“Thank you for going to so much trouble.” Skye sat down with her son, and Rose joined them. “I’ll put myself between him and it for the time being. If need be, we can worry about it later.”
“About your marriage proposal…” Rose began.
“I’m scared,” Skye admitted.
“Of marriage?”
“That, and of being a mother. Yet, here I am, his mother.” Her voice grew shaky on the last word. “I thought I was okay, you know, but… I’m not.”
All it took was a look of concern on Rose’s face and her sister opening her arms, just like she had when they were younger, for Skye to fall in them. “What happened, honey?”
“I met one of our relatives. She could be a sister, a cousin… who knows, but she looks exactly like Azalea.”
Rose stroked her hair. “That must have been a shock.”
It had been a total shock. Skye had been blindsided. “Then she started asking me questions about Miles and you guys, and how it felt being a mother. I felt like she was questioning my worth and my mothering skills. Then she told me she was worried about having kids. About being like her own mother. After that, when I didn’t say anything, she admitted the only reason she’d invited Eli and me over was so she could get over her fear.”
Looking into her sister’s caring gaze, Skye added, “But all that did was bring out mine. I’m so afraid, Rose. I’m so afraid I’ll abandon Miles. Sometimes, it keeps me up all night.”
“Except you haven’t done that, and I’m sure you’ve had the chance.” Rose’s voice held no judgment. “You could have left him with his father and driven back to Denver, fallen right into your old life.”
“I would never do that,” Skye whispered fiercely.
“Which is why you’ll never be our mother.”
“What about Summer? She gave up Ivy.”
Rose smiled sadly. “That’s an entirely different situation. Summer gave up Ivy for entirely unselfish reasons while our mother and Summer’s… they abandoned us because they loved themselves more than they loved us.”
“We have to break the cycle,” Skye said.
A tear slipped down her sister’s cheek. “We already have.”
Chapter Eleven
‡
It had been less than twenty-four hours since he’d seen Skye and Miles, and it was driving him insane. Actually, it was reminding him of how lonely he’d been before they’d driven into his life.
Unable to do something to fix the situation, he was reduced to pacing behind the bar while glaring at customers, and really just being a pain in the ass to anyone who happened to breathe the same air as him.
“Why don’t you just go after her?” Preston asked.
“Because I’m trying to do the right thing by giving her time and space.” And he liked to suffer.
“Yeah, looks like it’s working out really well for the two of you.”
“Unless you have some other suggestions or a way to fix this, then I suggest you keep your damn mouth shut,” Elijah growled, but Preston only laughed.
“Man, I’ve been there. Already done that. Let me tell you what worked out the best… it was when I didn’t wait around for Apple to come to me. I went to her.”
“Skye doesn’t want me to come to her.”
“A woman worth having is a woman worth going after.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been going after her for weeks, and it hasn’t worked. I’ve offered her everything, including my last name, and that didn’t work, either,” Elijah said bitterly.
Preston gave him a sideways glance. “Did you bother telling her why you are offering all those things?”
“I would think it’s obvious.”
“It might be obvious to you, but sometimes a woman needs to hear it. Did you bother to tell her you loved her?”
“What kind of fool do you take me for?” Except… he hadn’t told Skye he loved her at all. He was too hell bent on finding her stupid love language and showing her.
“The kind who forgets to tell a woman he loves her, but never fails to remind her that he is a responsible type of guy, and only wants to do the right thing. How romantic. Hell, I’d marry you with that kind of proposal.” Preston rolled his eyes.
Eli’s cheeks heated. “That might’ve been the way our conversation went, but what’s wrong with that? I am doing the right thing. I do love her. I love our son.”
“Maybe she just wants to be loved and wanted only for herself, and that’s it. Maybe she wants to know you’d want to marry her, even if you didn’t have Miles.”
Elijah grimaced. His cousin was making sense, and Preston rarely made sense when it came to women. “I hate to admit it, but you might be right.”
“Might be right?” Preston asked
Eli held up his hands in defeat and surrender. “Okay. Okay. You’re right, I’m wrong, and I need to go after her. Tell her I love her and want to marry her because of her alone.”
