Never Saw it Coming

by Bernadette Marie

  He raked his fingers through his hair and turned to find Dane and Jason standing in the doorway. Jason’s eyes were filled with tears, and Dane, with his hands on Jason’s shoulders, only shook his head.

  Mike rubbed his hand over his unshaven face and looked at his son. “I have to go back to Denver. You guys can stay up here and finish your vacation.” He shifted his eyes to Jason. “I’m sorry, kiddo.”

  Jason’s lips quivered as he looked past Mike and locked eyes with her. “Mom, Dad wouldn’t really do that, would he? That’s really bad, Mom.”

  She wiped her eyes. “I know. Baby…” She started, but Jason turned from Dane’s grip and slammed the bedroom door, only barely missing Dane. Then she heard it lock.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Mike stood in the middle of the room and looked around. The kitchen was a total loss. They’d been cooking on the stove, which had to be jimmied to work in the first place. He figured Austin was lucky to be alive. According to the fire marshal, most of the time, in situations like this, there were usually explosions.

  Esther kicked a charred piece of something across the floor. “The water damage alone is enough to have to nearly demo the entire bedroom above the kitchen now. That little…”

  “We will demo it back and make it perfect.”

  She crossed her arms in front of her. “You’re not mad?”

  “Oh, I’m pissed as hell, but it’s not going to get me anywhere. This year hasn’t been what I’ve expected, so I’m going to roll with it.”

  She chuckled. “No wonder she loves you. My girl isn’t stupid. She knows a good thing.”

  “Yeah, well you’ll have to convince her of that. She thinks she’s to blame for all of this and that couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

  “Why does she blame herself?”

  Mike paced the small space with his hands tucked into the pockets of his coat, his lift ticket still clasped to the zipper. “She took him back. She let him back into their lives. But I know she didn’t realize it went this deep. This has nothing to do with her.”

  “You have to tell her that.”

  “I did. A million times.” He pulled his hand from his pocket and brushed it under his nose to distract his senses from the smell. “An hour in the car with your daughter when she’s having a pity party is a long hour. She’s stubborn. She looks tough, and don’t get me wrong, she is. But seriously it all stems from her being a softy at heart. If she was the bitch she tries to be, Austin would never have come back the first time.”

  Esther laughed hard. “You know her pretty well, I’d say.” She kicked another charred piece of wood. “What do you do now? I don’t know a man in the world who would put up with her shit, and I’m her mother. So I can say that.”

  He narrowed his eyes on her. “Why would you say that? She’s hurt. She needs us more now than ever.”

  Esther smiled as she walked to him and took his hands in hers. “I knew that’s what you would say.” She squeezed his hands. “What are your plans, Mike? In the long term with Chandra, what are your plans.”

  He didn’t have to think of an answer. It was on the tip of his tongue. “I want to marry her. I want to tattoo her name on my god-dammed arm,” he said laughing.

  “Don’t wait for her to come around. She’ll put up that facade again, and you’ll have to start all over.”

  “I don’t think she’ll say yes.”

  “I guarantee it. So don’t be upset when she doesn’t. Ask again.”

  Mike kissed Esther on the cheek. “I’ll be good to her—to them.”

  “I knew that the moment I met you. And that’s why I bought into your investment. I didn’t want you to get away.”

  ~*~

  Chandra had the house back in order. It certainly hadn’t been how she wanted to spend her vacation. She’d managed to avoid Mike for the past three days, and she dealt with the moping child because of it.

  But that morning, Dane had called and asked if he could take him to play soccer one more time before they headed back to California.

  With Austin still in the hospital under custody, she figured it was safe enough. Besides, she didn’t have the heart to see her son’s eyes go sad again.

  An hour after Dane had picked up Jason, the doorbell rang. Chandra stood frozen in the kitchen. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and at that moment she wished she hadn’t been alone in the house. Who was to say that Austin didn’t have more friends lurking around in the neighborhood. What if he owed someone money or… the doorbell rang again.

  Without making a sound, she walked toward the window to look out to the street. Parked on the street was a black Honda crossover with a new sticker in the window. She didn’t know anyone who drove it, but then she saw movement at the door.

  Cranking her head, she saw that her visitor was Mike.

  Tears instantly stung her eyes and anger began to fuel heat through her. Why, she wasn’t sure. Her anger wasn’t aimed at Mike, but he seemed to bring it out.

  Moving swiftly to the door, she yanked it open.

  “What do you want?”

  He didn’t flinch, smile, or even frown. He only stood there calmly, those blue eyes focused in on her.

  “I want you to marry me.”

  Seriously? She kept her eyes on him, but he didn't react at all. “Are you kidding me? What in the hell…” she stopped and then noticed a suitcase at his feet. “What’s that for?”

  “I’m moving in. I hear you have an empty room.”

  The anger seemed to be defusing into confusion. “You have an apartment. Hell, you have a house.”

