Addie lifts the necklace from the box, the thin, delicate chain trailing over her fingers, the light catching the shiny surface of the pendant, glinting as she turns it over.
“We gave it to her right before she left,” I explain. “Before she got out of here for good.”
Colt nods, his voice husky. “Mom was heartbroken about leaving us behind. But she had to. We all knew it.”
“So, we gave her this,” Wes explains. “To remind her we would always be there for her, no matter what, that we would take care of her when she needed us.”
Damn, now even my voice is scratchy. “She was a fucking good mom.”
Colt touches the chain of the necklace as Addie holds the pendant, her fingers trembling. “Mom sent this back to us when she knew she wouldn’t make it. She said she wanted us to have it before she died, to remind us to take care of one another. To be there for each other and to always remember what’s truly important — the people that make us happy.”
Addie brings it up close enough to read the finely etched inscription. “Our hearts, our dreams, our love. We’re with you always.” When she looks up at us the, light sheen of tears in her eyes matches mine.
“Those words are as true today with how we feel about you as they were back then in another lifetime when we were just a bunch of kids who knew we’d been blessed by having a good woman in our lives.”
He lifts the ends of the necklace up. Addie searches his eyes for a moment but then she turns, sweeping the hair off her neck so Colt can fasten the clasp. When she turns back around, one of Addie’s hands are at her lips, while she fingers the pendent with the other.
“I don’t... I don’t know what to say. It’s beautiful.”
“We’ve held onto it all these years,” Wes says. “Mom was the best woman we’d ever known, until we met you. I know she’d have loved you as much as we do, Addie.”
She smiles sweetly at us, her eyes shining with tears. Her voice has a waver, but her words come out strong. “I wish she could see how amazing her sons turned out. I wish she was here.”
I take her hand. “You’re here with us. And that’s enough.”
We really enjoyed writing this duet about Addie and the Stone brothers — we hope you love their story as much as we do! As always, we welcome your comments and your review on Amazon, BookBub, or Goodreads is much appreciated.
PS — You’re invited to come join us in Jadin’s Maidens for book chats, the latest news, exclusive sneak peeks, and more!
STONE BROTHERS DUET
1 Mountain Fever
2 Mountain Cure
THE CODE SERIES
1 Vested Interest
2 Hidden Agenda
3 Broken Process
4 Risky Business
5 Perfect Design
Bethany Jadin is the pen name of two friends who write steamy, unconventional romance together. They love telling stories full of humor, heart, and lots of heat. Their promise to readers is that you will always find sizzling chemistry and heroes worth falling heads-over-hells for inside every book.
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Mountain Cure (Stone Brothers Duet, #2) Page 18