Authors: Jennifer Labelle
“
I’m not leavin’ till we talk,” he warned, looking under each stall to find her. “Please, Jenna, ye can at least let me explain.”
“So explain,” she snapped.
“Jenna, I’m sorry.”
She’d spotted him, leaning over the wall from the stall next to hers. There she sat on the closed lid with a ball of tissue in her hand to wipe her eyes, and to make matters worse, she knew she looked awful. Her eyes were sure to be red rimmed and puffy. Plus, how attractive was a runny nose? Grabbing for more tissue, she stormed out of the stall.
“
Oh, save it! If you were sorry or if you even cared, you would have come to see me instead of avoiding me like I have something contagious. Geez, Brady, I told you I loved you, and you threw it back in my face. I feel like an idiot, and you let me leave. It’s been two days, and you’ve already got someone new.”
She laughed humorlessly at her stupidity. Could she not just meet one faithful man?
“I don’t,” he denied, and she couldn’t believe her ears.
In her most annoying nasal impersonation, she mocked the voluptuous redhead. “Brady, I missed ye today. I never did get a chance to thank ye for the other night.”
“Nothin’ happened, Jenna.”
They were interrupted by a knock on the door, and Brady cursed like he knew no other words.
“
Don’t ye start using that type of language with me,” Molly snapped. “I don’t care what ye’r doin’ or who ye got in there, but it’s time to get out. Ye hear?” She banged again. “I’m not gonna stop. There are ladies out here that need to use the jacks. Now get.”
“Feck,” he cursed, slinging Jenna over his shoulder. He unlocked the door with Jenna screaming in protest. “Ye’r not getting’ outta my sight till we talk this through, so get used to it, love. Ye’r gonna hear me out if it kills me.”
“
Brady, let me down!” She thrashed but his grip was too strong.
Molly and a few other women laughed as they went by only making Jenna’s anger worsen. Everyone was staring, and when they reached outside, she was fuming. He tried to put her down as gently as he could but stumbled as she pushed him away.
“
Okay, now what?” she snapped.
“I said nothin’ happened, didn’t I?”
“What a load of crap. Nothing happened. It didn’t seem that way to miss big boobs in there, and that nasty kiss wasn’t nothing? How would you like to see me kissing someone else like that?”
He pretended not to hear that question. “Look, she was in the bar the other night and had a bit too much to drink. She and a friend were hittin’ on me and Caleb, and we gave em’ a ride home. That’s all it was, nothin’. We didn’t even go inside with ‘em. Honest. Come on, love, it’s been hell without ye. I was plannin’ on seein’ ye tonight. I swear it. I’ve been goin’ crazy.”
He pulled her forward to embrace and kiss her, but she turned away. “Brady, please, your lips were just kissing another woman.”
“No, she kissed me,” he corrected. “I love ye, Jenna, and I’ve been a fool for not tellin’ ye sooner. From the first moment I seen ye, I fell, darlin’. I’ve been goin’ crazy since the night ye left me. I can’t get ye outta my head, and I swear to ye that I was comin’ to beg ye for forgiveness. What do ye say?” He knelt down on both knees before gathering her closer. His arms wrapped around her waist and face pressed into her stomach.
She couldn’t take anymore and followed what was in her heart as she stroked his hair. “Brady,” she whispered, glossy eyed. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”
He loved her,
and when he looked up in response, she kissed him.
Chapter Twenty Two
“
So have you thought about what we’re going to do, when I leave?”
Too eager to make it past the living room, they had just finished making love on the living room floor. They sat in front of the fireplace wrapped up in nothing but the decorative blanket that used to drape over his sofa.
“
Nay, I don’t like to think of it.”
She nodded, cuddling closer. “Come with me,” she whispered. She had to take a chance; it was the perfect solution.
“Stay.”
She rolled her eyes
. If only it were that simple
. She had obligations to go back to. “I’m not asking for anything permanent, Brady. I guess I was just hoping that you’d think about coming with me so that I could get things settled at home. Prepare Jayden for whatever may come of this.” She paused, looking up at him. “So tell me at least this much, if I did say yes to returning eventually, where would Jayden and I stay?” She knew his probable answer and hoped that he’d say with him, but then again he hadn’t exactly offered it.
His lips brushed against the side of her throat, trailing kisses along her jaw line and then up to her lips. “With me,” he said, smiling like an eager child on Christmas morning. “We could make this work, Jenna. There’s an extra room for Jayden, and ye could register him for school.”
“
And you’re prepared for an instant family? Things may get worse before they get better; I have no idea how Jayden’s going to react. I was just beginning to get my life back on track before I came here, and now I’m going back with a lot for him to deal with. There’s you and now a potential move.”
“
So is that a no?” He looked disappointed, hurt even, and she could tell he was prepared to argue.
“
It’s not a no, Brady. I just want you to be prepared. Jayden will come around eventually, and who knows, maybe he’ll be okay with it from the start.” She smiled at him and then sighed because it should have been obvious. “My answer is yes, but first you have to agree to come back with me, just long enough for me to sell the house and get the arrangements made. Not to mention, it may make things easier for Jayden to meet you first, and then there’s my parents.”
