“Okay,” she whispered, her eyes fluttering closed for the moment before she squared her shoulders and got out of the car.
Millie had been uncharacteristically quiet on the drive over. I helped her out of her seat, frowning as she climbed out of the car. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
She looked up at me with fear darkening her eyes. “What if Heidi’s mum doesn’t like us? Will she make her stay away from us?”
I sighed. Millie might not have been present for any of our conversations with my mother way back, but she’d picked up on some of the tension between us. She also obviously picked up on the fact that her grandma wasn’t around nearly as often anymore as she used to be.
My mother really was trying, to give credit where it was due. We’d all had dinner together a few times, which had gone well. She was getting to know Heidi, but she was also giving us our space.
She didn’t barge into my house at any given time anymore, and she didn’t try to dictate when Millie could go or when. I knew it was difficult for her to loosen the reins a bit, but she was doing her best.
Also, she’d told me that it was nice for her to be able to focus more on her friends and all the various charities she supported again. With Heidi and I both not travelling much and deliberately sticking to strict office hours whenever we could, my mother was able to start enjoying her role as a grandmother in the more traditional sense.
She could now see Millie whenever she wanted to, but then she could give her back to us and go on with her life. It was how things were meant to be, and she confided in me that while it had taken some adjusting to, she was actually really enjoying it.
I just wished Heidi’s mum could have been around in the same way, but at least we were here now. I dropped to my haunches and put my hands on Millie’s shoulders. “Heidi’s mum is going to love you if she’s capable of love today at all, baby. But no matter what happens, no one is going to make Heidi stay away from us. I guarantee it.”
“Okay,” she said quietly, sliding her hand into mine as we started walking up a quaint path to the front door. We’d been preparing Millie for this for months now, so she stuck close to my side on the walk to Heidi’s mum’s room, which she’d told me how to get to earlier.
When we arrived at the room, Millie looked pleasantly surprised to hear laughter drifting out from inside and Heidi’s happy voice. “It’s good to see you too, Mom. They’ll be right here.”
She turned when she heard us at the door and beamed a wide smile at us. “Here they are. Archer, Millie, meet my mom. Mom, this is Archer and Millie.”
“Come in, come in.” She waved her hands and beckoned us closer, looking so much like an older version of Heidi that I felt instantly comfortable with her. She smiled at us and insisted on giving us warm hugs. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“And you,” I said, sinking into the plush pink armchair she motioned me into while Heidi and Millie hopped onto the empty single bed. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”
Her smile turned coy. “Only the good things you’ve heard are true. My, you are a handsome boy, aren’t you?”
She tilted her head and looked over to where Millie was sitting next to Heidi. “And you, my dear, are the spitting image of my Heidi when she was your age.”
My eyes widened. “Heidi used to be blonde?”
Her mother nodded. “Yes, her hair only got dark when she was approaching the teenage years. Her hair and her soul, I used to joke. All teenagers have dark souls.”
Heidi rolled her eyes but laughed as she shook her head. “I wasn’t that bad.”
“You weren’t.” Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “But only because your soul never got quite as dark as your hair.”
Millie giggled and leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees and resting her chin on her hands. “Tell us more about Heidi as a child. We want to know all about her.”
Heidi’s mum obliged, regaling us with all sorts of tales for the next two hours. The woman was awesome. She was witty and smart, and by the time we left, I felt a sharp stab of loss at the knowledge that soon, that personality would be gone forever.
And I’d only met her a couple of hours ago. If I felt grief already lodging itself in my heart, I couldn’t even imagine how difficult it must be for Heidi every time she came here, never knowing when the next time would be that she’d get to talk to her mother and not just see her shell.
As we climbed into the SUV, she was happy though. She reached for my hand and lifted it up to plant a soft kiss on the back of it. “Thank you for coming with me. I’m so glad you got to know her as she really is.”
“So am I,” I said. “She’s great, Heidi. I can see where you get it from. We’d love to come with you again sometime.”
“I love you,” Heidi said easily, if not totally out of the blue, as if it was something she said all time. Her lips curved into a gorgeous smile. “I know we haven’t really said that yet, but I’ve been thinking it for a long time, and I do. I love you.”
“I love you too.” As stunned as I was that it had come out as easily and naturally as it had when she’d said it, I was just so fucking happy to finally say it. “I love you so much, love. Always.”
“Always,” she agreed, tears starting to glisten in her eyes.
“I love both of you, too,” Millie’s voice piped up from the back of the SUV. “Just in case anyone was wondering.
Heidi’s eyes widened. Then she burst out laughing and Millie did too. Out of all of the sounds I’d ever heard, Heidi’s voice saying that she loved me and then laughing with my daughter had to be the most beautiful.