  He nodded. “The apartment was rented out this morning. Gabe’s cousin is moving to town next week. Since I was done with the remodel, I told him he should rent it out.”

  “Then go live in your house,” she spat out the words, leaving Mike standing on the porch in the cold.

  “You might have heard. We had a kitchen fire.”

  Chandra pursed her lips. “That’s not funny.”

  “It's a fact. So, are you going to marry me?”

  “No, I’m not going to marry you. You’re crazy.”

  He nodded again, this time slower. “It’s really cold out here. Can I come in?”

  She wanted to tell him no. He didn’t need to be in her house. Having him there would only confuse her, and he’d already done that with that whole marriage question. But it seemed as though she really did want to have him there, though just for a moment.

  She stepped back and let him through. He set the suitcase on the floor, and she shut the door behind him, then pushed herself against it as if in defiance.

  He cast a look at her, then walked into the kitchen.

  “What are you doing?” she asked following him.

  “I’d love some coffee. It’s freezing out. Dane will probably have Jason back soon. Even sensible boys know to come in from the cold.”

  “Mike, you don’t need coffee, and you don’t need to be here.”

  “I need to live here.”

  She clenched her jaw and tossed her braid over her shoulder. “How long do you need to live here? This is stupid. Why don’t you have my mother move back here, and you live at Tracy’s?”

  He wrinkled up his nose. “I’m not attracted to Tracy. Besides, your mom will move out of Tracy’s when the house is finished. She’s going to run the place.”

  Seriously, he was making her head spin. She pulled back one of the kitchen chairs and sat down. “Now my mother is your partner, and she’s running your B and B?”

  “Paul still has that business opportunity for me. I’ll need to have time to explore that.”

  She pressed her palm to her chest as she watched Mike open her cupboards looking for mugs and coffee filters.

  Finally, she stood up. Pushing him out of the way, she gathered the coffee and the filters. “Sit down. Let me do this.”

  He didn’t move. Instead, he leaned against the counter casually and watched her make coffee.

  �
��So about that room you have.”

  Chandra growled as she pressed the button on the machine and set it to brew. “I never said I had a room. My mother just can’t tell you to come over here and…”

  He cut her off by grabbing hold of her hips and pulling her to him. The air whooshed from her lungs as she found herself pressed against him. Her hands came to his chest by instinct.

  As mad as she was, she needed to push free, but she’d missed him dearly. A moment of this wouldn’t hurt a thing, she thought, as he took her mouth with his and swept her under with it.

  Nothing made sense now in the jumbled mess of her brain. She loved this man, and he was decent and kind. But her mistakes had cost him dearly. She couldn’t let him live with her bad judgment for the rest of his life.

  His tongue flicked against hers, and her legs were weak again. Oh, to have this every day of her life, it was nearly worth it.

  But something finally broke through her senses, and she pushed back from him.

  “We can’t do this,” she said brushing the back of her hand over her warm lips.

  He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms in front of him. “We do it well.”

  “Mike, my life is a mess.”

  “No,” he said easily. “Your head is a mess. As soon as you sort it out, you’ll marry me.”

  She spun and planted her feet firmly where she stood. “Why do you keep saying that to me? When did we ever talk about marriage?”

  “We didn’t. I’m asking you about it now. Will you marry me?”

  “And I said no.”

  He was grinning now. Why was he grinning?

  She stomped out of the room and down the hall to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. She paced a circle around the bed and back again. Each drawer to her dresser was opened and closed as if she thought there was something she could be looking for. The point was, she was mad. She was confused. She was in love with the man, and he’d asked her to marry him.

  The thought came to her as if she’d only now heard it.

  He wanted to marry her after all that had happened.

  Chandra fell to the bed. Looking up at the old sculpted ceiling, she heard him ask again, in her head.

  She didn’t know what made her the bigger idiot, pushing him away because she’d once loved Austin, or keeping him forever, because who knew what might happen.

  Sitting up, she pressed a hand to her stomach which had tightened with knots.

  A few minutes later she walked back to the kitchen to find him sitting at her table drinking coffee and looking at his phone.

  “The boys are on their way back. I’ll have to take the rental back when I take them to the airport.”

  “You’ll need a ride.”

  He nodded. “I will. You can drive my new car out and pick me up.”

  She looked out the window to the car parked on the street. “You finally bought yourself a car?”

  “I did. Can’t rely on you to drive me everywhere,” he said taking another sip of his coffee.

  Chandra picked up the rag that was draped over the side of the sink and wiped down the counter. There wasn’t any mess to be cleaned up, but it gave her a moment to think.

  Replacing the rag, she then turned to him. “Why did you keep asking me to marry you when I kept telling you no?”

  He set his cup down and leaned back in his chair. “Because your mother told me you’d tell me no. Then she said to keep asking.”

  A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, but she fought it. “You talked to my mother about this?”

  “Of course.”

  “When?”

  “Days ago.”

