Chapter 10

Michael

I wake up before the sun peeks in through the blinds, delirious to have April in my arms. Her body is warm against mine under the sheets and I smooth away some dark, silky strands of hair from her cheek, half wanting to wake her so I can kiss her senseless, and half wanting to let her sleep.

It's good to see her so relaxed, with all the worry gone from her brow. That worry has transferred to me. Still not sure what the best course of action is. The only thing I'm sure of is I'm not giving her up.

Knowing that there are not even eggs in my fridge at the moment, I slip out of bed and quietly get dressed. Then I scrawl a note, telling her I'll be right back in case she wakes up while I'm out.

At the corner store, I get bacon, eggs, milk, some fruit and bags of snacks. A few doors down there's an electronics store and I duck in and get two cheap phones that I load up with minutes for April and her sister. I want them to have everything they need and while I'm in there, someone returns a handheld game system because it's got a cracked case. While I'm waiting my turn, the shopkeeper argues that it still works and goes round and round about returning it, but in the end, the customer gets her refund. The guy grumbles about the loss before ringing up my phones.

"I'll give you fifty bucks for it," I say, even though I need to be more careful with money than ever. "You know nobody's going to buy it looking like that."

He scowls but agrees and I head back home loaded down with the gifts that I wish could be so much better than they are.

April is awake and brewing coffee in the kitchen and my heart skips a beat to see her wearing one of my t-shirts that goes down to her knees. Her hair is a bedraggled mess from all the times I ran my fingers through it or pulled on it for better access to her soft throat. When she turns and smiles at me with still sleepy eyes, I'm frozen for a second.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," I tell her, shaking off my stupor and moving to drag her into a hug. "And you smell amazing, too."

She leans back to accept my kiss, her tongue darting greedily between my lips. "Why did you leave?" she demands, her hands reaching around to grab my ass. "We still have about a half hour until Amelia has to get up for school."

I put my hands on her lush hips and squeeze, then regretfully push her away. "About that. I don't think she should go today. And we might have to transfer her since I live so much further away. It'll be safer in the long run, just in case he decides he doesn't want to give up yet."

All the rosiness in her cheeks from our heated kiss drains away. "Do you think he'll do that?" Her frightened face turns angry. "He's already taken every last dime from the auction. He should just cut his losses."

"He should," I agree. "And if he doesn't, I'll take care of him, so you don't have to worry about that."

She pulls me close around my middle and presses her face into my chest. "I won't. Not if you're around."

I put my hands on her shoulders and give her a look I hope can convey everything I feel. "I will be around. Try getting rid of me." I playfully smack her adorable little ass and then reach for the bags I dropped when she stunned me with her beauty. "Now let me get these groceries put away and make you two some breakfast."

As soon as the bacon crackles in the pan filling the apartment with its delicious smell; Amelia pokes her head out of her room wearing pajamas that are woefully too small for her. What was I thinking, taking on a kid? When she spies the stupid cracked game system on the counter and her eyes light up, I realize I wasn't thinking, I was feeling. She looks at me hopefully and I nod.

"It's all yours. There's a phone, too. And as long as you're smiling, today's a skip day from school."

Amelia looks to her big sister who agrees and we settle down around the miniscule kitchen table and dig into our breakfast. Wow! Looks like I have a family now. When April clears the dishes, I ask Amelia to bring my laptop and call for a meeting. Both of them look anxious, but I assure them we're in this together.

"We need to decide what we're going to do next," I say. "Because we sure as hell can't stay in this shoebox for too much longer."

I find all the pictures of my vineyard in France and show them the ramshackle century-old house that sits on the property. I've been yearning to visit the stunning countryside and revive the neglected vineyard through months of labor. The house that is sure to be drafty and full of mice by now since it's been empty for so long.

"This is yours?" Amelia asks. I can't read her expression to tell if she's impressed or disgusted.

April already knew I owned the place, but this is the first time seeing what it's really about and her face is also carefully neutral.

