Here Comes Trouble (19 page)

The last bit took her aback. She blinked, staring up at him wide-eyed. “What? I…okay.”

“Okay,” he said firmly.

He kissed her forehead, lips lingering in a tender touch. Then, without another word, he headed out the door.

He left her standing in the office, emotionally drained but feeling more alive than she’d felt in days.  He’d told her everything. He loved her. They loved each other. He was trying. She could see it, and she could meet him halfway.

If she hurried, maybe she could catch him before he left.

When she burst through the front door of the building, he stood beside the SUV with the door open, ready to climb in. “Matt, wait!”

He paused, his face grim—so unlike the man she’d gotten to know and fallen in love with over the past four years. His smile hid somewhere, behind the stoic mask he’d slipped over it.

“I believe you,” she said. “I miss you and…I love you. So much.”  

His body sagged, and he closed his eyes. In two strides he closed the gap between them and lifted her off the ground, crushing her to him. She didn’t complain. She held him just as securely, arms wrapped around his neck as tight as they could go.

“I never stopped,” she said in a ragged whisper against his neck.

His mouth settled over hers, and he kissed her hard, stealing the breath from her lungs. She returned his ardor, caressing the finely trimmed hairs of his head, happy to be in his arms again.

When they finally stopped kissing, she rested her forehead against his and kissed the tip of his nose. “So I put it on you?” she said softly.

He let out a sexy laugh that made her squeeze him tighter. His eyes, even his rich brown skin, seemed to come alive with his laughter. “I plead the fifth.”

“No, you have to answer the question because you made me answer it,” she insisted.

His killer smile spread wide across his face. “Yes. You put it on me.” He gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I’m never letting you go again,” he whispered.

“Please don’t,” she whispered back.

Chapter Fifteen

Sunday afternoon, a week later, Lorena and Matthew lounged at his place after a drive back from a trip to the mountains. They’d taken off Thursday morning and headed into North Georgia for a long weekend and spent time exploring the hiking trails and white-water rafting. 

They were lying on the sofa watching
Bullitt
. In the comfortable silence, Matthew stroked her hair. He marveled at how lucky he was to have won her back. They were the perfect match. He couldn’t think of a single woman who’d be interested in going hiking with him, nor could he think of anyone else willing to brave the physical exertion of five miles of rapids in a tiny boat.

“They don’t make movies like this anymore,” Lorena said with a yawn, her head resting on his chest.

“True. This is a classic,” Matthew responded.

The high-pitched tone of his cell phone went off, alerting him he’d received a text. He stretched his arm to reach for his phone on the coffee table and read the message.

“Lorena,” he said excitedly, “another Hawthorne is about to enter the world.”

“Huh?”

“Celeste went into labor. I’ve got to go to Athens.”

They sat up. “Oh good! She was already overdue. I’m coming with you.”

“Come on. We’ve got to hurry.”

****

By the time they arrived at the hospital, Roarke was in a chair in Celeste’s room, holding his newborn son wrapped in a blanket, so enthralled by the miniature version of himself, he didn’t notice when Lorena and Matthew walked in. Celeste turned her head to acknowledge their presence.

From her position in the bed, Arianna popped her head up from her mother’s shoulder to whisper an excited, “Hi, Uncle Matt!”

His brother finally looked up.

“What have we here?” Matthew asked.

“That’s my baby brother,” Arianna answered. “We have to look out for him and teach him everything ’cause he’s a baby, and he doesn’t know anything.”

“So you’re going to be a good big sister?”

Arianna nodded, her face solemn with the importance of her task.

They walked over to where Roarke sat with his son. “Number three,” he said proudly. “Roarke Hawthorne the Third.”

“He’s beautiful,” Lorena said. The newborn had a head full of black hair, and his eyes were closed in peaceful sleep. She looked at Celeste, who had a tired but content expression on her face. “How do you feel?”

“Relieved,” she replied. “Relieved he finally decided to make an appearance, and relieved he’s healthy. Once he decided to enter the world, he just came on out. I barely made it to the hospital on time.”

“Where’s Mrs. B?” Matthew asked.

“She’ll be back. We ran out of the house so fast we left my packed bag. Mom went to get it for me.”

The door swished open, and Cassidy made her entrance. “Where’s my nephew?” She rushed over, elbowing Matthew out of the way. Lorena smiled. Those two were always at it, but she knew they’d do anything for each other. “Can I hold him?”

“Wash your hands first,” Roarke said, drawing back.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“You heard him,” Matthew said, taking her by the shoulders and turning her in the direction of the bathroom door.

“This is ridiculous,” Cassidy complained.

“He’s a baby. His immune system isn’t developed well enough yet to combat your germs,” Roarke said.

Cassidy rolled her eyes and flounced toward the bathroom, grumbling under her breath.

