Love Blooms

by Jamie Pope

  He turned around, looking stunned. She had never said it to him before. She had thought it a hundred thousand times, but she had never said it. “What?”

  She placed Teo on the couch and stood up to face him. “I love you. I’m in love with you.”

  His expression softened. “I already knew that.”

  “I’ll marry you.”

  The corner of his lip curled. “I didn’t ask you to marry me.”

  “Then I’m asking you to marry me.”

  He tilted his head and studied her. “Why do you want to marry me, Nova?”

  “Because you’re a good man and you love my son as if he were yours. You make my heart beat faster when I see you. I want to be with you all the time. I want to marry you because I’m in love with you and I can’t go through the rest of my life without you.”

  “What makes you think I want to be married to you?” he asked, his smile growing bigger.

  “Tanner!”

  He took a step forward and cupped her face, kissing her fiercely. “Did you think I was going to let you go? My plane ticket to California was bought the moment you left me this morning. I can’t be without you. My life was no good until I met you. You and Teo are my family.”

  “So that’s a yes?”

  “I’ve been hiding a diamond ring in the house for a month. Of course I want to marry you.” He stepped away from her and lifted Teo into his arms. “I want to be your daddy. Nothing would make me happier.”

  “It’s about time!” Wylie said, having been quiet for the past few minutes. “I’m going home to tell Cass and kiss my kid. We’re throwing you a party. I don’t want to hear a damn word about it. You’re getting a big engagement party. Cass is going to plan it. She’s been talking about it for two months. You’ll show up and you’ll like it.”

  “Okay, Wylie,” Nova agreed.

  “No arguments?” He smiled and then kissed her cheek. “Congratulations. I’m happy for you.” He slapped Tanner’s back. “You too, man. Good-bye, Teo. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Good-bye, Uncle Wylie. Mommy, can I call Mansi and tell her?”

  “Of course you can.”

  Tanner let him down and he scampered off to his room.

  “We’ve got to start looking for our own place,” Tanner said to her.

  “Why?”

  “I’m sure your boss would be okay with us staying there for a little while, but we’re going to need to find our own house in California.”

  “We’re not moving to California.”

  He frowned in confusion. “But what about your job? You worked so hard. It was your dream.”

  “Dreams change. This island is where I found myself and fell in love. This place is my home. I don’t want to leave it. I can figure out how to have the career I’ve always wanted and the family I need. I want to have your babies, Brennan. I want Christmases here. I want memories here.”

  “That sounds like a damn good life to me.”

  He kissed her again and for the first time in her life she felt like everything was finally going to go her way.

  Epilogue

  Eighteen months later

  “You’re driving me insane, Reed! I’m this close to losing it.”

  “Shut up. I’m not sure who you think you are ordering me around.”

  “I’m your husband. That’s who I am! And if you would listen to reason, I wouldn’t have to order you around.”

  “No one asked for your opinion. I’m not sure why I married you in the first place. You are a bossy pain in my ass.”

  “You married me because you’re in love with me and I’m good for you and deep down you know that I’m always right.”

  Nova glared at him and rubbed her lower back. “I am in love with you, you long-legged jerk. It’s the only reason I put up with you.”

  He walked over to her and placed his hand on her large belly. His heart swelled every time he did so. She was entering her eighth month of pregnancy. They had just passed their one-year anniversary. A lot had happened in that year. They’d had a big wedding. Tanner’s grandparents were so happy that he was settling down that they pulled out all the stops, but it wasn’t a snobby event. Nova’s whole tribe was there and nearly every resident of Aquinnah came out to wish them well. Both of Tanner’s fathers were there, but any awkwardness they felt was well hidden. Tanner’s mother, however, didn’t come. She was in Europe with her new love. It was one relationship he had learned to let go, but he had gained so many more, that he had barely felt the loss.

  He had adopted Teo. He officially had a son who called him Daddy and followed him everywhere he went. And now he had a new child on the way. A little girl that he couldn’t wait to meet.

  After they got engaged, Nova had taken some time off from working to decide what she wanted to do next. They did go to California after all. But for a month on vacation. They took Teo to Disneyland. They camped in the redwood forest. They drove up to Oregon and rode in a hot-air balloon, and when they returned to Martha’s Vineyard, Nova decided she wanted to open her own salon.

