Secret Love (The 4Ever Series Book 2)

by Isabella White

  This was family. This little bubble had been family for the past five years.

  Jane nodded at Holly, and she knew what that meant. She was satisfied with the answer Frank gave her about Jake.

  He’d really wanted his baby girls.

  “There is one more thing to be thankful for,” Holly said to Jamie, battling against the fist clenching around her heart. “A very special door opened this afternoon, baby.”

  Jamie gasped, her big green eyes wide. “Does it have colors?”

  Holly smiled. “Plenty of colors.”

  “Is Daddy back?”

  “Yes. And Amelia, Armand, Robin, Grandpa Gus, they’re all back.

  Jamie jumped on the bed, scooting her small legs and booty down and off it. With a giggle, she ran out of the room and yelled for Rod, screeching the news at him.

  Holly closed her eyes, waiting for the lecture she knew was bound to come from him, but to her surprise, Rodney pretended to be just as excited as Jamie was.

  “What did Frank say?” Holly asked.

  “Do you really want to know?”

  “We have time for the quick version.”

  She nodded. “If Jake made up his mind about something, he will do as he says. He’ll treat her like gold, sweetheart.”

  Holly’s eyes sparkled. He’d treated her like gold too. She should’ve stayed.

  “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

  “Don’t, Mom, please.”

  “No, I was wrong. Every time you tried to phone him, I told you what-ifs don’t exist, not for us Scallangers. I was wrong.”

  Holly’s lower lip trembled, but she bit hard on it. She’d cried enough for one day.

  Jamie’s excited chatter was still ringing through the apartment, and her little stomping footsteps neared.

  Holly smiled and pushed aside her anger and sadness as Jamie entered the room, eyes twinkling with elation.

  “Can we go see Daddy now?”

  “Sweetheart, it’s late.”

  “Then when?”

  “Tomorrow morning. If you are really good and go to bed now.”

  She jumped in bed and snuggled down under the covers.

  Holly turn down the light as Jane stepped out of the room.

  She closed her eyes and hold Jamie close. She could feel her little girl’s body shutting down for the night. Her breathing became softer, her body limper and then soft snores filled her ears. She could hear Jane and Rod speaking softly. Holly knew Rod had a hard time believing she would give in so easily; she was still struggling with that as well, but now that Jake knew about Jamie, she couldn’t carry on with this charade anymore.

  Jake knew.

  She was so conflicted. She had to keep reminding herself that Jake never wanted her to have an abortion, that Amelia hadn’t wanted it. All those years of feeling betrayed, of thinking they were horrible people, when really there was only one horrible person in that family.

  Her what-if was real.

  That was a hard pill to swallow.

  **********

  The next morning, Holly was woken by Jamie’s hands on her face, poking and prodding and shaking her.

  Weak morning light streamed through the curtains.

  Jane was already awake. She laughed at Jamie, who couldn’t contain her excitement.

  Since the fake scrapbook existed, Holly had paged through it every night for Jamie to look at. Making up stories as to why she thought they were stuck in the rainbow.

  She just hoped that Jake and everyone had a really great story to answer all her rainbow questions. She also hoped he’d be gentle with her little girl when he told her about Kate and Michael. She hadn’t told Jake they needed to elaborate on the story she’d told Jamie; hopefully Amelia had passed on the message to him. Amelia had been just as surprised when Holly had told her that Jamie knew about them. She couldn’t blame Amelia for being surprised at that, after all, no normal person would have told their child about a family who hadn’t wanted them, but now, knowing that they had been wanted all along, Holly was glad she’d come up with that story.

  Jane got out of bed, and Jamie scurried off after her. Holly looked at the clock on her nightstand. It was five. Frank would be here in an hour. She desperately wanted more sleep. Sighing, she got up and took a shower, her mind pounding the same words. Jake knows about Jamie and he’s going to meet her today.

  *******

  She pulled on a summer dress that reached her ankles and let her hair dry naturally. When Jamie ran back into the room, she was wearing her Frozen outfit. It was ice blue, and Elsa was printed on the front. It went beautiful with her ice-green eyes.

