If Only In My Dreams (Seven Brides Seven Brothers Book 5)

by Calhoune, Belle

  Brandon pressed his eyes closed and uttered a prayer of thanks that the love of his life had said yes to his proposal. He hadn’t even allowed himself to think of the alternative. It would have gutted him. With a sigh of appreciation he took the ring and reached for Rose’s finger. He slid the ring on, whispering a “Hallelujah” when it fit her finger nicely.

  “Brandon! This ring is insane!” she cried out, holding her finger up and admiring it.

  “I hope that’s a good thing,” he teased. The ring was an 8 carat, flawlessly cut diamond. He’d had it flown all the way from Paris from a well-known Parisian jeweler. Only the best for his lovely bride to be. This was love, he realized. Nothing mattered but Rose, AJ and his large, loving Donahue clan. If he lost his corporation tomorrow, he’d still be fine, as long as he had love in his life. And he’d found it with this perfect, spiritual woman and her son. They’d found it.

  “It’s gorgeous, Brandon. And this ring is way grander than anything I ever dreamed of having,” she gushed. “You didn’t have to get me something this big.”

  Brandon reached for her hand and pretended that he was going to take the ring off her hand. “Well, in that case I can always return it and exchange it for something more modest.”

  She swatted his hand away. “Don’t you dare, Brandon Donahue! I’m not taking this ring off for the rest of my life.”

  “Aww. That’s music to my ears, my love,” Brandon said. He swooped her up in his arms and pressed a tender, triumphant kiss on her lips. As his lips moved over hers he heard a slight coughing sound. They broke apart and turned toward the sound. AJ was standing there holding two dozen white roses in his arms. Right on cue.

  “Congratulations, Mama,” he said as he extended the bouquet to her. Brandon shook his head. He’d forgotten about AJ’s role in the proposal. That’s what happened when you wore your heart on your sleeve and proposed to the woman of your dreams. Your brain turned into mush.

  Rose greeted AJ halfway, wrapping her arms around him. “Hey, you’re going to crush the flowers,” AJ protested.

  “Oops. Sorry, baby,” Rose said as she pulled away from her son and took the roses from his arms. She raised them to her nose and inhaled deeply. “They’re gorgeous. Almost as spectacular as my two favorite guys.”

  “I’m really happy you’re going to marry Brandon,” AJ said. “And Santa was right. My Christmas wish came true. I’m going to have a Dad.”

  Tears were now falling from Rose’s eyes. He felt a tightness in his own chest at the realization that he was going to be a father to this incredible boy. AJ’s father. Rose’s husband. And the father to their future kids. How had he gotten so lucky? A few weeks ago he’d been lonely at his core and seeking contentment in his personal life. In the blink of an eye his entire life had transformed. It was like a beautiful dream.

  Brandon reached out and placed his arm around AJ’s shoulder. “AJ. Do you think you might want to start calling me Dad? We don’t have to wait until the wedding.”

  AJ’s eyes widened. “Really? I can call you Daddy? Like starting right now?” he asked.

  Brandon placed a hand over his heart. It had just cracked wide open. “Yes, son. Starting this very moment.”

  Rose’s tears turned into sniffles until she was choking back sobs. “I’ve been crying buckets lately,” she sniffed.

  AJ reached over and squeezed her hand. “Mommy. Don’t cry. Please, don’t cry. All your dreams have come true.”

  Rose sniffled. “Oh sweetie, these are tears of joy and gratitude. I’m so happy I don’t know how to hold it all in. I could just burst with it.”

  Brandon took his finger and wiped away her tears. “I would have waited for tomorrow morning to propose, but I just couldn’t wait another day to make you my fiancée. Let’s keep it a secret though, at least for a little bit. I don’t want to steal any thunder from Remy and Ryder.”

  Rose nodded, then put her finger to her lips and motioned to her son. AJ nodded. She knew he could keep a secret. After all, he’d known Brandon was going to propose today and he hadn’t uttered a peep to his mother.

  Brandon held out his arm for Rose. She looped her arm around Brandon’s waist as AJ

  reached for Brandon’s hand to hold. Together, the three of them walked out of the church and into the bright afternoon sun. With snow swirling all around them they walked in unison toward the waiting limo. AJ ran ahead of them and jumped up in the air, his fancy black shoes clicking together, mid-air. Rose stopped in her tracks and turned toward Brandon, lifting her face up toward him so that they could share a kiss in celebration of their engagement.

  “By the way, I still plan on working for you, Donahue,” Rose murmured against his lips. “After all, nobody knows the vast secrets of your empire better than I do.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Brandon said as he rained loving kisses all across her forehead, then trailed down to her cheeks and mouth. “Let’s go celebrate. Donahue style,” Brandon said as he grabbed hold of Rose’s hand and walked toward the waiting limo and their son. The future they’d always dreamed of was right within reach. All they had to do was grab hold of it.

