Beau
Eight years later . . .
“Daddy?”
“Ella?” I tucked my six-year-old daughter under her dark purple quilt. Everything in this room was purple. The walls. Her bed. The chair in the corner. Sabrina had even found a round rug that was entirely swirls of purple. Because Ella loved it so much, it had become one of my favorite rooms in the house.
“I’m not very happy with you,” she declared for the fifth time tonight.
I grinned. “I know.”
“Mommy’s going to be really mad at you too.”
I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Probably.”
“I still can’t believe you did that.”
I tried not to laugh but her stern expression was too cute and one slipped out. Ella had my dark hair, but other than that, she was Sabrina’s tiny clone. Personality and all.
“It will be fine,” I told her. “Now did you get the rest of your clothes picked out?”
She nodded and smiled, revealing two missing front teeth. “Mommy said I could have my own suitcase this time.”
“Okay. We’ll load it up tomorrow.”
“And you’ll remember to bring my book?”
I nodded. “Yes, I’ll get your book.”
“And the picture I drew for Grammy and Grandpa?”
“And the picture.”
“And my movie for the plane?”
“Yes, and your movie. We’ll get it all tomorrow. Now, time for bed.”
“Okay, Daddy.” She tucked her hands under her cheek as she sighed. Her beautiful green eyes looked at me like I had hung the moon. Even when she was grown, I hoped she’d always look at me like that.
“Night-night, princess.” I gave her another kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Daddy.”
I shut off the purple lamp next to her bed and pushed up off the floor, closing her door before walking down the hall to the boys’ room. I loved that the kids were all downstairs these days. They had been upstairs when they were babies but now the upstairs extra room was for guests. It gave the kids more space and Sabrina and I more privacy.
“Peyton, Tanner,” I called as I walked into their room. “Time for bed.”
The twins were nowhere in sight.
“Boys. Stop hiding.” This was their new thing. They couldn’t sit still or stay quiet at the dinner table to save their lives, but when it came to hiding, they were as silent as the dead.
I gave them a minute, but when they didn’t emerge, I started counting. “One. Two. Th—”
Two little four-year-old boys started laughing. Tanner popped out of the suitcase on the floor. Peyton sat up from the gap between the bottom bunk’s mattress and the wall. I shook my head and looked to the floor to hide my smile.
My boys were not small for their age, but to hide, they could contort themselves into the tightest places imaginable. Sabrina didn’t like that they hid from her so I didn’t want to encourage them, but at the same time, I was always impressed with their new hiding spots.
“Who’s on the top bunk tonight?” I asked.
“My turn!” Tanner yelled, scrambling up the stairs to the top bed. I had built them an elaborate bunk bed last year, complete with stairs and an iron railing, but because they both loved the top so much, we made them switch off every night.
“Daddy?” Peyton asked, climbing under his blue comforter. “When’s Mommy getting home?”
“Later tonight, bud. She’s out with your aunts.”
Once a month, Sabrina met Felicity, Maisy and a whole group of women at the Prescott Spa for a girls’ night. She’d come home with fancy toenails and a wine buzz, which meant I was getting lucky later. I got lucky most nights, but when she was tipsy, she’d let me get creative.
“Ella says Mommy’s going to be mad at you,” Peyton said.
“I know,” I muttered.
“Tomorrow is our baycation!” Tanner cried as he bounced in his bed.
“Vacation. With a V. Vay-cation.”
“Vvvacation.”
“Good job.” I tucked him in first and then bent down to tuck in Peyton. “You guys be quiet and get some sleep so you’ve got lots of energy for the trip tomorrow. Okay?”
“Okay, Daddy!” both chimed. There was no chance of them staying quiet tonight. They’d talk to each other for hours, only stopping when their little bodies physically shut down to sleep.
“Love you, Peyton. Love you, Tanner.”
“Night-night, Daddy!”
I closed the door and the giggles started. “We’re going on a roller coaster!” one of them yelled at the same time the other said, “Grandpa said he’d take me on a saffrari!”
Shaking my head, I let them be and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. Boone was lying on his bed, his eyes locked on the door to the garage. He’d stay just like that until Sabrina got home.
“More moping?” I asked him.
He didn’t move, not even to blink.
I huffed, scowling at my former dog. He’d abandoned me completely in favor of my wife and kids. Man’s best friend my ass. Boone didn’t give two shits about me anymore. If Sabrina wasn’t home, he was all about Ella and the boys.
After turning off a few lights, I went back to the boys’ room, reminding them to be quiet before starting up the stairs. Making my way to our bedroom, I took in the framed pictures along the hallway. Sabrina kept growing the collage Maisy had started, replacing older pictures with new and adding a couple more rows of frames. But even with the additions, the black-and-whites still centered around one color photo.
Our wedding picture.
