Shield My Heart (Heaven Hill Book 9) (30 page)

Dalton sat in the same room he’d been in months ago, waiting for them to call Lance Barnett. He was picking up Mandy and Walker today, taking them home to the piece of land that was now theirs. His son was two days old, and he already had him wrapped around his little finger. Being around Walker, there were a few things he wanted to say to his dad.

His head lifted when he heard the name called, and he watched as his dad walked over to the table he sat at.

“What are you doing here?”

No
why haven’t you been to see me in months?
No
hey, how are you?
Just
what are you doing here?
More than anything, that showed him just what he meant to his dad and the kind of relationship they’d always have.

“Came to show you something.” He reached into his pocket, grabbed his wallet, and pushed a picture across the table. It was one of the entire family: Mandy, Dalton, Tatum, Drew, Charity, Liam, Denise, Samuel, Deacon, and little Walker in the middle. Surrounded by all the people who loved him.

“I supposed this is my grandson?”

Dalton took the picture back. “No, it’s not your grandson. It’s Walker, the child you’re never gonna get to know. There are two men in this picture that my son will know as his grandfathers for the rest of his life. They aren’t you, they will never be you, and I want you to know something else. I’ll never call you Dad again. For the rest of my life you’ll be Lance.”

“What the hell crawled up your ass?”

Dalton did his best to stifle his emotions, but it was hard. He was going without much sleep, and the past few days had been an emotional rollercoaster. “After looking at my son the minute he was born, I was willing to die for him. One look into those eyes of his, one scrunch of his face and nose, and I knew without a doubt I’d kill anyone that hurt him and protect him with my life against anything that threatened him. I’m his dad, and I know that. I’m the person he’ll come running to when he needs to cry, when that first girl breaks his heart, and when he needs to talk about the birds and the bees. I know I’m going to be there. I’ll earn the title of Dad because I’ll put the time in.” He stopped and pointed his finger at Lance. “What I’ve learned in the past few days is you haven’t put the time in. You never have, never did, and never will. So you don’t deserve to be called Dad from me now, or ever again.”

“Is that what you came here to tell me? Does it make you feel like hot shit that you can look down on me because I’m in here?”

“No.” Dalton put the picture back in his wallet. “It makes me sad for all the shit you’ve lost and all the shit you’ll never experience. You’ll never know the love of a good woman, the unconditional love of a child, and the value of what a true family can do for you. You’ll never know this grandchild or any others you might have, and you sure as fuck will never know my wife or the address where I live. I guess I came to say goodbye.”

“You think that hurts me?” Lance asked, his face red with anger. “I’ve been by myself a long time.”

“No.” Dalton stood up, putting his palms flat on the table. “You’ve been by yourself a long time because you chose to be. I still felt like I had to come see you, had to the play the part of a good son, even if it was only sometimes. Now, you’re going to be alone because I simply can’t bring myself to care. This is no longer your choice, Lance. It’s mine. And my choice is my family and myself.”

Before he could say anything else, Dalton turned on his heel and walked out, a calm he’d never felt before overtaking him. When it was his choice, it felt damn good.

‡
Epilogue

T
wo weeks into their role as new parents, Dalton realized they were getting a new routine. They’d both been peed on, spit up on, cried at, and they’d had lots of sleepless nights. For a while, he was almost sure Walker hated both of them. But tonight, he seemed pretty happy.

“You think he’s getting used to us?” Mandy asked as she had a seat on the couch next to Dalton.

Walker lay in his car seat—where he seemed to be the most content—on the coffee table. They were looking at the creation they’d made together, both amazed they’d managed to make it two weeks.

“I hope so.” Dalton yawned, scratching his beard growth. Shaving was one thing gone by the wayside as they figured out their new parent routine. “I’d love to get some sleep.” He put an arm around her shoulders.

A knock at the door interrupted them. She got up and went to open it, exclaiming with excitement when she saw her mom and dad. “What are you two doing here?” she asked, escorting them in.

“We came bearing food.” Her mom held up a red and white bucket of chicken.

Liam made a beeline for his grandson, who unabashedly loved his grandpa. “Your mom brought food. I came to see this little guy.”

Whenever Liam was in the room, Walker followed him with his eyes, no matter what the older man did. It was as if Walker was memorizing everything so he’d known how to do the same things when he was old enough.

They had a seat at the table. “Where’s Tatum? I’m surprised she didn’t come.” Mandy noticed for the first time her little sister wasn’t around. She loved being an aunt and spoiled Walker almost as much as Liam did.

“Christine’s doing hair for CRISIS tonight, and she’s helping out,” Denise explained. “I’m kind of proud of the way she’s been taking on stuff like that lately.”

Tatum was growing up right before all their eyes. It wouldn’t be long until she was eighteen and ready to leave the nest too. Mandy wasn’t sure if she could handle that. She really hoped someone kept Tatum close to Bowling Green. She wanted her little sister to be a part of her life for as long as possible.

