Keeping Guard

by Sandra Owens

  She leaned over and hugged Nichole. “Thank you for sharing my first ever pity party with me.”

  “My pleasure. There’s the doorbell. Think that’s Jack?”

  “Well, it’s not the pizza delivery guy. Know why?”

  “No, why?”

  “’Cause we didn’t order pizza.”

  That cracked both of them up, and she was laughing so hard that she barely managed to get the door opened. “You’re not the pizza man.”

  “You’ve got pizza coming?” Jack said.

  “Nope. That’s why you’re not the pizza man.” She glanced back at Nichole. “Told ya.” That set them off again.

  “I take it you two lovely ladies finished off the wine.”

  Nichole snorted. “Guilty.”

  “Guilty. Me, too.” Peyton leaned toward Jack so she could whisper. “I like beer better, but don’t tell Nichole, okay?”

  “Mum’s the word,” he whispered back with a big grin on his face. He glanced between the two of them. “I understand one of you needs a designated driver?”

  “That would be me,” Nichole chirped, raising her hand. She stood, then grabbed hold of the island counter. “Whoa. Who’s moving the room around?”

  “Easy, babe.” Jack rushed to Nichole’s side and scooped her up, then turned to Peyton. “You going to be okay?”

  “Sure.” Not. Noah wasn’t here to carry her so she could nuzzle his neck like Nichole was doing to Jack.

  “Okay. You have our number. Call if you need anything.”

  “Thanks. That means a lot.”

  At the door, he paused, seemed to consider something, then said, “He’ll come back. I don’t know when, but he will.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that, so she just shrugged. “Be careful driving home, okay?”

  “Always. Lock up behind me.”

  “I will.” The buzz she’d had going was gone, the loft was back in silent mode, and as she locked her door, she squashed the hope that Jack was right. Noah was gone and she might as well get used to that. If that was possible.

  God, she missed him with an ache deep in her heart and bones. Was he missing her? Thinking about her?

  * * *

  “Come on, man. Let’s go out. You’ve been home for a week and all you do is train and mope.”

  Noah shifted his gaze from his phone screen to his roommate. “I don’t mope.” He hit delete on the text message, one of many he hadn’t sent Peyton. It was better this way. A clean break so she could get on with her life.

  “Go look in a mirror. That’s a total mope face. What happened in Asheville? Some chick break your heart?” Jared laughed as if the notion was absurd.

  No, he broke hers. Maybe. Was she missing him the way he missed her?

  “You got indigestion or something? You keep rubbing your chest.”

  Because the damn thing hurt.

  “Come on. I need a wingman and, dude, you need to get laid bad. I guarantee that’ll cure that mope right off your face.”

  Like he could touch a woman who wasn’t Peyton.

  Jared scowled when Noah didn’t respond. He plopped down on the other end of the sofa. “Okay. Talk. Who is she that’s got your panties in a knot?”

  “A princess.”

  “No shit, man? An honest to God princess?”

  “What?”

  “You said she’s a princess.”

  He’d said that out loud?

  “You’re playing with your dice, Double D. You only do that when you’re stressed. Talk to me. Get whatever has you sulking like a kid who lost his favorite toy off your chest. You’ll feel better for it. I guarantee.”

  Noah stared down at the dice in his palm. He hadn’t realized he’d taken them out of his pocket. How many times in his life had this pair of dice led him down the right path simply because he’d held them and asked, “What would my father do?” Then, whatever the answer was, he’d do the opposite. He silently asked that question now, and the answer...his father wouldn’t think twice about stomping all over a princess’s heart.

  Had his father ever loved Noah’s mother? Did he even know how to love? Noah didn’t know the answer to that question. As far back as he could remember, the old man had only cared about gambling and his booze.

  Then he thought of his mother. Although he was young when he lost her, he remembered her smiles, her hugs, and how much she loved him. He knew that because it was the last thing she said to him every night. “I love you, my sweet boy,” she’d say, then she’d pull the covers up to his chin and kiss his forehead. She had taught him everything he needed to know about love.

  Was he really going to walk away from the woman he loved, throw away his chance to be happy?

  “Dude, either talk to me or get dressed so we can go out.”

  “Can’t.” With his fingers wrapped tight around the dice, he stood. “I got some things to do.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Peyton leaned her cheek against the window as she watched Asheville wake up on an early Saturday morning. Before Noah, she’d rarely been up early enough to see the sun come up, to watch her town come alive. Now, she wasn’t sleeping well, so this greeting the sunrise was a new thing. She wasn’t even sleeping in her bed anymore, which was just stupid, but it was lonely there without him. The sofa was her new place to crash. She’d doze off watching TV, sleep for a few hours, and then wake up with a body full of kinks.

  She stretched her neck to the left and then to the right. Three weeks—three long, miserable weeks—had passed since he had left, and she hadn’t heard a word from him. Not even a text message that he was alive and well. A thousand times in the past weeks, she’d typed out text messages to him and then had deleted them.

  Hey. Just checking in to make sure you got home safely.

  Do you miss me, because I miss you like crazy.

  This one I’ll definitely delete, but I want you to know that I love you.

