Just One Reason Read online

  What could he possibly have to take care of on New Year’s Eve at almost midnight. “What’s his deal?” I asked when Ford was gone. Grady just shook his head, but I could tell that he knew something.

  “It’s probably about that girl,” Josh chimed in. Leah immediately snapped to attention.

  “What girl? Why don’t I know about this girl?” She asked Josh impatiently. Leah and I exchanged a glance. She had been worried about Ford being even more down than usual lately. I didn’t know him as well, so I wasn’t a good judge of his moods, but Leah was concerned.

  Before Josh could speak, Grady pulled me up and led me to the area of the living room reserved for dancing. Twirling me around and pulling me close against him, Grady nuzzled my neck. “I don’t want to talk about Ford’s issues tonight. I want to dance with my beautiful wife and kiss her at midnight.” I can’t argue with that.

  The band played a slow song while Grady held me close. When the countdown to midnight began, Grady pulled me outside onto the deck and away from everyone else. Shrugging out of his jacket, he wrapped it around my bare shoulders to keep me warm.

  The stars were shining in the clear winter sky. The air was cold, but Grady held me close. Six months ago I was floundering my way through my life. Now I had career goals, wonderful new friends, a gorgeous home, and most importantly, I had Grady. He was mine…forever.

  Grady framed my face with his hands and tilted my head so our eyes were locked. “I love you, Lindsay. More than you can ever know. I am the luckiest man in the world to have you as my wife.” He dropped one hand to my stomach. “And I can’t wait to bring our child into this world.”

  When the clock struck midnight, we kissed in the dark on the deck of the house Grady had built for me. For us. The details of that night would fade in the years to come, but I would always remember exchanging vows with Grady on New Year’s Eve. That night we officially joined our lives and hearts together and vowed to love each other forever.

  Epilogue

  Grady

  June 2017

  At exactly 5:00 I tossed my gloves on the work table, went into the bathroom to wash up and said goodbye to the guys. A few years ago I could work at the shop until the sun set, but not anymore. I had more important things to do with my free time.

  My bike sat in the garage on days like these. Instead, I drove my relatively new SUV through town to Josh and Leah’s house. I parked in the driveway and jogged up the front walk of the two story colonial house. Josh and Leah had bought this house last year when they found out Leah was pregnant again. The shop’s business had continued to grow steadily over the years, and I was able to give Josh enough of a raise that they could buy a bigger house. And Leah could stop working and stay home with the kids. Theirs and mine.

  “Hello!” I called, letting myself in the front door and going in search of my favorite little lady. I found her in the backyard playing Barbies with Leah and Maddy. Josh and Leah’s youngest, Liam, was asleep nearby in his bouncy seat.

  “Daddy!” She squealed when she saw me and came running over to jump into my waiting arms. This right here was my favorite part of the day. When I picked Brie up after work, she acted like it was Christmas morning when she saw me.

  “Hi, baby girl,” I said, picking her up and hugging her hard. “Did you have a good day?” She always had a good day. Her bubbly personality along with her light blonde curls and big blue eyes came from her mother. From me came her fiery temper and attitude. Although her mother wasn’t exactly lacking in those areas either.

  “Yes! We are playing Barbies, Daddy. Do you want to be Ken?” She asked with such a serious look on her face. Never in a million years would I have thought that playing with dolls would bring me such joy.

  I reached down to ruffle her hair as we walked over to Leah. “We have to go, Brie. We’re having dinner with Grandpa and Aunt Lana tonight.” She clapped her hands together and bounced up and down in excitement. It was so easy to make her happy. I said “hi” to Maddy, poked Liam’s tummy and thanked Leah for watching Brie. Then we gathered her stuff in her Dora backpack and headed out to the car.

  If one of Lindsay’s three twelve hour work shifts per week fell on a weekday, Brie stayed at Leah’s house while I worked. On those days I would pick her up and go to Lana’s house for dinner. Lana and dad got to spend time with her, and I didn’t have to cook. It was a win-win for everyone.

