When she tried to bathe the Pitbull boxer mix after, the puppy had thought it was playtime and she ended up wetter than the dog.
As she made her way up the stairs, she thought she heard a voice. That was odd. No one should be home. She stopped and listened again, heard some more mumbling sounds, then quietly moved down the hallway toward the master suite.
When she got to the doorway, it was only open a quarter of the way. She was the last to leave this morning and she never shut the bedroom doors.
She peeked her head in and saw Alex in bed on top of someone. Naked with the sheet halfway up his waist. His dark head was down, his mouth kissing someone with more passion than he’d ever shown her.
She popped out and put her back to the wall as the tears started to form in her eyes.
This would explain why he was so detached from her lately. More like six months easily. They’d barely had sex a handful of times in the past year. They’d never had an active sex life. Even when they were dating. Since Alex had a large sordid dating past and he was older than her by five years, she’d thought it was odd, but since he was so sweet and loving to her, she’d let it go. He’d even convinced her he was ready to settle down and stop having fling after fling.
How stupid she was!
Now she had her answer to his recent behavior. He was sleeping with someone on the side.
Rather than run out the door in tears, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, put the video on. She squatted down, made sure she got enough of an angle of him in the bed and then kept her arm there while she closed her eyes. She didn’t want to watch, but she was going to nail his ass to the wall for this.
After a minute, she heard the bed moving and the sheets rustling around, Alex’s voice laughing and saying he was hungry, and she knew it was time to leave.
She raced down the hall as quietly as she could with her hand over her mouth to muffle her sobs, left the way she came, then drove away.
When she was at the end of the long driveway and knew her car couldn’t be seen, she saved the video to her cloud, emailed it to herself and then to her brother for safekeeping, telling him not to watch, she’d explain later.
After a few deep breaths and wiping her tears, Robin decided she’d better watch the video. She had to know who this woman was. Was it someone she knew? A friend that betrayed her? Anything for her to get a better understanding of how she could be such an idiot.
And what she saw made her realize that nothing could blindside her quite like this.
Get Out Of Town
Nine Months Later
Brian Dawson walked up front to meet with his client. His office was small, just a few staff. He’d brought on a new lawyer right out of college and she was a go-getter. Molly Robinson had what it took to be a little bulldog in the courtroom. She was quiet and shy, a little on the dull and boring side appearance wise, but it was all a ruse. Wind her up and she was going for your throat. He loved it.
That left his receptionist up front, his clerk that did a lot of research for him and an accountant who handled the finances.
He liked the small office vibe and enjoyed calling his own shots. He was pretty damn successful in his own right and planned on staying at this level.
Big corporate law firms, partners, and cutthroat colleagues had never been what he wanted in life.
He wanted to be his own boss. He wanted to solve the problems his way. He wanted to be the hero and not share in the glory with a team of cocky lawyers that were fighting more for wealth than morals.
“Hi, Robin,” he said, shaking her hand. “It’s good to see you again. Come on back to my office.”
He’d handled her divorce earlier in the year. Most divorces took a lot of time and this one had the potential to be extremely messy with no prenup. He’d been shocked to hear that, but Robin had explained that she’d turned Alex down multiple times and to prove he really loved her, he said there’d be no prenup.
Not only was her ex the heir apparent to a chain of convenience stores and gas stations throughout New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut, but he was caught red handed in bed with someone other than his wife...on video no less.
Alex’s family was old school and mortified. His marriage to Robin had been all over the presses and local papers as a Cinderella story. Robin was liked by many and loved by Alex’s family. They’d thought for sure she was the answer to their son’s wild ways.
In the end, they offered her a massive settlement. Not just t
o keep her quiet, but to compensate her for her pain. Robin walked away with millions when she hadn’t been asking for anything other than a quick divorce and for Brian to deal with everything to change her name back to Masters. She wanted nothing tying her to her ex.
“Thanks for seeing me so quickly,” she said. “I was hoping you could handle the closing of my house. I’m trying to do a fast turnaround and I’m paying cash.”
“Of course,” he said. “Where are you buying?”
“Paradise Place,” she said, laughing.
He snorted. Everyone around Albany County knew of Paradise Place, but Robin was from Saratoga. “I heard it’s beautiful there. My best friend, who also happens to be my brother-in-law, his cousin lives there.”
“Who’s that?” she asked. “I don’t know anyone other than the realtor who sold me the house. Ruby Gentile. Soon to be Turner in a few months. She was praising the area, as she lives in the development too.”
“I don’t know Ruby, but my brother-in-law’s cousin is Harris Walker. He married Kaelyn Butler, whose family started Paradise Place.”
“Bet they’ve got a nice house,” she said. “Never heard of them. I mean I know of the Butlers obviously.”
He laughed this time. “Guess you don’t follow baseball. Harris Walker used to be a pitcher for the Mets. He got injured in a car accident last year. Only married a few months ago too. It was in the papers. Anyway, no big deal. Just thought I’d mention them.”
“Paradise Place is big. I heard they have a party each summer, but I missed it. I’m sure I’ll meet a lot of people next year. It was time to get out of town.”
Which explained why she was leaving Saratoga. “Are you still working for the same dentist?”
“No,” she said. “I got sick of commuting from Colonie to Saratoga on the Northway. I knew I could find another job easily enough and did. Just part time but with great benefits. I wanted to continue working with the animals and found a great shelter locally that could use the help. I’m spending two days a week there.”