Forgiven (Touched Series #2)

by Vicki Green

  My whole body is shaking now and I nod, whispering a ‘yes’ so only he can hear but everyone begins yelling as he opens the box, removes the glimmering ring and places it on my finger. As he stands, his mouth captures mine and I pour all the love I’m feeling into this one kiss. I’m almost knocked over, his sturdy hands grabbing me to keep me steady, as we’re swarmed by everyone. So much laughter, smiling, tears and everyone talking at once. I look up at him to see he’s staring at me, a smile on his handsome face and I mouth ‘I love you’. His lips blow me a kiss and mouths ‘I love you’ as we let everyone continue their congratulations but our eyes never leaving each other’s.

  “Well, I have to say, my brother does have great tastes in rings,” Pearl says in between bites and I give her a smirk, my brow raised and my eye squinting. She laughs. “Oh, don’t get me wrong. He has wonderful tastes in fiancées as well but that ring…. It’s to die for.” She smirks at me then my head turns when I feel Bo’s hand covering mine on the table, and I just stare at his sexiness as he leans over to look at Pearl.

  “Well, since you’ve known about this and the ring for over a week and have been driving me crazy with wanting to see it plus all the ‘I can’t wait until she’s my sister-in-law’ every time we’ve talked, I would think ‘great’ is a little less than what I was hoping for.” His eyebrow raises as he smirks. I hold my giggle in as we all smirk at each other playfully.

  I look down at our hands, the beautiful huge diamond sparkling along with the little ones around the thick band making my smile even wider, my heart even fuller, if that’s even possible. I lean over and kiss him, my lips not wanting to leave his. “I think it’s magnificent. Thank you. I love you so much,” I whisper against his lips.

  His other hand moves around me, snaking underneath my long ringlets of curls until he cups the back of my neck. “You deserve it and so much more, my love.” He kisses me and all the sounds seem to fade until I hear someone tapping against a glass. We both turn our heads, and I see Knox standing, across the table, his glass in hand hitting it with a spoon.

  “A toast!” My eyes scan around and see everyone lifting a glass of champagne. When did we get those? I follow Bo and pick up the glass in front of me and smile. He looks right at Bo and sets the spoon down. “When you came running into the restaurant that day, excitingly telling me and your mom about this little friend you met, I had no idea it was a girl.” He looks at me and smiles and I swear I see some tears in his eyes. “You pulled on my hand until I got up and followed you to the alley. When I saw her my first thought was ‘Who is that dirty little girl?’ but I couldn’t believe how cute she was.” Laughter escapes me as it does everyone else around the table. Bo squeezes my hand and my smile grows. He looks back at Bo as his face turns serious. “To this day, you’ve said you were going to marry her one day, never giving up when things were bad but I always believed you would.” He reaches his hand down to Jade’s hand and she looks from us to him with love and pride on her face, tears had already made their way down her cheeks. Then he looks at me once again and smiles. “Stormy. You’ve always been in our family and couldn’t be more happy nor proud to make that official but we can’t call you our daughter-in-law because you’ve always been our daughter.”

  I remove my hand from Bo’s quickly, setting down my glass and jumping out of my chair, running around the table and throwing my arms around Knox. I feel Jade grasp my arm and my hand finds hers as she presses a kiss against my head. “I love you all too!” I move back a bit but not letting go of them, tears clouding my sight so I blink rapidly to be able to see them clearer. “You’ve always been there for me, for my mom and thank you for that. I’ve always been proud that you’ve considered me part of the family.” The sniffling starts and Jade’s hand leaves mine as she reaches down to grab a tissue and hands it to me.

  She laughs and dabs her own face. “I brought a ton. I knew we’d need them.” A laugh bursts from my mouth and nod as I turn and run right into Bo. My arms move around his neck as he envelopes me in a hug and I feel like I’ll burst with all the emotions that are making my heart beat so wildly.

