A Forever Love, Part 2

by Sharon Cummin

  “I am,” Noah said, as he set the plate down with a smile on his face. “I have to help Sawyer.”

  Noah hurried back to the kitchen and came back with another plate to set down as well.

  “This looks so good,” I said, as I looked down at my pancakes and sausage.

  “It is,” Noah said, as a smile so wide crossed his face. “We did a good job.”

  “You sure did,” I said, as I watched Sawyer walk back into the room with my coffee. “Thank you.”

  The three of us talked and laughed through our breakfast, and when we were done, I was still just as tired as I had been before.

  “Go take a shower,” Sawyer said. “I'll clean up.”

  “Are you saying I stink?” I asked, as I moved to get up with my plate.

  He reached over and grabbed the plate from my hands.

  “Not what I said,” he said, trying to hide his laugh, as he looked over at Noah when he let out a laugh.

  “You two are trouble,” I said, as I shook my head and turned and walked away.

  By the time I was done with my shower, they were done cleaning up the kitchen and Sawyer was walking out the door.

  “You two have a good day,” he said. “There's a few easy things in the freezer. That way you don't have to cook too much.”

  Before I could even speak, he'd closed the door and was gone. I stood, watching out the window, as he drove away in his giant truck. Part of me couldn't believe he was gone, and I was already missing him. Another part was just ready to go back to bed.

  I spent the rest of Saturday and then Sunday hanging out on the couch with Noah. We ate, watched movies, and played games. That was it. I didn't see Sawyer but enjoyed each and every text he sent.

  By Monday morning, I thought for sure both Noah and I would be rested and ready to go. He was. Me, not so much. I was still exhausted.

  As I dropped Noah off at school and drove away, I had to wonder if maybe I'd caught what he had. I just needed a few more days, and I'd be fine. I was sure of it.

  When I pulled up my driveway to find a coffee and donuts on my porch, I smiled wide. I could do it, I thought to myself. I could get through my classes. Then I'd pick Noah up, come back home, make a quick meal, and rest. Of course I could do it. What other choice did I have?

  I got my laptop ready and prepared everything I'd need for class. Once my phone was silenced and plugged in, I grabbed my coffee and donuts. With a little time to spare, I opened my email. The first one was an updated calendar from Noah's school. I grabbed my calendar out of my purse and flipped it open to make the changes, and my eyes widened the second I saw it. It couldn't be right. I checked to make sure I was looking at the right date. I was. It didn't make sense. I even flipped back to the previous month and counted forward. It was right. The big, purple word “monthly” was on the correct square. That date had passed over a week before though. There was no way it could be right. I checked the date yet again, but it was still right. It wasn't possible. I couldn't be late. I was always on time. Always! It had been that way forever.

  As my teacher began speaking in the background, my eyes were glued to the calendar in front of me. I must have looked between the purple word and the current date at least fifty more times, trying to make sense of what was happening. Then it hit me, and I jumped up from my chair.

  “No!” I let out, loud enough for my entire neighborhood to hear. “No way!”

  I grabbed my purse and my keys and ran for the front door. As I threw it open, I shoved my feet into my shoes. Then I pulled it shut behind me and ran down the porch steps toward my car.

  I pulled into a parking spot and the drugstore, stumbled as I got out of my car, and headed for the door. I tore down the aisle like my feet were on fire. Then I grabbed a box off the shelf, turned, and hurried back to the checkout. Without a word to the cashier, I paid for my purchase. Then I rushed back to my car and headed back home.

  As my purse and keys landed on my table, I could still hear my teacher speaking.

  “Shit!” I let out, as I headed for my bathroom with my purchase in my hand, hoping my teacher hadn't called on me, seeing as how I hadn't even been there.

  I ripped the box open, did my business on the stick, and stared at it, waiting for the seconds to pass. Without even blinking, afraid to miss a single second, I kept my eyes glued to that stick. Then it happened, and my world changed.

  “How could you let this happen?” I cried out.

  As the tears burst from my eyes, I made a decision. I knew what I had to do. I had to erase every single thing that had happened since that dance. Well, almost everything. There was one thing I couldn't change, and that was something I would deal with, ALONE.

  Chapter 27

  Sawyer

  I hadn't seen her at all on Sunday, so when Monday came, I dropped off coffee and donuts and eagerly waited for afternoon pickup. I was being a total pussy, but I didn't care. Things were on the right track. She was finally seeing things my way.

