Single Dad Sheriff (Harlequin American Romance) (16 page)

“I want to marry you,” he said. “I want you and me to make a home for our son together. I want us to make a family for Tommy.”

Tears of regret burned Jessie's eyes. Eight years ago, she'd wanted nothing more than for him to track her down and declare his undying love and devotion. That had been her dream for years. But now reality had set in, and her heart belonged to another man. “Keith, I wish I could say yes…”

But she wasn't as selfless as Chance. She couldn't give up everything to make Tommy happy—not when it would make her miserable. And being married to a man she didn't love would do that.

“But you can't say yes to me,” he said with a sad smile of acceptance, as if he'd already known what her answer would be but felt he'd still had to ask. “I missed my chance eight years ago.”

She shook her head. “It would have been a mistake back then, too. Your parents were right. We were too young to be as serious as we were.”

He sighed. “Ah, young love. Does anything ever match its intensity?”

She didn't want to hurt him, but she nodded in reply. She knew now that what she'd had with Keith wasn't true love, the kind that lasted forever. The kind she felt for Chance would.

 

W
ITH HIS HAND SHAKING
as if he were putting a worm on a hook, Tommy dropped his pencil. Then he lifted the piece of paper from the hardwood floor where, all hunched over, he'd been writing. He needed a desk, like the one built into the space between the windows in Matt's bedroom at Chance's house.

But he wasn't worried about furniture right now. He was worried about his note. He read it over again:

He winced like he had a tooth hurting from a cavity. Was his note too mean?

He glanced at the phone, thinking about calling for help. But he'd promised he could handle this, that he wasn't too much of a baby to write a note. Mrs. Morris, his teacher, had said he had the best writing of everybody in the third grade class.

She'd told his mom that Tommy should probably just skip fourth grade so that he would be challenged next year. She hadn't known about the challenge he'd have this summer. He sighed and turned back to the note.

He snorted. Now that was stupid. She knew he was her son. But he didn't have time to fix it now, so he scrambled to his feet and carried the note to his bed and laid it on his pillow. He was supposed to be getting ready for bed, but instead he had his clothes on. His pajamas were in the backpack he grabbed up now from the floor.

He'd wanted to go out the window, but that part of the plan had been shot down. So he kept his word and snuck down the hall past Mom's bedroom. She sat on her bed, her back to him, and he could hear her sniffling like she had a cold. Or was crying.

A pang hit his heart like a dodge ball in the stomach. He wanted to crawl into bed with her and hug her until she stopped crying. But because he loved his mom, he couldn't. So he kept tiptoeing along the hall and then hurried down the stairs and through the house to the back door.

Because he loved his mom, he had to make her happy another way—a way that would last. Forever.

A fist hammered at Chance's door. After drawing in a breath to brace himself, he pulled it open to find Jessie. She rushed inside, her breathing heavy, as if she'd run over to his house. But her SUV was parked in the driveway behind his police car.

“I'm sorry to bother you,” she said. “I know you're probably busy packing. But I need you—I need your help.”

He grabbed her arms, trying to still her trembling. “I'm here for you. I'll
always
be here for you.”

Her gaze clung to his, as if she were trying to figure out what he meant, what he'd just promised her. But then she shook her head, unwilling to be distracted. “Tommy's run away again!”

“He has?” His heart constricted at the worry that had washed the color from her beautiful face.

“I looked everywhere for him,” she said. “He's not at Belinda's or the Johnsons' or even with Keith.”

“No?” He fought the urge to tell her the truth, to spare her even another second of worry, but Chance had promised to stick to the plan. “Do you have any idea where else he might be?”

She drew in a shuddery breath and nodded. “I think he's probably in the tree house.”

“We can check,” he offered, shutting the front door behind her before following her down the hall to the kitchen.

She glanced at the open boxes on the floor. “It almost looks like you're unpacking now,” she observed. “And the truck's gone.”

“Truck?”

“Moving truck,” she replied. “You sent it on without the rest of your stuff?”

Before he could think of an answer that wasn't an outright lie, she'd reached the back door. Her hand trembled on the knob as she twisted it. “I see lights.” She exhaled a breath of relief. “He's here…”

She didn't pull the door open and rush into the yard, though. She just stared through the window at those flickering lights. “I—I don't know what to say to him,” she admitted. “I don't know how to convince him to come home with me.”

“Follow your heart,” he suggested. But maybe, like him, she didn't think that was possible.

She turned back to him, scrutinizing his face. Despite her concern for her son, she must have picked up on the fact that Chance was trying to tell her something. “What do you mean?”

“You'll know,” he assured her. “Once you get up there, you'll know.” And hopefully she would take his advice and let her heart lead her where his had led him. To Forest Glen. And her.

