49. Justin
forty-nine
Sunshine’s hoofs sound on the dirt road, and Moose lets out a happy yap.
I let go of Chloe and turn to see Dad in the distance, slowly making his way to us, the image of contentment.
“I think I’ll commute by horse,” Chloe whispers next to me.
I tug her against my side, kiss her temple, then we both stand and straighten our clothes before Dad is close enough to fully measure how fun last night was. I straighten the mattress and let it slide down the opposite side of the platform.
“Thought is was time for coffee!” Dad hollers from afar.
We wave back to him, and he pushes Sunshine to a trot. As he gets closer, all I can see is the wide smile on his face.
He dismounts, ties Sunshine to the platform, and pulls various paper bags from his saddle bag. “Are you going to invite me in?” he jokes.
Chloe giggles.
“I take it she said yes?” Dad asks me as he climbs the makeshift stairs.
“She did.” The solemnity of the moment hits me, and tears fill my eyes.
“Welcome to the family, darling,” Dad says, hugging Chloe. “Brought you breakfast. Fresh croissants from Christopher, a Road to Hell or whatever Millie calls’em, and a couple apple cider donuts.”
We sit cross-legged on the platform.
“Oh wow, you shouldn’t have gone to such trouble,” Chloe says, taking her Road to Heaven with anticipation. “Ohmygod, you got us Millie’s thermoses, and she marked them for us?” she shrieks. The thermoses have our names in Millie’s handwriting, in her signature purple color.
“That’s right, I shouldn’t. And I didn’t. This all came to me.”
“What do you mean, Dad,” I say as I grab the double espresso with my name on it, remove the lid, and dunk the croissant in the steaming hot liquid. I close my eyes to enjoy this pure perfection.
“Word got around. Cassandra did some work. All’s well that ends well. Everyone came to the farm to get the scoop and see how you were doing. Bearing gifts.”
Chloe narrows her eyes on Dad, as puzzled as I am.
“You’re gonna have to be more specific,” I say.
He chews his croissant slowly, washes it down with a loud gurgle of coffee, and sets his eyes on me. “Cassandra talked to Gisele. Gisele admitted you weren’t the father. She left town.”
The news hits me like a freight train. This I was not expecting. Is it even true?
Chloe meets my gaze, and she seems alarmed.
“Paternity test will confirm it, but Cassandra didn’t seem to think there was any funny business this time.”
“But—why?” Chloe asks.
Dad shrugs. “Not the sharpest tool in the shed in some aspects, surely has a twisted relationship with the truth, but also, trying to do what’s best for her kid.” He takes another bite of croissant, and adds, “She told Cassandra she wanted the best for her baby, and you’d be the best father from… you know… her pool of applicants,” he ends on a chuckle.
“Oh my god,” Chloe mutters. “I feel bad for her baby.”
“Nah, she’s resourceful. She’ll figure it out,” Dad says.
I blink several times, trying to get accustomed to having this weight lifted off me. “Not your problem, baby,” I say, leaning into Chloe, not believing the goodness that I’m going to be sharing my life with. “Do you believe her?” I ask Dad, pointing at Chloe.
“She’s the best of the best, son. Has to be, to deal with you,” he adds, his eyes dancing with laughter.
Chloe laughs and I can’t help but join in. Being ribbed by my father and my future wife together?
The best.
That evening, we’re back at the cottage. And after I make us maple mint cocktails that are brutally deceptive in this heat. After Chloe doesn’t clue in to the deception part and asks for more.
After we dine on barbecued chicken thighs that I’ve been marinating for two days in beer and apple cider vinegar. After we taste a new sauce I’ve been working on and she gives me her approval by insisting it would taste better coming straight out of her mouth, which I try and agree.
After we dig into a tub of ice cream from the farm, and Chloe decides the only way to prevent brain freeze is for her to eat her ice cream out of my mouth, which she does, straddling me and sloppily dropping ice cream on her cleavage and demanding I lick it clean.
After I oblige.
After all that, I lift her in my arms and take her to the field where I parked my truck.
“What are you doing?” She giggles, slightly tipsy.
“I put a mattress in my truck bed.”
“Why?”
“Setting you on a mattress in my truck.”
“Why?”
“So you’re nice and comfortable.”
Another fit of giggles as I set her on her feet while I bring the tailgate down. “But why?”
“So I can make love to you in my truck. That alright?”
Her gaze goes dark. “Oooo… come here. I want your cock inside me,” she says, making the word ring. Then she slides to the ground, her fingers fumbling with my zipper.
Mmm. Tipsy Chloe has a filthy mouth. Nice to know. I lift her easily, climb inside the truck and set us on the mattress. “Now who’s a dirty little girl.”
