Episode 360
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Get away from my sister,” Cameron ordered attempting to push Brant
aside after Franklin had heard the commotion and called for help upon Cameron’s
urgings. “Get away!”
“You stay away,” Brant growled over at Cameron, his dark eyes narrowing
with rage as he glanced over at Angela a horrified expression on his face.
“How could you do this to her? To your own sister?”
“I was trying to kill you,” Cameron mouthed honestly worry creasing
his brow as he reached for Angela, “Angel, you have to be okay. Can you
hear me?”
“Leave her alone,” Brant hovered over Angela protectively, “You’ve
done enough.”
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Cameron challenged him with
a snarl, his dark eyes full of fury and rage. “It should’ve been
you that fell down those stairs not her.”
“If you hurt her, I’ll kill you myself,” Brant promised with
a darkness in his tone, “and then you’ll see first hand my murdering
debut because I swear to you if she’s not okay…”
“Angel,” Cameron ignored Brant’s threats and turned his attention
to his sister. “She’s still breathing, isn’t she?”
Brant nodded keeping his focus on Angela, “Baby, I’m right here.
Everything is going to be okay. I’m not leaving you ever again. I swear
to you I’m going to be with you and the twins every step of the way.”
“The hell you are,” Cameron hissed in response as two paramedics
moved into the foyer area and up the stairs to the landing to check in on
Angela.
“You have to let us through,” one of the men explained to Brant
and Cameron while the other moved in beside Angela and checked for her pulse.
He nodded to the other man before going through the procedures of taking her
out of the house and over to the hospital.
“She’s going to be alright, isn’t she? You have to tell me
that she is going to be okay,” Cameron commanded of one of the men while
the other worked on Angela.
“We’re taking her to the hospital sir. We’re doing all that
we can,” the other offered up as they worked to get Angela out of the
house and to the ambulance.
“I’m going with her,” Brant shouted out racing after the two
men as his thoughts and concerns moved to his children and the woman he loved.
“She needs me right now…”
“No, you’re not going anywhere near her. She’s my sister and
she wouldn’t want him escorting her. He’s the reason she fell down
the stairs,” Cameron shouted out waving his hand around in the air, “He
pushed her. Arrest him.”
“The hell I did. You were the one that knocked her down the stairs when
you were trying to kill me. He’s the one you need to lock up,” Brant
argued seeing them pushing Angela into the ambulance. “I’m going
with her.”
“Like hell,” Cameron tugged on his jacket before pushing Brant again.
“Neither one of you are coming with us. I don’t care who you are,”
one of the EMT’s informed them bluntly, “This is the last thing
she needs. Let the police sort you two out.”
“I’m going with her,” Brant argued further, “She’s
having my children and…”
“Back off Ashford,” Cameron decked Brant punching him a couple of
times for good measure as the ambulance seemed to speed off and out of the
drive way.
“Damn you,” Brant shoved Cameron off of him.
Brant saw that security had settled in around the both of them, but nothing
was going to stop him from being with Angela. Quickly rushing to the side
Brant hopped into his car and followed the ambulance.
“Please be alright,” Brant mouthed to himself reaching for his cell
phone and calling Don on his speed dial.
“Hello,” Don’s tired voice answered on the other end of the
line.
“Don it’s me. Look there’s been an accident and Angela’s
been hurt. Something could be wrong with her and the babies and I need you,”
Brant pleaded with his best friend a desperation in his voice, “I can’t
lose her now Don. She told me she loved me and she wants to be with me and
now…”
“Brant calm down, where are you?” Don questioned worriedly hearing
the tension in his friend’s voice.
“I’m on my way to the hospital. I went over to Cameron’s place
to tell Angela that I couldn’t live without her,” Brant informed
him in a labored breath.
“You did what?” Don questioned in astonishment thinking about what
his friend was saying.
“I didn’t know what else to do, but I wasn’t going to wait
for Cameron to completely turn her against me. Cameron and I got into a scuffle
and before I knew it Cameron was trying to throw me off of the banister at
the top of the stairs. Angela tried to intervene and he knocked her down.
Don, she was unconscious and she took a major fall. I’m worried that
something’s going to happen to her or the children and…” Brant
trailed off his worries consuming him more and more by the moment.
“I’m on my way to the hospital,” Don promised his best friend
knowing full well what it felt like to be concerned about the woman he loved
and the fear of losing that person. “I’ll meet you there.”
“Don, please hurry,” Brant urged him again because Cameron’s
trying to keep me from her and I know right now that you’re the only
person who can help her. You’re the one person she trusts and I know
you won’t let me lose her.”
“I’ll be there Brant,” Don promised as Brant hung up the phone
praying that Cameron hadn’t started a chain reaction that would cost
Brant everything he knew and loved!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Ria,” Kevin breathed against Ria’s lips as he felt her hands
move in over his chest as her body pressed against his over and over again,
making his heart hammer in his chest. Leaning up a bit he met her lips in
a small kiss before moving forward to press his lips in against the side of
her neck. Feeling her fingers curl in through his thick hair he pulled back,
his eyes gazing into hers and seeing the passion that built up behind her
dark eyes. “I love you so much baby.”
“I love you,” Ria replied moving forward to kiss him again, feeling
his hands moving in against her hips and aiding the motion of her body against
his. Feeling her cry out against his lips, he pressed his hand in over the
small of her back arching up into her again and again. “Kevin.”
“I’m sorry,” he muttered pressing another kiss against her
lips feeling her tugging at his hair softly and he closed his eyes, knowing
that Ria was the woman he loved and it was wrong to try and confuse himself
of that. “You’re the only one for me.”
Feeling her lips center in over his again he felt her caressing his muscular
chest in small circles while his lips centered in over the base of her neck,
gently nipping at her skin. A small groan escaped his lips as he heard her
cry out his name and his eyebrows tensed together as he felt her fingers slide
in and over his shoulders. Feeling her body move in against his slowly, he
glanced up at her with his brown eyes before leaning up to kiss her lips,
his tongue pressing in against hers.
“Ria,” he let out a small groan as his body gave into her fully,
his body filling up with feelings that he hadn’t experienced in so long,
but even more his heart was filled with love for the woman he was with. Feeling
her fall in against his chest he rested his chin against the top of her head,
letting out a long breath. “I love you so much.”
“Good,” she smiled pressing a small kiss against the center of his
chest. Feeling her hand caressing in against the center of his abdomen, Kevin
closed his eyes letting out a long sigh trying to catch his breath. “You
okay?”
“Not really,” Kevin answered truthfully feeling his heart racing
in his chest as he felt her lips press in over the side of his neck and he
let out another small groan. “What do you think it would have been like?”
“What are you talking about?” Ria questioned moving up and feeling
his arm wrap around her shoulders tightly while she rested her hand in over
the center of his chest, her dark eyes staring into his. “Kevin?”
“I just—I just don’t want to lose you Ria,” he muttered
closing his eyes tightly feeling her fingers smoothing out and over his chest.
Feeling her moving in to kiss him again he kissed her back for a moment, his
fingers caressing her cheek softly before moving back and staring into her
brown eyes. Reaching out he pushed back her long dark hair and he moved forward
to press a kiss up against her cheek. “Ria, I have to tell you, I’m
scared. Scared that I’m never going to have you in my life again. Scared
that I will make mistake and lose you forever.”
“You’re never going to lose me Kevin,” she tried to promise
him as her fingers caressed his abdomen slowly before pressing in against
his thigh and caressing his skin in small circles. “I promise you that.”
“You say that now, but when I make my mistakes—you’re hurt,”
Kevin pointed out seeing her eyes staring into his and he let out a long breath.
“I love you, but when I make a mistake your heart is going to break and
we shouldn’t have even done this. I don’t want to hurt you anymore
Ria.”
“Kevin, I love you,” she tried to get him to realize how much she
really did care for him seeing his saddened chocolate brown eyes staring into
hers. “No matter how upset I get with you, I know you love me and I love
you so much that I can’t just let you go.”
“You know this whole situation I built up so much that I was so excited
and I was so sure that I was going to be a father. I just had it built up
into my head so hard that I was sure I was going to have that family I was
cheated out of,” Kevin informed her feeling her fingers caressing his
inner thigh slowly and he closed his eyes for a moment before letting out
a long breath. “When you told me you weren’t pregnant, it was almost
like the same feeling of having my daughter ripped right out of my grasp.
Just like how she was taken away from me, this whole situation kind of felt
like the same thing. It’s not fair.”
