A Mother's Heart (Sweet Hearts of Sweet Creek Book 6)

by Carolyne Aarsen

  Nik frowned, taken aback at her question. “It’s just the porch, honey. We needed to take it down because it was no good.”

  “But you made a big mess of the back of the house,” Emma said, sniffing. “And Mommy said that it doesn’t matter if you take the house down, but it matters to me. I don’t want you to wreck my bedroom.”

  Nik’s confusion grew, as he tried to sort out what Emma had said.

  “Did you think I was tearing down the whole house?”

  “You said you would,” Emma said, her voice as accusing as her expression.

  Nik allowed her words to settle for a minute, then he turned to Claire. “Is that what you thought, too?”

  Claire folded her arms over her stomach. “It’s what you’ve always talked about. And I came here that one day when the track hoe and the dump truck were here. The guy showed me a work order for a teardown. For this house.”

  “Was that the day you and Emma moved out?”

  Claire confirmed. “I thought you were tearing the house down despite what you said. I thought you couldn’t get past what happened to you here. And I thought once you were done here, you were moving. Just like you always said you were.”

  “And you probably also thought I didn’t care how you felt about the house,” Nik ventured.

  Her quick glance downward indicated that he was right.

  And with that one movement everything fell into place.

  “I’m sorry you ended up meeting Norm. He wasn’t supposed to come at all. I cancelled that work order.”

  Claire stared at him, her eyes roving over him, her brows furrowed. “But the porch…”

  Nik held her puzzled gaze. “The foundation is sagging, and the roof is a mess. It’s gotta come down. For safety reasons.”

  Claire looked from him to the house, swiping at the tears on her cheeks, still clutching Emma’s hand. “So, you’re not taking the house down?”

  Nik took a step closer to her. “No. I’m not.” He spoke quietly, afraid anything he said might send her away again. “I’m fixing it up. Got some ideas for the inside.”

  “And when you’ve fixed it up?” Claire held his gaze now and a tiny ember of hope glowed within him when he glimpsed the expectation in her eyes. “Then what?”

  “I was thinking of moving in. I’ll need a place to stay, after all.” He watched her closely while he spoke, hoping, praying that what he had to say was what she wanted to hear.

  “And why is that?” she asked. Her words were tentative.

  “I’ve got a big job coming up here in Sweet Creek. It will take about three years and, while that’s in the works, I’m sure I can get other contracts.”

  “So, you’re staying?”

  Nik laid his hand on Claire’s shoulder looking deep into her troubled eyes. “I’m staying. And not just for my mother and my sister or the work I’ve set up.” He looked down at Emma who watched the conversation between her mother and Nik with a puzzled expression. “Emma and you. You two are the main reason I want to stay.”

  He wished he felt as calm as he sounded. It was like walking to the edge of a cliff and turning his back to the yawning, void behind him. Completely vulnerable. All it would take was the tiniest rejection the smallest push and it would all be over. He would have gambled for nothing.

  Claire blinked slowly. She was silent at first... Then a soft smile stretched her lips. Her eyes shone. But she stayed where she was.

  “You’re staying for us?” she asked.

  “You’re not moving away?” Emma squealed.

  “I’m not. I figured I’d better stay close to the women I love. You and Emma.”

  Without hesitation, Emma launched herself at Nik, grabbing him around the waist, almost toppling him. “You’re staying. You’re staying.” Then she pulled back looking him straight in the eye, her own narrowed as if measuring his intent. “And are you going to be my daddy?”

  Claire gasped, and Nik laughed at her forthrightness.

  “Emma. Please,” Claire reprimanded.

  “Well? Are you?”

  “It depends on what your Mommy would like,” was all Nik dared say.

  Emma sighed, pursed her lips and twisted them to the side as she looked at Claire. “Are you going to say yes?”

  Claire still looked stunned and Nik took another chance.

  He took her hand pressing it between his, looking deep into her wide, surprised gaze.

  “I love you, Claire. I really do. It’s not a perfect love and I know I’ll make mistakes, but I promise to do the best I can.”

  “You love me?”

  Nik heard the puzzlement in her voice and for a moment he wondered if he had pushed too hard, too fast.

  But then Claire squeezed his hands in return. And she pressed her other hand to her lips, as if trying to hold her emotions in.

  “I really love you,” Nik repeated, hoping she believed him. “I realized how much when you left. I didn’t want to miss you. Didn’t want to think you could hold my heart so securely. I didn’t like how I felt without you.”

  “And what about me?” Emma asked. “Did you miss me too?” she asked.

  Nik pulled his hand out of Claire’s, and lifted Emma into his arms, giving her a tight hug. “I missed you so much,” he said, holding her close, thankful she was okay.

  Emma pulled away, her hands framing his face. “I missed you too.” she repeated. “And so did my mommy. She was crying all the time at the cabin.”

  Emma’s innocent words made Claire blush and gave Nik a surge of hope.

  “She did, did she?”

  “Did you cry?” Emma asked. “When we were gone?”