  Her baby girl was grinning from ear to ear, her happiness rolling off her in waves.

  Holly applied a little makeup, and once she felt ready, or as ready as she would be, she went to the kitchen.

  Rod was dressed in a pair of shorts and T-shirt. She looked at him, surprised. “You coming, too?”

  “Yes, I need to see this, Holls.”

  She went over and give him a hug. “Sorry that I’m wired different than others,” she whispered in his ears. I know that normal people don’t do this sort of thing so soon.”

  “Calm down. Nothing is wrong with you. You just have a big heart. I just hope he knows how fortunate he is that you are Jamie’s mom, and not some bitch.”

  She smiled. “Thanks for coming.” She frowned. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

  He smiled. “He sent me a message, telling me to take some time off to make sure that you are okay.”

  Her heart fluttered at that. Just to make sure that Holly was okay. “He did?”

  “I know it should count for something. But I’m still struggling, Holls.”

  “I know.”

  “Let’s see what happens today, okay?”

  She nodded.

  It was only breakfast, right? Hopefully it would all go smoothly.

  She was extremely nervous about her abrupt decision. She should have waited longer, should have held off on letting him meet Jamie so suddenly. Well, there was nothing she could do about it now, the ball was already rolling.

  She glanced at Jane, who didn’t seem as doubtful about this as Holly was.

  A knock on the door made all of them pause, and they just stared at the door for a minute. She prayed that Jake hadn’t come along.

  “Go, see who that is,” Jane told Jamie and she rushed to the door.

  Holly held her breath.

  Jamie opened the door and Frank immediately grabbed her, tickling her and making growling sounds. Her laughter echoed in the apartment again.

  “Good morning, Janey,” he said to her mom.

  “Morning, Frank.”

  He made his way over to Holly. He had a smile on his face but the look in his eyes was apologetic. He gave her a hug with his free arm and a soft kiss on her head. Frank was so empathetic; she often found herself wishing he was her father.

  “Where is my daddy?” Jamie asked.

  “You want to see him?”

  Holly froze and Jamie nodded.

  “Then we need to get going.”

  Relief flooded through Holly when Jake didn’t appear in the doorway, and she blew out a breath. Her hands were shaking, and she clenched them into fists, not wanting Frank to see her nerves.

  They all moved toward the door. Her mother and Rod were both carrying bags, and Holly smiled at how prepared they were. You never knew what you needed when you had a child accompanying you. If only one of those bags had something in them to prepare her, because she wasn’t so sure she was ready for what the day would bring.

  JAKE WAS STILL DUMBFOUNDED THAT she’d told Jamie about all of them. That alone told him Holly was exactly the person he suspected her to be since that first time he’d seen her—it was just something he knew. It made him even angrier that his mother had lied to him about everything. Mara still hadn’t called, so he’d decided to switch off his phone completely. Well… after he’d spoke to Bernie, who was understandabl
y freaking out. She begged him not to marry Kate, saying the woman was all wrong for him and that he needed to get Holly back.

  If only he could. He’d fucked up on so many things already with her. He was glad that he at least had a chance with his little girl. He wouldn’t fuck that up. He’d rather die than not be there. He’d already missed out on so much.

  The good news was that everyone was coming with. During the course of the day, if they decided to stay, he could speak to Holly about certain things. He needed to find a way to make up for everything she’d endured in that hospital—and the past five years.

  Frank had already left. He had wanted to tag along so badly, but he’d decided to take his godfather’s advice and be patient. He gave Frank the keys to The Beast and lectured him on driving safely. His entire life was going to be in that car. Whether Frank picked up that he wasn’t just speaking about Jamie, he didn’t know, but Jake needed him to be extra cautious.

  Frank had just laughed at him before leaving.

