Return To Sender (The Hart Brothers Book 2)

by J. S. Cooper

  He’s talking to me. I was still floating. Why was I still floating?

  “Why did you go with Gordon? Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice cracked. “He was my brother. I didn’t even know. I knew there was a possibility I had other siblings out there, but I just did nothing. I don’t know why. I wish I had looked for him. Welcomed him.”

  “But you can do that now.” I wanted to tell him, but my mouth wouldn’t open. “You can be a family now.”

  “There’s nothing like death for you to realize how much you’ve done wrong in your life.” He continued. “I try to be a good man, but I’m selfish. I’m so very selfish.”

  “No.” I wanted to hold him to me, but I couldn’t even see him. So this was what it felt like to be dead. I strangely felt quite at peace.

  “And now he’s gone.” His voice cracked. “He had a stack of letters in his car. Letters to me and Henry, letters to my dad.” He sighed. “He just wanted to be a part of our lives. He was lonely and I want to hate him for what he’s done to you, but I can’t. I hate myself. This is my fault. This is all my fault. There are too many secrets. Far too many secrets. And I’ve kept them all.”

  A white light was burning my eyes at his words. Gordon was gone? Gordon was gone! He was dead. Gordon was dead. We’d crashed. He’d been driving so fast. I could remember now. The fear. The feeling of being hit. Turning and turning and then blackness. And after the blackness came the light.

  “Savannah, I need you to know that I love you. I might even have fallen in love with you before we even met. When you sent me the photo of your dog instead of yourself.” He laughed. “I knew you were going to be someone special and you were. You are. I love you, Savannah. I know you heard me that night on the phone. I know you heard me talking to Henry telling him you could ruin everything. But it’s not you that could ruin it. It’s me. And I already did.” He was sobbing as he spoke. “You didn’t deserve to end up with someone like me, a selfish son of a bitch. Oh Savannah.”

  The white was fading now and my head was throbbing. I wasn’t feeling so peaceful any more. It hurt. It hurt all over. My body was aching. I was dead. I was dying. I was going. I was being returned back to where I had come. And all I wanted was to tell Wade I loved him. To tell him it was okay. That I loved him. I was crying now. Crying for me. Crying for Gordon. Crying for Wade. The light was now gone. And now I was back in darkness. Loud beeps screaming in my ear, screaming, screaming.

  “Savannah, I love you more than life itself. Come to me, Savannah, come to me.” Wade’s voice was soothing, talking away the pain and chaos. I was floating back to earth. Floating, floating. “Savannah, don’t leave me.”

  “I won’t.” My eyes suddenly opened and I stared into his bloodshot eyes. I gave him a weak smile and whispered the words I needed him to hear. “I love you too, Wade, with all my heart.

  “I’m not sure that you’re ready to come home yet.” Wade frowned as he drove me back to his house. “But I want to take care of you.”

  “The doctor said it was fine.” I yawned slightly. “I was in the hospital for three weeks. I just want to be back home with you.”

  “I love you.” He smiled warmly. “My darling girlfriend.”

  “Your girlfriend?” I looked over at him. “We never spoke about this.”

  “I figure you should be my girlfriend before I make you my wife and put a hundred babies into you.” He laughed. “Otherwise there might be questions.”

  “A hundred babies?” I shook my head. “Sounds like that’s not going to happen.”

  “Well, at least fifty then.”

  “Why don’t we compromise with three?”

  “Three works.” He grinned. “And we call the first one Gordon.”

  “He’d like that.” A slight sadness filled me as I thought about my friend. “But let’s not get carried away, that’s not going to happen for a long time.”

  “I know. We need to enjoy just dating for now.” He laughed. “Maybe now I can convince you to try those things that make you nervous.”

  “Wade.” I groaned and he laughed. “But are you ever going to answer my questions?” I asked him softly. “I still don’t know what it is you didn’t want me to find out.”

  “Yes.” He nodded somberly. “All will be revealed when we get home.”

  “Oh?”

  “And I want you to know that whatever you decide to do is okay by me. I'm ready to let this secret out. It’s been too long and I don’t want it hanging over me anymore and I don’t want it coming between us.”

  “You’re making me nervous.”

  “I hope you will understand and not judge me too much.” He sighed. “I’m not proud of myself, Savannah, but I want to be a better man for you and our future kids.”

  “What is it, Wade?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Wade helped me into the house and I could feel my legs shaking with nerves as we made our way towards the kitchen. I froze as we entered the room and I saw Lucy, Henry and another man sitting at the table. The man had a long unkempt beard, long stringy hair and appeared to be in his sixties.

  “What’s going on?” I looked over to Wade, whose face was pale.

  “Savannah, I’d like to introduce you to my dad, Joseph Hart.”

  “What?” My jaw dropped and I stared at him in shock. “But, but, he’s dead.”

