Love Reunion: Entwined Hearts Christmas Novella Read online

  Maria Macdonald

  Love Reunion

  An Entwined Hearts Christmas Novella

  Maria Macdonald

  Copyright 2016 Maria Macdonald

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, real people, and real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the Author’s imagination and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, organizations or places is entirely coincidental.

  All rights are reserved. This book is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the express written permission of the Author. All songs, song titles and lyrics contained in this book are the property of the respective songwriters and copyright holders.

  Editing by Kaylene Osborn and Nicki Kuzn Swish Design & Editing

  Formatting by Swish Design & Editing

  Cover design by Francessca’s Romance Reviews

  Cover Image Copyright 2016

  To every reader who loved the Entwined Hearts Series and asked for a catch up with them. This was written especially for you!

  Thank you for travelling on the Entwined Hearts voyage with me. I have loved every minute that I’ve been blessed enough to spend with Pea, Con, Soph, Saul, Nova, Dane, Eric and Rich. Although there are no more books planned for these characters, you will see them here and there in future books for side characters.

  They started my writing journey and have a special place in my heart. It makes me sad to say goodbye, so I’m not going to. I’ll just say ‘see you later’ because, let’s be honest, with an author you just never know when you might meet the characters again!

  I really hope you love this novella. Even if you haven’t read the series, you can still follow and enjoy this book. Please note, there will be name changes that confuse you if you’ve never read the trilogy. Just keep this in mind and you’ll be solid:

  Libby / Nova

  Soph / Tink

  Always,

  Maria <3

  Their family was built from friendships and had survived the worst of the world.

  So what happens when it’s the closest to you that are causing the most pain?

  Eight people who loved each other unconditionally, shared one another’s pasts, and were forever entwined together in their future.

  Could they protect each other like they’d always vowed?

  What happens when the family is split? When everyone seems to be travelling a different path?

  Can a family survive without everyone there supporting its structure?

  What happens to a home when the love is divided?

  Forever. That was always the promise.

  Catch up with the Entwined Hearts family because the future’s not always rosy.

  Dedication

  A Note To The Reader

  Blurb

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  Playlist

  Acknowledgments

  Connect With Me Online

  About the Author –Maria Macdonald

  The birds singsong in the sky, and for once it doesn’t turn my happy mood sour. Today I can appreciate the pretty tune, tomorrow I may want to shoot them for their ‘noise,’ but today everything is perfect. I walk through town with the biggest smile on my face. As I glance into a shop window while passing, I know—full well—that I look crazy. I’m expecting people to start crossing the road soon trying to avoid the mad woman who walks along the pavement smiling. You don’t pass people, look them in the eye and smile. Not in this day and age, and certainly not in London. I’m surprised the police haven’t been alerted.

  Today I don’t care.

  The tote bag which carries my shopping swings leisurely back and forth in time with my joyful strides. The first splashes of cold rain hit my nose as I wander into a clothing shop. As I thumb through the endless rails of designer pieces, I wonder when tops with cut-out shoulders and see-through skirts became the fashion. It’s been a few years since I modelled, and so I’m the first one to admit that the ‘loop’ is somewhere in Paris or Milan, and I’m well and truly ‘out of it.’ Still, looking at the clothes some stores sell these days makes me feel old. It’s on that thought that a group of surly teenage girls walk past, attitude emanating from their every movement. They look down their noses at me, but I still smile. Nobody is raining on my parade today, and what’s more is that I know my smile will confuse and confound them. It’s not that hard to do with teenagers, and I’m not ashamed to say the confusion, which is clear in each of their eyes, might make my smile slightly broader. Although, if anyone asks, I’ll deny that I have a small, very small, vindictive streak.

  As I’m about to walk out of the store, a brightly coloured bag—that looks totally out of place amongst the barely-there dresses—catches my eye. I backtrack and bite my lip as my fingertips caress the material.

  “Ahem.” The practised noise brings me out of my momentary dreamlike state, and I turn around still smiling. “Can I help you?” the perfectly preened assistant asks.

  I gaze over her statuesque figure, ignoring the obviously high-end clothes, and my eyes fall on her pursed, red, lipstick-covered mouth.

  “I was just looking at this bag,” I splutter out, blinking a couple of times and trying to regain my composure. For the last hour, I’ve been in such a happy place that it’s like the real world has ceased to exist. I must feel like Lily Allen did in her music video, LDN. I see one thing, which includes sparkles and unicorns, and everyone else sees reality. I shrug to myself, which I know makes me look even less composed, but I don’t care. And as I realise I really mean it, the smile once again forms on my lips.

  Botox Barbie raises one eyebrow but says nothing, so I turn back and pick up the baby changing bag that I’m so taken with. “This…” I say spinning around.

