From This Moment

by Lexi Buchanan

  Since getting back from our wedding and honeymoon, I’ve become good friends with Grace and she certainly isn’t as shy as she had been when we first met.

  “I’m fine, thanks Grace. Did you have a nice weekend away?”

  She leans in and gives me a hug.

  “I did, thanks.” She smiles and turns to the man with her. Taking his hand she says, “I’d like you to meet Jason.”

  I shake his outstretched hand. “Nice to meet you Jason, please forgive me for not getting up. If I move, my very strict husband will appear.”

  “It’s fine.” He laughs. “Congratulations on the birth of your twins. It’s nice to meet you and your family,” Jason says.

  “Thank you.”

  Cade

  “Hi, Grace, and you must be Jason, nice to meet you. I’m Cade, Rona’s husband.”

  “Nice to meet you, too,” Jason replies.

  Hearing the door, yet again, I go and answer it, only to come face-to-face with Josh Mitchell!

  “Hi, Cade, hope you don’t mind me calling. I’ve just purchased a cabin close to here and wanted to give you this as a peace offering.” Josh hands me a bottle of very old whiskey.

  I take the whiskey with a grin—it’s one of my favorites. “Do you want to come in? Rona won’t be happy if she knows you’ve called and not said hello.” I try to be polite knowing Rona will think I’ve been rude to him if I don’t invite him in.

  As Josh walks into my home, I turn toward my wife. “Rona, we have a visitor.”

  Turning toward the door, she spots Josh. “Josh? Is everything okay?”

  “It’s fine. I’ve purchased a cabin not too far away so figured I’d come and say hi.”

  Walking over to Rona, he bends down and gives her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He pulls away, grinning at me, knowing I’m keeping a close eye on him.

  Over the past few months, we’ve spoken to Josh about Nick, and once or twice Rona’s insisted he have dinner here at the house so we have a kind of a friendship developing. It’s becoming easier to have him around now that my jealousy has dissipated some. I also think he’s distracted with another girl who he’s keeping close to his chest.

  “Josh, you remember Grace don’t you? And this is her boyfriend, Jason.” Rona makes the introductions, bringing me out of my musing.

  “Grace.” Josh looks at her the way that I look at Rona, until he snaps out of it and holds his hand out. “Of course, Grace, how are you doing?”

  “I’m fine thanks,” she replies, shaking his outstretched hand, trying to hide a blush and something more.

  What the hell is going on between those two? Josh doesn’t seem to want to release his hold on her.

  By the look on Jason’s face, he doesn’t like the way Josh is looking at Grace. He moves closer to her, laying his claim by wrapping his hand around her waist, a move Josh frowns at.

  Grace looks to be embarrassed, and maybe upset. “Rona, I’m sorry but we can’t stay. I just wanted to call in as we were passing to see how you are.” Collecting her purse and jacket after looking at my sons, she starts to leave.

  “See you around, Grace,” Josh says. Grace just looks in his direction—blinks—then ignores him.

  Guess Josh really is over my Rona.

  “Don’t worry, Grace, we’ll see you soon,” I reply, as they’re on their way out.

  “How are you doing, Elise?” Josh asks, turning his attention to my daughter-in-law.

  “I’m fine thanks, Josh. Would you like a cuddle?” Elise asks, offering up one of my sons.

  I can’t help laughing at the look of panic on Josh’s face.

  “Um, no. I’m good. I don’t mind looking, but I don’t touch.”

  “Actually Dad, we had an ultrasound the other day,” Jake says, a huge grin splitting his face.

  “And?” I ask.

  “We’re having twin girls.” He sounds so damn proud.

  When Jake was injured and received his honorable discharge from the Marines, I prayed him coming home would help him to decide which direction he wanted to take his life in. And I couldn’t have been happier when he really did pull himself together and went after Elise and the happiness he so deserved. That’s all a father can ask for.

  “Oh my God, Jake, Elise, that’s wonderful.” Rona tries to stand up.

  “Sweetheart, you stay right there.”

