Chapter 32
Quinn
“Come on. Just a little bit higher.” I stretched up on the tip of my toes, my arm reached up as high as it could with the paintbrush in one hand and a bucket of teal paint in the other but no matter how I tried to maneuver my limbs I couldn’t seem to reach the upper corner.
My belly was well and truly rounded now, enough to brush against the freshly painted wall of one of the newly finished bedrooms and it was making things a lot harder for me as I desperately raced to get the bed and breakfast ready before it opened for business. I only had a few short weeks before my brother’s deadline, and I’d be damned if I was going to miss it.
A sharp pain stabbed through me at the thought of Jonah. We still hadn’t spoken since the night that I’d left and it was like a black hole inside me, eating up all the light and happiness in the world.
I tried to shake it off, tried to put all my focus on the task in front of me. I was running out of time to finish the renovations and even though the major things were finally complete, there were a million small details that still needed to be seen to.
A million small things that were made ten times harder than they should have been because I was roughly the size of a planet. My new weight and the swell of my belly that just continued to grow made me feel awkward and unbalanced in my body.
I had tried to crawl up to the attic to retrieve the treasured box of photographs and I’d gotten stuck up there! I’d called for help for ten minutes and when Lily and Finn had finally found me, stick sitting on the floor and unable to get up, they’d both burst into laughter. Eventually, they’d helped me get back down again but it had been damned inconvenient to say the least.
I reached up a little higher, balancing precariously on the footstool to try and reach the top of the trim that ran the length of the bedroom. In my head, I ran through the list of things I needed to get done before Jonah's deadline. And it was daunting.
“I won’t let him sell it.” I muttered to myself as I worked, “I won’t let him.” If I had to, I would chain myself to the front porch, but in the back of my head I knew even that wouldn’t work. I was so close to reaching my goal, but I was running out of time, faster than I could keep up with.
I would make it work. I would prove to Jonah, to myself, to the whole world that Quinn Moore wasn’t a failure.
“You already have some reservations on the books,” I reminded myself. It was meant to be reassuring but it only served to fill me with panic. Yeah, guests are coming in a few weeks. I just hope I have bedrooms for them to sleep in.
I was so caught up in my worry that I didn't feel the foot stool slip underneath my feet and a second later I was flying backward, the breath rushing from my lungs as I braced for impact. But it never came.
Strong arms stopped my fall, wrapping around me with a familiar warmth that eased something deep inside me I hadn’t even known was broken.
I knew who it was before I even opened my eyes, meeting Leo’s dark gaze as he looked down at me with concern creasing his brow. After an eternity, he spoke.
“Do you really think you should be climbing up on that thing in your condition?” His voice was warm and scratchy like a favorite record and I was so surprised that I couldn’t speak. I didn’t even know what to say. My thoughts were a maelstrom of questions and I didn’t know where to start.
Slowly, and with Leo’s help, I got back to might feet finally turning to look at him. I drank in the sight of his dark locks, grown longer since the last time I’d seen him. His strong jaw and sharp nose. The bruises under his eye that attested to sleepless nights. There was a haggardness about him that hadn’t been there before. A weariness that I ached to soothe away.
“What…How…Where the hell have you been?” I finally stammered out, and he greeted my question with a bashful smile and a shrug.
“It’s hard to explain.”
"Well, you better damn well try."
“Yes ma’am,” His smile widened into a grin and I fought to keep one from curling up my own lips as confusion and anger warred with a happiness like rays of sunlight after a summer storm.
“I guess I should start from the beginning. After Jonah found out about us, he wasn’t exactly happy. You have to know, Quinn. I never wanted to leave you. I never in a million years thought Jonah would try and threaten you to get me to leave. If he’d gone after me, that was one thing. But he said he was–.”
“Going to sell this place. I know about that.” I cut in with a sigh, that old anger surging up again but I pushed it back down.
“Right, well. I didn’t make it far. About forty miles or so. I tried to come back to see you but Jonah, he uh, he told me you were seeing someone else.”
"What?" I choked out. I knew that Jonah had chased him off a second time but I hadn't known about the lie. "I never…I didn't…I haven't dated anyone." I finally stammered out the words and Leo let out a sigh of relief.
“I didn't want to believe it, but…" Leo shrugged, drinking me in with his gaze as he stepped closer, his arms wrapping around me as if that's where they belonged. And it was. "He found me, you know. Jonah. He hired some private investigator to track me down and he showed at my doorstep. He told me everything. He told me he was sorry, that he thought it had been the right thing at the time. He told me about the…the baby."
Leo glanced down, taking in the swell of my belly between us and I was terrified of what I would see when he looked up again but instead of the fear or revulsion or doubt that I thought would be there, all I saw was love. Love, and look so full of tenderness that made my chest tighten.
“Jonah told me the truth. He did it for you, Quinn. I know that. But god damn if he didn’t give me the best gift in the entire world.” Leo let out a rough chuckle, “It’s almost enough to make me forgive the guy.”
My soft laugh joined his, “Almost.”
I stared up at him in wonder, still not quite believing that this was happening, that it was real. I reached out a hand, caressing his cheek but the stubble that tickled my palm felt real enough. The warmth of his skin against mine felt real and solid.
“I love you, Leo.” The words fell out of my mouth before I’d even realized they were there. They hung in the air between us for a long moment but then Leo was moving away from me. All the doubts and fears came rushing back in a paralyzing wave but instead of leaving, he took my hand in his, getting down on one knee in front of me.
"I have to tell you something, Quinn. Those are the sweetest words I've ever heard but before I say anything back there are some things I need you to know." He looked at me expectantly I gave a quick nod of my head, standing there speechless."
“Now, I don’t know that much about family. And I don’t know that much about being in a relationship. And I sure as hell don’t know much about having a baby. But in the time that I’ve known you, Quinn…you’ve changed me.” Leo’s eyes never left mine as he spoke and I felt each and every word sink deep inside me. “You made me a better man, and a better person. You have made my life mean something. And you’ve given me a home when I’ve never had one.”
“Leo, I–.”
“No, let me finish. I need to say this.” He waited until I nodded again before continuing, “I love you and I love our baby more than I can ever put into words. I’ve never met anyone like you. Your spirit and your passion and your heart inspire me every day. And you’re hands down the sexiest woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.”
I let out a hoarse chuckle at that, wiping moisture from eyes but he was speaking again.
“I’m not saying it will be easy. I know I’ve got a lot to learn. But I promise you, I will never leave you again. Not ever. I promise I will be with you every step of the way and support any crazy idea you have. I promise that I will take care of you and I promise…I promise that I will love you, and that baby, more than anyone else in the whole world if you’ll let me.”
He took a deep breath. “I don’t have a ring yet, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is what’s between us. Quinn Moore, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?”
I stared at him open-mouthed for a long moment as he shot me a nervous look.
“Well, say something at least. Jesus, just leaving a man hanging, might as well torture the poor son of a–.”
“Yes.”
“What was that, sunshine?”
“Yes,” I said through the laughter that bubbled out of me as I threw myself into his arms. The only place I ever wanted to be, “Yes, I’ll marry you. Yes!”
I don’t know how long I would have kept babbling but Leo cut off my words with a kiss that rocked me to my toes. I’d missed him more than I’d ever missed anything and it felt like heaven to be wrapped in his strong arms as his mouth closed over mine.
“I love you, Leo.”
"I love you too, Sunshine," Leo whispered the words against my mouth, never-ending our kiss. "I love you too."