  When You Believe * Maggie and Alec…January 2015

  Baby, It’s You. Wyatt and Kaitlyn February 2015

  Seven Brides, Seven Brothers Book 6

  Chapter One

  The peal of his doorbell ringing sounded like nails scratching against a chalk board. Who in the world was foolish enough to come by his house today? Hadn’t he told everyone to leave him alone to his misery? It would be just like Remy or Blue to show up at his door in an attempt to cheer him up. Or maybe it was Nick bringing him lunch from his restaurant. Or Mac trying to wrestle him into submission. Humph! It was easy for them to be as happy as clams. Three of them were newlyweds and all three were blissfully in love. Although Mac was still single, he was the type who never let anything get to him. And not one of them had a bum leg that had been out of commission for almost nine months straight.

  “Go away!” he shouted, not caring at the moment who was standing outside his door. Even if it was his parents, he was fully prepared to tell them to go home. Not that his mother would listen to him. She’d barrel into his house like a hurricane if she wanted to see him.

  Life as he knew it had come to a crashing halt two weeks ago. The car he’d been driving had been sideswiped by a reckless driver, causing him severe damage to his left leg. He’d been rushed to Breeze Point Hospital by ambulance, then flown by medevac to Mass General Hospital in Boston. After emergency surgery, he’d been given dire news. It was fairly unlikely that he’d get back to top notch condition.

  The whole thing was ironic considering that at the time of the accident he’d been almost fully recuperated from knee surgery that had kept him off the baseball field for months.

  Now, due to some careless teenager out joyriding, his life had been rear-ended. His career was now over. Kaput. Finished. All his dreams had gone up in a puff of smoke. And it enraged him. It wasn’t fair! He’d worked his whole life towards the goal of being a professional baseball player, only to have it snatched away from him by the cruel hands of fate. And a stupid kid who didn’t even have a valid license.

  The doorbell pealed again. In frustration he reached for the television remote and hurled it against the wall. “What part of go away and don’t darken my doorstep don’t you understand?” he screamed. He navigated his wheelchair down the hall, his anger propelling him forward at a fast clip.

  Once he reached the door he wrenched it open as a few choice words erupted from his lips. “In case you didn’t hear me, I said to go away. Go away,” he roared. “And get off my property!”

  A woman stood on his doorstep with a frown marring an otherwise gorgeous face. She stood with her hands on her hips, looking perturbed. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled up into a high pony tail and her blue eyes flashed a dangerous warning. She had a cute little nose with freckles scattered across it that happened to be scrunched up a
t the moment. “I’d love nothing better than to go away, considering your foul attitude, but I can’t get paid unless I have a session with you. So, if you could zip it for forty-five minutes and follow my instructions, you actually might improve your condition.” She folded her arms across her chest and began tapping her foot. “You think you can manage that, hot shot?”

  Wyatt opened his mouth, then quickly shut it. Who in the world was this bossy woman standing at his door? And who had hired her as his physical therapist?

  “Who hired you?” he growled. Maybe it had been Brandon. He’d been telling him to snap out of it for the past few weeks.

  She took a step backward, her eyes growing larger by the second. “Don’t you dare raise your voice at me. Just because you’re a somewhat famous professional baseball player doesn’t give you the right to scream and yell at people.”

  “Wait right here!” Wyatt said, turning his wheelchair around and heading straight towards the kitchen. After a few seconds of fumbling in the top drawer below the microwave, he located his checkbook. Grabbing a pen he placed it with his checkbook in his lap.

  When he got back to the front door she was still standing there with her nicely shaped lips stuck out in annoyance. “What’s your name, Miss?” he asked, using every bit of his charm and sweetness. Ever since he’d been a kid people had told him that he could charm the birds from the trees.

  “It’s Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn O’Malley,” she answered in a soft voice. She seemed to have lost a lot of her vim and vigor after he’d toned his voice down and sweet talked her. Yep, he concluded. He’d charmed this pretty robin right from her tree.

  He grabbed the pen and opened his checkbook. He scrawled her name on the check, then made it out for an outrageous sum of money. After ripping the check from the book he held it out to her. “Here’s your money, Miss O’Malley. Never let it be said that Wyatt Donahue doesn’t pay his debts.”

  Her mouth flew open as she gazed at the check. Shock registered on her face. She began to sputter. “I-I can’t accept this check. It’s ten times the price of a session.”

  “That’s not my problem. Consider our business done.” Wyatt reversed his wheelchair and lifted his good leg in order to kick the door closed. He smiled as it shut with a bang.

  That’ll teach his family to try and force his hand. And that should get rid of Little Miss Sunshine.