  “I think on that note I’m going to go, before I catch the twin syndrome! I’ll see you around.”

  “Goodbye Josh, take care,” Rona says, as he leaves.

  I sit down next to my wife with my arm around her. Jake and Elise bring our sons over to us, giving Cody to his mother and Travis to me.

  “We’ll see you both later.” Jake keeps his arm around Elise as he leads her out of the house.

  Sitting quietly on the sofa with my wife makes me feel like the luckiest man alive. I have an amazing wife who’s given me twin sons out of love.

  What more could a guy ask for?

  “Thank you for making my life complete, Rona.”

  “You complete me Cade, you and our boys.”

  The End

  When We Meet is a short novella, written to run alongside From This Moment, the first book in the series.

  It starts when Grace Langdon is in the hospital, recovering from being attacked by Nick Lucas. In the hospital, she meets Josh Mitchell.

  This is the start of their story, which will conclude in New Beginning, a full-length novel due out 2015.

  Turn the page to read

  When We Meet

  Chapter 1

  Grace

  Lying in this hospital bed with one hell of a headache makes me want to scream. How could I have been so stupid as to believe my brother, Tom? Everything out of his mouth for the past twelve months has been a lie. He’d told me he’d met a woman and that was his explanation for his regular trips out of town. Now he’s dead. Shot while trying to kidnap a woman named, Rona.

  Wiping the tears from my cheeks, I try to control my emotions. No matter what he’s done, I can’t help being upset at his death. He was my brother first, and wasn’t always a bad guy. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have survived our parents’ death, or the bout of pneumonia I had in college. And now he’s gone.

  My head has started to throb again thinking about everything that has been going on. Nick, a so-called friend of Tom’s had pushed me down while I was trying to run out of the house. I’d fallen and banged my head on the fireplace, and that was the last thing I remember before waking in the hospital.

  My life couldn’t have gotten any worse. I’m a twenty-five-year old, relief schoolteacher at the elementary school close to my home. I’m temporarily out of work with no boyfriend to hold my hand and now I have no family. Reaching for a tissue from the table at the side of my bed, I wipe my eyes again and blow my nose just as the door opens.

  Oh my, I really think I’ve hit my head a lot harder than anyone thinks. Walking into my room is a god! He’s tall, with broad shoulders, dark hair, blue eyes and a smile, which puts erotic thoughts into my head.

  “Grace Landon?” the god asks.

  Coughing to try and hide my embarrassment, I croak, “Yes.”

  Hell, his smile should be illegal. “I’m Josh Mitchell from the Drug Enforcement Agency. Is it okay for us to have a chat?”

  Stay forever.

  “Yes, that’s fine. I’m not exactly going anywhere.”

  He takes a seat to the side of the bed and just looks at me. Not saying anything he continues to watch me, which makes me want to squirm.

  Pulling himself together, he sits up in his chair and takes out a small notebook. “Grace, I need to ask you about the attack.”

  Reaching for my cup of water, I take a sip before making eye contact with him. “What do you want to know?”

  “I want to know what Nick Lucas was looking for.”

  “He kept asking me about a notebook of Tom’s. I have no idea where it is or what it contains. I just know he seemed
desperate to find it. I had no idea what Tom was up to until Daniel told me last night. How could I be so blind?” I wipe my eyes again. I’m finding it difficult to accept that my brother is no longer here and that he died a criminal. It breaks my heart really.

  “Grace, I believe you. We need to try and find what Nick was looking for. That is providing he didn’t find it after he attacked you.”

  “He didn’t really attack me.” Josh frowns. “I went to run out of the house, he tried to stop me by grabbing my arm. He didn’t have a proper hold. I lost my balance and fell, hitting my head on the fireplace. Then I woke up here.”

  “When Nick first arrived did he mention any names, locations, anything that might help us to locate him?”

  “No. He didn’t talk to me, just demanded to know where the notebook was. I had no idea what he was talking about.” I feel completely drained now, after talking briefly about the frightening experience in my home.

