Clara's POV
There's nothing more beautiful to wake up to on a snowing Friday morning than a handsome billionaire still knocked out cold on the shaggy carpet. He looks peaceful. He doesn't snore as much. I snore and it's loud. My mother complains but she's not any better.
I find it easier to sleep on winter nights because I like how comforting it feels to watch the snow fall. It was not so after I brought Linc back. Maybe it's the proximity to me. I have been thinking about him all night, especially what we shared in Paris, our first time together. Maybe I made a rushed decision to break up with him over that pill. We both took it after all. It just affected me more. What am I really upset about? The pill or that I don't know who he was talking to that night?
I pulled the blanket away and got under to snuggle close to his warmth. I rested my head on his chest and covered both of us. Now this is cozy. It feels comfortable. It stra
Linc's POVPancakes in the morning.I used to do this for Andrea and she would only eat one and say she doesn't need the carbs. She was that kind of a girl. She was obsessed with her physical appearance. Starvation wasn't a problem for her as long as she looks good. I hope she gets fat now that she's pregnant. Clara doesn't seem to care about what most women care about. She loves food and she does not shy away from enjoying it. Her favorite line is 'I'll worry about it tomorrow'."Linc, you're hired! No matter how Monday morning turns out for us, you should come over and make these everyday!" She squealed with excitement.I like that squeal. I did something to her last night and she squealed just like that. It was something naughty and I should convince my mind not to go there before we go at it in her mother's kitchen."Should I make another batch in case your mom comes home today?"
Clara's POVI haven't seen or heard from Linc in a week. It not only bothers me but it upsets me. I was ready to put myself out there for him and he flakes on me like this. Disappointment can't even cover it."Is this the place?" G.G asked me.It's a shady looking old house near the only bridge in this town. I got this address from my mom. I realized that my generation won't have much information on Eliza Bancroft. Without telling her that I'm looking into the Bancrofts, I told her I'm working on a story about a drowning incident about twenty years ago. She gave me this address and assured me that if anyone saw it, it must have been old lady Thompson because she lives just by the bridge."Yes.""Why are you so sure about Eliza Bancroft drowning? I already told you the medical reports revealed that it was a heart attack.""Two thinks. Laurie confid
Clara's POVI'm not sure what came over me when I blurted it out. I saw the way Quentin looked at me and I realized I messed up. G.G has the same expression on her face. She hasn't said anything since I told her what happened with Laurie and what transpired at the hospital.I went back to see Laurie but I was told she had been transferred and I wasn't told where. I was tempted to ask Linc but I couldn't sum up enough strength to call him. He must know what I'm doing. If he's as smart as I think,he has figured out what I'm doing.."Honey, you messed up. You never play the ace up your sleeve until you're sure of a win!""I was emotional.""Now they know what we are doing and they will clean up anything that leads us to Eliza Bancroft. What made you emotional? Laurie?""Linc." I sighed. "He blurs everything. I was emotional because... I like him."M
Clara's POV"Please tell me!" I stalked the nurse around. I have been at it for almost an hour, repeating the same words. I want to frustrate her into telling me where Laurie was taken. A person in her condition couldn't have gone home."For the last time! No! That information is confidential.""I won't tell anyone." I blocked her. "I won't say it's from you."She rolled her eyes at me. "Why not ask your boyfriend?""We are not on speaking terms but Laurie is my friend and I'm concerned about her!" I pressed my palms together. "Please. Elena, please.""I swear if this comes back to bite me, I'll cut your throat!""Morbid much?"She pulled me close to her. "She was transferred to state to a private facility for rich people with drug problems. All the best!"I left with a smile on my face.&nbs
Linc's POVThe last of my thrusts came in the morning hours when my whole body finally gave out from the intensity of love making.I sighed softly as I slid off her to lie on my back. I blinked slowly as I came down from my high. She's still trembling with need and breathing roughly. She clenched the pillow only to sigh and let go. When she looked at me she laughed in an infectious way. "Hi.""Hi." I responded. "Delivered as promised. I hope it was worth the wait."We loved our visit with Laurie but we were obviously thinking of when we will do this."Baby, if you charged for this I would be neck deep in loans just to get some. It was great, it always gets better. I loved it."I tore my eyes away from hers when the gaze got too deep. "Glad to hear that. Are you still a reporter or not?" My mind went back to our conversation earlier at the rehab facility. Yester
