Sweet Summer Days

by Sheryl Lister

  Even in the dim lighting, the diamonds caught fire. Celeste thought she might burst from the joy bubbling up and she could only nod. She finally found her voice and whispered, “Yes, I would be honored to be your wife.” He slid the ring onto her finger and she launched herself into his arms. Thad kissed her with a passion that let her know that he’d be there to walk beside her no matter what came their way. As he’d said before, love fought side-by-side and survived by any means necessary. Just being with him made her life brighter and she looked forward to all her days being sweeter from now on.

  Epilogue

  Two months later.

  Thad stood next to Nolan at the front of the church waiting for Celeste to make her entrance. Deborah stood across from him, beaming. They had planned to have an intimate gathering, but somehow things had spiraled out of control and nearly every employee of Gray Home Safety had shown up, filling the building to capacity.

  “Nervous?” Nolan whispered.

  “Not at all. The only reason to be nervous is if you don’t know what you’re getting.” Nolan had said those words to Thad almost forty years ago when their roles were reversed and Nolan stood waiting for DeAnna.

  “True that, my brother.”

  The music started and his breath caught as Celeste came toward him on Emery’s arm with s slow sway. Thad caught Celeste’s father’s gaze and he nodded. Her mother smiled. He’d had an opportunity to talk to them when they arrived two days ago and made the same promise as he had to Emery—that he would always love and protect Celeste. He turned his attention back to the woman who would become his wife in a few short minutes. She had chosen an ivory calf-length dress that hugged every one of her curves and dipped low enough in the front to hint at the sweet treasures he knew were there. When she reached him, it took all he had not to kiss her then and there. Thad heard a low chuckle and shifted to see Brandon’s knowing smile. Thad had teased him about kissing Faith before the minister could utter a word and the look on Brandon’s face now said he had read Thad’s thoughts. He managed to stay in control long enough to recite his vows. When it came time for their first kiss as husband and wife, Thad did his best to let Celeste know this was what she could look forward to from this day forward. He wanted her to feel the depth of his love.

  Afterwards, he and Celeste stood waiting for the photographers to set up, talking with Deborah, TJ, Faith and Emery.

  Faith hadn’t stopped smiling since she walked into the church. “Dad, I am so happy for you and Celeste.” She grasped Celeste’s hands. “I’m looking forward to us getting to know each other even more. Zola is one lucky girl to have a grandmother like you.”

  “So am I and thank you.”

  Faith turned to Emery. “I’ve always wanted a brother. I have to say though, I’m glad I’m the oldest.”

  They all laughed and Emery said, “Yeah, yeah, but only by a couple of years.” He glanced over at Thad. “And your dad is pretty cool.”

  “Yes, he is.”

  It pleased Thad to see Faith and Emery getting along. He had assured the young man that he would always be there for his mother and she’d never have a moment of sadness.

  “I agree. He’s cool,” TJ said.

  Deborah and Celeste whipped their heads around.

  TJ divided his gaze between them. “What? We’ve talked a few times.”

  Celeste placed her arm around Thad. “You are such an amazing man.”

  Thad smiled. The photographer called them over. It took less than thirty minutes to complete the photo shoot, and then he and Celeste slid into the back of the limousine that would take them to the hotel for the reception. “Did I tell you how gorgeous this dress looks on you?”

  “You might have mentioned it.”

  “I am going to enjoy every second of removing it later,” he murmured, trailing fleeting kisses along her jaw and neck.

  She giggled. “And I can’t wait for you to take it off. I also can’t wait for you to see what’s under it.”

  His head came up sharply. “You cannot say something like that and expect me to wait hours.” He reached for the buttons on the back of the dress.

  She scooted away. “What are you doing?”

  Thad lifted a brow. “What do you think?”

  Celeste laughed. “We are not going to get busy in the back of a limo like a couple of horny teenagers.”

  “Why not? I promise it’ll be fun.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  “I’m sure it would be, but we’re here.” She pointed out the window as the limo drove into the hotel’s valet lane.

  He groaned.

  She patted his cheek. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll make it worth the wait, and I won’t stop until you’re satisfied, not until you tell me you’ve had enough,” she said with a sultry smile.

  His arousal was swift as he recalled telling her the same thing.

  “I promise.”

  She closed the distance between them and kissed him. Thad rested his forehead against hers. She was his love, his partner in life, his everything. He had finally found his one and he would treasure this gift forever.

  Excerpt from Giving My All To You (The Grays of Los Angeles Book 3)

  “Hey, girl. You want to do lunch today?”

  Faith Alexander smiled. “Sure. I’m just working on one of my web designs.” Once or twice a month on a Saturday she and her best friend, Kathi Norris met for lunch. “Hang on, Kathi. Someone’s at the door,” she said, walking to the front. She opened it and saw the mailman standing there.

  He stuck a box into her hands along with a card and pen. “Just sign here, please.”

  She cradled the phone against her ear, adjusted the box and signed the receipt. “Thank you.” Faith closed the door and frowned, not recognizing the sender.

