Tragic (Lark Cove, #3)

by Devney Perry

Of all the neighbors I’d had before, and there had been many, Kaine was far and away my favorite.

“Your right ear is an eighth of an inch smaller than your left.” “What?” I gasped. “No way!” He nodded. “It is.” “Are you kidding?” “All this time you’ve been hiding the wrong ear, Dumbo.”

A sense of pride filled my chest, squeezing out the pain from past memories. Knowing I was the cause of his smile and laugh was empowering. I did that. Me. I made Kaine smile. He made me forget.

I wouldn’t let myself get attached to Kaine Reynolds. I wouldn’t let myself believe that I could heal his broken heart. Or that he could heal mine.

From the moment we’d traded I dos, I’d labeled us as Happily Married. Then I’d used that label as an excuse to put on blinders and ignore the things really happening between us. I’d disregarded the changes shaking our foundation. Our young love hadn’t been strong enough to last, not without work—work neither of us had cared to do.

The only good thing about my divorce taking years was that it had given me ample time to accept that I wasn’t broken. I wasn’t defective. And I didn’t need a husband or children to make me whole. What I needed were things to love, like this house.

“I can’t feel anything.” Kaine’s eyes held mine. “But I can feel you.” “I feel you too,” I whispered. He turned away, staring off into the trees. “I don’t want to feel.”

“This turned out so . . .” I trailed off, without words to describe the masterpiece. “It’s yours.” My hands froze. “What?” “I was going to wait until your house was done, but I decided to give it to you now. This is for your dining room.” “But what about the person you were making it for?” He shrugged. “It was always for you.”

I was falling in love with my grouchy, tormented neighbor. I was falling in love with a man who was sweet and kind. I was falling in love with a man who had a little magic of his own.

In a deceptive and cruel way, Adam had given me a gift. In an accidental way, so had Kaine.

I’d realized on my drive to Bozeman that I had to stop running. I was going to be a father. By accident or by choice, it was happening. And if I was going to be worthy of my child, I had to put old ghosts to rest.

Learning I was pregnant with twins was only slightly less shocking than learning I was pregnant in the first place. Kaine’s sperm was magic.

“Will you do something for me?” She nodded, her eyes falling shut as I continued to rub her feet. “Would you go out to dinner with me?” “Are you asking me on a date?” “Yes, I am.” She smiled. “We’re doing everything backward.”

We’re doing everything backward. Piper had been right about that. Maybe backward was the only way we’d end up forward.

“Somewhere along the line, you stole my heart. I’m going to steal yours in return. Just wait and see.”

I hadn’t just lost Shannon and the baby when they’d died. I’d lost my brother too. I’d lost my best friend and the person I’d loved second only to our mother.

I hugged the five-year-old boy who fell off his bike and scraped the shit out of his knee, all because he’d been trying to keep up with me and my friends as we’d peddled around the neighborhood. I hugged the ten-year-old kid who’d begged me to help him practice fielding grounders before a baseball game. I hugged my brother, the one who’d always looked at me like I was his Superman.

I clung to him, holding him upright. Because that was my job. I was his big brother. I was supposed to be there for him. Despite everything, the pain and hurt, he needed me.

I’d been so lost these last three years. I realized as I held Isaiah, so much of my floundering was because I’d missed him. I’d missed our family. Me and Mom and Isaiah had always leaned on one another. Without them, I’d just been drifting—until a beautiful woman came into my world and saved it with her magic cake.

I’d never forget Shannon. I’d never forget the precious baby who I’d laid to rest by her side. But it was time to stop letting a tragedy run my life. It was time to stop moving backward. It was time to let the beautiful people in this one grave rest knowing I’d found my peace too.

“Why don’t you want to hang it up?” “Because.” I gave him a sad smile. “I don’t want to be reminded of you in pain.” “And I want you to always remember that you saved me.”

I might have saved him, but he completed me.

“I, um . . . I actually got offered a job working at a garage in Clifton Forge. They do a lot of remodels on old classics. Pay isn’t great but it sounds like a cool gig. One of the guys I was inside with contacted me about it.”

“We’ve got a lifetime of magic left.” “How can you be so sure?” “Because it was never the cake.” I brushed my lips against hers. “The magic is us.”