The Best of Me: a Hope Valley novel

by Prince, Jessica

  Trick moved fast, closing the distance between us and silencing me with a passionate kiss. By the time he lifted his head, I was so turned on I couldn’t remember what had been bothering me.

  “Jesus, Nona. Did you take a single breath during that rant?”

  I hadn’t, and that became obvious when I had to suck in a huge gulp of air to re-inflate my lungs. “If you couldn’t already tell, I’m kind of freaking out.”

  His chest shook with silent laughter. “Yeah, I got that.”

  I smacked his shoulder and scowled. “It’s not funny!”

  It took him a second, but he managed to lose the smile, though his eyes were still alight with humor. “Nona,” he said softly, running his hands along the silk of my nightie, “let’s go to bed.”

  “But—”

  “First of all, I sleep like a log, always have, so if you snore, I seriously doubt it’ll bother me. When it comes to you moving around, ditto on the heavy sleeping. If, by any chance, you wake me up in the middle of the night with your thrashing, all I have to do to make you stop is hold on to you. Simple fix, baby. And last, I already knew your ex was a fuckin’ moron, but this just goes to show there’s no limit to his stupidity. You have a woman like you in your bed, the last thing you do is leave her there alone. It’d be different if he had insomnia or trouble sleeping on his own, but that wasn’t the case.” He cupped my cheeks. “I’m not him, Nona. I already told you, I know what’s right in front of me, and no way in hell I’m leaving a bed you’re in. No matter what.”

  That ball unfurled instantly, and all my anxiety melted away.

  “You feel better now?” he asked when I didn’t say anything.

  “Yes,” I answered softly. “I feel a lot better.”

  “Good. Then let’s go to bed, yeah?”

  I nodded and broke from his hold, bending to grab Diva from where she’d been conked out on a folded towel I’d placed in the corner of the room for her. She let out an unhappy grunt at being disturbed, then plunked down where I put her on the foot of the bed, passing right back out. I climbed on all fours to the very center of my king-size bed, putting myself in the optimal position to be held by Trick. Climbing beneath the covers and looked up at the smiling man, I patted the space beside me for him to enter.

  He quickly flipped off the lights. The bed dipped, and a second later Trick’s long, solid arm slid around me, pulling me against him. He situated himself on his back so my cheek was resting on his chest, my arm draped over his rigid stomach and my thigh tucked between both of his.

  I snuggled into him and gave his waist a squeeze, letting out a content sigh as I prepared for sleep.

  “Baby,” Trick said a minute later, his deep voice cutting through the silent dark.

  “Hmm?”

  “Was Chris really the only man you’ve ever spent the night with?”

  “Yeah,” I answered quietly. “I met Chris when I was nineteen. I was only twenty when I got pregnant with Blythe, and I had her when I was twenty-one. There had only been one other guy before Chris, and that was back in high school. We had to sneak around to have sex, so we couldn’t exactly spend the night together.”

  “So I’m only, what, the third man you’ve slept with?”

  Lifting my head, I folded my hands on his chest and rested my chin on top of them so I could see the outline of his features through the darkness. “I wouldn’t exactly call that first one a man,” I giggled. “But yes. And you’re also the best I’ve ever had. You know, just in case you were wondering.”

  He let out a growl and fisted a hand in my hair, tipping his head so he could give me a rough kiss. “I probably shouldn’t love hearing that, ’cause it means you’ve spent all this time missing out on something good, but I do. I really fuckin’ do.”

  “Such a caveman,” I teased, lying back down.

  We lapsed into silence once more, and I was the one to break it this time. “Trick?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry you didn’t get the bad guy you were wanting to get.”

  His arm gave me a squeeze while his deep inhale made his chest rise. “Thanks, beautiful.”

  “Welcome, handsome. And I know you’ll eventually get him one day.”

  That got me another squeeze.

  “Honey?”

  His chest shook with laughter. “Yeah, baby.”

