It's Always Sonny (Sweet as Sugar Maple, #3)

by Kate Watson

“I look like a clown.” “Clowns are funny.” “Clowns are the stuff of nightmares.” “Not mine,” he says.

It aches looking at him like this. At us. Standing side by side and knowing that I’ve never felt anything for anyone that compares to what we had? It’s murder.

Someone who stirs up something buried deep in my soul every time I see her scowl.

But after years of wanting his attention and resigning myself to the knowledge that I would never earn it, I genuinely cannot imagine what the purpose of his text is. The eager little girl in me is crying to respond, to ask him what he means, to plead with him to talk to her and to love her. I can’t let that little girl out again. I can’t go back to hoping and hurting.

Being ignored by the people who feed and clothe you has a way of making you comply.

The love of my life is here. And I’ll do everything in my power to get her back.

Lisa Luciano doesn’t merely hug. It’s like she opens up part of her heart and fits you into it. She wraps you up so thoroughly, you can’t help but feel better about yourself.

I want her to love me so much, it hurts.

“Okay, I’m disgusted. I’m outraged on your behalf. You’re an only child of parents who resented you for being a child. They robbed you of everything that matters most. You should have grown up knowing how special you are, knowing how brilliant and talented and kind you are. But you should have especially known you were loved. They should have told you they loved you so much and so often that you could have blown your house up and you wouldn’t have doubted their love for a second. I hate them for robbing you of that. I hate them.”

She scowls, and all the breath expels from my lungs. Shoot. That scowl could launch a thousand ships. My smile stretches from ear to ear.

You don’t have to be perfect to be loved,” Sonny says.

“I’ve never stopped loving her. I know it’s been a long time, and I don’t think I even realized that until I saw her again a few months ago. But the second I saw her again, I was done.

I want you to want to be with my family! I want you to wonder how you fit in with everyone! I want you and Sienna to be the most competitive people on the field together, and I want you and Lauren and Amber forming an awesome sisters-in-law clique where you plot to take the rest of us down.”

There’s nothing wrong with you. You are a remarkable, strong, sexy brat, and I love all of that about you.”

I am so far in love, I can never come back.

I am going to prove to PJ that my love isn’t conditional. And I’m never going to stop.

You have the prettiest smile, but your scowl steals my breath.”

It’s always Sonny. His warmth. His goodness. His love of life. His love for me. His ability to see my light in a way no one else can, and now, he can appreciate the dark, too.

“I never stopped loving you, Sonny. You’re it for me. It’s always been you.”

but I’m coming with you. Where you go, I go.”

“You are my sunshine.”

But from the minute I laid eyes on Parker Jane, I knew what home felt like. Having to say goodbye after so many goodbyes in my life felt like enough to break me.