  We all finally calm down and enjoy champagne with a great meal. All talk is around our wedding but I just sit there thinking about how lucky I am. When asked when and where I just shrug but Bo tells them we have to talk about what I want. “Most girls have a dream of how they want their wedding, what their dress will look like and I want Stormy to have her dream.” I couldn’t love him anymore than I do right in that moment.

  As we left the private room and into the still packed restaurant, Bo lifted our hands together and shouted that we’d just gotten engaged. The entire place stopped and everyone screamed out their congratulations, people touching us, patting our arms and our backs as we walked through and then we finally reached the small hallway, Bo stopping every once in a while and kissing the crap outta me, until we finally made it upstairs to our apartment.

  That night we made love tenderly. His caring touch filled me with not only desire but everything intensified all the feelings he has for me. We slept with me cocooned in his loving arms, his leg bent over mine and I didn’t ever think I could shut down my mind long enough to fall asleep as I replayed the entire evening. Finally, my eyes grew heavy as I listened to his light breathing.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Four weeks later….

  “Stormy! Let me in, please!” I’ve been standing her knocking on the bathroom door for a couple of minutes now but she’s really starting to worry me. “Come on, Stormy! You’re scaring me!” I jump when the door opens and am totally confused when I look at her. The smile on her beautiful face is huge and the gleam in her eyes making them sparkle. “What’s….? What’s going on in there?” She steps aside and I follow her eyes to several sticks laying on the counter. I feel her hand close around mine, her fingers sliding through, squeezing it tight as she starts walking closer to them. When I look down my eyes widen, my mouth turning into a wide grin and my heart starts beating faster in excitement. “Oh, my God, Peaches!” I turn slightly, putting my hands around her quickly, her arm bent as I never let our hands go and I pick her up off the floor and begin swinging us around. Our mouths collide and we kiss hungrily and with so much need, our heads tilting back and forth as we kiss over and over again. “I want to make love to you so badly right now but….”

  I stop our spinning and she gives me a sad look. “Are you afraid you’ll hurt the baby, Bo? I have to admit, I’m a little nervous after what happened but I don’t think making love will hurt the baby.”

  Setting her down gently, I pull her behind me, our hands still joined and walk right over to my nightstand, pick up the phone and scroll through my contacts until I find just the one, push on it and then push dial. I don’t stop looking ahead of me as I hear the rings and then they pick up. “Dr. Phillip, it’s Bo. Yes. Yes. Thanks. I know, we must get together soon. Dr. Phillip, Stormy’s pregnant. Yes. She just took several.” I look down at my smiling girl as I listen to more congratulations from Dr. Phillip. “Thanks. The reason I’m calling, well besides that, is after what happened before…. Well…. How careful do we need to be? I mean I want….” I listen to him, nodding and then thank him again before hanging up. Throwing the phone back onto the table, I grab Stormy, pull her t-shirt over her head and am loving every second of her giggles as I finish removing her panties and then my clothes, picking her up and lay her on the bed gently then am inside her in a heartbeat. She quiets down as we both begin to get overheated with our desire and soon she’s crying out my name, her body shaking and I’m soon to follow. I lay beside her, my arm over her flat stomach, still panting but I turn my head to see her lying there smiling. “I think we need to get clean.” Her head turns to me, her smile even bigger and she quickly rolls out from under my arm and runs to the bathroom. I jump up and am following her as fast as I can. We get very clean but not until we make love again. I hope I
didn’t hurt her when I pushed her against the tiles or the baby as I rammed into her hard and fast, but I couldn’t contain my passion.

  Then I didn’t want to let her out of my sight, after that, in fear that I hurt her or the baby and she was constantly telling me she was ok but finally I called Dr. Phillip and made an appointment for her in the morning to have her checked. She rolled her eyes at me but then kissed me and said she understood even though she felt fine but I think deep down she’s a little worried too. The rest of the evening I sat in the restaurant and watched her every move, her every facial expression but she’d only smile at me as she rushed around doing her job perfectly. That night, I watched her for hours as she slept soundly, never stirring, but I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t as worried now but I just couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her skin seemed to glow making her more beautiful and I didn’t think that was possible. Finally, seeing that it’s four o’clock in the morning, I lay my head on the pillow and close my eyes.

