Night and Day (Stevens Book 11)

Chapter 1

Alistair Stevens took a deep, steadying breath and asked for guidance before he stepped out to join his Aunt Lizzy on the terrace of their Texas ranch house. Lizzy stared vacantly at the beautiful view of the valley before them, and Alistair was at a loss as to how he could help her.

He placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close as she turned into him with a sniffle.

"I can't believe he is gone. I can't believe I will never get to see his face or feel his arms around me again," Lizzy choked on a sob that racked her body.

They had just buried her husband, Brian Alexander, that morning. He had been taken so quickly that it was hard for any of them to believe he was gone. To the family, it felt as if he was only in the next room or away on one of his many business trips, but Lizzy felt his loss in her soul. She knew he was gone and appeared to have aged overnight because of it.

Alistair rested his head on hers as he squeezed her shoulders. "I'm sorry you're so sad, and I'm sure Brian would be too," Alistair whispered.

"I am sad, but I am also mad!" Lizzy shook her head. "Your Uncle Brian wasted eight years of our lives that we could have been together. I never resented that time we lost until now. Now that he's gone, I keep thinking we could have had eight more years together. Eight more years of memories, but his stubborn ass had to listen to your father!"

"My father?" Alistair asked.

"Yes, I was twenty and in love with Brian, who was thirty-three, and your father, my brother, thought that I was too young, so he told Brian to back off, and he did. It took us eight years to reunite." Lizzy exhaled, and her shoulders were heavy in her sorrow.

"What brought you back together?" He was confused at the idea that his father could have caused so much havoc. Generally, Bryce Stevens was a live-and-let-live kind of fellow. He even kept well out of Alistair's life, letting him live it the way he wanted, so long as Alistair understood the title would one day be his and he would have to accept the responsibility when the time came.

"The same thing that drove us apart, your father. He fell in love with your mother, realized what he had done, and fixed it." Lizzy's voice softened. "So, Bryce is why I lost him and found him again, but I wish to God that Brian would have told your father to go hang himself and swept me away from it all." Lizzy swallowed hard. "If he had, we could have had eight more years together."

"Do you think the heartache of being apart made it that much sweeter when you were finally together?" Alistair thought about his life and the choices he had made or had not made. "Perhaps, knowing what it was like when you couldn't have him made it mean so much more when you did, and that made your relationship stronger than it would have been otherwise?"

Lizzy turned and looked up at him, tilting her head as she absorbed her words.

"You sound like your mother, always looking for the bright side."

Alistair smiled at the compliment.

"You also sound like you know what you're talking about." When Alistair opened his mouth to object, Lizzy held up her hand to stop him from whatever he was about to say. "That's your business, but I will say that if you fall in love, really in love, move heaven and earth to be together because a day like today will come." Lizzy took a deep fortifying breath. "And as painful as it is, the only thing worse would be if that day didn't come because you never got to spend your life with the person you loved."

Alistair gave a forced smile, and a heavy silence descended on them for a moment as he did his best to keep all thoughts of Katherine Randolph at bay.

"Did you know that when your mother and I first met, I didn't like her? I thought she was after your father for his money. I think I was as determined to save him from her as he was to save me from Brian." Lizzy looked back at the view in front of her as her mind wandered into the past.