by A. C. Arthur
She shook her head then. “Olivia was unhappy after the first two years of the show. She wanted desperately to have her husband and her babies to herself. She cried to Patsy many a day, and Patsy walked up on my back porch or we came right out here to look at the water and talk about how such a happy time had gone sour so quickly. I thank the good Lord for taking Patsy and Jeb away from here in that fire, three years before their only daughter packed up her children and left town. But I still come out here from time to time.”
Gage remembered his mother telling them about her parents and how they’d died. He also remembered talk of his great-grandfather, Patsy’s father, who had offered his vacation home in Pensacola to Olivia and the children when she’d left. He’d lived until Gage and his siblings were fifteen.
“This is the land their house was on,” he said after thinking on Mrs. Camby’s words for a few seconds.
She nodded. “Yes. Right here. It was a great big ol’ house because Patsy had wanted more children, but that wasn’t meant to be. The remnants of the house and the land fell to your mother after her parents died. So she could have repaired the house and moved you children here after what Teddy did to her. But I understand why she had to get away. Gossip can be unrelenting, especially in a town like Temptation.”
“People have a hard time minding their own business,” Gage said, thinking about Miranda and Millie.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Mrs. Camby said with a smile. “But this is your mother’s land, free and clear.”
Gage shook his head. “It’s my land now,” he said with a glib smile. “My mother apparently missed a tax payment at some point, and when the town would have foreclosed on it, my father bought it. And when he died,” Gage said, holding up the hand with the rolled-up papers in it, “he left the land to me.”
Mrs. Camby nodded and smiled. “Teddy loved himself some Olivia. I never believed he stopped loving her or his children.”
“He just couldn’t do right by her or us,” Gage said drily.
“Every man can’t make the right decision all the time. It’s not natural,” she told Gage. “You should know that for yourself. But if it’s your land, you do with it as you please. Just don’t forget the love that was here. That’s what happens too many times to count—people forget about the love.”
Gage didn’t. He couldn’t. And that’s why he’d sent the text message to Ava before he’d left the bank.
For what seemed like a long stretch of time after Mrs. Camby left him alone on the property, Gage heard a car stop and park. He looked out at the water, holding his breath and rehearsing the words in his head. He needed them to come out right, and he needed her to listen and to accept his apology, his heart and his soul.
* * *
Ava stepped out of the rental car and looked straight ahead to where Gage stood. His back was to her, but she had a feeling he knew she was there. Of course he should, since his text message had said for her to meet him here. She had only planned to stay in Temptation overnight, making herself available in case the Taylors had immediate questions about her offer. But she hadn’t wanted to chance being here any longer because the memories were just too tough to ignore.
In the two weeks they’d been apart, Ava had used every ounce of strength she had to hold her head up and forge forward with her work. But there wasn’t a moment in each day that she didn’t think about him, about the brief time she’d been allowed the dream of what they could be together.
Seeing Gage earlier today had proven to her that the dream had fizzled and burned. He hadn’t even wanted to look at her as she’d stood in his brother’s house, and a part of her couldn’t blame him. Another part was pissed with him for not at least hearing her out and then making an informed decision. And for not telling her about the woman who had broken his heart and his spirit. But that was beyond her control.
Walking toward him now was a bad idea—she sensed it, and yet she didn’t pause.
“Thank you for coming,” he said, when she finally stopped and stood silently beside him.
“You asked me to come because you had something to say. I wanted to give you the chance, even though you denied me the same,” she said in a tone that she knew was frosty, but she couldn’t help it.
He surprised her by replying, “I know. That’s what I wanted to tell you, that I was an idiot.”
“Oh,” was all she could manage to say. “Well. Okay. Then I guess I’ll get going.”
Ava didn’t know why exactly, but she hurriedly turned away to leave. Gage’s hand on her arm stopped her.
“Don’t,” he said.
She glanced down to his hand and then up to him. He looked as good as she recalled. Not that it was logical to think that in fourteen days he would age fifty years, grow a potbelly and regret ever letting her go. That had been one of her thoughts when she was lying awake at night, cursing him for making her fall in love with him.
“Do you have something else to say?”
“I do,” he told her. “But first, I’ve been thinking about this for the past two weeks.”
“Thinking about wh—”
Her words were cut off when Gage pulled her to him, wrapping an arm tightly around her back to hold her there, and his lips crashed down over hers. The kiss was hot and rough, rugged and delicious. His tongue worked masterfully over hers, his hands moving over her back, down her arms and to cup her hips. She wrapped her arms around his neck because there was nothing else she’d rather do with them. Her palms flattened on the back of his head as she leaned into him and they took the kiss deeper.
