“Claire, I’m sorry; I know now that I did everything wrong with you. By loving you so much I turned into everything you’d ever feared. I wanted to take all your pain away, and instead I only gave you more. I drove you away, and I know you will never trust me again, you will always think I’m like him.”
Claire put her finger to his lips to stop the flow and wrapped herself around him. He stood in her embrace, still and resistant. She gently laid her lips against his and whispered, “I love you; you’re everything I ever wanted and was afraid I would never find.”
Beautiful blue eyes searched hers and he couldn’t miss the love pouring from them. Then crushing her in his embrace, he pressed his lips against hers as they shared a tender kiss full of love and promise. Some minutes later, Jason pulled back, his breathing rapid. “Claire, I love you so much and I’m sorry for everything. Please put me out of my misery and marry me because I can’t make it without you. I promise to try to control the urge to solve all your problems. I love you desperately so please be gentle with me if I stumble occasionally.”
Looking up at the man that she loved so much, Claire said, “I would love to marry you but do you think we could go inside now before I rip your clothes off right here?” Never had Claire been pulled through a door in such record time.
One Year Later
Claire was smiling as she walked into her husband’s arms. After a quick kiss, anxious blue eyes searched her face. Claire had been sick on and off for the last few weeks and unable to kick the stomach bug making its rounds. Finally, Jason insisted on her going to the doctor. Despite his protests, she went alone assuring him that he didn’t need to leave work to go with her. Claire knew how hard Jason worked to overcome his constant need to take care of her, and she realized it had been sheer torture for him not to accompany her today.
“Baby, what did the doctor say?”
With her best serious expression, Claire said, “Well, he said that I should be fine… in about eight more months, that is.” Seeing the look of confusion and fear in his eyes, Claire took his hand and gently lowered it to her stomach.
The confusion started to clear, and his eyes lit up with joy. Swinging her up in his arms, he said, “A baby?”
“Yep, Mr. Danvers, all that overtime you have been putting in lately um… in the bedroom has really paid off.”
He rubbed her stomach gently and said, “I love you Mrs. Danvers.” He then put her aside and started to leave the room. “I need to get started on planning our little one's future right away.” Mouth hanging open, Claire looked at him, not believing her ears. He looked back at her and started laughing. “I’m sorry baby; I couldn’t resist. I promise, no planning, unless we’re both in on it.”
Claire swatted his arm and said, “You’re so bad. Now, how about we take a walk on the beach and tell our neighbors the good news?”
With his arm around her, Jason carefully led her down the path to the beach; as if afraid she would break. Lights twinkled from a newly built house in the distance. Soon, they were approaching a house very similar in design to their own, only a smaller version.
Jason held her hand and assisted her up onto the back deck. Through the glass door, Claire saw a smiling Louise coming, her mother not far off her heels. “Hey you two, just in time for dinner, I made a big pot of spaghetti.”
Claire was amazed at everything that had happened in the last year. Her mother still had limited use of her left arm, but her speech had improved so much that the computer was no longer necessary to help her talk. Since being taken off all the medication that she’d not needed in the first place her ‘bad days’ seemed to be a thing of the past. She went to a therapist weekly and although the memories of the abuse she’d suffered would always be there, they were no longer controlling her life.
Jason had offered to design and build a house for her mother and Louise. He asked them what they wanted and their answer… one just like theirs except smaller, and that was exactly what they got. Louise had invited Janet to live with them too, but she had a new boyfriend and was suddenly happy living alone again. Her mother was glowing now and looked ten years younger.
Another person walked in from the kitchen trailing her mother. Jason stepped forward, hand extended and said, “Tom, good to see you again. Making a lot of house calls lately aren’t you?” The older man laughed as he shook Jason’s hand and gave Claire a hug. Her mother and Dr. Mauldin had grown close during her hospital time, but a relationship had only started when they met again a few months ago in the grocery store.
Like her mother, he was also a widower, and they found they had many similar interests. He was now a regular visitor and Claire suspected there might be more good news soon. Her mother made it clear though that no matter what happened, she and Louise were a package deal, and that would never change. As they all walked to the dining room and were seated, Jason lifted her hand and kissed it. “Claire and I have some exciting news.”
Acknowledgements
~~~
The cover art for this book was provided by www.istockphoto.com.
A special thank you to Author Elle Lothlorien for your advice and encouragement, it made me want to finally finish my first book.
Also a big thank you to my husband who put up with me sitting at the computer at every opportunity and bouncing all my ideas off of him each day.
Thank you for purchasing Weekends Required. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would love to hear your comments, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or visit my website sydneylandon.com for updates on future books. If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review on amazon.com.
There are tentatively three books planned for the Danvers Series. The next book in the series is scheduled for Spring of 2012 and will be Suzy’s Story. Please continue reading for an excerpt from the first Chapter of Not Planning on You.
Connect With Me
~~~
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Chapter One
“Crapple Dapple, are you kidding me?” Suzy looked at her best friend Claire in horror.
“Crapple Dapple?” asked Claire.
With a wave of her hand, Suzy said, "Oh yeah, I’m trying to stop cursing so much at work. The new receptionist they hired for our section crosses herself every time I roll out a four-letter word; it’s kind of creepy.” Suzy gave Claire a few moments to recover from the laughter shaking her body and got back to the question she’d asked.