Roarke’s phone rang. “It’s Derrick.” He hit the connect button. “Hey, Derrick, I’ve got you on speaker.”

“We got the message,” Derrick said. “How are Celeste and the new baby?”

“Everybody’s fine.”

“Sorry we couldn’t be there.”

“We understand. You’ll see him when you get back. By the way, how did the meeting go?”

“I’ll let Eva tell you.”

An investigator had located Eva’s father last year. Both her parents had been very young when her mother became pregnant. When her father stated he didn’t want a child, her mother left California. After a change of heart, her father tried to find her mother, but family members refused to tell him her whereabouts out of respect for her wishes.

For months Eva and her father had communicated via Skype while he was stationed in Afghanistan. Upon his return to the United States, he’d been discharged and started his retirement.

“You’d think we hadn’t been talking for months, but when I saw him face-to-face…” Eva’s voice faltered. “I was overwhelmed. He apologized again for the things he said to my mother which caused her to leave California. I told him it was okay, and I gave him a big hug. My stepmother has been wonderful. My brother and sister took a few days off from summer classes to come meet us. Since my father’s retired, he said he’ll have a lot more time on his hands, so he wants to come visit us in Atlanta to spend time with his first grandchild.” As if she knew she’d become the topic of conversation, their eight-month-old daughter, Violet, started babbling in the background. “Do you hear her? She already loves her grandpa.”

“Guess what? She’s been saying ‘dada’ pretty regularly now,” Derrick said.

“And I haven’t heard the end of it,” Eva said.

They all laughed.

“We need to get everyone together for a family portrait,” Roarke said as Cassidy came out of the bathroom with clean hands. “We need a new one to hang in the vacation house on St. Simons Island.”

“Why don’t we do it on a bigger scale? How about a family reunion? We haven’t had one in years,” Matthew said. “We could get everybody together and hire a professional photographer.”

“Good idea!” Eva said. “I could take care of the planning.” She’d grown up on St. Simons Island and had once been a regional events coordinator for a hotel chain.

“I’ll help you, Eva,” Cassidy piped up. “Let’s plan for next summer.”

Matthew cleared his throat. He slipped his arm around Lorena’s shoulders. “Next summer sounds good. It’ll coincide with the wedding.”

Cassidy frowned. “What wedding?” Her eyes widened to saucers when she looked at Lorena’s face. “Ohmigod! You and Matt are getting married? Why didn’t you tell me!” She threw her arms around Lorena’s neck.

Lorena grabbed her best friend and squeezed her tight as everyone offered their congratulations. “We were going to wait to make the announcement. We haven’t even picked a ring yet. We want to get one specially designed.”

She looked up at Matthew’s smiling face. “I couldn’t wait to tell everybody,” he said sheepishly.

“I’ve got a jeweler in New York, Matt,” Derrick said. “I’ll get you his number.”

“Uh…I don’t know if I can afford your guy, Derrick.”

“Don’t worry about it. He’s got different price ranges, and he’ll give you a good deal. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. That’s where I got Eva’s ring.”

“We need to capture this moment,” Celeste said. “A new baby and the newly engaged couple. Let’s get one of the nurses to take a picture for us.”

“I’ll go find one,” Cassidy said.

“I’ll come with you.” Lorena followed her out. In the hallway, she hooked her arm through Cassidy’s. “Where’s Antonio?” she asked.

“He was out with friends when I received the text, and I didn’t want to bother him.”

“Really?” Her explanation struck Lorena as odd. Cassidy and Antonio did almost everything together. “Are you guys okay?”

“Oh yes, of course,” Cassidy said hastily, though she didn’t quite meet Lorena’s eyes. “Antonio and I needed a break from each other. We’re married, not joined at the hip.” She laughed, but her laugh sounded hollow.

“Cass, Antonio’s my brother, but if you ever need to talk—”

“No, no. Really, we’re fine. Everything’s perfect. We’re still in the honeymoon phase.” This time she did look her in the eye, but something about her smile didn’t seem genuine. Before Lorena could pry any further, Cassidy called out to one of the nurses and asked her to take the photo.

Back in the room, Celeste let Cassidy and Lorena fix her hair and apply lipstick. Then they all posed around the bed. Matthew put his arms around his sister and Lorena. Roarke sat on the bed with his son in his arms and Arianna between him and his wife.

The nurse snapped several photos of the entire group, and they took a few of just the baby. They sent them all to Derrick and Eva.

“Looking good,” Derrick said.

“Roarke number three is adorable!” Eva gushed.

“Matt, you sure are grinning hard,” Derrick said. “Lorena, what did you do to my brother to make him so happy?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Lorena said.

“Yes, she did,” Matthew said. He took her hand and drew her close. He looked down at her and she saw the love in his eyes. Pure and strong for everyone in the room to see. “She gave me another chance.”

THE END