by Rona Jameson
“What about work?” I asked.
“Vasily has been given a week of sick leave, and I messaged my boss.” Poppy smiled. “I’m off for a few days.”
“Okay.” I squeezed Poppy’s hand. “I can’t wait to have my two favorite people home.”
Rogan
Fallon cuddled against me on the couch and I couldn’t be happier. We’ve spent half a lifetime together and I looked forward to the rest of our years together, however long that would be. Our journey hadn’t always been easy or happy, but together we survived and came out better for the lessons life taught us.
Mom and Dad had been gone for a few years and it hurt us both that they never completely accepted us together. They never cut us out of their life and they had always been willing to support us with Poppy, but there had always been an undercurrent.
Sighing, I ran my fingers through Fallon’s hair, enjoying the silky strands on my skin. This woman was my world and my love for her had never wavered.
The life we’d built here in Newport, Rhode Island had been amazing. Poppy had loved growing up here and she still called it home after not living with us since she went to college. Her life was in Boston with the fire department, and for over a year with Vasily, while mine was still in Newport with the girl I fell in love with so many years before.
It had been nice having Poppy and Vasily home for the past three days. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by Fallon or me that Vasily had been hesitant a few times around me, which made me think he wanted to ask for Poppy’s hand in marriage. They’d both been staying in the guest cabin where Chase and Vince usually stayed when they visited. Poppy’s choice was a good man, and you only had to see them together to know how much in love they were. Their love reminded me of falling in love with Fallon. How exciting it had felt. Whereas ours had been a forbidden kind of love, theirs wasn’t.
Thinking about them, conjured them up. They walked into the house holding hands. Vasily was taller than Poppy by about a foot, which Fallon thought amusing considering I’m a foot taller than she was.
I raised a brow when I met Poppy’s eyes. “Anything you’d like to tell us?”
Fallon gasped and sat upright. I wasn’t having any of it and pulled her back into my arms.
“Um,” Vasily stuttered.
I grinned.
“Dad, you’re being a jerk,” Poppy accused and laughed. “Vasily has something to ask you both.”
“I’ve been waiting since you arrived here for him to ask,” I admitted, and got a finger poking me in the stomach for my trouble. “What? You’re not telling me you didn’t know they wanted to ask us something?”
“I love your daughter and would like her to be my wife,” Vasily said, surprising me with the strength of his voice, considering my amusement.
Becoming serious, I held Vasily’s gaze and swallowed back the tears that suddenly burned behind my eyes. “Yes,” I whispered huskily. “Yes, both Fallon and I would love for you to take Poppy off our hands.”
Poppy rolled her eyes. “Dad!”
Standing, I held my hand out to Vasily. “We would love to have you become an official part of our family. I give you our blessing.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Poppy flew into my arms. I held her tightly and knew now was the time.
“Give me a minute. I have something for you both.” Running upstairs to the bedroom I shared with Fallon, I walked straight to the tallboy beside the window. Inside, buried under my T-shirts was a brown box that I’d kept safe for twenty-four years. I brought the box out and clenched it tightly in my hand while I thought about how I came to have the contents.
It was the day I’d left Fallon and Poppy at our parents’ house. Three days after Julia and Leon had died in a car wreck. There had been an oil spill on the coast highway, and Leon had lost control of the car.
Robert Clifton had been the new director of the funeral home, and I’d gone to school with him. He’d told me that I needed to remember my best friends full of life and not like they were. I’d gone with the intention of visiting with them, but in the end, I hadn’t. Because it was the truth. I’d wanted to keep my memory of Leon and Julia as they had been.
It had been difficult just walking into the building, and even harder asking what I had. I’d asked for Leon and Julia’s wedding bands to keep for Poppy. Robert had obliged and I was forever grateful.
Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I wiped the tears I hadn’t known fell from my eyes and left the bedroom.
Fallon smiled softly when she saw me appear and held her hand out to me. She knew what I was about to do, and nodded her head, her smile encouraging.
“What’s going on?” Poppy asked, glancing between us.
I indicated she needed to sit and I crouched in front of them, and squeezed her knee. “I have something that I’ve kept for a long time, and it’s time I gave them to you.”
Poppy looked confused and glanced at Vasily before she looked down at the box in my hands.
Nervous, I opened the lid and let them see what was inside, and Poppy caught her breath. “Mom and Dad’s wedding bands?”
I nodded and felt Fallon’s hand on my back. “I asked for them so you would have something of your parents.”
Openly crying, Poppy leaned forward and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank you, Dad,” she whispered.
“Vasily, I hope you understand the trust I’m showing you by giving you Leon’s wedding band.”
“I do. I’ll treasure it just like I will Poppy. I love her.”
“I know you do, son.”
Fallon tugged me up from the floor and we walked arm in arm out onto the back porch with the view of the ocean I’d taught Poppy to swim in.
The sun was setting on the horizon as I tugged Fallon in front of me and surrounded her with my body, resting my hands on either side of her on the porch railing.
“Do you ever regret moving to Newport?”
Fallon’s eyes shot up to mine in alarm. “Why are you asking me that?”
“Guess I’m feeling old, and I’ve never asked you before.”
