by Zoe Dawson
“Home run!” Boone shouted, and Booker grinned at his brother. “Get ready to catch air,” he said to Brax. Aubree sitting in the bleachers next to me shouted, “Go, Booker!”
Chase wound up and whoosh, the ball exploded across the plate.
“Steeee-riiiike, one,” the ump shouted. Aubree’s stepfather was officiating and having a grand time.
“Nice,” Booker said, giving his father-in-law a sour look. “You blind, ump?”
Mike chuckled, and Chase wound up for his second bullet over the plate. “Stee-riiike two.”
Booker chuckled and said, “Really, ump? Can you read that sign? That’s where the next ball is headed.”
Brax laughed and threw the ball to Chase. He checked the runners, then wound up. The guy on second base started moving as Boone took off. The ball cracked off Booker’s bat, and he slammed it out of the park and over the wall.
Aubree stood up, clapping and whooping. Chase looked over and gave me a grin, and I shrugged and blew him a kiss.
The game was tied, and now Chase’s team was up to bat. Booker was pitching, and just as he let go of the ball, Boone sang at the top of his lungs:
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks,
I don’t care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team.
If they don’t win it’s a shame.
For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,
At the old ball game.
Everyone in the stands started laughing. It just wouldn’t be right in Suttontowne unless the Outlaws did some crazy shit.
Each time a batter came up, Boone kept singing. Finally, it was Brax’s turn. Boone broke into song, but it didn’t phase Brax, he just sang along, and then Booker joined in just as he released the ball. Brax swung, the ball connected, and with bases loaded, he won them the game.
Brax invited us all over to his house for a barbeque, and I’ll never forget the look on River Pearl’s face when she opened the door.
She handed him one of the babies and Chase’s face softened. “Come in,” she murmured. We followed her to the back and I braced myself for all the babies and children. Scottie would always be there in my heart, but I had room for more. So much more. I was ready for this, vulnerable, open and so in love.
“You okay?” Chase asked as he watched me with concern.
I took a breath and said softly. “Wonderful, now hand him over.” He nestled the baby boy in my arms. It hurt, but it was bearable. “What’s this one’s name?”
“That’s Bane,” River said, frowning. “I think.”
I looked down into his sweet little face, his eyes as blue as his dad’s. “You’re going to be a heartbreaker, aren’t you?”
He cooed and rubbed at his eyes. I sat down on one of the benches while Brax heated up the grill and the food was laid out. Contentedly, I watched Chase and River Pearl talk. Just talk and laugh while I held that warm little body in my arms. Everything was going to be fine. Everything worked out for us. Chase had gotten back his family—almost all of them—and I was confident Jake would come around. It was good for Chase to be here finally.
After eating, we went into the house and got a treat. The Outlaw boys sang for us, and that was something no one ever got tired of hearing. Boone did most of the singing, his voice as beautiful and clear-pitched as an angel, Booker was on the piano, and Brax’s fiddling was as poignant as ever. The words to the song, “My Town” resonated as Chase slipped his hand into mine and squeezed.
River Pearl sat down next to me. “You doing okay with him?”
“Yes. He’s fine where he is,” I said firmly.
She smiled. “I’m so thrilled to have you here with us. So happy that Chase is finally home.”
I nodded. “I love him so much,” I said, leaning into his shoulder.
Chase kissed the top of my head. “You’ve got yourself your own singing group here,” Chase said.
River laughed. “Who knows what these boys are going to do with their lives? As of right now, I’m going to enjoy every minute of them being babies. The shenanigans will begin soon enough.”
***
Later on that night, Chase and I finished up our meal and we were cleaning up. It felt completely domestic and peaceful and wonderful.
He wrapped his arms around me from behind as I finished loading up the dishwasher. “I got this eBook about grieving and read it from cover to cover.”
My heart pulsed at the reminder of Scott’s loss. But I was deeply touched to know Chase had made the effort to understand more.
“What did you learn?”
“That love never dies, that you will love Scott forever. His life might have been cut irreversibly short, but his love lives on forever. And ever.”
I closed my eyes and leaned back into him. “What else?”
“Bereaved parents share a dreadful bond. I found a website you might like to take a look at. Maybe it will help. There are things they will get, understand, and can respond to, that I can’t.”
I turned in his arms and said, “Thank you. That’s so thoughtful. Thank you for not acting like this doesn’t exist.” I kissed him, loved having his mouth soft and warm against mine. “I will grieve for a lifetime. For as long as I breathe, I will grieve and ache and love my son with all my heart and soul.”
“It’s what I love about you, babe. Your courage and commitment.”
“But this isn’t a sad ending,” I said. “Because I’ve known deep sorrow, I also have known inexpressible joy. Because I grieve, I know joy with you.”
I touched his face. He sustained me, and his every word was a heartfelt testament to his love.
His eyes shining, and there it was: joy that I would get to spend my days with him, committed and content, the passion and the mundane equally beautiful.
I stroked his cheek. “My life is now more rich and vibrant and full, not despite my loss but because of it.”
