by Robin Gianna
Was he trying to move on? He didn’t know. All he knew was that he wanted to keep watching Bree on one of her runs, then look at her as she moved onto the beach after each one. Wishing he’d been there to support her, at the same time he knew that was stupid and sad.
“Speaking of moving on, here’s another good possibility,” Emma said, awkwardly turning the computer screen his direction with the arm she had in a cast. “A schoolteacher—she’s really pretty and about your age. Has a little kid, but that’s not a problem, right? Since you want a family someday.”
He barely glanced at the photo. “She reminds me of Mrs. Simmons, my fourth-grade teacher. Wouldn’t work.”
“That’s been your answer for everyone I’ve shown you,” Emma complained. “Hey, this one might be perfect! She—”
“Just stop!”
His sister and mother stared at him in stunned silence. He hadn’t meant to shout it, but enough was enough. “How can you expect me to even look at another woman, when that one—” he jabbed his finger at the TV screen “—that insanely beautiful, talented, incredible woman, told me just last week that she loves me? You don’t get over that in a week. Or a month.” Or even ever, the way he was feeling right now.
“Then why aren’t you with her?”
“Because I’m not who she wants.”
“Did she say that?”
All the things they’d said to one another six months ago and last week got jumbled up in his head until it hurt. “She said she’s not enough for me.”
“Well, if that’s true—”
“Of course it’s not true!”
“Then I repeat, why aren’t you with her, if she thinks the reason you’re apart is because she’s not enough for you?”
It felt a little as if he’d been hit in the head with an atom bomb. He stared at his sister, then slowly moved his gaze to his mother holding the baby that was continuing the Latham family tree. It struck him that everyone he cared about the most was in this room, except for one person. Bree Donovan. And at that moment, he couldn’t even remember all the reasons he and Bree had become convinced they were wrong for one another, because none of them mattered.
The only thing that mattered was that he loved her and she loved him, and if one of them had to give up something they wanted so they could be together, it was going to be him.
“I need to go to Hawaii. Will you two be okay for a few days if I double up on the nursing help?”
“Finally.” His sister leaned back in her chair and gave him a slow smile before she started to clap, which didn’t make much noise since her cast covered most of her palm. “I was beginning to think setting you up with this dating service wasn’t going to work. Took you long enough to admit you’re never going to be happy without Bree.”
He stared at her. “So bugging me to date someone else was a scheme?”
“Yep. I figured if you went on a few dates, you’d figure out no one would ever measure up to Bree. Thought maybe it would make her jealous, too. I know you two knuckleheads can figure things out if you try.”
His mother stood with Will and looked at him. “I’ve been upset with her for breaking up with you, but if Bree is who makes you happy, I’m all for it, and your father would be, too. Because parents can’t stand for their children to be sad. You go. We’ll be fine.”
He folded her and Will in his arms for a quick hug, moved to kiss Emma’s cheek, then got busy. Made a plane reservation, called the hospital to get his schedule moved around, got the extra nursing set up and packed a bag. And every minute that passed sent his adrenaline pumping higher, along with jangling his nerves. What if he’d finally seen what he really wanted, but it was too late? What if she’d moved on, and decided that it was really over between them for good?
He blew out a heavy breath, wishing he’d gotten his head on straight before she’d left. While he’d still had her close, held captive by Will. He walked back into the living room to say goodbye. “My flight leaves at—”
He stopped, then went utterly still when he saw his mom and sister weren’t the only people there.
Bree Donovan stood in the center of the room.
He was so shocked to see her, he couldn’t react. Couldn’t breathe. Just stared. But she had the advantage of knowing he’d be there, and moved toward him.
“Hi, Sean.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you. Can we...maybe go outside for a minute?”
All the words he’d rehearsed to say to her when he found her in Hawaii left his head, and he just nodded like an idiot. As they moved toward the front door leading out to the bike path around the bay, he remembered his mother and sister were there as they passed. Both were looking at them with rapt attention, and he picked up the pace so he and Bree could have privacy to talk.
Except he had no idea what she wanted to say, which scared him to death.
He didn’t touch her as they walked slowly down the path. Didn’t know if he should or shouldn’t, and didn’t know if he should be the one to start the conversation he’d decided to have with her.
