Chapter 33
Two months later
“Hurry up, we’re going to be late for the church potluck!
” Grace called down the hall. Brett had already gotten the boys dressed and ready to go, but he was taking his sweet time in the shower.
She turned to Toby and Theo, playing on the blanket on the bedroom floor.
Theo was on his belly with his head held high, the pose resembling a turtle. “Your daddy’s a slowpoke.”
Brett emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, a towel slung low around his hips, and she sighed. Looking at that man never got old. He was as beautiful on the inside as he was on the out, and she loved him more every day.
“Just give me two minutes,” he said. A smile spread across his face as he took in her appreciative stare. “Unless you’d like to be really late for the potluck.” He lifted one eyebrow suggestively.
“Not a chance. John’s bringing his new girlfriend.
I want to make a good impression.” She’d run into him at the hospital last week and he’d damn near been glowing with happiness while he told Grace about her.
If anyone deserved to be happy, it was John, and she sincerely hoped this woman was the one.
Brett dropped his towel and put on black briefs, making her momentarily reconsider her desire to get to the church on time. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Theo roll onto his back. Her eyes went wide. “Did you see that? Theo rolled over!”
“He did? Damn it, I missed it.”
“Look at you!” she cooed to the baby. “My strong little man. Pretty soon you’re going to be crawling right out the door and off to college.” Theo babbled nonsense back to her as if they were having a conversation.
“You might be getting a little ahead of yourself.”
“Maybe just a little.” She crossed to the boys and picked up Toby.
“I’m going to get them in their carseats.
” She walked into the living room, picking up the mail in front of the door on her way by.
A large manilla envelope was addressed to Brett from Nature magazine, and Her gut clenched.
She went back to the bedroom. “The journal came.”
They sat on the edge of the bed as he opened it, the scent of his aftershave and soap tingling her nose. The cover read, “Genetic breakthrough of the century: murdered scientist posthumously awarded medal for her work.”
“She got the cover,” said Brett, his voice tight with emotion.
Grace put her hand on his thigh. “She deserved it.”
He flipped through the pages, her concerns over being on time for the potluck all but forgotten. She looked around the room, from Brett’s wet, slicked-back hair to the chubby twins playing on the blanket. She owed Joni for every bit of happiness in her life, and it wasn’t a debt she took lightly.
He closed the magazine and put it down, threading his fingers with Grace’s. “I miss her so much.” He shook his head. “I think I’ll always miss her. I wouldn’t have any of this without her. Not you, not the boys, none of it.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “Do you know how much I love you?”
“How much?”
She smiled against his warm, damp skin. “More than you could ever know.”
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it, his eyes darkening. “If you really love me, you’ll let us be late for the potluck.”
She grinned. “Maybe just a little.”
With one fluid movement, he scooped her up and dragged her to the middle of the bed, pinning the top of her body with his. She laughed wildly.
“I love you like crazy, Grace Bryant. Just give me thirty minutes to show you how much.”
Her heart melted at his words as her anxious mind objected. “Fifteen!”
“Twenty-five.”
“Twenty.”
“Done.” He lowered his head and kissed the sensitive column of her neck.
“Brett Champion wants to have sex with me,” she whispered.
His hand came up to her derrière and squeezed. “You bet your ass he does.”
Thank you for reading Fighting his Fate by Amy Gamet.