She hesitated. “There’s something else.”
I didn’t like the way she sounded. Had she and Warren changed their stance about supporting me in adopting Ame? A terror snaked through me. I would always be Ame’s biological great-uncle, and I would be in her life regardless, but I had my heart set on being a dad to her.
“What is it, Heather? I hope you and Warren aren’t offended by how happy I am that Ame’s going to be officially mine. I know this is tough for you.”
“Actually, Warren and I are thrilled. We think you are just what Ame needs, and we know we’ll still get to be doting grandparents to our granddaughter.”
“Of course. So, you said there was something else?”
“You’re not gonna like this. But we talked about it, and if you want our full support, we need you to go to Melody and repair the damage you’ve done.” She sighed. “Before it’s too late.”
My chest tightened. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. You know what I mean. You’re so afraid of causing pain and so hung up on trying to prevent it, that in the process, that’s exactly what you’re doing—causing pain. To both of you. All three of you.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Don’t I?”
I shook my head even though she couldn’t see. “Look at you, Heather. I have a hard time accepting that you truly believe that. You’ve been through hell. You and Warren both. You’re suffering. Don’t tell me you’re not. I know you are.”
“Yes, of course, you see us suffering through a difficult time, sure. What you don’t see are the moments I have with Warren when no one else is around. The way we still get to cuddle in bed, or the way we spend hours talking while we’re waiting around for his appointments. We’ve never been closer.”
“But… I mean… What if… Uh…”
“What if he dies?”
I was startled by how easily she said it. “Yes.”
“If he dies, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll die right along with him. And if I don’t, I’m fairly certain that at least a major part of me will go with him. We’re a pair. He’s my other half. Without him, I will be lost. But nothing in life is guaranteed. I’m grateful for every second I’ve gotten to spend with my mate. Everybody dies. Most of us don’t know if it’ll be today, tomorrow, ten years from now, or fifty years from now.”
She let out a sigh. “Hamish, I know you’ve seen so much suffering. I know those years of being on duty, fighting fires and working as an EMT in Cleveland you’ve seen some horribly tragic sights. People suffering unimaginable losses, but I want to ask you something. Let’s say these are my mate’s last days, do you think that if I could go back and do it again, knowing what I know now, and how it all ended, I’d do it differently?”
“Heather, I see the new lines on your face, the circles under your eyes, the fatigue in your posture—”
“In. A. Heartbeat.”
“What?”
“As much as this illness sucks, I wouldn’t trade the pain of watching the man I love suffer for one second of the time I’ve spent with him. Not a single second. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. You know why?”
I grunted in response.
“IT WAS WORTH IT!”
It was worth it?
“We don’t always get to choose what happens to us in life, but five minutes of sheer bliss is worth a hundred years of nothing special. Because it’s those moments of bliss that make life worth living. You are not a coward, Hamish.”
I growled. “It’s not about being a coward.”
“Yeah, it is. You’re too scared of what might happen to enjoy the good fortune that is happening. Let me know when you’ve made an honest attempt at winning your mate back, then we’ll talk about Warren and I supporting you through the adoption process.”
“You’re serious?”
“Very. Go and find your bliss, Hamish MacGregor.”
I stared at my phone after Heather hung up, my heart beating out a painful rhythm. Then, my stomach roiling, I dialed Ben back. As soon as he answered, I jumped in. “Don’t hang up.”
23
Mel
The wedding of Brandi and Nathan Hill went off without a hitch. Or maybe I should say with a hitch since they got hitched.
They were dancing and eating and celebrating their sacred union of ‘til death do them part, and reveling in the merriment along with family, friends, and well-wishers.
I stood before a microphone trying to control my pout reflex as I witnessed yet another wedding reception. Another loving couple was fawning over each other while I stood with a gaping wound where my heart used to be.
Nathan couldn’t take his eyes off his new bride, and while I sang Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years,” Brandi and Nathan danced their first dance as Mr. and Mrs.
They were a beautiful couple.
I forced my eyes closed so I could make it through the song. It was getting harder and harder to pretend I wasn’t dying inside during our wedding gigs. Time should’ve eased the pain. Instead, I felt as though the pain grew roots and was taking permanent hold over me.
The song came to an end, and as I opened my eyes to watch the last moment of the dance, movement in the crowd caught my eye. For a brief moment, I thought I saw Mac. My heart leaped, then sank when my brain reminded me it wasn’t him. There was no way it could be Mac.
As soon as the song ended, I turned to Pierce and motioned for him to sing. The father-daughter dance was next, and he could handle singing their song choice without a problem. I needed a break. Pierce didn’t look concerned, which was weird for him. Instead, he just smiled and nodded.
Stepping off the stage and out of the ballroom, I made my way outside and sucked in fresh air. Hands on my hips, I bent over and tried to slow my breathing. How crazy—panting, practically having a panic attack, all because I imagined for a moment I saw Mac.
What did I even think was going to happen? My hopeful brain was foolishly imagining a scenario where Mac showed up at a random wedding because he came for me. Like that would ever happen.
