Within a few minutes Levi was officially discharged, and he was tucked safely into the back of Patrick’s car only a short while after that.
“I don’t know why you wouldn’t let me drive myself home. You’ll have to take me back to the hospital to get my car at some point.”
Patrick hadn’t got on the interstate to head toward her apartment, she noticed. Instead, he drove out past Vanderbilt and toward Green Hills. She watched the houses and businesses go by.
“Where are you taking us?” she asked finally.
“You’ll see.” Patrick reached over and took her hand in his. “You trust me, right?”
“Yes...” she said, dragging the single syllable out to the length of three.
But she sank back into the seat and tried to ignore the sweet sensation of his thumb grazing over the palm of her hand.
Lush vegetation nearly hid the driveway Patrick turned in to. Rhiann sat up straighter and examined their surroundings. The narrow lane opened to a small yard and then the most adorable little cottage, with trim that looked like gingerbread.
“Where are we?”
“Home.”
“You moved?”
He nodded. “That modern half-glass monstrosity downtown was all Mallory. I never did like it. And with her and Everly gone all those reflective surfaces did was show me how alone I was. This is as far I as I could get from that.”
Traditional architecture had always held sway over Rhiann. She’d take a stately old Victorian over a high-rise condo any day. Or, in this case, a cozy cottage over crazy modern angles. With the addition of a few chairs or rockers she could picture spending a lot of time sitting on that porch, watching Levi play. And with just a little work the already secluded yard could be transformed into the perfect oasis away from the stresses of working in the medical field.
“I love it.”
Grinning at her, he opened the car door. “I was hoping you’d say that. Now, let’s get our boy inside.”
Our boy.
Like before, hearing Patrick claim Levi sent Rhiann’s heart into a frenzy.
If only...
Patrick
With Levi in his arms, Patrick led Rhiann up the steps and into the little cottage he’d bought after losing Mallory and Everly. His realtor had hit a game-winning home run with this place. He’d told the guy he wanted something the complete opposite of the modern house he’d lived in with his late wife and this had been the first house he’d been shown.
He loved the character of the little house. It had a welcoming charm that was missing from the sleek lines and crisp angles of modern architecture. The crown moldings and wide windows added a homey touch that had whispered This is home from his first step inside the front door.
Over the last three years he’d spent hours upon hours on the porch, just soaking up the healing silence he found here. The small acreage had proved to be the perfect buffer to drown out the hustle and bustle of the city around him.
Until today, his parents and Clay had been the only people he’d allowed to invade the sanctuary he’d created here. But with Rhiann, it didn’t feel like she was invading—more like she was enhancing his space.
He watched her face, hoping she’d love the coziness as much as he did.
“This place...” she said. “Wow. Somehow you’ve found a house that’s the architectural version of you.”
He snorted. “What does that mean?”
She shrugged. “The view is nice from the outside, but the look maybe doesn’t appeal to everyone. This house looks like it has frosting on the eaves, and you have frost in your eyes, but once you get past the frosty exterior you find a warm and welcoming heart that feels just a bit lonely. Strong bones, but empty without a family.”
Patrick’s breath caught. Every word she’d said fit like a glove, but he was hoping to change that last bit...
“Look again.” He managed to get out the words, surprised when his voice didn’t crack under the pressure.
“Hmm...?” She looked around, her eyes scanning for something she might have missed.
“Go down the hall a bit. Maybe try the first door on the left.”
Confusion filled her eyes, but she did as he suggested. Patrick followed her with Levi in his arms. She opened the door cautiously—and then gasped as she peeked inside.
“Patrick!” She looked back at him, fat tears welling up in her eyes.
“Levi? You wanna play in your room while I talk to your mommy?”
His heart raced as he set Levi gently on the colorful rug just inside the door. He’d barely slept this week, trying to make the perfect bedroom for the little boy, filling it with cars and trucks and all the things a boy needed.
“You set up a room for Levi here?”
Her voice shook. The emotion in her eyes gave him hope that by the end of the day his house and his heart would no longer be missing a family.
“Of course I did. I want him to spend a lot of time here.” He took one of her hands in his and tugged her into the room across the hall. “This is my office. We’ll leave the door open so we can hear Levi, but there’s a bit more privacy. I have a lot to say, and a nursery’s not the ideal spot for it.”
“Okay...”
“Sit.”
He gently nudged her toward one of the wingback leather chairs. Once she’d sunk down onto the edge of the seat, he kneeled in front of her.
“Rhiann, I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’m asking for it. I know that Mallory and Everly’s deaths were not your fault. I know that—and maybe deep down I always did. But I blamed you for years because I needed a scapegoat. Because if I didn’t blame you for their deaths then I’d have to look inward and take my share of the guilt. I’ve never admitted this to anyone before, but I was away at a conference the entire week before they died. I was supposed to come in the night before, but my flight got bumped. Rather than cancel or reschedule my appointments, I went straight to my office instead of going home to them.”