  “Helloooo.”

  Kathi’s voice drew Faith out of her thoughts. “Sorry. I just got a box from someone in Los Angeles named Thaddeus Whitcomb.”

  “Ooh, girl, you’ve got a man sending you gifts from California?”

  “No. I have no idea who this is.” She shook the box and heard a slight rustling.

  “What’s in it?”

  “I have no idea,” she said, placing it on the desk in the spare bedroom she used as an office.

  “Anyway, Cameron—the guy I’ve been dating—has a cute friend and I thought we could double date,” Kathi said.

  “No.”

  “Come on, Faith.”

  “No. The last time I went on one of your little blind double dates it turned into the month from hell. You’re on your own this time.”

  “Grant wasn’t that bad.”

  “Hmph. You weren’t the one he was calling ten times a day asking when I was going to let him come to my house. I swear that man had octopus arms and was just as slimy. He made my skin crawl.” She shivered with the remembrance.

  “Okay, okay, I get your point. He did border on stalking.”

  “You think?”

  “But this guy is different—six feet, rich brown skin, fit and he’s easy on the eyes.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m not interested.” After that fiasco six months ago, she had sworn off men and was content with building her year-old web design business.

  “We aren’t getting any younger and I’d like to settle down and have a kid or two before my eggs shrivel up and die.”

  She laughed. “Kathi, you act like we’re pushing fifty. We’re only thirty.” She cut into the box, pulled back the flap and saw a stack of letters with a rubber band around them. All were addressed to her from Thaddeus Whitcomb and had “Return to Sender” written on them. She quickly flipped through them and noted the postmarks went back almost twenty-eight years.

  While half listening to Kathi list all the reasons why this guy would be different, Faith opened the gray envelope on the top that had her first name written in large letters and withdrew the sheet of paper. When she unfolded it, a photo of a man wearing an Army uniform and holding a baby fell out. She didn’t know who he
was, but she recognized the child. She quickly read the letter. Her eyes widened and her heart stopped and started up again. “It can’t be. He’s supposed to be dead,” she whispered in shock. “Kathi, I have to go.”

  “Wait…what? What about lunch?”

  “I need to take a rain check. I’ll call you later.”

  Butterflies fluttered in her belly as she picked up the photo again and studied it for a moment before re-reading the letter. Tears filled her eyes and anger rose within her. She tossed everything back into the box, slid her arms into a light jacket and grabbed the box, her purse and keys and left. Although the sun shone, there was a slight breeze and the early June temperatures in Portland hovered near seventy. Twenty minutes later, she rang her parent’s doorbell.

  “Faith,” her father said with a wide grin, “we didn’t know you were coming over. Come in, baby.” He kissed her cheek.

  “Hi, Dad.” Her mother had married William Alexander when Faith was eight and he had been the only father she’d known. “Where’s Mom?”

  “She’s in the family room working on one of those word search puzzles.” He placed a hand on her arm as she passed him. “Everything okay, Faith?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  His concerned gazed roamed over her face. “Well, let’s go talk about it.”

  Her mother glanced up from her book when they entered and lowered the recliner. “Hey, sweetheart.”

  “We need to talk, Mom.”

  Her mother’s brows knit together. “Something wrong?”

  Faith dropped the box on her mother’s lap.

  “What is this?”

  “You tell me.”

  Her mother lifted out the envelopes and quickly flipped through them. Her loud gasp pierced the silence. “Where…where did you get these?”

  “They were delivered to my house this afternoon. How could you do this to me, Mom?” She paced back and forth across the plush gray carpet.

  “What the heck is going on here?” her father asked. “Who are those letters from?”

  She stopped pacing and, not taking her eyes off her mother, Faith answered, “My father. The man she told me died while serving in the Army.”

  His eyes widened and he dragged a hand down his face. “Francis? Is that true?” he asked.

  Her mother tossed the letters aside. “You don’t understand,” she snapped.

  “You’re right, I don’t.” Faith flopped down onto the sofa. “He’s been alive all this time and trying to contact me,” she murmured, tears gathering in her eyes. “Why, Mom? Why did you lie to me?”

  “I was trying to protect you.”

  “Protect me? From what?”

  “You were too young to know what it was like when he came home that last time—the crying out, the nightmares with him flailing around the bed, the flashbacks. I was worried he’d hurt you and me, and I didn’t want to deal with it every time he came home.” She sniffed. “So I left.”

  Faith couldn’t begin to imagine what her father had seen and experienced that would cause such nightmares, but she had a hard time believing that her mom didn’t even try to help him. Growing up, she always marveled at her mother’s compassionate nature and wanted to grow up to be just like her. Now she was learning that hadn’t always been the case. “That still didn’t give you the right to just erase him from my life.” Faith wiped away her own tears. “And how did you know you would have to deal with it every time?” She paused. “He’s invited me to visit him and I’m going.”

  Her mother jumped up from the chair. “Why? It’s been twenty-eight years. What can you possibly gain by going to see him? Just let it be.”

