“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong,” Mac said.
“Let all that you do be done in love,” Brandon finished the verse. It was the very reason he’d taken immediate action and flown to Richmond to confront Montague. Warmth spread across his chest. His heart was thumping wildly. As he walked towards the car, side by side with his brother, the realization slammed into him like a sledge hammer.
He’d fallen head over heels in love with Rose. And it was high time he let her know it.
“Getting married is such a hopeful thing. I once thought I’d never find love again. Life showed me that love is all around us.” Ryder Donahue
Chapter Eleven
When Sunday rolled around without a word from Brandon, Rose had to stifle her disappointment. She’d gotten so spoiled having him around all the time. It felt like a shock to the system not being able to talk to him or hear the low rumble of his laughter or watching him run around with AJ.
He has his own life to live, she reminded herself. He didn’t owe them a single thing. Not after all the wonderful things he’d done to make sure AJ’s heart was filled with the magic of Christmas. She just needed to fill up her time with AJ, since he was the center of her life. Her son was the reason she’d struck the bargain with Brandon in the first place. Her overwhelming love for her son. And yet, spending time with Brandon had opened up her heart like a blossoming flower.
“What’s Brandon doing today? Can you call him?” AJ had suddenly appeared at her side, a look of expectation on his face. “Please. Please. Please.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not calling him, little man. We’re just going to hang out today the two of us.”
AJ stuck his lip out. She held up her hands. “What am I? Chopped liver.”
“No,” AJ said, dragging his sneaker along the floor. “It’s just that I like spending time with Brandon. He’s super smart and fun and it makes me feel that I—” His voice trailed off.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Makes you feel what?”
“That I’m normal. That I have a dad just like everyone else!” he shouted.
Here it was. Out of the mouths of babes. It was what she’d been afraid of this whole time. She shouldn’t be surprised. Things had been escalating in recent weeks. The lines were becoming blurred and AJ was latching on to Brandon to fill the void left by his own MIA father. It was the most natural thing in the world to want Brandon to fill that role, yet it might result in her son getting his feelings bruised and battered. And it wouldn’t be Brandon’s fault at all. The blame would sit squarely on her shoulders. She’d seen AJ and his hero worship of Brandon. She could have nipped the whole situation in the bud, but her own feelings for Brandon had muddied the waters. Day by day, both of them had fallen for Brandon, until they were being swept into quicksand with no means of escape.
Lord, please help me guide my son in a gentle and loving way. I don’t want to break his spirit. I just want him to keep things in perspective so he’s not counting on things that might never happen for us. He’s a wonderful, bright light in my world. And I don’t want that light to be extinguished. For six years I’ve managed to protect my sons from the slights and arrows of the world. Please, Lord. Let me soothe his pain right now.
Using her most gentle voice, Rose said, “Honey, it’s great that you and Brandon have become buddies, but he’s not your father. And we can’t lean on him in that role. It just wouldn’t be fair, honey.”
“Fair? Fair?” AJ huffed. “It’s not fair that my father isn’t here.” AJ wrapped his little arms across his chest. Angry tears streamed down his face. “Why don’t I have a dad like everyone else?”
AJ’s words seared her heart like a hot poker. It gutted her to know he was in such pain. All this time she’d been under the belief that he was too young to hear the truth about his father. How wrong she’d been.
She bent over so that she was eye level with AJ. “No, it’s not fair. It’s not right. And I think, if it’s okay with you, it’s time for us to talk about it.”
AJ looked at her with surprise radiating from his eyes. He sniffled back tears. “You’ll tell me about him?”
She nodded, tears pricking her eyes. “Whatever you want to know. It’s time.”
Taking her son by the hand, Rose led him over to the small table in their breakfast nook. AJ sat down in one of the wooden chairs. Rose sat down across from him, then reached across and grabbed his hand. “AJ, first of all I want you to know you’re the single most important thing in my life. I can’t imagine loving anyone more than I love you.” She inhaled a deep breath. “I met your father when I was twenty-two. He was my first serious boyfriend.”
