Begin Again (The Blake Boys Book 18)

by Rhonda Laurel

  Corbett hopped out of his car as soon as he parked in front of Anna Beth’s apartment building. He’d called Anna Beth’s cell phone again, but it went to voicemail. He even tried her work phone extension. It sounded crazy, but he knew she’d go in to do work if she was feeling restless. She loved working at Blake Enterprises, and he’d been hard on her about why she was hesitant to take a promotion. It was silly of him to accuse her of having residual feelings for J.J. Truth was, he was projecting his insecurities on her. J.J. and Bo loved her like a sister, and he was a bit jealous of any other man doting on her.

  He rang the bell to her apartment and pounded on the door until finally one of the neighbors came to see what the racket was all about. It was Indira. He’d been introduced to her a while back.

  “Happy holidays, Indira. I’m looking for Anna.” He shook his head. “Anna Beth.”

  “She went out a few hours ago. She had her overnight bag with her.”

  “Damn it!” He held up a hand. “Sorry. I was hoping to catch her. Happy holidays.”

  He hopped back into his car and leaned his head against the headrest. Where could she be? Suddenly it came to him. She could have gone to Gwen’s house. Gwen hadn’t gone with the rest of her friends to Costa Rica. He knew that because he’d snuck a few peeks at Anna Beth’s cell phone while they were making deliveries. He saw the text from Gwen saying she wasn’t going away with Roger. She needed some time alone to think over their rapidly developing relationship.

  He liked Gwen. She was the nicest one of Anna Beth’s group of old college friends. He wasn’t surprised she’d back out of plans with her current boyfriend. It was obvious to everyone except Anna Beth that Gwen had a thing for her brother Kyle. He and Anna Beth went to a party at her house once. He probably still had her address stored in one of his devices. He scrolled the history of his GPS until he found it. He hit the button and waited for the prompt. Thirty minutes later, he was knocking on the door. Hoping she was in a generous mood.

  The door opened and Gwen raised her eyebrows at him.

  “Hi, Gwen.” He gave her his best smile.

  “Corbett.” She smiled, but then it disappeared. “You here for another search and rescue? Because I’m pretty sure I don’t have fake food poisoning.”

  “I deserved that.” He sighed. “I was hoping Anna was here with you. I really need to speak with her.”

  She put her hand on her hip. “I know for a fact that she doesn’t want to see you.”

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear that from her myself.” He looked over her shoulder, trying to see inside the house.

  “She’s not here.”

  “I promise, I didn’t come here to screw up her holidays. I’m here to apologize for being the world’s biggest jerk.”

  “Really?” She looked him up and down. “If you have some time, I can make you a T-shirt with that slogan on it. I’ll even bedazzle it with rhinestones and get you a matching hat.”

  “I’ll get it tattooed on my ass if you tell me where she’s at,” he replied.

  “You hurt my friend. You don’t get privileged information from me, and if I had my pointy boots on I’d kick you in your junk.”

  “Gwen.” He held his hands together as if in prayer. “I know I have a lot of things to fix, but I can’t do that unless I find my girl. She’s everything to me, and it took me too long to realize that. But I don’t want to waste another minute on this earth without her. I just need to get to her so we can hash things out. I promise I will spend the rest of my life loving her and kissing up to you at every social event we ever attend together in the future.”

  Gwen sighed. “I actually believe you. But alas, I don’t know where she is.”

  “You don’t?”

  “I’m doing a little hiding of my own.”

  “Ah.” He ran a hand through his hair, shock and disappointment settling on his heart. “Sorry to have bothered you.”

  “For what it’s worth, I hope you find her. When you do, leave all that baggage from the past behind you and tell her how you feel. My friend is special and she doesn’t deserve to be yanked around.”

  “It will never happen again.” He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks, Gwen.”

  Corbett went back down the cobbled path to his car, already thinking ahead to where Anna Beth might be on Christmas Eve.

