“You’re right. This is your home. This town. This house.”
“Long-distance relationships never work.”
He sets the flowers down, sits, and puts his feet up on the coffee table, crossing his ankles. “We’re not going to be in a long-distance relationship.”
It takes my tired brain a second to comprehend what he’s saying. “You want to move here? To Calloway Creek?”
His lips turn up into a smile. “I want to move here—to this house.”
“You want to live with me?”
“You say it like we haven’t been living together for almost two months already.”
I lean back into the couch cushion. “That was different. What about a job?”
“I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be nice if I knew someone whose job was to find other people jobs?”
I roll my eyes. “Funny. What about the ranch? Aren’t you leaving them short-handed?”
“They never needed me as a ranch worker. As for the chopper, I’m paying for them to contract those services out until Luca gets his pilot’s license.”
“What about your uncle? Your mom?”
“My uncle and mom are part of the reason I wanted to leave Texas. Jon’s going to be put away for a good while. My friends will be safe again. And Mom—well, let’s just say there’s no love lost. But hey, all moms can’t be like you.”
His words are like a knife to my heart. “I’m not a mom.” I get up and move toward the bedroom.
“Can you… not go back there right now?” he asks.
“I have to use the bathroom.” I look between him and the hallway. “Oh my god, did you already move your stuff here?”
“No. It’s just messy. I slept here last night.”
“Messy? You don’t want me to see messy? Quinn, have you not been paying attention to my life? Messy, I can deal with.”
“Please,” he says. “Just use the half bath.”
“Fine.”
After doing what I need to do, I wash up. I notice a toothbrush on the counter. Why would he use this bathroom if he stayed in my bedroom? I stare into the mirror, asking myself what I want. He’s here. He wants me. He wants us. He wants to move halfway across the country.
It’s a lot. But is it enough?
I think of the time I spent with Piper last night. She was more of a mother to me than I’ve ever experienced. Advice flowed out of her like she’d bottled it up my whole life, and she was waiting for that one moment to impart me with it. She said I might not ever get over losing Josie, but if I let it cloud my vision of what’s really important—what really matters—that I’d be a foolish woman.
I thought she was talking about her. Was she talking about Quinn?
I crack the door open and peek out. He’s pacing the living room. I’ve never seen him more determined, yet nervous. He’s talking to himself. He sees me watching and stops. I go out, saying nothing. I’m not sure what to say. It’s like I’m playing Russian Roulette. If I turn him away, will I die a regretful old lady who gave up the best thing that ever happened to her? If I give him my heart, will it only be trampled on when he gets ripped away like every other person in my life?
“Sit,” he says. “There’s something I’m supposed to give you.” He goes into the kitchen and returns holding a small envelope with my name on it. I recognize the handwriting.
“This is from my dad?”
“Tag brought it over.”
I open the envelope. It’s a flash drive. I get my laptop out of my bag and lift the lid. I plug in the drive, heart racing. “It’s a video.” Tears pool in my eyes. “My dad left me a video.”
“I’ll leave you alone.”
“You can stay. You were there when he died.”
He sits next to me, and I play it. My throat swells as my dad appears. He looks younger as he fiddles with the camera to get it centered just right. I recognize the background. He’s here in the house. “My sweet Amber,” he says. His words make my tears spill. “I’m moving to the memory care facility soon. I know what that means; I’m having more bad days than good ones. Today is a good day, so I wanted to leave you this. As a doctor, I know how hard this is for you, watching someone you love slowly be taken from you. In my opinion, it’s worse than losing someone quickly and unexpectedly. Nobody should have to go through this, especially at your age. I thought maybe having this reminder of how I used to be will help you remember me this way and not however I end up.”
He goes on, reminiscing about our life together. He holds up pictures and reminds me of things we did when I was younger—things I would have forgotten about were it not for this.
“I’m going to give this to Tag and ask him to hold on to it for you and give it to you after I’m gone when he thinks you need it the most. You’ve been a good daughter, Amber. The best thing that happened in my life. I know you’ve experienced a lot of loss. And I know it’s affected you in ways I can’t understand. I only have one wish for you: happiness. Whether it be with a man” —he chuckles and adds— “or a woman. Or even a child of your own. I hope you find someone who fills your life with joy and makes you feel as complete as you did me. Sometimes chasing happiness means taking risks and going out of your comfort zone. Do that, Amber. Take risks. Live. Laugh. Love. And do them all fiercely, because you never know how long you’ll have. I know you’re hurting, and I’m sorry to be one of the reasons for your pain, but I wouldn’t give up any of it—your pain or mine—if it meant not having you. Every one of us will experience some sort of devastation in our lives. Death, disease, desertion. We all go through hard times. But it’s the good times that make the pain bearable. Memories of the past guide us into the future. Goodbye, my sweet Amber. I’ll always love you. Even when it appears I don’t know you. Even long after I’m gone. I’ll love you forever, because that’s how long true love lasts.”
The video ends and I’m left staring at his smiling face, paused on the screen.
“Wow,” Quinn says. “I fucking love your dad.”
