Desire and Protect
Page 20
“Yes. She didn’t respond.”
“It was only one letter. Do you want to try again?”
Phoebe shook her head. “I might have, but my grandmother found me crying in my room a week or so after I sent the letter. She said she had tried, too. My dad tried throughout the years. I faced facts a long time ago.” She turned to look at him. “My mom truly doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
Shane put one hand to her cheek and caressed, and she leaned into the touch. “I’m so sorry, Phoebe. I wish things could be different with her.”
She nodded and looked back at the letters. “I think I’m ready to get rid of these.” She closed the lid and ran her hand over the box.
“Are you sure?” Shane’s tone said he would be with her either way. He’d support her if she wanted to hold out hope for something more with her mom, no matter how foolish the dream.
She looked at him, and had no doubts, then. “Yeah, I am.” She put aside the box and turned so she faced him. “I have everything I need now. I have a home. I have a community. I have friends I value and love. I have my dad. And,” She leaned in close, putting her forehead to his as she whispered, “I have you. The hole I had inside me for so long is gone.”
His hand came around the back of her neck and she heard him still. He seemed to just be breathing her in, and she was happy to let him do that for as long as he liked. She was happy to sit and breathe him in. To revel in the fact they’d found each other.
She was well and truly whole now.
“I love you, Phoebe Joy.” His words filled her with pure bliss and she wanted him to feel the same.
She raised her hands to the sides of his face as she closed her eyes. “I love you, too, Shane Bishop.”
Epilogue
When you find love, you’ll know it. Your doubts and fears will no longer seem significant. They’ll be washed away by the sure comfort of knowing there is someone in the world who takes you as you are, who loves you without bounds, and who will be there with you through all the rain life showers upon you.
Fiona O’Malley’s Journal
Three weeks later, Phoebe sat wrapped in Shane’s arms after Sunday dinner at his mom’s house. Laura and Cade sat on the floor against the couch, a blanket wrapped around them as the credits to the movie played.
Josh and May sat on the other couch, with Jamie May asleep between them.
Laura and Phoebe sighed contentedly at the same time and then began to laugh. They’d been the ones pushing to watch 50 First Dates.
Both women looked at each other. “There’s nothing better than a first kiss,” they said in unison, echoing a line from the movie.
It had been weeks since Shane had taken Phoebe home from the hospital that last time, and he never planned to let her go. Life with Phoebe was, simply put, joy. It was everything he’d wanted, and more he couldn’t have imagined. He never would have guessed how happy making Phoebe smile could make him. Or how incredible it felt to hear her sigh and whisper his name as she wrapped herself around him in the morning.
Shane leaned in to whisper in her ear. “If I get you home soon, we can relive our first kiss, again and again and again.”
Phoebe blushed, just as he hoped she would.
“Love you.” He whispered that one close enough that she would feel more than hear the words. She nuzzled into him and smiled.
“I love you, too, Shane Bishop.”
They were in their own small cocoon when the world burst back in around them. All heads turned as headlights cut across the night sky outside the window.
“Late for a visitor,” Josh said, likely voicing the thoughts of everyone.
They all stood and followed Josh to the kitchen where he pulled open the door before their visitor could knock.
Laura’s former mother-in-law, Martha Kensington, stood framed in the doorway wrapped in a sweater, her hair up in a sloppy bun. Shane knew Martha didn’t normally leave the house without her hair done and at least lipstick on.
The woman seemed to scan the room, her eyes landing on Laura. Their eyes locked and Martha swallowed before she spoke. It was then that Shane saw the tremble in the woman’s chin. “They’ve got him, Laura. They’ve got James.”
Shane pulled Phoebe to him and held her, needing the contact as his family took the hit. He heard a choked sob from his sister-in-law and saw Cade wrap strong arms around his wife.
Phoebe had given him more than her heart. Thanks to Phoebe, his sister-in-law would be getting her brother back.
Dear Reader,
I’m so glad you found the Heroes of Evers, TX Series. I hope you love reading them.
Next up is Cherish and Protect. This one is James’s story and I can’t wait for you to read it!!!!
Thank you to my husband and kids for all the support and love you show me!
Thank you to D.P. Lyle, MD for all of your generous expertise on this book. It’s greatly appreciated. Thank you to John and Shari Bartholomew and all of the other people who stopped what they were doing to answer questions for me.
Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes romantic suspense, contemporary romance, and sports romance. She lives with an extremely understanding husband, three wonderful children, and two mostly-behaved dogs in Austin, Texas. It’s a bit of a zoo, but she wouldn’t change a thing.
Lori published her first novel in April of 2013 and hasn’t looked back since then. She loves to connect with her readers.
Follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/loriryanromance/
or Twitter at https://twitter.com/Loriryanauthor
or Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/loriryanauthor/
Contents
Also by Lori Ryan
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Epilogue