Destination Connelly (The Colloway Brothers Book 4)

by K. L. Kreig

  “It would indeed,” she beams, starting toward the stairs. Maxwell follows.

  Again with the beaming.

  “Are you happy, Mom?”

  She stops halfway, turning back around. “I loved your father, Conn. More than I ever thought possible. And when he died, I accepted that I’d lived a happy and full life with my soul mate and that you only get one of those in a lifetime. Sometimes, though, we do get second chances.”

  I nod, unable to speak. No one wants to see my mom happy more than I do. She’s such an incredibly amazing woman with a wealth of love to give. I’m glad she found someone else who is worthy to accept it.

  She smiles softly. “And when we’re blessed with another chance at happiness, well…it would be foolish to squander it, don’t you think?”

  As she walks up the creaky stairs, I get the distinct impression she’s no longer talking about her and Bob Monroe.

  Chapter 31

  Conn

  I knock on the door and wait. When she doesn’t answer right away, I knock again. I rarely just pop over unannounced but I needed to see her. I need someone to talk to.

  At last, I hear her footfalls and the light shining through the peephole dims. When she hesitates I don’t think she’s going to let me in. Then the door opens.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.” Her smile is sympathetic and I know things between us will be okay. Other than the first date with Hazel, I haven’t talked to Ella since the day I stood in her apartment and looked upon my daughter for the first time. Things were too awkward, given the fact she’s Nora’s sister and Hazel’s aunt. If she’s anything like my family, family sticks together. Period.

  I give her sweat-clad body a quick once-over, but it’s different now than all the other times before it. All I see is the sister of the woman I’m in love with, not the beautiful one I’ve been attracted to all this time. “You busy?”

  “Nah. Come on in.” She steps aside to let me enter. “You want a beer?”

  “I’d love one. Thanks.”

  I take a seat on her plush white couch. Soon enough, Ella returns with two cold brews in her hand. She sits on the other end, tucking her bare feet beneath her.

  “No hot date tonight?” I ask, taking a long swallow.

  “Just with my hand.”

  That makes me choke and I spray hops and barley all over myself. “Jesus, Ella.” I set the bottle down and wipe myself off.

  She smirks. “Hmmm, guess things have changed between us, huh?”

  I sigh heavily, knowing she’s right. Normally we’d banter back and forth off each other for a good fifteen minutes over a comment like that, most of it sexually charged, yet I just practically chastised her for it. It feels more than wrong to even think about doing that now. “I guess they have.”

  It’s been a whole week since I talked to my mom. Another week of thinking, soul-searching. Another week without Nora in my arms or my bed. Another week of bitter loneliness. I’m starting another interminable weekend without her. At least I get to spend the day with Hazel on Sunday.

  “I’m glad, you know.”

  “Glad about what?” I pick up my beer and lean back, putting my feet up on her coffee table. She scrunches her forehead in annoyance but doesn’t tell me to take them down, so I don’t.

  “That nothing happened between us.” She drops her gaze briefly. “I wouldn’t be able to look at Nora if it did and…well, I need her in my life. Hazel, too. So…”

  So do I, I think. Jesus, so do I.

  “I’ve missed you, Ella. I’ve missed talking to you.”

  “Me too, playboy, but Nora’s my sister and I…”

  When she leaves her sentence hanging, I rescue her. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. I get it. You don’t want to watch her get hurt.”

  “I don’t want to watch any of you get hurt, Conn. I care about all three of you. A lot.”

  “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, Ella. Tell me what to do,” I beg quietly.

  This is why I came here. My mom gave me so much to think about, but I still feel a little lost and I guess I was hoping to gain some insight from the person closest to Nora besides Hazel. Hell, I should be talking to Carl, not Ella, but there’s no way in hell I can do that. He’ll probably gut me, then sink my empty shell to the bottom of the Ohio River.

  “No can do, amigo. Only you can figure this out, Conn.”

  “This is such a pile of shit,” I mumble, letting my head fall against the cushions behind me.

