Make Me Stay (Hope #5)

by Jaci Burton

  “I’ve seen the for-sale sign on that acreage. Good place to build a house. I suppose you already have it drawn out.”

  “I might.”

  Logan propped his booted feet up on the porch rail. “You let Samantha Reasor know that’s where you intend to live your happily-ever-after with her?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know that she feels the same way I do.”

  “You ever ask her?”

  “Well, no.”

  Logan slanted a look in his direction. “What kind of a dumbass are you?”

  “Now you sound like my dog.”

  Logan frowned. “What?”

  “Never mind. I need to talk to her. Really talk to her. When I left before, it felt unfinished between us and I let it go that way. I didn’t tell her how I felt because I was waiting for her to tell me how she felt.”

  “Only way to find out what a woman thinks is to come right out and ask her. And you’ve got to stop playing those kinds of games with a woman’s heart. If you love her, then you’ve gotta tell her. Trust me, kid. I speak from experience on that one.”

  “Fine. I’ll go talk to her.”

  “You do that.”

  Reid took a couple of long swallows of beer and sat in the blissful silence with his brother.

  “Hey, Reid.”

  “Yeah”

  “Dam glad you’re home to stay.”

  His lips curved. “Me, too, Logan.”

  Chapter 37

  WHY IN THE hell was everybody getting married in the fall? Didn’t every bride want to get married in June or something? It was getting cooler outside. Leaves were falling. It had rained twice this week. Who in their right mind would want to get married now?

  This was Sam’s third wedding this month, and frankly, she was tired of all the love and happiness spreading around Hope.

  She didn’t feel love or happiness right now. In fact, she felt downright grumpy. Having to do wedding flowers was not improving her mood any.

  But she and Chloe had spent all week preparing burgundy and yellow roses and white lilies for Shauna and Phil’s wedding. She’d delivered them to the church this morning for the noon service, and she had to admit Shauna looked stunning in her gown. Sam had even gotten a little misty when Shauna teared up as Sam handed her the bouquet.

  Darn those happy brides anyway.

  She’d gone over to the reception hall and made sure every tabletop had flowers. Chloe had turned out to be a lifesaver. If only she wasn’t always in such a good mood.

  They finished decorating the hall with flowers well before the reception started, so her work for the day was done. She and Chloe headed back to the shop, and she let Chloe take off while she cleaned up. She heard the bell ring while she was in the back of the shop.

  “We’re closed,” she hollered.

  The bell rang again. With a sigh, she headed out front, skidding to a stop when she saw Reid standing on the other side of the door.

  She blinked—hard—needing to make sure she hadn’t imagined it.

  He was still standing there, smiling and waving.

  She went to the door and opened it.

  “Hey,” he said when he saw her.

  She backed up a few steps. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was at the mercantile and saw your car parked behind the van, so I thought I’d stop by.”

  “No, I mean what are you doing here? In Hope. You went back to Boston. Like just a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Oh, that. Well, yes, I did. But now I’m back.”

  She was in no mood for guessing games. “I can see that. Why?”

  He frowned. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “Why not?”

  Because I’m not over you yet. Because I’m still in love with you. Because seeing you again is breaking my heart. “Um . . .”

  “Are you mad at me?”

  “No. Yes. I don’t know. No, definitely not.”

  He laughed.

  She wagged a finger at him. “Don’t you dare laugh at me, Reid McCormack.”

  He held up his hands. “Okay, definitely not laughing at you.” He came toward her.

  She backed away. “Don’t.”

  “Samantha. Tell me what’s wrong. You’re upset.”

  “I’m not upset. I’m . . . Dammit, Reid. Why did you have to come back? I had a plan.”

  “A plan?”

  “Yes. A plan to get over you.” She turned around and walked away, going behind the counter, needing space between them. “And now you’re back and you’re ruining everything.”

  “You had a plan to get over me? Why did you need to get over me, Sam?”

