Saved By A Soldier (Love Conquers Life Book 1) (15 page)
Read Saved By A Soldier (Love Conquers Life Book 1) Online
Authors: Alison Mello
She places her hand on my cheek. “I know, and you’re right, you scared me, but as long as you’re working on it I’m okay with that.”
“Good. Will you spend the night with me again tonight?”
“Absolutely.”
I scoop her up and spin her around in my kitchen. She giggles at my playfulness and it’s the most beautiful sound in the world.
“You make me so happy,” I tell her as I set her back down on the floor.
“I’m glad, but I need to go change now that dinner’s in the oven.
***
The phone rings. It’s the doorman telling me that my guests are on their way up.
I look at Patty. “Ready?”
She nods and there’s a knock on the door. We walk over together to answer it and both my parents and her father are here for our night together. My mom hugs me, gushing over how grown up Patty is and how it’s been ages since she’s seen her. We welcome them in and I show them around while Patty pours wine and beers.
“Darling, I’m so proud of you,” my mom says. “You have picked a lovely place and you did an excellent job selecting things to put in it.”
“Mom, I owe a lot of it to Patty. I may have found the place but she helped me pick everything inside of it.” I place my arm around her neck. “She also stayed here while I was at work to be sure the delivery guys got everything here and in place.”
“You sweet girl,” my mother says. “Thank you so much for helping our son.”
“It’s really not a problem. I can write from anywhere.”
“Yeah, Mom, she says that, but she didn’t even write. She washed all my towels and my sheets so they would be fresh for my bed. She’s amazing.”
“That’s my girl,” her father says, kissing her on the head. “Your mother would have had a cleaning crew in here, but not you. You’ve never been afraid to get your hands dirty. I’m proud of you, baby girl.”
Poor Patty is blushing from her head to her toes.
“Thanks, Daddy. You’re lucky I could never stay mad at you long. Mr. ‘I don’t listen and send someone to watch over my daughter anyway.’” I give my father a look and he and Patty’s dad start laughing.
“What are you talking about?” he asks, playing innocent. “Really, Daddy? You’re still going to go with the ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about line?’” She’s pretending to be mad and failing miserably.
“Baby girl, you’re my daughter and I will always protect you. If that means being on your shit list for a few days, I’m okay with that.” He hugs her again and she laughs.
“Sorry, sir,” I say, “she beat it out of me.”
Her father grins. “I’m sure it didn’t take much. Patty has a way with people. She can make them talk pretty easily.”
“So, Patty, what is this new book you’re working on?” my mom asks her.
Patty starts to tell my parents all about her new book and how she’s hoping to be done by the end of January so she can have some of the summer off.
The timer goes off on the oven and Patty excuses herself to check on dinner. I decide to join her to see if she needs help. She opens the oven door and a delicious aroma comes bursting from the oven and suddenly I’m starving. I hand her the meat thermometer so she can check the internal temp. She shows me how the thermometer tells me if the meat is ready or not making, it easier on someone like me who’s learning to cook. Once we determine dinner is done we call everyone into the kitchen so we can eat. We already have everything set up on the snack bar since I haven’t found a dining set I like yet.
“Carter, are you going to get a dining room set soon?” my mother asks me.
“I’d like to, I’m hoping I can convince Patty to help me cook Thanksgiving dinner and have everyone here.”
Patty looks up at me with the biggest smile and I whisper, “I’m sorry, did I put you on the spot?”
“It’s okay. I’d love to help you with Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Great. Looks like Thanksgiving will be here,” I say, handing a plate of food to my mom.
We make the remainder of the plates and I can’t believe how excited I am about getting the entire family together.
As I sit down my father says to Patty, “Where’s your mother? She couldn’t make it?”
Patty visibly tenses. “We’re having her over another night. I know there is tension with the three of you so I made it easy for you.”
“You guys didn’t have to do that,” my mom says. “We would have been fine. Patty, your mom and I were friends at one point but we had a disagreement on ways of life. We’re both polite in the public eye, but just because we are no longer friends doesn’t mean we can’t be civil.”