“Did you love him?” AJ asked, his eyes never leaving her face.
“Yes, baby. I loved him. Very much.” And she had loved him. He’d been her first love. She’d mistakenly thought he’d loved her also, until the day he walked out of her life. How in the world could she tell her son the man who’d given him life had never even laid eyes on him? That he’d walked out on him by choice?
“Did he love me?” AJ pressed. The question was like a dagger to her heart.
“He never knew you, AJ. Sadly, he didn’t stick around long enough to see you or hold you or love you.”
“Why? That’s pretty rotten,” he said angrily.
“It stinks. Really it does. Remember how I told you about growing up in foster care and how my birth parents didn’t raise me?” Rose asked.
AJ looked at her with sad eyes. “I remember. I felt sorry for you, mama. And happy for me, ‘cause I always had you.”
Rose smiled at her sweet boy. “That’s right, sweetie. And you’ll always have me, no matter what. Your father wasn’t a strong man. Strong men don’t walk away. Because the truth is, he walked away from a wonderful blessing. A gift from God.”
“So it wasn’t my fault?” he asked in a quiet voice.
“Of course it wasn’t,” she crooned. She stood up and reached for AJ, cradling his head against her middle. “For a while I thought it was my fault, until I realized that the only person who bore responsibility was your father. Sometimes people make awful choices…based on fear, on selfishness, on not being able to wholly love the people in their lives. Your father made a lot of bad choices. But he has to own that, not you, baby. Never you.”
“Can I tell you a secret?” AJ whispered, his expression intense.
“Of course you can.” Rose held up her pinky. “I know how to keep a secret.”
“A few times I found myself wishing that Brandon was my dad,” AJ admitted. He hung his head down and wouldn’t make eye contact with her.
She rubbed his head. “Honey, I don’t blame you for that. Brandon has given you his time and attention. He’s a good man. Who wouldn’t respond to that?”
AJ nodded in agreement. “Do you like Brandon a lot?”
Rose nodded. There was no point in denying it. “Yes. I like him. A lot.”
“You said before that Christmas is a time for miracles.” AJ bit his lip and frowned. The wheels seemed to be turning in his head.
Rose nodded her head. “Yes, I did. Christmas is a hopeful time. We celebrate the birth of Jesus, which was a miracle. It’s a season full of joy, hope, love and the promise of miraculous things.”
AJ grinned so wide it threatened to take over the entire landscape of his face. “So I’m going to pray for a miracle.”
“What kind of miracle?” she asked. The look on her son’s face hinted at barely contained excitement.
“Prayers are private,” AJ said. “It’s between me and God.” AJ jumped up from his seat and sauntered away from the table, his step full of pep and vigor. Rose watched him as he practically bounced up the staircase. She was happy that AJ had a wonderful relationship with the Lord. It was wonderful that he was able to use prayer to bring him closer to his faith.
She raised her finger to her lips. Something told her that AJ’s Christmas miracle might revolve around Brando
n. And her? Or maybe she was too caught up in Brandon herself, since all of her thought seemed to lead straight back to him.
**
Once Brandon landed back at Hyannis Airport, he instructed the car service to head straight to Rose’s house after dropping off Mac. As Mac got out of the car he turned toward him and said, “I hope you’re going to tell Rose how you feel. It’s pretty obvious from where I’m standing.”
“Thanks, Mac. For everything. I’m headed to her house now. Say a prayer for me, okay?”
“Always,” Mac said, closing the door behind him.
The closer Brandon got to Rose’s house, the more excited he became. He couldn’t wait to tell Rose that Davis was no longer a threat. She didn’t have to worry about him taking her son away from her. AJ was hers…for now and for always. As the car pulled up to Rose’s house he spotted a pint-sized figure building a snow man in the front yard. A few feet away stood Rose, decked out in a bright red parka and a matching hat. Love swelled inside of him for these two people who were now imprinted on his heart. He couldn’t imagine a life without them. He hoped he wouldn’t have to.
