“Well, get used to it because it’s not going to be mine for much longer. The lawyer is drawing up the business transfer paperwork as we speak.”
“Callie is so excited to be taking over.” I squeeze Gertie’s frail hand. “This means the world to her.”
“That girl is the only thing that keeps me going. Don’t know what I’d do without her.”
Me either, Gertie. Me either.
Love courses through me. I never expected I’d feel this way again. Never wanted to. I fought like hell against it, but some things are inevitable. Falling in love with Callie was impossible not to do.
Preordained.
Unavoidable.
Penny was my first love, and it was beautiful while it lasted. But life had other plans for us. Wretched, unfathomable plans that neither of us could’ve survived. I don’t blame her for cheating on me. We were broken. Ripped to shreds by sorrow. She tried to replace the debilitating feeling with something else, while I looked to bury it.
Loving Callie doesn’t erase what happened. It doesn’t lessen the pain from the loss of my daughter.
My precious Mia.
She’s a wound that’ll never heal.
I’ll never move on from her, but I’m learning to move forward with my life. One day at a time, little by little, the confines of guilt lessen their hold.
After work, Callie meets with her lawyer. The divorce is close to getting finalized, and I know how much she’s looking forward to closing that chapter in her life. As long as Paul doesn’t fight her for Maverick, it’ll all be over soon. She misses that dog like crazy, and I’m not sure how she’d handle it if she lost him to that monster.
She’s been mentally and physically drained lately, burning the candle at both ends. She bolts around, taking care of everyone like a damn superhero, and she forgets to take care of herself.
Which is why I’ve set up a homemade dinner with a bottle of her favorite wine. Candles and low music fill the pool house. I plan on rubbing her sore feet and letting her fall asleep on my chest so she can get a full night’s rest.
If we can keep our hands off each other.
I head over to Josie’s house while I wait for Callie to arrive. I promised the boys I’d toss the football around with them, so we play catch in the front yard.
“Uncle Cole, are you and Callie going to get married?” Miles asks.
I smirk. “Not sure, bud.”
“If you do, can I be your best man?” Brandon asks.
Miles pouts. “No, I want to be your best man!”
“How about you can both be my best men?”
The boys jump into the air, pumping their fists overhead.
I shake my head, but a smile tugs at my lips. It’s too soon to be talking about a wedding, but fuck if my heart doesn’t skip a beat at the thought of Callie walking down the aisle toward me in a white dress.
And my heart races at the thought of ripping her out of it at the end of the night.
Ten minutes later, Callie pulls into the driveway. The boys bum-rush her as they often do, yelling about how they’re going to be the best men at our wedding.
Callie’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “We’re getting married?”
I lift her into my arms and twirl. “Apparently.”
She laughs and shoves out of my hold. “Interesting. Think I’ll need to get divorced before I’m allowed to remarry.”
As if Callie just summoned him from across the street, Paul walks out of his house with Maverick on his leash.
The smile falls from Callie’s face, and her eyes go wide at the sight of her dog.
Paul ignores us, keeping his head down, but Maverick has other plans. His keen nose sniffs Callie out, and the second he spots her, he takes off. The leash slips out of Paul’s unexpecting hand, and Maverick bolts into the street.
I should see it coming, should hear the engine rumbling louder from just up the block, barreling toward us. I’m not focused on it, and I don’t realize before it’s too late.
But Callie does, and she sprints into the street.
And my heart drops to the ground, my feet frozen where I stand.
“Callie, no!” Brandon’s voice sounds muffled, and I don’t hear much over the deafening sound of blood pounding in my ears.
Until the tires screech against the pavement.
Callie’s body envelops Maverick, shielding him like the superhero she is. A guardian angel sent to serve and protect.
My angel.
My angel.
The car swerves left and then right.
Terror clutches my throat, seizing my breath as I watch Callie heave Maverick out of harm’s way—sacrificing herself instead.
A flash of blond hair tumbles up onto the hood of the offending car and then rolls off onto the ground in a heap.
My angel.
My angel.
Please don’t leave me.
Please be okay.
Thirty-One
Cole
One Year & Ten Months Ago
“Cole! Oh, my God. Something’s wrong!”
I tore the covers off my legs and leapt out of bed. Still half-asleep and disoriented, my shoulder slammed into the wall as I sprinted into the hallway.
“Ow, fuck. Penny, where are you?”
“Cole, hurry! Oh my God.”
I followed her voice into Mia’s nursery, but something about the expression on Penny’s face made my feet stop in their tracks. Standing beside the crib, horror twisted my wife’s delicate features as tremors racked her body. Her eyes were wide as tears spilled down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” I couldn’t move, muscles tight, fear binding my ankles together. Afraid to go any closer, afraid to see what Penny saw.
Her hand shook violently as she reached out to point into the crib. “Mia,” she whispered.
My stomach twisted, reeling from anticipation. Dread crawled up my spine as I made my way to Penny’s side.
I peered down at Mia, and at first, nothing seemed wrong.
“What—”
The words stilled on my tongue, disintegrating, turning to ash.
I placed my hand gently on her tiny belly, but it didn’t rise and fall with her breaths.
I wiped away the froth bubbling at her tiny lips and stroked her cheek, giving her a gentle nudge, willing her to open her eyes and look up at me.
But she didn’t.
Bile rushed into my throat, acid burning as I tried to swallow it down.
No, no, no, no!
I reached into the crib and scooped Mia into my arms. “Come on, baby. Wake up. Wake up for Daddy.”
Her tiny head lolled to the side.
I placed my thumb in her tiny hand, but her fingers didn’t latch on.
I tried to suck in jagged breaths, panic taking over any rational thoughts. “She needs CPR.”
I kneeled down and laid Mia on her back.
Penny choked out a sob and then dropped to her knees beside us. “It’s too late, Cole. It’s too late.”
“It’s not too late!” I roared.
Using two fingers just like the doctor showed us, I pressed on Mia’s tiny chest.
Thirty compressions.
Tilt the chin.
Two puffs of air.
Again and again, I tried to breathe life into my baby girl.
“Stop,” Penny wailed, yanking on my arm. “Enough, Cole! Please! Enough!”