Changing Fate (Changing Teams Series Book 3) Read online

  Changing Fates

  Changes, Book Three

  Jennifer Allis Provost

  Changing Fates

  Copyright © 2017 by Jennifer Allis Provost.

  All rights reserved.

  First Print Edition: March 2017

  Limitless Publishing, LLC

  Kailua, HI 96734

  www.limitlesspublishing.com

  Formatting: Limitless Publishing

  ISBN-13: 978-1-64034-020-6

  ISBN-10: 1-64034-020-3

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  For everyone who has had the courage to follow their second chance. It’s never too late to change your fate.

  Table of Contents

  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

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

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  Chapter One

  Sean

  Twenty-Three Years Ago

  “I…I just can’t believe the two of you!”

  “Sorry, Mom,” Cin said, as she slumped down in her chair. “It’s not like we meant for this to happen.”

  “Yes, I firmly believe that neither one of you considered the consequences of your actions.” Mrs. Cavanaugh sat heavily on the other side of the kitchen table, and held her head with her hands. “Cindy, you’re only fifteen.”

  “I-I know.” Cin’s lower lip trembled, so I grabbed her hand underneath the table and squeezed. After all, this was just as much my fault as it was hers.

  “Come on, Janet, you can’t be all that surprised,” my mother said. “Cindy and Sean have been inseparable for years. How many times have we talked about them getting married, and about our future grandbabies? We’re just getting them sooner than we’d planned. A lot sooner,” she added.

  “You talked about us getting married?” Cin asked.

  “All the time,” Ma replied, tucking a stray hair behind Cin’s ear. “As you know, I’ve only got boys. I could use a daughter-in-law like you around.”

  Cin smiled at my mother. Damn it all, but Cin’s mother smiled too. Her father, however…let’s just say that I didn’t think Mr. Cavanaugh would be smiling any time soon. And definitely not at me.

  “We still haven’t established what we’re going to do about this,” Mr. Cavanaugh said.

  “Do?” Cin repeated.

  “About the baby,” her father replied. “There are a few options to consider. Adoption, for one.”

  Cin gasped and covered her mouth. As soon as we’d figured out she was pregnant, Cin had made me promise we would keep the baby. In my mind, that hadn’t even been in question.

  “I-I don’t want that to be an option,” she said.

  Mrs. Cavanaugh’s eyes softened. “Cindy, honey, it might be for the best.”

  “B-But I don’t want to give away my baby,” Cin said. “I’ll figure it out.”

  “We will figure it out,” I said, earning a glare from Mr. Cavanaugh.

  “What about school?” Mrs. Cavanaugh asked, while ignoring me. “Don’t you want to go to college? Keep on writing?”

  “I can’t go to school and write with a baby?” Cin asked. “What about all the other working mothers out there? Some of them go to school.”

  Mrs. Cavanaugh smiled and patted Cin’s hand. “It will be hard, especially since you’re so young. You might end up dropping out of school, and graduate a year or so later. And who knows what will happen with college.”

  Cin slumped down in her chair. “I-I don’t want to graduate later.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “I don’t want to give away my baby, either.”

  Crap, this was my mess too, and our parents were taking everything out on Cin. I needed to think fast, and say something—anything—to take the heat off her, and make them realize that I was serious about taking care of Cin and our baby. This was a deep situation, yes, but I was more than prepared to man up and handle it.

  “I’ll marry you.”

  Our mothers gasped and Cin’s father growled, but Cin just stared at me. “You will?” she asked.

  “Of course I will.” I got down on my knees on the hard linoleum, and took Cin’s hands in mine. “I love you, Cin. I’ll take care of you and our baby, any way I can, for the rest of our lives.” I kissed her knuckles. “Be my wife.”

  “No,” Cin’s father said, rising to his feet. “Absolutely not.”

  “But, Daddy—”

  “First of all, the age of consent in Massachusetts is eighteen,” he said over Cin. “Therefore, marriage is out of the question. Second of all, let’s not rush into a second mistake.”

  “Rush?” Cin repeated. “I’ve known Sean my entire life. How long had you and Mom known each other before you got married? Not fifteen years!”

  “Cindy, honey—” Cin’s mother began.

  “And who says this is a mistake?” Cin demanded, her voice going up an octave or two. “My baby is not a mistake!”

  “Did you get pregnant on purpose?” Mrs. Cavanaugh demanded.

  “No!”

  “Then you made a mistake,” she replied. Cin fell back in her chair, her breath ragged and shoulders shaking. God, I did not want her to start crying again. I stood behind her and put my hands on her shoulders.

  “Can you give us a minute?” I asked. When our parents looked dubious, I added, “Come on, what more could possibly happen?”

