by Dana Mason
“Your dinner’s getting cold,” he said, smiling at her.
“I don’t need food. I only need you.”
“You have me, Bailey. You have me forever.”
He leaned forward and pecked her lips with a quick kiss. “Did I tell you I changed a verse on your song?”
She pulled back to look at him fully. “‘Coming Clean’? Why would you change it? It’s perfect already.”
He sat up and took her hand, pulling her with him. Before she could say another word, he started singing the song he’d written for her. Ryan gripped her hand firmly as he sang, his voice steady as he stared at her. Bailey listened intently but didn’t hear a change until he finished the last verse.
It’s true, I’m clean
I’ve kept it covered, my dirty secret
But thanks to you I’ve found me out
Fifty years isn’t enough time with you
Say yes, and I’ll wipe the slate, clear a space and tie myself to you forever
As he finished the last verse, he slipped a ring on her finger. She looked down, her eyes filling with tears. The diamond caught the candlelight and twinkled like the stars above.
“Will you marry me?”
Bailey stared at the ring, trying not to let the lump in her throat keep her from screaming yes at the top of her lungs. “I’d love to marry you. More than anything.”
Her eyes lifted to the sky, and a single shooting star crossed her line of vision. She knew it was her mother, Helen, shouting her approval and happiness. She smiled and looked back at Ryan.
He took her hand and kissed it where he’d placed the ring. She stared at the setting and thought it looked familiar, but she wasn’t sure. Ryan cupped her neck and stared at her, watching the tears drop from her eyes. “I love you, Bailey Grace Morton. I love you brighter than the stars and deeper than the lake.”
“I love you brighter than the stars and deeper than the lake, too,” she whispered, leaning in to kiss him.
“Can we eat now?” he mumbled through their kiss.
Bailey laughed and leaned back, realizing how ravenous she was. She never made the connection between hunger and happiness before, but sitting on this boat with her new fiancé had her smiling and eating like she hadn’t eaten in years. They laughed and talked and planned. They wanted kids and grandkids one day, and to spend the rest of their lives living happily on this lake.
Once they finished eating, Ryan started blowing out candles and preparing the boat.
“What are you doing? I thought we were spending the night out here.”
“Don’t you want to share the news?” Ryan asked, starting the engine and steering toward shore.
She stared at him, her heart overflowing at the affection in his voice. It had been a long road for her and her family, but they had all grown genuinely fond of each other over the last few months.
She couldn’t have asked for a better relationship between them, with the exception of Nicole. By choice, Bailey hadn’t seen or spoken to her, but she knew, after spending thirty days in a treatment center, Nicole had been released for outpatient care.
The Rosa Trials had finally ended their story about Bailey, but it took a long and detailed statement from the FBI, explaining some of the details about Bailey’s parents. She hated the idea when Sharpe had suggested it, but he was right when he said Rosa would get bored with the story once everything was public. Oh, and Rosa had finally declared Bailey innocent in her ‘Rosa Trial.’ Rosa had no choice after the FBI had exposed everything.
Ryan pulled the boat into a private slip and tied off.
“What are you doing? Whose house is this?”
“Don’t worry. We were invited.” He pulled her by the hand up several flights of stairs toward the back door of a beautiful lake house. The house was fairly dark, and she wondered if the occupants were still up.
“Ryan, who lives here?”
“Well…let’s find out.”
“What?”
He led her up onto a huge brick patio and pulled her to the back door, opening it without knocking.
“Ryan, what are you doing?”
Once they were inside the dark house, the lights came up, and many people shouted, “Surprise!”
Bailey jumped back, her hands flying to cover her mouth. “Holy crap.”
Her father, Linda, James, Stanley, Wade, Lucas, and Mae, with many of her other friends, were packed into a large kitchen. The room was full of boxes, and it looked like someone was moving in.
“What’s this about?” she asked.
Her dad approached and pulled her into the tightest hug. “Congrats, sweetheart. I know he’ll make you very happy. And if he doesn’t, your brothers will have him fitted with cement shoes to wear in the lake.”
“Hey,” Ryan said on an open-mouthed laugh.
James and Stanley laughed, too, with a little glint in both of their eyes.
When her father released her, she looked around again. “Whose house is this?”
“Oh,” Alex said. “Didn’t we tell you?”
Bailey’s eyes grew wide. “Tell me what?”
“We bought a house on the lake.” He waved his hands around. “Linda and I suspected we’d be spending a lot of time here in the future, and we’re not particularly fond of hotels.”
“Oh, my God. Really?” Bailey bounced on her heels. “That’s so exciting.”
“Yes, we’ll be up here a lot more often. And it’s a family home. Nicole, James, and Stanley will use it often, too, I’m sure.”
Bailey hugged them all in turn, her heart full and her head spinning from all the excitement. When she came to Linda, she received the biggest hug. As Linda pulled away, she lifted Bailey’s hand and examined the ring. Then she held it up for Alex to see, too.
“It’s beautiful on her hand, isn’t it?” Linda said, her eyes misting over.
“Yes, perfect for her.”
Bailey glanced between them, feeling confused. “Have you seen it? Did Ryan show you before?”
Alex nodded. “Ryan very respectfully came to me and asked for my blessing before proposing.” His smile faded slightly as he looked at the ring. “Of course, I gave my blessing, and I gave him this ring.”
