by Souders, Tia
“Are you going to be our replacement nanny?” Peter asked, and Brady scowled at this. Obviously, they were as sad to see Blake go next week as Mel was.
Craig laughed. “Well, no. I don’t think so. But who knows? Maybe I will watch you sometime.”
Bile rose to the back of Mel’s throat at the thought.
“How do you know our mom?” Peter asked, and despite the tension, Mel had to laugh at their inquisition.
“Oh, we go way back. We even went to college together,” Craig said and threw Mel a wink, which made her squirm.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she said. “I’m going to go get a drink.” Then she turned and left as fast as her feet could carry her.
AN ARM CAME AROUND her shoulder just as Mel was finishing the last of her wine at the bar and awaiting her second glass.
“Hanging in there?” Caroline asked, and Mel’s gaze shot to the table with the kids. “Don’t worry. Karen is with them, and I gave her strict instructions not to leave their sight until one of us returned. But I had to come and check on you.”
Mel sighed in relief that she hadn’t left them alone with him. “I’m a mess,” she admitted.
“Tell me about it.”
“Blake was supposed to come with me.”
“Why didn’t he?”
“I pushed him away. Well, in a roundabout way. I couldn’t give him the reassurance he needed.”
“Why do you think that is? You’re crazy about him.”
Mel shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said as tears filled her eyes. “It’s just too much, Craig coming back.” She waved her arms toward the table. “For so long, I dreamed about this day. Even though I was angry with him, I always knew if he came back, it would be better for the kids in the long run. But now. . .”
Caroline sighed and laid her head on Mel’s shoulder. “I know. He turned your world upside down by leaving it, and now he’s disrupting it all over again. It doesn’t seem fair, does it?”
“No.”
Mel inhaled a steadying breath, grabbed the fresh glass of wine—liquid strength—then said, “I better get back.”
“You’ll get through this.” Caroline squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll be here if you need me.”
“I know.” Mel placed her hand over Caroline’s in gratitude before she made her way back to Craig and her children. “Karen,” she said in greeting.
“Oh, hi, honey. I’m glad you’re back. Those canapés are calling my name.” She winked at Mel, then hustled off, oblivious to any awkwardness.
“So far, your coworkers seem nice,” Craig said.
“They are, for the most part.” Mel forced a smile, but it was hard when she didn’t feel it.
“The kids were telling me you’re moving,” he said, and based on the tone of his voice, she couldn’t tell if it was an accusation or not. Regardless, leave it to her kids to spill the beans.
She glanced over at the three of them, then back again. “That’s right,” she said, but Craig barely seemed to hear her. Instead, something behind her had stolen his attention.
When he waved, she turned and followed his gaze to the doorway, wondering who he could possibly know. But the only person she noticed was . . . Mr. Garwood. His presence didn’t surprise her as this was his hotel, but. . .
Frowning, she glanced back to Craig again. “Do you know him?”
“Yeah. I probably should say hi in a bit. I could introduce you.”
Mel shook her head, not understanding. “No, that’s not necessary, but how do you know him?”
“That, my dear, is the owner of one of the largest hotel chains in the country.”
Mel waved him on, growing impatient, and ignoring the term of endearment which made her skin crawl.
“And,” he drawled, “he’s my new boss.”
“Your new boss?” Mel nearly choked on the words.
Craig nodded.
“Since when? How?”
“Get this. So, a week ago, I’m still recovering from the accident, and up and out of the blue, this hotshot calls me and offers me an upper management job. Just like that.” Craig snapped his fingers. “Said he saw my resume on LinkedIn or some crap like that.”
Mel’s blood ran cold as she glanced back toward Mr. Garwood, who was watching them far too intently for her liking. One week ago. Just like that. Funny how it coincided with Blake’s ending his relationship with Jen.
But Mel had bigger problems than a vindictive old man as the meaning of what Craig just told her fully sunk in. A dry laugh escaped her as she stood and waved Caroline over, catching her eye by the appetizers, and pinching her mouth shut until she arrived.
“Caroline, would you mind taking the kids to get some food for just one moment? I’ll be over in a second,” she said, and based on the tone of her voice, Caroline nodded and hurried to take the kid’s hands.
“Come on, guys, there are pigs in a blanket.”
“Ew,” Peter said.
“What’s that?” Kinsley wrinkled her nose as Caroline led them away.
When Mel turned back to Craig, her blood boiled. “You didn’t move back for us, did you?”
“Of course, I did,” he said, his forehead wrinkling in confusion.
“No!” She slapped the palm of her hand over the table, making him jump. “You didn’t,” she said, angry with herself for being so blind, so stupid. “You’re moving back because you got offered a job, which by the way, I suspect has nothing to do with your crap resume and everything to do with something else entirely.”
“What? What are you talking about?” Craig’s face turned blood red. “Okay, so maybe I did get the job, but I had been wanting to come back anyway. What does it matter how I got here?”
Mel laughed, her hands curling to fists. “It makes all the difference in the world.”
She stood, and he rose to his feet to meet her. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, his tone indignant.
“I’m leaving.”
“No,” he said, grasping her arm. “We’re not done here. You promised me the night with the kids.”
