Sweet Sunshine

by Jessica Prince

  “Oh, sweetheart,” Mom practically swooned. “We’ve got to start planning immediately! With your coloring, I’m thinking ivory.”

  I shook my head, feeling a headache coming on. “Wait… just, hold on a second! I can’t think!”

  “No sense dawdling when you’ve found the one, sugar plum,” Dad said, shrugging his beefy shoulder. “And your young man’s a cop. It’ll help your old man sleep better at night knowing you’ll have someone who can protect you.”

  My eyes practically bulged out of my head at his declaration. My mom and dad were of no help at all. “Don’t you think this is something we should discuss in private?” I hissed at Derrick between clenched teeth.

  “No can do, sunshine.” He stood from his chair and walked to my father, clapping him on my back. “Bill and I have to head over to your place and start packing up. The movers are coming early tomorrow morning.”

  “You already planned this?! When? How?”

  “When your young man’s got his mind settled on something, he doesn’t sit on his ass, baby girl. He’s a man of action. I can relate.”

  “Oh please,” Mom rolled her eyes. “When’s the last time you took action on anything, Bill?”

  I knew that look in my father’s eyes. It was a look that promised that anything out of his mouth was determined to make my ears bleed.

  “Didn’t hear you complaining when I took action last night in the hotel—”

  “No!” I shouted, clapping my hands over my ears. “Just… no! Fine! I’ll move in with Derrick, okay? Just, please, for the love of God, Stop. Talking.”

  My mom chimed in, “It’s perfectly healthy for two people our age—”

  “Hit me with another car,” I told Derrick. “I’m begging you. Put me out of my misery.”

  He walked back over to the bed and leaned down, planting a kiss right on my lips. “Sorry, baby. Already have plans for this afternoon.”

  “You suck,” I grumbled.

  “Bye, Chloe.” Eliza grinned as she followed Derrick and my father to the door. “Dad said I could help Ms. Harlow pack all your girly stuff.”

  “She’s in on it too?!”

  “Uh huh.”

  I let out a defeated sigh, slumping against the bed and closing my eyes, knowing there was no point in arguing, that I didn’t even want to argue. If I were being honest with myself, I really loved the idea of moving in with Derrick and Eliza. Like, a lot.

  “Oh, and Chloe?” I lifted my eyelids and looked at Eliza.

  “Yeah, honey?”

  She fidgeted with her hands in front of her waist as she shifted from foot to foot. “You know those empty places you told me about? The ones that special people in your life come in and fill?”

  “Yeah,” I said softy, feeling the tears begin to well in my eyes.

  “Well, I just wanted to let you know, you fill some of those places for me.”

  Damn being stuck in this stupid freaking hospital bed! I needed another hug!

  “You fill those places for me, too, sweetheart,” I sniffled as a tear broke free.

  Eliza ran back to me and threw her arms around my neck as gently as possible, whispering, “I love you,” into my hair.

  My arms tightened. “I love you, too.”

  She pulled back, graced me with a beautiful smile then took off with my dad and hers.

  And I was left feeling like that last empty space inside me had been filled so full it was overflowing.

  Derrick

  IT WAS DONE.

  It had taken a lot longer than I’d hoped, a few months where I was sure I’d gotten more gray hair every fucking morning, but it was finally done. And I could breathe easier knowing my little girl would never have to deal with the stresses her mother placed on her shoulders ever again.

  She was mine, free and clear. All parental rights had been stripped from Layla when she was convicted on all the charges brought against her that night she nearly took Chloe from me. The judge didn’t even bat an eye at declaring her unfit, telling her to her face how ashamed she should be, how she was one of the most selfish people he’d ever encountered, and how he hoped she somehow managed to pull her head out of her ass during her two to five years in prison.

  I wasn’t going to hold my breath.

  I never tried to put Chloe in the role as a replacement mother, but there was no denying that she gave my little girl everything she needed. There were times when Eliza still missed Layla, or maybe the thought of what she could have with Layla. But every time she got sad Chloe was there, her sunshine shining down on the both of us, making everything all right.

