Chapter 9 #2
"I've changed." His expression shifts to something approximating sincerity. "I realize what I threw away. My family. My responsibility."
"And the ten thousand dollars you demanded for 'emotional damages'? Was that part of your changed perspective?"
His smile falters. "That was a misunderstanding. I was in a bad place financially."
"You threatened to sue for custody if I didn't pay you." Stella's voice remains steady. "That's not a misunderstanding. That's extortion."
Rick's facade cracks slightly, irritation flashing across his features. "Look, I'm trying to be reasonable here. I have rights."
"Rights you forfeited when you walked out." Stella leans forward. "I have texts, emails, witnesses to your abandonment. I have proof you haven't contributed a single dollar to her upkeep in two years."
"And I have proof you're shacking up with some mountain man." His gaze flicks toward me briefly. "Living in sin with my daughter present. No judge will look favorably on that."
"No judge will look favorably on a father who doesn't know his daughter's name." Stella's voice hardens. "Who only showed interest when he needed money."
Rick's pleasant mask slips further. "You think you're so clever. Running away to your hometown, hiding behind your new boyfriend." He leans closer. "But I will get what I want, Stella. One way or another."
"And what exactly do you want?" she asks, voice steady despite the visible tremor in her hands. "Because it's clearly not a relationship with your daughter."
"I want what's mine." His voice drops, intended only for her ears, but in the hushed diner, it carries. "And I always get what I want."
"No, you don't." Stella's voice gains strength. "Not this time."
The door jingles again as my brother Colt strides in, his imposing presence drawing all eyes. He makes his way directly to Stella's booth, positioning himself beside the table. The intricate tattoos visible on his forearms and the hard set of his jaw make Rick visibly nervous.
"Everything okay here, Ridge?" Colt asks, his voice carrying the edge that comes from years spent in prison.
"Just a conversation," I say, standing, and crossing to their booth in three strides. "Mr. Carlisle was just leaving."
"I wasn't—" Rick begins, but Colt cuts him off.
"The lady doesn't seem to want you here." My brother crosses his tattooed arms, the metal worker's muscles prominent beneath his t-shirt. "And my brother doesn't look too happy either."
Rick's eyes dart between us, calculation clear in his gaze. "This is harassment. I came here in good faith."
"Good faith?" I can't remain silent any longer. "Is that what you call threatening the mother of your child? Demanding money to stay away from a daughter you abandoned?"
Recognition dawns in his eyes. "You must be the new boyfriend."
"I'm the man who's going to make sure you never threaten Stella or Chellie again." I keep my voice low, controlled. "The man who's going to be there for every birthday, every skinned knee, every nightmare you caused by walking out."
"Big talk from a backwoods nobody." Rick sneers, desperation creeping into his expression.
"A nobody with two very protective brothers," Colt adds, his ex-con reputation clearly making Rick uncomfortable. "One of whom teaches troubled kids how to survive in the wilderness, and another who knows how to forge metal into just about anything."
Stella stands, pulling Chellie into her arms. "You're not getting money from me, and you're never getting near my daughter again."
From a nearby booth, Sheriff Miller looks up from his coffee. "Everything alright over here?"
"Fine, Sheriff," I say, never taking my eyes off Rick. "Mr. Carlisle was just leaving town."
With a final glare, Rick stalks from the diner, the bell jingling cheerfully as the door slams behind him.
The silence that follows breaks when Darlene appears, coffeepot in one hand. "Well! That was better than my soaps! Coffee's on the house for everyone."
A cheer goes up from the other patrons, the tension dissolving into excited chatter. Stella remains standing, Chellie clutched to her chest, looking shell-shocked but relieved.
"You okay?" I ask, resisting the urge to pull her into my arms with half the town watching.
She nods, a tremulous smile forming. "Better than okay. That felt..."
"Powerful," I supply, pride swelling in my chest. "You were amazing."
"Could've taken him myself," Chellie declares, scowling in the direction Rick disappeared.
A surprised laugh bursts from Stella. "I bet you could, baby."
Colt clears his throat. "I should head back to the workshop. Got that commission to finish for the mayor's wife."
"Thanks, brother," I say, clasping his shoulder. "For showing up."
"Family sticks together," he says simply. "You need anything else, you call."
As he leaves, Stella looks up at me, eyes shining with something that makes my chest tighten. "You didn't charge in. You let me handle it."
"You had it covered." I reach across Chellie to take her hand. "Though I was ready to flatten him when he tried to insinuate that you being with me reflected badly on you."
"I noticed." Her smile turns impish. "Your face did that thing where your left eye twitches."
"Does not."
"Does too," she counters, the lightness between us fully restored. "Dead giveaway you're about to explode."
The banter feels like coming home, like finding solid ground after weeks of uncertainty. Whatever walls remained between us have crumbled completely.
Back at the cabin, with Chellie napping after the excitement, Stella and I finally have a moment alone. I find her in the great room, staring out at the melting snow, arms wrapped around herself.
"Penny for your thoughts." I move to stand beside her, close enough to feel her warmth.
"I can't believe it's over." She turns to me, wonder in her expression. "Just like that. He folded as soon as he realized he was outmatched."
"Bullies usually do." I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, letting my fingers linger on her cheek. "He never expected you to fight back."
"Or to have backup." Her hand comes up to cover mine. "I'm sorry about last night. For pushing you away."