“Kevin, we’re going to have a huge family because it’s meant
to be,” Ria hushed him tipping up to press a tender kiss against his
lips as she smiled giving his bottom lip a gentle tug. “We’re not
just luck Kevin, we’re destiny. You’re the romance novelist, I thought
you would know this kind of stuff.”
“I’m good with other people’s lives, but when it comes to mine,”
Kevin felt his eyebrows tighten feeling her fingers pressing in against his
hip and he cleared his throat uneasily. “I’m a horrible mess, I
have no idea what to do. It’s like I’m two different people.”
“Well I like both sides of you, but I must admit,” Ria muttered
moving up again to kiss him seeing the way he laid beneath her as her left
hand moved in over the center of his chest. “I fell in love with the
real you first, I think you’re amazing either way, but I loved the first
man I ever had a crush on.”
“I have to admit something too, you really need to stop doing that,”
Kevin stated with a small groan grabbing her fingers in his and giving them
a small squeeze. “If you keep doing that, the part you said I only care
about is going to seem like that really is the only thing I care about when
it’s not. With you touching me like that it's going to make me seem like
a total jerk.”
“There is nothing wrong with it between the two of us Kevin,” she
stated with a wide smile seeing his eyebrow perk up when she dipped down to
press her lips in against his chest, giving his nipple a small tug with her
teeth. “You should know that by now.”
“Are you sure because,” he went to say more before feeling her left
hand firmly wrap around his body, stroking him casually as he let out a small
hiss. “Okay, yeah--I think you’re sure. I get the point.”
“You get the point?” Ria questioned with a small smile seeing Kevin’s
glazed over eyes stare down for a moment before resting his head back against
the couch trying to contain himself. “You need to see, the two of us
are great together.”
“I agree,” Kevin quickly nodded lifting his head up from the couch,
gulping down roughly before feeling her lips softly nipping at his neck while
her hand tightened around him making him let out a small whimper. “We
make a perfect pair.”
“Agreed,” Ria nodded pressing her lips in over the center of his
chest, lowering her kisses down his abdomen as he got up on his elbows watching
her press kisses in against his skin. “Rest back Kevin, this is for you.”
“Ria,” he went to protest before feeling her fingers press in against
his rippled abdomen and her lips moved in over his outer hip making him let
out a small growl as he rested his head back against the couch. “Okay.
Whatever you want to do it’s all yours.”
Feeling her lips move from his stomach and to his thighs making him let out
a small whimper and arch up into her as she teased him over and over again
before he reached down to pull her up to him.
“Never mind,” Kevin moved in over her, pressing his arms on each
side of her making sure to keep his weight away from crushing her. “You’re
all mine right now because I missed you so much.”
“Sounds good,” she smiled up at her fiancé seeing the way
he dipped down pressing his lips against hers, his arms coaxing her leg around
his waist as his right hand caressed her cheek softly. Hearing a loud vibrating
noise come from the room, she looked to the table to see his cell phone going
off and saw Kevin roll his eyes. “You really should get that.”
“Ria,” Kevin closed his eyes tightly feeling her arching up into
him and he let out a small groan, feeling her fingers softly scratching down
his back. Moving in closer to her he smiled opening his eyes again before
going in to kiss her again. “I’m sure it can wait.”
“What if it’s Russ and Avery?” Ria questioned seeing Kevin
stop to glance down at her for a moment and she shrugged her shoulders. “I
mean I can wait if it’s them calling to say that she is crying and needed
to hear your voice or something like that.”
“Make me feel bad, okay I get it,” Kevin chuckled moving back enough
to reach out for his phone and he saw her stand up and frown before sitting
down on the couch, feeling her take a seat next to him. Looking at the id
he felt Ria’s hand wrap around him firmly again and he let out a small
groan. Feeling her lips pressing hot wet kisses against his neck he took in
a sharp breath closing his eyes tightly. “If you keep doing that there
is no way I’m going to be able to answer the phone yet alone even look
at who is actually calling me.”
“Okay,” she shrugged her shoulders feeling his mouth meet hers in
a heated way, his tongue pressing in against hers as he rose his phone up
a bit trying to read the number from a diagonal glance feeling Ria pull away
from him seeing it was Brant’s number. “Go ahead.”
“Okay,” Kevin gulped down feeling her lips press in against his
neck, her teeth gently nipping at his skin as he answered the phone taking
in a sharp breath. “Hello?”
“Kevin?” Brant’s voiced echoed through his ears sounding a
bit worried and Kevin’s eyes opened, his body tensing up and Ria could
tell too as she backed up to read Kevin’s expressions. “Kevin something
really bad happened and I don’t know what to do. I’m stuck at the
hospital and I don’t know where to start, I don’t know where to
go. Something really bad happened and…,”
“Whoa, slow down,” Kevin tried to mutter hearing the heavy breaths
of Brant as Kevin glanced over at Ria worriedly for a moment before rubbing
his chin slowly hearing Brant start to breathe heavier. “Brant, tell
me what happened, what’s wrong?”
“Angela is in the hospital,” Brant informed Kevin hearing silence
on the other end as Kevin’s eyes widened, his heart freezing for a moment
as he gulped down the lump growing in his throat. “She got hurt Kevin,
real hurt.”
“Wait, what?” Kevin snapped standing up from the couch and walked
over toward the window hearing Brant’s nervousness even behind the way
he breathed. “Brant, what happened? Is she going to be okay? How are
the babies?”
“I don’t know,” Brant tried to explain before shaking his head
slowly replaying what happened in his head over and over again. “I need
you here, you’re her friend--you’re my friend. I need you here,
Cameron and I were fighting, Angela tried to break us up and Cameron elbowed
her, knocking her down the stairs. She didn’t wake up Kevin, she’s
in the room alone, I need you here.”
“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch,” Kevin snapped hitting
the wall with his fist before shaking his head slowly and biting down on his
bottom lip. “I’m going to be there okay Brant, I promise. Just calm
down, find out what’s going on and I’ll be there I promise.”
Hanging the phone up quickly Kevin turned to see Ria pulling her shirt back
on getting fully dressed and Kevin gulped down the feeling to be upset about
Angie as he realized what happened between him and Ria.
“What’s wrong?” Ria questioned seeing Kevin holding onto his
phone tightly and she saw the upset expression behind his features as she
saw him try to avoid the question. “Kevin, I know something is wrong.”
“Angie is in the hospital, Cameron pushed her down the stairs and she‘s
in a coma,” Kevin informed Ria seeing her eyes widen and she nodded slowly
and he tightened his grip on the phone. “Ria, she’s hurt and I don’t
know what to do.”
“What do you want to do Kevin?” Ria muttered seeing the way he struggled
to find an answer and looked away from her for a second before feeling her
hands press in against his face to make him look at her. “You have to
pick Kevin.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“You okay?” Jason questioned stepping out onto the balcony again
seeing Mindy staring out at the sky as he stepped in next to her. Glancing
over at her he saw her blue eyes staring into his and he offered up a small
smile. “Guy was starting to get worried.”
“Only Guy?” Mindy questioned with a small teasing behind her voice
nudging him in the ribs gently before hearing him let out a small laugh. “I
know what you’re like, you seem to worry a bit too much. Is there something
you have to tell me?”
“I never really had much of something to worry about my whole life,”
Jason explained with a half smile trying to play it off as if it wasn’t
anything really special. “I’ve had a different kind of life I guess
you can say and I just want you to be okay, you know?”
“You can tell me you know,” Mindy pointed out seeing the way that
Jason glanced over at her before shaking his head and taking in a deep breath.
“You made me talk to you, I think it’s time that you talked to me.
Tell me about you.”
“There isn’t much to say, the only thing I have in my life is my
sister,” Jason tried to explain seeing the way she frowned over at him
and he shrugged his shoulders. “Growing up, I didn’t really have
a father you know, he was one of those guys that always worked and never had
time for the family. I’m a twin by the way with a sister named Deana
and when my father got our mother pregnant, I guess he still had a whole other
family. Married to two people, living the high life with one family and having
us, in a different state in Texas with the lower kind of life I guess you
could say. When my father died, I was old enough to understand, that I had
a sister too at least I found out. She died unfortunately and I never really
got to meet her, but my mother died not long after. I was about seventeen
when my mother died and since then I’ve really had nothing to look forward
to and protect. I’m kind of loser if you will.”
