Dreams Don't Wait (Contemporary romance)
Page 18
And this time the collective attention in the room was on him. He didn't take his eyes off Evan when he said, "Maud, would you take care of Jen for a while? Evan and I need to talk—now." He let Jenny slide down his chest to the floor.
Smiling broadly, Maud took Jenny's hand.
"Yes!" Cal said, giving Linc a thumbs-up sign and grinning at his mother.
Linc grabbed Evan's hand and towed her out of the room, down the hall, and into the library. As the door closed behind them he turned toward her, both hands on his hips.
"Say that again," he ordered.
"First you give me back what you took away, Mr. Lincoln Stewart. I have no intention of being mistress of your manor." Evan was now fully in the spirit of Linc's game. Whatever it was.
For a second he looked confused, then he laughed as he remembered. But his smiled quickly faded. "Fair enough, but first I think we should hammer out a few conditions."
"Conditions." She didn't like the sound of this at all.
"Yes, conditions. I may be thickheaded at times, but I've figured one thing out. There's something about being married to me that scares you. I need to know what it is."
She hesitated, not sure where to begin, how to explain. "It's not you, Linc, and it's not Jenny. I know that now. It's me. All the years working—raising Cal—I guess I locked on to a dream. Maybe it was to keep me going. I don't know. And when we lost Jenny that afternoon—" She lifted her eyes to his. "You were right, I was scared. More than scared, I was terrified. Until then, I'd forgotten how ferocious a mother's love could be, the demands on it—the pain of it—and I just wanted to run. The very idea of making that commitment again paralyzed me. I didn't think I could handle it. There were so many times with Cal when I nearly didn't make it that—" She broke off, waited a moment. "But that doesn't matter now."
"It does matter. It matters to me." He took her face in his hands. "But you're not alone anymore, love. I'm here. Maud's here. And there's Cal. We're a family. We're not going to leave you with all the fun of raising Jenny. Besides, she may need discipline from time to time, and I know you'll want to call on me for that." He smiled.
"Right. That's definitely your department."
Linc gave her a long look, turned serious. "School? Travel? They're important to you, aren't they?" And I never realized it. He wanted to kick himself clear across the Pacific Ocean. If he hadn't been such a stubborn ass, so determined to get his way, he'd have seen it.
She nodded, then shrugged. But that shrug took effort, he could tell. "I always regretted not finishing school," she said. "I was an A student when... Well, that was a long time ago. It doesn't matter now. I'll get back to it someday." She stepped up to him and touched his face. "I love you. I love you so much, I can't even think of a life without you and Jenny." Looking into his eyes, she added, "But I think you already know that."
"And I love you." One small step and she was in his arms. His mouth slanted over hers. "And I always will. Don't ever doubt it," he said gruffly, before giving her a kiss to forever seal his words on her heart. He pulled back and rested his chin near her ear, took a steadying breath.
"So you're planning to quit your job?" he asked.
"Uh-huh." She cuddled closer.
"And do what? Hang around and bother me all day?"
She pulled her head back and looked at him quizzically. "Look after Jen, of course."
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea."
"Linc, you know that's what you want."
He took her face between his hands. "What I want is for you to stamp paid on that dream of yours. Go to school—with your son. The semester's just started. There's still time. And I'd bet Cal would love it."
Her eyes widened. "But Jenny. What about Jenny?"
"Jenny starts kindergarten next week, and if I'm not here, Maud is." He kissed her forehead. "Jenny has lots of people to love and care for her, love. It's not like when you were raising Cal." He paused, then added, "And for at least the next year or so, you've got yourself a house-husband. After that, I can't make any promises, because we might have to live in England for a while. Of course, an A student may want to spend a year or two at Oxford or Cambridge—if her marks are good enough. Sound okay?"
When she only gazed at him wide-eyed and didn't answer, he said, "Dreams don't wait, Evan. Not forever."
Evan's heart thumped in a crazily uneven rhythm, its beat thrumming madly in her ears. "You're sure? Absolutely, totally, and completely positive about this?"
"I'm sure." He kissed her forehead, her eyelids, and finally her mouth. His voice was down an octave when he lifted his head to give her a blue-eyed gaze. "Marry me."
Not a question. A statement.
"I take it that was a proposal?"
"Freely given and—"
"Freely taken away?" she reminded him.
His grin seemed inspired by the devil. "I wanted to show you what you were missing."
"Really?" She arched a brow.
"Evan," he said. "Answer me."