  Her eyes move to my stomach then back to my face, and I feel my cheeks heat instantly. I’m not this person, I’m not one who worries about what others think. I’m brave… I am. It’s just over the last year I’ve lost my way, and I know why.

  “Never mind,” I choke out in a rush and march out of the shop as quickly as my flip flops will take me. As soon as the door opens and I step outside, a wall of water hits me square in the face. I’m not sure exactly what’s happened in the few minutes while I’ve been in the shop, but when I went in, a few drops of rain were all that was falling, and now it’s like a full-on Tsunami. I can’t see much because the water is whipping me in the eyes, but the few people I can see are scurrying around with umbrellas trying to get to cover. I groan feeling the water running through my toes, then take a tentative few steps forward. My feet squelch as they cling to the foam that did shape my flip flops… now they are less flip and more flop. I wonder why I never checked the weather this morning when I dressed in a cotton skirt, spaghetti-strapped top, and decided to forgo my cardigan. The bag that was swinging happily from my hand is now constantly banging into my leg as the water soaks through the cotton, probably ruining the few purchases that
I’ve made today.

  Even so, I welcome the rain, the wind, the cold as it helps me forget my anxieties. It keeps my brain engaged and focussed on other things, and for a second, I can forget how obsessed and unhappy I’ve become. I can forget that I’ve pushed everyone away, especially Saul. I can forget the photo of him on Instagram out with his friends last weekend, the one where a woman was draped over him. A few tears spill out mixing with the rain, and suddenly my good mood vanishes.

  “Soph, is that you? Soph?”

  I cup my hands above my eyes, trying to stop the constant pelting of water from attacking long enough to see who’s calling me.

  “Eric?” I answer uncertainly. It looks and sounds like him, but I know he’s in LA, or at least he’s supposed to be.

  “Girl… get yo ass in here now,” he demands, a fake American accent laced within his words.

  I realise it’s him and crane my neck to look for Rich, but he’s not in the car. They’ve been gone for eight long months, and they’re not the only ones.

  Everyone left.

  Dane and Libby wanted to travel, deciding to go around the world on a yacht. They started travelling about three weeks before Eric and Rich left. Con took Pea to Australia as it was somewhere they’d both always wanted to go, and they’ve been gone for nearly a year. Eric and Rich went to LA to set up a new apartment they had bought for themselves. It’s so nice to see someone I love—someone I know still loves me with all their heart.

  I rush forward toward the car, and just as I’m about to reach it, my right flip flop—that one’s always a bastard—comes out from under my heel and I slip, tumbling to the ground. I land on all fours in a massive puddle, my bag falls and my shopping ends up everywhere. I do nothing for a moment, then my shoulders start shaking as a mixture of tears and laughter erupt from inside me.

  This is my life. This is what I’ve become. And I’ve told no one how I feel, not one single person, because none of them have been here to tell.

  I’m not the same Soph they left behind.

  I’m not sure who I am anymore.

  Be Brave. Dad’s motto circles my thoughts. “Screw brave… I just want to be happy,” I whisper to myself through the tears. Eric grabs me and hauls me into his arms, and I’m holding on for dear life.

  Mine, I think.

  “When do you think you’ll be back then?” The irritation is clear in my voice. I’m not hiding that I’m annoyed, but I’m not purposely trying to be a dick either.

  “I’m doing everything I can to get us back there in the next couple of days. It’s not the easiest thing finding flights and travel at the last minute, especially when you’re in the middle of the Caribbean Sea on a yacht,” Dane snaps back at me.

  I lower my head and rub the back of my neck trying to brush away the helplessness I feel.

  “I’m losing her, brother,” I say. My voice tight, and my emotions stretched.

  “No. It’s not possible, don’t think like that. You’re it for her, and Tink’s it for you,” he replies reassuringly, but I don’t feel any comfort in his words.

  “I fucking know that,” I bark back, aggravation suddenly my most dominant emotion.

  We both remain silent for a few seconds, the reality creeps in as helplessness takes over. “I’m just worried she’s forgotten,” I confess, gritting my teeth.

  “Fucking stop that,” Dane commands. “I’m trying to get Nova and me back, okay? Just…” He sighs, and I can imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose in thought. “Just try not to do anything stupid. We’re all going to be back to help with things. It’s not like she’s left you. The situation isn’t as grave as it may seem.”

  I slump down on the edge of my bed, and my shoulders sag with either relief or sadness. I’m not quite sure which.

  “I’m scared,” I divulge honestly. “What if all this pain, this distance… Maybe it started with the fostering and the lack of adoption chances, but what if it ends with us? What if this is it?” I clench my teeth so hard I think I might crack a molar as I try to tame the emotions gathering within me.

  “Not possible. Don’t even think it! Do you want to lose her?”

  I don’t answer. I can’t as I swallow and bury the pain.

