Ellie Wynn, the other female who has me wrapped around her finger is every man’s dream, knew that from the beginning. She’s tough as nails. Sexy as hell. A natural beauty with the biggest heart. Sweetness mixed with spice. Perfect in the eyes of a man who she’s forgiven more times than I deserve.
Luck. It’s on my side and not going anywhere for the rest of my life.
“I can come to visit whenever I want, right? My daddy too? We can have a big party on the beach because you’re getting married, Ellie. You are going to be the prettiest bride in the whole entire world. I’m going to buy a new princess dress. It’s going to be pink. Hooray, I can’t wait to tell everyone in my new school. Wait, does this mean you’ll have the same last name as me? Does this mean you’ll be my aunt?”
Lexi’s questions bursts in my chest.
A thankful gratifying explosion.
“Of course you can visit anytime you want, and yes we will have the same last name. Yes to me being your aunt too. And nope, I’m not buying a new dress. I have one already. Want to see what it looks like? It was my mother’s dress the day she married my dad.”
“You mean Renita?”
“Nope. Renita is...” I stand in awe as I listen to Ellie explain her relationship with Renita and once again in terms a child will understand, she goes into how her parents are in heaven. Using the movie All Dogs Go To Heaven as she does.
Fuck, I love her.
Little arms wrapping around my woman’s neck and the two of them embrace, staying that way until Ellie shows Lexi what I assume is her mother’s dress.
My woman. The one who will take on my last name and have a part of the most important day of her parents’ life with her.
She owns me.
“Ellie Mae Mitchell and Lexi Mae Mitchell. We’re going to be twins forever and ever.” Lexi lets out a whoop and snuggles a little closer to Ellie, laying her head on her chest. The perfect image clings to my thoughts as I watch them together. That little girl was the first thing to bring light into my dark and gloomy world, and now she’s with the one that’ll keep it that way.
Drawn.
A moth to the light. A flicker to a flame.
Everything I ever wanted and needed.
A feeling of simplicity and normalcy I’m sure will take time to grasp onto stirs within me as I swallow down the emotions and continue searching for what I came into the pool house to look for. You’d think a man who was able to have anything materialistic at his fingertips; I’d have it all.
Not even close.
I have the woman who is worth more than anything money can buy but being that I have more than I’ll spend in a lifetime, it’s time for her and me to have some fun. Ellie doesn’t know this, but when we get home, there will be a couple of jet skis waiting for us as well as the materials to build a dock.
For the first time in my adult life, I have a home I looked forward to coming home to.
Can hardly believe it.
After placing the two life jackets I want to take with me in a box, I tuck it under my arm and pause at the doorway.
“When Daddy comes back with lunch, I’m going to count to three, then you jump in the water, okay, Ellie? You swim the fastest you can go. So fast he won’t beat you this time. I’ll kick my daddy in the butt to slow him; only I’ll kick him in his real butt and not in his face like the two…”
Lexi stops talking and looks around the backyard to see if anyone besides her or Ellie are within earshot of what she’s going to say. Curiosity as to what she’s going on about has me taking a step back. “Asses, that’s what he called whoever left two owies on his face. Daddy said it was an accident kind of like the one you had, but my dad didn’t haf to go to the hospital. I’m so, so happy you are better. Stupid asses hurt my daddy and you again and I’ll be really, really mad. When I come to visit you and Uncle Logan, you promise we can swim in the big water and ride all the rides?”
Both bust out laughing. Giggles from my sweet girl, laughter from within coming out of Ellie. I’ll never tire of hearing her laugh. It’s the sweetest music to my ears. A close second to when she screams my name.
I step out in the same second to catch both girls covering their mouths to stifle their laughter, Ellie taking another piece of my soul, the same way she did when she thanked Lane earlier.
The woman was born to be a mother.
Compassion.
She’s full of it.
