Love Reawakened (The Aphrodite Chronicles Book 2)

by LM Spangler

  Micah’s heart thudded hard against his breastbone as his gaze collided with his son’s. Neither moved nor spoke. The only sound was Reed’s inhalations. The boy looked from Micah to his mom and back to Micah.

  “Hi,” Reed finally said.

  “Hello,” Micah answered.

  “You’re like me, aren’t you?” Reed asked.

  Micah nodded. “Yes, I am.”

  “Momma said I’m half-ly-ly-,” Reed began and then looked toward Drea.

  She smiled. “L-y-c-a-n,” she sounded out.

  Reed smiled as he looked at Micah. “I’m half-lycan.”

  By the gods, Micah swore he loved his son already. “I all lycan,” he replied.

  Silence hung in the air for a few seconds.

  Reed finally broke the silence. “Do you want some fruity cereal?” he asked as he slid onto the chair opposite his father’s.

  “I’d love some.”

  “Momma, can we go and slide today?” he asked his mother

  Micah laughed aloud, catching Drea’s attention as she fetched three bowls from a standard contractor’s oak cabinet.

  “You two were at the lakeside playground yesterday, weren’t you?”

  Drea’s head tilted to the side. “Yes. How on Earth do you know that?” She rested her fisted hands on her hips.

  “I was eating my lunch on the opposite shore. I heard a blond-haired boy call to his mom. He was the boy and you were the mom.”

  Drea smile lit up the room. “It’s a small world.”

  Micah glanced toward the heavens and thanked whoever brought them back together. Drea was wrong. It was a huge world. He, Drea, and Reed were just three people in a world of seven billion plus. What were the chances of them finding each other in Cicada Lake?

  He pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

  Drea laid a bowl of cereal in front of him as the three of them prepared for the day ahead of them.

  Epilogue

  A Week Later

  Cicada Lake, Pennsylvania

  The door of Bledsoe’s Family Diner opened, the bell above ringing out.

  Jackson Hart lifted his head as Drea and Reed Tate and Micah Bridges walked into the joint. He smiled. The threesome looked so happy. They had good reason.

  Word had already spread around town that Micah and Drea had rekindled a love they had long since lost. But better yet was the fact that a four-year-old had his father back.

  It was funny how life often worked out like that.

  He nodded as mother and son bounded past him and chose a booth in the corner.

  Micah stopped and shook Jackson’s hand. “I’m sorry. I haven’t had much of a chance to do my job,” the young lycan said.

  Jackson waved his hand, dismissing his comment. “Not a problem. I was going to call you after I ate. Bastard got busted trying to hire a prostitute. I actually won’t need your services, after all. I apologize.”

  Micah glanced at Drea and Reed. “No need. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have found them.”

  “Indeed.”

  The bell over the diner door rang out again. Jackson turned his head to see a tall, lanky woman walking toward him. “Dad,” she greeted, as she reached the men.

  “Hi, gorgeous.” He faced Micah. “This is my daughter, Angelica. She’s come to whisk me away to her place.”

  “Dad will get the care he needs,” she replied. “You ready?”

  “Yep. Just finished my food. Take me away, dear heart.”

  Angelica rolled her eyes and wheeled him toward the exit. Micah held the door open as they stepped into the late afternoon light.

  “Thank you, again, Mr. Hart.”

  “My pleasure. Seems you found something worth even more than a bounty.”

  Micah’s smile beamed. “I did.”

  Jackson watched as Micah made his way to the booth to join his family. The little boy grinned when he saw his dad. “Mission accomplished,” the old man said.

  Angelica glanced around. There was no one milling about. “The coast is clear. Slide into the car, and I’ll stow away your chair. Wait until we’re clear of the parking lot,” she warned as she opened the door.

  Jackson obeyed. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”

  Then, Angelica got in the driver’s side, and soon, they were traveling down a secluded back alley. She stopped the vehicle. “You’re clear, Aphrodite.”

  “Thank the goddesses. Wait, I am one. Ha! I don’t think I could stand to be in this body much longer.”

  Bright lights engulfed Jackson. Long, auburn hair grew from the old man’s bald head. Smooth, porcelain skin replaced the wrinkles that he had possessed. Perky breasts appeared where none had been before. Jeans and a button-down blouse replaced the untucked shirt and khakis.

  The light faded. The Goddess of Love now sat where Jackson Hart had been. “Thanks for playing my daughter, Angelica.”

  Angelica laughed. “Gave me a break from waiting on Cupid hand and foot. That man is very needy. On a serious note, do you think the Bridges/Tate family will be happy?”

  Aphrodite smiled. She had been happy once, before her godly siblings had banished her lover to the Earth realm and left him in a human body to die alone. From that moment, she had vowed to bring the lost together again.

  But yes, she knew the family would be happy.

  “In about eight months or so, they’re going to be welcoming a daughter to their pack. So yes, they will thrive and flourish.”

  Angelica nodded. “Just like you planned.”

  “I may plan it, but that doesn’t mean it’ll go the way I intend. It worked out because they made it so.”

  Once again, Aphrodite’s meddling had brought two souls who had lost each other back together again. Her record was two for two.

  And she planned only to improve that score.

  One couple at a time.

  The End

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