Gaining Miles (Miles Family #5)
Claire Kingsley
About this book
“Now there was nothing holding me back. I kissed her deeply, passionately. Kissed her for every time I’d wanted to and couldn’t. For every time I’d stared at her with longing in my heart, wishing we could be where we were now.”
It’s never too late.
Loving a woman you can’t have isn’t easy. I endured the slow torture of watching Shannon Miles live a life with another man—a man who didn’t deserve her—but I don’t regret a minute of it. And I have my reasons.
Now, she’s free. No longer shackled to a loveless marriage, bound to someone who was unfaithful and heartless.
But Shannon thinks her time has passed. That she won’t get another chance at love, especially not with the man who’s been there to see it all. The hurt. The mistakes. The heartache.
If only she knew. I love that woman with everything I am, and I want nothing more in this life than to spend every moment with her.
It’s time for our happily ever after.
One
Ben
Twenty-six years ago
The sound of a giggling toddler was unexpected this deep in the vineyard. I’d come out here to walk among the vines. Find some solitude in the fragrant late-summer air. The other workers had gone in, and I hadn’t seen a soul. So why did I suddenly hear a baby’s laugh?
The owners had kids, but I’d never seen them up close. Kept my distance from the family, although they lived here, on this beautiful piece of property. But getting to know people wasn’t why I was here. I was here to disappear.
That, and make a little money. A man needed to eat, after all. And a job working at a winery in a tiny town in the mountains was as good a job as any. Better than most, really. Not many questions. Hard work, but I wasn’t afraid of that. And space. Lots of space. Perfect for days like today when the weight on my shoulders felt like it might crush me.
Walking helped.
There was that baby giggle again. I stopped and a bee buzzed past my ear. Had I imagined it? Was I further gone than I’d thought? It had sounded like a little boy.
“Mama?”
There was no quaver in that little voice. No indication he was scared. I walked up the row of vines, in the direction of the sound. Leaves rustled. Then a bump.
Rounding a corner, I saw the source of the noise. A little boy, naked as the day he was born, sitting in the dirt. He had wispy light brown hair, pudgy cheeks, and a round belly. He looked up at me with enormous blue eyes—eyes that seemed to hold the entire sky—and smiled. Dimples puckered his cheeks, and he laughed.
“I dirty,” he said, holding out his hands for me to see. They were indeed covered with dirt.
“You sure are. What are you doing out here by yourself, little man?”
He didn’t answer, just kept grinning at me.
“Where’s your mommy?” I asked.
“I dunno.” He gave me a dramatic shrug, dirty palms up, his blue eyes big and wide.
He must have been one of the Miles kids. They had a few. Three boys, if I recalled. This one was probably about two years old.
I glanced around, my ears straining for the sound of footsteps. His mother had to be close by. We were a long way from the main grounds and the house where the Miles family lived. How did this little guy get out here?
“Bye-bye!”
My head whipped around just in time to see the naked little boy disappearing between the vines.
“Oh shit.”
I darted after him. He wasn’t my kid—and seeing him dug at wounds I’d have much rather left buried—but I couldn’t just leave him. I couldn’t get through the gap, so I ran up ahead and doubled back. He wasn’t far ahead, but those chubby little legs moved fast. He cast a glance back at me, squealed at the top of his lungs, and ran faster.
“You little stinker.”
A few long strides and I was on him. I scooped him up, ignoring his flailing arms and kicking legs. He laughed hysterically, like we were playing the best game.
His laugh was infectious. How long had it been since I’d laughed? I couldn’t remember. It rumbled deep in my chest, as if it was clearing cobwebs out of my soul.
“All right kid. Let’s go find your mama.”
“Mama?”
“Yeah, little man. Where is she?”
“Home,” he said happily.
I highly doubted she was all the way back at the family home. But I didn’t see any sign of her as I headed toward the main grounds. The little boy stopped struggling, so I adjusted him, holding him upright on my hip. It occurred to me that I had no idea if the kid was potty trained.
“Don’t pee on me, okay, little man?”
“Outside,” he said. “I go pee outside.”
He sounded so proud of himself, I couldn’t help but laugh again. “Good for you. I suppose that’s as good a place as any.”
Finally, the vineyard opened to the main grounds. A few vineyard workers were heading back toward the cellars, but no sign of the kid’s parents. Taking him home was probably my best option. I just hoped his mom wasn’t out in the vineyard behind me, looking for him.
“Cooper?” A woman’s voice rang out from somewhere to my left, a note of panic in her tone. “Cooper? Baby boy, where’d you go? Cooper?”