  Brie chattered while we drove the four blocks to Lana’s house, telling me everything she did during the day in great detail. The second I cut the engine in Lana’s driveway, Brie scrambled out of the backseat and ran up the walk. My dad was waiting on the porch for her.

  “Grampy!” Brie squealed and jumped on his lap. She stuck her hand in the pocket of his shirt searching for the bubblegum sucker that was always there. Lindsay and I were grateful my dad and Lana lived so close and Brie was able to have a close relationship with them.

  We visited Lindsay’s parents in the city a couple of times a year, and they always came for Brie’s birthday and Christmas. With the infrequency of the visits, Brie was three years old before she was able to remember them from the last visit.

  When we were first married, I worried that Lindsay would miss her life in the city. But not once did she ever give me that impression. After she finished her nursing degree she took a job at the hospital in the Labor and Delivery department. Lindsay felt she was well suited to help bring babies into the world. She had experienced both heartbreak and joy with her pregnancies.

  I left Brie with my dad on the porch and went to see if Lana needed any help with dinner. Our dinners rotated between grilled cheese, spaghetti and pizza - Brie’s favorites. Tonight was spaghetti with salad and garlic bread.

  Lana and Dad asked Brie questions about school all through dinner. She had just turned five and would be starting kindergarten in the fall. Lindsay teared up every time we talked about it, and I have to admit it is bittersweet. Seeing her grow into such a beautiful girl is priceless, but watching my baby grow up was also the hardest thing. And knowing we would likely never have another child made Brie all the more precious.

  Back at home we had enough time for a quick dip in the lake before it was bath time for Brie. Some of my favorite times were when the three of us were together, but I also loved the nights when it was just Brie and me.

  “Okay, baby girl. It’s time to head inside.” Brie jumped through the water toward the shore and held her arms up to me. It was our routine for her to ride on my shoulders back to the house. We went straight upstairs, and I deposited Brie in her bathroom.

  “Get undressed and go potty. I’ll be right back to get your shower started,” I told her. After ditching my swim trunks for cargo shorts I went back to get Brie in the shower. She loved the water and would stay in the shower for an hour if we let her. To move it along I helped wash her hair and let her play for five more minutes.

  Dressed in a pink nightgown, Brie stood on a stool in front of the mirror and brushed her teeth. She had yet to lose one, but every night she checked for any loose teeth. I was just struggling to brush through her wet blonde tangles when we heard the back door close downstairs.

  “Mommy’s home!” Bried cried through a mouthful of toothpaste. Perfect timing. I tried to be a hands-on dad, but fixing little girl hair was one area where I was seriously lacking talent. Lindsay appeared in the bathroom and simultaneously gave me a quick kiss and took the brush from my hands.

  I stepped back to admire my girls. Lindsay was wearing pink scrubs and had her hair pulled back in some kind of twisted bun thing. There was no mistaking they were mother and daughter. Lindsay expertly brushed out the tangles and twisted Brie’s hair into two pigtail braids. In the summer she liked to go to bed with her wet hair in braids. Apparently this produced “mermaid hair” in the morning when she took out the braids. I didn’t know what constituted mermaid hair - it just looked like wavy hair to me.

  As was our routine, Lindsay went to take a shower while I read a
couple of books to Brie and tucked her in. It was hard in the summer, because her 8:00 bedtime occurred before the sun went down. Sometimes she stalled with a request for a drink of water or an extra story, but tonight she settled right in. The swimming before bath probably helped to tire her out.

  Brie’s bedroom faced the opposite direction from our room, and was decorated in pale pink and bright turquoise. We had moved her to this room when she stopped sleeping in the crib. The room next to hers was the nursery, and we had left it as such - just in case we ever needed it again. Decorated in cream and pale green, it was gender neutral. Lindsay and I had decided not to find out the sex when she was pregnant with Brie. Sometimes people would ask if I wished I had a boy. I didn’t care either way, but honestly I was glad to have a girl. She was like a mini Lindsay.