Mel sneered. “Yeah, well. I lied. Sucks, doesn’t it?” Then she shook his hand off.
“Wait.” He moved in front of her, trying to stop her. “Let’s talk. Think about it, Mel. He’s offering me a lot of money. I could make life easier for you.”
Mel snorted. “I don’t want your money.”
Mel swallowed the lump rising in the back of her throat as she noted Mr. Garwood leaving the hall from her periphery, and her thoughts drifted to Blake. Blake, who deserved more than this. Blake, who deserved a woman who could tell him she loved him, or at the very least reassure him when he needed it. She had failed him today. And as she stood, facing off with Craig, it all became clear.
Mel was scared of getting hurt again. Without Craig in the picture, she was able to close her eyes and take that leap with Blake, pretend like her heart hadn’t been broken four years ago when he left. But the second he came back, and she laid eyes on him, it reminded her of all the things she risked by giving her heart again. It wasn’t old feelings for Craig holding her back. She resented him, and those times she dreamed of his return, it was the relief he could provide that was the dream, not love.
But she had stood on her own two feet for the last four years. She didn’t need someone to come in and save her. She was her own Prince Charming. All she really wanted was love. Pure, unadulterated, altruistic love.
Mel stepped forward and jabbed a finger in Craig’s ribs. “If you want a relationship with your kids and only your kids, so be it. But you will not see them again until you’ve proven to me that you’re sticking around for good. And even then, it will be a slow road to trust and acceptance. Do you understand?”
“Yes, but—” Craig reached for her again, but she dodged him.
“Get out of my way.”
Craig’s hand stilled, and he dropped it. A smart choice for a man who valued all his limbs.
She sidestepped
him, then stormed her way across the hall. Caroline’s eyes widened when she saw her. “Whoa,” she said. “Everything okay?”
“Everything’s great. Just as it should be.” Mel glanced down at her kids. “Kinsley, Peter, Brady, take those snacks to-go. We have a mission.”
“What mission?” Peter asked, perking up.
“Catch Mr. Blake.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
BLAKE
Blake stood and kicked the toolbox by his feet, then threw the wrench in his hand just as Grant opened the door to the shop room. He ducked, holding a hand over his head to parry the torpedoing tool.
Once the coast was clear, he stepped inside. “Whoa. Still in a mood, I take it?”
Blake sighed and snatched the rag off his shoulder and wiped the grease from his hands.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Grant said when Blake didn’t answer.
Grant sauntered toward him, then leaned against the shop bench and crossed his legs. “You know it’s bad when all the guys hide from you until their shifts end. They’re not used to so much animosity from you.”
Blake speared him with a look, then shuffled to the bench beside him and lifted his water bottle to his lips. “Do you have a point?”
“It’s Mel, isn’t it? What happened?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Blake slammed the bottle back down and braced his hands against the shop bench, trying to calm himself. He squeezed his eyes closed, but every time he did, he saw Mel’s face.
Maybe he had been wrong to leave like he did. Maybe he let his disappointment and pride cloud his better judgment. Why couldn’t he just suck it up and go to the party? It was better than leaving her the way he did. But he just couldn’t shake the feeling she was going to choose Craig over him, and then where’d he be? Even more attached to the kids and brokenhearted. He may be strong, but he wasn’t strong enough to stand by and watch another man—one who didn’t deserve her—slowly win her over.
He exhaled and opened his eyes to find the workbench beside him empty and Grant gone. He didn’t blame him. He’d been a bear since he arrived earlier.
“There you are.”
Blake froze. His heart skipped a beat at the sound of that distinctive raspy voice. The one he had fallen in love with the minute he heard it—way back at The Burnt Bean—before he loved her kids. Before the toilet fiasco, the Garwood hotel disaster, or the night they danced under an indigo sky.
He swiveled around, afraid the sound was merely a figment of his imagination. But when his eyes met hers, he drunk her in. She wore a little black dress that scooped at the neck and cinched at her waist. The skirt swished above her knees as she walked. Clenching the counter behind him was all he could to stop himself from running to her and dragging her into his arms.
He cleared his throat. “What are you doing here? Where are the kids?”
She stopped, and the corners of her lips curled ever so slightly. “Your brother is showing them some of the bikes in the back. He saw me come and offered. . .” she trailed off, wringing her hands in front of her chest.
“I should’ve gone to the party with you,” he said because he was weak. Watching her fall for someone else was better than missing her entirely.
“No.” She shook her head, and her eyes pinched as she glanced away. When she turned to him again, they were filled with tears. “I was wrong, and you were right. Well, partly. I don’t still love Craig. I haven’t for a long time, maybe the moment he walked out that door. But I—” Her voice cracked, and she took a moment to compose herself. “The night he came back reminded me of all the reasons love can hurt. It reminded me of what I had to lose by trusting you, and my walls went up. Right or wrong, with him gone, it was easy to ignore my fears. But with him there and the reminder staring at me right in the face, it brought back the memory of all that pain. I can’t go through that again. If we stayed together for a while and then I lost you, too, I—”
“That would never happen.” Blake’s heart beat against his ribs as he took a step closer.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” She didn’t love Craig. Not at all. “The only way I’m leaving is if you want rid of me.”