“You’re not a loser,” she frowned placing her hand in against
his back seeing his eyebrow arch up as she caressed his shoulder casually.
“Honestly Jason, you say you don’t have things to care about, but
at least you have your sister. You have me now and I’m going to bug the
crap out of you.”
“Gee, that sounds horrible,” Jason teased with an enthusiastic tone
feeling her softly hit him in the shoulder before he let out a deep sigh.
“You know though, I shouldn’t complain because I know I have my
sister and her son who I love very much. I actually do have my other sister’s
family. She had a son before she died and he‘s really cute, his name
is Matt.”
“Matt? As in Matt Leveski?” Mindy questioned seeing the way that
Jason smiled widely and nodded slowly and she let out a small laugh. “My
friend’s daughter is dating him so to speak. I love that kid, he is the
cutest thing ever.”
“The smartest thing too, I think the other week he balanced my check
book,” Jason joked seeing the way that she laughed before shaking his
head slowly and biting down on his bottom lip. “I’m not kidding,
I’m being serious. Honestly, though right there proves I’m just
being a big baby because I know I am lucky to have what I do, I know some
people don’t even have that.”
“Which is a good thing you realize that,” Mindy pointed out seeing
him gulp down before nodding slowly and she took in a deep breath before laughing.
“You know we do make a good team though, we both seem to be a bit broken.”
“If you call it that, I think I seem to be more screwed up,” Jason
replied seeing the way she glared out at him and he let out a small laugh
before shaking his head slowly, his fingers pressing in against the back of
his neck. “You know, I like being here with you, but my sister is probably
getting worried--I told her I would call her about an hour ago.”
“Well, I should let you go then,” Mindy stated with a small nod
watching him look over at her for a moment and go for the door before she
called out his name. “Jason hold on, thank you for everything. I appreciate
you being here.”
“No problem,” he let out a small gasp feeling her wrap her arms
around his waist hugging him tightly and he let out a tight breath before
laughing. “I have no where else to be, I’m a bum.”
“You’re just a nice guy,” she pointed out with a small smile
gently pushing in against his chest seeing the way that he laughed before
waving one last time to her and walking inside. “Bye Jason.”
“Bye,” he waved back to her before turning around and running right
into Guy seeing Guy stumble back a bit before fixing his shirt and shaking
his head slowly. “Sorry, I was just about to leave.”
“She okay out there?” Guy questioned seeing the way that Jason nodded
slowly and glanced back at Mindy to see her looking out again and Jason looked
back toward the door. “I’ll see you later Jason, thanks for coming.”
“No problem,” Jason nodded quickly before letting out a small breath
and walking for the door, watching Guy look at his every move when he reached
for the knob. “I’ll see you later.”
“Yup,” Guy agreed watching Jason leave before he moved back toward
the balcony and met Mindy outside, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder softly
seeing her blue eyes glance back at him. “What’s up with that Jason
guy? He seems a bit…different I guess is the word I’m looking for.”
“Jason? No, he’s a good guy,” she stated firmly seeing Guy’s
worried eyes staring into hers when he stepped in next to her, resting his
arm against the edge. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but he was the last
one to see Hunt alive and it means a lot to me.”
“I understand,” Guy moved forward seeing the upset expression over
her face and he reached out to wrap his arm around her neck to pull her into
a hug. Realizing that Jason was a complete stranger, he couldn’t help
worrying about her leaning on some random guy. “Let’s just hope
he’s really a good guy.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Grady stood outside his brother’s house thinking about how he and Deana
had just parted ways once she needed to go in to a late shift at the hospital.
Now that Grady was on his own, he decided that maybe it would be a good time
to check in with his brother and see how things were going since it was clear
Russ and Avery were having problems. Of course Grady wasn’t quite sure
what he would find as he stood outside of the house, but as he knocked on
the door he vowed to give Avery a piece of his mind if she still has Russ
out in the cold. He knocked again and seconds later the door opened and Avery
stood before him clad in a navy colored robe that looked like it belonged
to Russ.
“Grady,” her eyes widened as she saw him standing in front of her,
“hey, what are you doing here? I didn’t think that I’d be seeing
you tonight considering that…”
“That what?” he gave her a long once over before nudging the door
open a bit further. He spotted the fireplace on in the other room and a bottle
of champagne on ice and he frowned, “Were you expecting any other company?”
“Well actually I thought you might be the delivery man since I had some
food I ordered, but…” she started to explain as she caught Grady’s
glare.
“You know I just don’t get you. One minute I think that you care
about my brother and then the next you’re parading around like that,”
he waved his hand around in the air glaring down at her. “What gives?
You’re given another chance with the man you claim to love and you can
finally have something special again--something that you were missing when
you thought he was dead, yet here you are tossing him out in the cold and
for what? Are you with Brant? Is that who all of this is planned for? You
figure that since you’re trying to make Russ suffer that you’ll
just hook up with Brant again to stomp on his heart completely?”
“What?” Avery’s eyes widened at his words, “Grady, you
don’t understand…”
“Oh I understand perfectly clear,” he pushed his fingers in against
the sleeve of her robe, “And let me guess you’re not wearing anything
under that and if you are, it’s probably next to nothing, right?”
“That’s none of your business,” she huffed in response pulling
the robe tighter around her body, “and I think you should stop right
now before you say something that you’re going to live to regret.”
“The only regret I have is that I thought you were decent enough for
my brother. To think that I pushed aside what I felt for you just so that
he could have his second chance at happiness, but what do you do? You play
games like always Avery and reduce him to nothing only to crush him by going
out and screwing someone else when…” Grady continued to lash out
at her only to hear the sound of footsteps from behind him.
“Um Grady,” Russ tapped his shoulder gently fighting to repress
the smirk that tugged at the corners of his lips, “I think you kind of
missed your goal here. If you want to beat up on someone, then you should
turn around and look at him because I think I’m the cause of all of this
confusion.”
“Russ,” Grady spun around to see his brother standing in front of
him clad only in a sheet as it was clear that Russ and Avery had been very
much occupied in one another before Grady had arrived. “I um…”
“I guess I should’ve called and told everyone that Avery and I sort
of made up,” Russ held onto the top of the sheet that hung loosely around
his waist before his other hand ran quickly through his tousled dark hair.
“We just sort of got caught up in the moment and…”
“Wait, you mean that you two were…and I just…” Grady shifted
his gaze between the two of them seeing the amusement that passed over both
Russ and Avery’s faces.
“It was sweet that you’re looking out for me Grady, but as you can
see,” Russ reached out to Avery curling an arm around her waist possessively,
“things are going pretty good right about now.”
“So then you two are back together?” Grady’s green eyes widened
as he watched the two of them snuggling up to one another.
“Not as together as we were before you showed up, but things were looking
pretty good for us,” Russ teased feeling Avery poke him in the ribs at
his bluntness.
“Ignore him. He’s being crude, but rest assured that Russ and I
have ironed out the kinks in our relationship,” Avery added seeing Russ
opening his mouth to say something more, “Don’t even say it.”
“I was just…” Russ began with a tiny laugh building in the
back of his throat.
“Don’t,” Avery warned before turning to look at Grady again.
She placed her palm on Russell’s chest before grinning widely at Grady,
“Does this mean that you might forgive me now that you know that this
incredibly sexy man I’m ravishing right now is Russ?”
“Of course, I mean…” Grady stammered a bit feeling awkward
at walking in on the two of them together when they were bonding, “I
just kind of thought that you two were split up and when I saw the fire and
the champagne, well I started thinking the worst and…”
“And we’re really going to have to start working on your deductive
reasoning considering you were way off,” Avery teased again before leaning
into Russ, “because A plus B in this scenario did not lead to the possible
C conclusion that you were drawing.”
“No it didn’t and again I apologize,” Grady felt his face grow
flushed with embarrassment, “You’re absolutely right about me needing
to think before I speak. I guess it just proves that I’m the idiot for
the night considering that I should’ve realized that…”
“Hey you were looking out for my best interest and I appreciate that,”
Russ offered his hand out to his brother, “You’ve always been good
to me and I’m glad I have you--even if your timing is a little off.”
“I really am sorry about that,” Grady took a small step back, “and
Avery next time I swear I won’t act like a jerk without at least taking
in the entire picture.”
“Hopefully next time you’ll have better timing,” Russ teased
with a small laugh.
“This is true, but for what it’s worth, you’re forgiven,”
Avery offered up with a bright smile of her own, “I know you were just
trying to help save what Russ and I have together, but you don’t have
to worry. I’m never letting him go again even if we have to spend hours
working out our differences with one another.”
