“I loved him. I didn’t want anyone else.”
She folded her arms over her aching stomach. She could understand not wanting to love again. Who would ever want to feel this way?
How could she be so wrong about Shane?
She was tired of asking the same questions to her broken heart and muddled brain.
“Why don’t we watch a movie, huh? Something with lots of violence and not a love story in sight.”
Her mother looked up at her. “You look exhausted, honey. Why don’t you go up to bed?”
“Because I’ll stare at the ceiling all night. At least if I watch bad guys blow up stuff, then I’m not thinking about… Well, I’m just not thinking.”
Lily sighed. “How about The Expendables?”
“Perfect.”
SHANE CRAWLED HIS way up the winding road, his teeth jarring with each dip in the gravel. Ice coated every surface as far as the eye could see. The sun glared up off the molten snow encasement, giving him a headache. He’d left Connecticut early that morning, but the only reason he’d made it was because of the brand-new chains on his tires.
A good tip from his customer. Parts of California had snow, but nothing like the Northeast.
He frowned at Kendall’s missing Outback. He knew she was a skilled driver in these conditions, but no one should be on the road. The town had been buttoned down tight with only the plows and salt trucks hacking out a path in the deep freeze.
He gathered the paperwork he’d picked up on his way out of town: loan applications and interest rate information from three different banks, a New York license as a preemptive strike to establish residency, and a list of ideas for renovations.
Everything he’d need to talk to Kendall about refinancing and expanding the Heron.
Sitting with her on the dock, looking out over the water with its flawless stillness had been a defining moment. Having her settle against him had allowed him to finally quiet his mind against all the questions he’d had about running the Heron with her.
Making love with her in her tiny bedroom and seeing the love there just waiting for him had been the start of it. He knew that now, but that moment on the water on New Year’s Day had cemented everything.
She was what he needed. It had always been Kendall. From the will reading to the endless stretch of miles leading him here, one thing had been a constant. Kendall and her optimistic smile, her warmth, and the unending passion between them—all of it was everything he’d ever wanted.
And now he had the Heron that he could share with her and grow with her.
Hell, he was going to marry her. If it took two days or two years, he’d convince her that forever was the only option.
He climbed the steps, letting himself inside. Boxes for ornaments sat around the tree in the living room. He followed the clatter of dishes into the kitchen. Lily sat at the table wrapping Christmas dishes.
“Hi, Lily. Where’s Kendall?”
Lily didn’t say a word, just wrapped the next dish, placing it in the box at her feet.
He stood in front of her. “Lily.”
She looked up at him, her dark eyes flat and angry. “She’s gone to Bells’s place.”
“Oh. In this?” Puzzled, he felt the short hairs of his nape rise in alarm.
“She needed to get away from here for a little while.”
“Why?”
“Because she needed to think. She has plans to make too. You’re not the only one who has to think about the future.”
At a loss, Shane rubbed the back of his head. “I know that.”
“Really? Do you? I almost hope you’re just oblivious, because if you hurt my daughter on purpose with that stunt yesterday, then I might be the one tying a rock around your chest and throwing you into the lake.”
“Wait, what?”
“Your Mr. Clark came by yesterday.”
“My Mr. Clark?”
“The appraiser?”
The alarm bells got louder. “Fuck.” At her glare, he winced. “Sorry, Lily. He wasn’t supposed to be here until next week. I was supposed to have time to talk to her about that.”
“About what? Would it hurt less if you actually manned up and told her you were still serious about selling the Heron out from under us? Maybe.”
Surprised at her venom, he lifted the papers in his hand. “No. I’m not selling.”
Lily stood up. “Then why on earth would you have an appraiser out? What are those, real estate papers?”
“Loan papers. I was going to talk to Kendall about refinancing this place and putting on an addition.” He looked down at his future mother-in-law with her curling coffee-colored hair and Kendall’s dark eyes. “I wanted to talk to her about a place separate from the B and B for us. I want her to have a real bedroom, not a closet.”
“Oh.” Her eyes welled up. “I told her to wait, to try not to jump to conclusions.” Lily stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I knew you wouldn’t break her heart.”