  “That’s what they thought.” The older man stood up, a smile on his face as he approached me. As he got closer, I recognized the familiar green eyes. Wade’s dad was alive, but what?

  “I need to sit down.” I turned to Wade and he walked me over to a chair. We all sat down and I stared at Wade. “What’s going on here?”

  “It’s really quite simple.” He sighed and shook his head. “My dad was a philanderer and a bad business man. He cheated on my mom and got another woman pregnant, which caused my mom to leave. My dad wanted her back and basically lost control.”

  “I made some bad investments.” His dad spoke up. “I put the company on the line as collateral. I was going to lose it all, but then I had an idea.”

  “What idea?” I frowned.

  “I had insurance policies that would pay out upon my death.” He shrugged. “And they would save the company. The company that was meant to go to my sons.”

  “So you faked your death? And you knew?” I turned to Wade. “You were in on it?”

  “Not originally.” Wade shook his head. “Henry and I saw him jump. We thought he’d killed himself.” He sighed. “But one summer we went hunting and we found the cabin. He was there.”

  “We couldn’t say anything.” Henry spoke up. “It would look like we were a part of the fraud. We’d already collected millions and millions of dollars and reinvested them back into the company. Wade saved the company, but if it came out that our dad was still alive, we knew we’d be prosecuted for fraud. We’d go to jail.” He clenched his fist. “And we weren’t even a part of the plan.”

  “Oh wow.” I nodded my understanding though my mind was still blown. Then something occurred to me. “But I think someone else knows...” My eyes were wide. “I think Beryl from the cafe knows. I think her husband saw your dad.”

  “She knows.” Wade sighed. “Do you remember when we went to the cafe and she served us the grilled cheese?”

  “Yeah why?”

  “It’s my favorite.” Joseph grinned. “I always tell Wade to get me the ingredients for grilled cheese when he goes shopping. I could live on them and venison.”

  “Weird.” I shook my head. “But that explains the shopping list I found.” I rubbed my forehead. “And you trust her not to tell?”

  “Beryl was one of the women my dad had an affair with.” Wade pursed his lips. “He broke her heart, but she would never betray him.”

  “Beryl?” I looked at the father. “But isn’t she older?”

  “Pussy is pussy.” The dad said and Wade glared at him.

  “That’s enough.” Wade growled. “My dad has always beaten
to the beat of his own drum. He’s also the one that was sneaking into the house and taking stuff.”

  “Oh okay, so it wasn’t Gordon?”

  “No, it wasn’t.” Wade squeezed my hand, knowing how guilty I was feeling. “Don’t you dare feel bad for suspecting him?”

  “I’m trying.” I took a deep breath. “You thought I’d turn you into the police if I found out? That’s why you were worried?”

  “A little bit, but I was also falling for you and I didn’t want to put you in a compromising position.” He rubbed his head. “This information, well, it can get us into trouble and now you know, it puts you in a bad situation as well.”

  “Oh Wade.” I got up and sat in his lap and kissed him. “I would never turn you in.” I didn’t even care that everyone at the table was staring at us. “I love you, you goof. I thought you killed your dad or something equally horrible. This is nothing. I understand.” I wiggled in his lap and he winked as I felt his hardness under my ass.

  “Savannah, you do not know how happy that makes me, but I need you to be sure. And if you want me to turn myself in, I will. I will go to jail and do my time. Just promise me, you will wait for me.”

  “I don’t want you to turn yourself in.” I shook my head. “You do good work. You’re helping people. You’re a good man and that money is helping people.” I frowned. “But how come you were able to pay me so much?”

  “Because I needed one good person.” He kissed me lightly. “And I guess I found her.” He wrapped his arms around my waist. “How tired are you?”

  “Wade.” Henry groaned and shook his head. “Y’all need to go to the bedroom now. And do your thing and we can all talk again later.”

  “You okay with that?” Wade asked me as I blushed. I looked over at Lucy, who was grinning, and she gave me a small nod.

  “Okay.” I said softly and he lifted me up in his arms as he stood up. “You can put me down Wade, I can walk.”

  “I’m here to take care of you.” He said as he kissed me lightly on the forehead. “This is the beginning of the rest of our lives and I’m determined to get it right from here on out. I can’t lose you again.”

  “You didn’t lose me, Wade.”

  “I know you were going to leave that night.” He sighed. “I know you were going to catch the train and never look back.”

  “I would have looked back.” I gave him a crooked smile. “I wouldn’t have been able to stay away.”

  “Well, just promise me if you ever feel like you want to leave me again, you’ll let me know. I can’t live without you in my life, Savannah. You were made for me and the best thing I’ve ever done is put an ad in that paper.”

  “Why did you put that ad in the paper? You were such a jerk.”