How lucky am I that I would hopefully get to hear it every day? If all went according to plan, possibly even every day for the rest of my life. Because I felt like the luckiest fucking bastard who had ever lived, and I was pretty sure I was.
Epilogue
Heidi
“You’ve done such a great job,” I all but squealed at Bonnie as I turned in a slow circle, taking in the Christmas wonderland she’d created on the rooftop.
Even though it was the New Year’s Eve party again, Bonnie had decided to go with a Christmas theme this year. “It’s beautiful. I feel like Santa’s about to walk in at any moment.”
“I’m glad you like it,” she said, smiling proudly as she gestured at the decorations. “I was really worried about taking the lead on this one after how awesome yours was last year.”
“I think you’ve outdone me.” I smiled, resting my elbow on one of the plastic elves placed strategically around the space. Some of them were small and hidden as surprises, while others, like the one I was leaning on, came up higher than my waist.
There was a sleigh hooked up to reindeer made of lights positioned to look like it was about to take off from the roof, and red, green, and gold were everywhere. Mistletoe hung from the tented ceiling above our heads and big candy canes had been placed all along the railing. “Millie’s going to love it. I can’t wait for them to get here.”
“Where are they?” Bonnie asked, a slight frown appearing on her face. “Archer’s slated to give a speech starting in ten minutes. He should be here.”
“Relax.” I patted her shoulder and smiled. “They just had to pop into his office for something on the way up. They’re on the premises. He’ll be here on time to kick off the party. Don’t worry.”
A relieved sigh parted her lips. “Thank God. I might have taken over your position at the company, but I definitely don’t want his too. There are way too many people here for me to step foot anywhere near that stage.”
She pointed at the low platform they’d set up for Archer to take for his speech. I’d been surprised when he’d requested it actually. There hadn’t been a speech last year specifically because he’d told me it wasn’t necessary and that no one wanted to listen to speeches anyway.
“Speaking of taking over your position at the company, how’s your new job treating you?”
I rolled my eyes, then g
ave her a pointed look. “It’s the same job. I’m just not at the office full time. I mean, I know that I’m only a consultant now, but it’s not really a new job.”
She laughed, shrugging her shoulders. “I wouldn’t know, considering that I’m the fancy lead events manager now.”
“I’m glad Bryan appointed you. You deserved it more than anyone else.” She really did. This last year, Bonnie had taken on more and more of my responsibilities and she’d done a stellar job of it.
The clients loved her, the events had all been raging hits, and she’d secured almost every contract she’d had this year for the next two. Managing the events out of town had been great for her confidence because I wasn’t nearby to fall back on, and she’d absolutely rocked it. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m proud of you, too,” she said, her gaze falling on Archer and Millie as they walked out onto the roof. “You have a beautiful bloody family and a career that allows you to actually be there for them. You’ve done well for yourself.”
“So have you, but yeah, I agree. They are bloody beautiful.” They really were, even dressed up in Christmas garb that most people wouldn’t be caught dead in.
Archer had gone all out on their outfits, but even so, I thought they looked beautiful. Millie’s hair shone like spun gold, forming a halo around her head in the late afternoon sunlight. She wore a deep green elf suit with golden trim and pointy shoes on her feet.
Her smile was bright and happy, lighting up her eyes and making her look like she belonged in a damn stock photo of happy little girls. Archer was smiling too, but as his eyes met mine, there was a flash of mischief, which wasn’t unusual as much as it was uncommon. Hugo was more the mischievous one of those two.
What was unusual was the nerves I saw in him. He wasn’t making it obvious, but I knew him well enough by now that he was nervous. The fingers on one hand were drumming lightly against his leg, the muscles in his back and shoulders tight.
His shock of dark hair was slightly messier than was normal for him, sticking up at the back like he’d been running his hands through it continually. Even his eyes were different, like a tropical storm was brewing within their depths.
I frowned and mouthed a question at him, but he didn’t give me a reply. Instead, he blew me a kiss and jerked a finger at the stage. Right, he has a speech to give. At least that explained the nerves.
Smiling in encouragement, I gave him a thumbs-up and linked my arm with Bonnie’s, leading her through the throng of Archer’s employees to the front of the stage.
She leaned towards me and whispered in my ear. “Do you know what he’s going to say? I know he’s welcoming everyone, but he said there was a surprise too.”
“No idea.” I shrugged, a frown tugging at my eyebrows. “He didn’t say anything to me about a surprise. I wonder what he has up his sleeve now.”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
Archer took the stage with Millie, his arm around her shoulders as he stepped up to the microphone. He hadn’t even said a word yet and there was already a hush falling over the crowd. The man just had that kind of presence about him. And I get to call him mine.