  You’re a rotten dog, Noah Alba. You broke my heart, and you don’t even care enough to check in on me.

  I wish I’d never met you.

  Okay, that last one was a lie.

  And on and on and on. Well, as of today, that was stopping. She was done crying over unsent messages and messages never received. The only things keeping her going were her father and their new amazingly wonderful relationship, her job, and Nichole and Jack. She talked to Nichole a few times a week, and the couple had had her over for dinner several times. Lucky was always there, and it was great to get to see her furry friend.

  Noah was never mentioned, not by her or them. That was another heartbreak, that he’d become persona non grata. She wanted to talk about him...no, she didn’t. If only she could stop thinking about him.

  The past two weekends she’d spent on her sofa, numbing her brain with mindless TV. That was going to stop, too. But what to do with herself? The brewery was her happy place, so she could spend the day there, play around with her recipe.

  There wouldn’t be a Wicked Witch Brewery now, but she liked the name, so she was working on a new beer she planned to call Wicked Witch’s Broomstick Mocha Stout. When she lost herself in creating a new beer, she didn’t think of anything else, and that was exactly what she needed today...no Noah thoughts, no tears, no temptation to call Nichole and ask if Jack had heard from him. It would kill her to know Noah was keeping in touch with Jack when he’d ghosted her, a clear message that she didn’t mean beans to him.

  Yep, got the message loud and clear, SEAL boy.

  She wanted to hate him but couldn’t make herself do that. He hadn’t made promises he hadn’t kept, he’d never lied to her or given her reason to hope he’d stay. He’d done everything she’d asked of him...the tingles being her favorite, and could the man ever make her tingle.

  He might have ruined her for any other man. Or, he mig
ht have taught her what she should expect and deserved from some future man. It was impossible to imagine loving anyone other than Noah, but with time and determination to find him, maybe someday a man could walk into her life the way Noah had and win her heart.

  He’d have to work damn hard at it as he’d have big shoes to step into, but it could happen, right? Because, seriously, she didn’t want to end up being a crazy cat lady, lamenting to the end of her days of her one and only lost love. That would just suck lemons.

  Had anyone ever created a lemon beer brew? Okay, now she was just getting silly. She pressed her forehead against the window. For her own sanity, she had to let him go.

  “Goodbye, Noah. Have a great life.”

  She waited to feel better. It didn’t happen. Time...that was what she needed. Given enough time, he would be nothing more than a favorite memory, a smile on her lips the few times she thought of him. Meanwhile, she’d go make the best beer in the history of Elk Antler Brewery.

  * * *

  Sunday she was on a cleaning frenzy in an effort to keep he who shall not be named out of her mind when the doorbell rang. She’d talked to her father earlier, and he’d been home, so it wasn’t him. Since her friends list was woefully lacking, she couldn’t think of who else could be calling on her. That reminded her that she’d vowed to find herself some girlfriends. She’d started with Nichole, but she wanted more. She should call Heather and invite her to lunch.

  “Oh, hey.” She didn’t want to let on how happy she was to see Nichole.

  Nichole’s gaze landed on the yellow rubber gloves on Peyton’s hands. “Ah, busy cleaning whatshisname right out of your life, huh?” She grinned. “Been there. Done that. Didn’t work.”

  “Well, drat. Didn’t want to hear that.” She stepped back. “Come in.” It was too early to offer wine...or beer, so what did you offer a new friend you were happy to see when it was too late for coffee and too early for booze? She needed to research girlfriend etiquette. “Um, can I get you something to drink?” That worked, let Nichole guide her in this new territory.

  “Thanks, but I’m here to kidnap you. Jack’s waiting in the car. We’re going to take a ride on the Parkway and we’re taking you with us.”

  “Oh, well, I don’t want to be a third wheel if you and Jack are—”

  “Girlfriend, just go with the flow, okay?” Her gaze returned to the rubber gloves. “But ditch those. Also, it’s a beautiful day out, a cute pair of shorts and sexy top kind of day.”

  Peyton blinked. “Are you speaking in some kind of weird code.”

  Nichole laughed. “If you only knew. Come on. Take me to your closet and I’ll help you decide what to wear. We need to get a move on since Jack is double parked. You don’t want him hauled off to jail, do you?”

  “I feel like no is the right answer to that question.”

  “You are correct. Show me your closet so we can get this show on the road.”

  One new thing Peyton learned was that Nichole was a force of nature, especially when digging through Peyton’s closet. In less than ten minutes she was dressed in a pair of white shorts and a sleeveless red top.

  “I feel like I’ve fallen in a rabbit hole and nothing makes sense anymore,” she said as Nichole pulled her into the elevator.

  “Curiouser and curiouser,” Nichole said with a suspiciously secretive smile on her face.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing. It’s a beautiful day for a ride on the Parkway is all.”

  It was a beautiful day, and because the temperature up on the Blue Ridge Parkway was a few degrees cooler, they rolled down the car windows. This was what she needed...the breeze, the pine-scented mountain air, the incredible views, and time with friends.

  Jack had a classic rock station playing on the radio, and they were all singing along to the Eagles’ “Take It Easy.” Not one of them could carry a tune, but they were rocking it at the top of their lungs.

