by Cate Beauman
“We’ll have Jordan help us with all of that too.”
She sighed. “There’s just so much to do. I feel like I’m getting bogged down in all of the details. I still haven’t made a decision on the studio space. I really like the one a couple miles from here. It has such a cute little apartment for Leila. I need my assistant back sooner rather than later.”
“We’ll get her here, but all of this can wait for a few days. We’re going to get everything figured out.” He handed her a wrapped rectangular-shaped package. “I’d rather you open this.”
She frowned. “What is it?”
“A gift.”
She smiled. “I know. Why isn’t it under the tree with the rest?”
“Because I want you to open it now.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
She shook her head. “You know the rule. No presents until Christmas.” She tapped his chin. “I can wait a couple more days.”
“This one’s a Christmas Eve Eve gift. Santa dropped it off early. He specifically requested you open it tonight.”
Narrowing her eyes, she nibbled her lip, not sure she could break such a sacred rule.
“I don’t think you want to tick off the man in red,” he whispered, kissing her.
“You do have a point. If Santa made an official request…”
“I think he mentioned something about wanting some of Nana’s chocolate chip cookies too.”
She laughed. “He’s a sly one, that Old Saint Nick.”
He grinned. “He can be.” He settled them deeper into the mountain of pillows. “Open it, Jules.”
She nodded, peeling away the pretty paper, and lifted the lid on the box. Her eyes widened and she gasped, staring at the green-gilt hardcover book. “It’s Sense and Sensibility.” She touched it carefully. “This is—it’s first edition.”
“It was Neve’s. From Jay.” Chase opened the front page.
“‘For the love of my life. Only the first edition will do,’” Julie read, blinking back tears. Her gaze whipped to Chase’s. “How did you get this?”
“She left it on my bed the night before we were supposed to leave.”
“She did?”
He nodded. “With a note that said, ‘Second chances are a rare gift.’”
She pressed her hand to her heart. “This is amazing. She knew how much I love this story. How much I love you.”
“I wanted to add my own little touch.”
She carefully turned to the next page, sliding her finger down the silky white ribbon, stopping when she spotted the silver and diamond ring tied to the end, tucked between the book and the box. “Chase,” she whispered.
“When we were reading this story all those years ago, something changed between us. You weren’t just Jules Keller, my best friend anymore. You were Jules Keller, the girl I had a major crush on. You made it so easy for me to fall in love with you.” He untied the ring. “Neve was right. Second chances are a gift. Nana was right too. You were always meant to be mine, and I’m not letting you get away this time.”
She sniffled, staring into his eyes.
“Will you marry me, Jules?”
She nodded as a tear trailed down her cheek. “Yes.”
He slid the ring on her finger and kissed her. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” She studied the pretty one-carat stunner. “It’s beautiful.” She smiled, looking at him again. “It only took us ten years to get here.”
He gave her a casual shrug. “Better late than never.”
“Agreed.” She pulled him down on top of her. “We should probably get married really, really soon. I want to have your baby.”
“We could start trying now.”
Grinning, she tugged on his shirt. “Definitely.”
Thank you!
Hi there!
Thank you for reading Answers For Julie. What did you think of Chase and Julie’s story? Did you love it, like it, or maybe even hate it? I hope you’ll share your thoughts by leaving an honest review.
I’ll see you again soon when we catch up with another installment of the Bodyguards of L.A. County series.
Until next time,
~Cate
Finding Lyla
Turn the page for a preview of book ten in the Bodyguards of L.A. County Series.
Chapter One
Moscow, Russia
February 1991
Jonathan’s heart raced as the steady rhythm of the machines tracking his wife’s vitals filled the operating suite.
“Hold me tighter,” Mina whispered as she stared up at him and nervously licked her dry lips.
“You’re doing great. He or she will be here before we know it,” he reassured her, sliding his fingers down Mina’s smooth neck and shoulder, one of the few places he could touch on their side of the bluish-green curtain.
“I can’t stop shaking.”
He glanced at Mina’s delicate, trembling arms strapped into place on the table, as if she were affixed to a cross, and he felt his pulse kick up another notch with his sense of helplessness. “It’s cold in here.” He smiled, kissing Mina’s nose and brushing at the silky blond wisps of hair escaping her surgical cap. “Soon this will be over and we’ll finally get to meet the little one who’s been kicking you for months.” He smiled again as Mina did, doing his best to reassure her while his stomach continued its greasy roil.
For hours they’d waited for their new son or daughter. For hours Mina had endured the excruciating pain of labor and the frustrations of endlessly attempting to push their child into the world, until the baby’s heart rate took a dangerous dip that had yet to recover. Only minutes had passed since the doctors and nurses rushed them down to the operating theater, but it felt like days while they waited for the new life to be born.
“The head’s stuck,” someone muttered on the other side of the curtain separating them from the gore of Mina’s cesarean-section.
“Work faster,” another demanded quietly as a wet suction sound filled the room. “The outcome will not be good if we don’t.”
