Rowan Revived
Page 24
“Okay,” I say reluctantly as I bring the platter to the living room and let everyone dig in.
After we eat, Millie stands up, collecting dishes and taking everything to the kitchen.
“Alright,” she says, “Lena and I are headed to town. Josie, you’re sure you’re okay keeping an eye on Caleb?”
Josie smiles and throws an arm around Caleb who’s looking up at her, almost as lovingly as he looks and me or Millie. I smile.
“Yep, we’re good.”
I kiss the top of Caleb’s head, then lean down to kiss Jesse.
“I’ll be back really soon,” I say. “But call me if you need me before then okay?”
He rolls his eyes.
“Go,” he says. I nod and follow my sister out the door.
We get to town, and Millie stops at one of the few boutiques in Baycrest. We’re weaving in and out of the aisles, spinning the displays around.
“So, what exactly do you need?” I ask. She chuckles and shakes her head. “What?”
“Lee, he’s okay,” she says. “He’s going to be fine.”
I nod and swallow. So many people have told me this over the last few weeks. So many people. My sister, Josie, Berta, his doctors, Jesse himself. I need to try to believe it.
“So,” I say, clearing my throat as I pick up a straw hat from one of the counters, “what did Jesse want to talk to you about?”
Millie pauses, then reaches in and pulls something out of her purse. She hands it to me, and I see that it’s a check. It’s a check to Millie from Jesse for ten thousand dollars. Ten. Thousand. Dollars.
“What the hell?” I ask. Millie smiles, tears sparkling in her eyes.
“He asked me what I wanted most, and I told him to start over. To start my own life. Get Caleb into a good school. Move on from all the bullshit that is Tiger Bentley.”
I stare at her, blinking every few seconds.
“Josie talked to me last night, and there’s an open position for an assistant at her law firm in D.C. She already talked to the hiring manager, and they are pretty confident they can hire me. It doesn’t pay a whole lot, but it would be enough to get me back on my feet. And this,” she says, holding up the check, “would cover a nice pre-school for Caleb for an entire year until he starts kindergarten. I was going to ride back with Josie next week and look for an apartment.”
I’m still staring at her, taking in all that she’s saying.
“Mill, that’s...that’s amazing,” I say, breathily. She smiles and squeezes my hand. “But I...I can’t leave him. Not yet. I—”
“I know, Lee. I’d never ask you to do that. But Caleb and I, we’re gonna be okay now,” she says with a smile, the tears rolling down her cheeks.
We ride back to the inn silently, so many thoughts racing through my head. I’ve been with Caleb his whole life, and I’ve never been without my sister. And after Jesse is healed, what then? Do I go to D.C.? Stay here at the inn?
We pull into the driveway and I rush up the porch steps. The house is weirdly quiet, and all I want to do is get to Jesse. Loving him is the one thing in my life that makes sense all of the time.
But when I walk into the living room, the hospital bed is empty.
Panic rages through my body as I circle through all the rooms, calling out everyone’s names. Not in the kitchen, not in the bathroom, not in the parlor.
But when I walk to the window, I see him.
He’s standing by the water, dressed in khaki shorts and a button-down shirt. His sandy hair is blowing in the wind, and though we’re a good distance away, I know his bay-colored eyes are gleaming like sea glass. I suck in a deep breath as I open the back door. Josie sits at the back of the patio, a big smile on her face.
Caleb runs to me, taking my hand.
“Come on, Aunt Lee. Come down to Jesse,” he says, his voice riddled with excitement. My sister comes from the side of the house, stepping onto the patio. There’s a trail of flower petals leading from the patio down to where Jesse stands. I swallow.
“Oh yeah,” Millie whispers, “he also asked for my permission.”
I swallow again.
No fucking way.
“Your permission for what?”
“To give you the chance to live your own life, now that you’ve given us ours back,” she says, her voice cracking as more tears stream down her face. Josie appears next to her, looping an arm around her shoulders. “Go get him.”
I swallow one more time, my eyes following the trail of flowers down to where he stands. When I finally make it to the end, I stare up at him.