  Life was good. Chloe’s bakery was still thriving. She’d even had to bring on more help to cater to the crushing demand of customers who’d been craving her pastries and coffee for the weeks she’d been closed for repairs. Gone were the before-dawn wakeups. She’d managed to loosen the reins and let her staff have more control, and as I’d predicted, they all proved that she’d made the right choice, bringing them on at Sinful Sweets. She’d struggled with the decision to step back, but knowing Eliza needed her time made the decision easier for her to make.

  We still fought at times. She was a stubborn, hard-headed woman after all, but it was never over anything major. And the making up was so good there were times we picked fights for no other reason than to make up after.

  She fit in my life so seamlessly, that as the days passed, I questioned how the hell I’d ever managed to live without her.

  Staring down at the notarized documents in my hands, custody documents declaring Eliza could never be taken from me or used as a pawn to hold over my head again, I knew the second-to-last puzzle piece of my life had fallen into place. There was only one thing left to do.

  “Come on!” I shouted, opening a desk drawer and tossing the documents inside. “We’re going to be late!”

  I was officially outnumbered in my own home. It had taken some adjusting, but over the past three months, I somehow managed to come to grips with the fact that my life had become overrun with all things female. Another thing I was learning to deal with? The fact that I’d never be on time for anything for the rest of my life.

  “Coming, coming!” Chloe hurried down the hall and into the living room, her sandals in her hand. Christ, she hadn’t even gotten her shoes on yet?

  “You’re lucky you’re cute,” I told her, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips before she bent to slide her feet through the complicated straps.

  “And you’re lucky I put up with your overbearing, pain-in-the-ass self.”

  “I consider myself lucky every single day.” I grinned at her then looked back at the mouth of the hallway. “Eliza! Take the lead out!”

  “Will you stop bellowing?” Chloe stood, shoes now on her feet where they belonged, and smacked me in the stomach. “She’s almost finished.”

  Eliza came waltzing down the hall, and something sparkly caught my attention.

  “What the hell is that?” I barked, pointing at my daughter’s face.

  “What?” she asked innocently.

  “That!” I moved closer and squinted. “Are you wearing makeup? Oh hell no!”

  “Relax,” Chloe rolled her eyes at me. “It’s just a little lip gloss.”

  “She’s nine years old!”

  “I turned ten last week!” Eliza argued, propping her hands on her hips as she glared.

  “Whatever, you’re still too young for makeup. Go wipe it off,” I demanded, only to have Chloe grab my arm and pull me toward the kitchen.

  “Eliza, will you go wait in the car? We’ll be out in just a sec.”

  My daughter all but skipped out of the house as I snapped, “But she hasn’t wiped it off!”

  Chloe’s eyes got fierce as she jabbed her finger into my chest. “And she’s not going to. It’s lip gloss, Derrick, it’s not like she’s ready for a drag show or something. A little lip gloss isn’t a big deal.”

  I threw my hands in the air in frustration. “Why the hell do
es she even need it?”

  “Because. Ethan’s going to be there today with Harlow, Noah, and the baby, and you already know she’s got an insane crush on him. She wants to look pretty. She asked me to teach her how to put on makeup and I managed to haggle her down to just the gloss. You’re welcome.”

  “You know,” my eye narrowed into dangerous slits, “this is all his fault. My baby girl never worried about shit like makeup until him.”

  “Oh, for the love of God,” Chloe groaned to the ceiling, not that there was anyone up there that would help her with an irrational, overprotective father. “You love Ethan!”

  “Loved. Past tense. The moment I saw Eliza making googly eyes at him that went right down the drain.”

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “Don’t care.” I crossed my arms over my chest and there was a slight possibility my bottom lip actually poked out.

  She sighed heavily. “Look, Ethan’s a great kid. He knows it’s just a harmless crush and he doesn’t do anything to egg her on. You need to relax, okay? Let’s just go to the carnival, eat our weight in funnel cake, ride some rides, and come home.” She came closer, placing her hands on my chest and standing on her tiptoes, speaking in a low, seductive voice, “If you behave all day today, I’ll let you do that thing with the handcuffs tonight.”