They ate in a relaxed silence, making observations about things that were going on in their day-to-day lives or helping Liam out with the baby. When they were done, Mandy and Dalton were yawning like crazy, trying to keep their eyes open.

Liam carried Walker back over to the couch, situating him in his car seat. Glancing up at the two very tired, new parents, he pointed towards their bedroom. “Why don’t the two of you take a nap. We’ve got Walker.”

“Are you sure?” Mandy asked, even though uninterrupted sleep sounded like the best idea she’d heard in ages.

Denise grinned, sitting on the couch next to her husband. “It’s been a while, but I think we got it. Besides with your brother’s news, we’re gonna have a lot of this in the future.”

Mandy shrieked. “He told you?”

“Yeah.” Liam reached out and gave Walker his finger, grinning as the baby grabbed hold. “The family is growing, changing, and evolving. It’s the best gift anyone could have ever given us.”

Dalton grabbed Mandy’s hand and pulled her back to the bedroom, shutting the door. Both of them sank against the cool sheets. He pulled her into his arms, kissing her on the forehead.

“Thank you for the life you’ve given me,” he said, his voice drowsy with sleep.

She grinned, scooting closer. He was right; life didn’t get much better than this. Not where they were concerned. “Thank you for deciding to get past that shield I had over my heart.”

The End

(There will be a total of 9 novella’s in a box set. This particular story is Jagger & B’s.)

B
ianca Stone cut her eyes to the clock located at the back of her classroom, willing it to fast-forward an hour. It read two-thirty and she was dying for it to be three-thirty, which would signal the end of her workday. The end of her workday would mean she had a total of three weeks off for Christmas and New Year’s. No getting up to an alarm, no rushing to get to school in the morning, and leaving Jagger behind for eight to ten hours while she worked.

This year the break was much needed because she was burnt the fuck out. She couldn’t wait to sleep in and stay up late with her husband. Whether it be watching stupid Christmas movies on Netflix or between the sheets. She just wanted to spend time with him and not have to worry. She didn’t want to make her lunch the night before, grade papers while sucking coffee to stay awake, or be the voice of reason when answering emails from worried or angry parents. The next three weeks were hers and hers alone.

If she could get past the next hour.

She thought back to the last long weekend she had from school. She and Jagger had spent it on the back of his bike and in bed. She’d never been so relaxed in her life. There were certain things Bianca needed in her life: a good night’s sleep at least three times a week, to ride bitch on Jagger’s bike more often than not, and to be the sole object of his attention in bed at least twice a week. By the time this break was over, she hoped like hell she’d experienced all of those more times than required. After all – she was an overachiever. Bianca licked her lips and couldn’t help the grin that came to her face. Yes, she and her husband had a very active and enjoyable sex life.

Her hand itched to delve into her purse and pull out her cell phone. It’s what she did when she wanted to waste time and today she wanted to waste as much time as possible. It was bad form though, for her to pull out a cell phone in the middle of class. If any of her students did it, she took it away from them. Of course she’d give it back when class was done, but she tried to follow all the rules she made them follow.

Pushing her hair behind her shoulder, she sighed, looking out over her class. They were as anxious as she was. Most of them were in small groups talking and laughing. She didn’t miss all of them who had their eyes glued to the clock just like she did. No one was paying attention to her. Throwing caution to the wind, she reached into her bag, grabbed her phone, and sent a quick text to her husband.

Can’t wait for this day to be over! I miss you, can’t wait to see you tonight! Hopefully they include me, you, and as little clothing as possible.

It wasn’t exactly a nudie pic, but the implication was there, and it would have to do. Knowing Jagger, it would be just enough to get him going. The grin that spread across her face was mischievous, knowing exactly how he would be affected.

*

“What are your plans tonight?”

Jagger leaned against the quarter-panel of the car he had just got done repairing. When he’d straightened, wiping his hands off, his cell phone had beeped with a message. Checking it, he realized it was a text from Bianca. Normally she didn’t text him while she was at work. It made his heart race, but he made himself slow down as he swiped his thumb across the screen. Just because he wasn’t used to her texting him during the day didn’t mean this was bad news. Reading the text message, he felt himself looking more forward to leaving than he had all day. Glancing up at Layne, he answered the question posed to him, as he felt a bit of heat rush to his cheeks. Damn him for blushing sometimes when it came to his wife.

“Having dinner and hopefully christening at least one room of the new house,” he grinned, now ready to get this day over with himself. Life had been busy for the two of them and the next three weeks were theirs to do with as they pleased, however they pleased.

A few months ago he and B had made the biggest purchase of their lives – a home to call their own. The house they’d bought wasn’t the biggest or nicest, but it was new construction and they loved it. It was on a few acres of property less than two miles from the clubhouse. They loved being out in the country after being cooped up in an apartment in town for so long. The problem was they hadn’t had much time together because of the time of year. Halloween had turned to Thanksgiving and now they were a week from Christmas.