A Promise of Forever
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Authors: M. E. Brady
A Promise of Forever
By M. E. Brady
A Promise of Forever
Published by M. E. Brady
Copyright © 2012 M. E. Brady
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by means mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written consent of the publisher.
The right of Brady to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.
All characters in this publication are fictional.
Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
Edited by Dennis DeRose
,
[email protected]
Cover design by Digital Donna
,
DigitalDonna.com
Digital edition produced by Maureen Cutajar,
www.gopublished.com
Thank you to Kevin, the love of my life and my own personal hero.
Thank you for unending support and encouragement.
To Ed & Eileen Moore, the inspiration behind writing romances.
To Pete & Eleanor Brady; who we miss terribly and know would have been proud.
To the Moore and Brady siblings; and my closest and dearest friends, you know who you are, Thank you for all the support and encouragement.
To Mom, for loving each manuscript I gave her to read, more than the one before.
To Barbara, my sister and friend, Thank you for being my loudest cheerleader, my soundboard and my super promoter.
To Kathy, Rosa, Barbara, Katie, Erin and Jen, Thank you for the support and love.
To the wives of the Plumbers Union Local 1 of New York, who would read my manuscripts around the pool and encourage me to write the next story.
They were my earliest fans.
To all of you, Thank you.
To my editor, Dennis DeRose, who pushes me to do better and is always looking for a new way to help me realize my dream.
Thank you.
Finally, to my children, Jennifer, Katelyn and Kevin Jr., I love you all and appreciate your faith in me.
Thank you.
A Promise of Forever
MaryEllen is originally from Rockaway Beach, NY.
She resides in Middletown, NY with her husband Kevin of 34 years.
They have three children; Jennifer, Katelyn, Kevin Jr. and one grandchild, Morgan.
MaryEllen has always dreamed of one day becoming a published writer and loves the idea of sharing her stories of love and romance with other people.
She’s grateful to have a supportive family and terrific friends who have always encouraged her to continue with her writing.
It was because of them that her dream was kept alive.
Billionaire business tycoon Gianfranco Broccolini swore he would never return to New York but his past needed to be reckoned with.
He was back, this time to claim what he gave up seven years earlier.
He had his reasons for letting her go then; he wouldn’t make that mistake a second time.
Gianfranco fell in love with his best friend’s sister more than seven years ago.
The one woman he couldn’t possess.
The one woman he waited long enough to claim as his.
Single mother and successful journalist, Katelyn Donavan thought her life was going exactly as she planned, she was happy.
She had no interest in getting married; single motherhood was working for her.
That was, until the dark Italian; once her knight in shining armor, came barreling back into town.
Would the scorching, sexual chemistry they once felt for each other resurface?
She couldn’t afford to have her heart torn apart a second time; there would be no recovering from it this time.
Gianfranco Broccolini had to be off limits to her, regardless of the unfinished past between them and what they felt when they were in each other’s presence.
Especially, if she wanted to protect the secret she kept hidden from him and everyone else.
Katelyn sighed, this was the third time today that Adam bought the same discussion to her.
“We’ve been over this before, Katelyn; you need to decide where we are going with this relationship.
I hadn’t intended on being your friend forever,” he said in an irritated but polite voice.
“How do you feel about me?” he questioned yet again.
He had that look on his face, the same look he had when he first tried to convince her that it was time for them to take the next step.
The look said he knew better than she what was good for both her and her daughter.
He maintained his conviction that it was time that her daughter had a man in her life, a father figure.
“You and I are good together.
Besides, you said yourself, Jenny could use a father figure in her life, now that Kevin lives in Montana.”
Katelyn hated feeling cornered like this but she did understand the way Adam felt.
There is no doubt in my mind that he deserves better from our friendship; Jenny deserves a father in her life too, but at what expense to me?
“You continually evade the subject whenever I bring it up.
This time we both need to make a choice.”
Adam stared out at the traffic that sped by the restaurant window, glancing away from the eyes of the woman he loved so deeply; he had never felt this way about anyone before.
How insignificant each car is in the big scheme of things;
that was exactly how he felt at this moment.
Katelyn loved another man and he knew that.
He wished that she could feel that way about him and believed in time it would happen.
He knew, by looking into those emerald eyes, that she was second-guessing their entire relationship.
He turned back, held her hand in his and focused his attention on her.
He studied her eyes and all the secrets that she kept hidden behind them.