"Yeah," I say. "It's going to be amazing one day, but here's how I see it going down. We've got two options unless one of you can come up with something else. One. We stay here and April and I get jobs and save up as much as we can for the next few years until we have enough money to make the renovation easier."

"What's option two?" April asks, scrolling through the sunset views over the fields with the house in the distance.

"We go to France now and do everything ourselves, which will be a ton of hard work. Backbreaking work. And I tell you right now, that old house has crappy heating."

"Now," they both say in unison, then crack up.

"Right now?" Amelia asks, standing up like she's ready to put her stuff back in the plastic bags she brought it over in. "Like right, right now?"

April's eyes well up with tears and she puts her hand on my arm. "How soon can we go?" she asks.

"I figure we can fast track your passports and leave in about a month, maybe sooner. My last paycheck from the club will cover everything until then. After that, who knows? It'll be an adventure. Are you sure you're in?"

The two girls, my two girls, look at each other with shining eyes. "We're in," they both say and Amelia grabs her new phone and runs into her room, babbling about her friends not being able to believe it.

Once April and I are alone in the kitchen, her hand tightens on my arm and her giddy smile has faded.

"Having second thoughts already?" I ask.

"No, never." A glistening tear rolls down her cheek. "A vineyard in France? With you and Amelia? It's like a dream." As if she still doesn't believe it, she pinches the inside of her elbow and I reach over and smooth away the small red mark that's left behind. "I don't understand why, though," she says.

"Oh, little one, don't you?" I lean over to kiss away the salty tear. "It's because I love you. From the moment our eyes first met at the club. I couldn't let you go home with anyone else. And when I tried to let you go, I couldn't. I never will. You're mine, April."

She shakily stands and hurries to sit on my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I love you, too," she says, and it's the happiest moment of my life. "I just never thought my silly dream of being with the angel who saved me could ever be real."

The kiss makes us both forget everything for a moment, our mouths colliding as her arms tighten around me to the point I can hardly breathe. "It's real," I tell her when we finally pull back. "It's going to get very real."

She laughs, sweeter than any music. "I can't wait."

"Then let's go get your passport pictures taken and get the ball rolling," I say, standing up and holding on tight so she slides down my body.

She clings around my waist and presses her face into my chest, finally smiling up at me, then she hollers for Amelia to get her butt ready to go.

We're starting our adventure, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Epilogue

April

Six years later

I lean forward on the hard bench in the little gathering hall, smiling at the eight kids who are lined up to graduate after their headmaster gets done with his interminable speech. My sister, eighteen now and looking so happy she might burst in her bright blue robe, glances up from whispering with one of her classmates and catches my eye.

Even after living here in the middle of the French countryside, it's still a little surreal to me to watch her graduate from the tiny village school. The picturesque backdrop of dark wooden beams overhead and stone walls covered in years of whitewash is stunning. I smile at her and wave and, while she gives me an eye roll, she wiggles her fingers back at me, eager to hear her name called.

She deserves every bit of happiness she's experiencing right now and, between my pride and bittersweet sorrow that my kid sister is an adult, I have to surreptitiously wipe away a tear. The three of us worked so hard for the last six years to be able to sit comfortably on this bench, accepted into this close-knit community of people who no longer consider us foreigners, but friends. Maybe even family if the boy who's had a crush on Amelia since we moved here gets his way.

Michael was right about how difficult the work would be. We were exhausted and broke for the first few years, but being together made it all worth it. The lack of fear, the warmth, and the love instead of the bitterness we'd had to endure before my angel husband swooped in and saved us.

Despite all the hard work and challenges, we now have a cozy home filled with our handmade crafts. The grapevines are not just growing again, but thriving, and if all keeps going smoothly, we'll have our first harvest this fall. It'll be rough without Amelia, and not just because we'll have one less worker when the time comes. But she wants to go back to America for college and I support her even though it's breaking my heart.

