“You weren’t nervous at all, were you?”
“I almost vomited twice,” he said.
Abby laughed and leaned her forehead into his chest. “If every event were like this, I would go to them all.”
“Well, I guess that I’d better start mowing a lot more lawns then, because those box seats were a pretty penny, and I doubt that your dad will foot the bill for all of our little excursions.”
She looked up and placed her hand gently on his cheek. “Don’t worry. You’ll be a rich gastroenterologist one day.”
“And you’ll be my Mrs. Bosworth?”
“Definitely.”
The assistant arrived just as Abby was about to fall into dreams of becoming Mrs. Abigail Court. “Miss Ellwood. Your car is here.”
“Thank you.”
They walked to the door and Sean squeezed her hand in reassurance. “You ready?” he asked.
“More than ever,” Abby replied. And it was the truth.
They stepped out into the darkness, the flashing lights, and the usual shouts.
“Abigail! Over here!”
“Miss Ellwood!”
But now, there was a new name for them to sink their teeth into.
“Sean! A picture please.”
“Mr. Court! This way!”
He leaned down as they reached the top of the steps. “I guess news travels fast around here. Should we give them a show?”
Butterflies of nervousness fluttered in Abigail’s stomach. A show? What was he saying? But then she saw the light in his eye. With a simple blink and a smile, Abigail provided her response.
Sean grinned, pulled her close, and placed a gentle, but explosive kiss on Abby’s lips.
Flashes of light were like fireworks around them. Shouts turned into waves of sound that swirled in the atmosphere, pushing against her body, but unable to enter the forcefield that Sean had generated with his lips on hers. She felt everything fall away but him. It was more than she ever could have imagined.
Her first kiss.
It seemed like hours, but it also seems like nanoseconds. Sean lifted his head and pressed his temple against her forehead, shifting his hand to her lower back, reminding her that they were still on stage. Unfortunately, they still had to exist beyond themselves.
Abby pulled herself out of the bubble and felt a tingle run through her body. Her knees were weak, her legs wobbled on the heels that were now like ten-foot stilts on the bottom of her feet. Sean took her arm and led her carefully down the steps. She was Cinderella at the ball, before midnight, of course. And here was her prince. He helped her into the car and smiled with a nod at the driver before facing out at the crowd once more. Abby knew exactly what he was doing. He was giving them a chance to get a picture of the man that stole Abigail Ellwood’s heart. A picture of the Happily Ever After.
The next day, two videos trended on the internet.
The second most popular was the kiss. The moment that would be permanently inked in gold on Abby’s heart. The moment her new world started. Her happily ever after.
But the media favorite was the video of Sean leaning down and speaking into Abby’s ear before they had entered the theater. The words ‘I Love You’ were splashed on the bottom of the page. Looking at the video, Abby could see his lips moving as if those words had been spoken. She knew that he’d said, ‘I have you’, but the video showed their silhouettes, flashbulbs glowing behind them, their faces lit with pure joy. It was as if God had reached down to that moment and said, ‘You two belong together’. That was what made it special. It was every little girl’s fantasy, every bride’s dream, every wife’s hope. To be loved.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
JANUARY passed with lightning speed.
Their rotation in pediatrics was both fascinating and heart wrenching. Abby fell more and more in love with Sean. Her biggest fall was when she watched him hold a baby born premature with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome on and off for three days until the baby passed away from complications.
She watched him pray. She watched him hope. She watched him cry. While it was protocol for the doctor to tell the parents about the death of a child, in this case an exception was made. The mother had only visited the baby four times during those three days. And each time, Sean had shown her compassion. While the doctors and nurses shot angry and spiteful looks the mother’s way, Sean didn’t lecture her on the mistakes she’d made during her pregnancy. He didn’t accuse her of neglect. He never judged her. He prayed with her and showed her love.
That was when Abby fell the hardest. He was the one.
In the media, Abby and Sean had become their hottest topic. His face was made for the camera and the paparazzi loved it. Whenever Abby and Sean went anywhere away from the small community that held the college campus and St. Francis hospital, photographers would call out Sean’s name, leaving Abby in the peace and safety of being able to rely on his responses, his nudges, and his ability to pull her out of a flash-induced coma.
Sean fit right in with her parent’s expectations as well. Instead of Abby meeting with either Mom or Dad at Sunday afternoon brunch, all four of them would show up and discuss the week’s challenges and adventures.
The only empty time was when Sean did his military drill weekend every few weeks. He loved it, but Abby found it scary and lonely. She knew that he was still dedicated to the military, very aware of the fact that he could be called out at any moment. Sean said that they wanted him to finish his schooling before they made any plans for him, but Abby wasn’t about to put any money on it. With her dad being a senator, she knew that the government did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.
There was one question that Abby shoved deep into her heart, not wanting to know the answer. What would happen after they finished school? Would her Happily Ever After play out? Would he get on one knee and propose? Then would he fill her with love and babies and spend the rest of their lives saving lives and living their lives?
Or would he go back to Afghanistan?
