Bittersweet Catastrophe (Second Chances #2.5) (22 page)

I ran my sweaty palms down the length of my jeans and crouched down, saying his name out loud, almost half expecting him to respond back.

“Hey, AJ.” I hovered over my words, trying to find the right thing to say so that I wouldn’t piss him off. He was still her brother, after all. “I wish you could be here in person to have this talk man-to-man, but…well, I’ll just lay it out there for you. I’m in love with your sister.” I smiled, loving the way those words so easily rolled off my tongue. “I’ve been in love with her since the moment I laid eyes on her, and I know I’ve made my fair share of mistakes, some I didn’t even know about until now, but I’m willing to make everything right…for her. She deserves nothing but the best, and I want to give that to her. I want to spend the rest of my days with her, raise a family with her, grow old with her…” I paused, drawing in a deep breath. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, I want to ask her to marry me, but I can’t do that unless I know you’re on board with this. I know how much you mean to Liberty, and I wouldn’t feel right asking her without the approval of the most important person in her life.”

A light breeze cast a wave of shadows against his headstone, and if I didn’t know better, I could have sworn it appeared as though a man was standing behind me, resting his hand on my shoulder. I turned my head back, finding that I was still alone, and released a soft laugh. “Thanks, AJ.”

I slowly stood up straight, feeling the tiny box that contained my mother’s ring burning a hole in my pocket. There was only one thing left to do, and if I was lucky, my mother’s ring would soon have a new home, nestled on my beautiful girl’s finger.

So much time had passed since that day, and here I was again, with the most important people in my life by my side. I quietly approached AJ’s grave, where the two little loves of my life were each placing a bouquet of flowers – I knew Lillian wouldn’t be able to stop him – and that’s where I found her, right beside him. The sun’s rays were beaming down heavily between them, as if it were joining them together. It was never easy coming here, year after year, but I knew it brought her a sense of peace. No one ever did find out why he took his life, why he thought there was nothing left to live for. But I thanked God every fucking day because I realized it was often the most painful moments in a person’s life that brought people together, and in a way, I felt like AJ had brought her straight to me.

“Are you okay, babe?” I sat down in the fresh cut grass and wrapped my arm around her, pulling her against my side. She released a muffled cry and leaned her head on my chest.

“I miss him so much, Shayne.” She looked up at me, her eyes awash with tears. “I thought this was supposed to get easier with time. Why do I feel like my heart is breaking all over again?”

“Because you love him, Liberty, and sometimes, the time and distance apart makes that love grow stronger, even if it does feel like a fresh knife through your heart.”

“God, I don’t know what I’d do if it were them visiting me here. “ Her gaze fell on Liam and Lillian, giggling as they told their Uncle AJ a joke.

I tucked my finger beneath her chin and tilted her head back. “But they aren’t. You’re here,” I breathed against her lips. “And I’m never fucking letting you go. I know I might’ve given you permission to leave me once, but I’m taking it back.”

I kissed her more fervently, feeling the blood rush to her swollen lips and her warm breath, so full of life, drawing me in further. It had been three years since that day I said goodbye to her in the hospital, a day I never wanted to relive, but something happened after that. Something or someone stepped in and delivered her straight back to me. An angel in disguise.

Our children made gagging noises behind us, and I couldn’t help but laugh. They hated when I showed their mother any form of affection, and it made me want to kiss her that much more.

“You guys about ready to go?” I stood up, ruffling my son’s hair.

“Noooo!” They both chimed in together. “We didn’t get to feed the ducks yet.”

“I don’t know if your mother brought any bread with us this time.” I turned to Liberty and winked.

“Mooom!” The two of them whined.
These kids are too fucking much.

“He’s just pulling your leg, Liam.” She reached down into her bag and pulled out a loaf of bread. “Make sure you don’t feed it all to one duck this time!” she shouted as they ran toward the bench seated next to the pond.

“I swear, that poor duck probably exploded after all of the bread they fed him last year.”

I laughed, lifting her up and pulling her tiny frame into my arms. “You worry too much.” I kissed the top of her head, the corner of my mouth tugging into a crooked grin.

“You’re one to speak.” She shoved at my chest playfully, and we made our way over to the bench where our kids were laughing, smiling, and enjoying the little things in life…like watching the ducks swim around the pond and gobble up a few morsels of bread. These were the moments I cherished with my family, the moments I knew I’d never get back, and I made sure to never take a single second that I shared with them for granted.

“Yeah, but you love me.” I snaked my arm around her neck, and the smile on her face grew.