  Nova had been surprisingly relaxed about their wedding plans, but when it came to the salon everything had to be perfect. They had looked at every vacant building on the island at least twice. He was about to suggest they go off island until a space became available in Oak Bluffs. They bought it and completely gutted it. Nova meticulously planned out every detail all while still traveling a couple days a week to do hair and makeup for her growing list of clientele. She was the number one bridal stylist in the country, but this salon was going to be her home base.

  And that’s where they were today. Only she wasn’t supposed to be there. Her doctor had ordered her to slow down. She had been all over the country in the last couple of months. She was supposed to be at home resting, but he found her there painting one of the walls. And she was doing it in four-inch heels.

  “Please come home and rest. You’re not supposed to be on your feet, much less painting walls.”

  “I don’t want to go home and rest.”

  “Then I’m going to be forced to pick you up and take you out of here.”

  She glared up at him, but she knew he would do it. “I want to go eat. I want corn chowder and corn dogs and buffalo wings. And I don’t want to hear any crap about eating healthy. I let you make me those green smoothie things every morning and tonight I want what I want.”

  “Okay. We’ll go get Teo and then we’ll feed you. I’ll even buy you dessert.”

  “I want a brownie sundae with nuts and extra hot fudge, too.”

  “Of course. What’s a brownie sundae without extra hot fudge?” He wrapped his arm around her and began to lead her out of the nearly finished salon.

  “I want a milkshake, too. A strawberry one.”

  “Okay, but I’m going to sleep in the guest room tonight because I can’t imagine your stomach is going to be happy tonight.”

  “Okay. No milkshake.”

  “You’re admitting that I’m right?”

  “Of course not. I’m admitting that I can’t sleep without you beside me.” The annoyed look on her face melted away and she looked up at him. “I’m really happy, Tanner,” she said softly. “I know I’m a miserable pregnant person and that I must be terrible to be married to, but I’ve never been so happy, or felt so safe or loved in my entire life. I love you.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I’ll never stop loving you.”

  Sometimes she got sensitive. Her hormones were making her rage, laugh, and cry all within a few minutes, but mostly she was sweet and, even after a year of being married to her, he found every day exciting. “Ew, don’t be nice to me. It creeps me out.”

  “You’re supposed to tell me you feel the same way!”

  He shrugged. “You’re all right, I guess. I really only married you because you have a nice ass.”

  “Tanner!”

  She looked completely outraged and he threw his head back and laughed.

  He cupped her increasingly round chee
ks in his hands and kissed her gently. There was something about seeing his wife pregnant that made him want her even more. “You know I’m crazy about you, Reed.”

  “That’s Mrs. Brennan to you.” She kissed him back, a little longer, a little deeper this time, and it sparked that same fire in him that had been sparking since the first time his lips touched hers.

  “Mmm.” He slid his hands down her back and pulled her even closer. “Teo can stay at your brother’s house a little longer. Why don’t we go home and spend a little time alone?”

  “Are you crazy? I’m pregnant and I’m hungry and if you don’t feed me right now I’m going to bite your hand off.” She walked away from him, mumbling, “I can’t believe he just said that to me.”

  He laughed again. All of his days had been filled with laughter since he married, filled with joy. Tanner had never believed in perfect, but if such a thing did exist, his life with her would be it.

  DON’T MISS CASS AND WYLIE’S ROMANCE IN HOPE BLOOMS by Jamie Pope

  Available now at your favorite bookstore or e-tailer!

  HOPE BLOOMS

  Jamie Pope

  “Beautifully written . . . a story you won’t forget.”

  —Kristan Higgins, New York Times bestselling author

  When tragedy destroys everything you’ve built,

  how do you find the strength to go on?

  In one shattering instant, schoolteacher Cassandra Miller lost everything that mattered to her. Stricken with guilt and sorrow, she has no reason to care about tomorrow. The last person she wants help from is the man she wants to forget. In childhood, Wylie Everett was her cherished best friend. In adulthood, he was the secret lover who left her without explanation. Now he’s the person who won’t let her go down without a fight.

  A retired Marine, Wylie has always loved Cass, though their backgrounds were as different as could be. Years ago, he walked away believing he was not good enough for her. But he’s never stopped regretting his decision. Now, helping her heal is the only way he can make amends, and hopefully make up for lost time. But their rekindled passion will be tested by pain he’s never resolved. Can he and Cass find one last way to move forward, and risk rebuilding their lives . . . together?