I get lost in thought for a minute thinking about her round belly carrying my baby. Protecting them, loving them, teaching the way a mother should do. Those curves more tempting, breasts bigger, smile wider. I’d be feasting on every inch more than I do now.
But that’s going to wait until the time is right. For now, my focus is on her, finding a building to start my business and living a life that was meant to be ours all along.
Last night after we made it back to the house, showered and went to bed. Ellie and I laid there talking. We decided after I signed the papers to get rid of the building that’s dragged me down my entire adult life, that we’d spend today with Lane, Gabe, and Lexi. Tomorrow, along with tomorrow night she was going to spend with Renita, Norah, and her aunt while I take a drive to thank Lazaro for his part in saving Ellie, and tie up a few loose ends.
It’ll be the last night I will ever allow the woman to lay her head down without me beside her.
Unfortunately, Gabe had to take off to do a job. It doesn’t matter, wasn’t like we were moving to the other side of the world.
“I heard you, young lady, if I wasn’t taking you on a real vacation where you can finally spend the swear jar money to meet the real Ariel, I’d make you give me five dollars.”
Lane’s tone is all tease with some excitement in there as he bends down and kisses Lexi on top of her head. First time in a long time I hear it coming out of my brother. I’m glad I’m here to witness it right along with being here to watch Lexi’s eyes go round when she catches on to what Lane said.
Lane sets two plates on the table next to the chair, but all I see is a bundle of blonde hair jump off Ellie’s lap and let out a shriek as she leaps into my brother’s arms.
“We’re going to Disney? Please, Daddy, tell me that’s where our bacation is? Are we going to be gone as long as Uncle Sef? He’s been on bacation a long, long time.”
I don’t want to tune out Lane’s answer to Seth, or the giggles that follow because Lexi has been waiting ever since she figured out that Disney World is where all the princesses live. I can’t help myself when I catch a glimpse of the woman slanting a glance my way. Her smile infectious, her big heart belonging to me.
Everything I thought I’d never have would be at my fingertips for the rest of my life.
I couldn’t wait to start a new journey, down a smooth paved road with her. Set a date, make her mine.
A claim.
A promise to treat her right.
My eyes drop to those smiling lips. Damn, I want to kiss her.
“Uncle Logan, did you hear? I’m going to Disney just like my daddy promised?”
“I heard. Make sure you buy the prettiest crown.”
“Duh, Uncle Logan. ‘Course, I’m buying a crown. Geez. I am a princess, you know. I’m buying one for Ellie too. She’s going to be my aunt. My real, real, real aunt.”
I swallow, catching onto the meaning of the word real. I hope luck stays on my side and Lexi never finds out a single thing that went down with Sadie. The thought makes the protective man in me come out full force. Suppose I better talk to Lane about what’s going on.
I might be moving, might have changed, but I’ll never stop looking out for him or Seth. I made a promise to my father, and I won’t break it.
When Lane notices me, he sets Lexi in the chair next to Ellie, gives her a plate and heads my way.
I hated that with me finding my reason for happiness, Lane would still cling to his promise to Lexi. Lane deserved a piece of the good life. Both my brothers do as well as Rocco.
&nb
sp; But that loyalty to a little girl who changed the course of my brother’s life was what made him one of the best men to walk this earth. Still, it didn’t mean he couldn’t find someone who loved Lexi because she was a part of him.
“Since the day Dad died, you been protecting me and Seth. Now look at you, engaged, settling down, moving. No one deserves a woman like Ellie more than you.”
I nearly choke out a laugh.
“I agree I deserve her. I disagree with the more. There’s someone out there waiting for you to find her, Lane.” I end my words with a truthful stare.
“Guess she’s going to wait a long time then. Let’s not talk about me and agree to disagree.”
Lane seeing me happy isn’t going to change his mind, so I drop the subject, grabbing onto hope that one day soon a woman comes along and knocks him off his feet.