Jonathan sat farther up on the uncomfortable stool as the urgency in the doctors’ tones registered. A year ago he would have struggled to understand the rapid-fire Russian they spoke, but now he understood just fine that even though emergency surgery was taking place, the baby was still in trouble. He swallowed while sweat dribbled down his back and Mina blinked up at him.
“Widen the incision,” another doctor said.
“Everything’s okay,” he mumbled, stroking Mina’s forehead, praying his words were true, even though it was clear things weren’t going well.
Mina sucked in a breath as her body was roughly jostled. “Why are they pulling so? Even with the drugs I feel as if I’m being ripped in two.”
“It will be over soon—very soon,” he promised as the fetal alarms started beeping the way they had when the doctors raced around in the upstairs delivery room.
More tense seconds passed while Jonathan stared into Mina’s pretty blue eyes.
“Finally,” said the doctor closest to Jonathan’s side as he listened to his child’s first lusty wails.
The nurse peeked her face over the curtain, holding up a tiny, screaming infant covered in goop and blood. “What do you have, Mina?”
“A girl.” Mina grinned as Jonathan laughed his relief.
“We have a daughter.” Jonathan followed the nurse’s movements with his gaze as she quickly walked his baby over to the warming station. “She’s really here.” He kissed Mina’s forehead and relaxed his tense shoulders for the first time in days. “You did it. You did it, Mina,” he whispered next to her ear. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I did nothing more than lay here like a log. Kiss me again, my darling, and tell them I need to see her.”
He pressed his mouth to Mina’s and smiled as he wiped away her tears, surprised that it was possible to love her more than he already did.
“Tell them, Jonathan. Tell them we must see her, or I’ll simply di
e from the anticipation.”
Nodding, he chuckled as his daughter’s cries echoed, certain he’d never been so overcome with joy. Mina had been waiting for this moment since the doctor confirmed her pregnancy. “Okay.” He moved to stand as the nurse walked their way.
“Sit, Papa, and you will hold your daughter.”
He settled on the stool again, reaching for the small bundle, careful to support her head. “Hi, beautiful.” He brought her close, breathing her in, touching his cheek to her forehead. “You’re so warm and soft.” He eased her back for another good look, already in love. “I’m your dad.”
“Let me see, darling. Let me see.”
He angled the baby for Mina’s view.
“Oh, she’s perfect.” She struggled to move her hand secured beneath the restraint. “May I be undone?”
The nurse released her wrist from the tie.
“Thank you. I must touch you. I’ve longed to touch you, little one.” Mina stroked the baby’s forehead.
“Lyla, right? We’re sure her name is Lyla?”
“Yes.” Mina nuzzled the baby’s cheek with her own. “Our little Lyla Katarina.” Mina awkwardly tugged at the tightly wrapped blanket. “Her feet. I must know her fate, Jonathan. Who will she be?”
He helped Mina unwrap the white cotton, exposing tiny pink legs and feet.
Mina laughed. “She has my arch.” Mina kissed miniature soles. “Russia’s princess. You, my love, will be Russia’s next great prima ballerina.”
“Just like your mama.” Jonathan caressed his new daughter’s knuckles as Lyla’s hand wrapped around his finger, unable to get enough of the perfect little girl. “I think she’ll have your hair color. She definitely has your nose.”
“She has your chin.” Mina stroked Lyla’s head, stomach, and arms as the baby started to fuss again. “You are dear to my heart already, my girl. So dear.” Mina kissed Lyla’s palm and dropped her trembling hand back to the table as she rested her head against the small cushion.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m overwhelmed with happiness.” She smiled and closed her eyes. “Wrap our sweet Lyla back up, will you? We don’t want her getting cold. We want her healthy and lovely when she makes her debut to the world in the morning.”
Newspapers, reporters, and Mina’s millions of adoring fans were the last thing on his mind as he struggled to swaddle his daughter while the baby blinked up at him. “I think I’ve got it.” He grinned as he tucked the lip of the blanket in place. “I’ll need more practice but—”
“Mina, open your eyes.” The nurse gave a rough rub to Mina’s pale cheeks as alarms began to beep behind the curtain. “Mina.” The nurse gave her another aggressive scrub.
“You must go out now, Diplomat Avery.” One of the nurses took Lyla from Jonathan’s arms while another helped him from the stool, quickly ushering him toward the doors of the operating suite.
“Stop.” He pulled away, fighting to turn around. “Wait.”
“Out. Please, Sir.” She gave him a small shove.
“What’s going on?” he demanded in English and shook his head, remembering that few of the staff members here were fluent in his native tongue. “What’s happening?” he tried again in Russian.
“Mina’s losing too much blood.”
He swallowed a wave of terror. “She’s going to be okay? She’ll be all right?”
“We will work hard to restore her health.” The nurse turned away, and the door to the operating room closed, echoing behind her.