  “He’s my father and I’m not going to let it be.” She caught her stepfather’s gaze. “I’m sorry, Dad. You know I love you.” She felt bad because he had always been there for her.

  He nodded. “I know, honey. You go do what you have to do. Francis, she has to find her own way.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  The two women engaged in a stare down for a full minute before her mother turned away. She had never been this angry with her mother. Sure, when Faith was a teen, they’d had their disagreements, but nothing like this.

  Her mother pointed a finger Faith’s way. “Nothing good can come from this. Nothing. I don’t know why he’s trying to disrupt your life after all these years.”

  Faith threw up her hands. “Disrupt my life? How is wanting to know your daughter a disruption?” She snatched up the letters. “He’s been sending letters for twenty-eight years and you sent them back without ever telling me. The only person who’s disrupted my life is you.” She put the letters in the box and stormed past her mother. “I have to get out of here.”

  At the door, her stepfather’s voice stopped her.

  “I know you’re pretty angry at your mother right now, but try to see it from her side. She was only doing what she thought best.” He gave her a strong hug, palmed her face much like he did when she was a child and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Whatever you decide, I’ll always be here.” Although approaching his fifty-eighth birthday, he didn’t look a day over forty. His walnut colored skin remained unlined, his body was still trim and toned, and his deep brown eyes held the love he had always shown her.

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  “When are you leaving?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Call to let us know you’re safe.”

  “I will.” Faith kissed his cheek and slipped out the door.

  She drove home still in disbelief over what her mother had done and that her biological father was actually alive. Once there, she called Kathi and filled her in, then searched hotels and reserved a flight and car for the following Tuesday. Although she loved her stepfather, Faith had often imagined what he would be like in person. Guess I’ll find out soon.

  “Are you ready to step into the CEO position, little brother?”

  Brandon Gray acknowledged a couple of people leaving the conference room after the Wednesday morning staff meeting ended then smiled at his older sister, Siobhan. “Been ready.” His father had started the company more than two decades ago after being discharged from the Army and seeing the difficulties his best friend, who had been wounded in combat, had trying to get services and accommodations. Instead of waiting around, Nolan Gray began designing them himself. What started in their home garage had now grown to be one of the largest in-home safety companies in the country. Their father would step down at the end of the month, leaving Brandon as head of Gray Home Safety. His father’s best friend, Thaddeus Whitcomb, who they affectionately called Uncle Thad, joined the company shortly after it was formed and served as the company’s vice president. He planned to retire, as well. The two men had always said that the reins would be turned over to their children, with a Gray in the CEO position and a Whitcomb as Vice President.

  Siobhan stuffed some papers into a folder. “I wonder what Uncle Thad is going to do. Too bad he never got married or had kids. And as good-looking as he is, I’m surprised. I don’t ever remember seeing him date.”

  “I saw one woman coming around for a while when I was working in the warehouse that summer after junior year in high school, but I don’t know what happened to her.”

  “Well, with no one to step in at vice president, you’ll be in charge of everything.”

  “True.” Brandon actually preferred it that way, expected it after all this time. While the roles worked well for his dad and uncle, he’d much rather work solo.

  Their father came around the table. “Brandon, can you come by my office? I need to talk to you.”

  Brandon studied his father’s serious expression. “Sure, Dad. I’ll be right there.”

  His father clapped him on the shoulder and exited.

  Siobhan said, “I wonder what that’s about.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, let me know what happens.”

  “Okay.” Brandon left the room and started down the c
orridor leading to his father’s office. He spoke to the administrative assistant, who told him to go in.

  “I just hope this time you can get the answers,” he heard his father say.

  “Dad? Oh, hey Unc. I didn’t know you were here.”

  “Hi, Brandon. I’ll talk to you later, Nolan.” The two older men shared a glance that wasn’t lost on Brandon.

  He followed his uncle’s departure. Today he was on crutches. He’d lost the lower part of his left leg during Desert Storm and typically used a prosthetic. However, over the past year, Uncle Thad had taken to using his wheelchair or the crutches because of problems with the artificial limb.

  After Uncle Thad left, Brandon’s father said, “Close the door and have a seat, son.”

  He complied. “What’s going on, Dad?”

  “There may be a little delay in you taking my position.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Something has come up that needs to be handled before we pass on the reins.”

  “If you tell me what it is, maybe I can help.”

  “No, no,” his father answered quickly. “I’ll handle it.”

  He tried to keep his surprise and distress hidden. Brandon knew he could be intense sometimes, but he was the best person for the job. He knew this company inside out. “How long are you talking?”

  “I’m not sure. Another month or two perhaps.”

  He did his best to remain in his seat and not behave like the hotheaded teen he used to be. Was his father having second thoughts about Brandon heading the company? He was afraid to ask, but needed to know. Taking a deep, calming breath, he asked, “Are you thinking of putting someone else in the position.”

  “No.”

  Something—he didn’t know what—in his father’s tone gave Brandon pause. “Is that all?”

  “Yes.” His father released a deep sigh. “Son, I know you’re upset, but I assure you this is just temporary.”