“Hey,” I said, playfully punching him on the shoulder. “I didn’t invite you in because you crushed me by announcing you were moving back to San Francisco.”
The waitress stopped at our table and Brooks ordered a bottle of wine.
When she left, he said, “Well, I soon discovered the error of my ways and returned, so I certainly hope you’ll be a bit more accommodating tonight.”
I pretended to be interested in my menu. “Maybe, now that I’m reasonably certain you’re going to stick around.”
Brooks looked at me and smiled.
We went to bed as soon as we got home. Brooks was already under the covers when I joined him. After I slid in next to him, he reached for my left hand and placed a diamond ring on my finger.
“Restaurant proposals are so cliché,” he said.
I can’t say that I was shocked, or even surprised. I already felt that Brooks was every bit as committed to me, and to Elliott, as we were to him, and a piece of paper wasn’t going to make much of a difference. But I wanted that man to be my husband more than I’d wanted anything in a long time, so when he added, “Daisy Jane, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” I said yes.
Rather loudly and excitedly.
After Brooks got me calmed down, he said, “What do you think about me adopting Elliott?”
I was so choked up I couldn’t speak, so I nodded and Brooks said, “Okay, then.”
The next day, when Theo brought Elliott home, we told them the news. Elliott didn’t really understand, but he seemed excited nonetheless.
“I have a very serious question to ask you,” Brooks said.
“I will answer you very serious,” Elliott said.
“I want your mom to be my wife, but I also want you to be my son. That doesn’t mean you have to call me Dad if you don’t want to. You can still call me Brooks. It’s your decision to make, and you may not be ready to make it yet. But your last name would be McClain, like mine. What do you think about that?”
Elliott’s face lit up. “I would wike to be Ewiott McCwain!”
Brooks’s face lit up, too.
“When’s the wedding?” Theo asked.
“We were thinking about June,” I said. Brooks and I had talked about it a little and agreed that we wanted something small with just a few close friends.
“As long as you don’t cheat me out of seeing you in a wedding dress,” Brooks said.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” I had always thought there couldn’t be anything more handsome than Brooks in a suit, but I thought I might change my mind when I saw him in a tux.
And cuff links.
When June rolled around, we were more than ready to make our union official. “We can’t let your mom be the only one in this house who’s not a McClain, can we?” Brooks asked Elliott.
“No! I want her to be a McClain like us!”
Brooks turned to me and laughed. “It’s almost a shame he can pronounce his Ls now, isn’t it?”
“Thankfully I captured it extensively on videotape,” I said.
We’d sailed through the adoption process with ease. We’d been prepared for it to take up to a year, but it had come through a few days before the wedding.
I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. I’ve tried my best to leave the past behind, and the world we’ve built for ourselves here is as close to idyllic as I can imagine. I’m still healing, but thanks to therapy and the support of Brooks, I’ve come a long way. They say that women do better than men when it comes to dealing with the emotional aftermath of a self-defense shooting, but anyone who thinks that taking a human life will not leave scars behind is wrong. It’s something I’ll live with for the rest of my life, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about it. Replay it over and over in my mind.
It’s part of who I am now.
Brooks and I have discussed it at length. Could I have done something differently? Should I not have drawn my gun that day? Should I have tried to run? Brooks says no, emphatically so, but that’s because there are things Jack told Brooks that Brooks refuses to talk about. I could press him for the details, ask him to tell me on the grounds that I deserve to know, but I won’t.
Because I don’t want to know.
Sometimes the young man I killed appears in my dreams. In them he is chasing me, and I wake up trembling right after he catches me. Brooks always holds me until I drift back to sleep.
I’m thankful for Brooks and for Theo, and most of all for Elliott. We live a simple, fulfilling life. And maybe ours is not the typical family dynamic, but a family can be made in so many different ways.
And I’m blessed to have finally found the one I’ve been searching for all my life.
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am deeply grateful for the contributions, assistance, and support of the following individuals:
My husband, David, because his encouragement means more to me than he’ll ever know.
My children, Matthew and Lauren. Thank you for being patient—again!—while Mom spent all that time with her laptop. I love you both.
Elisa Abner-Taschwer, Stacy Elliott Alvarez, Tammara Webber, and Colleen Hoover. Thank you for your encouragement and for helping me to see what I could not.
Peggy Hildebrandt. You have put in almost as many hours on this manuscript as I have. Your insight, encouragement, and enthusiasm for this project means more to me than you’ll ever know.
Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations. I love that I can send you a semi-coherent message about what I’d like my book cover image to convey, and you nail it on the first try. Your talent is truly amazing.
Anne Victory of Victory Editing. Thank you for your eagle eye and your words of encouragement. You helped me in more ways than one.
Amy Gulbranson. Thank you for taking one last look.
Jane Dystel, Miriam Goderich, and Lauren Abramo. You are truly the trifecta of literary-agent awesomeness.
Cherie Dreier and David Dreier. Thank you for opening up your home and your private shooting range in the name of friendship (and research). What a wonderful day that was! Let’s do it again soon.
Steve Hensyel, Hawkeye Firearms Instruction. I would have had no idea what I was talking about when it came to firearms if not for your patient instruction.
Gail Drier-Hensyel, Assistant Instructor, Hawkeye Firearms Instruction. Your input on the female perspective of carrying concealed is greatly appreciated.
Krista Reha. Thank you for answering all my questions about nursing and hospitals. Your firsthand knowledge made it easier to write the character of Daisy DiStefano.
To Maggie O’Brien, Tom Alex, and Stan Finger. Thank you for sharing your knowledge of investigative reporting with me and answering all of my many questions. I would not have been able to write the character of Brooks McClain without you. PS: All three of you told me slightly different things, so I mashed it all together to come up with a fictional version.
John Aquilina. Thank you for your input regarding the California criminal process.
Regina Ochoa and Shane Geschiere. Thank you for your help in naming two of the characters in Every Time I Think of You.
A special thank you to Sergeant Jack Beardsley of the Des Moines Police Department. You are a wealth of knowledge and I could not have written the scenes involving detective Jack Quick without your expert guidance. Bonus points for also being my awesome cousin.
The book bloggers who have been so instrumental in my ability to reach readers. You work tirelessly every day to spread the word about books and the writing community is a better place because of you.
Autumn Hull and Andrea Thompson of Wordsmith Publicity. Thank you for making my job easier. The amount of time you’ve saved me is immeasurable and I know I’m in great hands when the two of you are in charge.
The booksellers who hand-sell my books and the librarians who put them on their shelves.
My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you for helping to make Every Ti
me I Think of You the book I hoped it would be. Words cannot express how truly blessed I am to have such wonderful and enthusiastic people in my life.
And last, but certainly not least, my readers. Without you, none of this would be possible.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tracey Garvis Graves is the New York Times bestselling author of three full-length novels and two novellas. She lives in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, with her husband and two children. She can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tgarvisgraves and Twitter at https://twitter.com/tgarvisgraves or you can visit her website at http://traceygarvisgraves.com She would love to hear from you!
OTHER BOOKS BY TRACEY GARVIS GRAVES
On the Island
Uncharted
Covet
Cherish (Covet, 1.5) coming 10/28/14
EVERY TIME I THINK OF YOU
COPYRIGHT © 2014
TRACEY GARVIS GRAVES
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Cover Design by Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations
Interior design and formatting by Benjamin Carrancho
Every Time I Think of You Page 31