  Nik gave her another hug, then lowered her to the ground, keeping her hand tucked in his. He took Claire’s again, smiling at her.

  “Yes. I was very sad. I missed you and your mother. A lot.” He gave Claire’s hand a tug. But it took very little encouragement for her to move toward him, to step into his one-armed embrace. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, his heart so full he thought it would pop out of his chest.

  “Can I go into the house? To make sure my room is okay?” Emma asked.

  “Yes. But stay away from the kitchen and dining room, okay?” Nik told her.

  “Of course. Because I don’t want to go out the back door and end up on the ground. Because there’s no porch,” Emma announced as she pulled away from them and ran up the front steps.

  She disappeared into the house and Nik took advantage of her absence and pulled Claire into his arms again, holding her close, sharing a deep, warm kiss with her, his lips moving gently and then with more insistence.

  She clung him to her, returning his kiss with an ardor that surprised and pleased him at the same time.

  A passing vehicle honked at them and Nik pulled away, suddenly embarrassed.

  But Claire smiled. “Probably no one important,” she said. “Besides, it doesn’t matter. A lot of things don’t matter anymore.”

  “Like what?”

  Still resting in his arms, she looked over at the house. “You know, I made too much of this place. Put too much pressure on it for me to give me my happy-ever-after. Well, that’s what Tess told me, and she was right.”

  She turned back to him. “I’m sorry for not realizing what you had to deal with. I’m sorry that you went through such awful things here. I understand how you would want to erase that time from your life. So, if you want to tear the house down and start over, I’m fine with that.”

  Her eyes were sincere and her words gave him a freedom he hadn’t felt in years.

  “I mean it,” she said, giving him a tiny shake as if to underline what she was saying. “The house doesn’t matter. Your peace of mind and happiness does.”

  Nik gave her another kiss then smiled down at her, tracing her features, committing them to memory. “You know, it doesn’t matter to me either. I’ve been looking the house over and I have a few plans for it. Some changes I’d like to make. But I want it to stay up. I
t has a lot of character and I want to make it our home.”

  She smiled at him. “Home. I love that word.”

  He pulled her close again, resting his head on hers, his eyes closed as his heart filled with a love he never thought he would experience.

  “I do too,” he whispered.

  “Are you guys coming?” Emma called out from the front door. “I want to talk about my bedroom.”

  Nik chuckled and pulled away, still looking at Claire. “Her majesty has summoned us.”

  “I’m sorry—”

  Nik touched her lips with his finger, smiling as he shook his head. “You never have to apologize for her. She’s a gift and a treasure.” For a fleeting moment Nik thought of the child he might have had, then looked back, his heart full. “And I thank God for giving me you and her.”

  Claire chuckled and slipped her arm around his.

  Then, together they walked toward their new home.

  Epilogue

  “What do you think of Oasis?” Claire held up a card, turning it to Nik, who had his arm around her shoulders, holding her close to his side.

  They sat in the living room, a fire crackling in the grate. Emma had finally fallen asleep.

  The scent of sawdust and drywall dust still lingered in the air. After the porch was finished, Nik had taken out the wall between the dining room and the living room, opening it up. He had finished it last week.

  Once he’d declared the house habitable, Claire and Emma had moved all their things, once again, back into the house. They hadn’t taken the furniture out of storage yet.

  Claire wanted to paint the living and dining areas first.

  He studied it a moment then shook his head. “I’ll feel like I’m in a swimming pool every day.”

  Claire chuckled realizing he was probably right. She set the paint chip aside and pulled out another one. “Wintergreen?”

  Nik scratched his face, looking rather pained.

  “Another no,” Claire announced.

  “Well, I’m kind of okay with it. It’s just kind of… well...”

  “Girly. I know.” She picked up another card and looked at it as well, realizing that many of the choices she had made were when she thought that only she and Emma would live in the house. Never, in all her imaginings, had she thought she would be taking a man’s opinion into consideration when it came time to paint and decorate the house.

  “Do you have any preferences?”

  Nik scratched his forehead with his index finger, thinking. “I kind of like blueish colors.”

  Claire riffled through the cards and found a couple more. “How about this?”

  To her relief, Nik smiled. “Yeah. I can live with that.”

  “That’s the important part. We’ll be looking at it for a long time. I’m not a huge fan of painting, so unless we hire someone to do it next time, we’ll be living with your choice for a while.”

  “So, ‘choose wisely’ is what you’re saying?”

  “Pretty much,” she determined, chuckling.

  He set the paint card aside and pulled her closer. “I don’t want to talk about paint anymore.”

  “Okay, let’s talk about the wedding.”

  This elicited a groan from Nik.

  She laughed again but held her hand up to let the diamond on her finger sparkle in the subdued light. “I’m excited about our wedding.”

  “I know Chance is. For various reasons.”

  Nik and Chance had moved his trailer from the yard to a park not far from town and were both living in it for now.

  “Only two more weeks,” Claire said, still hardly daring to believe it would actually happen.

  Nik gave her a gentle kiss and sighed into her hair, both arms wrapped around her.