“You shouldn’t be out of bed yet,” I whisper. He smiles, taking my hands in his. “What is all this?”
He smiles, looking down at our intertwined fingers. Then he takes a breath.
“I spent a long time thinking people were disappointed in me. Thinking I was a disappointment. And you changed all that for me. You brought me back from the dead after I lost two of the most important people in my life. You saved my inn. You saved me. So now, Lena Winter...“
His voice trails off, and he slowly, wobbly, gets down on one knee. My breath hitches in my throat. Oh, my God. No way. No fucking way. I stare down at him, and he smiles back.
“I’m not asking you to marry me,” he says. I stare at him, puzzled. “Not yet. I’m just asking you to stay.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a key—a key to the inn. I laugh as the tears stream down my face. I take the key and squeeze it in my hand. Our sisters are cry-laughing from the patio, and Caleb is jumping up and down. I look down at the beautiful man before me, my whole body shaking.
I pull him to his feet, and jump on him as carefully as possible, leaving a long kiss on his lips.
“Always,” I whisper. “This is home.”
Epilogue
Beverly clears her throat.
“Mrs. Rowan, can you, uh, tell me about your husband?”
Just then, a rusty pickup truck rumbles down the gravel driveway, and I can’t help but smile.
He hops out of his truck, using his hand to wipe off a bit of dirt from the front bumper. He walks around to the front, and then freezes the moment his eyes meet mine. We’ve been doing this for over thirty years now, and it still takes my breath away.
“Evening, Mrs. Rowan,” he says, taking the porch steps-two-by-two. He kneels down to kiss my lips, and I’m twenty-four again, breathing him in and never wanting to exhale.
“Evening, Jess,” I say. I look at Beverly. “He’s been referring to me as ‘Mrs. Rowan’ since the day we got married.” She smiles.
“That’s just the sweetest thing,” she says, jotting down a note in her book.
“Jess, this is Beverly,” I say. He sticks his hand out to greet her.
“Well, lemme get out of your hair. Where’s that boy of ours, anyway?” Jesse asks me. I nod toward the barn.
“In his bachelor pad. Where else?” I ask with a smile. Jesse smiles back. We know what used to go down in that big ol’ barn. And I’d rather not think of it now that my son stays there. Our son.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to it,” Jesse says, kneeling down for one more kiss. “See ya later?”
I nod and smile.
“Always,” I say.
Acknowledgments
This book has been on my brain for a few years now, and I’m so happy to finally have it out on paper! My home state of Maryland is special to me. I absolutely loved growing up here, and I try to paint the beauty that is Maryland in all of my books that take place here. If you’ve never been to MD, or visited the Bay, think about it!
I’d like to thank my fellow authors who are constantly letting me vent, bounce ideas off of them, and reminding me why I do this in the first place! Indie authors are some of the most resilient people I have ever met, and I am so thankful to be a part of such an uplifting community.
D-Ma, thanks for sharing your stories, your love, and your son. Your strength is astounding.
To all of my second pairs of eyes
—THANK YOU!
Mr. & Mrs. A, thank you for letting me drag you out to those docks and take a million and one pictures. I am so lucky to have such good-looking, model-esque friends!
Little, thanks for telling me, every single time, that this one was better than the last.
Hubs, you the bomb. Teamwork makes the dreamwork.
About the Author
Taylor Danae Colbert is a romance and women’s fiction author. When she’s not chasing her kids or hanging with her husband, she’s probably under her favorite blanket, either reading a book, or writing one. Taylor lives in Maryland, where she was born and raised. For more information, visit www.taylordanaecolbert.com.
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Other Books by Taylor:
IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING
BUMPS ALONG THE WAY
OFF THE RECORD
Note from the Author
Dear Reader,
I can’t tell you what it means that you’ve decided, out of all of the books in all the world, to read mine. If you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, please consider leaving an Amazon or GoodReads review (or both!). Reviews are crucial to a book’s success, and I can’t thank you enough for leaving one (or a few!)!
Thank you for taking the time to read ROWAN REVIVED.
Always,
TDC
www.taylordanaecolbert.com
@taydanaewrites