"I'm sorry for not listening." I draw her closer, relieved when she comes willingly into my arms. "For trying to take over instead of supporting you."
She rests her head against my chest, her arms sliding around my waist. "We're quite a pair, aren't we?"
"The best kind." I press a kiss to her hair, breathing in the vanilla scent that's become as familiar as my own. "The kind that figures things out together."
We stand like that for a long moment, the quiet of the cabin wrapping around us, the crisis averted but its echoes still reverberating. There's more to discuss, more to plan, but for now, this connection is all that matters.
"I have something to ask you." I pull back slightly, needing to see her face for this. "Something I've been thinking about since you arrived."
Her eyes search mine. "That sounds serious."
"It is." I take a deep breath. "I want you and Chellie to stay. Not temporarily. Not until you figure things out. Permanently."
Hope flickers in her expression. "Ridge..."
"Let me finish." I frame her face with my hands. "I've loved you since we were seventeen, Stella. I've spent eight years waiting for you to come home. Now that you're here, now that we've found this connection, I don't want to lose it. I don't want to lose you. Either of you."
Tears shimmer in her eyes. "Are you asking what I think you're asking?"
"I'm asking you to build a life with me. Here. In this cabin that's always been too big for just one person." I brush my thumb across her cheekbone. "I'm asking you to let me love you and Chellie the way you both deserve to be loved. Completely. Permanently."
"That sounds an awful lot like a proposal." Her voice wavers, but her eyes hold steady on mine.
"It's a promise. The proposal comes later, when we've had more than a week together." I smile, heart thundering against my ribs. "But the intention is the same. I want forever, Stella. With you. With Chellie. If you'll have me."
She rises on her toes, arms winding around my neck. "Yes," she whispers against my lips. "Yes to staying. Yes to building a life. Yes to everything."
The kiss that follows seals the promise, deep and sure and full of certainty. Her body molds against mine as if created to fit there, hands tangling in my hair as the kiss builds into something hungry and needful.
"Chellie," I manage between kisses.
"Sleeping." Her hands slide beneath my shirt, nails scraping lightly down my back. "Sound sleeper. Especially after excitement."
That's all the encouragement I need. I lift her easily, her legs wrapping around my waist as I carry her to my bedroom. Our bedroom now, I realize with a surge of possessive pleasure.
We fall onto the bed in a tangle of limbs and half-removed clothing, mouths never parting for long. There's an urgency to our movements now, a celebration of obstacles overcome and promises made.
"Need you," she gasps as I trail kisses down her throat. "Now, Ridge."
I help her out of her remaining clothes, my own following quickly. When we're both naked, I pause to look at her, to really see her in the afternoon light streaming through the windows.
"Beautiful," I murmur, tracing the curve of her waist, the soft swell of her breast. "Mine."
"Yours," she agrees, pulling me down for another kiss. "Always."
We come together with none of the hesitation of our first time, bodies already familiar with each other's rhythms and responses. I know exactly how to touch her, where to kiss her, how to move within her to draw those breathy moans I've grown addicted to.
She matches me perfectly, taking control when she wants it, surrendering when she doesn't, our bodies having a conversation deeper than words could express.
When she comes apart beneath me, I follow immediately, overcome by the knowledge that this isn't just sex.
This is a beginning. A promise. A future unfolding before us.
Afterward, we lie tangled together, her head on my chest, my fingers tracing lazy patterns on her back. The world outside continues its slow thaw, but in here, everything is warm and certain.
"I love you," I say, words I've held back until this moment. "I always have."
She lifts her head, eyes shining with matching emotion. "I love you too. I think I always did, even when I was too young to understand what it meant."
A small sound from the doorway draws our attention. Chellie stands there, Mr. Bunny clutched in one hand, eyes still heavy with sleep.
"Mama?" She spots us, confusion crossing her face at finding her mother in my bed.
Stella sits up, sheet clutched to her chest. "Hey baby. Did you have a good nap?"
Chellie nods, still looking uncertain. "Why you in Widge's bed?"
I hold my breath, waiting for Stella's response. This moment, this explanation, feels pivotal somehow.
"Because," Stella says, voice gentle but matter of fact, "Ridge and I love each other very much. And we're going to be a family. The three of us."
Chellie's eyes widen. "Forever?"
"Forever," I confirm, heart too full for more elaborate explanations.
To my surprise, she breaks into a beaming smile. "Good! I want Widge to be my daddy."
The simple declaration nearly undoes me completely. Stella's hand finds mine beneath the sheet, squeezing tight.
"Why don't you go pick out a book, and we'll be right there for story time?" Stella suggests, voice slightly choked.
Chellie nods, mission accepted, and toddles away, seemingly unbothered by the bombshell she just dropped.
When she's gone, I turn to Stella, finding tears tracking down her cheeks. "She didn't even hesitate."
"Kids know." I brush away her tears with my thumb. "They recognize love when they see it."
"You do realize this will be both our first loving family under one roof. A real family?" she says, smiling through her tears.
"A real family," I promise, pressing my forehead to hers. "Everything you've been looking for. Everything I've been waiting for."
Outside our window, the last of the storm clouds have cleared, leaving behind a sky so blue it hurts to look at. The snow continues its retreat, revealing the solid ground beneath. But in this bed, in this room, in this moment, we've already found our foundation.
It's us. It's always been us.