 

J
ESSIE WASN'T AFRAID
of heights, but she felt dizzy as she glanced down at Chance standing below the ladder
she climbed. She'd been in the tree house before, praising the work as Tommy and Chance had built the structure her brilliant little boy had designed. She'd also brought up the boys' snacks, when Matthew had visited, and he and Tommy had tried to move into the little wooden house suspended above the backyard.

Even though she'd checked all those other places for Tommy first, she'd known this was where he'd gone. The minute she'd found that note on his pillow, when she'd come to tuck him into bed, she'd known he'd go to Chance. He and Keith had finally bonded, despite her son's resistance, but Chance was the man he turned to when he needed a shoulder to lean on. It was where his heart led him.

Like hers had led her here—to Chance. But she'd resisted following her heart, had resisted coming here, because she worried that she would break down and beg him to stay in Forest Glen, with her. And she loved him too much to make him choose between his son and her.

Despite what he'd written, Tommy didn't understand that what was best for him and her was not best for Chance. She braced herself to explain to him what she'd wished he would never have to learn—that sometimes there was no happy ending.

But as she climbed through the trapdoor in the floor, she released that breath in a gasp of disbelief. Candles flickered in glass jars placed in the corners of the little structure. Sleeping bags, strewn with rose petals, covered the floor. And beside the sleeping bags, beads of condensation trickled down the sides of a metal bucket holding a champagne bottle and ice.

But she was the only person in the place until Chance
climbed the ladder and joined her, kneeling on the sleeping bag next to her.

“What is all of this?” she asked, totally confused. She had no idea what was going on. Her son's note, Chance's weird comments… “Where's Tommy?”

“He's with Matthew.”

She glanced toward the house, but the only light she glimpsed through the windows was in the kitchen. “Your son is here? They're both inside?” She doubted they'd be sleeping if they were together.

“They're not here,” he said.

“Then where…?”

“They're with Robyn.”

Heat rushed to her face as she remembered that uncomfortable phone conversation with his ex. Had the doctor told him how Jessie had interfered? Somehow she doubted that he would have set up the candles and champagne if he knew what she'd done. She shouldn't have given Trenton that memory card to give to Robyn, especially since she hadn't remembered everything on it.

“Tommy hasn't been gone long enough to make it to Chicago,” she calculated. “Is Robyn here?”

He nodded. “She's rented a place in town for now.” He grinned. “She was surprised she found it so easily. Finding an apartment in the city is like setting off on a quest for hidden treasure.”

“People tend to move away from small towns,” she said. “Not to them. Is she actually going to live here?” Jessie had suggested it during that long awkward phone conversation, but Robyn had only laughed.

“Yeah.” A grin lit up his handsome face. “She's al
ready packed up all of her and Matthew's stuff and had it moved here.”

That must have been the truck she'd seen. It had been bringing someone to Forest Glen. Not taking him away. “So you're staying?”

He nodded.

“What about your job? You gave it up.” And Chance wasn't the kind of guy who could
not
work.

“My replacement backed out. He changed his mind about living in a small town.”

“And the mayor gave you the job back?”

“After a little persuasion,” he said with a smile. “Like you persuaded Robyn.”

Jessie smiled, too, although her heart was conflicted. She was glad Chance was happy, but she was also jealous of the joy he felt that his ex was moving to Forest Glen. “I still can't believe Matthew's mother is making that sacrifice.”

When she'd talked to Robyn, she'd had no doubt that the woman loved her son very much. But she had a career and a life she'd worked hard to build. Had she given that up for Matthew? Or for Chance?

“She decided it was her turn to put Matthew first,” he said, respect in his voice. “But she's also looking forward to a less hectic schedule than at the hospital. She's a general practitioner and has already talked to Dr. Malewitz about taking over his practice.”

“He and Ruth told me they were looking for someone to do that.” She had even mentioned it to Robyn, but she hadn't considered the consequences. “She'll be my boss, if she decides to keep me on.”

“She likes you,” he assured her. “She wants to meet you in person.”

“She does?”

“Yes. But let's not talk about her or Keith or even the kids.”

Hope flickered like the flames of those candles. He had gone to so much trouble to turn the boys' clubhouse into a romantic love nest. He had to have a reason. Dare she hope…

She swallowed hard, fighting down her nerves. “Then what should we talk about?”

“The future,” he replied, his eyes bright with his own hope. “Our future. Together.”

“Do we have one?” she asked.

“That's for you to decide,” he said. “I'm on my knees, Jessie.”

She fought a smile as she pointed out, “That's because the roof's not high enough for you to stand.”

He shook his head and pulled a small velvet case from the pocket of his jeans. “No. I'm on my knees because I'm proposing.”

“Why are you proposing?” she asked. “Because of the boys? Because they want to be a family?”

