Greyson
Alexis held my hand tightly in hers. I felt like a dead man walking as we made our way up the front path of the Atzer home. I needed to atone to more than just her.
The door opened without us knocking, Paige stood there. Her expression wasn’t one I could discern. She looked from Alexis to me then to our joined hands.
Those blue eyes lifted. “So have you pulled your head from your ass?”
“I’m working on it.”
Her expression changed, softened seconds before she had me in her arms. I thought it would have been harder. I hugged her back. “We’ve missed you.”
Grant appeared. Paige stepped back and wiped her eyes. “Look who’s here?” She reached for Grant’s hand, but he was too busy glaring at me.
“Greyson and I need a minute,” he announced.
“I’ll stay,” Alexis volunteered.
I touched her cheek. Loved that she was willing to, but this I had to do alone. “We’ll be right out.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” She turned to Grant. “Don’t you hurt him.”
“No promises.”
He took me to the garage, his office so to speak.
He turned to me and it was only then that I appreciated how pissed he was. His muscles flexed and he was shaking with rage. His voice was soft, deceivingly so. “I walked her down the aisle to you. I witnessed as you promised to love her in sickness and in health and I was there when you walked out on that promise. We, my family and I, were left to pick up the pieces. Do you know what it’s like to look into the eyes of a woman you’ve known most of your life and not see her looking back?”
Hearing what I’d put Alexis through had my eyes burning. Fucking hell. I lived it too, but fucking hell.
“Why come back now?”
“My grandfather knocked some sense into me then her dad paid me a visit in Ireland. He didn’t want to see me make the same mistake he did.”
Grant pulled a hand though his hair. “Does she know?”
“Yeah. He was the one who paid for her schooling.”
“I wondered.” As a father he would have. “Leaving her, whatever your intentions, was a dick move.”
“I know, but I reacted out of love and fear. Had it been Paige, can you say you would have done it differently?”
“No.”
He studied me for a few minutes then offered his hand. “It’s good to see you again.” He didn’t release my hand and added, “You hurt her again and I’ll fucking kill you.”
“Fair enough.”
We stepped onto the deck to find Paige and her girls sitting with Alexis. The girls all came home when they heard I had. Even pissed at me, they came home. That felt really fucking good. Grant was willing to forgive me, but his generosity apparently only went so far. “Sorry, man.” He gestured to his girls. “You’re in for it.”
He walked away, but my focus was on the girls. No longer did they look at me with wide-eyed innocence. There was censure in their gazes. I took that hit. I deserved it.
Tara was the one to break the silence. “You hurt her. You hurt all of us.”
Tears burned my eyes and I let them fall. “I know.”
“You were hurting too, weren’t you?” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“Well, maybe we could start again.”
I stepped toward her and like I had done when she was four, I kissed the back of her hand. “I’m Greyson.”
Her eyes filled before she threw her arms around me. “Welcome home, Greyson.”
Alexis
Watching Greyson reconnect with the girls was beautiful. Paige reached for my hand. We were both crying. The twins arrived.
Dylan marched right up to Greyson. “A year of her life you took. And I get it, but taking that year was fucking selfish.”
I stood; Dylan raised his hand to me. “I’ve known her since she was six. She’s my sister in every way that counts. You…” He pointed at Greyson. “I thought of you as a brother,” Dylan’s voice broke. “Don’t fucking hurt her again.”
Greyson nodded, giving the moment the respect it deserved.
Dominic, in an attempt to lighten the mood added, “What he said.”
It had been too long since we were all together like this and yet it felt as if it were only yesterday. Grant and Greyson must have reached an understanding because the easiness that always existed between them was back. The twins weren’t as easy to slide back into it, but I caught them both talking with Greyson throughout the day. They would get there.
Greyson must have felt me staring, because he looked my way, then started over to me. Those long legs clad in denim. His hair was down, tucked behind his ears and those pale eyes that had haunted my dreams. He brushed his lips over mine before he took the seat Paige vacated.
“What are you thinking about?”
“The first time I saw you, sitting on my jetty, looking so perfect there. I thought you were an intruder.”
His mouth twitched into a grin. “You did?”
“Yup, it was my first thought but I was wrong. You do belong and you are so wanted.”
He reached for my hand that wore his rings. “I love you.”