“Patrick—”
“Let me finish.” He took a deep breath. “When they called me to the ER, while Mallory was still in surgery, a doctor told me that if the paramedics had gotten her there sooner they’d have had a chance. I latched onto that phrase like it was the gospel. I used his words as reinforcement that you were to blame and not me. You, because you were there and couldn’t save them—not me, because I should have been there. I thought that as a surgeon I would have seen the signs...”
She put her fingers over his mouth to stop him from talking. “You can’t do that to yourself. No one was at fault. There was a bad wreck on the interstate that day. We had to go back and circle around through a neighborhood. It took us longer than was ideal to get to the hospital, yes, but the only way either of them could have been saved would have been if the obstetrician had caught the issues with the placenta before that day. Maybe—and this is a big maybe—maybe if it had happened at the hospital, where they could have been taken to the OR immediately, with the blood bank on standby... I tried—Patrick, you have to believe that I did everything I could that day—but I just couldn’t save them. You couldn’t have either.”
He kissed her fingers before pulling them away from his mouth. “I know that now. And I know that there was absolutely nothing you could have done to change the outcome for Mallory or Everly. I am so ashamed that I ever believed you hadn’t done everything within your power to save them. You would have done everything for a stranger. Knowing they were my family and you couldn’t save them had to have broken your heart. And then I pushed you away too.”
“Of course I would have.” She teared up. The raw pain in her eyes spoke of her sincerity. “I loved them too, you know. I was looking forward to being Auntie Rhiann to your daughter. I grieved their loss like I grieved for losing my best friend.”
“Can you forgive me for the last three year
s?”
He held his breath as he waited for her reply.
Rhiann
“There’s nothing to forgive. I knew from the start you were just lashing out due to grief. I always hoped you’d come around—I was just trying to give you the space you needed to mourn.”
She cupped his cheek with a shaking hand. Knowing she truly had her best friend back filled her heart with an overwhelming joy.
“There is a lot to be forgiven, actually, and I don’t deserve a friend like you,” said Patrick, and the storm in his blue eyes reflected the depth of his regret. His solemn expression added to the seriousness of his speech.
She teased him a bit, trying to lighten the somber mood. “I’m willing to put the past behind us so long as you promise never to be so stupid again.”
“I’ll try.” He chuckled. “I’m gonna take a peek at Levi.”
He walked to the doorway and looked across the hall. Rhiann wondered if he was seriously concerned with Levi’s well-being at that moment or if he just needed a break from the serious conversation they were having.
Rhiann leaned back in the chair and watched him look in on Levi. “Is he okay?”
He looked over his shoulder and grinned. “He’s sitting in the middle of the rug surrounded by alphabet blocks. We might have a future writer on our hands.”
“You keep saying ‘we’ and ‘our.’” She laughed, trying to not let her hopes grow too high. “You trying to lay claim to my son?”
“It’s impossible not to love that little guy. I’ve fallen in love with him and with the idea of being his dad.” He walked back over to her. “I’m pretty over the moon for his mommy too...”
“Patrick—”
He sank down on one knee in front of her. “Rhiann Masters, I am head over heels in love with you. I know all too well how short life can be, and I don’t want to wait another day to start our lives together.”
His right hand fumbled in his pocket for a second before bringing out a small black box.
“Will you allow me the honor of being your husband and Levi’s dad?”
“Yes.” She leaned forward and sealed her answer with a kiss.
Their lips met and Rhiann would have sworn their souls entwined. When she’d walked into his office that day only a short time ago, scared but determined, she had only asked for Patrick to give her son a future. She’d had no idea how much bringing Patrick back into her life would change everything—and not just for Levi.
After Pete had raked her heart and soul over the scorching coals of heartbreak she’d sworn off men. Focused entirely on Levi, she’d dropped back from truly living into barely surviving without realizing.
Patrick’s presence had opened her eyes to that.
Patrick had healed Levi’s heart and somehow patched hers up along the way.
Patrick broke the kiss to slip a ring on her finger. “You haven’t even looked at this ring. I could have put costume jewelry on your finger.”
“I love you. What you put on my finger means nothing compared to the love you’ve put in my heart.”
“Sap,” he teased, before brushing his lips across her forehead. “I love you. So, can I go play with my son now?”
“Go ahead.”
Rhiann stood and watched as the man she loved gently picked up her son and tickled his sides. The love in his eyes matched the love in her heart.
She looked down at the beautiful ring on her finger and smiled.
Sometimes wishes did come true.
EPILOGUE
Three years later
Patrick
PATRICK SANK DOWN onto the grass and wiped a few blades of cut grass from the engraved marble.