When the car came to a stop AJ raced over to the door, a look of happiness stamped on his face. When Brandon emerged, AJ flung himself into his arms, not even trying to play it cool. Brandon embraced him, his eyes straying toward Rose, who stood a few feet away watching them.
AJ pulled away and said, “You’re just in time to help us make a snowman.”
Brandon bent down so that he was eye level with AJ. “Tell you what. Give me a chance to switch up my clothes and talk to your mother a little bit, and I’ll be ready to help out.”
“Yay!” AJ rejoiced, running back towards the yard and picking up a mini shovel to dig up more snow. Brandon walked towards Rose, greeting her with a kiss on the lips as she met him halfway. He’d barely been gone two full days and he’d missed her like crazy. He wondered if she felt the same.
“It felt as if you were gone an eternity,” Rose said, her hands holding on to the collar of his coat. “And you didn’t even tell me where you were going.”
“I went to Richmond to meet up with Davis Montague.”
Rose’s jaw dropped. Her beautiful brown eyes widened. “B-Brandon!” For a moment all she could do was utter his name. “How? Why did you go there?”
He pulled her towards him by her arms. He locked gazes with her. In the tenderest way possible he needed to show her that for now and always he would be by her side, protecting her and making sure no one every hurt or took advantage of her. “I love you, Rose. To the depths of my soul I am happily, crazily in love with you. And I could not and would not stand by and let someone hurt you.” He took a breath. “Montague has been handled. He won’t darken your door. Not ever again,” Brandon said boldly.
Rose began to cry profusely. The more she wiped away, the more coursed down her cheeks. “I-I can’t believe you did that for me. N-No one’s ever…ever done something like that for me. I feel like a monumental weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I’m stunned by what you did.”
He reached out and tipped her chin up so that she could see the conviction on his face. If she wanted him to he would shout it from the rooftops. “Didn’t you hear the part about me loving you? With love all things are possible.”
“I love you too, Brandon Donahue. I didn’t know it was possible to love someone as much as I love AJ. But I do love you, Brandon, all the way down to my tippy toes.” She laughed through her tears, then began to hiccup.
Brandon laughed along with her. “Wow. I tell you I love you and you start crying, then laughing and hiccupping.”
“You’re my everything, Brandon. My world. I feel like someone should pinch me and wake me up from this glorious dream.”
He ran a finger across her ice-cold cheek. “You’re not dreaming, baby. This is the real deal. We’re in love. And I can’t wait till the whole world knows it.” He leaned down and placed his lips over hers in a celebratory kiss. Rose raised her hands to either side of his face and kissed him back. The kiss went on and on with neither one of them seeking to end it.
“Hey! You two are kissing!” AJ shouted. “Gross!”
They broke apart and turned to see AJ standing a few feet away with his hands placed firmly on his hips. Without another word, he ran off in the other direction as Brandon and Rose doubled over with laughter.
“Give him a few more years,” Brandon said. “He’ll realize that girls are the most delightful thing in this whole world.”
“A few more years? Make it twenty at least,” Rose cracked. “He’s still my baby.”
“He might not always be,” Brandon said, giving Rose a hint of things to come after they walked down the aisle. A home by the sea. Rose. AJ. And a houseful of children.
“Oh, Mr. Donahue, you’ve made me such a happy girl,” Rose said.
All of sudden Brandon felt a cold thump against the back of his head. “What in the world?” he asked as Rose pointed behind him.
“Gotcha!” AJ screamed as he clapped his mittened hands in triumph.
Brandon looked at Rose and asked, “You want to team up and take him down?”
“Of course. He’s been taking shots at me ever since the snow first started falling,” she said with gusto, bending down to scoop up a snowball. Brandon did the same. As they both turned toward AJ he let out a shriek and begged for mercy. When he realized his pleas weren’t working, AJ took off at the speed of light.
