Until the End (Sea Breeze #9)(86)
Across from them sat Preston and Amanda Drake. Preston was leaning up against the tree, with Amanda sitting between his legs. They laughed at something Marcus said. They didn’t have kids yet, but knowing Preston, one would be along soon enough.
Dewayne and Sienna Falco were recently married as well, with a baby on the way. Their son, Micah, was over by the cows, feeding them some of the old bread we had left out for them, with Daisy May Taylor.
Rock and Trisha Taylor’s boys were throwing the football with their dad and uncle Krit. I had never imagined Krit Corbin would get married, but damned if he wasn’t engaged, with his wedding date set for next month. His fiancée had him so wrapped around her little finger it was comical. It was fun to watch. I understood completely. He thought it was bad now, but just wait until he had a daughter. I sure hoped he had one. All reformed players needed a little girl of their own.
“Those smell good.”
I turned my attention to the newest arrivals. Jason and Jess Stone were in town for the week, visiting her mother. Jess was another one who had surprised me. Jess had been trouble back in the day. The girl had caused all kids of shit. But then Jason Stone had rolled into town, and it had all changed. Jess’s diamond ring and wedding band flickered in the sun as she rested her hand on her pregnant belly. She was due any day now. At least, it sure looked like it.
“Sadie and Jax sent a gift too. They wanted to be here, but Sadie’s on bed rest still,” Jess said as she held up two presents wrapped in shiny pink paper.
“Glad y’all made it. Eva is over there, setting up the table with Larissa and Trisha’s help. Beers are in the cooler, and sodas are in the big ice bucket over under the tree.”
“Thanks. Need any help here?” Jason asked.
“Nah, I got it. Go get yourself a beer and relax. Soon enough you’ll have a kid to chase around.”
Jason grinned and turned to look at Jess. I had never pictured Jess with a preppy Harvard boy. But those two worked.
Bliss saw them arrive and jumped down from the slide in her new tutu swimsuit and ran for Jess. It was Bliss’s big day, and she was going to soak it all up.
“Hey, beautiful,” Jess said as Bliss got to her. “I love that swimsuit. I need one.”
Bliss did a twirl for her and then curtsied. “Thank you. It’s a birthday present from Amanda,” she said.
Jess nodded as if that made complete sense. “Amanda would find the perfect gift.”
“You can put my presents over on that table,” Bliss informed her. “And if you want some snacks, we have dips and chips and Goldfish.”
My little hostess. She was her momma’s child. Most of the time.
Eva glanced up at Jess and Jason and waved. They headed over toward the crowd.
“Daddy,” Bliss called out. She had stopped running back to her friends and was looking at me.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“I love you bunches and bunches. Thank you for making me ribs.” Then she turned and ran back to the slide.
For that kind of thank-you, I’d make her anything she wanted.
Her mother called her a charmer and said she got that from me. Grinning, I figured maybe she did. It had taken some pretty damn intense charm to land Eva. I watched her as she talked to Jess. The way her dark hair blew in the breeze and her pretty blue eyes sparkled—God, that woman was beautiful. She’d taken my breath away the first time I saw her.
Glancing over to the front porch, I remembered the day she had walked out onto it, looking down her nose at me. Those shorts on, showing off all those legs. Her sassy mouth had been a f**king turn-on. My summer job working on her father’s farm had looked a hell of a lot brighter after getting a look at her.
Once I had thought I couldn’t be loved. Eva had proved to me I was, in fact, worthy of love. And anyone worthy of Eva’s love is f**king amazing. So therefore, I’m pretty damn special.
Eva’s eyes met mine across the yard, and she gave me that smile that was just mine. This was our life. We’d made this. Our friends were all here, and soon every last one would be married. Kids would be born, and our families were growing. Hard to believe four years ago every one of us but Rock was living the bachelor life. Looking for something but not knowing what we needed.
Just like magic, each one of us had had that someone special walk into our lives and love us enough to fight for us. Life is funny that way. Fate happens, and it’s better than what you had imagined in the first place.
Eva was so much better than anything I ever could have thought up for myself. She was more. So much more.
“Daddy, watch!” Bliss yelled, and I turned my attention to my little girl as she held on to Eli’s hand and they slid down the slide, laughing together, until they hit the water pooled at the bottom.
When they stood up, everyone clapped. Bliss, of course, did another curtsy. Because my baby girl was a princess, and she f**king knew it.
She was Cage York’s daughter.
Ten years later . . .
Bliss York
As much as I loved the big, crazy family I was a part of, when we all got together at Dewayne and Sienna’s beach house, things could be overwhelming. There was so much talking and kids were everywhere. It was like this bunch couldn’t stop reproducing. Jeez. At some point they need to stop doing it.
I wasn’t one of the oldest of the kids. Jimmy, Brent, and Daisy May Taylor were all in college now, and they didn’t hang around with the “kids.” They got to hang out with the adults. Micah Falco and Larissa Hardy were both driving now, and they were in their own little teenage world. So that left me and Eli to make sure Eli’s sisters, Crimson and Cleo, didn’t kill each other. There were only two years between them, and at ten and eight they seemed ready to start a war every time they were left alone together. It made me thankful I didn’t have a sister. But I had brothers. Three of them. Cruz, Cord, and Clay were all under ten. It was a miracle they hadn’t burned something down yet. Mother would just laugh at them and look at my daddy like these crazy males were wonderful. Only my daddy was wonderful. My brothers were out of control.