  “You know,” she starts, “My grandpa ran a cattle farm in rural Iowa. When I was growing up, my mom would drop me off there for three weeks out of the summer. I loved my grandparents, but I used to hate going there. They made me get up early, like at the ass crack of dawn, and do all kinds of chores. The one I hated the most was cleaning out Deguello’s pen.”

  “Deguello? What the hell is a Deguello?” I’m from Detroit. We don’t have farms there.

  She looks at me with a twinkle in her eye. “Not what. Who.”

  “Okay, who the hell is Deguello?” And what the hell does he or she have to do with my current predicament with Nora?

  “Deguello was my grandpa’s prize bull. He was treated like a fucking king, let me tell you. I half expected to see him draped in a purple velvet cape when I got to his pen. Anyway, my job in the morning was to scoop his shit. From the age of twelve to sixteen part of my summer ritual with my grandpa was to scoop cow crap.”

  I start howling with laughter until tears run down my face. I cannot imagine this prissy woman sitting next to me hauling cow dung.

  “Anyway,” she shouts loudly, trying to shut me up. “You can imagine how much I complained about that. So one day I asked my grandpa why we had to scoop up Deguello’s shit—I used that exact word mind you—and he stopped me from what I was doing and said, ‘You may see shit, Mirabella, but do you know what I see?’ I knew he was about to tell me something insightful, something I’d remember until the day I died.”

  “What did he tell you,” I prod when she hesitates, knowing she’s about to pass down the same insight to me that I’ll also remember until the day I die.

  “He said ‘I see vegetables on a family’s dinner table that will feed their kids the nutrients they need to grow up strong and healthy. I see the energy I need to run my lights and heat my water and power my entire farming operation. I see gold, Mirabella. And if all you see is a pile of shit, then you’re missing an entire world of lost potential and opportunities.’ Then he went back to work like we hadn’t spoken a word.”

  “He sounds like a good grandpa,” I say eventually, cutting through the silence around us as I digest the words she just spoke.

  “He was.”

  Was. I didn’t miss her sorrowful use of past tense.

  “So…you’re saying my shit pile is really a gold mine then?”

  We laugh for a couple of minutes before sobering again. Ella reaches over and takes my hand. “Twenty-four karat.”

  A burn starts in my eyes. I blink it away. “I love her, Ella.”

  “I know.”

  “God, I miss her. My entire being aches without her.” I’m in fucking agony.

  “So does hers.”

  I swivel my head and look at her. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” she replies softly with a sad smile on her face.

  Sitting back, she quietly nurses her beer. I’ve learned more about Ella in these last few minutes than I have in the year that I’ve known her. I wonder what else is lurking under the layers she uses to keep herself protected?

  “You’ve never told me stories about your childhood before.”

  She looks thoughtful before answering, “That’s because before, you were just the hot guy next door who kept unsuccessfully trying to get into my bed.”

  I smile. It was true. At first. “And now?”

  One shoulder comes up. “Now you’re family.”

  Family. Regardless of where Nora and I end up, there is that.


  She squeezes my hand once before letting go. “Feel better?”

  I nod slowly. “Getting there.”

  She curls her fingers and blows on her knuckles before pretending to shine them. “I have a gift like that.”

  A light chuckle escapes. “Thanks, Ella.”

  “Anytime, playboy. Anytime.”

  Chapter 32

  Nora

  We walk into the upscale wine bar in downtown Chicago shortly after nine. There’s soft music playing. The lights are low. An oblong maple bar sits smack dab in the middle of the spacious room, providing the perfect centerpiece for the alcoves on the outer edges that contain plush couches and mismatched chairs. This entire place is perfect for small groups to gather or intimate enough for a couple to have after-dinner drinks. It seems like a place Connelly would have taken me.

  Jesus, Nora. Stop torturing yourself. You’re his child’s mother. Nothing more.

  “There they are,” Kam excitedly points, dragging me across the hardwood flooring, my heels clicking as I jog to keep up with her.

  “They? I thought it was just the two of us.”