Supreme joy filled Brandon’s heart as he raced after AJ with Rose at his heels. It didn’t get any better than this, he thought. He’d finally found the missing pieces of his puzzle. Rose. AJ. An abundance of love. Rose and AJ, combined with his amazing Donahue family made him the luckiest man in the world. He vowed to never forget it and to always live in love.
EPILOGUE:
Christmas Eve—St. Mary’s Church
“You may now kiss the brides,” Pastor Mike announced as a loud, thunderous clapping
burst out in the church. Brandon stood at the altar next to his brothers and his father, watching as both Remy and Ryder kissed their brides, Tess and Gabrielle. Brandon cast a loving glance over at Rose, who was seated in the front pew with AJ, his mother, Layla, Sarah and Seth. He winked at AJ who gave him the thumbs up sign, along with a wide grin that hinted of shared secrets.
The church had been decorated for a Christmas wedding, with poinsettias gracing the altar and pine cone sashes hanging from every pew. A lovely pine scent hovered in the air. As the bride and groom, followed by the bridal party and guests, filed out of the church, doves were released from a cage as a sign of peace for the newly married couples.
Brandon squeezed Rose’s hand as they gazed upward toward the sky. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful,” Rose gushed as her gaze followed the doves in flight.
He drew her in close to his side and grazed his mouth against the nape of her neck. “You’re the loveliest sight I’ve ever laid my eyes on. Bar none.”
“Brandon, you always make me feel so very beautiful,” Rose said, her radiant face filled with joy.
He gently traced her lips with his finger, then leaned down to place a triumphant kiss on her lips. This was such a sacred day for his brothers and his two new sister-in-laws. And even though it was their special day, he had something in store for Rose that might make this day an unforgettable one for her as well. He looked around for AJ. That morning he’d reminded him of the plan and the need to stay close. Within seconds he’d spotted AJ. After nodding in his direction, AJ gave him the thumbs up sign and moved closer toward them.
“Come back inside with me for a moment,” he said in an even voice, even though his nerves were making him feel a little jittery.
“What? Did you forget something in the pew?” Rose teased, her dark eyes glinting with merriment.
“No. I didn’t forget a thing. The opposite actually. I found something I’ve been searching for my whole life.” He cleared his throat, trying to s
hake off the nerves. Swiftly, he got down on bended knee. As he looked up at Rose he recognized the look of complete shock on her face.
All of a sudden his nervousness disappeared. It had been replaced by a feeling of pure conviction. Rose was his destiny. There wasn’t a single thing in his life he knew with such a deep, profound certainty. While their pasts as children relegated to the foster care system provided common ground, there was so much more that they’d found in one another that tied them together. Deep down at their core, they wanted the same things. Home. Hearth. Family. A love for all time.
He grinned at her, his heart filled almost to overflowing. “Rose. I can’t think of a time in my life when I’ve felt more centered or content. They say that when you meet the person you’re meant to be with you’ll know it, all the way down to your very soul. It took me five years to open up my eyes, but I promise you, I see you. I see all the wonderful things about you. And I treasure them. I will always put you and AJ first. I want you to be my wife, to have and to hold for the rest of my days. I want to be the family you never had. Your cornerstone. If you’ll have me.” He dug into his tuxedo pocket and pulled out a red velvet box. Flipping it open he revealed a large pear shaped diamond. It glinted and gleamed inside the box. Rose let out a gasp and placed her hand over her mouth.
“Rose Demetria Maddock, will you marry me?” Brandon asked, his heart thumping so loudly in his chest he was afraid Rose might be able to hear it.
Rose dropped down on her haunches so that they were on eye level. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stared deeply into his eyes. “Of course I will, Brandon Donahue. I love you to the ends of the earth. Being your wife and making you my family is about as good as it gets. I’ll be honored to be a Donahue bride.”
If Only In My Dreams (Seven Brides Seven Brothers Book 5) Page 14