Authors: Karen Pokras
Holly's Wishes (19 page)
Except—she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
“Holly? Are you in there?”
“One second, Dad!”
She opened her bedroom door to see her father holding two cue sticks.
“Care to shoot a round of pool with your old man?”
She smiled. Yes, she needed to get out of her room. She’d been cooped up for far too long, and her dad was just the man she wanted to hang out with—the one man who never let her down. “Sounds great.”
She felt a spring in her step as she walked down the basement stairs … a spring that abruptly broke when she turned the corner. Her heart stopped, and then proceeded to race uncontrollably. She could barely hear her own words over the loud beat.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“That old garage door was giving me trouble again,” her dad interjected. “Ben came over to give me a hand. He had the magic touch, too. It’s good as new. I’m going to go upstairs to grab some drinks. Why don’t you two start this game without me?”
“No, Dad, wait!” she called in a panic, but it was too late, her father was already up the stairs.
“I’m sorry,” Ben said. “Don’t be upset with him. I tried to get Tessa to invite you out, but you wouldn’t bite, so she called your dad to set this up. It was the only way I could think of to see you.”
“That’s why Tessa invited me over? I don’t understand,” Holly said, sitting down on the couch.
“I really need to talk to you,” he said, taking the seat next to her. He reached for her hand and smiled.
“Ben, I don’t think this is a good—” she said, pulling away.
“I saw the pictures,” he said, interrupting her. “Well, not at first. After you left the restaurant, I got a text from Tessa. It was just an empty screen. I kept waiting for something to load, but Michelle was giving me dirty looks, so finally I put my phone away and forgot about it.”
“That explains why you just kept eating your dinner, I suppose,” Holly said. “But then you saw it?”
“Yes, when I woke up the next morning, they were there. I confronted Michelle with them, and we got into a huge fight. We were having so many problems already, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to work, but this was the last straw. I told her it was over … and that I wanted a paternity test.”
He reached over for her hands again. This time she let him take them.
Letting out a long deep breath, she smiled, her eyes filling with tears. Happy tears this time. “She admitted the baby might not be yours?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “She still said the baby was mine. But I didn’t believe her. That’s why I called an attorney. It seems there’s a law here that requires unwed mothers to have paternity tests done—for the birth certificate. It’s a simple blood test that can be done safely any time after the first eight weeks of pregnancy. Michelle had no choice but to go through with it. The harder part was getting the other guy to do it.”
“What?” Holly asked, eyes wide. “He had to get a blood test also? How did they manage that?”
“Like I said, it’s required by law here. If the mother wants the baby to be eligible for certain benefits, the birth certificate needs to have a mother
and a father’s
name on it. They need a blood sample from the mother and all of the potential fathers for comparison. I guess she knew more about the situation than she originally told me, because she knew exactly who should take the test—the guy in the picture. Anyway, he refused at first. Apparently, his didn’t think his
wife
would be too happy about the whole thing, but you know Michelle. She can be persuasive when she wants to be. She threatened him with a court order. The results came back this morning.”
“And?” Holly asked, searching Ben’s eyes for some indication of an answer.
Picking Holly up and swinging her around, he yelled, “I’m a free man! And boy, do I feel like I was just let out of prison. You have no idea.” He swung her around again before lowering her down to the couch. Looking her in the eyes, he traced his fingers along her cheeks, chin, nose, and ears, before finding their way to the edges of her lips. “I’ve missed these lips so much,” he said, continuing to draw imaginary lines around them. “I’ve missed everything about you. Your smell, your expressions, the way your eyes sparkle. I’ve been so incredibly miserable every minute I’ve had to be away from you.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” she whispered, yearning to taste his lips with her own. “So very much.” She caressed his face, curling his hair in and out of her fingers. Not wanting to wait another moment, she wrapped her hands around the back of his head, pulling him down to her waiting lips. He eagerly obliged, his kiss full of passion.
“Wait,” he said, catching his breath as he pulled away. Standing up, he kept his eyes glued to hers. “I’ll be right back.”
“You’re leaving?” she asked, propping herself up. “Where are you going?”
“I have some unfinished business,” he yelled as he ran up the stairs.
Furrowing her brow, Holly sat up as she heard the front door open and close, and then open and close once more.
Within seconds, Ben was racing back down the stairs, this time carrying an enormous red cellophane wrapped heart-shaped box of candy.
“What is this?” Holly asked, laughing.
“Last week when I saw you at the Urban Bistro, I hated that Michelle was the one sitting across from me at the table and not you. When I saw you there with Tessa and thought the two of you were there with dates, the jealousy I felt nearly killed me.”
“Now you know how I’ve been feeling.”
“I know, and I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I hope you believe me when I tell you I never stopped loving you. I despised every second I was back with Michelle, and I need for you to know I never touched her. She is nothing but a shallow, horrid woman, and I’m so mad I even let myself get in that situation. The fact you were willing to give me up for the sake of the baby made me love you even more. God, you have no idea how much I wished that baby was
our
baby.
You
are the woman I love and adore. You are the woman I will
always
love and adore.” He shifted the heart to the other hand. “Ten pounds of chocolate gets heavy after a while,” he said, laughing, “but I wanted one pound for every year we were apart. And now that we’re together, I can finally ask you. Holly Haines, will you be my Valentine?”
###
END NOTES
Thank you for reading Holly’s Wishes. I’d be so appreciative if you’d leave an honest review at your favorite retailer or book review site. And don’t miss out on the rest of the Haines sisters as The Whispered Wishes Series continues.
As always, this book wouldn’t be what it is without the input of some awesome people: Alicia Marietta, Kathie Juliano, Jane Anne Linsdell, editor Melissa Ringsted of There For You Editing, and author Kristy K. James. I’d also like to give a special thank you to the amazing creative team at Najla Qamber Designs for creating my beautiful cover: designer Najla Qamber, models Courtney Boyett and Willis Totten, and photographer Casey Totten.
And to my readers—Thank you once again for your encouragement, love, and support. Feel free to drop me a line -
I love hearing from my readers!
[email protected]
xo~Karen
OTHER BOOKS BY KAREN POKRAS
Whispered Wishes Series:
Book 2: Holly’s Wishes
Book 3: Tessa’s Wishes
Book 4: Woven Wishes
Merry Wishes: A Whispered Wishes Novella
Chasing Invisible
(Karen Pokras Toz)
Coming Soon:
The Destiny Thief
Books for Children 7-12 (Karen Pokras Toz)
Nate Rocks the World
Nate Rocks the Boat
Nate Rocks the School
Nate Rocks the City
Millicent Marie Is Not My Name
If you enjoy reading sweet romance, also check out best-selling romance author, Kristy K. James:
http://kristykjames.net/
ABOUT KAREN POKRAS
Karen Pokras writes adult contemporary and middle grade fiction under the names Karen Pokras and Karen Pokras Toz. Her books have won several awards including two Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, the Grand Prize in the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, as well as placing first for two Global E-Book Awards for Pre-Teen Literature.
For more information and to sign up for Karen’s newsletter, please visit
www.karenpokras.com
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