Take Back My Heart (Come Back To Me) Read online

  “Amy,” Lauren pleaded.

  “No. Lauren, he needs to hear this.” She shook her head before turning back toward Eliot and wrapping him in a firm hug, amazed when he didn’t fight back. Instead, he melted into her. “Does it suck that your daddy is gone? Heck yes, it does, little man, but your mommy had nothing to do with that. It’s cruel, it’s unfair, but it’s not her fault. He loved you, your mommy loves you, and right now, she’s hurting too. You two need to love on each other, help each other out, and let everything else fall into place. You’ve got her, you’ve got me, Uncle Riley, and the boys. We’re all here for you. But you can’t spew words like that at your momma.”

  By the time Amy had finished, tears streamed down each of their faces.

  Eliot lifted his little head and met Lauren’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Mommy,” he sobbed. “I miss Daddy so much.”

  Lauren held out her arms and for the first time in days, Eliot came to her and let her hold him. Together, they cried.

  “I love you so much, Eliot. So very much. I’m not replacing you, and I’m not trying to replace your father. I’m not asking you to replace him either. We can talk about Connor another time, but he will never replace your daddy. That’s not how any of this works.” She wept as she kissed his forehead.

  Amy watched her best friend and her nephew for a few more minutes, then left, giving them a group hug and excusing herself. Thankful that she had been there when she was needed, and that hopefully, they had made a small breakthrough with Eliot.

  Later that night, Lauren tucked Eliot in to a freshly made bed after a few more tears had been cried and a quiet dinner was enjoyed. Climbing into her own bed, she felt a little bit lighter and hopeful. But, when she tried to drift off to sleep, but thoughts of Connor wouldn’t leave her mind. After debating over calling him, she grabbed her cell phone and sent him a text.

  L: Eliot knows about the baby. Amy came over. Thank you.

  She didn’t expect a response, because she figured he would be asleep, but her phone rang a few minutes later.

  “Princess,” he slurred.

  “Connor? Have you been drinking?” she asked, trying to hear him over the background noise.

  “Sorry, went out for a little bit with some friends from New York. You know how it is.”

  Lauren sighed, “Oh, you didn’t have to call. I wasn’t sure if you were asleep or not, but I’ll let you go.”

  “No, please wait,” his voice cracked. “I miss you. This whole thing, it’s been so fucked up. How’d Eliot take the news?”

  Lauren heard the phone shuffle and a female voice called Connor’s name. Instantly, she felt angry and hurt. Her world was currently crashing down around her, and the one person she thought she might be able to count on, was out parading around with another woman. And here she thought he was different than Kyle.

  Connor mumbled something sounding a whole lot like he was talking to the other woman, and then the phone shifted back. “Lauren, still there?”

  “Connor, just…call me tomorrow or something. Okay? Have a good time with your friends,” she snapped. Not waiting for Connor to say anything else, she hung up and turned her phone off for the night.

  Jealousy raged. She was the one who pushed him away. There was no title on their relationship, which meant he was free to do what he wanted. But didn’t it matter to him that she was carrying his child? It stung to know that while she was home and felt like she was barely hanging on, Connor was out—with someone else at that.

  Wrapping an arm over her still flat stomach, she sunk down into the bed and closed her eyes.

  A knock on the door soon woke her up in a panic. Glancing at the clock, she realized she’d only been out for an hour at most. But more importantly, who the hell was knocking on her door this time of night? Whoever it was, they were trying to be subtle, which freaked her out a little more than she’d like to admit.

  Pulling on her robe, she grabbed her phone, powering it on just in case. Checking the peephole, she let out a relieved breath and opened the door.

  “You turned off your phone, Princess.” Connor stood there, leaning against the door frame. “Can I come in?”

  “Connor, it’s late. Why don’t you come back tomorrow?” she tried pleading, not ready to talk to him yet.

  “I won’t stay long…God, this fucking sucks. Do you know how bad I want to be here?” he whispered. “I just want to be here for you. I get why you’re pushing me away, but Christ, this wasn’t how I planned it.”

