Knock Out (A Reynolds Security Novel) Page 16

  “The doctors said the stroke was minor that you won’t have any lasting effects.”

  “Maybe not any more effects but my brain is already scrambled.”

  “You’re going to be fine Poppy.” She said softly wiping her tears from her cheeks.

  “Lou I need you to listen to me while I can still say this. I have Dementia Pugilistica. It’s sort of like Alzheimer’s. I have good days and bad days. I want to hear about your life for the last five years but before you tell me I have to get this out. I never know if I’ll get another chance.”

  “Alright.”

  “When I realized… when they told me my mind was slowly going, I wrote everything down. Well really I spoke into a voice recorder and hired someone else to write it down.” He lifted his hand that was bent and twisted from arthritis. “I don’t type so well.” She smiled. “But there are some things I would like you to hear from me. Starting with the fact that I owe you an apology. I wasn’t a very good father to you.”

  “Poppy.”

  “No let me finish, you… I loved your mother but I loved boxing. When the doctor first told me that I’d sustained a brain injury, that I had damaged my retina she wanted me to quit. I was so arrogant, so full of myself. I didn’t believe the doctor. I thought I was invincible. She begged me. She said she couldn’t watch someone she loved constantly get their head bashed in. She said I had to choose. That it was her or the ring.” He paused and looked out the window. She saw tears in his eyes. She had never seen him cry. He took a deep breath and continued.

  “I thought she was bluffing. I never thought she would leave. Then she did and I was so angry, my pride wouldn’t let me go after her. I never knew she was pregnant. Not until the social worker showed up and told me my name was on your birth certificate. Then I was that much more angry. I was angry that she never told me about you. I was angry that she died. Mostly I was angry that I never got the chance to tell her what she meant to me.” Lou brushed away her tears but she had no idea what to say. He didn’t wait for a response though. “I didn’t know how to be a father to you. I let my anger keep me from showing you what you meant to me too. I love you Lou.”

  “I love you too Poppy.” She sniffed then she hugged him.

  They talked for what felt like hours. When he was finally sleeping again she quietly let herself out. She promised him she would be back the next day. But right now she really wanted to call Jace, if he even took her call. She owed him an apology. She didn’t want to be old and lamenting her one true love as the one that got away. As she crossed the waiting room toward the exit someone stood up. She stopped and stared slightly stunned.

  “Jace?”

  “I had to come. I know you told me not to but I couldn’t say away.” She was stunned. After all the awful things she’d said he still came all this way. She walked straight up to him and wrapped her arms around him squeezing him tightly. He hugged her back and she began to cry all over again.

  “I love you so much.” she mumbled into his chest.

  “So he already sold the gym?” Jace put a slice of pizza on paper plate and handed it to her. She was lounging across the foot of the hotel bed in the bright green shorts he had lent her and she had never returned.

  “Yeah, his house too apparently. He was literally weeks away from moving into an assisted living facility in Edgepark. He said he’d hired an investigator to find me but he wasn’t going to call me until he was settled because he was afraid I would tell him not to come.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah.” She was quiet for a minute and he could see she was struggling to form the words. He didn’t say anything he just waited. “He said… he said he never saw anyone with the natural talent that I have. He said… he wouldn’t train me out of respect for my mother. He said she didn’t want to see him hurt and she would have hated it if I followed in his footsteps.” Jace ran his hand gently up and down her back.

  “I feel… rattled. Everything I thought my whole life was wrong. I thought he hated me, that he resented having to take care of me. The truth was that I reminded him of my mother. Seeing me made him miss her. Watching me grow up made him sad that she wasn’t there to see it. I thought he was cold but he was constantly repressing his emotions.” She sat up and set her pizza aside.

  “I look like my mother but I got his personality. His love of boxing.” She sucked in a deep breath and looked into his eyes. “I also got his stupidity and stubborn pride. I owe you an apology. I lied to you.” He frowned slightly.

  “Lied about what?”

  “I lied when I said I didn’t love you.” His expression softened.

  “I know.”

  “I also lied when I said I didn’t want to get married. The truth is I always wanted the big white dress and the cathedral with the bells and… the whole fairy tale. I want to spend my life with you but I am afraid. I thought I was afraid of how you’d feel about me after you found out I was raped, but now I realize I am just afraid you are going to change your mind. We haven’t known each other very long. What if you realize you don’t really love me.”

  “Lou, I love you. This is the real deal. I have had enough of the not real stuff to know the difference. This is forever. I have never been more certain of anything. But like I said I will wait as long as you want just as long as you know I want to marry you. As soon as you’re ready.”

  “I think… I think I am ready. I want us to start a life together and I don’t want my life to be on hold anymore.” Jace grinned and kissed her. He pulled the ring from his pocket and she gasped when she saw it. He dropped down to one knee in front of her.

  “Louellen Santiago, say you will marry me and I will spend the rest of my life fighting with you both in the ring and out of it.” Lou burst out laughing and threw her arms around his neck.

  “That is the least romantic proposal I have ever heard. It is also the most perfect. I love you Jace, and I will marry you just as soon as I can find a big puffy dress.

  Morning After

  The first book in the Reynolds Security Series.

  Erica has never met anyone who made her want to deviate from her carefully laid out life plan. She is going to find a man who is good husband and father material. She has a plan and a timeline. She is not interested in passion. Passion is overrated.

  Then in walks Ethan Reynolds a former Marine who runs a successful security company across the street. Even though he's not what she was looking for, when he sets his sights on her he's hard to resist.

  When he makes it his job to protect her from a stalker she didn't even know she had, her perfectly ordered world is thrown into upheaval and it’s only a matter of time until she discovers passion’s not so overrated after all. Too bad her stalker may end it all before she has a chance to really enjoy it!

  http://www.amazon.com/Morning-After-Reynolds-Security-Novel-ebook/dp/B00HMYXP9A

  About the Author

  Melissa lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and four children. Writing is her passion. The guilty pleasure she indulges in when she’s not busy with kids, sports, dogs, cats, work or life in general.

  Melissa is a techie by trade and a cynic by personality. She speaks sarcasm fluently and that often comes through her characters.

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