by Lucy Score
She levered up until she was almost empty and then slammed back down, tearing a cry of pleasure from her own throat.
“Baby, you have to go slower,” Beau warned as she did it again.
But she shook her head. “No, now,” she whispered. “Now, Beau.”
They hung on for another thrust and then another, but when his lips parted over her nipple, when his tongue lashed over it, she felt herself let go.
“I feel it, Bristol. I feel you getting ready for me, baby.”
He jerked his hips into her on her next slide down his shaft, and the angle, the perfect friction, set them both off. He grunted as he jerked inside her again and again while her channel milked his release with her own. She rode him hard, her breath coming in short, jerky pants until they were both too weak to move.
“You’re it for me Bristol,” he whispered, kissing her cheeks, her forehead, her hair. “I want this forever.”
“Beau, I don’t know what to say. I want to take things slowly, but when you say things like that, when you make me feel like this, it’s hard to go slow.”
“That’s what I’m counting on, gorgeous,” he said, cupping her face gently. “I want to sweep you off your feet. We’ve already gone too long without each other.”
Flashing red and white lights glimmered through the fogged up windows and caught their attention. Still straddling him, Bristol swiped a hand over the window and looked on in horror as Deanna Dorsey and a team of firefighters gaped at them from the fire truck pulling out of the station.
Beau waved weakly while Bristol yanked her shirts down and buried her face in his neck. “Oh my God. Oh my God,” she chanted.
“Safe to say we’re probably never living this down, right?” Beau guessed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The crowd at the Christmas Eve Carnival seemed significantly larger than usual, and Bristol wondered if Hope Falls had experienced a population boom she was unaware of. A pack of kids she’d never seen before raced past laughing. “Geez, we must have attracted half of Longview to the carnival,” she guessed.
“This is just awesome,” Alli said, hugging herself in the new purple parka Beau had given her. “I love this place!”
Bristol couldn’t help but grin. In this moment, Alli reminded her so much of Hope that it hurt but in a good way. She loved catching these glimpses of the sister she’d lost in the sister she’d gained.
In somewhat of a Christmas miracle, she’d started to trust Beau again. The slate had been wiped clean. He hadn’t come to Hope Falls to hurt her, and he’d done his best to prove that. He was a hard man not to love, not that she was ready to admit that to anyone but herself, of course. She’d known him a month, barely. She was an adult, a mother. She couldn’t just jump into love and throw caution to the wind. She had to make sure everything fit in the right places.
Alli surprised her by throwing her arms around her. “Do you know what it feels like to have the first Christmas Eve of the rest of your life when you thought you’d already had your last?”
“What are you going to do with that life?” Bristol asked, fighting the tickle of tears in her throat.
“Well, for starters, I’m finishing high school in Hope Falls, and then I thought I’d start looking at West Coast colleges. But not medical schools.”
Bristol laughed.
Alli led her through the crowd to the makeshift grandstand set up in front of the pavilion where the pie and Santa contests were in full swing. Mayor Henry Walker was there and had his head together with Sue Ann and Beau.
“What is your brother doing up there?” Bristol frowned.
Alli smiled innocently. “Oh, you know Beau, always making friends.”
“You know something! What’s going on?” Bristol demanded.
“Remember when I was talking about that over-the-top gesture from Beau?”
“Yeah,” Bristol sighed.
“Well, it’s happening,”Alli grinned. “Right now. Stay here, and do not move a muscle.”
“What are you talking about?” But it was too late. Alli was already making her way onto the stage.
“Now you all just stand right here,” Sue Ann announced, herding the rest of the Quinns over to Bristol. “We’ve got a little surprise worked out for you tonight.”
Bristol’s dad looked queasy. “The last time anyone in town surprised me, it was when Renata Blackstone paid for her oil change with a smudging ceremony. Damn garage still smells like that sage crap,” he grumbled.
“What the hell is going on?” Savannah demanded, looking fierce despite her red and white pom-pom hat.
“Mom? What’s the surprise?” Violet asked, clutching a cup of hot chocolate between her mittens.
“I don’t know, sweetie. I’m sure it’s very nice.” Please don’t let it be something awful or embarrassing, Bristol sent up the silent plea.
“Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen.” Mayor Walker leaned into the mic, tapping it for attention. “I’d like to thank you all for coming out tonight to celebrate this magical time of year. It does this old man’s heart good to see us come together time and again as a community, especially when it’s for our own.”
The applause was enthusiastic but muffled by gloves and mittens.
“We lost a special Hope Falls resident earlier this year. Hope Quinn was as good as you get, and her absence is felt every day by all of us. We’ve grieved with the Quinns, and we’ve watched them carry on as best they can as we felt helpless. So when Beau here came up with this idea, we were thrilled. Beau, why don’t you say a few words?”
Bristol stared at him hard, trying to see inside him and understand what he was up to with the help of her traitorous town. He took front and center and leaned over the microphone. “Hi, everyone. I’m Beau, and this is my sister, Alli.”
Alli waved cheerfully to the crowd.