  “What did you think, Connor? That you’d come back here and sweep me off my feet? That I’d fall all over you and everything would be good again? It doesn’t work that way.”

  “I know that. I know. Honestly, at best I was hoping we’d be friends again. I told you, last I knew, you were married. Gram said you were happy. What was I supposed to do? I came back here to tie up loose ends. I wasn’t even planning on staying, and then you happened all over again.”

  “Last I checked, I wasn’t asking you to stay,” Lauren snapped.

  “You’re carrying my baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Lauren groaned. She was angry, but it wasn’t all about Connor, and yet, he was the fall guy.

  Amy was right, they needed help. Not only Eliot. Lauren needed someone she could talk to as well.

  “Go out with me. Bring Eliot if you want. Let’s…dinner. Let’s do dinner. Or lunch. Something. Give me an inch, Lauren. That’s all I’m asking for.”

  “Go home, Connor. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Lauren tried to close the door, but he stuck his booted foot in the way.

  “Lauren,” he growled. “Let. Me. In.”

  “You don’t understand,” she whimpered as a tear escaped.

  The moment her guard was down, Connor pushed his way inside and wrapped her in his arms. “I’m not the enemy. I’m trying to be here for you,” he whispered, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

  “Then why were you out with another woman?” She let the words spill from her mouth without thought.

  “What?” Connor pulled back to meet her gaze. “What are you talking about?”

  “I heard her, Connor. In the background. She was too close to be merely someone at the bar. She said your name,” she cried, pounding on his chest.

  “Christ! Lauren, what you thought you heard is far from what happened. I told you, I was out with a few friends. One of the guys I worked with in New York was in town for a meeting. He brought his wife. You heard her voice. I was out with them. She was telling me they were heading back to their room and that I was on my own. I called a cab to bring me here.”

  Lauren backed up and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. We’re not, I mean…what the hell are we anyway? It doesn’t matter. You can do whatever you want.” She paced around the living room. “I’m such a fucking mess.”

  “I want you. Only you, Lauren.” He drew her back into his arms. “I’m not looking for someone else. I’ll wait for you as long as it takes. Right now, there’s a lot going on. I get it. But at some point, you’ll have to move on and I’ll be waiting.”

  Four Months Later...

  “Connor, are you and my mommy going to get married?” Eliot questioned as he finished up his breakfast.

  Connor sat down his cup of coffee and cleared his throat. Leaning back against the counter, he crossed his arms and thought for a moment before speaking. “Well, I’d like to, but that depends on a few things. How would you feel about me marrying your mommy?”

  It took a little bit of time on Lauren’s part, but she was slowly opening her heart and, as a result, he’d been spending more time with both mother and son. And little by little, Lauren’s walls around her heart had started to crumble; and little by little he was building a friendship with Eliot. Connor saw himself marrying Lauren—he always had. Eliot broaching the topic gave Connor hope that maybe the boy was beginning to warm up to him and the idea of the four of them being a family one day.

  “I think I would be okay with it. I mean
, you’re a pretty okay guy, and I like hanging out with you. I’m just…well…is Mommy going to love me less with you and the new baby around?”

  Stepping away from the counter, Connor pulled out a chair and took a seat next to Eliot. “Whoa, are you kidding me, buddy? Your mommy could never love me more than she loves you. You are her leading man. And as for the new baby, I can promise you that she’s going to love the new baby just as much as she loves you. Not any more and not any less.”

  “I want us to be a family. I want the baby to have mommy and daddy together.”

  “Is that right? Well, I think I know how we can fix that.” Connor gave him a wink. “Are you saying I have your permission to ask your mommy to marry me?”

  Eliot smiled, his entire face lit up like a Christmas tree as he nodded his head ‘yes’.

  Connor’s heart filled with joy. “Then what do you say about you and I going shopping? You can help me pick out a ring. But you have to make me one promise.”

  “Okay.”

  “You have to keep this a secret for a little while. Got it? This way we can surprise her with it.”