Jonathan glanced around in the silence of the long, dim corridor and sank into one of the plastic chairs in the corner. Clenching his jaw, he bobbed his legs up and down. Mina was so delicate. Her body was strong, but her labor had been so hard. He closed his eyes as he rested his head against the wall, consumed by a sickening dread. They should have gone to The States for the delivery like he’d wanted. The technology was top-notch—some of the best—but Mina had insisted their baby be born here in her country, where the times were still far behind the advances in the West. He should have put his foot down and demanded that they think of both hers and the baby’s health and safety, but it was a rare day when he could deny his beloved wife anything she asked.
His eyes flew open and he rushed to his feet when two more doctors ran down the hall and pushed through the doors to the operating room. He blew out a long, shaky breath with a renewed sense of trepidation and paced back and forth while his mind raced. What was taking so long? Why was there no news about Mina? Surely they’d given her blood to counteract the loss and had her ready for the recovery room.
“Diplomat Avery.”
He whirled and closed the distance between himself and Doctor Nabatov with several huge steps, as the obstetrician rolled Lyla out in a portable bassinet. “How is she?”
“Your girl is perfectly fine—very healthy.”
“How’s Mina doing?”
“I’m afraid Mina lost a lot of blood.”
“So give her a transfusion.”
He took Jonathan by the arm, guiding him over to the row of chairs Jonathan had abandoned. “Sit, please.”
The grim apology in the physician’s eyes made him hesitate. “I don’t want to sit.”
“Sit, please.”
He did as he was told. “Doctor—”
“Mina has died, Diplomat Avery.”
His head went light and he closed his eyes, afraid he might pass out. This couldn’t be happening. Only moments ago Mina had been smiling at him and their baby. “How can—Mina died?”
“I’m sorry to share this news, Diplomat. This is a huge loss not only for you, but for Russia and me as well. Our—”
“No.” He shook his head, ready to stand, but sat where he was, certain his legs wouldn’t hold him. “How did this happen? How could this happen to Mina?”
“This birth had many complications.”
“Mina is healthy. She’s strong. She’s so strong.” His voice broke as he tried to comprehend that Mina was none of those things any longer.
“Words cannot express my regret.” He stood and picked up Lyla, handing her over to Jonathan. “Hold her. Take comfort in your child.”
Jonathan settled the baby in the crook of his elbow, cradling her close as tears raced down his cheeks while Doctor Nabatov spoke to him in medical jargon he barely grasped. He struggled to pay attention to the physician’s droning words while he stared in shock at his beautiful, motherless daughter.
About The Author
Cate Beauman is the author of the international best selling series, The Bodyguards of L.A. County. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband, two boys, and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack.
www.catebeauman.com
www.facebook.com/CateBeauman
www.goodreads.com/catebeauman
Follow Cate on Twitter: @CateBeauman
Morgan’s Hunter
Book One: The story of Morgan and Hunter
ISBN: 978-0989569606
Morgan Taylor, D.C. socialite and wildlife biologist, leads a charmed life until everything changes with a phone call. Her research team has been found dead—slaughtered—in backcountry Montana.
As the case grows cold, Morgan is determined to unravel the mystery behind her friends’ gruesome deaths. Despite the dangers of a murderer still free, nothing will stand in her way, not even the bodyguard her father hires, L.A.’s top Close Protection Agent, Hunter Phillips.
Sparks fly from the start when no-nonsense Hunter clashes with Morgan’s strong-willed independence. Their endless search for answers proves hopeless—until Hunter discovers the truth.
On the run and at the mercy of a madman, Morgan and Hunter must outsmart a killer to save their own lives.
Falling For Sarah
Book Two: The story of Sarah and Ethan
ISBN: 978-0989569613
Widow Sarah Johnson struggled to pick up the pieces after her life was ripped apart. After two years of grieving, she’s found con
tentment in her thriving business as photographer to Hollywood’s A-list and in raising her angel-faced daughter, Kylee... until bodyguard and long-time friend Ethan Cooke changes everything with a searing moonlight kiss.
Sarah’s world turns upside down as she struggles with her unexpected attraction to Ethan and the guilt of betraying her husband’s memory. But when blue roses and disturbing notes start appearing on her doorstep, she has no choice but to lean on Ethan as he fights to save her from a stalker that won’t stop until he has what he prizes most.
Hailey’s Truth
Book Three: The story of Hailey and Austin
ISBN: 978-0989569620
Hailey Roberts has never had it easy. Despite the scars of a tragic childhood, she’s made a life for herself. As a part-time student and loving nanny, she yearns for a family of her own and reluctant Austin Casey, Ethan Cooke Security’s best Close Protection Agent.
Hailey’s past comes back to haunt her when her long lost brother tracks her down, bringing his dangerous secrets with him. At an emotional crossroads, Hailey accepts a humanitarian opportunity that throws her together with Austin, taking her hundreds of miles from her troubles, or so she thinks.
What starts out as a dream come true quickly becomes a nightmare as violence erupts on the island of Cozumel. Young women are disappearing, community members are dying—and the carnage links back to her brother.
As Austin struggles to keep Hailey’s past from destroying her future, he’s forced to make a decision that could turn her against him, or worse cost them both their lives.