  It was somewhat of a comfort to know that Jane had been looking after his daughter the past year. He knew he should be angry with her for leaving Holly when she’d needed her most, but a small part of him now understood the grief Jane had felt at losing a child. He couldn’t even begin to think what she’d had to go through to look at the spitting image of the daughter she’d lost. But being there for Holly when he wasn’t erased all that anger. He just wanted to meet her and show her the kind of man he was; that he was nothing like Holly’s father.

  He would go through hell for his daughter, and he was going to make sure he made it up to them for not being there for the past five years. His entire family would. As angry as he was, he knew he had to bury that anger for a couple of hours today. Children were particularly sensitive to emotions, and he didn’t want his anger to be the dark cloud on what he was sure was going to be the most special day of his life.

  The opportunity to meet Jamie had come sooner than he’d expected. He didn’t want to disappoint. He only hoped the story they had spent all night formulating would live up to expectations. He was worried about that, even though he knew he shouldn’t have to be. His father and Armand were brilliant storytellers.

  Everyone knew the story, even Robin. He wasn’t sure Robin completely believed that their mom was behind all of this, but he did. Holly had had the baby and her story checked out.

  He jumped in the shower, brushed his teeth, and focused on the day that lay ahead. It was the only thing he could do to bury the pain. He’d lost one of his daughters, and it was all his mother’s fault. He never thought he would hate her as much as he did, and although hate was a very strong word, it was what he felt. He doubted it was going to change anytime soon.

  Jake took his time getting dressed. It was a beautiful day to spend at the lake.

  Frank had messaged Jane late last night, asking her to bring extra clothes. Jake wanted them to have the option to stay if the day went well.

  Moira had arrived yesterday after spending much of the day trying to get refunds for their airfare. She’d wanted to be with Jake from the moment he’d found out about Jamie, but had respected his wish to be alone.

  Of course, Moira had broken the news to everyone that Holly was an intern at Downsend. Understandably, his father hadn’t been very happy about Jake having kept it a secret for this long. When he’d looked at Amelia, he could see the unspoken questions on her face, and he was sure she’d figure out that he’d been having an affair with Holly. But she hadn’t asked him, and as far as he knew, no one in his family knew about the affair.

  Amelia had been blown away about the news that Holly was a doctor, but Robin had thought it was dodgy. She didn’t buy into Holly’s need to help people.

  A knock sounded on the door just as he pulled his shirt over his head. His arms hurt like hell and itched as if he had fallen into a patch of poison oak. The tattoo artist had told him he wasn’t to scratch it at all. He couldn’t think of a worse torture, but it was one he deserved.

  “We are going down to set up at the lake,” Amelia said.

  “I’m coming.”

  For the next twenty-five minutes, he kept checking his watch. It was five to seven.

  Frank would be here any moment now.

  The breakfast table was set.

  His dad and Armand fried some bacon and eggs, he toasted some bread, and Amelia and Robin bickered as they set up the table down by the lake.

  The cabin was his getaway. It was a two, maybe two-and-a- half-hour drive from Boston, in New Hampshire. Surrounded by white mountains was the only place he felt he could breathe. He could think here too, and it was the perfect place to meet his daughter for the first time.

  The door swung open and Moira barged into the kitchen.

  “I need something to do,” she said, clearly agitated

  “You can butter some toast,” Jake offered. Moira grabbed the butter and knife. Her movements were fast and vigorous.

  “Everything okay?” Gus asked.

  “I dislike everything that comes out of Robin’s mouth at this moment.”

  Jake squinted. “What is she saying?”

  “She has no idea who Holly is,” Moira fumed.

  “What did she say?”

  “She’s spewing unbelievable reasons as to why Holly chose to become a doctor.”

  Jake dropped the bread he was holding.

  “Son,” Gus called.

  “No Dad, this has to stop. She doesn’t want to play nice? She can go home.”

  He walked out through the door in the dining room.

  His strides were huge as he passed the chest-high green wedges that were planted all around the yard, through a beautiful pathway filled with trees.

  It used to belong to his grandfather, his namesake. And now it was his. Jake loved this place just as much as his pappy.

