Always on My Mind (30 page)
Mary turned her gaze to her next oldest son just as Smith and Valentina gave each other one of their secret smiles. Mary had never admitted as much to anyone, but Smith had been the one she worried about the most over the years. People always told her, “What a charmed life your son must live as a movie star!” but she had known better. Year after year, as his star had grown brighter and brighter, he’d paid a higher and higher personal price for that fame. In Valentina he’d found someone absolutely ideal for him: She understood the demands of his world, but wasn’t at all interested in the glitter. It warmed Mary’s heart to see the peace, the contentment, on her son’s face.
The sound of a little girl giggling drew Mary’s attention to Chase, Chloe, and Emma, their daughter. The three of them were over by the barn looking at the pigs, and Emma was clearly delighted by the farm animals. Mary smiled as she watched the way her son Chase took such good care of his family...and her smile grew as she observed Chloe’s extra special glow. She couldn’t wait for them to have another little boy or girl. Something told her she wouldn’t be waiting long.
Over on the grass, Ryan was tossing balls to the kids, and his fiancée Vicki was helping the girls and boys chase them when they tumbled out of their little hands. As soon as her son had brought his best friend home for dinner in high school fifteen years ago, Mary had known they were “the one” for each other. A decade and a half later, they’d both finally realized what they meant to each other in a perfect friends-to-lovers love story that made Mary feel good every time she thought about the two of them.
Not far from the impromptu baseball game, several of the men were gathered around Zach’s Ferrari. His fiancée Heather’s enormous dog, Atlas, was sitting right beside him and Heather was holding their other, much smaller dog, Cuddles. But while the men were all focused on the car, Zach was reaching out for Heather and running his hand through her long hair, saying something for her ears only that had her laughing. There weren’t a lot of women who could have gone toe to toe with Zach, let alone run him in circles. Only the very extraordinary woman he’d fallen in love with. Every time Mary saw the two of them together, she deeply appreciated the ability both her son and Heather had to laugh and love in equal measure.
Mary’s firefighter son Gabe was dancing with eight-year-old Summer while Megan sat out the dance in the shade of a large oak tree with their poodle. Mary knew Megan was having a little trouble with morning sickness, but from the huge smile on her face as she watched her husband and daughter dance together, no one would have guessed it. Again, tears threatened as Mary thought about the way Megan and Summer had come into their lives when Gabe had saved them from what could have been a deadly apartment fire. They were all so blessed to have found each other and Mary couldn’t wait to hold another baby in her arms come Christmas.
Just then, her daughter Sophie and her husband headed off toward the farmhouse with their twins and diaper bags in their arms, Jake’s nose wrinkled as he held little Jackie. Mary laughed, remembering all those years of changing her kids’ diapers. Mary would never forget the look on both Sophie’s and Jake’s faces when they’d seen each other for the first time more than twenty years ago, or the way they only had eyes for each other. Her daughter had been five and Jake had been eleven, but one thing she knew for sure was that true love didn’t come with a time line.
And now Lori had found her one true love in Grayson.
Mary gave a happy sigh as she looked out over the large group of Sullivans who had gathered from Seattle, from New York, even from London and Australia. Hopefully, she mused, each of them would soon find their happy endings, too.
“Hey there, beautiful. Care for some company? And a little bubbly?”
Mary smiled at Rafe Sullivan as she took the glass he offered her. He was a private investigator in Seattle and one of her favorites of her husband’s brothers’ children.
“Best family reunion we’ve had so far,” he said with a grin. “It’s not too often you get to see Naughty surprised.”
Mary laughed before saying, “Speaking of surprises, is there anybody special in
your
life we should know about?”
This time Rafe was the one laughing. “I’m thinking we should finish getting your side of the family completely married off before we start looking at mine. Besides, now that all eight of your kids are off on their happily-ever-afters—” He had the same mischievous look he’d had even as a little boy. “—isn’t it your turn?”
She shook her head, as though his asking about her love life was a totally ridiculous question at this point in her life. But there was a reason her nephew was such a great investigator: he saw all the clues, big and small.
“Mary?” He looked at her more carefully. “Are you blushing?” When she covered her cheek with her free hand, his voice grew gentle as he said, “You know, if there
is
somebody special in your life, I think my cousins would understand.”
Thankfully, just then the band started playing
Always On My Mind.
“This has always been one of my favorite songs.” Hers and Jack’s.
Rafe took her champagne glass and put it down before holding out his hand. “I’m pretty sure everything Lori knows about dancing, she learned from you. Come dance with me, Aunt Mary.”
Her nephew led her out on the dance floor, and surrounded by her children and grandchildren and the extended Sullivan family members she loved so dearly, Mary let herself get lost in the pleasure of twirling across the floor.
No question about it, whoever finally stole her nephew Rafe’s heart one day was going to be a very lucky woman.
~ THE END ~
Watch for Rafe Sullivan’s story—THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT—coming Summer 2013… and Mary and Jack Sullivan’s very special romance Fall 2013! Sign up on Bella’s newsletter to find out the moment her new books are available:
http://eepurl.com/eXj22
* * *
And don’t miss the first seven books in the Sullivan series
(Chase & Chloe, The Sullivans #1)
(Marcus & Nicola, The Sullivans #2)
(Gabe & Megan, The Sullivans #3)
(Sophie & Jake, The Sullivans #4)
(Zach & Heather, The Sullivans #5)
(Ryan & Vicki, The Sullivans #6)
(Smith & Valentina, The Sullivans #7)
* * *
THE LOOK OF LOVE
Chase & Chloe
– The Sullivans #1
When Chase Sullivan finds Chloe and her totaled car in Napa Valley, she's so lovely, inside and out, he wants to love - and protect - her. Only, she has vowed never to trust a man again, despite his loving looks and sinfully sweet caresses. But is he the only exception?