Shane kissed the top of her head. The pretty floral scent that was always a part of Lily calmed a few of his jangling nerves. “I love her.”
“I know you do. Anyone can see it. Well, anyone but Kendall.”
“I’m not really good at saying it.”
“You’re really good at showing it. The rest will catch up. I hate that Kendall has such a tiny place to sleep, but she wanted to use all the bedrooms for rental space.”
“I understand. That’s why I want to build off the barn. Make a separate space for her. Maybe an in-law apartment for you.”
Lily dabbed at her eyes but finally shook her head. “I have a perfect room at the back of the house that I love. But a separate space for you two and maybe room for grandbabies? I’d be all over that.”
The breath in his lungs stalled. A little sunshine-haired girl that looked like Kendall? What a terrifying and amazing thought. “Let’s worry about babies after I convince her I’m not going anywhere.”
“Well, go get her.” Lily went back to the table and ripped a piece of the white craft paper and scribbled on it. “That’s Bells’s address.”
He leaned down and planted a kiss on Lily’s cheek. “Thanks.”
“Be careful out there!”
He waved back at her and rushed through the door only to slip his way into the railing. Taking a steadying breath, he threw out another scoop of rock salt from the fat planter Kendall hid the bucket in.
He peeled down the driveway, fishtailing once before the chains on his tires gripped the icy road. The bend sparkled with fresh ice. Suddenly he spotted her green Outback inching up Heron Way.
Not taking any chances, Shane yanked on his wheel and blocked off the road. He got out and went around, leaned on his truck door, his arms crossed.
She held up her hand against the glare of the sun on snow and slowed to a stop. She opened her door. “Did you get into an accident? Or are you just insane?”
“I was coming after you.”
She skidded over to him, her chin raised; a ridiculous purple knit hat sat slightly crooked on her head. “Why? So you can actually tell me to my face that you want to sell the Heron? I would have appreciated knowing before the appraiser came and made me look like a jerk. I thought—”
“I love you, Kendall.”
“What?”
With his plan shot to hell, all he could focus on was making sure she knew just how wrong she was. “I love you. I don’t want to sell the Heron.”
“You…” Her huge brown eyes were filled with confusion. “How?”
He opened the passenger side door and gathered the papers he’d thrown back into the truck. He slid over to her, pushing the loan documents at her. A few papers fell to the ground.
She bent to retrieve one, but he pulled her back up. “I was going to surprise you tonight. Mr. Clark wasn’t supposed to be here until next week, and we were both going to talk to him. I don’t want to sell. I want to build.”
She looked down at the stack
of papers. Then back up at him, then again at the brochures. She quietly leafed through them. “You don’t want to sell.” She stopped, a fan of pamphlets clutched against her chest. “Wait. Did you say you loved me?”
He took the pile and shoved it back in the truck. “I love you, Kendall. I think I’ve loved you since the first time you boosted yourself out of the window of my truck to look at the damn mountains.”
She fisted her hands at her sides, then skidded into him full tilt, slamming him into the truck. The door clomped shut, and then it was her mouth on his chin, her mittened hands tugging at his coat until he lowered to find her mouth with his.
He slid his hand into her hair, flipping off her hat until her curls twined around his fingers and wrist. Until she was in his arms and not going anywhere. Until he could breathe in her apple scent and he knew she was his.
She slugged him in the gut. “You’ve loved me since California, and you’re only telling me now?”
He tipped his head back and laughed. “I just figured it out two days ago.”
“On the dock?”
He cupped her cheek. “On the dock. I think we should get married on that dock.”
“You want to get—”
He silenced her with a kiss. When she melted into him, he finally let the last of his doubts go. Under the bright light of a winter sun, surrounded by ice and snow, he held on to his own bit of sunshine.
Epilogue
One Year Later
“Mom, I don’t have time to go find the wreath. I’ve got to make three beds and still have to go to the store for you before Shane gets back.”
“It’s Valentine’s Day, Kendall Marie. I want that lovebirds wreath up for the Wilsons. It’s their honeymoon.”
“Fine.”
“Don’t sass me.”
Kendall swallowed a snarl. Her mother was making over the whole house into a frigging retreat for this couple. Why the hell should they care about a damn wreath?