As beautiful as her eyes were, he sometimes resented the lies they couldn’t hide.
Adam let out an exasperated sigh; he let her hand drop to the table.
“I don’t know how to convince you that it’s time to move on?
I’m not sure what else I can do or say to you.
Whoever he was, Katelyn, he’s a part of your past and that’s where he should stay.
He didn’t care enough to stick around.
If he did, he never would have left you to raise a child on your own.
I promise, I’ll take care of both of you,” he assured her.
Her heart beat a little faster as she contemplated what to say in return.
Katelyn knew, in her heart of hearts, that she couldn’t possibly give him the answer he was searching for.
She wasn’t ready to commit and didn’t know if she would be ready any time soon.
“I have no doubt in my mind that your intentions are noble.
I know that I’ve kept you waiting, inadvertently leading you to believe that I would be able to take this friendship to the next level.
Truthfully, I’m afraid it’s always been just me and Jenny.
I know I haven’t told you anything about Jenny’s father.
Honestly, I’ve never told anyone about him.
I promised myself a long time ago that I would never let Jenny get hurt by him or any other man in my life.
And, for that reason, dating has been out of the question for me since him.”
For the first time since this conversation started, she caught a glimpse of a smile on his face.
Katelyn knew Adam cared about her deeply but she also knew that his family would never accept Jenny as one of their own.
So, to her their friendship was always a safe and non-threatening.
Katelyn felt sorry for Adam as he gently stroked her hand.
He was a good man and had been a good friend to her for a few years now.
“I hadn’t expected this subject to come up with you.
I thought you understood,” she said feeling a little cornered.
His dad, Jack Taylor, would always see Jenny as a liability, not measuring up to his idea of the perfect family.
He would never accept another man’s child into his family.
To him, Jenny would always be another man’s bastard child.
She had come to know Jack Taylor, perhaps better than his own son knew him.
She had had numerous run-ins with him at work.
It took years to prove herself to him.
Jack Taylor was old school and he believed that women should know their place; though he never acted so, openly.
She gently stroked the side of Adam’s face and hoped that he would acknowledge that they were inevitably going to be friends and nothing more.
“
I’m flattered that you want more but
…” she wanted to begin to explain but, once again, he interrupted her train of thought.
It was obvious to her he didn’t want to hear what she had to say.
“No buts,” he said.
Katelyn smiled, bit her lip nervously and then continued.
“I’m not ready to make the commitment you’re looking for and it wouldn’t be fair to keep you waiting, hoping that I’ll change my mind.” she added.
Adam looked intently into the green eyes that had captivated him since the first time he saw them and smiled.
“I won’t take no for an answer.
As a matter of fact, don’t answer me today.
Think about it, give it a week.
You said yourself that you missed your brother and that you wanted to go out to Montana to visit him.
Call Kevin tonight; make arrangements and go.
While you’re both there, take time to think about us.
Write down all the reasons you can think of, pro and con, about our relationship.
If, at the end of the week, you feel that there are more reasons for us to go our separate ways, rather than stay together, I promise to accept your decision.”
Katelyn knew that Adam was hoping that Kevin would side with him.
It had been a long time since she and Jenny had seen Kevin and Sylvia, her brother and sister in law.
Kevin had been the focus of her life for a long time, before Jenny was born.
He was all she had left when their parents were killed in a car accident while on their first vacation away from them.
She was still in high school at the time and she didn’t think she would have survived without her brother.
Adam was right; she should go visit Kevin, but for different reasons.
“I just finished the Matlin story.
I only hope that your father appreciates all the work that went into getting it done on time, without my getting killed.”
Adam rested his hand on the table thoughtfully.
He knew the amount of time she put into that story and the danger she put herself into by getting it.
Katelyn had a way of making people talk, even the ones who never shared their lives with anyone.
It was one of the reasons he was drawn to her.
“I will arrange everything with my father.
If I have to, I’ll threaten to do his next story myself if he throws a wrench into your vacation.
I promise that will scare him enough not to interfere.”
They both laughed, lightening the mood of their conversation.
Adam was not a journalist, nor did he ever want to be.
His father pushed him into the family business and Adam’s only job was to pretty much stay in the background.
He was a huge disappointment to his father.
These days he handled the finances in the accounting department.
He oversaw all the investments made on behalf of the magazine.
It was the one place his father thought he couldn’t get into trouble.
