Love Me Tender (Seven Brides, Seven Brothers)

by Calhoune, Belle

  Throwing his car into Park, he jumped out and raced toward Layla's car. There was smoke swirling from the back of the vehicle. The sound of police sirens rang out in the distance.

  Please, Lord. Let Layla be alive. And don't let this car explode before I can get her to safety. Please be merciful. My beautiful Layla has already been through so much in her young life.

  As he reached the driver's side, he could see Layla's head slumped to the side. The airbag had deployed. He yanked on the door, meeting resistance. It was locked. He saw Layla's chest moving up and down. She was alive!

  Thank you, God.

  He banged on the window, hoping she might be able to open the door from the inside. No response. Again, he wrenched at the door, pulling with all his might. All of a sudden the door gave way and popped open, causing him to fall backwards. He scrambled to his knees and stood up, reaching into the car to extract Layla. She was breathing, but she wasn't responsive. Her eyes were still closed. Her face was ashen.

  Out of the corner of his eye Nick saw several police cars, fire engines and Breeze Point Rescue, the EMT service Ryder and Tess worked for, pulling up to the scene. With Layla in his arms, he turned toward the ambulance, watching as his brother and Tess ran towards him.

  “Nick, hand her off to us. We have to get her to the hospital,” Ryder ordered.

  “I'm coming with you,” Nick said. “I can't leave her.”

  “You can't just leave your car in the middle of the road,” Ryder said. “Just follow behind us in your car. She's in good hands with us. I promise you. I won't leave her side,” Ryder vowed.

  “Nick, please,” Tess begged. “She really needs to be assessed.”

  Nick handed her off to Ryder, who, with Tess' help, gently placed her on the stretcher in the back of the ambulance. Ryder clapped Nick on the shoulder. “We'll see you at the hospital.”

  “Please, help her. I lost her once before, Ryder. I can't bear to lose her a second time.”

  *

  Layla sat up in her hospital bed. She was fully dressed and ready to be discharged. Where was Nick? He was supposed to have been here half an hour ago. She was trying to be patient, but she'd had enough of get well balloons and tasteless jello squares. She felt very grateful to have survived the crash with nothing more than a concussion and a cracked rib from where the airbag had deployed. Grant hadn't been so fortunate. He'd perished in the crash. That knowledge had filled her with an almost unbearable sadness. She'd offered him a chance at redemption, yet he'd sneered at the opportunity to gain some measure of peace in his life.

  At some point she'd like to speak with his parents and help them attain closure. For now, she just wanted to be with Nick and bask in the love she'd found with him. Now, more than ever, she realized the importance of living each day with love in her heart.

  Nick appeared in the doorway of her hospital room, looking handsome in his jeans and button down shirt.

  “Does this mean the doctors are going to spring me? I've had enough of Breeze Point Hospital,” Layla said, folding her arms across her chest.

  “You needed to be here getting all the requisite tests. Concussions are no joke.”

  She shook her head. “I still can't believe Grant is dead. And for what? Obsession?”

  “I'm still stunned that you were willing to show him such mercy and grace. You offered him forgiveness and a chance to start fresh. He threw that gift back in your face. He didn't want redemption. He wanted vengeance. And control.”

  “I loved him once. It was nothing like the way that I love you, Nick. What we share is a once in a lifetime love. I feel genuine sorrow that he couldn't manage to embrace a new path.”

  Nick reached for her hand. “You've inspired me.”

  “Really? That's nice to hear,” Layla said, squeezing his hand.

  “Because of you, I've been thinking a lot about forgiveness. I don't know if forgiving Loretta is possible. But I do know that people can change. And I want to be the type of man who can work towards forgiveness for the woman who brought me into this world.”

  Layla let out a gasp. “That's amazing. I'm so happy you're going to explore that relationship.”

  “Me too,” Nick said. “I called her yesterday. Turns out I have a ten year old brother. We're planning to meet up for coffee in a few weeks. We'll take things nice and slow.”

  Layla was feeling warm and fuzzy inside. She let out a contented sigh. “You never fail to amaze me, Donahue.”

  “Hopefully, this won't disappoint you.” Nick got down on one knee next to her hospital bed. He looked up at her, his warm brown eyes filled with a myriad of emotions and a bit of trepidation. Layla sat as still as a statue. She didn't think she would be able to move or speak if her life depended on it.

  Nick cleared his throat. “Ten years ago I fell in love with you. Because we were so young I wasn't certain of that love, even though I knew in my soul it was the real deal. I bought a ring for you all those years ago, but I didn't have the courage to follow through. My heart knew the truth, but my fears held me back.” Tears pricked his eyes, and he blinked them away. He wanted so desperately to get this right. So much was hinging on it. His very happiness. Their future. “I lost you once. And I almost lost you again a few days ago. I'm never going to take a chance on losing you again, Layla. Without you, I'm never going to be at my best. I'd be a shell of a man.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little gold sack tied up with a fancy ribbon. Holding it out to her he said, “Pull the ribbon. It's the first step in watching our future unfold.”

  With big eyes, Layla reached out and pulled the ribbon. Nick reached inside and pulled out a dazzling diamond ring surrounded by sapphires.