  As we sit in the patients waiting room I notice Stormy is calm as my leg bounces up and down. Seriously, how can she be so calm after what she went through? I jump up when her name is called, grabbing her hand and she giggles as I follow the nurse to a room. I lift Stormy up onto the small table and when I turn around the nurse is staring at me. “She needs to go give me a urine sample in this jar and then come back here and put on that gown.” I huff, lift Stormy off the table and start to walk her towards the door but the nurse won’t move out of our way. “I think it would be best if she does this herself. She’ll come back here. You….” She points a long finger at me and lowers her eyebrows. “Can go sit over there and wait for her.” My eyes follow where she points and see a chair by the table. I turn, kiss Stormy on the forehead and hesitantly release her hand and mutter under my breath the five steps it takes me to reach the chair. After sitting, I look at Stormy who’s trying not to laugh and not being very successful, then I watch as she walks out of the room and the mean look on the nurse’s face as she shuts the door.

  I’m about ready to go get Stormy when the door opens and she walks in, carrying the small jar, places it on the counter and then proceeds to remove her clothes. Once she’s has the gown on I rise and lift her onto the table, taking the very small plastic sheet and place it over her lap, trying to tuck it in under her legs. I feel her small hand on my arm and look up. “Go sit and hold my hand, Bo.”

  “I don’t know why they bother. It’s not like it covers anything,” I mumble as I sit and quickly take her hand.

  We look at each other and she smiles sweetly. “Are you going to be like this every time we come?”

  “Yes.” The word leaves my mouth without thinking but I mean it.

  We both look when the door opens and Dr. Phillip walks in. He smiles as he walks over and sits on a low stool in front of us. “Ah, Bo and Stormy. Congratulations on your engagement. I’m sorry I missed the dinner but I appreciated your invitation, Bo. Now I guess there’s two reasons to congratulate you.” He looks at her and pats her knee. “If I would guess I’d say your about four weeks along but I’d like to have you go see Dr. Butler. She is one of the leading OB/GYN’s and a friend of mine. I will send over your file, if you’d like, and I’ll even call her to have a chat and update her myself of your past pregnancy, if that will make you feel better.”

  “Yes, please do that,” I blurt. He raises his eyebrow at Stormy as she shrugs and then he turns to me.

  “Are you going to be like this through the entire pregnancy?” My shoulders rise and fall and I look at Stormy who’s just smiling at me lovingly. I turn back to him when he lets out a chuckle. “Although it’s very admirable to be so concerned for her and the baby, it’s really not needed. Remember what caused her unfortunate miscarriage was aided by the blow to her stomach and the extreme amount of stress she was under at the time.” He looks at Stormy and becomes more serious. “Not that you shouldn’t take care of yourself, eat right, take the prenatal vitamins I will provide you to start and then regularly see the OB and try to keep your stress level down as much as possible. Even though that was under the utmost measures at that time it doesn’t mean you can’t have another miscarriage. Let’s be healthy and have a happy pregnancy, shall we?”

  Stormy looked a little nervous but then smiles. “I think it’s cute that he’s so worried, within reason,” she tells him but looking at me. Then she looks at him but her smile doesn’t falter. “I know that even with no miscarriage there is always a chance of one. I’m good and hopeful.”

  He looks at me and glares. “Can you be still while I examine her or do you need to leave the room?” I swallow hard but just nod and place one ankle over my knee letting him know I’m not budging. “Very well but try to stay calm and know that I’m not going to hurt either her or the baby.” He rolls his chair up closer to Stormy as she lays down on the small bed and I watch as he lifts these metal things up on either side and she puts her feet into them. The beads of perspiration start forming on my forehead and I pray that I can manage to get through this without him kicking me out of the room.