  She lay quietly in his arms, enjoying the moment. Enjoying just being with him.

  “Are you going to be okay? Living here?” she asked. The question had been lying dormant since they’d patched things up. They’d been so busy they hadn’t had much time to just be together. To just talk.

  “I’m looking forward to making good memories here,” he said quietly.

  She knew there were deep sorrowful memories buried beneath his calm facade. Hard pain.

  “Do you want to talk about some of the other stories?” she asked, hoping to ferret out one more sorrow that he could release into the open spaces, lay at the foot of the cross.

  He shook his head and gave her a gentle smile, fingering a strand of hair away from her face.

  “We have lots and lots of time to talk,” he said.

  “I’m always here, you know.”

  His smile deepened, creating an attractive fan of wrinkles around his eyes. Smile lines that she hadn’t seen often.

  “I know and I’m grateful for you. For all you give me. That we got pushed together.”

  “You do the same for me, you know. We have both benefited from everything that shifted and brought us together. I think we both needed to change our focus.” She sighed, looking around the house feeling a tiny ping of sorrow, thinking of her parents fighting here. She had always surrounded and imbued that home with an aura of happiness that wasn’t real.

  “Where are you?”

  She returned her gaze to him, releasing a gentle sigh that carried the pain away. “I’m thinking of the home we will make here. I want to make absolute sure it’s okay with you.”

  “I told you. It is.”

  His emphatic declaration told her to leave it be.

  She curled back against him, her head nestled in the crook of his shoulder. Upstairs her daughter slept in Tessa’s old room. Maybe, someday, there would be one or two more children to sleep in those beds, to wait for the furnace to kick in. To wait to come downstairs.

  She and Nik would be there, waiting for them.

  “We’re going to make this a happy home,” she declared. “Together.”

  “I like the sound of that.” Nik rubbed his cheek against her head. “I know it won’t always be easy and I’m sure we’ll have our arguments.”

  “You think?” she teased.

  “I know. I’m not the easiest person to live with.”

  “Neither am I. We’re two flawed individuals with our own happy and sad stories.”

  “And we have the rest of our life to share them,” he said. “And for that, I thank God for this place.”

  His sincerity was palpable. Claire’s heart soared at his words.

  “I do too,” she said. “Because it’s going to be ours. Our home. We’ll make our own memories and our own mistakes. But you know,” she drew back, cupping her face with her hand, “the best part is that we’re not on our own. We have the prayers of family and friends holding us up. And we have each other.”

  Nik leaned in close and sealed her declaration with a kiss.

  A noise on the stairs caught Claire’s attention and she looked up to see Emma’s tousled head peering down at them, her hands grasping the spindles of the bannister.

  “Come down here, you little stinker,” Nik said, beckoning her with a wave of his hand.

  Emma didn’t need another invitation. She scooted down and plopped between Nik and Claire, wiggling to make room.

  The couple curled their arms around Emma, containing her, closing the circle.

  “I’m happy,” Emma said, quietly resting her head against Claire’s, her hand holding Nik’s.

  “So are we, little munchkin,” Nik said with a chuckle. “So are we.”

  “I think we should play a game,” she said. Then yawned.

  “How about we just sit here,” Nik said. “Just enjoy the fire and the quiet.”

  “Just be together?” Emma sounded puzzled.

  “Exactly that,” Nik said, smiling at Claire. “Just be together.”

  “Okay.”

  Emma didn’t sound convinced but she relaxed quietly.

  Together the three of them sat and watched the fire. Making a new memory to fill the space in their house. Their home.

&n
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  I hope you enjoyed reading Claire and Nik’s story and seeing him finally reunited with his sister and mother. This is the last of the Sweet Hearts of Sweet Creek for now. I hope you liked your time in this town.

  I often buy books based on other people’s reviews so I’m hoping you’re willing to leave one on this book to give future readers some idea of what to expect. You can leave a review by clicking on the title below.

  REVIEW - A MOTHER’S HEART

  Other books in the

  Sweet Hearts of Sweet Creek Series:

  HOMECOMING #1

  HER HEART’S PROMISE #2

  CLOSE TO HIS HEART#3

  DIVIDED HEARTS #4

  A HERO AT HEART #5

  I have another series that’s out now. You can find the books below:

  Holmes Crossing Series

  THE ONLY BEST PLACE

  ALL IN ONE PLACE

  THIS PLACE

  A SILENCE IN THE HEART

  ANY MAN OF MINE

  Dear Reader

  You met Claire in the book Close to His Heart. And you also met Cory in Divided Hearts.

  Those two stories came together in this book. When I wrote Cory’s story, I spoke of the hero she had always hoped would come into her life. That hero always took the form of her brother. Now, I finally got to finish that story and tell you more about Claire.

  I hope you enjoyed reading Claire and Nik’s story. I often buy books based on other people’s reviews so I’m hoping you’re willing to leave one on this book to give future readers some idea of what to expect. You can leave a review by clicking on the title below.

  Review A Mother’s Heart