“Never.” She held my face in the palm of her hands. “I’m glad we moved here,” she added, sighing softly. “I’ve never once doubted my love for you. You know that, right?”
I kissed her neck and wrapped my arms around her stomach. “I’ve never doubted you. Guess I’m feeling old now that we’re on the verge of watching Julia and Leon’s daughter walk up the aisle.”
“They’d be so proud of the beautiful, clever, woman she’s become. And please don’t ever doubt my happiness.”
I dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “They would be proud. Leon would still be complaining about Poppy being a fire investigator instead of following in his footsteps as a cop.”
“I want to say that she chose the safer profession, but that isn’t the case. The amount of times I’ve worried about you, and Poppy.” Fallon shook her head. “Sometimes, I hate you leaving to go to work. I want to hold on to you and make you stay home with me. I can’t survive if I lost you.”
Turning Fallon around, I cupped her beautiful face in my hands, and slowly lowered my face and captured her lips. I gave her everything I felt in the way I kissed her.
“My beautiful girl. I love you so much, Fallon Scott.”
THE END
Dear Reader
If you liked Tears in the Rain, I would appreciate it, if you would help others enjoy this book too by recommending it to your friends, family, and book clubs by writing an honest, positive review.
Acknowledgments
Editor: Nadine Winningham
BETA Readers: Jo Magson, Laura Ward, Sonya Covert, and Lynne Garlick
Also by Rona Jameson
Come Back to Me
When Esmé Rogers meets 102-year-old Luke Carlisle in 1987, she never expected to end up on board the Titanic for its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in 1912. What started with confusion and questions turns into the greatest love of her life with a the
n twenty-seven year old, Luke Carlisle.
Summer at Rose Cottage
McKenzie (Mack) Harper needs to get away and the small cottage just outside of Cape Elizabeth is the perfect location to unwind and bond with her six-year-old nephew, Lucas. It’s here at this quaint summer rental that Mack discovers a diary dated March 4th, 1947, which pulls her into a world of love and heartache.
Twenty Eight Days
Condemned for a crime he didn’t commit, Quinten Peterson sat on death row praying for a miracle. He just never expected his angel of mercy to be the girl he fell in love with so long ago.
Butterflies and Darkness
Not everyone is happy with their growing friendship, and just when Wren and Rafael start to realize their feelings for each other go deeper, darkness settles over Rafael once again . . . and this time, he might never recover.
Written as Lexi Buchanan
Bad Boy Rockers
Book 1: Sizzle (Jack ‘Phoenix’ & Thalia)
Book 2: Spicy (Reece & Callie)
Book 3: Sultry (Donovan & Mara)
Book 4: Savor (Ryder & Dahlia)
Book 5: Sinful (Jace & Savannah)
Book 6: Silent Night (Novella)
Kincaid Sisters
Book 1: Meant to be Mine
Book 2: You Were Always Mine (coming soon)
Book 3: Will You be Mine (coming soon)
McKenzie Brothers
Book 1: Seduce (Michael & Lily)
Book 1.5: The Wedding (Novella)
Book 2: Rapture (Sebastian & Carla)
Book 3: Delight (Ruben & Rosie)
Book 4: Entice (Lucien & Sabrina)
Book 5: Cherished (Ramon & Noah)
Book 5.5: A McKenzie Christmas (Novella)
De La Fuente Family (McKenzie Spinoff)
Book 1: Love in Montana (Sylvia & Eric)
Book 2: Love in Purgatory (Dante & Emelia)
Book 3: Love in Bloom (Mateo & Erin)
Book 4: Love in Country (Aiden & Sarah)
Book 5: Love in Flame (Diego & Rae)
Book 6: Love in Game (Kasey & Felicity)
Book 7: Love in Education (Andie & Seth)
McKenzie Cousins
(McKenzie Spinoff)
Book 1: Baby Makes Three (Sirena & Garrett)
Book 2: A Business Decision (Michael & Brooke)
Book 3: Secret Kisses (Charlotte & Tanner)
Book 4: Kissing Cousins (Rachel & Alexander)
Book 5: If Only (Madison & Derek)
Book 6: Princess & the Puck (Paige & Seth)
Book 7: A Bakers Delight (Sofia & Shane)
Book 8: A Cowboy for Christmas (Olivia & Geary)
Book 9: A Secret Affair (Joshua & Mallory)
Book 10: One Summer (Dylan & Jenna)
Book 11: It Started with a Kiss (Ryan & Gretchen)
Book 12: Don’t Leave Me (Jaxon & Niamh)
Jackson Hole
Book 1: From This Moment
Book 1.5: When we Meet (Novella, in the back of From This Moment)
Book 2: New Beginning (coming soon)
Romantic Suspense
Lawful
Stryker
Standalone Novella’s
One Dance
Educate Me
Pure
Holiday Season
Kissing Under the Mistletoe
A Soldier’s Christmas
The Sheriff and the Cougar
About the Author
Rona Jameson is an emerging author of romantic suspense. Her more explicit contemporary romance books are written under pseudonym, Lexi Buchanan.
For more information:
ronajameson.com
[email protected]