Fight for Me: The Complete Collection

by Jackson, A. L.

  It had been a good transition for both of them.

  I approached her, dropped a kiss to her forehead, and ran a tender hand over Ryland’s head. He leaned into it, the kid loving the contact, a sweet coo coming from his mouth. “No one until they’re standing right in your shoes, that’s who.” I lifted my hands for Ryland. “Here, let me take him for a while. Looks like you could use a break.”

  She beamed at me as she shifted Ryland into my hold. “You’re a godsend.”

  I quirked a brow. “You mean a god?”

  “You wish, asshole.” Rex was eager to supply. “And it’s about time you showed up for Uncle duty.”

  “Hey, I’ve been busy, man.” I held Ryland’s teeny body against my chest, bouncing him lightly.

  Affection went sliding through my veins. Was crazy how much I adored these kids.

  “Oh, I bet you’ve been busy. What’s her name?”

  “Is there ever a name?”

  Of course, there was one dancing at the tip of my tongue.

  Hope.

  What the hell it was about her, I didn’t know. But all day, she’d been taking possession of my thoughts without my permission, my mind continually traipsing back to the heat lighting on her cheeks, that sweet shyness I wanted to dip my fingers into, desperate for a taste.

  Rynna grinned at me as she headed into the kitchen to help Rex. “Oh, I’m sure there are plenty of names. You just forget them before you’re on to the next one.” She washed her hands, looking back at me. “And that baby looks good on you, by the way.”

  “Only because I get to give him back when he starts crying.” I shot her a wink. “And, well, I always look good. It’s kind of impossible for me not to.”

  Rex’s expression was nothing but adoration when he gazed over at her, amusement playing around his mouth. “Can you believe this guy?”

  She giggled with a shake of her head. “He’s your friend. You’re the one who decided to keep him around all this time.”

  “Hey,” I drew out, fighting the laughter. “Don’t be knocking my presence. Doubt very much the two of you would be together if it weren’t for me. I was the one who knocked some sense into his stubborn ass.”

  Rynna pushed up onto her toes and pressed a kiss to Rex’s jaw, her voice not meant for me. “I’m pretty sure he would have found me either way. Some people are just meant to be.”

  She almost did a double take when she looked back and found Ryland was already conked out in my arms.

  “Oh, make it look easy, why don’t you? He hasn’t slept a wink all day.”

  “Magic touch right here. Kids love me, and you know I love them.” My brow lifted. “Just as long as they aren’t mine.”

  Frankie was suddenly right there at my feet, a box of fat markers in one hand and a frilly pink notebook in the other. A pout pursed her lips. “Uncle Kale, you said I was always gonna be your favorite girl. That means I belongs to you. You don’t want to keep me anymore?”

  I looked down at the adorable thing, who was growing way too fast, her sweet lisp starting to sort itself out but still evident enough to fist me right in the heart with the sweetness of it.

  Swore, the kid had me wrapped around her little finger.

  Rex was grinning as he was rinsing the potatoes in the sink. “Now tell me how your gonna dig yourself out of that one, my friend. And don’t you dare go breaking my Frankie Leigh’s heart.”

  “Never.”

  I shifted Ryland into the crook of one arm so I could rustle my fingers through Frankie’s hair. “What are you talking about, Sweet Pea Frankie Leigh? Do you have beans growing in your ears? Here, quick, let me take you to the office so I can look in there, because you heard me all wrong. I said you’re always going to be mine, not as long as they’re not mine.”

  Giggling, she wiggled all over the place. “I don’t gots any beans growing in my ears, Uncle. I think you’re teasin’ me.”

  “And you know I only tease my favorite, favorite girls, right?”

  “Uh-huh,” she agreed as she scrambled onto a dining room chair so she could show me how she wrote her name, completely assuaged, not another thought about me leaving her behind.

  “Smooth,” Rex said with a shake of his head, dumping the diced potatoes into a pot of boiling water.

  “Skilled,” I tossed back.

  “So, tell us about this new position. What did you think?” Rynna’s demeanor had shifted, all concern as she looked back at me.

  I roughed a hand through my hair.

  Didn’t want to tell her I had to come straight from the office because I needed reassurance that Ryland and Frankie were just fine. That something horrible hadn’t crept up in the time I’d been away.

  It was funny because, for years, I’d given Rex crap about being too overprotective of Frankie, always rushing her to the ER whenever the slightest things went wrong. I’d continually made light of it and razzed him that he was ridiculous.

  Truth was, I’d been in knots while I’d waited for them to arrive, terrified something was seriously wrong.

  I saw so much bad shit come through the ER doors every single day.

  Had experienced it firsthand.

  Had felt death’s claws tear right through my skin to rip my life apart.

  Like it was teaching me a lesson.

  But the last thing I wanted was to make him worry more than he already had been. He was coming to me for reassurance, not to be launched into some kind of tailspin.

  So, I took it upon myself to make sure she was healthy, trying to take some of the burden from his shoulders. I would do the same with Ryland.

  I pushed out a sigh, trying to find the right words. “It was amazing. Hard and exhausting and trying, and still the best thing I’ve ever done.”