“I know.” Leaning closer to him, I brushed my lips over his. “Come home with me tonight.”
“Hell, yeah.”
“Hey, you.” We both looked over to see Dylan, Dominic was right behind him. They were looking at Greyson. They said nothing for so long it got a little awkward. Then Dylan said, “We’re picking teams for volleyball. Do you want to play?”
Love for the twins brought a smile. Greyson stood, kissed my head then joined them. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
The following morning, Greyson dragged me from bed. There was somewhere he wanted to take me. I wanted to stay in bed. We had a year to make up for. He didn’t say where we were going, didn’t even talk on our way there.
He pulled up the familiar drive and I didn’t understand. He shut off his bike and waited for me to climb off.
“Surprise.”
I’m sure I looked dimwitted because I just stared at him. “I don’t understand.”
“Welcome home.”
“This house isn’t for sale.”
He held up a key. “Welcome home, Alexis.”
“You bought it? How the hell did you do that?”
“The owner is a huge art collector.”
I looked around. “Are you serious. This is ours.”
“Yes.”
“Home?”
He pressed a kiss in my palm. “You’re my home.”
I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. He was my home too.
“It hasn’t changed much,” he said as we strolled around the back yard. He was right; it looked as it had when we were kids.
“Shall we go inside?” He led me to the front of the house and unlocked it, but before I could step inside he lifted me into his arms. We’d been here before too.
Inside on the floor was a black box with a red bow.
“What’s that?” I was already moving to the box, removing the ribbon and lifting the lid. It was a wedding band like the one I wore. Confused I looked at Greyson.
Reaching for my hand, he stared me right in the eyes. “I broke my promise and my vow.” He slipped the ring onto my finger. “I promise to never break my vows again.”
I needed to invest in Kleenex.
I looked down at my hand, his rings winking up at me. “You are very good at apologies.”
“I’m not done.”
He led me into the living room. It was empty, but for a sculpture on a pedestal. “What is that?”
“Why don’t you go see?”
I glanced over at him; his voice matched his expression. Tender. Curious, about not only the sculpture that was clearly one of his, but also his reaction, I walked over to it. Nothing could have prepared me. It was my parents and me. The picture I had. Greyson had lovingly recreated it in stone. He’d captured their expressions; somehow he had captured all that emotion in stone. He joined me.
“This is what I wasn’t allowed to see. The sculpture in your studio.”
“It took me a while to get it right.”
I grabbed his hand while battling tears. “It’s perfect.”
He kissed my temple. “Wait here.”
He left me in the living room, returning shortly after with another black leather box. He handed it to me and pushed his hands into his pockets.
“Open it.”
I lifted the lid and my knees went weak. My eyes jerked to his face. “Is this…”
“There’s a tradition in my family that if a man marries for love, he gives his wife…” He lifted the diamond from the box, it had been changed once again and was now just the stone, that incredible stone.
“It’s too big to wear so I thought we could build a case for it that was on motion sensor so every time you walk into the room it lights up and one of your Celine Dion songs plays. I’m even hoping you’ll sing along—”
I kissed him; I wrapped him tightly in my arms and kissed him with everything I was feeling. He didn’t hesitate to kiss me back, his tongue sweeping my mouth. I broke the kiss and grabbed his face. “I forgive you.”
He moved with superhuman speed, putting the diamond back in its box and resting it on the floor next to the sculpture. His eyes were on fire when he kissed me and started for his old bedroom. He worked on my blouse and I worked on his jeans.
“Please tell me you bought a bed,” I asked between kisses.
“King-size.”
Two weeks later I came down with a stomach bug. I couldn’t keep anything down but when it lasted for over a week Greyson insisted on taking me to the doctor. I wasn’t really sure what a doctor could do since it was more than likely a virus and just needed to run its course.
We were sitting in the examination room, Greyson holding my hand, as we waited for the doctor who was reviewing the results of the tests he had run. After what seemed like forever he looked up from the chart and smiled, “Congratulations, you’re pregnant.”
Greyson said what I was thinking and it was directed more to me than it was to the doctor. “That’s not possible.”
The doctor, clueless to the undercurrent, sought to assure Greyson. “I know about Alexis’ injuries and the diagnosis, but she is definitely pregnant.”