  As I stood on the sidewalk waiting for Ava and Noah, one of the moms was standing next to me. She was rambling on about something, but I wasn't listening. Just as my eyes landed on the kids, I heard Noah's name being called from behind me. When I turned around to see her, she wouldn't even look my way. Noah looked over and waved at me on his way by. When he got to her, his excited smile left his face.

  “I have to go,” he yelled toward me and Ava, who had just joined me. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

  “What the fuck,” I growled out, as I watched her take his hand and turn to walk away.

  “What?” the mom standing next to me asked.

  “Nothing,” I snapped out, as I grabbed Ava's hand and began walking toward Grace.

  She rushed Noah into the car and had just reached forward to open her door when I stepped in front of it, holding it closed. I watched Ava out of the corner of my eye as she walked around the car to talk to Noah. Then I brought my focus to Grace, and that was when I saw the redness in her eyes and the puffiness of her cheeks.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Yep,” she answered. “I'm fine.”

  “You sure?” I asked, knowing she was keeping something from me.

  “Yes,” she snapped, as she kept her eyes to the ground.

  “For being okay, you're a mess,” I said, hoping to stir up enough emotion in her that she'd say something, anything.

  “Screw you!” she growled out. “Get out of the way.”

  “What's wrong?” I asked.

  “Not a thing,” she answered. “We need to go. I'm in a hurry.”

  “Talk to me,” I said, as I reached forward to take her chin in my hand.

  “Nothing to say,” she said, as she pulled away from me.

  “We're back to this?” I asked. “You're back to keeping to yourself and pushing me away.”

  “Looks that way,” she said. “That's who I am.”

  “Fine,” I growled out, as I took a step back, more pissed than ever at how she was acting. “Come on, Ava.”

  I watched Grace pull away, not even turning her head in my direction, and anger filled me. Just two days prior, I'd been at her house cooking her and Noah breakfast. I'd taken them food and anything they could possibly need for four days. Everything had been good. She'd been fine. We'd talked for four hours the one night, well text, but it was the same thing. Yet there she was, right back to ignoring me, and I hadn't done a damn thing to deserve it.

  As I stared up at my ceiling that night, I couldn't help but feel angry. It was ridiculous. At least to me it was. I knew I should leave her alone, but I couldn't do it. I had to say something. If I didn't, that shit would have kept me up all night and I would have done something I'd regret in the morning, so I pulled out my phone.

  Me: What's going on?

  I gave her a chance. One more chance to be honest with me, but I got nothing in return.

  Me: Seriously! We're back to this. I don't get it, Grace. I didn't do a damn thing between Saturda
y and now. What happened? I can't think of one thing I could have done wrong.

  Again, nothing. Each second that passed had me more aggravated.

  Me: I don't get it. How can you be so warm one day and so cold the next? Tell me what the fuck I did to deserve this.

  Again, nothing. I threw my phone down onto my bed and closed my eyes. If that woman knew how damn hard it was not to head to a bar after dealing with her, she'd cut me some slack. Wait! Who was I kidding? She'd probably be even worse. Why was she doing that shit? How long was I going to have to pay for leaving town?

  The next morning, I was at her house waiting, but she didn't come home. When I drove by the store, she wasn't there either. I even hauled my ass out to my favorite spot, but she wasn't there. I felt like some sort of crazy stalker, chasing after someone that just kept running from me. If she'd wanted nothing to do with me from the start, I would have thrown in the towel and moved on, but it wasn't like that. It was back and forth. One minute she was in. The next she was out, but the way she looked at me when I was around told a different story. Nothing made sense anymore.

  When I showed up after school, I felt defeated. Grace had a way of sucking every bit of energy I had right out of me, and I couldn't understand it. What did she get out of playing her game? Why was she making me pay? What the fuck had I done wrong that had caused her to cry?

  Ava came running out of the building alone, and as soon as she got to me, she grabbed my hand.

  “Come on, Uncle Sawyer,” she said. “Noah isn't here.”

  “Where is he?” I asked.

  “His mom picked him up early,” she answered, as if it didn't matter, but it did. To me, it mattered.

  Wednesday morning came, and I sat at her house again. She showed up, and when she saw me, she didn't know what to do. I could see it in her eyes. A sad look crossed her face. Then it was gone, and her sassy attitude appeared.

  “You need to leave,” she said, as she walked up the porch steps and continued right by me. “I have class.”

  “What's going on, Grace?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” she answered.

  “Don't give me that,” I said sternly, as I reached out for her.

  She pulled back quickly and unlocked her door.

  “I need to go,” she said. “You need to stop, Sawyer. There's nothing to talk about, not anymore.”

