I don’t deserve her.

  I also know without a doubt that I won’t ever let her go either.

  “I’m okay,” she whispers, her hand reaching out to rest her palm against my cheek. “Look at me, my giant,” she says even softer. I look down and wince when I see the red mark already starting to bruise on her cheek. “You know that wasn’t intentional, okay. You know that, honey. Do not let that moment affect this one, love. You’ve waited long enough for something you thought would never come—both of you have. Don’t waste this moment by being angry.”

  “I can see his mark on your fucking face,” I respond a lot calmer than I feel.

  “Holy shit.”

  “Oh God.”

  I’m not sure who said it, but the various shocked proclamations come from behind us. I let Olivia’s words settle and look up to meet my brother’s gaze. The storm of emotions clear now, leaving only one thing behind.

  Love.

  “Hey, man,” I rasp lamely.

  He closes his eyes, dropping his chin down. His shoulders start to shake, and I feel my heart drop to my stomach. Then he looks up, and I realize he’s laughing. Not even close to the reaction I thought he would have today.

  “Over twenty damn years I think you’re dead, and the first thing you say to me is ‘Hey man’ … Prayed for you every fucking day. For this very miracle. Not sure what I should address first, though—the fact that you think ‘hey man’ is a good lead or that my baby brother isn’t fucking dead.”

  “Probably should start with apologizing to my woman.”

  He holds my eyes.

  Dark blue against light blue.

  Brother on brother.

  And nods.

  “I doubt I’ll ever be able to express how sorry I am that happened. There’s no excuse for my behavior or the pain that it caused you.”

  Olivia drops the bag of frozen veg from her face. When the hell did someone give her that?

  Get your shit together, man. Stay alert, for fuck’s sake.

  “Please don’t beat yourself up. That was unfortunate, but all things considered, I think you can give yourself a little slack. Let’s forget this happened and focus on this beautiful miracle happening here.”

  “Not sure I can just forget that I punched a woman in the face away.”

  She lifts the bag back up to her face and shrugs her shoulders.

  “Not sure I would call that a punch anyway.” She smirks, placing the frozen veg back on her face.

  My whole body relaxes with that little adorable twitch of her lips. God, I love this woman. She just took a fist to the face—for me—and instead of reacting how anyone would expect her to, she reacts with calm humor. No doubt minimizing her pain so that this night can be salvaged.

  “Talk about an icebreaker, honey child … next time, just use your shoe and whack one of the big guys. Closest one usually will do the trick.”

  “Hush, Sway,” Davey scolds with a giggle.

  “What? Am I wrong?”

  “I’ve dreamed of this moment every goddamn day since I had to leave,” I tell my brother.

  I stand straight, my brother mirroring the movement, reluctantly letting Olivia’s hand fall from my hold. I wouldn’t have let go, but after that I need to know she’s okay more than I need her as a safety blanket.

  I see Olivia walk into Sway’s awaiting embrace. She steps into his side, and his arm closes around her shoulder. I look from his hand to her face, meeting her uncovered eye and seeing only love reflecting toward me. I get that slight uptick of her lip that I fucking love and with a small nod to her, I return my attention to my brother. She’s still feeding me strength, even from across the room.

  “Never thought I would be here,” I tell him honestly. “Didn’t stop me from longing so deep in my gut for my big brother. Not once did I ever believe I would be in a position to have this moment. Spent fucking years with a hole inside me, Ash. One I know you felt so much bigger than I ever could because at least I knew you were alive.”

  Silence ticks on. The silence being what finally alerted me that, at some point while I was speaking, the room cleared, leaving just the two of us. My heart picks up before I remember that Liv is safe with Sway. Doesn’t stop me from wanting her by my side regardless.

  This moment, though, this is for the Cooper brothers.

  “I’m so goddamn sorry, brother. So goddamn sorry for leaving you and the pain you felt believing I was dead. Never would have left you willingly, big bro.”

  A tear falls down his cheek at the same time one escapes to trail hotly down my own face.

  He swallows, his throat working hard to keep himself from the same crack I feel ripping through the hold I have on my own emotions.

  We both take the first step toward the other instantaneously, breaking the silent standoff. We wrap our arms around each other with a force that pulls a gruff grunt out of both of us. One arm around his back, and the other above his shoulders. His embrace mirrors mine. From the outside, we look like two dudes locked in a manly hug. However, inside our huddle, with his tears soaking my shoulder and mine doing the same to his—the Cooper men are healing.

  We stand there, two brothers who lived through hell as kids together—surviving that hell … somehow and barely. We both wasted a lot of time holding on to that trauma and letting it shape our lives back then. In different ways, but still we never healed. We both experienced hell again when we were ripped apart. It didn’t matter why I left. It didn’t matter that I had to make the one person who always had my back the hardest—and everyone else for that matter—believe I was gone in a way I would never come back. None of the bullshit matters.

  Nothing, that is, except for one thing; the two Cooper brothers back together and in each other’s embrace finally start to feel that healing solidify.

  “Run” by Taylor Swift ft Ed Sheeran

  Holy crap, my face feels like it’s going to explode, it hurts that much.