“Next time I’ll call first,” Grady promised taking another
step back and reaching for the door when the bell rang. He opened the door
only to discover a delivery man standing there with a couple of brown bags
in hand.
“Delivery for…” the man started to explain as Grady reached
into his pocket and pulled out some money.
“Here, this should more than cover it,” Grady slipped the money
into the man’s hand before turning around to face Russ and Avery again.
“Thanks,” the man grinned before taking off in a rush back to his
still running car.
“Here you are,” Grady handed a bag to each one of them, “I’m
sure you’ll be all set now.”
“Let me just get you the money for that and,” Russ motioned to the
other room where he’d dropped his wallet with the money for dinner.
“No, this one is on me since I just made an ass of myself,” Grady
waved his hand dismissively before looking between the both of them. “Just
enjoy dinner and each other.”
“Are you sure,” Avery asked again tipping her head to the side so
her dark hair fell across the side of her face.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Grady nodded in response moving out onto
the porch, “I think I’ve been more than enough of a buzz kill tonight,
so how about you two just pretend I was never here in the first place since
it’s clear you’ve got everything on track again?”
“Grady are you sure because,” Avery began again watching him nod.
“Oh yeah I’m sure and for the record I’m happy for the both
of you. This is how it should be, well minus me of course,” Grady added
tossing out one last smile before making his way to his car in the hopes of
giving his brother and Avery some long overdue time to be alone with one another
without any interruptions to further prevent them from returning to where
they once were with one another before all hell broke loose in Coral Valley.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“What is wrong with you Kipp? I thought you would be a bit smarter when
it came to women like that, I mean honestly,” Kellen pointed out seeing
the way that Kipp moved over toward his desk to sit down. “It’s
a bit obvious she likes you and she seems to be a bit of a nut. Crazy Becca
should be her name.”
“You need to be nice Kellen, you don’t even know her,” Kipp
threw his hands up in the air before shaking his head slowly and taking in
a deep breath. “I honestly think you just need to calm down sometimes
because some of these outbursts you are doing are a bit off and sometimes
annoying?”
“Annoying? Annoying for me to be right about something to me is a bit
more than annoying. I would think you would understand because I am never
wrong about these kinds of things,” Kellen pointed out seeing Kipp’s
brown eyes staring into his and Kellen dropped down to the couch letting out
an exaggerated sigh. “The only time I was ever wrong about something
was Heather and that was because I was just being cranky around the time I
saw her again. The only other time was in high school when I thought I was
hanging out with a lesbian and when she tried to jump me I realized I was
so wrong, but still that’s nothing to add to all the names I’ve
been right about.”
“Kellen, you think way too much,” Kipp pointed out seeing the way
that Kellen frowned and rolled his eyes before looking toward the window.
“I honestly think that you have had some issues about this whole thing
just because she is a woman and is going to be around me all the time.”
“That’s not the point Kipp, the point is that she seems like a nut,”
Kellen hissed standing up from the couch to see Kipp roll his eyes again making
Kellen’s blood boil. “You’re rolling your eyes Kipp because
you know I hate it when someone does that, it makes me very pissed off and
honey, adding to the anger isn’t going to help anything.”
“You just need to calm down, she is just my assistant, I need help Kellen.
I can’t do all of this work, it’s way too hard on me and you don’t
understand that,” Kipp snapped seeing the way that Kellen’s blue
eyes widened and Kipp folded his hands out in his lap before shaking his head
slowly. “Are you in a bad mood just because of Kyle and Heather or something?
I mean honestly it’s getting obvious something is bugging you.”
“Why would I be mad about Kyle and Heather?” Kellen questioned going
back to sit down on the couch watching Kipp eye him over slowly. “They’ve
done nothing wrong to get me mad, they just went off to be with each other
for a while and that’s something I could understand. It’s something
that Heather has always wanted more than anything and I think she deserves
it. It’s not like they are going to do anything that is going to upset
me, I’m just pissed that this girl is running around and acting like
she is the best girl around you. Honestly though, why would you think it was
Kyle and Heather?”
“Let’s just forget about it,” Kipp cleared his throat knowing
what was happening and why he mentioned it, realizing that he could have screwed
something up there without even trying. Standing up from his desk he reached
out to grab his coat before letting out a small sigh. “How about we just
go home because I’m really tired.”
“I guess that sounds good,” Kellen decided following Kipp over toward
the door and smiling widely, seeing the way that Kipp looked back at him.
“Time away from all the crazy girls and time to just spend with my Kippy.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Deana, I’m home,” Jason called out shutting the door behind
him, looking in the living room to see if he could find any sign of his sister
and didn’t, knowing that her car was still there. “Deana, where
are you sis?”
Hearing a knocking noise from down the hall he walked down listening to hear
if he could hear it again before letting out a small laugh hearing her groan
out in anger.
“Deana, I’m…,” Jason walked into the room feeling something
hit him on the head and he fell on his butt from the sudden shock of being
hit in the head. Reaching out he grabbed a hold of a high heeled shoe that
hit him in the head and let out a small laugh. “Home. Nice welcome home
sis.”
“This is crazy, I can’t find my wallet,” Deana groaned throwing
clothes out of the hamper as she looked through all her stuff, a shirt landing
on Jason’s head, covering his eyes as she heard him laugh. “It’s
not funny Jason it has all my money in it.”
“Deana, calm down,” Jason chuckled seeing his sister walk over toward
the closet and starting throwing clothes out and he picked up her shoe, setting
it down on the bed after standing up. “I think you freak out way too
much and you are a bit of a blonde sister. I know I’m pretty blonde sometimes,
but you are really blonde.”
“Why would you say that when I am looking through,” Deana turned
to see the way that Jason was holding her wallet out to her and she frowned
reaching out to grab it from his hands tightly. “Where in the world did
you find that?”
“It was right on your nightstand, the obvious place to put it,”
he informed her before shrugging his shoulders and holding up a white t-shirt
she threw on top of it. “Right under the t-shirt you threw over it. You
were freaking out way to much little one.”
“One, don’t call me little one. Two, nice thinking,” she replied
gently pushing at his shoulder hearing him let out a small laugh before she
looked around the room at all the clothes she threw around. “I think
it’s time that you helped me do the laundry, this is ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous that you have so many clothes or ridiculous that you just
tore your room apart for something that was never really lost?” he muttered
feeling her push him back roughly and he let out a small laugh before grabbing
her hamper, throwing some stuff into it. “You really are a messy girl
Dee, sometimes I wonder how you get by.”
“You’re an ass,” she threw her clothes at him seeing the way
he caught it before throwing it in and looking around her room, she threw
her hands up in the air. “I’m going to have to clean this up later.”
“I agree,” Jason agreed moving in closer to see the way that Deana
glared over at him with her brown eyes and he nodded slowly. “I’ll
help you though sis as long as my nephew is in a good place and I’m bored.
Which is pretty much a sure shot that I will help you.”
“You better if you plan on living here,” she teased grabbing the
hamper from him and dragging it into the laundry room before moving forward
and starting to throw some clothes in. “So how was Mindy?”
“Okay, well at least I hope so,” Jason muttered shrugging his shoulders
and thinking about his new found friend before letting out a long breath.
“I really hope that she does feel better soon though, but she has so
many people around her and loving her that I think she’s going to be
okay. She seems to be a strong girl, I just hope one day I can be just like
her, she is amazing. A strong person at heart and at soul, I wish I had that.
She’s really a great girl.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“So tell me,” Valerie sipped her drink before eyeing Andy curiously,
“You claim that you’re a miracle worker, yet I’m still to see
you spin something worthwhile out of this meeting we’re having.”
“Meeting,” Andy laughed lightly, his gaze lingering over Valerie’s
legs before his eye met hers again, “I was under the impression that
we were out for a little fun--perhaps a little misadventure if you will.”
“Misadventure,” she repeated giving him a sideways glance, “interesting
that you used that word choice considering the one misadventure I would love
to be having is one that involves Blake and Seth presumably with their conclusion
in their relationship.”
“You really don’t want them together, do you?” he noted seeing
her shift on her chair.
“Why would I,” she shrugged her shoulders before reaching out to
claim her drink once again, “He’s my husband and he really shouldn’t
be gallivanting around with that slut to begin with.”
“Husband huh,” he nodded his head once again before grinning and
reaching for his own glass, “The plot thickens.”