The door opened behind me and I straightened up. I didn’t want anyone else to know how much of a wreck I was. With my back turned to the door, the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up and a warm sensation washed down my spine.
“Hello, Mel.”
Oh no. My blood sugar. I was hallucinating. Although I didn’t feel lightheaded or dizzy. No nausea…
I jerked around and there he was. Mac. The man who’d stolen every conscious thought I’d had for the last couple of weeks. I’d gone through this moment a thousand times in my head. Lying in bed at night, I’d planned whole conversations of what I would say if he showed up. None of them came to mind now that it was finally happening. I was tongue-tied.
Mac’s eyes moved over my face and down my body. They settled somewhere in the middle and he frowned. “You’ve lost weight.”
I hugged my middle, shrinking into myself.
“You’re still incredibly beautiful.”
“Why are you here?”
He stepped closer and tried to touch me, but I stepped back. With a sigh, he rubbed his hand over his head. His hair had grown a little longer and looked more unkempt than it had been. “There are a few things I need to say to you.”
I steeled myself. “I’m listening.”
“There’s something very important—can we go somewhere and talk?”
“Um…we can talk here, can’t we?”
He grunted. “Fine.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and backed up a few steps. I was fighting my body’s instinct to throw myself into his arms and beg him to give us another chance.
“I miss you. I think you miss me too, and if so, I owe you an apology and an explanation.”
My heart leaped into my throat. He stared down at me with such intensity. Under his gaze, I felt like chocolate melting in the hot sun. “What are you talking about?”
“You kno
w what I am. Well, there’s something that comes with being a shifter.” He looked uncomfortable. “We have mates. Like…soulmates. One person on the face of this planet meant solely for us. It’s a very special bond, one that grows stronger with time. Many shifters look forward to finding their mates, even go looking for them. It’s finding your best friend and the person you’re most sexually attracted to all in one. There’s an instant connection that can’t be denied. No matter what. No matter if the other person already has a boyfriend, or if they’re only there on vacation and leaving to go home in just a few days.”
My pulse raced. “What exactly are you saying?”
“Sometimes, one of the mates makes a mistake and doesn’t think things through.”
I frowned.
“You’re my mate, Melody. I knew the moment I saw you in that tree that you were mine.” He came closer.
I held up a hand. I was having trouble processing what he was saying. “I don’t understand. If we’re…what you say we are—”
“Mates.”
“Mates. Why would you abandon me at the hospital? And again after I almost drowned?”
He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a harsh breath. “I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“You’re human, Mel. Fragile. Compared to humans, shifters are tough. Our cells regenerate and adapt at an alarming rate. Shifters don’t get human illnesses or diseases. Physically, we’re ten times as strong. If we’re injured, we heal quickly.” He cleared his throat. “My sister, Heather, her mate is human. They’re the reason I moved to Sunkissed Key—to help take care of him. Her human mate is fighting cancer. He’s been in chemo for a while and he’s…sick.”
I felt a lump forming in my throat and shook my head. “I’m so sorry.”
“Mates don’t function well without each other, especially if they’ve been together for a long time. Heather is suffering too. The sicker Warren gets, the more she hurts.” Mac looked away and blew out a rough breath. “I was scared that if anything happened to you, that I wouldn’t be okay.”
I nodded. “And I ended up in the hospital and then I almost drowned.”
“Mel, I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that you were mine. I screwed up and I have no right to ask, but I’m hoping you’ll at least give me a chance to prove to you that I want you. I promise you that if you just give me a chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you and trying to be the man you deserve. At the risk of sounding cliché… You complete me.”
I couldn’t believe this was happening. Tears filled my eyes. My voice broke. “At the risk of sounding cliché, you had me at hello.”
24
Mac
Mel returned to the stage.
Every time she sang, she looked through the crowd, spotted me, and her eyes lit up. She sang as though she was singing right to me. I was one lucky sonofabitch.
As I stood near the edge of the large festive wedding reception, I decided I wanted to marry Mel in a big wedding. Shifters didn’t normally have wedding ceremonies, but humans did. I’d discuss it with Mel, of course, but if she wanted a ceremony like this, she’d have it—with all our family and friends in attendance.
I’d left Ame with a table of older ladies who treated us both as though we were blood relatives. I’d explained my reason for crashing the wedding and what I had been hoping to accomplish. They were in on the whole thing, insisting I leave Ame with them while I approached Mel.
Aunt Nancy, Aunt Deb, Grandma Ruth, and Nana Linda were still doting on Ame when I returned to their table. Ame, who had been a fussy beast for two straight weeks, calmed as we boarded our flight to Syracuse. The closer we got to Mel, she became more and more of her sweet self. It was ridiculous, but it really seemed almost as though she knew.
The reception ended. The band was packing up. There were still guests milling around, but the lights had come up. I made small talk with the older ladies, got my cheeks pinched and patted, and even my bicep squeezed, before strapping Ame into the special baby carrier that I wore over my suit. It’d taken me a minute or twenty to figure it out, but it was only slightly harder than donning full firefighting gear.
When we got close enough to see Mel descending the stairs leading from the stage, her long black dress cascading down her body, Amy let out an earsplitting howl.
