by EMILIE ROSE
“Don’t be. I had the joy of her company without the worry and responsibility of knowing she was my granddaughter.”
Rachel blinked in surprise.
“But now that I know, I want to be a part of her life.” Carol sat on the top step and patted the bricks beside her. “Have a seat. I want to tell you a story.”
Rachel sat. What else could she do?
“Once upon a time an eighteen-year-old cheerleader fell head over heels in love with the captain of the football team. She was prom queen. He was her king. She had grand plans of going to college, and so did he. He had so many scholarship offers he couldn’t make up his mind where to go. There was even talk of him being drafted into the NFL straight out of high school. And then she turned up pregnant.”
Rachel gasped. Matt had told her his parents were high school sweethearts. He’d never mentioned an unplanned pregnancy.
“Her parents and his were furious. Abortion wasn’t an option. And adoption...she couldn’t do it. She had to forget about college and nursing school. He had to forget about football. They got married because they had to. Her daddy would have shot her lover if he’d refused. It wasn’t the happiest of unions at the start.”
Carol stared off into space for a moment, then met Rachel’s gaze, her blue eyes filled with sadness. “For a long time I resented Bill, and when I looked at Matt’s sweet baby face, I resented him, too. They’d trapped me and killed my dreams of getting out of Johnstonville. I was miserable and didn’t care if anybody knew it, but Bill never said one unkind word or showed in any way that I’d ruined his plans.
“Then I got pregnant again. And again. Before I knew it, I had three children under five and I was overwhelmed. Then the day came for me to take Matt to school for the first time, and instead of being relieved to have one out of my hair, I couldn’t bear to let him go. I cried my eyes out. Bill had to come and drive us home.
“That day I realized how lucky I’d been to spend every day watching my children grow up. Seeing their first smiles, their first steps and hearing their first words. I’d been too busy feeling sorry for myself to realize how fortunate I was, and that supposed pregnancy curse had actually been a blessing. Some would say, my calling. I was a damned good mother.”
Rachel’s eyes stung. “I’m sure you were and still are.”
Carol reached out and took her hand. “I’m not telling you this for sympathy. I’m telling you because sometimes we’re so caught up in the what-could-have-beens that we don’t see the blessings right in front of us. I don’t think you’ve seen yours yet.”
Confused, Rachel tried to figure out what Carol was saying. “You don’t hate me for depriving you of your grandchild? Or Hope for lying to you?”
“I won’t lie. I did when Matt first told me. That lasted about two minutes. Then I realized you’d done two things that I didn’t have the strength to do. First, you gave my son a chance to pursue his dreams, whereas I’d taken Bill’s. And second, you gave a childless woman the opportunity to experience the kind of love only a mother knows. That tells me you’re a very special person, and a generous one.
“This is all part of His plan, Rachel. You needed to learn the value of loving and losing, and to build a life for yourself so that when your second chance came, you’d be eager, willing and able to care for your child. The choices you made turned you into the strong woman you are now—a woman Chastity can respect, admire and emulate.”
“I—I never thought of it that way.”
“I know we can’t advertise Chastity’s paternity, but I consider myself lucky to have you and her as part of my family. You can call us anytime for anything, and the Johnstons will be there for you. And you will always be welcome in our home.”
Speechless, Rachel sat stiffly as Carol hugged her and rose. “I won’t keep you any longer. I know you’re eager to pick up Chastity from camp. This week without the girls has been tough on all of us. And thank you for letting her go even after...well, you know. I think she and Jessica needed this time together.”
Then Matt’s mother returned to her car and left.
Flabbergasted, Rachel stared after her. She’d always dreamed of having Matt’s family in her corner. Now she had it.
But she didn’t have Matt.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MATT DIDN’T RECOGNIZE the Jeep parked in the driveway of the address Jess had texted him. Had Rachel already replaced him? He debated rolling past the house. But he’d driven eight hours to see Rachel and Chastity. And he’d already made changes at home that couldn’t be undone. If he didn’t take the field and say his piece today, then he’d forfeit the game and have no one but himself to blame.
He followed the sidewalk to the front of the house. Sunflowers towered over his head, bordering a vegetable garden that would meet even his mother’s high standards. He reached the front porch and rang the bell. A young woman opened the door. Did he have the wrong address?
“Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Rachel Bishop.”
“Hey, Coach! What are you doing here?” Chastity said from behind the stranger.
His daughter. She looked better than she had when he’d last seen her in the hospital, and the color in her cheeks looked natural, rather than cosmetically applied. She looked so much like Rachel he couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen the resemblance before.
“I came to talk to Ra—your mom.”
