AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The next day, I keep Paige in bed all day. I feed her meals there and make love to her as often as she’ll let me, which, lucky for me, is every time I try. She fills me in on the rest of her p
lan. She’s opening a real estate office here on St. Lucia. Her dad was going to back her, but she wants to do it all herself, and I couldn’t be more proud. I’m going to love spending my life with her watching her plan and succeed at whatever she does. I’m going to love watching our children grow up. I’m going to love having her in my bed every night. It’s going to be the two of us for the rest of our lives.
Epilogue
Paige-Ten years later
“Shh! Guys, Dad’s still sleeping. Let’s go play outside so he can rest some more.”
“Why does Dad sleep in so much on the weekends?” Alice asks me in her six-year-old version of a whisper which is more like yelling.
I give her a wry look that she won’t understand. “Mommy kept him up late again.”
“That’s not very nice of you, Mommy. You should let him sleep.”
“No, she shouldn’t.” Mac wraps his arms around my waist. “Daddy loves to stay up late and play.”
I laugh, turning my head to him so we can kiss some more. Our son, Nicholas makes a puking sound while Alice says, “Eww! Stop that.”
“I can’t,” Mac says, giving her a mock-serious look. “Your mother has me under her spell and I can’t help myself. I must kiss her every time I see her.”
Alice screws up her face and shakes her head.
Nic says, “You guys are so gross.” He’s got a little grin under that disgust though, and it makes me happy that our kids know how much in love we are with each other.
I want them to know what love should be and what it looks like. Mac and I are true partners, supporting each other and helping each other whenever and however we can. We’re not rich, but we live a very comfortable life here in paradise. We know what matters and what doesn’t and we don’t waste our time on things that don’t matter—like keeping up with my sister Brooke and her husband. They’ve achieved what they wanted to financially, but I don’t think they’ve laid a finger on each other in years. They’re totally miserable, and as much as I wish things could be different for her, I’m glad that Mac and I have it all figured out.
We have a cozy-yet-airy house right on the beach where the kids can run around and play and swim, and we can watch the sun go down every night. My parents have taken a long time to accept Mac and our life together, but after Nicholas was born, they saw how Mac puts me first every chance he gets, and they started to come around—especially my mom. I found them a great vacation home here on the island where they spend several months a year.
They just left last week, so we won’t see them for four months, which is okay with me. As much as I enjoy having them here, I love our life together with just the four of us so much, that I miss it when people come to visit. Today is going to be another perfect day. We’re going eat a leisurely breakfast on the veranda, then go for a lazy walk along the beach with the kids. They’ll body surf in the waves and dig for crabs with their bare hands. They never catch anything, but they sure have fun trying. Later, Mac and I will cook a big meal together, and after we eat, we’ll watch a movie with the kids, then get them tucked into bed, so I can keep Mac up late again tonight. I’ve got something particularly fun planned for him this evening, and just the thought of it has me grinning.
THE END
Choose Me-Sneak Peek
Chapter One
Erica
My new boss stands rigid beside me, the cords of his neck stretch tight enough to pop. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Sharing.” First day on the job and I am already in trouble. I bolt to a standing position and hand the box of wings to Kai’s mother.
“Don’t feed them, they’re like stray cats, if you feed them they’ll never leave.” Larry Feeble stands at the back door of the bar and shoos the mother and her little boy away. Little Kai looks over his shoulder, his lips are circled in ketchup, and his eyes are vacant. “I don’t give you an employee meal so you can waste it.” Acrid smoke slipped between Larry’s tobacco-stained teeth.
I bite my lips closed to silence the response bubbling in my throat. There is no point in arguing. Men like Larry have no idea what it’s like to be hungry.
I lift my chin and release my lips into a smile. It is the kind of smile that shouts, you’re an asshole on the inside, but when paired with a tilt of the head, it comes across as genuine gratitude. “Thanks for the meal.”
Kai is no more than five-years-old, but if his life doesn’t change soon, he’ll have to master that look to survive. The world is tough enough as it is, the poor kid doesn’t need to face it hungry.
Larry’s beer belly indicates that he’s never been hungry a day in his life.
“I found a nametag for you to wear.” He reaches below the roll of fat and into the soiled pocket of his jeans to pull out a plastic tag. The name Betty is written across it in bold, black letters.
“Betty?” I’ve been called many things in my life, but Betty was never one of them. “As in Paige?”
“This is a theme bar, sweetheart. You wear the wig. You wear the outfit. You wear the name.” He tosses his cigarette to the ground and stamps it out with his dime-store flip-flops. “Break’s over.”