  “I don’t care about Moira. She doesn’t know her the way we do. I don’t believe for a second that Mom is behind this,” Robin yelled.

  “Then what, Robin? You think Holly did all of this on purpose? For what?” Amelia yelled back.

  “I don’t know. They hardly knew each other. For all we know, she could be a cruel and sick person.”

  “Who told her child that your brother, your entire family lived in a fucking rainbow!”

  “Exactly my point. That is not normal.”

  “Enough!” Jake finally stepped in. “You are not going to speak another bad word about Holly. She almost died carrying my children, Robin. I get that you don’t understand her actions—I don’t get them either. But I refuse to believe that she would harm any child to prove… who knows what. If you cannot play nice then you are not welcome here today. You better choose whether you want to meet your niece today or not.”

  Amelia shrieked and she ran up to the house.

  He glanced behind him, and caught a glimpse of Frank, a head of curly black hair bobbing over his shoulder.

  His throat clammed up, and all thought about Robin’s bitchiness died away.

  His feet were frozen on the spot.

  Jane was right behind Frank, almost clinging to him, because of Amelia’s proximity. She was a beautiful woman. Amelia wrapped her arms around Holly’s mom, and Jake felt a flicker of surprise when Jane returned her embrace. Then again, Amelia had always managed to win people over with just a smile. Frank winked at Jake as Amelia greeted Jamie.

  “She is a bit shy,” Jane said with a smile, “but she warms up quickly.”

  “Oh, sorry, this is Jake. Jake…”

  “I can introduce myself, Amelia.” His voice was annoyed. Jane looked at him, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. She held out her hand, but Jake wasn’t going to have any of that. He wrapped his big arms around her and squeezed tight. He wanted to cry again, but closed his eyes to keep the tears from spilling over. Today called for happy. He could do happy.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

  “Shh… let’s not have any of that. Jamie…” she whisp
ered, nudging her head to where Jamie’s was still on Frank’s back. Jake nodded his understanding, then saw Holly and Rodney retreating to the house.

  He was walking arm-in-arm with Holly.

  He would give her space. It sure looked like she needed it for now.

  He stepped away from Jane toward his godfather and sister, who were still hovering.

  His heart bounced out of sync. The first thing he saw was raven curls. Curls like Holly used to have that hung to the middle of her back. She had light brown skin, just like his. His heart beat faster when Frank pulled her off his back and positioned her better on his arm. Her eyes were a piercing green, just like his. Aggie was right, she looked a lot like him, except he had straight long hair, not the curls upon curls.

  Amelia cupped Jamie’s little face gently in her hands, blocking Jake’s view slightly. She still cooed, trying to win Jamie over. Give her some time, Melia.

  Jake could tell Jamie was shy when she burrowed her head into the crook between Frank’s shoulder and neck when Amelia asked another question. The pictures hadn’t done her justice, although Jake had stared at them for hours. His little girl was gorgeous.

  “I know you,” Amelia pushed again. “You know me?” Amelia asked softly, and nodding, Jamie extracted her head a little. He knew his sister couldn’t help herself, but he sometimes wished she would back the fuck off.

  Jake finally moved forward, as if gravity had released the hold it had on his body when he’d just stood there admiring this little girl.

  His little girl.

  “Hey, baby,” he finally said, and held out his arms. He just had to hold her. Jamie hesitated for a moment, looking first up at Frank before shooting her grandmother a questioning look.

  “It’s okay, baby. Your daddy just wants to hold you for a bit,” Jane said, nodding her head.

  To his delight, Jamie went to him, fitting perfectly, as if his chest and arms had been made to hold her. Her tiny arms hesitantly wrapped around his shoulders, and Jake held on as if he’d never be able to let her go. He didn’t want to think about saying goodbye to her today. They’d simply have to stay. He’d only just said hello; he couldn’t imagine saying goodbye. He sniffed her hair, then kissed her on the head. His body started to tremble again. She smelled sweet, like marshmallows.