by Norah Wilson
“Oh, grow up,” Ember said. “We’re going to unpack some equipment that came in for the boxing club. Aren’t we, Jace?
He waggled his eyebrows. “Eventually.”
Laughing, Ember went to hug April. “I’m so glad you’re going to be joining the family. I always wanted a sister.”
When April emerged from the hug, her eyes were damp.
Jace gave Scott a shot to the arm on the way past. “Congrats again, man.”
“Thanks.” Scott had a feeling he was grinning like a fool, but he couldn’t help it. Didn’t really care.
“Okay, I really do need a shower,” Titus said, as soon as Ember and Jace were out the door. “But I’ll expect the scotch to be broken out when I come back down. The good stuff.”
Scott had gone to the liquor store earlier for a bottle of The Maccallan. “Deal.”
When Titus left, April came over to Scott’s side. He put his arm around her and drew her close. Sid came up on the other side, and he pulled her into the hug.
“This has been the best day,” Sid said.
“Agreed.” Scott ruffled her hair.
“Can I tell Danika the news tomorrow?”
Scott looked at April. As far as he was concerned, he didn’t care who knew, but women could be funny about that stuff. “I have no problem with folks knowing, but it’s up to your mom.”
“Can I, Mom?”
“Sure.”
“Can I call her tonight? Like, right now?”
“It’s almost bedtime, Ladybug.”
“Danika doesn’t go to bed until nine, so there’s still time. And everyone in the family knows now. So can I?”
April groaned. “Okay, sure. But you’ll make the call from your bedroom, and I’ll be timing you. Tomorrow’s a school day. We’ll have to start getting ready for bed as soon as you hang up.”
“Okay. My phone’s upstairs. Let’s go.” She tugged at her mother’s arm.
April smiled at Scott. “I’ll take my time up there. You can come find me after you’ve had that manly drink of scotch.”
“Try and stop me.”
Smiling, she let Sid lead her away.
Uncle Arden cleared his throat, looked around the empty room. “Was it something I said?”
Scott laughed. “Yeah, it cleared out pretty quickly, didn’t it?” But he was glad they were alone.
He went to the cupboard, grabbed three glasses and brought them over to the table. Retrieving the scotch from the cupboard over the refrigerator, he went to sit beside his uncle.
“I’m so happy about this, Son. I thought April was perfect for you from the first, but I didn’t dare hope.”
Scott rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I’ve never given you much reason to hope, have I? A rolling stone gathers no moss, right? No marriage prospects, either.”
“Scott, you don’t owe me anything, not even grandchildren. If you’d wanted to keep rolling—if that’s what you needed to do to find peace—well, that would have been okay by me. But for your sake, I’m so glad you found April and Sid.”
“I want to adopt Sid,” he said in a rush. “April’s on board.”
“Good for you.” Arden grinned. “I’m guessing Sid approves?”
“We haven’t raised it with her yet, but I want her to feel like my daughter, as much my child as any kids April and I might have.”
Arden nodded. “That’s important, taking the legal steps. And I know you’ll work at making sure she knows it, feels it.”
“I get it now.” Scott picked up the whisky bottle and cracked the seal, but made no move to pour it into the glasses. “I mean, I always knew you wanted me to be a real part of this family. You did everything right. It was just me. I couldn’t—”
“Don’t beat yourself up about anything, Son. You had a traumatic loss, followed by being jerked out of your city life and plunked down on a farm with relatives you didn’t know. No one could blame you if—”
“Just listen, okay?”
Arden lifted his eyebrows but he nodded for Scott to continue.
“What I’m trying to say is that I knew all of that intellectually. But it wasn’t until I realized that I wanted to make a family with April and Sid that I really understood it on an emotional level. A gut level. I just want to say thank you. What you and Mom did for me…there are no words. You made me feel at home, feel loved, but you gave me the room I needed. I was so afraid you’d be mad at me or disappointed if you suspected that sliver of loneliness I was hiding. But you knew all along and you gave me space and freedom…” Scott swallowed. “Just…thank you.”
Arden’s eyes looked damp again, but his voice was strong. “You’re welcome. Literally. You’ve always been welcome.”
“Thanks.” It took everything he had not to cry. “Sid and I have had the dad talk. She’s decided she’ll keep calling me Scott for now, and will call me Dad as soon as her mother and I are married. And she wants to call you Grandpa.”
“Grandpa?” Arden grinned. “I like the sound of that. And it’s a good plan. A logical time for the transition.”
“I was thinking…” Scott looked down at his boots. “I know it’s a couple decades late, but how would you feel if I started calling you Dad?”
Arden closed his eyes. For a second, Scott thought he was in physical distress. Then he opened his eyes, climbed to his feet and held out his arms.
Scott stood and embraced his father. “Dad.”
“Thank you, Son.” Arden returned the hug, thumping Scott on the back.
