by Law, Kim
“It’s not all bad. Maybe you’ll get a new dad soon. You could use that.”
His smirk was even funnier than his horror. “That’s not funny.”
“I thought it was,” she said drily.
They went back to watching, and Cat smiled now as Bennett lifted Tyler to his shoulders. Annabelle was dancing around with Becca, and the adults looked on with fondness.
“Our daughter is pretty amazing,” Brody said.
“She is.”
“Smart, too.”
Cat smiled at Brody. “She got that from her dad.”
He didn’t smile back. “How bad do you think we would have messed her up?”
Pressure built in her chest. “I’m almost afraid to imagine.”
“Yeah.”
They grew silent again. It was a more comfortable silence now. This was a weird conversation, but at the same time, it felt like just the thing that they needed.
“The kids say thanks for their coloring books,” she told him.
“They’re welcome. And their mom?” He peeked at her. “What does she say?”
“She said that she doesn’t do a lot of coloring these days, but when she does, she does try to stick outside the lines.”
He suddenly reached for her, turned her to him. His eyes were imploring. “I want to color outside the lines, too, Cat. I do. We both kept things from each other. We both messed up. But Annabelle pointed something out to me the other day. Something that hurt, actually.”
“What?”
“She said she wouldn’t have wanted us for parents.”
Cat hung her head. “She told me that, too.”
“I think she might be right.”
“I’m so sorry, Brody.” Cat couldn’t stand it any longer. She had to touch him. She put a hand on his arm. “If I could go back . . .”
“I know. I’ve thought about that all week. If we could go back. If only you would have told me. If we could have stayed together.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think we would have worked.”
“Why not?”
“It took me thirty-five years to see who my mother was. Don’t you think she would have played a large part in things? In us?”
They stared at each other, both thinking about the past. Both thinking about mistakes.
“I don’t want to do this without you, Cat. I don’t want to do anything without you.”
Cat’s eyes rounded in shock. Was he going to forgive her?
“Mistakes or not,” Brody continued, “and we’ve both made them—I want you with me. I can’t get past that. I’ve always wanted you with me.”
He paused and she sucked in a breath. “Brody—”
“Marry me, Cat? I can’t see anything else to do. I love you.”
Their daughter glanced over at them, then, as if she could sense what was going on.
“Are you doing this because of her?” Cat asked, afraid to believe it was real. She knew Annabelle wanted to see their romance as the Romeo and Juliet story the media had made it out to be—minus the poison and death ending, of course. But that wasn’t real. It wasn’t who they were.
“She wants me to marry you, yes. We talked about it. In fact, she pestered me to death about it. But she’s not the one who showed up here tonight with a ring.”
“You have a ring?” Cat gasped. She flicked her gaze over him. “On you now?”
“In my pocket.”
Her eyes zeroed in on his pants pockets. “Do I get to see it?”
“Not unless you say yes.”
She sighed. It was so scary. All of it. And she was terrified to hope. “Look around, Brody,” she begged. “Is this really what you want? I’m a mother. I have two kids.”
“You have three kids.”
She gave an agreeing nod. “I have three kids.”
“I want to make it at least four,” he told her.
Her heart dropped to her stomach. “You want a baby?”
“With you, I do. I want everything with you.”
“Oh, God,” she moaned. “You’re killing me here.”
“Then let me kill you for the rest of your life, Kitty Cat. We’ve wasted too much time already.” He leaned in close. “And I’m not just talking about wasting time not being together. I’ve missed you this week.” He took her hand and squeezed it hard. “My body has missed you this week.”
She shivered from his words. “Be careful. People are watching.”
“Then let them watch.” He glanced at the small shed where she knew the newly purchased lawn equipment was stored. “I wouldn’t mind if they watched us disappear in there for a bit.”
She glanced at the shed herself and felt her cheeks heat. Then she grew serious. She stared up at him. At the stubble she found so sexy. At the nerdy little glasses. She loved him so much.
“Do you really think we could make this work after all this time?”
He took her hand. “I think we have to. We’re meant for each other. I’m not sure we could survive another twenty years apart.”
She tended to agree. But there was one tiny matter she would need to share with him first.
“Before I answer,” she stalled, “there’s a teeny-tiny secret I have to fill you in on. It could change your mind.”
His eyes narrowed on her. “Another secret?”
“I know,” she moaned out. “You’d think we’d have them all out by now.”
“Why am I somehow not surprised?” Brody asked. He took a small step back and widened his stance as if steeling himself, then nodded. “Hit me with it.”
She couldn’t believe she even had to say this out loud.
“Apparently . . .” she began. She glanced at Bennett, then cringed. “Bennett. My half brother . . .”
Brody’s brows went up at the phrase.
Cat gulped. “Is also. . .” She dropped her face to her hands and mumbled, “I can’t even say it. It’s too much. Even for my family.”
Brody pulled her fingers from her eyes and peeked in. “What?” He looked concerned. “There’s nothing that could possibly be that bad. Unless you’re going to tell me something crazy like Bennett’s father is also Arthur Harrison.”
She stared at him unblinking, and he finally got it. His jaw came unhinged.
“You are kidding me,” he said.
“I’m afraid not.”
“That’s fantastic,” he shot out. And he even looked happy about it. “Your mother . . . all her complaining. Her keeping us apart.”
Cat nodded. “She takes the definition of hypocrite to a new level.”
He chuckled. “I would say that she does.” Then his laugh dropped, and he took both her hands in his. “See? We have to be together. We’re going to be in the news together forever anyway. Especially when that kid of ours finishes growing up. I think she’s going to be a politician.”
“Oh, she’s definitely going to be a politician. She might already be running for a position here.”
“Here?”
Cat’s smile bloomed on her face. Annabelle might get mad for spoiling her surprise, but Cat couldn’t help it. “Didn’t she tell you? She plans to attend St. Mary’s.”
“But she has a full ride at Brown.”
“She never wanted Brown. She talked to her mother about it, and Patricia is fine with it. Annabelle wants to get to know us better, too. And apparently she wants to take classes with you.”
“That’s incredible.” He laughed then, the sound rich and exciting, and pulling the attention of every member of their families. “And pretty damned perfect. Except for one thing.” He dropped to one knee. “Say yes, Kitty Cat.” He kissed the back of her hand and his eyes shone up at hers. “Marry me.”
She nodded then, smiling, and sniffed back a sob. She could see their families practical
ly bouncing with excitement in her peripheral vision. “On one condition,” she declared.
“Really? You’re going to give me conditions? I should have the upper hand here.”
“Sweetheart, you’ll never have the upper hand.”
“Don’t I know it?” He winked and rose to his feet. “Okay, what’s the condition?”
“Take me for a ride in your red car again. I seem to remember it has this great backseat.”
He roared with another laugh, then pulled her in for a kiss. Flashes went off all around them, which only made him kiss her longer.
EPILOGUE
SEPTEMBER FIRST ARRIVED, and Cat once again sat out on the same deck she’d rented three months earlier, sipping yet another yogurt-and-flaxseed smoothie.
And watching her fiancé through her binoculars.
“Do you see dolphins again this morning, Mommy?” Tyler asked from the other side of the deck. He sat amid the pile of toys he dragged outside every morning.
“I wanna see!” Becca raced up the deck stairs, shaking sand from her hands as she did. She’d been working on yet another sand castle. If the ocean didn’t wash them away every day, Cat wasn’t sure there would be any sand left for Becca to play in.
“It wasn’t dolphins this morning,” Cat informed them. Though, most mornings it wasn’t dolphins. It was usually Brody. And their daughter. “Brody and your sister are heading this way,” she told them.
Both kids scrambled over to her, insisting they wanted to look, too, so Cat let them take turns looking through the high-powered lenses. It had become the morning ritual since Cat had bought the house and moved in next door.
Annabelle had decided to live with Brody while she was in Maine and would ride into the college with him once classes started—which would be in only a couple of days. But for the three weeks she’d been there, she’d quickly adapted to her father’s schedule. They’d start the mornings with coffee, then a jog, while Cat got in her yoga and her non-doughnut breakfast—and feasted her gaze on her fiancé’s powerful strides running up the beach.
The kids played alongside her, and often the three of them built sand castles together or stuck their toes in the water while they waited for Brody and Annabelle’s return. The jog would finish with the two of them climbing the back steps of Cat’s deck, where Cat would finally get her good-morning kiss.
It was a fantastic way to start the day. The only thing better would be if they were all in the same house together, but until a wedding ring was in place, Cat and Brody had decided this was best. The kids had needed time to get to know Brody, and the same for him. And Cat had needed time to adjust to all the changes in her own family’s life.
Her mother had not been booted out of office, nor had she withdrawn her name from the upcoming ballet. She was charging full steam ahead, as stubborn as she’d always been, though Cat couldn’t yet tell if it would matter. The family name had been tarnished, and that was not an easy thing to overcome.
The money her mother had paid to Lexi had not been discovered and leaked, however, nor had Lexi and Daniel come out of hiding. Cat still hoped to meet her half brother someday, but until his mother was ready to deal with her son being a Davenport, that wouldn’t happen.
Bennett’s paternity also remained a secret. For now.
He hadn’t even confronted their mother with the truth yet, but Cat knew that was only a matter of time. A person could only sit on that kind of information for so long without needing answers.
Additionally, Cat and her mother still were not speaking.
JP and Vega had been to visit, though. As had Bennett.
Cat had watched an interesting connection happen between Brody and her oldest brother as they’d spent a few days together. Nothing about their relationship was sloppy and huggy, not like it might be with two half sisters just finding each other, but they did seem to accept the other for the man that he was, as well as hold a fair amount of respect.
Bennett, Brody, and Annabelle had even spent a couple of days together hiking in Acadia National Park. It was a bit weird looking at them side by side because they all had the same eyes. But however it had happened, and however strange and weird the whole situation was, it all seemed to fit.
Cat was getting her oldest brother back in her life.
And Brody had his own brother now. One who might actually stand a chance of getting to know him.