  Connor felt his heart deflate the minute Eliot’s mood shifted. Suddenly, the little boy was backing away from him and appeared terrified.

  “No! I can’t keep secrets from her! No! NO!” Eliot panicked. His father had taken him away from his mommy, kept him in a hiding spot with a strange lady, and told Eliot over and over that he would never see his mommy again. He planned for them to live a secret life, like on TV. No, secrets were bad and Eliot did not want to ever go through that again. What if Connor did the same thing? He couldn’t let that happen.

  “I get it, buddy. No secrets. Take a deep breath and talk to me.” Connor put his hands up in surrender.

  Eliot eyed him cautiously. “I’m not supposed to keep secrets from her. My dad kept secrets from her when he took me.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry for suggesting it. No secrets.” Connor hadn’t even considered that asking him to keep a secret from Lauren would upset him, but the minute Eliot brought up the incident with Kyle, he knew he’d made a mistake. “We’re going to buy her a gift, and then take her to dinner. You can tell her about it as soon as we get to dinner. Does that work?”

  He watched Eliot intently while he seemed to consider Connor’s amended plan. His little chest still heaved as he tried to calm himself. “No secrets, Connor. I can’t keep secrets. We don’t keep secrets from people we love.”

  Leaning forward, Connor wrapped an arm around Eliot’s shoulders and pulled him close. “I won’t make you keep any secrets. I promise.” He was relieved when the small boy did not pull away from him. Instead, Eliot hugged him back and took several deep breaths.

  “Okay.” Eliot accepted his promise.

  “It’s almost time for school, little man,” Connor reminded him. “Are you okay? Are we good? I’m not going to ever hurt you or take you away from your mommy. You can trust me.”

  Lauren stood on the other side of the kitchen wall, eavesdropping on their conversation. She hadn’t meant to listen in, but when she heard the topic, she wanted see how Connor would handle it. It took all her restraint to not to go running in when it became clear that Eliot was starting to panic, but Connor dealt with that expertly. Her heart swelled with joy as she listened to how the whole exchange played out. Her love for Connor grew the more she witnessed his interactions with Eliot. There was no doubt about it; he’d make a great father to their unborn child.

  She had taken Amy’s advice to heart and had been going to therapy twice a week. Once for herself and once with Eliot. They’d covered a lot of ground, and she was starting to feel at ease in her relationship with Connor. Her therapist had encouraged her relationship with him, urging her to let him in. She even suggested allowing Connor the chance to build a relationship with Eliot at the child’s pace. If this conversation were any indication, they were making progress—all three of them.

  In addition to trying to figure out the dynamics between each other, Lauren was also trying to adjust to not having Kyle’s support. She felt like all the responsibility for Eliot was on her now. Amy would always be there for them in a pinch, but Lauren hated relying on other people. There would be no one else to call when Eliot got sick. No one else there when he graduated, or needed fatherly advice—he only had his mother now. There was no one to share the financial burden of raising Eliot, either. The life insurance policy that Kyle had was only enough to cover his funeral and final bills, leaving nothing else for their son.

  Yes, Connor remained at her side—when she let him—however, much of past few months since Kyle’s death, had been a tug of war between them. He wanted her to allow him in, while she backed off and distanced herself, afraid of adding something new to her plate. He did his best to give her space and, at the same time, be there for her, Eliot, and their unborn baby.

  It wasn’t until Connor finally spoke up and demanded she give him something, that she promised to let him in more, sharing her load with him. He didn’t complain or question her when she called him in the middle of the night, crying hysterically. Instead, he got up and drove to her house—still in his pajamas. When she shared with him that she had officially passed the point in her pregnancy where she lost their first baby, he held her, cried with her, and told her he wanted to be more than merely the baby’s father.

  And now here he was, filling in the role of father for her son. Nurturing him. Protecting him. Whenever Eliot needed him, Connor was there for him.

  She was still propped against the wall with tears in her eyes when Eliot barreled around the corner and took off toward his room. Connor followed closely behind, stopping when he saw her standing there.

