“I went through foster home after foster home.” He chuckled wryly. “I was lucky because it wasn’t like a lot of kids you hear about. Everybody I stayed with was nice. But, I guess nobody wants to adopt a kid who’s twice the size he ought to be.” His laughter dried up. “I stayed in the system until I aged out. I’ve never had a family before. Seth’s not the only one of us who needed a real family.”
Jan’s anger faded as her heart broke for Bo. But his past couldn’t change the present one little bit.
“I have something.” He pulled a folded paper with some kind of official looking seal stamped on it out of his back jeans pocket. “Know what this is?”
She wordlessly shook her head. Why was he doing this to her? Didn’t he know how much it hurt her to let him go?
“It’s a copy of the paternity test a man named Kim Hughes made Liz Zimmers have done before he’d believe her babies are his. This paper says he’s their father.” He unfolded it and laid it on her lap.
“Babies?” She was stunned.
He nodded. “That’s the reason she looks so big. She’s having twins.” He knelt and took her hands in his. “She’s not quite five months pregnant, Jan. Even without this test, there’s no way those kids are mine.”
Jan couldn’t believe what he was telling her. It had been what she wanted to hear so badly she couldn’t trust her own ears.
“Her…She’s not having your baby?” she asked incredulously.
Bo smiled at her. “Not in this lifetime.”
“You’re not the father…”
“I’m not the father,” he repeated. She looked into his eyes and saw something she had only dreamed of.
“I figure this is the place my life started, so I wanted it to be the place my family really started, too.” He put one knee on the ground. “I bought a ring.”
She could see him shaking as he pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it. In it was the most beautiful heart-shaped diamond ring she had ever seen.
“I want to give the woman I love—my wife—something special. We didn’t have a traditional engagement or fancy wedding, but I wanted you to have a diamond. You’re worth way more than that, but it was all I could think to do.”
She sat there, filled with a mixture of disbelief and wonder. He had just said he loved her. He bought her a ring.
“I have a confession.” His smile faded a little. “Abby and I snuck into Zimmers one day while…that woman…was out to lunch. I was going to buy your ring there because they’re supposed to have the best diamonds.” He looked at the ring “I couldn’t do it. I just didn’t want anything to do with her touching any part of our lives. We ended up over at Holcomb’s. So it’s not the best diamond I could have bought for you.”
“Yes it is,” she whispered.
He looked into her eyes. “Abby went with me to make sure I didn’t get a stone too big for your finger. It’s so small.”
Jan started laughing and crying at the same time.
“Can I please put it on your finger to see if it fits?” He held the priceless ring out.
“You love me, and you want us to be a real family…you, me, and Seth…” She spoke through her tears.
“I don’t know how to use fancy words or say romantic things, so I’ll just say it plain and simple.” His gaze didn’t waver. “Yes. I love both of you, but you…you are everything to me, Jan. Seth will grow up and go off on his own, and that’s okay. But I can’t live without you. I love you now and will until the day I die.”
“Those are the most romantic words I’ve ever heard.”
He lifted his hand. “Now can I please put this ring on your finger while it’s still your birthday?”
Still laughing and crying, Jan held out her hand. Bo slid the diamond ring on next to her wedding band. Somehow she wasn’t surprised when it was a perfect fit.
“I love you, Bo.” It felt so good to be able to say those words.
He grinned. “Finally.” Still on one knee, he pulled her against him and gave her a long, deep kiss. “Go ahead and look at that paper.”
She reached down and picked up the paternity test he’d left on her lap. Without even looking down, she wadded it up and tossed it over her shoulder. “I don’t need any proof. I believe my husband.”
He kissed her again. “Where’s Seth?”
“Mom took him to the movies and arcade. They won’t be home for at least a couple of hours,” she told him between kisses.
“Good. That’ll give us just enough time to stop at home. Nobody’s slept in our bed for a while. It needs messed up.”
He kissed her as she started to laugh. Before she could move, Bo had her over his shoulder, headed to the truck.
“What are you doing now?” she asked, lifting her head as far as she could.
“We’re in a hurry.” He lightly smacked her bottom. “And I am a Slammer, after all.”
“Want one of my fortune cookies, Mom?” Seth asked, holding one out.
“Why don’t you give it to your dad?” Jan asked. “Maybe he’ll find out whether or not the Slammers will win next Saturday.”
Bo took the cookie and opened it. The slip of paper inside read, Happiness is yours to find. He showed it to Jan. “I found it.” He leaned over and kissed her.
“Aww, come on!” Seth had informed them he didn’t want to see his parents making out in public. It embarrassed him.
