“Abby!” he groaned and lifted her into his arms, kissing her and running his hands over her body. “I love you so much!” he told her.
Abby laughed. “Will you marry me?”
He chuckled in response. “Isn’t that my line?”
She shrugged. “Hey, get with the times, big guy.”
He kissed her again. “Yes!”
Epilogue
Abby beamed when she saw the cars pull down the long driveway. She’d been waiting by the window for the past fifteen minutes, so it wasn’t a surprise.
What was a surprise were the doors that flung open and four spirited young children that burst from the vehicle.
Angela, Abby and Zeke’s oldest daughter, yelled out the window. “Slow down! You’re going to hurt Gramma!”
Abby laughed, shaking her head as she pulled open the front door. “Don’t you dare!” she called to her grandchildren, all of whom threw themselves into her arms, heads and body parts knocking in an effort to be the first to hug her.
“Oh, it’s so good to see all of you!” she said, closing her eyes as she savored this moment.
“What’s all this noise?!” a booming voice called out from inside the house. “I don’t believe I authorized any noise today!”
Abby laughed as all four grandkids pulled away, yelling and screaming with excitement as they performed the same ritual for Zeke as he knelt down to their level. Abby smiled at the craziness, thinking about how much she still loved him. Zeke was still just as tall and handsome as ever. The years had slowed both of them down, but Zeke still worked out and he still took her breath away.
“How you doing, Mom?” Angela asked, laughing as she walked up the stairs to the beach house behind her kids.
“I’m doing pretty well, dear. How are you?”
Angela turned and they watched as her husband, Dwayne, greeted Ben, Angela’s brother who had pulled up behind Angela in the driveway.
“How did Ben convince you to drive all four kids in your car?”
Angela groaned. “I lost a bet,” she admitted. Ben and his wife, Jane, stepped out of their car, shaking Dwayne’s hand and laughing about something.
“What was the bet?”
“Oh, I challenged him to a game of darts. Ben won by one point.”
Abby shook her head. “Don’t let your father hear that you lost at darts,” she warned, linking her arm through Angela’s as they watched the men start unloading the luggage. “He’ll have you practicing all week.”
Angela smiled, agreeing. “How are you and Dad?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Great,” Abby replied with a smile. “Really great.”
Angela laughed. “Is he still annoying you all the time?”
Abby grinned. “Of course. But you know how much I love it.”
Her daughter sighed and looked towards her husband. “Yeah. I’m really hoping that my marriage is as fun as yours.”
Abby hoped for that as well, but before she could reply, Angela gasped so loudly that Ben even paused, turning to look.
“Cookies!” Angela moaned. “How many did Dad make?” she demanded.
Before Abby could answer, Angela and Ben both sprinted into the house, needing to stop their four children from getting too hyped up on sugar. Because as sure as the sky was blue and the sun would rise in the east, they knew that Zeke had made dozens of cookies to spoil his grandchildren.
Author’s Note: I truly hope that you enjoyed Zeke’s story. If you wouldn’t mind, would you take just a few moments to leave a review? They are extremely important – not just for the success of the book, but they also give me feedback so that I can write better stories. Click HERE to leave a review. Or your reviews tell me that I’m doing it just right! Either way- I read every single review and sincerely appreciate all of them.
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Keep flipping for a sneak preview of “Derick”! (There are four books in this series! Mike, Zeke, Derick and Joe! All four of these were previously released to my subscribers for free. I try to release at least one free novella to my subscribers every year – and subscribers always get news of sales, free book introductions and other fun events! If you’d like to subscribe, Click HERE)
Excerpt from “Derick”
Release Date: October 30, 2020
Click HERE to get Derick’s Story!
Carrie watched the other house as she sipped her coffee the following morning. Then she choked when her neighbor stepped out of the house in just a pair of jeans. No shoes. No shirt.
Carrie didn’t really care about the no shoes thing. But her devil-neighbor without a shirt? Dear heaven!
The cup of coffee almost slipped from her numb fingers as she watched him move about in his garden. Her eyes were burning as she stared and Carrie had to remind herself to blink. She was completely unaware of her mouth hanging open as her gaze took in the muscles packed onto his shoulders and back. The guy was…holy cow! He was buff!
“Ouch!” she hissed, looking down at her lap to find that she’d spilled coffee all over her lap. “Darn it!”
Standing up, she grabbed a dishtowel and wiped down her legs. She wasn’t wearing her normal baggy jeans because she was inside so the hot coffee stung her bare skin.
“Pull yourself together, Carrie!” she hissed, then purposely turned her back to the window and headed into her living room. She’d finished sanding down everything in this room as well as the family room and they both looked great!
She moved up the stairs, thinking to start on the staircase next. But as she pulled on her jeans and tee-shirt, ready to start the next project, she changed her mind. The front porch really needed those boards replaced. And it would make sense to replace the boards and sand everything down out there this morning, before the day got too hot. Yep, that was her new plan. Once it got too hot, she’d move inside to work on the stairs.
Twenty minutes later, she hauled the new boards she’d purchased the previous week out of the garage, setting up the tables so she could cut the new boards after she’d pulled up the old, worn out ones. She set up the handsaw and her goggles, pulled her hat down low over her hair, grabbed the crow bar and got to work. If she glanced over at her neighbor’s yard occasionally, well, that was just curiosity. Nothing else.
Using the crow bar, she pulled up one board after another, setting each of them beside the new boards. She’d just started on a particularly stubborn board when she felt a presence. Looking up, she found her neighbor, a tee shirt covering those amazing muscles now, coming towards her.
“Need some help?” he asked.
Carrie started to shake her head, wanting to tell him that she could handle it. But he walked over to the board and, with what looked like a flip of his thumb, had the stubborn board pulled up. With one gloved hand, he tossed the board onto the pile.
“Derick Matlock,” he said, pulling off his work glove and extending his hand to her.
“Jolene Smith,” she replied, telling him the name on the driver’s license she kept in her wallet. “I don’t…”