Page 152 of The Moments You Were Mine

Goosebumps covered my skin, not in fear or dread, but at the sheer enormity of her words. The sheer truth.

“Teddy, take me home. My leg is ready for a break,” sheshouted, and he instantly jogged over to the porch and held out a hand to help her down the steps.

“You’re not going down to the resort?” I asked. I couldn’t remember the last time Mom hadn’t been a part of the Fourth of July activities.

“We have better things to do,” she said with a wink.

“Um. No. Just no. I don’t want to know or think or even hear about it,” I said.

She laughed, and just that sound eased something in my chest. She was free. Maybe we had been cursed, but if we had, it was gone now. Mom would be happy. The ranch would thrive. And I’d have Parker and the life I’d once dreamed about.

As Teddy’s truck left, kicking up a cloud of dirt, Parker strode toward the porch with a wiggling puppy wrapped in his arms, the leash attached to its collar dangling in the dirt, and Theo running after them. They were already dusty and rumpled, and our day hadn’t even really begun. But I loved it. Loved the joy and pleasure that it signified.

“Ready to go celebrate, Husband?” I asked and was rewarded with that stormy look returning to Parker’s eyes. The look that was all mine and usually ended with us twined skin on skin.

“You don’t play fair, Wife. I have to wait hours to reward you for using that word.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep track, and I’ll make sure I get what’s coming to me.”

“Theo, grab Bandit’s leash,” he said.

Parker had barely handed off the leash before he was dragging me to him. With a hand on the back of my head, Parker slanted his mouth over mine, claiming me and lighting me up. Every nerve ending burst into flames.

I was just thinking maybe we didn’t need to go down and celebrate with our family, my staff, and the whole damn town, that maybe we’d stay home just like Mom and Teddy, when Parker broke our kiss and grinned at me.

“Now you’ll be as hungry as me.”

“I’m hungry too!” Theo said, lifting the hand with the leash up in the air. The dog escaped, Parker chased after him, and my heart nearly exploded with love and hope and joy.

Epilogue

Parker

(I’VE HAD) THE TIME OF MY LIFE

Performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

EIGHT MONTHS LATER

HER: Do you know what time it is, Husband?

HIM: Time for me to come home and reward you for using my favorite word.

HER: As much as I’d love that, it’s time for you to meet me at the hospital.

“Hurry the fuck up,” I toldSweeney, “or pull over and let me drive.”

“I’d like to make it into town in one piece, thank you,” Sweeney groused.

“I knew I shouldn’t have gone up today,” I growled, hitting my fist on the dash.

Our baby girl had helped us out by holding on to her mama and being two and a half weeks past her real due date. It meant no one would think twice when Fallon went into labor a couple of weeks earlier than when we’d told everyone she was due. But I’d been sweating it out every day.

And this morning, when Fallon had felt more uncomfortable than usual, I’d almost cancelled the flight planned for the ROTC kids. But she’d insisted I go, insisted my fledgling business needed to honor its commitments. “How will it look to kids you’re trying to teach about duty and honor if you don’t show up?”

I’d hated that she’d been right. But for the first time since Sweeney and I had started the flight school, I hadn’t looked forward to going to it.

Sweeney and I had resigned our commissions in September and spent five months getting the school up and running. We were training the high school kids pro bono. It served as both charity and advertisement, making us look good to the community and the government bigwigs who still had to approve our contract for the military training we had planned.