by Taylor Hart
“I’m marrying Damon!”
Her mother gasped. “What?”
The doorbell rang. Madison ignored it, opting to glare at her mother. “I’m leaving. Tonight. With Damon. I’m marrying him. We’re going to go somewhere and have this child. And you’re not invited into my life anymore.”
For a minute, her mother’s mouth moved as if trying to find the right words. “Damon? From—”
“Yes, Mother, the Damon you and Daddy locked me away from. The Damon Daddy paid off.”
Her mother didn’t bat an eye at this revelation.
She wagged an accusing finger back at her mother. “How could you do that? How could you be part of that?”
“The boy was trash!” her mother snapped. “Trash, trash, trash! Not meant for you! Still not meant for you!”
Madison had never wanted to hit a person as much as she wanted to hit her mother in this moment. Of course, she didn’t.
The doorbell sounded again, going off in a staccato pattern.
Annoyed, Madison marched toward it. “I’m not a child you can control any longer. I’m done with you!” she shouted at her mother before opening the door.
Standing there with a huge grin on her face was her best friend, Engrid, with her perfect figure and her bookish glasses in place. She held up a suitcase and grunted. “Guess my timing’s perfect, because this means I don’t even have to unpack!” She laughed. “I’m coming with you!”
Sheer joy sparked through Madison. She threw her arms around her friend.
Engrid laughed. “Dang, by the sound of it, your mother’s in a mood.”
Madison ignored everything else that was happening. Tears misted her eyes. “You’re here.”
Engrid cocked an eyebrow. “I know when my bestie needs me. And believe me, you’re DEFCON 5 right now.”
“Who is it?” Her mother yanked open the door and cursed like she’d been caught. “Engrid.”
Engrid glared at her mother. “You’re in serious trouble.”
Her mother took a step back, and her eyes flashed to the floor. “Oh my gosh, Madison, you’re bleeding!”
Madison suddenly felt weak and felt her legs go out. She held to Engrid, nausea roiling inside of her.
“We need to get you to the hospital,” her mother said, moving to her other side.
Madi shook her head, then cried out when a round of pain hit her abdomen. “I need him.” Now she felt the stream of blood running down her leg, and she shuddered. “Call 911,” was the last thing she remembered saying.
Chapter 25
Damon, Present Day
The plane door opened. Security got out, and Herbert followed.
Damon got out of the car, walking toward the jet. His heart raced and his palms felt sweaty, but he chided himself. After all, there was a lot of security out here, plus some airport workers. Damon hadn’t been the point person on their joint project, but he could handle this.
Herbert scanned the vicinity, and when he saw Damon, he stopped at the bottom of the steps, hesitating.
“Herbert,” Damon said as he approached the man.
Herbert squinted at him but didn’t put on the political face. “Damon Duke. I wondered if you’d show up first to do the dirty work.”
Damon hadn’t been expecting this kind of immediate confrontation, but he wasn’t afraid of it either. It also didn’t surprise him that Herbert already knew about Damon and Madison. He pulled an envelope out of his pocket. “Here’s a flash drive with the algorithms you need to work on your oil project in California. It’ll make you millions, maybe billions.”
Herbert took the envelope. “Why would you do this?”
“Because it’s over with you and Madison. You walk away and you never look back.”
Herbert hesitated, then laughed. “You think?”
Damon nodded. “She’s intimidated by you, Herbert, but I’m not.”
Herbert laughed again, then whipped out a gun and aimed it at the center of Damon’s chest. “Nah, it’s over for you.”
There was a crack of a bullet, Damon felt the blood gushing from his chest, sticky on his fingers. He couldn’t feel any pain, only disbelief that the man had shot him.
“Damon!” He heard Ivan’s voice.
Herbert held the gun in Ivan’s direction, but Damon leaned into him, hearing another shot and feeling a burning in his side. The last thing he thought of as he hit the ground was Madison holding him as they rode his motorcycle.
Chapter 26
One Week Later, Madison
Madison sat in Steven Pear’s office in San Francisco, hopeless and shaky. Engrid was by her side. Madison’s hands were cold, and she was plagued with the constant worry of Herbert catching up with her.
As if that wasn’t enough, she felt hollow from losing the baby. She’d lost everything.
When she’d woken in the hospital, the only person who was there was Engrid.
“The baby?” was all Madison had been able to ask.
Engrid had shaken her head and squeezed her hand tighter. “I’m sorry, Madi.” Tears ran down her face. “I’m so sorry.”
Damon was dead. The baby was dead. It’d been on repeat inside her head as she sat here.
Ivan had told Engrid everything at the funeral, and Engrid had decided that if this time travel thing was real, they would find out.
The double doors opened, and Steven walked in. He wore jeans and a flannel shirt. “Hello.”
Both of them stood and Engrid walked over to the man, putting out her hand. “Thank you so much for meeting with us.”
Steven shook both of their hands, then gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. “You’re lucky you came when we have sun. Most of the time, we don’t.”