  I’m not sure what I thought was going to happen when I jumped in front of Zeke. The only thing I could think of was keeping the man I love from feeling anymore pain today—especially the physical kind.

  Was it smart?

  No.

  Would I do it again?

  Absolutely.

  If I have the power to keep him from feeling any more pain in his life, I’ll do it again and again.

  “Well, that was something.” Sway sighs.

  “You can say that again,” Davey responds.

  “Did a good job defusing the situation with your face, darlin’, but let’s maybe not to that again, hmm?”

  “No promises,” I whisper to the two of them, just beginning to notice the crowd in the room they lead me into when we left the brothers to have their moment together.

  “Uh … hi?” I weakly wave. Then to my absolute embarrassment, my arm rises, and I point at my chest. “Olivia.”

  Nine sets of eyes look at me and the two men at my side from across the vast space of the most stunning kitchen. Based on what I know about these people, I have a pretty good idea who is who. I scan the faces of the people who loved my man years before. All of them look just as shocked as I’m sure they were when they realized who was in the office with Asher. It’s one face specifically, though, the one woman standing without a man at her side, that I lock eyes with.

  This must be Chelcie. The woman who had Zeke’s child after they thought he was long gone. I can’t even imagine what she’s feeling right now.

  I leave Sway’s comforting hold and walk toward her. The room seemingly hangs on the edge of my movements. Energy electric coming off the big men in waves. I walk right up to her and wrap my arms around her, hugging her trembling body against mine. Her head drops, and she returns my embrace with a sob. Her whole body goes slack, and I hold her while she silently cries. My own tears stream down my face as she lets go and cries. I know from Zeke they didn’t have the kind of relationship that would impact her life or marriage to his brother with his return. They weren’t romantic. I can only guess that the enormity of her emotions have to do with not only worry for her husband but for her son as well.

  “Thank you,” I whisper in her ear, for her to hear only.

  She leans back and studies me for a long moment. “For what?”

  I smile sadly. “Raising a piece of the man I love.”

  Her lips tremble.

  “It’s easy to get wrapped up in sadness when life punches you in the gut. I don’t even know you, but I’m sure you’re one of the strongest women I’ll ever meet. You all lost him, but you also had a greater stake in that loss. Could’ve not had the baby, but you did. So thank you.”

  “Hardly a baby anymore. More like a pain in my ass,” someone grumbles.

  I look from Chelcie to where I heard the voice come from.

  Without the heaviness of the situation, I allow myself to look at the man who just entered the room.

  Asher Cooper.

  He looks so much like Zeke, but also so very different. Both extremely tall, both blond, both blue eyed … if I didn’t know better, I would say they were twins. It’s uncanny. They even seem to stand the same.

  I look back at Chelcie, who is looking at her husband with so much concern. “Would you please introduce me to your husband?” I ask her, hoping that little request will urge her past the pain she was feeling moments before.

  She nods, wipes her face, and we turn to walk over to the Cooper brothers. Zeke tags my hand the moment I’m within reach and tugs me to his side. His arm goes around my shoulders, and he pulls me into his side tightly. Chelcie walks straight into Asher’s arms. I look away and up to Zeke once I see her relax into her husband’s arms. I study his face, trying to read his emotions. He bends, placing his lips on my forehead, and leaves them there for a beat before pulling away.

  “Asher.” He clears his throat. “And Chelcie …” He pauses and dips his chin toward me. “Olivia.”

  I smile awkwardly.

  “And this …” He trails off, and I feel him shifting us so that we’re facing the rest of the people standing over to the side of us still. “This is my family.”

  His voice is so deep, gravelly, and full of oh-so-much emotion.

  I wave, looking at each face.

  He moves me to stand in front of him so he can look down into my eyes. “Give me just a second?”

  “Of course.”

  He walks around me toward one of the couples—a tall, dark, and dangerous-looking man and the tiny blond woman at his side. She’s adorable and looks like girl-next-door sweetness. The man, however, is the complete opposite. He looks like he could kill someone by just breathing.

  Maddox and Emmy. It has to be them. Based on what I know about these people and the photos that I asked Sway to show me before we left the hotel room, I had a pretty good idea who was who.

  Zeke stops in front of Emmy.

  “Hey,” he says low and thick with emotions. “Chin up, buttercup,” he adds, lifting her downcast face with a finger to her chin to meet his eyes. “What do you say?”

  “Oh Coop,” she cries, wrapping her arms around him so tight he grunts. He returns her hug without hesitation, looking over her head to meet her husband’s eyes … Maddox Locke.

  Wow. This guy is really intimidating.

  Emmy pulls herself back and looks up at him.

  “You’re really here?”

  “I’m really here.”

  She lets out another sob, but this time moves into her husband’s arms and continues to cry softly.

  Maddox shuffles her with him when he reaches out, grabs Zeke by the arm, and pulls him close. He made it look effortless to pull a giant of a man around, too. I take it back, he’s not just intimidating—he’s intimidating and scary as all get-out when those almost black eyes look into your soul.