  Noah would love this.

  Stop it. No thinking of him, no being sad today. When the song ended, Nichole high-fived Jack, then reached behind her with her palm up. Laughing, Peyton slapped her hand against Nichole’s.

  Gosh, it felt good to laugh. She hadn’t been sure she ever would again. But as they drove along the Parkway, thoughts of Noah kept creeping into her mind. How much fun it would be if he were with them, how much she wanted to hear his voice chiming in with theirs. When Jack reached across the console and rested his hand on Nichole’s leg, she unsuccessfully tried not to wish Noah was here to touch her.

  She turned her gaze to the window and blinked against the stupid tears prickling her eyes. This tearing up over any reminder of Noah was getting old. If she was still missing him this much ten years from now, she was going to be seriously peeved.

  “Why are we going here?” she said when Jack turned into the parking lot of a waterfall. The waterfall. Oh, no. She did not want to walk down that path.

  Jack glanced back at her as he opened his door. “Nichole wanted to go to a waterfall. What Nichole wants, I give her.”

  “True story,” Nichole said, giving Jack a goofy grin.

  Well, she could act like a brat and stay in the car and pout, or she could grin and bear it. Since she couldn’t bring herself to get bratty with her new friends, she pushed her door open.

  As much as she liked Nichole and Jack, it was hard being around them, seeing the love they had for each other. She really thought she and Noah could have what they did if he’d only given them a chance. She would have waited for him for...well, forever if that’s what it took.

  Jack told her to go down the path first and Nichole walked behind her with Jack bringing up the rear. With each step she took, her heartbeat increased until she wondered if she was having a heart attack by the time they neared the bottom.

  In less than a minute, she’d see the rock they’d sat on while sharing her bottle of champagne. She’d remember looking up and seeing the most beautiful man her eyes had ever beheld as he watched her. The smile curving her lips surprised her, but it was from remembering the wariness in the stranger’s eyes as he no doubt wondered why a crazy woman was sitting half-naked on a rock, chugging a bottle of champagne.

  Yet, he hadn’t bolted, although she was sure he wanted to. No, he’d taken cautious steps toward her, had climbed up on that boulder next to her, had listened to her sad story, and had rescued her when she’d needed rescuing.

  She sighed. Maybe coming back here would be therapeutic. Either that, or it would be like a knife to her heart when she stepped into the opening of the waterfall pool and laid eyes on their rock.

  Ten more seconds, and she would see it.

  Nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two... She blew out a long breath, then took that last step, and there it was.

  She blinked. She blinked again. “Noah?” she whispered.

  It couldn’t be, so she squeezed her eyes shut to clear them, but when she looked again, he was still there.

  On. Their. Rock.

  How? She glanced behind her.

  “Go on,” Nichole said. “Go to him.” She slipped her hand in Jack’s, and the couple walked back up the path.

  Her feet still rooted to the spot, Peyton shifted her gaze back to Noah.

  “Are you going to kidnap me?” he said, and she laughed at hearing him repeat the first thing she’d ever said to him.

  Noah’s hungry gaze roamed over the woman he loved, the woman he’d missed with every beat of his heart. “Well?”

  “Do you want me to?”

  “Hell, yeah.” Her smile, her beautiful smile sliced right through him. How had he ever thought he could leave her behind?

  “Then I think I will.”

  “Thank God.” Beside him, Lucky whined as his tail excitedly swept over the boulder, his gaze fixed on Peyton. Noah unclipped the leash. “Go.
Go get our girl.”

  Lucky—considerably better behaved than he’d been when Noah had left—flew off the rock like he was Superman and hit the ground running. Peyton laughed as she knelt, her arms open.

  “There’s my sweet boy.” She buried her hands in Lucky’s fur, but her eyes stayed on Noah.

  He gave them a minute to greet each other, then took his guitar out of the case. Her eyes widened, and she stood but stayed silent and where she was. His heart pounded. The last person to touch his guitar had been Asim. For Peyton, he would play it again.

  Would she welcome him in her life? Holding her gaze, he strummed the intro to Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and then he sang it to her. No other song expressed what was in his heart like this one did.

  As he played and sang, she slowly walked to him. By the time he finished, she stood a few feet in front of him, tears streaming down her cheeks. His eyes burned, too. Still holding her gaze, he set his guitar back in the case.

  “Do you mean it?” she said, her words a mere whisper.

  “With everything that I am.” He held out his hand. “Take my hand, princess. Take my whole life, too.” He needed to touch her, needed his mouth on hers... Hopefully, she’d allow that.

  “I’m mad at you.”

  “Figured you would be.”

  “You could have texted me at least once, letting me know you’d arrived safely.”

  “I should have, and I’m sorry. If you’ll come up here, I’ll tell you everything.”

  She put her hand in his, and if he’d been standing, the happiness roaring through him like a tsunami would have brought him to his knees. He helped her onto the rock, pulling her next to him.

  “Hey, you,” he murmured, keeping her hand in his.

  “Hi.” Her smile was both shy and beautiful, and it about melted his heart. “You came back.”

  “I did.”

  “For how long?”