Scott released him. “It’ll probably come out Uncle…er…Dad for a while, but I’ll get there.”
“I know you will.” With a last clap on the shoulder, Arden stepped back. “We’ve got plenty of time.”
They both retreated to their chairs in time to hear Titus thumping down the stairs. He rounded the corner into the kitchen and spied the scotch and glasses.
“Good, you waited for me.”
Scott and Arden laughed uproariously.
Titus frowned. “What’d I miss?”
“Not a thing,” Scott said, reaching for the whisky bottle. “Grab a glass.”
Chapter 48
APRIL’S HEARTBEAT slowly returned to normal. She and Scott lay in his bed in the lovely old hayloft, arms wrapped around each other.
They’d sneaked out after everyone else was down for the night around eleven o’clock. April had been so ready. Scott’s mouth had been redolent of scotch, with his own bold, exciting taste just beneath it. He’d kissed her dizzy, then kissed every inch of skin he exposed as he stripped her clothes off. Despite the heat thrown off by the space heater, she’d shivered hard. He’d shed his own clothes and they’d dived under the goose down duvet he’d brought out the beginning of January to supplement the Hudson’s Bay blanket.
“Hey, how’re you doing?” He lifted a finger to push a strand a hair back behind her ear.
“Fantastically.” She smoothed a hand over his back, loving the warm solidity of him beneath her palm. “You?”
“Never better. Although I’m thinking it’s getting a little cold for this.”
She smiled, recalling the way her skin had broken out in gooseflesh when he’d kissed his way up her thigh. “A little.”
He nuzzled her chin. “If we were married, we could sleep inside.”
She pulled back to see the grin on his face. “Are you seriously suggesting we get married sooner for your comfort?”
His smile faded. “No, I’m suggesting we get married as soon as possible because I cannot wait to be your husband. Sid’s father.”
She blinked. “Good answer.”
“I know you and Ember and Ocean have to dig your calendars out and pick a date that works for your business, for the farm, and all that. I’m just saying March has a lot to recommend it, as opposed to, like, June. Or September.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.” She brought her hand around to his chest. “Any other considerations we should be mindful of?”
>
He captured her hand in his. “Here’s the thing—whether it’s next month or next year, I’ll be okay with it, if it’s what you want. I’m in this for life, April Dawn Morgan, soon-to-be April Dawn Standish.”
April Standish.
Yes, she was taking his name. Sidney would too when the adoption went through. She couldn’t wait to become an official part of this family she’d found. To love this Standish man, and live here on Standish ground. Though maybe not in Arden’s house. At least not forever. Scott was already talking about building them a new, energy efficient home on the south side of the main house’s driveway, one with a kitchen to be designed to her specifications.
She smiled at him, her heart in her eyes. “I’m in it for the long haul too.”
He kissed her tenderly, then relaxed back onto his pillow. “You’re going to be so good for this community. I can see your April Dawn’s business really taking off. It could be so much more than a cottage industry, if you want it to be.”
His faith warmed her. “Thank you. I do want to see what I can do with it, see how far I can take it. I’ve already mentioned to Jace that I’d like to pick his brain, avoid as many pitfalls as I can.”
“He knows what he’s talking about,” Scott said. “He’s done a ton of consulting for start-ups, or so Ember tells me.”
“Yeah, but could he help the Eschers when they need a pipefitter who can work with stainless steel?”
He grinned. “True that.”
Her own smile faded. “I know we talked about it, but are you sure about passing on that Alberta project? It sounds like the kind of thing that could make a big impact, get you noticed.”
His answer came instantly. “As sure as you are about turning down K.Z. McCoy.”
“So, that would be very sure.”
“Exactly.” He rolled onto his side, his hand coming to rest on her belly. “Now that I’m here…present and committed to being here…I can’t stop thinking about stuff to be done. Not just building a house for us, but the farm.”
“What kind of things?”
“For one, I’d love to look into controlled atmosphere storage for our apple crop. We’re a pretty small operation, too small to afford CA technology. We rely solely on refrigerated storage, such as it is. But if we got together with a few other organic apple farmers, maybe we could do something collaboratively.”
That’s when she knew it. That’s when she allowed herself to fully, wholeheartedly believe that he was here to stay. There would be more nights like this, with them curled up together in bed talking. Nights after Sid—or their kids, plural—had gone to bed.
Her heart swelled with such happiness, she just couldn’t contain it. Pushing up on her elbow, she leaned over and kissed him.
“Mmm, where’d that come from?”
She grinned. “Must be all that sexy controlled atmosphere talk.”
“Yeah?” He waggled his eyebrows. “Then maybe you’d like to hear my ideas about using lava rock as a growing medium for the strawberry plugs?”