“She’s not home from work yet.” She flipped a hand to indicate the young woman. “This is Kelly. She’s my babysitter-slash-tutor. She’s studying to be a special education teacher at Georgia State, and she’s helping me with the dyslexia. Matt has it, too. I got it from him. He’s my dad.”
Sacked by the comment, Matt tried to regain his footing. Pride and happiness vied for supremacy inside him. “You look good. Taller.”
“Thanks. I’ve grown an inch, and I’ve been working out with Rachel every day so I’ll be ready for cheerleading tryouts. Oh, and I still call her Rachel because Mom was...well, Mom. And Rachel is so much more than just a mom. She’s my friend, too.”
He was glad they were getting along. But would there be room for him?
Kelly stepped back. “We’re about to have lunch. You’re welcome to join us if you like tacos.”
“Thanks.” He had the worst case of pregame jitters in history and wasn’t sure if he could eat. But his future depended on what happened next, and the game clock was ticking down.
“Are you spending the night?” Chastity asked.
“I, ah... I didn’t tell Rachel I was coming.”
“Cool. A surprise. Well, your room’s ready if you need it. C’mon in.” Chastity reached for his hand and curled her fingers around his. The simple, trusting gesture filled him with an emotion he couldn’t identify.
She all but dragged him inside. “We still need to buy some furniture and stuff, but with me being at camp all last week, we haven’t had time to shop, and the movers only delivered the stuff from Johnstonville a few days ago. I want everything perfect before Jess visits next week.”
He hadn’t known Jess was coming, but he’d been out of town and hadn’t spoken to his siblings since he’d had the life-changing discussion with his parents two and a half weeks ago.
“Looks good.” The house had the character of an older home with hardwood floors and nine-foot ceilings, but it also had the open concept of a newer one. Chastity led him to a spacious eat-in kitchen. It and the adjacent den overlooked a fenced yard and a patio larger than his.
She caught him looking outside. “You can’t see it from here, but there’s an outside stone fireplace that backs up to the one inside the house. Pretty cool, huh? We’re going to have an outdoor kitchen as soon as we buy a grill and a table. And we’re getting a dog. But I had to get through camp first.”
The table w
as set for three, but Chastity added another place setting. The significance of that hit him. “Are you expecting a guest? I don’t want to intrude.”
“Rachel will be home any minute,” Chastity said. “She worked last night.”
Matt’s nerves torqued up another notch. The two-minute warning. It was win-or-lose time.
* * *
THE HOUSE WAS PERFECT, Rachel thought as she drove past the front yard. She had her daughter under her roof and a job and coworkers she loved. Kelly had been an amazing find to care for Chastity. So why did it feel as if something were missing?
Then she turned the corner and spotted a truck in her driveway. Matt’s truck. The car lurched when she braked too hard. Any tiredness she’d felt after pulling a busy twenty-four hour shift vanished. She hadn’t heard from Matt since he’d left her at the hospital over six weeks ago. Why was he here now?
She parked behind Kelly’s Jeep and grabbed her overnight bag. Her palms were damp, and her hands shook as she let herself into the house. She heard the deep rumble of Matt’s voice. Her stomach did a loop-de-loop that would make the Six Flags roller coaster proud.
She crossed through the den, her heart racing faster. Then she spotted him at the kitchen table, and her feet stopped. His make-her-forget-her-own-name blue eyes swung her way, and her lungs ceased functioning. A dull roar filled her ears, and dizziness swamped her.
The smile on his face fell. He rose. “Hello, Rachel.”
She dragged a breath through her tight chest. “Matt.”
“Chastity, let’s go look at the puppies on the SPCA website,” Kelly suggested.
Chastity shot her a look, then nodded. “Yeah. We’ll be upstairs if you need us.”
Then the girls were gone, and Rachel and Matt were alone. Silence stretched between them. “I’ve missed you, Rachel.”
She gulped. She’d missed him, too. But what good would admitting that do? “I wasn’t expecting you. But you’re welcome. Anytime. I told you that.”
“I hope you still feel that way when you hear what I have to say.”
He had come to contest Chastity’s custody. Panic knocked her back a step. “Wh-what do you mean?”
“I’ve resigned my position at Johnstonville High.”
Shocked and relieved, she asked, “Why?”
“I tried to continue business as usual after you left. Summer football camp started. I usually love scoping out my new team, but something wasn’t right. With me. Football has been my first love for as far back as I can remember. Then that Christmas you unseated it. Then after you left, I went back to my old habits and buried myself in the sport. For a while it was great. Satisfying. Then you returned. And football wasn’t enough anymore.”
