The Memory of You
Page 31
“It’s still not too late.”
She glanced askance at him. “You’ve got to be kidding. The boys are going to college. I think we’re long past the carpool stage. With the way my store and your practice have taken off, neither of us will have much time to miss them, anyway.”
“There is one bright side to them moving out. Think how much privacy we’ll have.” He grinned.
“That’s true. Other than those two weeks after we were married, we’ve never had much time alone.”
“We’ll be able to run naked through the house.” He pulled her close for a deep, lingering kiss.
“Mmmm....” Feeling his erection pressing against her, she drew back and wiggled her eyebrows. “For a forty-year-old geezer, that rocket in your pocket still has a quite a charge.”
“That’s only because my wife is still as hot as she was at eighteen. Shall we sneak up to the bedroom and launch it? I’ll take you on a quick trip right past the moon,” he coaxed.
“As tempting as that sounds, Dr. Foster, I’d like to enjoy our party a little longer.” She pulled him toward the other side of the deck where their friends had gathered around the table laden with picnic food.
As they joined their guests, Rob slapped Matt on the back. “You know, if I’d known Tom and Royce were smart enough to get into to Julliard and Columbia, I might’ve fought you a little harder for Abby.”
Kate rolled her eyes at her husband. “Do you honestly think those boys would’ve accomplished what they have without Matt and Abby?”
“That’s true. But I suspect their rivalry also had a little something to do with their success.” Ben chuckled, jerking his head toward seventeen-year-old Tom and Royce dunking Sara, Ben’s fifteen-year-old step-daughter, in the pool. “I never saw two kids who were more competitive.”
Julie sipped a longneck beer and chuckled. “The only reason you notice the boys’ rivalry, my dear husband, is because you’ve been in their shoes. That—and you’re an overprotective papa.” As it turned out, Ben was sterile, but Julie still chose the man she loved over his buddy, and they eventually adopted a sister and brother for Sara.
“They must have inherited that competitive streak from Matt.” Rob laughed.
“But he isn’t even Royce’s real father,” Leonard reminded them, feeding his wife Denise a deviled egg.
Matt looked sideways at Ben and smiled. “We both know it’s not genetics that makes someone a parent.”
Abby swallowed hard, recalling the staggering guilt that plagued her after Lucy lost her valiant battle against ovarian cancer. Abby thanked God Matt had convinced Bill Harmon—who’d been serving a prison term for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated—to assign permanent custody of his ten-year-old son to them. It had been seven years, and she still missed her friend every day. “I wish Lucy could’ve seen the incredible young man her son has become and what a talented writer he is.”
“Speaking of kids,”—Peter elbowed Rob—“Carol tells me Dr. Kate is carrying twins. That’ll make your brood’s total, what? Five? Weren’t you the guy who didn’t want any children?”
“Whoever said I want the ones we have?” Rob hugged Kate, watching his three daughters splashing around the pool. “Maybe I just like making them.”
“Bull,” Ben snorted. Everyone there knew Matt’s love for kids had rubbed off on Rob. He’d become an incredible dad and had even expanded the pediatric side of his dental practice.
Abby watched Sara flirting with Tom and Royce and frowned. Ben and Julie’s blond cutie had been leading Abby’s sons on a merry chase ever since they met. She pulled Matt aside and whispered, “I have no doubt who the mother of some our grandbabies will eventually be. I’d just like the boys to decide which one of them is going to be the dad.”
“Sara has to do the choosing, Sweetheart. The boys may be competitive with each other, but they’re also more loyal than real brothers. They know full well they’re both crazy about her. If either Tom or Royce was ever going to make a move on her, don’t you think he would’ve already asked Sara out—like to their senior prom, last month?”
Good point. Instead, they’d invited two of her friends and pushed one of their buddies to take Sara, and they’d attended as a group. “Apparently, I need to have a long talk with Ben and Julie’s daughter.”
“That’s probably a good idea.” He pulled her closer and nibbled her ear, whispering, “Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to sneak upstairs for a few minutes? I’ve still got six and half long years of loving to catch up on.”
“Don’t you think that argument is wearing a little thin after over a decade?” She grinned.
“Unh-uh.” He caressed her cheek, turning her face toward him so she could gaze into his eyes. “You know, Babe, I may have subconsciously repressed the memory of you during my years of hell, but there was one thing I always knew deep in my heart.”
“What was that?”
He tenderly brushed her lips with his. “I knew somewhere in this world I had something really special worth remembering.”
About the Author
Laurie Kellogg is a two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® award, a winner of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association® Zola award, and a Romantic Times® American Title I finalist. She began writing to avoid housework and has since resorted to naming the dust-bunnies multiplying as fast as real rabbits while she plots sensual love stories that are steamy, heartwarming, romantic fun. To learn more about Laurie and her books, visit http://www.LaurieKellogg.com
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Coming Soon
A Little Bit of Déjà Vu
Winner of the Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® award
and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association® Zola award
Sometimes destiny has the last word....and laugh
Fate thrust them together
Blackmail and deception tore them apart
Nineteen years later, their children’s love reunites them
Now, only truth and forgiveness can make them a family
Margie Bradford is picking up the pieces of her shattered life following her husband’s death. When her meddling cousin encourages her to make a fresh start with her teenage daughter, unsuspecting Margie takes a reading specialist job in the small town of Redemption, PA. The last person she expects to encounter is Rocket Manion, the ex-NFL quarterback and Dr. Phil wannabe who broke her heart nineteen years ago.
Divorced teacher and head football coach Jake Manion experiences an eerie sense of déjà vu when his son announces he’s gotten his girlfriend pregnant. The feeling simply grows stronger when Jake learns the girl’s mother is Maggie, the same woman on whom he’s wasted nearly two decades of bitterness.
While planning their kids’ wedding and helping them grow up too soon, Jake attempts to pick up right where he left off—in Margie’s bed. But no matter how irresistible his kisses are, she isn’t stupid enough to let him hurt her again. Or is she?
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
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