“Damn straight.” Preston gave him a little push. “Go now. I’ll man the bar while you’re winning your woman back.”
Elijah didn’t have to be told twice. He grabbed his coat and keys, and headed out the front door. “Thanks for this. I owe you.”
“Consider us even. I was just paying you back from when you helped me with Apple.”
Elijah saluted him and was gone. Nothing was going to keep him away from Skye, not even the woman herself.
In fact, to make sure nothing would get in his way, he was going to pull out the big guns to help him. Her sisters.
*
The next day, Skye was in the playroom with Rose, Miles, Sasha, and Ivy. She felt at peace, and she knew it was because of her talk with her sister. In fact, they’d stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, talking about anything and everything.
Her brother-in-law had taken care of the kids, insisted on it, in fact. Sure, he said it was because she needed her beauty sleep, and Rose simply needed her sleep to make a baby because she was already the most beautiful woman in the world, but Skye didn’t care.
The only thing missing was Summer, but she knew that when the time was right, she’d make things better with her. Skylar, too.
Maybe not as soon as her sister, but eventually, Skye would come around and maybe, just maybe, invite Skylar to meet her sisters. Right now, though, despite the breakthrough with Rose, she didn’t feel strong enough to talk to Elijah’s sister-in-law.
Rose assured her that her feelings were not only perfectly acceptable, but also normal. Their parents had done a number on them, and no one could expect them to get over the damage overnight. It would take time. While they were all healing, they had decades of hard feelings to work through.
Suddenly, she heard a vehicle pulling up in the drive.
“You have a guest,” Sasha said from across the room where he was playing dolls with Ivy. “Could you please make sure he doesn’t spit tobacco on the flowers or bring his kin into our house for a hollerin’ contest?”
Skye rolled her eyes. “You’re such a snob, no matter how nice your British accent makes it sound.”
“Thank you.”
“Alexander,” Rose said.
“Fine, he can spit tobacco outside, but I draw the line at hollerin’ contests.”
Skye jumped to her feet. “Why do you think your guest is my guest?”
“Because my guests don’t drive a Ford F-250.”
The room spun. “Elijah.”
“Oh, goody. We have religious visitors.” Sasha stood up. “Let me get the sacrificial goat ready.”
“He’s not. I mean, he is, but… Eli is Miles’ daddy, not a missionary or whatever,” she said.
Rose smiled. “I knew he would come for you.”
“But I was supposed to go to him.”
“Maybe he couldn’t wait that long.”
A half-laugh and half-cry reverberated in her throat. “I never had a man pursue me like this.”
“Put him out of his misery, Skye. He’ll never have a
chance to be with a woman such as you,” Sasha said. “But if you should decide to kick his arse, at least allow me to have a go at him.”
Skye ran outside, unable to contain the joy bursting in her heart at the sight of Elijah climbing out of his truck and striding toward her. They met in the middle, clasping hands and simply staring at one another.
Say something.
Like what?
Words.
“You didn’t have to come after me,” she blurted, her heart in her throat. “I was coming back to you. I’d run on bare feet through a raging fire if I had to.”
“Wild child,” he said, caressing the side of her face. “You already came back to me, and you brought my son. I figured it was my turn.”
“You’ve been chasing me all along.”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I have to stop now.”
“I love you.” She took a deep breath and smiled. “I want to marry you.”
“I know.”
Rolling her eyes at his confidence, she said, “As soon as possible. Today. Tomorrow. Next week. I don’t care.”
“How about tomorrow?”
That took her aback. “Tomorrow?” she squeaked.
“I was only following your directions, Ms. Holland.” He stepped closer to her, so close he could kiss her, and she could kiss him back. Oh, how she wanted all of that to happen and more. “And in case you’ve forgotten, I love you, too.”
“Tomorrow it is.”
He flashed a triumphant smile. “Rose and Sasha will be pleased, and they have Strawberry Grove’s back garden ready for you.”
Her mouth dropped. “Did you—did they know you were coming?” Duh, of course they knew. How else could Strawberry Grove already be decorated for her?
“I needed their help.”
