I pointed at him, then at my mother. “Are you saying . . . that you’ve been here like BEEN here?” I asked, my voice raised.

Mother looked almost guilty, and my father squeezed her hand. “Yes, Marcus. That’s what I mean. I’ve been in love with your mother for the largest portion of my life. When work stress got to me and I was working more than I was at home, I made a mistake that would have destroyed most families. But your mother was there for you kids. She kept the three of you together and helped you heal.”

I stared at my mother. “And you’re just . . . letting him back in?” I asked, remembering the days I had held her while she cried and I swore I would hate my father for the rest of my life.

“I didn’t let him in easily, if that’s what you’re thinking. He worked for it for a while. But I love your father. A small portion of what happened was my fault too. I had neglected his needs and put my organizations above him. I’m not giving him an excuse, because what he did wasn’t excusable, and I swore I’d never forgive him. But I have found that when you love someone, you can forgive just about anything. Eventually.”

This time I sat down. I needed a minute.

“This isn’t how we wanted you or Amanda to find out. We were going to go through with the divorce and slowly ease you both into having family dinners where I attended. We intended to be careful with your emotions and let you accept it over time. However, Tawny decided to run off, so everything changed.”

“So you’re still married to her?” I asked, looking at my parents’ hands still joined.

“No. She left the signed divorce papers on the kitchen table with a note that she couldn’t take Larissa. And that was it. Nothing else.”

Shit. How was the woman I adored more than life related to this heartless bitch? It was a question I had asked myself more than once over the years.

“Larissa is going to come stay here. With us,” my mother said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“What?” I asked, again thrown into shock.

Mother tilted her head and leveled her eyes at me. “You know I love that child. Once I got over everything, I started letting Amanda bring Larissa around. I’ve grown attached. She needs a mother right now, and I intend to give her the love she needs. If Amanda is okay with it, I’m going to turn her room into Larissa’s. My hope is Tawny will grow up and come back to be a part of her daughter’s life. But until that day comes, I will be this little girl’s mother. She laughs like my own baby girl did once, and when she smiles she looks just like the daughter-in-law I love dearly. She even has Willow’s mannerisms. And then I see your father in her too. Nothing about that little girl isn’t lovable.”

Larissa was charming. But my mother was willing take her in? And love her? Holy shit, the woman really was a saint. I’d always put my mother on a pedestal, but now I saw that she deserved it. Shaking my head, I stood up. I needed to go home and talk to Low. She would help me deal with all this.

“I can’t . . . I just . . . I need to go,” I said, then turned and walked to the door.

“I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry that I lost myself and that I put too much on you as you were growing up. I messed up, Marcus. I’m sorry, Son. But I do love you, and I am so damn proud of the man you’ve become. You have a wonderful mother.”

I stopped and turned to look at him. I needed to say this, and I needed to say it now before I let this fester until I blew up.

“Cherish her, then. For the rest of your goddamn life you’d better cherish that woman. If you ever hurt her again, you won’t get a third chance. I’ll make sure you don’t get much of anything. I was a kid when you left her last time. I’m a grown man now, and you’d better not f**k this up.”

I didn’t wait for him to speak. I left the house.

Willow

Larissa was tucked in tight on the bottom bunk of Eli’s bunk bed. She had been asleep for the past ten minutes. Eli, on the other hand, was just now finally giving up and closing his little eyes. I knew he was waiting on Marcus, and I tried everything I could to get him to go on to sleep. But he was determined to kiss his daddy good night.

The front door opened and closed, and Eli’s little eyes snapped back open. He looked at me with a sleepy smile. “Daddy’s home?”

I nodded. “Yeah, baby, he is,” I whispered.

Marcus filled the doorway, then walked into the dark room. He pulled me to him and kissed my head. Something was wrong. I could feel it in the way he was holding on to me. Like I was his lifeline.

“Daddy,” Eli whispered, and Marcus’s head turned. He let me go and went to stand by the top bunk as Eli rubbed his eyes and sat up.

“You still awake, buddy?” he asked.

“Waiting on you,” Eli said, as if that made complete sense and Marcus should know this.

“I’m sorry, dude. I had to go see Grana and help her with something. Tomorrow it’s movie night. Me and you,” he told him, ruffling his hair, then kissing him on the forehead.

“Can Momma and Larissa watch it with us?” he asked.

Marcus paused a minute. I wondered if Tawny had returned. “Larissa is going to go visit with Grana tomorrow and stay there a little bit. But Momma can watch it with us. I bet she’ll even make us popcorn,” Marcus told him.

Why on earth was Larissa going to my mother-in-law’s? To swim with Amanda? It just seemed odd. I mean, she’d been there before, but still, why now?

“Will you, Momma?” Eli asked.

I smiled quickly and nodded. “Yes, sir. I might even make brownies, too.”

Eli did I small whoop and gave his dad a high-five.

“Shh, you two. Larissa is asleep,” I reminded them.

Marcus leaned over and kissed Eli’s cheek. Eli lay back down while Marcus pulled his covers back up. “Sleep tight, buddy,” he said. “I love you.”

“Love you too, Daddy,” Eli replied.

Marcus bent down and brushed Larissa’s curls off her face, then kissed her forehead. “My princess has some hard days ahead. But I think things are going to be okay,” he said quietly as he stood back up.