  “What kind of game are you playing? This back and forth. Is it your way of making me pay for leaving years ago? I couldn't stay, Grace. Your father couldn't stand me. He would have made your life hell if you would have gotten caught with me. Don't you get it?”

  “It doesn't matter anymore,” she said, as she took the coffee I'd reached out to hand her. “Things are different now, and they will never be the same again. We don't want the same thing. You need to move on. Enjoy your life. Go get everything you've ever wanted.”

  “You're everything I've ever wanted,” I said, as I shook my head. “I don't understand what changed.”

  “Everything changed, Sawyer,” she said, as she stepped through the door and began to close it. “You don't want me in your life. Believe me.”

  The door closed, and I heard the click of the lock. Then just behind the door, I heard her burst into tears, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to help her. She wouldn't let me.

  When I got home, I fell down onto the couch and closed my eyes.

  “You okay?” I heard Julia ask.

  “No,” I answered honestly, making sure not to open my eyes. “Something is going on with Grace, and she's keeping it to herself. She won't even talk to me.”

  “She's not talking to me either,” Julia said. “I just assumed you did something to piss her off.”

  “I didn't do a damn thing,” I said.

  “It's not like she hasn't cut me off before,” Julia said. “I was hoping we'd gotten past that though.”

  “I'm tired of it,” I said. “This shit ends today.”

  “Good luck with that,” she said. “When Grace makes up her mind, she doesn't change it. She is one stubborn woman.”

  “Yeah,” I said, as I finally opened my eyes and looked at my sister, “well I can be stubborn too.”

  “There's no denying that,” she said, as she turned and walked back out of the room.

  I got to school early, and as soon as the kids came out they asked if they could play. I walked them over to the playground, and then I watched and waited for Grace. A bunch of other kids followed behind, and I let out an annoyed breath when their moms stood around me. The one from before started rambling in my ear. I didn't look her way or acknowledge her words. I was actually a pretty big dick to her, but that didn't matter. She just kept right on rattling.

  I watched as Grace got out of her car wearing a pair of sweats with her hair a mess. She looked liked she'd just woken up and ran out the door. I couldn't believe it. The other moms stopped, even the one next to me, and they all stared as Grace came our way. Her eyes locked on mine, but she didn't say a word. Then she moved to walk by, but I reached out and grabbed hold of her arm.

  “Hey,” I said, as she moved to shake my grip off of her. “We need to talk.”

  “It looks to me like you're already doing that,” she said, as she pulled her arm away. “Carry on.”

  “I wasn't talking,” I said.

  “Seems to me you were,” she said, as she nodded toward the mom next to me.

  “That's bullshit,” I snapped out, and she stopped frozen, looking at me as if I'd grown an extra head. “I want to talk to you.”

  “No,” she said, as she shook her head and broke herself free from whatever thought she was stuck in.

  “Yes,” I said. “I'm not doing this, not for one more moment. You're going to talk to me.”

  “Are you asking me or telling me?” she asked, as she looked around at the women and then back at me.

  “I guess I'm telling you,” I said. “I'm sick of this shit. You're going to talk to me.”

  “You want me to talk to you?” she asked, and I could tell something was going through her mind.

  The woman was probably trying to think of the worst way to embarrass me.

  “What do you want me to say?” she asked, as a look of something between aggravation and anger crossed her face.

  “Something,” I said. “Anything.”

  “Let me get this straight,” she said, as her eyes connected with mine. “If I say something, anything to you right now, you'll back the fuck off and leave me alone?”

  “If that's what you want. I just need you to talk to me,” I said, shocked by her words. I knew how she was about gossip, and she had to have known the women around us were going to be talking about her potty mouth for days.

  “Okay,” she said, as she nodded. “I'll say something.”

  “Anything,” I said, as I kept my eyes locked on hers.

  I knew she was going to say something to get to me, and I was fine with that, but not for one second did I think her words would change my life forever.

  “I'm pregnant,” she let out, looking at me with the most disgusted look I'd ever seen. “There you go. I've said something. Are you happy?”

  I stood frozen, sure with everything in me that I'd heard her wrong.

  “That's what I thought,” she said, as she pulled her eyes away from mine. “You ladies can have him.”

  She turned away from me and called Noah over. Then they were gone, and I was left standing there, surrounded by people, feeling more lost and alone than I'd ever felt in my life.

  To be continued...

  Be sure to watch for part 3 of Grace and Sawyer's story. It's coming soon!

  Please continue on for the Prologue and Chapter 1 of my book “His Assistant”.

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