“I appreciate that, but we wanted a nice dinner with our parents and she and I are not seeing eye to eye these days. Carter and I decided for our first dinner with the family to keep it separate.”
“I understand, and I’m sorry you two are not getting along. I hope you can work it out,” my mother says with a sincere voice.
I can see Patty’s mood is shifting and I don’t want this dinner to go downhill because of a woman that isn’t even in the room with us. Just as I’m about to say something my father jumps in.
“On a happier note,” he says, “what can we bring for Thanksgiving?”
“How about a dessert, and we will take care of the main meal?” I turn to Patty. “How does that sound.”
“That sounds great,” she says sounding genuinely pleased, and I’m not sure anyone else notices but she visibly relaxes at the change in subject. She takes a few more bites of her dinner and pushes her plate away, sipping her wine.
“Let me know if you’d like us to get here early so I can help in the kitchen,” my mom offers. “I love to cook and I wouldn’t mind.”
“That would be nice.” Patty takes her plate and heads to the other side of the snack bar to start cleaning up. My mom gets up to join her and I hear them talking about her book world and some of the things she has to do to be successful besides writing. Patty is telling her about her book signings and some of the interesting people she’s met along the way.
The guys are discussing my new job and my boss. I’m filling them in on some of the training I’ve done and some of the benefits available to vets that I hadn’t known about.
Once the ladies are done cleaning the kitchen Patty’s father says, “It’s getting late. I think I’m going to head out, but I’ll see you at the dinner next weekend and I can’t wait to have Thanksgiving here with everyone.”
“Okay, Daddy, thanks so much for coming. It was fun.” Patty hugs her dad.
“We’re going to go too,” my father says.
Patty hugs my parents and her father one more time. We thank them again for coming and when we’re about to close the door, her father turns to me and says, “My daughter has been through enough with her mother and her ex. She may not realize it but I heard what happened at the fundraiser. I don’t trust that guy and I have a feeling he isn’t going to walk away that easily. Make sure you take good care of my baby girl.”
I smile at him confidently. “Sir, trust me when I say I plan on it.”
To be continued with
My Broken Soldier-
Love Conquers Life 2
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Acknowledgments
I want to give a huge shout out to the ladies of Bonded By Books! As you read in the dedication to book one of this series. My writing began with this group and if it weren’t for this group I may have never started. Thanks to them, what was supposed to be a standalone book has turned into a series, Love Conquers Life. Some of you have read for me, some have allowed me to pick your brain and some have promoted for me, no matter what you’ve done, you’re always there for me so thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your love and support!
I also want to give another shout out to my mom. Thanks mom, for all of your love and support. It means the world to me that you not only buy my books but you brag about them to all of your friends. I’m so lucky to have such a supportive mom who drives two days to see her daughter attend her first author signing event. You’re the best! I love you to the moon and back.
To my hubby who gets a shout out in every book. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without you. Thank you for working so hard to take care of our family so I can stay home and do what I love. I love you more than words can say. I thank you a million times over for all of your love and support.
About the Author
Alison Mello is a wife and stay at home mom to a wonderful little boy. She lives with her amazing family in Massachusetts. She loves playing soccer, basketball and football with her son.
After having her son, Alison started reading again and fell in love with Contemporary Romance. Reading made her happy and gave her something to do when she had downtime. As she started to read more, she started to noticed things she really enjoyed in a book and things she didn’t. She began to have ideas for writing one of her own. One day she literally woke up and started writing. She realized that if there was ever a time for her to write, it was now. She had a part time job to give her something to do. The hours at work were slow and she was bored with what she was doing, so while her son was off enjoying his friends over summer vacation she got started.
Alison finished the first book in two weeks and decided that she really enjoyed writing, so she kept going. She already had ideas in mind for books two and three, so she kept writing. That is how the Learning to Love Series was born. Somewhere along the line, one of my Beta readers convinced me that Michael, a character from Finding Love, needed his own story. That is when Alison added the fourth and final book. Alison hopes you enjoy her books as much as she enjoyed writing them.
She’s so glad she started this writing journey and hopes you will stay with her for the ride. Chasing Dreams is scheduled to release in April and the first two books of the Love Conquers Life series will be out this summer!