  Damn her. Kam is famous for dragging me along to more than one party unannounced. I’ve felt like the awkward third wheel more than once. I didn’t want to come out tonight, but I didn’t have a valid excuse either since it’s Saturday night and Hazel sweet-talked her way into spending the night with Mira. Besides, Kam was absolutely relentless. She doesn’t like to be told no.

  “Kam…” I moan, trying to stop her.

  She pivots and grabs my shoulders, shaking me slightly. “Look. You need to get out and make friends, maybe even get laid. And I know how close you like your circle. If I told you, you would have said no.”

  I huff. The getting laid part is true. The making friends part is debatable.

  “Now. Paste on a big smile and be your sweet self.”

  “Fine,” I acquiesce. It’s too late now, anyway. “But I’m leaving early.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  Seconds later we arrive in front of a group of stunning women, and…Landyn. Huh? I stand there, confused, as Kam runs around giving hugs to her friends. Landyn squeezes through the melee and throws her arms around me.

  “What are you doing here?” she asks in my ear.

  “Uh, I could ask you the same.”

  She points to a jaw-dropping gorgeous brunette. “Addy’s my aunt and also my soon-to-be cousin-in-law, I guess. That’s kind of weird,” she mumbles.

  I’m sure my face scrunches up in utter confusion, but before I get a chance to ask any more questions, Kam is once again pulling me by the arm into the middle of the group as everyone settles back in their seats.

  “Guys, this is Nora Cantres. Nora, meet Livia Colloway, Alyse Colloway, Addy Monroe, soon-to-be Colloway, and of course you already know Landyn.”

  Frozen.

  That’s me.

  And not the carefree “Let It Go” Frozen either.

  I suppose had I confided in Kam about my epic fuckup with Connelly and Hazel I wouldn’t have gotten myself into this situation. She probably thinks she’s doing me some big favor by introducing me to his family so Connelly can win back the “redhead who broke his heart.” She’s a big believer in fairy-tale endings.

  I quickly weigh my options.

  Tuck tail and run or square my shoulders and make the best of it.

  I’m so damn tired of running.

  “Nice to meet you,” I say, holding out my hand to Addy. They’re each polite, which I guess is more than I could have hoped for. I’ve hurt their brother-in-law terribly and it’s natural to protect your family. When I get to Livia she doesn’t take my hand, but stands instead, enfolding me in her arms. You could have blown me over with a puff of air.

  “It’s nice to finally meet the woman who brought Conn to his knees,” she whispers in my ear. “Congrats. Welcome to the family, Nora.”

  “But I’m not—”

  “You will be. Once he gets his head out of his ass.”

  She’s obviously the optimist of the bunch.

  Sitting down, she pats the open space between her and Kam, indicating I should take it. Not wanting to be rude, I do. I feel an instant kinship with this woman already. Her warmth puts me at ease and the other women quickly follow suit. I can see why Connelly’s brothers fell in love with them. I’m suddenly grateful Hazel will have them in her life, even if I may not.

  “Did I miss something?” Kam leans over and asks quietly. Guilt, my very best friend, assails me again. Kam has known something is wrong, but she has respected my need to sort things out in my own head before talking to her.

  “Yes, but I’ll tell you later. I’m sorry, I should have told you by now.”

  “No worries, Lucy. We’re good.” My nonjudgmental friend. She has my back to the end. I love Kamryn so much.

  Over the next hour or so, I learn all sorts of interesting facts about the Colloways. Gray and Livia have been married not quite a year and have four-month-old twin boys, Grant and Cash. Alyse is Livia’s sister and Asher’s wife. They were just married this past July and she’s expecting at the end of February. Addy is engaged to the elusive Luke, Gray’s twin. I never had a chance to meet Luke as there was some rift between him and his family by the time I met Connelly. They’re getting married in Maui in April. They all laughed about how Gray unintentionally paid for their honeymoon through a gift he gave Addy for helping him win Livia back.

  And the story about how Landyn is Addy’s niece, but also the Colloway boys’ cousin is beyond bizarre. Novel worthy. And I thought my life was fucked up. I will give Landyn credit, though. She sure has her act together for all the shit she’s been through. I have a feeling what I’ve learned, though, only scratches the surface of what lies beneath. For all of them.