“Sorry,” Bo said. But he really wasn’t. In fact, he’d have liked to kiss his wife a little more thoroughly.
He looked at the content young man sitting across the table in the food court. During the past two weeks, Seth had finally accepted that Bo was his dad, and he wasn’t going anywhere.
“I picked the movie this Sunday,” Jan told them. “Whose turn is it to pick what we do next Sunday?”
“Mine, I think,” Bo said.
“Well, Bo, fancy meeting you here.” Bo looked up to see the last person on the face of the earth he wanted to set eyes on.
“Go away, Liz. My family and I are enjoying ourselves.” Blunt worked best, in Bo’s opinion.
“Now, Bo, we need to make some plans about our baby.” She placed her hand on her stomach.
Bo snorted. “Right.”
Liz turned to Seth. “You know Bo will never be your father. He’ll have a real son once our baby is born.”
Bo felt Jan start to stand up, but he placed his hand on her leg to stop her. He had seen something in his son’s eyes.
Seth stood up and turned to face Liz.
“I feel very sorry for you and your babies.” His voice was firm. “I’m sorry because you must be a pretty sad woman to want to hurt people with words all the time like you do.”
Liz stood there with her mouth half open, stunned into silence.
Seth wasn’t finished. “I feel sorry for your kids because they’re never gonna have a mom and dad like mine. My parents love each other and me. They show me that I’m worth more to them than anything else.”
Bo felt Jan’s hand clench his fingers. He glanced over to see pride on her face and her eyes welling with tears.
“I’m learning how to be an honest, hard-working, decent man just like my dad.” Seth sadly shook his head. “All you’re gonna teach your kids is how to hate. I really feel sorry for your babies.” He turned and sat back down.
Bo had never been prouder of his son. Seth had just stood up and put Liz in her place.
It didn’t appear like she was quite ready to give up yet, though. She looked at Bo and opened her mouth. “Are you going to let that boy talk to the mother of your only real son that way?”
She was really a piece of work! He had to laugh at her.
“First of all, my real son wasn’t talking to his mother. He was talking to you. And second, Seth was a lot nicer than I would have been to the woman who tried to trick his dad into believing he was the father of her babies. I bet before long, Kim Hughes will see the true you and agree with us, too. He wasn’t all that surprised when
I asked him for a copy of the paternity test he made you have done. You know—the one that proves he’s the father of your babies.”
Liz turned as white as a sheet. Bo wanted to stand up and applaud as he watched her realize her twisted game was over.
He had one more thing to say. “Seth, don’t try to do everything like me, okay?”
Seth gave him a puzzled look. “Okay, Dad.”
“Because I don’t think your mom would be very happy to hear you say this.” He looked at Liz. “Liz Zimmers, you bite.”
Her eyes scanned the three of them. She tried to regain some dignity and act haughty as she spoke. “You three deserve each other.”
Bo looked at his wife and son, who were looking back at him. They all answered as one. “Thank you.”
With what sounded suspiciously like a grunt, she turned and stormed away.
After she had disappeared, Seth turned to his parents. “Can I go look at the video games, Mom? I have enough allowance saved for two of them now, so I can get both of the ones I wanted.” He was already starting to stand up.
“Yes. We’ll just wait here.” Jan smiled warmly at him, amazement in her eyes.
“I’d say our son just took a giant step toward becoming a man,” Bo said as he watched Seth walk across the concourse to the store.
Jan smiled at him. “I couldn’t believe the way he stood up and very politely told that battle-axe off.” She leaned against him. “He’s come a long way from the scared child he was a year ago.”
“He sure has.” Bo winked at her and pulled her closer to him, chair and all. “Let’s see if Seth wants to spend the night at his grandma’s. I’ve got a plan.” With that, he leaned over and kissed her the way he’d wanted to before, satisfied to see her blushing face when he finally pulled away.
“What are you up to?” she asked, still not having caught her breath.
He grinned at her. “I was just thinking about what I’m gonna do to you after I get you home. You shouldn’t be embarrassed.” Bo couldn’t resist just one more quick kiss. “I’m just practicing.”
“Is my tie on straight, Mom?” Seth asked Jan, pulling on it. She still hadn’t gotten used to his deeper voice.
Flash!
“Mom!” Patsy was about to drive Jan insane taking pictures of everything. She realized Seth was only going to graduate from eighth grade once, but must every single second be immortalized on film?
Bo chuckled as he walked in and saw the look of frustration on his wife’s face. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out his mother-in-law and her camera were at it again.
“Did you get a picture of Seth tying his shoes, Mom?” he asked Patsy.