  Yes, I was man enough to admit that I had to stop and weigh the pros and cons. “Really?”

  “I promise.”

  And she had me. “Fine,” I sighed. My woman played me like a sucker. Damned thing was, I didn’t care. I loved it. “You’re lucky I love you.”

  “So lucky.” She kissed me with a smile on her lips. “And I love you too.”

  Chloe

  I WAS FINALLY doing it.

  I was finally on the Ferris wheel with the man of my dreams. The love of my life.

  I smiled to myself as I looked out at the sun glistening off the lake before me as I sat, snuggled close to Derrick. The Ferris wheel made a slow, lazy loop around, and each time, the view from the top took my breath away.

  “It’s so beautiful,” I breathed as the ride came to a stop with our bucket at the top to let more people on.

  “Most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he answered, and when I turned to look at him, his gaze was directly on me. He leaned in and kissed me, and I got lost in how amazing it felt. Not just the kiss, but my life in general. I had my dream job, I lived in my dream town, and now I had my dream family. Derrick and Eliza were the last pieces of my puzzle. My life was complete.

  Once the kiss ended, I rested my head on Derrick’s shoulder with a contented sigh. The minutes ticked by and I finally sat up straight in order to look over the edge of our bucket. “I wonder what’s taking so long.”

  “Oh, I paid the guy to wait for my signal before he let us down.”

  My head shot in his direction. “What? Why’d you do that?”

  He smiled and kissed my lips again. “Because I have something I need to ask you, and having you trapped at the top of the Ferris wheel is kind of the perfect way to guarantee I get the answer I want, don’t you think?”

  Giddy anticipation built in my belly like a million butterflies taking flight, and I couldn’t stop the crazy smile from spreading across my face. “Oh yeah, and what do you have to ask me?”

  He reached down and pulled something from his pants pocket, keeping his fingers closed tightly around it. “Oh, I think you know.”

  I nodded. “I think so too, but why don’t you ask anyway?”

  “Chloe Delaney?” he started. I held my breath and waited eagerly. “Will you…” God! The suspense was killing me, “please stop leaving your damned shoes all over the house! For the love of God, woman! I nearly broke my neck last night! I swear, I have no idea what the hell women need with so many shoes. I’m thinking about getting a dog just so he can chew them all to hell.”

  “Derrick!” I shouted, smacking him in the chest.

  “Okay, okay,” he chuckled, opening his palm and revealing a beautiful ring. “Will you marry me?” he asked softly.

  Tears immediately started falling as I nodded my head. “Yes,” I sniffled, snatching the ring out of his hand and sliding it on my finger. “Yes!” I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him like my life depended on it.

  “I love you,” I said against his lips.

  “I love you too, sunshine. More than anything.”

  “You were just kidding about letting a dog destroy my shoes, right?”

  He laughed and pulled me against him tighter. “Maybe just a little bit.” Once we pulled apart, he leaned over the edge of the bucket and shouted, “She said yes!” at the top of his lungs. Our loved ones below — along with some of the other people on the ride — hooted and hollered from below.

  “And you said you’d never get married again.” I couldn’t help but tease as the ride started back up and we began our decent.

  “Well, I never expected a curvy little bakery owner to waltz into my life and throw everything off course all because I called her by the wrong name. It took me a while, but I finally realized.”

  “Realized what?” I asked, staring up into those hazel eyes I’d been in love with since I first saw them.

  “That I’d been waiting my whole life for you.”

  Yeah, I was most definitely getting my fairytale ending.

  Eliza

  I FELT LIKE I’d been living in a fairytale all day long. Everything about my Dad and Chloe’s wedding was so beautiful. I looked around the room, nothing but white Christmas lights twinkling all over as people danced and talked and laughed. It made me wonder what my wedding would look like. I would want it just like Chloe and Dad’s.