“Bree, I—”
“I came back to San Diego—”
Both stopped talking and chuckled a little nervously. “Okay, you go first,” he said.
He saw her draw breath, and she looked down at the path instead of at him, which scared him again. “I came in third at the surf competition.”
He didn’t know what she was going to say, but hadn’t expected a surfing update. “I know. I saw. You were amazing.”
She stopped walking. Her head lifted and her serious green gaze met his. “I was really happy with how I did. Lola and Katie got some great waves and just plain out-surfed me. Being in the top three at that level is a big accomplishment, you know? It was good.”
“I know.”
“So after all the photos and interviews, I looked at my phone. I...I admit I was looking to see if you’d sent me a message.”
“I thought maybe you wouldn’t want to hear from me. But I couldn’t help myself. Watching you surf is... Well, it’s like watching moving art. I had to congratulate you.”
“It meant a lot to me,” she whispered. “All day you not being there with me felt wrong. But along with yours, I had another message. From my dad. And instead of congratulating me like you did, he told me all I’d done wrong, all the reasons I didn’t win.” She laughed, but there wasn’t any amusement in the sound. “He doesn’t even surf, but thinks he’s an expert. Told me the things I had to do better. And I realized at that moment that no matter what I did, what I accomplished, to him, it would never be enough.”
She reached for his hands, and he held hers tight, wondering where she was going with this. Listening, wanting to hear, at the same time anxiety churned in his gut, needing so badly to tell her all he had to say before it might be too late.
“It struck me that I’m not that little girl anymore who wanted to prove to him and everyone else that I’m worth something. You asked me what would come next when I couldn’t compete anymore, but I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Standing on that beach last week, I realized, finally, that all I want is to be with you. All I need is you. Just you.”
He couldn’t breathe. He could see the fear in her beautiful eyes as she spoke. The same fear that had filled him, and he cupped her face in his hands the way she had touched his the day she left. “That’s a funny thing. Because all I need is you, Bree. That’s it. You. I was on my way to Hawaii to tell you that, if you’ll have me back, I don’t care where we live. A condo by the beach, a big house in the suburbs, it doesn’t matter so long as you’re in it with me. I wouldn’t care what kind of wedding we had, or where we had it. I’ll come with you wherever you want to travel, whenever you want, or stay home every day of the year. It’s up to you.” His chest squeezed tight w
ith emotion and he had to stop to press his lips to her forehead for a second before he could go on.
“I have my mom and Emma, and now little Will. I can be the best uncle in the world, and that’ll be enough for me. If you’re by my side, that’s all I’ll need or want for the rest of my life.”
“Oh, Sean.” Her voice was wobbly and she pulled back to look at him. “I’m still figuring out exactly who I want to be. But there’s one thing I don’t have to figure out, and that’s how much I love you.”
He pulled her close and buried his face in her hair, finally able to breathe. They stood holding one another for long minutes before he was able to let her go. Because there was one more thing he had to ask.
“Will you marry me, Bree? I messed it up before, but I hope—”
“Yes, I’ll marry you.” She gave him a smile so radiant it stole his breath. “But you don’t have to buy me a diamond, since I lost the last one. A wedding band to show my forever commitment to you is all I need.”
“I wasn’t planning to buy you another diamond.” He slipped his hand into his pocket, anticipation welling at how she’d react. “Because I don’t have to.”
Her mouth fell open in a gasp as he held out the ring. “How did you find it? I looked for it on that stupid street for days!”
“After you stormed off, I went down there. Hoping maybe finding it would be a good omen that you’d someday come back to me. And there it was. Shining gold in the sunlight the way your beautiful hair does.” He reached for her hand and slipped it on, and seeing it there again after the long, dark months without her weakened his knees.
He pulled her close for the longest kiss of his life, which slowly morphed from sweet to hot. Then he remembered that his small house was full of people at the moment. “How about we find a hotel room for tonight, hmm?”
She tunneled her hands into his hair, and his knees felt weak all over again that he’d get to look in her eyes every day of his life. “I can sleep on a cot, or the beach, a bed or the floor. It doesn’t matter to me. So long as I’m with you.”