His hands fisted, then relaxed by his sides once, twice and a third time. She realized Matt, usually the epitome of calm, was nervous.
“But what about being mayor? What about your family and Johnstonville?”
“None of that matters if you don’t have the right person—people—to share it with.” He took a deep breath, then exhaled. “I need you in my life, Rachel. Chastity, too. But especially you.”
Shaken by the words she’d only dreamed of hearing, Rachel numbly backed toward the sofa and collapsed onto it. Matt followed and sat beside her.
“I’ve taken a job as a defensive line coach at the University of Georgia.”
A balloon of hope swelled inside her. She tried to suppress it. “That’s just down the road. And it’s a promotion, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “It is. But that’s not why I took it.” He captured her hand, his palm warm against hers. “I want to see if we can make this—us—work. I love you, Rachel.”
Happiness, excitement and a tangle of other emotions expanded inside her. Love welled up, clogging her throat.
“I fell in love with a spunky rebel fourteen years ago. But I’m even more in love with the strong, giving woman you’ve become. If you don’t feel the same, I’ll accept that. But if you do—” He looked at her hand, then stroked the pad of his finger along her left ring finger. The simple touch was electrifying. “If you do, I want to do this right. The way we should have the first time around. I want to date you. Marry you. Be your partner, your lover, your friend. We can take it slow and—”
“No.” The word exploded from her tight chest. She saw the dismay quickly followed by pain on his face, gulped and tried again. “No. I mean I don’t want to take it slow. We’ve already waited fourteen years too long. I love you, Matt. I love that you excite me like no one ever has, and yet you’re the calm port in a storm. I know I can lean on you, that I can trust you. I love that you care about your family. And I want to wake up beside you, raise our daughter with you and build a future with you—one that makes up for all the years we missed.”
Matt cupped her face tenderly. “You won’t regret it.”
Then he kissed her. She felt the love in his touch, tasted the passion on his tongue, and her heart swelled with love and hope.
A squeak from the other room jolted them apart. Rachel saw Chastity with her hand covering her mouth but her eyes wide-open and excited.
“Please, tell me you were smart enough to say yes?” the teen asked.
Rachel laughed. “Yes.”
Chastity’s shriek of happiness nearly deafened her. Chastity jumped, displaying some of the moves she’d learned in cheerleading camp. “I am so glad. You’ve been miserable since we left Johnstonville, and Jess says Matt has been, too. You guys need to be together to be happy.”
Then she raced forward and threw her arms around both of them. “We are going to be the most amazing family ever!”
Yes, Rachel thought. They were. They’d loved and lost each other, and because of that, they would never take a day together for granted.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE SECRET BETWEEN THEM by Cathryn Parry.
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The Secret Between Them
by Cathryn Parry
CHAPTER ONE
FROM THE MOMENT he’d left home, Kyle Northrup had fantasized about returning, triumphant, to Wallis Point.
Until that fantasy died two years ago on April 19. The day the Humvee he’d been driving had run over
a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. After that, Kyle decided he would never go home again.
He thought nothing more about his discarded fantasy, until a call came in from a Wallis Point, New Hampshire, exchange.
Kyle gripped his phone in sweaty palms. He sat behind the desk at his new civilian job, staring at Navy procurement reports on a computer screen. The order-analyst position depressed him—he was more cut out for physical work, but that seemed off the table now that he was a wounded military veteran.
He listened as a lawyer back in his hometown spoke in hesitating, halting sentences.
“...Kyle, I’m calling about your stepfather,” Natalie Kimball said. “I’m his attorney.”
Kyle couldn’t picture the face behind her name. A former classmate of his, she’d said, but he’d been gone from town too long to remember. “Yes, ma’am.”
Natalie cleared her throat and continued. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but Joe passed away this afternoon. He wasn’t in pain. All his funeral arrangements were completed, so there is nothing you need to do in that respect—”
“Wait, what? Joe is dead?” Kyle asked, struggling to catch up, reflexively gripping the edge of his desk.
How long had it been since he’d talked to his stepfather? Ten months? A year?
It’s February now. I didn’t talk to him at Christmas. It was the Christmas before that. He was irritated with me, as always.
“Joe had elective heart surgery just this morning,” she answered. “He never came out of it. Kyle, I’m sorry.”
Kyle pressed his lips together. He didn’t know how he felt, or even what to say. Maybe he was in shock. He just knew that he wouldn’t show any weakness about it, not to anyone.
“The funeral is on Saturday at ten o’clock at the Rogers Funeral Home,” the lawyer continued. “I’m sure he’d want you to attend. He asked me to call you when the time came.”