“One perfect moment,” Gage whispered when they finally broke apart.
He was breathing fast, and so was she.
“What?”
“This was the one perfect moment. Right here, in this place and at this time. It was the perfect moment to kiss you and to tell you that I’m madly in love with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” he said.
He was staring down at her so intently, and Ava was still trying to catch her breath. “Wait a minute. You told me to stay away from you and your family.”
“And you didn’t listen,” he replied.
She nodded. “Yes. But you acted as if you wanted nothing else to do with me. And I kind of understood, because I lied.”
“You should have trusted me enough to tell me what you were doing,” he said.
She opened her mouth to speak again, but Gage kissed her once more. A slower kiss, but potent nonetheless.
“And I should have trusted you enough not to accuse you of being like Bethany. She’s the woman I was involved with for two months, three years ago. I let her in and she lied and betrayed me. She killed my child, and while I get that it was her body and her decision, it was my child. I deserved to know.”
“Yes,” she said, her heart breaking at the memory of seeing him with Ryan, Emma, Jack and Lily. He was going to be a terrific father.
“You deserved to know,” she continued.
“But you’re nothing like her. And I should have trusted you enough to at least let you explain why you did what you did.”
He took a breath and let it out quickly. “But it was easier and more familiar not to believe there was something good between us.”
Ava sighed, because all the wind had been taken out of her sail. All the life that she’d thought she’d had in her had been washed away by this new feeling, this new opportunity for a life with Gage.
“I meant what I said, Gage. I never meant to hurt your or your family. I was just so focused on my work and proving myself to everyone. I love you and your family too much to ever intentionally hurt any of you,” she said.
“Me,” he said, lifting his fingers to run along the line of her jaw. “Right now, I just need you to say that you love me.”
Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest. “I love you, Gage.”<
br />
His smile and the warm hug that followed brought tears to her eyes as she thought about the fact that she never imagined she’d get to say those words to him.
“I want to build your tiny home right here in this spot so that when we’re in Temptation we can look out at the lake, just like my grandparents used to do,” he was saying.
Ava had pulled away from him and was now looking at him through eyes swimming in tears. “What did you just say?”
“We can set up a time to meet with Harper and her crew in the next few days, but I want to get started on the house relatively soon. And I want to marry you, Ava,” Gage said.
“Wait, you’re talking too fast and I can’t keep up.”
He chuckled. “Well, get out your notepad so you can take notes. I want to marry you. Not next year, but next month. All my family will be here for Christmas. What better time to start a new life with my beautiful new wife?”
“I don’t know what to say,” Ava managed as she used her hand to wipe away the tears.
Happy tears that she felt deep down in her soul. Tears that she shed for the love her parents had lost somewhere along the way, and for Theodor and Olivia Taylor, who had gotten swept away in the limelight and forfeited their love as a result. Between her and Gage, she felt all that love, all that hope, and wanted to reach out and grab it and hold on tight, just as her mother had advised.
“Say yes,” he told her. “Say you’ll marry me and we’ll build this house and we’ll live happily ever after, no matter what.”
She was shaking her head as she cupped his face in her hands. “No matter what, Gage,” she whispered. “I will love you and I will marry you and we will be happy together, no matter what.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Campaign for His Heart by Joy Avery.
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Campaign for His Heart
by Joy Avery
Chapter 1
Lauder Tolson sat on the edge of his desk, tossing a stress ball into the air and listening to his best friend and campaign manager, Chuck Carlisle. The man went on and on about the fact that he needed to appear more family oriented if he wanted to win the senate seat, especially in the great state of North Carolina.
Six months until the election and Lauder still couldn’t believe he’d actually decided to run for congress. A bold move, Tolson. A bold move.
Chuck—or Chuckie, as Lauder liked to call him—snapped his fingers, drawing Lauder’s attention back to the conversation.
“You with me? You listening?” Chuck said. “This is serious, L.”
Lauder tossed the ball to Chuck. “Think fast.”
Chuck knocked the blue puff across the room. “I need you to focus.”
Lauder rubbed a hand over his close-shaven head. “Calm down.”
“These aren’t calm times.” Chuck paced. “I know that snake in the grass Edmondson has something up his dingy white sleeve. I can feel it.”
