Beginning of Forever (Heaven Hill #7) Read online

  The Beginning of Forever

  Heaven Hill Series Book Seven

  Laramie Briscoe

  Copyright © 2014 Laramie Briscoe

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  Edited by: Lindsay Gray Hopper

  Cover Art by: Kari Ayasha, Cover to Cover Designs

  Proofread by: Dawn Bourgeois

  Formatting: Naruemon Chareonram, BB eBooks

  Cover Models: Coltyn Seifert & Jaclyn Rutland

  Cover Photo: Kelsey Keeton of KKeeton Designs

  Dedication

  This book is for every reader who said they wanted more Tyler and Meredith…I hope I did it justice and I hope you enjoy!

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  About the Book

  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

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Epilogue

  Note from the Author

  Excerpt from Heaven Hill #8

  Excerpt from Only the Beginning

  Connect with Laramie

  The Heaven Hill Series

  The Beginning of Forever

  Book Seven in the Heaven Hill Series

  Love

  Fear

  Hope

  Danger

  Tyler and Meredith Blackfoot have a long and complicated history. A relationship born out of the worst thing a woman can endure has blossomed into a greater love than either of them could have ever imagined. Now, with answered prayers and Addie a permanent part of their family, they are ready to move forward.

  Meredith is working as Director of the CRISIS center. Tyler busy mentoring younger members of the club and the teenagers that look up to him with wide-eyed amazement.

  Life is going exactly the way they want it to when a woman shows up at CRISIS that could threaten everything they’ve worked so hard to achieve. She’s dangerous, and only a select few know why. Secrets are kept and stresses mount as the Blackfoot’s get the biggest surprise of their lives.

  Tyler will do anything to protect the woman he loves and the young family they’ve created together. When the reason he breathes is threatened, he does everything in his power to prove it’s not the end, but the beginning of forever.

  ‡

  Chapter One

  Meredith Blackfoot tensed as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and did her best not to bite down. Her hand gripped that of her husband, who stood at his full height next to her, as still as she was. They were both, it seemed, holding their breath. In actuality this breath had been held for the past eighteen months: the length of time since Addalynn had come to live with them, how long it had taken for their petition for adoption to be seen before the court, and how long they had lived their lives looking over their shoulders.

  The obstacles they faced had, at times, seemed overwhelming—yet here they stood. As one united front.

  “Whatever they say, we’ll make it through.”

  She heard the soft words spoken by the man who held her heart, who’d held it since he’d saved her on the most awful night of her life. He was right, they would, but goddamn, it would hurt if they took Addalynn away. Their attorney had cautioned them before they walked in that if things went to shit there were always appeals, but Meredith wasn’t sure her heart could take it. There were only so many times that a heart could be broken, and hers was about at its limit.

  His larger hand held hers tightly, his thumb rubbing circles over the skin there. The touch soothed her as the judge took his seat before the court and the hearing started. The whole thing went by in a blur until she heard the words that she had wanted to hear for so long.

  “This adoption has been approved, and the minor child will be able to remain in the custody and home of Tyler and Meredith Blackfoot.”

  Those were the sweetest words Meredith had ever heard in her life. They were free to move on and enjoy their time together. There would be no more looking over their shoulders, wondering if they hadn’t been as thorough as they had tried to be when searching for Addalynn’s family members. She did research every day in her job for CRISIS and knew that she’d done the best she could.

  “Let’s take our daughter home,” Tyler told her, the smile on his face as wide as she had ever seen it.

  Taking their daughter home. Words she had always longed to hear, but never thought she would.

  *

  Two Months Later

  “You go ahead and go on home, Mer. I know Tyler and Addie are waitin’ on you,” Christine told her friend. “I’ll take care of getting this family settled and signed in. You’ve worked more than your fair share this week.”

  Christine was right, they were waiting on her. This was their first holiday as an official family, and this year the Heaven Hill MC was doing Fourth of July up right. Steele and Rooster had gone into Tennessee earlier in the week and bought a whole bunch of fireworks. The women had all asked them why they didn’t do business inside of Bowling Green, but they all just rolled their eyes and said Tennessee was the place to go. Either way, the group was apparently going to witness an insane spectacle tonight as soon as the sun went down.

  “Are you sure?” She absolutely did not want to take advantage of the other woman, who also had someone important at home. “Steele’s waitin’ on you.”

  “True, but he doesn’t have a two-year-old little girl to get ready.”