It was her turn to smile, first in mirth, then from a deep and sure happiness. "My answer is yes, my lord. A yes freely given, and—"
"Forever." He kissed her softly, lingeringly.
"Forever," she whispered against his lips, "and the morning after."
The End
Page forward for a note from EC Sheedy
Note from EC Sheedy
Dear Reader:
Thank you for buying and reading DREAMS DON'T WAIT, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, you'll check out my other e-titles. :-)
Contemporary Romance
ONE TOUGH COOKIE
Set on Spain's magical Costa del Sol the story features Willy Desmond, a woman resolutely committed to being financially, emotionally, and physically independent. She wants no man—until she meets Mister Wrong. (If you like a woman who wants to be the hero of her own life, you'll like wild Willy.)
CALIFORNIA MAN
A romance set on an idyllic Pacific Northwest island, it tells the story of Emily Welland, a timid, reclusive island woman who meets a golden California man—a man determined to calm her fears and gain her love. (Emily's battle with extreme shyness is one a lot of us introverts can relate to.) This is the first of a trilogy about three Salt Spring Island friends, Emily, Lynn, and Grace.
MAN FOR THE MORNING
Lynn MacDonald, a single mother, gets a break from her busy responsible Salt Spring Island life with a trip to Paris. Open-hearted and open-minded to all that life has to offer, in the City of Light, she meets a man her polar opposite. (Lynn is a favorite of mine, a strong caring woman who deserves to find the love of her life.) This is the second book in the Salt Spring Island friends trilogy. (Coming soon, Grace's story—as yet untitled.)
LOVE LETTERS, INC.
Rosie O'Hanlon, a clever and funny tech writer, moonlights writing love letters for the "dating impaired" and ends up with love being returned to sender—in the form of the last man on earth she should fall for. (If Rosie doesn't make you smile—I'll turn in my writer's badge.)
A MAN CALLED BLUE
Simone Doucet, a woman caught between her own ambition and loyalty to her boss, her ruthless mother, is determined to prove herself during a critical business trip to London. That means staying focused. But that focus blurs when she meets Thomas Bludell. (Simone needs to learn how to live her own life—and the man called Blue is exactly the right man to teach her.)
MAN'S BEST FRIEND
Tessa Darwin, grateful for the extra cash, takes on the job of training millionaire Rand Fielding's goofy, disruptive pup, Licks. Tessa falls in love with the stubborn pup and has no problem bringing him to heel, but when she falls for the pup's unattainable—killingly attractive—owner, she learns bringing Rand to heel takes a whole other skill set.
Romantic Suspense
Full length novels
A PERFECT EVIL
Hannah Stuart, overcome by loss and her own despondency, is a willing recluse, until she inherits a fo
rtune and three letters. The letters contain proof positive of heinous crimes, old and new; crimes Hannah feels honor-bound to expose—no matter the cost to her own safety. But she needs the help of the one man willing to do anything to destroy the letters.
IN ROOM 33:
When her stepfather dies, travel writer, Joy Cole, inherits the aged and derelict Hotel Philip. In the Philip's grim, hoary walls she sees the chance for a new and better life, both for her lonely soul and the long-neglected hotel. She also becomes attracted to one of the Philip's residents, the enigmatic Wade Emerson. But among the ragtag group of tenants in the hotel, there is a resident evil, an evil with plans to end Joy's life before it can begin—in Room 33.
Short stories and novelettes
OVERKILL
The first in a series of short stories and novelettes, this story features Tanner Cross and the test he's given before taking leadership of the Raven Force, a privately funded group of covert agents who work against the illegal arms/drug trade. Tanner's okay with the test. He's not okay with the idea that a very special woman in his life might be collateral damage.
STAYING COOL
Once burned twice shy, Patrick Byrne wants no part of the woman who walked out on him and took his heart with her. The trouble is, someone wants her dead, and if he doesn't help her, no one will—not even the powerful, lethally effective Raven Force.
All available at your favorite eBook Retailer
EC Sheedy who also writes as Carole Dean, lives in British Columbia. She is an island dweller—and loves it. Every morning she wakes to the ever changing sound and colors of the ocean outside her window. Whatever its mood, summer calm or winter storm, she finds it the perfect background for writing romance. She lives with her husband of many years and a Rhodesian Ridgeback who has convinced them both he is a person in dog's clothing.
For more about EC Sheedy and to see some views from her window, visit EC's webpage www.ecsheedy.com
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To contact EC Sheedy, email: ecsheedy@ecsheedy.com or you can visit her at:
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Table of Contents
Cover
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
A Note from EC Sheedy
Meet the Author