  “Something’s wrong with Blythe.”

  His laughter stopped in an instant, and I felt his body go tense. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not sure. She’s just been different, ever since she got home from her dad’s.”

  “And she hasn’t told you what’s wrong?”

  Concern crept in and burrowed beneath my skin. “She says it’s nothing, but I know she’s not telling me the truth. I’m her mom. I can tell.”

  “I’m sure everything’s all right,” he said after several seconds. “She’s a teenage girl. They’re notoriously moody. Maybe something’s happening at school she’s tryin’ to work through on her own. But if she can’t, she’ll come to you eventually.”

  It all sounded completely reasonable, but that mom instinct, the voice in the back of my head that spoke loudest when it came to my kids wouldn’t shut up. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  As if Trick could hear the uncertainty in my voice and held me even tighter. “It’ll be okay,” he insisted.

  “You can’t know that for sure.”

  He began rubbing my arm in long, soothing strokes. “Yeah, I can, darlin’. I know because you’d die before you ever let anything happen to either of those kids. It’ll be okay because you’ll make it okay, whatever it is. You’re just that terrific of a mother.”

  I was quickly coming to discover that Trick had an uncanny gift for making me feel better in most every situation. Lifting my head to look up at him, I stated, “You know, you saying stuff like that is a huge turn-on. You better stop if you want to get any sleep tonight.”

  His voice was laced with humor as he replied, “All right, baby, I’ll stop. For now.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Nona

  It took a few seconds for my brain to reengage and remember the past several hours as I slowly peeled my eyes open and shook off the sleep clouding my brain. I was in the same exact position I’d fallen asleep in, with one major exception.

  Trick was no longer in the bed with me.

  Shifting to my side, I saw the shadow of his large frame in the hazy light of the early dawn sun coming through the slats of my blinds. I was hit with a sick sense of déjà vu that knotted my insides as I watched him pull his pants on.

  Hearing the shuffle of the sheets, Trick turned to the bed. But instead of the look of regret he had on his face the last time, he hit me with a blindingly beautiful smile.

  “Hey, you’re awake.”

  “Yeah. What time is it?”

  “A little after five,” he replied, buttoning and zipping his fly.

  “Let’s do this the right way,” he muttered, moving back to the bed. “Mornin,’ beautiful.”

  I returned his grin, that sickness in my stomach disappearing. “Hey, handsome.”

  He sat beside me in the bend of my legs and caged me in, placing a hand in the mattress on either side of me. The move jostled Diva at the foot of the bed, and she let out a little puppy groan. “I should probably get goin’ before your kids wake up,” he said, lifting a hand to brush the hair off my forehead.

  My mouth fell into a frown, and my bottom lip poked out. “Yeah,” I grumbled unhappily. “I guess you’re right.”

  Trick studied my face for several long seconds before asking, “You in this with me, baby?”

  I brought one of my hands up to trace along his jaw. “Yeah, honey. I’m in this with you.”

  “Good.” He smirked. “Hannah already knows about us, but when I get them back, we’ll be having a long talk. We’ll have to ease them into this, but I don’t wanna drag this out. They need to know what you are to me so we can move forward
. Hopefully sooner rather than later so I won’t need to sneak out at the butt crack of dawn for much longer.”

  My chest swelled, my heart rising to my throat and making it hard to speak. “What, um….” I cleared my throat. “What am I to you?”

  “You’re mine, Nona.” Those deep grays grew intense as they scanned my face. “You’re mine, and I’m crazy about you.”

  I sucked in a sharp gasp as I slipped my fingers into his hair and forced his head down to mine. “I’m crazy about you too, Trick,” I said against his lips before kissing them softly.

  Diva let out a little yelp, shattering the moment and making me laugh against Trick’s mouth. “Someone wants attention.”

  He released a pained groan and stood up to finish dressing. “Somethin’ tells me she’s gonna be a serious pain in my ass.”