“Indeed it does, but Seth feels that he can ignore the truth that has
been right in front of him all this time. He thinks that he can just pretend
that we had nothing and go about enjoying life with her, but I’m afraid
it’s not that simple,” Valerie leaned in closer to meet Andy’s
eyes again, “He married me and I’m not about to let him forget it.”
“Clearly,” Andy sipped his drink once more before questioning lazily,
“but tell me, what’s so special about Seth Alexander? From what
I’ve heard about him, he’s not financially well off, his looks are
average and he’s a nice guy. That to me seems to be kind of a boring
companion, wouldn’t you agree?”
“It’s not about the money and besides,” she paused licking
her lips at the thought of Seth, “You are way off about the looks thing.
Seth is hot and he sizzles far too much for some spoiled brat like Blake.
She could never appreciate him like I do.”
“If you appreciated him so much, then why aren’t you two together
in happily wedded bliss?” Andy questioned again seeing her look of disapproval,
“I’m just asking.”
“Because I was looking for something else when we got married. I thought
I would find it in another place, but I was wrong. I’ve recognized the
mistake and now I’m here to remedy it,” Valerie informed him her
light eyes meeting his with a newfound determination.
“So that’s it huh?” Andy arched a curious brow, “You screwed
up and now you’re sorry for it, so you think that Seth should take you
back?”
“Basically,” she nodded in response before curling her lip at him,
“and I thought that you were going to help me get what I wanted, but
it seems like you’re having more fun criticizing me.”
“I’m not criticizing,” he shrugged his shoulders innocently
before returning his attention to his drink, “I’m just stating the
facts and trying to get you to think of why you’re motivated to take
a step backwards.”
“It’s not a step backwards. It’s forward with my goal right
in front of me,” she claimed determination filling her tone, “Seth
and I are going to have a great future with one another.”
“Let me guess stuck in this little nothing town with a few kids running
around,” he finished off his drink and shook his head at her, “Surely,
a woman of your means would get bored with something like that. You look like
someone who would enjoy the high life. Parties, premieres and the works. That
kind of high life seems a little bit far fetched to someone as small town
as Seth.”
“He has potential and I’m going to prove that to him once he gets
rid of that blonde bi…” Valerie stopped herself as she spotted Seth
and Blake entering the restaurant with one another arm in arm. “Speaking
of that witch…”
Andy watched Valerie start to rise up before he reached out to her and grabbed
her arm in his hand. “I don’t think you want to do that.”
“Why not?” she frowned down at him, “Seth’s been avoiding
me lately and this is the perfect time to…”
“Haven’t you learned that a way into a man’s heart is to give
him something he can’t have?” Andy tossed back at her in a casual
tone, “With you chasing him around, why should he want to fight for you?
Why would he want to waste his time when you’re the one begging for him?
The key to capturing his heart is to make him see that you’re desired
by other men--men who could very well throw him out of your mind and your
heart.”
“Seth isn’t the jealous type. He doesn’t really think that
way,” she shook her head refusing to accept his words.
“Is that right?” he arched a speculative brow, “Is that what
you really believe he’s all about because I’ll be honest with you
when I say if a man has any kind of feeling for a woman, he gets upset seeing
her in another man’s arms.”
“I would seriously doubt it. Seth doesn’t like games,” she
answered stubbornly shaking her head again.
“Shall we place a wager on it?” Andy questioned wiggling his brow
at her, “If I’m right, then you come home with me tonight. I take
you back to my place where I’ll show you a whole new meaning of the word
pleasure. If I’m wrong, you can tell me to go to hell and we’ll
call it a day. It’s a win/win situation in my eyes.”
“You think it’s a win/win situation because you’re obviously
wanting to get laid,” she spat back at him with heavy sarcasm.
“I could get laid in a heartbeat without effort,” he noted with
a smug grin before he cast a once over in her direction, “but I was thinking
that I might try something that’s a bit of an upgrade tonight. You seem
to fit the bill.”
“You repulse me,” Valerie mouthed icily.
“Do I really?” he reached out to touch her hand in his, “because
I really didn’t get that vibe from you. Neither do I get the vibe that
you are one to back down from such an erotic challenge. You know you’re
dying to see if I’m right.”
“Not really,” she inhaled slowly before meeting his piercing blue
eyes, “but since you think you’re so right, it wouldn’t hurt
to knock you down a peg.”
“And make your ex-lover jealous,” Andy offered his hand to her,
“So what do you say? How about a dance for the hell of it?”
“To proving you wrong,” Valerie accepted his offer all the while
glancing over to Seth to see if there was any validity in Andy’s proposition.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“This should be fun. We haven’t taken the time to really enjoy
ourselves for a while,” Blake wrapped her arms around Seth’s waist
and smiled up at him. “This was a great idea.”
“I thought it might be,” Seth replied leaning down to kiss her gently.
As their lips parted he pushed a piece of her long, blonde hair away from
her face and smiled, “It gets us out of the house for a while at least.”
“We have been spending a lot of time there lately, haven’t we,”
she questioned thinking about their recent quest to start a family.
Seth nodded, “Yeah, we are probably becoming major recluses, but we’re
working on it tonight. I think this will be fun. Maybe a few laughs, some
dancing…”
“I like dancing,” Blake smiled with a hint of mischief in her tone
while her fingers tapered off over the center of his chest, “especially
with you.”
“Good because tonight I’m going to show you a whole new meaning
of the word fun,” he promised reaching down to pull her up for another
kiss as she let out a groan. He backed away seeing her blue eyes narrowing
up at him. “Um Blake that was supposed to make you happy and enthusiastic,
not make you frown.”
“I’m sorry,” she felt him set her down on the ground again,
“I was going to be enthusiastic, but then I saw that.”
“What?” Seth followed her gaze and spotted Valerie on the dance
floor with someone else. She was rubbing up against him and doing her best
to get the guy all turned on from the looks of things and Seth couldn’t
help but frown, “I guess she found her new victim huh?”
“So it would seem,” Blake nodded in response before eyeing the guy
Valerie was with. “I know that guy. He’s one of Ken’s friends.”
“Poor idiot,” Seth shook his head before letting out a small laugh,
“Though maybe if she strikes his fancy, it’ll be good for all of
us. He might convince her that she should bother him instead of me.”
“That would be nice, but I think he’s married,” Blake added
after a moment’s contemplation watching Valerie and Andy in a seductive
dance with one another.
“He sure doesn’t look like he wants to be married right now,”
Seth noted with an air of darkness in his tone, “but I suppose that would
make two of us considering where I’m at in my relationship with Valerie.”
“You mean the lack of any relationship whatsoever except for in her mind?”
Blake questioned arching a curious brow.
“Yep, that would be right about it,” he added with a tiny laugh
curling his arm around her waist again, “Of course now that I know she’s
here, we can always go to another club or be reclusive again if you like.”
“Are you kidding,” Blake shook her head at his suggestion, “I’m
not going to let her ruin my fun. I don’t let her run my life and I’m
not about to start letting her do it. We’re out to have a good time,
so I’m just going to ignore her and be happy that I have you and she
doesn’t.”
“There’s the spirit,” he laughed lightly squeezing her in his
arms, “That’s the Blake I know and love.”
“And besides if she comes over to us, I’ll have no choice, but to
kick her ass for trying to meddle with our relationship,” she quipped
further holding him in her arms possessively.
“I shudder at the thought,” he frowned glancing over to Valerie
and Andy once again, “You know maybe we should just leave. I know this
great club down the road just a ways where they have Latin dancing and…”
“It sounds like fun,” Blake finally nodded ready to say something
more when she spotted Sarah out of the corner of her eye. “What the hell
is she doing?”
“Who?” Seth questioned seeing her point over towards the bar.
“It’s Sarah,” Blake explained with a heavy scowl watching her
friend reach for a beer and take a long drink, “She’s pregnant and
she shouldn’t be doing that.”
“No she shouldn’t,” Seth started seeing Blake weaving her way
through the crowd. Taking in a small breath he started to follow just in time
to watch Blake tear the beer away from Sarah’s hand.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Blake scowled at
her surprised friend, “You’re pregnant and you should not be doing
this.”
“Leave me alone Blake,” Sarah scowled at Blake, shaking her head
with no real interest, “Give me back my beer and forget you saw me.”
“No I won’t do that,” Blake shook her head adamantly taking
a whiff of Sarah and knowing full well she’d been drinking for a while,
“I don’t know why you want to ruin your life, but I’m not going
to sit back and let you hurt your child just because things didn’t turn
out like you wanted them to.”
