After swallowing hard, I let him fall from my mouth. I glanced up at him to gage how well my first blow job had gone. A lazy grin etched across his face. “Angel, do you even have to ask?”

I giggled as I snuggled against his side. “Yeah,” I replied.

“Fanfuckingtastic.” He kissed the crown of my head. “You’re good at everything you do, so I don’t know why you would doubt your sex abilities.”

I shrugged. “Because it’s all new for me, and you’re so experienced. I don’t want to be a disappointment.”

He brought his fingers to my chin and tipped my head up to meet his intense gaze. “The past is the past, remember? All that matters is you and me and the future. And I have no fucking complaints about anything, got it?”

“Okay, Mr. Bossy, I got it.”

He grinned. “Good, I’m glad to hear it.” He had just begun to kiss me again when I heard Susan’s voice from inside the barn. Jake jerked his lips away from mine.

“Jacob?”

“Yeah?” he called breathlessly.

“I’m cooking breakfast, so make sure you and Abby pry yourselves away from each other for some fortification, okay? I’ll expect you down in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, Mama,” Jake replied.

“Oh God,” I gasped as mortification rocketed through me. Even though Susan had practically pushed me out the door to be with Jake, I was still horrified that she knew exactly what we had done and what we were still potentially doing.

Jake snickered at me. “Quit worrying, Angel. Mama isn’t going to be mad or shun us for what we did. Hell, she’s even cooked breakfast for us.”

“If you say so,” I murmured.

He then tugged me up from the bed and led me into the bathroom.

After a quick shower and one mind-blowing orgasm later from Jake’s magic mouth, I slipped into my robe and hurried across the yard to the house. I threw my partially wet hair into a ponytail before I slipped on a pair of jeans and shirt. I then padded down the hall to the kitchen. Susan was taking out a pan of homemade biscuits from the oven while Angel played on the floor. At the sight of me, Angel yapped happily and ran to my waiting arms.

“How’s my baby girl?” I asked as Angel licked my face.

“She’s better this morning, but last night, someone abandoned the poor thing, and she came scratching at my door,” Susan replied as she took a plate of bacon and sausage to the table.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry.”

She winked. “Don’t worry honey. You had bigger things on your mind last night.” When my cheeks flushed, she laughed. “Besides, I enjoyed having her with me. She makes a wonderful bed buddy.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Jake arrived then, and we sat down to eat. I would be lying if I said my exertions the night before along with this morning hadn’t made me starved. I ate until I felt like my stomach would explode. When we were finished, Susan stared intently at me before turning to Jake. “Jacob, why don’t you do the breakfast dishes and give Abigail and me some time alone for a few minutes?”

“Sure. I might as well do something for you since you cooked it,” he replied good-naturedly.

I followed Susan down the hall to her bedroom. When she closed the door behind us, she smiled at what must’ve been my apprehensive expression. “You’re not in trouble, Abigail. The reason I brought you in here is that I wanted to give you something.”

I followed her over to the dresser. She raised the lid on a glass jewelry box that had a ballerina etched into the top. The theme to Swan Lake began to play. Her fingers delved inside, and she took out a strand of expensive looking pearls. “My parents gave me these to me for my high school graduation along with this jewelry box. I’ve worn them through so many major events in my life.” She held them out to me. “I want you to have them.”

My eyes widened as I shook my head furiously back and forth. “No, I couldn’t. You should leave them to Sally or your nieces.”

She patted my cheek. “But I don’t want to leave them to anyone but you. There are some other things I want you to have as well, but these, along with the jewelry box, are the most special to me.”

Realizing how serious she was, I finally relented. “Susan, you can’t imagine how touched I am that you want me to have them.” Although I tried fighting them, tears burned and blurred my eyes. “They’re beautiful, and I’ll treasure them always.”

“Good. Maybe someday you can pass them on to my granddaughter.”

At my gasp, she laughed. “Don’t think that I can’t see you for exactly who and what you are. I’m thrilled that Jake has found a girl he can marry and raise a family with.”

“I would love nothing more,” I answered honestly.

“Then let me say this as well. I know Jake is hardheaded and stubborn, and I know he’s going to make some mistakes in the future like he has before. But promise me that you’ll give him a chance and try to forgive him?”

Even though it was hard, I bobbed my head. “I will.”

“Good. Because when it comes down to the end like it has for me, you don’t want to live with the regret of not forgiving the man you loved with all your heart and soul.”

I furrowed my brows. “But I thought you had forgiven Jake’s father?”

A flush entered Susan’s pale cheeks. “This is a secret just between you and me, but Mark wasn’t the love of my life.”

“He wasn’t?”

“Although he gave me the greatest gift of my life, Jacob, I could never feel for Mark what I did for Yuri. He was a dancer in one of the traveling companies I was in. We dated for years, and when I refused to marry him because I thought we were too young, he went out and slept with another dancer to hurt me. Although he apologized for weeks and months, I was stubborn, and I wouldn’t forgive him. He finally gave up and moved on, and I’ve regretted it all this time. A couple of years after Yuri is when Mark came into my life.” She gave me a wry smile. “Jake’s never been able to understand how I could forgive Mark for leaving me, but the truth was I just didn’t love him like I should, so it didn’t hurt as much.”

Speechless, I could only murmur, “Wow.”

She smiled. “So in the future when there are times you want to strangle Jacob or he’s tested your love, just remember that forgiveness is so much easier than regret.”

“I will. You have my word.”

She pulled me into a tight embrace. Both her words and her emaciated frame caused tears to prick my eyes. She rubbed wide circles over my back. “Sweet Abby, you’re an answer to a prayer. My Jacob is very, very lucky to have you. Don’t doubt for one second that I won’t constantly remind him that for as long as I have left.”

With tears streaking down my cheeks, I couldn’t reply at first. Finally, I choked off a, “Thank you.”

As she pulled away, she cupped my chin. “Do you know there’s an old saying that for every tear you shed for someone else’s grief, it takes one off of their suffering?”

“Really?” I hiccupped.

She nodded while swiping the tears off my cheeks. “So you’ve just managed to take a few off of Jacob.”

“I’m glad. I’d do anything for him,” I replied.

Susan smiled. “But no more tears, honey. Let’s just enjoy the time we have left together. Okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed.

“And speaking of time, I’m pretty sure it’s time to go check on how many little ‘presents’ Angel might’ve deposited in the house.”

I laughed. “Let’s give that job to Jake since it was his idea to give me a puppy.”

Susan’s eyes widened. “Oh honey, I do like your thinking!”

***

Lounging on an old patchwork quilt, I reclined my head to get a better view of the blackened sky encrusted with twinkling stars. With her back against my chest, Abby signed with contentment. “Gosh, that is so beautiful,” she remarked.