She stalked across the porch and down the stairs. Thanks to a few warm days, a lot of the snow had disappeared, leaving a muddy trail between the B and B and the barn.
Stomping her feet at the threshold—heaven forbid she bring mud into Shane’s domain—she reached for the switch. Shane didn’t usually shut off the lights.
In the middle of the workshop was a huge mahogany four-poster bed. It had to be Shane’s handiwork. The headboard was exquisite. Slatted in the simple Shaker style she loved, it was embellished with a simple carved notch under the flowing lines. The footboard matched it with a more detailed design on the front panel that looked vaguely familiar.
She slid her hand along one of the four posts built into heavy bases giving the bed a grounded look. It was solid and masculine with the most subtle of feminine curves.
It was pure Shane design.
The king-size mattress was a lake of pale gold. She smoothed her hands over the expensive sateen sheets pulled back in invitation. A red-and-gold brocade duvet was folded down at the foot of the bed.
He must have been taking pictures for his Web site.
“Like it?”
She turned at Shane’s voice. He came up beside her, swiping his hand down her braid. “It’s gorgeous. I never saw you working on this one. When did you finish it up?”
“Last night.”
“I don’t think it will be on your Web site long. It’s too gorgeous not to get snapped up.”
“It’s not for sale.”
She frowned. “Was it a commissioned piece?” Everything inside her wanted to slide into it and drag him in with her.
“Nope. I thought we should have something nice for the new house.”
“For the…”
“I know we’ve had some setbacks in getting the plans for our house settled, but I think you might want to look a little closer at the pillows.”
“The pillows?” She turned back to the bed and noticed there was a tube along the pillows. She’d thought it was a bolster, a decorative pillow. She rounded the bed and took the tube. “No.”
He smiled, leaning his hip on the bed. “Open it up.”
Kendall pried the lid off the end of the tube. Her heart stopped. A roll of paper inside with a perfectly amazing blue tint stared back at her. She shook it out on the bed and unrolled it. “We’re good to go?”
“Finally got the loan to finalize yesterday. Kain overnighted the plans—” He grunted as she vaulted into his arms.
“We get to start on the house?”
He laughed. “We get to start on the house.”
“Holy crap.” She wrapped her arms and legs around him. “This is the best Valentine’s Day present ever!”
“And first anniversary present. I think it’s paper, right? For the gift?”
Tears pricked as she buried her head in his neck. She peppered his neck with kisses, then his jawline and pushed back the hair he’d let grow out. “God, I love you.”
“I love you too, Kendall Justice. I’d hoped to have you in the new house by our first anniversary, but at least I could do this.”
“Our anniversary isn’t until the twenty-eighth.”
He snorted. “Kain’s crew is good, but they’re not that good.”
She shook her head. “I mean as an anniversary gift.”
“Oh, well, that’s the blueprints. I couldn’t wait. Besides, it’s only your first gift. The bed is for Valentine’s Day.”
“I wholeheartedly approve.” She kissed him softly, drawing out the humming passion that was never far away. “So how are you supposed to top the bed next year?”
He scraped his teeth down her throat and tumbled her onto the sheets. “I’ll think of something.”
Loose Id Titles by Taryn Elliott
Suspended
Taryn Elliott
Taryn Elliott is a multi-published contemporary romance author from upstate New York. She got the writing bug by entertaining her best friend with wild stories about rock stars over the phone for hours and hours a night. Thanks to a very supportive creative writing teacher she learned how to get those crazy stories into order and onto the page.
Since then she’s found that she still loves those rock stars, but now her heroes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes—okay, so they’re usually over six feet with broad shoulders and mouth-watering abs. She loves to write funny, emotional, and snarky heroines and find the perfect (for them) sexy hero that will love them unconditionally.
When she’s not writing you’ll find her obsessing about television shows on twitter or cuddled up with her faithful dog and her bloated ereader—sometimes both at the same time. Don’t be shy, she’s very friendly and loves social media. She’ll chat about anything from music, to television, to books and always about the hot men that inspire her to write.
Find out more about Taryn at http://tarynelliott.com/.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Loose Id Titles by Taryn Elliott
Taryn Elliott
" class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
Suspended Page 32