“No, you didn’t. I knew I needed to say yes to you, but I was so afraid. Maybe I’m still a little scared, but I want to conquer that fear. I want to bury it so deep in the ground that no Holland girl or woman ever has to face it again.”
“With me at your side, we can face fear head on. Together. Hell, I’ll wrestle fear to the ground for you and put him in a headlock while you dig the hole.”
“That is the most romantic declaration of love I’ve ever heard,” she said, meaning every word.
“I’m just getting started, sweetheart.”
“Promise?”
“Forever,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers. “Forever and always.”
Epilogue
‡
One year later
Elijah put his son in the co-pilot’s seat of the plane and strapped him in securely.
“You ready to fly?”
Miles nodded his head. “Weady!”
Elijah caught his wife’s eyes. “What about you?”
“Ready!” She grinned at him, her red hair pulled up in a ponytail. “I brought lunch, too.”
Elijah wriggled his eyebrows at his son. “Mommy makes the best lunches.”
“But we need to fly first, Daddy.”
“Of course we’re going to fly first,” Elijah assured his son.
“Fly us to the moon,” Skye said.
“Maybe not that far. Gas is too expensive.”
Miles started clapping. “To the moon. To the moon.”
“See what you started, Mrs. Lawson?” Elijah winked at her.
Skye lifted a shoulder. “I’ll make it up to you tonight.”
“How about to the Outer Banks, and then to Holland Springs to see all your aunts, uncles, and cousins?” he asked Miles.
“I hear Ocracoke is nice this time of year,” Skye said. “Just make sure we’re back in time for Mason and Skylar’s fish fry. I promised to make chocolate mousse.”
“Let’s go! Now.” Miles banged his tiny fist against his leg, but he was all smiles.
“Sounds perfect to me,” Skye chimed in. “I brought our swimsuits, too.”
“You have the smartest mother on the planet, Miles.”
Skye blew him a kiss. “And you have the smartest daddy on the planet for knowing that about your momma.”
Once he did a final safety check, he turned to Skye. “Ready for another adventure?”
“Anywhere with you, wild child.” Her words were playful, but her eyes were tender and full of love.
The thing was he felt exactly the same way.
Thank you for reading Skye and Elijah’s book. If you enjoyed their story, please consider leaving a review and telling your friends about LOVE SO WILD! If you’d like to keep up with all my new releases and sales, please sign up for my newsletter at www.marquitavalentine.com.
If you’d like to know more about Skye’s sisters, Rose and Summer, you can find their books in my Holland Springs Series—Third Time’s the Charm and Not Over You.
Books by Marquita Valentine
Boys of the South Series
Live For You
Only For You
True For You
All For You
Wish For You
Burn For You
Melt For You
Take The Fall Series
Take the Fall
When We Fall
After We Fall
Hard To Fall
Royals in Exile
Royal Scandal
Royal Affair
Sports Romance Standalones
Scored
Sidelined
Contracted
Seducing the Billionaire Series
Seducing the Billionaire’s Wife
Seducing the Billionaire’s Secretary
The Lawson Brothers Series
Love So Hot
Love So True
Love So Irresistible
Love So Tempting
Love So Perfect
Love So Unexpected
Love So Right
Love So Wild
Holland Springs Series
Drive Me Crazy
Driving To You
Twice Tempted
Third Time’s a Charm
His Christmas Wish
Just Desserts
Not Over You
Be Mine
The Brides of Holland Springs Series
The Billionaire Bride
The Temporary Bride
The Forgotten Bride
The Christmas Bride
The Scottish Bride
About the Author
New York Times Bestselling Author, Marquita Valentine, writes sexy heroes and sassy heroines who make you swoon and laugh. She’s the author of the bestselling contemporary romance series, Holland Springs, and the new adult romance series, Boys of the South.
Marquita met her husband—aka Hot Builder—at Sonic when they were in high school. She suggests this location to all of her single friends in search of a good man—and if that doesn’t work, they can console themselves with cheesy tater tots. She lives in North Carolina in a very, very small town with Hot Builder and their two children.
Contact Marquita at [email protected]
www.marquitavalentine.com
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