“As most of you know, we got the most incredible gift from the Quinn family, and when you get a gift like that, a thank you card isn’t going to cut it. And we aren’t the only ones who want to say thank you. So if all of the Quinns will come up here, we’ve put a little something together for you.”
He was looking at her, addressing the crowd but seeing only her. Reluctantly, she followed her family on stage where they formed a Quinn wall of support. But when she tried to position herself at the end of the line, Beau crossed to her, took her hand, and dragged her back to the mic with him. “Before we begin, I’d just like to say that not only do I owe this family a thank you, but I also owe this woman an apology.”
The crowd of people she’d known since she was learning to walk tittered appreciatively. At least she wasn’t the only sucker for a handsome face and sweet manners. He’d swept the whole damn town off its feet.
“Bristol,” Beau said, addressing her. “I thought I came here to vet you, to make sure you and your family were safe for my sister to meet. But that’s not why I was really here. I realize now that I came to Hope Falls to fall hopelessly in love with you. I was meant for you, and Hope brought us together.”
The crowd awh-ed, and Bristol felt her cheeks flush. She blinked furiously, refusing to cry in front of the entire town. “Now, I screwed up,” he told the crowd. “And Bristol graciously, grudgingly agreed to give me a second chance. Bristol, I hope tonight will make you proud of that decision.”
She heard a hoot from the crowd and guessed it came from Tessa Maguire’s direction.
Beau turned the microphone over to Alli and stepped back with Bristol. He kept her hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly.
“What’s going on, Beau?” she whispered without moving her lips.
“Just know that we all love you, and this is the best way we could think of to say that.”
Alli adjusted the microphone, and Beau squeezed Bristol’s hand reassuringly. She could feel the energy of the crowd. Whatever this was, it was big enough that the entire town was anticipating what came next.
“My name is Alli, and I’m eighteen. I was a soccer
player and honor student until I got sick. Last Christmas, my doctors told me that it would be my last one unless a miracle happened. And then one did. The Quinns decided to donate Hope’s organs,” she read from index cards. “I got Hope’s heart.” Her voice broke. Mary let go of her husband’s hand and crossed to Alli, putting an arm around the girl’s shoulder and squeezing. Alli grinned at her through tears. “You were my miracle. Hope saved my life. But I wasn’t the only one.”
Bristol’s gaze flew to Beau’s face. He couldn’t have. There was no way.
“We were able to track down all of Hope’s recipients, and they were all willing to give up their Christmas Eve plans to be here tonight.”
Bristol didn’t even have time to prepare. The tears turned on like a faucet. She was shaking her head, hiding her face in her hands.
“Hope Falls, please welcome Chester Upchurch.” A man in his late fifties and a ridiculous Christmas sweater climbed the stairs of the bandstand. “He got Hope’s corneas, and with his sight restored, he got to see his first grandson when he was born this summer.”
Chester paused at each Quinn to hug them and whisper a few words to them. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bristol,” he whispered. “I can’t thank you enough for changing my life.”
Bristol was too choked up to speak. So she kissed him on the cheek. He waved to a group in the crowd, and someone held up a baby.
“Whitney Thrale is a mother of three, and with Hope’s kidney, she was able to get off dialysis and start coaching soccer.” A woman with miles of curly hair and tears in her eyes took the stage blowing the crowd and her family kisses. She kissed and thanked every member of the Quinn clan one at a time.
“Victor Urey was given less than forty-eight hours to live when his family received word that a new liver with his name on it was being airlifted to Dallas. He and his wife, June, celebrated fifty years of marriage last month with a cruise to Hawaii,” Alli continued.
Bristol couldn’t see anymore. She was blinded by tears, the entire town of Hope Falls with her. They were all her family, and so were the people who now carried pieces of Hope.
They met eleven recipients, eleven friends, eleven new family members and their families. Bristol watched her parents rejoice in the beauty of the moment. Grandchildren met, daughters walked down aisles, colleges graduated. Their daughter, their beautiful Hope, had given hope to so many other families.
When it was over, when the high school chorus took the stage for their traditional Christmas concert, Beau swept Bristol up in his arms.
“Merry Christmas, Bristol.”
“I love you, Beau. Thank you for this. Thank you from all of us…” she couldn’t go on. There were tears in her eyes and a lump in her throat.
“I’d do anything for you, for your family.”
“Our family,” she corrected him. “It’s all ours now. No backing out.”
“You just made all my wishes come true,” he said as he tenderly cupped her face.
“Well, not all of them. Not yet. This makes me glad I went overboard for your Christmas present.”
“You are my Christmas present,” he said squeezing her tight again.
“I’m not your only Christmas present. Alli helped me pick this one out.”
“What did you do?”
“My turn now,” Bristol winked. “Turn around.”
As he did, she had the pleasure of seeing wonder and delight wash over his face as he took it all in. The Chicago Blackhawks all dressed as Santa and all grinning from ear to ear waited in front of the Christmas tree.
“What? How?”
“Go say hi to your family,” she said, giving him a push forward.
They met him halfway and tackled him to the ground as she’d seen them do in countless highlight reels.
“Damn, that was one hell of an idea,” Alli announced at her side.