Clara's POV11 years ago on a hot summer night, just before summer met its end, I saw flashing lights through the thin sheers of my bedroom window. I couldn't sleep that night. It must have been the heat or the anxiety of reopening school and having to deal with high school once again. High school is a war zone. I hated it.I got up to check when the blue and red lights wouldn't stop. I thought it's the police coming to arrest the neighbor's kid again -since he was always getting into one kind of trout or another- but the Sheriff was walking up our driveway to our front door. I heard hurried footsteps in the hallway. Earlier that night my mother and Mikey had been arguing. It's nothing new. Since dad's death, Mikey has been troublesome. He develop a bad habit; cigarettes. Mom didn't approve and they argued oftenWhen I opened my bedroom door I saw Mikey running down the hallway. He stopped once to look at me placing his fi
Clara's POVChristmas Eve.It's quiet.Maybe it's because of the location I have picked to meet Linc this morning. There is only one house close by and it's vacant. I don't know where that old lady went but she's not telling anyone about the morning Eliza Bancroft went over the bridge.Linc and I are supposed to be in Rome probably cuddled under warm covers making love and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears. I have never been to Rome. I would like to go to Rome and make it another story to add to my memories with him.I feel frustrated.On one hand I want Linc and to have him I have to accept that I'll be another person in this town who has turned a blind eye to what the Bancrofts are. It means we will keep dating, become the town sensation and then he will propose. I'll say yes to the big diamond ring and accept his name. Clara Evelyn Bancroft! M
Linc's POV"You were right Linc. There's a whole world away from Sunrise Cove." Clara hasn't left the bay window overlooking the colosseum since we got here. She likes the view. "I can stay here forever."The last part of what she said caught my attention. Forever sounds good. Even after Andrea I'm still looking for that significant other so that I can have this forever after. I brought the coffee to her as I also sat on the wooden surface looking down at Rome. "That is the idea." I observed her to see what she feels.She turned to look at me. "What? What did you mean? What is the idea?"I may not know her that well but something about this makes me want to save her from what I know is inevitable when she rides on my family's final nerve."I uh... I'm going back to Chicago.""Why?""I had a life before I came to Sunrise Cove. I have a job. Yo
On a cold winter morning, in the ballroom of the Bancroft Manor, Lincoln and I exchanged our vows in the presence of our families. We kept it small but meaningful.That was the idea, small and meaningful.But still, the town threw a party on our behalf and the Bancrofts gladly supplied food and drink and most importantly, cake. It was a big celebration.We chose not to honeymoon because of how close I was to my delivery date. Having the mansion all to ourselves when his family left to visit Vermont was a honeymoon on it's own.It was completely relaxed and I was well rested as well as loved and pampered like the queen he has made me out to be.Come early February, the cries of our son filled the usually silent Bancroft Manor. It was just after 8am when Victor James Bancroft was born. I was a mess of emotions when the doctor placed him in my arms surrounded by an e
Linc's POVToday is the day I plan to propose to Clara.When I woke up early this morning, I couldn't leave her side. I watched her sleep for quote some time before I got out of bed. When I was looking at her, I couldn't help but think of what we mean to each other. This will be my third attempt to ask a woman to spend the rest of her life with me. The first time I was rejected and moments later I was beating a man to death because I found him in my house with a woman I expected to be faithful to me. The second time, it was Clara. It wasn't a formal proposal but she still turned me down when I showed her the ring. The plan was to go back to Virginia and of I found her waiting for me I would have proposed. I went back to an Emory house instead. This is the third time and I seriously hope that I have been reading her right. It's the same diamond ring she rejected before. I left it with her but I be recently got it back.The
Clara's POVI have been silently looking at some baby clothes.It has never really crossed my mind to start buying some but now that I'm a mere fifteen weeks or so away, i might as well see a few. Maybe I'll ven buy something, the very first outfit.I'm spoilt for choice and probably confused. I'm not sure what to get. At time like this, I wish mom could be here. She would know what to pick. I went online looking through baby clothes and hoping to find some sort of manual on how to buy clothes.Linc and I just came from the doctor. We had a check up today and as usual he was very excited and had a million questions. He's more curious than the woman having the baby. He ran into an sold friend and I left them catching up as I grab something to eat. I have wandered into the clothing section. The idea was to find a bigger bra but now I'm looking at onesies, bibs and little hats.
