Time for Change

Evernight
Publishing

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2013 Sam
Crescent

 
ISBN: 978-1-77130-681-2

Cover
Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor:
Karyn
White

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING:
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is
illegal.
 
No part of this book may be
used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission,
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a
work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any
resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or
dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

I adore Christmas and everything to do with it.
There is nothing better, in my opinion, than the festive season mixed with a
romance. Rachel and Christian's story means a lot to me and I hope you find
them as enjoyable to read as I did to write. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas,
filled with love and joy.

Sam X

TIME FOR
CHANGE

Sam Crescent

Copyright © 2013

Prologue

“You’ve got to promise me
you’ll find someone,” Claire said.

Christian Scopes, Chris to
his closest family, stared down at his wife and couldn’t stop the annoyance he
was feeling. For the past couple of weeks she’d done nothing but talk about death.
Ever since she’d watched some death documentary on television she’d been
talking about it. He loved Claire with all of his heart, but he knew she always
struggled to separate watching a documentary from reality. When she was
watching the medical programs a few months back she was sure she’d gotten tuberculosis.
Her recent obsession was too much. Being a doctor he’d stopped her panicking
about the illnesses, but this he could not control. The topic was way too
morbid, and he couldn’t bring himself to think about losing
her
.
She was the best part of him. For the longest time he’d been a loner, screwing
his way through women while making enemies along the way. He was a doctor, a
damn good one, but it was Claire who made him a good man. Until she came into his
life, he’d not cared what people thought of him. Only with Claire did he care
what she thought.

“You’re not going to die,
and you’re going to stop talking as if you are,” he said, leaning down to kiss
her. His wife still possessed the rounded curves of her recent pregnancy. Their
baby girl was sleeping soundly in the next room.

“But if I do, will you
promise me that you’ll find someone else and never leave Rachel alone?”

Rolling his eyes, Chris
collapsed to the bed. Rachel was her sister, the other Metcalf woman. He’d met
Claire when she was thirty-two, the same age as he was. Chris had been
surprised to hear about her sixteen year old sister. Rachel was a sweet kid, or
teenager, whichever statement fit the bill.

They’d been married three
months when Claire got the call from her hysterical sister. She’d been in a car
crash with her parents. They’d rushed to the hospital to find a bloody Rachel,
sobbing. Their parents died in the crash whereas Rachel had gotten away free.

There was no other family
for Rachel, and at seventeen, she’d moved in with them. That was three years
ago. At twenty, Rachel was staying away at college, and Chris and Claire had recently
given birth to a little girl.

“I would never dream of
leaving Rachel, Claire. You know I love her. She’s adorable and sweet. You’ve
got nothing to worry about with her. Now stop with the morbid shit.”

Claire smiled. “She likes
you, too, and I’m sorry to be so morbid. Maybe it’s all the documentaries I’ve
been watching or the hormones rushing through my body. I just can’t stand the
thought of leaving you guys alone.”

“I don’t mind you watching
that crap, Claire. Just stop trying to put yourself in other people’s shoes.
You’re not going to die, and you’re going to live a long, long, healthy life.”

Chris took her hand, kissing
her knuckles.

“If you still want to go,
I’m ready. I’m a crazy wife.”

Chuckling, Chris moved over
his wife, settling between her spread thighs. He pressed a palm to her aching
pussy, and as he slid a finger through her folds, the baby monitor started
screaming. Their daughter was awake.

She groaned, and he
collapsed against her. “When
she’s wanting
to go
parking with boys, she’s earned the right for me to stop her,” he said.

His wife chuckled and moved
out from underneath him.

“I’ll go,” he said.

“No, you’re needed early at
the hospital tomorrow. You’re not going anywhere. I’ll go. I’m a stay at home
mom now. This is my job.”

Chris watched her go. He admired
her ass as she left the room. Resting against his hands, he stared up at the
ceiling. His life was perfect. There was nothing he wanted more out of life
than the love of Claire and listening to her
take
care
of their daughter. He was due to pick Rachel up from the airport in a couple of
days. She was spending Christmas with them.

He’d gone from hating the
little sister’s presence to loving it. She was fun to talk with and provided a
good buffer between him and Claire when they started arguing. He frowned,
thinking about their arguments. Claire was amazing. There was no getting away
from that, but there were times they could not lie about their lack of
connection. There was love between them, but he had to keep his passions in
check.

Chris sighed listening to
Claire over the monitor. She loved him, he knew that. He’d always been the man
who was in charge. Chris took control in everything, life, the bedroom—decision-making
stopped with him. At times Claire hated that, and they argued.

You need to change to love her.

Minutes later Claire jumped
on the bed, devouring his mouth, and he forgot all about their troubles. Their
arguments were not all the time, only when he didn’t hold back the control he
needed. Should he be living like this? He didn’t know. Chris liked the moments
when he was happy, and Claire did make him happy at times.
 

Yes, overall life was good.

****

Rachel Metcalf was eating
some raw carrots from the container and dipping them into a garlic sauce when
Claire walked in. She was visiting the only family she had left on a rare
weekend when she could get away from college.

“Hey, little sister,” Claire
said, kissing her cheek.

There were sixteen years
between them. Rachel knew she’d been a welcome shock to their parents, and they
never treated her any differently.

“Hey,
you.
Did you sleep well? Chris told me you’ve not been
getting a lot of sleep.” She adored Chris. He was a nice guy and perfect for
her sister.

“I got plenty of sleep. It’s
nice being home and being a full time mom, but there are times I miss being
with Christian all day.”

She smiled. “You were a
nurse until he swept you off your feet.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t believe
the story if I told you.” Claire poured herself some decaf coffee.

“He still making you
drink
that vile stuff?” Rachel asked, dipping another carrot
into garlic sauce.

“Chris cares way too much.
He’s a good guy.” Claire kept looking at her. Glancing behind her, Rachel
frowned.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing, I’m just thinking
how perfect Chris would be for you. I mean, he’d stop you eating garlic for
breakfast. You’re going to stink for the rest of the day.”

Rachel didn’t like her
words. She loved Chris, her brother-in-law. He was amazing, supportive, and
hot. Rachel couldn’t forget the hot, but he was also taken by her sister.

“You’re not making sense at
all. Maybe we should get you admitted into hospital. That way I get to spend
time with Talia, and you get to spend time with your man.” Rachel winked at
Claire, trying to change the subject.

“Please, Rachel, be serious
for a moment.”

Chris had warned her about
her sister’s morbid stage. Claire was still watching the death channels even
though Rachel had tried to stop her. These were the stages that Claire went
through. Rachel was used to them and had hoped Chris could stop them. “What?
What more can I be serious about, Claire?”

“I need to know that when
I’m gone Chris has someone to take care of him.”

“He’s older than me. Chris
will handle anything,” Rachel said, feeling the tears that were close to the
surface. She hated dealing with these emotions from her sister.

Claire moved to stand close
beside her. “You’ve known loss. You were there when our parents died.” The
tears escaped her eyes, tracking down her cheeks.

“Please stop, Claire.” The
pain of that night would stay with her forever.

“I need to deal with this.
You know how I freak out if I don’t have an answer for everything. I need to
know that someone will be here to take care of Christian and to love him the
way he needs to be loved. He’ll push everyone away if he can. Please, Rachel,
you need to promise me you’ll love him.”