  He held it up to Layla with shaking fingers. Layla cried out. “Oh, Nick. It's stunning.”

  “I'm a big believer in second chances. It's been a recurring theme in my life. With God's grace we've been given a second chance. To love. To cherish. To honor. To keep. Layla Mason, will you marry me? Will you spend the rest of your days as my cherished wife, someone I will love and adore for all time?”

  “I can't imagine a more blessed life,” Layla said, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “It would be an honor to become your bride.” She started laughing through her tears. “And I can't imagine a better family to join than the Donahue clan. No one loves harder than your family.”

  He reached for her hand and placed the ring on her finger, admiring the way the stones glinted in the light. A feeling of pride exploded in his chest. “Layla Donahue. I like the sound of that.”

  “You can't call me that until it's official. You'll have to wait a while for that,” she teased.

  “Not necessarily,” Nick said, flashing her his most endearing smile.

  “What's that grin for? Are you holding out on me, Donahue?”

  “I'm thinking I won't be able to wait months and months to make you my bride,” Nick answered.

  Layla wiggled her finger, a pleased expression on her face as she admired it. “Is this the same ring from ten years ago?”

  “I'd love to say I held on to that original ring, but in a fit of anger I threw it into the ocean.”

  Nick ducked his head down, not wanting to see the look on Layla's face at his admission. It had been an act of immaturity and disillusionment. He'd only been nineteen at the time, but he still wished he'd behaved in a more mature manner.

  “No! You didn't?” Layla asked, her mouth hanging open.

  He raised his head up and met her gaze. “No one ever accused me of being calm, cool and collected back then.”

  “We all make rash decisions, Nick. I'm not happy to have gone through what I did with Grant, but if I hadn't gone through my journey, I wouldn't be the woman I am standing here with you.”

  Nick groaned. “It kills me that we lost so many years together.”

  Layla reached out and placed her fingertip on his lips. “Shh. Nick, I'm going to say something you might not want to hear.” She
took a deep breath. “I think we were too young to build a life together. I think we had the best of intentions, but it's highly unlikely it would have worked out. We each had a journey we needed to travel. And it led us straight back to each other.”

  “It did, didn't it? I'm eternally grateful for that blessing. I just wish you hadn't been forced to suffer so greatly over the years.”

  “Every step I took led me back home to Breeze Point,” she murmured, leaning in for a kiss. “And to the handsomest restaurateur in the whole world.”

  “Home sweet home,” Nick murmured as he surrendered to the sweetest kiss imaginable. It had been forged through pain, loss and heartache. But, because of faith, devotion, and a deep belief in happily ever afters, he and Layla had found everything they thought they'd lost. Only this time, it was for keeps.

  EPILOGUE:

  Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Donahue request your presence at The Cove Restaurant at 11 am for a post wedding brunch.

  The invitation had been sent out to the entire Donahue clan, along with a handful of their closest friends. Everyone had been shocked to discover that Nick and Layla had gone to Niagara Falls over the weekend and gotten hitched by Pastor Luke at the Eternal Chapel of Love. Nick's philosophy was that he'd wanted to marry Layla ten years ago, and he didn't see the point in having a long, drawn-out engagement. He wanted to marry the woman of his dreams. Layla, grateful that she no longer had to live in fear, had embraced the idea of a Niagara Falls wedding. They both knew they had everything they'd ever wanted in each other. There was no point in waiting a day longer to become Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Donahue.

  “You finally got your girl,” Brandon said as he walked over and patted Nick soundly on the back.

  “True love always prevails,” Nick said with a grin. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he'd been happier. With Layla as his bride and the support of his family and friends, the future stretched out with endless possibilities. It was strange how life sometimes gave you the very thing you'd always needed to be completely, deliriously happy.

  “Not sure if I believe that love always prevails, but if anyone deserves it...it's you, Nick.”

  Brandon's mushy sentiment caused him to choke up. Of all his brothers, it was Brandon who'd been his inspiration, the one who'd led the way academically. Brandon had lit a fire inside him to excel no matter where his passions led him, and no matter how hard he had to fight to conquer his obstacles. And now he was standing here supporting him, as he'd always done.

  Brandon frowned at him. “Give it to me straight. Did I stand in the way of your happiness all those years ago?” Brandon's dark features were creased with worry. “Is it my fault the two of you spent years apart?”

  The look on Brandon's face spoke volumes. Although he wasn't an emotional person, his expression radiated distress.

  “No way, Brandon. You're not responsible. I had a lot of doubts myself. If I'd been one hundred percent convinced of the wisdom of settling down at nineteen, I would have held firm to my plan.”

  Brandon heaved a tremendous sigh of relief. “I only ever wanted to protect you. As long as you know that, I'm straight.”

  “I've always known that. That's what older brothers do. They protect their younger, more devastatingly handsome brothers from harm's way.”

  Brandon's face lit up with a smile. “You keep telling yourself that, bro. Keep hope alive despite all evidence to the contrary. They don't call me the dashing CEO for nothing.”