  “It must be incredibly difficult . . . seeing all those sick children. Caring for them. Worrying about them. And still knowing it’s worth it, making the difference that you do.”

  I guessed Rynna got it anyway.

  Made me so happy she’d found Rex and he’d found her, two of them needing each other more than anyone I knew. She was right. Some people were just meant to be.

  “You’re right. It is really difficult. Only thing I can hope for is that I really do make a difference.”

  Rynna looked at me seriously. “Kale . . . of course, you make a difference. I think probably more than you know.” She walked up to me and touched her baby’s cheek as her eyes flicked between me and him. “I just want you to promise me one thing . . . no matter what you see or what you deal with . . . don’t lose you. Don’t let it break you. And don’t ever, ever give up on hope. Because it’s always there, no matter how dismal things might seem.”

  Emotion clutched my chest, that terror that I was right there, at the ledge I’d stumble and fall over.

  Fail all over again.

  I refused to ever repeat it. Because I knew that this time there was no chance I’d be able to get back up.

  I forced a smirk. “Come now, Rynna, do I really look like I could be broken?”

  Her expression said yes, you do. But Frankie Leigh was calling my name, and I was shifting my attention, her little hand scribbling across the page. “That’s ’cause you’re a superhero, too, rights, Uncle Kale? Wonder Woman and Cap’in ’merica, right? We’re the bestest team.”

  “Heck yes, we’re the best team.”

  And this little team was all I was ever going to need.

  7

  Hope

  The door swung open for what had to have been the thousandth time that morning.

  But this time . . . this time, my entire being took note.

  The breath burst from my lungs in a rattled gasp, and my feet wanted to give out from under me.

  It sent my heart taking off at a sprint, banging around in the confines of my chest like a big spoon whipping up something sweet in a metal bowl.

  Jarring and vibrating.

  Penetrating all the way to the bone.

  I tried to
swallow around it and focus my attention on where it should be—the customers lined up at the front register during our normal morning rush. Today it seemed as if the traffic had been multiplied.

  Jenna, Claire, and I had been hustling nonstop, trying to keep up with the demand.

  But as soon as he walked in the door, it seemed impossible. All my eyes wanted to do was get lost in the sight set in front of me.

  Kale was back.

  All tall, lean body and easy, casual way. His grin was pure confidence as he strode through the door. His crop of blond hair burned like white fire in the rays of bright morning sun that poured in from above him.

  Lighting him up. Making him glow.

  As if the light couldn’t help but be drawn to him, too.

  I blinked through the daze, scolding myself under my breath as I finished swirling the whipped cream on the café mocha I’d been making, quick to move on to the plain coffee that went with the order.

  I was being ridiculous, wondering if he was back for any other reason than coffee. He’d told me he had started a job just down the street. It wasn’t as if him swinging by would be out of his way.

  Still, three days had passed.

  Three days, and I’d begun to think I would never see him again. Oh, I knew the overwhelming sense of disappointment that thought left me with made me a fool.

  Just asking for trouble when every time the bell jingled over the door, I looked that way.

  Like a beggar who was looking for anything to hope for.

  Even if it was just a spec of his time.

  A moment in his day.

  Because I’d forgotten what it was like to feel this way.

  To have my tummy turn and my pulse race. To have someone make me toss sleeplessly in my bed, imagining what it would be like to be touched by those big hands.

  Adored.

  And there he was.

  His fancy suit from the other morning had been ditched in favor of a crisp, white button-up, dark gray dress pants tailored to fit and accentuate every immaculate inch of his body.

  A shiver traveled my spine, spreading out, drenching every cell.

  No man should be that gorgeous. Or that sexy.

  It was just unfair.

  He shot me a knowing smirk.

  I jerked, realizing I was just standing there.

  Staring.

  I hopped back a step to keep from spilling a cup of coffee straight down my blouse when I realized the cup I was holding had tipped to the side. The splash I’d dodged hit the floor.

  “Sorry about that,” I muttered to the customer, turning to make a new coffee.

  From the corner of my eye, I kept watching him, the way he began to meander around my shop rather than get into line.

  His fingers drummed over the displays, as if he couldn’t fully appreciate something without touching it. The imported boxes of teas and packaged goods in gift baskets wrapped in clear cellophane and big bows.

  The large cups with inspiring quotes.

  Tumblers with the store’s logo.

  Not that I was paying attention or anything.

  Jenna squeezed by to get to the latte machine. She elbowed me in the ribs when she did, and her voice lowered conspiratorially. “Looks like someone has a visitor. Look at all that deliciousness standing right there. Told you he’d be back.”

  “I’m sure he’s just here for a cup of coffee,” I defended under my breath, facing away as I filled a medium cup with hazelnut.

  “Well, you just keep on thinking that, Harley Hope, but that man right over there is thinking about you naked.”

  I swatted her. “Stop it.”

  Her eyes went wide with innocence as she dipped into the case to get two pumpkin muffins. “What?”

  “You know what. I swear that you are nothin’ but a pain in my ass.”

  “What you need is a good kick in the ass.”