“My life is in the dumps Blake. Anyone with eyes can see that,”
Sarah argued with her reaching out for the beer again.
“Even so, it’s not the baby’s fault. I’m not giving this
back to you and you,” Blake pointed over at the bartender capturing his
attention, “You’re not giving her another drink. She’s pregnant
and she is not to have any of this.”
“Whatever,” the man shrugged his shoulders and went off to tend
to another patron before Blake turned to Sarah again.
“Blake, you’re being unreasonable,” Sarah reached out for her
beer again.
“Unreasonable would be walking away and pretending that this doesn’t
bother me. Unreasonable would be letting you kill yourself and your child
because you’re in a place where things aren’t working out like you
planned,” Blake informed her point blank, “Sure, you’ve made
mistakes, but you’re still my friend and as unreasonable as you think
I am right now, I’m perfectly right to try to save you from yourself,
so don’t even think about trying to stop me right now because it won’t
work!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mindy sank onto the sofa thinking about her exchange with Jason. While there
was still so much that was left unsaid about Hunt’s last minutes, she
couldn’t help but find herself thinking about the man who had played
such an important role in her life over the last few months. Hugging the wrap
that she’d had around her shoulders tighter against her shoulders, she
leaned back on the sofa closing her eyes and taking in a long sigh.
Never before had she felt as alone as she was in that moment. Sure, Guy was
in the other room, but after the way she’d practically leap onto him
when he’d offered her comfort, she couldn’t help but feel a bit
odd now. She didn’t quite know what had prompted her to lean onto him
and push him like she had, yet she could see that it would be a source of
tension between them--at least for a little while.
“Green or herbal blend?” Guy questioned popping his head out of
the kitchen long enough to hold up two boxes of tea.
“Whichever you prefer,” she shrugged her shoulders before forcing
herself to face him again.
“I prefer which ever one is that you’re in the mood for,” he
offered up with a sympathetic expression before stepping into the living room
with her. “Still thinking about what Jason said to you?”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” she admitted with a
heavy sigh. “I mean even now when I think about what Hunt went through
in those final minutes…”
“He wouldn’t want you to stress about that. He would want you to
focus on the good times you shared Mindy,” Guy mouthed moving in to take
a seat beside her. “He would want you to focus on the joy and the love
you shared.”
“I know,” she nodded fighting to keep herself together as she looked
over at him, “I keep trying to tell myself that, but it’s easier
said than done if you know what I mean.”
“I know, but eventually I think you’ll find a way to keep that in
your mind and in your heart,” he reached out to touch her arm gently,
“I know that is what Hunt would want.”
“Yeah,” she sighed closing her eyes again before clearing her throat,
“green tea is fine.”
“Good,” Guy replied with a thoughtful expression, “then I’ll
get right on it. Don’t you move.”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” Mindy admitted honestly taking in
another breath before sinking back onto the sofa. She prepared to find a way
to relax when she heard someone at the door.
“Want me to get that?” Guy questioned from the kitchen.
“No, I have it covered,” she groaned in response, “I’m
sure it’s my mother back to agitate me again.”
“All the more reason for me to answer it,” Guy decided breezing
back into the living room area and making his way over to the door. He glanced
over his shoulder at her before offering up a small smile, “We’ll
find a way to get her to behave.”
“I don’t think she knows how to,” Mindy replied with a groan
thinking about how her mother loved to push her buttons. She was going to
say something more, but opted for silence instead when she watched Guy unlock
the door and open it. She half expected to find her mother there ready to
throw out some other comment about Guy still being there, but instead she
realized it was Gabe in the hallway greeting Guy with a bright smile.
“Hey handsome,” Gabe slurred moving forward to embrace Guy. After
a moment of recognition, Guy returned the hug before Gabe pulled him in for
a kiss. Mindy felt her heart sink in seeing them together and as if Guy had
picked up on what Mindy was feeling, he pulled back and offered up a small
smile.
“What are you doing here?” Guy couldn’t help but ask curious
to see his lover standing before him. “I thought you wouldn’t be
back for a while because you were wrapped up in negotiations and…”
“I was going to stay, but then I realized that I wasn’t about to
ignore the fact that a friend of mine was hurting,” Gabe admitted looking
past Guy to where Mindy sat on the sofa. He walked past Guy and moved in to
take a seat beside her, worry in his eyes. Reaching out to touch her cheek
gently, he spoke up in a soothing tone, “How are you holding up sweetheart?”
“Not as good as I would like to,” she admitted feeling a moment
of guilt carry over her at the way she’d practically thrown herself on
Guy without giving any consideration to the fact that Gabe loved him. She
leaned into his touch and felt a lump form in her throat, “It just hurts.”
“Of course it’s going to hurt,” Gabe mouthed moving in to pull
her into an embrace, “but just know that you’re not going to have
to face this alone. You have your friends with you now and we’re going
to do everything in our power to help you. I didn’t bring Brittany with
me today because I wasn’t sure how you would be doing, but she’s
been asking about you and wanting to see you.”
“She has?” Mindy’s eyes widened in response.
He nodded, “Yeah, I had to break the news to her about Hunt because she
had a right to know. She’s still too young to really, fully understand
what’s going on, but she knows enough to know that you are sad.”
“She really loved him,” Mindy thought back to the various dates
she and Hunt had gone on with Brittany.
“She did,” Gabe nodded in agreement, “and in her own way she’s
mourning the loss, but right now she’s concerned about you. In fact she
made you something.”
“She did?” Mindy’s eyes widened in response as Gabe reached
into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“She wanted me to let you know that she didn’t have a lot of time
to put it together, but she wanted you to have it,” Gabe explained handing
the paper over to her. “She did it all on the ride home.”
“I’m sure I’ll love it,” Mindy replied opening up the
page to discover two stick figures on the page, one with dark hair that was
taller than the other that had yellow hair and a smile. They were holding
hands and printed above it were the words ‘Best Friends Forever‘.
“She said that you were this one and that one was her,” Gabe pointed
at the drawing in Mindy’s hand.
“I kind of figured,” Mindy replied with a small smile as her light
eyes drifted to the corner of the drawing where there was an angel in the
clouds looking down at the two in the picture.
“She said that was Hunt always with the both of you,” Gabe offered
up a poignant expression, “She said to tell you that he’ll always
be with you even if you both can’t see him right now. She said that nothing
can take away from what you shared.”
“She said all of that?” Mindy tipped her head up to look at Gabe
again.
He nodded, “Yeah, it’s pretty amazing that my daughter has more
of a grasp on the world around us than most adults do. She said that even
though it feels like it’s the end, it’s only a temporary good-bye.”
“She’s right,” Mindy nodded in response turning her attention
to the drawing in her hands again, “We will see him again.”
“I know you will,” Gabe reached out to embrace her once more as
Mindy thought about everything that had happened with Hunt. In that moment
she realized that she’d been wrong about what little he’d meant
to her because in seeing Brittany’s drawing she was reminded of all that
they’d shared--of all the good times and the moments that had stayed
with her. While she’d tried to close herself off from what she was feeling,
the truth was she’d been pushing aside her emotions for Hunt because
she’d felt it was easier. Now that she’d had Brittany’s drawing
she knew full well that wasn’t the case.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“What’s this?” Evie questioned as JT stopped the car on the
side of the road. She shifted in her seat to look at him and a curious expression
crossed over her features, “JT why are we stopping in the middle of the
road?”
“Because the rest of our journey is a surprise,” he explained reaching
into his pocket and pulling out a red colored scarf. He held it up to show
her before curling his finger at her. “Come here.”
“Where?” she watched him pat the seat between them as she cautiously
unhooked her seatbelt. “JT, what are you doing?”
“I’m going to surprise you,” he promised seeing her slide in
closer to him.
“I remember what you said earlier about going at it in a car and how
I said it didn’t matter,” she started uneasily thinking about their
earlier conversation with one another about sex, “I know I said it didn’t
matter to me at all, but…”
“I’m not going to use this to ravish you,” he promised with
an amused chuckle leaning forward to steal a kiss from her lips. Instead he
tucked her dark hair behind her ears before holding the silk scarf up in front
of her eyes, “I’m just going to keep you from seeing our surprise
until I’m ready for you to see it.”
“Oh,” she let out a small breath of relief before smiling, “well
that sounds interesting.”