  As I left Brie’s room and quietly closed her door behind me, I stopped to look at the framed photos lining the upstairs hallway. Lindsay did a great job decorating our house, but this was my favorite of all her projects. It was almost like a timeline of our life together.

  The first picture was one we stole from Lana - the picture of Lindsay and I on the beach together when we were teenagers. After that there were several pictures of me with my dad, Leah, Josh and Ford and Lindsay with Taryn and her family. These represented our time apart. It was still hard to think about that time when Lindsay was gone from my life, but each day we spent together since was made all the more special because of it.

  Next there was a group of pictures of Lindsay and me after we first got back together - Halloween, holding Maddy, hanging out at the pub, Thanksgiving in the city, Brie’s first ultrasound picture, our first Christmas together in our home. The largest picture of the whole group was an 8x10 of Lindsay and me on our wedding day. The photographer had captured the moment at the end of the ceremony just before we kissed, when we were holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes. The love we shared radiated from both of us.

  The last grouping of photos on the wall was of our life over these last few years - our honeymoon in the Florida Keys, Lindsay with her pregnant belly, the three of us in the hospital right after Brie was born, the night Lindsay’s uncle was elected President, Brie’s first birthday and every birthday since.

  There was still a small empty section at the end of the wall that I was sure would be filled with more memories before we knew it. We might have to extend this photo collage down the stairs.

  I could still hear the shower running in our bathroom, so I headed downstairs and cracked open two Coronas. This was also part of our routine on the days Lindsay worked. I always brought home leftovers from Lana’s and she ate on the deck while we watched the waves.

  Lindsay strolled out barefoot in shorts and a tank top with wet hair. “Do you want me to heat up your plate?” I asked her.

  “No, I’ll get it later. I just want to relax first,” she said, sitting on my lap and throwing her arms around my shoulders. I set my beer down to wrap my arms around her waist.

  Sitting on the deck of my house watching the sunset with my happy healthy child sleeping upstairs and my beautiful wife in my arms, I thought my life couldn’t possibly get any better.

  Lindsay pointed to her beer on the table beside us. “You’re going to have to drink that for me…because I’m pregnant.”

  And then it did.

  The End

  Just One Reason Playlist

  All Summer Long - Kid Rock

  Daylight - Maroon 5

  See You Again - Carrie Underwood

  Hey There Delilah - Plain White T’s

  Here Without You - 3 Doors Down

  Sex and Candy - Marcy Playground

  Lost in the Sun - Hinder

  Broken - Seether & Amy Lee

  The Little Things Give You Away - Linkin Park

  Wine After Whiskey - Carrie Underwood

  FMLYHM - Seether

  Fire and Fury - Skillet

  Salvation - Skillet

  Just Give Me a Reason - Pink & Nate Ruess

  The Reason - Hoobastank

  Make You Feel My Love - Adele

  With Arms Wide Open - Creed

  Love Will Take You - Angus & Julia Stone

  Marry Me - Train

  Hey Pretty Girl - Kip Moore

  About the Author

  Hello! I am an author of new adult and contemporary romance novels. My husband and I live in Columbus, Ohio with our two young daughters and happy golden retrievers. When I’m not spending time with my family, I can be found doing one of my other favorite activities - writing, reading and napping.

  Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed Just One Reason. If you haven’t read Taryn’s story, Safe With You, be sure to check it out. My next project is writing Ford’s story, which I hope to release in November 2013.

