Total pages in book: 209
Estimated words: 196085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 980(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 196085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 980(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
The last thing we talked about before she fell asleep was the dark-haired girl back at the festival. It’s her ‘sister’ of sorts. She made me promise I would do what I could to get her away as well, and I can’t say no to my baby, so I’ll get to figuring that out as soon as I can.
Tomorrow, Kezia will be wearing an engagement ring. She asked me how I knew they had taken her, so I had to admit the little gold ankle bracelet and charm I gave her was also a GPS tracker.
She twisted up her face for a second, pretending to be mad pointing a finger at my nose. It didn’t last. I told her I would keep her safe, and that is what I’ll do.
My little sprite. She will finally have her home.
And so will I.
CHAPTER 14
KEZIA
“I still feel like I’m dreaming.” I look up at the gazebo covered with lilacs and peonies, the sweet scent of the flowers still hanging in the air hours after we were married inside the white structure in the center of the town park. It’s only been less than two weeks since the day we met, and now we are husband and wife.
“Then let’s never wake up.” Merrick pulls me next to him. I haven’t been out of his sight since the day at the diner and I wonder how he’s ever going to go back to work and leave me.
He’s talked about hiring me a bodyguard, but with the way he and his friends and family have rallied around me, I don’t think that’s going to be necessary.
I reach up and put my hand on his hard jaw, the enormous ruby and diamond ring making my fingers look more doll-like than ever before. The sun is casting a pink and orange glow on the clouds as we walk back into the gazebo.
I think back just a few hours ago, Summer and Genevieve stood by me, each holding onto a pink leash so Rosy and Eleanor could be my maids-of-honor as well. Merrick went back to the fair the day after everything happened along with five other deputies and plucked Genevieve out of the mess.
He offered her a place to stay, a new life, and although she was conflicted, she came with us and her life is evolving as well. She’s staying at the house and will watch the dogs while we’re on our honeymoon.
“I just wanted to see you in here one more time. I’d marry you a million times if I could. Today was the happiest day of my life. You’re mine in every way, Kezia, little one.” He kisses my forehead and even that simple gesture sends a shiver over my skin and a pulse into my girl parts.
“I love you a million, trillion, bazillion times.” I look up at him, my hair blowing in my face as my bare feet peek out from under the ruffled hem of my wedding dress.
“You are my everything.” Merrick licks his lips and his eyes have that far off look they get sometimes.
“What is it? Are you happy or…”
“The happiest I’ve ever been. I just…” He pauses, looking up at the twinkling lights in the structure. “How this all happened, you, me, us, your life…no one could have written that.”
“Like I said, it feels like a dream.” I smile, the flash of everything that’s happened winding through me. “I mean, finding you was one thing, but finding my birth mother? A twin sister? What are the odds?”
“Like you said, a million, trillion, bazillion to one.”
I’d always known I was born in Roscommon County. I was told my mother was single, underage, and had given me away, but any other details were always vague.
It was more than a shock to process that I’d found my birth mother and my Daddy all at the same time and in the same place.
Margaret is still processing as well. She’d grieved for nineteen years because the doctor and nurse told her I had died shortly after delivery. She had no power, she begged to see me, but they refused.
I was sold.
I shiver, then Merrick wraps his hands around my waist and pulls me against him and I feel safe again. I feel the hard length of his nearly-constant erection pressing into my hip.
Resting my head on his chest, I listen to his slow, even heartbeat. I have a husband, a man I’m still getting to know in so many ways, but one I feel like I’ve known forever.
I have a mother, a sister and a family. A real family. And I’ve been more loved in the short time since I went to get that coffee with Merrick than I have in my entire life.
“Are you ready to start our life, Mrs. Merrick Webster? The limo is waiting to take us to the airport.”