During the past couple months, Abby had the opportunity to meet several of his friends in the military. They always asked the question. “When are you coming back?” But Sean would just laugh and look at Abby nervously. There was so much he wasn’t telling her. She knew the answer. She didn’t want to know - but she knew.
The last weekend in February, their schedule would provide them with five days off for an early spring break. The long weekend fell on her birthday, but Abby wasn’t one to find excitement in the event, especially since those were days that she often received one of the ‘revenge’ notes.
All Abby really wanted was to sleep the entire time, but her parents had other ideas. They were going to take Abby and Sean to Los Angeles for Mom’s movie premier. Mom had finished filming Engaged to Duty a year ago and had been waiting on pins and needles for the release.
With her birthday nearing, and the inevitable REVENGE note arriving, Mom and Dad decided that it would be best to whisk Abby out of town, away from any threats. They were keeping her travel a secret, only providing information on a need-to-know basis. Veena had even agreed to turn Abby’s bedroom light on and off at key hours in order to give an illusion of presence. But Abby would have given anything to be curled up in her own bed, turning the light on and off herself. Mostly off.
“C’mon Jamie, don’t be a sourpuss. It’ll be fun,” Sean said. That’s what he always said when they had to attend a fundraiser, or a gala, or a senatorial dinner meeting. And while Abby appreciated his enthusiasm, she sometimes wished that he could just say ‘No, let’s stay back and sleep.’
“It’s not going to be fun.” Abby crossed her arms and pouted at the coffee cup in front of her.
Sean stepped into her personal space and tapped her forehead. “What’s going on in there?”
“You know how they are. The media, the stalkers. You’ve been with me long enough to see what they do. Besides, it’s my birthday.”
Sean sat on the barstool next to her
and took her hand. “I know it’s your birthday,” he said. “Your parents had mentioned that it isn’t something celebrated within the Ellwood family home but warned me not to push for details. Tell me what’s going on.” He lifted her hand to his mouth, then pressed the inner portion of her wrist to his lips, slowly kissing his way to her elbow.
“Every year, on my birthday, I receive a threatening note.”
Sean’s soft lips left her tingling skin as he glanced up in concern, “What? Does a stalker give you some sort of demented birthday card or something?”
“Something like that.”
Sean pressed his fingers in between her own, calmly weaving together in a comfortable grasp. Being calm. That’s what he did.
But if he was going to go with her to Los Angeles, he would have to know about the note thing. Surely he wouldn’t be able to stay calm after knowing that. “We don’t know who sends them. It’s been happening since the day I was born.”
Sean held her hand and waited.
“It just says one thing, revenge.”
He nodded his head slowly, as if filtering the words through his brain for later dissection, “Hm. Maybe a stalker. Seems like a long time to keep up the prank. What a jerk.”
“They always leave it somewhere close. Like in my backpack or under my windshield wiper blade. Last year, my psychopathology professor brought it to me. He’d found it sitting on his desk in his office with my name on it. We don’t know who’s been sending them. My parents have had it investigated every year. They’ve come up with nothing.”
“Well, maybe Los Angeles will be the best thing for you then. This stalker, or whoever it is, couldn’t possibly get to you there.”
“Maybe.”
“Does it frighten you? This note?”
She could tell that Sean was trying to act nonchalant, but the worry was seeping through his pores. Abby could smell it in the air, his protective instinct taking over. He just stared at her, waiting for an answer.
“Sometimes. It’s never comes to anything, so I’ve never been bothered by it, but my parents freak out. Especially my dad. They practically hold me prisoner every birthday. It’s not fun.”
Sean pinched his lip and continued to stare.
Abby felt a shiver work its way from her toes to her head, and it wasn’t the romantic kind. “I’m sure it’s nothing,” she said. “Just some idiot thinking he has the upper hand on us. He probably does it to hundreds of people. I’m not going to worry about it.”
“I guess,” Sean said, after a pause that was too long for comfort. “But, I think your parents are right. You should hide out for a while. California is nice this time of year.”
Abby could only cross her arms and glare. She would have punched him if he wasn’t so handsome, and fascinating, and cuddly, and… perfect.
“Okay,” she gave in. “I’ll go, but only because you want me to.”
Finally, Sean smiled.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
MEDICAL school was no joke, and even Sean was showing the wear and tear of long hours, stress, and high expectations.
Abby stretched on the couch and wrapped her arms behind her, around Sean’s neck. “I haven’t packed my suitcase yet.”
He leaned his head over and nibbled at her wrist. “That’s okay. The flight doesn’t leave for another twelve hours.”
With a groan, Abby rolled off Sean and set her feet on the cold tile. He’d taken off her socks for a quick foot massage, but the moment her toes hit the floor, they ached with the pain of hours upon hours on the hospital floor. “Can’t I just wave a magic wand like Mary Poppins, and make the clothes pack themselves?”
“Mary Poppins didn’t have a wand.”
“An umbrella, then.”
“She wiggled her nose,” Sean said. He sat up next to her and placed a kiss on Abby’s cold nose, warming her from the top of her head, to her ankles. But her feet still managed to stay cold.
“Okay. I’m packing. For real this time.”