Bailey looked down at the ring. “Whose…where…?”
“It was Theresa’s ring, the same ring I used to propose to her with.”
“Oh, wow.” She looked over at Ryan’s smiling face. “I absolutely love that.” She fisted her hand and held it to her chest. “That makes me very happy.” She fought to keep the whine out of her voice, but she was so touched by the fact she was wearing her mother’s ring, she couldn’t control the tears as they spilled from beneath her lids.
“Alex wasn’t sure, but I knew you’d be touched.” Ryan brushed the tears from her face and wrapped his arms around her tightly. “Bailey…”
“I love you,” she said. “I love you brighter than the stars and deeper than the lake.”
OTHER BOOKS BY DANA MASON
If Finding Bailey got your heart pounding, your pulse racing, and left you wanting more, don’t miss Dana’s Accidental Love Series or her Embrace Series, all available on multiple platforms.
Romantic Suspense to get your heart pounding!
Embrace Series
Dangerous Embrace, Book One
Precious Embrace, Book Two
Broken Embrace, Book Three
Embrace Series: Romantic Suspense Box Set
Scorching Contemporary Romance with a guaranteed HEA!
Accidental Love Series
Accidental Groom, Book One
Accidental Lies, Book Two
Accidental Secrets, Book Three
Prefer to listen to your romance? Check out Dana’s audiobooks:
Dangerous Embrace
Precious Embrace
Accidental Groom
Accidental Lies
Accidental Secrets
MORE FROM DANA
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my family, those of you who are still here, thank you. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to do this dream job. And it is still my dream. To all of my extended family and friends, thank you for your constant support. Please keep sharing and spreading the word. I couldn’t do this without you.
To the people who read everything I send them, Lisa, Katie, Nancy T, Paige, Nancy G, and Linda, thank you so much for your valuable feedback and for answering my never-ending questions. I’m forever grateful for having you ladies in my life.
Katie, I’m not sure how I’d continue to do this without you. You keep me sane. I hope you know that I treasure you and our friendship. Thank you for always being around for me, and thank you for your steadfast honesty, even when it’s hard to hear.
Lisa, girl, you’re a freaking rock star and an inspiration. I want to be you when I grow up. You keep me writing, even on the most challenging days. Your enthusiasm is relentless every damn day, and I admire that. You’re humble and generous and just an all-around wonderful person who deserves everything this life has to offer.
Nancy T, ditto everything above! Thank you for always being available and supportive. Thanks for fixing my words, knowing your shit, and keeping me pointed in the right direction. Because I need that, all the time!
Carrie Butler, you’re such an extraordinary friend. Thanks for putting up with me! It’s hard to work with friends, and I understand that. I also realize I’m not an easy client, but I hope you know how much I appreciate the effort you put into making me happy even when I didn’t know what I wanted.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Thank you so much for picking up my book. I know you have many, many choices out there, but I’m thrilled you chose to read mine. Writing Finding Bailey has been a labor of love. I began researching and writing this book in 2010 after coming across a news article about an abandoned baby. Horrified with the idea of someone being so heartless, I had to wonder what it takes to do that, especially to your own child. Then my wheels started turning, and I knew I had to write this story. These characters have been in my head for many years. Time and time again, I set this one aside for other books, and other ideas, but that doesn’t make Finding Bailey any less special to me. And I really hope you love Bailey and Ryan as much as I do.
I’ve tried to make them as human as possible, which required me to do a lot of soul searching and questioning my own relationships. We all wonder, don’t we? We’ve all had the feeling of not belonging at some point in our lives. Living with cooler, or more athletic, or smarter siblings will do that. Being the youngest, or the smallest, or the one who struggles in school when the people around you are thriving, is, I think, something we’ve all felt at one time or another. With this thought, I wondered what it would feel like to find out that I didn’t actually belong. And then, what happens when the abandoned baby grows up? Does she question everything? Or does she feel utterly secure within her adoptive family? All these questions led to Bailey’s story.
Every heroine needs an equally complicated hero. I can easily say, Ryan has been one of my favorite characters to write. On the outside, he’s a very cool, confident, and articulate person, but inside he’s just like the rest of us. Swimming in insecurities and seeking acceptance, even if it’s only from Bailey. I love strong but vulnerable men in my romance novels, and Ryan fits the bill for me. I hope you like him as much as I do.
I’ve considered turning this into a series, writing a story for Lucas and Wade as book two and three. What do you think? Would you like to hear more about the men of El Lago? Please take the time to write a review of Finding Bailey and let me know what you think about follow up books! I’d love to hear what you think!
Thank you,
Dana Mason
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dana Mason started writing about ten years ago after being overwhelmed by a story that wouldn’t let her sleep until she wrote it down. The story, Dangerous Embrace, was published in 2012 and won Best Mystery/Suspense from eFestival of Words Best of Independent eBook Awards in 2014. Dangerous Embrace is the first book in her Embrace Series. The second book in the series, Precious Embrace, was Runner-Up for Best Hero from eFestival of Words Best of Independent eBook Awards that same year. Her third book, Broken Embrace, was awarded Best Indie Book in 2015 in the Romance Category.
Dana loves turning your worst nightmare into happy endings. She lives in Northern California with her husband, children, and her writing companion and mighty protector, Mia the Chihuahua.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
OTHER BOOKS BY DANA MASON
MORE FROM DANA
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHOR