by Smith, C. P.
“That’s not enough time,” Hope whined.
“Two months, sugar, I mean it. I don’t want you stressed in your last three months. You get two months or I’m hauling you to the justice of the peace.”
Hope knew when to fight him and this wasn’t one of those times. He was in protective mode again and he wouldn’t budge. So, she’d grudgingly agreed to plan their wedding in two months, with the help of Rose and his mother of course.
Hope looked in the mirror one last time; her strapless off-white gown she’d ordered through a boutique in New Orleans was stunning. The hand-beaded bodice had an empire waist, and layers and layers of tulle to accommodate her baby bump. She looked like an angel, and she was more than ready to marry her prince. She’d left her hair down with loads of loose curls and tiny crystal gems here and there to give it a magical touch. Her dress had been hemmed so she wouldn’t trip over it, and she’d gone with ballerina flats instead of heels so she could be comfortable during the night.
Tilly and Rose both gasped when Hope walked out of the bedroom. With her own parents gone, Rose was the closest thing she had to a mother and Tilly and Hope were becoming closer with each passing day. Big Daddy was giving Hope away and Nicky was standing in as best man. They’d wanted a small intimate wedding with only close family and friends and Rose had insisted the wedding be in her backyard. She’d pulled out all the stops, too. Twinkle lights were strung throughout trees and shrubs. A lighted trellis for the vows was in front of the water feature and a white runner down the center for Hope to walk down, with chairs on either side. The food was setup inside the house to keep the night critters at bay and a dance floor and band set near the back of the yard. The whole yard looked like something out of a fairy tale because both Nic and Hope deserved it. And when Rose decided to do something, she did it up big.
Abby, who was Hope’s matron of honor, was dressed in a soft-pink, strapless gown. It too had layers of tulle and complimented Hope's gown. Her hair was up, and her long neck was graced with a strand of pearls that Hope had bought her as a gift. Abby handed Hope her bouquet of white baby roses as big Daddy knocked on the door. He poked his head inside and asked “We doin’ this or what?”
Oh, yes, they were definitely doing this, even if Rose had to marry Nic and Hope herself there would be a wedding this night. Rose was about to tell Big Daddy to cool his heels when she heard Nic in the hall bellow, “Sugar, you’ve got one minute to get downstairs and marry me or I’m coming in and carrying you down these stairs.”
“Nicholas,” Tilly laughed as the room burst into laughter.
“I’m coming, sheesh,” Hope called out and Nic could be heard grumbling as he descended the stairs, “Should have hauled her to the justice of the peace.”
“Well, I’d say my son has waited long enough for the right woman don’t you think?” Tilly announced as she wrapped Hope in a hug and then patted her baby bump. “You look beautiful, sugar. Now, go marry my son before he beats his chest and carries you off.” Nodding, Hope looked around the room and smiled.
“Thank you all for everything you’ve done. When I came to New Orleans I never imagined this happening. I finally have a family again, one that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
“Cher, don’t make me cry before da’ ceremony,” Rose wailed and then pulled Hope into a hug. “You like my daughter you is, and I’m gonna tell you what I told her on her weddin’ day. Love your man wit’ all your heart and the rest of it will fall into place. Dere’ notin’ you can’t ovah’come when you put love first.”
“Okay, Rose,” Hope whispered and then squeezed her back, expressing her love and gratitude for her surrogate mother.
“Now, let’s get you married ‘cause dat’ man is more dan’ ready.”
Big Daddy took Hope’s hand and led her out the door; Abby descended the stairs first and then Hope and Big Daddy followed. Once Tilly and Rose had made their way to their seats, a Cello began playing Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 by Bach as Abby made her way to the altar. When it was Hope’s turn to exit the house and everyone stood, a Zydeco rang out playing the Cajun wedding march. Hope had wanted something Cajun in her wedding and thought Nic would get a kick out of the festive tune. But, when Hope made her way to the end of the runner, and she looked up at Nic, her breath caught. He wasn’t smiling when he saw her; his face was the portrait of a man barely holding on to his composure. His eyes were bright with emotion looking down the aisle at Hope and as she made her way to him, his breathing became labored as he tried to keep himself in check. He lost the battle as she grew closer, and he took a few steps to close the distance between them. Then he pulled her from Big Daddy’s arm, placed his hands or each side of her face and kissed her in front of God and guests.
“You’re supposed to do that after we say I do,” Hope whispered against his lips, but Nic bit out “Sugar, when it comes to you, I’ll kiss you when and where I damn well feel the need.”
Lost in his black eyes, Hope smiled as he pulled her the few feet to the altar and then looked at the priest to begin. He kept his arm around her waist during the vows, his hand low on her hip keeping her as close to him as he could. When Father Dominic had Nic place the wedding band on her hand, Nic had all but growled the words, his vow to protect her tore from his lips. Hope stuttered her way through her own, stumbling on “Till death do us part” as Nic wiped tears from her face. When they were pronounced husband and wife Nic kissed her again, but this time he did it up right. He put one arm around her waist, his other arm around her shoulders, and he held on tight as he kissed his new wife senseless. Hoots could be heard around the yard and when he finally broke the kiss, Hope muttered “Wow,” as Nic wrapped his arm around her neck and asked “How long do we have to stay at this party.”
“Nic,” Hope warned, but he just chuckled, kissed her again and then hustled her back down the aisle to backslaps and congratulations as he ushered her around the corner and into the house. Nic wasn’t waiting hours to consummate their marriage; he wanted no loopholes for Hope to change her mind.
Ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes lay between both her parents as they all lay on their bed sleeping together. Olivia Rose entered the world in high fashion three months after her parents were married. Hope’s water broke while driving back from a visit to Nic’s parents, and Nic, ever the calm and rational man drove swiftly to the nearest hospital, and held his wife’s hand as she pushed for several hours. When Hope thought she couldn’t push another moment, Olivia Rose entered the world on a wail as both parents cried. Hope for the immense joy that all new mothers felt gazing upon their new babies the first time, yet, sad, wondering if her son would have had the same blonde hair. For Nic, because Olivia looked so much like Chelsea it took his breath away and that familiar pain knotted in his chest. When he’d held his new daughter for the first time she’d wrapped her hand around his finger holding on tight, and Nic vowed right then he’d never take for granted the blessings God had given him again.
When Olivia Rose opened her blues eyes and looked at him, he swore he heard a whispered voice say, “Je t’ aime, Papa, be happy.” Closing his eyes he’d placed a kiss on Olivia’s tiny head and then watched as she closed her eyes, her hand still holding his, secure in the knowledge that her papa would keep her safe, her momma would spoil her rotten and her big brother would keep a very close eye on everyone’s second chance.
Thank you for reading Restoring Hope. I hope you enjoyed Nic and Hope as much as I enjoyed writing them. I hope to continue to add books to my creative works, and enjoy hearing from fellow readers. Feel free to drop me a note on Facebook or email me at [email protected]
Look for other titles by CP Smith
“A Reason To Breathe”
Coming fall of 2014
“A Reason To Kill”
Prologue
Love, crystal and pure, cannot be thwarted,
only stalled, until its wings take flight and soar.
“So, you’re finally ge
ttin' married, Jack.”
“Jenn’s the best fuckin’ thing that happened to me, Max. If you’d stop fuckin’ around, you could have this too.”
“Right, I’ve got lumber yards waitin’ on fuckin’ trees and a town that depends on my filling those orders. I don’t have time for love.
“There aren’t many women out there that can put up with men like us. You find one, whether you got time or not, don’t let her get away, Max. Trust me, I know.”
“Spoken like a true Gunnison. You saw, you claimed, and you conquered.”
“Fuck, no. I saw, I told her, and then I married her. The conquering was just the fun part.”
“Right, take no prisoners and keep them smiling all the way to the altar,” Max chuckled.
“Now you’re gettin’ it,” Jack laughed.
“All right, Jack, give my love to Jenn. And remember, if you don’t treat her right, I’ll come down from Alaska and steal her from you.”
“You find the right woman, Max, you’ll know that’s impossible to do.”
“What? Treat her wrong?”
“No, Max, cause her a moment of pain.”
One
I’m going where?
A bright blue, velvety sky, dotted with billowing clouds of white stretched across the horizon as the tiny plane made its way farther north. Not that Mia Roberts cared she was too busy holding on tightly to the seat rests of the incredibly small plane to look. The sardine can was taking Mia and her team to the northern most reaches of Alaskan civilization to study Ursus arctos, or in layman’s terms, the grizzly bear. Trails End, Alaska, was their final destination, and to say she wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of spending the next two weeks in the wilds of Alaska was an understatement. As a Zoologist, she, of course, studied grizzlies, but not up close and personal. That was Donald’s job. He was head of her department, and a man she’d unwisely had a brief relationship with a few months back. Unfortunately, for her, he had an important meeting he couldn’t miss, so she’d been sent in his place. They only had a few weeks before the bears started to migrate further north for the winter, and the Seattle Institute of Zoology, or SIOZ, whom she worked for, and who monitored the bears in that region, needed their data. And since Mia was the most senior Zoologist after Donald Zimmer, she had to come. The problem with her being sent in his place, she was a pencil pusher; she’d never headed a research team before. She generally took their data once they collected it and studied it, graphed it, wrote grant proposals and scientific papers outlining their findings. What she hadn't done was sleep in a tent, gather bear scat to determine diet or pee in the woods. She was an analyzer, a keynote speaker for the institute, not an expert in field study. She’d never camped in her life, let alone searched the wilds of Alaska for bears. And there was a reason she didn’t. Some would call her clumsy; she preferred to think of herself as vertically challenged, not to mention, she really hated anything creepy-crawly.
It was only for a week, two tops, that’s what she kept telling herself. Surely, she could figure out how to survive for two weeks without getting herself killed. Then she could get back to her safe loft that overlooked Puget Sound with its great view and kickass fireplace; the sole reason she’d bought the loft in the first place. That fireplace, covered in river rock, with a huge timber mantel reminded her of a log cabin her family had rented one summer. She was sold the minute she’d walked in and remembered those two blissful months on Baker Lake with her family, and the ultimate golden boy in the cabin next to hers. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Josh—something or other. She’d never seen him again, unfortunately for her, and she often wondered if he’d ruined her for all other men. First lust had a way of clouding one’s memories, and making skinny man-boys into never-to-be-forgotten perfect males. It might also explain why, at the age of thirty-five, she still hadn’t married.
She was, however, married to her work, which explained why she was currently in a flying tin can headed towards the mountains. Trails End, Alaska, pretty much said it all. The end of the road, the end of civilization, and more than likely, the end of her career if she screwed this up. She was a city girl and her in the field leading a team was a big disaster in the making. Hell, this was going to be the biggest disaster in the history of disasters if she didn’t get a handle on her fears and her inability to stay vertical. She had her limits on what she could handle, and camping in the woods surrounded by bugs and things that slithered pushed her limits. She wasn’t proud of the fact that bugs and snakes gave her pause they just did. She wasn’t a prima donna by any stretch of the imagination, she was just girlie, and pretty much hated anything that wasn’t, say, cuddly, frilly or smelled good. Her awareness of her own limitations was why she’d always been an analyzer and not a field researcher. Why torture yourself when you can help the team with your sterling ability to write a powerful grant application, or give well-received presentations to the board. All aspects of research, from gathering data to writing grants were essential to stopping and bringing awareness to the dwindling grizzly population. Essentially, she was their front man who kissed asses for their grants while the others did the dirty work, and the group effort was saving countless bears.
She’d gotten her love for animals from her father, who’d grown up on a farm, and saw to it that she had a variety of animals growing up. She’d had chickens, goats, a ferret, and the standard dogs and cats of course, but never anything creepy like a snake. Somehow, her father knew even then that it had to be cute and somewhat cuddly. She had asked for a pony once, but her parents, well versed in her vertical challenges, had said hell no. She’d always been lousy at anything that required athletic ability; even ballet had been a challenge. It never bothered her she was that clumsy, she’d been content to sit with her dolls and dress them, or read books about fairy princesses as opposed to swinging a bat or climbing a tree. But, when it came to animals, she forgot all about being a girl and just loved them unconditionally.
Her obsession with bears started about the age of ten. Her father had taken her hiking one day near their home. A feat, now that she thought about it, amazed her in its daring. That’s when she’d seen her first bear cub. There was nothing cuter than a bear cub, and she’d wanted to take it home instantly. Her father, of course, had explained it needed to stay with its mother, but she’d never forgotten that round, bundle of black fur, and her obsession with all things bears began.
Taking a deep breath, Mia moved from the past, back to the present, and she tried hard not to think about who was flying this death trap. When she opened her eyes slowly, she caught Lucy Daniels, the perky intern, and Frank Jessup, her fellow Zoologist smiling at her.
“Do you hate to fly?” Lucy asked.
“I hate to die.”
“Don’t sweat it, Curly’s got this. That old man’s been flying for fifty years.”
“Yes, and coupled with the fact that his plane is that old, I feel much safer.”
Curly, older than time, with glasses as thick as coke bottles indicating his eyesight was gone, was a round man with ruddy cheeks and surprisingly no hair. He’d met them in Fairbanks, and loaded up the team and their equipment for the one-hour plane ride to Trails End. And from the amount of time that had passed slowly on her watch, she’d say that one hour was just about up and if he didn’t land soon, she’d hijack the plane and land the damn thing herself.
Ten long minutes of being jerked from side to side and sudden drops in altitude that left Mia’s stomach in her throat, Curly finally turned in his seat and announced through the headphones, “Hold on, we’re comin’ in for a landin’ now.” She dared to look out the window, but all she saw was water. Lots of it.
“Curly,” she shouted in panic “I don’t see the landing strip.”
“Water landing, the only way to get into Trails End, didn’t ya know?”
“No, my travel agent failed to mention that bit of information,” Mia squeaked when the plane dropped in altitude, and the body of water grew larger outside the win
dow. She closed her eyes as she gripped the seat rests once again, and then prayed to God if he got her safely on dry land, she wouldn’t complain about a thing the whole time she was in Alaska. As the plane touched down gently onto the lake, a spray of the crystal water hit the window as she opened her eyes, and looked out at the wilds of Trails End, Alaska.
***
“Jesus, Buddy, what the fuck?” Max growled as he hoisted bags into the back of his truck, looking inside them. The sound of a plane landing on Crystal Lake caught his attention, and he recognized Curly’s plane as he landed it expertly on the lake like he’d done a thousand times before. Buddy, his foreman at Hunter Logging, continued to hand him sacks of groceries as he watched Curly taxi to the dock.
“There was a sale, boss.”
“Nobody needs that much processed cheese,” he replied as he watched the propeller stop.
“Figured we could make toasted cheesers with it.”
As they finished loading their supplies, they watched the door to the plane open, and he and Buddy laughed when a woman with raven-colored hair fell out of the plane and hugged the dock.
“Lower forty-eight,” Max mumbled to Buddy and he nodded in agreement as they continued to watch.
Curly had mentioned to Max he was bringing in the team from SIOZ, so he was surprised when he saw a second woman come off the plane. Usually, that asshole Donald Zimmer flew up in his own plane. He didn’t much care for Zimmer; he was an arrogant sonofabitch who talked down to folks in Trails End so he figured anything would be an improvement over that bastard. The longer they stood there and watched the newcomers, the more he smiled. From that distance, he couldn’t make out much about the people, but one thing was clear, the raven-haired woman was as clumsy as a toddler taking her first steps. He hoped like hell she didn’t get lost up in the mountains tracking bears—she wouldn’t last a day.