  Thankfully, my mother laughed. She had taken this news much better than Cin’s parents had, probably because she’d been dealing with me and my brothers for the last twenty-odd years, while the Cavanaughs had only had their one daughter. Cin had never put them through the same wringer my parents had been through.

  “Just wait until your father gets home, not to mention your brothers. Then you’ll really get it.” Ma stood, and ushered Cin’s parents out of the kitchen. “Come on, let’s give the kids some breathing room. I imagine they have a lot to talk about.”

  Mom led Cin’s parents toward t
he family room in the back of the house, which was where Dad kept his whiskey supply. Something told me that after all of this, he was going to need a fresh bottle. Once we were alone I picked Cin up, sat back in my chair and settled her on my lap.

  “I mean it, Cinnamon,” I said, pressing kisses along the side of her neck. “I’ll marry you.”

  “We’re too young, Sean,” Cin mumbled. “You heard Dad. Gotta be eighteen to experience marital bliss.”

  “Then I’ll marry you in three years,” I said. “No matter what happens, I will take care of you and our baby. I’ll do anything I have to for you. For us.”

  Cin laid her head on my shoulder. “I know you will, Sean.”

  Chapter Two

  Sean

  Present Day

  “I think you made a wrong turn,” Emily said. Again.

  “I did not,” I said. Again. “We haven’t reached the turn yet.”

  Emily harrumphed and hunched over her phone, willing her state of the art GPS technology to prove me wrong. Just a typical day for me and my girlfriend, although today she was especially cranky. We were down in Connecticut so we could attend my oldest daughter, Britt, and her fiancé Sam’s, wedding, and Emily had been alternating between stony silences and snapping like a wild turtle since we’d pulled out of our driveway. I couldn’t decide if Emily didn’t want to see Britt get married, or if she was mad at me since I’d never popped the question to her.

  If it was the latter she could just keep on waiting.

  “These roads go on forever,” I continued. “Just hang tight, we’ll be there soon enough.”

  “I hope so,” Emily grumbled. “The girls are getting fidgety.”

  I glanced at our twin daughters in the rearview mirror, and saw that our girls were decidedly not fidgeting. Penelope was out like a light, and Veronica was gnawing on a picture book. For a couple of two-year-olds, they had handled the three hour trip down to Fairfield County remarkably well.

  “Do you think I’m dressed all right?” Emily asked.

  Since we were on a straight stretch of road, I glanced over at her. Emily was wearing a brown tweed skirt, pale green sweater, and brown boots. The green did wonders for her blonde hair and blue eyes. “Yeah, you look great. Besides, today is only the rehearsal. It’s not like a black tie affair or anything.”

  “It’s just that I’ve never been to such a formal event before,” Emily said as she smoothed her skirt over her knees. “None of my friends have ever rented a mansion for their wedding. Or for anything else, for that matter.”

  “I don’t think this place will rival anything in Newport,” I said. “Besides, Britt wanted someplace convenient for both us and her mom, and this house is in the perfect spot. Sam said it’s an almost equal distance from it to New York and Northampton.”

  Emily huffed and looked out the passenger side window, and I concentrated on navigating the snowy streets of Connecticut. I glanced at the rearview mirror again, and saw my parents in the car behind us. Once my brothers and their families arrived tomorrow afternoon, this wedding would be a regular O’Rourke family reunion.

  “There it is,” I announced, spying a white wooden sign with gold lettering at the side of the road. I pulled in, and followed the winding driveway up and behind a stately white mansion that was about four times the size of the ten room Victorian I owned up in Massachusetts. Maybe this place did rival those tourist traps in Newport. After we’d parked, and gotten the girls and my parents sorted out, all six of us climbed up the front steps and entered the estate.

  And I stopped dead in my tracks.

  Britt was standing halfway up the stairs wearing a dark red gown edged with white fur. The gown was off the shoulder, and her light brown hair, an exact match to my own, was pulled back into a loose bun at the nape of her neck. She was holding a single white lily, and a slight man crouched behind her as he fussed with the dress’s hem. As I watched Britt standing there on the stairs looking like a princess, it finally hit home that my little girl was getting married.

  “She’s wearing red?” Emily hissed in my ear. “What kind of a bride wears red?”

  “A beautiful one,” I replied. I headed toward the stairs, and called out, “All right, where’s the father of the bride supposed to stand?”

  “Daddy,” Britt squealed, and then she ran down the steps and into my arms. I hugged her so hard her feet left the ground; no matter how old she got, Britt would always be my baby girl. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Me too, pumpkin,” I said, squeezing her hard. “Is this your wedding dress?”

  “No, it’s my rehearsal dress,” she said, then she stepped back and twirled around. “Jorge made me two dresses. Two! Can you believe that?”

  “I could not have you ruining your gown during the rehearsal,” said the man who’d been arranging Britt’s dress. “Jorge Velasquez,” he said, extending his hand.