Madison’s heart raced and she wanted to just rush into it all, but she waited for Engrid.
Mr. Pear leaned back in his chair, his eyes sharp. He looked at Engrid, then back to Madison. “What has brought you to my door?”
Engrid plunged into the whole story about Damon, about Herbert, about the fact that Madison had lost Damon, and how they had heard about the legend of time travel.
Mr. Pear gave them a stern look and didn’t speak for a long time. “The truth is, I had no intention of giving your plea much thought. I actually almost cancelled today, because I get these crazies coming at me all the time.” He pulled his glasses off and used the bottom of his shirt to clean them. “And I always walk away from the conversations even more cynical than before, because it’s all a rumor.” He shrugged. “I’m sorry. All the things you’ve heard and read on the internet aren’t true.”
Madison’s hands started to tremble. “Sir.”
Pear stood. “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”
“Sir,” she begged, standing, too. “I have a lot of money now.” Damon had left it to her in his will. “I’ll pay whatever you want.”
He scoffed. “You think this is about money?”
“Please, please. Have you ever fallen in love? Have you ever thought the one person in the world you love the most might be lost to you forever?”
Mr. Pear stopped, then turned back, his face contorted with pain. “What would you give up to have him back?”
“Everything,” Madison breathed out, knowing it was the truth.
Slowly, Mr. Pear nodded. “Follow me. We have much to do.”
Chapter 27
Madison stared at the old Atari controller and couldn’t help feeling baffled. Steven had brought her and Engrid to an old arcade shop, into a hidden room in the basement with a keypad on the door.
Engrid pointed to the Atari controller. “That is the time machine?”
Mr. Pear didn’t seem to mind their skepticism. “It’s the conduit. But there’s so much involved. Intention, love, trust.” He hooked up some cords. “Things I don’t know. You’ll need to go now. Are you ready?”
Madison nodded. Even though she wasn’t convinced this would work, she had to try. She had to get back to Damon.
Steven smiled at her and handed her the controller. “All I know is this journey, the one of traveling through time, is an exact science, but not the science we know. It is a science of the heart, of the mind, of true love. Try as I might, I haven’t figured it out—haven’t had a reason to since my girl came back to me.” He cracked a sheepish grin.
Ivan let out a hearty laugh. “The rumors are true.”
“Rumors usually have some truth in them, don’t they?” Steven winked at them.
Madison looked over the controller again. “How?”
Steven shook his head. “That story is for another day.”
“How can I make sure I go to the right place?” Madison asked.
“You’ll go where you’ll go; then you’ll come back to our time and you’ll be where you would be in the altered timeline.”
“In an altered future?” Engrid asked.
With a stiff nod, Steven said, “I don’t give you this opportunity lightly. Try not to change too many things.”
“I just have one to change,” Madison promised.
“So, what are the rules with this time travel?” Engrid asked, running a hand through his hair.
“There’s only one: you have seventy-two hours. And then, poof! You’re back.”
Madison’s heart thumped and her mind raced with the possibilities. “How do I pick where I want to go?”
“That is another thing that isn’t an exact science. When I went thirty years into the future, the only thing I was focused on was seeing my company.” Steven laughed. “But my company had disappeared, and all that was left was an old arcade.”
Madison was mystified by all of this. “So you don’t even know if I’ll get to where I want to go?”
Steven shrugged. “You said you would be willing to sacrifice everything. Is that still true?”
“Yes.” She didn’t hesitate, thinking of how Damon had tried to save her from Herbert. He’d given his life for her.
“What happens to her other self?” Engrid asked.
Steven lifted his hands. “You are the only self that exists in that time.”
“So no Back to the Future selves?” Engrid asked.
“No.” Steven held out the controller. “Are you ready?”
Madison took it and closed her eyes, knowing exactly where she wanted to go.
Chapter 28
Madison, Ten years ago
“Come on, Mads, let’s not go up the hill. That’s private property, and it’s trespassing. Old Man Johnson will call the cops if he finds us.”
It felt like she’d been thumped with a shovel over the head. She stopped, gripping Damon’s hand. She was dizzy, so dizzy.
“Whoa, are you okay?” Damon held her, pulling her to his chest. “Mads.”
Madison leaned into him, drinking in the smell of the cologne he’d worn back then. He was solid, real. Unable to believe she was really here—then—she clutched him tighter. “Damon,” she whispered.
“Shh.” His breath tickled her ear. “I’m here. I’m right here.”
The urge to cry overwhelmed her and she just let him hold her, her mind whirling with all the repercussions of being here.
He stroked her hair. “So what’s it gonna be? Are we gonna break the law, or are we gonna do something else?”
Taking his hand, she tugged him away from the hill. “Let’s go for a motorcycle ride. Yes, that’s all I want to do.”
His grin widened. “Then that’s all I want to do, too.”
Epilogue
Damon, Present Day
Damon woke on the couch in the tree house. His neck was killing him, but he didn’t move. It wasn’t every day that his wife would entertain a trip to the tree house when she was this pregnant. Usually, she insisted that they stay on the comfy couch in the living room and that he rub her feet, which he was happy to do. However, he’d wanted to come up to the tree house and look out over the ranch and remember that fateful summer when they’d first fallen in love.
