by Allie Kay
Jack set his bag of gifts down beside the tree and tickled Mateo’s belly before turning back to me. He winked. “See, I told you it was going to be fine.” He waved at the occupants of the library. “Hey, everyone. This is Joy, and the little fella under the tree is Mateo.”
The group chorused a greeting, all smiling and genuinely looking welcoming. I waved and smiled, nerves still on edge.
“What’s up with Sean?” Jack asked, looking around. “He ran off without a word.”
Talia jerked her head toward the kitchen. “He’s cooking. Ran us all out of the kitchen. So, he might have been in the middle of something.”
Jack sat down beside a young woman, maybe college age. He pulled me on his other side. “Hey, Karly. How’s school?”
She shrugged. “Making me miss all the fun here. Everybody’s pairing off, getting married, having babies. And I’m all single and alone… sitting by my lonesome at the Christmas party.”
Jack nodded seriously, then grinned at her. “Have you met Joy? My girlfriend…”
“Ugh… not you too.” She glared at him.
“Fraid so. What happened to Garrett?”
“I don’t want to talk about him.” A wistful, faraway look crossed the girl’s face. There was a story there. Something had torn that couple apart and I wondered what. Karly clearly still had feelings for this Garrett though and I hoped maybe someday they might find each other once more. She stood and said, “I’m going to see if Sean needs help in the kitchen.”
I leaned into Jack and just listened to the happy conversations around me. This was a family full of love. Acceptance. It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood. There had been more kids running around, but my mom’s family had been happy like this. Even if my dad had been a grump, my mom’s side of the family had always made me look forward to the holidays.
Jack slipped his arm around me and pulled me closer. When I looked up at him, he kissed me gently. “I told you so…”
“Hush.” I poked him in the ribs, smiling when he grunted. He was right and I was glad he’d brought me though. Maybe later I’d actually tell him so.
Mateo came over and climbed up into the spot Karly had vacated. He leaned against Jack. “This is the bestest Christmas ever already.”
“Fatherhood looks good on you,” Sean called from the doorway.
Jack looked down at Mateo and smiled. “It’s growing on me.”
Talia smiled and rubbed her belly. “Next year we will have another little one here. I started to say running around, but more like crawling.”
“I’m so excited to have little ones to buy for again,” an older woman said. “Now if you’d just tell me if I am buying pink or buying blue.” She sent a pointed look in Talia’s direction.
“You’ll find out soon enough, Mom.”
“It’s killing me. It really is. I had to stick to gender neutral so far and I want so much to be able to buy the frilly little dresses or the little suits with bowties!”
“Bowties?” Sean growled from the doorway. “Just say no, Helen. Just say no.”
“Well, if it’s a boy he can’t wear plaid all the time.” She pursed her lips and frowned at Sean. “Although, I saw the cutest little—”
Sean threw his hands up and went back to the kitchen.
“What did I say?” Helen asked with a false innocence.
“Ohh! Mom! I meant to tell you. We found the most adorable bassinet the other day. It’s upstairs. I’ll show you after dinner. But it’s so cute.”
The men in the room all groaned.
“I think that’s our cue to vacate. Ladies, have fun with all the baby talk. We will all be in the kitchen, hoping you don’t volunteer us for things.” Jack slipped out from under Mateo and kissed me on the forehead before exiting the room.
Talia leaned back, rubbing her belly. “Men… You think they would realize we feel the same dang way about sports as they do baby talk.”
A beautiful blonde tossed her hair over her shoulder before saying, “Nah. That requires more brain cells than most of them have.”
“Claire…”
“I know, I know. I said most. Not all. I’m excluding ours from that. Well, most of the time. Have you seen Zane recently?”
Talia laughed. “Well, he did run a pretty tight scam on you for how long?”
Claire huffed. “Only because I thought he was too stupid to pull something like that off.”
“So, Joy, tell us about you. I feel like we’ve been monopolizing the entire conversation.” Helen came and sat down next to me. She pulled Mateo onto her lap gently. “And you… Do you know how excited I was to get to buy presents for a little boy again? I haven’t got to do that since my Zane was a little guy.” She hugged him tight. “I might have bought you more presents than I should have.”
“You bought me presents?” Mateo gaped up at her, eyes wide.
“You didn’t need to do that,” I whispered, so beyond touched at the generosity of a complete stranger.