Please enjoy the following excerpt...
Chase almost missed the flickering light off on the right side of the two-lane country road. In the past thirty minutes, he hadn’t passed a single car, because on a night like this, most sane Californians—who didn’t know the first thing about driving safely in inclement weather—stayed home.
Knowing better than to slam on the brakes—he wouldn’t be able to help whomever was stranded on the side of the road if he ended up stuck in the muddy ditch right next to them—Chase slowed down enough to see that there was definitely a vehicle stuck in the ditch.
He turned his brights on to see better in the pouring rain and realized there was a person walking along the edge of the road about a hundred yards up ahead. Obviously hearing his car approach, she turned to face him and he could see her long wet hair whipping around her shoulders in his headlights.
Wondering why she wasn’t just sitting in her car, dry and warm, calling Triple A and waiting for them to come save her, he pulled over to the edge of his lane and got out to try and help her. She was shivering as she watched him approach.
“Are you hurt?”
She covered her cheek with one hand, but shook her head. “No."
He had to move closer to hear her over the sound of the water hitting the pavement in what were rapidly becoming hailstones. Even though he’d turned his headlights off, as his eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, he was able to get a better look at her face.
Something inside of Chase’s chest clenched tight.
Despite the long, dark hair plastered to her head and chest, regardless of the fact that
looking like a drowned rat
wasn’t too far off the descriptive mark, her beauty stunned him.
In an instant, his photographer’s eye cataloged her features. Her mouth was a little too big, her eyes a little too wide-set on her face. She wasn’t even close to model thin, but given the way her T-shirt and jeans stuck to her skin, he could see that she wore her lush curves well. In the dark he couldn’t judge the exact color of her hair, but it looked like silk, perfectly smooth and straight where it lay over her breasts.
It wasn’t until Chase heard her say, “My car is definitely hurt, though,” that he realized he had completely lost the thread of what he’d come out here to do.
Knowing he’d been drinking her in like he was dying of thirst, he worked to recover his balance. He could already see he’d been right about her car. It didn’t take a mechanic like his brother, Zach, who owned an auto shop—more like forty, but Chase had stopped counting years ago—to see that her shitty hatchback was borderline totaled. Even if the front bumper wasn’t half smashed to pieces by the white farm fence she’d slid into, her bald tires weren’t going to get any traction on the mud. Not tonight, anyway.
If her car had been in a less precarious situation, he probably would have sent her to hang out in her car while he took care of getting it unstuck. But one of her back tires was hanging precariously over the edge of the ditch.
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Get in my car. We can wait there for a tow truck.” He was vaguely aware of his words coming out like an order, but the hail was starting to sting, damn it. Both of them needed to get out of the rain before they froze.
But the woman didn’t move. Instead, she gave him a look that said he was a complete and utter nut-job.
“I’m not getting into your car.”
Realizing just how frightening it must be for a lone woman to end up stuck and alone in the middle of a dark road, Chase took a step back from her. He had to speak loudly enough for her to hear him over the hail.
“I’m not going to attack you. I swear I won’t do anything to hurt you.”
She all but flinched at the word
attack
and Chase’s radar started buzzing. He’d never been a magnet for troubled women, wasn’t the kind of guy who thrived on fixing wounded birds. But living with two sisters for so many years meant he could always tell when something was up.
And something was definitely up with this woman, beyond the fact that her car was half-stuck in a muddy ditch.
Wanting to make her feel safe, he held his hands up. “I swear on my father’s grave, I’m not going to hurt you. It’s okay to get into my car.” When she didn’t immediately say no again, he pressed his advantage with, “I just want to help you.” And he did. More than it made sense to want to help a stranger. “Please,” he said. “Let me help you.”
She stared at him for a long moment, hail hammering between them, around them, onto them. Chase found himself holding his breath, waiting for her decision. It shouldn’t matter to him what she decided.
But, for some strange reason, it did.
* * *
Chloe Peterson had never felt so wet, so miserable…or so desperate. She’d been beating the speed limit for the past couple of hours, before the storm had kicked into overdrive. She’d slowed down considerably on the super-slick pavement, but her tires were old and bald, and before she knew it, her car was skidding off the road.
Straight into a muddy ditch.
It might have been easier—smarter, too—to sit in her car and wait out the storm. But she’d been too keyed up to stay still. She’d needed to keep moving, otherwise the thoughts knocking around in her head were going to catch up with her, so she’d slung her backpack over her shoulders and stepped out into the rain, just as it turned into out-and-out hail.
The hard little pellets hurt her skin, but she’d been glad for the cold, for the sting. Because it gave her something else to focus on, something besides what had happened just hours ago.
She hadn’t been sure exactly where she was—or what she was headed for–but she’d hoped she was walking in the direction of town.
All night long the roads had been strangely empty, but she’d barely starting walking away from her car when she’d realized headlights were coming up behind her.
Fear had knocked into her again as the car pulled over to the side and she’d had to stop to brace herself to withstand it. She was all alone on a dark, wet, country road. She didn’t have her cell phone, and even if she had, she doubted there was enough reception out here in the storm for it to get a signal.
And then a man–a large man–had gotten out of his car and started walking toward her, telling her to get into his car.
No way.
He’d tried to convince her that she was safe with him. He’d said all the right things, but she’d had too much experience with people like that, who easily said one thing, then did another.
