Beyond the Cherry Trees: The Cook Brothers Series (28 page)

“It sure does,” I grinned as I reached for his hand. The sales lady handed me the small bag containing my purchase, and Greyson and I strode out of the store. As we walked along the sidewalk toward the parking garage I’d parked in, Greyson skipped and hummed.

“I’m glad I get to spend three whole months with you.” He looked up at me.

“Me too,” I laughed. “What do you want to do this summer?”

“Can you teach me to ride a bike?” His feet faltered, causing me to trip slightly.

“Sure,” I wrinkled my forehead.

“Good,” his head jerked in a quick nod. “Momma says she doesn’t have time. What about swimming?” He beamed up at me. “Can we go swimming?”

“Yep,” I grinned. “Anything else?”

“I wanna climb trees, and get dirty, ooh, and play in the mud.” He was bouncing up in down in excitement as we reached my car.

“We can do all that,” I laughed as I opened the back door and watched him climb in.

“I can do it myself.” He brushed my hands away as he worked the buckle of his booster.

“All right big guy,” I chuckled. “You’re very independent.”

“Momma says I need to be. She says I can’t be a baby forever. She wants me to learn to do stuff by myself.” His voice was a little wistful, and I cursed Chrissi under my breath. He needed to be a kid as long as possible.

As I drove out of the city and began heading north toward Cherryville, Greyson filled the car with laughter and more stories about his momma. I listened and nodded at the right times, but in the back of my mind, I was plotting a way to revise this custody agreement. From what Greyson was telling me, it sounded like Chrissi didn’t really want him around. I’d love to have him come live with me full time, but I knew Chrissi would fight me on that. I think she thought if I had to come see her in order to get Greyson, I’d somehow decide I wanted her too. Little did she know that if the night went the way I wanted it to, I’d be off the market in a few hours.

“FINALLY,” I SIGHED
as I stepped back and surveyed the room. I’d been working in my new studio for a month now trying to get it ready to open. When I first moved back to Cherryville, I’d taught classes at the same place I’d learn to dance. The building was small though and in desperate need of repair. Tyler had helped me secure a loan to buy the space next to him, and after a month of constant renovations, it was finally time to open.

He’d left this morning to go pick up Greyson and promised to be back in time to have dinner as a family. Now, I just wanted to show off all my hard work. Taylor and Morgan had stopped by this afternoon with their five year old daughter, Eva. I wasn’t sure where CJ was off to. Now that he’d become a teenager, it wasn’t cool to hang out with your parents. Trevor had stopped in to help hang some of the mirrors, but when Sharron called him saying she didn’t feel well, he rushed home.

He didn’t tell me what was going on with them, but after all the times I’d seen this with them I had an idea. They’d been trying to have a baby for years now. Their other two kids were grown. Ken was coming home from college soon, and Mikey was getting ready to go off to summer baseball camp. Trevor had promised Sharron they could have another baby, but they just weren’t having any luck. After four miscarriages and months of depression in between, I prayed that this last round of hormone treatment worked. Based on the look Trevor had on his face when he left, they hadn’t though.

“Anyone in here?” Tyler’s voice called from around the corner. The sun was beginning to set, and a soft orange light filtered through the windows.

“I’m in the last room,” I called as I turned to survey the room one last time. I knew things were about to get crazy as I heard Greyson’s thundering feet.

“We’re here!” he squealed as he came sliding into the room in his socks. I’d been on Ty’s case for over a week about wearing shoes in the studio. It appeared that he finally remembered. “Whatcha doin?” His little head tipped to the side as he stared up at me.

“I was waiting for you,” I smiled down at him before lowering myself so I was eye level. “You see the stereo over there?” I pointed to the sound system in the corner. He nodded after looking in the direction. “Go press the red button. We’re having a dance party.”

Greyson squealed as he ran over and clicked the music on. I would never tire of hearing his laughter and when I saw the look on Ty’s face as he watched us, I knew he wouldn’t either. “You’re so good with him,” he murmured as he sauntered over to me. “You’d never know that he wasn’t ours.” I couldn’t help the pang of jealously that rushed through me, but I buried it without saying a word. “I love you, Mia.” Tyler wrapped his arms around my waist and started to sway us to the music as The Goo Goo Dolls “Iris” came through the speakers. “I can’t imagine being here without you.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“Yuck,” Greyson made a gagging noise from beside us before his eyes started darting between us and a giant grin spread across his face.

“What are smiling about?” I looked from Greyson to Ty and back to Greyson.

“Nothing,” he shrugged before he started skipping around the room in circles like all little kids dance.

“He knows you’re special Mia, just like I do.” Ty leaned back to look in my eyes. “I love you and I love him. I love the way you love him.”

“Ty,” I started to speak, but he lifted one of his hands and pressed a finger to my lips stopping me.