“Claire, earth to Claire, come back.”
Claire finally wiped the tears from her eyes and composed herself enough to continue. “Um yeah, sorry Suz but you heard me correctly. Grayson is going to take over daily operations at Danvers for the foreseeable future, and Jason prefers that he relocate here to Myrtle Beach to do that. He trusts Grayson, and although he’ll continue as the CEO of Danvers, Grayson will step up as the President of Operations.”
Last year Danvers International merged with Mericom creating the largest communications company in the United States. Grayson Merimon was the CEO of Mericom which was based in Charleston, South Carolina. Much to her chagrin, he had been spending a lot of time at the Danvers Headquarters since the merger was complete. Tall, dark and handsome, yes he had it all. The man looked like sex on a stick, and he had made no secret of the fact that he was very interested in her.
Suzy, however, was not interested in him; or so she kept telling herself. After being cheated on by her high school sweetheart, the man she thought she would be spending the rest of her life with, men were now only good for one thing and that one thing was something she wanted to avoid in the work place.
“It’s the kid isn’t it? Your kid hasn’t even been born yet and already it’s turning my life upside down,” groaned Suzy.
�
�Well Jason does want to be able to spend more time with me and the baby when he or she’s born so yes that’s something to do with it.”
“I knew it!” Catching herself lest she offend Claire, Suzy tried to control herself. She also tried to understand why she was suddenly terrified at the thought of seeing Grayson daily. She’d spent a lot of time in his company since the merger of Danvers International with Mericom. She was always careful to have someone else present though when meeting with Grayson. The strong, gutsy person inside her wondered why that was necessary; the woman inside her knew. There was something in Grayson’s eyes that called to her, seemed to devour her soul every time she looked at him. He scared her; he made her want to run and do everything she could to save herself.
Suzy realized that Claire was watching her, a knowing look in her eyes. Her defenses went up and Suzy did what she did best, bluffed. “Ugh, well no biggie, I guess just another uptight geek to grace our presence, right? I mean, why should it bother me? I haven’t given him a thought since he was here annoying me last time. Maybe he’ll actually buy himself a pair of jeans or something though. Those uptight, heavily starched suits are so depressing. He should really lay off the hair products; do you think a hurricane could move that hair?” As her tirade ended, Suzy grimaced as she looked at Claire. Ok, maybe she should have limited those comments to no more than two. She was rattled, and when she was rattled the words kept flowing no matter how hard she tried to stop them. She was grateful that it was Claire though, someone who would never judge her or try to peel the layers back to see what all the protests were hiding, Claire didn’t have to; she knew.
Suzy had met Claire at Danvers International where they both worked years ago. Claire was the personal assistant to the company president and CEO, Jason Danvers, while Suzy handled all the special events for Danvers for which there were many. Two people couldn’t be more opposite than they were, but it worked. She was loud and outgoing, Claire was quiet and thoughtful. Claire had auburn hair that hung loose around her shoulders; thank god she’d given up the ponytails and buns she used to wear. Suzy had long red hair that she styled to suit her mood. She also dressed to suit her mood and leather and stiletto heels played a large role. They were both blessed to be a little above average in height, and she couldn’t lie; she loved her perky plump boobs. If you could take half of each, they’d make the perfect person.
It was so hard to believe that the person sitting in front of her now was married to Jason Danvers, the CEO of Danvers, and pregnant with his child. The fairytale had finally come true for Claire, and her prince charming had slain all of her dragons. Suzy couldn’t think of anyone who deserved it more. After a lifetime spent with an abusive father who was killed along with her sister in a car accident several years ago, Claire had struggled to support her ailing mother.
After her mother suffered a stroke, her medication was altered and her recovery was miraculous. The very medication meant to help her was actually harming her. Now she lived next door to Claire in a house designed by Jason. Claire gave up the boring clothing and hairstyle she’d always favored, and she practically glowed. She was still Jason’s assistant until after the baby was born. If she were a person prone to crying, this story would certainly have her sobbing.
Claire reached over and covered her hand with her own. “Suz, it will be fine. Grayson really isn’t that bad when you get to know him. I’m actually quite fond of him now. His brother Nicholas will also be moving here to assist with the daily operations.”
”Nicholas? Stuffed shirt has a brother? God please don’t tell me he’s smoking hot too!”
With a laugh, Claire said, “Well, I don’t know what you consider smoking, but he looks similar to Grayson in coloring and he’s quite good looking. Not as good-looking as Jason because no one looks that good, but above average.”
Horrified, Suzy sputtered out, “Geez where do these guys come from? Jason, Gray and if Nicholas looks even half as good, every woman here will stay in heat.”
“Every woman Suz?”
“Um, well not you obviously, I mean except for Jason and not me because my head isn’t turned by a good piece of eye candy but for sure every other woman here.”
Suzy knew that her friend wasn’t fooled for a minute by all of her protests, so she wisely decided to change the subject. Even as she asked all the right questions about Claire’s new life, her mind was on a tall man with dark hair and compelling green eyes that seemed to look through all of her defenses, and she was deathly afraid that the battle to storm the walls to her heart had already begun.
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