Linc's POVIt's been really quiet between Mrs Nolan and I. We haven't said much since she asked me to stay for tea. I wonder what she's thinking. Her expression is bitter. She's upset. I told Clara I'll take the hits for her. I'll be the villain and make all the difficult decisions she doesn't want to make. I won't allow her relationship with her mother to suffer. I'll be the bad guy if necessary."You're right." She broke the silence. "There was a time I wanted it work between you and Clara. I was excited about it especially because she was dating that weird guy in the city. That DJ who had nothing to offer her. When you came into the picture, I felt it and I knew it would work. I was right. It has worked. But not the way I thought it would. Lincoln, my issues with you stem from the moment you abducted Clara. When you texted back and forth with me pretending to be her... I hate that I couldn't tell the difference. I just thought she had gotten more atten
Clara's POVWaking up in Linc's arms is something I haven't done in a long time. I can't help but smile to myself. It's a cold rainy morning. The sound of the rain drops pelting against the bay window with dark wood frames is even more comforting than the warmth in this comfortable bed.The gloomy weather is the perfect backdrop for this cozy morning. I snuggled closer to him enjoying the warmth his naked body has to offer.Last night was incredible. Being reminded of his love is just want I needed. It was expected when he insisted we will share a room. We talked for a while before we got comfortable and comfortable turned into love making. I can definitely do it all over again."Lincoln." He grumbled. "Are you awake?""Now I am." He whispered. He pulled me back against his body. We are skin to skin. "What's on your mind pretty?""I was wondering if you'r
Linc's POV"I lost to her mother." I caught my grandfather's attention with those simple words. He lowered his newspaper. "Clara isn't here because I lost to her mother.""Oh boy. The mother." He folded the newspaper closed. "Why don't you have a seat Lincoln. You are setting a dangerous precedent.""What do you mean?""A woman belongs to her mother when she's single and especially not pregnant. Clara is neither of those things. Her mother has no business holding on to her and if you allow her to take the driver's seat now, I promise you, you will be inched out if the picture until you become a distant thought. It will start with her not informing you of doctor's appointments. She will claim it slipped her mind. She will progress to not including you in the health decisions about Clara and the baby. Then she will purposely forget to let you know when the baby is due. Befo
Clara's POVMy mother has always fussed about grandchildren. She also fussed about me getting married. But if these two ambitions were to be ranked, I would put the grandchild above the husband and son would she. Based on how she's behaving now, she has decided that Linc is irrelevant to the picture. It's going to be the two of us and the baby, no father.She believes herself capable of raising children without a man. I know she can be strongly independent and heavily opinionated about things when she's especially motivated. Her current motivation is Linc not being good for me. He has a list of offenses that boost his standing with my mother. Thanks to Mikey, mom knows how things between Linc and I transpired. I had no plans of telling her because deep down, I was avoiding the part of the script where she turns against my baby's father.But the script is going her way. I gave in to her arguement. I love Virginia and I love
Linc's POVI have given Clara's mother the chance to go in first and see her daughter.I can concede to her not liking me but she can't separate me from my child. As long as the baby is part of Clara, I want them with me. After the baby is born we will all agree to a way to share but for now It's best if Clara and the baby are with me.I never thought I'll be a father.I didn't want to be a father.From early on I told my father that I will not contribute to the Bancroft bloodline. I was hell bent on it never happening. Now that she is expecting it changes things. It has changed my outlook. I'm beginning to warm up to the idea of fatherhood.I have wandered into the unit of the hospital where they keep babies. I'm standing outside the glass looking at the newborns. I can't help but smile."Which one is yours?" A woman asked me.
Clara's POVG.G is acting strange. The confidence she was strutting around with slowly fading. In its place are constant glares, strange silence and a lot of pacing. Something tells me that Linc has no plans to confess anything.I'm feeling ambivalent about his decision to not comply with G.G. It's a good thing because I believe Linc has been through enough. Being born into a crazy family is hard enough. Losing your mother at a young age and being a witness to it isn't easier. Being threatened to silence by the very people who should be protecting you is just horrible. Then came the girlfriend he gave the world to and she cheated on him. And then the one who befriended him with intent and then left him hurt after he took another risk to love another. He's been through enough. But what about me and the baby? If he won't comply, aren't we in trouble? G.G is crazy! If she does something, we could die or I could lose the b