“But today. . .”
“A stupid move,” he took another step, “that I regretted the moment I left. A dumb decision I made because I, too, was scared that you could love him again. That I’d lose you and the kids before I ever really had you.”
Mel choked on a sob, and Blake reached out, gently wiping the tears that trickled down her cheeks. “I love you,” he whispered. “I think I loved you from the moment you tripped over Brady and spilled coffee all over my crotch.”
Mel barked out a laugh. “Really?”
“Really.” He leaned toward her and brushed his lips over her cheek, tasting the salt of her tears.
“I love you, too,” she whispered. “I think I knew the moment you fixed my toilet.”
Now it was his turn to laugh. He clutched his stomach, the relief of it flooding in his veins. “Aren’t we the romantic pair.”
Mel smiled up at him as he brought their hands together, in between them, intertwining their fingers. “Whatever happens with Craig and the kids, we’ll figure it out together. We’ll make it work, and I’ll be there for you every step of the way. No more going it alone.”
Mel exhaled with a smile before it faded and she bit her lip. “About that. . . It’s yet to be seen whether Craig will actually stick around. As it turns out, a very prestigious hotelier offered him a job out of the blue. A week ago, to be exact. That’s the real reason he came back.”
Blake frowned as he absorbed this new information. “Garwood?” When she nodded in response, he scowled. “You think he did that because—”
“I don’t know why he did it. I mean, obviously, his motive had to do with you. Maybe he thought if Craig returned, whatever we had would end. But does it matter why?” she asked, staring up at him, her expression tight as she waited for his response.
“No. Nothing matters, but this,” he said, brushing his lips over the back of her hand.
“My guess is Craig will be gone by the end of the week, but if he’s not, we’ll handle it together.”
Blake grinned. “Together,” he murmured, then he leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers.
“Ewwww, Mommy’s kissed Mr. B!” Peter screamed.
Blake chuckled against Mel’s mouth, as he leaned away from her, and they both turned to find Brady and Peter staring at them with wide eyes, while Kinsley grinned. Behind them, Grant flashed Blake a thumb’s up, to which he rolled his eyes and whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Mel, “I think we’ve been busted.”
Mel giggled. “I guess so,” she said, then turned and kissed him again. This time, on the cheek.
EPILOGUE
BLAKE
ONE YEAR LATER . . .
Blake couldn’t remember a time he had been more excited. Okay, maybe a few came to mind. The day he married Mel in the little chapel in Highland Park. It was September and gorgeous. The air was warm and crisp, with the hint of autumn to come. The sky was blue, and as he said his vows in front of Mel’s parents, his brother, their friends, their kids, Blake knew he was the luckiest man in the world.
The day they returned from their honeymoon and he revealed to Mel his wedding present for her—a completely remodeled kitchen—ranked pretty highly, as well. He’d remembered everything she wanted from that long-ago date where they danced under the stars. But he supposed that didn’t even come close to competing with the day the triplets started to call him “Dad.” That day would be branded on his heart forever. It just sort of happened without him noticing. One day, he was Mr. B, and the next, he was Dad. But this . . . This was tough to beat.
When the door opened, and the sonogram tech rushed in, his stomach jolted with excitement. Finally, after twenty weeks, he’d find out if they were having a little boy or a girl. “Ready?” he asked, Mel, beaming.
Me
l exhaled with a grin. “Ready.”
The sonogram tech sat on her stool. She was a young woman, with black hair and a crooked smile. “Time to meet that baby,” she crooned. Then she grabbed a bottle off the cart next to her. “This will be a little cold,” she said and squirted a generous glob of gel onto Mel’s stomach. Next, she placed the wand onto Mel’s belly and began to move it slowly as a picture came into view.
Blake gasped. There it was—their baby. Not just a little white peanut on the screen like her early sonogram, but an actual baby. And it was beautiful.
Blake stared in amazement as his baby jerked suddenly, it’s little heart beating like a drum.
“You wanted to know the sex, right?” the tech asked, staring at the screen.
“Yes,” Blake blurted.
“But first,” Mel said. “You’re positive there’s only one in there? There’s not another one hiding behind this one, right? You would know?”
The tech laughed. “I’m positive. We would definitely see if there was another baby in there.”
“Because—”
“Mel,” Blake squeezed her hand, “the doctor’s already told you a million times that your situation the first time around was different. You would definitely see twins.”
“Right.” Mel sighed. “Okay.”
“I wouldn’t have minded twins though.”
Mel shot him a dirty look and poked him in the ribs.
“What? I wouldn’t.” He stared at her in wide-eyed innocence.
“Well, I, on the other hand, am happy to have one. Think about it, Blake,” she said in awe. “Last time, it was just me. It was three-on-one. This time, it’ll be a game-changer. The stakes are reversed. I have you and only one baby. Two-on-one. Can you imagine? This one will be a cakewalk in comparison.”
“Don’t speak too soon.” Blake laughed. “And you’re kind of forgetting the other three. Face it, babe, we’re still outnumbered.”