I nod over and over. “I can’t believe he did this.”
He takes my hand. “I love you, too.” He nods to the laptop. “What your dad said applies to me as well. I’ll love you forever. I’ll love you even if you kick me out of your house right now. I’ll love you if you get hit by a bus next week. I’ll love you if I get hit by a bus next week. Because this is the real thing, sweetheart. And you love me. I know you do. And I’m willing to take the risk that it could only be for a minute, a month, or a year. But here’s the thing, what if it’s longer? What if it’s twenty years, or sixty? What if we die together when we’re eighty years old like that couple in the movie The Book, or whatever?”
“The Notebook,” I say, trying to control the emotion in my voice. “I…”
“Dammit, Amber, can’t you admit it?”
I close my eyes and think of everything he said. Everything my dad said. Everything Piper said. Then I nod. “Okay.”
He stiffens. “Okay what?”
“Okay, I love you, you big dumb cowboy.”
A smile splits his face. “Only you would combine those words into one sentence.” He puts my laptop on the table and picks me up. “Say it again.”
I roll my eyes.
“Amber, say it. You might as well get used to it because we’re going to say it every damn day for the rest of our lives. It’s easy. I love you. See?” He kisses me softly, then gazes into my eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“It’s about fucking time.”
I laugh as he spins me around. Then he puts me on my feet and pulls out his phone. He types something quickly and shoves it back into his pocket.
“Uh… okay,” I say, wondering what’s so important that he had to do it at this exact moment.
“Just wait,” he says.
“You’re really moving here?”
“I am.”
“A cowboy in Calloway Creek. I’m not sure this town can handle it.”
“Bas
ed on the looks of Maddie and a bunch of other people down the street, they will welcome the change.”
“You met Maddie?” I glance around at the roses. “Oh, right.”
“And her little girl, Gigi. She’s amazing.”
Suddenly, I’m sad again. I hadn’t thought of Josie in like ten whole minutes.
Quinn puts a finger under my chin and raises it until our eyes meet. “Hey now. No long faces. This is a great day.”
“You’re right. Sorry.”
“Speaking of Maddie, she did happen to mention how you’d tapped out all the single men in town. Should I be jealous?”
“Jealous?” I chuckle. “Hardly. None of them were nearly what I was looking for.”
“What were you looking for?”
I run my hand down the center of his chest. “You.”
“You got me, sweetheart.”
There’s a knock on the door. “Way for someone to ruin the moment,” I say.
“On the contrary, I think this was perfect timing. Stay here.”
“You don’t want me to answer it?”
“It’s a surprise.”
Once again, I examine my surroundings, studying the multiple dozens of roses. “Oh, god. You aren’t going to propose, are you?”
“No.” He laughs. “Not today anyway.”
In the five seconds it takes for him to get to the door, I contemplate who it could be. Piper? But I just left her house. Tag? But why would that be a surprise? Andie, Maddox, Devyn, or Aaron? That wouldn’t make sense either.
When I hear a baby cry, my heart flips over a million times. I know that cry. I run over just as Sophie is handing Josie to Quinn.
I stare at them in astonishment. “What?”
Sophie smiles, then pulls the door closed, staying out front and leaving the three of us alone.
“How?” My jaw drops. “You kidnapped her?”
“Technically, no. In order to kidnap someone, you have to take them from their parents or someone else who was caring for them. Josie didn’t have parents. But she does now. My name is on her birth certificate. Legally, she’s a Thompson. No one will be looking for her. Nobody will ever question that she’s mine. They’d have no reason to. I met with my lawyer. She’s the one who suggested it. Then I went home and burned the paternity test. Josie’s mine, sweetheart. She’s ours. That is, if you’ll have us.”
I swallow hard. I absorb his words. Then I think how maybe this is the best moment of my entire life. I reach out for Josie, and he puts her in my arms. I smell her head, and I know for sure; I know this is who I’m meant to be whether for a month, a year, or a lifetime. I pull Quinn toward me, and we hold Josie between us. And suddenly, we’re something I didn’t think would ever be possible: a family.
I can’t stop staring at Josie as she sleeps in the portable crib by the bed. “I don’t want to go to sleep,” I whisper. “What if I wake up and realize this was all a dream?”
Quinn kisses my neck. “It’s not.”
“You really want to live here, in this house?”
“I do.”
“But you have so much money.”
He arches a brow. “You want to buy a mansion in the city?”
“No. I love it here.”
“That’s why we’re staying.”
“Won’t it be a bit crowded with Sophie?”
“I’ll get Sophie her own apartment.”
“I can’t believe she agreed to move here.”
He chuckles quietly. “I gave her a huge raise; one she couldn’t turn down. Josie loves her. I didn’t want to have to hire a new nanny.”
“You’re amazing.”
He climbs on top of me. “Sweetheart, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
I glance over at Josie. “Seriously? Here? Now?”
He turns off the light. “You’ll have to be quiet,” he whispers in my ear. “I know how hard it will be for you, which will be half the fun.”