“I wouldn’t have Ellie if it weren’t for you being quick on your toes. Thank you, Lane, for looking out for me. For taking care of things, for making life easier on me.” I might have thanked him before he left, but I was half out of it with worry, add my pain, exhaustion and whatever emotions I had running through me and Lane didn’t get the proper thanks he deserved.
He took the bull by the horns, saving Ellie. Listing the club. He found an opening in the circle that had been sucking the life out of us and plowed right through that bitch to find a way out. Destroying it all in a matter of days.
“Like I said before, no need to thank me. It’s me who needs to thank you for everything you’ve done, not only for me but Ellie. We’ll never know if Shadow would have eventually found her. I’d like to think he wouldn’t have. If he had and you would have listened to me when I told you to leave her be, she might not be wearing that ring. She wouldn’t be sitting there next to my girl listening to her, caring about her. She wouldn’t have made my big brother the happiest I’ve seen him. Shadow’s gone, out of your life for good and I honest to God mean it when I say you deserve her. You already know that though. I saw it in your eyes the minute she gave you a second chance.”
My mouth takes off in a sprint through the door he just opened.
“You deserve a chance at love too, man. Don’t let what one woman who was fucked in the head make you give up. Stephanie was unfixable, only thought of herself. You aren’t, Lane. Look at what you’ve done with your own life. Do you have any idea how many good women would fall for a man who put his daughter above anything else? How many would fall for that girl the way Ellie has? Don’t be the guy like I was and waste your life. You’ll regret it.”
He shoots a glare my way. I see it, my brother wanting, begging for it even. Those eyes wanting it so badly he can almost see it.
Then as quickly as the door opened, it slams shut in my face. His eyes shuttering over that want. As much as I’d love to lay into it more, I bite my tongue, hold on to hope a little tighter.
Hope I once didn’t have that my life would turn in the right direction.
Lane runs his hands through his hair, I can sense something else is on his mind when his gaze shifts back to Ellie and Lexi.
“When you left for Texas, I had this feeling you and Ellie would wind up wanting to live there. Now that I’m out of a job, I think it’s time for another change. Not only for me, for Lexi too.” He pauses, leaving my head spinning, wondering what the hell he’s thinking.
Once Lane met Stephanie, he quit coming to the club. The loyal man was done fucking for money. Once he found out she was pregnant, he took that loyalty to a whole new level even though he wasn’t positive Lexi was his. He built them a house, was ready to settle down and he would have remained loyal to a woman who didn’t deserve it.
Lane had always taken on doing our books. Out of the three of us, he was the only one with the desire to go to college. Good with numbers, he became an accountant. Word got out he was starting a business and it grew. The thing was, most of his clients were local members of the club.
“You telling me you lost clients because Behind Closed Doors shut down?”
He lifts his shoulders, his smile widening as we watch Lexi pick up Ellie’s hand and look at her ring.
Whatever change he was thinking suddenly changed the shift in the air or maybe it’s me sensing something good in a different way was about to happen.
“Not all of them, but yes. I don’t give a shit about them, Logan. They can take their business and shove it up their asses. I care about keeping stability and normalcy for my daughter. My baby starts kindergarten in a little over a month. Going to give her a vacation that I hope she’s old enough to remember. I can raise Lexi just fine on my own, but we’re a family, and this family is growing. I’m staring at the best addition to it. Told you the day of Lexi’s party she comes before anyone and anything. Ellie loves my girl, my girl loves her. I’m giving Lexi a new home, close enough to her aunt and uncle. Close enough for me to bug the fuck out of my big brother. I bought a house in a small town on the outskirts of Houston. Once Seth gets through rehab he’s looking for one too. I was thinking maybe we could all go into business together. Mitchell Brother’s Holdings still exists.”
A smile ticks at the corner of my mouth. Ellie’s right. We’re all going to be okay.
Chapter Nineteen
Ellie
Laughter floods the living room of our apartment. Aunt Sandy and Renita are sitting on the couch, whispering and then cackling like a couple of mother hens.