  “So, Nora, how is Hazel adjusting?”

  I look at Addy, wondering if she’s trying to bait me, but she’s not. She’s genuinely interested. “She’s pretty laid back, so she’s adjusting very well, actually. She loves her new school and has made a lot of new friends already. She’s so excited to be in the city with her beloved Blackhawks. She’s a hockey nut.”

  “Hockey? She’s ten, right?”

  I laugh. “Yes. My godfather is into hockey, so I think that’s where she picked it up.”

  “When do we get to meet her?”

  I face Livia not wanting to look at Kam. She’s not stupid. I’m sure by now she’s figured out the connection. “We’re taking things a little slow, letting her adjust to the whole news first. But soon.”

  “Good. I’m excited to get to know her. The Colloways are a pretty close-knit bunch, in case you didn’t know.”

  “I do,” I reply hoarsely. “And you won’t be able to keep her away once she gets her hands on Grant and Cash. She loves babies.” Zel has begged me for years to have another baby, even if we adopt. She wants a sibling so bad. I guess she’ll have to settle for cousins instead.

  “So how are things between you and Connelly?” Alyse asks. “He’s pretty tight-lipped around us.”

  Hmmm…let’s see. Awkward. Tense. Uncomfortable. Lonely, actually. Very, very lonely. Glancing at Kam who’s riveted to what I’ll say, I settle for, “Amicable.” Which is also not untrue. Connelly’s been nothing but polite to me during our brief interludes. Polite like one would greet their dry cleaner or hairdresser or a police officer pulling you over for speeding.

  Very fucking polite.

  “He’ll come around. Asher’s working on him.” She winks conspiratorially.

  Before I can tell her that earth has a better chance of being taken out by a meteor than us reconciling, a familiar form catches my eye. And what I see burns me. Shreds me to pieces. If I looked down, I would not be at all surprised to see my heart beat through the gaping hole in my chest.

  It’s Connelly.

  And he’s not alone.

  I’ve been emotionally barren for the last eleven years. Slowly freezing to death without the love
of the only man I’ve ever wanted. I have Hazel, yes, but having the love of your child is incomparable to having the love of your soul mate.

  Seeing Connelly with another woman attached to his arm is like a hot blade slicing through that frozen tundra and carving out the remainder of my iced-over heart. So many things have happened that should have squashed my hope of getting back together, but I’m too stubborn to take the hints. Or stupid. Now, any shred of irrational hope I’ve held on to all these weeks crumbles into dust, choking me on the caustic particles.

  I want to look away, but I can’t. I’m riveted to the train wreck happening right before me.

  I watch them wander over to the bar. He pulls out a chair for her. She gazes at him in awe as if he’s one of the seven wonders. He takes a seat next to her. She scoots closer. He orders her a drink. She won’t take her eyes off him. He gifts her with a panty-melting smile that crushes me. She runs her fingers playfully on his forearm. I can hardly breathe.

  I hate her fucking guts. I hate knowing he’s out on a date with another woman. I hate that she’s touching him when it should be me. I hate that he’s not mine anymore. But more than anything, I hate that I just refuse to accept it.

  It’s been close to two months now since Connelly and I have been intimate and all this time, I’ve wondered if he’s been with other women. I’d hoped against hope, not able to stomach the thought of his hands skimming someone else’s curves or his unmatched sexual talents making them weep with pleasure. It’s one thing to think he may be with another woman…it’s quite another to see it with my own two eyes.

  Feeling something on my arm, I turn to Livia who has a sad, sympathetic smile on her face. I realize I have no idea how long I’ve been staring.

  “I have to go.”

  As I get up, though, Addy spouts, “You mean go get your man back from that blonde slut, don’t you?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “No. He doesn’t want me. Clearly.”

  “Nora.” Addy stands, gripping my shoulders. “He’s a man. And men are…well, their egos are made of tissue paper. His pride is wounded and he’s licking it. That’s all.”