  I stood off to the side of the dance floor, watching my Dad and Chloe kiss as they swayed to the music. I was SO glad he picked her to marry. Chloe was the best. She even picked out the prettiest dress for me to wear in the wedding! I felt like a princess as I looked down at my feet, covered by the long skirt. I swished it back and forth, watching the material move around my legs like a wave. I felt like a grownup in that dress.

  My hair was pretty and done up just like Ms. Harlow’s, and I even got to wear a little bit of makeup! I’d hoped it would make Ethan notice me, but when I finally got the guts to go over and talk to him a few minutes ago, he didn’t even say anything.

  I sighed as I remembered how handsome Ethan looked in his tux. He really was the cutest guy I’d ever seen, and I hated that I was so much younger than him. I heard Dad and Chloe arguing about it one night — they always liked to argue so they could make up after, going in their room to kiss and stuff. Dad said Ethan was way too old for me. That he’d gone through most of the cheerleaders in his school already.

  I remembered my face getting hot as I listened in on them. I wasn’t really sure what Dad was talking about, but I knew if Ethan liked high school cheerleaders, then there was no way he would like me.

  “Hey there, kiddo.” My eyes shot up off the floor. The sound on his voice made my stomach flip over and over.

  “Uh… hey.”

  “What are you doing over here looking so sad?”

  “I look sad?” I hadn’t realized I looked sad. I guess thinking about Ethan had kind of bummed me out, but I hadn’t realized people would notice. Especially him. “I’m not sad. I was just… thinking.”

  “What were you thinking about so hard?” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his tuxedo pants and smiled at me. It was the best smile I’d ever seen.

  “N-nothing,” I stuttered. Gosh! I hated when I did that around him. He probably thought I was stupid or something.

  “Well, if you’re not thinking about anything, and you’re not sad, then why don’t we dance?”

  My mouth dropped open and I felt like my eyes were going to pop right out of my head. “You want to dance? With me?”

  “Sure,” he laughed. I loved his laugh. It made my belly feel funny, like there were butterflies in it or something. “We’re basically
family, right?”

  My shoulders slumped at his question. I was in love with Ethan Prewitt and he only thought of me as part of his family. He’d never see me as anything more than a sister no matter what I did. “Oh, yeah… sure. Family.”

  One of his eyebrows hooked up in that really cool way. “Do you know how to dance?”

  “I guess,” I shrugged, feeling like such a dork for crushing on the coolest guy ever. “I mean, I know a little bit.”

  “Well then let’s go.” He reached for my hand and I felt goosebumps break out across my skin as he pulled me onto the dance floor.

  “Your girlfriend won’t mind that you’re dancing with me?” My eyes darted all around the room as he put one hand on my waist. My body tingled from him holding me and I thought I could die happy, all because the coolest guy in high school was dancing with me. His hand was on my waist and he was staring Right. At. Me.

  “Nah,” he shrugged. “We broke up. She was kind of a pain in the ass.” I giggled and felt my cheeks turn red. “You know, your dad’s staring at me like he wants to shoot me.” I jerked my head around to see Dad glaring right at me and Ethan. Chloe looked like she was trying not to laugh.

  I turned back around, embarrassed. “He’s just protective.”

  Ethan laughed again and I wanted so badly to lean in closer and press my ear to his chest so I could hear what his laughter sounded like close up. Lilly was going to die when I called her and told her that I talked to and danced with Ethan! She knew how much I liked him.

  “Well, you can’t really blame him, right? I mean, if I had a daughter that looked like you, I’d probably chain her down in the basement.”

  My forehead wrinkled as I looked up at him. “Huh?”

  “I just mean, you’re really pretty. I’d lose my mind if I had a daughter that looked like you,” he shrugged like what he said wasn’t the best thing I’d ever heard in my entire life.

  I was pretty sure my heart stopped beating for several seconds. “You… you think I’m pretty?”

  He shrugged again, “Well, yeah kiddo. You’re really pretty. And when you get older, I bet you’ll be gorgeous.”