I watch them, child and teenage memories surfacing. So many happy times, so much love, it makes my heart swell with what I’m about to tell them.
Love. There’s so much of it in this room; it’s threatening to smother me.
I welcome it. I’ll miss it, and I’ll cherish it always.
My mother was right; there are so many different kinds of love. The emotion grips me everywhere. Adoration, affection, devotion. But here, with the people who kept it flowing in my heart when my past tripped me and I fell in a hole, is the foundation of it.
Really, it was Renita who laid the groundwork and built me up from there.
And through the groundwork to where they’ve helped me stand on my own two feet, is where I surprisingly and without looking, fell in love with Logan.
These past few weeks with Logan have made me feel more alive, more cherished than I’d ever felt in my adult life. And as the saying goes, life isn’t worth living if we don’t live it with someone we love.
To my amazement, I’m not worried or scared that Logan and I are rushing into moving in with each other or our engagement. After all, time is on our side, we can get married whenever we want.
But will be waiting for Seth to return before we do, because once again like my mother said, through love I found family and if there were ever two families deserving to merge into one, it’s mine and Logan’s.
A smile arches my mouth big and wide as my phone vibrates next to me. The screen lighting up with Logan’s name. Picking it up off the counter, my pulse vibrates when I slide the screen to the three words he promised to tell me every morning when we woke and every night before going to bed.
I love you.
I fall a little further then, the man changing me, changing himself, changing the course of my life.
My once dark knight in shining armor is the best change, best choice, best decision I’ve made.
My pulse picks up speed, my soul excited with anticipation.
I shoot the same words back, drop my phone in my bag and turn toward Norah who is pouring a round of tequila shots.
After Logan dropped me off, I spent an hour saying goodbye to Eric, thanking him for everything he did for me. Finding out he had a new job he’d started last night and learning he wasn’t shocked at all to find the club was no longer. I then wandered the streets of a city I never expected to fall in love in. Let alone with a man connected to my past. I walked by the YMCA, said goodbye to some of the staff I’d become fond of before landing in front of the store, admiring years of sweat, tears, long days, and sleepless nights.<
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The most content kind of smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I stood there watching Renita and Norah talking behind the counter.
Tears of joy and happiness sprang to my eyes as I thought how Ebony and Ivory was more than a place to work. It was a partnership; it was my income; it was fulfilling. It was my life. To say I will miss everything about the place will be one of the most honest things to ever pass through my lips.
I promised myself as the plane dipped and New Orleans came into view, I wasn’t going to dwell on missing a part of my life that held some of the best days, not when the two people I worked with were what I was going to miss the most.
I am, however, going to find another job. One that’s as fulfilling. I’m not that kind of woman to not work, and even though Logan would never force my hand to do so, I’m not the kind of woman to let someone else take care of me either.
“That’s the last one for me,” I tell Norah, not quite ready to tell her why yet. I’ve kept my move and engagement a secret all day while I worked and I’m bursting at the seams to share my news now that we’re alone. They know about my mother’s clothes, her dress, and the letter because I couldn’t wait to tell them. My engagement needed to be told in person.
Plus, I need to start packing because I’m as eager as Logan is to start this journey.
Hope and dreams coming alive.
They didn’t know about the club closing which didn’t surprise me when Eric told me Logan asked him not to tell them because he wanted to tell me himself. They weren’t shocked at all when I told them. Honestly, neither was I when Logan told me. It not only makes me happy and proud of Logan and his brothers, but it also gives me hope that Seth and Lane will find someone to love them for the men they are.
Big and rugged men with just as big of a heart waiting for someone to come along and claim it.
“You’re hiding something from me. Spill it right this second. I’ve waited weeks to look you in the eye and make sure you’re honestly okay. You,” she pauses and tips the bottle of tequila my way, “are the happiest I have ever seen you. Are you moving in with Logan or something?” She levels her curious observation on me, those light brown eyes squinting in her nosy tell-tale way.
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