“Hi, Mallory, Everly... I’ve brought someone for you guys to meet. Everly, this is your baby sister Arden. She’s only a few days old, so I can’t keep her out here long.”
He shifted into a more comfortable position with Arden in his lap.
“I’ll always miss you girls. And don’t worry—I’ll make sure to tell Arden all about you when she’s old enough to understand.”
“Daddy!”
He looked up to see Levi running full-force toward him. The four-year-old had made a complete recovery. Without seeing the scars on his chest, it was impossible to tell he’d ever had a heart problem.
“Hey, buddy.”
Levi plopped down on the grass next to him. “I beat Mommy racing over here. But I think she let me win. She said we need to let you talk to the girls. But I think you don’t want to be outnumbered.” Levi gave him a little side-eyed grin. “Mommy doesn’t know how boys think, does she?”
Patrick put an arm around his son and hugged him close, trying really hard not to laugh. “I’ll always be happy to see you.”
Levi reached over and tickled Arden. “Why doesn’t she laugh yet?”
“She’s too little.”
He sighed. “She needs to hurry up and grow, because I need someone to play with.”
Rhiann laughed as she walked up, catching only Levi’s last statement. “I tried to keep him over by the car, but he’s a little faster than I am at the moment. I didn’t want him to disturb you. He was just antsy in the car.”
“He’s fine.” He tousled Levi’s blond hair. “Levi, do you think you can walk slowly back to the car with Mommy? Don’t make her run, though, okay? Mommy needs to take it easy, like we talked about. I’ll be right there.”
When Rhiann held her hand out Levi took it reluctantly. He looked over his shoulder at Patrick. “Okay, Daddy...but only ’cause you asked me.”
Rhiann smiled softly at him before she walked Levi back to the car.
He put a hand on the headstone. “The first few years without you both I barely survived. I shut out the possibility of love. But then Rhiann and Levi came into my life and forced their way into my heart.”
He looked across the carefully mown grass to where his beautiful wife was walking with his son. And then down to the baby sleeping in his lap.
“And now we have Arden.”
The breeze picked up and carried to him a soft note of gardenia. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The scent reminded him of the perfume Mallory used to wear, and he thought maybe it was a sign that she approved of how he’d moved on.
“I love you both. Goodbye.”
When he reached the car, Rhiann asked, “Did you have a good chat?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?” she asked, taking Arden from him for a quick cuddle before she buckled the baby into her car seat.
“For being you.”
His arms surrounded her before she could move away from the open car door.
“For being my wife and understanding that my love for them doesn’t mean I love you any less.”
He leaned down.
Seconds before his lips touched hers he was interrupted.
“Are you guys gonna kiss again? Grandma says you-all kiss too much and that’s where Arden came from. Can you go for a brother this time? Because I don’t want another sister...”
“I’m game if you are,” Patrick told her. “Or at least I’m up for a little practice.”
“You wish!”
The contagious happy laugh that escaped from his wife was a joyous sound he wouldn’t mind hearing every day of his life.
She laid her head on his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head.
“Every day.”
* * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Risking Her Heart on the Single Dad by Annie O’Neil.
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Risking Her Heart on th
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by Annie O’Neil
CHAPTER ONE
KIRRI LOOKED UP at the soaring skyscraper and beamed. Unbelievable. Her new workplace for the next six weeks was epically fabulous.
The Medical Innovations Center, from the outside at least, was everything she’d been hoping for. A towering testament to pioneering medicine. Maybe the doctors here would see what her brother couldn’t. Dreams could become reality if she worked hard enough.
So what if it was pouring down with rain and she looked like a drowned rat? She wasn’t here to look hot. She was here to set her brain alight. She was in Atlanta, Georgia, baby!
Ah...spring. Wet and warm. Such a contrast to back home in Sydney, where people were deciding whether or not to turn the central heating on. If everything went according to plan her research would blossom in tandem with the Georgia peaches.
Mmm... She inhaled a big lungful of Georgia air. Totally different from the salt-laced breezes back home. It was more...floral. Jasmine? Honeysuckle? Who knew? She had six weeks to find out. If she ever left the lab, that was. From the brainboxes alleged to be inside it, she was pretty sure she’d have to be dragged out when the research exchange was over.
She tipped her head back further, then opened her eyes wide against the rain. In this weather, and from this angle, it really did look as if her new office building’s rooftop was tickling the heavens. All glass and steel, the ultramodern building that housed the Piedmont Women and Baby Pavilion screamed trailblazing, forward-thinking, state-of-the-art medicine. It was her kind of place. The pinch herself variety.
Still a bit jet-lagged from the long-haul flight, and too excited to sleep, she’d come in early. Sunrise early. And perhaps three entire days early on top of that. She wasn’t technically meant to start until Monday—but who needed settling-in time when she was about to embark on a last-ditch attempt to prove to her brother she’d been right all along?
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