  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

  We leave after getting my vitamins, and I’m surprised that Bo was so good during the examination, well after the doctor warned him, multiple times. As we’re driving away from the building, Bo asked if it was too soon to tell anyone, and I just smiled so he started heading towards his parents’ house. On the way, I called Dr. Butler’s office and set up an appointment and was surprised I could get one for two days later. I’m shocked Bo let me walk into the house, but then he practically pulled my arm out of the socket as he rushed us through the rooms when he heard his parents talking out on the deck. I’ve never been hugged so much in my life after he told them our news, and finally, I sat down on one of the loungers as he ran into the house when I told him I was a little thirsty.

  “Well, he may be over attentive but at least you will be waited on hand and foot until he wises up,” Jade laughs. We’re still laughing when Bo returns with a glass of iced water, handing it to me then noisily pulls over another chair and butting it up against mine. I roll my eyes at Jade, who shrugs and laughs again.

  After taking a rather long nap, I get myself in my favorite jeans, which I won’t be able to wear at some point, my silky tank top and my most comfortable flip flops. Since Jade is managing the restaurant tonight so we can celebrate, we walk over to Pearl’s bar around nine o’clock. It’s not too crowded yet as we approach the front door and walk right in when the mountain of a man just nods and holds the rope open for us. When we get to the bar counter, Bo lifts me onto a stool and then hops on the one beside me and Harley is in front of us before I can blink. “A bottled water for my fiancée,” Bo yells rather loudly. “And a cold bottle for me.” Bo leans over, kissing my cheek as my eyes look up through my lashes to see Harley just standing there staring at us. He finally moves to get our drinks and I turn my head to Bo.

  “What’s all the yelling for? I don’t think he’s deaf.” I give him my best smirk but all that does is make him kiss my lips.

  Harley sets our drinks down on the counter and then is pushed aside when Pearl shows up in front of us. I notice he gives her a look, and it appears to me that he might just be interested in her. Heaven forbid I say anything to her in case I’m wrong. It’s so hard to tell with this mystery man.

  “Mom said you have news. Spill.” She leans her elbows on the counter, and my eyes slyly look over at Harley and he flinches when he catches me watching him look at her butt. Hmmm. I open my mouth to speak but am cut off quickly by Bo.

  “She’s pregnant!” He all but yells. I look around the room and see that no one’s paying attention, thank goodness! But that ends soon when Pearl starts squealing and jumping up and down. She ducks under the bar counter, on the side, and runs over to me, cutting off my air supply, as she hugs me tightly. As I try to take a breath, I suddenly feel the pressure of her arms leave my neck a
nd gasping for a little air I look over at Bo. “Hey, be careful, would ya?” He yells.

  She looks sorry but then a smile breaks out. “Oh, my God! I’m gonna be an aunt!” She looks over at Bo and folds her arms, giving him a smirk. “Are you gonna be like this through the entire pregnancy? She’s not gonna break, ya know?” She pats my back with a look of sympathy and returns behind the bar.

  “Hey! I’m just being careful.” He looks at me with such love in his eyes that I melt. “I don’t want anything to happen to our baby or my girl.”

  “Well, I don’t think any of us wants that either but you won’t see me handle her with kid gloves. Sheesh! Everything will be fine, mark my words.” She looks over at Harley, who’s been standing there cleaning the same glass this whole time and watching Pearl. “Will you go get another keg? This one’s about empty.” She points under the counter and he just nods, sets down the glass and walks off.

  “Damn! He’s a little quiet, huh? What’s his story? Why all the brooding and mysteriousness?” Bo asks as he takes a drink of his beer.

  She leans forward on the counter, her face full of concern. “I dunno. He’s just a loner, he says, doesn’t share any information and is always quiet. However, he’s great with the customers, works hard, pours a mean drink and really does a great job.” She looks over to where Harley had left and sighs. “I just hope he doesn’t up and quit soon. He told me he moves around a lot. I’d hate to lose him.”

  “I think you’d hate to lose him for more than one reason, sis.” Her head snaps to Bo, her eyes widen. “I think you feel more than employer-employee with him.” Her eyebrows lower and she gives him a nasty look. “Hey! I’m a guy! I’m not stupid.”