“Let me finish,” he teased. “I’ve realized over the years that sometimes things happen that you can’t control. Sometimes they hurt, but the hurt teaches us that they’re important. If it didn’t hurt to lose it, then we didn’t really need it in the first place. When I lost you, my world ended. I did a lot of things I wasn’t proud of, but in the long run, I ended up with him.” His head tipped toward Greyson. “I didn’t even realize how much I loved him until I held him the first time. I’ve watched you with him, and it’s made me want things, things that I can’t have unless you’re in my life for good.” Tyler released his hold on me as he stepped back and lowered himself to the ground. Greyson stopped in the background and began jumping up and down as he clutched his hands in tight fists in front of his chest. His teeth were clenched in excitement as he watched it all unfold right in front of him.

“Mia,” he swallowed. “Make a forever with me. Be my wife.”

I stood there not really grasping that the moment was real until Greyson paused before shouting, “Say yes! Please say yes!”

I looked at him before looking back at Tyler, and then finally noticing the princess cut diamond he was holding in his hands. “Yes, yes I’ll marry you,” I nodded as the tears came. Tyler stood up before sliding the ring on my finger and then cupping my cheeks with both hands.

“I love you.” His voice was strangled with emotion. “I don’t think you truly know how much.” Before I could correct him and tell him I knew exactly how much because I loved him the same, his head slanted as his lips crushed down on mine. My arms entwined around his neck as he lifted me and spun us right there in the middle of the studio.

Greyson giggled before bringing Tyler out of the moment. “Now that the surpwise is finished, can I go play?” he looked up at us with pleading eyes.

“Yeah, buddy, go play.” He ruffled his hair before Greyson took off running.

“You’re such a good Daddy,” I smiled at Tyler. “I can’t wait to start a family with you.”

“Let’s go practice,” Ty teased as he smacked my lips loudly.

“Ty,” I chastised him.

“What? We can at least practice,” he snickered before leaning in to nuzzle my neck.

“Not until after we eat. You promised me a family dinner,” I pouted.

“I like that idea,” he sighed as he grabbed my hand and led me out of the studio.

As we stood on the sidewalk looking up at the new sign for my studio, I couldn’t help but grin. We’d come a long way over the years. We’d grown up from the teenagers who played in the cherry trees. We’d moved beyond them, but never too far to forget.

The End

Trevor and Sharron’s story begins in

Before the Cherry Trees – The Cook Brothers Series #3

Love Will Remember- Selena Gomez

Locked Away- R. City and Adam Levine

Mockingbird- Rob Thomas

When the Heartache Ends- Rob Thomas

Chances- Five For Fighting

Iris- The Goo Goo Dolls

Hold Each Other- A Great Big World

On My Own- Ross Lynch

Drag Me Down- One Direction

Where Do Broken Hearts Go- One Direction

Once in a Lifetime- One Direction

Come Inside- Mary Beth Maziarz

Souvenirs- Mary Beth Maziarz

Hold On- Mary Beth Maziarz

The Night is Still Young- Nicki Minaj

Touch Me- SMASH cast

Who You Are- SMASH cast

I’m Not Sorry- SMASH cast

The Love I Meant to Say- SMASH cast

I Heard Your Voice in a Dream- SMASH cast

Rewrite This Story- SMASH cast

Reach For Me- SMASH cast

Heart Shaped Wreckage- SMASH cast

Too Close- Alex Clare

Not Over You- Gavin Degraw

I Lived- One Republic

Feel Again- One Republic

If I Lose Myself- One Republic

Other Works by H. D’Agostino

The Second Chances Series

Unbreak Me- book 1

The Boy Next Door- book 2

The One That Got Away- book 3

Inside Out- A Second Chances Novella- book 3.5

Fallen From Grace- book 4

The Family Next Door- book 5

The Shattered Series

Destined (Shattered #0.5)

Shattered (Shattered #1)

Restored (Shattered #2)

Renewed (Shattered #3)

Fated (Shattered #4)

The Witness Series

Being Nobody- book 1

Becoming Somebody- book 2

Promise Me Tomorrow- book 3

Say You Remember- book 4 (Coming Soon)

The Broken Series

Irreparably Broken- book 1

Saving Us- book 2

My Broken Angel- book 3

Broken Pieces- book 4 (Coming Soon)

The Cook Brothers

Walking Among the Cherry Trees- book 1

Before the Cherry Trees- book 3 (Coming early 2017)

Standalones

Privileged

Acknowledgements

I don’t even really know where to start here. I’ve met so many wonderful people along the way that I can’t truly thank all of you. This series is near and dear to me for the simple fact that I’ve set it in my town. No, I don’t live in Cherryvillle. It is fictional, but it is based off my town and the people that I see daily. It’s a close-knit community much like the book world, and many of its members have made a large impact on me.

Thank you to all the bloggers out there that tweet, post, and review my books. There are so many of you that I feel if I start naming names, I’ll miss someone. Thank you to my amazing team. Kelsey, Kari, Kellie, Angie, Melinda, Tabitha, Cassy, all of the Hotties, Ena and Amanda, and so many more you guys are amazing and I couldn’t do this without you.