“Parents?”
“Yes, parents. Now that I’ve met yours, I think it’s only fair that you meet mine.” She shrugged, studying his reaction, but his was nothing like hers had been. He was so calm and collected.
“
So in order for ye to eventually stay, I have to go back with ye for a little while to meet Jayden and face yer parents. Is that right?”
She nodded, thinking the terms were fair.
“
And if I don’t agree,” he teased, “then what?”
“
Then my answer is no.”
Okay, enough of this, she wanted his answer. Her palm caressed his torso moving beneath the blanket. Her hand found his shaft thick, ready for action. She smiled and began to pump it up and down. “So if you don’t want me,” she whispered, “then just say no.” She leaned down replacing her hand with her mouth, and he moaned with appreciation.
“
Jenna, oh, love, take it all. Take it all!” It hadn’t taken long for him to reach his peak, and he shouted as climax hit and shuttered his release. “Christ, love, that was—ye’r amazin’.”
She laughed. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, but you still haven’t given me your answer. So will you come back with me temporarily?”
He nodded. “Aye, Jenna, we’ll have it yer way. I’ll go back with ye.”
“You do love me,” she teased.
“I do.”
* * * *
Her nightmares started that night, and she couldn’t figure out why. Her time in Ireland had been incredible, and she’d accomplished what she set out to do. She managed to find the woman she used to be and found happiness with Brady that she never thought she’d ever find again.
The horrible dreams started out with flashbacks, vivid glimpses of her life with Tyler. From the time they met until the day before their accident.
Bright lights were coming straight for her. She fell back, and everything went black. She floated. Waiting until her eyes adjusted, she stood in the rain. Her car was there, and she could see Tyler within reach. “Tyler.” she screamed, needing to warn him, but she couldn’t move. Something was coming. Oh, God.
Screeching tires echoed; she could see the car door open and Tyler escape before the truck collided, and the body left inside thrown like a rag doll. “Oh, my God!”
“Jenna? Jenna, love, wake up.”
She gasped for breath, wide-eyed and began to cry as she clung to him. “Shh, it’s okay love. I’ve got ye, ye’r safe.”
* * * *
The sunlight beamed through a crack in the curtain, aimed right on her face. “Ugh,” she groaned. After being awakened from her nightmare, it had taken her a long time to fall asleep again. “What time is it?”
She was alone. “Brady?” She got up and headed downstairs, but he was gone. She checked out in the yard, but when he wasn’t there either she’d run out of search options. Knowing he couldn’t have gone far, she decided to enjoy the beautiful day.
Curled up in an oversized wicker glider, she admired her surroundings. The day was beautiful, the sun shining, and there was a slight breeze flowing in from the north making the yard smell like wild flowers. It was Heaven, but last night, that was one hell of a night. She was moving forward. Brady was now her future, but that dream had felt so real it scared the crap out of her.
“Jenna.”
She’d been so absorbed in her thoughts, she hadn’t even noticed Brady approach.
“Are ye alright, love?”
“I’m fine.” She smiled. “Actually, I was wondering where you’ve been, and it was such a beautiful day…” She ended with a shrug.
“Aye, have ye been up long? I should have left ye a note or somethin’, but we sure made my ma’s day.”
“We made your mother’s day?” she repeated. “So then you were at your parents. I wish I had known; I would have joined you.”
“Sorry, love, next time, I promise.” He laughed that time. “I told ye I had to start planning, remember? Well, I took care of it this mornin’. I went over there so that I wouldn’t wake ye, but I also figured my parents should know why I won’t be around for a while.”
“So they’re happy, huh?” She smiled. She liked his parents, and it meant a lot that they approved.
“Oh, yeah, she’s plannin’ the party as we speak. Callin’ my sisters and the rest of the family to gloat that I’ve finally settlin’ down. She loves ye, Jenna, but be prepared for when we return. She’s plannin’ a large family gatherin’ to introduce ye to the lot of ‘em.”
Jenna was shocked, but it was too early to feel nervous.
“
It won’t be that bad, Jenna. I honestly think that it’s just because everyone’s in disbelief. She feels like she’s got somthin’ to prove.” He shrugged, and Jenna laughed.
“I’m a very lucky girl.”
He moved closer brushing his lips against hers. “I’m the lucky one, love, so what do you say we press our luck a little?” She screeched with laughter as he threw her over his shoulder and rushed her over the threshold, upstairs, and into the bedroom.
She was in the black room again, sitting with a bowl of popcorn, waiting for a movie to begin. Only it wasn’t a movie; it was Jayden on screen.
He lay quietly in his bed, waiting patiently for his favorite story. Instead of her telling it, there stood a bloody Tyler. She gasped in horror.
Jayden was scared and called for her, but she couldn’t answer. Tyler started telling the tale. When it was finished, he leaned down to give Jayden his nightly kiss. When he stood up again, Jayden began to cry.
“
I want Mommy,” he whimpered.
Tyler sat next to him. “Mommy’s not here, Jayden.”
“
Is she coming back?” he whispered.