  “Lauren…” he scolded. “How much did you hear?”

  She attempted to feign innocence, but she could tell he didn’t buy her act for a single moment. Before she could say anything, and before he could give her a hard time, Eliot was back with his book bag, ready to go.

  “We’ve got to get going. I’ll call you after my meeting and we’ll do lunch. Okay?” Connor offered.

  “Thank you for taking him to school for me this morning,” she told him.

  Connor answered her with a gentle kiss. “No need to thank me. Love you, sweetheart.”

  “Bye Mommy. I love you!” Eliot hugged her too before following Connor out the door.

  Lauren watched ‘her boys’ through the window until they had driven off, and then it was her turn to grab her bag to leave for work. She was still reeling from the realization that Connor and Eliot were ready to take the next step in their ‘relationship’ when she pulled into work, but she didn’t have time to analyze her own mixed feelings on the matter.

  Connor adjusted the collar on his shirt, rolling up the sleeves as he watched Lauren slip into his room. She stood there watching him before sliding up behind him and wrapping her hands around his waist. She looked amazing in a pastel colored sundress and her favorite pair of sandals. If it hadn’t been for the fact that there was no time, he would have thrown her down onto the bed and made love to her.

  “Are you nervous?” she mumbled as she cuddled against his back.

  He turned around and pulled her into his arms. “What would I have to be nervous about, Princess?” He tried to play it cool, but the truth was, he was definitely nervous; however, not for the reason Lauren believed. Finding out the gender of their baby at a party with all their family and friends? He had that in the bag. The gender of their child didn’t matter to him. Excited? Yes. Nervous about it? No.

  When he’d asked her if there was anything about her pregnancy she felt like she missed out on with Eliot, she had giggled and said she wanted a gender reveal party. Determined to give her everything she ever wanted, Connor promised he would make it happen. And he did. Today, people would pile into his house to celebrate the upcoming birth.

  Lauren shrugged. “Well, what if it’s a girl?”

  “Then I’m going to spoil her rotten
and make damn sure no boys ever come near her.”

  “And if it’s a boy?”

  “Then I’m going to teach him how to play soccer, like his big brother. And football, and how to pick up girls.” He laughed as Lauren playfully punched him in the stomach.

  “So what you’re saying is, you’re not worried either way?”

  “Nope. Not worried at all. As long as he or she is healthy, it doesn’t matter.”

  The ringing of the doorbell forced Lauren to pull away from him. “That would be the cake. Should we cheat and sneak a peek?”

  “No. Go get the door, and I’ll be down in a minute.” He swatted at her butt as she walked away.

  When he heard her open the door for the baker, he closed and locked his bedroom door. Making his way over to his walk-in closet, he opened his safe and pulled out the small box that he and Eliot picked out two days prior. Sliding that into his one of his pockets, he then grabbed a slightly larger box and slid that into his other pocket. Done with his task, he closed the safe and made his way downstairs.

  He’d reached the bottom step when the doorbell rang again. Reaching for the knob, he stopped short when the door opened from the outside and Amy and Riley walked in with all their kids. He greeted them each with a hug and took the food and packages out of their hands. Amy leaned in and asked if his plan was still a go.

  “It is. I think she’s in the kitchen. You’d better go stop her, because she’s already trying to sneak a peek at the cake.”

  Amy laughed and followed him into the kitchen, while Riley directed his kids to the family room.

  The doorbell rang again. “I got it.” Connor handed off a plate of food he had taken back to Amy before heading toward the foyer.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Delaney. I’m so glad you could make it.” Connor wrapped them each in a hug to greet them. “Lauren still has no clue that I flew you guys in. I’m sure she’s going to be so surprised to see you,” he said as he took both their jackets and hung them on the coat rack. “But before she sees you’re here, I need to ask you both something kind of important.” He guided them into his office, and then began, “You both know she’s pregnant so there’s no surprise there. But I, uh…” He tugged at his collar. “I’d like to ask for your permission to marry her.”