Page 44 of Beckon

“I think number four is my favorite so far.”

It was definitely his favorite so far. For reasons beyond the story, but he would keep that to himself.

“For now, it can be, but I have a feeling you’re going to really like seven.” She smiled up at him and wrinkled her nose in that way that made him groan. Something about those freckles just brought him to his knees. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her those three little words again when Harold tapped him on the shoulder.

“Do you mind if I dance with my daughter?”

Chandler took a step back. “Of course, but it wasn’t like you were really asking anyway, more like informing me.”

“Ha, you’re not as dumb as you look, son. Go dance with my lovely bride, she hasn’t stopped gushing about you in that suit. I don’t get it, but it makes her happy.”

It was impossible not to like Harold. Not only did he make Constance happy, which made Tami happy, he’d taken on a role in Chandler’s life he sorely needed.

“May I?” Constance was still in the simple dress she wore for her vows, and it wasn’t hard to imagine dancing with her as his mother-in-law at his own wedding.

That image just ran through his mind with no warning. Shit, he’d just said I love you to Tami, marriage wasn’t on the horizon yet,was it?However, the idea didn’t terrify him as much as he expected it to.

Chandler danced with Constance in silence. When the song changed, the DJ announced it would be his last for the night.

“My heart is so full right now. I married a man who was my second chance at love, which so many people never get. And my daughter is getting her second chance too. What more perfect day could there be?”

Chandler didn’t know how to respond to that. His emotions were running high, but he wasn’t the type to fawn over things. He turned them over silently in his head until they made sense. But she was right. It was his second chance too, not at love, but at life.

“Just so you know, Chester is staying in Grace’s room tonight.” She stopped moving and placed both her hands on his cheeks. “I’m as grateful for you as I am for Harold.” She dropped her hands and smiled up at him. A smile very similar to that of her daughter.

“My Tamitha isn’t like anyone else. She’s special. I believe you see that too. But if things are headed where I think they are, hell, where I know they are. Please be absolutely positive about how you feel, because she sure will be. When she loves, it is with every atom in her body. That opens her up to a world most others rarely experience, but it also exposes her to pain the likes of which most of us couldn’t bear. All I ask is that you protect her from that and damn sure don’t be the cause of it. If you can’t promise me that, then please, stay in your own room tonight.”

With that, she turned and met Harold in the middle of the dance floor, and they strode off toward their room. Chandler looked around and Tami was the only other person left. He took her in his arms and kissed her the way he’d wanted to all day.

Constance’s words were like a tornado in his brain, and he needed a minute to breathe. He walked Tami to her door, fully expecting to return to his own room.

Instead, Tami flashed the key card in front of the sensor. When the door beeped, she opened it, but turned toward him. When she bit her lip, he groaned. Tami grabbed his tie and pulled him across the threshold.

14

TAMITHA

Since the second thosethree words left Chandler’s lips during her mother’s wedding, she’d been in a haze.

A haze of knowing, of not knowing, of choices, and of just feeling. Feeling everything. Pretty much the emotions of her entire life swarmed around her. It was strange.

The fact that she loved Chandler Wayne Benson with all her heart was the one thing she was certain about.

It was everything else that she was questioning.

The biggest one was could she take him to her bed and accept him into her life if this was all they ever had?

She wasn’t so foolish to assume because he said he loved her—she believed he did, she’d felt it—that he was ready to get married and become a father to another man’s son. Set up house and start a family. To her, that was how things went. In her mind, love and marriage were one and the same. But she knew that was yet another way she differed from others.

Could she have him in her and Chester’s life if what they were today was all they would ever be? For herself, the answer seemed easy. It was a wholehearted yes. She could continue dating him forever and be perfectly happy if they never moved forward.

Well, not perfectly happy.

She could accept that for herself. As long as she didn’t expect more, she’d never be disappointed.

But what about Chester? He was just a kid. The more time Chandler spent around him, the more attached he got. He already considered him a permanent fixture. One that came over and played and ate. One that took him to the park and tucked him in.

If he left now, it would devastate her Mister Man, but if he left later? That wasn’t something she could even think of. Tami had considered putting a stop to it before they all got their hearts broken, but it was too late for that. There would be pain, regardless. But she still thought it might be better to end it.

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