Bleeding Heart (Captured Miracle Book 2)(21)

Yes, my first break up had been a terrible thing. I’d been with him for two years and really, in all that time, I’d never really wanted the relationship to progress. He was a comfort for me - a friend. But I was often too busy at the animal shelter or living in the world of my books to put the effort into spending time with him. He’d told me I was killing him, that I was holding him back from experiencing life and that he wanted it - needed to live.

I’d broken things off with him, or he’d broken things off with me. I still wasn’t sure about who’d actually done the deed, but after that argument, we didn’t see each other anymore and we didn’t talk. I blamed myself for taking so much of his life and wasting it. My mom spent her time comforting me the way a good mother does when her baby is hurting - for whatever the reason.

That’s how I knew my mom was in agony now, not knowing where I was, or what I was living through. It didn’t matter how old we became, myself and my sisters would never be anything other than her babies. We were her girls - the lives she created, loved and molded. We were good girls, with pure hearts and soft souls. My mom, although she’d never been with a man who wasn’t my father, was a single mom. My father wasn’t home often. His job was important, and that meant that although he talked to mom often, he wasn’t a very large part of our lives. This made mom our sole comfort giver, our guide and our confidant. She protected us girls with her life. And I knew she was distraught now, that I had been missing for two weeks.

I miss my mom. I thought to myself, not realizing until Calix replied that I’d spoken aloud.

“I know, love.” He pulled me onto his chest and I lay against him, crying and hugging him tight, as he moved his fingers through my hair. “I know, baby.”

“Please,” I whispered a plea he didn’t grant with a reply, and I wasn’t entirely positive he even acknowledged it at all. Then, I snuggled into his chest and I fell into sleep against his warm body, wrapped in the unexpected comfort he provided me.



Calix had woken me an hour after I’d had my little cry, carried me back into the bedroom before setting me on the edge of the bed. He’d told me to get myself in the shower and then to wrap myself in a robe before meeting him for breakfast out on the balcony.

Now, I was walking through the bedroom to do exactly as Calix had instructed and meet him for breakfast. I wasn’t all that hungry. My belly was flipping and dancing with nerves for the upcoming hours this daunting day held. However, I did want a cup of coffee.

When I appeared through the bronze curtains, Calix’s blue eyes brightened and he smiled. As my eyes moved past Calix to the yard behind him, I felt my lips part on a gasp of pure wonderment. The back yard had been transformed from something already stunning to something I never could have imagined I’d see in real life.

I didn’t feel my feet carry my body to the railing, but suddenly, I was standing, gripping the stone banister as I peered down onto the elegant beauty of the yard. Four great pillars of an almost Greek appearance had been placed over the stone floor of the patio. They were massive and sturdy, and over their length, swirls of woven soft pink peonies - yes, peonies - my favorite flower - stretched over the stone. Connecting the four pillars was a glimmering, twinkling netting of lights. Through the netting, vines of brilliant, healthy greens had been woven, some hanging, in graceful ribbons, from the netted roof.

Scattered along the fringe of the stone patio floor were tables covered in a soft pink silk cloth with adorable, elegant white wooden chairs. Wrapped in a cascading tie around the back of the chair was white tool. Crystal vases had been centered on the table and lush bouquets of pink and white peonies had been artfully positioned.

Off to the side, I saw the altar, the seating, and the aisle. My heart sped as I took in the sight of the place where I would undoubtedly give myself to Calix. In a garden of abundant green, chairs that matched those around the tables had been positioned to face an altar of incomparable beauty. Pink and white peonies had been woven along the branch-like arch Calix would stand beneath, waiting for me. And over the aisle I would walk, hundreds of pink and white petals had been tossed over the green of the grass.

Standing here over the balcony, with every breath I took, I could smell the sweet freshness of the flowers below. There was no doubt in my mind that Calix had spent thousands upon thousands of dollars to create the magic in the garden below. It truly would be a dream wedding - but with no family to share the day with, if felt more like a burden.

Calix chose that moment to place his hands on the railing on either side of my body, caging me in his arms. He dipped his head to the side of mine and asked low, “Do you like it, love?”