“Uh huh,” he nodded carefully tying the scarf so that it covered
her eyes before he laughed lightly, “It looks like I called your bluff
about your anytime any place attitude.”
“I meant what I said,” she started to argue with him as a frown
touched over the corners of her lips.
“Just not tonight,” he teased with another amused laugh before sliding
back into his seat, “Now I promise that you won’t have to wait too
much longer.”
“Good because I can’t see a thing,” she replied leaning back
in her seat and feeling him pull the car back onto the main road. He was quiet
as they continued to drive until finally she felt him pull to a stop again.
“We’re here,” he whispered warmly in her ear sending tiny shivers
racing through her as she reached to take off her blindfold only to feel his
hand press in over hers. “Not yet…”
“But I thought that you said we were here,” she curled her lip in
a small pout.
“We are, but I’m not ready for you to see your surprise,” he
confessed pulling his keys out of the ignition and exiting the car.
She placed her hand up over the makeshift blindfold again before he opened
up the door next to where she’d been seated. She felt him lean over her
and kiss her quickly before helping her out of the car.
“No peeking. Remember,” he warned sliding his arm around her waist
while leading her in a direction away from the car.
“JT, you’re being totally unfair,” she frowned in response
hearing the sound of something in the distance. She listened closely before
forming a theory, “JT are we at the beach?”
“Not exactly,” he whispered again guiding her in a new direction
before smiling, “Now you’re going to have to hold onto me a bit
because I don’t want you to fall.”
“Why would I fall?” she started to ask only to feel him pick her
up in his arms.
“Comfortable,” he questioned feeling her lean into his chest.
“With you holding me always,” she smiled in response feeling them
moving in an upward motion. She could hear JT’s breath getting a bit
labored after what felt like an eternity of upward motion and she placed her
hand against his chest, “You okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” he assured her in a low, quiet tone, “I
guess there were just more stairs than I remembered.”
“Stairs,” she repeated with a curious smirk, “So we really
aren’t outside anymore.”
“No, we’re not although we will be shortly,” he assured her
as he stepped forward into the night. She felt a breeze around them as JT
carefully set her down again. He stepped in behind her, fingers on the knot
of the blindfold as if he was going to release her, but he hesitated. His
lips touched over the side of her neck, whispering heatedly in her ear, “Now
this is the surprise and I’m sure you’re going to love it.”
“Take the blindfold off already,” she protested feeling him stalling
further until finally he took off the blindfold. Her eyes slowly adjusted
to the darkness as she found herself surrounded by night. She spun around
to face him with a curious expression, “JT, where are we?”
“Just look,” he pointed out in front of them to the endless sky
beyond where they stood.
Evie took a small step forward and looked down to see the lake in front of
her. The water was moving in slow ripples as the night seemed to offer up
a hint of romance in the air around them. Spinning around to face him again
she noticed that they appeared to be at the top of some sort of lighthouse
only unlike all those she had seen on television, it wasn’t bright and
shining with the blinding light one would come to expect.
“Where are we?” she couldn’t help but ask reaching out to touch
him again.
“We’re at the old lighthouse in town,” he explained with a
tiny laugh, “It’s not as adventurous as it sounds I know, but still.
They closed this place down a few years back when they built a new one just
down the shore over there.”
He pointed out into the night where Evie saw a light sweeping onto the water.
She felt him curl his arm around her waist, drawing her nearer to him as he
continued to explain their location to her.
“This place was the big one back in the days when the ports around here
were used for trading, but now, well it’s not nearly as advanced as the
new lighthouse down there that the Ashford family had put in a few years back,
but to me it has history and culture to it. It’s not perfect, but it
is spirited and besides, no one bothers you when you’re up here,”
he shrugged his shoulders seeing the way the wind picked up around her face
causing her hair to blow with the breeze.
“You come up here a lot?” she couldn’t help but ask feeling
him tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.
“Every now and then when I want to be alone,” he reached for her
hand taking it in his before guiding her around the area they were standing
on. “As I said before no one other than the historical society gives
it much thought. They have a caretaker who keeps things in order and I made
friends with the guy back when I was a bit of a rebel. His brother got into
some trouble with me and I guess he took pity on me. One summer I had to clean
this place for my community service work…”
“I see,” she felt him lead her along to the far side of the lighthouse
giving them a whole new perspective on the water. “And even in working
here, you still feel compelled to spend leisure time here?”
“What can I say? This place sang to me,” he admitted with a sheepish
grin before stepping aside and revealing a blanket and a picnic basket that
was set up on the stone floor in front of them. “I thought maybe you
might like it as well since you seem to like the less than high profile places.”
“It’s beautiful,” she smiled seeing him move forward and reach
for a rose handing it to her. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” he shook his head in refusal watching
her smell the rose, “because my surprise is only beginning. The second
part is about to start.”
“There’s a second part,” she arched a curious brow feeling
him reach for her hand and guide her over to the blanket.
“If you sit down, you can fully appreciate it,” he assured her with
a cryptic grin watching her do as instructed. Silently he moved in beside
her and winked, “You have to lay down to truly appreciate all of it.”
“Sounds very tempting,” she leaned back on the blanket in compliance
with his request.
“Wait, you’re missing one thing,” he slid out of his jacket
and balled it up for her to lay her head on it. “This beats the hell
out of the stone floor.”
“It sure does,” she nodded in confession reaching out to him and
drawing him closer to her, “but then again, this is even better.”
Before he could say anything, she lay her head on his chest and offered him
the jacket. He smiled at her using it to prop up his head before an explosive
sound ripped through the sky followed by multicolor of green, red and yellow.
“Oh JT,” she gasped surprised as the fireworks began to set off
above him each one making completely random, colorful designs through the
night.
“Now this is your surprise,” he explained seeing the way she was
in awe of the display in front of her.
“I love it. It’s beautiful,” she confessed excitedly her brown
eyes drawn to the sky above her watching expectantly for the next big show
of color.
“I kind of hoped you would,” he offered up wrapping his arm around
her and enjoying the show. Sure, he’d hoped to enjoy them as well, but
in watching her he found himself enjoying the night more than he ever thought
possible when he decided he would take a chance and bring her up to the lighthouse
with him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Kevin be honest with yourself,” Ria breathed out slowly seeing
the way that Kevin stared out at her and bit down on his bottom lip nodding
slowly. Looking at the way he thought to himself she knew that he was tied
up inside looking for what would be the right thing to do. “Kev, either
way it’s okay.”
“I’m worried,” Kevin stuttered seeing the way that she never
stopped looking at him and he looked down toward the ground, not wanting to
upset her in anyway. “I don’t know what I should do Ria, are you
going to be mad at me?”
“I’m honestly going to be furious if you don’t pick and make
us sit here for hours,” Ria tried to tease offering up a small smile
seeing him half smile and let out a long sigh and she stepped in closer to
him. “Plus you might get a bit cold.”
“That’s never going to happen,” Kevin smiled looking down before
shaking his head slowly thinking about what would happen if he went to go
with Angie. “If I went to go see Angie, I don’t want you mad at
me thinking that she is the one I love. She is just my friend and oh god,
what have I done? If she dies, the last thing I said to her was so mean. I
should have never said all that and if she dies…,”
“Kevin, sweetheart,” Ria stepped forward pressing her hand against
his cheek, feeling his hand move in over hers and hold onto it tightly. “I’m
sure she is going to be okay, from what you’ve told me Angela is quite
a fighter and I’m sure she’ll be okay. I’m not going to be
mad if you go, you’re my fiancé and I love you.”
“You still consider me your fiancé?” Kevin questioned grabbing
a hold of her hand and saw the pink diamond that he had given her, smiling
at the thought of her never taking it off. “You have no idea how happy
that makes me.”
“Well you have no idea how happy I am just thinking about you,”
Ria replied tipping up to press a small kiss against his lips, brushing back
some of his thick hair. “I love you so much, that’s why I’m
okay with whatever decision you make.”
“Baby, I’m sorry,” Kevin apologized reaching out to push back
her dark hair as he stared out into her eyes, dipping down to press his lips
in over hers again. He suckled at her bottom lip, feeling her fingers move
in and over his back before he rested his forehead against hers. “I have
to back to Coral Valley. I was there for those babies until she found Brant
again, I don’t know what I’d do if someone else lost a chance to
be a parent.”
“I understand,” Ria decided seeing the look behind Kevin’s
eyes as she nodded slowly, wrapping her arms around him and feeling him hug
her tightly, pressing a small kiss against her forehead. “What kind of
person would I be if I didn’t let you protect your best friend?”