“They'll be happy as hell, and it's definitely what's best for them. But no.” He grinned. “I'm asking you to be my wife because I'm selfish.”

She couldn't fight the smile anymore. “You are?”

“Yes, I want to spend the rest of my life with the woman I love.”

“So you don't care what anyone else wants?” she teased.

“I do,” he said. “I care about what you want. What do you want, Jessie?”

She rose to her knees beside him and looped her arms around his neck. “You. I want you.”

He kissed her, brushing his lips gently across hers as if he needed to control his desire for her. He pulled back. “Why do you want me, Jessie?”

“Because I love you.” Tears blurred her vision, and she blinked them away so she could focus on his face, see how his happiness made him more handsome than ever.

“So will you marry me?” he asked. “Will you spend the rest of your life with me?”

“Yes!” she shouted her response. And she kissed him, letting all her love pour from her lips to his as her fingers clenched his soft hair.

With a groan, he pulled his mouth from hers and removed her hands from his hair. “We need to make this official,” he said. “People will want proof that we've finally stopped acting like idiots.”

“People?” she asked, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Our sons.”

Our sons.
Tears threatened again, but she didn't want to miss a minute of Chance's proposal. She wanted to commit every detail to memory—to share with their children and, someday, their grandchildren.

He flipped open the jewelry box, and her breath caught with surprise at the size and shape of the glittering diamond. “Matt and Tommy helped me pick it out,” he said. “I hope you like it.”

She couldn't stop the tears now as they flowed freely down her face. “I love it!” She held out her trembling hand, and he slid the heart-shaped solitaire onto her finger. “Follow your heart,” she murmured.

“And take mine,” he said. “I love you so much. And I will spend the rest of my life giving you everything you want.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck again, clinging to him. “I have everything I want right now.”

“Right now?” he asked.

She nodded. “In the future I'm going to want more kids. Hopefully a little sister for our boys.”

“I think I can manage that. We'll just keep trying until we have her.”

She smiled. “Why do I have a feeling I'm going to wind up living in a house filled with testosterone?”

“You're going to wind up living in a house full of love,” he assured her. “Will it be this house?”

“Oh, yeah,” she replied. “This house is home.” And this man was the one she was meant to share that house with. But not just yet. “Can we spend the night here,” she asked, “in the tree house?”

“That's the plan.”

“So Tommy's note—” it had nearly given her a stroke “—it was part of the plan?”

“I'm sorry.” He apologized with a kiss at her temple. Then his lips skimmed along her cheek to the corner of her mouth. “I didn't want to hurt you, but I needed to get you to come to me.”

“And I needed to realize that what's best for Tommy is doing what's best for me.” She glanced down at the ring again. “Following my heart…right to you…”

He kissed her again. But kissing wasn't enough. His hands tugged up her T-shirt and pulled it over her head. Her hair spilled around her bare shoulders. The thin shirt and boxer shorts were the clothes she wore to bed—all she wore to bed. She hadn't bothered changing when she'd found Tommy's note so she didn't have a bra on. Only her hair covered her naked breasts. But Chance's hands, shaking slightly, pushed back the red
locks. Then his palms covered her breasts, stroking over the sensitive points, so that she arched into him.

He groaned, then lowered his head and kissed her breasts as thoroughly and passionately as he'd kissed her mouth. His tongue stroked over her nipple, teasing, until the pressure wound so tightly inside her she nearly came from his exquisite torture.

But he'd already been the selfless one. So she pushed him back onto the makeshift bed of sleeping bags and rose petals, and she dragged off his shirt and unsnapped his jeans. He lifted his hips and shucked off the denim and the briefs beneath them. Then she leaned over him, teasing him first with her hair and then with her lips—skimming both across the hard, hair-dusted muscles of his broad chest and over his rippling abs. She dipped her tongue in his navel before trailing it down the length of his erection.

He groaned and fisted his hands in her hair. He urged her back up his body until her mouth met his. Then he kissed her deeply, his tongue sliding between her lips and over her tongue. His hands traveled down her naked back to her hips, and he pushed off the boxers. Then he made love to her with his mouth, kissing her intimately as she writhed beneath him until finally the pressure broke free.

She screamed his name as she came. Then she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist as he thrust inside her. In perfect harmony, their bodies mated while their hearts and souls bonded. They'd only become engaged, but it felt as though they were already married. As one, they catapulted into ecstasy.

Clasped in each other's arms, they didn't stir until the
candles burned low. Only a faint glow painted shadows across the tree house and Chance's hard muscles.

“I understand now,” she murmured happily.

“What?” he asked as he stroked his hands over her bare skin, making her tingle with awareness and pleasure.

“I get what you and the boys see in this place.” She never wanted to leave it or Chance's arms. “Think we can honeymoon here?”