“With all my heart.”

For someone who wasn’t looking for love and was always chasing after the next best thing, I couldn’t have been happier with the way my life turned out. My father’s words suddenly came rushing back to me as I watched the smiles light up my wife’s and children’s faces.
“Love tends to grab a hold of you when you least expect it…the key is to never let it go.”

Well, I had found it in all three of them, and I sure as hell was never letting them go.

Look for Her Greatest Mistake, a standalone contemporary romance novel, coming late 2014/early 2015!

Also look for Silent Repercussions, the last installment of the Second Chances Series! Release date TBA!

Turn the page to see where it all began…

Man, I really dug myself in deep shit this time.

As I sat there, watching the waves make their way up the soft white sand before crashing and receding again, I wondered what the hell I must have been thinking. With nowhere to live, no income, and a beat-up old Buick that I put more money into than it was worth, there wasn’t much more I could do than hang my head in defeat. Karma had really proven to be a huge bitch, but I guess that was my penance for leaving behind everything I’ve ever known to make a fresh start; one where I wasn’t faced with the constant reminder that my only brother was nothing more than faded memory.

I finally arrived in Savannah after having spent over 24 hours driving along the eastern seaboard from Buffalo. I never planned on coming here. Never thought I would grow the balls to finally leave the nest, but I was here now, so I had no other choice but to make the most of it. This was my chance to regain control. To grab hold of the reins and take back the life I had pushed aside four years ago, when my family was thrown through the wringer and left to recover from what was quite possibly the worst day of my life. A day that will forever haunt me.

While I dug my toes in the sand, contemplating where I go from here, I noticed there were a few shirtless college-aged guys running up the length of the beach and tossing a football back and forth. It seemed odd to me that they were here and not in class, but then I realized it must’ve been their spring break. I would’ve known that had I still been in college.

“Head’s up!” I heard someone shout from down the beach.

I turned my head just in time to see a football barreling its way straight towards my face. Being athletically challenged and having no reaction time whatsoever, I sat there motionless and waited for the impact. This really wasn’t the time to wish that I had thrown the football around with AJ a little more when he was still alive.
Oh man, this is really going to hurt…

“Ughhh! Fuck!!!” My hands instinctively flew up to my face. The incessant throbbing increased as I felt the point of impact begin to double in size.

“Shit! Are you okay?” A tall, tan figure slowly came into view as I tried to shake off the rattling in my brain and regain focus.

“Well, I’m pretty sure you just broke my face, douchebag.” At least that’s what it had felt like. I buried my face in my hands, knowing I must‘ve looked like Quasimodo as the right side of my face continued to swell.

I heard him let a laugh slip out as he bit down on his bottom lip.
Was this asshole seriously laughing at me right now? I wasn’t kidding when I said he broke my fuckin’ face!

“Here, let me take a look.” His warm hand gently caressed my cheek where the swelling had quickly become more prominent. I could barely register his touch; it felt like soft feathers dancing ever so lightly across the surface of my skin. I wasn’t even sure if I could trust this guy, but something about the way he touched me told me I should.

“I am so sorry. Shit, I guess my throws are a little off today, huh?” He continued stroking my cheek with concern emanating from his focused stare. “That’s gonna leave a nasty shiner there, darlin’. We’ve got a cooler over there in the truck. Let’s get some ice on it before it gets any worse.” He extended his hand, and although I was a little apprehensive at first, I allowed him to hoist me up effortlessly. We walked over to where the other guys were huddled around a pickup truck with a cooler propped up on the tailgate.
Oh, God.
It must’ve looked pretty bad. At that point I could only see out of one eye, but the expressions plastered on their faces said it all.

“
Daaamn
girl, Brett sure did a number on you!” The shortest of the guys shouted towards us as we approached.

“Corey, you jackass, don’t make her feel worse. Why don’t you make your lazy ass useful and grab some ice for her?” He placed his hand on my shoulders, guiding me closer to the truck.

I groaned, both out of pain and frustration. “God, do I really look as horrible as I feel?”

“Nah, you look gorgeous, darlin’. Just as good, if not better than before you got hit.” He smiled back at me reassuringly. I knew that wasn’t true, but nevertheless, it was sweet of him to attempt to butter me up.

I tried to get a better look at him with my good eye, since he was up in my face inspecting the damage. I had to admit, from what I could see he was pretty cute; probably about 5’10” with short, disheveled blonde hair, tan skin covering a toned but not overly built body, a million dollar smile and deep, chocolaty-brown eyes that seemed to swallow me whole.