  I threw back the covers and got out of the bed, grabbing my short satin robe from the back of the bathroom door before heading for the dresser for the panties Trick insisted I not wear the night before. “You named her Diva for a reason, handsome. She comes by her name honestly.”

  He picked up the entitled puppy and we started out of the room. We made out inside the front door until Diva had enough and made her displeasure known a few minutes later.

  “What time do you get off work today?” he asked once we broke apart.

  “No work. I always take the day off for birthdays. It starts with a big birthday breakfast, then I spend most of the day baking a big elaborate cake.”

  “What kind?”

  “Dr. Pepper bunt cake.” I laughed at the face he made. “Trust me, it’s to die for.”

  “Well, seein’ as everything you’ve baked so far has been, I’m gonna take your word on that.”

  I giggled and leaned in to him. “You’ll find out later this evening. And I expect a very extravagant apology for making snap judgments.”

  “Deal.”

  He gave me one last kiss before heading back across the street, and I went about making my boy a special birthday breakfast.

  * * *

  Tristan woke up just as I finished the last piece of French toast, and I heard his loud declaration of “I’m a teenager!” being shouted through the house just before he blew into the kitchen like a hurricane.

  He skidded to a stop on his socks, nearly taking out a few of the kitchen table chairs in his excitement.

  “Happy birthday, kid!” I greeted, throwing my arms wide.

  “I’m basically a man now, Mom! How awesome is that? Do I look older? I totally feel older.”

  I cut off the burner and studied my son as he gave me a wonky grin. One side of his hair was sticking straight up from sleep, and his cheek still had pillow creases on it. There wasn’t a doubt in the world that my boy was growing—before I knew it, he’d tower over me—but it was moments like this, when he just woke up, that I caught glimpses of my precious baby boy. But he didn’t want to hear any of that.

  “You kidding? You practically look like an old man. Cop a squat before you break a hip, Grandpa.”

  Tristan laughed and pulled up a stool as I put the finishing touches on breakfast. I mixed up a yummy sweet cream cheese spread to go between the two thick-cut pieces of brioche I’d dipped in an egg and cinnamon mixture and grilled up. I topped the dish off with powdered sugar and cut-up strawberries before sliding the plate Tristan’s way.

  His eyes went big and he thrust one arm into the air, shouting “Yes! Stuffed French toast! You’re the best, Mom!”

  I gave him a wink while popping a slice of strawberry into my mouth. “Glad you approve, kiddo.”

  Blythe dragged in a minute later, her face still slack with sleep.

  “Morning, honey pie.”

  She let out a mumbled, barely intelligible response as she sat down beside her brother, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing out loud. My kids were a trip when they first woke up. If it hadn’t been Tris’s birthday, he would’ve been dragging just like his sister, normally walking into walls. My kiddos slept hard and woke up even harder, looking more like zombies than humans first thing in the morning. And it normally took them a good five minutes to pull out of it.

  I slid a plate of stuffed French toast in front of Blythe and caught a faint flash of life in her eyes as she tucked in.

  “All right, guys. Tonight’s The Groves. That means as soon as you get home, I want homework done so you don’t have to worry about it after. Deal?”

  “Deal,” Tristan answered through a full mouth.

  Blythe chewed and swallowed before asking, “Is Mr. Wanderly still goin’ with us?”

  I studied my girl from across the island while sipping my coffee. Trick’s words from the night before popped into my head, and I knew without a doubt that I wanted the exact same thing he did. I needed to explain to my babies just how important he was to me, so I could start leading them toward a new normal that included a whole lot more of Trick. “That’s the plan, as long as you guys are still cool with it.”

  “Totally!” Tris cheered.

  Blythe’s lips turned up in a soft, sleepy smile. “Yeah. It’s cool.”

  “Uh, you know….” I cleared my throat awkwardly, gripping my coffee mug tighter as I struggled to find the right words. “Your sister already knows about this, Tris, but Mr. Wanderly and I are kind of… well, dating.”

