Taking Chances: A Donnelley Brother's Novel (22 page)

A tear fell from my eye and I sniffled again, hating the violent beating of my heart in my chest.

My mother spoke again. “And look at you now, Hadley. Look how alive you are, baby.”

I lifted my eyes to meet hers as I croaked. “Mom.”

My body was shaking so badly, she had to take my cup of hot chocolate from my trembling hands. And then I was in her arms, and somehow in her lap. I was a twenty-year-old woman and my mother was rocking me in her embrace as though I were two. In that moment, I was young again. I was at an utter loss as to what I was supposed to do from here, so I acted on instinct alone and I shoved my face into my mom’s neck and I cried. I cried endlessly as my mom hugged me tight, offering me the kind of strength that only mothers can, and then I was done. It was that simple.

Pulling back, I settled once again on the couch beside her. She wiped at her tears as I cleared mine with the sleeve of my pajamas, and then I reached for my white hot chocolate. Taking a long, much needed sip, I smiled a relieved smile.

“Thanks mom.”

She smiled too. “You’re beautiful, baby girl.” I felt my brow furrow as I glanced up at her in surprise and she continued. “That man, Collin, you’re in love with him?”

Well, if my mom didn’t know how to get right down to business. “I am.”

She nodded. “He’s very attractive.”

I blushed this time. “He is.”

“He’s a Donnelley, isn’t he?”

I nodded. “How did you know?”

“He looks a lot like Gracie.”

“He’s the only one.” I sighed. “The other three look more like their dad.”

My mom chuckled. “He loves you too.”

“I think so.”

“He does, Hadley. I could see it in his eyes.”

I sighed, feeling heavy hearted. “I wish he were here, mom.”

“You’ve been with him?” She asked the tender question gently.

I stiffened, feeling a whole lot of shock at her question. “Um...”

“I’m your mother, honey, I already know. I’m just asking for clarification. I want to know you were safe.”

My face was on fire. “Yes.” I answered to her first question. “And yes, we were safe.”

She nodded. “You’re a lucky girl, honey, but that boy has everything and luck if he has you. Have you considered what you’re going to do?”

“What do you mean?” I pulled a cookie from the plate, munching on the edge.

“He lives in Alberta and you live here. Have you discussed how you’re going to continue your relationship?”

Oh God...

“Mom.” I pulled in a deep breath. “We haven’t discussed it, but I know I want to be there now. Even if I don’t end up with Collin - that life, it’s not something I can give up.”

She blinked slowly, before replying softly. “I knew you would fall in love with that land.”

“I did.” I smiled. “Michael would have adored it, mom.”

Her eyes misted. “I know, baby girl.”

For hours, my mother and I talked like best friends. And when we were finally ready for sleep, we curled onto the couch together and slept side by side. Once again, I felt like I was her baby.

Chapter 19

I’d been home for three days. Dad was doing better now and the doctor said he should be ready for release tomorrow. I was excited. I was excited for him to come home, for a chance to help my parents get back into a routine of life with no children in the house, and I was excited to return to the Ranch. I was excited to return to Collin.

I hadn’t talked to Collin since I left the Ranch three days ago. I missed him terribly, but I didn’t know his number by heart and I’d forgotten to take my cell phone with me when I’d left. I had only one way to contact him - and that was by first contacting Gracie. I know what it means to Collin that he tell his mom about our relationship in person, face to face, and I didn’t want to contact her to ask for his number in case he hadn’t already spoken to her about me. But with every passing day, my strength to abstain from calling Gracie was waning.

I missed Collin and I needed him. Even now, as I stood in the kitchen staring at the coffee pot, my heart was knocking in my chest - aching for him. For so long, the man had brought me my morning coffee. Ever since that disaster of a morning I had walked in on him and Gracie arguing about me, Collin had brought me a coffee bright and early, which I had always appreciated. Kami had been startled to find that Collin had begun rising with the sun rather than partying with the moon. She’d informed me that he was a late sleeper and an up all night kind of guy. Until he’d met me, anyway. When he met me, something changed. He traded in his late nights for early mornings, his clubs for long trail walks, and mindless sex for real feelings. Collin had changed for the better. And I truly believed he was happy. His friendship with me had opened his eyes to a new way of living. I believe, wholeheartedly, that if I would have given into his tempting provocations to fall into his bed, that I never would have known the true man who walked behind the confident exterior. But I hadn’t given in. My friendship had opened the lock that guarded his heavily protected heart in ways I sensed many other women had tried, repeatedly, to do.