Patsy turned around and bopped his shoulder, which was all the higher she could reach.
“You’d better watch out, Dad,” Seth warned him. “Grandma can pack a mean wallop when she wants to.”
Bo and Jan both laughed as Patsy took up a pose beside Seth, and the two of them began flexing their right arms.
“I have to get a picture of that.” Jan took the camera out of her mother’s hand and snapped one.
Bo stepped up behind her and put his arms around her expanding waist. According to the sonogram, the pink sweater set Gertrude crocheted for Jan’s baby girl was going to be made good use of in a few months.
“Be sure you’re ready to take a picture of me getting my certificate when they get to the ‘D’s, Grandma,” Seth told Patsy as they walked into the other room. He was still excited about his new name. Brody took care of all the legalities, and Seth’s official adoption had gone through just two weeks earlier, making his name now Seth Lyle Daniels.
Bo leaned down and kissed Jan’s neck. Then, speaking in her ear, he asked, “Are you ready to go watch our son graduate from junior high?”
“With you by my side, I’m ready for anything.” She felt his hand lingering where it ought not to be with her son and mother just one room away. “What are you doing?” she whispered, trying not to giggle.
“Just practicing.”
Jan turned in his arms and let Bo practice some more.
Coming Soon…
What happens when a womanizing bachelor is determined to become a man his daughter can be proud of?
Mason Wright has always been the biggest player—and not on the diamond—of the Slammers fast-pitch softball team. Now, he’s a father, determined to be the man his daughter deserves, if only her mother will let him.
Claire Hadley was hurt badly by her son Spencer’s father, and swore to never let another man take advantage of her. But after a little too much to drink and a kiss that should never have happened, she ends up in bed with “Love ‘Em and Leave “Em” Wright. She may despise the man, but she treasures the baby girl he gave her. Now, she’s worrying about her reputation, but more importantly, what her son’s reaction will be when he realizes his baby sister is the spitting image of his “big brother.”
Can Mason change, and if he does, will anybody ever accept him? He’ll do all he can to convince Claire he’s a new man, with new priorities and morals. And he’ll be a good dad to both of her children, if she’ll trust him. If she’ll listen when he asks her to “Believe me.”
Believe Me, Book 3 of the Hearts for Ransom series is scheduled for release on November 1, 2015.
And in January…
Jake Landon doesn’t know what’s happening to his teammates, but he wants no part of it. First, Logan married Emily, and then Bo and Jan made a trip down the aisle. But, what really blows him away, is the one man with more of a revolving door at the foot of his bed than Jake is now a happily married father of two.
He’s always had two rules when it came to women:
Never…and he means, never, spend more than one night with the same woman.
No promises or emotions will be involved—on either side.
Lexie Michaels is excited about her new home in Shadow, Indiana, and the prospect of working for her cousin’s husband and his partner. She needs a fresh start after her fiancé dumped her. No more men. In fact, she has one rule when it comes to men:
Never…and she means, never, date a man she works with—not after the last one cost her a job.
They unknowingly break two rules on the night they meet. But, how was Jake supposed to know he was seducing the new attorney his partner hired? He hadn’t met her; he hadn’t even seen her. What he does know is one night is not enough with this gorgeous, blonde stick of dynamite. There goes his rule number one.
When Lexie set out to prove to herself her ex-fiancé was wrong about her being a cold fish, how was she to know the sexy, nameless stranger she spent the night with was her new boss? Goodbye, rule number one. See what happens when they’re introduced. Will they break that last rule, or will they head for the hills when they look at each other and realize, “It’s you.”
Georgia has been writing since she learned to hold a pencil. After winning contests, two of Georgia’s poems and one short story were published during her teen years. She has also written several skits for church and school performances, including one which was aired on local television.
A retired teacher, Georgia now writes full time. When she isn’t producing manuscripts, she is usually editing or reading one. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, she strives to be the best writer possible by actively attending conferences and participating in online courses and webinars.
Georgia was raised in a small town in Illinois, where she still resides with her husband of nearly 36 years. They are the proud parents of three grown children and have six amazing grandchildren. When able to tear herself away from writing, she enjoys reading, watching television, and walking.
You can visit her website and read her blog at www.georgiaevansauthor.com.
You can also find her on
A personal note:
If you are interested in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America organization, please take a minute to check out their website at www.bbbs.org. There, you can
find a local group, enroll a youth, or volunteer your time or resources. After teaching at-risk youth for three years, I know first-hand what an impact positive role models can have.
- Georgia
Just Practicing (Hearts for Ransom Book 2) Page 20