Eden (34 page)

I was surrounded with hugs and kisses from my
in-laws, and even from my mother. Eden reached for me, and Jared
handed her to me, trading her for a kiss. Eden wrapped her chubby
arms around my neck, tangling her fingers in my hair, and opening
her mouth to give me a big, wet baby kiss on the cheek.

“Oh, thank you!” I said with a
smile.

“I thought we could meet for dinner,” Lillian
chirped.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Do we need to bring
anything?”

“Nope,” she winked. “I’ve been at it all
morning.” She kissed me again, and then nuzzled Eden’s cheek before
kissing her children goodbye. “See you at six!”

Jared stuffed his hands in his pockets. “We
might be a little late, Mom. We’ve got to make a stop.”

“Oh?” I said.

“It’s your graduation present.”

“What is it?” I said, lighting up.

Jared laughed. “You know I won’t tell
you!”

I feigned disappointment. “I loathe
surprises!”

“No, you don’t,” he said, hugging me to his
side.

Claire winked at Jared. “We’ll see you guys at
dinner. Congratulations! Bye, Edie!” She kissed Eden’s fat fingers,
and then she and Ryan walked to her Exige, wrapped in each other’s
arms. Bex rolled his eyes and reluctantly followed.

“I need to change,” I said.

“Okay. We can do that, too.”

Jared drove to the outskirts of town. We were
on the same road as the warehouse, so I squirmed in my seat with
excitement, believing Jared was taking me to see Eli. But we
stopped several hundred yards from the warehouse. I could barely
see it.

Jared pulled into the driveway of a two-story
house.

“Where are we?”

“Home,” he smiled.

“Huh?” I said, taken aback. I looked at the
house again. It was white with green shutters and porch with a
swing. Very Norman Rockwell.

“Let’s go,” Jared said. As soon as his door
shut, mine opened, and then he opened the back door to unfasten
Eden from her car seat. “Come on!” he said, barely able to contain
his enthusiasm.

I held his hand, and we walked to the front
door. Jared used the key, and then pushed the door open. I couldn’t
believe my eyes. The inside was identical to the loft. The same
pictures on the walls, the same decorations, even the same layout.
The only difference was that the upstairs wasn’t
visible.

“It’s ours?” I said, overwhelmed.

“It is. Our bedroom is upstairs, down the hall
from Eden’s, and there’s a guest bedroom, too.”

I hugged him tight, burying my face in his
chest. “Jared! I love it! I can’t believe you did this.”

He suppressed a smile. “Cynthia isn’t
happy.”

“She’ll get over it!” I said, looking around
in awe.

We trotted up the stairs, and I gasped at our
bedroom. It was like nothing had ever happened to our loft. It was
the same. Excited to see the new additions, I rushed to Eden’s
room. Jared had made sure to decorate it exactly as it had been at
Cynthia’s. He sat Eden down in her crib with some toys, and then
led me to the guest room by the hand. It was empty, and the walls
were white and bare.

“You left this one for me, didn’t you?” I
said, squeezing his hand.

“I didn’t know how you’d want it, so I thought
I’d just leave it alone. A blank canvas.”

“I love it. I love all of it. I will sleep
better tonight than I have since we lost the lost.” I looked at
him. “You gave me back our home. I can’t tell you what this means
to me.”

His eyebrows pulled together. “Not even a
fraction of what you mean to me.”

I leaned up on the balls of my feet and
wrapped my arms around his neck. My lips pressed against his, and I
smiled at the warmth he emanated. I’d missed how hot he felt
against my human skin. His strong hands pressed against my back,
and he pulled me closer, every emotion he’d ever felt coming
through in that kiss.

“I’m happy,” I whispered. “I’m so happy…,” I
said against his mouth, “and it’s all because of you.”

The End.

A note from the author:

Thank you so much for reading the Providence
series! I hope you enjoyed following Jared and Nina’s journey and
spending time with the characters as much as I did. Finishing my
first series, I’m torn. I’m looking forward to writing something
new, but I am terrible with goodbyes. Nina and Jared have a special
place in my heart, like my first born. I have spent so much time
with them that they feel very much like family. I can’t tell you
how much it means to me that you’ve seen them through to the
end.

Thank You.

Jamie

Acknowledgments

I must thank the person who pushed
me to begin Providence. The same person who swung her pom-poms
every step of the way, through every book, and in between. My
dearest friend Beth, I thank you so much. Your support,
encouragement and insistence has brought Providence -and me-to the
end of this series. Every good thing that has happened to me in the
last three years stemmed from your insistence that I
could.

I would also like to thank my
mother Brenda for her assistance in any way I asked, or that she
could.

Many thanks to authors Jessica
Park, Tammara Webber, Abbi Glines, Liz Reinhardt, and EL James for
your advice, your encouragement, and direction. I adore each and
every one of you, and I am so very glad that we crossed
paths;

To Jim Thomsen for his patience and
expertise;

To Dr. Ross Vanhooser for believing
in me and putting action and risk behind that belief;

To Harmony Hempfling, who is the
best listener, and a fantastic beta reader.

To Maryse at Maryse.net and reader
Nikki Estep for their enthusiasm and being instrumental in my
success as an author;

And to my amazing husband, Jeff.
You are infinitely supportive, patient, and love me even when I’m
ignoring you for fictional people. You are my partner in life; my
everything, and I wouldn’t think of doing any of this without you.
I wouldn’t want to. Thank you so much for being everything that you
are.

BIOGRAPHY

Jamie
McGuire was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and now resides in Enid, OK
with her husband and three children. Jamie is a registered
radiographer as well as a best selling, independent author. Jamie
has also written
Beautiful
Disaster,
a contemporary romance novel.
Find Jamie on Facebook or her website,
www.jamiemcguire.com
.