“I know.” She placed her hand on my knee. “But I wanted to. You both deserve a good holiday.”
I was saved from the tears threatening to pour down my face and from responding when Sean’s booming voice called everyone for dinner. The flurry of movement helped to cover my near breakdown. I sat next to Jack and listened to the happy, if sometimes odd, conversations. It still baffled me that this family could just be so accepting. They would probably be completely heartbroken if they’d known I had questioned their motives.
After dinner, we went back to the library where Mateo got more presents than even he had hoped for. Jack sat in the floor with him, crumpled wrapping paper and empty boxes all around them. I just sat and watched. Tears filled my eyes as I stared at them.
“Hey, kiddo, there’s one more gift for you,” Sean said. He waved toward the door. “It’s in here.”
Mateo jumped up to follow. So, did Jack and I.
A little blue bike with training wheels and a giant silver bow sat in the hallway. Mateo squealed and ran toward it. “This is for me? No! I get to keep it? Thank you, Mr. Sean!”
“It’s not from me.” Sean shrugged. “I just got charged with it’s safekeeping.”
“It’s from your mom and me,” Jack said, handing him another box. “These go with it.”
Mateo tore the wrapper off a helmet and pads. “Yay! Can I try it out now? Please!”
Jack looked at me in question. I nodded. “But we need coats on if we are going outside.”
“Okay!” He went running toward the library and stopped suddenly, his sneakers squeaking on the hardwood.
“Slow down. You are going to fall and break your neck,” Jack called after him.
Mateo came back, barely slower, with all their jackets in hand. “Broken bones hurt, but sometimes good stuff comes from them.”
“How’s that?” I asked, wondering where he was going with this.
“If me and Daddy hadn’t broke our arms, we’d have never met at the doctor that day.” He shoved his arms into his jacket and stuffed the helmet on his head. “And that was good.”
Jack pushed the bike outside and carried it down the steps for him without a word.
“That was you at the orthopedist that day… the prisoner.” I looked to him for confirmation. “I hadn’t realized.”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “It was.”
“And you’ve known we’d met before this entire time?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes. But I honestly didn’t think either of you remembered me. Hell, I’d hoped you’d forgotten me. I didn’t exactly make the best impression that day.”
“No, you did.” I swallowed hard. “You cared more in that moment about me and Mateo than anyone in my life. That made a huge impression on me.”
“Really?”
“My heartsong isn’t broken.” I started laughing while tears ran down my face. “I thought it was. But it’s not. I knew when we met but I just refused to see it.”
“I
have no idea what you’re saying.” He pulled me close and held me until I could speak coherently again.
“My heart knew you were the one that day. I just thought it was crazy. A married woman whose heart starts singing for a convict in shackles? Yeah, I thought I was two steps from being committed. Turns out it was just a different type of commitment.”
“I’m committed to you,” he murmured, pressing his lips to mine. “I love you, Joy.”
“I love you too.” My heartsong had begun over a year ago, in a clinic across the state. I’d never imagined where this melody might lead me, but wherever it took me in the future, Jack would be at my side.
THE END
The Trouble With Hearts
Carolyn Lee and Allie Kay
My life is no fairy tale. No charming prince is going to sweep me off my feet and into his loving arms. After tragedy claimed my husband’s life, I don’t dream that big anymore. My life now is about needs, not wants. I have a son and more unpaid medical bills than an unemployed single mom can pay. And I need a job—desperately. The problem is… I live on Ferry’s End Island where jobs are as rare as princes.
Rumors swirl about Zach Lewis’ past, but I have a kid to feed and he’s the only person on the island willing to give me a job. From what I can see, Zach is nothing like what people say. And the more I get to know him, the more the lines between employee and boss start to blur.
When an argument with Zach leads me to impulsively accept a date with his sworn rival, Griffin Reilly, I go from un-dateable widow to having two handsome men vying for my attention overnight. While I’m busy trying to sort out my feelings for Zach and Griffin, my son decides to explore his adventurous side. It’s only when one of them risks his life to save my son’s that I can see my happily-ever-after. If my frog doesn’t drown before I can kiss him into a prince…
Available October 9, 2018. Pre-order your copy today.
About the Author
Allie Kay writes emotional, heartfelt stories set in small town America. If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out with her family or with her nose buried in a book.
Get in touch with her on social media:
@AllieKayAuthor