  “I don’t understand how, but my God is this one of the most magical moments of my life,” someone says. Breaking my gaze from Locke, I look at the pretty redhead who spoke. Judging by the thickly tattooed mountain of a man holding her, I’m going to say that’s Izzy and Axel.

  “You can say that again, princess.”

  Zeke moves from the Lockes and walks toward the two. Izzy steps aside and the two men meet with another bear of a hug. They step back quicker than he did with Emmy, and both give each other a nod. Izzy gets the next hug, and she cries into his shoulder before her husband pulls—yes, pulls—her away. She drops her head into his neck and cries softly.

  He moves to the two next to Izzy and Axel.

  “Damn,” he grunts before they hug. “Get in here, beauty,” the man says, and the woman at his side wraps her arms around both men.

  “That’s Greg and his Melissa,” Sway whispers in my ear.

  Zeke steps away, taking a deep breath before moving to the last couple.

  “That’s Beck and Dee, sugar,” Sway says, again low and just for me.

  I knew from the little stories he has told me about his time with these people he considered his family that, next to his brother and Emmy, he was closest to this man named Beck. This man who isn’t even trying to hide the emotions written all over his face. Shock, pain, hopefulness, fear … hell, he might as well just be a giant mixing pot of every possible feeling one could experience. His tears, though, his tears show, which is winning—relief.

  Dee gives him a hug first, looking up at him with a small smile and tears in her eyes. “It’s really you,” she whispers.

  “It’s really me.”

  She closes her eyes and smiles softly, then moves just to the side for her husband to take her place.

  The two men give another one of those manly hugs.

  The sound of each of them letting out a strangled sob in the quiet room seems to make every person jerk slightly. I don’t need to look to confirm there isn’t a dry eye in the whole room. There were three people who I knew would have the biggest impact on him today. His brother, for obvious reasons. Emmy, because of the friendship they had before moving to Georgia had kept them closer than the other females. And Beck, who I knew was the closest person he had aside from his brother.

  These three were his rocks during a horrible time in his life. Each of them impacted him in distinctive ways to the other before and after he died. He missed all of these people, but he missed these three people just a little differently than the others.

  I had just taken a tissue from Melissa’s outstretched hand when Zeke was back at my side. I blew my nose quietly and dried my face before I looked up at him. He stood so close we were touching from shoulder to hip, his arm around my shoulder.

  “This is my Livi. Olivia …” He pauses, and I feel the shuddered breath he pulls in. “Olivia, this is my family.”

  There are sniffles, someone sighs, and I hear someone else whisper, “Finally.”

  I’m not sure who it was, but they nailed it.

  Finally.

  His arm curls slightly, bringing me closer to his body. I inhale the delicious scent that is him. Smiling and meeting the eyes of the people in the room is a little intimidating when they’re focusing right back on you this time. I give them a small wave and marvel in the enormity of this moment.

  So this is what people mean when something means everything to them. It must be, because only “everything” could feel this monumental. Pure love, all of them, and a true family built on one heck of a solid foundation.

  “Wandering Child” by wild Rivers

  We stayed at the Reids’ house for hours after the initial kitchen introductions.

  At one point, I lost track of Zeke. Later, after we had gotten back to the hotel, he told me that he had stepped aside with Asher and Chelcie to talk about how they would tell Zac. Of course, Zac being an adult and all, he didn’t have to get their advice or input on how to handle telling him, but I love that he did. It showed how much respect he had for both Chelcie and his brother as Zac’s parents. I hope that it would help him understand that Zeke felt like he was Zac’s true father and didn’t want to take that role from him. He wanted his son to know that he was his, but also to know that his dad would always be Asher, and he wasn’t going to threaten that relationship.

  I love that he did that.

  I love that he was asking for their guidance as well.

  In the end, they decided that it was best for Asher and Chelcie to talk to Zac privately and then they would all go from there.

  Personally, I had a feeling that Zac might be the luckiest man on earth to have both a dad and a father. Zeke might have just found out about him, but I don’t for a second doubt that he would give his life for his son. He wanted to have a relationship with him, just not at the detriment to the one Zac shared with Asher.

  That was two nights ago. Now, three days later, I was getting worried.

  We’ve had a couple of great days here in Hope Town, but with no word on Zac, they came with a double edge to them. It was great getting to know these people, and watching Zeke heal a little more each day that he’s with his family is a sight to be seen. However, knowing that with each great moment we had shared with everyone, there was a dark shadow that hung a little bigger each passing day that we heard nothing from Zac.

  I walk into the backyard at the Reids’, again marveling at the perfection that is their backyard. Talk about a secret garden.

  One side is set up to be an outdoor kitchen with a grand seating area of a permanent solid wood table under a tall hut peaked roof. Instead of walls, thick white cotton drapes blew slightly in the breeze. They hung from rustic-looking hoops connected to metal beams that wrapped around each wall. There were so many chairs they could probably host a full football team to dinner. I was told earlier that was where they had their monthly mandatory family dinners. Over the years, they kept adding to it, improving and building it up, and just this year they had added the covered walkway to the outdoor kitchen—complete with a six burner stove, a flat top grill, and a pizza oven.