“Are you sure?” he muttered still surprised by her answer and he
saw her nod slowly and frowned, his thumb pressing in against her bottom lip
before moving in to kiss her again. “Ria, you know I still love you and…,”
“I know Kevin, you showed me that,” she replied seeing his eyes
squint down at her when his eyebrows arched up and she caressed his rough
cheek slowly seeing him half smirk. “I love you so much and I know, I
really do. I’m coming with you though, I don’t need to stay here
any longer, I’ve spent enough time away from you.”
“Really?” Kevin smiled widely seeing her nod and he picked her up
in his arms spinning her around before pulling her in against his chest tightly
to kiss her again. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say
that baby.”
“You can’t be alone,” she decided with a deep sigh seeing his
long eyelashes flutter and she smiled realizing how great of a guy she truly
had. Tipping up to kiss him again, she felt him give her one last squeeze
before letting her go. Seeing him going to pick up his phone she cleared her
throat, seeing him look back at her over his shoulder. Letting out a small
laugh she moved forward outlining the large dragon tattoo on his back carefully,
feeling him leaning back into her touch. “You might want to get dressed
first though before you leave, you might get thrown into jail for going out
like that.”
“Good idea,” he felt her press a small kiss against his shoulder
before gently smacking his butt making him let out a small yelp and arching
forward away from her. “You just did that because you don’t know
what it says.”
“Sure I don’t,” Ria laughed seeing the way that Kevin looked
over his shoulder at her again before arching his eyebrow up at her. “It’s
still cute, but let’s get moving--Angie needs you.”
“I can’t thank you enough for understanding Ria,” Kevin stated
with a small gulp as he rubbed at his skin feeling a stinging feeling before
shaking his head slowly and reaching down for his jeans. Staring out at her
as he pulled up his jeans he shook his head slowly before running his fingers
through his messy hair. “You don’t how great it feels for you to
tell me you love me again.”
“I’ve always loved you,” she muttered watching him zip up his
pants and reach for his shirt off the ground and quickly pull it on before
walking in closer to her and wrapping his arms around her tightly. “You
ready to leave Kev?”
“Yeah,” Kevin nodded placing a small kiss against her lips before
picking up the bag he brought throwing it over his shoulder and wrapped his
left arm around her shoulders. “I love you so much Ria.”
“I love you too,” she reached for her bag seeing him shake his head
slowly and reach for it himself and grabbing it, throwing it over his other
shoulder. “You sure you got it baby?”
“No problem,” Kevin winked seeing the way she smiled out at him
as they closed the hotel door and walked out into the hallway. Leaning forward
he pressed his lips in against hers feeling her hand caressing his cheek softly.
Offering up a small wink Kevin led her to the elevator before getting in it
seeing the way that someone walked by and he dropped one of the bags moving
forward to press the close button a few times. “Come on, go.”
“Everything okay?” Ria questioned seeing the way that Kevin nodded
as she placed her hand in over the center of his chest, tipping up to press
a small kiss against his cheek. “If you say so, I’ll trust you.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“So,” Shannon looked down at Matt as they walked out of Nate’s
room for a moment leaving Nate in his room and Shannon shrugged her shoulders.
“What’s your plan?”
“Nothing really,” Matt explained with a small sigh seeing the way
that Shannon’s dark eyes looked inside of his as Matt offered up a wide
smile. “I was just thinking a big pizza might work for him, I know he
loves it so why not get him something he loves. It’s all about him right
now really, he is the most amazing person I’ve been around other than
my father you know. “You are lucky to have a brother like him, even if
you don’t realize it.”
“I have had issues realizing that before,” Shannon agreed seeing
the way that Matt arched his eyebrows up at her and walked into the kitchen
reaching out for the phone. “After someone loses somebody important you
realize what you have.”
“So does that mean you are going to treat him like a real person now?”
Matt questioned seeing the way that Shannon frowned at his question and he
simply shrugged his shoulders grabbing the cordless and walking over toward
the drawer to pull out a few coupons. “I have to be honest with you Shannon,
you haven’t been a really nice person to my father or your brother and
they are my two favorite people. What am I supposed to think of you when you
treat the people I love like that?”
“I guess not a whole lot,” Shannon pointed out seeing Matt half
nod before letting out a long breath and thinking about all the things that
he said to her. “I know I haven’t been the greatest person to your
father and my brother. I think Nate is great and I know he is. I know that
Don is wonderful too, but I have just been a really big jerk lately and I
realized that.”
“And hopefully you will change something too,” Matt added seeing
the way she looked down at him and he shrugged his shoulders thinking of something
nice and polite to say. “I really have to be honest with you Shannon,
someone’s heart can only break until there is no more breaking. My father
hasn’t been with you that long, but Nate has had to be around you for
twenty-three years, I say now is the time to really try and be there for him.”
“I’ll try,” Shannon agreed seeing the way that Matt looked
through the coupons and tried to find something that he thought would work
appropriately. “How do you know all this stuff Matt? I mean honestly.”
“I just know not to play around with emotions and someone’s heart,
if you love them, you make sure they know you love them,” Matt replied
seeing the way that Shannon stared down at him as he started to dial the pizza
number and shrugged his shoulders. “If you don’t, you’re a
jerk for continuing to break their heart. So what position are you in Shannon?
That’s what I think you need to determine.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Brant rushed into the hospital frantic to know what was happening with Angela.
Spotting Barbara up ahead he rushed over to her hoping that she could provide
him with some information about what was happening with Angela.
“Barbara, I’m here to see Angela. Angela Meloni,” Brant explained
in a quick breath, “She was in an accident and fell down the stairs and…”
“Brant,” he heard Don’s voice call out to him as Don rushed
out of the elevators.
“Don, thank God you’re here. Have you heard anything on Angela?”
Brant questioned frantic to learn more about the woman he loved.
“I called on my way over and it sounds like Dr. Vaughn is in with her,”
Don explained trying to keep his friend from losing his mind with worry. “That’s
all I know at this point, but I was just going to check. I’ll see what’s
happening and…”
“Don please,” Brant begged of him, fear shining behind his dark
eyes, “You have to help her. You have to help her and our children. She
took a pretty bad fall and if anything happens to them…”
“I’ll do what I can. Just stay here and try to calm down,”
Don offered up knowing how bad it sounded to his pal now that the woman he
loved was in danger.
“Easier said than done,” Brant replied reaching out to his friend
again, “Don please take care of her. I know that if anyone can help her,
it’s you.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Don offered up one last time before
motioning to Barbara, “Why don’t you just wait here with Barbara
and I’ll let you know when I know something?”
“Okay,” Brant nodded rubbing his palms together as worry crept in
over him. He started to pace around the lobby thinking about all of the things
that he and Angela had ahead of them. They had so many dreams about their
future--about what their life together would be like, but tonight when Cameron
had been fighting with him it felt like those dreams were being ripped away.
All of the things he’d waited his whole life to have were becoming further
and further from where they should be in his life. He clenched his fists at
his side, “I can’t lose them. I won’t lose them.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Barbara offered up hoping to keep
Brant from going out of his mind even though she knew full well there were
no certainties in a situation like this.
“Tonight I never meant for this to happen. I just wanted her to come
home with me and see that I wasn’t the bad guy. I wanted her to know
that Cameron was lying to her--that I loved her and our children and…”
Brant’s words came to an abrupt stop when Cameron walked through the
elevators.
All of the emotions Brant had been carrying inside of him on the long ride
to the hospital were now built up in his stomach and when he watched Cameron
rushing over to where he stood, Brant knew he’d lost all of his patience
and self control. He closed his eyes for a moment thinking about the replay
of Cameron trying to kill him followed by Angela’s fall down the stairs
and suddenly his worries were replaced by an undeniable rage.
“You have no business being here. I want him gone,” Cameron shouted
to one of the security officers standing near the door. “I want him out
of here now.”
“I’m going to kill you for hurting her you son of a bitch,”
Brant snarled unable to contain himself a moment longer as he leapt towards
Cameron ready to rip his head off or worse now that Cameron had taken the
one true thing in Brant’s life and tried to destroy it. Without thought
or reason Brant swung his fist out at Cameron vowing not to stop swinging
until the rage that he’d carried inside of him was fully released on
the man who had tried to steal everything away from him only to satisfy his
own warped sense of taking control of the world around him!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
...to be continued...