“I can’t believe you got them all here,” Bristol said, wiping more tears from her eyes. “And got them all dressed as Santa.”
“Those guys would do anything for Beau. They have to turn around and fly back out tonight, but I think they’ll all say this is worth it.”
Alli abandoned her to join the fray where she was immediately welcomed, and Savannah appeared at Bristol’s side. “You’re making my Christmas gift to Vince look like crap,” she announced.
“What did you get him?”
“Shirts with his initials monogrammed on the cuffs.”
Bristol laughed and wrapped her arm around her sister. “He’s an accountant. He’ll love it.”
Beau emerged from the manly love fest a few minutes later and dragged Bristol around introducing her to his teammates. She felt it in the air, the love that one girl had sparked.
“Thank you, Hope,” she whispered. She held her breath when an icy blue orb shot up into the sky and a lone snowflake exploded into being in tones of blue and silver.
“Did you do this, Beau?”
“Shh, keep watching,” he urged. So she did as a blizzard of snowflake fireworks lit up the night sky. The crowd oohed and ahhed as silver sparkles shimmered against the black. They painted the sky in a spectacular show, each one better than the last.
The finale began, dozens of fireworks exploding and glittering, raining light down over the town, until finally one spark shot skyward. Up, up, up it climbed, all eyes on it in anticipation, and when the silver heart bloomed open, Bristol felt the tears on her cheeks.
She looked to Beau again, but he wasn’t standing next to her. He was kneeling, his green eyes damp and hopeful.
“Bristol, Alli has Hope’s heart, and now I’m asking for yours. I owe you my life and my family. I came here to thank you, and here I am asking you for even more than you’ve already given me. I know it’s too soon and too fast. But I want you every day of my life. I want Violet. I want Hope Falls. I want it all. Will you do me the great honor of being my wife, my partner, my center?”
The ring he held between gloved fingers sparkled brighter than all the fireworks in the sky.
Bristol cupped her hands to her cheeks, a sob of beautiful, exquisite joy escaping her lungs. And for that moment, she felt Hope with her, felt the nudge at her back, and knew without a doubt her sister’s love lived on.
What are you waiting for? Hope wanted to know. Jump, and he’ll catch you.
She couldn’t speak, couldn’t form the yes that her heart was shouting. But she could nod through her tears. Beau drew off her glove and reverently slipped the ring onto her finger, kissing it once before rising.
“I promise you, Bristol, I will never stop being grateful to you, and I will never forget your sister. Not just for saving my sister but giving me you. It wasn’t fate that brought us together. It was Hope.”
She jumped into his arms, and he picked her up off her feet and whirled her around. The crowd was cheering, and she didn’t know if it was for them, for the fireworks, or for the memory of Hope.
“I love you, Beau, with all my heart.”
Author’s Note to the Reader
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading Beau and Bristol’s story! I cried every damn day writing this book and when Mr. Lucy read it, he announced, “If this doesn’t make you feel something, you’re dead inside.”
Actually, he had to spell it out for me because when he first came into my office and pointed at his eyes I thought he was telling me he was getting pink eye. I didn’t realize that my story had moved him to a sheen of eye moisture. Once we cleared that up—the misunderstanding, not the imaginary pink eye—I celebrated knowing that at least it wasn’t just me camping out in the feels department.
Anyway, here are a few things you might not have known about this book:
Bristol, Savannah, and Hope were all named after the places they were conceived, which the girls thought was disgusting so they never discuss it.
This story was inspired by a viral video of the bride who invited her father’s heart recipient to walk her down the aisle. I ugly
cried. It was amazing.
Kindle World books are generally adorable, petite novellas. I appear to be incapable of writing anything under 50,000 words. So you got yourself a short, chubby novel here.
If you liked this small town romance, check out my Blue Moon Series set in the cozy upstate New York home of nosey hippie matchmakers. If you totally fell in love with this story or just me sign up for my newsletter and follow me on Facebook. I do contests and sneak peeks and no spam. I’m also on Twitter but I have no idea how it works.
Thanks for reading! Don’t stop!
Xoxo,
Lucy Score
Acknowledgements
Thank you so much to the writing duo Melanie Shawn for inviting me to be part of the Hope Falls family. I enjoyed my visit to your world!
As always, my books would be total crap without the eagle eyes of Dawn, my amazing proofer, and Amanda, my lovely line editor. Thanks, ladies!
Kudos to Wildcat Dezigns for the Heart of Hope cover design.
Special thanks to Mr. Lucy for being ever ready with the tissues when I cried my way through this book.
And last but never, ever least, thank you to my readers. You are the reason I put on my writing pants every day. Well, more like writing leggings. Same thing and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees.
About the Author
Lucy Score is the author of the Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon bestseller Pretend You’re Mine. She grew up in a literary family who insisted that the dinner table was for reading and earned a degree in journalism. She writes full-time from the Pennsylvania home she and Mr. Lucy share with their obnoxious cat, Cleo. When not spending hours crafting heartbreaker heroes and kick-ass heroines, Lucy can be found on the couch, in the kitchen, or at the gym. She hopes to someday write from a sailboat, or oceanfront condo, or tropical island with reliable WIFI.
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