  “Of course you don’t,” he continues without my input. “You’re a fighter, damn it! My fucking brother is a fighter. You will not lose the woman you love. And, you will not sit by and watch her with some other guy.”

  His words sink into my skin, making me itchy. The thought of Soph being with another guy or seeing another man wrapped around her, after all these years of us being together, I can’t even contemplate it. If I do, I’ll lose every thread of restraint I still have left. Completely.

  “Listen, go spend some time with her. We’ll talk more when I’m back,” he tells me with fake joviality in his voice.

  Another few seconds of silence pass and I think the phone may have been cut off, but then Dane speaks up again, quietly this time. “You okay?” he asks.

  “Not even close,” I reply, the honesty almost breaking me apart. I can imagine him nodding his head.

  “Talk soon, brother,” he confirms before, this time, the line does go dead.

  I look out the open bedroom windows. From my position, I can only see the rooftops of the other houses, but the sky is almost black even though it’s only three in the afternoon. Suddenly a crack of thunder echoes all around, and I wonder where Soph is just as the heavens open and the rain gushes down. It’s like someone has turned on God’s shower.

  I blink back tears as they try to give me the release I need. We’ve been together for twenty years now, although as far as I’m concerned, we’ve always been together. There was never a time I didn’t really consider her mine.

  Christmas is not long away, and it’s the first time I’ve ever felt like Soph is a stranger to me. Trying to conceive has proved fruitless, we tried for years. We were already fostering, but moving into adoption was harder than either of us ever thought it would be. We passed the assessment and were quickly deemed good enough as far as the government was concerned, but every chance of adoption we had seemed to fall through our fingers.

  This last year has been the hardest on Soph, on us both. Three times we’ve had the chance slip through our fingers, but this final one at the beginning of the year was the most difficult. We’d been fostering three boys, all brothers. They came from a pretty poor home and much like Soph and me, they didn’t have any adults in their life that seemed to give a shit. Up until that point, I’d been quite casual with the kids we’d fostered. Giving them care and attention, but always keeping that distance so I didn’t become too emotional when they inevitably left us. With these three boys though, they burrowed in under my walls and made a straight shot into my heart. I loved them almost from the moment they came into this house.

  But I don’t think we were helped by the system. Our case worker led us to believe the boys were going to be put up for adoption, and that we would stand the best chance of becoming their parents, officially. So, my defences slipped, and I allowed myself to fall head over heels for them. We were a family. Soph was glowing with a mother’s love, and the boys adored her. Then, one Saturday our lives changed. The adoption process was halfway through when our case worker Wendy came for an unexpected visit. As soon as I opened the door, I knew her news wasn’t good.

  She crushed our hearts that day as she sat on our huge corner sofa, toys and games dotted about the lived-in family room, and told us the boys’ biological mother had been given authority to care for her children again.

  She was taking them back.

  I tried to give some rationale to it in my head. She was their mother, she deserved a second chance. The boys would always wonder if they didn’t have their birth mum in their lives. Every idea, every justification imaginable I used to warrant the fact that these boys, who I already loved, were getting the best thing by going back to their mum. These boys who made our house a home. These boys who I watched ru
nning around the sunny back garden playing. While the youngest one, Lawson, laid in his crib asleep with the mobile that Soph had bought him still playing a soft tune above his head. Internally, I wanted to shout and scream. I wanted to make others hurt so they felt just a fraction of my pain.

  Two days later on a beautiful spring morning, Wendy arrived to collect these little wonders who had completely invaded our lives and hearts. We saw them off, plastering smiles on our faces while masking the absolute devastation that wracked us inside.

  When the front door closed and Soph turned to me, I saw something… something I’d never seen in Soph. Not ever. Through all the pain, all the tragedy and horror that life had thrown her way since she was a child, she’d never given up, she’s always been a fighter. These boys were as much ‘it’ for Soph as they were for me. So that’s when I saw something I never thought I’d witness. The light in her eyes had died. The fight had left her.

  That’s the day I started losing my forever.

  “Hurry up,” Eric calls, trying to yank my arm from its socket as he drags me along. Since rescuing me from the rain, he hasn’t said anything really. There’s been no mention of where Rich is, in fact, he hasn’t mentioned Rich at all. Instead, he’s spent the whole journey complaining about me soaking his precious Mercedes.

  He drove directly to my house without me asking him to. And then, when we arrive, he quickly pulled me out of the car, almost causing second degree burns to my skin when I came unstuck from the leather seat. And even though the rain has stopped, he’s still rushing us both from where he parked the car—which typically for London is miles away—to the house.

  “What’s the hurry, Eric? Where’s the fire?” I demand. His reply is to turn and give me the stink eye while continuing to pull me along.

  “I want to get inside and see that hot hunk of a man you’re lucky enough to touch in places Eric could only dream about, girlie,” he explains in a way only Eric can.