Oh, and Vega was pregnant. There would be another Davenport around soon. Cat had already made them promise to visit Maine every summer so the cousins could have those shared memories together.
What would become of Cat and her mother’s relationship she didn’t yet know. She’d take that one step at a time, and worry about it later. Because for now, she had far more important things on her mind.
“Here they come!” Becca bounced up and down on her toes with excitement as Brody and Annabelle took the final few strides to the deck.
Cat’s heart thudded hard. She loved this man more than her life.
And she was ready to marry him. Now.
She wanted to wake by his side every morning. To kiss his scruffy face before he ever stepped a foot out of bed.
But they’d agreed to take it slow. He and the kids needed time.
“Morning, gorgeous,” Brody said. Becca giggled at the words directed toward her.
“I made you another sand castle,” she said sweetly. She scrunched her shoulders up in the innocent-little-girl way she had that Cat knew always tugged at Brody’s heart.
“I see that,” he said. He leaned down and put a kiss to her cheek. “Thank you very much.” Becca giggled again.
Annabelle had crossed to Tyler’s side and ruffled his hair, and he’d wrapped an arm tightly around her leg. They stood together as if they’d been doing so all their lives. It made Cat happier than she’d known was possible.
Then Brody zeroed in on Cat. “The kids and I have been talking,” he said.
Cat took in all three kids. Each suddenly looked as if they held a secret just behind their lips. “And?” Cat asked.
Annabelle’s mouth curved into a wide grin, but she didn’t say anything. She and Tyler moved to stand beside Brody, joining Becca, and Brody dropped a hand to Tyler’s shoulder. All four of them looked one hundred percent like a happy family unit. Cat’s heart sang at the sight.
“This two-house thing,” he started. He tilted his head back and took in her two-story, much larger home, then glanced over at his own before his gaze landed back on Cat. “Annabelle thinks she should live here. She says you have an unused bedroom that’s bigger than the one at my house, and that it has the perfect spot for her book collection.”
Cat nodded quickly. “Of course.” She took in Annabelle. “You can live here if you want. Of course. I’d love that. But I thought you wanted to stay with Brody?”
Brody stepped away from the kids then and crossed to Cat. He pulled her to her feet and gave her the good-morning kiss she’d been waiting on since she’d risen with the sun. It was long and slow, and way inappropriate to have in front of any of the kids.
She couldn’t make herself care.
“I want to move in, too,” Brody whispered when he pulled back. All three kids snickered behind him. “Let’s set a wedding date,” he urged. “We know we’re good. The kids and I, we fit. You and I fit. Let’s do this, Kitty Cat. I’ll wait as long as you want, but the kids and I”—the kids suddenly flanked him on either side—“we’re ready. We want to be a family.”
“And I want a sister,” Becca whispered. Tyler made a gagging noise, and Annabelle shushed them both.
Cat took in her family, the love shining from all of them, and she knew there was no more reason to wait. She had everything she’d ever wanted standing right in front of her. She had the more she’d been searching for.
She nodded and shared her own smile. “I think we shou
ld do it.”
All three kids let out an excited whoop as Brody’s arms closed tightly around her once again. After another kiss, he leaned back and peered down at her. “When?” he asked anxiously.
Cat laughed at his hurry, but she was anxious, too. She wanted this.
And she wanted it now.
After all their secrets, after their past. After dealing with the drama that was her family and his. The only thing that fit was them being together. And she did not want to waste one more second of her life waiting to be sure.
She couldn’t be more sure of anything.
Pulling his head back to hers, she whispered as she kissed him, “How about this weekend?”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOT THAT ANY book is easy to write, but this one was especially difficult. Loads of secrets and scandals and different people knowing different things all at the same time. It makes a writer crazy. At least, it made me crazy. But even with all the juicy secrets I was putting in the book, I knew something was missing, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. Until someone else pointed it out to me.
Huge thanks go out to the ever-wonderful Cherry Adair, for both her amazing plotting workshop and for her selfless giving, taking the time to provide one-on-one chats with each participant afterward. While working with Cherry, and explaining to her that my books tend to take on a soap-opera-like drama, she got a fun gleam in her eye and suggested the final piece of the puzzle. That Annabelle Weathers had not, in fact, died as Cat (and I) had always believed. She was very much alive, and she simply had to show up in this book!
I loved it, and I immediately knew that I could finally finish this book.
Annabelle came to life on the page for me, and something tells me that a few years down the road she just might get her own book. I love her that much. And that would all be thanks to the wonderful and talented Cherry Adair.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2012 Amelia Moore
AS A CHILD, Kim Law cultivated a love for chocolate, anything purple, and creative writing. She penned her debut work, “The Gigantic Talking Raisin,” in the sixth grade and got hooked on the delights of creating stories. Before settling into the writing life, however, she earned a college degree in mathematics, then worked as a computer programmer while raising her son. Now she’s pursuing her lifelong dream of writing romance novels—none of which include talking raisins. She has won the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award, has been a finalist for the prestigious RWA RITA Award, and has served in many volunteer positions for her local RWA chapter. A native of Kentucky, she lives with her husband and an assortment of animals in Middle Tennessee.