Besides the pictures of her in the hospital on the day the kids were born, there wasn’t a picture on this wall where she looked more beautiful than at our wedding. We’d gotten married in an open meadow not far into the mountains with close friends and family looking on. Sabrina’s long hair had been curled and left free to flow down her back. Her delicate lace dress had hugged her top and flowed to her feet. And her smile. The photographer had captured her breathtaking smile after I’d slid my ring onto her finger.
I touched the frame then kept walking to the bedroom to do some packing of my own.
Tomorrow, I was finally taking Sabrina to Disney World.
The day after she’d moved here from Seattle, I’d offered to take her on vacation, but she’d jumped right into wedding planning instead, insisting we save money and focus on the wedding. Then I’d pitched the idea of Disney World for our honeymoon but she’d nixed that too.
She’d wanted our honeymoon to be at the outpost.
I had argued at first, but when she’d pointed out that there would be no distractions from a week of sex, I’d immediately shut up.
After the wedding, we wasted no time in getting pregnant with Ella, then again with the boys. Disney World with a two-year-old and twin babies sounded more like torture than fun so we’d kept pushing back the trip.
But now the kids were old enough to have a blast and we were leaving in the morning. We were flying to Florida tomorrow and spending a day at her parents’ house, and then we were all going to Orlando. Her parents, brothers and their families were coming along too. We’d all be wearing matching Holt-MacKenzie Clan T-shirts that her brother Kameron had designed.
The family time would be great, but more than anything, I couldn’t wait to give Sabrina this trip. She was more excited than Ella, Peyton and Tanner combined.
My phone chimed in my pocket as I pulled a suitcase from the top shelf in the closet.
Shortcake: Just leaving. I’m kissing the kids and then we’re locking the door.
Hell, yeah. Packing would have to wait until the morning.
Stripping down to nothing, I slid into bed to wait for my wife. Propping myself up against the headboard, I reached for the book on my nightstand.
I had read every single book that Sabrina had written. Romance novels weren’t my thing but hers were the exception. I’d reread most of them more times than I could count. I swelled with pride whenever I read something written by my talented wife. I loved finding hints of Sabrina in her main characters.
The one I held tonight was my favorite, Holt’s Compass. This one was my book.
Flipping to the beginning, I read the dedication.
To Beau.
The hero who stole my heart.
The man of my dreams.
The love of my life.
She’d written that when we were apart, which made it all the more special.
I read it again then heard the garage door open downstairs. Setting my book aside, I grinned and stared at the door. The kids had been right earlier. She was going to be mad. Lucky for me, it wasn’t the real kind of mad. She’d do her best to put on an angry face—it was cute as hell—but with one kiss, she’d be all smiles again.
When her bare feet padded down the hall, I dropped the grin and rested my hands behind my head.
“Beau, you should see the boys. They’re so cu—” She crossed through the door and stopped dead, her eyes widening as her jaw dropped.
“Hi, angel.”
“What. Did. You. Do?”
I grinned. “It gets hot in Florida. I thought this might be cooler.”
“We’re taking pictures, Beau!” She fisted her hands on her hips. “When I bring them back and show everyone, no one is going to recognize you. They’re all going to say, ‘Who is that strange man holding Ella’s hand?’ ”
That or they were going to ask why she’d taken Michael to Florida, because with my hair buzzed off like his and no beard, I was my brother’s doppelganger.
“It’s not that bad,” I said. “Besides, now the boys and I have matching haircuts.”
“Where are those clippers?” She sprinted from the door toward the bathroom.
I whipped off the sheet and ran after her, barely rescuing my clippers before she could take them apart.
With her pinned in my arms, my cock getting hard against the top of her ass, I bent down to kiss her neck. “I’ll grow them back.”
“Yeah, you will.” She was still pretending to be mad but I could feel her shiver when I kissed her again.
“Do you still love me even though I look different?”
She huffed. “You know I do.”
“Do you still think I’m sexy?” I slid my fingers into the waistband of her jeans and fingered her pussy.
“Obviously,” she panted as I rubbed her wetness up to her clit.
My fingers kept working and she started to melt in my arms. “I’ll make you a deal, Shortcake. I’ll promise to let you dictate the length of my hair in exchange for a new puppy.”
“You jerk!” She laughed, yanking my hand out of her pants and spinning around to playfully smack me on the bare chest. “This was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”
I shrugged. I’d been wanting another dog for months but she had always refused, not wanting Boone to be put out by a puppy. I admit, this negotiation tactic may have been extreme but I was pretty sure she wouldn’t say no this time.
“What do you say? Have we got a deal?”
She sighed. “Fine.”
Damn, I love this woman.
“Good.” I smiled and wrapped her in my arms, lifting her up to carry her to bed.
The next morning, the bags were loaded, the kids were arguing over puppy names in the back seat of our car, and Sabrina’s hand was holding mine as I drove us to the airport.
I’d told Sabrina once that I wasn’t a dreamer. That was still true. I’d leave the dreams to her and to my children.
Because I didn’t need to dream.
I already had everything I could ever hope for, right here in my car.