It felt like a hive of bees was buzzing around my head and as I tried to come to terms with the fact that I was pregnant a thought had me going cold. The diagnosis wasn’t that I couldn’t conceive. It was I wouldn’t be able to carry a baby to term.
“Can I carry the baby to term?”
Greyson’s eyes found mine at that question and I saw fear in his gaze before he looked back at the doctor.
“Yes, this is a high-risk pregnancy but we’ll monitor you every month with ultrasounds and modify the frequency as you progress. But seeing your uterus in the ultrasound and the fact that the egg even attached, if we work together, and you understand your limitations, there is no reason you can’t bring this child to term.”
Greyson looked as dumbfounded as I felt, and like me, we both were thinking the same thing. The diamond.
“You don’t think…” He started to say.
Yes, I did. “I do.”
With the doctor standing right there, he tangled his fingers into my hair and kissed me.
“You will have your feet up all the time. No arguments,” Paige said then started to cry again. Grant held her, his eyes shining. It had been two weeks and still we marveled that something we thought couldn’t happen had.
“She’s right. No heavy lifting,” Grant agreed.
“No lifting at all,” Tara chimed in.
Paige pointed at her eldest. “Yes, no lifting.”
“I have blankets to knit,” Mrs. C. said.
Dee and she shared a look, “And booties.”
Greyson sat next to me in the living room of our home, his arm around my shoulders. The dogs were sleeping by the fire. Buggers was on my lap.
“Dylan is a name that works for both a boy and a girl.”
Dominic threw a pillow at his head.
Callum strolled into the room. After learning we were pregnant, he moved to Mendocino for the pregnancy and the birth. Lived in my cottage, neighbor to the twins. If he was hoping to slow down, he was in for a rude awakening.
“I found a journal in the room, one kept by Caitlin Ratcliffe. She and Rafer were the ones to hide the diamond, not to ease their monetary responsibilities, but from theft. Whispers were circulating. She had something else in her journal.” He had the attention of the room. “Aenfinn was duty bound to continue the line so he had to forsake his love to fulfill his obligations, something that many who followed him elected to do. In the end though it was love that prevailed, according to Caitlin ’tis said that on the night Aenfinn passed from the mortal world a strange green glow was seen in the woods beyond his great estate and the sound of lovers’ laughter was heard to echo throughout the forest.”
Greyson stiffened at my side and he looked pale. “What’s wrong?”
He tried to shake it off, but he was unnerved.
“What?”
“I saw that green mist, heard the laughter too.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. The housemaids always talked about ghosts, I never believed them then I heard the laughter. It was as real as my own voice.”
“That’s incredible,” Paige whispered.
My attention was on Greyson because there was more he wasn’t saying. “What else did you see?”
His head jerked to me, and even being off balance he smiled and touched my cheek. “Looks like I’m not the only one who can read minds.”
It just took me a little longer.
“It sounds kind of weird, but in the portrait gallery I announced that I was choosing love.” Those damn tears hit my eyes again. “I saw that mist right after I made that declaration. It was what drew my attention to Aenfinn’s portrait. To the diamond.”
The painter of Aenfinn’s portrait hadn’t been phenomenal after all. A fake back and some clever painting and the most sought after Ratcliffe treasure had been hiding in plain sight. It was fitting too. Where best to hide the symbol of their love than with the one to whom it was bestowed.
It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
“His goddess,” I whispered in awe.
“I think so. I chose love, so she showed me where the diamond was.” Greyson’s eyes were bright when he kissed my temple.
“I have learned in my eighty-two years on this Earth that there are some things we can not explain, but it’s in the blind acceptance that the real gifts lie. Love is the greatest of those gifts. You both learned that on your own and perhaps your pregnancy is their way of rewarding you for seeing what it took them a lifetime to learn.”
Greyson and I sat at that booth in the diner where he used to always sit. Paige approached us. She had the weirdest look on her face.
“I just hired a new employee.”
“Why do you look like the Cheshire cat?”
“You’ll see,” she said cryptically and walked away.
Two minutes later, Debbie Demato stepped out of the kitchen, an apron wrapped around her waist and carrying a notepad.
The door opened and the twins strolled in. I didn’t think there was a chance in hell it was a coincidence.
“Yo,” Dylan greeted, taking the seat next to me. Dominic slipped into the booth next to Greyson.