  Gwen shouted after him. “And if you blow it, so help me I’ll—”

  “You’ll do all sorts of terrible things to me,” he shouted back. “By the way, you should take your own advice.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You should own up to your feelings for Kyle.” He winked at her, got in the car, and pulled off.

  He called Anna Beth’s phone again, but it went to voicemail again. Gwen’s house was a dead end, but it was enlightening. The next stop was to visit another of Anna Beth’s close friends. Cassie probably had an idea of her location. It looked like he’d be spending the holidays on the ranch after all.

  By the time he reached Bo and Summer’s house, he was drained. He was unloading his bags when a car pulled into the driveway. It was John Jacob.

  “Corbett. Nice to see you again. I thought you were spending your time contemplating in New Mexico,” John Jacob said as he got out of the car.

  “Change of plans. I’ve recently found out I was an idiot and have been pushing away a very special elf. I tried her apartment and her friend’s place, but I still can’t find her.” He sighed.

  “Why don’t you come up to the house with us? We’ll sort out your problem after you’ve had a good meal.” John Jacob touched the brim of his hat and turned to leave.

  “Do I have time to get changed?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’ll be there in a little bit. Tell Tyler not to hog all the banana pudding trifle.”

  “I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try to get him to save you some.”

  “Then I better get over there quick.” Corbett laughed.

  * * *

  An hour later, he’d cleaned up and headed on over to the house, which was decorated to the hilt. Teri-Lyn was very serious about decorating the entire ranch for the holidays, and the main house was the decoration epicenter. He opened the front door to see people talking and nibbling on food as a jazzy version of “We Three Kings” played over the sound system. Tyler was bouncing Tucker in his arms as he pointed out a homemade ornament hanging on the tree. Michelle was helping Isabelle with the clasp of the new necklace Tate had given her. Morgan was chasing after the kids, who were chasing after each other, trying to get them to settle down. Seth and J.J. were talking to Channing, each of them holding a triplet in their arms. Sam and Parker were helping Teri-Lyn set food out on the serving table. He could feel the love flowing throughout the house as generations came together to enjoy the holiday season.

  What he’d forgotten the entire time he’d been lamenting about how this current holiday was going to suck was that he had a slew of terrific memories to think back on. He’d had a great childhood and parents that loved him. He had an awesome little brother with whom he had a great relationship. He and Bo were closer than ever. Just because his family had made other plans didn’t mean they’d forgotten about him.

  He wondered what Anna Beth was doing right now. Perhaps she was somewhere having a good time. He’d give anything to take her in his arms right now and tell her how foolish he’d been about this Courtney business and tell her he was in love with her.

  In need of a stiff drink, he went over to the bar, poured himself a scotch and knocked it back. How could he have been so stubborn?

  “Merry Christmas, Corbett.” Teri-Lyn came over and gave him a hearty hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I am so happy you could make it.”

  “It’s great to be here.” He smiled.

  “We have plenty of food, and later on we’ll have some live entertainment. The kids have been practicing their songs for weeks.”

  “Thanks. I’m not really that hung
ry.”

  “Are you feeling ill?” She put her hand to his forehead.

  “No, I just have a lot on my mind. I screwed up big time and I don’t know how to fix it.”

  “What’s the problem, sugar?”

  “I made a mistake and now I think it has cost me Anna Beth. I went looking for her, but I couldn’t find her.”

  She smiled. “Did you look everywhere?”

  “Y-yes,” he stammered. “Every place I thought she’d be. I’m hoping Cassie might know where she is.”

  “What would you say to her if you found her?”

  He thought about it for a moment. “I’d tell her that I love her and I never want to be apart from her again.”

  Teri-Lyn pointed to the dining room. “There’s your chance.”

  Corbett couldn’t believe his eyes. Anna Beth was just a few feet away from him, talking to Cassidy. She looked amazing in a V-neck, charcoal grey sweater dress with big toggle buttons on the side and a pair of knee-length boots. Her hair was flowing around her shoulders instead of the prim pin-up she normally donned.