He had a great team behind him who did all of the work and Adam’s only job was to report back to his father with the spreadsheets.
Jack Taylor was sure his son couldn’t screw up in that department.
He was a figure head and everyone knew it.
Adam kissed her hand, almost afraid that by kissing her she would deny him the future he craved.
Adam is so different from Gianfranco Broccolini.
Funny, but up until this moment, I never compared the two.
She tried not to think about Gianfranco these days.
Thinking about him and what they had once shared only caused her pain.
It was as though she could feel him in this room, warning her against making any hasty decisions about a future with Adam.
Nothing is ever easy.
It was sort of amusing that she found herself in this position.
Years ago, I would have given anything not to have had to raise Jenny alone
.
She spent most of her young adult life fantasizing about the return of the infamous Gianfranco Broccolini.
He never came and she had long ago given up her childish dream of their becoming a family.
Her only consolation was the child he had unknowingly fathered.
Katelyn and Adam stood for a moment before leaving the restaurant and then walked out the door.
They walked back to the office instead of using the car that had been waiting for them.
The two of them walked the entire way without exchanging a word and entered the building in the same fashion.
The silence between them was deafening.
They knew that their relationship was at a crossroad and each had very different ideas about where it was taking them.
As they came to her desk, she shuffled papers that were in a manila folder, trying to act as if it were intended.
Before she had time to look up and speak to Adam, her intercom sounded and the receptionist broke in.
“Miss Donavan, Jack Taylor is on line three for you.
He would like to set up a meeting with you for this afternoon if that is convenient for you.” Margie, the receptionist, said into the intercom.
“That would be fine, Margie.
Could you set it up for me?
Anytime would be great.”
She glanced over at Adam, who had already started to walk away; she told him she would talk to him later in the day.
“I have a meeting with your father this afternoon.
I’m sure it’s about the Matlin story and I’m hoping it meets with his satisfaction.
If everything goes well, I could be packing and on my way to Montana by this evening,” she added.
Adam smiled and left Katelyn to finish the work that was quickly accumulating on her desk.
When Margie called her back later on that morning with the details of her meeting, Katelyn found it odd that Jack chose to meet at a restaurant, rather than his office, but she didn’t have time to think about it.
I’ll never get to my meeting if I don’t start to clean up this mess
.
All morning, she made one error after the other, simple mistakes that only a greenhorn would make.
She wasn’t superstitious or anything but it seemed like fate was trying to tell her something or, better yet, warn her of some impending futurity.
She shook her head and quickly dismissed that notion as ridiculous.
What’s wrong with me?
Why can’t I shake this crazy feeling?
She was feeling completely dumbfounded and frazzled.
Something had her on edge and this was not the way she wanted to feel going into a meeting with Jack Taylor.
She needed to be on her game but her sixth sense was working overtime.
Even as a child she had the gift of premonition.
She reached for the phone and had the receptionist confirm that her meeting was still on and that its location was the same.
She was glad to hear it was confirmed because anything to get her away from her ominous thoughts was a good thing.
Glancing at the clock, Katelyn knew she should leave.
She had just enough time to go to the ladies’ room and freshen up before her meeting.
She sparred with herself in the ladies’ room as she looked into the mirror
.
I have to forget about all this doom and gloom.
She dabbed her face with cool water and reapplied what little makeup she did wear.
Her thoughts returned to Kevin; calmness followed close behind.
Thinking of him could always make her feel settled and secure.
She couldn’t wait to see him.
She needed to see him.
Perhaps she was getting worked up over nothing or maybe it was Adam’s suggestion that they take their friendship to the next level that had her on edge.
She didn’t know.
Katelyn had always hoped that when the time came to make the decision to marry someone that that someone would be Gianfranco Broccolini.
Adam was tall, blonde, rich and safe, or so she thought.
He was everything many women desired but she wanted his friendship and nothing more.
She was sure of that.
The elevator doors opened and the Taylor limousine was waiting at the curb as she came through the revolving door.
The driver opened the door for her and greeted her warmly.
“Mr. Taylor went on ahead I’m afraid; he asked that I deliver you safely to the restaurant of his choice.
If there is anything I can get you, just let me know,” the chauffeur added politely.
Katelyn just smiled and shook her head.
There was nothing she needed but…
I wonder if he can get rid of this feeling of uneasiness, I’m experiencing.