EPILOGUE
BREE LEAPED OFF her surfboard and scanned the crowd on the beach, elation filling her chest. And despite the thousands of people gathered there cheering, her gaze went straight to what she was looking for.
Her husband. Her family.
Sean couldn’t do the thumbs-up or fist pump he always gave her when she’d had a great run because his arms were filled with two ten-month-old babies who were taking over for him. They were waving their pudgy little hands and grinning at her across the sand, the sunlight gleaming on one blond, curly head and the other covered with darker hair like his daddy’s.
Bree carried her board over, then dropped it to the beach to reach for one of her babies. Olivia leaned forward first, and Bree took her in her arms, neither caring that she was getting her daughter’s clothes a little wet. Jack kept his small arms curled around Sean’s neck as his smiling brown eyes met hers over their son’s head.
“You looked pretty amazing out there. Your score’s going to go through the roof with that one,” Sean said.
“I think you’re right. I think I just might have a chance to win the whole thing this time.”
Sean leaned forward to press his lips to hers. “Mmm. This is my favorite time to kiss you, when you’re all salty and sweet.”
“And my favorite time to kiss you is anytime.”
He chuckled as they smiled at one another, pressing his mouth to hers again until a squirming Olivia knocked her head into Sean’s and disrupted the kiss.
“I’ll take her for you,” Bree’s mother said, beaming as she reached for her granddaughter.
Bree passed Olivia over, watching as her mother smiled and cooed and the baby laughed. Having children of her own had brought her closer to her mother as she finally understood the bond between a woman and her child in a way she’d never considered. They had shared a lot of long talks over the past year and their relationship was the best it had ever been.
Jack wriggled in his daddy’s arms, and Sean placed him on the sand next to where Will was playing with plastic buckets and shovels. Jack scooped and dumped sand onto Will’s knees, which the three-year-old didn’t seem to mind at all.
Emma and Gwen both congratulated Bree, too, before they sat in their beach chairs to supervise the little ones, trying to keep the sand from being flung around and ending up in someone’s eye.
Sean took advantage of the momentary peace to take Bree’s hand and walk a few paces away. His tanned fingers tucked wet strands of hair behind her ears before he cupped her face in his hands, and she leaned into him as he did.
“I’m so proud of you. You worked hard for this.”
“I did. But I couldn’t have done it without you. Without everything you do, every day, for me and for all of us. I’m the luckiest woman in the world.” It was true, and saying it brought a lump to her throat, because even after all this time, she hadn’t forgotten how close she’d come to losing him forever. To not having the amazingly full life she was blessed to live every day.
“And I’m the luckiest guy.” He kissed her again, his hands moving from her face to her back, pulling her close.
“I think there’s something you want that will make you even more lucky, and I’d like to give it to you.”
“Yeah?” She loved the wicked glint that sparked in his eyes. “I’m all ears. What is it you’re going to give me, and how soon do I get it?”
“You’ll find out the day after tomorrow.”
His eyebrow rose before his lips touched the corner of her mouth and tracked to her ear. “I was hoping to get it before then. Not sure I can wait that long.”
“You can’t get it till we’re back home. Because it’s there, not here.”
“Obviously this is a different kind of luck than what I was thinking of,” he whispered in her ear before pulling back to grin at her. “What is this mystery thing I’m getting from my beautiful wife?”
“That puppy you’ve been wanting? I found the perfect one at the shelter. We’re picking her up on Monday.”
“Really? You don’t mind our getting a dog?” His eyes lit, and she loved that she could give him one more thing he wanted.
“I’m excited about it. The kids will love her, and besides, you deserve everything you want. You deserve the moon.”
“Thank you. I don’t know about deserving anything. But what I do know?” He kissed her again, sweet and slow and perfect. “My everything is you.”
* * * * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Robin Gianna
THE PRINCE AND THE MIDWIFE
HER CHRISTMAS BABY BUMP
HER GREEK DOCTOR’S PROPOSAL
IT HAPPENED IN PARIS...
All available now!
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ISBN-13: 9781488009853
Reunited with His Runaway Bride
Copyright © 2016 by Robin Gianakopoulos
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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