  Meredith giggled. Her Tyler was doing well in all aspects of parenting except fixing Addie’s hair, which they all considered hilarious given his penchant for wearing his long. “You’ve got a point. I need to go before this child’s head is bald.”

  The two women exchanged a hug, and Meredith made her way out to the SUV that they purchased when Addalynn had come to live with them. They couldn’t very well strap her on the back of a motorcycle, and Tyler had been nervous about handing her up in his big truck. Getting in, Meredith
grinned at the car seat that was in the back.

  “Everything happened for a reason and it all happened like it was supposed to,” she told herself as she backed out of the parking lot and made her way onto Louisville Road.

  She may not have given birth to Addalynn, but she was the child that she had prayed for, and that was all that mattered.

  *

  “Damnit,” Tyler cursed as he tried once again to do the easy pull-back thingy to Addie’s hair that Meredith had showed him. It looked so easy when she was doing it, and honestly, he could put his own hair in a braid; this shit should be easy. “Can we sit still for five more seconds?” he asked the two-year-old.

  “No,” she told him plainly, shaking her head.

  He breathed out slowly, telling himself that this would not defeat him. He’d kicked ass for a long time in his life. A simple hairdo would not be the end of him or his patience. It wasn’t. So he took a deep breath and pulled the hair back again, only to have the barrette snap when he went to close it. “Motherfuckin’ piece of shit,” he swore harshly.

  “Shit,” Addie yelled, clapping her hands, grinning as she did so.

  It was then that he felt the presence of the only woman who ever made him stop running, made him stop looking for approval from others when he knew he wouldn’t get it. Turning around, he grinned at the woman who wore his necklace. “She didn’t get that from me.”

  Meredith gave him her own grin back. “I stood here long enough to know that she did. Still not good with the hair?”

  “I don’t know how you do it.” He shook his head. “I can’t seem to get the hang of it, no matter how hard I try.”

  “I’ll let you in on a little secret,” she told him as she walked over to the two of them and had a seat on Tyler’s lap, pulling Addie into hers.

  He watched as she went about pulling the mass of curls all up, not even bothering to try and still the squirming toddler. “I’m all ears, babe. Any secrets you got to tell, I’m willin’ to listen.”

  Meredith shivered slightly. His lips at her ear still had the power to get to her. “I practiced with an old baby doll of Mandy’s until I had it right.”

  He was stunned for a moment and then let out the loudest laugh she’d heard. “Are you fuckin’ serious?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. I’ve never been a girlie girl. My friends and I didn’t do each other’s hair, I was never really into makeup that much, so I was at a loss for what to do. I did watch some YouTube videos.” She shrugged.

  His large hand circled around her thigh. “You’ve always been all woman to me.”

  It should have been illegal how much they still wanted each other. Had anyone told her she’d have a relationship like this when she was younger, she would have laughed. For her, life was all about career. No one needed a man—especially not her—who had prided herself in how many things she could do on her own. One night changed her whole outlook on life, and funny as it sounded, she was glad. Her life hadn’t turned out the way she’d planned, but it was so much better than she’d ever assumed it could be. “Stop.” She smacked his hand away playfully. “We gotta go. They’ll start the fireworks in a few hours, and I need to help Denise with the food.”

  “Okay,” he sighed. “But tonight, I say we make our own fireworks.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at him, her eyes meeting his. “You got yourself a deal.”

  *

  “I swear to God, Drew Walker, you push me in this pool again and I’m going home!”

  Meredith laughed along with Denise as the two of them sat out all the side dishes on the deck that had been erected around the above-ground pool. Drew and his best friend Dalton had put the pool up themselves the summer before, and they had been the ones out here building the deck, just in time for the cookout. It looked like Drew was reaping the rewards of a job well done.

  “Charity’s going to go home, isn’t she?” Denise mused as she nodded towards them. “’Cause my son ain’t gonna leave her alone.”

  “She’s such a nice girl,” Meredith told her. “You lucked out on that. I see some of the sullen teenagers that come into CRISIS, and I fight to ask them if it’ll hurt to smile. I know they’ve been through a lot. I mean if they’re at CRISIS then life isn’t what any them thought it would be, ya know? But I want to tell them that a smile can change a person’s whole outlook on life.”

  “She is a nice girl, no matter what her momma does for a living,” Denise affirmed. “I’m just afraid one of them is going to get their heart broken. Not only is she a nice girl, but she’s a smart girl, and she wants out of this town.”