Jeff Edmondson had been a thorn in Chuck’s side since the man had decided to throw his hat into the race some months back. If being a family man was what would win the race, Lauder should drop out now, because Edmondson had him beat in that arena. The man had been married for countless years to his high-school sweetheart and had enough well-mannered children to start their own baseball team. But what the man lacked, in Lauder’s opinion, was passion. Edmondson wanted the win because Senator preceding his name would add to his prestige. Lauder wanted to win because he truly wanted to make a difference in his home state and in a foster care system that had failed so many, including him.
Chuck stopped so abruptly he nearly stumbled over his own feet. “We have to polish up your image, and fast. You need a significant other. Now.” Chuck massaged his clean-shaven jaw.
Lauder knew that cunning look on Chuck’s face. The man was up to something. Something Lauder was sure he wouldn’t like. Lauder’s brow furrowed and lips parted, but Chuck cut him off before he could speak by tossing a hand up.
“Before you get all I don’t do long term, it doesn’t have to be a real relationship. It just has to appear that it is. In the political game, it’s all about perceptions,” Chuck said.
Nope, he didn’t like it one bit. Lauder folded his arms across his chest. “Let me get this straight. You want the man running on a platform of truth and accountability to lie about having a lover. And on top of that, you expect me to convince someone to be my fake girlfriend.”
“Wife.”
Lauder pushed to a full stand. “Wife! Hell, no!”
Chuck massaged the back of his neck. “Okay. Girlfriend will work. Unless you are just totally against a fake wife. That would play so much—”
Lauder shot Chuck a death stare.
“Girlfriend will work.” Chuck started to pace again. And stopped again. “But none of the women in your little black book. Those women would do more harm than good.”
“I’ll have you know I only deal with the cream of the crop.”
Chuck released a condescending laugh. “Yeah. I’ll handle it. I know your type. I’ll make sure I choose the opposite.”
For kicks, because no way would he ever entertain such a ridiculous idea, Lauder said, “Shouldn’t I have a say in whether or not I want to parade around town with some stranger on my arm for the next several months?”
“Wayment. You’re telling me you’re okay with a stranger in your bed but not on your arm.”
It always tickled Lauder when uptown and proper Chuckie allowed his hoodness to slip out. But since they were having a serious conversation, he bit back his amusement. Plus, he had him there. He’d never favored attachments. He was a product of his past. And that past had taught him not to get used to anything or anyone.
“First off, I’m a thirty-six-year-old grown-ass man. Whom I allow in my bed is still my damn business. No one else’s.”
“Lauder...” Chuck paused as if to get his thoughts together. “You’re running for a state senate seat. Your business is everyone’s damn business. Welcome to politics.”
Lauder dropped into his chair and massaged his now throbbing temple. What in the hell had he been thinking running for congress? He was a businessman. He wasn’t a politician. Why in the hell hadn’t he kicked Chuck out of his office when he’d first approached him with the idea?
“You’ll make a hell of a senator,” he’d said. “You can change the world.”
>
Lauder scoffed, remembering his friend’s words. Change the world. All he wanted to do was change North Carolina. Tackle homelessness, poverty, foster care. Definitely foster care. A severely damaged system, in his opinion. That alone still made this journey so worthwhile.
“When did this crusade to polish my image become an agenda? My wifeless, kidless image hasn’t been a problem before,” Lauder said.
“Before Edmondson started parading his trophy wife and his perfect little renditions of himself all around town in their color-coordinated outfits, smiling and waving like they’re on a parade float.” Chuck grimaced, then started again, “This is the south, L. The perfect family allusion works on multiple levels. You do want to win, right?”
“Yeah, but you want me to lie to get what I want.”
“You say it like it’s a new concept. Politicians have been lying since the beginning of time.”
“But I’m—”
“Not a politician,” Chuck said, continuing Lauder’s thought.
“Exactly. And that’s not how I want to build my campaign. Not on lies.”
Chuck rested his hands on his hips, lowered his head and sighed. “What do you want to do, L? You want to drop out of the race? Concede to Edmondson before there’s even been an election? Bow down to the same cocky bastard who said you didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell against him?”
Hearing Edmondson’s words hurled at him caused his jaw to clench now, just as it had when the self-entitled jerk had first spewed them to a room full of reporters.
Chuck leaned against Lauder’s desk and eyed him. “Tell me what you want to do, L? I’ll support whatever decision you make.”
Lauder stood with urgency. “I want to get a drink.” A second later, he ambled to the door.
“You don’t drink,” Chuck said.
“I’m about to start. That’s what politicians do, right?”
Several minutes later, Lauder stood in line inside the Drip Drop Coffee Shop, eyeing the board as if today would be the day he strayed from his usual order—iced cinnamon caramel macchiato. A creature of habit.