“Meewl… Meewl… Meewl…” Her chubby arms stretched as far as they could, and her little fists clenched and unclenched grasping for Mel. Huh. Maybe Ame had been saying Mel after all.
Mel gasped. “Ame! You brought the baby!”
From too far away, in front of too many people, I called to her. “Marry me, Mel.”
Her head snapped up and her mouth gaped at me.
I smiled down at Ame as the baby squealed and went crazy. She practically climbed out of the carrier and launched herself at Mel, she wanted her so badly. Mel worked on unstrapping Ame from the carrier. “Marry me. Please.”
Mel held Ame against her chest and just stared at me.
Her friend Ingrid came up beside me and scowled. “Get on your knee, you tallywacker.”
I nodded. “Right.”
Mel’s jaw dropped. On one knee in front of her, I looked up and smiled. “Mel, we were made for each other. I’ll spend the rest of our lives showing you that. Will you marry me?”
She suddenly smacked me on the shoulder with the back of her hand and growled in the cutest way at me. “Are you crazy? Get up!”
“Say yes and I will.”
Pierce and Ben shook their heads. “This is embarrassing.”
Ingrid hushed them and put her hands on her hips. “Now, don’t be rude, Mel.”
Mel scoffed. “Are you in on this?”
“Ben might’ve mentioned something about this happening. I might’ve supported it.”
“Mel.” I drew her attention back to me. “What’ll it take to get you to say yes to me?”
She bounced Ame on her hip and pressed her lips to Ame’s little head. “Are you sure—”
Someone in the crowd behind us, I think it was Aunt Nancy, yelled, “Say yes, or I will!”
Mel looked around, realizing for the first time we had an audience. She blushed furiously and then moved closer to me.
Everyone cheered and Ame’s swinging fist was too close to my head. After taking a solid punch to the side of the head, I stood and looked down at my little sparring partner and then at my mate.
“There’s one more thing.”
Mel frowned. “What?”
“I have taken over parenting Ame. Forever.” I shook my head. “Jenny signed her parental rights away and I’m going to adopt her. We’re a package deal.”
Mel blinked away tears and cupped Ame’s head. “Are you using this baby to lure me in?”
“I won’t say it’s beneath me—”
Mel stroked my jaw with her free hand. “Yes. I will marry you. Both.”
I wrapped my two girls in my arms, the luckiest man in the entire world.
Mel took a deep breath and looked up at me, tears streaming down her face. “I’m going to be a wife and a mom. Finally.”
Epilogue: Mel
“Everyone’s seated. We’re ready to begin.” Ingrid smiled warmly as her eyes surveyed me approvingly.
“Coming.” One more glance at my makeup, and I couldn’t contain the grin that spread across my face. It was finally coming true. This was what I’d wanted for so long. All those years ago when I’d given up fame and the spotlight in favor of a normal life as a noncelebrity, this was what I’d had in mind. I was beginning to think it would never happen.
“Aren’t you glad you didn’t settle?”
I just smiled and picked up the bouquet of wildflowers from the side table.
Outside the tent we’d had erected for the occasion, my brother and Ben stood waiting for me.
“Don’t be nervous, little sis. It’s going to be perfect.” Pierce kissed my forehead.
“He’s right. It is.” Ingrid clasp
ed my hand and squeezed. “I’m going to take my seat. But here.” She tucked a tissue in my fist. “I brought a whole box.”
Pierce was on my left and Ben on my right. As the recorded wedding march began, the three of us took the first step down the aisle toward the gazebo on the beach, under which Hamish MacGregor and I would say our vows.
For weeks I’d been fielding jokes from those two about how they might just give me away to the highest bidder, but today, their faces held proud, pleased, but serious expressions.
My engagement ring glinted in the sun, and I wore a flowy, pale-blue sundress for our beach wedding. My future sister-in-law and brother-in-law were in the front row. Warren had donated his wheelchair to charity a month ago, no longer having a use for it, and was in full remission.
Ame was on Heather’s lap, dressed in a frilly, pale-blue dress I’d had made to match mine. It was easily the happiest I could ever remember being. Well, it was a close tie with the day Mac and I signed the adoption papers making Amethyst Isabella MacGregor our daughter.
We weren’t opposed to having more children, but my age and my diabetes lowered my fertility rate. If it happened, it happened. If not, we were more than content with our family of three.
I’d been nervous about today, but surprisingly, it was Mac who calmed me last night and assured me that our lives together were meant to be and that everything was going to be imperfectly perfect.
The moment I spotted him, my lungs froze and my breath caught. Mac was standing under the gazebo that Parker, Laila, and Mariah had draped with flowy white fabric and clusters of floral sprays.
A flutter rushed through me, the way it always did when I looked at him. My mate was incredibly handsome in his light-gray linen pants and bright white button-down shirt.
Mac said a few words to the wedding officiant, then his smiling face nodded at his firefighting buddies seated in the crowd. As he turned and spotted me, his grin was replaced with a look so intense, so filled with adoration, there was absolutely no doubt the man was in love with me.
Craved Mate: Cybermates Page 11