  “Well, I don’t blame her,” Meredith put out a bowl of fruit salad, leaving the cover on to keep the flies out of it until they could all sit down for the meal. “I have a stigma of a rape victim on me, even if it’s just to a few people. She has a stigma of being the daughter of a stripper. She’s never going to outgrow that, no matter how smart or beautiful she is. There are only so many stigmas we can escape at a time.”

  “I know, and believe me, I get it. I think baby boy’s gonna be left with a broken heart at the end of this coming school year.

  It was hard for Meredith to believe that Drew and Mandy were old enough to be seniors in high school, but that’s what they would be, come August. “Then you’ll do what all mothers who care for their children do. You’ll nurse his broken heart back whole and let him know that there are other fish in the sea.”

  ‡

  Chapter Two

  “We’re gonna head out.”

  Meredith glanced up, seeing Layne and Jessica standing together holding hands. She knew that given his past, Layne sometimes couldn’t handle loud noises and flash booms…it didn’t happen every time, but on those rare occasions that it did send him into a flashback, it could be hard to get him out of it. He wasn’t a fan of giving it a try and just assuming he would be okay in the end. He’d had a few flashbacks with Jessica around, and he was always worried he’d hurt her. When children were around, he was even more careful, which was probably why he was making a quick exit tonight.

  “Thanks for comin’,” Tyler stood up, hugging the younger man.

  Liam, Travis, and Rooster were in the field, getting things set up, and it was customary for the other members to say their goodbyes before heading out. Jagger was talking shit with some of the teenagers that had come with Drew and Mandy.

  “It’s always a great time,” Jessica grinned.

  They still lived at the clubhouse, but Meredith knew that for this night they would probably be getting a room at their favorite hotel. It had always surprised Meredith how quickly and easily Jessica had given up her previous life, but she never acted as if she missed it. She hardly ever talked about it. She truly was happy in her life as a girlfriend and an erotica writer.

  Talk and movement were beginning to die down. They had eaten and socialized. Everyone nursed full stomachs, and they were all moving from the picnic table and patio furniture to blankets that had been set out earlier in the day. The sun was finally beginning to set, and they were all getting excited for the fireworks show.

  “You ready, doodlebug?” Tyler hitched Addalynn up on his hip. She’d been his doodlebug since she was five months old and he’d caught her playing with a crayon, making random doodles on a piece of paper.

  She nodded, even though her head was heavy against his shoulder. The little girl was fighting sleep in a big way. If this were a normal night and not a special holiday, they’d be having bath and story time right about now. This family was nothing if not on a schedule.

  “Not too much longer,” Meredith told her, smoothing back some of the hairs that had escaped the up-do she’d placed it in.

  They had a seat on their blanket, in between Drew and Charity on one side, Dalton and Mandy on the other. Drew and Charity were wrapped up in one another; Drew had his arm around Charity’s neck, and he was saying things in her ear that made her giggle. On the other end of the spectrum were Mandy and Dalton. Th
ey weren’t close together, but it was close enough to make Meredith wonder what was going on with the two of them. Their heads were bent at an angle talking to one another, and Dalton reached over to grasp her hand, running his fingers along her palm. Whatever Dalton said caused a blush to form on Mandy’s cheeks.

  “You two keep it PG,” Tyler’s voice boomed over at Drew and Charity. “Tatum’s runnin’ around someplace, and you know she’ll end up over there.”

  The two teenagers’ faces lit a bright red as they realized what the older man had implied.

  “Tyler!” Meredith smacked him on the chest. “Don’t embarrass them like that.”

  Tyler let a slow grin work its way across his face and leaned close to his wife. “He and I still work out together, ya know? I have a pretty good idea of what they’re doing when he takes his shirt off and he has scratches down his back deeper than mine.”

  Now it was her turn to blush. She’d known Drew since he was twelve; there was not one part of her that could even begin to imagine what Tyler was saying to her. “What am I gonna do with you?”

  Before he could answer, loud booms filled the air along with all colors of the rainbow. Talking ceased, and the only sounds that could be heard were the oohs and ahs of the crowd and gasps of pleasure from the little kids. Tyler looked down at Addalynn, who happily clapped her hands; his heart was as full as it had ever been.

  *

  “She’s out like a light,” Tyler whispered as he and Meredith made their way into the dorm room they still sometimes used. It was nice to have options, especially on nights like this when it would be a late drive to their home.

  “Then I’ll give her a bath in the morning. No reason to wake her up tonight,” Meredith said as she pulled back the covers in the bed that they used for Addie when they were here. It was a converted toddler bed, but it got the job done.

  Tyler stopped what he was doing and looked at her, his brown eyes bright.