  “I need nothing of the sort,” I mumbled, lidding the three cups. I turned and slid them to the customer waiting for her order. “There you are. Have a great day.”

  She uttered a thank you and moved on her way. I was quick to fill the next customer’s order, trying not to pay attention to Kale, who’d taken note of the big lollipops displayed in a pink wooden decorative box. To keep them all standing, the sticks had been stuck in Styrofoam, which had been hidden by the fake moss that covered it.

  So what if Pinterest had become my lover, keeping me company in the lonely nights.

  From the side, I took in the way his blue, blue eyes narrowed in curiosity, the way he pulled one out.

  I bit down on my lip.

  Damn it.

  Normally, I wanted everyone to buy them up. But there was something about the man holding one that made a rush of unease slip and slide through my body. That achy place throbbing and needy.

  As if he was holding a piece of me that was sacred.

  All of them were the same. Colorful swirls with a clear wrapper and a white label on the front.

  It was just my luck Jenna noticed at the second the last customer I’d been helping walked away with his coffee and half dozen muffins.

  “Those are for charity,” she called over the counter.

  Cocking his head, he studied the label before he looked up at me. “Anything’s possible if you have a lick of hope?”

  He asked it like a question.

  As if he were wondering if I really believed it.

  Heat flooded my cheeks. The uneasy kind. The kind that had me shifting on my feet.

  “Yep,” Jenna said. “Hope here makes those herself. Every last cent goes to charity.”

  For a moment, he stared at me, something soft fluttering around his lush mouth before he tucked the stick back into the Styrofoam.

  I didn’t know if I was relieved or disappointed.

  That was right before he scooped the entire box up under his arm. “In that case, I’ll take them all. I think I have an idea of where I can put them to good use.”

  “If you’re taking them all, you should come back and help Hope here make some more. You know . . . philanthropy . . . not at all because you want to hang out with her or anything.”

  I sent a glare at Jenna. What are you thinking?

  What? She mouthed back with an innocent shrug.

  If she what-ed me one more time when she knew exactly what she was doing, I was going to strangle her.

  I would have right then, but I was too busy trying not to shake when Kale approached the counter, filling the air the way he did.

  All potent, persuasive power.

  The space between us growing so thick it made it difficult to draw a full breath.

  “Why do you need all those, anyway?” I all but demanded, feeling out of sorts. Hopeful and eager and awed, and that made me scared.

  Because him standing there with those lollipops made me feel as if he were stepping into an area that was off limits.

  As if he’d dipped his fingers in the places of my life that I protected most.

  Touching on the things that were most important to me when he couldn’t come close to understanding.

  “Maybe I just have a sweet tooth.”

  “You don’t be careful, and you’re going to rot them all out.” I tried to form it a tease, but it came out breathy and almost pleading. He had no idea just what that box tucked to his side meant to me.

  He smiled a smile that pierced me straight through my center.

  An arrow that nearly dropped me to my knees.

  Because that knowing kindness was back. The one that made me feel vulnerable and exposed.

  “I think I’ll take my chances,” he said.

  I sucked in a breath. Set off kilter. Lightheaded. “All right, then. Is there anything else I can get for you?”

  “Large regular coffee.”

  I swiveled away, going for the coffee urns, thankful for the moment of reprieve. Looking at him was making it impossible to stop the foolish notions from racing through my brain, especially when I coul
dn’t help but wonder if maybe he were different.

  If there were something intrinsically good at the heart of him.

  Caring and . . . and . . .

  Giving.

  My hands were shaking as I filled the cup, my smile probably more so when I turned back to him and slid it across the counter. He already had his wallet out, pulling out a stack of crisp one-hundred-dollar bills.

  He set them on the counter.

  Another tremble.

  “What is this?”

  “For charity.” The depths of those turquoise eyes deepened in a way that promised he saw too much.

  Part of me wanted to refuse because something about it made me feel weak.

  But the money wasn’t for me.

  “Thank you,” I offered. “That’s really generous of you.”

  He took out a five and placed it on top of the other bills, tapping it as he let that grin ride to his lips, which were getting more and more difficult not to reach out and trace. “And that’s for the coffee, which is delicious, by the way. Though, not nearly as delicious as the cupcake.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” I told him. A rush of that shyness pulled fast, getting all mixed up with the crazy desire that thrummed through my body.

  It seemed unfair attraction was always immediate.

  Natural.

  Easy.

  It was what came after that left your world in shambles. Battered walls and broken windows, your house falling down around you. It was taking everything I had to rebuild mine—to reconstruct and restore and revitalize. I had worked tirelessly to fill the spots that had been dredged out by cruelty, and I couldn’t falter or misstep.

  He hesitated for a second, as if he were struggling to find what he wanted to say, before all that easy confidence came riding back. “Thanks, Shortcake.”

  A short laugh escaped, and I shook my head, unable to keep up with him. “You’re absurd.”

  “And here I’d thought you’d implied I was cocky?”

  “That, too.”

  He laughed, though, the sound was soft. So different from the guy I’d thought I’d first run into at the bar on Friday night. This man revealing something good every time he invaded my space, making me want to dig deeper, see more.