Her lips quirked, but she managed not to laugh. “Oh, yeah,” she said in her sultriest voice. “Like that, lover.” In one quick motion, she slid her knee over his groin and moved astride him. The blankets slipped down to her waist. His eyes widened and his breath caught. And dear God in heaven, he’d never looked more gorgeous to her than he did right now with his dark head on the pillow, passion flaring in his eyes. “Talk horticulture to me.”
“Are you sure you’re ready?” He lifted his hands to her breasts with their nipples pebbled from the cold. “Because it gets dirty. Really, really dirty.”
She couldn’t hold it in any longer. Throwing her head back, she let it out in a joyful laugh.
He curled up to cradle her in his arms.
“That,” he said gruffly. “If I can just hear that laugh...” He brought one hand up to cup her chin. “See that smile, that face, every day for the rest of my life, I’ll die a happy man. I love you, April. I love you more than there are stars in the sky.”
There it went again, her heart swelling and swelling with emotion.
“That’s all I need too.” She touched his hair, his forehead, then bent to kiss his eyelids closed. “I love you, Scott Standish, and I’ll love you until those stars burn out.”
Then there was silence in the barn. Outside, the cold winter sky blazed with the glittering of a thousand stars.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Scroll down to read an excerpt from Guarding Suzannah, Book 1 in my Serve and Protect romantic suspense series.
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Other Books
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Also in this Hearts of Harkness
Contemporary Romance series:
A Fall from Yesterday, The Standish Clan #1
Ember’s Fire, The Standish Clan #2
Romantic Suspense
Fatal Hearts, Montlake Romance
Every Breath She Takes, Montlake Romance
Guarding Suzannah, Serve and Protect #1
Saving Grace, Serve and Protect #2
Protecting Paige, Serve and Protect #3
Serve and Protect Box Set
Paranormal Romance
The Merzetti Effect—A Vampire Romance, #1
Nightfall—A Vampire Romance, #2
Dystopian Romance w/ Heather Doherty
The Eleventh Commandment
Dix Dodd Cozy Mysteries by N.L. Wilson
The Case of the Flashing Fashion Queen (#1)
Family Jewels (#2)
Death by Cuddle Club (#3)
A Moment on the Lips (a Dix Dodd short story)
Covering Her Assets (#4)
Dix Dodd Mysteries Box Set 1 (#1-3)
Check out Dix Dodd’s website: http://www.dixdodd.com
Books by the writing team of Wilson/Doherty
Young Adult
Comes the Night (Casters, #1)
Enter the Night (Casters, #2)
Embrace the Night (Casters, #3)
Forever the Night (Casters, #4)
Casters Series Box Set (#1-3)
Read about the Casters series at http://castersthebooks.com
Ashlyn’s Radio
The Summoning (Gatekeepers, #1)
About the Author
NORAH WILSON is a USA Today bestselling author of romantic suspense, contemporary romance, and paranormal romance. Together with the very talented Heather Doherty, she also writes the hilarious Dix Dodd cozy mysteries, exciting YA paranormal, and even dystopian romance.
The tenth child in a family of eleven children, Norah knew she had to do something to distinguish herself. That something turned out to be writing. She finaled three times in the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart ® contest, and went on to win Dorchester Publishing’s New Voice in Romance contest in 2004. A hybrid author, she now writes romantic suspense for Montlake Romance and also self-publishes.
She lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, with her husband, two adult children, two dogs (Neva and Ruby) and two cats (Ruckus and Milo).
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Excerpt from Guarding Suzannah
Serve and Protect Series, #1
Copyright © 2010 Norah Wilson
DETECTIVE JOHN QUIGLEY stepped inside Courtroom 2, closing the door quietly behind him. One or two people in the small gallery glanced up at him briefly, then returned their attention to the front of the courtroom where a young patrol officer was being sworn in.
Quigg took a seat, glancing around the drab, low-ceilinged, windowless room. Provincial Court. Nothing like the much grander Queen’s Bench courtrooms upstairs or the Court of Appeal chambers on the top floor. But aesthetics aside, they did a brisk business here. In the fifteen years Quigg had spent on the Fredericton force, he’d been responsible for sending quite a few customers through these doors. Doors that all too often turned out to be the revolving kind, the kind that spit offenders right back out on the street to re-offend.
On that thought, Quigg glanced over at the accused. Clean shaven and neatly dressed, he sat off to the right, beside the Sheriff’s deputy. His long hair, drawn back into a ponytail, glinted blue-black under the fluorescent lights. If he were conscious of Quigg’s scrutiny, he didn’t betray it with so much as a twitch of a muscle. Rather, he kept his flat, emotionless gaze trained on the witness.
“Your witness, Mr. Roth.”
At the magistrate’s words, Quigg faced forward again.
“Thank you, Your Honour.” The Crown Prosecutor adjusted his table microphone and directed his first question to the witness. Mike Langan, the impossibly young looking constable in the witness box, responded, his answer clear and concise.