  Cassidy spotted him first and her eyes lit up, but he put his finger to his lips to keep mum. He wanted to surprise Anna Beth, but he was still at a loss on the best way to set right everything that had happened. Cassidy linked arms with Anna Beth and slowly guided her across the room until they were under the mistletoe.

  He rushed over and kissed Anna Beth on the lips. “Merry Christmas, Anna.”

  “Corbett.” Her eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”

  “I realized I was being a selfish, pig-headed idiot.” When she didn’t answer, he continued. “I’ve been dense about so many things. Awful, even. I don’t deserve any of that tasty ham I saw on the table. I should be strung up with Christmas lights and tortured. You can stop me at any time.”

  “No. Go on. I like where you’re going with this.” She folded her arms across her chest.

  “I’ll leave you two alone,” Cassidy said as she unlinked her arm from her friend and kissed him on the cheek. “Took you long enough.”

  Anna Beth gripped her hand. “Don’t go.”

  “I have to check on the boys.”

  “They’re fine.” Anna Beth looked over in the direction of Channing and the triplets. “I think they’re having their first board meeting.”

  “You two need some time alone.” Cassidy smiled and scurried away.

  Anna Beth stiffened her chin. “You can continue with the self-deprecation.”

  He smiled. “I will, but first I want to say, you look beautiful. I like the new look.”

  “Thanks. A new year is upon us. It’s time for a change.”

  “Does that change include taking that promotion?”

  “Maybe. What’s it to you?”

  She wasn’t wavering. He started to sweat.

  “Can we talk?” Corbett asked.

  “I don’t know if there’s anything left to say.”

  “I know you have really good reasons for never wanting to hear anything I have to say ever again, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop trying. Please, just hear me out.”

  “OK.” She bit her lip.

  He took her hand and grabbed his coat off the rack as he led her outside. He draped his coat over her shoulders and trekked across the garden until they reached the gazebo in the middle of the walking path. The white lights that splayed over it gave it an intimate feel. He waited for her to sit down, but he remained standing. He had too much pent-up, nervous energy to sit still.

  She watched him and carefully asked, “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  “I talked to Courtney. She admitted orchestrating our run-ins. She’d been keeping track of my movements with the location feature on a few of the social media apps I use.”

  Her eyes widened. “She was stalking you.”

  “And she purposely tried to sabotage me meeting your family on Thanksgiving Day with the fake stomach pains. I’ve been such an idiot. I didn’t listen because I thought you were trying to control me when you asked that I stay away from her. I’d had enough of that in my life.”

  “I wasn’t trying to control you. I was looking out for you. You have no idea how much you hurt me.” She shook her head.

  “I should have known you were just speaking from the heart. There isn’t a devious bone in your body. If it’s any consolation to you, I’ve been a miserable fool since we broke up.”

  “Maybe it’s for the best. When you didn’t tell me you loved me back, I felt like you still hadn’t gotten over Courtney. It hadn’t been that long after your breakup that we started dating.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “I’m just being realistic.”

  “Don’t ever think we were a mistake. Meeting you is the only thing that ever made perfect sense in my life.”

  She looked at him for a moment.

  He pushed on. “I’ve missed you every day since we’ve been apart, and I never want to feel that way again.” He caressed her cheek. “I love you, Anna, with all my heart. I should have told you that the day you professed your love to me. Hell, I should have told you on our first date. I fell hard and fast and it scared me.”

  “I love you too.”

  He took her into his arms and kissed her the way he’d dreamed of kissing her ever since he’d lost her. So many nights he thought about the taste of her lips and softness of her skin.

  “Corbett, Anna Beth, it’s time to eat!” Tate yelled as he waved at them from the veranda.

  When they went back inside, they were greeted by knowing grins.

