“Mia, I can’t do this again,” he said, looking over her shoulder at something behind her. “And I’m not going to.”
“Where are you going?”
“LA,” he said. “The rest of the band is there. We’re starting the album in January.”
She knew that. She did. He’d mentioned it, and things had just gotten shuffled and lost over the course of the last couple of weeks. Funerals. Abductions. Explosions. She barely recognized her life anymore.
“So we have no third chance?” she asked. “I don’t care what my parents say, Declan. I’m in love with you, and I want to be with you.”
He still didn’t smile. In fact, he cocked his head and studied her. “Not four days ago, you said good-bye.”
“I know,” she said. “Worst mistake of my life.”
“You’re very loyal,” he said quietly. “That’s not a mistake.”
“I—”
“You love your family,” he said, this time with more power. “That’s not a mistake.”
“I love you,” she said. “And that’s not a mistake either.
“I’m moving to LA permanently,” he said, lifting his chin. “I can come here to visit my mom anytime. So. Yeah.” He ran his hand through his hair, but he’d lost a few inches, and it just flopped back.
“I’d love to be somewhere warm,” Mia said.
“Mia.” He shook his head, sadness painting those gorgeous eyes with dull light.
“Tell me you don’t love me.”
He took both of her hands in his. “I can’t tell you that. But I also can’t take you from your family, from this life you have here.”
“I don’t want this life I have here. Not if I can’t have you.”
Declan looked into her eyes, really looked. And Mia let him all the way in. “Do you hear what you’re saying?” he asked.
Hope entered her heart. “I do,” she said. “Yes, I love my family, but like you said, I can come visit them whenever I want.”
“You have a job here,” he said.
“You don’t think you have enough money to support me?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then why can’t we do this?”
“I don’t think you’re thinking clearly.”
Mia wanted to rage at him, and as her anger lifted, she squeezed solidly against his hands. “Declan,” she said seriously. “I am thirty years old. I am so tired of everyone telling me what I think, and how I feel, and what’s best for me.” She tugged her hands away from his. “So maybe you’re right. If that’s what you’re going to do, maybe this isn’t going to work.”
“Wait,” he said, though she hadn’t moved. “Just wait.”
Chapter Sixteen
Declan watched Mia, and he recognized the fire in her that he liked so well. Of course he loved her, and the things she’d said about coming with him to LA were like manna dropped from heaven.
“Well?” she challenged.
“I don’t want to tell you what you should do,” he said. “But have you really considered what you’re saying? We’d live in Los Angeles. Not here. No Sunday dinners with your family, and no quick trips next door to make sure Karly’s okay, and no holding that baby girl when it’s born.”
Mia swallowed, her eyes bright. “I can fly here when the baby’s born.”
“That’s true.”
“I can come for every wedding. Heck, I can fly here for Sunday dinner if I want to.” She knocked on the side of the steps. “You own a plane, Declan. That woman down there knows me now.” She made a sweeping motion with one arm, and Declan thought she might fall backward.
Silence came between them again, and she broke it one more time, with a single word. “Please.”
Declan wanted to sweep her into his arms, hold her there for a while, and then promise her she could have anything and everything she wanted.
“Please what, Mia?” he asked, almost desperate to hear her say she loved him again. He’d spent so many years feeling unloved on a personal level, and he hadn’t known how much those words would mean until she’d said them.
“Please forgive me.” A tear leaked out of her eye, and she swiped at it. “Please say we can try one more time.” She held up one finger. “Just one more.”
Happiness exploded through Declan—and he would know, because he now knew what an actual explosion felt like. “Oh, all right,” he said, his lips finally turning up into a smile.
Mia sobbed, and he gathered her right against his heartbeat like he’d wanted to. “It’s okay,” he said. “Please don’t cry.”
“I’m so sorry.” She clung to him like her life depended on his strength, and he sure did like that.
“Sir?” Sandra said behind him. “We’ll be delayed forty minutes if we don’t answer the gate call now.”
“Delay us,” Declan said. “Sorry, Sandra. Tell the captain I’m sorry too.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You should go,” Mia said. “You have a meeting with your band, right?”
Declan smoothed his hands down her face, taking all her tears with him. “I want you to come.”
“To LA? Right now?”
“Yes,” he said. “You can go buy whatever you need, and we can have adjoining rooms at the hotel.” He leaned down, his mouth only inches from hers. “Because I’m in love with you too, Mia, and I want to be with you.”
She cupped his face in her hands and tipped up to kiss him. “Okay,” she whispered against his lips just as she formed her mouth to his.
Everything inside Declan went soft, and he couldn’t be happier to be standing in the cold, Michigan air, kissing the woman he loved.
“Okay,” he whispered back. “But you’re calling your parents from inside, so they know what’s going on.” He put his arm around her and led her inside, waving one final time to the ground crew to let them know he appreciated them putting the steps out again.
Then he followed Mia inside, happier and more hopeful about his future than he’d ever been.
* * *
That Summer:
“Declan, can you go help Wayne with the groceries?”
He turned toward Mia’s mother, a smile already on his face. “Sure thing.” He started out to the garage, where the heat would probably punch him in the face. He and Mia had come for the event of the century around Forbidden Lake: a triple marriage ceremony.