A myriad of memories washed over him. That first kiss on the motorcycle, when she’d shocked him by moving in first. All those rides with her arms around him. The whole summer, sneaking around and stealing kisses. The last night they’d been together, when they’d pledged their hearts to each other. And then the next year when they’d texted, talked, and stayed up late FaceTiming every night.
She’d shown up on graduation day, and they’d eloped. It was only to Atlantic City, but it had been the best day of his life.
He thought about losing his mother. He wished so badly she would have been here for the birth of their first child, but he knew she’d be happy for them.
He thought of the years of financial hardship, while he’d been in the service and she’d been going to school online and living on different military bases, waiting for him.
Smiling, he thought of meeting Ivan, and how their friendship had led to huge opportunity.
Carefully, he picked up her hand and softly kissed the back of it. Dang, he loved this woman so much. Her red hair was vibrant with the rising sun, her pale skin almost translucent, like an angel. She’d been sick with the pregnancy, but the time was coming soon and he was happily awaiting the arrival of their baby boy.
He looked at the music box across the room. He’d have to swap it out for a Tonka truck. He grinned and thought of all the things he would teach his son.
Lightly, he put his hand to his cheek, tracing the scar. At one point he almost had surgery, but Mads had talked him out of it, and he’d dropped the subject entirely. If she liked it, then he liked it. It was a reminder of all he’d gone through, of how far they’d come together, and of the life he’d built with the woman he’d loved by his side.
Happiness surged through him as he remembered all of this, and he felt he would nearly combust.
Madison yawned and smiled, and then those emerald-green eyes were gazing up at him. “Hey.” She blinked furiously, then sat up so fast that he hurried to steady her. “Damon?” She looked at him like he’d just come home from one of his deployments.
“It’s okay.” He held his arms open.
She leaned into him. “I just had the worst dream.”
He could feel her heart racing. Often she had bad dreams, ones where he’d been killed in combat. “Shh, it’s all okay, Mads. I’m here.”
She snuggled closer, staining his shirt with tears. “I missed you. So much.”
The thought of being apart, like they’d been during those months when she’d finished high school and he’d been deployed, made him feel a sense of missing her too. He wrapped his arms tighter around her, determined to never be apart again. Holding this woman, he knew she was his first and only love, and he would forever be grateful for that summer.
I hope you enjoyed Her First Love Billionaire: Second Chance Time Travel Romance!—Seriously, it’s one of Taylor Hart’s favorites!…..and there will be more Second Chance Time Travel Romances to come….because now you have to hear about….The Legend of Pear:)
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The Dancing Groom: Chapter 1
Chapter
Boston Brady, nicknamed ‘Freight Train’ by the media, walked through the airport in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina looking for his brother Ty. He was here for a month to be with his brother and make sure he did the alternative treatment.
His phone vibrated and he pulled it out, staring at his angry Twitter feed. There was a video of him running down the field and getting slammed to the ground by his other brother, Ocean, from the L.A. game last year. Boston’s ex-girlfriend, Lana Winters, had posted it with an emoji that had someone making an L sign on their forehead. He cursed and slid the phone into his pocket. Soon enough he would roast her back. Hopefully his image didn’t suffer too much in the meantime. A post like that could cost him a thousand followers if he didn’t counter it quickl
y enough.
Lana was so childish. It had only been a month since he’d broken things off with her. When he’d told her he was going to South Carolina and staying with Ty as he got alternative treatment for his ALS, she told him he shouldn’t invest a month of his time in his dying brother.
That had been the end for him.
His mother and his brothers came first in his life. If Lana was so superficial, which she was, then forget her. They’d been on again, off again for a long time. Every time they broke up, they had this little social media war. It kept them both relevant and made a few headlines on celebrity sites while giving them the break they needed from each other. This time, he wasn’t finding any joy in her posts.
“It’s the Double B!” Ty called out as he came out of the secure area of the airport.
Boston laughed, hating the nickname his brothers had given him in junior high. He hugged his brother as he got to him. It’d only been a bit over a month since Boston had seen Ty at their brother, Dax’s wedding in Puerto Rico, and Boston had been nervous about how fast Ty’s condition would accelerate, but he was relieved to see Ty looked good.
Ty excitedly scanned the area. “I’m already seeing like five chicks for you, dude.” He hesitated and flashed a stupid grin, pretending to shoot a gun at a group of girls who was staring at them as they walked toward baggage claim. “He’s available, ladies, available, and I can vouch for him.”
One of the girls in the group giggled way too loudly. “You’re Ty Brady, right?”
They didn’t stop walking, but Ty turned and walked backwards. “I’m Ty,” he said pointing to Boston, “but the important one here is my brother Boston—running back for the Miami Surf—Freight Train, baby! Woot! Woot!” He made a motion that a train engineer would make while pulling on a horn string.