  My Books

  Safe With You

  Just One Reason

  Contact Me

  E-Mail: [email protected]

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorkirstendemuzio

  Blog: http://authorkirstendemuzio.com

  GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/7067558.kirsten_demuzio

  Safe With You

  Chapter One

  Smokin’ Hot

  On Monday afternoon I dodged puddles as I hurried along the sidewalk toward Starbucks. I had stayed after class to talk to my professor about the research paper I would be writing over the summer, and now I was 20 minutes later than normal to get my coffee. There was sure to be a long line by now. I had an hour between classes, and I visited this Starbucks every day for a coffee break. I was usually able to beat the rush and grab my favorite seat by the window, but not today. I groaned inwardly as I saw the line reaching almost out the door and shook out my umbrella before walking inside.

  Hopefully a table would free up by the time I got my coffee, otherwise I would have to drink my coffee outside in the rain. I smoothed my hair and busied myself with people watching while waiting for my turn. My eyes scanned the room full of NYU students talking or studying and stopped on the guy I had nicknamed Hot Coffee Guy – not because he was drinking hot coffee, but because he was smokin’ hot.

  I had first noticed him about two weeks ago, and he had been here every day since then – always here when I arrived and still here when I left. He sat at the same table near the Pick Up counter with his back to the wall. His hair was dark brown and short on the sides, but the top was just long enough to be a little messy. From what I could see of his body it was amazing – his gray shirt stretched snugly over broad shoulders and muscular arms.

  But it was his eyes that really got to me. On the few occasions I had glanced over when he had been looking at me, I was captivated by the intensity of his dark eyes, framed by thick black lashes, unable to look away. He was here today in his usual spot, looking mysterious and sexy as always, drinking his coffee and reading the paper.

  I was snapped back to reality by the Starbucks girl asking me for my order. As I moved to the Pick Up counter and waited on my drink I felt a hand on my lower back and tried my best not to scowl as I turned around to see Ryan Harper standing next to me. Our fathers had known each other forever – his was the mayor of New York City and mine was a US Senator from New York. Ever since he hit puberty and realized girls weren’t the enemy he had been trying to get me to go out with him.

  Three months ago I finally gave in. Two weeks ago I finally gave up. Even though we were great together in theory and he was classically handsome with dark blond hair and blue eyes, I found myself running through my To Do list when he kissed me. When he pushed me to get more physical, I knew it was time to break it off. I was relatively inexperienced, but I knew that I should want to get close to my boyfriend, not find excuses to push him away. As a connoisseur of steamy romance novels, I wanted the heat and the passion and the undying love. And I wasn’t willing to settle for anything less.

  I know my cousin, Lindsay, thinks that I’m crazy waiting around for something she doesn’t believe e
xists. But I know it will happen someday, and I also know my decision to break it off with Ryan was the right one. Apparently he disagreed. I had been fielding calls and texts from Ryan for the last week, and my patience was wearing thin.

  “Hey, Taryn. I left you a message yesterday,” he said, moving in too close for comfort.

  “Yes, Ryan, I got your message. And I was hoping you would get mine when I didn’t call back,” I snapped. I heard a low chuckle from behind me.

  “You’ve had enough time to cool off. Stop playing hard to get and come back to me.” Okay, that did it. Clearly politeness was not going to cut it.

  I narrowed my eyes and poked my finger into his chest, “You listen to me, Ryan Harper. We are never ever ever getting back together. Ever.” I harbored a secret obsession with country music, and I must have been channeling Taylor Swift at the moment. “I’m sorry to be so blunt, but you need to stop.”

  I grabbed my drink off the counter and tried to walk past him, but he snagged my wrist and practically whined, “Taryn…” I tried to pull my wrist free from his grasp when I sensed someone come up behind me.

  “I think the lady is done talking to you. Let her go or you’ll be talking to me outside,” a low deep voice rumbled. I didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. That sexy voice could only come from one person.

  Ryan looked from Hot Coffee Guy to me and back again, scowling, before releasing my wrist and walking away without another word. I hoped he would give up now, but somehow I doubted it. I turned around and stumbled back a step when I realized how close to me Hot Coffee Guy was standing. He gently held my elbow to steady me as I looked up at him. His eyes were so dark they were almost black and he was looking at me intently with a worried expression on his face.