by Casey Hagen
“You were gone for a long time,” Blake said, a serious look on his face.
“I was, and I’m sorry.”
“I thought you were going to be gone like my daddy,” Blake whispered.
Abby dropped down to where they sat. “You didn’t tell me you were worried about that.” She brushed the hair away from his forehead.
“You were sad. I didn’t want to make you sadder.”
“You two need to talk. Blake, come with me; let’s grab a juice box,” Kate said.
“Promise you’ll be here when I’m done?” Blake asked, a hand on Ben’s shoulder.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He said the words for Blake, but his gazed stayed locked on Abby.
Blake took Kate’s hand and walked off, his head turning repeatedly in their direction as if he expected Ben to disappear.
“I’m a horrible mother,” Abby whispered, watching him walk away.
Ben reached out and touched her. He had to touch her. He smoothed his fingers over her lightly freckled cheek. “No. This was all me. I screwed this one up.”
She wiped away a tear. “Why are you here, Ben?”
“To throw myself on your mercy. And to bring you these.” He handed her the ivory orchids, which she took. She smoothed her fingers over the delicate petals.
“They’re beautiful, but why?”
“Because I hurt you.”
“Nothing has changed. I’m his mother first. That’s never going to change, Ben. We’re a package deal.” She shielded her eyes and smiled at her son before turning back to Ben. “I should have told you, I know I should have, but it never seemed to be the right time, and by the time I realized I should have, it seemed too late. I’m in uncharted territory here.”
“You did it right. I was being stubborn.” He stared out at the ocean. “I’ve kept myself safe for thirty-one years by controlling everything around me so I couldn’t hurt the way I did when I gave up my son.” He turned to her. “Then you came along with those damn pants and that smile. Safety didn’t seem so important anymore, but when it came down to it, I freaked. I’m not proud of it. I’m sorry for it.” He took her hand and kissed it.
“And you’re over it, just like that?”
“Well, I had to go through a few things. Millie called me some unsavory names. My friend, George, gave me a good talking to at the diner. And when I got home, my son was waiting for me in my driveway.”
“He came,” she whispered. Tears spilled down her cheeks, but she ignored them and bounced up onto her knees.
“He did. He was having a shit night. I was having a shit night. We shared some whiskey, and yeah…,” Ben grinned, “…it was a good night. He was bummed I didn’t have any brothers or sisters for him to meet. I’m hoping I can rectify that.”
“You want kids now?” she said, her eyes as big as saucers.
“I’m kind of hoping I can share yours and maybe add more. That is, if the woman I love can forgive me for being a jackass. Oh, and if she doesn’t mind setting up house with a grandpa.”
Abby threw herself at him and took them to the ground, laughing, crying, and kissing his face all over. “I would love that.” She pushed up on her hands and smiled down. “Wait…you love me?”
“Yeah.”
“I love you right back,” she whispered, her eyes searching his.
“Come here, lady, and kiss me.” He cupped the back of her neck and pulled her to him. The puzzle pieces of his life finally slid together, everything in the right spot. He’d had the border, but the middle had been a bunch of holes and forced pieces that never quite fit right.
Until now.
It only took thirty-one long years, but he finally had his family.
His whole family.
EPILOGUE
THEY’D ARRIVED AT THE BEACH super early that morning. Ben and Blake had put together blueprints for the perfect sand castle city, and time was of the essence according to her boys.
They’d enlisted help. Chris stood at the water’s edge with his wife, Elle, holding Sophie’s hand.
After eight hours of digging, measuring, hauling sand, building, carving, and using spray bottles to keep the sand city at just the right moisture level, they finally had it.
“That husband of yours is crazy pants,” Kate said from where she sat under the umbrella with Abby.
Abby smiled and started pulling out snacks. “He is, but as long as Blake is happy, I’m happy.”
“Pssshhhh, you’re not just as happy. You glow brighter than a damned Roman candle.” Kate nodded toward the crew. “Chris might be just as crazy pants. You see him out there?”
Chris had his Nikon out and circled the city, taking picture after picture. He and Ben had formed a bond and became the best of friends. Elle had been shy and unsure, but she was coming around. And Sophie had wrapped her papa around her little finger in a way that only a granddaughter could.
Ben had the procedure done the day after they reunited. It took a few weeks for Sophie to recover to the point where they dared try the surgery, but once they did, she handled it like a champ. That little girl radiated spirit and strength Abby suspected she got from her father and grandfather. Now, a year later, the doctors had declared Sophie’s leukemia in remission.
Thank God, because Blake had forged a tight bond with her and would be devastated to lose her.
The biggest change had to be in Ben, though. He lit up the minute he accepted people into his life… when he finally built his family. To this day, he awed Abby by taking the chance with her.
Ben made his way up to their blanket and sat down beside her. “It’s finished and I’m beat,” he said, flopping onto the blanket.
His hand wandered over to her gently rounded stomach. “Here I am bitching, and you’re growing a whole human. How’s the peanut?”
“The peanut is finally sleeping.”
“How’s Mom?”
“Mom is hungry,” she said with a laugh, rolling onto her side to face him.
“You knocked her up, Ben, and now she eats all the food. I’m going to have to pack a hidden stash when we do these family outings.” Kate flipped open her copy of Cosmopolitan and promptly ignored them.
“How are you really? Because you look tired.” Ben brushed the hair away from her face.
“I’m tired, but I feel good.”
“You never fail to amaze this old man.” He smiled, kissed her forehead, and pulled her against his chest.
She lay there, surrounded by his comforting scent, warm, content, listening to the sounds of her family around her.
She still didn’t know if she deserved all of this, but she’d take it anyway, and never once forget how blessed she was.
The End
ABOUT CASEY HAGEN
Casey Hagen pens her snarky, passionate stories from the salty air of Kennebunk, Maine. She’s a born and raised Vermont native, a New England girl to the core, with Ben & Jerry’s in her heart and real Vermont maple syrup pumping through her veins.
She’s the proud mother of three girls and a new, first-time grandma with an insatiable addiction to Fall Out Boy, and a new, rather concerning obsession with tattoos and piercings. Can you say “cool grandma?”
The inked and pierced grandma spends her time tucked away in her office, coated in cat hair, alternating between tearing her hair out trying to find the perfect words and being one step ahead of her three scheming fur babies she is positive are plotting her demise with every swirl around her ankles at the top of her office stairs.
She loves writing stories about real people, with complicated histories, relatable everyday problems, and giving them the hard-won happily-ever-afters they deserve.
And she thanks every last one of you who picks up one of her stories.
Casey is done talking about herself in the third person.
*Casey out*
Continue the Tallulah Cove Series in the next novel, Tallulah Nights when Kate meets her match! And if you love Tallulah Cove as much as I do,
you can find the entire series here!
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