“Good. The suitcase is on your bed,” he said. “And an early birthday gift.”
“A gift?” Abby clapped her hands together and bounced on her freezing toes. “Is it chocolate?”
“Nope.”
“Spring break in the Hamptons?”
“You wish. Go see.” He waved her away and pretended to watch the basketball game on television.
Abby bounced all the way up to the bedroom and waited before opening the door. Sean was always giving her little trinkets here and there. They were more sentimental than expensive, and Abby loved him for that. She took a deep breath and opened the door. She saw the suitcase on the bed and a pale pink box next to it. She lifted the lid gently off the box and saw that it was an elegant necklace with matching earrings and more gems than Sean could afford with his lawn money.
“You like?” he asked. Abby looked at where Sean was leaning against the doorframe. His arms were crossed in front of him, and he had his sexy eyebrow lifted.
“It’s too much,” Abby said, lifting the necklace out of the box and feeling the heavy weight.
He walked over and lifted the necklace from his hand. “Let me put it on you.”
Abby lifted her hair and felt Sean’s warm hands caress her neck as he placed the necklace along her collarbone. When his fingers fastened the clasp, he slid his finger down the back of her sweatshirt sending shivers down her body. “It’s beautiful on you.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Abby joked as she stood and walked towards the mirror. It was gorgeous. The flicker of lights in the jewels were mesmerizing and made her think of the flash of cameras when Sean leaned down for their first kiss. He brought over the earrings and she slipped them into her ears, finishing the look.
“It doesn’t really go with that sweatshirt.”
“Ugh,” Abby thought about her wardrobe decisions for the next few days. “It doesn’t really go with anything I have right now.”
“There’s got to be something here you can wear.” Sean walked to the closet and began thumbing through her packed tight clothing. She had plenty of overflow at the estate but was definitely not in the mood to drive out there tonight.
“What about this red one?”
“Red one? I don’t have a red dress. Maybe it’s Veena’s.”
“I don’t think Veena has the chest to fill this thing out.” Sean pulled out a long red dress with a black lace lining and silver crystals tumbled within to shimmer like a million stars in a dark, red night.
“Oh my gosh! Where did this come from?”
“It matches your jewelry,” Sean said, his eyes sparkling as much as the diamonds in Abby’s new necklace.
“Did you buy this?” Abby asked, her fingers sliding excitedly over the soft fabric.
He laughed. “No way. This was all your mom’s idea.”
“Of course it was,” Abby said. Her mother always had exquisite taste and this time was no exception.
“She helped with the necklace purchase as well,” Sean confessed.
“You went shopping with my mother?” Abby asked, amazed. Between school and his military weekend, where would he have found the time?
“Online shopping during my lunch break.”
“You get a lunch break?”
“Yeah. Five minutes.”
Abby laughed and lifted the dress to her body. It was a strapless floor length gown with a chiffon skirt and cinched waist.
“You should try it on.”
“I think I will. Get out.”
“You sure I can’t watch?” he teased. Abby knew that he wouldn’t. Sean was always the perfect gentleman. Not much more than a few kisses and a sneaky slip up the shirt occasionally. She wondered at his iron will and was very thankful for it.
It took twenty minutes to get the dress on just right and pin up her hair so that it wouldn’t take away from the beauty of the earrings. She loved the way the skirt floated as if it were a beautiful red cloud coming to carry her away.
“Hurry u
p, woman!” Sean called from downstairs.
Abby took one last look in the mirror, then floated to the stairs. “Okay! I’m ready.”
She felt giddy with excitement. It was another Cinderella moment. One of many that she’d experienced since Sean had entered her life.
He appeared in the hallway below and Abby did a little spin before sailing down the stairs.
“Wow,” he said. When she arrived at the last step, Sean wrapped his arm around her waist and spun her to the floor. “You look like a princess,” he said.
“That’s pretty sappy.”
“Did it work?”
“Totally.” Abby pressed her lips against his, and he pulled her in closer. They danced to a silent song and moved to a rhythm that only their heartbeats could produce.
“You truly are beautiful.” Sean’s voice came out in a whisper caressing the side of her neck along with butterfly kisses he placed on each jewel that lined the necklace. She felt Sean’s chest expand as he took a deep breath, then pulled away from her, leaving a lonely two-inch gap between them. “This birthday is going to be different,” he said. His voice was low, a growl. “No notes. Nothing that will faze you.” A statement that told her he was in charge now - not the media, not the paparazzi, not the stalker that sent her crazy notes. It was him alone.
Abby lifted her hands up and wrapped them into his hair, pulling him into a kiss that she needed even more than his protection from the outside world. He responded in kind and pushed towards her until he had her pinned against the wall. His hands moved from her waist to her arms and then to her breasts. Abby knew that the dress had accentuated them to their full extent, and Sean groaned as he ran his palms over them. He dropped his arms and placed his fingers on her bottom, pulling her closer. She could feel his attraction, she knew where his mind was. But then, he broke away.
“Jeez, Abby.” He walked several steps away and ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re turning me into a scoundrel.”
“Is that so bad?” Abby asked, twirling a tendril of hair in her finger.
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