I still couldn’t really believe it, but it had been true for a year now, and it had been the best year of my life so far. Being with Archer had changed my life, but it was definitely a change for the better.
With his encouragement, I’d started my own consulting firm and I was loving it. It allowed me the freedom to pick and choose events that I actually wanted to work on, when I wanted to work on them. I still consulted for Bryan’s company too, though.
It wasn’t quite the high-powered career I’d expected to have, jetting off to exotic places to organise music festivals on islands or wine tastings in the country, but it was more satisfying than I’d ever imagined work could be.
As an added bonus, it freed me up to be able to help out with Millie. Since Archer had given me the office next to his to work from when I didn’t want to work from our home office, it also meant that I got to see him pretty much whenever I wanted.
Despite his sometimes hectic schedule, he always made time for me and for Millie. It was honestly like he was a different man to the one he’d been last year, according to his mother anyway.
She’d finally come around to our relationship and was actually talking to me now, calling me just to chat even. She wasn’t as bad as I’d thought at first. In fact, she was really a pretty remarkable woman and she’d become something of a rock for me to lean on after my visits with my own mother.
There were times when only a mother’s hug could make anyone feel better, when all that could help was a mother’s advice, and Vivian had become that for me when my mom couldn’t be.
Archer cleared his throat, his lips curving into a familiar smirk. “Hi, guys. It’s great to see everyone. Thanks for giving up your New Year’s Eve for the company party yet again. I think this is going to become a tradition, if it’s all right with you?”
There were cheers and hollers from his employees, all of their responses positive. I smiled and winked at Bonnie. “At least you know you’ll have one big event every year for the rest of your career.”
She tipped her head back and laughed. “Yeah, or until you break his heart.”
“Not gonna happen,” I assured her, grinning up at the man I was so hopelessly in love with. “I think I’m going to stick with him.”
Archer started speaking again once the cheers from his people died down. “I want to thank you all for another incredible year at Lee Finance Corporation. Every last one of you gave me your best, yet again, and I cannot thank you enough for that.”
Someone in the audience called out, “That’s what you do for family.”
Archer chuckled, the low sound rumbling through the crowd over the microphone. “That’s true. We are all a big family here and I’m so happy to be a part of it, which is why I also wanted to share something with you.”
A collective breath was sucked in and held. A surprise from the CEO wasn’t something that happened every day.
Archer glanced down at Millie, who smiled wide and nudged him in the side, prompting him to continue. “Today, exactly one year ago, the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on agreed to give me a second chance. She forgave me for being the arsehole you all know I can be sometimes and made me the happiest I’ve ever been.”
People started whispering around me, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying over my heart pounding in my ears. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him, especially not when his landed on mine and didn’t leave them again.
“I would like to add this woman to the family officially, if she’ll have us.” I blinked as he pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket and flicked it open while lowering himself down onto one knee. “Heidi, my love, what do you say? Will you marry me?”
I was so stunned that I could only stand there for a second, but then I ran towards the platform and jumped up onto it to throw my arms around him. “Yes. Of course, I will! I can’t believe you’re asking me in front of all of these people, but yes.”
Applause broke out around us, but I was only faintly aware of it. Archer slid a finger beneath my chin and lowered his lips to mine, kissing me fervently in front of his entire company.
When our mouths finally separated, he spoke with his lips still gently moving against mine. “I’m literally ready to shout it from the rooftops, love. I love you, and now we’re finally going to be a family. Personally, I want the world to know that you’re mine and I’m yours. Forever.”
“Forever,” I whispered back, my heart overflowing with joy so pure it made me feel like I had stardust in my veins. “I am yours, Archer, and I’m so glad that you’re both mine. I can’t wait for us to be a real family.”
My mother had been right all those months ago. There was nothing more important than family, and if we only ever really got one of those, I was honoured that this was going to be mine.
The End
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About the Author
Hey there. I'm Weston.
I'm a former firefighter/EMS guy who's picked up the proverbial pen and started writing bad boy romance stories. I co-write with my sister, Ali Parker as we travel the United States for the next two years.
You're going to find Billionaires, Bad Boys, Mafia and loads of sexiness. Something for everyone, hopefully. I'd love to connect with you. Check out the links below and come find me.
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The Parker’s Wicked Playground
Show Me What You Got
Copyright © 2019 by Weston Parker
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.
First Edition.
Editor: Eric Martinez
Cover Designer: Ryn Katryn Digital Art
Show My What You Got Page 25