  She held tight to the countertop before lifting her gaze to his. “Don’t make me say it.”

  “Is it because you might feel the same way about me as I feel about you?”

  She refused to hope. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He dragged his fingers through that glorious, dark hair of his. “I should have said this a long time ago. I love you, Sam. I’m back here in Hope because I fell in love with you. Because I couldn’t see my life being in Boston any longer. My life, my future, is here. In Hope. With you.”

  Oh, God. He’d said the words. The words she’d so wanted to hear from him, but had also been terrified to hear. Tears slid down her cheeks. “Don’t say those words to me. Do you know what a mess my life is right now?”

  He came around the counter and pulled her against him. “Do you think I care that your life is a mess?”

  She tried to pull away from him, but he held her firmly in his embrace. “You should care. You know what’s going on with my grandmother.”

  “Of course I know. Do you think that matters? I love you, Sam. I love everything about you. I love how you put everyone first above your own needs. I love how much you care about your grandmother. I love your grandmother. I love how you’ve always cared about me. I love that you love my dog.”

  She looked at the floor, at the big fat teardrops falling. “Don’t. Don’t love me.”

  He tipped her chin up with his fingers. “Too late. I already do. And I need you to come with me.”

  She sniffed. “Where?”

  “I need to take you for a ride.”

  He grabbed the box of tissues on the counter and handed them to her, then let her grab her keys so she could lock up the shop. Then he put her in his truck and took her for a drive outside of town.

  She had no idea what was happening. Her heart was so full she could barely breathe.

  He loved her. God, he shouldn’t love her. She couldn’t take this right now.

  “Where are we going?” she finally asked after she’d wiped her eyes and blown her nose.

  “There’s something I want to show you. Someplace I want you to see.”

  The ride took about fifteen minutes. He drove off the main highway a short distance, down a gravel road, stopping at a for-sale sign pitched on a plot of land. He got out and came around to her side of the truck.

  “What are we doing here?”

  He put her in front of the For Sale sign.

  “I just bought this land, Sam. I’m going to build a house here. A big house on a lot of land. For us. And for your grandmother. Plenty of space for all of us. And for Not My Dog.”

  “You bought . . .” She turned to face him. “For us? For all of us?”

  “Yes. I know who’s in your life, Sam. I know the burdens you carry. And I want you to know that you’ll never have to shoulder those burdens alone ever again. I love you and I want to marry you. And when you love someone, their joy becomes your joy. Their sorrow becomes your sorrow. Their life becomes your life. Will you share your life with me?”

  Sam could barely breathe. She had been so strong and so independent for her entire life. And here was someone offering to lend her a shoulder to cry on, a chance to share his life. Because he loved her.


  And she loved him back.

  “You would do this for me.”

  “Until the end of time.”

  She broke down then and sobbed, throwing herself against him and releasing that burden to him. Because she loved him and she trusted him.

  He held tight to her and let her cry it out until she was finished. And then he went to the truck and grabbed the box of tissues and handed it to her. She wiped her tears and blew her nose—again—several times. And when she finally found her voice to speak, she knew exactly what she wanted to say.

  “Reid, I love you. I loved you before you left, but I was too afraid to ask you to carry the burden that was my life. And I realize now how selfish that was, because being the kind of man you are, I should have known you would have easily accepted my life the way it was. And I’m sorry for that.

  “I will absolutely positively one hundred percent marry you, with my whole heart. For now and for ever. And I will love this house that you build for me. But I think in the case of my grandmother, she would be happier in the home she lived in with my grandpa. Faith has offered to move in with her and care for her as long as she’s able to. And when the time comes that Grammy Claire needs more care than that . . .”

  “Then together we’ll figure out the next step for Grammy Claire.”

  Her heart nearly burst with love. “Yes. We’ll figure that out together.”

  He put his arm around her. “You’ll never have to make that decision alone, Sam. I’ll always be here for you.”