Not only that, but every couple had an Addler in it. Jon, Phoenix, and Sami were all tying the knot tomorrow, and Declan and Mia had been in town for a couple of days now. Liam and Serenity had gotten married at Christmastime, and she was already sporting a barely-there baby bump as she helped with making the cookies inside the house.
The back of the SUV in the garage held dozens of bags of food, and Declan sighed as he joined Mia’s father at the tailgate. “Wow,” he said.
“Yeah.” Wayne sounded tired, but Declan thought the man was doing something right. Getting three kids married in one day had to be easier than having three separate events. He reached for the plastic bags at the same time Declan did, and Liam joined them after their first trip in the house.
“What is all this?” he asked. “Aren’t they doing a cookie bar for the reception? I didn’t think we were feeding people for this.”
“We aren’t,” Wayne said. “This is for our family.”
“What?” Liam looked at all the groceries. “Mom realizes there are just thirteen of us, right? And Kimmie, and a baby.”
Karly’s baby girl was six months old now, and Mia had come out to visit her sister several times while Declan stayed in LA to record. He missed her while she was gone, but he sure did like seeing her in that red swimming suit, waiting for him on the beach, when she returned.
“I guess she thinks Kimmie can eat a lot,” Wayne said, and Liam shook his head.
Declan laughed, glad he was here with Mia’s family. No one had seemed to have a problem with him after Mia had declared she was going to be with him no matter what. He’d come back to F
orbidden Lake twice, once to visit his family and once to help Mia move her essentials to LA. Both times, her parents had treated him with kindness and respect.
Maybe they still didn’t like him, but as he reminded Mia, they were supportive, and they had allowed her to be the grown-up she wanted to be.
The atmosphere in the house held excitement, laughter, and fun. He let Georgia and Wayne put away all the groceries while Serenity and Mia scooped balls of cookie dough and used the two ovens to get things cooked.
Finally, a break in the conversation and activity came, and Declan stood up from his spot on the couch, where he’d been chatting with Liam. He cleared his throat and looked at Liam, who nodded.
“Mia, I wanted to ask you something in front of your parents.” His throat felt so dry, and he couldn’t seem to swallow.
Serenity gasped and covered her mouth with both hands, but Mia just stood there, watching him. He glanced at her parents and then back to her. “Um.”
“The ring,” Liam said in a not-so-stage whisper, pressing the box into Declan’s palm.
He chuckled, wishing maybe he’d thought this through. Maybe asked Georgia and Wayne to a fancy dinner at a nice restaurant in town, and then discussed his marriage to their daughter. Mia had never said she needed her father’s blessing, but Declan knew she did.
“Wayne,” he said. “Georgia. I love your daughter with my whole heart. I want her to be my wife, forever and always.” He took a couple of steps forward as Mia’s mouth curved up.
“Mia, I’m mad for you. You’ve always been my secret weakness. Will you marry me?”
She didn’t look at her mother or father. Didn’t need their permission. She stared down into the ring box, her eyes growing wide. Her fingers shook as she took the box from him, and her mother said, “Mia, this is where you say yes,” in the same not-so-quiet whisper her brother had used.
Mia laughed, and Serenity did too, and she handed the box back to him.
“Is that a no?” he asked, confusion and horror running through him.
“It’s a yes,” she said, her voice breaking on the last word—the most important word. “I just want you to put the ring on for me.”
Declan grinned and tugged the ring free of the box. He slipped it on her finger and held her close. “I love you,” he whispered, so glad they’d taken the time and chances they’d needed to get things right between them.
“I love you, too.” She kissed him, and Declan didn’t even care that other people were watching. The fact that her father didn’t growl or rip them apart meant he’d given his blessing for their union too, and Declan experienced true joy with Mia Addler in his arms.
* * *
Read on for a sneak peek of MAKING A MOVE, featuring Karly and her second chance at true love! Available in Kindle Unlimited.
Wow! I’m thrilled Declan and Mia were able to make things work. If you are too, please leave a review now.
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Sneak Peek! MAKING A MOVE Chapter One
Karly Lydell woke to the sound of her baby crying, something that had happened a lot over the past couple of days. Navy had started having night terrors about a week ago, and Karly’s patience was stretched as thin as her energy.
But there was no one else to get up and go help the child. So she hauled herself out of bed, out the door and across the hall to Navy’s room. “Hey, baby,” she cooed in the happiest voice she could muster at five-fifteen a.m.
Everything was still dark outside the window, because it was only three days after Christmas, and the sun didn’t shine for long in Michigan in December.
“Navy-bear,” she said, gently reaching over the crib and lifting her daughter into her arms. The girl’s eyes opened, but she wasn’t all the way awake yet. Karly knew, because she’d read a ton of articles on children and night terrors over the past seven days.
Navy gave one more wail, and Karly held her against her shoulder, shushing her. “Hey, girl,” she said. “Wake up for Mommy, okay?”
Navy’s cry tapered off, and Karly bounced her as she moved over to the rocking chair. She sat and held Navy in front of her so she could see her daughter’s face. “Hey, sweetie.”