He caught my face in his hands, tipping my head back, wiping at the wetness on my cheeks with his thumbs. I hadn’t even known I was crying. He leaned down and kissed me with such immeasurable care that more tears spilled over. Tightening his hold on my face, he slowly withdrew, then trailed his knuckles down my cheek.
“Let’s go outside and watch the stars come out.”
We sat on the porch swing Boone installed when he landscaped the front and back of our beautiful home. The pergola he’d built was already green with new growth from the wisteria vines, wild roses, and jasmine. In fact, I could already smell jasmine in the air.
“You have to agree that my furniture looks great in your house.”
“Our house,” I murmured. “I will admit I coveted it.”
“So, was it that I came with the furniture…or that the furniture came with me?”
I didn’t say anything for a second, and he laughed and dragged me against him. I laughed, too, the joy intense. “I would have taken you without furniture,” I said, deadpan.
He shook his head. “Nice save, copper.”
“Want to go for a walk and get some pie and coffee? I baked key lime today.”
“In a minute,” he said, turning to me. “I’m not going to challenge ghosts or voodoo or protection amulets,” he said. “Objects have great meaning.” He reached down and pulled something sparkly up to the light. My breath caught. It was an exquisite diamond.
He slipped off the swing and knelt down, taking my hand. “In the end, we all found peace. So, let me add to that joy you described, because mine knows no bounds now I have found you. I have truly come home, to my family, to my own true heart, and...to you. Will you marry me, Samantha?”
With the moon on the water and the fireflies lighting up the night, I said, “Yes, I’ll marry you.” The amulet I still wore around my neck flared for a brief moment.
He rose and pulled me up, slipping the ring on my finger. “I love you. Forever and
ever.”
As we walked towards Imogene’s, Suttontowne was quiet and at peace, every ghost for us laid to rest. There would be no more apparitions to haunt us, only the future to live and enjoy…together.
********
Look for Handling Skylar, the next book in the Hope Parish Novels coming in October. Jake Sutton: In the middle between Chase and River Pearl and caught between his own hopes and dreams and his family obligations. He’s arrogant, privileged, and chafes at buckling under his father’s yoke. He’s six feet of danger with dark blonde hair and green eyes. He’s more hot-headed than Chase, and less diplomatic than River. He struggles with his resentment of Chase who he feels betrayed not only him, but his family when he lost it and disappeared. His inability at finding balance is only eclipsed by the love he has for his family. It’ll take a strong, no-nonsense woman to tame the middle Sutton sibling. What happens when Jake falls for a woman that’s nowhere near his social status?
Thank you!
Thanks for reading Resisting Samantha. I hope you enjoyed it!
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You’ve just read Resisting Samantha, the tenth book in the Hope Parish Novels and the first book in the Resisting the Fall series. See where it all began in A Perfect Mess.
More Zoe Dawson Books Available!
Romantic Comedy
Going to the Dogs Series
Leashed
Groomed for Murder
Going to the Dogs Starter Boxed Set (includes Leashed and Groomed for Murder)
Hounded
Collared
Fetched (wedding novella to Hounded)
Handled (wedding novella to Groomed for Murder)
Tangled (wedding novella to Leashed)
Captured (wedding novella to Collared)
Going to the Dogs Starter Boxed Set (Leashed and Groomed for Murder)
Going to the Dogs Wedding Novellas Boxed Set (includes Fetched, Handled, Tangled, and Captured)
Going to the Dogs 2: The Alphas Series
Piggy Bank Blues
Small Town Contemporary Romance
Laurel Falls Series
Leaving Yesterday
New Adult
Mavrick Allstars Series
Ramping Up
Hope Parish Novels
A Perfect Mess
A Perfect Mistake
A Perfect Dilemma
Novellas
Finally Again
Beauty Shot
Mark Me
Hope Parish Novellas Boxed Set 1 (includes Finally Again, Beauty Shot and Mark Me)
A Perfect Wedding
A Perfect Holiday
A Perfect Question
Hope Parish Novellas Boxed Set 2 (includes A Perfect Wedding, A Perfect Holiday, and A Perfect Question)
Brave (Christmas novella)
Urban Fantasy
The Starbuck Chronicles
AfterLife
Erotica
Forbidden Plays Series – Erotic Shorts
Playing Rough
Hard Pass
Illegal Motions
About the Author
Zoe Dawson is the alter ego of multi-published, bestselling author Karen Anders. Karen started her career because her grandmother gave her a book to read. That book made her fall in love with romance and started her on the trek to get published. She achieved that goal in 1996 with the publication of Jennifer's Outlaw for Silhouette. Even with many books under her belt, she can't wait for that next idea, that next exquisite sentence and, of course, the next hero and heroine who fall in love.
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Dear Reader,
Thank you for embarking on this journey with me. It's been fabulous to write this book for your enjoyment.
Please feel free to message me online through Twitter, Facebook, or my website. I would love to hear from you. To find out about my releases, check my website, follow my blog, Like me on Facebook or sign up for my newsletter.
Best, Zoe