“I heard the diner has a new employee.” Dylan was already looking in Debbie’s direction. His arm shot up. “Oh, waitress. We’re ready to order.”
She looked over as the emotions moved one after another over her face—insecurity, jealousy, annoyance and resignation. She swayed her hips as she approached.
“She’s going to spit in our food,” Dominic said.
“Likely,” I agreed.
“What do you want?” she asked as soon as she reached our table.
“Did you go to training for that because that is just some of the best customer service I’ve ever heard,” Dylan said.
She glared.
“I’ll have a salad, dressing on the side.” Her eyes darted to me. I smiled sweetly.
After the others ordered, she left returning first with my salad. She dropped it down so loudly I thought the plate might break. It was childish and immature and I was too old for such behavior and still I looked her right in the eye when I poured the dressing on the salad.
“I asked for the dressing on the side, Debbie.”
Her jaw dropped.
I tilted my head like she had once done to me. “It’s really not that complicated.”
She lasted all of three days at the diner before Paige fired her. We were hanging at their place when I asked, “Why did you hire her in the first place?”
“I thought that maybe under the insecurity there was actually a good person.” She took a sip of her wine. “I stand corrected.”
Greyson and I went to the ultrasounds, every month as scheduled. At the third month ultrasound the tech got quiet. Fear hit that something was wrong.
Greyson felt it too when he demanded, “What’s wrong?”
“Excuse me for a second.” She hurried from the room.
“Greyson.” Worry had my voice a little too high.
He took my hand as we waited. They were the longest few minutes. The doctor entered, the tech behind him.
“What’s wrong doctor?” I asked.
“Just give me a minute.” He moved the thing around my stomach, pressing into me in a few places before he looked over and smiled.
“She’s right.”
“About what?”
“You’re having twins.”
By eight months pregnant, sitting was impossible; standing was impossible, walking, sleeping, all impossible. The only things that I could still do, and did often, were eating and peeing.
One night, Greyson and I were sitting outside on the deck. I pointed my ice cream covered spoon at him. “Do you suppose they’re already six feet tall because they sure feel like it.”
Greyson was sitting back, his legs stretched out in front of him, his hands behind his head, but his attention was completely on me. He still looked at me like I was the sexiest woman alive even when I ate my body weight in ice cream.
He smiled at my question. “That’ll make for an interesting delivery.”
I just gaped at him as he threw me a wink. “Do you need something else?”
Did I need, no, did I want, yes. A pound of bacon, a side of beef, a mile-high turkey sandwich with pickles and beets, cake, chips. He grinned reading my thoughts perfectly. “No, I think this half gallon of ice cream is enough.”
“All right, beautiful, I’ll be right back.”
I waited until he disappeared inside before shoveling an enormous spoonful of ice cream into my mouth. I was just hungry all the time. I reached the bottom of the carton and decided I’d better move around a bit. I mean I did just consume a disgusting about of ice cream. I stood and my water broke.
“Greyson!”
He appeared a heartbeat later. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s time.”
It took him a minute before his eyes grew wide with panic. “It’s too early.”
“I think they’ll be just fine, but there’s a little thing called an epidural and if I don’t get one of those it isn’t going to be pretty.”
Greyson effortlessly lifted me, though that was probably only possible because he was experiencing an adrenaline rush, and started for the car.
“Hey, guys, where are you going? You promised us food.” I looked behind us to see Dylan and Dominic.
Greyson continued toward the driveway. “We need to get to the hospital,” he called from over his shoulder.
They both looked confused so I clarified, “The babies are coming.”
It took them a minute but they were shouting with joy as they ran up next to us.
“What can we do? Call the others? What about your bag, aren’t you supposed to have a bag?” Dylan was panicking.
I laughed, “I didn’t pack it yet.”
“I’ll call Paige. Okay, well go and do the, you know have those babies. We’ll be in the waiting room with champagne and cigars.”
Greyson reached our car and gently settled me on the seat, pulling and clicking the seat belt himself. He dropped a kiss on my head before he closed the door and walked around to his side. Dylan was opening the door for him.
“Take care of our girl, Greyson.”
He didn’t miss a beat when he replied, “With my life.”
Ten hours and countless pushes later the next generation was born, Finn Callum and Cara Sade Ratcliffe.