  Teri-Lyn hugged them both. “See you were searching high and low for this woman and the one place you didn’t look was—”

  “Home.” Corbett smiled. He should have known. All roads led to the Twelve Horseshoes Ranch.

  “Everybody, let’s eat,” John Jacob said.

  Everyone took their places at the massive dinner table. It was quite a Christmas Eve feast with turkey, ham, duck, and a host of side dishes and desserts, but was merely a sample of the meal that would be served tomorrow. The triplets, aware of the activity going on, weren’t ready for sleep so Cassidy and Channing decided to sit them on their laps. Anna Beth was thrilled when Cassidy asked if she’d mind holding Drew.

  “Hey, Drew. Don’t you look so handsome in your little suit?” Anna Beth cooed at the little boy as he tried to grip her collar and pull himself up on her lap.

  “Looks like I have some competition.” Corbett played with the baby’s bowtie.

  John Jacob quieted the room for a toast with a hearty bellow. “Can I have everyone’s attention? We are blessed to be gathered here to celebrate another year of—”

  The house phone rang, piercing the air like a knife.

  “Who on earth can that be?” Teri-Lyn lifted herself out of her chair.

  John Jacob stopped her. “I’ll get it. It’s probably just a friend wishing us happy holidays.”

  “I hope nothing’s wrong,” Anna Beth whispered to Corbett.

  “Me too. This holiday is just turning around.” He smiled and squeezed her hand.

  Everyone watched as the elder Blake went out in the hallway and answered the phone. He began firing off questions at the caller and it was beginning to sound like far more than a cordial call from an old friend. Five minutes later, he was still on the phone and everyone waited with bated breath for John Jacob to fill them in on the call.

  He finally returned to the table with a strange look on his face.

  “I don’t like that look on your face,” Teri-Lyn said. “What’s wrong?”

  “That was Cal. There was a fire at Russ Winterbourne’s place. The entire family was having dinner. Fire rescue is on the scene, but they’re having a hard time getting it under control.”

  As if they were all thinking the same thing, every man at the table put their forks down and stood up.

  “Is everyone all right?” Seth asked.

  “As far as Cal knows, yes. He and Rusty w
ere making a liquor delivery when he pulled up to the ranch. He spoke with Russ briefly.” John Jacob rubbed the back of his neck.

  “Let’s go over and see if we can help out in some way,” J.J. replied.

  “I have disaster preparedness training,” Corbett added.

  “OK, Corbett. What do you think we should do?” John Jacob replied.

  “This county has a great reputation for emergency responsiveness, so I’m sure emergency service crews have flanked onto their property by now. But people don’t stop to consider the emotional toll something this can take, especially since it’s the holidays. What they need now is clean water, food, and blankets. But they also need a little kindness and compassion.”

  “We have plenty of both here.” Teri-Lynn stood. “We may not be friends with the Winterbournes, but we are neighbors.”

  “We have emergency supplies in the big storage shed by the stables,” Tate said.

  Seth nodded. “Ty, C.J., and I will go to the shed and get some things and meet you over there.”

  “We can wrap up some food for you to take with you. We have plenty,” Teri-Lyn added.

  “I’ll call Caine.” Sam scrolled her cell phone. “Regency has a disaster team with protocols in place for its clients in situations like this. He’s an employee. I think he should utilize some of the services.”

  Michelle took Tucker from Tyler. “I bought leftover containers, they’re in the pantry.”

  John Jacob nodded. “OK. We have a plan in place. J.J., Corbett, and Tate will head over with me now. There’s no need in everyone’s holiday grinding to a halt. So keep on celebrating, and we’ll keep you posted. The kids need the motivation to unwrap all those presents tomorrow. Let’s get to it and maybe we can salvage some of this evening when we’re done.”

  Corbett turned to Anna Beth and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry to cut out on you.”

  “No worries. This is more important.” She squeezed back. “Please be careful.”

  “I will.” He leaned down and kissed her, then exited the house with the rest of the men.

  * * *