Her name is finally called and the smattering of applause from the small crowd of family and friends makes her cheeks burn bright. I turn to Michael, more handsome than ever with his deeply tanned skin from working outdoors and pale highlights from the sun woven into his golden hair. His muscles have always been impressive, but after years of real, hard labor, he's truly more like a god now than just an angel.

His smile lights up his handsome face and when I turn back to Amelia on the stage, I burst into tears like a fool. A proud, ridiculously happy fool. Michael nudges me with a teasing grin and hands me a tissue. When I'm done blowing my nose, I catch him wiping away a tear of his own, as proud of Amelia as I am.

But for me it's so much more, because I can remember the stage I was forced to walk across after I turned eighteen. The raucous calls from that crowd are nothing like the mild cheers from this one. I don't have any regrets because things turned out just the way they were supposed to, but I'm so grateful that Amelia never had to go through the same thing.

After the ceremony, Michael and I hurry back to the house to put the finishing touches on the party we're hosting for all the kids and their families. It's easy to do when there are only eight of them, but I still want everything to be perfect.

The twinkle lights are strung along the stone wall separating the garden where we grow most of our own vegetables from the vineyard, and I spent all morning picking wildflowers and arranging them into centerpieces for the tables we've set out in the back courtyard. Michael makes sure the sound system is set up so everyone can dance and soon we're surrounded by other happy people, enjoying each other's company.

It's so simple, but it was something I never dared to hope for before Michael. And things are about to be so much better. As I'm swaying in his arms to a slow song, he points out the village boy who's had a massive crush on Amelia for years, flirting extra hard with her tonight.

"He's got to make his move before she goes," he says, leaning down to nuzzle my neck.

"I hope he's not heartbroken," I say, rooting for him and hoping she's not dazzled by one of her new college friends once she's back on her home soil.

"I hope you're not going to be," Michael says seriously.

Sighing, I rest my cheek against his chest, smiling at the sound of his steady heartbeat. "I'm just her sister, not her mother. I'll be fine."

And I think I really will be, especially since we never heard a peep out of Uncle Harris after we got away. Perhaps he was just happy to be rid of us, or we disappeared so quickly that he never got a chance to find us. Regardless, he could be in prison, dead, or just carrying on with his same old petty crimes for all any of us care.

"You act like her mother most of the time," he says with a slow smile that gets my blood racing. "There's nothing wrong with that, though."

There's a hint of sadness behind his smile that he wouldn't want me to notice but of course I do. Soon, that sadness will be erased. Despite the hectic workload at the vineyard, we've been trying for a baby for the last two years. Nothing ever came of it, and I was beginning to think something was wrong. But after the last few weeks of thinking I was struggling with a nasty stomach bug I couldn't shake; I finally went into town and bought a test. I was afraid to get my hopes up again, but I took it this morning and have been bursting with the news ever since.

I didn't want to overshadow Amelia's graduation, and we're surrounded by guests, but I can't stand keeping the secret anymore. I slip out of Michael's embrace and take his hand, leading him toward the house. It's as if he can read the news on my face and he sucks in a breath, gripping my shoulders.

"What is it, April?" he asks. "Please tell me what I think you're going to tell me."

"You know me so well," I tell him, drawing it out a second longer. But then I blurt it out with a laugh. "Yes, we're going to have a baby."

He wraps her arms around my waist and lifts me off the old plank floor, turning in a circle as he whoops with joy. As he loosens his grasp and I slide down his hard body, he gives me a kiss that makes my knees tremble. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I begin to push him backward towards the bedroom.

The music and laughter from our party waft in through the windows, but I can't wait until everyone leaves. French people can drink and dance until sunrise, and I need to be with my husband right now.

As soon as we're through our bedroom door, we tumble onto the bed, pushing aside the quilt Amelia and I made after getting lessons from one of the village ladies. Michael's hands roam down my side, pulling up my dress until he finds the spot I'm dying for him to touch.