  “I can see you’re tired Grace, so one last question for now, okay?” I look at him. “Did Tom ever mention where he was going when he left town?”

  I sigh. “No, he just said he’d met someone and was spending time with her. I asked him on a couple of occasions where he was going, but he avoided the question. I gave up eventually.”

  Josh stands walking closer to the bed. “So soft,” he states, wrapping a lock of my hair around his finger. God, how can I be all hot and bothered when I’m in the hospital with a hell of a concussion?

  Hearing someone at the door, he coughs and stands back, seeming reluctant to let go of my hair. I look up and collide with his eyes. I can’t look away.

  “Grace?” Finding it so difficult to look away, I finally move my eyes to see Anna standing in the doorway. She always makes me smile, and has been a good friend since high school.

  “Anna! Come in. This is Josh Mitchell. He’s with the DEA.” Anna walks further into the room and shakes hands with him.

  “We’ve already met. Hi, Josh.” Anna looks as hot and bothered as I feel. He obviously has an effect on women. I need to stay well clear of him.

  Anna turns back to me. “Grace, how are you doing?” she asks, as Josh starts moving toward the door.

  “I’ll leave you both to it. Take care, Grace.” He opens the door and then he turns back and gives me one hell of a look, setting off tingles of awareness between my thighs.

  Closing the door as he exits, Anna looks back at me, no doubt noticing the blush I can’t hide. “Grace Landon, what on earth have you done to that guy? He couldn’t take his eyes from you.”

  “I could use a fan over here.” I laugh to try and hide my embarrassment. Never in my twenty-five years has anyone looked at me the way Josh just did. I’m still hot and bothered.

  “You didn’t answer my question Grace. How are you doing?”

  “I’m feeling a lot better. My headache is dim now compared to when I woke up in here. I guess I just feel overwhelmed with everything I have to deal with as soon as I get out of here.”

  “Please try not to worry. You have friends, Grace, who want to help you.”

  I frown because I’m not known for letting someone else do things for me.

  “On this occasion, you have to ask for help and don’t tell me you can handle it on your own. You’ve been through a lot and even though Tom was up to no good in the end, he was still your brother. I’m here to help and I’m not budging until you ask me to do something for you. Beth has asked me to tell you that she’s free to help as well. Both of us have a spare room so you can stay with one of us if you can’t face going home.” Running out of steam, Anna takes the seat Josh vacated.

  I start to laugh. There is nothing else for it. Listening to ‘bossy’ Anna, and watching her facial expressions has really cheered me up and started to pull me out of the slump I was falling into.

  Wiping my tears away for an entirely different reason as before, I look at Anna, who is trying her best not to laugh with me. “Okay Anna, you win. What do you want to do to help? I have a list so take your pick.”

  “Well now that you’ve agreed, I suppose I need to admit to you that Beth, Justin and Mack are at your house cleaning up the mess.” I open my mouth to speak, but Anna holds her hand up to stop me. “Your house will be in walk-in condition when you get out of the hospital, if you do want to go back there. There is something I can’t do for you, but will be there with you, and that’s to arrange Tom’s funeral.” I just nod my head when Anna finishes speaking. I feel really choked up that they would do all that for me.

  “Thank you. For everything.”

  “Don’t worry. The nurse said you might be released tomorrow, in which case, I’ll come and pick you up. I can take you home, if that’s where you decide to go and take you to the funeral home to get that out of the way. It’s one less thing for you to worry about.”

  “All right.” I just agree, because I know from experience that there is no use in arguing with Anna when she has a bee in her bonnet.

  “I’ll go, and let you sleep.”

  “Wait a minute. Will you tell me how Rona is?” I ask, feeling responsible.

  “She’s a bit sore on her hip and thigh, which she banged up when she fell into the coffee table. She was also hit in the face, which has left some bruising. She’ll be okay. My dad is looking after her. In fact, she’ll probably be lucky to go to the bathroom on her own with how my dad is hovering,” she laughs, but sees the look on my face. “Grace. Do not blame yourself. Your brother was responsible for his own actions and nobody blames you. Do you hear me?”

