Alex

TWO MONTHS LATER . . .

I’m sitting at a table in a prison, waiting on Edward Blackwood. I can hardly believe how much my life has changed in such a short time. Visiting Helen’s father in prison isn’t something I ever thought would happen. Not ever.

But here I am.

The door across from me opens. Mr. Blackwood walks in and looks at me in confusion. Without letting his eyes drift from mine, he sits right across from me. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“You fooled your daughter for the better part of her life, and now you’re going to sit across from me and act as if you’re the aggrieved party?” I feel my anger start to rise, but then I remind myself that I need this conversation to go well. I take that back. I don’t need it to go well. I want it to go well.

“She hates me. It’s all your fault that she hates me.”

“It’s your own fault if she hates you. That’s on you. Only on you.” I see a tick in his jaw. “But she doesn’t. She should. But she doesn’t.”

His eyes tear up, and I can see that the anger he has is not as great as the guilt weighing on him. “You can set it right,” I tell him.

“How? She’ll never forgive me. I ruined her life.”

“Give her your blessing.”

“Blessing? Blessing for what?”

“To be with me. To marry me. Let me take care of her.”

He rubs a hand over his face.

“She doesn’t need anyone to take care of her.”

I chuckle. “Oh, I know. But she deserves it. I can make her life easier. I can make her happy. And more important, I’ll love her with everything I have. “

“She could do better than you, Archer.”

“You think I don’t know that? Of course I know that.”

“Then let her go,” he pleads. I know it’s not because I’m an Archer. This is a man being protective of her daughter.

“No. You know why? Because no man could ever love your daughter more than I do. I could do us all a favor and walk away, but the way I feel about her, she’ll never have that from anyone else. It’s impossible..”

Blackwood’s jaw clenches, but then he really looks at me. “You did come here. After everything, you came here to talk to me.”

“Yes, after everything, I came here,” I repeat. The importance of that is so deep. So important nothing else matters. “She loves you, you know. Despite everything, the lies, the hurt . . . she loves you.”

“I fucked up.”

“You did. And I’ll pick her up, help her find her way again. She doesn’t have to do it alone anymore. But give her this. Give her this one thing.”

“Does she feel the same way?”

God, she’d better!

“Yes.”

“What if I don’t give you my blessing?”

“I don’t care if you do or don’t. I’m marrying her one way or another. If you say no, it’s just another hurt you’d give her. And just one more time I’ll pick her up and comfort her from something you’ve done. This is me giving you the opportunity to do one thing right.”

He nods, and I see him brush his eyes dry. “You’ve turned out to be a fine man. I’m sorry about your father. I know that means nothing to you and there are no words that can fix—”

“No, there’s aren’t,” I say coldly.

“But, he was a good man. Honorable. Trusting. Too trusting, like my daughter.” I listen to him with mixed emotions. He looks old and frail. Nothing like the man I remembered going on vacations with.

“You take care of her, Archer.”

“Always.”

Blackwood’s eyes don’t leave mine as the guard shuffles him out of the courtyard and back inside.

I’m hopeful Blackwood will make the right decision.

Helen

“I have to hand it to you, Helen. I didn’t think this would work for a bedroom. But it’s perfect,” Marshall says. There were some issues with permits and inspections, and then the furniture I ordered didn’t get here on time. So, everything was delayed. It’s been hell keeping Alex away from the new room, but luckily he had a meeting in Seattle this weekend, which gave me time to move things around and have the furniture delivered.

“It looks so good, right?” I point a remote toward the dome, press a button, and the blinds close. Sweet. “And if we open the double doors, we’re practically right on the bay.” I inhale and smell the salty ocean breeze.

After Marshall leaves, I adjust the new bedspread on the bed. Alex should be arriving any time now.

I hear the front door open and close and I quickly run out to greet him. “Hi! How was Seattle? I have a surprise for you!”

“Uh-oh . . . what did you do?”

“Why do you think I’ve done something wrong?”

“When you start talking real fast like that, it’s usually not good news.”

“Hush! Come on. I have a surprise for you! The addition’s finished. Passed inspection and it’s all done.”

“About damn time.”

I pull him by the arm, excitedly. “Before you open that door, I want you to have an open mind.”

“This is not giving me a good feeling,” he teases.

“Trust me, it’s going to be fine. You’re going to love it.”

He opens the door and walks in.

It’s mostly my taste, with a hint of the modern sleekness he seems to like. Or, maybe he thinks that’s what will help it sell better; I’m not sure. But I decorated in the hopes that he won’t sell it. That he’ll fall in love with it so much, he’ll decide to keep it.

He’s walking around the room, touching the bedspread, opening and closing the drawers of the new chest. He doesn’t say a word. I have an urge to fill the silence, but instead I shut my mouth and allow him to process everything. “What happened to my office?”

“I decided it should be in the room where you had your bedroom. I swapped it out.”

“Baby, we’ll be woken up every morning the second the sun rises.” He looks up at the roof.

Excitedly, I press the button on the remote. “No, we won’t. See?”

He watches in fascination as the dome closes. “Wow. Okay, so . . . I’m speechless.”

“Look!” I squeal, and open the set of double doors that leads down a small path to  a small patio overlooking the bay. I’ve decorated it with a set of Adirondack chairs and a little table. It’s a slice of heaven. “It’s so cozy, right?” I inhale the ocean breeze. “Breathe, Alex. It’s so fresh and salty. I love it here, don’t you?”

“I do,” he says sincerely. “You did a great job. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to make this the master suite, but it’s perfect.”

“I loved planning it. It was fun, and I think I might be good at it. In fact . . . Marshall actually offered me a small job designing a room for a new client of his.”

Alex

I eye her suspiciously. I knew I didn’t like that Marshall guy.

“Relax, caveman. It’s just work and I really enjoy it. I think I’m going to take it. Maybe I can even take some college courses on interior design—what do you think? I’m too old for that, right?”

Again, she’s blabbering. It’s my favorite quality of hers. Why I thought she could deceive us is ridiculous. The woman is the worst liar in the world. She starts blabbering and before you’ve had a chance to call her out on her lies, she’s already told you she lied. It’s charming. “You’re not too old. I think it’s an excellent idea. And if working makes you happy, then I’m happy.”

“Good, because the project is for my old boss, Iggy’s, new house.”

“Damn it.”

I bet Iggy planned this. I didn’t like the man when I met him at Duality and I certainly don’t like the thought of my woman being in his house. But, part of this relationship thing is to trust her. So I smile and pretend I’m one hundred percent on board with her working with Marshall and Iggy.

Her phone rings and. she looks down at the screen, the light in her eyes fading. “It’s my dad.” She’s about to swipe the ignore button when I take the phone from her.

“Answer it. I know you want to. It’s killing you not to talk to him. Answer it.”

She hesitates and then swipes up.

I  watch her from one of the Adirondack chairs. She moves her hands and paces back and forth, her long hair whipping around with the wind. I’m worried about this conversation, but I have to let things play out. The ball’s in her father’s court to make the right decision.

When I see her frown slowly turn to a smile, I know her father made the right decision.

Satisfied, I turn around and face the bay. When she’s done, she comes around and sits on my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, you did.” She tucks her head in the crook of my neck and we spend the rest of the afternoon in our home. Happy.

Something neither of us ever thought we’d be.

Especially not with each other.