  She leaned against him. “And I’ll always be here for you.”

  He tipped her head back and kissed her, and she knew at that moment this was their beginning. Their starting point.

  And as long as they had each other, it would be perfect.

  He took her hand in his and turned to her. “Oh, one more thing. How fast do you think we could put a wedding together?”

  She frowned. “What?”

  “You said one of the things that made you sad was that you didn’t think your grandmother would be around when you got married. Let’s make sure she is. Let’s get married—like right away.”

  Her heart started beating fast. “Are you serious?”

  “Dead serious. It might not be the biggest or fanciest wedding, but I’ll bet with all the family and friends we have, we could get it done in a hurry and still have one hell of a great wedding. If that’s what you want.”

  This was why she loved this man.

  “Are you sure? Are you really sure that’s what you want?”

  “Absolutely. And we might have to live at your place for a while until we get this house built. If that’s okay with you.”

  “It’s totally okay with me.” She threw herself against him, unable to believe she’d found love with the one man who really understood her, who could love her the way she’d always wanted to be loved.

  She kissed him, hard, then pulled back and smiled at him. “Have I ever told you how much I love fall weddings?”

  Turn the page for a preview of the next two

  gorgeous Jaci Burton romances

  Coming soon from Headline Eternal.

  “MEN SUCK.” HARMONY Evans tossed her purse on the kitchen table of her mother’s house and sat next to her best friend, Alyssa. It was Thursday night—family dinner night at Mama’s house. Everyone was coming over, as it always was at Mama’s. Right now she’d prefer to be sitting in the corner of a dark bar, nursing a dirty martini. She was going to have to settle for sweet tea because, short of death, you did not miss Thursday night dinner at Mama’s.

  She’d already come in and kissed her mama, who was holding court in the living room with Harmony’s brother Drake and some of his friends, giving her time to catch up with Alyssa.

  Alyssa laid her hand over Harmony’s and cast a look of concern. “And why do you hate men? Is it Levon?”

  Harmony wrinkled her nose, preferring to never hear the name of her now ex-boyfriend again. “Yes.”

  “Did you two break up?”

  “I did not break up with him. He gave me the classic ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ speech. He’s doing so much international travel with the law firm, and he just can’t devote enough time to the relationship, so it wouldn’t be fair to me to lead me on when he knows he can’t commit. He went on with more excuses but it was all blah blah blah after that.” She waved her hand back and forth.

  Alyssa’s gaze narrowed. “What a prick. Why is it so damn hard to find a man of value, one who will respect a woman and give her honesty?”

  “I have no idea.” Harmony pulled one of the empty glasses forward and poured from the pitcher that sat in the middle of the table, already filled with tea and ice and loaded with so much sugar she’d likely be awake all night. At this point, she didn’t care. She’d work it off in a gym session tomorrow. “All I know is I’m glad to be rid of him. It was bad enough his bathroom counter had more products on it than mine did.”

  Alyssa laughed. “There you go. What does a man need on his counter besides a toothbrush, soap, deodorant, and a razor?”

  “According to Levon, there was stuff for his beard, trimming devices, facial scrub, moisturizer—separate ones for his face and his body. An entire manicure set for his nails, for use when he wasn’t off getting mani-pedis, of course.”

  “Of course,” Alyssa said, then giggled.

  “Oh, and the scents. Let’s not forget his entire rack of colognes.”

  Alyssa nodded. “The man did reek, honey.”

  “I think he owned more perfume than I do.”

  “Never a good sign. See? You dodged a bullet.”

  “I did.”

  Alyssa lifted her glass. “Let’s toast to that.”

  They clinked glasses. “To men we’re lucky to have not ended up with,” Harmony said.

  “What are we toasting to?”

  Harmony looked up to find Barrett Cassidy standing at the kitchen table. He was her brother Drake’s best friend and teammate, and since the guys both played for the Tampa Hawks football team and Barrett also lived in Tampa, Thursday nights meant Drake would drag his friends over to the house for dinner.

