The Brightest Sunset

He blew out a heavy groan. “In a way, I was in your shoes for a week and I almost broke. I have no idea how you did it for so long.”

“I don’t know, either. But it’s over now.” I pressed up onto my toes and whispered against his lips, “For both of us.”

“I still have Catherine’s stuff,” he admitted. “It’s in a storage unit across town. Everything from our furniture to her clothes. Picture albums, knickknacks. Whatever. I kept it all for the kids in case they ever want any of it. Especially Hannah. Are you going to be able to live with that if it happens one day?”

My breath caught in my throat. “That’s a long way in the future, Porter.”

“But it’s in the future, Charlotte. And, if this thing with us works out, it’s going to be in your future. And what about Travis?”

My body turned to granite, and my heart stopped at the very idea. “You think he’d want some of her stuff?”

“Now? No. He remembers being in the car with her. But he still loved her at one time. And I think, the older he gets and the closer he gets to you, the more he’ll realize how terrible the things she did really were. But I can’t swear that to you for sure.”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “I don’t know how I would ever handle that.”

He kissed my temple and murmured, “It’s not his fault, either. Just start preparing in case it ever happens. Every now and again, he’ll talk about her. It’s rare. But it does happen.”

I nodded and then buried my face in his chest, sending up a dozen prayers that that day would never come. We stood there for several minutes in the darkness, the light of the moon and the stars bearing down on us.

“So, can I talk to you about something serious right now?” he murmured.

I popped my head up. “More serious than your ex who kidnapped my son?”

He grinned. “Yes.”

“This doesn’t sound good.”

He trailed his hands down until they splayed over my ass. “Relax. It’s good. I promise. At least, for me, anyway.”

“Great,” I smarted.

He chuckled and bent low until his lips were at my ear, where he whispered, “You said you love me.”

My stomach dipped. “No. I didn’t.”

His grin became a full-blown smile. “Yeah, you did. You said that you knew I loved my kids and that was the biggest reason you love me.”

I huffed and rolled my eyes. “I meant…the biggest reason why I was falling in love with you.”

“Still?” he complained.

A laugh escaped my throat before I was able to stop it. “It’s only been a night, Porter. Remember, with a man like you, it’s a really long trip.”

He narrowed his eyes and hissed, “Liar.”

And I was. Because there wasn’t a man in the entire world who would ever be able to compare to Porter.

Not his warmth.

Not his understanding.

Not his heart.

And definitely not the way he loved.

So, for that reason alone, I looked up at him and whispered, “I am. Wholly and completely.”

He tipped his head to the side and arched an eyebrow. “Was that a riddle? You are what? A liar or in love with me?”

I shrugged. “I guess we’ll never know.”

Porter’s glare turned murderous, but his mouth split into a smile that stole my breath.

Less than a second later, the ground disappeared from beneath my feet and I found myself slung over his shoulder.

Laughing, he carried me back into the house.

I did my best to keep my giggles soft as he toted me down the hall and into the bedroom.

And then both of our laughter stopped when his mouth covered mine.

Twenty minutes later, as we lay sated in a tangled heap, I told Porter once and for all that I loved him.

He stared deep into my eyes, a million emotions cascading through his handsome features, and replied, “Too late now. I’ve already moved on.”

He was seriously insane.

But it was safe to say I was, in fact, wholly and completely in love with that man.

* * *

“What if they hate me?” she asked.

I took her hand in mine and laced our fingers together. “Oh, my mom definitely will.”

Her head snapped up. “Porter!”

Laughing, I kept my gaze aimed out the windshield and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “You didn’t let me finish. I meant, she’ll hate you for about ten seconds until she sees him and then she’ll love you.”

Charlotte looked at the kids in the back seat. Hannah was sound asleep in her car seat, as she was so often when we were in the car. Travis was sitting beside her, peering out the window, an epic smile covering his face.

He’d been smiling like that for a week.

And, soon enough, he’d be able to smile like that permanently.

For the last seven days, Charlotte and I had been playing a dangerous game. We were still a week out from a court date when we could hopefully have the order of protection lifted. However, we weren’t letting it stop us.

Since the day Charlotte had first called me to come over, there hadn’t been a night we hadn’t fallen asleep together. Half of those nights, when she had been positive no one would be stopping by, we’d stayed at her apartment. The other half, we’d stayed at my house. But it didn’t matter where we rested our heads. All that mattered was that we were doing it together.

And God, was I happy.

Every day, she laughed. Every day, my kids smiled. And, every day, I fell more and more in love with a life I desperately wanted to keep.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” she whispered. “Maybe we should wait until after our court date.”

I smirked. “Baby, my family is celebrating. That means you are celebrating.”

“I know, but the police literally just dropped your investigation, like, three hours ago. Maybe we shouldn’t push our luck with the law today.”

I turned down Tanner’s long, oak-covered driveway. “There was no luck involved in this. Quit stressing. We’re safe here. My parents aren’t going to be alerting the authorities.”

“I don’t know,” she mumbled. “It feels—”

“Good. That’s the word you’re looking for.” I smirked and shot her a wink. “But, if you think it feels good now, wait until you see me in a bathing suit.”

She’d been winding herself up since I’d told her that my family was having an impromptu cookout to celebrate my release from potential jailbird status. I’d yet to tell any of them about Charlotte and me being back together. And, since I hadn’t left her side at all, I’d been avoiding them. In that time, Travis hadn’t stopped asking about my parents or Tanner. Today seemed like a great opportunity to kill two birds with one surprise stone. And, with the temperatures well into the nineties, it was the perfect time to break Tanner’s pond in for the season.

Glaring at me, she asked, “It’s that bad, huh?”

“Bad?” My mouth fell open in mock horror. “Sweetheart, I fill out a pink Speedo better than any man you’ve ever seen.”

She blinked, her beautiful face completely blank. “Please, God, tell me you’re kidding.”

I was. But she knew that.

“Nope.”

“I’m such a lucky girl,” she deadpanned.

I lifted our joined hands to my lips and kissed her knuckles. “And don’t you forget it.”

“Hannie, wake up. We’re here!” Travis exclaimed as I put the car into park.

“Yay,” she croaked before her lids were even open.

I glanced to Charlotte who was staring up at the tall plantation house, nerves crinkling the corners of her eyes.

“It’s going to be fine,” I told her.

“You should have warned them that I was coming,” she whispered as the kids scrambled out of the car.

“And ruin the surprise? No way.”

She licked her lips and turned her panic-filled gaze on me. “I don’t want to be the surprise.”

I barked a laugh and slung my door open. “Good, little miss self-centered, because you’re not. He is. They probably won’t even notice you’re here for the first hour.”