  Tristan’s head came up, his cheeks stuffed full. “I know,” he garbled.

  My chin jerked back in shock. “You know?”

  He worked to swallow his food before speaking again. “Yeah! Like, everyone knows. And it’s so freaking cool! Me and Shawn were talkin’ about it at school yesterday, and if you guys get married, we’ll get to be brothers! How awesome is that?”

  “Oh, well I… that’s not, um… we’re—”

  “Jeez, Tris. They only just started dating. Freak her out, why don’t you.”

  Tris shot his sister an annoyed glare. “I know they only just started dating. I’m not talkin’ about them getting married tomorrow, duh. Just maybe one day in the future. I just think it’s cool Mom’s got a boyfriend is all. And it’s even cooler that it’s Mr. Wanderly. He’s, like, the best. And he’s a cop, which means he puts bad guys away for a living. It’s totally awesome that Mom’s dating a cop.”

  “Thank you, honey,” I said before Tris and Blythe could enter into one of their typical knockdown drag-outs this early in the morning. “And you’re right. Trick is cool. He’s actually pretty amazing.” I felt a nervous blush creep up my cheeks. Never in a million years had I imagined having a conversation like this with my kids, but now that it was happening, I was coming to discover I was ill prepared.

  “Talk of marriage or stuff like that isn’t really on the horizon right now, but, uh, we are getting serious. And, well, he’s kind of important to me. But you guys are more important!” I added quickly. “And I just want you two to know you’re always gonna come first, no matter what. But—”

  “Yeesh, Mom, chill,” Tris broke in. “We already know we’re your favorite people on the planet. You make it so obvious.”

  “It’s true, Mom,” Blythe added. “It’s not like we’re babies. We know what dating means, and it’s really not that surprising that you and Mr. Wanderly got together. He’s always looking at you like you’re the prettiest woman he’s ever seen.”

  My head shot to my daughter, eyes wide as my heart threatened to burst right through my chest. “He does?”

  “Totally. Especially when he thinks you’re not looking. It’s been obvious he’s had the hots for you a while, so this was a long time coming.”

  Tristan rejoined the conversation then. “And if you were dating some loser, maybe we wouldn’t be okay with it, but Mr. Wanderly’s not a loser. All of my friends think you’re the coolest mom in the whole town, because you are. And since you’re so cool, you deserve someone like Mr. Wanderly, because he’s the coolest dad in town. So it just makes sense that the coolest mom and the coolest dad would get together
. It’s like a law of nature or something.”

  “Thanks, kid,” I choked out, trying to hold back my laughter. My boy was being dead serious, and I didn’t want to do anything to take away from that. Even if his words of wisdom were delivered in a way that was pretty hilarious.

  “No problem,” he said on a shrug as he dug his fork into his breakfast. “I’m basically super wise now that I’m all grown up.”

  There was no holding back my hilarity then, and I threw my head back on a loud laugh.

  When I finally got a hold of myself and looked back to my kids, Tris was giving me another wonky grin, but Blythe’s smile was soft and warm, full of knowledge most fourteen-year-olds didn’t have.

  It was a smile that said she was happy for me, that she thought I deserved the best, and she was thrilled her mom was finally getting it.

  God, I freaking loved my kids.

  “Have I told you guys lately that you’re the best kiddos a mom could ever ask for?”

  Me turning mushy effectively killed the moment.

  “Ugh!” Tris stuck his tongue out and made a face like he’d just gotten a big whiff of dog poop. “Gag! Mom’s gettin’ all emotional and feely!”

  That smile on Blythe’s face went from soft to smart aleck in a heartbeat. “I’d say you seriously lucked out.”

  I picked up a piece of strawberry and threw it at them, but I did it with the biggest grin on my face.

  Blythe wasn’t wrong. I really had lucked out when it came to them, and each morning was another in a long line of blessings.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Nona

  “Mom! I can’t find my belt!” Tristan shouted from his bedroom just as the doorbell sounded.