Shaking the thought from my mind, I glared once more at the coffee pot when the doorbell rang. Sighing heavily, I padded my pajama clad body to the front door. Pulling it open, the image that met me brought tears to my eyes.

Collin stood on the step - looking delicious from head to toe. He had two coffees with him and I just knew one was for me. I stood, frozen. And then I charged him.

Laughing, Collin held me close with coffee occupied hands. I felt his lips press against the top of my head and I inhaled deeply, knowing that I never wanted to go another three days without inhaling this scent - his scent.

“You’re here.” I whispered, pulling back to look up at him. “You’re really here.”

“You forgot your phone.” He shrugged. “I didn’t know how to get a hold of you.”

I laughed. “Oh, God!” I smiled. “That damn phone!”

He chuckled. “Can I come in? Maybe we can have coffee?”

“Oh.” I nodded. “I’m so sorry. I’m just so surprised you’re here. I was literally just pouting at the coffee pot that I had to make my own coffee.”

He stepped into the entrance, his eyes growing as he took in the massiveness that was my childhood home before he replied. “I figured you’d be jonesing for a coffee - from me.”

“You have no idea!” I snatched my coffee and took a sip before sighing audibly. “Oh, you’re amazing.”

He quirked a grin, shifting in place. “So, you want to show me around?” He winked. “You have no idea what I had to do to get here.”

I took his hand and led him through the house to the back patio. Sinking down into the cushioned chair across from him, I asked. “What did you have to do to get here?”

“Well, I went to Logan first. He uh...” he blushed. Yes, Collin Donnelley was blushing. This was a moment to be written in the books for history. “He went through something like this with Reese. She’d been with him at the Ranch and then she’d left - and she hadn’t been answering his calls. So, he needed her address. That’s where I got the idea of getting your address from.” He paused and his face grew even redder. I watched in fascination as he breathed out a long breath of air from between nervous lips. “So, I asked him if he’d convince Reese to get your address from the paperwork in the office. It’s in a locked cabinet and only Reese, my mom, and dad have a key.”

“Go on.” I prompted eagerly when he paused.

“You’re trying to torture me.” He accused heartily.

“I’ve never seen you blush.” I admitted with a giggle. “I want to know what happened to make you so pretty and pink.”

He glared through narrowed eyes. “Hadley.”

“Get on with it.” I winked. “Do it like a band aid - quick and painless.”

“This won’t be quick or painless - hell, the memory is a thousand times better than the reality, and the memory sucks.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Anyway, Reese refused to help me. She then forced John, my father, to refuse to help me. I know, because I asked for his help. He told me that if he helped me, Reese was going to name his grandbaby something ridiculously obscene.” He shook his head. “Reese never would have done that - not to her baby, but dad didn’t want to take the risk of being responsible for something like that.”

I laughed. I liked this story. “So you had to go to Gracie?”

“Yeah.” He grumbled. “I had to go to my mom.”

“And?” I could barely sit still in my seat.

Gracie was an adorable, wonderful, hilarious woman - but she was also a little demon when it came to playing Cupid. I’d heard all the brothers and their suspicions when it came to their mother. However, Reese and Kami adamantly denied any Gracie involvement in their relationships, so I wasn’t sure which side I sat on as of yet.

“She forced me to admit my feelings for you, which wasn’t the bad part. I wanted to reveal our relationship together - to everyone. But mom was having none of it.” He shook his head. “She was so excited that I was finally -
settling down
.”

“Don’t sound so excited!” I teased. “And who said we were settling down?”

His eyes connected with mine. “You’re moving in with me, Hadley.” His voice was serious and I felt my belly flutter. “I’ve never been with a woman like you and I’ll never want to be with any other. You’re it for me - I know that now.”

Wow. Collin Donnelley was admitting, outright, that I was it for him. What exactly had happened in the last three days?

I tried to calm the beating of my heart as I asked. “I’m it for you?”

He nodded. “No doubt in my mind, love.”

Oh, I
loved
it when he called me love. Smiling, I replied, “There’s no doubt in mine either.”