  One of the nicest things about living in Tampa, as a matter of fact. She’d often thought it had been fortuitous that her brother had been drafted by the hometown team. It had kept him close to home all these years, and of course, one couldn’t beat the awesome eye candy her brother brought home now and then.

  Especially Barrett. Most especially Barrett.

  “We’re toasting the end of Harmony’s relationship with a man who was absolutely not right for her,” Alyssa said.

  Barrett arched a brow, then gave Harmony a sympathetic look. “Really. Sorry about that.”

  Harmony shrugged. “Nothing to be sorry about. Alyssa’s right. He wasn’t the man for me.”

  “Then I guess I’m . . . happy for you?”

  She laughed, and she could tell this was uncomfortable for him. “Come on. Sit down and have a glass of iced tea with us.”

  “I’m not sure I want to wade into these waters. Breakups are not my territory.”

  “Oh, come on, Barrett. Surely you’ve dumped a woman before,” Harmony said, pouring him a glass. “Or you’ve been dumped.”

  He pulled out a chair and sat. She’d never realized before how utterly . . . big he was. He’d always kept his distance from her, preferring to hang with Drake, so this was the closest she’d ever been to him. Both he and Drake played defense for the Hawks. Barrett was absolutely pure muscle. Just watching the way his muscles flexed as he moved was like watching liquid art. She could stare at his arms for hours, but she tried not to ogle. Not too much, anyway.

  “I’ve been dumped before, sure,” Barrett said. “And maybe I’ve broken up with a woman or two.”

  Alyssa leaned close to Harmony. “He’s downplaying being the one who dumped the woman.”

  “I heard that, Alyssa.”

  “I meant for you to hear me, Barrett. You’re just t
rying to be the good guy right now because we’re roasting the not-so-good guys.”

  Barrett narrowed his gaze. “See, I told you I shouldn’t be sitting here. If you’re gonna want to bad-mouth my species—which you have a right to, since some asshole broke up with you, Harmony—then I should leave. Also, I’d suggest something stronger than iced tea. It helps.”

  So maybe he had been dumped before. It sounded like he knew how to get through it.

  “It’s okay, Barrett,” Harmony said. “Me getting dumped is definitely not your fault. I’m not as pissed off about it as I probably should be, all things considered. So you’re safe here.”

  Besides, looking at Barrett could definitely make her forget all about Levon and his prissy bathroom counter. She wondered how many items Barrett had on his bathroom counter? She’d bet not many.

  She turned her chair toward him, determined to find out. “Actually, I have a ridiculous question for you, Barrett.”

  He turned his gorgeous blue eyes on her and smiled. “Shoot.”

  “How many items currently reside on your bathroom counter?”

  Barrett cocked a brow. “Huh?”

  Alyssa laughed. “Very good question.”

  “I don’t get it,” Barrett said.

  “We’re conducting a poll about men and their bathrooms,” Alyssa said. “Indulge us.”

  Barrett finally shrugged. “Okay, fine. Uh . . . soap, of course. Toothpaste and toothbrush. Deodorant. Maybe a comb?”

  Harmony smiled when Barrett struggled to come up with anything else. She knew he was an absolute male of the not-so-fussy-about-his-grooming variety.

  He finally cast her a helpless look. “I don’t know. I’ve got nothin’ else. Did I fail?”

  “Oh, no,” Harmony said. “You most definitely passed.”

  “You should go out with Barrett,” Alyssa suggested. “He’s a nice guy, and he obviously doesn’t keep thirty-seven things on his bathroom counter.”

  Barrett laughed. “Yeah, and Drake would kill us both. He’d definitely kill me.”

  The idea of going out with Barrett appealed, though. She’d had such a crush on Barrett when Drake had first introduced them all those years ago. And now? Hmmm. Yeah, definitely appealing.