  “Sean O’Rourke,” I said, shaking his hand. “You’re Sam’s tailor friend?”

  “I am he,” Jorge replied. “I also made the dresses for the flower girls. They are your daughters, no?”

  “They are,” I replied. I called Emily over and introduced her and the girls to Jorge, while Britt caught up with my parents. In the midst of all that, I looked across the room and saw a woman standing by a wall of windows. She was on the shorter side of average height, and was wearing a fitted black dress and spiky heels, and her long blonde hair was caught up in a French braid. After a moment she looked up and her blue eyes met mine, and my heart skipped a beat. Even after all this time, Britt’s mother was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

  Cin smiled at me, only to duck her head when her husband, Patrick, grabbed her elbow and barked something at her. Before I could stalk over there, or do something else embarrassing and inappropriate, Britt saw where my gaze rested.

  “Mom,” Britt said, “come meet Penny and Ronnie before they start running all over the place.”

  Shit, had Cin really never met my twins? Well, no, I suppose she hadn’t. Cin had been invited to Emily’s baby shower along with Britt, but she hadn’t attended. I searched my memory, and realized that I hadn’t seen Cin for almost five years, not since a year before I’d met Emily.

  Cin’s smile returned as she approached our little group. She went to Britt’s side first, and crouched down before the girls. “I’m Britt’s mommy,” she said to my twins. “You can call me Cindy.”

  The girls laughed and ran off toward the table of floral arrangements, with Emily chasing after them. Cin straightened and said her hellos to my parents, then she finally faced me. “Sean,” she said, wearing that pretty smile of hers, the same one that had made me fall in love with her before I was old enough to know what love is. “It’s good to see you.”

  “You too, Cinnamon.” Cin blushed at her old nickname. Before I could tease her a bit more, Emily returned with the girls in tow.

  “Sean, who’s this?” Emily asked a bit too loudly. As if she hadn’t heard Britt call her “Mom.”

  “I’m Britt’s mother, Cindy,” Cin replied. “I don’t believe we’ve ever met. You’re Emily Kirsch, correct?”

  “Yeah, I’m Sean’s girlfriend,” Emily said. “Penny and Ronnie are our children.”

  Cin’s mouth twitched at Emily’s blatant declaration of territory, but she didn’t call her on it. That’s because Cin has manners. “Your girls are beautiful,” Cin said. “You are very lucky.”

  “Thank you,” Emily said. “Is Britt your only child?”

  “Yes. Patrick—that’s my husband, Britt’s stepfather—and I don’t have one of our own.”

  Patrick, who must have heard his name, walked over and stood next to Cin. He’d gone gray around the temples, but other than that he looked just the same, with his expensive suit and nasty scowl. He glared at me as he whispered something in Cin’s ear, and she frowned.

  “Excuse me,” Cin mumbled, then she let Patrick draw her away from us. I didn’t realize how angry that m
ade me until Britt saw my clenched fist. She raised an eyebrow.

  “Hate that guy,” I grumbled.

  “I tried to get her to leave him at home,” Britt said. “Can’t have everything, I guess.”

  “Guess not,” I said. “So, where’s the man lucky enough to be marrying my daughter?”

  “He’s checking out the bar with the best man,” Britt replied. “They’re probably doing shots. Come on, I’ll bring you over there.”

  “Sounds good.” I turned to Emily and asked, “Want me to get you anything to drink?”

  “No, thank you,” she replied. “Jorge wants the twins to try on their dresses.”

  I set Veronica on her feet and gave each of my girls a kiss on the head, then I followed Britt through the house to the bar area. The bar was fully stocked, and there was a buffet spread out on the opposite side of the room.

  “Is this where you’ll have the reception?” I asked.

  “The ballroom is through those doors,” she replied, indicating the far side of the room. “That’s where we’ll be. This is more of a staging area.” I peered through the rear doors, then Britt squealed again. I turned around just as Sam swept her into his arms.

  “Missed you, angel,” Sam said, then he kissed her. Once they came up for air, he looked over her shoulder and saw me. “I’m glad you’re here, sir,” Sam said, clapping me on the shoulder. “Come on, let me introduce you to my best man, and my parents.”

  Britt and I followed Sam into the ballroom, where the decorators were arranging centerpieces and tablecloths. Britt grabbed my arm as we walked, and laid her head on my shoulder.

  “Isn’t it nice to have a big, happy family?” she asked.

  “It sure is, pumpkin.”

  Chapter Three

  Cindy

  Present Day

  After all of the assorted friends and relations had arrived, and the introductions had been made, Britt’s wedding rehearsal got underway. As the mother of the bride I didn’t have anything to do beyond gazing at the happy couple, which was fine with me. Historically I have never done well at weddings.