Collin grinned. “Maybe one day I’ll tell you what my mom made me do - for something as trivial as your address.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I still don’t even know how she had the mind to come up with something so embarrassingly elaborate in such a short time, but shit,” he paused and his spine straightened. “It was Reese. She went to mom - it had to have been Reese!” He stood, running his hands through his hair as he growled low under his breath. “Damn, baby...”

“What?” I stood with him, catching his arms in my hands. “What’s wrong? What did she make you do?”

“I’ve been played.”

***

Four weeks had passed since dad had his heart attack. Thankfully, it hadn’t been a severe attack and his recovery was quick, and for the most part, painless. To my surprised relief and my mothers joy, Collin had remained in Toronto for my father’s entire recovery. I can’t say my father shared mine, and my mother’s excitement at Collin’s presence. As a matter of fact, for the first few days, my father had been downright unkind. After a private meeting in dad’s office, to which mom refused to allow me to eavesdrop, the two men had found some sort of truce. I’d asked Collin repeatedly to share the contents of that conversation, but he’d adamantly refused. Although I was somewhat pouty about the information withheld from me, I’d gotten over it quickly when dad and Collin’s relationship became cordial, and then friendly. Now, they were annoyingly inseparable.

Jackson had covered every tour Collin had been booked for, saving Collin a lot of heartache in cancelling tours - because he said he wasn’t returning home without me. He’d been a rock in the household that had only, a few months ago, been entirely stable. Michael’s death had rocked us all, tilting our very world onto its axis. At first, I think it hurt my parents to have a man in the house that was so close in age to Mike’s, but their discomfort had passed and in its place there was an ease of acceptance that warmed my heart for the man I loved.

It was the twenty-eighth of August and we were leaving Toronto in the morning for the Ranch. My parents had declared they were spending the night in a hotel tonight as they were entitled to such a date since their daughter was grown and moving out with a man. I’d protested endlessly. This was our last evening at the house in Toronto and my parents had decided that this was the night to spend in a hotel? Seriously?

If it weren’t for Collin, I would have harassed them to no end, but after he told me they needed this, I gave in. Again, with a pout.

I tossed another shirt into the suitcase I had laying on my bed in my childhood room - the room I was giving up for a new room I would share with a man I loved. Then I popped a hip and demanded, “Do you think mom’s acting weird?”

Collin raised a brow from where he was studying a sparkly pin board with pictures of myself and Michael on our unplanned trip to Mexico. “Uh, not any weirder than normal.”

“My mom’s not weird.” I informed in defense. “But she’s been acting weird. Odd. Like she’s excited - that I’m leaving.” I frowned and my voice raised an octave. “Do you think she’s happy I’m moving out?”

Collin laughed, shaking his head as he rounded the foot of my bed to pull me against his hard chest. “Beautiful, I think your parents are happy to have each other. They’re happy to know you’re happy and they might even be happy that they no longer have to worry about their daughters eye catching them walking around in their birthday suit.”

“Eww!” I planted my palm in his chest to push him away. “My parents do not walk around the house naked!”

“Not when you’re here.”

My mouth dropped and he grinned. I was determined to set him straight. “My parents don’t do - that. Eww. Collin! They’re my parents!”

“And they love you - but most of all, they’re your parents, Hadley. They definitely get into their birthday suit.” His grin was torturous. “How do you think you came about?”

I covered my ears. “You’re gross. I’m sorry I asked. I don’t want to hear another word.” I lowered my hands and when his lips parted, I jumped back away from him, screeching. “Not another word, Collin!”

I ran for my bathroom and as a hand slipped around my waist, all thoughts of my parents - and the quick escape I had been working toward faded from my mind - and I sank into the man I knew I would love until the end of my days.

***

We arrived at the Ranch - which was now my permanent home by three in the afternoon. After stopping in Calgary for lunch and doing a bit of shopping, Collin drove us home. To my surprise, he’d moved everything that had been in my little cabin to his house during the three days I’d been in Toronto without him. Half of his closet had been cleared for my clothes. I had drawers in his dresser and the nightstand furthest from the bedroom door had been cleared for me - as that is the side of the bed I would be sleeping on. He’d informed me, matter of fact, that women should always sleep furthest from the door because it was the mans job to protect them from intruders. When he’d told me this, I’d shaken my head and smirked - but secretly I thought it was freaking adorable.