  “Devastatingly handsome?” Wyatt asked as he walked up. Finally, he'd been able to ditch the crutches he'd been using since his knee surgery. “Thanks for the compliment, but you can just call me the best looking Donahue brother. That will do just fine.”

  “It's amazing you all fit your big heads through the entrance way,” Ryder said with a mournful shake of his head. “It's sad really, considering Tess calls me the good looking Donahue.”

  All six Donahue brothers moaned and groaned, causing a bit of a scene. “Tess really needs to get out more,” cracked Remy. He ran his hand over his cheekbones. “I don't need to plead my case. Some things are self-evident.”

  “Like the size of your forehead,” Mac added, resulting in a wave of laughter. “Some women prefer a ruggedly handsome, muscular man like myself.”

  Blue walked over and patted Mac on the back. “If they like Neanderthals.”

  “There's one quick way to settle this,” Brandon said. He waved their mother over. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of all seven of her sons assembled altogether. She made her way over, a questioning look etched on her pretty face.

  “You need to settle something once and for all,” Wyatt announced.

  “Settle what?” Maggie asked.

  “Which one of us is the best looking?” Ryder threw the question out there.

  Maggie looked around at her sons. “Seriously?”

  “We're just having fun, Ma,” Remy said. He winked at her.

  “Promise you won't get upset?” Maggie asked. “This is delicate stuff.”

  All seven brothers assured their mother in unison that none of them would get upset.

  “Well, there's only one Donahue who stands out from the rest.” She turned towards Alec and pulled him to the center of the fold. “Love of my life, Alec Donahue. The best looking man in Breeze Point. Bar none.”

  A loud cry went up among the brothers. They were clapping and laughing.

  Maggie put a hand on her hip and asked, “Anybody got a problem with that?” All seven Donahue brothers shook their heads. No one was contesting her decision.

  Alec came up beside her and took her in his arms. He pressed a kiss against her cheek and pulled her against his chest. Nick watched with his heart in his throat as his role models showed him once again the power and enduring nature of love.

  Nick felt Layla beside him, and as he turned towards her, she got up on her tippy toes and pressed a kiss against his lips. “Thank you for making all my dreams come true.”

  “And thank you for making me a believer. You saved me from turning into a grouchy, bitter old man who was secretly envious of all his brothers for finding love. If only I'd known you were coming to find me.” He made a face. “I would have been way nicer to them when they fell in love.”

  “We should really thank Aunt Trudy for some of our blessings. If it hadn't been for her, we wouldn't have reunited.” She shuddered. “I can't imagine my life without you. And I have to wonder if Aunt Trudy didn't have some idea of what she was doing by leaving me her cottage. I can picture her sitting up in Heaven playing matchmaker.”

  He smiled at the thought of Trudy engineering their reunion by leaving her cottage to Layla.

  Well played, Trudy. Well played.

  “God bless, Aunt Trudy. You know, it's remarkable how God places people in our lives for a reason and sometimes for a season...it's our job to figure out why.”

  “Oh, I know why He placed you in my life. After everything I'd lost over the years, God knew finding you again would put everything to rights.”

  Layla wrapped her arm around Nick's waist. She snuggled into him, pressing her face against his chest. “What a lovely evening. I think we really surprised them.”

  Nick reached down and kissed the top of her head. “Surprising my family is near impossible,” he said with a laugh. “But we pulled it off.”

  “Do you regret not inviting Loretta?”

  “No, I don't. We're taking baby steps with our relationship. Maybe someday we'll reach a place where we can totally bury the past and have a good relationship, but we're not there yet. We have to keep laying down the bricks and build that foundation.”

  “I wish my parents could have been here,” she said, a wistful edge to her voice.

  “Me too. They sounded excited for us on the phone though.” Nick smiled. “Before I forget, I have another wedding present for you.” He handed her an envelope with a gold ribbon tied around it.

  “What is this?” she asked, her nose wrinkled as she p
eered at it.

  “Why don't you open it up and find out, Mrs. Donahue?” he teased.

  “Oh how I love the sound of that, Mr. Donahue.” She took her finger and ran her nail along the crease until she'd ripped the envelope open. She pulled out the contents, letting out a squeal as she did so. “Nick! Tickets to Brussels.” She held her hand to her mouth as emotion took over. Her eyes welled up, and she began to furiously blink the tears away.

  “We're going to visit your parents. They need to see their baby girl. And they need to hear straight from their son in law's lips how over the moon crazy he is about their gorgeous daughter. They need to know with an everlasting certainty that I intend to do right by you, to honor and protect you and to stay faithful to you until the day I leave this Earth.”

  “Oh, Nick,” Layla whispered. Tears were now freely flowing down her face. “I almost did it. I almost made it through this day without shedding any tears.”

  “Tears aren't a bad thing, baby. In this case, they're an acknowledgment of our gratitude. From this point forward, we can live the life we've always imagined. With each other.”

  Their lips touched in a triumphant, soaring kiss. It was a symbol of Nick and Layla's love and devotion. It held the promise of all the hopes and dreams they held for the future. One by one, those dreams would be fulfilled. With the strength of their enduring love, all things were possible.

  If Only In My Dreams

  Brandon and Rose

  November 2014