  “I had a bet with Henry.” He made a face and laughed. “I bet him that I bet I could hire a woman and get her to do whatever I wanted if I just paid her enough money.”

  “Wade.” I slapped him in the arm. “How rude. Is that why you were so obnoxious and made me wear that maid’s outfit?”

  “Yes.” He admitted with a wry grin.

  “Is that why you slept with me as well?” I looked at him with wide nervous eyes. “Was that part of the bet as well?”

  “Never.” He shook his head as we walked into the bedroom and he put me down on the mattress. “That was all about me, wanting you and needing you.” He got on the bed and kissed me. “Kinda like how I feel right now?”

  “Oh yeah?” I looked up at his loving expression and smiled. “Well have at it big boy. Let’s see just how much loving you can give me before I fall asleep.”

  “Oh I can give you all the loving.” He caressed the side of my face. “And that’s what I plan on doing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Giving you all my loving for the rest of my life.” His eyes blazed as he gazed down at me. “I love you so much, Savannah Carter and I’m going to spend an eternity showing you just how deep my love goes.”

  Thank you for reading Return To Sender. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review if you are able to. Sign up for my mailing list here to never miss any of my new releases.

  Check out a teaser from my next book, To My Brother’s Cocky Best Friend Below.

  “Have you ever done anything really forbidden?” Birdy asked me eagerly, her blue eyes wide as she whispered loudly and glanced towards our boss, Jagger’s office.

  “What do you mean by really forbidden?” I supposed I should have spoken a bit quieter, but it wasn’t like he was in the office. Jagger and our coworker Magnolia were planning their wedding and had taken the afternoon off to look at wedding venues. But even if they were here, I most probably wouldn’t have whispered either. Our small office felt like a family. I’d been working at Cool Credit for less than a year, but it felt like forever. I was also super grateful that all five employees that worked at the startup were great friends.

  “You know, forbidden.” She stretched out the word forbidden as if that were an appropriate answer to my question.

  “Like jailworthy forbidden or X-rated forbidden?”

  “What’s X-rated forbidden?” Jane and Millie, my other two coworkers at Cool credit jumped into the conversation as they made their way over to us from the kitchen. Jane had a box of doughnuts in her hand and I grinned at her as I grabbed one and bit into it.

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Birdy asked me if I’ve ever done anything really forbidden.” I wiped some crumbs off of my lips as I spoke. “And I’m trying to ascertain what she means by really forbidden.”

  “Oh shit, Birdy. What did you do?” Millie immediately questioned her and all eyes were now on a blushing Birdy.

  “Well, first of all, what’s with the $100 SAT question? What does ascertain mean?” Birdy’s voice was whispery.

  “Birdy, explain what you mean by forbidden?”

  “Oh shit, you didn’t hook up with your second cousin or something, did you?” Jane gasped and I laughed at the quick shake of Birdy’s head.

  “Second cousins aren’t forbidden, but no.” She leaned in towards us. “I guess when I say forbidden, I mean kinda naughty, or well really naughty. Like if people knew, you’d be in a whole heap of trouble.”

  “No, but I sure as hell want to know what you did.” I laughed and I could see that the other girls were also fascinated by what she’d just said. “What are you not telling us, Birdy?” I stared at my friend, with her innocent expression and long light blonde hair and wondered if she was exaggerating. What could she possibly have done? I was about to ask her another question when my phone rang.

  “Hold one second girls.” I said as I answered it quickly.

  “Hello.”

  “Hey chubby checker, what’s happening?” My brother Derrick’s laughter resounded down the phone and I reminded myself to keep my tone polite and not call him an asshole.

  “I told you to not call me chubby checker anymore.” I growled into the phone and now all the girls were staring at me. “What’s up. Derrick?”

  “Hey, just wanted to remind you that Tyler and I are coming to town tomorrow night.”

  “Okay.”

  “Will you be picking us up from the airport?”

  “Nope.”

  “Will you be sending a car?”

  “Are you joking?” I laughed. “What do you think?”

  “She said no to both.” Derrick spoke to someone else and I could hear a chuckle in the background.

  “Who are you talking to?” I asked him, but then I heard a muffled noise and a smooth deeper voice spoke into the phone.

  “Your worst nightmare.” The voice spoke and I knew immediately that it was Tyler and my stomach exploded with butterflies. Tyler Redwood was the bane of my existence, or at least he had been when we were children. He’d been in my life for as long as I could remember. He and my older brother Derrick had been best friends since they were six and I was four and I’d grown up having him around the house. When we were younger, he�
�d always treated me like a princess and then he’d turned sixteen and became an asshole. He and Derrick ignored me and treated me as if I didn’t exist, which would have been okay, if he hadn’t turned out to be absolutely gorgeous and my first crush.

  Preorder To My Brother’s Cocky Best Friend here!