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Five years Later
Stone
Ascream cut through the quiet grounds of Thorn Hill. I looked up from my desk, disturbed. Outside the patio window, I could hear soft crying. I set down the investor portfolio I was reviewing on my tablet and headed to the doors. At the far end of the gardens, I could see a small, dark head and caved in little body, shaking lightly.
I stepped outside, the sounds of the garden immediately filling my ears—the splash of the fountain and the sound of summer crickets. Flowery perfumes filled my nose as I made my way toward the figure. It was a girl.
“What’s happened?” I asked, crouching down beside her. She turned her little face to me. Her eyes were so like her mother’s.
“Gotcha!” she screamed, loud enough to wake the dead. I had one second to twist before an icy cold shock of water fell on me from above. Luckily, it only drenched my right leg, and I was up and chasing the two little terrors who had ambushed me.
“You two, get back here,” I bellowed.
They screamed and zigzagged away from me. I focused on Toby, who was closer than his twin sister and all too easy to catch. I snagged him around the waist and hoisted him high on my shoulder.
“You, Mr. Preston, are in for it,” I told him, carrying him to the edge of the pool. He was screaming with laughter as I threatened to throw him in.
Samuel appeared amongst the trees. “So, this is where you’ve scampered off to? I thought you were helping me plant the bulbs,” he said, but the old man was smiling.
I saw his smile a lot these days, but then, since Bella had come into our lives, there were a lot of smiles around Thorn Hill.
“Playing tricks and neglecting your duties? To jail with you,” I said to Toby and lobbed him into the pool.
I’d never met kids who loved to dive in and out of the pool as much as Abigail and Toby. During the summer, they spent all day jumping in and out, and Toby screamed with excitement as he sailed through the air into the clear blue depths.
“Me too, Daddy! I was naughty too!” Abigail shouted, running toward me, not to be outdone by her brother.
“You too!” I called and grabbed her when she came nearer, chucking her through the air amongst giggles and into the water with an enormous splash.
Life didn’t any better than this.
* * *
Joanie’s bookstorewas in a new location nowadays, and I parked outside and strolled in. It was late Saturday afternoon, and the place was buzzing.
The new shop was three times the size of the old place, and it was much more than a bookstore now. I could see that the Saturday little ladybug class was still in session. Bella had organized it with volunteer teachers, and the kids loved it. It encouraged local kids to read and write and helped those interested in advancing and those who had fallen behind in school.
To the left, just inside the store, was a small creche area. A local mom had set up the business with Bella, where parents could drop their kid off for an hour or two while attending a class or event and then get them at the door.
Another great place Bella had added was reading together sections, where volunteers would come and read older people’s favorite books to them, take advantage of credits for the store, and enjoy free cake and tea.
The next job on the agenda was getting the local library opened up again. It had been closed years ago due to budget cuts. The capital was raised, and I planned to donate it to the city if the administration dragged its feet much longer. Bella wanted a library, so there would be a library. What my princess wanted, she got. I made sure of that.
“Stone? That first edition you ordered came in. I’m having a look at it tonight, but the condition isn’t bad at all,” Alfie’s voice reached me as I wandered through the busy store.
Bella’s father had attended rehab and was doing great. It turned out that he had a talent for restoring old books, something he’d done in the early days of Joanie’s before he’d lost his wife. Now, he was the local expert on the matter, and he and Bella were finally close. I was close with him, too. He and Samuel had become more of a parental unit than my father had ever been, though they’d argue about who was the most important. The two older men got on each other’s nerves constantly, and yet, I was pretty sure they were best friends underneath it all.
“Great, I can’t wait to give it to Bella for her birthday,” I smiled at my father-in-law.
He nodded and then tensed, his cheeks pinkening in a way that reminded me of Bella.
“Hello, Stone. Hello, Alfie,” Mrs. Greyson, the mayor, a mature woman with impeccable style and a warm smile, called to us from the cash register.
“I better ring her up,” Alfie muttered, looking sheepish, and wandered away.
“Is he doing it?” Bella whispered, sneaking up behind me and making me jump.
I turned around to grab her, kissing her soundly, as I always did when she was out of my sight for longer than ten minutes. I missed the taste of her too badly not to. “Doing what?”
“Speaking to Mrs. Greyson?” she asked, leaning around me to peek at her father.
“Are you playing matchmaker, Mrs. Preston?”
“Too right I am. My Dad deserves to be happy,” she said and smiled up at me. “Hello.”
“Finally, you greet your husband.” I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. Everything this woman did made me happy, even setting her dad up.
“If there weren’t so many people around here, I could greet you even more enthusiastically,” she murmured, her voice lowering to a familiar pitch. She ran a light finger up my button-down, flicking each button as she went.
“Now that I can get on board with. What do you think, little bean?” I asked, lowering my hand to Bella’s slightly distended belly. She was five months gone with our third child and hornier than ever. I was a lucky bastard. The luckiest.
“Hm… well, I know a storage room that no one ever goes in if you’re up for an adventure?” she suggested, her big brown eyes wicked.
“With you?” I asked, pulling her close and lacing my fingers through hers. “Always.”
* * *
