The Road to Rose Bend, Naima Simone [jenna bush book club .TXT] 📗

been left rejected and so hurt she’d barely been able to function. Empty. Alone.

It terrified her to give him that much power over her again. Could she trust him with it?

“I admit, I resented you for it. Because I felt too much. I wanted too much. More than I believed I deserved. For so long I felt guilty for Tonia’s and Mateo’s deaths. Why had I lived when they didn’t? How could I move on without them? I didn’t deserve to be happy or to laugh or to enjoy life when I couldn’t protect my family. My one purpose as a man, and I failed. I failed them and myself.”

“No, you didn’t,” she objected fiercely, the protest bursting out of her before she could contain it. Hell, she didn’t want to. Yes, he’d hurt her, couldn’t love her like she needed, but he was a good man. A great man. “And you’re worthy of every happiness and success life has to offer you. Everything.”

Humor gleamed in his eyes, temporarily lighting the darkness there. A smile ghosted across his lips, and he inclined his head. “Thank you, baby girl. I believe that now. Thanks to you.”

Her guard shot back up, and she shifted her body, leaning away from him, wary. “Since when?” she asked, not hiding her skepticism. “In five days?” She shook her head, softly scoffing. “I don’t—”

“I love you,” he said, just as softly. But it might as well have been a deafening shout as loudly as it rang in her ears.

“No,” she whispered. “You don’t. You couldn’t even say the words. You couldn’t...” Her voice broke as she clearly recalled begging him to tell her he loved her. And he couldn’t.

“Yes, I do,” he insisted, tone solemn. “Five days ago, fear kept me from admitting it to myself, but I loved you long before then. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I fell in love with you the moment you cried in my arms over the loss of my wife and baby. Your heart, your kindness, your selflessness, the blinding beauty of your spirit... Sydney, loving you was as inevitable as the sun setting then rising again.”

He paused, his gaze dipping to her mouth, then lower to her belly, and she froze, time itself halting as he gently spread his fingers wide over her bump, his palm cradling her.

“I fought this because I wanted it so much. The fear of possibly losing you and her...” He briefly closed his eyes, and when his thick lashes lifted, her heart thumped at the emotion that shined past the shadows. “It paralyzed me, and I told myself I couldn’t do it again. That if I kept you at a distance, I could have you, but not lose you. Not lose my sanity if something were to happen to either of you. But you told me you didn’t want to live in my world of fear anymore. Well, neither do I, Sydney. Bring me into your world where there’s hope, joy, love. I need you to bring me there and hold me. Don’t leave me to simply exist. I want to live. I want to love.”

Slowly, he sank to his knees, and a soft cry of surprise escaped her. What the hell? She jerked her gaze from him to her family. All of her family. Her mother wiped at her eyes, and one of the nurses passed her a tissue. Moe leaned her head against Ian’s shoulder, her smile soft, misty. Leo gave Sydney an air fist bump, while Wolf and the rest of the Dennisons grinned widely. Valeria and Ramon, their arms around one another, smiled at each other and her. Tonia’s mother nodded, and that blessing meant everything.

Finally, Sydney returned her attention to the proud, beautiful man before her. He took her trembling hand in his, pressing his lips to the solitaire on her ring finger.

“I let go of the past hurt and bitterness because you and this little girl are my future. I have been blessed to find love with two wonderful, beautiful, giving women in this life. Now, I can allow Tonia rest knowing she would be proud of me and happy for us. I’m selling the house so we can buy a home for us—the three of us.” He lowered his head and brushed his lips over her belly, and at that moment, her baby kicked, as if giving her full approval. Cole smiled, tipping his head back to meet Sydney’s eyes again. “I don’t want to go another day without you beside me as my wife, my partner, my friend, my love, the mother of our children.”

He released her hand and slipped it into his pants pocket. When he opened his fist, a beautiful, rose-gold band, engraved with a rose, sat on the palm.

“Cole,” she whispered, going to her knees, too, cupping his face. Love—so much love—filled her heart. So much it hurt. But a good ache this time. Not of pain, but of joy. Hope. Trust.

She trusted him with her heart, her body, her daughter.

Their future.

“Will you marry me again, Sydney?” he murmured, sliding the jewelry above the solitaire so three rings banded her finger. “In front of our family, will you take me again as the man who adores you, pledges his life and everything he is and has to you? Will you take me as your husband and the father to our daughter?”

“Yes,” she declared, no hesitation. No doubts. No fear. “Yes, to everything. I love you.” She threw her arms around his neck, burying her face against his throat. Scattering kisses up the strong column, over his jaw and finally, across his mouth, she promised, “Forever. I trust you. I love you.”

Two large hands clasped her face and held her still as he took her mouth in a kiss that made her forget they had an audience. His tongue swept inside, and she parted wide for him, welcoming him. It’d been too long since she’d tasted him, and she’d missed