  I smile at her. “Yes, Mom!”

  Laughing, she collects her purse from the chair. “I’ll see you tomorrow Grace and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do with that hot, DEA agent.” With that, she walks out the door, leaving me with images that are not going to help me sleep and will probably have me blushing like crazy if I see Josh Mitchell again.

  Chapter 2

  Josh

  Not really having a lead to go on in the search for Nick Lucas, I park up in the center of town trying to think like him. He was after Rona for her money, and he needed it to leave town, so at a guess, I’d say he’s still in the area and will probably try again. Seeing how protective Cade is with Rona, I doubt he’ll get a second chance to get to her. I hope not. God, Rona. She’s stunning. My tongue was nearly hanging out of my mouth when I first saw her a couple of days ago. It was only a look from Daniel that helped me get it together again. What an idiot.

  Then walking into the hospital yesterday morning to interview Grace, my heart stopped. What is it about Jackson Hole and hot women? Grace looked so fragile lying in the bed with her dark hair flowing in waves over her chest. What the hell got into me when I’d finished questioning her, I’ll never know. It was as though someone else had taken over my body and before I knew what I was doing, I was standing beside her bed with a lock of soft hair wrapped around my finger. God knows what I would have done if Anna hadn’t walked into the room.

  Glancing out of the window, I notice Rona with Elise and Justin taking seats in the grill across the road. Wanting to see Rona again and check on how she’s doing, I climb out of the car and walk across the street, but on entering the grill, I hover. Watching the server deliver their refreshments, I start to walk over.

  Rona, just about to take a bite from her cake looks up and sees me. She pauses with a spoon of cake half way to her mouth, placing it back on her plate when she realizes I’m heading over to their table.

  “Hello, Rona. How are you feeling?” I ask, smiling at her.

  “Hi, Josh. I’m fine thank you.”

  I look at Elise who seems more amused than anything and then Justin.

  “Josh, this is Elise,” Rona introduces.

  “We’ve already met.”

  I turn to Elise. “Nice to see you again, Elise. Justin.”

  “Oh, right.”

  “Do you want to join us?” Justin asks.

  Not sure whether this is a good idea or not, I reply
, “If you’re sure I’m not interrupting anything.”

  “No, take a seat,” Elise invites.

  I take the one right next to Rona wondering what the hell I’m doing.

  “We’re taking a breather from Rona’s exhausting shopping spree,” Elise laughs.

  “Hey, I’m not that bad, besides I’m not the only one who bought a sexy dress!”

  Elise blushes.

  I look from Elise’s blush to Rona eating her cake. “Sexy dress, huh. You want to try them out on me?” I suggest, knowing I’m not that lucky.

  “They’re packed in the car. Sorry,” Rona replies, around a mouthful of cake.

  I laugh at them now. “You actually went shopping with these two?” I ask Justin.

  “No chance. I’m not brave enough to do that. I’m chauffeur and bodyguard today.”

  I put all the joking and flirting to one side. “Good, that’s what’s needed until Nick is in custody.” I look toward Rona. “You need to make sure someone is always with you.” I nod to Elise. “You as well.”

  Rona takes another bite from her cake. “Don’t worry, between Cade and Jake, I think the only place we’ll get to go alone is the bathroom.”

  “That’s probably right,” Elise confirms.

  After a few moments of silence, while we eat, I turn to Rona. “Where are you from? Sometimes I catch a hint of something else in your accent,” I ask, looking at her and unable to hide my interest.

  She replies, “I’m originally from Rhode Island, but I’ve lived in Ireland for the past ten years. What about you?”

  “Alaska originally and now, wherever the job takes me,” I reply, giving her a lingering glance, wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I’ve never hit on a woman who’s been spoken for before and it’s obvious she’s in love with Cade.

  Justin now engages me in talk about law enforcement. Apparently he started out at the police academy until family obligations put a stop to his career as a police officer.