A light moved through Navy’s eyes, and Karly smiled at her. “Ma-ma.”
Karly turned her around and let the girl cuddle into her. She rocked and closed her eyes and hummed a lullaby her mom had sung for her.
“Aunt Mia is getting married today,” she told Navy. “So we get to wear the fancy dresses, and Mommy’s going to do your hair so pretty.” She pressed a kiss to her daughter’s head.
“And you’re one now. One whole year from today, you were born.” Mia had been so worried about having her wedding on the same day as Navy’s birthday, but Karly was secretly glad. She didn’t need a big party for her daughter, and everything her mother did was oversized. The woman didn’t know the meaning of simple, and she certainly didn’t understand that Karly didn’t want any attention on her.
Not since Derrick’s accident and subsequent death, that was. Before that, she arrived late to family parties just so everyone would see her, welcome her, talk to her.
Now, she just wanted to fade into the background, let Navy have fun with her aunts and uncles, and eat another chocolate chip cookie.
Not too many today, she told herself. In the year since she’d delivered her baby and then gone back to work full-time at the family orchards, she’d had a very hard time losing the baby weight.
With her fortieth birthday just around the corner, she’d decided she didn’t care. She wasn’t dating anyway and didn’t want another husband. As she rocked in the early morning hours with her daughter, she allowed the ache for Derrick to overtake her, something she normally held back really well.
But today would be very, very hard without him. He couldn’t kiss their little girl and tell her happy birthday. He couldn’t smile at Mia and her rockstar almost-husband and say how perfect they were for each other, then press his lips to Karly’s forehead and say, “Just like us.”
She’d loved him so much, and she missed him every single day. Some days were worse than others, of course, and she sensed today would be miserable.
“Please help me,” she whispered into Navy’s hair, and then she let herself doze a little bit before Mia and Sami would be coming to take Navy so Karly could get her hair and makeup done for the wedding.
Sure enough, her sisters found her still snoozing in the nursery with the baby, and she opened her eyes when Sami said, “Are you sure? Let’s let her sleep.”
“I’m awake,” Karly said, cracking open her eyes. Mia and Sami stood in the doorway, both of them looking at her with a mixture of concern and love in their faces. “Someone take Navy.” She jostled the little girl, and Sami rushed forward to take her.
“Serenity will be here in a minute,” Mia said. “Do you want to shower?”
Navy yawned, and all three of them paused to look at the darling girl. Karly felt such a rush of love for her that she leaned over and said, “Be good, Navy-bear. I’m going to go shower.”
She bustled off, knowing she was supposed to be showered, teeth brushed, and in her underwear and slip before Serenity arrived with the makeup kit.
When she finally made it into her bedroom in the get-up she was supposed to be in, she was twenty minutes late. “I’m so sorry,” she said, glancing around at the clean counter. She was usually never late. And she’d never left dishes out overnight before Derrick had died.
Now, she seemed to be perpetually fifteen minutes late, and she did dishes when she got to them.
“Someone did my dishes.” Embarrassment squirreled through her as Serenity smiled at her.
“Liam pays me to do it,” she said. “It’s a hard habit to break.”
“He still pays you?” Mia asked, patting the bottom of Serenity and Liam’s little girl, Thea.
“No,” Serenity said,
ducking her head. “I just meant it was my job for like thirteen years, so it’s a habit.” She tossed the washcloth back in the sink. “So, are you ready?”
“So ready,” Karly said. She sat in the appointed chair and watched her two sisters play with the new babies in the Addler family while Serenity curled her hair. Then she closed her eyes while her sister-in-law did her makeup.
She’d always worked in the family orchards and resort, doing accounting, but her role had been very part-time before Derrick’s death. She could take the time to shower, shave, put every hair in place, and put on false eyelashes before she went in for a few hours.
Karly loved girly things from nail polish to lotions to lipsticks. But since her husband’s death, she was lucky if she showed up at work with two of the same shoes on. Navy came with her three days a week, and that required a big bag of baby supplies, toys, and clothes. Serenity watched her the other two days of the week, but Thea was only two months old, and Karly still felt bad about leaving Navy with Serenity.
After all, she knew how tired she’d been with a new baby at only two months. The same exhaustion plagued her now.
“Your turn, Sami,” Serenity finally said, and Sami got up from the couch where she’d been watching Navy put together a wooden puzzle.
“Go get your dress on,” Sami said, pointing to the garment bags on the back of the couch. Karly didn’t want to squeeze herself into the mint monstrosity, but she did, because all of her sisters had weathered her horrible bridesmaids dresses too.
And Mia had done a great job with the dresses. Karly simply didn’t want to wear one today. Didn’t want to walk down the aisle as part of the bridal party. Didn’t want to get her picture taken.
But she would. And she’d smile through it all, because this was her little sister, and it was her wedding day.
* * *
Hours later, with all the women properly curled and glossed and straps tucked, the witching hour was very near. Karly had sent Navy in with her mother, who sat on the front row with Nana and Pops, her parents from Goderich, Canada. Karly’s paternal grandparents still lived on the lane in the orchard, and they’d be on the front row too.
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