"You know just what I need," I murmur, stretching out and reaching for his long, silky hair. A hundred times he's wanted to cut it to make it easier out in the hot sun, but I've begged him not to.

"And I'm going to give it to you, baby," he says, shoving my panties down and sinking his fingers deep inside me. Then he pauses, looking up at me with wonder in his eyes. "Baby," he says as if just remembering. "Do I need to be careful?"

"You better not be," I warn, making him laugh. He knows I like it rough and wild most of the time.

His hand moves lazily against my wet heat, making me squirm as he kisses me long and slow and sweet. His tongue swipes across my lower lip as he pulls back to look down at me, his blue eyes dark with the same desire that makes me cling to him. There are laugh lines etched into the tan around those eyes I love so much and they crinkle now when he smiles at me.

"You're so beautiful," he says. "Every inch of you."

"You're sweet," I tell him, breaking out into a grin. "Now give me every inch of you."

He snorts, then goes back to easing his fingers in and out of me. "Settle down there, little one. We've got all the time in the world and lots and lots to celebrate."

But he can't resist for long and soon he nudges my legs apart with his knee, leaning down to take my nipple in his mouth as he rubs his cock against my opening. With an almost pained look on his face, he pulls me roughly to him so that our chests collide, just as he sinks all the way inside me.

"Yes," I moan, wrapping my arms around his neck and sliding up and down. I love being held tight against him; safe, secure, and cherished. "Oh, the things you can do to me."

He tugs my hair back and kisses down my throat, his long, smooth movements building up a delicious longing that only he can satisfy. I let my head stay tipped back, taking in every sensation as I watch the lights from outside flicker across the ceiling. The music swells and changes to a loud, hard rock song, and I smile.

"Perfect," he says. "Perfect timing."

I know just what he means, because he begins to move faster, drive deeper. Both our breathing gets shallower and our hearts pound rhythmically. My moans get louder as my fingers dig into his back, then slide up to grab onto his hair. He loosens his grip around my body to slip his hand between us, his palm sliding down my belly to the crux of my thighs. The moment he brushes my clit, I let loose and scream; the sound drowned out by the rowdy party music outside.

He follows me, howling out his orgasm as he squeezes me tight. Barely enough room between us for a trickle of sweat to fall. For a long time, we cling to each other, letting the aftershocks ripple through us, lost in each other.

He finally rolls onto his back, bringing me with him, so I'm looking down at his satisfied grin. "Amazing," he says, his chest still rising and falling from our exertions. His eyes drift shut as his hand runs lazily up and down my back.

I just keep looking at him, with the party sounds rising and falling in the background, not sure if I'll ever get used to my life being this perfect. And it seems to keep getting better.

"How?" I whisper.

His eyes open and he pulls me close to rest a soft kiss on my forehead. "I wonder sometimes too," he says.

"You don't know what I was asking," I say, ready to tease him.

He nods solemnly. "You were thinking how you could be so happy you think you'll laugh and cry at the same time. That you might shatter from it if you move too fast. But then instead of going away, it only gets better and better."

I suck in a breath and feel those sappy tears that fell at the graduation ceremony welling up again. Michael grins, smug that he's gotten it so right.

"Yes, something like that," I say, cozying up next to him and pulling his arm under me for a pillow. "You think the neighbors and the kids can just shut the party down themselves? Or should we get back out there?"

"I bet they'll be fine without us."

"I'm so lucky," I murmur, feeling him shaking his head so that his chin brushes across the top of my hair.

"I'm the lucky one. I'd have never gotten this place fixed up without two hearty laborers like you and Amelia."

With a laugh, I poke him in the ribs. "You could have had professionals and gotten it done in half the time if you hadn't bid at some extravagant auction all those years ago."

"Never once regretted any of it," he tells me, serious now. "You?"

"Never," I tell him instantly. "This has been the best adventure of my life."

He wraps me close and turns so our faces are inches apart, his deep blue eyes searching mine. "And it's only going to get better."

~The End