He works himself down my body, peeling my panties off as he goes. When his tongue finds my clit, I shudder. I didn’t think I’d ever feel like this again. No one has ever touched me like he touches me. Nobody has ever made me feel like he does. My dad was right. I need to hold on to this for as long as I can. How stupid I was to think I was better off without him.
His fingers work inside me, bringing me to a quick orgasm. His other hand cups my mouth and muffles my groans. When it’s over, I bite him playfully. I rise on my elbows and lick my lips. “Your turn?”
“Not yet.” He hovers over me. “I want to be inside you and show you what it’s going to be like for the next sixty years.”
I smile and touch his face as he enters me. He’s gentle and loving and incredible. I’ve never been with a man like this. I love it. I love him. Truth be told, I’ve loved him for a long time. But I’ve never truly made love to him. We fuck a lot. It’s fun. It’s playful. But we’ve never made love. Not until now.
He moves slowly and methodically, whispering words in my ear that let me know just how deeply he cares for me. They’re words I didn’t know I needed to hear. Words I never knew would mean everything. We stare at each other. We stare into each other. We connect on some otherworldly level I didn’t know existed.
When it’s over, I lie in his arms, wondering how I got so lucky.
“That was amazing,” he said.
“Do you think being parents will change us?” I ask.
He glances down at Josie. “Only in the best of ways.”
“I meant sex. Don’t get me wrong, this was great. The best even. In fact, I didn’t know it could be like this. But do you think we have to give up the other stuff? You know, the food, the kink, the crazy? I’m just saying, maybe we shouldn’t completely retire the chocolate and the strawberries.”
Puffs of quiet laughter tickle my ear. “Not on your life.”
Epilogue
Quinn
One year later…
We all rise as the judge enters the courtroom. Amber nervously grabs my hand. There’s a crowd of people behind us. Friends. Family. Everyone we know and love. There’s barely enough room for them all.
The judge takes his seat, and so do we. Josie is perched on my knee, happily playing with a soft-sided book.
“In the twenty years I’ve been a judge, I’ve never seen anything like this. Adoption is not something I take lightly. Choosing to be someone’s parent is one of the greatest honors to ever be bestowed upon a person. And I’m proud to be the one to grant the three of you your wishes.” He looks directly at Amber. “I hope you know how lucky you are, Mrs. Thompson. Today, you become a mother and a daughter.” He starts to choke up. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been in the presence of so much love.” He shuffles around some papers. “I noticed you all share the same birthdate. In my opinion, there are no coincidences, only divine interventions.” He surveys the crowd behind us. “And it’s clear you’ve all been blessed.”
Piper, who’s also sitting at the table with us, takes Amber’s other hand. And over the course of the next few minutes, Amber’s life becomes complete. She officially becomes what she’s been to Josie since Josie was a tiny baby. And she gets readopted by Piper, finally getting the mother she deserves.
There’s not a dry eye in the room as the judge declares them mother and daughter, and then grandmother, mother, and daughter.
Cheers and applause roar behind us. It’s a day I’ll not soon forget. It’s a feeling I want to hold on to forever. When the noise subsides, I turn to Amber. “I know we’re going to Mitchell’s Restaurant to celebrate, but I feel like there should be more. Something to commemorate the occasion. Like, should we plant a tree, or name a star?”
“I’ve already done something to commemorate it,” she says.
“You have?”
She pulls aside her hair, exposing the skin behind her left ear. She’s gotten a new tattoo. Another Chinese symbol.
“When did you get this?”
“The other day. I was hiding it from you unti
l now.”
I trace it with my finger. “It’s beautiful. What does it mean?”
She holds my stare and says the one word I’ve longed to hear since the day I fell in love with her.
“Found.”
Thank you for reading.
You can pre-order Unlikely Date (Tag’s story), the first book in my new Calloway Brothers series, here:
Universal link: https://geni.us/UnlikelyDate
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Acknowledgments
As I write these acknowledgments, two years into a pandemic (and sick with COVID), I’m feeling so incredibly blessed to be able to do what I do despite the state of the world. I hope my readers have found escape in my books over the past few years. I know it’s great therapy for me to write them.
Writing Amber’s book has been a dream of mine for many years, ever since I wrote the epilogue to Black Roses. I knew her book had to be strong and end epically. I hope you will agree that my goals were achieved. I’m not afraid to tell you that even after reading it many times, I still cry at the end.
This book did not have any alpha readers. I wrote it in its entirety before anyone laid eyes on it. That was a first for me. And the first person to read it was my editor, Amanda Cuff. The feedback I got from her brought tears to my eyes. It’s my wish that Amber’s story has touched all of you as well.
Thank you to my incredible beta readers, Shauna Salley, Laura Conley, Joelle Yates, and Jen Meador. You surely make me seem a better writer than I am.
To my quasi-editor, Ann Peters, I appreciate your continued dedication.
As mentioned earlier, I’m delighted to have a new editor, Amanda Cuff. I hope this is the start of a long relationship.
Last but not least, I have to thank my assistant, Julie Collier, who I’m convinced has cloned herself into two or three people.
Texas Roses (The Devil's Horn Ranch Series) Page 24