She pulls her T-shirt above her head, her wild hair cascading around her face, her mouth open, and her heavy eyes falling on my lips. She frees her breasts—the little minx has another front clasp bra—and presses them between her hands. Then she lands on me, alcohol getting the better of her unsteady balance. “Fuck me, Justin. Fuck me like you mean it.”
“I always mean it,” I growl, making quick work of her shorts and my jeans.
“Show me those tats.”
I pull my shirt off, and she goes for the Clover tattoo, licking it. “I’m tattooed on your heart,” she slurs.
“Babe, you okay?”
“Just fuck me.”
So I set her on her back on the mattress so she can see the stars. There’s a blanket folded on the side for later. We’re both stark naked. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. The weather had to be perfect, warm night and clear skies. The moon had to be close to full—I want to see her.
Tonight is perfect. “I love you,” I say and kiss her long and sweet and deep while her hips sway under mine. Her legs latch around my waist, pulling me to her.
Tipsy Chloe isn’t into foreplay. Now, granted, this whole evening was foreplay.
My dick is at her wet entrance, teasing her. “Tell me how you want it.”
As she opens her sweet mouth to answer, I focus entirely on her, on what she wants, on what she needs.
And I feel great doing only that.
I’m done with guilt.
I’m just looking at a lifetime of making her happy. Since our first night together, I’ve known she was the one for me. I just had to let go of the load of crap I’d saddled myself with and give in to the promise of us.
One week later
I’m so proud of her. My Clover. She’s standing at the entrance of the restaurant, holding the oversized pair of scissors, lent by the Chamber of Commerce, on the green ribbon closing the entrance, flashing her smile to the press assembled by Alexandra and making sure they all get a perfect shot of her looking at them as she cuts the ribbon.
When she does, and the ribbon falls under the applause of the small crowd, I pull on the string to reveal the new name to the restaurant:
Clover’s Nook
Unable to contain my excitement any further, I grab her by the waist and kiss her in front of everyone.
Fuck it feels good.
“Get a room!” my younger brothers holler.
“Finally!” Ethan bellows over them.
“Come here,” Clover says, grabbing my hand and pulling me inside. Seeming to remember we have an audience, she turns around and announces, “Please come in and admire the fantastic work of Thalia and Lucas!” just as waiters I’ve never seen start passing champagne flutes.
“Who are these people?” I whisper into her ear.
“I hired extras for the event. I want my staff to have fun here tonight!” She pulls me toward the office, then turns around and points at the ceiling. “Look.”
Thalia and Lucas exposed the original brick of the walls, and to make it cozier, they attached birch branches to the ceiling. Our initials are carved on one of the branches. “So I can see it coming out of the office.” Chloe smiles. “Isn’t it cool? I might want to work here for the rest of my life just to see that every night.”
I curl her inside my arms. “You’ll see a lot more of me, my sweet darling, but if working here every day is what brings you joy, then so be it.”
Her cheeks turn pink. “You sent those flowers, didn’t you?” she asks, her gaze drifting to the bar, where a massive bouquet of blush roses takes up… a lot of space.
Randy did good. “Why do you have to ask? Do you have a secret admirer?”
“There was no note.” She pretends to pout. Adorable.
I nibble her bottom lip. “Oh, I see what it is. My Clover wants written declarations.”
“Always,” she whispers in my ear. “Flowers die, but your words don’t.”
Duly noted. From now on, Clover will be getting a love note every week, wherever she is.
“Chloe!” Ethan takes Chloe in a warm bear hug as we walk back to the crowd. “Congratulations—and welcome to the family.”
Chloe blushes slightly as she stays under Ethan’s friendly arm. She turns her head up at him. “I hear congratulations are in order for you too?” She gives him a huge smile. “Or is it too early?”
Congratulations about what?
“Not too early. Actually, I wanted to book a table here. To… celebrate. When can you fit us?”
She pulls her phone out and starts typing in it. “For you, anytime. Tomorrow?”
“What are you celebrating?” I ask my brother.
He glances toward the door and smiles at one of our friends joining our group. “Our engagement.”
My jaw literally drops open. “Your what?”
“You heard me.”
“You got engaged? When?”
“Last night.” As Chloe steps away from him, he opens his arms and pulls our friend in.
“Wait—what—how did this happen? When?”
“Been ten years in the making, dude. You just had your head way too much up your ass to notice.”
“You got that right,” Haley says, worming herself between the new couple. “When’s the wedding?”
“Ours is first,” I grunt, pulling Chloe tight against me.
And for some reason, everyone laughs.
Sneaky Ethan! While his brother was fighting his demons to find his happily ever after, the oldest of the King brothers reconnected with his soul mate.
Read all about his ”short” visit to his hometown in Return To You. Flip to the next page here for the opening chapter.
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