  Wiping her hands on her pants, she studied him. Cool, calm, and oh so handsome, he sat there gazing at her. After all that had happened, he still looked at her, and it was a gaze.

  “Why do you want to marry me?”

  “I have a million reasons,” he said as he stood and moved to her. “But I only need one.”

  He put his hands on her waist and pressed his forehead to hers before she lifted her arms around his neck.

  “I love you, Chandra. I love that kid of yours too. I’m not a shabby husband. And I think I’m a pretty good father figure. I just don’t see why you won’t marry me.”

  “Because I…” She stopped and lifted her head. At that moment she didn’t have a reason in the world. “I didn’t see this coming, Mike. I wasn’t prepared to fall in love with you.”

  “Yeah, I wasn’t prepared either. But in the past few months, I’ve learned that sometimes that door that slams in your face is a blessing.”

  Chandra raked her fingers through his hair. “I don’t know if I can marry you. You have no ink. It says to me that you can’t commit.” She grinned up at him, and he puckered his lips.

  “Let’s go. I’ll get your name tattooed right over my heart.”

  The sentiment squeezed her own heart until she thought she’d fall to the floor in a puddle of goo.

  “You win. I’ll marry you.”

  “Finally.” He blew out a breath. “Now, why don’t you go open that back door and let your boys in then. They have got to be freezing by now having had their ears pressed to the glass for nearly forty minutes.”

  She felt the wave of laughter flow through her as she did as he said.

  Standing just beyond the door, Jason and Dane sat on an old tree stump in the back yard. Jason held a bouquet of flowers and Dane a ring box open with a gold band inside.

  There was no stopping the tears now as she turned into Mike’s arms. “Thanks for walking into the bar that day.”

  “Thanks for not saying no when I said I’d like to stay for the conversation.”

  She pressed a soft, warm kiss to his lips. “I’ll never say no again.”

  "You'll marry me?"

  "Yes."

  "I can live here forever?"

  "Forever," she said pressing her hands to his cheeks and pulling him in for a kiss, realizing that she'd be able to do that any time she wanted. Now this man who still looked like a cross between Bill Gates and a college professor, with no ink on his body, would be hers forever. She would never have guessed that this was exactly how she wanted it.

  MEET THE AUTHOR

  Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. The married mother of five sons promises Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it, because she lives it.

  When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.

  A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too. Bernadette Marie is also the CEO of Illumination Author Events.

  We hope you enjoyed NEVER SAW IT COMING by Bernadette Marie. For your pleasure, here is another excerpt from one of Bernadette Marie’s collection.

  CANDY KISSES

  Part of the Denver Brides Series ~ A Sweet Treat Valentine’s Novella

  CHAPTER ONE

  Three hundred more truffles needed to be rolled and Tabitha’s hands had long gone numb. On any other day, she’d take the time to stretch her fingers or even run them under warm water to relieve the cramping. But it was February, and that meant no stopping until the fifteenth. It was also spontaneous wedding season where people jumped at the thought of marriage, and that always made for a lot more work.

  She blew a loose strand of hair from her eyes and kept making perfectly round balls from the batter before setting them on the lined tray to her side. She couldn’t remember a year when she’d had as many wedding chocolates to make. Her
biggest client Claire Banks, an esteemed wedding planner, must have booked every day in February with a wedding or party. And she had chosen Tabitha’s Chocolates to tempt the guests at every table.

  It was work that Tabitha lived for but added to her already heavy workload before Valentine’s Day, she was feeling a bit pinched for time, and her mood was sinking fast.

  “Okay, it’s done.” Brie darted into the prep area of Tabitha’s small Cherry Creek store, waving a work order. “We just picked up the Johnson-Carr wedding.”

  Tabitha squished the dough ball in her hand. “How are we going to get this all done? We might need to start saying no,” she grumbled as she rolled yet another truffle through the cocoa and then set it on the tray to dry.

  “Hey listen, Ms. Valentine and Wedding-Scrooge. I’ve been planning a tropical vacation with grass huts and fruity drinks with umbrellas. We need all the weddings we can get so I can make the big bucks and get out of this icebox for a while.” Brie hung the order on a clipboard on the order wall.

  Tabitha scowled as she scooped out a dozen more truffles and set them on the tray to roll through the coating. “Scrooge, huh?”

  “You work too hard. You forget what it’s like to have men fall at your feet at least one day a year.”

  “Yet you and my mother seem to think it should happen all the time. I mean how many times can the woman get engaged and married on Valentine’s Day? Doesn’t it take away the special meaning?”

  “Maybe she does it just to piss you off.” Brie grinned, and Tabitha wondered if she and her mother didn’t just plan to make her crazy on purpose.

  Tabitha shook her head as Brie went back to answering the phone at the front counter. Sometimes your best friends shouldn’t be the people you hire.

  She blew out a breath and thought of the upcoming holiday. She couldn’t help but be cynical in February. People turned starry-eyed and lovesick all because of a greeting card holiday. She, for one, knew better than to believe in such fanciful dreams.