Authors: Emily Goodwin
Never Say Never (40 page)
Tears roll down her face and she moves her head up and down. “Yes,” she breathes. “Yes, Aiden, yes!”
I get up, take her glove off, and slip the ring on her finger. She brings her hand to her face, looking at the large diamonds. “I love you so fucking much,” I tell her, and then we’re kissing. I hold her close, knowing that I will never, ever let her go.
Epilogue
Three years later…
“I have a meeting with a director tomorrow,” I say, speaking loudly so Haley can hear me. I look at my reflection in the bathroom mirror and nod, satisfied with how I look in the tux.
Shadowland
is over, and I can finally cut my hair. I cut it short last summer and missed the long curls. Haley did too, so now I’m letting it grow back out. “If I get it, I’ll have to cut my hair again,” I say. I’m going over lines for the role of United States Marine Sergeant Underwood in a zombie movie. My agent says I’ve already got the part, but I’m still nervous. Just a little.
“That’s okay,” Haley says, her voice muffled. I look out the bathroom and see her lying on the bed, knees bent up and eyes squeezed shut. “It’ll grow back, and I’m sure you’ll get the part. You are brilliant.”
Even when she’s sick, she’s my biggest fan. I leave the bathroom and give her a kiss on the forehead, going to the fridge to get a can of Sprite. I pop the top and take a sip before I hurry back to her. I sit on the edge of the bed.
“Babe, if you’re sick we can stay home.”
“No way,” she says, opening her eyes. She’s wearing a black evening gown, and her hair and makeup have been professionally done. She looks stunning, as always. “I’m okay.”
I laugh. “You just threw up.”
“I know,” she groans, taking the Sprite from me and taking a few sips. “But I want to go for you, Aiden. You’re nominated for an Oscar. This is a huge deal. You at least have to go.”
I put my hand on her stomach. “A long time ago, someone told me it’s not what you have but who you have.” I lean over and kiss the small bump on her belly, smiling when I feel our baby kick. “If you—both of you—need to rest, then we’re staying home.”
She reaches up and caresses my face. “We want to be there for you. This little girl wants to see her daddy win.”
I take my jacket off and lie down next to her, spooning my body around hers. “We don’t know if I’ll win,” I say, and I try not to think about it. Just being nominated was big enough. I’ve been so lucky, so blessed, it doesn’t matter.
“I’m so proud of you,” Haley says. “You’ve overcome so much.”
“And you’ve put up with so much,” I tell her before I kiss her neck, thinking back. After the accident, I tried to get clean. Really, I did. But it wasn’t as easy as I thought. A few months after getting out of the hospital, the pain and lack of independence got to me. I had a hard time dealing with my lost memory, and I hated myself for causing Haley pain. I relapsed and took too many pain pills, washing them down with a bottle of wine.
And Haley stayed with me through it all. I still wonder why. I’m not that great. But she loved me for some reason, and I loved her.
“It was worth it,” she says, turning over and groaning. “I thought the morning sickness was supposed to go away at the end of the first trimester. I’m halfway through the pregnancy. It’s been long enough.”
“Someday we can tell our daughter how tough her mommy is.”
Haley nods and wraps her arms around me. She takes a deep breath then sits up and slowly drinks the Sprite. “I’m feeling a lot better now, really.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes. If I take an anti-nausea pill, I can get through the night without puking on whoever I’m sitting next to. I can’t promise I won’t fall asleep,” she adds with a smile.
“I can’t make that promise either,” I laugh. “This thing is really long.” I help her up and smooth her dress, assuring her she still looks beautiful.
“So we’ll go home in two days?” she asks as we go into the hall.
“Yes. Well, assuming I don’t have to go through call-backs. We’ll see.”
“That’s fine,” she says as she puts her hand on her belly. We’re in a hotel suite in L.A. I sold my mansion a few months after we got engaged, not needing it anymore. Home is in Montana, on a horse farm overlooking the Beartooth Mountains. It’s rough, being separated during filming. Depending on the extent of care a rescue requires, Haley sometimes leaves and comes to set to be with me. She owns and operates her own rescue now, and has employees to look after the horses when she goes away.
“Can we stop for food on the way there? I really want a taco,” Haley asks as I open the door.
I laugh. “You know there is food there, right?”
She makes a face. “But I’ll have to wait while you get your picture taken and get asked the same questions over and over.”
I loop my arm through hers. “I can’t argue there. And of course we can.”
We get into the limo a few minutes later. Haley takes my hand. “Are you nervous?”
“A little,” I admit. I put my arm around Haley and rest my hand on the baby bump, feeling our daughter kick and move around inside Haley’s belly. “But no matter what happens, I’ve already won.”
Acknowledgements
This book was written in a whirlwind of emotion. The story had been in my head for months, but I hesitated on writing it because I wasn’t sure how people would like a book like this. So I put this off and wrote something else. A month before edits were due to the editor, I knew I couldn’t put this off any longer, and I wrote the entire book in twenty-seven days. While newly pregnant and chasing my toddler around. I did most of my writing at night, after the kid went to bed.
The book is emotional with the issues it deals with, but the topic of rescuing horses is near and dear to my heart. Haley’s horse Shakespeare is based off of my real life horse, Mystery, who I rescued when I was sixteen years old. He’s a registered Arabian who had been someone’s show horse for years until the owner decided she didn’t want him anymore. He was leaving for the slaughter auction the day before I got him. It was a pure luck, one of those a friend of a friend of a friend knew about this horse kind of things, and they knew I was in the market for a new 4H horse.
Over ten years later, and I remember going to see him perfectly clear. He was covered in mud and cantered in circles in the pasture. I couldn’t get him to stop, so I pretended like I wanted him to run around like a crazy horse. Anything to make him mine. There was just something about him that was special.
And he is special. That horse has taught me so much, from patience to perseverance, to knowing that sometimes the loudest message is the one where we don’t say anything at all.
I hope this book impacts you like it did me. To show you that kindness matters, that doing the right thing isn’t always easy, but is what you should do no matter what, and that life can change in an instant and you should never take anything for granted.
Now, for how short of a time this was written, I have a few people to thank. Lori and Erin, thank you for reading it super fast and helping me tweak it into perfection. Thank you Murphy for putting the finishing touches on everything and making it the best it can be. Thank you to Julie, my agent, for believing in this book as much as I do, and thank you to Claire Riley for helping me with Aiden’t British charm.
Thank you to my husband, mother in law, grandmother and mom for watching the tot during the day so I could get some work done during normal waking hours.
Thank you to my beta readers for getting super fast feedback to me, and for loving the story as much as I did.
And thank you for reading the book all the way through. I hope the story makes you feel.
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About the Author
Emily Goodwin is the author of the twice banned dark romance, STAY, as well as over a dozen other titles. She writes all types of romance, from love stories set in the zombie apocalypse to contemporary romances taking place on a western horse ranch. Emily lives in Indiana with her husband, children, and many pets, including a German Shepherd named Vader. When she isn't writing, Emily can be found riding her horses, designing and making costumes, and sitting outside with a good book.
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