His hand slipped into mine and he led me out of the room.

He kept going until we got to our bedroom. Closing the door, he locked it, which was a habit most nights. Eli had once walked in on us doing things we’d had a hard time explaining. We were more careful now.

“My parents are together. Tawny and Dad were getting a divorce because of this. Tawny split when she found out that with joint custody of Larissa, she didn’t get child support. Dad offered to give her the house in Mobile, but she said she didn’t want that. She also left a note, with the signed divorce papers, saying she couldn’t take Larissa.”

I sank down onto the edge of the bed, letting his words sink in.

My sister had left a note. She had really left Larissa. Oh God. And Marcus’s parents? I glanced up and looked at my husband as he paced back and forth, running his hand through his hair.

“He was at my mother’s house. My dad was there like he belonged there. Like he hadn’t broken her heart. Like he hadn’t thrown her aside like she meant nothing to him. But she was holding his hand, Low. Holding his f**king hand.”

Wow. Just . . . wow.

He stopped pacing and looked at me. “He’s moving back in. Mom is going to raise Larissa and give her the motherly affection she needs until Tawny decides she can be a mother. I swear, Low, my mother is some saint. The Catholic church needs to take note of this f**king madness.”

My man was a swirl of emotions, and I was just sitting here letting him lose it. Standing up, I wrapped my arms around his waist and held on to him. “Take a deep breath,” I told him. “Your mother has always been a saint. We already knew that. This shouldn’t surprise you so much. She’s accepted Larissa and been nothing but sweet to her. You’ve seen it. I’ve seen it. She’s a good woman. The best. She raised you, didn’t she?”

Marcus sighed and pressed a kiss to my ear. “My mother is a wonderful woman, but she isn’t the best,” he said, before kissing my cheek. “I got the best right here in my arms.”

Smiling, I slipped my arms up his chest and latched them around his neck. “They’re adults, Marcus. If they are ready to fix what was broken, it’s their decision. Your mother is a smart woman. She wouldn’t agree to anything lightly. I have no doubt in my mind that man had to beg and prove himself. As for Larissa, that’s a really good place to grow up. If my stupid, selfish sister doesn’t come back, Larissa will have a life that she deserves. She’ll get to see what real princesses have in life. A mother like yours and a father who wants to be at home with his family. Not hiding from the raging, crazy woman he’s married to.” I ran my hands through the hair at the base of his neck and smiled up at the man who owned my soul. “Things will be okay. Believe that.”

Marcus lowered his head and kissed my lips gently. I opened to him immediately, and his tongue slipped inside my mouth, tasting me as if I was his last meal on earth. I enjoyed having my mouth ravished by my husband.

When he pulled back, he gave me that intense look I loved. It excited me. “You are my center. You keep me grounded. You calm me down. You help me see things in a better light. What I feel for you is so much more than love, Willow Hardy, that I don’t have a name for it.”

I loved it when he said things like this. I had a very romantic man. “Then show me,” I whispered, stepping back and slipping my T-shirt off. “You get a bonus tonight. I smell like cookies,” I teased him.

A predatory gleam lit his eyes as he loosened his tie and jerked it off, then began unbuttoning his shirt as I slipped off my shorts and panties under his watchful eyes.

“You can smell like cookies, but that pu**y better smell like my sweet pu**y is supposed to smell. I’ve been thinking about it all damn day. Especially with the naughty little teasing text you sent me at lunch.”

Laughing, I backed up and crawled to the center of the bed. I sat on my bottom, then let my legs fall open. Marcus’s eyes turned into hot, smoldering flames as he swore, then yanked his slacks off along with his boxers and came at me.

His head went directly between my legs, and I fell back, gasping for air. He didn’t take time to tease me tonight. His tongue ran directly over my cl*t before he f**ked me with his mouth.

Marcus

Low always tasted so amazing. The more turned on she was, the sweeter she tasted. I kept her legs open with both my hands until she was crying out and gasping for breath after coming down from her first orgasm. She tried to push me away and I didn’t let her. I loved licking her while she went crazy from how sensitive the release had left her clit.

When she started panting and begging me, I grinned, then let her have a moment. She gave me a sleepy smile that said she loved it when I was bad. While she got her breath back, I slid my hands over her swollen stomach. My daughter was safely tucked inside there. We had a couple more months before Crimson Joy Hardy was due to enter our lives.

The third bedroom had already been painted a sky blue with purple polka dots. Every weekend Willow had something else for us to work on in Crimson’s room. I knew how quickly it all went. It seemed just like yesterday my little boy was born. I wanted to soak up every minute of it. Not waste a moment.

Willow was biting her bottom lip and watching me closely when I looked back up at her. “It’s big,” she said.

I nodded. Her stomach was getting bigger. But she knew I loved that she was carrying my baby in there. I moved my hands up to cup her br**sts. “And these are bigger.”

Willow started to laugh, but it became a moan as I pulled one of her perfect pink ni**les into my mouth.

After lavishing both her br**sts with attention, I moved up to kiss the spot on her neck that made her squirm. Then I grabbed Willow’s waist as I rolled onto my back and pulled her on top so that she was straddling me. “Take it, baby,” I told her, moving her h*ps back until the tip of my erection pressed into her.